A/N- the song is called 'Death in Slow Motion' and it belongs to Valandora.
~*~
Chapter Nine
The Snoring of Gibbs
~*~
Boiling blood cool it off again until it stops
To make all of this
Don't be surprised if i kick you when you're down
Wish me luck but you don't know what you're saying
Just another face in the crowd
So beautiful
You are found out as quickly as you came
Unconventional irrepressible
I will always hate to love you
Yes i do believe
Yes master i do obey
To make boiling blood cools it off
Again until it stops
~*~
Will's head was pulled around towards the stranger passing him by like there was a wire attached to it. He stumbled through the crowd after Jack for a moment before pulling his head back around and following his friends through the ocean of dirty people that surrounded him. He followed Anamaria and Jack to a bar where Jack busied himself ordering his rum and pulled Anamaria aside.
"Anamaria," he said quietly under the ruckus of the six bar fights going on at that moment, "It was her, I saw her."
"Saw who?" asked Anamaria, her eyebrows coming together over the bridge of her nose.
"Serenity."
"Who?"
"Serenity, that girl from Port Royale," he said. A confused look crossed the pirate's face and Will, frustrated, clarified himself. "The one that we didn't rescue; the other one. Not Elizabeth." Anamaria's eyebrows went up and she nodded as she realized whom Will was talking about. Will leaned back against the wooden boards of the wall and propped his foot up on one of the lower rungs of a nearby chair.
"Ye saw 'er here? In Tortuga?" asked Anamaria skeptically. "Yer strumpet?"
Will sighed agitatedly and ran his hands through his hair until his fingers reached the crown of his head. "Yes, I saw Serenity here in Tortuga," he answered. "And she is not a strumpet."
"Aye," said Anamaria. "But are ye sure it was 'er?"
Will sighed. "No."
"Than what's the fuss?"
Convinced that Ana would never understand, and not even wanting to think about what Jack would say, Will walked through one of the brawls to the window and gazed out upon the myriad faces, not even flinching as a glass bottle exploded next to his head. Maybe it wasn't her. Maybe I was hallucinating. Maybe it was some small, petite pirate with a hat on. It could have not been Serenity easier than it could have been. Serenity's dead. In some strange way, Will preferred to think of Serenity as dead than as here in Tortuga, where he couldn't do anything about it. He searched the faces relentlessly but she was nowhere to be seen. What would you do if she were still alive? Will wondered to himself. Could you face her? Would you have the guts?
Will slid his fingertips from where they were digging into the windowpane forward until they touched the warm glass. He heard a blowing sound by his ear and acrid smoke burned his eyes. He squinted to his left to see a smiling prostitute standing next to him, artfully holding a cigarette between her middle and index fingers. She dangled the tip of the cigarette close to Will's hair as she smiled at him. "Lonely?" she asked in a patronizing way. Will couldn't help his eyes as they dawdled down her- voluptuous figure, most of which was spilling over the black lace that adorned the top of her red and black striped bodice. She wore a necklace with a skull on it, which dangled down and rested between her collarbones. Will averted his eyes back to hers, which were obscenely lined in kohl thicker than Jack's.
"No," he said, embarrassed for himself. "I'm fine." The woman smirked at him and walked past him to her next potential costumer, shoving her shoulder between the wings of his back as she passed. Will's shoulders reflexively went up until he looked like he was shrugging to himself, and he returned his attention to the window. Jack was still busy with the bartender, looking agitated as he miserably counted out gold coins onto the nicked surface of the bar. Anamaria was leaning over his shoulder, shrilly trying to barter with the bartender at the same time Jack was.
Seeing that this venture was hopeless, Will turned from the window and begin to pick his way through the haphazard arrangements of tables and chairs as he began to look for Gibbs, who he knew would not be far away. Sure enough he found the old gizzard keeping company with his mug, suds dripping from the lip of the cup. When he lifted it, it left a wet ring upon the surface of the table. Will pulled out a chair and sat down across from him, folding his arms onto the table and resting his head on them. Gibbs tapped the top of his head with the bottom of his mug.
"Tired, eh?" said the old man.
"How did you guess?" said Will.
"Ah, Tortuga can be a bit much the first time around," said Mr. Gibbs knowingly as he cast a glance at a scarlet woman in the corner, "but believe me, once you get used to it, Tortuga is the greatest place on earth." Will could think of ten places he would rather be than here at this moment, but he didn't wish to dampen the man's fervor. Gibbs heartily set his mug on the table and let out a satisfied ah.
"How long do you think we'll be here?" asked Will. Gibbs cast a glance over towards where Jack and Anamaria were still trying to barter with the bartender.
"A long time yet," Gibbs answered
"Don't look for me," Will said as he stood up and made his way towards the door of the bar.
"Where're ye goin?" Gibbs called after him as he ran out onto the street and disappeared into the mass of people. As soon as he was outside of the bar all the heroic feelings that had swelled in his heart a moment before disappeared as he realized how hopeless his search was. Anyone could be Serenity, and that was if she was even here! Will bit his lip heavily and sighed. Two pairs of hands grasped his head and a third brought a liquor bottle to his lips. The liquid warmed his senses as he peered up into the faces of three smiling women.
"Come with us," coaxed the most attractive of the three, a smiling brunette with hard eyes that had something of Serenity in them. The other two were blonde and tan but something about the third women entranced Will- for a moment.
"No, I can't," he said, almost reluctantly pushing them away. He stumbled back towards the door of the bar and met Jack and Anamaria coming out of the door, Gibbs close behind them, holding their crates of rum. Jack looked pissed off, having emptied most of his purse out into the bartender's hands for the rum. Anamaria looked grim also, but Gibbs look merry as ever, a pipe dangling from his mouth.
"Where are you going?" asked Will.
"Now, that's a stupid question," said Jack.
"Back to the ship," said Anamaria at the same time.
~*~
After much argument between, Jack, Ana, and the rest of the crew, it was decided that the rum would be put onto the ship, and they would remain at dock for the night and sleep in one of the Tortugan hostels. Jack, Gibbs, and Will shared a room, and the rest of the crew crammed themselves into three other rooms except for Anamaria, who would rather sleep in the closet than smell like a man the next morning. However, soon she was in bed next to Jack and sleeping soundly. Over the racket of the snoring of Gibbs, Will explained his situation to Jack in full, from the beginning to the very end. Jack, oddly stretched out on top of the sheets with his boots still on, put a hand to his chin and pondered what his friend had told him.
"So you think she's here," he said.
"I know she's here," Will said, hoping he sounded surer than he felt. It had to be Serenity. No one else made him feel that way, not even Elizabeth. And besides, Elizabeth wouldn't be here anyway. There was no chance she would be.
"Well, then, you have to find her," Jack said obviously.
Will made an agitated noise. "I don't know where to start!" he said in a harsh whisper, cradling his forehead in his hands. He too still had his boots on, but they were resting on the floor from where he was sitting on the bed, his fingers raking through his hair as he tried to make a plan of what to do. "I don't know what to do."
"Then I suppose I'll have to help you," said Jack, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and standing. The braids and beads in his hair clicked together as they fell off of his shoulders. Anamaria, subconsciously sensing that the rest of the bed was free, promptly turned over and sprawled across it.
"Why?" said Will miserably.
"Because I know the city better than you do," stated Jack, walking towards the door. "Now lets go."