Pretending to Save Her
Pretending to Save Her
Author: jedipati aka immortaljedi
Disclaimer: I don't own POTC; I make no money off this endeavor.
Characters: Will/Elizabeth, ensemble cast (first movie)
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: AU
Summary: When the crew of the Black Pearl attacks Port Royal, the first mate is surprised to see a familiar face. Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann are both taken captive. CotBP AU
A/N: Because I forgot to mention last time, I should tell you that this story would not be nearly as good if it weren't for the efforts of my beta, pir8fancier.
Ch2
"I'm sorry, Miss Swann, but I didn't have time to think of anything else to say," Will said. He was examining the room they had been put in, checking the door and the small portholes. He'd already double checked the back windows. Elizabeth was watching him, but she remained seated in one of the four chairs in the room.
"I understand, Will, thank you. And you should probably call me Elizabeth, since I'm your wife."
Will blushed and shook his head. "Right. Best make this as realistic as possible- Elizabeth."
"Thank you for protecting me," she said as she held out her hand to him.
He paused as he reached back. "I failed," he muttered bitterly.
It was more than anyone else did, Will," Elizabeth said hotly. "Don't blame yourself."
"Why did they want you?" Will asked. "Did they just want…" he flushed, unable to continue.
"They wanted that medallion," Elizabeth said. Will looked relieved.
"What is so important about that medallion?" he wondered.
Elizabeth winced. "Do you remember the day we found you?" She asked. He nodded, slightly confused. "There was a gold medallion with a skull on it around your neck. I thought it meant that you were a pirate, so I took it."
Will blinked. "My medallion," he whispered. "I thought I lost it to the sea. It was… it was all I had of my father, save for a name," he said bitterly.
"I thought you were a pirate," she repeated. "I wanted to keep you safe, Will. If they'd seen you wearing that medallion, they would have hung you, boy or now."
Will nodded slowly. "I wish you hadn't taken it- or at least told me."
"I should have, but I was just so worried…"
Will nodded and took her hand. "I understand." He couldn't stay angry at her. She had been trying to protect him, after all. He just wished the pirates didn't have that last link to his family.
She bit her lip. He squeezed her hand gently. "I do understand, Elizabeth." He sighed. "But I don't understand why these pirates wanted it so badly. It's just a necklace, a gift from a merchant sailor to his son. Only the fact that it's gold should make pirates interested in it. And they'd already sacked the town."
Elizabeth sighed. "It's got something to do with…" she trailed off and shuddered.
Will nodded, his own thoughts going to the skeletons. "But what?"
The door behind him opened. Maybe they could get some answers now.
Jack opened the door to find their "guests" seated at the table in his cabin, the lad gently holding the lass's hand. Maybe they really were married. Will dropped the lass's hand and stood up. Jack sighed. "Ye have my word, lad, I won't harm either of you while we ha' this talk. Sit." Will sat down again warily.
"I trust ye like yer temporary accommodations?"
Young William glared at him. Ouch. Yes, he was definitely Bill's son. He'd just gotten the same glare in blue when he told Bill to wait outside.
Jack sauntered over to one of the remaining chairs and sat down.
"Alright, lad and lass, since we're all comfy, I'd like to know what ye know of me Pearl."
They exchanged glances that clearly said "humor the mad pirate." Jack tried not to laugh. He knew he looked mad, between the bandana, the braids and the beads. He made sure his actions cemented that belief in people's minds. "Your pearl?" Elizabeth whatever-her-last-name-was asked.
"The Black Pearl," Jack purred. "I'm Captain Jack Sparrow, after all."
Will grinned sardonically. "It's the ship we're on."
"Beside that, young William."
Will shrugged and jutted his chin out in a defiant gesture. "It's said to be a cursed ship. All the sailors say that it's crewed by the damned. Men who cannot die; who have sold their souls to the devil."
"So ye know the rumors," Jack said.
"Who doesn't?" Will asked. He was twitching as if he wanted to lean away from Jack. Jack gave him full points for staying put.
"An' what do ye think of the rumors?"
The lad paled. "I wouldn't have credited them, but for what I saw. You are damned men."
Jack frowned. "Damned we may be. I wouldn't know. But we are cursed." He laughed briefly, bitterly.
Will hesitated. "Cursed?"
"Aye, cursed," Jack said. "'Tis a terrible curse, lad. Be glad ye aren't under it." He smiled at the looks the younger two exchanged. "Nay, ye aren't under it. The curse has nothin' ta do with the Pearl."
"Why did your men turn into skeletons when the moonlight hit them?" Elizabeth asked.
Jack smiled, impressed. So the girl was observant as well as pretty. "The moonlight shows us for what we really are," he said. "Dead. We cannot die, because we do not live."
"So why are you telling us this?"
"Ta ease yer mind, lad. We don't live, and we can't feel anything. Yer wife is safe until we break the curse."
Will nodded slowly.
Jack smiled. "O'course, we can break the curse now, thanks to th' medallion she was wearing." Jack pulled it out of his vest pocket and held it up to the candlelight.
Will stared at it. "That? Why can that help? It's just something my father came across in his travels."
"Nay, lad. It's much more then that. This is Aztec gold… one of eight hundred and eighty-two identical pieces they delivered in a stone chest to Cortés himself. Blood money paid to stem the slaughter he wreaked upon them with his armies. But the greed of Cortés was insatiable. So the heathen gods placed upon the gold a terrible curse. Any mortal that removes but a single piece from that stone chest shall be punished for eternity. You've seen what we become."
"So how can it help you?" Elizabeth asked.
Jack looked at her. She looked enthralled by the story. "If we return all the coins, we can be free o' the curse. That is why we need the coin."
"So you have your gold. Why take us?"
Jack shifted. This was the part that would not be easy. "That was me first mate's decision, and 'twas brought on by seeing yer husband."
"Why me?" Will asked
"I'll come t' that presently." Jack said, sidestepping that issue for now. "But first, I have a proposition f'r you. The lads say you're a good fighter."
He paused. Will eyed him before nodding. "I can fight, yes."
"Good." Jack stood up. "I have need of good fighters. Ye'll join the crew of the Pearl, lad."
"I will not." Will stood up as he spoke. Elizabeth did as well.
"Aye, lad, ye will. After all, ye've a reason t' join me crew," Jack growled. He looked at Elizabeth for a long moment.
Will paled. "Fine then," he spat out.
Jack smiled. "That's better," he said cheerfully. "Though you couldn't deny yer blood f' long, in any case."
Elizabeth slid between them before Will could strangle Jack. "Explain. Now." She ordered.
Jack smiled at her. "An' the lass proves she has a bite as well," he said. He hurried on with his explanation at her glare. "Ye've pirate's blood in you, young William, and ye'll make a fine pirate.
Will frowned. "But I don't," he said.
"Ah, but you do."
Will and Elizabeth exchanged glances.
Jack smiled at them. "If ye'll excuse me f'r a moment, I'll prove t' ye that ye have the blood of a pirate."
"And why should I believe you?" Will challenged.
"Truth doesn't change, lad, no matter who is telling it." Jack went still and serious as he spoke. "And what I, and me first mate, are going t' tell you is nothing more then absolute truth. Listen t' us, before ye disbelieve us."
Will nodded, startled. "I'll listen."
Jack smiled. "Good." He headed for the door. "Ye c'n come in now, Bill."
Bill entered, his eyes finding Will and just drinking in the sight of his son.
Will eyed him curiously. "You're familiar."
"I would be."
Jack sighed. What was wrong with Bill? He'd been devastated when they thought Will was dead, and now he wasn't saying anything.
"Since he's playing silent man, I'll explain," Jack said.
"Please do," Will said dryly. "Because this does not tell me why you think I have pirates' blood."
"D'ya ever feel the call o' the sea, boy? D'ya ever just stop and listen for something, something ye can't quite hear, but that ye know is there? Do ye feel more alive when yer standing in a ship, feeling the movement of the deck and listening to the rigging?"
Will shifted uneasily. "I don't know what you mean," He said.
"Ye feel it, lad, don't you. A restlessness that gets to you."
Will looked down. "And if I do? That doesn't mean anything. I've never had to do anything about it."
"Ye've the sea longing, lad, and the more ye deny her, the more she's going ta make ye hers."
Will frowned. "I find that hard to believe," he said. "And lots of sailors speak of the sea. That doesn't mean that I have a relative who's a pirate."
"He's standing in front of ye, lad," Jack said seriously.
Will studied Bill carefully.
Then Elizabeth laughed bitterly. "Please. It's another ploy to get you to stay here, Will. A convenient relative of yours is a member of this crew?"
"I don't think they're lying, Elizabeth," Will said softly. "And they'd have no need to do such a thing, not after the captain's earlier threat."
Jack watched them carefully. The lass had quieted and was staring at her protector. "Will… you can't mean…"
"He's related to me somehow," Will said. "He's familiar."
Bill opened his mouth and sighed. "I don't… I thought ye dead, Will."
"Who are you?" Will asked steadily. Jack watched as the boy gripped the back of the nearby chair so hard, the knuckles of his hands were turning white. The lad was anything but calm. "I can see that you are related to me, but how?"
Bill sighed. "I can't blame you for not recognizing me, you were ten the last time I saw you."
"Just tell me!" Will snapped.
Bill stepped back. "William Turner, Sr.," he said. "You're my son."
The back of the chair creaked under the boy's grip. "My father was a merchant sailor, not a pirate," Will protested.
Elizabeth looked back and forth between Will and Bill.
"I was, originally. Things went wrong, and I found myself on the other side of the law. I never told your mother."
The back of the chair snapped. Everyone stopped and stared at Will. He was staring down at the broken piece of the chair in his hand. Then he turned and hurled it at the wall. "My father is not- was not- a pirate."
"I am, Will," Bill said. "I'm sorry, lad. I never thought t' tell you."
"Prove it," Will challenged. "If you are my father, then what was my mother's name?"
"Mary. Mary Black, until she married me and became Mary Turner." Bill answered promptly.
Will swallowed. "And… what did you promise when you left the last time?" His voice was shaky, uncertain.
"I would teach you to sail," Bill said. He smiled. "Will, I really am your father."
Will nodded numbly. "You are. How? I thought you were dead."
Bill reached out and placed his hand on the younger Turner's arm. "Jus' as I thought ye were dead, Will," he said. Jack smiled. Bill seemed to be happy enough to just say his son's name. "That day eight years ago, when the merchant ship exploded instead of letting us board, I though ye'd died."
"It was this ship I saw!" Elizabeth exclaimed.
Jack and Bill looked over at her, but Will was nodding. "Of course, just after they pulled me out of the water." Will shook his father's hand off his arm.
"There was another ship there?" Jack asked.
"How do you think I survived?" Will asked coldly.
Bill winced. "We didn't blow up the ship," Jack matched the lad's tone.
Will nodded. "I know. The captain was going to surrender," he sighed. "I know it wasn't your fault. The powder magazine exploded."
"Aye, so that's what happened," Jack glanced at Elizabeth. "An' then the lass's ship came upon you, and rescued ye."
"Yes, I was the only survivor." His tone had cooled again.
Jack was unfazed. "Now that we know how this happened, I'll return these to you, lad," He said. He handed over Will's sword and hatchet. Will took them, surprised, and then began to inspect them.
"Why are you giving them back to me?" Will asked.
"Like I said, lad, you're a good fighter. Be stupid to bring a good fighter on without giving him his weapons."
Will shook his head, and continued to check his weapons.
"Will." Bill said.
Will looked up. "Yes, Father?" His tone was completely neutral. Jack watched as Elizabeth winced.
So the boy was going to go for chilly politeness until they could get him to loosen up. That was better then rage and stubborn refusal to listen, and Jack would have to remind Bill of that later.
Bill shook his head. "It's not important," He said and turned away. His son watched him leave the room, face impassive.
Jack frowned. If the boy kept that up, it would near kill Bootstrap.
The girl looked up at him. "Will…"
"They threatened you," The boy interrupted. He turned to face Jack. "I'll work for you, Captain, but don't expect any more from me."
"Fair enough, lad," Jack replied. "Lass, I suspect ye already know this, but it'd probably be best if ye stay inside the cabin I'll assign you and your husband." The young adults exchanged glances at that.
"I realized that, yes."
"So ye'll need something to do. Can ye read French?"
Elizabeth looked at Will, who shrugged. "Yes, I can," she finally said.
Jack smiled brightly. "Ah, good. I have some documents we took off a French ship a few months ago. You'll be translating them f'r me."
She blinked.
Please R&R. I'll have more up on Thursday.