Jack froze, staring at Catherine.
"Now, Jack, tell me what is going on now!" She demanded, taking a step closer to her. Fear and anxiety filled up her abdomen, causing an unsettling sickness about to rise up to her throat. Jack couldn't die. He couldn't.
Saying nothing, he grabbed her by the hand and pulling her, despite being still in her small robe, across the cellar into a panicked run. Orders were shouted below deck from the frantic pirate, dragging his wife past the sleeping crewmen. Men began falling out of their hammocks. They jumped to their feet, stumbling to get the ship prepared to set sail despite it being so late in the evening.
Up the steps and on to the deck, Jack still kept his black spot free hand within Catherine's cleaner hand. Orders were still being screamed at from the pirate, taking her entirely by surprise. She had never seen him behaving like this. It was making Jack look completely insane, almost making Catherine want to step back from beside him.
Almost.
Jack pulled her around the mast, letting go of her hand to begin wrapping free from that dangled around his hand.
"Do we have a heading?" Mr. Gibbs questioned.
The captain yelped startled, jumping around to face him. "Aah! Ooh. Run! Land!" He dipped down to hide behind the mast, poking his head around the side.
"Which port?" Mr. Gibbs asked desperately.
"Didn't say. I said land. Any land." Jack said quickly.
The monkey swooped down, grabbing Jack's hat and threw it over the side of the ship. The animal screeched at Jack, causing the pirate to hiss back.
"Jack!" Catherine scolded at his childish behavior.
The crew ran to the side of the ship, making an effort to retrieve their captain's hat. But the captain himself refused their attempts. "No! No." When all eyes turned, he didn't even bat an eye when he said, "Run."
He grasped Catherine's hand, dragging her to follow him. "This is ridiculous! You are being ridiculous!" She exclaimed as he hid them under the staircase near a lantern.
"Jack?" Mr. Gibbs called, instantly being shushed by his captain. He drew closer to where they hid, look at Catherine desperate for answers that she herself didn't have. "For the love of a mother and child, Jack, what's coming after us?" He whispered.
Jack snapped his eyes towards Mr. Gibbs. "Nothing," He whispered lightly, snapping his eyes away from the man.
An agitated sigh came from Catherine. Looking to Mr. Gibbs, she gave him a look that silently told him she was going to murder their captain. A pled in his eyes for her to figure out what was going on was something she didn't really need to see, she knew it was something she was going to do. The quartermaster was owed an explanation to what was going on. And so was she.
They had gotten quite good at communicating just through their facial expressions. It became an everyday thing between them. If their were issues or concerns that either one could figure out, they would give one look and do just that. Some days, it was just a matter of furrowed brows: "what's going on with him?", which was usually followed by an eyeroll: "I have no idea."
Mr. Gibbs hesitated before giving Catherine one last look: "Find out, and let me know." When she nodded, he turned away to give orders, directing the crew on where to go and what to do.
The fiery red head turned her head, looking at the man she loved but also wanted to murder at the moment. Rolling her eyes, she began to walk past him but what sharply pulled back. "What?" She snapped, causing him to jump.
"Stay here!" He whispered, looking at her like she was the one who was insane.
Glaring at him, she gave his hand a sharp tug. "Let's go," Her voice very much showing that she was not amused the slightest.
The pirate nearly whimpered at her tone but followed regardless of what he wanted. Into their room, the door was shut behind Jack. She tried to let go of his hand, but Jack wouldn't budge, causing her to sigh. It was later than she even imagined and she was tired, but she knew she needed an explanation.
"Explain it to me very slowly, Jack. Why did you make a deal with Davy Jones, who by the way is real, and why now is he coming to collect his debt?" She make them sit at the table Jack had been working at what seemed like ages ago.
It seemed Jack's shoulders finally were able to release the tension in them. He slouched forward, still keeping a tight grip on her hand. "Thirteen years ago, I made a deal with Davy Jones. He would rise the Pearl from his locker, making me captain. In return, I would serve one hundred years of servitude to him." Shame and guilt coated his words and voice.
Catherine's stomach fell along with her heart. Throwing his hand out of hers, she snatched her hand to her being. "You offered yourself to Davy Jones for a ship?" She sneered. Catherine was beyond mad, beyond angry...she was pisst. "One hundred years of servitude?"
Her husband looked up at her with guilty eyes. "Catherine, I—"
"And you didn't think to tell me when I left behind my life to follow you? Or when you thought about marrying me? Or even when we exchanged wedding vows?" Her voice was rising, but she didn't care. Her heart was breaking at the thought of losing the only man she had ever loved.
Jack's face fell as he paused before fidgeting with his hand. "I was hoping that I would be able to deal with it without having to tell you. Take care of Davy Jones before it gets too far."
She instantly was on her feet. "You were still planning on lying to me? Hiding the truth? Not telling me that my husband is dancing very close to the waters of death?" It was a miracle Jack was able to sit through her raging fire. Typically, he was too scared to even look at her when she got like this. It was very rare, but this was the most cross she had ever been with Jack.
"Everything will be fine, Catherine, I promise." He got to his feet as well.
But as he reached out for her hands, she took a step back from him. "Tell me why you want to find this key. What is it for?" She demanded.
Jack hesitated,
"I'm going to fix this."
The pirate picked up the cloth drawing from the table. He showed her the key. "This key leads to the chest where Davy Jones's heart is. I'm going to find it and going to control him. Call of his beastie. Simple as that." He tried reassuring her.
Cradling her head, Catherine gave a sigh. "It is not as simple as you think, Jack. Everything here is being built on by chance. How exactly are you going to find this key? Huh? Tell me." She slapped a hand on the table and the other on her hip.
"I don't know yet. We just need to get on to land first while I figure this out." He shook his head, taking a step closer to her. "Catherine—"
"No." She moved around him towards the door, not wanting to be anywhere near him. A pointed finger was thrown his way. "You lied to me. You kept things from me. You broke your promise that you wouldn't. You are being reckless and foolish and idiotic." Her bottom lip wobbled and her eyes began to well up with tears. "And you may die." The words cracked, her lips deepened into a watery frown. "You blasted idiot," She whispered, sniffling as she covered her forehead.
Jack gave her a teary eyed expression as well, his fingers twitching towards her. "Everything will be alright. You have my word," His words were spoken very, very carefully.
She snapped her glossy red eyes to him. "Your word means nothing to me right now."
This made the pirate visibly flinch.
But she was too angry to care at the moment.
Before she could even try to calm down and be rational, the door was being opened by her subconsciously. She sniffled, giving a pointed look.
Since this had happened twice before, Jack knew the protocol. He gave a small sigh, nodding, slowly walking towards the open door.
She all but watched with her chin rose, trying to keep in her cries for moment longer. All she wanted to do was to hold him and kiss him, maybe even slap him for being so stupid thirteen years ago. But right now, she needed to be away from him, to calm down and try to thing of every possible solution to saving the man she loves.
Jack didn't stop to try to kiss her or even give her one last look. It stung in her chest and gut, but made it easier to kick him out with out feeling regret or even guilt.
Closing the door, she leaned back against it, crying softly, mourning over the possibility of something happening to Jack.
She had to figure out a way to ensure his life and follow through with his plan.
But the only problem was...she didn't know what to do.
Hi everyone! Happy Monday Update!
Phew, I didn't think I would actually be able to get this done today and in time. But I'm glad I did and am super happy with how it turned out. I kind of wanted to make their argument longer but I just having a bit of difficulty at the moment.
Anyway, I hope you all had a lovely Christmas/regular weekend! Let me know what you all did for the holidays this year no matter what you celebrate!
On Christmas Eve, my siblings and I went to see Spider-Man No Way Home together before dinner! It was my first time back to the movies since 2020! We had so much fun! I'm a HUGGGEEEE Spider-Man fan, fun fact! I won't spoil anything but it was one of the best movies I have ever seen! Best one this year! AND best Spider-Man movie of all time wow! And on Christmas I got to spend it with my family and just lounged around reading, watching Christmas movies, and doing tradition things!
But seriously...Spider-Man...GO SEE IT! I hope I can go see it again this week! It made me so happy oh my gosh. And so much fanfiction and imagines are fueling my serotonin!! If anyone has any good imagines or fic recommendations, PLEASE send them to me! Tumblr is typically where I do all my fan reading!
Anyways, back to this fandom! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and have a great day/week! Thank you all!
And if you haven't seen No Way Home...GO SEE IT!!