Chapter 9

Aboard die Süsse Liebe, present...

The little girl's eyes were wide and frightened, as she stared at her parents. A muffled whimper escaped between the fingers pressed firmly over her mouth, even as the dagger tip pressed dangerously against her throat.

"Ahh, Herr Richter," Jack stared directly into the too-bright eyes of the madman, moving slowly toward him. "Yes I suppose we will in fact begin the negotiations now," he adjusted a bit of lace tied about his wrist with idle disinterest. "But the question becomes...what do you want?" He smiled a bit. "I could arrange for whatever you want most to be in your possession."

Richter smiled slowly. "I believe I have what I want most, Jack Sparrow." He moved his hand from Abigail's mouth, stroking her cheek gently.

"Captain," Abby whispered. Jack looked at his little Peg with pride in his eyes. His little piratess who was not wailing nor crying. He was proud of her, and terrified for her.

Richter grabbed her long hair and pulled her head back. Tears slipped down her cheeks but she did not make a sound. "Yes, Captain," he agreed. "How careless. I have you, Captain Jack Sparrow. And I will get to see your face as you watch them die, to see you feel as I felt when I knew what you had done to my sweet beauty and darling child."

"And who might that have been?" Jack's voice was deceptively calm. "Because no one who knew Claudia could refer to her as a sweet beauty. Furthermore I doubt any child with a drop of her blood in it would be considered a darling child, while we're discussing the topic." He tensed as Richter pulled on Abby's hair, forcing more tears down her dirty cheeks.

"Claudia was my life," Richter growled. "She was beautiful and kind. My son was innocent in your games and yet you killed him after you kidnapped my wife!"

Elizabeth gasped sharply. She locked her eyes on her former lover and saw him flinch. "Well, I'm sure it was an accident," she said tensely. "I think we all know that most of what Jack does is accidental, he survives by sheer luck."

Jack glared at her. "Hardly the time Mrs. Turner," he replied sharply. He turned his khol-lined eyes to his enemy, his fingers clenching uselessly at his side. "Whatever Claudia was or was not, she is now dead. Perhaps if you had not taken your time in research you would have found out exactly what happened aboard the Wench, and not jumped to conclusions. I was not aboard her when the powder blew, I was in fact in irons unable to do much of anything, aboard the ship that sank her. If you would like to blame someone, Cutler Beckett's corpse is somewheres off near Shipwreck Cove."

Richter stood, still holding both his dagger and Abigail in his arms. "You took her from me!" His voice rose angrily. "It does not matter who killed her!" His breathing became irregular and frenzied. "You deserve to suffer as I did!"

There was an odd rumble from below, and Richter looked utterly confused for a few moments. Jack took advantage of the distraction, reaching the captain and twisting the arm that held the dagger. It dropped to the floor, and he dropped Abby with it. Elizabeth darted forward, grabbing her daughter.

"Run!" Jack yelled at her, pushing Richter back against the desk.

She nodded, pulling her daughter to her chest and running out the door. She stopped when she reached the deck, shock overcoming her immediate desire for survival. The Flying Dutchman was in the process of boarding die Süsse Liebe. "Will," she breathed. She turned her eyes to the Pearl, whose sailors had joined the fray the moment they realized who commanded the other ship. Elizabeth ran for the rail. "Mr. Gibbs!" She shouted over the din. Across the gap, the first mate looked up and met her eyes. He smiled when he spotted the child, then his eyes went wide. She spun around, instinctively putting herself between the unseen danger and her daughter. Before her stood Will Turner, and she threw her arms around her husband. "Will!"

He embraced her tightly in return, kissing the side of her head roughly. "Elizabeth!" He pulled away and turned, shouting to one of his crew. His words were snatched away by the wind and sounds of fight, but the man seemed to hear him and raced toward them. He ducked behind Elizabeth and grabbed Abigail, jumping across the break to the deck of the Black Pearl. He deposited the girl in Gibbs' arms and immediately turned and jumped back into the fray.

Elizabeth grabbed a sword that had fallen to the ground and threw herself into the fight – only to have her arm roughly grabbed by her husband. He kissed her firmly, holding her tight against him. "I love you," he whispered to her, and she found herself swept away by the tide of emotions he wrought in her. She had missed him more than she realized, her sweet, solid Will. He looked into her eyes and smiled, then turned and began to fight off one of the mercenaries who had been attempting to sneak up on him.

She saw Richter suddenly, across the deck and in a tense fight with Jack. She had to help, she couldn't let him – she raced across the deck, thanking all the gods in heaven she had changed into men's breeches before she left the Pearl. She could feel her heart pounding, blood rushing in her ears as she ducked through sailors and dodged blows of other men's swords.

She was nearly to Jack's side when she heard the roar of a gun, somewhere nearby. She stopped short and looked down, seeing a crimson red stain spreading across her white shirt. Richter stared at her over Jack's shoulder, his eyes full of laughter as he fought the younger captain. Jack hadn't seen her, nor heard the gunshot. She found herself falling, first to her knees and then face down on the deck. She was too tired to move, and rested her forehead against the cool, salty wetness of the wooden planks.

Jack was winning, he knew. He was certainly a better swordsman than this lout, who seemed altogether too happy about his current status as one losing a sword fight. In the experience of Captain Jack Sparrow, losing a sword fight was not generally the cause of much hilarity.

His sword sliced through flesh and he felt the rush of victory. Richter began to fall and Jack resisted the desire to dance on what would soon be his corpse. He held the man up against the mast, his forearm against the Austrian's throat. "I think we have both learned very important lessons through this," he said, his usual joviality back in his voice. "You have learned not to touch what is mine and I have learned to kill psychotic bastards when I have the chance."

"Jack wait," Will had appeared at his elbow and Jack sighed in irritation, turning to look at his old friend and sometime rival. He grabbed Richter's hair and forced him to meet his eyes, releasing him from Jack's hold. "Matthias Richter," he said quietly, leaning forward. "Do you fear death?" He waited a beat. "Do you fear the eternal judgment, all your sins laid before God?"

Richter nodded, suddenly looking worried. "Ja...ich," he nodded again.

"I could delay it," Will's voice became even softer as he leaned forward. "I could allow you to live another hundred years above the Flying Dutchman," he paused and suddenly there was a sword appearing through Richter's body, directly through his heart – if he had one. Jack stood behind and watched as he slid down the mast. "But I won't," he said after a moment, staring at the corpse.

Jack kicked the body gently a few times and then solidly a few more. He let it have one truly harsh kick before pulling his sword from the gaping wound in what had been his chest and turning back to the fight. It was dwindling now, the combined forces of the Black Pearl and the Flying Dutchman being too much for the Austrian pirates. The Pearl was already working on a proper boarding.

He smiled then, imagining to himself how lovely it would be to watch this ship burn to the keel. He had burned his imaginary fore deck and was well on his way to the quarter deck when he spotted her. There was another man half draped over her, but it didn't hide the long curls freshly loosed from her braid, or the soft curves that he loved so well.

Jack Sparrow dropped every ounce of his flamboyant, giddy act as he fell to his knees beside his former lover. "Elizabeth!" He pulled the other pirate's groaning body off of her, sparing little mind even for one of his own crew. He pulled rolled her over and pulled open her shirt, his face contorting oddly as he stared at the clean hole through her chest. "Bess," he said softly.

Her eyes fluttered a bit and she looked up at her captain. "I..." her fingers attempted to block the blood still flowing from the wound, though what had once been a torrent was now a trickle. "I..."

"No Bess, no speaky," Jack began to look panicked, he darted his eyes across the deck. "Someone fetch Cotton and the medic box!" He shouted. Suddenly he felt something shove hard on his shoulder and someone was pushing themselves between him and his Eliza. 'Turner' he thought, unable to focus clearly on anything but how to help his girl.

Will held her blood-slicked hands tight in his. "Elizabeth listen, listen to me!" His voice was intense and she was clearly trying to make her eyes focus on his face. "Tell me you fear death," he whispered intently. "You can sail with me on the Dutchman, be part of the crew just tell me you fear it!"

Her head lolled drunkenly from side to side. "No...'m not...scared..." she pulled on of her hands free and reached for Jack. He grabbed her hand, dropping to her side again. "Her name...is Abby," Elizabeth's voice was getting weaker. "Don'...my baby...Peg..."

"I'll call her what I want to," Jack replied harshly. "If you want her called Abby you have to live to call her that, savvy? Bess? Bess!" Her eyes had drifted closed, but at his shaking she looked up at them.

"Please Elizabeth," Will's voice broke. "I can save you if you just say it." She didn't seem to see him anymore...her eyes had focused across the deck.

"Don' fall..." Jack followed her gaze and saw Abigail crawling on hands and knees between die Süsse Liebe and the Pearl. She hopped to the deck and began running toward them.

"Stay back Peg!" Jack's voice was raw and hoarse, but he couldn't make himself move from Elizabeth's side to stop the child from seeing.

"No...Elizabeth!" Will was frantic now, shaking her roughly and calling her name. Jack slowly looked back at the two and saw his lady love staring, unseeing, at the stars.

"Lizzie."

Jack's broken whisper went unanswered.