Chapter 5: Making Deals

"So you need my help?" Jack asked trying to understand their predicament.

"If you can help us, that'd be great. But I get it if you can't," Jim said. The couple waited for the strange man to reply. Jack just sat there and thought to himself. Neither of them knew what was going on in his mind.

"I can help," he said.

"Oh that's great-"

"If!" Jack interrupted. "You help me get my ship back."

"I knew there would be a catch," Jim said under his breath. He spoke louder for the man to hear, "Alright. Deal."

"So Barbossa is leading this rotten band of cutthroats to The Fountain of Youth," Jack clarified. "There's a mermaid on this ship."

"What?" Jim asked, wondering if he heard the man correctly.

"A mermaid lad. One of those sea creatures that looks human and has a scaly tail. They have unimaginable powers. But if you're going to the Fountain, you need a mermaid's tear to conjure the magic."

"What else do you need?" Alice asked curiously.

"I'm not sure," Jack replied. "but hopefully I'll have my ship back before we arrive."

Jim thought to himself. Where would Barbossa be hiding a mermaid on deck. Then it clicked. In the captain's quarters, there was the locked door that Barbossa stood in front of when Jim visited him that morning. The mermaid must be in there. "I think I know where the mermaid is," he said.

"Where?" Alice asked, somewhat confused.

"In the captain's quarters, Barbossa was guarding a locked door. I don't know for sure, but I have a hunch that the mermaid is in there."

"There's your way out of here, lass."

"One question," Alice interrupted.

"Yes?" Jim said.

"How in the world are you going to get up there without getting caught?"

"Okay, Morph, I could really use a key right now," Jim said to the pink blob, who was excited to be part of the plan. He transformed himself into the perfect size key to open their cells. Jim unlocked them quietly and he and Jack traveled swiftly up the steps. Alice told them she'd stay behind so that if someone asked, she would say that they had to use the john.

Jim's head slowly turned as he scanned the deck for crew members. It was late, so hopefully, most of them were sleeping. "Okay, coast is clear," he whispered to his partner. They stealthily crept across the deck, pistols ready for any attacker. Jim felt the adrenaline pumping through him with each step he took. They quickly moved up the stairs to the captain's quarters and cracked the door open, hoping that Barbossa wasn't in his study. From what Jim could see, there was only a few candles on the desk and Barbossa's hat was lying defenseless next to them. Jim took a deep breath and motioned to Jack that it was safe. They proceeded into to cabin, ready to defend themselves.

As they investigated the room, Jim almost jumped to the ceiling and back when he almost stepped on the sleeping captain. Barbossa was lying on the ground, drunk, most likely, and fast asleep. He was holding a bottle of rum close to him as he snored. Jack eyed the bottle with envy and thought of different ways of retrieving it without waking up the captain.

Jim walked over to the locked door on the left side of the cabin. He could see a bright glow of some sort coming through the cracks in the door. "Morph," Jim whispered. Morph materialized from Jim's pocket and turned into another key. Jim unlocked the door and stepped inside.

Alice waited patiently for the men to return. She had been drawing pictures in the mud on the ground when she heard some unfamiliar steps walking down into the brig. She turned and saw a giant spider-like alien with bright eyes coming toward her, pinching his claws. She recognized him from Jim's stories and her history books. "You're Daniel Scroop," she said softly.

"That's Mr. Scroop to you, Sweetheart," he replied, looking annoyed.

Alice was confused and frightened at the sight of the freaky alien, whom Jim had supposedly killed. "You're supposed to be dead," she choked as she backed away from the alien. The cell walls were still dividing them, but she felt safer the farther she was from this creep.

"Yes, I am. Fortunately, this ship happened to be sailing by when I was floating off into space and Barbossa agreed to let me be part of the crew," he explained.

Alice's heart raced as the alien broke the lock of her cell door with one of his red claws. She needed to distract him. "Why haven't you shown yourself all these years? Why now?" she asked.

The alien entered her cell and closed the door behind him. "I've been using my time wisely, plotting my revenge to perfection," he sneered.

Alice kept trying to distract him and keep him talking. "What's your plan?" she asked as she back away even further until she was pinned against the wall.

Scroop smiled evilly as he started to explain. "When I learned that this ship's destination was The Fountain of Youth, I knew what the ritual was to obtaining eternal life. The Fountain requires a mermaid's tear, and a sacrifice. Well, the thought didn't occur to me until the captain needed the boy that he could be used as the sacrifice."

Alice gasped, "Is this why you came here? To tell me that my husband is going to die?" she asked as she held back her tears.

Scroop chuckled darkly as he approached her. "I came to give you a choice. You see, when we arrived at the boy's house, he wasn't there, so we kidnapped you instead, knowing that he would come to rescue you. Well this made my plan much more exciting. All you need to know is that one of you will be used as the sacrifice, but that's up to you to decide who it will be." Scroop then picked Alice up by her neck with his claw and pushed her against the wall. He then whispered in her ear, "So choose wisely my dear. Either way, I get my revenge." He then let go of her and she fell to the ground choking. He then crept out of the cell and up the stairs quietly, leaving Alice more frightened than ever before.

As Jim entered to mysterious room, he closed the door behind him, hoping that the light didn't wake up the captain. Jack was staying by Barbossa to make sure that he stayed asleep.

Jim walked slowly through the room toward the glowing object that was shielded behind a few crates. He slowly climbed over them trying not to make a sound until he saw it.

A tank that was about three feet tall and ten feet wide, was almost full of water. Inside, was just what Jim and Jack had suspected. A mermaid. The glow was coming from her finger tips as she waved them around distractedly doing some magic. She hadn't seen her visitor yet since her back was turned to him.

Jim cleared his throat and the mermaid turned around and the glow disappeared, leaving them in darkness. "Who are you?!" she gasped, not expecting to see anyone.

"Shhh! Do you want Barbossa to wake up?" he whispered trying to calm her down.

She waved her hands and they started to glow again so that they could see each other. Jim was shocked. Aside from Alice, this mermaid was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. Jim could tell that she was about ten years older than him due to the strands of grey hair that were hiding amongst the rest of her fiery red locks. Her skin was pale and appeared flawless against the glow of the magic. Jim had to breathe deeply a few times to focus before he could explain who he was.

"My name is James Hawkins. I work for the I.S.U. My wife and I were kidnapped and I need to find a way to get her home."

The mermaid still seemed unsure. "Why did you come to me?"

"I was told that mermaids have special powers and I was wondering if yours would be any help to us."

"Well, I'm not just any mermaid. I'm sure my powers would surpass any other creature's that crossed my path. I wish I could help, but what is in it for me?"

Jim thought about the way she described herself. "You said that you're not just any mermaid. Who are you then?"

The mermaid smiled. "My name is Athena Triton, Queen of Atlantica. My powers are much more potent than any other mermaid in the universe, other than my husband's."

"Oh my gosh," Jim said to himself as he put all of it together. These were the pirates who kidnapped the queen about a week ago because they needed her for The Fountain of Youth. He leaned closer to the glass so that he didn't have to talk so loud after he heard something in the other room. "I was the captain that the I.S.U. hired to rescue you after your husband asked for our help. I was supposed to leave today to come find you, but last night, these pirates kidnapped my wife and I came to get her back."

"That's understandable," the mermaid said.

"I think I know how to fix all of this."

Jim had just finished explaining the plan to Athena when Jack opened the door, holding at least five bottles of rum. "Jim, time to go!" he said as he pointed to the captain who was waking up.

"I'll be back," Jim told the mermaid as he jumped up to leave.

"I'll still be here," she called to him.

Jim bolted out of the door and he and Jack ran out of the captain's private cabin, down the stairs, across the deck, down another flight of stairs, and practically dove back into their cells.

As Jim was trying to catch his breath, he looked over at Alice, who was surprised at the men. "What happened?" she asked as she walked over to her husband.

"Captain Sparrow over here was supposed to keep Barbossa asleep, but he got distracted."

"Well if someone hadn't been yapping up a storm to the mermaid, it wouldn't have taken so long," Jack countered as he opened a bottle of rum.

"There was really a mermaid?" Alice asked excitedly.

"Yes," Jim replied as his breathing slowed. "And she agreed to help get you home if you help get us out of this mess when you get there."

"What do you mean?"

"This mermaid happens to be the Queen of Atlantica, the same mermaid that the I.S.U. was sending me to rescue. This makes things a lot easier for all of us," Jim explained. "She has powers that can teleport you back home. Once you're there, you can go to the I.S.U. and report everything that happened. Tell them that I'm here with the Queen and we need a rescue team."

"How will they know where to find you?"

"They have their ways. Trust me, they'll find me," he reassured.

"Okay," she said. "What about Jack?"

Jim turned to look at his counterpart who was drinking his troubles away. "I think he'll figure something out on his own."

"Jim?" Alice whispered to her husband. It had been a few hours since the men's adventure and Jack had recently passed out drunk in his cell while the couple continued talking. They were laying down in the cell, barely awake when Alice remembered her encounter with Scroop earlier.

"Yeah?" he replied lazily.

"Is there any way that you can teleport back home with me?" she asked.

Jim looked over at his wife and noticed her sad, blue eyes looking up at him. "If I leave, they'll just keep coming after me until they get what they want. I can't put our family through that."

"Would you if someone told you that you were going to die?"

"What?" he asked very concerned. Why was she asking him this? He wasn't going to die, not if he had any say in it. "What are you talking about, Alice?"

Alice sighed as she tried to find the right words. "When you were gone, someone came in and told me what the crew is planning on doing. They explained to me that The Fountain requires a sacrifice and that they were going to use one of us as the sacrifice," the lump in her throat returned as she remembered. "They told me that it was my decision who it would be-"

"Wait a minute. Who is this mystery messenger?" he asked.

"Okay, please don't think that I'm crazy. I am completely serious," she said looking back at him.

"Who is it Alice?" Jim pushed impatiently.

"Scroop. He's alive, Jim."

Jim's stomach twisted as he heard the name. "What? How is that possible? I killed him," he said softly.

"No, you didn't. When he was floating off into space, the Black Pearl flew by and picked him up, agreeing to let him be part of the crew if he could help lead them to The Fountain. He's been planning his revenge this whole time."

Jim soaked all of this new information in. "So Scroop is alive and planning on killing one of us, and he told you that you had to make the decision on who it will be, correct?"

"Yes. That's why I want you to come with me. It can't be either of us. If I wasn't pregnant, I'd sacrifice myself in a heartbeat to save you, but I can't now because putting my life at risk is also putting our child's at risk," she put her face in her hands and groaned in defeat. There was no way out. One of them was going to die, and now that Jim had a say in it, she knew who it was going to be, and she didn't want to live with that. There had to be another way. "I don't know how to fix this. I wish none of this had ever happened and these pirates never came to the inn. Now one of us, or most likely both of us, is going to die and I can't do anything about it." She sat up and pulled her knees to her chest. "Why did this happen to us, Jim?" she asked as tears quietly streamed down her cheeks.

Jim sat up and stroked her back. "I don't know, Alice. But I do know that neither one of us is going to die because you are leaving, and I won't let Scroop come near me. I'll come home, okay?," He was getting tired of her worrying. He didn't remember the last time he heard her laugh. What could he do to make her smile again? "I just know that once you're safe at home, I can focus on saving one person, not two and a half," he teased as he started to tickle her tummy to lighten the mood.

'Oh no,' Alice thought. 'The tickle spot.' Why she ever revealed this sacred place to him, she will never know. It was the place where laughter decided to bloom and quickly spread throughout her whole body. She couldn't help it. She had to laugh. "Jim stop!" she whispered as the giggling started. It was getting hard for her to breathe. She tried to fight back to stop him but that only made it worse.

Jim was chuckling as he refused to stop tickling her and she fell onto the floor in silent laughter. The pain from laughing was agonizing and becoming hard to bare. She knew that she wouldn't survive another second of this torture.

"Jim! I…can't…breathe…stop!" she managed to choke out and he finally stopped. He sat back against the cell wall and laughed at her. Alice just lay there, staring at the ceiling, holding her stomach, trying not to laugh. "Ow.." she giggled.

"You should see your face right now," he chuckled.

Alice rolled over, still holding her stomach. "Why would you do that?" she groaned.

Jim laughed as he crawled over to her. "To cheer you up, scaredy-pants," he replied and kissed her hair.

Alice blushed and turned over to see him smiling down at her. "Well it worked," she smiled as she gave him a quick kiss.

"Good," he said, and then sighed. "Everything will be okay, love. I promise."

"Pinky promise?" she said as the held up her smallest finger.

Jim linked his pinkie finger with hers. "Pinky promise," he replied.