"Land ho!"

The lookout's jubilant shout brought Jack up on deck immediately.  He snatched up the spyglass, obviously in the best of moods…

Until he took a closer look.  Gibbs, too, noticed something amiss.  "Is that…is that smoke, Captain?"

Jack scrubbed quickly at his the lens and looked again.  "Yes, I believe it is," he muttered.  "Damn it – we're too late!"  He handed off the looking-glass roughly and stormed into his cabin, slamming the door behind him.

A knock came a moment later.  Only two people would be brave or stupid enough to intrude when Jack was in a fury…and of the two of them, Ana Maria probably had more sense.

"That you, Bloody?  Come in."

*******************************

Norrington entered and closed the door behind him.  "The place is all afire.  We can see the smoke all the way from out here.  What happened?"

Jack  was bent over a chart on his desk.  "A ship called Neptune's Favor," he answered testily.  "I can't imagine how they got here ahead of us – I was sure we had enough time to-"

"You knew they were going to sack this place?"

"I heard a thing or two."  Jack gestured dismissively.  "I thought we could beat them here."

"You assumed the citizens would prefer to give up all their gold to you rather than have it stripped from their corpses by this other ship?" Norrington guessed.

"Naturally.  And I was also hoping to take the Neptune's Favor by surprise, scuttle her, and take on some of her crew.  They're a bit bloodthirsty over there, but on the whole they know how to pilot a damn ship.  We need more men."

"Well, there's no sense crying over spilled milk.  Now what?"

Jack continued to pore over his map.  "Give me a moment."

"Every moment you take brings us closer and closer to shore, where the survivors – if there are any – will be less than pleased to see another pirate ship land.  Unless we want to fight them and the Neptune's Favor, we had better turn about and get moving."

"All right."  Jack beckoned him closer.  "Their course – what I predict it to be, anyway – is the one marked with red dashes.  Find the best place to intercept them.  I'll go on deck and explain the situation to the crew."  He paused.  "If any of the other marks make sense to you, please be so good as to disregard them."

Norrington stared at the map.  Several different routes criss-crossed the map, some of them dated or emphasized by comments like "Yes – as soon as possible" in Jack's uneven handwriting.  He hurried to analyze the course of the Neptune's Favor so that he'd have time to decipher the meaning of the map before Jack came back…

*****************************

It didn't take him long.  A mere ten minutes alone with the strange chart told Norrington all he needed to know, and when Jack came back into the cabin, he was all ready to brag.  "If we follow this course," he said, tracing it out with his finger, "We can intercept them here in about four or five days."  He pointed to one of the other dotted lines and made his move.  "And then we'll be in perfect position to chase this other ship, and we should catch her easily inside a week."

Jack looked him in the eyes.  "Chase this other ship?"

"Sorry," Norrington offered, not sounding sorry at all.  "You must have known I'd figure it all out."

"I had my suspicions," Jack admitted.  "But isn't it a great plan?  Far too many ships have been encroaching on my territory lately, and they need to be taught a lesson.  Besides, what better way to get rich than robbing other pirates?"

"That's certainly where a lot of the gold is – if you can get them to give up the locations of their stashes.  And there aren't nearly so many moral objections…not that you have moral objections anyway."  He admired the chart some more.  "How on earth did you figure all this out?"

Jack just put a finger to his lips.  "Come on, Bloody – I'm Captain Jack Sparrow!  If you keep asking questions, I'll think you're trying to deprive me of the air of mystery for which I am so very well-known…"

Norrington smiled.  "I'm not sure it's the mystery you're known for, Captain Sparrow.  Oh," he added innocently, "Here – you've smudged a bit."  He reached out and made a big show of touching up the makeup under Jack's eye, then stepped away with a cheeky grin.

Jack brought his hands up in a mocking sort of supplication.  "Please tell me you're not making fun of me fashion sense," he said, eyes wide.

Norrington didn't answer.

"…Because I was just about to offer you some tips on improving your image.  How about a tattoo?"

Norrington decided to remain silent, hoping that Jack was joking.  He tried to ignore it when the pirate pulled up his sleeve and traced designs on his forearm, but then it started to tickle and he pulled free.  "Stop it.  No tattoo."

"Come on – every pirate's got one."

"I'm not a pirate."

"But it would look so wonderful," Jack whined.  "Are you sure?"

"Quite."

"Please?  At least an earring?"  He was begging half in jest, but when Norrington hesitated, he decided to press on more seriously, "You can always take it out again."

The Commodore's lips twitched as though he were fighting a smile.  "No earring.  What exactly do you take me for, Sparrow?  I'm a Commodore of the royal navy."

Jack arched his eyebrows so expressively that he didn't even need to comment.  Norrington tried again.  "In all seriousness I don't…"

"It's not irreversible, mate," Jack reminded him.  "Why not?"

Norrington gave in with surprising ease.  "Oh, very well," he said, trying to sound irritated.  "An earring if I must."

********************************

Ten minutes later Jack was all ready to proceed.  He had a bottle of alcohol handy as a disinfectant, a box of assorted earrings to choose from, and a large needle.  "Head to the side," he instructed.

Norrington complied.  "Have you done this before?"

"Oh, yes," Jack assured him insincerely.  "I'll count to three.  Ready?"

"Yes..."

"One..."  And he drove the needle through the Commodore's earlobe.

Norrington yelped and jerked away, falling clear out of his chair onto the floor.  He looked up, attempting to glare, but his eyes were watering too much for it to be effective.  "You bastard – I thought you were going to do it on 'two.'"

Jack only smiled and held out a gold earring.

*****************************************

Apologies for the delay.  College is a bit more difficult this year than I'd anticipated, but I promise to keep the updates coming regularly anyhow.  Still interested?  Keep reviewing for me!