Chapter 19:

"Mister Sparrow-"

"Captain!" Kat interrupted and took Jack's hand in hers to stand with him against her father, "That's Captain Jack Sparrow."

"Captain Sparrow," Benikins corrected himself and motioned to the men all around them, "You are out numbered here."

"I won the duel with the captain," Jack looked the closest man in the eyes, "It was agreed he would let my crew go and his men would leave Tortuga."

"I have no knowledge of that agreement and I now have command of these men."

"You are no military man," Kat argued and watched as Benikins paced in front of them, careful of Jack's sword, "You never served under any man. You can't be in charge just because you say it is so."

Benikins scoffed with a smile and looked at the Lieutenant, "Care to explain, Lieutenant?"

"Yes, sir!" the man saluted him and looked at Kat, "The Captain and his superiors have put Mister Benikins in complete authority if anything should happen to Captain Belstrude."

"How did you pull those strings?" Kat asked and narrowed her eyes at the man, "I wonder who you had to put on the chopping block or butter up for that to stick."

"Men, how about you take these pirates down to see their crew mates," Benikins drawled, "But escort my daughter back into the cabin. I believe that a talk is in order."

Jack stood in front of her to head the men off, but she put a soft hand at his back. She shook her head when he looked back at her, "It's okay, Jack. It's about time that he and I had an actual talk."

"Be careful and don't let him take you off the ship," he reminded her with a kiss to her temple.

"You stay alive. Don't do anything incredibly stupid," she nodded and turned to Gibbs as they passed her, "Keep him in one piece for me, huh?"

"Always do. Why do ye think he's lasted this long?" Gibbs nodded with a smirk and followed Jack.

"Miss?" the Lieutenant led her back into the cabin where her father looked over the room with disgust. As he pushed her into the room, she turned to let him have a piece of her mind, but was surprised. There, staring back at her was not a hardened military man. It was a man with a face of compassion and regret. Kat was confused and watched the man close the door so she would face her father alone.

"Well, so much for promoting a pure woman," Benikins turned from the bed and walked to the windows with his hands behind his back.

Kat didn't say anything about his comment and stood in the middle of the room, her hands at her side- balled into fists.

"What? No sharp remarks?" he asked and turned back to her, "No sarcastic quips?"

"What do you want me to say?" Kat muttered and looked right at him, "That Jack and I confessed our feelings last night?"

"Confessed?" he barked a laugh and held a hand to his chest as if he was going to laugh harder, "That is an interesting word choice."

"Would you like any others?" she asked with a raise of her eyebrows, "Made love any better?"

"That is not love!" he pointed to the bed and stomped toward her- his laughter now gone.

"What would you know of love?!" she roared back and leaned toward him.

"More than you would ever know or understand," he growled and made a look that drilled into her eyes. Before Kat had met Jack and sailed on the ocean, she would have backed down. She would have crumbled under his gaze and promised herself that it would be better next time. Promised herself that she would do better next time and he wouldn't have to give her that look again. Next time always brought the same result. The same disappointment. That Kat would be running away again. Not now- not anymore.

"I don't believe you," she shook her head and she felt emotions build in her. She expected sadness, but that was far from what came to the forefront of her mind. She had rage and hurt. Not just sadness- it was pain. She always believed her mother when she said how happy and amazed she was to be in love with her father and that he loved her back. Cecilia talked of long walks and talks of the future and the children that would grace their lives. This man that stood before her was not that man that her mother fell in love with. She took a deep breath and touched her locket which still hung from her neck. She asked for her mother's forgiveness and her strength, "You are a monster."

"At least I am not the monster who killed the woman I loved," he retorted and stepped away from her with a deep growl in his chest. He closed his eyes and tried to reign in his temper. He fumed and then looked back at her unable to keep his composure, "You may look like her. You may sound like her. But you... you are the devil that wears my Cecilia's face. You are the thing that reminded me that she is gone far too soon from my side. You should have burned in those flames. Not her. And not my boys."

"Your boys," she whispered and shook her head, "I loved my brothers without fail. I miss them everyday. I hear their voices every night in my dreams. I hear mother's songs carried on the winds from the seas. You aren't the only one who lost something. I didn't take anything from you. All I had ever asked for was your compassion and love. Compassion and love for a daughter that was hurting just as bad if not worse than you."

"I have no daughter," Benikins took a deep breath and then walked to the doors, "I am going to have a talk with your pirate. You will stay here. Don't worry though. When I kill him, you will be watching."

He slammed the door behind himself and two soldiers stood on either side to guard her exit.

She closed her eyes and collapsed to the floor where she screamed out in frustration and rage. Her sadness and pain replaced with rage and fear as the man that stole her childhood planned to kill her future.

The brig was dirty and cold, but at least the holes that Jack had remembered from last time were plugged and repaired. He scratched at his head to think of a way out. As much as he has been down in his own brig thanks to the actions of Barbossa, he still didn't have a good idea on how to escape it. He made sure that no one would be able to should he need to have use of locking someone up. Hendry was a genius when he put his mind to it and he spent days perfecting the brig after coming back on board the Pearl.

"So, now wha', Cap'n?" Gibbs asked from across the way in the other cell with the rest of the crew.

"The situation looks grim, gentleman, I will not lie," Jack laid it out for them and stood to lean against the bars toward his crew, "Our ship is taken by His Majesty's best and we've been put in our own brig. Kat's papa is in charge and is aiming for my head. If not all of ours."

"That does sound like a dire situation doesn't it?" a deep voice came from the bottom of the stairs, "I wonder what will happen next?"

"Where is she?" Jack asked and looked behind the man expecting him to bring her down with him.

"She's up in the cabin where you violated her to think over a few things," he chuckled briefly to himself, "For the moment, she is safe. I would worry more about my own life if I were you."

"Funny, I was about to say the same to you," Jack frowned.

"Oh? I am not the one behind bars."

"What I have planned for you, I don't need any bars or holdings," Jack leaned toward the man though his cage prevented him from going any further.

"Tell me the truth, pirate," Benikins stepped up to the bars throwing out the word pirate like it was filth, "Do you really love my daughter?"

He stood eye to eye with Benikins and gave him the most serious look he had in him, "Aye, I do."

"How much so?" he crossed his arms in front of his chest, unable to comprehend the pirate before him. Many pirates would drop the girl without a second thought if it meant their life. He held out his hand to the man at his side and the soldier gave over his pistol. He pulled back the hammer and aimed it at Jack's head, "Tell the truth. Just don't give me the answer I don't want to hear."

"Cap'n!" Anamaria hissed at him and the crew crowded against the bars.

Jack shushed her and burned a look into Benikins' eyes. His body didn't move an inch as he stood before certain death, "I would do anything for her. I love her with everything in me being, savvy?"

"I understand," Benikins said taking a few steps back from him and pulled the gun away from him to hand it back to the soldier, "That's good news for me."

"How's that?" Jack asked a little unsure of what would happen next.

"The more you two love one another like you say, the worse it's going to be when I separate you two," he smiled and shook his head in amazement, "She will finally understand pain. She will live with it for all her days."

"You touch her and you're a dead man!" Jack hissed holding on to the bars on each side of him.

"We'll just see, Mr. Sparrow," Benikin's smiled and headed up the stairs back toward the captain's quarters seemingly happy with the information.

"That be Captain Jack Sparrow!" he called after him.

"Now wha', Cap'n?" Lejon asked now fearful for his life and the life of a fellow crew mate.

"We wait," Jack eyed the guard nearby and then looked over at Hendry, "Kat will find a way. I have faith in her. We will just have to wait for the opportune moment."

Hendry caught his captain's eyes and nodded subtly at him. He walked against the back bars of their room and slowly began to apply pressure with his foot. Despite being impossible to pick the lock or escape without notice, Jack had Hendry make one known fail safe, just in case of mutiny. That's why Jack made him Master of Arms.

"Dead men tell no tales," Cotton's parrot screeched.

"True, Mr. Cotton," Jack said looking up at him, "But we're not dead yet."

Kat eventually pushed herself from the ground. What kind of pirate was she clawing at the floor in helplessness? This was her crew and her ship. She was not going to let some land loving, son of a bitch steal everything from her.

She pulled herself to the large windows and looked outside to see one of the naval ships floating not far off shore finally in view now that she wasn't on the bed. She gave a heavy sigh and looked at the ground. Before she could think any further, her father came through the door.

"Why are you doing this?" she stood tall, never showing fear though it ran cold in her veins.

"Why am I doing this?" he asked agitated. He leaned over her and grabbed at the shirt she wore and pulled on the fabric on her arm, "This is why I'm doing this! You don't belong here!"

"Why do people keep saying that?" Kat asked exasperated, "I belong here just as much as any person belongs!"

"No, you don't," he sighed, "As much as it pains me to bring you back to Port Royal and pass you as my daughter... I have another possibility of a match for you. I had him waiting just in case Captain Belstrude didn't work as I planned."

"Waiting?"

"You remember Mr. Whit?"

"He is twice my age and has been married three times already," she shook her head in disgust, "He is not-"

"He is perfect for you," he nodded and paced as he planned it out, "After your separation from this pirate, you will need some one to bring you back to earth. Get you to forget about all this nonsense and start on a family."

"This is not nonsense!" Kat said hurt, "And a family? His oldest son is three years my senior! You are being irrational and holding nothing in your mind, but insane thoughts!"

"Irrational? Insane?" he yelled, slapping her in the face and sending her down onto Jack's bed, "I will show you insanity!"

He walked over to a table where a small mirror was laying face up and brought it up to Kat's face, "This! Do you see? You are trying to become someone you are not! A pirate! Now, that is insanity!"

"No!" Kat knocked the mirror out of his hands and let it fall onto the bed, "Don't you see? Can you not open your eyes? Look around, this is lunacy! Capturing men when they cannot defend themselves and I know you do not think of just letting them go. You mean to kill them."

"And why not?" he got up in a casual fashion and stood over by the table where Jack had food spread out and popped a grape in his mouth, "No one will miss them when they are gone."

"I will. And they have the right to live their life the way they want to, just as any other," Kat said getting up, "Just like you and I."

"Do not dare contrast me with their kind, Katerina!" he stepped forward.

"Let them go! Let the crew go! Let Jack go," Kat pleaded, "They have nothing to do with this! This is between you and I."

"Let me figure this all out," he started again and turned the conversation from going down a familiar road, "You are not coming back with me. You want to stay with that ruffian because you love him. Is that correct?"

"Yes," Kat said sternly.

"Even if it means death?" he pulled out his pistol and pointed it at her head.

Kat was unmoved by his threat and didn't even blink from the blunt move. She even leaned her forehead against the barrel of the gun and pushed back against him, "I love him to no end, sir. I would die for him."

He put down the pistol and unlocked it from its firing position, "Damn! Why do you have to make this so difficult?"

"Because I am telling the truth," Kat said standing up against her father.

"The truth," he laughed unbelieving and pointed at her, "You are just like her. Just like Cecilia."

"What are you talking about?"

"She begged me to be truthful with you. To be kind and let you in," he said and waved his pistol, "All I wanted was my boys and she couldn't understand."

"Who would ever think that there would be enough love to spare for your first child?" she spat in sarcasm, "How could she even think of it?"

"It was a hard thing to do."

"It never seemed that way to me," Kat shrugged, "I never saw it. I only saw you bringing home treats and presents and giving all three of us time and what I assumed was love."

"Then I pulled it off well," he shot her a look, "Cecilia gave me another fight about it one day. I had to take a walk that night. Had to chat with some associates. Didn't think that it would be the last time I would see her. I left quite angry and needed to drink my worries away."

"You-" her voice was caught in her throat, she didn't know what to say, "You are as much in fault as I am."

"No!" he pulled the pistol back up to her face, "You are the one that started that blaze, sending your mother and brothers to their deaths."

"I will not believe that," Kat put her head up, with tears in the back of her throat, "As much as I will not believe that a father could stop loving his daughter."

"Believe it," he looked down the barrel of the pistol, "Now, are you going to renounce your love and come back home?"

Kat looked around the room and then back into his eyes, "I am home."

Kat heard a shot, but knew that she wasn't dead. She was still standing tall in front of him, whom still had the pistol raised. She looked at the pistol barrel, it was slightly askew to the right and a little smoldering from the pistol's last shot. He shot past her and into a full bottle of rum sitting on the side of the table.

'Oh, Jack's going to be fuming about that one,' Kat thought to herself.

Benikins unloaded the bullet from the pistol and loaded in another. Kat watched him the whole while, wondering if the next one would be for her. After he loaded the pistol once again he took her by the arm and led her outside the captain's doors. The guards looked at him with curiosity.

"Get me the Captain," he said with anger dripping his voice, "The pirate captain. Make sure his hands are tied behind his back tightly."

The guard left and went down to the brig to get the pirate. Kat looked at the man with worry on where his next move would lead. Where ever it was, it would more than likely leave Jack dead on the deck of his own ship.

"How did you find me?" Kat asked watching her father play with his pistol.

"The captain had the brilliant idea of following the ships that left the harbor the day you ran. We found a left behind crew member of the Silver Maiden who said a woman was on board for a while. Sound familiar?" Kat's eyes widened as he continued, "The man was very helpful. He gave up your name, description, even where he thought you would be heading. He said it was the least he could do to get you back for what you did to him."

"Pidus," Kat growled at his name, "That scumbag."

"Yes I do believe that was his name. I can't exactly remember. Eventually, the chase ended here."

Two guards carried Jack up the stairs and made him drop to his knees. Jack looked toward Kat and saw the already apparent hand imprint on her cheek that her father gave her in the cabin right over the nearly healed bruise from Belstrude. He looked at her with a worried face and turned toward her father, but instead saw a pistol aimed straight at him.

"You say you would die for him?" Benikins said out loud questioning Kat, "Let's give it a test."

"No," Kat stepped forward making an official step forward and hold her back by the midsection.

"This bullet is going to be fired," he gave her an evil smile, "But into whose head is the question."

Kat thought for a minute and looked down at her side where she could see the official's pistol loaded and ready to shoot at his side. Without a second thought, Kat grabbed the pistol from his side and aimed it, cocked back at her father's head. She gave the official such a start that he fell back over the railing and into the water below. She may have been five feet from her father at the moment, but it wasn't too far away for her not to make a clean shot. The officers on the ship raised their rifles up at her, ready to fire on command.

"He dies, and you die!" she clearly stated placing her finger on the trigger.

"You really think this wise, girl?" her father questioned, pushing Jack down when he tried to get up to protect Kat, "There are at least twelve rifle barrels pointed at you. You kill me and you die as well."

"Yes, it doesn't look that good for me, but neither does it for you," Kat said keeping her eyes on him, but also making sure that the authorities around her did not try to take the pistol from her, "If you shoot him, I shoot you, they shoot me, we have a very bloody deck. If you turn around and shoot me, I fire at you regardless and we both die, leaving these wonderful military men no target. But if you think to put down the pistol, get back on your ship, return to Port Royal, and leave me alone here with Jack, no one will have to die."

"See, the problem with that is… I don't win. And I always win," he said making sure the pistol aimed at Jack's head was ready to shoot. He would have his revenge on his love's killer. What better way to do so than kill the one they love the most, "I do believe it is his time to die."

"You're signing another death warrant. Just when you decided to go out drinking with your associates and led me to kill our family," Kat shouted gaining his attention along with the attention of the other men around them, "It wasn't my fault that mother, Caleb and Jacob died. It was yours."

"That's preposterous!" he blurted, "You started that fire!"

"Mother lit that fire. She's also the one that took out those books," Kat felt a tear roll off her cheek, but still kept the pistol steady, "She always did when you two had a fight and you left."

"What?" her father dropped the pistol at his side and looked at her.

"You know what you were supposed to be doing that night? Do you remember?" Kat said tears chocking her voice, "You were supposed to be teaching me how to read maps while mother was teaching the boys how to read books. She wanted me to be well rounded and able to help my future husband in whatever he needed. That's what you two argued about that night. Remember now?!"

His face dropped to the wood and then back up at her, "You are telling the truth, but what does that have to do with the fire?"

"While mother read the book to us and taught us about ships and sailing... All I could think about was what you had taught me. About pirates and their ships and how they should all be destroyed," she ground her teeth together and then took another breath, "Mother taught me a very valuable lesson that night. She told me, 'One man is not better than the other because of what he is labeled. He is better for who he is- his character, his beliefs, his heart...there are ruffians out there in the world, but not all of them are going to be branded with a 'P'. And not all gentleman are going to wear fine jackets and Naval Uniforms.' She gave me her locket and told me that it was a gift- from a pirate. It represented the love that she had for my father. I was so happy that I danced around the room, thinking that I now had around my neck the true meaning of love between my parents. Thinking if you saw it on me... maybe you would love me more."

"No…" it was his turn to let out a light whisper, "It's not true."

Jack looked on with surprise and intrigue on his face. He never heard the whole story and was a little curious to know it at last. He looked at Kat's face which was focused on her father's reactions to the story.

"I ran from the room to find my only friend outside of my brothers. I wanted to show her the pretty that I received. Smoke filled the hallways and we ran back. Through the smoke I could hear mother call for me. As she was dying she was worried for me. She stopped me from going back into that room. She told me to stay away. Even as she was accepting her fate, she tried to save the only child she could. Dena saved me from being crushed and I blacked out. The next time I saw the man I called father, I found a man that was a stranger. I found a man that pushed me away. I thought that my father too had died in that fire along with mother," Kat finished with tears down each side of her face.

"As did my sons!" he screamed pointing the pistol at Jack's head once again, "Maybe I can take the one thing the murderer holds dear!"

There was a crack of a pistol shot that ran through the air. A single pistol hit the ground with a loud thud, clicking, but the gunpowder never ignited. Jack looked up with surprise as a pair of feet stumbled to find support from the blast.

Benikins looked around him to find that none of the soldiers that he took along with him were shooting. They were standing at attention, with their rifles down by their sides. His anger grew and he uplifted his head to the next in command, demanding an explanation. And then he saw it. His hand was covered in blood, as was his jacket. He looked down to find that the blast was indeed was from his daughter's pistol and that she made a perfect shot into his chest.

Kat lowered the steaming pistol to her side and let the silent tears fall down her face. Arthur Benikins stumbled again over to the railing and kept a tight grip to keep steady.

"Im…possible… you never learned how to… to shoot," he chocked.

"It's amazing what you can learn on a pirate ship," Kat said barely able to talk.

He took one last look at his daughter, rolled his eyes back and fell back over the railing and onto the dock beneath the ship. Kat dropped the pistol from her grip as if it was on fire and fell to her knees. She leaned forward and wrapped herself into a small ball, her arms wrapped around her middle to keep the sobs at bay.

Soon enough she felt arms on her shoulders and tried to shrug them off thinking it was one of the soldiers. She turned around and saw a blurred version of Jack looking down at her. Behind him she saw that the crew had come up from below deck with weapons and surrounded the two of them. Anamaria held a small knife that she had undoubtedly cut Jack's rope with. She looked into Jack's eyes, immediately jumped into his arms, and started to cry into his shoulder. He gladly held her tightly in his grasp and rocked her a little while sitting on the deck.

"Shh," he cooed, trying to calm her, "It's all over now, Kat. I'm here. It's all over."

The Lieutenant came over to them and squatted to be eye to eye with Kat, "Miss… I'm sorry for your loss."

Kat opened her eyes and looked up at the same soldier that escorted her into the captain's quarters, but still gave her a look of such compassion. She knew as soon as he said it, that the loss he was talking about wasn't for her father. It was for her family. She smiled a bit and pulled her head up.

"Thank you," she said, "No one has ever said that to me before."

He nodded and stood up with his eyes looking out toward the sea, "You know, it's a nasty thing when pirates attack a ship."

"Sir?" Kat asked wiping her tears.

"The attack that happened on our ship on our way back from finding you. We found you, alone, and scared. While we were bringing you back a pirate ship overtook us and we ended up losing three."

Both Kat and Jack looked at each other a bit confused and then realized what he was saying. Kat asked, "Which three would that be, sir?"

"Both of the Benikins and our captain," he said with a smirk, "I'll be rounding up my men and we'll be out of port by sun down."

Jack helped Kat up and supported her from behind, "Which pirate ship attacked you?"

"I didn't catch the name, but it was somewhere along the lines of the Harbinger. It's been a ship that we have been tracking for some time now."

Kat smiled, "Wait!"

The officer stopped and watched as Kat went inside Jack's cabin. He turned to look at Jack for an explanation. Jack looked at him and shrugged his shoulders in a 'I don't know' fashion. Kat soon came out with a folded piece of paper with the name Harriet scribbled on the outside.

"Can you make sure she gets that?" Kat asked, "This needs to go to Harriet Blener."

He nodded his head as he knew exactly where to deliver it. He stuffed it in his breast pocket and turned around. Kat watched as the officer led his men off the Black Pearl and down into the port to get back on their ship. Jack looked down at Kat and gave her a small hug from behind.

"You think he was telling the truth?"

"I know he was, Jack," Kat leaned back into him, "I can tell a good man when I see one."