Chapter Five: Trials of all kinds
"Father's pulled as many strings as he is legally able to pull," Elizabeth said as she set a tea tray down on the table before Richard and Marie.
Marie took it with a smile on her face. "And we certainly can ask no more, I'm sure."
"This will certainly be difficult," Richard said as he took a sip from the tea cup. "Ana Maria is not a citizen of England, and therefore will be looked down upon."
"But the truce tha' I signed with Norrington 'as to count for somethin'," Jack pointed out.
"While it was quiet and only pertaining to Port Royal, that truce caused Commodore Norrington no trouble, but if it gets back to England that he is making deals with pirates...."
"What if we were to break her out of jail?" Will asked as he came to stand next to Jack. "James could have his men leave their post for something or the other..."
"It would be best if we could do this legally," Norrington said from the doorway. "Excuse my intrusion, everyone, but the trial is to begin shortly." He turned a careful eye on the pirate captain. "I'd suggest you get the Black Pearl ready to sail, Captain. If they win on Ana Maria's trial, I have a strong feeling they might come after you next."
"I won't leave 'er to these people."
"And you won't break her out of the jail either, because that goes against our agreement."
"If ye want to take that rout, Commodore, ye've already broken the agreement."
"Please stop the bickering!" Marie said as she stood. "Let us go to the court house and see what it is we might do."
------------------
Over the next few days Jack stopped off to let Mr. Gibbs know what was happening that day, and tell him that if he should hear rumors of any sort of trouble, he was to sail to Tortuga. He and Ana could catch up later if need be. Gibbs had grudgingly agreed as his captain had started off towards the courthouse.
"I'm afraid you can't enter."
If he had not been annoyed at that moment – Norrington had been with him the day before and he'd gotten in, but when he was alone the redcoats would never let him in - Jack might have chuckled at Mullroy who stood next to his ever present partner-in-comedy Murtogg. The pirate had seen them over the last few years since the incident in which he met all of his good friends at Port Royal, and they had never ceased to entertain him as he sent their minds spinning trying to figure out one thing and then another. He pictured them sometimes as a dog chasing its tail and never figuring out why he couldn't catch it. Well, maybe they were a little brighter, but he could only give them so much credit.
"C'mon, lads," Jack answered with a forced grin to ease tension. "I've got to go in there to make sure they give me first mate a proper trial."
"You're not goin' anywhere, Mr. Sparrow."
"Captain, and yes I am."
"I'm afraid your not," a new voice said from behind. Everyone turned eyes on Emily Pratt who stood with her fan gently swaying back and forth, banishing the heat. "I've got a proposition for you, Captain Sparrow."
"An' wha' would tha' be, missy?"
"Walk with me for a moment, won't you? I've got quite an idea."
Jack frowned slightly, running over the possibilities in his mind. He wasn't getting by the two goofballs at that particular moment, so he decided to follow the obnoxious brat before him. "Wha' can I do for ye, missy, besides the overwhelming desire I've got to put ye out of the rest of our misery?"
Emily smiled up at Jack, acting as if she had heard nothing. "An exchange, Captain. You for her."
The pirate captain looked at her intently. "I don't trust ye, lass, for more than obvious reasons."
She pouted. "I would much rather have you, Jack," she purred as she advanced toward him, running a thin finger along his jaw line. "I followed you here, you know? I've known she was a part of your crew since she joined. I've followed your movements since you left me that day. Don't think that I haven't, Jack Sparrow. I wanted my stories, you see. I had to have them."
"An' if ye take Ana or me then you'll 'ave no stories at all, Miss Pratt."
She gave the captain an evil little smile. "I'll make sure I have my stories. I do like the ones where you are injured in them, Jack. Is that horrible?"
"Yes."
Emily pouted again, but the pout faded as two men came up behind Jack and grabbed him by his arms. He thrashed around, hollering as best he could until they gagged him. "Sorry, Jack," she whispered in his ear. "I want you more than she does. That I can guarantee. I'm willing to do so much. Think about it, she wasn't willing to fight to be with you, even if you were willing to fight for her." She turned her eyes back to the men. "Take him away, I'll be along shortly after Douglass is out of the trial for the day."
"Aye, miss."
"Have fun, boys."
---------------------
"Richard!"
Richard Bruckworth looked back to see Douglass walking towards him. "Yes? I'm in a bit of a hurry, Douglass."
"I know you are, ol' friend, but I need a moment of your time more than that scallywag stepson of yours does." Douglass grinned as Richard paled noticeably. "Really, Richard, did you think I didn't know? Emily follows the pirate's stories well enough to write a novel on him. Someone has to listen to her, even if not entirely." He slung an arm around the blue-eyed man's shoulder.
"What do you want, Douglass?" Richard asked finally.
"I want you off the jury. I didn't want to make a scene up until now. Apparently you haven't had the best relationship with the lad during his life, eh? I expected that to shine through in the way you conducted yourself in there."
"I have no leanings either way, Douglass."
"You say that to my face, but what do you say to the Turners' faces, I wonder. Or to Governor Swann or Commodore Norrington? It makes me wonder what great things your stepson has done to gain such respect – even though he is a pirate – from the good people of Port Royal. I will not be out done. I'll see him in chains or dead while we have Ana Maria back in our grasp."
Richard shrugged the other man's arm off his shoulders. "I agree with Jack Sparrow on very few things, Douglass, but one of those very few things is how people are people and are not to be owned."
"Really?" Douglass asked, a sly grin spreading across his face. "Did you think that when you abused him as a child?"
Richard felt his face heat up with rage. "You have no idea what you're talking about, Douglass Pratt," he growled.
"Douglass!!!" The two men turned to see Emily running to them. "I've got him, Brother!" she said sweetly.
"Who?" Richard demanded.
"None of your concern," Douglass answered as he turned on his heal to follow his sister. "Good day, Mr. Bruckworth."
--------------------------
Jack came too very slowly and realized at length that he was propped up against a wall in the room they'd taken him to. It hurt to move. It hurt to breathe. He shook his head slowly. What was he thinking, it hurt if he breathed or if he didn't. A small groan escaped his lips.
"Hello, Sparrow," Douglass Pratt's voice entered his ears.
The pirate captain looked slowly up at the man towering over him, his dark brown eyes focusing even slower. When he said nothing in reply he received a sharp blow to the side of his face, which sent his jerking to the opposite side.
"Don't just sit there," Douglass laughed. "Say something! I thought Jack Sparrow of the Black Pearl always had a witty comeback, eh? Guess not now." He grabbed Jack by the chin, forcing him to look up. "You know, I've got quite a bit on you. I've nearly got your girl – I will after I tell the judge about Richard being your stepfather – and I've got you here. Your boat will leave when she hears that both of you are lost and you'll be left with nothing."
Jack glared up at the man above him, but said nothing.
"What did I say?" Douglass growled. "Don't just sit there! Say something!" His fist connected hard with Jack's ribcage and the pirate's dark eyes widened in pain and a small sound of pain escaped his lips. His captor laughed.
Jack looked up at him with a small, tight grin on his face. "Ye wan' me to say somethin', eh?" Douglass nodded. "Go to 'ell," the pirate growled as he jerked forward against the chains that held him back. "You an' tha' poor excuse for a sister ye've got! Both of ye deserve it."
Douglass stood and slammed his fist against Jack's jaw once more before turning and leaving, Emily following quickly behind. Jack was left in silence, his own breathing the only sound. His eyes turned upward when he realized that his breathing wasn't the only sound after all. "Richard..."
-------------------------
(a/n: just a note here, this is a change in perspective, so I'm jumping back just a couple minutes. Just to let ye know so ye don' get confused :) )
Richard watched as Douglass Pratt's fist met the pirate's already battered ribcage. The Englishman shuddered. He'd done a lot to the boy over the years, he was man enough to admit that now that he looked back on it. He wasn't sorry for many of those things, because he felt as if Jack had deserved them, but no one deserved this. Marie had taught him that.
Too bad Marie didn't teach you that before you helped steel her happiness, his conscious whispered to him.
The voice was right. Richard knew how much Jack Sparrow looked like his long dead father, but never more than right now how Jonathan Sparrow had looked the day he died.
Richard held a piece of cloth over his nose as he descended the rock stairs. It was rank down there. He realized in horror why when he saw the first prisoner in the first cell. He hurried the guard along and they finally found the former pirate captain Jonathan Sparrow. The man was sitting with his back to the wall, hat pulled over his eyes, and apparently asleep.
"Excuse me for a moment," Richard said as he hinted to the guard to leave. He rattled the bars a bit. "Sparrow?"
Jonathan Sparrow reached one hand up to his hat carefully and pulled it away. The bandana that he wore often was no longer present on his head, but Richard was sure that he'd seen Marie's lad wearing it when they stepped off the boat from the Caribbean. He saw the pirate's brand that the bandana had hid.
"So yer the reason 'm 'ere, eh?" Jonathan's raspy voice drifted into the gentleman's ears.
Richard scrunched his nose up in disgust. The younger man was beaten and bloodied, he realized now. Two black eyes, obvious damage done to what had once been quite a handsome face. The former pirate captain stood slowly, unsteadily, and Richard noticed more damage had been done than just the younger man's face. He would die within the week or less from his injuries if not for the hanging that was set for later that morning. "Partially," he answered truthfully.
"Ah," Jonathan said slowly as he limped his way to the bars and leaned heavily against them. "You'll marry Marie then, eh? All legal and such."
"Indeed it will be. And it will be how it should have been before you fell into the picture."
Jonathan turned his two dark orbs to his wife's former betrothed. "'ere's more in the picture now, Richard," he said slowly. "'ere's a boy now."
"You mean your brat?"
"Marie an' I love 'im more 'n anythin', Richard. Ye can't do nothin' to 'im. If nothin' else, ye owe me tha' with all ye've done to me."
"I owe you nothing!" Richard hissed as he reached through the bars and took hold of a handful of Jonathan's thick black hair. "You're not able to tell me anything of what I have to do, pirate. You deserve everything you've taken and more than that."
"If I rot in hell, all the more will you."
Richard, in his fury, shoved the pirate back where he fell. "Your brat will be here, you know? He'll watch you hang. Marie's father will make sure of that."
Jonathan hadn't heard him. He lay on the floor of the cell, blood leaking from the gash on his head. Richard shook his head in disgust as he left to jail area and went up to the top.
Richard came back to the present as he ducked deeper into his hiding spot and Douglass Pratt and the others left. He stood slowly and Jack's eyes caught his. "Richard," was all the pirate captain said.
"You look horrible," Richard responded as he moved closer. Jack flinched away involuntarily. "I'm trying to help you, you daft fool."
"Why?"
Because you look like the ghost of my past back to haunt me. "Because you're Marie's son. It would make her cry to see you like this."
Jack shifted his position, trying to make it easier for Richard to get to the ropes. "You might get yerself 'anged for this."
"Not with the governor on my side."
"But 'e's on my side too an' tha's not 'elped one bloody thing, now 'as it?"
"Just shut your mouth before they hear you," Richard growled as he finished untying the rope.
"The window there," Jack mumbled, nodding his head upward towards a window just big enough for each of them to pass through separately. "'ey'll 'ave guards at the door."
The pirate's stepfather nodded as he looked upward toward it. "Can you make it that far?"
"I can make it," Jack managed, gritting his teeth as he stumbled towards the boxes that were lined under the window. He climbed and looked outside. "Clear."
---------------------
Richard looked back once more as the rounded the corner. He was sure he'd see Douglass coming after them, pistol in hand to shoot them, but he did not. He had Jack's arm around his shoulders – much to the pirate's protest, but he could do little about it – and they were making their way down the alley as best they could. The elder man shifted his grip around his stepson's waist to get a better hold on him and he felt Jack tense. "What?"
Jack didn't respond as Richard set him down carefully, examining what appeared to be a knife wound in his side, gashed along his ribs. "Your mother always handled blood better than I did," he mumbled.
"You caused enough to be able to 'andle it," Jack mumbled, only half coherent.
Richard glared. "I'm helping you escape, what more do you want? I can't change the past."
"But would you if ye could?" Jack questioned, eyes meeting Richard's with a strange intensity.
"I don't know," the other answered as he reached his hands back to untie the pirate's bandana. Jack pulled away suddenly. "Stop that. It's not going to hurt you to take it off and it might help stop the bleeding." When the pirate had stilled he finally worked the bandana off. He tensed when he saw the edge of a scar peeking out from the black hair that fell in his face. He started to brush the younger man's hair aside when Jack's hand grasped his wrist.
"Leave it. You put it there, you should 'ave known," the pirate rasped. "Let's jus' get back to Will's place."
Richard nodded slowly as he handed Jack the bandana to press against the nasty looking wound and pulled him back up again, starting the slow trip to the Turners' home.
---------------------
A/N: I probably won't be writing tomorrow. I've got a funeral to go to. The only other painter in my family besides me has recently passed away. Really sad. Well, he's in a better place, so I guess that's some help, hmm? Anyway, hope you enjoyed! :)
Kungfuchick: He also wants to get a bunch of friends together to come to my door in white coats and haul me away. We have an interesting relationship. I'm glad you like my villains! That makes me happy! I've never fancied myself a very good villain creator. That's always been Anna Maxwell's job, but since we kinda split ways a while back, I'm all on me onsies for it. So I'm glad you approve!
JackFan2: See, it's weird for me to get headaches. I never get the. Must mean I'm having a really bad allergy attack. It hasn't been bothering me quite as bad as my jaw though, b/c it's been locking up and hurting since I fell on an ice rink a while back. Oh well, at least it wasn't my head I bashed in ::grins:: I did that to my friend Anna Maxwell once. We went ice skating and I fell, smacking my head (she said it literally echoed through the rink) and got up laughing. She thought I'd knocked something loose. It was great. Ah yes, Richard as a good guy. I'm trying to redeem him just a tiny bit. Not much, but just a little. It'll make for an interesting twist in his and Jack's relationship. ::dies laughing:: You named them! That's great! I guess I kinda named one of mine. I've got a long running joke that there's a girl in my head named Hikari and she has pink hair. She's my reason for loving all things Japanese. ::grins:: Maybe I should get more in touch with the other voices and see if they have names as well. I've actually painted a portrait of Hikari, though. She's my favorite voice :) I did your Jack-torture chappy! Hope you liked it!!
LaVieSansAmour: I think it was FF.net that was down. I had to wait until this morning to post that last chapter. It's just being its normal, cranky self. Better not say that too loud or it'll never work for me, eh? :) Don't worry, Ana doesn't strike me as a nervous breakdown type of person. I save that for my Secret Window fics ::grins:: speaking of which, we're back to that precognitive tendencies again with that fic, eh? Thinking it before reading it. ::giggles:: Ah, glad you liked that one! Only thing about oneshots that I hate is that I can't really respond to people as well...
::looks back:: tha's a long chappy......
"Father's pulled as many strings as he is legally able to pull," Elizabeth said as she set a tea tray down on the table before Richard and Marie.
Marie took it with a smile on her face. "And we certainly can ask no more, I'm sure."
"This will certainly be difficult," Richard said as he took a sip from the tea cup. "Ana Maria is not a citizen of England, and therefore will be looked down upon."
"But the truce tha' I signed with Norrington 'as to count for somethin'," Jack pointed out.
"While it was quiet and only pertaining to Port Royal, that truce caused Commodore Norrington no trouble, but if it gets back to England that he is making deals with pirates...."
"What if we were to break her out of jail?" Will asked as he came to stand next to Jack. "James could have his men leave their post for something or the other..."
"It would be best if we could do this legally," Norrington said from the doorway. "Excuse my intrusion, everyone, but the trial is to begin shortly." He turned a careful eye on the pirate captain. "I'd suggest you get the Black Pearl ready to sail, Captain. If they win on Ana Maria's trial, I have a strong feeling they might come after you next."
"I won't leave 'er to these people."
"And you won't break her out of the jail either, because that goes against our agreement."
"If ye want to take that rout, Commodore, ye've already broken the agreement."
"Please stop the bickering!" Marie said as she stood. "Let us go to the court house and see what it is we might do."
------------------
Over the next few days Jack stopped off to let Mr. Gibbs know what was happening that day, and tell him that if he should hear rumors of any sort of trouble, he was to sail to Tortuga. He and Ana could catch up later if need be. Gibbs had grudgingly agreed as his captain had started off towards the courthouse.
"I'm afraid you can't enter."
If he had not been annoyed at that moment – Norrington had been with him the day before and he'd gotten in, but when he was alone the redcoats would never let him in - Jack might have chuckled at Mullroy who stood next to his ever present partner-in-comedy Murtogg. The pirate had seen them over the last few years since the incident in which he met all of his good friends at Port Royal, and they had never ceased to entertain him as he sent their minds spinning trying to figure out one thing and then another. He pictured them sometimes as a dog chasing its tail and never figuring out why he couldn't catch it. Well, maybe they were a little brighter, but he could only give them so much credit.
"C'mon, lads," Jack answered with a forced grin to ease tension. "I've got to go in there to make sure they give me first mate a proper trial."
"You're not goin' anywhere, Mr. Sparrow."
"Captain, and yes I am."
"I'm afraid your not," a new voice said from behind. Everyone turned eyes on Emily Pratt who stood with her fan gently swaying back and forth, banishing the heat. "I've got a proposition for you, Captain Sparrow."
"An' wha' would tha' be, missy?"
"Walk with me for a moment, won't you? I've got quite an idea."
Jack frowned slightly, running over the possibilities in his mind. He wasn't getting by the two goofballs at that particular moment, so he decided to follow the obnoxious brat before him. "Wha' can I do for ye, missy, besides the overwhelming desire I've got to put ye out of the rest of our misery?"
Emily smiled up at Jack, acting as if she had heard nothing. "An exchange, Captain. You for her."
The pirate captain looked at her intently. "I don't trust ye, lass, for more than obvious reasons."
She pouted. "I would much rather have you, Jack," she purred as she advanced toward him, running a thin finger along his jaw line. "I followed you here, you know? I've known she was a part of your crew since she joined. I've followed your movements since you left me that day. Don't think that I haven't, Jack Sparrow. I wanted my stories, you see. I had to have them."
"An' if ye take Ana or me then you'll 'ave no stories at all, Miss Pratt."
She gave the captain an evil little smile. "I'll make sure I have my stories. I do like the ones where you are injured in them, Jack. Is that horrible?"
"Yes."
Emily pouted again, but the pout faded as two men came up behind Jack and grabbed him by his arms. He thrashed around, hollering as best he could until they gagged him. "Sorry, Jack," she whispered in his ear. "I want you more than she does. That I can guarantee. I'm willing to do so much. Think about it, she wasn't willing to fight to be with you, even if you were willing to fight for her." She turned her eyes back to the men. "Take him away, I'll be along shortly after Douglass is out of the trial for the day."
"Aye, miss."
"Have fun, boys."
---------------------
"Richard!"
Richard Bruckworth looked back to see Douglass walking towards him. "Yes? I'm in a bit of a hurry, Douglass."
"I know you are, ol' friend, but I need a moment of your time more than that scallywag stepson of yours does." Douglass grinned as Richard paled noticeably. "Really, Richard, did you think I didn't know? Emily follows the pirate's stories well enough to write a novel on him. Someone has to listen to her, even if not entirely." He slung an arm around the blue-eyed man's shoulder.
"What do you want, Douglass?" Richard asked finally.
"I want you off the jury. I didn't want to make a scene up until now. Apparently you haven't had the best relationship with the lad during his life, eh? I expected that to shine through in the way you conducted yourself in there."
"I have no leanings either way, Douglass."
"You say that to my face, but what do you say to the Turners' faces, I wonder. Or to Governor Swann or Commodore Norrington? It makes me wonder what great things your stepson has done to gain such respect – even though he is a pirate – from the good people of Port Royal. I will not be out done. I'll see him in chains or dead while we have Ana Maria back in our grasp."
Richard shrugged the other man's arm off his shoulders. "I agree with Jack Sparrow on very few things, Douglass, but one of those very few things is how people are people and are not to be owned."
"Really?" Douglass asked, a sly grin spreading across his face. "Did you think that when you abused him as a child?"
Richard felt his face heat up with rage. "You have no idea what you're talking about, Douglass Pratt," he growled.
"Douglass!!!" The two men turned to see Emily running to them. "I've got him, Brother!" she said sweetly.
"Who?" Richard demanded.
"None of your concern," Douglass answered as he turned on his heal to follow his sister. "Good day, Mr. Bruckworth."
--------------------------
Jack came too very slowly and realized at length that he was propped up against a wall in the room they'd taken him to. It hurt to move. It hurt to breathe. He shook his head slowly. What was he thinking, it hurt if he breathed or if he didn't. A small groan escaped his lips.
"Hello, Sparrow," Douglass Pratt's voice entered his ears.
The pirate captain looked slowly up at the man towering over him, his dark brown eyes focusing even slower. When he said nothing in reply he received a sharp blow to the side of his face, which sent his jerking to the opposite side.
"Don't just sit there," Douglass laughed. "Say something! I thought Jack Sparrow of the Black Pearl always had a witty comeback, eh? Guess not now." He grabbed Jack by the chin, forcing him to look up. "You know, I've got quite a bit on you. I've nearly got your girl – I will after I tell the judge about Richard being your stepfather – and I've got you here. Your boat will leave when she hears that both of you are lost and you'll be left with nothing."
Jack glared up at the man above him, but said nothing.
"What did I say?" Douglass growled. "Don't just sit there! Say something!" His fist connected hard with Jack's ribcage and the pirate's dark eyes widened in pain and a small sound of pain escaped his lips. His captor laughed.
Jack looked up at him with a small, tight grin on his face. "Ye wan' me to say somethin', eh?" Douglass nodded. "Go to 'ell," the pirate growled as he jerked forward against the chains that held him back. "You an' tha' poor excuse for a sister ye've got! Both of ye deserve it."
Douglass stood and slammed his fist against Jack's jaw once more before turning and leaving, Emily following quickly behind. Jack was left in silence, his own breathing the only sound. His eyes turned upward when he realized that his breathing wasn't the only sound after all. "Richard..."
-------------------------
(a/n: just a note here, this is a change in perspective, so I'm jumping back just a couple minutes. Just to let ye know so ye don' get confused :) )
Richard watched as Douglass Pratt's fist met the pirate's already battered ribcage. The Englishman shuddered. He'd done a lot to the boy over the years, he was man enough to admit that now that he looked back on it. He wasn't sorry for many of those things, because he felt as if Jack had deserved them, but no one deserved this. Marie had taught him that.
Too bad Marie didn't teach you that before you helped steel her happiness, his conscious whispered to him.
The voice was right. Richard knew how much Jack Sparrow looked like his long dead father, but never more than right now how Jonathan Sparrow had looked the day he died.
Richard held a piece of cloth over his nose as he descended the rock stairs. It was rank down there. He realized in horror why when he saw the first prisoner in the first cell. He hurried the guard along and they finally found the former pirate captain Jonathan Sparrow. The man was sitting with his back to the wall, hat pulled over his eyes, and apparently asleep.
"Excuse me for a moment," Richard said as he hinted to the guard to leave. He rattled the bars a bit. "Sparrow?"
Jonathan Sparrow reached one hand up to his hat carefully and pulled it away. The bandana that he wore often was no longer present on his head, but Richard was sure that he'd seen Marie's lad wearing it when they stepped off the boat from the Caribbean. He saw the pirate's brand that the bandana had hid.
"So yer the reason 'm 'ere, eh?" Jonathan's raspy voice drifted into the gentleman's ears.
Richard scrunched his nose up in disgust. The younger man was beaten and bloodied, he realized now. Two black eyes, obvious damage done to what had once been quite a handsome face. The former pirate captain stood slowly, unsteadily, and Richard noticed more damage had been done than just the younger man's face. He would die within the week or less from his injuries if not for the hanging that was set for later that morning. "Partially," he answered truthfully.
"Ah," Jonathan said slowly as he limped his way to the bars and leaned heavily against them. "You'll marry Marie then, eh? All legal and such."
"Indeed it will be. And it will be how it should have been before you fell into the picture."
Jonathan turned his two dark orbs to his wife's former betrothed. "'ere's more in the picture now, Richard," he said slowly. "'ere's a boy now."
"You mean your brat?"
"Marie an' I love 'im more 'n anythin', Richard. Ye can't do nothin' to 'im. If nothin' else, ye owe me tha' with all ye've done to me."
"I owe you nothing!" Richard hissed as he reached through the bars and took hold of a handful of Jonathan's thick black hair. "You're not able to tell me anything of what I have to do, pirate. You deserve everything you've taken and more than that."
"If I rot in hell, all the more will you."
Richard, in his fury, shoved the pirate back where he fell. "Your brat will be here, you know? He'll watch you hang. Marie's father will make sure of that."
Jonathan hadn't heard him. He lay on the floor of the cell, blood leaking from the gash on his head. Richard shook his head in disgust as he left to jail area and went up to the top.
Richard came back to the present as he ducked deeper into his hiding spot and Douglass Pratt and the others left. He stood slowly and Jack's eyes caught his. "Richard," was all the pirate captain said.
"You look horrible," Richard responded as he moved closer. Jack flinched away involuntarily. "I'm trying to help you, you daft fool."
"Why?"
Because you look like the ghost of my past back to haunt me. "Because you're Marie's son. It would make her cry to see you like this."
Jack shifted his position, trying to make it easier for Richard to get to the ropes. "You might get yerself 'anged for this."
"Not with the governor on my side."
"But 'e's on my side too an' tha's not 'elped one bloody thing, now 'as it?"
"Just shut your mouth before they hear you," Richard growled as he finished untying the rope.
"The window there," Jack mumbled, nodding his head upward towards a window just big enough for each of them to pass through separately. "'ey'll 'ave guards at the door."
The pirate's stepfather nodded as he looked upward toward it. "Can you make it that far?"
"I can make it," Jack managed, gritting his teeth as he stumbled towards the boxes that were lined under the window. He climbed and looked outside. "Clear."
---------------------
Richard looked back once more as the rounded the corner. He was sure he'd see Douglass coming after them, pistol in hand to shoot them, but he did not. He had Jack's arm around his shoulders – much to the pirate's protest, but he could do little about it – and they were making their way down the alley as best they could. The elder man shifted his grip around his stepson's waist to get a better hold on him and he felt Jack tense. "What?"
Jack didn't respond as Richard set him down carefully, examining what appeared to be a knife wound in his side, gashed along his ribs. "Your mother always handled blood better than I did," he mumbled.
"You caused enough to be able to 'andle it," Jack mumbled, only half coherent.
Richard glared. "I'm helping you escape, what more do you want? I can't change the past."
"But would you if ye could?" Jack questioned, eyes meeting Richard's with a strange intensity.
"I don't know," the other answered as he reached his hands back to untie the pirate's bandana. Jack pulled away suddenly. "Stop that. It's not going to hurt you to take it off and it might help stop the bleeding." When the pirate had stilled he finally worked the bandana off. He tensed when he saw the edge of a scar peeking out from the black hair that fell in his face. He started to brush the younger man's hair aside when Jack's hand grasped his wrist.
"Leave it. You put it there, you should 'ave known," the pirate rasped. "Let's jus' get back to Will's place."
Richard nodded slowly as he handed Jack the bandana to press against the nasty looking wound and pulled him back up again, starting the slow trip to the Turners' home.
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A/N: I probably won't be writing tomorrow. I've got a funeral to go to. The only other painter in my family besides me has recently passed away. Really sad. Well, he's in a better place, so I guess that's some help, hmm? Anyway, hope you enjoyed! :)
Kungfuchick: He also wants to get a bunch of friends together to come to my door in white coats and haul me away. We have an interesting relationship. I'm glad you like my villains! That makes me happy! I've never fancied myself a very good villain creator. That's always been Anna Maxwell's job, but since we kinda split ways a while back, I'm all on me onsies for it. So I'm glad you approve!
JackFan2: See, it's weird for me to get headaches. I never get the. Must mean I'm having a really bad allergy attack. It hasn't been bothering me quite as bad as my jaw though, b/c it's been locking up and hurting since I fell on an ice rink a while back. Oh well, at least it wasn't my head I bashed in ::grins:: I did that to my friend Anna Maxwell once. We went ice skating and I fell, smacking my head (she said it literally echoed through the rink) and got up laughing. She thought I'd knocked something loose. It was great. Ah yes, Richard as a good guy. I'm trying to redeem him just a tiny bit. Not much, but just a little. It'll make for an interesting twist in his and Jack's relationship. ::dies laughing:: You named them! That's great! I guess I kinda named one of mine. I've got a long running joke that there's a girl in my head named Hikari and she has pink hair. She's my reason for loving all things Japanese. ::grins:: Maybe I should get more in touch with the other voices and see if they have names as well. I've actually painted a portrait of Hikari, though. She's my favorite voice :) I did your Jack-torture chappy! Hope you liked it!!
LaVieSansAmour: I think it was FF.net that was down. I had to wait until this morning to post that last chapter. It's just being its normal, cranky self. Better not say that too loud or it'll never work for me, eh? :) Don't worry, Ana doesn't strike me as a nervous breakdown type of person. I save that for my Secret Window fics ::grins:: speaking of which, we're back to that precognitive tendencies again with that fic, eh? Thinking it before reading it. ::giggles:: Ah, glad you liked that one! Only thing about oneshots that I hate is that I can't really respond to people as well...
::looks back:: tha's a long chappy......