Elizabeth frowned over the charts on the captain's table, one honey brown ringlet hanging loose from her pulled-back hair. "I don't see why we don't go along the southern coast."

The captain grinned quietly. "It's possible, love, but remember the prevailing wind is from the southeast."

She looked annoyed with herself. "Of course. But… won't it come out about the same, more time or more distance?"

"Close, but there're ports on the north, as well." He ran a slender finger caressingly along the chart of the southern coast of Hispaniola. "You see? Nothing, really, before Santo Domingo. If we have trouble, or need anything…" He glanced up at her as she nodded, a furrowed brow testament to her concentration. "Savvy?"

Her frown broke, and she grinned up at him. "Savvy, Captain."

"Wonderful. Now. Show me the course, and tell me what bearing we take once we're past Tortuga." He stood upright and crossed his arms on his chest expectantly.

Elizabeth took a deep breath and bit her lower lip absently as she stared at the charts, looking for all the world like a student before an exam. "Let's see…"

Will looked out over the north eastern coast of Hispaniola and nodded thoughtfully. "I'd say we're making good time, Jack."

The captain glanced off to starboard and grinned. "And you'd be right, lad. We made Tortuga in less than three days, even with your father's ship holding us back." He took a deep breath of the sea air and looked up at the sails.

There was the slightest defensive air to Will's reply as he looked back over the stern. "She seems to be keeping up alright."

"Well, you must admit we haven't exactly been pushing her." The captain looked at him with teasing seriousness for a moment, then broke into a smile that sparkled gold in the sun. "Your father's done a fine job with her, Will. You have every right to be proud."

Will looked down at the deck, grinning boyishly. "I am."

"Now, what I need to know is if Lizzie's been teaching you how to man the wheel."

"Elizabeth? I mean, you want her to teach me?"

Jack looked ahead with a self-satisfied grin. "She's a fast learner, lad, a natural. But you probably know that already." Will opened his mouth, but Gibbs was striding toward them and interrupted what would surely have been a cutting riposte in return.

"The Esperance is falling behind, Jack."

Jack turned from the helm and watched off the port quarter for a few minutes, verifying that the other ship was indeed losing ground. He frowned for a moment, then took careful notice of her sails. A golden grin lit his face.

"D'ye want us to shorten sails, Cap'n?"

"No, Mr. Gibbs, he's doing it on purpose."

"On purpose?" Will's voice was surprised.

"Aye. He wants to show me how fast she can catch us back up." He looked up at the Pearl's sparsely set sails, which were nicely full. She could easily hold more canvas in this wind, but Captain Sparrow didn't call for a change. He'd show William who had the faster ship when the time came. "Keep an eye out, Mr. Gibbs. Let me know when she raises her sails again."

"Aye, Captain." The older sailor shook his head with a chuckle.

"He must have heard you talking about his ship, Jack." The blacksmith looked back with competitive cheerfulness.

"Indeed." The spark in the captain's dark eyes was brighter than Will had seen since they left Port Royal as he purred softly. "We'll see, Captain Turner."

The Esperance had dropped back perhaps half a mile when the call came from Gibbs up on the quarterdeck. "She's puttin' on canvas, Jack."

Will turned to him expectantly. "Raise sails?"

Jack looked like the cat that ate the canary. "Let her get her speed up, first." With a sense of determined ignorance, Jack didn't look back for another quarter hour. Gibbs called out the report.

"The Esperance off the port quarter, Cap'n, and she's got quite a bone in her teeth."

Word spread fast on the ship, and many of the crew off duty had come up on deck to watch. They alternatively cheered and shook their fists at the ship speeding up behind them, and more than one bet was placed on the spur of the moment. Gibbs, for his part, watched Jack instead of the Esperance, and when the captain finally looked back with exaggerated casualness, motioned for the men to be ready.

Jack studied their positions for a few moments, then looked forward again, speaking quietly. "Now, Mr. Gibbs."

The deck seemed to brighten as full sails billowed into place, reflecting the afternoon sun. The Esperance was close enough now that the sailors could hear the catcalls from their deck as well, and Will could see his father at the helm, standing every bit as proudly as Jack was. He laughed as Elizabeth came up beside him.

"He's still gaining."

She shook her head. "I can't believe it's the same ship. It's amazing."

Will looked up at the Pearl's sails and shook his head. "But we're picking up speed. There's no way…"

Sure enough, the Pearl slowly pulled ahead. Not fast enough for Captain Jack Sparrow, who narrowed his eyes as he looked back, calling over to Will. "He's bewitched 'er, lad."

"Well, you said he was good at fitting out a ship."

"Aye." He called out for a few adjustments on the sails, and the Pearl increased her lead. "He's done 'er credit, and that's the truth. Good on seeing potential, your father. Stands behind what he knows." A smallish grin danced across the pirate's lips. "Good man."

Will smiled, then narrowed his eyes thoughtfully, staring up at the Pearl's sails. "Jack? Who worked on setting the Pearl's sails?"

Jack looked over at the boy. "That would be William Turner. Back when he was a lowly ship's carpenter, of course. T'was the captain that really made the difference."

"Of course."

Will looked back toward the other ship, and Jack had to glance down at the young man's feet to make sure they were still touching the deck. With an easy chuckle he looked back to the bow, back to concentrating on proving that no one, not even William Turner, was going to captain a faster ship than the Black Pearl.

The ships raced from Hispaniola across the north coast of Puerto Rico for two days and nights, the Pearl pulling slowly but steadily farther ahead. By the time night was falling the third day, they were within reach of the eastern end of the island.

It was Will that noticed the captain seemed a bit tense as the lanterns were lit for the evening, looking back toward the Esperance even as he called out for them to slow. "Mr. Gibbs, shorten the sails."

"Jack?" Sparrow looked over at him, dark eyes unreadable in the shadows, and said nothing. "Is something wrong?"

The pirate glanced back again, shook his head. "I'm hoping not."

"Then why-"

"Captain!" A voice cried out from the quarterdeck. "There's two red lanterns on the bow of the Esperance!"

Will frowned as Jack yelled for them to drop sails. "What's going on?"

"Is she still coming on, Mr. Gibbs?"

"Aye, Cap'n."

"Jack?"

"She's in trouble, that's what. Rouse the men. There may be fighting." He called back to Will as the ship shuddered violently against the sudden change. "You may want to get Lizzie below-"

"I think not, Captain." Elizabeth Turner stood at the top of the gangway, her hair pulled back, the sword that William had made her as a wedding gift strapped to her hip. "Who are we fighting?"

Will looked over at her, shook his head. "Are you sure?"

"Yes." Their eyes met, and he nodded in resignation, grasping her hand.

"Promise you'll be careful."

She allowed a small grin. "I've had a good teacher."

The moon slipped out from heavy bars of cloud and shone like Spanish silver in the night, its glimmering light illuminating the sea. As the Esperance came up on their port side, they saw three small ships making for her, probably out of somewhere near San Juan. Jack cursed under his breath.

"Grapples and deck across! We're in this with her."

Will stood with his sword in hand as ropes flew across the water, connecting the two ships. The smoothness of the operation made it clear that Jack and his father had discussed the possibility beforehand. He looked over at the Pearl's captain and saw the bright anger in his eyes.

"Jack?"

"They were waiting for us." The pirate winced as the ships touched, grinding the finish as men began to cross over to the Esperance. The first sword blows were ringing in the night, steel glimmering. "Your father's got a traitor onboard. He was afraid of that."

"How do you know?"

Jack pointed with his sword. "Look."

Two men were running across the deck, far from the main body of sailors fighting. They carried a bag that was holding something square and book-sized. Will's jaw dropped as he jerked forward, held back by Jack's hand. "We've got to stop them!" He looked back to the captain and saw a golden sparkle in the moonlight.

"They don't have anything, lad. Nothing real." Their eyes met and Will's expression changed to one of pleased surprise.

"Then we have the real ones?"

Jack was grinning when a noise behind him made him spin gracefully, sword at the ready. A man fell at their feet, and they looked from him up to Gibbs, who was catching his breath as wiped his sword on the thief's shirt. "More water rats, Jack. They're comin' up the starboard." He shook his head. "Looks like more'n six of the boats now. We've been right ambushed."

"Aye."

The three men raced to the other side of the ship, fighting off the dark-clad men as they found them. The sound of metal on metal from above made Will look up, just in time to step aside when he heard Elizabeth's yelled warning as she knocked an intruder from the upper deck. It landed in a heap at Will's feet, and he smiled up at her and returned the gesture when she saluted him with her sword. Suddenly her gaze tore away from him, and she pointed with her weapon.

"Captain!"

Will turned to see Jack Sparrow leaning toward one of the men, his sword lifted in challenge. A few graceful moves and it was over – and the captain turned to them with a grin. "I can't say I'm impressed with –" Suddenly he jerked forward, as if someone had pushed him. A man in black darted from the shadows behind him, carrying a wooden case as he leapt noiselessly over the side of the ship.

Elizabeth screamed in horror as Will ran over to his side. "Jack!" Captain Jack Sparrow staggered for a moment, frowning at them. Then he looked down.

"That's interesting. That's…" He swallowed hard as he stared at four inches of pointed steel that stuck out of his chest, a hand and a half below his left shoulder. His eyes traveled slowly back to Will, and his mouth opened, although nothing came out.

"Jack."

Elizabeth was at his side, helping to keep him from falling as Will looked at the sword. "I've got to get this out."

"Hardly any point, lad." Will looked at the blade and his expression tightened.

"Gibbs!" The older sailor was there in a moment.

"Looks like we've gotten rid of them all, Cap-" His face blanched as he saw the three of them. "By the saints, Jack."

He took one look at Will and nodded, positioning himself to keep Jack from falling hard. Will took a deep breath and pulled out the blade. Jack slumped to his knees with Gibbs, and Elizabeth untied her sash, wadding it up and pressing it into his chest to stop the flow of blood. Several more men appeared, and between them they lay the captain down on the deck.

Captain Turner and Anamaria, who had crossed over from the Esperance to make sure there was no more threat, quickly found out what had happened and ran to the gathering crowd around Jack. It parted to let them through, and William dropped to one knee next to his old friend. He looked at the wound and gave Jack a forced grin.

"Still collecting scars, eh, Captain?"

The pirate nodded, a bare grin on his face as he spoke in a whisper.

"They got the case, William."

The older man nodded. "Well, we were right, anyway."

"Aye."

Elizabeth was still pressing the bloody cloth to his chest, and her voice was very quiet as she looked up at her father-in-law from where she knelt. "Will he be alright?"

William looked down at the pirate and back to her eyes. "He's Captain Jack Sparrow." Jack chuckled at that, but the laugh cost him as he arched against the pain. "Easy, friend." Turner looked up at Will, who was standing very quiet with the offending weapon in his hand. "Will?"

The boy's eyes were wet as he held up the sword, and his father frowned as he looked at it. The blade was dirty under the blood, pitted and rusted. Will swallowed hard as he met his father's eyes, shook his head slowly.

Captain Turner nodded. "Alright, Jack. Looks like we've got to get you cleaned up."

Jack spoke in a slurred whisper. "Like I tol' the whelp, hardly any point, William. We both know the cut won't kill me." He coughed again, and his face contorted for a moment before he got it under control again. "Mr. Gibbs." The older sailor dropped down to get closer as Jack's voice faded. The pirate fumbled with his good arm at something on his belt, and finally handed over his compass. "See that they're delivered safe, man."

"Aye, Captain."

Jack seemed to sigh as his eyes closed.

Elizabeth's tears fell quickly. "Is he-"

"No. Thank God he's unconscious, though." William looked at his son. "It'll infect for sure, won't it."

Will nodded, blinking hard. His father looked back down at the captain of the Black Pearl, then up to Ana. "Is there anyone?"

The dark woman started at the sudden question, then looked at the sea around them as if she were in the middle of a city, looking for a familiar landmark. "Aye. There's a healer on Palomino Island, or was." She squinted in the darkness, pointed east. "A couple o' hours."

Will looked up. "Let's get going, then."

His father looked at him. "We've still got to make the delivery."

"Of what? They took both cases!"

Turner looked at Gibbs, who nodded and flipped open Jack's compass. Wedged tightly inside the case were two small silk bags.

Will's eyes widened as he looked down at his unconscious captain. "How did he know?"

"Like I said. He's Captain Jack Sparrow."