Muse

Chapter Three:


*We've Never Been So Many,
And We've never Been So Alone*

Staggering her way to the side of the ship, Elizabeth threw up her breakfast overboard, allowing her leftovers to be churned in with the waves.
She had to say she was glad of the change in weather; the sun was making her almost as nauseous as the rolling waves were.

And she knew they were due for a storm.

"Where are your sea legs, young missy?" Gibbs asked her from the helm, steering the ship into the waves. The wind was growing fierce, and the darkened clouds were following them, gradually picking up pace, just as the ship seemed to be.

"I would only need sea legs if i intended to spend my life on the sea, Mr Gibbs" She shouted up at him, feeling a little better now her stomach was emptier.

Gibbs grunted a response, but she could not understand a word of it.

There were footsteps on the stairs from below deck, and suddenly Jack appeared; hands on hips, eyes squinted, looking at his surroundings. Then his eyes settled on Elizabeth.

"Where be Gibbs, Miss Swann?" He asked her, walking towards her; that irritable swagger making her smirk everytime she watched him.

She nodded past him, up to where Gibbs was.

His head swivelled round, and he spotted him. He then looked back at Elizabeth; "Right then...be a doll and fetch me some rum...I can feel myself sobering up, and a sober pirate is not a pirate if he intends on becomming sober whilst commiting an act of piracy...savvy?"

With that he took one last look at her, and then made his way (ungracefully) up the stairs towards Gibbs.

Elizabeth studied both men; they obviously seemed to be in deep conversation. Maybe there was something worth knowing? Then again; this was Jack, and Jack had nothing worth knowing.


Elizabeth looked over at Norrington; he was still pleasantly asleep, bunched up in the far corner of the ship...holding his bottle of rum.
She grabbed the rum and then made her way towards Jack and Gibbs...who lowered their conversation on her arrival.

She rolled her eyes. "Oh for goodness sakes...I am here to help, you know"

Both men looked at her. Gibbs started at her intently...Jack just jeered.

"Did I, or did I not tell you that it was a dress or nothing?" He asked her, a smirk spreading across his dirt-smudged face.

"Do not change the subject" She told him sternly. Now becomming more aware of the fact that Jack had actually been eyeing her up and down, rather than jeering.

"I'm not...I'm just re-stating a fact" He told her, now beginning to circle her.

She tried to ignore him.

"Mr Gibbs, do we have any idea where it is that we are?" She asked, although the nerves in her voice were starting to appear. He was behind her now. She wasn't sure whether to be terrified...or intregued.

"Jack has the wind in his sails about somethin'. Not sure what though...you'd better ask the man himself" Gibbs paid no attention to Jacks seemingly un-noticed predatory assaults upon Elizabeth. It was no place for him to say anything, the Captain was wise enough to tread where he dared, and suffer the consequences.

Elizabeth did not need to ask Gibbs where Jack was, although she did notice that he was no longer standing directly behind her. She turned to see him heading down the stairs.

"Jack? Do you know where we're going?" She asked, following him.

Jack turned and looked at her. He smirked.

"We're going wherever you and that bloody compass takes us, Elizabeth"

She suddenly brightened up. "You mean we are heading for Will?"

He turned his back to her for a moment, almost suspicously. "Aye...something along those lines..."

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

"Look at that...she's as bright as a button, this one"

Ragetti sniggered.

Elizabeth glared at him, and then back at Jack once more. "I am adding my own thoughts here, I am trying to be helpful -"

"Then be helpful and kindly wake the 'Commodor' from his Ugly sleep ..he's been out for almost a day now..." Jask mused thoughtfully.

Gibbs leaned over and whispered to Jack; "The men thought they could smell wrotting corpse...now, i am not one to point the finger...but the smell was comin' from his general direction..."

Jack wrinkled his nose.

"Men" Elizabeth said to herself.

She had no intentions of waking up James, and nor did she like Jack's way of trying to steer a topic of conversation into another direction.

"I need to know Jack. Did Will say anything to you about Beckett before he was captured by Jones?"

Jack shuddered...again. Only this time it was the mention of the name Beckett rather than Jones.

Jack looked seemingly dis-interested, and deftly decided that his fingernails were presently worth more attention. "He may have mentioned something..."

"What?" She asked him urgently.

He ignored her question and took off once again.

But to his annoyance, she followed him.

Gibbs saw her take something from the bosom of her man's-jacket, and was about to shout to Jack to 'duck for cover!', before he realised it was not a pistol she was holding...but a leather binding.

"I have a full pardon" she shouted to him. Her voice sounded more urgent than before. "There is one for you here too...but only if you help me, Jack"

The whole deck of the ship was silent. Even Norrington had managed to rouse himself from sleep to watch the show...to the disappointment of the hungry cannibal that had been watching his pray with a beady eye all day.

Jack looked at her, smiling all the while.

Now this was more like it...she sounded like she was actually begging him...and he could not turn down a lass that begged him...

"And why would i need a pardon? I'm a pirate, Luv...the scourage of the sea, remember?"

Elizabeth was steadily deflating. There was just no winning with him at all.

"I thought you wanted to help me?" she said in a small voice.

"It depended on what was in it for me..." His voice was low also..menacing...electrifying.

Elizabeth thought a minute. She held the leather binding close to her chest. What would Jack Sparrow want so badly that she would never of thought of?

Then she found the answer. Bravely, she held her head high and looked at him dead in the eye.

"Me" She said, without a moments hesitation.