Summary: The movie was never made. But, in the past, it all really did happen. A Medallion's missing and in the future, a young woman holds it as a family heirloom. Much to her suprise -and dismay-, she is transported back in time and must face danger and adventure that she never would have imagined experiencing. Self-insertion fic.
Rating: PG-13
Reviews:
UPDATE: I reuploaded this chapter with all the mistakes corrected so no replies reviews other than Creejak's will be posted for now, I just wanna say, thanks for the corrections!
Disclaimer: Nope x_x I don't own PotC
Chapter Ten: The Last Breath--------------------------------------------------------------------
"Begun by blood…by blood un-"
"Jack!" Will cried out suddenly, trying to wiggle free from Jacoby and Koehler's tight grasp on his arms.
"S'not possible…" Barbossa stared, disbelieving.
"Not probable…" Jack stepped onto a stone to keep from splashing into the water.
"Where's Elizabeth?!"
"She's safe," Bo'sun put a hand on his shoulder to keep him from going any further, "just like I promised. She's all set to marry Norrington, just like she promised. And you get to die for her, just like you promised. So we're all men of our word really… except for Elizabeth. Who is, in fact, a woman."
"Shut up!" Barbossa snapped, holding up the stone knife, "You're next!" He bent down to slit Will's throat.
"You don't want to be doing that, mate." Jack warned.
"No, I really think I do." Barbossa hissed.
"Your funeral."
For a few moments, Barbossa remained still, and then rolled his eyes before straightening up. "Why don't I want to be doing it?"
"Well, because-" Jack paused to slap the large black mans hand from his shoulder before stepping up the mound of treasure up toward the little gathering over the stone chest, "…because, the HMS Dauntless -pride of the Royal Navy- is floating just off shore. Waiting for you."
*****
"…What are we doing 'ere?" Murtogg asked as he held onto his rifle.
"The Pirates come out, unprepared and unawares, we catch them in the crossfire, send 'im down to see old Hobb." Mullroy informed him.
"I know why we're here," Murtogg responded impatiently, "I mean, why aren't we doing what is was, Mr. Sparrow said we should do? With the canon's an' all?"
"Because it was Mr. Sparrow who said it." Norrington rolled his eyes.
"…You think he wasn't tellin' the truth?"
*****
"…Just hear me out, mate. You order your men to row out to the Dauntless; they do what they do best: Robert's your uncle, Fannie's your aunt, and there you are with two ships. The makings of your very own fleet. 'Course you'll take the grandest as your flagship and who's to argue? But what of the Pearl?" Jack said enticingly, "Name me Captain, I'll sail under your colors, give you ten percent of me plunder and you get to introduce yourself as…" He paused to smile, "Commodore Barbossa." He turned serious faced, "Savvy?"
"I s'pose in exchange you want me not to kill the whelp." Barbossa shot a look at Will, who was fuming.
"No, no, by all means, kill the whelp. Just… not yet. Wait to lift the curse… until the opportune moment. For instance," Jack scooped into the chest and picked up a handful of coins, dropping one at a time,"after you've killed Norrington's men. Every…last…one."
Will watched him carefully, then noticed Jack as he slipped one of the gold pieces behind his hand, and then tuck it into his belt, all carefully and smoothly. "You've been planning this from the beginning! Ever since you learned my name!" He growled, having some small inkling of an idea what Jack was up to.
"Yeah." Jack raised his eyebrows.
"I want fifty percent of your plunder." Barbossa narrowed his eyes.
"Fifteen."
"Forty."
"Twenty-five. And I'll by you the hat. A really big one. Commodore." Jack grinned.
Barbossa thought it over for a moment, and then reached out with his hand, "We have an accord." They shook hands.
"All hands to the boats!" Jack looked over his shoulder to see Barbossa giving him a cold look, "…Apologies, you give the orders." He clasped his hands together and stepped back.
"Gents, take a walk." Barbossa chuckled darkly.
Jack made a confused face, then looked over a the 'Commodore', "Not to the boats?"
*****
Governor Swann stepped up to the cabin Elizabeth was locked in and smiled faintly to the Marine guarding the door, "A moment please?"
The Marine stepped out of the way and Swann rapped against the glass. "Elizabeth? I just want you to know I… I believe you made a very good decision today. Couldn't be more proud of you."
Inside, Elizabeth rolled her eyes as she and Jessica tied knots in a few sets of sheets they had found tucked away. "Are you sure this will work?" Elizabeth whispered so quietly, almost nothing came out.
"Hopefully." Jessica raised her eyebrows and then walked over to the windows lining the stern before pushing one open and tying one end to the railing. She peeked over and saw one of the small rowboats still hanging from its pulley just below the deck. "Perfect…" She grinned.
"But you know…even a good decision if made for the wrong reasons can be a wrong decision…" They heard the Governor speak as they climbed over the railing before lowering the boat down to touch the dark blue water. Jessica flinched with each motion from her arm, but bit down hard on her bottom lip. Suck it up… She told herself as they finally reached the water.
"Elizabeth?" Governor Swan raised an eyebrow, "Are you there? Elizabeth, are you even listening to me?" He pushed open the door and saw no one, but the window was open. He rushed over and saw the makeshift rope tied to the railing. "Oh…what have you done…"
*****
Jack gave a small, mock yawn before he picked up a gold idol statue and examined the bottom of it while Barbossa watched him from where he sat. "I must admit, Jack, I thought I had ye figured. It turns out that you're a hard man to predict." He grinned.
Jack tossed away the statue, ignoring the heavy clank it made, "Me? I'm dishonest. And a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest… Honestly! It's the honest ones you want to watch out for, because you can never predict," He stepped up behind one of he pirates who stayed behind, "when they're going to do something incredibly…stupid." He gave Will a glance, then unsheathed the Pirate's cutlass, kicked him into the small pool and tossed it over to the bound young man before taking out his own weapon and engaging Barbossa in a duel.
Barbossa clashed his sword against Jack's, holding him steady for a moment as he grinned wickedly, "You're off the edge of the map, mate. Here there be monsters!"
*****
Jessica cursed silently as she and Elizabeth climbed up the side of the Pearl. "This hurts like the devil…" She muttered to herself before Elizabeth looked down and shushed her.
"Fine, fine." Jessie gave a scowl and hushed up as they passed by a cannon's window.
"Right, what would you pick to eat first? I think we should decide now. Just so we're ready when the time comes." They heard Mallot suggested as he twirled his finger around the tie of his shirt. Both girls stopped to listen and peered inside.
"I was thinkin' cake." Grapple grinned.
Mallot sat shocked, "I was thinkin' cake, too!" He exclaimed.
Grapple pulled out a knife and slammed it into the table, growling as he glared at the other Pirate. Then his expression slowly changed into a grin as he tipped the knife over to Mallot, "You cut. I'll choose."
Outside, Jessica and Elizabeth exchanged glances, rolling their eyes and then heading up to the railing so they could climb on deck.
Once over the rail, Elizabeth looked around, then turned to help Jessica as she struggled. She didn't land as gracefully as Elizabeth did, but pulled herself up and brushed off the tail of her jacket. "I'm okay." She said quietly before pinning some hair behind her ear.
Elizabeth nodded and then stepped forward, only to run into the screeching monkey, Jack as his skeletal form was revealed. For a moment, she stood frightened, but then narrowed her eyes.
"Yer in trouble now, Monkey…" Jessica murmured with raised eyebrows.
*****
Grapple's blade in hand, Mallot cut a large piece of cake for himself, Grapple's had already been cut and placed on a plate. Then a metallic "bonk" sounded beside them and the both looked at each other.
"What was that?" They asked at the same time, then looked over just in time to see Jack the Monkey shake his head and then slide off the cannon into the water.
Up on deck, Elizabeth leaned over the railing to see the two Pirates turn skeletal in the moonlight as they looked out the window, then up. Gasping, she pulled back and ran for the trap door that led to the lower decks. On her way, she grabbed Jessica's good arm. "Move!" She hissed before yanking her.
"Ow! You people really have issues with being gentle!" Jessica shot out as she was dragged down the steps, and then whipped around to hide as Grapple and Mallot rushed up the stairs.
"Oh…" Jessica pursed her lips and then smiled sheepishly at Elizabeth, "I see…"
*****
Barbossa fought Jack up to an elevated area in the cave and Barbossa parried away Jack's sword before knocking him down and kicking upward, sending him on his backside. Hector gave a shake of his head before throwing down his sword, heaving a deep breath. "You can't beat me, Jack." He rested his hands at his sides.
Jack looked him up and down, and then slammed his cutlass through Barbossa's chest, only to see him shake his head and sigh. Jack furrowed his eyebrows, then looked down at the impaled weapon.
Barbossa grabbed the hilt and with one swift movement, pulled it from his chest, then impaled it through Jack's own.
Jack gasped and made sort of a gurgling sound before he stepped back, letting the moonlight wash over him. Things seemed to go by in slow motion for them both while his skin rotted away suddenly, revealing a skeleton. His boot's cuffs fell down, no longer fitted to the flesh of his former skin; his shirt and vest hung on the rotted, fleshy bones while his dark brown eyes blinked in his sockets. The sword still protruded from his chest as he raised his hand up to look at the workings that were hidden by his skin. "…That's interesting." He commented rather plainly.
Barbossa stood shocked, not knowing what to say while down below, Will conked a pirate over the head while a champagne bucket was stuck on his skull and then shoved him into the water. His eyes widened when he caught a glimpse of the undead Jack Sparrow.
It was obvious Jack was grinning as he slipped one of the medallions from his sash and then rolled it over his knuckles. He looked at Barbossa, "Couldn't resist, mate."
Barbossa hissed, then grabbed a handful of coins from the ground before throwing them at Jack, making him stumble back into the shadows.
*****
Elizabeth worked to unlock the cell where Jack's crew was locked in and Jessica cut her eyes toward the stairs. "I'll be right back…" She murmured, grabbing a piece of lumber for ship repairs -it looked as if it hadn't even been touched for the longest time-. She worked to keep it high with her arm, but ignored the pain and walked up the stairs with it resting on her shoulder.
She stopped just at the deck and looked around. With a grim smile, she spotted Mallot and Grapple stalking around, looking for the culprit of whoever knocked Jack the Monkey off the boat. "Now or never…" She muttered to herself before casually strolling up onto the deck and stopping behind them, holding the lumber behind her back and looking as innocent as she possibly could.
Mallot and Grapple heard a small thump on the deck and turned around.
"Hello, chums." Jessie grinned, tilting her head to the side.
"…Aren't you dead?" Mallot asked with one eyebrow raised.
"You know, I very well could be, and I'm just a ghost coming back to haunt you for all the terrible treatment I received while onboard this ship." She looked off to the side, pretending to think about that. "But really, could a ghost do this?" She asked before suddenly whipping the lumber around from her back and slamming it into the skeleton's sides, sending them toward the railing of the ship.
Although they could feel no pain, and no air could be pushed out of their lungs, it was still quite a shock. They tumbled down to the deck and then sat for a few moments, jaws open as they stared up at her, and then noticed the blood seeping through her shirt, but she didn't seem to.
"Alright… I've done my bit of pirate ass kicking for the evening." She smirked before tossing away the lumber and dusting off her hands.
Grapple and Mallot ground, teeth clenched before getting up and starting to go after her, but a creaking and a whining of ropes caught their attention before a longboat came crashing toward them. They both gasped and tried to move, but they were forced off the side of the boat, splashing into the water as they hit it.
"Excellent. Perfect. Marvelous!" Jessica clapped with a silly grin.
Elizabeth took a mock bow and then noticed her shoulder bleeding, "Jessica!"
Jessica looked down at it, and then waved her hand, "Oh, I'll be fine. Just got to rebandage it and it'll be all good." She shook her head.
Elizabeth gave her a skeptic look, but decided not to push. She then rushed over to the pullies of the long boat and started, "Alright, all of you with me!" She looked over her shoulder at Jack's crew, "Will is in that cave and must save him! Ready…and… heave!" She pulled on it by herself. She looked over her shoulder at Jessica, who held up her hands, "Oi, I can't…" She looked down at her shoulder, then back at Elizabeth with an apologetic smile, "I would but… I think my shoulder's had its stress for tonight."
"Please! I need your help, come on!" She turned to the crew.
Cotton's parrot squawked and then, "Any port in a storm…"
"Cotton's right, we've got the Pearl." Gibbs shrugged.
"What about Jack? Are you just going to leave him?"
"…Jack owes us a ship!"
"There's the code to consider."
"The Code?" Elizabeth scoffed. "You're Pirates! Hang the code, and hang the rules! They're more like guidelines anyway!"
*****
"…Bloody Pirates…" Elizabeth gritted her teeth as she rowed toward the cave.
Across from her, Jessica sat with an apologetic expression, "Sorry…" She murmured and rowed every now and then, rolling her shoulder back on occasion as she did.
******
A grenade was thrown and it exploded just as it hit the ground, sending Will flying off into the air and briefly catching Jack and Barbossa's attention before they went back to fighting.
Jacoby stepped up to Will where he sat on the ground, disheveled. He pointed his cutlass at him and growled, "I'm gonna teach you the meanin' of pain!"
"You like pain?!" A voice called out from the side before a gold rod sent Jacoby stumbling backwards after a hard blow, "Try wearing a corset." Elizabeth glared.
Elizabeth extended the pole down to Will and smiled as he took it and used it to pull himself up. Then she saw Jack and narrowed her eyes, "Who's side is Jack on?" She demanded.
"At the moment?" Will asked before they both turned and took hold of the rod to go fight off Jacoby and the two other pirates.
Jessica stepped in and then stopped, "Whoa!" She stared wide eyed at all the treasure, "Amazing…"
Finally, one of the Pirates pulled off the champagne bucket he had been sporting and chuckled at his success before turning around, only to be whacked by the rod Elizabeth and Will were holding.
They did some fighting with the pirates, then somehow, they all formed into a line after Elizabeth gave Jacoby a sharp kick in the gut, and then she and Will jammed the golden pole through their ribcages, pinning them all together.
Smiling, Will took up one of Jacoby's grenades after lighting it on his beard and then shoved it onto his ribcage before he and Elizabeth pushed the three pirates into the shadows.
Jacoby felt around his stomach and through his shirt, trying to grab the grenade, but looked up with an expression of fear, "No fair!" He whined.
Elizabeth and Will turned and rushed off as the grenade exploded, sending bits and pieces of the pirates in all which away.
The explosion caught Barbossa's attention and he turned. Jack used that time to take out the medallion he stole, place it against his palm and slice open the skin, letting his blood stain the gold. He held onto it tightly and then lunged at Barbossa while Will climbed up the mountain of treasure to the chest.
Jessica looked around, not sure what was happening, but managed to catch and see what exactly Jack and Will were about to do. "No… wait!" She shouted out, jumping off the small ledge she stood on and started to run over.
Barbossa caught Jack's blow and pushed it away, only to be lunged at again and forced back. Jack tossed up his coin to Will, who caught it with his left hand and held onto it, and the medallion he had worn around his neck. He grabbed up the stone knife and held it tightly.
Barbossa didn't miss the exchange of coins before he noticed Elizabeth jump onto a nearby rock. He smiled darkly and pulled out his flintlock before aiming it at her. She stopped, nearly falling over but catching herself as she stared into the barrel of the pistol.
"STOP!" Jessica shouted.
But suddenly a gunshot rang out, making everyone stop.
Elizabeth gasped, then Barbossa turned to Jack. His pistol was smoking from the shot it had just fired.
"…Ten years you carry that pistol and now you waste your shot." Barbossa smirked, still training his pistol on Elizabeth.
"He didn't waste it!" Will shouted.
Barbossa looked over his shoulder at Will, his eyes went from the blood stained knife in his hand, to his clenched fist. At that moment, Will dropped the coins into the chest and Barbossa threw down his pistol to rip open his vest and shirt.
Blood started to seep through the shirt. Jessica stopped just feet away from Jack and Barbossa, "No…" She gasped, covering her mouth as she watched the blood pool and drip through the white linen of Hector's shirt. "No…" She whispered, her eyes wide as tears suddenly formed in her eyes.
"I…feel… cold." Barbossa whispered, his eyes losing focus as the first feeling in ten years rippled through his body: pain and the loss of his own life. He let out one last breath, his dying breath, and then fell back onto the mountain of gold. When he fell, a green apple he had held just before fell from his grasp and tumbled into the water, bobbing up and down as he floated. His lifeless eyes stared up at the caves ceiling, nothing left of him but just a shell.
Jessica stared down at him, her eyes still wide and tears brimming them as she lowered her hand to rest at her side.
"Don't look so sad, love…" Jack murmured as he looked up at her.
"You don't understand…" Jessica whispered before looking up a the Pirate, "How am I going to get home now?"
-----------------------------------------
Oi oi x_x; not proud of this chapter! It's good, I suppose, but I was a bit lazy >.> I think I just want to get this one done so I can start working on my other one ^^;; I really want to write it! It's going to be Barbossa related >.> but he's not actually in it, except for flashbacks. I won't reveal anymore! it's a secret! XD Anyway, I'm thinking of wrapping it up in the next chapter, and then, maybe adding a 12th chapter to do some after effects with Jessica gets home? Just a thought. But, if I do that x_x; it might lead off into a sequal XD Not sure if I want that x_x;
Anywho, read, review if you like. You don't have to adore it, or like it, ^^