Title: Pearl of the Sea

Author: sheraiah

Rating: R

Disclaimer: Not mine, never will be.

Peg knelt in the soft grass outside the ruined hall, retching up everything she had eaten in the last week. Kneeling beside her, and surprisingly holding her hair back from her face, was Jack Sparrow.

"Easy, luv," he said quietly, his eyes warily scanning the darkness around them. She sat up, swaying a little. He steadied her, and handed her a clean handkerchief. She was past wondering where he had gotten it, and accepted it with a grateful nod.

Her uncle lay in the hall, covered in a ruined tablecloth, with the rest of the dead. The governor had escaped without a scratch. Will had taken a minor wound to his left shoulder, and Elizabeth, a slightly more serious one to her right arm. Norrington had been badly wounded, but was expected to survive. Jack sported several fairly minor cuts but was in good shape otherwise, if unusually subdued. Peg had a shallow slash down one leg, and another across her chest where a pirate had tried to cut her bodice off. Jack had cut the man's throat, she now recalled, and her stomach threatened to rebel again.

"It's all right to be sick, you know," the pirate intoned. He regarded her for a moment. "You'd make a fine pirate, luv. Most of the scalawags I know froze up on their first fight. You didn't; you just waded right in and did what needed doing."

"Not quickly enough," Peg replied, her feelings of guilt over her uncle's death written plainly on her face.

"Rot. You were quicker than most of Norrington's lads were, and you've not seen fighting before." He stared off at the horizon for a moment. "If you didn't notice, Nick's lot were trying to kill as many of the gentry as they could, the men anyway. The worst wounds and most of the dead were either officers or society folk, from what I saw. Your uncle wasn't very good with a blade; he was as good as dead the minute they came in. He knew it, too. Have to give him credit for trying to protect you." His eyes flicked back to her. "Most of the gentry I've ever met would've run and hidden behind the nearest lobster-back, you can bet on it."

"Then that's why they went after you, too. They thought you were one of their targets," Peg said, her eyes widening. Despite the blood and filth covering him, Jack still looked like 'gentry' as he termed it. His wig was even still in place. He gave a sharp, unamused laugh.

"Funny ole world, isn't it? I'll be glad to get back to Will's and get rid of this bleedin' wig. Don't know how Norrington and his lot stand it. It's bloody hot and it itches." He stood and offered her his hand. Peg took it and he pulled her to her feet.

"They shave their heads, that is how they stand it," she replied, taking his proffered arm. Seeing his eyebrows shoot into his artificial hairline, she almost laughed, despite the seriousness of their situation.

"Now that's going just too far, luv! Even I have my limits. I have yet to find them, mind, but I'm certain that that's one of them." He grinned wickedly at her, showing the gold teeth that he couldn't disguise except by not talking or smiling. Peg gave a half-hysterical laugh and suddenly felt as if she might survive the night after all. They moved towards the shattered door, but just before they reached it, Peg grasped Jack's arm, halting them. He looked at her quizzically.

"Just remember not to smile and be careful how you speak when we get back in there. That toad, Gillette, is in charge until the Commodore recovers and I wouldn't put it past him to clap you in irons if he recognizes you," she cautioned.

"Too right, luv. No sense of honor, that one. You'd think he'd learn something from his commanding officer. Norrington might truly wish to stretch my neck, but he plays fair while he's about it. It's the principle of the thing with him; he doesn't take it personal. With Gillette, it's all personal. I embarrassed him badly once, I'm glad to say. He doesn't much like Will, either, if you've noticed, for the same reason." The pirate captain's eyes narrowed as he watched the lieutenant through the doorway.

"Like as not his father purchased his rank. He's certainly the type," Peg observed sourly. Jack's eyebrows rose again.

"Remind me not to anger you, luv. You've as sharp a tongue under that mild mask of yours as our dear Lizzie does," he commented, his eyes twinkling with mischief for a moment before he changed mood in his typical quicksilver manner. "Ready?"

"Ready," she replied and he opened the door for her as smartly as any gentleman would have done.

The scene inside was still chaotic without Norrington's unshakably calm supervision. Gillette was a poor substitute, and that fact was glaringly apparent. Unobtrusively, a few of the men that had served under Norrington for years began 'assisting' Gillette. Jack spotted Will over by the ruins of the head table and steered Peg in that direction. The blacksmith noticed them almost at once and met them half way.

"Are you both all right?" Will's cocoa brown eyes were wide and his face was pale under his normally olive complexion. A muscle twitched in his jaw as his gaze moved over both Peg and the pirate in disguise, anxiously searching for injuries.

"We're in fairly good shape, all things being equal," Peg replied quickly before Jack could say a word. "How is Elizabeth?"

"Elizabeth is fine," an irritated feminine voice stated from behind Will, "And she would very much appreciate not being treated like glass at the moment." She aimed a fierce scowl at her father, who was getting in the way of several men who were trying to move the remains of the head table.

"Too right, luv," Jack stated sotto voice. "Better to treat you like iron, as it's what you're made of." He gave her a brief, closed-mouth, grin before sobering again. "I think it'd be a good idea if I made myself scarce now that the dust is settling a bit. Wouldn't do to tempt fate too much, you know."

"I agree," Will replied, looking around quickly. "Go back to the shop; I'll be there as soon as I can." He looked apologetically at Elizabeth. "This doesn't feel right, and Gillette's useless. Once Norrington's back on his feet he's going to need as much information as he can get. I'll need your help, uh," he faltered with a blank look in Jack's direction.

"Jonathan Frederick Nash, at your service," Jack replied with an arch look. Will's eyebrows rose considerably at that, but he recovered quickly enough to prevent disaster as Gillette passed within earshot of them.

"Right, thank you for your help, Mr. Nash. Would you mind helping me get my wife and her father home?"

'Of course, lead the way if you please," the disguised pirate said, gesturing for Will to precede him. The younger man shot him a puzzled look once Gillette had passed out of range, to which Jack merely replied with a smirk.

"Is that name the real one?" Elizabeth whispered as soon as they had passed beyond the danger of prying ears.

"Now, luv," the pirate captain protested in an equally hushed tone, "That would be telling!"

It was much later that the four of them met secretly in one of the parlors of the governor's residence. The ladies had both insisted on being present, and both the pirate and the blacksmith, being rather intelligent, had given in gracefully. Jack had discarded the hated wig his long hair, clean for once and combed smooth, tied back out of his face with a velvet ribbon he had borrowed from the wig. He looked not much older than Will, but the others wisely did not voice that observation. He paced back and forth across the carpeted floor, chewing his lip while deep in thought. Elizabeth handed him a glass of brandy with an apologetic look.

"It's the closest we had to rum," she said. He sniffed it and favored her with a slight grin.

"Not to worry, luv. This'll do just fine." He took a moderate swallow. "Oh, yes, this will definitely do. I haven't had brandy this good in years." He glanced at Will, who was closing the curtains at the far end of the room. "You're right, there is something wrong here. No pirate with a brain would attack Port Royal now. Not after Barbossa, anyway. It doesn't make sense, especially since they didn't even take any swag when they left."

"Could they have been hired by someone to do this?" Peg asked from her seat next to Elizabeth on the settee.

"Yes," he replied quietly, raising his hand to stroke his mustache and belatedly remembering that he had shaved it off. He dropped his hand back to his side with a grimace. "But to what purpose? Port Royal's still rebuilding from the damage Barbossa and his crew caused. There isn't much here that'd interest a pirate. So what, then, were they after, I wonder?"

"Elizabeth, forgive me but I have to ask this, does your father have any rivals?" Peg clasped her friend's hand as she spoke.

"Of course, but I can't think of one that would have the resources to do something like this. They usually prefer to snipe at him to the king rather than do anything directly. The ones that want this post do so because they are in need of funds rather than for prestige. Especially since the attack last year." The governor's daughter frowned in concentration. Will cleared his throat, drawing all their attention.

"What if the attack last year is the reason why it was pirates this time, too?"

"Will has a point," Elizabeth agreed, nodding. "This is the Caribbean, after all. People in England think the whole area is crawling with pirates. It would make sense, if one wanted to make it look random. Of course, we still don't know why or who." Will met her eyes for a moment before squatting down in front of Peg and laying his hand on top of the women's clasped hands.

"Peg, do you think someone might have wanted your uncle out of the way?"

She started; her eyes darting from Will to Elizabeth, to Jack and back again in shock.

"I truly don't know. It's possible; Uncle would have had some enemies by virtue of the business he was in. I haven't been around him very much since my mother died, so I really wouldn't know where to look."

"Could have been someone looking to do Norrington in, too," Jack opined, polishing off the last of his brandy. "If anyone would have enemies, it'd be him." He set the glass down on a nearby table and walked to the window to peer out. "Now, mind, to MY way of thinking Norrington's the lesser of several evils, but then .." he turned an offered them a cocky grin, "I'm Captain Jack Sparrow."

"We know," Will retorted, rolling his eyes. "I just wish I knew if this was the end of it or if we can expect another attack."

"Well, now that's the question, isn't it?" the pirate said, meeting the younger man's eyes with as serious an expression as any Will had ever seen him wear. "That and what's become of the Pearl in all of this. I told Gibbs to keep her out of sight on the far side of the island, but there's a chance that Nick's lot spotted her before they landed."

"We've got a few hours before daybreak, Jack. We could go have a look," Will said, rising to his feet.

"I'd feel better if we did," the pirate captain admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "Of course, Anna Maria's likely to shoot me on sight if she sees me in this get-up." The two men headed towards the door, but Elizabeth stopped them.

"You'll be seen going out the front door if anyone's watching the house," she pointed out, "and we've already made it look like Jack's left. You'll have to leave so you won't be seen."

"Down the trellis, then," Will said, heading for the staircase. He led the way up the stairs to a room that obviously belonged to Elizabeth. Opening her window, he leaned out, surveying the situation for a moment before speaking again. "If we climb down here, we can take the garden path to the road that leads to the other side of the island. We should be able to make contact from there, yes?" He looked quizzically at Jack who nodded.

"Yes, that's right. Done this before, mate?" the pirate asked, with an expression that spoke volumes. Both Will and Elizabeth turned beet red, much to Jack's amusement. "And here I was thinking that you'd left a scalawag's ways far behind you, Will." He grinned wickedly. "Does my heart good to see you haven't, it truly does."

"Shut up, Jack," the crimson-faced blacksmith muttered through his teeth, looking daggers at the leering pirate before pulling Elizabeth to him for a swift kiss. "We'll be back as soon as we can." He disappeared from sight. Elizabeth, still pink-cheeked, pulled a face at the still grinning Jack before leaving the room.

The pirate captain cocked his head, considering Peg for a moment before crossing to her side in two strides. Before she could protest, he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her flush with his lean form. She looked up into his face in utter shock only to find it mere inches from her own.

"Wouldn't want you to feel left out, luv," he said with a cheeky grin. Too quickly for her to protest, he buried his free hand in her hair and brought their lips together. She gasped, and he took advantage of that to deepen the kiss and taste her thoroughly. His flavor was that of the brandy he had drunk and of sea salt and Peg's head swam, her knees turning to jelly.

As abruptly as the kiss had begun, it ended and he was climbing over the sill. Peg stared after him, her fingers pressed to her mouth. He flashed her another grin and winked before disappearing into the night.

TBC……. Oh, what? I did have him kiss her, after all!