Violet had made sure that she was on the opposite end of the longboat from Jack and the Commodore as they rowed toward the Isla de Muerta. As much as she simply adored their company, she figured that neither of the two men was in the mood to chat at the moment, which she was perfectly fine with.
"I don't care for the situation," muttered Norrington as he lowered a spyglass. Beside them, the Black Pearl bobbed in the water, seemingly abandoned. "Any attempt to storm the cave could turn into an ambush."
"Not if you're the one doing the ambushing. Charles and I go in, we convince Barbossa to send his men out with their little boats - You and your mates return to the Dauntless and blast them with your little cannons, eh. What do you have to lose?" Jack said with a grin, and he slung an arm around Norrington, who quickly removed it uncomfortably.
"Nothing I'd lament being rid of," he said through gritted teeth, and Violet smiled from the back of the boat.
"Really, Commodore? Not even a certain young lady who was minutes away from being your wife?" she said, and both men turned to stare at her angrily.
"You have no right to speak of Elizabeth, especially not when you were the one who forced me to do this in the first place," Norrington said with a dark gleam in his eye, and Violet shrugged, turning away from him.
"Love makes people do strange things, doesn't it?" she asked, trying to attempt a nonchalant tone, but out of the corner of her eye she could see Jack staring at her intently.
"Are you speaking from experience, Miss Charles?" Norrington asked slyly, and Violet twisted back to him, a passive expression on her face.
"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not," she said flippantly, and Norrington simply raised an eyebrow at her, as did Jack. "All I'm saying is, darling Elizabeth might not be completely safe on the Dauntless." Norrington looked taken aback at that, throwing a glance back at the Dauntless.
He kept his eyes on the ship, considering Jack's proposal and Violet's words.
"I suppose we could attempt your plan," Norrington said warily after a few moments' silence, and Jack gave Violet a sharp look. "But if any harm befalls Miss Swann, rest assured that you will be dead by sunrise at my hand."
"Oh, don't worry, I am very assured," Violet said, and Norrington gave her a solemn nod.
"Then please, Miss Charles. Allow me to do the ambushing," he said coldly.
A few moments later, Violet found herself in a longboat, alone with Jack and rowing away from the Dauntless and towards the Isla de Muerta. They had been silent since they left, Jack having snatched the oars and begun rowing almost the second they reached the boat. He hadn't looked at Violet since, and she couldn't help how much she hated being ignored by him.
"Listen, Jack, I don't know why you're acting like such a child, but-"
"A child," he repeated, cutting off Violet as he turned to stare at her. "Maybe I am a child, love, for believing that there was a heart somewhere inside that cold soul." Violet opened her mouth, furious now and not even bothering to control her temper. Why should she, when there was only the open sea to witness them?
"I like how you're saying that, after you haven't once truly cared for anyone in your entire life," she hissed, and he glared at her, a strange expression on his usually smirking face.
"With all due respect, Violet, you don't know anything about me," he said coldly, drawing out her name like it was a curse.
"I know that you're a backstabbing traitor who reels people in and spits them back out on the cold floor, left with nothing. After what you did to me, how could you ever expect me to get close to you just so you could do it again?" she said angrily, and Jack shut his mouth, sorrow deepening across his features. He didn't respond for a few minutes, rowing silently towards the mouth of the cave while Violet fumed across from him.
"Violet, what I did to you is the only thing I regret in my entire life," he said finally, and the quiet words sent a tremor through her.
"Well, your words are pretty now, aren't they," she said bitterly, refusing to forgive him so easily. She'd tried to hate him for it, truly she had, but every time she thought of his face the only thing she'd wanted over those two long years was to see him again. And she hated herself for it.
"I don't expect anything from you. After we rescue Turner, I'll drop you off at the nearest port," he said, and Violet shook her head silently. It was what she told herself she wanted to hear, but deep inside her, she didn't really want this adventure to end. Because once it did, she'd have to wait a long, long time again until she found an excuse to see Captain Jack Sparrow again.
Violet and Jack stood at the back of a crowd of pirates, once again in the treasure cavern of the Isla de Muerta. However, this time, it was not Elizabeth Swann who stood over the stone chest, but Will Turner.
Captain Barbossa stood above him, fingering the stone knife that would soon spill Will's blood if they didn't hurry. She wasn't certain what Jack's plan was, but he wasn't exactly in the brightest mood to tell her, and she wasn't exactly in the brightest mood to ask him.
"Come on," Jack said, and they began to worm their way through the crowd, Jack making pointed 'excuse me's everytime they passed someone.
"Begun by blood. By blood undo-" Barbossa's words were cut off as Violet and Jack burst through to the front of the crowd of pirates, and Violet's gaze when immediately to that horrible one-eyed pirate with her pistol and the other burly one who had her cutlass.
"Jack! Violet!" Will exclaimed triumphantly, and Barbossa stared at the two of them, eyes wide.
"It's not possible," he breathed, and Jack flashed him a grin, back to his normal self.
"Not probable," Jack corrected, which seemed to anger Barbossa further.
"Where's Elizabeth?" demanded Will, passion and worry written all over his face and filling his tone.
"She's safe, just like I promised. She's sent us to rescue you, just like she promised. And you get to die for her, just like you promised. So we're all men of our word, really, except for Elizabeth, who is, in fact, a woman," Jack drawled, and Violet found herself struggling to keep up with his words. Suddenly, pirates began to surround them, and Barbossa pointed his stone knife at the two of them menacingly.
"And I'm going to kill you, Barbossa, just like I promised," Violet said sweetly, and Barbossa gave her a threatening glare.
"Shut up! You're next," he spat at her, and he quickly whirled the knife around back to Turner's throat.
"Violet, love, calm down, there will be no killing here. And- you don't want to be doing that, mate," said Jack, turning to Barbossa, and the words immediately intrigued the pirate captain. He shot a glance at Jack before bringing the knife closer to Will's skin.
"No, I really think I do," he said, glaring at everyone and everything.
"Your funeral," Jack said, shrugging, and Barbossa dug the knife closer into Will, agonized by Jack's words. The strain was visible on his face, visibly warring with himself, until he finally swung around and brought the knife down, groaning.
"Why don't I want to do it?" he asked aggressively, and Jack stepped forward, shaking away the pirates from around him as he stepped forward.
"Because the H. M. S. Dauntless, pride of the Royal Navy, is floating just offshore, waiting for you," Jack said with a smile, and Violet wanted to scream from annoyance. Of course he would betray Norrington. Classic Sparrow.
Barbossa stared at Jack intently, and all around them, pirates were reacting in surprise and whispering amongst each other.
"Just hear me out, mate. You order your men to row out to the Dauntless, they do what they do best. Robert's your uncle, Fannie's your aunt, there you are with two ships. The makings
of your very own fleet. Of course, you'll take the grandest as your flagship, and who's to argue? But what of the Pearl?" Jack asked, sauntering over to Barbossa with his hands spread in front of him.
"Name me Captain. I'll sail under your colors, I'll give you ten percent of me plunder, and you get to introduce yourself as 'Commodore Barbossa.' Savvy?" Jack continued, and Barbossa folded his arms, considering Jack's terms.
"And what of Charles?" he asked, staring down at Violet, who was staring daggers at the pirate with her cutlass.
"What of me?" she said, turning back to the men, and Barbossa rolled his eyes at her.
"There must be something in this for you, or else you wouldn't be here," he said coldly, and Violet shrugged, stepping closer to him. "And I don't think you'd particularly enjoy sailing under my colors."
"I'll sail aboard the Pearl," she said simply, hating the submissive words as soon as she said them. But whatever Jack was doing, it was normally best to play along.
"Really? Have you two finally-"
"No!" Jack and Violet exclaimed childishly, and Barbossa let out a low chuckle.
"And I suppose in exchange, you want me not to kill the whelp?" asked Barbossa, gesturing to Will, and Jack shrugged, throwing a swift glance over at Will who was scowling darkly at them.
"No, no, no, not at all. By all means, kill the whelp. Just not yet. Wait to lift the curse- until the opportune moment," Jack said, and Will glared at him.
"What curse?" Violet whispered to him, but he simply shook his head and slowly sauntered over until he was right in front of Will and the chest.
"For instance:" Jack continued, and as he scooped up a handful of coins from the stone chest, Violet knew exactly what he was planning on doing.
"After you've killed Norrington's men," he said slowly, and as he spoke he began to drop a coin back into the chest with each word. "Every. Last. One." She watched as Jack palmed one of the coins, and at a quick glance she could tell Will noticed too.
"You've been planning this from the beginning. Ever since you learned my name," Will hissed, and Jack shrugged nonchalantly.
"Yeah," he agreed.
"I want fifty percent of yer plunder," Barbossa demanded, and Violet and Jack turned back to him.
"Come now, Barbossa, that's hardly fair with both me and Charles on board. Make it fifteen," Jack argued.
"Forty," insisted Barbossa.
"Twenty," Violet demanded, stepping in, and Barbossa turned his hard stare on her.
"And we'll throw in a hat!" Jack added, elbowing Violet, and she swiftly jabbed him back. There was no chance that she was going to be pushed around by him. Not now, not ever.
"We have an accord," Barbossa said, his mouth breaking into a sickly smile, and Jack stuck out a hand for Barbossa to shake, but Barbossa simply ignored him and turned to Violet. "Captain?"
"But of course," Violet said, and the two grinned fakely at each other as they shook hands. His hand was disgustingly dirty, just as Violet had expected.
"All hands- to the boats!" Jack said grandly, recovering from his momentary rejection, and Barbossa shot him an angry look.
"Apologies, you give the orders," Jack said submissively, and he gestured Barbossa forward towards the pirates gathered in front of them.
"Gents-" Barbossa crowed, a grin on his face, "Take a walk!"
Jack's smile fell, and he turned to Violet, who simply shook her head disappointedly at him.
"Not to the boats?" he asked, but Barbossa simply smiled at him.
"Not to the boats," Barbossa agreed.
A/N: Sorry for the late update! It was a busy week :) Enjoy!