A/N: Hello Everyone! I am Back! Sorry for the long hiatus this story has taken...again...the last few months have been mad from my end and I've had so much to do in my real life which gave me such bad writers block as well as no time to write! I've been reading any reviews left on the story and I really appreciate your comments and patience! Please let me know what you think and I hope you like the chapter

"I assume you're familiar with El Matador de Mar?" Teague asked tonelessly to Jack, he rubbed his temples to quell the headache that had been steadily developing since last night.

Jack shook his head slowly

"The butcher of the sea has been something of a thorn in our side for the past two or three years; he's intent on ridding the world of piracy and so far, any ship that comes up against him doesn't stand much of a chance."

That was putting it lightly. About a year after Jack had seemingly dropped off the face of the earth the Butcher had appeared. Ships who had been on the lookout for red-devil flags had grievously underestimated the EITC flag which flew from the Silent Mary and what, under normal circumstances, would have simply been a bit of honest pirating had quickly turned into a blood bath to rival even those of the Rogue Pirate Attacks. Captain Salazar left one survivor from each attack so that he could spread the word of his reign of terror to other crew's. At first, he'd become a trophy for the most daring buccaneer but as time went on, he became a shadow that hung darkly over piracy.

"Sounds like someone else we knew." Jack scoffed, thinking of Christophe.

Teague rolled his eyes in frustration and immediately regretted the action when the steadily developing headache moved to sit just behind his eyes, he sighed. "We've never had any warning about where an attack is going to take place, what his plans are so effectively we've been sitting ducks until now." Teague slowly pulled a map around the front of his desk and Jack scrunched his eyebrow looking down at it in interest, "Three weeks ago we received word about an upcoming attack on Tortuga, and since then we've been planning to intercept them here," Teague pointed at a spot on the map labelled 'the devil's triangle' "and attack him and his fleet before that attack takes place."

"And, you are telling me this because?" Jack asked

"The pirate lords have decided that they want you and the pearl to be involved in this rather than the death penalty."

"Oh!" Jack's face seemed to go through the stages of grief before stopping at anger. "So, rather than putting a bullet in my brain they want me to go up against one of their biggest adversaries, whose never lost a battle against them, and attempt to defeat him?" Jack looked over at Teague incredulously, "This still sounds like a death sentence to me."

Teague sighed exasperatedly, the past few weeks were weighing heavily on him and the constant arguing from both sides was beginning to wear him thin. He took a deep breath before answering Jack so as not to snap his neck in anger and be done with the whole sordid business.

"It's definitely a better chance than you had before; you and The Pearl would be part of a small fleet taking on The Silent Mary, so, really, it's within their best interests to keep you alive- they need the resources."

Jack sighed as he tried to think of a way to protest this latest punishment; he could see him and the pearl being used as bait to lure El Matador De Mar into the waiting fleet of Pirate Lords who, in order to enact their revenge, probably wouldn't worry too much about which ship's (namely Jack's) got hit during the fight. Jack couldn't bear the thought of losing her again, once had been painful enough, both physically and emotionally, and the thought of Jack's first captaincy on the account also being the Pearl's final journey was too much to bear.

"I can't do it." He whispered.

"What?" Teague's eyes shot open, "You don't have a choice." He warned.

"If they want to punish me- fine! Have me be their dogsbody. I'm not having them destroy my ship in the process."

Teague's temper began to rise. He bit down on his lip so as not to snap at Jack and exhaled slowly before turning his eyes on his son; "Here's the thing, Jackie." He started, friendlily enough but with a hint of mania behind his eyes. "You being let off the death sentence is a real once-in-a-blue-moon occurrence, so, we either take this deal which the pirate lords have EVER SO GRATEFULLY presented us with- or…"

"Or?"

Teague shrugged his shoulders; "There's plenty of ways for someone to square a deal with Davy Jones. An accident at the harbour? A quick dip into some shark infested waters."

Jack gulped; "So, that's it then."

"'fraid so." After a moment Teague added, "Esmeralda's pleased y'know."

Jack led in bed that night with Esmeralda curled up with her head on his chest, Teague's comment had been a major down play of how she was taking the news; when Jack had left Teague's office after their meeting, she had practically pounced on him in excitement;

"It's a way for you to show them what side you're on and also what you can do! Those guns were pretty impressive here, imagine what they'll be like in a battle! And if you beat him; there's no doubt in anyone's mind then! Mi Corazon, can't you see how good this is?"

But Jack still had this horrible black pit in his stomach telling him that there was something more sinister behind this latest proposal; El Matador de Mar was undefeated and if he, miraculously, didn't sink the pearl they could just as easily use him to do their dirty work without having Davy Jones pay them a visit.

However, Jack couldn't remember seeing her this happy for a long time, finally she seemed to feel that the danger had passed and that, at last he was safe. And how could he burst her hope? Her emotions had been revolving around his fate for far too long now and he could see from the smile that barely left her face, from the way she gripped him close, from the way she'd kissed him all day, that this was the happiest she'd been in a long time. Because of that, he'd kept quiet about what he thought of his punishment.

It seemed to Jack that this was the first night Esmeralda had slept soundly. Even unconscious she had a smile plastered on his face. Jack meanwhile had yet to fall asleep as he thought of ways, he could protect the pearl from her possible fate. Without realising, Jack must have involuntarily stiffened as Esmeralda woke, scrunched her eyes and sighed sleepily;

"Mi Corazon?" Esmeralda whispered drowsily, "Why are you still awake?"

Jack put his arm around her and pulled her into him, "'m not awake, shhh you're dreaming." He said mock-wearily.

For a while she relished in their close contact and laid with her head over his heart listening to it's steady thuds before she felt Jack begin to tense up again. She sighed, annoyed and then pulled her head up so she could look Jack somewhat in the eye. "What's wrong?"

Jack scrunched his brow, "What? Nothing!" he said incredulously,

Esmeralda rolled her eyes and placed her head back down on his chest, cuddling in affectionately; "Lucky for you, I'm too tired to pry." She yawned, "Goodnight."

Jack rolled his eyes as she settled back down to sleep, within minutes he could see her back slowly rising and falling in the rhythm of sleep. Her breath was warm on his shoulder. Jack couldn't help but feel the small niggling of guilt in the pit of his stomach as he watched her doze, for the first time in weeks, carefree. Deep down he knew that this was a great middle ground that he was being offered; he'd get to keep his life which was more than he could've expected when he arrived here but there was just something that told him that this seemingly pleasant bargain he'd managed to swing had a nasty tint to it which would leave him without his title, without the pearl and effectively starting from scratch again. The thought of these factors rearing their ugly heads created such a sense of unease within Jack that he physically shivered; he remembered life in shipwreck cove before becoming a captain as miserable, purposeless and almost like it didn't belong to him and the thought of losing the pearl after making a deal with Davy Jones to secure her fate was more than he could bare.

"What's wrong?" Esmeralda murmured against Jack's chest; her eyes still firmly closed in sleep.

He sighed, no getting away from this one, "It's this battle with Salazar."

"What about it?"

"Lass, it really doesn't matter. Get some sleep I'll figure it out."

"Call me Lass again and you're sleeping on the floor," She answered somewhat feistily through the veil of slumber.

The level of threat in her sleep deprived warning did nothing but make Jack smile in hilarity; "Sorry, Love."

"Now what's wrong with this battle with Salazar?"

Jack sighed, "It's the pearl."

"What about her?"

"What if they use her as some sort of bait to get Salazar out and she ends up at the bottom of the ocean?"

Esmeralda lifted her head up and looked into Jack's face,

"She's just a sh-,"

"Not to me."

She knew how stubborn Jack could be, especially when he felt this strongly about something…she found it utterly irresistible. Her Jack had made the best comeback she could have hoped for; from something small and vulnerable when he first arrived to this fiercely devoted fresh pirate Captain, she knew in that moment he was ready;

"You're not going to drop this are you?" She asked.

Jack smirked

She sighed and climbed out of bed, walking over to her coat which hung on a peg by the door. She rummaged through a pocket on the inside of the coat until she fished out a small silk pouch. She wandered back over to the bed and sat down across from Jack, handing him the pouch.

Jack's first thought was that it was very light; "Forgive me for saying, Es, but I'm not sure this'll pay for the damages when my ship gets blown to smithereens." He laughed,

She smirked, "Just open it."

Jack did and as soon as he saw what was inside his eyes bulged and his face drained of colour. "No."

She smiled at him, "Yes."

"Es, I can't-,"

"Yes, you can." She continued her knowing smile as Jack's mouth opened and closed as he struggled to find the words to argue with her.

She could sense the mild panic rising within him so moved closer and grabbed his hand, her other hand drifted to his face, "You're ready."

"I just got out of a death penalty!"

"And?"

Again, Jack's mouth seemed to open and close as his brain worked overtime to find some witty remark which seemed lost to him.

"I read it in the code when Teague and I were trying to find a way to save you. It's legal, there are a few slightly different rules if you are in your position, but it's legal. It gives you more protection, a better standing and I think you're ready."

Jack just looked down at the pouch in his hand, inside which held a heavy burden but also, somehow, the key to his absolute freedom and safety; he looked back up at Esmeralda, with a million questions but unable to voice any of them;

"I would have always chosen you to be my successor, Corazon. I was waiting for the opportune moment, as you'd say!" She mocked, "Honestly, I didn't think it would be this soon but…es el momento adecuado."

There was silence as Jack looked back into the pouch Esmeralda had handed him. Inside was a single coin; financially, not the most generous gift she could give but in notability it was priceless. The coin has been passed down to Esmeralda by her Grand-father and resembled her title as Pirate Lord of The Caribbean; Pirate Lords held a standing that Jack was all too familiar with because he'd been around it his entire life, however, it had always felt like something separate to him, something he could never quite access. His own title as Teague's only child and therefore heir had always left him feeling more inadequate than lucky; Teague and the rest of his family had questioned Jack's ability to perform the role from his birth and some of Jack's earliest memories was someone in the house screaming at him for how inadequate he was and what a disappointment and an embarrassment his stint as the Keeper was going to be. This gift from Esmeralda however, felt more like an honour, an invitation to a club he'd always been barred out of. It was also only the second time in his life that someone had handed him an opportunity because they believed he could take it on- the last one contained bitter memories of his time with the EITC and the horrific end it had come to- this one, on the other hand, was filled with love and belief for him, something Jack had very little experience with.

"I…don't know what to say…" He stammered.

"Is that a yes?"

Jack froze for a minute before slowly nodding his head in an absolute state of shock. Esmeralda grinned and excitedly grabbed his face to kiss him.