Title: Mislaid Cause
Disclaimers: Dysney. God Bless them!
Genre: angst, hurt/comfort, romance. The way I usually do it?
Rating: nothing you should hide behind your palms for.
Summary: Captain Teague gets some visitors. Barbossa and his own son to be exact. No slash, no worries, no cry. No woman either. At least not till the end.
Set: closely post AWE.
Pairing: Sparrabeth.
Note: I don't ask for betas, I'm too impatient to wait for them correcting my "work"...but if you offer I won't say no, especially as I'm not all that much at home in a pirate's/of the Caribbean world. Tell me what mistakes I make and I'll be grateful!
The sea was calm, lapping quietly at the rocks guarding the entrance to Shipwreck Cove. Just like the way he had seen from Jack, Captain Hector Barbossa followed the shimmering yellow path made by the reflection of the moon in the water. He had never made it to the breathtaking view of the pirate stronghold without Jack's guidance before, Jack knew best, after all this was where he grew up, but he would've not been Captain Barbossa if he would've not been confident in his own abilities to steer the Pearl into the right direction. He watched the funny looking mountains he knew were composed of wrecked pirate ships, but he wasn't close enough to the ever misty island to be able to sight the sails of them. He hadn't been getting closer for a while. That's when realization struck. They'd been fallen victim to the the geography of that sea area in the low tide and gently got stuck on the sand without feeling a thump or noticing it in any way. He turned to give his orders, but was met by a cutlass at his throat.
Captain Teague Sparrow, the keeper of the code and the guardian of Shipwreck Cove knew when they were getting visitors a long fine time before he knew he was there! He had stepped on board unnoticed just like his son would've done and had him at the tip of his blade. "I'm accepting surrenders!" He taunted.
Barbossa pushed him away roughly and reached to ready his own blade, "do you really want a fight, old man? I have no intentions to enter your sanctuary. But I've got something for you! Allow me!" He stepped past the older man and ran below to return carrying a form and making Captain Teague immediately sheet his weapon. He dropped the motionless and comatose Jack into his father's arms, "he's yours. It's unlucky to have feverish and sick on board. We picked him up from a dinghy, he was like this then as well. Elizabeth, Elizabeth. That's all he says. He might talk more to Gibbs, I dunno, but I had enough of this wild-eyed hogwash, I'll tell you that. I'll be off with the tide if you'll please off my ship."
Captain Teague looked towards Gibbs, he nodded in agreement, "we don't know what happened to him, Sir."
It must've been how Barbossa said it, Captain Teague decided. Jack's ship or not, he wouldn't interfere and his son needed a healer sooner rather than later. Agile despite his old age, he got hold of a rope with one hand, holding onto Jack tightly with the other and swung across to the rocks. He would used the cave to get him to the small town at the heart of Shipwreck Cove, he had his longboat in there. He more like dropped him, than put him into the boat, Jack was heavy after all despite the lots of weight he must've lost, and the older pirate was only spry in front of an audience, lulling them into the illusion he wasn't and aged man after all.
Jack groaned at the thud, looking around disoriented, "dad??"
"What happened to you?" Teague leaned close to him, grimacing. It pained him to see his son like this, especially him being so proud of him last time he saw him in the battle with Beckett. They never had a good relationship, his responsibilities as a keeper and a guardian kept him from being the good father he wanted to be and half of it he was never even allowed to explain to any of his children.
"I don't know."
"Spell? Malady? Harm?" Teague grabbed his son by the arm, feverishly trying to keep him awake for one more moment.
"The Fountain Of Youth..." Jack gulped.
"I don't know where it'd be. And even if I knew, it'd not help you Jack," he claimed, knowingly. As the keeper of the code he was aware of many mysteries, but people had to make their own mistakes, even if it was his son. That fact stood between them, in the way of their relationship many times and it wasn't different this time. If Jack was after the Fountain of Youth he would have to make sure his heart was not in denial about anything, cause the spring water was also a symbol of purity. And seems like Jack was in denial about Elizabeth Swan/Turner, the woman he made a pirate king. Then it dawned on him. Jack had already reached the Fountain Of Youth, the state he was in was a direct consequence of him drinking from it! He was in no immediate danger to die, but he could only be saved by the two women he loved. And Captain Teague knew exactly two Jack loved, Elizabeth and the sea. The only thing he had no idea of was how would they save him and how could he do anything about to help it along!
Tbc