There was a warm breeze, carrying the scent of vanilla and lavender to waft through the room. The deep violet drapes danced quietly, a soft rustling of fabric elegantly harmonizing with the calls of seagulls over the bay. The smells of the sea drifted, salt and freedom, carried on the light breeze.

Commodore James Lysander Norrington sat at his antique mahogany desk, drumming his slim fingers on the smooth surface. His jade eyes were half-lidded, his wig and hat discarded on the desk beside his sword and pistol.

Full, pale lips curved into a small, graceful smile. His absentminded sophistication was alluring as he sat, bathed in the soft moonlight. James sighed lightly, his fingers pausing in their incessant rhythm.

He felt the presence before he saw the man, and murmured, "You'll have to do a lot better than that to surprise me, Mr. Sparrow."

"Aye, I guessed that meself, Norrie boy." Jack replied, smirking gleefully.

James turned to face the pirate. "Indeed. So, what is your purpose here?" The Commodore asked, his sandy brown hair falling into his gleaming emerald eyes.

"Well, mate, that's be givin' away me secrets, now wouldn't it?" Jack asked, chocolate eyes sparkling with mirth.

James slowly stood, running his pale fingers in elegant little half-circles on the dark wood of his desk. "Is that so?" He asked softly, one eyebrow raising smoothly.

"Aye." Jack had resorted to one-syllable answers, lips curved in a smirk.

James sighed and drew his sword out of the scabbard. "Well, Sparrow, I'm afraid I'm going to have to alert the guards to your presence."

As he opened his mouth and took a deep breath to shout, James heard a sharp crack and suddenly, a sting of pain travelled down from the back of his skull. Eyes wide, James slumped forward, mind swimming in and out of focus as he saw stars.

Momentarily stunned, James felt a brief sense of weightlessness, then a sharp hit to his stomach. As he blinked around, he found himself swung over his pirate nemesis' shoulder, half-conscious. Jack and Gibbs swung out off his balcony and down to the ground, Jack's shoulder digging into James' stomach.

The two hurtled through the jungle, James groaning and struggling to regain his bearings as they fled. By the time he realized he'd been kidnapped, they had already reached the small stretch of empty beach that surrounded the cove in which the Black Pearl had laid anchor.

The Commodore began to frantically squirm, shouting hoarsely, "Put me down, you filthy pirate!"

In response, Jack laughed and reached up to smack him senseless again. The first wound aggravated and burning as hot, sticky blood dripped down the back of his neck, James moaned in defeat and surrendered to the pain.

Jack waded through the water, and threw his arm around James' waist to hold them steady as he scurried up the ladder to the Pearl's deck. "Set the course to Tortuga!" He ordered, heaving James into a more comfortable position against his shoulder.

James whimpered quietly and felt himself be hauled across the deck, then thrown roughly to the ground. Dizzy and disoriented, James let himself be enveloped by the comforting blackness of unconsciousness.

-ooOoo-