Summary: Indebted to a murderous pirate, Captain Jack Sparrow goes in search of the greatest treasure imaginable.
Rating: PG-13.
Disclaimer: The characters and concepts in this story are the property of Disney. This is an amateur writing effort meant for entertainment purposes only.

Chapter Two: Sparrow's Legacy

Ana Maria jogged back down into the hold, cursing Jack Sparrow's behaviour the whole way there. After spending thirty seconds barking out orders to raise the anchor, lower the sails, and set a course for open water the Captain had taken off like a bat out of hell for his cabin once more. In her mind's eyes, she could see him taking a nap for several more hours, but that seemed out of character for Jack. Then again, so did high tailing away from deck after demanding that they set sail. He usually headed for the helm.

Forsaking the usual etiquette of knocking, Ana threw the door open and found Jack sorting through a month year old mess of old rum bottles, papers, and rotten apples. Some of Barbossa's things were still present but for the most part, Jack was responsible for the way in which his things were kept. Breathing through her mouth to avoid smelling the ungodly odour of rotting food, she spoke angrily. "You're a dead man."

He didn't seem to hear her, too busy it seemed, yanking a drawer out of the desk in front of him before dumping its contents into the mess on the floor. He then dropped to his knees and sifted through it frantically.

"Did you hear me, Jack? Captain Robert Bateman – scourge of the Caribbean. By nightfall you'll have every bounty hunter at your throat."

Again, Jack ignored her, hastily yanking another drawer from the desk and throwing its contents to the floor as well. Once more, he was disappointed by what he found. "Blast!" he shouted, "Where's the map gone?"

She rolled her eyes in disbelief. "Not this again, Jack."

Jack reached for another drawer but found he had run out of them. He made a quick dive for the floor boards and attempted to yank them up with his fingernails. Ana just watched with a disgusted expression on her face, knowing that there was nothing she could say or do to make him pay attention to her.

"Cap'ain," Gibbs had now come bumbling down the hall and pushed his way past Ana into Jack's cabin. He looked around, shocked to see how a once partially clean cabin had gone to looking as if it had just gone through a hurricane. His eyes were fixed on Jack. "What in the blazes are you doing?"

Jack rose to his feet quickly, eyes closed and fingers moving in tiny circles. "Mr. Gibbs," he began, "If you were a treasure map, where would I hide you?"

Gibbs' expression greatly resembled a man who had just been struck with something very hard in the head, though the Captain was exhibiting many more symptoms of such a state. "Treasure map, Captain?"

His eyes flew open suddenly, and then Jack rushed from the room. "Oh no, no, no I didn't…" Pushing past both his first mate and the stunned man at her side, he headed straight back to the room where he had been sleeping before being awakened. He practically threw the door from its hinges as he entered and pounced immediately on the small pile of fishing nets and blankets he had fashioned into a make shift bed. Though he normally would have napped in his cabin, he wanted to be undisturbed. Sleeping was hard to come by lately.

Piecing through his personal effects, Jack once again came up empty handed.

"Damn it all to hell," he whispered and groaned.

"Lost something, captain?" Gibbs asked.

"A map," he tossed through his items once more.

"A fake map," Ana interjected.

"Not a fake map," Jack recoiled, standing shakily on his feet. "A real map – well, part of one anyways."

"Completely useless," she scoffed.

"Only without the other half," the Captain explained. "But without the first piece we are lost, to be certain."

"We are lost anyways!" Ana shouted. "That treasure is a myth, Jack."

"What treasure?" Gibbs asked.

"Not what treasure," Jack said, matter-of-factly, finger in the air. "The treasure. The mother-load, Mister Gibbs – ten times the size of any Aztec treasure trove…"

"And just as mythical."

Jack's eyes narrowed at Ana's last statement. Any other time, her sardonic commentary would have been appreciated. It seemed to be the only thing that kept any of them grounded in reality, especially after the war with the undead crew of Captain Barbossa. But at the moment, Jack was suffering from a partial hangover and the inability to remember where he hidden his map piece to the greatest treasure around.

"What treasure?" Gibbs asked. "It's not that 'Sparrow Treasure' ye keep going on about is it Jack?"

The entire crew knew of Jack's treasure. After a few stiff drinks he could go on forever about his family's legacy. "Largest treasure trove imaginable," he'd say, and then after another drink would continue. "Bigger than Cortez's; filled with more gold than the whole of Asia; worth more than the Caribbean itself; and it's waiting for me, somewhere out there."

And then he would promptly pass out, wake up, and do the same thing over again the next night.

"It may be," Jack said with shifty eyes.

"Oh, good God Jack," Gibbs sighed. "How many times do I have to tell ye this? Your father had no such treasure. And even if he did – which he didn't – he certainly would have ripped the map to pieces nor would he of…"

"Mr. Gibbs, Ms. Maria," Jack snapped suddenly, bringing both to attention. "All hands on deck."

Translation: this conversation is over.

The two nodded. "Aye Captain," they responded and left the cabin.

Alone at last, Jack Sparrow turned back to the room. "Where are you?" he muttered lowly, to no one in particular. His memory moved backward through time, concentrating on the singular constant in his life. That map meant more to him than any bullet of vengeance, any compass that could sail him to Isle de Muerte. It was the last piece of his father he had left, and it was worth everything in the world. Jack had been given the last piece to an age old legacy - one half of a treasure map that would lead him to the legendary fortune built by none other than his father.

At the time, the other pieces didn't matter. Without his own, the map was useless as it was, his father had made that much clear. Without a legend, titles, or a compass rose, he was lost in a series of islands that were identical to every other land mass in the Caribbean.

A thought occurred to him suddenly, one which he hadn't considered in his fervor before. Snatching his compass from the floor, he opened it and held it an arm's length from him for several moments. Poking and prodding at the thin lining along the interior of the case, he finally grinned happily as he found the ragged cloth peel away and reveal a small slip of parchment beneath.

"Yo ho," he said with a grin.

Reviews

iLUVfire: looks sheepish Yeah, that's where I got the idea for it. But if you have seen the new Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest trailer, the second Davy Jons says that Jack is sentenced to die, a black spot appears on his hand, so I'm pretty sure it is a fact. However, if it isn't, it was based on Muppet's Treasure Island. I love your name.

margiann: I assume you're all for Jack/Ana? I'm a little disappointed though, because Zoe Saldana doesn't appear to be returning for the sequel. Such a thought makes me weep - she was such an intriguing character. Jack needs a good woman in his life, someone who won't burn the rum. Lol.

Thanks for reviewing:)

Now, if you would please do so again.