True Love: Forever Reunited
Chapter 15: Cold Hearted Villain
AN: Hey everyone!! A virtual hug from Will is to be given to anyone who can recognize the play I made off of one of Hermione's lines from the movie version of PoA!!! On with the story!!
The room had fallen into a deadly silence, and all eyes were locked on Clinton. The cold smile seemed plastered on his face, and his eyes looked half insane. The dark room looked rather eerie, with only small patches of light from the candles splayed randomly on people's faces.
"How nice of you two join us, Mrs. Turner," he said in a polite tone, as though he were greeting an old friend. "It was wise of you to come, really. Did you happen to see the lovely new brand upon your husband's arm? It's the latest thing you know; I believe your dear friend Captain Sparrow started the trend."
Elizabeth whipped around, careful to keep one eye on Clinton, when she saw the "p" on Will's arm, which was still almost blood red in hue. She felt fury build up in her as never before; Clinton was the lowest of the low, just like Beckett had been.
"How dare you!!" she exclaimed, her eyes ablaze. "You foal, loathsome, evil little scoundrel!!!" She turned, and glared at him, fire in her eyes.
"You don't like it?" asked Clinton, still smirking. "What a shame. I was thinking we would give you one as well, you see, except that it would say "pk" for Pirate King. What do you think?"
"I think you ought to leave Elizabeth alone!" roared Will, who had clearly had enough of Clinton. He drew his sword and marched up to Clinton.
The guards instantly began to point their weapons at Will, but Clinton waved his hand at them in irritation.
"Stand down men," he said, his eyes glinting dangerously. "Are you challenging me to a duel, Turner?"
"I believe that is what this is called," said Will, his voice bitter and full of unrelenting courage, laced with intense anger. "Afraid, are you?"
"No," said Clinton simply, drawing his own sword. "I think not."
"You'll never win against Turner, Clinton," said Norrington evenly, his expression livid.
Clinton turned to look at Norrington, clearly noticing him for the first time. His cold expression broke for an instant, to be replaced with a look of surprise. "You're James Norrington," he said. "I remember meeting you when my uncle was teaching me the ins and outs of the Company. You're supposed to be dead."
"Well I'm not," said Norrington, crossing him arms. "And that's all you need to know."
"Enough of this!" exclaimed Clinton. With this he swung at Will, and Will parried, which sent the rest of the room into a full scale fight. Elizabeth was drawn into combat with Gillette, who was really no match for her, and the others fought the many soldiers. Elizabeth gestured for Willy to go and hide under the desk, where he would be out of harm's way. He did as he was told, but he kept his head above the desk, trying to watch what was going on.
Will was surprised at how skilled Clinton actually was with a blade, but Will still had the clear advantage. Their swords rang as they clashed over and over, until Will pushed so hard on Clinton's sword that he knocked Clinton backward, sending him flying and breaking his sword in half.
"That wouldn't have happened if you had a well made sword, Clinton!" called Will. "Too bad for you it wasn't one of mine!"
Elizabeth had already gotten the best of Gillette, and had run into the fray to help the others. For the moment, it seemed they had the advantage, until the worst happened. When Will had sent Clinton flying, he had landed near Willy. Before either Will, Elizabeth, or any of their friends could move a muscle, Clinton had seized Willy from his position under the desk, placing the jagged edges of his broken sword next to Willy's neck. Clinton's expression was wild, and he emitted a soft, satisfied, sadistic laugh. The battle stopped instantly, and Will thought he had lost all ability to breath as his eyes set on Clinton and his beloved son. He glanced over at Elizabeth, whose eyes were wide, her entire body suddenly trembling uncontrollably.
"Let….him…go," Will heard her say, her strong voice sounding broken. This was their worst nightmare.
"Let's see," said Clinton, as though pondering the idea, "No, I don't think I will. Unless," he said slowly, clearly wanting to keep them in suspense, "You and your husband give up the information I need; that of how to bind Calypso, and the whereabouts of the other Pirate Lords, which I need in order to bind her."
Will's eyes did not leave Willy's face; his eyes shone with fearful tears, but sparkled with the courage that was beyond his years. He struggled against Clinton's grip, and he was putting up a good fight. But he dared not speak; the knife against his throat prevented it.
"Surely," said Clinton in a haughty tone, "You would willingly give up the information to save the life of your only son?"
"You're right," said Will. "We would." There was nothing for it; there was nothing in the world that could make him sacrifice Willy's life. Nothing.
"And we will," admitted Elizabeth, sounding horribly downtrodden. Will moved to her side, taking her hand in his, and holding it tightly. Her face met his, and they silently agreed; the love of a mother and father for their child was one of the most powerful in the world, and they would do anything to keep his precious life intact.
"We will give you the information," said Elizabeth. Will hated the sound of defeat in her voice. He looked around at Andrew, Amelia, and Norrington, all of whom looked extremely concerned; even Gillette seemed shocked that Clinton had stooped to that level.
"Yes, I thought you might," said Clinton with a sneer. "Very well then, we'll start with you, William Turner; tell me the specifics of how to bind Calypso."
"You must…" Will began, but the rest of his sentence was cut off by a loud bang, sounding as though it were coming from the fort next door.
"Fire in the hole!!!!" shouted a voice in the distance that sounded very much like Jack Sparrow.
"Watch out!!" yelled one of the soldiers as a huge canon ball came blasting in through the wall, narrowly missing everyone's heads, and causing Clinton to release his grip on Willy, who ran to his parent's side, trying to avoid all the bits of flying debris.
"What the bloody hell?!" screamed Clinton.
But Will knew just what had happened, and he grinned; this was Jack's idea of a diversion. The utter chaos that followed gave the pirates their chance to escape. Will picked up Willy in his arms as Elizabeth elbowed Clinton in the face, and they, along with James, Andrew and Amelia ran as fast as their legs would carry them towards the boats. No one even bothered to stop them, because the distraction of the canon ball hitting the side of the EITC building was too much. They reached the longboats at a record speed.
"Where are the other three?" asked Elizabeth worriedly. "We've got to get out of here!!"
They had just begun to pile in the rowboats when a familiar voice shot through the air.
"OI!!!" called Jack. "Wait for us!!!!" He ran towards them, arms flailing, with Ana Maria and Gibbs by his side.
He reached them, allowing Ana to climb in the second rowboat first, followed by himself and Gibbs. He flashed a concerned grin at Will and Willy, before ordering them to row as quickly as possible. No one wasted their breath to talk until they got to the three ships; they were too busy with rowing. But relief was in the air. Once they reached the small spit of land, they piled out of the rowboats, able to take a quick breather. The minute they reached land, Elizabeth and Will planted kisses all over their son's face, hugging him closely to them. Then they turned to each other and kissed fiercely, and for a moment, the world stopped turning. Will smiled into the kiss despite all the pain he was in, relishing in the joy it brought. They were safe, and they were together.
"Jack!!!" shouted Elizabeth, turning to face him. "You could have killed us all!" She said, looking as thought about to slap him, until her face softened. "But you saved us all with that canon ball. Thank you."
The eccentric pirate's face split into a grin. "You are most welcome, Lizzie. Oh, and William and Willy; don't ever worry us like that again."
This caused Will and Willy to chuckle for the first time in a few days.
"Where are we going to go, now though?" asked Will. "We can't go back to Shipwreck Cove; they'll just sail there and wait for us to come out."
"I see no choice but to go to Tortuga until we can think of something else; perhaps some of the other Brethren will have some ideas," said Elizabeth with a heavy sigh. "We can't go to the small island where our home is; there simply isn't enough room."
"Aye," said Barbossa, "It appears to be our only choice for now."
"It will work temporarily," said Ana firmly. "Even if they come to Tortuga, they'll be hard pressed to find us in that melee."
This was agreed on by all, and so they proceeded to quickly pull up the anchors of the ships, preparing to set sail. Before Will climbed up onto the Empress, however, he turned to Jack.
"Thank you for your help Jack," he said sincerely, clasping a tired hand on his friend's shoulder. "That was bloody brilliant; if a bit reckless. But it saved all our lives, especially Willy's; Clinton was ready to kill Willy if we didn't hand over the information, and we were just about to when that canon ball came bursting in."
"Don't mention it mate," said Jack nonchalantly, but Will could tell he was pleased.
With that all three ships set their course for Tortuga, which would be a three days journey. The ships were to stay together, in case anything happened, and with their luck, they were sure it would. Once the Empress had been successfully put to sea, Will found Elizabeth at his side; Willy sat next to him, still thoroughly shell shocked, his hand rubbing his throat.
"Will," she began, knowing full well how stubborn he was about admitting injuries, "I know they did something to you besides the brand. Tell me."
"I'll be all right Elizabeth," he heard himself say, despite the pain he was in. "I'm fine."
"Papa," argued Willy, "Don't you and Mama always teach me to tell the truth?" He grinned cheekily at his father, who relented.
"They gave me some sort of poison," said Will, not wanting to remember the event so vividly. "It made me feel as though my entire body was on fire, and I think it caused some of my old scars to open."
Elizabeth gasped when she peeked at the back of his coat, which was stained with blood. "That awful man!!" she exclaimed. "We will have to fix that up immediately."
Will looked as though about to protest, but Elizabeth gave him a look that told him not to argue. "No protests William!" she said, using his full name, which was something she rarely did. "Let's just get Willy to bed first. Are you tired love?" she asked, directing her question to her son with worried eyes. "Are you hurt?"
"No," said Willy, shaking his head. "I'm fine; I just feel a little shaken up. I'm glad we're out of there."
He reached out and grasped both of his parents, squeezing them tightly. It was a silent thank you to them for being perfectly willing to give up the information to Clinton in order to save his life. He kissed his father goodnight, their bond strengthened by this shared experience. Will ruffled his son's mop of light brown hair before watching Elizabeth take him down to the room he shared with Charles and Anna below deck. He heard several delighted shrieks, and it was clear that the children were thrilled that everything had turned out all right. A few minutes passed, and Elizabeth reappeared, beckoning Will to follow her to their room.
"I sat with him until he fell asleep," said Elizabeth, closing the door behind her. "He was understandably frightened; I could cheerfully kill Clinton for doing this to the pair of you. Slip of your jacket and shirt Will, I need to clean these wounds."
Will obliged and lay down on his stomach atop the bed he and Elizabeth shared. He heard Elizabeth clattering around in the cabinet for the medicine and bandages, and then felt her gentle hands on his back, dabbing on the medicine, which admittedly, stung a bit.
"Are you going to talk to me?" asked Elizabeth, warmth and love in her voice. His lack of conversation clearly unnerved her, so Will spoke.
"That poison he gave me, it was awful," began Will, shutting his eyes as his wife continued to attend to him, which was comforting. "I felt like I fire was blazing through my body, and I'm still sore from it; but this pain and those reopened wounds are not the worst of what it did."
"What could be worse than that?" asked Elizabeth, her voice holding sadness at hearing all these things that had been done to her beloved. "Worse than that and the brand he gave you? I know that must have hurt."
Will hesitated; he did not like thinking back to all the horrid memories that the poison had made him relive, but if he could talk to anyone about it, it was Elizabeth. "Whatever he gave me, it forced my most terrible memories to the front of my mind, and I could see them, like moving photographs; I saw the day I was stabbed by Davy Jones; and they made Willy watch while this happened." He stopped abruptly, because he felt his throat closing up, the painful emotions coming to the surface.
Elizabeth stopped in the process of wrapping bandages around Will's back, her eyes wide, tears sparkling in them again. This was her worst memory as well; she could almost hear Jones' cruel laugh ringing in her head, could hear her own screams. "Oh Will," she said softly. "I'm so, so sorry. I wish I could have been there with you and Willy; I despise Clinton, he's gone too far."
"It's all right," said Will, smiling up at his wife, "Willy and I are back with you again, and that's all that matters. I just… I didn't want to relive those memories ever again. Willy has asked some questions about Jones, by the way. How much did you tell him before I came home?"
Elizabeth pondered the question for a moment as she put some ointment on the burn from the pirate brand, which made her swell with anger every time she looked at it. "I told him that Jones was the Captain of the Dutchman before you were, and that when he was killed you had to take his place. He knows most of the story between Jones and Calypso; but he doesn't know all the details of why you had to be captain. I really just wanted to wait until the right time to tell him that."
"I think now may be the right time," said Will, turning tenderly over onto his back. "It won't hurt, after all he's been through over the past few days. And I would rather he found out from us than from someone like Clinton or Gillette."
"I agree," said Elizabeth, as she crawled into bed next to Will, placing her arms delicately around him, so as not to hurt him. It was quiet between them for a moment, until Elizabeth spoke up again. "I was so worried for you and Willy, Will," she said, nuzzling her face in his hair. "I was so frightened that we would never be together again, after all we'd been through. I'm just relieved we got out of there."
"You were brilliant," said Will sincerely. "Gillette had no chance against you!" He chuckled slightly. "And that elbow in the face you gave Clinton? Priceless."
Elizabeth laughed, giving Will a kiss. "You were quite good yourself, you know. Clinton didn't know what was coming. But you're going to need to rest over the next few days, until you recover from this."
"But I have duties to attend to on the ship; Co captains, remember?" said Will, raising an eyebrow at her.
"Co captain you may be," said Elizabeth sternly, "But you need to heal." She gave him a look that he wasn't about to argue with.
"Yes, love," said Will, closing his eyes, and drifting into the first peaceful sleep he had experienced in days, his family reunited, and the waves rocking beneath the Empress.
A/N: Sorry for the cliffhanger last time, everyone, but I hope you liked this chapter. The next chapter should be up soon! Thanks for all the reviews!