A/N: It's a very peculiar thing to be writing a fanfic about criminals, and then listen to a song called Watching The Detectives... Anywhoo. Onto the story!
Gibbs didn't remember what he had told that funny lad that had bought him a drink until the next day, as he sat with an icepack to his head and a cup of coffee in his hand. The conversation came back to him very slowly...
...Jack Sparrow is in... off somewhere. Hidin' from... from you, I think... I'm not really sure. He's off with 'Lizabeth Swann, and they're prancing around in disguises...
"Damnit." he muttered.
Elizabeth slept much better than she had the previous night -- apart from the fact that she had to get up and vomit every hour or so. (Drinking does very evil things, she thought to herself. I think I must avoid it from now on.) But with the absence of Jack in the hotel room, she had gotten the bed.
Jack wandered in around eight, squinting and stumbling around the room until he hit the bed, which he sprawled across the foot of gratefully. His eyes, Elizabeth noticed, were very bloodshot. She wondered if she appeared to be as unhealthy.
"Let's never do that again..." Jack mumbled, scratching his unshaven chin thoughtfully.
"Alright,"
"Tonight we'll try cigarettes and coffee. Sometimes niccotine-slash-caffeine kicks are even better than being drunk," he smirked, and then let out a long sigh. For some reason, Elizabeth felt like doing the same thing. There were a few moments when they sat in complete silence... and then the telephone rang.
Elizabeth, being closer than Jack was, reached for the reciever with curiosity. Who could be calling them? Who even knew they were here?
"...Hullo?" she said tentatively.
"Put Jack on," came a slightly familiar voice, sounding very irritated. She handed the phone over to Jack without any hesitation. He stood up, and walked over to the night-stand so that the cord wouldn't have to stretch.
"'Lo?" Jack said. "...Oh, Gibbs. Well, what are you bothering me for? I told you not to call unless it was an emergency. We don't have to look that word up again, do we?" Jack furrowed his eyebrows, panic glossing his dark eyes. "W... What do you mean there's been an emergency? Gibbs, you bloody well better inform me of what's going on."
He listened, and as he did so, several expressions spread across his face. First a frown, with his tongue poking into his cheek; nextly he closed his eyes and gritted his teeth together with a force that could have bitten through a tree; his eyebrows lowered even further than Elizabeth had thought possible; and then he opened his eyes, slackened his jaw, and his countenance faded from gray to boiling black in one instant.
It was terrifying -- as was the tirade he broke into a splitsecond later.
"Damn you to bleedin' hell, traitorous pig!" was the first movement of the speech. "Do you not realize everything you have just put on the line? Do you not realize that the adding in of my job to this equation, I will be locked up faster than you can say 'Watch your knickers'?" A pause. "I know accidents happen, Gibbs... but in working for me, part of your job was making sure they couldn't! You send me those bloody ID scans within the next five minutes, or I swear I'll have your head on a platter."
He slammed the phone down with an extreme amount of violence, and rubbed the bridge between his nose.
Elizabeth was shaking. Having lived with an unnaturally composed family, she wasn't used to outbursts like that one. It was horrifying, and all of a sudden she wanted her adventure to be over. But at the same time, there was something pushing her to go on. To play along, and escape only if it got too dangerous.
"What happened?" she asked nervously.
He sighed, and gave her a very interesting look. He no longer seemed smug and deadly to Elizabeth -- mainly angry, wary, and perhaps a bit frightened. "The long and short of it," he said quietly. "is that we've got a day and a half to be in another country under different identities... And just so you know," he paused, leaning closer to her, "if you give me any resistance, Gibbs' punishment will look like a stroll through a field of flowers compared to what I'll do to you."
She nodded, and he ruffled her hair.
"Good girl," he said. "Now... by any chance can you do an American accent?"
Back in London, Will was just leaving work, and headed towards the airport. Checking flight records for Clyde and Daphne Whitaker -- names that Gibbs had given him after the keg was brought along -- was his goal, although he wasn't sure that they would reveal records to anyone other than a police official.
Which is why he had filched Norrington's badge.
Will knew, of course, that stealing was as illegal as mass-murdering or causing a car accident on purpose, but he reasoned that stealing a police badge couldn't be nearly as deadly as either of those two crimes.
After all, he thought to himself. I'm doing this for Elizabeth, so it can't really be counted as an offense.
Jack took Lizzie out that afternoon. Their first purchase was a rather cheap digital camera, and then a new pair of glasses -- this time for Jack. After that they made a trip to a salon, where Lizzie got her hair permed and Jack got his cut. It was a very sad experience for him, holding his beautiful hair in his hands... but the short, dark spikes he now sported weren't that bad, either. Later, he made Lizzie run her hands through his hair until it was appropriately disheveled. He was convinced that being schooled in beauty meant you were no good at it.
When they returned to the hotel room, the first think Jack did was turn on his laptop, then the digital camera, and take pictures of the both of them -- pictures that looked like they came from an ID or a passport. Lizzie went to pack her things while he uploaded the pictures and saved the image scans Gibbs had e-mailed him, continuing his project in PhotoShop.
When he had finished, and their brand new identities had been printed out (they were now Egan and Victoria Mitchell), he sent an e-mail back to Toxic Records, informing them that he would be in Las Vegas on on the thirtieth and would like to meet at seven in Caesar's Palace.
This, despite the annoyance and immense inconvenience, was going to be one bloody lot of fun.
Elf and Tonic: Yes, J/E! And there will be ever-so-much more! Thanks for your review ;o)
luvlyGRLofLIFE: Thanks for reviewing! The goatee will grow back very soon, and I'm probably going to include the braids at some point. *snickers*
Savvylicious01: Firstly, your name is so cool! I love it! Secondly, thanks for reviewing, and I'm really glad you like it!
eva: By all means, have all the rum you want! *giggles* Thanks for reviewing!
XxSablexX: Hee hee! I do love Weezer to death. And a lot of other bands. I haven't listened to much American Hi-Fi, but I think I might start now. *winks*
KawaiiRyu: No... There's much more fun to be had! And yeah, Lizzie's kind of getting slapped in the face with his raw emotion. She's lived in an emotionally controlled environment, and finds it enchanting that someone can behave just how they think without getting into trouble. She also thinks Jack's dead sexy, which he is. And his age.... although it doesn't matter, like you said, is forty.
Flamingo Feathers: Thanks! And I'm glad you like everyone!
Jack's Lady: Thanks! And I'm glad I did okay with the drunken bit... I was very worried.
PirateWannabe: Well, I wouldn't really know about Will's butt, 'cause I don't look, but anyway... I don't get how people can think Jack's too old, either! I think he's a stud, and I adore the eyeliner... heehee... *giggles insanely*