Ok, this chapter was an absolute bitch to write. I know it's irritating waiting for the next chapter when it's this close to the end. I had such writers block. Sparrow is not my favorite character (don't get me wrong, I like him. He's just not my fav...Norrington is. Obviously. And he's so unpredictable he's hard to write...for me anyway) so I didn't want to get him OOC. Sorry for the delay.

Chapter 17

Elise was cold, wet and trying to make herself comfortable on hard floor so she could get some sleep. Her father had already been asleep for an hour and she jealously wondered how. It had been storming madly, causing the ship to rock wildly and the porthole in the brig to take on large amounts of water that had soaked the floor.

She supposed her father was used to these dreary conditions after three weeks and that thought depressed her. Her regal father, whose home was large enough to sleep twenty-five, was reduced to sleeping on the wet floor of an eight by eight cell. Elise shivered as she pushed that assessment away.

She saw a glow from a lantern on the steps and sat up to find Captain Sparrow walking toward the cell.

"Ahh, still awake. Good. How about some exercise Lady Elise?" He asked as he shook the brig keys at her enticingly.

"What's the catch?" She inquired suspiciously as she pulled herself from the floor.

"No catch love. Just keep your hands bound and I'll let you go for a walk above deck." Sparrow offered.

"Is it still raining?" She asked quietly as she moved toward him.

"Does it matter? You're already wet." He said nodding at the water still on the floor.

"I suppose you're right." She admitted and offered her hands to him through the bars.

"It's not raining anymore." He replied as he set the lantern down so he could tie her hands together.

"Where's Andrew?" She asked when he let her out.

"Sleeping." He answered and led her up the stairs.

"Captain Sparrow? Does he know you're letting me out?" She wondered.

"No, love. He doesn't."

Hope flared in her at that news. Maybe she could barter with him some more for their safe release. He was a pirate after all and every pirate had their price.

Elise glanced across the deserted deck before she paused at the railing. The rain had stopped but a thick fog had replaced it.

"Why are you being nice to me Captain Sparrow?" She asked.

"A beautiful woman, such as yourself, should not be caged. It pains me to see it love." He replied as he too gazed out into the fog.

"Flattery will get you nowhere captain. Especially ungenuine flattery. The only thing that entices you about me is my fortune. My heart belongs to another." She said cooly.

"You're love is of no consequence to me. He's not here now, is he." He answered as he moved closer.

"He will be." She replied swiftly.

"The chance of him finding you, before you're dead anyway, are very slim indeed. He wouldn't even know where to begin looking."

"Dead?" She asked meekly.

"That's what Lord Devereaux is planning. Unless..." He trailed off and turned her to face him.

"Unless what?" She asked.

"You let me help you. I'm not opposed to...working things out." He said as he ran a hand suggestively up her arm and across her chest just above her breasts.

"Absolutely not. I will deal with you strictly in monetarily. That's it. Whatever else you have brewing in your mind you may just wipe away." She snapped.

"Monetarily?" He asked.

"My father is a very rich man Captain. I assure you, no price is too high." She said.

"I assure you, Lady Elise, that you will not live long enough to bargain your way out of this." Sparrow replied.

"I won't be murdered. And neither will my father. Mark my words Captain, Commodore Norrington will find us. He'll find us and he'll make you pay for what you've done to us. My father especially." Elise said warningly.

She noted Captain Sparrow's eyebrows lifted briefly in surprise but he quickly masked it as he dropped his hands. "Commodore Norrington?" He inquired in a would be casual tone.

"Of the British Royal Navy. Do you know him?" She asked with interest.

"Do I know the good Commodore? In a manner of speaking." He replied and backed off. "You're in love with the Commodore?"

"Is that a problem?" She glared.

"Not at all." He said then slowly added "Time to go back to the brig love."

Elise observed the change in his demeanor upon the mention of James's name but followed him without commenting. He looked almost...concerned. She turned her head to have a last look at the misty sea and instead saw a row boat emerging from the fog heading toward the stern.

James, she thought surely as excitement ran through her. She concocted a plan as quickly as she could. She would just have to stall. He wouldn't need more than five minutes. She ran to stand in front of Captain Sparrow, blocking his path.

"Captain? What did you have in mind when you wanted to...work it out?" She asked innocently.

"Lady Elise you cannot be that naive. You know what I meant." He answered simply.

"What if I told you that I would consider it?" She said with raised eyebrows.

"Consider it? What happened to monetarily only?" He asked.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures Captain. If you'll help me and my father I'll consider it."

"How selfless of you." He laughed.

"Why don't you tell me something about yourself?" Elise coaxed.

"What do you want to know?"

"Anything."

"I'm a pirate. I don't share. Besides, that option is off the table now." He said.

"Why is that?" She asked curiously.

"You're Commodore Norrington's."

"You don't strike me as the type to care about taking someone else's woman." She said with a wry smile.

"Come on, love. Back to the brig with you." He replied and nudged her forward.

Elise saw James pull himself over the deck railing, quickly followed by four other officers and she had to fight to keep her countenance undisturbed.

"You seem to have a degree of respect for the Commodore. How do you know him Captain Sparrow?" She asked, his hand still on her arm as she grounded herself and forced herself not to look at James as he and his men came stealthily closer. Out of the corner of her eye she saw each man had a pistol trained on Sparrow and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yes, Sparrow. How do we know each other?" James said in a low voice, stopping directly behind him.

Elise watched as Captain Sparrow stiffened and turned to face Commodore Norrington.

"Commodore! Hello mate." Sparrow replied and moved toward him, bringing Elise with him, ignoring the five pistols pointing at him.

"Stop. One wrong move and I'll signal my ship. I've got a crew of one hundred and fifty men five hundred yards away from here just waiting to light the fifty eight long nines at my order Sparrow." Commodore Norrington said menacingly.

Elise watched the commanding side of James she had rarely seen. He looked heroic, manly, passionate and angry. She marveled at the sheer presence of him. She was even more amazed when Captain Sparrow obeyed and stopped in his tracks.

"Very good. Thank you." Norrington acknowledged. "Untie her wrists and let the woman go."

Sparrow did as he was instructed, dropped her arm and took a step backwards. James met her eyes for the first time since he stepped onto the ship and silently took in her bedraggled appearance.

"Elise move over here." James ordered.

She promptly did as she was told and refrained from throwing herself gratefully into his arms. Relief, love, fear and happiness pouring through her as she moved to stand next to him.

"Are you hurt?" He asked softly.

"No. I'm fine." She answered, unable to resist putting a hand on his forearm.

"I want you to go back with my men to the boat. I'll be along in a minute." James replied.

"But James, my father..." She began.

"Don't worry. I'll get him." He assured her.

He watched Elise smile before she walked off with the four officers to the stern of the ship. He turned back to Sparrow and lowered the pistol.

"I'm going to take down Devereaux and Little. And you're going to help me." Norrington said.

"What's in it for me?" Sparrow asked.

"I saved you from the gallows. You owe me." Norrington replied and moved toward the stairs of the ship.