I'm SOOOOOOO SORRY it took me so long to update. But I do have a good excuse. Two words. Hurricane Katrina. Even though I live in LA – that's LOWER ALABAMA in case you didn't know – we still lost power and had repairs and… Ugh. I hate hurricanes. School's even been cancelled until further notice. Can you guys believe that? We're going to lose our whole summer break!

Okay, I'm done complaining now. On the bright side, I am now 17! Haha! Man, I'm getting old.

Smithy – Sorry it took so long. And we'll see if they get out of this rather large mess.

Dancin – I'm not telling who dies. No way. Hope you like Chapter 13 as well.

Numen – Sorry it's late but hope you enjoy anyway.

l.j.davies – Wow. International recognition! Glad you like it! Here's the next chapter. Tell me what you think.

MagRowan – That thing about paper not being huggable? Tell that to my friend Chris. He made out with another of my friend's Jack Sparrow poster. I'm serious. And no, not the double decker bus scene. Actually, it's the same scene we were talking about earlier. It's in this chapter… Wel, it reminded ME of it. Hope you like this chapter.

Marie Crosby - #hides behind freakishly big Pre-Calculus book# Please don't hurt me. But I am glad you liked those lines. They were fun and seemed appropriate. Enjoy chapter 13!

Silverpaw – Well I hope this chapter lives up to your expectations. And in answer to your other question… I DO have a sequel I'm working on, BUT it's not done and I haven't gotten it typed yet. So whether or not it gets up depends on whether or not I can get anyone to type it for me and if I think it's any good, 'cause it's way different from this one.

Williz – CLEAR! #zaps Williz with defibulater-thingy# Oh wait, you weren't being serious about the heart-stopping. Sorry. But here's the next chapter to make up for me zapping you. And yes, it is sweet that they fight for each other. I love it so much. That's why I do it.

Sanquinedarkness666 – If you sick Fred on me I'll beat you with Conner. Haha! And here's the next chapter. I hate being out of school like this. My mom said if this lasts too long, we'll have to do home-schooling. ICKY!

Trinilee Greenleaf – Love it when you review. It makes me all bubbly inside. (Though at the moment, it could be the four sodas I drank.) And who wouldn't want Tommy Oliver for a birthday present? #pats on shoulder# It's okay to like pain. I'm in the same boat as you. And I'm super glad you though it played out like a movie. But what does LMAO stand for? Answer me that, and I give you this shiny, new chapter.

Madame Opera Ghost – Did I detect a hint of sarcasm? Glad you like my story though. On to the next chapter!

SpufFan – Hmmmm. British novelty… That IS a good idea… I guess you'll just have to see how evil I am. Mwahahahaha! #looks around in surprise# Where did THAT come from! Anyways, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

Okay, you guys – and girls – have waited long enough for this chapter, so I'm shutting up now and letting you read.

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BlackSword

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Chapter 13

Jack didn't move; he couldn't move. The tip of Black Andrew's sword was digging dangerously into his throat. He was breathing heavily, pain shooting through his chest. His blood had run down his chest and stomach. His hand still held his sword.

"Most believe you to be immortal. I shall prove otherwise."

Trembling slightly on the deck, Jack swallowed hard. If he died, then Will would surely follow. He had never told Will that he considered him to be his best friend before this hour. He wasn't sure if Will had heard, but there was nothing he could do about it now.

For the first time in his life, Jack regretted being a pirate. As a pirate, he had to uphold an image, and part of his image included not showing feelings of concern for anyone, even his friends. Despite the fact that he had completely destroyed his image by showing how he felt about Will, he still didn't like what he had done. Now, though, his friend would probably follow him in death.

His caramel eyes flickered sadly. 'Will, I'm sorry,' he thought, 'you never should have gotten involved in this.'

The smile that crossed Blacksword's face was cold enough to freeze the ocean. "And so ends the tale of the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow."

Before he could do anything though, something slammed hard into the evil pirate, knocking him away from Jack. Jack started in surprise. 'What the…?"

He found himself staring up into a pair of dark brown eyes. "Will?" he asked in surprise.

Will grinned shakily at him, pain heavily accenting the smile. Before Jack had the chance to say anything else though, Will dropped hard to the deck as consciousness fled him.

"Will!" he screamed, getting quickly off his back and onto his knees next to his friend. "Will?"

"I don't understand. Why are you so concerned for him? You are a pirate, correct?" Blacksword asked, coming back.

Jack stood up, staying protectively between the blacksmith's body and Black Andrew. "I may be a bloody pirate, but he's my best friend, savvy?" His eyes narrowed dangerously. "And I'm going to kill you because of what you did."

"Oh, so not only had Captain Sparrow gone soft, but he's also developed a sense of honor." A large sneer spread across his face, "How pathetic."

Hand tightening on the hilt of his sword, Jack tried to ignore the pain that shot through his chest as he did. If Will had done everything he had with all of his injuries, then he could do this with just the one wound.

Lurching forward, Blacksword attacked the other captain, anger still showing on his face. Jack blocked, another jolt racing through his chest. Quickly attacking, Jack tried to end the fight as quickly as possible. He needed it to end; he needed to know if Will was okay.

As he continued to block and slash, he couldn't help but glance back at his friend's unresponsive body. Will hadn't moved, and the sole positive factor was that he could see the rise and fall of his friend's chest.

"Watch who you're calling pathetic," Jack warned. "After all, Will was able to match you just now, despite all his injuries. I'd consider that pretty pathetic on your part."

Anger flashed through Blacksword's countenance. "Damn you, Sparrow," he hissed. He swung his sword around, hoping to drive the point into his adversary. Jack blocked again; it seemed that he had been doing that quite a lot.

Pain shot through his chest as an abrupt blow sent shock rolling through him.

"You know Sparrow, maybe you'll live long enough to see my men when they bring back the body of young Jack Turner back. It's only a matter of time. Then you'll have caused the death of two generations of Turners."

Freezing completely, Jack stared in horror.

"Wait, I'm sorry, that should have been three generations of Turners," Blacksword continued in a mocking tone. "After all, didn't you cause the death of ol' Bootstrap?"

Anger flared deep inside of Jack. He may have believed that he had caused Bootstrap's death, but that didn't give anyone the right to tell him it was his fault.

"Captain!"

Both Jack and Blacksword stopped, turning back towards the Hornet Dragon.

"Captain!" the man repeated. He was one of Black Andrew's crew. "Captain, the boy disappeared. We can't find him, and he killed Rodger and James!"

Surprise was written on Black Andrew's face. "What? How? Rodger and James are two of the best!"

The surprise in Black Andrew's voice was mirrored in Jack's mind. 'Little, Jackie?' he thought, 'he killed two trained pirates? Damn, that kid is good.' Another thought occurred to him, 'Elizabeth is not going to be happy.'

"Find him," Blacksword ordered, "I want that boy dead!"

"I think you're losing your touch. Can't even capture and kill an eight-year-old child."

Spinning around to face Jack, a large sneer spread across his face. "Hold your tongue, Sparrow! Or perhaps I'll capture and force you to go through everything your friend went through. Would you like that?"

"I'd rather go and rot in hell," Jack said angrily. "Though I think, unfortunately, I'd meet you there."

"I could arrange the meeting."

Paul slid down the hall, hilt clenched tightly in his fist. As he slowly navigated to the upper levels of the ship, he noticed the sharp increase in the amount of pirates searching the ship.

"Damn it, this is not good. I hope Jackie is alright," he muttered. "Maybe Miguel is having better luck than me."

The sound of loud footfalls alerted him and he turned quickly. A small flash of brown and white slipped past, followed closely be many pirates.

"Jackie," he called. The boy slid to a dead stop and changed directions. The boy came pelting up the hall and skidded around behind him.

"Paul," he whimpered, "they want to kill me. I only killed two of them. I didn't want to. Don't let them hurt me!"

The pirates changed directions, coming after Jackie, despite Paul's presence. Paul's eyes widened slightly; there were way, way too many for him to even possibly begin to deal with.

"Jackie, head to the deck. I'll distract them for you."

"But-"

"Just go!"

A few minutes later, Jackie pulled up to an empty hallway. He slowed down, letting his breathing return to normal. He felt horrible, knowing that Paul was quite possibly sacrificing his life for him.

He was close to the deck now, and he knew it. One hallway over and he'd be at the ladder that led to the deck.

Sighing softly, he peered around the corner, attempting to see if anyone was coming. He didn't see anything, but that didn't man no one was there.

Pulling his knife from his belt, he held it tightly. 'Maybe I should have stayed with Paul. I might have stood a better chance with him than by myself.'

A few pirates came, jumping down the ladder. The loud thump caused Jackie to jump. 'Oh shit!'

The thought surprised him. Where had that thought come from? 'I have been spending too much time around Captain Sparrow. Mom is not going to be happy.'

The pirates continued on, ignoring the small side passage. With another sigh, he slipped around the corner and quickly pulled himself up the ladder.

Miguel groaned; he had searched the lower levels of the ship twice, but he still had not found Jackie. "Damn it, Captain Sparrow is going to kill me."

Turning, he slowly headed upwards; perhaps Paul had had better luck.

The sounds of unsteady footfalls reached his ears. He shifted his sword to his left hand and pulled out his pistol. The steps grew louder and the Spaniard swallowed hard.

To his surprise it was Paul who came staggering around the corner; one hand still clenching his sword while the other was holding his stomach.

"Paul?" he asked in surprise. He noticed the deep bloodstain growing from under his friend's hand. "Paul, what the hell? What happened?"

Abruptly, Paul collapsed, sword dropping to the ground. "Found… found the kid," he whispered in pain.

Miguel dropped his sword and gun and fell to his knees next to the other pirate. "What? Where is he? Is he okay? Are you okay? Let me see."

Weakly shaking his head, Paul said, "Don't. Find Ja… Jackie. Should be… on deck."

"Well, you're coming with me, right?" Miguel asked, desperate hopefulness in his voice.

Suddenly, he wondered if the feeling he felt inside was the same one Captain Sparrow had felt when he had believed Will had died aboard the Assassin. 'No second chances for us though.'

"Don't… don't think so. I'll probably see… you in… hell, though... just… just like you said," Paul managed as his green eyes slowly grew dim. Miguel could almost literally feel the life draining from his friend.

"I was joking about that. You weren't supposed to take me seriously," Miguel's voice was full of misery.

"Spanish men and their jokes…" Paul teased. "Find Jackie… He's in… danger. You'll… have to protect him. I can't…" His eyes rolled into the back of his head and he shuddered once, and then went still.

Miguel felt numb. "No," he whispered. He wanted to cry, wanted to stay there, but he had his duty. Protect Jackie. His friend had just died for that. Absolutely nothing was going to happen to the boy. Not as long as he had a say in it.

"What's the matter, Sparrow? Worried about Will and Jackie? Don't be, you'll see them soon enough once you're all dead!"

Jack scowled darkly. "Overconfidence often backfires. It'll be the thing that kills you." He blocked another attack as Blacksword's fury rose.

"Don't lecture me, Sparrow," Black Andrew warned. He was growing frustrated. It shouldn't have taken them this long to take out these two men. Will was injured and unconscious and now Jack was also hurt, yet he still had not killed either. His men hadn't even been able to capture and kill a mere child.

"Frustrated? Good!" Jack replied.

"Captain!"

Once again both men turned. "What?" they demanded simultaneously.

"Found him!"

Jack was confused, "What?"

Obviously, Blacksword wasn't, just as it was obvious that the man was talking to him. "Then kill him!"

Jack's head snapped around, long dark brown hair whipping into his face. "What!"

"Uh, Captain, we're trying. It's… more difficult than we thought it would be."

"If you can't handle an eight-year-old child, then you have no reason being a pirate."

"Well Captain, take a look. If you think you can do better, please do so." As he said this, the man pointed up behind him.

Shock rolled through both Jack and Andrew as they caught sight of Jackie. The boy was crouched in the rigging, holding tightly onto the mast. In one of his small fists was a knife while the other was wrapped around the wood of the mast. The blade was in his hand and his arm was pulled back, ready to launch it into the first pirate who came up to him.

"Jackie?" the Black Pearl's captain said in disbelief and concern.

A soft groan alerted him and he spun around. Blacksword stood, not moving and not caring. Jack's eyes widened as they fell upon Will's body. The young man was slowly regaining consciousness.

"Shit," Jack hissed to himself. He had been hoping to kill Blacksword before his friend woke up.

He glanced back to Black Andrew. The other captain was still staring at Jackie. Jack's gaze drifted up to the boy. As he heard a familiar voice, his attention shifted over to the voice's owner. "Miguel?"

The Spaniard looked over at him. "Captain?"

"Miguel, help Jackie!"

"What do you think I'm doing? I just got here."

Another weak moan drifted up to him. Slowly sliding backwards, Jack edged towards his friend.

The first thing Will became aware of was a sharp pain in his shoulder and ribs. The pain nearly caused him to black out again. He felt sick and his head pounded as a strong chill swept through him. He shivered and nausea settled in the pit of his stomach.

Jack, eyes still locked on Blacksword, knelt in front of his friend. "Will, are you okay?" Before his friend answered, he changed the question. "Can you pretend to still be unconscious?"

"So, he's awake. Good, now I can take him out."

Fear began to wash through Jack. He rose to his feet, still facing Black Andrew. Out of the corner of his eyes he noticed Will struggling to get to his feet.

Suddenly, Jack put his sword back into his sheath and turned his back to the other captain. Reaching down, he took hold of Will's left hand and helped the younger man to his feet.

Will wavered as he had earlier and Jack became alarmed by the heat radiating from the boy's skin. His brown eyes were dull and full of misery, and Jack began to wonder if his friend was capable of fighting.

"You're a pathetic liar, Turner. You may be able to fool Sparrow, but not me." Confusion filled Jack; Will hadn't said anything, what was Black Andrew talking about?

"I know how you feel; I know that death pulls at you. You fight merely to keep yourself alive, yet he knows nothing of it. Sparrow doesn't realize that even if you succeed in killing me, you shall never live through the day."

Pure horror and concern filled Jack. "Will? You- No!"

Miguel turned away from his captain, his eyes seeking out Jackie. He found the little boy perched in the rigging, clutching a knife tightly in his hand. The alarming part of the matter was that there were several pirates chasing the child and the closest had just about reached him.

Before the Spaniard could do anything, the boy launched the knife into the approaching pirate. The man gurgled and fell back, onto the pirates below. The pirates dropped, knocked loose by their comrades' fall. They smashed to the deck with a sickening series of cracks and pops.

The boy's eyes widened in surprise; obviously, he had not expected that. "Jackie!" he yelled once his own shock wore off. "Get down here!"

Grinning, Jackie nodded and leaned back, swinging down so he was hanging upside down by his legs.

"Jack Turner, don't even think-"

He didn't listen and he released himself. The eight-year-old dropped straight down then grabbed onto another rope further down. Then he swung so he was facing right side up and let go, dropping the remaining five feet to the deck.

Jackie landed in a crouch not more than two feet from Miguel. The Spanish man stared at the child with a mixture of awe and surprise written clearly on his face.

"You did that just to give me a heart attack, didn't you?" Miguel demanded, no small amount of frustration in his eyes.

The boy merely smiled infuriatingly, "No. You told me to get down. I just used a way Captain Sparrow showed me."

"I don't know what the captain was thinking when he taught you that."

Shrugging slightly, Jackie asked, "Did you find Paul?"

A wave of pain flashed through Miguel's awareness. His sorrow was acute and he once again felt the urge to cry, much as Jack had earlier aboard the Pearl.

"I… I found him, but… he…"

Color drained from Jackie's face. "What? He… no… it can't… I didn't…"

"Don't worry Jackie, it wasn't your fault," Miguel said as he regained control of his emotions.

"No!"

The scream ripped through the air, causing both Miguel and Jackie to jump.

"That was Captain Sparrow!" The young boy gasped.

Miguel, reaching the same conclusion, spun back towards the Assassin. As he did, he grabbed hold of the child's hand and pulled the boy along with him. He would not leave the child behind.

His eyes fell upon the captain and he watched in confusion. Despite the blood draining down Jack's chest, the pirate seemed fine. He was staring wide-eyed at Blacksword, horror on his face and his sword in its sheath.

Swaying slightly beside him was Will, who looked horrible. The young man was covered in blood and was pale and trembling. It was obvious that he was hurt, badly so. And Black Andrew, he simply had a smirk on his face as he stood across from the two, sword in hand.

"Dad? Dad!" Jackie screamed in growing excitement as he saw his father. "Dad!"

Miguel tightened his grip on the boy's wrist and he jerked the boy back. "Come on, Jackie."

"No," he said in anguish. "Dad, he…"

"Yes, he's alive. Now come on, I need to get you to safety." Miguel began to slowly drag the resisting boy to the stern of the ship.

"But-"

"Jackie!" Miguel interrupted sharply. His dark eyes flashed angrily.

Swallowing whatever he had been about to say, Jackie stopped as he remembered that he had caused the death of the Spaniard's best friend. He felt he owed the other that much at least. "You… you knew…? You knew my father was alive?"

Nodding grimly, Miguel continued to pull the boy along with him. "I knew."

"Why didn't anyone tell me?" the boy demanded.

"Captain Sparrow didn't want you to get your hopes up. He knew there was a large probability your father would be dead before we got here, so he made us keep quiet."

"But dad's not dead!" the child was thrilled.

"No, he's not," Miguel agreed. 'Yet at least,' he thought grimly.

TBC

HOPEFULLY, there won't be any hurricanes delaying my next chapter.

See you folks later!