Of all the grizzly and sometimes gruesome scenes William Turner had been privy to in all his many long years as Captain of the Dutchman, what truly terrified him the most was not the memory of his time as the ferry man between worlds, but rather the nightmares that had begun to plague him mere weeks after his return to the land of the living.

Every evening it was the same. He'd fall asleep exhausted, Elizabeth sleeping peacefully at his side. Only to be awoken a few short hours later by the wind and the storm. The monster that'd become of Davy Jones stood over his wife's form with his hideous claw raised to strike a death blow that never comes as he bolts upright with a gasp, alert and wary of the room stood empty of the phantom that haunts his dreams.

Tonight had been different though. Had felt too real. The fear that had coursed through him so raw it had shaken him to his very core as he'd clung to Elizabeth's prone form with all his might until she'd awoken in protest.

"Will, what is it?" She asks, voice husky and slurred with sleep and more than a hint of confusion.

"Nothing." He lies, shaking off the notion of telling her the truth as he buries his nose in her hair. Neither willing nor able to admit that he's in fact terrified of what exactly might have been released by Jack and Henry in their breaking of the trident and what it might mean for them all should the monsters of their past come back to haunt them.

"Everything's fine, love. Go back to sleep."

She knows better though, scolding him as she struggles to release herself from his steely embrace.

"You're a terrible liar, Will Turner. Always have been."

"Nothing you need trouble yourself over at least," He's quick to assure her. A smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes curling his lips when she glares back at him, "Don't worry, Elizabeth."

"But I do." She shifts so she can see his face properly, it's almost deathly white pallor furrowing her brow in concern. "Most especially when I think of what could possibly be so terribly awful that you'd choose to suffer alone in silence than share the burden with your wife?"

He cringes at the barb as it strikes his heart. Their relationship since his return still uneasy as they find their footing after so long a time apart, and while he hates to withhold it from her, there are just some things about his time away he's not quite ready to tell her, not yet. So silent he remains, even though he knows it be to the detriment of them both.

"Very well then," She snips, turning away and curling herself into the pillows as far from him as the bed will allow, "I'll be leaving for the Cove on the morrow anyways. I'm sure a few weeks will be enough time for you to sort out your priorities, Mister Turner."

"I hardly think that wise under the circumstances," He objects rather testily, his aggravation at his own insecurities taking a back seat to her seemingly wilful defiance, "Nor appropriate considering-"

"Whatever you think or feel is irrelevant. I've a duty as King to answer the Keeper's summons."

He sighs, "You know I'd thought those days long over, Elizabeth."

"For you perhaps," She replies in a tone born of the years spent in answer to no other but herself, "But it is to Captain Teague I owe both my life and that of our son. A fact you'd be wise to remember in future should you think of demanding I ignore his requests."

"I'm not suggesting you ignore it I'm just- I'm worried, Elizabeth," He admits softly, his voice full of the fear he holds of losing her again. Whether that be to the very real threat of the monsters that plague his dreams or the demons of his own creation he isn't sure.

"Something's coming. Something I'm not entirely sure you and I might endure."

She's quiet for the longest time. A fact he finds somewhat disconcerting, admittedly. Though unsurprising, all things considered.

"Go to sleep, Will." She bids with finality. She's tired, he knows. Just as he is too weary to care she'd made no attempt to dissuade his current sense of foreboding as she once might have before time and the tides separated them.

"We'll talk more in the morning, alright?"

"Aye," He agrees, because what else can he do. His gaze lingering on her outline in the dark for a moment longer before he finally turns to mirror her position, never more acutely aware of the distance between their bodies, hearts and minds.

"Goodnight, Elizabeth."

He hears her murmur something unintelligible as he finally surrenders to the pull of his own exhaustion. His sleep deep and much like those whom he ferried to other realms, dead and dreamless until he wakes to the first rays of sun breaching the horizon through the curtains the next morning

He stretches and thinks himself foolish in the light of day for the fear that had constricted his heart the night before and content on remaining in the warmth of their bed for at least a few moments longer, reaches out in search of Elizabeth's form. His heart stills at the cold vacant space he finds in lieu of his wife beside him, eyes snapping wide and dread suddenly pooling in his gut as his fingers fall to the damp sheets that upon closer inspection reek of a salty tang he knows only all too well.

"Elizabeth?"

He bolts upright with a gasp, eyes desperately searching the room to no avail.

"Elizabeth!"

He cries out to her helplessly. On his feet in an instant and ignoring the harsh bite of the barnacles that litter the floor and pierce into his soft flesh. Frantically searching the old house for the woman he knows to be long gone though he can scarcely believe it to be true.

"Henry! Henry, wake up!"

With the slamming of a door and a shake of his shoulder his son's eyes snap open almost instantly. A crease appearing in his brow no doubt in response to his own agitated state.

"Gather your things and wake Carina, quickly."

"What? Why?" Henry queries, tossing back the covers to pull on his boots. He feels the younger man's eyes boring a hole in his back as he moves to check the horizon from the windows as he waits. The sea beyond holding no clue as to the where, only the when and whom are all too apparent in his mind.

"Your mother's gone."

He grits his teeth, a look of utter despair crossing his features as he moves for the door.

"She's gone and it's all my fault."

"What do you mean she's gone?"

He doesn't need to see Henry's expression to know his eyes are no doubt wide in both confusion that will quickly morph to fear as he stumbles after him.

"But she's not due to leave until the morning tide, how could she have left when the ship has even yet to dock?"

"I didn't say she'd done so voluntarily, nor that she'd departed on the Troubadour as planned." Will hisses, stilling by Carina's door and unfurling his fingers to reveal the barnacles he'd clutched so tightly within his fist they'd drawn blood.

"Someone took her?" Henry's eyes dart between his face and the contents of his hand as if the notion were absurd and he wonders just which stories his wife had chosen to impart upon their son that he wasn't even aware of her position as pirate royalty.

"But why? Who?"

"I'd thought us done with the past," Will curses, a million thoughts racing through his mind while the guilt that suddenly grips his heart proves almost unbearable when he considers any and all possible reasons for Elizabeth's abduction.

"Clearly I was wrong."

He sneers at the likely repercussions should certain secrets be dragged out into the open for all and sundry to see.

"Seems it's rather intent on haunting us all."

They'd need help, that was obvious, and they needed it fast.

"What time was Elizabeth's ship due to arrive?"

"I don't know exactly," He sighs as Henry shakes his head, "The weather's abysmal so maybe an hour or so?"

Will nods in satisfaction, "Then we'll make for the docks as soon as you're both ready."

"The docks?" Henry gapes.

"What the hell is going on out here?" Carina's face appears in the doorway, brow furrowed in both annoyance and confusion, "And why are you bickering at my door?"

"Mother's gone." Henry informs her, his eyes shifting to his Father's pursed lips and clenched fist.

"What do you mean gone?" Carina rolls her eyes with a scoff, "She isn't due to leave-"

"She's been abducted." Henry corrects, the girl looking to himself for confirmation.

"What?"

"He speaks the truth," Will nods, "Taken from our bed without my knowledge this very night. Now gather your things, we leave on the tide."

"Leave? Leave for where?" She presses, glancing worriedly between himself and Henry, "And why on Earth would anyone wish harm upon your mother of all people?"

"Revenge, no doubt," Will replies sombrely, "Which is why we've no choice but to beseech the Brethren Court for help."

"The Brethren Court?" Henry's eyes widened in shock and just the tiniest hint of both fear and excitement, "But why?"

"Because if we've any hope at all of having Elizabeth returned in one piece," Will stressed with a bitter edge as he turned for the stairs, "We're going to need Jack Sparrow."