Nina came down the stairs with an armful of blankets and an extra pillow.
Hannah and Will had come to the agreement that sharing the same bed would
feel extremely awkward. Will had agreed to take the couch as well, leaving
Hannah the bed. Nina felt slightly uneasy about the whole thing and she was
sure no matter how much she tried to hide it, it showed when she approached
him. How was she supposed to act around the spirit of her adopted son's
ancestor, knowing that he was possessing Danny's body and that Danny's soul
had been stolen by some bed time story? She'd listened as he'd told them
about the cursed pirates, the kidnappers of souls, and it wasn't that she
didn't believe him, but it was a hard story to believe.
Coming into the living room, she handed the blankets and pillows to Will. "I think I overdid it with the blankets." She said with a small smile, trying to ease the uncomfortable tension between them. "If you need anything, the fridge is always available and Mike and I are just a flight of stairs away. Just make sure you knock first." She said quickly, a slight tinge appearing on her face. Will acted as if he hadn't heard the implications behind her sentence and gave her a small smile back.
"Thank you. This is greatly appreciated." He told her, just as the screen door in the hallway slammed shut. Nina quickly excused herself and went into the hallway, throwing her arms around Mike's neck and giving him a kiss on the lips. Then she paused, opening her eyes to look at him. Something felt off about him. She pulled her arms from around his neck and took a step back, scrutinizing him. A smirk appeared slowly on his lips and he took a step towards her, but she put a hand on his chest, holding him back.
"Not you too." She said, glaring at him. "So, you must be the infamous Jack Sparrow." Nina took her hand off his chest and crossed her arms. "Did Mike agree to this or did you steal control again?"
"He agreed. In a way." Jack conceded. "Well, he wanted to do something to help his son, so I took him up on the offer." He shrugged. Nina shook her head. She felt so strange around Will, yet she felt like she was on familiar territory when she was around Jack. Of course she knew Anamaria, Jack's lover, was in her bloodlines so it didn't surprise her really.
"I need to just go to bed." She said finally, a tone of weariness in her voice. It had been an extremely long day for all of them. Turning on her heel, she started for the stairs. Jack followed after her as if it were his normal routine. She turned again, placing a hand on his chest and giving him a slight push back. "No, you get the chair." She smiled sweetly. "You may have Mike's body but you don't get his perks." Giving him a slight pat on the chest, she continued to make her way up the stairs, leaving Jack at the bottom with a disgruntled expression on his face.
Jack whirled around and stalked into the living room. Will had already settled in for the night on the couch, but when he heard Jack enter, his eyes opened. "Mike?" He asked, and was rewarded with a dark look as Jack sat down in the armchair. Will raised an eyebrow. "Jack?"
"Aye." The pirate responded as he tried to find a comfortable enough position on the chair. He'd slept a great many places before, but this object was clearly designed to torture rather than give comfort. He grabbed one of the knobs to adjust the chair and was rewarded by the lumbar support stabbing him in the back. Jack grunted in frustration and twisted it again, getting rid of the painful device. He grabbed the next lever and yanked. His reward was nearly being thrown backwards as the back of the chair dropped down and all the while Will was barely able to keep from breaking out in laughter.
Jack climbed out of the chair and set the back upright again, glaring at the thing as if it had some horrendous plan to seriously maim him. He hated these modern times where everything was so much more complicated than they needed to be. "Don't laugh at me." He demanded, leveling a finger at Will. The blacksmith simply shrugged beneath the blankets and closed his eyes, a bemused expression on his face. Jack silently snarled and sat down in the chair again, this time sideways with his legs thrown over the arm rest and his back up against the other. He leaned against the back of the chair and closed his eyes, hoping the night would pass quickly.
------------
"Daddy."
The tiny voice roused Will from his sleep. He slowly opened his eyes to see Emma standing in front of him. Her hair and nightgown were tousled from sleep and she clutched at an old stuffed dog. She stared at him with such honesty and trust that it made him feel incredibly guilty, although he had done nothing wrong. She wanted her father and she thought it was him. But he wasn't her father.
"I can't sleep in my room. There's a monster under my bed." She whispered to him in the dark. Jack shifted in the chair, grumbling in his sleep, and she jumped, holding the dog tighter. For a moment Will didn't respond, just looking at her.
He'd died on the beach of this godforsaken island long before it had ever been settled and had never had a real marriage or children. The mission to prove himself worthy to Governor Swann had claimed his life and Jack's mission had claimed his. Neither one had gotten married or had children, though Will believed that was a good thing in Jack's case. He couldn't quite see the pirate captain with a child. But here was this perfect little girl, just like the daughter he had wanted to have with Elizabeth and it tore him up inside.
Smiling kindly, he decided to play along and pretend that he was Danny for her sake. "A monster, eh? Shall I go tell him to remove himself from your room?" He laughed. She shook her head.
"I don't want to go back in there. I want to stay with you." She climbed up on the couch and wiggled herself under his arm. There was barely enough room for the two of them but they managed a close fit. Emma laid her head on the pillow and shifted again, trying to get comfortable. Will pressed against the back of the couch to give her as much room as possible. Finally she lay still, curling up against him. "Night daddy." Again the words tore at his heart and he had to swallow the lump in his throat before he could respond.
"Night Emma." He responded and closed his eyes, willing sleep to come to him again.
------------
Jack had given up. He had given up on finding sleep, on finding a comfortable spot, and on the damnable chair completely. Quietly he got out of the chair and headed towards the couch. He was the captain and by rights deserved the best bed in the living room by rights, so he intended to kick the younger man out of bed and take the couch for himself. When he got to the couch his mind changed as he looked down at the scene in front of him.
Emma was sleeping peacefully, her head resting on Will's chest. Will had one arm around her in a fatherly embrace and was sleeping with a content expression on his face. Jack's expression grew considerably darker as he realized he was the only one not getting a good night's sleep and he couldn't kick Will off the couch, not when he had the child with him.
His gaze traveled down to the other end of the couch which seemed empty for the most part, as long as he could find a way around Will's feet. Quietly he lifted one foot up and stepped on the couch, over Will's feet, Picking up the blankets, he slowly sat down on the couch and slid under them. If this was what he had to do to get a good night's sleep, he would do it. Curling up, Jack made himself comfortable finally against the back of the couch and closed his eyes, yawning.
A few minutes later he was fast asleep.
-----------
He awoke to an explosion of bright colors and the oddest looking things he had ever seen. They were prancing around the screen, cooing nonsensical sounds and giggling. His eye twitched involuntarily at the eyesore. He closed his eyes and yanked the blanket over his head, trying to drown out the sound. The blanket was yanked back again and Jack sat up quickly to glare at the person who was playing tug-of-war with him.
Will pulled the blanket tighter around him and glanced over at Jack. "What do you make of this?" He asked with a serious expression on his face.
"You're not sharing the blankets." Jack responded and gave it a quick yank, pulling it from Will's shoulders. The blacksmith shook his head and nodded to the TV.
"No, Jack, I mean that thing." He nodded towards the TV. Jack glanced towards it again.
"I don't bloody well know, but I don't like it." He muttered, pulling the blankets around his shoulders tightly. He still felt drained from the night before and the lack of sleep had done nothing to counteract that.
Emma turned to look at him. "It's the Teletubbies, Grandpa. You said you liked them." She gave him a hurt look, her eyes wide and innocent. Jack raised an eyebrow, glancing from her to the TV and back again.
"Did I?" He asked. Will stared at the coffee table in front of them, trying the unfamiliar word out. Emma looked from the man who was supposed to be her father to the man who was supposed to be her grandfather, giving them both suspicious looks.
"Uh huh." She said as Hannah came into the room. She looked over at her mother and smiled. "Daddy and Grandpa are acting weird. But Grandpa's acting even weirder than usual." Hannah said nothing, simply nodding her head.
"Grandma made chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. Are you hungry?" Hannah asked Emma. The little girl got to her feet and ran for the kitchen. Hannah turned to follow her, giving neither Jack nor Will a second glance.
"That was...friendly." Jack muttered. Will shook his head.
"No, it's just very strange to her." Will said, looking down at the ground. "And very confusing. I don't blame her in the least."
"Wait." Jack said, getting up and going over to the TV. Will frowned, wondering what he was doing. He got up and joined the pirate at the TV.
"...and in other news, a beach party ended in tragedy last night when a strange ship attacked. Witnesses described the perpetrators as pirates of old. Five people were badly injured in the attack..." Will glanced over at Jack, eyes widening.
"That's it." He said, attracting Hannah and Nina's attention. Nina came into the living room first.
"What's what?" She asked, glancing at the two of them. Jack pointed at the TV. She stopped and listened, her eyes growing wider. Hannah put her hands to her mouth.
"That's the same thing that...that happened to Danny." She said quietly.
"Just what we needed." Jack said with a thoughtful tone. He started pacing the floor. "Do you have a map?" He asked. Nina pulled one out of the stack of papers on the desk and spread it out on the coffee table.
"Why?" Jack sat down on the couch, staring at the map. It was slightly confusing at first, different notations and scaling then he remembered.
"Here." He tapped the map. "This is us." He tapped another island on the map, one very close to the first island. "This was the island just mentioned." He tapped three more islands that were in close proximity to the first two and created a semi circle. "My guess is they'll be hittin' these next three and then disappearin' for a while." Jack rubbed his chin, eyes narrowing slightly. "Bastards know what they're doin'." He muttered.
"So we go to the third island in the chain then?" Will asked, looking over Jack's shoulder.
Jack stood up, just barely missing catching Will in the chin with his shoulder. "We have to get going." He said, stepping around the table. Will followed after him, getting a slight idea at what Jack was thinking. Nina looked over at Hannah and scowled.
"Pirates."
Coming into the living room, she handed the blankets and pillows to Will. "I think I overdid it with the blankets." She said with a small smile, trying to ease the uncomfortable tension between them. "If you need anything, the fridge is always available and Mike and I are just a flight of stairs away. Just make sure you knock first." She said quickly, a slight tinge appearing on her face. Will acted as if he hadn't heard the implications behind her sentence and gave her a small smile back.
"Thank you. This is greatly appreciated." He told her, just as the screen door in the hallway slammed shut. Nina quickly excused herself and went into the hallway, throwing her arms around Mike's neck and giving him a kiss on the lips. Then she paused, opening her eyes to look at him. Something felt off about him. She pulled her arms from around his neck and took a step back, scrutinizing him. A smirk appeared slowly on his lips and he took a step towards her, but she put a hand on his chest, holding him back.
"Not you too." She said, glaring at him. "So, you must be the infamous Jack Sparrow." Nina took her hand off his chest and crossed her arms. "Did Mike agree to this or did you steal control again?"
"He agreed. In a way." Jack conceded. "Well, he wanted to do something to help his son, so I took him up on the offer." He shrugged. Nina shook her head. She felt so strange around Will, yet she felt like she was on familiar territory when she was around Jack. Of course she knew Anamaria, Jack's lover, was in her bloodlines so it didn't surprise her really.
"I need to just go to bed." She said finally, a tone of weariness in her voice. It had been an extremely long day for all of them. Turning on her heel, she started for the stairs. Jack followed after her as if it were his normal routine. She turned again, placing a hand on his chest and giving him a slight push back. "No, you get the chair." She smiled sweetly. "You may have Mike's body but you don't get his perks." Giving him a slight pat on the chest, she continued to make her way up the stairs, leaving Jack at the bottom with a disgruntled expression on his face.
Jack whirled around and stalked into the living room. Will had already settled in for the night on the couch, but when he heard Jack enter, his eyes opened. "Mike?" He asked, and was rewarded with a dark look as Jack sat down in the armchair. Will raised an eyebrow. "Jack?"
"Aye." The pirate responded as he tried to find a comfortable enough position on the chair. He'd slept a great many places before, but this object was clearly designed to torture rather than give comfort. He grabbed one of the knobs to adjust the chair and was rewarded by the lumbar support stabbing him in the back. Jack grunted in frustration and twisted it again, getting rid of the painful device. He grabbed the next lever and yanked. His reward was nearly being thrown backwards as the back of the chair dropped down and all the while Will was barely able to keep from breaking out in laughter.
Jack climbed out of the chair and set the back upright again, glaring at the thing as if it had some horrendous plan to seriously maim him. He hated these modern times where everything was so much more complicated than they needed to be. "Don't laugh at me." He demanded, leveling a finger at Will. The blacksmith simply shrugged beneath the blankets and closed his eyes, a bemused expression on his face. Jack silently snarled and sat down in the chair again, this time sideways with his legs thrown over the arm rest and his back up against the other. He leaned against the back of the chair and closed his eyes, hoping the night would pass quickly.
------------
"Daddy."
The tiny voice roused Will from his sleep. He slowly opened his eyes to see Emma standing in front of him. Her hair and nightgown were tousled from sleep and she clutched at an old stuffed dog. She stared at him with such honesty and trust that it made him feel incredibly guilty, although he had done nothing wrong. She wanted her father and she thought it was him. But he wasn't her father.
"I can't sleep in my room. There's a monster under my bed." She whispered to him in the dark. Jack shifted in the chair, grumbling in his sleep, and she jumped, holding the dog tighter. For a moment Will didn't respond, just looking at her.
He'd died on the beach of this godforsaken island long before it had ever been settled and had never had a real marriage or children. The mission to prove himself worthy to Governor Swann had claimed his life and Jack's mission had claimed his. Neither one had gotten married or had children, though Will believed that was a good thing in Jack's case. He couldn't quite see the pirate captain with a child. But here was this perfect little girl, just like the daughter he had wanted to have with Elizabeth and it tore him up inside.
Smiling kindly, he decided to play along and pretend that he was Danny for her sake. "A monster, eh? Shall I go tell him to remove himself from your room?" He laughed. She shook her head.
"I don't want to go back in there. I want to stay with you." She climbed up on the couch and wiggled herself under his arm. There was barely enough room for the two of them but they managed a close fit. Emma laid her head on the pillow and shifted again, trying to get comfortable. Will pressed against the back of the couch to give her as much room as possible. Finally she lay still, curling up against him. "Night daddy." Again the words tore at his heart and he had to swallow the lump in his throat before he could respond.
"Night Emma." He responded and closed his eyes, willing sleep to come to him again.
------------
Jack had given up. He had given up on finding sleep, on finding a comfortable spot, and on the damnable chair completely. Quietly he got out of the chair and headed towards the couch. He was the captain and by rights deserved the best bed in the living room by rights, so he intended to kick the younger man out of bed and take the couch for himself. When he got to the couch his mind changed as he looked down at the scene in front of him.
Emma was sleeping peacefully, her head resting on Will's chest. Will had one arm around her in a fatherly embrace and was sleeping with a content expression on his face. Jack's expression grew considerably darker as he realized he was the only one not getting a good night's sleep and he couldn't kick Will off the couch, not when he had the child with him.
His gaze traveled down to the other end of the couch which seemed empty for the most part, as long as he could find a way around Will's feet. Quietly he lifted one foot up and stepped on the couch, over Will's feet, Picking up the blankets, he slowly sat down on the couch and slid under them. If this was what he had to do to get a good night's sleep, he would do it. Curling up, Jack made himself comfortable finally against the back of the couch and closed his eyes, yawning.
A few minutes later he was fast asleep.
-----------
He awoke to an explosion of bright colors and the oddest looking things he had ever seen. They were prancing around the screen, cooing nonsensical sounds and giggling. His eye twitched involuntarily at the eyesore. He closed his eyes and yanked the blanket over his head, trying to drown out the sound. The blanket was yanked back again and Jack sat up quickly to glare at the person who was playing tug-of-war with him.
Will pulled the blanket tighter around him and glanced over at Jack. "What do you make of this?" He asked with a serious expression on his face.
"You're not sharing the blankets." Jack responded and gave it a quick yank, pulling it from Will's shoulders. The blacksmith shook his head and nodded to the TV.
"No, Jack, I mean that thing." He nodded towards the TV. Jack glanced towards it again.
"I don't bloody well know, but I don't like it." He muttered, pulling the blankets around his shoulders tightly. He still felt drained from the night before and the lack of sleep had done nothing to counteract that.
Emma turned to look at him. "It's the Teletubbies, Grandpa. You said you liked them." She gave him a hurt look, her eyes wide and innocent. Jack raised an eyebrow, glancing from her to the TV and back again.
"Did I?" He asked. Will stared at the coffee table in front of them, trying the unfamiliar word out. Emma looked from the man who was supposed to be her father to the man who was supposed to be her grandfather, giving them both suspicious looks.
"Uh huh." She said as Hannah came into the room. She looked over at her mother and smiled. "Daddy and Grandpa are acting weird. But Grandpa's acting even weirder than usual." Hannah said nothing, simply nodding her head.
"Grandma made chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. Are you hungry?" Hannah asked Emma. The little girl got to her feet and ran for the kitchen. Hannah turned to follow her, giving neither Jack nor Will a second glance.
"That was...friendly." Jack muttered. Will shook his head.
"No, it's just very strange to her." Will said, looking down at the ground. "And very confusing. I don't blame her in the least."
"Wait." Jack said, getting up and going over to the TV. Will frowned, wondering what he was doing. He got up and joined the pirate at the TV.
"...and in other news, a beach party ended in tragedy last night when a strange ship attacked. Witnesses described the perpetrators as pirates of old. Five people were badly injured in the attack..." Will glanced over at Jack, eyes widening.
"That's it." He said, attracting Hannah and Nina's attention. Nina came into the living room first.
"What's what?" She asked, glancing at the two of them. Jack pointed at the TV. She stopped and listened, her eyes growing wider. Hannah put her hands to her mouth.
"That's the same thing that...that happened to Danny." She said quietly.
"Just what we needed." Jack said with a thoughtful tone. He started pacing the floor. "Do you have a map?" He asked. Nina pulled one out of the stack of papers on the desk and spread it out on the coffee table.
"Why?" Jack sat down on the couch, staring at the map. It was slightly confusing at first, different notations and scaling then he remembered.
"Here." He tapped the map. "This is us." He tapped another island on the map, one very close to the first island. "This was the island just mentioned." He tapped three more islands that were in close proximity to the first two and created a semi circle. "My guess is they'll be hittin' these next three and then disappearin' for a while." Jack rubbed his chin, eyes narrowing slightly. "Bastards know what they're doin'." He muttered.
"So we go to the third island in the chain then?" Will asked, looking over Jack's shoulder.
Jack stood up, just barely missing catching Will in the chin with his shoulder. "We have to get going." He said, stepping around the table. Will followed after him, getting a slight idea at what Jack was thinking. Nina looked over at Hannah and scowled.
"Pirates."