Will, who had just sprung a man from jail, seemed surprised when Jack, a pirate and scoundrel, suggested further criminal activity. "We're going to steal a ship?" He whispered apprehensively.

"How did you think we were gonna get out of here?" Joanna asked, unable to help herself.

That prompted a smirk from Jack. "That ship," he said, jerking a thumb toward the Interceptor. "We're going to commandeer that ship. Nautical term."

He turned in a whirl of tangled hair and coattails, fixing Will with a stern glare. "One question 'bout your business, boy. And Joanna," he kindly tacked on with a nod in Joanna's direction. She flashed a sardonic smile. "This girl," Jack said. "How far are you willing t' go t' save her?"

"I'd die for her," Will declared without hesitation.

"Oh, good," Jack said blithely. He then quirked an eyebrow at Joanna. She shrugged; the only thing Joanna was certain of was her intention to follow Will.

"We'll worry about that later, then," Jack said of her reply, turning to face the bay again. His perspicacious eyes scanned the beach, then settled with satisfaction on something Joanna couldn't determine. "C'mon," he said, sauntering out into the sun.

Joanna and Will exchanged a dubious glance before following.

Looking pleased with himself, Jack elucidated his plan as they snuck through the sparse foliage at the waterside. Joanna noticed a flaw in his plotting immediately and flushed as she pointed it out.

"Won't this, ah, be a problem?" Joanna said, ruffling her skirt with one hand.

Jack's eyes ran her over appraisingly, mouth twitching into a smirk. Joanna's embarrassment turned to indignation. Before she could say something neurotic, though, Jack shrugged. "Cut it off," he said.

"I -- what?"

"Jus' around your ankles, luv," Jack elaborated, illustrating his meaning with the tip of his cutlass, dragging it along the muddy and sodden fabric. "Or your knees. But make it quick."

The dress had once been the color of a green flash at sunset. Joanna had sewn herself the snowy lace trimming, making it a finer garment than most women of her station enjoyed. Now it was dirty, ripped, and struck through by her rapier, which remained at rest in the fabric at her waist.

Without thinking much about it, she unsheathed her sword and began hacking away at the skirt and the shift she wore beneath it.

"Joanna!" Will hissed, scandalized. He pointedly looked away as the fabric fell, one scrap at a time.

Jack, on the other hand, observed with unabashed interest. "Nice shoes," he remarked.

They were nice -- with sturdy, short heels and a splash of gold trim. Joanna kicked her feet a bit, pleased to feel the breeze across her calves. "Thank you," she said primly. "Now let's go."

It was tricky to fit the three of them under the rowboat, but they managed with only a bit of grumbling at each other. On the other hand, their combined strength was beneficent in hauling the boat beneath the water.

"This is either madness, or brilliance," Will commented as they traipsed across the seafloor.

"'s remarkable how often those two traits coincide," Jack said dryly from the front.

Joanna's aforementioned nice shoes were quickly being ruined by sand and saltwater. Her skirt billowed, occasionally drifting to wiggle on the surface of the water. Joanna irately shoved it down several times but eventually embraced the fact the fishies -- and only the fishies, thankfully, since Jack and Will stood in front of her -- could see her ass.

"Jo," Will suddenly said when they weren't far from the Dauntless.

"Yes, William?"

"Can you swim?"

"Ah," Joanna said, paling. "I've never tried." Nonplussed, she snapped at him, "Can you swim?"

"Yes, of course."

She scowled, shoving at her skirt again. "Well, us women don't often have the occasion."

"A right shame," Jack said ruefully. "'S never too late to learn -- 's simple enough."

"Alright," Joanna said suspiciously. She leaned around Will's shoulder to look at the back of Jack's head. "How do I start?"

"Funny thing about the human person, luv, is that it floats," Jack said. Like her skirt, his hair bobbed cheerfully along the water. "So when we let go the boat, jus' let the water bring you to the surface. Kick your feet a bit."

Joanna swallowed nervously. That was not an inspiring lesson. "Got it," she said, hoping it was true.

Too soon, the Dauntless' hull, speckled with barnacles, loomed above them. "If I drown, it will be a disappointing death indeed," Joanna said dryly, her insides twisted into knots.

"You are not going to drown," Will said dourly.

"I'll take your word for it, William."

"On three, we're going up," Jack cut in. "One, two, three."

Joanna sucked in a deep breath as they shoved the boat away and began their ascent.

The water swiftly rushed over her head in a silent blanket. Joanna squeezed her eyes shut, ignored her thumping heart, and tried to do as Jack had instructed. She let her body go limp and was pleasantly astounded when she felt it drift upwards.

Someone seized her wrist and tugged her upward, hard; Joanna spewed bubbles in surprise. She fluttered her feet, hoping she was succeeding at being more than dead weight, and they shot for the sunlight.

Joanna broke the surface with a gasp, blinking with stinging eyes, but not for long. With absolutely no idea how to stay afloat, she slipped beneath the waves again. Thankfully, someone slipped an arm around her waist and tugged her back to air, sweet air.

That someone was Jack Sparrow. "A great first try, luv," he said with a grin. Joanna, struggling to find her breath, managed to smile back.

The three of them eyed the grand stern of the Dauntless. "How the hell are we gonna manage this," Joanna said.

Jack hummed. "Will, you first."

"Why me?"

"'cause I'm the only thing 'tween Joanna and the depths, lad," Jack said impatiently. "Get on with it, and I'll hand her over t' you."

Faced with logic, Will obeyed, heaving himself out of the water to seize whatever handholds he could. Jack and Joanna edged close enough to the ship that she could follow. While Joanna wasn't -- yet -- an excellent swimmer, she was quick on her feet. With just a helpful tug from Will, she scampered upward, Jack on her heels.

The Dauntless, only recently docked, was sparsely crewed. Joanna, Jack, and Will slipped surreptitiously onto the quarterdeck. "Follow my lead," Jack whispered, grinning deviously as he drew his pistol.

Joanna and Will drew their swords and acted as Jack's shadow as the pirate performed his act. "Everyone, stay calm!" He announced, waving his pistol with gusto as they filed onto the main deck. The handful of sailors gathered around the gunwale looked on with appropriate shock. "We are taking over the ship!"

"Aye! Avast!" Will added, falling into Ochs guard. Jack and Joanna gave him identical looks of disbelief.

The sailors before them chortled. Lieutenant Gillette led them, smirking at their small party of three. "This ship cannot be crewed by two men -- and a woman," he added, then caught sight of Joanna's ankles. His face turned ruddy. "You -- you'll never make it out of the bay," he continued feebly.

"Son," Jack said, smiling sweetly as he cocked his gun and guided the muzzle to Gillette's forehead. "I'm Captain Jack Sparrow. Savvy?"

With Gillette as an unwilling hostage and the helpful threat of Joanna and Will's swords, herding the crew into a lifeboat and dismissing them from the Dauntless was an elementary task.

Joanna assiduously sheathed her sword. "Now what?" She asked.

"We make sail," Jack said slyly.

Jack sent Joanna and Will scurrying around the Dauntless' scrubbed decks, bellowing the occasional order in ship speak Joanna barely understood. She looked helplessly at Will as she laughed at the absurdity of it all. He offered a timorous smile in return.

With Jack's experience, Joanna's quick mind, and Will's steady hands, they were inching out of the port in no time. Joanna grabbed Will's sleeve and dragged him to join Jack on the quarterdeck, eager to see Port Royal shrink as they pulled away.

She saw something else; the Interceptor's sails, white pearls on the cyan waves. "Here they come," Will said as he joined her.

The three of them hid beneath a pile of spare sail and rigging, silent with the anticipation of their next move. The Interceptor quickly came up beside the Dauntless, rowdy with shouting officers and flurrying sailors.

Just as Jack had predicted, Norrington stood above the discord, regal and incensed. And just as Jack predicted, Norrington sent over too many men, arrogant with his fresh station.

"Brilliance," Joanna whispered to Will as they grappled with spare lines.

Joanna's heart sang as they flew over the treacherous gap between the ships. She landed hard on the deck of the Interceptor, stumbling until Will steadied her shoulder.

"Brilliant madness," he suggested to her. Joanna grinned and clapped his shoulder before they split ways.

Will cut the lines tying the ships as Joanna gleefully vaulted the gangplank into the sea. The Interceptor gamboled away from the Dauntless, sails laughing in the wind. The Navy realized their folly at about the same time -- a roar erupted from the busy decks of the Dauntless. A particularly plucky sailor even leaped from the Dauntless on a line, tumbling into the water with an inevitable splash.

Jack tipped his hat from the helm, the foil of Norrington, with his wild hair and dirty coat and glimmering jewelry. "Thank you, Commodore, for getting us ready t' make way! We'd've had a hard time of it by ourselves!"

A rain of gunfire found refuge against the Interceptor's brightly painted hull. "Shit," Joanna exclaimed, clutching Will's sleeve and towing him to hide behind the rigging and rails. She turned to look at him, incredulous of the past day's events. "William, we're really scoundrels now, aren't we."

"Don't remind me," Will said with a huff, but he smiled with the same dubiety as Joanna.

A few more rounds of shot dappled the hull, but within a minute the Interceptor was far out of the Dauntless' range. "The rudder chain was a nice touch," Joanna told Will as they cautiously left cover.

"Don't thank me," Will said wryly. He tilted his head astern. "Thank Jack."

Joanna spun to face the helm, raising a hand to shield her eyes from the sun. "Excellent work, Captain Sparrow!" She called, grinning despite Will's vexed sigh.

Jack bowed in her direction. "I'm much obliged, Joanna!" He returned gallantly.

"He's not so bad," Joanna apprised Will a moment later, following him to stand at the gunwale. "So far, this has been nothing but --" She trailed off as her eyes caught on Port Royal, which was now and truly growing smaller. Joanna's chest suddenly felt both tight and loose at the same time. She swallowed the emotion and said, "Elizabeth will owe us lunch after this, at least."

If we make it back, Joanna mused, ignoring Will's scoff. Joanna felt the sea rise and fall beneath her feet, and wondered.