"Not All Treasure is Silver and Gold"

Chapter 26

As dawn approached on this particular day, Jack woke only two people, Will and Gibbs. He directed them to work quickly and quietly and do what he said without questions.

But of course, Will had questions.

"What are we doing?" he asked.

"I said no questions. Just change out the sails. And Gibbs, bring down the flag."

Gibbs looked at him for a second and wondered what the hell Jack was talking about, but did what he was told anyway.

After all the tasks were complete, Jack decided to let Will and Gibbs in on part of his plan.

"Later this afternoon, we will be in Singapore harbor, but they aren't going to let me in, thinking that I have stolen the gem. So, Will, our way in to Singapore and on to India, will be as prisoners."

"What?" Will asked.

"The only way that anyone is going to let us into the country is if we are prisoners, savvy?"

"So what happens after we become prisoners?"

"Who is going to captain the ship?" Gibbs asked as well.

"You are going to temporarily be in charge. William and myself will be down in the hold as you sail into the harbor. Take the bounty that rests on my head and give us over to the Singapore-ians. We will then escape once they inevitably ship us to India for torture," Jack finished.

"Torture?" Will gulped.

"Yes, torture. They want their stone back, but I don't have it. So I'm not lying, but they won't believe me."

"Well…" Will started.

"Don't say it," Jack threatened.

The men then could hear the stirring of the crew below deck. They were going to need to be told what to do when the time came and that time was approaching extremely quickly.

The harbor was on the horizon as the men were being told somewhat of an abbreviated plan. They didn't look too pleased about it, but were going about it anyway.

The two men were locked in the hold and The Adventurer sailed between two very important and official-looking ships.

All three ships stopped and men from the official ships boarded The Adventurer.

"Sirs," Gibbs started. "I think we might have what you've been looking for."

"And that would be?" One of the men asked. They were obviously British, maybe once affiliated with the East India Company, now working for the Indian government.

"A Mr. Jack Sparrow."

"You have Jack Sparrow aboard your ship?"

"We out-smarted him, you see. We told him that he could captain our ship after The Black Pearl sunk. Then we took him and his accomplice prisoner."

"I'll have to see him for myself before I can believe the word of a pirate," the man sneered.

"Of course," Gibbs said as he bowed in mock admiration. "Be our guest."

The men were led down to the hold, past the barrels of rum and right to the cells that held Jack Sparrow and Will Turner. And both were looking sullen and angry.

"Let me see your right arm, pirate," one of the men said to Jack.

Jack sat still and did nothing.

"I gave you an order, pirate. If you do not wish bodily harm, I suggest you show me your arm," the man practically screamed.

Jack miserably held out his arm, revealing the pirate brand that would be with him forever.

"You are Jack Sparrow," the man smiled a deadly smile.

"I am Captain Jack Sparrow."

"On your feet, both of you. We are taking you back to India for prosecution."

"What's the charge?" Will demanded to know.

"Crimes against the British and Indian monarchy. And theft of the Heart of India."

"I have been absolved of my crimes by the king of England himself," Jack said defiantly.

"Quiet. Unless you can provide proof, we are going to have to arrest you."

"I'm sorry," he patted himself down. "I seem to have left my letters of marque in my other coat, do forgive me?"

"Get up and move. We are going back to the other ship."

So Jack and Will did as they were told and were ushered up to the top deck. On the way up, Gibbs added a couple shoves for effect. In return, he received the dirtiest look Jack could muster in such circumstances.

And before they marched him across, Gibbs did something even more awful than a push: he took Jack's hat and placed it on top of his own head. Jack looked as though he could cry.

The government official who had spoken before was the last on The Adventurer. "Good job, captain. Here is your reward. We could have done it without you, but it was much easier this way." With that said, he left and joined the others on his ship.

The government ships raised anchor and started to sail off towards India, leaving a very confused crew on The Adventurer.

"What do we do now?" Marty asked.

"I don't know. Jack said to stick to the code, but didn't say what to do in the meantime," Gibbs answered. "So I guess we do what all good pirates do: sail into port and drink."

"Aye!" the crew shouted.

So, of course, that is what they did.

NORRINGTON

At the same time on James' ship, which he was now calling The Hopeless (because it was in no way comparable to either The Dauntless or The Interceptor), they were preparing to enter Singapore in the late afternoon of the next day. They were under strict orders to find Singapore Steve and the Heart of India. And if they were lucky, they would find Sparrow and Turner.

That night, James went to bed with a guilty feeling eating away at him. It was his fault that Dani was kidnapped. And none of this would have happened if he had stopped Sparrow go sailing to Tortuga. Who knows where they were now?

Singapore harbor proved to be a shock for James. He'd know the ship that sat in the harbor anywhere, even though it had white sails. That was The Adventurer. Jack, Will, and the rest of the crew must be there.

The Hopeless made port just as The Adventurer had and the crew set out to locate these people.

DANI/LIZ

Dani knew that Singapore Steve and his band of really awful pirates had to be hot on their heels. They had been passed out cold when Dani escaped, so they must have spent some time sobering up and then some more time looking for her. But they could only really be a couple hours behind them. And it was that thought that was driving her. She was hardly sleeping for fear of what could happen. Dani would never be able to forgive herself if something bad happened.

Dani was very much hoping Jack was in Singapore. Hopefully, he would be safe, but was unsure of what she would find once she got there.

The kids really were enjoying themselves, despite missing their fathers. And Elizabeth had started to re-think her plan to live on land forever. If the kids enjoyed it some much, why do that to them?

But what Elizabeth wondered about most was Dani. For the first time since she'd met her, she looked scared. Of course, she was trying to hide it, but Elizabeth could see right through. And it was frustrating her because she wouldn't open up. There was so much of Jack in Dani and vice versa that she just wanted to smack Dani to start something. At least then she'd be talking.

All Elizabeth could do was watch as the woman got ever more nervous as the days passed and hope that everything would turn out fine.

A/N: Okay, that was mostly a chapter about Jack and Will but I thought I would include James/Dani/Liz because I could. Very short vignettes about each of the others. Eventually, this whole stupid sub-plot that I got myself into will work itself out and they will be searching for the Fountain of Youth. Please don't hurt me because I got off on a tangent.

Manda