Chapter Three: Desire?

"Tree rooms peeze Marie, wit yo' prettiest whores for me friends 'ere." Jack's voice slurred from the simply massive amounts of alcohol he and Will had gone through. Will himself could not stand very well and was leaning heavily on Jack's shoulder.

Marie, a pretty middle-aged woman, smiled and nodded. "Come in love. Tis been far too long since the great Captain Sparrow has graced me girls wit his presence."

Jack stopped his forward movement and held up a hand. "Not for me dear. For the other three." He swayed forward as Will lost his balance and fell to the floor in an ungraceful heap. "Minus the one who can't stand."

Marie just smiled and led the other crewmates upstairs. Jack looked down on Will, not quite sure what to do. "We have a slight problem Willy Boy. You're drunk, and I'm drunk, and you've got to come upstairs with me."

A slight moan from the floorboards proved to be his only answer.

"Bugger." Jack looked around for some help. There was no one in the front parlor, save the greeting girl who was rather . . . occupied.

The man swept his hat off his head and ran a hand through his hair before bending over and fetching Will Turner by his ankles. He made slow progress on the stairs; each thump of Will's head against the next step making Jack wince. But it had to bed one. Most definitely had to be done.

He turned right and headed to the very last room at the end of the hallway. He threw open the door. Light flooded out and for a moment, Jack thought that Marie had actually rented out his room. There was no one inside the room however. Just his bed, turned down and warmed, and a nice hot bath. Jack smiled and finished dragging his friend inside. Jack managed to pick Will up and deposit him on the bed, through much strife and swearing. He pulled off Will's boots and sat down beside the unconscious man to take off his own.

"I don't know about you my friend, but I think it's time for a bath. But first, let's get you ready for bed."

Jack didn't know what his full intentions were when he reached for the buttons on Will's soiled shirt. Surely they were innocent. Just helping his friend. Surely he didn't have any other motives. Did he?

As he revealed Will's chest, the creamy skin he found there called like a siren. It looked so soft, so smooth, so touchable. Jack couldn't resist. He stole a look at Will's face but Will was out like a light.

Ever so carefully, Jack lowered his face to Will's chest. He stopped inches short of Will's belly button and took in a deep breath. Though covered in filthy clothes, Will retained that smell that Jack had come to recognize as his own. It shocked Jack that he remembered a smell after two years of nothing but salty air and smelly seamen.

Jack pressed his lips down, his head rising and falling with Will's breath. The skin on the man's stomach was just as soft as Jack had imagined. So smooth.

He brought a hand up, ran it down Will's side, lightly so as not to wake the boy, and backup. Soft, yet well built. He groaned into Will's skin as a shiver of desire snaked up his spine.

Shocked, Jack sat up, all contact with Will now broken. Desire? Desire? Where had that come from. He ran a hand through his hair and started to stand.

He resolved to let the undressing of Will wait until after his bath. He'd be more clear-headed. Jack groaned at the thought of being sober. In retaliation to the evil state of mind, Jack stumbled over to the dresser and pulled a bottle of Russian vodka out. "Bugger, what the hell is this?" He squinted, trying to read the label. "Bloody hell, I can't read!" He opened the bottle and took a swig.

"Goes down smooth at least." Jack took another deep drink. He stumbled to the tub and managed to remove his clothes before sinking into the water. He sighed as the warm liquid reached his neck, and passed out.

!~!~!~!~!

Will awoke with a start. Somewhere to his right, something heavy had just fallen.

He had no idea where he was.

He was on abed though, that much was obvious. The loud thump came again and he sat up quickly. A bit too quick apparently. He reeled from the pain in his head and fell back down. The biting pain in his temple was horrible.

'What the hell have I done to myself?'

Carefully now, he raised into a sitting position, his feet hanging off the bed he was on. Will surveyed the room, coming to rest on a tub, with Captain Jack Sparrow passed out, or sleeping deeply, inside. He smiled ruefully at his friend's predicament and got to his feet.

His bare feet.

Will looked down, noticing his toes for the first time. 'How in the bloody hell did my shoes get off?' He also noticed his completely unbuttoned shirt for the first time. 'Jesus! I'm half naked!' He quickly re-buttoned his shirt and made his way to the tub.

Jack was most certainly passed out. His arm hung limply out of the tub, his fingers barely grazing the wooden floor. He had such . . . wonderful hands.

As Will hovered over Jack, he noticed a slight ripple in the water and looked down. Jack was shivering. He was also completely naked. Will stifled a blush. He had to get Jack out before he froze to death.

Will leaned over and grabbed Jack under his arms and pulled. The unconscious man sat up, his entire body pliant in Will's hands. As Jack's head fell to Will's shoulder with their position, Will took in a deep breath, marveling at the smell of Captain Jack Sparrow.

He shook his head. It was the wrong time to be thinking about things like that.

He fished Jack from the tub and managed to get him to the bed. He dried him off and slipped him under the covers.

As he stood there and watched the steady rise and fall of Jack's chest he contemplated the last six months. The death of Elizabeth, his own death to the real world and the long days spent in the asylum.

After Elizabeth had died perhaps he had gone crazy. But not any more. Oh no, the time he spent by himself had been plenty of time to think of everything in his life. More importantly, what was missing from his life.

Jack

Two years in a dark hole with the memory of Elizabeth's smile and beautiful eyes in his brain. Knowing that she was gone. Knowing that now he had to live without her. That was the worst part.

But he was free now. Jack had set him free. Jack was here now, and Will wasn't going to make the mistake of letting Jack slip through his fingers again.