Disclaimer: Okay, kids, let's think about this. I'm 19! If you've seen the movie, then you know that I obviously did not write that amazing script.
A/N: Couple things. First of all, the name used in this story "Alexa" is not some name I happen to be fond of. I researched and everything. If you are interested in the meaning, it means, "Defender of men." When you read a little, you will understand why that is so important. Secondly, updates, although coming, will probably be somewhat slow, as I am trying to make this story as plausible as possible, and I am researching everything. Thirdly, although this has a Jack/OC romance, it is primarily an adventure, so please don't get upset that the romance doesn't happen all at once. Fourthly, I don't think this has been done before. But if it has, I'm sorry. I didn't know!
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"Security is an illusion. Life is either a daring adventure or it is nothing at all."
~Helen Keller
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It was chilly that evening. The ocean air whipped across his face as his chocolate eyes searched the sea for the long sought after patch of land.
It wouldn't be long now.
"That's it?"
The familiar voice behind him was dripping with disbelief.
Captain Jack Sparrow turned and addressed the speaker. "My father always used to say: 'There are always defenses. Concern yourself only with the ones that cannot be seen.'"
Will Turner, son of Bootstrap Bill Turner, husband to Elizabeth Swan, eyed the swiftly approaching island warily, something suspiciously like fear tugging at his heart.
Which was rather odd, considering the situations he'd been in before. After all, he'd fought the undead and attempted to save his best friend from a hanging (which, really, hadn't turned out at all as he might have planned) and yet at the thought of his next task, his stomach clenched together apprehensively.
Not that he would tell Jack, of course. Although the pair had been friends for a long time, there was no getting around the fact that Captain Sparrow just didn't understand the concept of fear, especially that which affected someone other than himself. He seemed to firmly believe that being Captain Jack Sparrow granted him pardon from the general rules of life endangerment.
And, anyway, it wasn't like Will had been tied and gagged, forced into what most would consider a ridiculous and potentially dangerous errand. No, when Jack had showed up on the Turner's doorstep a month before, both men knew that Will was under no obligation to accompany his old friend.
Elizabeth had been more than vocal about her opinion. "You'll get yourself killed," she'd snapped bluntly as they'd gone to bed that night, sending Jack to a guestroom to sleep while they talked it over. They were to give their answer first thing in the morning.
Will had said nothing, but gathered his wife near and pressed his lips against her neck.
"Pandora's Box…" she continued, seemingly unnoticing of her husband's affections. "Frankly, I don't think he's being entirely truthful with you, Will. With us. I mean, haven't you heard the myth?"
Will smiled against her shoulder. He could already feel her resolve crumbling.
"Yes, of course."
"And now Jack shows up, insisting that the myth is based on facts, and that's supposed to make me feel better? I don't know what kind of treasure he expects to find, but it could have all sorts of curses placed around the damn thing to keep out pilferers like yourselves."
"He says that there aren't any, and I believe him."
Elizabeth lay silently, thereafter, for so long that Will began to believe she'd gone on to sleep, deciding to tell Jack, in the morning, that her husband was not about to chance after some bloody box. A few moments later, however, she spoke again. "You should go," she said softly.
He kissed her again.
"As long as I'm with you," she continued.
He paused, thinking of the myth of Pandora's Box. The legend was that back when the gods existed they made a perfect woman with the most positive qualities they could bestow. The same gods, however, entrusted to her a box, making her swear to never open it. But being unable to control her curiosity, she did so anyway, and out of the box flew plagues, sorrows and mischief.
Jack had been evasive-had said that it was somehow based on reality, but had not given specifics. But if there was a real curse (Will inwardly shuddered, thinking of the Aztec gold) he did not want his wife to be any part of it.
"I don't know if that's such a good idea," he replied.
"You don't have to," she responded, her voice calm, but firm, "because whether you like it or not I'm going along."
He sighed and tried another route. "Do you really want to spend a month aboard a ship with CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow?"
"Do YOU really want to spend a month in the absence of your wife?"
Two days later the three had set sail for the distant island of Maudire.
"I can't believe we got this far," Elizabeth said now, coming up behind Will.
He silently agreed. Jack's "able-bodied crew" had abandoned ship for this particular endeavor and so the fact that the three had made it was a blessing.
But far more so was that Elizabeth had spent a month in such close contact with Jack and had not, as of yet, murdered him in his sleep.
"Alright, mates," Jack called, "get ready. We're about to go ashore."
***
An eerie fog had settled and Elizabeth couldn't ignore the goose bumps racing down her arms. It was a little too much, she thought, like her time aboard the Black Pearle when it was under the command of Captain Barbossa.
She nervous ran her fingers along the hilt of her sword, her wedding gift from Will.
No one spoke as they stepped onto the sand, and there was no sound at all, save for Jack's enthusiastic humming of "A Pirate's Life For Me."
She rather regretted ever teaching him that bloody song.
The Turners followed Jack into a cave not far from the shoreline, and then promptly froze when they caught sight of the interior.
"Well, this is VERY interesting," Jack murmured.
The man had a knack for understatement.
The walls, ceiling, were not made of stone of any kind, nor were they rough. With shaking fingers, Elizabeth reached up and touched it.
"It's crystal," she gasped in wonder.
"What did you think," Jack muttered, leading the way down a long passage. "That the gods would put their prized possession in a place less than suitable?"
The Turners still gazing at the walls in wonder, they made their way. They knew better than to question Jack's turns, so instead they simply remained quiet, but Will swallowed a lump in his throat when Elizabeth tightened her grip on his hand.
"I think we've found it," Jack said suddenly.
It was hard to believe, at that moment, that they had begun their journey by entering a cave. The room was gold. Later in their lives, each would claim that it was impossible, what they saw, for how could any island remain unnoticed, untouched for so long if their walls were made of gold? But even then, as they stared at the room in unmasked wonder, a part of them in the back of their mind was tugging. A part of them knew exactly why that room had remained intact.
It was the fear of the repercussions if they touched anything.
"You know," Will said, "I don't think we should be here."
"I'm in complete agreement," Elizabeth responded.
Jack rolled his eyes. "What you think? That the gold is going to leap from the wall and attack you? I wouldn't be too worried if I were you. It doesn't seem to have a weapon."
With that, he moved deeper into the room and caught sight of the most beautiful object he had ever seen.
Golden, like the room, and encrusted with seductive jewels, was what could only be Pandora's Box.
Just sitting in the center of the room.
In less than a blink, Jack was standing in front of the chest, his eyes eagerly drinking it in. He paused when his eyes darted to an inscription in a language that he had never seen before, but before he could ponder it any longer, a very familiar, very FEMALE voice snapped, "Don't touch it, Jack. I haven't followed you for a month and a half only to have to run you through."
With that, he felt the sharp tip of a sword press gently against his back. It wasn't bleeding yet, but it would if pressed much harder.
He slowly moved away from the chest and turned to face Will and Elizabeth, knowing that the woman was standing behind him, her sword still drawn. Will held his own blade and Elizabeth had been, apparently, reaching for hers when it had, evidently, occurred to them that perhaps it wasn't a good idea to fight a woman with a hostage.
Of course, THEY didn't know who the woman was.
"Alexa," he exclaimed, feigning pleasure he didn't altogether feel. "I've been meaning to stop by your home for a visit on me travels. Been a bit busy you know-"
"Quiet, Jack. I haven't the patience to listen to you go on for hours about how much you've missed me. It's been 15 years and I'm sure that you can remember just what happened the last time we saw each other, so don' t pretend you've spent all this time missing me."
Will's eyes narrowed in frustration. "Dammit, Jack, is there any female within a 100 mile radius you haven't managed to infuriate?"
"No," answered Alexa from her vantage point.
If Jack didn't know better, he might have thought she was smiling.
"But the past," she continued, "isn't the point. I didn't come so far just to kill the bastard, though don't think the thought didn't occur to me." She prodded him farther and he winced. "No, I'm here to keep you from making the grandest mistake of your entire existence. Captain Jack Sparrow, if you open that box, more than your life will be at stake."
With that, she pushed him forward, away from her and her sword and he turned to face the woman.
She hadn't changed much at all, he decided, examining her fair features. And 15 years was a long time. She was still only about 3 inches shorter than he, and still had the same furious green eyes and long red hair that kept her from blending in in a crowd.
All things considered, she should have been a rather terrible pirate, yet somehow she had managed to turn out alright. Not fantastic. But alright.
Sighing deeply, Jack gestured to Alexa with the grandiose attitude of someone presenting a queen. "Elizabeth and dear William, I would like to introduce to you the absolute apple of me eye-Alexa Sparrow. My wife."
A/N: Couple things. First of all, the name used in this story "Alexa" is not some name I happen to be fond of. I researched and everything. If you are interested in the meaning, it means, "Defender of men." When you read a little, you will understand why that is so important. Secondly, updates, although coming, will probably be somewhat slow, as I am trying to make this story as plausible as possible, and I am researching everything. Thirdly, although this has a Jack/OC romance, it is primarily an adventure, so please don't get upset that the romance doesn't happen all at once. Fourthly, I don't think this has been done before. But if it has, I'm sorry. I didn't know!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Security is an illusion. Life is either a daring adventure or it is nothing at all."
~Helen Keller
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was chilly that evening. The ocean air whipped across his face as his chocolate eyes searched the sea for the long sought after patch of land.
It wouldn't be long now.
"That's it?"
The familiar voice behind him was dripping with disbelief.
Captain Jack Sparrow turned and addressed the speaker. "My father always used to say: 'There are always defenses. Concern yourself only with the ones that cannot be seen.'"
Will Turner, son of Bootstrap Bill Turner, husband to Elizabeth Swan, eyed the swiftly approaching island warily, something suspiciously like fear tugging at his heart.
Which was rather odd, considering the situations he'd been in before. After all, he'd fought the undead and attempted to save his best friend from a hanging (which, really, hadn't turned out at all as he might have planned) and yet at the thought of his next task, his stomach clenched together apprehensively.
Not that he would tell Jack, of course. Although the pair had been friends for a long time, there was no getting around the fact that Captain Sparrow just didn't understand the concept of fear, especially that which affected someone other than himself. He seemed to firmly believe that being Captain Jack Sparrow granted him pardon from the general rules of life endangerment.
And, anyway, it wasn't like Will had been tied and gagged, forced into what most would consider a ridiculous and potentially dangerous errand. No, when Jack had showed up on the Turner's doorstep a month before, both men knew that Will was under no obligation to accompany his old friend.
Elizabeth had been more than vocal about her opinion. "You'll get yourself killed," she'd snapped bluntly as they'd gone to bed that night, sending Jack to a guestroom to sleep while they talked it over. They were to give their answer first thing in the morning.
Will had said nothing, but gathered his wife near and pressed his lips against her neck.
"Pandora's Box…" she continued, seemingly unnoticing of her husband's affections. "Frankly, I don't think he's being entirely truthful with you, Will. With us. I mean, haven't you heard the myth?"
Will smiled against her shoulder. He could already feel her resolve crumbling.
"Yes, of course."
"And now Jack shows up, insisting that the myth is based on facts, and that's supposed to make me feel better? I don't know what kind of treasure he expects to find, but it could have all sorts of curses placed around the damn thing to keep out pilferers like yourselves."
"He says that there aren't any, and I believe him."
Elizabeth lay silently, thereafter, for so long that Will began to believe she'd gone on to sleep, deciding to tell Jack, in the morning, that her husband was not about to chance after some bloody box. A few moments later, however, she spoke again. "You should go," she said softly.
He kissed her again.
"As long as I'm with you," she continued.
He paused, thinking of the myth of Pandora's Box. The legend was that back when the gods existed they made a perfect woman with the most positive qualities they could bestow. The same gods, however, entrusted to her a box, making her swear to never open it. But being unable to control her curiosity, she did so anyway, and out of the box flew plagues, sorrows and mischief.
Jack had been evasive-had said that it was somehow based on reality, but had not given specifics. But if there was a real curse (Will inwardly shuddered, thinking of the Aztec gold) he did not want his wife to be any part of it.
"I don't know if that's such a good idea," he replied.
"You don't have to," she responded, her voice calm, but firm, "because whether you like it or not I'm going along."
He sighed and tried another route. "Do you really want to spend a month aboard a ship with CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow?"
"Do YOU really want to spend a month in the absence of your wife?"
Two days later the three had set sail for the distant island of Maudire.
"I can't believe we got this far," Elizabeth said now, coming up behind Will.
He silently agreed. Jack's "able-bodied crew" had abandoned ship for this particular endeavor and so the fact that the three had made it was a blessing.
But far more so was that Elizabeth had spent a month in such close contact with Jack and had not, as of yet, murdered him in his sleep.
"Alright, mates," Jack called, "get ready. We're about to go ashore."
***
An eerie fog had settled and Elizabeth couldn't ignore the goose bumps racing down her arms. It was a little too much, she thought, like her time aboard the Black Pearle when it was under the command of Captain Barbossa.
She nervous ran her fingers along the hilt of her sword, her wedding gift from Will.
No one spoke as they stepped onto the sand, and there was no sound at all, save for Jack's enthusiastic humming of "A Pirate's Life For Me."
She rather regretted ever teaching him that bloody song.
The Turners followed Jack into a cave not far from the shoreline, and then promptly froze when they caught sight of the interior.
"Well, this is VERY interesting," Jack murmured.
The man had a knack for understatement.
The walls, ceiling, were not made of stone of any kind, nor were they rough. With shaking fingers, Elizabeth reached up and touched it.
"It's crystal," she gasped in wonder.
"What did you think," Jack muttered, leading the way down a long passage. "That the gods would put their prized possession in a place less than suitable?"
The Turners still gazing at the walls in wonder, they made their way. They knew better than to question Jack's turns, so instead they simply remained quiet, but Will swallowed a lump in his throat when Elizabeth tightened her grip on his hand.
"I think we've found it," Jack said suddenly.
It was hard to believe, at that moment, that they had begun their journey by entering a cave. The room was gold. Later in their lives, each would claim that it was impossible, what they saw, for how could any island remain unnoticed, untouched for so long if their walls were made of gold? But even then, as they stared at the room in unmasked wonder, a part of them in the back of their mind was tugging. A part of them knew exactly why that room had remained intact.
It was the fear of the repercussions if they touched anything.
"You know," Will said, "I don't think we should be here."
"I'm in complete agreement," Elizabeth responded.
Jack rolled his eyes. "What you think? That the gold is going to leap from the wall and attack you? I wouldn't be too worried if I were you. It doesn't seem to have a weapon."
With that, he moved deeper into the room and caught sight of the most beautiful object he had ever seen.
Golden, like the room, and encrusted with seductive jewels, was what could only be Pandora's Box.
Just sitting in the center of the room.
In less than a blink, Jack was standing in front of the chest, his eyes eagerly drinking it in. He paused when his eyes darted to an inscription in a language that he had never seen before, but before he could ponder it any longer, a very familiar, very FEMALE voice snapped, "Don't touch it, Jack. I haven't followed you for a month and a half only to have to run you through."
With that, he felt the sharp tip of a sword press gently against his back. It wasn't bleeding yet, but it would if pressed much harder.
He slowly moved away from the chest and turned to face Will and Elizabeth, knowing that the woman was standing behind him, her sword still drawn. Will held his own blade and Elizabeth had been, apparently, reaching for hers when it had, evidently, occurred to them that perhaps it wasn't a good idea to fight a woman with a hostage.
Of course, THEY didn't know who the woman was.
"Alexa," he exclaimed, feigning pleasure he didn't altogether feel. "I've been meaning to stop by your home for a visit on me travels. Been a bit busy you know-"
"Quiet, Jack. I haven't the patience to listen to you go on for hours about how much you've missed me. It's been 15 years and I'm sure that you can remember just what happened the last time we saw each other, so don' t pretend you've spent all this time missing me."
Will's eyes narrowed in frustration. "Dammit, Jack, is there any female within a 100 mile radius you haven't managed to infuriate?"
"No," answered Alexa from her vantage point.
If Jack didn't know better, he might have thought she was smiling.
"But the past," she continued, "isn't the point. I didn't come so far just to kill the bastard, though don't think the thought didn't occur to me." She prodded him farther and he winced. "No, I'm here to keep you from making the grandest mistake of your entire existence. Captain Jack Sparrow, if you open that box, more than your life will be at stake."
With that, she pushed him forward, away from her and her sword and he turned to face the woman.
She hadn't changed much at all, he decided, examining her fair features. And 15 years was a long time. She was still only about 3 inches shorter than he, and still had the same furious green eyes and long red hair that kept her from blending in in a crowd.
All things considered, she should have been a rather terrible pirate, yet somehow she had managed to turn out alright. Not fantastic. But alright.
Sighing deeply, Jack gestured to Alexa with the grandiose attitude of someone presenting a queen. "Elizabeth and dear William, I would like to introduce to you the absolute apple of me eye-Alexa Sparrow. My wife."