Witch

Witch, by Hellborne
Pirates of the Caribbean - Slash: Jack/Others, Jack/Will. NC-17.

Copyright. Characters, not mine. See the Mouse. Story, mine, but I make no money. He does, but not on this.

Typing convention: / is used for thoughts.

Archive: adult-fanfiction.org. If you want to put it elsewhere, no prob, just tell me the URL.

Beta: Now beta'd by my most perfect and wonderful Pendragginink and her magnificent Jackal! Hail to thee, oh modest and humble BetaGoddess!

Summary: What did Jack do to be tortured so? He would love to know. Torture, Rape, Lemon, Slash.

NOTE: Hey, life's gotten better, so a couple of my muses and demons came out to play with each other. How about hitting that REVIEW button and let me know how I'm doing, eh?

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Chapter 20 - Jack in Tortuga

"You're joking with me, right? Jack, you piloted the Pearl into the harbor?" Robert Norris was shocked.

Jack grinned. "Aye, wid just a little help from William, here, tellin' me da distances."

Robert ordered the two captains of the Pearl drinks and slapped Jack on the back. "You are amazing, Jack. Being blinded doesn't seem to have affected you much at all!"

Jack straightened, smirking and lifted his head high, preening a bit. "What can I say, mate. I'm Captain Jack Sparrow."

Robert drained his mug. "Aye, you certainly are!"

Will let him preen. He'd seen Jack at his lowest, and knew that this was mostly for show, but he couldn't help but smile, proud that Jack was trying to cope so well after his nightmare; an experience that would have killed a lesser man.

Will had made Jack get up and steer for a little while only a couple hours after the old pirate had taken the laudanum, and Jack had been draped dejectedly over the wheel, despondent even while in communion with his Lady. But later that afternoon, Jack had crutched determinedly out of their cabin, climbed the ladder to the helm, and practically ordered Will to let him steer.

Will was happy that Jack had wanted to pilot the ship, so he'd given Jack the wheel and stepped back, sitting on the back rail, watching him. When they neared the harbor of Tortuga, he merely told Jack the bearings and the old pirate steered them in as if he'd been able to see, taking his cues from the winds and changes in current as they entered the bay. When they'd gotten very close, Jack requested distances, and gave the orders necessary to dock to Will, who shouted them to the crew.

But JACK was the man at the helm; other than just those few pieces of information, he'd needed no help at all bringing the Pearl to safe harbor.

After ordering more ale, Robert leaned in toward Jack and Will. "Now I don't fret about you getting that treasure for me. I'd honestly wondered if it were possible, what with you not being able to see. I mean, how would you know which island after all these years if you couldn't see it?"

Jack nodded. "Oh, aye. I'll know dat island anywhere. All I need are descriptions of the coastline and da rocks and I'll know it. And I'll get us to the sapphire. I memorized exactly how to find it."

"Why? I mean, you weren't going to go get it, were you?"

"Oh, no! But I didn't want to forget where it was, either...just in case. I never forget where I find magick. It's rare enough dat even cursed items are wurt keepin'." Jack sipped his ale slowly. "You never know when a cursed item will come in handy. We'll leave for da island wit da morning tide. Now, do you want to go on the Pearl wit us, or do you tink you really want your crew subjected to da sapphire?"

Norris thought about it. "Hmm...I hadn't thought about it that way. I think you're right. I'd rather not subject them to it. I'll put them on leave until I return. I'm sure they'll be quite pleased at that, since we'd just gotten back from the Gold Coast when we joined your navy."

"Good. Den meet us at da Pearl by dawn. We'll shove off as soon as you're aboard."

Will drained his mug and stood up, shaking Robert's hand. "'til the morning, then."

"Until morning." Robert drained his glass and headed for the stairs.

Jack took one more sip of his ale and put the mug on the table, standing up with the help of his crutches. "Off, den. I want doze glass eyes before we sail. If daire's one ting I don' need, i's bein' drunk wid laudanum when we find dat sapphire." He followed William out the door into the night.

* - * - *

"Here is double your price. Have them finished and brought to the Black Pearl by one hour before dawn." Will handed the craftsman the money.

"Yes, Sir. I'll have them delivered on time."

Jack grinned. "And dey will look like I described?"

"Yes, of course, Sir. In fact, your descriptions make it possible to have them done in the time allotted. Had you wanted the usual fare, it would take me as long as a week to get them perfect."

"Good. Tank you." Jack and Will left the shop.

* - * - *

Jack was genuinely happy. He'd be the most feared pirate-er-privateer in the Caribbean...no...the WORLD with his new glass eyes. People would look upon him with fear. He liked that idea. /After all, I'm Jack Sparrow!/ His shoulders drooped. /Yeah. I'm Jack Sparrow all right. A BLIND Jack Sparrow. Sure, they'll be impressed with the eyes, but who can fear an old blind man who can barely walk? NO ONE./ His mood crushed, he suddenly noticed that Will's bells were missing. "William?" No answer. "William, where are you?"

"'ello, Dearie. What're you doin' 'ere all alone? Ye look lonely."

Jack knew not to show fear. The doxies and other inhabitants of Tortuga were like wolves in that respect. "No, I'm not lonely. My mate just stopped in a shop to find someting he's lookin' for."

"Not from what you were just sayin', luv." The woman kicked one of Jack's crutches out of his hand.

Jack heard where it landed. "Wha', just because a man's on crutches doesn' mean he can't defend himself, luv. And you've just proven you're no lady." He drew his pistol and aimed it at her.

The doxy tried to kick the pistol out of his hand, but Jack held on to it, the shot firing harmlessly in the air. She grabbed the crutch he was still holding on to and swung Jack around, letting go so that he flew against a brick wall, hitting his head hard and falling to the ground.

The pain in Jack's head was bad enough that all he could do was lie there with his hands covering his head, moaning.

Smiling at the result, the woman casually walked over, stooped down and went through Jack's pockets, taking his money purse. She reached for his hand, wanting the rings he was wearing, but he grabbed her by the wrist and twisted it, making her fall on top of him and roll off, nursing her arm. She pulled a dagger with her other arm and slashed at him, ripping through his coat, but doing no damage to Jack himself.

Jack kicked with his swag leg, knocking the wind out of the doxy and sending her backward a couple of feet with the strength and weight of the kick. Then he grabbed the crutch he'd landed with and made it to his feet, still holding his head with one hand.

Completely disoriented now and lost in Tortuga, Jack tucked his head down to try to deal with the pain, extended his hand and started hobbling in the direction he thought the dock should be in, making his way against the walls as quickly as he could to get away from the now-murderous doxy.

* - * - *

Will looked around. Jack was nowhere in his sight. "Jack?!" No answer. He checked the bells at his belt; they were still there and jingling merrily as he moved. He backtracked to the last place he remembered seeing Jack behind him and searched the area; nothing. He started slowly along the path he had taken and noticed a side alley at an angle that Jack may have gone down, thinking he was walking "straight". He headed down the alley, searching for any sign of Jack, but the caked and dried mud alley didn't show any trail like the usual dirt streets would have.

Finally, after several minutes, he came upon one of Jack's crutches lying broken against a building and panicked. "JACK!!!"

The merchant from the shop across the alley came out. "You lookin' for the blind cripple wot left that crutch?"

Will rushed over to the man. "Yes." He gave the man a shilling. "Where is he? What happened here? Is he all right?"

"Well, I'm not right sure if he's all right or not, seein' as how he bumped his head when the whore threw him against the wall. But I do know that he went down that way, feelin' his way along the wall." The man pointed down a side alley. "Looked like his head hurt something awful though. It was bleedin', anyway." Will thanked him and headed down the alley. "Good luck to ye, Mister!"

Will looked at the walls and noticed with trepidation the blood scraped along here and there. He went faster, following the blood trail on the wall. Apparently, Jack was leaning against the wall as he moved and stopped to let his head rest against it every few yards. "Jack!" A little further along, he found Jack's other crutch and his hat. The crutch was broken. There was blood on the hat and around the ground. Picking up the crushed hat, he looked around, wondering where Jack could have gone. The alley was a dead end, with three doors in to the buildings on the other side, and no way leading out other than the way he came.

All of a sudden, he heard a horrible, high-pitched scream, ending in a wail. It came from behind the door to his right. Pulling both his pistol and his sword, Will kicked the door in as hard as he could and raced into the building. There, at the other end of the room, were five men; four of them were holding Jack down on a table, while the other hacked at his right leg with a large axe. Jack was fully conscious and struggling as he shrieked in agony.

"Stop right there, mate." Will didn't stop. He whirled around with his sword, slicing into his attacker's neck, causing him to drop his pistol, which fired upwards, which failed to go off.

The man hacking at Jack's leg swung once more, severing it, then all five men scattered, leaving the old pirate there on the table, bleeding profusely, one of them taking Jack's leg with them.

Will raced to the table. Jack was sobbing, but still conscious. "Jack! You're bleeding too hard! I've got to get you back to the ship NOW so that Dr. Abernathy can help you!"

"Leave me, Whelp. I'm useless now." He rolled away from Will and off the table, crashing to the floor.

Will heard the shriek and ran around the table, picking the old pirate up and putting him on the table again. "I'm not leaving you here, Jack. I love you, remember?" He removed the pirate's belt and wrapped it around the stump below the knee and tightened it as best he could till the blood flow lessened to a trickle. "Now stay with me, Jack. I'll get us back to the Pearl in no time." He looked around for a cart. There were three small pushcarts in the corner. Choosing the sturdiest one, he lowered Jack into the cart and headed out the door he came in.

* - * - *

Dr. Abernathy finished stitching the stump and looked down at the drugged pirate. "You're lucky they didn't think you SWALLOWED any treasure, Captain Sparrow."

Jack mumbled something unintelligible and giggled.

"Captain Turner, I don't suggest that Captain Sparrow leave the ship anymore. He's too much of a target now."

Jack sat up, facing the doctor and wobbling horribly, nearly careening off the table. "'m less of a target now, Doctor. No more swag legs for me. Wooden this time, and no more crutches."

"That's true. I'll fit you for a wooden leg once the swelling has gone down, the stitches are out and the stump has healed. But you'll still be blind, Jack."

"'t wasn' da blindness dat made me a target. 't was da crutches. If I were able to walk widout dem, nobody would have noticed I was blind."

Will got up from the chair he'd been sitting in and moved close. "Jack, why weren't you following me? You told me to go ahead, but you didn't follow the bells."

"I got distracted, whelp. I'm sorry. I won't get distracted again."

"No, you won't. I'm not letting you off the Pearl again."

"Den who is goin' t' get da sapphire for Robert, eh?"

"Well you can't, that's certain. The stitches won't be out by the time we get there."

"I'll tink o' someting. Crutches can work daire. Nobody lives on da island, so you don' have t' worry about me."

Will pushed the old pirate back down. "I'm going with you then."

Jack giggled again. "Yes, William. Of course you are. I can tell you da complete troot an' you won' kill me for it. And I won' kill you over da troot eeder. So we'll go get da sapphire and everyone else stays here on da Pearl."

"Robert will want to come with us."

"Bugger Robert. 'e's not steppin' foot on dat island. All we need t' take wit us is a VERY long skein of string, six stakes, a hammer, and a small shovel."

"String?"

"You'll see when we get daire."

Will shrugged. "All right. But YOU tell Robert he's staying onboard."

"Aye. I will." Jack sat up again, still wobbling dangerously and reached out wildly, grabbing onto Will. "Le's go rest 'til my eyes arrive, shall we?"

Will carried his lover back to their own cabin, where the old pirate collapsed onto the bed, already snoring before he hit the pillow.

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TBC

A/N: So how's about a little review, eh? Just hit that little button there...I love reviews...you can do it...I just KNO you can! PLEEEZE?