D'oh! Continuity error! Bootstrap's ship is called 'The Spanish Rose'. It
was originally called 'El Mariachi' but then I thought that would be too
hokey what with Lorenzo and all! But hey... his aliveness is explained in
this chapter too!
Disclaimer: I don't own PotC. CJS is back in my cupboard of love. He and Sands are arguing over who stole 'savvy' off who. (Technically, though released first, CJS stole it off Sands. Coz OUATIM was made first.)
Special mention for Austin B – There now you have been :D
On with the tale...which dead men don't tell...ah gotta love Cotton's parrot...he could have his own spin off! Parrot Of The Caribbean! V shut up...as I was saying on with the tale...
******
Chapter 9
"She's waking up!"
"Should we knock her out again?"
"No! We shouldn't."
"It could be fun!"
"I don't think my father would be very appreciative."
Meg could hear voices, which was a good sign. It confirmed her theory that she was still alive, as did the pounding pain in the back of her head. She cautiously opened her eyes, half-expecting to be back at home having fallen asleep during 'Pirates'. As her eyes adjusted to the dim light, it was clear she was still in the days of yore although she definitely wasn't on the 'Pearl'.
The room she was in was completely bare apart from the cot she was laid on and a small stool upon which was sat...
"Will?" Meg said in a small voice.
Will looked at the guy stood behind him then back at Meg, his face full of confusion: "Have we met before?"
"Ah, no."
Will still looked confused.
"Long story." Meg waved it off.
"Should we inform the Captain?" The guy behind Will asked in a strong Spanish accent.
"No." Will replied not taking his eyes off Meg, "Julio, leave us."
Julio left Will and Meg alone.
"Where am I?" Meg asked.
"You're on board my father's ship: 'The Spanish Rose'" Will explained.
"Whoa, your father? Bootstrap Bill?" Meg was confused, "I thought he died when Barbossa and his crew 'disposed' of him."
Will shook his head: "No. He managed to escape."
"Riiiight, how exactly? I mean he was at the bottom of the ocean with a cannon tied to his boots!" Meg said, "Breathing must have been an issue!"
Will looked at Meg curiously, "How do you know all this?"
Meg sighed: "Long story, you don't want to know, trust me!"
Will kept his eyes fixed on Meg as if pressing her for information. She rolled her eyes.
"Okay fine, but don't say I didn't warn you!"
She began to relay her story to Will, who listened wide-eyed with awe: "And that's how I know."
"So you're from the future?" Will asked.
"I'm from the future." Meg repeated.
"And you're a 'friend' of Jack's?"
"I'm not one of his whores if that's what you mean!" Meg insisted.
Will didn't look too convinced: "No, not at all."
Meg picked up on his scepticism: "I'm not, I swear!"
Will put his hands up by way of apology: "Sorry."
"So you should be!" Meg said, "Anyway, you were telling me how your dad managed to stay alive."
Will smiled. He seemed proud of his father's achievements: "Well, when Barbossa and his crew threw him overboard, he was still cursed. So even though he was under the water for a long time he couldn't die."
Meg nodded: "I see."
"So he eventually managed to free himself and swim to the surface. Then when the curse was lifted he came to find me." Will explained.
"Aw bless." Meg said, "Oh God I sound like Pippa!"
"What did you say?" Will asked, his pleasant demeanour replaced by an eager curiousness.
"Oh God I sound like...oh." Meg replied.
"You know Pippa?" Will asked, eagerly.
"I know a Pippa." Meg admitted, "She mentioned you."
"Did she?" Will asked, "What did she say?"
"Just that she knew you." Meg replied. It was pretty much the truth. Pippa hadn't exactly been the biggest sharer in the world when it came to her and Will, "What happened between you two?"
"Um, nothing." Will said, nervously, "I should go and inform my father that you've woken up."
"Dammit Will tell me what happened!" Meg snapped.
Will looked at her in shock.
"Sorry, its just Pippa kept doing this to me. Everytime she was about to tell me what happened with you two she got interrupted and I'm getting a little frustrated, 'kay?"
Will sighed: "Okay, I'll tell you."
"Good." Meg sat up on the cot and turned to Will urging him to begin.
"Okay...it all started about 6 months ago..."
Meg sat and listened intently to Will's story about him and Pippa. Will had been making a sword for the now Captain Gillette (Meg couldn't help but sneer at his name.) and Pippa had literally fallen on top of him, knocking him to the ground. She'd been at her cousins 5th birthday party and she was dressed as a pirate. Will had made the mistake of thinking she was a real pirate and challenged her to a duel in an attempt to keep her stalled until Gillette arrived to pick up his sword and could take her to the jail. Of course, Pippa wasn't a pirate and she couldn't sword-fight...plus her sword was only a wooden toy she'd cobbled together on the morning of the party. Will managed to slice it in half instantly with his real one.
While Will seemed to be enjoying telling the story in depth, Meg was hoping that he'd hurry up and get to the interesting part. Will finally stopped blabbering on about their first duel and began to tell Meg what happened next.
Gillette had turned up after Pippa had spent about an hour trying to inform Will that she wasn't a pirate whilst ducking under his continuous swipes with the sword. Pippa had been hauled away to the jail, still furiously protesting her innocence. Unfortunately no one paid any attention to her; they were convinced she was the infamous female pirate Mary O'Sullivan, daughter of Gilbert O'Sullivan. In the jail, she met up with the one and only Captain Jack Sparrow, who was due to be hung the next day...again. He and Pippa had got talking. (Of course Will wasn't there at this point, this is what Pippa had told him later.) Jack knew instantly that she wasn't Mary O'Sullivan. He'd met Mary and Pippa wasn't her. During their little chat, Pippa had been summoned to see Commodore Norrington. She'd been roughly escorted to the fort where Will, Elizabeth and Norrington were waiting for her. They had a proposition for her. She would be pardoned if she worked as a maid for Will and Elizabeth.
Pippa had jumped at the offer. She didn't particularly enjoy housework but anything had to be better than the gallows.
So she'd gone to work for Elizabeth and Will. She was treated more like a member of the family than a maid, being invited to all the parties that Elizabeth's father had thrown. She hardly ever worked either. She spent most of her time talking with Elizabeth.
Everything was all fine and dandy until one night at one of the Governor's parties when she overheard Norrington talking to Gillette about his intention to propose to Pippa. Pippa was disgusted. She had run up to Elizabeth's room and caught her, Will and Jack arguing. Will was explaining that the call of the sea was becoming too strong and that he was going away for a while with Jack. Elizabeth was understandably broken-hearted and she begged Will to change his mind as he climbed out of the window with Jack. She noticed Pippa skulking in the doorway and poured her heart out to her.
Pippa, desperate to get away from the Commodore, offered to go away with Will and make sure he didn't get up to anything. Elizabeth took a bit of convincing, after all once Will and Pippa had left, she had nobody to talk to, but Pippa finally talked her round.
So later that night Pippa, dressed in some of Will's old clothes, headed down to the docks and managed to stowaway on the Pearl. She went undiscovered for a while until one of the loots caused the cargo hold to be opened (A/N: I don't know if pirate ships have cargo holds but they do now!) and her to be spotted.
After explaining her story to Jack, he was ready to throw her off at the next port they reached but Will convinced him otherwise, knowing full well that Elizabeth would slaughter them both mercilessly if anything happened to Pippa. So Pippa stayed aboard, pulling her weight as one of the crew, working in the kitchen with Anamaria.
Will appeared not to know about Anamaria's death and Meg decided this wasn't the right time to tell him.
All this time Will and Pippa were finding themselves becoming closer and closer, and gradually falling for each other. The pair wouldn't act on their feelings because of Elizabeth but one night after a bloody battle, which caused injuries and deaths amongst a lot of the crew...
***FLASHBACK***
Pippa was laid on Will's chest, crying. She'd just seen her crewmates attacked by gold-hungry, bloodthirsty pirates. Suddenly the whole notion of being a pirate didn't seem so fun anymore. Having Will's strong but gentle arms around her was little consolation.
"Are you okay?" Will asked.
Pippa shook her head: "I don't like this. I want to go home."
"Me too. I miss Elizabeth."
Will's words hurt Pippa but in a way she'd accepted that nothing could happen between her and Will. She sighed.
"I want to go back to the future." Pippa said, sadly, "I want to see my family again, my brothers, my parents but then again I doubt they've even noticed I've gone."
"Of course they'll have noticed." Will said, reassuringly, "I bet they're at home now wondering why it's so quiet."
Pippa gently batted Will with a free arm. Will smiled.
"How does Jack handle this? All the bloodshed, the violence, the deaths?" Pippa asked.
"By turning to his merry mistress." Will replied.
Pippa looked at him in confusion: "Anamaria?"
"Rum." Will explained.
"Ah." Pippa said, "Well Jack has his rum, you have Elizabeth and I have...I have..."
"You have me." Will said, "Elizabeth's father's probably sold her off to Norrington or one of the other officers by now."
"I doubt that. He knows how much you love her." Pippa said.
"Loved her." Will corrected Pippa.
"Huh?"
"I loved Elizabeth but since I've been out here I realize that she isn't right for me and that there is in fact somebody else for me." Will explained.
"Gibbs?"
Will laughed before capturing Pippa in a deep kiss. (A/N: I'm not good with kiss scenes! Except the From Hell one...*thud*). Pippa could feel Will's arms snaking securely around her waist, pulling her closer to him. The door to the cabin swung open causing Pippa and Will to break apart and turn to face the intruder.
"Whoa, sorry!" Jack said, "Didn't realize ye were that close. I'll leave ye to it."
***END OF FLASHBACK***
Will sighed as he thought back wistfully on this moment, He paused briefly before continuing with the story.
After that moment that night, Will had left Pippa alone in the cabin. Little did he realize that that would be the time he would see Pippa awake.
The 'Pearl' had gotten away from the other ship with many casualties and a few fatalities. The other pirates had got off worse. Pretty much blown all over the Caribbean seas. Unfortunately the destruction of the other ship had made them easier for the Navy to find.
According to Will, Elizabeth had waited three days before informing the Commodore that Pippa and Will had gone missing. Norrington, who was still pissed over the fact that Captain Jack Sparrow had escaped...again, had a pretty good idea of what was going on.
So he set sail, heading first for Tortuga where he was informed of where Jack had gone. Everywhere he went Jack was always one step ahead of him. So he decided to skip a step and sure enough he found 'The Black Pearl'.
Will was the first to notice 'The Interceptor II' coming towards the 'Pearl' and he'd known exactly what was going to happen when it reached them. Norrington and his men would waste no time in slaughtering all the pirates in order to find him and Pippa. Will didn't want Pippa to have to go through that again but he also didn't want Pippa to be stuck with Norrington for the rest of her life. She didn't belong in the time period and she certainly didn't belong with Norrington. He had to be cruel to be kind. He spoke to Jack and made him promise to keep Pippa safe. Jack, who didn't like her that much, agreed. Norrington and his men boarded the ship, primed for a fight. Will bravely stepped forward and told the Commodore something he hoped he never had to repeat. He told him that Pippa was dead. He also informed him that he was ready to go back to Port Royal and face justice for his actions. Will was taken aboard the Navy vessel and taken back to Port Royal, where he kept living a lie with Elizabeth pretending that Pippa had been just a friend and not the most amazing thing that had ever happened to him.
"And you've not seen her since?" Meg asked.
"It was early morning when I left. Pippa was asleep." Will explained.
"So how come you're back out here? On the sea?" Meg asked.
"About a month after I arrived back in Port Royal, I heard that a Spanish man had been asking after me. I didn't believe the rumours until one day the man turned up on my doorstep and introduced himself as my father."
"And you believed him?" Meg asked.
"Not at first but in time he managed to convince me." Will admitted.
Meg didn't press the matter any further.
"I shall go and inform him that you are awake." Will said.
Meg nodded as Will left. She didn't think he needed to know that she didn't intend to be awake for very long. She lied down on the cot and drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
______________________________________________
"How is it that ye're not dead? Ye were at the bottom of the ocean for God knows how long!"
Bootstrap smiled at his old friend. After he and Jack had exchanged joyful 'Ye're alives', they had begun to catch up on all the adventures they'd missed whilst they'd been apart.
"Jack, you know me." Bootstrap began, "I'm not one for sharing secrets."
"Aye, like the fact ye have a son. Ye kept that one well hidden." Jack said, perching on the table in front of his old friend.
"I had my reasons for that." Bootstrap insisted, "I don't think you or the crew would have taken too kindly to him."
"William, we may have been bloodthirsty pirates but we wouldn'ta harmed yer son." Jack reassured him.
"You, maybe not, in fact I was going to tell you before they stranded you on that island." Bootstrap explained, "Sally had been writing to me. She wasn't in the best of health and she wanted him to have somewhere safe to go when she passed away."
"And she thought that having the lad on a pirate ship would be safe?" Jack asked in disbelief.
"She was still under the impression that I was a good merchant sailor." Bootstrap replied with a smile.
Jack looked at his friend. He didn't look like a pirate. He was clean, tidy and well groomed. When he spoke he was well spoken with a thick Spanish accent. He looked more like a gentleman than a pirate. Jack could see how Sally hadn't seen through him.
"I was planning to get off the ship and go to her but then you were mutinied and we got cursed and I was at the bottom of the ocean and one thing happened after another and last I heard she'd passed away and my son was heading out to the Caribbean looking for me. "So I headed out to find him. I looked all over the Caribbean until I found him in Port Royal. It took some convincing to make him believe I was who I said I was but eventually I got him to trust me. "He introduced me to his fiancée, Elizabeth. Nice girl, a little stuck up though. He didn't seem too happy with her though. He told me there was somebody else and that she was out on the ocean..."
"Aye, Pippa." Jack cut in.
"You know her?" Bootstrap asked.
"I've been graced with her presence for a few months now." Jack said, "She's a nice lass. Little in-yer-face but overall a nice lass."
"Aw Jack, I knew you liked her really." Will said, letting himself into the room.
"Will! Great ta see ye." Jack said jumping off the table.
"You two, Jack. It's been a while." Will said.
"Aye, that is has." Jack replied.
Will smiled before turning to his father: "The girl's woken up."
Jack breathed a deep sigh of relief knowing Will meant Meg. Bootstrap looked at him.
"I'll be along in a moment. Thank you Will." Bootstrap said, not taking his eyes off Jack. He waved Will away.
Will obediently left.
"Who is this girl?" Bootstrap asked.
Jack snapped back to reality: "What?"
"This girl. The one Lorenzo and Julio captured. Who is she?"
"She's just a girl I met in Tortuga. She was in trouble. I saved her life." Jack said, half-truthfully.
"So why was she on your ship?"
"I couldn'ta left her in Tortuga. She wouldn'ta lasted the night."
"So you took her on board the Pearl?" Bootstrap didn't seem to believe Jack.
"I didn't want her to get hurt!" Jack insisted, "She means nothing to me."
As soon as the words left Jack's mouth he regretted them. Meg did mean something to him. She meant everything to him yet he'd just gone and denied his feelings for her to his oldest friend.
'Maybe I'm not that serious about her' Jack thought.
"So you don't mind if I..." Bootstrap said, trailing off, "I mean, she's a very attractive girl."
'Then again...', Jack thought as he imagined his pal all over Meg. His Meg.
"She's not in to that kind of thing. She's a nun...actually." Jack lied.
'Why can't I tell him the truth?', Jack asked himself.
"A nun? Oh well, I always did like a challenge."
'Tell him ye love her'
"A lesbian nun." Jack added.
'Lesbian nun? She's going to love that'
"Well maybe I could get one of my girls involved and bring her round."
'The man won't give up!'
"What do you think, Jack?" Bootstrap asked.
Jack looked nervous: "No...she...uh...I..."
"You what?" Bootstrap asked.
Jack opened his mouth to reply but no sound came out.
Bootstrap laughed, "It's okay, Jack. I understand."
"Ye do?"
"Aye, you're in love with this girl." Bootstrap said, hitting the nail right on the head.
Jack froze again.
"I take it she doesn't know." Bootstrap said, upon seeing Jack's reaction.
Jack shook his head: "I can't tell her! I can't get the words out! I've said it thousands of times before but now I can't say it!"
"Have you ever meant it before?" Bootstrap asked.
Jack thought back. After a pause, he shook his head again: "That'll be why I can't say it."
Bootstrap nodded and got up from behind his table. He walked to the door: "I'm going to check on her. Are you coming?"
Jack nodded: "Aye."
The pair walked down the corridor to Meg's room. Bootstrap opened the door and Jack walked in. They saw Meg's sleeping form on the cot.
Bootstrap rolled his eyes: "WILL! WE'VE HAD THIS TALK BEFORE. CLOSED EYES, ASLEEP OR UNCONCIOUS!"
He headed above deck to find his son and shout some more.
Jack smiled as he looked back at Meg's sleeping form. He walked over to her and sat on the chair by her.
"Ye look like an angel, luv." Jack said, truthfully. He brushed the hair away from Meg's face, "I love ye. I only wish I could tell ye when ye were awake."
He got up and headed out of the room. He walked out and shut the door quietly.
A small smile creeped across Meg's face...
******
LOOKIT! FINISHED CHAPTER!!! YAY! *does yay-I-did-it dance*
Right a few things...
1. There was no Kate and no Norry in, just coz it didn't really fit with the chapter but rest assured they will be in the next one! 2. Bootstrap doesn't sound very Spanish, does he? Oh well get over it! 3. I swear it will not take me as long to get the next chapter up! 4. YAY! SECRET WINDOW ON FRIDAY! AND PLATOON TOMORROW (Tuesday)! AND SLEEPY HOLLOW ON SUNDAY (Which I already have but still!) 5. R&R, You lovely people you!
Disclaimer: I don't own PotC. CJS is back in my cupboard of love. He and Sands are arguing over who stole 'savvy' off who. (Technically, though released first, CJS stole it off Sands. Coz OUATIM was made first.)
Special mention for Austin B – There now you have been :D
On with the tale...which dead men don't tell...ah gotta love Cotton's parrot...he could have his own spin off! Parrot Of The Caribbean! V shut up...as I was saying on with the tale...
******
Chapter 9
"She's waking up!"
"Should we knock her out again?"
"No! We shouldn't."
"It could be fun!"
"I don't think my father would be very appreciative."
Meg could hear voices, which was a good sign. It confirmed her theory that she was still alive, as did the pounding pain in the back of her head. She cautiously opened her eyes, half-expecting to be back at home having fallen asleep during 'Pirates'. As her eyes adjusted to the dim light, it was clear she was still in the days of yore although she definitely wasn't on the 'Pearl'.
The room she was in was completely bare apart from the cot she was laid on and a small stool upon which was sat...
"Will?" Meg said in a small voice.
Will looked at the guy stood behind him then back at Meg, his face full of confusion: "Have we met before?"
"Ah, no."
Will still looked confused.
"Long story." Meg waved it off.
"Should we inform the Captain?" The guy behind Will asked in a strong Spanish accent.
"No." Will replied not taking his eyes off Meg, "Julio, leave us."
Julio left Will and Meg alone.
"Where am I?" Meg asked.
"You're on board my father's ship: 'The Spanish Rose'" Will explained.
"Whoa, your father? Bootstrap Bill?" Meg was confused, "I thought he died when Barbossa and his crew 'disposed' of him."
Will shook his head: "No. He managed to escape."
"Riiiight, how exactly? I mean he was at the bottom of the ocean with a cannon tied to his boots!" Meg said, "Breathing must have been an issue!"
Will looked at Meg curiously, "How do you know all this?"
Meg sighed: "Long story, you don't want to know, trust me!"
Will kept his eyes fixed on Meg as if pressing her for information. She rolled her eyes.
"Okay fine, but don't say I didn't warn you!"
She began to relay her story to Will, who listened wide-eyed with awe: "And that's how I know."
"So you're from the future?" Will asked.
"I'm from the future." Meg repeated.
"And you're a 'friend' of Jack's?"
"I'm not one of his whores if that's what you mean!" Meg insisted.
Will didn't look too convinced: "No, not at all."
Meg picked up on his scepticism: "I'm not, I swear!"
Will put his hands up by way of apology: "Sorry."
"So you should be!" Meg said, "Anyway, you were telling me how your dad managed to stay alive."
Will smiled. He seemed proud of his father's achievements: "Well, when Barbossa and his crew threw him overboard, he was still cursed. So even though he was under the water for a long time he couldn't die."
Meg nodded: "I see."
"So he eventually managed to free himself and swim to the surface. Then when the curse was lifted he came to find me." Will explained.
"Aw bless." Meg said, "Oh God I sound like Pippa!"
"What did you say?" Will asked, his pleasant demeanour replaced by an eager curiousness.
"Oh God I sound like...oh." Meg replied.
"You know Pippa?" Will asked, eagerly.
"I know a Pippa." Meg admitted, "She mentioned you."
"Did she?" Will asked, "What did she say?"
"Just that she knew you." Meg replied. It was pretty much the truth. Pippa hadn't exactly been the biggest sharer in the world when it came to her and Will, "What happened between you two?"
"Um, nothing." Will said, nervously, "I should go and inform my father that you've woken up."
"Dammit Will tell me what happened!" Meg snapped.
Will looked at her in shock.
"Sorry, its just Pippa kept doing this to me. Everytime she was about to tell me what happened with you two she got interrupted and I'm getting a little frustrated, 'kay?"
Will sighed: "Okay, I'll tell you."
"Good." Meg sat up on the cot and turned to Will urging him to begin.
"Okay...it all started about 6 months ago..."
Meg sat and listened intently to Will's story about him and Pippa. Will had been making a sword for the now Captain Gillette (Meg couldn't help but sneer at his name.) and Pippa had literally fallen on top of him, knocking him to the ground. She'd been at her cousins 5th birthday party and she was dressed as a pirate. Will had made the mistake of thinking she was a real pirate and challenged her to a duel in an attempt to keep her stalled until Gillette arrived to pick up his sword and could take her to the jail. Of course, Pippa wasn't a pirate and she couldn't sword-fight...plus her sword was only a wooden toy she'd cobbled together on the morning of the party. Will managed to slice it in half instantly with his real one.
While Will seemed to be enjoying telling the story in depth, Meg was hoping that he'd hurry up and get to the interesting part. Will finally stopped blabbering on about their first duel and began to tell Meg what happened next.
Gillette had turned up after Pippa had spent about an hour trying to inform Will that she wasn't a pirate whilst ducking under his continuous swipes with the sword. Pippa had been hauled away to the jail, still furiously protesting her innocence. Unfortunately no one paid any attention to her; they were convinced she was the infamous female pirate Mary O'Sullivan, daughter of Gilbert O'Sullivan. In the jail, she met up with the one and only Captain Jack Sparrow, who was due to be hung the next day...again. He and Pippa had got talking. (Of course Will wasn't there at this point, this is what Pippa had told him later.) Jack knew instantly that she wasn't Mary O'Sullivan. He'd met Mary and Pippa wasn't her. During their little chat, Pippa had been summoned to see Commodore Norrington. She'd been roughly escorted to the fort where Will, Elizabeth and Norrington were waiting for her. They had a proposition for her. She would be pardoned if she worked as a maid for Will and Elizabeth.
Pippa had jumped at the offer. She didn't particularly enjoy housework but anything had to be better than the gallows.
So she'd gone to work for Elizabeth and Will. She was treated more like a member of the family than a maid, being invited to all the parties that Elizabeth's father had thrown. She hardly ever worked either. She spent most of her time talking with Elizabeth.
Everything was all fine and dandy until one night at one of the Governor's parties when she overheard Norrington talking to Gillette about his intention to propose to Pippa. Pippa was disgusted. She had run up to Elizabeth's room and caught her, Will and Jack arguing. Will was explaining that the call of the sea was becoming too strong and that he was going away for a while with Jack. Elizabeth was understandably broken-hearted and she begged Will to change his mind as he climbed out of the window with Jack. She noticed Pippa skulking in the doorway and poured her heart out to her.
Pippa, desperate to get away from the Commodore, offered to go away with Will and make sure he didn't get up to anything. Elizabeth took a bit of convincing, after all once Will and Pippa had left, she had nobody to talk to, but Pippa finally talked her round.
So later that night Pippa, dressed in some of Will's old clothes, headed down to the docks and managed to stowaway on the Pearl. She went undiscovered for a while until one of the loots caused the cargo hold to be opened (A/N: I don't know if pirate ships have cargo holds but they do now!) and her to be spotted.
After explaining her story to Jack, he was ready to throw her off at the next port they reached but Will convinced him otherwise, knowing full well that Elizabeth would slaughter them both mercilessly if anything happened to Pippa. So Pippa stayed aboard, pulling her weight as one of the crew, working in the kitchen with Anamaria.
Will appeared not to know about Anamaria's death and Meg decided this wasn't the right time to tell him.
All this time Will and Pippa were finding themselves becoming closer and closer, and gradually falling for each other. The pair wouldn't act on their feelings because of Elizabeth but one night after a bloody battle, which caused injuries and deaths amongst a lot of the crew...
***FLASHBACK***
Pippa was laid on Will's chest, crying. She'd just seen her crewmates attacked by gold-hungry, bloodthirsty pirates. Suddenly the whole notion of being a pirate didn't seem so fun anymore. Having Will's strong but gentle arms around her was little consolation.
"Are you okay?" Will asked.
Pippa shook her head: "I don't like this. I want to go home."
"Me too. I miss Elizabeth."
Will's words hurt Pippa but in a way she'd accepted that nothing could happen between her and Will. She sighed.
"I want to go back to the future." Pippa said, sadly, "I want to see my family again, my brothers, my parents but then again I doubt they've even noticed I've gone."
"Of course they'll have noticed." Will said, reassuringly, "I bet they're at home now wondering why it's so quiet."
Pippa gently batted Will with a free arm. Will smiled.
"How does Jack handle this? All the bloodshed, the violence, the deaths?" Pippa asked.
"By turning to his merry mistress." Will replied.
Pippa looked at him in confusion: "Anamaria?"
"Rum." Will explained.
"Ah." Pippa said, "Well Jack has his rum, you have Elizabeth and I have...I have..."
"You have me." Will said, "Elizabeth's father's probably sold her off to Norrington or one of the other officers by now."
"I doubt that. He knows how much you love her." Pippa said.
"Loved her." Will corrected Pippa.
"Huh?"
"I loved Elizabeth but since I've been out here I realize that she isn't right for me and that there is in fact somebody else for me." Will explained.
"Gibbs?"
Will laughed before capturing Pippa in a deep kiss. (A/N: I'm not good with kiss scenes! Except the From Hell one...*thud*). Pippa could feel Will's arms snaking securely around her waist, pulling her closer to him. The door to the cabin swung open causing Pippa and Will to break apart and turn to face the intruder.
"Whoa, sorry!" Jack said, "Didn't realize ye were that close. I'll leave ye to it."
***END OF FLASHBACK***
Will sighed as he thought back wistfully on this moment, He paused briefly before continuing with the story.
After that moment that night, Will had left Pippa alone in the cabin. Little did he realize that that would be the time he would see Pippa awake.
The 'Pearl' had gotten away from the other ship with many casualties and a few fatalities. The other pirates had got off worse. Pretty much blown all over the Caribbean seas. Unfortunately the destruction of the other ship had made them easier for the Navy to find.
According to Will, Elizabeth had waited three days before informing the Commodore that Pippa and Will had gone missing. Norrington, who was still pissed over the fact that Captain Jack Sparrow had escaped...again, had a pretty good idea of what was going on.
So he set sail, heading first for Tortuga where he was informed of where Jack had gone. Everywhere he went Jack was always one step ahead of him. So he decided to skip a step and sure enough he found 'The Black Pearl'.
Will was the first to notice 'The Interceptor II' coming towards the 'Pearl' and he'd known exactly what was going to happen when it reached them. Norrington and his men would waste no time in slaughtering all the pirates in order to find him and Pippa. Will didn't want Pippa to have to go through that again but he also didn't want Pippa to be stuck with Norrington for the rest of her life. She didn't belong in the time period and she certainly didn't belong with Norrington. He had to be cruel to be kind. He spoke to Jack and made him promise to keep Pippa safe. Jack, who didn't like her that much, agreed. Norrington and his men boarded the ship, primed for a fight. Will bravely stepped forward and told the Commodore something he hoped he never had to repeat. He told him that Pippa was dead. He also informed him that he was ready to go back to Port Royal and face justice for his actions. Will was taken aboard the Navy vessel and taken back to Port Royal, where he kept living a lie with Elizabeth pretending that Pippa had been just a friend and not the most amazing thing that had ever happened to him.
"And you've not seen her since?" Meg asked.
"It was early morning when I left. Pippa was asleep." Will explained.
"So how come you're back out here? On the sea?" Meg asked.
"About a month after I arrived back in Port Royal, I heard that a Spanish man had been asking after me. I didn't believe the rumours until one day the man turned up on my doorstep and introduced himself as my father."
"And you believed him?" Meg asked.
"Not at first but in time he managed to convince me." Will admitted.
Meg didn't press the matter any further.
"I shall go and inform him that you are awake." Will said.
Meg nodded as Will left. She didn't think he needed to know that she didn't intend to be awake for very long. She lied down on the cot and drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
______________________________________________
"How is it that ye're not dead? Ye were at the bottom of the ocean for God knows how long!"
Bootstrap smiled at his old friend. After he and Jack had exchanged joyful 'Ye're alives', they had begun to catch up on all the adventures they'd missed whilst they'd been apart.
"Jack, you know me." Bootstrap began, "I'm not one for sharing secrets."
"Aye, like the fact ye have a son. Ye kept that one well hidden." Jack said, perching on the table in front of his old friend.
"I had my reasons for that." Bootstrap insisted, "I don't think you or the crew would have taken too kindly to him."
"William, we may have been bloodthirsty pirates but we wouldn'ta harmed yer son." Jack reassured him.
"You, maybe not, in fact I was going to tell you before they stranded you on that island." Bootstrap explained, "Sally had been writing to me. She wasn't in the best of health and she wanted him to have somewhere safe to go when she passed away."
"And she thought that having the lad on a pirate ship would be safe?" Jack asked in disbelief.
"She was still under the impression that I was a good merchant sailor." Bootstrap replied with a smile.
Jack looked at his friend. He didn't look like a pirate. He was clean, tidy and well groomed. When he spoke he was well spoken with a thick Spanish accent. He looked more like a gentleman than a pirate. Jack could see how Sally hadn't seen through him.
"I was planning to get off the ship and go to her but then you were mutinied and we got cursed and I was at the bottom of the ocean and one thing happened after another and last I heard she'd passed away and my son was heading out to the Caribbean looking for me. "So I headed out to find him. I looked all over the Caribbean until I found him in Port Royal. It took some convincing to make him believe I was who I said I was but eventually I got him to trust me. "He introduced me to his fiancée, Elizabeth. Nice girl, a little stuck up though. He didn't seem too happy with her though. He told me there was somebody else and that she was out on the ocean..."
"Aye, Pippa." Jack cut in.
"You know her?" Bootstrap asked.
"I've been graced with her presence for a few months now." Jack said, "She's a nice lass. Little in-yer-face but overall a nice lass."
"Aw Jack, I knew you liked her really." Will said, letting himself into the room.
"Will! Great ta see ye." Jack said jumping off the table.
"You two, Jack. It's been a while." Will said.
"Aye, that is has." Jack replied.
Will smiled before turning to his father: "The girl's woken up."
Jack breathed a deep sigh of relief knowing Will meant Meg. Bootstrap looked at him.
"I'll be along in a moment. Thank you Will." Bootstrap said, not taking his eyes off Jack. He waved Will away.
Will obediently left.
"Who is this girl?" Bootstrap asked.
Jack snapped back to reality: "What?"
"This girl. The one Lorenzo and Julio captured. Who is she?"
"She's just a girl I met in Tortuga. She was in trouble. I saved her life." Jack said, half-truthfully.
"So why was she on your ship?"
"I couldn'ta left her in Tortuga. She wouldn'ta lasted the night."
"So you took her on board the Pearl?" Bootstrap didn't seem to believe Jack.
"I didn't want her to get hurt!" Jack insisted, "She means nothing to me."
As soon as the words left Jack's mouth he regretted them. Meg did mean something to him. She meant everything to him yet he'd just gone and denied his feelings for her to his oldest friend.
'Maybe I'm not that serious about her' Jack thought.
"So you don't mind if I..." Bootstrap said, trailing off, "I mean, she's a very attractive girl."
'Then again...', Jack thought as he imagined his pal all over Meg. His Meg.
"She's not in to that kind of thing. She's a nun...actually." Jack lied.
'Why can't I tell him the truth?', Jack asked himself.
"A nun? Oh well, I always did like a challenge."
'Tell him ye love her'
"A lesbian nun." Jack added.
'Lesbian nun? She's going to love that'
"Well maybe I could get one of my girls involved and bring her round."
'The man won't give up!'
"What do you think, Jack?" Bootstrap asked.
Jack looked nervous: "No...she...uh...I..."
"You what?" Bootstrap asked.
Jack opened his mouth to reply but no sound came out.
Bootstrap laughed, "It's okay, Jack. I understand."
"Ye do?"
"Aye, you're in love with this girl." Bootstrap said, hitting the nail right on the head.
Jack froze again.
"I take it she doesn't know." Bootstrap said, upon seeing Jack's reaction.
Jack shook his head: "I can't tell her! I can't get the words out! I've said it thousands of times before but now I can't say it!"
"Have you ever meant it before?" Bootstrap asked.
Jack thought back. After a pause, he shook his head again: "That'll be why I can't say it."
Bootstrap nodded and got up from behind his table. He walked to the door: "I'm going to check on her. Are you coming?"
Jack nodded: "Aye."
The pair walked down the corridor to Meg's room. Bootstrap opened the door and Jack walked in. They saw Meg's sleeping form on the cot.
Bootstrap rolled his eyes: "WILL! WE'VE HAD THIS TALK BEFORE. CLOSED EYES, ASLEEP OR UNCONCIOUS!"
He headed above deck to find his son and shout some more.
Jack smiled as he looked back at Meg's sleeping form. He walked over to her and sat on the chair by her.
"Ye look like an angel, luv." Jack said, truthfully. He brushed the hair away from Meg's face, "I love ye. I only wish I could tell ye when ye were awake."
He got up and headed out of the room. He walked out and shut the door quietly.
A small smile creeped across Meg's face...
******
LOOKIT! FINISHED CHAPTER!!! YAY! *does yay-I-did-it dance*
Right a few things...
1. There was no Kate and no Norry in, just coz it didn't really fit with the chapter but rest assured they will be in the next one! 2. Bootstrap doesn't sound very Spanish, does he? Oh well get over it! 3. I swear it will not take me as long to get the next chapter up! 4. YAY! SECRET WINDOW ON FRIDAY! AND PLATOON TOMORROW (Tuesday)! AND SLEEPY HOLLOW ON SUNDAY (Which I already have but still!) 5. R&R, You lovely people you!