It was finally nightfall and there was barely a moon. Jack hoped that he might slip through the straits of Gibraltar without detection. He had the crew douse the lights. Even below decks all was dark. Elizabeth and Jess had put the children in Jasmine's room. They sat in Jack's cabin ready to defend their children if the need should arise.

The Pearl waited until the darkest part of the night then went through the straits like a ghost, neither seen nor heard. The crew saw the last of strait near daybreak. The crew was prepared for battle just in case. Sunrise was soon upon them and the Black Pearl would be easy to spot in daylight.

Oruc's crew was restless. They had been itching for a fight. It had been a long time since they had overcome a ship and they had begun fighting amongst themselves for entertainment. Last night the Oruc had let them drink, anything to quiet them down. So it was no surprise that at sunrise all of Oruc's crew was still sleeping. Oruc actually enjoyed this time with his ship, he had grown tired of the restlessness of the crew; he knew if some ship didn't come soon he would have to go looking for a ship or a port to raid.

No, it couldn't be, Oruc thought to himself, could it be that easy? There was a black ship just waiting for the taking. He smiled as he kicked his first mate, "wake the boys. It's time we be having some fun."

The first mate shook his head and looked at his captain. Then Oruc pointed in the direction of a black ship making excellent time. The first mate started to run around waking the entire crew, "to arms!"

Jack saw a ship in the distance and noted to himself it was not flying any colors. This is not good, he thought and as he looked through his spyglass he saw the crew scurrying around preparing for battle. "This is not good at all," this time he muttered it aloud.

Gibbs looked at him and Jack handing Gibbs his spyglass. Gibbs having seen the same as Jack, yelled "to arms. Prepare for battle."

"Marty," Jack said, "go tell me wife to ready herself. She may have to defend the children after all." Marty started to walk away. "Marty," Jack motioned him back and over to him.

"Yes, captain," Marty replied.

"Tell the misses that I love her," Jack said at just above a whisper.

Marty nodded his head and started off again only to hear Jack call him back once more. Marty took at deep breath, "Yes, captain."

"And Marty tell young Jasmine that her daddy loves her," Jack said at a whisper.

Again Marty headed down and once again Jack stopped him. Marty did not even say anything this time he just glared at Jack. "Do not under any circumstances repeat any of that to anyone but me misses. Savvy? Anyone."

Marty did not even look back at Jack, he just shook his head as he walked. He knew Jack wanted to always be the strong captain but did he really think the crew saw love as his weakness.

Oruc's crew was hungry for blood. The captain ordered the cannons readied. As soon as they were in range the fired the cannons, one in fact did hit the Pearl near the back. Jess and Elizabeth were knocked to the ground by the cannon fire.

"That was a little too close," Jess said to Elizabeth.

"You might want to tell your husband some more speed is necessary," Elizabeth teased as she picked herself off the floor.

Jack was ordering the crew to get more speed. They had just entered the Mediterranean Sea and already they were being challenged. They needed to get out of range of their cannons and quickly.

Oruc did not expect the Pearl to move so quickly, after all the Pearl was large compared to the smaller galley ship that was so common in this sea. The Pearl was soon out of range but Oruc just ordered his men to follow. Oruc knew what lay in store ahead for the Pearl. His younger brother would be in wait for this black ship and between the two brothers it would not survive.

Thank you Completely Random Dissorder for all the compliments and encouragement…WOW!