Chapter 10
"Aye…fergettin' yer title already?" Ana questioned back, her voice containing a playful undertone.
"What…other ships sail under me?"
"Wow, you really must've had a touch more rum than I thought…" Ana trailed off as even more confusion dawned on Jack's facial features. "Ne'er mind. Ye've got th' Pearl an' three ships ye took as prizes."
Jack nodded numbly, trying to process all this information at once. He noticed something distinctly different about her form…her stomach was rounder, much rounder.
Before he could come up with something appropriate to say, the world began mixing with itself, turning into the murky gray mist-covered clearing from before. Loneliness gripped his heart and he swallowed slowly, a single tear making its way down his cheek.
"What's the matter Jack?"
The pirate's eyes snapped open then slammed shut once more against the pain radiating through his body. He pushed instinctively against the ropes of energy binding his arms to his sides and restricting the movement of his chest. In response, the pain tripled in strength, drawing a gasp from the man as the harness of torrid energy seared through his clothing and burned his skin.
~*~
Jack winced and shuddered, once again combating against an invisible foe. His breaths came short and rapid, the rasping sound echoing throughout the confines of the cabin. Ana and Gibbs exchanged worried glances, each setting a hand on one of Jack's shoulders incase his movements should become more violent.
"What can we do?" Ana asked in an urgent whisper, hoping beyond all hope that Gibbs had a solution.
When the old sailor sighed and shook his head, Ana's gut clenched in fear. "I don' know, lass. Never dealt wit' something like this."
A sharp intake of breath from the cabin door drew both the pirates' attention from the unconscious man. They turned to face the sound and found one of the younger crew members hesitating at the threshold, vacillating between entering and running for all he was worth.
~*~
"Don't you see Jack? You betrayed them because you were paranoid that they'd betray you. This is why you are bound for death instead of life and success." The voice echoed, the words holding more weight and…truth…and…
Tears made their way in streams down the sides of Jack's face even as the bonds around his body loosened and slowly lowered him to the featureless gray ground. The spines of fire that had embedded themselves in his shoulders and sides disappeared in displays of light fragments, leaving no proof of their existence on his body.
Jack eventually dropped to all fours, curling his hands into fists so tight that his dirt-coated nails gouged into his palms. He bit his lower lip, fighting the flood of emotion that invaded his senses, penetrating the carefully placed barriers around his heart.
"Give it up Jack, just accept the truth and the emotions will be meaningless…no one can ever hurt you again. Just…join me…" the voice slowly evaporated into the mist, only faint traces of the baleful vibration bouncing around the barriers of fog until they too dissipated.
Jack was left alone in the center of the swirling fog, contemplating the voice's meaning. 'Maybe she's right…there's no reason I should have trusted them, so I didn't. Is tha' so wrong? I simply took the lessons from th' past into account an'…'
"Winged it?" The voice offered, knowing that he would accept it without complaint.
Jack nodded slowly, the act of accepting it obviously taking its toll on him both emotionally and physically. "Aye…"
At this admission, the fog twitched, and then coalesced with itself to momentarily form a feminine figure before vanishing completely.
"And why?"
"They…they slipped past me defenses…" Jack muttered in answer to the open-ended question, once more playing into the voice's theoretical hands. His voice was draining of emotions more and more with each word.
"That's right. And?"
"I cared fer 'em…stupidly."
~*~
"Jack?" Ana breathed in amazement and uncertainty as Jack's eyes slid open hesitantly. "You here?" She smiled with tears pricking the backs of her eyes as she received a very weak nod from the pirate.
"A-Ana…" Jack rasped so quietly that she could barely hear.
Ana smiled all out and gently drew him up into a hug. "Jack, I'm so glad you're okay…never do tha' again."
To her shock, Jack managed to wriggle free from her embrace and edge as far away from her on the bed as possible.
"Something wrong, Jack?"
"Call me 'Cap'n', wench."
Gibbs' jaw dropped, while Ana's expression was of an obviously crushed spirit. Never in the history of their relationship had Jack spoken to her so brusquely…at least not to her face. There had been one incident, but it had turned out to be more of a misinformed problem than a lasting wound. Ana's shock developed into fiery anger at her record speed of emotional changes.
"Wha' did you call me, Cap'n?" she asked carefully, sarcastically stressing the title.
"Wench," Jack answered just as evenly, a dare burning in his weak voice.
[a/n: Please review, I thought this would make for a…interesting ending. If anyone is confused, just wait…I'll try to explain everything in due time.]