Little Sparrow
Summary: "Now up is down," was the last thing any of them heard before the rush of water drowned everything else out. Later, waking up on a random, deserted island, they almost immediately notice that something was not right with their Captain. Sparrington, Salazak, Willabeth, maybe others mentioned.
"Are you sure this is a good idea? This port isn't exactly pirate friendly, Jack." Two mornings later found James Norrington standing in Jack Sparrow's cabin as said Captain rummaged through his special chest of goods, searching for some box of only God and Sparrow knows what while the - by now most assuredly - ex Admiral stood uncertainly by the charts, looking at a specific point that represented the next port they will be docking in, which was already within sight and they will be arriving in in just a couple of hours. And, as he had said, it was not a pirate friendly port. Quite the contrary. The Governor of San Angelica had once upon a time made his port the center of a pirate hunting campaign led by the infamous El Matador Del Mar, if James' memory served well. Governor Martinez hated pirates almost as much as Beckett did, but Beckett's was both a personal and a business type of hatred while Governor Martinez hated piracy for what those who condone it do to innocent people. If James had to go back to pirate hunting one day, he would prefer it be under Governor Martinez's jurisdiction and not Beckett's. Still, it worried him that a pirate ship as famous as the Black Pearl was daring to approach the well guarded San Angelica, where they could easily be blown right out of the water by the Spanish guns from the fortress that overlooked the port. It was bigger and more infamous towards pirate kind than even Port Royal's Fort Charles was.
"And that's exactly why we won't be going in as pirates, Captain." Jack teased as he sauntered over and placed a fancy hat on James' head. Norrington looked up at it in bafflement and went to ask what Sparrow was bloody thinking when the young Pirate Lord thrust a pile of cloths in his arms and started pushing him out of the cabin. "Don't you worry your little Commadorial head, James! Just give the top two to Frederico and the one on the bottom is for you. He'll know what it's all about and he'll tell the others what to do. Now, no one is to disturb me until I come out or call for someone, savvy? Please pass it around. Ta-ta!" And the door slammed behind James as soon as he was fully out, locking and bolting before he could even turn around. He futilely tried the knob before he started pounding on the Captain's door.
"Sparrow! This is madness! We can't just sail into a Navy port! Sparrow? Sparrow! Open the door, blast you!"
"Is there a problem?" A grinning Will asked as he approached, his grin only turning innocent when Norrington's glare turned from the door to himself. "Just asking."
"Yes, there is a problem, Mr Turner. The problem of our addle brained Captain sailing us straight into the noose! And that's only if we're lucky to survive cannon fire, first!" James growled as he glared down at the fabric in his arms. What was this, anyway?
"San Angelica represents no danger to us, Señor Norrington." Sanchez said as he climbed onto the deck from bellow. "Not if you hand over that flag to me now."
"I beg your pardon?" The confused Englishman blinked almost owlishly at the Spaniard and the oldrr man only replied with a roll of his eyes and snatching up the things from James' arms. He arched an eyebrow at the ones on the bottom, giving Norrington a critical once over before giving them back and walking away.
"Nice hat," Will called after the scowling ex Commodore as he stalked after the retreating Spanish ex officer. Turner started choking on his own air and saliva when James showed him a rude hand gesture he'd learned during his stint in Tortuga over his shoulder, leaving the brunet blacksmith to gawk and the rest of the crew who had witnessed the exchange to either join him or let out guffs of laughter. James ignored them, instead focusing on Frederico ordering a couple of men to hoist the dark red cloth that turned out to be, indeed, a flag or a banner of sort. As he watched it rising and bellowing in the wind, the English officer felt his eyes widening in startled recognition as he saw the image on the flag. If he didn't know any better, he would have sworn it was the emblem of one of the noble families of Spain, what with the golden crossed blades within a black circle decorated by more golden patterns that were far too detailed to be done by anyone but a master craftsman for a very, very high price. Behind the swords, almost invisible due to it being done with barely one or two threads, was a golden and red - red as the rest of the flag - flower, a rose if James' eyes were not deceiving him, almost swallowed by the black.
James turned gawking eyes to Frederico, who only shrugged. "I know no better than you, English, how Jack came to have this flag, although we've all seen him in a waistcoat that had this same emblem stitched on the inside of his back. He could have stolen them both, but why keep them all this time? Anyway, he uses it when he has to come here. The Governor is very ... taken with him." There was an evil smirk playing about Frederico's lips and James wondered why.
"And the ... clothes?" He asked after he inspected what was left of the cloth Jack had shoved onto him. Both what he had and what Frederico was holding looked like fancy clothing, although Frederico's looked like a black Spanish Navy uniform while James looked ... Well, similar but not nearly enough to it. It most certainly was a uniform, but a pilot's, a captain's at best. Frederico's looked more elaborate, ergo an officer's. "What is Sparrow planning?"
"An old rouse that has worked plenty of times before, Señor Norrington. Just dress in that and play along. I have a crew to educate." With that, the older man started shouting for the crew's attention, telling them what to do and how to act and all but throwing Theodor's and Philip's blue coats overboard when he saw them. James watched in interest as he started talking to the crew before shaking his head and disappearing bellow deck to do as he was told.
00000
Upon arriving in the San Angelica port, the Black Pearl was miraculously not fired upon even once, although there was a guard of soldiers waiting beside their docking spot as the black ship slid into place effortlessly. The crew uneasily placed down the boarding plank and watched as a middle aged man strode up without bothering with the curtsy of asking permission. He only bothered with it once he was on deck, asking for the captain. Norrington, at least, could play his part well easily enough, having been a military man almost his entire life. He exchanged pleasantries like a true gentleman with the man who turned out to me Governor Martinez before the older man grew bored of him and turned to Frederico.
"Ah! Señor Sanchez! Too long has it been, mi amigo! I should not be so surprised to see you sailing under this flag, after what happened to your Capitán. May he rest in peace." The man seemed both genuinely pleased and genuinely remorseful as he spoke, the clear familiarity between the two men all too obvious. "I am most glad to see you. How has been our guapo señorita Jaquelin? I do hope the loss has not been too crippling."
"I am always flattered when you fret over me so, dear Governor." The crew actually whipped around to stare and gawk at the woman who exited through the doors of the great cabin. Elizabeth stared at the beautiful woman dressed in that lovely dark red dress, that now that Norrington thought about it was the exact same shade as the flag flapping about their heads. The Black Pearl shimmied and James swore he hears giggles on the wind as he stared at the elegant, swaying walk of the young woman who now came to stand with James, Frederico and Martinez, who was smiling at her besottedly. She had tan skin and black hair pulled up in the most complicated hairdo James had ever seen, something between a bun, a French braid and dreadlocks-
Frederico had to stomp on the ex Commodore's foot when he almost called Jack by name, but thankfully Martinez didn't see, too focused on laughing black eyes, smiling red painted lips and the almost too open dress. The expense of skin that would have been showed was cleverly covered by the very same bandanna Sparrow usually wore around his head and all but one trinket had been mysteriously hidden in his hair. James could see them peeking through the braid like design but they looked more like tasteful, exotic hair pins or other such decorations than Sparrow's crazy collection of beads and trinkets that represented his memories. Jack had also somehow made it look like he had a modest chest and had covered up his work with that bandanna of his falling just right yet still revealing a little bit of teasing, deliciously tanned skin. The dress fit him more perfectly than it had Elizabeth and she was a woman. She did not find it insulting at all.
They had all been quite right when they had thought Jack looked incredible with the dress, that first day while he had been rummaging through his chest of wonders. But he looked even better in the dress. Maybe they should forbid him to let that beard grow and instead force him to shave regularly?
"Ah, señorita Jaquelin! Bella como siempre. It is a pleasure to see you again. Come, come! You must stay with us for a few days! It has been far too long!" Martinez kissed Jack's - washed and manicured - hands before all but tugging the 'lady' with him towards the plank. But Jack expertly slipped his hand free and came back to stand with Frederico and James, an apologetic smile on 'her' face as 'Jaquelin' delicately placed her hand in the crook of Norrington's elbow. Even startled as he was, the gentleman in James already had him positioning his arm right so it looked practiced and at ease.
"I'm afraid I must decline, señor. We are on a tight schedule and we must leave as soon as possible if we are to make the engagement we have set. However, we require some of your help, I fear. You see, my good sir, we were attacked! By pirates!" The crew had to give Jack credit. He made a wonderful damsel in distress, going so far as to lean against Norrington and shudder as though in fear. Martinez was practically fawning over her in a second, startling the Englishman with how suddenly he appeared at 'Jaquelin's' side. He looked up helplessly at Sanchez, but the scowling Spanish 'officer' sent him a deadly look and mouthed "Play along", before focusing back on the 'lady' with worry and righteous rage. "They were so terrible! But the crew was so brave and fought so fiercely for our humble ship. With the guidance of Captain Norry and Lieutenant Sanchez, we managed to get free. We made sail towards here as soon as we could!"
"Those vile pirates! I've been working on exterminating them from these waters for decades now. It was so much easier with Armando." James stiffened upon hearing that name, as did Jack, but for two wholly different reasons. The 'lady' made a choked sound and Martinez immediately became gentle again. "Por favor, señorita, forgive this insolent tongue for reminding you of your loss so."
"It is ... It's alright. Some wounds just never ... quite heal." 'Jaquelin' waved him off, drying 'he'r 'tears' before bravely squaring 'her' shoulders and facing the Governor. "If you could ... Provide us with some assistance, I'd much appreciate it, señor. We were lucky enough to receive only slight damage but our voyage could turn long and troublesome if not treated, I've been told. I'm sure our navigator, señor Hector, and our first mate, señor Gibbs, can tell you all about it."
"It would be my utmost pleasure to provide assistance to a dear friend." Martinez disappeared off of the plank, shouting orders at the dock workers in Spanish and seemingly hailing them all to the Black Pearl. James tugged Jack closer so he could hiss in his ear, startled to smell roses on the pirate's skin. When Jack had returned to him his coat, the night of the party after his unexpected soaking, courtesy of Morveren, the coat had strongly smelled of the sea, rum and spices and something else James could not quite place, something oriental, almost. Exotic. Some of that was still present under the rosebuds smell but it was subdued.
"How do you know this man? Why are you dressed like that? Whose flag is that really and how did you get it? And the dress?"
"Is now really the time, James?" It was hard to decide what was more distracting: the painted eyes or the painted lips. Neither were helping Norrington's case, either way. They had somehow made Sparrow even more ... mysterious. An enigma. Where did he learn to apply make-up and why? Who thought him to do that with his hair? Why had he first procured this dress? How was it that this Armando man was so intertwined with Sparrow's life? Where did the flag come from? Was it really stolen?
"Will you tell me later?" He asked, already suspecting the answer. Now, he had leverage. If Jack didn't tell him at least something, James could deliberately or accidentally blow their cower. That would mean open fire on the already damaged Pearl in an harbor that made them absolutely vulnerable no matter how you look at it. Later, Jack will be the one with the upper hand simply because Norrington had nothing to hold against him. This was quite possibly his only chance.
Jack paused, analyzing the situation in his head, James could just see it in his strangely expressive black eyes. Thoughts flashed through his head at a dizzying speed, ideas considered and cast away so rapidly that James began wondering if Jack was getting dizzy in his own head. And then he nodded and started talking, surprising James further with the fact that he had won this round.
"While I sailed on Armando's ship, I was dressed like a pirate - which I was, mind you - and the crew worried about my reception in the town. So I stole the closest clothing I could find in the docks and snook back onto the ship, but Martinez was already there. Hidden in Armando's cabin, I pulled up the dress as best as I could and hid my clothes, although not my waist coat. When Martinez invited himself in to Armando's cabin, I kind of just shrieked and threw a pillow at him, acting like an offended maiden. Since he already thought some woman was aboard, I had no choice but to continue the rouse. I dressed myself as best as I could and came out, introducing myself simply as Jaquelin but, having seen the stitching on my waist coat when he had entered the cabin, Martinez got it in his head that I'm some duke's daughter or something and treated me as such. Thank god my family has had some strange experiences in the past and had taught me something about life at court - don't ask, too long a story - and I just held myself like Fitzwiliam used to and I fooled him quite well. He still thinks I'm a spirited, free, open-minded, opinionated woman who loves adventure and sailing that Armando had picked up somewhere during his voyages, either a shipwreck survivor or a rebellious daughter running away from home. I ended up needing to make a banner for myself since he had invited me and Armando for a ball he was holding, which is where he apparently ended up smitten with me. Too bad he caught us making out in the gardens; for him, anyway. He was probably the only one in the entire Caribbean stationed Spanish Navy to think Armando was getting married and denoted and denied all rumors of Armando falling in love with a boy pirate who tricked him and ran away. Last time I remember coming here was maybe a month and a half before Armando's ... death," a shuddering breath accompanied the word. "He was surprised to see us apart and I told him he was out on some dangerous quest and did not want me to get hurt. Thankfully, Captain Morgan had no problem with keeping up the rouse and waving that flag about. Still have no idea about the flag and the symbolics, but there is some for my family. Not sure if I ever found out. Is that all, Commodore Norrington?"
James balked at the formal address but he guessed he deserved it. Sparrow protected his stories like a whale protected its young from hungry sharks. And these ones with Armando seemed to be the most distressing.
"I apologize for leaving so abruptly, how rude of me." Martinez said as he reappeared. "This one is indeed a fine vessel, señorita. The dock workers say they will not need more than but a few hours to fix it. You will be able to set sail with the evening tide."
"Wonderful!" Jack even clapped his hands together like an excited child. "You are such a swell man, Governor Martinez. Tell me, has no fair maiden stolen your heart yet? For I am at least sure they have all freely given you their's."
"Perhaps," the man replied a bit sadly. James could see in him a man who had given up, accepting as graciously as he could that the one he wanted loved another. Nortington felt pity for him. A year ago, he had been much in the same place, but as time passed by and he didn't see Elizabeth again or even hear of her, while the worry persisted, he realized it was not the kind of wordy he had seen in young William Turner. While yes, he had loved Elizabeth and perhaps still held a special corner of his heart for her, the rest of his heart had let her go, accepted her decision in full and had moved on. Accepting defeat and settling for what he could get - not the woman he loved but the commission he had restored and improved on, his duty, his honor and his dignity - he had actually in time almost completely gotten over his feelings for her. Besides, had it ever been truly love if he could so easily let her go, without so much as even a fight, a struggle? He just cared for her as a friend these days, finding his eyes straying ... elsewhere.
"Wonderful! You must pursue her. Find your happiness. You are young still, I am sure she will be flattered." Sparrow seemed oblivious to the man's pain but the Governor seemed elated just to see 'her'. James wondered if he'd still want 'Jaquelin' if he learned she was a he. Had he fallen for her 'charms' or for 'her' personality and spirit?
"I do believe it is too late for me now, but let us not discuss such topics. Tell me, Jaquelin, what have you been up to these years? We must catch up! Come, I will treat you to a luncheon." He offered 'her' his elbow and Jack took it, letting him steer them towards the plank absentmindedly as he made up stories of wondrous but safe and not at all mystical adventures. In turn, 'she' asked him about the increased numbers of EITC ship's they'd spotted on their 'voyage'. How clever, and a bit cruel, to use his emotions for 'her' to get information they might need.
"Señor, señorita, if I may be so bold to cut in before you go enjoy your meal," Frederico finally spoke up again, stopping the pair in their tracks. Jack was sending looks and secret gestures Gibbs' way and he seemed to understand them, scurrying off with Ahmed, Lee and Ragetti and Pintel bellow deck. "But I do believe there are matters you must address first, Governor. For we have managed to capture the captain of the pirate scum."
James saw Sparrow flinch and Martinez furrow his brow in anger. As if on cue, a half delirious Captain Hugo Lopez was brought before them, blinking up at Sparrow in confusion, recognizing his face but not understanding the difference. However, he sobered a great deal when he saw Martinez and his thunderous expression glaring down at him with murder in his eyes.
"Lopez," the Governor hissed and Hugo flinched before directing a glare at the 'lady' as Martinez made a speech about justice being served and every criminal and betrayer getting what they deserved. Jack didn't look away, not even when Hugo threw him a spiteful look as his crimes were then numbered, as though already at the gallows.
"You're a cruel one, brat." He spat as he was finally dragged away. "Cruel, cruel, cruel. Like the mermaids!" He kept cackling and yelling as the marines took him away, chilling the civilian stand-biers to the bone.
Jack just looked after him with Norrington and Sanchez flanking him as Martinez excused himself and went after the traitor.
"Cruel is a matter of perspective."