Title: Of Loss And Finding
Author: Nicole (PineappleIce or SulliedxUnusual)
Rating: Teen
Summary: Will wants to be the one to find Jack's body; he does so, and finds it surprisingly full of life.
Author's Notes: Set after 'Leverage' ('Morbid Curiosity' Ch.#7). Possibly another piece coming after this one depending on response.

Will sat, white-lipped, glass-eyed. He was aware of people moving around him, moving into the building he had just been thrown from. But nothing else seemed to be going into his head. His mind seemed to have so many thoughts in it that none of them could win, and so all was numb. He was sure that soon the knowledge of what he had lost would overwhelm him. But for now, he was calm.

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A hand, once white and gentle and soft, grasped his bare shoulder. He looked down at it, saw the rough brown skin, and then looked up into her face.

"Will," she said, running a tongue over dry, cracked red lips. "Was Jack here? Where is he now?"

A half-laugh, half-sob escaped his mouth as he looked at Elizabeth Swann. If only she knew.

"Will!" she said, more sharply.

He knew he should communicate the truth to her, the heartbreaking, overwhelming truth, but somehow the words got lost in his throat. He shook his head hopelessly. She merely rolled her eyes to the sky. When had he stopped loving her? He watched as she stood up, heading into the door. It had to be safe now.

If it was safe, he wanted to be the one who found Jack. Part of him wasn't sure he could stand seeing him, so cold, but part of him sickened at the thought of Elizabeth or Gibbs finding him. It had to be Will.

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The room was littered with bodies. Will felt his stomach turn at the smell, recognising some of the people lying dead as fellow members of Jack's crew. But he couldn't see Jack anywhere.

Elizabeth was rolling bodies over, the very image of despair, the very image of the brave, yet feminine pirate she so longed to be; tears rolled down fine cheekbones, golden hair streamed from a three-cornered hat, yet still she continued dutifully, her face pained, looking for her Captain. Will almost scoffed at the image.

He spotted the pirate who had held the pistol to Jack's head, and indeed the pistol lay beside him. But Jack's body was not there, where it most certainly should be. Something ignited in Will that he couldn't explain, and he stepped slowly towards the pistol. There was blood on the floor.

It was the brightest, most vivid blood he had ever seen, the lively scarlet a stark contrast to the crimson blood that seemed to be everywhere else. This strange liquid could only belong to the brightest, most vivid person Will had ever seen.

Jack Sparrow.

Eyes sharp, hope burning in his chest, he looked around, quickly spotting the trail of this scarlet substance. It moved right across the floor, and disappeared through a small door. Will followed it, mind free of anything else, and pushed at the door, finding it opened onto a staircase that headed up. And at the bottom of the staircase-

"Jack!" The word croaked out of Will's throat, since no words had left it for so long.

The pirate's golden cheeks were pale and his lips were chewed from pain. He was slumped on the floor, a fair smattering of that scarlet blood on his dirty shirt. But he was grinning, albeit weakly, and his eyes couldn't have been any warmer as they saw Will. This was Captain Jack Sparrow.

"You're alive," Will whispered.

"You sound surprised, dear Mister Turner," Jack said, in a dry, weak voice. "It just so happened that all hell broke loose in here as the pistol went off; the crew came in the back door, and I managed to twist a little, so that the bullet did less damage..." He coughed.

"We need to get you back to the Pearl," Will said firmly.

Jack allowed Will to tug him to his feet. Will supported the smaller man as Jack leaned on him heavily, struggling to move. Will was almost tempted to throw the pirate over his shoulders and carry him all the way back down to the Pearl, but somehow he didn't think Jack's pride could take such an insult.

Elizabeth appeared at the door as Will helped Jack out of it. Her red mouth formed a perfect 'o' of surprise. "Jack!" she exclaimed.

"Hello, Lizzie, luv," Jack said, as though they had happened to meet in the street. Will noticed straight away that Jack had allowed Will to see a softer, more vunerable side of himself, and he had become more guarded at the sight of Elizabeth. Will felt as though his stomach had turned over, and he wasn't sure why.

"Here, let me help you," Elizabeth said, rushing forward to support Jack's other side.

"I can manage, Elizabeth!" Will snapped irritably. Elizabeth pouted but didn't press the matter, merely spun on her heel and moved gracefully over to the door, turning to say,

"I'll go and tell the crew to go back to Pearl and prepare for Jack, shall I?" She moved off without waiting for a reply.

Will and Jack went slowly over to the door. For a moment they were silent, Will concentrating on helping his Captain. He could feel Jack's warm arm slung around his back, but he was trying to ignore it. Finally, they had successfully picked their way around the bodies and were standing bathed in warm sunlight. Will glanced down at Jack, who smiled back up at him.

"Can you go on?" Will asked seriously.

Jack nodded bravely, but a few steps down the road, he was breathing heavily, his grip on Will almost painful. Will glanced ahead at the quickly-disappearing Elizabeth, and made his decision. Without saying a word, he scooped the surprisingly light Jack Sparrow into his arms and carried him to the Black Pearl.