"Can't let you do that, mate," Jack drew his pistol and pushed me behind him with the other hand. "Spent too long trying to get her back."

"Jack! No!" I gasped as his finger tensed on the trigger. He gaped at me in disbelief at my protest. "You can't shoot him! That's my cousin!"

Fitzwilliam looked smug. I touched Jack's arm and tried to gently tug it down, but he kept the barrel firmly trained on Fitzwilliam. "Isabel," he said through gritted teeth. "Don't be ridiculous."

"Don't shoot my cousin then." When Fitzwilliam laughed I turned to him. "I'm not coming with you, Fitz."

"I'm afraid you don't have a choice. George has-" he looked away from me and then back to Jack's gun. He didn't even look wary, which was annoying, but he was family. I couldn't live with myself if I let Jack kill him. I couldn't live with Jack either, not with family blood on his hands. Fitzwilliam stopped what he was saying, and looked down his nose at Jack. "Put it down."

"No."

Fitzwilliam sighed, but it didn't seem genuine. He stayed silent then, a small little smile played on his lips. It was not a nice smile. It was a self-satisfied smile. My heart was racing, "Jack… please…"

He looked at me, but didn't move. I went to stand in front of the gun, but he grabbed my arm in case I got too near Fitzwilliam. "Isabel!" Jack said angrily. "He is trying to-"

"I'm aware of what he wants, Jack," I muttered. "And you shooting him is not going to solve anything."

"It might…" he muttered sulkily. I sighed and took advantage of his sulk to pull myself free. I stepped towards my cousin.

"Fitzwilliam," I said in my most reasonable tone. "I cannot come back with you. My life is here, with Jack."

"George has-"

Jack grunted. "Why can't he leave us alone?"

I shushed him and looked back to Fitzwilliam. "Fitz… what has George done?"

There was a smile on his face that I really didn't like. He was looking smugly at Jack. "He's put a price on his head." The look he was giving Jack changed from one of smugness to delicious enjoyment. "Alive..." he pulled his pistol out. "… Or dead."

I stepped in front of Jack, who immediately tried to lunge for Fitzwilliam. I raised my hands, "Put the gun down, please… "

"I wont kill him if you come with me," Fitzwilliam said in his most slimy and persuasive tone.

"No," Jack said immediately. I turned to him.

"Jack, don't say anything," I snapped.

"You can't seriously be-"

"Ssshh! I'm thinking!" Because of my panic my tone raised several pitches. Jack sighed, but stayed silent. I looked at Fitzwilliam. His finger toyed with the trigger. I made sure I stayed as in the way as possible. "This is ridiculous, Fitz. I can't go back. I'm already married."

"Nobody else needs to know that. George hass told everyone, including me, that you had been kidnapped.

"He should have told everyone that I died in the earthquake!" My temper rose. I realised I was actually shaking.

Fitzwilliam spoke over me. "And as for the marriage, that can be easily dealt with," he smiled like he was enjoying this. "Kill him and not tell anyone."

A little gasp escaped my mouth. "No!"

Fitz smiled. "Alright, I won't kill him if you come with me now and he swears never to come near you again."

Jack let out a bark of cold laughter. "You think I won't fight for her?"

"You come near her and we'll kill you." He softened his tone, but did not sound any friendlier, "Come on… I'm giving you a fair deal here."

"Fair?" I repeated.

"Well… you both live don't you? It's just good business, Isabel."

I shuddered. Bile rose in my throat.

"Now can I shoot him?" Jack shifted from foot to foot. I almost said yes, but I refrained.

"I'm pregnant." My attempts to reason with him were getting desperate. "That's not something I can hide."

"We'll tell everyone its George's."

"The timing's a bit off." This conversation was getting ridiculous, but I was moving slowly towards my cousin. He shrugged.

"Then we'll tell people he raped you." On hearing this Jack surged forwards. I swung my arm and knocked the gun out of his hands just as it went off with a crack. The bullet pinged off into the darkness. Fitzwilliam had sprung back, but seeing he was safe had started to laugh. "Kidnap… rape, they go hand in hand with piracy."

"I won't go along with it," I said, my eyes burning. A part of me wondered why I bothered saving my own cousin's life when he was trying to ruin mine. I knew this statement wasn't going to have any effect on Fitzwilliam. The people in Port Royal would never believe me over George. It was something we both knew. Before he could mock me I closed the gap between us and put my hands on his shoulders. Jack called out behind me, warning me not to get too close to Fitzwilliam. He had run to pick up the pistol I had knocked away, which gave me a moment to get close to Fitzwilliam. "Fitz…" I said gently. "Please, listen. I'm happy here. I have my own life. Go and tell George that I'm dead, or you couldn't find me… anything to keep him away. Please Fitz. Please help me."

"I am. I am helping you." He lowered his voice. "Isabel, you may not see it, but this life you're living is ridiculous. You cannot love a pirate. I can help you escape. You understand that don't you?"

I smiled. He smiled back before I kicked him in the stomach. Jack swooped in behind him and hit him on the back of the head with the hilt of his gun. It was enough to knock him out. He lay still. Jack looked down at him. "If I shot him now…"

"No," I said bluntly and turned away. "Leave him lying."

"But-"

"I don't want his blood on my hands, Jack. Or on yours," I added as I took his (figuratively) clean hand and walked away. There was a silence between us for a moment. I knew he was still angry. I sighed. "Why can't George just-"

"Die." Jack finished. I let him have that one. "We're going far away, Belle. So far he'll give up."

"Where?"

"The Fountain of Youth."

I sighed. "Jack… not this again…"

"Do you think there is a chance I am risking losing you or the baby ever?" he answered his own question. "No chance. Immortality's the only way, love. Then we can beat the threats from George and you're delightful cousin. He won't be able to hurt us." He gestured back to where we'd let Fitzwilliam. "And by the time we get back. George will have given up. He'll never find us. He won't know anything about us going to the Fountain of Youth."

He was, of course, wrong. George knew our plans better than I did. And he wasn't the only one.

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