Adrift

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This is it, folks...'Adrift' is at an end! Thank you to everyone who supported me on the voyage...my kind and devoted readers, my first beta Grace and my second and enormously talented beta RF, who came through when it really counted and made me really think about the story I was trying to tell.

Not sure if there isn't more ahead for Hector and Elizabeth, but I think I'll leave them be for a while (at least, this incarnation of them). I have loved taking them on this journey and am glad that at least a few fangirls came along for the ride.

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“If I thought that you might actually use that mirror, Jack, I’d kill you. Again.”

From the way he jumped when she spoke, Elizabeth knew that Jack Sparrow had been oblivious to the sound of her footsteps as she’d descended the stairs. There was a brief flash of anger on his face as she stepped into the hold but he quickly tamped down his emotions as he turned to look at her.

“There you go again, Lizzie, assuming the very worst about me,” he said, smirking disingenuously. He narrowed kohl-lined eyes at her and pretended to flick bits of lint off of his coat. “Shouldn’t go about judging others by yerself, luv.”

Elizabeth cocked the hammer on her Brown Bess, aiming squarely at Jack’s chest. “I’m not stupid – I know exactly what your game is. Just remember this: the Black Pearl belongs to Hector. You made a deal with Calypso and you must keep your word.”

“That accord was brokered in a future that no longer exists,” he answered slyly, pointing a finger at her. “We’re back to a clean slate, as it were…and from my perspective that means that the ownership of the Pearl remains a matter open to debate.”

“Time is relative, is that what you’re saying? You missed your calling, Captain Sparrow,” she sneered, waving him away from the mirror with the barrel of her pistol. “You might have enjoyed a fine career as an attorney.”

Jack stuck out his bottom lip and looked wounded as he circled towards the staircase, his hands raised in mock supplication. “Such cruelty is an unfortunate trait in one so young,” he said sadly, shaking his head. “I’m thinking that Barbossa’s been something of a negative influence on you.”

“If you intend to renege on the bargain you struck, then at least have the courage to accept the consequences of your decision and face him like a man,” Elizabeth hissed. Familiarity did, indeed, breed contempt – that lesson had become patently clear to her after four months at sea. Jack’s questionable charm had worn thin on her over that time, fraying her nerves and shortening her temper further at the sight of him as each week passed. They couldn’t reach Tortuga quickly enough for her liking and if they found him a ship of his own before they made port, so much the better.

Jack chuckled unpleasantly and crossed his arms. “Maybe you forget who it is you’re speaking to. Pirates are rather better at subterfuge than honesty, darling. Something we pride ourselves on. No, I’ve no interest in sharing my plans with your dear Hector, but perhaps you and I could come to an… understanding of sorts that would benefit all parties in the end.”

Elizabeth huffed in disdain. “You assume that you have something in which I’d be interested.”

Smiling lazily, Jack sashayed towards her. “I might, at that. Instead of me using the mirror to go back – or forth, as the case may be – to make the Pearl mine once more, how about this… you promise to give me my ship and in exchange, I shall hand over Sao Feng’s chart. You remember – it’s the one as shows the way to the Fountain of Youth.”

She couldn’t help but laugh at his audacity. “I don’t know if you noticed, Jack, but I’m just barely past my twenty-first birthday since returning to this century. It will be a long time before I’m in need of any such rejuvenation.”

Jack crooked an eyebrow at her. “That may be true. But can the same be said of your beloved captain?”

Slowly, her smile faded as the full import of his words sank in. “There’s nothing wrong with Hector. He’s in perfect health and let me assure you, as virile as a man half his age.”

“You know, I believe I could have lived quite happily without ever picturing the latter,” Jack made a show of shuddering in extreme distaste. “Regardless, I’ll not argue the point...for now, what you claim is probably true. He did regain those ten years when we were first led to the Fountain. But you must know that as soon as he stepped back through that mirror, Lizzie, he began to age again. What with him having a twenty-five year head start on you, I simply thought...well, I’m sure I needn’t say more.”

Elizabeth slowly lowered her gun without fully realizing she was doing so. There was really nothing to argue about; Jack was right. Although Hector was strong and vigorous now, he was again mortal and as susceptible to the ravages of time as any other man. As young as she was, it was more than likely that she would live on for a good many years past his death, however and whenever that occurred. She’d be left to linger without him, suffering under the weight of her grief until the end of her days.

The thought shook her to the core and she stared at Jack with something akin to horror. For his part, he looked smugly satisfied at the reaction he had caused. “I believe we understand one another, then?” he purred, holding his hand out to seal the agreement.

“I...I can’t! The Pearl isn’t mine to surrender!” she cried, shaking off her fear and raising her gun once more. “He’ll never give her up...he loves this ship almost as much as he loves me!”

Jack withdrew his hand and tucked his thumbs into his belt. “Then you’d best be more convincing. What’s more important, eh? Buying yourself a few extra decades with your one true love or inheriting his nasty old ship once he’s gone?”

“You’re beneath contempt,” she snarled brusquely. Elizabeth skirted around him and started up the stairs.

He grabbed her arm and gripped tightly. “Sticks and stones, luv,” Jack murmured as he pulled her close. “But let me assure you...one way or another, I’ll be having the Pearl back. At least now you’ve a chance to buy Barbossa far more time than he deserves.”

She turned her face away from his, closing her eyes against the despair that squeezed at her heart. “I… need time to consider your proposal.”

Jack snorted and let her go. “But not too much, I hope. I must say – you can’t watch me all the time, Miss Swann. And that mirror is awfully tempting.”

Her head whipped around and rage welled within her as she glared at him. If Jack Sparrow thought that she was so easily blackmailed, he had another think coming. “Well, far be it from me to allow you to succumb to such temptation!” she snapped.

Roughly elbowing Jack aside, she brought up the muzzle of her weapon and fired a shot directly into the middle of the glass. Calypso’s mirror shattered with a sound like a piercing shriek, exploding into jagged silver shrapnel that pelted the two of them like snow in a blizzard. Elizabeth brought her hands up to her face, trying to keep the splinters from scoring her flesh.

Shards tinkled to the deck around them, tiny chimes ringing on the darkened planks. Each one transformed as it hit the floor, changing into a drop of water. The carved mounting cracked and collapsed like waterlogged timber, the tiny figures becoming indistinguishable as the frame disintegrated into rotting, black chunks.

“What have you done?” Jack whispered in shock as he gaped at the destruction her single shot had wrought. The mirror had become a dark, murky mess beneath their feet and there was nothing left that could claim to hold otherworldly powers.

“Evened the playing field...removed your leverage. It was you who taught me the danger of making oneself too vulnerable, Jack. You must at least give me credit for learning my lessons well.”

For a moment, his face filled with a fury so intense that she instinctively backed up a step. She had not seen Jack exhibit such cold hatred since he’d shot Hector in the cavern on Isla de Muerta. He lunged at her and grabbed her shoulders, all but throwing her against the wall where the mirror had rested. “You’ve changed absolutely nothing,” he growled with quiet menace, his teeth bared fiercely and his rum-tinged breath hot on her face. “If you don’t persuade Barbossa to hand over the Black Pearl, I’ll disappear with the chart once we reach Tortuga and you can get started digging your lover’s grave. You have a choice to make.”

“You’ll have my answer when I’m ready, Sparrow,” she spat back at him with equal fury. “If you don’t get out of my way right fucking now, I’m going to scream and bring the wrath of the Blackhearts down on your weasely hide. When they finish with you, you’ll not need worry about sailing on any ship save the Flying Dutchman.”

Her vitriol must have startled Jack, for he released her at once and stumbled back. Suddenly sick to her stomach over his unexpected threats, Elizabeth pushed past him and rushed up the stairs to escape the stifling hold and find the dusk’s cool air.

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Although it would have been his right to assign the last watch on the wheel to one of his men, sailing beneath the heavens had always been one of Barbossa’s private pleasures. When the ocean was calm and the sky clear, there was nothing as brought peace to a man’s soul like following the glowing moon and countless stars on a smooth journey towards an invisible horizon.

Of course, there had been a time when the rising of a full moon had meant anything but serenity for him and his men, but that world was so far behind him now as to seem a distant nightmare and nothing more. He had the spray of the sea against his face, the splashing whisper of the water against the hull of the Pearl and the quiet solitude of a perfect North Atlantic night, and it would be a fool who’d think it anything but paradise.

He heard the heavy door to the captain’s cabin slam beneath him and watched silently as his beloved Elizabeth made her way out on deck, her path lit by the pale moonbeams. Although she had to know he was at the helm, she didn’t so much as glance up at the quarter deck. Instead, she sidled slowly towards the rail at amidships, hugging her silky white robe to her body as it fluttered in the light breeze. Her hair was loose as it always was when she retired, and the glossy locks blew around her face as she rested her elbows on the gunwale and stared out into the inky darkness.

Hector frowned thoughtfully as he watched her. She’d not been herself for weeks but whenever he asked about her melancholy mood, she always smiled gently and reassured him that she was perfectly fine. It wasn’t that she seemed angry, at least not with him, but there was no denying that she was troubled by something, and he only wished she’d reveal her worries to him. It was all the more distressing because he truly thought that once she’d made her peace with Turner, they’d be able to start a new life for themselves. It was what they had fought for...killed for...died for. But if her feelings were not what he thought, what could he do?

As if sensing the weight of his gaze upon her, she turned towards him. Her expression was hidden by the shadows across her face but she appeared to be pausing in thought, unsure of how to proceed. After a few moments, she apparently came to a decision of some sort and glided across the deck, her delicate hand sliding along the banister as she ascended the stairs to join him.

“My love,” he greeted her softly, holding out a hand and pulling her to his side once she took it. “I’d have thought ye fast asleep by now.” He slid his free arm possessively around her waist and she cuddled closer, laying her head against his shoulder and slipping her hand inside of his shirt so she could rest her fingers over his heart.

She was quiet at first and her embrace stiff, and he knew she was working up the nerve to reveal to him whatever had been keeping her awake at night and troubling her mind by day. Although he was worried and anxious over the weighty burden she was carrying, he remained silent. She’d come to it in her own good time and he knew there was no use trying to force it out of her.

“Do you remember,” Elizabeth began hesitantly, stroking his chest as she spoke, “that you once asked me that if the world was ours for the taking, what would be my fondest desire?”

Hector smiled at the memory. He’d put forth the question after she’d finally confessed to her true feelings for him – following an especially enjoyable shower, if he remembered correctly. “I do. Ye said that ye’d want to ride with me again, flying down the road forever. I’ve no aversion to offerin’ ye such a ride, girl, but I’m afraid that me bike be long gone.”

Resisting his attempt at humour, she leaned back so she could gaze up into his face, her features sombre and serious. “You told me then that if forever was yours to give me, I’d have it. I want you to fulfill that promise.”

He smiled hesitantly, not really understanding what she was getting at. “Whatever days be left to me...” he started, but she shook her head and he let his words trail off.

“No. That’s not what I meant.” Elizabeth slid around his body so she stood in front of him, caught between him and the wheel. “I don’t want to be left alone,” she whispered, spreading her fingers over his coat and smoothing down his lapels. “I want us to be together forever, just like you said.”

He stared at her, finally understanding. “Yer speakin’ of the Fountain of Youth,” he said with a sigh. “Ah, ‘Lizabeth, that wellspring don’t offer ‘ferever’ either. A decade, mebbe two...but the gift of immortality ain’t one as comes around a second time. Ye might remember that t’was Calypso as changed the waters fer just that one day to meet her own ends. To drink from them now won’t give us life everlastin’.”

There was a faint hint of panic in her voice. “But even for a few extra decades...if we did it right, we could make those years seem like forever. What would you do, my Captain? What would you be willing to sacrifice if it meant we truly could grow old together?”

“Sacrifice?” he said in surprise, the conversation growing increasingly stranger as it went on. Perhaps the lack of sleep had finally taken its toll on her. “How in heaven’s name did ye get such a notion in yer head? Yer barely more than a child and I be far from languishin’ on me death bed! What need have we of such sorcery?”

Elizabeth suddenly burst into tears, her sobs wracking her slender body as she tried to speak. She grabbed his arms and clenched them with desperate strength. “Jack has Sao Feng’s map but he won’t give it up unless you return the Pearl to him,” she confessed, her words tumbling forth in a torrent. “And I don’t think that there’s any way we can possibly find the fountain without the chart...I mean, it’s not like you found it yourself in the first place, Calypso had to lead you to it...that’s why you were indebted to her a second time! And I’m afraid if I can’t convince you to make the trade, Jack might just take matters into his own hands and shoot you again, but this time you’d be dead for good! I love you so much, don’t you see that? I can’t lose you! Not now and not a few years from now...not until I am ready to go, too! I won’t let you just leave me, Hector Barbossa! I will not raise our son by myself!”

Had he not been holding the wheel so tightly, Hector would have staggered backwards in shock. “Our son?” he croaked hoarsely.

“Or daughter, I don’t know...how could I possibly know?” she wept in despair, hiding her face in her hands. “I didn’t mean for this to happen...hell, I didn’t even think it could happen. I sort of forgot that I no longer infertile like I was back in Florida. I was okay being barren because I was certain that you wouldn’t want to be saddled with a baby anyway…”

“’Lizabeth...” he said, aghast at her revelation. “I never...”

“I know! You never wanted this!” she wailed, ducking out from beneath his arms and stumbling a few feet away. “And I’m sorry, I am, but it’s not as if there’s a CVS Pharmacy handy at which to purchase birth control pills or condoms, even had I thought to do so...”

“Enough!” he barked. The woman wouldn’t let him get a bleeding word in edgewise, and the overwhelming combination of surprise and emotion clouded his thoughts. “If ye’d quit runnin’ on at the mouth for one damned minute and let me think...”

Hector’s brusqueness silenced her instantly but she gave him no opportunity to speak further. Elizabeth’s face crumpled in dismayed hurt at what he’d said and she whirled away from him, gathering her gown in her hands and scampering down the stairs as quickly as her feet would carry her. As she retreated into the cabin and slammed the door behind her, he stood mute, confounded by the turn of events and the disbelief that accompanied the news of his impending fatherhood.

Of course he should have known it was possible and even inevitable that she would get pregnant given the frequency and fervour of their affections. In true male form, he’d assumed she’d taken whatever precautions necessary to prevent such an occurrence. The topic hadn’t come up when they’d first engaged in intimate relations back in Key West and he’d not given it a thought since. But her point was well taken...what would she know of methods for birth control as were practiced in the current century? No mother to teach her, no other women in her life that might have enlightened her as to the practices of contraception. His lack of attention to the matter was inexcusable and he had no one to blame but himself for their current predicament.

And yet, even as he pondered it, Hector couldn’t quite bring himself to be as upset about the prospect of becoming a parent as Elizabeth supposed him to be. He harboured no small degree of pride in knowing that she carried within her womb the indisputable proof of their love for one another...and that despite fate’s best attempts to rid the world of his very presence, Hector Barbossa had persevered and propagated.

Having a child on board a pirate ship was unheard of, but just because it hadn’t been done didn’t mean it couldn’t be done. What other life could there be for the progeny of two legendary pirate lords? There would need to be accommodations made but it was far from impossible to imagine. Knowing his men as he did, they’d be far more likely to welcome than reject having a youngster on board – had they not already helped raise a child when they’d accepted Marilyn into their ranks? The little one would never lack for care or protection, that much was certain.

A child. His child. His heart began to warm at the idea. He or she would be a legacy of the bond Hector shared with Elizabeth, a living testament to their story. Aye, there was more than one way to live forever.

Hector turned his attention to the riggings. “Mister Rackam!” he hollered. “I’ve need of ye at the helm!”

“Aye, sir!” came a faint reply, and then the shadowy silhouette of a man quickly slid down from the sails by way of a spare line and dropped lightly onto the quarter deck. Rackham stepped in to take the wheel without comment on anything he might have overheard and only the most surreptitious of glances at his captain. Relieved of duty, Hector stormed down the steps to his quarters, impatiently tugging the door open and then yanking it shut behind him again just as brusquely.

Elizabeth leapt to her feet from where she’d been sitting beside the table, his abrupt entrance clearly startling her. Hastily wiping tears from her cheeks, she regained her composure as best she could and straightened her shoulders. “So...have you had sufficient time to think?” she queried stiffly, crossing her arms defensively over her bosom.

“I have,” he snarled as he advanced towards her. She shrank back slightly as he approached but bravely met his gaze, staring at him with a mix of apprehension and hope on her face.

Hector tossed his hat aside and suddenly sank to his knees before her, hugging her gently around her waist, pulling her close and resting his cheek against the soft swell of her belly. Elizabeth sobbed in relief and cradled his head in her hands, stroking his hair lovingly as her tears began anew.

“I spoke thoughtlessly,” he murmured into the smooth fabric of her robe. “’Tis a blessin’ that ye’ve given me, ‘Lizabeth. A child...” Love so intense that it was nearly painful seized him and he was briefly rendered mute in the force of its power.

“Our child, yes,” she sniffled happily. “In about five months, if my math is right. Oh, Hector – I’ve known for weeks but I was so afraid to tell you. I thought that if you didn’t hate me outright, you’d at least want to put me ashore. I couldn’t have survived being cast out of your life.”

“Have ye not yet fathomed the depth of me love?” he said gruffly, his own eyes burning and watery. “Told meself when ye remembered me that never would we be parted, and that be twice as true now. Ain’t sayin’ it will be an easy life fer a wee one on board a ship, but we’ll do what needs doin’ to make it work. I care for what be mine – that much ye should know by now.”

“Then grant me this one request,” she pleaded, cradling his face in her hands. “I want you with me for a very long time to come…for my sake and for our baby’s sake. Please…after all we’ve been through just so we can be together, I can’t bear the thought of being left without you.”

Barbossa tilted his head up to meet her gaze. “If ‘tis what ye want of me, then we’ll set sail fer Florida and find the fountain. But we be who we be, girl, and there be few ancient mariners fer a reason. The power of the waters won’t do a damned thing to guard me against steel and shot.”

She smiled and looked down at him haughtily, achingly beautiful despite her swollen eyes and red nose. “Of course not. That will be my job. Our child needs two parents, Hector, and no one – not Jack Sparrow, not the Grim Reaper nor anyone else - will take you from me. Not while I have anything to say about it.”

Hector grinned back at her. “Perhaps we should let Jack partake of some of them magical waters as well. It does me heart good to think that he might be around long enough that our offspring can continue the fine tradition of making his life as difficult as possible.”

Elizabeth laughed softly and bent over to bestow a searing kiss upon him, her lips parting with a needful sigh and her tongue sweeping into his mouth to tease him mercilessly. “All we need do is steal the chart from Jack somehow,” she moaned against his lips, her breath coming faster. “How many places could it possibly be hidden on the Pearl?”

“We needn’t search fer it at all,” he rasped, pulling her down so that she, too, was kneeling on the threadbare carpet. Hector slipped his fingers underneath the neckline of her satiny robe and pushed it off her shoulders, nipping at the tender skin of her neck.

Her head fell back and she whimpered prettily as she tugged at the leather thong fastening his braid. “What do you mean?” Elizabeth breathed, urging him on with her eager touch as he rid himself of his baldric and coat. Her eyes were shaded with lust and she lunged at him, thrusting her fingers through his hair and kissing him with so much passion that his eyes rolled back in his head.

“I’ve had the chart since the day after we left Shipwreck Cove,” he murmured hoarsely into her mouth, ripping open her bodice and exposing her lovely breasts to his ardent attentions. “Found it right off and replaced it with a bamboo mat I pilfered from the Empress.”

Elizabeth moaned and arched into his touch but her eyes flew open in surprise at what he’d revealed about the old map. “You had every intention of seeking out the fountain again, even before I told you about the baby?!” she laughed, squirming against him.

“Well, I have me a young bride that I must keep satisfied,” he admitted slyly, his hand lightly skimming over her midriff and coming to rest on her stomach. He spread his fingers, marvelling at the child that grew within. “The woman’s nigh insatiable...what else was I to do?”

Elizabeth’s mischievous grin faded into a much softer, shyer smile, and she placed her hand over top of his. “Your bride? Is that a backwards proposal of sorts?”

“Aye, ‘tis. Problem with askin’ proper is that I might not get the answer I be seekin’.”

She shook her head and smiled bashfully. “Do you honestly believe that?”

Hector gently gripped her elbows and lifted her to her feet as he stood, capturing her lush lips in a tender kiss. Wrapping his arms around her, he caressed her back as he moulded her body to his. “Those that live as we do have little need fer pomp ‘n circumstance, ‘Lizabeth,” he murmured, basking in the scent of her skin and the sweetness of her breath. “And while I be happy to indulge ye in a high-toned ceremony if you ask it of me, I be more inclined to pledge me vows to ye alone...if ye’ll have me, that is.”

“Yes!” she whispered, her eyes glistening brightly as she swallowed hard. “Yes, of course I’ll have you. And I don’t care about a formal ritual – it’s much better that it be only the two of us. This is too sacred a moment to share.”

“True enough. So I say this to ye, ’Lizabeth Swann,” he said huskily, closing his eyes and nuzzling against her soft tresses. His heart clenched tightly in his chest, so overwhelmed was he at the depth of his emotions. “Ye stole me heart when first ye came aboard me ship in Port Royal, a firebrand of a girl with the courage to face the scourge of the Seven Seas. And ‘though I had to endure all manner of hardship, death, and rebirth to finally find ye again, I’d do it all over again if it meant I could call ye me own. I’ll be yer protector...yer lover...yer husband. I cannot promise ye that the seas will always be calm and our lives filled with naught but prosperity and happiness. But I can promise ye this – never will I place another above ye and always will ye have me love.”

Elizabeth’s breath hitched in her chest and he could tell she was close to weeping yet again. Perhaps it was the babe in her belly that was moving her to tears so often, but he preferred to believe it was the same tide of joy flowing through her as flowed through him. Hector reached behind his neck and unhooked the serpent pendant, holding it up as an offering to her. Her bottom lip quivering, she turned and lifted up her hair, allowing him to encircle her slender throat with the necklace and fasten it in place. He placed a feathery kiss on her nape that provoked a shiver before he smoothed her hair back down.

“Hector Barbossa...my Captain,” she said, turning around to face him. The rubies and diamonds of his pendant sparkled in the lamplight, and Elizabeth brought up one trembling hand to clutch the warm silver. “I don’t know that I even have the words to do justice to my feelings for you,” she said, looking warmly into his eyes. “You have touched my life more deeply than any man I’ve ever known. When you are away from my side, I feel as if the best part of me is missing and I ache with emptiness. And when we are together, you thrill me, you challenge me, and you bring out my truest and best self in every situation. I haven’t anything to give you save myself, but I swear to you that you have all of me...body, heart and soul. From this day forward, I will be your helpmate...your lover...your wife. Of all the uncertainties we will surely face in the years to come, Hector, know that my love will never be one of them.”

She had barely finished giving voice to the last word when he seized her in his arms and kissed her passionately, at last claiming her as his only love. Her arms curled up behind him and her fingers dug into the hard muscles of his back as she returned his ardour, her kiss every bit as demanding as his.

“It’s done,” Elizabeth whispered as she drew away, smiling broadly through her tears. “We’re married!”

The pure happiness on her face made Hector feel as though his heart had taken flight. “Wedded fer certain, my love, but to be properly married...well, there be one last duty ye must fulfill before ye can truly call yerself me wife.” He arched an eyebrow at her and scooped her up into his arms, carrying her towards their narrow bed.

“Well,” she laughed, her eyes glittering as she slid her arms around his neck and tangled her hands in his hair. “I suppose if I must...”


Fin
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