Disclaimer: I don't own POTC. Title is an awesome poem by Robert Frost.

Chapter 17: Fire and Ice

The argument between Jack and Will was at its very peak. There had been an unbelievable tension between the two ever since Jack's "whim" to go to Colombia, which had not fooled Will for one second. Will announced early that day that he would be moving back to Port Royale with Cadence and that Annie, the children, and the Thatchers were more than welcome to accompany him as the Quartermaine estate "was in danger of being plagued by watchful eyes".

This said, arguments broke out everywhere. The only neutral parties were Cadence, who was too young to understand anything but all the anger, and Camille, who sat silently through all of this. Jack and Ana Maria were by no means civil about anything that was exchanged, and nearly got into a fistfight over it. Gabriel sided with Jack, Gretchen with Will and Ana Maria, and even Priscilla was getting into it. Annie was all for going to Port Royale to get Peter and Sheila out of any harm's way, but was torn between Jack, whom she had come to admire very much since the passing of Master Quartermaine. Peter, of course, wanted to go with Jack, and poor little Sheila was torn between her mother and brother.

Nobody even noticed that Camille had slipped away outback with Cadence, and the two sat among the gardens now. "I don't like all of this fighting," Camille said.

Cadence was wandering among the flowers. "Daddy says no fighting," she said, bringing Camille a small flower.

She smiled. "Thank you, darling." I can't be…I don't feel like a pirate. I can't possibly be a pirate. I killed a man, but I've killed men before in self defense. He was a threat to me…In her head she was trying to rationalize her actions.

"Cadence! Cadence, where are you?" It was Will; he was walking up to the gardens. As Cadence ran to him, he knelt down to pick her up. "We are leaving, to Port Royale. A coach is going to be here very soon," he told her.

Camille sighed. She had to say something. "Will, please don't go away angry."

"And how am I supposed to leave, Camille?" he exploded, holding onto his daughter tightly. "Shall I pretend that things are exactly as they were before this morning?"

"He's only trying to protect you. This is very serious, he doesn't want to put you at risk."

"So instead the both of you choose to shut me out completely from giving any sort of help at all? Fine course of action," he barked sarcastically, turning around and exiting the gardens.

"Jack doesn't have many people that are close to him, Will," she said, choosing her words carefully. "He's got you, and Ana Maria and perhaps Gibbs. But other than that-"

"And now he's got you. Perhaps you'll always be there to soothe his broken ego when he's lost everything."

At this, Camille stopped. She watched Will and Cadence walking away. Every nerve ending in her body was telling her to just confide in him, even if it did mean putting him at risk. Jack's reasoning couldn't be her basis for every decision she made from now on.

She ran up to him, pulling him close and turning him around to face her. "It's the Devil's Dowry," she said in a low voice.

His eyes widened. "The Mark?"

She nodded. "Yes, we all have it. All of us who were on The Rune. We accidentally kept a piece of the treasure."

"And by saying 'we' you mean Jack?"

"He didn't want to tell you, he doesn't want anyone else involved. Gretchen and Priscilla don't even know. We don't know how to tell them."

"But Ana Maria knows. She kept trying to hit Jack, and she kept saying that it was his stupid greed that had gotten him into this. You could tell her about the Mark," Will accused angrily.

"She was there, and she saw it! She happened to be in the wrong place, at the wrong time. Will, I wanted to tell you and it killed me not to."

"But you didn't. Because Jack didn't want you to," he said coldly.

"Well, I am telling you now. And don't credit Jack with everything that I do." She put her hands over Cadence's ears for the next sentence. "Just because I'm sleeping with him does not mean he owns me or my conscience," she said fiercely.

"Yes, fine. So what did that man have to do with anything?"

"He said that the Mark was calling to 'them'. It can't be a good sign. We've got to leave for Colombia as soon as possible, which is probably today," she informed him.

"You and the Thatchers?"

She nodded. "Aye. All of us who were with Silver and the treasure."

"And who's going to protect you?"

She looked at him, dumbfounded for a moment. "No. Will, no," she said sternly, pointing a finger at him. "There is absolutely no way in hell you are coming. You are staying behind. What if the house gets attacked again?"

"It won't. The only ones being hunted are the five of you. Cadence would be fine, and so would Annie and the children. And the way things are looking, most likely Ana Maria would be staying behind as well."

"Will, you can't."

"And how do you plan on stopping me?" he said defiantly.

She threw her arms around him, beginning to sob. "Please don't go!" she begged him. "Please, I couldn't bear to lose you."

He held her with his free arm as Cadence hugged her as well. She could feel Will calm down. "All right, I'll stay," he said gently. "But if I get the slightest suspicion that something has-"

"Get your hands off her," Jack said rudely. He was standing just outside. She pulled back to see what was going on and he took her arm. "We're boarding the Pearl."

"Now? Jack, wait…" Camille said. She loosened herself from his grip. "You're not leaving Port Celebros a raging volcano like this. The two of you," she said, gesturing to the both of them, "are going to stop bickering like little boys and be men about this disagreement. Savvy?"

"I have nothing to say," Jack said stubbornly. Will rolled his eyes.

"He knows about the Mark," Camille said, causing Jack's anger to reflect onto her now.