Still don't own Pirates of the Caribbean. . .or Jack Sparrow. . . backs away slowly Don't sue. . .

Chapter Twenty-Three

"Shallows!" Gibbs exclaimed, shock and bewilderment evident in his voice. Will's hand automatically flew to the hilt of his sword, prepared to battle not only for himself and Gibbs but for Elizabeth's safety as well.

"Ah, do you really want ta be doin' that, lad? After all, I be the one with the pistol, an' a sword won't stop a bullet."

Will refrained from pulling his sword out, though his hand remained on the hilt, just itching to start something, as he stared at the man before him. "Who are you?"

Shallows grinned, amusement flickering in his eyes. "Why, ah be Cap'n Shallows! Ya 'aven't 'heard o' me, I take it?"

Will narrowed his eyes. "No." He would admit, in truth, he actually knew of very few captains, and Shallows was not one of them.

"Ah, well, not much of a surprise, really, ya livin' where ya do. Yer kind don't really care fer pirates, so obviously ya wouldn't know much about 'em, or of 'em."

"I know of pirates. But I've never heard of you." His gaze shot ice, it was so cold.

"An' that's a shame, that is. But I take it ya've 'eard of Jack Sparrow?" Something dangerous flashed in his eyes.

It was a few moments before Will replied. "Yes. Why?" Suspicion registered in his tone.

"No reason, really." He had noticed Gibbs staring at him in utter disbelief and now shifted his gaze to him, wondering if the man was about to start drooling from the fact that his mouth had been hanging open as well. "I'm guessin' yer wonderin' 'ow I'm alive?"

"Aye. It aint possible." Gibbs narrowed his eyes.

"Ah, but ya see, that's where yer wrong. 'Tis possible."

"An' 'ow's 'at?"

"Well, ya see – that medallion that I 'ad that ya stole was connected ta me in a way, since I was the one who took it outta the doors an' used it. So after yer cap'n shot me, he musta smashed the medallion to get the girls back, am I right?"

Gibbs glared at Shallows, and, after realizing the other man was waiting for a reply, said, "Aye. . ."

"Well, when 'e smashed it, it brought me back. I think it kind of worked in reverse – if ya'd smashed it when I was alive, it woulda killed me, so this way, if I'm dead, it'd bring me back. So then I followed ya 'ere on a different route. I knew ya wouldn't bring yer whole crew in 'ere just ta find a medallion."

"You mean to say that you were brought back from the dead?" Elizabeth spoke up in incredulity, finally finding her voice.

Shallows eyed her up and down. "Aye, lass."

"Well – that's interesting. . ." She sounded suddenly out of breath.

"Well now if we kill you – again – you'll be dead for good, won't you?" Will said, his hand still on the handle of his sword and his fingers now getting a stronger grip.

"Now why would I answer that?" Shallows replied. "So ya can try an' kill me? Well what if I don't die?"

"What if you do?"

Shallows' eyes narrowed in irritation. "Don't test me patience, lad. Remember, I've got the pistol."

Will knew the only way out of this was to fight. After all, he was correct – he had the gun. He could easily kill all three of them in less than three seconds. Or just kill him and Gibbs and take Elizabeth. . . He would not allow his thoughts to go there. "Do you really think that's fair?"

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"Well, as you said, you have the pistol, and I have the sword. How can we properly duel if you've already got the upper hand?"

Shallows studied him for several moments, apparently thinking over his words and determining whether or not to put away his firearm. After what felt like an eternity, he said, "I suppose yer right. It can at least be a fair fight. But if I win, I get ta take that fine lass ya got with ya." He grinned as he eyed Elizabeth again.

She cut her eyes at him, disgusted. "You're not taking me anywhere."

"If I win, I believe I am. Isn't that right, lad?" He turned back to Will.

Will looked at his love, then back at Shallows. "Is that the only deal we can make?"

Shallows put on a look of mock contemplation. "Aye, I think it is."

"There's nothing else you want? Not the gold behind the doors?"

"I can already get inta that, lad."

Will made a quick decision and flicked his gaze to Gibbs, who caught his eye. Will then swiftly glanced at Elizabeth, then back to Gibbs. The older man nodded, understanding.

If Will did not make it, he wanted Gibbs to take Elizabeth and get to the ship as fast as possible.

Will's eyes landed back on Shallows in less than two seconds, and the other man apparently had not caught Will's silent message.

"Fine. If you win, you get Elizabeth." Just saying the words killed him inside.

"What?" Elizabeth spun to face him. "Will, what are you saying?" He would not actually just hand her over to this man, would he? He would never. . .

Will turned to her, leaning in towards her face. Her back was to Shallows. He made it appear as if he were kissing her, but instead whispered, "If I am not to survive, go with Gibbs." He then pressed his lips to hers momentarily before stepping towards Shallows stiffly.

The captain possessed a smug look as he grasped the hilt of his sword with his free hand. "Ready?"

Will drew in a deep, silent breath. "Yes." He attempted to mentally prepare himself as best he could.

Shallows returned the pistol to its holster, pulling out his sword so swiftly that Will was taken aback for just a moment. He too unsheathed his weapon and brought it up into the air just in time to block a sideways swing.

The two other people in the cave watched as the men moved around, swinging, blocking, and swiping, the sound of metal against metal ringing in their ears. At one point, Will almost lost his footing, and Elizabeth was forced to keep herself from racing to his side.

After at least ten minutes of this, with no sign of either man letting up, Shallows suddenly shoved Will up against the tremendous stone doors, the sharpened blade of his sword held against Will's with such force that had Will moved, he would have scraped his skin on the rock behind him. Shallows was much stronger than he had assumed.

"I'm gonna enjoy killin' ya," Shallows told him. "And ya wanna know what I'm gonna enjoy even more?" He smirked as he looked at Elizabeth, letting Will draw his own conclusions. "An' those three li'le brats." Upon saying the last word, he shoved his sword harshly against Will's even more, and this time Will felt a piece of the rock jab painfully into his back.

Nevertheless, a look of utter abhorrence and fury lessened the otherwise good looks of Will's face at Shallow's words – and gestures. He thrust with all the strength he could muster together, trying to get the larger man away from him. He even let out a horrible, enraged roar.

He would kill him. He would murder this disgusting, vile man who thought he had the right to do anything to his beloved, or those three girls. He was a monster straight from the pits of hell.

"Ah, does that make ya mad?" Shallows said, even laughing in twisted amusement. "Too bad. It'll be a lot more fun fer me than fer you." He grinned. "And now, for the fun ta begin!"

He was about to push away when abruptly his face took on a startled look, his eyes wide and his mouth partly open as if something had horrified him. His breathing seemed to stop short suddenly, and that was when Will looked down and noticed the tip of a blade sticking out from his stomach, just a small glint of silver shining with fresh blood that dripped to the ground and soaked into the dirt. Will was surprised it did not burn a hole.

It was pulled out, sending Shallows crumpling near Will's feet. The young man looked up to see Gibbs standing there, gripping his sword, which Will saw was covered halfway with the dark red substance.

"I don' think he'll be comin' back this time," he said with a small smile.

Will returned it. "Thank you."

"Don' mention it. He was startin' ta get ta me. Couldn' just leave ya like that, not when I had the perfect chance." He took a piece of cloth from his belt and wiped his sword as clean as possible, then sheathed it. Will put his weapon away as well, barely getting it back in his scabbard before Elizabeth barreled into him, her arms so tight around his middle that he thought he might just burst.

"Thank God you're all right! I thought he was going to kill you!"

"He was." Will eyed Gibbs.

Elizabeth released the death grip on Will and faced Gibbs. "Thank you." She gave a warm smile.

"Ah, don' mention it," he repeated, waving his hand nonchalantly with a small smile in return.

Will looked at the corpse lying on the ground near the stone doors. "All right, let's see if there's anything here that will help Jack."

They began searching every possible inch of ground, going over every single spot twice – but they found nothing. Will was prepared to give up when his eyes caught a glint of gold in his peripheral vision.

He turned sharply.

There was nothing there.

His brow furrowed in confusion as he walked slowly toward the doors, where he was certain he had seen it. He looked all around – he could have sworn there was gold here somewhere. He KNEW there was. But he had already checked this spot. Oh well, he thought. Why not try again?

He began at the very top of the rocky wall and slowly let his eyes travel down, carefully searching. Near the middle he thought he saw the flash of gold once more. His eyes quickly flew to that area – nothing. He moved closer. Wait. . .there was something there. . . Yes! It was a medallion.

He wanted to jump up and down in his excitement as he reached out, clutching the golden chain that hung down from it. He pulled strongly, and the medallion eventually dropped down out of the stone. He seized it.

It had a picture of a treasure chest with two swords crossed over it, with drops of blood coming down.

"I found it!" he exclaimed, the other two at his side instantly. "I think this is what we need to use to get Jack back."

Gibbs eyes the medallion closely. "That looks like the same thing that was on the other medallion, the one that Jack smashed." A look of perplexity took to his face. "Only this one looks. . .different. . .sorta. . .like it's upside down er somethin'. . ."

Sure enough, everything was indeed switched, even though it was a circle.

"Well that would make sense," Elizabeth began to explain. "If the other medallion was right side up, with the same picture, and it. . .brought the three girls here. . .and smashing it caused Jack to vanish into thin air, then obviously the medallion which does the opposite would be the opposite of the other medallion, which would be the same picture upside down."

Gibbs appeared absolutely mystified, while Will seemed to still be processing the information. Elizabeth only shook her head and asked, "So do either of you know if there would be an incantation or something of that sort that has to be read?"

"There might be," Will answered. "On the doors."

He turned, striding to the gigantic stone structures, once again examining them. He thought he spotted some writing over to his left, but when he checked, it was gone. He looked over the entire right side and was ready to admit to failure when he caught a glimpse of a line of words and moved even closer in order to get a better look. He bent forward.

"All right, here we are," he said a minute later. Elizabeth and Gibbs were already focusing on him.

He gripped the medallion in his hand as he read aloud the words written into the stone, not completely sure of what to expect. He waited.

Nothing happened.

A/N: Well, I finally updated! Hope you like it! This is another cliffhanger! MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!