Pairings: Jack/Will. Light slash – nothing graphic.
Notes: I never expected a short story to become this. Thanks to everyone who encouraged me to expand on it. As always, feedback is welcome.
Thanks also to Peter Gabriel for the song lyrics.
"Love I get so lost, sometimes
days pass and this emptiness fills my heart"
Captain Jack Sparrow stood at the helm of his beloved Black Pearl, the ocean spread out before him and the warmth of the sun on his face. Below him the crew went about their daily tasks without much rush. They had been fortunate of late to plunder several ships so everyone was quite happy and making plans for much drinking and whoring as soon as they reached port. Jack knew their money would not last long and there would probably be some crew who need "assistance" leaving the local jails but that would be typical of a trip to shore for them.
"All my instincts, they returnAnd the grand façade, so soon will burn
Without a noise, without my pride
I reach out from the inside"
The encounter with Barbossa and escape from Port Royal had only enhanced his reputation. On trips ashore he was still the grand Captain Jack Sparrow, drinking rum in ungodly amounts while managing to keep his charm and wits about him. The local whores were always glad to see him and he was always glad to indulge in their talents to the fullest (except of course for Scarlett. He still couldn't figure out what he'd done to that wench. Or Giselle either for that matter). To himself Jack wondered if by touching the cursed gold he had inherited a little of the curse for it took more rum than usual to slake his thirst and more women to help him forget the memory of a certain blacksmith and a night spent in Tortuga.
A night that no amount of rum would ever burn out of his brain. He had just wanted to talk with the lad and had ended up bedding him instead. "Really mate?" a voice inside his head spoke "All you did was bed him? Just like all of those wenches?" For the first time Jack had to admit it was not the same at all. From the moment he had looked into Will's eyes by the firelight in that room, from the instant they had reached for each other it had been different. He honestly couldn't remember how they had made it to the bed - which was typical for Jack Sparrow on most nights – but what he could remember was the feel of those rough blacksmith hands on his skin, the kisses that never seemed to end and most of all the words whispered between them, words which Captain Jack Sparrow could say with honesty he had never spoken to a single woman in his life. Most of all Jack remembered Will's eyes, those incredible eyes full of a light and heat that burned into his rum soaked soul. Jack had looked into those eyes the next morning intending to speak but found he couldn't because those eyes robbed him of speech. He had merely looked at Will and left the inn without a word.
"Jack" A voice from beside him snapped him from the memories. "It's Captain Jack to you love," he turned to Anamaria, "Savvy?" "All right, Captain Jack then. Isn't it time you be claiming what is yours?" "I've taken my prizes from our plunder love, so my claim is set." Anamaria sat on the rail, "That's not what I mean. When you call me into your cabin to drink and not bed me afterwards I know your mind is with someone else. I may be a pirate but I'm also a woman, and we women see things much clearer than men." She stood and put a hand over his, "Your heart has been taken, Captain Jack Sparrow. " He looked at her and for a moment let his guard down, "The crew?" "Have no idea. To them you're not changed, " she stood up and grinned wickedly, "But then again they're a scurvy lot of men, aren't they?" He watched as she returned to the deck, his mind racing.
The Pearl sailed her way into harbor in Tortuga, the crew eager to go ashore to fairer company and better drink. All worked quickly to moor the ship at the dock and then scatter into town. As Jack swaggered down the gangplank he saw a familiar figure standing at the end of the dock.
"In your eyes Resolution of all the fruitless searchesIn your eyes
I see the light and the heat
In your eyes
Oh I want to be that complete
I want to touch the light
The heat I see in your eyes"
"Dear William," Jack stopped in front of him, "and looking so well. And where might your bonnie lass be? Can't help but notice the wench isn't by your side." "She's with her husband. In London," Will replied, noticing how quickly Jack caught his breath then quickly became himself again. "Is she now? Decided life with a blacksmith wasn't to her liking?" Jack spoke casually but searched those eyes – damn him, those wonderful eyes – for an answer he hoped to find. "No, she decided she wanted me to be happy. I'm a pirate Jack, I need to be with pirates and claim what is mine".
"In your eyesThe light the heat
In your eyes
I am complete"
Jack threw his arm about Will's shoulders, "Well then lad, come aboard the Pearl and claim what is yours." And as they walked aboard the ship, both men realized that just one night had become a lifetime to be shared.
