Another Day in a Life or Two

Title: Another Day in a Life Or Two 

Pairing: Jack/Will 

Rating: Eventual NC17 so I’ll just slap that tag on this right from the beginning. 

Disclaimer: Don’t own, just twist and turn. Cheers to Mr. Mickey M. 

Warnings: Contains homosexual activity between two men. (If you’re here, you probably knew that already,) AU, established relationship, past AWE, vast amounts of fluff, probably very OOC. 

 

Chapter One







A blond, long-haired woman appeared on the TV screen. She was smiling widely and in the studio lights you could see a small golden glint shining from her tooth jewellery. 

The sofa she was sitting on was a delicate pink and the blue screen behind the set reflected a beautiful manufactured Caribbean beach to the audiences at home. 



“Good morning world, and welcome to our show, ‘Good Morning World’” 

The voice was chirping, enthusiastic, and it became even more so with the next line. 



“Today we have the pleasure to meet one of the most extraordinary men to have ever walked the Earth. Some compare him to Jesus, and some regard him being spawned by the Devil himself.” 

She stared straight into the camera, reading her lines from the teleprompter so she didn’t have to struggle with her words. Like she would anyway. 

“You all know who I’m talking about…Without further introduction, I present to you, today, exclusively at Good Morning World, The Captain of the Flying Dutchman, the Sailor of the Final Rest, the First Mate of Sanctity…Mister William Turner!” 

The woman made the effort to smile even more widely as she turned to welcome her guest. She didn’t fidget. She’d been trained to know better.

There he was. The legendary man, the freak of nature that was supposed to be just a tale, a storyline in a movie trilogy that left people begging for a fourth one. Right there, in front of eight cameras and under the increasingly hot spotlights of the studio.

Will walked over to the woman and shook her hand politely before sitting down beside her.

His shirt was strangling him and his face felt awkwardly masked with all the make-up they had insisted he had to wear. 

He was disoriented by the traffic he had been whisked through and by the hordes of people who were strangers to him. 



Feeling his armpits growing sweaty he was thankful for the sports coat he had on. At least he wouldn’t have to be embarrassed by the sweat stains.

“Mr. Turner, thank you for agreeing to take part in our show, I believe no one thought it possible!”

The woman was glowing with the absolute joy of having this moment. 

Most of it was feigned, since she hadn’t been star struck in years, and she would have preferred Orlando Bloom for the interview. This was just for good ratings.

“Thank you for having me. At first I didn’t know what to think of the opportunity to be here today.”

In all truth Will still didn’t know what the hell he was doing there. Or how it was even made happen. Or how he had been persuaded to do this in the first place since his first, second and third reaction to the invitation had been a definite ‘No!’. 

“Now, Mr. Turner, as you probably know, we have three major blockbusters telling your story. Have you seen the movies yourself?”

“Yes, yes I have. Very…entertaining. And my…friend was absolutely thrilled with them too.”

Honestly, he didn’t know what more to say. Even with the preparation he had done for this, Will hadn’t gotten the questions in advance, so the preparation was only to help him try to stay calm with what ever questions might be thrown at him. 

He was still baffled as to how the movies had even come into existence, with such accuracy and detail, and basically he didn’t know what to make of them. So he was concentrating on not pressing his hands into such tight fists. 

The interviewer leaned forward to create a sense of eager curiosity, trying to erase the silent moment that had grown too long. This guy didn’t seem to be the talkative type.

“According to the questions posted on our website, the world is dying to know…How much of the movies is really true?” 

Will cleared his throat a bit to avoid a hasty answer.

“Actually, most of it.” 

He hesitated, wondering if he should continue with the truth and decided to stay true to his nature. “The only big flaw that I can point out is that I never did get married.”

This could only go in one direction now, and it was the wrong one. Still Will opened his mouth to continue, “But I can understand how the film-makers felt it necessary to have such romance in the movie. Otherwise it would have probably been too…disturbing…for the audience.”

Will tried smiling slightly along with his answer. He hoped it didn’t look as fake as it felt. 

The interviewer was a bit confused. She hadn’t expected that and was checking the teleprompter for help. The next question in line was ’How did Mrs. Turner cope with the long-distance-relationship?’ but that was hardly an issue now.

She looked over to the director and saw him frantically browsing through the script to the next question not referring to Elisabeth. 

For the moment, she’d just have to wing it. 

“You didn’t get married? You did rescue Elisabeth from certain death more than once, though, didn’t you?” 

This was seriously annoying her. She’d rip the people up who were supposed to check things like this. 

“Yes, yes I did, on several occasions actually. She was a dear friend, even if it wasn’t like it has been portrayed. We went through a lot together.”

Will noticed the faint nervousness of the interviewer and tried to ease it for her. After all, it wasn’t her fault he was there. 

“And I might add that we were in fact due to be married, but, as it was said in the movie itself, fate intervened.”

The teleprompter scrolled to the next appropriate question.

“What about Jack Sparrow?” 

The interviewer was praying that the backround workers hadn’t fucked this one up. 

“There are records showing that he was hanged when the town of Tortuga was cleared from illegalities by the Royal Navy. Can you confirm that?” 

Will’s lips curled to a reminiscent smile.

“Captain Jack Sparrow.” 

Jack had always been insistent on being referred to correctly by unacquainted people. 

“I’m familiar with that story, yes, but I cannot confirm it.” 

His nervousness lessened a bit now that he was out of the more disturbing territory. Apparently there weren’t going to be more questions about his love life. 

“You see, there was a man hung that went by the name of Jack Sparrow, but it was later discovered that there were numerous pirates and other miscreants impersonating him. Riding on his reputation, as it were. In fact at least four Jack Sparrows were hanged back in those days.”

The former glow of excitement in the woman’s appearance had turned to one of well hidden annoyance. Someone would pay for this shit. This farce of an interview did not make good television.

“So what did happen to him? Did you have any contact with him later in his life?” 

Thankfully Will had anticipated this, or at least something similar, so he didn’t blush much.

He did, however, have to lower his gaze to his hands to avoid eye contact with the woman. 

“He…erm…he continued being the last pirate threat in the Caribbean for several years before disappearing from the world. No one knows exactly what became of him.“ 

Well, at least he didn’t have to outright lie. Now he could look into to the woman’s eyes again. 

“And did you meet him during those years?”

Not only was the backround check a mess, this man was not very entertaining. She tried milking something interesting from him, but the rigid form didn’t promise much. 

“I did meet him. Many times actually.”

If only he could just leave now. 

The woman leaned forward with her voice projecting an almost genuinely interested tone again.This could be good.

“Were there any more adventures with the swashbuckling pirate?” 

Will could swear the grinding of the gears in his brain as he tried to think of something plausible to tell the world were making an audible noise.

“Well, if watching him drowning himself in a bottle of rum with an ale chaser can be called an adventure…Nothing worth mentioning, really. More like the type of conversations you have with a friend you don’t really know, and meet after a long time. Talk about weather and such, you know how it is.” 

Good God. He’d just said something like that and didn’t die from shame? Practise apparently did make perfect. 

The interviewer sighed inwardly. No prizes from this one then.

“And what about your duty on the Flying Dutchman? Can you tell us something about that?” 

Secretly, she was hoping for some gore details. It would be something at the least. 

“Well, to be honest, these days it’s quite boring really.”

This earned Will a small polite chuckle from the woman. 

“People aren’t dying at sea anymore, not like they used to, so business is kind of slow, so to speak.”

The interviewer decided to push it, totally ignoring the script.

“Tell us, Will Turner, what has been the single most devastating incident in your soul-ferrying career?” 

Will’s fairly amused smile dropped to a serious stare and the woman knew she’d hit something.

Will couldn’t believe the people in this world. 

He tried to remind himself of the cold fact that people just had no idea, no real comprehension of the work he had done and was still doing, when needed, but the question was too casual even with that.

“The Titanic.” He would not elaborate. These people knew about it, had seen the overly romanticised movie about it, so they were free to use their imagination. 

“And the Estonia.” Too many children… 

It was always hard with the souls that had not even thought about dying at the sea. They were so unprepared and afraid. 

Pleased with the faint glint of tears forming in Will’s eyes and noticing the camera panning to it, and the director giving her the thumbs up, the woman shifted gear again and acquired a sympathetic tone to her voice.

“I’m sorry. It must be difficult for you…You don’t have to talk about it, I think the world knows what you’re saying.” 

For a brief moment she calculated if she should put her hand on the man’s shoulder to emphasize her words, but decided to stick with a sad smile. For some reason she knew Will would see right through her if she touched him. 

Now she had made the perfect opportunity to wring even a tiny drop of drama into the play. 

“What happened to your father?” 

At the change in Will after the question, the interviewer felt like slapping herself. Twice. 

The weirdo was smiling widely and any glint of the precious tears was gone instantly. 

“My father. Bill Turner.”

Will was warmed by the memory of his passing. It had been a beautiful evening, and the evening before had definitely been a worthy farewell for a pirate. 

“He passed on nearly two hundred years ago.” 

Will’s smile turned even wider and happier. 

“He had started to wish he could maybe see my mother again, so he wanted to go and try to find her. “ 

He actually laughed quietly at the memory. 

“After making sure I would be fine without him, of course.”

If the thought of never getting her own show hadn’t kept her in tight control of her actions, the interviewer would have just let her jaw drop to the floor with her eyes wide. What sort of a freak laughs at his own father’s death? Seriously.

“We have time for one more question. This one was amongst the most asked questions sent to our website, so here it goes.” 

She straightened her back to underline the question. 

“People want to know: What do you do with your free time, since you can’t go on land, and how do you live on a ship from day in and day out?” 

Many answers surged through Will’s mind instantly, and not one of them agreed with his sense of propriety. He needed to get out of here, he obviously was too nervous and too much of a stranger to these surroundings to have those thoughts answering that question.

Finally, the more suitable answers came around. 

“I read a lot. And we have the modern technology having commandeered the old ship, so there’s the internet, satellite television, everything you would find in a modern house, which keeps me occupied if there’s nothing more interesting to do.” 

In the rapidly changing world, the constant flow of new wonders brought to him was scearing him more than bringing him closer to the society. 

In a life where time had lost its meaning a long time ago, the turning and twisting of the world was hard for a man who loved stability. Even given the course and company his life had taken early on. Usually he was rather trying to ignore it all.

Will shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “It’s not very different from what I imagine living in a house, on land, would be. Our sleeping quarters are big enough to have room for life other than being constantly reminded of my fate.” 

He paused to think if he slipped out something he shouldn’t have? Concentrating wasn’t easy with the nervousness creeping back and forth on his neck like some huge spider. 

“My life isn’t really that different from anyone else’s, it’s just... longer. And I get to see more places than most others.” 

And he had what most others, sadly, did not. 

The woman wasn’t exactly amazed by the boring answer. She turned to look into the camera and arranged the glow and the enthusiastic smile back on her face.

“Unfortunately we’ve run out of time for our interview with Mr. Turner, the captain of the Flying Dutchman. Thank you for watching. We will be right back after these messages from our sponsors.” 

The cameras panned to Will once more before fading to commercials. 

With a sign from the director that it was over, Will sighed with relief and rose to his feet. 

Smiling apologetically, he extended his hand to the woman to shake hers for goodbye.

“I’m sorry, I’ve never done anything like this before. I’m terribly sorry for the inconvenience.”

The woman shook Will’s hand and found some sincerity in herself.

“That’s ok. At least you were here, and that drew a larger amount of people more in front of their televisions than the usual morning. You did well.”

Will could swear that for a second the hand he was still holding turned into a man’s hand and the cold undertone in the voice sent chills down his spine. 



He realized that through the whole interview, the woman’s behaviour was like talking with Beckett had been such a long time ago. Never after that had Will met someone as soulless as he had been. Until now. Even with the man dead, his spirit definitely lived on.