Chapter Four

The Best Laid Plans

Jack was pacing his captain's quarters over and over. The trip to Tortuga had never felt so long. It was driving him up the wall. But for their plan to work, he was not even going to step foot on the land. No, he was leaving that to Ana and some of the other crew. He didn't trust himself.

It was really the dumbest plan Jack had come up with to date. Maybe that's why he was so sure it would work. All his truly well thought out plans ended badly. So that must mean he would pull this off perfectly, right? He hoped he was right. He really hoped he was right.

At last he flung himself down on the bed. Why was James so important? Jack wasn't at all sure himself. At first it had been about proving a point. He had followed James while James tried to follow him. It had been about showing the Commodore who was really running the show. Then it became about James. It became about making James feel good. It became about Jack feeling good because he was making James feel good. And that had led them to that fateful night. After that night, Jack knew he didn't want anyone else being with HIS James Norrington. It had become about want, and Jack wanted James for his own. No one else was allowed to touch him.

The bed had never felt so very empty before. Jack sighed and looked over at the empty pillow. He longed to see James' smiling face lying next to him. Without him the bed felt cold and unfeeling. One night had changed everything. One night had turned Jack Sparrow from none stop fun, to lonely and desperate. He hated his life.

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"Captain Sparrow?" Ana shook Jack's arm. "Captain Sparrow?"

"Ten more minutes, luv," he mumbled, pulling the covers over his head.

"Sorry, Captain, but we're in Tortuga."

"Why are we here?" He muttered, still not awake.

"You said to come here. Something about getting your baby back."

"Oh right... James..." He yawned. Then sat bolt up right. "Oh, right! James!" He put his hand on his head. "Right oh, then! I need you and ... oh bugger, who else do I trust? Umm.. You and Gibbs... no he knows Gibbs... all right you and one of the crew that I don't hate. I need you to go into Tortuga and find James Norrington and bring him back here and lock him up. Just don't hurt him too much. And no scaring, either."

"James Norrington?" Ana raised an eyebrow. "Commodore James Norrington?"

"That's the one, luv."

"Sir, are you sure about this plan?"

"Not at all," he smiled. "Now go one and get him. I need to talk to Gibbs about our next stop."

"Yes, sir." She nodded but gave him one of her oh-so-Ana looks that told him she was not pleased. He didn't care. He sat up and moved over to one of the windows to look out at the city. "Please be there, James," he whispered to himself.

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James woke up with the biggest head ach he had ever had. He was flat on his back on a floor that was more than a little damp. What the hell had happened? He remembered he was walking along, minding his own business and then… nothing. Had he been robbed? He checked his pockets, not opening his eyes yet, afraid of what he would find. No, his money and everything was still there. Everything except, of course, his pistol and sword. At last he opened his eyes. He looked around. Just as he though. He was below deck of some ship… a slave ship, maybe. That happened sometimes if you weren't careful. He knew all the stories. The thought of being sold as a salve was less than appealing.

He groaned and rubbed his head. "Ouch," he muttered. He sighed. He moved over to the porthole and looked out at the splashing waves. Far off in the distance was an island… but it wasn't Tortuga. It was too small and lifeless. The sun was nowhere near the middle of the sky, which meant, since he had been hit shortly after sundown, that they had been sailing all night long. Great. Just Bloody great. He was so dead.

Slumping back on the, he tried to imagine what the life of a slave would be like. If he was good enough and his master fair enough then it might not be so bad. However, if he had a cruel master it would not matter how good he was. Oh yes, he knew all the stories. He knew what the real monsters did to their slaves. But worst of all was the thought that he would never see Jack again.

It was strange to think that that should bother him after everything Sparrow had put him through. He told himself it was just because he wanted to strangle the pirate. But he knew jolly well it was more than that. It was the thought of never feeling the man's hand against his skin. He'd kill to kiss him just once more: a kiss goodbye. Then again, he'd also like to run him through the heart with his cutlass. Too bad it wasn't possibly to do both.

A sound brought him out of his reverie. He looked up at the stairs as a pair of boots moved down them. James stood up, eyes narrowed, ready to meet his captor. What he saw made him so shocked he thought he would faint.

"Morning, luv," Jack said, wondering over to his cell.

"You!" James hissed, lunging out to try to get to him, hands sticking out of the bars. Jack took a quick step backward, avoiding his hands. "You son of a bitch! You put me in here."

"Ay, that I did, mate." Jack batted his hands away. "We got some things to solve, you and I."

"And this is how you solve them?" James hissed. "Locking me up to do God knows what with me?"

"As very appealing as that is, that was not my plan." He smirked and then sighed. "You'll find out any minute now." He pulled out his pistol and opened the door to the cell. James took a step back. "I won't shoot you, Jamesy. I got much bigger plans for you. Now put your hands behind your back." James growled but complied. He felt Jack shackle his hands.

"Right then," he walked James up the stairs.

"When I get my hands on you--" James growled again.

"When I get my hands on you, you mean." He smirked. "Now stop talking, savvy?" On deck, James was very aware of everyone staring at him. He looked at his shoes until he felt Jack poke him. "In the boat you go."

"So we are going to that island?" James asked, getting in the boat with an attitude of one who desperately wanted to drown himself.

"See, Ana," Jack turned to the female pirate. "Told you he was smarter than he looked."

"I owe you a drink, captain." Ana agreed, nodding.

"Har bloody har," James hissed. Jack smirked and tossed two swords into the boat. Than he dropped his pistol into Ana's waiting hands.

"Might take a day or two. Might take a few hours, no way to be sure until it's all over with." He sighed and shrugged. "If just he comes back, then I want you to take him back to Tortuga unharmed. No, don't you open your mouth, Ana. Just do it for me, okay?"

"Yes, sir. Good luck, sir." She smiled at him. James wanted to rip her hair out.

Jack jumped into the boat, which was quickly dropped into the ocean, splashing James and Jack. Then Jack slowly started to row them toward the island, never meeting James' eyes. He hummed some bloody awful song and James kept glancing at the swords. What did Jack have planned? And why was he telling Ana what to do if he didn't make it?

In what seemed like an eternity later, they landed on the shore. Jack jumped out of the boat and pulled it the rest of the way onto shore. Then he pulled out the swords… then pulled out James.

"So here's what I'm thinking, Jamesy," Jack said, sighing. "You and I have some unfinished business. Way I see it, since we already done the sex part, the only other par needs doing is the fighting. See, I got this crazy idea in my head that you want one or the other, just like I do. So we fight and whoever wins can either kill the other… or well… we can go have some more sex. What do you say?"

"A fight to the death?" James said, frowning. Would Jack really do that? Could James even make himself fight Jack? No, of course he could. It would be easy. Just think of how much you hate him, he told himself. "Fine. What are the rules?"

"Rule one, no dirty tricks."

"I'm not the one likely to cheat, Pirate."

"A fair point but none the less, that id rule one. Rule two, we stop at nightfall to rest. You can't kill the other in their sleep. Rule three, we get one pause for rest each before nightfall. And rule four, no leaving the island until we are done here, savvy? We got a deal, Jamesy?"

"Fine, Sparrow," James replied in the most icy voice he could. "Now would you please get these shackles off me."

"Right-oh, mate." Jack moved behind him and undid the restraints. Then he gently rubbed James' wrists. "Weren't too tight, where they?"

"No," James replied and, much to his own dismay, let out a small moan.

"That feel good?" Jack whispered into James' ear. "Well if we get out of this alive I'll be sure to do it again." He moved from behind James and tossed the shackles to one side. Then he picked up both the swords. He tossed one to James. Their blades crossed. "Just to let you know, luv, I'm rooting for you."

"Just to let you know, Jack," James smirked, "I'm going to kill you."

"On guard," Jack said, eyes blazing. And just like that, they were fighting.

Plot Bunny: -eats popcorn- Hey! No fair! Finish the damn fight scene first!

RTK: Wait, you want to know how this ends?

Plot Bunny: … no?

RTK: HA! I've converted you!

Plot Bunny: Please Review this story. It makes RTK very moody when you don't.