A very big hug to my wonderful beta JackFan2

Chapter 12 - Small Talk

"How dare you, Sparrow?!?"

Jack brought two palms together and bowed. "Mate, I would prefer if ye could keep it to Captain Sparrow."

Commodore James Norrington stared dumbfounded at the pirate in front of him. "What are you doing here, Sparrow?"

Jacks grin disappeared. "I'm here te talk with ye, mate. Only talk, nothing more."

James shook his head. "We are not going to talk, Sparrow. I have no idea what 's got into you, or how you got in my house, but this is the end of the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow. Do you really believe you can escape again, from right under my very nose, in my very own house?"

"Who said I wanted t' escape, mate? I wanted t' talk with ye. Something wrong with yer ears?"

"Sparrow! Don't make fun of me now! Do you ever take something serious?"

"Aye, mate. I'm deadly serious at this very moment." Jack locked eyes with James. "Ye are going te listen to me, mate, whether ye like it or not. And believe me on me word as a bloody pirate: if after listening to me ye can hang me if ye feel like it. Bloody hell, ye can even beat me te death if tha' makes ye feel happy. Just listen, aye?"

James could only shake his head in reply. Cocking his head to the side, he studied his nemesis before him. There was something wrong. Even he could see that by the look in Jack's eyes. It was also only now that he noticed some other differences in the pirate in front of him. On the outside, of course the clothes did make him appear more civilized, but that was not all. The man in front of him was a lot skinnier and paler than he remembered. He sat down behind his desk and Jack also seated himself in front of him, probably the same chair were only minutes ago James' mother sat.

"Good. I'm here t' talk about two young people tha' happen te mean a great deal t' me. And, as it happens, I think they mean something to ye, as well. I'm talking about the whelp, Will Turner. and his bonnie lass, Miss Swann, they're in trouble. That lad's just like his ol' dad, always getting into trouble by following his silly heart. They came t' rescue me. Me! A pitiful excuse fer a pirate. That bloody lad followed 'is heart and his bonnie lass followed with the same enthusiasm." Jack clenched his fists. "Now they are in some serious trouble."

James taken aback; today he'd seen things in the pirate that he never thought he would see. There was an odd glint in the pirate's eye when he had called himself 'a pitiful excuse'. But that was for another time, right now he was more interested in the two lovebirds.

"Were are they then?" he managed to say. Closely he watched the man in front of him.

Jack stood up again, obviously not used of sitting still for too long, and started to walk with a slight limp, James noticed, around the rather large office. Agitated, it was several minutes before he finally spoke.

"On me Pearl, mate. On me Pearl. And they are not alone… me old crew is with them, as well."

James almost choked when he heard that reply. "On your Pearl?!? Are you keeping them prisoner?!"

Immediately Jack looked up, his two flaming black eyes made James wanted to crawl a bit further in the soft fabric of his chair.

"Never."

That simple reply was enough to convince the Commodore. For once this pirate was not lying. For once he was telling the truth. A naked truth without any embellishment. Suddenly James felt a deep respect for the slighter man that was nervously moving around in front of him.

"I'm sorry, Sp-- Captain. I should have known that you wouldn't do that."

Jack nodded sadly. "Aye, mate. Ye should have known indeed. I might be a bloody pirate, but I couldn't lay a hand on those two. Not fer all the treasure in the world could I do that." For a moment Jack gazed out of the window. "I would have never left any of them in the hands of Barbossa either," Jack softly muttered. The words were so soft that James was uncertain if the pirate had said it out loud or that he'd just imagined it.

"But they are on me Pearl…," Jack sat back down, "together with… Walter Toomey." The last was spoken with a venomous tone.

"T-Toomey?" James repeated, not sure if he had ever heard of this person before.

"Aye, Toomey. Tha' man doesn't like me much I must say. Had quiet some fun with m'self already and now he 'as taken me friends with 'im." The hat that Jack held in his hands all this time, slowly became a heap of feather and fabric as the pirate nervously fought for control of himself. "'Ave ye heard of a ship by the name the Unicorn?"

The question surprised James for a moment, but quickly he recovered himself. "Yes. I believe it was taken over by some pirates only a couple of weeks ago."

"British ship I assume?"

"Indeed."

"Toomey 'as it now. Thought it was British. Only you Brits can come up with stupid names fer ships like tha'. Who'd ever name his pirate ship like tha'?"

James decided it was better not to reply. During their conversation a fat cat entered the office and after he rubbed his head against James leg, he turned to the pirate in the chair. Upon noticing the cat, Jack's eyes lit up and soon the ruined hat was set aside, replaced by the purring cat.

"Can you tell me exactly what happened, Captain?"

"Call me Jack, mate. When ye say Captain like tha', sounds as if ye're going t' choke in the sayin' of it." Jack grinned, "And I cannot 'ave ye choking just yet."

James sighed. "Well that is an encouraging thought... Captain Sparrow."

"Aye, it is, mate." Jack leaned back and closed his eyes. "Toomey. I met 'im on me first travel on a ship. He was also member of me first crew of the Pearl. Things happened and since then he seems te hate me with some passion."

"Things?" James raised an eyebrow. He could clearly imagine what kind of 'things' that could be.

"Yes, things. No need for more. Them things are in the past. All ye need t' know is tha' he hates me and tha' e's a dangerous man. Want te see proof? Can show ye a nice collection of scars and wounds if'n ye feel like it?"

James quickly shook his head. "No, thank you, Sparrow. I just had dinner."

Jack grinned. "Ye'e not trying to be witty, are ye, Commodore?"

"I wouldn't dare, Sparrow. Now continue."

"I have a plan te get me crew, Will and 'Lizbeth out of there. But I shall need yer help with tha' mate."

"It's still Miss Swann to you, Sparrow. And why should I help you, if I could save them by myself as well? You gave me the name of that man's ship."

"Well, several reasons mate. One; I do not trust the British Navy to think of anything themselves. Two; Toomey would rather kill them at the last moment than give up. Three; ye're not going to take away me satisfaction when I have helped te save them. It's me sanity were talking about here!"

James highly doubted that the pirate had any sanity in the first place, but he decided to skip on that comment as well.

"How do you think you can save them, if you say that Toomey would rather kill them than give up?"

Jack flashed his grin once again. "Aye, mate. Because 'e doesn't want them. And tha' is something I'm going te use."

It just didn't made any sense at all. "I really don't see why I should help you, Sparrow."

This time the grin also reached Jack's eyes. "Well, methinks I have a really convincing reason. Something I just accidentally heard when yer mum was yelling at ye."

Slowly a blush started to form on James' face. He swallowed hard. "What did you hear, Sparrow?"

"Well, Commodore. I believe young 'Lizbeth told me yer first name was James. She always tried t' defend you, mind tha'! She seems t' be quite fond of ye, Jamie." Jack winked at the commodore. "But now I just heard yer lovely mum, talking to ye… but tha' was not James she was calling ye."

"S-Sparrow… I…"

"Aye, mate, don't be botherin'. Yer secret is safe with me, mate. That is… if ye help me 'f course."

James shook his head in anger. "You pirates are all the same! Blackmailers, betrayers!"

With a bang Jack's fist connected with James' desk. "I am not a betrayer!" Shocked the cat jumped from Jack's lap and hide behind a globe that was standing in the corner of James' office.

For the first time during their conversation, James realized that Jack was in fact a dangerous man, even without any weapon. Of course Norrington had immediately seen that Jack didn't carry his pistol or cutlass with him, being trained to see those kinds of things. But this skinny and rather nervous man was angry… and angry men tended to be surprisingly strong as well.

"If I could only make clear to ye that my way is the only way to save me friends then I wouldn't 'ave said a thing in the first place," Jack seemed to calm down a bit again. "Though I do wonder 'bout yer secret, mate. Ye are thinking I am insane, but ye aren't making much sense either, mate."

"I apologize, Sparrow. It was the shock I think."

"Can I ask ye one thing, mate? Something personal?"

James sighed. He had the feeling that he couldn't say no to this. "Of course."

"Why do you hate that name so much?"

James smirked. "You have no idea, Sparrow. You have no idea, how much I was teased back in England. It's such a common name!"

Jack nodded his head. "And ye weren't common, is that it, Jack? Ye didn't like t' be common either. Looked down on the working people, am I right? People like me. People with names like Jack and John and such. Do ye really think tha' it matters what yer name is? Do ye really really believe that it makes you a better person if they call ye James instead of Jack?"

"You don't understand… Jack. My mother called me Jackson James Norrington. And James was so much more… normal in the society I was living in. So I soon become James to everyone. Only my mother calls me Jack and only when she's really angry with me." James looked at his hands, suddenly feeling really stupid.

"I feel sorry fer ye, James. Really."

The two men stared at each other, both trying to decide what to do with the other in front of him.

"What was your idea, Jack?" James asked after a minute.

"Do ye remember that island where you found young 'Lisbeth and meself?"

-

Will and Liz will re-appear in the next chapter: don't worry!

I'm also going to post a new story really soon about Jack's three days on that 'godforsaken spit of land'. Keep a sharp eye! :)

OprahNoodlemantra - I'm starting to develop a bit of a weak spot for dear ol' Norrington… you should consider yourself warned

JackFan2 - I think Jack will be able to convince Norrington to help him, especially when James will know that Elizabeth is in danger. I'm starting to get rather fascinated by the idea of an interaction between Jack and a young kid… might become a story as well! Thanks for all your support, hun.

Meowface - Oh well… it might take some time for me to update, at least you can be sure that I will not abandon this story, since it's way too much fun to write in the PotC fandom

Pigwidgeon - I think this one is again a cliffhanger (sorry!). I'm just that evil… Bwah haha! I think I can safely ask you this, looking at your username: have you seen Prisoner of Azkaban already? I loved it! Made my HP muse wake up with a thud as well ;)

Gabwr - I really wonder where you got that username from LOL. Thanks for reading!

Elven-Star-of-Gold - Will and Elizabeth will come back in the next chapter, I just couldn't include them in this one. But they are definitely not forgotten (especially not since I re-found my love for this couple)

Insane4seto - -takes cookie- Thank you! :) Wow you are a determined reader! But I'm grateful for that

Morph - LOL indeed Poor Jack with Will's hat… but I think that hat is ruined now so Jack is save from that evil piece of clothing ;)

Ilirenelluithauren - I'm doing nothing else then writing at the moment, although it's not always focused on the same story

I have 162 reviews… -gasp- I can't believe it! Thank you so much everyone who has reviewed and is going to review!