Chancing Fate - Jack Sparrow x OC

Part 2 - Chapter 5

After a long day of travel, the sun had finally set, though it was difficult to tell beneath the storm clouds blocking what little light remained. A break in the rain had settled over the Black Pearl for the moment while the cool wind continued rocking the ship steadily beneath them.

Farther across the dark water, a wrecked ship sat stranded against the reef while the Pearl slowly closed the distance, and somewhere beyond it waited the Flying Dutchman.

Lena pulled her jacket tighter around herself, covering the blue shirt beneath it. The fabric was still damp, but it was better than nothing against the wind as she stood close beside Jack and tried to make out what she could of the wreck ahead. His attention remained fixed through the telescope toward Will's path, the beads in his hair shifting softly whenever the wind caught them, though otherwise he'd gone strangely still beside her during the last several minutes.

"That's the Flying Dutchman?" Will asked, clearly unimpressed as he stared across the water. "She doesn't look like much."

"Neither do you," Jack shot back without lowering the telescope. "Do not underestimate it." He nudged Gibbs sharply with his elbow afterward, prompting him to continue the performance.

"Must've run afoul of the reef," Gibbs added, and Lena glanced toward Jack at the easy confidence of it all. It sounded natural enough, but the telescope never fully lowered from his eye.

Turning toward Will at last, Jack dropped it enough to look at him properly. "What's your plan?"

"I row over, search the ship until I find your bloody key," Will answered surely.

Jack tilted his head slightly, his expression difficult to read beneath the dim light. "And if there are crewmen?"

Lena tensed before Will even answered, watching him turn toward the waiting boat as he said, "I cut down anyone in my path."

"I like it. Simple, easy to remember." Jack gave an approving nod that felt just a touch too casual considering the circumstances, pulling a frustrated breath from Lena before she could stop it. The entire plan sounded far too simple for what they were dealing with, yet he spoke about it as though they were discussing the weather instead of sending Will toward something none of them fully understood.

"Simple or not, watch yourself, Will," she called after him as he started climbing toward the waiting boat, unease tightening harder in her chest now that she understood exactly why Jack was willing to risk this.

"Your chariot awaits you, sire," Ragetti teased, bursting into laughter as Will climbed down.

Jack caught Will's attention one last time before he could row away. "Oi! If you do have to get captured, just say Jack Sparrow sent you to settle his debt. Might save your life."

Lena turned sharply toward him, her brows knitting tighter before she looked back toward Will's boat disappearing into the darkness. The joke landed poorly now that she knew how real the threat actually was, though Ragetti was still laughing as he yelled after Will, "Move on out!"

Once the boat had disappeared far enough into the darkness, Jack finally lowered the telescope and turned toward the crew. "Douse the lamps."

One candle after another disappeared until the Pearl fell almost completely into shadow, nearby crewmen instinctively lowering their voices while everyone waited for something to happen. As the silence stretched, Jack raised the telescope again and watched the wreck and surrounding water closely enough that Lena eventually found herself paying more attention to him than the ship itself, his shoulders tightening beneath his coat each time Will's boat drifted farther from the Pearl.