Adult-FanFiction.org : Movies

A Good Man	By : Ladykohl Category: Pirates of the Caribbean (All) > Het - Male/Female > Jack/Elizabeth Views: 5249 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the Pirates of the Caribbean movie series, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 3
- 4
Title: A Good Man
Author: Wantingsunrise
Rating: NC-17
Chapter Rating: PG
Warnings: M/F, angst, dark themes
Disclaimer: It�s all mine and I�m writing this for money... except I�m lying.
Summary: Post AWE, Captain Jack�s back... but is he the same?
Author�s Note: No one's going to read this, but what the hell. Posting it anyway!
*****
A Good Man
Chapter Four: To Hell and Back
�She's gone. I am abused, and my relief must be to loathe her.�
William Shakespeare
Jack sat silently in his cabin as he listened to Barbossa�s plan from across the wooden table. He had had the feeling for quite some time now that something odd was going to happen... he had previously thought that the feeling had been fulfilled by the recent episode with Elizabeth since that was certainly odd. He knew now, though, that he had been wrong. He had been waiting for Barbossa to come all along. He had been waiting to hear this plan - to rescue the man�s deceased daughter from the sea witch. Really, he should have seen it coming. He was a bit more sober than he would have liked, but truth be told - maybe it was about time he spent less of his life being drunk--
Jack�s eyes widened.
�And from there--�
�Allow me to interject for a moment.� Jack said, interrupting Barbossa mid sentence. �I just had a startling succession of thoughts and I need to hear my own voice for a moment to remind me that I�m still me...� He finished as he looked over the front, and then the back of his own hands - surveying them as if to make sure they were the right shape and size.
Barbossa could do nothing but roll his eyes.
�What?� Jack asked.
Barbossa gave a sigh.
�There are times, mostly when in your company, I find meself wondering just what exactly it was that I did to deserve what�s happening to me.�
Jack tilted his head a bit as he reclined back in his chair.
�Do you not often come to the conclusion that leading mutinies and stealing gold from heathen gods are not stones on that road what�s paved with good intentions, mate?�
�Aye, that may be true... but I, as opposed to yerself, be a man who knows who and what he is. You are your own incongruity, Jack. Can�t decide what it is you are on your best days. Hero or villain. Man or demon... but mark my words, the time will come when you will have to settle your mind on that - and a man can�t be both.�
Jack could not help but notice that these words eerily echoed those of Tia Dalma�s from his dream.
�You will have to decide between de man dat you are and de man dat you can be.� She had said. It seemed that everyone of late wanted a decision from him on that account, and he just didn�t have one to give.
�Trust me, mate...� Jack said, his eyes becoming deep. �It�s a subject with which I am painfully familiar.�
�Marvelous.� Barbossa said. �Now, if you don�t mind, there�s a fair bit of business needs talking over and time, as usual, is not on our side.�
�So just what is it that you plan to do once we find Isabelle?�
Barbossa blinked.
�What do you mean?� He asked.
�Er, well... seems obvious to me that she must have been teetering precariously between this world and the other not so pleasant world to have been in a position which lent itself to her kidnapping.�
�What are you saying?�
�If you�re not in one and not in the other... where are you?� Jack responded - turning the map on his table so that it no longer lined up. �In between. Not dead. Not alive.�
�We saw her die.�
�I saw you die.�
�You shot me.�
�I still don�t know what you�re talking about, but fortunately it happens to be beside the point anyway.�
�Then why don�t you make your point and we can move on?�
�Isabelle must have been between worlds for a reason.� He paused. �You�ll be needing to make some decisions of your own in regards to that.�
�She comes back with us.� Barbossa said firmly. �Consider the decision made.�
�And you�re willing to pay the price for that - whatever it be?�
�Who says there�ll be a price?�
Jack smiled ironicly.
�There�s always a price, mate.�
�Cap�n!� Gibbs called as he entered through the cabin door. Both Barbossa and Jack looked up at him.
�What?� They asked in unison. Jack glared at Barbossa.
�He was mine first.� He said.
�What is it?� Barbossa asked Gibbs - ignoring Jack�s comment.
�The lass - she fainted--�
�Oh, is that all?� Jack asked, returning his attention back to the map - very careful not to show even the barest hint of concern. �Just pour some water over face--�
�No need for that. Plenty of water overboard... where she fainted.�
Jack was up in an instant and out the cabin door in another - Gibbs by his side. Jack raced to the rail of the ship and looked over. He didn�t see her... and more importantly; he didn�t see anyone trying to help her.
�Jack, she--�
�Why didn�t someone jump in after her?� He barked as he ripped his coat off - not waiting for an answer as he dived in to the water to save Elizabeth for the second time. Or was it the third? All he knew was that an unconscious Elizabeth, with her skirts and her corset, sunk like an anchor... and he couldn�t lose her. Nothing in this world mattered to him if Elizabeth was gone.
Which would have been a terrifying thought, really, if he had not already been terrified.
Jack crashed beneath the surface of the water with his eyes open - searching frantically for the woman he hated fiercely because he loved her so much. He saw nothing and it wasn�t long before he needed a new breath of air. He swam to the surface and tread water, looking about for any sign of her.
�Jack!� He heard Gibbs call out to him before he went back under. Oh, God - where was she? He couldn�t find her! Why hadn�t someone jumped in after her right when she had fallen? She was going to drown and there was nothing he could do about it! He swam back to the surface once more.
�Elizabeth!� He called out, looking this way and that way - becoming more and more frantic at the thought that he would never see her again. �Elizabeth!�
�Damn you, Jack - she�s on the ship!� Barbossa called from above. It took Jack a few moments to register the words that had just been spoken... and then wave upon wave of relief crashed over him as he swam hurriedly to his ship. Samson and Gibbs helped him up to the deck - each seeming to try to help him more than the other.
The crew, for the most part, had gone back about their usual routine - save for a few men who were standing about a coughing Elizabeth and a kneeling and shivering Mr. Ragetti.
�Why didn�t you tell me she was here?� Jack asked as Gibbs handed him his coat.
�That�s what I was trying to tell you before you jumped overboard. Mr. Ragetti jumped in from the other ship after her just after she fell.�
�Mr. Gibbs,� Jack said, spinning around to face Gibbs with a somewhat displeased expression on his face. �When there�s more to a story than just an interesting beginning - you may want to consider relating that story to its end. For instance, when you burst in through a person�s doors to tell the doors� person that a woman, interestingly enough, has fallen from a ship - it might be just as interesting to add in the same breath that she has also been rescued, ey?�
Gibbs grimaced with a small shrug.
�You sped off so quickly... How was I to know that you would go and jump off the deck like that?�
�Aye...� Barbossa said with a nearly mocking gleam in his eyes. �Can�t say I expected that reaction meself either...�
Jack turned his head just a bit in Barbossa�s direction but his feet stayed where they were.
�What can I say?� He responded with a smile. �She owes me money.� And with that he sauntered off toward the obviously still Shaken Elizabeth Swan.
Turner. Elizabeth Turner.
�Just a thought, love...� Jack said as he looked down at her. �Perhaps you can lace your corset to a more comfortable level of being able to breath.� Although it was not what he wanted to say, he could say no more. He was relieved beyond words that she was here and safe, but he could never let her know that.
Elizabeth did not look up at him.
�I�m not wearing a corset.� She responded. Jack furrowed his forehead and looked around at the other men who were standing nearby.
�Go on then.� He commanded. The men, including Ragetti who had to implement the use of the stair rail to help him stand, began to walk away. �Mr. Ragetti.� Jack called out to him.
Ragetti stopped.
�Yes, Captain?�
�I�ll be fancying a word.� Was all he said.
�Yes, Captain.� And then Ragetti was off with the rest of the crew, going about their business.
Jack kneeled in front of Elizabeth. He stared at her for a long moment, silently asking her what was wrong. After what seemed like forever - Elizabeth finally met his eyes. She was telling him. A few more moments passed, and Jack nodded.
�All right, love.� He said quietly as he wrapped his coat around her shoulders and began to stand. He had nothing more to say to her. Nothing more to ask. If he had ever been in more pain, physical or otherwise, he could not recall. It was so obvious now... the paleness, the sickness, the fainting.
She was carrying William Turner�s child.
�Jack--� Elizabeth started, grabbing him by the arm.
�You�re a married woman.� Jack said with a small smile that was more like a clenched jaw. �Married women have babies all the time... and they usually are, unfortunately, with their husbands. Congratulations.� How he spoke through the feeling that he was vomiting up his heart, he would never know. And why should she care that he was in pain because of her? What could she possibly have to say to him now?
�Please, Jack... don�t let the others know.�
Of course. Only thinking about herself.
�You assume I care enough to tell the others?�
�I know you care.�
Jack swallowed... and placed his hand over Elizabeth�s.
�Curious how you can know something...� He said as he pulled her hand off of him and let it go. �... Yet still be wrong.�
�I heard you calling my name.�
�Well, that makes sense seeing as how I was calling your name.�
�You care--�
�So I would have had to let you drown to prove I don�t care about you?� He asked and shook his head in confusion. �Seems a bit drastic in my opinion... but the very next time I get the chance, I will be sure to honor your wishes.�
�Why would you try to save me?�
�The same reason I saved you a life time ago at Port Royal. A man does not just stand by and let someone die if he could conceivably do something to stop it.�
�Even if it�s someone you hate?� She asked. Jack said nothing. What could he say? �That sounds dangerously similar to a moral code.�
�I had one of those once. It got my ship sunk and myself near to being irreparably dead. As you can imagine, I find little use for it now.�
��Twould be nice if we could get back to our discussion...� Barbossa said from behind. Jack turned to face him, grateful for a reason to turn around. �Sometime within this decade, perhaps?�
�Lead the way, mate.� Jack said, gesturing for Barbossa to go on ahead to the captain�s cabin. Barbossa moved to do just that, but hesitated just a moment.
�You should try to be more careful.� He said to Elizabeth - perhaps his way of showing his concern. Perhaps just his way of telling her that he would not tolerate another of her brand setbacks. Either way, Elizabeth nodded.
�Of course.� She said. Barbossa nodded curtly to Jack and disappeared inside the cabin.
�If ever a bit of advice had come too late, this would be that instance.� Jack said in response to Barbossa�s words to Elizabeth, and then followed him in to the cabin. Slamming the door shut, he turned toward Barbossa - and suddenly the mocking grin on the old pirate�s face along with the involuntary chattering of his own teeth made him fully aware of how soaking wet he was.
�Hell and back, Jack. That�s the only fire that will dry you out now.� Was all Barbossa said... and had he known just how confused Jack was, he may have been proud. It was not usual for Jack to be on the receiving end of a word puzzle.
�Yes, well. If that be the case, I suppose it�s rather a good stroke of luck for me that hell is exactly where we�re headed.� He responded as best he could as he sloshed gracefully over to the table. Really though, with what was just revealed to Jack outside on the deck of his ship, as he stood there shaking - chilled to the core of his soul, he couldn�t imagine hell being any worse than this. �Now. Where were we?�
He could not, for the moment, contemplate the pain. He had never really felt that he had lost Elizabeth for good. He had known it, yes � but had never felt it. Feeling it was something different all together from knowing it. She was really and truly Will�s forever. There was nothing he could do about that now � and he had to put it as far away from his thoughts as he could manage. He didn�t know much yet in regards to Barbossa�s plan, but they set sail for the unknown place at sunrise. After that, everything would be different. They, all of them, would need to have all their wits about them if there was any chance of getting Isabelle, indeed any of them, home safe.
****
- 3
- 4
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

A Good Man