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Disclaimer: We don't own Pirates of the Caribbean or any of its characters... Or Oasis and their song.

"Today is just a daydream, tomorrow we'll be castaway" - Fade In-Out, Oasis

It was days like these that sailors tended to dread when they were out at sea. The sky was dull and achromatic; the clouds hung low, severely threatening to release excessive amounts of rain at any given point of time. The greatest warning of a coming storm was the atmosphere. The air was thick and humid; not a breeze could be perceived gliding along across the Caribbean sea.

But he was not concerned about the weather conditions. No, Captain Jack Sparrow looked perfectly at ease. Luckily for him, he had reached port just in time. As they had set out on their course to the small town of Pinar del Rico, the sky had grown continuously darker on the way and the water becoming an angry green colour.

The weathered wooden dock creaked noisily as Jack stepped off the Pearl. The rest of the crew, including Barbossa and Will and Elizabeth Turner, followed close behind. The dock stretched out in front of him, ending at a dirt path that led towards the battered town. He started to lead the way in his usual swagger, keeping his head held high and his dark eyes fixed ahead of him.

A muffled rumble of thunder was heard in the distance and Jack quickened his pace.

“Ye scared, Jack?” Barbossa barked from behind him.

“If you want to stand outside during the storm, be my guest.” Jack retorted, turning his head slightly to gave Barbossa a small glare. Barbossa sneered back, chuckling slightly under his breath.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes.

“Are you two ever going to stop arguing?” Will asked.

“He started it…” Jack muttered.

They continued to make their way towards the town, following the dusty path. Un-kept grass grew along the sides, traveling up to the worn down, stone buildings. Scents of livestock and fresh goods filled their lungs as they grew closer. Most townspeople were closing up their shops for the day earlier that usual, most likely due to the fact of the nasty weather that was quickly approaching.

A heavy raindrop splattered on the tip of Jack’s nose. He hastily brushed it away and glared up at the sky. Must it start raining now? He glanced at the signs of nearby shops, looking for a familiar name.

“Where exactly are we going, Jack?” Elizabeth questioned.

Jack ignored her as he continued to walk down the street, scanning the signs of the buildings. Rain started to fall steadily now, dripping down the edge of his hat and onto his face.

“Jack?” Elizabeth shouted after him as he disappeared around the corner.

Thunder growled, louder this time.

“Aha!” Jack called triumphantly from down the street, “Found it!”

The crew ran down the now muddy road, sloshing through puddles as they went.

A flash of lightning burst out across the darkened sky as Jack hurried up the stone steps of the Calico's Ring. He roughly shoved the door open, stumbling inside.

The door swung shut behind him as he took a few steps forward. He blinked a few times, his eyes adjusting to the dim light emitting from the many candles scattered around the room. The tavern was cramped but had an inviting feeling to it. Five tables were crammed into the small space along with an undersized bar that lined the far side. A set of stairs led up to what Jack supposed was the inn. He took off his hat, turning it over to allow the water to drip off onto the floor. He shook his head, the many trinkets in his hair jingling as he attempted to shake out as much water as possible.

Another crack of thunder sounded, the door swinging open at the exact moment. Jack was startled but extremely thankful that it didn’t alarm him enough to jump, seeing as Barbossa was the first to enter the room. He gave Jack a small shove as he walked past, looking around the tavern.

“This be the best place ye could find, eh?” Barbossa growled, as he tripped over a nearby chair.

“Cozy, isn’t it?” Jack grinned as he watched Barbossa regain his balance.

Barbossa shook his head with disgust, causing the innkeeper at the counter to give him a dirty look.

“How are you supposing that my whole crew is going to fit in here?” Barbossa asked.

Everyone had finally entered, falling over each other and scrambling to stand up straight.

“Maybe if they were smart enough to move out of the doorway, we wouldn’t be having such problems.” Jack replied, placing his hat back on his head.

Will and Elizabeth were the first to wander away from the crowd, sitting at a table in the furthest corner. Jack watched as the rest of the pirates found seats throughout the room and then turned back to Barbossa.

“See? Problem solved.” he said.

Barbossa cursed under his breath and strolled over to the table that Will and Elizabeth were seated at.

Jack weaved through the maze of tables and chairs until he reached the bar counter which he assumed was also acting as the front desk of the inn. The innkeeper watched him suspiciously with one eyebrow raised.

"'Ello, mate." Jack said, in the most friendly voice he could muster, "Captain Jack Sparrow." he offered his hand.

The innkeeper eyed Jack's hand for a moment before glaring back at him. Jack swallowed nervously, drawing his hand away to scratch the back of his head.

"Well... Uh.. I'm guessing you're in charge of this tavern and uhm..." he waved his hand, motioning towards the second floor, "... Inn?"

The innkeeper nodded, his cold eyes remaining fixed on Jack, his face expressionless. Jack shifted in his position uncomfortably, trying to avoid the innkeepers gaze. He had met a lot of strange people in his life, but this was definitely one of the ones that made him the most uncomfortable. Jack slowly reached into his coat pocket, pulling a sack full of coins and dropping it onto the counter. The coins clattered together as it landed noisily onto the hard, wooden surface. Jack swore he saw the innkeeper's eye twitch at the sound.

"Well..." Jack said slowly, noticing that the innkeeper was not responding. "I would like to rent out some rooms for my crew, savvy?"

The innkeeper shifted his icy gaze to the sack lying limp on the counter. He continued to stare at it for a few more minutes until Jack slowly extended his hand to push it closer towards him. There was a blinding flash of lightning and a huge roar of thunder. The bright light illuminated the innkeeper's pale, waxy face. He looked back up at Jack who took a few steps backwards, trying to keep his eyes away from the skeletal figure standing in front of him.

The innkeeper slowly extended a long, bony hand, wrapping his slender fingers around the coin sack and pulling it towards him. As Jack watched the innkeeper empty the coins on the counter, he noticed that his breathing had quickened and his palms were sweating. He laughed nervously to himself, brushing his hands onto his pant leg. Since when did he get scared so easily?

The innkeeper looked up from the coins and nodded slightly at Jack.

"So..." Jack cleared his throat; his voice an octave higher than usual, "We have our rooms for the night, then?"

The innkeeper nodded again. Jack smiled weakly.

"Well then... Thank you." Jack said, starting to slowly edge away from the counter. He froze when he remembered something. Cautiously, he faced the innkeeper again.

"By the way... You don't happen to have any rum do you?" he asked timidly.

The innkeeper ducked under the counter for a moment, reappearing again and holding a mug. He slid it across the counter towards Jack.

"Thanks again, mate. 'Appreciate it." he said, reaching out for the mug and then hurrying as quickly as he could over to the table in the far corner.

Jack placed his rum onto the table, and pulled up a chair so that he sat across from Will, next to Elizabeth, and to his distaste, Barbossa on his other side.

“Now that were are settled…” Jack began, pulling out the navigational charts from his coat and spreading them out on the table, “We can talk about this.”

Barbossa glared at Jack, looking as though he would like nothing better than to pull out his sword and run Jack through with it. Jack eyed Barbossa's hand apprehensively, which was resting on his pistol.

"Is there a problem, Hector?"

"Aye," Barbossa growled. "I'm not one ye can order around, Sparrow, and I can assure you that the next time we set sail, I won't be the one swabbing the deck."

"Ah, but I'm afraid you'll have to," Jack grinned, waving the charts in front of his face. "Because the Pearl is my ship, and being captain of my ship, I've every right to order you around, seeing as you're nothing more than a crewmember who agreed to give back MY ship if I take you to the Fountain of Youth with YOUR charts, which means if I tell you to swab the deck, you'll have to do it."

Everyone stared at him blankly. Jack rolled his eyes, throwing up his hands in an exasperated fashion.

"You agreed to give me back the Pearl if I take you to the Aqua de Vida, did you not?"

"That I did," Barbossa replied gruffly. "And I'm starting to regret it."

Jack grinned more widely and turned back to Will and Elizabeth, who smirked. Another crack of thunder sounded from outside; the tavern seemed to shake along with the roaring noise.

Elizabeth jumped slightly; Will tightened his arm around her.

"I'm afraid we're going to see a lot more of this, Lizzie," Jack slurred, taking a long drink from his cup. "Maybe worse-and we'll be sailing out there, too."

"We agreed to help you, Jack," she replied, resting her head against Will's shoulder. "It's the least we could do."

Jack waved a hand airily. "S'was nothing."

"How did you manage to convince Calypso to release me after five years, Jack?" Will asked, frowning slightly. "With my experiences with her, she's not satisfied easily."

"That's an understatement," Jack murmured, his eyes widening. "But-" he drained his cup and slammed it down on the table. "Nothing's too hard for Captain Jack Sparrow, eh?" he grinned, his gold tooth flashing.

He turned in his chair and gazed out the window, deep in thought. Gusts of wind swept through the tiny town; palm trees were bent low, and debris from nearby buildings were flying everywhere. He was about to turn back to Will and Elizabeth when a small figure caught his gaze. He frowned and squinted through the icy sheets of rain that were crashing down from the overcast above. His eyes widened with realization.

"There's a girl."

"What?" Elizabeth asked, completely bewildered.

"There's a girl washed up on the shore," Jack said, standing up abruptly.

"Are ye mad?" Barbossa demanded. "You're going to go out there?"

Jack shrugged. "Why not?"

"Jack-"

Will's sentence was cut short as Jack strode briskly over to the door and wrenched it open.

The second he shut the door behind him, his hat was almost blown off as an icy, powerful gust nearly knocked him over.

"Bloody wind," he muttered to himself, pulling his hat down and striding briskly to the shore.

The waves were massive and overpowering; they crashed down relentlessly on the shore, and Jack was soaked to the skin in a matter of seconds, drenched with a mix of the rain and salty seawater. In one fluid motion he lifted the limp form of the girl, who appeared to be unconscious, and carried her back to the tavern, slipping and sliding as he went.

Will opened the door as Jack approached, helping him inside. Everyone inside the pub who were chattering loudly amongst themselves turned to stare.

"Is she-is she still alive?" Elizabeth asked, looking horrified as Jack set her down on a table.

"Doubt it," Jack muttered. "S'no way she could have survived that-"

The moment he finished his sentence, the girl's eyes fluttered open.

Jack took a small step back, startled. The girl coughed and choked out seawater. Jack trembled, drenched in the freezing water, as he tentatively touched her shoulder. Her eyes traveled to his wrist, and up to his forearm. Her lips turned up slightly in a smile as she saw the tattoo on his arm.

"Jack Sparrow," she murmured faintly, looking up at him through piercing green eyes.

His frown became a small smile.

"Captain."

She sat herself up, swinging her legs over the table and standing up. She swayed slightly and regained her balance by grasping a nearby chair. Jack stared at her, breathing heavily as water dripped from his hat.

"Who are you?"

She stared back.

"I'm not sure it matters," she replied. Her voice was strong and clear, considering she had been unconscious a moment before.

Jack raised an eyebrow.

"Seeing as I just pulled you out of the ocean, when you were close to drowning, I think it does matter, love."

"You can call me Marie instead of 'love', then," Marie replied, gratefully taking a blanket handed to her by Will and wrapped it around herself. She sat down on top of a nearby table and stared at the group of pirates around her.

Jack sat down in a chair opposite her.

"Well, Captain," Marie said, smirking slightly. "Would you care to introduce me to your friends who so kindly are helping me?"

"He's Barbossa," Jack said with a jerk of his head, "Will and Elizabeth Turner... rest of 'em don't really matter..."

Ragetti frowned, looking highly affronted. Marie raised her eyebrows slightly.

"The former Captain of the Flying Dutchman, the King of the Brethren Court, and the legendary Captain of the Black Pearl," she murmured. She bowed slightly to Will and Elizabeth, who nodded in return. "Honoured."

She swept some of her long, dark hair out of her eyes. She was wearing a loose cotton shirt, trousers and dark brown boots that went up to her knee; she had no weapons whatsoever, but a small red mark on her wrist caught Jack's eye. He frowned and grasped her wrist. To his utter bewilderment, a dark red symbol of a P was on her wrist, no doubt left there by a hot branding stick.

"Who are you?" Jack repeated.

"I told you."

"You told me your name," he said, looking straight into her eyes. "That doesn't tell me anything."

"All in good time, Captain Sparrow," Marie smiled, standing up. She nodded in Jacks direction. "Thank you for rescuing me from an otherwise unpleasant fate. Now if you'll excuse me-" She pulled out a small, soaked pouch from her pocket, giving it a little shake; wet coins were tossed around inside. "I believe I'll stay here for the night, dry off, get some rest- and give you the information you asked for tomorrow morning. Good night."

With that, she briskly walked off. One by one, the crew dispersed, heading to the inn upstairs. Jack watched Marie go, an odd expression on his face.

"Stubborn lass if I ever saw one," he remarked.

Elizabeth watched him, amused. "She reminded me of you." She said, then stifled a yawn and rubbed her eyes.

Will pressed his lips to her forehead.

"Go get some sleep," he told her softly. "I'll be up in a minute."

She nodded and raised a hand to Jack and Barbossa before turning and trudging up the stairs.

Will turned back to Jack, putting his hands in his pockets and leaning against the wall. Barbossa stared at Jack, who was still sitting down on the chair, his arms folded, looking down.

"What are you thinking, Jack?" Will asked.

Jack was quiet for a moment before looking up at Will and Barbossa, who were watching him expectantly.

"I'm thinking Marie might come in handy on our little adventure we have ahead."