Chapter 1

"Captain, they've found him!" Gibbs' voice came from the other side of Jack Sparrow's cabin door. "Jack, they've found Will Turner!"

Jack immediately threw on some clothes, grabbed his cutlass, and rushed to the door.

"They've found him?" he breathed, unbelieving. He'd been trailing after Drogo - and without much success - for months now, set on rescuing Will. He'd been captured on Davy Jones's order; what he wanted with him, Jack didn't know. The man had detained the blacksmith, and then he'd been handed off to another pirate.

Jack and Gibbs made their way up to the main deck, where they instantly saw the ship that had long begun sinking. The Black Pearl's crew was busy tying up various pirates and looting, but the Captain was busy scanning the waters for his friend.

"Jack!" Will's voice came from somewhere to the right down in the water. Jack looked down and saw Will desperately trying to loosen the ropes that tied his wrists together.

Jack ordered Pintel and Ragetti to get down there and untie him, but at that moment, the mast broke off of Drogo's ship and sailed down into the water, directly over Will's head.

"Will!" Jack yelled, but it was too late. The mast landed with a huge splash, and after the water calmed down, he couldn't see the blacksmith anywhere.

"Will!" He looked everywhere, trying to spot him. Panic rose inside him.

He was about to jump in the water after him, but Gibbs held him back, saying, "Don't be daft, Jack; Pintel and Ragetti will find him."

"Someone bloody save him or I'll gut you all!" Jack cried. He could barely believe it was happening. After all the time he'd spent with Will, he'd grown accustomed to the sound of his voice, the calloused feel of blacksmith's hands, the scent of him, and the sheer pleasure from being around the man. If he died…

"Cap'n, we got 'im!"

Jack rushed to the unconscious body and dropped to his knees beside Will. He could tell he was breathing, though it seemed shallow and broken. Jack listened for a heartbeat and was relieved when he found one.

"Will? Will, wake up," Jack said, shaking him vigorously. "W- Wake up!" He ghosted his thumb over Will's cheek. "Please…"

"Put the boy in the Captain's cabin," a voice said from behind. It was Gibbs. "Come on – you two get Jack away from here."

Jack was about to protest when he felt two pairs of arms drag him to his feet and start hauling him away from Will.

"No – get away from me," he yelled, trying to get back to Will's side. "Will! WILL!"

They forced Jack to stay at the helm, where he kept his eyes on Will as long as he could before he disappeared into the shadows of the cabins.

An hour later, after Jack was assured that Will was alive, he was allowed in his quarters to see him. He was lying on Jack's bed, still in his wet clothes and still unconscious.

Jack slowly made his way over to him and sat on the edge of the bed, resting his hand on Will's leg as he looked at him. With near-shoulder length brown hair, high cheekbones and piercing hazel eyes, he was the picture of perfection in Jack's mind.

He spent another moment just gazing at him before he decided to try to make himself useful by changing the young man's clothes. He began unbuttoning his shirt and was about to slide it off when he noticed a couple of bruises high on his hips. Frowning, Jack took one of Will's wrists and started to pull the shirt off him when he felt a kind of raw texture under his fingers. He leaned down and looked closely at the red rope burns that marked Will's wrists.

"What happened to you?" he murmured softly.

He finished putting a clean shirt on Will and numbly started to run his hands over the younger man. Jack knelt down at the side of the bed and took one of Will's hands in both of his. A feeling of queasiness took hold of his stomach; like when one misses a step going down the stairs. If Will didn't wake up… if he died… Jack didn't know what he'd do.

"Please…" he begged silently, chest heaving as he tried to control his breathing. "Please, Will, don't die. Don't go."

He buried his face in the unmoving chest and rasped, "Please, Will…"

And then, Jack Sparrow, a man who hadn't shed a tear since he was five years old, started crying.

"I love you."

"How is he?" Gibbs asked, appearing at Jack's side the next morning. "Any change?"

"No better than when you last saw him," Jack replied irritably. He hadn't gotten much sleep last night, crouching on the floor next to his bed in front Will, praying that he woke. "Look, mate - I won't be spending much time at the helm, so you and Anamaria are in charge."

Gibbs nodded as Jack went on, saying, "If I see anyone but you or her behind the wheel of the Pearl, I'll feed you all to the sharks, understood?"

"God's beard, Jack. Yes, we know, we know," Gibbs replied. "How 'bout we get ye a chair down there, so you can rest?"

Jack nodded absently, looking out across the sea. What he wouldn't give to see Will open his eyes…

"I'm going back down to see him," he said, leaving Gibbs to hurriedly take the wheel in his hands.

Jack paced up and down the length of his cabin for the millionth time, occasionally stopping to just look at the man he cared for. Will made no movement or signs of waking other than flexing his fingers every once in a while or opening his mouth for a second to exhale.

This was how Jack spent the next month. Pacing his cabin, not eating much, and when he slept, he sat in his chair with his head resting on the edge of Will's bed.

One evening after a particularly exhausting day, Jack had fallen asleep at his usual place, watching over the unconscious man.

Noises and colors kept flashing in and out of Will's mind. He groaned, but didn't open his eyes. Searing pain went through his head, and he moaned quietly. Jack's eyes snapped open at the noise, and he looked up at the boy, hardly daring to believe it.

"Will?" he said softly, reaching out a shaking hand to brush a lock of hair out of the young man's face.

Will didn't know where he was, who was touching him, or why his head felt like it was going to split open. He opened his eyes and wildly looked around. Everything was mildly blurry, but he could see someone leaning over him.

"Don't touch me!" he yelled, trying to back away from the figure. "Don't…"

He sat up and tried to get away, but the dizziness that started made him groan and clutch at his head.

Jack gripped Will's forearms tightly and said, "Easy there, now. Calm down…"

Will recognized the voice. It was Jack. He stopped moving and looked at the man in front of him. Jack had saved him. Without warning, he launched himself at the pirate and hugged him tightly.

"Thank you," he whispered into Jack's ear before pulling away and looking into his ever-so-beautiful eyes. "It was horrible on that ship. You wouldn't believe-"

Jack didn't trust himself to speak. It was just too much. The most important person in the world to him was there, awake, alive… he thought he'd burst into tears again, so he just settled for placing his arms securely around Will's waist and not letting go.

Finally, Jack mumbled, "I thought you were going to die, y'know. You've no idea…"

Will furrowed his brow and said, "Die? Wait, what happened, Jack? I don't remember much."

"We raided Drogo's ship about a month ago," Jack said, releasing Will's waist as he spoke. "You were in the water when the mast broke off and almost drowned you, mate. You've been unconscious even since. And, in turn, you had me thinking that you were going to die."

"A month?" Will was astounded. He'd been unconscious for a month? He looked down at his clothes. Upon realizing they were Jack's, he said, "Thank you for taking care of me."

Jack smiled and replied, "Don't tell the crew. Don't want them to think I'm getting soft now, eh?"

Will chuckled, swung his legs over the side of the bed, and was about to get up when Jack put a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't do that," he said, pushing the man back down onto the bed. "You'll get dizzy and make yourself sick."

"It's okay," Will replied, slowly getting up again. "I want to get some food; I'm starving."

Jack furrowed his brow in worry but stood up as well. They were halfway to the door when Will suddenly gasped in pain and clutched the back of his head. Jack was at his side in an instant, with an arm around his waist and leading him back to the bed. Will's legs gave out and he slumped forwards onto the pirate, who had to quickly gather the young man in his arms to prevent him from falling.

"Oh god…" Will moaned, rubbing his head, "It feels like my skull's split open."

Jack sounded a bit troubled as he said, "Yes… that's to be expected for a few weeks. But your skull isn't fractured, mate. I checked. It'll be best if you don't try to walk for a while; just stay in here 'till you get better."

Will thought this over, absently pulling at the hem of his shirt, wondering if Jack would actually tolerate him being on the Pearl without doing any work.

"Jack… I should try to do some work – I've got to earn my keep, don't I?"

Jack smiled gently and replied, "Not when you're not well, William. I can't risk losing yo – losing any of my men."

He didn't know why he stopped in mid-sentence, but thankfully, Will didn't notice, as he was currently tracing his index finger over a rope burn on his wrist.

"How did you get those?" the pirate asked quietly, looking at the angry red marks on Will's arms.

Will didn't reply.

"Will?"

He looked up and said, "The Captain kept me tied up in his quarters for months. Ever since he first kidnapped me."

Jack felt a surge of anger towards the now dead Drogo as he said, "I saw the bruises as well. What about them?"

"Nothing." His voice was vulnerable, not wanting Jack to find what had happened.

"You know I can tell when you're lying, Will," Jack said, completely serious, "And I'll find out if I have to."

Will hesitated before quietly saying, "He raped me."

Jack's eyes widened. "What?"

"He'd… take me every night when he came in, then bound and gag me until morning, when he'd just tie my wrists together." There were lots of pauses punctuating his explanation, and Will struggled not to let tears of remembrance come out of his eyes.

"Oh, Will…"

Jack rubbed Will's back, murmuring, "He paid for what he's done, luv. It'll never happen again."

"It wasn't just him…" Will whispered, "Another one… from another ship came and took me from time to time."

Jack's eyes flared with anger as he said, "Who was he? What was his name, Will? I swear to god that if I find him I'll personally torture him and make him walk the plank."

Will just shook his head, saying, "I never heard his name. I remember that he had two guns with him at all times… big ship… long scar on his face… and that he liked… liked to–" he stopped talking and curled up on the bed, shaking fiercely as he remembered the sheer pain he'd had to endure.

"Liked what?" Jack asked quietly, pulling a blanket over him.

The young man turned his head away in shame. "Liked to see me bleed."

Jack stopped moving. He just looked at Will, mentally noting just how abused he looked now; dry, cracked lips, bruises and welts all over his body, oh god…

"I…" he began, not really sure of what he was going to say.

"It's okay, Jack… like you said, it's over," Will mumbled, not wanting Jack to get distracted from his Captain duties in fear of his health.

"It's far from over, William. Look at you – you can still remember it… you're still scared."

Will's eyes flashed. "I'm not scared!"

Jack fixed him with a stare. The younger man sighed, trying to fight the lump that was rising in his throat.

"I'm terrified. Terrified that at any moment, he'll board the Pearl and take me again; terrified because of what he did to me… and because I know it'll happen again," he finished quietly, looking down at his hands.

Jack furiously made a silent vow to protect Will with his life, noting that the young man had definitely been raped beyond count. He whispered, "Don't be. You know I'll never let anything harm you, don't you?"

Up until now, Will had been successful in keeping the tears from forming in his eyes, but now as Jack said this, promising he'd never be hurt again, it was too much. He started crying, shoulders shaking with the effort as he tried to conceal his agony. He fell into Jack's arms and shamefully sobbed away some memories, burying his face in the crook of Jack's neck.

The pirate himself was busy tightly grasping the shaking boy and letting him cry onto his shoulder. "Shh… shh, luv, it'll be alright, I promise…" he whispered, stroking the silky tresses of Will's head.

After a few minutes, the sobs quieted down to small sniffles and sharp intakes of breath, but Jack still didn't let go. He maneuvered them both down to the pillow and continued to rub Will's back.

"William?" he whispered. There was no reply. He looked down and saw that Will's eyes were closed and that he was breathing deeply, cheeks still covered in tears.

Jack sighed, gently wiped the tears away, and pulled the younger man closer to him, breathing in the familiar scent and momentarily losing himself within it as he drifted off to sleep as well.