Disclaimer: I do not own anything or anyone from PotC.

Chapter Thirteen:"Dagger"

Admiral Sir James Norrington lay awake as the sun rose to it's place in the morning sky. Admiral. Long years of following orders, risking his life, and performing his duty had brought him to the position of Commander of the Royal Navy in the Caribbean. In Kingston alone his magnificent flagship, Dauntless, one other double-decked ship of the line, three frigates and no fewer than four sloops stood at anchor ready to embark at the word of their Admiral. Sir James. Hundreds of pirates had gone to the noose because of his diligence. Thousands of miles away, His King had made him a Knight, rewarding those many years he spent serving the Crown and keeping the West Indies safe for decent people. Norrington. The beautiful woman sleeping soundly beside him had taken that name years ago in spectacle of a wedding that everyone in town had been invited to witness. Their son, a midshipman on leave from his second year in the Navy, bore that name as well as the daughter who had married and gone off to England only last month.

His eyes traced the painted patterns in the ceiling high above his head. The muted colors in the mural were meant to bring sweet dreams to the man and woman who lay in the bed below. Elizabeth had designed the painting herself. During it's conception, she had spoken so excitedly about the puffy white clouds, and angels with graceful wings playing gilded harps. The image was beautifully rendered. The painter had outdone himself. At the time, James' heart had warmed seeing the childlike joy on his wife's face when she'd first gazed at the completed work. Now, however, the clouds looked gray and dismal. The faces of the angels seemed to hold unspoken accusations. Those painted eyes had watched him take another woman to his wedding bed. They were watching him now, as the man who appeared to have every happiness and success lay on his back with a deep frown on his face.

Rising from the bed, carefully so as not to disturb Elizabeth, Norrington dressed and escaped the confines of his false happiness. He wanted to go down the hall to the guest chamber. He wanted to take the woman behind that door in his arms. Instead, he shook his head and descended the grand staircase. Never before had every aspect of his life been so utterly backwards. He was sad for the loss of a pirate, conflicted concerning his duty, and longing for the embrace of a woman he'd given up on. Maybe he could just go to his ship and hide in his cabin until Annie decided to go back to her life as a piratess.

James stopped suddenly at the last step. His thoughts had been interrupted by the sound of voices. Not wanting to disturb the conversation, but curious as to who was having it, the Admiral followed the soft sound to the veranda that stretched out behind his grand mansion. There, sitting at the white wicker table, Anamaria Tarret was talking with his son. John was still dressed in the dress uniform he had worn to last night's ball. He looked tired, but not tired enough to tear himself away from whatever story Annie had just finished telling. His brown eyes, that could have come straight out of his mother's head, were tinged pink but wide as saucers.

"It sounds as though you've known my father a very long time," the midshipman was saying. "Might I ask when you first met?"

"We met at a party, actually," Annie answered, taking James back to that very night. "A man completely without any of a gentleman's saving graces had cornered me, and your father came to my rescue. He's a very gifted damsel rescuer, you know."

"So my mother tells me," John said. "Although, she's also told me that a woman named Anamaria is one of the fiercest pirates in these waters. You don't look so fierce to me."

Annie leaned across the table. "You don't know me very well," she teased.

John smiled. "Ah, you are a pirate, then." His eyes finally found James standing in the doorway. "How is it, then, that you are a guest in our house? I would have assumed my father would have hung you by now."

Turning around in her chair, Annie winked at James. "He's tried, but I have an older brother with a slightly reckless, overprotective streak." She laughed softly. "You see, John, I'm fairly certain my brother will kill your father if he ever succeeds in hanging me."

Norrington shrugged. "Yes, I imagine he would have, at that."

"James, please, you speak as though he's dead."

The Admiral's eyes widened slightly. "Isn't he?"

Annie's eyebrow arched. "No. Why would you think that?" she asked.

"I've heard nothing of him for over five years. I suppose I assumed …"

The lady smiled, before rising from her seat and coming to stand next to James. "You assumed that he couldn't resist the urge to use every waking moment to plague you?" Annie shook her head, mocking the officer. "Ask a frog, or a Spaniard," she said. "They'll tell you what Lefty Scott is up to."

"Lefty Scott is your brother?" John interrupted, his eyes nearly as wide as his father's. Annie nodded.

"It's a wonder he hasn't come for you," James ignored his son's comment.

The insurmountable grief that the woman was destined to feel the rest of her life briefly flickered across her face. Shrugging it away, she said, "Well, Tortuga is a day's sailing from here. It would take the news at least that long to reach him. To my knowledge he has yet to steal a crystal ball or a magic lamp. He would've had to bee in your backyard the day you heard the news to arrive any sooner."

"In my backyard," James repeated. "That would hardly surprise me," he said, recalling several times when Prescott seemed to have materialized out of the clear blue sky. The man was an excellent pirate, stealing into a town as heavily patrolled as Kingston was not above and beyond where Prescott was concerned. "He will come, though."

"Yes, I imagine he will."

John immediately began to fire questions at Annie concerning the tales told of the famous one-armed pirate. James, however, paid no attention. Instead, he paused a moment to contemplate the significance of the lady's words. He had known that his affair with the dark-skinned woman could not go on forever. Elizabeth would find out, or Annie would eventually leave. But, he hadn't counted on her brother. Prescott could be her strength while she rode out the storm of grief. He always had been in the past, and he would fill that position far better than James could. He was Annie's family after all. Her departure was suddenly very imminent.

"Good morning, John, James … Anamaria," Elizabeth stepped out onto the patio, almost as though James' impure thoughts had called to her. Her smile was pleasant enough, but the way that she said Annie's name sent tiny shivers up Norrington's spine. Did she know, already? "John, would you excuse us for a moment."

Their son rose from the table and came to kiss his mother on the cheek. "Of course, Mother," he said, and then turning to the lady pirate. "It was a distinct pleasure to meet you," he said, planting a kiss on Annie's hand. Elizabeth seemed to scowl.

"What is it, my dear?" Norrington started, trying to appear nonchalant.

"Oh, I just wanted to say how thankful I am that Anamaria was here last night," she started. Bringing her hand up to eye level, James was shocked to see the small dagger that had been in Annie's garter last night, in his wife's grasp this morning. "I'm sure she scared off whatever intruder must have been trying to gain entry into our bedroom." Elizabeth was glaring at Annie, who had crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "What I'm wondering, James, is what she was doing in our bedroom in the first place?"

TBC

I know this update was a long time coming, and I apologize profusely. I will not neglect all you lovely reviewers again, promise! And since I made you all wait so long, I'm going to start responding to each of your wonderful reviews. It's the very least I can do.

Yuna-Flowering: To answer your first question, I am absolutely planning to write the stories that would lead up to this one. I hadn't planned to do this so out of order, but the idea came to me and I just went with it. So, I hope you don't mind jumping back and forth between this and "Brothers." Jack and Prescott's relationship is a bit strained at this point and that is sad, but I think it's a testiment to the fact that they've become real brothers. They may not like each other all of the time, but when it counts they are there for one another. And I know exactly what you mean about almost being sad that James and Ana didn't get to be together. Norry is lovely, but he's no Jack Sparrow, is he?

Nykky: Thanks so much for the compliment, I'm glad I've got you interested. I'm also happy that you don't hate Jack. He's being a bit of a jerk, but what man doesn't have that tendency? And I hope you enjoyed this chapter, because it's only the beginning of the dirty laundry!

Angel-In-Hell: I love Jack/Ana fics, obviously. So I'm glad you've enjoyed where I'm taking the couple, and I hope you don't mind what I'm putting them through. Jack/Ana stories are a bit hard to find, but I'll always be here to write them, I hope you'll continue to read 'em.

SylviaD: Scotty's definitely hard to resist. I didn't know when I started writing this if he was going to show up or not, but I couldn't resist either! And I know he was a bit hard on Jack, but sometimes brothers are like that. Prescott does have an overprotective streak where Ana's concerned, and I think his anger was just the automatic reaction to hearing that she's been hurt. I'm glad you took the dare and decided to stick with this, I sincerely hope I do not disappoint.

Cal: Prescott's pirate name really is a bit cheesy, but Jack made it up (and we can probably assume he was drunk at the time), and poor Scotty certainly hates it ... but it gets the job done. And I'm glad you view Pres as more of a "gentleman pirate." Any amount of research will prove that such a thing really didn't exist, but I don't care. I sort of have the Errol Flynn kind of pirate in mind when I write Pres, all that rebel with a heart of gold stuff. I don't think he could be anything else, b/c he has all those years of Navy training, and that code of ethics so engrained in him. I'm also happy you noticed the calm within the storm where Prescott is explaining how he found out the news and had to get back to tell Jack. That's partly the reason that Pres is so angry with Jack, b/c he was in such a hurry to get back to find his brother and tell him the good news and then he found Jack in the alley. He's disappointed and he's taking it out on Jack. Not completely fair, but not unjustified. Lastly to answer your question: No, Pres didn't know that Jack had stepped out before. If you were Jack, is that something you'd ever share with Pres, I mean, look what happened. I think Pres knows that Jack has probably been a jerk where Ana is concerned, and, he probably knows that Ana hasn't always acted in the best way either. When he isn't pissed as hell, he's usually pretty diplomatic. So, thanks for the novel review, I hope you didn't mind the novel length reply!

Logical Ghost: Well, not quite evil, but certainly not very gentlemanly either. I think it's safe to say that sparks will fly when he and Ana meet up, don't you? Thank you so much for the compliment, I'm glad you thought I was brilliant, and not terrible, formaking Jack a bit of a jerk these past few chappies.

Pendragginink: Yeah, I've really beat Jack up here haven't I? He doesn't have awhole lot of tact when speaking to Scotty, b/c I think he's so in shock over what's happening, that his mouth is way ahead of his brain. And as far as Ana ever telling Jack that she loved him. No, I don't think she has (that may change, as I haven't reallywritten this series in order) I picture her whispering those words after he's fallen asleep, or when they're both too drunk to remember, moments like that. And you're absolutely right that Jack is in just as muchpain now,as he would be in if he'd told Ana how he felt. Probably more. I mean,if he'd just said he loved her and been open, think how much happier he would have been before Ana "died." Well, who saidour favorite pirate wasright all the time?

DyingStar: I'm gladyou understand Jack's actions.He's definitely very defensive and guarded when people try to get close to him. I think the kind of closeness thathe feels with Ana scares him b/c it gives her so muchpower over him. So, even though it's notthe best idea to run into the bed of the nearest whore, it isn't so hard to understand whyJack would do it. And I'm glad you like Prescott. He'sa bit overprotective of the women in his life,but he's not sobad when he isn't pissed off. So, give him another chance, he may redeem himself.

Thanks so much for all the reveiws. Keep them coming and I'll try to shorten the timebetween updates!