Disclaimer: Not owned by me! Only the plot.

Chapter 3

Will guided his ship into Tortuga sometime around lunchtime. He ordered that the ship be re-stocked for a long journey as they were going to find the Pearl and reclaim it for Jack.

He himself went ashore to find a doctor to see to jack's leg. As he left he could hear Jack singing drunkenly and was glad that the pirate would feel as little pain as possible. He chuckled at the sound as it was very off key and noticed that some of the crew had stuffed bits of rag into their ears to drown out the noise.

He searched everywhere and finally found a doctor who was willing to come back to the ship with him in return for a handsome sum.

He could hear the drunken singing before his ship was even in sight and the doctor looked at him.

"What's that terrible noise?" Will laughed.

"That's Captain Jack Sparrow whom you'll be seeing to."

"He sounds drunk."

"He is, he asked me to make sure he was drunk so it didn't hurt."

"Good idea, maybe more of my patients should do that instead of deafening me with their screams! Maybe I should get some rum in."

"Good idea." Will said and led the way to his cabin.

"Really bad eggs." Sang Jack as they entered and grinned lopsidedly.

"Will! Join in I LOVE this song." Jack said waving his almost empty bottle around. "Drink up me hearties yo ho!" he sang happily and took another swig draining the remainder of the amber liquid.

"Jack this is the doctor to see to your leg."

"Me leg?" Jack frowned and looked down at it still lying at a funny angle. "Aye thas' right lad me leg broke."

"Let's have a look." The doctor said and took out a knife from his belt that made Jack's eyes go wide.

"'Ere yer not goin' ta chop it off are ye? I need me leg…both of them!"

"Don't worry Mr Sparrow, I am merely going to cut away your clothes so I can see to it."

"Oh. Well thas' okay then doctor, cut away."

The doctor slit up Jack's breeches and pulled them apart to take a look.

He could see that the bones would need to be twisted back into place and doubted that even the alcohol would dim the pain enough.

"Give him something to bite on." He told Will who took a leather belt and held it to Jack's mouth indicating that he should bite down on it hard.

"This is going to hurt rather much I'm afraid." The doctor said and Jack nodded biting down on the leather hard.

Grabbing Jack's twisted leg he manipulated it back into position causing Jack to scream as he bit down on the leather. Will realised that Jack had grabbed his hand and was squeezing hard on it. He made no move to remove the hand and allowed Jack to squeeze as much as he needed to.

The doctor straightened the leg and produced a splint that he tied to Jack's leg to keep it straight and allow it to heal properly.

He gave him a pair of crutches and told Will to make sure Jack rested as much as possible.

"He'll be okay to sail though won't he?" Will wanted to know.

"Yes as long as he doesn't push it, he should be fine." The doctor said and left closing the door behind him.

The pain had somewhat subsided and Will passed Jack another bottle of Rum which he promptly drank deeply from passing it to Will when he was done.

"Thanks mate." He said gratefully and Will noticed that the older pirate still had hold of his hand. He didn't mind though as Jack was not squeezing it so tightly anymore.

"Oh I have something of yours Jack." He said and produced the compass from his pocket.

"Me compass! Thanks Will I thought it were lost ferever."

"We found it and it led us to where you were."

"I was wonderin' how you managed that one Will." Jack said impressed that the lad had remembered how to work the compass.

"I never forgot anything that you told me Jack." He said honestly.

"So what happened to dear Elizabeth?"

A pained look crossed Will's face but it was fleeting and vanished in an instant. Jack however did notice it even in his drunken state.

"She married Commodore Norrington in the end. I think the life of a blacksmith's wife was a little too below her station."

"Or a pirate's wife." Jack added and felt sorry for Will. "Do ye miss her?"

"Well not as much as I thought I would." Evidently he was surprised at this. "I just got on with my life and did what I wanted to do and what I wanted to do was become a pirate captain and to find you."

"Well I guess I really did rub off on ye eh William?" jack said grinning.

'More than you know Jack.' Will thought but did not say it out loud merely nodding in answer.

Jack was still holding his hand whether on purpose or not he couldn't tell but it felt good to be needed especially by Jack who never seemed to need anyone but himself.

They sat for a long time drinking rum and reminiscing about previous adventures and hauls during the last three years. Jack was pleased to hear that Will had done well and was slowly amassing a small fortune in plunder.

"Seems there be hope for ya yet William." Jack said laughter visible in his eyes.

"Well I was taught by the best." He said and Jack puffed his chest out.

"What can I say? I'm just perfect."

They both burst out laughing.

The crew scurried about on deck preparing the ship to set sail once again. Her holds were full of supplies and more than enough rum to see them through for a few months. Hey would plunder a few ships they knew in their search for the Pearl and so take their supplies too.

Both crews hummed or sang as they worked glad to be doing something for their captains who they could hear talking and laughing in Will's cabin.

Will emerged and called Gibbs over.

"Captain Jack and I have decided that the crew should take this night off and then we set sail first thing tomorrow." He said and Gibb's face broke into a huge grin imagining the copious amounts of rum he would be able to consume that night.

"Thank ye Cap'n Turner, I'll tell the rest o' the crew." He said and it was not long before the last of the supplies were stashed and the ship deserted save for Jack and Will who drank until they both passed out again.

"Weigh anchor!"

The shout woke Will who found himself once again encircled in Jack's strong arms. Reluctantly he disentangled himself from the warmth and went out to find the crew busily casting off.

"Time to find the Pearl and reclaim it for you Jack." Will muttered and made his way to the helm where Anamaria was at the wheel.

"Do we have a heading cap'n?" She asked.

"Sail straight until I tell you otherwise." Will said unsure of how they were going to find the Pearl yet.

Anamaria nodded and Will left her to it returning to his cabin after asking one of the crew to fetch him and jack something to eat.

Jack was awake when he entered and was propped up on the pillows.

"Mornin' William." He said.

"Jack I need to borrow your compass so I can give Anamaria a heading to your ship."

Jack unclipped it from his belt and handed it to Will who concentrated on the Pearl being the thing he most wanted in the world. He opened it but frowned when it spun round and stopped pointing straight at Jack. He frowned, why did it keep doing that? He needed to find the Black Pearl not Jack! He had already found him or was it trying to tell him something else? He shook his head in annoyance.

"Maybe you should do it Jack, it's not working for me." He handed the compass back to Jack who opened it and watched it for a few moments.

"That-a-way direction." He said and pointed. Will left to tell Anamaria that they had a heading and jack frowned at his compass. He had guessed a direction because the compass hadn't actually given him a heading, it had pointed straight at Will. Jack couldn't for the life of him figure it out and grabbed his bottle of rum after all his leg was throbbing and he wanted to drown out the pain.

Will stood on deck looking out to see and thinking. Why did the compass keep pointing to jack? It showed you the thing you wanted most in the world so why Jack? Did it know something he didn't?

He thought about the relief he had felt when they had found jack alive even though he was injured and the happiness he had felt when jack agreed to allow him to sail alongside him with his crew.

Was Jack the thing he wanted most in the world?

"Is it true?" he muttered to himself.

"Is what true cap'n?" A voice asked making him jump.

"Ah Mr Gibbs, I er…nothing." Will said and walked off hurriedly.

Gibbs watched him go and wondered what was up with the young captain.

"Somethin' is buggin' that lad." He said to himself and took a long swig from his flask. Finding it almost empty, he wondered off to refill it.

Will walked round the deck watching his crew at work and thinking. Jack was the one who had told him of his real origins and given him a passion for the sea and piracy. It was him who had looked out for him when battling Barbossa and his crew and it was him who made his heart skip a beat and his breath catch every time he grinned, laughed or teased him.

"Seems that compass knows what we want even before we know ourselves." He said to himself.

What had it shown jack? A bearing? Or had it pointed somewhere else? Could it be possible that if he had feelings for the pirate that they would be returned?

He doubted it.

Jack's first love was and always had been the sea and his second love was his beloved Pearl. Where would he fit into that or even compare to it? He knew he couldn't and with a heavy heart he returned to his cabin. He would keep his feelings hidden and sail alongside Jack. That was better than nothing he decided.

TBC…