A/N: Man am I on a roll or what? Well, the roll stops here. This is the last chapter I have fully written, so it'll be a little while before I can get another chapter up, because, well, I haven't written it yet. I have bits and pieces of a bunch of other chapters, but I have yet to glue them all together. And remember, this is going to be a blasted long fic. It's almost a 4 week journey to New Jersey and we're only a week in. ;)

By the time Jack and Will had gathered all the crew for an early departure and returned to the ship, the Pearl was ready to sail. Jack gave a few pointless orders, like to head north, then headed below deck towards Tazz's quarters. Maybe he had been a bit harsh towards her, even if she had been trying to peel his face off. Stopping at a nondescript door, Jack knocked once. "Open the door, Devil."

There was no response from within.

Jack sighed, realizing he was still being rough. "C'mon, Devil. Please open up?"

Still no reply. Was she even inside? Trying the handle, Jack rolled his eyes at the fact it was unlocked. Pushing the door open, Jack saw Tazz, clad in shirt, curled up in a hammock hanging from the ceiling. The room was almost claustrophobic. It was perhaps seven feet by seven feet, and the only other furniture in it aside from the hammock, if a hammock was considered furniture, was a small table and a chair.

Taking a few more steps inside, Jack felt somewhat guilty. "This's where you've been sleeping?" he thought aloud.

"It was a spare closet," came a reply from the figure in the hammock. "It's all there was..."

Jack walked slowly up to Tazz. She made no movement; just stayed on her side, her back to him, curled up in a ball. She was staring blankly at the wall in front of her. "Look, Devil, I'm really – "

"What's Will's last name?" she interrupted.

"What?" Jack blurted. "Turner, if ye can't wait. Why?"

"And how about Cotton. What's his first name?"

"Ned, of course."

This interrogation went on for a full minute, each time Jack giving the name of whoever Tazz could think of. Jack finally cut in.

"Hold on here," he grumbled. "What's all this about?"

Tazz sat up and faced him, her eyes still blank. "Jack, what's my last name?"

Jack fell silent. He had no idea what Tazz's last name was. "Uh..."

"Though so..." Tazz clambered out of the hammock and left the room.

----------

Later that day, Tazz was sitting up at her post in the crow's nest, depressed as ever. Not only did she still have a throbbing headache, but she had probably spilled her guts to Jack while drunk, and now she knew she wasn't important enough to him for him to know her name. So far this trip was a real success.

Jack, meanwhile, was at the helm, but not concentrating on what he was doing. He was so accustomed to the Black Pearl by now he could have steered her in his sleep, so it left him time to rack his brain for Tazz's surname, which he could not think of for the life of him.

Glancing up at the crow's nest, he felt a pang of guilt when he saw Tazz just slumped over the side, not upright and excited like she usually was when on watch. He had hurt her pretty badly, and all just within the last two hours. A new record, even for him. Thinking back on it, perhaps "told me all I needed to hear" wasn't the best choice of words. Curiosity struck him, though, when Tazz perked up and looked at something in the distance. He watched as she leaned further, trying to get a better look, but eventually resorting to using the spyglass. She put one foot up on the nest rim and leaned forward, the spyglass to her eye. Finally, he could take it no longer, due to the fact no one else seemed to notice anything wrong. "What d'ye see, Devil?" he called.

Tazz's mind blanked. The crew, they had said... "What town were we just in?" she shouted to anyone listening.

Jack stared at her curiously. "Due to the reefs that infested the area, we were in Cayo Largo," he replied, a bit puzzled.

"Key Largo..." Tazz whispered to herself. If they had just been in Key Largo, not only had Key Largo shrunk drastically , but she should have seen Miami by now. They'd been sailing for over an hour, but the bustling skyline of Miami never came into view. Checking the spyglass once again, Tazz scanned the coast of Florida, but saw nothing except trees. Something was very wrong...

Dropping the spyglass, Tazz swung over the side of the crow's next and shimmied down the rigging faster than she ever had before. She strode over to Jack, immediately grabbing the lapel of his coat and pulling it roughly.

"What year is it?" she asked.

Jack looked at her as if she were mad. "What?"

"What year is it, Jack!"

"Devil, it's 1723."

"I want the truth! No more of this fucking pirate act!"

She had lost her mind, Jack surmised. "Act? What the bloody hell are you screaming about? It's 1723!"

Tazz instantly let go of Jack and scurried up back into the crow's nest. She snatched up the spyglass once more and frantically looked up and down the Florida coast. There was nothing in every direction.

Nothing made any sense. There should have been resorts and hotels up and down the entire coast. There was nothing. Something in her mind finally broke, and she couldn't handle it. Everything swayed violently, went blurry, then went black.

----------

Tazz slowly opened her eyes. Her surroundings were unfamiliar, but she knew that she was on the ship somewhere. Blinking and looking around, Tazz slowly realized she was in the captain's quarters. Reaching up to rub her aching head, Tazz found a bandage wrapped around her forehead. Her vision was still rather blurred, and her entire body was sore, especially her ribs. Lifting the blanket draped over her, Tazz saw more bandages wrapped around her torso and chest. She still had her pants on, thankfully, even though her shirt and bra had apparently been removed so bandages could be put on. It hurt to breathe.

Blinking through the fuzz at the edges of her vision, Tazz groaned as she tried to sit up. She was almost to an upright position when a sharp stab of pain shot through her side. Crying out in agony, she collapsed back down, causing another wave of pain to rack her body, which made her scream again.

The door burst open and Jack and the crew's surgeon came charging in. "What happened, love?" Jack asked, worry thick in his voice.

"She moved," the surgeon answered for her in a drawl. "Listen to me, lass. Ye can't be movin' 'round much. Ye've got a couple broken ribs and a bad concussion, so yer gonna be bedridden fer a while, got me?"

Tazz vaguely nodded. "What happened?" she groaned.

"Ye fell outta the crow's nest," Jack said. "Ye just passed out cold and toppled out. I caught ya, but ye still hit pretty hard. Gave me quite a scare, there, Devil."

The surgeon gave a few more simple instructions of how to go about not moving, then left to get back to the sick bay, leaving Jack and Tazz alone. Tazz moved her head slightly and shut her eyes at the sharp pain that occurred over her left eye. Jack sat down in a chair he pulled up next to the bed.

"How're ye feeling?" he asked after a minute of silence.

"Shitty," Tazz said weakly, still not fully aware of everything around her. "I... fell?"

"Yeah, ye did. You were wobbling around for a minute, then ye just fell right out of the nest and towards the deck." He smirked, trying to lighten the mood. "Lucky I'm quick, otherwise you might be just a stain on the deck."

Tazz's chest tightened. She had never come close to death before, and the thought frightened her. She closed her eyes and rested her head back.

"Kennedy," Jack said quietly.

"Mm?" Tazz opened her eyes again.

"Your last name is Kennedy," Jack repeated, looking sheepish. "An' I didn't mean to upset you earlier. It's just that, well... You did tell me a lot last night in your sleep. It just caught me off guard, that's all."

Tazz was quiet for a long moment. Unable to think of anything to say, she turned her head sideways and avoided Jack's gaze. Now was not the time for awkward moments; she couldn't leave the room, let alone roll over. Trying to break the mood, she waved her hand vaguely. "Well... I was just really drunk... Whatever I said, I probably didn't– "

"You and I both know you're lying through your teeth, Devil..."

"Yeah, well it makes me feel less stupid for saying it in the first place."

Jack let out a dry laugh. "I can imagine."

They were both quiet for another minute. With a sigh, Tazz turned her head back to the normal position and looked at the nondescript ceiling. "Tell me something," she said.

Jack looked up from looking at his hands. "Tell ye what?" he asked.

Tazz shrugged, which was followed by a muffled yelp of pain. She hid it quickly, though. "It doesn't matter. Anything. Just... something to make us even."

Jack arched his brows, but took a moment to think anyway. He sighed. "Well... I..." He paused, then shook his head. "Nothing I can think of will make us even, I think..." he said. "But... can I ask you something?"

Tazz gave a short soundless laugh. "Sure."

"Why did you make such a fuss over the year?"

Tazz was silent for a long minute. It was either tell the truth and be considered crazy or say she was just kidding and be considered crazy. Fun. She shook her head slowly. "It doesn't make any sense, even to me, so if I even bother to explain it to you, you'll just think I'm insane."

"So I'll think you're insane," Jack said casually. "I want to know anyway."

Tazz groaned quietly. "Fine... I'm not from here Jack. Not just from... being from Jersey. 1723 is two-hundred and eighty years in the past... for me, anyway. When I went to sleep a week ago, it was October of 2003... And why am I telling you this? You're just gonna wrap me up in a rug and toss me overboard."

Jack was certainly surprised by Tazz's confession, and it was a bit hard to swallow, but she seemed so earnest that it was almost believable... not to mention the fact that the supernatural wasn't anything new to him... "Prove it," Jack said suddenly, startling Tazz. "Prove to me you're not crazy. Tell me something that only you could know..."

Tazz closed her eyes and tilted her head back. "Jack, it's not that easy. I know a lot of history, but most of it will probably be far after your lifetime. Like America will declare its independence in 1776. Geez, that's forty-three years from now... My mind's gonna explode..." She racked her brain for some sort of menial history from 1723. "Dammit, I wish I payed more attention in class..." she murmured to herself. After another minute, her eyes shot open. "King Louis's regent!" she shouted, making Jack jump. "The king of France's regent is gonna die sometime this year." She looked pleased with herself, until that fact fully sunk in. "Oh Jesus, there's a fucking king of France right now... Jefferson hasn't even thought of writing the Declaration yet... Is Jefferson even born yet?" She shut her eyes again. This wasn't helping her concussion at all. "This isn't happening..." she whispered.

"Apparently, it is," Jack said, his head slightly reeling from all the 'facts' she was pouring out. She was either so thoroughly mad that this was true to her, or she was telling the truth. There was no other explanation for her knowing all those names and events without hesitation. And even if she were mad, how was she so well-educated? Her math was astounding, even if it was relatively simple. If she knew how to do mathematical problems that fast in her head, it meant she was probably as educated as the hob-nobs of England. He sighed, his head starting to hurt. "Devil, I... We'll find out what happened to ye. Don't worry."

Tazz's eyes shot open and she stared at Jack. "You actually believe me?" she asked.

"I have no other choice," Jack replied. "You're either telling the truth or you're so bloody mad you're brilliant. And personally, ye don't strike me as the 'mad brilliant' type."

It took a moment for Tazz to come up with words that formed sentences. "Jack, if I could move without hurting myself so bad I wanna die, I'd hug you."

Jack laughed shortly and smirked, showing off a gold tooth. "Yeah, well I expect one once you're all healed up."

Those few sentences had taken such a weight off Tazz's shoulders that she was now so relaxed she was sleepy. Not to mention this bed was far more comfortable than her hammock. "I think I might pass out again soon," she said.

"Yeah, well, you've had a rough day," Jack responded. "It's just past sunset anyway."

Tazz's eyes shut a little. "Where're you gonna sleep?"

"Oh there's plenty of nooks and crannies on this hulk that I can curl up in," Jack said with a smile. "Don't worry, you're not puttin' me out none."

Her eyes shut more. "Mmm... good..." Then her world went fuzzy and dark.

Jack sat by the bed for another few minutes, thinking over what had just happened. He came up with the same conclusions he got before. Looking to Tazz, he watched her sleep soundly for a moment, her hand up near her face, before he quietly stood and walked out of the room, locking it behind him. He wasn't locking Tazz in, but locking everyone else out. In that girl's state, she couldn't handle much.

He looked up at the sky, the pink and orange giving way to blue and purple. It had been a really long day...