Author's Note - Please please PLEASE forgive the gratuitous account of the original characters. I know you don't care. I know that you're here for Will or Jack or whatever else you're here for. But this is a birthday gift for a buddy and as such, it's going to have a certain level of original character rubbish in it. Fear not, I'm holding back the bile too, and I promise it won't last long. And on a brief side note, MY birthday is coming up too. Therefore, someone needs to buy me Roux. If you have no idea who that is, you have been sadly deprived of Depp movies.
Twenty
Melanie extended her hand hesitantly. "And you are?"
Dana grasped it. "Dana Flint." Captain Melanie Cash's hair was ridiculous - she had spent an uncomfortably long week on a deserted island. Dana Flint's hair was nowhere to be seen - it was tucked neatly under her cap. Captain Melanie Cash was clothed, albeit barely, in what remained of her clothing from a few chapters, er, days prior. Dana Flint's face was partially hidden from view by the high collar of her long leather jacket. Captain Melanie Cash's eyes were brown: they were dark and brooding. Dana Flint's eyes were blue: they were clear and sharp. The only thing the two women had in common at all was the intensity with which they were being watched by Jack, Will, Gibbs and the haggard crew of the Yellow Dart.
The two shook hands slowly, cautiously, and each tried to quickly survey the other without appearing to. "I'll bet," quietly remarked Jack out of the side of his mouth to Will, "that this would be a very difficult scene to write." Will could only nod.
"You look strangely familiar," Dana remarked, studying the captain's tanned face.
"You just look strange," Melanie replied as she took in Dana's coat and hat. Each satisfied that they had thoroughly studied and catalogued the other to the best of her abilities, Melanie and Dana disengaged.
"What happens now?" Melanie asked Will. "What happens now that I've delivered my cargo?" Both Jack and Will raised their eyebrows, but it was Jack that seemed more taken aback.
"Cargo? Now you wait just a second there, darling. I'm a fellow pirate. Wot's more, I'm a fellow pirate captain." He sniffed dramatically. "A little more respect is in order than that."
Melanie smiled indulgently. "All right. William, now that I have accompanied my equal and surely very talented comrade to you, what is to happen?"
"To be fair," Dana interjected, "I think this entire affair was closer to a rescue than a delivery. After all, ~we~ are returning your ship."
"By the powers you're right," Melanie agreed. "And because of such a kindness, I won't charge dear William for the ride home."
"The generosity of pirates amazes me," said Dana dryly.
Jack gave the gun maker a wolfish smile. "Oh don't doubt it, love. We can be very ... soft, when we want to be." Dana colored. Melanie rolled her eyes heavenward.
"Enough," said Will. He had removed from his pocket a battered envelope and held it up. "If this is what I think it is, we may all be associating for a longer time. It would be best to get along." Melanie's eyes drifted low to Will's belt ... and coin pouch.
"I think that might depend on the weight of your purse, sailor. This job's finished." Jack plucked the envelope from Will's fingers as she spoke and studied the remains of its wax seal.
"Now that's interesting," he said. He winced inwardly - all fan fiction made him say that. He began to make a mental note to make his voice less appealing in the future, and then gave it up as an impossibility. Blasted catch phrases.
"Oh? Do you recognize anything about it?"
"Mmm ..." Jack opened the envelope and gingerly unfolded the letter. His rings winked softly in the evening dim and he had to squint to read the writing. Will watched Jack's face carefully, but the pirate captain kept his expression carefully neutral. Jack met will's eyes after a time. "So you've come running to me?"
Will nodded slowly. "You're the best Sparrow I know."
"The only one you mean, lad," Jack corrected and reread the parchment. "But I fail to see what I can do for you, never mind what you'd have to do for ~me~ to convince me to do it." His eyes met Will's again and this time there was a gleam of defiance in them. "As much as I hate to repeat myself - I see nothing in it for me."
"Well that should all depend on what ~it~ entails," said Melanie. She squinted her eyes to read the scrap over Jack's shoulder. "It would be foolish to pass up a worthy and profitable enterprise." She smiled. "Though to be honest, we can always take the profitable over the worthy."
Dana became angry. "This man thought he lost his father! He has been given a chance to prove otherwise and you two stand here discussing whether or not it is profitable for you to help - he's a friend who's just received the most important news of his life!" She was quieted when Will placed a hand on her shoulder.
"They're pirates, Dana. I did not expect less."
"Glad to hear that you are familiar with how the system works," Melanie said. Jack replaced the letter in the envelope and turned it to examine the seal again. "After all, there's bound to be long and costly involvement in a job like this. We don't even know where to begin looking for his father of yours. You don't know who sent you this letter."
"I know."
"What?"
"I know who sent it," repeated Jack. He ran a dark finger across the wax. "I recognize this seal."
Will was understandably interested. "Who is it from, Jack? Would they know about my father?"
"About this quest o' yours, boy," Jack answered instead. "There's no use in goin'. You told me yourself 'ow you were enlightened as to Bill being sent to the depths of the ocean with a cannon 'round his ankles. 'Ow would someone 'ave survived something like that?"
"The curse."
Jack looked surprised. "What?"
"The curse," Will explained patiently. Dana and Melanie were given the impression that they were about to hear an argument that the blacksmith had perfected over lengthy time in his head. "When my father was sent to the bottom of the ocean, the entire crew of the Black Pearl was still cursed. That includes him. Being under the water for a long time wouldn't have killed him if he couldn't be killed." Jack appeared to consider this. "And what's more, there was a large amount of time between then and when the curse was lifted. He had to have had time to escape or find land or something. I'm sure of it."
Melanie had listened to all of this with large eyes, and when Will was finished, she found herself at a loss for words. "You ... your father," she said. "Your father was killed by pirates?"
"He was a pirate, and was thrown overboard by his shipmates, yes."
"And this curse business? What's all that about?"
"It is a long story," Jack said quickly. "Long and boring. If I were to tell you, I would probably have to use the phrase 'Cortez himself' at least six times. It's not really worth showing without the aid of special effects - " Melanie opened her mouth to protest, " - but suffice it to say, there is, evidently, a chance that Will's father may be alive."
"Will's pirate father," Melanie repeated, and looked the young blacksmith up and down as though seeing him for the first time. "That could certainly make things interesting."
"I am no pirate," Will said sheepishly. "I have no idea what having the blood of a pirate in my veins is even supposed to mean. But if I found my father - "
"And that is a very large and significant ~if~," Jack interjected.
" - then maybe I could find out. And then I could find out who I am ... or who I'm supposed to be."
Melanie was yawning and stretching. "Well my friend, you have certainly proven the worthiness of your cause. The prospect for profit, however, leaves something to be desired. And that something is, frankly, the profit." Dana's eyes narrowed.
Will gestured helplessly. "I have nothing to offer," he admitted. "What I had, I've paid you to find Jack, and you've done that. I - I thought I would know what to do when I found him - I thought I would know what to do next - but I don't. All I have is this letter."
"And you've got me," said Jack quietly and all heads turned in surprise. He bit his lip as though he knew what he had to say but desperately wanted to avoid saying it. He did not meet Will's eyes now.
"Your father died in my name, mate. I thought that I had squared with that, and in a way, I had. But I had only made peace with meself. There are debts that I owe, and I think that the time has come to pay them, if I can." He pointed a finger at the incredulous Captain Melanie. "But don't let it in your pretty head that I've gone soft, love. The only thing that a scallywag - even one as salty as you or I - can't steal is honour. That, a man's got to build fer himself."
Moved, Will smiled. "And besides," sighed Jack and put his arm around Will's shoulder. "We may pillage and plunder, we may rifle and loot ... but when it comes down to it in the end, we're all pirates from a bleedin' Disney movie."
"A cryin' shame it is," muttered Dana and Melanie in unison, and the entirety of the female crew of the Yellow Dart that would be working in close quarters with the sultry and smouldering Captain Jack Sparrow and the heroic and dashing William Turner for the remaining chapters nodded sadly.
Twenty
Melanie extended her hand hesitantly. "And you are?"
Dana grasped it. "Dana Flint." Captain Melanie Cash's hair was ridiculous - she had spent an uncomfortably long week on a deserted island. Dana Flint's hair was nowhere to be seen - it was tucked neatly under her cap. Captain Melanie Cash was clothed, albeit barely, in what remained of her clothing from a few chapters, er, days prior. Dana Flint's face was partially hidden from view by the high collar of her long leather jacket. Captain Melanie Cash's eyes were brown: they were dark and brooding. Dana Flint's eyes were blue: they were clear and sharp. The only thing the two women had in common at all was the intensity with which they were being watched by Jack, Will, Gibbs and the haggard crew of the Yellow Dart.
The two shook hands slowly, cautiously, and each tried to quickly survey the other without appearing to. "I'll bet," quietly remarked Jack out of the side of his mouth to Will, "that this would be a very difficult scene to write." Will could only nod.
"You look strangely familiar," Dana remarked, studying the captain's tanned face.
"You just look strange," Melanie replied as she took in Dana's coat and hat. Each satisfied that they had thoroughly studied and catalogued the other to the best of her abilities, Melanie and Dana disengaged.
"What happens now?" Melanie asked Will. "What happens now that I've delivered my cargo?" Both Jack and Will raised their eyebrows, but it was Jack that seemed more taken aback.
"Cargo? Now you wait just a second there, darling. I'm a fellow pirate. Wot's more, I'm a fellow pirate captain." He sniffed dramatically. "A little more respect is in order than that."
Melanie smiled indulgently. "All right. William, now that I have accompanied my equal and surely very talented comrade to you, what is to happen?"
"To be fair," Dana interjected, "I think this entire affair was closer to a rescue than a delivery. After all, ~we~ are returning your ship."
"By the powers you're right," Melanie agreed. "And because of such a kindness, I won't charge dear William for the ride home."
"The generosity of pirates amazes me," said Dana dryly.
Jack gave the gun maker a wolfish smile. "Oh don't doubt it, love. We can be very ... soft, when we want to be." Dana colored. Melanie rolled her eyes heavenward.
"Enough," said Will. He had removed from his pocket a battered envelope and held it up. "If this is what I think it is, we may all be associating for a longer time. It would be best to get along." Melanie's eyes drifted low to Will's belt ... and coin pouch.
"I think that might depend on the weight of your purse, sailor. This job's finished." Jack plucked the envelope from Will's fingers as she spoke and studied the remains of its wax seal.
"Now that's interesting," he said. He winced inwardly - all fan fiction made him say that. He began to make a mental note to make his voice less appealing in the future, and then gave it up as an impossibility. Blasted catch phrases.
"Oh? Do you recognize anything about it?"
"Mmm ..." Jack opened the envelope and gingerly unfolded the letter. His rings winked softly in the evening dim and he had to squint to read the writing. Will watched Jack's face carefully, but the pirate captain kept his expression carefully neutral. Jack met will's eyes after a time. "So you've come running to me?"
Will nodded slowly. "You're the best Sparrow I know."
"The only one you mean, lad," Jack corrected and reread the parchment. "But I fail to see what I can do for you, never mind what you'd have to do for ~me~ to convince me to do it." His eyes met Will's again and this time there was a gleam of defiance in them. "As much as I hate to repeat myself - I see nothing in it for me."
"Well that should all depend on what ~it~ entails," said Melanie. She squinted her eyes to read the scrap over Jack's shoulder. "It would be foolish to pass up a worthy and profitable enterprise." She smiled. "Though to be honest, we can always take the profitable over the worthy."
Dana became angry. "This man thought he lost his father! He has been given a chance to prove otherwise and you two stand here discussing whether or not it is profitable for you to help - he's a friend who's just received the most important news of his life!" She was quieted when Will placed a hand on her shoulder.
"They're pirates, Dana. I did not expect less."
"Glad to hear that you are familiar with how the system works," Melanie said. Jack replaced the letter in the envelope and turned it to examine the seal again. "After all, there's bound to be long and costly involvement in a job like this. We don't even know where to begin looking for his father of yours. You don't know who sent you this letter."
"I know."
"What?"
"I know who sent it," repeated Jack. He ran a dark finger across the wax. "I recognize this seal."
Will was understandably interested. "Who is it from, Jack? Would they know about my father?"
"About this quest o' yours, boy," Jack answered instead. "There's no use in goin'. You told me yourself 'ow you were enlightened as to Bill being sent to the depths of the ocean with a cannon 'round his ankles. 'Ow would someone 'ave survived something like that?"
"The curse."
Jack looked surprised. "What?"
"The curse," Will explained patiently. Dana and Melanie were given the impression that they were about to hear an argument that the blacksmith had perfected over lengthy time in his head. "When my father was sent to the bottom of the ocean, the entire crew of the Black Pearl was still cursed. That includes him. Being under the water for a long time wouldn't have killed him if he couldn't be killed." Jack appeared to consider this. "And what's more, there was a large amount of time between then and when the curse was lifted. He had to have had time to escape or find land or something. I'm sure of it."
Melanie had listened to all of this with large eyes, and when Will was finished, she found herself at a loss for words. "You ... your father," she said. "Your father was killed by pirates?"
"He was a pirate, and was thrown overboard by his shipmates, yes."
"And this curse business? What's all that about?"
"It is a long story," Jack said quickly. "Long and boring. If I were to tell you, I would probably have to use the phrase 'Cortez himself' at least six times. It's not really worth showing without the aid of special effects - " Melanie opened her mouth to protest, " - but suffice it to say, there is, evidently, a chance that Will's father may be alive."
"Will's pirate father," Melanie repeated, and looked the young blacksmith up and down as though seeing him for the first time. "That could certainly make things interesting."
"I am no pirate," Will said sheepishly. "I have no idea what having the blood of a pirate in my veins is even supposed to mean. But if I found my father - "
"And that is a very large and significant ~if~," Jack interjected.
" - then maybe I could find out. And then I could find out who I am ... or who I'm supposed to be."
Melanie was yawning and stretching. "Well my friend, you have certainly proven the worthiness of your cause. The prospect for profit, however, leaves something to be desired. And that something is, frankly, the profit." Dana's eyes narrowed.
Will gestured helplessly. "I have nothing to offer," he admitted. "What I had, I've paid you to find Jack, and you've done that. I - I thought I would know what to do when I found him - I thought I would know what to do next - but I don't. All I have is this letter."
"And you've got me," said Jack quietly and all heads turned in surprise. He bit his lip as though he knew what he had to say but desperately wanted to avoid saying it. He did not meet Will's eyes now.
"Your father died in my name, mate. I thought that I had squared with that, and in a way, I had. But I had only made peace with meself. There are debts that I owe, and I think that the time has come to pay them, if I can." He pointed a finger at the incredulous Captain Melanie. "But don't let it in your pretty head that I've gone soft, love. The only thing that a scallywag - even one as salty as you or I - can't steal is honour. That, a man's got to build fer himself."
Moved, Will smiled. "And besides," sighed Jack and put his arm around Will's shoulder. "We may pillage and plunder, we may rifle and loot ... but when it comes down to it in the end, we're all pirates from a bleedin' Disney movie."
"A cryin' shame it is," muttered Dana and Melanie in unison, and the entirety of the female crew of the Yellow Dart that would be working in close quarters with the sultry and smouldering Captain Jack Sparrow and the heroic and dashing William Turner for the remaining chapters nodded sadly.