Dead Men in Disguise
Jack stared at her dumbfounded. He didn't know what to say. Why would she possibly want to bring Will into this? On the one hand it could simply be that he could provide them with help, but on the other hand…maybe she's starting to regret her choices of late.
"Jack, are you listening?" She asked him, practically wedging her way between him and the helm.
"We need to find Will." He answered with no emotion. "How are we to do that?" he asked her, continuing to stare straight ahead.
"Well, however it is you found him when you gave him my letter."
Jack was silent for a moment, this was a topic he hoped never to speak of. An unfortunate series of circumstances led Will to find Jack. Not the other way around.
"I didn't find Will last time." He said finally.
"What do you mean?"
"He found me, and unless we have spare dead bodies lying around, there is no other way to summon him here." he said, solemnly.
"I don't understand. Was he looking for you?"
"Not exactly."
"What does that mean?" she started to pry, anger rising.
"I may or may not have been at death's door when he found me. Will saved my life as repayment for saving his." he said, finally breaking eye contact with the sea to look at her.
"WHAT?!"
"Lizzie, don't raise your voice. It's done with. I'm alive."
"You didn't think to tell me about any of this?"
"What for? It doesn't change anything. Or does it?" He asked meaningfully.
Elizabeth looked at him amusedly, but when she saw the seriousness in his eyes, she opened her mouth, astonished.
"Really, Jack? Now is not the time to be jealous." She said hands on her hips.
"Is there something to be jealous of?" He asked, losing control and unable to filter his thoughts.
"You're unbelievable." She muttered. "No, of course there isn't. He just happens to be the only person we know with knowledge of other worlds, and quite possibly could convince Calypso to help us. And, of course, I wish to profess my eternal love for him." She added the last part with exaggerated sarcasm.
"Alright, alright. You've made your point." he said, returning his gaze to the sea.
"Have I?" She asked him, pointedly.
"Yes." He said exasperated.
"Good." They stood silently together for a moment. "I suppose we should find ourselves a body."
"Did you have someone in mind?" he asked her suspiciously.
"No. We may need to procure one from the next port."
"Procure?"
"Yes, procure. We don't need to actually kill anyone, do we? A fresh cadaver ought to do the trick."
"It's worth a shot. How far are we from the next port?" He asked her.
Looking at the map in front of them she answered "We have a few options, but none of them are easy to get to, nor have an easy escape. We'll have to head back into the channels."
"Which port has the easiest access point? We want to give ourselves a chance in case the Spanish Navy turns up again."
"Valdivia. It's a little farther north, but we can avoid the channels, if we go the extra distance." She said fingering the map.
"Do I need to adjust our heading much?"
"No. Stay the course. We won't need to head toward land for a few weeks yet." She said, folding up the map and heading toward the steps.
Jack quickly slid a rope around the helm to catch Elizabeth before she descended the steps. "Where are you going?" He pulled her by her coat sleeve back toward him, capturing her in an embrace
"To the crow's nest. Jonathan's shift ended over an hour ago and no one has relieved him." She said with her hands on his chest.
Jack leaned in to kiss her, but his lips collided with her cheek. He pulled back and looked at her with concern.
"Have I done something?" He asked. She didn't answer him. "Is it because I accused you of wanting Will back in our lives for more than just business reasons? Or is it because I didn't tell you that you are bedding a twice dead pirate?"
Elizabeth snapped her head toward him, brows furrowed.
"Ah, so it's both." He gathered her closer to him, resting his chin on her head. "I'm sorry. I should have told you, but what was I supposed to say? 'While I was gone, your undead husband brought me back to life, just before I handed him your letter'? At the time, I thought you'd care more about the letter itself." he said quietly.
"I did, but I've always cared about your well being." He pulled back and looked at her with a smirk. "I brought you back!" She declared, defending herself.
He laughed and kissed the top of her head, still holding her in an embrace.
"I really do need to relieve that poor boy." She mumbled into his coat.
"Very well" He said, releasing her. "Shall I see you later then?"
"We'll see." She said sweetly, heading down the steps and climbing up the rigging.
Jack smirked watching her climb up to the crow's nest with ease and returned to his place
behind the helm.
—-
A few weeks later they were nearing Valdivia. Elizabeth gave Jack the coordinates, and they approached slowly from the south, veiled in the darkness of the night sky. Clouds hid the moon and stars, and the only light that sprinkled the harbor came from the port town. As they drew closer, they noticed a large number of ships docked.
"Those are navy ships" Jack stated, shutting his spyglass. A nervous feeling bubbling in his gut.
"Why are there so many?" Elizabeth asked.
"They must be using the city as a base." Gibbs offered as the three of them stood against the railing of the quarter deck. "Orders, Captain?"
"Elizabeth and I will take a long boat from here. We'll attempt to sneak into the town undetected."
Elizabeth's eyes brightened as an idea came to her.
"Gibbs, are there any clothes in the chests we pillaged from that galleon?"
"There might be, we haven't yet taken stock of all of our plunder." he answered sheepishly, hoping Jack wouldn't yell at him for the crew's laziness.
Elizabeth rushed passed him down the steps leading to the hold. Gibbs looked back at Jack who merely shrugged.
When Elizabeth returned sometime later, she carried a Spanish naval uniform and a dress. "A disguise to keep us better undetected." She offered.
"Brilliant" Gibbs and Jack said at the same time. Although, Jack's response held far less enthusiasm than Gibbs'.
Elizabeth shoved the uniform into Jack's arms, and headed toward the Captain's cabin. Head hung low, Jack followed behind her.
"Is this really necessary?" He asked as he came through the cabin door.
Elizabeth yelled from the side cabin "Yes, and I won't hear another word about it!"
"As you wish, your highness" He grumbled, laying the uniform out on the table.
The uniform wasn't much unlike those of the royal navy: long coat, vest, shirt, breeches. The only difference between those blasted navy uniforms and his own attire were the stockings and the ridiculous shoes. He sloughed off his coat and effects, laying them on the table draped over the less than useful map they received from Alewar.
"I will get you for this, my dear" He said to himself, staring at the clothes.
"Is that so?" came a voice from behind him, causing Jack to jump. "Help lace me up? She asked, turning her back to him.
She was in a periwinkle gown that fell just off of her shoulders. Her hair was pinned up, two short tendrils draping the side of her face.
Jack laced up the gown, eyeing her bare neck greedily. "Don't you look nice?" He said finishing up the laces and bending down to trail soft kisses along her bare shoulder and up her neck. "I have always said, it should be a dress or nothing. Though, I prefer nothing."
She turned and faced him, smirking. "I'm sure you do. Come on, get dressed." She urged him.
"Care to assist me?" He said with his eyebrows raised.
"No. Now, hurry while we still have the cover of night."
"As you command" He said with a bow, grabbing his clothes and heading for the side cabin.
Elizabeth went over to the cabinet and pulled out a bottle of rum. Uncorking it, she took a long sip and set the bottle down on the table. She noticed Jack's compass lying on the table, and grabbed it. Flipping the lid open, she stared down with curiosity. As she expected, the arrow pointed toward the direction Jack had just gone. She smiled to herself and threw the compass back down onto the table with Jack's clothes and Alewar's map.
"Careful with that." Jack said coming back into the main cabin. "It leads the way to a most marvelous treasure." He said, moving around the table to stand behind her, hands on her shoulders.
"Does it?"
"Aye, but it is a dangerous treasure. If you don't handle it with utmost care, it could very well take your life." he whispered into her ear.
"Then you should heed your own advice, Captain, for you are treading on dangerous ground." She turned on him, irritated at him for bringing that up…again.
"I've already succumbed to the dangers of said treasure, I'll not be fooled again." He teased reaching for the bottle on the table, and Elizabeth smacked him on the arm.
"None for you, I need you to be alert." She said snatching the bottle from him and taking a sip.
"Oh, but you get to have some?" he whined
"I need it to calm my nerves."
"You're nervous?" he asked with a laugh. "Why?"
"Sneaking around in a city I've never been to, with a disguise that has become less convincing in my years spent on the sea, not to mention the number of things that could go wrong, as things tend to when you are involved. A little liquid courage will go along way. Discretion isn't exactly our specialty."
"Fair enough, but you should know all of my best daring do's have happened while slightly inebriated"
Rolling her eyes, she handed him the bottle. He kissed her on the cheek before draining a good portion of the bottle.
He placed the bottle back on the table, and held his arm out to her "Shall we?" he asked.
Elizabeth took the proffered arm, and the two left the cabin. Neither of them had noticed that the compass lay, lid flipped open, on the map with an intricate pattern swirling beneath it, pointing to a drawing of a city.
Gibbs eyes widened at the sight of them. They had really looked like a Naval Officer and Wife. Though upon closer inspection, Jack's hair could give them away, and no lady, even a Spanish one, would be so sun kissed, but it being so dark, they would probably be fine. Probably.
Gibbs thoughts were interrupted by Jack "Stop standing there with your mouth agape. You're a pirate not a cod fish."
"Sorry, Cap'n. It's just…I've never seen you look…so…"
"Devilishly handsome?" Jack offered.
"I was going to say sophisticated, but…"
"Gentlemen." Elizabeth interrupted. "We are pressed for time. Can we be on our way, please?"
"Of course. Let's go." Jack climbed up on the railing next to the long boat and placed one foot into the boat to steady it, straddling the space between the boat and the railing. He offered his hand to Elizabeth as she climbed onto the railing. "Are you wearing boots?" Jack chuckled as he noticed her feet.
"I need to be able to move in case we have to make a run for it." She huffed, siting down in the longboat and adjusting her gown.
Jack sat down across from her. "Alright, let us down." he said, and Gibbs lowered the longboat into the water, waving them off cheerily. Jack took up the oars and began rowing toward the shore.
"We'll tie her up off to the left, there." He said, pointing toward the darkest part of the shore.
"Hopefully there's church not far from there."
"A church?" He questioned her.
"Where there's a church, there's a cemetery, and where there's a cemetery, there are dead bodies." She answered simply.
"I think we need it to be a bit more fresh than that."
"You don't think there's a recently deceased person waiting to be buried?"
Jack shivered at the thought. "Alright, but if we don't find one there, we may have to flitter around the military encampments and wait for a hanging, or if we're lucky one will have just happened."
"And if we're really lucky, it won't be one of us dangling up there." She added, dripping sarcasm "Are you mad? The military encampments? We'll be sitting ducks." She said brusquely.
"Tut, tut, darling. We're dressed in the best finery and equipped with our wits, and, at the very least, excellent swordsmanship. What could go wrong?"
"I am sword-less, and not exactly dressed for a fight." She answered him.
"But if I know you well, and I think I do" He said, running his hand under her gown, along her thigh. "Ah, yes." He said, finding a knife strapped to her leg. "You always have a few tricks up your sleeve, or in this case, your dress" He smirked at her. She smiled wickedly back at him.
They reached the shore and drug the longboat up the beach, hiding it at the base of a cliff beneath some driftwood and a few palm branches. Arm in arm, they walked the beach until they reached a cobblestone road. The road twisted up the mountains in one direction and led into the town in the other. Elizabeth suggested going up the mountain to get a better view of the land, but Jack insisted going the other way, and dragged her with him toward the town. Elizabeth was about to mention that she thought she had seen a steeple up the road, but was quickly shushed as Jack moved them into an alley way. Jack pressed her hard against the wall of a building. Two naval officers marched by them not long after.
"I really think we should go up the mountain" Elizabeth insisted in a whisper. "I'm certain there's a church up there."
"Nonsense, love. This is is the place to be. We just need to time our entrance just so."
"No entrances" She said in a harsh whisper. "We get in, we get out. Without being seen. This guise is merely precautionary."
"Of course, darling." He said, not actually paying attention to her. "The coast is clear, let's go"
As they rounded the corner, they bumped into an officer walking with a young woman. Elizabeth guessed she was a whore by the looks of her. The officer started speaking to Jack in hurried Spanish, his voice quivering as he spoke. Elizabeth didn't know if she was more surprised by the man's fear of Jack, or the perfect Spanish Jack returned effortlessly. After a few sentences of words she couldn't understand, Jack and Elizabeth were on their way again.
"I didn't know you spoke Spanish." She said under her breath.
"My mother was from Spain. It was all she spoke to me when I was a boy" he answered.
"I'd like to hear more about her, I think."
"Another time, perhaps. When there are less pressing matters at hand." He deflected
"What did that man say? He seemed positively terrified of you."
"Apparently he thought I was one of his superiors. He was supposed to be guarding some prisoner. I told him I wouldn't speak a word of his transgressions as long as he didn't mention mine." he said gesturing toward Elizabeth.
"He thought I was your whore?" She asked affronted.
"Only because that's what I had him believe" He teased her.
"You insufferable cad." She spat at him, yanking her arm from his grasp.
"Easy there, love. I wouldn't venture too far away from me. You stick out like a sore thumb in these parts. Though, I find the golden brown tint you've acquired over the years to be entrancing, most proper Spanish women have never seen the sun" Elizabeth huffed as he took her arm in his again.
"I wish you didn't derive such pleasure from getting a rise out of me."
"Shh. We're nearing the fort."
She looked at him fury rising behind her eyes. "Jack! We're supposed to be heading for a church" She whispered through gritted teeth.
"We happened upon the fort first." He shrugged.
"Tell me, honestly, did you ever have any intention of trying to find a church?"
"Honestly? No, I didn't" he said quickly, a cheeky grin plastered to his face. "Come on." He said, beckoning for her to follow him.
From where they approached, the walls of the fort were not very tall, and very few guards marched along them. The cobblestone road led straight to the top battlements, a few canons poked out to the sea along the way, and a single tower lay ahead in the distance with its torches lit.
"How am I supposed to sneak anywhere dressed like this? If we did as I suggested and went to the churchyard we could at least pretend we were grieving over a lost loved one, but how many sailors do you know would march their whore toward the battlements?" she asked him annoyed, putting extra emphasis on 'whore'.
"It was your idea to wear a dress."
"Yes, when the plan was to find a body without being detected, not go traipsing about the top of the fort. If I'd have known you were going improvise our plan, I would have dressed accordingly."
"Lizzie, darling, you know me better than that. I'm always improvising, and besides, I think you look great, love."
"What's the plan?" She said, ignoring him.
"Follow my lead." He said, walking toward two guards who were leaning against the tower wall.
"What? No. Wait. Jack!" She said in her loudest whisper. We're dead, She said to herself, hugging the wall where she stood.
She watched nervously as Jack sauntered up to the two of them, talking to them animatedly in Spanish. The two guards quickly grabbed their muskets and ran toward the direction she and Jack had just come from. Elizabeth ducked quickly behind a turret as they passed her. Once they were out of sight, she peaked out from behind the turret, looking for Jack. He waved her over to join him at the base of the tower.
The guards had told him there was no one inside. Everyone was at some fancy to do up at the Governor's mansion. "Would you like to go?" He asked her, and she gave him a look. The one that told him he better quit while he was ahead.
"How did you get them to leave their stations?" Elizabeth asked unable to quell her curiosity.
"I told them that I spotted some Englishmen skulking about the main road. Should buy us some time." He said with an arrogant nonchalance that made Elizabeth nervous.
The two of them made their way into the tower. A set of steps led up to a higher vantage point and down toward a series of a tunnels leading to the prison. Jack headed down the steps with Elizabeth in tow.
"Did they also tell you of a deceased prisoner, or are you just planning on springing one and throwing them into the ocean?" She asked in a huff.
"Either one."
Elizabeth ran a hand across her face.
As they inched further into the belly of the fort, they passed a store room.
"Hold on a moment." Elizabeth exclaimed as she rushed in and shut the door.
Pulling her knife from her skirt, she sliced the front of her bodice, freeing herself from the gown. She found a uniform as close to her size as she could find. It was too big for her, but the bagginess helped to hide her womanly figure. Hair tucked beneath a hat, she grabbed a sword and scabbard and returned to the hallway.
"That's more like it." She whispered as she rejoined Jack.
"Aw. I liked the dress." He pouted.
"Move" She said pushing him forward.
When they reached the cells, there wasn't a guard in sight.
"Why would they only have a handful of guards stationed at the prison?" She asked him, as they walk more relaxed through the prison tunnels.
"There either aren't any prisoners, or the ones they do have don't pose a very big threat."
He was right. Every cell was empty as far as she could see, save for one at the very end of the hallway. When they finally reached the cell, both of their jaws dropped.
"Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes?" Hector Barbossa barked from the corner of his cell, cackling into the night air at the stunned looks on their faces.