A/N: A little late, but here it is!

Chapter Two

The night in the jail was long and cold, and served only to increase Jessica's worry of not being able to escape. She'd seen Jack pull off seemingly miraculous escapes time and time again, but never found that she was capable of them herself. Quite the opposite, in fact. Her incident with Barbossa and the Black Pearl was by no means her first time being held hostage. Cutler Beckett's sudden reappearance in her life certainly reminded her of that.

In the middle of the night, she found herself unable to sleep. Instead she took to looking out the small, barred window high in the back wall of her cell. The moonlight shone through and cast long shadows inside the torch-lit jail. In that moment, Jessica wondered what her brother was doing, where he was. With the Pearl now back under his command, there really was no telling. Wherever he was, she hoped he was better off than she was. Saving Jack had been a long shot with plenty of luck involved. It practically bordered on ironic that she was now unable to save herself. Not that she wouldn't try. Odds be damned, she was a Sparrow; it would be against her nature to simply give up. Reminding herself of that sent a smile to her face.

She looked over to the cell next to her and in the dim lighting could just make out Will sleeping on the ground next to Elizabeth, their hands clasped together through the bars that separated them. The torchlight sent odd fragments of light reflecting off of the embellishments of Elizabeth's wedding dress. Jessica's face slipped into a sad smile at the sight. They didn't deserve what was happening to them. None of it was fair, but what Will and Elizabeth now had to endure was the worst of it all. It set a deep ache in Jessica's chest to imagine her closest friends slated for the same fate as her.

Morning eventually came, though Jessica had hardly slept at all. It wasn't long before she heard someone coming down the stairs of the prison, accompanied by the sound of iron shackles rattling. It was a pair of soldiers, dressed in their agonizingly red uniforms. They approached the door to Will's cell, the taller one producing a key ring.

"What is this about?" asked Elizabeth sharply.

Though to the soldiers she might have seemed aggravated, Jessica heard the tones of worry in her voice.

"Lord Beckett demands your presence. He said if you care for all of your lives, that you should come without resistance," the soldier said to Will.

Will looked between Elizabeth and Jessica before stepping to the front of the cell, the soldiers securing the iron shackles around his wrists.

"It'll be okay," he said reassuringly to Elizabeth.

"Be careful, Will," Jessica said, trying to convey her deeper meaning with a hard stare.

Will nodded, seemingly in agreement, as the soldiers led him up the stairs. He cast one more firm smile in Elizabeth's direction before he was taken out of their view.

Jessica watched as Elizabeth paced the front of her cell a few times before sitting on the ground with a huff. The many layers of her intricate dress no doubt provided her comfort from the otherwise hard ground, but that seemed to do nothing to ease her troubled expression. Jessica likewise sat on the ground cross-legged, picking at a small hole in her left pant leg. What a stark contrast she was to the governor's daughter. Hardly more well-groomed than a common pirate, bearing none of the social graces that Elizabeth had known her whole life. Yet here they both were, facing the threat of hanging at the gallows. The thread of Jessica's pant leg started to unravel as she pulled at it nervously. With her other hand she turned the pendant of her silver necklace between her fingers. It was what reminded her the most of what she was in times like these, who she was. The small bird was depicted in flight, its silver wings spread wide, always resting just below her collarbone. A sparrow. She didn't remember how she had come by the necklace, only that she had always worn it ever since she was a little girl. She pressed her lips lightly to the small bird before letting it fall back against her neck.

"What could Lord Beckett possibly want with Will?"

Jessica was almost startled by the sudden break in silence. Elizabeth was still seated on top of her cushion of dress layers, her arms folded angrily across her chest.

"He probably wants to use him for something…and Beckett's most likely using you as leverage. That's what he does. He uses people other people care about to get them to do whatever he wants. Whatever that is, it isn't good."

"I've heard my father speak of the East India Company before, but they never seemed this…involved."

"Whatever role Beckett plays within the EITC, he certainly is. He and anyone like him are a blight to anyone who calls themselves 'pirate.' I've been told that time and time again. Seen it too. He also seems to not particularly care who gets caught in the crossfire, innocent or otherwise."

By now, Jessica was standing, looking out of the front of her cell to the stairway Will had disappeared up some time ago. She, too, wondered what Beckett wanted with them all.

"I have faith in Will," Elizabeth stated, smoothing out the lap of her dress.

"As do I. I just hope he can out-maneuver Beckett."

Jessica's last sentiment seemed to hang in the air, even as the sound of rapid footsteps came down the stairs. Both women craned their necks to see, both hoped it was Will. It wasn't.

"Father?" Elizabeth breathed as the governor rushed to her cell.

"Elizabeth! I have been pleading with Lord Beckett to release you. But he refuses to see reason. I am sorry, but there is nothing I can do."

"Reason probably has little to do with it," Jessica muttered under her breath.

She noticed the governor of Port Royal looked far more disheveled than usual. His wig was not as well groomed and sat slightly crooked atop his head. His traveling cloak covered his normally flashy and pristine clothes, but even below the cloak Jessica could see how wrinkled and dirty they appeared.

"Of course I have also been vying for the release of Mr. Turner and Miss Sparrow as well," the governor added as more of an afterthought.

Elizabeth stood and faced her father, placing her hand through the bars of the cell. Governor Swann took his daughter's hand gently, frowning.

"It pains me to see you in this state, Elizabeth."

"Father, I'm fine. Lord Beckett has no real cause to keep us here. Any of us," Elizabeth said with a comforting glance to Jessica. "He will see reason, eventually."

At Elizabeth's words, Jessica saw the governor's frown turn into a small smile. Jessica didn't know whether Elizabeth believed her own words or if she was just saying them for the benefit of her father. Elizabeth was far too intelligent not to notice the state in which her father appeared.

As Elizabeth and her father spoke, Jessica found her mind wandering once more into the possibilities of escaping. Of course she had to also consider that any attempt at escape that ended...unfavorably would result in her immediate execution. In other words, she only had one attempt if she chose to try. She sighed, once again sitting cross-legged on the hard ground. Only moments later, the sound of more footsteps cascaded down the stairs. Elizabeth and her father promptly fell into silence.

"Will!" Elizabeth gasped as he came down the stairs.

Jessica quickly got up from the ground, scanning every inch of Will for any signs of danger. He seemed to be fine, which is more than she could say for herself the last time she met Beckett face-to-face. Will's expression, however, was far more troubling. A soldier, who had come down the stairs behind Will, walked over to Governor Swann.

"You can't be here, Mr. Swann-"

"Governor Swann, still," Governor Swann corrected. "You think I wear this wig to keep my head warm?"

As Will knelt down to face Elizabeth, Jessica heard him mention Jack's name.

"Jack's compass? What does Beckett want with that?" Elizabeth asked.

Many terrible ideas flashed through Jessica's mind at the thought of Beckett with Jack's compass.

Definitely not good, then, Jessica caught herself thinking.

"Does it matter?" Will challenged.

It most certainly does Jessica wanted to scream, but not now, not here.

"I'm to find Jack and convince him to return to Port Royal. In exchange, the charges against us will be dropped."

Jessica hardly doubted that it would be that simple. There was more to this and either Will didn't want to tell Elizabeth or Beckett didn't divulge the finer details of his plan.

"No," Governor Swann interjected, "We must find our own avenue to secure your freedom."

"Is that a lack of faith in Jack or in me?" Will asked.

"That you would risk your life to save Sparrow's does not mean he would do the same for anyone else."

Jessica found it increasingly hard to hold her tongue, but managed to...somehow.

"Now, where is that dog with the keys?" Governor Swann muttered, walking off down the hall.

Once the Governor of Port Royal was out of ear-shot, Will stood and approached the soldier who had followed him. Jessica saw him pass a sealed letter to the soldier. As the soldier opened it, Will walked to the front of Jessica's cell.

"Lord Beckett wishes for her to accompany me. Unless you want to displease him, release her so we can be on our way," Will said, fixing his gaze on Jessica.

The soldier read the letter twice over and inspected the wax seal at least three times before begrudgingly producing a key ring from his belt. Jessica felt as though she was being drawn to the front of her cell by a swift breeze. She felt weightless as the sound of the lock opening reached her ears. Will was back in front of Elizabeth's cell, talking softly to her. Jessica could hardly believe it, even as the soldier unshackled her wrists. Though, the feeling of freedom was marred by the looming threat of the words that preceded it. "Lord Beckett wishes…" She was still thinking of that terrible phrase when Will grabbed her hand and pulled her up the stairs behind him.

"Come on, we don't have any time to lose. We have to find Jack."

They were only a few paces from the jail when Jessica stopped, pulling Will back a step.

"Whose idea was it?"

"What?"

"Yours or Beckett's? Whose idea was it for me to go with you?"

Will looked around them before stepping in closer to Jessica and dropping his voice.

"It was mine, but I let him think it benefitted his own goals. I convinced him that you knew where Jack might be."

"What about Elizabeth?" Jessica asked, looking back at the jail.

"I couldn't convince him to release her too. He's using her freedom as leverage against me. I have to find Jack or she faces the gallows."

"But why not convince him that Elizabeth knew where Jack was?"

"Do you really think he wouldn't see through that?" Will asked rhetorically.

"Besides," he added, "Elizabeth has her father to protect her here. You have no one besides the two of us. I couldn't bear the thought of coming back here only to find that you—"

Will's expression turned grim as his voice trailed off.

"Thanks for that," Jessica said, jabbing Will in the ribs with her elbow. "I have no one besides you two? Thanks for pointing that out."

She smirked as Will's face washed over with embarrassment for the split-second before he realized she was joking.

"You're welcome," he shot back, grabbing her hand and pulling her along again.

They were near the docks when Jessica finally wrestled her hand free of Will's grip. He seemed adamant to keep her directly beside him at all times. She didn't know what Beckett said to him, but she bet there was more to that conversation than Will was letting on.

"You don't actually know where Jack is, do you?" he asked hopefully.

"Unless he happens to be in Tortuga at this moment, then no, sorry. Though that is a good place to start."

"That's exactly what I was thinking."

Had Jessica not spent the past months working on the docks, she doubted they would have found a ship willing to take them both to Tortuga. Will asked for information on Jack's whereabouts around the docks, but had no luck. He eventually gave up and boarded the simple merchant ship with Jessica. She could feel the stares of the crew on her back as the ship pulled away from the port. It was hardly the first time men had judged her worthiness upon a ship just by her gender. It definitely would not be the last. But it always saddened her to realize no matter where she went, if she wanted to live her life on the sea, she would have to work twice as hard to prove herself.