The Closest Thing to Crazy
By Sharron Ibbitson
Rating: R to be safe, some violence and bad language
Disclaimer: bloody hell must we go through this every time! I do not sodding own Jack Sparrow, what? Oh sorry Captain Jack Sparrow or any other characters recognised in this fiction. I would like to borrow them for a couple of night ;-) but Disney aren't very obliging!
Summary: This is the second story in the 'Leave Right Now' series, please read and review let me know what you think! This story starts immediately where LRN left off. You need to have read the other story first (and reviewed!!!!!) or this will make no sense at all!
The Closest Thing to Crazy
Chapter One
"Why would he just up and leave?" Elizabeth asked his fiancé almost frantic with worry. Their good friend Jack Sparrow had arrived on their doorstep two days previously, wet and bleeding profusely from a bullet wound. The pirate Captain had been weak and seemingly traumatised by whatever had caused his injury. They knew that most of Jack's crew had been killed in the incident that had got Jack so badly wounded, yet they had no further details than that. Jack had withdrawn from them almost immediately, whatever had happened had obviously affected him very badly, but they had never expected him to just leave the house without a word. Elizabeth knew that she would never understand jack Sparrow, but she did know that that afternoon when he had cried in her arms, she had felt her heart break right next to him. She would never of thought of Jack being so broken, so outright sorrowful, yet he had broken down in her arms, mourning for the loss of his crew, the loss of the last of his innocence, and Elizabeth had had no real idea of how to help him. If only he would have told them what had happened, but now he was gone, and there was little she could do about it.
"I honestly don't know sweetheart" Will replied, softly, pulling the young woman into his arms. He totally shared her reaction, he was just as angry as she was, yet his anger was by far outweighed by his concern for his friend. Captain Jack had come to them for help, showing a level of trust that he undoubtedly had not shown anybody for quite some time. He had been separated by his crew and his ship in order to seek them out, yet he refused to go into any detail about what had caused such injuries. Will sighed to himself, he didn't like to think of Jack out there somewhere alone, and injured, yet how would he ever find him?
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Captain Jack Sparrow sighed, and took a deep breath, only stopping when the action aggravated his injured torso. He was relieved to be back on the water, pleased that he would no longer be placing Will or Elizabeth at risk. Jack closed his eyes against the thought of his dear friends, as much as he hated to admit he loved those two. They had seen something in him that people never usually took the time to find, and that caused a warm glow in his heart. They were his family, yet he knew he would probably never see them again. He would never risk his friends again, he knew he would never have another nightmare free night again as long as he lived, for every time he drifted off the blood dripping on his decks, Marty's shocked face as the cannonball ripped through his mid-drift cutting the midget in half, and then poor dear Cotton as he had his head ripped in two by that gunshot. Jack's thoughts were cut off as once again he had to lean over the railing of the mighty ship to heave. His stomach was long since empty as he had not eaten in nearly four days, yet the dry heaves continued to wrack his body as his memories haunted him, goading him with their continuous presence, reminding him of the deaths he had caused. Sure his hand may not have been on the trigger or the fuse but he had caused those deaths just as sure as if he had killed them with his own two hands and that was the thought that made the bile rise in his throat. He winced once more as his body reminded him of the recently removed bullet, and he gently placed the palm of his hand against his stitched torso, and wasn't surprised when his hand came away sticky and red with blood. He sighed, it was pretty much what he had expected, after all he couldn't really expect the stitches to survive his mad dash through the streets of Port Royale, his commandeering of the ship and then setting sail single headedly en route to Tortuga. Plus the fact that he had also been forced to endure bout after bout of nausea. He sighed again, and at the pull on his side made a mental note not to do so again, he stumbled his way back to the helm and prayed that he would soon be back with his remaining crew member and his pearl, yet now that didn't induce the same reaction in him as it would have a mere week ago. He shook his head, determined not to sink back into his dark thoughts, he was captain Jack Sparrow and he had a ship to sail, then he could fall apart.
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"Tortuga" Will said out of the blue, and Elizabeth looked at him puzzled. "Tortuga that is where Jack will have gone. It's where he'll be meeting the Pearl" he explained, and Elizabeth grinned in agreement.
"Well what are we waiting for then? Lets go!" she told him, and she was already on her feet and half way up the stairs before he had a chace to move.
End Chapter One
Right that's it, is it worth continuing? Please let me know what you think! Updates on this are going to be regular, but not as often as on some of my other stories, as I want to concentrate on getting Friend in Need finished, and then go all guns blazing on this. I just couldn't resist the urge to start this, it was nagging in the back of my mind!