Author's Note: Here's the next chapter guys! Bet you didn't expect an update for it that quick, did ya? Well, I was super excited to write this chapter, and with the inspiration I got from all those amazing reviews, I couldn't wait. I had to write this! I had a lot of fun writing it, seeing as it was one of my favortie parts of the movie. I hope I did it some justice.

So, thank you to those who have taken the time to read my story and add it to their favorites. Huge thank you to my awesome reviewers: linalove, xxz0eyxx, Pizzapig, Gothic Unicorn, dionne dance, Guest, Guest, Guest, and Guest (wow, four Guest reviews). You rock!

Just one more chapter for the first film after this, and then it's on to Dead Man's Chest. Just to remind you, this story is going through all of the movies, so this story isn't going to just be eleven chapters long. I'm going all out here, and I'm planning on going beyond that with what I think may happen in the fifth film (come on, who doesn't wonder what they've got planned for that film, especially since it's been confirmed? 2015 people!)

And, out of curiosity, had anyone ever read The Giver. One of the best books ever, right? Did you know there was a series? I sure didn't. I just found out last week and reserved copies from my library so that I could read them. I'm pretty excited! That's right, I'm a bookworm.

Well, with that out of the way, let's get on with the chapter!

Disclaimer: (God, I hate these bloody things) I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean or Captain Jack Sparrow, as is an obvious fact. I'd be having way too much fun making Beckett's life a living hell if I did *Sweeney Todd smirk inserted here*

Chapter Ten: Swords Crossed

"Jack!" Will exclaimed.

"Not possible," Barbossa said in disbelief.

"Not probable," Jack countered as he made his way through Barbossa's band of pirates.

"Where's Elizabeth?" Will asked. "Where's Evangeline?"

Bo'sun clamped a hand on Jack's shoulder to keep him from advancing. "Elizabeth is safe, just like I promised. She all set to marry Norrington just like she promised, and you get to die for her just like you promised. So we're all men of our word really, except for Elizabeth, who is, in fact, a woman."

Will gave him a stern look. "And Evangeline? What about her?"

"Oh," the pirate said. "Well, she is staying put, just like she promised. So that makes two women who are...uh...women of their word."

Barbossa rolled his eyes at the exchange between the two, and raised the knife in his hand and pointed it in Jack's direction. "Shut up," he said. "Yer next."

Just as Barbossa put the knife to Will's neck, Jack said with a grimace, "You don't want to be doing that, mate."

Barbossa scowled at him. "Oh, I really think I do," he argued, and put the knife back to Will's throat.

Jack merely shrugged and folded his hands together. "Your funeral."

The older pirate rolled his eyes, quickly taking the knife away from the boy and facing Jack. "Why don't I want to be doin' it?"

"Well because," Jack began, slapping Bo'sun's hand off of his shoulder. "Because the HMS Dauntless, pride of the Royal Navy, is floating just off shore waiting for you."

That, he thought. And you'll have to face the fury of a woman scorned.

xxx

Evangeline was that woman Jack was thinking of. From her hiding spot, she could see and hear the exchange between her captain and Barbossa.

What is he planning? she wondered. Why tell him about the Navy?

She saw as Jack walked up closer to Barbossa, standing on the pile of treasure across from Will. She could just barely make out what they were saying, thanks to their voices carrying inside the room.

"Just hear me out, mate," she heard Jack say. "You order your men to row out to the Dauntless, they do what they do best. Robert's your uncle, Fannie's your aunt, there you are with two ships. The makings of your very own fleet. Of course, you'll take the grandest as your flagship, and who's to argue? But what of the Pearl?"

He paused for effect, most likely allowing his words to sink in. Evangeline had to admit that he did have a way with words.

"Name me Captain," he continued. "I'll sail under your colors, give you ten percent of me plunder, and you get to introduce yourself as 'Commodore' Barbossa, savvy?"

"And I suppose, in exchange, you want me to not kill the whelp?" Barbossa asked.

"No, no, by all means, kill the whelp. Just not yet."

What?! Evangeline wondered. Is he serious? Especially after the things Will has done for him?From what she had heard, Will was responsible for releasing Jack out of that prison and, essentially, he was helping him get his ship back.

Little did she know, Jack wasn't planning on letting the older pirate kill Will.

"Wait to lift the curse," she heard Jack say. "Until the opportune moment."

Evangeline watched Jack bend down slightly to pick up a handful of the cursed gold as he continued to speak. "For instance, after you've killed Norrington's men. Every. Last. One."

At his last few words, Jack dropped a medallion for each word. Evangeline noticed how his hand shifted slightly, but she didn't think anything of it.

"You've been planning this from the beginning," she heard Will say through gritted teeth. "Ever since you learned my name."

"Yeah," was Jack's reply.

"I want fifty percent of your plunder," Barbossa demanded.

"Fifteen," Jack argued.

"Forty."

"Twenty-five. And I'll buy you a hat. A really big one...Commodore."

Barbossa hesitated, as if he was actually taking it into consideration. He stretched out his hand to Jack, who took rather hastily. "We have an accord."

When they broke off the hand shake, Jack turned to the crew and ordered, "All hands to the boats!" When no one moved, he looked to the older pirate and said, "Apologies. You give the orders."

From her spot, Evangeline could make out a faint smirk on Barbossa's face as he looked at his crew.

"Gents," he called out. "Take a walk."

Evangeline became confused. Walk? she wondered. How are they going to walk to the Dauntless? Won't they need to use the boats to get out there?

"Not to the boats?" she heard Jack ask.

Barbossa merely looked at him, as if that was the answer to his question.

That's when she remembered what Jack had told her. Of course, she thought. The curse. Does anyone on the Dauntless know about this?

Before she could answer her own unspoken question, Barbossa's crew made for the exits that would lead to the cave entrance, and Evangeline hid herself in the shadows of her hiding spot so as to not be noticed by any passing pirates.

As soon as the coast was clear, Evangeline slid out of her hiding spot, and quickly made her way to the treasure room.

xxx

Jack shifted through the piles of treasure, one piece after another. Barbossa sat at the base of the treasure pile that held Cortés' stone chest with two pirates standing beside him, while just a little ways, a pirate named Twigg (Aptly named, was Jack's thought) kept Will bound and restrained.

As Jack looked through the different piles, something caught his eye. He picked it up to examine it closely. When he saw that no one was really watching him, he quickly pocketed the item. He then saw fit to pick up a golden Buddha statue when Barbossa finally spoke up.

"Ye know, Jack," he said. "I thought I had ye figured, but it turns out yer a hard man to predict."

Jack turned towards him while throwing the statue back into the pile of treasure. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a lithe form slipping into the room.

"Me?" Jack asked whilst smirking. "I'm dishonest. And a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest." He walked closer and closer to a pirate standing near the water's edge. "I mean, honestly, it's the honest ones you want to watch out for, because you can never know when they'll do something incredibly stupid."

As he stated this, he grabbed the sword from the pirate next to him while pushing him into the water. Jack then threw the sword to Will, who caught it expertly with his bound hands. Before anyone could grasp what was happening, he had cut himself from his bonds and attacked Twigg, while Jack drew his sword and went at Barbossa, who retaliated by drawing his own.

As Jack and Barbossa fought, Will took care of the other three pirates in the room. He parried, lunged, and dodged their attacks until the sound of glass breaking caused him to pause momentarily, as well as the pirates he was fighting. That's when he saw one of the pirates fall to their knees, revealing his attacker. To his surprise, it was Evangeline.

"Evangeline?" he asked confused.

She didn't say anything. She merely withdrew her sword and began attacking Twigg. He was taken by surprise, so she was able to have the upper hand. Unfortunately, Will was too busy watching her that he didn't notice the other pirate attack him.

Will eventually regained the upper hand in his fight. While he did, he couldn't help but watch Evangeline as she fought Twigg. He watched as she lunged and parried with a grace he didn't know she had, didn't know she possessed. Her swordsmanship was superb.

Where did she learn to fight like that? he wondered as he dodged an attack from the shorter, now conscious pirate that his sister had knocked out. I really don't know anything about my sister, do I? Not anymore.

Evangeline was fighting with a ferocity that she never realized that she possessed. She found herself quickly adapting to her surroundings so as not to give the pirate she was fighting the upper hand. There were times when Twigg would have it for a moment or so, but Evangeline never faltered; never so much as blinked an eye.

There was one thing that she was hiding as she was fighting, the one thing that she let fuel her, but not consume her. She was afraid. She was afraid that she might lose her brother in one fell swoop. She was afraid of the undead pirates they were fighting. She was especially afraid of the fight going on behind her going wrong, that the victor that would come out on top would be the man who started this in the first place, the man she despised: Barbossa.

From out of the corner of his eye, Jack watched Evangeline overcome her opponent, and couldn't help but feel his chest swell up with pride. Pride in the fact that his first mate had done well with her in teaching her how to defend herself. He noticed just how graceful she was when she was fighting (Not that she isn't already, he thought), and he could tell that it wasn't just her knowledge that drove her to fight like that. There was definitely something else there, but he couldn't figure it out.

Barbossa seemed to notice as well. "Seems yer lil' strumpet knows how to pick a fight," he taunted.

Jack glared at his former first mate. "You'd be wise to not call her that, Hector."

Barbossa smirked. "I just call 'em as I see 'em, Sparra."

The two fought their way up a hill, Jack fighting as hard as he could. If there was one thing he could admit, it was that Barbossa was an excellent swordsman. Not that he'd ever tell him that.

At some point in the battle, Barbossa threw his sword down and said, somewhat exasperated, "Ye can't beat me, Jack."

Jack smirked inwardly, knowing too well that he was right. I can't beat you yet, he thought. But you can't beat me either, mate.

To prove his point, Jack thrust his sword through Barbossa's stomach. The older pirate looked down at the weapon lodged in his body, and then rolled his eyes and sighed, while Jack feigned confusion. In a matter of seconds, Barbossa drew the sword from his body and ran Jack through.

This action did not go unnoticed by Evangeline, who was running to help Jack in the first place and was a mere few feet away.

"NO!" she screamed.

Seeing the smirk on Barbossa's face, she ran at him, her sword drawn. She raised the sword to deliver a blow, but the older pirate grabbed his sword quickly and parried her attack. They struggled against each other, their swords crossed, trying to outdo the other.

"It seems ye know how to handle a sword quite well, wench," Barbossa taunted her. "But there be little ye can do against me." With that, he pushed her back and slashed at her, cutting the top of her hand and causing her to drop her weapon.

"AH!" she cried out, feeling the sting on her hand.

Without hesitation, Barbossa grabbed a hold of her and turned her to where her back was against him, and pulled on her hair, causing her to look forward.

"Now, watch yer lover die..." Barbossa trailed off, the smirk on his grimy face disappearing. And Evangeline knew why.

In front of them, standing in the pale light of the full moon, stood a skeletal Jack, looking over himself with extreme curiosity.

"Well, that's interesting," he said, seemingly unfazed by what was happening.

So that's what the curse does, Evangeline thought. No wonder Barbossa wants to get rid of it so badly.

In between his bony fingers, she saw Jack twirl a medallion. When he caught it again, he looked a Barbossa with what looked like a smirk and said, "Couldn't resist, mate." He then glared at Barbossa's hold on Evangeline, and charged at him.

Noticing this, Barbossa thrust the girl towards Jack, who thankfully caught her before causing her any damage. She looked up him, scared to see a skeletal face looking down at her. Fortunately, she looked up to see his handsome face, his mustache, and braids. No ghostly appearance whatsoever.

"You alright, love?" he asked.

She merely nodded.

He smirked at her. "Seems I've made you quite speechless, eh?"

At that, she rolled her eyes and shoved off of him. He winked and then looked at his former first mate. "Now, where were we?" With that, he kicked Barbossa in the stomach, causing him to fall over and roll down the hill. Evangeline took the opportunity to grab her sword, and started to go after the man who nearly killed her captain, now three times. But a hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"No, Evangeline," Jack said. "Leave him to me. You go help Will."

She looked at him, over to where her brother was fighting, and then back to him. She nodded and sighed. "Okay."

Jack nodded to her and then went after Barbossa. Evangeline looked over towards Will, who seemed to be having trouble with Twigg and the other pirates, and towards them. Will looked off to the side and saw her coming.

"Are you alright?" he called out to her.

"I'm fine," she said, dodging an attack from the tallest of the three pirates.

Will smirked a little. "What took you so long?"

"Uh...I got caught up in something. But it's been taken care of."

The two fought side by side, brother with sister, trying to keep their enemies at bay. They were doing fairly well...until the shortest of the three pirates, whose name Will learned is Jacoby, set off a cherry bomb. Both siblings noticed this, and jumped out of the way, thankfully before it caused a pile of treasure to explode. Will dropped his sword as he landed roughly on the ground, and just as he retrieved it, Jacoby had his sword in his face, ready to strike.

"I'll teach you the meanin' of pain," he said threateningly.

"You like pain?" a voice asked behind him.

He turned just as he was smacked by a golden pole, which was being held by an irritated Elizabeth.

"Try wearing a corset," she added.

Turning to Will, she swung the pole so that she could help Will up. They both watched as a skeletal Jack and Barbossa fought each other in one of the pools of water.

"What side is Jack on?" Elizabeth asked.

Will shrugged. "At the moment..."

Elizabeth turned and saw that Evangeline was taking on Twigg and the taller pirate, watching as she seemed to fight without breaking a sweat. Without hesitation, she went to her aid. She nudged the taller pirate with the golden pole, distracting him long enough to give him a good whack with the pole. Will joined the girls, trying to keep them at bay. By the time they had gotten them in a circle of moonlight, Jacoby was conscious again and joining the fight.

"There's no way we're going to win this if we don't lift the curse," Evangeline pointed out.

"Exactly," Will agreed with her. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. "I have a plan."

"What is it?" Elizabeth asked as she whacked Jacoby again.

"We're going to need that pole of yours, Elizabeth."

She looked at him confused, but eventually caught on. So did Evangeline.

"Don't worry," she said. "I'll line them up."

And she did just that. She was sure how she was able to do it, but she got them lined up just in time for Will and Elizabeth to thrust the pole through the three pirates, the taller one screaming in agony. The three stood back to get a good look at their handy work and watched as they struggled to remove the pole. Evangeline could help but giggle out how ridiculous it looked. She grabbed a cherry bomb from Jacoby and lit it up, handing it to Will. He smiled and stuck it into his ribcage, and then Will, Elizabeth, and Evangeline pushed the pirate kabob into the shadows.

Jacoby ran his hands over his chest, smoke coming out of his ears as the smoke of the bomb rose inside of him. The smoke even escaped from his mouth as he said, "No fair!"

In a matter of seconds, the three pirates exploded into pieces as the three of them ran away from the blast. Elizabeth and Will ran up to the stone chest while Evangeline ran around a huge pile of treasure.

Jack had seen the scene unfold, and quickly put the medallion in his hand and cut it, allowing his blood to get on the coin. He threw it to Will, who caught it easily.

To say the least, Barbossa was amused. To amuse himself even more, he pulled out his gun and aimed it at Evangeline, whose eyes widened.

Two shots rang out. Barbossa looked towards Jack as Evangeline fell to the floor. He saw the smoke coming from Jack's pistol and his expression. If looks could kill...

"Evangeline!" Will and Elizabeth exclaimed, the latter running to her side.

Still looking at Jack, Barbossa said, "Ten years, ye carried that pistol and now ye waste yer shot."

"He didn't waist it," Will called out.

Barbossa looked up at Will, who was holding both medallions, both covered in his and Jack's blood. He dropped them into the stone chest of Cortés.

The curse was lifted.

Barbossa looked back towards Jack, who was smirking. The older pirate dropped his weapons and pulled his jacket and vest back and noticed blood seeping from his wound. He looked back at Jack, a look of surprise plastered on his face.

"I feel," he whispered. "Cold."

"Good," Jack muttered. He watched as Barbossa fell to the floor, the life leaving his eyes. "Now feel that in hell."

Jack put his gun back into his sash and ran over to join Will and Elizabeth at Evangeline's side. Will was wrapping a bit of cloth around his sister's shoulder.

"How is she?" he asked.

Will looked up at Jack. "She'll be fine. It only went into her shoulder." He shook his head. "We need to get that bullet out."

Jack nodded.

Elizabeth, who was holding Evangeline's head in her lap, looked up. "We should return to the Dauntless," she said.

Will looked at her, and nodded. "Your fiancé will be wanting to know you're safe."

Elizabeth gave him a slight nod, and then carefully set Evangeline's head down. She rose up from her spot and ran out of the cave.

Will watched her leave, and then turned back towards his sister.

Jack squatted down next to Evangeline, moving a lock of her hair out of her face. She was pale from the amount of blood she had lost, paler than he had ever seen her. He gently picked her up bridal style, mindful of her shoulder.

"We need to get her to the Pearl," he said to Will, who merely nodded.

Jack looked at the boy, noticing the hurt and confusion gracing his features. Jack sighed, knowing what that look was for. As they were walking out of the room to the boats, he said to Will, "If you were waiting for the opportune moment…that was it."

Will sighed, knowing he was right. But at the moment, he was more worried about Evangeline.

The two joined Elizabeth at the boats, who was already getting one ready to be cast off. Will and Jack, with an unconscious Evangeline in tow, climbed aboard and made their way out of the cave.

Everyone was silent, each person praying that Evangeline would be okay. Jack watched as she slept, making sure that she was still breathing. He knew that she had been through so much, and hoped she wouldn't have to suffer for long. They would get to the Black Pearl and Gibbs could help him take care of her. Jack moved some of her hair out of her face and then placed a small kiss on her forehead.

Don't worry, love, he thought. You'll be alright. I'll take care of you.

As the boat turned a corner out of the lagoon, Jack looked up so that he could get a good look at the ship he could once again claim. But, to his dismay, his ship was nowhere to be seen.

Bugger, he thought.

"I'm sorry, Jack," he heard Elizabeth say.

Jack kept looking ahead of them as Will began to row them to the Dauntless. "They done what's right by them," he said. "Can't expect more than that."

No one said anything to that. They sat in silence as the Dauntless came into view. Will wanted to tell Jack that he could expect more, but he knew that would do no good.

They all knew what would happen once they were aboard the ship. Jack would be thrown in the brig, possibly Will as well, and Elizabeth and Evangeline wouldn't be able to leave the Governor and Commodore's side. As soon as they were on that ship and back in Port Royal, they would all go their separate ways. The only one who wasn't suspecting any of this was Evangeline. As they rowed on, the Dauntless looming over head, she fell into a fitful sleep.

No one was looking forward to telling her the truth when she woke up. No one was willing to tell her that there was a chance she wouldn't see Jack again.

A/N: Please don't kill me! It had to be done. Don't worry, Evangeline will be alright. I promise. And it may not seem like it, but Jack IS concerned and worried for her.

Jack: *eyes widen* Am not.

Me: *sarcastically* Yeah, okay. Keep telling yourself that, Captain.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter nonetheless, and I really hope I did the fight scene justice. I had fun writing it, especially the part when the three pirates get turned into a pirate shish-kabob. I always found that hilarious. Please, leave me some feedback, as I enjoy your reviews immensely. They also motivate me to keep writing, so...yeah. Let me know what you think, and don't forget to join me on Facebook, where we shall have a magnificent garden party! You're all invited! (I've been wanting to use that forever!) Link's on my profile XD

~Xanthe :3