Summary: "He glanced back at the ship. The boy. The ship again. He steeled himself in his resolve." Jack is forced to make a decision and finds he made the wrong bargain. One-shot. COTBP AU scene.
Prompt: Write something where a character has to make a tough decision. And have them actually MAKE that decision. And remember that sometimes an unethical choice leads to a more interesting story.
A/N: Written for school- we're finally out of poems.
Burning In Regret
A frightened, tear-stained face stared at him from within a pile of debris. He could see the silent plea for help in the eyes of the child. The burning building beside the child teetered dangerously creaking and groaning as it fought against gravity. The acrid tang of smoke was in the air, the night sky ablaze with the light of many small fires spread through the portside town.
His eyes drifted away from the boy, towards the ship in the harbor. He saw the flash of the starboard cannons as they fired once again, the splintering of wood as the projectiles tore away at the buildings. He swore he could see the man responsible for all of it standing tall at the ship's helm.
Barbossa. He sneered at the sight of him, beginning to make his way towards the docks despite the danger.
Another round of cannonfire rang out.
The child screamed fearfully at the splintering of the building that towered over him.
He froze, half turning to face the scene. The first flaming chunks of wood had begun to drop from the structure, falling to the ground around where the trapped child was. Time was limited.
He glanced back at the ship. The boy. The ship again.
He took a deep breath.
Surely, he wasn't the last capable person remaining in this part of town. Someone would stumble upon the child and free him. But no one, not even the redcoats up at the fort, was capable enough to get aboard that ship and take out the captain. Only him.
He steeled himself in his resolve.
He tipped his tricorn hat to the terrified little boy.
He turned away and began walking.
Just several long moments later, the horrid crashing of flaming wood came and he whipped around, staring in horror at the sight of a collapsed building. It was the very same building that the boy was trapped beneath. He could scarcely make out the child's scream over the roar of the blazing fire. No, no, no.
There was no way.
The kid was supposed to survive. Someone was supposed to swoop in and save him.
The child could not be burning alive beneath the wreckage of the building.
He couldn't move. The foul stench of singed flesh reached his nose as the screams began to die down. His legs felt weak and he let himself drop to his knees, right there in the middle of the road.
He didn't care that he was bloody wanted, that they would hang him if he was stumbled upon by someone. All he cared about was the boy, that goddamn little boy. He'd just let the kid die- all for revenge. What the bloody hell was I thinking? Of course no one's around! The bloody cowards are up hiding in the fort.
That's why they called him and his kind pirates.
Themselves and their own goals over all.
He'd just let a child burn alive.
He allowed his hat to slip from his head, to fall before him in the dirt, as he stared at the fire in disbelief. The screams had stopped. The air smelled as if something had been overcooked over a campfire. He wanted to throw up.
Jack, you bloody stupid fool, what have you done?