One Night

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^ Woot! Whatever was causing the evil symbols is gone! Yay! *does happy dance*Thanks soooo much for all the reviews, I do a happy dance each time I get one! I also really don't like this title much, so if you can think of a better one, I will give you a prize! And thanks to Beau Porteur De Diamant, because she is being the most slinkster cool beta ever! XD On with the show, eh? *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^

Will resisted the impulse to roll his eyes. Elizabeth tried not to show how the drunken question had stabbed her deeply in a swift, secret place and spoke;

"They mean Billy, obviously. He bears an uncanny resemblance to you, Jack-" Anamaria growled at Elizabeth, actually bared her teeth and growled at the familiar tone she was using. Elizabeth was only taken aback for a moment- this was her child they were talking about. Jack grinned apoligetically and gently smacked Anamaria on the behind.

"We'll have none of that, darling" She clawed his arm with her nails, but Jack made no sign of noticing. Elizabeth cleared her throat.

"He bears an uncanny resemblance to you, Ja- Captain Sparrow, we've been over this. It's why you remembered him, if your addled brain can recall" Jack rubbed his free hand (the one not being bloodied by a woman) over his beard.

"Hmm. Wonder why that is." Elizabeth blushed, redder than anything.

"H-he idolizes you," Elizabeth stammered. "He wants to be you. I think he tries, you know. To look like you." Jack grinned his infuriating, cheeky grin.

"Lass, that's more than tryin' going on, on his face. You sure nothin' went on, on that island? I seem to remember." He shut his eyes and appeared to be concentrating hard, his brow folded. Elizabeth's heart pounded. Anamaria continued to bloody his arm (it was nearly in rivets now, the blood, honestly) while punching him in the stomach. To do this she had to twist around in the grip he had on her waist. Her face was in front of his. He opened his eyes when he felt her there, and much to Elizabeth's relief and Anamaria's hidden pleasure, he kissed her, long and hard.

"Don't worry, love, I don't remember anything because there's nothing to remember." Anamaria was now shrieking a volley of curses.

Elizabeth sighed. Perhaps he was right. It was completely possible, wasn't it, that Billy was her and Will's son? Perhaps Will was some third cousin of Jack's (you know how pirates are with woman! They sow their seed everywhere. It's very possible, isn't it?) and their baby happened to have his features. It was possible. More than possible. Likely. Especially because she had no real memory of ever sleeping with Jack. And if she ever got any, she would be sure to hide it now. At least in front of Anamaria.

"How're we going to get Billy back?" asked Will, his hand suddenly reassuring and strong on her shoulder. She put her hand on his, feeling his ring under her fingers. This is what matters, she told herself. Him and Billy and John and Elizabeth. Not phantom dreams ten years old. Getting Billy back. Now.

Jack shrugged and continued to trace patterns down Anamaria's shivering back with his callused fingers. He wasn't really concentrating on them at the moment, truth be told. It was her smooth, soft, chocolate skin and her little shudders of pleasure that he was concentrating on. Elizabeth knew this and was infuriated. She stepped forward and all but tore him away from Anamaria. She smacked him, once but soundly. Jack rolled his eyes and rubbed at his jaw. He had been about to make some snide comment when she cut him off.

"YOU TELL ME RIGHT NOW, JACK SPARROW HOW WE ARE GOING TO GET OUR SON BACK OR ELSE SO I WILL MAKE SURE YOU CAN NEVER, EVER MAKE ANOTHER ONE AGAIN."

Elizabeth seemed to loom over him, huge and terrifying. Jack pulled his hat over his eyes and sighed.

"So 'e is mine, then"

Elizabeth deflated. Will took her hand. "What's this, Elizabeth?" She looked away. Will dropped her hand as if it suddenly had become to hot for him to touch.

"Will.I don't know," she said, truthfully. Will sat down, hard, on the deck. She couldn't look at him. Jack, for once being tactful, said perhaps this conversation would better be continued in his private chambers. And if Anamaria wasn't present.

Will did not touch her once the way down into the cabin. Elizabeth was reeling in her mind. First she had lost her son. Now she was losing her love, her only, her pirate, her rock, her hero, her husband, her Will.

Jack cleared off some maps and things from the chairs. "Here, here, sit down," he said, his voice oddly gentle. He sat behind his desk, boots propped up on it. "Well," he began, trying to ignore the fact that both these people looked like they were going dead on the inside. "What's the story?"

Will glanced at Elizabeth. "I don't know. But apparently Billy isn't my son. And I'd like to know how that happened." Elizabeth turned very red, and stared hard at Will's feet.

"I don't know, either, Will. Jack and I both drank a lot, that night, more than I've ever had in my life. Or ever will again." She shuddered, remembering a man's touch, a man who wasn't Will. And then she cried a little, tiny bit, thinking how now she would never have her (dare she call him hers any longer, even in the privacy of her own mind?) Will again.

Will, for his part, longed to touch her, longed to take her into his arms and comfort her but he couldn't. He was frozen in pain, wondering if his life had been a lie. If Billy was not his son. If Elizabeth's heart really belonged to another man. But even if both were true.Billy was still his son. He had raised the boy. And Elizabeth.even if her heart lay with another, his was hers. Forever.

Will stood slowly. "Elizabeth. You are still my wife. Billy is still my son. I love both of you. No matter what." She cried and reached her arms out to him, but he did not take them. "I love you. But I need time. If this tale is true." And for the first time he turned away.

Even Jack averted his eyes from this sad scene. But Elizabeth did not cry. She understood. She cleared her throat and began.

"Jack and I were marooned on this island with no chance of rescue- so we thought. So we drank. I was scared, Will, I was scared and Jack was there and he was strong." She tried to explain about his eyes, how they had been so much like Will's that her drunken mind really had no problem rationalizing everything. She explained how she hadn't remembered, until Billy had started looking so much like Jack, and even then her memories had been nothing more than snatches of dreamscapes. Jack nodded in agreement with her at some points, but remained uncharacteristically silent. He sensed, perhaps, that as much as this concerned him, it was really these two the drama was about. After all, he had just found out he had one more son then expected, but Will had just found out he had one less. Jack figured Will was in a worse position.

After hearing the story, Will stood. He said, "Jack, you had better think of something."

Jack nodded, raised his eyebrows in conjunction with his cheeky smile, spread his arms wide and said, "I will, man. I'm Jack Sparrow!"

Will nodded, but then directed all attention at Elizabeth. She was staring into space, hair falling haphazardly into her empty eyes. Her son was gone. Her husband removed from her plane. She looked damaged. Jack looked away.

Will touched her hair, briefly. She looked up at him with eyes heavy with love and pain and remorse and guilt and relief. He smiled, slightly. She smiled a little back. "Good night," he whispered, but then was gone. Elizabeth smoothed the lap of her grown and whispered "Good night, my Will"