Disclaimer: No one but Disney can own PotC.

A/N: Well, since I made you wait such a long time for that last update, I thought I'd try give you this one pretty quick. So, thank you to all of my reviewers. You know how much I crave your feedback! Now, onto the story.

Chapter Twelve:

Ana screamed as the Lady Maria was assaulted by a full broadside from Norrington's Interceptor. The force of the blast caused Ana to lose her footing and she was sent careening across the quarterdeck. She cried out again, as she slammed into the railing on the opposite side of the deck. The little redwood sloop was clearly no match for the Navy frigate. James' ship was reckoned the fastest in the Caribbean. He had closed the gap very quickly and was now seemingly only minutes from completely destroying the Lady Maria. Why in heaven's name had Chris decided to fight when they were so obviously outmatched?

The main deck of the little ship was already running red with the blood of Chris' crew. The ship had only eighteen guns, and three had been destroyed by previous hits from the Interceptor. Chris, himself, was standing behind one of the guns helping it's crew to aim. The sloop shuddered as her six guns fired almost in unison. It was hard to tell if any of the shots hit their target.

Rising from her uncomfortable position against the portside rail, Ana tried to assess the condition of the other ship. She did so just in time to see another broadside from the Interceptor. Fast as she could, Ana hit the deck and prayed to God for mercy. She would not really have minded dying on a pirate ship, but this was the wrong ship with the wrong pirate.

Ana listened as the cannonballs flew over her head and hit the deck of the Lady Maria. One of them hit with an unusually loud crack. Ana looked up just in time to see the main mast splinter, crack, and begin to fall towards her.

"Maria!" she heard Chris' voice, but she could not move or call back to him. She was frozen as the mast hurtled down towards the quarterdeck.

She saw Chris sprinting in her direction. As he ran, he grabbed onto her arm and lifted her from her position on the deck. Before she knew what had happened, she was in her husband's arms. He was practically dragging her away from the falling mast, but there was nowhere to run.

"Jump!" Chris yelled, and the pair leapt over the side and down towards the deep blue sea.

88888

When he finally spoke, the pirate's voice was low and even. "I served with Lieutenant Laffley on HMS Intrepid."

If Prescott's eyes were physically able to pop clean out of his head, they would have. Served with Chris on a Royal Navy ship? Jack Sparrow had been in the navy? Prescott blinked to try to return his face to it's normal state. The pirate's admission was just about the last thing Prescott had expected him to say. "You served under Chris?" Prescott asked, when he finally willed himself to speak.

"No."

Prescott furrowed his brow, "but you just said –"

"I said tha' I served with 'im," Sparrow clarified. "I didn't serve under him."

"Chris was Captain of the Intrepid."

Sparrow turned to face Prescott and even in the darkness he could see the pirate's stony gaze. "Not always, mate."

"True," Prescott agreed, trying to recall the story he had told the pirate only yesterday. Chris had been on the Intrepid when she was attacked by pirates. "Were you there during the pirate attack?"

"Aye," Sparrow had gone back to staring straight ahead at the bars that confined them.

"And you say you were Chris' senior officer?"

"Aye."

Shaking his head, Prescott did not understand why he was having such trouble comprehending what the pirate was telling him. Sparrow claimed to have been Chris' superior, but that could not be. All of Intrepid's other lieutenants had died . . . hadn't they?

Flashback

Prescott stood on the dock, next to Admiral Fornin, and watched the Intrepid's gig rowing towards shore. The frigate had limped into Kingston harbor a few hours ago. A lieutenant named Laffley had sent word to Admiralty that he had many injured aboard, as well as many prisoners that needed to be taken to the fort. Bits and pieces of the Intrepid's story had filtered in from some of the crew members that had been taken to the hospital. Apparently, Intrepid had been attacked by pirates. The scallywags took most of the supplies and murdered some of the crew as well as the captain and the other lieutenants.

Eyeing the young man that sat in the gig, Prescott wondered what it would do to a man to watch so many people die? The ship's cooper reported that Lieutenant Laffley said that the pirate's needed to be punished for robbing the world of such fine officers. Somehow he, and another officer, had rallied the men and actually launched a counter attack against the pirates. The cooper said that the other officer who had helped organize the attack had died during the attempt; but the pirate ship was sent to the bottom of the sea, and Laffley brought nearly thirty pirates to be hung in Kingston's square.

This was the kind of tale that the Naval Gazette could not wait to get a hold of. Daring officers, nasty pirates, and uncommon valor made for very exciting reading. However, this was also the kind of story that always caused Prescott to be skeptical. He knew that every man had the capacity to be a hero, and that most men who served their country already were heroes. However, fantastic tales like this one always seemed a bit too good to be true.

"Doesn't look too special, does he, Captain Tarret?" Admiral Fornin said conversationally.

"I suppose not, Sir."

The young lieutenant said rigidly straight in the gig. He was poised and apparently calm. Prescott reasoned that he probably descended from one of England's blue blooded families. He could spot an aristocrat miles away. The man, whom Prescott assumed was Laffley, did not look like anything extraordinary. He looked like any one of the dozens of officers that came in and out of Kingston on any give day. However, Laffley was different. He was destined for promotion because of his actions.

"What do you make of his story?" Fornin asked.

"Sir?"

"Do you believe him?"

"It's not my place to judge him, Sir," Prescott said. Prescott had been friends with the Admiral ever since he served as Fornin's flag lieutenant, however, it had been his experience that when an Admiral asked a junior officer a question, he was not really interested in the junior's opinion. The Admiral was speaking more to pass the time, than to actually listen to whatever Prescott had to say.

"Shame all of those officers dying," Fornin went on.

"Indeed, Sir."

"Captain Green was a friend of mine."

"My condolences."

"And three other lieutenants," Fornin said, shaking his head. "Apparently, this Laffley was actually the junior aboard."

Prescott did not reply, because Laffley was now approaching, but his head was screaming to him about how convenient for Laffley that he be the sole survivor of this incident. His actions would obviously be rewarded. Laffley might even make Captain, something that would certainly not happen if any of the other lieutenants would have survived.

End Flashback

Prescott had been suspicious of Chris' story at first. A lot of people who heard it had found the tale a bit far fetched. However, Admiralty had decided that Chris was telling the truth. No one from the crew spoke against Laffley and no one disagreed with his recollections of the events. So, rather than hold him under suspicion, Admiralty made Chris Laffley Captain of the Intrepid. He was a hero.

"Alright, Sparrow, make me understand," Prescott said. "According to Chris, all of the other officers were killed. Now, you're telling me that you were an officer on that ship. You're not dead. I don't believe in ghosts, and you'd have a very hard time convincing me that you are an angel. Of course, you could be lying."

"Why would I lie?"

"Don't take offense, but you are a pirate. Pirates are notoriously dishonest men, and you can always count on a dishonest man to lie."

Sparrow turned again to face Prescott. "To what point and purpose? The man kidnapped your sister, Captain Tarret. 'Sides that, there is clearly no love lost between you two. You have enough reasons to dislike 'im for who 'e is now. What have I to gain by telling some lie about who the man used to be?"

Prescott shrugged. The pirate had a point, but if Sparrow was not lying, then it would stand to reason that Chris had lied. "Are you going to tell me what happened?"

The pirate leaned his head back against the wall. "The Intrepid was attacked by pirates. They did kill Captain Green and the first and third lieutenants, and they did leave us with hardly any supplies," Prescott listened as Sparrow spoke and was surprised to find the thick pirate accent all but gone from his voice. "We were two young, stupid lieutenants who thought that the only course of action was to repay the pirates for their misdeeds. Laffley told the crew that we were given the chance to be gods among men. We were given the chance to prove that piracy could be ended in these waters."

"So much for that," Prescott interjected.

Sparrow laughed. "Anyway, we found the pirates. We dismasted their ship and pulled alongside to board her. We were on the pirate's quarterdeck when Laffley found me. The battle was all but over, and he said that when we returned to Kingston, I would probably get all of the credit. I tried to tell him that I would tell Admiralty that he was just as deserving of any accolade as I was."

"Was he?"

"Aye. But, he didn't believe me. He shot me in the leg and slugged me in the face. Before I blacked out, I heard him tell the crew that I was dead."

Prescott's mouth fell open a bit. Chris Laffley had been willing to kill for a promotion? Not an uncommon story really. Many men in the navy had doubtless come to their current stations by less than honorable means, but this man had taken Prescott's sister. Before now, Prescott had not really been concerned for Ana's safety. He did not like the idea of her being with Chris, but at least he had believed that Chris would not hurt the woman he loved. Now, Prescott had no idea what his brother-in-law was capable of. "Then what?"

"When I woke up, a ship with black sails was pulling alongside. I knew they were pirates, so I took off my uniform jacket, and they believed me to be a pirate as well."

"And you have been ever since."

TBC

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