Fight For The Right

12~ Jack's Plan

*Maddie's P.O.V*

Barbossa was leading the rest of us into the caves, keeping me close by his side. Will followed behind with Pintel and Ragetti. As Barbossa tossed an apple in the air and caught it I heard what Pintel was saying to Will.

"No reason to fret. It's just a prick of the finger, a few drops of blood."

Then Twigg burst in. "No mistakes this time. He's only half-Turner. We spill it all!"

I felt the hairs on the back of my neck rising as Will caught up to me. I looked at him apologetically but he kept his eyes focused on where he was walking.

*

Barbossa was standing on top of the same treasure hill with Will being held by Twigg and Koehler so his head was hovering over the chest of Aztec gold. I had ben forced by Barbossa to stand next to him, and clutched in my hand was the very knife that was going to be used to spill Will's blood. The crew were cheering as Barbossa began the chant.

"Begun by blood..." Suddenly I saw a familiar red bandana making its way through the crowd. "... by blood un-"

The crew fell silent and everyone stared at the newcomer. "Jack!" Will exclaimed.

"S'not possible." Barbossa looked as if he were about to faint from shock.

"Not probable," Jack replied. I smirked. He hasn't changed.

"Where's ELizabeth?" I demanded, my voice echoing through the cave.

Bo'sun's firm hand prevented Jack from coming any further forward. He seemed surprised yet also relieved to see me there, but he was addressing Will as much as me. "She's safe, just like I promised. She's all set to marry Norrington, just like she promised. And you get to die for her, just like you promised. So we're all men of our word really except for Elizabeth who is, in fact, a woman."

I rolled my eyes at him.

"Shut up!" Barbossa snapped. "You're next." As Bo'sun tightened his grip on Jack's shoulder Barbossa pulled me forward and held his hand over mine so both of us were holding the knife. He pressed the blade against Will's throat, ready to slit it. I resisted the slightest bit.

"You don't want to be doing that, mate. Much less force the lass to do it."

If it weren't for Barbossa's strong hand over mine I would've thrown the knife at Jack, and this time I wouldn't have missed on purpose. Barbossa glared at Jack. "No, I really think I do." He forced my hand closer to Will's throat but I shoved him back, throwing the knife to the ground.

"No," I whispered as he regained his feet. Everyone was staring at me. "I've allowed you to teach me the basic skills of a pirate but I will not allow you to force me to kill my best friend."

Barbossa's eyes seemed to glow in anger and he grabbed a handful of my hair and threw me aside. I rolled down the treasure hill and landed in a pool of water by Jack. I glared at Barbossa and wiped blood from a cut on my cheek as Jack helped me to my feet.

"Why don't I want to be doing it?" Barbossa asked Jack with a roll of his eyes.

"Well, because -" he brushed Bo'sun's hand off of his shoulder and began slowly walking towards Barbossa. "- because the HMS Dauntless, pride of the Royal Navy, is floating just offshore. Waiting for you."

I caught Will's eye and he raised an eyebrow. I frowned as I pondered over what Jack was saying. If the Dauntless was here, Elizabeth was here, too. That meant she was safe, but how were we going to get out of this?

"Just hear me out, mate," Jack said. "You order your men to row out to the Dauntless. They do what they do best. Robert's your Uncle, Fannie's your Aunt, there you are with two ships. The makings of your very own fleet."

I was suddenly feeling rather suspicious of Jack. What is he planning?

:Course you'll take the grandest as you flagship, and who's to argue?" he continued. "But what of the Pearl? Name me Captain, I'll sail under your colors, I'll give you ten percent of me plunder and you get to introduce yourself as... Commodore Barbossa. Savvy?"

Barbossa seemed deep in thought over this. "I s'pose in exchange, you want me not to kill the whelp?" He looked at Will as he said this, who had straightened upright.

"No, no, not at all. By all means, kill the whelp. Just not yet. Wait to lift the curse until the opportune moment. For instance..." He picked up a small handful of medallions. "... after you've killed Norrington's men..." He threw one back with each word. "... every... last... one."

As he was speaking I made my way back up to Barbossa's side, not saying anything as I got a good look at Jack's face. Is eyes had a weird glint, not like his usual cheeky twinkle. It looked like he was trying not to smirk, as if he was purposefully playing dumb. Then I saw a flash of gold in his hand, then with a flick of his wrist and it was gone. I smirked, and Will glanced quickly to me. He had seen it too. So Jack was up to something.

"You've been planning this from the beginning!" Will snarled. "Ever since you learned my name."

"Yeah," Jack raised both eyebrows like it was obvious.

"I want fifty percent of your plunder," Barbossa said.

"Fifteen."

"Forty."

"Twenty-five. I'll buy you the hat. A really big one... Commodore."

Barbossa smirked and held out his hand in agreement. "We have and accord." Once they released each other's hands Jack bellowed out, "All hands to the boats!" Barbossa looked at him askance and Jack fell silent. "Apologies. You give the orders."

"Gents... take a walk."

Grinning like they knew something we didn't, the crew made their way out of the caves. Only a few stayed behind with us, such as Pyro, Griffin and others who I didn't know the names of. As Twigg and Koehler left I raced to Will, and the two of us exchanged smiles.

"Do you have any idea what Jack is up to?" I whispered.

"I have a hunch... but I think I'm wrong."

I smiled and nearly cracked up laughing when I saw Pintel and Ragetti struggling to put on dresses. I walked over to them and gave them a hand with the stitching at the back. "Never send a man to do a woman's job..." I muttered.

"I hate this. I HATE this!" Pintel said and he picked up a parasol.

Ragetti, on the other hand, almost seemed to be enjoying himself. He was wearing a pink dress I recognized from back home. I smirked at him. "Ragetti," I said as he turned to me. "Whatever you have to do, don't bother bringing the dress back. I never liked it anyway."

He seemed confused but nodded and they climbed into a longboat, rowing their way out into the moonlit lagoon.