Disclaimer: No one from the movie is mine. Everyone else is.
Taking Madison by the hand, Jack leads her out of the ballroom, leaving the sounds of music and laughter to fade behind them as they make their way up stairs to the guestroom.
In an instant they were enclosed in the darkness of the room and she could feel him. The weight of him against her, pressing her into the door. And how completely unbelievable it was to have his lips on hers, his hands roaming her body, the very idea of which was now her reality.
"The...bed...Jack." She manages the words between kisses.
"Right." He lifts her into his arms and carries her in one quick movement across the room, half laying her, half throwing her onto the satiny mattress, stripping off his effects as he went on. In the dim light, she only heard the sound of his hair ornaments jingling together as his boots clunked onto the floor.
Moments later, his lips had rejoined hers. She was amazed at how quickly he was able to rid her of the dress and corset she was wearing, although she pushed from her mind the thought of him having plenty of practice. As Jack moved on top of her, he paused briefly to lightly kiss the bruises on her cheek and neck, causing her to release a shudder. He rips his own shirt off and tosses it aside as his kisses grow more urgent and passionate. Maddy entangles her fingers in his raven hair momentarily before running them down the crease in his back. His skin was so warm. She had to feel him, to know he was real. She brings her hands back over his shoulders and down his smooth chest, past his stomach, and ending with her hands on his hips, pulling him even closer--if that were possible. She wanted him. She needed him. This was it. What she had waited her entire life to be. She was Sparrow's girl.
Madison lay awake in her lover's arms, watching him sleep. She saw him very differently now. He was still the same pirate that she and her friends had gathered to ogle in the theater on numerous occasions, the same pirate on the posters that plastered her walls, the one that every woman and a large number of men would gladly kill to get their hands on. He was all of those things, and yet he wasn't. He wasn't that far off fantasy. He was here next to her. And he cared for her. He had to. He had saved her life... twice in fact. But she also knew it could all be over in an instant. She could go to sleep on any given night and wake up hundreds of years in the future... without Jack. No. She wouldn't let that happen... A thought crosses her mind and she slips from his arms to fetch her video camera.
She presses the record button and aims it at him as she returns to the bed.
He was awake now. "Wha's that ye got there?"
"Say 'savvy'."
He smirks. "Why?"
"Please?" She climbs onto the bed and straddles him.
"Alright luv, if i' pleases ye... Savvy."
She erupts with excitement and giggles at the absurdity of it all.
"Savvy, savvy, savvy, savvy..." He found her reaction to be quite entertaining.
She grins from ear to ear. "Now say, 'I'm Captain Jack Sparrow, savvy?'."
He does so in his sexiest voice, rolling his r's to perfection and nearly making her swoon. But before she can react, he pulls her on top of him.
"Glad t' see yer so amused, luv."
Suddenly there's pounding on the door. It's Will. He's frantic. "Jack! Jack, open this door! Something's happened!"
Hearing the underlying fear in his voice, Jack is out of bed, pulling on his pants and answering the door in an instant. "Wha' is it? Is it the babe?" He pulls his white shirt over his head.
"It's Elizabeth. She's... gone."
That's the last thing Madison hears before Jack pulls the door shut. She gets out of bed and quickly dresses in her regular clothes. What did he mean that Elizabeth was gone? They had been in the same room with her only a few hours earlier. It figures that she would finally get Sparrow into bed and all hell would break loose.
On board The Black Pearl...
Jack confronts Gibbs about seeing any ships enter the harbor. The aging pirate appears as surprised as everyone else. "None but a merchant ship, Jack. I didn' think nothin' of it."
It dawns on him instantly. "Lestat."
"Wha's 'e got t' do with it?" Gibbs was seriously concerned.
"He disguises 'imself as a' honest merchantman... 'is men must've caught word o' where we were headin'."
"So 'e nabbed the wrong girl then. Got Miss Elizabeth by mistake."
"Nah. He knew wha' he was doin'. I's a different game he's playin' at now."
Will, who had previously appeared lost in thought, only had one question, one that was becoming redundant in Elizabeth's case. "Where would they have taken her?"
"Lestat wants me comin' after 'er, so they'll be where the navy won' go... Tortuga."
The look on Will's face is priceless. Clearly Tortuga wasn't a place that he ever imagined taking Elizabeth on vacation and the thought of her being there without him was more than he could contemplate.
"Not t' worry lad. I know how 'is sadistic mind works. I'll see t' it that she's 'ome in record time."
"What do you propose we do?"
"It would appear that Lestat wants to finish the business 'e started with Maddy and he's using yer Lizzy as bait..."
Madison was concerned with where this was going. "You mean a switch? He wants a trade-off?"
"That's ludicrous. It's a trap. We'd be walking right into it, Jack."
"Aye it may be. But ye know as well as I do wha' will happen if we don' take tha' chance. If we don't risk it..."
Will's eyes travel over to Maddy, clearly taking note of where Lestat had left his mark on her. She notices this, thinking that he was probably envisioning those same markings or worse on his beloved Elizabeth. And to be honest, she was afraid for her too. Of all people, she knew what that bastard could do when he wanted things to go his way. Maddy let him look for a moment more before trying to reassure him. "She'll be alright Will. If it's me he wants, then I'll do the switch."
"I can't ask you to do that Miss Madison. It wouldn't be right."
"That's why I'm volunteering. I'll do the switch, and as soon as Liz is safe Jack will get me out. Nothing to it really." She wanted to sound brave. She tried. But anything could go wrong. What if Jack didn't get to her in time?
Jack had the same concern. He was torn. How could he let her play the riskiest role of all? Still, he just didn't see any other way around it. And with Lizzy carrying the babe, they couldn't afford any mistakes. "We set sail immediately..."
At those words, Will rushes off to inform his father-in-law of their plans, while Gibbs alerts the crew to ready the ship for departure.
Madison watched as Jack studied the map laid out on the table and wondered what he was thinking. Was he afraid that the switch was a bad idea? Because she trusted him entirely. He was the infinitely lucky Jack Sparrow. If he believed in himself, she surely did too.
In actuality, Jack wasn't studying the map at all. He was only looking at it as a way of avoiding eye contact with Maddy. He couldn't find the words to tell her he was sorry for dragging her into this mess and looking in her trusting eyes only placed more fear in him. He didn't have a descent plan. Not yet anyway. "Ye don' have t' go through with it if ye don' want. No one could blame ye'." He spoke without looking at her.
It was her only chance to back out. Now or never. Her mind was made up. "I'm just as much apart of this as you are, I'm just as concerned for Elizabeth, and I'm just as pissed off at that bastard as everyone else. Not only did he ruin a perfectly good shirt of mine, but he has interfered with every evening I've tried to spend alone with you. For that I will gladly repay him." She was slightly steamed as she waited for Jack's response... And then he smiled. Just smiled. That's all it took. She knew she'd made the right decision to stay by his side.
"I think it's time I introduced ye t' the rest o' the crew."
"Really? With all the trouble I've caused, I don't suspect they like me very much."
"Somethin' tells me they do." He was wearing one of his knowing grins and she wondered what he meant as she followed him out on deck. Jack addresses the crew. "Listen up ye scabberous dogs. This 'ere's Madison and she be the reason the hull is burstin' with swag, so ye bes' treat 'er as such... She's one o' us now. Any man 'ho thinks otherwise can walk an' if one o' ye starts getting' any ideas or so much as looks at 'er wrong you'll 'ave t' answer to me, savvy?"
There's a collective "Aye!" amongst the men and they head back to work without a second look at her.
Jack pats her on the shoulder. "See luv. Nothin' to it."
"Wait. What did you mean by me being the reason...?"
"I tol' the crew ye would hold ol' Norry's attention all night so we wouldn' have any problems... wit' the raid, I mean." He says it as if the fact that there was a raid should have been common knowledge to her.
"You're telling me you raided Port Royal last night and you made me the key accomplice?" She reacted a little louder than either of them had anticipated and both quickly look around to make sure no one was listening.
"Luv, please..." He explains. "I did it fer you. I 'ad t' soothe the crew so ye could stay. If ye sail with us, yer either one of us or yer a prisoner." He pauses briefly before smoothing it over. "I's not that they're bad men, but we're pirates."
It sinks in for Maddy that this really was a way of life and every opportunity had to be taken advantage of or else perish.
"Ye choose it, ye live by it. An' tha's that."
But something else was bothering her as well. "Still, that means your mind was elsewhere last night... thinking about all that going on in the background while we were together..."
He cups her face in his hands. "No luv. Gibbs 'andled the business. I was entirely in the moment with ye. Nothin' else on me mind." He kisses her.
Damn. He was surely the pirate version of Casanova. He knew exactly what to say and how to say it.
They are quickly interrupted by a faint and growing commotion on deck and turn around to see Will approaching with Norrington trailing behind him. Will immediately tries to apologize. "I'm sorry Jack. I told him you wouldn't allow it, but he insisted."
"Allow what?"
Norrington steps forward. "It is my sworn duty to protect the citizens of Port Royal and seeing as this is a particularly delicate situation, I've decided to offer you my services. I'm coming with you Sparrow, to ensure Elizabeth's safety."
Jack stares at him in disbelief. "Ye mean t' tell me that you, a member of the British Royal Navy, want t' sail with my crew? A crew o' pirates? T' Tortuga?" He and the surrounding crew break into laughter.
Norrington continues to hold his head high, looking particularly dignified in front of the weathered crewmen.
Jack composes himself. "Well ye can't be serious. Ye'd be a constant liability." He trails off as though talking to himself. "A naval officer in Tortuga... I's jus' absurd..."
Will interjects, "I actually don't think it's such a terrible idea, Jack. He's excellent with a sword and we do need the extra manpower."
Madison joins in. "Plus Lestat's never seen him, right? He could completely fly under the radar." It immediately occurred to her that they probably had no concept of what radar was, but no one bothered to question it.
Besides, Jack got the gist. And he did have to admit they were right. He let out a long sigh as he looked Norrington over. He was dressed in full Navy getup. "Well don' think yer gonna slip into town unnoticed wearing that ridiculous outfit."
And with that it was decided. Madison smiled to herself. Ol' Norry was about to see how the other side lived.
