Chapter 10

A knock on the door woke up Jack, and although he was still a bit sleepy, he got up. Gibbs was just waiting to tell him where they were, pointing to the map, and Jack nodded, thanked him and went to the helm just as this one disappeared from his view.

There were only three people (four if he counted himself) who were working at night and that fact was unlikely to change with the weather they were having at the moment.

As he walked to drop down beside the helm, gazing a bit at the stars, he observed how most of the crew were lazing around, some of them drinking a little and just looking to see that everything was in perfect condition.

"At this rate, we'll reach Port Royal in three days or so." Jack complained to himself.

Not that he was in a rush, but it was better to have that part closed as soon as possible and that meant he would have to talk to James to make the plan work. Sighing a little, he called for one of the men to come over.

"What do you need, captain?" he asked.

"Go downstairs and wake up James." he said; this one blinked, a bit confused and Jack huffed "The tall one."

Because, as irritating as it was, James was the tallest person on the ship and it was hard not to tell him apart. And the man he had called did understand then, as he went downstairs and only appeared minutes later with this one behind. If looks could kill, Jack would have already died.

"Captain." he drawled with such precision that it seemed that it was he who was in charge of the ship instead of Jack.

"Come here, James. I need to speak to ye in private." Jack winked at him, good-humored.

Sadly, he imagined that he wasn't able to hide his seriousness since James seemed to raise an eyebrow and approached his side.

"Is it for our plan in Port Royal?" he asked, looking for a moment to the horizon.

"Aye…" Jack followed his gaze for a second, nodding "Have ye thought of a plan?"

"Not exactly, but I've thought something, yes." he admitted "I have thought about entering in broad daylight and in a single boat, so as not to attract attention." To that, Jack seemed to agree "Once there, I would ask for an audience with the governor to explain my actions… I'm not sure what I will say, but I will think of something." James sighed at that "And, luckily, I could show him the letter and tell him that I could investigate it."

Jack grimaced at that "All that is good and great until the last part because, what if it turns out he's the one guilty, hm?" He sighed, shaking his head "I agree with the rest, though… In the case of the letter, it would be better to test the waters, so to speak, and I suppose ye would be on trial during that time, but…" he put a finger on his beard "Well, I could support ye, I guess."

"Oh, yes, because they'll believe a pirate." James huffed.

Jack grinned "Who said I was goin' to go as a pirate? Besides, I need to invest in my own booty, I suppose."

James let out a sigh "I don't want to owe you more than I do, Sparrow." Jack glared at him and James rolled his eyes "Captain."

Jack pouted, but shrugged "Ye can always come with us to our expedition to the Source and consider that as payment for helping."

James seemed to be about to reply, but thought better of it and nodded, not in the mood to argue anything and simply allowed himself to enjoy the gentle breeze and the movement of the ship against the waves. He was totally tempted to take the helm out of Jack's hands, but he kept the desire at bay and decided that it would be a good time to go down and continue sleeping, even when he didn't feel like it.

Yet somehow Jack was able to see through him and before he turned around, he grabbed his arm. James looked at him a bit, confused, but Jack pushed him towards the wheel and put his hands on it. James almost swore that he felt it tremble under his hands for a second before settling down and he felt somewhat free in that moment.

Jack smiled a bit, his eyes sparkling "Ah… This lady seems to like you, James."

James scofffed "Don't be ridiculous. She's just a ship."

"Careful, don't go insulting the lady." Jack teased him, but patted him "Keep the course, hm?"

James seemed to doubt for a second before answering back "… Aye, captain."

In any case, it was being an easy night and Jack, already awake, decided to play cards with the rest of the crew that were there, winning only a few rounds to keep it interesting. When the sun was already rising, Jack stretched out his arms and went to the helm, telling the other to call Gibbs and once this one was there, he released the helm, showed where they were and went back to his cabin.

Despite the fact that he would have to sleep at some point, he was still thinking about how to get into Port Royal without having the other or himself killed. He had an idea of what to do, but for that he also needed to get in and go through the records... Maybe, if they arrived in the evening, he could risk going solo first, back to the Ranger, and back to Port Royal in the morning with all done ... Well, that if nobody discovered him.

He bit his lip. He wanted to do it by himself, as always. Trusting no one, betraying just enough to get what he wanted… Hadn't that been the reason he'd died, anyway? Was it the number of betrayals that had killed him or the number of times he had trusted someone?

It was giving him a headache and it was killing him: Trust James or not? Lie to him or not?

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'I lie, damn it,' he scolded. 'Even if, let's say, I trusted James, he never would! How could he, it's not like I haven't lied about a few things here and there… Although anyone would have, obviously…'

He complained and opened his cabin, furious with himself "Gibbs!" he called.

"Aye, captain?" he heard from the quarterdeck.

"Come here, I need to consult somethin' with ye."

Gibbs looked at Jack briefly, puzzled for a second, and glanced at the helm. Jack seemed to understand what he meant and, even though the weather seemed clear at the moment, in the Caribbean it was better to take some measures, as they both knew.

"James!" he called and he felt a bit weird calling him by his name, but it was better to appear confident than to use a last name that was famous for hanging pirates on a ship full of them. The other appeared in front of him, as always frowning and perhaps irritated. Jack didn't even let him talk "Take the helm, keep the course. Ye, Gibbs, with me."

And before either of them had time to recover and disagree, he disappeared into his cabin. A minute later, Gibbs knocked and entered in a second.

"Wha' were ye thinkin', Captain?" He sounded nervous "What can be so important?"

"Gibbs…" He spoke the name of the latter, trying to keep his ideas clear, and the other seemed to feel that the subject was serious because he kept quiet "You know we're going to Port Royal for some business with Norrington." The other nodded at that "Right, well, for this business, I need maybe to sneak into the house where the late governor was living."

"… Are ye talkin' about the girl's father?" Gibbs wanted to confirm.

"Aye, that one." he nodded "But I have a little problem… I have no idea where he lived and, right now, there's only one person who might know…"

Gibbs grimaced "The commodore… Sorry, I meant mister Norrington."

Jack hummed at that "The thing is… I don't know how to ask him without havin' to tell him all my plan, ye know?"

"Have ye thought maybe on gettin' him drunk?" Gibbs raised an eyebrow.

Jack raised a finger but shook his head "It would be a good idea, except that I horribly need myself sober and I can't get him drunk without drinkin', which would end up in me no bein' sober." Gibbs seemed confused to that, but shrugged "Nah, the problem is that either I try to find the house and be incredibly lucky about it or… I trust Norrington with the damn plan."

Gibbs seemed to ponder about it "Well… If the plan ye're goin' to make is goin' to help him, maybe tellin' him about it won't be a bad idea?" He shrugged, cooperating a bit "I'm more worried about what he'll do after when he gets back… A man with power is always dangerous, Jack. What the hell can ye win?"

Jack seemed to doubt for a few seconds, before sighing "A letter." When Gibbs looked at him, confused, he elaborated "A letter of marque."

If Gibbs had been drinking, he would have spit out all his drink "But… Ye were goin' to reject Beckett's offer!"

"That's because it was from that midget." Jack huffed and then, lied a bit "But, sadly, he was right about one thing… Our type of business will die one of these days and I'm not stupid, Gibbs, I would prefer my neck where it stands."

"... Aye, we would all prefer it." Gibbs acknowledged "But, workin' for them?"

Jack grumbled a bit, moving his shoulder a little "There's only one business I would reject, not matter what… And I hope that I can be convincin' enough to avoid it."

Gibbs nodded, understanding "Well, I should go and take the helm again, right? And maybe send him here?"

Jack muttered in agreement with that and only called him back when this one was about to open the door; he turned around to him. Jack bit his lip.

"... Thanks, mate."

If Gibbs thought it weird of him, he decided not to mention it and disappeared from his side. While he waited for the other to arrive, he tracked the course they were crossing on the map and opened his compass, checking where it pointed. When the arrow stopped, he moved a little to calculate where it was roughly pointing and indicated the position on the map. Just as he did that, someone knocked and James appeared at the door.

"You wanted to speak with me, captain?"

As always, there was a tone of displeasure in his voice, but it didn't seem to be sincere. Jack decided to ignore his tone, nodding, and pointed to the chair in the room. James sat down, although he looked bored.

"Aye, I wanted to ask ye if ye knew where our late governor of Port Royal lived." he told him, closing his compass and turning to look at him.

"What do you need that for?" James frowned.

"Because I need to know how he wrote," he pointed out "and his office is being used by the current governor, who we don't need yet." James observed him as if he could barely believed him and Jack scoffed "Look, we need to find a way to convince the man of yer word without mentionin' the letter that we have found on the first moment, which means that the only way in is lyin'... Now, if I could know how he wrote the late governor, I could be able to create a letter as if he had written to ye, describing the horrors of Beckett… So, that way ye were just keeping with the governor's word… Who technically can order ye around, so there."

"That…" James started, trying to think of a way to refuse, but sighed, staring at the ceiling "That, actually, sounds like a great idea, sadly."

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Since James had admitted that Jack's idea was a good one, he had no choice but to trust him and tell him where the Swann mansion was located, saying that he had no idea if the house in question would have been sold or if it was abandoned ... Both were worrisome, as he had stated, but Jack didn't think so, as he mentioned that a man with that money would have had some safe hiding places, even more so since Beckett had turned up and James had to admit that it could be true.

With that fixed, Jack kicked him out of his cabin, telling him to work somewhere else and went to sleep.

When he got up again, the sun was still in the sky—though several hours had passed—and Jack grimaced. He knew he needed to be too sober for his liking, but it was starting to get to him and he needed to do something or he would go crazy. He had already organized some clothes that he could wear to look like a typical sailor, he had taken out of his chest some things to cover his mark and had prepared a bowl to wash his hair later and try to tidy it up as much as possible. But, at that moment, where everything about that mission had already been studied, he had nothing to do.

In the end, he decided to work with the rest of the crew, ignored the way they were looking at him, and much later took the helm while Gibbs went to rest.

They were almost close to Port Royal, he could feel it, and before things got any more complicated, he called for one of the crew to call James, who showed up quite early, actually.

"Were you awake?" Jack couldn't avoid asking. This one nodded once "Oh, good then. Let's see, I need ye to think in a place to hide the Ranger, but in a way that we're still close to Port Royal."

James raised an eyebrow at that, but nodded anyway "... And?" he asked.

Jack smirked a bit at that, put the compass in James' hand and before he could say something, he opened the lid.

"Keep thinkin' on what I said." he mentioned.

James, even more exasperated than before, seemed to roll his eyes, but closed them, as if concentrating. The arrow kept spinning for a few seconds before deciding on a destination and Jack smiled, glad to have a spot as James frowned at it.

"This is, without a doubt, the strangest object I've seen in my life." he commented.

"Definitely." Jack smiled, moving the helm just a bit to follow the indication "But it works for these occasions."

"So… it does point to the thing you want most?" he seemed doubtful of that.

Jack shrugged but confirmed it in any case "Usually, anyway. It seems to hate me, lately."

"Most probably because the only thing that you want in your life, Sparrow, is your rum and your ship." he replied, dryly.

Jack let out a snort, but didn't deny it, since he was right.

He pointed to his own compass and then to the helm "Do ye want to grab it and keep the course?" James shrugged a bit at that, but his answer was obvious, since he looked at the helm for a few seconds. Jack let him with a nod "I need to change my clothes a bit to not call the attention… Gibbs is in command in case somethin' goes wrong… Just wait until the mornin'."

James looked thoughtful for a second, as if deciding something difficult, but he called for Jack before he disappeared "Don't get caught." he simply said.

It began to get cloudy when they reached the hiding place and Jack hopped on a boat to reach Port Royal, his compass against his hip and most of his things in hand: Only the map had been left in his cabin, stored and guarded from anyone.

Despite the darkness, he was able to navigate more or less towards the docks of the port, which appeared to be quite abandoned. He decided to take advantage and slipped carefully, avoiding the few guards near the entrance.

He almost prayed that James had given him the right directions, but the streets he was following did seem to lead to a large house in the background. There was a fence that protected the building, but otherwise it seemed almost neglected since the garden had obviously not been touched and it didn't look as anyone was around.

It was better that way and he hoped he could search the interior of the mansion with ease. Someone like Governor Swann would have done his work in his office, but most likely they would have cleaned that place, which left his personal room.

'At least I have an idea of where to go." he thought to himself.

The mansion was darker than he had expected, but he was able to reach the stairs and go up. One of them proved to be a tea room, and another door led him into another room which, from how it was organized, had belonged to Elizabeth. If she was on that side of the house, it meant that her father's room was not far away and, luckily, he wasn't mistaken.

The room he entered was larger than Elizabeth's and seemed less abandoned. Most likely, the people in charge at Port Royal had searched his belongings a bit in case something of importance had been left there.

'Let's see,' he spinned 'where a man like governor Swann would have left things that he wouldn't have wanted people to find?'

There was something good and bad about all of that: There weren't many things in the room, which meant there were fewer hiding places and more chances for other people to find said possible and private things.

'Well let's see... They could be under the bed, on the chest or behind it, or on the big table somewhere.' he enumerated.

With a sigh, he began searching. He first tried under the bed, but there was only dust. Afterwards, he went to the chest, moved it a bit just in case, and decided to open it. It was almost empty except for a few garments. He moved them, tapped the bottom and smiled. There was a secret compartment and he took his knife out to open it. As he had suspected, there were a few letters around, most seemed to be more like a diary and a few others were addressed to Elizabeth. Surely the late governor had hoped that his daughter would return to the mansion one day.

He shrugged and put everything inside his jacket without looking twice: He would have time once he was back in the Ranger and it was better not to waste time.

&&& A.N.: Hello and welcome everyone! As you know, this was the last chapter that I would publish following my old schedule. The next one will be published in approximately a week.

Anyway, this chapter is from a kind of neutral point of view, but it's centered in James and Jack, so I don't know if better leave it like this or if you prefer that I indicate this somehow (as in J&J POV, maybe?). The Spanish side in this case expressed that it wouldn't be needed, but I want to know your opinion too on this aspect.

Also, I point out now that there are a lot of things that have to happen meanwhile and, around chapter 15, you'll have Vane's POV so you'll be able to see his intentions :) For the moment though, the show must go on hheheeh

As always, thank you to everyone who has left kudos, comments, added the story and so on :) You're always welcome here and there's no reason to be shy (though I understand it, as someone with a lot of anxiety hahah)!

And if you want, you can share this story. I don't know if somewhere around the social media this fandom is still alive to people interested in reading, but you have all my permission to share the link if you know of some place ^^

Lots of love! &&&