Disclaimer: I own that piece of seaweed that floats by the ship, which I have decided to christen The Orpheus, in reference to the Greek myth. These characters and anything else you recognize all belong to Disney.

Chapter 3

"May I ask what's going on here?" Will inquired stiffly, with arms folded across his chest. Barbossa merely shrugged his shoulders and nodded towards Elizabeth, who could only stare wide-eyed and hope they didn't draw swords on each other.

"She offered to take the helm; I simply couldn't refuse. Had a bit of a slip, but we've set things straight again. Am I right, Miss?"

Will studied his captain thoughtfully for a moment. "Not to worry, I can set things straight if she should slip again."

Barbossa gave him a sly grin. "Can ye now?"

The offhand comment brought on an unpleasant stirring in the pit of Will's stomach, accompanied by the flash of an equally unnerving image that seemed to appear whenever he tried to close his eyes in sleep. His ever-present sense of selflessness was pushed aside when he came to grips with the fact that this image was even more disturbing than what preceded and followed it; his shipmates, many whom he'd gotten to know so well, wrenched from his very hands and dragged to the unknown depths of the sea. The Pearl, once thought invincible, beaten to splinters and pulled to her second demise. No, this image was certainly much worse than all of that. 'I don't know,' he quipped to himself in reply to Barbossa's question. 'Can I?' He somehow managed to bring himself out of his sullen thoughts.

"We'll manage", was his cool reply.

"I'm sure you will". The captain wore a calm smile as he turned once more in an attempt to walk away from them both, after giving Elizabeth a courteous nod and Will another pat on the back.

"Oh, and Captain", Elizabeth called after him.

Barbossa sighed tiredly, the conversation was growing dull, even for his liking. He really wanted nothing more at the moment than a good night's rest, something he realized that he'd taken for granted long ago. Had that coy voice belonged to anyone else, his response would have been that of a sailor; the gentleman in him would respond this time. "Yes, Elizabeth?" he asked wearily.

"May I inquire as to where I'll be staying on this 'little voyage', as you call it? A man of your honor certainly wouldn't deny me a place to stay." Behind the facade of playfulness that she displayed, he knew she meant business. He glanced down the stairway, gesturing for her to follow him. Her glance danced from him, to Will, to the helm, and settled somewhere between the two men. Will bristled in distaste and slight disbelief at what he presumed to be Barbossa's proposition. Barbossa took a deep personal enjoyment from the reaction.

"Mind the helm for us, would you, Turner?"

Already irritated with the captain's haughty request, it certainly did nothing for Will's mood when he realized that Elizabeth actually intended to acquiesce, stepping aside in order for him to take her place.

"Elizabeth!" he hissed. "You're not going to fall for that?"

The expression on Barbossa's face twisted into one of disgust. He strode back over to the helm, towering over Will and looking him square in the eye. "Fall fer what, boy? Believe I've warned you before about impugning my honor; I've no intentions of assailing hers, either."

She stepped between them, taking Will's hand and placing it firmly on the wheel. "Gentlemen, I assure you both that I am quite capable of making my own decisions." One would have had to have been a fool to not be aware that Will was fuming by this point, and as much as it sorrowed her to bring it about, Elizabeth knew that there was no way of getting around it. She didn't think it fair being the only one choking down a bit of pride. While the situation that was unfolding would have certainly seemed inappropriate to the untrained eye, it was anything but. Elizabeth sighed sadly at Will before turning to follow the captain. Guilt reared its ugly face at her once more; she knew he only wished for her well-being and happiness, and she kept brushing it off. She shook her head. It wouldn't do now to make herself anymore vulnerable in front of Barbossa than she already had. He sensed her unease, but chose wisely to let be the matter; there were times when the weaknesses of people should not be taken advantage of, even by his way of thinking. They descended the stairs in silence, neither saying a word to the other until they reached the entrance to the captain's quarters. He opened a door adjacent to his own to reveal a modest, but homely cabin that had been fairly well-furnished; a few candles had already been lit here and there. She could only gape at him with a grateful, awkward expression, not knowing exactly what to say.

"Yours", he said with a suave smile.

"It seems that The Orpheus is as unusual as her captain" she finally managed, barely above a whisper. "Thank you."

The smile lingered on his face as he considered her, knowing that the presence of her quiet and amicable side wasn't something that he'd see very often, and decided to enjoy it while it lasted, however short it might be. 'Shame', he thought, for as much as he took pleasure in her displays of defiance and stubborn independence, he couldn't deny that there was something altogether appealing about her shyness and timidity at the moment. It showed him that despite her spirited demeanor, she really was fragile at heart, not knowing exactly what it was that she wanted out of life, needing guidance, protection. Protection? Perhaps that was a bit much; he reminded himself of how capable she'd been both in ship to ship battle and in physical combat at Isla De Muerta. No, she'd be needing instructing, not protecting. She had already proven to be a capable learner, he just had to earn enough trust to make her a willing one; in order to do so, he knew he'd have to be willing to call a few more truces. He blinked, snapping himself back into the present before his eyes gave him away.

"I'm glad it's to yer liking." He pulled the door closed again. "Now get back to work", He grinned at her, laughing huskily as he disappeared into his own cabin.

"Goodnight, Captain" she said with a roll of her eyes and a smirk, figuring it had to be a bit too perfect to not have some sort of catch on his part. She was truly grateful, nonetheless to have a place in which she'd be able to escape later on and be with her thoughts, without having eyes, be they leering or sorrowful, upon her. Sorrowful eyes that she wasn't looking forward to facing at the moment, but had no choice. She trudged back up the stairway, finding Will still at the helm, looking a bit defeated. He managed a weak smile.

"Are you alright, love?" he asked softly.

"I- I'm fine, Will". She hoped her slight irritation wasn't coming through her words, mentally scolding herself for harboring irritation towards him in the first place.

"I'm sorry I tried to speak for you". He shook his head. "What I saw just seemed. . . well 'compromised' is the word that immediately comes to mind. I don't mean to be impetuous, it's a fault that I'm trying to remedy, I only wish for your safety. A year ago I found myself throwing caution and lawfulness away in an attempt to remove you from his grasp; understand I lost my composure now with good reason. He may be our captain, for the time being, but I don't hold any trust for him." He swallowed, but his mouth was dry. "But I do trust you."

Despite how balmy and warm it had been when they resided at Tia Dalma's, the air was rapidly growing dry and uncharacteristically cold. Elizabeth tried to repress a shiver and failed; Will instinctively removed his overcoat and placed it over her shoulders. She had meant to further press the matter of 'trust' as she slipped her arms into the coat, but was cut off by an exclamation from behind; it was Gibbs.

"Good God, Will. Your back!"

Elizabeth craned her neck round to see, gasping in horror when she saw the bloodied mess that had seeped through his shirt and dried over several times, causing the fabric to adhere to his skin.

"Will, what happened?" she asked, regretting the fact that she was restricted to the wheel and unable to fuss over him.

He thought for a moment before answering. "An act of compassion." He'd actually managed to somehow forget the searing gashes were even there; the events of the past two days had driven it from his mind. Now he was painfully aware of them once more.

"Compassion?" Echoed Gibbs. He shook his head. "You should have had Miss Tia take a look at that before we left; much longer and infection'll set in, and we'll have one more mess on our hands. Come on, and we'll get you some rum for that."

Will winced, he knew this was going to be far from pleasant. Unpleasant, but necessary, he thought, and headed below deck with a heavy sigh.

Gibbs turned to Elizabeth before he went. He'd apparently overheard much of the exchanging of words earlier. "I know yer the kind of lass what likes to be frightful independent and all that, but I think you should listen to Will about . . .", he lowered his voice. ". . .about the captain. I don't much trust him either."

"Who does?" she smiled.

"I don't trust him with you, Miss Elizabeth."

She nodded at him fondly, always having had a soft spot for his fatherliness towards her. "I'll be careful, Gibbs."

He smiled and gave her an affectionate pat on the back before heading below to tend to Will, and she was finally left in peace for the time being, with much to think over.

She hadn't said she didn't trust him. Being completely honest with herself, she really couldn't say whether she trusted him or not. She had to admit to herself, standing at the helm like that did tend to have a swelling effect on one's self importance, and let herself stand a bit taller than normal, and tilt her chin ever-so-slightly higher. It gave her a feeling of power, of being exempt from rules and morals and . . . guidelines, leading her to a roguish conclusion as she smiled haughtily.

'Trust is relative'.

A/N: Whew! This chapter was an absolute bugger to write, Will has been a real challenge for me. Expect me to draw on more Greek myth as the story progresses. Rum for anyone who can catch the references to "LOST", there are at least two, I may have slipped more in without realizing it. (Dangit, Sayid, this isn't your story, get out, get OUT I say! Not really, likely there are many more references to come) Hopefully I can get the plot moving on a bit faster now, I feel pretty satisfied with character setup, so we can move on to "da weird and haunted shores."