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Deliverance	By : Bluemidget57 Category: Pirates of the Caribbean (All) > Het - Male/Female > Jack/Elizabeth Views: 7843 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the Pirates of the Caribbean movie series, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1-Deliverance
- 2-Elizabeth
- 3-will
- 4-Sand
- 5-Pearl
- 6-Journey
- 7-Cave
- 8-Ritual
- 9-Calypso
- 10-Return
- 11-Awake
- 12-Asleep
- 13-Reunion
- 14-Avoidance
- 15-Cabin
- 16-Jones
- 17-Tattoo
- 18-Irrevocable
- 16
- 17
- 18
Tattoo

Elizabeth remained where Jack had left her, sagged against the wall beside his cabin door, one hand pressed at the juncture of her thighs. Her body was not dealing at all well with the removal of the stimulation she had been lost in; she felt raw and undone, as if she had been turned inside out and left exposed that way to suffer. In spite of her vicarious eavesdropping on other members of her own sex, the forbidden fantasies which had plagued her dreams - in particular the one which had haunted her the night before the resurrection ritual when she had slept in this very cabin, in the bed which was staring at her from the opposite side of the room, rumpled now from Jack�s body, and scattered with his possessions, and even the undeniable effect of her betraying kiss on the Pearl, - she had still been completely unprepared for what Jack had just unleashed in her.
No amount of overheard gossip could adequately convey how it felt to have a man�s hands on her body, stroking over the private places that even she tried to ignore, and pressing his own masculine parts hard against her softer flesh. In fact, given the quantity and variety of accessories that Jack wore around his middle, it was quite daunting to someone of her relative inexperience to realise that she could distinguish his reaction to her from the buckles, belts, weapons and trinkets which were also pressing into her stomach.
Elizabeth had learnt more about a man�s body during her week on the Edinburgh Trader than she had in all of her previous twenty years, including the year of her betrothal to Will. She had lived amongst those sailors as a boy; although she dressed the part on the Pearl, there was not a man amongst the crew who did not know her for who she truly was. On Captain Bellamy�s ship, they had treated her as one of themselves - younger and greener, certainly - but with no apparent reason for modesty they had exhibited no constraint in her presence.
They had dressed and undressed, washed (infrequently), slept, risen and relieved themselves without a care for her undisclosed maidenly modesty. Although she had been careful to always keep her eyes averted, she was unable to avoid every sight of that part which made a man so different from herself, and despite her dedication to catching up with Will and Jack, she had been unable to totally prevent herself from wondering what it was about such a unprepossessing appendage that made girls giggle and swoon behind their hands in silly groups.
One night, a couple of days out from Tortuga, as she drifted on the verge of sleep in her hammock which was slung as far as possible away from the other crewmembers, Elizabeth had heard a moaning sound, closely followed by another, and then a grunt. Concerned that one of the men had taken sick, and was in need of help, she rolled over in preparation of offering her assistance, only to find that the sailor was doing something she had only heard whisper of. With his hands inside the open front of his breeches, he had been rubbing and stroking the unappealing, fleshy organ which Elizabeth had seen more than enough of already on this voyage. Except that it no longer looked the same as it did when the men pulled it out to relieve themselves over the side rail, or changed their breeches after a particularly wet and turbulent watch.
She had only just barely managed to stifle off the shocked gasp which leapt to her lips, and screwed her eyes tightly shut. The man was pleasuring himself, right there in the middle of the room, obviously thinking himself unobserved. Please don�t let him see me, please, Elizabeth thought to herself, trying not to breathe lest he hear her. But she had been unable to resist peering through slitted eyes to see what he was doing.
Did Will do that, she wondered - when he left her all red and breathless, did he go back to the forge and touch his own manhood like this sailor was doing? Did gently bred ladies ever feel the need to do such things? She thought that maybe this was what the excessive giggling might have been about, but the mechanics of it were unknown to her.
She had known when the sailor finally finished whatever he was doing by the increasingly erratic grunts he was making, and the way his hammock jerked and swayed as he thrashed upwards before finally letting his hands fall down to his sides and panting harshly.
And so today, her passion-fogged brain finally connected the uncoordinated jerking and cursing Jack had undergone just before he left the cabin with the actions of that unknown sailor, and a flood of unadulterated need rippled through her as she considered the prospect that Jack found their encounter so arousing, it had been necessary for him to achieve completion before he was able to take charge of his ship.
�Oh!� Elizabeth gasped, the tantalizing thought causing her to press her fingers harder against the spot between her legs which burned and throbbed for relief. The contact didn�t seem to help at all, though; in fact it only served to make the ache intensify, letting her know that she needed more, a harder pressure to combat the emptiness there.
Almost without conscious direction her hand moved, slipping inside the waist of her breeches, something instinctively telling her that bypassing the layers of fabric would help. When her nervous fingers finally came in contact with the naked flesh beneath her clothes, Elizabeth was horrified to find that the coarse curls guarding the entrance to her body were slick and slippery, and that where her fingers touched between her legs, more sticky moisture flowed out to meet them.
She wanted to be able to wrench her hand away, but the relief which came simply from brushing her fingertips across the damp area, was too great to be ignored. She grunted like the sailor in the next hammock had, and her hips undulated, instinctively seeking out a greater contact, as she slid helplessly down the cabin wall until she was sitting on the floor, her knees spread inelegantly apart, right hand rubbing her crotch.
She wasn�t sure that Jack had been right; this really wasn�t helping at all - instead it was making everything a dozen times worse. The burning sensation that originated where her fingers touched the swollen, slick flesh between her thighs which had previously been rubbing against Jack�s hard thigh, was not going away at all; rather, it was getting stronger, growing and expanding up into the pit of her stomach until she was unable to hold in the breathy whimpers which fell unbidden from her throat.
She whimpered. Oh, God she wanted it to be Jack with his fingers there; just thinking about it made everything inside her body tighten up in eager anticipation. Something was going to explode with the brilliance of a thousand suns within her, she could feel it starting - how could he just bring her to this state of arousal and then up and leave her alone and unfulfilled, unable to think about anything but his mouth and his hands upon her?
Reality crashed in on Elizabeth all of a sudden. There had been an emergency; Gibbs had sounded frantic through the door. Now that her ears were able to hear above the sound of her own racing heartbeat, she realised that the thundering echo in her head was not only from her pulse, but the pounding of booted feet outside on the main deck. Arousal receding, the imminent combustion of her internal organs fading, Elizabeth dragged her hand out of her breeches, and wiped her sticky fingers on her thighs. What on earth was she doing in here, pleasuring herself when there was a full-blown panic going on outside?
Coiled tight as an over-wound spring from her unfulfilled physical arousal, and suddenly afraid of what might be happening to Jack after all they had gone through to rescue him, Elizabeth threw herself at the cabin door, wrenching it open only to find all of her worst fears realised. Davy Jones was on board the Black Pearl! She snapped, her brittle hold on her temper vanishing. Wrenching her sword from it�s scabbard she flew down the length of the deck, neatly sidestepping Gibbs� attempt to grab onto her as she yelled barely comprehensible threats at Jones, but missing him entirely as he departed for his own ship in that mysterious way he had of moving from one vessel to another.
Strong arms caught her from behind, snatching her back from the rail as she nearly plummeted straight over. Intent only on reaching Jones even if it meant swimming after the pirate, she writhed and kicked against her captor, uncaring of who it was, concerned only that he was keeping her from her enemy. Her hat, which had miraculously stayed put throughout her tirade to Jack, and their heated embrace afterwards, finally lost it�s grip and fell to the ground, causing her hair to whip about her face and block her vision.
She could hear Jones yelling something back across the waves; he sounded like he was laughing, and she finally realised that it was Jack who held her, his arms like steel bands around her waist keeping her back pressed against his front, and the battle drained out of her. Jack! Jack had her; he was still okay, and Jones was gone. For now at least.
Elizabeth had been relaxing slightly, comforted by the reassuring heat and hardness of Jack�s body holding her, supporting her, so she was startled and somewhat disoriented when instead of bringing her closer, Jack set her away from him and glowered fiercely at her. Although her rational mind knew that what had started in his cabin was wrong and could not continue - certainly not here in broad daylight and in front of the whole crew, she was content to simply draw strength from his presence, and his obvious exasperation further confused her already muddled mind.
It took a moment for her brain to catch up with her ears, but at the sound of Will�s name,

the last remnants of her lingering arousal and the adrenaline burst which had sent her recklessly storming after Jones, fled from her body as Jack�s damning words hurtled her harshly back into reality. She stared at him, her eyes huge and disbelieving as he delivered his devastating pronouncement of Will�s whereabouts. Fear and guilt for the other man in her life overwhelmed her in equal parts as she comprehended exactly what Jack was saying to her.
She turned around and stared at the smooth expanse of open ocean as if trying to discover where the Flying Dutchman had gone, but there was nothing whatsoever within sight save for the sails of the Dragonfly, regaining some proximity.
�But -� she stammered. �But - they�ve submerged!� And Jack perceived a new problem he hadn�t previously considered, being far more concerned with the prospect that Elizabeth would automatically assume he had conveniently gotten rid of Will to suit his own intentions.
He was actually quite surprised that Elizabeth�s first instinct had not leant in that direction, but towards the more immediate danger of Will�s ability to survive underwater. Though he didn�t know for certain, he did feel confident to reassure her that there was some kind of enchantment in place to ensure that �passengers� - not that he really thought the Flying Dutchman carried many - on Jones� ship did not drown, and he took no time in doing so. Fairly confident. Well, it was what she needed to hear.
�Young Will spent several days on the Dutchman, retrieving the key before my - untimely demise,� he said bracingly, crossing his fingers behind his back. �He�s not a hostage this time - more of an unexpected guest, and we are all set to meet with Jones again in a few days. So no worries, really! We have a destination, and a plan. It�s the details which make life interesting -�
Elizabeth sagged against the rail, all the fight gone out of her. �What do you mean, you have a plan?� She asked suspiciously. �Is this another one of your plans, or one of Will�s plans? And how do you know we�ll be seeing Jones again soon? You aren�t making any more of your reckless bargains, are you?�
�Miss Swann, I am deeply wounded.� Jack pressed a hand to his heart. �After all your efforts to release me from Davy Jones� clutches, you truly imagine I would repay you by jumping straight back into the fire? Jones needs my help this time - a occurrence which I am sure lies as heavily in his gullet as the prospect of serving a hundred years on his ship did mine.
�We were in the process of laying out our terms when a certain person who was told to remain in the cabin, took it upon herself to gatecrash the negotiations, and scupper the plans. What say you to that, Lizzie?�
Elizabeth groaned and ignored Jack�s words. She felt wrung out and bruised, bodily and mentally. The sensations she and Jack had created in his cabin seemed miles removed from the now, killed by the weight of reality and culpability. Jack was exhibiting no trace of the man who had touched her with such care and passion; his tone was snippy, sarcastic and frustrated - as it had every right to be - and now that Elizabeth was confronted with the prospect of facing the coming days on the Pearl without Will, she was alarmed by the very real probability that everything she had formerly known and accepted was finally lost to her, departed along with the remnants of her former life.
�Oh, Will - what have I done,� she whispered to the empty ocean.
Her words seemed to inspire some return of Jack�s sympathy. �Will is an adult, Elizabeth,� he stated matter-of-factly. �He is not without his own agenda in this drama. Never lose sight of the fact that his primary concern is the release of his father from Jones� service. Your fiancé may well appear amenable to our course as long as it coincides with his own schedule, but believe me when I say that the moment it diverges, he will act with ruthless speed to protect his interests. I did not send him to the Flying Dutchman, he made his own decision to board. You may ask anyone on deck, if you still don�t believe your Captain.�
�Don�t call him that,� Elizabeth said listlessly, eyes still trained on the open ocean.
�Call him what?� Jack questioned. �Ruthless? If you think he can�t be, then you don�t know him at all as well as you think you do. He�ll make a pirate of hiself yet, and a dangerous one too, I�ll wager.�
�No, that wasn�t what I meant.� Elizabeth replied forlornly, and continued without elaborating. �Do you really think he�ll survive the voyage underwater with Jones?�
�Yes, I really do,� Jack sighed. �That boy is far too reckless and irritating to be so easily disposed of - take my word for it. In fact, I wouldn�t be the slightest bit surprised if he hasn�t taken over command from Davy Jones by the time we meet up with them all again.�
�Where are we going, Jack?� Elizabeth asked, dropping the subject of Will�s fate as there was really nothing she could do to help him, and if Jack was telling the truth, and Jones could be trusted - his absence would be short.
�Ah - now that�s the question of the moment, is it not?� Jack said. �Immediately - we are on a course back to Tia Dalma. In the long run - well, let�s say that depends on the outcome of our next meeting with Captain Jones.�
�Back to Tia Dalma?� Elizabeth questioned. �Why there?�
�Magic,� Jack replied. �There�s always consequences when you use magic, and there�s been phenomenal amounts of magic used by and for the benefit of the people on this ship recently. I just want to talk to dear Tia about the effects of all her dabbling.�
�And where does Jones come into this? Aside from getting Will back, what have you plotted with him that�s going to ensure he�s where he says he�ll be in five days time?�
�Questioning your Captain, love?� Jack asked provocatively. It was not that he objected to her enquiry so much as he enjoyed watching her mind work. Every day she shed a little more of her former identity as she settled deeper into the life of piracy. His fierce Elizabeth would never be able to return to the drawing rooms and salons of polite society. Not now that she had felt the wind in her hair, the rolling deck beneath her feet. Captain Jack�s hands on her body�No, that one she had yet to experience - but soon�..
Elizabeth merely turned from the rail and leveled a long-suffering look at him, without saying a word. Jack smothered a grin, and tried to look stern. �Do you know what happened to his heart, darling?� He asked finally, deciding to let her win this one.
�James took it, didn�t he?� Elizabeth replied, a little confused by the random question, and the casual endearment which fell so easily from his lips. She told herself firmly that he had used it many times before, and it was just another pet name to him. �When he took the chest and led Jones� men away from us.�
�In essence that is what happened,� Jack agreed. �However, I had already removed Jones� heart from the chest at that point and stashed it away in me jar of dirt for safe keeping -� Elizabeth�s eyes rounded and several inconsistencies fell suddenly into place with the sharing of this information.
�Why you slippery, conniving, underhanded�.sneak!� She exclaimed hotly. �No wonder you let the damn thing go so easily. You knew he was taking off on a fool�s errand!� She glared at Jack angrily, but it was mostly fabricated; she couldn�t stir up any real resentment about what had happened before he was lost, and besides his trickery had done him no good because the heart was gone by the time the Kraken rose. But how could that be? �Wait - that�s not right.� She added. �If you had the heart, we�d have been able to bargain with Jones as soon as we got off the island -�
�Exactly!� Jack said emphatically. �It would appear the former commodore is even trickier than yours truly. My best guess is that he went through my jacket to steal Beckett�s letters of Marque, and somehow realised what I had done with the heart - haven�t quite worked out how yet - and decided he might as well have that too. So when he took off on his grand heroic race into the jungle, he already knew the chest was empty and he was double crossing all of us.�
Elizabeth digested this for a moment. �So James took the heart - to Beckett?� She pondered this conclusion and decided it must be right. �Yes - that�s the obvious destination. He�s got the letters and the heart, so he can ask for anything he wants. And Beckett gets what he�s been after ever since he arrested Will and me. All very neat and tidy. So - Beckett�s using the heart to force Jones to do exactly what he�s told, and Jones doesn�t like that, not one little bit - what can he do? He swallows his pride and comes to you for help?� Elizabeth continued thinking out loud. She shook her head. �Okay - I was with you right up to that last little bit - but I�m sorry�there is no way he would ask you for help.�
Jack was grinning madly by now; he had never known anyone so attuned to his own thought processes as his pirate lass. No truer word had he spoken than to declare them peas in a pod when they stood momentarily alone on the Dauntless last year, and he hardly knew her then. �Quite right, indeed. He came here to take you onto his ship as collateral for making us chase after Beckett and get the heart back for him. Of course, when I told him what a bothersome troublemaker you were, bossy and disrespectful - he apparently chose to keep William instead!�
Even though she knew Jack was mostly joking, there was enough underlying bitterness in his words that a wave of despair washed over Elizabeth which had little to do with losing Will, and everything to do with Jack being able to forgive her for her betrayal. She slumped dejectedly, and looked around to see where her hat had landed when it flew off in her struggle to reach Jones.
It was laying near Jack�s feet, and sighing as she pulled her hair into a braid, she bent to retrieve it, only to be stopped as she straightened back up by Jack gripping her arm, and staring at her, his eyes glittering harshly, his nostrils flared as he studied her face closely. �Who did that to you?� He asked harshly, and Elizabeth finally realised he was staring at the tattoo on her forehead. None of the crew even mentioned her marks any more, and given that Jack had been studiously ignoring her since he awoke, it was hardly surprising that he hadn�t noticed the runes until now.
Her fingers flew instinctively to her brow. �Oh - Tia Dalma. She said it would help with performing the ritual -� She began, but Jack interrupted her brusquely.
�Is that it? Or has she marked you more?� He demanded fiercely, and unwilling to antagonize him in this strange mood, Elizabeth slowly rolled her sleeves up so that he could see the marks which circled her wrists like chains. She didn�t have a chance to mention the final tattoo over her heart, before Jack dropped her arm as if he had been burned, and began swearing under his breath too low for Elizabeth to hear, but she knew from his tone that whatever had upset him about her tattoos was not good. He glared at her wrists for several moments as if committing the design to memory, before storming off without another word to her, yelling for Barbossa.
Elizabeth sagged back against the railing, drained and limp. It was impossible to believe that only an hour ago, she had still believed Jack wanted nothing to do with her, and had been considering how best to apologise to him. It seemed like a lifetime had passed in that hour; she and Jack had taken the first step down a road which would inevitably lead to heartbreak, betrayal and blame for everyone involved. And now on top of the shame and accusations which were bound to follow, Will had again been lost to Davy Jones.
Elizabeth couldn�t even manage to start wondering why Jack as so overset by the sight of Tia�s needlework, or why he apparently thought that Barbossa possessed the key to enlightenment. She just wanted to crawl into a dark corner and lick her metaphorical wounds.
A presence at her shoulder roused her from her apathy and she turned to find Gibbs hovering behind her, a sympathetic look on his face. She tried to force a smile for him, but it was a feeble caricature of her usual expression, and Gibbs patted her shoulder awkwardly. He had still not forgotten the effusive hug she gave him when Jack began to heal, although she didn�t look particularly in the mood for impromptu expressions of joy at the current moment.
�Young lad�ll be fine,� he reassured her, and Elizabeth was amazed that by and large the crew still seemed mostly oblivious to the deeper subtext of what was happening right under their noses. �He�s not a bad sailor for a landlubber,� Gibbs was rambling on, warming up to his topic. He�s always pulled his weight, the men like him, and he�s good in a crisis. Don�t you worry �bout him. He�s resourceful enough to keep himself alive, and Jack�ll make sure you get him back in one piece.�
Gibbs was so earnest in his attempts to make her feel better that Elizabeth could not resist the far more genuine smile which spread over her features as the first mate struggled to encourage her spirits. She felt suddenly very grateful for Gibbs� presence on the Black Pearl. Along with her fears for Will she was abruptly overwhelmed by a wave of longing for her father. Truth be told, she had been given little time for worrying about how her own behaviour in Port Royal after her aborted wedding might have affected Wetherby Swann, but now fear and anxiety for him crowded in on top of her guilt and shame about the situation between Will and Jack.
What kind of daughter was she that she could so easily dismiss the fate of her one remaining parent, when faced with strife and complications in her own life? She had effectively abandoned him to bear the brunt of Beckett�s wrath after her theft and escape, and no amount of telling herself that his position and title would safeguard him against any retaliation Becket dispensed because of her own actions was really going to convince her that this was the truth.
Governor Swann was no doubt languishing in jail in her place, probably imagining his only child lost at sea if - as Jones declared - James had made it back to Port Royal with the heart. And that was only the best case scenario that she could come up with - there were certainly many far worse punishments Beckett could have subjected her father to.
�Do you think my father is well, Mr Gibbs?� She asked suddenly, needing reassurance from any quarter. Her companion looked uncomfortable at this change of topic, and rather lost as to how to answer. Elizabeth sighed at his expression. �How would we even know?� She answered herself sadly. �I do hope Beckett hasn�t made him suffer too much for my many sins.�
�Miss Elizabeth - I don�t think - ah, that�s not -� Gibbs stammered, and she girded her emotions, pushing her fears for Governor Swann back deep down inside.
�No, that wasn�t a fair question,� she said. �We�ll find out soon enough if Jack is right and Jones and Beckett do rendezvous with us when he expects them to. We must concentrate on one battle at a time.�
Elizabeth shadowed Gibbs for the rest of the day; she mended ropes with him and patched sails. Jack and Barbossa had vanished mysteriously and were not seen again before the next change of watch. She hoped that they hadn�t come to blows below, and were currently laying face down on one of the lower decks, drowning in bilge water while everyone else above went about their business unaware.
She had known Gibbs longer than anyone except Will, and at the moment she needed the security of that familiarity. Despite his obvious discomfort at the slightest hint of female emotion and the wild look which appeared in his eyes when he thought she might become affectionate, he still had the avuncular appearance about him which soothed Elizabeth�s turbulent emotional state. She found it quite difficult to reconcile the fact that Jack had been able to so thoroughly shut off the emotions which had flared between them in his cabin. But she told herself that he was considerably older and infinitely more experienced than she, and maybe the ability to separate his mind from his emotions was something which came with age.
If she had been privy to Jack and Barbossa�s encounter, she might not have been quite so ready to assume that Jack had set aside their encounter so easily.
He tracked Barbossa down in the rum hold, the room where this whole episode had started with Will cornering him earlier this morning. It was a mark of how distracted he was by the sight of Elizabeth�s tattoos that he did not immediately jump all over Barbossa for helping himself to the rum.
Instead he took the bottle from the older man�s hand, and after wiping it once on his sleeve, downed a generous swallow before fixing an accusatory glance on Barbossa. �I know you are not entirely without intelligence,� he muttered finally, �and putting aside that ridiculous attempt to convince me that our young lovebirds had gotten themselves shackled, I really had more respect for your insight than to imagine you don�t know the significance of how Tia Dalma has marked Miss Turner.�
�By the Saints, you be right, Jack,� Barbossa replied acerbically, seemingly unconcerned by the loss of his bottle or Jack�s obvious irritation. �I did what I had to do to raise my ship -�
�My ship -� Jack interrupted pointedly.
� - and Miss Turner did what she had to do to raise her Captain.� Barbossa continued as if Jack hadn�t spoken, leaving ownership of said Captain suitably ambiguous. �You�re lucky she felt guilty enough to bother with it at all. If I had actually succeeded in killing you off, I would have left well alone.� Barbossa�s emphasis left Jack in no doubt that he was aware of Elizabeth�s role in his demise. He had suspected as much, but the confirmation of it was still uncomfortable. He truly did not like having such a dangerous weakness exposed to such a ruthless individual.
�Well, she obviously has far better taste than you,� he replied, somewhat childishly. �But that�s not the point here is it? I think you�re a lot deeper in this scheme with Tia Dalma than you�ve let anyone know.�
�I don�t like you, Jack.� Barbossa said conversationally, and Jack favored him with a look that clearly said this was not news to him. Barbossa huffed. �But I liked being dead a whole lot less than I dislike you. Miss Dalma contacted me - and don�t ask, I have no idea how she penetrated the spirit world. She offered me a deal and I accepted. The spirits were very unhappy - they do not like to lose one of their captives - but they could not oppose her power. She sucked me right out of there in front of their howling, protesting faces, and there wasn�t a single thing they could do to stop her.�
�A deal? What deal did you make?� Jack demanded, hoping there was something he could grasp at.
�Jack, you already know what deal.� Barbossa said nastily. �You. Your worthless life to restore mine. And I even considered saying no for a moment, too. But I really didn�t like being dead, so here we are. Someone, somewhere wants you alive awfully badly, but you can rest assured that someone is not me. And before you ask, I know neither who nor why. As far as my involvement goes, I was done the moment you landed back on this deck. It is not my job to make sure you remain alive now that you are back; for the moment your destination and mine coincide. That will not always be the case, but since we both have a need to receive explanations from Tia Dalma, we should concentrate on getting to her before Beckett does.�
Jack frowned; something was nudging on the edge of his memory, prodded to life by Barbossa�s speech, something he knew could be extremely significant which he vaguely remembered hearing through the haze of pain he was experiencing in the cavern at World�s End. But it was elusive, fluttering on the very fringes of his conscious mind, and he finally gave up trying to capture it.
There was no point in grilling Barbossa any more either. The older man had clearly said all he was going to on the matter, and to pursue the subject would only emphasise Jack�s anxiety. He got up without another word to Barbossa, and made his way back to his cabin; he needed quiet to think and chase down that elusive memory from the cave.
He saw Elizabeth from a distance, huddled over a torn sail, shoulder to shoulder with Gibbs, but he knew it would be a bad idea to approach her now - what with their recently interrupted embrace and his concern over her markings between them, there was no telling what the outcome of a encounter at this moment might be.
Once in the cabin, Jack kicked the floor bolt home and immediately headed for one of his locked chests. This particular trunk held no valuable trinkets for trading, no coin or silks from a plundered merchant vessel, but books and papers which he had personally liberated from the varied Captains whose cargo the rest of his crew had been more interested in.
There were parchments in this collection, he was sure, which carried illustrations of symbols very similar to those Tia had decorated Elizabeth with. Jack was not renowned for his planning and tactical skills, but that was not to say that he couldn�t or wouldn�t research something if he felt the occasion warranted it. He certainly didn�t want to approach Tia Dalma with any less information available than Hector Barbossa possessed.
He rolled up the maps currently occupying the table, setting them aside as he worked through the contents of his chest, searching for any information which might make sense of Tia Dalma�s seemingly random decision to mark Elizabeth.
He rubbed the tattoo over his own heart absentmindedly as he read; the symbols she bore seemed to be of the same shape and origin as his own, and he could not ignore the fact that Tia was responsible for both. He wanted to be sure they were both of the same language before he tried to decode any more sinister meaning in them.
It was a slow task which took him the majority of the day, and when he left the cabin to take his turn on watch, it was with an uncomfortable sense of foreboding. What information he could find and translate relating to the symbols Tia Dalma had used, led him to believe that Elizabeth had been used as a conduit for his own return to the living; her life force had been divided between the two of them, and if a part of him might have thought momentarily that it was a suitable sacrifice for having taken his life in the first place, in the larger scheme of things it was probably not going to be received well by the lass herself when she found out. And he was quite sure Tia Dalma had not shared the long term implications of the binding with Elizabeth - it certainly explained their inability to stay awake at the same time until Jack�s physical body had fully repaired itself.
While Jack found himself surprisingly unbothered by the prospect of his future being linked perpetually to Elizabeth�s, he doubted his stubborn girl would be ready to accept that she and Will no longer had any chance at the bland domestic future she had anticipated for them, despite the glaringly obvious complication of her ardent response to Jack in this very cabin only this morning. He thought he might let Tia Dalma explain that one to her, and then all the shouting and annoyance would be directed to the guilty party.

*****

I must thank each and every one of you for your patience whilst I had my visitor staying, and dealt with all the stuff which attended that event. I have stuff in longhand which needs typing, so bear with me as I pretty that up. I hope you are all still with me - even though this bears absolutely no resemblance to AWE. Fixing major canon atrocities here, folks�.
This chapter is dedicated to Sirius4ever_1, who consulted with me on the will she/won�t she question, and ultimately helped me make up my mind whether she would. So sorry that it took so very long to get the answer out there�..you deserve a medal for your patience, dear!
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Deliverance