Ch. 4: Alone

A/N: This one feels a bit rushed, but I can't seem to figure out what I needed to add. Hope you enjoy anyway! :)

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Alone I stand a broken man…

Captain Sparrow stared into the distance. No sign of water in sight. "Landlocked. I thought as much." He muttered resignedly.

"I always knew the little harlot was trouble. Her and her beloved whelp." The rage he felt towards her was cold and intense, but he also felt other things for her. Every time he thought of her, his heart would shatter all over again. Just like the moment with the shackles. "I hate her." He spat. "I HATE her!" He ran a hand over his face.

"Perhaps you should give her another chance."

He spun at the sound of his own voice and grimaced at his other self as if he had known it was there all along. "Shall I?" He drew his sword and stabbed it through his soft relenting flesh. "That sort of thinking got us into this mess."

He spun around as he heard a gasp and found himself surrounded by an entire crew of himself. Well Jackie…you really have gone mad this time… "Don't you start talking to me too. You never were a very good father." He muttered bitterly.

"Orders, sir?" Asked a submissive version of himself.

"Slackened braces! Man the yards you filthy toads!" He began shouting as they jumped into action and he wiped blood from his sword. "We have lost speed and therefore time, precious time, which cannot be recovered once lost, do you understand?"

"Aye captain!" Resounded around him.

"Do you now?" He questioned, sheathing his sword. "It will all have to be redone. All of it! And let this serve as a lesson to the lot of you."

"Doldrums, sir. Has the entire crew on edge."

"I have no sympathy for any of you feculent maggots and no more patience to pretend otherwise. Gentlemen, I wash my hands of this weirdness."

He dropped from the ship and landed on dry land. That was when he realized he was entirely alone. He tested for a breeze. "No wind. Of course there's no bloody wind." You're in the Locker. I AM NOT!

"My soul I do swear for a breeze, a gust, a wisp, a tiny miniature kiss." No. Not that. Not her. Never her. She got us into this mess and William allowed it. "Yes, yes I know but why would he do that? Because he's a lummox isn't he? Well we shall have a magnificent garden party and you're not invited." He let out a maniacal giggle at the end.

I've gone insane. That's what has happened to me. The bloody wench has driven me insane. She's driven me to dream my own death and my own extended bloody stay in the Locker. Or…am I really in the Locker…standing…alone…eaten…I do hope she's happy with the mess she's made.

Then he noticed the rocks. He picked one up, looked at it, licked it, grimaced, threw it. Not edible. Not even salty. Next he found a rope, looked at the Pearl then shrugged. Try as he might he could not pull the bloody ship and immediately flopped over.

If it were a dream I'd be able to pull that. I'm stuck here. For eternity. Wherever here is. It is not where she is, therefore here is fine.

No it's not. You want to be where she is.

I do not want to be where she is.

You do so…what is this shadow?

He opened his eyes and sat up. She's moving. The Pearl is moving. She's taking me back to the ocean by way of a bunch of rocks? No…crabs! Tia Dalma! Er…Calypso! It wouldn't do to not be aboard when it hit the water though…

He took off after it.

JEJEJEJEJEJE

Cutler Beckett eyed the piece of eight in his hand and then glanced up at Mercer. "Nine."

"Aye." He replied.

"What does it mean? What does that have to do with this song?"

"Why does it matter? Nothing can get past the armada, especially not with the Flying Dutchman on our side."

"Mmmm…unless they have their own armada…Where is the Brethren Court meeting?"

"Not sure, sir."

"Mmmm...they know they face extinction. All that remains is where they make their final stand."

Mercer stared at the man before him. And you think you're getting all the credit while I do the dirty work? I think not.

Governor Swann glanced up from his desk briefly. Please be safe, Elizabeth.

JEJEJEJEJEJE

Elizabeth sat down near the helm. "Captain Barbossa?"

"Aye, lass?"

"Why were there English soldiers in Singapore?"

He frowned. "The song has been sung."

"Yes I know, but what does that even mean?"

"It means the dawn of a new era, whether it be for pirates or not."

"A new era."

"Aye. The Brethren Court have been called to convene on behalf of piracy itself to unbind Calypso and end this mess or fight. Captain Sao Feng is one of the nine pirate lords as am I. Your Lord Cutler Beckett must have cottoned on to it somehow."

She sat in silence for a few moments. "If you're one of the nine…what are your motives for rescuing Jack instead of meeting with the Court?"

He chuckled. "I'm not the only pirate you know who's important, pet."

Her eyes widened.

"What? Ye didn't think I was rescuin' Jack out o' the goodness of me weasly black heart, did ye? What part of "pirate" do ye not understand?"

"I don't think that's the only reason you're doing it."

"Then you're wrong." He replied harshly. "I never said I was a good man. You ought to know that by now, lass. This is merely a means to an end."

She picked at a loose thread in her trousers. "How is Calypso going to solve everything? Tia Dalma says there's an evil that even the pirates fear in these waters."

"She'll have power over it, if she is released. If we plead her forgiveness once she be free we might stand a chance."

JEJEJEJEJEJEJE

Mercer stepped up to Lord Beckett's side, a conniving gleam in his eyes. "The governor has been asking questions, sir. He knows…too much."

"Kill him." Beckett replied, his jaw setting. "And fetch the heart. We need to pay Jones a little visit."

JEJEJEJEJEJEJEJE

Davy Jones sat in his cabin, a tear rolling down his face. He slammed his tentacles into the organ with a resounding crash. My heart is near. "Beckett!"

Then he realized he could hear the uniform clatter of boots and the shouts of navy men and an undertone with an unmistakably steady cadence that seemed to taunt his lost love's name at him with every beat. He growled. "I will not have that thing on my ship!" He wasn't even sure if he was talking about the heart or Lord Beckett.

He burst onto the deck, looking Admiral Norrington directly in the eyes. "Go! And take that infernal thing with you! I will not have that on my ship!"

"That's too bad. We need prisoners to interrogate. This works best when they're alive. The heart stays." Beckett replied, stepping from behind the good admiral.

"This ship sails as its captain commands."

"And its captain shall sail it as commanded! I thought you would have learned that when I ordered you to kill your pet."

James Norrington frowned at the hurt look on Captain Jones' face. This man should be commanding Beckett to do his bidding. Not the other way around. He considered doing something rash, but remembered the beautiful sword burning holes in his scabbard. A symbol of his title and the return of his life, his hands were tied.