The door opened and the First Mate walked in, though he nearly jumped at the sight of his captain.
"I thought I said 'go away'." Jack sighed.
"Jack, ye can't hide in here forever." Gibbs told him. "You look awful just after one day."
"So?"
"The crew's tired of Barbossa as captain, Jack. We need you out there."
"Hector's doing a fine job." He shrugged.
"That's not what the real Jack would say." The First Mate grumbled.
"Well, blame Miss Swann for that." Jack said in a toneless voice. "She's the reason most of this has happened."
"So it's true, Jack?" Gibbs gaped. "She really killed ye?"
"Left me for kraken meat, actually, but yes."
"How'd she do it?"
"That doesn't matter." He scowled. "All that matters is that she did it."
Gibbs sighed, reaching his hand down towards him. Jack took it and was pulled to his feet.
"We need to get you back to your old self…" The man grumbled. "I'll be right back."
"I'd rather ye don't." He muttered in reply.
Gibbs rolled his eyes. He left the cabin, but before the door closed Jack caught a glimpse of him talking to young Will Turner. Then the door closed.
*X*
Jack looked up from his desk chair and raised his eyebrows as Will and Gibbs entered. The First Mate carried a tray of food over to the table and set it down. Jack looked at it, uninterested.
"You need to eat, Jack." Will told him.
"Don't order me around, Mr. Turner." He retorted. He wanted to add because I'm the captain here into that statement, but he remembered that Barbossa was. "Not in the mood."
"Too bad." The lad replied. "You should eat, unless you're trying to starve yourself."
"Not hungry." Jack crossed his arms, leaning back in the chair. His stomach growled. "Nice bloody timing…"
Gibbs snorted in obvious amusement. "Ye need to eat."
"Don't really care, mate." He replied. He tipped the chair back a little farther. Too far. He felt it falling over and the back of the chair slammed into the ground. "Ow. Didn't expect that." He got up on unsteady legs and put the chair back on its legs, sticking it under the table. "Why're ye both in here anyway? I'm fine! I could take the wheel, if I wanted."
"Which you don't want to do." Will sighed, rolling his eyes. "And that proves that you're not doing too well."
"Am too!" Jack lied, wanting them to leave.
"If ye were fine, Jack, ye'd be drinking rum." Gibbs said, pointing underneath the bed.
"How long did ye know that was there?" He grumbled.
"Jack." Will almost shouted.
Reluctantly, Jack looked his way. "What?"
"What happened to you?" The young man asked. "You weren't like this before-"
"Before I died." He finished. "I know."
"What happened in the Locker to make ye this way?" Gibbs spoke up.
"Nothing." Jack told him truthfully. "That's the thing. Nothing happened. Have you ever lived in a world where nothing else existed, Mr. Gibbs? Have you?"
"N-no, Jack." The First Mate seemed utterly shocked.
"Then you have no idea what the Locker's like, mate." He said in a quiet voice. "No idea how bad it is."
"Jack." Will cleared his throat. "Back when we rescued you-"
"Ye mean when I rescued all of you."
"Well, when that happened you said that one of us succeeded in killing you. You looked to Elizabeth and blamed her for something. What did she do to you?"
"She tricked me." Jack answered as he finally gave in, sagging his shoulders. "She chained me to the mast. I got free, but the beast was right there. The Kraken was right there."
Will looked genuinely shocked. "Do you know why she chained you to the mast?"
"Aye. I do." He nodded. "The beast was always after me-not the Pearl, not any of you. Me. She figured it out and left me for dead. She tricked me to save her own skin!"
"That's what pirates do, Jack." The lad reminded him. "You used to do it all the time, remember?"
"Oh…right." Jack sighed. "Well...I thought you two came in to motivate me, not make me even less cooperable."
"Don't change the subject!" Will demanded.
He flinched. "You're not the captain, mate. Can't order me around."
"Neither are you." He retorted. "Barbossa is the captain."
"Enough." Gibbs scowled, pulling Will away from Jack. "I'm the First Mate, so I can order both of ye around." He turned to the lad. "Will, I brought you in here to help me, lad."
"Aye…" The young pirate nodded, remembering. "Sorry. Got carried away."
"Obviously." Jack rolled his eyes from nearby.
"Shut it!" Gibbs snapped at him.
He jumped backwards a bit, startled. He never knew the older man to be harsh like that. Jack raised his hands innocently, glaring at him strangely.
"Will, go wait outside, you're not helping anything." Gibbs ordered.
"Alright." Will consented, walking towards the door.
Once he was gone, Gibbs turned back to him. "What's wrong with ye, Jack?"
"Pretty much everything." He shrugged. "Everything since I was killed anyway."
"In a few days, we'll be reaching Shipwreck Cove." The man told him. "You're one of the pirate lords, Jack. We need you to act normal during the meeting. What will it take to make you normal?"
"Don't know, mate. Maybe this is the new normal."
