A/N I do not own anything.  Not even Liz or Anne… they were real people, even though I sort of created personalities for them…

Hmmm… reviews so far have been interesting.  So far, majority wants me to kill Anamaria.  Hmmm… she dies in a duel with Cutlass Liz, who also dies in this same duel?  Actually, I was sort of thinking Anne and Liz could duel, ya know, because I haven't really done anything with Anne's sword fighting skills (or lack of them, anyway…) But I need more opinions! 

Tell ya what, All my reviewers can have a bottle of rum, regardless of whether ya guessed Liz's true name, just because I feel like it (also because I stole all of Jack's bottles out of his secret stash… and now I think I have too much…. Gosh, there was a lot, I think If I just drink it all, I'll lose a couple of brain cells, and then I wouldn't be able to update.  So here, have all you want!  *pushes forward big box of full rum bottles* Cheers!

***~***

            Jack found himself, once again, walking down the dark, dank passages in the cave.  He was looking for Anne, but all he could see was darkness, all around.  He was careful to avoid the spaces around the edges that looked so dark that creepy things could be hiding in them; more than anything he wished he was still back at the Pearl.  He listened to the drip, drip of water trickling off the ceiling, and strained to hear anything else, like a tiny shuffling that would tell him that he was not alone in the caves, but it was silent other than that.  A whisper coming from the shadows reassured him quite sufficiently, though. 

            "Jack!"  He turned to where the whisper was coming from.  Darkness… he couldn't see a thing. 

            "Anne?" 

            "Jack…" Jack stepped forward, a little further into the shadows.  Then he finally saw her… her red hair stood out just a little in the darkness. 

            She stepped forward so he could see her a little better, and Jack tried to speak. 

            "Anne, you wouldn't believe who's here.  It's Cutlass Liz, and she said…"

            "I know."  Anne said quietly.

            "What?"  Jack said, not sure if he had heard her correctly. 

            "I heard the entire conversation, alright?  All about how you're about to screw me over royally, Jack.  Yeah, I'm really bursting with joy here."  She said, angrily and sarcastically.  Jack felt the fierce venom of her words, and stepped back a bit, a little confused at what she was thinking. 

            "I don't get it.  You should be… listen, what's going to happen is, you can captain the Pearl.  Don't you want that?"  Jack asked, a bit of regret in his voice.   He really was feeling terrible about having to leave the Pearl behind… but it would be a good opportunity for them all.  

            Anne just looked angry though.  "I thought… you understood."  She shook her head slightly and then smiled just a little, but it was not a happy smile.  She looked as if she was in pain. "Fine.  Fine…  Enjoy your new life, Jack."  She turned away and started walking back toward the Pearl.  Leaving behind a very confused Jack. 

            Since Jack didn't have anything else to do, he headed back to where Liz was waiting.  They had planned on collecting the treasure later… Liz would send some of her Spanish crewmembers over to retrieve it from the Pearl.  But Jack was feeling quite lost… he hadn't been himself lately, and it had to do with Anne.  Somehow, he just felt like he had betrayed her, and that what he was doing just wasn't right.  And it hit him like a sack of bricks. 

            He couldn't make this bargain, because the treasure wasn't his.  Well, part of it was.  Half of it, to be exact.  But the other half belonged to Anne… from the accord they had made.  Since it belonged to Anne, he couldn't use it to make a deal with, especially if Anne wasn't happy about the way it turned out.  He really was screwing her over royally.  What if she had plans for that treasure?  Of course she did… she always had a plan. 

            "Jack?"  Liz called seductively from her room.  "Are you finished?" 

            "I'm not finished yet…"  Jack said grinning inwardly.  "I'm not finished yet…"

            Anne was back at the Pearl, and although she was glad to see Anamaria and Danielle back, there was still a strong sense of loss.  And she had been betrayed, once again, by a person who she had trusted.  Damn Jack… He had messed everything up!  She really didn't want to captain the Pearl.  In fact, she had planned on taking her share of the treasure and using it to buy a new ship, one she had earned.  But now everything was different… the Pearl was beautiful, but honestly?  It wasn't her kind of ship.  She wanted a ship like the Revenge, Calico's ship.  To remind her of Mary and Calico.  Perhaps even put up black sails, in mourning.  One thing she was certain of was that soon, men would come to take her treasure away from her.  She couldn't let that happen. 

            Besides, the ship was in full sail already.  Everything had been set up already, in perfect condition for them to sail away. 

            So why didn't she just take this opportunity? 

            She quickly gave the orders for anchors to be raised, and oars to be dragged out, to row them out of the cave and into the wind. 

            When she once again felt the cool, salty breeze on her face, she would feel better. 

            But the sense of not being free dragged her down again. 

            Jack watched Liz's face carefully when the news was brought to her.  He didn't know what it was, but he could guess… Anne had somehow done something so that the treasure could not be received.  Anyway, Liz seemed incredibly angry.  She pulled out her blade from a hiding place he had not noticed before and killed the messenger on the spot.

            "You…" She seethed, turning back to Jack.  "You told them to leave!"  She spat at him angrily.  "I gave you a chance…" 

            "No," Jack said calmly, grinning cheekily at her.  "I did no such thing.  I simply gave them my goodbyes, love; it is no fault of mine if they decided to leave." 

            Liz was furious.  She called another messenger. 

            "Send ships after them!  I want every last coin!  And you, Sparrow, are going along too.  I want you to watch as I kill every last one of your crew for this treason!" 

            Jack pretended to be horrified, and Liz left the room quickly, leaving him to his thoughts. 

            She really wasn't very bright… He only hoped that Anne had a plan in mind… surely she did not intend to just sail away and have nobody following her?  She must have some brilliant plan in mind. 

            Anne stared at the cave as it shrunk further and further away into the distance and racked her mind for ideas, a plan, anything.  Her mind had never failed her before, and it didn't fail her this time.  In fact, she was slightly amused to see a ship in the distance, trying to gain on them.  

            "Gibbs!"  She called to the old man.  "Close sails… they are gaining on us." 

            Gibbs raised his eyebrows in a questioning manner but said nothing.  He quickly relayed the order to the crew, who denunciated loudly about the order. All of them knew that if they kept to full sail, the could outrun this ship.  The Pearl is not a slow ship. 

            "Close yer traps, ye mangy cads!"  Anamaria shouted at them.  "Red has a plan!"  (Recently, Anamaria had taken to calling Anne 'Red' on account of her red hair.) 

            "Aye, that I do, Anamaria… a bloody brilliant plan if I do say so myself."  Anne said to Anamaria, a smile playing about her lips. 

            "Does this plan involve Sparrow?"  Anamaria asked, frowning. 

            "Actually, yes."  Anne said sheepishly. 

            "That's too bad.  It probably won't work then."  Anamaria pointed out. 

            "Yes, I know."  Anne said, turning her gaze back to the horizon.  "Jack tends to ruin quite a lot of things, now doesn't he?" 

            Jack stared at the Pearl, which seemed to be getting closer and closer.  Either they were gaining, or The Pearl had dropped anchor… honestly, he would rather Anne just take the treasure and get out of the way, but there wasn't really anything he could do but pray that she had a plan. 

            Liz was captain of this ship, The Serpent's Kiss, and it really was a very nice ship… but it was fairly obvious that she hadn't sailed in awhile, so Jack just couldn't see himself captaining this ship.  It smelled slightly rotten and musty, and Jack could see places where the wood was new, obviously patched up, but other than that, the wood was old and rotting.  Anne would be horrified if she stepped onto this ship… it was in terrible condition.  Then again…  Jack smiled a little.  It was actually quite obvious that she had stepped onto the ship; because when they first took off, there was a slight bit of delay… someone had tampered with the rudder chain.  He wondered if Anne was always prepared for everything.  But he thought about this for a little while and realized that if the ship had been caught, obviously something in one of her plans had gone wrong. 

            He thought back to that time in the cell, when they first met.  Anne had told him that she had been betrayed, and hadn't he heard the stories? 

            Betrayed?  Who had betrayed her?  How could anyone betray her? 

            She was… well, the power that she had, you never realized it until it was stabbing you in the back; but somehow, she didn't seem to ever take advantage of that power.

            Jack tried to focus on the matter at hand.  Liz ran up a truce flag on the pole as her ship grew nearer, and Jack could see the wind pick up, just slightly and the Pearls sails were practically begging to be let go so that the Pearl could soar.  Jack saw Anne stand up on the rail, her red hair whipping around her face. 

            "Permission to board?"  She called over the wind. Liz seemed taken aback, but nodded her permission, and a board was lowered across the distance between the two ships.  Anne ran the distance surely and light-footed, with the subtle grace of a cat, stepping confidently on the deck of the old, decrepit ship.  Jack could have sworn he saw disgust flicker across her face briefly.  His eyes did not betray him and show any emotion. 

            When Anne stepped onto the ship, the first thing she did, in the blink of an eye was draw her cutlass and place it against Liz's throat.  It turned out to be a smart move, because as soon as both feet were firmly planted on the rocking ground, all of the men on the ship had their guns and knives at her own throat.  She smiled delicately. 

            "It seems that your permission to come aboard was not mutual."  She stated to Liz.  Liz sneered. 

            "It seems your intentions aboard my ship were not pleasant, so both of us are in fault."  Anne smiled briefly, and then sheathed her cutlass once again.  That did not turn out to be intelligent… then men surrounding her did not lower their weapons. 

            "I can see we are both women who have grown up around high status.  Surely you can be more polite than this?"  Anne argued.  It was actually an insult to Liz, but she did not seem to notice.  On second thought, perhaps she did. 

            "Give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you."  Liz snarled angrily. 

            Anne sighed.  "Actually, I can think of a lot of reasons.  The main one being that I don't want to die.  Then there's also the fact that we could be great partners, that I placed a curse upon the treasure door so that I am the only one who can get into it, that I know the whereabouts and locations of about twenty other treasure troves, that I have friends in high places who would want to avenge my death, and… shall I continue?" 

            Liz looked a mixture of thoughtful and angry. 

            "You… would… join me?"  She looked uncertain. 

            "Well, not at the moment, when I am surrounded by weapons and dislike… actually, I am being treated quite rudely at the moment, and I want to be given a little more credit." 

            "What of Captain Sparrow?"  Liz said suspiciously. 

            "What of him?" 

            Jack felt as if he had a very large rock in his stomach, but he ignored it as he listened to the conversation as it continued. 

            "Shall I keep him alive?"  Liz asked. 

            "Do what you wish… however, I suggest you do not kill him, as his crew will most likely attack as soon as you do." 

            "Very well… I suppose I can have my fun with him after his crew is dealt with… I suppose you could say something to them?" 

            "Of course." 

            "Well then, let us get to the treasure!" 

            A/N MWAHAHAHAHA!!! I am so evil!  What do you think?  Please tell me?  (Just so you know, all that stuff Anne said was a load of bull, to keep her alive… in case you were wondering, except for certain parts of it… well, I suppose the next chapter will be coming soon, and I'm sorry to say that it may be one of the last few… L