A/N: Hello everyone! Yikes, it's been a while since I last updated, but I'm back! Looks like I'll never get better with updating in a timely manner :) As always, thank you, everyone, for your kind reviews, I absolutely love them and they make me so happy! I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed reading it, and I hope everyone is staying safe. Sending you all lots of love! :)
"I need the Pearl to free my father. That's the only reason I came on this voyage."
Violet glared at Will from where she was being held in a corner of the deck, a Singaporean crew member twisting her hands behind her back. Jack, Barbossa, and the rest of the Pearl's crew had been escorted onto the ship shortly after Sao Feng arrived on board, and the glares most of them were serving Will were filled with such malice she wondered how the boy was still acting so defiant.
"Why didn't you tell me you were planning this?" demanded Elizabeth, her eyes fiery as she twisted around in a pirate's grip, obviously trying to escape his tight hold.
"It was my burden to bear." The words seemed sincere enough, but Will's tone seemed almost mocking as he shot Elizabeth an unreadable look, and Violet couldn't help but wonder if he was referring to something no one understood but her.
"He needs the Pearl! Captain Turner needs the Pearl!" Jack had made his way to the center of the deck and was waving his arms around like crazy, turning in circles to make eye contact with each and every sailor. "And you and your Brethren Court! Did no one come to save Violet and me just because they missed us?"
A few straggling crew members raised their hands and Jack grinned, gesturing to the motley crew. "I'm standing over there with them."
"I'm sorry, Jack, but there's an old friend who wants to see you first." Sao Feng stepped forward, barring Jack's path. "As a matter of fact, he's requested the presence of Captain Charles as well."
"Who is it?" Violet's voice was much more frantic then she'd have liked it, and her heart rate seemed to spike at the mention of her name. She didn't- no, she couldn't think about the most likely option. It wasn't him. It couldn't be him.
"You'll find that out soon enough." Sao Feng grinned at her with a mouth full of crooked teeth, his leer making her skin crawl. Glaring at him, she elbowed the pirate holding her wrists and wrenched her hands out of his grip, pushing him away.
"Come on, mate, are you sure you want to give the two prettiest faces on this ship away?" Jack's words were full of half-hearted humor, and Violet strode over to where he stood, her shoulder brushing against his.
"I think we'll survive." Sao Feng gestured to his crew, who came up behind the two of them and began to shuttle them towards the side of the ship and to the rowboats below, and Violet knew, at that moment, exactly who she was going to meet. She could only hope she was ready for it.
Jack and Violet stood outside the door of Beckett's office, an East India Trading company soldier with his gun at their backs. Another man, this time a soldier from the British navy, stepped forward and shoved past them, putting his hand on the door handle.
"He's been expecting you," the man said with a grin, obviously enjoying this, and Violet's heartbeat seemed to speed up to about three times its normal speed as he twisted the handle and opened the door.
In an instant, Violet and Jack were inside the ornate office, the door slamming shut behind them. She refused to look up for a moment, and for just a second, she considered running right back out that door and jumping ship. And then, in that very same moment, Jack's shoulder brushed her own, sending a surge of energy through her very core. She could do this. She could.
"Well, well, well. I must say, I didn't think I'd ever see the two of you together again."
Violet lifted her chin to the desk in the middle of the room, setting her jaw at the sight of the figure in front of it. And yet, it was though every nightmare she'd had, every time his blasted face had wandered through her memories, had prepared her for this. There he was. Cutler Beckett. She felt she should be afraid, she should want to jump out the window of the sight of the burning fireplace in the corner, but something was different this time. She had Jack, for one thing, but there was something else. She was stronger, after all she'd been through since their last encounter, and it was like every little obstacle she'd faced, from joining Jack's crew to nearly being eaten alive to actually dying had readied her. She was a pirate, and the P burned into her flesh only made her more so.
"And yet, here we are!" Jack threw up his arms, a false grin splitting his face, but Violet felt him move a little closer to her, the two of them steadying each other. Both knew too well just how dangerous Cutler Beckett was.
"I can't express my surprise enough." Beckett stood up from his desk and walked to the front of it, his short height putting the top of his head at the level of Violet's nose. "The last time I had you here, you made your distaste for Sparrow abundantly clear. It's ever so good to see you again, Violet."
"I'm afraid I can't say the same." She forced herself to meet his gaze, twisting the corner of her mouth into a kind of half-smirk. "You look as awful as usual. Is it possible you got shorter in the time I was away?"
"I see you are as clever as ever," Beckett drawled sarcastically, her insults not having her desired effect on the man. "You know, it's curious. Your friends appear to be quite desperate. Perhaps they no longer believe that a gathering of squabbling pirates is enough to take down the Flying Dutchman. And so despair leads to betrayal. But the three of us are no strangers to betrayal, are we?" He turned to Violet as he said the words, his gaze boring into her, and she set her jaw. She couldn't let his words worm their way under her skin.
"Where's the heart?" she spat, and Beckett's face folded into a sickeningly polite smile.
"I'm afraid it's not here," he said casually, looking from her to Jack as if trying to judge the nature of their relationship. "It's safely aboard the Dutchman, and so unavailable for use as leverage to satisfy your debt to the good Captain, Jack."
"Ah, well, by my reckoning, that account has been settled." Jack's gaze was drifting, wandering across the various items of Beckett's collection as if he still believed the heart was in there, tucked behind a globe or shoved in the back of a cupboard.
"And yet, here you are." Beckett walked over to his window, peering outside. "I must say, I was rather surprised when I'd heard of your deaths. It was rather unfortunate that you accompanied him, Violet, seeing as I've often dreamed of killing you myself."
"The feeling is mutual." Violet folded her arms, the cabin air seeming colder than usual.
"Still, I was even more surprised by the news of your survival," Beckett continued, pacing his cabin like he was performing a monologue. "What a crew you must have to sail to the ends of the world to find you. Such loyal pirates. Unfortunately, all that loyalty will be put to waste if Davy Jones does indeed discover that his two most favorite pirates remain in the land of the living."
"Are you planning on bargaining?" Violet suddenly grinned, realizing something. They held the ace, didn't they? It was Jack alone in this room who knew of the meeting place of the Brethren Court, and Jack alone who could get them there. "I suppose you think you're rather intimidating, don't you, Beckett, strutting around here with the bloody Dutchman at your disposal."
"I certainly do," Beckett said, his polite smile chilling her blood. "I am, as you say, in control of the seas. And it won't be you I'm bargaining with, Violet. You seem to know relatively nothing when it comes to what I'm concerned with."
"And no doubt what you are concerned with is the Brethren Court, I assume?" Jack stepped over to a large portrait of Beckett on the wall, mimicking the face and position of the painted Beckett's form. "If I were to divulge you said information, I would expect fair compensation. Square my debt with Jones and the like."
"Of course," Beckett said, returning to his desk. "It's just good business."
"What is that you want to know?" Violet demanded, and Beckett laughed dryly.
"Everything." He picked up a coin from the table and dropped it languidly onto the wood. "Where are they meeting? Who are the pirate lords? What is the purpose of the nine pieces of eight?"
"I suppose we could make that arrangement, if my reward is equally as enticing as that information," Jack drawled, and Violet put her hand on his arm, gripping it tightly. They had to be careful about this. Any information they gave to Beckett had to be veiled in lies or else they had no chance of defeating him. Jack's end goal might be to run, but Violet wouldn't just stand by and let the Brethren Court fall to ruin.
"I see," Beckett said, his gaze falling pointedly on where Violet's hand gripped Jack's arm, and she quickly pulled away. "You will want the Pearl back, I assume, and safety for your crew. I suppose you would also like me to keep Jones in the dark about this whole situation."
"You can keep Barbossa, the belligerent homunculus and his friend with the wooden eye both, and Turner... especially Turner." Jack gave Becket a lazy grin, who was watching him with chilling intensity. "The rest go with me aboard the Pearl, and we will lead you to Shipwreck Cove, where we will hand you the pirates and you will not hand me to Jones. Bloody fair deal, don't you think?"
"Fair, you say," Beckett mused, tapping his fingers absent-mindedly on his deck. "And what of Miss Charles? She has no use in this bargain. I doubt she even knows where Shipwreck Cove is, unless you've already told her all of your deepest secrets, Jack."
"What interest is she to you?" Jack's tone was cold, brittle, and Violet shifted uncomfortably next to him. She didn't like the way her name sounded from Beckett's lips.
"Are you saying you want to make a bargain of our own, Beckett?" Violet narrowed her eyes, and Beckett smiled cruelly.
"You and I are so alike, aren't we, Violet?" Beckett strode over to the window again, looking out at the deck of his ship. "We know the value of good business."
"What is it that you want?" Violet demanded, and she could sense Jack's unease from beside her. Beckett would only be playing this game if he had an ace up his sleeve, and it was killing her that she had no idea what that ace was.
"I think the better question is what is it you want?" Beckett turned to stare at her, eyes glinting in the dim light of the cabin. "I happen to know that Captain Sao Feng has taken a special interest in your dear Miss Swann. They are no doubt bargaining for her at this very moment."
His words sent a shiver up Violet's spine, and she tensed unwillingly. Elizabeth was not safe at the hands of that man, and it wasn't like Barbossa would think twice before bartering her off. Violet needed to get to her.
"You're willing to get me there? To Sao Feng's ship?" Violet knew there was a good chance she was walking into a trap, she could feel it, but part of his words rang true. Elizabeth was not safe at the hands of a cruel pirate like Sao Feng.
"Of course. I am a reasonable man, after all." Beckett walked over to Violet until he was inches from her face, staring up into her eyes and challenging her to meet his gaze. "However, I have but one request. I want you to kill James Norrington."
Norrington. Violet hadn't thought about that man since they'd fought on the top of that old mill, his face strangely sad as he'd told her about how she'd ruined his life. However, he had been the one to get them all into this mess, and was no doubt the one who'd delivered the heart of Davy Jones straight to Beckett. So what did she care whether he lived or died?
"Why do you want him dead? Has he not been a good little lapdog lately?" Violet gave Beckett a sarcastic smile, and he waved a hand in the air nonchalantly.
"It has been, well, difficult lately to keep up the pretense of the righteous British soldiers naiive little Norrington still believes us to be," Beckett drawled, tapping on his desk again. "And I am tired, Violet. Being in control of the seas can do that to a person, you know. The Dutchman is planning an assault on the Empress, Sao Feng's vessel, this evening. If you kill him in the heat of that battle, away from any prying eyes, well, it will make my life so much easier. I wouldn't have to come up with an excuse to execute him and all that taxing business."
Violet found herself looking at Jack, trying to weigh his opinion on the bargain, but he was silent, not meeting her gaze. But it didn't matter, did it? She had no weapon to kill Beckett now, so she might as well bide her time. If it was a trap she was walking into, well, she knew how to handle herself. They didn't call her Coldblood for nothing. Jack had his own plan, and one that she knew she shouldn't interfere with. She could save Elizabeth and maybe take out a few of Beckett's allies on the way, and then, hopefully, they'd escape, preferably with Sao Feng in captivity or simply his piece of eight. She didn't know much about the Brethren Court, but she was fairly certain that either would work for the assembly of all nine pirate lords.
"Done," she said finally, extending her hand, and Beckett shook it, her skin crawling with every second his flesh touched hers.
"Good," Beckett said. "I trust you'll want to say goodbye to your dearest Jack? We can conclude our deal without you, as it happens."
"Jack." Violet turned to him, and he met her gaze, something unsaid sparkling in his eyes. "You've been uncharacteristically silent."
Suddenly, Jack slid his arms around her, enveloping her in his embrace, and he pressed his face close to her ear, his hair brushing against her cheek.
"I do hope you know what you're doing, love." Jack's words were a hushed whisper, and she hoped Beckett couldn't hear them. "It's not often that I'm the one left out on a convoluted scheme."
"I guess you're rubbing off on me," Violet whispered back, smiling against her will. "I'll see you soon, Jack."
"Stay alive, love. I'll give that little runt Turner a good kick especially from you." Jack grinned at her as he pulled away, and when she turned back to Beckett, she found her heartbeat less frantic, her mind clearer. Beckett would die by her hand, yes, but she could bide her time. She'd waited three years, what was a few days more?
"How touching," Beckett drawled, a slow smile on his face. "Timothy will see you out. Take her to the Dutchman."
"I'll see you soon, Beckett." Violet gave Beckett a slow grin as one of the soldiers by the door, decked out in British red, stepped forward, and grabbed the back of Violet's arm.
"Oh, I'm counting on it," Beckett said, a cold glint in his eyes.
Violet didn't dare look at Jack as she left, but she shot one last glance at Beckett as she left the cabin, wondering if she'd just made the biggest mistake of her life, and was not reassured by the mocking smile that rested on the trading lord's lips.
"Well, if it isn't Violet Charles."
Violet had been standing on the barnacled deck of the Dutchman as it set out following Sao Feng's red-sailed ship, watching the ocean bubble beneath the boat when the clipped voice drew her out of her stupor.
"Well, if it isn't my dearest Commodore." Violet turned to face the man, taking in his crisp, starched appearance. It was strange, standing on the deck of this ship, surrounded by strange mutants and British soldiers alike, just how at home he looked. "How I've missed you."
"What place do you have on the Dutchman?" Norrington folded his arms, a dark look on his face, and she noticed the sword attached to his belt. All of a sudden, it was like a thousand splinters of memory flooded back to her, and she was back on the Dauntless, covered in sand and laughing as she told Norrington he had the makings of a pirate in him, the same sword hung from his belt. She'd come so far since then.
"Elizabeth is in danger," she said simply, as if that answered his question, and he shifted uncomfortably, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. "I see you went running straight back to Beckett. Last I saw you, you were swinging an oar at my head."
"Elizabeth is with Captain Sao Feng?" Norrington looked surprised at this news, and Violet scoffed, leaning back against the railing of the ship.
"Well, well, well. Looks like Lord Beckett doesn't tell us everything, does he?" She sneered at Norrington, but it wasn't half as fun mocking him when his only response was a heavy sigh and a weak shrug. This was not the same man she'd sparred with scarcely a year ago.
"I thought you had died," Norrington said, "but apparently that news was too good to be true."
"You're sweet." Violet took in his trimmed appearance and found that she almost liked him better as a haggard, drunk pirate. "I did die, unfortunately, but that particular obstacle has been overcome."
"How disappointing." Norrington didn't look at her, his eyes staying firmly on the horizon, and although she'd been sent to kill him, she felt some sad sort of sorrow for him in the pit of her chest. He seemed almost broken.
"The real question is," Violet said, folding her arms, "why are you wasting your time with a lunatic like Beckett? I know you, Norrington, better than I'd like to, and you're living a borrowed life here. You belong as a pirate, whether you like it or not."
"You don't know me at all." Norrington whipped around to face her, a dark look in his eyes. "There's nothing for me anywhere but here. I don't have a crew like you do, a lover I can go running back to when things don't go as planned. This is the only place I do and ever will have."
"Do you want to know something, Norrington?" Violet stared into his eyes, wondering what had happened to this man. There was a depth behind those eyes she'd never even begun to understand. "I don't think you really know yourself very well at all."
"I wouldn't expect you to understand," Norrington scoffed, "you're practically drunk on the sea every time you step out onto a ship. I'm sure you've even been branded a pirate at one point or another."
"Do you want to know who branded me a pirate?" Violet was angry now, tired of his moping and his self-indulgent questions. This man was a walking disaster. "It was your precious Beckett. And I may be a pirate, but at least I didn't hand him the most dangerous object on the open ocean. At least I'm not responsible for the downfall of the bloody seas !"
"I don't know why I even ventured over to talk to you in the first place. It's like trying to converse with the worst parts of myself." Norrington glared at her and turned on his heel, stalking off across the deck.
"If I'm the worst part of you, Norrington, then you must be a bloody brilliant man!" she shouted after him, but he was already gone, and she leaned back against the barnacle-encrusted railing, sighing heavily. This war of the seas was impacting far more of her than she'd imagined.
A/N: BTW the new picture of Violet on the cover of this story is drawn by my sister! :)