Author's note: Here you go, orlysluv. Our Jack and Will, more alike than either ever thought...

Jack slept much of the next day, and into the evening. He finally awakened ... but was silent. He did not feel like talking. Turning his head on his pillow, he looked right into the smiling face of Will. The younger man did not say a word; somehow, he knew that Jack would not feel up to conversation, if he even had a voice with which to converse. The captain struggled to sit up, then struggled to stand. William helped him to his feet, and they slowly and painfully made their way up to the main deck. Will settled Jack into a chair on the deck, and then joined him after he produced a bottle of rum and two mugs. Will insisted on watering Jack's rum down to keep his stomach settled, and the captain did not object. In fact, Jack did not say a word, he simply smiled and weakly nodded his thanks. The two of them sat in silence, watching the sea slip by as Mr. Cotton guided the ship through the night. There was no need for talking... the two of them sat quietly and looked out over the dark water...

It was well past midnight, and Jack finally looked at Will and spoke, "What became of Elizabeth, lad?"

"She's sleeping. She actually took some time at the helm today while you were sleeping... the swells were high, and she does not have the strength at the wheel that we have, but she insisted on doing her part... it tired her out," Will smiled. There was one lantern burning over their heads, and it cast a warm light over the two men as the night went on.

Jack was silent for a while longer, then he slowly and painfully turned himself in his chair to face Will head on. "William," he said, his voice barely audible above the sounds of the ship's sails and the strong breezes, "Why did ye make sure tha' th' Athena was done away wif so ..." he raised both forefingers, "... thoroughly?" Will could feel Jack's eyes searching his face, questioningly.

Will did not answer for a long moment, wondering how he was going to explain how he felt to his cousin without giving away what he knew about Jack's miserable childhood. He took his time organizing his thoughts, as he, too, had his story... Jack was patient. Will finally opened his heart, and the captain listened very intently. There was much, much more to the young man than Will had ever told anyone... but Jack always knew this. Will cleared his throat.

"I gained passage to the New World as a cabin boy aboard a ship called 'The Glasgow Girl', which I'd hoped was a lucky omen, since my father had been born in Glasgow, Scotland," Will began darkly, sipping on his mug of rum. "My mother had died only a few months before, and I had lived on the charity of some friends for a while, but I was restless. I was 11 years old, and did not wish to live upon charity forever, so I inquired around down by the docks each day, trying to find a way to the Carribbean Islands, the last place that my father had written from. It had been almost two years since my father had been heard from, which bode ill, and I now had no ties to England. I wanted to find my father... or at least find out what had happened to him."

"I didn't know that your father was born in Glasgow, " Jack mused, then apologized for interrupting, "Sorry, lad." Will nodded and smiled.

"Once I secured passage, I reported to the docks with my sea bag. I only had a few possessions. My mother was not well off financially, and after the money stopped coming from my father, the only things of value that we had were sentimental and not worth any money. When Mum died, I knew that anything that we had would be collected to pay debts, so I packed up some clothes and left for good... little did I know... Jack, don't tell any of this to Elizabeth... please."

Will paused, and stared out to sea. Jack nodded and watched Will's eyes. He began to frown with concern at the change that came into them.

"... 'The Glasgow Girl' was a trader... she shipped cargo... for the East India Trade Company."

Jack's kohl rimmed eyes widened, then narrowed, as he, also, sipped his rum. "...one o' Cutler Beckett's little pets, eh?"

"... more than you know, Jack," Will sighed, "We left England ...with a cargo of slaves."

The two fell silent again, Jack letting this sink in, as Will sat with his forehead in one hand, the other one steadily bringing the mug of rum to his lips. Jack finally looked back at Will's face... the young man was lost in thought.

"William?" Jack spoke up, gently.

Will continued without looking at the captain, "As cabin boy, it was one of my responsibilities to take food ... or what they called food... to them twice a day." He paused, careful as to what he was going to say. Jack's unreadable brown eyes were looking directly into his. "...Jack, everything that you said about what happened to those people was true. I saw them starving. I saw them sick from improper nourishment, and the stench in the hold was so bad that I would become violently ill whenever I had to go down there, but it was my job, and I had no choice." Will ran his hands over his face several times, as if he could still smell the horrible odor. "... I saw them get sick from wormy food, and from the heat; there was no fresh air down in the hold, and it was filthy. I saw them get gangrene in their feet from the shackles... I saw them die, just as you said, and I saw the dead bodies stay there for more than a day and a night, still chained to another slave, until they would finally be given a burial at sea, if you could call being pushed over the side with the garbage from the galley a burial...'

"I was treated well, but I was haunted by what was happening upon this vessel that was taking me to a new life. I was hoping to find an apprenticeship and new hope... the captives in the hold were going into a life of chains and cruelty, beatings and disease... I had not ever been exposed to slavery before, but it was thrown into my face, now. I was only 11 years old, and was already being told that I was superior... I was better... because my skin was lighter in color than theirs..."

Jack suddenly looked away, then put his face into his hands and could not look up for a very long while... Will fell silent. He wanted so much to tell Jack that he knew... that he understood Jack's pain and shame, but he could not. He had to let Jack suffer, and Will felt his own heart turn painfully in his chest, watching the anguish that this was causing his cousin. Will had to act as though he thought that Jack was upset because he had lost his ship and his own life as an honest man because of slavery. But Will knew the truth... and Jack could never know this.

Jack finally composed himself, and looked up, clearing his throat. The long strand of beads that fell against Jack's left shoulder made soft clicking noises as he turned his head and waited for Will to continue.

"There were children in the hold, seperated from their parents. There were parents, mourning the loss of their families. I made friends with a boy about my age, and we would try to 'talk' using a sign language that we made up, and I would carefully smuggle some of my evening meal down to him after dark. I had a little teakwood whale that I took down to show to him... I even let him keep it with him, overnight, one night. He had nothing of his own," Will whispered. Jack's eyes met Will's... tears were forming. "His name was Kama... he was one of the ones that died out in the middle of the Atlantic. I didn't know why he had died, but I realized later that it was malnutrition."

Will poured more rum, his voice becoming rougher, his eyes looking away. "It was hell... it was a bloody living hell. I found myself hating 'The Glasgow Girl'... all that she and her crew were doing, and all that they represented. I made up my mind that I would never become a sailor, if one became desperate enough that one had to take a job on a cargo ship that took human beings into forced servitude," Will's voice grew yet rougher, "We were not far from our destination when we were attacked... by the cursed crew of the dreaded Black Pearl." Will looked up at the black sails above their heads, mostly to hide his tear filled eyes. "I survived, but everyone else on the ship died that day. I lost all of my possessions, but I didn't care. I can still hear the screams of the crew and the captives in the hold that never stood a chance..." Will finally ran his fingers through his hair and hung his head. He took out his dagger, and started repeatedly stabbing it into the top of the barrel that they used as a table, just as he did long ago in a voodoo priestess' shack... to alleviate his feelings of terrible loss. He was now feeling guilty and angry over other feelings of loss and grief that were buried deep down inside for so many years... too many years.

"I was rescued by the Dauntless with nothing but the clothes on my back and a piece of cursed Aztec gold... I am guilty of pushing all of my feelings of pain and suffering deep down into my very core, and I did not let it back out until now. That is why I did my part to destroy the Athena." Will's jaw was clenched, "I swear, Jack... I swear to you... that I will do whatever I can, whenever I can, to put a stop to the misery of those who lose their freedom to slave masters... if you became a pirate because you granted freedom to those who were being held captive, then, by God, cousin, so will I. If it is your fate, so will it be mine!"

Will wiped his eyes on the back of his hand, and cleared his throat. He shook his head, sadly, and said, "The only material thing that I regret losing that day was the little teakwood whale. It had been carved as a gift from a friend of my father's when I was born... it was all that I had from my life in England...my life with my mother..."

Jack's hand awkwardly fingered the Irish lace handkerchief that encircled his slender wrist, then he reached over and gripped Will's arm, gently, "Will... lad...I'll... carve ye another whale, lad..." he said, softly.

They fell into silence, and watched the sun starting to come up over the horizen... a new day was coming...