"Jackie, I've been telling you since you took your first steps to knock before entering. How hard is that to remember?" Teague asked, cleaning a pistol. He was seated at his desk, with a bottle of rum next to a bowl containing a little bit of powder and a bullet. Laid out next to the bowl were three more pistols, in a neat line along with a few knives.

"Why should I? You know who it is." Jack asked, sitting across from Teague. He watched Teague work, knowing that something was bothering him. Teague only polished the dull knife in his desk when he was. "You seem troubled."

""Troubled" is hearing about you doing something stupid again. No Jackie, "troubled" is not the word for it." Teague replied, looking down the barrel of the pistol. He hadn't even looked at Jack since he entered the cabin. "I can't quite think of the right word."

"Well out with it!"

Teague glared at Jack to say that he will not be taking orders from him. "There's a rumor going around. Apparently the men already heard about it. It seems the East India Trading Company has returned to Port Royal."

Jack rolled his eyes. Of course they would still be around. He had assumed that the East India Trading Company would show up again at some point. After all, the pirates only really defeated one company ship out of hundreds, possibly thousands.

"Supposedly, another Lord Beckett has doubled the bounty of your head." Teague then smirked. "As of now, you're worth 20,002 guineas dead. Any known associates of yours are worth 5,000 alive or dead."

"How about you?"

"Priceless." Teague replied with a cocky grin. "What is worrisome is the 7,500 guineas your sister is worth."

"That much?"

"Part of that is because she flew my colors from Fort Charles after somehow killing four officers. Most of it is because she is believed to be your daughter."

"She is young enough." Jack agreed, before shaking his head. "Let's just hope she's not doing anything stupid."

It was the first time in years Barbossa woke up to grass caressing his cheek in the breeze. It was a sunny Caribbean morning, obviously later than he planned to wake up. He turned his head and found Julia beside him, watching him with a smile on her face. Her hair was a mess again, the scarf was gone.

"Sleep well Hector?" She purred, climbing on top of him. Julia leaned down and kissed him as her fingers trailed their way across his cheek and down to his shoulder.

The warmth of her body on his reminded him that they were both naked. Even the peg leg was gone. Barbossa reached his hand up and grabbed Julia's hair as he kissed her back. Then he used his other hand to push her up as he sat up. "Too early."

"Just saying morning." Julia replied as she climbed off. She looked around, grabbed a pair of trousers, and tossed them at Barbossa. "Come on then! They won't wait forever!"

"They?" Barbossa asked as he pulled the trousers on. He knew his crew would wait. They respected him far too much to abandon him. It was clear that they-at the very least-didn't want to cross Julia. Then he noticed something: the right leg of his trousers was longer than it should be. He cut the pant leg along with his leg when the Black Pearl was taken. Then Barbossa looked down and saw it; his right leg.

Unsure of what he was seeing, Barbossa felt his lower thigh, where he remembered the peg leg twisted on. There was a scar going around his leg, a dark jagged line where the blade of his sword hacked through, smooth under his fingertips. His fingers slid down to his foot as the look of shock on Barbossa's face changed to one of joy.

"Us."

Barbossa looked up where Julia sat. Instead, in her place stood three beautiful women. They were unusually thin and pale. They had white hair that seemed to glow under their dark cloaks. Between them, a crystal ball glowed with a pulsating light.

Most men would have been fascinated by the sight of the three women. Not Barbossa. Instead, he glared at them in annoyance. It really was too early to be dealing with magic and curses again.

Then he saw the body in the water of the nearby hot water spring. Julia was laying at the edge of the water, still half submerged. Without thinking, Barbossa went to her side and pulled her out. Discovering a long dark green fin where her legs were supposed to be. "What the-"

In the water, Barbossa saw the reflection of three cloaked skeletons. He turned, and suddenly found a noose around his neck. It pulled him up, tightening on his throat. His hands went up to the rope in a desperate attempt to free himself as he choked. As he was hanging, Barbossa heard three women whispering his name over and over again.

Barbossa awoke to a slap across his face. He sat up in the grass, catching his breath. A dream. He couldn't believe that it was just a dream. It was too vivid to be a dream. He looked up at Julia.

Julia watched Barbossa, trembling slightly as he caught her breath. She woke up about an hour before. She got dressed, checked on the men, grabbed two bottles of rum and an apple for Barbossa, and returned to find the pirate captain kicking and clawing at his throat. Frightened, she shouted at him, shook him, and finally slapped and backhanded him across the face a few times. "What in the devil's name's wrong with you?" She now shouted at Barbossa.

"Nothin'." Barbossa looked down at his right leg. The peg leg was still attached. He touched the area where it connected to his leg.

"Oh yes…this a whole lot of "nothin'" under your nails." Julia snapped, holding his hand to his face. Underneath Barbossa's nails was a little bit of blood.

Barbossa felt his neck. It stung where his dirty fingers touched his scratches. When he pulled his hand away, there was more blood on his fingertips. He just narrowed his eyes at the sight.

Julia rolled her eyes as she ripped off part of her sash. She then ripped that piece in half and dapped one half with rum, before patting it on his neck. Julia ignored the hissed curses that slipped from Barbossa's lips as she cleaned his wounds. She didn't say anything until she wrapped the other half of cloth around his neck and tucked it into itself. "Don't scare me like that again Hector Barbossa."

Barbossa watched Julia. "Thank you."

Julia smiled at Barbossa as she stood up. She then tossed his jacket at him. "You'd better cover up. We've got company."

Barbossa barely had enough time to wrap the jacket around himself before several men showed up. It was a landing party from a different pirate ship, judging by their clothes. At the head of this group of strangers was a familiar face. "Sparrow."

Of course there's going to be some sort of magic. I am the writer here. Pretty sure most of my stories involve some sort of magic...

...and some fluffy animal. Usually either a cat or dog...you've no idea how hard it is for me to not write in some cute fluffy animal...I mean, I've already decided what type of animal but it's not really needed for the story...