Disclaimer: POTC belongs to the appropriate people. As opposed to the inappropriate one.


"Jack!"

Jack looked up. It was Gibbs, bearing down on him with a wide grin.

"I didn't expect t' see ye back so soon, Captain! How did your compass work?"

Jack's lips twisted in a sneer; his eyes unfocused. "Worked fine enough, I suppose. But I wouldn't know. Ask Barbossa."

"Barbossa?" Gibbs frowned and sat down at the table, opposite Jack. "What's your first mate got to do with anything?"

Jack put his pistol on the table, reverently. "He left me this before he marooned me." Jack said, carelessly, hiding his wrath well. "I plan on returnin' the bullet to him when I see him next." Jack looked up at his friend. "One shot. That's all that it'll take."

The old sailor sucked in breath. "That bastard!"

Jack placed his hand on the gun, felt the stillness of the metal, sensed the power in the powder.

"He marooned you?"

Jack nodded. His head still hurt, his skin was raw from the sun. He wanted to sleep, but knew that there wouldn't be time for that. He had to find the Black Pearl. He had to find Barbossa.

"How'd you get off the island, then?"

Jack looked up, surprised at that. He hadn't expected that question. But here, back among the mundanae, the daily life of the shore-folk, they wanted a story. They wanted to hear another story of Captain Jack Sparrow's daring exploits.

Dammit.

"Jack?"

Think, think, think! How hard could it be to think up something… if only the tavern weren't so loud… Sometimes Tortuga wasn't the best place to set up kip…

Tortuga. La Tortue.

"Turtles."

"Turtles?"

"Turtles. Sea turtles."

Gibbs sat back, frowning, wondering. "Sea turtles…"

Jack stared into his drink. Ah, let him. If I know Gibbs, he'll find some way of spinning my dull escape story into a legend worth the hearing.

For now, I've got better things to concentrate on. Like, finding Barbossa. There's only so many places he can hide. And I've got the element of surprise. One shot will be more than enough.

"Sea turtles." Gibbs mused, a storyteller's gleam coming into his eyes.