Pirates of the Caribbean – Blood is thicker than Rum

By Princess-Pirate

Email: lz_iceprincess@yahoo.co.uk


Summary: What if Jack and his friends got betrayed by someone they thought they knew. An old friend returns to help and they must rely on a woman and superstitious crewmate to save them. But the question is – Will they be in time to keep someone from death?


Disclaimer: All the characters, ships and places in the Caribbean belong to Walt Disney and producer Jerry Bruckheimer, I don't own any of them. Some of the new characters are my own creations and therefore I have some ownership over them.

A/N: This is my first fic, so cut me some slack. But reviews and ideas on coming chapters are most welcome.

The fic starts somewhere in the middle of the journey. But the characters have flashbacks about what happened to give it an interesting twist.

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Chapter 8 – A Turn For The Worse

Jack yawned as he walked out onto the deck and went to stand at the railing. He needed the feel of the ocean on his face before he would go up and relieve Gibbs at the wheel. He had put Katherine in bed but knew that he wouldn't be getting any sleep this morning.

"Couldn't sleep, Jack?" Jack spun around and clutched at his chest.

"For hell's sake, Liz" he said, using her nickname "Do NOT sneak up on ole Jack like at. Me heart will never stand it, savvy?"

Elizabeth nodded and a smiled started on her face. Jack looked at her and noticed that she looked very tired.

"So what brings ye up onto deck before the sun has had time to settle in, luv?" he said as he hung over the railing looking into the blue depths.

"Will's been having nightmares again" she said, "He was uneasy the whole night. Kept on rambling about Oxford and everything that happened in Tortuga. Now he's finally surrendered to sleep and I needed to get some fresh air."

Jack looked at her and felt a stab of guilt in his heart. If it wasn't for him, Will wouldn't be in this position at all.

~~~~~~

"So how are we going to find my father Jack?" Will asked as he rowed their boat to shore. He wasn't happy with the fact that Elizabeth was with them, because he knew from previous experience what Tortuga was like.

"Jonathan is meeting us at da Faithful Bride. He's gonna tell us everything we want te know."

"Can we trust him Jack?" Will asked as he looked at his friend.

"I'll trust ole Jonathan with me life mate" said Jack as he tied the boat and smiled at the town that he missed while being on sea.

"Ole Jack's home luv" he said as he made his way down the docks and into town.

'He's gonna get slapped again' thought Will as he and Elizabeth set off after the pirate captain, unaware that this night was going to turn out to be one of their greatest nightmares ever.

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"Give 'im time lass" said Jack as he heard Elizabeth stifle a sob "'E'll come and talk ta ye when the time is right. Ye know that he trusts ya with 'is life."

Elizabeth nodded and looked at Jack. The normal sparkle in his eyes was gone and Elizabeth thought she saw regret and sadness in Jack's eyes.

"I'm no physic Jack," she said as she moved to stand next to him "But you look as if you also need to get something off your chest?"

Jack looked at her and smiled. "'Tis that obvious?" he asked and she nodded.

"Me an Kat had a talk last night" he said as he leaned on the railing as if looking for support. "We talked about our past and about the night I ran away from home."

Elizabeth looked at him. "You ran away?" she said quietly.

"Hard ta imagine hey?" Jack asked with a grin "The infamous Captain Jack Sparrow was once Jacob Stephen Sparrow, the son of one of the wealthiest gentleman of the East Indian Trading Company."

Elizabeth looked at him in disbelief and he motioned for her to sit on one of the crates. She nodded and sat down while Jack flopped down on the deck.

"Yes luv" he said "Me father was one of the wealthiest men in the east. But he wasted it on the taverns and the whores. I don't know why me mom stayed with him. Probably cause of me an Kat. We were a very happy family until me father met that man that took him from us and showed him what alcohol can do for a man. Me father started beating me an me sister saved me. One night I couldn't take it anymore so I ran off with a merchant vessel."

Elizabeth couldn't stop the tears in her eyes. Jack was always so full of life and adventure. It was hard to imagine him being beaten by an abusive father.

"Our ship was attacked by pirates along our way to England. 'Tis was then that I met Captain William Turner or Bootstrap Bill, as his crew knew him. He took mercy on me and taught me how to be a pirate. I owe everything I am to that man. He taught me how to survive and look out for meself."

"He is a very good man" Elizabeth whispered and looked at Jack. He smiled at her sadly and looked at the sky. It was going to be a beautiful day.

"Kat told me that our father, the bastard that 'e is, shoved our mother down the steps the evening that I left. She died shortly after in Kat's arms."

Tears also ran from Jack's face and Elizabeth knelt next to him.

"Oh Jack" she said as she hugged him, knowing that as stubborn as he was, he needed someone to comfort him. He never had time to grieve the loss of his mother.

He just leaned into her touch and sobbed as if his heart had broken in two.

"I'm sorry," she said as she looked at him. He just nodded and wiped a tear from his cheek.

She was about to ask him more about his past when the door to the cabins swung open and William came bursting onto the deck.

"Liz, Jack" he yelled as he saw them "Get yerselves down ere. NOW!"

Elizabeth gasped and grabbed at the locket she wore around her neck. "Will" she whispered.

Jack jumped up and pulled Elizabeth to her feet. They both ran to the cabin to see what was going on.

Elizabeth nearly fainted when she saw Will lying on the bed. His chest and forehead was drenched in sweat and his skin was a deathly pale.

"What happened?" she asked as she moved to William's side. He looked at her and then turned to Jack.

"Let fly all the sails mate" he said, "We need ta get to Tortuga as soon as we can."

Jack nodded and with an "Aye" he left the cabin to go and see that the orders are given. They heard him yelling down the hallway, waking all his men to get the sails opened up.

Another moan from Will snapped him from his daze and he looked at his son. Then he saw Elizabeth kneeling next to Will, tears shining in her eyes and a worried expression on her face.

"'Tis Oxford's doin" he said as he took a cloth and wiped Will's forehead. "The lad has a high fever and his body's not starting to fight back. I don't know how long he'll last."

Elizabeth looked at her father-in-law and nodded. She knew it now. The salves were filled with poison. That was why Captain Oxford had agreed to give them medical supplies. He knew that would cause them to die a slow and painful death.

"I'll kill that bastard with my own two hands. Then something snapped into her thoughts. "Jack" she said as she drew in a breath "He had some of the salves on his back as well."

William looked at her and shook his head. His wounds weren't treated with the same batch of salves. Remember that Ana treated him on his own while we were busy with Will. Elizabeth slowly nodded and returned her attention to Will, who was starting to struggle again as his fever grew.

The commotion drifted to the cabin next to Jack's and Katherine jerked awake. She looked around her and then remembered that Jack had carried her back to the cabin and put her in bed.

She heard him yelling orders above and sat up. Pulling on her boots she got up and ran up to the deck to see what was going on.

She saw Jack at the helm and ran up the stairs to him. He sighed as he saw her.

"Take her" he said as he took Katherine's hands and placed it on the wheel.

"What's going on Jack?" she asked, her voice laced with fear.

"Will's in trouble Sis" he said as he made for the stairs "Get us to Tortuga as quickly as ye can. And if one of these scalawags doesn't do their job, they'll be answering to me and me sword.

He then left the deck and went down to Will's cabin to see if he could help William and Elizabeth with anything.

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A/N – Sorry I've taken so long to update but I've had major tests this past two weeks and I've seem to come up with a serious case of Writer's Block. I can't seem to get to writing. So if anyone has an idea for the next chapter please let me know. I can really go with some help now.