I know what you've all been thinking... "Holy Crap!!!! Where the foosnit has Meggie been!?!??!" Well, I'm here to answer you...right here. XD School, work, teen activities...yeah, it all weighs down on one...but here's the next chappie; it's fairly long, so you better be happy with it!!

Disclaimer: PotC crud belongs to the mouse...everything else belongs to me.

Once out of view of the sailors from the ship, Norrington pulled out a length of rope and bound Meg's wrists. "I won't be taking any chances," he told her. Meg sighed and rolled her eyes. He pushed her along to Beckett's office where some guards met him. When he showed the letters of Marque, they took them and escorted Norry and Meg up to the office.

Just as they reached the doorway, Meg heard someone from inside ask, "Is there any news on the chest or Meg?"

Just then, a pang of sadness hit Meg's heart. She had no clue where it came from, but it hurt…a lot.

"No," replied another voice, "But, one of the ships did pick up a man, adrift at sea…he had these…" he dropped the Letters of Marque on Beckett's desk. Beckett unfolded them and examined the signature at the bottom. The guards pushed in Norry, but left Meg in the hallway, guards around her.

"I took the liberty of filling in my name," Norrington explained. Beckett beckoned to Norry.

"If you intend to claim these, then you must have something to trade…do you have the compass?" Norrington smirked.

"Better," he dropped a cloth bag down on the desk. A couple flies buzzed around it and the object inside made a loud, slow THUMP-THUMP and rose up and down on the desk. "The heart of Davy Jones…" Beckett looked at it very interested. "…and…" Norry nodded to the guards. They brought in Meg, who at this point decided she REALLY did NOT want to be there. She struggled a little and glared at the man at the desk. He stood and came around to the front of the desk. Two of the guards held her arms though they were still bound at the wrist. Beckett was barely taller than Meg. She smirked at this fact, but it was immediately gone the moment she noticed Beckett looking over her. She felt like livestock.

"Come, Miss Owen," he said. "Surely you can behave without having to be locked up, can't you?"

"Actually—" she began.

"I wouldn't chance it," Norrington finished for her. Beckett smirked.

"We'll just have to change that, won't we?" Meg continued to glare at him. "You, sir, please escort Miss Owen to my home along with this note for the housekeeper." He had a smug smile that, if Meg's hands were free, Meg wished she could wipe right off. One of the guards took a folded piece of paper from Beckett and, proceeded to take Meg away from the office. Norrington stayed behind.

"If he even thinks that he'll be able to keep me here, I assure you, he's wrong," Meg murmured, not speaking to anyone in particular. The guard glanced at her.

"You're lucky he won't hang you for piracy," he said. Meg looked up at him.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me," the guard said looking down at her, his green eyes shining. He had an air about him that made him seem more trustworthy than the other soldiers Meg had run into before. Then this guard smirked. "So you're Meg Owen, then?" Meg nodded, looking at the ground. "I'm Mihangel Howard…" Meg looked up at him with a bemused expression. Mihangel laughed. "I know, it's strange…it's a Welsh form of Michelangelo, or so my parents told me," he explained with a shrug and a roll of his eyes.

'Well, he's friendly,' Meg thought as she nodded in understanding. They walked a bit further and found themselves standing in front of the gate of Beckett's estate. Meg looked up at the iron bars with a sigh. Mihangel seemed to notice her gloomy gaze.

"Tell you what," he said. "Let's go to the tavern on the other side of town." Meg looked at the guard with surprise.

"You…a guard…taking a pirate…to a tavern?" Mihangel smiled and leaned closer.

"Just between you and me, I'm not as obedient as the other guards you might come across,"

"Ah…what the king doesn't know won't hurt you, is that it?" Mihangel nodded with another smirk. "Alright then," Meg said taking a deep breath, "where might we find this tavern?"

"This way, milady!"

"Um…first…" Meg held up her wrists. "Would you mind setting me loose?" Mihangel grinned and took out a knife and cut the bonds.

They went down into the market place and through a few alleys and found themselves in a darker side of Port Royal. Meg felt almost right at home. The atmosphere was a bit like Tortuga, only less noisy.

"I need to stop by my house for a moment," Mihangel said. Meg nodded.

"Alright," They took another turn and down another street. A small town home caught Meg's eye. She looked up at it admiringly with a small smile.

"This is it," Mihangel said standing in the doorway. He unlocked the door and opened it. Allowing Meg to go inside first, Mihangel shut the door behind himself. "It'll only be a moment," he explained and ran up the stairs. Meg wandered about the large room they had entered in. It seemed to be a living room and dining room combined. As you walked in the front door, to the left was the living room, straight ahead was a flight of stairs that Mihangel had just sprinted up, and to the right was the dining room. The living room was furnished with two easy chairs and a small table in front of a middle sized fireplace. There was a wooden table with a few chairs around it in the dining room. On the table was a second bayonet, the first being the one that Mihangel carried with him, and parts of it were taken off for cleaning. Also on the table were a few coins. Looking towards the stairs, Meg slipped a few of them into her coat pocket. There was a door off the dining room that Meg assumed to be the kitchen, but she did not go in. Meg heard footsteps above walking about. She went over to the other side of the large room, admiring a piece of artwork above the mantelpiece of a ship. That's where Mihangel found Meg.

"My father painted that," he said. Meg turned and noticed Mihangel had changed out of his regiment into some more comfortable clothes: a white shirt, an open black vest, a pair of black trousers and black boots. A sword hung at his side. His hair was no longer tied back and fell in wavy, dark brown, scruffy locks at his shoulders. Meg looked him up and down and tried to cover it up by turning back to the painting with a nod, sticking her hands in her pockets. With a raised eyebrow, Mihangel walked over to her. "If you don't mind, would you turn out your pockets?" Meg winced and rolled her eyes, pulling out the coins she had tried to steal from the dining room. Placing them in his palm, she looked up at him guiltily. Mihangel only smirked. "Come, come, you know you did not want to buy the drinks," he said placing a hand on Meg's shoulder. "Let's go, then, shall we?" Meg turned towards the door and they made their way towards the tavern.

When they approached the tavern, Meg looked up at the sign that hung above the door.

"The Devil and the Fisherman, hmm?" she said aloud, not talking to anyone in particular.

"Mm-hmm," Mihangel replied opening the door and ushering Meg inside. They walked in and went up to the bar. It was a pretty quest tavern, but some of the few people there greeted Mihangel. She assumed some could have been other soldiers.

"What'll it be?" asked the barkeep, a medium sized man, with a large belly, a reddish brown mustache, wearing an apron over his clothes. Mihangel looked to Meg.

"Rum," she replied glancing about. The barkeep scoffed, raising his eyebrows.

"You've got a strong one on your hands, Howard,"

"Ale," Mihangel replied. "She probably had to have been strong sailing aboard the Black Pearl,"

"You've been on the Black Pearl?" the barkeep asked Meg in surprise. Meg nodded. He looked at her a bit closer. "Why, you're Meg Owen, aren't you!" Meg blinked back at him.

"Y-yes…how do you know me?"

"Many people know about you, Miss…'specially in this town,"

"Becket," Meg said.

"Yes, Miss," he served her the rum she ordered and put a tankard of ale in front of Mihangel. One of the barmaids approached Meg.

"What is Jack Sparrow like?" she asked. Meg was taken aback at this question.

"Eh," she was not sure how to answer. She looked into her tankard. "He's…a good pirate…a good captain…a good man…" Mihangel smirked.

"Meg, if I didn't know better, I'd say from that tone you were in love with him!" Meg continued to look into her rum for a moment before she glanced at him. "Oh, uh…excuse us, please," Mihangel took his ale in one hand and pulled Meg away from the bar and to a table in a corner. Meg was still looking a bit somber. "Meg, I know this probably isn't any of my business but…were you…in love with him?" She held her face in her hands, hiding it, and nodded.

"Aye," came an answer muffled by her hands.

"Beckett's just a selfish bastard, you know that, right?" Meg nodded again.

"And now with the Heart of Davy Jones, he'll have the ability to control the sea…pirates are no longer going to be around, we'll be extinct…"

"How we even know that that is the actual heart of Davy Jones? Or if Davy Jones is even real?" Meg gave Mihangel a knowing look and took a drink.

"I've seen Davy Jones…I've stood before him…I've seen the Dead Man's Chest…and I've seen the Heart inside it. Norrington stole it from Jack…and me along with it." Mihangel could tell that Meg was dead serious.

"Alright, I believe you," Meg nodded and took another gulp.

"So…um…how did you get caught up in all the soldier business? I mean…you don't seem the type of guy to be in that crowd…" Mihangel smirked.

"Well, it wasn't really my decision…when I was seventeen, my father enlisted me and I've been there ever since…but I've been leading a two-sided life, it seems. I've never been entirely happy there, but it pays enough to keep the house. What I'd love do to is…well…what you do…"

"Currently, I'm stuck in Port Royal," Meg said sarcastically. Mihangel smiled.

"I meant—"

"I know what you meant," Meg said smiling. But it soon faded. She was restless and Mihangel knew it.

"They can't keep you cooped up there forever, you know…you could try to rebel every once in a while…"

"What's that going to do?"

"Well, I dunno…maybe sometime you can escape? Meg, you're like an exotic animal to him. He thinks he can keep you behind bars and tame you…you and I both know that he can't."

As the night progressed, the drinks kept coming and so did the people. Soon the tavern that had been once quiet became quite a rowdy place. Meg had no idea that Port Royal could be this lively! A few musicians were playing and some others were singing along when a familiar tune turned up. Meg and Mihangel were quite drunk at this time and were laughing, talking, telling jokes and sometimes singing as well. That is until…

BANG!

A gunshot rang out and some of the women screamed. Everyone looked towards the door. There stood Beckett with pistol in the air.

Weeeelllll? How'd you like it? R&R please!!!!!!!! I'll try to get more written as soon as I possibly can!!!!!!!!!