Disclaimer: I don't own Pirates of the Caribbean(though I wish I did), Jack Sparrow(wish did once again), nor any other character from this kick-ass movie. If I did, I wouldn't be writing this fic; I'd be making another movie. And hanging out with Johnny Depp. I have yet to see a pig fly over my house wearing a tutu either. So, no sueing, please?
Summary: Will is living happily with his newly wed wife, Elizabeth. But when someone from Jack's foggy past comes, sworn to have revenge on Jack Sparrow, he and Jack must stick by the truth and their friendship in order to survive.
~Chapter 2~
~The Sparrow Returns~
One week later, it was dusk. Another day had come and went, another sunset
coming and going. The sun reflected off of the ocean that surrounded Port
Royal like a mirror. The broken town seemed to glow in the blaze of the sun,
somehow making it seem more peaceful and whole than it really was.
Will was at home, making repairs to one of the broken brick walls. He placed another red brick into a slot, the evening sun tickling his neck. Half of his mind was fixated on the house, but another part drifted away from reality.
Will was now officially worried about Jack. Since what Jones had said to him last week, he couldn't help but be concerned about the pirate's safety. He knew Jack could take care of himself, he had been doing it for at least thirteen years, which was based on the little information Will knew about Jack's foggy past, but who could blame him for worrying? Jones seemed to really want to kill him. The look he saw from Jones' bright green eyes reminded Will of the old saying(or new in his times) 'if looks could kill'. If his looks could kill, the entire British Navy would be down in Davey Jones' Locker along with Jack.
Will shivered remembering the fear his felt when he wondered if Elizabeth was alive after the first cannon fire. As it turned out, a cannon ball had gone through the house, but Elizabeth was out back talking to a neighbour, missing the attack completely. Pirates from the Majestic had then proceeded to plunder and loot every nick-nack they could lay their grimy hands on in their house, but Elizabeth had found Will's sword above the fireplace on the mantle in the living room, and was able to ward off the pirates, recovering most of what was stolen from the couple. In fact, it was Will's sword that almost sliced off it's master's head in self-defense for Elizabeth when he rushed into the house to see his wife after fighting Jones.
Will put another brick neatly beside another, pasting cement mix over it to hold it in place. He repeated the process boringly. He was a blacksmith, he wasn't supposed to be rebuilding his house! Unfortunately, he had to, since most everyone else were doing repairs to other buildings that were damaged during the cannon-fires and looting, so Will had to do this himself.
Will started to climb down his ladder, after making the finishing touches. He noticed it had gotten considerably darker while he was working, and was only able to see things from the glow of the moonlight. He looked out at the ocean, the water sparkling white and ultramarine. For a moment, he could see the Black Pearl in the distance, completing the scenery.
"Will," came a voice from behind the blacksmith. He nearly dropped the pail that once held the cement mix on his foot in surprise. But when he felt the gentle arms of Elizabeth around his waist, he instantly relaxed. "You did an excellent job repairing our house," she continued with a smile, her golden hair falling past her shoulders in waves, "But it's getting late, we really should get some sleep."
Will blinked. He was tired, but he doubted if he could even shut his eyes for a minute; he had rarely slept since his fight with Jones, fearing whether Jack was dead or still alive and wondering if Jones really would come back to kill him. If he died, what would Elizabeth do? If Jack was dead, what would he do...?
"Alright, I'll be up in a little while," he sighed finally. "You go up without me. I need to think for a while, Elizabeth."
His wife frowned a bit. "Are you sure you're alright?" she questioned worriedly. She had asked him how he was at least once a day for the past week since he started to seem very distant and jumpy lately, but he always insisted he was fine. She broke the pattern today by asking him twice.
"I'm fine, really," Will answered reassuringly, "I just need to take care of some things, set my mind at ease before I go to sleep, okay?"
"Will..."
"Really. I'm fine." Elizabeth sighed and released Will from her hug.
"Alright, but if you're not up within an hour, I'm dragging you to bed by your feet if I have to, alright?"
Will managed a small grin. "If you say so."
A little while later, Will was sitting in his living room, examining his
sword. He could barely see it, but the moonlight reflected off if it's sharp
pointed tip. In the glow of night, he could see a shimmer of crimson blood
smeared along it. The thought of his wife stabbing someone in the stomach
made him want to shiver.
He placed the sword back in it's rightful place, on the mantle. He looked at the grandfather clock in the corner of the room; 10:36. No wonder he felt more tired than usual. As much as he wanted to, his body would not let him fall asleep, as if he was a guard dog protecting his domain.
He was about to sit down in a chair when he heard a sound. What's with all of the foreshadowing noises lately? Will thought irritably. This time it was not cannon-fire; it was hollow wood hitting a dock, probably a boat. Could Jones be back already? Will gritted his teeth at the thought. He went to his window to see, but the moon hid behind a blanket of clouds, preventing him from seeing below. He thought for a moment that it could possibly be imported cargo coming to Port Royal. At this hour? It can't be! Then it must be Jones! Will went over to his fireplace and reclaimed his sword. I'll make sure he does no more harm to Elizabeth or Port Royal again!
Once outside, Will could still barely see beyond his nose. He could see
silolettes of buildings, trash cans, and the inky black and white water that
was the ocean, but nothing more. He skulked along the side of his house,
barely daring to breath. He could hear movement nearby, and it was very
close to the docks. Will crept to the dock and looked over the edge. He saw a
small wooden boat tied to one of the dock's legs. But where was it's owner?
As if on cue, he saw a figure of someone making his way near town. It stumbled along like it was so tired it was going to fall over at any moment, due to lack of sleep or drunkenness Will didn't care. Almost on reflex, Will, who was actually not that far away, ran up to it and swung his sword.
The figure, obviously prepared for such an attack, pulled out it's own sword and blocked Will's attack in one fluid motion. Will, stunned at such a move, almost didn't comprehend the rough and somewhat slurred words that came out of it's mouth, "Do ye think it's wise, boy? Crossin' blades with a pirate?"
Will blinked, his heart failing for a moment, then at the last second kicking back into gear. "...Jack?!"
"Captain, if ye please," He replied, Will noticing for the first time the silolette of Jack's hat and long wild hair, and also noticing the slight height difference between them.
"Jack! Oh my god, it's you! Where have you been? Why are you here? Why didn't you--" Jack pulled back his sword and cupped his cloth covered, grimy hand over Will's mouth to shut the blacksmith up.
"No so loud, Will," hissed Jack, "I don't want ev'ryone to know the great Captain Jack Sparrow has returned quite yet." he added with a smirk. Jack let go of Will's mouth, convinced Will would now be quieter. "Now that you're done inadvertently tryin' to kill me, what say shall we go somewhere a bit less...noticeable?" Even in the darkness Will could still see the shadows of Jack's gesticulations.
Will nodded, but then realized Jack probably couldn't see and said, "Right. My house is just over here."
The two men slinked in the dark, careful not to knock over any garbage cans along the way or bump into anything else. Jack looked liked he was about to collapse at any moment, while Will looked like he was afraid that the bogey man was going to jump in front of him at any moment as they walked.
Jack suddenly chuckled as they entered Will's home. "Ye know Will, it's not the best thing in the world to be livin' right near the docks, ye never know what might happen."
"I know," sighed Will. They entered his living room and the blacksmith lit a candle for light. It illuminated the room like the sun, and Jack squinted his kohl-rimmed brown eyes due to the sudden light change. Will noted that even after three years of not seeing Jack, he looked exactly as he remembered him. He still had his few gold teeth, long beaded black hair, beard and moustache ...everything. It felt good to see a friendly face, if you could call a drunken demeanor 'friendly'. The only difference, which wasn't even that nocticeable, was that his hair had grown slightly longer, which was expected. But, as Will gladly noticed, the pirate captain was unscaved. Jack had not come into contact with Jones. He probably didn't even know Jones was looking for him.
"Where have you been?" Will whispered harshly, "Or a better question, why are you here now? People still haven't forgotten about you, and people will still be on guard; especially at night!"
Jack grinned ferally. "Well, they haven't forgotten me, so I must have left quite a scar. Heh."
"Did you even pay attention to what I said?" hissed Will, "You could get caught! You could have at least written me a letter to warn me that you were coming!"
"First off, I can barely write a word," Jack countered, tipping his points off on his fingers. "Second, me an' me Pearl came here at night 'cause it's more inconspicuous at night than daytime, and we need supplies, savvy?"
"Wait a minute. The Black Pearl's here, too?" So he did see it earlier.
"What, did ye think I lost it again or somethin'?" frowned Jack.
"Well, no, but wouldn't people see it?"
"Ye didn't see it. 'Sides, unless someone looked down the mountain top, no one would be able to see it and me crew hidin' there." He pointed towards the window with one ring decorated index finger. "Does that satisfy ye? Or do I need to tell ye me life story, too?"
Will sighed to himself as he placed the candle on the table, brightening the entire room and slightly down the hall and up the stairs. He sat down and Jack did the same, making himself at home. How was he going to go about this?
As if he read his mind, Jack said, "Well, are ye by any chance goin' to tell me what's goin' on here? Port Royal looks like it did when me Pearl looted the place."
"You could say something like that," Will said slowly, scratching his left hand nervously as he gathered his thoughts. "Jack...do you know by any chance someone named Jones?"
Will could have sworn for a moment Jack's eyes turned pitch black with hot anger. But the thought fled as Jack turned calm once again, the only trace of black in Jack's eyes his pupils and kohl bordering them. Out of sight, out of mind. "Do ye happen to know his first name? Jones is a fairly common name 'round here."
"No," Will answered softly. "Someone named Captain Jones is what happened to Port Royal. He came with his crew from a ship called the Majestic and looted Port Royal, leaving it in ruins. We fought. He...mentioned you. Mentioned he was going to kill you."
Jack's expression was unreadable. It was a canvas painting of shades of emotions. Will didn't know where to start. "Jones." he growled, "That bloody idiot. The most stupid and stubborn idiot I ever met." Jack jumped to his feet as if someone poked him hard in the back with a red hot pitch fork. He started pacing about, mumbling to himself, waving his arms around himself flamboyantly.
"Umm...not to interrupt your musings, but could you fill me in here?" Will said.
Jack stopped pacing, and stared blankly at the wall ahead of him. He sighed to himself. "Jones. What can I say? He's a bloody idiot. Been one for over twenty-four years." He shook his head grimly.
"How do you know him anyway?"
"It's not somethin' I like discussin'," Jack replied gruffly. "We used to be mates when I was still a teenager, just startin' out in the piratin' business. We were a real team, almost never separated. But then his idiotcy kicked in. He started actin' a bit iffy, talkin' to himself often about various things. Most of the time he disagreein' with himself about somethin'. Then, he got the nutter idea that I tried to kill 'im."
Will's eyes widened. "Kill him? Why would he think something like that when you were such great friends?"
"How the hell do I know? Bloody idiot, bloody nutter. More so than meself, which is sayin' somethin'. But then, he's sworn he would kill me one day, which says it all right there." Jack growled. "I've said too much anyway. Don't ask me 'bout that anymore, savvy?"
Will felt a lump form in his throat. What could have caused their friendship to be put in doubt like that? Why did Jones accuse Jack of betraying him? It didn't make sense, but it didn't look like Jack was going to answer his questions anytime soon.
"Anyway," Jack continued, "Why the hell did he let ye an' anyone else live? That bastard has barely a merciful bone in his worthless body. Normally he kills ev'ryone in a town that he loots from what I've heard recently."
"He made me tell him my name. He said that he'd leave if I told him my name, so I did." Will said bluntly.
Jack went up in Will's face faster than a person who hasn't had food for weeks to a buffet table. "Ye what?!" He shouted, rum barely on his breath, forcing Will to take his next words seriously, "Ye bloody well told him your name?! What's the matter with ye? Now he'll be able to track ye down wherever ye go, ye idiot! Honestly, I tell ye not to do anythin' stupid, an' now look what ye go an' do!"
Will furrowed his brow and stood up defensively. "Well, it was either that or let my home burn to the ground and Elizabeth die! What choice did I have?"
"Ye could have talked your way out of it, or at least pull one of those freaky sword tricks ye usually can pull out of your ass," Jack growled, "Now ye and Elizabeth are in danger. He knows your name and where ye live. That's it, your comin' with me when me and me Pearl leave."
"What?!" spat Will, "I can't just leave! I have a life here!"
"Ye won't if Jones comes back for a second helpin'," Jack shot back, "Someone's gotta look out to make sure ye don't do anythin' stupid, and if it happens to be me, so be it. Savvy?"
"No! Not 'Savvy'! What about Elizabeth?"
"She can come if it makes ye happy. Plus, she's in danger, too, if he finds out she's your wife...she is your wife now, right?" Will nodded at Jack. "I thought so. Like I was sayin', that whelp Jones is a looney if ye see one, but he's a vengeful looney. If he still wants to kill me after twenty-four years, there's no hope for ye."
"But...what will Elizabeth say?" Will asked wearily.
"Someone say my name?" Damn, this was not good timing. Will cursed his rotten luck. Thus began the big discussion of the Turners' future between the three that lasted well into the night. Another sunrise rose into the early morning sky, marking a new day.
~To Be Continued...~
Next Chapter: So you think getting away is easy? Think again. Tortuga,
here we come! :D
