Disclaimer: I own nothing!
A/N: Sorry for the delay. I was in Las Vegas for over a week. It was fun. All Hallow's Eve in Sin City. But I'm back now and I'm posting a chapter. And After I've posted this I'm going to continue working on the next one until I pass out. I should have the next chapter up in a day or so.
To all of my Reviewers. THANK YOU SO MUCH! YOU GUYS ARE GREAT!
Also I've planned 2 sequels to this story. One will be A Touch of Destiny: The Fountain of Youth and the last will be A Touch of Destiny: The Chosen Ones.
Also For those of you who actually bother to read this and pay attention I want to point this out. The Pirates of the Caribbean story is not divided into three seperate stories. It is in fact one HUGE story divided into three acts. Therefore the fact that my changes in the first act are subtle is for a reason. Things will change quite a bit once we get past the defeat of Barbossa. Because where the movies left months out in between the stories I don't plan to.
Now I'm off. I have more to write and people in my house are annoying me.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
6. Peas In A Pod
There were always times when Buffy found herself happy to be right and currently this was one of those moments, at least to a certain extent. Not only had they been spotted by a ship but they were now coming up along side it to get on board from the longboat they had found themselves in after being rescued. Both Liz and Jack looked about ready to jump at a moments notice, Liz in her rush to get on board and go rescue Will and Jack to get as far from capture as possible. Not that she didn't blame either of them. She knew she was going to end up having to get Jack out of this mess eventually but his problems weren't her main focus, Will's were.
She noted absently that Liz was already making her way up the ladder at what could only be described as warp speed even before the longboat had been tied off. Buffy ignored it though for the most part as she had other things to consider. The Pearl had taken a nice chunk of damage and Barbossa would be taking his sweet time to get back to the Isle du Muerta. That was to their advantage if Buffy could convince them to use it. The trick was finding a way to convince them, a small problem she hadn't figured out how to solve yet. As much as she hated to say it she'd learned one lesson above all others in the last decade and she lived by it.
"Never appeal to a man's better nature. He may not have one. Instead, invoke his self interest."
It was selfish and cynical but it was the truth. She wasn't a hero any more and she didn't deal with hero's either. She dealt with real people and she had managed to adapt. Now the trick was finding out what would provoke them into going after Will.
Letting her mind trail off of its thought she stood and followed the soldier that motioned to her to climb the ladder. The treck didn't take her but a few moments but the sight that greeted her as she stepped up onto deck didn't surprise her too much. Jack was already in chains and Liz already looked as though she'd been arguing with the older gentleman that Buffy assumed to be her father the Governor. Both he and everyone else, including a man dressed as a Commodore were staring at her with a looks of both surprise and wariness.
"Who are you?" asked Liz's father and Buffy almost had the urge to sigh, almost. She had an ace up her sleeve as far as it went with the British but she really didn't want to use it. It always ended with her being treated in ways she hated. But the truth was the only thing that was going to keep her from ending up joining Jack in chains so she decided that it was easier.
"Elizabeth Summers" she answered just as Jack spoke up as well.
"No one."
Faintly taken off guard that Jack would do anything to try and protect her Buffy didn't pay much attention to the look that passed over Liz's features. She had other things to worry about at the moment that Jack making an attempt at something.
"You are Lady Summers?" Govenor Swann asked her with a look that Buffy was easily able to sum up and use.
"Who?" asked Liz, looking lost. It seemed that Liz didn't know quite as much about her past as Buffy had thought. Of course no one knew what they thought they did and that was just how Buffy liked it.
"What?" came Jack's obviously surprised voice but Buffy ignored it instead meeting the Governor's gaze levelly and nodding.
"It is a pleasure to meet the young Captain who assisted our country in a time of war. Once we reach Port Royal I would be honored if you would accept my hospitality."
"But we've got to save Will." interrupted Liz as she marched across deck, ignoring everything and everyone else. Buffy followed and watched, not quite sure yet if she should interfere but knowing that if she had to she would force the matter.
"No. You're safe now. We will return to Port Royal immediately, not go gallivanting after pirates!"
"Then we condemn him to death. A death that is not deserved." Buffy told him from where she stood.
"The boy's fate is regrettable, but, then, so was his decision to engage in piracy."
"To rescue me. To prevent anything from happening to me." Liz interrupted yet again, not that Buffy didn't blame her. She wasn't about to leave Will to die if she could help it. It was simply a matter of finding out what they wanted and offering it to them, and find it Buffy would.
"If I may be so bold as to inject my professional opinion. The Pearl was listing near to scuppers after the battle. It's very unlikely she'll be able to make good time. Think about it. The Black Pearl. The last real pirate threat in the Caribbean, mate. How can you pass that up?" Jack interjected from his place between two soldiers. Buffy had to give him credit, he was doing exactly what she had planned to do though she knew it wasn't for the sake of Will but for his own benefit. Still, it served her purpose and that was all that mattered. Glancing over at Liz she noted that Liz seemed to have the same thought and was pleased to note she didn't disagree.
"By remembering that I serve others, Mr. Sparrow, not only myself."
"Commodore, I beg you, please do this. For me. As a wedding gift." Liz bargained as she followed the Commodore to the steps. The man paused and gave Liz a look and it was then and there that Buffy realized several things of value. The first being that Liz was willing to bargain at whatever stakes she thought necessary to get what she wanted, a very pirate like trait if Buffy had ever seen one. And secondly that the Commodore evidentially was in love with Liz.
"Elizabeth. Are you accepting the Commodore's proposal?" Governor Swann asked from his spot next to Buffy.
"I am."
"A wedding! I love weddings...drinks all around!" Jack interjected from Buffy's other side. Feeling very irritated at the older man Buffy spared him a glance.
"Jack."
"Yes darlin."
"Your lips are moving and sound is coming out. This is never a good thing." Buffy deadpanned. There were times when shooting Jack looked like a good thing but she'd never been able to do it. Usually she ended up saving his useless butt, all because he had gotten her out of a tight spot with Sao Feng all those years ago. Apparently her words amused the Commodore because he almost cracked a smile but seemed to resist it with obvious effort. Instead turning to Jack. "Mr. Sparrow, you will accompany these fine men to the helm and provide us with the bearing to Isla de Muerta. You will then spend the rest of the voyage contemplating all possible meanings of the phrase "silent as the grave." Do I make myself clear?"
"Inescapably clear."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
He knew it was night again. He could feel it even if he couldn't see it. Night again, it marked the end of Buffy and Elizabeth's first full day stranded on the island. He wasn't afraid for them though, his belief in Buffy somehow stronger than it should have been considering what she was and the short amount of time he had known her. His life had bought both of theirs and it was an exchange he was willing to make. Elizabeth was alive and so long as Buffy was as well he had no doubt that Buffy would protect her. Which meant he could face his own death with little fear. The sounds of the two men mopping were steady and sloppy and were the faint sounds of movement coming from the crew in the other cell. Sounds that he knew were ticking down the last hours of his life.
"Awwk, shiver me timbers."
"Cotton 'ere says you missed a bit." translated Gibbs, apparently unafraid even in his current circumstances. The short squatly man raised his mop and slapped it against the bars and it reminded him that his companion had said that he resembled his father. A man that he knew little of and remembered nothing of himself.
"You knew William Turner?" he asked the man as he leaned against the bars. If he was going to give his blood in his father's place than he wanted to know who exactly he was doing it for.
"Ol' Bootstrap Bill. We knew him. Never sat well with Bootstrap what we did to Jack Sparrow, the mutiny and all. He said it wasn't right with the Code. That's why he sent off a piece of the treasure to you as it were. He said we deserved to be cursed... and remain cursed."
"Stupid blighter."
"Good man." commented Gibbs and Will found himself agreeing. At least his father had a sense of honor. That fact coupled with what little Buffy had told him made him believe that the was quite possibly a reason not to hate that he was a pirate.
"Well, as you can imagine that didn't sit too well with the Captain."
"That didn't sit too well with the Captain, at all. Tell him what Barbossa did."
"I'm telling the story! So...what the Captain did, he strapped a cannon to Bootstraps' bootstraps."
"Bootstraps' bootstraps." murmered the taller and skinnier one. Will felt himself fill with a sense of revulsion. They had murdered his father for having a sense of honor. There was little doubt in him now, his father had been a good for a pirate and he couldn't hate him for it.
"The last we saw of ol' Bill Turner, he was sinking to the crushing black oblivion of Davy Jones' Locker. 'Course it was only after that we learned we needed his blood to lift the curse."
"That's what you call ironic." piped in the taller man and they both began to laugh. It sickened Will that they could find such a thing funny but they were what they were and he could do nothing about it.
"Bring him!" barked a voice from near the stairs and Will turned to see Barbossa toss the cell keys to the shorter man. It was time and in spite of everything he could help the anger that welled up inside of him instead of the fear he knew should have been there.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Night had fallen not long after they had approached the island and Buffy found herself going over the day again in her mind. Governor Swann had led her away to speak with him while Jack did as he was told and Liz had a talk with her new finance. She wasn't sure what they had spoken about since even she had some rules about eavesdropping but one thing she was certain of was that of the three of them, none had said a word about the Pearl's crew being cursed. She didn't for obvious reasons, no one would believe her. But the other two it seemed had their own agendas and it set off a little alarm in the back of her mind. Jack was a weasel but generally one that wasn't dangerous but Liz, Buffy didn't know Liz well enough to make any assumptions yet.
Standing near the railing on the port side of the ship Buffy watched carefully around them, checking for signs of life that would indicate that Barbossa would know they were coming. Down the railing it seemed that Liz was doing the same in her newly acquired soldier's clothing with Jack a tad bit further down. The Commodore's warning about keeping silent apparently enough to keep him quiet for once.
"You didn't tell them about the curse." Liz commented to Jack and she knew herself.
"I notice neither did you. Same reason I imagine." Jack returned with a slight smile.
"He wouldn't have risked it." she told him but Buffy knew that wasn't entirely it. There was something else to it but what it was Liz was keeping close to the chest.
"Could've gotten him drunk. Don't get me wrong love. I admire a person whose willing to do whatever is necessary." Jack returned and Buffy saw something in his eyes that she hadn't seen before. It was admiration, approval and not a little bit of lust. Most wouldn't have seen it but Buffy knew Jack better than pretty much everyone. Of course that didn't mean a whole lot but it did give her a level playing field with him. Something she always found she needed when it came to Jack.
"You're a smart man Jack but I don't entirely trust you." Liz countered and Buffy inwardly smiled. There was far more to Liz than met the eyes and she knew it. She had the potential to make a great pirate if she ever wanted to but personally Buffy thought she'd have made a great slayer. Jack also appeared to be impressed by her observation and moved closer to her, a smile on his lips that Buffy knew all too well. Jack was hiding something when it came to Liz and Buffy had a fair idea about what it was. She just hoped he didn't decide to push and end up in a situation he couldn't get out of.
"Peas in a pod darling."
"With me Sparrow." the Commodore told Jack as he tossed Jack's compass back. Idlely Buffy wondered what the compass had shown the Commodore but already knew the answer. That compass pointed to what you wanted most and at the moment it was obvious the Commodore wanted to rescue Will so he could have Liz. Jack followed him leaving Buffy standing down the railing from Liz for a moment until Liz followed them to where they were boarding the Longboats to leave for the caves. Buffy knew they weren't going to let her go since they now knew she was Lady Summers, a title that she hadn't wanted but accepted because it kept her from being arrested by the British if they caught her, but she wasn't about to be left behind. Even if she was going to hace to sneak out to do it. Moving into the Captain's quarters she closed the door and looked around her. There was a chest built into the wall as well as several other pieces of furniture secured in various places. Moving quietly Buffy began to open drawers and doors. Finding several useful pieces along the way. A pair of pistols were found in a drawer and after filling them with powder and checking that they were ready she secured them in her sash. After several more minutes of looking she found the jackpot, a sword hidden in the space between the bed and the wall. The cutlass wasn't the most beautiful blade she'd ever seen but beauty wasn't her goal. Weapons were. She had just managed to secure the blade when she heard Liz yelling, a yell that was coming closer and closer to the cabin she was in.
"Sorry, but for your own safety."
"Coward! The commodore ordered - I have to tell him! The pirates! They're cursed! They cannot be killed!" Liz yelled as she fought but was none the less pushed through the doors of the cabin, it seemed that neither one of them noticed Buffy standing there and that was exactly how she would have had it. If Liz would help her then they stood a chance of actually saving everyone's butts.
"Don't worry, miss, he's already informed of that. A little mermaid flopped up on deck and told him the whole story." the soldier said with his fair share of sarcasm and slammed the door in Liz's face before locking it from the outside.
"This is Jack Sparrow 's doing!" Liz yelled one last time at the doors. Behind her Buffy decided to make herself known and cleared her throat.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Remember to Please Review. They are all welcome and loved.