Chapter Fourteen
Jack felt his bronzed face pale as he turned and saw Elizabeth Swann standing behind him. He felt his stomach turn cold, tie itself into a knot, and then disappear into a cloud of dust. It was surprising how much Elizabeth's presence was effecting him. It was just Elizabeth Swann after all, unlike with Will, Jack and Elizabeth had parted on fairly good terms. On the other hand, this was Elizabeth Swann, the woman who had broken Will Turner's heart (or at least, helped to break Will's heart. It was hard for him to say which betrayal effected the younger man more.) and was part of the reason why said blacksmith was not on the greatest terms with Jack in spite of the fact that he was currently carrying his child.
A slight groan managed to escape his lips as he took in Elizabeth's current state. In the five years since he had seen her he could honestly say that Elizabeth looked as good as ever. Her face was still as beautiful and innocent as the last time he'd laid eyes upon her and her rich brown eyes still held the same fiery spirit and rebellious nature. Her thin frame was currently wrapped in oversized men's clothes that looked as if she had been wearing them for days on end and her thick golden brown locks were currently tucked into an over sized brown hat.
She looks like she did when I met her in Tortuga five years ago, he thought wearily. This wasn't a good sign. The girl was definitely in some sort of trouble again, and the fact that she had said "I need your help" only made him feel even worse about the whole situation. The last thing he wanted was to get mixed up in whatever it was that Elizabeth had gotten herself involved in.
"Jack?" Elizabeth repeated. Jack blinked a few times in surprise as he suddenly realized that he had been staring at the young woman for some time now without saying anything.
"Elizabeth," Jack began grandly, forcing a warm and slightly lecherous smile on his face. He stood with a flourish and made to engulf Elizabeth in a friendly hug, but she smartly brushed his arms away from her and placed them firmly at his side. She flashed him a coy smile to show that there were no hard feelings, but she didn't need to, Jack already knew that she wouldn't alienate him until she got what she wanted out of him. It was what he would do after all. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this unexpected reunion?"
"As I said before," Elizabeth began nervously, her eyes darting around the room as she spoke, "I need your help."
"I see," he said thoughtfully. "Well, have a seat an' tell me all 'bout it over a mug o' rum."
Elizabeth gave him a brief smile before doing as she was told. Despite his calm exterior, Jack was screaming on the inside. All he could think about was how badly he wanted to be rid of Elizabeth. If Will knew she was here... if he saw them together...
He'll never speak ta me again. He'll keep Nathan an' the baby away from me. I have ta get rid o' her. She'll ruin everythin'!
"I didn't know what to do," he heard Elizabeth say. "When my father told me I was to marry him... I panicked! I couldn't possibly marry him. The very idea of spending the rest of my life with that man..." She shuddered at the very thought of her fiancée and Jack suddenly felt lost. Either Elizabeth had been talking while he was musing or she had just skipped a few chapters ahead in her story without telling him about it.
"Hold on, darlin'," Jack cut in. "Marriage? Ye're not talkin' 'bout the good Commodore are ye?"
Elizabeth cringed slightly at the mention of Commodore Norrington. "Admiral Norrington is currently married with three children," she informed him.
Jack was suddenly grateful that he hadn't been drinking his rum when Elizabeth told him that, because would have spat it all over her. Well he certainly has been productive these past five years! "Three children ye say? They all his?"
Elizabeth laughed quietly in spite of herself as she played with the cuff of her jacket. "They are," she stressed. "He and his wife are quite happy together."
"I'll take yer word for it," Jack shrugged, "but who is this arse that ye're so dead set against weddin'?"
Her mouth began moving about randomly, struggling to form words, but nothing ever came out. "His name's not important. He's a lord that my father thought would be a good match for me. He thought that if I married someone like him I'd settle down for once."
Jack nodded slowly as he took another pull at his rum. He could already tell where Elizabeth was going with all this. Unfortunately for her Jack had his own set of problems to deal with and was not interested in coming to her rescue.
"That's why I need your help Jack," Elizabeth continued. It took everything Jack had in him to keep from rolling his eyes and groaning in annoyance as he readied himself for the words he already knew were coming. "I want to join your crew so that I can be free of my fiancée. I left Port Royal in search of you. I heard that this was the last place you had been spotted."
So this makes three fiancées fer dear Miss Swann, Jack mused. Two she disliked an' one she lost. The lass can never be satisfied. "Hasn't anyone ever told ye not ta runaway from yer problems?" Jack slurred. He was starting to feel the effects of the alcohol on him, slowing his mind and slurring his words. He suddenly wished that he could disappear. Just vanish into thin air so that he could avoid continuing this ridiculous conversation. "Abandonin' yer beau won't solve nothin', it'll only make matters worse."
"You don't understand, Jack," Elizabeth urged. "He's horrible! If I marry him I'm sure to spend the rest of my life in misery."
"An' if ye run away, ye'll have the Royal Navy after ye," he pointed out. "Ye're not the type o' lass dat can jus' up an' disappear. Yer Father an' yer fiancée, will likely go ta great lengths jus' ta get ye back. Would ye really be willin' ta live like dat? Never able ta know a moment's rest. Ta have ta keep lookin' over yer shoulder in fear o' the day that they'll come for ye an' take ye back ta dat horrible man whose very name is poison on yer lips an' force ye ta tie yerself ta him forever."
A slight shudder suddenly past through Elizabeth's thin frame as she took in Jack's words. She wasn't a fool, she had considered all this before and it was clear from the determined look in her eyes that she was still very much ready to go through with her plan. "I'm willing to take that chance," she told him and to her credit her voice barely wavered.
"Ye know the life o' a pirate ain't as easy or as romantic as ye think," he continued. It was a stretch, but if there was any ounce of doubt that dwelled inside of Elizabeth then Jack was going to find it. There was still a chance that he could change her mind, that he could convince her that this wasn't what she wanted and get her out of his life once and for all. "It's miserable, lonely work. Away at sea for months on end, never knowin' when ye'll set foot on land again... An' it's quite dangerous fer a pretty young lass like yerself." Jack smiled lecherously at Elizabeth's slightly confused and offended look. "There are quite a few lonely men out there dat haven't felt a woman's touch in quite a while. It wouldn't be hard ta imagine one of them forcin' themselves on ye."
A frown quickly appeared upon Elizabeth's face, but she quickly pushed it away. "That is why I want to join your crew," Elizabeth stressed. "I know you won't let anything like that happen to me."
"Can't keep an eye on ye all the time lass," Jack shrugged as he finished off the rest of his rum.
Disappointment flashed in Elizabeth's eyes. Obviously she hadn't been expecting Jack to be so cold and uncaring about her fate. It was clear that she had been expecting a warm reception and a helpful pirate Captain who would be more than happy to welcome her aboard his ship. It dawned on him then that he was acting in the manner that Will had described not long ago.
"After all, when has Jack Sparrow ever done anything out of charity?" He had asked him accusingly.
I know it ain't right Will, but I'm doin' this for ye. It's better this way. We're better this way. She'll only come between us an' then I'll lose ye fer good. Elizabeth Swann was as much a threat to him now as he had been to Will Turner five years ago. It would be all too easy for Will to fall back in love with her. He had loved her since he was a mere boy of twelve years and it wasn't hard to imagine that those feelings were still lingering deep down inside of him. Will would not love or forgive him because he was a man, but Elizabeth was a woman. She was something to be worshiped and protected and she could easily be turned into something that Will still desired: a motherly figure for his children.
"You know Jack," Elizabeth began seductively as she moved from her place across from him to sit in a near by chair beside him. She scooted closer so that their bodies were now pressed against each other. Jack could still faintly smell the expensive soaps and perfumes that had once bathed her delicate skin even under the dirt and sweat that currently caked her clothes. "If it helps any," she began huskily, "I'm not a virgin anymore."
Unfortunately for Jack Sparrow, this time he had been drinking his rum, so when the urge to spit it out came over him, he found himself spraying rum across the now empty half of the table. To be completely honest, he wasn't really all that surprised. Elizabeth was only human, sooner or later she would desire to know more about the pleasures of the flesh (something that she had seemed very interested in during their last meeting). He was just surprised that she had told him this so bluntly. Hadn't she learned anything about using her body to further her wants? That was how she lost her second fiancée after all.
At that moment, Jack suddenly realized that he was in more trouble then he had anticipated. He hadn't had sex since he had gotten Will pregnant and all that repressed sexual energy was boiling inside of him to the point that he knew if Elizabeth was foolish enough to try and kiss him, he'd be foolish enough to actually give in. He didn't want it, he didn't want her, but he wanted somebody because Goddammit, Will Turner wasn't giving him so much as a hand shake!
Ye know Sparrow, a part of him whispered as Elizabeth's delicate little hand brushed against his leg, it ain't cheatin' if ye're not together. Will wouldn't care, he kicked ye out anyway. Yes, Will did kick him out. Yes, Will did say he wanted nothing to do with him. Yes, Will is being a little stubborn whelp with the sex drive of the eunuch and was, as a result, ignoring all of Jack's needs. All that was very true, but none of it mattered, because Jack knew that if he so much as allowed Elizabeth to sneak a kiss on his lips, he'd be betraying Will and he loved him too much to do that.
Shock waves surged through his body, causing him to sit up straighter and Elizabeth to smile cheekily, obviously thinking that she had been the one to cause that reaction. No, far from it. It was the realization of what Jack had just said to himself that made him sit so erect. I love him, Jack realized. I really do love him. He's drivin' me bloody crazy, but I love him!
Elizabeth leaned in then, making to place a gentle kiss on Jack's lips, but he smartly turned his head to the side, causing her lips to brush against his cheek instead. She pulled back, a disappointed frown creasing her face. Jack let out a longing sigh. Her lips were quite soft and warm, but he missed the itchy feel of a moustache touching his skin.
"Come on, lass," Jack sighed as he stood up from his chair. "Ye can stay in me room tonight. We'll talk more on this in the mornin'."
Confusion was more than clear in Elizabeth's wide brown eyes. She clearly didn't know whether she had succeeded in seducing Jack Sparrow or if the pirate captain was going to take the gentlemanly route and was indeed offering her a place to sleep for the night and nothing more.
Unfortunately, Jack wasn't completely sure of which was true himself.