The Map

Caught

Usual Disclaimer: Not mine.

No warnings on this lot, although it will soon be earning its PG-13 rating in future chapters. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy it.

A very big thank you to Betsy for beta-reading this one for me.

Norrington was completely floored by the sight of Elizabeth stood between Jack and Will. Bryant, stood beside him, was equally taken aback but neither man let it show on their faces. The only indication that Norrington gave when he saw Elizabeth was the slight hesitation before he addressed Jack.

"Captain Sparrow." Norrington was at a complete loss as to how to proceed. Beaumont had said nothing about Sparrow having the Turners aboard. He closed his eyes briefly and drew a deep breath. This wasn't how Beaumont said it would pan out, trust Sparrow to be totally unpredictable and muck up plans. Not too mention putting Elizabeth in danger.

"Elizabeth, Will, what are you doing aboard?" he demanded. He knew he was in full sight of Tristan, stood on the Relentless. And he knew that if he made one false move, his entire crew would be killed instantly, for they had told him that for every solider down there a pirate was holding a pistol to their head. Frustration crept into his voice.

"What on earth are you doing here?" Norrington glared at Will. He had long since realised that he loved Elizabeth as nothing more than a friend and that he hadn't been broken-hearted, just had his pride dented. He had even formed a friendship with the pair, despite knowing that they still held Sparrow as a friend. But now, he could quite gladly have Will whipped for bringing Elizabeth into danger.

"We had no choice!" Elizabeth cried out, but stopped when Will's hand tightened on hers.

"We were attacked by another ship and Jack saved us. The Ardent was destroyed," Will added firmly, his head lifting slightly to look up at the much taller man.

"Another pirate ship?" Norrington's eyes narrowed.

Elizabeth shook her head and Jack stepped forward standing slightly in front of her. He placed his hands together and looked up at the taller man.

The clouds above were gathering and Jack was certain that at any minute they would be facing some pretty bad weather. It would be early for the time of year but not unheard of.

"You won't believe me when I say a merchant vessel fired upon the Ardent while running a white flag, will you? But to be sure, it did happen."

Norrington sighed heavily and clasped his hands behind his back; he very well would believe Jack and he knew exactly who had fired upon her. He just couldn't for the life of him figure out why. What threat had the Ardent posed for goodness sake?

"Well, it was just as well you were there to rescue them wasn't it, Captain Sparrow?" he replied dryly. The solider stood behind him shuffled his feet and Norrington knew he was being told to hurry up by the pirate masquerading as one of his soldiers.

"Most fortunate," Jack replied, his liquid black eyes danced between Norrington and a pale faced Bryant beside him. "Most fortunate indeed."

Suddenly there was a high-pitched whistle from the Relentless and Norrington looked up in surprise. The signal had come sooner than he expected. His face went blank again as he stepped back from Jack.

"You've earned yourself another reprieve Captain Sparrow, congratulations." He moved towards the plank that was placed between the two ships and jumped back up on to the plank with Bryant behind him. Rain began to fall softly making the plank slippery almost immediately.

"Return them safely, Sparrow." Norrington turned suddenly on the plank and looked directly into Sparrow's eyes. "I wouldn't want them to get harmed if we were to start firing upon you as we leave the harbour," he said quickly. The soldier behind Bryant pushed forward and mumbled a hasty apology as he knocked Bryant forward almost knocking Norrington into the water.