Insults and Passion
Elizabeth sat with her arms crossed and her back to Jack. She knew that this situation was not really Jack's fault, at least not completely, but she could not help but blame him. And Robin had gone off to find food, so Elizabeth could not let out any of her anger towards her.
Elizabeth stood as she saw the two other unfortunate inhabitants of the island approaching from the trees. James was carrying two coconuts. Elizabeth walked over to him, attempting to avoid looking at Robin. She did not want to vent her anger until after she had eaten. James held out one of the coconuts.
"This is all we could find on this side of the island," James said as Elizabeth took the food from him.
"This is all?" Elizabeth repeated in disbelief.
"On this side of the island," Robin pointed out, motioning towards the wooded area behind them. Elizabeth glared at her.
"We have to share," James said, drawing his cutlass. He chopped off one end of the coconut and took a drink of the milk inside. He then handed it to Robin for her to take a drink. Elizabeth felt slightly hurt by this action until she realized that she was holding the other coconut. She, too, cut off the end of it, though not quite as easily, and took a drink. She had hardly closed her mouth when Jack suddenly grabbed it from her and drank deeply. Elizabeth put her hands on her hips and glared at him in annoyance.
The four sat down on the beach, taking turns drinking from the coconuts until the liquid inside was gone. Jack sliced the coconut in half and handed one side to Elizabeth, and they began eating the flesh of the inside of the coconut. Robin finished of the last bit of the coconut milk she and James were sharing. James sliced the coconut in half, taking the slightly bigger piece and earning an angry glare from Robin.
James appeared slightly guilty for his action, but said, "I need more food then you."
"You should give the larger half to the lady," Robin said, though she sunk her teeth into her half and ripped off some of the flesh. "It would be the gentlemanly thing to do," she added under her breath after she swallowed.
James shook his head slightly. "What lady?" he muttered. The remark was so quiet that, at first, Elizabeth believed that she had imagined it.
Robin's eyes flashed dangerously. "What did you say?"
"I'm sure he said nothing," Jack quickly interjected. "Nothing at all. Let's all just calmly eat our food, shall we?"
"What exactly are you implying, Admiral?" Robin pressed, ignoring Jack.
Elizabeth sighed exasperatedly. "Robin, just eat."
"Shut up, Lizzie," Robin said sharply, not even turning to look at her, her eyes still glaring fiercely at James.
"Don't tell Elizabeth to shut up!" James exclaimed angrily.
Elizabeth glanced at Jack, who was beginning to look very worried.
"Oh, and I should listen to you?" Robin snapped, dropping her food to the ground as she stood. "You, who just dared to—."
"If you would act like a woman and make some sort of attempt at making yourself presentable," James said, also standing and leaving his half of the coconut lying in the sand, "then remarks like that wouldn't come."
"Make some sort of attempt…" Robin breathed, gaping at James. Jack put his head in his hands.
"If you tried, you would be very beautiful," James said. "I know," he added under his breath. Jack was now shaking his head.
"Would be?" Robin exclaimed.
"You won't get out of this one, mate," Jack muttered.
"You lily-livered bastard!" Robin shouted. Elizabeth jumped to her feet as Robin's hand came hard across James' cheek, causing his face to quickly grow pink from the impact.
"Stop it!" Elizabeth yelled at the two. But neither of them paid her any heed.
"But how can one expect pirate scum such as yourself to even try to be attractive?" James asked.
"You might want to take a look at yourself, you military rat," Robin hissed through her teeth.
Elizabeth felt helpless as their insults escalated. Robin had her hand on the hilt of her cutlass, and James' hand was dangerously close to his pistol. Elizabeth felt her heart skip a beat when they both suddenly drew their weapons, James with a blade to his neck and Robin with the barrel of a gun between her eyes.
"This isn't going to help us get off this island," Jack said calmly, pushing the weapons so that they were no longer a danger to any of them. Elizabeth and Jack were both surprised when the two stowed their weapons and turned away from each other, beginning to walk in opposite direction. But they continued hurling insults, and now rocks, at each other.
"Son of a bitch!"
"Whore!"
Robin gave a yell of frustration and stomped away, but not before turning back and shouting "Bastard!" towards James.
"Funny. I didn't think that would work," Jack said, sitting down and continuing to eat his coconut.
"Think what would work? Nothing worked!" Elizabeth exclaimed. There was a moment's silence before Elizabeth spoke again. "Jack…how big is this island?"
Jack shrugged. "Not big enough. Why?"
Elizabeth bit her lip. "What happens when they meet each other on the other side of the island?"
Jack stopped in mid-chew and looked up at her. He swallowed. "Robin!" he exclaimed at precisely the same moment that Elizabeth gasped, "James!"
The two began running through the trees, attempting to reach the other side of the island before the other two met. It wouldn't be good for half the group to be dead after only a few hours on the island. Elizabeth came to the beach on the other side, still holding her food, though she did not remember bringing it. She looked behind her—where was Jack?
A moment later, Jack came running from a slightly different direction. Did Jack really get lost over that short of a distance? Elizabeth did not have long to wonder, because she turned to see James and Robin closing in on each other, both walking in fast, determined strides. Elizabeth made to run to them, to stop them in some way, but Jack grabbed her arm and held her back in the shadows of the trees. "We don't know that they need help yet," he said, evidently curious as to how the two would interact.
James and Robin nearly ran right into each other before they both stopped. "Move," Robin hissed through clenched teeth.
"I believe you should move," James replied.
Robin met his eyes, glaring. "Get out of my way, you mock man."
James' eyes narrowed, and he suddenly put his hands on either side of Robin's waist and made to lift her off the ground, attempting to move her aside. Robin kicked him hard in the shin, causing him to fail in that particular plan.
"I suggest you don't try that again." She smoothed out her shirt slightly, almost seeming to be embarrassed that James had touched her like that, but she recovered quickly. She then grabbed James' arms and tried to shove him aside, but the man stood his ground.
"We appear to be at a stalemate," James observed.
Robin glared at him. "I suppose so." The two drew their pistols and aimed for each other's hearts. Elizabeth's eyes widened with horror. Robin was cruel enough, and certainly angry enough, to shoot. The two stared each other down silently, lightly touching the triggers on their weapons.
"Well, this is rather pointless," Robin said after a moment, putting away her weapon. "We both know that we won't shoot the other." James nodded, putting away his weapon as well. Elizabeth's brow furrowed as she wondered how that could be true—why they knew that…
"And now? We wait until one of us gives in?"
Robin's eyes narrowed. "I am not standing aside for someone like you, Admiral. You have no control out here, and especially no control over me."
"You apparently do not have control out here either," James commented. "I don't believe that we are aboard the Black Pearl right now, are we?" Robin's eyes flashed.
"Perhaps not, but if Lord Beckett had sent me alone, we wouldn't be in this situation," Robin claimed. "I'd have gotten the map to him ages ago. You've been nothing but a rock in my boot this entire venture."
Elizabeth felt her insides lurch. Surely she had heard incorrectly. James and Robin could not be working for Lord Beckett. The man was dead! But then…James had been dead, and Jack, and Barbossa…
"It was you who made the deal with him," James scowled.
"He blackmailed me!" Robin exclaimed. "You think I wanted to work for him? And what of you, pawn?" she said, lowering her voice. "Why do you work for him?"
James looked at his feet. "I'm not a pawn…not anymore," he said quietly, slowly raising his eyes back up to Robin's.
"Oh, please," Robin replied, rolling her eyes. "You are a pawn, you always have been, and you always will be. Accept it. A pawn of Beckett's, of the Navy, of Elizabeth's, and even of mine," she said, her voice hardly audible.
"Well, then, apparently I'm the best pawn, but you are best at nothing," James hissed. Elizabeth had never seen James behaving so malicious before. Robin's comment about James being a pawn in everyone else's plans really struck a nerve. But James seemed to have created more damage with his retort.
"Excuse me?" Robin said after a moment.
"You heard me," James growled. "You're second. You've never captained a ship, have you?" Robin opened her mouth to speak, but James continued. "Only dreamed of it. Your relationships are neutral at best. Have you done anything in your life that you can look back on and be proud of?"
"You're talking about Elizabeth," Robin said quietly, ignoring his question. "You're comparing me to that wench?" she continued, her voice rising in anger.
"Yes," James said calmly. "I am."
Robin's breath was rapid as she glowered at him. "Lizzie has had everything handed to her on a silver platter!" Robin snarled, taking a step closer to James. "She never had to go through anything I did! Her life was cozy—like a little fairy tale! Everything went right for her; she never had to be a working crewmember on board a ship, men throw themselves at her feet, including you, so she doesn't even have to work for that. It's pathetic! And she doesn't even care about the men she brushes aside because she knows that they are all completely and inexplicably head-over-heels for her anyway and they'd never turn on her—it's sickening!"
She continued glaring at James as he took all this in. Elizabeth felt very hurt by Robin's tirade, but even more so when James could find nothing to say to defend her. James opened and closed his mouth a few times before finally saying, "Like you've never tossed aside a man without caring how it affected him."
Robin took a deep breath and averted her eyes. "We already established that what I did to you was wrong."
"It was one thing thinking you were dead," James said quietly. "It's another matter entirely to learn that you were lying to me the entire time. That you were using me."
"Again, what I did was wrong. I feel horrid about it." Elizabeth scoffed disbelievingly. "But I can't do anything about it now. At least you know."
"I was better off dead."
Robin shifted her weight awkwardly. "Oh. I'm sorry." She coughed. "Apparently I am not second best at hurting men."
"Not really something to boast about. But quite the contrary—Elizabeth has hurt far more men than you have." Elizabeth mouth dropped open in shock, and Jack gave her a significant look.
"As if you know," Robin said with a smirk.
"And you wonder why no one likes you," James said, shaking his head. "As I said. Second-best to Elizabeth."
Robin growled at him. "I hate you," she breathed. James appeared momentarily wounded by this, but he quickly recovered this with an emotionless mask. "Get out of my way!" she ordered. She tried to shove him aside again. James grabbed her waist, ready try and move Robin out of his way again.
That is not what happened. The glared at each other, unable to move due to the other, their faces only inches apart. James reached up a hand to Robin's neck; Elizabeth thought that he was planning to choke her. The couple stared at each other, their gazes becoming less hateful, and the two suddenly came together in a kiss.
Elizabeth dropped the coconut she was holding, which fell on Jack's foot. Jack hopped up and down a bit on one leg, holding his foot and wincing, but he said nothing as the two stared at James and Robin in shock. They were still locked in an extremely passionate kiss. "Now I think that is the last thing either of us was expecting to see," Jack commented quietly. Elizabeth nodded silently in agreement as she continued to watch the two kissing hungrily.
Robin was the first to pull away, a smirk forming on her lips. James swallowed hard, his eyes still closed. He dropped his hand from where it had managed to get entangled in Robin's hair. "I…" Robin arched an eyebrow and James coughed, opening his eyes, but refusing to look at Robin.
Grinning evilly, Robin suddenly kicked James in the side of the knee—not hard enough to do any real damage, but enough make him fall to his knees. Robin walked by him, laughing brightly as she walked away.
James stood, not even bothering to brush of the sand covering his trousers before he began heading in the opposite direction, his fists clenched tightly. "I hate you, too," he said harshly. Robin was either too far away to hear, or she ignored him, for she just continued to walk along the edge of the sea without a backward glance.
"We should get back," Jack suggested after a moment. "Elizabeth?"
"Right," Elizabeth said, picking up the coconut she had dropped and followed Jack. They both sat down, glancing at each other silently until Elizabeth finally said, "Beckett?"
Jack sighed, looking at his hands. "I should have guessed that Beckett would somehow be involved in this."
Elizabeth's brow furrowed. "Why?"
Jack took a deep breath and opened his mouth to answer, but then he looked beyond Elizabeth and quickly turned away. Elizabeth glanced behind her to see Robin approaching. She turned back to Jack, who was now avoiding her eyes. Elizabeth looked at him questioningly as Robin sat near Elizabeth, picking her abandoned coconut from the ground and beginning to eat it again. James came into view a few minutes later. Robin did not acknowledge him, even as he sat down near her and began eating his food. Elizabeth found that she was unable to catch James' eye as well. Everyone was doing a good job of not looking at any of the others. Awkward was hardly the way to describe the situation.
Elizabeth turned her gaze to the ocean and thought of Will. He was out there…somewhere. She sighed as she imagined sails on the horizon.
Then she realized that she was not imaging it. She leapt to her feet. "A ship!" she gasped, a smile slowly spreading over her face. "It's a ship!"
Jack stood up quickly, swaying almost drunkenly as he looked to where Elizabeth was excitedly pointing. "A ship!" he echoed. The happiness in his expression faded to confusion. "It's the Pearl?"
