Summary: Jack's little known past catches up with him in the form of a brother. Ch. 6- In which Jack, Robert, and Will go to London and Jack and Will run into some trouble.
Disclaimer: Pirates of the Caribbean and all the characters therein do not belong to me. Believe me, if I owned Johnny Depp in eyeliner . . . . Gah. That man is hot.
A/N: Feedback is to me what rum is to Jack
Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! I'm glad you guys think it's funny. As I said before, too, there should be an update every weekend. Is that soon enough Captain Red Black, or will I have to walk the plank? ;)
Note: When you guys get to the part where Jack and Will are running from the mob, play Track 3 The Black Pearl. It goes well with it, and that was what I was listening to when I wrote it. J
The next morning, Jack was up and ready before everyone else, his pistol and sword tucked safely in his belt, his satchel slung over his shoulder. A servant stopped by him for a moment to inform the pirate that his father and brother would be accompanying them to London to take care of some business in Parliament, and then hurried off when he saw Jack fingering the handle of his sword. Jack grinned as the servant fled down the hall and leaned against the stair railing to wait for Will and Robert. He didn't mind that his father and Robert were coming along. The more the merrier.
While waiting for everyone to get ready, he spent the time flirting with the maids and terrorizing the menservants until most of the house was in a furor. Enjoying the uproar he'd caused, Jack leaned against a wall and watched everything, highly entertained by it all. A few minutes later Will appeared looking very disheveled and glaring menacingly at Jack.
"This is all your doing," he accused, waving his arms to encompass the whole house.
"Guilty as charged," Jack said easily, not in the least bit remorseful.
William seemed to want to say something, but then just growled and disappeared back upstairs. Jack smiled and began whistling. He loved being a pirate.
Within another hour, things had settled down enough for the group to be on its way and they had everything packed on the coach. Jack stood in front of the coach, eyeing it dubiously, and refused to get inside.
"Isn't there any other way to go?" he asked plaintively.
"I suppose you could ride one of the horses," his father said hesitantly.
Jack immediately seized on that. "Yes! I'll ride a horse. Horses are better."
An hour later, Jack decided he had been gravely mistaken. Horses were not better. Horses were, in fact, worse. For one thing, Jack hadn't been on a horse in years and his riding skills were rusty to say the least. Secondly, the bumping and bouncing on horseback was not any better than in a coach. And his horse was an absolute devil. Every time he got off it, it was constantly trying to chew on his hair, his coat, his fingers, and it seemed to have penchant for stopping suddenly and without warning.
Clutching his hat with one hand, the reins with the other, Jack glared down at the horse who had abruptly quit moving and almost thrown the pirate off its back. He fumbled with the pistol at his belt, desperately wanting to shoot the stupid animal. Getting it free, he gazed at it longingly.
"Y'know, horse," he said, nudging the equine with his pistol barrel, "you are very close to not seein' your nice warm stable ever again."
"Jack, what are you doing?" asked Robert, who had stuck his head out of the coach window to check on his brother.
"Oh, nothin'," Jack said, smiling and putting the pistol away. "Just talkin' to the horse."
"Hmm," Robert said, looking at his brother a little suspiciously. "Would you like to switch for a little while?"
"I think that's a very good idea," Jack said, stopping the horse and swinging off its back, well out of range of its teeth of course.
Robert stopped the coach and came over to Jack and the horse, patting the animal on the nose and talking softly to it.
"I don't know how you can stand that devil," Jack snorted, keeping away from its head.
Robert smiled. "It's all in how you handle them. Kind of like your ship I imagine."
Jack's kohl-lined eyes narrowed indignantly. "I'm grievously offended! How could you compare my lovely Pearl to this mule. They're nothin' alike."
"Just get in the coach, Jack," Robert said tolerantly.
Jack obeyed, climbing in to sit next to Will, but muttering incredulously to himself about his ignorant brother. Mr. Lancaster, who sat across from them, was eyeing Jack's exotic appearance and he commented on it.
"It always gives me a start when I see you like this," he said. "You look so fierce and uncivilized."
Jack grinned. "Pirates generally are."
Mr. Lancaster cleared his throat. "Yes, about that. Robert has informed me that you have quite a record. I have enough influence, though, that I believe I can have you cleared of all your crimes."
Jack brightened. "Really? Norrington would have a seizure. That'd give me an opportunity to do them all over again too."
His father looked pained. "Jack, that's not the point. This would give you an opportunity to start afresh. I would still like for you and Robert to inherit my estate and business. You can become a gentleman again and live in England. Put all that piracy nonsense behind you."
Jack looked reflectively at the ceiling. "Ah, yes, then I could settle down with a fine lady and live happily ever after to the end of my days, is that right?"
"Well, yes, something like that," Mr. Lancaster admitted.
"But," Jack continued, "with no ocean, no ship, no freedom. That's no life for me. Like I told mother yesterday, I'm a pirate! It's everythin' I've ever wanted and I wouldn't trade it for all the gold in the world."
His father sniffed, unconvinced. "We'll see."
Will looked sympathetically at Jack and gave his arm a squeeze. Ah well, at least the lad understands, Jack thought philosophically. And I'll be home after another week or so.
They arrived in London a couple days later and immediately checked into an inn near the blacksmith guildhall. It wasn't far from where Parliament convened either and so was suitable for both parties. Soon after they were settled, Will went to the blacksmith guildhall to meet the master there and introduce himself. Jack wanted to go along, but Will pointed out that the pirate's appearance wouldn't exactly be welcome. Sulking slightly after the blacksmith left, Jack contented himself with going through the boy's belongings to see if there was anything of interest.
"Well, well, what do we have here," he said, coming upon a bundle of papers.
Reading through them, Jack discovered with delight that they were love letters to Elizabeth. Those kept him amused for the better part of an hour and he reread the best bits just for fun. When he heard Will coming up the stairs he hastily stuffed them back in Will's bag and flopped down on the bed, assuming an air of boredom.
Peering in through the door, Will spied Jack and came fully into the room.
"Sorry it took so long, Jack. There was a lot they wanted to show me. But I told them I was going to be here for at least a week and that I'd come back every day."
"Really," Jack said, stifling an exaggerated yawn. "Well, now that you've done your business, lad, it's time to have some fun."
"Oh no," Will said, backing away with wide eyes. "I know your definition of fun and it's not something I'm too interested in."
Jack got up from the bed and went over to Will, slinging a companionable arm about his shoulders. "Come now, lad, jus' trust me.
"Trust you, eh?" Will snarled at the pirate as they dodged down an alley, the shouts and whistles of the mob close behind them. "That was my first mistake. I should have learned by now."
"Come now, lad, it's not that bad," Jack said, deftly balancing on the wall at the end of the alley before jumping and landing in a crouch on the other side, lithe as cat.
"Not bad?!" Will asked incredulously as he scrambled over the wall after Jack. "We're being chased by a drunk, bloodthirsty mob who will rip us apart as soon as they catch us, and you call that not bad?!"
"Calm down, Will," Jack said, putting a hand on the young man's shoulder. "You're startin' to sound a mite hysterical."
At that moment, Will would have happily wrung the pirate's neck, but the approaching tumult of the mob warned him that it would have to wait. Far from being worried, though, Jack was in his element. The faint light of nearby lamps and torches reflected off smoky, intense eyes sparkling with excitement and his smile glowed faintly in the dark as he glanced back to assess the progress of their pursuers.
"Let's go!" Will demanded urgently, tugging on Jack's arm.
"All right, I'm coming, whelp," Jack said, glancing back once more before running after Will with smooth strides belying his often swaying walk.
Going to the left, they turned down an alley leading back in the direction they had just come from, intending to double back, but before Will could reach the end of the alley, the pirate had jerked him back against the wall. He was about to turn and berate the captain, but Jack held a finger to his lips and nodded his head forward, indicating that Will should look. Craning his neck to look over Jack's head, Will saw two bulky figures crouched at the alley mouth. If Jack hadn't stopped him, he would have run straight into them.
"Dunno why we 'ave t' wait 'ere," one of them said in a sullen voice.
" 'Cause Pierre wants 'em caught," the other one snarled. " 'Specially that one with the beads."
"This mob's a little bit smarter than I thought," Jack whispered, his warm breath tickling Will's ear. "Seems they've left people at the alley entrances so we can't double back."
"What are we going to do?" Will asked softly.
Jack's eyes tilted upward, noting the ropes that stretched across the alley overhead. They were clotheslines, currently void of any garments and were attached to the sill of each window on both sides of the alley. Will followed his gaze uncomprehendingly, looking back at Jack with a faint crease of confusion between his eyebrows.
"We're goin' up to the rooftops," Jack clarified, "savvy?"
Will looked again at the clotheslines and back at Jack in disbelief. "How exactly do you think you're going to accomplish that?"
"Watch and learn, mate," Jack said, edging slowly back the way they'd came. When they were about in the middle of the alley, Jack climbed atop a refuse pile next to one of the walls and with a small jump, caught hold of the lowest clothesline. He then proceeded to swing back and forth until he had swung high enough to grab the line above and in front of him by hooking his legs over it. Dangling upside down, his hair hanging in disarray about his head, he grinned at Will.
"See how it's done? We'll just go up it like it's a stairway."
"You are mad," Will muttered, climbing onto the refuse pile.
Not bothering to answer, Jack grunted in effort as he swung backwards and arched his back inward to grab the next highest line above him. Fortunately all the ropes were fairly close together, enabling Jack to reach them. Hanging again by his hands, he glanced over his shoulder to see how Will was doing and saw that the blacksmith had made it to the second line. The two brutes at the alley entrance had finally noticed them and were lumbering over with rough bellows of anger. By the time they had climbed on top of the refuse pile, though, Will had made it to the fourth rope and was too far away for them to reach. Fortunately, the two ruffians didn't seem to have any pistols with them and they weren't about to attempt Jack's route, so all they could do was shout ineffectual threats at the escaping pair.
Making it to the highest line, Jack transferred his grip to the edge of the flat rooftop and hauled himself up, lying on his back for a moment before rolling over and peering over the edge to see Will's progress. The young man was almost as quick at it as Jack and within a few moments he had pulled himself onto the roof as well.
"I think I popped a few vertebrae out of my spine," Will said, rubbing his back and glaring at Jack.
"We escaped, didn't we?" Jack said airily, ignoring the light twinge in his own back.
"No, we're now stuck on a rooftop."
"We're not. See how close these buildings are together?" Jack gestured with his hand. "We'll jus' jump across."
"Fine," Will growled. "Let's just make it back to our inn in one piece. This entire thing is your fault you know. If you hadn't insulted that man we wouldn't be up here hiding from a mob."
Jack looked insulted. "And let him get away with impugnin' me honor? Not likely."
The mention of the mob brought Will's mind back to the earlier words of the two ruffians at the alley entrance and he frowned thoughtfully at the pirate.
"Jack, what did those two down there mean earlier when they said 'Pierre wants them caught, especially the one with the beads'?"
Jack shrugged. "Don't know, mate. There's plenty've people with grudges 'gainst me. Can't recall anyone named Pierre though."
"You had best be on your guard then," Will said worriedly.
Jack clapped him on the shoulder. "No worries, mate, I'll be fine. No one's gotten the best of me yet."
"Famous last words," Will said, annoyed by the pirate's lack of concern.
"But never mine," Jack replied.
Backing up a little ways, the pirate got a running start to the edge of the roof and pushed off in a flying leap over to the other building, landing in a crouch.
"Come on, Will!" he called, straightening up.
Sighing, Will followed after the pirate, grunting a little as he landed hard on the next rooftop. Jack was already ahead of him on the next roof and the blacksmith hurried to catch up, having fun in spite of himself when Jack turned it into a race to see who could make it to the inn first. They were halted before they reached the inn by the lack of anymore flat rooftops and had to continue their race on the ground. Will made it to the inn first, but Jack claimed that he hadn't won because the pirate had been the first one to make it to the last flat rooftop. They argued about it until they were in their room and finally decided to call it a tie. They were both asleep almost as soon as they went to bed, but Will admitted to himself before he drifted off that it had been kind of fun.
The next evening, after returning from a grueling day of work at the smithy, Will returned the room he and Jack shared and found it empty. That in itself didn't alarm him, but the fact that Jack's tri-cornered hat and pistol were lying on the ground gave him pause. Jack usually didn't go anywhere without his "effects" as he liked to call them and if he did, he usually put them somewhere where they couldn't be harmed. Frowning a little, Will picked them up and placed them on Jack's bed, glancing around the room briefly just in case Jack had left a note somewhere stating his whereabouts. Deciding that maybe Jack had been drunk or in a hurry, Will decided not to worry about it and went to the door, intending to go find Robert. A slight grating noise stopped him and he felt something hard under his shoe. Moving his foot, he looked down and saw one of Jack's rings. Picking up the slender, etched golden band, his sense of danger heightened. Jack would definitely never leave one of his rings on the floor or loose it so carelessly. Something had happened to Jack.
Will hurriedly found Robert and reported his missing brother. Robert thought Will was overreacting and told him to wait until the next morning. If Jack hadn't shown up by then, they would look for him.
"And how would we every find him in this huge city?" Will asked despairingly.
"We can alert the police," Robert said soothingly. "After all, Jack's unique appearance would not make it that hard to identify him."
Will shook his head. "I think something has happened to Jack. We were chased last night by these men who said that someone named Pierre wanted Jack captured."
Robert's gaze sharpened. "Pierre, you say? That sounds familiar."
He frowned and tapped his fingers thoughtfully. "I seem to recall at the last party I attended there was a man named Pierre . . . I think he was with Edward York . . . yes, now that I think about it, he seemed to be a sort of bodyguard confidante of York."
Robert looked suddenly alarmed as he said this, and he grabbed Will's arm tightly.
"Tell me," he said intensely, "was there anything else you heard."
Will shook his head and winced a little at the vise grip on his arm. Robert noticed and let go, too distracted to even offer an apology.
"What's the relevance of York?" Will asked curiously, having noticed Robert's reaction to the name.
Robert had begun to pace up and down the room in agitation and now he turned toward Will.
"Ever since the 12th century the Yorks and the Lancasters have had a running feud. The two houses fought each other for the kingship, weakening each other greatly, and as a result, allowing the Tudors to gain ascendancy. Ever since, each house has blamed the other for their loss of power. The two houses have always worked against each other, but this is the first time that something as drastic as a kidnapping has taken place."*
Will nodded in understanding but was still puzzled by something. "I know Jack is a Lancaster, but how did they find out about him so quickly and why would they kidnap him of all people?"
Robert shook his head grimly "News travels fast. Anyone who saw Jack at the party could have told York. The servants most likely spread it among themselves as well. As to why Jack, he would be a major embarrassment to our house. A notorious pirate a Lancaster? It would disgrace the entire family, no matter how distantly related. Our cousin, Lord Lancaster, who is the head of the house has recently gained power in Parliament and York does not like that at all He might have seen this as an opportunity to disgrace the Lancasters enough that the Yorks will gain ascendancy over us."
Robert slammed a fist into his open hand. "Damn it! I should never have had Jack announced at the party!"
Will laid a comforting hand on his arm. "It's not your fault, Robert. I'm sure York would have found out eventually."
Robert took a deep breath. "You are right. There's no use becoming angry over it now."
"How are we going to rescue Jack?" Will asked eagerly, impatient to be off to help his friend.
Robert looked down. "I don't know."
* The Yorks and the Lancasters did not continue to feud until the seventeenth century. In fact, the two houses were united by marriage a little while after the Wars of the Roses, but for the purposes of my story, their feud is still going strong.