Chapter 7

It seemed that he had been on a bad mood since Barbossa had gotten hold of the Pearl and that almost infuriated him more, something that didn't help at all. However, thinking about the Pearl wouldn't do him any good and, as he grimaced, drank from his bottle of rum, turning around to go to another tavern, Twelve Daggers. Just as he turned, he found himself against Jame's chest.

"Damn ye, mate." Jack grumbled, rubbing his arm just in case "Ye're like a damn statue."

James raised an eyebrow and almost rolled his eyes "You're supposed to be recruiting, according to Gibbs."

Jack huffed at that, shooing him "Don't let him fool ye, Gibbs can take care of that without problems… Besides, I have to check how is our shady friend."

"Are you talking about Vane? How do you know where he's going to be?" he asked.

"Matter of facts." Jack said simply "He has obtained a good booty, so he'll be spendin' the money in a good tavern. Now, without countin' The Faithful Bride, there are only two good taverns around here: The one we have just left and Twelve Daggers."

"And if he's there, what?"

Jack turned, clicking his tongue "Must ye always question me?" James only stared at him, with a completely serious expression and Jack pouted a bit "If I see the mood they are in, how much they have obtained… I might have a chance for tomorrow, since apparently I'll be taking a ship and some money."

"Great." James drawled "More stealing."

"It's not like ye're goin' to do it, so there's no reason for ye to fret so much."

There was a lot of noise at the Twelve Daggers and it was almost full. James could remember the place, albeit not very well, and he could say that he hadn't missed it much, nor had he missed the smell of tobacco and alcohol everywhere. As they dodged drinks thrown their way, they headed for the bar. A woman, who looked Indian, narrowed her eyes when she saw Jack and he almost would have hidden behind James if the woman had not been faster in slapping him.

"Indira…" Jack grimaced, rubbing his cheek "Good to see ye, luv."

"You owe me money!" This one screamed.

"I don't remember…" Jack replied offhandedly as he asked to the innkeeper two mugs of rum "But… I'm sure that ye can gain more tomorrow if you spend a few hours with Vane's crew, eh?"

This one huffed at that "They only want the best for them, not that they would know if they spend most of their time drunk."

"Where are they?" he asked a bit curious, as he received the drinks and passed one to the woman.

This one sighed, but she pointed to a table that was only occupied by two people that were having an arm-wrestling competition and the rest was obviously betting, cheering their favorite. There was only a man apart from the table but in a chair, who both Jack and James recognized as Vane, who was observing the fight of the table with a smirk.

"He looks like he's having a good time." James commented.

Of all the pirates, James had disliked Vane quite a bit during his time as a pirate hunter… Vane had a ruthless mind that seemed insatiable, torturing and killing as if it were a hobby.

Jack shook his head, disappointed "I wouldn't have minded approachin' them if they were playin' cards or with dices."

James looked at the table where the wrestling had taken place, as one of them had already defeated the other. He evaluated the winner with a thoughtful look, while Vane was congratulating him. The dark-skinned man had strong arms and was big enough that was scary. James considered his options, but they needed to feel the area and it was a good chance. He sighed.

"Do you need to win?" James asked. Jack looked at him as he had grown another head and James rolled his eyes "I meant the competition, do you want to win or do you need him to win?"

"Are ye offerin' going against that giant?" Jack asked, surprised, and the other huffed, which seemed to answer him enough "Well, if ye can make it difficult for him and keep it for a little while, that would be enough. Winnin' or losin' doesn't matter too much."

"Fine by me." James took out his jacket, throwing it at Jack "Let's go meet your friend, Sparrow."

"Not my friend." he replied, holding back his annoyance as he followed him.

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As they approached the table, they observed the scene: The people that had been around the table were trading the money they had bet, Vane receiving some coins in his hands. The winner was laughing next to him at seeing the coins and he sat once more on the chair with a smirk, his right arm on the table.

"Alrigh', who wants another game?" he said, inviting the people around the scene. Most of them were dragging their feet "Come on, are ya all wusses? One more round!"

"I will try."

Despite the noise at the background, James was able to make himself heard, his voice strong and clear.

He made everyone turn around to him as he got near to the other chair, sitting carefully. Jack followed him slowly, though he kept the distance to stay with the crowd.

"Well, well… Look who we have here as company…" Vane smirked "Jack Sparrow, I had heard ya were dead, but obviously it was just a rumor."

"Ye know how it is." Jack smiled, though it didn't reach his eyes "Now, how about my mate and yers have a nice round, eh?"

"Oh, is he part of your new crew?" Vane smirked, pointing at James "I heard that you were recruiting without a ship at your hip."

He laughed at that and most of the people joined. Jack grimaced at that. He would have preferred Vane without knowing a thing, but that would have been almost impossible in Tortuga, as the island lived off rumors and gossip.

Vane turned to James "You would do better working for me, buddy. At least, I have a ship and I promise to pay well."

James raised his eyebrows, putting his right arm and grasping the hand of the other, stoically. Then, he turned to look at Vane, just a bit and spoke in a cautious but steady tone.

"I think I can choose my own captain by myself, thank you." There was a chorus of 'ohh' and some laughed, obviously enjoying the sight, but James wasn't paying attention at all "Are we going to fight or are we going to talk all day like old ladies?"

• ──────────── ✾──────────── •

Vane scorned at that, but nodded with his head at his man and the wrestling began. Not that Vane was paying a lot of attention, since his eyes were fixed on Jack.

"I like him, where did you get someone like him, huh, Sparrow?" he said, laughing a bit "It's a shame he's going to lose."

Jack didn't pay much attention to the attempt to irritate him, but he smiled a bit to Vane, calmly, as if he didn't care.

"What about ye, Vane?" He approached him a bit more, his weapons ready in any case. He weaved towards where the pirate was seated. It always helped that the people tended to underestimate him and he continued, as if he was a bit drunk, smirking gleefully "I've heard that ye obtained a pretty booty."

Vane laughed at that, obviously pleased "You've heard well. A precious Spanish merchant ship that we found with my new love; a lot of goods and we won some money with it."

Jack nodded "A good booty, I imagine." And then, cheekily, he added "Ye could invite me to a drink."

"If your mate wins, I will!" He laughed at that, as if that was an impossible thing. Jack glanced to the table, where James was having some difficulties, though the other was closed to get exhausted. Vane spoke again, this time his voice dangerously pleased "Come on, Sparrow! You like wagers!"

"And if he lost… What?" Jack puffed and shook his head "Do ye get him as a new crewmate?"

James must have heard that because his shoulders tensed for a moment, during which the other man seemed to grunt.

"Sparrow!" And Vane would have sounded offended if it wasn't for his smirk "I didn't know you were such a wuss!"

Jack shrugged at that and winked him, pleased "Only when it's obvious that I can't win."

Even though Jack knew that James was lasting a lot, he could see that he was getting tired and the other seemed to still have some energy left. And, in any case, he had already gotten what he had wanted from Vane.

Carefully he glanced at James and when their eyes met, Jack moved his towards the exit and the other seemed to understand. He watched as James struggled just a little one last time, and then let gravity work, his arm falling to a side.

The other man laughed a bit and squeezed James' arm in a friendly way "Tha' was a great fight! You're stronger than ya look!"

"It was good." James agreed, his face looking friendly; he then turned to Jack, who had been leaving his empty mug in a corner "We should leave and rest, captain. Thank you for the challenge."

The other one patted him in his back and Vane waved them goodbye with his mug raised, as the others cheered around.

Both of them climbed the stairs and went out of the tavern, almost relieved. James stretched his arm a bit, tired from the wrestling, but he forced himself to talk.

"Well? Have you obtained what you expected?" he asked.

Jack grimaced but nodded "Aye. He'll have the money on the Katherine, as he used his new ship… And obviously he is gloatin', so the booty was quite high to pay the crew and calm it down."

James seemed to think on that and sighed "Tell me you have a plan."

"Well… Somethin' like that." Jack answered "I'll improvise on the way if it doesn't work."

"I already don't like the plan." James grimaced.

But he followed him through the streets anyway. Both of them were going back The Faithful Bride because, as Jack had established, it was the most honest place on the island that was good enough for a night. The place seemed about to burst when they entered inside, but Jack only went towards where the innkeeper was serving and asked him for a room for two, getting a key after leaving some coins on the counter. Then, he called James to follow him and they climbed the stairs, entering in a room and closing the door behind them. There was only a bed, even if it was big enough for the two and James grumbled a bit. Jack was unfazed by that and let himself fall on the right side of the bed, patting the other side with a hand.

"Come on, Norrington, I won't eat ye."

The other seemed to ask patience to the heavens and, after a few seconds, he went to the other side of the bed with a murderous look to the other.

"If you even touch me, you'll sleep on the ground, Sparrow." he warned.

And he got inside the sheets, putting his head against the pillow and closing his eyes. Jack pulled out his tongue, but did the same than him and closed his eyes.

• ──────────── ✾──────────── •

The next day consisted in both talking to some wenches, prostitutes, gamblers, innkeepers and so on. One would say that they almost were helping Vane to become even more famous, but it was all part of a great scheme, proper of Jack Sparrow… This one hoped that people would get drawn to the money that Vane seemed to possess and that anyone would be interested in making the man spend it. Specifically, he was putting all his efforts in speaking with innkeepers, prostitutes and gamblers, because any crew would want to spend their money in drinks, sex and games.

If everything went alright, which seemed the most possible, Vane and his crew would be quite entertained at night.

On the way, they had found Gibbs, who gave Jack the parchment of the other night, and they explained to him what they were doing. Gibbs looked almost relieved and calm that the plan was so simple, without much of a fight, and it almost made him doubt, but he knew Jack and trusted him, so he agreed on talking with the crew and that he would see them when the moon was out in the Ranger, which they had seen at the port that he was being watched by four men. James had bet that at night there would be around six and Jack had to agree with him.

In a moment, while they were talking to some about the booty that Vane had obtained, Jack's eyes suddenly lit up, fixed on something. James followed his gaze and saw Elizabeth's crew that, as both of them remembered well, had obtained a little loot during the trip. James almost swore that he could see how Jack's mind worked at the speed of light.

"Jack, no." he warned, frowning.

"Jack, yes." he replied, with delight.

"I won't let you drag Elizabeth into your shenanigans, Sparrow." he growled.

Jack turned with a smirk "Technically, I won't do a thing… I'm just goin' to tell her crew what we told the rest… They'll figure out anyway and, come on, two crews, each one with a booty…"

"I'll admit that it's a good distraction and could work but, seriously?" he crossed his arms, bothered.

Jack rolled his eyes "They can take care of themselves and, besides, both are pirate crews that, if you could, you would hang in a second." James took a deep breath at that, as if his patience was fading "We have a chance and they will be very interested between them, so there will be less chances of finding people on the Katherine."

"Ah, yes… You're stealing… How could I forget?" James rolled his eyes.

"No idea, Norrington." he smirked "Now, come on. We have people to convince."

• ──────────── ✾──────────── •

When they finished talking with the crew of the Empress, who almost cheered up when Jack told them about Vane having money, it was late in the afternoon and they decided to visit Gibbs again before going to Katerina.

When they finished a round of drinks at The Faithful Bride, both James and Jack said goodbye to Gibbs (not without Jack telling him that if he wasn't on the Ranger on time, they would definitely leave him) and headed for the docks, which were almost empty at that hour.

The Katherine was almost at the end of the docks on the right; the ship only slightly larger than the Ranger, which was at the end of the harbor on the left. As they both observed, she was being watched by five men in sight. Three of them were somewhat engaged in a game of dice.

Jack decided to deal with the other two using two of his "friends" (prostitutes) that he knew personally, convincing them to talk to the men to get them off the ship. Once that was done, Jack wandered a bit in the shadows, told James to stay alert, and stepped into the ship, silent as a cat.

It wasn't the first time he had entered a ship in the middle of the night to steal or acquire something so, even though there were more than two people around the ship, Jack was able to carefully avoid them and quietly entered the captain's cabin. The room, still, was in a complete mess and Jack almost groaned internally.

'Fine, better search fast.'

He rummaged around the place, trying to keep everything as it was, but he couldn't find any money lying around and he couldn't see any chests in the room. He went to the bed, about to crawl, when he saw some papers on the table. He bit his lip, but he couldn't help his curiosity and took a look. Some were about supplies, some maps, and then there were some letters. One of them he recognized that came from Nassau, but he already knew that the governor of that island used to turn a blind eye if there was money involved. The other he didn't recognize, but it was in English and was from Port Royal.

'Oh, we might have a way to straighten dear mister Norrington and obtain our treasure.' He smirked and saved the letter in one of his pockets.

Then he crawled to the bed and found what he had been looking for. The chest was closed, but Jack didn't care about that. With the handle of his sword, he picked the lock, opened it, and quickly filled his pockets with a few coins, closing it; he got up in a second.

Nothing could be heard around and that made him a bit nervous, his senses alert. As he made his way to the door, he carefully opened it, but there was no one around. He frowned, but as he cautiously descended, he saw that James was talking to a few men who were still watching the ship. When their eyes met, James almost seemed to pierce him, as if yelling at him to leave and Jack decided to listen to his advice for once. Keeping his eyes focused on the crew, he stepped off the ship, James continuing the conversation impassively, as if he were talking about the weather, and Jack almost envied him for staying calm.

Once he was down, he decided to take a little detour and pretend that he had just arrived.

"Jamey, mate" he said happily behind James and this one almost stiffened, but Jack continued with the play "I've been lookin' for ye all day!"

James greeted him with a nod and a little smile, though his eyes seemed to spit fire "Captain. I was just talking and passing a bit of time."

"Well, we don't have a lot of time. We must meet with the crew in a few hours, savvy?" He smiled and passed an arm to the other's back, since he was taller "Come on."

James almost glowered him with a look, but kept his smile friendly "... Yes, Captain."

They waved goodbye to the others and both disappeared from the dock.

• ──────────── ✾──────────── •

&&& A.N.: Gods, I've been so tired these past weeks! And I don't mean physically, but more mentally, you know?

Anyway, bright side is that this chapter is long, so you can consider it payment for making you wait (?)

English is almost catching up with the Spanish one slowly, so luckily I'll be able to go back to my old schedule, though I ask you to give me some time because I'm finishing my studies and also looking for a stable job, no luck in that department :')

Curiosities: For the scene where they sleep together, I based myself on an event that truly happened... I was at a friend's house with my group of friends and supposedly we should have had room for everyone, but they must have been mistaken because two guys ended up sleeping in the same bed XD Nope, it didn't end in something romantic... The next morning they were still glowering each other silently hhahaaa

As always, thanks for the follows, favs, kudos, and reviews are welcome as always (just a little one, pretty please?) :3

See you next time! &&