Welcome to the Fall Out
Disclaimer: See Chapter One.
To my reviewers THANK YOU!
And you will notice that there is a jump in events. I do this for a reason so don't worry. You will find out how events got to the state they are actually in later on but I'm doing this jump for VERY specific purposes that relate to later in the story and the sequel. I know its annoying but trust me when I say that I do things like this in order to create layers to my stories. Please forgive me for it if it makes you unhappy.
Your body may be gone, I'm gonna carry you in.
In my head, in my heart, in my soul.
And maybe we'll get lucky and we'll both live again.
Well I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. Don't think so.
The ocean breathes salty, won't you carry it in?
In your head, in your mouth, in your soul.
And maybe we'll get lucky and we'll both grow old.
Well I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. Don't think so.
Modest Mouse-Ocean Breathes Salty
Time seemed to have no meaning for Buffy as she stared into the empty space where the Pearl had been, her mind's intuitive grasp of the reality around her lost in the knowledge of Jack being gone.
For almost twelve years he had been a thorn in her side. The one who got her into situations that went beyond belief, and the man who had gotten her out of most of them. The man who she had just gotten into a four way fight with and who had shot her to make his escape with the key. The man who had just given himself up to a fate worse than death to save them all. Despite what he showed the world, Buffy knew him, knew how his mind worked. Knew how good he actually was. Jack, her friend, her annoyance, and one of the few people she trusted with most of her secrets.
Jack, who was now gone.
"Buffy, do we have a heading?" Gibbs asked from the back of the longboat.
Startled from her stupor Buffy shifted her head to meet Gibb's questioning gaze. Her thoughts went to who she could trust now and came up with few, even fewer still who were close. But there was one that she trusted.
"Pelegosto, Mr. Gibbs." she replied from her place at the front of the longboat, Marty next to her.
"Bu..."
"Up river."
"Aye Captain."
Inside Buffy wanted to grieve, wanted to be angry that Jack was gone. For all her threats about shooting him or killing him herself she'd have never done it. And the thought of him gone bothered her. The thought of him trapped in the locker to be more specific. Buffy knew what the locker was and what it meant, and hated the very thought of it. At least in death Jack would have had an end. In the locker he couldn't have even that.
Thoughts of the locker brought her to Jones, her hatred of him so hot it threatened to burn away all reason. She could still almost hear Jones screaming Jack's name as the Pearl had sunk, a hatred fueled sound that had filled her with momentary joy before the reality of the situation had set in.
Anger like that could mean only one thing. Jack hadn't had the heart and if the screams told her anything it was that Jones didn't either. Which just left the question of who did?
If any of the Pearl's crew had had it they wouldn't have lost the Pearl which just left one person.
Norrington.
And Buffy had a fair idea of what he was going to do with it.
"Oh bugger." she mumbled to herself, the soft sound unusually loud in the silence of those remaining.
"What?"
"Norrington has the heart." Buffy answered as her mind went to the certain outcome.
"He'll give it to Beckett." said Liz in obvious alarm. Alarm Buffy understood but knew there wasn't anything to be done about.
"We have to stop him!"
"Its too late." Buffy replied almost numbly, her own voice sounding far away.
"Why?" asked Will.
"Gibbs." Buffy said needing someone else to speak, she needed to think and she couldn't do that if she was answering their question.
"Isle las Cruces be a plague island. Everything's been left untouched for years. Including boats."
"Norrington is already gone." Buffy finished, the note of finality in her voice unquestionable.
"Then what do we do?"
"I don't know." Buffy told Liz honestly, she needed to think but her mind wasn't working quite as fast as it normally would have been, the shock of losing Jack dulling everything. The shock of him giving himself up to save them all.
And she really didn't know. There was just too much for her to take in. Jack was gone and in weeks or maybe even days Beckett would have the heart of Davy Jones. Beckett would control the seas. Buffy realized what she was then, what Beckett had wanted her for. If he couldn't get Jones then he would have used her. His own personal immortal weapon to use as he pleased and she knew where he would point it first. At any and every pirate. Especially if he had forced her to give up what she knew.
Buffy felt an ice cold dread come down her spine at the thought, her eyes taking in the sight before them as they made their way down the last bit of water to Tia Dalma's shack. The hours seemed to have melted away as her mind had rolled over everything. Tia Dalma knew, Buffy realized, and so it seemed did those of the bayou. Buffy didn't need to wonder at why, she knew the answer to that as surely as she knew she was the slayer.
Standing in the murky waters were faces she knew, faces filled with sorrow. Each holding a white candle in tribute for one lost, one who had filled their lives in different ways with something. Just as Jack had filled hers. It was eerie, a dark sadness looming like an eternal fog and yet it was beautiful as well to Buffy, a tribute to Jack that said more than any words ever possibly could.
As they docked and tied off the longboat Buffy's eyes met those of the woman who stood in the doorway staring down on them. Tia Dalma seemed resigned and perhaps sad, as though a parent who had grown used to the knowledge that her children would eventually be lost. Buffy understood her look, she carried one similar from time to time, a lament for friends lost to time and circumstance.
Following the others out of the boat, she didn't need to speak, didn't need to do anything except work her mind through everything. The climb up the ladder onto the overhanging porch and her entrance into Tia Dalma's home was done on instinct alone. Buffy coming to sit down in her usual chair at the table furthest from the door, the table providing cover from attackers through the front door, as it had actually happened once. The rest of the quiet and bedraggled group took up spots as well, Buffy noting absently that what remained of Jack's crew took positions not far from her save for Pintel. A sort of silent testament to the fact that she now led them. That in the absence of Jack she was meant to take up his place as their leader. Strange it seemed to her that they would all silently elect to follow her but under the circumstances understandable.
Buffy's mind then went back to the state of things and what she knew was going to come if her suspicions were true. If Beckett had the heart, and she had little doubt he would soon, then he would be hunting down pirates, all pirates. And she knew exactly what his ultimate goal would be, the Brethren Court. Beckett was going to come after them all, and he would use Jones to pick them off one by one. Beckett was going to hunt down every pirate to extinction, he was going to hunt down people, her people. And that was one thing she couldn't allow.
But they were at a disadvantage and she knew it. She just didn't know quite yet how to turn the tide on their favor. Beckett and Jones couldn't kill her yes, but everyone else, well that was a different matter. Going in alone wasn't an option either. Beckett knew he couldn't kill her, but if he threw enough men at her he could catch her before she got to him or Jones.
A war was coming, and it was a war she was willing to fight, obligated to fight.
The incessant thunk of Will's knife into the table brought Buffy's thoughts back to the others, her eyes, which until now had been staring forward without actually seeing, took in the state of the others around her for the first time since Jack had met his fate.
The look on Will's face was unlike anything she had ever seen, somewhere between defeat, betrayal, and understanding. All emotions she could understand but never ones she had expected to see settled across Will's features. Moving her eyes to the figure behind Will sitting next to the fall furthest from her Buffy took in the sight of Liz and wondered at it. There was grief there yes but it was not the most prominent emotion Buffy could read on the younger woman, that appeared to be reserved for guilt. An emotion that Buffy could understand an aspect of but not the overwhelming force of that was coming from Liz.
There was no longer time to think about it though as Tia Dalma came from her back room, tray in hand. She stopped next to Buffy and Buffy found herself meeting the other woman's consuming gaze.
"Destiny 'as found you again slayer. Will you fight once more?" Tia Dalma asked her in a whisper that none but a slayer could hear. Buffy considered her words for a brief instant before nodding her head once in assent and taking the offered mug, noting absently that she moved away to offer mugs to others closest to her in silence.
"Against de cold and de sorrow." Buffy heard Tia Dalma say absently as she thought on the woman's words. Destiny was something she'd been running from for thirteen years now. A ghost from her past that haunted her dreams. So far she'd been blissfully left to her own devices but it seemed that she couldn't run any more. Destiny was rearing its ugly head again and she would have to deal with. Because there wasn't a chance in the world that she was going to let Beckett or Jones win.
"It's a shame. I know you're t'inking that wid the Pearl, you coulda captured the devil and set free your father's soul."
"Doesn't matter now. The Pearl's gone. Along with its captain." Will returned, the note of defeat in his voice reminding Buffy of his own goals.
"Aye. And already the world seems a bit less bright. He fooled us all right to the end. But I guess that honest streak finally won out. To Jack Sparrow!" Buffy heard Gibbs say behind her,
"Never another like Captain Jack."
"He was a gentleman of fortune, he was."
"He was a good man." Buffy heard Liz offer softly making Buffy turn her head to look at the other woman instead of raising her glass and drinking. The pain in her too great to ignore.
"If there was anything could be done to bring him back..." Will began as he looked at Liz as well and stood.
"Elizabeth... "
"Would you do it?" Tia Dalma asked Will as she came up next to him with speed Buffy knew only she could match, her words making Buffy remember something she had seen years ago, something she would never have thought of. Like a light turning on in her mind in the midst of chaos and fear, unexpected but so welcome you almost felt like crying.
"What... would you?" she asked again, this time of Liz.
"What would any of you be willing to do?" Tia Dalma then asked them all as a whole. "Would you sail to the ends of the eart', and beyond, to fetch back witty Jack and 'im precious Pearl?" she finished and Buffy knew exactly what she meant. They could get Jack back, but that wouldn't solve all their problems, though it was a start that could give Buffy hope.
"Aye." Buffy agreed, knowing what she was agreeing to and how hard it was going to be. The chorus behind her beginning as each person stood.
"Aye. "
"Aye."
"Awk! Aye.
"Yes."
"Aye."
"Aye."
"Alright. But if you're goin' brave de weird, and haunted shores, at world's end, den... you will need a captain who knows dose waters."
Buffy felt him before she saw him, the faint, almost gone feel of evil still there if she felt for it. It was a feeling that could be lost easily when confronted with the waves of power that continuously came from Tia Dalma. Mentally Buffy wanted to kick herself for not seeing this sooner, for not knowing what Tia Dalma would do when confronted with the absolute end of her chance at freedom as she stood with the others.
"So tell me, what's become of my ship?" Barbossa asked with relish before biting down into an apple. Like puzzle pieces suddenly fitting together to form one great picture everything fell into place and a smile broke across her face. Buffy had a plan now. A plan that could work if she could pull it off. And she would. Because she didn't have a choice now. Her squabbling with Jack and everyone fighting over their own wants had let to this mess and she was hell bent on fixing it. Taking in the expressions of those around her she almost laughed at the dumbstruck looks. Gibbs looked as though he was about to swallow his tongue and both Will and Liz looked almost horrified. Deciding to get the ball rolling now that she had a plan and returning from the dead wasn't so unusual for her any longer considering her own return from she spoke up.
"Barbossa, you're looking quite well for a dead man."
"Second chances, Captain Summers, be a wonderful thing. As ye well know." he countered, a smile on his face.
"Welcome to the club. How bout we see about solving our problem." Buffy told him, determination in her voice. Now that she had a plan she needed everyone on board for it.
"You've got somethin in mind I take it?" Barbossa asked her, a conspiratorial look in his eyes.
"That I do. And if I'm right about what you're considering I'll agree. Once we've settled on terms." Buffy countered.
"What do you mean?" Will's asked, his voice cutting through her conversation with Barbossa, apparently having had time to get over his shock at seeing Barbossa alive again.
"What Captain Summers be sayin is that she knows a way out of our current predicament." Barbossa told Will and the group in general.
"How is that?" Will asked as her turned to face her, the look in his eyes boring into her slightly.
"The Brethren Court." Buffy said simply, a small smile threatening to play on her lips. She knew what Tia Dalma wanted and she had no problems giving it to her provided the situation met Buffy's goals as well. She was a pirate after all.
"What's that?"
"Mr. Gibbs." Buffy prompted.
"The Brethren Court be made up of the nine pirate lord from all over the world. A council, if ye will that governs most pirates." Gibbs told Will, the only one who didn't seem to know the stories.
"What have they got to do with Jack and the Pearl." Liz asked, confused.
"Jack is one of the nine pirate lords." Buffy told them. The looks of surprise clearly etched on all of their features, save for Tia Dalma's and Barbossa's. "And we're about to go to war." she finished, taking the next step.
"What do you mean?" Will asked
"Norrington is going to give the heart of Davy Jones to Beckett. Beckett is going to control the Dutchman. And begin to hunt down every pirate. And anyone who has ever associated with a pirate. He's going to kill them all." Buffy explained, her voice harsh with the hatred she felt for Beckett and Jones.
"All those people." Liz whispered, a look of horror on her features.
"Are going to be murdered if we don't stop him." Buffy finished for her, wanting the reality of the bigger picture to sink in. This wasn't an apocalypse like she was used to, this was genocide. And she wasn't going to let it go on. She wasn't good, she wasn't evil she was somewhere in between now but there was one thing she didn't do. Hurt innocent people. Or in this case allow them to be hurt, because while most pirates weren't exactly good there were a lot of people involved in the pirate world that were innocent for the most part. Wives, children, and those who provided supplies and shelter.
"Aye, so ya see we need Jack and the Pearl to call the Court." Barbossa said stepping in.
"And just how do you propose we get Jack and the Pearl back?" Will asked. Buffy knew the answer to his question, knew what they needed, and knew that she was the only one with any chance at all of getting it. She just wasn't happy about it. Last time had been difficult enough, this time would be almost impossible.
"Sao Feng." Buffy told them, truly dreading that aspect of the plan. But they didn't have a choice and she wasn't prepared to lose, too much was a stake.
"Who?"
"The pirate lord of Singapore. He has what we need." Buffy replied, looking up and meeting Will's gaze. It seemed something clicked into place there, an understanding.
"Aye and how do ye suppose we be getting what we need Captain Summers?" asked Barbossa, drawing Buffy's attention away from Will. Turning her gaze to meet his own she smiled, letting out a secret only a few knew about. "The same way I got it the last time." Buffy told him, her smile hard. "Steal it."
"So do we have a plan?" asked Gibbs, who seemed intent on following her orders until they had Jack back.
"Ye be the one it seems with plans." Barbossa said, his smile matching her own. Most likely Buffy guessed because her plan got them both what they wanted while getting what she wanted. Compromise was a wonderful thing. Even better when Buffy planned on coming out on top. Buffy didn't particularly like Hector Barbossa but when times were tough you took what allies you could get, especially if they were as good as she knew Barbossa was.
"Alright, Here it is. The Brethren Court can only be called to meet at Shipwreck Cove three ways. The first is by the people, by pirates who call out for it. That way has been done once before. It took a year for the Court to gather." Buffy told them as she gazed around at the others, all listening intently.
"And the other two?" Will queried, always wanting to know the why of things. A good trait in Buffy opinion, knowledge she had found was a powerful thing. Hence, quite a few of her problems as well as solutions she'd found some others.
"The Keeper of the Cove, its master, can send out the call. Or the last and easiest way is for one of the pirate lords themselves to summon the Court." Buffy answered not wanting them to know how easy it would have been to get the Keeper to do just that.
"How do we get a pirate lord to summon the Court?" asked Liz, seeing the obvious potential for a challenge to the plan.
"We ask him." Buffy replied before looking over at Barbossa. "Barbossa?" she asked, not needing to say it to know her answer. The shocked looks of the others would have amused her at any other time but right now she was in slayer mode. Assess the problem, find a solution, share the solution, go fix the problem.
"Aye. The call'll be sent out." Barbossa agreed, his obvious approval of her plans evident.
"You're one of the pirate lords?" Will interrupted, the disbelief in his voice almost comical.
"Aye. If ye please Captain Summers."
"Right. Here is where we have an advantage. No one knows Jack is gone. And Jones thinks we're dead. This means two things. We can still summon the Court as though it were whole without anyone the wiser if we move fast and keep our heads down and Beckett won't know we're doing it until we're done." Buffy began, laying out her plan.
"And what of Jack and the Pearl?" Will asked but Buffy ignored it, intent on getting everything out before she answered any more questions. "We don't have much time, maybe weeks before Beckett figures out how to summon Jones and put him to use. Even with a pirate lord putting out the call it could take months for all of the pirate lords to learn of it, and then there's the chance that not all will come because they can say they never heard." Buffy continued.
"Aye, ya be correct there." agreed Barbossa, as he fed bits of what remained of his apple to his pet monkey.
"So how do we get them to?" asked Marty from his place sitting on the edge of the table top.
"We tell them ourselves."
"But that could take weeks!" exclaimed Liz.
"You have any better ideas?" Buffy countered, slightly irritated at the constant questions by now.
"No." Liz admitted.
"And how do we get back Jack and the Pearl?"
"Sao Feng has charts, charts we need." Buffy told them, remembering with clarity those specific charts.
"What sort of charts?" asked Gibbs.
"They be charts to the end of the world." answered Barossa. How he knew about the charts Buffy didn't know but then Barbossa tended to know a lot of things that surprised her.
"Right. I can get the charts but Barbossa has to get us there after we have them." Buffy agreed with a nod.
"By stealing them." stated Will, a note of disapproval in his voice. Disapproval that grated at Buffy considering that he had stolen the key from Jones.
"He won't give them to us." Buffy told him. Really not feeling like justifying herself to him. She was a pirate and he knew it and one of the big things about being a pirate was stealing.
"Why?"
"He hates me." Buffy stated simply, not wanting to beat around the bush.
"Why?" Will asked But Buffy ignored it. Her past was her problem, not his or anyone else's at the moment. If it became a problem later she might share but only might.
"And a ship?" asked Gibbs, only interested in what mattered most.
"Those are easy enough to come by." Buffy answered flippantly It was the truth though. Stealing a ship was easy, that is, if you had experience in doing it.
"So how do we begin?" asked Liz, the hope and determination in her face something Buffy took as a good sign.
"We divide and conquer." Buffy returned. This part of her plan was going to be annoying but it was necessary.
"Aye. A woman after me own heart ya are." commented Barbossa with a smile, Jack the monkey sitting on his shoulder with his little head cocked to one side.
"We go in two teams to gather the pirate lords. Barbossa will take one and I'll take the other." Buffy finished.
"Why you?" asked Will.
"Because she be the only other pirate Captain here." Barbossa returned, his voice conveying how much of a fool he considered Will for not realizing the simple fact.
"And no pirate lord will trust someone who isn't known to him." finished Gibbs, stating the obvious.
"Aye." agreed the rest of the crew.
"So who goes with who?" asked Gibbs
"We need to keep out of sight. We can't do that in big groups so two sets of two."
"Then who goes with you and who goes with Barbossa?" asked Liz from where she had come to stand at Buffy's side.
"I'll go with Buffy." Will offered almost immediately, surprising Buffy. Looking over at him she met his gaze, but found herself unable to read it. Not wanting to think about what that meant she turned from him to look at Gibbs "Alright. Mr Gibbs, I'm putting you in charge."
"Aye Captain."
"Go to Singapore. Get the lay of the land but keep your heads down. We don't want Sao Feng to know we're coming." Buffy told him knowing that her only chance for getting the charts was for a sneak attack.
"Aye." Gibbs agreed and Buffy nodded, confident in Gibbs' abilities. She turned then to Liz, one the last person still unaccounted for. "Liz, what about you?"
"I'll go with Barbossa."
"Right then. We have a plan." Buffy agreed before turning to face the dark haired woman who had remained almost oddly quiet the entire time.. "Tia Dalma?"
"Yes?"
"Could you put us up for the night? It seems we have a lot to do starting tomorrow." Buffy asked knowing that the next few weeks were going to be long ones.
"It would be me pleasure."
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The room beyond was filled with the sounds of movement and the ever constant bickering of Pintel and Ragetti as Buffy faced Tia Dalma, the goddess' eyes giving nothing away as she met Buffy's gaze head on.
"If I do this, if I help you to be released, I want something in return." Buffy told the goddess, her voice leaving no room for negotiation.
"And j'st what do ya be wantin?" queried Tia Dalma, her voice cautious.
"I want you do be my genie in a bottle. I want three wishes." Buffy told her. She wasn't sure what her wishes would be but she figured she had forever to get them and she was sure to come up against something when they would be of use.
"I can no give you death." the other woman reminded her, her expression completely serious.
"I know that. But I want three wishes, three demands that you have to meet when I ask for them. Is that a fair deal for your freedom?" Buffy countered, putting everything out on the table and waiting to see if three demands were the price a goddess was willing to pay for her freedom.
"It is." she agreed with an incline of her head and Buffy fought the urge to smile. "Then we have an accord." Buffy told her and reached out her hand. Tia Dalma took it and after a shake they broke free, each woman willing to go to extreme ends to get what they wanted.
"So it be true then, ye can't die." commented Barbossa from the door sounding both impressed and interested as to how it had happened. Both feelings Buffy didn't like.
"No I can't." Buffy admitted, adding yet another person to her list of potential or once enemies that knew things she really wished they didn't about her.
"Can't say I'm surprised. Begs to reason why they chose you. But not why you seem disinclined to tell the others." Barbossa went on, his tone telling Buffy more than words could.
"You know why." Buffy countered. She kept things from people because there were some things people just didn't need to know until it came up.
"That I do." Barbossa agreed.
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The night air was cool and yet still wet as Buffy walked out onto the overhanging porch and sat down next to Liz. The candlelight vigil still there, its beauty still haunting and yet soothing at the same time. Turning her head she regarded the woman next to her, her earlier observations of Liz and Will's words coming back to her.
"What's wrong Liz?" Buffy asked the woman she considered one of her two closest friends.
"Nothing." Liz replied evasively.
"Don't try that with me, you have something face." Buffy countered, not willing to let Liz spend the entire night up with a problem if she could help solve it.
"I kissed Jack." Liz replied after a few moments, her voice soft.
"What!" Buffy almost yelled but managed to check herself at the last second, not wanting to wake the others inside.
"I kissed Jack." Liz repeated, sounding incredibly guilty.
"Were you drunk, insane or brain damaged? Maybe all of the above?" Buffy asked, her mind not quite able to wrap itself around the idea of Liz kissing Jack. Maybe the other way around and resulting in him getting knocked out. But never Liz kissing Jack.
"No."
"Then why?" Buffy asked, honestly wanting to know why Liz would do such a thing. Especially to Will. Which brought to mind what Will would think when he found out. And she had little doubt that he would, Jack would either gloat about it or let it slip and then things would get bad. Because if there was one thing Buffy knew it was that Will wouldn't forgive that kind of betrayal.
"Because I wanted him." Liz answered as she stared down at her hands.
"You wanted Jack?" Buffy asked, her voice incredulous, the idea of anyone wanting Jack seemed foreign to her. Jack was...well Jack. Annoying, amoral, arrogant, insane, seriously lacking in personal hygiene and above all else Jack.
"The compass, when I had it, it pointed to Jack." Liz clarified and Buffy had the urge to smack her head against a wall, any wall, hard. Until her brain fell out or she had damaged it enough to honestly think that what Liz said was a hallucination.
"Oh crap." Buffy stated, momentarily too stunned to say anything else.
"I'm confused." Liz said, sounding for all the world to Buffy like a lost little girl. A reminder that she had once been a big sister and technically would be again one day. It was that that made her shift internally into adult and big sister mode. Pushing down the anger she felt at Liz's betrayal of Will so that he could handle one situation at a time. Anger at Liz wasn't going to do anything anyway she realized.
"You're sure it pointed at Jack?" Buffy asked, wanting to make absolutely sure before she went any further.
"Yes."
"What were you thinking about when it pointed to him?" Buffy asked, needing clarification. What someone wanted most was changeable and there was a chance that Liz had read it wrong.
"I was thinking about the man I love. I wanted to know where he was." Liz told her and Buffy felt her heart sink. There was no getting out of it now.
"I hate to burst your bubble but that compass is never wrong." Buffy told Liz, part of her hating the compass and Jack for all the problems they caused.
"How can you be so sure?" Liz asked her, finally raising her head to meet Buffy's eyes.
"Because I've used it." Buffy told her, remembering all too well what had happened the one time she had tried to use the compass.
"And it showed you what you wanted."
"No." Buffy stated flatly, heaven didn't have a direction.
"What do you mean?" Liz asked confused.
"Because then, the one thing I wanted most couldn't be found." Buffy told her, not wanting to revel her secrets to anyone else no matter how much she trusted Liz. It didn't matter how alone you thought you were, there was always listening or would find out eventually. And that was a risk she couldn't take.
"Then how can you be sure it worked?" Liz asked.
"Just trust me." Buffy told her as she stood up again. "That compass has never been wrong."
"What about Will?" Liz asked, the guilt in her voice hitting Buffy like waves. Buffy wasn't sure how to answer that question. She knew she should tell her to tell Will the truth but another part of her was loathe to get involved in this situation. She had enough problems to deal with at the moment. And other people's personal lives, even if they were her best friends weren't her problem. At least yet.
"That's up to you. Just keep in mind that we don't pick who we love." Buffy told her. Hoping that a noncommittal answer would be enough as she turned to go back inside.
"You're not angry?" Liz asked and Buffy could feel her apprehension.
"Does it matter if I am?"
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Not that you're the one
Not to say I'm right
Not to say today
And not to say a thing tonight
But suffice it to say
We're leaving things unsaid
We sing ourselves to sleep
Watching the day lie down instead
The Fray-Unsaid
Will lay completely still as he listened to Buffy and Elizabeth talk, their words ringing in his ears. Each word a figurative shovel of earth on the coffin of what they had once had. He had meant what he had said before. He would do anything to see Elizabeth happy, even if that meant she was with Jack.
The idea of being without Elizabeth hurt him like no other wound before and yet deep in the back of his mind he would hear a little voice telling him that his own guilt over what he had begun to see in Buffy, and perhaps feel for Buffy was misplaced.
It was an almost laughable really, how in such a few hours things could have changed so much. Less than a week before he had been preparing for his wedding and now he was giving up the woman he loved to another man, with much less pain than he had thought possible after hearing Elizabeth speak to Buffy.
He had made his choice before, as Buffy had laid out a plan. He had sworn an oath to his father and he would keep it. He would free his father.
And he would need Buffy to do it.
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Buffy stood on the docks of Tortuga facing Barbossa, the breeze whipping her hair behind her as she faced the pirate lord.
"I don't need to tell you to hurry do I?" Buffy asked as she gave the resurrected Captain a once over, his monkey sitting contentedly on his shoulder.
"No ye don't."
"Any harm comes to her and I'll kill you myself and give another your title." Buffy warned, putting the full force of the slayer behind her words. She might not have been happy with Liz at the moment but Liz was still her best friend and she protected her friends. That fact would never change.
"You're a harsh woman Captain Summers." commented Barbossa as he gave her a look that spoke volumes.
"That's a matter of opinion." Buffy countered, not wanting to get into a discussion about just how hard she could be if given the right reason.
"True that." he said with a smile.
"See you in Singapore." Buffy told him. Barbossa would keep up his end of the bargain and he'd keep Liz alive because he knew that if he didn't she'd hunt him down and kill him and there was no way for him to stop her.
"Aye."
Buffy turned from him then, not even bothering to watch him board, there were things to be done and she didn't have time to spend watching.
The docks were full of movement, the morning bright and clear as sailors and merchants went about their everyday activities. Buffy forced herself to pay attention the the faces of each she passed, burning the images of each into her mind as a reminder of why it was that they were doing this. Soon Beckett would come after them all, of that fact Buffy was certain. Her feet felt like stone as she made her way though the streets to the tavern and boarding house that she had found for herself and Will to stay in while they waited on the ship she had learned the night before would be coming in. She and Will had the remainder of the day and the next one before they could leave and Buffy intended to make the most of it. The next weeks were going to be long and hard and though her mind refused to stop she had every intention of allowing her body the rest it needed. Entering the tavern she made her way over to the buxom woman who ran it and gave her a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
"Fanny, could you have a bath brought up for me and a shirt if you've got one?" Buffy asked.
"Aye that I can love." Fanny agreed with a warm smile as she wiped down the bar.
"Thanks."
"Ta darlin."
Buffy moved away then and slowly made her way up the stairs. She'd known Fanny for a few years now and the woman was one of the best people she knew. Entering the room she caught sight of Will sitting near the balcony, a whetstone in hand as he sharpened his sword. He'd been oddly quiet for the last three days since they had set out and Buffy couldn't help but feel uneasy about it.
"How did it happen?" Will asked her suddenly as she passed by him to stand on the balcony, the sea breeze as soothing as ever to her. "I thought you'd forgotten." Buffy commented, thinking back on her promise to give him answerers while they were on board the Dutchman.
"You didn't answer the question." he commented as he set down his blade and the whetstone on the table. Buffy really didn't know how to begin. She had never actually told anyone about her immortality and she wasn't quite sure how to do it. Bill had known but he hadn't asked questions, he'd just been there for her when she felt like she needed someone. Making her laugh when she needed it most, a far cry from what he was now.
"I died." she told him simply as she stared out.
"But you said it's a curse." he said as he came to stand next to her. Technically she hadn't been lying when she had said that but in the literal sense it wasn't true.
"For me it was...and sometimes still is." Buffy told him, old pain coming to the fore as she heard the door open and four of Fanny's serving girls come in carrying a copper tub. Buffy ignored them though and noted with appreciation that Will moved over to close the doors that led into the room, giving them privacy. Buffy reminding herself to thank Fanny again for giving them her best room now that the others were gone.
"How did it happen?" he asked her as he turned back around and came to stand next to her once again. Swallowing hard Buffy thought about how to explain it and decided that the simple and straight forward way was best. There were things Will still didn't need to know no matter how much she trusted him.
"I died. I went to heaven, at least I think it was heaven." Buffy began, refusing to face him as she spoke. "I'm not exactly sure.. Time doesn't exist there. That place is beyond it, before it. I'm not certain." she paused, searching for the right words. The pain from the memories of being torn out still there, though less strong. "But my friend, she tried to bring me back. Something went wrong. I don't know what. But instead of bringing me back to when and where she was it brought me here."
"When and where?"
"That's a little harder to explain." she told him honestly, really not knowing how to put into words how she had ended up two hundred and ninety four years in the past.
"Try." he told her, his vice soft and understanding as he placed his hand on hers. A gesture that shocked her, Will had never touched her unless there was a reason and yet Buffy found it comforting. There was something different about Will from when she had first met him, something more solid, something stronger, something that made her think of comfort. And that was unsettling. Especially because he was, well Will. With the Scoobies she had become used to comfort from males, Xander especially, but after so long without it from anyone it just felt strange. Giving in and deciding the most direct route was best she met his eyes as she turned.
"Ok. I was born on January 19, 1981." she told him. Her words it seemed took some time to fully register before he replied. "That's over two hundred years from now."
"Thank you captain obvious." Buffy stated flatly, her snark factor rearing its head even as she marveled at how well he was taking everything. She had thought that this information wasn't going to go over well even if he did believe her but somehow he just brushed it away as though ending up almost three hundred years in the past were nothing.
"And you became a pirate." he went on as though trying to understand why she did what she did.
"I had nothing else to do. It's a way to pass the time. I'm going to live forever Will, that doesn't exactly give me the option of a normal life." Buffy explained as best she could without getting into the fact that the slayer in her wouldn't allow for a normal life either, no matter what year it was.
"And the other?" he asked. His expression unreadable yet still comforting as his hand stayed on hers.
"What other?"
"How you can do things that seem impossible, like punch through hulls of sinking ships." he said, his eyes challenging her to deny things she knew he had seen but never asked about. Now, knowing she was trapped she didn't have a choice but to tell him. The irony of it though was that he would actually only be the third person who knew. Tia Dalma had known on her own and Teague already knew about slayers when Tia Dalma had brought it up when they had first met.
"That's a lot more complicated." Buffy offered, thinking about where to start.
"Make it less complicated then." he countered, his hand still on hers. Taking a deep breath she looked into his eyes as she got ready to say the three words that had led to a life that had brought her to this moment and made her what and who she was.
"I'm the slayer." she said simply, knowing it wouldn't explain anything.
"What is that?" he asked her, the word slayer meaning nothing to him just like she had expected. Taking a deep breath Buffy decided to go with Giles' favorite speech, part of her wishing her watcher was there to do it for her. The words sounding strange to her after so many years and yet burned into her brain for all eternity. "In to each generation a slayer is born. One girl in all the world, a chosen one. She alone will stand against the forces of darkness, the vampires. She is the slayer."
"Vampires. That seems impossible."
"This from the man who has fought against cursed undead pirates and been on board the Flying Dutchman and came face to face with it's very fishy captain who cut out his own heart and put it in a box." Buffy commented sarcastically, a smile playing on her lips. All former tension gone.
"You have a point." he admitted with his own smile. Deciding to finish up their q and a session so she could go get into the bath that was now almost ready Buffy launched into the last part. "So vampires are real. I was chosen to be the slayer when I was fifteen and while facing off against an evil bushy haired badly dressed hell goddess I died. My friend Willow tried to bring me back and botched it. Now I'm never going to die."
"Then what will you do? After all of this." Will asked her, fully taking in it seemed what all of this meant for her.
"I don't know." she answered honestly. She hadn't really thought too much about the future save when it came time to go back and yell at Willow. The idea of not being a pirate, not being free, of being confined to the mind numbing rules and etiquette of the time made her want to shoot something. "What would you do if you had forever Will?" she asked him honestly as she met his gaze.
"I don't know." he answered softly, seeming to understand her problem.
"What will you do after all of this?" she asked him. He couldn't go back now. The warrant had been issued and there was no way to get it to go away. The life he had before was gone. He had two options. Turn himself in to die or finally admit he was a pirate.
"I don't know that either." he told her. Something in his eyes bothered Buffy, like he knew something that she didn't but she couldn't bring herself to ask. It wasn't her place and everyone had secrets they wanted to keep, herself included.
"You can't go back now. You'll be hung. Learn to live with it. The blacksmith is gone. Now you're a pirate." Buffy told him, hoping he would understand.
"Is that what happened to you?" he asked her, his voice strangely soft, almost like a caress. It sent chills down Buffy's spine and tingles in places that were bad, very bad, for lots of reasons. The image of Liz flashing though her mind brightly. Will wasn't supposed to make her feel chills or anything else and mentally she slapped herself. Mentally yelling "BAD Buffy! BAD Buffy!"
"Yes." she answered, her voice as soft as his own despite the mental slap. Removing her hand from his on the railing she went to the doors and opened them stopping only at the sound of his voice. She needed space and to relax because honestly her mind had to be messing with her, there was no other explanation.
"Do you regret it?" he asked her, his words hitting home. She had no regrets about becoming a pirate, it had taught her so much. Made her stronger and smarter out of necessity. And most of all it had taught her that everything was a shade of gray, something she had begun to see before Glory but know knew the truth of. Something that made her understand so much more about her life before and how wrong she had been. About how massively horribly she'd handled things with Faith.
"Never. I've seen to much to just follow everyone else." Buffy told him as she moved behind the dilapidated screen to where the tub now sat, full and steaming. Across the room she heard the door click shut, Will giving her time alone to bathe as he did whatever it was he felt like doing. He knew to keep his head down, the dangers just to great for them to be making themselves stand out. As she stripped off her remaining clothing she placed it in a pile, her pistol and other weapons still easily reachable out of sheer habit.
Sinking into the tub Buffy let the heat of the water relax her muscles, the sheer act of bathing a treat and one she fully intended to enjoy. Enveloped by the almost scalding water she forced her mind to shut down, to allow herself peaceful rest a short while before the world came back to haunt her, before she wondered at Will's strange behavior. And before she thought about her own very morally wrong reaction to it.
Long minutes ticked on and on and all too soon for her liking Buffy came back to herself, noting that the water was almost tepid. Sighing she reached over to the stool and picked up the bar of soap and began to clean herself, not missing a single inch of her body or hair before she fully submerged herself to rinse off. Standing up she picked up the pitchers of water left next to the tub and gave herself a final rinse before stepping out and wrapping herself with the large towel Fanny had sent up. Securing it around her Buffy busied herself with getting the tangles out of her long hair.
After completing her task she moved back over to where her brown calf skin pants and coat lay when she heard the door open.
"I'm apologize. I thought that you wou..."
"What is that?" Buffy asked noticing the gold hoop in Will's left ear, the skin still slightly red.
"What?"
"That." Buffy said and pointed to his ear, the other hand still holding her towel in place out of reflex.
"An earring." he told her with a straight face that annoyed her a little. A nice distraction from the fact that he walked in on her undressed after acting so oddly before. Even more so because of her body's rebelling reaction "Well yeah. Thats not what I meant. When did you get it?" Buffy retorted, holding on to her irritation for all that it was worth.
"While you were in the bath." he stated simply, like she was slow. Which on irritated her more.
"So you've decided to go all bad boy on me now huh?" Buffy commented, partially impressed and partially worried. Will was acting differently and she wanted to know why. His look of confusion at her slang though was priceless and she stifled a giggle at his expense, deciding that getting him out of the room so she could get dressed was the more important thing. "Never mind, it looks good. Now, are you going to leave so I can get dressed or are you just going to stand there? Cause I don't care but I doubt you're that much of a bad boy yet."
"Whats a bad boy?" he asked her, his eyebrows knit together in confusion still.
"Someone who does whatever they want, like a pirate." Buffy explained quickly, wanting to get him out, but not wanting him to know that she wanted him out. She was a pirate and nothing was supposed to embarrass her.
"You called me a pirate." he told her, a glint in his eyes that Buffy was sure she wasn't going to like. Or actually would, which was the problem.
"Yeah but you haven't called you a pirate yet so I doubt you'll be staying." Buffy countered realizing that she had caused this and wanting to do everything possible to get out of it. Her wheedling and semantics didn't work as Will walked over to the bed and laid down, propping himself up against the wall and crossing his ankles. If Buffy hadn't known any better and it wasn't daylight she would have thought he'd been turned and had gone evil on her. Giving him a look that said just that she noted the small smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
"Ok what are you doing?" she asked him, thinking that he might be possessed but seriously doubting it. Her luck wouldn't be that good.
"Staying." he stated simply.
"Well crap." Buffy muttered, her hand still holding her towel in place as she just stared at Will. The expression on his face content yet oddly smug, a look Buffy had the urge to smack off of him. She knew what that look was, she'd had it too many times herself when she managed to throw Jack for a loop or get the better of him. Will with that look annoyed her to no end and she wouldn't let him get the better of her further. Ignoring him as though he weren't even there Buffy went back to what she had been doing before, retrieving her clothes. The screen didn't provide much cover, almost opaque and barely extending beyond the tub to provide any form of shield. Dropping her towel she picked up the shirt Fanny had provided her with and put it on, its black color ignored as it slid down to mid thigh. Her old pne was was ruined from Jack shooting her, the blood forever staining the worn shirt. Next Buffy grabbed her dark calf skin pants and slipped them on, securing them in no great hurry. After that Buffy picked up her long green sari and began to wind it around her waist, her movements long formed and very intentional to prevent bunching and discomfort as she secured her thin knife belt between the folds. Finally she came to her boots, the well worn leather encasing her feet easily. Slipping a knife into each of them as she propped each foot on the rim of the copper tub. She checked everything else she had left. With deft fingers she secured her belt and baldric before moving over to her jewelry, each of her three rings going on their respective fingers before she secured her silver dragon bracelet around her right wrist and her two strands of jade bracelets around the other one. Now finished she stepped out, her dark matching calf skin coat in hand.
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Buffy really wasn't sure why she was doing this. To be more exact she was sure why she was doing this, she was the slayer and she always did this when she was in Tortuga. What she wasn't sure why she was doing was letting Will go with her. True, Will was the first person she'd actually told about being the slayer since she'd been brought back but she honestly didn't know why she'd conceded to his demand to go with her. It was stupid, it was dangerous and yet somehow it felt good. She didn't want to admit that it felt good to have someone out with her but the fact was that it did. That and with Will acting so differently she was sure she didn't want to let him out of her sight, even if it did make her feel like she was doing something wrong by her own skewed moral standards.
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The tavern below the room they had taken was crowded, a mass of drunken bodies that seemed completely intent on leaving both herself and Will alone while they drank. Buffy paid little attention to the mug of rum in her hands as she listened for any voices that would tell her of news. Interacting in any way other than what was necessary was out of the question since it would draw attention to them but Buffy didn't need to interact with people to listen. Which was one of the reasons that she was such a good pirate. She could get the information she needed and act on it without anyone ever even remembering she was there.
But after over an hour of listening she had heard nothing, something that worried her quite a bit. But she knew what this was, it was the quiet before the storm. Soon everything would go to hell and the proverbial clock was already counting down.
Which meant that she had a little time to figure out what the frilly heck was wrong with Will. Deciding that a frontal attack would work best she looked over to him as he watched the crowds of the tavern. His first experience with slaying had been interesting, six vampires and a Polagra demon had definitely made an impression. Will had actually managed to get one vamp on his own and had been a serious help with the Polagra. But now he was watching the tavern patrons like a hawk, her vampire 101 lesson obviously sticking with him. He seemed to be taking the whole slayer thing well, in fact the whole thing well, which was a shock but Buffy wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. She figured that after cursed Aztec gold and Jones Will was already knee deep in the supernatural. Dragging him out to chest deep with finding out about the slayer and vampires and demons was nothing really.
"Ok what's the stitch?" Buffy asked him, falling back into a speech pattern she hadn't used in over a decade but the one that felt the most comfortable for her. And since Will knew pretty much everything about her she didn't have to pretend.
"What's the what?" Will asked her, looking confused. A confusion she'd seen a hundred times before from people when she went into Buffy speak.
"The stitch. Why are you acting so differently? With the earring and the watching me dress, which by the way, I can't believe you did that." Buffy clarified, her look telling him exactly what she thought about his new bad boy attitude.
"I saw them." Will told her, his voice low but not filled with any emotion.
"Saw who?" Buffy asked not knowing exactly who he meant. There were to many them's around for her to know which one he was talking about.
"Elizabeth and Jack."
"Oh." Buffy breathed, her heart breaking for her friend as realization hit her.
"And I heard the two of you speaking together."
"Oh crap." Buffy muttered. A kiss was one thing, what Liz had told her was quite another. There was no going back from what Liz had said.
"That seems she appropriate answer." he remarked dryly, his voice still devoid of pain.
"What are you going to do?" Buffy asked him, fairly certain that he wouldn't forgive Liz. Engaged females weren't supposed to go around kissing other men and admitting that they were in fact in love with said other man.
"Elizabeth has made her decision and she is free to do as she pleases. If Jack is what will make her happy then I will see her with him gladly." Will told her and took a drink of his rum. Buffy figured it out then, the pieces falling into place as she recalled what he had said after they had toasted Jack.
"That's why you offered." she said.
"What."
"If there was anything that could be done you said." Buffy expounded, using his own words from that night.
"Yes." he admitted.
"So you'll just let her go?" Buffy asked astounded that Will would give up the woman he loved so easily.
"Yes."
"I'm so sorry Will." Buffy offered, her heart going out to him. She knew what it was like to lose the person you loved. She had felt like she was going to die when things had ended with Angel but time had proven her wrong. It wasn't the loss of Angel that had killed her, it was a big glowy portal and then going splat on the ground.
"You have nothing to be sorry for." he told her, his eyes seeming grateful despite his words.
"Still feel like I need to say it." Buffy told him with a reassuring smile before she realized something.
"So that's why you're acting differently. You're hurting."
"No."
"No, you're not hurting?" Buffy challenged, knowing he was lying.
"No that is not why I am acting differently."
"Then why?" Buffy asked really wanting to know the reason he had her itching for a bottle of holy water and a stake.
"Because you are right. I can't go back. All that's left is pirate."
"And you're camping out on the bed while I got dressed was what exactly? she asked him because honestly it wigged her out more than anything had in a really long time.
"Proving a point." he replied and Buffy got it. "Ahhh. Ok I get that. But next time could you actually say that instead of making me think you've been turned into the evil soulless undead or possessed.?" she asked, a smile playing at the edges of her mouth at what she knew his reaction was going to be.
"You thought I was a vampire or possessed?" he asked her in shock which then turned into a disgruntled expression.
"Hey, I'm the slayer. You'd be amazed at how many times its happened to me." Buffy defended giving him a look over the edge of her mug as she took a sip.
"That is not reassuring." he stated flatly and Buffy couldn't help herself then, she laughed into her mug before responding.
"You're the one who wanted to know."
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It was late, or early depending on how one saw it as Buffy sat in her corner of Fanny's tavern. One last relatively decent meal sat in front of her before she and Will went to board the ship she had found them passage on. There was something to be said for knowing how to hide money because Buffy did know how to do it, and do it well. Which was why she and Will were to have their own small cabin on board the ship instead of needing to join the crew. A nice change as far as Buffy was concerned. Unfortunately it wasn't enough to lighten her current mood as so much weighed on her mind.
Absently picking at her food, she began to hum softly under her breath, the words echoing through her mind as she did so.
The king and his men
stole the queen from her bed
and bound her in her Bones.
The seas be ours
and by the powers
where we will we'll roam.
Yo, ho, haul together,
hoist the colors high.
Heave ho, thieves and beggars,
never shall we die.
Some men have died
and some are alive
and others sail on the sea
with the keys to the cage...
and the Devil to pay
we lay to Fiddler's Green!
The bell has been raised
from it's watery grave...
Do you hear it's sepulchral tone?
We are a call to all,
pay head the squall
and turn your sail toward home!
Yo, ho, haul together,
hoist the colors high.
Heave ho, thieves and beggars,
never shall we die.
It wasn't until she had finished humming the song that she realized how distracted she really was. Because somehow despite her senses Will had managed to come down and join her, his dark eyes meeting hers across the table as the first embers of the false dawn began to touch the horizon outside.
Upset at her own lack of attention she distracted herself by taking a bite of her food, which had already gone cold. And cold breakfast was not especially tasty in Buffy's opinion.
"What were you humming?" Will asked her, his dark eyes almost black in the dim light.
"Remember how I said we could summon the Court with a song?"
"Yes."
"That's the song."
"Ahh."
"Yeah. And it's time for us to go." Buffy told him as she stood and went to make her way over to the bar where Fanny stood. Buffy privately wondered when the woman slept because Buffy had never not seen her behind the bar.
"Ye be off then darlin?"
"Yeah Fanny. Thanks again for everything." Buffy told her with a grateful smile and hoping Fanny managed to stay safe.
"All ways a pleasure darlin. You take care of ye self now." Fanny replied and Buffy managed to smile in return even though she didn't feel it.
"You too Fanny."
With that Buffy turned and made her way to the door where Will stood waiting, his deep red shirt looking almost as black as her own with the lack of light underneath his black leather vest and coat. Silently they made their way down to the docks, two figures in dark clothes moving together. During this time, when the night was ending and the day beginning was the quietest time in Tortuga one would ever see, the prostrate bodies of the drunk in the streets as they slept off the rum. The docks were just beginning to show real movement by contrast and Buffy wove her way through bodies and various other things, Will behind her, as she made her way to the ship that they were to travel on. The Kanan was to leave at dawn for Casablanca, where Buffy planned on cornering Ammand and making him agree to come.
There was little incident or anything at all of note that went on as Buffy and Will boarded the ship and were shown their tiny and very single bunked quarters. A fact that bothered Buffy a bit more than she wanted to admit but she didn't generally sleep much to begin with anyway. Out of silent agreement the two of them spent the time until the ship left on deck, both keeping out of the way as they spent their time lost in their own thoughts. Something Buffy thought was just as well since she had more than enough on her mind.
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Will stood looking out over the port side of the Kanan, his thoughts wandering down a dozen different paths. So much had changed in the last weeks that he found himself feeling as though he was on uncertain ground. The fact that he was in fact not on actual ground was not lost on him.
His first thoughts were of his father and the oath he had sworn, his father's freedom his only true motivation to continue the course he was on. But with thoughts of his father, of finally having a real memory of him, brought thoughts of the one person he knew that had really known his father. Thoughts of Buffy.
Now that he knew how she had become immortal and the circumstances of it he understood her more. His 'patrol' with her showing him just who she really was. She had never actually said why she slayed vampires still but Will knew. She did it to protect others, to keep them safe. Despite what she presented to the world Will knew that she was a good person. And now he had even more proof than he had had before. But there was just so much more about her that made Will see her differently than he had before. His mind wasn't sure where to begin. Between her revelations about the year she had been born to the fact that she had begun her fight as little more than a child he did not yet know what to think.
But it explained quite a bit about her to him, it explained how hard she could be at times, how unlike any other woman he had ever met she was and how skilled she was as a fighter.
He had once thought that there was much more to Buffy than he had first seen that night in Tortuga when she had knocked Jack out and now that he knew he was right he was amazed.
There was so much more to her than he had ever imagined.
And for some reason he couldn't quite fathom he wanted to know everything.
Which was a strange feeling when he considered what he had just lost.
Elizabeth.
Elizabeth had made her choice and it wasn't him. It was Jack. Why she had chosen Jack he would never understand but his love for her was enough that if that was what made her happy he would let her go. He knew better than most what denying ones heart led to, he had done it long enough before he had confessed his love to Elizabeth, and he wouldn't hold on to her if her heart was not with him.
It was painful to lose her yes. But it was a pain that he knew would fade, because in the end all pain did.
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Buffy sat atop the mizzenmast, her feet dangling over the side as she sat lost in thought for yet another day since there was little more for her to do. For three days now she'd kept to herself as she considered everything that had happened and what she knew. And three days of constant thought had ended in quite a bit more than it would have when she was younger.
She'd reached several conclusions in three days and not all of them made her happy, in fact none of them did really. The first one was the closest to happy she had managed to come, a way to get Ammand to agree to the Council without having to give anything away she wasn't prepared to yet. The others though were much less happy conclusions. The next one had been about Beckett and what exactly was coming. Cutler Beckett was a hard man to figure out but Buffy had a fair idea of what he wanted and what he was willing to do to get it, a fact that made Buffy's blood boil. It was a fair conclusion that if Beckett knew about Jack's compass and the Dead Man's Chest then he knew about the Brethren Court. Which meant the he probably knew about Shipwreck Cove. Buffy knew he didn't know where it was though, there were some things no one could get out of a pirate. Like a place to hide when all else failed and their life was a stake. But what Liz had told her about the encounter she had had with Beckett worried her, the fact that Beckett had said that there was more than one chest of value out there didn't make Buffy think about Aztec gold but the other things that he could possibly find. And if they were like the kinds of things that ended up hidden on the Hellmouth things could and would get ugly. But those worries were minimal since Beckett didn't have Jack's compass so she would wait and see, there were other problems to deal with. Like convincing the Court to fight. A feat she hadn't quite figured out how to accomplish yet.
And then there were the other two problems that had somehow managed to come up amongst the chaos. The situation with Will, Liz and Jack. A situation that she found to be more time consuming to think about than the problems they faced with Beckett and Jones. Because with them it was slightly more simple in the outcome she wanted, both of them dead. Quite possibly in the most painful way she could come up with if she was incredibly lucky. With her three friends though things were much less simple. She wanted all three of them to be happy but knew that wouldn't happen. Someone was going to end up miserable and she had already come to the conclusion that that someone was Will. Because she already knew what Liz felt for Jack. And she had a pretty good idea that Jack felt something for Liz. She was just amazed how she had managed to ignore the signs.
Which meant that Will was left alone and hurt, a feeling she had felt once before but had handled much worse than Will so far.
Add to the fact that somewhere along the line she had somehow managed to become attracted to Will and Buffy knew there was some sort of disaster waiting to happen. Especially since she hadn't found herself attracted to a man since Riley.
"I'm completely and utterly screwed." she muttered to herself as she stared off into the distance.
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