Disclaimer: I don't own Pirates of the Caribbean. If you don't recognize something from the movie I probably invented it/them.

A/n: I've been feeling really inspired recently for this story so I'm focusing all my attention on this. It's taken a while because I lost my original notes which have the plot written in them! Without them even I can't remember what's supposed to happen in each chapter! But after a huge clear out, I've finally found them…under my bed with a three-week-old apple and other substances which seem to have taken on a life of their own. I also saw Kevin McNally (Gibbs) on TV last night.

Chapter 10

The temple of renewed life

Gibbs looked at the entrance to the temple. "Well?" he said, "What do we do?"

"We wait," said Jonathon. Curt grunted his approval. He was too busy watching Smut. So this was the son of that whore Jack had been going off with. What Jack was thinking, he'd never know. This boy was the reason Susan had been very ill. She had tried to do right by the boy when she had found out about him. She had tried to treat him as if he was one of her own but she couldn't. Especially after her own son had been killed. Annie had become her top priority and after Jack took off, Susan had struggled. Smut's mother kept coming and demanding money to look after Smut. Susan had given her as much as she could. Too much, she hadn't had enough to buy medicine when she was sick. "Ain't much of a grandfather, are you?" spat Smut, glaring at Curt. Curt swung his hand and hit Smut's face with the back of it. "You're a piece o'scum," growled Curt, "If you weren't my flesh and blood…"

"If I weren't your flesh and blood, I'd have shot you, Jack and Annie a long time ago," snarled Smut, "But then there's the Code."

"What Code?" asked Norrington.

"Pirates Code," said Gibbs, "It's a few rules for a pirate's life. One of 'em is you can't kill family."

"I prefer to think of 'em as more like guidelines than actual rules," said Curt. Something moved in the temple, close to the exit. Everyone looked. "Stay on guard," said Gibbs, "There's all kinds of cursed beasts round here."

Annie picked her way through the passage. She could hear small bones crumbling beneath her feet. She could hear rats running around in the dark and water dripping somewhere. She shuddered. "I hate rats," she muttered. She felt on run across her foot. She squealed and pulled her foot away. She angrily kicked the wall at her stupidity but only added a throbbing foot to her frustration. She limped on. She could hear someone chanting in some kind of ancient language. It was Danny's voice. She could see a light not far off. She ran towards it through water and other undesirable things. She emerged in a hall. Torches were lit around the edge and there were similar symbols on the walls to the outside. Jack was stood next to Danny. In front of him was an altar on which there was a rotting pile of bones. Annie swallowed the bile that threatened to come up. Danny held up a dagger. Annie looked around. Wyatt was stood next to the Turners. There was no one else there. Danny moved the dagger so it was against Jack's neck. "I wouldn't do that, if I were you," she said loudly. Danny stopped and looked at Annie. She walked up to him while Wyatt stared dumbstruck that she was still alive. Danny put the dagger back into his belt and looked at Annie. He looked at her with malice in his eyes. "How did you get off that island?" he asked.

"Never underestimate the importance of family," said Annie.

"You always did speak in riddles," said Danny, "What do you want? Your father's freedom? You already tried, it didn't work."

"I've got a better deal," said Annie, "You see, Jack's blood is old, right?"

"Hey! I'm not that old!" protested Jack. Annie shot him a look that clearly said shut up.

"As I was saying, you wouldn't want to bring old Barbossa back with old, weak blood," continued Annie, "You want young, fresh blood. My blood."

"Why would yours work?" asked Danny. Annie gently tapped the side of Danny's head.

"Hello? The lights are on but no one's home?" she said, "I'm Jack's daughter, remember? I have his blood." A smile crept across Danny's voice.

"I suppose in exchange you want me not to kill the whelp," he said, indicating Jack.

"No by all means kill him," said Annie, "Just don't give him responsibility like bringing your dad back. He's useless." Danny laughed.

"Anything else?" he asked. Annie thought for a second.

"Yeah," she said, "Let him and the Turner's have a chance to run for it."

"You think I'm going to let them go?" he said.

"Well, think about it, what do you need them for?" said Annie, "You've found the temple, you can use my blood, what you dragged Will along for, I'll never know."

Danny thought about it. It was a good deal. At least he thought it was. Plus Annie would be under his control. It was the one thing he'd always wanted, to control the youngest Sparrow. She'd always been a rebel and had rarely followed orders but if he could control her, he would be a force to be reckoned with. Especially with Annie's reputation for being ruthless and quite an adept torturer. "Agreed," he said, "We have an accord." He held out his hand. Annie shook it and they sealed the deal. "It'll be fun," he said, "Having you work for me, scrubbing the decks. And it'll be fun tracking down your old man. I like a challenge." Annie smiled. He really was an idiot. An idiot with bad breath. Danny turned to Wyatt. "Let 'em go," he said, "We have no use for them. Jack, you're free." Wyatt untied the Turners. Will picked up Emma and held her tight. Jack looked confused as Wyatt pushed him and the Turners towards the passage that they had entered through. Jack tried to protest but Elizabeth took hold of his arm and pulled him along. Jack took what he felt was sure to be his last look at his daughter. She smiled at him, that cheeky Sparrow grin that spread up one side of her face. He saw her wink. She was so confident that she would be ok. He gave her a salute. She smiled again before he followed Elizabeth and Will down the passage. The passage was dark and they made the journey, blind in the darkness. Will was carrying Emma and Jack had hold of Elizabeth's hand. Jack kept one hand on the wall, feeling his way down the passage. He saw a silver light near. "Look, we're nearly there," he said.

"Mama, I can see the moon," called Emma. They emerged out of the temple. Norrington, Jonathon and Curt stood up. "Are you alright?" asked Curt. Jack looked terrified.

"Jack, who is this?" asked Elizabeth seeing the look on his face.

"D…d…dad," stuttered Jack.

"Jack," said Curt.

"Your father?" said Elizabeth. She looked carefully at the two men. They had the same dark eyes. It seemed to be a family trait that Annie had inherited. Looking at his clothes, piracy was the family business too. "Hello Curt," said Will. Curt's expression softened when he saw Will. "Where's Annie?" asked Gibbs. Jonathon and Curt looked at Jack. Jack looked at his feet. "She fell behind," he said.

"Curse her!" snarled Gibbs, "She's always putting others before herself."

"Well, I will respect the agreement me and Miss Sparrow made," said Norrington, "Mr. Sparrow, you and your crew are free to go when we reach the shore."

"Annie made a deal with you?" asked Jack.

"To save you," said Curt, "Let's get out of here. Annie has given us time to run." He turned and helped the navy men to escort the crew of the Blue Horizon back through the forest.

Annie sidled up to the altar and looked down at the corpse. "Not many men would dare disturb the bones of the dead," she said.

"Well, the world is at stake here, I think I don't mind moving one man's bones," said Danny, "Even if it is my father."

"My old man always said he was really surprised that Barbossa was a father," said Annie.

"Your old man was a fool," said Danny. Annie grinned. 'She is so full of herself,' thought Danny, 'What a shock it'll be for her when she finds out what I've got planned.'

"So what do we have to do?" asked Annie. Danny grinned to himself. He walked up to her and stood too close for comfort. "Well," he whispered, "I've already done the chant, all that remains is the blood offering. Hold out your arm." Annie held out her arm and rolled up her sleeve. Wyatt watched as she did this. He knew what Danny was planning. He had that gleam in his eye. The murderous gleam. His brain was yelling at him to warn her, to tell her what Danny was going to do. He wasn't going to let Jack escape. Danny knew that once Jack was on the ocean he was uncatchable and wasn't planning on letting him get that far. Danny pulled the dagger out of his belt. He held it out in front of him, showing Annie that it was sharp. Very sharp. He turned it in his fingers so the point was facing Annie. That was when Annie began to suspect something and frowned. "You shouldn't frown, Annie," said Danny, "You won't make a very pretty corpse if you do." He pulled the dagger back and impaled it in Annie's heart. Annie took a sharp intake of breath. She looked down at the dagger in her chest. Her knees gave way beneath her and she collapsed next to the altar. Her breathing was nothing more than gasps which weren't giving her the air she desperately needed. Danny bent down and turned Annie's face to look at him. "No one makes a fool of me," he said, "Anabelle Sparrow." Annie kept on gasping for breath as he turned and left, waiting for her to die.