"Not All Treasure is Silver and Gold"

Chapter 20—Part 2

"I'm wrong? I'm wrong!" he shouted.

"Yes, the Captain Jack Sparrow is wrong. James was not touching me. If he were, one of his arms would be missing, savvy? And if you saw something, why didn't do something about it?"

There was silence. Jack's face twitched with anger.

"The real reason? You're making it up," she hissed.

More silence.

"There is something wrong and now you're taking it out on me. I want to know what's wrong."

Jack moved closer to the woman, the only person he would ever let call him out.

"I am only going to say this once and I am only going to whisper it," he sighed.

"Yes?" she said, eager to find out what had been plaguing his mind for so long.

He put is mouth to her ear and a shiver when down her spine as he spoke, partially from what he said and partially from the act itself. "I'm scared," he told her.

"Of what?" she asked back.

"Not being around for you and Rosemary. And you might realize that you don't want to sail anymore. I wouldn't be able to handle that." Jack wasn't being himself. It was these rare moments that made Jack the man he was.

"Jack, I…" she started, but was cut off by the sound of something crashing to the floor.

They turned and opened the door; Will was lying once more face down, but this time he was struggling to get up.

"Here, mate," Jack said, moving to help the poor guy up. Jack held him up with one hand and turned back to Dani. "Perhaps it was just a smidge wrong to take Will out…" he smiled his usual toothy grin.

"I love you, Jack," she said before kissing him on the cheek. His grin got wider and he almost forgot that he was supposed to be supporting Will and he swayed because of the sudden absence of the support.

Dani ran across the hall and grabbed a chair. Between the two of them they got Will to sit down. Jack went to get something to sober Will up and Danielle started to get Will washed up being that it was something he couldn't do on his own currently.

Will was a complete mess, too. He had mud in his ears and in his hair. She was going to need help to do this quickly. She glanced at the clock. The ceremony was supposed to begin in forty-five minutes.

Jack came back into the bathroom and watched Dani berate poor William. And William was mumbling apologies with each new insult and put-down. Jack knew the insults in his direction would be coming later, and he had a plan to put all of them out of her mind.

A couple more slaps to the face, a very cold bucket of water and coffee managed to get Will back into almost-fighting-form. He wasn't swaying so badly and he could walk for the most part alone. And that was good because he had three minutes to get there before Elizabeth was going to scream.

When Dani ran in to get Elizabeth, Elizabeth's face was stained with tears.

"What's wrong now?" Dani asked. She was so angry at the whole day that she just wanted Liz to high-tail it down the stairs and make this whole thing official.

"It's just…I miss my mother."

"I know, I know. But the show must go on. So, let's go…" Dani motioned for the door.

"Where did you find Will?"

"He was…working…lost track of time…while building swords…" Dani said hesitantly.

"Working?"

"Trying to clear his mind before he came and professed his undying love for you. You know, that's kind of a big deal for men. They either have to be silent and brooding about it or drunk."

And as soon as Dani said "drunk" she regretted it. Elizabeth's head was going to explode.

"He went out and got drunk with Jack last night, didn't he?"

"I don't suppose Jack was all that…"

"Ahhh!" Elizabeth shrieked as she threw some random glass things around the room, smashing them to pieces.

"He's not drunk now. He's fine. He wants to marry you. Will just needed time. Remember, Jack had fifteen years before he married me," Dani mentioned, ducking a vase that came a little too close.

"He thought you were dead," Elizabeth hissed, knocking some flowers out of their vase.

"That's not the point. The point is," she paused to glare at the girl, "he loves you and you need to get yourself down there."

"Oh, I plan on getting myself down there," she said, running out of the room.

"Damn," Dani said out loud as she hurried to follow Elizabeth down the stairs. This was going to be bad.

A/N: Okay, changed my mind and posted tonight. No need to review on both parts. Just pick one. Thanks much.

Manda