Alexander had taken Evangeline to his office, not the cells, and ordered her to sit. She sat in a large chair opposite the Commodore. Her wrists were still free of shackles, and she had even been offered something to drink. She took the large room in. The walls, darkly colored, held large paintings of men in Navy uniforms and medals on their lapels. They stared at her disapprovingly. The drapes were deep red, and closed so that the only light from the room came from the fireplace which gave off such an intense heat, she felt she would melt into her seat. Alexander sat behind his desk, almost hidden by stacks of neatly arranged parchments and books about centuries old naval tactics and war heros. He stared at her as if he did not know what to say. Evangeline tried to spot a weapon that she could lunge for if the need arose, but she saw nothing other than what Alexander had on his person. Her wrist, which had now begun to swell, throbbed and was hot to the touch. She needed medical attention. She needed Nathaniel.

"Am I under arrest?" she asked again, becoming impatient.

Alexander signed, and placed his palms on his desk. "No, you are not."

Geline sat up straight and then leaned forward. "Then why have you brought me here, Commodore? You cornered me on my way home and brought me here. On what grounds?"

"On the grounds of you're a fugitive," he snapped.

"You didn't follow us. I've seen no wanted posters, no reward for my capture, or Jack's for that matter. I've been here for five months, and I have not heard a word from you or any other naval officer. Why bring me in now?"

The man sat quietly for a moment, staring into the fireplace, and Evangeline wondered if he was even listening to her.

"Commodore?"

"My wife died," he said, turning to her. "Eight months ago, in childbirth. I lost her, and my child."

Evangeline sat back in her chair, in disbelief over the entire display. What exactly was going on?

"I'm sorry for your loss," she whispered.

"Do not pretend you care. You're under no orders to be loyal to me. I almost killed you. I had you scheduled for the gallows, and then I nearly choked you to death. We're not friends."

He was right. They were the farthest thing from friends, but her heart still went out to him.

"That is true. You could have killed me, but I can forget that for a second to give you my condolences," she replied.

"Losing people you love puts your life in perspective. This position, this title of Commodore, I keep it only because I know nothing else."

She wondered if it was dark yet. With the curtains drawn, she was unable to tell.

"Is Jack dead?" she asked. "Have you captured him and his crew? Is he s-"

"Captain Jack Sparrow and his crew are safely out of reach on the Pearl. We did not apprehend them."

"Oh, thank God," she sighed, letting out a shaky breath.

"I don't care about capturing that filthy vagrant any longer. In fact, I don't want to hear his name ever again," he muttered, bringing his fingers to his temples.

"Please tell me why you've brought me here."

He stood then, using his palms to push himself away from his desk. He walked over to the fireplace, and stoked it, making Evangeline wonder if he had lost his mind. A fire in the middle of April was idiotic.

"I brought you here to make a deal with you," he said, turning to her.

His bright red hair against the flames nearly blinded her, and she blinked a few times to force the heat out.

"Alright. What do you want?"

"I want you and Sparrow to leave, immediately, and never return to this town. Your escape nearly ruined me. I'm lucky that I was not demoted and ostracized. I wanted nothing more than to see that goddamn ship at the bottom of the ocean, and you and Sparrow along with it. But then Priscilla…I don't care about revenge any longer. I don't care about Sparrow, or you, or much of anything. But, I don't want to see you or that man in this town for the rest of my life."

Evangeline took his words in, and let them resonate for a moment. She was sweating now, small beads of perspiration fell down her chest and arms, the fire becoming almost too much to handle.

"What happens if I don't agree to those terms? I have people I love in this town, people who mean everything to me."

He shoved his hands into his pockets and walked back to his desk, but did not sit. Instead, he leaned against the front end of the large piece of furniture and shrugged his shoulders.

"Then, I retire from this position, someone else takes over, and they pursue you and Sparrow. To the fullest extent of the law, I might add. If you're seen in this town by someone who is not under my command, you'll be charged and you'll be put to death. Same for Sparrow if he's caught. I assume he is waiting for you to join him aboard his ship anyway, why else is he lingering? Oh, and your friends, the ones whose wedding you've just come from? Wouldn't it be a shame if they wound up in here for harboring a fugitive?"

The thought of never seeing Nathaniel or Sarah again stabbed at her heart. She was leaving, true, but she had no intention of staying away forever. She wanted to visit them, to meet their future children, to keep them in her life. The thought of them being punished, and possibly hurt, however, was worse. Her wrist was beginning to cause her great pain, and she groaned.

"You only have one choice, McKenna. I have a ship waiting in the bay. I can step down whenever I want, and I can appointment one of my men to act in my stead in the meantime. They would die to have the accolades that come with bringing Sparrow in."

She looked up at him in anger. "You keep your men away from him, and from my friends. I agree to your terms. I'll leave, and I won't come back, but you keep your men far away from them."

He pulled his hands from his pockets and stepped towards her, his right arm outstretched.

"You're to leave here, grab whatever you deem necessary, and disappear. I want you and that ship out of the bay at dark. If you're not gone by then, or you linger, you'll never make it out either way. Is that understood?"

"You're not going to shoot us down the moment we step foot on deck? You won't bring Nathaniel and Sarah in all the same?" She asked, looking at his hand in disgust.

"You have my word. I just want you gone."

Geline looked down at her throbbing wrist. She tried to set her hand down in her lap, but the movement was far too painful.

"You'll excuse me for not shaking your hand, I believe my wrist is broken," she replied.

He nodded. "I see. Well, your word is as good as mine. And my word is law. Shall I call for someone to patch that up?" He asked.

"With all due respect, Commodore, I don't want your help. Am I free to leave?"

Alexander shocked her then by smiling, and giving a slight chuckle.

"Whatever Sparrow is doing to you, it's working. You may go. You won't be bothered," he said, stepping aside and opening the door.

She stood quickly, and stepped past Alexander only for him to grab her firmly by her shoulder. She gasped and turned to face him.

"Leave, and do not come back."

He released her, and Geline fled from the fort.


No one bothered her, just as he said, and when she stepped outside, she saw that the sun was already over the edge of the cliffs. She had two to three more hours before dark, at best. She clutched her wrist, and ran towards Nathaniel's. Every time her feet hit the ground, her wrist and arm pounded ferociously. She knew she should have taken Alexander up on his offer for help, but she hated that man, and would rather suffer than accept anything from him. She was forced to stop momentarily to take in a few deep breaths, and try to calm the pain. Leaning up against an alley wall, she wondered if Nathaniel and Sarah were home yet. She groaned, and told herself to keep moving.

Once she entered the house, she called out for both her friends, but received no response. She sat in a chair and finally allowed herself to look down at her wrist. It had doubled in size, and a dark blue bruise had formed. She took in air through her teeth as she turned it over to inspect the other side. There was a large lump, and she rolled her eyes in annoyance. It needed to be wrapped with bandage, she knew that much. She made her way to Nathaniel's medical supplies, and found what she needed.

Desperately wishing her doctor was home, she carefully and slowly wrapped her lame wrist. The pressure of the bandage hurt, but it helped keep her wrist in place. At least it wasn't her dominant hand, she thought. Once she finished, she looked out the window to see the sun almost gone, with the newlyweds nowhere in sight. The thought of leaving without letting them knowing she could never come back made her stop in her tracks. She sunk into the chair, put her head in her lap, and cried.

She allowed herself two minutes of the self pity before she rose, wiped her tears, and made her way to her bedroom. Her valise was waiting for her, just where she had left it. Before grabbing it however, she left and entered Nathaniel's room instead. It was tidy, with only a jacket out of place. She ran her hand along his bed, the edge of his desk, the frame that held a painting of Sarah. She closed her eyes, hoping to hear the front door open, but when no one entered the home, she reached for a piece of parchment and sat at Nathaniel's desk.

"My dearest and most loving Nathaniel,

In all the years I have been with you, you have taught me such kindness like I have never known. You sought no payment from me when Jack and my father desperately needed care. You refused to alert the authorities to Jack's presence. You stayed by my side when my I was forced to take a job, and you offered to become my husband to help lessen that burden. You gave me your home the night my father died, and you were not angry with me when I revealed my feelings for Jack to you. You wrote to me while I was at sea, and needed the comfort of a friend. You opened your arms to me when I left the Pearl, even after I abandoned you, and you nursed me back to health.

Now, it is my turn to help you and Sarah. The Navy knows of Jack's position, and I was apprehended on my way home. I've been told to leave. I'm still a fugitive, afterall. If I leave, and never return, you and Sarah will not be punished for helping me. If I leave, and never return, Jack will not be killed. If I leave, and never return, my heart will be broken, but my loved ones will be safe. I am sorry that I could not stay to say goodbye, waiting is dangerous.

I love you, Nathaniel. You are irreplaceable. Please give Sarah my love, she has been like a sister to me.

I will write to you.

Love, Evangeline."

She set the quill aside, fought the urge to sob at her loss, and left the room. With her valise in her good hand, she walked from Nathaniel's home, down the cobblestone street, and around the corner without looking back.


The sun had maybe an hour left before completely disappearing, and as she climbed her cliffs for the last time, she saw Jack waiting for her. He was sitting, cross-legged in the shadows, fiddling with his pistol. When he looked up, her breath caught, and she dropped her valise. She heard as he whispered her name, almost in disbelief.

"You came," he said, as he stood.

Evangeline let a cry escape from her lips, and she leaned into him, his arms folding around her.

"I missed you," she said, looking up at him.

He pulled her close, searched her eyes, and then kissed her softly and deliberately. She kissed him back, saying his name between breaths.

"Don't ever make me leave you again," he whispered into her hair. "One night was hellish enough, but a fortnight nearly killed me."

He hugged her tighter, and she gasped and pulled her arm from him quickly to tend to her wound.

"What's wrong?" He asked, releasing her.

She said nothing, but cradled her arm protectively.

"Did ya hurt yourself?"

Evangeline showed him her wrapped wrist, and he grimaced.

"What happened, luv? Who did this?" He growled.

"I fell, Jack. Alexander cornered me in town, one of his men ran into me, and I fell. I think it's broken."

"Oh, God, luv. We'll tend to it. So, they found you, too." He sighed. "We saw a Navy ship two days ago, but it never came close to the Pearl. I almost came ashore to make sure you were safe. What happened?"

"Alexander told me we are to leave, and never come back. He threatened you, and Nathaniel and Sarah. He apparently has no interest in pursuing us any longer after the death of his wife and child, but he can't control anyone who replaces him. We have to leave."

Jack nodded, and bent down to pick up Geline's luggage. "Your friends, they're safe?"

"Yes. I didn't even…I didn't even get to say goodbye," she said softly.

"Evangeline," Jack said. "I'm sorry, luv. My life is...it's complicated. It's selfish for me to ask you to be part of it, I know. There will come times like this, where you're going to hurt, and that bloody kills me. But...listen to me, darling, I'll do everything in my power to keep you safe and out of harm's way. Do ya trust me?"

She closed the gap between them and looked into his eyes, the eyes that made her weak in the knees, and made her dizzy. She kissed him slowly and he sighed as she pulled away.

"I trust you, Jack."

"Alright, luv. It's time to go."

He grabbed her hand, and led her down the cliffs. She turned back to catch one last glimpse of the sunset from her favorite place in the entire world.