Disclaimer: I don't own POTC.

Chapter 36: Accident or Incident?

"Land ho!"

In another instant, all hands were on deck. Cheers rang out everywhere, for they were in sight of Colombia. Finally, it would be over. At least, that was what they hoped.

Gretchen looked on from the crow's nest. Being on the Black Pearl had made a remarkable improvement upon her. Her skin had a healthy-looking color to it, instead of being ivory. Her hair was naturally curly, and was constantly being blown about by the wind. She was no longer afraid of anything which she had been previous to the journey.

Priscilla was toughened a bit, too. She was still pleasant as ever with the crew, but she had become very swift. She was a very good little thief, and as valuable a pirate as any of them.

Gabriel of course, hadn't changed much at all. He had been courageous and full of strength to begin with. And surprisingly enough, it was becoming most obvious that Ana Maria, of all women, was beginning to fancy him. She stood beside him, talking softly with him.

James stood there, with his hands neatly folded behind his back. He and Sparrow were no closer to being friends, but that surprised no one.

Camille was beside herself with joy. She wanted to get rid of the Mark on her skin, and to have this curse over and done with. She wanted to destroy the crutch and the rings, because she no longer wanted to see Jack suffer anymore.

She turned around to go to his cabin, but right there as soon as she turned around was enough to make her scream. It was Jack, but he had the crutch with him. Camille's eyes widened. "Captain Silver!" she cried.

The rest turned around, shocked. And Jack/John just threw his head back and laughed. "Well hello there, missy. Didn't think ye could rid o' me that easily?"

Camille's mouth hung open as he shouted orders to the crew. "Gentlemen! These six have betrayed us! Do not let them out of your sight!" he commanded.

Camille could feel rough hands on her. She struggled. "Don't touch me!" she screamed, throwing a few punches. It took two men to hold her, and just about three to contain James.

But Jack put his hands up. "Now, now. Do behave, Miss Quartermaine," he said, making his way up to her. She clenched her teeth together as the Mark burned again into her arm. He held her chin steady and looked at her. "After all, I do need your blood one way or another."

She growled at him. The rest were having any weapons taken from them, and their arms bound. Even poor Mr. Gibbs was being closely guarded. Camille stomped on the foot of one of her captors, and he howled in pain as he hopped up and down for a moment.

Jack looked at her sternly. "Miss Quartermaine, that is quite enough. I don't want to kill you. I'd rather have you walk than be a rotting corpse when I get to me treasure. Let her go." The other man let her go, and she stood trembling in front of Jack. He was taller! "Well I must admit, Captain Silver, the physical change is quite an improvement," she attempted to flatter him.

But he held her by the wrist. "I'll not fall for your tricks again, ye manipulative woman. I were a fool the first time, but not now."

"All right, then," she said before punching him in the face. He cried out, feeling the blood from his lip.

"How dare you hit me! How dare you hit Jack! You ungrateful little bitch!" he shouted, lunging for her and struggling with her for a minute. He held her tightly in his grip, holding his sword out against her throat. She tried to push it off, but was afraid of him pressing any tighter. "Now, will ye be cooperatin' with me, or do I have to make myself guilty of yet another murder?"

"And how's that going to work?" Norrington asked cheekily. "Are they going to arrest Jack or the crutch?" Then he was punched in the stomach.

Things didn't look good for any of them now. Silver was not going to let Camille live any longer than she had to, and they were nearly there. The lights of the town could already be seen from the ship.

"Captain!" a voice said from above. They looked up. A man was looking with his spyglass extended. "There be another ship gainin' on us!"

Jack took the sword away from Camille's throat, but kept his tight grip on her as he forced her to the side of the ship with him. It didn't take any magnification to see all the redcoats on the ship. "Gillette," Jack muttered, and for once he and Camille felt the same way about something.

But Camille didn't see only red and blue coats aboard that ship. Amid suffering from Jack's hard crushing grip, she could make out another figure aboard. Jack was looking through his spyglass, and all of a sudden became fiercer. "Mr. Kensington! Hard a-port! Show me what this ship's made of!" he barked without taking his eyes off the nearing ship.

"Aye, sir!"

Camille didn't say anything, because his grip on her was quite painful enough by now with the addition of the burning Mark on her arm. But Jack (or Captain Silver, rather) was afraid of something or someone on that ship. "Captain, you're hurting me," she stated.

He looked at her cruelly. "Ye've got real gall, d'you know that?"

"Yes, I've been told many times before."

"I am really going to enjoy watching you die."

"Yes, I'll bet you will. And then you'll never get sex again."

"What was that?" he demanded.

"Do you really think another woman will ever be attracted to you with a face like that? It's the sort that only a mother could love."

He slapped her, so hard that it stung. But she had to say something else. He was becoming very irate now, and she could grab the crutch with one more comment. "And if you haven't already figured it out, you'll be commanding a very small crew-"

That did it. Jack pushed her hard against the side of the ship so that she fell over. As she did, she grabbed the crutch. He kicked her in the side, but she managed to get to her feet quickly and run across the deck.

The Thatchers, Ana Maria, and James had been watching. So had some of their guards. But most of the men were focusing on getting that ship prepared to land. There were pulling into the port now, and ropes and planks were being lowered. Not many had even noticed the abrupt changes in Jack.

Camille put her hand to her side, grimacing. There was going to be a large bruise there. Jack looked at her, frowning. "Where d'you think ye can go? You're on a ship, Quartermaine, not yer father's residence. Ye'll not be safe by runnin'."

But she just looked at him. And that conveyed her thoughts clearly enough. His eyes widened, and then narrowed. "You wouldn't. It's far too dangerous."

"You underestimate me far too much, Long John," she said. She quickly balanced herself on the side of the ship and jumped off. She dove below the ship, making sure to go far below the hull and swim up under it. She had only done this once before, and was terrified of what could go wrong. But she focused on getting to that other ship.

The water was not too cold, but a little uncomfortable. She stayed under as long as she could hold her breath and then resurfaced. She quickly looked around, making sure that she was headed in the right direction. She didn't know if Jack/Silver would try to follow her or not. Her guess was not, since he had a ship full of hostages. And she was right. Jack would never have left the Pearl to go chasing after one person. But Long John would.

And he did. He was in the water, very close to her. This made her panic, since she had not been expecting to see him in the water at all. I shouldn't have looked at him, she thought as she kicked harder to get to the other ship. A rope was being tossed down to her now. She grabbed it with stiff fingers. She could hear cries and shouts to pull up, and in minutes she was on the deck.

She was sitting in front of a pair of very familiar boots. Will knelt down beside her, and she threw her arms around him. "I knew it! I knew it was you!" she cried happily.