Summary: "The silence was more overwhelming than any sound he had ever heard. He had never felt so well and truly alone." When Elizabeth returns to the Pearl just in time to help aid the crew in fending off an attack, Jack regains his hearing after three years of being deaf. One-shot. Post AWE. Sparrabeth, because somehow almost all of my stories are.
The Cure To Loneliness
Three years ago, the unimaginable had happened.
Three years ago, Captain Jack Sparrow lost something that was not his ship.
Three years ago, there was an explosion that had cost him something he'd taken for granted.
Three years ago, he was plunged into silence.
"Cap'n, look out!"
"What?" He called, distractedly swiping his sword at an opponent in the midst of the battle.
A loud boom rang out, along with the horrid splintering of wood. His ears didn't even have time to ring as he was thrown back and his head hit the deck with more force than he thought possible.
As he gave in to the alluring calls of the darkness, he didn't even notice how silent the world had gone around him.
He didn't like to think about it.
He didn't like to talk about it.
The silence was more overwhelming than any sound he had ever heard. He had never felt so well and truly alone. He was almost certain that he'd never drank so much rum at any other time in his life than he had since the accident. It didn't numb the pain- the silence- completely, but it did make it a tad more bearable.
He taught himself to read the lips of those speaking to him. One thing he still had was his own voice, even if he could no longer hear it himself. He taught himself to imagine the voices of those whom he communicated with, to make himself feel as if he were engaging in real conversation with those around him.
But the silence was always there.
He hated the silence more than anything he'd ever hated before.
Oh, what he would give to hear but a single sound again.
But, alas, the world was a cruel thing indeed.
*X*
Looking at one of the newer East India Trading Company maps, he began to draw a small island on his own, in the same coordinated area as on the other map. His maps really were in need of a good updating. It was almost unbelievable, the speed at which new islands were discovered. If only the bloody maps could update themselves.
The door to his cabin opened out of the corner of his left eye. He turned towards it, watching Gibbs walk in, Elizabeth behind him. He blinked. What's she doing here?
Jack blinked. He needed to focus. He felt the movement of his lips as he addressed the first mate. "Gibbs?"
"Cap'n, there be a ship approachin' on our starboard. Navy. Cannons blazin', sir." The older man reported.
"Wonderful. A battle." He drawled, annoyed, as he stood up from his spot at the map-covered desk. He strapped his baldric across his body, then made sure his pistol was loaded. "Have the men load the cannons. Strike the colors."
Gibbs dipped his head and headed out of the cabin to see that the specified duties were seen to before the other ship reached them.
The deaf captain made to follow him, but was stopped short as a hand reached up to grasp his shoulder. He stared at it for a moment, sighing, before glancing up to the face of the arm's owner. "What? I don't have time for this, love."
The Pirate King hesitated. "Can you really not hear anything?"
Gibbs must've mentioned it to her.
"Not a bloody thing." He confessed, then slipped from her grasp and resumed his course for the door. "But I don't want to talk 'bout it."
She hurried past him and leaned back against the door, blocking his path.
The ship shook as enemy cannons erupted and hit it. That's not good.
"Move." He ordered. "We can talk later."
She nodded, opening the door and slipping through it. He followed, drawing his sword.
Jack wasn't surprised to find that the redcoats had swung over already and were engaging in duels with the pirate crew. He leapt into the fray despite his disadvantage.
Though he was unable to hear, he did rather well. He parried blocks with ease, making sure to glance over his shoulder on occasion to make sure no one was sneaking up on him. The bodies on the deck piled up quickly, most of them with red coats on their backs.
The silence was distracting. It allowed his mind to slip away from the battle.
A blade slid along his forearm and he hissed through gritted teeth as he jerked away, blood flying through the air. His own sword rose to fend the other one off. He risked a glance at his arm, noting how much blood was collecting on his sleeve. Ah, I'll live. He quickly disarmed the man who had cut him, then knocked the man out with the hilt of his weapon. He pulled back, looking for another soldier to focus his attention on, as the other one collapsed to the deck of the ship.
Without warning, the deck lurched violently and he was thrown from his feet. A brief moment in the air felt like a long one. Then his head harshly slammed back to the wooden planks and his breath was taken away from him. He reached for the back of his head, checking for blood. It came back crimson and he could feel the familiar salty tang of the liquid in his mouth. What the bloody hell happened?
Before he could sit up, a blade came down through his stomach and he cried out, gurgling on the blood in his mouth and causing it to overflow. Someone shouted his name in horror.
He froze almost immediately. The silence, it was gone.
His hearing was back.
But the darkness claimed him before he could celebrate it.
*X*
Jack awoke with a whimper of pain, reaching up to the back of his head. As if that would soothe the throbbing agony. Fingers closed around his wrist and a gentle voice scolded him, warning him of some stitches that didn't need to be torn out yet.
"Remember, he can't hear ye, Miss Elizabeth." Gibbs pointed out, his own tone hushed.
The man in question almost smirked, groggily opening his eyes to the dimly lit cabin. "An' if I told ye I could?"
The others remained in a startled silence as they processed his response.
Then, Elizabeth let out a light laugh of tearful joy and murmured his name.
Gibbs, on the other hand, appeared puzzled. "But how?"
"Apparently I hit my bloody head too hard. Again. Lucky me. Reckon it was worth it this time though." Jack shrugged. "What blew up?"
"The other ship." The Pirate King told him.
"Powder magazine." The first mate elaborated.
"Aye, that'd do it."
He began to sit up, but halted as a tear of agonizing pain shot through the right side of his stomach. Right. He grimaced, hand rising to rest on a line of stitches embedded in his exposed torso. Got bloody stabbed too, didn't I?
"Are you alright?" Elizabeth asked.
"Forgot I got stabbed." He divulged.
"That'll be a mite sore for a few days, Cap'n. Reckon ye should take some time to rest." Gibbs advised.
"Probably should." Jack laid back, hands behind his head. He could feel the stitches mentioned upon his awakening at the base of his skull. "Probably won't." Forget my wounds, I'm just bloody glad I can hear again.
The first mate muttered something about checking on repairs and backed out of the cabin.
The injured, very-much-not-deaf captain watched him leave. "Not too much damage done to the Pearl, I hope?"
"We were listing a little, but nothing too serious." Elizabeth assured him.
"'M sure the men enjoyed haulin' all that water out." He remarked, grabbing an open, half-empty bottle of rum from his bedside table and taking a swig to numb the throbbing pain of his injuries.
"How are you feeling?"
"Best I have in a few years."
"You nearly split your head open a few hours ago." She pointed out incredulously.
"And?" Jack raised an eyebrow at her. "Wounds heal, love. But it's a bloody miracle that I can hear again. Don't know how much more silence I could take."
"What was it like?" She asked softly. "Not being able to hear, I mean."
"Lonely." He admitted quietly. "Frustrating. Exhausting. I'm surprised I haven't literally drowned in all the rum I've been drinkin'."
With a roll of her eyes, she reached for the bottle he held in his hand.
"Oi." He pulled it away from her in protest. "Alright, a bit hypocritical, I know. But this one bottle's not goin' to kill me."
The Pirate King relented, sitting back comfortably in the chair she occupied beside the bed.
"I didn't have the chance to ask ye earlier, but what brings ye back to the Pearl, love?" Jack wondered aloud, taking another swig from his bottle.
"I was lonely." She echoed the word he'd used naught but a moment ago. "I had to get away from that island, to see a familiar face. And that brought me back to you. I missed you, Jack."
He almost smirked at the last few words of her confession, but instead asked a different question. "An' what did ye plan to achieve, comin' out 'ere for a visit?"
"I don't know." Elizabeth avoided his gaze.
This time, he allowed his teeth to show as his lips curled upward at her denial of what he already knew to be true. "What is it that ye want?"
Her face flushed bright red as no counterargument slipped from her tongue to aid her. "You, Jack. I want you."
A/N: I've had this one in mind for a week, unwritten mostly because part of it seems a bit unrealistic. Buttttt, it's fan fiction. If ships can move underwater like submarines (cough, cough- the Flying Dutchman) then deaf people can regain their hearing. Savvy?