It had been three weeks since Elizabeth had opened her eyes. Robert Stanson had fixed the mast of the Black Pearl and Jack and the crew were already out at sea again. Since, Jack had placed Elizabeth on his bed, and she had not moved. Her face was as pale as the lace tied around his wrist. Her lips were dry and chapped and her pulse was faint. Jack had never been so worried in his entire life. No, that was a lie. He'd been just as worried when he'd woken up in Davy Jones's Locker.

As Jack paced in his cabin for the eight hundred and eighty second time, he bit his lip and cracked his knuckles. Trying to distract himself, he pulled out his compass and opened it. It pointed to Elizabeth, as expected. He grunted, snapped it shut, and thrust it back in his pocket. He opened the door of the cabin and looked outside. Gibbs was walking along the deck. "Mr. Gibbs," Jack shouted, "Bring the surgeon in here!" Gibb's face lit up, asking, "Why? Has she moved?"
"Uh...no. Just bring him in here!"
"Aye, Cap'n!"

Jack shut the door and started pacing again. The surgeon, Andrew, entered and bowed, "Andrew, at your service, Captain Sparrow." "Stop sucking up and tell me if she's made any progress!" Andrew ran over to the bed and sat on it, examining the woman. Jack leaned on a wall, rapping his fingers, impatient. After less than a minute, he asked rudely, "Well?" "She seems to be getting more color."
"Really?"
"Yes. You probably haven't noticed because you hardly leave the room."
"Oh...I knew that," he lied.
"Of course."
"And I HAVE left the room. Just a couple minutes ago when I told Gibbs to get you."
"Of course."
"You can leave now."
"Yes, sir." Andrew bowed.
"Stop being so polite! It is most excruciating!"
"Yes, sir...okay, uh, fine! I WILL leave!" he yelled and started to stomp out.
"Well, don't be RUDE," Jack commented.
"Yes, sir." He bowed again.
"Wait, will she ever wake up?"
"I already told you, sir, she's been poisoned. I don't know what kind it was; liquid, solid, a powder form...it all depends. Since she has more color, I'm assuming she'll be okay. I can't tell you when, but I can tell you that she will awaken. She may even be aware of her surroundings."
"And her baby?" Jack held his breath.
Andrew shook his head, uttering, "I don't know. I'm guessing that it's fine, considering her stomach is continuing to expand. It means the baby is still developing."
"Alright. you can leave now."
"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir." He bowed again.
"What did we JUST talk about, Andrew?" Jack moaned, "Politeness..."
"Oh, right...uh, bye!"

When Andrew was gone, Jack continued to pace. Something caught his eye on his desk. A book. A book? "Pirate Legends," he read aloud. Pulling up a chair by the bedside, he flipped through the pages. At the front, he searched for the table of contents. A chapter was entitled, "Notorious Captains." It was on page fifty. He read Barbossa's biography. "Hector Barbossa," he read aloud to Elizabeth, "Birth date unknown... location unknown... has been sailing the Seven Seas for many years. He is currently the first mate of the Black Pearl, under the command of Jack Sparrow... CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow!" Jack turned a few pages and found his own biography.

"Jack Sparrow...CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow... birth date unknown... location unknown... captain of the Black Pearl...known crimes: piracy, smuggling, falsification of Letters of Marque and Reprisal, impersonating an officer of the British Royal Navy, impersonating an officer of the Spanish Royal Navy, impersonating a cleric of the Church of England..." he chuckled, "Oh, yeah...sailing under false colors, arson, kidnapping, looting, poaching, brigandage, pilferage, depravity, deprivation of a Federal Loyalist... this is ridiculous! I've done so much more than this! They don't know the half of it! They need to update this thing."

He continued to read to Elizabeth, "Lord of the Caribbean Sea... ooh, I like that... wears the mark of the sparrow on his wrist to testify that he's sailed all the oceans of the world... actually, Lizzie, I was just drunk and happened to walk into a tattoo parlor, the rest is history... has the Desiderata tattooed on his back, arms and chest... How would they know that? Creepy... Jack Sparrow... CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow... to this day, it still at large-"

Suddenly, someone crashed into the cabin. It was Gibbs. He was out of breath, but managed, "Cap'n, there's... what are ye doing?" He raised an eyebrow at Jack, who shut the book he was holding. The captain replied, "Uh, nothing. Just reading."
"You can read?"
"Of course! Of course I can read! I am hurt that you thought I couldn't! Honestly, Joshamee, it's like you don't know me at all!"
"Apologies, Jack. We-"
"You thought I couldn't read. I'm appalled." He shook his head.
"Jack, I'm afraid I have news."
"What is it?"
"We're entering the Siren's islands."

Jack's ears perked up. He'd been to the siren's islands before. They were three rocky spits of land where the sirens lurked. As you moved past their islands, they tried to trick you into sailing towards their jagged shores by singing a sweet, deadly song. Once you turned their way, there was no turning back. Your ship was at the bottom of the sea in no time.

Gibbs added, "I know you've been there before, but-
"And I escaped."
"Aye, but the ship ye were on DID crash and the whole crew perished."
"Except for me. Now, why isn't THAT in this bloody book?" He held up the document.
"Uh..." Gibbs cocked his head.
"Never mind. Prepare the ship and ready the crew. I'll be out in a moment or two."
"Aye, Cap'n."

Gibbs started to leave, but he stopped mid step, gazing at something on Jacks desk. "What?" the captain asked. His first mate replied, "Jack, yer hat. It's on yer desk." Jack turned his head to see his tricorn hat lying among papers. He walked over and picked it up. Holding it in his hands, he turned it at different angles, examining it. He strolled over to the other pirate, asking, "Mr. Gibbs, do you know what this means?"
"Uh... ye've got yer hat back?"
"Aye, but how did it get here? Master Gibbs, I've been searching for this hat for months. How could I have missed it if it was sitting plainly on my desk?"
"I don't know... common mistake?"
"After I'd been searching, I remembered that I'd left it on the Nemesis with Collins and the Company."
"So... how did it get here?"
"I'll tell you how. Someone on this vessel is working for the Company. And, by giving me hat back, they're letting me know that they're here."
"We've got a stowaway. And they're obviously in disguise, cause we'd have noticed him in his red coat."
"The returning of the hat could also mean they're ready to make themselves known."
"I'll find him, Jack."
"It could be more than one 'him'. It could be 'them'."
"We'll just throw everyone that we don't recognize in the brig."
"Hold on for a second..."

Jack started thinking hard. Whoever the stowaway was, he'd obviously cone aboard at Cutterby. And if he was at Cutterby, that means he'd seen Jack and Elizabeth. And if he'd seen Jack and Elizabeth, he would have wanted to keep them busy so he could sneak on board. And a way he would keep them busy would be, say, poisoning Elizabeth, thus distracting Jack? Now, Jack remembered seeing a soldier sitting in the inn at Cutterby. He remembered ducking so that he wouldn't be seen. Elizabeth had taken a drink from a hostess right after the hostess had finished serving the soldier...

Gibbs watched his captain think. It was always interesting to watch Jack put pieces of a metaphorical puzzle together. He made strange faces when he thought. Gibbs, however, was already stumped, but Jack was onto something, he could tell. Jack really was a smart man, he just acted awkward and uncoordinated to confuse his enemies. But, only he and Gibbs knew such a fact. The first mate saw his captain make a conclusion, for Jack looked at him, saying, "Master Gibbs, crop anchor. I have a feeling we're going to have trouble on board fairly soon. And I'm not talking about the sirens just yet."
"Ye've figured it out, Cap'n?"
"Aye. Whoever the stowaway or stowaways are, he or they poisoned Elizabeth, therefore endangering the lives of her and her child. And that's not very nice."
"How will we find him... or them?"
"Simple. Gibbs, who wants me off this ship more than anybody?"
"Uh... Barbossa?"
"Aye. He's working with the Company. I thought he'd been to enthusiastic about coming on board, but I've ignored it up until now. Once the Company gets me, they'll take Lizzie and I to be hung, leaving the Pearl without a captain. Of course, we know who will be captain."
"Barbossa. So, all we have to do is find an unfamiliar face that Barbossa has befriended."
"Precisely."

Gibbs looked at Elizabeth. She seemed to be getting more color in her face. She was alive, that was the main thing. He had known her since she was a small girl. And the fact that someone had tried to her hurt, or worse, made him upset. He pulled out his rum flask, drinking until it was empty, then shoved it back in his pocket. He wiped his mouth and promised, "I'll find him... or them, Jack. I won't let Barbossa out of me sight." Jack smiled, placing his long lost hat back in it's rightful place: on his head. He patted it, "Welcome back, old friend."

Elizabeth didn't know why, but she couldn't open her eyes. She heard voices. Jack and Gibb's. Jack had been reading to her a while ago, now he and Gibbs were discussing something. The Company was there? Barbossa was up to something? Old friend? She desperately wished to open her eyes. The last she remembered was wearing that atrocious dress and stumbling through Cutterby, then falling. Even though she was asleep, she had heard everyone's concern. Her eyes wouldn't open. Could she speak? She cleared her throat, whispering hoarsely, "Jack? What's going on?" Using what seemed like all of her strength, she opened her eyes.