Author: Elspethdixon
Written for yoiebear for potcsecretsanta.
Pairing: Will/Elizabeth
Rating: PG
Summary: Jack is back, but Elizabeth and Will still have unfinished business.
Warnings: set post-DMC and after a hypothetical third movie. Incorporates some minor plot elements from my other secret santa fic (but doesn't go with it--the two are meant to be read separately).
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Disney. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
The captain�s cabin of the Black Pearl looked considerably the worse for wear. The walls were damp and encrusted with barnacles, and the sea breeze blew through the broken glass of the windows. They had raised her from the depths, but it was going to be a long time before the smell of fish and seaweed faded, if it ever did.
�Good as new, right, lad?� Jack elbowed Will in the ribs, and waved a bandaged hand through the air, the gesture taking in the entire water-logged cabin.
Will frowned, following Jack�s gaze, and Elizabeth knew he was already seeing what repairs needed to be done; where to patch old wood with new, where to replace rusted and barnacle-covered metal, how to fit new glass and lead into the wide, picture windows. Her fianc�former fianc�?�was only a middling hand aloft, but he�d turned out to have an unexpected eye for carpentry, keeping Barbossa�s ship afloat even through the most desperate of repairs.
�It�ll take some work,� Will said, finally, �but I think I can fix her for you.�
�Ah. That�ll be lovely. I take it that means you�ve forgiven me for the whole sacrifice to Davy Jones thing, then? All�s forgiven, no hard feelings from any quarter?� He was speaking to Will, but he looked at Elizabeth while he said it, and she looked away, down at the damp deck planking, unable to meet his eyes.
�Don�t press your luck, Jack,� Will told him, ignoring the hand Jack had thrust out for him to shake.
�What�s luck for, if not a little pressing?� Jack shrugged, and shoved his hands into the pockets of Elizabeth�s borrowed coat. He blinked�a second set of transparent eyelids moving behind the first�and pulled a red flannel bag out of one of the pockets. �Hello, what have we here?�
The morning after Jack�s wake-that-wasn�t, Tia Dalma had pressed said red flannel bag into Elizabeth�s hand. �Just in case,� she had said, blueish-colored teeth flashing in a smile that reminded Elizabeth of a shark. �Boil what�s inside in water and drink it.�
�In case of what?� she had asked, staring at the little bag and trying not to think about what its mysterious contents might be. Dirt? Lizard�s eyes? Toadstools? Actual toads?
�You drink him,� Tia Dalma had said, tapping the bag with one long finger, �and he undo what you do not want done.�
Elizabeth had shoved the little bag into her coat pocket and gone on about the business of rescuing Jack. There had been other things to think about over the past two months�crewing Barbossa�s ship, searching for World�s End, fighting their way past the whirlpool and the sea monster that had eaten Cotton. She knew what Tia Dalma had meant it for, now, but she was still trying not to think about it.
�It�s mine,� she said now, reclaiming the bag from Jack�s grimy, canvass-swathed hand. �Tia Dalma gave it to me.�
�It�s not dirt, is it?� Jack asked, squinting at the thing. �Because dirt is not as effective as it�s reputed to be.�
�I don�t know what it is.� Elizabeth shoved the bag into the pocket on the inside of her waistcoat and changed the subject. �Barbossa�s going to want the Pearl now that we�ve raised her, Jack. It was part of his price for bringing you back.�
�Well, he can just go on wanting her, luv, because she�s not you and William here�s price to pay.� Jack smiled the same old, glib smile, but that second set of eyelids blinked again, and Elizabeth wondered once more what exactly had happened to him during those two months underwater. �She�s mine, bought and bargained and paid for.�
�You aren�t the only one who�s paid for her, Jack.� Will was frowning, that little line appearing between his eyebrows. He took a step towards Jack�Elizabeth was sure it was coincidence that it also put him between Jack and herself�and went on, �You can settle things with Barbossa on your own, but first you�re going to help us rescue my father from Davy Jones. That�s my price.�
�And a very fair price it is. How is old Bootstrap, anyway?�
�You�d know better than I would.� Will nodded towards Jack�s hands, and the spots of blood that were starting to seep through the bandages.
Her fault, those bandages. She had left Jack Sparrow to die, and the fact that he didn�t seem to blame her for it changed nothing. Will still didn�t know�nobody knew, except possibly for Gibbs, and Gibbs was for once not talking�but she thought he might have begun to suspect.
The night after the Pearl had sunk, they had slept in one another�s arms on the floor of Tia Dalma's hut, with a blanket underneath them and Will's leather coat spread over the two of them to keep out the cold. Not the wedding night she had imagined, and Will had tasted like salt and rum, eerily similar to Jack�s mouth as she had locked the shackles in place.
She had done it for Will�for all of them, but mostly for Will�and she didn�t regret it, even now, but ever since that night, Will had kept his distance from her. There was something guarded in his eyes every time they had spoken of Jack, and now, with Jack�s slightly manic presence filling the room again, the air between them was thick with that unspoken accusation.
�Jack,� she began, �I really am-�
�I thought we�d agreed to let bygones be bygones,� Jack interrupted, waving airily at Will. He swayed over to the bulkhead and started poking at a clump of mussels that had attached themselves to a ring bolt. �Do you think a hammer would do for these?�
�Yes, a hammer should-� Will started to respond, and then broke off, changing back to the original subject mid-sentence. �We were talking about my father. We have to free him.�
�And stop Beckett,� Elizabeth put in, unwillingly surrendering her attempt to apologize and letting herself be drawn into the conversation again. �Lord knows what he�s been up to in Port Royal while we�ve been out here.�
�Right. Of course.� Jack nodded, still poking at the mussels. �Free the elder Mister Turner and halt Beckett�s nefarious schemes, whatever they might be, and then I suppose you two will finally be getting married?�
This time it was Will�s turn to look away, his eyes dropping to the tarnished buckles of his shoes. �I think, that is� I suppose I ought to leave you two alone with each other for a bit?�
�I appreciate the thought, lad, but we�ve already spent quite some time alone in one another�s company, and by the time you lot showed up, the conversation was beginning to lag.� Jack patted the bulkhead affectionately, as if to apologize for the slight.
Will rolled his eyes. �I, ah, meant you and Elizabeth.�
�I don�t think that�s necessary,� Elizabeth responded, before Jack could produce some suitably lascivious comment. The flirting wasn�t fun anymore, not with salt water still dripping from the ceiling. �Captain Sparrow and I have settled our affairs.�
�And quite admirably so, may I add.� Jack smirked at her. �Your Miss Swann has a bright future at sea, if she ever decides to turn pirate for real.�
�I know what piracy is like, now,� she returned. �I don�t think I have the taste for it after all.�
Jack raised his eyebrows and inclined his head, obviously doubting her. Elizabeth was about to reply when she heard the door shutting behind her. She turned to find that Will had already left the cabin.
�I said no hard feelings and I meant it,� Jack said, watching her stare at the closed door. �Now, go settle whatever has Sweet William looking like a penniless man watching a brothel.�
Elizabeth smiled, shook her head, and went on deck, leaving Jack behind in the cabin.
Will was standing by the wheel, fingering one broken spoke. Outside the cabin, the sunlight illuminated the stubble along his jaw, the scabbed-over cut on one cheekbone, the salt-stains on his clothes, which were now quite unrecognizable as the wedding finery they had once been.
She owed Jack, owed him in blood, but now she owed Will, too. Will, and the child she hadn�t been able to bring herself to tell him about. When she went to tell him the truth about the Pearl�s sinking, she would not do it with more blood on her hands.
Elizabeth drew her arm back and hurled Tia Dalma�s charm into the ocean, as hard as she could.
When she crossed the deck to stand by the wheel�giving the mast and the shackles that still hung from it a wide berth�Will�s eyes remained fixed on Barbossa�s ship, floating at anchor off their larboard bow.
�You have Jack back now,� he said, gaze still on the Mermaid�s Revenge. �I know you two had�� He blinked, then said, �I saw you, before the Pearl went down.�
�Will, I swear, I only did it because I had to. The Kraken would have come for him wherever he was; it wasn�t after the ship.�
�You kissed Jack because the Kraken was after him?� Will turned to stare at her, his frown now confused.
�No,� she corrected, �I chained him to the mast because the Kraken was after him. The kiss was a diversion.�
�Oh.� Will blinked again. �That why you�ve been so upset. I think I liked it better when I thought you were in love with him.�
�I was afraid I was, but after everything that�s happened, I don�t know.� She laid her own hand on the Pearl�s wheel, on top of Will�s. �I couldn�t have done to you what I did to Jack, and if I had to stand and watch while Gibbs sliced the webs off your fingers with a cutlass, I think I would faint.�
�I love you, Lizzie,� Will said. He let go of the wheel and caught her hand in his, adding, �No matter what you�ve done or not done. Jack made his own bargains with Davy Jones long ago.�
�That�s good,� Elizabeth told him, feeling oddly light-headed with relief. �Because I think I�m pregnant.�
When he kissed her, they were both crying, and Elizabeth wasn�t sure whether it was from joy or sorrow.
After Norrington caught up with them again on the Port Royal docks, freshly armed with Beckett's letter of marque, their plans to hunt down the Dutchman came to a temporary halt, and Jack and the Pearl vanished over the horizon. Upon Will�s insistence that Elizabeth was his wife, Beckett�s men did at least do them the courtesy of imprisoning them in the same cell.
When Beckett told Norrington what he intended to do with Jones's heart, and Norrington decided to trade in his honour again to gain the Turners� aid in stopping him, he had to say something very loud and sarcastic to get the two of them to notice him standing on the other side of the bars.
The Black Pearl was waiting on the far side of Gallows Cay. This time, Elizabeth stayed behind with Tia Dalma, at Gibb�s insistence (�bad luck to have a pregnant lass aboard a ship. Dreadful bad luck�). Will and Jack returned mere days before the delivery, without Bootstrap Bill Turner and without Norrington.
Jack gave the baby a gold ring for a christening present, pulling it off one scarred finger on the spot and handing it to Elizabeth. Tia Dalma offered to draw protective signs on his forehead in blood and lampblack.
Will had no gift but his presence, which was all Elizabeth had wanted anyway. He agreed that James was a good name.
.