Maxi rolled over with a low groan. His head was pounding and his gun was gone. Slowly he stood, feeling the lump at the base of his skull. "That little wench pistol whipped me!" Of course, no one was listening but he repeated the phrase again, trying to make himself believe it.

"Problem, Maxi?" Scarlet asked as she stumbled over and put an arm around him.

"Isn't there always?"

"Yeah, but I think this one's the biggest you've had...in Tortuga, I mean. One Sparrow's bad enough, but two? They'll take the lot of us to hell between them both."

"Scarlet, what do you mean by two?"

"I overheard Jack and the girl talking. Far as I can tell she's Jack's daughter. Not that it's hard to see, she looks just like him. Of course he was too..."

Maxi held a hand to her mouth, "Quit rambling, woman!" his head was starting to hurt worse than it had before, though her mindless talk had given him an idea.

"Fine!" With a huff she stomped off, not failing to notice the relief on the man's face.

Slowly he sat at the table where Jack had been. As he tried to make to world stop spinning Maxi picked up the hands of the abandoned game. One thing was evident; if they hadn't stopped playing Jack would have won. That burned him all the more. Taking his knife from the sheath he examined to nicked blade and smiled a little. "Enjoy your luck while you can Sparrow. It's about to go South."

XXXXX

"Who was that?" Reagan asked as she followed Jack through the nightlife of Tortuga.

"His name's Maxi, bet me Annamaria could beat me at poker."

"How much?"

"Ten Shillings."

"And you lost?" Reagan asked, raising an eyebrow.

Slowly he turned to look at her with a half grin, "Define 'lost'."

She almost retorted but then let it drop. It wasn't as if she cared about anything Jack said. However, she did care about where he was taking her, they were getting further away from the actual town. "Exactly where are we going?"

This time he gave her a full blown smile, "The Black Pearl, luv."

"The stories are true then?" Somehow she had thought Will's stories about Jack and his ship slightly overexagerated.

"How is it you can believe I'm your father but not believe I'm captain of the Pearl?"

Reagan shrugged, To her the Black Pearl was little more than a legend, tales the Turner's told to the town's children. Jack jumped on top of a crate and offered her a hand up. She pointedly refused it, pulling herself up was easy in her "borrowed" trousers. What she saw once she was beside Jack astonished her. In the harbor sat the Pearl. "It's beautiful."

"Isn't it?"

As she looked at the ship Reagan thought of one more unanswered question, "Is that what you left me for?" He looked at her for a moment. Was there pain in his eyes? Yes, she could see it. He was a haunted man.

"It'd be best to discuss this on board the Pearl, Blackbird," Then he jumped from the crate and kept walking. In a way he hoped she wouldn't follow.

"What did you just call me?"

Jack shut his eyes for a moment, trying to regain his thoughts. Quickly he forced a smile, "Didn't Christopher tell you? I called you that when you were little."

"Well, thank you for the sentiment, Jack, but Tio never went into too much detail."

"Jack? I'm your father, lass."

"Maybe, but you never took to playing the part."

Suddenly he grabbed her arm so he could whisper in her ear, "I know you have a lot of questions, Reagan, I know you don't belong in Port Royal, but I also know that I'm the only reason you're not dead. Now, you can either follow me to the Pearl so we can talk or you can turn back and never know who you really are."

This time she had no answer, she only nodded and followed. It was becoming obvious that Jack Sparrow was a very haunted man indeed.