Usual disclaimers, curse them prescioussss! A longer chapter to make up for the short one last time, and just for Chibi Ami a bit of a spat between Will and Jack.

Chapter 13

Maddy woke blinking in the sunlight, that streamed through to window onto the bunk. It took a second or two to get her bearings, then she felt Jacks' body curled around her own, one arm slung across her, fingers entwined with hers. She could feel his deep, even breath on her back. Maddy turned and looked at Jack, he looked so peaceful, innocent almost. Maddy smiled at the thought of Jack being innocent, there was certainly no sign of it last night, she shivered at the memory. Maddy kissed his cheek softly, climbed off the bunk and got dressed, quickly and quietly, so as not to disturb Jack. She climbed the stairs to the deck, and shielded her eyes against the sun, which was already hot, even at this early hour. Maddy made a mental note to dig out a straw hat that she wore on deck. She had made holes in it and threaded a scarf around it and tied it under her neck. At least it kept the worst of the sun off her face and neck. Daniel ran up to her, hugging her tightly and taking her hand to lead her to the mess for breakfast. Maddy spotted Will leaning over the side, staring out to sea. 'I'll be along in a minute Daniel.' Maddy walked over to Will, who looked around to see who was there.

'Maddy,' he avoided her gaze, trying hard to fight the feeling inside.

'Hello Will, how are you?'

'Ha! I'm just fine Maddy.' His voice was cold. 'You never said anything about having a pirate for a lover.' Will looked at Maddy accusingly.

Maddy sighed, she knew this wasn't going to be easy. 'We weren't lovers then Will, although I did love him.'

Will felt a grim sense of satisfaction, 'So I had you first did I?' He mused, smiling inwardly. It wasn't often he got one over on Jack Sparrow. 'Does he know about us?'

'Yes he does Will. I had to tell him, he'd already guessed anyway.' Will felt his stomach give a lurch

'So I was just amusement then?' Will wasn't in the mood to let Maddy off easily. 'Just someone to have a little fun with until Jack came running to your rescue?'

'Will! You know that's not true. I didn't even know Jack would come to my rescue. Things had been....difficult between us, and I thought I'd be staying in Port Royal.'

'Why did you make love with me then, if you loved Jack?'

'Because,' Maddy sighed, this was as hard as she thought it would be. 'Because I liked, no, like you Will, I enjoy your company, I find you attractive and when we were alone that night, I couldn't hold back my feelings any longer.'

'So if Jack wasn't around......?' Will left the question unasked.

'If Jack wasn't around, you'd still have been married to Elizabeth, Will.'

'That didn't stop you before,' Will spat at her, getting angry.

'Will, what happened between us was beautiful, and I don't regret it, but there could never have been anything more between us. People would have found out, you know what Port Royals' society is like. And where would that have left you, where would it have left me?' Maddy froze as she saw Jack behind Will. He grabbed the younger mans' arm, spinning him around, away from Maddy.

'She's mine now William, go find yerself someone else to break yer marriage vows with,' Jack snarled at him.

'That's out of order Jack. I didn't even know you and Maddy knew each other, let alone anything else.' Will snatched his arm out of Jacks grasp, glaring at the pirate angrily.

'Ah, so if Maddy hadn't known me, that would have made betraying Elizabeth alright would it mate?' Jack sneered at Will, contempt heavy in his voice.

Will gave a short, harsh laugh. 'That's rich coming from you Jack Sparrow, with a whore in every port.' Will ducked as Jack swung for him, balling his hand into a fist and launching it into Jacks middle.

'Stop it! Stop it both of you. I will not have you fighting.' Maddy stood between the men, hands against each chest, holding them away from each other.

'I wouldn't want to humiliate the whelp further by beating him again.' Wheezed Jack, struggling to regain his breath.

'You know damn well you can't beat me fair and square Jack and you don't have the balls to try.' Will goaded, not caring that he was surrounded by Jacks crew.

Jack pushed past Maddy and hurled himself at Will, grabbing him by the throat and squeezing.

'NO! Jack let go at once, Will go and cool off NOW!' Maddy grabbed a handful of Jacks hair and yanked hard, assisted by Joshamee Gibbs holding his captain back, and Eb Tucker dragging Will across the deck and down below. Maddy shot Jack a warning look as he made to follow Will and finish the fight. 'Don't you dare Jack Sparrow,' her voice low and hard. She motioned for Gibbs to leave them alone.

'What was I supposed ter do? He can't leave yer alone for 5 minutes.' Jack looked hurt, his pride wounded.

'I went over to him Jack, we needed to sort things out between us.'

'Well yer had long enough in Port Royal ter sort things out luv,' Jack growled.

Maddy shook her head slowly. 'Jack, I love you, not Will or anybody else, just you. I was lonely and heartbroken on Port Royal, I needed.....I don't know, I just needed to hold someone. I'd rather it had been you, but I didn't know where you were, or how you felt about me, Will was the only real friend I had in that bloody place. And it was only once Jack, I never wanted him again after that.' Maddy rested her head on Jacks shoulder, feeling his hand run along her arm, the other hand taking hers to his lips, kissing her fingers, then taking one into his mouth, his tongue playing around with it, his anger disappearing fast.

***********************

Will shrugged off Eb's restraining hand, snarling at the man towering over him. 'I don't need your help, thank you!' Will stormed off, eventually finding his way to the stores, where he tapped into a rum barrel and proceeded to get blind drunk. Mr Cotton found him a couple of hours later, and with the help of another crewman, put him in a quiet corner of the crews' quarters to sleep it off.

Joshamee Gibbs hesitated about telling his Captain about Will stealing the rum, but Jack was surprisingly understanding. He'd have done more than get blind drunk, if he'd lost Maddy to someone.

Maddy joined Jack at the helm, after she had finished her job, having found her straw hat. She ducked under his arms, and her hands joined his, steering The Pearl on her way. 'Are you all right now Jack?'

'Aye luv, I'll try not be too hard on the whelp when he wakes,' he grinned, pulling Maddys hat off so he could kiss her neck. Maddy nestled back, moulding her body into Jacks.

'So, why did he attack you?'

'Eh? Who?'

'The pirate, when you were a lad.'

Jack smiled. 'I was wonderin' when curiosity'd get the better of yer luv.' Jack checked his compass, before resuming the story. 'He'd tried to force 'imself on me, so I kicked him good an' hard in the balls, which he didn't appreciate. We were in the galley, him being the cook an' all, so he grabs the meat cleaver and swings fer me. Nearly took me bloody 'ead off, before he got me shoulder. The rest of the crew came ter see what the commotion was and pinned him down before the Cap'n came.'

'Did you have much trouble with men trying to...force themselves on you?' Maddy had heard stories of men having relationships with each other at sea.

'Aye luv, I was a pretty lad back then so some of the men tried to take me. Some succeeded an' all.' Maddy started, turning to look at Jack with wide eyes. 'Don't look so shocked luv, it ain't the worst thing that can happen at sea. Sometimes it weren't so bad, y'know, some of the men treated me kindly and some didn't.'

'Do you still, you know.......?' Maddy wasn't sure whether she wanted to hear the answer.

Jack laughed, enjoying her shock. 'Nah luv, only women fer me since I became strong enough to fight back. Although,' he teased, 'I have ter say, young William looks very tempting......!' Maddy hit him playfully, then felt the pressure of the wheel in her back as Jack pushed her against it, kissing her hungrily. 'What are yer lookin' at, yer mangy dogs? Jack yelled at the watching crew. 'Ain't you ever seen a man an' a woman kiss before?' The crew scurried back to their duties, and Maddy ducked under Jacks' arm, he slapped her rump as she went.

'I'm just going to check on Will, before I help Tom in the galley.' Maddy noted the look on Jacks face. 'I'm still his friend Jack, whether you like it or not.' With that, Maddy disappeared to the crews quarters. Will was sitting up, holding his head in his hands, groaning pitifully. Maddy had stopped off at the galley and made Will some strong coffee which she handed to him.

'Urgh! This is worse than rum!' Will made a face, but drank it down. 'Oh God, why did I do that? I know booze doesn't agree with me.' Will looked at Maddy in the gloom. 'I'm sorry Maddy, I've messed everything up.'

Maddy smiled at him, and put her arm around his shoulder. 'No you haven't Will, but you do have to decide what you're going to do. You can't just run away from Elizabeth and your children.'

Will let out a long breath, 'I feel so...restless. Jack was right, I do have pirates blood in my veins, I need the ocean.'

'Pirates blood!' Maddy shook her head, These two men certainly knew how to surprise her.

'Yes, my father was a pirate, and a very good friend of Jacks. He served aboard this very ship.' Will told Maddy the story of his father, Barbossa, Jack and the un-dead pirates.

'If you had told me all this, when you told me about how you and Elizabeth got together...'

Will interrupted her, 'Yes, yes I know, none of this would have happened. But then we wouldn't have happened, and I don't regret that.' Will went to kiss Maddy, who jumped up and moved away from him. 'Maddy, I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that.'

'No Will, you shouldn't. I'm sorry I can't return your feelings, maybe if I hadn't met Jack then..' Maddy turned to leave, Will grabbed hold of her, spinning her around to face him.

'I wouldn't be doin' that if I were you mate..' came Jacks' voice from the doorway. Will froze and looked at Jack in shock.

'Jack! I'm sorry, please, I didn't mean to,' Will gabbled, running his hands through his hair.

'I'll let yer off this once,' Jacks' voice was low, 'But if yer lay a hand on my woman again, I'll cut it off, savvy?'

Maddy looked at Jack in surprise as he led her up onto the deck. 'I thought you'd.....'

'What, thought I'd kill him? Nah luv, water under the bridge. Besides, why kill him fer having good taste in women? Jack winked at her. 'I reckon he's got enough on his plate, without having me as an enemy.

********************

Will came out on deck, his hangover making the sun seem brighter than normal. He squinted, trying to make out Jack and when he spotted him, went over. 'Jack, I owe you an apology, I'll leave the ship at the next port of call.'

'Yer don't need to do that whelp if yer really don't want to.'

Will sighed, wishing Jack would stop calling him that, then realised it was a form of affection from the pirate. 'I do Jack, I can't stay on board, not with...well, I just can't stay. Besides I have to go back to Port Royal and sort things out, I have a duty to Elizabeth and my children. I'll go back to being a humble blacksmith and forget about life on the sea.'

'Aw fer gawds sake Will, stop being such a bloody martyr! Sort things out, fine, but there's plenty of woman and children who's men are out at sea. You can be one of them, savvy? I wasn't going to, but I'll drop yer off at Tortuga, an' ya can find passage back home from there.'

Will heart sank at the mention of Tortuga. He hated having to fight off the whores there, but knew he'd get back to Port Royal quicker from there than anywhere else. 'Thanks Jack, I probably don't deserve this.'

'Don't start getting all soppy on me again Will, now get ter work. The sooner we get ter Tortuga, the sooner you can get 'ome and make up with Elizabeth.'

'Ha! If she'll have me back.' Will wasn't sure she would.

'Course she will. She braved Barbossa and his crew to save yer neck lad, she loves ya, that hasn't changed.'