Thank you for all of your reviews. It makes me happy to know that people are reading my story.

I'm not sure about this chapter, so I'd appreciate feedback. I had troubled describing the action. Is everything clear to you? If not, which parts did you not understand? Thank you!

With each minute that passed, Jack grew more impatient. On the outside, he remained calm, but inside, he was shaking. His ship anchored in the bay below him, just as he had expected. Barbossa was too predictable for his own good.

It seemed to take ages to lower a boat and row it to the shore. Two men accompanied Barbossa, crew members that had only recently joined the Pearl.

Jack threw a glance over his shoulder. Where was Anamaria? He had expected her to be back by now. Not that he needed her, but it would have been nice to know her behind him, just in case that something went wrong. Things had a tendency to go wrong lately.

Barbossa stepped on the shore and set out on his way up the cliffs. It was more a climb than a walk and it took long enough until he finally came up just a few feet away from Jack.

Jack drew his pistol slowly. The shade of the trees covered him well enough, there was no sign that Barbossa had seen him yet. It was a clear shot, no risks involved. Barbossa would be dead before he knew what hit him.

Two times he had stolen Jack's ship, two times he deserved to die for it.

Jack's finger played with the trigger. All he needed was to press it and the mutineer would drop dead.

Then why didn't he do it?

Valuable seconds passed. It was now or never, while Barbossa waited for his two crew members to come and join him.

A loud crack just behind Jack caught his attention. The pirate captain risked a glance over his shoulder to see Gibbs shrug apologetically. When he looked back in front of him, Barbossa had disappeared.

"Damn!"

There was no time to lose. Barbossa was alerted of his presence.

A high sound caught Jack's attention. The pirate captain dropped to the ground, just in time. A knife plunged into the tree he had been leaning against the fraction of a second earlier.

"Throwing knives now, are we?" Jack called out. This was not how he had expected his encounter with Barbossa to go. The mutineer should have been dead by now.

But instead, he laughed, a loud, hollow laugh that ran out over the cliff.

"Jack, you're way too predictable for your own good."

That was when the men came up between the bushes, four of them and each of them holding a sword.

Jack muttered a string of curses under his breath as he drew his sword. This was not his trap, it was Barbossa's, and he had walked straight into it.

At his side, he could hear the sound of Anamaria unsheathing her weapon.

"To the Pearl," Jack mumbled, his voice so low that only she could hear him.

"And once again, I had to watch you sail away with my ship," he called out in a louder voice, stepping away from Anamaria. He still held out his sword in front of him, just in case, but his stance betrayed that he didn't want to fight. "You know what they say about mutineers and the deepest circle of hell. I wonder where that takes you, having stolen my Pearl twice."

The four crewmembers – or rather former crewmembers – shifted uncomfortably.

"Having a bad conscience? You should. I've seen hell, it's even worse than death." Jack waved, coming almost close enough to the one in front of him to touch him with the tip of his sword. "Of course, there's the chance of redemption. Not that I believe in it, but you never know. It could save your life one day or another. Ask your Captain about it."

He paused just the tiniest moment to think, then continued, "Or maybe not, the only reason he escaped his fate was because he was still needed by Calypso. Now who's to get you back from hell these days, I wonder?"

"If I remember correctly, Calypso was the only reason you came back as well." Finally, Barbossa stepped out of the jungle. "Now if you'd be so kind as to hand me over my charts so I can get on my way."

Jack threw his free hand up into the air. "I 'ave no idea what you're talking about."

He leaned forward to whisper to the man in front of him, "I'd be wary of him. Lousy captain, if he loses his charts."

"Aye, Jack, I think you know very well what I'm talking about."

A pistol. Barbossa had a damn pistol in his hand. Jack couldn't help but grin at the situation. Pirates, they always had to cheat.

"I do not," he said, slowly putting back his sword. "And unfortunately, I must be on my way."

He dropped to the ground, this time missing a shot just as deadly as the knife would have been. With a roll, he overcame the distance to the cliffs and disappeared over the edge.

He had known it would hurt. Tumbling down a cliff was no easy walk, especially not with the shots that rang out behind him. By tomorrow, he'd be bruised all over. But better bruised than dead.

Flailing his arms to distract the attackers, Jack climbed to his feet and ran the short distance to the longboat.

Gibbs was already waiting with his oars in his hand.

"Let's go!"

Another shot rang out, missing Jack by mere millimetres. He could feel the wind as the bullet grazed his coat. And it had been close to take off Anamaria's head. Way too close.

"Stop shooting, you'll get one of us killed."

It was time for Jack to draw his own pistol and fire a couple of shots. Nothing well-aimed, it wasn't possible at this distance, but enough to force Barbossa to go into hiding.

"Thanks for preparing a longboat. That makes getting back to the Pearl so much easier," he called to the shore.

One last shot rang after him, but they were already too far away.