FIC: The Long Con
Title:The Long Con
Part: 1/3 - The Set Up
Author: miss_drea_fic
Fandom: Pirates of the Caribbean
Pairing: Jack/Will, Will/Elizabeth
Rating: NC-17
Summary: Fusion with the BBC television show “Hustle”. Jack Sparrow, con artist, plays a local bank and its occupants for a fool.
Disclaimer: The Mouse owns it all.
*
The Set Up
“A’right, Gibbs, what’d’ya got?” asked the boss. The five thieves sat in a circle around a computer screen that Gibbs skillfully manipulated. A large man’s picture came up on screen.
“This is David Jones. He owns the entire line of Dutch Banks this side of the East End.” Another picture came up on screen. “This bank, however, is the one he uses for himself. Inside this vault,” a smaller picture in the right hand corner popped up, “is where he holds his most prized possession.”
Ana Maria gaped at the newest picture. “The Heart of the Ocean!” The diamond was a light tint of blue perfectly cut and just about the size of a large fist. “It’s just as beautiful as I remember it.”
Jack Sparrow leaned forward, his dark eyes alight. “We’re not doing it,” he said fiercely. “That’s final.”
“But Jack!” chorused the group of con artists. At his severe look everyone shut up. “No buts, gang. I’m not risking it. I’ve crossed Jones before. He won’t fall for a Long Con.”
The only silent member of the group finally spoke up. “So make it a bank robbery.”
“A..bank robbery?” Jack repeated blankly. “Why would you suggest something like that, we’re not common criminals.”
The youngest member of Sparrow’s team grinned at him. “We’re not, no. But this isn’t a common job, is it?” Everyone shook their heads. “Put someone on the inside. Charlie or Ed would do it, if you can get a hold of them. Even Hector would do it.”
“He needs to be trusted,” Ana Maria said dryly. “So why are you suggesting Hector of all people?”
“I suggested Charlie and Ed first,” came the defensive reply. “I only said Hector would do it, not that he should.”
Jack broke in. “No good. Jones can I.D. Charlie, Ed and Hector.” There was a moment of down-trodden silence, and then he said, “Annie, you can do it!”
“You want me to work in a bank?” she asked incredulously. “Jack, I can’t even add two and two together!”
“What about Tia?” asked Gibbs, brightly. Everyone gave him a baleful look. “Or not,” he said. Once the attention was off him he grumbled, “what the hell’s wrong with Tia?”
Cotton looked at him, amused. “Maybe because she’s crazy?” he offered.
“Yeah, all right...” Gibbs conceded. “We don’t have anyone trust worthy enough to get away with it. I’m too old, Jack’s too cunning, Annie’s too stupid - ow- and Cotton’s too...” he searched for a word while rubbing the spot on his head where Ana Maria had hit him. “Cotton’s too smart!”
There was another moment of silence and everyone turned to look at the youngest member of the team. Jack smiled at him. “How would you like to be a bank clerk?”
His answer was dry. “Do I have a choice?”
*
The medium height nervous youth stood twitching in front of Bank Manager Swann’s desk. “Hi,” he said an endearing stutter to his voice. “My name’s Will Turner...”
“Will, m’boy! You’re here for the clerk job?” The robust voice of the manager warmed Will, and the young man nodded hesitantly.
“Y-yes. I um...here are my credentials.” He handed Weatherby the resume and continued fidgeting.
Jack turned to his young lover and friend. “A’right. Theo down in Central cleared your record, and Andy took off anything that might look bad. Not perfect, but...”
Will looked back and forth from the papers that had been shoved in his hand to his boss. “Theo? Andy?” he asked helplessly, not understanding.
“Oh. Groves and Gillette. They owe me from a few years back, and well...” Jack shrugged and grinned, pushing the agitated man into the other room.
“You have friends in the F.B.I. and you’re a con artist?” Will asked. “And how come I didn’t know they were from the F.B.I.?” he demanded after a seconds thought.
Ana Maria finally took pity on the boy, and stated calmly, “they’re not, but they played a classic, they infiltrated, deleted, and moved on. The Force’ll know nothing.”
Will blinked at her. “So I’m clear? No one will know I’m...?” he trailed off.
“Sweetheart,” Jack said, spinning Will around to face him. “They won’t even know you’re gay.”
“Mr. Turner? Is everything alright?” Will’s eyes snapped to the security guard who stood beside him. “Mr. Turner?”
“Sorry,” he said sheepishly, “I don’t know where my mind went. What was I supposed to be doing?”
James smiled at the boy, and led him over to the desk. “This is yours, son, you’re at customer service, so just take down their names, and why they’re at the bank, and send them over to the seated area to wait for Elizabeth or Weatherby. If you have any questions, Liz is on speed dial one.” James wandered back to his post shooting furtive glances at the girl behind the desk by Wills.
She leaned over towards Will and whispered conspiratorially, “usually, you just say my name.”
“I thought so, but he looked so happy to be helping that I just couldn’t stop him.” Will’s grin was infectious and the girl grinned. “Will Turner,” he said by way of introduction.
“Elizabeth Swann.” She held out a hand and he took it, pressing a delicate kiss on the back. She giggled and blushed.
“It’s nine o’clock, folks. Doors are opening.” Day one had officially started.
Jack held Will’s shoulder’s firmly. “Give me the plan again, Will.”
Dutifully, the younger man recited, “get the job, make nice with the locals, date one of my co-workers...” at Jack’s look, he clarified, “...female co-workers, and get to know Jones as well. Find out which vault has the diamond, find out which days Jones is not going to be at the office, call you, stage robbery, stage kidnaping, get out and live happily ever after.”
Jack nodded once, grinning at him. “Perfect.” He turned, tilting precariously on his heel and strode for the door. Once there, he turned back towards Will with a frown. “Don’t get too attached to that girl,” he said. The somber tone drew Will’s eyes up to meet his lovers. “You’re mine.”
Will glanced down at his hands then joined Jack at the door. “Only if you’re mine too,” he said quietly, kissing Jack sweetly on the mouth. Jack tried to deepen the kiss but Will evaded him. “See you at five, lover.” Then Will disappeared around the corner and faintly, Jack could hear the elevator ding.
The phone rang and Will stared at it for a minute before cluing in and picking up the phone with a cheerful, “Good Morning, Dutch Bank!” He listened for a moment and wrote down a name and a number. “Yes, that’s fine. I’m sure Mr. Swann will get back to you promptly.” He hung up with a few more words and handed the note to Elizabeth. “Give that to your father, please?” he asked.
She nodded, sashaying towards her father’s office, putting an extra wiggle into her hips in front of James. Will smiled and shook his head, glancing down at the files in his hand he started alphabetizing them and putting them in separate piles. The phone rang again.
“Good morning, Dutch Bank!” he said cheerfully, putting down his papers.
“You’re good at this,” a voice growled on the other end of the phone. Will’s smile deepened.
“Hey, you,” he said warmly. “Don’t trust me on my first day here?”
Jack chuckled. “Not a’tol, mate, just makin’ sure you’re goin’ by the book.” Will rolled his eyes and didn’t reply. He didn’t have to when Jack said, mockingly aggravated, “and don’t you roll your eyes at me, boy.”
“I wasn’t!” he exclaimed futilely. “I was...writing something down.”
Elizabeth sauntered back and frowned. “Who’s on the phone?” she asked curiously.
Will glanced up. “Um... my brother.”
“Why Will,” the voice in his ear said sweetly, “I had no idea you’d fuck your brother.”
“JACK!” exclaimed Will, his ears bright red. “I’m hanging up on you now.”
“Kay!” There was a pause in which Jack waited for Will to clatter the phone down. When it didn’t happen, the con artist paused. “I love you,” he said quietly, and then the phone rang the dial tone in his ear. He smiled.
-
At five, Will stopped by Liz’s desk and offered her his arm. “May I take m’lady to dinner?” he asked cordially. She giggled and nodded, taking his arm and letting him waltz her over to her father’s office.
“Daddy,” she called, sticking her head into his office, “I’m going out to dinner with Will!” He glanced up sharply. “Oh please daddy, it’s only so we can get to know each other better. Please?”
Will stifled a smile and exchanged a look with a forlorn James. “Sorry,” he muttered to him. “She yours?”
The security guard shook his head. “Not in the least. That doesn’t mean I don’t want her to be. Go for it.”
Will grinned at him, then arranged his face into a more proper expression as Weatherby came out of his office with his daughter. “William, my boy,” he said with mock seriousness. “What’s this I hear about you taking my girl out on a date?”
William smiled charmingly, bowing at the waist. “Yes indeed, Manager Swann. I do endeavor to court yon fair maiden.”
Elizabeth giggled. “Oh please daddy, how can you say no after that?”
Weatherby sighed. “Bethie, sweetheart, you know I approve no matter who you pick.” Only Will caught the dejected look in the eavesdropping security guard’s eyes. It vaguely reminded him of Jack, in a way, whenever he thought too much and....
“What?” he said blankly when he realized he’d be asked something. “Sorry, what?”
Elizabeth giggled again. “Will, I asked where you’d be taking me.”
The younger man shrugged. “Where’s your favorite place to eat?” When Elizabeth’s eyes lit up, he groaned to himself. “I just damned myself to some place strange, didn’t I?” The other two men in the room nodded. He swore lightly under his breath, grinning to let Elizabeth know he was only joking.
Elizabeth patted his arm. “It’s okay. How about Café Italiano?” she said easily, naming an inexpensive fancy Italian restaurant only a few blocks away.
“Okay. I’ll need to call my brother though. He’s expecting me at five, so I should disillusion him of that.” He excused himself briefly back to his desk to call Jack. The phone rang for a few minutes, seven tones, before the machine picked up.
“You know what to do.” Beep.
Will paused. “Hey, Jack, stop screening your calls and pick up the phone, I have a change...” The receiver clicked. “...Hey,” he said softly into the phone, dropping his voice and turning his body slightly away from the people congregated across the room.
“Hey, love,” came the response. “Change in...?”
“Plans. I’m talking Elizabeth Swann out to dinner, so I’ll be home a little later.” There was a long pause on the other end of the phone. Will hurriedly added, “I’m going by the book, right? I mean...you said...to...and I...” Will started to get flustered. “Jack? Are you mad at me?” he asked finally, quietly.
“No, love, I’m not angry with you. I’m just...” he heard a rustle on the other end of the line, when Jack shrugged, “I just wanted to see you.”
Will had to fight the urge to tell Elizabeth that it was his brother’s birthday and he had to go home straight after work. Will nodded to himself once. “I’ll be home at eight, okay?”
The phone went dead in his ear. He stared at it for a moment then sighed and replaced it on his desk. Elizabeth cleared her throat. He jumped, turning, his eyes wide. “Did I scare you?” she asked impishly.
“No, you merely startled me.” He gave her his most charming smile. “Ready, Miss Swann?”
“Ready.”
-
When Will got home later than night, it was half after eight. Jack stood in the shadows of the kitchen doorway almost out of sight, but still casting a shadow on the black tiles of the floor. Will paused in hanging up his coat. “Jack?” he asked softly, afraid to break the stillness of the room.
“William,” he said evenly back, giving his younger lover no indication of his mood. “Have fun tonight?”
“Yeah, sure,” Will said carelessly, his eyes narrowed. “She’s good company.”
“Good company,” the other man repeated scathingly. “How good company? You’re late.”
Will strode across the kitchen floor to brush past Jack into the living room. The other members of the gang and household were suspiciously scarce. Will shrugged without turning. “Good enough I suppose. And I’m not late Jack. It’s half eight. What do you think we were doing? Having oral sex in the back of the cab?”
Jack seized Will’s shoulder and spun him around. “Well weren’t you?” he snapped, shaking him minutely. “Isn’t that what I said, right William? By the bloody fucking book?”
Will stared at him dispassionately. “Yes, Jack. Exactly as you said. By the book.” He rolled his eyes. “I’m going to bed, can I go now?”
“No!” Jack spat. “You can’t bloody go, you wanker! Tell me!”
“Tell you what Jack?” Will shot him a dirty look. “What the fuck do you want to hear? Elizabeth is a very nice girl. Girl! Since when have I ever been interested in women, Jack? Fuck, we’ve got sodding Ana Maria on the team and I’ve never once showed an interest in her, unlike you, who flirts with her and Tia any chance you got! So, Jack, I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t take your fidelity issues out on your very gay, not cheating, unassuming lover!” Will knocked his hands away. “I’m going to bed.”
Jack chased after him. “Wait, Will...I...” Will turned to stare at him. “I’m sorry. I just got...”
“Nervous?” Will shot back, “anxious?” His lips curled up in a smirk that had been wholly Jack’s once. “God forbid, frightened?”
“Will...”
Will started walking up the stairs to their bedroom. “News flash Jack, I’m not you. Good night.”
Jack stared in shocked silence up until Will got to the door. “Will!” He called desperately trying to fix whatever had gone wrong that night. “I love you,” he completed quietly.
Will stood silent. “Are you coming or what?” he asked finally, opening the door a little wider.
Jack breathed an unconscious sigh of relief. “Nope,” he answered. “Not even breathing hard.”
-
The alarm clock went off at 6:30 the next morning and it was Jack who knocked it to the floor. Will muttered into his pillow, “I should get up now. Get ready and...” he interrupted himself to yawn.
“Don’t go into today,” Jack mumbled into the skin of Will’s back. “I’ll make it worth your while...” He began kissing a line down Will’s spine. Will mumbled a half hearted protest mingled with a groan of acceptance. “Is that a yes?” he whispered, nibbling on the two dimples in Will’s muscled lower back.
“No,” he mumbled back, shifting uncomfortably on the bed. “I need to go to work. It’s my second day...”
“So what?” Jack asked breathlessly against the quivering muscles of his lover’s ass.
“By the book,” Will said half-heartedly, his body tense as he waited for Jack to move.
“Fuck the book,” was Jack’s eloquent reply as he slid sensuously up his lover’s back.
Will turned over suddenly, kissing Jack brutally. “Would rather fuck you,” he whispered.
Jack smirked. “Gladly,” he replied, pinning Will’s wrists over his head and flipping them over. “You’ll be late,” he whispered against the side of Will’s face.
“So what?” came the breathless reply, and Jack chuckled, kissing his lover hard. The older man linked Will’s wrists with one hand and used the other to work his way down between their bodies. Will gasped something inarticulate and strained against Jack, arching his back until it cracked unpleasantly.
Wincing in sympathy, Jack pressed downward so Will was pinned against the pillows again. “Careful, pet,” Jack said silkily, “might hurt yourself.” Will growled at him, and Jack moved his hand an inch downward. The growl turned into a high pitched whine as Jack roughly pressed the heel of his hand against Will’s trapped erection.
“I’m going to hurt you, Jack, if you don’t fucking hurry up!”
Jack tsked him lightly, sliding his hand lower to slip two fingers into Will’s entrance. He found it still slick from their games the night before. He grinned and Will shuddered both at the feeling and the intent in Jack’s eyes. “Can’t hurry these things, darlin’. Gotta make sure everything is good...and proper and...”
He moved his fingers just so and Will cut off Jack’s tirade with a hoarse shout, writhing ineffectually against Jack. “Jack! Please!”
Jack hoisted himself up a few inches and replaced his fingers with the blunt tip of his dripping erection. He paused and everything went still, even Will’s restless movements. It was too late before Jack realized Will’s plan. He went toppling to the floor, landing on his back before an angry and aroused William. Will pounced, sitting on Jack before the other man could move. “William!” he said sharply, his head falling back when Will ground their two erections together.
“That’s what you get, lover,” Will growled, before sitting up, then rapidly down on Jack’s cock, no extra preparation necessary.
So Jack took Will’s distraction for granted and rolled them over again. He ground down hard, and Will keened, his hands scrabbling at the hard wood floor. “Ass,” he said fondly, then began moving in earnest.
Will began clawing at Jack’s arms when a sharp rap came to the bedroom door. They froze, with difficulty. “Jack! Will! It’s fucking seven thirty. Stop shagging around and Will, you have work in a half hour!” Ana Maria’s irritated voice sounded.
Jack and Will stared at each other for a second before Jack stood slowly, letting himself fall out of Will. “C’mon,” he said urgently. “Shower.”
Using the bar of soap, they forwent the bother of penetration, and just used the terrycloth to finish what they had started. Will was out of the shower and dressed by quarter of, and Ana Maria drove him to work, berating him the entire way.
Will made it to the office before eight o’clock, but only just barely. Elizabeth gave him a concerned look as he sat down at his desk, gingerly. “Are you okay?” she asked, looking him up and down.
“Yeah,” he said after a moments pause. “My backside met with the pavement this morning in a rather unfortunate ending. I’m just a little sore.”
“Too sore to do something tonight?” Elizabeth queried, tilting her head to the side coquettishly.
Will blinked at her and he suddenly remembered Jack’s panicked filled face. He smirked. “Tonight? Sure. I get to pick the restaurant. Deal?”
“Deal.”
-
Will and Elizabeth sat at Will’s favorite restaurant, a Japanese style place called Osaka. She blew experimentally on her Miso Soup and watched as Will ate his almost reverently. “You really like this place, huh?” she said when she’d had her first mouthful. He nodded. “It’s good.”
“My...brother, he introduced me to this place. Takes me here on my birthday.” Will finished his soup and placed it aside.
“What, no girlfriend?” Elizabeth asked, shocked.
“What?” Will asked skeptically. “I’m g...” he trailed off. “I don’t have a good track record with women,” he finally said, looking a little sad.
“You seem to be doing fine to me,” Elizabeth said gently, leaning over and grasping his hand. He stared at their hands for a minute before squeezing it once and letting go. “So,” she said briskly changing the subject. “Why bank clerk?”
“I’m good with numbers,” Will said honestly. “And I like people.”
Elizabeth leaned forward. “So you didn’t come to our bank because of the Heart of the Ocean?”
Will frowned. “Isn’t that a song?”
“Actually... Yes. But that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about the diamond.” Elizabeth waited but Will’s expression became no more enlightened. “Oh come on Will. David Jones’ diamond? The famous one?” Will shook his head. “Where have you been these past four years?” she asked rhetorically.
“Borneo,” came the succinct reply.
“Are you serious?” Elizabeth asked. Will shook his head with a smile. “Didn’t think so. Davy Jones, our C.E.O., owns the building and he puts his most prized possession, the Heart of the Ocean in the most secure vault. It’s as big as my fist. He says he found it out a wreck about eight years ago.”
“Eight years ago...” Will mused aloud, thinking fast. Eight years ago, he was in Scotland with his mother, trying to take care of her before she finally died. Six years ago, he joined up with Jack and his company. He filed away the information for later. “I was in Scotland,” he said honestly. “Family shit.”
“Ohh...so that’s where you’re from. You didn’t have the normal accent, and I wondered.”
“I have a mix,” he admitted sheepishly. “I’m kind of a United Kingdom mutt, you could say.”
Elizabeth giggled. “I like your accent,” she said shyly. She leaned forward of the table, just the barest inch and the waiter placed down their food in front of them.
Moment broken, Will looked up at the waiter and pressed his hands together as though in prayer. “Arigatou,” he said politely.
The waiter broke out into a large grin. “Itadakimasu!” he said happily, bowing in return.
Will smiled to himself. Elizabeth stared in shock. “You speak Japanese?”
“I speak some,” he said carefully. “I speak a lot of some. Eat,” he said gesturing toward her sushi.
“You will never cease to amaze me, William Turner.”
Will got home at nine, surprised not to see Jack waiting for him in the kitchen. He heard the televison on in the other room and peaked in to see Cotton and Ana Maria curled up together on the couch, asleep like puppies. He turned off the telly and the light, before heading up the stairs to bed.
Jack was sitting on the bed waiting for him. “How was your date?” he asked stiffly.
Will just glanced at him before falling face first into the pillows. “I,” he said with great dignity, “am so gay.”
The effect was slightly lost in the pillows.
-
The next morning Will woke up alone, an occurrence, he noted that was strange as that hadn’t happened since before he and Jack had gotten together. He heard quiet voices down the stairs into the kitchen and he padded softly in on bare feet.
Ana and Jack were whispering at the table, head together over a sheet of paper. Will sat down next to them with a cup of tea. “Morning,” he said. “I don’t have work today, so I thought we could talk about what I’ve learnt.”
Jack looked at him for a long moment. “Yeah,” he said slowly. “What have you learned?”
“That I have more questions that answers,” the younger man admitted. “But only one is pressing.” He put the tea down and looked at Jack seriously. “What happened eight years ago with David Jones?”
Jack went white, then red, then white again in quick succession. He shot to his feet, mumbling something about plans, and fled the kitchen. Ana Maria sighed, before shooting Will an apologetic look and chasing after her best friend and employer.
Will downed the rest of his tea and went after them both, catching them before they went into the bedroom. “Oh no,” he said when Ana Maria tried to shut the door in his face. “That’s my lover in there and I’m going to find out what’s wrong. Move.”
Ana Maria sighed again, then moved out of the way. Jack stood across the room from them, staring out at the city through the window. “Well,” Jack said softly. “I suppose it’s time to come clean, huh, pet?”
Ana Maria slid her arms around him, giving him a tight hug. “I’m sorry,” she said quietly.
Will watched their altercation without feeling. Jack and Annie had been together for years before Will had ever stumbled upon their picture. He felt no actual jealousy, only the fear that something was really wrong. Jack disentangled himself from Ana, and sat on the edge of the bed across from Will. “I’m Jack Sparrow,” he said, “con artist, and thief. Ten years ago, I was Jack Sparrow, a marine archeologist.”
Will blinked at him. “And that means...?”
“My crew and I would dive, and research and find sunken ships, or other such oddities that shouldn’t be there. My father, Annie and I were a team. The best, they said. And then we found a simple little wreck off the coast of Jamaica. She was mostly intact, a stern and a bow, three masts, no sails though...” Jack smiled wistfully. “She was beautiful. We figured her to be about mid-sixteen hundreds, maybe early seventeen...”
“What happened on that wreck, Jack?” Will asked quietly when his lover stopped talking.
“Well, we got down there, and the ship was legendary. The Black Pearl, she was, from a pirate way back in the day. Boring history, not the point. The Black Pearl though, held the infamous Heart of the Ocean. I held it in my hands. I held it. It was mine. The Pearl was mine. I had staked a claim and everyone knew it. And then...” he trailed off again.
This time Annie started the story up again. “Teague...that’s Jack’s father, he got hurt. Real bad. There was a shark, and...well. Teague, he had to be rushed to the hospital, and by the time we got back to the wreck, Jones’ men had picked her clean. The night that Teague died was the night Jack found the diamond missing.”
“It turned up,” Jack said suddenly, “in the possession of David Jones, multi-millionaire. He claimed the wreck, the diamond, and my glory.”
“So then you turned con,” Will said softly. Jack nodded, not meeting his eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It...wasn’t as important as I thought it was, for a while. Then Cotton, he doesn’t know any better, brought up this as a mark and...” Jack trailed off again. “It did seem like a good idea at the time.”
Will sat in silence for a moment. “It’s at the bank. Biggest vault in the center. Needs a special key, that Jones’ has got. Keeps it with him at all times, only he can open it, he needs to be called in especially for the important people who also keep their things there.”
“When does he come in?” Jack asked, leaning forward his eyes bright.
“He doesn’t. He has a home office. But, we’re all given his number in case of emergency.”
Jack started to smile. “Well, gather the gang. I’ve got a plan!”
Part: 1/3 - The Set Up
Author: miss_drea_fic
Fandom: Pirates of the Caribbean
Pairing: Jack/Will, Will/Elizabeth
Rating: NC-17
Summary: Fusion with the BBC television show “Hustle”. Jack Sparrow, con artist, plays a local bank and its occupants for a fool.
Disclaimer: The Mouse owns it all.
*
The Set Up
“A’right, Gibbs, what’d’ya got?” asked the boss. The five thieves sat in a circle around a computer screen that Gibbs skillfully manipulated. A large man’s picture came up on screen.
“This is David Jones. He owns the entire line of Dutch Banks this side of the East End.” Another picture came up on screen. “This bank, however, is the one he uses for himself. Inside this vault,” a smaller picture in the right hand corner popped up, “is where he holds his most prized possession.”
Ana Maria gaped at the newest picture. “The Heart of the Ocean!” The diamond was a light tint of blue perfectly cut and just about the size of a large fist. “It’s just as beautiful as I remember it.”
Jack Sparrow leaned forward, his dark eyes alight. “We’re not doing it,” he said fiercely. “That’s final.”
“But Jack!” chorused the group of con artists. At his severe look everyone shut up. “No buts, gang. I’m not risking it. I’ve crossed Jones before. He won’t fall for a Long Con.”
The only silent member of the group finally spoke up. “So make it a bank robbery.”
“A..bank robbery?” Jack repeated blankly. “Why would you suggest something like that, we’re not common criminals.”
The youngest member of Sparrow’s team grinned at him. “We’re not, no. But this isn’t a common job, is it?” Everyone shook their heads. “Put someone on the inside. Charlie or Ed would do it, if you can get a hold of them. Even Hector would do it.”
“He needs to be trusted,” Ana Maria said dryly. “So why are you suggesting Hector of all people?”
“I suggested Charlie and Ed first,” came the defensive reply. “I only said Hector would do it, not that he should.”
Jack broke in. “No good. Jones can I.D. Charlie, Ed and Hector.” There was a moment of down-trodden silence, and then he said, “Annie, you can do it!”
“You want me to work in a bank?” she asked incredulously. “Jack, I can’t even add two and two together!”
“What about Tia?” asked Gibbs, brightly. Everyone gave him a baleful look. “Or not,” he said. Once the attention was off him he grumbled, “what the hell’s wrong with Tia?”
Cotton looked at him, amused. “Maybe because she’s crazy?” he offered.
“Yeah, all right...” Gibbs conceded. “We don’t have anyone trust worthy enough to get away with it. I’m too old, Jack’s too cunning, Annie’s too stupid - ow- and Cotton’s too...” he searched for a word while rubbing the spot on his head where Ana Maria had hit him. “Cotton’s too smart!”
There was another moment of silence and everyone turned to look at the youngest member of the team. Jack smiled at him. “How would you like to be a bank clerk?”
His answer was dry. “Do I have a choice?”
*
The medium height nervous youth stood twitching in front of Bank Manager Swann’s desk. “Hi,” he said an endearing stutter to his voice. “My name’s Will Turner...”
“Will, m’boy! You’re here for the clerk job?” The robust voice of the manager warmed Will, and the young man nodded hesitantly.
“Y-yes. I um...here are my credentials.” He handed Weatherby the resume and continued fidgeting.
Jack turned to his young lover and friend. “A’right. Theo down in Central cleared your record, and Andy took off anything that might look bad. Not perfect, but...”
Will looked back and forth from the papers that had been shoved in his hand to his boss. “Theo? Andy?” he asked helplessly, not understanding.
“Oh. Groves and Gillette. They owe me from a few years back, and well...” Jack shrugged and grinned, pushing the agitated man into the other room.
“You have friends in the F.B.I. and you’re a con artist?” Will asked. “And how come I didn’t know they were from the F.B.I.?” he demanded after a seconds thought.
Ana Maria finally took pity on the boy, and stated calmly, “they’re not, but they played a classic, they infiltrated, deleted, and moved on. The Force’ll know nothing.”
Will blinked at her. “So I’m clear? No one will know I’m...?” he trailed off.
“Sweetheart,” Jack said, spinning Will around to face him. “They won’t even know you’re gay.”
“Mr. Turner? Is everything alright?” Will’s eyes snapped to the security guard who stood beside him. “Mr. Turner?”
“Sorry,” he said sheepishly, “I don’t know where my mind went. What was I supposed to be doing?”
James smiled at the boy, and led him over to the desk. “This is yours, son, you’re at customer service, so just take down their names, and why they’re at the bank, and send them over to the seated area to wait for Elizabeth or Weatherby. If you have any questions, Liz is on speed dial one.” James wandered back to his post shooting furtive glances at the girl behind the desk by Wills.
She leaned over towards Will and whispered conspiratorially, “usually, you just say my name.”
“I thought so, but he looked so happy to be helping that I just couldn’t stop him.” Will’s grin was infectious and the girl grinned. “Will Turner,” he said by way of introduction.
“Elizabeth Swann.” She held out a hand and he took it, pressing a delicate kiss on the back. She giggled and blushed.
“It’s nine o’clock, folks. Doors are opening.” Day one had officially started.
Jack held Will’s shoulder’s firmly. “Give me the plan again, Will.”
Dutifully, the younger man recited, “get the job, make nice with the locals, date one of my co-workers...” at Jack’s look, he clarified, “...female co-workers, and get to know Jones as well. Find out which vault has the diamond, find out which days Jones is not going to be at the office, call you, stage robbery, stage kidnaping, get out and live happily ever after.”
Jack nodded once, grinning at him. “Perfect.” He turned, tilting precariously on his heel and strode for the door. Once there, he turned back towards Will with a frown. “Don’t get too attached to that girl,” he said. The somber tone drew Will’s eyes up to meet his lovers. “You’re mine.”
Will glanced down at his hands then joined Jack at the door. “Only if you’re mine too,” he said quietly, kissing Jack sweetly on the mouth. Jack tried to deepen the kiss but Will evaded him. “See you at five, lover.” Then Will disappeared around the corner and faintly, Jack could hear the elevator ding.
The phone rang and Will stared at it for a minute before cluing in and picking up the phone with a cheerful, “Good Morning, Dutch Bank!” He listened for a moment and wrote down a name and a number. “Yes, that’s fine. I’m sure Mr. Swann will get back to you promptly.” He hung up with a few more words and handed the note to Elizabeth. “Give that to your father, please?” he asked.
She nodded, sashaying towards her father’s office, putting an extra wiggle into her hips in front of James. Will smiled and shook his head, glancing down at the files in his hand he started alphabetizing them and putting them in separate piles. The phone rang again.
“Good morning, Dutch Bank!” he said cheerfully, putting down his papers.
“You’re good at this,” a voice growled on the other end of the phone. Will’s smile deepened.
“Hey, you,” he said warmly. “Don’t trust me on my first day here?”
Jack chuckled. “Not a’tol, mate, just makin’ sure you’re goin’ by the book.” Will rolled his eyes and didn’t reply. He didn’t have to when Jack said, mockingly aggravated, “and don’t you roll your eyes at me, boy.”
“I wasn’t!” he exclaimed futilely. “I was...writing something down.”
Elizabeth sauntered back and frowned. “Who’s on the phone?” she asked curiously.
Will glanced up. “Um... my brother.”
“Why Will,” the voice in his ear said sweetly, “I had no idea you’d fuck your brother.”
“JACK!” exclaimed Will, his ears bright red. “I’m hanging up on you now.”
“Kay!” There was a pause in which Jack waited for Will to clatter the phone down. When it didn’t happen, the con artist paused. “I love you,” he said quietly, and then the phone rang the dial tone in his ear. He smiled.
-
At five, Will stopped by Liz’s desk and offered her his arm. “May I take m’lady to dinner?” he asked cordially. She giggled and nodded, taking his arm and letting him waltz her over to her father’s office.
“Daddy,” she called, sticking her head into his office, “I’m going out to dinner with Will!” He glanced up sharply. “Oh please daddy, it’s only so we can get to know each other better. Please?”
Will stifled a smile and exchanged a look with a forlorn James. “Sorry,” he muttered to him. “She yours?”
The security guard shook his head. “Not in the least. That doesn’t mean I don’t want her to be. Go for it.”
Will grinned at him, then arranged his face into a more proper expression as Weatherby came out of his office with his daughter. “William, my boy,” he said with mock seriousness. “What’s this I hear about you taking my girl out on a date?”
William smiled charmingly, bowing at the waist. “Yes indeed, Manager Swann. I do endeavor to court yon fair maiden.”
Elizabeth giggled. “Oh please daddy, how can you say no after that?”
Weatherby sighed. “Bethie, sweetheart, you know I approve no matter who you pick.” Only Will caught the dejected look in the eavesdropping security guard’s eyes. It vaguely reminded him of Jack, in a way, whenever he thought too much and....
“What?” he said blankly when he realized he’d be asked something. “Sorry, what?”
Elizabeth giggled again. “Will, I asked where you’d be taking me.”
The younger man shrugged. “Where’s your favorite place to eat?” When Elizabeth’s eyes lit up, he groaned to himself. “I just damned myself to some place strange, didn’t I?” The other two men in the room nodded. He swore lightly under his breath, grinning to let Elizabeth know he was only joking.
Elizabeth patted his arm. “It’s okay. How about Café Italiano?” she said easily, naming an inexpensive fancy Italian restaurant only a few blocks away.
“Okay. I’ll need to call my brother though. He’s expecting me at five, so I should disillusion him of that.” He excused himself briefly back to his desk to call Jack. The phone rang for a few minutes, seven tones, before the machine picked up.
“You know what to do.” Beep.
Will paused. “Hey, Jack, stop screening your calls and pick up the phone, I have a change...” The receiver clicked. “...Hey,” he said softly into the phone, dropping his voice and turning his body slightly away from the people congregated across the room.
“Hey, love,” came the response. “Change in...?”
“Plans. I’m talking Elizabeth Swann out to dinner, so I’ll be home a little later.” There was a long pause on the other end of the phone. Will hurriedly added, “I’m going by the book, right? I mean...you said...to...and I...” Will started to get flustered. “Jack? Are you mad at me?” he asked finally, quietly.
“No, love, I’m not angry with you. I’m just...” he heard a rustle on the other end of the line, when Jack shrugged, “I just wanted to see you.”
Will had to fight the urge to tell Elizabeth that it was his brother’s birthday and he had to go home straight after work. Will nodded to himself once. “I’ll be home at eight, okay?”
The phone went dead in his ear. He stared at it for a moment then sighed and replaced it on his desk. Elizabeth cleared her throat. He jumped, turning, his eyes wide. “Did I scare you?” she asked impishly.
“No, you merely startled me.” He gave her his most charming smile. “Ready, Miss Swann?”
“Ready.”
-
When Will got home later than night, it was half after eight. Jack stood in the shadows of the kitchen doorway almost out of sight, but still casting a shadow on the black tiles of the floor. Will paused in hanging up his coat. “Jack?” he asked softly, afraid to break the stillness of the room.
“William,” he said evenly back, giving his younger lover no indication of his mood. “Have fun tonight?”
“Yeah, sure,” Will said carelessly, his eyes narrowed. “She’s good company.”
“Good company,” the other man repeated scathingly. “How good company? You’re late.”
Will strode across the kitchen floor to brush past Jack into the living room. The other members of the gang and household were suspiciously scarce. Will shrugged without turning. “Good enough I suppose. And I’m not late Jack. It’s half eight. What do you think we were doing? Having oral sex in the back of the cab?”
Jack seized Will’s shoulder and spun him around. “Well weren’t you?” he snapped, shaking him minutely. “Isn’t that what I said, right William? By the bloody fucking book?”
Will stared at him dispassionately. “Yes, Jack. Exactly as you said. By the book.” He rolled his eyes. “I’m going to bed, can I go now?”
“No!” Jack spat. “You can’t bloody go, you wanker! Tell me!”
“Tell you what Jack?” Will shot him a dirty look. “What the fuck do you want to hear? Elizabeth is a very nice girl. Girl! Since when have I ever been interested in women, Jack? Fuck, we’ve got sodding Ana Maria on the team and I’ve never once showed an interest in her, unlike you, who flirts with her and Tia any chance you got! So, Jack, I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t take your fidelity issues out on your very gay, not cheating, unassuming lover!” Will knocked his hands away. “I’m going to bed.”
Jack chased after him. “Wait, Will...I...” Will turned to stare at him. “I’m sorry. I just got...”
“Nervous?” Will shot back, “anxious?” His lips curled up in a smirk that had been wholly Jack’s once. “God forbid, frightened?”
“Will...”
Will started walking up the stairs to their bedroom. “News flash Jack, I’m not you. Good night.”
Jack stared in shocked silence up until Will got to the door. “Will!” He called desperately trying to fix whatever had gone wrong that night. “I love you,” he completed quietly.
Will stood silent. “Are you coming or what?” he asked finally, opening the door a little wider.
Jack breathed an unconscious sigh of relief. “Nope,” he answered. “Not even breathing hard.”
-
The alarm clock went off at 6:30 the next morning and it was Jack who knocked it to the floor. Will muttered into his pillow, “I should get up now. Get ready and...” he interrupted himself to yawn.
“Don’t go into today,” Jack mumbled into the skin of Will’s back. “I’ll make it worth your while...” He began kissing a line down Will’s spine. Will mumbled a half hearted protest mingled with a groan of acceptance. “Is that a yes?” he whispered, nibbling on the two dimples in Will’s muscled lower back.
“No,” he mumbled back, shifting uncomfortably on the bed. “I need to go to work. It’s my second day...”
“So what?” Jack asked breathlessly against the quivering muscles of his lover’s ass.
“By the book,” Will said half-heartedly, his body tense as he waited for Jack to move.
“Fuck the book,” was Jack’s eloquent reply as he slid sensuously up his lover’s back.
Will turned over suddenly, kissing Jack brutally. “Would rather fuck you,” he whispered.
Jack smirked. “Gladly,” he replied, pinning Will’s wrists over his head and flipping them over. “You’ll be late,” he whispered against the side of Will’s face.
“So what?” came the breathless reply, and Jack chuckled, kissing his lover hard. The older man linked Will’s wrists with one hand and used the other to work his way down between their bodies. Will gasped something inarticulate and strained against Jack, arching his back until it cracked unpleasantly.
Wincing in sympathy, Jack pressed downward so Will was pinned against the pillows again. “Careful, pet,” Jack said silkily, “might hurt yourself.” Will growled at him, and Jack moved his hand an inch downward. The growl turned into a high pitched whine as Jack roughly pressed the heel of his hand against Will’s trapped erection.
“I’m going to hurt you, Jack, if you don’t fucking hurry up!”
Jack tsked him lightly, sliding his hand lower to slip two fingers into Will’s entrance. He found it still slick from their games the night before. He grinned and Will shuddered both at the feeling and the intent in Jack’s eyes. “Can’t hurry these things, darlin’. Gotta make sure everything is good...and proper and...”
He moved his fingers just so and Will cut off Jack’s tirade with a hoarse shout, writhing ineffectually against Jack. “Jack! Please!”
Jack hoisted himself up a few inches and replaced his fingers with the blunt tip of his dripping erection. He paused and everything went still, even Will’s restless movements. It was too late before Jack realized Will’s plan. He went toppling to the floor, landing on his back before an angry and aroused William. Will pounced, sitting on Jack before the other man could move. “William!” he said sharply, his head falling back when Will ground their two erections together.
“That’s what you get, lover,” Will growled, before sitting up, then rapidly down on Jack’s cock, no extra preparation necessary.
So Jack took Will’s distraction for granted and rolled them over again. He ground down hard, and Will keened, his hands scrabbling at the hard wood floor. “Ass,” he said fondly, then began moving in earnest.
Will began clawing at Jack’s arms when a sharp rap came to the bedroom door. They froze, with difficulty. “Jack! Will! It’s fucking seven thirty. Stop shagging around and Will, you have work in a half hour!” Ana Maria’s irritated voice sounded.
Jack and Will stared at each other for a second before Jack stood slowly, letting himself fall out of Will. “C’mon,” he said urgently. “Shower.”
Using the bar of soap, they forwent the bother of penetration, and just used the terrycloth to finish what they had started. Will was out of the shower and dressed by quarter of, and Ana Maria drove him to work, berating him the entire way.
Will made it to the office before eight o’clock, but only just barely. Elizabeth gave him a concerned look as he sat down at his desk, gingerly. “Are you okay?” she asked, looking him up and down.
“Yeah,” he said after a moments pause. “My backside met with the pavement this morning in a rather unfortunate ending. I’m just a little sore.”
“Too sore to do something tonight?” Elizabeth queried, tilting her head to the side coquettishly.
Will blinked at her and he suddenly remembered Jack’s panicked filled face. He smirked. “Tonight? Sure. I get to pick the restaurant. Deal?”
“Deal.”
-
Will and Elizabeth sat at Will’s favorite restaurant, a Japanese style place called Osaka. She blew experimentally on her Miso Soup and watched as Will ate his almost reverently. “You really like this place, huh?” she said when she’d had her first mouthful. He nodded. “It’s good.”
“My...brother, he introduced me to this place. Takes me here on my birthday.” Will finished his soup and placed it aside.
“What, no girlfriend?” Elizabeth asked, shocked.
“What?” Will asked skeptically. “I’m g...” he trailed off. “I don’t have a good track record with women,” he finally said, looking a little sad.
“You seem to be doing fine to me,” Elizabeth said gently, leaning over and grasping his hand. He stared at their hands for a minute before squeezing it once and letting go. “So,” she said briskly changing the subject. “Why bank clerk?”
“I’m good with numbers,” Will said honestly. “And I like people.”
Elizabeth leaned forward. “So you didn’t come to our bank because of the Heart of the Ocean?”
Will frowned. “Isn’t that a song?”
“Actually... Yes. But that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about the diamond.” Elizabeth waited but Will’s expression became no more enlightened. “Oh come on Will. David Jones’ diamond? The famous one?” Will shook his head. “Where have you been these past four years?” she asked rhetorically.
“Borneo,” came the succinct reply.
“Are you serious?” Elizabeth asked. Will shook his head with a smile. “Didn’t think so. Davy Jones, our C.E.O., owns the building and he puts his most prized possession, the Heart of the Ocean in the most secure vault. It’s as big as my fist. He says he found it out a wreck about eight years ago.”
“Eight years ago...” Will mused aloud, thinking fast. Eight years ago, he was in Scotland with his mother, trying to take care of her before she finally died. Six years ago, he joined up with Jack and his company. He filed away the information for later. “I was in Scotland,” he said honestly. “Family shit.”
“Ohh...so that’s where you’re from. You didn’t have the normal accent, and I wondered.”
“I have a mix,” he admitted sheepishly. “I’m kind of a United Kingdom mutt, you could say.”
Elizabeth giggled. “I like your accent,” she said shyly. She leaned forward of the table, just the barest inch and the waiter placed down their food in front of them.
Moment broken, Will looked up at the waiter and pressed his hands together as though in prayer. “Arigatou,” he said politely.
The waiter broke out into a large grin. “Itadakimasu!” he said happily, bowing in return.
Will smiled to himself. Elizabeth stared in shock. “You speak Japanese?”
“I speak some,” he said carefully. “I speak a lot of some. Eat,” he said gesturing toward her sushi.
“You will never cease to amaze me, William Turner.”
Will got home at nine, surprised not to see Jack waiting for him in the kitchen. He heard the televison on in the other room and peaked in to see Cotton and Ana Maria curled up together on the couch, asleep like puppies. He turned off the telly and the light, before heading up the stairs to bed.
Jack was sitting on the bed waiting for him. “How was your date?” he asked stiffly.
Will just glanced at him before falling face first into the pillows. “I,” he said with great dignity, “am so gay.”
The effect was slightly lost in the pillows.
-
The next morning Will woke up alone, an occurrence, he noted that was strange as that hadn’t happened since before he and Jack had gotten together. He heard quiet voices down the stairs into the kitchen and he padded softly in on bare feet.
Ana and Jack were whispering at the table, head together over a sheet of paper. Will sat down next to them with a cup of tea. “Morning,” he said. “I don’t have work today, so I thought we could talk about what I’ve learnt.”
Jack looked at him for a long moment. “Yeah,” he said slowly. “What have you learned?”
“That I have more questions that answers,” the younger man admitted. “But only one is pressing.” He put the tea down and looked at Jack seriously. “What happened eight years ago with David Jones?”
Jack went white, then red, then white again in quick succession. He shot to his feet, mumbling something about plans, and fled the kitchen. Ana Maria sighed, before shooting Will an apologetic look and chasing after her best friend and employer.
Will downed the rest of his tea and went after them both, catching them before they went into the bedroom. “Oh no,” he said when Ana Maria tried to shut the door in his face. “That’s my lover in there and I’m going to find out what’s wrong. Move.”
Ana Maria sighed again, then moved out of the way. Jack stood across the room from them, staring out at the city through the window. “Well,” Jack said softly. “I suppose it’s time to come clean, huh, pet?”
Ana Maria slid her arms around him, giving him a tight hug. “I’m sorry,” she said quietly.
Will watched their altercation without feeling. Jack and Annie had been together for years before Will had ever stumbled upon their picture. He felt no actual jealousy, only the fear that something was really wrong. Jack disentangled himself from Ana, and sat on the edge of the bed across from Will. “I’m Jack Sparrow,” he said, “con artist, and thief. Ten years ago, I was Jack Sparrow, a marine archeologist.”
Will blinked at him. “And that means...?”
“My crew and I would dive, and research and find sunken ships, or other such oddities that shouldn’t be there. My father, Annie and I were a team. The best, they said. And then we found a simple little wreck off the coast of Jamaica. She was mostly intact, a stern and a bow, three masts, no sails though...” Jack smiled wistfully. “She was beautiful. We figured her to be about mid-sixteen hundreds, maybe early seventeen...”
“What happened on that wreck, Jack?” Will asked quietly when his lover stopped talking.
“Well, we got down there, and the ship was legendary. The Black Pearl, she was, from a pirate way back in the day. Boring history, not the point. The Black Pearl though, held the infamous Heart of the Ocean. I held it in my hands. I held it. It was mine. The Pearl was mine. I had staked a claim and everyone knew it. And then...” he trailed off again.
This time Annie started the story up again. “Teague...that’s Jack’s father, he got hurt. Real bad. There was a shark, and...well. Teague, he had to be rushed to the hospital, and by the time we got back to the wreck, Jones’ men had picked her clean. The night that Teague died was the night Jack found the diamond missing.”
“It turned up,” Jack said suddenly, “in the possession of David Jones, multi-millionaire. He claimed the wreck, the diamond, and my glory.”
“So then you turned con,” Will said softly. Jack nodded, not meeting his eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It...wasn’t as important as I thought it was, for a while. Then Cotton, he doesn’t know any better, brought up this as a mark and...” Jack trailed off again. “It did seem like a good idea at the time.”
Will sat in silence for a moment. “It’s at the bank. Biggest vault in the center. Needs a special key, that Jones’ has got. Keeps it with him at all times, only he can open it, he needs to be called in especially for the important people who also keep their things there.”
“When does he come in?” Jack asked, leaning forward his eyes bright.
“He doesn’t. He has a home office. But, we’re all given his number in case of emergency.”
Jack started to smile. “Well, gather the gang. I’ve got a plan!”