Title: The Beast Within

Rating: M for language and sexual situations

Pairings: Barbossa/Elizabeth w/mentions of Barbossa/Tia Dalma, Will/Elizabeth & Barbossa/OC

Word Count: 1200-ish

Warnings: May contain some slight AWE spoilers

Summary: Barbossa thinks about women past and considers the future

Disclaimer: The Big Cheese knows all, sees all, owns all -- hell, they even own me. I do claim creative rights for Ava and my fetish for Barbossa and Geoffrey.

A/N: Not sure if my writing appeals to anyone but it I had alot of fun writing it, so...

The Black Pearl sailed silently along towards the shoreline of Tortuga where the crew would make port to gather much needed supplies for their trip to Singapore. Elizabeth stepped up to the helm where Captain Barbossa was watching the waves pass by. He was lost deep in thought, remembering the night that Tia Dalma brought him back from the dead and the subsequent nights spent at her disposal. "Ya purpose is yet ta be served Hecta" she purred into his ear. He lay on a bed in her shack for nights on end while she administered potions and magic to his recovering body. When he was not yet strong, she fed him and helped him to regain his abilities. Barbossa delighted in the fact that the food no longer turned to ash in his mouth, that the wine was able to quench his thirst but he still longed for the pleasurable company of a woman. For nights he would plead with her, and when that didn't work, he gathered up his strength and pursued her throughout that shack, chasing her from room to room until he caught her. It had been so long since he had been able to release this demon inside of him and he planned on making good use of it now that his life had been restored. Under the moonlight that shown through the cracks in the ceiling, he thought she looked absolutely angelic and ravished her over and over in every way he could think of, gutting her over and over again. Thinking about those nights, it reminded him of just how long it had been since he had been with a woman.

"Care to let me in on your thoughts Captain?" Elizabeth spoke boldly and it startled him. "Ah lass, it's nothin' yer virgin ears should be cursed with". She loved when she caught him off guard. "Captain Barbossa, I hardly think that there is anything you could say or do that would shock me anymore, we've known each other far too long". "Besides, you look like you could use with someone to talk to" Elizabeth cooed in her best sultry voice. "Nay, it be best fer you to just leave well enough alone for now." Barbossa was not about to divulge his innermost thoughts to the girl. There was a sexual tension between the two of them that she denied and he did his best to tame. She was a feisty one though and on nights when she was feeling especially lonely, she would come to him and tease him. Always with that flirty look upon her beautiful face. Elizabeth would never come right out and admit it, but he could see the lust in her eyes. Aye, many a night he thought about Elizabeth, the kiss that they had shared so long ago had left him feeling breathless. He wanted to know what she tasted like, how their bodies would feel together, but there was something holding him back. Barbossa thought about the day that was soon approaching, the day in Singapore when he would reunite her with The Empress, the vessel that Sao Feng had made her Captain of as he lay dying. While Elizabeth was excited about returning to her duties as Captain and looked forward to sailing with her crew again, Barbossa secretly dreaded it; he had gotten used to having her along, she was a much needed breath of fresh air and he would miss that. Almost as if she could read his thoughts, she reached up to give him a chaste peck on the cheek and turned to leave.

Pulling into port, the Captain made way to his cabin. He wasn't ready to feel solid ground beneath his feet just yet, that could wait 'til morn. That night, he dreamt of Elizabeth. The first night in Port Royal when Pintel and Ragetti brought her aboard. She was feisty, something that was rare among women, but a trait that ran rampant in young girls. Cut to that night in the voodoo shack, the look of bewilderment on her face as he descended those stairs, apple in hand. She was so distraught with grief and he wanted to take her right there, would have had her fiancé not been present. He dreamt of chasing her around the Pearl and through his cabin, ravaging her in much the same way he had done with Tia Dalma. His final thought was of her walking away from him towards her ship, "Lizbeth" he whispered, but found that she could not hear him and just like that she and the ship vanished. When he woke in the morning his dreams haunted his thoughts like a ghost ship.

A drink, that's what he needed to clear his mind. Didn't like feeling like this. He was a pirate for fuck's sake, not some pansy boy. He was pretty sure that when Tia had resurrected him from the dead, a little bit of his evil nature had been lost. Probably by her doing. "Hecta, it not be good for ya to be killin' every ting in sight, ya not evil, yet ya act like the devil 'imself sometimes" she used to say. Nothing he could do about that right now, he was just glad to be alive. As he entered the tavern, he found some of his crew and joined them at their table, ordering the wench across the room to bring him some rum. In it's sweetness, he found consolation. Some point after his third or maybe it was his fifth drink, he noticed a young brunette standing just inside the door of the tavern. When he caught her eye, she turned her head down, caught in an awkward moment. Several moments later when she glanced in his direction again, she realized that he was still watching her. She flashed him a quick grin and made her way out the door. At twenty five years of age, Ava knew better than to get mixed up with Pirates, but she couldn't help but be taken in by the sight of him. Sure he was old enough to be her father, but he was handsome, weathered and worn. She liked to imagine herself with an older, more experienced man. Not that any of her gentlemen callers ever acted like an older, experienced man. Through with that she was, she had had enough of childish games and was ready to find someone who would make her happy, even just for a little while. So why then, when she saw him excuse himself from his tablemates and make his way over to her, did she wonder if she was doing the right thing by flirting with him.