Chancing Fate - Jack Sparrow x OC

Interlude - Chapter 5

March XX, 1729

Something has been wrong with Jack for weeks now.

Not visibly enough that most of the crew notices, but I do.

He has become restless in a way I have never seen before. Distracted. Irritable. Unable to settle upon a course for long before changing direction again. Time and time again he pulls out that compass only to snap it shut moments later with obvious frustration.

He will not speak of it to anyone.

Gibbs has tried. I have tried. Neither of us gained much beyond deflection and irritation for the effort.

For a while, I believed things between us had finally begun improving again after January. Not simpler, precisely, but easier. Yet lately there are moments where he reaches for me almost constantly while still feeling impossibly far away. Sometimes he reaches for me like he cannot quite settle otherwise while his mind remains entirely elsewhere, and I find myself wondering whether there is anyone in this world he truly trusts enough to confide in.

Part of me fears the answer is no.

Whatever troubles him seems larger than usual, and I cannot shake the feeling that we are drifting steadily toward something dangerous.

~~~

March

Lena had been almost asleep when the compass snapped shut across the cabin.

The sound cut sharply through the darkness, dragging her slowly back upward through exhaustion while the Pearl rolled gently beneath the bed. For several seconds she stayed where she was beneath the blanket, eyes still half-closed against the lanternlight while warmth clung heavily through her limbs. The cabin smelled faintly of rum, salt, old parchment, and the ocean dampness that never fully left the ship no matter how long anyone aired it out in port.

Another sharp snap echoed from the desk until Lena finally opened her eyes properly with a quiet breath through her nose.

Jack stood near the lantern with one hand wrapped tightly around the compass while charts overlapped unevenly across nearly the entire table. One bottle already sat empty near his elbow while another remained half-open beside scattered parchment.

Jack flipped the compass open again almost on instinct, the needle spinning lazily beneath the lanternlight before tension pulled through his jaw and the lid snapped shut once more beneath his hand.

Something tightened sharply beneath Lena's ribs.

"Interesting conversation you're having with that thing," she murmured sleepily into the darkness.

Jack's eyes flicked briefly toward the bed this time, lingering just long enough to make heat stir faintly through Lena's chest before his attention dragged back downward again as he reopened the compass. "Mm. Knew you were around somewhere."

The attempt at humor landed strangely against the exhaustion sitting visibly beneath his eyes. Lena had stopped pretending not to notice how worn down he looked lately: sleeves rolled unevenly toward his elbows, shirt hanging half-open at the throat, dark hair escaping its tie from dragging his hands through it too many times over the course of the night.

Lena pushed herself upright slowly, blanket slipping down around her waist while the Pearl rolled softly beneath the cabin. Jack barely seemed to notice the movement at all. He had spent days moving through the ship like someone too distracted to feel half of what surrounded him.

When the compass snapped shut once more, Lena exhaled quietly and finally gave up pretending she intended to sleep at all.

She crossed the cabin barefoot before simply folding herself across his shoulders without asking first, both arms looping loosely over him while she let part of her weight settle against his back and side. Her forehead rested briefly near his temple as she breathed against the open collar of his shirt.