"Hang?" Elizabeth's voice echoed through the foyer, making it clear that she did not believe he'd said that. "How can you hang him? You've already hung him once as an innocent man." She yanked her arm from his grasp, staring at him coldly. "It already took my husband once..." She stepped in front of him, chin held high, eyes blazing. "I will not let the gallows have him again." Her hands were shaking. "I've already lost too many people that I care about." Even with Will's sudden appearance, her heart still ached for James as well. Maybe she hadn't loved him like she had Will, but she'd loved him all the same.

"He's a pirate." Gillette narrowed his eyes at her. "I'm bound by law to see that he gets what he deserves." He pushed her aside, walking towards Michael. "Stay with him until the guards arrive. I'm sending..." He saw Thomas standing by Estrella's side. "You. Boy, go get Lieutenant Groves and tell him we have a dangerous fugitive at the Swann mansion." Thomas looked up at Estrella, a pained look on his face. Her expression mirrored his, but she couldn't speak what she thought.

"Be a good boy and do as he says." She told him. Thomas nodded, turning and running out the door. That done, Estrella took a step forward. "Lieutenant Gillette." She looked awkwardly at the floor. "Sir, if you don't mind, I'd like to change his bandages." Will looked down at his stomach, only to find that the shir underneath the undone vest was turning red again. Odd, he hadn't even noticed. Suddenly it hit him, and an idea was worked out. Slowly, he began to sway, barely noticeable.

"I'm fine, Estrella, really. Just a little tired." Michael glanced over at him, then at Gillette. "He's wavering. Too much blood lost." Estrella nodded.

"He did lose a lot." Gillette rolled his eyes.

"Fine, sit him down, but you, Miss. Smith, will not be helping him. You already have enough to answer for, harboring a known fugitive and obstruction of justice."

"She was only doing what she thought was right. It was a terrible position to be put in." Elizabeth protested, coming to the defense of her friend. Her reward was a slap across the face.

"You will speak only when spoken to." The look in his eyes made it apparent to everyone that the man was not all there. Elizabeth stared at him in shock, her hand to her cheek.

"How dare you?" She stared him straight in the face. "I am not yours to boss around."

"Elizabeth, don't." Will begged.

"Shut up, pirate. If you'd stayed dead the first time, we wouldn't be in this mess. James would still be alive, and so would Governor Swann." Gillette snapped. The tension was coming to the breaking point in the room, and Will knew he had to act fast.

He let his knees collapse, falling to the floor as if he'd passed out. Estrella gasped, as Elizabeth turned, shouting his name.

"Damn it, get him up!" Gillette snapped at Michael. Michael shot him a dark look, before sticking his pistol in his belt and reaching down to grip Will's collar. It was a mistake on his part. Will's eyes fluttered open, and he growled, slamming his forehead into the bridge of Michael's nose with a harsh crack. The wounded mercenary stumbled back, flinging droplets of blood across Will's face. He got to his feet, not quick enough to see Gillette come up behind him, slamming him into the wall, elbow under his chin.

"She's mine, William. I've worked this hard and this long for her. You'll never win." One hand reached down, sticking a finger in his side. Will grunted in pain, but didn't cry out. Michael pulled his pistol back out, cocking it, as well as another, pointing it at Estrella and Elizabeth.

"I say we kill him now, spare ourselves the pain." Michael spat. "Dirty pirates always find someway to slip past the law." Will's knee went into Gillette's stomach, his arm slipping from Will's neck. Michael swung around, distracted by the sudden movement. Moving quickly, Elizabeth reached forward and plucked the pistol from his grasp, and as he swung around with the other one, his face met a silver serving tray, compliments of Estrella. With a groan, he crumpled to the floor. Estrella stepped up and hit him one more time, knocking him unconscious.

Gillette's fist connected with Will's jaw, sending him crashing into one of the side tables in the hallway. He gasped as he felt the stitches break, the wound tearing open again. Swinging around, he slammed a right hook into Gillette's face, knocking him back. "I was happy. I had a beautiful wife, a beautiful little girl that I never got to see grow up, a great business, my life was damn near perfect. Then you come along and ruin it all, just because of a little crush you have." He growled. Gillette stared at him impassively, wiping the blood from his lip.

"You're beneath her, Mr. Turner." He growled. "A lowly blacksmith with pirate blood. Sickening. As if you could ever have her." Will's eyes grew dark with anger, his fist clenching and unclenching.

"I knew she was above me, but I loved her anyway. And she must have loved me if she agreed to marry me." He smirked. "And if I'm below her, what does that make a psychotic person like you?" Gillette screamed, pushing off the wall and lunging into Will. Both men hit the ground. Elizabeth looked to Estrella, unsure of what to do. She couldn't shoot, and risk hitting Will. Instead, she called his name softly. He looked up for a split second, and she slid the pistol across the floor. Gillette tried to reach for it, but Will pushed it back down, reaching the pistol and bringing it around, the barrel right between Gillette's eyes. Will's eyes were dark, cold, showing no mercy.

"Do it...shoot me in front of Elizabeth, let her see what you've become." Gillette hissed. Will smiled.

"You know the saying 'Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth?'" Gillette opened his mouth to say something, when Will slammed the butt end of the pistol across his temple, rendering the man unconscious. "How about noose for a noose...." He muttered.

Slowly he started to climb to his feet, but his body was too weak, and he collapsed on the ground. Elizabeth was at his side in a moment, Estrella helping to roll him onto his back. He looked up at her, the image starting to blur as his eyes became unfocused.

Estrella bit her lip. "Mrs....Elizabeth, he's lost a lot of blood, between when he first got the wound and..." Elizabeth's shriek cut her off as Will's eyes started to close.

"Stay awake, damn it!" It was the first time he'd ever heard her curse, and it shocked him slightly. His hand grabbed hers, his grip waning.

"Elizabeth..." She leaned down towards him. "I love you." His vison began to fade into blackness.

"Will...." Elizabeth stroked the hair back from his face, tears forming in her eyes. "Don't leave me again..." She sobbed quietly. "I just found you."