A/N AHHHHHHHHHHH!! THE SHAME I'm soooooooooo sorry gaaah can you believe it uploading the wrong chapter -- oh no please forgive me for being so slow in fixing it oh no no no no oh well here is the right one ##

Hey my beautiful people, I'm soooooo sorry I've been so slack lately, but unlike many of you, enjoying your summer vacations grrr to you grrrr! I'm suffering through my winter semester of study.... Such fun no? and I've been completely flooded lately. I promise however that I will do my best to update once a week at least. Now onto my thanks to you lovely people. Thank you very much to all of you and I'm sorry again that I've been neglecting you lately. Maruader Lupin and Saxony thank you so so much for sticking with me you guys just make me keep writing. Kate'n'Rose and Falcon Wing thank you for joining me. Sax I'm sorry I made you wait. As to the question of Tomas... sax could be right or Kate'n'Rose could be or you both could be mwahahaha you'll just have to see won't you.

ON WITH THE STORY!!!

Live for My Dying

Chapter 6

Identity and Concealment

Elspeth rested her chin on the porthole taking in the new morning. Slowly her senses were returning and she felt stronger, despite the fact that she was becoming aware of various aches and pains in her body. Now she could let herself think about her situation, her first problem was, who had found her. If she was lucky, she would have been picked up by the British Navy, or a Merchantman, maybe even on of her father's fleet.

"And if I'm unlucky..." she muttered, but she wasn't going to let herself finish that thought, "I'll deal with that if it happens."

She thought back, seeing if she could remember being rescued, - but the images were blurred and she was having trouble separating memory from dream. There was a vague image of a face with dark eyes, but she couldn't be sure if that was just her imagination. As she thought about it she fiddled absently with the chain around her neck.

Suddenly it struck her; - there was a chain around her neck. Hurriedly she wrenched the chain out of the front of her shift and clasped the seal tightly in her hand. She sighed with relief, she'd completely forgotten about the seal. Holding it to the light she studied the insignia, the initials M H on a background of sails. Her father had always been proud of his emblem, she felt tears in her eyes, but was able to smile at the thought of him. He wa- had been a very good man.

Stuffing the seal back into the front of her shift, she blushed for a moment at the thought of being found wearing only the thin linen under dress. Pushing the thought from her mind, she examined the tiny cabin she was currently occupying. It was barely more then two by three metres, (A/N sorry I'm a metric girl, I could work it out in feet if you offered me a million dollars sigh) at least half of which was take up by the bunk against the left wall. The porthole was to the right of the head of the bed. There were however two doors.

One was just to the left of the foot of the bed, while the other was in the middle of the right wall. It was odd, she thought, that such a small cabin would have two doors. She went to the door in the right wall first as it was closest. It was locked. She scowled and hurried to the other door, she reached out to the handle, but it wouldn't turn.

This was not good at all, she thought. Doors were either locked to keep people in, which wasn't very promising for her, or to keep people out, which was even less promising. Maybe there would be an explanation later, but for now she did not deny the feeling of uneasiness in her stomach. She simply could not see why the doors should be locked!

Trying both doors again, with a little more effort this time, she growled a little under her breath. There was no mistaking it, she was stuck. Sitting down next to her pile of shredded sheet, Elspeth prepared herself to wait again. It seemed she was doing a lot of waiting lately.

The wait was surprisingly short in comparison to those prior to it. She was sitting on the bed with her knees drawn up to her chin, concealing the edge of her shift, when she heard a small sound at the door and immediately stood and turned towards it. After the first muffled noise there came the definite sound of a key in the lock of the door at the foot of the bed. Quietly the door was opened and a head appeared, seeing that she was awake, a man walked in.

He was fairly tall and of a lean build. His hair matted into dozens of long locks, woven in with beads clamps and pieces of leather. Dark audacious eyes, emphasised by wide cheek bones, stared boldly down at her. Trying to meet his wandering gaze she raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to speak and wondering why he didn't. Everything about him made her decidedly uneasy. He had an inane air about him, but something told her that what lay under this exterior was entirely different. Finally meeting her gaze, he grinned roguishly at her questioning expression.

"Was there something lass?" he asked incongruously.

She choked back a stunned splutter at this statement, refusing to let him unbalance her. Showing any sign of weakness would not be beneficial. Quickly regaining her composure, she sat up straight on the edge of the bed and smiled sweetly.

"I was merely wondering, what it was you were here for." She replied archly.

For a moment she thought she had taken the wrong approach. The man's eyes narrowed infinitesimally, and Elspeth caught a sudden flash of steel in his manner, but before she could register fully what she saw the humorous veneer came back in place and he grinned again.

"I –merely- wished te welcome ye aboard –milady-" he said sardonically.

"That is kind of you I'm sure," she replied in a tone that would have had her punished for rudeness at Madame De La Croix, "But perhaps you could tell me precisely what you are welcoming me aboard?"

He swelled up over-grandly, "Why, ye be aboard the finest ship on the Caribbean Sea," she raised her eyebrow at this, and he scowled slightly, "Me pride and joy, the Black Pearl." He finished extravagantly.

Unable to hold back a snort of disbelief, Elspeth fought to keep from laughing.

"And I suppose you're the –great- Captain Jack Sparrow," she said.

The man's expression sobered and his eyes focused fully on hers for the first time,

"Aye." he said with a simple seriousness that sent a chill down her spine, "Now, what I'm wondering, is how a lady of your-" his eyes moved down to the opening of her shift, "Obvious stature, would come to hear of Captain Jack Sparrow, most of me tales would not be bestowed upon a –gentle- personage such as yerself." He finished with a flourish.

With a shiver she realised the reason for the light hearted banter, he had been waiting for her to say something that he could use against her. Her heart went cold as the fullness of her situation dawned on her. She was back almost exactly where she started, all she had done was exchange one pirate crew for another, possibly more ruthless. Ah well, she thought recklessly, she had resigned herself to her fate this morning, and now she would have to deal with it, hopeless though it seemed.

Gathering the strength she could, she looked up at the Captain, this time noticing the direction of his gaze. Memory struck her like a hammer. The seal! She cursed herself for forgetting, and her despair deepened at the thought of what this scoundrel could do with her fathers business if the seal fell into his hands. Feigning maidenly shock, she crossed her arms over the opening of her shift and glared at Captain Sparrow furiously.

Sparrow took his turn to raise an eyebrow at her grinning licentiously.

"Honestly Mr Sparrow, what does it matter to you where I heard of you and beside what leads you to believe I am a lady?" she retorted, standing up to her full height and lifting her chin regally.

"Do I –honestly- have to ask?" he replied, rolling his eyes, "As to why I want to know, well, we found ye floating alone at sea not too far from the wreck of a rich merchantman. With this much information, I don't know what ye're worth te me. If ye are a lady of high status, as ye appear to be, then ye'll most likely fetch a handsome ransom."

"And if I be just a poor captain's lass?" she asked falling into the rough common accent she had spoken with as a young girl.

At this Sparrows eyes narrowed calculatingly, as if measuring her up. Appearing to come to a conclusion, he grinned slightly and with one quick step closed the distance between them. Before she could register shock at his proximity his arm had snaked around her waist and pulled her close against him. Immediately she tried to pull away, but the way he held her she could not use her arms to lever herself away from him, her struggles were ineffectual at best.

"If ye be just a poor captains lass, then I'm sure we can find another use for ye, until we reach a port where we can drop ye off," he said bringing his face very close to hers, "Now perhaps ye'd be so kind as to tell me yer name?" his eyes boring into her own.

"Why would I do that now?" she replied, stopping her struggles and meeting his gaze. Seizing one of the few possibilities open to her she held firm.

His arm tightened around her, and his gaze narrowed dangerously.

"I believe it would be in yer best interest, don't ye?" he said in a dangerously lowered voice. Something in his face reassured her however. Oh he was ruthless and a pirate, but he wasn't going to hurt her, at least not yet.

"No, I don't believe so, you see if I tell you who I am you will be free to take whichever course of action you wish, neither of which will benefit me much at all," she replied almost nonchalantly, "However if I leave you guessing, then your much in the same position I am." She stood still in his grip, which, albeit tight, was not brutal. His eyes flashed for a moment and she caught a trace of what looked very much like amusement, but whatever it was, it was his almost immediately and replaced with a malicious scowl. Almost before she realised it, his free hand had come up to her shoulder and she was pushed up between the cabin wall and the scowling Captain. Her eyes widened and she was unable to contain a gasp of shock. For a second he looked pleased with himself for having unsettled her, but once again the façade came back down, he appeared once again purely malicious.

"Am I going to have to make ye tell me?" he growled into her ear. Taking a deep breath, she tried to settle herself. For some inexplicable reason she felt light-headed and almost giddy. Concentrating on the wall behind her she tried to dispel that feeling.

"N no, I suppose I'll have to explain it to you," she tried to cover her stutter with an exaggerated sigh, appalled that she had let him unsettle her, "If I am a –lady- as you seem to think, then my worth will decrease terribly if I am in any way interfered with, won't it. So –making me- tell you would be entirely out of the question. On the other hand if I am just a poor lass, then it is well to my benefit to seem to be a lady." She finished looking at him innocently. She felt his hold on her weaken minutely, and caught the most fleeting of reactions run across his face.

"Ah you see, though," his expression had become more intense now, but less malign, "All that depends on how much you're worth to me. Possibly even a high ransom would be worth forgoing to satiate my curiosity,"

"But you don't know my worth, are you willing to take that risk?" she replied quickly, meeting his eyes with a confidence she was beginning to realise she didn't feel, a confidence which drained away at the wicked grin on his face.

"I'm a pirate lass, risks are part of my life." And with that he pressed his lips fully upon hers. It was a quick kiss, over in a second. Stunned she sank to the floor, not even aware that she had been released. It wasn't until many moments later, when she had slowed the pounding of her heart, that she realised he had left the cabin. As quickly imaginable, she ran to the door and tried the handle. It was locked again.

Jack slammed the door behind him, and locked it. How had he let her out-manoeuvre him like that! He glared fiercely at the door, but was quickly overcome with the urge to laugh. Looking over the encounter, he grinned and shook his head ruefully. He headed back to the helm chuckling under his breath; he had underestimated the girl it seemed. She was indeed something else.