Okay, just a warning: This chapter has elements of drug use in it. I am not completely sure if this certain drug will do this to people, but just give me the benefit of the doubt. Thanks. AND this is the only chapter with said drugs in it…I am not a drug fanatic or anything, just thought it might provide an interesting twist to the story. By the way, I do not condone drug use in anyway. So kids, don't try this at home... or anywhere.

CHAPTER FOUR

Jack's Plea.

'James, I am not sure what it is you are saying.' Governor Swann commented as the two men sat in the library of Swann Manor. 'Are you indeed saying that this woman resides in my home at this moment?'

'Yes!' Commodore Norrington said, finally glad that the old man had understood what it was he had been trying to tell him for almost forty-five minutes. 'I knew I had seen this wench somewhere and this is where! You must dispose of her immediately!'

The Governor sighed and rested his chin on the palm of his hand. He had been through this with Jack Sparrow and now he was to repeat it once more? Wetherby did not enjoy deporting people from Port Royal and did not wish to make a regular practice of it. Besides, Jack Sparrow had indeed been the one who had saved his daughter on several occasions. Did Port Royal not owe him something at least? Obviously, according to the good Commodore, the answer was "No.".

'For all we know this may not be her.' The Governor said. 'She may have a…twin.'
Wetherby knew it was a futile exercise to try and talk Commodore James Norrington out of doing something, but he did not fancy having to deal with the repercussions of taking something away from Captain Jack Sparrow.

James surveyed him, a strange look in his eyes. 'I doubt that very much, governor.'

'Faye,' Jack pleaded, his face pressed up against the wooden door. 'Please, let me in.'

All Jack was greeted with was what sounded like something made from glass being pelted at the door. The pirate stood back, even though the glass could not come and hit him through the door. He had not said anything to offend Faye, but it seemed she needed somewhere to vent her anger and since Jack was there, he was having unwarranted insults thrown his way.

'Faye!' Jack was now screaming through the door. 'Le' me in or I swear I will bloody break this 'ere door down!'

Of course, Jack knew that he did not have the mindset or strength to break a solid oak door with his bare hands.

'Why should I?' Faye's voice came through the door. She was obviously past the stage of crying and now in a minor state of hyperventilation. Jack could hear he sharp, shallow intermittent breaths as she spoke. 'This is your entire fault! If you hadn't convinced me that I could have a better life it wouldn't be like this!'

Jack sighed and leant his head against the door. It was hopeless. He had dealt with irrational women before, but he had never seen this side of Faye, let alone even knew it existed. He had always known her as being sweet tempered and kind, not a ravenous lunatic as she was behaving now.

'All righ', I accep' full responsibili'y for this, now will you let me in?' Jack once again thought he might try a different technique. He had been trying to gain access into the room for just shy of an hour and so far had been called a pig, a rat, a rat-faced pig and an entire dictionary full of other miscellaneous insults too explicit to repeat.

Silence. Jack often thought of silence as golden, but at the moment he had no idea what to think. Slowly, he tried his best to look through the keyhole; alas there was nothing but blackness. As if in slow motion, Jack heard the handle turn on the door. He stood to his full height, giving up on the keyhole. Jack saw Faye's tear stricken face as she opened the door. Jack did not speak, he just looked at her. Her pupils were constricted and she did not seem to be even with him. It was as if her body was there, but she had left her mind behind somewhere else.

As Jack entered further into the room he still did not speak. An overwhelming scent overcame him. The smell was familiar, but he could not quite place it. There was a light smoky haze in the room, gathering around the roof like one large cloud. Faye just stood at the door and tried to close it, but without luck. Her hands kept slipping off the handle as soon as she grasped it.

Jack ignored it and continued to walk around the room searching for the source of the smell. It was not exactly an unpleasant smell, but quite sweet and pungent. Finally, Jack went to the side of the bed and found a side table. What looked like a rolled up piece of paper sat slightly crumpled on the surface, but it was not the paper that worried him, but what was inside the paper. Jack picked it up and smelt it, it was the same smell that as filling the room at that very moment. He now knew exactly what it was. Opium.

'Wha' is this?' Jack asked, holding up the drug for Faye to see. She seemed to have difficulty focusing on it, but she finally laid eyes on what Jack was holding.

'I don't know.' She replied lamely. It was obvious that she did know, but not willing to tell Jack the truth.

'Yer do know an' you are gonna tell me where yer got it.' Jack placed the drug down and looked at Faye directly, his gaze never wavering.

Faye walked clumsily over to Jack, studying each step she took carefully out of fear of falling on her face. 'From Ana, she said it would make me feel better.' Her voice was innocent and quiet like a child being punished.

'And 'as it worked?' Jack asked. The pirate had of course smoked this drug at some time in his life and knew the euphoria it caused, it was a pleasant sensation for a while, but after it wore off everything was back to normal.

Faye nodded and looked at the drug once more, she was tempted to pick it up and smoke it again, but Jack stubbed it out on the mahogany wood of the bedside table. It scalded the surface, but obviously he did not care.

Before Faye knew it, Jack was out of the room and quickly making his way down the staircase until Elizabeth stopped him at the foot of the stairs.

'What's wrong, Jack?' she asked, obviously seeing the frustration and anger on his face.

'Have yer seen Anamaria?' Jack asked in return, ignoring her question.

'Yes,' Elizabeth replied, 'She was down at the docks last time I saw her, but why-.'

Elizabeth could not finish her question because Jack was gone, running as quickly as he could down towards the docks. He saw Anamaria some thirty feet away and continued to run. Finally he stopped in front of her, skidding slightly on the gravel before the docks.

'What were ya thinkin'!' Jack yelled at her, anger falling on his each and every word.

Anamaria turned around slowly, looking at Jack. 'What are you talking about?'

'What did you give 'er!' Jack demanded. 'What did yer give Faye?'

Anamaria sighed. Obviously Faye had told Jack what she had done. 'I was only trying to help her, Jack.' Anamaria insisted. 'She said she was feeling down so I gave her something for it.'

'So you gave her a drug!' Jack's voice was still loud and people around them began to stare, mothers steered their children away while others just hurried on in the opposite direction. 'You could 'have jus' talked to 'er about it.'

Anamaria scoffed. 'That's rich coming from you the man who drowns his sorrows in a bottle of rum every time his life gets messed up!'

Jack sighed and ignored the comment. Come to think, he had not had any rum in quite a while and for some reason he felt better without it. He no longer had the awful smell on his breath and his mind was free…well as free as it could be.

Without another word to Anamaria, Jack turned on his heel and continued to walk, back to the Manor and all the problems that awaited him there.

Anamaria watched Jack walk away from her. What had she done? She should have just stayed out of Faye and Jack's problems. But, as usual, she had to intervene somehow. Ana sighed and sat down on the dock, her toes just touching the cool Caribbean water. The memory of Faye coming for help slowly came back to her mind.

Anamaria walked slowly through the streets of Port Royale, her hair being pushed back by the cool breeze coming off the horizon. As she walked, thoughts plagued her mind. Thoughts of Jack Sparrow, Faye and of course the poster she had found but a few days ago. Ana could not believe it. Faye seemed like such a gentle and kind person – not the sort to go off and kill a man. Anamaria had always thought he possessed a rather good judge of character, but obviously she was wrong.

As she approached the dock, she smiled. She and the rest of the crew of the Pearl had been staying on the ship until Jack was ready to leave, but for some reason it seemed as if he was settled with his new life and new love. It seemed, as Ana had discussed with Joshamee Gibbs one afternoon, that Jack had no need for the Black Pearl and the friends that came with it.

Coming closer to the ship, Ana spotted someone standing on the dock, right in front of the ship. Unsure of whom it was, Ana walked closer. It was Faye. She stood there, her hair slightly disheveled. She looked extremely tired and out of sorts. She wasn't the usual well-dressed, well-groomed and beautiful woman Anamaria had met.

As soon as Faye had caught sight of Anamaria coming toward her, she walked closer to her. The two women hadn't spoken much and this was mostly the fault of Anamaria and her jealousy.

'I need help.' Faye said simply and directly to Anamaria when the two women were finally within two feet of eachother.

Ana was puzzled, but lead Faye back to the ship calling for Gibbs to drop down the ramp for them to walk on.

Gibbs obliged and within seconds Faye and Ana were on the deck of the Black Pearl. Anamaria did not acknowledge anyone else in the crew and instead led Faye downstairs into her private quarters. Being the only female on the ship, Anamaria had been granted a private sleeping place. She was comfortable around the men and was willing to share a room with them, but when the private room was offered the idea was impossible to resist.

'What is it you need help with?' Ana asked, closing the oak door softly behind them. She pulled up a small wooden chest and sat on it, motioning for Faye to take the only chair in the room.

Suddenly, without warning, Faye buried her face in her hand and began to sob quietly, her shoulders shaking with every sound. Anamaria reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled supportively even though she knew that Faye couldn't see it.

'I don't know what's wrong with me.' Faye said as she raised her head and wiped her eyes slowly. 'Ever since you found that poster my whole life has collapsed around me. I had forgotten about that – well, forgotten as much as I could considering what I did – but now it's all come back. Everywhere I go I see his dead face and glazed eyes. In my dreams. I wake up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night and Jack ends up having to cradle me in his arms until I fall asleep again. Ii just don't know who to turn to anymore.'

Anamaria felt a flash of jealousy as Faye mentioned Jack's name. She should be the one in Jack's arms. He had known Anamaria for almost a decade, but for some reason Faye was the one he chose. She tried her best to place these feeling aside and turned her attention back to the woman in front of her.

'I think I have just the thing.' Anamaria sat up off the chest and opened it. An overwhelming mixture of smells surrounded them as she lifted the lid. Smells of wormwood, aniseed and other exotic herbs and concoctions.

Faye stared at the contents of the chest in amazement. She had always had an interest in herbal medicine, but never knew that there were some many alternatives. Ana rummaged through the contents for a few moments and resurfaced with a small paper bag. She handed it to Faye who smiled appreciatively and buried her nose in the package smelling the mixture.

'Oh! I almost forgot.' Anamaria went back to the chest and pulled out several sheets on old yellow parchment and handed it to Faye. 'Roll the leaves in this and light it…I'm guessing you know what to do next.'

Faye nodded and placed the parchment in her pocket and made her way out of the room, smiling at Ana on the way out. 'Thankyou.' She said simply and left the ship.

What he was doing, Jack decided, demanded courage and integrity. The courage he had…the integrity he was not so sure about. The Pirate sighed and slowly knocked on the door. A voice came from the inside – an extremely nasal British voice.
'Come in.' it said from behind the door. Jack could hear the sound of a quill on paper. He sighed and slowly opened the door, bracing himself for the abuse and possible ridicule to follow.

Commodore Norrington sat at his desk hunched over what looked like a map. Jack could not see what part of the world it depicted from his angle, but guessed it was somewhere in Asia.

'Well, aren't you going to speak?' Norrington asked, finally looking up. A look of shock came across his face as he noticed whom it was standing in front of him. His tone changed immediately. 'What is it now, Sparrow? Short on rum I suppose?'

Jack ignored the comment and proceeded to walk further into the room. He placed his hands on the Commodore's desk and stared him in the eyes. 'I s'pose you 'ave seen the poster?'

'I have.' The Commodore flinched as Jack's hands came in contact with the mahogany wood of his desk. 'I suppose you are here to ask me to spare her?'

He was right. Jack had come to the office with every intention of explaining Faye's circumstances, but now that Norrington had mentioned it, the idea seemed absurd. Nevertheless, Jack was determined.

'I'll leave tha' fer you ter decide.' Jack said cryptically and pulled up a seat and sat down, despite the disgusted look on James' face.

'What would you like to say?' James asked, not even looking at Jack and instead studying the map before him.

Jack opened his mouth and began to speak. He told Norrington of the events in Singapore and how awfully Faye had been treated by her master. Every now and then, between sentences, Jack would look up at Norrington, but the Commodore was not looking at him. This unnerved Jack. He hated it when people refused to look at him when he was trying to speak to them. Jack pressed on despite the rudeness of the man before him. When he was finished he sat back in the seat, waiting for a response.

'Are you finished?' Norrington asked, finally looking at Jack for the first time.

'Aye.' Jack replied.

'Well, I don't know what you expect me to do with the information. I assume that you are aware that this will not change the fact that Ms…' he consulted the paper beside him. 'Burrows, is a wanted criminal.'

Jack sighed. 'I don't expect that to happen, but I 'oped tha' maybe if yer un'erstood 'er circumstances you may be a bit more sympathe'ic.'

'Well, Mr. Sparrow, I am sorry to say that sympathy has never been a particularly strong trait of mine.' The Commodore replied succinctly, hatred falling on the words "Mr. Sparrow".

Jack sighed and stood from the chair. He did not say a word to the Commodore and knew that he was expecting Jack to say something like "Thankyou for your time", but under no circumstances was Jack going to thank a man who would not ever look at him.

'What?'

'What do you mean "what"? It's perfectly simple.'

'But still…what!'
'I said it's perfectly simple.'

'I doesn' soun' simple.' Jack said to Gibbs as they sat on the stairs leading to the door of Swann Manor. 'Faking someone's death is harder than it sounds.'

'And you'd know this, Jack? Have you e'er tried to fake ya death?' Gibbs took a swig from the flask and offered some to Jack who took it thankfully.

'But still.' Jack said, swallowing the liquid. 'How are even s'posed ter go abou' it?'

'Well, I'm yet to come up with that part yet…but the idea is there.' Gibbs took the flask back before Jack could drink any more of his precious rum.

'Well, you can be the one ter tell 'er your idea.' Jack said. 'Then, if it doesn' work she can blame you not me.'

'That's fine by me.' Joshamee said standing up and leaving Jack on the steps. 'I'll think it over tonight and get back to ya in the mornin'.'

Jack nodded and waved goodbye to his friend and made his way back inside the manor. It was a risky idea, faking someone's death. He had heard stories where people had tried to fake their death but ended up dead instead. A cold shiver ran over his skin as he thought of the possibility that the plan may not work, but it was their only chance to get away from both their deaths. Jack was still a wanted man in many places and he would not let himself nor Faye get caught.

A/N: Sorry for the slow update. I have been so, so, so busy. This chapter was fun to write...I enjoyed it and hope you did too. Will hopefully have the next one up soon.
xxx