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Chapter 4

Notes: Sorry for the exposition. I gave it to Will. To make up for it I'm posting the next chapter too.

Will went down to the cargo hold to hide. He remembered the first time he and Elizabeth had sailed with Jack as members of the crew. This was after the mess of Davy Jones, when they both realized they no longer had a place in the civilized world.

He lost a lot on that first trip. His dignity, pride, and most importantly, he lost Elizabeth. She was still with him--they had been the dearest of friends growing up, and always would be. But she no longer wanted to be his wife, and that was Jack's fault. At first Jack and Elizabeth had tried to hide it, but after a while it became a silent but painfully visual war over Elizabeth, and in the end she left them both.

They hadn't seen her in over a year, and he'd assumed she had gone home to her father. But she had spent the last year as a fellow pirate, and a fairly well known one too. He tried not to think of all the dangers she had faced, all the crimes she committed, without him by her side to protect her.

For the first days she was on the ship, Will made himself scarce, hiding as far up the rigging as he could climb most times. But that gave him a bird's eye view of Jack attempting to woo Elizabeth. Not that he was very successful. The crack of her palm across his cheek could be heard across the entire ship. But eventually he saw glances lengthening, innocent touches lingering longer than necessary. It wasn't in his favor to ignore her.
"Go away, Will." He was standing over her shoulder as she played cards with a few men from her crew. (He didn't trust a single one of them--all had lived with Elizabeth for a year. God knows what had happened in that time.) Tortuga was in sight, and they would dock early evening.

"You got a good hand there," he said, and Elizabeth slammed her cards down on the table.

"I fold," she told the other players, and marched off to the bow of the ship, Will close at her heels, as she knew he would be. "What exactly is your problem? You've been latched to my side all day!" She leaned against the rail, arms folded across her chest, waiting for his excuse.

Will pushed himself up against her, trapping her between his body and the rail as he kissed her, a kiss of jealously and desperation. Possession. The way he kissed her after the first time she kissed Jack.

He was surprised when she pushed him away--she'd gotten stronger. "I'm warning you Will. Don't do this."

"Why not? You were supposed to be mine. We were supposed to get married."

She shook her head. "I'm not meant to be anyone's wife. Do you think I could be content to stay at home with the children while you were out?"

"I wouldn't have asked you to."

"It wasn't going to work, Will. You want to take care of me. I want to be free. I met Jack and I knew that I wanted exactly what he had. And eventually I realized that despite my sex, I could do it. And I am."

"I just wish you could realize that I can be a part of it."

"It's not that I don't want to…"

"Will you at least let me spend the evening with you before you leave me again?"

"I don't know, Will."

"Please?"

"But then I'm leaving."

"I know."