So. It's looking like there are at LEAST five or six more chapters to go. Possibly as much as ten, if they're pissy about it. But I have not been writing recently, and I'm not sure when I'm going to get my mojo back, so from this point forward, I'm going to update on fridays instead of every day. That way I don't end up having an epic long hiatus of random when I run out of chapters.
The floor was cold, hard, littered with chains and what felt like old bones. Will didn't even want to think about what kind of stains it was going to leave on his pants. Still, a pair of pants was a small price to pay for a night alone in the dark with his captain, curled up against the patched up wall where they would be able to watch the slow break of dawn in the light-shadow of the window.
He'd ever seen Jack so vulnerable, so needy as he was now. Will couldn't honestly blame him. He couldn't even imagine what kind of life he must have lived, chained up in this dirty cage, alone with a dozen other people who hated him just for being born. No wonder he put such high value on freedom.
No wonder he found it so difficult to love.
He didn't cry. Will wasn't sure whether it was good or bad. Either way, he suspected that there would indeed be tears before the night was over.
Something was coming. He could feel it in the air. It felt like the future was rushing towards them, whether they liked it or not. An end was coming, but what manner of ending, he couldn't tell.
To be honest, it scared him. Doubts kept swirling through his head, fears gnawing at his stomach. What if the ending was a bad one? What if it all turned out horribly, exploded in their faces? What if it turned out well? He'd come to care about this new Jack almost as much as the old one, come to appreciate the little ticks and insecurities and the general weakness of him. He wasn't scary anymore, wasn't intimidating, and Will wasn't entirely sure he would be able to go back to the old, confidant Jack. He liked being the protector, liked holding his love against his chest and waiting for morning.
He couldn't really see the old Jack going for that sort of thing.
It didn't matter what he thought, what he felt. Not really. He couldn't be selfish, not without betraying himself and Jack. This was about the captain, not about him. This was about making him whole again. And he couldn't deny him that, just couldn't.
Even if it meant an end to them.
He thought he would stay awake all night, rolling the doubt and fear and hope around inside his head until the first light of dawn. He thought he would just sit there, Jack's head propped up against his chest and wait. Even if Jack fell asleep himself, especially if Jack fell asleep himself, he'd stay awake, guarding him. Protecting him from the darkness in his dreams.
No-one really cared what Will thought.