A/N1: Apologies to all of ye! It took me FAR too long to get this chapter up. Yes, blame school. Blame that… place. I do. Stupid, bloody homework! Hopefully, y'all are still interested, so here it is… R&R please, and I'll give you a Jack cookie each!
A/N2: Site vs. sight fixed!
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"We're going to steal a ship. That ship?" Will said in surprise, glancing at the Dauntless. Leah looked at this Jack Sparrow as if he was insane. If they were planning on somehow getting ahold of that ship…
"Commandeer," the said pirate corrected, directing their glances towards the Interceptor. "We're going to commandeer that ship. Nautical term."
"'Commandeer' would suggest we had permission, Sparrow," Leah reminded. He sighed and rolled his eyes, Will watching them both with mild interest and amusement, but it was still obvious he was anxious to get going already.
"Well, they've left it outside in plain sight, haven't they, luv? Why do that if they're not willing to lend?" Before she could snap something briskly back, Jack continued, although his words were not directed toward her any longer. Now, he was addressing William. "One question about your business boy, or there's no use going, just go. (A/N: This is as close to the line as I can figure it… Correct me in the review if I'm wrong.) This girl, how far are you willing to go to save her?"
"I'd die for her." Leah narrowed her eyes, watching this blacksmith intently. She'd known he had feelings for Elizabeth, but she had never imagined that they held an intensity that reached anywhere near this extent.
"Oh, good. No worries, then," Jack Sparrow replied almost exuberantly… before turning to her. "But how 'bout you, darling? How far are you willing to go?"
The only female of the bunch looked at him as if he had the intellect of a rat. "She's my sister." He waited. Apparently, he was one for the dramatic. "All right, I'd die for her as well. Happy?"
"Quite," he grinned in response, and turned… only to look back at her, a bit of a frown on his face.
"What now?" she sighed exasperatedly.
"We do really need to get go-"
"You're going to need to take that off," Sparrow informed, cutting Will off. Both of them stared at the pirate wordlessly following this statement.
"Excuse me… I'm going to have to what?!"
"Take that fancy dress of yours off, darling," he repeated.
"Why the bloody hell would I do that? Are you mad?"
"It will drag you down in the water. I don't think you want to die before you even lay eyes upon your sister again, eh?" She said nothing.
William appeared terribly annoyed at the moment, but even he gave Leah a look up and down. "Miss Swann… he's right."
"I cannot believe this," she muttered, but began to undo the front of her dress, turning from the two men. Luckily, this was one of those done up in the front, not laced up in the back. If it had been one of those, then she would have required aid… Once she slipped off the outer garment of her attire, though, Leah realized something… Her corset was done up in the back. Not knowing quite what to do, she froze for a tense moment… and felt quick hands undoing only some of the laces before pulling the back of the thing sharply back, causing her to exhale her breath sharply, but then released. It was loose enough to simply be slid off now, and she did so, turning sharply around and slapping the face of Jack Sparrow out of sheer instinct. "Never touch me without my consent, Sparrow," she warned, throwing the article of clothing down upon the ground.
"I suppose that wouldn't be an invitation," he said, rubbing his cheek. She glared. How was she ever to get through this?
"This is either madness or brilliance," Will remarked in regards to Jack Sparrow's method of reaching the Dauntless.
"It's remarkable how often those two traits coincide," was the reply the young man received from the older man walking before him.
"I suppose one of them applies more in your case than the other, Sparrow," Leah said icily, located at the very end of their line. Jack's eyes flicked backwards for a moment, but he said nothing.
"You stay hidden here for now," were the first words out of the pirate's mouth once they had finally reached the deck of the stern of their diversion target. They weren't exactly lightly taken as the one in the bodice had had trouble enough climbing up the back of the ship, and had nearly fallen from tripping on her own skirts often enough to be very discouraged and irritated.
"What, why?" she demanded.
"We must set out already. They're going to come up here at any moment," Will warned. Both glanced at him-he was right, of course-and looked back at each other the next moment.
"Look, we do not want the entire royal navy out looking for you as well. I don't exactly have the urge to outrun their bunch on this entire little venture of yours on top of saving your fair maid, savvy? Just stay out of sight until we're out of sight, and then you can prance around the ship as happy as you please."
Pursing her lips, the lady looked over at Will for a moment and then back at Jack, nodding. She stayed well out of sight, at the very back of the ship and crouched down. She could hear William's and Sparrow's ingenious method for taking control of the ship, could hardly suppress a laugh or a sigh of exasperation, either or, at the former's exquisite use of vocabulary, but she had to admit, they did get the job done.
By the time the two had the ship prepared with whatever sabotage they had effected upon it, she was sitting Indian-style against the side, head leaning back against the harsh wood. Why oh why couldn't this ship be the one they were "commandeering"?
"Here they come," Will said finally, running up onto the quarterdeck where Jack Sparrow was already standing. Leah immediately perked up. Now… they were getting somewhere, although whether this was somewhere she wanted to get, she knew not. It was obvious Father would discover that she had in fact left Port Royale eventually, but would he know the means by which? Would she ever be able to come back?
No time for those thoughts now. They still had to complete their escape.
Just as was expected, the Interceptor was taken out to ambush the ship they had apparently laid their sight on and were in the process of taking. Hiding in a very temporary place-it wouldn't be that difficult to find them if the soldiers knew where to look-the three of them swung across the gap. Unlike the other two, she was barely able to keep her balance upon the harsh landing, but to her credit, she did quickly regain it.
They worked fast, her still making some attempt to remain out of sight… just in case they were spotted. Surprisingly enough, all of it actually went off without a hitch, and by the time Sparrow was steering the ship away, a cocky grin on his face, yelling "Thank you, Commodore, for getting us ready to make way. We'd have had a hard time of it by ourselves," in an obvious bragging tone of voice, she was safely leaned against the very back end of the quarterdeck on the Interceptor, staring up at him, waving his hat and acting as if he was completely superior to all the men back there, with complete contempt. A smile briefly shot across her face as the shots came, but it was gone almost as soon as it had come. The full gravity of the situation was just beginning to sink in.
She had assisted a pirate and a reckless blacksmith in stealing a ship from the Royal Navy. There was no going back. She was trapped, not that that was any sort of change. Her entire life had been a cage, why not this too?
