Jack kicked one of the soldiers back, who stumbled right into the sword of another pirate, screaming in pain. He smiled, turning to fight another enemy. He managed to somehow stab through two soldiers at once, as they were fighting other pirates. They collapsed, motionless.

Screams filled the air, more and more often in the first few minutes of the battle. Then there were less, as if a huge portion of men had died. Bodies, both soldier and pirate, littered the sandy beach of the island and parts of the forest. But most of them were pirates. These soldiers had been trained particularly well.

Jack and the remaining land crew found themselves pushed deeper into the forest. The British Navy had the upper hand. The soldiers weren't just trained well, but they had strength in numbers too. Many pirates ended up against two or three at a time.

The Pearl's captain was growing exhausted, as well as many of the others. Sweat trailed down their faces and deep concentration creased their brows. More than a few moved slower due to bleeding wounds and became clumsy. But not the captain. He pushed himself to pay attention to where he stepped.

He did, at first…

After awhile of fighting and managing to stay on his feet, he grew less wary of the environment and put all of his focus into fending off the attackers. He spotted an old trail, a familiar one, through the trees. One he'd travelled only a few years ago, captive to Blackbeard himself. He took another step back, his foot flailing in air as it searched for the ground. Suddenly, he knew exactly where he was. The gorge.

There wasn't enough weight on the front of his body, so he toppled over the side of the gorge with a startled shout. As he fell he somehow got flipped chest down. As he approached the bottom of the gorge in his fall, he spotted some large rocks poking out of the river. And he was right over them. Realization hit him moments before he was slammed into them, losing consciousness...

*X*

"Jack!" Elizabeth screamed as she saw the pirate captain fall down the gorge. But instead of landing in the water, she saw, he slammed into a rock, gut first. She saw him slide off of it, into the rushing river, leaving the rock stained with a red liquid. Blood.

Will was at her side in an instant. "What is it, Elizabeth?" He asked, worried, as he looked at her.

Unable to force out words, she just pointed into the water. He looked down into the gorge carefully, spotting a dark form getting tugged downstream. He spotted a familiar pirate captain hat on top of the water, following the body and current.

"Jack…" He murmured, understanding.

"Let's follow the river downstream!" Gibbs suggested from nearby as he stabbed a soldier.

The couple got to their feet in agreement. The three of them began following the side of the gorge, watching where the river turned and twisted. They stumbled down a steep slope, Will tripping and rolling to the bottom, looking surprised as he sat up and got to his feet.

"I'm alright!" He called up to them, rubbing the back of his neck.

Gibbs and Elizabeth reached the bottom of the hill shortly after. Then the three of them resumed their trek downstream. They burst out of the trees, scrambling across the sandy beach and shielding their eyes from the sudden burst of extra light. They dashed over to the mouth of the river, waiting, just waiting.

Moments later, the form of Jack nearly got pulled past them and into the ocean. Gibbs managed to stretch an arm out and grab the man's leg. Will went to his side and grabbed the captain's other leg. Together, they dragged him onto the beach and away from the river. They rolled him onto his back.

"He's not breathing." Will pointed out, concerned.

The former blacksmith gently pushed on the pirate's stomach, hoping to clear some water from his lungs. Instead, fresh blood stained the man's white shirt.

"Don't do that!" The First Mate warned him. "He's injured, ye see? Ye could make it worse, Will."

"Sorry…" The man responded, too concerned about his friend to be guilty. "How bad is it?"

"Did you say he's not breathing?" Elizabeth asked, dreading the truth as she scrambled over to see what was going on.

"Aye, miss." Gibbs replied, though he looked deep in thought. Then he snapped back to look down at the unconscious pirate. He unbuttoned and took off the man's shirt and vest, tossing them to the side. He looked down at the man again, nearly wincing at the sight of the wound. "That's pretty bad…"

Elizabeth just watched in silence, worry and shock on her face. Will looked at Gibbs before looking back down at the unconscious pirate, who was still as unresponsive as ever. There was a splash in the water behind them and they whirled around to see a greenish-blue tail vanish under the surface.

"Mermaids." Gibbs spoke up, his voice grim.

"Is that bad?" Will asked, clearly uneducated in mermaids.

"Can be." The pirate responded. "If they decide to take out our ships, aye."

"How do we know they're not helping us?" Elizabeth asked him.

He raised his eyebrows in a you-have-a-good-point look. "They might be, but it's doubtful."

The former blacksmith looked back over the pirate captain's motionless body, examining the long, deep cut in the man's left ribcage and stomach. "Come on, Jack…" He murmured, mentally praying that the man would be fine. "Come on."

Then, suddenly, the pirate snapped to life, coughing up water and gasping for air. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, the light obviously hurting them. He opened them again slowly as he stopped coughing and had caught his breath. He tried to sit up, but instead ended up groaning in pain and falling back.

*X*

A look of huge relief had covered Elizabeth's face. "You're alive."

"Well of course I am." Jack answered, then froze. "Wait...what do ye mean?" Then it all slowly came back to him; falling over the side of the gorge, slamming into something dark and hard. Tremendous pain and then...nothing. "Oh...I hit a rock on the way down, didn't I?"

She nodded. "Yes, you did, Jack."

"Explains a lot…" He muttered. He propped himself up on his elbows, glancing down at the nasty gash in his ribcage. "Not a bloody clue how I'm still alive."

"You were dead, Jack." Will spoke up.

"Was I now?" Jack asked, raising an eyebrow as he tried to act like his normal self through the pain. "I've died before, mate. Nothin' new, really."

"Ah, right…" The former blacksmith nodded, remembering.

"Are ye alright, Cap'n?" Gibbs questioned.

"Well, I'm alive, so I guess so." The pirate captain responded, once again trying and failing to sit up all the way. "But I can't even get up…"

His elbows shook beneath his weight and he was forced to lay down flat on his back once again. He sighed deeply, annoyed. He crossed his arms, flinching back and pulling them away as they pushed against his wound.

"Are you sure you're alright, Jack?" Elizabeth asked, concerned.

"No, not really." He admitted, giving a small smirk in an attempt to mask his pained expression.

But they saw past it and the smirk faded. It was hard to smile when the one smiling was in pain. He tried to sit up again, succeeding. He just sat there for a moment, wondering whether it was a good idea to try to get up yet. Warm blood trailed down across his stomach, staining his skin red. He felt a little nauseated for some reason, just sitting upright.

"Jack!" A familiar, angry feminine voice came from the trees. "Dónde estás?!"

"This can't be good…" The pirate captain mumbled to himself.

"The Spanish lass?" Gibbs raised an eyebrow curiously.

Jack nodded, glancing at his friend momentarily. "Aye, mate."

But the older man wasn't looking at him. He was looking over him, at someone else. So were the Turner couple. And the injured pirate knew who it was without needing to turn around. They were looking at Angelica.

The pirate captain froze as he felt something soft and smooth moving across his back. He heard someone moving through the sand directly next to him. Then Angelica stood before him, her arms crossed across his chest. She studied his wound for a moment before she finally spoke.

"What happened now, Jack?" She asked, her voice cool.

"Fell into the river and hit a rock on the way down." Jack responded simply. Then his gaze turned curious. "Ye get them to listen? The mermaids?"

The other three looked confused as they watched the two converse.

"No, not quite." She sighed. "I got one to look for you though, Jack."

"That's bloody pointless." He told her. "We need 'em to agree to help us or they might get killed as well."

"That's what I told them. Ellos saben que probablemente van a morir." Angelica explained.

"Then their deaths are their own fault." Jack stated.

"Jack, the battle!" Gibbs spoke up, silencing whatever the Spanish woman was going to say.

"Ye go on ahead, mate." The Pearl's captain told him. "I'll catch up."

"Are ye sure, Cap'n?" The First Mate asked.

"Aye, best for ye to be helpin' the others. Savvy?"

"Aye...Will, Elizabeth, let's go then."

"Alright." Will responded in agreement, drawing his sword.

Elizabeth took unsheathed her own, glancing back at Jack over her shoulder as they dashed back into the trees. "Good luck, Jack."

Now it was just him and Angelica left on the beach, no one else in sight.