As Long as We Both Shall Live
Chapter 4
On deck it was chaos as the crew scrambled to get the Interceptor, a ship that Elizabeth had believed to be the fastest in the Caribbean, to outrun the Pearl that sped after them at an almost unnatural speed. It was as though the Devil himself breathed on the black sails to propel them forward. James and Will were both frantically shouting orders, to lighten the ship, to fill the rapidly emptying guns, anything that could buy them some time.
It was all in vain.
The pirates that boarded the ship fought as though they were invincible- and they were. Elizabeth had stared in horror as the pirate whom she had plunged her sword into, removed the weapon from his chest as though it were nothing more than an inconvenience.
Against such foes there was little they could do and one by one the crew was subdued and dragged aboard the Pearl as the Pearl's crew made quick work of scuttling the Interceptor. She along with the rest of the Interceptor's crew were rounded up together. James was amongst them, ashen-faced at the loss of his beloved ship. He looked relieved to see her unharmed but there remained a tenseness around his shoulders, an uneasy worry creasing the features of his face.
When she made her way to his side, his hands grasped hers tightly and he shifted her so she was a little behind him, obviously trying to conceal her presence. Gibbs was at her side too. He plucked the hat off one of the other crew and surreptitiously handed it to her. She put it on, hastily and untidily shovelling her hair inside to try to hide it.
It was not a moment too soon as the Pearl's crew parted like a wave for Barbossa to approach menacingly. There was a darkly triumphant smile on his face that promised additional cruelty would soon be served up. James pushed her further back and she tightened her grip on him as Barbossa stopped in front of her husband.
"We treated you well, didn't we?" Barbossa said. "Hosted you with our boundless hospitality and you repaid us with lies and deceit. How much time have we wasted thinking you were the man we were searching for? That cannot go unpunished." He pressed the muzzle of his pistol square in the centre of James's forehead and pulled back the hammer.
"No!" Elizabeth screamed and then clapped a hand over her mouth in horror as she realised she had spoken without modulating her voice. Barbossa unhanded James and a wicked grin lit up his face.
"Well well well. Maybe not a total waste of time after all. Perhaps you have found a way to pay back our hospitality."
Before Elizabeth could so much as protest, a number of hands were grabbing at her and she was frantically trying to fight them off even as they dragged her away from the crew. Out of the corner of her eye she could see James fighting like a demon to try to get to her, all until one of Barbossa's men slammed the hilt of their sword on his head, making him drop to the ground like a stone.
"Barbossa!" Will's voice rang out, interrupting the tense and frightening moment. The men grabbing at her ceased their assault as their attention was caught by him. Will was standing on the railings, pointing Jack's useless pistol at the pirate captain. What was he thinking? Elizabeth thought to herself, even as she was grateful for his intervention. "She goes free!" He demanded. A noble sentiment, one she was very much touched by but a useless one none-the-less.
"What's in your head, boy?" Barbossa asked, just as baffled by Will's actions as her.
"She goes free." He repeated with no further elaboration.
"You've only got one shot, and we can't die." Barbossa pointed out, clearly amused by the young man's antics.
"You can't." Will said gesturing the pistol at them, before to her surprise and horror he turned it on himself. "I can." Suddenly she understood his plan – Barbossa needed Will alive, even if he didn't know it yet.
"Who are you?" Barbossa asked, incredulous at the brazen confidence of the man before him and his foolhardy plan.
"My name is Will Turner! My father was Bootstrap Bill Turner. His blood runs in my veins. On my word, do as I say, or I'll pull this trigger, and be lost to Davy Jones' locker!"
Barbossa stared at him assessingly for a moment.
"Well if he's Bill Turner's son, then who are you?" He demanded, rounding on James with the tip of his sword pointed only an inch away from his chest.
"No one important." Elizabeth said hastily, ignoring the insulted look James threw in her direction. Honestly, it was as though he wanted them to know he was the scourge of piracy. Her answer only served to make Barbossa's eyes narrow suspiciously.
"Now that's not entirely true, Lizzie." Jack intoned with mock seriousness.
It was though someone had poured ice water over her. Elizabeth felt the blood drain from her face, and she gripped James's hand so tightly that her nails dug harshly into his skin. Surely he wouldn't betray them so? He couldn't be about to reveal James's true identity to a ship full of pirates that would like nothing more than to grant him a slow and painful death.
"Dear Jimothy here," at this Jack slung an arm over James's shoulders, which only made the Commodore glare viciously at him before dislodging the arm from its resting place forcefully, "is my darling baby brother," Jack announced, good cheer unaffected.
Elizabeth sagged with relief, leaning against James for support, even as she knew the danger was not entirely passed.
"Your brother?" Barbossa repeated mockingly, looking utterly unconvinced.
"Of course!" Jack replied blithely. "Why else would he lie about his identity? He thought that if you knew we were related you would kill him more quickly."
"You don't seem to like each other very much considering you're meant to be related." A not-particularly-bright-looking pirate behind Barbossa observed, scratching his head.
"Clearly, you're an only child." James snapped contemptuously, a sentiment that was echoed by several of the gathering, much to his common ground with pirates was likely not what he had intended by the comment.
Seemingly now bored by the exchange, Barbossa turned back to Will.
"Name your terms, Mr. Turner."
"Elizabeth goes free!" Will repeated for the third time.
Barbossa rolled his eyes. "Yes, we know that one. Anything else?"
"And the crew." Will gestured at them with the pistol, obviously thinking of things on the spot. He clearly hadn't thought the plan through past threatening his own life and getting Elizabeth free. "And Com-" he cut himself off before he could reveal James's identity and no doubt sign his death sentence, "And James. None of them are to be harmed."
"Agreed." Barbossa said without argument, making her eyes narrow. Her suspicions were proved right when she was bodily dragged forward toward a plank that extended from the ship. James tried to grab her but she was pulled out of his reach.
"Barbossa, you lying pirate. You swore she'd go free." Will complained, even as he was restrained by the members of the Pearl's crew.
"Don't dare impugn me honor, boy. I agreed she'd go free. It was you who failed to specify when or where." Barbossa said with a dark grin and then leered as Elizabeth was led past him. "Though it does seem a shame to lose something so fine, don't it, lads? I had a real pretty dress you could have worn to entertain us in."
"I doubt it would have been to my tastes." Elizabeth said disdainfully, not bothering to even look at him as she walked to the end of the plank. She stood there a moment, squinting and searching for sharks or other possible dangers, fully aware that once she jumped off she was likely going to her death.
"Too long." Barbossa rebuked before soundly pushing her over the edge and eliciting a startled scream from his victim.
Even from the water she could hear the conversation that continued on.
"Jack! Did you not notice? That be the same island that we made you governor of on our last little trip."
"I did notice." Jack admitted.
"Perhaps you'll be able to conjure up another miraculous escape. But I doubt it. Off you go." Barbossa gestured for him to move ahead but Jack didn't move.
"Last time you left me a pistol with one shot."
"By the powers, you're right." Barbossa feigned shock. "Where be Jack's pistol? Bring it forward."
"Seeing as there's two of us," Jack pointed at Elizabeth in the water and at himself, "a gentleman would give us a pair of pistols."
"Ah and that's where you're mistaken." Barbossa promptly kicked Jack off the plank, sending the surprised pirate sprawling into the sea where he emerged coughing up the water he had accidentally swallowed.
"There will be three of you." Barbossa explained. A sharp gesture at his men had them dragging James up to the plank. "Woe be it for me to spoil your little family reunion. And it'll be one pistol as before." He shoved the discussed weapon into James's empty holster. "You can decide which you would prefer to shoot: your brother or his harlot, and then whoever is left can starve."
James too was promptly thrown overboard, but he at least seemed to expect it and was able to surface without too much drama. The three of them watched as the Pearl's anchor was lifted and the ship departed.
"That's the second time I've watched that man take my ship." Jack grumbled.
Small mercy, the island wasn't too much of a distance from where the Pearl had dropped anchor and Elizabeth's childhood misadventures at least meant she didn't struggle too much with the swim. Her father may never have approved of her teaching herself to swim in the Swann estate pond back in England, but she would be sure to inform him that those lessons had prevented her from drowning.
"This is kind of nice." Elizabeth said, resting her head against James's shoulder. They had done a brief inspection of the island and confirmed it was tiny and lacked any resources that might help them with their situation, then settled on the sand together to keep lookout for any ships that might pass by. "If you forget the whole marooned on a desert island with no escape part."
James gave her a sceptical look.
"Don't look so morose." She admonished. "We're on a beach and no one is currently trying to kill us. It's almost romantic."
Behind them Jack swore loudly as a crab he was poking managed to get its pincers around the offending finger.
"I did say almost." She added and felt pleased when her comment elicited a small smile. It was the first time she had seen her husband smile since they had been forcibly parted.
"It's not entirely hopeless," she said, attempting to sound reassuring. "Jack has been marooned here before, and he managed to escape. Surely he will have an idea of how we can do the same."
As much as she would have liked to spend some more time sitting on the sand, enjoying the first few moments of peace and calm she has had since hearing the news of James's disappearance, Elizabeth forced herself to get to her feet. Dusting off the sand on the back of her borrowed breeches, she marched over to Jack, who was now counting under his breath as he took large deliberate steps across the island. James scrambled up to join her and they watched in mutual bemusement as Jack revealed the hidden stores of rum which had sustained him until rescue the last time he had been on the island.
Elizabeth was unable to hide her disgust as the truth behind the legend was revealed, even as she caught the bottle Jack lobbed in her direction. Another one rapidly joined it, which James snatched out of the air and much to her surprise took a deep swig from. Poor darling, she thought after a moment, he had been through a rather trying ordeal. If anyone deserved a drink, it was him. She then spared a moment's thought for her own struggles and decided she too deserved a drink and took a pull from her own bottle. It was cheap and sweet, but the alcohol was pleasantly numbing. An idea occurred to her and she swept a calculating look over the stores. James caught her stare and tilted his head enquiringly. She gave him a tight-lipped smile and squeezed his hand. Trust me, she willed at him.
She arranged her face into a guileless expression and turned to Jack, raising the bottle to her lips and miming a sip. "Know any good sea shanties?"
To no one's surprise, it was easy to persuade Jack to get rollicking drunk. Elizabeth and James drank sparingly but certainly made a good pretence of keeping up with the pirate. It was rather liberating and fun to dance around the fire and sing silly pirate songs at the top of her lungs, while James looked on with a fond smile. Eventually Jack began to lose coordination and flopped into a pile in the sands, singing incomprehensively an especially vulgar song Elizabeth had never heard before. A little breathless from all the dancing, she re-joined James, taking a seat in the sand and curling into his side.
They watched together as Jack's singing gradually dropped off until it was eventually replaced by the sound of loud snoring.
"What is your plan, dearest?" James murmured, careful not to wake the sleeping pirate.
"Get the rum," she ordered her husband, "we're going to make a fire so huge they will see it from England."
Author's Note: Sorry it's late, I've been ill! I'm a complete sucker for the idea that James and Jack would actually get on really well- they have lots of big brother/little brother energy. I may or may not have toyed with the idea of an AU where they are siblings but it only comes to light in Dead Man's Chest where Jack is looking after post-breakdown James. "Sorry Lizzie, I'd love to help you but you did break my little brother's heart and someone needs to take his side."
