Chapter 2
"'Good' is such a relative term…" – What Captain Jack Sparrow said to me today.
Jack Sparrow was having a really good day.
They'd just had a prosperous run down Fortaleza way, and had spent the last week making merry in Tortuga to celebrate. Which meant that the crew were nursing hangovers and Jack was still rather drunk. They'd commandeered some fine cargo – coffee, sugar and cocoa beans – and had sold them on for good money. Jack was feeling wealthy, and there was such a supply of rum aboard that he felt secure as well; secure in the knowledge that no matter how much they drank, it wouldn't run out for at least until they could sail back into Tortuga for more.
"Sail ho!" Came a yell from the main mast, "Dutch merchant, low in the water Cap'n!"
"Shall we risk it, Jack? We're coming awful close to Port Royal waters." Gibbs asked cautiously.
And what better way to spice up a day than to tempt fate, eh?
"Nothin' ventured, nothin' gained." The Captain grinned mischievously. "A'right, you scallywags! Run up the ol' Rule Britannia an' prepare the cannons!"
The Black Pearl allowed the other vessel to approach them, rather than closing the distance themselves – it put the other ship more at ease if they didn't actively try to come closer, and it kept them over the horizon line from Port Royal and so didn't alert the Navy to their presence.
The Dutch ship was carrying a lot of freight since, Jack guessed, they were making a few last sales in Caribbean ports while also stocking up for a journey back to Europe. Despite its black sails, the British flag confused the other ship enough – since they had just come from a British owned island – that they foolishly let the Pearl into hailing distance (and also firing range).
When they were at a good angle, Jack issued his next orders, "Run out the cannons and run up the Jolly Roger, mates! Don't fire until I know they won't surrender."
Jack could see, with his telescope, the other ship's captain start swearing when he realised they were pirates – he loved watching that moment when realisation lit their faces, it amused the hell out of him. Also, he lip-read the other captain yell for a white flag of surrender to be run up. He could tell that the other man was hoping a Navy patrol would spot them, but Jack had planned the Pearl's passing Port Royal just right, and knew they had plenty of time.
He climbed up into the rigging and prepared for his second favourite part of the raid: the speech (his favourite part was the actual 'commandeering' of treasure).
"My name's Captain Jack Sparrow, and this here's the Black Pearl! Let any man among ye lay a hand on a weapon and we'll blast you all to kingdom come. That said, surrender peaceably and you'll find I'm an easy pirate to please!"
Naturally, they all surrendered double quick when they heard who the pirate in question was – a good reputation was a handy thing.
He sent out a solid group of crewmen (and woman, since Ana Maria was among them) to transport merchandise back to the Pearl. There was a small number of passengers aboard the Dutch ship, and they were searched for precious items as well.
By the end of it, there was a handsome pile of swag on the Pearl's deck and they were sailing off into the sunset (so to speak) while the merchant ship limped back to Port Royal.
Swag was always split into equal shares between the crew. But before the money was counted and divided, each crewmember got to pick one item they wanted to keep for themselves. Ana Maria took a brooch that had what she claimed was an emerald set in it, though Jack thought it looked more like coloured glass (but then Ana Maria threatened to slap him, again, so he shut up) and Gibbs took a nice-looking pipe. What caught Jack's eye was a long dagger. It looked kind of ceremonial, and the blade was made of some type of sharpened stone and was a little chipped, but the handle was gold with Aztec printings on it. The others laughed at his taste for Aztec treasures after all the problems they had caused for him in the past, but it appealed to him so he stuck it in his belt. And also… he wanted something Aztec that wasn't bloody cursed!
They were heading for a cosy little bay, with a nice abandoned rumrunners' cache and a fresh water source for refreshing their water barrels, that was secluded but still relatively near Port Royal. Luckily the bay was also quite hard to get to – through a narrow channel and in shallow water. The island it belonged to was uninhabited and they could put up there for a couple of days while he sorted the loot.
He was at the wheel, and a steady breeze was blowing the Pearl just where he wanted her to be going. Life couldn't get much better than this – why, he could just imagine that Dutch captain whining at the good Commodore until Norrington had that constipated, stick-up-his-ass look of irritation. And thinking of Norrington reminded him of some others…
Because it was such a good day… just to make it really perfect… since he was in the neighbourhood… why not drop in on his dear friends, Will and Elizabeth?
Author's Note: I love Jack. I love the way he speaks and behaves and the way he's forever doing incredibly stupid things (because he's honest, you know). And if you want to argue with me about that – why *on earth* did he decide at the very beginning of the film to try and steal (commandeer) the Intrepid, when he probably could have actually gotten away with it if he'd aimed for something a little less… British Royal Navy? (Ah, but as he says, it's such a pretty boat…)
I feel guilty about Miss Swann and the whelp; I was going to include them a lot more in the first draft of this fic (can you believe I actually made a first draft of this, me?!), but my flatmate (who is evil, by the way) pointed out that they'd be too busy getting married to go sailing off etc. (and didn't have to be what ended up linking Norrington's story to Jack's).
Personally, I think she just wanted me to give more 'screen-time' to the adored Commodore and the inimitable Captain. Grin.
Oh, and the quote? Well after all the emphasis given to the concept of 'good men' in the film, can't you just see Jack saying something like that?