It's time to make up your mind. Are you for me or against me? I noticed you're sitting on the fence. -Relient K

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"Do you believe him?" Elizabeth whispered as she and Will walked up the stairs hand-in-hand. Norrington was behind him and Gillette behind him. They had kept Jack in the cell, Will whispering a secret promise to get him out of there as soon as possible.

"Not even remotely." Will whispered back. They reached the office quickly and sat down, waiting for the other two men.

Norrington sighed as he sat down in his chair, the Gillette just waited next to him. "Your thoughts, Lieutenant?"

Gillette cleared his throat, "Hang him, sir."

Norrington paused, maybe I should've specific. "Lieutenant, I was talking more along the line on what you told me this morning…do you think Sparrow has anything to do with it?"

Gillette looked at his commanding officer for a moment and then frowned, "It's a large possibility, Commodore, but any pirate could be behind this."

Norrington paused, "Yes, but why would Sparrow be here in the first place?" he mumbled to himself. He looked at the Turners, Maybe to see them…

"Will…have you or Elizabeth sent a letter to the pirate requesting him to come here?"

They both shook their heads, "We would have no way of getting the letter to him, Commodore."

James sighed, deciding to just say it out loud, "Any idea's why he would desire to come to Port Royal?"

Gillette cleared his throat, "Permission to speak freely, sir?" The Commodore nodded and he went on, "Sir, Sparrow tried his hardest to get away the last time he was here, why would he come back if it wasn't do to something against Port Royal?"

"Not everything Jack does is negative!" Elizabeth said, defending him, "Commodore, he saved the lives of countless people! Including Will."

Norrington eyed the two, the countless people I'm sure he did on accident… He took in a deep breath and then let it out. "I'll question him in the morning."

Will's eyes widened, "Don't expect to get much out of him Commodore, I don't think he'll admit to anything, whether he is behind it or not."

James grimaced, that was exactly what he was thinking.

. . . .

"Listen Sparrow, I'm not up for playing your little games, I want the truth so one thing can happen - you can leave."

"What is the truth, Commodore…I feel there's so many truths for different people…but I don't think I'm up for gettin' into religions an' such."

Norrington rolled his eyes, "Just tell me why you're here."

Nothing. Every time James had asked that question all he got was silence. He had tried so many different approaches, but Will's theory on how the questioning was going to go was right.

He sighed, "Well you seemed to be well rested from yesterday…have any idea on who gave you that black eye?"

Jack's dark eyes darted up, piercing the Commodore. He had no hat to hide his eyes this time. "Why don't you ask the bloody redcoats that work for you," He stated, instead of questioning.

The Commodore straightened his back and cleared his throat slightly, "Are you implying that my men did that to you?"

Jack wasn't a fool, and the Commodore knew that, so why he thought Jack would answer that question was a mystery. He sighed, I'm getting no where. "Where's your ship, Sparrow?"

"What makes you think I have a ship?"

"Because I went chasing after it after you left a year ago."

"Well now you finally have me," he said, getting up, "Now get my sentencin' over with."

"Back up plan, perhaps?"

Jack sighed and sat down again, also tired of going back and forth. "What is it that you want?" he asked harshly and directly.

"I want to know why you're here. I've asked that more than once."

"Why do you think I'm here?"

James sighed, "Do you have anything against Port Royal, Sparrow?"

Jack rolled his eyes, "I'm in a bloody cell. It seems Port Royal as somethin' against me."

Point taken… Norrington thought to himself, then looking at Jack he said, "Anything against the Governor, then?"

Jack's eyes darted up, questioning him, "Why would I?"

Should I tell him? Should I trust him? Norrington paused, "If you're here to see the Turners and to only see the Turners…there's no shame in that…"

"My business is my own, Commodore." Jack said, sounding bored.

"Then tell me, do you know anyone…" he stopped, almost giving away the entire reason why he was down here. He looked at Jack and saw him looking back at him.

"Somethin' I should know, Commodore?"

He shook his head, "Like you, my business is my own, Sparrow."

Jack sighed and shook his head. Norrington ignored it, trying to back to business. He needed to know if Jack was behind this, but for some odd reason, he had a feeling Jack had nothing to do with the assassin. Maybe being blunt is the only way with Sparrow… he thought to himself. "Do you do your own killing Sparrow, or do you hire someone to do it?"

Jack looked at him and stood up suddenly, walking towards the bars, "What the blast is that s'posed t' mean?"

"Exactly what I said, Sparrow. Do you hire someone to kill your enemies, or do you do it yourself?"

Jack looked him up and down, as if seeing if he was serious. And if he could answer that without sending himself to the noose. He raised a brow, "Any self-respecting pirate kills his own enemies…" he said cautiously.

Norrington nodded, starting to pace, "But would a pirate…any pirate hire an assassin?"

Jack narrowed his eyes, "Possibly…but any pirate who can't kill someone 'imself is a coward."

He turned, "Have you ever hired an assassin?"

"Do I look like a bloody coward to you?" Jack said, his voice rising, but then he looked around and added, "When I'm outside of these bloody bars?"

Norrington smiled slightly and nodded, "Good enough Sparrow."

. . . .

"There's no way Jack would be behind this…"

Will smiled, "I didn't think so."

"But the idea of a pirate of some sort could be a large possibility. Or anyone on the sea for that matter."

"Why do you think that?"

James turned to Will and looked at him, thinking it would be obvious. They had lived in the same town the same number of years, haven't they? They were currently in the smithy and Will was hard at work, making a new sword, for who - Norrington wasn't sure, but it was sure looking nice. Norrington had come over right after talking to Jack, thinking Will would appreciate hearing the news.

"Will- no one in Port Royal has a grudge against the Governor, and if they do, they hide themselves well."

The other man shook his head, "I dunno, why would someone who doesn't live in Port Royal threaten the Governor, it doesn't seem to make sense."

"They could've possibly had a run-in with the Governor and not liked him…or something to that effect…" James shook his head, there were so many possibilities to this case, it was hard to figure out. "And even if I thought they lived here, I would have no way of finding out."

Will looked up, "What about a disguise?"

James looked at him, "Everyone knows me too well to do that…and the Commodore disappearing suddenly doesn't look good either."

Will sighed, "Then…what's the plan?"

James looked out the place, this is where he had first captured Jack. He shook his head, getting rid of the memories, "Disguising myself on the sea."

Will smiled, "As what?"

He looked up, never thinking he would ever say this, "A pirate."

. . . .

"Pirate? What has gotten in your head, Commodore?"

James sighed, once again he stood in front of the Governor, Elizabeth and Will. Will he had already talked to about this, and both men thought it was semi-sensible. "Sir, it seems to be the only way! To investigate outside of Port Royal would be a plan that could succeed easily. Many people you have come in and out of Port Royal and met you and been around you and this settlement to have an incentive to threaten you."

"Have you thought this out? Who would you be disguised as? What ship would agree to let you on?"

"Jack!"

The three men turned and looked at Elizabeth, but Norrington spoke up first, "Come again?"

Elizabeth half smiled, "Go onto Jack's ship, the Black Pearl…you have a perfectly good pirate in your custody, take advantage of it!"

"And just let him go? Elizabeth, don't be absurd!" The Governor said, indignant.

"Father, helping the Commodore protect you? Don't you think that's enough to clear him?"

James cleared his throat, "Not exactly, Elizabeth."

Elizabeth stared at the two men, mostly James, thinking he was the one who had loosed up a bit, "Weren't you the one who refused to go after Jack right away? To give him a 'headstart', when you could've easily caught him?"

James sighed and looked at the floor and then at her, "It's not that easy anymore, Elizabeth. He got away and that's easy to explain to my superiors, but this…when I had him in my custody…"

"And your superiors will accept you disguising yourself as a pirate?"

"To protect the Governor, Elizabeth."

She sighed, crossing her arms, "Well then what are you going to do? Go onto a pirate ship where you don't know anyone…and then what if you get caught? They would kill you James, Jack is your safest bet."

Norrington sighed, not wanting to admit it, but she was right. He turned and looked at the Governor, "Sir, if you truly will not let Jack off this island alive, then I will go and find another ship, but if I offer him freedom- then surely he'll let me on."

The Governor scratched his ear, looking at the Commodore and his daughter, "If you're sure this is the safest thing…"

James smiled slightly and then looked at the Turners, "Now do you think he'll actually agree?"

. . . .

The next day Will and Elizabeth and James all went down to the fort, wanting to convince Jack to do this. The two men wouldn't have taken Elizabeth, but she had done such a good job convincing Norrington, they thought she might influence Jack a little.

"Will!" Jack said, getting up, smiling. But the smile disappeared when he saw Norrington. "Brought the whole army, didn't you?"

Will smirked a little to Jack's response, "Jack…just have an open mind to what the Commodore is going to say, will you?"

Jack pursed his lips and nodded, going to sit back down. But then James did something none of them expected, he pulled out the key's to the cell and opened it. Jack stared at him for a minute as he walked down the steps and motioned for the Turners to come in. They did and left the door open. "Now we're on level ground, Sparrow."

Jack raised a brow, "Exactly how open does my mind have t' be?"

James started, "Jack, the Governor is in danger, someone has threatened his life and word is there's an assassin out to kill him. Will and Elizabeth are staying with him, but I feel there's a bigger picture here…someone outside of Port Royal hired this assassin."

Jack paused, "How do you know it's not just a bluff?"

"We don't. That's why I'm going…under cover as it were to find out who the employer of the assassin is. And that's where you come in, Sparrow."

He narrowed his eyes, tilting his head slightly, "I don't like assassin's Commodore…"

James nodded, "Can you afford to bring another crew member aboard the Black Pearl…?"

He scratched his chin, "I'm not sure what yer askin', Commodore,"

Will sighed, "Jack he needs to go 'under cover' as a pirate."

Jack eyes widened, as did the sly grin on his face. "Turnin' pirate, are we?"

"Not turning, Sparrow. Only temporarily. Nothing permanent."

That didn't dampen Jack's spirits though, he shrugged, "Call it whatever ye like, but I know the truth."

James sighed and rolled his eyes and turned, he should've expected this. He couldn't imagine why Jack was even a captain, he never gets anything done! He thought to himself.

"Jack- the Commodore needs to be on your ship." Elizabeth said, cutting to the chase.

Jack's eyes darted up and the grin vanished, "Come again?"

"Your ship, Sparrow," Norrington said, turning around, getting irritated. "To be a pirate, I need to be on a pirate ship…make sense, Sparrow?"

"Why mine? Why even a pirate?"

"Because I figure I can get the most information out of people that way. People respond differently to a Commodore than a pirate."

Jack rolled his eyes, he already knew that. "So why my ship?"

Elizabeth took in a deep breath, "Jack- focus on me, and listen to what I am going to tell you. The Commodore is going to dress up like a pirate. He is asking to go onto your ship, do some investigating where ever you stop, hoping to get some information, come back home and catch the man…or even catch the man while with you! Whatever works. If you do this- you will be able to go freely. You won't be hung unless he catches you again! Okay?"

Jack paused, looking at the two men in front of him, "Why didn't she just explain it in the first place?"

James sighed, "Do we have an accord?"

Jack raised a brow, "Only if you understand that I'm taking you on…that you will answer to me in front of my crew and that I am the captain on my ship. No second guessing me unless it has to do with the Governor and no threatening me."

James paused, "But if I talk to you privately, I will act myself and act like the Commodore who technically has power over you…"

Jack sighed, not believing he was doing this, "And you tell no one 'bout this." He stuck out his hand cautiously, "Savvy?"

I wouldn't dream of it, Norrington stuck out his own hand and grasped Jack's, "Savvy."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Author Thanks:

Dawnie-7: Glad to have you back!

Emma436: Congrats on your braces and…your story…what more do I need to say? UPDATE IT! Just write a little drabble and post it. You can do it. There you go with your supernatural power of KNOWING THINGS! Like the Norrington dressing up thing. Jeez. Am I that predictable?

Savvy-rum-drinker: Hands of the Navy…I guess I should explain that, shouldn't I?

x0x -Pirate-shivvers-x0x

Trojan Nag

PiratePrincess91 and ThePinkPanther: glad to have you both back!