In The Nick Of Time

UnknownSoldier, DesiringPirates, MoeSparrow, QueenoftheGeeks and Rejerito: Thank you one and all once again! You all truly make this fic fun! Consider the following a token of my appreciation! (And don’t you just love Mr. Gibbs? He’s like a Pirate Dr. Phil in this story!lol)

The sky and even the clouds were red the next morning. Jack stepped out on deck in a foul mood, and one glance at the horizon only made it worse. “Bloody figures,” he spat at the heavens and then called for Mr. Gibbs.

There was another part to his legend, Jack was realizing. And that part was Captain Jack Sparrow, certain to wreck his relationships with women everywhere in every way. He hated to admit it, but he was scared, so scared that Elizabeth would reject him again that he’d not allowed her to say everything she had to say. Could he be blamed though? She had treated him rather harshly in the past, hadn’t she? Or was he just being oversensitive? Well, no not on account of the time she’d left him to the kraken he wasn’t! But, he’d understood that, admired her for what she’d done to him even, marveled at what a pirate she was, even felt a smile on his face as he made ready to meet the monster and thought, “I’ve taught her well!”

“Where be young Mr. Turner?” It was the fatal question. Perhaps Jack shouldn’t have inquired about Will, but he had to! He’d just wrapped Elizabeth’s arm around his neck and his around her waist, and then swung them both from the deck of the sinking Stalwart onto the Pearl by a rigging line. Had Will still been aboard the Stalwart, Jack would have to go and retrieve him, wouldn’t he? Well, Jack knew that wasn’t why he’d asked about Will. Had Will been with Elizabeth, it would have changed everything, truly dashed all of Jack’s hopes. As it had turned out though, Jack didn’t require Will being around to still ruin everything.

“Jack,” Elizabeth had begun, looking at him startled like as seawater still dripped from her chin. The smell of sulfur from the gun smoke clung to her hair, but all Jack noticed was the scent that was unmistakably her. He could tell she was hesitant to speak the answer, and he was hesitant to hear it. “Will’s in Port Royal. I’m alone, I lef—“

“Port Royal?” Jack’s voice sparked with the elation that had surged through him upon learning that he didn’t have Will here to contend with. What luck! Or was it? He was aware that he was smiling, beaming even. He grabbed Elizabeth by both her slim shoulders about to pull her to him and…and…what? Kiss her? Given their history, wasn’t that a bit brash? It was his own fault, but Jack knew he hadn’t ever conducted himself very well around Elizabeth when they were alone prior to this moment. If he kissed her, or touched her more than was acceptable, or if he even looked too delighted that she was here alone, wouldn’t she perceive him as the same old Jack, up to his same old tricks again? He must maintain control of himself this time, be a gentleman, show her he was interested in her as a human being and not just as some tasty little morsel.

And what of her sailing off without Will? Jack couldn’t say for sure that Elizabeth was not just on a journey to visit someone. He had to admit that women did have other reasons for boarding ships and sailing the ocean than just to look for him, of course. Worse yet, supposing Elizabeth and the whelp had a lover’s spat, and some reckless part of her had set sail in order to find the Pearl, weary over Captain Sparrow’s heart, and then realize the mistake she’d made and rush back to the arms of the whelp, certain that she loved him and only him?

The euphoria of love that Jack was consumed with upon first hearing her voice plummeted, sinking like an anchor into a muddy ocean trench. He’d had many things he wanted to say to Elizabeth, many wonderful, well planned, genuine things, but all he heard himself telling her was, “We’ll get ye back to him then, fer certain he misses ye, savvy?.”

Jack had truly steered wrong this time. Not only had he missed yet another chance with Elizabeth, but in doing so, he’d kept the Pearl on the southern course to Jamaica around South America, and she was now heading into a storm! How much more wrong could he be about the decisions he made in life? Things had gone from bad, to better, to the peak of happiness and now had dropped to the worst. What the hell was wrong with him? Plenty of men could be in relationships and make it work with a woman, why couldn’t he? He was glad that Elizabeth had taken to the cabin he’d given her and had not ventured out since going to change into dry clothing. To have to see her again today would have brought out a reaction in Jack like he knew he’d never experienced before and couldn’t account for. He wanted to be angry with her, but couldn’t quite make himself be.

“She looks to be blowin a gale by evenin’.” Said Gibbs, following behind Jack and picking up the coiled shot of line as Jack went about winding it around the belaying pins. As Captain, it was rare for Jack to be working on deck, unless something was eating at him, and Gibbs knew something certainly was, and it had nothing to do the weather.

“Aye,” answered Jack, trying to seem like it was the coming storm on his mind and nothing else. “We’ll keep bearing south, put her stern to the wind and drift.”

Gibbs nodded, looking at the bright red sky and then over at Jack again. “Yer turnin’ tail too smartly, Lad.”

Jack turned to face him and leaned up against the gunwale, letting his hands take his weight, his shoulders shoved forward. “Ye be thinkin’ on out runnin’ the tempest, Mr. Gibbs? ”

“Aye, Cap’n, I am.”

“Catch us in her grasp before the morn she would, and with the winds at our back, we’d be blown off course, if not rocked stern over bow, savvy Mr. Gibbs?” Answered Jack, wondering why he was being challenged on such a simple thing by his first mate.

“And the better off ye’d be for it, sir.”

“What’s that?” Jack replied with a bit of anger in his voice. He’d begun to wonder if his trusted Mr. Gibbs was preaching some sort of mutiny. “Gibbs, be explainin’ yerself.”

“Beggin’ yer permission to speak as I might, Cap’n?” asked Gibbs, not having meant to upset Jack in the manner he had. Though Gibbs often did address Jack more as a son than as his Captain, he knew when showing respect for Jack’s office was due.

“Granted.” Jack folded his arms across his chest and waited.

“The issue is Ms. Swann, Jack.”

“No!” Jack immediately replied, crossing his hands in front of his face as if to block a punch. “There be no issue, Gibbs.”

“Jack!” Answered the older man, stepping closer and not allowing himself to be shut out. “Somethin’ be afoot with the lass, Jack! Can’t ye feel it, lad?”

Jack turned his back to Gibbs, looking out at the sea, again clutching the gunwale. “I can’t get it right in me head, Gibbs.” He confessed, the pitch of the Pearl on the waves oddly making him dither.

Gibbs sighed, was about to speak, but movement, like the flutter of a sail, caught his eye. “Then forgo yer head, this be a matter fer the heart.” He put a sympathetic hand on Jack’s shoulder and gave him a pat, then looked down the deck at the approaching Elizabeth, the skirt of her dress blowing in the stirring wind. “I’d say ye be gettin’ yet another chance to do so, lad.” He said, gently turning Jack by the shoulder towards Elizabeth. “Avast, now Cap’n!” Gibbs encouraged, nudging Jack forward. “And don’t be jumpin’ ship.” He added, masking a smile, and then seemed to fade away.

Jack looked out of sorts, Elizabeth noted. Well he should be, she thought, she’d been held up in her cabin crying since yesterday. But, she settled herself, for she was only approaching Jack due to a feeling that had come upon her after a certain thought entered her mind. She hadn’t understood what happened when they’d met aboard the Stalwart. How could he have gone from holding her as tight to him as he would have a lover, from planting a kiss to her very neck, to then telling her he’d return her to Port Royal? Jack Sparrow…would she ever be sure of what his motivations were for anything?

What Elizabeth was sure of was that Jack had ripped apart a brig with his bare hands to get her out! She hadn’t believed it, but it had happened right before her eyes! She’d never forget the image, it had been a miracle of strength, for Jack was so driven to free her. Yes, driven! Beneath it all, Jack was a good man, but even Elizabeth knew that he was not so moved by concern for the welfare of his fellow man that he would be so inspired as to bend iron bars and splinter oak beams without mechanical intervention! She had to have been the catalyst for such a feat, he wanted her, he had to have! Jack was relentless when in pursuit of that which he desired most, and this time, Elizabeth would wager that had been her!

“Captain Sparrow,” she said, stepping right up to Jack and determined not to be dismissed until he’d heard her out. However, her knees were weak beneath her dress and she felt so dizzy. What if she were wrong?

Jack’s face contorted in a myriad of different smiles as if he was searching for the right one, but none of them were. Finally he just sighed, pretending to look her in the eye but instead staring at her neck. “Aye, Ms. Swan?”

“I’ve come to tell you…” Elizabeth’s nerve slipped, she quivered and stammered. The brig…he’d demolished the brig with his bare hands! “I’ve come to inform you that I do not wish to be taken back to Port Royal.”

“Oh?” Jack’s eyebrow raised, his head cocked to the side. He wanted to ask why, but he didn’t dare. “Where would ye have yerself deposited then, love?”

He called her “love!” Even though it didn’t mean much, for Jack had always called her “love,” it still made Elizabeth’s heart skip a beat. “I…” she tried so hard to say it but it just wouldn’t come out of her mouth. She gripped her own hand tightly over her stomach and then let out a frantic sigh. She had to tell him! She’d been running from his advances for long, she understood why Jack may not want to make the first move now…assuming he had motives to make any moves at all. Oh, the brig…think of the brig! “Jack,” she finally said after a long and frenetically silent pause. “How many iron gates have you destroyed in the fashion you did on board the Stalwart?” Not what she’d intended to say to him, but something she was wondering nonetheless.

“Hmmm,” Jack stood stroking his beard, fingering the beads at the ends of the braids and then put one foot up on top the gunwale, leaned forward, looking thoughtful. For some reason, this was easier to talk about. “None.” He said, and then saw a beautiful gleam in Elizabeth’s eyes that warmed him over. “When I were a lad I ruined me mum’s iron makin’ cloven hooved tracks and tryin’ to convince the town we were besieged by a monstrosity of a cow, though.” To his surprise, Elizabeth laughed. Jack smiled. Some of the tension was gone.

“That’s hardly the same thing.” She smiled. Oh, this was becoming easier, Jack looked more like the Jack that had made her love him.

“Tis the only other story ‘bout iron I have, love.” Replied Jack, putting both feet on the deck and turning to face her, more relaxed and smirking.

“Jack,” Elizabeth sighed, this time in an amused and smitten way. “Thank you, by the way.” She smiled.

An odd wave of modesty came over Jack and he couldn’t help lowering his eyes and head for a second and smiling bashfully. He looked back up at Elizabeth again and his smile broadened. What was it she really meant? No, don’t think about it, Gibbs had warned him not to think so hard about it! Elizabeth was so beautiful, and he loved her so entirely, wanted to hold her so badly. He reached out slowly and took her wrist gently, bringing her hand up to his lips and pressed a quick kiss to her palm lightly. “Were me pleasure, love.” He’d meant to release her hand again afterwards, but she didn’t seem to be pulling it back. He waited, felt her slim fingers splice with his.

Elizabeth felt her breath catch in her throat at the touch of his lips on her hand, his beard tickled pleasantly on her skin. She wondered if allowing him to hold her hand now was too bold. Perhaps just a little. Still, she must tell him about Will. But how could she do so without creating that awful tension all over again. Hmm…what if…”Jack, let’s play a game.” She smiled at him, her voice sounded happy and carefree, on purpose.

Weren’t they already? “What sort?”

She swung their joined hands back and forth playfully a bit. Jack didn’t let go. “First, you tell me something that you’ve never told anyone else, and I’ll keep your confidence, and then I’ll tell you something I’ve never told anyone else, and you’ll keep mine.”

“That be a game?” Jack asked skeptically, but smiled at her again and gave her hand a squeeze. “So ye want to know one of Jack Sparrow’s secrets, Lizzie? Let me see…” Jack’s eyes shifted and he tapped his chin with his finger as he thought. Don’t mention anything about another woman, don’t mention anything about murdering anyone, don’t mention anything about rum. He could mention…well no, he’d rather not mention that, though it was his best kept secret. “Aha,” he then smiled, coming up with an alternative answer. “The very first time I e’er set out to sea, it made me sick as a bloody dog, savvy?”

But Elizabeth knew Jack Sparrow. “You made that up, Jack! Didn’t you?” She laughed, and she could tell by the way he huffed that she was right. “Come on now, either be honest, or don’t bother to play at all.”

“Oh, yer good, lass, yer good.” Jack admitted. Well, he might as well tell her, who knows, it could get him somewhere he hoped to be with her. Still, divulging this made him nervous, even if it was a silly thing that didn’t quite matter anymore. He sighed. “Ye swear upon the holy bible ye won’t be tellin’ any tales, Lizzie?”

“Yes, Jack, I most certainly do!” She assured him with a smile, and brushed his thumb soothingly with her own, relishing the feel of him.

“Nay, that’s not the way ye swear to somethin’, love!” Jack insisted. He let go of her hand and crossed both his wrists over his heart and stood looking at her expectantly. “C’mon, Lizzie, do it!”

Elizabeth couldn’t help laughing, what ever could he be about to tell her? “I am, I am!” She giggled, her wrists crossed between her breasts as she stood across from Jack who looked very anxious.

“Now, spin ‘round in a circle once and repeat after me,” and with that Jack turned to the right, so did Elizabeth. “Dead men tell no tales.” Jack chanted, and eventually Elizabeth too, making one revolution and coming to a stop face to face with each other again.

“Good enough?” Elizabeth asked, trying to stifle her amusement. Jack was definitely Jack again.

“Unfortunately.” Jack exhaled, feeling much the same way he did when he broke down and admitted to her that he’d only been marooned on that island for three days before being picked up by a bunch of rum runners. “Alright, Lizzie, here it be…” he stalled again, looked fore and aft, was there anyone else who might possibly overhear this? No. “Me real name’s not Jack Sparrow.”

Elizabeth’s eyes flew open wide with surprise. “Really?” She hadn’t expected that! “Which isn’t your name? Jack? Or Sparrow?”

“Sparrow’s always been me surname, love.” Jack fidgeted, hoping he would be able to avoid the worst of this secret. “But I’ve been servin’ aboard ships for most of me life, as a Jack o’Coins, the quartermaster, or a Jack o’ Swords, the bosun, or a Jack o’ Cups, the first mate, or just tagged with bein’ known as a Jack Tar sailor in general…the name ‘Jack’ just stuck to me.”

Elizabeth nodded. It made perfect sense. But still, she was eager to know one thing. “What is your real first name, Jack?”

Jack groaned and gritted his teeth. After taking a deep breath, he shook his head. “Nay, that would be a second of me secrets told, and ye haven’t given up a scrap of yer soul yet, love!”

Elizabeth had become so enthralled that she’d forgotten that had been the deal. The tension between them had been so broken, she’d even forgotten that it had been such an exhausting and fragile diligence that had gotten them this far. Jack had a point, she hadn’t told him her secret yet. And she desperately wanted to! Particularly if it would mean learning the given first name of the man she loved. She smiled, half looking forward now to seeing his face when she divulged her secret. “I left Port Royal and left Will Turner because you are the man that I love!”

The coming storm kicked up a gust of wind that nearly blew Jack down as he stood there in shock. But why was he in shock? Hadn’t he known this on some level, whether he realized it or not? This wasn’t another dream, was it? He looked back at Elizabeth who stood there, smiling, confidently. She loved him! She’d said it! Still, was this real? What a secret! There was only one thing to do now…well, perhaps two. He reached out and caught her quickly around the waist and drew her against him, tilting her back just slightly, her lovely neck bending back and her sweet lips already parting slightly, ready for his. He looked down into her eyes, caressed her cheek and said. “Me name’s Francis.” And then he kissed her, wrapping her in his arms, hers locking around his neck and her body melding to his own. Oh, she was soft and supple in his embrace, her mouth moving languidly against his and she didn’t shy away when he deepened the kiss, touching his tongue to hers, sucking and worrying her lower lip, and then allowing himself to so bold as to draw their hips together as well.

Elizabeth moved against him as if she could read his thoughts, rubbing her body against his in just the right place, making him gasp. Their lips parted once to draw a breath and then touched again, her hand on his bearded jaw now as the wind whipped at her back, spiraling he hair around her head and face. Jack drew her tongue into his mouth and sucked it gently, then wrestled it into a knot with his own, and this time he groaned, a deep, throaty, passionate noise of a man who would not be wholly satisfied with just this first taste of her.

The kiss ended slowly, like a fire dying out, and they stood across from each other in breathless rapture. Elizabeth felt lost in Jack, and she’d been waiting so long to be lost like this. He drew their foreheads together and he closed his eyes for a moment. “Lizzie, don’t be doin’ this,” he whispered in a pleading manner, and she started to protest, but he quieted her with a shake of his head. “Don’t be doin’ this unless ye truly want this life, and truly want me!”