Since James Norrington lost his status in the royal navy, he was a shell of a man... and Captain Jack was loving every minute of it! The former Commodore used to look down his nose at him, now it was Jack who had the upper hand! He intended to make Norrington's life a living hell for as long he sailed as a deckhand aboard the Black Pearl.

Norrington was now swabbing the deck on his hands and knees, using his filthy powdered wig as a cleaning rag. He stopped when a pair of boots stopped in front of him, he looked up to see Jack Sparrow looking down at him.

"Bit of manual labor is good for you, former  commodore" Jack told him "Build's character."

Jack grinned as he walked away and Norrington resisted the urge to strangle his new captain.

Jack then noticed Elizabeth reading something over the rail, he snatched it from her.

"How dare you!" she said, following him.

"These letters of marque are to go to me, are they not?" Jack grinned. However his grin was replaced by a sour frown when he read the signature at the bottom. "Beckett?" he asked, confused.

"Beckett?" echoed Mr. Gibbs.

"Yes, they're sighed!" Elizabeth told them "Lord Cutler Beckett of the East India Trading Company."

Jack sticks out his tongue, disgusted by the mere mention of the evil back-stabbing tyrant's name.

"Will was working for Beckett and never said a word!" Gibbs said "And Beckett wants the chest only one reason for that..."

"Of course" Jack's eyes darkened with worry "he wants the chest!"

"Yes... he did say something about a chest" Elizabeth nodded.

"If the company controls the chest, they'll control the sea!" Gibbs explained.

"A truly discomforting notion, Luv!" Jack told her.

"And bad!" Gibbs told her "Bad for every mother's son what calls himself a pirate!" He then rushed off to give orders to increase the Pearl's speed.

"Might I inquire as to how you came by these?" Jack asked, turning to Elizabeth.

"Persuasion" she answered simply.

"Friendly?" Jack inquired.

"Decidedly not" she said, getting sick of the conversation.

"Will strikes a deal for these and upholds it with honor" Jack said, observingly "yet you're the one standing here with the prize."

Elizabeth was taken aback by his words, she had never thought of it like that. She had always been raised to uphold her honor, now here she was risking it all to rid pirates like Jack Sparrow from her life. All she wanted was to be with Will and get married, but another part of her liked the pirates life. True, she hadn't seen much of it yet, but there was something about the wild and untameable life of a pirate that just made her want to be one. It was probably that same thought that got her interested in pirates as a child.

"Full pardon" Jack read from the letters "commission as a privateer on behalf of England and the East India Trading Company." He scoffed "as if I could be bought for such a low price!"

"Jack, the letters" Elizabeth said, watching him stuff them into his jacket. "Give them back!"

"No... Persuade me" Jack said, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

"You do know Will taught me how to handle a sword?" Elizabeth told him.

"As I said..." Jack grinned "Persuade me..."

Elizabeth stared at him, she considered slapping him, but that never did any good. Instead she stalked away her face flushed with embarrassment... or something else...?

Jack went to the helm and stared out to sea with his spy glass, his gaze landed on Elizabeth, who was near the railing talking with Norrington.

"What are you looking at?" Came a voice.

Jack jumped, nearly dropping his spy glass. He looked down and saw Maggie staring up at him.

"Where did you come from?" He asked her, wondering how she snuck up on him.

"I was hoping you'd know" she said "I think it had something to do with you and mommy and kissing...?"

"That's not what I meant!" Jack rolled his eyes.

"Well, the sooner you give me 'The Talk' the sooner I'll answer you!" Maggie said "Speaking of which, why were you staring at Lizzie?"

"I wasn't staring at her!" Jack said.

"Yes, you were!" Maggie told him "and you keep making Goo-Goo eyes at her!"

"I'm not making Goo-Goo eyes at anyone!" Jack told her.

"Yes, you are!" Maggie said "You look at her with big eyes like this!" She crossed her eyes in a demonstration.

"Alright, now you're just being silly" Jack said.

"Wait a minute, you're making Goo-Goo eyes at Elizabeth... when Will's not here... then that means..." Maggie  gasped in realization. "Are you and Elizabeth in LOVE?!"

"What?! No!" Jack told her.

"You are!" Maggie said "On one hand this is pretty gross since you're my Dad and she's my best friend. But on the other hand I can tease you about it!"

"Or you could leave your daddy alone and go about your own business?" Jack suggested.

"Yeah, but that's no fun!" Maggie grinned and started singing "Jack and Lizzie sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

"That's disgusting!" Jack said "Why would I sit in a dirty old tree?"

Maggie giggled.

Jack sighed."Luv, there is nothing going on between meself and Elizabeth" he told her "now go make yourself useful and torture Norrington!"

"Fine, try to keep your lips off Lizzie while I'm gone" Maggie taunted him. Then she ran away yelling "Hey! Norrington! Wanna give me a piggy back ride?"

Jack decided he needed a drink and went down to the rum locker to grab a bottle. When he came back up he noticed Elizabeth sitting on the steps of the Pearl's helm. She had a distant look on her face, as if she was thinking or was troubled by something.

Jack knew he would regret this, but at the risk of Maggie taunting him about it, he went over and had a talk with her.

Jack sat down beside her. "My tremendous intuitive sense of the female creature informs me that you are troubled" he told her.

Elizabeth sighed "I just thought I'd be married by now. I'm so ready to be married..."

Jacks face twisted in confusion, marriage wasn't something that was high on his priorities. He wasn't even married to Maggie's mother, Morgan, mostly because they both believed it would put a strain on their relationship. However, he was found of the idea of marriage, it was like a wager on who would fall out of love first!

Jack uncorked the rum bottle and offered it to Elizabeth. She rolled her eyes, but took a sip.

"You know... Lizzie" Jack said "I am Captain of a ship... and being Captain of a ship, I coul,d in fact, preform a marriage right here... right on this very deck, right... Now."

Elizabeth looked at him with disgust. "No thank you" she handed him back the bottle, walking away.

Jack followed her. "Why not?" He questioned "We are very much alike you and I... I and you... us!

"Oh! Except for a sense of honor and decency and a moral center!" She glanced back at him "And personal hygiene!"

Jack sniffed his under arm and shrugged. "Trifles" he told her "You will come over to my side in time, I know it!"

"You seem certain" Elizabeth said.

"One word, Luv" he told her, moving in closer. "Curiosity. You long to do what you want because you want it. To act on selfish impulse. To see what it's like.  One day... you won't be able to resist..."

"Why doesn't your compass work?" Elizabeth asked him, trying to end the conversation.

Jack was caught off guard by the question. "My compass works fine" he insisted.

"Because you and I are alike and there will come a moment when you'll have the chance to show it... to do the right thing!" She told him.

"I love those moments!" Jack grinned "I like to wave at them as they pass by!"

Elizabeth ignored him and pressed on with the matter. "You will have the chance to do something... something heroic. And in that moment you will discover something..."

Jack looked at her questionably.

"That you're a good man" she told him.

"All evidence to the contrary" Jack grinned at her naivé little fantasy.

"Oh I have faith in you" she nodded "want to know why?"

"Do tell dearie" Jack smirked.

She moved in close to him. "Curiosity." She stated "You're going to want it. A chance to be admired... and gain the rewards that follow. You won't be able to resist. You're going to want to know... What it tastes like..."

"I do want to know what it tastes like" Jack told her.

"But since you're a good man, I know you would never put me in a position that would compromise my honor..." Elizabeth said.

Jack actually was close to compromising Elizabeth's honor, until he noticed the black spot reappearing on his hand. He stopped and retreated back a step.

"I'm proud of you, Jack" she told him.

Suddenly, they both stopped and stared as Maggie came by with Norrington carrying her on his back.

"Onward, not-so-noble steed!" Maggie commanded Norrington.

"I am not enjoying this, Maggie!" Norrington panted.

"Silence, Horseman!" She told him, finally jumping off his back. "Thank you, Norry! I owe you a sugar cube!"

As Norrington walked off, Maggie looked at how close Jack and Elizabeth were.

"Oh yes! There's nothing going on between meself and Elizabeth!" She mocked Jack. "Next you're going to tell me you two are 'just friends'!" She put air quotes around the words Just friends.

"Is there a reason you're here?" Jack asked her.

"Yeah, Gibbs told me to tell you we're arriving at the Isla Cruces!" Maggie told him.

"Good to know" he said "now go fetch Daddy's jar of dirt, he needs it!"

"I still don't see how a dirty old jar will help matters" Maggie mumbled to herself.

"What's that, Luv?" Jack asked "You want a bath tonight?"

Maggie's eyes widened as she hurried off to get her father's jar of dirt.

AN: Will Jack and Maggie find the heart of Davy Jones? Will they save themselves from the Kraken? And will Jack get it on with Elizabeth? I hope not! At least for the last one! Comment and hit the ☆!