Disclaimer: I own zero percent of the imaginary money that was spent on the making of this movie, thus the lawyers insist that no matter what I cannot own them . . .
AN: Thanks to reviewers. Sorry it's taken so long to update. Thing have been nutters around here, and then two friends and I had a get together and they introduced me to a new sport—tubing! It's indescribable what it feels like to go tubing at 50 mph off the back of a speedboat when this is the first time that you've ever been on a speedboat (I kept telling them to crank up the speed and at 50 I flipped over and fell off the tube, which was also kind of fun in a my-back-will-never-be-the-same-again way). It was a great way to relax and blow off steam, just as good as writing, which, for me, is a form of relaxation. This story is now nearing completion and no other plots are dancing in my head, so I think that I'll be taking a break unless someone can throw me a plot kernel, even just one scene, considering that's what started these last two. Actually, I don't really want a break—I want a new plot! In any category (that I know)! I need to give my muses names so I can berate them when they're not working right, like now . . .
Trust Me Still
Part 15
Ana-Maria stalked cautiously through the dimly lit cavern, her sword in her right hand and a cocked pistol in her left.
She was taking no chances this time, a precaution that seemed extra wise after the state of the corpse that she had passed a moment before.
It had been a hellish wait on the Pearl, hoping for some signal from Jack while expecting the other ship to come after them at any moment. No one had been set as a watch—it was a silent and worried crew that had formed a ragged and silent line of watchers. The only thing that had broken the silence was Elizabeth berating young Jack for attempting to show his sister how to climb up into the rigging.
When over an hour had passed since she last saw Jack still no signs of life were visible either on the island or on the other ship, Ana-Maria had volunteered herself as a scout to see what was happening.
It had taken all of her diplomatic skills, which, granted, weren't all that amazing, to convince Elizabeth to stay behind on the Pearl with her children while the female pirate went after Jack . . .and Will. In the end it was only a mother's instinct and the threat to let the crew do whatever they wanted with young Jack while the two women were gone that had kept Elizabeth from following.
The Pearl still stood, a barely discernable speck on the horizon, ready to run at the slightest sign of life on the raider's ship. It wasn't quite breaking the code—after all, if Jack had, by some miracle, managed to survive and defeat the raiders, then anything in the underground catacombs was theirs for the taking.
If he hadn't, then Ana-Maria would see that he was rescued or put out of his misery.
If he were dead, she would see that he got a decent burial, on land or in the grips of his much-loved ocean.
She shifted her right shoulder, resettling the strap to the pack that rested gently against her left leg, containing bandages, some water, and rum. He had already been hurt once that she knew of. It really wouldn't surprise her much if he had gotten himself injured again.
Footsteps echoed down the corridor and she froze, searching for a place to hide and finding only the shadows that flickered along the walls.
A voice joined the footsteps, low but familiar, and singing a very familiar song.
"Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me. We pillage, we plunder, we . . .something da di." A muffled grunt echoed down the hall. "See, Jack, you're gone for a few months and I forget the words . . .or maybe Nerla didn't approve . . ."
No response seemed to be forthcoming, and Ana-Maria watched carefully as a figure staggered around the curve in the corridor.
If she were an overly superstitious woman, she probably would have bolted screaming 'ghosts' all the way back to the Pearl. As it was, she seriously considered the action before stepping forward.
Will was coated in blood from his head to his feet, the smeared imprint of bloody fingers showing around his mouth and by his ear. It was the body, also blood-soaked, that he held cradled in his arms that drew and held the female pirate's attention.
Her captain. Her friend.
Supposedly Will's friend.
Ana-Maria stepped forward out of the shadows and approached Will, aiming the pistol at his head. "What have you done?"
Will froze, his features shifting between disbelief, confusion, fear, and acceptance faster than Ana-Maria would have believed possible.
"This really isn't what it looks like, and it's not my fault. Well, it is my fault, but I fixed it." Ana-Maria continued to stare at him, her finger on the trigger, and Will gently shook the body that he held, never breaking eye contact with the woman. "Now would be a really opportune time to come around, Jack."
"He's still alive? Whose blood is that, then? Yours? Are you one of them?"
"'Them' are all dead, and the blood is mine and his, but it's not as bad as it seems, Ana-Maria. We were just trying to get out of here and he hit his arm on the wall and between that and the fact that he's been bleeding all over me because I don't have anything that isn't blood-soaked to bind his wounds with it was goodnight for the pirate but he should be coming around soon and please, please, please don't shoot me. It would really put a damper on the day if I win back my soul, have my friend resurrected, and then get shot by another friend because Jack and I are both clumsy in the dark, or the almost-dark, or we're both easily distracted by gruesome and bloody death."
Pirate and blacksmith locked eyes for a moment before she un-cocked the gun and placed it firmly in her belt. Her sword was in its sheath a moment later.
"Set him down. I've got bandages."
Will quickly did as he was told, wincing in pain as the injury to his arm stretched further and fresh blood trickled down his already-sodden sleeve.
"You're hurt as well. Sit down." Ana-Maria turned back to her captain, who was, indeed, breathing. "If all this blood truly does belong to the two of ye, ye should both be dead."
"It's a long story. Bind his leg first. That's the deepest injury."
Ana-Maria quickly moved her hands from pulling his blood-encrusted shirt away from the arm wound to pulling his equally bloody trousers away from the jagged slash above his knee. "And who gave him this?"
"I did, but I didn't mean to. Well, I did, but I didn't." Will laughed softly and Ana-Maria looked up, worry evident in her eyes. "Like I said, it's a long story."
Ana-Maria nodded and quickly slid the strap from around her neck and pulled a canteen of relatively clean water from within the pack that she used to wash away the blood so she could see the wound before wrapping it tightly with a clean white cloth. Almost immediately a spreading bloodstain began to grow on the white fabric.
As she turned her attention to the cut on Jack's shoulder, a hand closed around hers, the grip firm and strong.
"I thought I told ye to run."
"You didn't specify how far."
"Whatever happened to following the code?"
"They're more like guidelines, and if the raider's really are dead, than anything they have stashed on their ship or in these caves belongs to the Pearl. The crew finds that recompense enough for retrieving a captain that they rather respect."
"What about Elizabeth?"
"Dying of worry on board because I wouldn't allow her to come. She has both children, though, so I think she'll be all right until we get back. What exactly happened to you two?"
Jack looked to Will, who shrugged and motioned for Jack to proceed.
"Well, Will was possessed by a sword that tied him to these people and made it so he couldn't get hurt—scratch that, killed, it could still hurt but it healed—and as part of this possession thing he was driven to kill his family. He decided I was family and was trying to kill me when I came up with the brilliant idea of throwing down my sword—after he cut open my leg, of course. Then he's standing with a sword at my chest trying to decide what to do when I'm shoved from behind and I'm sure you can guess what that meant. Only he didn't get a choice in killing me, so they violated a rule of the curse or blessing or whatever so that the gods set Will free when he handed in his resignation by tossing his talking, possessed sword at the wall, at which point they reopened the wound on his chest and he bled a lot but he apparently didn't die. The rest of the brotherhood bled a lot and they did die. Then Will comes to see me, who is currently dead, only to find the gods apparently have a sense of justice—I'm betting it was Shiva—and they're healing my chest. Then I'm alive, he's alive, and we're limping along towards the exit when the brilliant lad trips and rams me into a wall, where all my weight lands on that bloody cut and the rest, I believe, you know."
Ana-Maria stared between the two men for a moment, unable to think of anything to say.
She pointed at Will. "You were possessed." He nodded.
She pointed at Jack. "You threw down your sword, despite the fact that you promised to survive, so you were dead."
Jack opened his mouth as if to argue, closed it again at the look on her face, and nodded reluctantly.
"Then you're un-possessed and by becoming un-possessed you bring him back to life."
Both men nodded slowly.
Ana-Maria laughed softly as she finished binding Jack's arm and turned to look at Will's. "I want to be there when you try to explain all of this to Elizabeth."
The two men stared at each other before answering in unison.
"I don't." Ana-Maria laughed again as she finished wrapping Jack's arm.
"Ye wouldn't have happened to have brought something to drink, would ye?" Ana-Maria smiled as she tossed Jack the canteen filled with rum before turning her attention to Will's arm.
"You two make a fine pair here. You've one good arm each, and opposite ones at that." Will winced as she pulled the bandage tight around his arm. Jack merely shrugged expressively before handing the rum to Will, who promptly returned it to Ana-Maria's pouch. Ana-Maria grinned at the look on Jack's face. "Come on. I believe we've kept Elizabeth waiting long enough."
Will nodded and stood, turning to give the pirate captain a hand up only to find that he was already standing, albeit unsteadily.
"Are we going to do this whole thing again, Jack, or will you just let us help you?"
"I was planning on letting you help me. I just don't want to have help getting onto my own ship, which means I'll need to be able to at least stand by myself."
"Stop being paranoid, Captain. The crew doesn't think that you're weak, and it's quite understandable not being able to walk quite right when ye've got a nice long gash above a rather important joint in your leg. Now come on. Lean on me."
Will found himself gently maneuvered aside as the female pirate took Jack's left arm around her shoulder and expertly guided his lean frame, showing no signs of stress from the weight that he was putting on her. Will wondered if she had done this before, and, if so, how many times.
"Come on, Will. Yer families waiting for you, and there's a little girl that's going to be very happy to have her father truly back with her."
"Ana . . .oh, God, she must hate me after what I said to her . . ."
Ana-Maria looked back at him sharply. "No, William Turner. She loves you. She misses you. She wants her father back."
"He is back . . .thanks to a friend." Will smiled at Jack, who grinned back toothily as he continued to limp forward.
"No problem, Will. No problem at all. By the way . . .we're even now."
Will nodded. "We're even, Jack."
The pirate returned his attention to walking, singing under his breath, and Will grinned at the back of his head.
Aye, they were even, but they had been even for a long, long time now, and Will knew that it wouldn't change anything. Jack would continue to be Jack, Will would still be Will, Elizabeth would still be Elizabeth . . .
Only the children would change, and Will knew that his children would need a real home if the changes were to be what he wished to see. No matter how good a man Jack was, he was still a pirate, and a pirate ship was no place for children . . .
Will shoved the thought from his mind. He would decide what to do later. Enough had happened today. All he really wanted now was to see his family, to start the healing that they all desperately needed . . .
Everything else could wait.