There were only three men who knew why the
Dauntless would anchor at the very edge of Port
Royal's bay. One of those men stood watch as the
sliver of crescent moon rose, his gold insignia on his
sleeve revealed his recently attained captaincy. He
made his way coolly to the larboard side of the ship
and noted the small rowboat with a single occupant
making its way around the southern headland of the
island of Jamaica. Though his face was in heavy
shadow, his attitude was that of someone who was very
pleased. He left the quarterdeck after a few more
minutes and strolled to the larboard bulwark where he
lifted a rope ladder and dropped it over the side.
   The second man who knew why the Dauntless was
anchored at the very edge of Port Royal's bay was busy
securing the rowboat to the ship with a hastily tied
line. He seized the rope ladder and began to climb.
When he heard the officer above him begin to whistle a
drinking tune, he froze, the ladder swaying slightly.
When the whistling�their signal that someone was
watching�stopped, he began climbing again. He threw a
leg over the bulwark and the officer drew close.
   "Nice to see you, Captain," The officer whispered.
   "You too, Cap'n," The invader grinned broadly and
slid a large ruby into the officer's hand before
drawing him down for a  tender kiss on the lips.
"Congratulations, love. Well-deserved and
well-received, aye?"
   A slight bow from the officer as the ruby was slid
into his pocket. "You know I'm not supposed to take
these gifts of yours, Captain."
   "What James don't know, love, won't hurt 'im,
savvy?"
   With an affectionate smile, Captain Groves waved
the invader on into the wardroom of the warship where
the third man who knew why the Dauntless would anchor
at the very edge of Port Royal's bay waited. As he
watched the figure swagger silently across the deck,
he sighed. "Still the best pirate I've ever seen."
   Captain Jack Sparrow stepped into the faint light
from the wardroom doors, cast a furtive glance about,
then slipped through the door. Dressed in boots and
captain's greatcoat, as well as his customary hat over
red scarf, he patted the right pocket of his coat and
drew up short as the austere figure appeared suddenly
before him.
   "I wondered how soon you would return," James
Norrington kept his hands behind his back as he drew
himself to his full height. "I am truly at a loss to
understand how you can claim to love and respect me
when you cannot keep an appointment."
   Jack removed his hat and set it on the table, his
lips forming a pout though his eyes twinkled with
mischief. "I kept it. I was jus' a bit behind time is
all. 'Sides, you never give _me_ your love and
respect." 
   Though the voice was harsh, the look in the eyes
was endearing. "Because you're a pirate!"
   Jack lowered his head as if chastised, looking up
through his lashes at the Commodore. "But why can't I
have them both?"
   "Because I said so," Norrington replied. He brought
one hand out from behind his back to reveal that it
held a set of shackles. "Must you always be so
deucedly late, my love, for your 'sentencing'?"
   "Ah, love," Jack waggled his eyebrows and smirked,
"'Tis only so ye can more appropriately punish me,
savvy?"
   "Indeed," James smirked back, lifting one of the
cuffs to wave it at the pirate. "Behind or before?"
   "'At depends, my sweet," Jack began to unbutton his
coat, turning his body away from the officer. "D' ye
have the key this time?
   James narrowed his eyes and stepped closer. He
licked his lips and raised his eyebrows. "Mister
Sparrow, . . . are you _naked_?"
   Jack drew himself up and gave Norrington a superior
look. "Absolutely not. Got me coat, hat and boots on.
Ain't that enough?"
   "The question is, pirate," James suppressed a leer
and took another step closer. "Is that too much?"
   Without warning, the pirate pulled a set of irons
from his own pocket. He seized James's wrists to pull
them behind him and locked the irons in place.
"Gotcha."
   Norrington stiffened, trying the irons mildly. "I
trust you have the key?"
   Jack poked his head around James's shoulder.
"Search me."
   "Literally or figuratively, Sparrow?" Norrington
refused to be baited into panicking at the moment.
"Because for me to literally search you, I will need
my hands back."
   "Everybody says _I_ talk too much," Jack said
quietly, a purr to his voice that ran a thrill down
the Commodore's back. He placed a hand to Norrington's
chest and shoved him backwards into a chair. "But
that's 'cause I have to. What's yer excuse, love?"
   Jack straddled his captive and lowered himself onto
Norrington's lap. He finished unbuttoning his coat and
revealed that James's suspicions were correct. He
tugged the wig off of Norrington's head and ran his
hands through the dark brown locks. When he noticed
that Norrington was staring hungrily at his body,
studying it like a map of a new territory, he curled
his fingers into the hair and pulled the head back so
that the blue eyes met his. He pushed his pelvis
forward so that he could feel the heat and pressure of
Norrington's erect cock through the linen of his
trousers with his own member. He leaned in and brushed
his lips delicately against the Commodore's.
   "Ye haven't answered me question, mate. What's yer
excuse?" Jack lowered his mouth to Norrington's jaw,
nibbling lightly at the tender skin there. One hand
began to untie the silk that wrapped about
Norrington's neck. As the fabric pulled free, he began
to nibble harder at the flesh, finally choosing a spot
to bestow a love-bite near the collarbone. "Well?"
   The Commodore groaned quietly. "Reluctantly,
Sparrow, I have none."
   "Thought so," Jack chuckled, his hands working to
unbutton the shirt so that he could place skin against
skin. As he pushed the fabric aside, his right hand
brushed across something unfamiliar on the Commodore's
skin, a rough place almost like a scar that hadn't
been there the last time. When he touched it again,
Norrington gasped and made a vain effort to pull away.
   "Please, that's not quite healed," James's voice
was a bit tentative and Jack wondered who had hurt his
lover.
   "What happened?" Jack pushed himself away so that
he could examine the skin. What he found there was
stunning. "Did you get a tattoo, Commodore, love?
'Cause, ye know, the King's Navy don't approve of
such."
   Etched on the pearl-pale skin almost immediately
above Norrington's heart was a picture of a sea
sparrow, wings spread as it sailed over the waves. It
was not the same as his own tattoo�no setting sun and
the bird was obviously lifting off instead of
diving�but there was no mistaking the look of the
creature. What surprised Jack was what the bird
carried in its beak, a small red heart. He couldn't
resist stroking his fingers lightly on the skin around
the still-swollen tattoo.
   "It's rather embarrassing," James said quietly, his
eyes glued to the motion of Jack's hand. "A few nights
ago I got rather drunk . . . 'Someone' gave me a
bottle of rum and it was the only liquor I had. In any
case, I over-indulged and wandered down to the Bell
and Hook, thinking I might, well, hoping you might be
there. Foolish, I know. Instead, I found myself
talking to a sweet young woman who told me how
flattered she had been when her sailor had her name
etched in his arm."
   "So ye decided t' flatter me in kind?" Jack asked,
genuine affection behind the mischievous gleam in his
eyes. "It's beautiful, love."
   Norrington sighed. "Yes, well, I decided against
having your name written out. I wasn't entirely sure
the man who did this could spell it. So I asked him
merely for the sparrow. He added the heart, to my
chagrin."
   "Me reputation gets around, love," Jack squinted at
him. "So, ye think this artiste knew who you are?"
   Norrington's head raised to meet Jack's gaze.
"There is no need for you to go to Port Royal, Jack.
Nor for you to take any action in regards to the
matter. I _am_ capable of dealing with a blackmailer
if necessary."
   Jack tilted his head to the left, the black eyes
having grown cold and fierce in protectiveness. "Jus'
'cause I shot Black Pete fer stabbin' ye,  love, don't
mean that's the way I deal with all of my problems. I
much prefer t' use my wits."
   "A point I am sure that would be lost on the lout
which would necessitate a violent turn. I would prefer
that not happen," James said, shifting uncomfortably
to allow his hands to regain their circulation. "_Do_
you have the key to these cuffs?"
   Jack just smiled and reached for the buttons on his
breeches. 

X

   Ellis Groves sat at the desk in his quarters and
regarded the ruby that Jack had given him. He knew the
problems it could cause for himself and for the
Commodore if it should be discovered that he was
accepting these gifts. He sighed and removed his wig,
running his fingers through his black hair and wishing
the hands were Jack's instead. It had been while
Norrington was recovering from a stabbing that he and
Jack had realized and consummated their mutual
attraction. An unspoken agreement had been reached
that James was never to learn of it. He stretched,
feeling several stone lighter now that he was off-duty
and his uniform coat was hanging on a hook by the
door. James would see to it that Jack got safely off
the Dauntless when the time came.
   He pulled out his logbook and dipped his quill into
the ink. Normally, the words�routine by now�came to
him effortlessly. He marked down the date "17 June,
1727 anno domini" but that was all. 
   The ruby winked as the lantern above him swayed. He
lifted it in his hand, weighing it. Sparrow knew many
things about many things. Though Ellis had never
mentioned to him the fact that his father was gravely
ill and his mother left to support the two of them and
his three younger sisters, Jack was always giving him
gems, coins, what-have-you. Small items, the kind that
could be easily concealed and readily disposed of.
Ellis, of course, disposed of them by sending them to
his mother. 
   Had James told him? Mentioned in some casual way
the difficulties his family was going through? Or had
he himself slipped? Revealed the situation in
satisfied, half-sleepy mutterings after an encounter
in his bedroom? Or was Jack some angel or demon sent
by Who Knows Whom to give solace, comfort, great sex,
and plunder to the deserving in exchange for their
hearts and souls? Abruptly, Ellis slid his logbook
aside and opened the bottom drawer to his desk. He
drew out a battered journal and flipped back to a
blank page, pausing only long enough to smile at a
poor excuse of a sketch of Jack asleep in his bed. He
refreshed the ink in his pen and began to write,
furiously. When he finished, he paused to read the
words before adding three words at the very top of the
page. 
   "Mother was right," He murmured. "I should have
worked more upon my letters. But the navy is more
lucrative�if only because of him."
   He re-read the words on the page again, knowing
that it wasn't a "proper" poem or sonnet but not
caring because the voice in his head let it sound so
right.

The Commandeered Heart

I was warned
Advised you were dangerous
That your wit 
Sharper than a dragon's tooth
Was seductive

I was cautioned
Given notice you were cunning
That your weapons
Harmless though they appeared
Were lethal

I was admonished
Reproached 
That your beauty
Wild as the stormy sea
Was asphyxiating

And yet
And yet

Despite the chains about it
Despite the ropes securing it
Despite the locks fastening it
You stole my heart

"Commandeered.
Nautical term."

Pirate.

   Understanding that he was risking his career and
his life, he left his cabin dressed only in his shirt,
breeches, shoes and stockings. There was another place
he had to be tonight other than with his logbook.

X

   James regretted the cuffs on his wrists as soon as
Jack's tongue began to tease across the head of his
already-aching cock. While he did not expect Jack to
remain faithful to him, he himself had no real desire
to be with any other. Elizabeth Swann had ruined him
for other women by breaking his heart�as she had Will
Turner's. No other man possessed the same appeal as
Jack. Expecting fidelity of Jack, and knowing he had
Will Turner aboard the Black Pearl, would be worse
than foolish. Jack had admitted at one time that Will
was the only one who could make him give up sharing
his affections with others but that Will understood
him well enough not to ask.
   "Remind me," James said, his voice strained with
pleasure as the lips encircled his manhood and began
to draw at it. "Remind me to send Mr. Turner a gift
one of these days. Does he still prefer wine to rum?"
   Abruptly, Jack looked up from his position between
James's knees. "Are ye tryin' t' ruin the moment,
love?"
   "Sorry," He replied. "Please, carry on."
   "And the answer is 'yes.' Despite all me efforts,"
Jack grumbled though James could hear a smile in his
voice. 
   He could feel the twin braids on Jack's chin
lightly tickling at his balls as the tension built in
his groin. He allowed his head to fall back, eyes
fluttering closed, while Jack licked the head of his
cock quite thoroughly, scooping the pre-cum out of the
tiny hole repeatedly before opening his jaws and
letting James's manhood slide inside. He was on the
verge of release, his balls drawn up tight to his
body, when Jack stopped, leaning back a bit to regard
him with a mischievous air.
   "Jack, please," James arched his hips out of the
chair several inches in a vain attempt to get the
pirate to continue.
   "On one condition, mate," Jack said, his husky
voice causing James to come closer to his goal but not
quite close enough. 
   "And that is?" James snapped.
   Jack grinned. "I want ye t' tell me what ye'd do t'
Cap'n Groves if he would come int' the room right now,
hmm? Provided ye invited him in t' join us."
   "Must I?" He said, tight-lipped. A hint of warmth
in his cheeks told James that he was turning crimson
in the face.
   Jack chuckled. "Yer call, mate. I don't have t'
finish though. Better yet, I can leave ye 'hangin''
here with yer stiff a-waggin' in the breeze an' yer
hands in them pretty bracelets, savvy?"
   At the idea, because he knew Jack was capable of
such a thing, Norrington sighed harshly. "Very well.
If Captain Groves was to join us, I'd . . . Damn you,
Sparrow, this is quite impossible!"
   "No, it ain't," Jack said. He reached a finger out
to stroke it up and down the underside of James's
member. "Come on. You an' I know he's the prettiest
thing in Port Royal after yerself. What would ye like
t' do to him?"
   James swallowed hard and managed to speak. "I would
ask him to-to make love to you so that I could see
your face when you come in another man's ass. Then I
would ask him to take you, hard enough to make you cry
out, so that you would understand how it feels when I
see you walk out my door."
   Jack's grin had faded just the slightest bit at the
last sentence. "There's more, ain't there, love? Come
on, you can tell ol' Cap'n Jack. Ye want t' see him
with me, aye, but what about with you? I know what
he'd say if I asked him the same."
   "Don't speak nonsense, Jack," James said softly,
wondering why Jack was doing this. "Captain Groves
isn't a sentimental weakling like myself. He would run
you through for even implying such a thing."
   "No, I wouldn't," Came the voice from behind him.
   When James tried to turn around, a pair of strong,
rough hands seized his shoulders as Ellis leaned down
to whisper into his ear. "You have no idea how long I
have waited for this moment, James. It's not just
scalawags like Jack Sparrow who find you desirable,
savvy?"
   James thought he would go insane at the feeling of
the hot breath on the tender skin of his ear and neck.
Jack returned to his oral tricks as Ellis slid his
hands down to rub James's light brown nipples. They
were already alert so they began to swell as Groves
began kissing his earlobe, his neck, his nape in
between muttering soft exclamations of his admiration.

   The treatment was very successful. In less than
five minutes, James had thrown his head back in bliss,
biting his lip to keep from crying out as the orgasm
made his entire body quake. He felt Groves plunge his
mouth onto his own, muffling him. He opened his mouth
wide to Groves's diving tongue and released the cry
into his mouth as a falconer releases a kestrel.
   He wasn't certain if he passed out or not. His next
memory was of Jack and Ellis both caressing him, their
mouths burning kisses onto his face, his neck, his jaw
as they spoke, nearly in tandem.
   "Come on, Jamie, the night's young--."
   "�wouldn't want to disappoint our guest, sir."
   "�me love, ye need t' be awake fer--."
   "Not too exciting, James, but--."
   "�we need an audience, love, savvy?"
   He feared his gulp was audible but neither man
seemed to notice it. His chest heaved, the sound of
his heartbeat still pounding in his ears. He could
feel a trickle of sweat run down the small of his
back. He looked up in time to see Jack pull Ellis
forward to receive his kiss, his nimble little tongue
teasing the interior of Groves's lips before he sealed
his lips to the new Captain's. At the sight, his cock
started to lift.
   "Jack, these blasted cuffs," He began but Jack just
grinned broadly as he dropped his coat, revealing the
golden flesh with its glorious imperfections.
   "Patience, m' love," Jack murmured as he began to
undress Groves with the speed of a swallow diving at
an insect. "I b'lieve the good Captain here has agreed
t' do the necessary searchin', aye?"
   "Aye," Groves busied his own hands moving them
across Jack's body. 
   For James, the sight of the other officer's broad
but graceful hands, nearly as dark as Jack's flesh,
tracing the scars, delving into the intimate places
that his own hands and mouth had explored, made him
whimper in frustration.  At the same moment that he
most wanted to be doing exactly what Groves was doing,
he wanted to be watching it, to see Jack's reactions,
to commit them to memory.
   Groves's clothes fell away finally and, from
somewhere, a small pot of goose-grease appeared. James
thought he was going to explode when he saw Ellis coat
his fingers with the stuff then the hand disappear
between Jack's firm cheeks. Jack's mouth opened in a
silent moan as the first finger slid inside him. He
arched into Groves hard, his cock beginning a subtle
duel with Ellis's for contact and relief. As another
finger was applied, Groves let his mouth fall on
Jack's throat, licking the Adam's apple, nibbling
gently at the tender flesh under his jaw. 
   When Groves pulled Jack to the deck, his arms
wrapped around the pirate's waist, James thought he
was going to peak again. Instead he looked away for a
moment to gather some willpower. When he looked back,
Jack was on his hands and knees, his face practically
in James's lap again and Groves was bent over him, his
hands massaging Jack's thighs outwards as his open
mouth climbed kisses from the small of his back
upward. Ellis laid his head on Jack's shoulder blades
and spoke.
   "Is this what you want, Jamie? You want to see me
fuck him hard? Properly?"
   For a moment, James couldn't speak, his throat
constricted and his brain not giving him the words.
Finally, he managed to say, "Yes, please."
   At the sound, Jack's grin returned full force.
Ellis pushed himself upright and buried one hand in
the tangle of braids to hold Jack steady. James saw
Jack spread his legs a bit more and reach backward to
receive Ellis's penetrating thrust. As the cock
lurched into Jack, James saw the slightest bit of
discomfort wash across Jack's features but with the
second thrust, the discomfort became desire. Jack
opened his black eyes and met James's eyes with a look
of pure passion, a look that made James wish ardently
that the coupled men were two feet closer so that
Jack's mouth could reach his painfully hard cock.
   Instead, there was precious little he could do as
he watched Groves's lunges become harder, his tempo
quickening as the crescendo approached. He heard Jack
make a soft, shapeless noise of pleasure and protest,
a wince contorting the pirate's beautiful features.
When Ellis released his hair and seized his hip to
force himself into the pirate just a bit farther, Jack
came, the thick, white milk splattered across the deck
as Jack cried out. "Jamie!"
   Seconds later, Groves's stiffened, his head
snapping backward then forward with enough force that
James worried he would hurt himself. He let himself
melt onto Jack, their bodies a fleshy puddle. Groves
had ejaculated silently but he was now muttering
softly to Jack, eventually beginning to sing something
to him. James had no idea what it was until Groves
rolled off Jack to lie beside him.
   "The hawk he rides the highest winds, / The martin
the marsh's sky, / The swift the chill breezes loves,
/ But not the sparrow nor I," James didn't recognize
the lyrics but the tune was a hymn that he knew from
childhood. 
   "Gentlemen," James finally managed to speak though
he longed to do nothing more than watch the two men,
bodies entwined, as they recovered from their heights
of passion. "I am not certain we are entirely safe
with both the Captain of this vessel and myself in
here."
   "Aye, sir," Jack muttered, slowly stirring. "Come
on, mate. We have a Commodore t' take care of."
   Ellis managed to gain his feet with Jack's help. To
James's amazement, Jack plucked the key to the cuffs
from one of his braids and leaned him forward to
unlock them. As soon as his hands were free, James
reached for Jack, who evaded him with a quick wink.
   "Not yet, love. We need t' adjourn t' yer bunk fer
the next bit," He raised his eyebrows meaningfully and
James found it difficult to resist the urge to scream
in frustration. Instead, Ellis grabbed his hand and
began to drag him to the bed on the far side of the
room as Jack's thieving hands made short work of the
remainder of the clothes on his back. 
   Groves, first to arrive, settled himself on the
bed, his head and shoulders propped up by the pillows.
It was then that Jack slid his arm around James's
waist. "You next, Commodore. I suggest ye straddle the
fine young man here up high on his chest, otherwise
things might not connect, savvy?"
   For a moment, James wasn't sure that he did
understand. It was only when Jack pushed him forward,
forcing him into the bed with a knee on either side of
Ellis's beautiful chest that he understood what Jack
meant. When he felt Jack climbing onto the bed behind
him, forcing his knees even wider, he understood that
this was going to be a most pleasurable experience.
   At the first touch of Jack's agile, grease-slicked
fingers against his cleft, James sighed. When Groves
touched his upper thighs, his hands warm and
pleasantly rough, he slumped forward against the
head-board.
   "My apologies, gentlemen," He whispered, using both
hands to brace himself. "I seem to be feeling--."
   "Shh, love," Jack said softly, his breath across
James's shoulder blades causing James to shiver. "Ye
needn't worry. Let us do the work."
   Gently, the fingers teased up inside him. Groves
was rubbing his hands along his superior's inner
thighs, coming close to but never quite touching his
privates. For a moment, James wondered if he was going
mad. This couldn't truly be happening, could it?
Surely, both of these men would rather be somewhere
else with someone else, wouldn't they? Instead, he
felt Ellis's sturdy hands seize his ass to pull him
forward a bit more as Jack pressed against him,
finally moving his own firm pole into position.
   At the time, he merely let himself experience the
moment. Later, he wondered if they had planned the
whole thing. As Jack began to enter him, slowly and
far more carefully than Groves had entered him
earlier, Ellis began to lick at the underside of his
penis. It was only by biting his lip, hard enough to
make himself bleed, that he kept from coming
instantly. Jack kept pushing until his front was
firmly against James's back and then, for one blissful
second, time seemed to stand still. Jack's heat, both
within him and against him, seemed to seep into his
every pore. Ellis's hands, resting at the tender
junctions of legs and trunk, stilled as his lovely
lips stretched, his mouth almost a yawn, to receive
James's staff. It was as if he were two men at once,
one wax melting and forming to the heat of his aft
partner, one marble that seemed unable to budge due to
the frozen stone he had become, like a mold for the
wax.
   And then the instant was gone. Jack was thrusting
up inside him, his braids tickling across his
shoulder-blades, the trinkets catching and reflecting
the light onto the bulkhead as they rattled nearly in
James's ear. Ellis was laving James's cock with his
tongue, one hand tickling James's scrotum, the other
busy pleasuring himself. He heard Jack murmur "Jamie,
I do love ye" and the words, said in that dark voice
of sin itself, made the tension in his groin explode,
as if hit with a cannonball. He slammed forward into
Groves, wanting in some measure to apologize as it
happened yet unable to do anything beyond ride it out.
He became aware that Groves was making little grunting
sounds as he fought to keep the white jelly from
escaping him. 
   It was all he could do to remain upright while Jack
reached his own orgasm. By the sounds of Ellis beneath
them, he realized that Groves had finally achieved
satisfaction, his blue eyes fixed on the face of his
commander and the pirate as they came. After
withdrawing, Jack pulled James down into the bunk with
Grove and himself, Groves on the bottom, James face
down between them and Jack holding the both of them,
one leg between theirs, his arm with the sparrow
tattoo and pirate brand across both of their bodies.
Despite the utter exhaustion and satisfied afterglow,
James wanted more. He fell asleep to dreams of Jack
painted gold giving him a silver apple.
   When he woke near dawn, he was cuddled tenderly
against Ellis, the new Captain's head pressed against
his throat, his hand playing with Ellis's hair, their
bodies sticking together a bit uncomfortably. It was
at that sensation that he realized Jack had gone. A
slight smile played over his face until he saw the
folded paper propped in the brim of his tricorn.
Gently, he drew away from Groves and retrieved it.


Jamie,
Consider Ellis my little gift to you to tide you over.
It is high time I got back to proper piracy.
I know there are people in this world who expect love
to be something that is shared solely between two
people and maybe they are right. I may be a freak of
nature in that I love so many so well. 
So, I am off to other parts. Maybe the Pearl sets out
for Singapore�always did like Singapore�or maybe we
sail for England. I know not except that I will return
for you, my love, if only in my dreams.
There is a note for Ellis in his quarters so you have
no need to share this one with him. I love you,
Commodore.
Ta.
Jack


He re-read the note with raised eyebrows. After that
second pass, he sat down heavily in the chair. It was
after the third reading that he began to smile. Jack,
treacherous and cunning brigand that he was, was in
all likelihood heading to Hispaniola for a shipment of
rum and would be back in a few days. Nothing was ever
simple where Jack Sparrow was involved.

And you swore that you were bound for glory
And for wanting you had no shame
But I loved you
And then I lost you
And I will never be the same

But I, I will never be the same
Oh I, I will never be the same
Caught in your eyes
Lost in your name
I will never be the same
"I Will Never Be the Same" by Melissa Etheridge