Chapter 10: A Little Chat Goes a Long Way

On my way to the brig I was intercepted by Barbossa. As always his face showed nothing of what he was planning. "Come with me." he said and walked towards his cabin.

I almost didn't go. I was more concerned for my friends then him at the moment. Plus, I didn't exactly love being with the guy. "Come on, lad." Barbossa called. I sighed and followed. Might as well humor him. Maybe I can convince him to let the crew go free.

The cabin was set up as before, except now four apples were missing from the bowl. I think I dropped my apple during the fight. Barbossa was looking out the window, lost in thought probably. "You may want to leave your swords in here." he said as I came in, indicating to the swords slung across my back.

"Why?" I asked. "I can't harm you or the others on this ship."

"Aye, but we're on our way to Isla de Muerta to lift the curse. The crew is a bit cautious of you. They don't like seeing ye armed."

"Well, they can suck it up." I snapped. "I don't like idea of being unarmed around a bunch of cursed pirates." Barbossa turned around.

"Stubborn, aren't ya?" he asked with a glare.

"Yup. According to mom it was something I got from you." Barbossa's face fell. He walked over to the table and sat down.

"She lied. I'm not stubborn. I know when to stand up for my thoughts and when to give in. This is one of those times to give in. You can get the swords back after the curse is lifted." I glared at him. Reluctantly, I took the straps off my shoulders and set the swords on the table.

"Is that all?" I asked coldly.

Barbossa shook his head. "No. You got to ask yer questions, now it's my turn." I was afraid of this.

"Shoot."

"How did you get here?"

"What do you mean by that? How did I end up on Isla de Muerta or how did I end up in the Caribbean?"

"Both."

I thought for a few minutes, thinking how I would phrase it. Sitting down at the table, I began. "I ended up in the Caribbean because I stowed away on a ship. I ended up on Isla de Muerta because I met Jack Sparrow. We were kind of in the same jail cell. When Will Turner convinced him to help save Elizabeth I tagged along."

"So it's thanks to Sparrow that you're here?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

Barbossa muttered something under his breath then went on to his next question. "Why are you here? Yer mum wouldn't just let you stow away on a ship." I started to bite my lip. I really didn't want to answer this.

"I left." I said plainly.

Barbossa gave me a hard look. "Yes I can see that, but why? Isn't yer mum worried about ye?"

I looked down at the ground. "Mom's dead. That's why I left." I briefly glanced at Barbossa. His eyes were widened and filled with genuine sorrow. He got up and walked back over to the window. I was kind of surprised. If you've ever met a man like Barbossa you would be surprised too. You never would expect to see him sad.

"How old were you?" he said. His words sounded forced.

"Nine. I stayed in France for a one year but when I was ten I came here."

"Why come to this part of the world?"

I was hesitant to answer. "Mom said you sailed from the Caribbean. I thought that I might look for you. After I got to Port Royal I realized what a idiot I was. The ocean is big, it was only a fool's chance of finding you."

Barbossa turned back to me. "Well, apparently yer a fool because ye found me." I smiled a little. "I'm guessing your mum didn't talk about me often."

I shook my head. "Not often, but she said I looked like you. She also mentioned 'Hector' sometimes."

Barbossa smiled. "Aye, that's me." I almost laughed. I had to bite me tongue to try and hide it. Obviously, I failed. "What's so funny?"

"Sorry. It's just that when you think of a murderous and notorious pirate the name Hector never really comes to mind."

"Now you know why everyone calls me Barbossa."

I nodded still laughing. "Is that all the questions you got?"

"One more. Who took care of you when yer mum… passed…" Barbossa seemed to have some trouble saying the word.

"Died?" I offered.

He sighed. "Yes."

"My step dad took care of me." I replied calmly, although Barbossa didn't look too happy.

"What?" he spat.

Is he jealous? "It's not like that. Legally, he isn't my step dad. I just called him that because it's easier than calling him my mom's friend." Barbossa seemed to calm down a little.

"Alright then, you can go. Do what you like, just don't cause any trouble." Barbossa said that last bit with a warning in his voice. I rolled my eyes. Why does everyone say that to me? I didn't leave though. I still wanted to know something.

"Yes?" Barbossa asked.

I swallowed. "After the curse is lifted, can you let my friends go? By friends I mean the people in the brig."

Barbossa looked thoughtful. "Maybe." I let out a breath. "Now go, give me time to think." I nodded and left the cabin.

Outside, the sun shone on my face. I stood there blinking, trying to get used to the light. Almost sunset. The pirates that were working seemed pretty happy. Probably can't wait to be free of the curse.

I began my decent into the brig. Halfway down the steps I realized I had no idea where the brig was. Crap. Sucking it up, I decided to find my own way. The brig is usually at the bottom, right?

Soon, I got lost. I couldn't find another set of stairs that led to the lower part of the ship. Although I did find a pirate. He had a black beard that seemed to be smoking from the tips. "What are ya doing down 'ere, boy?"

I stared up at him and grinned sheepishly. "I'm, um…"

"Lost?" he finished for me.

"Kind of. I want to get down to the brig."

"Why? Not'ing but bilge water an' maggots down there. Unless yer sayin' ya want to speak with the maggots?" the pirate laughed at his own joke.

"If by maggots you mean the crew you captured then yes, I do want to speak with them." I snapped.

The pirate glared at me. "Alright, no need to get snappy. I'll take ya down there. My name's Jacoby, by the way."

"Jason." I offered.

Jacoby chuckled. "Believe me, I know who you are. You're the talk of the crew. Never would've thought that Barbossa had a son." he turned around and walked away. "Ya comin'?" I nodded and followed Jacoby down to the brig.

Jacoby spoke true and led me straight down. "Here we are." he gestured at the cells then turned to me. "Ya ever get lost again, don't hesitate to ask. I like ya, although a bit of warning, Koehler and Bo'sun are suspicious of ya." with that Jacoby walked back up the stairs to the deck. I nodded to my escort and faced my friends.

"Heh, heh. Hi, guys." I said nervously, giving a little wave. Everyone glared at me. Well, except for Gibbs and Will. Will was in a parallel cell to the one the crew was in. He didn't even look at me when I came down.

Marty had his arms across his chest. "Explain." he demanded.

"Would you believe me if I told you that Barbossa is my father?" I asked.

There were many murmured yes's and everyone nodded. Marty groaned. "Pay up, Marty." Tearlach said smugly.

"The pirates took all our money, remember?" Marty snapped. Tearlach frowned.

"You guys bet on me?" I asked.

"No, we bet on your heritage." Tearlach stated. "I said you looked like Barbossa and thought you were somehow related. Marty disagreed."

"I bet five shillings you weren't even remotely related. Though I admit now that you two do look a little similar."

"How do we look alike? Am I the only one that doesn't see it?"

Gibbs spoke up. "You have the same hair color and eyes, that's a bit obvious. Also, I noticed, you're just as smug. It's one of things that makes you really annoying."

"Aye, aye." Cotton's parrot squawked.

"Thanks, Gibbs." I said sarcastically. "How long did you know?"

"Jack told me in Tortuga."

"Bloody Sparrow." I sighed and sat on a barrel. Will looked very glum in his cell. "How you holding up, Will?"

The blacksmith glared up at me. "If Barbossa's your father why did you let him maroon Elizabeth?"

"I can't just tell him what to do! Plus, I didn't know who he was marooning. I thought it was Jack. I did, however, get him to consider letting you guys go."

"You knew he was marooning someone?" Will was getting angry.

"I only had suspicions. Again, I thought he was just marooning Jack, not both him and Elizabeth. I'm sorry, okay. Stop making me feel worse than I already am." I stared at the ground. "You didn't answer my question. How are you holding up?"

Will sighed. "I'm okay, I guess. Still pretty shocked that my father's a pirate."

"Oh, you poor thing." I mocked. "At least he's not blood-thirsty and murderous pirate. Mine is." Will cracked a small smile.

"At least you get along with him." Gibbs put in.

"Eh, kind of. We haven't really had a real conversation. Just some questions."

"His monkey likes you." Marty said. I rolled my eyes.

Two men came down the stairs. It was the pot-bellied man and his friend with the wooden eye. They had mops and buckets of water.

"What are you doing down here?" the man with the wooden eye asked.

"Talking. What about you two? Cleaning duty, I'm guessing." I said with a grin. They both sneered at me and started to clean.

"What are your names?" I inquired.

"Why do you care?" the pot-bellied man spat.

"Curiosity."

"I'm Ragetti and this is my uncle, Pintel." the man with the wooden eye said.

"Nice to meet you, Pintel and Ragetti." Pintel grunted in acknowledgement and went back to work.

"Shiver me timbers." Cotton's parrot said. Gibbs decided to have a bit of fun.

"Cotton here says you missed a bit." Pintel slammed his mop into the cell door. I sniggered a little.

Will came up to his cell door. "You knew William Turner?" he asked.

Pintel looked up. "Ol' Bootstrap Bill? We knew 'im. Never sat well with Bootstrap what we did to Jack Sparrow, with the mutiny and all. That's why he sent off a piece of the treasure to you, as it were. He said we deserved to be cursed, and remained cursed."

"Stupid blighter." Ragetti said.

"Good man." Gibbs corrected. Pintel glared at him.

"But as you can imagine, that didn't sit too well with the captain."

"That didn't sit too well with the captain at all. Tell 'em what Barbossa did." Ragetti said with laughter in his voice.

"I'm tellin' the story!" Pintel snarled at his nephew then turned bac to the rest of us. "So what the captain did, he strapped a canon to Bootstrap's bootstraps."

Ragetti laughed. "Bootstrap's bootstraps." he echoed.

"The last we saw of ol' Bill Turner he was sinking into the black oblivion of Davy Jones' Locker." Pintel finished. He looked at me with a grin as if to say 'Listen to what you're related to'. Will looked down at the floor.

"Wait," I started. "Barbossa killed a man just for defending Jack Sparrow?"

Pintel nodded. "It was only after that we learned we needed his blood to lift the curse."

"Now that's what you call ironic." Ragetti said. The two of them started laughing. Barbossa had just walked down the steps. Bo'sun was right behind him.

Pintel and Ragetti quickly turned around. "Bring him." Barbossa said, tossing the keys to Ragetti. He turned to me. "Ye comin'?"

"What happens if I stay?" I asked.

"Then you'll have to be locked up in a cell." Barbossa answered calmly.

"I think I'll go." I said. Barbossa smirked and walked up the stairs. I followed after Pintel and Ragetti who were holding Will.

Thank you to everyone who has been reading my story. Only about four chapters to go! Reviews are nice.