Chapter 2

Damn Compass

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, had she ever bedded a pirate like him? She had only been with one man and that was only a mere few weeks ago. It wasn't as though she were as 'experienced' as these wenches were and she really didn't want to be. She couldn't help but have those thoughts that made her shake come through her mind again, this time they weren't as easy to rid herself of. Her knees almost became weak at his comment. What was wrong with her? She was a married woman and he was - Jack Sparrow. She never wanted anything to do with him - in fact, she was sure they had a love/hate relationship.

She was just being a bit silly because of Will being gone from her for ten whole years. She wouldn't see him, have any sort of contact with him, nothing. It was getting to her, that was it, nothing more. She had no sort of feelings for Jack Sparrow. She had tried killing him once before, was that a sign of good feelings? Absolutely not.

"Um," She was going to answer his first question, although she wasn't exactly sure how until she saw the 'vessel' they were to travel the seas on. Good God, what had she gotten herself into? She was going on a dingy with Jack Sparrow to God only knows where. She wanted to scream at him, tell him where exactly he could place that dingy, but instead she just took a deep breath, "Well, I suppose you're the captain. So where to?"

---

Two shoulders raised limply in a shrug to answer Elizabeth's question. He noticed how she didn't reply to him about the bedding of the pirates. Jack couldn't help but smile just a tad as he turned his back to her and began to fish around inside the dingy. He yanked his large Captain's coat out from the bottom and flung it casually over his shoulders, shrugging it into place. He didn't glance at her again until he had his footing comfortably inside the dingy. He reached a rough work-worn hand out to the married woman to help her aboard.

"Barbossa won't get away with stealing me ship." he answered rather plainly, his tension of losing his boat again held up inside. Jack looked up at her, eyes narrowed slightly as he examined her in a way he knew would make her uncomfortable. He began to chuckle softly, like had been doing lately. Finally, he explained his laughter. "You've lost it." he told her without explaining exactly what he meant.

---

Elizabeth watched as he slid his coat on, although she wasn't exactly sure why he did, it was awfully hot outside and it hadn't even hit midday. She could already feel the slight moisture of sweat forming on her neck and brow, but that was a feeling she was quite used to now. She wasn't sure she'd actually even been cool since they hit the freezing tempertures to find Jack. Although, come to think of it, she wasn't sure that she even wanted to be that cold again. That was too much. She listened to his laughter, there was something different in his tone this time, but she wasn't about to ask what it was. She didn't need him knowing she was taking notice to the tones of his laughter.

Her eyes traveled down to where his hand stuck out to help her on board and this was her moment - she could change her mind. Stay in Tortuga until a good ship comes along and takes her back home. Home to what? Nothing. Her father was gone and Will wasn't there. She had nothing to travel back to. In all honesty there wasn't a choice. She reached out and grabbed his hand firmly and stepped into the dingy with little trouble.

She didn't drop his hand immidiately, something she didn't have time to notice because her thoughts were on the fact that his gaze was more than pleasent on her and then his little comment. She'd lost it? She didn't want to ask what he meant, but before she could even stop herself she spoke.

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

---

His hand still clasping hers, Jack's eyes twinkled devilishly. He grinned in a strange sort of way, like he was only slightly unhappy, but smiling anyway, pretending he was fine with it. Sparrow always seemed unphased by things that should really startle him. He always seemed calm in situations that should scare him half to death. Part of it could be because the pirate himself had lost something as well; a chunk of his sanity. It wouldn't be a shock at all.

Jack didn't let go of her hand until he made it rather obvious that he was enjoying the touch. He lowered his gaze to their hands, a smug look on his face. She had kept holding his hand, subconsiously. He didn't address it, but made a note of it. Another ego boost for Jack Sparrow, like he really needed another one.

"You've lost you're virgin glow." he explained, settling himself down at the head of the dingy. He situated himself, waiting for Elizabeth to settle firmly inside the little boat before he smoothly sailed off the subject like it was nothing. "Mind untying that for me, love?" he requested, nodding towards where the rope attached to the dingy was tied tightly to the dock.

---

When she finally realized she was still holding his hand the sensation was nearly overwhelming. It was a mix of confusion and dare she say - lust. No, she didn't. In fact, she wouldn't because that's not what it was. Well, if it was it was all coming from him, not her. Never from her. She felt her fingers twitch slightly and looked at him, awaiting his answer, acting as though she still hadn't realized they had touched and were still touching. What was she playing at? Whatever it was she had a feeling it wasn't going to end up well for her. God help her now.

His answer nearly stunned her to the floor of the small dingy. It was probably a good thing it didn't since that probably would have sent them both over the edge and into the salty water. She did however take her hand away after seeing his eyes travel toward it and take note of the interaction. Great, maybe she wouldn't be fitting in this boat after all, not if his ego got any bigger.

"Well, then I suppose I am of no interest to you anymore. Someone beat you to the punch." She said in a cynical sort of way. She wasn't even sure where the comment had come from and she wasn't even sure of the tone. She just swallowed hard and took a seat into the boat across from where Jack was. When he pointed toward the rope she sat near she reached out and undid it without even a hint of doubt.

She was officially Jack Sparrow's crew.

---

Watching her undo the knot in the tie willingly stained a smile to his face. As much as she seemed like she didn't want to do it, didn't want to be here with Jack Sparrow, she willingly became part of his two person crew. He leaned back comfortably, crossing his strong arms behind his head and raising his eyes up to the baby blue sky. The clouds were only whisps of white against it. It looked like a good few days of sailing. And that was a very fortunate thing, for if they were caught in a storm on this worthless dingy, they'd be in big trouble.

"Who said I was interested in deflowering you?" he asked her, looking over at her for a faint moment. "I'd like someone with a little more experience anyway, someone who's had a practice round or two." He was using himself as a human upgrade. You start off small, with someone who doesn't matter and couldn't amaze you, and then you go to Jack Sparrow and prepared to be stunned by all that he had.

Suddenly, Jack bent sat back up, sending Elizabeth a strange look. He darted out a hand and reached down between her legs. Yes, it looked strange and was a rather awkward situation, but it was no doubtedly for a completely different reason. Sure enough, Jack rolled out quite a few full bottles of rum from where he had stashed them beneath the woman's seat. He took one, and placed the other's back.

---

Elizabeth couldn't help but feel slightly uncomfortable about their current conversation. She looked around at everything except Jack. She wasn't at all willing to face such a conversation, although her mind couldn't help but travel to such territory every now and again. What was wrong with her? She was a married woman, a happily married woman - alright maybe just married. She did love Will, a lot. Why else would she marry him? She couldn't answer that, but ten years was a long time and things - things were never easy. Ever. At least not for her, why should this sort of thing be any different?

"May we stop such conversation since we are only on this small dingy and I really wish not to have a dead captain to carry around with me on these seas." She bit back, hiding any sort of amusement or interest she had in further discussing such affairs, mostly because she had no further interest. That's right - Elizabeth Swann - no, Turner, was not interested in Jack Sparrow.

She really was an awful liar.

Before she could say anything else she saw his arm dive between her legs and her eyes went wide with shock and near horror. She gave a small scream of surprise and tried to jump back, making the dingy rock slightly. Realizing she had no place to go she was simply just going to kick him, but then his arm moved away from her and he revealed in his hand a bottle of rum. Her glare was cold as she gave a pitiful groan.

"You are unbelievable."

---

To the comment about having a dead captain, he merely shot her a glance. It contained the obvious amusment that she had lacked when she said it. He didn't have time to reply it before Elizabeth shrieked with surprise at where his hand had seemed to be going. He chuckled as he bit the cork off the bottle and took a small swig, waiting for the dingy to stop rocking against the ocean.

"Or maybe you just think the worst of me." he replied, watching her with one eye as he lazily reclined backwards to drink his rum. From somewhere along his beltline, he fished out his compass, though refused to open it. He simply set the contraption beside him and sat up straight once more. "Besides, love. I like to take things a bit slower than that."

He smiled, shaking the compass beside his ear now. He knew better than to say it was broken, but Captain Jack Sparrow would never admit he did not know what he wanted. Instead, he grabbed up an oar to the little dingy and plopped the end of it into the slightly churning waters.

---

A mere grumble emitted from Jack's throat as she made how clear it was that he wasn't a gentleman. That was alright. He never did like to call himself a gentle kind of man. It was funny how he could take Elizabeth's insults as compliments. Truly invincible, he seemed to be. Whilst taking another sip of rum, his dark brown eyes scanned over the calm sea. The dark facial hair over his top lip twitched faintly as he thought over where to go or what to do. It was then that his one and only crew member questioned him.

"Ah, we have a destination, love. We just have to find it!" He told her with a pirate's smug grin. There he went with his nonesense riddles. This one was mild. Any more questioning from Elizabeth and they would find him engaged in a long, fast spoken riddle of who does what to get where for this and that. Something that no one but him would understand, and sometimes not even that.

Jack's eyes stumbled back onto the compass that sat beside him. Silently, he set down his flask of rum and picked up the thing, turning it over and over in one of his large hands. It never had worked very well for him, but maybe it would do him some good, help them find out where they were supposed to be heading. With that, he flipped it open and watched the small red arrow spin for awhile, and then begin to stop momentarily and then spin again, and then stop, and then spin again. Finally it landed right ahead of him, and his eyes raised to where it pointed, right between Elizabeth's legs. He twitched a little and coughed, looking back down at the contraption with an angry expression. 'Rum, of course.' he told himself, shaking the thing madly.

He raised the compass above his head, tilting it over to watch it spin. Then he held it out to the left of him, and then to the right, trying to see if it made any difference. Finally, he just dropped the thing right next to him once more and began to drink his rum again.

---

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, was there really a point in questioning Jack Sparrow? Even when he did give you an answer it was one no normal human could understand without hours of thinking, she mostly figured that was because it had no true meaning other than that Jack had no idea. She just sighed and leaned forward so that her elbows were resting on her knees, might as well make herself comfortable, this was going to be a long boat ride. Dingy ride to be exact. The sun was going to become her worst enemy, she could already feel her skin turning slightly pink from the warm blaze.

She leaned back after a moment in hopes of getting a better shot at the small breeze that was coming around. Her neck and chest area were already glistening from the small amount of sweat that had started to form on most of Elizabeth's body. She ran her hand over her neck slightly to wipe away any droplets, but she wasn't that hot yet. She was just slightly toasty. She was brought back to attention when she heard Jack fidgeting in front of her.

Her brown eyes turned back down and saw him looking at that compass that he was usually carrying around. Although she wasn't really sure why since every time he used it he seemed to get upset with the whole idea and put it down once more. How could he be mad at it? It was a compass, it just told where they were going, couldn't change that, right? After he had his little fit, Elizabeth wasn't sure what exactly sparked that little showcase, but she just shrugged it off and looked back toward the water.

"Alright, well do you at least know where they were going with your ship?"

---

Jack had busied himself with rowing the boat through the patch of thick, tall seaweed they had run through. By now, they were a good ways from the dock, but for some reason they were still in the shallows. The pirate grumbled again, tossing his gaze back to the compas every so often to sneer at it. Maybe if he was mean enough to it, it would get it's act together and tell them where to go. He doubted it. For some odd reason, the compass never worked for him. It never told him what he wanted most in this world. Well, when it did, it was something minor, never something big.

When a breeze prickled by, Jack raised his face to it, quickly poking a finger into his mouth to wet it and then holding it up in front of him. It was blowing in their direction, but it wasn't enough to pull the boat. He turned his attention back to Elizabeth for a moment.

"Yes! But, It is nigh impossible that Barbossa would be there, nor be anywhere on track of this said place they were going...with my ship." he told her, adding in the last part in pure disgust. Barbossa really had it coming once the pirate lord caught up with him. This was about the upteenth time his vessel had been stolen by the back-from-the-dead Hector Barbossa.

"You see, they don't have the- Oh, goody!" Jack cut off to stand up in the little dingy, rocking it slightly. He tugged at the strings to let loose the small sails. Finally, the wind had picked up a bit stronger and in the direction they were heading in, which was no where, of course. Perhaps just out to sea. Anyway, at least now Jack didn't have to row.

---

"Does this location even have a name?" Elizabeth asked as she watched Jack stand up and pull the sail so that they were traveling at a much nicer pace now. She was quite glad, not only did she feel they were actually heading somewhere now - even if that wasn't true, but the breeze felt much nicer. Not the forced little blow they had been getting earlier. She reached out for the edge and ran her fingers through the cool water before pulling them back out once again.

It was going to be a long trip and she wasn't sure how she'd get comfortable, unless she got flat drunk, which she never planned on doing, especially in front of Jack. That was just asking for - well, nevermind. Her attention was drawn back to Jack for a second before she stuck out her hand, "Let me see that compass. You're always having such a time with it, maybe I'lltry my luck with the fickle thing."

Her hand was stuck out waiting for him to hand it to her and she wasn't going to take no for an answer, "Why do you have such a time with it anyway?"

---

Eyeing the girl carefully, he took another long swig of rum. The dingy-ride would go by rather nicely if he were drunk. And when was Jack Sparrow not drunk? Never. He took another swig, and looked away from Elizabeth. She asked too many questions for Jack's comfort. He figured, since he had known the girl for a good several years, she would be intitled to some of what was happening with him, especially if she was involved. Still, Jack was Jack, and he was a greedy and secretive pirate.

Not answering her first question, he clutched the compass, that had somehow found it's way back into his hand, closer to him rather possessively. He flipped it open for just a moment, grimacing at the result. A hum like sound emitted from his throat as he looked down at Elizabeth's extended hand. Maybe, just maybe it would work for her.

"Elizabeth, you're a stable girl. You know what you want, right?" Jack asked with a grin as he slowly reached out and placed the compass in her hand. Taking his flask of rum with him, he rummaged around until he had seated himself beside her so he could peer over her shoulder.

"Open it." He urged.

---

Elizabeth watched as he became nearly obbessively protect of his precious compass. Goodness, that thing must be worth a lot of money if Jack was that protective over the item. She still waited with her arm outstretched. She wasn't going to take no for an answer, if it would help them get anywhere she'd sit there like that all day, even if her arm got tired. Luckily for her she didn't have to do that, instead he handed it over at quite a few minutes of deciding whether or not it was worth it.

Stable girl. Why yes, she was. Up until recently at least. She had always figured she had a good head on her shoulders, it never seemed to do her wrong. Of course, recently things had been slightly different. She found herself questioning the very things she once help so dear and true, just look at her! She was off in a dingy with Jack Sparrow. With no real destination in mind and the oddest part was - she wasn't even nervous. Nothing. She was completely content.

Maybe she wasn't so stable.

She looked at him for a second and then down at the compass that now rest in her hands. She took in a deep breath and reached out with the other hand and opened it with ease. The thing spun slightly for a moment, but almost imidiately went to right where Jack was looking over her shoulder. Her eyes went wide and she shut it quickly, praying he hadn't seen in the direction it had pointed - fat chance.

"My mind wasn't clear, I'll try again." She mumbled, a blush creeping into her cheeks. She closed her eyes again this time focusing hard on anything but Jack and on a particular destination, mostly the Black Pearl. Finally a nervous hand reached out and opened it again, the compass for a mere second paused on Jack once again, but then flipped completely and pointed dead ahead of them.

"Guess we are heading in the right direction."

---

Jack seemed to be ticking like a clock as he waited for the compass to show them where their destination lay. His deep, dark brown eyes never left the little arrow as he began to spin just a bit. When it pointed to some place beside Elizabeth, Jack's brows furrowed and he looked over his shoulder to the sea beside him, and then it hit him. It had been pointing to him. A smile drenched his lips as he thought about it. He liked telling himself that she was crazy for him, and this just added fuel to the fire.

Once Elizabeth had closed the compass for a second time, her last try showing that they were heading in the right direction, Jack took up his possession. He glanced down at it for a moment, brushing it off a bit before hanging it back on his belt. However, he didn't move from beside Elizabeth. He simply threw his arms behind his head and leaned back, kicking up his feet.

"Now, Elizabeth. Are you sure? The compass points to the thing you want most...in the world..." he stopped and grinned to himself. "Is what you want most, really finding the Pearl?"

No, he wasn't going to say anything about what it had pointed to the first time. She knew what it had pointed to, and so did he. It was sort of a silent teasing method. Jack said nothing at all on the subject. He simply reached over to grab his rum and take a good and long drink from it. After swallowing down the liquid, he offered the bottle to Elizabeth whilst he gave her a questionable look. She couldn't say she didn't drink rum, because that was be a dirty lie.

---

She could still feel the blush in her cheeks as he moved away from her and looked out toward the direction the compass had made her lead it to. She could always just blame the blush on the sun, it was warm out here and her fair skin did burn easily. No big deal, right? Elizabeth thought on his question of course, after glaring at him for the silent way he teased her about the first time the compass had opened.

Of course he had seen it, it was right in front of him and he hadn't taken his eyes off of it since it was placed in her hand and there really was no denying what had come up on that stupid compass. Wanted more than anything in the world? She highly doubted that was Jack Sparrow - sure, she had some thoughts, but she was human and well - nevermind. She wasn't going to go through all that in her mind. It wasn't worth it because she was married, to a man who she wouldn't see for ten years.

"Do shut up." She mumbled to herself as her thoughts went astray before she actually looked up and decided to answer Jack. Had she wanted the Black Pearl more than anything in the world right at that moment? Actually, yes. She had.

"We're going in the right direction." She nodded.

---

"Ah, such a grump." he muttered back to her. Honestly, he did believe her when she said they were heading in the right direction. What else could she possibly want more in the world than getting off this little dingy and into some place she could actually breathe in. He could read the need for it in her features. Jack, however, found himself getting quite used to the dingy. It had been his idea to take this particular one out to sea while he searched for his real beloved vessel. Yes, he did believe he was toss one of the old dingys that he had stored inside the Pearl and replace it with this one

Still holding out the rum to her, he snickered quietly. He had noticed the blush some time ago, but had was pretty happy with the way he was silently telling her he knew all about what had just happened. He hadn't missed one minor detail. She couldn't hide it now.

"Here, love. Rum makes the trip go by faster." He said, still offering. Okay, maybe it didn't make it any faster, but it made the trip funner. Good advice would be just to take the stuff. How often did Captain Jack Sparrow share his rum with anyone? Barely ever, unless some kind of celebration was at hand, and still hardly even then. Although, he seemed pretty content with sharing it with the woman beside him. He had to admit, Elizabeth plus even a little rum turned out to be a good time...up until she burns the rum afterwards, of course. Jack grimaced at the horrid memory.

---

She wanted to say no to the rum, just shake her head and refuse to speak for the rest of the trip, however long that was going to be. She'd just watch the sea and pray they saw the ever familiar black sails of the Pearl. She would go insane before that, she knew it. She had to have some sort of relief from the ever trying trip. Finally after debating with herself she reached out and snatched the rum bottle away from the famous captain.

After looking down at the bottle for a moment she placed it to her lips and tilted her head back, letting the liquid run down her throat and calm her nerves. She took a few good swallows and then pulled it away from her lips once more. Rum and her didn't really mix, she knew that much, but what could possibly happen on this small dingy? As long as she didn't fall overboard she was in good hands. She only drank a few sips, it wasn't as though she were drinking the entire bottle. Leave that up to Jack himself.

"Much better." She nodded, holding the bottle back out for Jack to take. She cleared her throat of the remaining liquid and looked up at Jack with a curious eye, her inhibitions already being bruised slightly. "So what does that compass point to when you open it without really thinking?"

---

His strong, greedy hands took back the bottle once Elizabeth had taken a few good sips. The bottle was large, as most rum flasks were. She had taken a good amount, enough to calm her nerves and give her a faint lightheaded feeling, but definitely not enough to get her drunk. Yes, leave that up to Jack, to get drunk. He was way ahead of the married woman as he finished off the bottle, and fished beneath their seat for another one. Biting off the cork and spitting it to his feet, his eyes scanned the horizon. He thought he saw the prickle of something in the distance, but they weren't close enough to tell.

Elizabeth's next questioned wrenched Jack from his thoughts and concentration on the scenery. He froze, remembering where the compass had pointed to when he had opened it carelessly. He seemed to be like stone now, staring out at sea with an odd expression, hesitant to answer. He loudly gulped down his last swig of rum that had been helplessly swimming inside his mouth.

"Rum." He finally answered, lying, looking at her with a smile that he desperately hoped would convince her. "That is, unless I'm already drinking rum."

And then he became silent. What did it point to if he was already drinking rum? He had now turned it into a lose-lose situation for him. If he told the truth, that it might have been pointing to her instead of rum, he would lose. And if he told her that the arrow just spun around aimlessly, she would get the idea that Jack Sparrow didn't know what he wanted most in this world.

---

Elizabeth watched as he reached for another flask of rum and wondered what would happen when all the rum finally ran dry from him drinking it nearly constantly. She wasn't about to voice such ideas since Jack would probably go into shock just thinking of such a tragedy. Instead she watched as he drank from the newly opened flask and looked out onto the horizon of the sea. It really was peaceful out here, she enjoyed the ocean greatly, she just preferred it on a much larger vessel.

When he answered her question she rolled her eyes slightly and then realized he was now drinking rum and maybe now he would get a different answer. "Try again." She shrugged, reaching out and taking the compass from his possession and holding it out in front of him, "You have your beloved rum so now it would point to something different, correct?"

She raised an eyebrow, this was her way of testing Jack Sparrow. Was he really going to do it or just simply shake his head no and admit it was obviously something he didn't want to speak of that it had pointed to earlier.

---

Jack flinched protectively as she reached over to snatch the compass from his belt. His first instinct would probably be swipe out his sword and slash at whatever grabbed it. Luckily, Jack was being smart, staying calm even as Elizabeth held the compass out to him and demanded he try again. With a sigh, he held his rum in one hand, taking a sip from it before looking the woman in the eyes. What was she trying to prove? So what if it pointed somewhere in the general direction of her. It didn't work with Jack sometimes. It simply wasn't true.

Deciding not to back down from this challenge, Jack took the contraption and stared down at it meanly. He tried arguing with the thing in his mind, like a crazy man. Eventually, after holding the rum cleverly out to his side, right where ELizabeth was sitting, he opened it. It flickered from side to side for a moment, pointing ahead of them for a split second, and then zipped instantly to the side. Jack turned his eyes to the side, finding himself looking at the rum he was holding. He grinned.

"See? Rum." He stated, hoping he had someone other than himself fooled that it was really rum he wanted most in this world. Yes, rum, not the girl sitting beside him, behind the bottle of rum.

---

She watched as he looked at it with what looked like a sense of fear and hate for the toy. Yes, toy. That's really what Elizabeth saw it as, what else could be so entertaining to watch a grown man look at with such disgust and love at the same time? He held the rum off to his side, oddly enough right in front of where she was sitting. She thought that was a bit odd, but didn't see much sense in arguing that point at the moment, more important issues to be had now.

Her eyes didn't leave the compass as it started spinning and then landed right in her direction and he grinned as though he had won and that's when it all became a bit clearer. "Rum? Really?" Elizabeth asked, giving a mere voice of shock at the fact that Jack was right. Please, she wasn't buying it. She gave a small smirk and pushed the rum away from her and looked up at Jack with a smirk.

"Where is it pointed now?"

---

Come on. He had already gotten himself pretty convinced that the compass wasn't telling the truth anyway. Surely the thing he wanted most in this world was not Elizabeth Turner. Perhaps finding the Black Pearl or putting the maps he had to good use. Anything but Elizabeth. Jack simply refused to believe that, even when she shoved away his bottle of rum and then arrow continued to point straight to her. He grumbled a bit, trying to will it away from her, trying to focus on his rum, his ship, the Fountain of Youth. Anything. When nothing provoked the arrow to move, Jack simply shut it as quickly as possible before Elizabeth got impatient for his answer and looked over his shoulder.

"It...- Oh, what is that?!" He cried out suddenly, breaking away from Elizabeth and stashing the thing quickly back onto his belt. He scrambled to the head of the dingy and squinted his dark eyes out to sea. The little boat rocked uncertainly against the calm ocean, as if even it was confused and startled by the pirate lord's actions. Yes, Jack Sparrow was only pretending to see something to get himself out of that sticky situation. But then, a little pale dot of color rised in the distance, and Jack smiled. He wasn't quite sure what it was yet, but it was something to distract Elizabeth away from finding him out.

.:--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-...-.-.-.-.-..:.

Shaida01- Thank you. I'm glad it appealed to somebody!

haydenlover19 - Ehhhh! I know, I'm bad about that. I just lost muse for that story. Don't worry though, When I get back to my mom's house I'll be struggling to update for you guys. Trust me.

Femmevixen13 - Thanks for reading!