DISCLAIMER: Don't own them, Disney does. If I had them, a lot more would
happen than this. *g*
Summary: The real reason why Commodore Norrington gave Jack a one-day head start, and why he let Will have her. It mentions a deleted scene that you can find on the DVD where the Commodore asks Elizabeth if what she said was only because of Will. It's the first in a series in an AU. Enjoy!
****
Commodore Norrington walked down the cold stone steps to the cellar prison. He was there, sprawled out on the rotting hay, listening as the Commodore, his capturer descended down the stairs to the dank, putrid cell.
"How long has it been James?" "It must be going on ten years now mate." Norrington just stared at him, as he sat up, draping on hand over his knee. "C'mon luv, you can say something. Or are you going to give me the silent treatment. That always was your favorite."
"I am not here to reminisce." Norrington said bluntly, as always, taciturn and without emotion. The man in the cell across from him did nothing but laugh.
"Well then what are you here for luv, come to let me off easy?" The prisoner's laughter was cut short by the stern look he received, but a grin still lingered on the bronzed skin.
"I cannot let you off easy, nor would I like to."
"Here I was thinking you'd consider blood to be a strong tie." The red coat shifted nosily as the man winced.
"That blood was abolished long ago." The Commodore was fighting so hard to not let his anger show through, but the other man was picking up on it.
"C'mon luv, is it so easy to forget your childhood? C'mon Commodore, remember me?"
"I remember John, perhaps too well." For once, it was the other man wincing, wincing at the sound of the name he tried to forget so long ago.
"It's Jack now luv. Captain Jack."
"Well you asked me about my childhood, and so I recalled it." Norrington had a glint in his eyes, a glint that Captain Jack, the infamous pirate of the ocean sea picked up on. A glint of anger, a glint of jealous, but also, there was something else there, something Jack hadn't seen in a long time. Laughter, and perhaps, just maybe, a hint of the love, the admiration that the man once had, so long ago.
"Ah yes, of course. It was I who taught you how to twist words my dear commodore."
"I am here to inform you that you will be sent to the gallows at daybreak tomorrow."
"Ah, my dear James, always the vindictive one, always the one that strove for justice."
"And why shouldn't I?" Jack knew his ploy too well, the other man had always tried to justify everything he did, the other man was always the good guy.
"Because you have the same blood I do."
"I am no more related to you as I am related to the King himself!" There was sharp anger in his voice, and only the thickest, or perhaps, cleverest of all men would still goad him on.
"Ah, but you are no matter how much you try to deny. The same blood runs through your veins that runs through mine, pirates blood." Jack all but hissed at him, and the other man winced once more.
"I am no pirate."
"Don't try to deny luv, you have pirate blood in you. Why do you think you love the open seas? Or did you just join the navy because big brother was such a great sailor?" Jack knew what he was doing; he knew all too well how to push the other man right to the edge.
"I'll kill you myself right now." Norrington snarled angrily and drew his sword at the other man, leaping to his feet.
"Ah, but would you really want to have the knowledge of killing your own brother?" He slid his sword back into his sheath. "Just because you don't like it doesn't stop us from being brothers, luv." He pointed out that fact to the Commodore, and drew a small reaction from the other man. "And even though you don't like it there is still pirate blood in your veins."
"And what if there is? I am still a respected man in the British Navy."
"As we all know, the great pirate catcher himself. But what if it got out that the great pirate catcher's brother was the greatest pirate in the ocean?"
"I highly doubt that you would even have the chance to tell anyone, much less prove it." He shuddered at the clever fact. It was true, what was left of the family was back in England, and it would be too long for any correspondence.
"Ah, but my dear James, you couldn't kill your own brother, could you?" There was desperation in the other mans voice, but to both of their surprise, Norrington melted softly, and walked up to the bars of the cell.
"Where, John, did you go wrong?" He asked the bronzed man softly, gently.
"Same place you did mate." The voice echoed his in tone. "The same place you did." The pirate leaned into the bars and stared into the other mans eyes, his dreadlocked hair falling slightly into his face. "You and I are so much alike luv, the only difference is that you got all the honor, and I got shunted off to the side. I was the better sailor, but you were the one who got lauded for it."
"Because I wasn't the one that went of raiding other ships!"
"Ah, but I was a member of the great Crown's fleet at one point too, don't you remember, dear Commodore? But unlike you, I never rose above Captain." He drew back now, retreating to the wooden slab that served as a bed, and sprawled out upon it, his head propped up on his hands just enough to look at the Commodore through the bars of the cell.
"When did you go bad John?" he truly wanted to know what had turned his older brother, the man he so loved and respected into such a monster.
"The same place you went good. The same place you started on you steadfast idea of removing every single pirate in the Carribean, luv. With your first incident with the Black Pearl." Norrington retreated back to the bench to listen to Jack's story, enthralled in the other man's tales. There was an odd pull at his heartstrings. He could remember a time when they'd be in such a similar position, without the bars between them of course, and he'd be listening to his older brother's tales, the great tales of Lieutenant John Norrington, great sailor of the Royal Navy, before the man ever dreamed of becoming Jack Sparrow.
"What happened?" Jack noticed the same thing that Norrington, and for the first time in as long as he could remember he longed to be twenty years younger again, be the fine upstanding lieutenant in the Royal Navy, telling his younger brother the tales of all he had seen. Now he was a pirate, telling his capturer a tale, hoping that it would let him off.
"Oh, it was quite simple, really. I had been leading the escort to a fleet of merchant ships when the Pearl attacked us. Naturally, they recognized my adept skill at lying, cheating, and of course sailing, so they bartered. Two of the four ships would go free along with their crew, although the Pearl did take all their merchandise, and they got to keep the other two, and of course me. How could I refuse? There's still pride in this man, there's still that love of duty. It's why I'd rather die than see my crew die."
"So you became a pirate, just like that?"
"Just like that." He said, snapping his fingers to emphasize his point. "It's in my blood to be a pirate. As it is in yours. Now I get all the honor that the great Commodore Norrington gets, without being shunted aside." He grinned at his little comment. "Who would think, that the youngest would be the one to get all the attention, while the oldest is the one that's being tracked down?" the commodore just listened as his captive wandered around the cell talking to himself. "Who would think that the great Captain Jack Sparrow used to sail for the navy which he hates? Who would think that the great captain Jack Sparrow would have ever gotten captured? Who would think that the great Captain Jack Sparrow, is, in fact, the not so great Captain John Norrington, elder brother to the Caribbean's great Admiral, which is, in fact, what your rank should be, Commodore sounds much better though.
"But most of all, who would think, that the great Captain Jack Sparrow, most famous pirate to sail the Caribbean, the Indies, nay, the whole world, would be caught, not only by the navy which he once sailed for, but by his own brother, who would sooner put me to the gallows than admit to himself that he has pirate blood. Face it luv, it's easier to go with your nature than against it."
"I only do as duty calls." Was all the commodore could say to Jack's long tirade, about how his own brother was imprisoned.
"Ah, and that duty is to track down the likes of your own brother?"
"You were my inspiration."
"Glad to know that I'm such a great muse. But really luv, why did you do it?"
"Because you see it fit to rape pillage and plunder every ship you come across."
"Come now love, we're not all like that. Some of us prefer only to pillage and plunder."
"Ah, but that's just it, Mr. Sparrow-"
"How many times do I have to tell you luv, it's Captain. Captain Sparrow." The pirate interjected.
"As I was saying, Captain Sparrow, you all are."
"Ah, there's nothing like brotherly love, now is there luv. Glad to know you can always turn to your family. Ah, but that's right, you seem to lack one, you've turned your back on your family."
"You're a murderous, plunderous lot, all of you." he spat at him.
"Really luv, talking that way about your own family. But of course, it wouldn't do for the great Commodore to be talking of his pirate ancestry with love and affection. So what if our father wasn't exactly an upstanding merchant sailor like he claimed to be? He's still family." This quieted the man somewhat, bringing up the past that he fought so hard to forget.
"I've disowned myself." He says tactfully, quietly, pointedly.
"Ah, with good reason. A fine man like yourself doesn't want to be related to common scum like me. The question now to ask yourself is who do you want to be related to." Norrington stared blankly at the pirate before him, not comprehending the man's question. "Marriage James! Do you really want to marry that?" he gestured with his head towards the window of his cell.
"Of course I do." is the Commodore's brusque reply.
"Well then, you're quite dumber than I thought you were. I knew knocking you upside the head so much couldn't have been too good, but I was more right than I thought."
"What's wrong with Elizabeth?"
"Everything mate. Take this as a word of advice from your big brother. Don't marry 'er."
"Since when has your advice been good?"
"Always mate, because, you see, I'm Captain Jack Sparrow."
"Captain or not, I still don't want to know what your advice is. I merely came down here to inform you, Mr. Sparrow-"
"Captain, Captain Sparrow, please."
"Mr. Sparrow, that you are to be hung at dawn tomorrow morning. Instead I've gotten a tirade on why I should let you off because you are related to a family I no longer belong to, and now you happen to think you know my own heart better than I do? Good day sir." With that, Norrington turned on his heel and started to leave.
"She doesn't love you mate!" Jack called after him. He stopped at this, and turned back around. "Her heart belongs to old William. Don't go off and break your heart by having to put up with her for the rest of your life. Find someone who loves you back." Norrington was stunned at this, and walked back to stare his brother in the eye.
"You're lying. She accepted my proposal."
"But on what terms James? I was there; I heard the conversation that the two of you had. Maybe you were able to write it off, but I wasn't. She wormed her way out of any promises. She only said that because she wanted to save Will. All she said was she kept to her word. Bloody hell luv, she just spent days on a pirate ship, if that's not enough to turn any person, a women even, especially a woman, into a liar, I don't know what is. Her only concern was old William. And you knew it! I'm not dumb James."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because unlike you I still remember what a family is. And I'm still the over protective big brother I once was. So either face the facts, and know she doesn't love you, or fool yourself and get hurt. You choice mate."
"And I chose to marry Elizabeth Swann."
"Well then mate, best of luck to ye. I would have expected more from my dear younger brother."
"Good day John." The commodore said sharply.
"Its Jack now mate."
"Good day Jack."
"Good day my Dear Commodore. I expect I'll see you at dawn?"
"Indeed."
"I'm still rooting for you. Amor del un hermano."
"What?" The commodore questioned at the use of a foreign language.
"It's Spanish mate, you pick it up from sailing the Spanish Main."
"But what does it mean?" he questioned.
"It means 'a brother's love' mate. Just remember that." With that, the commodore turned around and left quietly, pondering what exactly the pirate meant.
Summary: The real reason why Commodore Norrington gave Jack a one-day head start, and why he let Will have her. It mentions a deleted scene that you can find on the DVD where the Commodore asks Elizabeth if what she said was only because of Will. It's the first in a series in an AU. Enjoy!
****
Commodore Norrington walked down the cold stone steps to the cellar prison. He was there, sprawled out on the rotting hay, listening as the Commodore, his capturer descended down the stairs to the dank, putrid cell.
"How long has it been James?" "It must be going on ten years now mate." Norrington just stared at him, as he sat up, draping on hand over his knee. "C'mon luv, you can say something. Or are you going to give me the silent treatment. That always was your favorite."
"I am not here to reminisce." Norrington said bluntly, as always, taciturn and without emotion. The man in the cell across from him did nothing but laugh.
"Well then what are you here for luv, come to let me off easy?" The prisoner's laughter was cut short by the stern look he received, but a grin still lingered on the bronzed skin.
"I cannot let you off easy, nor would I like to."
"Here I was thinking you'd consider blood to be a strong tie." The red coat shifted nosily as the man winced.
"That blood was abolished long ago." The Commodore was fighting so hard to not let his anger show through, but the other man was picking up on it.
"C'mon luv, is it so easy to forget your childhood? C'mon Commodore, remember me?"
"I remember John, perhaps too well." For once, it was the other man wincing, wincing at the sound of the name he tried to forget so long ago.
"It's Jack now luv. Captain Jack."
"Well you asked me about my childhood, and so I recalled it." Norrington had a glint in his eyes, a glint that Captain Jack, the infamous pirate of the ocean sea picked up on. A glint of anger, a glint of jealous, but also, there was something else there, something Jack hadn't seen in a long time. Laughter, and perhaps, just maybe, a hint of the love, the admiration that the man once had, so long ago.
"Ah yes, of course. It was I who taught you how to twist words my dear commodore."
"I am here to inform you that you will be sent to the gallows at daybreak tomorrow."
"Ah, my dear James, always the vindictive one, always the one that strove for justice."
"And why shouldn't I?" Jack knew his ploy too well, the other man had always tried to justify everything he did, the other man was always the good guy.
"Because you have the same blood I do."
"I am no more related to you as I am related to the King himself!" There was sharp anger in his voice, and only the thickest, or perhaps, cleverest of all men would still goad him on.
"Ah, but you are no matter how much you try to deny. The same blood runs through your veins that runs through mine, pirates blood." Jack all but hissed at him, and the other man winced once more.
"I am no pirate."
"Don't try to deny luv, you have pirate blood in you. Why do you think you love the open seas? Or did you just join the navy because big brother was such a great sailor?" Jack knew what he was doing; he knew all too well how to push the other man right to the edge.
"I'll kill you myself right now." Norrington snarled angrily and drew his sword at the other man, leaping to his feet.
"Ah, but would you really want to have the knowledge of killing your own brother?" He slid his sword back into his sheath. "Just because you don't like it doesn't stop us from being brothers, luv." He pointed out that fact to the Commodore, and drew a small reaction from the other man. "And even though you don't like it there is still pirate blood in your veins."
"And what if there is? I am still a respected man in the British Navy."
"As we all know, the great pirate catcher himself. But what if it got out that the great pirate catcher's brother was the greatest pirate in the ocean?"
"I highly doubt that you would even have the chance to tell anyone, much less prove it." He shuddered at the clever fact. It was true, what was left of the family was back in England, and it would be too long for any correspondence.
"Ah, but my dear James, you couldn't kill your own brother, could you?" There was desperation in the other mans voice, but to both of their surprise, Norrington melted softly, and walked up to the bars of the cell.
"Where, John, did you go wrong?" He asked the bronzed man softly, gently.
"Same place you did mate." The voice echoed his in tone. "The same place you did." The pirate leaned into the bars and stared into the other mans eyes, his dreadlocked hair falling slightly into his face. "You and I are so much alike luv, the only difference is that you got all the honor, and I got shunted off to the side. I was the better sailor, but you were the one who got lauded for it."
"Because I wasn't the one that went of raiding other ships!"
"Ah, but I was a member of the great Crown's fleet at one point too, don't you remember, dear Commodore? But unlike you, I never rose above Captain." He drew back now, retreating to the wooden slab that served as a bed, and sprawled out upon it, his head propped up on his hands just enough to look at the Commodore through the bars of the cell.
"When did you go bad John?" he truly wanted to know what had turned his older brother, the man he so loved and respected into such a monster.
"The same place you went good. The same place you started on you steadfast idea of removing every single pirate in the Carribean, luv. With your first incident with the Black Pearl." Norrington retreated back to the bench to listen to Jack's story, enthralled in the other man's tales. There was an odd pull at his heartstrings. He could remember a time when they'd be in such a similar position, without the bars between them of course, and he'd be listening to his older brother's tales, the great tales of Lieutenant John Norrington, great sailor of the Royal Navy, before the man ever dreamed of becoming Jack Sparrow.
"What happened?" Jack noticed the same thing that Norrington, and for the first time in as long as he could remember he longed to be twenty years younger again, be the fine upstanding lieutenant in the Royal Navy, telling his younger brother the tales of all he had seen. Now he was a pirate, telling his capturer a tale, hoping that it would let him off.
"Oh, it was quite simple, really. I had been leading the escort to a fleet of merchant ships when the Pearl attacked us. Naturally, they recognized my adept skill at lying, cheating, and of course sailing, so they bartered. Two of the four ships would go free along with their crew, although the Pearl did take all their merchandise, and they got to keep the other two, and of course me. How could I refuse? There's still pride in this man, there's still that love of duty. It's why I'd rather die than see my crew die."
"So you became a pirate, just like that?"
"Just like that." He said, snapping his fingers to emphasize his point. "It's in my blood to be a pirate. As it is in yours. Now I get all the honor that the great Commodore Norrington gets, without being shunted aside." He grinned at his little comment. "Who would think, that the youngest would be the one to get all the attention, while the oldest is the one that's being tracked down?" the commodore just listened as his captive wandered around the cell talking to himself. "Who would think that the great Captain Jack Sparrow used to sail for the navy which he hates? Who would think that the great captain Jack Sparrow would have ever gotten captured? Who would think that the great Captain Jack Sparrow, is, in fact, the not so great Captain John Norrington, elder brother to the Caribbean's great Admiral, which is, in fact, what your rank should be, Commodore sounds much better though.
"But most of all, who would think, that the great Captain Jack Sparrow, most famous pirate to sail the Caribbean, the Indies, nay, the whole world, would be caught, not only by the navy which he once sailed for, but by his own brother, who would sooner put me to the gallows than admit to himself that he has pirate blood. Face it luv, it's easier to go with your nature than against it."
"I only do as duty calls." Was all the commodore could say to Jack's long tirade, about how his own brother was imprisoned.
"Ah, and that duty is to track down the likes of your own brother?"
"You were my inspiration."
"Glad to know that I'm such a great muse. But really luv, why did you do it?"
"Because you see it fit to rape pillage and plunder every ship you come across."
"Come now love, we're not all like that. Some of us prefer only to pillage and plunder."
"Ah, but that's just it, Mr. Sparrow-"
"How many times do I have to tell you luv, it's Captain. Captain Sparrow." The pirate interjected.
"As I was saying, Captain Sparrow, you all are."
"Ah, there's nothing like brotherly love, now is there luv. Glad to know you can always turn to your family. Ah, but that's right, you seem to lack one, you've turned your back on your family."
"You're a murderous, plunderous lot, all of you." he spat at him.
"Really luv, talking that way about your own family. But of course, it wouldn't do for the great Commodore to be talking of his pirate ancestry with love and affection. So what if our father wasn't exactly an upstanding merchant sailor like he claimed to be? He's still family." This quieted the man somewhat, bringing up the past that he fought so hard to forget.
"I've disowned myself." He says tactfully, quietly, pointedly.
"Ah, with good reason. A fine man like yourself doesn't want to be related to common scum like me. The question now to ask yourself is who do you want to be related to." Norrington stared blankly at the pirate before him, not comprehending the man's question. "Marriage James! Do you really want to marry that?" he gestured with his head towards the window of his cell.
"Of course I do." is the Commodore's brusque reply.
"Well then, you're quite dumber than I thought you were. I knew knocking you upside the head so much couldn't have been too good, but I was more right than I thought."
"What's wrong with Elizabeth?"
"Everything mate. Take this as a word of advice from your big brother. Don't marry 'er."
"Since when has your advice been good?"
"Always mate, because, you see, I'm Captain Jack Sparrow."
"Captain or not, I still don't want to know what your advice is. I merely came down here to inform you, Mr. Sparrow-"
"Captain, Captain Sparrow, please."
"Mr. Sparrow, that you are to be hung at dawn tomorrow morning. Instead I've gotten a tirade on why I should let you off because you are related to a family I no longer belong to, and now you happen to think you know my own heart better than I do? Good day sir." With that, Norrington turned on his heel and started to leave.
"She doesn't love you mate!" Jack called after him. He stopped at this, and turned back around. "Her heart belongs to old William. Don't go off and break your heart by having to put up with her for the rest of your life. Find someone who loves you back." Norrington was stunned at this, and walked back to stare his brother in the eye.
"You're lying. She accepted my proposal."
"But on what terms James? I was there; I heard the conversation that the two of you had. Maybe you were able to write it off, but I wasn't. She wormed her way out of any promises. She only said that because she wanted to save Will. All she said was she kept to her word. Bloody hell luv, she just spent days on a pirate ship, if that's not enough to turn any person, a women even, especially a woman, into a liar, I don't know what is. Her only concern was old William. And you knew it! I'm not dumb James."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because unlike you I still remember what a family is. And I'm still the over protective big brother I once was. So either face the facts, and know she doesn't love you, or fool yourself and get hurt. You choice mate."
"And I chose to marry Elizabeth Swann."
"Well then mate, best of luck to ye. I would have expected more from my dear younger brother."
"Good day John." The commodore said sharply.
"Its Jack now mate."
"Good day Jack."
"Good day my Dear Commodore. I expect I'll see you at dawn?"
"Indeed."
"I'm still rooting for you. Amor del un hermano."
"What?" The commodore questioned at the use of a foreign language.
"It's Spanish mate, you pick it up from sailing the Spanish Main."
"But what does it mean?" he questioned.
"It means 'a brother's love' mate. Just remember that." With that, the commodore turned around and left quietly, pondering what exactly the pirate meant.