Summary: No deed, good or bad should go unpunished, and this belief is shared by Will, Jack and Barbossa. Rated M for slight naughtiness and implications. Forgive me, but this simply begged to be written.
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters or the Black Pearl. I will lay claim to the Jackrabbit, since Disney won't let me have Barbossa.
Perhaps this wasn't going to be a disaster after all. Or so Elizabeth would have liked to think, and so it really would have seemed. She smiled, deciding that her fears had been ungrounded, despite the fact that there was something terribly out of place about the situation. But there stood Jack, alive and well and smiling. Smiling? Wasn't that an odd thing to do for someone who'd been tricked in such an awful way, and then had to endure the humiliation of being rescued by, of all people, the man who'd stolen away the one thing that he ever cared about and then laughed about it. Someone who was also presumably and supposedly dead. He also stood carelessly on deck, smiling and laughing with Jack . . . and Will. This alone should have been grounds for alarm. Alliances like that don't get made unless there is something terribly underhanded going on. But Elizabeth did not think of this in all her giddiness, so happy was she over the fact that it looked like she would be pardoned of all the awkward confrontations that she had so dreaded. It was after all, in the past, what she had done, and we cannot change what is past, right? She suppressed a giggle, delighted with herself.
Will had not taken to his new captain at first; ever suspicious and mistrusting of the resurrected sailor. The bad blood between them, however, was quickly dispelled, as Will discovered that since he was no longer prevented from enjoying the daily pleasures of life, the captain was really a fine chap after all; he was not terribly crude and brash, as most pirates were wont to be, nor was he horribly pompous or prudish. His between-societies demeanor provided a pleasant companion to Will's middle-class commoner. The two of them often passed endless hours together, speaking of things both nautical and otherwise, much to the relief of Elizabeth Swann, who felt that as long as Will was pestering the captain, he could not pester her. Their friendship, therefore, was seemingly unnoticed by her, as unlikely and unusual as it was. The rest of the crew found it to be rather frightening. The day that they retrieved Jack had been a grand one, though the respective Captains had glared daggers at one another at first, but seemed to quickly put aside their differences, though at least once a day there was some dispute over who would captain the Pearl after they were well away from the haunted shores of World's End. They currently resided on the sought after vessel, half the crew remained on the rescue ship, Jackrabbit, captained by Gibbs for the time being. Barbossa insisted that he simply could not be captain of a ship with such a silly name, and it was partially Jack's name anyways, and shouldn't that rightfully make it his? Jack insisted that the Jackrabbit suited his old first mate for reasons that were entirely inappropriate and a bit vulgar. Will seemed a bit sulky over the whole ordeal, enough so that Jack and Barbossa stopped their squabbling to see if they could get to the root of his troubles; he had been shaping up to be a fine rascal and it would have been a terrible shame for them to lose him back to his sense of honesty and wholesomeness when they were so close now to converting him into a scoundrel much like themselves. On a day when he had done nothing but sit at the railing and scowl at them if they had the least little argument or jest, they both agreed that they ought to take him aside. He started just a bit when a rough hand contacted the back of his neck, turning to find Barbossa staring at him with furrowed brows. Will frowned.
"Is something wrong, Captain?"
"I need to see you in my cabin. Now."
Will swallowed hard. During the entirety of the voyage, Barbossa had never spoken to him like that. He wondered for a moment if the captain had finally reverted back to his old ways and had decided to cut his throat to spite him. Jack suddenly appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. No one had yet figured how he had come by that talent.
"Nothin' terrible, William, really," he said, slinging an arm about Will's shoulders. Will felt as if he were being smothered to death by pirate captains and did not relish the feeling in the least.
"We're just concerned about you Turner, that's all."
Jack grunted in agreement. "You've been a bit of a stiff lately, Will." He thought for a moment before cheerfully adding, "Even for you."
Will rolled his eyes, going begrudgingly along with them at first, but failed to keep his problems a secret from their knowing intuition. They had adopted a disturbingly fatherly attitude towards him and he found it difficult not to be impertinent towards them both. Jack's fatherliness, however, quickly dissipated when the truth was laid before them. Barbossa grinned incredulously.
"She kissed you, Jack, so they could escape certain death and leave you to face it? And you let her?" Jack nodded reluctantly, a dark pout now spread over his tanned face. "Always subject to a woman's charms, weren't you?" Barbossa shook his head, still smiling. Jack was not amused.
"I'm terribly glad that you find this humorous, Hector. As if you would have refused." Jack waved his hands in the air, sneering at the captain.
"Aye, you be right, I wouldn't have." He smiled wickedly. "But I woulda been sure to keep control of the situation. You probably never could figure out where to put your hands," he said, suppressing a laugh. Jack scowled at his below-the-belt comment, shaking his head.
"Now that was just plain wrong, mate. There are some things that should remain sacred. And-" he raised a finger, " . . . I hope you realize the situation led not only to my heartbreaking and unfortunate demise, but is also the undeniable reason that you were inconvenienced into venturing after me." He leaned back in his chair, putting his hands behind his head and grinning arrogantly.
Jack's statement had gone unnoticed by Will, who was currently experiencing a lightbulb moment. An insane grin tugged at the corners of his mouth and won. He looked up to face his companions, who's attempts at being his mentors had gone awry and only resulted in yet another argument between them. They momentarily stopped their bantering, disturbed now by the look on his face.
"It would seem that we all three have been made victims in this situation, gentlemen," he said cooly. Spend enough time around people and you will get to the point in which you can read one another's thoughts. The three men that now sat in the Captain's Cabin of the Black Pearl had now reached that point. Will sat calmly at the table, hands folded neatly upon it, and turned to face Barbossa.
"Would you not agree, Captain, that in some instances, there is a price to be paid for your chosen profession?" He turned now to Jack. "And you of all people know something of debts owed." The two captains regarded each other for half a moment before simultaneously mirroring the grin worn by their younger counterpart, who was now obviously putting together his first wicked and shameful act of trickery. Perhaps he would turn out just fine, after all.
Elizabeth sat upon one of the cannons, smiling and dangling her legs about lazily. Things had gone so very swimmingly for her, and she could not have fathomed the relief she felt over everything. Life was good for her, or so it seemed. Her three madmen had now emerged from the Captain's Quarters and strode towards her, wearing quiet smiles, save for Barbossa, who looked rather displeased. She knew that it could mean no good; what she did not know was that in another life, before his days of glorious pillaging and burning, Hector Barbossa had been quite the stage performer. Will calmly approached her, placing his hands on her shoulders and backing her towards the mast.
"William? Darling? May I ask what it is that you're doing at the moment?"
He sighed. "Shame on you, Elizabeth. Just . . . shame on you. Charming Jack only to leave him helpless and in Death's way. And you've done nothing but smile for this entire trip. I've caught you giggling at times, even! I don't think you realize the severity of what you've done. We've decided to punish you; both captains approve of my suggestion and will be standing by to ensure that it is carried out properly and without delay." Her eyes darted to them hopefully, but they were not about to assist her, by any means. Barbossa raised his eyebrows, daring her to give him a feasible argument. Jack merely shrugged.
"An eye for an eye, Lizzie."
She tried swallowing, finding her mouth suddenly very dry and unwilling to cooperate, and tried her best to remain calm. After all, it was only Will, and he'd never do anything to compromise or hurt her - would he? "W-What exactly is it that you're going to do to me?" she stammered. She made a few feeble attempts to free herself from him, deducing that it was pointless, seeing as how her legs and muscles seemed to be composed of jelly at the moment. She felt her back come into contact with the ship's mast, and out of the corner of her eye, saw Jack produce something cold and slightly rusty and unbreakable. Will still smiled as he brought her hands against her sides and answered her question.
"Only what you did to him."
Click. And another. Panic began to seize her; they'd secured not one, but both of her hands to the mast, and she knew that any arguments over technicalities at this point would be futile. She could only stand facing the man to whom she'd promised herself, trying desperately but unsuccessfully to read what was going through his mind at that moment. He placed a rough hand to her face, pushing back stray wisps of her hair and brought his face short inches from her own, the hotness of his breath dancing tauntingly over her lips.
"Is this not how it went?" he asked, his voice low and husky. She nodded breathlessly, humiliated but unable to hide her eagerness for the 'punishment' now, wishing only that he'd chosen to carry it out someplace private and not in plain sight like this. Abruptly someone came from behind and secured a blindfold over her eyes.
"Will!" she gasped. "That's not fair. I never -" he placed a finger to her lips.
"Nor did Jack know what was about to happen to him. It's only fair that you don't either, but I assure you, it'll be far more pleasant than what lay in store for him. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to get this over with, is that understood?" She nodded, wearing a look akin to defeat, and immediately she felt strong lips pressed to her own. They were familiar, but behaved in a way that she'd never known Will to before. He'd always been fairly cautious with his passion, but this kiss was hungry and probing and slightly rough. She parted her lips, granting him full access and wondering why he'd never kissed her like this before, and thought that with punishments like this, she ought to misbehave more often. She inwardly cursed the bonds at her wrists, the desire to embrace her ravisher growing unbearable and finding it terribly difficult to remain a lady about the situation; with her hands restrained, her legs seemed to be offering to take their place and she was unable to keep one of them from rebelliously snuggling itself around his waist. He chose to react by taking her in his arms and pressing her impossibly further against the mast with his full weight. Their lips parted for a moment when he sensed her need for air, which she gasped in gratefully.
"Will, please . . ." she said breathlessly, "please unchain me. I think it's safe to say I've learned my lesson. She felt him leave her for a moment, and instantly missed his presence.
"Very well," she heard him say. "But the blindfold stays. I do not think you've learned your lesson, not quite yet. You don't even know what it is that you're asking for."
"I do so!" she retorted. Her bonds were released and the strong, rough hands returned to her, taking her face in their grasp, just in case she had any ideas of her own about what to do with that blindfold. She wasted no time in resuming the kiss, this time with her arms wrapped tightly around her attacker and she no longer cared that her legs did the same. She whimpered as he pressed against her once more.
"Will . . " she was interrupted by a kiss. "Seeing as how propriety no longer seems to be an issue . . ." And another. "You should know that you shouldn't . . ." And yet another. " . . .start things that we can't finish and I'm asking . . ." One more. " . . . asking you now to take me someplace where we can."
"Elizabeth, I cannot finish something that I didn't start." She froze. His voice had come from further back, it sounded much further, in fact, than it should have when he had his limbs and face entangled with her own. Her hands went to the face of her companion and she knew that something was not right. They had been voyaging long, but not long enough for Will to have acquired that much hair on his face. Nor did he have foreign objects dangling from his ear. Her heart was quickly making it's descent to her toes as she tried to convince herself that it was still her fiancee that she had her limbs latched onto. Her hands went to his shoulders, and his chest, and his belt, and everything was all wrong. Orders or not, her hands flew to her head and she snatched the blindfold hastily from her eyes to reveal her lover. She now looked into the face of a very pleased, very amused Captain Barbossa. Finding that they were still in a highly romantic position, he placed a hand on her thigh to prevent her from escaping just yet.
"I'd be very interested in finishing this for you, Miss, but I don't think Mr. Turner would allow it."
THE END (presumably)