The crew searched all night long and into the morning. Finally they found him . . . unfortunately.

Jack awoke comfortably. The first rays of the horizon were skimming over the water and shimmering through his cabin window, and somewhere in the distance, he could hear the familiar whale song. He let his eyes drift closed, feeling the warmth of someone near him but knowing that if he thought too much of it, reality would settle in and reality was always so much more unpleasant than the dreamy fog of sleep. He listened to the crooning of the animals and the sounds of the sea; a composite tune that was so home to him that he couldn't' recall a time when he didn't know it.

His pleasant respite was broken when the woman next to him began to stir. "Will. Will . . ." Elizabeth whispered as she awoke.

Her eyes flickered open, looking bleary and disoriented as if she were three sheets to the wind. She frowned a bit as she stared into the face of a man she'd recognize anywhere. "Jack? Where am I? What's that sound? What happened?" She tried to raise herself up but could not.

"Shhh . . . " he shushed her, stroking her hair, which seemed to set her even more on edge."It's alright Lizzie, Miss Elizabeth, that's just the whales making their music . . . you're safe and all, with ol' Jack."

She stared at him, the perfect picture of confusion before her eyes widened. Jack tensed. He'd experienced enough misfortune to know how this worked. Her mind had granted her a few blessed moments where she'd forgotten whatever horror had happened to her, but now it was hastening back; mounting up like some sudden and strong wave that rose abruptly and crashed against the hull of some unsuspecting ship.

Her mouth opened, and a cry so strangled that it was nearly silent pushing from the back of her raw throat. The wave had just peaked.

"Oh God Jack, they killed him, they killed him!!!!!!" She screamed as much as her voice would allow. It was a relief to see her awake but now she was hysterical and rambling. Her talking about someone dying was making him very uneasy.

He moved over her, trying to catch her flailing attention. "Who killed who?" Grabbing her chin, he forced her to look at her, though he was certain she didn't see him in her panic. "Luv, you have to calm down."

Just then there was a loud persistent banging on the door which he knew did not bode well.

"I'll be right back," Jack said as he headed for the door. He didn't get a response because a now very awake and very upset Elizabeth was crying uncontrollably into the pillow the she had commandeered from his bed.

He opened the door to find Gibbs standing there once again. Gibbs didn't speak. The dark circles around his eyes, borne from a sleepless night and the effects of too much rum, seemed stark against his now pale complexion.

"What is it, you look like you've seen a ghost," Jack joked, trying to desperately lighten the mood that seem to have settled on the whole ship.

"Aye, Capitan. We found him."

Gibbs didn't have to say it and Jack didn't have to ask.

"Where have you laid him?"

"We cleared out a spot in the crew quarters; we felt it wrong to put him the hold." Gibbs spoke quietly as he and the Capitan headed below desk at a slow pace.

They had laid him out on a cot, black material covering his entire body. Jack stepped forward and pulled the material down off of his head. "They apparently shot him the chest, Captain," Gibbs offered. He looked peaceful and someone had put his hands up across his heart as if he were all ready in his casket. Jack had seen a lot of death in his time, some of whom were people he cared for but none so young. None with such promise for the future.

"Will, why didn't you just stay in Port Royale? Get married, have some strumpets and whelps of your own? Why were you in Tortuga?" He spoke quietly to the lifeless body before him. He'd seen plenty of death but somehow this was different. This was not simply a misfortune that he could string a bead through his hair to pay his respects to and move on. This was a good man, a friend. Even if they'd had a few . . . altercations in the past.

As he was returning the cloth to it previous position he saw her come down the stairs out of the corner of his eye, still only in her night gown; looking like some waiflike spirit.

"Will?" She spoke as she attempted to come toward the body. Jack stopped her mid-stride, barring her path with his body. He was not much larger than her, and had she truly wanted it, she could have pushed him out of the way but she made no move to.

"Who did this to him, to you?" Jack demanded as he grabbed her by the shoulders.

"It's all my fault Jack, he's dead and it all my fault," She hysterically screamed before she fainted into Jack's arms.

He picked her back up before he turned to Gibbs, "send someone to get a coffin."

"I already did captain."

"Very good Gibbs."

He headed back to his quarters with Elizabeth again. "This is twice in two days Elizabeth. You have to stop falling out on me. Can't bloody well spend the rest of my life carrying you around the Caribbean."