Part 2: O How The Darknesses Do Crowd Up, One Against The Other, In Ye Hearts

Movies AU, still not mine.

Thank you again to everyone! :)

The next day Charlie stood at the stern of the ship, watching the water and the clouds. Every so often she would look to the deck and catch James staring at her, before he resumed washing the deck with the remnants of his wig. Elizabeth stood on the opposite side of the deck, examining papers and looking wistfully out over the sea. All in all, the cloudy day felt appropriate.

James turned back to his bucket the second she glanced his way again. He angrily tossed the wig into the bucket, then slammed it down on the deck. Jack grinned at Charlie as he walked toward the former Commodore. Whatever he said to James had not helped the man's mood.

But when Jack thrust his boot forward and tapped it impatiently on the deck for James to wash, she could not contain her laughter as he furiously scrubbed at the boot. Jack grinned at her, then walked toward Elizabeth, waving his hand to get Charlie to join him.

"How dare you!" Elizabeth exclaimed as he swiped the papers she had been examining.

Jack strolled away grandly, lifting the papers up as he examined them. "These letters of marque are meant to go to me, are they not?" he asked without turning to look at her.

Letters of marque? Oh, that was rich. Jack would never become a privateer for King George.

Gibbs approached Jack and Elizabeth at the same time Charlie did. He noticed the signature first. "Beckett?" he blurted out.

This was bad. Beckett wanted to rope Jack into working for the East India Trading Company again? Charlie did not buy it. More likely the man wanted to kill Jack.

"Yes, they're signed," Elizabeth asserted, oblivious to the connection between Jack and Beckett. "Lord Cutler Beckett of the East India Trading Company."

"You know what he wants, Jack," Charlie muttered as he made a noise of disgust.

Gibbs growled, "The compass! Only one reason for that."

"Of course," Jack agreed, grim. He turned to look back at Charlie and Gibbs. "He wants the chest."

"Yes, he did say something about a chest."

It was all Charlie could do not to roll her eyes at Elizabeth's naivete. "If Becket gets the chest, he'll get control of the seas," she explained. "That's...very bad. For everyone."

Jack snorted. "Putting it mildly, love. It is a truly discomforting notion."

Gibbs growled again. "I think there's a bit more speed to be coaxed from these sails." He ran down the deck and began shouting orders at the men.

Charlie exchanged a look with Jack, then walked back to the quarterdeck to study the maps. Maybe there was a better route to their destination. If Beckett somehow managed to find it first…. She did not want to finish that thought.

When she looked up from the maps, she saw James talking to Elizabeth and could not help herself. She walked down the stairs on the opposite side of the ship and looped around, hoping to hear what he was saying.

As she walked she caught Elizabeth saying something to him about her, but did not quite catch what it was. She handed him the compass and whatever it was he saw, he did not like it. He laughed bitterly as he tossed it back and walked away before turning back to deliver a parting shot. "So you never wondered how your latest fiance ended up on The Flying Dutchman in the first place?"

When he turned around, he nearly walked into Charlie who had come to a stop behind him to glare. "Are you just an ass to everyone who cares about you now? Is that the new James Norrington?" she asked, before walking away, muttering angrily to herself. How was this even the same man she played cards with for her freedom, who gave her the key in Port Royal, who showed her kindness on the journey back from Isla de Muerta? "Stupid, arrogant, son of a…." She did not even bother to check whether her mark had hit home.

A few solid hours of fuming had not lessened Charlie's bad mood. Every time she thought she was over it, she would look at James and be reminded of how he had been acting since stepping on the Pearl. Hell, probably how he had been acting for a while now. It was bad enough he had kissed her then suggested it was only acceptable due to his lower station, but now Elizabeth had been dragged into his foul attitude.

She sighed and cast her gaze skyward. It was probably best to apologise to her for being caught in the middle of...whatever was happening. Perhaps Elizabeth would even have some advice for her. After all, she had known James for a lot longer.

Taking a deep breath to relax, she crossed the deck to where the other woman was gazing out over the ocean, deep in thought. "Is this about what James said, what Jack said or did, or something else?" she asked as she approached.

Elizabeth laughed humourlessly. "I'm not sure."

"What say we hang the lot of 'em and get our own ship?" she offered. Elizabeth huffed a laugh and Charlie added, "I'm only half-joking, by the way." She fidgeted with her hands for a moment, trying to find the right words. "I'm sorry."

Elizabeth turned to look at her curiously. "For?"

"James," she replied, sighing as she tossed her hands in the air. "He...whatever he...you shouldn't've been caught up in it."

"He ought to apologise, not you," Elizabeth replied, turning back to look out over the ocean.

"I'm fairly certain our fight isn't helping his mood," Charlie admitted, mimicking Elizabeth's pose and fidgeting with her hands. "I just...I wish I knew what was going through his mind."

"I'm not sure even he knows." It was so quiet, Charlie was not even sure she had heard it.

"That much is evident," she huffed.

Elizabeth turned to face her. "Regardless of what he's going through right now, he cares very much for you." Her gaze shifted sideways to the deck and back, and she smirked. "He keeps staring at you when he thinks no one's looking. He's been doing it all morning."

A laugh blew out as Charlie turned to look where Elizabeth had been looking. James turned his head abruptly and he resumed scrubbing the deck. "Maybe he's wondering what he was thinking when he kissed me." She resumed looking out over the ocean, blinking back tears.

"Charlie."

Off to her left Charlie saw a shark leap out of the water to catch its prey. "That's not ominous at all," she laughed bitterly.

"Charlie, whatever he thinks of you, it's most certainly not that you're beneath him." She smirked again. "He may want you to be beneath him, but I don't believe he sees you as being beneath him."

A sharp laugh escaped her. "I do believe this is the point in our budding friendship where I am no longer certain who is the bad influence."

They sat in companionable silence for a while, staring out over the open sea, before Elizabeth spoke up. "You know, I was in my wedding dress when Lord Beckett arrested me. I had to leave it on the merchant vessel I used to escape."

Charlie waved her hand dismissively. "Impractical, anyway," she said. "Never thought they were of much use. You spend all day in the thing, barely able to breathe, and you need an entire crew to get it off for your wedding night. Who needs all that fuss?"

Elizabeth chuckled.

All evidence pointed to her friend not being offended by her efforts to cheer her up, so she pressed on, "the way I see it, you find a nudist -."

"Charlie!" Jack's voice rang out. He was standing up on the quarterdeck, hunched over with Gibbs. "Lizzie!"

With a roll of her eyes, she led her friend up the stairs. "This ought to go without saying, but if it is Jack that's bothering you, ignore him. He's just...being Jack," she advised, lowering her voice so only the two of them would hear it.

"I'll keep that in mind," Elizabeth replied thoughtfully as they stepped up to where Jack and Gibbs were waiting.

Below, she caught James looking at her again. Perhaps Elizabeth was correct about how he felt. There was only one way to find out, though, and Charlie was not sure she was ready for that yet.