Pirates Of The Caribbean Fan Fiction ❯ A Pressing Engagement ❯ Chapter 6 ( Chapter 6 )

Chapter 6 – In Which Jack Tries to Explain Himself oOo

He settled onto the bench beside the tiller, pleased that he once again managed to escape the Dutchman. He mentally patted himself on the back for having the foresight to make sure his cargo and supplies were secured other wise he would have had quite a mess after the little boat's dramatic fall. Jack raised his sail to half mast and attached the sheet to the mast.

Deciding that he needed to get his bearings, he looked to his left and noted that the Oso was finishing her descent into the depths. Feeling a moment's pity, he whispered a small prayer for their souls. Continuing with his preparations, he looked to his right and saw a very angry Captain of the Dutchman striding his way. Jack jumped and started scrabbling about for a way out and found none.

Stepping into the boat, Will met his glance and his eyes narrowed. "Jack Sparrow, you did not think you would escape me so easily?" he asked, his voice dangerously low.

The pirate blinked at him stupidly, his mouth opening a closing like a fish.

"Well, I'm waiting." Will demanded, looming over the other man.

Jack had never been afraid of his friend before, but he was now. He looked up into Will's implacable face and decided to tell the truth. "Yeah, actually, I did. It's always worked before: incapacitate the guard, slip out through the confusion of battle, and run away. Why mess with a plan when it's never failed me yet?" He decided to leave the agreement he made with Norrington out of his explanation. It wasn't the right time to use that knowledge.

Will towered over Jack; the younger man's eyes boring into the pirate's own. Jack attempted to meet the other man's gaze, but found that he had to look away after a moment. There was too much power, too much anger, and Jack once again found himself looking for a means of escape. The pressure of the other man's presence was so powerful that it was unnatural.

All of a sudden, that pressure eased and his old friend took the seat across from Jack at the tiller. "What am I going to do with you, Jack?" he asked semi-rhetorically.

"You could let me go," Jack offered with a weak smile.

Shaking his head, Will regarded Jack solemnly. "You know I can't do that," he said. The captain of the Dutchman sounded almost regretful.

"Ahh, but you can. Ye see, I got off of the Dutchman fair and square. And look, the storm's lifting," Jack motioned to the skies overhead to prove his point. The clouds had lightened up somewhat and in the distance he could make out a small stream of sunlight. Even the winds seemed to be less fierce. "I can sail through this no problem. I've been through much worse, as you well know."

"Aye, that you have," Will conceded with a small nod. "But that doesn't mean that you got off of the Dutchman fairly."

The pirate's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"Norrington."

"Ah Norrington. You know about that, then?" Jack asked with a small flinch. He was hoping that the Captain had been too distracted by the passengers and storm to pay attention to what Jack was doing.

"I know that he helped you, Jack. And that means that you didn't get off of the Dutchman on your own."

"But I would have if Norrington hadn't stopped me," Jack argued.

"But he did stop you," Will pointed out firmly, his eyes never wavering from Jack's face. "And instead of detaining you or you overcoming him he let you go and even helped you against other members of my crew. That violates the rules."

"Define overcoming."

"You didn't outwit, out fight, or overpower Norrington. Thus, you did not escape from the Dutchman under your own power and without aid."

"That isn't quite true," Jack said, drawing out the words. "I did outwit him."

Will raised an eyebrow and looked at him skeptically. "I fail to see how."

"He made an agreement with me and after I fulfill said agreement I told him that I would be returning to the ship. I 'ave no intention of doing that," Jack explained.

"Which one? Fulfilling the agreement or returning to the ship?" Will's voice had an edge to it.

"Neither. Both." The dreadlocked man paused and furrowed his brow in confusion. "I'm not sure which one's right. The point is I outwitted him fair and square. And seeing as how he fell for my trickery and underhanded nature by trusting me to keep me word to the intent of the asker and not of the giver, I technically outwitted the poor man and thus overcame the Dutchman all by me lonesome without any inside aid." Jack was proud of his logic, or rather what passed as logic.

"Jack, you realize that made absolutely no sense, right?"

The pirate had the decency to look ashamed. "Yeah, however I was hoping that you wouldn't catch on to that fact quite so quickly."

"I've matured. I'm not as naïve as I used to be."

"And that is quite a sad thing, indeed," he muttered.

Will gave Jack a look. "So what was the arrangement that you made with Mr. Norrington?"

Jack winced. He knew that his friend wasn't going to be happy with the answer and that lying was out of the question if the Captain's claim of omniscience was to be believed. And in that respect, Jack found that he believed the younger man. Will didn't lie or act dishonestly often; he was frightfully goody-goody. So steeling himself for the response he knew he was going to get, Jack decided to tell the truth again. "Well, you see, he kinda asked me to look after a person of our mutual acquaintance."

"Who do you both know that he would ask you to look . . ." Will's voice trailed off as comprehension dawned. "You mean he asked you to look after Elizabeth!"

Jack nodded glumly.

The former blacksmith's eyes narrowed. "And you accepted with no intention of following through on that promise. Am I correct in that assumption?" The captain's tone was hard.

"Not really."

"Oh? Then do explain. And it had better be a damn good explanation otherwise I will have you back aboard the Dutchman so fast that your head will spin."

"I had planned on looking after her for a time," Jack started. "'Tis always a good idea to keep an eye on people who run off with your ship. Tends to become habit-forming I've found. But seeing as Norrington didn't give me a length of time he wanted me to watch over her, I wasn't going to stick around long enough to wear out me welcome, savvy?" He didn't want to explain too much because he felt that by voicing the words he would get himself into more trouble.

"So basically you were going to stick around long enough to make sure that she didn't take your ship again and then leave. Am I correct?"

"You have the way of it."

"And during this time, you would protect her?" Will pressed on.

"As much as she would let me, I did make that clarification to Norrington." Jack made sure to bring up that point. "Seeing as Elizabeth is a frightfully independent woman, I didn't think she would appreciate the interference, so to speak."

Will shook his head in disbelief. "If I am understanding you correctly, you promised, in essence, to do nothing more than you would have done in the first place."

"Your powers of deduction have matured," Jack said with a gamine grin.

Will massaged his temples and forehead with one hand. "I can see where you could argue that you did outwit Norrington . . ."

"And I am," the pirate interrupted. "Arguing that, I mean. I did outwit the poor sod so I got off the Dutchman free and clear, as you can see." Jack settled back into his seat, certain that he had won the argument.

Will smirked evilly, lowering his hand from his head. "Not quite."

The smile melted from Jack's face. "What was that?"

"You may have outwitted Norrington, I can give you that, but you didn't escape the Dutchman 'free and clear' as you say."

"I didn't?" Jack's mind was racing. "Then how do you explain the fact that I am out here on the open seas and not still aboard your cursed ship."

"A temporary change of venue. The ship is still within sight and, more importantly, I am sitting right here in front of you rather than manning the helm or dealing with the passengers."

"I can see that, yes. But that doesn't mean anything," Jack started to protest.

"Oh it doesn't?" Will asked slyly. "You think that the magics would allow me to leave my post and follow after you if there weren't some loophole that I could exploit?"

"Well, you could . . ." Jack began but Will cut him off with a sharp gesture.

"No, I couldn't. Not and retain the same powers and visage that I possess, you understand."

"No not really, explain it to me so that I am enlightened on the subject," the pirate said, stalling for enough time to allow him to come up with a plan.

Will regarded him warily and Jack made sure to school his features into just the right mix of confusion and curiosity. The other man shrugged a moment later and began his explanation. "If I were to use the Dutchman for personal gain or revenge or even as a way to see my wife, I would lose most of the power that I have now. But more importantly, I would be turned into a monster. Calypso was very clear on that subject. Do I look monstrous to you, Jack?"

"Well, you are a bit scary at the moment," Jack admitted.

"But am I monster?" Will pressed.

Looking into Will's dark eyes, Jack could feel his strength emanating from him. But his face and features were entirely human, not a scale or other fishy appendage to be seen. Dropping his eyes, the dreadlocked pirate was forced to acknowledge the truth of Will's words. "No, you're not a monster, Will."

A tenseness that Jack didn't initially realize was there melted away and Will's features softened slightly. "And I have no intention of becoming one."

"Where did I go wrong?" Jack asked curiously. "I thought I had the mechanics of the ship all worked out."

"You did. You just had some bad luck."

"That is the story of me life, mate," the pirate said, shrugging with his hands. "Clarify a bit would you?"

"The three sailors that found you and Norrington."

"What about them?" Jack couldn't figure out why they were important. They didn't stop him or impede his escape from the Dutchman in any way.

"You didn't defeat them. Technically you didn't do anything to them, Norrington did." Jack started to protest but Will held up one hand to forestall him. "Think about it, Jack. You didn't outwit, outfight, or overcome those three men did you?"

"But they don't count do they? I was already leaving the ship when they came around," he tried.

"They count Jack. They could have stopped you and while you might have eluded them and gotten off the ship before they recaptured you. You didn't defeat them or get off the ship without aid. I am correct, am I not?"

Blinking slowly, Jack replayed the series of events leading up to his escape. Much to his chagrin, he realized that Will was correct. While he could argue that by tricking Norrington, who in turn fought for him, he outwitted and outfought the other sailors, it wouldn't be the truth. He didn't know for certain that Norrington bested the three and despite his claims to the contrary, he was fairly certain that Norrington suspected that he wasn't being entirely honest. Which left him in the untenable situation that he was currently mired in.

Jack met Will's eyes and he could see that the other man knew he was in the right. "Damn," Jack swore. "What do we do now?"

Will shrugged. "I would propose that we go back to the Dutchman and continue our conversation."

"I would be disinclined to go along with said proposal," Jack said scrunching his nose. "What I put forward is that you let me go and I continue on to my meeting with your wife and reclaim my ship."

"I cannot allow that."

"Why ever not? I am no longer on the Dutchman and not in any imminent danger of dying at sea. So I think I should be free to go," Jack pressed. Will opened his mouth to protest but the older man shushed him. "You, sirrah, obviously disagree with me which leaves us at an impasse."

"It would seem that we are," Will agreed.

Jack let his tongue wander while his mind raced to find a way out. "Now I'd really rather hoped that we wouldn't reach this point. I'm not subordinate material and we both know about that death phobia that I have, so that isn't an option either. At least not on my part. So you can see the quandary I'm in. Then there's the appointment I need to keep with your wife and the promise I made to Norrington. I wouldn't want to go back on my word now. It would completely ruin me reputation."

Will's brow crinkled in confusion. "I don't see how. You're already a pirate. Pirates aren't known for their trustworthiness or chivalric nature."

"Ahh but you forget who I am, Will m'boy."

"And what is that – and don't say 'I'm Captain Jack Sparrow' or some variant of that line. I've heard that before. More times than I wish to recount."

Jack felt himself deflate a little. "I wasn't going to say that line," he lied. He was going to say that line, but didn't want to admit it now that Will called him on it.

"Then what were you going to say?"

"'Ave I ever lied to you? Out and out lied?" Jack asked suddenly.

"What?" Will asked with a blink of perplexion.

"Have I lied to you?"

"You've lied before. I've seen you do it."

"But 'ave I lied to you?"

The younger man's brow furrowed in thought. "No, I don't believe you have. You've concealed things from me and you haven't always been upfront with me but you have never out and out lied to me."

"And you do you think that is?"

"I'm not sure. I've never been able to fully understand how you think even when I've tried."

Jack inclined his head. "I know the feeling. You're just as much of an enigma to me, mate." He drew a breath and stared steadily into Will's dark eyes. "I've never lied to you, William Turner. I may have obscured the truth a bit, true. But I don't lie to me friends. It would be too dishonest, ye see. And you have trust in your friends' honesty and they 'ave to 'ave the same in you. And ye cannot 'ave trust if you're dishonest. So I swore to meself that I would be honest and a pirate. An' I have managed to do so. Savvy?"

'I think I do."

"So you'll let me go so I can keep me word to Norrington?" Jack asked hopefully.

Will shook his head. "You forget who I am, Jack."

"No, I think I have a very good idea of who you are. Which is the rub, really. Makes doing this so much harder."

"Doing what?" Will queried.

"This," Jack said pulling his sword from its scabbard and swinging it at his friend's head. oOo

AN:

This story keeps growing and growing as I go with it. I know how it needs to end but Jack just has an uncanny tendency to get himself into trouble.

I hope you like this. Let me know what you think. Reviews make me happy.