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James glared around the docks as he walked with purpose. There was no point in anyone realizing he was not the pirate he was pretending to be. That he was secretly their enemy. Judging by the looks some of them sent in his direction he was sure more than one knew the truth but for the time being James was going to continue his walk, continuing pretending they did not know. After all he had a very specific pirate he was after at the moment.
Jack fucking Sparrow.
James was going to see that man hang come hell or high water. He had hoped that letting the man go would get Elizabeth to at least consider his suit but her attention had never wavered from William. Which sent spikes of jealousy through James' spine. He probably would have been fine if it hadn't turned out that Jack, it seemed, was a bigger problem in the eyes of the EIC than they previously thought. Letting Jack go had put the company up in arms in a way James would have never been able to predict. Maybe if he had been able to focus more on bringing in more pirates they would have found a way to forgive him.
James was hardly the first naval officer that Jack had escaped from.
But James had continued to be haunted by dreams that had led him to distraction. His anger and Mr. Turner and Sparrow who both featured in his dreams far more than he cared to admit. And it had led to mistakes James knew he should not have been making. Mistakes that had cost him far too much.
But if he could bring Jack in. Make him pay for the crimes to the crown, and apparently the EIC thought they were tight lipped beyond acknowledging he had stolen goods from them, then James could get his old life back. He would prove to everyone, most of all himself, that he was not....enchanted by a bloody pirate.
James would face his feelings about Mr. Turner another time. That was far less concerning. After all, he had married Elizabeth.
"Jack! Jack, where'd yo go?" A voice called out over the steady sounds of dock work. A sound James had always found comforting in its own way. He turned towards the direction of the voice. It was always possible there was another Jack but it was the best bet he had at the moment.
"Jack!" The man James saw was definitely a pirate. A bit taller and noticeably broader than Jack. A few years older than James if he had to guess. While James was sure the other man would outweigh him the pirate was still shorter than he was even with the obscenely large hat with a grotesquely large plume curling back from it.
"Jack you little bugger where did you go?" The strange pirate was glaring and frowning while looking around. Especially up at riggings.
James decided it was very likely the pirate could definitely be looking for the same pirate James himself was looking for. The pirate turned towards James and his eyes caught the former Naval officer's eyes with a sharp dangerous glint that made a strange warmth curl through James' stomach and his breath caught. The man looking at him was dangerous, in a way James seldom saw outside of the battlefield. James thought this man could easily over power him. Could grab him and-
James shut that line of thinking down as soon as he realized it was up. And then he realized he recognized this man.
This man had been the captain of the Black Pearl when Elizabeth had been kidnapped. James had sworn this man was dead. That Will and Elizabeth both said he had died at Jack's hand. But the crew had been...less than alive anyways. There was definitely something strange about that pirate ship. So maybe it wasn't so far-fetched to think that he had survived.
Dead mystery or not, this man being who he was made it all the more likely that the Jack he was looking for was the Jack that James wanted to get his hands on. Which meant they could possibly work together. James started towards the other man with unhurried confident strides, not breaking eye contact even as the continued eye contact made something warm curl in his stomach and threaten to pull him in. He licked his lips unconsciously, unwilling to let the thoughts scratching for attention in the back of his mind fully form.
"Hello, I would like-" James tried to greet the pirate when he got close enough to be heard without shouting. But suddenly there was a small demon screaming in his face. James stumbled back and felt something wrap around his neck. He lifted his hands intent on removing the demon from this plane of existence. His fingers lifted and he felt the coarse fur of some kind of animal. That then leaned back into his touch and the demonic screeching turned into curious chittering.
James blinked slowly, finding himself holding the gaze of a monkey. One with far more intelligence than it should have.
"There you be, Jack." The pirate was suddenly in James' space and the monkey leaped from James' grasp onto the pirate's shoulder. Gladly taking the cookie that the man held up for him. James swore he saw it turn to dust in the monkey's mouth.
"Jack...the monkey?" James pressed his lips together tightly.
"Aye. Much better company than any other Jack I know." The pirate continued to stare James down and James felt the warmth flush through him again. "What says you, Mr. Norrington?"
James was mildly surprised to realize the pirate knew his name but did his best to hide the surprise. There was a curiosity and something not quite nameable in the man's gaze. "You know who I am?"
"Aye."
James waited for more but the man only scratched the damned monkey under the chin. James had discovered that the longer he was away from his rightful place the less patience he had for these types of games. He knew once he returned home it was something he would have to work on again. But for now he was dealing with a pirate. One that should show him respect and fear. So if he came across as a bit rude, well that was just the way it was going to be.
"I am looking for a mutual acquaintance of ours." James said firmly. "Perhaps you will know where to find him?"
"And who would an upstanding gentleman such as yourself be lookin' for that a lowly merchant such as meself would know?" There was a spark in the man's eyes that told James he knew exactly who he was looking for.
"Were you always a poor actor or is that something that only came about once you died?" James countered. There was a flash of something dangerous in the man's eyes that sent a pulse of heat straight down James' spine that he absolutely refused to think about.
"Perhaps we should discuss this over a pint, aye? Only proper."
"Aye." James started to follow the pirate. "Since you know my name, it seems only polite that I know yours as well."
"Aye would seem polite." The man grinned with too many teeth. "Perhaps if it becomes beneficial to me."
=-=
Spending time on a pirate ship was not what James had imagined it would be. He had always thought he knew what a pirate ship would be like. Not that different from a naval ship he was sure, perhaps there would be more bloodshed. But it wasn’t like that. The crew could not fight on ship anymore than they could on a naval ship. Less even. But, more importantly, he was discovering freedom on the ship. He sometimes wondered if Captain Barbossa, though he was not supposed to know the man's name beyond Captain, was actually looking for Sparrow as he promised James. As was their deal.
But James was enjoying his time on the crew. He got along with most of the men. They were all good sailors. Many having been former naval men themselves. James found himself enjoying being on the lower ranks again, not having to worry about the pressures of his title.
There were rules that were agreed upon, the accords, shortly after James temporarily joined Barbossa's crew. James had to remind himself more and more frequently that this was a temporary situation for him. He was not a pirate. He was a pirate hunter. If the affection some of the men shared with each other brought him comfort, especially when he realized they would not be flogged as they would have in the navy, and that he felt he had more say in what was happening here than he ever did even as an officer, that was between James and himself only.
James had hesitated when they took their first merchant ship. If he was recognized it could spell disaster for his planned return to civilization. But then Captain Barbossa had told him if he didn't like it he could always spend his time in the brig and James had kept his mouth shut. Besides, it was a French ship. Not English.
James had felt the thrill of a real fight again and could not stop the smile from splitting his face if he tried. He had not realized how much he had missed a real fight, not the structured dance of military fights until he was cleaning his blade.
"Handled yourself well." Bo'sun, Barbossa's first mate, clasped James' shoulder with enough force to nearly take him to his knees.
"Been awhile since I've been in a fight like that." James admitted, not admitting that those types of fights were why he enjoyed hunting pirates so much. "Grew up on docks though. Before enlisting. Did a lot of scrapping as a kid."
Bo'sun nodded and squeezed James' shoulder before turning to walk away. James turned his attention back to cleaning his blade, feeling a pulse of pride to get the large pirate's approval. He knew the first mate was suspicious of him at best.
James turned his head again when he felt a tug on his shirt as the loot was divided up and was not surprised to feel Jack's tail curl around his neck slightly as the monkey settled on his shoulder. James reached up and stroked his head softly once before moving about for his duties. Jack often found his way to James, though James was not sure why. But eventually Barbossa would come looking for his pet.
The ship was sailing away from the burning ship they attacked when Barbossa finally made his way up to stand next to James, Jack leaving one shoulder for the other. The two men stood in silence for a long moment before Barbossa finally turned his gaze to James.
"Something I can do for you, Captain?" James kept his gaze on the orange fading into the black water.
"Perhaps." Barbossa's gaze never left James. "We shall see. We'll make port to sell and resupply in three days’ time."
James nodded his head. "I suppose we'll all be given some shore leave then?"
"Aye. Plenty of time to find a body to share warmth with."
"Some of the crew do not need shore leave for that."
"Aye." Barbossa continued to stare at James and James did his best to pretend not to feel the warmth it caused in his stomach. "And do you need shore leave, James?"
James shivered. Barbossa had not called him by his first name once since he joined the crew. His breath caught in his throat and he finally looked at the captain, holding his gaze. "Don't know yet, Captain."
James counted eight heart beats before Barbossa nodded and turned to walk away. "Captain Barbossa. I supposed you have earned it, Boy."
James grinned and turned his gaze back out to sea, his heart beating a bit harder than it probably should be.
Most of the crew left the ship. James volunteered to stay behind. The crew seemed surprised when their captain did the same. James heard them whispering that he never missed an opportunity to take a whore to bed. But he said he was mapping out their route, the promise of more looting, a merchant ship carrying some medicines that rarely made it out here, was enough to soothe them, especially since he was not giving them more than a day of shore leave.
"It's an EIC ship." James said when he was permitted entry into the cabin as the captain worked. Jack climbed to James' shoulder, taking the cookie James had brought for him eagerly.
Barbossa looked up at him and raised a single eyebrow, his hat sitting on the desk. "Aye. Is that a problem, Lad?"
James was silent for a moment. Weighing the question and discovering he had far less qualms about it than he would have thought he should. "I suppose not more than any other ship."
"Good." Barbossa turned back to his maps and charts. "Something Jack never understood, you can't spend so much time chasing your own goals as a captain that you don't look out for the crew's wants."
"Is that why you mutinied?" James frowned.
"Aye. Jack only attacks EIC ships." Barbossa said. "Never could quite stomach blood shed either."
"He killed you." James pointed out.
"Aye." Barbossa smiled and James realized with a jolt of clarity that the man was proud that he had pushed Jack that far. To get Jack to kill him.
"Why didn't you take shore leave?"
Barbossa stood up straight and walked around the desk, his gaze heavy on James who started backing away as the man's boots clipped against the floorboards. "Why didn't you?"
"Didn't want to be left behind." James admitted even if it was only half the truth, his back hitting the wall and Jack scrambled away from them, slipping out the window.
"Aye, ‘twould be a shame to leave you behind." Barbossa's finger curled under James' chin and forced him to maintain eye contact. His long nails scratched lightly at James' throat.
"Say 'parlay' and I'll let you walk out this door." Barbossa whispered and James could feel his breath on his face, his own heart pounding.
"Aye, Captain."
"Try Hector."
"Think you better kiss me, Hector."