Disclaimer: I don't own Pirates or anything associated with it (though if whoever does own it--Disney, I guess--wants to get rid of it, I'm very willing to take it off his hands...). I'm not making any money off of this story (because if I were I would be in the Caribbean, not posting a fanfic about it).


Chapter 7, Black Pearl, third bell into forenoon watch

Elizabeth knocked on the door to Jack's cabin, dreading the conversation she knew was coming.

"Aye?" Jack called from inside.

She opened the door and stepped through, letting it swing shut behind her. "Jack? I've got some bad news."

As her eyes adjusted to the dim light, she could see him sit up from where he'd been laying on his bed. "What did you do to my ship?" he asked warily.

"Nothing. Your ship is fine. But... Norrington insisted on giving us an escort to Port Royal, so you'll have to lie low until we get there."

"What?" He didn't shout, but the deadly tone of his voice almost made her wish that he had.

"I'm sorry, Jack. He said that every one of his ships is on strict orders to shoot this ship on sight, without waiting for a surrender or anything. What if we'd gone into Port Royal without knowing that? We'd have been blown to bits. It's not that bad, after all. You can probably even come up on deck, as long as you tie back your hair and change your clothes. And let Bill play captain for a couple of days."

She could see him struggling to control his anger. "First of all: we wouldn't be going to bloody Port Royal in the first place if I hadn't tried to be nice to you--and if I hadn't owed Bill--so I wouldn't have had to worry about bloody Norrington and his bloody friends anyway. Second of all: who gave you permission to allow or deny the bloody commodore anything in the first place, especially when it concerns my bloody ship? Third: Bootstrap is bloody lucky I like him and I know how you can manipulate people, because nobody bloody 'plays captain' on my ship except me and I don't bloody 'play'!"

"I know, and I'm sorry," Elizabeth said, trying to placate him. "But what would you have me do? Anything I could have said would have made him suspicious, and then he'd have searched the ship, and found you, and then we'd be in a fine mess!"

"You could have taken 'em all captive," Jack said sullenly. Elizabeth gave him a look, and he backed off. "It was just a suggestion," he muttered.

"You don't have to let Bill actually be the captain. Just make it look like it from Norrington's ship. Like, every time you give an order, talk to him first. Just little things."

Jack frowned, but she could tell that the worst was over. He would play along for as long as he had to, and she'd hear no more about it... at least, not until he felt the need to tell Will the story.

"I'll leave you to get changed. I assume you have some... less conspicuous clothing?"

He nodded and shooed her out the door, ignoring her attempts to apologize.

Bill met her on deck. "How'd it go?"

"It could have been worse," she answered wearily, "but not much."

He offered his arm and walked her over to the wheel. "We've got to make it look like I treat you like a queen," he explained in reply to her curious glance, "in case Norrington tries to spy on us. I don't want him coming on board again, especially not to tell me how to treat a lady."

Elizabeth shook her head, knowing that it would take a bit more than not offering her an arm to bring Norrington back to the Pearl, but she didn't protest. "How long do you think it will take us, now that we have to slow down for the Dauntless?" she asked instead.

Bill shrugged. "I can't say for sure, 'cause I've never been on the Dauntless. Still, we're not that far out. It shouldn't take more than three or four days."

She sighed. "I was this close to getting home. Two days! Is that really too much to ask?"

"Apparently so." He looked like he was going to say more, but the sight of Jack coming out of his cabin stopped him. The red bandanna was gone, as were the bone and the beads (Elizabeth wondered idly how he'd gotten them out of his hair at all, but decided not to push things by asking). With his hair tied back, and him clad in a simple white shirt and dark blue trousers, he hardly looked like the same man. For all Norrington would know, he could be anybody.

He spied Bill and Elizabeth and hurried over to them, scowling. "You both owe me for this," he said angrily.

"I didn't do anything, Jack. It was her plan, and she had no way of knowing that Norrington would insist on giving us an escort," Bill said. "But imagine the story this will make. You've got to be first pirate in history to get an honor escort from the very Navy that's trying to kill you!"

Jack frowned. "We're going to Port Royal. Not too impressive, mate."

"What'll be impressive is when you get back out of Port Royal without the commodore being any the wiser," Bill said.

"I still look like a pansy," muttered Jack.

"You do not. You look more dashing with your hair tied back than you ever did before," Elizabeth retorted hotly. "More dangerous, too."

"That," Jack said, pointing a warning finger at her, "is a very bad lie." But she could tell that he was pleased.

And, honestly, she didn't care what Jack thought. She didn't care what anybody thought. She had finally triumphed over the fate that had kept her from home for so long. This time, she would actually make it home. Nothing could stand in her way. Elizabeth could hardly wait.


Sorry that took so long to post. I actually had it ready a while ago, but a combination of lack of time, crashing computers, and forgetfulness made me hold off until today.

But, the good news is we're practically home free! There are about two chapters left to this story, which isn't a whole lot, but Elizabeth still has a couple of problems heading her way.

As always, giant piles of thanks to all my reviewers, and of course I would appreciate any comments you have for me.

--JSK