(no subject)
Will sat in the cave, in utter disbelief. What he had done was beginning to set in. He had betrayed both his friends and his country. In truth, he had ordered a man’s death. But at the time, it had seemed simple enough. Elizabeth had loved him and he her for eight years. How the Commodore had turned her heart so suddenly baffled him. But he knew he could turn it back, once he got her alone and had some time.
When the pirates brought him to Isle de Muerta, they were in no mood to be reasonable. They had already been here once before with Elizabeth, who had lied about her name. They were in no mood to settle for a drop of his blood; they wanted it all.
The Dauntless had been the price of their leniency and it was a price he was happy to pay. With one exception. Elizabeth was not to be harmed, and she was to be returned to him after Norrington and his men were dead.
When Will had rescued Elizabeth, he had not imagined the pirates would make her walk the plank, nor that he would be separated from her. He had also not planned on god-damned Norrington finding her and Sparrow within hours. What was wrong with the man? He’d been told she was dead, he’d been evaded for over a month, his ship should have been sunk, he should have drowned, and there were so many ways for a man to die at sea. But there was none more certain than being tied to the mast by pirates.
The day you could not count on pirates to whip a Navy man to death… and this was no ordinary Navy man, this was the Scourge of Piracy himself. He would give them his blood, they would give him Elizabeth, and Norrington, and regrettably Jack, would be at the bottom of the sea.
Elizabeth felt like she had been crying forever. And she was so dehydrated but they hadn’t brought them even a gulp of water.
Elizabeth traced the muscles in James’s bare arm with her fingers, from his shoulder all the way to his hand. She had been touching him. As he drifted in and out of consciousness, he always felt her fingers: caressing his cheek, squeezing his hand, and her lips kissing his eyelids and his forehead. As much pain as he was in, it was pure bliss.
“Are you awake?” she whispered against his neck, her lips lingering on his neck.
“Mmmmm…do that again.”
Her lips returned to his neck and she inhaled his scent that she loved so much, only now it was mingled with the metallic scent of blood.
She knelt by the bed. He was on his stomach and his head was turned so she could kneel next to him and kiss him, which she did. He moaned with pleasure again. His eyes were the only thing that gave away his pain; they were a color she had never seen before, so dark they were nearly black.
“I think you might love me”, he said with a painful smile.
She took his hand in hers and kissed the tips of every finger. “I’m your wife”, she answered, and “It doesn’t matter if the ceremony has taken place yet or not, I’m your wife.”
He wanted to sit up, he wanted to wrench her into his arms, he wanted to promise her they’d be married in days. He wanted to promise her he would protect her forever, be her friend, her lover, and her husband forever, and give her as many babies as her heart desired. But James was practical, as always. They would never let him, or Jack, or even Will, for all the good he’d done himself, live through this. They knew too much.
As for Elizabeth, his mind stubbornly refused to even picture the end of her sweet life. He would get her off this ship and back to her father, if it was the last thing he did.
“Tell me you love me”, he said, though he knew he was being selfish.
“You know I do”, she said.
“Still, I would hear the words”, he answered.
“I love you”, she said, cupping his face in her hands. “I’m happy to repeat them everyday”, she said.
“Promise me you’ll love me for the rest of my life”, he said, losing his battle with consciousness again. It was too much to ask her to love him for the rest of hers.
“I promise”, she answered, a tear running down her cheeks as she kissed his.
“It was worth it”, he said, and he was out again.
Elizabeth fell asleep as well, lying next to him and gripping his hand. Screams roused her. James opened his eyes as well. It was Jack.
“Oh my God, they’re…”she couldn’t finish the sentence.
James forced himself into a sitting position and tried not to scream himself. He pulled her into his arms and covered her ears with his hands.
“Look at me, look right at me”, he ordered in that voice that commanded absolute obedience.
She looked unblinkingly into his eyes. Her tears stopped as she focused with all her might on the green orbs before her. “That’s my girl”, he said, “Tell me what you would like to name our children.”
She sobbed again. “James, this isn’t over, is it? They’re not going to leave any of us alive.”
“Shhhh”, he crooned, “Tell me, keep looking at me now, tell me what you want to name our children.”
“I would like to name a son Weatherby after my father”, she said, her voice breaking.
“Well that’s fine, that’s lovely”, he said. “And our daughter?”
“My mother was Mary Elizabeth”, she answered.
“She’ll look just like you. I’ll have to beat the lads away from our door”, he said and breathed again when she smiled.
“What about your parents?” she asked.
“My father is Wilbur”, he said.
She wrinkled up her nose and he smiled. The screams had stopped.
Suddenly the door opened. “Come with us, Commodore”, the pirate said.
“No!” she screamed, more frantic than before. “No, leave him, leave him…”
They wrenched him to his feet. She gripped his arm like steel and it hurt when they wrenched her away.
“Whatever you do to him, do to me”, she said.
She couldn’t go through again, he thought.
The pirates dragged the pair of them on deck.
Jack lay in a heap, his back a bloody mass of wounds, but he was alive.
The plank was already in place and Will was standing at the end of it.
“We had a deal!” he screamed.
“Never liked betrayers myself”, Barbossa said, and Jack actually found the strength to laugh. “I could never trust ye, lad.”
“Deal?” Elizabeth asked furiously, “Exactly what kind of deal did you have, Will?”
“Sold us out, he did”, Jack said.
“Shut up, Sparrow, we have a special treat for you”, Barbossa said and his men laughed.
He drew his sword on Will. “Walk”, he ordered.
“Elizabeth, I never did anything but love you”, Will said.
“Ye got a funny way of showin’ it”, Barbossa said.
Finally, he personally shoved Will off the plank and he fell with a splash. Elizabeth couldn’t help but feel her heart slam her in chest; she’d loved him, he was her friend. It was beyond believability that he had brought all this down upon them, but there was no doubt.
“You’re next, Navy man”, Barbossa said.
“No!” Elizabeth shouted, “He’s hurt, he can’t make it, give a man a chance!”
“We’re givin’ him as much of a chance as he’d give us”, Barbossa answered. “Set sail for the coast of North Africa”, he added, “We’ve got a woman we can sell for a King’s ransom.”
James struggled. The thought of her sold, whipped, raped…he found a new reserve of strength.
Set sail, Jack thought, send Will to the depths… a delighted smile on his face, despite his pain. They weren’t staying. Apparently everything that needed to be done had been done.
Jack got to his feet. His black eyes met with green ones. James was pleading with him and he knew it. They forced James onto the plank at sword point.
Elizabeth pulled herself free. “I want to go with him!” she said, weeping. She made it to the base of the plank and Jack grabbed her by the shoulders.
She violently tried to shake him off. “Let me go, Jack…” she wailed.
“Commodore?” Jack asked.
James nodded his head. Elizabeth screamed. “Please, please, let him go!”
James was in pain beyond imagination. “Just do it!” he bellowed and Jack hauled back with his fist. He hit her as gently as he could, but with force enough to knock her unconscious. Jack was hit hard on the back with the butt of a pistol and he fell to the deck in agony.
“Do whatever you want to me, but make sure she gets back to Port Royal”, James said to Barbossa. “Her father is the Governor, he’ll pay as handsomely as any slaver.”
“I’m disinclined to acquiesce to your request”, Barbossa said, “Means “no”. Now, get going, Commodore, or we’ll dump a bucket of cold water on her and she’ll get to watch as we cut you to ribbons.”
“Take care of her, Jack”, James said.
“On my life”, Sparrow answered and James jumped. The water hit him with the force of a thousand knives. Each cut and each wound screamed in agony.
Turner was treading water nearby. “You couldn’t leave us alone, could you? You couldn’t accept she loved me?” Will asked.
James said nothing.
Jack wandered away and kicked a barrel with all his might. He smiled as it fell cleanly overboard. “On to Africa!” Barbossa called and his men let out a whoop before they ran to their stations.
Jack stared down at the crumpled, pitiable form of Elizabeth Swann, his own body drenched in blood. She was a fine and brave lass, and would probably never forgive him. But the information Jack had gleaned was worth more than all the gold on Isle de Muerta.
They were human.
They sailed for miles and Jack’s heart sank when he saw that same old familiar island - for the third time.
“If ye come back this time, I’ll personally make ye Captain again”, Barbossa said.
“Not without my effects.”
Barbossa took Jack’s pistol out his pocket, and intended to throw it overboard, only it didn’t make it and clanked on the wood of the end of the plank, staying there.
“Get goin’” Barbossa said.
Jack walked to the end of the plank. He really couldn’t stop smiling; it was a habit he’d have to break. He picked up the pistol, turned it around and shot Barbossa cleanly in the chest.
Blood spread across Barbossa’s chest, and he fell with a thud to the deck.
The pirates stopped in their tracks. “Turn this damn ship around, or I’ll kill every of you”, Jack said. The Pearl was back there, floating near Isle de Muerta, and of course…well, he was a romantic at heart and he had a Navy man to find.
The sky was dark by the time they turned around and reached the spot where James and Will had fallen.
Elizabeth was awake, but didn’t have the strength to assault him, as he’d been sure she would. She sat, huddled in the corner, and just stared. Jack was worried about her.
“I’ll find him, lass. He’s a strong swimmer”, Jack said, but secretly didn’t hold out much hope. The ocean was vast and she was also heartless. Hours went by and Elizabeth wept silently, which scared Jack more than when she was hollering.
Jack stared overboard and suddenly laughed. Those damn white breeches that signaled enemies from miles away had been the Commodore’s salvation. He never understood how those Navy bastards kept them so white. They stood out against the dark blue sea.
“Commodore!” he called.
Elizabeth was on her feet. “James! James!”
“Nice of you to return, Sparrow, I was getting worried”, James said, “And thanks for the barrel, I’d have been sunk hours ago without it.”
“I did that”, Jack said, proudly, “The barrel was me.”
James gripped the rope ladder, but couldn’t pull himself up. His strength was gone.
“Ill do it”, she said, but Jack found himself holding her back again.
“Do you really think you could flip a wet James Norrington over your shoulder and carry him onboard?”
Her voice gave him strength.
“Elizabeth, I can hear you”, James called, “Hang on another moment, sweetheart, I’m coming to you.”
He hefted himself, arms shaking with the strain, onto the rope ladder and climbed up. Just another moment, and it would be over. He fell over the side of the ship and into her waiting arms. They both tumbled to the deck, James on top of her.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
She giggled. “I’ve been trying to get you into this position for years.”
Elizabeth rolled him onto his side and he spit up enormous amounts of sea water.
“Turner?” Jack asked.
“Mr. Turner, unfortunately, did not make it”, James answered. No one asked the exact manner of his demise.
“Help me lift him up”, Elizabeth said.
“I have my own injuries you know!” Jack said.
“Oh, bother. Stop whining and help”, she responded.
“I don’t know how you stand her”, Jack said, helping pull James to his feet and put the man’s arm around his aching back.
“Marry me”, she said. “As soon as you are able. Jack is a Captain, he can marry us.”
“Whatever you say”, James said. He knew he couldn’t wait until they reached Port Royal to claim her, and he knew he was through fighting her. For honor, or any other silly reason. If only he’d been this smart years ago.
“You would agree to being married by a pirate?” she asked, quirking an eyebrow at him.
“I concede the battle, Miss Swann”, James answered, “Don’t get used to it.”