Jack tried everything to get the damned dog to come to him with the keys to his cell.
He tried whistling!
He tried clicking his tongue!
He even tried making kissy noises!
He was almost to the point of gnawing his own leg off, just to tempt the mangy beast with some fresh meat. Jack always thought he'd look good with a peg leg.
The dog suddenly perked up and began trotting over to him.
"Yes! Come here boy! I've got all the head pats you could ever want, right here!" Jack waved his hand at the dog slowly, because if he did it too quickly it would back off again. Something he learned the hard way.
The keys were almost within reach! He could almost taste the iron!
Then the dog swerved around his extended arm and kept going!
"No, come back! I'm sorry! I didn't know you don't like head pats!" Jack begged.
Jack heard someone unlock the heavy wooden door leading to the stairs up and out of this hole.
In stepped Commodore Norrington himself, followed closely by his adjutant whose name Jack didn't know nor cared to learn.
"It's useless trying to lure Scruffy over with the keys, you know," Norrington spoke in that smug tone of voice that every officer of the navy seemed to have. "He was trained to always keep just out of reach of prisoners, just to taunt them with the illusion of freedom."
Jack soured at that, but he still reckoned he could manage to do it if he had a little more time with the mutt.
"Also, just in case, the keys are fake," Norrington smirked.
Jack let his head drop and hit the bars of his cell with a painful clunk. Soldiers were supposed to be clumsy and stupid! Not clever and sadistic!
"Now then, let's get to business, shall we?" Norrington turned deadly serious. "What do you know of the pirates that attacked Port Royal last night? Are you a spy, perhaps?"
"Me? A spy?" Jack sat up with an affronted expression. "Never! I have nothing at all to do with those scoundrels."
"Is that so," Norrington spoke without intonation. "I suppose that we have no use for you then. You'll be hanging from the gallows before the day is out. Goodbye, Mr. Sparrow."
Norrington turned on his heel and made to leave.
"Wait!" Jack called out, and Norrington stopped. "I might… know a bit about them…"
"Lying will not get you anywhere, Mr. Sparrow," Norrington stated without turning to face him. "If you have anything to say, you should speak the whole truth, without obfuscation."
"Tell me about the ship!" Jack all but demanded. "Describe her for me! Perhaps I'll recognize her!"
"You expect to recognize a ship based on verbal description alone?" Norrington asked, finally turning to face Jack again. His face was somewhat inscrutable, but Jack could see the doubt there.
"Was she black as pitch, from hull to sail?" Jack answered with a question of his own.
Jack saw something flash across Norrington's face and he knew that he had him hooked. Now he just needed to reel him in, and maybe Jack will get out of this without a snapped neck.
"Aye, so it was," Jack nodded. "She was the Black Pearl. She was my ship, once upon a time, but my crew mutinied and stole her from me. That was ten years ago now."
"So this Black Pearl is manned by your former crew?" Norrington asked to clarify.
"Haven't a clue!" Jack lied. "I'd have to see one of them, at the least, but I've been stuck down here all night."
Norrington frowned, then turned to his adjutant. "Get it for me."
Despite the vagueness of the order, the adjutant nodded and went to do as he was bid. Norrington stared at Jack in silence as they waited for his return, and thankfully the wait wasn't too long.
The adjutant brought with him a small chest. Jack's interest was immediate; after all, every pirate liked both kinds of chests! The adjutant set it down and Norrington kicked it so that it was facing Jack.
"Show him," Norrington commanded.
The chest was opened and its contents revealed to Jack curious eyes.
"Oh, if it isn't Jack!" a voice from the chest issued out.
Jack recoiled at both the sight and sound.
"Didn't think I'd see you again, Jack. How's life treatin' you?" the severed head of one of his former crew asked.
*thump*
Norrington kicked the chest shut. "I guess that answers my question. He knows you, so you must know him."
"I don't…" Jack gulped in spite of how dry his mouth had become. "I don't suppose you know what's going on… there…"
"You're old crew meddled with something they should have, no doubt," Norrington shrugged. "I've only heard rumors of such foul things before, but this is my first time seeing anything like this. I'll call it a benefit of living on the right side of the law."
"Now, can you tell me where they might have gone?" Norrington asked the question that he really wanted the answer to.
"Er, maybe?" Jack answered. He hadn't a clue, but he wasn't going to completely admit to that. "I can definitely find out for sure! If you know where to look and who to ask, a pirate crew like Barbossa's can't obscure themselves entirely!"
Norrington frowned. "And I suppose I'll have to let you out to find these contacts of yours?"
"I can see why they made you Commodore! You're a smart cookie!" Jack complimented with a smile. "Of course, I'll be all the more willing to do it right if you can promise to commute my sentence, or maybe even a full pardon?"
Norrington's eye twitched, but Jack could tell he was seriously considering it. Man, he really had the hots for that girl, huh?
"I would have to discuss the matter with Governor Swann for anything further, but a stay of execution could be arranged for the short term. Provided you're on your best behavior, that stay of execution could be made indefinite," Norrington offered.
"I'll take it! I can tell you're a man of your word, Commodore, so I know I can trust you to keep that promise!" Jack didn't trust him as far as he could throw him. "When do we leave?"
"Right now," Norrington looked to his adjutant. "Lieutenant Brittle, hold down the fort and pass on the arrangements I've written up to the incoming captains."
"Sir?" Brittle questioned.
"I'll be leaving with Mr. Sparrow alone. I won't risk the lives of my men needlessly, but my own life is mine to do with as I see fit," Norrington explained.
Brittle went to argue, but Norrington stopped him with a raised hand. "I know what you want to say, Lieutenant, but the love of my life is out there in the hands of those pirates and I'll not sit on my hands and wait."
"Yes, sir," Brittle slumped.
Norrington used his keys to open the cell and handed them off to Brittle. "No time to waste, Mr. Sparrow."
"Captain-" Jack corrected.
"Not anymore, apparently," Norrington gave him that obnoxious smirk.
"We'll see once all this is over," Jack muttered to himself.