Disclaimer: The people at Disney are so lucky they laid claim to Jack first. Alas, I do not own him. Nor any of the others for that matter.


Some time later, Jack is startled awake by Maddy thrashing around next to him.

"Luv. Luv, wake up. Yer dreamin'" Hovering over her, he shakes her lightly. No good. She hits at his stomach, trying to fight him off. He shakes her harder. "Maddy..."

Coming out of sleep, she makes one last effort to rid herself of the man plaguing her dream and slaps Jack square across the face. He shakes it off. "Really don' think I deserved tha'." Maddy hears his voice and realizes her mistake. "Yer alright now luv. He's not 'ere."

She feels him move away to his side of bed, either to give her plenty of space or for his own safety. "Jack?"

"Don' be sorry luv. I' 'appens all the time."

"I am sorry, but that's not what I was going to say."

"Oh, wha' is it then?"

"Is the ship...supposed to be moving?"

"Aye. I decided it was best t' leave Tortuga before Lestat's crew caugh' word o' wha' I did to 'im. No sense in waitin' aroun' an' endangerin' the whole crew, though it took a bit t' roun' 'em up as some o' the men were...busy. And incidentally, I managed to drive Gibbs mad fer settin' sail on a Friday. I swear, I'll never understand tha' man an' 'is superstitions."

Madison laughs uneasily, fearing that the crew would begin to hate her if she kept causing problems for them. "Jack?"

"Aye?" He didn't mean to sound as annoyed as he did. It had been a long couple of days.

"...Never mind."

He props himself up on an elbow. "Out with it."

"What time...um...do you know what time it is?" In the darkness, she can't see the smile cross his face. He did indeed know exactly what the time was.

"Come on then. I'll show you." He gets up from the bed, pulling her along with him. A pain shoots through her muscles much like the morning she'd arrived on The Pearl. She winces, trying to bear it without letting him know, but he feels the lag from her body refusing to budge. "Yer no' up t' par yet are ye?"

"Not so much."

"In tha' case..." He picks her up into his arms, blanket and all.

"What are you doing? Are you crazy?"

"Some migh' say that but you'll not be wantin' t' miss this."

Jack carries her out to the deck, placing her down and lying next to her. She's suddenly glad he included the blanket on their little escapade. Despite being in the Caribbean, it's an unusually brisk morning. Jack points to the horizon and Maddy watches as the sky becomes an assortment of orange and blue hues just before the sun peeks above the water line.

"Jack, it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

"Aye, it is."

Madison pries her eyes from the display of color to find Jack staring at her instead of the sky. She blushes, still feeling the sting on her face. "I must look awful."

"Come on now. I's nothin' more than a scratch." She smiles at his lie as he caresses the unharmed side of her face.

"Cap'n!" The sound of Gibbs' voice surprises the both of them.

"Blast it, Gibbs! 'ow many times..." Jack looks up to see a ship on the horizon. He quickly pulls out his spyglass and surveys the approaching ship. A smile crosses his face and Madison catches a glint of gold. "Anamaria."


Jack proceeds to have a little visit with the famed piratess and hails for news. He chooses not to have Maddy accompany him on Ana's ship, saying she was in no shape to be parading back and forth. Maddy however had the distinct feeling he was trying to keep her a secret from the rest of the world, though brushes it off as him being overly paranoid since the whole Barbossa episode.

She's in his cabin reading her book on pirate history when he returns. The first thing she notices is the defiant grin plastered on his face. Not that she didn't have one of her own. While he was away she had dusted off her video camera and found it to be in excellent working condition. "Good news, Captain?"

"Aye. Appears we 'ave an official invitation to some high toned and fancy t' do in Port Royal. Governor Swann's havin' a celebration in honor o' the Turners tonight. I' should be very interestin'."

Madison can already see a scheme forming in his mind. Leave it to Jack Sparrow to take full advantage of his once in a lifetime pardon by Commodore Norrington. But to what purpose would the Commodore excuse a pirate? He must have a great deal of respect for the Turners. On that note, her preexisting level of excitement bubbles over at the thought that she'll soon be in the lovely seaside town of Port Royal where the handsome as hell Will Turner is at. Oh how she hoped he was just as wonderful as Disney had made him out to be. Jack certainly wasn't a disappointment. Yes. This evening should prove to be very interesting indeed...

Maddy is pulled from her thoughts as Jack rips the book from her hands and flips through the pages. She can't hold back her sarcasm. "Well don't mind me. I wasn't reading that or anything."

"Yer family lets ye read abou' pirates?"

It hadn't occurred to her that it was taboo for any respectable person to do so in this time period. "Not that they're here or anything but I can read whatever I want. Besides, where I come from, being fascinated with historical pirates and liking them isn't forbidden. We speak of them very candidly and a good number are even admired." Here she goes again; telling Jack about the future when she probably shouldn't.

"Admired ye say? 'ow 'bout me? D' people tell tales o' me adventures?"

She doesn't quite know how to break it to him. "Sort of...Well actually no one knows the whole truth about you."

"Bu' the stories. There are stories, yes?"

"It's like this. Millions of people, girls mostly..." He grins. "...they adore you, but they still aren't sure you ever really existed." There, that seemed relatively true. She doesn't want to crush his dreams and besides, who knew what was real anymore.

Still, he's obviously not satisfied by this. "Never existed, huh? If tha' be the case, I bes' set t' work on securing me legacy. It mus' be known tha' Captain Sparrow was the mos' fearsome pirate in the Spanish Main. No. The entire ocean."

"Yeah, right." Oh no. She didn't mean to say that out loud. She's surely offended him now. She attempts to recover. "I…I mean you don't have to be fearsome to become a legend. You're Captain Jack. Masses of people adore you already." She was making it worse by the second. She could feel it. He was going to see right through her. She might as well come right out and say she worships the ocean he sails on.

He studies her for a moment before flashing her his signature grin. "Maddy, luv? D' ye adore me?"

It could all go wrong here. How should she answer? She decides to play it cool...for now at least. "Well, I did come all the way from the future for you."

He hadn't thought about it that way. "Fer me, ye say? How's that?"

"I was having a bad night and I wished for you. It's really not that complicated. Well, I guess it is because I didn't actually expect you to show up, but in essence, yes. It could be said that I adore you."

Jack felt something wash over him. What was it? Relief? Yes, relief. He was relieved that last night's incident had not changed her outlook on him. But that wasn't the only thing he was feeling. What was the other thing? He couldn't quite place his finger on it. He suddenly had the urge to kiss her, but withheld. Why? He was Captain Jack Sparrow, a famous womanizer, and he had... Butterflies. That was the second feeling. It was over in a moment, but they had been there. How was that possible? After all of the women he had been with, this was truly a first.

"Jack? Hello? You're zoning." Madison snaps her fingers in front of his face.

He suddenly looks like he just realized he forgot to do something. "I'm sorry, luv. I 'ave somethin' I...Gibbs wanted t'..." He trails off and all but runs for the door. She jumps as it slams behind him, unsure of how to react. She thought she had told him what he wanted to hear. Had she been wrong?

Just on the outside of his cabin, Jack begins pacing back and forth, fidgeting with his beard, and muttering to himself. "I don' 'ave time fer this…"

The crew watches him curiously. A nervous captain meant trouble was not too far behind. Trying to lighten the mood, one of the men comments, "Too much fer ye, is she Cap'n?" The rest break into laughter. Jack jerks his head up in their direction. Seeing his situation isn't a laughing matter, they scurry on about their duties.

Gibbs approaches him looking a bit worried. "There's talk. The crew don' think I's fair yer keepin' a girl on board. 'specially one they got no use fer."

"Then ye tell the damned lot I'll make good use of 'er."

"How so?"

"Call a meetin' in the galley."