Want

*~ Disclaimer ~* I do not own any of the characters, language, plots, or locations from Pirates of the Caribbean. Disney holds all rights to Pirates of the Caribbean and this story is only created for pleasure, not profit.

Author’s Note: Yeah, still annoyed that Elizabeth was trying to use her feminine wiles on my dear Captain Jack, but that’s okay, because in the end I love him most, so there, hah! …Yeah, I like to pretend. :D At least this fic is a nice stress-reliever. Enjoy. (pre-Pirates II)


What I Get

Jack grinned in the night, the dim light from Port Royal shining off of his cutlass. The Black Pearl had sailed smoothly past the British Royal Navy and docked just offshore near the harbor without raising a wink of suspicion. The lads were currently making their way towards the fort to cause a little ruckus while Jack went about his business. He slunk through the shadows without making a sound and was delighted when he began to hear some commotion down by the water. Apparently the crew was doing its job.

The dark street that he was currently venturing through was quiet. There were only a couple of lanterns lit in the road and it was child’s play to skirt through the drifting shadows. No moon was out tonight to illuminate his presence, so Jack moved with confidence towards his destination. Finally, he came to a familiar sign and stealthily moved towards a window. Listening, Jack couldn’t hear any movement from within and he opened the wooden window with caution. The room was dark, with flashes of light reflecting under a low firelight. He closed the small window and moved back to the street to open the door there.

Slipping through, Jack hid himself in the shadows of the room, just in case. He sheathed his cutlass, for the moment, knowing that the glint from the dying light could give him away. There was still no motion in the room and Jack creeped around towards the back. He could see a bulk in a chair and came forward warily. As he moved closer, he could see that it wasn’t a person, merely a discarded set of clothes with an obnoxious feathery hat on top. Jack allowed himself a brief smirk before continuing towards a door in the back.

The door was hanging open slightly and he pushed it carefully forward, peering around the edge. There was more light in this room from a candle on a nightstand next to the bed. The bed currently held one occupant… one William Turner. The boy had a loose white shirt on with his work pants still on as well. He must have drifted off to sleep right after working. Will was on his stomach, facing away from the door and Jack tiptoed forward to stand right next to the bed, noting every small movement from the blacksmith. He took a moment to look at the boy, noting that he still looked dirty and smudged from the forge, still working hard. That was interesting…

Jack was almost taken by surprise but for the slight twitch of the hand. He leapt back as Will grabbed a sword hidden behind the nightstand and swung it blindly where Jack’s head was moments before. The blacksmith quickly flipped around and sprung off of the bed into a fighting crouch. After a brief moment, however, Will stumbled and took a better look at the intruder.

“Jack?!” Will whispered, dazed. He reached behind him to grasp the bed and sat down heavily. The blacksmith blinked a few times and stared at the pirate, who was lingering by the door.

“Tha’s Captain, Captain Jack Sparrow, mate,” Jack said charmingly. He made a show of nodding his head in greeting and looking around the room, but remained focused on the lad.

“It’s really you,” Will exclaimed, still drowsy with sleep but waking more with each moment. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. “I didn’t think I’d ever find you back here again.”

“Funny, I wouldn’t ha’ thought you’d still be back here again, neither,” Jack bantered back. Sharper eyes looked at the captain and Jack felt a spark of triumph, over what exactly he wasn’t certain but it gave him a further sense of pride. He took an open inventory of the room, noticing that Will followed his gaze with a slight blush. “Small accommodations for the son-in-law of the governor, don’t you think?”

Will slumped a little and covered it up by leaning over the bed to put away the sword. The shirt rode up a little as he reached and a thin strip of golden skin gleamed beneath the cotton. The movement caught Jack’s eye and he followed its rise and fall intensely. Will’s voice brought his gaze back up to the lad’s face. “I’m not his son-in-law… yet,” Will admitted uncomfortably. “Elizabeth and I… we’re still in our engagement.”

“That so?” Jack said, reaching down to his belt to unfasten a canteen of rum. He uncorked it and took a swig, enjoying the burn down his throat. “I’d ha’ thought you’d tie your bonny lass as quick as you get, what with th’ way you were makin’ eyes at each other.” The blacksmith shifted on the bed and didn’t respond. Jack took another sip and considered the canteen for a moment before extending it in invitation.

“No thanks, Jack.”

“Ah, come on lad,” Jack plopped down on the bed next to Will, bouncing a couple of times with a squeak. “A little liquor won’t kill ya’, just all that ails ya’.” Will gave Jack an incredulous look, who returned the gesture with a roguish wink. With a sigh, Will took hold of the drink and sipped. A look of distaste flew over the blacksmith’s face and he quickly handed it back to the pirate captain.

“Bit strong, isn’t it?” Will coughed a bit.

“Wouldn’ have it any other way,” Jack grinned and chucked down another swig.

“No, you wouldn’t,” Will shook his head with a small smile. “So what are you doing here, anyway?”

The pirate gestured dramatically with his hands for a moment, almost spilling the rum but managing not to with some sort of saving grace. “I’ve got a bit of business here that needed takin’ care of. Thought I’d drop in whiles I was here and see how the happy couple was goin’.” Jack paused a bit while Will looked at some invisible spot near the ceiling. “’Magine my surprise to find the bonny lass all by her onesies up at the governor’s big ole mansion.”

Will looked concerned and rather startled at the admission. “You saw Elizabeth? She was all by herself?”

“Well there were the maids and butlers and all those house-y people, but alone enough, without her fiancé,” he paused again and looked directly at Will. “Did she find out?”

Will turned sharply at Jack, “Find out what?”

“Oh, about yer… you know, snip, snip,” Jack mimed a pair of scissors towards Will’s crotch, causing the blacksmith to flush red and smack the pirate’s hand away.

“I am not a eunuch!” Will hissed.

Jack leaned back with his arms held up in a gesture of half-surrender, half-shrug. “If yeh say so,” he said with his voice drenched with doubt. Will looked away in annoyance and Jack laughed, a rich sound that made the sour look disappear from Will’s face though he didn’t turn back. “Ah, come on lad…”

Will sighed, “So what did she say?”

“Hmm?”

“When you saw her.”

“Well, she was very accommodating, o’ course. Absolutely delighted to see Captain Jack again and who wouldn’t be?” Jack wondered with apparent innocence, oblivious to Will’s snicker. “Told her how the Pearl was (she’s grand, by the way) an’ tha’ the crew hadn’t mutinied yet an’ then I reminded the lass that she still owed me for the rum…”

“Wait,” Will’s eyes got a bit bigger. “You didn’t actually come back here to collect on a rum debt, did you?”

“In a manner of speaking, yes… and no,” Jack emphasized himself with wide gestures and Will leaned away slightly to avoid being hit. The pirate captain actually seemed to pout for a moment, “Can yeh believe there was no rum in the kitchen?”

Will laughed lightly, “In the governor’s mansion? I can’t say I’m very surprised.”

“Mmm, should’a checked the servant’s quarters,” Jack nodded, then shook his head. “But there was no time, I’m afraid.”

“No time for rum?” Will asked, still laughing. “That’s not like you.”

“Well, I had to ask the good Miss Swann what else she treasured to compensate for the rum.”

“So how much did she give you? From what she told me, it was a lot of rum.”

Jack smiled widely. “Oh, she didn’t pay me in gold. I wanted something that she had that was worth what I cared for the rum.”

Will looked confused. “So what did you take from her?”

“Why, I’m taking you.” A short thump sounded as the canteen hit the back of Will’s head and he fell back on the bed with a squeak. With a smirk, Jack carefully fastened the canteen back to his belt and stood up. He hauled the young man up onto his shoulder and moved to the back door. Cracking it open a bit, Jack peered into the dark night once again and let out a low whistle.

A couple of men slipped out from the shadows of the back alley with a wheelbarrow and stopped next to the door. Jack tossed the blacksmith into the barrow and looked sharply at the men. “Take him to the ship,” he commanded quietly, but fiercely. “Don’t be seen.” The men nodded and went off down towards the harbor, while Jack watched them go. Once they were out of his sight, he turned back into the forge. Looking around, Jack picked up the best of the swords that he could see and one fine axe. He also went back into the small bedroom and lifted the sword next to the bed with a grin. Jack took one last glance around before taking the candle from the nightstand and tossing it onto the squeaky bed. He watched the flames move across the sheets and begin to stretch towards the wall. The light lit up the smile of vengeance on his face.

As he turned away, he sent out a thought to the bonnie lass, tied up tight in her closet. ‘That’s why you don’t mess with Captain Jack Sparrow’s rum.’ He could almost see her eyes blinking furiously at him and let out a low chuckle as he crept out into the street and headed back to the Pearl.

*****