Freedom's Slave

For Nicole, 'cause she's prolly not going to see this until the weekend.

Mel: Adectives are good. ;) Very useful... uh... thingies, they are.

hellsangel25: Don't worry, Will and Jack will get together, but I like to draw things out. Hmmm... Ana gets to go beserk in one of the planned endings. I'm always hard on my own writing, consider it a quirk.

Earen: Iye! No pointy things for you! Maybe I'll give you a slaver to play with, but first, I need to make Jack bloodthirsty (which is ironic, considering I'm also working on two vamp-type fics). And snuggly Will is cute...

Pookie: Since when is Ana afraid of getting thrown overboard? I'd be more worried about the guys that Jack gets to try that. ;)

Sandrine Black: *grabs stick* Ow! Not my head you git! Hmmm, the most about the slave stuff will be done through narrative flashbacks. But that's about it. I can't write physical torture very well. I'm really more of a psychological tormentor. ;)

Datiye: Naughty thoughts are always a good sign. ;)

ShadowSpirit: You'll still want to kill me. Trust me on that. ;) Ja, ne.

Sparx: This was just one of several plot bunny attacks. One actually involved Jack babysitting young Will. Thanks! *huggles*

L-sama: Is that even possible? I prefer sporks as my weapon of choice.

Hally: Please leave more than one of those 'need more' reviews (that is, after all, the reason why this isn't up at FF.net.). But thanks!

Mei Leng: I tend to update fast.

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Jack sat at his desk, watching the younger man make use of his bed. He had heard the yelling from Anamaria earlier, demanding to know where Will was. It had stopped quickly and he wondered if Gibbs had to knock her out.

Will had removed his shirt and boots, but that was it, and Jack frowned at the sight of the crossing scars that marred the young man's back. He could remember that Bootstrap had couss sss scarst alt all from fights, or from doing something really stupid. Not the cruelty used to make those.

Moving quietly, Jack knelt next to the bed, curious to see just how far asleep Will was. He rested a tentative hand on Will's bared shoulder and quickly pulled back when Will shifted.

"Go 'way, Ana."

Jack grinned at the tired voice, idly noting that Will sounded like he was pouting. He tried again, gently lg hig his hand on the bare skin. "I'm not Ana, mate."

There was a soft mutter, but Will didn't otherwise respond. Gently moving his hand back and forth, Jack thought of something. "Will?"

"...Mmm?"

"Who hurt you?"

The younger man shifted and Jack wondered if his idea would work. Then came the tired reply, "...Slavers.."

Jack had guessed as much, but to actually hear it seemed to make it worse. "How?"

"Knives...whips..." came the sleepy reply. Jack frowned, he still remembered his promise to Bootstrap, and then to be faced with the evidence of his failure; he wanted to personally tear apart whoever it was that had held the weapons.

"...Ana.."

"Eh?"

"Did..it...'cause I..helped..Ana..."

Sighing, Jack removed his hand from Will's shoulder, smiling slightly when the younger man shifted at the loss. Resting back on his haunches, Jack thought. He remembered nights awake on deck, just watching the waves. Nights when Bootstrap would join him and they'd talk, more often than not, over a bo of of rum.

He couldn't help but smile when the thought of his last conversation like that came to him. Bootstrap had actually spoken of children, more questioning why Jack didn't have any, considering his behavious in ports. Looking at Will, Jack wondered if he could have read into his friend's topic; but decided against the possibility. It had been more teasing than anything.

Quietly getting up, Jack moved back to his seat at the desk. Settling into the old r, hr, he wondered why he had never known about his friend's son, even after going to England to try to carry out his promise.

**************

"Good lad, keep your arm straight next time," Jack said, lowering his sword and moving to adjust Will's arm. The boy really was a fast learner.

It was still early, and most of the crew was still below deck. The sun had barely risen, and Jack thought it was a perfect time to start teaching Will how to handle a sword. He had to admit that the lad had a natural talent, all that was needed was for Will to be taught techniques and then getting used to the sword.

Jack raised his sword, crossing it with the one he had given Will. "Now, just work on defendin', lad."

Facing off, Jack didn't bother to slow his movements, judging Will's reaction time. Disengaging from the fight, Jack stood back, sword red.red. "Good, very good."

Will smilt tht the praise and Jack grinned. "One more go."

************

Gibbs sighed, glancing at Anamaria from his work mending one of the sails. "I don't know what yer upset over, lass. Jack'll take care o' th' lad 'til you make up."

Anamaria glared at him. "An' don't try that wit' me. I'm beyond ye scarin' me."

Crossing her arms in front of her, Anamaria frowned. "Jack shouldn't be near 'im at all."

Gibbs put down his work, clearly frustrated at the repeated behaviour. "An' what would ye like, Ana? T' be back in th' cage Jack got ye from? I saw what was happenin', an' Will wouldn't be with ye if Jack hadn't come along. Don't trust 'im if ye want, but know that 'e help ye, and the lad. He 'as a promise t' keep; Will is safer wit' 'im than anywhere else."

Anamaria was silent and Gibbs returned to work. "Instead o' poutin', ye could give me a hand."

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Eek, short and late! And did I just 'eek?' Anyway, bouts of writer's block. Got a few ideas for other fics, including a new LotR one. So, I'm working on them all at the same time. A cute one-shot PotC fic should be out soon.

I do know where this is going! I'm just having trouble getting motivated to write it down.

And I made a cute doll (one of those online things) that looks something like me! I'm so proud of myself *gushes* And I'm such a geek... But if you want to see it, just send an email (to the nimcuran_aithilin one) and I'll send the attatchment.