In the soft light of the slowly setting sun, Shipwreck Cove looked exactly as Jack remembered. The narrow, winding streets stretched out through the buildings which were mostly made of ruined ships pulled to shore, or parts salvaged from them. No two were the same, a reflection of the variety in the people who inhabited this fortress city.

He ducked under a flap of canvas, narrowly avoiding knocking down a stack of crates, and kept walking. His destination lay at the heart of the town, and he rather wanted to be there before night fell properly.

After a while, he could see the building, smoke rising from the chimney. Walking up to the door, he let himself inside.

"I'm telling you, it's sails were black, and the hull too! Like something straight out of the pits of Hell. I say we burn it."
The voice was coming from the kitchen to Jack's right, and he paused as a second voice replied.

"I know who captains that ship. You lay a finger on her, and I promise, I'll splatter your brains all over the docks. That goes for everyone on this feckin' island. Anyone who touches the Black Pearl will be answerin' to me. Now clear off, and pass that message along."

After a second, the door swung open, and an older man walked purposefully out, without even glancing at Jack.

Jack waited until he had left the building before going into the room. He couldn't help the smile that tugged at his lips when the barks of dogs was his first greeting, the terriers leaving their spots by the fire to investigate him upon entry.

"Hello, hello. Down, good dogs." He murmured softly, stalling their excited jumping around him with gentle hands. "Good, good." It took a few minutes for him to calm the dogs enough to get further across the floor.

"Hello to you too."

The voice came from a high-backed chair at the end of a table pushed against the wall. Jack walked over to stand beside his father, who looked up at him with a frown.

"That ship of yours is causin' all sorts of trouble just by sitting in the dock here. Has people nervous, folks think it's a devil's vessel."

"Well, technically, they ain't wrong." Jack said casually, turning to rifle through a cupboard.

Teague's eyes followed him as he did, then flickered away at the sound of the other door in the room opening. His gaze softened just slightly as a woman entered.

She kissed his cheek and he hummed softly. "How was your bath?"

"Could have been improved, by you being in it too. Jackie, what are you looking for?"

"Alcohol, rum, if you want me to be specific," replied Jack without turning away from his search, checking the bottles that were in the cupboard.

"Rum's in the next cupboard over. I'm making tea if you'd like a cup first. You need to dock that new ship of yours somewhere else by the way, wherever you got it."

Roxanne stoked the fire as Jack sat down, then she pulled a chair over from by the door to join her husband and son around the table.

Jack raised an eyebrow at his mother. "Why would I need to dock the ship elsewhere?"

"People think its cursed."

"Why?"

"The colour mostly. Flying under the black is one thing, a completely black ship is something else entirely apparently. Has folk very unsettled, even here. The number of guns you're carrying doesn't help the unease any either." Roxanne sat forward slightly in her chair. "Where did you get it anyway?"

"Dad outguns me by eight cannons, but if my guns make people uneasy, okay."

"People livin' here don't know your colours, and don't recognise the ship. All those things together has led to fairly widespread unease. You didn't answer your mother's question, by the way."

Jack's gaze dropped to his hands. "When...when Beckett left me on the Wench, he set her on fire as he was leaving. Then he blew holes below her waterline. She was sinking and ablaze, and I'd just been shot twice. How I remembered the ritual, I have no idea, but I summoned Davy Jones. Made a deal with him."

"You did what?"

"Made a deal with Davy Jones."

Silence fell for a moment after Jack's statement, as Teague and Roxanne just stared at him in disbelief, then looked at each other briefly.

Eventually, Teague spoke, his voice carefully controlled. "What kind of deal did you make with Davy Jones?"

"The ship raised, and thirteen years as her captain, then servitude aboard the Flying Dutchman for a lifetime." Jack said, gaze flickering between them both.

"Jack Sparrow, of all the-you sold your soul to Davy Jones?! For a fucking ship?" Roxanne's words were clipped and sharp, worry and anger both prominent in her tone.

"I sold my soul to stay alive, thank you very much. The ship was just a bonus."
His tone was light, though his eyes had darkened, betraying the emotions he was otherwise keeping firmly hidden.

Another silence fell for a few moments as Roxanne made a pot of tea.

"So you owe Jones a debt."

"Which he won't collect for thirteen years, so I'm not thinking about it now. I've got the fastest ship in the Caribbean, and I'm condemned to a life of piracy, so I may as well make the best of it."

Jack flinched as his father cuffed him around the back of the head as he passed.

"Not thinking about it won't change anythin'. It'll need repaying, Jones collects his debts." Teague set mugs onto the table, pouring tea for Roxanne first.
"A lifetime on the Dutchman, stripped of your humanity slowly until you're bound there forever..." He shook his head. "No ship is worth that, Jackie."

He stirred sugar slowly into his tea, rings catching the light.

"Well it's done now." Jack said flatly, taking a sip of tea. "Too late to change things. The alternative was death, so I mean I think I did right."

Roxanne took a slow drink from her mug. "Thirteen years isn't a long time really. You'll be on-"

"Drop it. I made a deal, I'm alive, I have a ship and I'll sort out repaying Jones when the time is right. Any word on when this meeting is taking place?"

For a minute, Roxanne looked at him with a raised eyebrow, letting him know she hadn't appreciated the interruption. She sipped her tea, deliberately silent.

"Still waiting on two Lords, so whenever they show up."

Jack was watching the steam rising from his mug, his eyes distant. "I should be dead, but because of a deal, I'm sitting here drinking tea and discussing a Brethren Court meeting with you. God, it's...weird."

"Better than the alternative. The ship you got out of the deal ain't bad either."

"Mmm, she's nice isn't she? Plus she can outrun Jones's when the wind is with her, so I think I got a pretty good deal."

Teague wrapped his hands around his mug. "The price was too high for a ship, even one that can outrun the Dutchman. Not worth losing your future and your humanity over."

Jack sighed. "Drop it," he said tiredly. He took a long drink from his tea, briefly bringing a hand up to rub his forehead, eyes flickering closed for a second.

His parents exchanged a brief look while his eyes were closed.

"Are you sleeping here tonight?"

"I...yeah. Might be nicer than my cabin on an empty ship." Jack said after a minute of consideration. "I think I'll go on to bed actually, I hadn't realised the time."

He kissed both his parents heads as he passed, lifting a bottle of rum out of the cupboard before disappearing through to the tiny spare bedroom.

Once the door closed behind him, Roxanne turned to her husband. "Can you do something? Anything?"

"I could find Jones's heart and stick a knife through it." Teague took a sip.of his tea, then grinned slightly at her horrified look. "I'm taking the piss. I have no desire to leave you to ferry souls, or for any other reason for that matter."

He ran a hand through his hair. "He'll work something out Asthore. Or we will. Either way, things will be alright."

Her eyes were still worried as she poured herself more tea. "Do you think he's okay?"

"No. But I think he will be. We just need to give him support and space. He has to process this."

"You're very wise." She had scooted her chair next to his, and her head rested lightly against his shoulder. Long, slender fingers were wrapped around her mug, which she raised to her lips.

He kissed her head, breathing in the scent of her soap. "Just got plenty of experience getting myself and others through fucked up things." He shifted her hair, kissed her neck. "I do regret not joining you in the bath, I would like to make it up to you."

Roxanne smiled slightly. "With Jack in the next room?"

Teague's teeth grazed her neck, making her breath catch. "We'll just have to be quiet, won't we?"

"I guess so." Her response was low, eyes glittering as she pulled her hair back to give him more access up her neck. She made a low noise when his kisses moved higher. "Bed?"

"Yes." Teague murmured, gaze dark and intent as his hands dropped to her hips, maneuvering them both to stand up.

She let him steer her across the kitchen, fumbling for the bedroom doorknob behind herself. Twisting it, she let them into the room and promptly found herself on their bed, a whimper building in her throat as his hands slipped up under her loose shirt.

He kissed her slowly, successfully distracting her thoughts from everything except the activities they were engaging in.