Summary: "'I just found you yesterday, it's too soon. You can't just get up and go back out to your boat in this condition.'" Jack wakes up in Elizabeth's cottage following an attack on his life by two of the other Pirate Lords and struggles to convince her to let him leave. One-shot. Post AWE. Sparrabeth.

A/N: Inspired by a similar (albeit incompeted) story that I could not find to refer you to, which is annoying considering I just saw it again like two days ago.

A Battle Of Stubborn Love

When Jack Sparrow woke up, it was to a agonizing pain throbbing throughout his body. He hissed through his teeth, opening his eyes. He was not in the longboat he'd been in when he had succumbed to the dark tendrils of unconsciousness. In fact, he wasn't on water at all. He was in a small room, no doubt belonging to a cottage of sorts. It seemed safe enough.

He found that he had been stripped down to his trousers, his effects set on a bedside table and the rest of his clothing on a chair across the room. Over his many various scars, a gash spanning across his chest had been stitched up neatly, as had a gunshot wound clear through his collarbone. His right arm was in a makeshift sling of sorts to keep it from moving.

As he sat up in the bed, a wave of dizziness overcame him and he reached out with his left arm to hold himself steady. He closed his eyes for a long moment, an impatient sigh rumbling in his chest.

Once his head settled, he made to hop down to the floor. He discovered the hard way that his right leg, too, was injured when it gave out on first contact and he collapsed against a desk with a resounding thud. He grunted in newfound pain, the room spinning before his eyes.

"Jack!" Someone called from a couple of rooms away, concern in her feminine voice.

As he hauled himself into a sitting position to examine his uncooperative leg, the door burst open and a woman entered. His vision was unsteady enough for him not to be able to recognise her, but she clearly knew him.

"Are you alright?" She asked, settling down to his level. He recognized her voice, but could not place the name it belonged to.

"Bloody wonderful." He drawled sarcastically, his voice hoarse from pain.

Jack dragged his leg closer to him, pulling the bottom hem of his trouser leg up just over his knee. He felt along the skin of the limb, seeking out the shape of the bones beneath. He frowned grimly as he noted a gap that shouldn't have been there. Broken. Brilliant.

"What happened to your leg?"

"I took a fall." He recalled, his voice firmer than before. "Didn't realize it bloody broke."

"Captain Sparrow, what on earth did you do to yourself?" Her name came to him then, and he almost smirked.

Ah, Captain Swann. His boat would've drifted to her island out of all places.

"Well, love, it's a bit o' a long story, really." He glanced up at her, his vision having cleared up to reveal her face in all its glory. "Villanueva an' Ammand the Corsair wanted to meet with me in the Cove. Turned out it was a trap to kill me. Safe to say it didn't succeed, eh?"

"How'd you get away?" Elizabeth wondered aloud, glancing over the stitched wound that crossed his chest.

"'M Captain Jack Sparrow." He reminded her, before growing serious. "Managed to commandeer a boat an' row right out o' the Cove. Got a good few hours' time covered b'fore I passed out."

"You would've bled to death if I didn't find you." She told him. "Your shoulder's hurt pretty bad."

"Aye, I know. Fell an' broke me leg when they shot it. Can't very well swing with no hands on the bloody rope."

Jack shifted into a better position, his left arm grasping onto the bed to haul himself up to his feet. When he did rise up from the floor, he made sure to keep most of his weight on his good leg. It'd do him no good to fall back over, especially not with half of his limbs in such bad condition and out of working order.

Elizabeth got up as he did, trying to reach out to assist him despite a shake of his head. "You need to rest, Jack."

"Ye've done your part, love, an' I appreciate that. But I've got it from 'ere." He told her.

"I just found you yesterday, it's too soon. You can't just get up and go back out to your boat in this condition."

"But I can, dear Lizzie. I've been in worse spots before."

She paused, looking thoughtful for a moment. He could see a glint of smugness in her gaze as she tried,"As Pirate King, I order you to remain here for at least another day."

He almost snorted, for it was clear to him that she wasn't completely aware of her limits on the power of her title. He gave her a small smile. "That's not how that works, love."

She grabbed at his right elbow as he slipped past her. "Jack."

He sighed, turning to face her.

"You won't last a week."

"Perhaps not. But it's only a matter o' time b'fore Villanueva an' Ammand find their way 'ere. I need to keep movin', 'specially since I don't have the Pearl at the moment."

"I can send for Barbossa." Elizabeth suggested.

Jack shook his head. "He wouldn't listen to ye, love, Pirate King or not. I'll catch up with 'im in me own time."

"Then I'm coming with you." She insisted, cutting him off as his mouth opened to argue. "Jack, you don't stand a chance against anything out there on your own. You can't fight, you won't be able to swim if you get caught in a storm. I won't let you die because you're too stubborn to allow yourself time to heal."

"No. Stay out o' this one, love."

"Not this time, Jack."

He wasn't able to bite back his irritation, and his voice came out as a frustrated growl. "'M not draggin' ye into any more o' my problems. Look what happened to William. Poor whelp's slave to a curse worse than Barbossa's."

Jack tore his arm from her grasp, hobbling over to the chair that the rest of his clothing laid upon. He slipped his arm from the sling, the sling from his neck, and began to work his way into his mended shirt despite the pain that flared in his shoulder and chest.

"I don't blame you for what happened to Will." Elizabeth's voice was quiet following his uncharacteristic show of frustration. "But I can't stand to know what'll become of you if you leave now."

"If I die, then I die." He muttered a little bitterly, buttoning his dark vest over his shirt. "It's nothin' that's not happened b'fore. Might even be able to convince William to let me have another go at livin'."

"Why do you want to leave?" She murmured, approaching him.

He halted in his actions, unable to meet her gaze.

"Oh, Jack." His eyes must have betrayed him and given his answer to her. "I would follow you anywhere, you bloody pirate. And I would never let you die because you cared for me too much to get me involved in such dangers."

No bloody way. He slowly glanced back to her face, finding the emotion in her eyes to be too much for her words not to be true. "Now, how do I respond to that?"

She laughed softly, then pressed her lips to his in a chaste gesture. He returned the gentle kiss, his chest swelling with indescribable feelings of his own. He felt the weight of her hand resting on his good shoulder, her other one leaning against his chest. He kept his right arm close, but laced his long fingers with hers as his other one caressed the smooth skin of her cheek.

Their lips parted, but their hands remained.

"I love you, you stubborn old goat. But I don't need your protection out there."

He smirked fondly, planting a kiss on her forehead in response. "No, I s'pose not. I guess ye can come after all then."

"We leave at dawn tomorrow." Elizabeth decided, slipping from his grasp and heading for the door of the room. "I'll get you something to eat. You get some rest."

Jack gave her an obedient nod as he moved back toward the bed. "As you command, my liege."