Lord Knows I Can't Change

Chapter Two

            "We're devils and black sheep and really bad eggs, drink up me 'earties yo ho!" He sang quietly to himself. "We pillage, we plunder, we rifle and-… Uh…" He laughed as he set the hammer down and picked the sword up, balancing it; his eyes shifting back and forth from the handle to the razor-sharp tilt. Seeing nothing wrong with it he sheathed it and set it aside and sighed as he looked over at the many other unfinished orders. In the two years that had passed since the whole Aztec Gold incident, his swords had become increasingly popular, and as a result he was literally drowning in orders from various people for various occasions. After Mr. Brown's death nearly a year ago, Will had been put in charge of the Armory, and at first had felt dismayed at the idea of running his own shop with no aid. He had grown to like it though, and like had grown to love. No one was around to bother him while he was trying to concentrate on the very precise detail of the sword orders.

The only thing he didn't like was that everything fell into his lap, including deadlines.

Will wiped his hand across his brow, grimacing at the moisture that now covered his palm. That was another thing he hated -it was always so damn hot in that Armory shop.

            Deciding that the rest of the orders could wait, he walked over to the door and slipped out. Once outside he couldn't help but smile as the sweet smell of the sea hit him and his mind was taken back to the two and a half days that had come two years ago. He would never admit it, but he sometimes missed those days; missed that feeling of freedom that Jack so eagerly craved.

Jack.

Captain Jack Sparrow. Now there was an interesting man. A fine pirate and a good man.

A man Will had not seen since the day he had saved him from the gallows.

            Will shut his eyes and slid down the door, leaning his head back and letting the cool breeze from the sea rustle his hair. There were tons of rumors floating about regarding what had become of the captain, and some were rather bizarre. There was the one where the pirate captain had supposedly been slapped too hard and one too many times and had had his jaw broken as a result of it, forcing the still relatively young man to finally settle down on land and hand over the Pearl to somebody else. Both Will and Elizabeth had found that one to be highly amusing and so very, very wrong. Another one, though, wasn't quite as humorous. Not even two weeks earlier, Will had overheard talk amongst a few of the townspeople, one of them being a native from Tortuga. The man from Tortuga explained in almost too cheery of a tone that Jack had died, had gotten some sort of fever and had died alone in his cabins on his ship last month. Will shook his head and opened his eyes briefly, staring at the sea as a small smile spread across his face.

That one was so very, very wrong as well.

            "We're devils and black sheep and really bad eggs…" He closed his eyes again and trailed off, humming silently to himself. "… We plunder, we rifle and -And, uh…" He stopped short, growling in annoyance. "See Jack? You being gone for two years straight is bad -I've forgotten the words to the bloody song!"

            "Not my fault ye never were good at memorizin' stuff, lad." His eyes snapped open and he jumped to his feet, smiling broadly before he could even try to stop himself.

Jack hadn't changed at all. Same clothes, same coat, same bizarre hair with ornaments dangling around his face, same kohl out lined eyes…

Same everything.

            "Jack!" Will called cheerfully and jogged over to his older friend, who just smiled slyly and held up to slender fingers, eyes narrowing at Will.

            "Captain," he corrected and lowered his hands. Will couldn't help but laugh. "Captain Jack Sparrow, savvy? Honestly, why is it so bloody hard for people to remember that?" Will just smirked at him, a frown quickly taking its place when he remembered that Jack was still a wanted man.

            "Why are you here? You could get caught, Jack! -And where's the Pearl?" Jack held up a single hand as a sign for Will to cease his questioning. Will did so, crossing his arms and leaning his weight on one foot, waiting for the pirate captain's answer.

            "She's safe, mate, hidden in a nice secure spot," Jack answered, referring to the Black Pearl. "And I never get caught, lad, 'member? I just came to visit you and your bonny lass, who, I'm guessing, you're still with, correct?" Will smiled at the mention of his fiancée's name and nodded his head.

            "Yes. We are engaged." Jack pressed his hands together in apparent glee.

            "Ooh, a wedding! I love weddings; drinks all around!" Both Jack and Will laughed, finally stopping a few seconds later.

            "Jack?" Jack looked at the younger man. "I'm glad you're here, I was worried that the rumors were true, that you were dead." The pirate shook his head, gold teeth appearing as he grinned.

            "No one can kill Captain Jack Sparrow, lad, ye know that."

            "It's hard when Captain Jack Sparrow hasn't contacted me once in two years, though," Will said with a grin and Jack nodded, smiling. The pirate captain looked down at the ground briefly and then at the sea. Will looked so much like his father… it hurt to look at him, it became harder to breathe. So many memories were racing through his mind that he was sure his head would explode from their pounding feet. Why did he have to look so much like Bootstrap damn it?!

            Will noticed Jack sway and reached for his arm, steadying the older man concernedly, a stern look to his eyes. "Jack, what's wrong?" He continued to stare at the sea. I killed your father, Will; they threw him overboard because he was fighting for me… Trying to save me… It's my fault… Will shook Jack. It's my fault… He shook him harder and the pirate captain finally snapped out of it, turning away from the sea and locking eyes with Will.

The look in the pirate's eyes scared the hell out of the blacksmith. He looked… -He didn't know, he couldn't describe what he saw… -His eyes just looked so… -They were so…-

Lifeless.

            "Jack…" He whispered, his grip on the pirate's arm tightening. "Jack, what is it? What's wrong?" Jack pulled his arm away from Will's iron grip and grinned at his friend, ignoring the pain that looking at him was causing him.

            "Nothing, lad, just tired…" Seeing that the blacksmith wasn't falling for it, Jack quickly added more to his lie. "There was a bad storm, mate, and it rocked the Pearl practically all night. None of us got any sleep." Will opened his mouth to protest but Jack held up a finger. "Now," he smiled, "let's go see dear Miss. Swann, savvy?"

Will stared at him. The lying bastard… Will wasn't a simpleton; he saw that pain in Jack's eyes.

Bloody stubborn pirate, he thought to himself.

            "Savvy," he mumbled a few seconds later, and Jack smiled in his characteristic way. He turned on his heel and headed off towards the Governor's house, trying to catch his breath. It was so hard looking at Will… -Seeing so much of Bootstrap in him, the same features, the same everything… -But it wasn't him, and that hurt. It hurt like nothing else. If not because of him, Bootstrap wouldn't have spoken up and he wouldn't have been crushed by water pressure. He'd be alive, Will would have his father.

He shut his eyes tightly. Not only had he killed Bootstrap, he also had hurt Will.

Jack opened them again, not noticing that Will was walking beside him, fairly close in case the man started to sway again.

Will noticed Jack's glistening eyes and sighed.

To Be Continued…

AN: Whew, well, okay! There was chapter two -hope you enjoyed! This was my first time writing Will so I hope I did a good job. Oh, and there's a hint as to what the story is about towards the end… ;)

Oh! I need to make a quick shout out to somebody…

Kristine- Thanks for your help with these two chapters, dropping everything numerous times to read over them and letting me know what you thought and if anything needed to be changed. It's really nice of you to do that… especially when you're in the midst of doing homework. :)

To whoever read chapter one, whether you read and reviewed or just read, thanks for taking the time to read and I hope you enjoy chapter two!!

Please R/R on your way out!!!!