OK, here it is... James's first conversation with Jack, as not already shown in the movie! Again, apologies if you don't think I've captured Jack's speaking style closely enough - any suggestions would be very much appreciated!

I don't own anything.

15. Tales Told: A Dialogue with Jack Sparrow

I usually don't make a point of conversing with my prisoners before they are executed, but something compelled me to speak with Sparrow. I don't know if it was the fact that he had saved you, or the fact that he had nearly killed you, or the fact that his father had ruined my father's career and life, or simply because of his blasé reactions to just about everything. Nonetheless, after the trial I went down to the cells.

Sparrow was lying nonchalantly on the straw that lined the bottom of his cell, twirling one of the rings on his finger lazily. As triumphant as I felt about finally having caught the infamous Jack Sparrow, it still really bothered me how he did not seem the least bit concerned that he had just been sentenced to death.

'Enjoying yourself, are you?' I snapped, glancing down at him. I refused to kneel down and bring myself to his level. Sparrow stopped fiddling and propped himself up on his elbows, giving me a wide-eyed stare as if he had only just noticed me.

'Strange way to start a conversation,' he replied. 'Usually introductions are the way to go in civilized society. Though, come to think of it, you all know my name, so, fair is fair, what's yours, mate?'

I closed my eyes in disgust – had Sparrow just called me 'mate'?! 'James Norrington, Commodore in the Royal Navy,' I replied through clenched teeth.

Sparrow grinned. 'Commodore, eh? That would explain the silly wig and the funny looking hat, then.' I had to restrain myself from rolling my eyes; why did people always harp on the wig? 'Suppose you were looking forward to being promoted to admiral, weren't you? After capturing me, and all.'

'And who's to say I won't be?' I asked arrogantly. I had no doubt that after capturing Sparrow, the same pirate who had escaped so many other close calls at the hands of the law, I would be promoted almost instantaneously. Sparrow smirked and sat up, leaning forward.

'Because, dear Commodore, you are forgetting one very important fact,' he said, his eyes twinkling. He threw his hands out in a careless shrug. 'I'm Captain Jack Sparrow.'

I rolled my eyes. So, what, just because he was a famous name, now he was convinced he could somehow magically get through the iron bars and stone walls that held him captive in the fort? And yet… something in the way he said it unnerved me, made me remember that he had somehow inexplicably managed to thwart so many other captures. I hid my moment of concern and scoffed.

'And, really, mate,' Sparrow added, calling me by the detestable term again just to anger me, no doubt, 'would it be such a bad thing if I escaped?' He stood up so that he could look me face to face through the bars. 'When was the last time you heard of me ransacking a village, eh? When was the last time I skewered a bunch of innocent civilians for the fun of it?' I racked my brain for answers but, to my surprise, found none. 'Surprised?' Sparrow flashed me a grin. 'Might attribute it to my lack of a ship, but, I'll tell you, Commie, it's not so much because of that.' He moved right up to the bars and leaned against them, grinning at me. I forced myself not to back away from his rum-smelling presence. 'I'm not in this line of work for the killing, or the hurting innocent people. Sometimes it happens, but if it does, it's just part of the business, savvy? Really, it's more about the rest of the profession. The treasure, for one thing… there's things out there that you wouldn't believe in if I told you about them, and not all just silver and gold. But more importantly, though, there's… well, I doubt you'd really understand it, so…' The pirate heaved a sigh and turned away with a disinterested flick of his wrist. 'Carry on, then, feel free to leave me and go off to whatever commodore-esque duties await you.'

Of course, I didn't move. I was determined to hear the end of this absurd monologue. 'I wouldn't understand it, would I?' I challenged him. 'Try me.'

Sparrow turned and grinned. 'Freedom, mate,' he said. 'Something I doubt you'd understand. The ability to sail off into the sunset and not have to report to anyone, to find yourself a few girls and a tavern full of rum and have yourself a jolly good time without worrying about what the commanding officer is going to say, even…' He flopped back down onto the straw and looked up at me. 'Even the liberty to take off that bloody wig of yours and hurl it off into the waves, now whaddya say to that, then? Incredible, no?'

'In exchange for what, though, Mr Sparrow?' I asked. I was trying my hardest not to be convinced by his honeyed words, but with each passing moment my wig seemed to grow more and more scratchy and cumbersome. 'No honor, no glory, no prestige… and how can you bear to live with yourself?'

Sparrow shrugged. 'When you have no rules, you never feel ashamed about breaking them.'

Irritated at my momentary lapse of respectable thought, I turned on my heel and left the prison, leaving Sparrow alone to contemplate his hanging. But I could not shake the words he had said from my head, and they continued to haunt me for many nights afterwards, as I lay in my bunk at night after a hard day's work of pursuing Sparrow and Turner. True, they had stolen the Interceptor, but, just as I was, they were searching for you. In fact, I almost envied the fact that they had stolen the ship – how much more romantic would it be for Will to be able to say that he had broken the law and risked his life for the love of you? I knew that, despite the fact I was sending all the ships in my power out to look for you, the effect would not be quite the same. Nevertheless, annoyed as I was at the theft of my ship, and at Turner's ability to out-do me once again in impressing you, I somehow could not find it to be a wholly evil thing that they had stolen a ship for what might be called an almost honorable purpose.