Disclaimer: I don't own PotC. Really. Check my pockets for the reciet.......ya.... :P
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GAH. Sorry about the TIME it took me to update this. I actually started writing it ages ago, but I have had lots of exams this week! Hehe. Most of you have probably figured what had happened, so without further ado, please continue with the story!
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Will caught sight of Elizabeth walking up along the stone wall of the Gallows as he was shoved onto the platform, and he felt the coarse rope being roughly looped around his neck. It was tightened so much he could barely breathe, but he did not open his mouth to say something, as others before him had.. He looked up towards the stone path again, only to see Elizabeth was in the company of both her father and Commodore Norrington. He heard her scream out for him, and then saw her being restrained by the Commodore himself, with the aide of one of his men. He sent a glare in the Commodore's direction, noticing also that his wife was wearing a corset. A corset that was much to tight. He hated them with a passion, especially after Elizabeth had fallen off the ship that night, and nearly drowned. Taking a quick look to his side, he caught Jack frowning at Elizabeth, and the company that was surrounding, restraining, and subduing her. It was enough to make him sick that both he and Jack were being hung with no proof that they had even committed the crime that they were being sentenced for, it made him want to kill the father in law he had once respected to see that Elizabeth was obviously being forced to watch.
"They made her wear a corset," Jack hissed.
"I know Jack, I know," he said, frustration at being helpless making him snappy. The both of them were cuffed over the head, hard, and Will glared at the man, then sent Jack an apologetic look.
He was so focussed on his wife he did not hear the hangman reading out the document which explained why they were being hung, and he mouthed a silent 'goodbye' to her, tensing himself for when the platform would be dropped from beneath him. It was then that he saw Elizabeth pull a gun which she must have hidden in her dress somewhere, and point it towards her head, slightly down, but nonetheless, if she fired, it would kill her immediately. She mouthed a goodbye back. He gasped, and he saw the hangman grab the handle which would trigger the floor beneath him to fall.
"NO!" he cried out, unable to stop himself, "DON'T LET HER SHOOT HERSELF, SHE'S PREGNANT--" he was cut off as he felt the wood beneath him give way, and he fell, landing with a rough jerk on his neck, and his vision went black. He was unaware of what was happening to him after that, but then his vision cleared. He could feel himself spinning, twisting around slowly, only being able to breathe in tiny gasps of air at a time. He couldn't hear anything, and once he regained all feeling in his hands, he swung himself, managing, with the last of his strength, to bring his knees right up to his chin, and by some miracle, pull his arms from behind his back, under him, and back in front of him. He then tried to grab the rope strangling him, and pulled himself up, but the rope had tightened when he had fallen, and he could no longer steal a gasp of breath. His strength wasted, and his body failing him, he lost his grip, and fell back to where he had hung moments before, the rope gagging him painfully once more. So this was it, he thought, but what a way to go.
The next thing he knew, he hit the ground, hard, on his knees, and then he fell onto his side, and the rope was cut from his throat. His body unconsciously drew in deep breaths, and he closed his eyes. He felt someone fall on him, but he no longer cared for what was happening around him. He opened his eyes, finally finding the strength to force himself to breathe by himself, and he regained his vision yet again. He still couldn't hear anything, but he was slowly regaining his senses. He then remembered Elizabeth, and he dragged himself to his feet, grabbing onto a pole to steady himself, and realised his hands were free of binds. He saw the crowds, and without further ado, he ran towards where he had last seen Elizabeth, pushing roughly through the crowds, with far more aggression than what he had used when he had tried to stop Jack being hung. ~Jack~ Oh god he hoped Jack had not hung to death, but at the moment, he only wished for Elizabeth's safety. He didn't care about the Pirate. But he knew Jack would understand. He felt ill when he realised that the crowd that was gathering around the wall probably meant that Elizabeth had indeed shot herself, but he forced himself to press on regardless.
When he reached the centre of the crowd's attention, his heart sunk, and he pushed both Commodore Norrington out of the way roughly, and dropped to his knees beside Elizabeth, who was covered in blood. He couldn't see where it was coming from exactly, but he quickly, from experience, checked for the source of it, even through his state of panic. He was relieved when he found no signs of the blood coming from her head, or anywhere else fatal, rather that she had managed to shoot herself in her upper arm, and supposedly the bullet had nipped through part of her side, just below her underarm. But he was also deeply worried that she was unconscious, and was fighting inwardly to keep his panic from rising to a level where he would be unable to help her. He quickly tore strips of cloth from his shirt, trying to find clean bits, which he tightly bound around her arm to stop the blood flow, and pressed it against the gouge the bullet had made from the angle in which the gun had been fired. When he finished, and was reasonably happy with how he had fixed up the wound, he choked in anger, and sadness. The Governor was hanging around, literally panicking, and if he had not been deathly pale, and unable to move, he would have been running around in circles. Will protectively pulled Elizabeth into his arms, cradling her against his chest, stroking her hair from her pale face. Deftly grabbing a knife from one of the Commodore's men, he gripped it, and in one deft movement, he cut up the front of her dress, deep enough to cut the strings of her corset, but not enough to cut her. He carefully pulled the offending piece of clothing from under her dress, and threw it as far as he could, tossing the knife back to it's owner. She didn't move, still unconscious, and he cursed to himself for letting things get this out of hand.
"What the blood 'ell are you all standing around for," he heard an all too familiar voice from behind him, "Someone get a doctor to tend to the lass," he looked up to see Jack, pushing his way through the crowd. He also saw a very angry looking Commodore Norrington brushing off his crinkled and torn uniform, and guessed he had pushed the other man off the path and into the crowd, but at the moment, he couldn't care less about what was going to happen to him. He got to his feet, wavering slightly, and exited the large stone formation that housed the gallows. Jack followed him, and amazingly, the crowd let him through without any trouble. The two headed for Will's home, and although both of them were hurt, and sore, neither of them complained about it. He kept seeing Jack shooting him concerned glances every now and again, but he was too frightened that if he did not get Elizabeth into good care soon, that she would die. He would not have been able to bear that, and he would gladly go back to the gallows to be hung for good. Come to think of it, if she died, Commodore Norrington and Governor Swann would probably sentence himself to death for murder. Or lock him up on his own. He shook his head. That would kill him, drive him insane, and make him think it was his fault. Who was he kidding, it was his fault she had gotten shot, he had not taken the gun back from her. Death, he could live with, but living in torment with no escape, he could not.
"Please be okay," Will whispered to Elizabeth as he started up the rise to where they lived. It wasn't far now, but she had lost so much blood, it couldn't be good for her, or the baby. He desperately hoped with all his heart that both of them would make it through this, but that was only if he could make it all the way home. He groaned, starting to feel an enormous amount of pain and protest from his body, but he could not give up now. He had come this far, now all he needed was to get that little bit further. He sighed in relief when he could see the house he was aiming to get them to, and he forced himself the last bit of the way.
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Once both Jack and Will reached the house, they pushed through the door, and while Will headed straight for their room, Jack stalled momentarily, looking around with eyes as wide as saucers.
When he finally made it the room that Will and Elizabeth shared, he saw that his friend had removed the blood stained outer dress, and cut away the arm of her white undergarment, and enough of the side of her dress to expose the other wound, but no more.
"Christ mate," He swore, "Your making quick work of her," he was only given a glare, and he frowned.
"This is no time to be joking, Jack," Will warned in an icy tone.
"You know, you're absolutely right," he said, getting a stern look, "Where is the Rum?" he asked.
If Will had been anymore shocked, or disgusted, he would have fallen over. As it was, Jack had earned himself a death glare.
"Jack," Will said coldly, "im warning you,"
"Relax mate, Rum is good for putting on wounds to clean them," Jack waved his arm. Underneath his masquerade, he was deathly serious, but Will was doing a good job for the both of them, and he was only trying to help, "So where is it?"
"There is something in the bathing room," Will said shortly, removing his bandages, "Grab me some clean cloth while your at it, a table cloth or something,"
"Of course," Jack nodded, and went off into the house, eying the gold longingly as he saw the decorations. He looked around for a few moments, and found what he thought to be the kitchen, and went to a cupboard in the next room, in which there was a polished wood table. He pulled out a perfectly white tablecloth from it, and tucked it over his arm, searching for the Rum. He found it in a nearby cabinet, and took that too, returning to Will's room. The younger male snatched it from him with barely a word, and he decided to get clean water. Finding this took him longer, and when he returned, Will had cleaned the wound throughly, and was tearing strips of cloth to bind it.
"You better clean her up first lad," he said, and pushed forward with the bucket, pressing the damp cloth against the wound, and expertly washing the blood from her arm. Then he took the Rum, and using a clean cloth, he dabbed the wound gently, getting it ready to be bound. Will nodded as the Pirate moved away from Elizabeth, and Jack watched as Elizabeth's injured arm was carefully bound, and then as some cloth was also wrapped around the gash just under her arm. When it was done, he saw Will carefully lift her unconscious form, and tuck her under the blankets, pulling them up around her. Then he tucked a pillow beneath her head, and sighed slightly with relief. Jack smirked when the Blacksmith stepped backwards to sink into a chair he obviously thought was still there, and then collapsed, exhausted from the days events. Diving forwards, he managed to catch Will, and awkwardly, with one hand, he supported the younger man's weight and the other, he grabbed a chair Will had tossed away in his panic, finally drawing it forwards, and letting him fall into it, also unconscious. Jack groaned tiredly, and lowered himself to sit down on the carpet, and set himself to the task of watching the couple, although he too was on the verge of collapse. He realised he must have drifted off to sleep when he heard the doorbell, and without an ounce of cautiousness, he went to answer it.
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Haha, you guys know me too well, I could never kill Will or Elizabeth or Jack! :P
R/R
~RTT