Chapter Five: Commodore Barbossa

The evening the Pearl docked at the previous port, Jack searched every tavern and every brothel there, the town reminded him of Tortuga, and, strangely enough, he didn't like it. In almost the last tavern to look in, Jack found him. Lethanial had been right, it was Barbossa, alive and kicking.

"Flyin' visit? Or are ye goin' back to 'ell?" asks Jack, a few feet away from his old first mate.

"Jack," Barbossa greets him, "I think I'm 'ere t' stay for a while, I viste' heaven bu' I din' like it much."

"Ye still on a roll wi' the Cortez treasure?" asks Jack, sitting down at the same table as Barbossa, as if they were old friends.

"I am, yes. Monkey lace' me palm with gold an' 'ere I am," Barbossa spreads his arms a little. "An' I'm quite pleased t' see yer."

"Good. Rum?" asks Jack, as a barmaid lays two pints of rum beside them. "Ta." Jack takes a swig. "So, ye go' a ship?"

"Aye," replies Barbossa. "Go' a good ship."

"Ye plunderin' these waters, or the nex'?" asks Jack, beginning to feel this was a completely one sided conversation.

"Oh, we're plunderin' these waters, an' ye're doin' the nex', bu' leave me some when ye leave," says Barbossa.

"Movin' on pretty soon," says Jack, acting just like he and Barbossa had no history at all. "Mind ye, there is a li'l place we ain' plunder' ye'. I'll leave tha' for ye." They both swigged rum for a while, watching the general commotion that was the tavern. "No' very lively ternigh' eh?"

"No. Usually ge's be'er in abou' an hour," says Barbossa.

"Well, much as I'd like ter stay and ca'ch up," says Jack, drinking the last of his rum and banging the mug on the table. "I 'ave go' pirate's ter command, so I'll be seein' ye, Barbossa. I hear it's Commodore these days, eh?"

"Tha' it is, Jack, Captain weren' good enough fer me," Barbossa replies as Jack turns his back and leaves the tavern.

"I's Barbossa alrigh'," says Jack to Gibbs as he comes aboard the Pearl later that night. "Cortez treasure's awoken 'im, an' I'll be wagerin' he's go' the coin on 'im somewhere, 'e won' be mindless enough' ter le' it go again."

"What do we do, Captain?" asks Gibbs.

"Wha' are we gonna do?" asks Jack. "Give me some time ter think Gibbs!"

It didn't take Jack long to think. And this was the plan. To attack Barbossa' ship kill him and take the blood soaked coin back to the Isle de Muerta, and figure out a way to stop anyone else getting their hands on the treasure. But, for what that way was, 'we'll cross tha' bridge when we come 'o it,' thought Jack.

The next morning Jack sent out pirates to find out what ship Barbossa was on, and it didn't take them very long.

"The Alchemist," one of the crew told Jack. "I's the only big'un in the dock."

"Right," Jack replies. "Gibbs! I'm goin' over 'o the Alchemist, I'll be back la'er."

Jack wanders up the gangplank of the Alchmist, looking slightly more drunk than usual, and hammers on the Captain's door. Barbossa opens it.

"I'll skin ye alive!" he shouts as Jack beams at him from the door. Barbossa stops shouting.

"What d' ye wan' Jack?" he asks.

"I'm here, to help a friend in need," says Jack, swaggering into the cabin. "I jus' though' I'd stop by, and tell ye tha' we're movin' on tomorrow, and there be a nice li'l place between this por' and the nex' tha' we ain' looted."

"Aye, that's very kind of ye, Jack," says Barbossa.

"I was hopin'," says Jack, giving a hiccup, "Tha' I could 'ave somethin' in return for tha' particular lootin' spot." He swaggers after Barbossa as Barbossa draws a map out of a chest.

"Like?"

"Couple bottles o' rum," says Jack with a smile. He didn't know if Barbossa would fall for this, but seeing as Jack had been nice to him the previous day in the tavern, he might.

"Alright. It's down in the. . ." Barbossa begins, but Jack's smile reaches from ear to ear at the thought of Barbossa letting him free to wander round his ship looking for rum. "I'll get it for ye." And Barbossa left. As soon as the door had been shut Jack stopped his even-more-drunken-than-usual pretence and started rummaging around in the chests in Barbossa's cabin. After opening six or seven drawers, he came upon what he was looking for, the coin from the treasure of Cortez, he slipped it inside a pocket just as Barbossa opens the cabin door, carrying three bottles of rum, Jack slaps his happy grin back onto his face and flamboyantly twirls himself around. Barbossa hands over the rum.

"I been thinkin'," Jack hiccups, "Barbossa." He hiccups again. "Why don' we pu' all tha' messy 'istory between us," hiccup, "behind us now, and enjoy some good ol' rum?" Barbossa looks at Jack thoughtfully, and comes the to the decision of agreement, or, at least, makes Jack think he's come to the decision of agreement.

"Aye, ye're a noble man, Jack," says Barbossa, taking the bottle of rum Jack's holding out to him and taking out the cork. Jack hiccups and swigs his own rum.

"And ye are aswell," says Jack, hiccuping and bowing low towards Barbossa.

After a few bottles of rum, because Barbossa had been below decks to get more, on more than one occasion, both Captains were a little drunk, to say the least, but, of course, Jack wasn't as drunk as he seemed. Barbossa laid on his back on the bed, tilting his bottle slowly as the rum ran into his mouth. Jack was slumped over a chair, limbs dangling all over the place and sighing every few seconds.

"Bossa, me ol' friend, should we do this often," he slurs. Barbossa sits up, raises his bottle to Jack in a toast and promtly falls back on the bed knocked out. Jack got up at once, and poked him. He didn't stir, so Jack took out a knife, and got an empty rum bottle. 'I can't believe how easy this is,' Jack thought as he studied Barbossa's body for a moment. He takes the knife and makes a swift, small cut just below Barbossa's elbow and catches a few drips of his blood in the empty rum bottle. Barbossa stirs and Jack freezes for a second, but he doesn't seem to wake. After catching a little more blood he puts a cork in the bottle and leaves the cabin, with his hand in his pocket, feeling the coin of Cortez.