Disclaimer: I do not own POTC. I will return them as soon as I am done with them – maybe.

Robin Sparrow: Thanks once again for your reviews and your kind words, it means a lot. Hopefully you are not the only reader I have, ha ha. But if you are, here's another update just for you……….

Chapter 4 – Dark Thoughts – and a Fight

It was dark at the dock, especially as a fog had swept into Tortuga from the sea. Pintel and Ragetti sat side by side, dangling their legs over the side of the dock. Pintel swung his short legs to and fro while Ragetti threw pebbles into the water. The Black Pearl could just about be seen through the fog, looming.

She was a beautiful ship. How on earth had Jack Sparrow managed to get himself a ship like that? It was truly a mystery. It was known to be one of the fastest, if not THE fastest ship in the Caribbean and had a mysterious, yet elegant look to it, with its black sails.

Barbossa, who stood behind the men silently staring at what could be seen of the Pearl, was thinking this exact thought. Jack Sparrow had certainly landed himself some ship, and the unfairness of it all weighed heavily down on the man. It hadn't been exactly true when he had claimed that he had sailed with Morgan for ten years - he had indeed sailed on one of his many ships for a time most recently, but Barbossa had also served under others too. He knew the Brethren of the Coast had many precious and mysterious items in their possession and he had indeed been told by one of Morgan's men that Jack Sparrow had a compass that had once been theirs. And this had, as he had claimed, occurred as Barbossa was literally thrown off their ship and left to swim ashore. Barbossa was a ruthless pirate and not a nice man at all, he had designs on any ship he sailed on to take over as Captain and this had not gone down too well at all aboard that last one. So Barbossa had been given leave so to speak, once the captain had got wind of the fact that Barbossa was after the compass, not knowing that it was already in someone else's possession.

Barbossa smiled to himself. He figured it was good fortune that had led him to be thrown off that ship and lady luck that had directed him to Tortuga. For here he had heard the rumours that a certain young pirate captain had gained the heading to the Isla de Muerta and not only that, had a mind to go after the treasure and was crazy enough to do so. The locals testified that Jack Sparrow was most likely to land in Tortuga any day now. He appeared there quite regularly to recruit new crew members or to stock up on the Pearl. He was popular and well known among the locals and they readily spoke about him. Barbossa had learned many interesting facts about Captain Jack Sparrow. And he felt that he now knew enough to exploit his obvious weaknesses. His crazy, unpredictable nature and his stupid honest streak.

His concentration was interrupted as Pintel's voice grew louder. "You can't be cabin boy, your too old by far and you've only one eye. Its crow's nest for you!"

Barbossa sighed. He was used to Pintel and Ragetti's ways. One could not live without the other it seemed. Where one went, the other followed. Pintel had taken Ragetti under his wing after that unfortunate incident when Ragetti had lost his eye. They were keen to loot some treasure for Ragetti to get a glass eye so that he could stop wearing his patch which he hated and claimed "itched terrible," oh, only about seventy or eighty times a day.

Ragetti was a young man in his early twenties and had served on only one ship which had cost him his eye. He was certainly nervous about going after cursed treasure no less, but thought it would be worth it to get a new eye out of it. Luckily his remaining eye served him well and he had otherwise good vision. After the initial injury and following infection, then having the agony of actually losing his eye it had actually healed quite well, considering. He didn't like to think about it too much, what he called the dark days.' The nightmares alone were reminder enough of those.

The two men were gibbering idiots, although they had their uses. They served Barbossa's purposes for now, which was mainly to follow his orders and assist with his takeover of The Black Pearl.

He looked down at the two men, Pintel was now standing over Ragetti and they were arguing loudly about the coming voyage and the storms which allegedly plagued the waters along the way. Ragetti had made the point that perhaps the crow's nest was not the best place for a one eyed gent during a heavy storm, but Pintel was having none of it, and placed a firm boot in Ragetti's back, pushing the lad into the dock.

Barbossa strode quickly over and grabbed Ragetti by the shoulder, hauling him up, coughing and spluttering. He threw the lad onto the dock and stood over them both. Ragetti let out a wail as he realised his eye patch had come off in the fall and crawled to the edge of the dock, searching the black waters for a black eye patch that could not have been seen even if it was floating right underneath him. Barbossa gave him a sharp smack on the top of his head and yanked him back from the water's edge.

"Down ta' the depths the pair of yeh, you feckless idiots!"

Pintel quickly ripped up his shirt sleeve and tied it at an angle around Ragetti's head to hide the hole where his eye had once been. Ragetti put his hand protectively over the material and shivering hard, looked up fearfully at Barbossa. Pintel stood up and faced the much taller man, who loomed over the pair of them like a spectre.

"My apologies Captain. Just got a bit carried away in the moment yeh know – what with the treasure an' all….."

Pintel received a strike across the head for his troubles and scowled. But he knew better than to challenge Barbossa over anything. The man was a demon with a sword, quick as a cat and he had no morals at all, even for a pirate. Barbossa would think nothing of killing them both and kicking their lifeless bodies into the water. Pintel knew that. And so he stayed silent, but scowling.

"We must keep our eyes on the prize lads. Riches beyond our wildest dreams!" Barbossa said and took an apple out of his coat pocket. He rubbed it on his coat which no doubt made it dirtier than it had been originally, then took a bite. "And I've told yeh.." he added, his eyes flashing angrily at the two men, "Yehs' don't call me Captain….. yet."

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Jack half laid on his bed, outstretched and twirled his compass around and around in his hand. Around and around, flip it open then snap it shut. Twirl, twirl, snap. Twirl twirl, snap. Had he made the right decision? His head was foggy with rum, even though he had made a promise to himself not to get this way tonight. He had recruited two crew members and a first mate. Well, he had needed a first mate. Someone crazy enough to follow this voyage as keenly as he. Job done then. His eyes moved slowly across the room to William who was standing with his back to Jack, looking out of the tiny window. A window whose view was made all the more difficult by the fact that it was obviously some time since it had seen a clean.

"There's an unnatural fog out there." William stated simply, without turning around.

Jack frowned and widened his eyes to try and see. He had noticed the fog as they had staggered back to the Inn but in all honesty, he had thought at the time that it was just his eyesight failing him. His eyes drifted back to his compass. Twirl, twirl, snap. Twirl, twirl, snap.

"Jus' looks like an ordinary fog ta' me Bill."

Jack knew that William was not happy with him. He wasn't happy because he had taken a dislike to Barbossa and his two friends. He wasn't happy because he thought that Jack hadn't listened to his concerns and also because Jack had decided to take them along when they were obviously not the same sort of pirates as Jack and William were. And Jack knew that William was most unhappy about the fact that he had spoken to Barbossa about the island's heading only after sending William away on an errand. Oh William had gone along with it, Jack would have expected no less of him. Nothing but complete trust and loyalty from Mr Turner. But William felt betrayed and confused – Jack understood that, he did. But he was captain of the fastest ship in the Caribbean, about to embark on a dangerous voyage through mysterious waters and goodness knows what else. Unnatural fogs and the like were a breeze in comparison to some of the tales Jack had heard about their upcoming journey. It didn't hurt to recruit men that he didn't care about so much, didn't particularly consider friends, just for the benefits of getting them all there in one piece. No, he didn't regret his decision. It was to the benefit of them all.

William turned to face Jack, an angry look on his face. "I have worries Jack, that this little trip is goin' to cost us all our lives."

Jack was up in a flash and he squared up to his taller friend. "It's come ta this has it William? You don't trust old Jack, is that it?"

William sighed, but kept his friend's eye. "I trust ya' Jack. But it seems yeh' don' really trust me. Why yeh be tellin' that Barbossa fellow anythin' at all when yeh haven't shared with me?"

"Yeh question' me William. Can't say I care for it much." Jack started to turn away but William grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back round. Instinctively he swung a punch but William, who hadn't had as much to drink as Jack, such as his nature to watch over the captain, was ready and ducked. Jack, realising his balance was suddenly all over the place, widened his eyes and staggered before falling over and landing in a heap on the floor.

"Bugger."

He reached for his hat, which had rolled off his head. William kicked it away, annoyed that Jack had dared to swing for him. That did it. Jack was angry now. No one treated Jack Sparrow's hat like that! He was on his feet once more and after spending a couple of seconds regaining his balance, not easy, he drew his sword and held it to William's throat, his eyes flashing dangerously.

William stepped backwards slowly and Jack followed, sword still pointing. William stopped as he came into contact with the wall behind him. Jack smiled, but it was a dangerous smile, a smile that told William he was well and truly cornered. Drunk as he was, Jack was still dangerous.

"Now," he stated, looking at his friend still smiling. "Now as your stuck there, you listen to me. The only thing that matters mate, is this. What you can do and what you can't do. You can either trust me or yeh can't. If yeh can't, well…" Jack shrugged as he continued, "yeh can go back to yeh little family empty handed and explain it all to William junior who I'm sure will understand why his dad left him to do a bit of good old honest pirate-ing. Now me, I can skewer yeh right here and now – but I can't keep an eye on our honest new recruits all by me onesies, savvy? So it comes to this…." Jack threw his sword down and held out his hand to his friend, "Yeh goin' to trust me or are yeh not?"

William stared at Jack for a few seconds and then took his hand, which Jack shook firmly.

"Good," he cried, throwing his free hand around elaborately. "This calls for a celebration then! Whoa…." The sudden exertion appeared to take it out of him, for Jack suddenly swayed and almost fell over once again.

"I think ye've had enough mate," William muttered and helped Jack back to his bed. He picked up Jack's hat and handed it to him, which Jack took sleepily.

"Thanks Bootstrap," he murmured sleepily and put his hat over his face to catch up on some well earned sleep.

William returned to the window. It was an unnatural fog alright.

TBC