Jack Sparrow sat on the railing of the Fleur de la Mort with one leg hanging over the turquoise Caribbean waves gently lapping against the side of the ship. The warm sun peeked through the few white puffy clouds in the sky and hit his face. He took a deep breath and the smell of the salty sea overtook his senses.

After nearly a whole year and a half out at sea constantly confronting obstacles: cursed and angry pirates, merfolk, ghosts, a power hungry witch, the infamous Davy Jones, a certain mutinous crew member accompanied by the Royal Navy and the East India Trading Company, another someone who he ran away from for a year who finally caught up to him, and dangerous magical items that almost killed him, he could finally relax and enjoy his freedom.

Jack closed his eyes and smiled as he leaned back against the lines. "Ah, yes—this is what it's all about!"

"Yeah, it's nice not having to run around and avoid getting killed all the time," his former first mate Arabella Smith said, leaning over the railing next to him. They sailed together aboard the now long-gone Barnacle. The slight breeze blew her tangled auburn hair in her face. Billy Turner silently slid next to Arabella and rested a hand on her shoulder as they looked out to sea together.

"Um, could you two get a room?" Jack asked. Arabella smacked him upside the head.

Jack thought Billy Turner, or Bloody Billy as he called him, was quite odd and he couldn't see how Arabella ended up with him, especially since Jack thought he himself was more suitable for her.

Other than that, everything was perfect. No curses, no magic, no traitorous aristos, and even Jean's cat-turned sister Constance was nowhere to be seen.

"Storm incoming!" Jean yelled from the top of the mainmast. Tumen ran and rang the bell.

Jack sat up and gazed ahead at the dark menacing clouds coming their way, ruining what was once a perfect day. "Why does this always have to happen to me?" Jack complained rolling his eyes.

Jack quickly swung his leg back over and hopped back on the deck landing with a light stamp. It suddenly started to sprinkle and the skies began to darken. The wind picked up more, messing up his already messy hair.

"How did this happen so fast?" Arabella asked in bewilderment. "It can't be Captain Torrents!"

"Of course it can't," Jack responded. "I'm very sure he's as good as dead by now!"

Arabella's mother, Captain Laura Smith stormed out of her cabin followed by Mr. Reece and began barking orders. "EVERYBODY IN THEIR PLACES! Tumen, you and Jean furl the sails! We don't want the wind to get caught in them and topple this vessel over!" Tumen silently nodded and rushed to the rigging, scurrying up to join Jean. "Billy! Arabella! Secure all the cargo below!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Billy nodded.

"Aye, aye!" Arabella said. The two rushed below decks. Constance popped out from a nearby hiding spot, hissed, and followed them down.

"Reece, batten down those barrels over there, secure the lines, and join me," Laura ordered Mr. Reece.

"Aye, Cap'n!" Mr. Reece said, going off to do his duty.

Before she could give anymore orders, Jack interrupted. "And I shall be taking the wheel!" He took a few steps before the captain quickly stepped in his path.

Captain Smith leaned slightly to his eye level and bluntly replied, "No."

"Madame captain, you know I have plenty of experience saving ships from storms," Jack said.

"Experience?" Laura asked with scorn. "The only experience you have with sailing a ship is that little dingy."

Jack dramatically gasped. "The Barnacle was not a dingy, and you know nothing about me." He then added, "Besides, I saved your life so you should let me steer the ship."

"You don't play that card on me, Sparrow!" Laura retorted.

Before Laura could argue more, Arabella yelled from below decks. "MOTHER! Just let him take the wheel!"

Having no time to further argue, Laura sighed in defeat and clenched her jaw, narrowing her eyes as Jack triumphantly pushed past her and went up the stairs to the helm. She was pained to see him steer her own ship. She stormed back into her cabin, leaving everyone else to do the work.

"Don't worry, mates," Jack announced as he proudly took the wheel, "I'll keep us stable here and the storm will blow over real quick, and everything will be perfect again! Savvy?"

Suddenly, a burst of thunder roared the skies and lightning struck eerily close to the ship, resulting in a loud boom. Everyone jumped and Jack could hear Arabella scream from below. Rain poured even harder and the waves slowly began to go wild, crashing onto the deck and making the ship rock. Once Jean and Tumen finished furling the sails, they scurried back down the rigging. Jean helped Mr. Reece secure the lines and Tumen went to Laura's cabin to figure out where they were.

Jack felt powerful being behind the wheel of a big ship like the Fleur, and adrenaline rushed through him knowing he was sailing it through a storm. However as the storm grew stronger and the waves became rougher, it came to be more difficult to take hold of the wheel as it tried to spin. Jack used all his strength to keep hold of the wheel, but it was clear he was struggling.

"Hey—uh, somebody help me out here!" Jack called out as he could barely see Jean and Mr. Reece at the lower decks through the sheets of rain. No response and no one came to help; they couldn't hear him through the screams of the wind.

Jack was left on his own. He struggled against the wheel once more but his strength gave out and he let go, letting the wheel spin on its own. Jack watched as the wheel spun and the noise of the storm disallowed him from hearing anything else. He glanced to his right and the last thing he saw was the heavy boom coming straight for him before it struck and everything went black.

Jack suddenly became conscious again. He could barely open his eyes. Rain pelted him so he knew he was still in the storm, but the feeling of the ground he was laying on did not feel like the wooden deck. The ground felt like asphalt, but he could not recognize it as that.

All he could see through his half-open blurry eyes was red and blue lights flashing, and he could hear muffled voices he couldn't recognize. He could hear sobbing of a woman from afar and he heard multiple people scrambling right above him. His heart pounded out of his chest as he couldn't understand what was going on. Jack blinked and everything went black again.

Jack woke up again to a white bright light. He squinted as his eyes adjusted. Pain immediately hit his head as he tried to attune to his surroundings. His bed was adjusted so he laid somewhat sitting up. All the walls in the room were white and he was surrounded by foreign machinery that let out the occasional beep. A series of moving images played on the wall across the room.

He further looked around and his gaze caught someone else in the room with him. The person was sitting in a chair looking down at something in his hand, and he looked somewhat familiar. This person looked a lot like the man he tried to run away from, the man who Jack thought may be his father, Teague. He looked like Teague, but at the same time, he didn't. His clothes were a lot different. Instead of the signature long red coat and the intricate waistcoat, he had on a short, dark red leather jacket and had layers of other clothes underneath. And instead of the bandana, the large bicorn, and dreadlocks adorned with trinkets, he had no headdress and a lot less dreads, with all his hair pulled back into a low ponytail and a few strands hanging in his face. He still had facial hair, but it was a lot shorter, almost like a simple goatee.

"Teague?"

Teague looked up. "Oh, you're awake." He put whatever was in his hand in his pocket, stood up, and brought the chair to Jack's bedside.

Oh no... Jack thought, He's back...

"How're you feeling, Jackie?" Teague asked.

Jack didn't answer his question as he closely studied him. He finally spoke. "What happened to all the—" he put his hands over his head gesturing the big hat, but was stopped by a tugging feeling on his arm. He looked and realized he had tubes connected to him. He put his arms back down and glanced over to Teague, who was staring at him.

"You know, I told you it was a stupid of you to go riding your bike in that weather," Teague reprimanded.

"What?" Jack was confused.

"You got hit by a car and had yourself almost killed. You're lucky you only got away with a concussion and stitches, and some bruises."

Jack tried to sit up more. "Yeah, whatever. I got to get back to the ship—to the crew!"

"I have no clue what you're talking about, boy," Teague said.

"You know—in the Caribbean! Where am I?! Take me back there now!" Jack demanded.

Teague rubbed his brow and shook his head. He then sat up and headed to the door.

"Where are you going?! Tell me where I am right now! I need to get back to my—Laura's crew!"

Teague walked out shutting the door behind him and Jack was left by himself. He slammed his head on the bed in frustration and pain shot through his head again. He gritted his teeth as he waited for the pain to pass.

Buzz buzz

He slightly turned his head to the side table and noticed a flat, black, metal thing vibrating face down. Jack reached over with a free hand and grabbed it. He was nearly blinded by the bright light the thing gave off.

He read aloud the text that appeared on the screen, "11:41am, September 6th, 20–WHAT?" Jack's eyes bulged out of his head. He skimmed through the rest.

Messenger 2h ago

Anne

"Hey babe! I heard you got in an accident! I'm so sorry! I hope you're okay!

Hit me up as soon as possible when you wake up, ok?

Love you!"

Jack furrowed his brow and wrinkled his nose in distaste as he read the messages. He discarded the device back on the table and laid back, staring at the moving images in front of him. The door then opened and Teague entered with another man in a white jacket.

The man greeted him with a smile as he walked over to his bedside. "Hi, Jack. I am Dr. Grogan. I'm here to help you and make sure everything is working normally since you came in with a head injury last night." He reached out for a handshake and Jack reluctantly took it. "Your dad is saying here you're having some issues so I'd like to ask you a few questions." The doctor talked in an accent Jack could not recognize. Teague almost talked in the same way, but not fully. Teague still almost sounded like himself.

"You don't get it! I'm not supposed to be here in this time!" Jack said turning to Teague. "I don't even know how I bloody got here! I'm supposed in the Caribbean—on the ship!"

"What ship?" the doctor asked.

"The Fleur de la Mort!" Jack answered. "Big thing, turns invisible—terrible captain. Her daughter though, it's a shame she picked an oddball over me."

The doctor wrote down some notes. "Okay, first thing I want to ask you is... What do you remember from last night?"

"The last thing I remember at all is trying to control the Fleur during that blasted storm that came out of nowhere."

"Okay," the doctor continued taking notes. "Do you know your home address?"

"My what?"

"Where do you live?"

"The Caribbean, mate!"

Teague turned to the doctor and raised a brow.

"What is the name of the school you go to?"

"School? Never been."

The doctor asked a few more general questions, which Jack either didn't know or answered incorrectly. He then pulled Teague off to the side in the other side of the room to quietly speak. However, Jack was still within earshot.

"What it looks like is Jack may have some memory issues. Memory loss is often common in head injuries like concussions. This is usually temporary so I'd say when you go home, just treat him normally, maybe try to jog his memory a bit, and his memory should be back in about a week."

"What's with him going on about this ship and the Caribbean then?" Teague questioned.

"I can't explain it," the doctor replied, "but I'm pretty sure he's probably thinking about a show or a movie he's watched or a book he's read recently."

"Well, he does sort of have a thing with nautical stuff," Teague reasoned.

"What we will do is we'll do a few more scans today to make sure there are no serious injuries in his brain, and he'll be discharged tomorrow morning if all is good," the doctor smiled and left the room.