Disclaimer:  I own a large supply of caffeinated beverages and an overactive imagination which would very much like to own Jack, Ana, Will and Elizabeth, but reality keeps butting its unwanted head in and insisting I can't.

AN:  Free hours are good.  About a dozen of us have a fourth hour that is 'free', ie we're mentoring and can't get out to the site and back before fifth so we do the mentorship after school and on weekends, and we just had the most awesome discussion.  Who needs the professional shrinks they hired for us?  Let us sit and talk and we can counsel ourselves into feeling at least a bit better and being able to better cope, and we don't have to bare any more of our souls than our classmates already see, which, granted, is quite a bit.  As is probably fairly obvious at this point, I'm hanging in with the writing for at least a bit longer, though how long is still indeterminate.  Thanks to readers and reviewers and everyone for their kind words and support.  If you read my stories you see a good portion of me in how I portray the characters, so it wasn't really hugs from strangers, and I'm grateful for all the 'net hugs.  They really do help.  Now if only I could find a way to make myself concentrate on calc homework I might survive this year . . .

AN2:  I kind of changed the side of Jack's head that got injured, but I think you guys can understand that I wasn't exactly one-hundred-percent coherent when I last updated.  We'll go back to left side now, simply because that was the original plan.  Yeah.

To Love and Protect

Part 4

Ana-Maria pulled the tattered piece of sail tighter around her body, one arm across Jack's chest to pull him close, fighting to ignore the thirst that was steadily gaining precedence in her mind.

It had been an interesting process, using a single oar to maneuver her way through the debris, hoping to find something, anything, useful, as the only thing she had found in the pirate captain's pocket was a compass that she hadn't seen for years, one that wouldn't do them much good as it didn't point north.  So the female pirate had grabbed the tattered piece of sail and a bucket from the bloody water, anxiety rising as she found nothing else.

The sail was something, at least.  It had kept the heat of the sun at a relative bay during the day, and she had scraped the dried salt off it, hoping that if they were lucky dew would form during the night on the sail that could be used as drinking water.

It had taken more work than she would have imagined to use a sword to cut rudimentary bandages from Jack's jacket, the remnants of which she had spread beneath his head in an attempt to keep him from hurting himself further if he came around suddenly.

Not that movement seemed to be a problem at the moment.  The steady rise and fall of his chest was the only thing that reassured her that he still lived.

Once she'd bandaged his injuries and used her teeth to help pull a bandage tight around her own arm, there hadn't been very much that she could do to help improve their situation.  She had quickly discovered that one-sided conversations could be very interesting, though having Jack respond would have been much more entertaining.

She closed her eyes to the bright map of stars overhead, willing herself to sleep and conserve energy and resources.

The female pirate had just fallen into a light doze when a choking sound brought her abruptly back to full consciousness, her heart skipping a beat in fear.  The choking quickly turned to a deep, heavy, wet cough that was no more reassuring.

Ana-Maria quickly shifted Jack into a seated position, the small boat rocking with the movement.

The coughing fit passed quickly, and the pirate captain blinked slowly and looked around, the faded blue fabric tied around his head lending an even more outlandish appearance to him than was normal.

"Jack."  Ana-Maria reached out and grabbed his right hand in hers.

The pirate captain seemed to attempt to lock eyes with her, and even by the uncertain light of the moon and stars Ana-Maria could tell that his left eye was bloodshot and that the pupil was larger in his left than his right eye.

"Jack.  Are you with me, captain?  I need you here."  She squeezed his hand gently, and a faint answering pressure was returned, though it was nowhere near his usually firm grip.  She leaned as close as she could to him as his lips started moving, but his voice was soft and raspy, and she wasn't even certain that what words she could hear were in English.

"Jack . . .I can't understand, Captain.  Can you talk any Iouder?  I speak English, too, remember?  Jack?"  She spoke softly, but a note of worry was creeping in despite her best efforts, and she couldn't help a thrill of fear as his eyelids half-closed and his eyes rolled back in his head.

He opened them again a second later, his voice stronger.  "San.  Where's Sandra?"

Puzzlement and a tinge of jealousy rose to join the fear.  She had always known that Jack had other lovers before her, but that another woman, one she had never heard of, would be the first one to come to mind now . . .

"I don't know who you're talking about, Jack."

"San.  Sandra and Anna and Thomas.  I'm supposed to protect them."

A second fit of coughing caught the pirate before Ana-Maria could respond, and he doubled over, gasping for air.  Ana-Maria gently rubbed his back until he sat back up, wiping his left arm over his mouth as he stared at her again.

"Ana-Maria."

She barely resisted the urge to pull him into a tight hug, sending a silent thank you to God instead.  "Aye, Jack."

"Where're Will and Elizabeth?"

She abruptly withdrew the thanks, cursing whatever God there was, though she did it silently, not wanting to upset the pirate captain.  Even injured, Jack would be a handful if he decided to become violent, and she didn't feel like trying to restrain him in the small boat.

"They're at Johnson, with Brian, just like they're supposed to be."

"Brian . . ."  He cocked his head to one side, the gesture infuriatingly, heartbreakingly familiar.  "Brian Lanebridges . . ."

"Right, Jack."

The pirate suddenly doubled over again, a low moan of pain escaping from his lips, and Ana-Maria fought back the urge to cry as she gently clasped his shoulder, bending down until she could hear what Jack was muttering under his breath.

"Didn't . . .didn' do it . . .'elp me, Will . . .hurts . . .didn' do it . . .don't leave me, don' leave me here, help me, hurts . . ."

"Jack!"  Ana-Maria grabbed him by both shoulders, hoping to force him to look at her but afraid to touch his head.  "Jack, that's all over, Barbosa, Almorte, the brotherhood, whatever else you're seeing, it's all over.  I need you here with me, Jack.  I need you all the way back, captain."

The two pirates stared at each other again before another fit of coughing nearly caused Jack to pass out.

"Jack?  You here yet?"

The pirate captain closed his eyes for a minute, opened them, looked slowly around, and then nodded.

"Good.  Come on and lie down with me, then.  There's not much to look at but water out there, and the stars seem to be the only show we're going to get."  When Jack made no move of his own, Ana-Maria gently tugged him down, settling his head gently on her shoulder.

"You really here, Jack Sparrow?"

"He sank my ship.  The bloody bastard sank my ship."  Pain and disbelief were blatantly evident in his voice.

"I know, Jack, and I'm sorry.  Thank you for keeping your promise, though."

"Had to.  Gotta pay 'em back.  Kill Michael and take that British ship . . .sorry, commandeer . . .find 'er and commandeer 'er . . .not my Pearl, though . . .never 'nother ship like my ship . . .kill Michael and take that ship . . .doing both, but order doesn't matter . . ."

She listened as his voice trailed off slowly, and Ana-Maria turned her head to look at him in profile as he slept, bloody, battered, and still so very proud and stubborn.

"You'll do them both . . .I know you will, Jack."

A chill wind whipped her whispered words away, bringing along with it the first faint haze of clouds on the horizon.