Eden Isle

By: L'Morgan Contact: Only Disney owns or can make money on anything to do with Pirates of the Caribbean. I-just-borrowing-to-play-with-for-personal-entertainment-and-giving-back. Can I be any clearer? NO profit being made here by or for me!

Action/Adventure Rated: T for violence and innuendo. Mild W/E pairing, J/A pairings.

CHAPTER FOUR – Assumptions

Jack mean while had managed to stagger slowly along the wall to the railing of the deck. Slowly, very slowly he had limped his way heavily along the rail, fighting back nausea and dizziness but stubbornly determined to get there. Several of the seamen noticed him and smiled – gave friendly greetings. He gave a suggestion to one, who grinned as if delighted at the personally given order.

Finally, Jack reached the steps up to the fantail. By now he was taking deliberately deep breaths, sternly willing his legs to stop shaking and commanding his eyes to at least try to focus. One by one he managed the steps, but each seemed much harder than the last.

Just before he got to the top a wave of dizziness assaulted him, stopping him in his tracks. Had it not been for his white knuckled grip on the railing, he would have fallen backwards and been helpless to stop himself. He put one hand to his eyes as he tried to stiffen his knees and just command the dizziness to cease.

Mr. Cotton stood at the wheel of the ship with the blue parrot on his shoulder, watching his captain slowly making his way along the railing. He had to admit that Jack Sparrow just was not a man to stay down or be beaten – not if he had any say in the matter!

He watched as the injured Captain tried to negotiate the stairs – a task that was quickly exhausting the man beyond his strength. When the man stood only one step away, wavering unsteadily, his hand to his eyes and breathing very roughly and quickly, Cotton truly felt compassion for one so driven.

He lashed the wheel and went down to the same step the pirate captain stood on and physically put the man's arm over his shoulder and his other arm around the man's waist. The pirate Captains' head came up and he blinked at the elderly man dizzily, then breathed a very soft 'Thank you kindly Mr. Cotton." in a breathless tone, swaying hard against him.

Carefully the elderly man helped him up the last step, then supported most of the captain's weight to take him the short distance to the wheel. Generally, there were not many times when he sorely regretted the loss of speech or found the parrot could not convey his thoughts, but this was certainly one of them. He could feel the pirate shaking and trembling and up close his pallor was becoming absolutely extreme now.

Gently he transferred one of the pirates hands to the spoke at the top of the great wheel, and the man automatically got hold of another, now leaning fully against the thing, his head lowered and eyes closed as he fought off the encroaching blackness and forced himself to take rapid, deep breaths.

Cotton kept one hand on the very shaky man until he felt the pirate able to get his feet under him. He winked at the man and gave him an encouraging smile, very subtly keeping his own hand on the side of the wheel to keep the ship on its course. The pirate captain gave him a very grateful look and weak hint of a smile, then struggled to stand more at the wheel without putting his entire weight upon it.

There the man turned his blurry gaze to the ocean and wiped at his drenched forehead with his sleeve as his breathing slowly seemed to ease. Thus, Cotton saw the advancing physician long before the pirate realized the man was coming his way with a very black look. Behind the captain's back Cotton waved for the man to slow down. The doctor frowned mildly, but slowed his approach. It wasn't until the physician as half way up the stairs that the pirate seemed to realize he was there at all.

The pirate gave him a black look and reached for his sword that wasn't there and muttered an oath under his breath as he trembled visibly. Quickly he returned his hand to the security of the wheel but still glared at the intrusion on the stairs. The doctor halted and studied him, then sighed shallowly.

"Jack, I need to talk to you," he said and the one gave him an angry glare, his hand shaking as he wiped his sleeve across his forehead and swayed despite his grip on the wheel.

"All I want to hear from you is if Commodore Norrington is still among the living. If he is, then fine, go tend to him before I manage to get my hands on a sword. If he's not, then prepare to be left off at the first town we come to. So which is it man, yeah or nay?" he growled sternly and the doctor frowned more.

"Yes he's still alive. Look Jack, its been almost 2 full days since you passed out in my sick bay area. Norrington hasn't told us exactly what happened, but he has said that you saved his life, that it wasn't you who shot him." He said and the pirate still gave him a stony look, his features now completely pale and trembling even when holding onto the wheel.

"Then go tend to the man and stay clear of me. I won't warn you again sir." He growled harshly in a very formal tone, his eyes widening when the doctor came quickly up the stairs none the less to take him by the arm.

"Mr. Cotton, get that crate over here for him please." He ordered. The man slid it up and the doctor sat the pirate down on it. At first the pirate captain looked as if he intended to leap up again, but then seemed to grow extremely dizzy as he swayed severely and put his good hand to his eyes with a soft groan of misery. His head was just splitting with pain and the world just would not stop spinning around him nor would his vision clear and god, he hurt all over – in an incredible amount. On top of that he felt exhausted beyond anything he had ever felt in his life, and now here was this pest of a doctor jabbering at him nonsensically about who knew what.

Just as his eyes were about to close and the darkness overwhelm him, he felt the doctor pull him backwards to lean against him where the man held him easily. Being to dizzy to fight, the pirate relaxed into him. There wasn't exactly a lot of choice in the matter after all!

"Jack, take a swig of this for me – its rum." The doctor told him as he brought a bottle to the pirate's lips. With a trembling hand the pirate tried to lift the bottle, and now the doctor helped him take a small sip. The pirate swallowed, then sagged against him with his eyes closed, one trembling hand staying on the bottle. He used his other hand to wipe his sleeve across his forehead and the physician pat him gently on the chest.

"Easy Jack, relax. I've got you." He said very gently and the one seemed to relax into him even more, his eyes still closed and features easing. The doctor looked down at the pale man resting against him.

"Are you still dizzy Jack?" the doctor asked and the one nodded.

"Oh god yes," he murmured weakly and the doctor felt at his pulse at his wrist and looked concerned as the man seemed to relax into limpness against him.

"Jack?" the doctor asked and the one frowned mildly with a very, very shallow sigh.

"I'm tryin' mate, I'm tryin'" the pirate murmured and the doctor gave him a deeply sympathetic look.

"Can I suggest you lay down for a little bit?" he asked and the one shook his head just a bit.

"No, goin' from sitting to standing is one thing, going from laying down to standing, that's 100 times harder." He said in a slurred voice and the doctor looked more concerned.

"How the devil did you manage to get up on your own is the part I can't figure out." He said as if thinking aloud, and the pirate frowned, then struggled to sit up on his own and gave the doctor a wary, distrustful, dark look. He staggered to his feet and then to the wheel, where he latched onto it. The pirate's head fell forward to rest on his wrist as he sagged against the wheel with his full weight.

Instantly Mr. Cotton was at his side, his hand on his captain's back as the man's eyes again closed and he gave a very shaky, emotional sigh.

"Go see to yer patient Doctor, while I'm still too dizzy to remember much, or to care." He said very softly and Dr. Cook frowned at him, then rose and came over to him anyway, touching the man's shoulder lightly.

"Hush now – I promised you I wouldn't interfere unless I really thought it was in your best interests that I do so – even if you didn't agree with me at the time." He told the pirate gently and got a soft sigh as the only reply.

He could feel the pirate captain trembling and his breathing growing more labored the longer he insisted on standing at the wheel. The man's eyes were already closed and from close up his pallor was alarming. Finally it got so the man was shaking so constantly that the doctor was afraid he would simply collapse right where he stood, or leaned rather.

It was when the man's features started to seem slack and his breathing shallow that the doctor decided enough was enough. He stepped close up, physically loosening the Captain's hands from the wheel. The one gave a shallow frown and murmur without opening his eyes even as the doctor turned the man to face him. Almost instantly the man's knees started to give way now that his support had been taken away. Easily the doctor caught him, the man's head falling forward to rest heavily on his shoulder. The pirate murmured softly and the doctor looked down at him as if amused.

"Oh hush, you can have me drawn and quartered later, when you're feeling up to it," he told him, and Cotton gave him an appreciative grin, shaking his head as if amused. Gently the doctor sat the man back on the crate nearby and took up the bottle of rum to pour a liberal amount into the man's mouth.

The pirate swallowed and abruptly choked, his head coming forward as he coughed and nearly gagged and sputtered heavily - but at least he was definitely more awake now!

"Wha' in Great Neptunes's Seven Seas…" he started angrily, then saw the doctor and now scowled at him even more blackly as his anger quickly edged towards fury. The doctor quickly sat down right beside him, easily within the man's reach as he took the bottle from him and considred it and then him. At least the man didn't up and try to storm off, he thought to himself.

"Jack, I'm sorry. I had no right to jump to the conclusion that you were the one that shot Norrington. Not really. I don't blame you for being furious really but you have to admit, you are a pirate – right? Almost every pirate I've ever heard of would either have run like hell or fight back like hell when a ship of the British Royal Navy pulled up and started firing at them. Its not like what I thought was illogical – I just forgot for a bit that you are NOT just any normal pirate. I can't exactly say I know any others beside you personally – but – for what its worth – I honestly am sorry. That wasn't fair of me at all." He told him simply.

He dared to look over to find the pirate definately frowning at him rather deeply still, seeming very stiff and not at all relaxed – but not nearly as furious as he had been on the verge of getting. The pirate cocked one eyebrow at him warily and the doctor sighed and shook his head slightly.

"I didn't really mean it when I said I would help them hunt you down. I might have wanted to at first – but geez – pirates and naval types – you mix those up together and somebody is definitely going to get hurt! Its just part of the package! I'd end up debating with myself why you would shoot him versus why he couldn't just leave you the hell alone and go chase those that don't have nearly your ethics or morals. How much did he contribute to his own fate by just not being able to leave you alone? But I doubt very much anyone could get me to help them actually hunt you down. You have more grey areas to you and what you do than any man I've ever known in my entire life. Its not an easy black and white I'm afraid." He said very earnestly, then took a large swig from the bottle and grimaced as he swallowed it.

He looked at the man beside him to find the one still giving him a very huffy and rather put-out look, but at least now not in a growing rage. The pirate looked from him to the bottle he held and back with an unhappy frown.

"First you try to drown me with rum, now you sit here drinkin' it all FOR me? If you don't hand that over I'm going to be a LOT more than just 'sorely vexed' here," the pirate growled at him. The doctor considered him, then the bottle, then half smiled and shook his head.

"Nah, considering you JUST swore you were going to have me drawn and quartered at dawn, I think I'll keep it. You can't say its like I didn't give you your fair share of it first!" he told him, then took another sip and now sighed as if relieved at the sensation of it going down. The pirate gave him a very petulant and grumpy look, eyeing him up and down. Finally he just leaned across and grabbed it from the doctor's hand very brusquely.

"Give me that thing – Its not like I specified WHICH dawn it would be, now is it? Could be any one of them – you provoke me enough," he growled as he claimed his prize and quickly removed the cork to take a long and healthy swallow, wincing some as it went down and the doctor seemed amused but trying hard not to show it. He looked over to find Mr. Cotton looking rather well pleased. The elderly sailor gave him a sly wink and half hidden thumbs up gesture.

The doctor smiled a little more as he watched his patient quickly down another ounce of the liquid. He knew the pirate had not eaten a thing in well over two days, which meant the rum was going to hit him like a proverbial ton of bricks – and fast.

And sure enough, it was less than an hour later when Gibbs and AnaMaria came by to find the pirate captain leaning heavily on both the shoulder of the doctor and of Mr Cotton, apparently having a serious discussion of some sort with the blue parrot, his words well slurred and his stance not at all steady, nor his gestures even. They both looked rather surprised and quickly frowned at the doctor, who made sure they could see that he was quite ready to catch the unsteady man at the first sign of faltering.

"No' look here ya feathered fiend, I'm the bloody captain of this ship, and it ain't rig' fer creatures such as yerself to constantly be tryin' t' bite me – ye hear? Wot' ye got agains' Ol' Jack anyhow, hun? I ne'r done anything t' hurt ye! Ye really are a prtty' thing – just a bit snippity fer a bird if ye ask me…" the pirate captain was telling the feathered creature, who cocked its head at him as if mystified by his tactic of approach.

One gesture was apparently just slow and broad enough for it to dart its head forward and grab at the pirate's hand. Jack yelped as he leapt back and into the good doctor, his hand tucked under the arm of his jacket as he swayed severely and scowled at the feathered beast.

"Hey – cut th' out! I'll make ye walk the plank I will!" the pirate objected with a strong slur. Gibbs chuckled softly as he came forward to where the pirate was being stood back up by the doctor.

"Jack – he would just fly off the plank and right back up to the top of the mizzen mast. He didn't mean no harm – he was just seeing what ye were made of." The grizzled quartermaster told him as he came right up and pulled the captain's hand out from under his arm. The one looked rather disgruntled as he let the older sailor see his hand, which was bleeding very mildly on the edge of his palm.

"S'not fair – I n'er did nothin' t' him" he complained softly and Gibbs smiled at him.

"Here, lets go get that cleaned up Captain, just take a few seconds," he said as he gently led him towards the stairs down, steadying his every step, not seeming to notice the doctor following closely. All the entire way Gibbs kept his arm around the pirate's shoulders, slowly and carefully escorting him back to his cabin and then inside where he sat the man on the edge of his bed.

Without his even bidding him to, the pirate captain laid down, his eyes already closed as he gave a deeply relieved sigh and seemed to finally relax. In just a few moments the quartermaster was back with an alcohol soaked pad that he used to wipe the minor, shallow wound on the man's hand. All ready it had quit bleeding. He considered the man who lay with his eyes closed already as he still wiped the one's hand none the less.

"Just rest Jack, I'll come get you if anything comes up that you need to know about…" he told him soothingly and the one tossed his head slightly with a minor frown but his eyes still closed.

"Repairs – we need to make the repairs… that man o' war isn't gone… she's gonna come af'er us soon as she can…" he said rather dreamily and Gibbs frowned mildly.

"Its been a few days now Jack - we haven't seen hide nor hair of any sail on even the furthest horizon." He told him and the one shook his head mildly without opening his eyes.

"Head for Swallows Cove – full sail. He's coming Gibbs, he's comin'…. Not gonna be too happy we took his illustrious prisioner from him. Shoulda aimed higher – coulda sunk the damned thing…" he said rather driftingly and Gibbs moved closer to pat him reassuringly.

"Shh now Captain. All right – If that's where you wanna go, that's where we'll be headin' right away. You just rest now." He said gently and the one seemed to fade instantly into silemce. Gibbs looked up to find the doctor frowning at him severely.

"What man'o war? What prisioner?" he asked and the quartermaster sighed and shook his head as he rose.

"That French Merchant ship we thought we found, turned out to be a Spanish man 'o war sailing under false colors and disguising her gun ports. Didn't show her true nature til we were right on top of her, the bloody cowards. Said they'd trade us Norrington for Jack. Said they could get more money from the bounty on him than the ransom they'd get for Norrington and his two men. Course we told 'em to go to hell. Jack coulda' sunk 'em easy with our cannon – but by then we knew they had Norrington and his men somewhere on the thing…. So it got to be really close quarters." He said and the doctor frowned more.

"Jack had the chance to turn and leave, or just sink this other ship, but he wouldn't – because by then he knew they had the Commodore on board?" he asked rather increduiously and Gibbs cocked his head, and then nodded.

"Aye, that about sums it up Doc." He said and the one gave him a very surprised look.

"So, rather than save his own ship, Jack turned and fought this thing?" he asked and Gibbs half smiled.

"Not just fought it Doc, we managed to get aboard, find Norrington and his two men, get them up on deck and over to the Pearl, and damage their ship enough so it was them that finally turned tail and ran." He said and the doctor frowned.

"Where are Norrington's other two men?" he asked in amazement and the grizzled sailor grinned.

"Oh, they didn't have so much as a scratch on 'em Doc, so you ain't needed to see 'em. We been putting 'em to good use at separate ends of the ship. Just young lads if ye ask me." He said and the doctor looked stunned at the news.

"So – while I was standing there accusing Jack of just letting his crew murder the Commodore's men – of shooting the man himself, – you didn't even bother to correct me?" he asked and the man sighed heavily.

"Right about then my only concern was having you tell Jack if Norrington was alive or not. He'd refused to let anyone do anything for him until he knew. I din' care what you thought man, all I wanted was fer Jack to let us take care of him!" he said and the doctor sighed and nodded finally with a deeply thoughtful look at the now soundly asleep pirate captain.