There was certain stillness to the air around them. As a small wave plunged onto shore, the ends of it reached Elizabeth's feet, stirring her awake. Groaning slightly, Elizabeth slowly opened her eyes and saw white sand all around her. Tilting her head back, she gradually pushed her body up until she was standing on her feet. Glancing around herself, she noticed Pintel and Ragetti arguing amongst themselves while Gibbs was gathering the rest of the crew together. All of a sudden, a pair of hands grabbed her tightly around her arms and spun her around.
"Elizabeth!" Will exclaimed in a pant, trying to get her attention. "Elizabeth, are you alright?"
"Yes I'm fine," she replied, pulling out of his grip.
She then glanced around herself once more, her eyes scanning through the wreckage while Will gazed at her quietly. A slight frown formed on his face as he silently debated the awkwardness and unease that existed between them.
"What happened?" she suddenly asked, turning her gaze to Barbossa. "Where are we?"
Smiling wildly, Barbossa walked towards them before stopping in front of her.
"We're in Davy Jones' Locker," he replied, his rotten teeth showing through his smile as he spoke.
As he turned to pet his monkey Jack who sat quietly on his left shoulder, Elizabeth's eyes widened.
"Jack…," she whispered before looking up. "We need to find Jack."
Will looked away at the mention of the Pirate's name upon her lips, and the ardent worry in her voice that followed it.
"Aye," Gibbs agreed, coming up behind her.
"Captain Barbossa?" Ragetti's shaky voice came from the side, grabbing everyone's attention. "I think I see the Black Pearl."
They glanced in the direction he was pointing from atop a hill of white sand.
"Mind the boat," Gibbs ordered Cotton and the rest of the crew.
"Mind what boat?" Cotton's parrot squawked from his shoulder.
"He means stay here," Barbossa stated in an impatient tone before walking forward with Will, Elizabeth, Gibbs and Tia Dalma.
Once they reached the top of the hill, everyone spotted the Black Pearl quite a distance away. Elizabeth felt her heart jump into her throat, but she pushed her nerves aside and followed Pintel and Ragetti while the others marched after her. The air continued to be still around them without a single breeze while the only sound they heard was that of their own footsteps. After ten minutes of trekking forward in silence, Tia Dalma quickened her pace until she was side by side with Elizabeth.
"He's very close," she whispered through her thick accent, causing Elizabeth to look at her. "Very close. But I have a strange feeling…a bad feeling."
"What do you mean?" she asked worriedly.
"Something is not right with witty Jack," the voodoo Priestess exclaimed before gliding forward.
Before Elizabeth was able to ask her anything further, she realized that they had arrived at the base of the Black Pearl. Gazing up at the huge contraption, Elizabeth smiled inwardly at the beautiful sight she saw. Although the Black Pearl was old and had seen one too many battles, her beauty still shined through and she finally realized why Jack loved the ship so much. It was true that it gave him freedom, which he desperately craved, but it was also his home.
'And you took that away from him…his freedom and his home' the voice inside her head spoke to her.
"Jack!" Gibbs finally shouted, pulling her out of her thoughts. "Captain, are you up there?"
When they received no response, Gibbs and Barbossa exchanged glances. Agreeing silently on their next course of action, Gibbs began climbing up the ladder and onto the ship. The others waited impatiently, watching from the ground as Gibbs disappeared above deck. Every second that passed seemed like an hour for Elizabeth as she waited on the white sand in worry.
"Sweet Mother of God," Gibbs' voice came all of a sudden, catching their attention.
Without waiting another moment, Elizabeth rushed to the ladder and began climbing. Will was calling her name from behind, but his words did not register in her mind as she quickened her pace, followed closely by the others. Once she reached the top of the deck, Elizabeth hurried towards Gibbs before stopping dead in her tracks and gasping aloud. That's when she and everyone else finally saw him. Jack's hands were bound together, as were his feet and he was tied to the mast, high above ground with his head hung to the side. He was shirtless and his eyes were closed. His chest and arms were covered with slash and burn marks as well as countless other wounds. The sight before them was so intense that even Barbossa looked away for a moment while blood trickled down Jack's chest and the sides of his face. Will, who partially wanted to kill Jack for pulling Elizabeth away from him, also looked away for a second to compose himself while tears immediately welled in Elizabeth's eyes as she gazed at the man before her.
"Bring him down," Tia Dalma exclaimed quietly.
Pintel and Ragetti quickly climbed the ropes hanging from the mast and cut the ropes holding Jack up. Leaning his body onto theirs, the two pirates carefully climbed back down, seating Jack down before removing the remainder of the rope from his writs and ankles. When they stepped back, Elizabeth slowly kneeled down in front of him, her voice caught in her throat. As Will continued to watch in silent anger, she traced his wounds through the air, never once touching his skin, almost afraid of causing him more pain if she did. Finally clasping her hand over her mouth, she allowed her tears to fall freely.
"Jack…," she choked out, finding her voice again. "Jack, please…open your eyes."
When there was no response, Barbossa turned to Tia Dalma.
"Is he 'dead' dead?" he asked with a slight frown.
"Almost," the voodoo Priestess exclaimed in a grave tone. "Davy Jones' Locker is the worst kind of hell. The things that happen to you here make you wish that you were dead."
Elizabeth turned her attention back to the man in front of her and inched her hand towards his face, still afraid to touch him. Taking a deep breath, she finally touched his cheek and began stroking it gently before whispering his name. All of a sudden, Jack stirred under her touch, causing them all to jump back slightly before he opened his eyes. He blinked several times before focusing on Elizabeth.
"Jack?" she asked, smiling through her tears as she searched his eyes for some sort of response.
But the eyes that gazed back at her did not belong to the rum-soaked yet lovable pirate Captain she knew from before. These new eyes belonged to a broken man, one who had nothing but cold and emptiness in his gaze. His gaze was so hard and detached that a chill crept down her spine.
"Jack…?" she tried once more.
"Get away from me," he suddenly stated in a low and angry tone.
Elizabeth had prepared herself for his anger once they rescued him, but the reality of her situation was much worse than she had expected. He looked straight through her as if she were dead to him and for the first time in a long while, Elizabeth was scared. As she silently rose to her feet, her eyes remained frozen solid on him and she watched as he achingly rose to his feet with Gibbs' help, clenching his teeth from the pain. Once he was on his feet, he leaned his back against the mast and breathed in a few times.
"That just took all of my energy," he stated quietly. "So what are you here for this time? Are you here to get more information out of me?"
The small group of people glanced amongst themselves in confusion by his words.
"Beckett was already here and I gave up nothing," he stated before smiling. "I'm actually quite proud of me self for that."
"Jack…," Gibbs began, but the Captain's eyes flew to Elizabeth.
"Or maybe you're here to torture me some more, is that it?" he said, the coldness returning to his eyes.
"We're here to rescue you Jack," Elizabeth replied quietly.
"Rescue me?" he said with a laugh. "Why would you want to rescue me when you already killed me?"
Elizabeth quickly looked away from his words while everyone else glanced at her in confusion.
"Elizabeth, what…?" Will began, but was unable to finish his sentence.
"Ah, so you're bonny lass hasn't told you everything, has she?" he said, venom laced in his words.
Realization dawned upon everyone's faces except for Tia Dalma, who already knew the situation by heart.
"Jack, we can get into all of this after we go back," Barbossa exclaimed as Jack turned to him.
"Ah, Hector," he said with a smile. "It's been a while."
"Yes, the last time we met, you killed me, remember?" Barbossa said with a sarcastic smile.
"Of course I did," he replied, laughing aloud.
He then frowned and looked to the ground for a moment.
"Why are you in my hallucination?" he asked no one in particular. "I never did like you."
"And I you," Barbossa replied. "But we're not in your mind Jack."
"How do I know that?" he asked with a slight sneer.
"Why would you see me of all people if we were?" Barbossa countered.
Jack thought of his reply for a moment before finally nodding in agreement.
"I can see your point as being one that is particularly valid," he stated quickly before pushing himself to his feet with a slight groan and looking around himself.
"We don't have a lot of time. We must go now," Will said firmly.
"Not without my affects," Jack stated, turning his back to them to pick up his shirt, coat, hat, sword and compass.
Elizabeth let out a small gasp when she saw his back, and the many deep wounds on it.
"How are we going to move the Pearl? Will asked. "We're stuck in the middle of sand."
"My friend Tia Dalma can help us out with that can't you luv?" Jack asked as Tia Dalma smiled seductively at him.
"I can indeed," she replied, touching his chin with her finger before walking to the edge of the ship.
While the others followed her, Jack turned around and looked Elizabeth dead in the eye. Closing the distance between them, he roughly grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him, catching her by surprise. His breath was so close to her that she began trembling.
"I will never forgive you for what you did, do you understand me?" he whispered in her ear.
"You said 'pirate' to me, Jack," she replied in a shaky voice. "I was only trying to save everyone else."
He tightened his grip on her arm which caused her to let out a small yelp, but not loud enough for anyone to notice them.
"Killing someone close to you to save your own skin doesn't fall in my good book," he snapped at her quietly. "There's betrayal and then there's betrayal, Miss Swann. Barbossa may have betrayed me, but he was only my first mate. You…you were different."
Elizabeth tilted her head slightly as another tear streamed down her left cheek.
"Jack, please…," she pleaded with him. "I'm so sorry. I never wanted to hurt you. I'd die first."
Releasing his grip on her arms, he moved a couple steps back and wore his shirt.
"Well, you did hurt me but you'll never have to die for me because as far as I'm concerned, from this moment on, you're dead to me," he stated, groaning from the pain as he pulled his shirt down his chest and wore his jacket and his hat before looking back up at her with a fake smile. "So there's no need to feel guilty, Miss Swann. I'm just another rotten pirate, savvy?"
With that, he pushed his sword into its sheathe at his belt and tied his compass before walking to the others. Elizabeth kept her back to the rest of the crew in order to compose herself. Wiping her tears away, she took a deep breath and looked to the ground.
"But you're so much more than that to me," she whispered before sniffing and walking to the others.
As they waited in silence, they watched Tia Dalma close her eyes and raise her hands into the air beside her. After a couple minutes, she opened her eyes and turned to the others.
"It's best you hold on to something," Tia Dalma exclaimed with a smile before facing forward again.
The Pearl suddenly began moving, knocking Gibbs and Pintel off their feet. But they quickly recovered and grabbed onto the edge of the ship as Tia Dalma raised it into the air and began moving them forward.
"You'll never cease to amaze me," Jack expressed, standing next to the voodoo Priestess who turned to him and touched his chest.
"Does it hurt?" she asked quietly, which made Elizabeth turn towards them.
"More than you'll ever know," he whispered with a sad smile before turning his gaze back out to the sand.
Elizabeth immediately looked away and closed her eyes, silently pleading with her tears not to fall. Will glanced between Jack and Elizabeth for a long moment before walking to her and placing his arm around her waist, claiming her as his property much to Elizabeth's surprise. She quickly glanced at Jack for his reaction, but he refused to look at them. It was then that they suddenly reached the hill top from before and to the amazement of the rest of the crew who were left behind at the shore, the Black Pearl plunged into the water, splashing waves everywhere. A loud cheer came from the crew aboard the ship and the others on land, in a mixture of joy for seeing both Jack and the Black Pearl alive. As they waited for the rest of the crew to board the ship, Jack walked to the helm and glided his hand over the large wheel, smiling sadly.
"Take us out to sea Captain," Gibbs exclaimed happily once the last crew member was on board.
"Out to sea," Cotton's parrot squawked aloud.
"All you have to do is head out for the horizon," Tia Dalma stated from behind. "You'll reach a small whirlpool and we'll have to dive straight into it. Don't be afraid because that is our only way home."
"There's only one thing that I'm afraid of in this world…other than the Kracken," Jack stated, glancing at the voodoo Priestess. "And a whirlpool's not it."
Elizabeth repeated his words in her mind, silently wondering what he meant by them as he turned and looked down at his right hand, which began to shake violently. Gripping it tightly with his other hand, Jack cleared his throat and turned to Barbossa.
"Hector," he called his name, causing the other pirate Captain to walk up to him.
"What be the matter now Jack?" he asked.
"I was wondering if you could take us out," he stated.
Frowning slightly, Barbossa took a step back. "No arguing about how it's your ship and how you're the Captain?"
"It is my ship and I am the bloody Captain," Jack replied with a smile. "But seeing as to how I am not at my very best physically, emotionally…and mentally, I though it would be best that you steer us back home."
"Ah," Barbossa said.
"But the second we're back, I will reclaim my place as Captain, understood?" he said and Barbossa smile.
"Agreed," he said, emphasizing the word before whispering so only he would hear, "We shall see."
With that, Jack walked back to the bow of the ship and placed his hands on the edge, gazing out at the water in silence. Both of his hands began trembling on the warm and damp wood and he looked up with a scared look in his eyes. Elizabeth noticed something else was amiss with him, but she dared now follow and ask him any questions. She simply stood to the side and secretly watched him from behind.