𝐒𝐎𝐎𝐍 𝐄𝐍𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇, 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐖 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐂𝐄𝐏𝐓𝐎𝐑 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐓𝐈𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓.

"if any of you so much as thinks the word 'parley' i'll have your guts for garters," a pirate snarled, holding his pistol towards them.

jack and bella were in a group of the pirates.

barbossa held the medallion, looking off in the direction of the interceptor. suddenly, it exploded in a firey boom.

"will!" elizabeth cried, struggling away from the pirates holding her. she stormed to barbossa, but he grabbed her wrists.

"welcome back, miss. you took advantage of our hospitality last time. it holds fair now you return the favor," barbossa said to her. he shoved her back to some pirates and they hooted their approval.

"barbossa!" a voice suddenly shouted.

there was will, standing on the rail, soaking wet. he jumped down and grabbed a pistol. "she goes free!"

beside bella, jack's face immediately dimmed. he was clearly not pleased to see will.

"what's in your head, boy?" barbossa asked.

"she goes free!" will repeated. bella knowingly rolled her eyes to jack. this wasn't going to end well.

"you've only got one shot, and we can't die," replied barbossa smugly.

"don't do anything stupid," jack broke in, speaking to will. bella nodded in agreement, pleading with him through her eyes.

"you can't," will looked back at them. "i can."

will put the muzzle under his chin.

bella immediately grimaced.

"like that," jack muttered.

"we should've seen it coming," she responded.

"who are you?" barbossa asked, confused.

"no one. he's no one," jack hurried over to barbossa. "a distant cousin of my aunt's nephew twice removed. lovely singing voice, though. eunuch!"

"my name is will turner," will declared. "my father was bootstrap bill turner. his blood runs in my veins."

barbossa glanced back at jack, who shook his head somberly and walked back to bella's side.

"can't catch a break, can you?" she whispered.

"he's a spitting image of ol' bootstrap bill come back to haunt us," exclaimed a skinny pirate with a wooden eye.

"on my word do as i say, or i'll pull this trigger, and be lost to davy jones' locker," will shouted.

"name your terms, mr. turner," barbossa replied.

"elizabeth goes free!" will said once more.

"yes, we know that one. anything else?" asked barbossa.

clearly, will hadn't thought that far ahead. bella caught his eye and pointed vigorously to her and jack, mouthing "us!"

"bella goes free! and the crew, the crew are not to be harmed," will asserted. however, he gestured toward the crew of the interceptor tied to the mast, not to jack.

jack slumped and bella grinned at him victoriously.

barbossa smiled, and stepped toward will.

"agreed," he said.

* * *

the black pearl approached a small island. squinting off into the distance, bella turned to jack.

"is that . . . ?"

"yeah," he answered with a weary look.

elizabeth was prodded to the edge of the plank by a group of sword wielding pirates, jack and bella suddenly shoved next in line.

will shook loose of the pirates holding him, and spit out his gag.

"barbossa, you lying bastard! you swore they'd go free!" he yelled, nodding towards elizabeth and bella.

"don't dare impugn me honor, boy! i agreed they'd go free, but it was you who failed to specify when or where!" responded barbossa.

bella scoffed. the pirates guarding her moved closer, and she slapped a pirate's hand off of her arm. then, another one grabbed her shoulder.

she punched him fiercely, about to do more damage, but jack reached over and grasped her waist, pulling her somewhat close to him and out of the reach of the pirates. his touch protected her in a way, and she immediately felt less threatened.

in the meantime, barbossa turned back to elizabeth, once again his gentlemanly self. "though it does seem a shame to lose something so fine, don't it lads?" he smirked. "so i'll be having that dress back before you go."

"i always liked you," jack muttered to a nearby pirate, who puffed up his chest and growled.

"we're not going to get out of this," bella whispered to him.

"why not try?" he answered, smiling around charmingly at the pirates.

elizabeth threw her dress at barbossa. "it goes with your black heart," she hissed.

"oh, it's still warm," barbossa announced, feeling the fabric.

"too long!" a crew member suddenly yelled, slamming down on the end of the plank. elizabeth plunged off the other end, into the sea.

the pirates laughed, and jack joined in. bella smiled nervously, but their laughter was cut off as jack was ripped away from her and lifted up onto the end of the plank.

"i really rather hoped we were past all this," jack said anxiously.

barbossa stepped up onto the plank beside him and threw an arm around his shoulders. "jack, jack... did ya not notice?" he asked. "that be the same little island that we made you governor of on our last little trip."

"i did notice," jack turned to barbossa with fear in his eyes.

"perhaps you'll be able to conjure up another miraculous escape," barbossa remarked. "but i doubt it. off you go."

jack hesitated. "last time you left me a pistol with one shot."

"by the powers, you're right. where be jack's pistol? bring it forward," barbossa commanded.

"seeing as there's three of us, a gentleman would give us three pistols," interrupted bella.

"it'll be one pistol, as before, and jack can be the gentleman, and shoot one of the ladies then starve to death himself!" barbossa spoke. he tossed the pistol high over jack's head, and it splashed into the sea. jack immediately dived in after it.

"and you, dear," barbossa turned to bella. "it's a shame you've allianced with sparrow."

"and why's that?"

"we could always use an attractive woman like you on board," he smirked. the entire crew laughed and hooted loudly.

"in that case . . ." bella stepped towards barbossa. she glared at him for a moment, then raised her hand and slapped him square across the jaw. "you'll pay for this."

she saw his angered expression. but before he could retaliate, bella rushed off of the plank and into the sea, resigning to her fate of being marooned.