The Agonies of Love

A/N: Willabeth. Okay, I wrote this fic for lateBloomer04's (from Hide The Rum) challenge of: Write a fic about Will trying to steal the charts from Sao Feng's temple, including lots of Will-torture once Sao Feng catches him! You could even bend the rules and have Elizabeth be forced to watch him get tortured. If you like, you could even have Feng tell us what the "great insult" of Jack's was. So, here it is! Oh, it's slightly AU, so just ignore the rest of AWE, at least in the Singapore scene. I wanted to get some Willabeth angst AND fluff so I'm changing things!

Oh, and I'm not exactly sure why, but this fic has a song accompanying it! As I wrote this, I was listening to the LOST Season 1 soundtrack and the song Parting Words seemed to fit perfectly! Anyway... On with the story!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pirates. If I did, I would have had Orlando Bloom in a bandana for ALL of AWE.

Chapter One:

Will Turner inching through the dusty passageway, attempting to be as quiet as humanly possible. He was squeezing through a narrow passage in the Pirate Lord Sao Feng's temple to try and retrieve the charts that would lead them to World's End. The former blacksmith of Port Royal was inwardly cursing the situation. He was thinking something along the lines of: This will never work. I'm going to get caught and killed. This is complete madness. Damn it all! Damn Jack Sparrow and his cursed ship! Damn that fool Barbossa and his ludicrous plans! Damn my idiotic heart for still loving Elizabeth despite her betraying me! Damn, damn, damn it all! As anyone could tell recently from his demeanor and behavior, Will Turner was not a happy person.

Attempting to focus on the task at hand, Will was trying to make it through the passageway which was so narrow he could not walk through it. Instead, he had to sidle sideways, pressed against the wall. He moved as silently as possible, knowing how thin the walls were. He could hear the sounds of Feng's men on the other side of the wall. It seemed like it had been hours by the time Will reached the end of the passage. He breathed a soft sigh of relief, relishing in the feeling of open space. He had never been fond of confined spaces. The room that Will was currently in was, conveniently, the one that held Sao Feng's charts. Will had no idea how Barbossa knew of the passage he had just gone through or why none of Feng's men were guarding it, but he could see the huge chest on the far side of the small room that would hold the charts. Slowly, he walked towards it and looked around the room. Both the ceiling and floor were made of tiny tiles, forming intricate designs into a mosaic and the windows were stained glass. It would have been a beautiful room were it not for the fact that the depicted images were ones of people being killed and tortured.

Will took a deep breath and opened the chest. He could see the charts in a velvet lining, residing in a circular case. He reached down and began to lift out the charts when he felt pain shoot through his head. Then everything was black.

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Will struggled to come to consciousness, fighting through the thick darkness that blanketed and choked him. He could feel ropes around his arms, tied to what felt like a long rod. Will again found himself thinking the same thoughts he was thinking before. Although, he prayed that Elizabeth would not get caught also. She and Barbossa were to meet with Sao Feng himself. He could only pray that the Pirate Lord of Singapore and the East China Sea would not suspect them of sending him.

When Will opened his eyes, he could see faces foreign faces leering at him. He saw that one of the men was holding a bucket and with a shock of realization, he discovered that the man had thrown hot water on him and realized he had been yelling in pain. Vaguely, he wondered how it was possible that he hadn't even noticed the pain for nearly a minute. Before he could get his bearings, however, he felt himself being pushed into submersion in cold water. He tried to struggle, attempting to surface, but he was held fast. He had no idea how much time passed. When his lungs burned for oxygen and his throat tried to find it, he realized promptly that he was most likely going to die. He could feel himself beginning to black out. He didn't want to die. He wanted to see Elizabeth again. He had to see her again. He had to know what happened. He had to know why she kissed Jack. Why she betrayed him. Will had realized quite some time ago that Elizabeth did not love Jack as he originally thought. Something was bothering her. Something much deeper. He would see her staring off with a look of pure pain and guilt in her face. He had to speak to her. He had to. He couldn't die now.

Will could feel his strength ebbing away as his lungs craved oxygen. He realized that he was dying. He had no idea how long it had been but he needed air. Desperately. Just as he thought it was all going to end, he was pulled out of the water and he drew in the sweet, sweet oxygen. Vaguely, he heard a foreign voice; one that he assumed was Sao Feng's. When he opened his eyes, he was met with Elizabeth's face. He watched as she and Barbossa shook their heads in response to saying if they knew him or not. He was glad for that. He glanced at Elizabeth and saw that her eyes were wide in fear. Fear for what? For what to do next? For... him? His question was answered when the Pirate Lord made to attack Will and Elizabeth gasped in horror, most likely against her will. When Will saw her, her hands were over her mouth, and her eyes were teary.

Sao Feng then went on to say what a great insult it was for him to try and steal the charts. He said something about repaying this insult. At the moment, Will was too busy trying to catch his breath again and trying to meet Elizabeth's eye. It wasn't very difficult considering that she kept looking at him, worry etched onto her face. Suddenly, before anyone could move, Feng nodded to the men holding him and they thrust him underwater again. Through the water, he thought he could hear Elizabeth, but he wasn't sure. He felt the same fearful lack of air for what seemed like an eternity before he was pulled to the surface again. When he opened his eyes, he saw that Elizabeth was trying to move towards him, being held back by Barbossa. Tears streamed down her face as she struggled against the pirates grip on her shoulders. She whispered his name and he met her eyes, saying nothing. It seemed as if in that instant when their eyes met, everything changed. He finally understood. Elizabeth loved him. He may not know why she kissed Jack, but he knew that she loved him, not Jack. He knew in that instant, that he forgave her. He knew in that instant that he could get past the pain he had gone through of thinking he had lost the woman he loved. She loved him, and he loved her. It was as simple as that.

Before he could think of anything else, or try to say something to Elizabeth, Will felt searing pain flood him in the form of boiling water. Before he had a chance to think, he was thrust underwater again. When he surfaced, he met Elizabeth's eyes, knowing that this was not going to be good. They were going to torture him. And they were going to make Elizabeth watch.

The process repeated again and when Will surfaced from the freezing water, he could hear Elizabeth yelling. "Stop it! Stop! You're going to kill him!" He could see that she was now being held by two of Sao Feng's men instead of Barbossa.

Sao Feng's men laughed at her desperation. "That is the point, miss." Feng told her with an evil smile. He could see her struggling against the men, all but sobbing. Had the situation been less grave, Will probably would have found it touching that Elizabeth was so upset for his well-being. At the moment, however, he was just trying to remain breathing.

As Elizabeth struggled against the men, Will felt searing pain across his back. He realized that they were whipping him and in the process, re-opening the old wounds from his time on the Flying Dutchman. With a morbidly ironic thought, he realized that his father whipping him most like was an act of kindness. The man that was doing it now was creating deep wounds that would be torturing him for weeks, months maybe. Through his pain, he looked at Elizabeth, to see that tears were streaming steadily down her face and she struggled with every once of strength she had against the two men holding her.

As Will was being tortured and beaten, Elizabeth was simply trying to stop from breaking down completely and sobbing. Seeing him getting beaten and seeing the men trying to drown him was tearing her apart. She couldn't take it. It was destroying her. Suddenly, she had a moment of inspiration when Sao Feng stepped over so he was nearly in. With as much strength as she could muster, she elbowed the man holding her right arm in the stomach. When he freed her arm to bend over and nurse his wound, she pulled the sword from the man holding her left arm's belt. She then stepped forward, holding the sword to Sao Feng's neck.

"Tell them to stop." she told him, her voice much more calm than she felt. When the Pirate Lord did nothing, she pressed the sword against his neck harder, drawing blood. "Make them stop! I will not hesitate to kill you." she told him, her voice cold. The worst part about this statement was that Elizabeth knew she would kill this man to save Will. Just like she had killed Jack to save Will.

Grudgingly, Sao Feng said, "Release him." Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief when the men cut Will's bonds. She gasped in horror, however, when they allowed him to fall into the water. She could see that he was beyond exhaustion. Not even realizing it, she dropped the sword and rushed to Will, swinging her legs over the side of the tub and pulling him out of the water. He coughed and sputtered, breathing in great gulps of air as she pushed the hair out of his face.

"Elizabeth..." Will whispered breathily. She loved how he said her name. He always seemed to breathe her name out, almost like a prayer.

"I'm here." she whispered to him, shivering slightly in the freezing water. "I'm here, Will. It's okay." Elizabeth was worried that Feng might order his men to do something rash, but at that moment, everyone looked to the entrance to see that the East India Trading Company had arrived. Elizabeth looked down at Will, knowing that there was no way he could fight. She doubted if he could walk on his own at the moment. Fortunately, the remaining members of the Black Pearl's crew came threw and tossed weapons up through the rather large and convenient cracks in the floor board. They must have been listening and watching from below, because a sword came up directly in front of her by the edge of the tub she and Will were still in. She reached out and grabbed it, thankful that Sao Feng's pirates were too busy with the Trading Company's agents to worry about her, Will, and Barbossa.

"Will, we must get out of here." she told him urgently, trying not to catch the eyes of any of the Company's men. She was happy that he nodded and attempted to pull himself out of the tub. He was too weak at the moment, however, so Elizabeth drew his right arm over her shoulder and helped him out of the tub. She helped him walk as she parried any blows that came her way. She made it over to Barbossa who helped her with Will and the three snuck out of a rather large hole in the wall that was made by one of the Company's cannons, no doubt. She had no idea how, but they managed to make it to the docks along with the rest of the crew and Tia Dalma.

"What do we do now? We have no ship and no crew! And we need to help Will!" Elizabeth cried out.

"Who's to say we don't have a ship, Miss Swann?" Barbossa said as he led them to the closest ship tied to the docks. The ship was not large, so they could manage it with the few men they had. Mr. Gibbs had moved to help Elizabeth with Will and together they managed to get him into the Captain's quarters, which Barbossa had agreed would be better for him in his current state. The two laid him down gently onto the bed, laying him on his stomach so as not to aggravate his injuries. He groaned slightly in his half-conscious state.

"Mr. Gibbs, could you fetch some clean water and bandages?" she asked him, kneeling next to Will and brushing his damp hair from his face.

"Aye, Miss Elizabeth." the older man said before leaving the cabin. Elizabeth felt tears prick her eyes, and she gently moved Will onto his side so that she could rid him of his shirt and clean and bandage his wounds properly. First, she rid him of the belt that was slung over his shoulder, carefully peeling it from his back. She began to unbutton his shirt when his eyes flew open and he grabbed her wrists. In his state of half-delirium, he rolled off the bed and on top of Elizabeth, mistaking her for a threat. His eyes shone in confusion when he saw her face.

"Will..." she whispered to him. She knew that he was hurt badly and was confused. "Will, it's all right. You're safe. It's me, Elizabeth." This seemed to bring him out of his delirium because he whispered her name and rolled off of her onto his side. Elizabeth sat up and helped him up onto the bed, stripping him of his shirt before having him lay down on his back. She kneeled next to him once more and ran her hands through his hair, watching as he let his eyes slowly close and surrendered to sleep. With a sad ghost of a smile, she kissed his temple and looked at his back. She had to choke back a sob when she looked at his mangled skin.

"Miss Elizabeth." she heard Gibbs whisper from behind her. She turned and he handed her a bucket of water and a large pile of ripped cloth that was fairly clean.

"Thank you, Mr. Gibbs." she told him quietly, turning back to Will's sleeping form. She vaguely heard Mr. Gibbs tell her something along the lines of if she needed anything to just give a shout before he left. Slowly, she sat on the edge of the bed and pulled the bucket of water beside her. She took the largest piece of cloth and dunked it into the lukewarm water, squeezed out the excess liquid, and then began to gently wipe away the blood that stuck to Will's skin. She let her left hand rest gently on his shoulder as her right cleaned out his many wounds. She noticed that there were wounds on his back that did not seem as if they were just made. They looked like they were old wounds that had been ripped open again by the Singaporean man's whip. Her suspicion was confirmed when she saw that the lashes were under where the belt that Will kept slung over his shoulder had been. When did he get injured? She thought, troubled by the idea that someone had injured her Will. She pushed the thought from her mind and finished cleaning his back. With a sad thought, she realized that there was no way to bandage his back properly with the materials at hand. She supposed that she would have to settle with trying to keep the wounds as clean as possible and keeping them covered by his shirt. With a soft sigh, she turned Will onto his side and used the wet cloth to dab at the burns that the boiling water had left.

"Oh, Will..." she whispered, feeling physical pain at the thought of how much pain he had gone through. She ran her fingers through his hair, tracing his cheek and jaw line with her fingertips. She pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead and whispered. "I'm watching over you, Will. I love you."

Unbeknownst to Elizabeth, Will heard her, and felt his heart soar at her words. He knew in that instant that everything would be all right. That despite everything, sooner or later, he and Elizabeth would fix their problems and be together again. She loved him, and he loved her. It was as simple as that.

Hope you guys enjoyed this! I really liked writing it and this was my first Pirates fic! Please R&R! Hopefully, I'll get some more Pirates Willabeth fics out there!

xoxoxo

Katy