Disclaimer: PotC will never belong to anyone but Disney. So, sad.

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Chapter Sixteen:

"There must not be any other guards down here," Prescott speculated as he tried to find the right key for the shackles around Sparrow's wrists. "Otherwise, someone would have heard all of that."

Sparrow nodded his agreement, hissing against the pain that the small movement must have caused.

Finally, the turn of the key Prescott was holding was answered with a heartening click, and the pirate's hand fell free from the manacles. Prescott tried not to dwell on the state of Sparrow's wrists. They would need to find some sort of bandage or he would lose too much blood. Prescott moved to unlock Sparrow's other bond. Holding on to the pirate's forearm in an attempt to avoid aggravating his dislocated shoulder, Prescott helped Sparrow out of the shackles.

"Want me to re-set that?" Prescott offered.

"Anamaria told me your father was a doctor."

"He was."

Sparrow nodded. "Go ahead," he said, looking away.

Prescott placed one hand around Sparrow's upper arm and gently set the other over the pirate's shoulder. Despite his care, Sparrow still winced beneath his touch. Taking a breath, the doctor's son thrust the pirate's arm up towards it's socket and heard it "pop" back into place.

"That it?" the pirate asked tentatively.

"Yes," Prescott answered.

Slowly reopening his eyes, he reached up to rub his still aching shoulder. "Feels better."

"Your welcome."

"Helping your da' sure came in handy."

Prescott smiled. "Actually, Annie was the one who helped our father. I've never done that before."

Sparrow's eyes grew wide. "What if you would have done it wrong?"

"Couldn't have gotten much worse," Prescott shrugged.

The pirate's eyes narrowed momentarily before a wide grin broke across his face.

"Now, I'm almost afraid to ask, but have you ever over run a ship with only two other men?" Prescott asked, as he tore his sleeves off of his shirt and began to fashion a makeshift bandage for Sparrow's wrist.

"Sure, mate," he answered offering Prescott his other wrist. "All the time."

"We'll have to free Daniels." Prescott thought of the younger pirate. Daniels had been fairly lucid when Prescott was taken from the cell, but with a bullet wound in his shoulder, he would never wield a sword with enough finesse to face a number of East India agents at once.

Sparrow nodded.

"Then, of course, make it up top without being spotted." Prescott cast a glance at the pirate captain, who was gingerly touching the charred skin of this right arm. Everyone had heard the tales of Captain Jack Sparrow. The man was a highly skilled swordsman and sailor. Normally, Prescott would be honored to go into battle with a man of Sparrow's reputation. Prescott took in the dark bruises on the pirate's chest, the blood dripping from his mouth, and the countless cuts and bruises that doubtless covered his back. He would be hindered by his injuries as well.

"Wreck in the water," Sparrow said as he limped towards the door. "Most everyone'll be on deck."

"Thank heaven for the little things." Prescott slowly pushed open the heavy wooden door, and, seeing no one, proceeded towards Daniels' cell. "So, then, once we're up top, we just take on an entire well armed crew of pirate haters."

"Injured and without weapons."

"Ah, yes. There's that." Prescott wiped the blood from his face. Three injured men against an entire crew of men who had been taught to despise pirates. To say the least, the odds were not in their favor.

"Ready to go, mate?" Sparrow said once they stood in front of Daniels' cell.

"Captain?" Daniels scrambled to his feet.

Finding the correct key, Prescott held open the door for Sparrow's first mate.

"Captain, what happened to you?" Daniels asked, clearly staring at the burn on his captain's arm.

"Don't worry 'bout that. We've got a ship to commandeer."

Prescott followed the two pirates up the stairs. Sparrow seemed to be handling his injuries like a man who was long used to disguising his pain. Daniels held a hand protectively over his wounded shoulder as a man who still could not believe he had been shot. Prescott's branded arm ached every time he moved.

The East India ship was not large by any means. In spite of her size, she would contain at least fifteen men, well trained in the art of defending their ship against attack. Prescott had seen many battles in his years in the King's service. He had won many times against great odds, but he did not know if he could fight off five men at once if he was in perfect health. As it was, his arm throbbed, his head was pounding, and even the simple act of drawing breath did not come without a brief stab of pain.

They would need a miracle.

88888

"James," Ana said once she had found her way to the quarterdeck. "What's going on? Are we turning around?"

Norrington stood with a telescope at his eye staring out at the horizon. "We are."

"Am I permitted to ask why?"

Taking the glass from his eye, James said, "of course. There's a ship out there by the wreck of the Lady Maria. Looks to be an East India vessel."

Ana squinted, looking out the same direction as James had been. Now, she could make out the sails of a ship in the same spot that the redwood sloop had gone down. James had stopped speaking. Apparently, his explanation should have been perfectly clear. "East India Trading Company?"

Norrington nodded. "Oh," he said, suddenly realizing that Ana had no idea what he was talking about. "East India frequently takes control of pirates and their ships. Usually they sell the ship off for a profit and take the pirate to the nearest port to await punishment."

"You mean execution," Ana corrected.

"Yes, well," James cleared his throat. "We're going to see how long they've been in the area. They may know something about Sparrow's whereabouts."

Ana nodded, she would like to know something about Sparrow's whereabouts as well. "Could I ask you something?"

"Anything."

"Shouldn't we have spotted the Loyalty by now?"

James handed his glass to one of the lieutenants and motioned for Ana to follow him to the far side of the quarterdeck. "Annie, I won't lie to you. Prescott should have caught up by now."

"You don't think something's happened." Ana stared out at the sea and tried to block out the images of any number of catastrophes that could have befallen Prescott and Jack.

"No," James shook his head. "You're brother's one of the finest officers, and certainly one of the best sailors, I have ever known. I'm sure he's fine." James paused and shifted his weight from one leg to the other. "Annie, I can't conceive of how hard this all must have been on you."

Her attention snapped back to James. "What?"

"Kidnapped by pirates, finding Captain Laffley on board and knowing what they had done to him."

Ana arched an eyebrow. "Done to him?"

James forced a smile. "He told me everything."

"Did he now?"

"I can only imagine how awful that must have been, being taken by pirates and forced to stay away from your wife for almost two years."

"He told you all that?"

James nodded somberly.

If Chris had told James the truth, James would have had to take him into custody and present him to the authorities. Chris was a pirate. He would hang as a pirate. Deep down, Ana could not blame her husband for lying to James. However, if Chris' lie was to be believed, she would have to be nothing but ecstatic to have her husband back. She should be outraged because her husband had been a captive for two years. She should weep with joy because he had survived and could come back home with her . . . Home with her? So, that was Christopher's plan. If he had been a prisoner of pirates, not a pirate himself, then he would not be charged with any crime. He would come back to Kingston and be hailed as a hero for living through the atrocities committed by pirates. He would not be punished. In fact, he would probably be reinstated in the Navy and given command of another one of the King's ships.

Ana did not want Chris to be hung. She did not think that hanging a pirate just because he was a pirate was right . . . no matter who the pirate happened to be. But, she could not possibly play the part of the devoted wife who was overjoyed to have her husband back. He had lied to her. He could have come back, but he did not. He chose piracy over love, over her. She was not going to let him do this.

"Where is Chris?"

"He was talking to the surgeon."

"Will you excuse me, James," Ana said, doing her best to keep her growing fury contained. "I need to speak with him."

88888

That was too easy. Prescott had followed the pirates up to the final set of stairs without so much a sighting one of Captain Voller's agents. Prescott had moved to sit next to Sparrow at the top of the stairs. From their position, they could see most everything on the main deck, but they remained concealed in the shadows. It appeared that the entire crew had assembled on deck to look at the wreckage in the water.

"The wreck would have to be made of gold to attract this much attention," Prescott whispered.

Before Sparrow could respond, one of Voller's men broke the silence.

"D'you think she 'ad anything to do with this ship sinkin?"

"Perhaps," Voller's nasally voice answered.

"Someone's coming," Sparrow voiced Prescott's suspicions.

"What'll we do, Captain?" the agent's voice questioned.

"We shall heave to, and wait for them," Voller replied.

"Wait for them?"

"Yes, lad. It's no use running."

"No use?"

"None at all," Voller said. "That's the Interceptor. She'd catch us in seconds. So, we'll wait and see what they want."

"Good heaven," Prescott exclaimed quietly. Yesterday, he could not have imagined being happy to see James. Today, on the other hand, James' timing could not have been better.

"Bloody Norrington again," Sparrow said, clearly not so happy to hear that James had arrived.

Prescott could not help the smile spreading across his face. "I've got an idea," he said.

"Do ye now?"

"Follow me," Prescott turned and headed back down to the cells.

"What are ye thinkin', mate? We've just come from 'ere."

Prescott motioned for Sparrow and Daniels to get back inside the cell.

"You're crazy if ye think I'm goin' back in there," Sparrow said, his voice low and his eyes dark.

"Sparrow," Prescott said. "Follow my lead. Play along, and I swear on my sister's life, I will get you out of any trouble I get you into."

TBC

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