Broken Wings
A Pirates of the Caribbean story by Merrie
Disclaimer: I can't be trusted to own these characters. Look what kind of hell I put them through!
Summary: Captain Jack has lost his ship, his crew, nearly his life, and now his sanity to a horrible new curse. Will this Sparrow be able soar again after his wings have been broken?
Characters: Captain Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann, Commodore Norrington, Kiquan, and Lorelac the Hated.
Author's Note: Ok, for the length it took me to post this, blame ff.net. They yanked this story because of my ONE BLOODY RATED R CHAPTER. And to make matters worse, they wouldn't let me access my account to upload until the 15th. This chapter was finished by the 11th. Yeah, that's right, the 11th. So they yanked it, made me lose ALL of my 115 reviews, and made me up the rating of the entire story when it should have just been ONE CHAPTER! Can you tell I'm a little angry with ff.net right now??
Rating: PG-13 for language, violence, and extreme angst.
Chapter 13: Talking and Taking Time
Will couldn't believe his eyes. It wasn't possible, was it? Dear God, he hadn't dared to hope that Elizabeth might have found Jack before they did. The thought hadn't even had a chance to cross his mind. But the diminutive and definitely female standing next to Jack's obvious figure on the beach could be no one other than his lost fiancé. "Do you see?" Will took a moment to catch his near hyperventilating breath, "Do you see her, James? Tell me please that you see her. Don't let her be an illusion, not now. I don't think I could take it."
"It's her, Will. I don't know how, but God be praised, it's really her," Norrington said, sounding a little breathless himself.
Will caught that in his voice and looked at him with a frown. The man had been recovering from pneumonia for less than a day. "Are you alright, James? I'm sorry left so abruptly. I'm ashamed to say that I didn't consider how any of this might put a strain on your already bad health. Forgive me," Will implored softly.
"If the two of them standing on the beach really are there and not a hallucination, then any ill I might be feeling right now will have been worth it," Norrington said solemnly.
"I'm glad to have you as a friend, James. I'm sure Jack will be as well. Just don't let him push you around. Behind the gruff piratical exterior, he's really a big softy at heart," Will said with a true smile for the first time since he had woken up yesterday morning.
"Truly?" Norrington couldn't help but ask.
"Well, not really. But once he's decided he likes you, you couldn't help for a more loyal friend," Will said at last.
"You have always spoken highly of him Will. I will trust your judgement. I may not like him, but I at least won't try and hang him this time," Norrington said with a small smile of his own.
Will let out a short laugh at that. "Well that's a start, at least."
The two men didn't say anything further as they rowed toward the couple on the beach, their smiles growing on their faces as they got closer and closer.
***
A sudden thought occurred to Elizabeth as she saw the boat come up on the sand and her face paled dramatically. "Jack, dear God. I'm not wearing anything under your jacket."
"What?" Jack asked her, uncomprehending what she was trying to tell him. Elizabeth gestured to herself, and he paled as well. "Oh bloody hell," he cursed quietly. "There's nothing you can do about it now, I'm afraid. Will and bloody Commodore Norrington are on their way up the beach right now. Just stay covered up, and I'll think of something," he didn't bother asking her if she would rather simply tell the truth, he knew what her answer to that suggestion would be. She was determined to put what had happened between the two of them behind her as if it had never happened. Jack couldn't. He couldn't forget the sight of Elizabeth's pained face beneath his own, her pleading with him to stop. It didn't matter that he hadn't been in control of his body at the time; Lorelac had graciously allowed him to feel every thing his body would have if he had been the one......the one raping her. He had felt her body trembling under his with fear, and felt her wrists grasped harshly in one of his hands, he had felt everything, and those feelings would haunt him to his grave. But he put on a small smile for the sake of the young man coming up on the beach, the friend whose fiancé he had so ruthlessly violated.
"Jack," the friend and fiancé addressed him, startling him out of his thoughts. "Dear God, Jack what's happened to your face?"
Jack absently pressed a finger lightly to the deep cauterized gouge along his cheek and suppressed a wince. "Oh that? It's nothing you need worry yourself about now, Will," Jack took a moment to take in his friend's concerned brown eyes. "Damn it's good to see you, whelp," he whispered. And before he could react, he found himself in a tight embrace. "Uh thanks—" Jack started to say, but before the words had even left his mouth, Will had released him as quickly as he had embraced him and turned to Elizabeth, giving her one of the deepest and passion-filled kisses he had ever seen in his long years among the fairer sex.
Jack turned to behold the naval Commodore who was looking both a little uncomfortable at the affectionate display and a little unsteady on his feet. "Commodore Norrington. How in God's name did you get roped into this? I thought you wanted to see me hung?" he hesitated for a moment, and frowned deeply, wincing as the action pulled at the wound on his face. He had a feeling that he would have more than a little trouble keeping his naturally animated face still enough to heal. "You don't, do you?"
Norrington let out a genuine laugh at that, which startled Jack. "No, I don't want to see you hang, you daft pirate. I didn't come all this bleeding way to rescue you just to see you meet a dangling end."
"Genuinely pleased to hear it, Commodore. Or may I call you James? I always liked you; did I ever tell you that? And I like you infinitely better now that you've gotten rid of that stupid wig. I always hated such things. They itch like the devil," Jack said smiling.
"When were you ever in a wig, Sparrow?" Norrington asked incredulously.
"You'd be surprised, James," Elizabeth answered for him, sounding breathless from Will's fervent kiss.
Will sounded a little breathless himself when he looked over Elizabeth for the first time, "Dear God, Elizabeth! What happened to your clothes?"
Elizabeth self-consciously held Jack's jacket shut tighter as she glanced down at what she was wearing, or rather not wearing. She couldn't tell Will what had really happened to his clothes without telling him what had happened, and that was something she was not going to do ever if she could help it. She just wanted to put the whole nightmare behind her.
Jack felt her unease so he decided to speak up. "I think the storm tore up her clothes, Will. I confess I earned a few slaps after first seeing her, but she somehow convinced a hardened pirate like me to turn his back and hand her his coat. I'm not entirely sure how," he paused and could see Elizabeth's gratitude as Will seemed to accept the story. "So, what brings you two to this godforsaken little island? Have you come to rescue your little mermaid here?" Jack asked with a small somewhat forced smile in Elizabeth's direction.
"No Jack, we've come to rescue you. But from the looks of things, it seems as if we were too late," Will said softly, looking first to Jack's bloodied face and then to the bodies of his crew lined up on the shore.
Jack looked over his shoulder to follow Will's line of sight. "Oh, them? Don't worry about them. They've been keeping me company when Elizabeth wasn't here."
"Sparrow, you don't have to do this," Norrington said softly. "No one would fault you for mourning the loss of so many. Please don't insult us as if the deaths of your entire crew meant nothing to you. I have lost men before, nothing as nightmarish as this of course, but I have. And their deaths still haunt me to this very day. It's all right to feel sorrow for their deaths."
"Don't you dare tell me how deign to tell me how I'm feeling, Norrington. Don't you dare. You don't even know me," Jack said coldly, with such an abrupt change in emotion that Will gasped on Norrington's behalf.
"You're correct, Captain Sparrow. Forgive me for assuming you had any feelings," Norrington said just as coldly.
"I-I'm sorry, Norrington," Jack said suddenly, his body seeming to fold in on itself. "I don't know why I said that," he slumped to the ground suddenly and the two men and woman were immediately at the pirate captain's side.
"Jack, are you still with me?" Elizabeth asked softly. Will and Norrington had to be told about Lorelac and Jack's temporary descent into madness, but now didn't seem like the time.
"Still here," Jack murmured after taking a minute to re-center himself. Lorelac was playing with him, it seemed. "For now, anyway," he had to add. It would be foolish to think that Lorelac would just leave him alone.
"Jack, what's wrong? You never answered my question? What happened to your face? What happened to your crew? What was that just now?" Will asked, in reference to Jack's collapse to the ground.
"Just leave it alone, Will. Don't ask me that, please. I can't—" Jack broke off suddenly, and didn't say another word, merely sat on the sand, not looking at any of them, as still as if he had been turned to stone.
"Jack? Say something, please. Let me know you're still there," Elizabeth pleaded with him, a cold wave of fear running down her spine as he went still. Jack didn't answer. She looked to Will and Norrington, her eyes wide. "Oh God, not again. He was doing all right. He was doing better," she muttered to herself. "Jack! Don't do this, not now! We're here to help you! But we can't help you if you don't help us! Now answer me!" Still, Jack did not answer her, merely stared blankly out to sea, the only signs that he was still among the living being the gentle rise and fall of his chest, and the fact that his dark eyes were wide open.
"Elizabeth, what's happening? What's wrong with him?" Will shouted, her anxiety was catching, it seemed, and Jack wasn't answering her.
Elizabeth didn't answer him, only drew her right hand back sharply and laid her palm across Jack's injured cheek with a loud crack that made both men wince. Jack's head jerked to the left so quickly that he almost toppled over into the sand.
"Bloody hell......." he muttered slowly, stars fluttering before his eyes. Elizabeth had put her full body weight into the slap on his already injured cheek, and now his entire face felt like it was on fire.
"Are you going to stay with us, or am I going to have to do that again?" Elizabeth asked, preparing herself to strike him again when he put a tattooed hand up, his other one lightly pressed on his throbbing cheek.
"I'm here, I'm here. Just don't slap me again," he whispered; his voice hoarse with pain. "That bloody hurt, you unmerciful wench."
"If it helps keep whatever's snapping at your heels at bay, I'll be as unmerciful as I need to be. Savvy?" Elizabeth said solemnly.
"Savvy," Jack agreed. "The word suits you, luv," he said with a small wince that he'd probably intended to be a smirk before turning back to Will and Norrington. "I'm sorry Will, you were saying something?"
"Oh no you don't, Jack Sparrow. You're going to tell me what the hell is going on, right now or by God I'll knock you to your back so fast you're head will be spinning," Will threatened.
"And I'll help," Norrington added.
"What is this? I'm not safe around any of you people now? I thought you came here to rescue me?" Jack asked, his voice half joking.
Will sighed, trying to calm himself down. He didn't like people keeping secrets from him, especially friends. "We are here to help you, Jack. But please for the love of God, tell us what's going on. What happened just then?"
"Either you tell them, or I will, Jack," Elizabeth said, but then sent him a look which he interpreted as she still didn't want him to tell Will *everything* yet.
Jack sighed, "Fine. I'll tell you my little tale as soon as my head bleeding stops spinning from dear Lizzie's wake-up call. And I wouldn't mind getting cleaned up a little, if it's all the same to you. I'm sure my face is a bloody mess by now."
"There are a few natural pools of water in the cave; I'll go dip a cloth in one of them. Sea water will only make it hurt worse." Elizabeth hurried off, looking guilty for the way she had treated him. It had been the only way she could think of to get him to snap out of whatever state his mind had gone too, but that didn't stop her from feeling guilty about it. She returned a minute later with a dripping piece of cloth in one of her hands. She gently cleaned every last trace of blood off of Jack's face, and cleansed the deep wound at his cheek as best she could. Without the dirt and blood to mask it, it looked quite wretched.
"What's the matter? Not charmed by my looks anymore, Lizzie?" Jack asked with a small smile once she had finished.
"I never was in the first place, Jack. And don't call me Lizzie, Edward," she intentionally let his first name slip. It was the least she could do for his continued insistence in calling her that horrible nickname.
Jack closed his eyes in a wince, and hoped Will and Norrington hadn't picked up on the slip. He hadn't hoped hard enough, apparently. "Who's Edward, Elizabeth?" Norrington asked.
"No one. He's no one. A distant cousin of my aunt's nephew twice removed," Jack said in a rush. Norrington didn't look as if he believed it any more than Barbossa had. Damn.
"Who's Edward, James? Why, you're looking at him. Gentlemen, may I introduce.......let's see if I remembered all of this, Edward John Corintin Alexandre Sperling, better known to us as Jack Spa—" her voice was cut off abruptly by Jack's rather dirty right hand.
"The lass has gone a little funny in the head, I'm afraid. Too much time spent out in the sun, it seems. It's best if you didn't pay any attention to her ramblings," Jack said, his hand firmly placed over Elizabeth's mouth, preventing her from speaking. That didn't prevent her from biting, however, and he drew back his offended hand with a short yelp.
Norrington and Will seemed rather amused by the display until Elizabeth's words had sunk in. "Jack Sparrow's not your real name?" Will asked slowly, a bit hurt that Jack had never shared this with him.
Jack shut his eyes tight and groaned in resignation. "No, Jack Sparrow is not my bloody name, alright? But that's not the story I'm telling you, so don't even ask," he said, his tone brooking no argument. "Jack Sparrow is bloody close enough to my real name to let it slide anyway," he muttered.
"In German, Sperling means Sparrow, doesn't it?" Norrington asked.
"Yes, but that's all I'll say about it, savvy? We've got bigger problems to deal with right now. Much bigger," Jack said slowly. "I seem to be cursed, or possessed rather, by an evil bastard who goes by the name of Lorelac," he paused as he felt his nose begin to bleed, and Elizabeth placed the wet cloth in his hand without him asking for it. "He doesn't like it when I talk about him so he causes this," he said, gesturing to his still bleeding nose. "I'm somehow cursed again, but I don't care about that right now. It doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is that you believe me. He's dangerous. I'm dangerous. Keep that in mind."
"You're cursed? Is that what caused the death of all our crew, Jack?" Will asked softly.
"I think so," Jack said after a long minute. "They were all killed in a cave-in at the same time. All except Ana, that is," Jack's voice had dropped to a whisper. No one said anything for a full minute after that, feeling the need to honor the dead with their silence. "That's not all, I'm afraid."
"There's more?" Norrington asked a little incredulously.
Jack sent a small smile his direction. "Unfortunately so. You see, I've never been what you'd call completely sane, as I'm sure you're all aware. I've always had a bit of an eccentric personality, and I know it. I'm Captain Jack Sparrow, what can I say?" he waited for them all to laugh at that before continuing, "But I am human, no matter what I might sometimes like to believe, and the events of today.......let's just say they took their toll. You can ask Elizabeth. I'm afraid I haven't been the most gracious of hosts on this here isle, lately."
The two men looked at Elizabeth, reading in between the lines of what Jack had said. "What happened that Jack isn't telling us, Elizabeth?" Norrington asked her.
For a moment, Elizabeth felt certain that he could somehow see what had happened to her, what Jack had done to her, without her saying a word. Her throat dried and her face paled before she suddenly realized they were talking about Jack and how he had gone mad. She let out a short sigh of relief and told them her story, without a word from the men standing on the beach beside her to interrupt.
"Not my most shining moment," Jack said with a sad smile. "And as much as I bloody wish I could say I'm better, it would be a lie. I'm barely hanging it on, as it is." This was hard for Jack to admit, especially in front of friends and once enemies, but he had to make them aware of what was happening to him. He could slip again at any moment, and Lorelac could take over again.
'What makes you think I can't take over now, Jack?' the once-god interrupted his thoughts.
"What? What is it, Jack?" Will asked, seeing Jack tense.
"He's talking to you right now, isn't he?" Norrington said slowly. "This Lorelac, or whatever his name is. He's decided to join us, hasn't he Jack?"
If Jack noticed Norrington's use of his first name, he made no sign. "Yes. He's here. The bastard is here right now asking me if I truly think he can't just take over right now and hurt all of you," he whispered.
"Don't listen to him, Jack. We're here to help you, even if that means tying you up until we can find out a way to break this curse, or possession, or whatever it is. How did you manage to get cursed in the first place, anyway? I would have thought you had learned from what had happened last time, Jack," Will said with a small frown.
Jack rolled his eyes. "I have poor impulse control, all right? I'm a bleedin' pirate! Have you seen the piles of gold in there?"
"Cursed gold? Haven't we already gone through that enough? How on earth did you manage to come across cursed gold twice in your lifetime, Jack?" Will asked exasperatedly. "Please don't tell me I have to give my blood to break it this time. That was an experience I'd rather not repeat, if you don't mind."
"To tell you the truth lad, I haven't the faintest idea how to break this one. I don't even know how I ended up cursed in the first place. I didn't take any of the treasure. And I bloody have no idea why Lorelac chose me in the first place. There were plenty of other people around. Why me? Why did I survive when........when he killed everyone else? It doesn't make any sense," Jack slumped back onto the sand again dejectedly, and his companions took seats as well, forming a small circle around him. Jack didn't notice any of this, so lost was he in his own thoughts, but he felt comforted by their presence. Finally, he looked up, and started a bit to see all of them seated around him. "Will, I want you to, I want you to tie me up. At least, for a little while. I'm not safe, Will, not safe at all. I don't want to hurt anyone else."
"Jack I don't think—" Will started.
"No! I won't hurt anyone else! I let my crew die, Will. Do you understand that? They're dead because of me! I killed them, you see. I knew about the curse all along. I knew about it, and I led them to their deaths smiling, Will. Smiling! I was happy to see them die, did you know that? At least they're free of this place. Of this life. If it hadn't been for Miss Elizabeth, I would have been free. But she stopped me, she stopped me, and I hurt her. I hurt her, oh God, I hurt her," Jack moaned, but his eyes remained dry and without tears as he had promised. He would never cry again. His gaze dropped to his lap, and his unbound hair hung around his face like a dark curtain.
No one spoke after that. Elizabeth slowly looked over Will and Norrington's faces to see their reactions to seeing Jack like this for the first time. They were both pale, and looked a little sick. She imagined that must have been what she had looked like when she had first seen him, too. It seemed like such a long time ago, now. Finally, it was Will who broke the silence.
"What did he mean, you stopped him, Elizabeth? What did you stop him from doing? Does this have to do with the wound on his cheek that he wouldn't tell me about?" he asked softly, leaving Jack to his thoughts, not daring to speak to his friend for the moment.
"He tried to kill himself, Will. He had a pistol underneath his chin. If I hadn't pushed his arm out of the way," she couldn't finish the thought; the horror of the scene was still too fresh in her mind.
"If she hadn't pushed my hand away I would have blown my brains out without a second thought," Jack supplied softly, looking up at them through his dark locks. "You see how close I came," he gestured to the nasty mark on his cheek, "I got this from the bullet. A nice little reminder that I'll more than likely carry for the rest of my days, however many that will be. Go get the rope, whelp. I'll not ask you again." Jack said sternly, holding his back straight and proud, looking every inch the pirate captain that he was now, still in command of a ship if not necessarily of himself or a crew.
Will merely nodded and did as he was ordered to without comment. Something in him responded to Jack's tone of voice. Maybe it was the 'pirate in his blood,' that Jack had always gone on about. 'Dear God, Jack,' he thought with a shudder. He couldn't imagine what Elizabeth had gone through to see him like that. He couldn't imagine what Jack must be going through. To have all of your friends die around you in an instant, and then to be haunted by some spirit that clearly liked causing Jack pain. Will couldn't wrap his mind around that especially. To have another presence within your own mind.......it was enough to drive a man mad, he mused. It *had* driven a man mad.
Will shook his head to clear his thoughts and concentrated on what he was doing. He had to find something to tie Jack up with. He didn't necessarily believe the pirate captain was dangerous, but Jack had been insistent, and it was best to humor him for the moment. After a moment's frenzied search, he finally located a coil of thick rope that would suit Jack's needs in the small boat he and Norrington had borrowed from the tribe's people, and brought it back to Jack. "Will this do?" he asked.
"Aye, that should work fine as long as you make the knots tight enough so I can't work my way out. I've had a lot of experience in that area, so I'll let you know how tight is too tight," he turned to Norrington, "I suggest you get Jimmy here to tie the knots though. He's no doubt had experience in restraining pirates," he suggested with a small grin in Norrington's direction.
"Don't call me that, or I shall be forced to use Elizabeth's tactic and start referring to you as Edward. Do I make myself clear, Captain Sparrow?" Norrington said, taking the coiled rope from Will and moving over to tie Jack's hands together.
"Looks like you haven't found yourself a sense of humor to go with that new look, mate," Jack mumbled as Norrington started tying his hands together. "Tighter, or I'll get free. And you'd better tie my legs together as well," he said, waiting for the protestations he knew would come.
"Jack, you can't be serious. Tying your hands together is one thing. But come on, Jack. Is all this really necessary?" Will asked with a frown.
Jack cast a glance at Elizabeth, unthinkingly trying to gesture with the expressive hands that Norrington was currently attempting to tie together. "Ask her. She'll tell you." Norrington grunted, and Jack stilled his hands with a slightly apologetic look.
Elizabeth sighed. "It's necessary, Will, James. Lorelac would hurt us if he was given the chance. And Jack wouldn't be able to do anything about it. So tie him up. For his sake, and for our own."
"When did you get this, Jack?" Norrington asked, pointing down to the tattoo that covered Jack's left hand.
"Did I not tell you about the tattoo?" Jack asked, looking over to Elizabeth for verification. When she shook her head, he turned back to Norrington. "Raise up my right sleeve and unbutton my shirt if you would be so kind, Commodore," Jack took in Norrington's look at his request, and smirked. "Don't worry; I'm not going to bite you."
Norrington rolled his eyes at that, and did as Jack had asked without comment. He gasped when Jack's shirt had been pushed down off his shoulders. The black lines of the tattoo were now covering more than half of his chest.
"Dear God," Elizabeth muttered, coming over to Jack's side.
"What? It's a tattoo, Sparrow's got a dozen more like it, I'm sure. What's wrong with this one?" Norrington asked with a confused frown.
"Judging by your reaction, Elizabeth, I'll bet it's grown since the last time you saw it," Jack looked down at his chest, saw the lines of the tattoo, and cursed softly before continuing. "You see, this isn't anything at all like my other tattoos. I'm not even sure it's a tattoo at all, that's simply the only name I know to call it. When I first came to this godforsaken spit of land, it wasn't there; it didn't exist. It formed when Lorelac first took possession of me. Nothing like it is now; it was only covering my hand then. Each time he takes over, it gets a little bigger. I don't know what will happen when it covers my entire body, but I doubt it will be good," he whispered before turning back to Norrington. "If you would please pull my shirt back up, Commodore?" he asked politely, looking Norrington straight in the eye.
Norrington started to see a pair of two cold, pale blue eyes staring back at him, shook his head to dismiss such an obvious delusion brought on by his still lingering illness, and looked again. Jack's own brown eyes stared up at him in confusion. "Are you alright, Norrington?" Jack asked with concern. "You're not looking too good."
"I'm fine. I just thought I saw.......nevermind. It was nothing. I'll tie your legs together if you still want," he asked, reaching down to Jack's legs, preparing to connect the rope that bound his wrists together to his legs as well.
"As a matter of fact," Jack started, before pulling his bound hands over Norrington's head and moving around to his back so that he could choke him with his bound wrists. "What a pleasure it is to meet all of you finally," Lorelac said through Jack's voice, his accent once more the highland lilt that had haunted Elizabeth's dreams. He quickly stood up, forcing Norrington up on his knees, and he slowly increased the pressure on Norrington's neck, making the military man gasp, and claw at the rope around his throat.
"Let him go, you bastard!" Elizabeth shouted, her eyes locked with Lorelac's pale blue ones.
"Ahh, darling Elizabeth. What a pleasure it is to see you again, my dear. We've got a lot to talk about, you and I. I assume you haven't told them anything yet?" Lorelac stated with a cold smirk crossing Jack's face.
"Let me, go!" Norrington rasped, his face beginning to turn a rosy color as his air supply was slowly cut off.
"What was that, I couldn't quite hear," Lorelac smirked, not letting him go, but not letting any pressure up, either. "How in my name did you get yourself dragged into this mess, anyway James? May I call you that? You haven't answered my question, James. I thought you hated Sparrow. Why would you join the rescue of a man you hated? I really want to know," Lorelac asked, loosing the rope at Norrington's neck just enough to let him answer.
"Because no one should have to put up with a bastard like you, Lorelac," Norrington spat at the ground after Lorelac's name. "I would rescue a thousand of the most ruthless and wretched pirates in the ocean, which Jack definitely is not, to see you burn in hell. Mark my words, we will find a way to defeat you. Jack will find a way to defeat you."
Jack's face went still, Lorelac's blue eyes blazing an artic fire. "Foolish mortals. You have no idea what you're dealing with. None. You cannot hope to beat me, I am a god!" his voice seemed to grow louder, echoing throughout the beach.
"I don't care you who are. You're nothing to me. I don't even care to remember your name. The only person I care about right now is Jack. I know he's in there, and he's stronger than you could ever hope to be. I believe that more than I believe in you," Will spoke solemnly.
"You know what; I think I'm almost hurt by that, William. It's a shame your dead mother and father never had a chance to teach you any manners. But I guess I can hardly blame them. A pirate and his whore are hardly role models, now are they, Will?" Lorelac asked with a wicked smile.
Liz had to hold Will back from striking Jack in his anger at such a statement. Most of him knew that it wasn't Jack who was saying the hurtful words about his parents, but a more persuasive and impulse part of him was instructing him to beat Jack's face into the sand. Right now. If it hadn't been for Elizabeth's arms on his shoulders, holding him almost ineffectually back, he would have followed that impulse. "You bastard," he hissed. "You would like that, wouldn't you? You want to torment me into striking Jack, my friend, when he's the innocent here. I won't play your game. Now let Norrington and Jack go. You have no power here. You can't hurt us." Will stated firmly.
"Oh no? But I can do this," Lorelac said with a scowl, simultaneously tightening his grip around Norrington's throat re-opening every wound he had earlier healed on Jack's body. The blood trailed down Jack's face, dripping onto Norrington's and the Commodore tried to elbow Jack in the ribs.
After a few weak tries, Norrington succeeded, and Lorelac's grip loosened just enough to allow him a gasping breath. He had just enough time to take that breath before he found himself pulled suddenly backwards, landing hard on top of Jack's bleeding body as Will and Elizabeth tackled Lorelac to the ground in his distraction. Lorelac struggled for a few long minutes under Norrington's body, and Will and Elizabeth's hands before finally going limp, his eye closing tightly.
"I told you to bloody tie my legs together," Jack moaned, still not moving from his place in the sand.
Norrington pushed Jack's bounds hands up over his head and placed a hand to his raw throat. His fingers came away bloody, and he furiously tried to reclaim his breath.
"Are you alright, Norrington?" Jack asked slowly, still not opening his eyes nor moving from his prone position on the sand.
"I'll live," he rasped out, still lying on top of Jack, neither one of them thinking about moving for quite awhile. "How are you? You are you again, right?" Norrington asked, not turning to look at the pirate captain.
"I'm pretty sure I'll live," Jack said, finally opening his eyes. It was when Will and Elizabeth saw Jack's own brown eyes staring up at them that they finally released their tight grip in his shoulders, allowing him to get up, that is once Norrington had, anyway. "Just don't move, Norrington all right? I've got quite a few broken ribs just above where you've currently got your head," Jack said. The statement about broken ribs unfortunately startled Norrington into thinking that he might be hurting Jack and he quickly pulled up off of him, causing the pirate to gasp in pain at his wake. "What did I just bleeding tell you?" he groaned through clenched teeth, two tears making their way down his bloodied face at the extreme pain he was currently feeling.
"Oh God, I'm sorry, Jack," Norrington rasped out once he had seen Jack's face. "How on earth did you manage broken ribs? I didn't land on you *that* hard."
"No, they were a gift from Lorelac in the form of Ana. She took great pleasure in kicking me quite a few times earlier today," Jack said, blood dribbling down from a badly split bottom lip. "Not to mention this lip," he gestured to it. "Lorelac healed all of these the first time he possessed me. I guess he decided to give them back. Not to mention a," his voice seemed to grow weaker and weaker with every passing word, "a bloody awful head wound. Ana didn't give me that though, s'from the cave-in," his voice began to slur a little, and Will, Elizabeth and Norrington exchanged worried looks. "I s'pose that's what's makin' the world spin at the moment, right?"
The three of them immediately went to Jack's side and took action, Norrington retying Jack's wide red and white sash as tightly around what he assumed to be Jack's broken ribs, there was a band of black and blue marks across his still bare chest, with as much care as possible. Jack didn't say anything while he was doing this, only moaned and turned an ungodly shade of pale that his tanned skin shouldn't have been able to accomplish. "Stay with us, Sparrow. We can't afford you passing out on us now. We need you awake so we can get the hell off this island," Norrington told him firmly, helping Will and Elizabeth raise him into a semi seated position so they could take a look at the back of his head.
"'M tryin'," Jack slurred. "S'not easy........but we can't leave yet. Haveta get the crew to the Pearl. Promised......." his eyes drifted shut.
"Oh no you don't, Jack," Will said, beating Norrington to it by a hair. "You have to stay awake. I've seen men fall unconscious with head wounds before and never wake up. We are *not* going to let that happen, do you understand me?" Jack nodded and opened his eyes again, but didn't speak. "James, tie his feet, but leave enough slack so that he can still walk slowly. Do you understand?" Will asked, fully believing Jack's warnings about tying him up now. Norrington nodded and did as he was tasked without comment. "Elizabeth, how's it look?" he asked as she moved behind Jack and looked over the wound on the back of his head.
"It's hard to tell, Will. He's bleeding an awful lot, and all this hair in the way isn't helping matters either. I'm going to need something to stop the blood. And soon. He's loosing too much, too quickly. Look at him," Elizabeth directed. "And feel his skin, for God's sake, it's cold! We're in the middle of the Caribbean, the sun is shining brightly overhead, and he's cold. This isn't good, Will. He needs a doctor. Right now, or I'm worried that there's a chance of him bleeding to death."
"Don' worry 'bout me. Worry about yourselves. 'Bout me crew. Get them to the Pearl. Nothing else matters. Get my crew to my ship," Jack said as forcefully as he could, under the circumstances. That last statement was what did him in, however, and his beaten, bloodied and bruised body had finally decided it had had enough, and he fell, limp and unconscious into Elizabeth's arms.
TBC
A/N: Wow, that was a long chapter, huh? I guess my 'time off' from posting any new fanfic, ie ff.net's punishment *boo hiss* had one good result; it gave me more time to write this extra long chapter for all of you. Unfortunately, it also forced me to post it on the 15th while it was finished on the 11th. Sigh. Oh well. Please review. If you haven't already, please do. If you already have, please do so again. For that was what really sucked about having this story yanked from ff.net. Losing all 115 of those lovely lovely reviews. :-(
Reviewer Thanks Section
To all of you who had a chance to review last chapter before ff.net yanked my story, THANK YOU!! I wish I could thank each and every one of you personally, but alas, all of your wonderful reviews are lost and I cannot. Perhaps next chapter............sigh.........
-Merrie
A Pirates of the Caribbean story by Merrie
Disclaimer: I can't be trusted to own these characters. Look what kind of hell I put them through!
Summary: Captain Jack has lost his ship, his crew, nearly his life, and now his sanity to a horrible new curse. Will this Sparrow be able soar again after his wings have been broken?
Characters: Captain Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann, Commodore Norrington, Kiquan, and Lorelac the Hated.
Author's Note: Ok, for the length it took me to post this, blame ff.net. They yanked this story because of my ONE BLOODY RATED R CHAPTER. And to make matters worse, they wouldn't let me access my account to upload until the 15th. This chapter was finished by the 11th. Yeah, that's right, the 11th. So they yanked it, made me lose ALL of my 115 reviews, and made me up the rating of the entire story when it should have just been ONE CHAPTER! Can you tell I'm a little angry with ff.net right now??
Rating: PG-13 for language, violence, and extreme angst.
Chapter 13: Talking and Taking Time
Will couldn't believe his eyes. It wasn't possible, was it? Dear God, he hadn't dared to hope that Elizabeth might have found Jack before they did. The thought hadn't even had a chance to cross his mind. But the diminutive and definitely female standing next to Jack's obvious figure on the beach could be no one other than his lost fiancé. "Do you see?" Will took a moment to catch his near hyperventilating breath, "Do you see her, James? Tell me please that you see her. Don't let her be an illusion, not now. I don't think I could take it."
"It's her, Will. I don't know how, but God be praised, it's really her," Norrington said, sounding a little breathless himself.
Will caught that in his voice and looked at him with a frown. The man had been recovering from pneumonia for less than a day. "Are you alright, James? I'm sorry left so abruptly. I'm ashamed to say that I didn't consider how any of this might put a strain on your already bad health. Forgive me," Will implored softly.
"If the two of them standing on the beach really are there and not a hallucination, then any ill I might be feeling right now will have been worth it," Norrington said solemnly.
"I'm glad to have you as a friend, James. I'm sure Jack will be as well. Just don't let him push you around. Behind the gruff piratical exterior, he's really a big softy at heart," Will said with a true smile for the first time since he had woken up yesterday morning.
"Truly?" Norrington couldn't help but ask.
"Well, not really. But once he's decided he likes you, you couldn't help for a more loyal friend," Will said at last.
"You have always spoken highly of him Will. I will trust your judgement. I may not like him, but I at least won't try and hang him this time," Norrington said with a small smile of his own.
Will let out a short laugh at that. "Well that's a start, at least."
The two men didn't say anything further as they rowed toward the couple on the beach, their smiles growing on their faces as they got closer and closer.
***
A sudden thought occurred to Elizabeth as she saw the boat come up on the sand and her face paled dramatically. "Jack, dear God. I'm not wearing anything under your jacket."
"What?" Jack asked her, uncomprehending what she was trying to tell him. Elizabeth gestured to herself, and he paled as well. "Oh bloody hell," he cursed quietly. "There's nothing you can do about it now, I'm afraid. Will and bloody Commodore Norrington are on their way up the beach right now. Just stay covered up, and I'll think of something," he didn't bother asking her if she would rather simply tell the truth, he knew what her answer to that suggestion would be. She was determined to put what had happened between the two of them behind her as if it had never happened. Jack couldn't. He couldn't forget the sight of Elizabeth's pained face beneath his own, her pleading with him to stop. It didn't matter that he hadn't been in control of his body at the time; Lorelac had graciously allowed him to feel every thing his body would have if he had been the one......the one raping her. He had felt her body trembling under his with fear, and felt her wrists grasped harshly in one of his hands, he had felt everything, and those feelings would haunt him to his grave. But he put on a small smile for the sake of the young man coming up on the beach, the friend whose fiancé he had so ruthlessly violated.
"Jack," the friend and fiancé addressed him, startling him out of his thoughts. "Dear God, Jack what's happened to your face?"
Jack absently pressed a finger lightly to the deep cauterized gouge along his cheek and suppressed a wince. "Oh that? It's nothing you need worry yourself about now, Will," Jack took a moment to take in his friend's concerned brown eyes. "Damn it's good to see you, whelp," he whispered. And before he could react, he found himself in a tight embrace. "Uh thanks—" Jack started to say, but before the words had even left his mouth, Will had released him as quickly as he had embraced him and turned to Elizabeth, giving her one of the deepest and passion-filled kisses he had ever seen in his long years among the fairer sex.
Jack turned to behold the naval Commodore who was looking both a little uncomfortable at the affectionate display and a little unsteady on his feet. "Commodore Norrington. How in God's name did you get roped into this? I thought you wanted to see me hung?" he hesitated for a moment, and frowned deeply, wincing as the action pulled at the wound on his face. He had a feeling that he would have more than a little trouble keeping his naturally animated face still enough to heal. "You don't, do you?"
Norrington let out a genuine laugh at that, which startled Jack. "No, I don't want to see you hang, you daft pirate. I didn't come all this bleeding way to rescue you just to see you meet a dangling end."
"Genuinely pleased to hear it, Commodore. Or may I call you James? I always liked you; did I ever tell you that? And I like you infinitely better now that you've gotten rid of that stupid wig. I always hated such things. They itch like the devil," Jack said smiling.
"When were you ever in a wig, Sparrow?" Norrington asked incredulously.
"You'd be surprised, James," Elizabeth answered for him, sounding breathless from Will's fervent kiss.
Will sounded a little breathless himself when he looked over Elizabeth for the first time, "Dear God, Elizabeth! What happened to your clothes?"
Elizabeth self-consciously held Jack's jacket shut tighter as she glanced down at what she was wearing, or rather not wearing. She couldn't tell Will what had really happened to his clothes without telling him what had happened, and that was something she was not going to do ever if she could help it. She just wanted to put the whole nightmare behind her.
Jack felt her unease so he decided to speak up. "I think the storm tore up her clothes, Will. I confess I earned a few slaps after first seeing her, but she somehow convinced a hardened pirate like me to turn his back and hand her his coat. I'm not entirely sure how," he paused and could see Elizabeth's gratitude as Will seemed to accept the story. "So, what brings you two to this godforsaken little island? Have you come to rescue your little mermaid here?" Jack asked with a small somewhat forced smile in Elizabeth's direction.
"No Jack, we've come to rescue you. But from the looks of things, it seems as if we were too late," Will said softly, looking first to Jack's bloodied face and then to the bodies of his crew lined up on the shore.
Jack looked over his shoulder to follow Will's line of sight. "Oh, them? Don't worry about them. They've been keeping me company when Elizabeth wasn't here."
"Sparrow, you don't have to do this," Norrington said softly. "No one would fault you for mourning the loss of so many. Please don't insult us as if the deaths of your entire crew meant nothing to you. I have lost men before, nothing as nightmarish as this of course, but I have. And their deaths still haunt me to this very day. It's all right to feel sorrow for their deaths."
"Don't you dare tell me how deign to tell me how I'm feeling, Norrington. Don't you dare. You don't even know me," Jack said coldly, with such an abrupt change in emotion that Will gasped on Norrington's behalf.
"You're correct, Captain Sparrow. Forgive me for assuming you had any feelings," Norrington said just as coldly.
"I-I'm sorry, Norrington," Jack said suddenly, his body seeming to fold in on itself. "I don't know why I said that," he slumped to the ground suddenly and the two men and woman were immediately at the pirate captain's side.
"Jack, are you still with me?" Elizabeth asked softly. Will and Norrington had to be told about Lorelac and Jack's temporary descent into madness, but now didn't seem like the time.
"Still here," Jack murmured after taking a minute to re-center himself. Lorelac was playing with him, it seemed. "For now, anyway," he had to add. It would be foolish to think that Lorelac would just leave him alone.
"Jack, what's wrong? You never answered my question? What happened to your face? What happened to your crew? What was that just now?" Will asked, in reference to Jack's collapse to the ground.
"Just leave it alone, Will. Don't ask me that, please. I can't—" Jack broke off suddenly, and didn't say another word, merely sat on the sand, not looking at any of them, as still as if he had been turned to stone.
"Jack? Say something, please. Let me know you're still there," Elizabeth pleaded with him, a cold wave of fear running down her spine as he went still. Jack didn't answer. She looked to Will and Norrington, her eyes wide. "Oh God, not again. He was doing all right. He was doing better," she muttered to herself. "Jack! Don't do this, not now! We're here to help you! But we can't help you if you don't help us! Now answer me!" Still, Jack did not answer her, merely stared blankly out to sea, the only signs that he was still among the living being the gentle rise and fall of his chest, and the fact that his dark eyes were wide open.
"Elizabeth, what's happening? What's wrong with him?" Will shouted, her anxiety was catching, it seemed, and Jack wasn't answering her.
Elizabeth didn't answer him, only drew her right hand back sharply and laid her palm across Jack's injured cheek with a loud crack that made both men wince. Jack's head jerked to the left so quickly that he almost toppled over into the sand.
"Bloody hell......." he muttered slowly, stars fluttering before his eyes. Elizabeth had put her full body weight into the slap on his already injured cheek, and now his entire face felt like it was on fire.
"Are you going to stay with us, or am I going to have to do that again?" Elizabeth asked, preparing herself to strike him again when he put a tattooed hand up, his other one lightly pressed on his throbbing cheek.
"I'm here, I'm here. Just don't slap me again," he whispered; his voice hoarse with pain. "That bloody hurt, you unmerciful wench."
"If it helps keep whatever's snapping at your heels at bay, I'll be as unmerciful as I need to be. Savvy?" Elizabeth said solemnly.
"Savvy," Jack agreed. "The word suits you, luv," he said with a small wince that he'd probably intended to be a smirk before turning back to Will and Norrington. "I'm sorry Will, you were saying something?"
"Oh no you don't, Jack Sparrow. You're going to tell me what the hell is going on, right now or by God I'll knock you to your back so fast you're head will be spinning," Will threatened.
"And I'll help," Norrington added.
"What is this? I'm not safe around any of you people now? I thought you came here to rescue me?" Jack asked, his voice half joking.
Will sighed, trying to calm himself down. He didn't like people keeping secrets from him, especially friends. "We are here to help you, Jack. But please for the love of God, tell us what's going on. What happened just then?"
"Either you tell them, or I will, Jack," Elizabeth said, but then sent him a look which he interpreted as she still didn't want him to tell Will *everything* yet.
Jack sighed, "Fine. I'll tell you my little tale as soon as my head bleeding stops spinning from dear Lizzie's wake-up call. And I wouldn't mind getting cleaned up a little, if it's all the same to you. I'm sure my face is a bloody mess by now."
"There are a few natural pools of water in the cave; I'll go dip a cloth in one of them. Sea water will only make it hurt worse." Elizabeth hurried off, looking guilty for the way she had treated him. It had been the only way she could think of to get him to snap out of whatever state his mind had gone too, but that didn't stop her from feeling guilty about it. She returned a minute later with a dripping piece of cloth in one of her hands. She gently cleaned every last trace of blood off of Jack's face, and cleansed the deep wound at his cheek as best she could. Without the dirt and blood to mask it, it looked quite wretched.
"What's the matter? Not charmed by my looks anymore, Lizzie?" Jack asked with a small smile once she had finished.
"I never was in the first place, Jack. And don't call me Lizzie, Edward," she intentionally let his first name slip. It was the least she could do for his continued insistence in calling her that horrible nickname.
Jack closed his eyes in a wince, and hoped Will and Norrington hadn't picked up on the slip. He hadn't hoped hard enough, apparently. "Who's Edward, Elizabeth?" Norrington asked.
"No one. He's no one. A distant cousin of my aunt's nephew twice removed," Jack said in a rush. Norrington didn't look as if he believed it any more than Barbossa had. Damn.
"Who's Edward, James? Why, you're looking at him. Gentlemen, may I introduce.......let's see if I remembered all of this, Edward John Corintin Alexandre Sperling, better known to us as Jack Spa—" her voice was cut off abruptly by Jack's rather dirty right hand.
"The lass has gone a little funny in the head, I'm afraid. Too much time spent out in the sun, it seems. It's best if you didn't pay any attention to her ramblings," Jack said, his hand firmly placed over Elizabeth's mouth, preventing her from speaking. That didn't prevent her from biting, however, and he drew back his offended hand with a short yelp.
Norrington and Will seemed rather amused by the display until Elizabeth's words had sunk in. "Jack Sparrow's not your real name?" Will asked slowly, a bit hurt that Jack had never shared this with him.
Jack shut his eyes tight and groaned in resignation. "No, Jack Sparrow is not my bloody name, alright? But that's not the story I'm telling you, so don't even ask," he said, his tone brooking no argument. "Jack Sparrow is bloody close enough to my real name to let it slide anyway," he muttered.
"In German, Sperling means Sparrow, doesn't it?" Norrington asked.
"Yes, but that's all I'll say about it, savvy? We've got bigger problems to deal with right now. Much bigger," Jack said slowly. "I seem to be cursed, or possessed rather, by an evil bastard who goes by the name of Lorelac," he paused as he felt his nose begin to bleed, and Elizabeth placed the wet cloth in his hand without him asking for it. "He doesn't like it when I talk about him so he causes this," he said, gesturing to his still bleeding nose. "I'm somehow cursed again, but I don't care about that right now. It doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is that you believe me. He's dangerous. I'm dangerous. Keep that in mind."
"You're cursed? Is that what caused the death of all our crew, Jack?" Will asked softly.
"I think so," Jack said after a long minute. "They were all killed in a cave-in at the same time. All except Ana, that is," Jack's voice had dropped to a whisper. No one said anything for a full minute after that, feeling the need to honor the dead with their silence. "That's not all, I'm afraid."
"There's more?" Norrington asked a little incredulously.
Jack sent a small smile his direction. "Unfortunately so. You see, I've never been what you'd call completely sane, as I'm sure you're all aware. I've always had a bit of an eccentric personality, and I know it. I'm Captain Jack Sparrow, what can I say?" he waited for them all to laugh at that before continuing, "But I am human, no matter what I might sometimes like to believe, and the events of today.......let's just say they took their toll. You can ask Elizabeth. I'm afraid I haven't been the most gracious of hosts on this here isle, lately."
The two men looked at Elizabeth, reading in between the lines of what Jack had said. "What happened that Jack isn't telling us, Elizabeth?" Norrington asked her.
For a moment, Elizabeth felt certain that he could somehow see what had happened to her, what Jack had done to her, without her saying a word. Her throat dried and her face paled before she suddenly realized they were talking about Jack and how he had gone mad. She let out a short sigh of relief and told them her story, without a word from the men standing on the beach beside her to interrupt.
"Not my most shining moment," Jack said with a sad smile. "And as much as I bloody wish I could say I'm better, it would be a lie. I'm barely hanging it on, as it is." This was hard for Jack to admit, especially in front of friends and once enemies, but he had to make them aware of what was happening to him. He could slip again at any moment, and Lorelac could take over again.
'What makes you think I can't take over now, Jack?' the once-god interrupted his thoughts.
"What? What is it, Jack?" Will asked, seeing Jack tense.
"He's talking to you right now, isn't he?" Norrington said slowly. "This Lorelac, or whatever his name is. He's decided to join us, hasn't he Jack?"
If Jack noticed Norrington's use of his first name, he made no sign. "Yes. He's here. The bastard is here right now asking me if I truly think he can't just take over right now and hurt all of you," he whispered.
"Don't listen to him, Jack. We're here to help you, even if that means tying you up until we can find out a way to break this curse, or possession, or whatever it is. How did you manage to get cursed in the first place, anyway? I would have thought you had learned from what had happened last time, Jack," Will said with a small frown.
Jack rolled his eyes. "I have poor impulse control, all right? I'm a bleedin' pirate! Have you seen the piles of gold in there?"
"Cursed gold? Haven't we already gone through that enough? How on earth did you manage to come across cursed gold twice in your lifetime, Jack?" Will asked exasperatedly. "Please don't tell me I have to give my blood to break it this time. That was an experience I'd rather not repeat, if you don't mind."
"To tell you the truth lad, I haven't the faintest idea how to break this one. I don't even know how I ended up cursed in the first place. I didn't take any of the treasure. And I bloody have no idea why Lorelac chose me in the first place. There were plenty of other people around. Why me? Why did I survive when........when he killed everyone else? It doesn't make any sense," Jack slumped back onto the sand again dejectedly, and his companions took seats as well, forming a small circle around him. Jack didn't notice any of this, so lost was he in his own thoughts, but he felt comforted by their presence. Finally, he looked up, and started a bit to see all of them seated around him. "Will, I want you to, I want you to tie me up. At least, for a little while. I'm not safe, Will, not safe at all. I don't want to hurt anyone else."
"Jack I don't think—" Will started.
"No! I won't hurt anyone else! I let my crew die, Will. Do you understand that? They're dead because of me! I killed them, you see. I knew about the curse all along. I knew about it, and I led them to their deaths smiling, Will. Smiling! I was happy to see them die, did you know that? At least they're free of this place. Of this life. If it hadn't been for Miss Elizabeth, I would have been free. But she stopped me, she stopped me, and I hurt her. I hurt her, oh God, I hurt her," Jack moaned, but his eyes remained dry and without tears as he had promised. He would never cry again. His gaze dropped to his lap, and his unbound hair hung around his face like a dark curtain.
No one spoke after that. Elizabeth slowly looked over Will and Norrington's faces to see their reactions to seeing Jack like this for the first time. They were both pale, and looked a little sick. She imagined that must have been what she had looked like when she had first seen him, too. It seemed like such a long time ago, now. Finally, it was Will who broke the silence.
"What did he mean, you stopped him, Elizabeth? What did you stop him from doing? Does this have to do with the wound on his cheek that he wouldn't tell me about?" he asked softly, leaving Jack to his thoughts, not daring to speak to his friend for the moment.
"He tried to kill himself, Will. He had a pistol underneath his chin. If I hadn't pushed his arm out of the way," she couldn't finish the thought; the horror of the scene was still too fresh in her mind.
"If she hadn't pushed my hand away I would have blown my brains out without a second thought," Jack supplied softly, looking up at them through his dark locks. "You see how close I came," he gestured to the nasty mark on his cheek, "I got this from the bullet. A nice little reminder that I'll more than likely carry for the rest of my days, however many that will be. Go get the rope, whelp. I'll not ask you again." Jack said sternly, holding his back straight and proud, looking every inch the pirate captain that he was now, still in command of a ship if not necessarily of himself or a crew.
Will merely nodded and did as he was ordered to without comment. Something in him responded to Jack's tone of voice. Maybe it was the 'pirate in his blood,' that Jack had always gone on about. 'Dear God, Jack,' he thought with a shudder. He couldn't imagine what Elizabeth had gone through to see him like that. He couldn't imagine what Jack must be going through. To have all of your friends die around you in an instant, and then to be haunted by some spirit that clearly liked causing Jack pain. Will couldn't wrap his mind around that especially. To have another presence within your own mind.......it was enough to drive a man mad, he mused. It *had* driven a man mad.
Will shook his head to clear his thoughts and concentrated on what he was doing. He had to find something to tie Jack up with. He didn't necessarily believe the pirate captain was dangerous, but Jack had been insistent, and it was best to humor him for the moment. After a moment's frenzied search, he finally located a coil of thick rope that would suit Jack's needs in the small boat he and Norrington had borrowed from the tribe's people, and brought it back to Jack. "Will this do?" he asked.
"Aye, that should work fine as long as you make the knots tight enough so I can't work my way out. I've had a lot of experience in that area, so I'll let you know how tight is too tight," he turned to Norrington, "I suggest you get Jimmy here to tie the knots though. He's no doubt had experience in restraining pirates," he suggested with a small grin in Norrington's direction.
"Don't call me that, or I shall be forced to use Elizabeth's tactic and start referring to you as Edward. Do I make myself clear, Captain Sparrow?" Norrington said, taking the coiled rope from Will and moving over to tie Jack's hands together.
"Looks like you haven't found yourself a sense of humor to go with that new look, mate," Jack mumbled as Norrington started tying his hands together. "Tighter, or I'll get free. And you'd better tie my legs together as well," he said, waiting for the protestations he knew would come.
"Jack, you can't be serious. Tying your hands together is one thing. But come on, Jack. Is all this really necessary?" Will asked with a frown.
Jack cast a glance at Elizabeth, unthinkingly trying to gesture with the expressive hands that Norrington was currently attempting to tie together. "Ask her. She'll tell you." Norrington grunted, and Jack stilled his hands with a slightly apologetic look.
Elizabeth sighed. "It's necessary, Will, James. Lorelac would hurt us if he was given the chance. And Jack wouldn't be able to do anything about it. So tie him up. For his sake, and for our own."
"When did you get this, Jack?" Norrington asked, pointing down to the tattoo that covered Jack's left hand.
"Did I not tell you about the tattoo?" Jack asked, looking over to Elizabeth for verification. When she shook her head, he turned back to Norrington. "Raise up my right sleeve and unbutton my shirt if you would be so kind, Commodore," Jack took in Norrington's look at his request, and smirked. "Don't worry; I'm not going to bite you."
Norrington rolled his eyes at that, and did as Jack had asked without comment. He gasped when Jack's shirt had been pushed down off his shoulders. The black lines of the tattoo were now covering more than half of his chest.
"Dear God," Elizabeth muttered, coming over to Jack's side.
"What? It's a tattoo, Sparrow's got a dozen more like it, I'm sure. What's wrong with this one?" Norrington asked with a confused frown.
"Judging by your reaction, Elizabeth, I'll bet it's grown since the last time you saw it," Jack looked down at his chest, saw the lines of the tattoo, and cursed softly before continuing. "You see, this isn't anything at all like my other tattoos. I'm not even sure it's a tattoo at all, that's simply the only name I know to call it. When I first came to this godforsaken spit of land, it wasn't there; it didn't exist. It formed when Lorelac first took possession of me. Nothing like it is now; it was only covering my hand then. Each time he takes over, it gets a little bigger. I don't know what will happen when it covers my entire body, but I doubt it will be good," he whispered before turning back to Norrington. "If you would please pull my shirt back up, Commodore?" he asked politely, looking Norrington straight in the eye.
Norrington started to see a pair of two cold, pale blue eyes staring back at him, shook his head to dismiss such an obvious delusion brought on by his still lingering illness, and looked again. Jack's own brown eyes stared up at him in confusion. "Are you alright, Norrington?" Jack asked with concern. "You're not looking too good."
"I'm fine. I just thought I saw.......nevermind. It was nothing. I'll tie your legs together if you still want," he asked, reaching down to Jack's legs, preparing to connect the rope that bound his wrists together to his legs as well.
"As a matter of fact," Jack started, before pulling his bound hands over Norrington's head and moving around to his back so that he could choke him with his bound wrists. "What a pleasure it is to meet all of you finally," Lorelac said through Jack's voice, his accent once more the highland lilt that had haunted Elizabeth's dreams. He quickly stood up, forcing Norrington up on his knees, and he slowly increased the pressure on Norrington's neck, making the military man gasp, and claw at the rope around his throat.
"Let him go, you bastard!" Elizabeth shouted, her eyes locked with Lorelac's pale blue ones.
"Ahh, darling Elizabeth. What a pleasure it is to see you again, my dear. We've got a lot to talk about, you and I. I assume you haven't told them anything yet?" Lorelac stated with a cold smirk crossing Jack's face.
"Let me, go!" Norrington rasped, his face beginning to turn a rosy color as his air supply was slowly cut off.
"What was that, I couldn't quite hear," Lorelac smirked, not letting him go, but not letting any pressure up, either. "How in my name did you get yourself dragged into this mess, anyway James? May I call you that? You haven't answered my question, James. I thought you hated Sparrow. Why would you join the rescue of a man you hated? I really want to know," Lorelac asked, loosing the rope at Norrington's neck just enough to let him answer.
"Because no one should have to put up with a bastard like you, Lorelac," Norrington spat at the ground after Lorelac's name. "I would rescue a thousand of the most ruthless and wretched pirates in the ocean, which Jack definitely is not, to see you burn in hell. Mark my words, we will find a way to defeat you. Jack will find a way to defeat you."
Jack's face went still, Lorelac's blue eyes blazing an artic fire. "Foolish mortals. You have no idea what you're dealing with. None. You cannot hope to beat me, I am a god!" his voice seemed to grow louder, echoing throughout the beach.
"I don't care you who are. You're nothing to me. I don't even care to remember your name. The only person I care about right now is Jack. I know he's in there, and he's stronger than you could ever hope to be. I believe that more than I believe in you," Will spoke solemnly.
"You know what; I think I'm almost hurt by that, William. It's a shame your dead mother and father never had a chance to teach you any manners. But I guess I can hardly blame them. A pirate and his whore are hardly role models, now are they, Will?" Lorelac asked with a wicked smile.
Liz had to hold Will back from striking Jack in his anger at such a statement. Most of him knew that it wasn't Jack who was saying the hurtful words about his parents, but a more persuasive and impulse part of him was instructing him to beat Jack's face into the sand. Right now. If it hadn't been for Elizabeth's arms on his shoulders, holding him almost ineffectually back, he would have followed that impulse. "You bastard," he hissed. "You would like that, wouldn't you? You want to torment me into striking Jack, my friend, when he's the innocent here. I won't play your game. Now let Norrington and Jack go. You have no power here. You can't hurt us." Will stated firmly.
"Oh no? But I can do this," Lorelac said with a scowl, simultaneously tightening his grip around Norrington's throat re-opening every wound he had earlier healed on Jack's body. The blood trailed down Jack's face, dripping onto Norrington's and the Commodore tried to elbow Jack in the ribs.
After a few weak tries, Norrington succeeded, and Lorelac's grip loosened just enough to allow him a gasping breath. He had just enough time to take that breath before he found himself pulled suddenly backwards, landing hard on top of Jack's bleeding body as Will and Elizabeth tackled Lorelac to the ground in his distraction. Lorelac struggled for a few long minutes under Norrington's body, and Will and Elizabeth's hands before finally going limp, his eye closing tightly.
"I told you to bloody tie my legs together," Jack moaned, still not moving from his place in the sand.
Norrington pushed Jack's bounds hands up over his head and placed a hand to his raw throat. His fingers came away bloody, and he furiously tried to reclaim his breath.
"Are you alright, Norrington?" Jack asked slowly, still not opening his eyes nor moving from his prone position on the sand.
"I'll live," he rasped out, still lying on top of Jack, neither one of them thinking about moving for quite awhile. "How are you? You are you again, right?" Norrington asked, not turning to look at the pirate captain.
"I'm pretty sure I'll live," Jack said, finally opening his eyes. It was when Will and Elizabeth saw Jack's own brown eyes staring up at them that they finally released their tight grip in his shoulders, allowing him to get up, that is once Norrington had, anyway. "Just don't move, Norrington all right? I've got quite a few broken ribs just above where you've currently got your head," Jack said. The statement about broken ribs unfortunately startled Norrington into thinking that he might be hurting Jack and he quickly pulled up off of him, causing the pirate to gasp in pain at his wake. "What did I just bleeding tell you?" he groaned through clenched teeth, two tears making their way down his bloodied face at the extreme pain he was currently feeling.
"Oh God, I'm sorry, Jack," Norrington rasped out once he had seen Jack's face. "How on earth did you manage broken ribs? I didn't land on you *that* hard."
"No, they were a gift from Lorelac in the form of Ana. She took great pleasure in kicking me quite a few times earlier today," Jack said, blood dribbling down from a badly split bottom lip. "Not to mention this lip," he gestured to it. "Lorelac healed all of these the first time he possessed me. I guess he decided to give them back. Not to mention a," his voice seemed to grow weaker and weaker with every passing word, "a bloody awful head wound. Ana didn't give me that though, s'from the cave-in," his voice began to slur a little, and Will, Elizabeth and Norrington exchanged worried looks. "I s'pose that's what's makin' the world spin at the moment, right?"
The three of them immediately went to Jack's side and took action, Norrington retying Jack's wide red and white sash as tightly around what he assumed to be Jack's broken ribs, there was a band of black and blue marks across his still bare chest, with as much care as possible. Jack didn't say anything while he was doing this, only moaned and turned an ungodly shade of pale that his tanned skin shouldn't have been able to accomplish. "Stay with us, Sparrow. We can't afford you passing out on us now. We need you awake so we can get the hell off this island," Norrington told him firmly, helping Will and Elizabeth raise him into a semi seated position so they could take a look at the back of his head.
"'M tryin'," Jack slurred. "S'not easy........but we can't leave yet. Haveta get the crew to the Pearl. Promised......." his eyes drifted shut.
"Oh no you don't, Jack," Will said, beating Norrington to it by a hair. "You have to stay awake. I've seen men fall unconscious with head wounds before and never wake up. We are *not* going to let that happen, do you understand me?" Jack nodded and opened his eyes again, but didn't speak. "James, tie his feet, but leave enough slack so that he can still walk slowly. Do you understand?" Will asked, fully believing Jack's warnings about tying him up now. Norrington nodded and did as he was tasked without comment. "Elizabeth, how's it look?" he asked as she moved behind Jack and looked over the wound on the back of his head.
"It's hard to tell, Will. He's bleeding an awful lot, and all this hair in the way isn't helping matters either. I'm going to need something to stop the blood. And soon. He's loosing too much, too quickly. Look at him," Elizabeth directed. "And feel his skin, for God's sake, it's cold! We're in the middle of the Caribbean, the sun is shining brightly overhead, and he's cold. This isn't good, Will. He needs a doctor. Right now, or I'm worried that there's a chance of him bleeding to death."
"Don' worry 'bout me. Worry about yourselves. 'Bout me crew. Get them to the Pearl. Nothing else matters. Get my crew to my ship," Jack said as forcefully as he could, under the circumstances. That last statement was what did him in, however, and his beaten, bloodied and bruised body had finally decided it had had enough, and he fell, limp and unconscious into Elizabeth's arms.
TBC
A/N: Wow, that was a long chapter, huh? I guess my 'time off' from posting any new fanfic, ie ff.net's punishment *boo hiss* had one good result; it gave me more time to write this extra long chapter for all of you. Unfortunately, it also forced me to post it on the 15th while it was finished on the 11th. Sigh. Oh well. Please review. If you haven't already, please do. If you already have, please do so again. For that was what really sucked about having this story yanked from ff.net. Losing all 115 of those lovely lovely reviews. :-(
Reviewer Thanks Section
To all of you who had a chance to review last chapter before ff.net yanked my story, THANK YOU!! I wish I could thank each and every one of you personally, but alas, all of your wonderful reviews are lost and I cannot. Perhaps next chapter............sigh.........
-Merrie