Once again a very big 'thank you' to my wonderful beta Anamaria Sparrow!

AN: My deepest apologies for the long wait. I have the idea there is more behind this story, but I'm not exactly sure what it is going to be. Therefore the long wait… somehow, someday this story will be continued!

Chapter 3 - Daft like Jack

Everything hurt, including lying under the rough sheets and breathing. The world didn't seem real and Jack decided to keep his eyes closed. He wasn't sure if he was ready to face the world and the mess he had made just yet. He heard voices, but he was way too tired to connect faces with them. Darkness claimed him again.

The next time he awoke Jack felt a lot better. Maybe even good enough to take a quick peek to find out where on earth he was right at the moment. But not yet. He should not get over enthusiastic. For now he was just going to enjoy the peaceful silence. Slowly he became more aware of his surroundings. He felt the room he was sleeping in going up and down in a calm rhythm. A smile formed on his face: at least he's still at sea.

Sounds were starting to become clearer as well. He heard the cracking of wood, the ropes, the rushing of sails and bare footsteps on deck. His Pearl. He would recognize those sounds always and everywhere. There was no other ship that he knew that well, no other place that felt so close to a home. Now he has discovered where on sea he is, things become even clearer. The smell of wood, the vague voices and the bed he was lying in: it all told him he was on the Pearl. One quick peek took away even the last bit of doubt. What he saw was his cabin, with his stuff, on his Pearl. For one moment all that happened before seemed like a realistic nightmare. Sadly, then the throbbing pain decided it was about time the pirate captain should know about its presence again.

His left arm seemed too stiff to move, so it's with his right hand that he started to discover how bad his wounds were. With his eyes closed he first moved his hand towards his face. He felt a slightly wet bandage over the left part of his face and one quick examination through his hair told him that at least one trinket had disappeared. Following the lines of his face, he moved his right hand down his neck to his chest. That was the part of his body that hurt most and even under the soft touches of his hand he flinched. Under his shirt he clearly felt thick layers of bandage. His heartbeat increased: if there was one thing he hated it had to be gunshots. They hurt too long and healed too slowly. His right hand traveled down a bit further and found a third bandage, this time around the high part of his left leg. Slowly the memory returned of where he had gained that wound and a soft groan escaped his lips.

This was just bloody fine! Three gunshots, all in once! Faith seems to like playing cruel games with him.

The door of his cabin opened and a person entered. Even with his eyes closed it didn't take Jack long to recognize this person. Anamaria. The exotic smell that always seemed to hang around her, gave her away.

"Jack?" Ana whispered softly. "Are ye awake?"

For a moment Jack considered just to stay silent, to pretend he was still asleep, but then he shrugged. He had to wake up sometime, so why not now?

"Yes, luv." Jack was shocked by the sound of his voice. Was that really him? That voice that sounded barely louder than a whisper? At least Anamaria seemed to have heard him.

"Jack!" With quick strides, Ana was next to his bed. In her enthusiasm over his awakening, she grasped his arm. She immediately let go again when she noticed the pirate captain flinch under her touch. "Sorry Jack," she added in a whisper.

"Don' bother luv. Just don' expect me to wrestle with a giant snake just yet."

Jack heard a soft laugh escape Anamaria's lips and that was all he was aiming for. He hated it when people worried about him. Then he frowned and opened his eyes.

"Ana, luv? Who is sailing me Pearl?" He eyes locked with hers when she replied.

"Gibbs, with lil help from young Turner. Tha' lad has still got lots to learn, but pirate is clearly in his blood."

Without any form of warning paranoia seemed to attack Jack. He had learned the hard way not to trust a pirate and now Gibbs was sailing his Pearl?

"Jack? Wha's wrong with ye?" Anamaria saw the sudden change in Jack's eyes. Suddenly they didn't show the normal glint anymore that almost always seemed to dwell in Jack's eyes. Suddenly he looked almost... scared?

With a deep breath Jack suddenly sat up straight in his bed, the panic becoming even more clear. He forced his unwilling legs out of his bed.

"Jack! Ye daft fool! What do ye thing ye'r doin? Ye'r supposed to stay in yer

bed!"

"Captain, luv, Captain. I'm the captain of the Pearl!" panic made Jack's voice sound louder than before.

"Of course ye are the captain, Jack. Jack!"

He still didn't listen to her and had somehow managed to stand on his feet, a bit disorientated, but at least he was standing.

Anamaria shook her head in disbelief and could only think of one thing to do to stop the panicked pirate captain. Without hesitation she stepped firmly in front of the swaying form and with all her power she slapped him.

The sound of the slap seemed to fill the entire cabin. Then Jack sank to the floor. An "I'm sorry Jack" was the last thing he heard.

Jack had been awake for about half an hour now. In this time two people entered his cabin, one of them being Anamaria, but he had pretended to be asleep. He was carefully planning what his next move was going to be.

Jack still wasn't sure what was going on. Was there going to be mutiny? That was really the opportune moment to have one, especially since he wasn't really capable of protecting himself right then.

Would they really do that? That was the heart wrenching part of this entire issue. Gibbs, Anamaria, Will, Elizabeth, his entire crew... he trusted these people. He had no idea when it had started to happen, but it did. He couldn't really believe that they would do that to him. They had come back with his Pearl once before, when it was probably even more an opportune moment to commandeer his ship.

On the other hand: they were pirates. Even the Turners had more pirate blood than they wanted to admit in public. And he still owed them a ship. He had trusted Barbossa once as well; or else he would have never made him first mate. He had never liked the man, but he did trust him. Look how that had turned out: his best friend dead and he had been without his Pearl for 10 long years.

Of course he had heard the stories as well and right at this moment he wished he hadn't. The stories about other pirate captains. Pirate captains who got seriously injured in battle and then left to die, while the crew sailed away on their ship.

A plan started to form in his mind. If only he could show himself on deck. If only he could get to the helm. Then he could show his crew that he still was Captain Jack Sparrow and that there was no possible way they would take over his ship!

There was only one flaw in this plan: he wasn't sure if he was able to walk that far. Normally it would take him less than a minute to get from his cabin to the helm, but now he wasn't so sure. Now he wasn't even sure if he could stand in the first place.

His heartbeat seemed to increase again in a sudden rush of panic, but Jack managed to pull himself together. The second person had left only minutes ago so that would mean that he had some time. Slowly he managed to sit up straight, but than he had to wait for a couple of minutes, the pain suddenly too overwhelming to handle. The world started to swim in front of his eyes, but after a little time things turned back to normal.

Now on to the second part: standing. Gathering strength Jack forced his legs out of the bed, again sitting for a few moments to calm down before he tried to stand on his feet. The first time failed miserably and Jack fell back into his bed for a moment only seeing black spots. The second time went better: at least he was standing now. Jack quickly shook his head to clear his mind and focused on the next problem: walking. Painfully slowly he managed to take one step forward and then followed a second. His knees buckled, but Jack has no intention to give up so quickly.

Minutes later he stood in front of the door of his cabin doing his very best to ignore all the pain and the buckling of his knees who were just hoping that they would be allowed to give way really soon. Then he took a deep breathe before opening the door. He then only needed to pretend that it didn't hurt as much as it did. He should not show any form of weakness in front of his crew of pirates.

The main deck was empty with one expectation: Edmund. The little boy turned around as soon as he heard the door open and his eyes widen, surprised by the sight of his captain. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to scream or say something, but then he decided against it. He could only stare.

As quickly as possible, Jack continued his little journey to the helm. As long as Anamaria didn't catch him out of his cabin he was going to do just fine. Slowly he walked up the stairs to the helm and there the shocked eyes of Gibbs met his.

"Ja-- Cap'n? Wha' fer the devil are ye doing on yer feet?"

Jack simply ignored him and pushed the older man away, before thankfully grabbing the wheel with both hands glad for the extra support. Immediately he felt better, having the Pearl under control. At least he showed them that he was still Captain Jack Sparrow!

"JACK!" Two female voices screamed at the same time.

Jack closed his eyes. "Bad luck to have women aboard... ye were right all along..." he muttered under his breath.

Two women were standing soon in front of him, both with flaming eyes.

"What are you doing out of your bed, Jack? You should rest!" Elizabeth.

"Ye bloody daft fool of a pirate! Ye should stay calm fer a couple of days!" Anamaria scolded.

"No." Only one word and he said it with as much as power as he can manage. He met the eyes of both women, but didn't look away, something for which Gibbs admired him deeply; he wasn't entirely sure if he would survive the rage of the two in front of Jack.

"Ye can't sail this ship yet, Jack! Ye are sick!"

"Jack... please..." Elizabeth tried it with her charm instead of her anger. "You are badly wounded. You really should rest a little longer. We all will look after the Pearl for you."

In the mean time a small crowd has gathered around on the main deck, all watching at the scene in front of them. Will carefully walked nearer as well, giving his wife some support.

"Come on, Jack," he spoke, "You trust us right?"

A silence followed, but realization started to form in Gibbs eyes. With a quick look at his captain he walked to the two women and Will.

"We 'ave te talk." Without listening to their complaints Gibbs forced them away from Jack and the other crewmembers.

"Listen." Even Anamaria decided she'd stay silent for the moment. "I know wha's wrong with Jack... 'e's afraid we'll take 'is Pearl."

"Why would he think that? You would never do that, right?" Elizabeth looked at Gibbs, not believing that he would even consider this option.

"Never, Miss Elizabeth. But ye have to remember were talking about Jack here. 'e has been mutinied b'fore and although 'e would not admit it it's his biggest fear... reason has nothing to do with it."

"Bloody daft fool," Anamaria whispered, but her face had softened. "We ave to make clear we would no' do tha'!"

"I think deep in his 'eart he knows." With that Gibbs turned and walks to his Captain, whispering something in his ear that made him look up. For a moment he said nothing, but then a small grin appeared on his face.

"Well, Mr. Gibbs. If ye would be so kind to bring me back to me cabin, I would be much obliged." Then Jack took the arm of the older man and Gibbs lead him back to his cabin, while Anamaria, Elizabeth and Will stared at the two: completely dumbfounded.

"Well bloody hell..." Anamaria whispered.

Pingpong5 - Thank you for your sweet words! Well JD is Jack, so I must seriously consider his view on the character!

Jackfan2 - Well, finally there is more… and this chapter just asked to be continued as well, don't you think?

Pigwidgeon - Do you know that you have to be one of my most loyal readers? I believe you've read and review every single story that I've written in the PotC fandom so far. Thank you so much for doing that!

Homeless Nobody - Your wish is my command ;)

Meowface - Well, there is more. Don't know yet, what more, but there is

Redbud-Tree - LOL! Well, I'm really productive these days so you should consider yourself warned

Jogreenleaf1 - How do I come up with this kind of stuff? I have no idea… blame my imagination I guess

Chem - I think Jack almost always, somehow manages to get out undamaged.