Rose's eyes adjusted to the candlelight in the room. The walls were entirely stone, with one outside window that let in some of the morning light. She could see a table, padded chair, maps and charts nailed to the walls...

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sudden clank of her shackles hitting the floor. She instantly reached for her wrists and rubbed the reddened skin that was irritated by the rusted metal.

"What's your name?" the guard said, rank halitosis greeting her nose.

"What's it to you?" Rose was on edge to say the least, and was not at all in the mood for pleasantries from someone so vile, both inside and out.

"Ah! A Frenchie!" he cried triumphantly. "Well, Frenchie, you have a special job tonight, eh?"

Rose's heart beat wildly in her chest. "How do you mean?" she asked, although she knew exactly how he meant.

His cackle sent her cringing. "Be wise, Frenchie. The Admiral's a single man! Sendin' for a lovely Frenchie from the gallows. Why else would he be keepin' ya alive?"

Rose gulped for air. She wished so desperately that she hadn't acted so rashly, and created undue attention to herself. She wouldn't have been pulled out of the execution line, for likely was chance that what she was about to endure was going to be much worse than what she would have endured had she stayed inactive. Norrington and his men had fallen behind and presumably turned back to Port Royal once the Pearl had successfully skirted a decently treacherous hurricane. His motivation was only to find Sparrow and deliver justice as he saw fit. He knew Rose was a part of Jack's crew, and he could use her by whatever means necessary to manipulate information, though he would have no way of knowing that his work had already been delivered in the form of Davy Jones, yet another of Jack's all too many enemies.

The panic worsened as Rose heard Norrington approach his door. She instinctively began to pull away.

"Don't be scared now, Frenchie," the guard jeered. "I'm sure you'll have a fine time!" His cackle seemed to match the creak of the door as the Admiral entered.

"Ah, yes. Thank you, Richards," she heard him say.

"Aye, sir," Richards responded, exiting through the doorway. Rose was staring straight ahead, eyes wide and alert.

"No need to stay posted," Norrington called behind him. "I would appreciate some privacy with the prisoner." Rose drew a sharp intake of breath.

Richards released a suggestive guffaw as he closed the door behind him. He left her side and listened at the door for a moment. The moment passed when he decided that it was safe to speak. "He's gone," he announced sharply. Rose's eyes were still wide with terror, and she didn't respond, letting a chilling silence fall between them. She was almost afraid to breathe incorrectly for fear of his killing her right there. His face was hardened and cold, eyes distant and judgmental.

He continued, "I am providing you with an opportunity."

She dared not move, although her heart flew with the mention of the word opportunity. She gulped, absolutely terrified. "Whatever you're about to do, I would prefer that you get it over with now and save me the agony of waiting."

He did not react at all to her plea. "Explain," was all he said.

"Sir?" she asked. What did he mean "explain?"

"Explain your story."

Rose considered her options. There was a slight chance that Norrington didn't completely recall her, but perhaps recognized some of her qualities. Perhaps he didn't actually remember under what pretenses they had met. She spoke with specific intent, in hopes of saving herself. "I am with child," she murmured. "The father died at sea. I am alone." But she instantly regretted the words as they left her mouth. It was clear that she was telling a boldfaced lie.

His eyes smiled like a cat pursuing a mouse. "Then," he said, "You will give birth in prison, then be hanged. Your child will be sent to an orphanage and most likely work in the sugar plantations if he is lucky."

His words were cold and harsh, and she swallowed the fear that billowed inside her.

"Don't you see?" he said with an evil grin. "No matter what excuses you have, there is no escaping this fate. So you might as well tell me the truth." He snorted. "You really thought I wouldn't recall you yet again despite…whatever happened to your hair."

So it was clear then. He did recognize her. Her response was fiery and instantaneous. She was most likely overstepping her boundaries, but she was so scared and furious that she dared to be bold. "If there is no escape," Rose bristled, "Then what 'opportunity' can you possibly offer me?"

He blinked a few times, then a sarcastic smirk crossed his face. "I am assuring you the opportunity to tell the truth." He moved from behind his desk and towered over her, his posture straight and strong. "So tell me, miss, after all this time, what is the truth?"

Rose gulped, unsure of what move she should take in this dangerous chess game of fate. "I don't know what truth to tell, Admiral," she said carefully.

"You can begin by telling me how you know him."

Jack. Rose had always promised Jack to never reveal how they were related, as his enemies could find a way to use their blood connection as a weakness. But Jack was dead, and Rose was about to join him. Did that rule still apply? "Why does that matter?" Rose asked carefully.

He raised his eyebrows. "The Redhead act? All for that key?" He knew about the key to Davy Jones's chest. "That takes a serious commitment. And," he said, stepping closer to her, "You're not exactly Jack's type. With the wig, perhaps, but otherwise..."

Rose looked him squarely in the eyes, though he towered above her. Then she allowed the words to fall out her mouth. "We are siblings."

He grinned in victory. "What is your name, Miss…Sparrow?" he questioned taking his original place behind his desk, leaning on it.

"My name is Rose Hexfury."

"And this, of course, makes you the daughter of Edward Teague, if I am not mistaken." He leaned toward her menacingly. "You have his eyes." She quickly looked away. "Pray tell," he continued, "What has Jack told you about me?"

Rose too grinned now. So this was to be a power game. Very well. "He's told me that you have sworn his death and all those aboard the Pearl, which includes me."

His eyes gleamed. "How does the Pearl fare nowadays?"

Rose's face flared with heat as blood pulsated through her veins directly into her face. The game had gone too far. "You know DAMN well how they fare!" she cried.

His face fell. "No," he corrected somberly. "Truly I do not. It concerns me."

"Oh," she scoffed. "I'm sure it does. Well, you've been beaten to the task, Admiral."

His eyes widened. "What?"

Rose considered before speaking. If the impossible actually were to occur, and the Pearl's crew actually did succeed in saving Jack, she could be damning him again by telling Norrington anything. And whose life was she protecting? Her own? Hardly worth the satisfaction he would receive. But she stood the chance to endure some permanent damage, and for the time being...what was dead was dead.

Rose was careful not to reveal too much, and instead decided to let her words trigger a reaction. "The Pearl is gone. She sank beneath the waves."

The Admiral's face fell once more. For once, Rose saw all his power drain from him. "By what means?" was all he said.

If Norrington responded to what Rose was about to say next, then he truly had done his research in this matter. "Davy Jones," she said.

Indeed, he did not question her answer in the slightest. It seemed that he had truly immersed himself in all of Jack's doings. He simply asked next, "And what of the crew?"

"Dead." Although she revealed this solemnly, Rose did take pleasure in the wince that escaped him.

"They...all died by the Kraken?"

Suddenly, all Rose's power over the situation left again at the mention of the Kraken. This man knew far more about the situation than Rose had ever anticipated. "How...how did you—"

"I am not all I appear to be, Miss Hexfury," he murmured. "Now, please answer my question. Did they all perish?"

"No," she finally said. "The only one to die at the hands of the Kraken was Jack. The others got away."

His face hardened. "You said they were all dead!"

"Consider this, Admiral," Rose replied. "The surviving crew and myself were traveling to Davy Jones's Locker to rescue Jack. Your men captured me while the rest made their escape to the Locker. So," she continued, "What are the odds the crew actually made it at world's end, especially with your Lord Beckett's reign of terror across the seven seas?"

He blinked a few times before responding. "I would not put it past that crew to get what they want. They seem extraordinarily fortunate." He began to slowly pace behind the desk. "But Sparrow surprises me. He...I don't mean to pry, but are you certain that he is in fact..." His voice trailed off.

"Dead?" Rose finished. "Yes, Admiral. This much I know."

He looked at her. "My apologies. His humility is certainly admirable, seeing that it usually seems beyond him."

Her throat tightened. She struggled to keep her voice calm as she said, "He was always considerate, yet he always kept that side of him distant from others. However, in the instance of his death, the Captain would not have gone down with his ship. He was...detained."

"Who?" he asked eagerly. "I know the crew. Who killed him?"

Rose tightened her jaw as she spat, "Your betrothed, Admiral."

Before her name even had the chance to leave Rose's mouth, Norrington cried out, "Elizabeth?" He then started to laugh. "I didn't think her capable of it, but was right in my assumptions all along. It became too much for her."

"What became too much?"

Norrington snorted in amusement. "Her attraction to Jack was embarrassingly obvious. The only things that stood in the way of her and Turner's love affair were me and Jack. I left of my own accord, so she had to cut Jack out herself."

Rose tried to calm herself down as not to attack the Admiral for his casual behavior towards the death of her beloved sibling, and instead rigidly stated, "I thought it was Elizabeth who left you of her own accord, not the other way around."

Now Norrington felt the sting of Rose's words, spitefully countering, "The first time, perhaps. The second time was when I served beneath your imbecilic brother's reign aboard the Black Pearl as a deckhand little over three months ago. And conveniently enough, you were no longer aboard. How interesting..." The two had indeed barely missed each other, as he and Elizabeth had boarded the Pearl in Tortuga right after the crew left Rose in the bayou with Tia and Barbossa.

She gritted her teeth. "I was needed elsewhere, thank you. And you? You? A deckhand aboard the Pearl?"

He smiled ruefully, then looked up at her. "If you can't beat them, join them. A pirate's life for me."

Suddenly, Rose realized what had happened. "Your ship was destroyed after the hurricane in Tripoli, wasn't it?"

"And my crew, and my career, and my life."

"Obviously not for long," Rose shot back. "For here we are, and it would appear that your wig is whiter than ever."

Norrington pursed his lips. "An act of piracy lost me the job, and an act of piracy won it back. I stole Jones's heart and handed it over to Beckett."

Rose's eyes widened and her mouth searched for the right words. Her voice shook with fury as she said, "That heart could have saved Jack. Called off the Kraken!"

He moved out from behind the desk and walked over to her again. "Are you suggesting that I am just as much to blame for Jack's death as Elizabeth is?"

Rose didn't answer, for fear of angering him into physical violence towards her. Verbal sparring was one thing, but this could unfold into something far more serious quite quickly.

He answered for her. "Perhaps I am to blame," he said, removed. "I am truly sorry for your loss Miss Hexfury, but it seems that you knew a different Jack than I did. And for someone who ruined my life, I cannot help but feel slightly fulfilled that my actions might have led to his undoing."

Her eyes brimmed with tears. This conversation needed to end here. She could not handle this. And there was still the very real possibility that there was an alternate reason why she was called here alone. "Why did you really save me, Admiral?" she blurted.

He brought himself quite close until he was towering above her once more, saying in a hushed voice, "When I was onboard, no one trusted me with information. They are going to the Locker to retrieve Jack, and then what? Why do they need him back so profoundly? What is their next move?"

Rose pulled back, realizing his true intentions. "You want to destroy us all!" she yelled.

He grasped her shoulders and hushed her. "If they hear us, we are doomed!"

"Perhaps you should have considered this before you relinquished the power of the seas to Beckett!" Rose cried, ignoring his attempts to quiet her. "You could have protected them by staying with them!"

He still had a hold of her shoulders and pushed her against the wall. She gasped at the sudden burst of action, but fought back, trying to scream out. He shoved a hand over her mouth and kept her still. She stared at him directly in the eyes, letting the tears fall, but he wasn't looking back. His eyes were on the door. Once he was convinced that she wouldn't cry out, he slowly let his hand fall from her mouth. Rose's heart pounded, as she was unable to predict his next move. The first thing Jack had ever taught her was to never trust a pirate— and not only was this man a pirate, but for years he had obsessed himself with every motion of her brother, perhaps the most notorious pirate of them all. The perfect revenge for Jack Sparrow's insolence was harming his younger sister... Rose expected this inevitable end.

"Please," she murmured, eyes filling with tears once more. "I beg again. Whatever you are about to do, please finish it quickly and send me back to the line."

There was silence for a moment, and then he said, "You really believed all that I told Beckett out there? After all we've just discussed?"

Relief flooded through her, though she solemnly said, "Never trust a pirate."

"We are in a strict no-survivor policy. There had to be a reason why you were given privilege. The only reason is if I told them you were my mistress." He released her, returning back behind his desk. Rose remained frozen in place. He turned back to her. "I am genuinely sorry if I frightened you." When she said nothing, he continued. "I assure you, I only aim to aid in this process."

"And what aid could you possibly offer me, Admiral?" she asked.

"First," he began, "Call me James."