Title: Steps

Author: WickedRum

Disclaimer: Disney has them. I'm simply having fun a little. Nothing and nobody was actually harmed during the production of this fanfic.

Summary/Set/Pairing: post AWE, the East India Trading Company is back chasing after the dead man's chest, Elizabeth could use some help to protect it. Sparrabeth and a little Norribeth, as usual.

Genre: adventure/romance

Rating: go for PG just now, I'm not sure yet.

Repeatedly demoted Lieutenant James Norrington, this time punished for committing the crime of setting a bunch of prisoners free that were captured on the Empress, formerly known as admiral Norrington, stopped in his tracks, carefully listening out to the noises that came from the dock at Tortuga. Uh-oh. From the slow and uneven way the footsteps resonated on the wooden pier and the slurry singing he could tell Captain Jack Sparrow was on his way back to his Black Pearl from the inn. James cursed under his breath in a more piraty fashion than not, many things had changed since that fateful day he'd attempted to ask Elizabeth Swann's hand in marriage. He quickly ducked behind a barrel, if he'd learnt one thing over the last few years, it was that Sparrow was not to underestimated, whether he was inebriated or not, in fact you could never be sure if he was besotted or not either. He watched the pirate dangling up the plank tripping and catching himself with two hands on the ground, barely avoiding falling on his face and making a lot of noise at it. As he stood up right by the railing for a long moment swaying, James would've sworn Jack'd tumble into the water, but in true Sparrow style he avoided it in the end.

The captain grabbed a not so tight bit of the rigging for inadequate support, them dug into his pockets. He pulled out a series of little objects James couldn't see, but some was paper, he could hear the ruffling. His most annoying foeman giggled, then started to throw the bits he took out his coat into the water, accompanied by some more laughing, making James puzzled and once more wondering about the sanity of the illustrious looter. One thing for sure, he seemed more drunk than usual and James could also be more sure it wasn't a put on performance since Sparrow could not know he had an audience. Maybe the opportunity did arise for a way of getting what he came for in a more simpler way than he'd imagined? He had previously searched most of the ship and had not found the chest. The most he could find was a few drunken pirates asleep below. His own fencing abilities he'd never doubted, it was previously proven that he was better at it than Sparrow. Hand on the hilt of his sword he could just step out and...

Jack turned and stared at the man suddenly standing before him rather blank. He swayed backwards to blink, his face crunched up in a disturbingly intense expression while he tried to figure out what was going on. All in all, accentuating James' suspicions about the state of his sottish mind.

Then finally his discombobulation turned into surprisal, but he didn't appear to be bothered by the appearance of the naval officer, "amongst the living ye as well, Mr. Norrington!" He seemed quite pleased. "Last time I saw ye running away wif a box wif a crowd of dead men chasing ye! Still after a dead man's chest former commodore, or is it the lass?" Jack grinned goofily.

James frowned. How come this man always so on spot even if he can have no idea what he's talking about? That he was still in love with Elizabeth was maybe not too hard to guess, but how would Jack know he is after the chest? At ready when Jack tumbled closer he pulled his sword out. However, he had mistaken the pirate's movements with anything threatening.

"Still fond of the stuff?" Having pulled it out of his pocket with his left hand, Jack waved his flask of rum around, spilling some in his clumsiness.

James shook his head and pointed his weapon at his long time adversary, "the Earl of Warwick has promised me governancy of some new colonies comfortably very far from here if I bring the chest back In fact he doesn't doubt I can do it again," he reminded the captain of his earlier victory over him where it really mattered.

"What? Why? Who?"

"The new chairman of the East India Trading Company. Very knowledgeable man, haven't you heard? He even knew the location of this chest, all I'd have to do is take it off here this ship."

"Well, former commodore, I'm afraid you've been misinformed," Jack waved his flask around and in a pretend clumsiness spill he poured the contents into James' face to gain some time to pull his sword, "by your leave Mr. Norrington." He distanced himself so he can knife his cutlass in a diagonal, more defensive than anything movement. What he wanted was talk to the officer cause having Elizabeth strongly involved in the mix has given him some leverage that he intended to use. "But even if it was here it's not mine to give."

They exchanged some unserious blows, but once James wiped enough of the rum out his eyes his strikes became like a storm, strong and continuous having put all his anger over his ruined life into them. "Never stopped you from trying to keep it in the past."

Jack was taken by surprise a few times and barely managed to keep out the way of the blade, thank God he was drunk that his movements were unpredictable too. He flew at Norrington, "the whelp's no like Davvy Jones," he jumped back to block an attack and once again took a more of a defensive stance to have a chance to talk, his favorite method of getting himself out of situations. Not to mention James was a better swordsman, he'd disarmed him before and he wasn't even drunk then. "I doubt he'd do anything fe ye even if ye threaten to pierce his heart if Lizzie's at stake."

It was James now who jumped back into a defensive state now and since they both stood back the loud clashes of the swords that could've woken everyone around chased for a little while. The ex admiral was confused, "what's Turner's got to do with it? He's not still after bunk like freeing his father from the Dutchman? The man's a crook, regardless the rest."

Jack scrunched up his face for a moment, it was his turn to be bemused. Did nobody tell the former commodore who the new captain of the Flying Dutchman was? Well, of course, it they did, he'd be less likely to want to steal it. "Lizzie told me...ei, just how long did it take ye to recover from those injuries?"

"I can assure you Mr. Sparrow, my injuries are long healed and will not stop me from using my advantage over a drunken pirate."

"Will Turner has already freed Bootstrap, the eunuch's the captain of the damned Dutchman." Using the advantage of the surprise of the new information, Jack attacked the moment he uttered the words.

James' reaction time was however better than Jack anticipated. He blocked the attack first, then advanced and sliced at the pirate.

Jack yelped as the blade slashed through his left sleeve and the muscles, then cursed. Not so much because of the pain, more because that was his drinking arm, the one he used to hold the bottle while his other hand was busy with other things! Funny the things the go through your head, he established. He didn't even bother wasting one stray thought at the amount of blood dripping down on his newly scrubbed deck, but did notice that James' sword, (swords??) did seem to come from all directions while he was up against only one man. A more forceful blow to his blade made his grip slack, knocked him over and he fell to the side on his bottom while his cutlass slid abaft.

"The best pirate..." Norrington muttered under his breath as he placed his weapon under Jack's chin. It was a sentence that vexed him for years. Was he maybe finally be able to get over it? "Hand over the compass," he ordered, hoping to use it to finally locate this chest.

"Are you sure it'll work for you?" Elizabeth walked forward with Jack's sword she'd just lifted off the deck.

James gave her a weak smile, his surprise only manifesting itself in his slightly glazed over eyes. Their destinies entwined, again and no matter how much heartache every encounter with the governor's daughter gave him, he'd chose meeting her rather than not any day. And she was right, now that she was standing right there, in his reach and mixing up his feelings the compass'd just swing round. Not to think of the fact that handing over the heart to the Earl of Warwick'd mean selling Elizabeth out, she'd certainly not like her beloved Will being tossed about. He lowered his sword, his decision process resulting in a single word containing every emotion from despondency to excitement, "Elizabeth..."

The woman in question ran to Jack and poured the contents of some vial onto Jack's wound, making it close over. Only the large gash on the coat gave away there was something there a moment ago.

Jack blinked up at him in triumph. He loved the expression on the ex commodore's face, he loved stunning people, it was one of his favorite past-times. It was always good to add to the surprises to keep the astonishment going, so he grabbed Elizabeth by the hips and pulled her close, "Lizzie me luv, why don't ye show the good commodore the wonders of the fountain of youth? That wound he'd suffered nigh a year ago, something like that'd always pull even if yer one of the lucky ones to survive it. And why don't ye give him a drop to drink too?"

Elizabeth looked at him incredulously, having been included amongst the people that were to be stunned. "You want to make James immortal too?"

"That and his word he'd leave us alone. At least fe this century," Jack grinned. He'd ever been proud of his own negotiation skills.

Tbc