A/N: I'd just like to thank all the people who have reviewed so far. You guys are awesome and knowing that there's someone out there that likes what I write about really makes me happy and inspires me to write more. I hope you like this chapter, even though it might make you want to hit me. _; 'Bring Me To Life' is a song by Evanescence, but once again I just punked the song title from them. ~_^
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.
~Tell No Lies~
~Chapter 7~
~Bring Me To Life~
Will felt the cold steel blade that pressed against his back well, the coolness making shivers run up his spine. He felt and heard the even, calm breathing against the base of his neck, and could smell stale rum.
Rum…
"Jack?" Will whispered, "Jack, is that you?"
No response; that didn't make Will feel any better. That meant that this was not Jack. And that meant that this guy was probably just some drunkard who had a little too much rum.
But that also meant that he could stab Will right then and there and not know the difference.
Will drew in a deep breath and his hand lingered on his sword hilt. The man from behind obviously noticed this and pressed harder into Will's back with the point of his cutlass, not enough to draw blood, but enough to make his skin crawl.
Will couldn't stand it. He rapidly swirled around, pulling out his sword, and both his and his opponent's swords clashed together when his attacker swung back at him.
Their eyes met. Will saw glazed over and pitch black eyes, like a black hole in space. They were cold and emotionless.
But he recognized the rest of the man as Jack. He looked normal, except that his eyes were unnervingly black and cruel, not his normal vivid brown ones, and his face was strangely shadowed over like a bad omen. There was no way this was Jack. But…
Words failed Will for a moment, Jack simply glaring at the blacksmith, his breathing harsh. "Oh my god," Will finally whispered, "Jack?"
Jack replied with breaking parry and taking a swing at Will's head, but he quickly blocked with his own sword. "Jack!" Will shouted out.
Another slash, another block. Will couldn't believe it, what was wrong with Jack? "Jack, please, what's wrong with you? It's me, Will!"
Either Jack didn't hear it or wouldn't hear it; the pirate captain continued to attack Will, a snarl on his face that puzzled Will. He noticed that Jack was pale where it wasn't darkened and was sweating profusely, his limping harsh on his sore ankle. But evidently he ignored those facts, as he attacked Will fiercely still.
Will was forced to take a step back with every slash, and was eventually knocked into a table. He stumbled to regain balance, but was still able to block Jack's attacks. Thinking quickly, Will used his free hand to grab a nearby chair and fling it in Jack's direction. The pirate captain tripped over it and with a small gasp fell over.
Hearing Jack's groaning, Will took a cautious step forward. He was about to say his name when Jack stumbled back up, his eyes as icy black as ever. He crossed his sword over his chest, and as emotionless as his eyes were, his body language and expression on his face said the words 'prepare the die'.
Will didn't have time to recover from the shock of Jack's everlasting persistence; Jack with a roar charged at Will, sword first. Will blocked it with the blunt of his sword, pushed back slightly by the force of the attack. Jack released the parry and slashed at Will again, which was blocked once more by said blacksmith.
This is insane, Will thought wildly. His mind raced, trying to figure out what was wrong with Jack.
Out of the blue, Will remembered what he had said to Jack before, three years ago. He had said it when he didn't refer to Jack as a friend, but he meant it nonetheless- 'In a fair fight, I'd kill you'.
Jack had then replied, 'Then that doesn't give me much incentive to fight fair then, does it?'
Well, in a way, Jack had kept his word- this wasn't a fair fight. Will did not want to hurt him. But apparently Jack had every intention to do the blacksmith in.
This wasn't right. Even if Jack did want to kill him, he wasn't acting like himself. The trademark swagger was reduced to a small stumble and limp, mostly because of his hurt ankle, and would hardly be noticed otherwise. And that just began the list of differences.
Someone else had to be pulling the strings.
Then he remembered Jones. That bastard, he must have done this to Jack! Why Will hadn't thought of him sooner he didn't know. Somehow, Jones had done something to Jack to make him his puppet--as much as he hated to refer to Jack as one. Jack was his own free spirit…this was not supposed to happen.
Will had to get through to him, undo whatever Jones had done to his friend's head.
"Jack, please, stop, this isn't you," Will pleaded softly.
The only response he got was the sound of clashing metal that filled the room like smoke. He was definitely not himself; the 'normal' Jack wouldn't be able to resist replying to Will and hopelessly confusing him. There wasn't anything confusing about a sword fight, though.
Simply calling out Jack's name like an idiot obviously wouldn't do any good. Will had to think of a new tactic.
He ended up backing into another table, and jumped onto it for more momentum. Jack, close behind, attempted to kick the table from underneath Will. But the blacksmith simply jumped for the bar counter. He nearly tripped over an old bottle of rum.
"Rum!" Will gasped, "Jack, wouldn't you rather have some--" SMASH! The bottle splintered and exploded when Jack aimed for Will's feet with his cutlass, but Will jumped away again, resulting in only breaking the bottle. "…Or not,"
With a snarl, Jack leapt onto the bar counter as well, and the two dueled on there, trying their best to keep their balance on the thin table. Every slash Jack dealt Will resulted in a standoff, but Will never attacked back, not truly wanting to hurt him. Then, what of course would be expected, no matter his state of mind, Jack cheated. He kicked a nearby rum bottle at Will's shin, and it hit dead on. Will yelped and lost balance, jumping off of the table. Jack followed close behind, glaring unemotionally at Will. He then grabbed a nearby chair and flung it at Will, but the blacksmith dodged it agilely with a side step.
Will was barely prepared for Jack to charge at him. They circled around each other, swords clashing constantly. Staring at Jack was like staring at a tiger--unforgiving and stalking its prey. Jack struck at Will, and he blocked, slashing behind him to do so as they changed places. Will jumped onto the table behind him like a frog as Jack went for his legs. Jack would have followed if he had stayed put, but the blacksmith had other plans.
Will leapt upwards for a block of wood that helped support the beam in the middle of the bar, which kept the roof from caving in. He hoisted himself up onto the support beam, and held his arms out for balance like a surfer. He glanced down at the controled pirate, who was glaring up at Will in a calculating way.
"Jack, please, stop! I don't want to fight you, and I know you don't want to either!" Will pleaded.
Jack simply narrowed his eyes, seeming to feel threatened by Will's proposal. Jack glanced to the side, and Will followed his gaze. He saw a rope hanging tightly to a lever on the nearby wall, and if he looked up, he saw the chandelier that illuminated the entire room with its candlelit light.
Which happened to be directly above Will's head.
Will looked back at Jack, who glared back at Will hatefully.
"No."
Jack then rushed for the rope, limping along the way, jumping over chairs, and cut the tight tan rope with his cutlass.
The chandelier attached to the rope was taken over by gravity and fell towards Will's skull.
But the blacksmith was quick. He ran a bit, but knew that gravity would take him soon so he leapt off the support beam, glass exploding behind him as it smashed into the support beam. Darkness shrouded the room, minus the spare candles in each corner of the bar.
And somehow he landed on Jack's back. With a grunt, both he and Jack hit the ground, Will on top. Jack groaned, with both his arms flailed out.
"Jack?" Will asked cautiously.
Jack jerked underneath Will, and attempted to lash out at Will with his sword. But, Jack's face was to the ground so that he couldn't see and simply hit air.
Will grabbed both of Jack's wrists and wrestled Jack's cutlass from his hand. He threw it aside and shifted Jack so that he was looking at him.
In a way, he would have preferred him not looking at him. If looks could kill, Barbossa would be happy to see Will and torture him for eternity in hell. The small shade of light in the room made Jack's eyes look even more like lifeless voids, which made even more shivers run down his spine.
But he was determined to get through to Jack. Still pinning down the pirate captain, Will spoke. "Jack, Please, stop this. I know you don't want to hurt me, and I don't want to hurt you. Whatever Jones did to you, I know you can beat it. Aren't you--"
Will was cut off when Jack suddenly jerked again. Jack gritted his teeth and clawed at Will's hands as much he could in his odd position. And that was pretty hard. Will yelped and unintentionally let go. Jack then kicked and pushed the blacksmith off of him, sending him reeling. Jack dived for his sword, Will just in time to grab his own. Their swords vibrated when they met each other. They pushed their swords against each other, Jack aiming for Will's neck mercilessly, said blacksmith on his knees.
"No! Jack, you've got to stop…" Will grunted in between ragged breaths. Will pushed hard against Jack's force, not really wanting to lose his head. Thoughts flashed by Will's eyes, staring at Jack. He seemed almost dead.
He might as well have been. He wasn't the Jack Sparrow Will knew. But he was determined to get him back. He wanted to see him talk about how much he cared for his freedom, and not be enslaved. With a last name like Sparrow, he was meant to fly off to the horizon and back as he pleased instead of being caged. He wanted to see Jack swagger up to him, rum bottle in hand, and despite any danger that faced him, defend himself by saying he was 'Captain Jack Sparrow. Savvy?' And then he wanted to tell Jack he would always be his friend and to never change and always cherish his life, because it was one not meant to lose.
With renewed strength, Will slowly pushed himself into a standing position, and pushed Jack off of him. Jack stumbled back at bit, his ankle almost caving in. Will dashed towards him before he could recover and used the hilt of his sword to pound onto his right hand. The sword in Jack's hand clattered to the ground unceremoniously and Will kicked it away. Then Will tossed his own sword away and held his arms out. "There. See? I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to talk."
Jack tried to reach his cutlass, but Will tackled him and pinned him to the wall, this time making sure his hands were out of harms way, namely Jack's dirty nails, but still holding his arms against the wall. Jack glared at Will defiantly.
"You know what, Jack?" Will questioned tightly, knowing full well that he would get no reply. "I always thought you were stronger than this. So did Elizabeth. I guess we were wrong. You know how disappointing that is? Knowing…the man who you thought would be a legend, immortal, succumbs to the will of an ass like Jones?
"Whatever happened to Captain Jack Sparrow, the greatest, and worst, pirate in all of the Caribbean? The insanely brilliant man? Did he really forget about the things that he loves most…his freedom? His Black Pearl? His friends?"
Jack was staring at Will intently. Despite the blank look he gave Will, the blacksmith could tell he was listening.
Will closed his eyes tightly. "Remember on the Isle De Muerta how you asked me to trust you? I didn't. Maybe if I had, things might have turned out differently. You even told me once the only thing that matters is what a man can do and what a man cannot do. But now, I know I can trust you to be my friend…can you do the same for me, Jack?…Can you find it in yourself to forget about what Jones wants, do what you know you want deep down…or can you not? If you can't…you're not the man I thought you were."
Will opened his eyes to look at Jack, and was surprised to see something he'd never, ever thought he would witness.
Silent, hot tears were dripping down the sides of Captain Jack Sparrow's cheeks in streams.
~To Be Continued...~
Next Chapter: Delusions, Elizabeth, and yes, sword fights run amok.
I can almost you everyone going 'Jack Sparrow doesn't CRY! What the hell?' I can justify this. If someone's hypnotized, you're not really in control. Therefore, you can't hide your emotions. So if Jack was normal, he wouldn't have cried, yes, but his state of mind was the greatest at that moment. Hope that clears things up a bit. ^_^
Reviews are always welcome in my inbox. ~_^
