Thank you to all my chapter one reviewers. I apologise for the delay (due to a combination of exams and a month away) and assure you that the next chapter will be lightning fast.

Warning: The rating will be raised to R for chapter Four.

Chapter Two- One Day's Head Start

Execution Day

In the Royal Navy, the act of sodomy (love with another man) is punishable only by death. Since the age of twelve when I joined the Navy as a midshipman, I've known this. Indeed, when I was fifteen years old, I saw a sodomite hung from the yardarm of my old ship, the Indestructible. I can still call up the memory of the seamen spitting at the corpse.

It's now five O'clock in the morning, the rain stopped two hours since and the day should dawn bright and clear. I haven't managed to get a moment's sleep, of course. Every time I close my eyes and surrender myself to the darkness, I recall the feeling of Sparrow kissing me; his harsh lips pressed against mine and his fierce tongue. I have drunk three glasses of brandy to little avail: I can still taste the rum on me.

I keep wondering just how different I am from that sodomite hung at Portsmouth twenty years ago. Am I innocent because I didn't kiss back? Or should I never have let Sparrow get that close to me anyway? Did part of my enjoy it? Stupid questions, I know, but I can't stop thinking.

Eventually, I climb out of my bed and leave my room near the bottom of the fort to take a walk on the battlements. To my intense surprise, the pale half-light of the approaching dawn allows me to distinguish the Governor of Port Royal pacing up and down.

I greet him. "Good morning, Mr Swann."

"Good morning, Commodore," says the Governor. "I can scarcely credit that it is morning; it feels more like the middle of the night to me!"

"Indeed," I say. The ability to make intelligent conversation seems to have momentarily deserted me.

"How come you to be up at this hour, Commodore?"

"I wished to see the dawn, that is all." I make a conscious effort to sound more like myself. "The dawn of the day on which a pirate shall meet the end he rightly deserves!" My voice sounds forced and shrill even to my own ears.

The Governor looks at me sadly. "I am not so sure if he does so rightly deserve this fate."

His answer astonishes me. "What do you mean, sir?" I ask. For one absurd moment, I wonder if Sparrow has kissed the Governor as well.

He wrinkles his forehead in thought, just as a burning sun appears over the horizon in the East. "Without Sparrow, the pirate, Elizabeth would be dead right now," he says slowly. "I have been thinking upon this all night- I have found it quite impossible to sleep."

"As we have said before, Governor: one good deed is not enough to redeem a lifetime of wickedness. Half of the cutpurses, smugglers, footpads and murderers in the Caribbean would jump at the chance to save a young woman from drowning. No doubt a woman in distress is an easy target for these people." I shake my head. "Who knows what might have happened to Elizabeth had we not showed up when we did?"

Who knows what might have happened had I kissed Sparrow back?

Governor Swann looks unconvinced. "Still, Sparrow helped us back at the Treasure Caves. We were in a tight spot when the Dauntless was attacked." He shudders. "I know that we can't grant clemency to a pirate, it's just that this is a-"

I finish the Governor's sentence. "-Nasty business. I know. You must not think me inhumane, Governor. I feel it too."

"Nasty business indeed," he says, before taking his leave of me.

I stand alone on the battlements as the sun rises in the sky and realise with a sudden startling clarity that I don't want to see Sparrow killed. He has taught me that there is honour amongst thieves.

He has also kissed me and I'm beginning to wonder if maybe...

No, this thinking is stupid. I am the Commodore; I am a man of the law. I know my duty and I shall carry it out. If there is honour amongst pirates, there is far more honour amongst officers of His Britannic Majesty's Royal Navy.

The Execution

I'm standing next to the Commodore; Elizabeth is on his other side. The sun has risen full in the sky and the world seems all the brighter for the recent rain.

I look at Jack Sparrow; standing in front of the noose, for what I promise myself is the last time. I can detect nothing of a man about to face death in his countenance; he looks as relaxed as any of the spectators in the crowd. He turns and smiles in my direction, so the gold in his teeth catches the sunlight. I look away. How can a man smile at such a time as this?

Seeing the smile, it occurs to me suddenly that despite his words of last night concerning the Pirate Code, he may be expecting to be rescued. Automatically, my eyes scan the crowds gathered to witness the execution. I cannot see anything to alert suspicion in me. Am I just being paranoid?

My reverie is interrupted by an official starts listing the reasons for Sparrow's execution in a voice entirely lacking in animation.

I glance at Elizabeth and she glares back at me. I am not at all surprised to see the hatred burning in her eyes.

"...Said crimes being numerous in quantity and sinister in nature: piracy, smuggling..."

"This is wrong!" she says for the fifth time.

I long to agree with her but instead I merely stare directly ahead and start to dig the nails of my right hand into my left palm behind my back.

"Commodore Norrington is bound by the law, as are we all," the Governor replies. He at least understands my position.

"...Impersonating an officer of the Spanish Royal Navy, impersonating a cleric of the Church of England, sailing under false colours, arson, kidnapping, looting, poaching, brigandage, pilfering, depravity, depredation and general lawlessness and for these crimes you have been sentenced on this day to be hung by the neck until dead. May God have mercy on your soul."

Elizabeth murmurs 'hypocrite' quietly but William Turner appears before the Governor can tell her off. I feel a vague stab of jealousy at the way Turner is dressed- he looks outlandish, certainly, with that ridiculous feather in his hat, but he also looks far more dashing than I do in my Navy Blue uniform coat and masses of brocade.

"Governor Swann, Commodore," says Turner. I nod tersely in acknowledgement. "Elizabeth. I should have told you everyday from the moment I met you- I love you."

For a minute I think I've imagined it. No. What the hell is Turner playing at? I turn to Elizabeth but there's something in her eyes; something I don't like the look of.

I turn away from Elizabeth and my eyes follow Turner into the crowd, where there appears to be some sort of commotion. My muscles tense in anticipation of action. Suddenly, I realise what's going on: Turner is trying to rescue Jack Sparrow!

"Marines!" I shout.

"I can't breathe," gasps Elizabeth falling backwards. I linger torn between my duty to Elizabeth and stopping Turner.

The drum roll ends suddenly and Elizabeth sits up as Sparrow falls through the trapdoor.

I dash down towards the crowd. "MOVE!" I cry, shoving people out of my way. The Marines are at my back, pressing me forwards- and, Oh God, the hangman...

I'm knocked to the floor. "Ugh." I groan, as the giant rolls off me. I can hear the clanking of swords, through the ringing in my ears. I shake my head a couple of times and haul myself to my feet, chase after Sparrow and Turner. I run up the stone steps leading towards the fort's eastern wall.

And I find Sparrow and Turner are surrounded.

I put on my most 'Commodore' voice as I address Will Turner. "I thought we might have to endure some manner of ill-conceived escape attempt but not from you."

To his credit, Turner does not reply.

Governor Swann, my ally, speaks up. "On our return to Port Royal, I granted you clemency. And this is how you thank me? By throwing in your lot with him? He's a pirate!"

"And a good man," says Will.

A good man. Can a pirate be a good man? I doubt it. His lips against mine. His tongue in my mouth. A kiss in the dark. Everywhere, the taste of rum.

"If all I have achieved is that the hangman will earn two pairs of boots instead of one then so be it. At least my conscience will be clear."

Brave words, Turner. Brave but very foolish.

"You forget your place, Turner," I say. It's quite possible that I'm referring to his behaviour concerning Elizabeth as much as his attempt to rescue Sparrow.

"It's right here, between you and Jack."

"As is mine," Elizabeth says, she steps into the circle of marines and the sunlight is golden on her skin, on her hair.

And my heart should break but it doesn't. There's just this lead weight in my stomach- dread of what will happen next, dread at the thought of someone, this beautiful golden young woman tearing away the Commodore mask to reveal the uncertain man beneath.

"Elizabeth!" Governor Swann looks shocked. "Put your weapons down. For Goodness' sake lower your weapons." The circle of bayonets is lowered: the command given to lower it not mine. I'm losing control.

I face Elizabeth. "So this is where your heart truly lies?" I ask, my voice sounding hollow, my one concession to weakness. This is public humiliation at its worst.

"It is."

Ditched for a blacksmith, little better than a pirate. I glance at Sparrow.

And that Goddamn pirate is smiling again. "Well I'm actually feeling rather good about this," he says. "I think we've all arrived at a very special place spiritually...ecumenically...grammatically."

And then Sparrow comes up to me, so close. A wave of panic courses through me, as I think he's going to kiss me again, in public. As if today could get any worse! Instead, though, he says: "I want you to know that I was rooting for you. Know that." He winks slyly at me when nobody can see.

"Elizabeth, it would never have worked between us, darling. Will, nice hat." Turner looks absurdly pleased. "Friends!" cries Sparrow, backing up, though exactly where he actually intends to go is beyond me. "This is the day you will always remember as the day that-"

And the pirate falls over the battlements.

Gillette, as always, is right at my side and determined to irritate me. "Fool! He's nowhere to go but back to the noose!"

I wouldn't be so sure. "SAIL HO!" shouts a sentry.

And here I stand: a failure in love and a failure as an officer.

Gillette is making his presence known again, like an annoying child plucking at my sleeve. "What's your plan of action, Sir?"

For the first time in my life, I really don't know.

The Governor saves me. "Perhaps on the rare occasion pursuing the right course demands an act of piracy, piracy itself can be the right course?" His words mirror my own feelings so closely that I wonder again if Sparrow has not seduced the Governor as well. The thought cheers me up marginally and I allow myself a grim half-smile before I face Turner.

"Mr Turner."

He tells Elizabeth that he will accept the consequences of his actions. Against my better judgement, perhaps, I find myself admiring the boy. Bravery must always be admired. I know now what I must do.

"This is a beautiful sword," I tell Turner. "I would expect the man who made it to show the same care and devotion in every aspect of his life.

He thanks me but I don't want to hear it. I want to be gone from this place.

I turn my back on Turner, on Elizabeth, and almost manage to walk away before Gillette pipes up.

"COMMODORE! WHAT ABOUT SPARROW?!"

I determine to say something that will become a legend amongst my men: something that will turn defeat into hope. "Well, I think we can afford to give him one day's head start!"

Never in my life have I been more grateful to leave somewhere than I am now to leave the battlements.

"Saddle my horse," I order an aid. Then I turn to the assembled marines and Gillette who have followe me. "I will have these men aboard the Dauntless, lieutenant. We will make sail tomorrow at first light."

The aid brings me horse and I ride away from the fort at full gallop, only stopping when my eyes began to sting with the road dust kicked up by my Hector's hooves. "Whoa," I murmur, pulling on the reins until the horse eases itself into a reluctant canter, then a prancing trot. "Easy now..." Finally, the horse reaches a standstill. Steam rises off its lathered neck.

I turn back towards the fort. Silhouetted against the blue sky are two small figures, kissing.

And I don't feel upset, only angry. And the anger is directed soley at myself, as if by thinking so much about being kissed by Sparrow, I had sealed my own fate with Elizabeth.

Later

The barge crawls towards the Dauntless painfully slowly. I stare up at my ship, admiring the graceful cut of her bows. I try desperately to ignore the quick burning glances the oarsmen are shooting me. They will have heard about Elizabeth; they expect me to appear heartbroken. "One day head start 'e said," whispers somebody.

The challenge is called from the Dauntless, my coxswain answers. I can hear the boatswain piping 'All hands- Captain coming aboard'. It mocks me in a way that it never has done before. After all, how can a person be a Commodore with only one ship?

I pull myself up the ship's side, nod to Gillette. I climb up onto the quarterdeck and look down on the upturned faces of the entire ship's company. I determine to embellish the legend I hope to create. "DAUNTLESSES," I shout. "TODAY A PIRATE HAS ESCAPED THE JUSTICE HE SO RIGHTLY DESERVES!"

There is uneasy muttering in the crowd. I wave my hands for silence.

"BUT LET ME ASSURE YOU, MEN, ONE DAY'S HEAD START IS ALL HE GETS!"

Cheers follow from men who are rendered blind in their admiration for me.