Ah hah hah... Spent my first Friday night in residence. NEVER AGAIN. I have NEVER in my ENTIRE LIFE been exposed to such... such... debauchery!! It was like every ridiculous stereotypical teenage collage party fiasco was going on right outside my door! ALL NIGHT!!

Sigh... I will never understand my demographic.

Anyways, here's a chapter. Enjoy.

"BILL!!"

The pirate flinched, stopping his supposedly stealthy retreat from the blood soaked deck and turning to face the raging young captain.

"Yes, Captain Sparrow?"

Jack glared at him, jamming his fists against his bony hips. He'd grown an astonishing amount in the past four years, now standing just a couple of inches shorter than the older man. (With some help from his brand new high-heeled leather boots, of course.) He'd tied his dark, unruly dreadlocks back with a strip of sinew to keep it out of his face during the battle, and it made him look younger than his sixteen years. In fact, despite the new height, it was almost like talking to the little boy of his memories.

"Why did you do that, Bill?"

"Do what, Captain?" Bill resisted the urge to sigh. He'd gotten nicked in the ribs during the battle, and he didn't want to run the risk of ripping his lung open or some other such catastrophic failure at life.

"What do you think, you brainless dolt?!" Jack hit him upside the head with the flat of his ringed hand, noticeably careful to keep the hard metal as far away from the man's skull as possible. "Getting yourself shot or stabbed or whatever the hell happened to you trying to save me?!"

"And what exactly gave you that impression, Jack?" Bill did his best to keep his expression neutral, but he couldn't stop one slender eyebrow from strolling up his forehead.

"Well, the whole 'jumping in the way of whatever that stodgy bastard was trying to hit me with' was my first clue. Really, Bill, what were you thinking? I can take care of myself just fine, you know."

Jack crossed his arms over his chest, chin up and eyes defiant.

Good lord, teenagers.

Bill once more forced himself to ignore the almost irresistible urge to sigh.

"I don't see the issue with this, Jack. You're alive, I'm alive... Although that might change fairly soon if you don't let me go see someone about bandaging this gaping wound in my chest."

"It's not that hard of a concept to grasp, Bill." Jack grabbed his arm and proceeded to drag him through the bowels of the ship towards the meagre infirmary set up in the galley. "I don't want you to find yourself meeting the Almighty because you speared yourself on a sword I was perfectly capable of blocking myself, savvy?"

"Sully's been teaching you idioms again, hasn't he?" Bill sent the young man a sidelong glance, hoping the boy would get the point and drop the subject.

"Don't change the subject, Bill." Jack stopped them, shoving the older man up against the warped wall in such a way as to cause maximum discomfort without causing him any further injury. "Do you have a death wish or what? You've barely healed from the last time you took a bullet for me. And don't go saying it's your duty as a member of my crew or whatever. Ragetti or Pintel would never pull a stunt like this."

"You talk like it's a bad thing." Bill muttered, looking anywhere but into his surrogate son's concerned eyes.

"I'm not a little boy anymore, Bill." Jack whispered.

Bill was very suddenly aware of how close the young captain was. They weren't touching, but they might as well have been. If anyone had come down the narrow corridor, it would have been perfectly reasonable to assume that the two of them were engaged in some sort of intimate activity.

"I'm sixteen..." Jack's breath was hot against his cheek, the words soft against his over sensitized skin like a lover's caress. "You're only eight years older than me. You don't have to protect me anymore."

"I want to protect you." His voice was deliberately loud. He discarded the sensual whispering in favour of simple speech. The meaning was clear. "You'll always be a little boy to me."

Jack froze for a long, uncomfortable moment. His hands formed into tense fists and then he pulled away, stalking down the hall and heading back the way they had came.

"Always is a long time, Bill. Things always change eventually."

The drifting tails of his coat disappeared around the sharp corner, and he was gone. Bill finally let himself sigh, ignoring the lightning bolt of pain.

"Bloody teenagers... I bet I was never that bad."

Bill pressed one hand against the wound in his side, partially to hide the sudden shaking, and continued on his way.