I own nothing. Least of all this.
CHAPTER THREE
The Dutchman leapt towards them, riding fury from the grave.
Between the two infamous ships lay the result of Calypso's vengeance: the Maelstrom. Somehow moved from its ordained location, and reappearing here. Directly in the middle of the coming battle. Silver smiled. There would be no running for Jones now; nothing the Maelstrom dragged down ever came back up. Not until Calypso released it herself. And that was something Silver would wager Jones would do his best to avoid. The Dutchman would not be diving today.
"BRACE UP YARDS, YA CACK-HANDED DECK APES! DYING IS THE DAY WORTH LIVING FOR!"
Barbossa's bellowing voice crashed to the beat of the waves, and the Pearl heaved forward to face its foe.
A cry from Turner. "She's on our stern, and gaining!"
Barbossa's voice cracked in reply. "More speed! Haul your wind and hold your water!"
The Dutchman's bow cannons cracked, splintering the helm, and blowing men into the water.
"Take us out, or they'll overbear us!"
Barbossa's hands never wavered. "Nay! We'll cut across to faster waters!"
Silver echoed the sentiment. "MAKE READY THE GUNS! RUN OUT THE SWEEPS!"
As the Dutchman fell behind in the slower swirls of the Maelstrom, Silver couldn't resist a laugh. The day worth living for indeed. Then again, he had always known he would die at sea. He just hadn't anticipated his meeting with Davy Jones to be quite this literal.
Just a little further…just a little more…
"FIII-RRRRE!"
"FIRE!"
"FIRE ALL!"
Cracks.
Booms.
Explosions.
The first broadsides were away.
The ship turned even further into the abyss. "It be too late to alter course now, mateys!"
Aye. That it was.
"Think like the whelp, think like the whelp, think like the whelp…half-pin barrel hinges."
Leverage.
A well-placed yank on a bench through the bars, and Jack was out of the brig. Now, to find the chest, and then the key.
"Wish us luck, boys."
"Halt there, or we'll shoot!"
A cannonball flew through the wall behind.
Jack pointed. "Good one!"
He swaggered over to the side table, and began strapping on his equipment. "Just come to get me effects!"
He spared a curious glance towards the two soldiers. "Admirable though it may be, why are you here, when you could be elsewhere?"
Mullroy piped up. "Someone has to stay and guard the chest."
The two realized that their aim had deviated from said chest, and swung their cannons back to point at it.
As they did so, Murtogg whispered back. "There's no question, there has been a severe break down of military discipline aboard this vessel."
"I blame the fish people."
"Oh! So fish people, by dint of being fish people…"
Jack grabbed the chest and strolled away, leaving the two to their…discussion.
Jim Hawkins watched the confrontation between Jones and Sparrow. It seemed his decision to place the pirate's weapons and gear in the same room as the chest was paying off. Sparrow had the chest, and with any luck, he would then get the key. If Silver never came, Jim would still do what had to be done, but it would be a good deal harder without his old friend watching his back.
Silver would understand. He always did.
There! Falling, tumbling, came the chest.
And there lay the key on the deck not far away, still clasped by the severed tentacle that held it.
Silver landed on the deck of the Dutchman. It wasn't pretty, but most things done on one leg aren't. That being said, Barbossa's idea of strapping a spare flintlock to his crutch for the swing over was definitely one of the best ideas he'd ever heard. And so effective at clearing a landing space.
Turner was already here, of course. Grappling with what Silver would hazard was his father, if Will's non-lethal attacks were any indicators. Good; one less distraction to worry about. Now, all Silver needed to find was…
Jim!
Holding the key, leaning over the chest. No. NO!
He would not let that boy be damned!
With a roar, Silver knocked Jim away with his crutch. The boy looked up at him with confusion in his eyes.
"No, Jim! I'll not let you do it!"
Jim drew his sword. "Can't you see? I have no choice!"
"There's always a choice, Jim!"
Jim's eyes hardened. "And you have made yours, then?"
Their first clash of steel cut clean to Silver's heart. "Aye lad. That I have."
"Then I will see you in Hell!"
Their fight began in earnest. "No, lad. Just in the Locker."
Swipe. "Can't you see? I have to do this!"
Lunge. "What, let yourself be cursed to this miserable existence?"
Parry. "You know the alternative would be worse!"
Had Jim really lost his way that much? "What alternative, lad? Ye've got a full life ahead of you! Admiral of the Fleet at your age! You can do whatever ye please!"
A roar of rage. "EXCEPT SAVE MY MOTHER!"
Jim's sword bit into his crutch as his guard faltered. "Yer…yer mother, Jim?"
Jim halted mid stroke. "They…they didn't tell you? Turner…Turner should have…I told him…"
A very bad feeling started growing in Silver's gut. "What did ye tell Turner, Jim?"
"They…he…Mother…she's dying, Silver."
"…On land, Jim?"
His sword dropped as he nodded. "At the Benbow."
"…And you think that if she were to die at sea, and you were Captain of the Dutchman…"
"Then I could bring her back…"
"Oh, Jim… That'd be no life for her. For either of you. The same thing that happened to Jones'd happen to you, matey. I'll not see that. I'd give my own life ta save you or your mother's, but I'll not let you do the same."
"You…you would?"
"Of course. We're shipmates, aren't we Jim? Gentlemen of fortune together?"
He ducked as Jim's sword swung above his head. "Never! It has to be me that saves her! We'll sail together! Forever! Not you, Silver!"
"…So be it, Admiral."
Jones looked from Swann to Turner, and then back again. A cruel grin stretched his face. "Ah! Love! Dreadful bond! And yet so easily severed!"
He stomped over to Turner's fallen form, and held his sword up to the boy's neck. "Tell me, William Turner: do you fear Death?"
"Do you?!"
Sparrow. Holding the heart in his hand. "Heady tonic, holding the power of life and death in the palm of one's hand."
A look of fury from Jones. "Yer a cruel man, Jack Sparrow."
"Cruel is a matter of per…OOF!"
Jones watched as Sparrow toppled over, kicked from behind. Beckett's dog stood over the man, the groaning form of Silver in his wake. He reached down, retrieved both the heart and the blade, and held them back up. "Lost something, Captain?"
"Not for long, pup!" And Jones lunged at the Admiral.
Jones' sword caught the blade in it's downward path, twisting it away, leaving Hawkins holding only the heart. Jones raised his sword to deal the final blow, and…
Went down to William Turner, Senior. Hawkins scrambled to retrieve the blade, grabbed the handle…and a boot came down on the tip. He looked up into the pistol barrel of Sparrow.
"I'll be taking that heart, mate."
Hawkins grinned. "You're forgetting, Sparrow. You wasted your shot."
THUMP!
Hawkins went spinning to the deck, Silver's crutch catching him in the ear. Turner staggered from the effort, and leaned back on the crutch. "He didn't waste it."
Jack bent down once more for the heart and the blade, and then paused. Finally, after a moment, he offered them to Will. "Your choice, mate."
Will sighed. "No, Jack. I've made my choice." He grinned in Elizabeth's direction. "Now you can make yours."
Jack gave a shrug, and readied the knife.
"NOOOOO!"
Jack blinked. When had Elizabeth moved in front of him? And…what…oh…oh no…
Jones' sword was sticking half-a foot out of her stomach.
She saw him looking down, and did the same. "Oh…blood…"
She collapsed in his arms.
No…no, this wasn't supposed to happen, no, not his Lizzy…
In the background, he watched as Jones choked the life out of Will. Bootstrap was gone, probably lost to the Maelstrom. There…
There was only one thing he could do.
Jack watched as the Dutchman sank into the deeps. Hauling around an unconscious Will while flying was getting to be a bit tiring; he hoped the Pearl would be…practically on top of them. Excellent.
Now, where was Beckett…
Directly in front of them. As expected.
Gibbs seemed to be in quite the tizzy. "…I think it's time we observed that noblest and oldest of pirate traditions!"
"…I've never actually been one for tradition. Captain Barbossa!"
"Aye, Captain Sparrow!"
"Lord Beckett has an appointment with the Devil! I'd hate for him to miss it. You have command."
That seemed to stagger Barbossa for a moment. "…Aye, aye Captain!"
Gibbs was practically wringing his hands. "Jack! What's gotten into you?"
Jack's grin faltered. "…She's dead, Gibbs. Elizabeth's dead."
Gibbs' face went pale. "No…no, it couldn't be…"
"And I intend to make sure that young Turner will not be joining her. Get him below-decks; I'll be joining you directly."
And he would. He trusted Hook (now wasn't that a thought!) to take care of the rest of the fleet. All he needed to know was if he had succeeded. If there was even a glimmer of hope…
A swell. A breach.
Jack grinned. The Dutchman had survived. But who was the captain? His telescope up to his eye…
He'd know that blonde hair anywhere.
Her hand on the helm, her voice strong enough to crack oak…
And it looked like Silver was taking the brunt of her orders. Served him right for giving Hawkins that opening.
"Captain Barbossa! I recommend seeing for yourself…"
"I SEE IT, YA BLITHERING IDIOT! FULL CANVAS!"
Jack gladly repeated the order. "Full canvas!"
As the Dutchman and Pearl swung alongside each other, Jack's eye turned on Beckett.
One of Silver's favorite shanties came to mind.
"Only one man of the crew alive, what put to sea with seventy-five…"
The battle was over.
Now the war was beginning.
Hook watched as the enemy ships began to turn away. Oh, no. There would be none of that on his watch.
"MISTER SMEE!"
"Aye Captain!"
"The crew's been singing the song long enough. It's time for the final verse."
Smee's pale face went just a little whiter. "…The final verse, cap'n?"
"Those are me orders, Mister Smee."
"…Aye, aye, sir. The final verse. Men! All together now!"
And Hook leaned back in his throne and smiled as the voices rang out over the sea.
"My heart is pierced by cupid, I disdain all glittering gold, there is nothing can console me, but my Jolly Sailor Bold…"
Silver couldn't believe his eyes. He wasn't sure he wanted to.
Every last ship of the enemy fleet was being dragged to the depths, and crushed into nothing but splinters. Not by a Kraken; not by a Sea-serpent; no, by something far, far worse.
By Mermaids.
By thunder, what had Hook done?
He shuddered as the cries of those unfortunate souls echoed over the waves. He was sure they would follow him into his dreams that night.
A hand clasped his shoulder in a shared thankfulness that today, those devils were not their enemies. "This ship will be busy for quite a while, I think."
"Aye, Jim. Quite busy, indeed."
"…I just wanted to thank you. You did what you thought best. You always have. Which makes you a better man than I."
"No, Jim. I would never have dreamed of doing what you were willing to do."
They stood there in silence for some time.
Then, a flash of inspiration struck Silver. "Captain Turner!"
Elizabeth turned to look at the old pirate. "Aye, bosun?"
"Several matters have come to my attention that perhaps ye'd be willing to assist in…"
Her eyes darted between Jim and himself. "…He told you?"
"Aye, lass. During the fight."
"…For what it's worth, it was the King's orders."
"I understand, lass. I wouldnae have told me either."
She turned her gaze back to the Pearl. "…Perhaps I can help you, Admiral Hawkins. But first, there is someone I must attend to."
"Will. The one time my back is turned, and you manage to get your leg nearly taken off."
Will smiled up at her from the cot. "Let's just be thankful it wasn't something a little more important."
"How's your neck?"
Will reached up to pull back the bandages. "Not as bad as a failed hanging, or so I'm told. But giant crab claws are nothing to laugh about."
"No, no I don't suppose they are. Soooo…any idea when you'll be able to walk again?"
"If I'm lucky, a few months. I'm sorry…"
"It's not your fault."
He looked up at her with those eyes. "But it is. Ten years, Elizabeth. It should have been me…it should have."
"But it isn't Will. And we'll just have to…make do."
She turned, and began to walk away.
"Elizabeth…"
She stopped.
"…You jumped in front of Jack. Why?"
She couldn't lie to him. Not now. "I chose you, Will. That doesn't mean…."
He finished her sentence. "That you stopped loving him."
"…No."
"…I understand. Thank you. For telling me."
She left. And she didn't look back.
Here they all were. Silver, Swann (Turner, now), Sparrow, Barbossa, Hawkins, and the rest.
Hook bowed to them all. "Good form, shipmates. Good form."
He replaced his hat. "So, what now shall you all do, now that the storm is passed?"
Silver and Hawkins shared a look. "…I believe we have an appointment at a certain inn, Captain Hook. That is if Captain Turner will be kind enough to give us a berth."
"It would be my pleasure, gentlemen."
Hook turned to the two remaining Lords. "And what of the Black Pearl? Shall you be sharing the captaincy?"
Sparrow spoke first. "Actually, if it pleases your Nibs, I believe Master Turner and I have some rather urgent business to attend to, so I shall be leaving the Pearl in the hands of my…learned…colleague for the foreseeable future."
Everyone couldn't have looked more flabbergasted, Hook included. "…Well, then. If there are no further matters to be brought to the Brethren Court's attention…."
All head around shook vigorously "no".
"…Then get the Hell off my ship. Take what you can."
The chorus responded. "GIVE NOTHING BACK!"
A few months later….
Silver watched as the woman that could only be Hawkins' mother climbed aboard the Dutchman. Her shaking hand held up her dress in a curtsy to the Captain.
"Now, now, none of that Madam. Your son is the one you should be thanking. He has done everything he could for you."
A quivering voice replied. "He always was a good lad, ma'am."
"Yes. And now, despite all odds, he has brought me here for one simple purpose."
"…And that would be, ma'am?"
"To ask you one simple question…"
Silver held his breath.
"…Do you fear Death?"