-1It took much time, but eventually the Navy ship caught up. It approached the Pearl broadside, cannon at the ready, but did not fire. A man dressed smartly in Navy officer garb walked to the railing, cutlass drawn. The entire crew stood utterly surprised at this man's identity. How could such an unlikely thing come to pass? "You have a chance to surrender, you scurvy dogs, before we blow a hole the size of Singapore in your mangy ship," shouted Will Turner, bearing an expression of grim resolve beneath his elegantly plumed hat.

Smiling wickedly, Jack happily shouted a return banter, knowing the Pearl would open fire and do just as much damage as the Navy guns. "Is this what a eunuch does to compensate? I told you, mate, you should get yourself a girl." Jack took much pleasure in the fact that said lass now stood beside him, and not the whelp.

Will's expression darkened, and even across the distance between the two vessels Jack could see the storm in his eyes. "That's a problem I've come to address. It seems you've taken something quite precious from me, Jack Sparrow. I'm here to take her back."

"Captain Jack Sparrow." Aside to Elizabeth, he whispered, "See what you've reduced the Eunuch to?"

Not much appreciating being referred to as an object, she pinched the skin underneath Jack's arm, making him jump.

"Easy now, love," he hissed. "It seems the lass is quite happy here, mate, I think I'll keep her aboard."

"Filthy pirate!" Will shouted, unable to contain himself at the moment of facing his rival.

Knowing this wasn't going to get any prettier, Jack jumped the gun, so to speak, shouting in reply, "Fire!"

Immediately responding to his command, the cannon of the pearl opened up on the Navy ship, the Avenger, tearing holes the size of boulders in her side. With that deafening sound, all hell broke loose aboard the two ships, and the fighting commenced. The opponents fired upon each other with pistols and rifles until ropes were thrown, and the Navy crewmen began to board the Pearl. It was then it seemed that the real struggle began.

Elizabeth felt deafened by the sound of pistol shot and the clanging of sabers. But she managed, quite well, to keep her head above the confusion and the intruding sailors at bay. How would this end, she asked herself. Would they have to kill most of the naval sailors? Destroy their ship? Capture their captain? Was Will in danger of dying? Of course he was, they all were. Even as her arms began to tire, Elizabeth fought on savagely, and noticed the crowd aboard was beginning to thin. Bodies littered the decks, both Pirate and Queen's sailor; it was impossible to tell at this point who was winning.

Glancing out the corner of her eye, Elizabeth caught a glance of Jack, who seemed to be entangled in a battle with three men at once. Quickly ridding herself of her other opponent, she grabbed a rope, and swung down to the lower deck where Jack fought, knocking down two of his attackers in the process. A fire of pride ignited in Jack's chest, watching Elizabeth execute this maneuver with such zeal. She fought like a cornered tigress, ready to settle for nothing less than freedom.

With renewed zeal, the pair dispatched their attackers, and moved on to the next sailors invading their ship. However, they were quickly disheartened, finding themselves more and more surrounded by the Queen's Navy, and not their own scallywags. Much to his chagrin, Jack quickly found himself cornered, by two higher officers, and none other than Will Turner himself. Deeply annoyed, Jack dropped his cutlass, offering two hands in surrender.

Roughly, the two officers seized Jack by his arms, holding them firmly behind his back. A quick survey told the pirate captain that most of his crew had been captured, not as many as he'd expected lay cut down on the deck. But where was Elizabeth?

Will pointed his sword in Jack's direction. "I could take you back to jail, where you could await the gallows once again, but I think we all know that somehow, you will just escape. So perhaps we should just end this now?"

"No!" Boldly, Elizabeth pushed through the surprised crowd of sailors, and stepped in front of Jack.

"What's this?" demanded Will. Jack saw the hatred flash in Will's eyes, and suddenly didn't trust the lover scorned not to take out his anger on the woman who caused him so much pain.

Feeling a pang of panic, fearing the worst, Jack insisted in a hushed voice, "Move, love." As much as he hated to admit it, the thought of her death on his conscience bothered him, quite a lot.

Of course, Elizabeth ignored the Captain's orders. Jack struggled against his captors, wanting to push her aside. He only managed to get close, and took the opportunity to hiss in her ear, "Don't be a hero, Elizabeth." Still, she ignored him, standing bravely up to her ex-fiance.

"You will do no such thing, Will Turner. It is your duty as an officer and a gentleman of the British Navy to take a live prisoner back to justice for trial."

Will sneered, finding it strange for a woman taken up with pirates to quote British law to him. He'd been so convinced that after freeing Jack, the unscrupulous pirate simply refused to bring her back to Port Royale, kidnapping her on the high sea. But now, he wasn't so sure of that version of the story.

"Very well," Will agreed, more than anything wanting more time to extract the truth from the odd couple. He tapped the blunt side of his cutlass against her neck. "Just for you, dear Elizabeth." She couldn't recall ever seeing such pure disdain in his usually gentle brown eyes.

Will made a gesture with his sword, and she too was taken prisoner par mano. "Sparrow and Ms. Swann to the Avenger, the rest in the brig of the Pearl," he barked out. "We sail for Port Royale."

Only as she was dragged to the enemy ship did her first real pangs of fear strike Elizabeth, deep in her gut. It wasn't returning to Port Royale that she feared most, but she and Jack being at the mercy of a man obviously driven to the edge by loss, pain, and hatred. She felt she no longer could predict Will, he in this state, or understand him.

"Don't worry, love," assured Jack. "The worst part of the Navy's brig is that they don't serve ya rum."

She smiled grimly, raising an eyebrow at the pirate's quip. Vaguely, she wondered what it took for him to swallow his apprehension, to play the fearless Captain for she and the crew. Oh, Jack Sparrow, you're not nearly half as bad as you think.