A/N: Wow, loooooong time no update...anyway...Eep, much thanks! :D Yay, Captain Jack will be making his appearance next chapter :D And after Chapter Seven, I think I'll be winging it…so the time is now for any suggestions! =D And yes, this chapter's kinda short…it's more of a transition thingie. ::g::

Disclaimer: THEY'RE NOT MINE, DARNIT!! The rowboat conversation was inspired by The Road to El Dorado.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Revenge of the Damned

Chapter Five: An Unexpected Complication

Rose was enjoying the spray of the sea on her face, the wind blowing through her dark hair, the feel of the smooth wood wheel beneath her hands, when she heard Will's voice behind her say, "Shit."

Making a face, the girl turned to see him at the side of the ship, looking at something. "What was that, mate?"

Will whirled around, looking embarrassed, nervous, and fearful at the same time. "…Nothing."

Rose raised an eyebrow. "Mate, when an upstandin' gentleman such as y'self allows a word like that t' escape 'im, 'nothin'' 's usually not th' case."

Will managed a small smile, then gestured in the direction of Port Royale. Rose leaned over to see, sails billowing in the wind, flag with the Navy insignia flapping over it, the HMS Dauntless, practically flying across the water – and headed straight for them.

Rose's eyes widened. Her mouth opened slightly, and it took her a few seconds to get herself out of shock. "Yeah," she managed, eyes still fixed on the Dauntless. "That…that may qualify as 'shit'."

Will let out a soft snort, then became concerned again. Rose was looking mildly horrified. "What d' we do, mate?"

"Don't worry," he replied, his tone not very reassuring. "This is the fastest ship in the Caribbean."

Rose's face plainly showed her fear. "Yeah, but that's when it's not bein' captained by a seventeen-year-old girl 'o 'asn't steered a ship in a year…"

Will's face mirrored the fear on Rose's. "You've...got a point there…"

Rose's hands flew on the wheel, trying to make the ship go faster, knowing that she couldn't, struggling to control her emotions. Their journey was going to be over so soon after it had begun…she felt like she'd failed Will.

Almost as if he could read her thoughts, Will placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. It was a caring gesture, but as Rose could feel his hand trembling, it wasn't very comforting. She managed the smallest of smiles.

The two did all that they could to make the ship go faster, and it was an admirable effort, but inevitably, the Dauntless did catch up. It seemed to take almost no time at all for the men on board to come onto the Interceptor, and Norrington himself held the sword to Rose's neck once more.

"Y'know, Commodore, it's lovely, seein' so much of each other nowadays," Rose managed weakly, placing an unconvincing grin on her face.

Norrington responded by pressing the steel of the sword a little closer to her neck, almost breaking the skin. It sobered Rose up quickly.

"C'mon, mate…you're a reasonable fellow…we needed the ship…you can 'ave it back if y' let us go…please…we really need t' get goin'…"

"Stealing a ship and escaping from jail," Norrington said, not appearing to hear a word Rose was saying. "Grounds for a very long sentence…very long, Miss Glassman."

"Y' got t' 'ear me out, mate!" she protested again, her voice growing weaker as she realized slowly that it wasn't going to work.

Will joined her protests. "Commodore, it was an emergency, Elizabeth – "

As if the name caused him pain to hear, Norrington's face contracted briefly, then he continued, undaunted. "Sentences for both of you…yes, long ones…you won't be making escapades like this again anytime soon…I'll make sure of that myself."

"Commodore," Will tried for a last time, "I really must protest…"

"HOLD YOUR TONGUE, MISTER TURNER!" snapped Norrington, whirling to face Will with a look of complete exasperation on his face. His tone made Will abruptly swallow whatever reply he was thinking of making.

"Clap these two in irons and place them in the dungeons, gentlemen," Norrington ordered coolly. "And set course for Port Royale immediately." His orders were followed, and Rose found herself being roughly yanked to be placed in chains. She shot one last desperate look at Will before the two were carted off to the dungeons – it was a heartbreaking look of failure and despair.

:::::::

"'m sorry, mate," Rose said softly.

Will turned to look at the girl in the cell next to his. "Why?"

"All this was my fault." She gestured bitterly at the firmly locked cells below deck on the Interceptor, now moving back towards Port Royale. "If I 'adn't been such an idiot, wantin' t' take th' Interceptor, an' not seein' clearly enough t' know Norrington would come after it, this ne'er would've 'appened."

"It's not your fault, Rose," Will said gently, trying to comfort the girl. She'd seemed so strong and confident, he'd suspected she really had no fear. Now, he saw that she did.

"An' if I 'adn't shot at Norrington or th' ship in th' first place, I wouldn't 'ave gotten meself put in jail," Rose continued, ignoring Will. "'s all me fault. 'S always me bloody fault. Can't I do anythin' right?"

"Rose, it's not your fault," Will said again, firmly.

"YES IT BLOODY IS!" Rose yelled, turning to face him. He was startled to see tears forming in the girl's stormy grey eyes. "It's my fault I got thrown in jail. My fault we're both 'ere. My fault if somethin' 'appens to Elizabeth 'cause you weren't there. My fault if I don' see Dad…" Her voice faltered, and she sank to the ground. "I'm such an idiot…'s all my fault…can't do anythin' right. Mum would be so ashamed…and Dad…" Letting out a choked sob, Rose buried her face in her arms and burst into tears.

It struck Will that, for all her bravado, humor, and cockiness, Rose was still just a kid. She hadn't done that much in her short life, and she was afraid of failure, of not being all that she expected herself to be. To cover it up, she acted overly confident, only to crash and burn when something like this happened. In her dark eyes, Will had seen pain, exhaustion, despair, and failure. She felt like there was no way out now. It filled Will with an inexplicable sense of wanting to comfort her; he supposed it was his parental instincts.

Will didn't know what to do, so he just let Rose cry for a few minutes. When her sobs became softer and less frequent, he said softly, "It's not over yet."

Rose raised her face; her eyes were red, her cheeks tear-streaked. She wiped her face on her blouse sleeve – the one that wasn't ripped – and looked back at Will, smiling tearfully. "Sorry f'r goin' t' pieces like that…I 'aven't cried in two years…since Mum died." She shook her head. "People'll think 'm goin' soft."

Will smiled at her. "It's all right, Rose. But we should pull ourselves together if we're going to find a way out of here."

"A way out?" Rose raised both eyebrows. "Am I 'earin' ye correctly, mate?"

"Yes, you are. We're going to escape."

"'Ow's that?" Rose had only one eyebrow raised now. "We got no key, we're goin' t' be guarded, an' we got no boat."

"Here's how," Will said in a low voice, leaning over to the wall between their cells. "The ship's almost completely abandoned at night, right? Except for the few people still on moving it." Rose nodded. "The guard will probably fall asleep fairly close to the cell. If we can get to the keys without making too much noise, we'll be able to 'commandeer' a rowboat and get off the ship before anyone notices we're gone."

Rose's eyebrow remained raised. "So ye want us t' sneak out, late at night, when ever'one's asleep, steal a rowboat, an' go t' Tortuga?"

Will nodded.

"Jus' th' two o' us?"

He nodded again.

"To Tortuga?"

He nodded.

"In a rowboat?"

He nodded once again.

Rose paused. "I don' see why not."

Will grinned in relief. He should have known that Jack's daughter would accept an idea as crazy as that. His own thinking worried him a little – it made him realize how much of an influence Jack had had on him, even close to two years after he'd met the pirate.

"It'll 'ave t' be early in th' mornin', though," Rose added, stretching. "We won't be able t' see a thing if we go at night, plus we'll be tired. Let's each sleep an hour, then wake th' other, 'til it just starts t' get light. Then we c'n steal th' key and make a run f'r it."

Will nodded; her suggestion made sense. Rose beamed at him. "'m glad I met ye, mate."

"I'm glad I met you too." Will smiled at the younger girl warmly, then gestured towards the ground. "Now get some sleep. You need it more than I do. I'll wake you soon." Without protest, she curled up into a ball and closed her eyes, leaving Will to ponder Elizabeth's location, what Jack was doing right now, and the mechanics of the awkward escape plan he'd come up with.

:::::::

To the considerable surprise of both parties involved, the early stages of the plan worked like a charm. The guard, as Will had predicted, fell asleep a little too close to the young man's cell. As soon as snores were heard from his direction, with the help of Rose's bandana and dagger, he was able to construct a rope of sorts and pull the keys off of the guard's belt loop. Once the sky they could see from a small hole in each of their cell walls had turned light, they each unlocked their cells and quietly made their way up to the deck.

From there, Will, who knew the ship best as he'd "commandeered" the original, was the one to locate the rowboats and climb into one, ready to lower it. Of course, Rose chose that moment not to be around.

A quick scan of the deck located the dratted girl to be playing with something near the helm of the ship. "Rose! What are you doing?" Will hissed urgently.

The girl looked up and grinned. "Disablin' th' rudder chain. They won't be able t' turn th' ship t' chase us if they find out we're gone."

Will grinned reluctantly. You had to hand it to her.

Finally finishing with her task, Rose hopped into the boat next to Will. "Got th' oars?" Getting a nod from her companion, the girl gestured for him to lower the craft.

In less than fifteen minutes, the rowboat was in the waters, Will and Rose each had an oar in their hands, and they were slowly paddling away from the Interceptor. The sun was just beginning to shine down on the warm waters of the Caribbean.

"We did it," Will said, stunned.

Rose laughed at the tone of his voice. "I know. Can't b'lieve it either, mate."

The two slapped hands and, flushed with success and relief, began to row their way to Tortuga…and Captain Jack Sparrow.