A/N: Sorry it took a little longer than normal to get this chapter up. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 12

Allie was washing the rails over near the helm, when Liz came running up to her, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Liz, what's wrong?" Allie asked worriedly. Liz took one look at Jack, who was behind the wheel, and shook her head.

"Nothing," she said, than ran off.

Allie dropped the rag she was holding, and watched with dismay as it fell, not onto the deck as she had planned, but into the ocean, never to be seen again. Aww, man. That's the second rag I've lost today. Jack's gonna kill me. Allie turned to look at Jack warily. Jack waved one of his hands dismissively.

"Don't worry about it, luv. Go after yer friend." Allie smiled gratefully.

"Thank you, Captain," she said, clasping her hands together in a very Jackish sort of way, than ran down the stairs.

Liz was nowhere in sight. Allie looked around frantically, wondering where she could have disappeared to. She heard a sniffle from behind the stairs, and decided to investigate.

There sat Liz, tears still streaming down her cheeks.

"Liz, what's wrong? What happened?" Allie asked, joining her under the stairs. Liz just shook her head and didn't say anything. Allie decided not to press any further. She simply put an arm around her friend, trying to comfort her.

"If you want to talk, ya know where to find me, right?" Allie asked quietly. Liz nodded. They sat there for a few more minutes, neither one saying anything. Then Liz spoke up.

"Allie?"

"What?"

"I really want to go home," Liz said shakily, fresh tears pouring down her cheeks. Allie nodded.

"I know you do. I miss it to."

Before Liz had a chance to reply, a shadow fell over them. They looked up and saw Will standing there. Realization dawned on Allie's face. She turned back to Liz.

"Does this have something to do with Mr. Turner?" Liz tensed, and more tears began to fall. That was answer enough for Allie. She stood up, glaring daggers at Will.

"What did you do to her?" she demanded. Will avoided the question.

"Can you give us a moment, Miss…" he trailed off expectantly.

"I am not giving you my last name, Mr. Turner. I ask you again: What did you do to my friend?"

"Please, just give us a moment alone," Will requested. Allie looked at Liz, who shook her head as if to say "Don't you dare leave me!" She looked back at Will.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Mr. Turner."

"Don't make me order you," Will pleaded. Allie stood her ground.

"Order me all you want. I am not leaving my friend alone with the likes of you!" Allie shouted. Jack suddenly appeared next to Will, but Allie didn't notice, and neither did Will.

"As first mate on this ship, I order you to leave us," Will said in an annoyingly calm voice.

"And I refuse!" Allie yelled back.

"Now, luv," Jack began, Allie and Will both jumped. "I can't have ye refusing orders from me first mate, savvy? Come on, back to work."

"No." Jack was shocked. Nobody had ever refused a direct order from him before. "Excuse me, lass?" Allie swallowed, then held her head up a little higher.

"With all due respect, Captain, I refuse. I cannot leave my friend in her time of need." Allie turned to look at Liz, and was shocked to find that she wasn't there. "Liz?" If the situation, whatever it was, wasn't so serious, Allie might have laughed. She turned and started walking away.

"Where are ye going, luv?" Jack asked.

"To find Liz."

"Oh, no ye don't, lass. Ye've got to get back to work. The whelp will find her." Allie flipped.

"That's the entire point, Jack! I don't want the whelp going anywhere near her!" Will's eyebrows rose.

"Could you please refrain from calling me 'the whelp' as if I'm not standing right here?"

"Heck no!" Allie said, turning to face him. "After whatever you did to Liz, I'm ready to…" Jack interrupted her.

"Allie," he said firmly. "Back to work." Allie whirled back towards Jack.

"I've already told you, Captain, that I will not go back to work until I find out what's wrong with Liz."

They continued to bicker until Jack decided that he was sick of listening to Allie's screaming. Without any warning, he suddenly reached out, grabbed her by the back of her neck, pulled her to him, and kissed her.

Allie's eyes widened in surprise, then she pulled back and smacked him as hard as she could.

To her surprise, and annoyance, Jack only grinned.

"What are you smiling at?" Allie growled, her curiosity getting the best of her. Jack's grin widened.

"I knew that would shut you up," he said in an all-knowing voice. Allie's eyes narrowed. Jack decided to push her further. "Ye liked it, didn't ye?" he asked, looking pleased with himself.

Oh, he did not just say that! Allie tried to smack him again, but he caught her wrist. So she tried with the other hand, and Jack caught that wrist as well. Allie tired to pull away, but Jack kept his grip on her.

"Do ye think I would let ye go that easily, lass?" he taunted, before leaning over and kissing her again, never letting go of her wrists.

It took every ounce of self-control that Allie had to not kiss him back. She needed to get away from him, and fast. Suddenly, she got an idea. She stomped on his foot as hard as she could. It achieved the desired effect. Jack pulled back with a yelp and let her go.

"What the bloody 'eck was that for?"

"As if you didn't know," Allie sneered at him. Jack's eyes narrowed.

"Look, lass, yer treading a fine line here. I suggest ye get back to work before I decide to throw ye in the brig, and let Mr. Coleman do what he will with ye." Allie gulped.

"Yes, Captain," she said meekly, then turned and headed off back towards the helm to finish cleaning the railings.

Jack turned to say something to Will, only to notice that at some point, he had left. Probably off to mend things with Miss Carter, he decided as he, too, headed off towards the helm to steer his ship.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After searching the entire ship, Will finally gave up, and went back to the room.

Liz was laying in bed when she heard the door open and close, but she didn't say anything. Especially when Will started talking to himself-or so he thought.

"Stupid move, Turner. Now look what you've done. You've gone and upset her. Where could she be? I've looked everywhere. She's certainly not in the brig, not in the kitchen. Wait a minute…" He walked over to the bed and moved the curtain aside. Liz acted as though she was asleep, but it didn't do any good.

"I know you're not asleep, Princess," Will said with a small smile on his face. Liz pouted.

"Yes I am. I mean, pretend you didn't hear that. Or that either. Oh, just go away, Will!" Liz pulled the blanket over her head. Will laughed and reached over. He slowly pulled the blanket down so that he could see her face. He looked into her eyes and said with sincerity,

"I'm sorry, Liz. I didn't mean to offend you." Liz's lower lip started to tremble, and then she started crying again. Will sat down next to her on the bed.

"Princess, what's wrong? Am I that repulsive?" Liz laughed and shook her head.

"Then what's wrong?"

"Will, I really like you. But I just got out of a really bad relationship, and I don't know if I can trust anybody. Plus there's other things about me that you don't know. Things that you can't possibly understand. I can't even understand them. So I think it would be easier if we just remained friends." Liz said, hoping that he would understand. Will smiled.

"I was going to say the same thing," he said. "I really am sorry. It just…happened."

"It's okay. Let's just forget it." Liz was silent for a moment. "Will?"

"What?"

"My hand still hurts." Will laughed and pulled her into a friendly hug.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Allie stopped outside the cabin that she shared with Jack. Maybe I'll be lucky, and he won't be in there, she thought to herself. She took a deep breath and walked in.

Apparently, luck was not on her side that day. Jack was sitting with his feet propped up on his desk, drinking a bottle of rum. Wonderful, Allie thought sarcastically. This could get…interesting.

"Hello, luv." Jack said, not getting up.

Maybe if I just ignore him, he'll leave me alone, Allie thought, crossing the room and picking up her clogs. She turned around and started to head out the door, when Jack got up and grabbed her by the arm.

"Where're ye off to?" he asked. Allie didn't answer. Instead, she tried to pull away, but Jack only tightened his grip.

"I asked ye a question, lass." Jack said, taking a small step closer. "And I suggest ye answer it."

"I'm going down to the brig to put on a show for Mr. Coleman, then let him out and allow him to 'have his way with me' as you so elegantly put it," Allie said sarcastically. "Where do you think I'm going, you dork? I'm going to check up on Liz!" She tried to pull away again, and once again, Jack stopped her. He turned her so that she was facing him.

"Now listen up, lass," he began, struggling to keep his anger in check. "I don't know what your problem is, but I suggest that ye get it fixed, and soon. Yer trying me patience."

Allie's shoulder's slumped, and she fought back tears. The whole ordeal was finally catching up with her. No! she ordered herself. You will not cry! Not in front of Jack! Don't do it!

"Luv?" Jack asked softly. "Luv, what's wrong?" Allie shook her head.

"Nothing," she whispered.

"Nothing?" Jack asked doubtfully. "I find that hard to believe, lass." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "C'mon. Tell me what's wrong." Allie shook her head again, but didn't say anything. She didn't trust herself to speak, much less look at him. If she did, she knew she would start crying. Jack reached out and tenderly took her chin in his hand, and gently forced her to look at him.

"I can see yer hurting, luv. I want to help ye," he said sincerely.

Allie felt her lower lip start to tremble. No! she ordered herself. Don't cry in front of him. Don't! But she couldn't help it. When she saw how concerned he looked, she lost all control and started crying, burying her face in her hands.

Jack led her over to the bed, sitting her down, and then sitting next to her. A moment later, Allie felt Jack's other arm envelop her in a hug as he pulled her against his chest, murmuring soothing words in her ear. Allie clung to his tunic, soaking it with her tears. She cried until she couldn't cry any longer, then fell into an uneasy sleep.

Jack glanced down and saw that Allie had fallen asleep. He gently kissed the top of her head, laid down with her still in his arms, and fell asleep as well.