"Elsey?" Will asked incredulously as the flickering light from the match danced around the flame-haired maiden. Her beauty had not faded from the last time he saw her, when she danced with him at the ball on the naval ship. She still had that dazzling, mind-numbing effect on Will as she had the first time he set eyes on her.

"Not Alex?" Jack murmured from his corner, slightly crushed. Then he remembered, why would she want to save their hides, when she had her new posse of obscenely wealthy and obnoxious friends to annoy. So if the person standing at Will's cell was not Alex, who was she? More to the point; how come Will knew a girl that he didn't? He was meant to be the one getting rescued first, not uptight bloody William. "Elsey, who's Elsey?" Jack called in the darkness from his cell, but he was ignored. Will was still too fixated on his rescuer to pay any heed to the little murmuring shadow to his left that was Jack. The Captain of the Black Pearl frowned in the darkness and contemplated the identity of their apparent liberator. Who was this unknown trollop that had the particulars of their run-in with Vice-Admiral Stone, knew they were locked in a Tortguan cell and had the guts to waltz in to rescue them? Scratch that, Jack decided, more importantly, did she have rum?

"What are you doing?" Will whispered to Elsey, unable to tear his eyes away from her own jade ones.

"Rescuing you, of course." She giggled, holding aloft a set of keys and jinglingly them coquettishly. Daintily Elsey inserted the rusting key into Will's cell, and with a loud groan the cell door swung open. Still in a state of shock and awe, Will staggered out of his cell and allowed himself to be guided up the stone steps to his freedom, almost in a trance. As soon as he placed one foot on the first step, however, there was the sound of a throat being cleared loudly behind him.

Spinning around in surprise, Will turned to regard a very irritated Captain Sparrow. Jack was leaning heavily against his locked cell door, his hands laced through the bars. He tapped the locked padlock in annoyance with a ringed and dirty finger, "Forgetting something?"

"Err, sorry." Will finally offered, although he knew that 'sorry' didn't quite cover completely forgetting to release his friend from gaol. Especially since Jack only had five and a half days before he was marked for death. As Will unlocked Jack's cell door, cringing slightly in shame as he held it open for the pirate captain, Jack merely stalked by without uttering a word. Although, when he passed Elsey, he looked her up and down slowly, raised a speculative and sceptical eyebrow, then continued up the stairs to his freedom. Will followed soberly after Jack - almost like a scolded child - with Elsey bringing up the rear, ascending the stairs slowly due to her long skirts and high-heeled evening boots.

Jack calmly stepped out into the middle of the lightened room, confident that Elsey had taken care of the guards and the warden. Stepping over several inert bodies, he surmised that his assumption was correct. So the lass isn't completely daft after all, Jack thought as he walked over a small wooden desk, occupied by a guard who had slumped over unconscious in his chair. Jack walked over behind the desk, noting the top drawer had a label underneath the brass handle: "private and confidential." Grinning roguishly to himself, Jack slid open the drawer and extracted the poorly-concealed bottle of rum from underneath a few sheaths of loose paper. Tipping the unconscious guard brusquely off the chair, Jack calmly seated himself on the previously occupied stool, leant back and rested his boots on the desk, taking a victorious swig of some very fine and expensive spirits.

Will was next to emerge from the dim staircase, stumbling slightly over the bodies as his eyes adjusted to the light. As his vision cleared, the first sight that greeted him was Jack, cocky and confident as always, looking as if he was the one that had knocked out all the guards and single-handedly rescued Will and himself. Will rolled his eyes – Jack Sparrow could find alcohol in a nunnery in the Artic Circle - and turned his attentions back to Elsey, who was having difficulty climbing the last of the steep stairs, due to her dress.

Perhaps the lass is as daft as I initially thought, Jack thought, contemplating her over his amber bottle. What lass dresses up to the nines to sprig a man from gaol, he thought scornfully as he took in her immaculately brushed and pinned hair, her flawless make-up, her polished boots and her expensive dress. As she got to the last step, she appeared to stumble on the hem of her dress and fell towards Will. Ahh, that sort of lass, Jack thought as Will immediately caught Elsey, and she clung to him for several seconds, almost nose-to-nose.

"How clumsy of me!" Elsey finally giggled, breaking the silence. Although Will had helped Elsey to her feet, he still hadn't released her from his grip. Jack rolled his eyes, but declined to comment. The wench, after all, had sprung them from gaol. Although, if it were up to her, Jack was almost certain she'd release Will and leave himself behind to rot in his cell. Taking the last swig of rum, Jack stepped over the comatose warden, resisting the urge to shove some of their congealed 'last supper' into his filthy mouth, just to see how he liked it. Ah, well, they probably didn't have enough time, depending on how Elsey had managed to knock them out. Mind you, she had done a very decent job of it. Jack prodded the sleeping warden with his booted toe. No reaction. Jack discretely gave him a swift kick to the ribs. No response. Feeling he might as well make a proper job of it, Jack booted him in the groin. Nada. Jack frowned. That isn't natural…

Jack waltzed over to Will, his precious bottle still in one hand. He tapped Will's shoulder insistently until Will broke out of his stupor, "Oi, Aficionado, how did your dame make the guards go 'nighty-nighty'?"

"I sent them a casket of drugged rum." Elsey answered sweetly.

"Clever." Will complimented, clearly smitten. Jack's eyes immediately widened and flew to the deceptively innocent bottle clutched in his left hand. Oops.

'Woah; that rocked my socks to the core' I hear you all say. Whodathought it was Elsey, in the gaol, with the drugged bottle of wine (that was meant to be like one of those Cluedo revelation things). Who is Elsey? Can you guys remember her at all? She did get a fleeting mention in a few chapters, namely around the chapter 14-15 area. See, I told you some people from the ball would pop up again.

Next chapter for those interested is another dark one, for those who like it.

DCoD – I was tempted to have Anamaria or Alex rescue them, but…I dunno…it didn't feel right. I suppose Alex could have, but…I dunno. I don't even know how Alex is going to escape from the Black Friday. The plan was to have Will and Jack possibly rescue her, but they seem otherwise engaged…

Jacquelyn Sparrow – I have put your name in the story, but it's down the track a little way. It's a bit of a small role I'm afraid, but if it's any consolation you get to sit in Jack's lap. Lucky you :)

Willowred – oh, wow; I didn't realise I'd written so many chapters! They're a bit on the small side compared to other peoples, but: 35 chapters! Yay!

Cuilean uasul – Yeah, something like "Her/His Majesty's Ship" I dunno; it works. And give Jack some credit; he'd have recognised that namby-pamby stick-in-the-mud Norrington for what he truly is; even if he was disguised as someone like Vice Admiral Stone. The man is a pirate; Jack has this inbuilt radar to sense Naval people and other people of authority that possess the power to arrest him. Then he stays the hell away from them. Okay, so Jack might taunt them a little, but then he buggers off and lays low for a while.