As Long as We Both Shall Live
Chapter 5
When Jack finally awoke to the acrid smell of smoke, he was visibly distraught at the loss of his precious drink. They both ignored his complaints as the Dauntless dropped anchor and they boarded the ship. James was immediately whisked off by Groves and Gillette, Elizabeth privately feeling a little sorry for them as she could hear her husband rebuking them even from several feet away, both looking like guilty schoolboys being told off by a headmaster. Much to her surprise, her father was there and made quick work of fussing over her and complaining about her mode of dress.
"Sparrow!" James called out, once he was done reprimanding his subordinates. "We'll need the heading to Isla de Muerta. With haste, if you wouldn't mind. I believe Mr Turner's life depends on it."
"Commodore Norrington, is that wise?" Her father asked to her fury.
"Father! How can you-"
James cut across her before she could really get started on the tirade she was thinking up. "Mr Turner is a subject of the crown," he said firmly, "and those pirates need dealing with before they can cause any more harm." Clearly considering the matter to be closed, he gestured impatiently at Jack who quickly joined his side, already pulling out the broken compass and squinting at the direction the arrow pointed.
The Governor's nerves were clearly frayed from the worry and the journey, bless him he had never enjoyed sea travel, taking him by the arm she accompanied him back to his cabin and plied him with brandy until he calmed enough to sleep. Covering him with a blanket, she quietly slipped from the room and made her way to the Captain's quarters. She had felt the ship turning during their conversation and guessed that Jack had been able to give them the heading. There were matters she needed to discuss with James before they arrived.
As expected, James was in the captain's quarters and already looking much more like himself. He had changed into a clean uniform, tidied his hair and shaved off the scruff, once again every inch the imposing military commander he was. Unable to help a smile even under the circumstances, Elizabeth crossed the room and leaned up to press a light kiss to his lips.
"You look better." She said, cupping his face with one hand. A mischievous grin lit up her face. "Although I must admit the beard was growing on me."
"I would offer you a dress if we had one onboard, but I imagine you would turn it down." James joked lightly. "How is your father?" He asked more seriously.
"Resting." She felt her smile falter and her countenance turned grim. "I don't think the marines will believe us about the curse."
"No." He looked thoughtful. "But it shouldn't matter, by the time we get there they may have broken the curse."
"Not if they know we are coming." She bit her lip. "I think Jack has his own plan for when we arrive. His feud with Barbossa is personal. He will want an opportunity to kill Barbossa himself. I don't trust him to save Will or not to betray us if he thinks there's an advantage to be had."
"What do you propose?"
"I will keep an eye on Jack. If he leaves the ship, I will as well."
James immediately began to protest, but she silenced him with a raised hand and a biting look. "There are a lot of pirates on that island, too many for Jack to take on alone. I doubt Barbossa is honourable enough to consider a fair duel to settle their differences. If I were in Jack's shoes, I would do something to draw as many pirates away from the treasure caves as possible."
"Increase the odds." James murmured.
"Exactly. My bet? That he would warn Barbossa about the navy ship outside. If they haven't broken the curse yet, Barbossa can send the pirates out to kill us with no fear. If they have broken the curse, then Jack telling them won't make a difference other than us losing the advantage of surprise. We still outnumber them."
"So we don't let Sparrow leave and just storm the caves?"
Elizabeth shook her head. "We don't know if the curse will have been broken yet. If it hasn't been broken, then the navy storming in there will only complicate matters. It will be more difficult to find Will and the medallion, then get his blood on the medallion and put it back into the chest. Can you imagine trying to get that done when there's a battle raging?"
"True enough." He rubbed his jaw. "How does all this add up to you leaving the safety of the Dauntless?"
"If my suspicions are correct, there will be a lot more pirates attacking the ship than in the caves." She pointed out. "Someone needs to make sure the curse is broken if we stand any chance at winning." He still didn't look convinced. "I'm not helpless, James." She said gently. "I managed to sneak in and rescue you undetected, didn't I? I won't risk myself unnecessarily. I have my pistols and a sword. You taught me to use both. I can defend myself."
"This isn't exactly what I had in mind when I agreed to teach you." James pointed out, and for a moment she thought he might refuse. "But I can't deny your argument has merits."
An agreement, delivered with no small amount of reluctance. To know that he trusted her and her abilities – it filled her with warmth and she was briefly overwhelmed by how much she loved this silly stubborn man. She leaned up on her toes to push her forehead against his, slinking her arms around his waist so she could hold him close and feel the reassuring thump of his heartbeat.
"Just think," she said softly, smiling with her eyes closed, "when all this is over and we're back home and safe," she refused to even entertain the thought that one or both of them might not make it back, "you can fuss over me all you want and we can start working on those babies my father has been nagging me about."
She felt the reverberation of his chest as he chuckled. "He's been pestering you about it as well?"
Her eyes opened wide with surprise and she leaned back from him utterly scandalised. "He's spoken to you about it?" The image of her father so prim and proper going to James's office for tea to question when he planned on doing his proper son-in-law duties and providing him with grandchildren was utterly mortifying. She was never really one for embarrassment but she could feel herself turning red.
"I imagine he was a bit more subtle asking me about it than you." James teased. "I had to pretend I didn't know what he was alluding to and make up a non-existent appointment to get away."
Elizabeth groaned aloud.
"If it really bothers you," James began with a mischievous glint in his eye, "you could always tell him that you wanted to enjoy being married for a few years before having all your time taken up by a 'screaming infant'." He quoted her words from back then without an ounce of shame.
Elizabeth smacked his arm none-too-gently in rebukement. "You wanted that too, remember?" She accused laughingly. "I can't tell Father that! I could never look him in the eye again. Neither could you for that matter, which I imagine would make carrying out your duties rather difficult."
She sobered rather quickly as she remembered that her dear beloved father was still onboard the ship. And with that, the reality they faced came crashing back down, interrupting what had been up to that point a rather lovely moment with her husband after so many days of worrying and fear.
"You will keep him safe, won't you?" She asked, even though she already knew the answer.
James pressed a kiss to her hair. "I'll lock him in a room, far away from any fighting." He promised.
Jack was already gone by the time she left James's office. She cursed under her breath as she discreetly made her way around the ship to try to sneak off. There was a moment where she feared she might be caught as a marine rounded a corner where she was trying to climb over the railing, but James's voice sounded clear over the din as he called the navy man over to check some knotting.
Relieved, she dropped down into a rowboat and adjusted the mechanism to lower it into the water. While a part of her instinctively wanted to go straight to the cave to save her childhood friend, reason won out and she instead headed for the Pearl to free the crew. She gave what she thought was a rallying speech only to realise that despite her aid none of them were willing to help her with her task.
"Bloody pirates." She cursed to herself as she rowed alone to the cave.
Inside was a scene she could never even have dreamed of. Just as she had predicted, the majority of Barbossa's crew were busy fighting the navy on the Dauntless but not all of them had gone. Barbossa and a handful had remained and were engaged in a fight with Will and Jack. Most horrifying of all was when one of them stood below the rays of moonlight that pierced the cave. The light seemed to melt away their flesh, leaving stark white bones. This was the curse James had spoken of, she realised.
She couldn't dwell too long on it and immediately jumped into the fray to help Will who was facing off against two of the pirates. Jack seemed to have Barbossa under control, although she couldn't think how one of them might be able to best the other considering they both seemed to be suffering from the curse's immortality. Together they managed – not to kill, but certainly to incapacitate the two pirates by impaling them on a long stick.
A gunshot rang out and for a moment Elizabeth feared for herself or Will. To her surprise, it had been Jack's pistol that had sounded off. Barbossa rolled his eyes.
"You've carried that one-shot for the last ten years and you waste it now." He bemoaned.
"He didn't waste it." Will called out, drawing everyone's attention to where he stood over the chest of coins, a bloodied in his hand. He dropped the coin with no further fanfare.
When Barbossa dropped to the ground, the apple falling from his limp grasp and the faintest of smiles on his face, Elizabeth felt a brief flash of pity for the man. He had finally regained his mortality and had only been able to enjoy it for a moment. It was a fleeting feeling, quickly overcome with worry for James and the rest of the crew of the Dauntless. Will and Jack both appeared unharmed from the clash, except for the minor gashes across each of their palms.
The trio made their way back to the Dauntless, Jack lingering at the back as though reluctant to return. Aboard the ship, the crew of the Pearl either lay dead on the deck or were clapped in irons with the disposition of men who knew that a noose awaited them. The marines looked shaken but triumphant, none more so than James who visibly sagged in relief when he saw her alive and unharmed. Uncaring for any eyes watching them, he enveloped Elizabeth in a warm embrace which she returned with a relieved laugh.
Her good cheer was short-lived after James pulled away and nodded at two nearby marines. With grim looks on their faces they placed shackles on Jack. The pirate did not look surprised at his arrest, only resigned, as though he expected nothing else from the men whose lives he had likely helped save.
"What are you doing?" Elizabeth demanded of her husband furiously. "He helped save your life, surely that is deserving of clemency?"
"Someone needs to take the blame for the Interceptor." James said resolutely. "Would you rather I arrest you or perhaps Mr Turner? Mr Sparrow knew that his chosen career came with this risk."
"Elizabeth, be reasonable." Her father said beseechingly.
Seeing that neither of them could be convinced, Elizabeth sent one last furious glare at her husband and stormed back to the Captain's Quarters, where she promptly locked the door behind her. After a few hours, she heard the doorknob begin to turn, only to stop once it became clear the door would not open. She thought that James might try to speak to her, most likely in an attempt to plead his case rather than changing his mind, but he seemed to think better of it.
A little while later there was a tentative knock on the door. "Mrs Norrington?" A young man's voice asked plaintively. One of the younger boys serving on the Dauntless, she assumed. Perhaps they thought her less likely to be cruel to him. "I've brought you something to eat."
A part of her wanted to petulantly shout through the door that she wasn't hungry, but she reconsidered it. If she refused the food it would only make James and her father worry, which she wouldn't have cared about (they deserved worse), but they would probably both come and bother her and fuss, and she didn't want to speak to either of them at the moment.
Elizabeth unlocked and swung open the door, glaring imperiously down at the young boy they had sent. He was holding a tray with shaking hands and looked at her as though she was a viper about to strike. Taking pity on him, god knew what stories he had heard about her (especially in the past few days), she took the tray from him and jerked her head to indicate he should leave. He fled with considerably less dignity than the navy would have liked, which did make her smile.
They arrived back at Port Royal in the late morning. James had not made another attempt at the door and presumably had commandeered one of the officer cabins or taken a hammock in the crew quarters. Good, she thought viciously, she hoped he had slept badly.
Eager to be back home where she could ignore James more effectively, Elizabeth had not needed any inducement to leave the cabin as soon as she realised they were docking. On deck, her father attempted to speak to her but she looked resolutely ahead and paid him no attention. After a few more halting attempts he elapsed into silence.
James personally escorted the shackled Captain Sparrow off the ship. Once he handed him over to the marines waiting on the docks, he turned to head back to the ship and accidentally bumped into Jack.
"Watch where you're walking, pirate." James sneered.
There was an odd look of surprise on Jack's face before he rapidly schooled it into neutrality. Elizabeth did not have time to question it before James was taking her arm and briskly walking towards the carriage that would take them home.
When the news came the next day about Jack's escape, Elizabeth was finally able to put two and two together. She had spent the night in her own bedchambers, still angry with James for going ahead with the arrest and planned execution. Estrella had told her the news when bringing her breakfast. Not bothering with a morning coat, Elizabeth leapt out of bed and immediately went to find James in his study.
"You slipped Jack the key." She accused with a wide grin.
"I did not such thing." He denied, sipping casually on a cup of tea. "He must have picked my pocket. Pirates are notorious for having light fingers." Despite his claims there was a very small smile on his face that confirmed the true account of events.
It was a relief to know her husband wasn't as cold-hearted as he sometimes pretended to be. That he could bend the rules if given enough reason to. He had pushed his chair away from his desk when she had entered, and she moved over to slip into his lap. His arms came around her waist to support her.
"Just admit it, you liked him." She sang teasingly.
"There are far worse pirates out there." He conceded, which may as well have been an admission. "Although I hope you won't be upset when I say I hope to never lay eyes on him again."
"You did well to put up with him for as long as you did." Her smile fell slightly. "I'm sorry I didn't have more faith in you to do the right thing."
"Don't be sorry." He pressed a light kiss to the corner of her lips. "It was all too tempting to leave him to die. I won't be surprised if he makes me regret it at some point in the future."
Elizabeth giggled and leaned in for a proper kiss. "I didn't get the chance to welcome you home properly." She said remorsefully once they parted, fussing with the collar of his shirt. "I was busy being cross with you."
"I know. I slept very poorly." He said, managing to look very sorry for himself.
"Poor darling." She dropped one shoulder to allow the sleeve of her nightdress to slip down slightly, exposing her collarbone. "Perhaps you would like to come back to bed with me? I would be a very poor wife if I didn't see to it that you have recovered properly from your ordeal."
"Well, we couldn't have anyone thinking you a poor wife." He stood up suddenly, picking her up out of his lap and holding her close to his chest. "Although I'm not sure how restful your inspection will be."
The End
Author's Note: And that's the end of this fic! I don't think I'll be writing a sequel, although if I had it would involve Beckett interrupting the christening of James and Elizabeth's child instead of the wedding, and Weatherby ending up being left holding the baby as his/her parents go on adventuring shenanigans. I am working on some other AUs, although with my chronic inability to finish anything I'm not sure which/if any will be posted but I do put excerpts on my Tumblr so feel free to check those out if you're interested. Thank you to everyone who commented/liked/supported this fic :)
