AN: So once again i have started with a new story. Whew, three ongoing stories at once. But i love writing anyway so it doesn't really matter. Okay i know the title might not really fit the bill but i thought it had a nice ring to it. This idea came to me at about 5.08am in the morning when i couldn't sleep. I knew i just had to write it down and who knew it would capture me so firmly that it got me to write a full story about it. So as you can probably guess, this story is a Johnlock fanfic in Pirate-verse. This is one of my first slow-build story, meaning I'll try to prolong Sherlock and John's meeting and stuff, I'm sure you already know that :) The places that are mentioned in this story are kept as realistic as possible, other events will be incorporated by me:) So enough talking and let's begin the tale of Sherlock and John in a world full of pirates.

Pairing: Sherlock/John mainly

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of BBC Sherlock. Any other names that are used or mentioned in this story is purely out of coincidence.

Chapter One: A Storm & The Jolly Roger in the Distance

A bright silver flash of lightning tears across the midnight black of the night sky, thunder loud and booming following after, the ship pitches forward, throwing its crewmen around as the humongous waves wash overboard. The sailors scramble around hurriedly trying to empty buckets of water over the sides of the ship. Tripping over one another in a panicked frenzy, the captain is in no good shape either as he tries to control the wheel, two hands struggling to grip on to the large wheel.

The wind is howling like a ghost through the night, whipping the ropes to the mast and sails about, tangling them up. Overhead there is a loud ripping sound of the sails and a deep moaning and groaning, which can only be said to be the ship's mast about to break.

"Captain the main mast!" came the frantic shout from the crow's nest.

In all the panic and frenzy no one notices a man, average height with a golden blonde hair, dressed in the fine linen clothes of a doctor. He hides behind the barrels, clutching his satchel to himself. It's only been three days that he's been on board as a stowaway and now, there is this awfully frightful storm. John Hamish Watson sits there, drawing his legs up to his chest as he rolls and rocks along with the ship, the strong waves crashing over the side and soaking him to the bone.

"Lower her sails! Hurry! We don't want them tearing! And get down here Aron!" came the reply from the captain at the helm.

John looks up to the sky, the heavy torrent of rain has soaked the sails through and as the crew scrambles up the sides to take in the sails, lighting once more flashes through the sky and John can hear the screams and shouts followed by the splash as the sailors, fried from the lighting fall from the height of the tall sails and into the ocean's cold waters below.

"Captain we've lost five men. We won't be able to handle this if it continues. She's taking on too much water and sinking fast."

John stops then, hearing those words, sinking, the ship is sinking. He could go along with it. That way they won't find him, he will not owe his debt to the East India Company any longer. He could join his family, dead in heaven. His sister Harriet had been killed because he hadn't paid the debts off, god help him, the amount was atrocious to pay back in his life time alone.

So when they had come knocking on his door one day, demanding he pay them back, he fought them off and in the process killed one of them by strangulation. The Company then came up with another plan instead, put him on the wanted list, let the people know of him and bring him in to be hanged. Then the debt would be settled. If that was so, then John would rather take his own life.

"Get the row boats ready and abandon ship. I will stay here. A captain must always go down with his ship. You are in charge now Joshua, take good care of them," John watches as the one called Joshua gathers the remaining crew and they set to work heaving the two rowboats over the side of the ship, slowly climbing down the ropes into safety. He hears two gunshots and knows the first rowboat is free.

'You should go,' came the rational voice in his head but he stayed there, on the deck, behind the barrel. Closing his eyes as he listened to the roaring of the thunder and the crashing of the waves against the sides of a ship, this is his grave. He will die here out at sea somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean, far away from the warmth and comfort of a home and the life that he used to have.

Well at least it would be better than dying in front of a whole crowd of people he didn't even know. Left to hang by the neck until dead, then have his body hung over the walls of the city, named a pirate and act as an example to others who would go against the law, to show them that this is what would become of them. What dignity would he have left then? It had been in his defense that he had killed a man, if he hadn't he himself would be dead but of course they wouldn't hear him out.

From the ship's wheel, John could hear the mutterings of a prayer being said, the captain was saying his confession along with his prayers. With his body numb from the cold, John got onto his knees, making the sign of the cross as he clasps his hands together, offering a prayer up to any god that would hear him.

Just as he has finished and is about to sit once more, there is a loud cracking sound and John's heart is in his mouth as the mast come crashing down, smashing the ship into two. He is flung overboard by the force of the mast smashing into the ship and for a moment he is submerged underwater. John holds his breathe and heads for what seems to be the surface and he breaks free, gasping. Taking in large gulps of air, he is floating for a moment before another wave crashes over and sends him under the waves once more.

This time his efforts to fight back are not as strong, he is tired, arms and legs leaden from the first attempt at trying to swim back to the surface. John cannot hold his breath for any longer and he begins to take in water, the pain of it slowly ebbing away into numbness. He sees a large piece of wood and the ropes of the mast nearby and in his fading strength, makes a grasp for it.

The mast rises back to the surface, a tangle of torn sails and heavy ropes, a figure is seen, coughing and spluttering, expelling water from his lungs as he clings onto the beam of the mast. His vision is blurry and as John, clings onto the mast in the dying storm, he can see, a shadow rising from the east. As it draws nearer, he realizes it's in the shape of a ship. John tries to call out to them but his consciousness is fading fast.

The last image he sees is that of massive black sails that swell in the wind of the storm and the Jolly Roger, fluttering eerily in the dying wind.

Pirates.

AN: Okay so here's the first chapter up, the next one will be coming right away. Two chapters in a day! A New Year's special :) Reviews please because i love to hear what my readers have to say!