Disclaimer: Don't think I ever really did this, but I obviously don't own Pirates of the Caribbean. If I did I'm sure I'd have much better things to be doing that sitting here and writing fanfiction like the nerd that I am. :D

"Rumors, rumors, rumors! There must be someone who actually knows something!" Will growls throwing up his hands as he storms out of the seediest tavern they have yet been led to.

"Well, we can hardly expect more from this lot. Whoevers runnin' the Company nows been payin' people to keep quiet as 'e goes, likely as not." Jack replies, following along behind him, looking no less distressed.

"Bloody pirates." Is Will's only reply. They start heading back towards the Pearl.

"S'ppose we'll just have to go lookin' for the ship ourselves. Unless…" Jack trails off and stops walking abruptly.

"What?" Will turns around to face him, looking a bit hopeful.

Jack begins patting the pockets of his jacket, letting out an 'ah!' when he finally finds what he was looking for and pulling it out of its hiding place.

"Don't know why I didn't think 'o this before. Assumin' what ye want most right now is to find the lass." He holds out his compass with a flourish. "Perhaps this could provide us with a proper headin'."

Will stares down at Jack's compass for a moment before taking it into his hands.

"Worth a try, I guess." He says. He stands for a moment, concentrating on his daughter, and opens the compass.

It spins around aimlessly for a moment before finally settling on one direction. Jack peers at it and grins as he turns to start heading back for the Pearl.

"Yer welcome, mate."

Will rolls his eyes as he follows.

Emily doesn't like this. She doesn't like this at all.

The Revenge (apparently the name of the ship she is on; the nice officer had told her the day before) is about to meet up with another ship flying the same colours.

Not all of these British officers will be as nice as the Revenges Captain has been, she knows this for a fact, and the idea of a whole different set of officers coming aboard has her…well, downright terrified.

The men from the other ship have crossed over onto the Revenge; she can tell because of how noisy the deck above her has become.

Then all falls silent for what seems like hours. She is curled up on the bed, listening intently. She wonders who has just come on board and if they are important. She fears she will be taken back to the brig, that the newcomers will force the Revenge's Captain to treat her like the prisoner she's supposed to be. She thinks about how she hopes all of this won't last forever, and how she really hopes they won't decide to hang her or something.

It has crossed her mind more than once that her papa might come to her rescue. After all, he has fought these men before, right?

This doesn't comfort her very much, though, as she has never really even seen her papa brandish his sword, has never seen him fight. Try as she might, she cannot bring herself to think of him as anything other than a good blacksmith who enjoys his rum a little too much.

There are times when he hardly seems to notice she's there. Perhaps he would be better off without her anyways.

Her mother on the other hand… she feels much more hopeful that her mother would sail in, blasting even the enormous Revenge away with her ship. At least, she hopes she would. She knows her mother has a job to do; it's possible Elizabeth can't come to help her.

Emily is beginning to feel more and more down with each moment that passes. She forces herself to think of something, anything, else.

She wonders what day it is, thinks it has been just over a month and a half since she was captured. She realizes that if this is true, she will be eight in two days. She wishes she was home safe and sound and already preparing for the party her papa always threw her on her birthday. She wishes for one of his warm hugs. She…

Is sound asleep…

…The door to her cabin bursts open. Emily wakes with a start and screams when she sees the two large soldiers marching toward her. She stands and tries to run, but they grab her long before she can go anywhere. They grip her arms far too tightly and haul her right off her feet, and she kicks and screams, not because she is so afraid of the fact that she might be going back to the brig, but because they are hurting her, probably on purpose, and she really can't know where they are actually taking her.

She somehow manages to hit one of the soldiers in a rather sensitive area, and he drops her, doubling over. They are up on deck and several other soldiers and officers are staring now. She falls to the deck and the other soldier looks angry now. He pulls her roughly back to her feet. She kicks his leg. He backhands her so hard she flies back to the deck.

She stays there and bursts into tears.

The Captain comes forward, looking outraged.

"What is the meaning of this? She is only a child!"

"She's a pirate's daughter, and we're under orders to make sure you treat her as such. Admiral wants to make sure she knows her place."

"Well, the Admiral is not here, and I will not stand for this on my ship! Throw her back in the brig if you feel it necessary, but do not harm her like that again!"

The other officer has just managed to get back to his feet. The two exchange a glance before looking back to the Captain.

"Aye sir." They each mutter at once before grabbing Emily's arms again. Their grip is no less tight, but they allow her to walk anyways.

She keeps her head down as tears continue to stream down her face, which now has one red cheek and a quickly blackening eye.

It is a calm day with scarcely a breeze. Will is practicing with his sword in an unpopulated corner of the Pearls deck; he's got nothing better to do at the moment.

He is only half paying attention to what he is doing, though. His thoughts are scattered in several different directions, all of them leading back to his doubts about Jack's unreliable compass. Although Emily is, without a doubt, the foremost person on his mind, he knows it would taste a terrible lie to say she is what he wants most.

What he wants most is a woman,two in particular would be perfect. One is miles and miles away, on land. Jade. The other is at least at sea, but still so very far out of his reach that pains him to think about it.

He pauses in his practicing, breathing heavily, and brings a hand up to the ring now hanging from his neck.

Elizabeth's ring.

What if the compass was pointing him toward home, towards Jade, and not the Revenge? Or worse yet, what if it was leading them back towards the Dutchman. These questions refused to stop haunting him.

He curses himself and pulls the crazy little thing out from his belt where he'd strapped it, opening it without thinking.

His brows furrows when it seems to point him back to his cabin. He tries to think of a good reason for it to be pointing him there, then huffs when he remembers the half bottle of rum sitting next to his bed.

Wasn't it Elizabeth who had basically called him a drunk, on more than one occasion? And his own father, too…

His daughter could be dead for all he knows, and all he can think about is women and rum?

He shakes his head. Pirate or not, he was no scoundrel. Not like Jack.

He sheaths his sword and walks towards the chartroom where Jack is with quick, determined strides. Once there he walks across the room with a few longs steps and slams the compass down on the table in front of the pirate captain.

"Bloody stupid compass. It does NOT work." He growls. "Cannot possibly be telling me what I want most."

Jack sits back in his chair and gives him a lazy smirk.

"Ah. So where's it pointin' this time?"

Will clenches his fists and looks about ready to hit something.

Jack eye's dance with amusement.

"Pirate."

Kind of a filler chapter, because I've been bored out of my mind all day. I hope you enjoyed it anyways.

As always, thanks for the reviews.