Summary: Jack confronts Elizabeth after her father's death. Set during AWE. One-shot.

A Matter Of Predictability

"Whatever you're going to ask, the answer is no." Her voice responded to his knock.

"I won't ask, then." He replied, opening the door to the cabin himself.

He found her sitting on the edge of the bed, crying. She looked up at him with wide red eyes as he closed the door. He remained still for a moment, forcing himself to keep a straight face as he awaited her anger. But it didn't come.

"What do you want, Jack?" She asked softly, her voice wavering. She sounded and looked utterly defeated.

Silently, he crossed the room and sat down beside her, gently draping an arm across her shoulders. He expected her to shrug him off, hit him, and stalk out of the cabin. But that's not what she did. Instead, she turned to him and pressed her face into his chest. He felt the vibration of her sobs as her grief escaped her hold once again.

Jack sighed and rested his chin atop her blonde head of hair. "'M sorry, love. Really."

One of her hands tightened on his coat in response.

They sat like that for a long time. Her sobs echoed so loudly in his ears that he wondered why everything up on deck seemed so quiet. He remembered how excited she had been when she had assumed they had made it back to the land of the living, how her face had fell when he'd corrected her. "Elizabeth. We're not back." He'd never seen her as heartbroken as she was on this dreadful night; not even when she'd been conflicted over having not yet married her fiance.

She gradually fell silent in his embrace, untucking her head from beneath his chin. She met his gaze, and he returned it, one hand instinctively rising up to wipe a few stray tears from her face.

"Why are you in here?" She asked, though her tone held no hint of accusation.

Jack wasn't prepared for that question. "My ship. I can go wherever I please."

Elizabeth sighed. "Jack."

He smirked faintly at her weak exasperation. "What did ye want me to say?"

She slipped from his hold, scooting up the bed and hugging her knees. She ignored his question, apparently feeling the need to explain why she'd asked in the first place. "I killed you, Jack. You should either want to kill me or want nothing to do with me. But...you're pitying me. I don't understand."

"I don't make a habit o' bein' understandable." He commented, getting to his feet and approaching a table in the middle of the cabin. "Understandable means predictable, an' predictable means I'm dead."

"I'm sorry." She blurted out. "One man for all of us seemed a fair deal at the time."

Picking up and inspecting a dagger, he refused to look at her. "'S not your fault, love. I'd likely have done the same."

"You're not angry?"

"Not really, no."

"Were you surprised, when I chained you up?" Elizabeth wondered, her voice slowly getting stronger as her confidence grew.

"A bit. After all, me bein' unpredictable doesn't make everyone else predictable to me now, does it?" Jack pointed out, placing the dagger back down and turning to face her. "In fact, love, that was rather admirable. The distraction did its job too well."

Her face flushed red.

He smirked, then continued on as he swaggered back towards the bed. "Had me wrapped 'round your finger, aye. But...the apple never does fall far from the tree."

Her brow furrowed into a puzzled expression. "I'm not quite sure what you mean."

"'M the apple." He assisted. "What's the tree?"

Her eyes widened in realization. "I'm the tree?"

"There ye go, love."

"...You love me."

Jack's breath caught in his throat and he stopped in his tracks. Though she was indeed correct, he hadn't suspected that she would come to that conclusion. Now what?

Elizabeth let out a light breath of laughter at his stunned expression. "You didn't think I would make the connection?"

"Er...not really." He admitted, hoping he didn't seem as sheepish as he felt. "Ye're almost as unpredictable as I am."

Well, at least she doesn't look upset anymore. He took the last couple of steps to the bed and made himself comfortable on the end of it, his feet dangling over the edge as his back rested against the cabin wall. He was surprised when she settled herself at his side, tucking herself between his arm and his body.

"I do care for you, Jack." She looked up at him. "It's just..."

"William." He nodded sadly. "I know, love."

"I don't understand how it's possible to love two men at once." Elizabeth murmured, shaking her head softly. "I just wish I could have you both."

"Will would kill me."

"That's why it wouldn't work."

Jack tightened his hold around her. "If there's one thing I've learned in my years o' sailin', it's how cruel life is; there's always a decision ye have to make in the end. An' they're never easy ones. Ye can never know which ye'll choose 'til the time comes. The world's as unpredictable as the people in it."

And my death was only the beginning of this adventure. The worst is yet to come.