Disclaimer: Nothing has changed since the last chapter, despite my attempts to gain the rights to Johnny Depp. ^_^ I don't own Pirates of the Caribbean, the characters, actors, the sea, whatever. You got it, right? Or Walt Whitman.

Note: Flashback time! I think I'm working out how I want to continue this. For the spelling errors, some of you may have noticed some drastic errors in chapter 3. My beta-reader hadn't had a chance to look over it yet, and some of my changes weren't saved when I transferred it to the web. Anyhow, if it bothered you (this would apply mostly to people who read it right after it had been posted, because if fixed it asap), lots of it is fixed, so you can go back and read it. Once again, THANK YOU for all the wonderful reviews! They encourage me to keep going! Anyhow, enjoy!




Part the Fourth:

And his life flashed before his eyes........


At first there were only faces, thousands of them, of people he had loved, people he had hated. They assaulted him, bits and pieces of his memories from the present merging with those of the past, leaving him frantically searching for reality within a dream. Then the faces seemed to slow, and now he could catch their features, linger upon them a little longer. As things slowed, voices appeared, as if traveling from a great distance, across time and space. Some belonged to others, some to him... it was hard to tell.

"What do you mean they're dead! Where've they gone! I want to go with them!"

"The Sea is a dangerous mistriss, Jack. She can, and She will rule you. Once you go to the Sea, you can never turn back. Remember that, my boy."


"This compass belongs to you, Jack. Use it well. It will guide you...."

" I'm sorry, Jack, but you're not in charge anymore. This here is a mutiny, and I'm the new captain...."

Jack, or whatever was left of him, as he had lost all sense of space, and it frightened him that he was beginning to forget to whom the voices and the faces belonged, which was which. He felt like he was going mad, the voices and the faces bombarding him from every which direction, shouting at him. There were too many. A weaker man might have simply let go at this point, but even so far gone, Jack Sparrow was still Jack Sparrow.

But then..... Time ceased to exist. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Jack knew he was dying... falling. He was no longer standing, all alone, on the gallows, awaiting his fate, but trapped in his mind as he prepared himself for death. As time ceased to exist, Jack was no longer Jack. He was no longer being hanged, dying... he became what he once had been, what he would become. No longer were there just flashes of this and that. He was drawn back into the past, except it was no longer his past... but his present, his future... no, time had no meaning now...

* * *


"Jack? Lad?" Jack turned, startled, to see who dared interrupt his dreaming. But his face relaxed when he saw the familiar friendly face looking at him, the same grin, wide brown eyes. Jack stood from his resting position against the railing of the ship. Bootstrap leaned casually next to him, looking out over the waves as if trying to see what Jack had been looking at. When he saw nothing, he glanced back over at the other man.

"I wish you wouldn't call me that," Jack said, watching Bootstrap closely.

"What? Jack?" Bootstrap asked, a slight smile crossing over his features, but still not looking at him.

" No. 'Lad.' I am not a boy, William. I am hardly 5 years your junior," Jack said crossly, leaning back over the side of the boat, letting the wind catch his hair. Bootstrap laughed.

"But you are but a lad, dear Jack," he said. He turned to look at Jack, whose eyes were locked on the waves beneath them. "What exactly do you see out there, boy? What are you looking for?" Jack didn't answer; he didn't even reward him with that trademark grin the boy had become so famous for in only the past few months. Jack sighed, but did not turn.

"One day I'm going to be Captain of this ship," he told Bootstrap suddenly, his voice calm and very much unlike his own. Bootstrap raised an eyebrow.

"No-one doubts it, boy," he said slowly. Nay, no-one did. Jack was young, that was true, but already he far surpassed many of his superiors in skill and knowledge when it came to sailing. Jack only months before had come there a fledgling, or so he had told them. And though it was true that Jack was only a little more than five years younger than he, Jack was much more a lad than he. He couldn't quite explain it... perhaps it was his newness to the life on the sea, a life alone. Jack would not say where he had come from, if he had any experience in sailing, but he was taken aboard anyhow. And the boy had gone far beyond even the Captain's expectations, and Jack knew it. The entire crew knew that one day Jack would go far. Already he had become close to the captain, and though it was rarely spoken of, Bootstrap had a feeling the Captain would trust Jack with his life before any other man on the ship. And yet Jack was forever silent. He was the youngest crew member aboard and already climbing in the ranks. Yet he did it silently, without boast or pride, seemingly hardly even caring. If there was one thing the boy had though, it was ambition.

He was a strange one. It was as if he had two different personalities sometimes. On some days, Jack would be wild and boisterous. He was mischievous and witty and sharp, flamboyant in actions, always a strange grin on his face. Other days, he was like now, quiet, distant, and no-one, not even Bootstrap could get into his head.

Bootstrap wondered about Jack sometimes. The younger man, hardly more than a boy, however he protested, was a strange one. No one knew anything about him or his past. Who his parents were. Why he was a pirate. Had he been raised such, or had he run away for the adventure... or had something driven him to it. Bootstrap had befriended the younger man immediately upon his arrival on their ship. He had been drawn to Jack's charisma, his skill, his wit, his mystery. And yet he knew nothing about Jack, not more than anyone else. Despite their closeness, brothers in all but blood, he was still in the dark.

Jack smiled to himself. He planned on keeping it that way too. When he had followed his call to the sea, he had left his past behind him. Aye, there were good memories, but even those caused pain. He had stripped himself of all those who had once been a part of his life, stripped himself of them and his past forever. It hardly mattered anyhow. They only lived in his memory now, those people. They were gone, could not be brought back. Now all that Jack had was the Sea.

And Bootstrap, of course. He had, against his will, allowed himself to grow close to the older man during his short time on the ship. He was like the older brother he'd never had. But Jack was wary. He didn't make friends. Not close ones. It wasn't that he had a lack of people that he could have counted as friends if he wished, but he had pushed them all away once they pried too deep. He'd had those to love, and they were gone. They had left him. Abandoned him. Many of them against their will, but he was still alone, and suspicious of anyone that tried to get too close. He was afraid of being hurt.

But Bootstrap was different. He was content just to be Jack's friend. He never pried too deeply, knew when to pull away. He could see when Jack was ready to close, and Bootstrap knew when to shut up. He knew something was wrong, knew that there was something holding Jack back from opening up, from allowing himself to put his everything into the friendship. And he respected it. It had only been half a year. Jack was young still. He could be healed, he could be reached.

Jack looked out over the sea. He smelled the salt, and knew he could never be happy anywhere else. Jack suddenly turned to look at Bootstrap with those strange eyes of his. The one person he was allowing himself to trust, that maybe would allow him to begin to trust people around him again, to have faith in people once more.

"I'm going to be the captain of this ship, William," Jack said again, running his hand over the railing of the Black Pearl. He turned to face Bootstrap directly, eyes stern and serious, very unlike how William was used to seeing Jack's eyes, usually filled with mirth, even as isolated as he was.

" Would you follow me? Would you willingly serve under a Captain younger than thee?"

Bootstrap was a bit taken aback. He looked at the young man standing before him, his friend, his brother, his shipmate. He took in the proud stance, the strange dress, even for a pirate, the eyes that unnerved him. In the young man he saw the glint of greatness.

"We're friends, Jack, you know that. Captain or not, I would follow you anywhere."




*Well there you have it! Chapter 4 finished and ready to read! I realise some things I had to make assumptions of, since we know little. I'm still working out how far I want to carry the flashbacks. I may do one or two more chapters of parts of Jack's life I feel he would remember. Anyhow, I can only hope you enjoy it. Please review!*


Quotes of the Night (Thanks, Chocolat):

August: "Johnny Depp can contaminate my spirit anyday!"

Endril: "Well, Johnny Depp can fix the squeak in my door anytime he pleases!"