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veronica_richSee Part 1 for disclaimers, etc.
Early evening was upon the ship – and the crew none the wiser for their captain’s and inventory officer’s absence, apparently – when Jack, Will, and Elizabeth were the only ones left huddled near the forge fire, having given up closer spots earlier to let other crewmembers dry out.
“Can’t believe nobody knew we were gone.” Elizabeth shook her head.
“Because we weren’t,” Jack explained. He looked over his blunt nails as he spoke, instead of sideways at her. “Time skip. It’s in all the tales about the Triangle.” He glanced up at Will, seated on the edge of his pallet to face them both.
Elizabeth straightened. “The Bermuda Triangle? No – that wasn’t-“ She looked to Will to back her up, but he said nothing, wisely keeping his eyes trained between the two of them. “That’s not possible.”
“Lots of things aren’t possible,” Jack noted with the blithe knowledge of age, “and they keep happenin’ every day.”
“Will?”
“Hmm?” Jack suspected he was faking being jarred out of a trance. It was obvious he’d never shared his boyhood ship story with his best friend. “What’s that, now?”
“Do you believe this Bermuda Triangle hypothesis?”
He said nothing for a moment, scratching at stubble on his jaw. “I don’t know,” he finally conceded. “There’re things I would never have believed that we’ve all lived through. You were there.” Elizabeth opened her mouth to answer, seemed to think better, and closed it. “How is this any more fanciful than undead pirates?”
Jack picked at one tattered nail. “Maybe th’ lady’s simply uncomfortable with believin’ in anything crazy, unbalanced Sparrow says is possible,” he posited mildly.
He could have set a clock by her sigh. “Jack …”
Disconcertingly, at the same moment, Will glanced at him. “Jack …”
He arched a brow at each of them. “Now that we’ve established me name for th’ rats on board …” He trailed off, and the three of them lapsed into contemplative silence.
“Well, then how’d just the three of us get there?” Elizabeth wanted to know.
It was a fair question, and one Jack had been trying to answer all afternoon. Until her appearance, he’d believed the situation unique to something between himself and Will. The fact she’d been dragged into things by some supposed higher force shook some of his confidence in whether Will’s heart had really loosed its hold to her after all.
“This.” Will held out his smudged left hand, still bearing beneath the dirt the three-inch scar he’d cut into his own palm more than two years earlier. “Nobody else on Pearl has this.”
It was brilliant in its simplicity – something easy to put a curse upon as a “call.” And Jack had no doubt whatever could raise the dead or an apparition could tie a simple spell to the touch of one stone blade, to blood itself.
“But why?” Elizabeth wanted to know. “I can understand Barbossa – but who was the Spaniard?”
This time, it was Jack who spoke. “His matelot.” Will’s expression was neither scolding nor encouraging him to explain out loud; after all, open secrets were open for a reason. “Th’ two of us were responsible for their deaths, for ultimately takin’ the two of them from one another. And so-“ He looked sideways at Elizabeth. “They were tryin’ to repay the favor on Will and myself.”
Understanding dawned, and she lifted her head in a half-nod. “I see.”
Again, silence took over. Jack kept his eyes unfocused on Elizabeth, simply not moving his head, while she looked to Will. The sad distance he recognized in her expression was explained when he followed her eyes and found Will’s gaze settled on him. He blinked, but was too tired to pretend for Elizabeth’s sake that he couldn’t spend the night staring into those warm, amber-brown eyes.
Presently, she stood, yawning and stretching. “I’m exhausted,” she explained, shooing Will down when he rose out of gentlemanly habit. “I’m going to turn in, maybe get through that novel I started earlier this afternoon.”
Jack turned on the bench to watch her leave, wondering how difficult it was for her to simply walk away. He was brought back around by a touch to his knee, and once again faced Will, who was reaching on either side of him to pull the bench closer. The move put Will’s knees between his, until he had Jack close enough to get hands behind his lower back and pull him onto his lap, straddling his hips. “Think you ran her off,” Jack pointed out, balancing his hands on Will’s shoulders.
“I know.” He looked a little reflective, but his eyes cleared as he tilted his mouth up to catch Jack’s, nipping it briefly before pulling back. Jack blinked, then grinned. That seemed to be Will’s cue to do it again. The third time, Jack followed before he could get away, keeping their lips in contact. Their kiss was punctuated by small chuckles and sighs, even as Will rubbed the tip of his nose against the side of Jack’s.
Even tired, Jack wouldn’t have been averse to a little slap-and-tickle; as it was, Will did no more than to turn sideways and roll Jack to the pallet, still kissing him. He slid one knee between Jack’s thighs and held him close, one hand low on his hip, and Jack drowned in the possessive touch. “You are mine,” Will whispered low in the back of his throat.
“Maybe I’d just rather be me own,” he teased.
Will shook his head, curls brushing Jack’s forehead. “Tough luck, that.”
*****
Jack carefully balanced one of the cups of hot tea in the crook of his arm as he worked open the door of their cabin, catching it before the liquid could slosh over and pushing it shut behind him with a bare foot. Will was still sleeping, limbs askew atop the sheets. It was breezy on deck, but a little close in the cabin, despite the open porthole.
Setting the blacksmith’s cup on the little table by his side of the bed, Jack climbed carefully onto the mattress and crossed his legs, blowing steam off his own cup of brandy-kissed tea. He could’ve brought biscuits and jam as well, but since the ship was mostly empty, he figured Will would want to clean up and head to the galley rather than eating in here when he awoke.
He glanced to the sleeping man, who’d rolled to his side away from Jack when the captain sat down. Despite the response, Jack had no doubt Will was actually asleep – given his druthers, the fellow preferred late mornings, whereas Jack had been conditioned to rise early and still only broke tradition now and again to laze with Will. He wondered if Will missed Elizabeth, who’d gone ashore the previous afternoon with a small rowing party from Pearl that Jack had designated to escort her to the inn where she could bathe and rest before riding into London today.
Though the two young people had never been affianced, Jack held no illusions about their regard for one another. They’d spent many free hours together on the remainder of Pearl’s voyage to England talking, or with Will giving her fencing lessons or her (in a memorable, beautifully awkward moment Jack had walked in on and would not be letting Will forget anytime soon) showing a good-natured Will how to make a small embroidery while they sat in the captain’s cabin. As soon as she’d gone yesterday, Jack had taken rare initiative to change his bedding and inspect the cabin by himself for any traces of the girl before he and Will retired for the night. Though he knew he’d “won,” Jack sometimes wondered exactly what that meant, which in turn would surprise him that he was considering the long-term with Will – and hoping the blacksmith was doing the same with his captain.
Some’d say jealousy serves me right, wouldn’t they? he thought at the long-dead Bill Turner. Perhaps including you. But remember, sir, you’re in no position to judge, seeing as you lived right in the middle of this life yourself long before Will was a spark in your eye. Jack took a quick drink of tea despite its heat, chastising himself for remembering how much older he was than his partner. They’d discussed it, Will said he didn’t care, and that should be it. Lord knew society encouraged the mating of barely-developed girls to men old enough to rival their grandfathers; in that sort of company, Jack reasoned he shouldn’t feel awkward for swiving a man of twenty-one no matter how closely he was looking at forty.
Thoughts of girls put him in mind of Ivy, and he smiled, feeling a sudden restlessness. His temporary letter meant he could visit her as early as tomorrow, in his own boots, with impunity, and check up on David’s progress in the meantime.
He recalled the room he and Will had rented all those months ago, how he’d slept in a separate bed wanting to close the space between himself and the blacksmith. That gulf was no more; the rest, like any ocean Captain Sparrow had ever encountered, was possible to cross, as certainly as Jack was needle to Will’s north.
With a burst of cheer, the pirate transferred his mug to his left hand and rested the other on Will’s hip. “C’mon, mate,” he said aloud, hearing the man stir to consciousness.
“Mhmh?” Will yawned noisily and shifted enough to look back over his shoulder, pushing hair out of his eyes. “Where?”
Jack’s hand caught the man’s curls at his temple, and Will’s fingers still tangled in them. “Things to do, people to find. Time’s wastin’, love.”
FINIS
Early evening was upon the ship – and the crew none the wiser for their captain’s and inventory officer’s absence, apparently – when Jack, Will, and Elizabeth were the only ones left huddled near the forge fire, having given up closer spots earlier to let other crewmembers dry out.
“Can’t believe nobody knew we were gone.” Elizabeth shook her head.
“Because we weren’t,” Jack explained. He looked over his blunt nails as he spoke, instead of sideways at her. “Time skip. It’s in all the tales about the Triangle.” He glanced up at Will, seated on the edge of his pallet to face them both.
Elizabeth straightened. “The Bermuda Triangle? No – that wasn’t-“ She looked to Will to back her up, but he said nothing, wisely keeping his eyes trained between the two of them. “That’s not possible.”
“Lots of things aren’t possible,” Jack noted with the blithe knowledge of age, “and they keep happenin’ every day.”
“Will?”
“Hmm?” Jack suspected he was faking being jarred out of a trance. It was obvious he’d never shared his boyhood ship story with his best friend. “What’s that, now?”
“Do you believe this Bermuda Triangle hypothesis?”
He said nothing for a moment, scratching at stubble on his jaw. “I don’t know,” he finally conceded. “There’re things I would never have believed that we’ve all lived through. You were there.” Elizabeth opened her mouth to answer, seemed to think better, and closed it. “How is this any more fanciful than undead pirates?”
Jack picked at one tattered nail. “Maybe th’ lady’s simply uncomfortable with believin’ in anything crazy, unbalanced Sparrow says is possible,” he posited mildly.
He could have set a clock by her sigh. “Jack …”
Disconcertingly, at the same moment, Will glanced at him. “Jack …”
He arched a brow at each of them. “Now that we’ve established me name for th’ rats on board …” He trailed off, and the three of them lapsed into contemplative silence.
“Well, then how’d just the three of us get there?” Elizabeth wanted to know.
It was a fair question, and one Jack had been trying to answer all afternoon. Until her appearance, he’d believed the situation unique to something between himself and Will. The fact she’d been dragged into things by some supposed higher force shook some of his confidence in whether Will’s heart had really loosed its hold to her after all.
“This.” Will held out his smudged left hand, still bearing beneath the dirt the three-inch scar he’d cut into his own palm more than two years earlier. “Nobody else on Pearl has this.”
It was brilliant in its simplicity – something easy to put a curse upon as a “call.” And Jack had no doubt whatever could raise the dead or an apparition could tie a simple spell to the touch of one stone blade, to blood itself.
“But why?” Elizabeth wanted to know. “I can understand Barbossa – but who was the Spaniard?”
This time, it was Jack who spoke. “His matelot.” Will’s expression was neither scolding nor encouraging him to explain out loud; after all, open secrets were open for a reason. “Th’ two of us were responsible for their deaths, for ultimately takin’ the two of them from one another. And so-“ He looked sideways at Elizabeth. “They were tryin’ to repay the favor on Will and myself.”
Understanding dawned, and she lifted her head in a half-nod. “I see.”
Again, silence took over. Jack kept his eyes unfocused on Elizabeth, simply not moving his head, while she looked to Will. The sad distance he recognized in her expression was explained when he followed her eyes and found Will’s gaze settled on him. He blinked, but was too tired to pretend for Elizabeth’s sake that he couldn’t spend the night staring into those warm, amber-brown eyes.
Presently, she stood, yawning and stretching. “I’m exhausted,” she explained, shooing Will down when he rose out of gentlemanly habit. “I’m going to turn in, maybe get through that novel I started earlier this afternoon.”
Jack turned on the bench to watch her leave, wondering how difficult it was for her to simply walk away. He was brought back around by a touch to his knee, and once again faced Will, who was reaching on either side of him to pull the bench closer. The move put Will’s knees between his, until he had Jack close enough to get hands behind his lower back and pull him onto his lap, straddling his hips. “Think you ran her off,” Jack pointed out, balancing his hands on Will’s shoulders.
“I know.” He looked a little reflective, but his eyes cleared as he tilted his mouth up to catch Jack’s, nipping it briefly before pulling back. Jack blinked, then grinned. That seemed to be Will’s cue to do it again. The third time, Jack followed before he could get away, keeping their lips in contact. Their kiss was punctuated by small chuckles and sighs, even as Will rubbed the tip of his nose against the side of Jack’s.
Even tired, Jack wouldn’t have been averse to a little slap-and-tickle; as it was, Will did no more than to turn sideways and roll Jack to the pallet, still kissing him. He slid one knee between Jack’s thighs and held him close, one hand low on his hip, and Jack drowned in the possessive touch. “You are mine,” Will whispered low in the back of his throat.
“Maybe I’d just rather be me own,” he teased.
Will shook his head, curls brushing Jack’s forehead. “Tough luck, that.”
*****
Jack carefully balanced one of the cups of hot tea in the crook of his arm as he worked open the door of their cabin, catching it before the liquid could slosh over and pushing it shut behind him with a bare foot. Will was still sleeping, limbs askew atop the sheets. It was breezy on deck, but a little close in the cabin, despite the open porthole.
Setting the blacksmith’s cup on the little table by his side of the bed, Jack climbed carefully onto the mattress and crossed his legs, blowing steam off his own cup of brandy-kissed tea. He could’ve brought biscuits and jam as well, but since the ship was mostly empty, he figured Will would want to clean up and head to the galley rather than eating in here when he awoke.
He glanced to the sleeping man, who’d rolled to his side away from Jack when the captain sat down. Despite the response, Jack had no doubt Will was actually asleep – given his druthers, the fellow preferred late mornings, whereas Jack had been conditioned to rise early and still only broke tradition now and again to laze with Will. He wondered if Will missed Elizabeth, who’d gone ashore the previous afternoon with a small rowing party from Pearl that Jack had designated to escort her to the inn where she could bathe and rest before riding into London today.
Though the two young people had never been affianced, Jack held no illusions about their regard for one another. They’d spent many free hours together on the remainder of Pearl’s voyage to England talking, or with Will giving her fencing lessons or her (in a memorable, beautifully awkward moment Jack had walked in on and would not be letting Will forget anytime soon) showing a good-natured Will how to make a small embroidery while they sat in the captain’s cabin. As soon as she’d gone yesterday, Jack had taken rare initiative to change his bedding and inspect the cabin by himself for any traces of the girl before he and Will retired for the night. Though he knew he’d “won,” Jack sometimes wondered exactly what that meant, which in turn would surprise him that he was considering the long-term with Will – and hoping the blacksmith was doing the same with his captain.
Some’d say jealousy serves me right, wouldn’t they? he thought at the long-dead Bill Turner. Perhaps including you. But remember, sir, you’re in no position to judge, seeing as you lived right in the middle of this life yourself long before Will was a spark in your eye. Jack took a quick drink of tea despite its heat, chastising himself for remembering how much older he was than his partner. They’d discussed it, Will said he didn’t care, and that should be it. Lord knew society encouraged the mating of barely-developed girls to men old enough to rival their grandfathers; in that sort of company, Jack reasoned he shouldn’t feel awkward for swiving a man of twenty-one no matter how closely he was looking at forty.
Thoughts of girls put him in mind of Ivy, and he smiled, feeling a sudden restlessness. His temporary letter meant he could visit her as early as tomorrow, in his own boots, with impunity, and check up on David’s progress in the meantime.
He recalled the room he and Will had rented all those months ago, how he’d slept in a separate bed wanting to close the space between himself and the blacksmith. That gulf was no more; the rest, like any ocean Captain Sparrow had ever encountered, was possible to cross, as certainly as Jack was needle to Will’s north.
With a burst of cheer, the pirate transferred his mug to his left hand and rested the other on Will’s hip. “C’mon, mate,” he said aloud, hearing the man stir to consciousness.
“Mhmh?” Will yawned noisily and shifted enough to look back over his shoulder, pushing hair out of his eyes. “Where?”
Jack’s hand caught the man’s curls at his temple, and Will’s fingers still tangled in them. “Things to do, people to find. Time’s wastin’, love.”
FINIS
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no subject
Date: 2006-03-26 08:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-27 01:42 am (UTC)Thanks for the feedback on the adventure part; I'm still not sure about it, but I'm happy someone liked it. (Now go finish your story ...)
no subject
Date: 2006-03-26 11:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-27 01:40 am (UTC)Thanks for reading and enjoying; I liked writing it hopefully as much as you enjoyed reading it.
no subject
Date: 2006-03-27 01:16 am (UTC)Brilliant dialog and characterization! I loved all the intereactions between Jack and Will, and the flaws/strenghts you gave them. Great job!
no subject
Date: 2006-03-27 01:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-27 03:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-29 07:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-27 04:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-27 01:57 pm (UTC)Thanks for reading yet another part. It took forever to write the whole damn thing, much longer than it should have. LOL
no subject
Date: 2006-03-28 03:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-27 09:16 pm (UTC)That is how I read this final installment...getting to the end and seeing a prompt to go to the next...I got all excited. (sad, I know...maybe I need a life)Well done. 8 parts. Like dangling candy~
You wrote a wonderful story. I did not want it to end.
Eliza~
no subject
Date: 2006-03-28 03:16 am (UTC)I'm thinking of doing one of those DVD-extras things, though I'm sure this series is too long for it, honestly ...
no subject
Date: 2006-03-28 08:27 am (UTC)And now I'm all warm and fuzzy on Jack/Will lurve! Thank you!
no subject
Date: 2006-03-29 02:07 am (UTC)I'm sent my website maintainer updated versions of the first 8 parts - just errors that needed corrected, etc. She hasn't gotten them up yet, but hopefully if you wait a week or so, perhaps they'll be up for re-reading ...
no subject
Date: 2006-03-29 06:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-30 11:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-30 11:12 am (UTC)You've finally finished this wonderful J/W fic of yours,...*smooch*...i really adored this fic, your characterization of both Jack and Will totally rockZZZZZ,...*wink*...
I hope to read more J/W fic of yours in this community in the near future,...*hugs*...
no subject
Date: 2006-03-30 11:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-31 09:03 pm (UTC)I'm sad because it's over. But I can come back and read it whenever I want, all of it, and not have to worry about the next bit coming out sometime later.
This is at the top of my list for fanfic. I saved it, all 300-something pages, onto my flash drive. I do want to print it out at some point, because this is a novel I want to have around for a while.
Amazing. Absolutely amazing. I can't wait to see what you come up with next.
no subject
Date: 2006-04-01 10:37 pm (UTC)I've made some changes to the first 8 stories, just here and there, nothing major - better vocabulary, Jack's intonations, little things. I'll post the main link again when my webmaster gets back to me that the replacements have been posted ...
no subject
Date: 2006-04-01 09:29 pm (UTC)I finally found the time to read it today. So wonderful. I wish it could go on and on! :D Nah we won't make you do that. What was this thing like a good 300 pages? Loved every word.
no subject
Date: 2006-04-01 10:43 pm (UTC)As for numbers ... let's see ... I don't double-space, I just put a line between paragraphs, so using that, the whole thing would be about ... *adds* ... *counts* ... Entirely Too Long for fanfic!
Heh. It's actually about 365 pages, and almost 164,000 words. DAMN.
no subject
Date: 2006-04-02 01:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-05 02:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-05 10:17 pm (UTC)It was beautiful, love. Absolutely beautiful. And I know I said it when I was test reading it, but my GOD... Jack jumping between Barbossa and Will, and Will moving just as quickly to get between Jack and Elias... Jack actually picturing Will forced to service either of them, Elias taunting Jack until Will killed him...
Here are Julie-Rae's buttons. Here is Veronica pushing Julie-Rae's buttons.
God, I adore you.
And thank you SO much for mentioning my name in your "thank you"s. You didn't have to do that. I never said anything that wasn't true. And I can't help it if I'm a big fan of your work. You are such a talented author, and you have such a perfect grasp on the characters. You amaze me, love. You always have. And I cannot wait until your next endeavor.
Love, Always,
Julie-Rae
no subject
Date: 2006-04-09 01:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-08 03:57 pm (UTC)As for the actual part- superb! The relationship between Jack and Will has continued with that same solid level of realism that you've brought up through the entire series. There's no silly hearts and flowers but the love is incredibly tangible and real, and incredibly special for that.
A wonderful ending for a wonderful series.
I feel I'd be on a losing streak to ask for a sequel, but any chance of some missing scenes perhaps?
no subject
Date: 2006-04-09 01:47 am (UTC)No sequel! AIIEEE! What do you have in mind for missing scenes (like, is there one you want to see, particularly)?
no subject
Date: 2006-06-05 08:08 am (UTC)I feel a little bereft, knowing that at long last, the Contradictions series is over. At the same time, there's something so wonderful and satisfying about seeing the conclusion. As always, I'm completely blown away and enamored of the respect and affection with with you treat the characters--you're a gem of an author in this fandom. Am absolutely convinced that you should be pitching Bruckheimer a script for POTC4.
I do wish there was something remotely coherent that I could say after years of following this remarkable series but... really, just thank you for writing it, for staying with the fandom and keeping it chugging along (I know you are!!) and especially for seeing Contradictions through to the end, for us to all enjoy. Thank you.
As an aside: Jack and Will sharing biscuits and jam in bed. God, how cute is that ^_____^
no subject
Date: 2006-06-07 02:57 am (UTC)It's taken forever to write. I look back at the earliest chapters and think *Who wrote that?* There are entire passages I don't remember coming up with, but unless there's a ghost here who can type, I guess it was me. LOL
I'm surprised there are a handful of people who've stuck with reading it for almost three years. THAT is loyalty. So, thanks - and I await any artwork happily!
no subject
Date: 2006-06-07 03:31 am (UTC)I await any artwork happily!
*grins deviously* HEE~~~ (Psst, start combing your flist sometime Thursday ....)