Disclaimer: Only the plot, matey.
A/N: I am SOOOOO incredibly sorry about making you wait so long for another chapter. I know, it's terrible of me…but I've been so busy lately that I can't help it. I will try and update now every Friday night, but I can't promise anything due to college applications and three other stories I am now currently writing (I started a new Harry Potter one, Lost Time). Anyways….ok. So here is Chapter 19. Thanks for waiting.
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Winds of ChangeThe Family Man
It was the cries of rage and shouts of fury that awoke Elizabeth from her already troubled sleep.
She rubbed her eyes and stood up quickly, ignoring the dizziness that struck her. Still partially sleepy she stifled a yawn and tried desperately to listen to what all of the commotion was about. She heard glasses breaking and growls of anger accompanied by a few more dishes apparently being thrown across the deck. Narrowing her eyes, she was about to approach the front of her cell when the door to the brig opened.
She squinted her eyes against the dull light and heard heavy footsteps descend the rotting stairs, the creaking creating a ringing in her ears. She could make out two men, one in a plumed hat, approaching her cell. She stepped back and remained silent.
Without preamble, the man in the plumed had growled, "Ye best explain this, miss." It was Barbossa. Elizabeth, unsure of what he was speaking, remained silent as he unsheathed his sword and thrust it into his own chest.
The shock of his actions made her gasp and cover her mouth. She noticed, however, that no blood trickled down from the self-inflicted wound; as Barbossa pulled it out of his chest, she heard no cries of pain from him. She realized that he and his crew had finally realized that they were undead once more.
"I…I…I can't explain it," she confessed, still slightly shaken. She saw the man behind Barbossa light a candle in a holder, and recognized the man to be Gibbs. He wore a look on his face of warning, and she knew not to greet him in the slightest. She tore her eyes away from Gibbs to look at Barbossa who was wearing a sneer of the utmost disgust and wrath.
"O I think ye can, Mrs. Turner. And ye better, before my somewhat upset crew comes down here to drag it out of you."
Sincerely afraid of facing a raging crew, Elizabeth sent the slightest sideways glance towards Gibbs, who cleared his throat and said, "Cap'n…I just remembered somethin'."
"What?" Barbossa snapped, his eyes still studying Elizabeth with the utmost distaste.
"Well…Jack – that is to say that monkey of yourn – didn't just give me a coin…he took two."
Barbossa turned sharp around to face Gibbs. "WHAT?"
"Aye," the other continued. "Me and Jack Sparrow were sittin' in the bar drinkin' rum…I believe Jack got the other token."
Elizabeth could hear Barbossa emit strange gasp-like sounds, as if he were at a loss for words. A heavy silence permeated the dank air and she was not intent to break it. Luckily, Barbossa spoke once more. "So you knew Sparrow couldn't die, did ye?"
Gibbs shook his head, apparently calm. "No…I completely forgot, Cap'n. You see, I was awfully drunk at the time-"
"I DON'T WANT YOUR EXCUSES!" roared Barbossa so violently that Elizabeth took another step back towards the back of her cell. "THAT MEANS JACK ISN'T DEAD! THAT MEANS THAT THE CURSE DIDN'T BREAK BECAUSE WE'RE MISSIN' A COIN, YE FOOL!"
Gibbs, apparently biding his time, responded, "Ahhh…well, we could go after Sparrow, Cap'n."
"Aye…aye, we could. And we will," Barbossa responded. "Until that time, Mr. Gibbs, will ye kindly join Elizabeth in the brig?" He opened up the cell and motioned for Gibbs to get in. When he hesitated, Barbossa responded, "Or we could just throw you overboard and let you find your way back to mainland, if ye prefer."
Gibbs reluctantly entered Elizabeth's cell, and Barbossa slammed it shut. "You best be prayin' for the safety of your Jack Sparrow," he spat as he ascended the stairs to the deck, "because this time I'm going to kill him on the spot." With that, he slammed the door, leaving Gibbs and Elizabeth together in the cell with the only light source emanating from the candle in Gibbs's hand.
"Great move, I must say," she snapped, looking helplessly around. "Now what do you propose we do?"
Gibbs sighed. "We wait until Barbossa catches up with Jack, wherever he may be."
"And then?" she asked impatiently.
He hesitated before answering. "And then we hope for a miracle."
~*~
By the time Jack had relayed the entire story of the curse, Barbossa, and Jack the Monkey, the crew looked as if they all had been hit in the face with a very large, very heavy object. None of them spoke, hardly any of them blinked. They all looked stunned, confused, and a tad sorrowful. Jack, not knowing what to say to break the quietness, just sat there and studied the rings on his right hand.
"So…so you're undead?" asked Johnson, frowning.
"Aye."
"Then why aren't you under the curse?"
Jack sighed. "It talks to me, of course. Figured that only a couple of days ago on that spit of land called an island. But I block it out…it doesn't effect me."
"How do we know you're tellin' the truth?" another man by the name of Barley growled, eyeing him suspiciously.
"I'd know if Jack weren't himself, reckon," Dolan piped up from a corner of the room, leaning against the wall. His handsome face held no sign of mistrust, but Jack remembered his comment from the night before: Yer a different man, Sparrow.
"Would ye?" countered Barley. "Think on it, Cap'n…you haven't seen Sparrow in twelve years. How would ye know?"
Murmurs, both of consent and of dissent spread through the mess hall. Desperation crept along Jack's spine, and he shivered despite the warm and humid air of the Caribbean. He needed to make them understand…he wasn't being controlled by the curse. His mind was clear, and he knew what he had to do: he had to get to Elizabeth before Barbossa figured out why the curse wasn't lifted.
Another man, McCollough, spoke out, gesturing wildly and speaking loudly. But Jack was immersed in his own thoughts…a realization struck him hard, and he nearly shouted out loud. There were two reasons why the curse wouldn't be lifted…granted, one was due to the fact Elizabeth was in her delicate condition. But the other…the other was hanging right around his neck. Absentmindedly, he reached for the make-shift hide chain that hung around his neck.
He gasped out loud when he didn't feel anything.
He looked down sharply, desperately searching his tanned chest for any sign of the chain that held the token, bestowed upon him by that bloody monkey. He frantically searched his pockets, his sleeves, his pants, and would've gladly searched every other oraphus had the crew not been present. Unfortunately, he couldn't find it anywhere. Amidst cries of surprise he ran out of the mess hall to search his room for the token. He threw apart his bed, ripped open the small dresser of drawers, and traipsed all along the boat, hastily searching every nook and cranny for the token while ignoring the curious stares from the crew who had been following him around like a herd of sheep.
It wasn't until after two hours of unfruitful searching that he realized he had lost the token. He looked up to find Dolan looking at him intently, and vaguely heard him ask what was wrong.
"The token," he answered blandly. "I can't find it. It's gone."
Murmurs rippled throughout the crew again as Dolan commented, "Well, that's good, reckon. Now they can't use it if it's lost."
"Only a matter of time before it calls to them, Dolan," replied Jack. "If it's lost on the ocean floor they'll stop at nothing to find it…and then we're all out of a pirate's luck, savvy?" he added bitterly, staring off into the horizon, thinking of all of the places it could be…
"Or they could find out about Elizabeth's condition…and then she and the baby…" he didn't finish his sentence. It was only then that he noticed that there was a new face among the crew.
"What about Elizabeth?" asked Will Turner. Jack studied him and noticed that he looked much better than he had, but he was still insipid and looked unsteady on his feet. He still had a bandage wrapped around his neck, but it was hardly stained with any blood, Jack noticed to his relief.
For the first time in his life Jack was at a loss for words. It was his job to tell him about Elizabeth's condition. How in the name of the sea was he going to be able to do that?
"Er…ahh…Will, let's go talk for a moment. In private," he added as the crew followed him as he grabbed Will's arm and led him into his room. Once there, he slammed the door in the crew's face and whispered to Will, "How much did you hear?"
Will just looked at him, a panicked look on his face. "Elizabeth's pregnant, isn't she?" he breathed. All Jack could do was nod. Will brought a shaking hand to his face to rub his eyes silently. His breathing became shallower and he slowly sat down upon Jack's bed, his face buried in his right hand. "I can't believe this," Jack heard him mutter.
"Will…that's why the curse didn't work with your blood," he said, sitting down next to him. "It needs the last line of Turner blood. Since your father was the last one to have the token, the curse specified that the last of your bloodline was needed to lift the curse. But you're not the last of your bloodline…"
All Will did was vaguely nod. He still had his face in his right hand, and Jack was afraid the poor boy would keel over in shock. His right knee was bouncing up and down in apprehension, and he kept letting out low sighs that almost sounded like vicious hisses. He would clear his throat every now and then, shift his head to rest on his left hand, and go back to breathing shallowly once more, completely silent. He seemed to be in complete shock; the lad obviously didn't know what to do with himself…Jack could only imagine what it would be like if he had heard he was going to be a father…but then he stopped imagining that for fear he would laugh out loud. Him as a father? It goes without saying that it's a crime against humanity…
He nearly jumped when Will abruptly asked, "What do we do now?"
Jack stared at him incredulously. "We do what you always want to do, mate."
Will picked his head up to look at Jack and asked, "What's that?"
Jack imprecisely smiled as he stood up. "We save your bonnie lass, just like we did the first time. Only now, you have to let me do all of the pirate work."
"Why?" he asked he took Jack's hand, helping him to stand up. He was very pale now, and he was sweating slightly with very bloodshot eyes.
Jack slapped Will on the back and spoke loudly, "Because now, Mr. William Turner, you are officially a family man."
~*~
Hope you liked it. I wasn't too fond of this chapter…but MUCH more action next chapter. Oh, by the way…this story is going to be the first in a trilogy I think…all I know is that there is going to be a sequel to this. Just letting you know!