A/N: I've spent the past five hours at a Pirate themed sweet 16, and now that I'm home, curled up in front of my computer in my pajamas, feeling like I may have overdosed on POTC after watching 1 and 2 consecutively, I've decided that I've been trying to write this next chapter all wrong. I wanted comic relief involving Jack, but it just doesn't fit with what needs to be discussed now, there will be plenty of time for dark humor later, so it'll wait. I tried to add a little into this one, but at the same time, I tried to give Jack a more serious side because 1) I'm not a huge Jack fan so I'm not stuck on his character 2) my friend who acts as a beta also helps me with Jack and 3) He deserves to not be a stock character, he deserves a change. I can only hope you guys like my attempt at serious Jack as well. As always, let me know what you think. Any advice is appreciated, even if you just want to vent about how bad my grammar is. Thanks.
Her body was damp and heavy in his arms as he tried to maneuver out of the small rowboat and onto the much larger expanse of ship that lay in front of him. It wasn't helping that the atmosphere on the Black Pearl was the complete opposite of that of the Flying Dutchman, with the whole crew assembled on the deck despite the late hour. He could feel all eyes on him as he swung one leg over the side of the boat, letting his balance return before lifting the other and silently praying that his boot would not catch on the edge of the boat causing him to trip, or, even worse, drop Elizabeth. He somehow managed to not wake her as he stepped onto the deck, his legs shaking slightly from having been seated for so long, and he could finally let himself relax, even if this was just the beginning of many strenuous tasks that loomed ahead. He looked back down to Elizabeth fast asleep in his arms as she felt her soft moan vibrate against his chest, and he watched as her hand curled into a fist around the material of his shirt, nestling herself into his arms as much as possible. She looked so vulnerable, so childlike in his arms, that he was grateful to have an excuse to look away for just a moment when he heard his name called.
"William Turner. I don't believe that it is truly you." The booming voice of the captain he had once feared before he learned to trust him with not only his life but that of his wife's brought a smile to his face as he nodded in acknowledgement. Hector Barbossa was right to not believe that it was Will, there was no way to communicate with the Flying Dutchman and therefore no one aboard the Pearl would know just when Elizabeth would return and if she would be alone. It had been his father's idea to leave in the middle of the night, both of them not knowing how the crew would take the news that they were going to be straying from their normal task in an attempt to alleviate the pain their captain had been feeling, but neither Barbossa nor Jack knew that the couple would return at such an hour, even if they had been helping Elizabeth with this endeavor from its conception.
Will spoke softly after a moment, trying in vain not to wake her from her deep slumber, knowing that the exhaustion she had endured for so long was not good for her or their unborn child. "I know, Captain Barbossa. It's hard for me to believe as well. I really do want to talk with you about Elizabeth's contrivance, but I would like to place her in her quarters first." Barbossa gave him a small nod as he watched the young man move away, trying to attain what he could from Will's demeanor. He didn't know if he should expect to see a broken man or one that had been hardened by the cards he had been handed. The only thing clear so far, as he slowly made his way down the steps that led to the depths of the ship below, was that his love for the woman somnolent in his arms was still as strong as the day he had married the two of them in their less than conventional ceremony. And if anything, it made him start to have second thoughts about the journey they were about to set out on.
Will took his time as he gently settled Elizabeth's body onto the bed in the tiny closet-sized room she now occupied. No one had told him where she was staying because he could have found the room in his sleep, for it was the same room she had claimed as her own the first time she sailed on the Black Pearl without being a captive. He felt the way she reluctantly pulled her arms away from his shirt, as if she didn't want to be far away from him even in her unconscious state. He brushed a strand of hair off her clammy forehead before slowly removing the heavy gown she had been wearing, leaving her in the soft cotton slip-dress she always accompanied all of her gowns with. He left a soft 'I love you' lingering in her ear as he bent down to leave the soft whisper of a kiss on her lips, letting his other hand subconsciously graze her abdomen. When he was finally satisfied that she was safe and would not be worried to find herself alone when she awoke, he headed out of the confines of the bedroom still completely submersed in darkness only to feel a rough hand grab his arm. Before he could shout out in anger, annoyance, fear, or panic, a second weathered hand clamped over his mouth and his captor spun him roughly around so he could not identify the person.
He stumbled as the person behind him guided him roughly into the common quarters below deck , not letting him go until the door had been barricaded by one of the chairs that usually sat beside the small table in the center of the room. The room was dimly lit by lanterns on the walls, contrasting the intense light of the hallway outside, and it took a minute for his eyes to adjust to the darkness that now surrounded him, but he would have recognized his captor anywhere. "Jack!? Do you really think that was necessary!?"
Jack responded with a Cheshire grin and a wave of his hand as he moved to sit on one of the empty chairs around the table, crossing his legs as if to show that he wasn't planning on moving anytime soon. "Of course it was. Why else would I have done it?" Will opened his mouth to respond, but Jack only flashed him the same smile as he gestured dramatically towards the chair opposite himself. "William, please, sit." He did not speak again until the other man had reluctantly dropped onto the hard wooden seat of the other chair, and Jack leaned forward on his elbows, taking a long drink from the bottle of rum on the table before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and talking once again, his voice only slightly slurred. "We both know that Captain Barbossa is going to want to know what you and your love have planned now, small details that make him feel like he's a part of your conspiracy. But, you see, I want to know what made dear Lizzie finally listen to me and decide to take part in this contrivance. And who better to tell me than my good ol' friend, Will?"
Will shifted uncomfortably in the chair under the other man's sharp gaze, his teeth grazing the soft flesh of his bottom lip for only a moment as he searched his mind for an excuse, any excuse at all. It wasn't that he and Elizabeth had vowed not to tell anyone about the child they were going to have, for his father already knew, but informing Jack of her pregnancy did not seem to be the same thing in the least. Elizabeth had kept it a secret from Jack and Barbossa both for her own reasons, and he didn't feel like he was at liberty to confide in them now either. He tried to swallow the lump forming in his throat as he looked hesitantly back across the table. "Parlay?"
Jack gave a hearty laugh as he stood up from the table and walking around its perimeter before moving to stand next to the windows on the opposite side of the room, staring out at the night sky softly fading into the gray shades of dawn. "Oh, Will… Has it really been that long? Have you forgotten that I am Captain Jack Sparrow and that I can always find a way to plunder an answer out of you? I also am aware of the fact that your damsel in distress has taken part in her fair share of bad deeds. Nothing you tell me about Elizabeth will shock me now, not in the way you expect. Unless, of course, her reasoning was a more personal matter…"
The young man still seated at the table thought this over for a moment, perplexed by the situation he had been thrown into so suddenly. Yes, their situation was a personal matter, but not in the way Jack had meant when he had spoken the statement aloud. He also knew that the truth of the matter at hand would surprise Jack because he hadn't noticed or Elizabeth hadn't told him before now. After convincing himself that this was the right thing to do, Will looked back up from the surface of the table to Jack's waiting face, a smug smile on his face. "Elizabeth is with child."
Jack spun around quickly, his eyes searching Will's face for any signs of foul play, wanting to make sure that he had heard him right, and then that he had really said what Jack thought he had heard. He made his way back over to the table, sitting down on the vacated seat as he tried to still process this new fragment of information, his eyes wide. "Elizabeth? No… She couldn't possibly be…"
Will forced himself not to laugh as he nodded his head in response, settling back into the chair as he watched the way Jack rubbed the back of his neck distractedly. "Oh, she certainly is. She just happens to be able to keep a secret, unlike you."
In his state of utter confusion, Jack never even thought to voice a rebuttal to Will's statement or offer a sarcastic remark in reply. "Elizabeth finally decided to risk everything to have you back because she is expecting a child?" Off a nod from Will, his confusion dissipated as he stared back at the other man, seeming to be completely sober at the moment. He threw his hands up in the air as he sighed dramatically, as if whatever epiphany he had just had was completely obvious to Will as well. "Well, then we can't go through with the plan, even I know that."
Now, it was Will's turn to feel perplexed by what Jack had said, leaning forward on his elbows to watch his behavior closely. "Why not, Jack? It makes more sense for Elizabeth and I to try everything we possibly can for this child…" In the quiet that followed, a small smile crept across his face and he rested in his head in the palm of his head, leaning even farther across the small surface of the table. "You're not jealous of my love for Elizabeth, are you, Jackie?"
"Jealous? Me?" Jack gave a hearty laugh and another wave of his hand as he too leaned even closer in to Will, the smell of alcohol on his breath pungent in the enclosed space. "I have beautiful women pining after me wherever I go, so having Elizabeth pick you over me, for what reason, I don't know, is no loss. No, dear William, that's not what troubles me." His sigh was barely audible as he stood up again, pacing the small expanse of space for a while before returning to the spot beside the window and peering out at the frigid waters. He was silent for a long time before he finally spoke again, his voice holding a sense of emotion that Will hadn't even known that Jack possessed. "She talks about you like you put the stars in the sky, Will. She takes your name with a sense of honor that I've never seen in anyone else, and here you are, willing to let it all fall away. Have you even thought about the repercussions if something is to go wrong?"
Will stood up from the table, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the top of the chair in front of him. Did Jack honestly believe that he hadn't spent sleepless nights thinking over just this? He had had plenty of time to consider his options, think about one day versus never again, life eternally on that ship versus no life at all, and he had thought the exact same thing, that it was not worth the fight. But that was before Elizabeth had come to him, alone and deeply depressed, and she had told him that she was pregnant, which changed everything. He shook his head slowly as he walked towards where Jack still stood placidly next to the windows, staring out at the same waves, rolling in and intensifying until they met the ship, their existence cut short. His voice was barely a whisper as if a louder sound may disturb the waves outside the window or Elizabeth sleeping in the next room. "No, you don't understand Jack. You've had your fair share of women parade through your life, but you've never truly been in love, not like I love Elizabeth. I've never wanted anything more than I desire her happiness now. And in my heart, the same heart that she has kept watch over for me for so long, I know that it's worth trying for, maybe even worth dying for, because I've never wanted anything else in the world more than this."
His sincerity was laced through every word he said, and it did not go unnoticed by Jack as he merely nodded in response. The two men both didn't say another word, their eyes glued to the outside world, the turbulent sea seeming to mirror the tenacity of their lives in that moment. The currents of the sea carried the ship on their crests, then dropped it back just as quickly, retracing its steps and leaving it right where it had started. It was just like the problem they faced, always getting farther ahead to be pulled back by the undertow a minute later. Jack was the one to turn to Will first, his eyes now having regained the glint of mystery they always held, and he gave the other man a cocky smile. "Well, seeing as I have no Lizzie of my own, I'm going to go drown my sorrows in that rum that has been calling my name while you go talk to Captain Barbossa. But if he's not making any sense, it's because he already has one foot back in the grave." Laughing at his own joke, he moved back to the table like the last 15 minutes of their lives had never occurred, like he still had no idea what had brought Will back to the ship at all.
Will stood there for a moment in the room, letting his confusion clear, before he nodded distractedly in response to what Jack had said. As the other pirate sunk down into the same seat and helped himself to the rest of the half-filled bottle of rum, Will removed the chair that was blocking the door and closed it once again behind himself, but he did not go back up to the top deck to talk to Barbossa. Instead, he let himself wander back into the room Elizabeth was still sleeping soundly in. He closed the door, blew out the candle that illuminated the room, and pulled off his own boots, stockings, and shirt. Then he pulled her into his arms as he had done so few times in the past, the way he hoped to do for the rest of his life, a life that did not yet truly exist.
Jack's words hung heavy in the air around him as he waited for sleep to overcome him, and soon they became not only a distraction but an obsession. He did get to be in the company of Elizabeth once every ten years, and that was better than never being able to lay his eyes on her beautiful face again. Leaving Elizabeth alone with their baby was a thought that he couldn't even handle ,but he worried that the rest of his days aboard the Flying Dutchman he would wonder if there was more he could have done, if things may have just worked out then. He tightened his grip on Elizabeth's body as he closed his eyes tightly, willing himself not to think anymore about the days, weeks, months, and years ahead of them. But all the while, he was preoccupied with the fear that they, he and Elizabeth, were not doing the right thing at all.