Fathoms Below: Captain Jack Sparrow

Chapter 13: On to new adventures

The sun was high, blazing down upon us as we sailed onto new horizons. We had avoided Norrington and his men thus far, with no signs of them approaching. The winds blew in our favour and we seemed to propel through the seas quickly.

Jack hadn't spoken to me since he left the cabin this morning and he was uncharacteristically quiet for most of the day, only piping up to call orders out to the men, which were then instantly relayed by Mr Gibbs.

I had been redoing and securing the ropes on deck for most of the day when Mr Gibbs approached me, "fine ropes Miss Swann, I'm impressed."

"Thank you Mr Gibbs, but please just call me Lily," I smiled up at him from my place on the port side.
He nodded with a warm smile, "Aye lass. Jack wants you at the helm, captain's orders."
"Aye Mr Gibbs," I nodded, walking towards the wheel, my heart thumping in anticipation of whether Jack would acknowledge me or not.

Jack had been at the helm for hours, Mr Cotton assisting him when needed. As I approached the helm from the back of the ship, I saw Jack pull out his compass, frowning at it until he looked up at me, apparently noticing my approach. He snapped the compass shut and muttered something I couldn't make out to Mr Cotton, who nodded before walking away. I smiled, nodding at Mr Cotton as we replaced one another, he smiled back, bowing his head in reply.

"Captain?" I asked, finally approaching him at the helm.
"Jack," he corrected, still looking out across the sea as he corrected me- he always preferred me to just call him by his name.
"Sparrow," I finished, trying to goad him. He turned around to look at me with a look of amused disbelief and I shrugged lightly, a smile tugging at my face. He let out a loud laugh and threw his arm around my shoulder, pulling me closer to him. I grabbed onto my hat as it tipped slightly, banging against Jack's shoulder and he turned to me with a gentle smirk.

"We still on course Jack?" I saw him frown briefly before it faded away.
"Aye love," he gave me a little squeeze on my shoulder and we stood there in silence for a few moments.
Mr Cotton then returned, his parrot perched happily on his shoulders, instantly reaching to grab the wheel from Jack.

Jack dropped his arm from around my shoulders, placing it on his chosen spot on my waist before pulling me away from the helm, directly towards the cabin we shared.

We stepped in and I stood by the door, waiting for instructions from Jack. He turned facing to me as he threw off his jacket and effects, throwing them into his desk.
"Rest love, you and I are taking over the night watch," he said pulling off his boots.
"Okay Jack," I replied, sitting down on the bed to remove my hat. I reached down to slide off my boots before unlacing the front of my dress a little, just to make it more comfortable.

I looked up towards him, now seated in his chair at the desk. I saw him wince slightly as he grabbed the drawer handle with his bandaged hand and it occurred to me that I hadn't seen him change the bandage recently.

I stood up from the bed, padding across the floor on my bare feet and appeared before Jack. When he looked up his eyes looked almost vulnerable, without his usual cocky look.

"Let me look at your hand Jack," I said softly, reaching out to accept his bandages hand.
"S'nothing love, it be half healed by now," he shrugged dismissively, but I reached down and pulled his hand to me regardless.
I knelt down, pulling his hand into my lap and untied the bandage I'd placed there at Isla de Muerta. I pulled it off, discarding the makeshift bandage and saw the wound was red but not unhappily so. I looked up on his desk and saw the rum bottle still had a drizzle left in.
I reached out for it, uncapping the cork and poured a tiny bit onto his cut. He didn't wince as I expected him to and I continued cleaning the gash on his palm. I reached down, ripping the lace covered edge of my underdress and bandaged Jack's hand back up, now with a fresh wrap.

I looked up at his face again and he looked down at me with an unreadable expression. He smiled, almost shyly, "Thank you." The fact that he didn't use my name or one of his pet names for me made it all the more personal, hearing the honesty in his voice.

I smiled back at him, "you're welcome Jack." He held out his hand for me and pulled me up. He surprised me by standing up with me, forcing us to stand incredibly close to each other, his hand still grabbing mine.

"Anything else you want to look at nurse Swann?" Jack smirked with a wink. I scoffed and pushed his shoulder throwing him off balance a moment as I was able to slip away. "Suit yourself," I heard him mutter and I hide my smile as his obscene nature.

"Do you want the bed?" I asked him, before I got comfy. He looked up at me, wanting to say something cocky I could tell, but he instead just replied, "no love."

I lay down in the bed, attempting to get comfy as Jack reached for another bottle of rum that he had beside the desk.

A while had passed as I lay in the bed, my eyes closed but sleep evaded me. I could hear the occasional scribble of Jack's quill on the parchment and the occasional tap of the rum bottle being placed back on the desk.

"Jack," I said softly, opening my eyes. He replied with a "hmm" and I finally sat up. Better now than never.

"How does your compass work?" He turned around to me with a smirk and stood up, swaying over to me before gesturing for me to move up on the bed with a shooing motion.

"Can't work it out eh?" He seated himself beside me and pulled me closer to him, making me lean into his chest. I shook my head no.

"Classified Information love. Unless you be willing to exchange such valuable information in return." I sighed, knowing there was nothing I could offer him to 'unlock' this information from him.
"Tell me a tale then Jack."
I knew he would go for this. He kicked off his boots and sprawled out his legs on the bed, keeping me firmly against his chest as he told me a story of the seas, his hand's flailing with his exaggerated gestures and his vocabulary spewing nonsensical words at times.
Sleep eventually found us as Jack told his story, prompting him to continue the story the next day as we again took over the night watch, something that would become a regular occurrence for us.