Author's Note: First of all-- let me apologize. I'm so, so, so sorry it's taken me forever to update; you all have been more than patient. I could make excuses, but I doubt you want to hear them... so, all I'll say is that its been a rough coupl'a months. I really can't believe I haven't updated since March... jeez...

I'm also going to apologize for the quality of this chapter-- it's really not up to par. I feel horrible; I made you all wait so long, and this is what I give you... Sorry, sorry, sorry.

Good news-- I am determined to finish all of my stories, so I'm going to attempt weekly updates-- I think it may be more like bi-weekly, but we'll see how it goes. Since I'm going to be gone next week, I'm going to try to update this one by the end of this week. Now that the summer's finally here, I have a lot more time on my hands...

Well, enough of my rambling-- here it is...

What One Must Do for Love
By: MJ
Chapter Seven: And the tables turn...

He tried to take everything in. The last time he was there, he had been in his father's arms the entire time. He hadn't been able to see much, as they had left rather early into it. As they walked hurriedly through the maze of halls into the stronghold, he was attempting to memorize every nook and cranny, every inch of every square foot that made up this fortress. He started taking mental pictures of the portraits on the walls, wishing he could stop to see the names...

As they came upon the meeting room, he heard the chaos that was inside. With a wary sigh, he brought the hood up over his head, as Uncle Jack had instructed him on the Pearl. He hid behind Mr. Pintel and Mr. Ragetti, and waited for his cue. Johnny only truly hoped he'd get a bit more of a view than he had the last time the Brethren Court was called.

Little Jack--Jacqueline, his mind argued--was safe with Mrs. Ana and Mr. Henry. Mary had wanted to come, and Johnny had wanted her there, but the adults had forbidden it. They promised they'd see each other soon... when Mother and Father came back. First, Uncle Jack and he had business to settle.

"Captain Sparrow!" An older woman in odd make-up called, standing up to greet him. "How nice of you to grace us with your presence!" The other lords chuckled at her sarcasm, and Johnny stiffened at their laughter. "And where is King Swann?"

"Gone."

"Gone? Cowardice took her over?" Barbossa's son, Nathaniel, grinned. "Well, her husband had a bit of experience with that, if I recall... asking his wife to relieve him of the stress Calypso had put upon him--"

"Leave my father alone!" Johnny knew Uncle Jack wouldn't be happy with his decision to speak up, but that man needed to stop talking as if he knew what he was actually talking about.

"So the Turner brat was sent in their place--?" Nathaniel continued, shaking his head. "Gods, they're even more pathetic than I thought..."

"My father sacrificed himself to Calypso to free the seas again... after she took my baby sister and my mother," Johnny continued, while Jack hid his face. Johnny pulled the hood down and stood at the head of the table. "I'm an orphan, thanks to you." He didn't understand why Uncle Jack seemed so upset--he was saying everything he told him to. He attempted to get Uncle Jack to look at him, but he was slowly moving towards the back of the room...

"Thanks to me? Well, you're welcome, I suppose..." Nathaniel shrugged his shoulders, not truly bothered. He looked down at his nails. "Why are you here, anyway? You're not a pirate lord, nor could you possibly be old enough to be on one's crew."

"But I am a Pirate Lord--in fact, I'm Pirate King!" Johnny shouted, only causing a round of cackles from the audience surrounding him.

"Excuse me--you're all of... nine?" Nathaniel asked through a fit of laughter.

"Ten," Johnny corrected with a glare. Nathaniel raised his hands in a mock apology.

"You can't be king..."

"But I am," Johnny grinned, watching Jack bring down the Pirate Codex. He slammed it on the table, and began flipping through the pages.

"If'n a pirate lord dies without leaving his piece of eight in the hands of an heir of his or her choosing, his or her first mate becomes the pirate lord in his or her place," Jack raised a finger to quiet down the protests, "unless the aforementioned deceased pirate lord had a child. The child then becomes the pirate lord in the place of his father and or mother..." He looked up at Barbossa, "But I bet you already knew that, didn't you?" Nathaniel glowered at Jack, but smirked instead.

"Alright, that makes him a Pirate Lord, at best--not the Pirate King," he moved over, attempting to flip the pages of the Codex, but Jack smacked his hand back childishly. Nathaniel chuckled. "But I bet you already knew that." He turned to the court. "To be a Pirate King, it must be voted for by the majority of the court."

"Then let's vote," Jack smirked, winking at Johnny. Johnny hid his smile well, and the Pirate Lords--having nearly twelve years since their last meeting, dumbly fell for the same mistake. They each voted for themselves in turn, until only Johnny and Jack were left. "I vote for Captain Turner Junior... Junior." Jack counted on his fingers, "The--fourth?"

"The third," Johnny rolled his eyes. "Honestly."

Barbossa's mouth fell open, he closed it before standing up abruptly, "This is wrong in too many ways!"

"Why? Because he's only nine--?"

"Ten!" Johnny argued, standing on a chair now to gain the height needed to fend against the other Pirate Lords. "And besides--it was by a vote. I'm the only one who got more than one vote." He stuck his tongue out at Barbossa, "So there."

"There has to be something against this in the Code!" Barbossa continued.

"How old are you?" Jack asked suspiciously, placing a hand on Barbossa's chest, blocking him from looking further into the Code. "Twelve?"

"I'm seventeen--!"

"Ah. Well, I never knew we had such an old git on the council," Jack said dryly, rolling his eyes. "How can ye even argue agains' age when yer not yet twen'y?"

Nathaniel glowered at Jack, lifting his hands in mock surrender, taking his seat. Jack nodded at him, before turning to Johnny. "Ye were sayin', yer highness?" He wiggled his eyebrows and Johnny giggled. Jack sent him a look and he sobered quickly.

"Right," he nodded, getting off of his chair. "We must bind Calypso!" The Lords laughed at the little boy, as mutterings of the pretentiousness of the "Pirate Prince" passed around the table.

"We've already covered this, ya brat," Nathaniel said abruptly, bringing the laughter to a halt. "I'm not giving up my secret on how to bind her to anyone. Especially you."

"I think you should..." Johnny said forbodingly. "My father may not be in this world, but that doesn't mean he won't come if I ask." With that, he held up the key to the Dead Man's Chest, just like Jack had told him to. There was a collective gasp around the table. "And now... he has Calypso in the palm of his hand," Johnny said innocently, placing the key back inside his shirt. "So, do what you will."

There was a very pregnant pause in which everyone considered Johnny's words. Then, suddenly, the six other Pirate Lords (not including Jack, Johnny, and Nathaniel) grabbed their pistols and aimed them at Nathaniel. "Speak your secret, boy," Captain Armmand demanded.

"Or we will blow you to smitherines..." Jack added, grabbing his own pistol and cocking it. "I shot your father, perhaps it's only fitting if I shot you as well." Johnny flinched at the brutality of that statement; never had he seen his Uncle Jack act like such a... pirate.

"Fine, fine... I'll let you in on how to do it," Nathaniel said, glowering at each Pirate Lord in turn. "But I still want water from the Fountain of Youth," he turned to Jack. "Or else you'll have to kill me. It would only hurt you in the long run, not me." The Pirate Lords turned to Jack in turn, their pistols circling around him. He held up his hands with a small smile.

"Alrigh', alrigh'," he shrugged, pulling out a tiny bottle of water out of his pocket. "Bu' this be me las' share... I promise," he slid it down the table to Barbossa, who picked it up and pocketed it.

"Alright, this is what we have to do..."

She hadn't thought things through.

There she was, standing at the helm, waiting... watching... for what--? She didn't have the charts, or Jack's compass, but merely the memory of where they had gone to get her by; an eleven year old memory, at that. With a sigh, she glanced around the horizon to see absolutely nothing. Just the blue sea surrounding her, the crew terrified out of their minds at the thought of making this journey.

Even though she had no idea where she was, or how she was going to get there, she was certain that she would get there. Whether it took days, weeks, months--even years--she knew she would eventually get there, and that the when she was there, all the traveling and the being alone would be worth it.

Because when she was there, she'd be with him, and that was all she needed to know in order to go on.

So she took a deep breath, turned the wheel two knots eastwards, and called for her crew to tighten the sails.

"I'm coming, Will," she whispered into the wind. "Wait for me."

"Wha' do she t'ink she be doin'?" She muttered, opening her eyes. She glanced down at the body next to her, fast asleep. She smiled, leaning down to kiss his ear.

"What are you talking about?" Will groaned, pulling away to look at her curiously, avoiding her affection. He grabbed at the sheets protectively, covering up his bare chest from her view. He shuddered when he thought about what he had almost done with her the night before, and thanked whatever powers may be that he was still not accustomed to being immortal... and therefore fell asleep promptly after his head touched his pillow.

She huffed angrily, bringing him back to the present. "Ya little friend..."

"Jack?" Will asked, sliding out of bed. He pulled on his shirt and tucked it into his pants before he went for his boots.

"Elizabet'," she glowered, watching him change angrily. "C'mon, lov'a-- ye promised me."

"What about Elizabeth?" Will pressed, cutting her off before she could finish. She huffed, letting the sheet drop to her waist, exposing her chest to him. He began to lace up his boots, distracting himself thusly.

"Why do it matt'a? Look at me!" She commanded, crazed. "Fer gods' sake-- ye said ye loved me," she cooed, standing up to completely expose herself. "Ya said ye would never t'ink o' her again!" She placed her hands on her hips, her dark eyes taking a red look about them. "But mos' of all, ye said one day would be enough fer ye... one day would be enough fer ye to be used t' yer... abil'ties," she grinned, her black teeth gleaming as she stood directly in front of him. "An' trus' me, Will-yam... Ye've got abil'ties..."

"Yes, well," Will huffed, standing up and moving away. "I'm a man of my word, Calypso. The fact is that if I don't uphold my duty-- if I don't do what you sent me here to do-- then you'll have another Jones! Another monster!" He turned back to stare at her, looking into her eyes, grasping her shoulders roughly. "Is that what you want?"

She breathed in sigh before she attacked him, attatching her lips roughly to his. She pulled him tighter into her embrace, refusing to let go. She held his neck with one hand while she ran her hand through his hair with the other. Forcefully, he pushed her away from him, glaring at her. "Ya took me Jones from me!" She spat as she caught her breath. She moved closer to him, ripping his shirt from his chest. She raked her nails up and down his chest, staring at him, crazed. "The least ya can do is take him place!"

"That was my last shirt," he muttered, not really focusing on her, or what she was doing. She grinned.

"I like ya bett'a this way."

"I won't get much respect this way..." He continued, staring down into her eyes.

"Tha' don' matt'a... 'oo needs respect? I give ya pow'a," she brought his head down to meet hers again, crashing her lips onto his once more. He sighed, pushing away to rest his forehead against hers.

"It matters to me, and if matters to me, it should matter to you," he mumbled helplessly. She sighed, pulling away from him. She grabbed his shirt and muttered something incoherent before she handed it back to him.

"There... go abou' ya duty today..." She said, defeated. "But I will have ye tonight," she said forcefully, grabbing him in a way that made him extremely uncomfortable. "Or I swear I will kill yer whole family." He glared at her and she glared right back, "Ya don' mess wif me 'eart, Will-yam," she spat at him. "'Ow dare ya t'ink ya could."

"It seems simple enough," Jack shrugged when Barbossa finished. "Surprise I didn' fink o' it meself, t'be frank..."

Johnny gaped at him, and Jack was painfully reminded of his father, and their similar facial expressions. Jack inconscpicuously raised a hand to his own chin, and Johnny closed his mouth. They all turned to stare at Johnny, who took a deep breath. "Aye. Simple enough," he said, quietly enough that Jack was still reminded of how little he was, but loud enough for everyone to hear. Suddenly, Jack sort of wished he had convinced Johnny to make himself Pirate King, but the little bugger had cried for hours about his mum leaving... well, Jack did have a bit of a heart.

"Good, then, Captain Johnny... William... You," he stabbed a finger through the air to point at Johnny wildly, "will be leading the ceremony."

"I'll be doing what?" He gaped at Jack again, as if to add--"are you out of your mind?" Jack chuckled.

"Pirate Ki--"

"Prince," Barbossa stressed bitterly.

"Fine... the Pirate Prince should be the one to do the honors... As one of your royal duties and whatnot." Jack shrugged, and there was a murmer from the court in agreement. Johnny continued to glower at Jack, but refused to say what he should say. Instead, he would wait until he could get his "uncle" alone and show him just how much of his mother's temper he had inherited. At the moment, however, he merely nodded at the older man before he turned cheerfully to the other Lords.

"Let's hurry," he nodded, gesturing for them all to go to their ships. They stood up quickly, each Pirate Lord beckoning to their crew in their native tongue. Johnny turned towards Jack, holding up a hand. "Order your crew to go to their ship..." Jack raised to hands as if to show that he had already done so, "and stay behind for a moment, will you?" Jack knew what Johnny was going to talk about, before the others had left the council room and before the little boy opened his mouth.

"It's yer parents yer savin'," he said before Johnny could open his mouth, "it only seemed right." Jack shrugged his shoulders, sitting at the foot of the table, staring at Johnny.

"Right or not--my mother told you to look out for me--not put me in danger!" Johnny whined, and Jack was once again reminded with how tiny the little boy was. "It's going to hurt--you know it, I know it... my parents' probably know it..." He sighed, looking down at his hands. "I just don't understand why I have to do it? Besides the whole 'my parents' thing," he clarified when Jack was about to protest. "You're more than capable, and you've known them both longer than I have," he said, attempting to be fair. Two minutes ago, Jack was sure that Johnny was six, but within the last minute, Jack was positive that he had matured even beyond Jack's fourty-odd years.

"It'd mean more to 'em, 'm sure," Jack said softly. "And it'll mos' likely than no' be more powerful... you want t'insure that ev'rythin' goes smoothly, don't'cha?"

"Yes," Johnny said dully, staring at his feet.

"Good. Now, let's not keep them waiting."

"Captain Turner, sir!"

Will turned towards the familiar voice with a sigh and a smile, "Father, I thought we had covered this the last time. Just call me Will."

Bootstrap smiled at his only child, coming closer to the wheel. "Will," he said in the same tone as before. "...she wants you."

"I know," Will turned away from his father, looking back out towards the horizon. "I'm ignoring her."

"Son," Bootstrap's voice was pleading, now. "That's not the best decision--"

"Father," Will returned, just as pleading. "Please. Just--just trust me, all right?" Will's voice was shaky as he spoke to his father, and Bootstrap didn't like the anxiety that was nearly radiating off of his son. "I... We... Elizabeth and I made the best decision we could, given the circumstances," he was whispering now, and Bootstrap had to lean in to hear him. "The least I can do is hold up my end of our agreement."

"Which was?" Bootstrap really didn't want to hear what Will was about to say, but he needed to hear it more.

"To resist as much as I could," Will whispered lowly, embarrassed. Bootstrap nodded, patting Will's shoulder approvingly.

"You did it once before," his father reminded him. "Shouldn't be too hard the second time around," he added, before he glanced down at his feet. "Thank you," he said softly, hoping that Will didn't hear him. He needed to say it, but it didn't need to be heard. Unfortunately, his son's immortality brought upon him more gifts than Bootstrap could have ever imagined. Will picked up on his father's near-silent gratitude, and was confused.

"For what?"

"Saving me. Again," Bootstrap was even more embarrassed, at this point. Will clapped his father on the shoulder, squeezing the older man's arm.

"I really didn't do much, Father," he said just as softly. "And after everything you di--"

"As sorr'eh as I am t'be breakin' up dis touchin' moment," Calypso sneered, pushing Bootstrap out of the way and replacing him in Will's embrace, "dere be a ship on de 'orizon, Will-yam. An' I t'ink dis ship is one ya want to save."

Will's head snapped in the direction where Calypso was currently looking, and the hole where his heart should be ached as he caught sight of the vessel. "No," he muttered, breaking away from Calypso's hold to run towards the railing. "No... no-- NO!" He shouted, banging his fist on the railing. He turned to Calypso, now, his own eyes full of fury. "You said tonight-- you said that I was to give myself to you tonight before you punished my family-- she didn't do anything!" He cried, advancing on her. He backed her up into the opposite railing, grabbing her shoulders firmly and shaking her. "She didn't do anything-- punish me!"

Calypso captured his mouth against hers again, her hands flying to his hair. She gripped his tousled locks violently, cackling into his mouth. He wrenched himself away from her, glaring at her. "I like it rough." She cooed. He turned away from her, disgusted. He called for his crew.

"We have to save this ship," he yelled frantically. "Hurry," he pleaded with his men, knowing that he looked vulnerable in their eyes-- that he looked weak in that moment. Yet, Will couldn't bring himself to care, his thoughts going out to the ship in the distance.

Or, to be more precise, his thoughts went out to the lone woman hurrying to keep her ship afloat.

Again--sorry. Normally, I wouldn't publish a chapter until I was ninety-nine-point-nine percent satisfied, but... I really never like the chapter right before the climax, so I knew this was as good as it was going to get.

Also, I am totally aware of the fact that I made a little child the Pirate King. In my eyes, Johnny grew up learning nothing but piracy... from the stories his mother told him at night to the random visit from Uncle Jack, piracy was all Johnny really knew growing up. Besides, the original plan was to make Jack the pirate king, but... we all know from One Day at a Time how... persuasive (annoying) Johnny can be. Apple juice anyone?

To clarify: Will has not slept with Calypso. She was just... naked in bed with him, in an attempt to sway him into sleeping with her.

So... let me have it in a review!