Ch. 9

Will paced impatiently in the hallway. Space was limited in Elizabeth's small cabin, and they weren't able to move her, so he was forced to wait outside and do what he could to comfort Marie. Blackbird opened the door and leaned wearily out into the hallway.

"What is it?" he asked anxiously.
"She's asking for you," Blackbird explained, her eyes full of concern. "Will you come in?" Will nodded and hurried in after her. Elizabeth was laid out on her bed and was breathing heavily. Her cries of pain were heartbreaking to Will as he stood by her side, holding her hand comfortingly.

"You're doing fine," he whispered to her. "Just don't give up." For once he was glad he couldn't feel anything, because he was sure his hand would be throbbing otherwise. Her face beaded with sweat, Elizabeth gave a cry that surpassed all the rest, and before Will knew what was happening, he was holding a baby boy.

"There's another child!" Blackbird said in surprise.

Will just stared at her in shock. "Twins?"

Blackbird grinned tiredly. "Guess you're family's going to get bigger than you'd expected."

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Will smiled as he watched Elizabeth sleep peacefully with their sons. As soon as he was sure they were settled, he silently slipped out of the cabin. Striding down the hallway, he nearly bumped into Commodore Norrington.

"How are they doing?" the commodore asked quietly.

"They're asleep right now," Will replied. Hesitantly, he extended his hand. "Thank you."

Norrington shook his hand. "It was nothing," he said. "You would have done no less in the same situation."

The moon had long since disappeared behind the clouds, so Will readily stepped out on deck with him. He grinned wryly as Norrington started to cross back over to the Dauntless. "Commodore!" he called out. "Do not make the mistake of thinking that this will change things in our next encounter."

Norrington's eyes flashed a challenge as he returned the smile. "I wouldn't have it any other way, Turner."

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Will stuck his head up to look over the platform. He wasn't at all surprised to see Blackbird sitting there with her back turned to him.

"What do you want?" Blackbird asked quietly without turning around.

"I saw you climb up here," Will explained.

"And?"

"And normally whenever you come up here just to sit, it's because something's bothering you and you need to mentally sort things out," he continued.

"And?"

"And…I thought maybe you'd need to talk about it?" he ventured hesitantly.

"Maybe I just came up here to watch the sunrise," she argued.

Will raised an eyebrow. "It's still night," he pointed out. "Sunrise isn't for another hour."

"Well, maybe I like being early," Blackbird replied. Will just sat there and waited patiently for her to say something else. "Or…maybe something's bothering me," she relented. "Maybe tonight reminded me of something I didn't want to remember. Maybe I didn't tell you absolutely everything about my past. Maybe I have more reason to hate Nathan than you know. And maybe, just maybe, I don't want to talk about it." Her last statement was mild, but the message was clear.

"Alright," Will said, starting to climb back down. "I understand. I won't pry any farther."

As he headed down, Blackbird turned around and called after him, "Ask Jack about it. He knows. He seems better at talking about me than I am." Nodding, Will continued climbing and soon disappeared into the darkness.

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Will quickly found Jack sitting in his cabin. Without looking up from what he was doing, Jack nodded to indicate he should speak. "Blackbird seemed upset tonight," Will began hesitantly.

Jack grunted. "That so?" he replied mildly.

"She said tonight reminded her of something she wanted to forget. She wouldn't tell me what, but she said to ask you. Why does she hate Nathan so much?"

Leaning back slightly in his chair, Jack finally gave Will his full attention. "First of all, she loved him very much, and she though that her feelings were reciprocated. Blackbird doesn't like being wrong, so when they were separated, it made things all the worse for her. You must understand, Will, when she came back to Tortuga, she was horribly depressed. When you first met her, she had just begun acting more like herself again. It took her years just to tell me all that happened, and I still doubt I know the whole story."

"So what was she depressed about? You have my word that she gave me permission to ask," Will said.

"There was a reason other than love for their marriage," Jack admitted slowly. "Blackbird was pregnant…with his child. They had been romantically involved for several months," Jack continued. "I knew it, and she knew I knew it. I chose to turn a blind eye, figuring I'd grant her the same right as any man on my crew. I still regret it to this day. See, at one time Nathan was quite the gentleman, and when Blackbird confessed to him, he insisted upon marrying her and helping raise the child. She agreed, even though she knew that she would probably never be able to go back to piracy. Big mistake. As I'm sure she told you, he gradually became more violent and…promiscuous as the years drew on. It came to the point that she only stayed to support their daughter."

Will nodded. "Emily…Blackbird told me about her."

"Yes, her name was Emily," Jack said, annoyed at the interruption. "Anyway, one night when they were fighting, he… he got angry at Blackbird. He knew she didn't value her life much at that point, and it would be no slight to her to kill her. So, he took their three-year-old daughter…and…made an example of her. Right before Blackbird's eyes. Furious, Blackbird attacked him. He hadn't counted on the fact that she was a natural fighter, and she almost killed him then and there. I don't know if you've ever noticed a long scar running down his cheek, but that was her. If he hadn't run, I don't doubt that she would have ended his life without hesitation."

Will sat there in silence, taking in the information. He couldn't imagine if someone killed any of his children, much less in front of his eyes. That was the pain he'd seen in her eyes before they'd gone into the cave. "So that's why she wanted so badly to come with us…" he mused. "She needs to have revenge."

Jack nodded slowly. "That's why I didn't want her to come. Don't get me wrong; your sister is probably one of the most level-headed people I know, but everyone has their limits. I was afraid her desire for revenge would compromise our goal."

"That woman will never cease to surprise me," Will admitted. "Every time I think I've got her figured out, some even darker part of her already dark past emerges. It's a miracle she's as sane as she is."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Blackbird cut in before Jack could reply. "Captain," she said, turning to Jack, "we're coming up on another ship. We found them."

A/N: Again, sorry for the delay on this one. Yet another one of my plot twists...Please review!