Seaspray: Thanks. Um, I pretty much forgot about Elizabeth – didn't really care what happened to her. If you wanna consider her dead you go for it ;)
Bluekrystal1: Heh heh, we like trouble!
There was something about the way Jack looked at him that had been unnerving Will for almost three days now. He couldn't think of anything in particular that had changed recently, but Will got the distinct impression that Jack was frustrated with him. There was a sort of dismissing nature to the looks he received from the Captain now. Will had noticed that Jack often watched him. He'd long since decided it was just Jack's way of making sure he didn't cause any damage to the ship while repairing it. Will snorted at the thought – "repairs" indeed. It seemed like he was more often making things worse than really improving them. No wonder the Pearl's captain saw fit to oversee his work. Still, somewhere in the back of his head, in a very quiet voice he had to strain to hear, Will admitted that there might be other reasons why he was being so often observed.
'Perhaps he cares about you beyond just what damage you might do to his beloved ship,' that quiet voice in his head whispered.
Working alone, away from the others on deck, Will answered himself aloud, though he spoke under his breath. "And I should believe that because of my exceptional accuracy when it comes to knowing who cares for me, is that it? After all, it's not as though I watched my fiancée, whom I THOUGHT cared for me, run away from me at the alter, right?"
In a moment of irritation and sadness, Will realized he'd pushed the awl too hard, and felt it skip out of the groove in the plank and scrape a ghastly line down the polished surface. Dropping his project onto the deck, Will stood up and headed for Jack's cabin. It had become habit for him, locking himself away in there when he became overwhelmed. The reasons behind that habit were something he'd rather not consider, particularly when he was barraged with images of a laughing, sweet smiling young lady he had thought returned his love.
Will nearly crashed into Jack when the Captain suddenly appeared in his path. He tried ducking around the human obstacle but to no avail as Jack swayed easily to match Will's movements and thus blocked the way to the cabin.
"Jack, if you'll excuse me," Will said tersely, looking anywhere but Jack's face. He could feel the pain in his chest steadily growing, gnawing its way out of him as images of white lace and curls assaulted him.
"This has to stop, Will," Jack said, trying to look Will in the eyes. "You can't keep doin' this."
Incorrectly assuming Jack was referring to the work he had abandoned moments before, Will tried to quickly apologize. The sooner he got in the cabin, the sooner he could be free of this horrible, consuming, internal pain. "Sorry, Jack. I'll finish that shortly and try to get rid of the scratch as well."
Will tried again to get around Jack but was as unsuccessful as before.
"Wasn't talkin' 'bout your work-"Jack started.
Will felt his temper hit its limit. He needed to be free from the searing, raging fire of hurt inside himself. If he couldn't get inside the cabin to let it out in tears then Jack would have to do. Without really thinking Will lashed out, his words exploding, aimed at Jack with as deadly precision as a sword.
"What then!?!" he yelled. "You'd have me believe you care what I feel? Hmm? That you give a damn for me beyond what I do to your precious ship?"
Jack said nothing. In fact, his face was blank as Will raged on. While he remained expressionless, Jack did take slow steps to the side. Will was too furious to notice the path to the cabin was no longer blocked and, just as Jack had hoped, Will advanced toward him. Slowly backing away, Jack led Will to right where he wanted him.
"Is it that I sleep in your bed, Jack?" Will seethed on. "Hoping I'll become some kind of sorted, perverted pirate like you?"
'Alright, that hurt,' Jack admitted in his head. Sure, he'd wanted to see Will be back to himself, show at least a bit of that Turner spirit the youth had previously demonstrated in abundance, but this? This wasn't anymore Will Turner than the beaten down, almost listless man he'd spent the last two weeks watching over. The words stung, but as his back bumped against the ship's railing, it occurred to Jack that they also presented the opportune moment to put his plan into action.
Jack glanced behind him, instantly confirming what he already knew about the water currents in this particular spot. He turned back to face Will, his trademark, devilish golden grin firmly in place.
"Didn't 'ear you complaining any 'bout sharing my bed when you were curled up around ol' Captain Jack."
The words stopped Will short. Jack watched as not only did the rage melt away but a look of slight recollection and confusion graced the young man's face.
'Ah, so it is that you remember at least something about the way you sleep,' Jack thought in the brief moment before he took action. He grabbed the shocked young man by his upper arms and before Will had a second to register what was happening their positions were reversed. With Will now standing with his back to the ocean, Jack gave a very strong shove at the same time that he expertly swept Will's legs out from under him.
Will felt dizzy and more than a bit afraid as he watched the railing and Jack quickly shrink as he plummeted toward the water below. He hit with a loud crack and continued alarmingly far beneath the ocean's surface before his reflexes kicked in. He kicked hard and swam up, breaking the surface and gulping down air. It took several moments before he could stop gasping and regained his bearings enough to look up at the Pearl. Will could make out Jack, forearms resting comfortably on the railing, crossed at his wrists, his posture seemingly relaxed.
"Jack! Throw me a rope. This isn't funny," Will hollered up. He'd never realized just how far up it was from the water's surface to the deck.
"You're right, Will. It isn't funny," Jack hollered back, an unhappy, forced grin on his face.
"I'm serious!" Will shouted as he bobbed in the water. Seeing that Jack was likely to be of no immediate help, Will decided on another tactic. "Man overboard!" he called out in as loud a voice as he could muster, with small waves threatening to fill his mouth with salt water.
It was quickly apparent that none of the crew were coming to save him. In fact, Will realized, besides Jack there was no one else in sight on deck, or at least not that he could see from his vantage point in the water below.
"Now, as long as yer down there floatin' around, listen up," Jack yelled gruffly. "I've had it with yer lying."
"My lying?" Will asked in confusion.
"Aye, lying. Tha's what you call it when someone asks how yer doin' and you say yer fine when it's clear that yer not. Now, I'm giving ye a choice, Mr. Turner. You see that land o'er there?" Jack asked, pointing behind Will. He waited as Will turned around to look at the familiar port. "Tha's yer ol' Port Royal." Dramatically looking up the sun, Jack continued. "You could make it there b'fore dark if you started swimmin' now."
"You want me to swim to Port Royal?" Will asked in disbelief.
"I want ye to make a choice!" Jack yelled. "You want Elizabeth still? Then you go back and win 'er heart. You fight, and woo and do what you need cause if you really want 'er back you can get 'er, I've no doubt of that. But if tha's not what you want, then you come back to the Black Pearl. Swim fast enough and ye should be able to catch up wif us before it's too late."
Looking at the land behind him, then back at the ship that was slowly but steadily moving away from him, Will bawked, "You can't be serious!"
"I'm very serious Will," Jack called out. He knew that soon Will would be too far to hear his voice. "One thing's fer sure, mate: You can't stay here treadin' water forever."
Will watched as the huge ship slowly left him, bobbing in the currents. He felt very, very alone.