A/N: Thanks again for the awesome reviews, everyone. You guys are great! :)

Also, I should mention that this fic is going to be a little longer than I initially thought. Now I'm thinking more like 5-6 chapters, whereas before I'd said 4 max.

Disclaimer: Not mine, Disney's. Don't sue, I'm but a poor student who has naught but Cup-O-Noodles with which to pay lawyer fees.

And on to chapter 3...

By Blood Repaid: Chapter 3


The two Red-coats that had pulled Jack onto the Dauntless held him steady while they undid the makeshift harness from around his chest. Jack began to sway dangerously within their grasp, his paling face slicked with sweat.

"Put him in the spare quarters, gentleman." Norrington instructed his men. The spare quarters were below deck, and reserved for unexpected passengers of lesser status. The modest room did not contain any flashy furnishings at all, but there was a bunk with a soft mattress and fresh linens, an oil lamp with a good wick for light, a writing surface that lowered from the wall, and a washstand and basin built into the corner next to the bed. It would suit Jack's needs.

Gently the two soldiers lay the wounded man down on top of the bed covers. Will quickly followed them in, and knelt by his friends side, taking Jack's clammy blood-covered hand into his own. He couldn't help but notice how small and vulnerable the captain looked with his carefully constructed facade down.

Jack opened his eyes and struggled to focus on Will beside him, "Rum?" he asked hopefully, his voice little more than a rough whisper.

Will sighed and shook his head, "Brandy?" he suggested.

Jack grimaced in disgust, but nodded nonetheless, "Aye, whelp. That's what it'll 'ave to be then."

Will nodded sympathetically, "I'm sorry Jack. Navy ship, you know." He smirked playfully, but his grin quickly faded, "Brandy should help with the pain as much as Rum would, though I know it's not what you're used to. First let's get you out of that shirt. Can you unbutton it yourself?"

Jack raised his hands to his shirt to unfasten the small buttons running down the front, but he was trembling so badly that managed to accomplish nothing for several moments, other than to feel foolish. He let his hands fall back uselessly to his sides, his pallid face flushing with embarrassment, "Sorry mate. I can't."

"There's nothing to be sorry for, Jack." Will reassured him, and undertook the task himself, "You've lost a lot of blood, you know."

At that very moment, outside of the door, Elizabeth stood engaging Norrington in what could only be considered an argument. Both of them were headstrong, so needless to say, they were making no headway in the matter at hand, and both refused to back down.

"Miss Swann!" the commodore replied crisply, "Your presence in that room is not required." he continued, "You are not trained as a surgeon, so there is nothing you could do that William cannot. You are a young lady of status, Jack Sparrow is a scoundrel and a wanted man! If he makes it back to Port Royale alive, I will see him hanged. And if your father--"

"My father!" Elizabeth shot back, perhaps more sharply than she had meant to. She had been taught not to disrespect her superiors, which included men. "My father does not know what I've been through with Jack and Will! This man saved my life, at least twice, and the least I can do for him--"

"Is to do as your father and I would wish." Norrington interrupted smoothly, finishing her thought in a different manner than she herself would have liked, "Elizabeth, I beg of you. Don't make this more difficult than it already is."

Elizabeth wasn't a fool. She knew this was a mans way of trying to get her to believe that she was over-reacting and being unreasonable. He was trying to paint her concern for Jack as something trivial or childish, selfish even. She was having none of it.

Being a woman of her time, she knew how to be pragmatic, and so she gave Norrington the most coy look she could muster. Then she closed the distance between them and asked quietly, her lips inches from his own, her voice barely above a whisper, then calling him by his first name, "...and it would mean so much to me, you know. This has been such an ordeal, and I need closure." She bit her lower lip for effect. She looked into the commodore's eyes, cocking her head slightly to one side, and did her best to disguise the anger and disgust she felt for him with a pleading, submissive look.

She managed to do this without making it look like she had backed down, rather, she turned the tables, and made it appear as though him asking her to stay away from Jack and Will was in and of itself a selfish and unreasonable request.

Naturally, Elizabeth Swann was not surprised when he granted her entrance to Jack's quarters. "Works like a charm," Elizabeth murmured to herself with a smirk, "every time." Make them think they're in control, and they'll give you whatever you want.

The only condition Norrington required for allowing her to go, was that a guard be posted outside the door, and he was to check in on the situation every quarter hour.

TBC