Disclaimer: The Mouse owns all…oh, and PineAppleLint? It's my turn!!! :P

AN: My, what a big turnout! I'm quite impressed, and since you've been such nice reviewers, I'm giving you a nice long chapter! (And I might be persuaded to write a sequel when this is over…which won't be for a while yet!)

Chapter Ten

Nora could feel the adrenaline pumping into her system from the moment Gibbs had called out. She savored this feeling, everyone rushing about their posts. Just like the old days she thought as she returned Jack's grin with one of her own. She raced to her cabin as quickly as she could to grab her extra knife and a few other things. When she got back, the sun had set beneath the horizon, and the last light of day was fading fast.

"Nora and I are going ashore. We'll be back within 2 hours. If we're not…" there was a very pregnant pause, "…keep to the code."

Nora rolled her eyes at this, knowing for a fact that Jack's crew was far too loyal to do anything other than search for him should he go missing.

When they were in the boat and rowing towards the shore, Jack muttered quietly, "Tell me you know where exactly on this island the treasure is buried."

"Of course. Do you honestly think my father would give me the coordinates to an uncharted island and neglect to tell me how to find the treasure once I got there?"

"Just makin' sure, love."

They rowed on in silence until they reached the shore.

"Leave everything to me," Nora whispered to Jack, "and keep your eyes peeled."

"Aye, Cap'n." Jack whispered mockingly.

Nora found herself rolling her eyes again.

It was difficult work. She had only a vague picture of what the island looked like in her mind's eye from her father's descriptions to her as a child, and the search was made even more difficult in the dark.

"Let's try and get there sometime this year," Jack murmured in her ear. Nora was getting the urge to slap him again, never mind having nearly kissed him less than an hour ago.

Miraculously, Nora found what she was looking for. A great black shadow materialized in front of them, and Nora smiled.

"This is it," she whispered. She pulled out one of her pistols, and she could hear Jack do the same right behind her.

"I think you should stand here and keep watch, in case we're being followed," she told him.

"Not on yer life, love. What if they got here before us?"

"Well that's a chance I'm- "

He stopped her mouth with his own in a violent, bruising kiss that made her weak in the knees.

"That's a chance I'm not going to take." He whispered hoarsely when he broke away. Nora couldn't find her voice in time to resist, so she left it.

They proceeded into the cave together, both of them cursing the fact that they had nothing to light their way. They moved painfully slow, in order to avoid any possible drops in the floor, feeling their way along the walls in search of chambers branching off to the side.

As Nora felt an opening on the left, her father's words echoed in her mind. "You'll pass five openings, three on the left, two on the right. The next right turning will lead you to another tunnel."

After what seemed an eternity, Jack called out "Two!"

Nora continued feeling her way in the dark, and finally her hand was no longer touching hard cold stone. She almost danced a jig in her delight. She chose not to in light of the fact that she couldn't see and would probably end up falling to her death. She scrambled as quickly as she could to where Jack stood at the right side of the tunnel.

"Keep moving forward, it'll be the next one on the right," she said softly. She soon heard the quick intake of breath that indicated Jack had come upon the next tunnel. They turned aside into it cautiously, both pistols now cocked and held out before them. They expected an ambush at any moment, even though Nora's good sense told her that Billy couldn't have possibly beaten them there, and even if he had, he wouldn't have known that this was the island he was looking for.

The air was thick and damp, and Nora found herself staying as close to Jack as possible without being on top of him. She didn't pull away when his arm snaked around her waist.

She was silently counting again, but this time it didn't take quite so long, as there were no tunnels on the right, and the third on the left would lead them to their quarry. As they turned into this tunnel, they could tell that it was much smaller than the others were. Jack was still holding Nora protectively, and yet they could each reach out and feel the sides of the tunnel. It was still pitch black however.

"If we don't get some light soon, I'll go mad," Jack whispered.

"I thought you already were."

Even though she couldn't see him, Nora knew Jack was grinning.

Suddenly, they entered a much larger room; by the way their feet began to echo loudly off the walls, and the fact that a shaft of moonlight was cutting through the darkness to their right. It was just enough to make out a dark shape in the corner. Otherwise, the room was empty. No treasure to be seen, and no sign of an ambush.

Nora sprinted to the corner, and found that the object was a single large chest, locked shut. She quickly set about opening it, while Jack waited with growing impatience, keeping watch for anyone who might be following. Finally, the lock broke off. Nora looked at Jack.

"You do the honors, love, as it's your father's."

Nora took a deep breath, and lifted the lid.

It was empty.