Some Men Have Died

By Kiki Smith

Part Two

Captain William Turner watched in trepidation as the distance between the Dutchman and its new port grew smaller at an alarming rate. It would be the first time of doing his duty and he felt a rational amount of nervousness at the prospect of the customary introductory speech he was to make upon arriving. He wasn't very good at public speeches and always had a feeling that he was making a fool out of himself. The road between a lowly blacksmith and a pirate immortal captain had been a long one, but he still retained some of his previous self-consciousness.

He smiled faintly upon remembering Elizabeth's heartfelt speech as the Pirate King and marvelled at her ability to lead. When a familiar pang of longing hit him, he focused his efforts on pushing the thoughts of his wife out of his head. It wouldn't do to be distracted at a time like this.

'Are you ready?' he heard the voice of his father behind him. He turned and smiled.

'As much as I will ever be, I suppose. Have you ever been here before?'

'No' answered Bootstrap. 'I joined the crew after Davy Jones had already abandoned his duties. I always wanted to, though... I imagined that I might meet some friends on the other side.'

Will frowned, looking at the waiting people. 'Do you think we might meet mother?'

Bootstrap's head snapped in his son's direction and his expression showed disbelief. 'Margaret is dead?'

Will sent him a long look. 'She died when I was twelve. I went looking for you, but the ship I sailed on was attacked by pirates.' He smiled a bit wistfully. 'The Black Pearl was looking for the medallion you gave me... I was the only survivor.'

Bootstrap looked away. 'I am so sorry, Will... I had no idea that my leaving would cause you so much grief...'

'It's been a long time ago, father' Will shook his head. 'And I've already forgiven you.'

He felt his father's hand on his own. 'Thank you.'

'So, do you think we might meet mother?'

'I honestly don't know.'

Will quirked his lip. 'We'll see in a moment, won't we?'

They waited in silence as the crew worked around them, mooring the ship to the quayside. And then, after the souls of those who died at sea descended down the gangplank, Will moved forward, so that everyone present could hear him. He could not go on land for another nine years, even if it was in the afterworld, therefore he would have to speak from aboard the Dutchman.

He looked around, taking in as many faces as he could see, noticing their surprise, probably wondering how in the world such a young unsuspecting man as him managed to replace the fearsome Davy Jones. He wondered briefly if he should fabricate a story of how he had bravely stabbed Jones' heart narily escaping the late Captain's tentacles to earn their respect, but his honest streak won in the end and he decided against it.

Taking a deep breath, he spoke.

'My name is Captain William Turner' he said in a loud and clear voice. There was a murmur of whispers, no doubt repeating his name to those who had not heard it. He continued. 'As you can see, I have taken Davy Jones' place and become the new Captain of the Flying Dutchman. I will not lie and say that this fate is something I wanted. I am here merely because my dear friend, Captain Jack Sparrow, helped me stab Davy Jones' heart to save me from certain death.'

The murmur had turned into a full-fledged roar by now. Will spied disbelieving frowns, glares of disgust and expressions of disappointment wherever he looked and thought that perhaps he should have lied after all.

'Capt'n Whelp!' someone from the crowd jeered.

'Should've died an' let Sparrow kill th' bastard!' someone else shouted.

'Good-for-nothing eunuch!'

'We were better off with Davy Jones himself!'

A bit embarrassed, Will surveyed the angry crowd with a frown. How the hell did they know all of the names Jack insisted on calling him? Well, except the soprano part. Had Jack managed to spread those nicknames so widely for them to have reached the world beyond?!

Shaking that away, he concentrated on the matter at hand. Which was getting in control of the docks again.

'Silence!' he roared and the crowd was immediately shocked speechless. Smirking in satisfaction, he enjoyed a moment of quiet before speaking up. 'The circumstances of my inheriting the Flying Dutchman's Captaincy aside, I am not going to abandon its purpose. I will ferry the souls of those who died at sea and I will serve my duty as well as I am able. And for that, I demand respect.'

No one spoke this time. The dock was deathly silent. As it should be, he thought in amusement, we are all dead men here, after all.

The stillness of the crowd helped him notice the disturbance that occured somewhere to the right. He glanced there briefly and was surprised to see three figures heading his way, pushing aside other people. His knees almost buckled under his weight when he saw that the first figure was none other than Governor Swann.

A myriad of thoughts exploded in his head. What was he doing here? What was he supposed to say to him? Oh God, how was he supposed to explain why he left Elizabeth alone?

He was so focused on the Governor that it took him some time to notice the two women trailing behind him. The first he had never seen, although she looked remarkably like... like Elizabeth! This time he had to grab the railing not to fall down. Who was...? Was she...? Could she be...?

He didn't finish that thought, because the Governor finally arrived on the quayside, panting, and called out to him.

'William! What in God's name are you doing here?!'

He felt all the blood drain from his face. Although he wasn't exactly sure if he had any blood left, what with his heart locked safely away in a Dead Man's chest. Queerily absent from his ribcage, too.

'Governor...' he said weakly, but then the second of the women caught up and almost staggered onto the quayside.

If Will's heart had still been in his body, it would have certainly missed a couple of beats. It might have, come to think of it, not that he could feel it.

From the sudden intake of breath coming from his father, he gathered that his eyes were not, in fact, deceiving him.

His mother, just as he had remembered her from all those years ago, was standing there, staring in sick disbelief at her son, and then, after moving her gaze, at her husband.

It took Will a particularly long, stretched moment to gather his wits about him. With a pained expression he motioned towards the gangplank.

'Please...' he said, his voice trembling with emotion. 'Please come aboard.'

All three complied.

A/N: Here's the next installment! I hope you like it as well as the first one – I must say that twenty two reviews for a two-page piece of writing is really excessive - I am eternally grateful for all the feedback! Thank you, thank you, thank you:D