How did Amy find time to update today? Well, lets just say her science teacher gave her all period to study, and chemistry actually makes sense now. So, I indulged in some guilt-free writing of my favourite story (actually I just wanted to write this part- Baird is my favourite!) and kick back to some les mis tunes. Oh what a sad, boring life I lead…
"Empty chairs at empty tables…" God, Marius is cool.
On with the show!
*sings* Who am I? I'm Jean Valjean!
***
The ship weighed anchor just offshore from Tortuga, having sailed a solid two weeks without stopover. Only a few crewmen were left aboard; the first mate and quartermaster, by tradition, and the doctor as well. Aletté and Meryl chose to venture ashore together, because, as Meryl was quick to point out, "Those women who have walked Tortuga streets alone battle bad memories, and those who have yet to would do well to take a lesson from the tormented." In short, it was a Noah's Arc mentality- you travel in pairs or you don't travel at all.
As the nightlife stirred itself up and the men who lay wasted in the alleyways shook off their hangovers for another go at sleaze and debauchery, Meryl introduced Aletté to several old acquaintances; mostly harlots, a few barmaids, and an innkeeper. As midnight past and wore away into the first hour of the morning, Aletté expressed through a yawn her desire to return to the ship. As Meryl did not seem to hear, being busy as she was with her old friends and liquor, the former resolved that she could make the short dash back to the harbour by her lonesome. Nobody noticed her leaving.
The streets of Tortuga seemed bustling with life. Everyone had a place to go, a person to see, a bottle to empty, or a dress to unlace. For a while, it seemed, nobody bothered with the young Spanish lass who walked herself briskly towards the harbour. She kept her head down and her pace quick, but one can only go unnoticed for so long…
She had reached the dock, and could see ahead of her where the rowers had been dragged up onto the beach. She felt in the clear. Home free. I made it.
Or not.
"Why good evening, young missy." A deep voice crooned from behind her. It reminded her, slightly, of a more slurred, sensual version of Will, though she thought the better than to turn around and face he whom had dealt the salutation.
A hand pawed at her shoulder and she shrugged it off, breaking into a run. But her follow through on her gut reaction had come a split-second too late. The man grabbed her blouse with both hands and whirled her around, forcing his lips onto hers. She scratched his face and at clawed him, but he crushed his chest against her body aggressively. His lips let off of hers for a moment, giving her a few seconds leave to let out a blood-curdling scream. Suddenly she was on her back, and he on top of her. She sobbed and kicked at him with all her might, but then, she had never possessed much might to begin with.
"Shh, hush now, missy. Just do what I say, everything will be alright." She retched. His breath smelt of rum and another stench she knew all too well, though not all too fondly. He pawed away at her chest and thighs despite any and all of her resistance. And then, just as she had prepared herself for the gruelling worst, he was jerked off of her. She sat up timidly, and for the first time in a long time, the sight of Will's face was absolutely welcome.
Will. Her rescuer.
He jerked the man away from her violently, anger releasing itself from his heart in violent punches. It was only a matter of seconds before Aletté's assailant was lying motionless on the gritty filth that was Tortuga's soil.
Will made his way over to her and gently helped her to her feet, fighting back the urge to just sweep her up into his arms and protect her from the world and everything bad that was in it. Instead he reached up and wiped the tears from her cheeks with a calloused finger. "You okay?"
She nodded, shock still tying her tongue.
"Come on," Will placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and one around her waist. "Lets go back to the ship."
He helped her into a rower wordlessly and they began the journey rowing back to what was the safest place for them in this port of insanity and lawlessness. When they reached the grand, beautiful vessel, neither had yet spoken. Will guided a still shaken Aletté down to the galley, assuring she was comfortable. She sat down on her bed and burst into tears.
No sooner had this happened than Will had engulfed her in his arms. She buried her face into his chest. He seemed so… solid. Like nothing would ever break him, like he really could protect her… provide for her…
She suddenly realised what she was doing, and a second later she had shrugged out of his embrace bitterly. "I'm fine now." She said, biting her quivering lower lip. "Thank you, Mr. Turner. I can take care of myself from here on."
He didn't move. "Aletté, you really need to listen to me. There's something I have to tell you- something important that I think you should know."
"Why?" Aletté hissed cynically, all her gratitude at being rescued dissolving back into the same old animosity.
"Because I don't want you to go on believing something that isn't true." He waited for her eyes to lock with his. "Please? Just listen to me- just for a moment?"
She sighed. "Fine." She really did want to know what it was he had to say, but refusing to listen was one of the few powers she still had over him. At the moment, though, she felt so indebted to him for saving her from those 'daemons' Meryl spoke of that listening seemed fitting. Just the once.
Will smiled. She was being reasonable again. She was being herself again. He cleared his throat. "Maybe you should sit down." She did, and he followed suit, seating himself on Meryl's bed, which was situated directly across from Aletté's. "A little under a year ago, Elizabeth and I-"
"Will!" Jack rushed down to the galley, his face looking drained and pale. He was out of breath, and his slight raunchy suspicion at finding Will and Aletté alone together in the bowls of the ship was overpowered by a stronger, much more desperate feeling. "Will, we have a problem."
"Jack?"
"Captain." He corrected characteristically, still panting for air. "Port Peridio… was attacked… by the Spanish Armada… looking for the heiress… they thought she was there already…they took prisoners… many of them…" He paused, finally subduing his breathing to a few raspy gulps. "They took me Morgan. They took Eliz- well, erm, they…" He stammered. "Well, they took…"
"Elizabeth?" Will gulped. Aletté could see the strain in his eyes. He feared for hi wife. She felt a surge of resentment because of it. "What should we do?"
Aletté glanced from Jack's blank stare to Will's equally unhelpful face. She knew exactly what to do. It was summoning the courage to do it that was the real problem.
"We'll go to the Capitol." She heard her voice say, though it did not feel like she was the one saying it. "We will go to the state prisons and Jack, you and Will will free your… wives." She wasn't sure whether Morgan and Jack were married, or even still together. Their relationship was so melodramatic. "I'll find my way into the palace, and they'll be so preoccupied with me that the escape of a few prisoners will not trouble them much."
"And then we'll come rescue you." Jack finished confidently. "We sail at dawn!" He raced up onto the deck in his most dramatic 'I-am-captain-do-what-I-say' manner. Aletté turned back to Will.
"What was it you wanted to tell me?"
He looked as one might look when shaken from a trance. "Its just… Aletté…" He felt numb. Elizabeth was taken. Elizabeth. That meant his son too. His son. And Elizabeth, to whom he still owed protection and provision. "Its just…" He felt like someone had taken his voice away. "Just…"
"It doesn't matter." Aletté snapped indignantly. "If you don't want to tell me, just say so. You don't have to treat me like I'm a child." She whirled around on the ball of her foot and stalked from the galley angrily.
Will stood and stared after her. This girl was such an puzzle to him. One minute she was willing to listen, the next she was ready to snap the head right off of his sorry neck. She may be a stubborn enigma, the thought, but at least she's my stubborn enigma. He shuddered. The thought of another man taking her against her will made him coarse with a pure concentration of hatred. It had just been luck that he had seen it all and gotten there in time.
Luck, or maybe something else. Just maybe there was another force out there drawing them progressively closer together.
One step at a time.
***
Review Replies:
divinething-
Ha ha, Meryl as a mother is almost as amusing as Jack as a father. Interesting, though…
Britt-
I hope you enjoy the back stories if you read them. They really give a lot of insight into who the characters are. Yes, I know Aletté is being stubborn, but give it time. She's a little nicer to Will in this chapter- patience! Soon, very soon now…
Cecile Li-
Swordplay isn't really very focused on Will- its very Jack-ish. I have honestly never read a Will/OC fic that I remember, but I will be sure to tell you if I find a good one.
Blueglass25 (who didn't want to sign in!)-
The Will/Aletté history was almost directly copied from the prequels (lazy me!) but their relationship isn't really a focal point in them, which is why I wanted to develop it further in this new story. I'm sorry if Aletté seems a little stubborn, but its all for literary purposes! Don't worry- it works out!
Erin Richards-
Amazing? *happy dance* Ti-hee, I loooooooove praise! *more happy dance* I update when I have spare time- which is a testament to just how un-time-consuming my schedule is. Amy's life- get up, got to school, do work, come home, do vocal exercises, read Les Misérables, go for a run in the freezing cold, sing some depressing death scene tunes from les mis and, well, as they say, the rest is history. But it is very easy to fit stuff in around that.
Well, at least lassie's pretty. And bullfrogs can be… interesting. At best. Oh well. Though I'm told if I stand sideways and stick out my tongue I can be mistaken for a zipper. I don't know, I was just told…