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Chapter Text

Davy Jones howled in pain as four sharp fangs buried deep into the tentacled finger of his hand.

Peggy grimaced as dark blood filled her mouth along with the salty taste of the sea and a strange flavour that was somewhere between octopus and human. The raw flesh of the Devil's tentacled index finger was quite rubbery and stretchy since it lacked bone, which, when combined with the slimy velvety texture, confused the hell out of Peggy as two sides of her fought against instincts long ingrained inside her bones.

Her human side wanted to gag and throw up at the thought of the Devil's blood in her mouth.

Her seal-like selkie side wanted to rip his cephalopod-like flesh apart, slap it against the deck to kill it and swallow as if it were one of the little octopi she had snagged from a fisherman's net.

Then, as the violent, animalistic thought crossed her mind, so too did the human instinct to gag and vomit swing up like the other end of a see-saw.

So she did the next best thing.

"Gagh!" She grabbed the appendage and yanked it off her mouth. It was almost difficult to detach because her four canines had sunk so deep into the flesh to the point her top fangs had punctured straight through to the other side of the tentacle.

She was helped when, with a gargled roar of pain, Davy Jones yanked his hand away from her, his hand accidentally slapping her in the face as he reeled away from her.

As he did, dark blood spurted all over her mouth and a little over her face, much to the horror and awe of all their witnesses on both the Flying Dutchman and Black Pearl.

On the Dutchman, the cursed crewmen were all staring in shock at their captain, who was cradling his injured limb. Blood streamed down his hand and onto the deck, in full view of his men.

"First blood," one of them breathed. Eyes flitted between the selkie, who was spluttering and spitting out thi,n bloodied strings of pale flesh, and the devil, some in hope, some in dismay, all in shock.

"First blood." Another repeated, almost a whisper.

"First blood."

"First blood."

"No." Jones hissed, eyes widening as the whispers spread amongst his crew. "NO!"

On the Pearl, similar whispers were spreading.

"What just happened?"

"Did she really bite him?"

"Shiver me timbers!" Paulie the parrot squawked, bobbing up and down excitedly on Cotton's shoulder.

"She spilled first blood. Ye see it don't ya?" Marty hissed.

"But I thought fight to the first blood was with the swo-" Ragetti started only to be quickly shushed by everyone else.

"SHH!"

"What I was only sayin'-"

"SHHH!"

Will did not smile. His heart hammered in his chest. Was Ragetti right? Was this even allowed in a fight like this?

He looked at Jack and was surprised to see the pirate grinning like a madman.

"I keep forgetting about those teeth of hers." He snorted.

"Would it count?" as Will hissed, doing his best not to move his lips too much, even as Elizabeth, Sloane and Gibbs leaned in to listen.

"Of course it counts!" Jack called loud enough for both crews to hear, much to Davy Jones' fury. "He said first blood. Never said they had to draw it by the sword."

He stalked forward to the railing of the Pearl, still clutching his jar of dirt tight, even as he smirked smugly.

"Now, Jonesy. If ye'd be so kind as ter free me cabin girl and give her back to me, I'd be very grateful."

But that was a big mistake.

Will felt his gut sink as Davy Jones leapt to his full height. The fury on that smooth octopus-human face could have decimated empires.

Jack's face dropped like a stone.

"Seize her!" Jones snarled, pale green-blue eyes flashing like stormy seas as the tentacled beard flared.

"Lass, look out!" Gibbs shouted, as did several other of the Pearl's crewmen, including Elizabeth and Katrina. But it was too late.

At the sound of their captain's shout, several cursed crewmen snapped out of their stupor and grabbed at Peggy, who spat blood in their faces as she desperately tried to swipe them off with her claws. They herded her till her back was pressed up against the mast, her body writhing and wriggling hard as she braced herself for the feel of sharp metal and bone of their weapons. But none came.

The thudding of Davy Jones's peg leg pierced through all the shouts of the Black Pearl's men and the jeers of the Flying Dutchman's crew as he stalked over to Peggy and grabbed her blackened right wrist with his claw hand, his bloodied tentacle-fingered hand pushed back out of her reach even as she struggled.

"Ye want yer cabin girl Sparrow? Fine!" the devil snarled. "Let it not be said I am not a man of my word." She wants her freedom; she can have it. She can have all the freedom she wants…in death," he hissed the last word softly in her ear as her eyes widened "Aye…Death be the only true freedom for ye-GAH" Jones reeled back as Peggy's left arm slipped out of the grip of one of his men and swiped him across the cheek, one of her clawed nails leaving a scratch under his eye.

Taking advantage of the surprise of her captors, she shoved them off and bent over into a forward roll that took her towards the two swords on the ground. She grabbed at her cutlass and swiped back as a hand tried to grab at her.

There was a horrible shriek somewhere to her left as one of the crewmen stumbled away, grasping at the bloodied stump. Nearby, there was a fleshy thud as a pale, green-skinned hand flopped to the deck in the middle of a group of cursed men who leapt back in surprise.

"GRAB HER!" Jones roared as Peggy threw her cutlass aside and scrambled up a shroud higher and higher with all the speed and grace of Jack the Monkey.

"Come on, Peg! Come on!" Young Jimmy shouted, Katrina beside him and gripping his arm, torn between hiding her face in his shoulder or watching her sister leap from the shroud onto the boom of the topgallant, which she began climbing across, hotly pursued by several of the smaller, cursed crewmen.

"What's she doing?" Elizabeth frowned, only to be silenced by Marty's groan.

"Oh no. She ain't gonna try jumpin' again, is she?"

"Again?" Will's nostrils flared. "What do you mean again?!"

"She's going to jump ship-to-ship?!" Sloane's green eyes were almost bulging out of his sockets "at this distance? Is she mad?!"

"She has no choice!" Gibbs ran a hand over his head as Jack yelled:

"Jump, love! Jump now!"

And Peggy did jump.

She ran across the last few paces of the boom and straight towards the gap between the ships. Pain and desperation fuelling her, her legs sprang her into a great big leap for a rogue rope that hung from the top of the foremast. As she fell through the air, she grabbed at it and swung forward as if she were a monkey on a vine.

"She's not going to make it!" Elizabeth gaped.

"No-no, she's got to!" Katrina squeaked as Will rushed past her, his eyes fixed on Peggy as she reached the peak of the swing's arc and let go.

Peggy saw the deck approaching at speed and shut her eyes as she tried to turn her body to land better.

There was a heavy thud as she collided bodily with something human-shaped that was both solid and soft.

"ghnbnnn!" Will grunted as he and Peggy rolled across the deck, her mass almost knocking the wind out of him.

Peggy groaned, her head throbbing from where it had struck with Will's shoulder. However, she had little time to think about how she had been able to stick the landing on anything when the stinging in her chest returned full force, almost pulsing in time with the shattered remains of her broken heart.

She was in such misery that all sound around her was strangely muffled. She could vaguely hear shouts of her name as a pair of hands rolled her over onto her back and patted her face to rouse her.

"Peg! Peggy, wake up!"

She recognised the callouses and the size of the fingers as they hauled her up to a reclining position with her head resting against a strong shoulder.

"Shit! Shit-shit-shit!" Will's voice hissed frantically, and she felt him suck a sharp breath in as he forced his voice to speak calmer, "Are you okay Peg? Are you hurt? Come on, speak to me!"

Peggy blearily opened her eyes.

She was on the deck of the Black Pearl, Will holding her against his chest protectively, one hand around her shoulders, while the other patted her head and face.

"Will?" she grimaced.

At the sight of her eyes open, he laughed breathlessly in relief.

"You," he breathed, shaking his head with a fond exasperated smile "You…you're utterly mad."

"Speak for yourself." Peggy snorted as she shook her head to clear it. By all the old gods, her head was thumping, and her chest was clenched so tight she could hardly think straight.

"Get 'er in me cabin!" Jack shouted somewhere to her right. "Kitty, Jimmy, you stay with her. As for you, Jonesy-" There was a pause as the grinding of wood and metal hit all their ears.

Peggy turned her gaze to see Jack standing with his back towards her, a jar of dirt held aloft and still in shock as several hatches opened in the hull of the Flying Dutchman, allowing several cannons to slide forward at the ready to strike.

The sight of the artillery was like a cold splash of water to the face.

"Hard to starboard," Jack mumbled, his voice a panicked squeak.

"HARD TO STARBOARD!" Peggy shouted, rolling out of Will's arms and scrambling to her feet. "BRACE THE FOREYARDS!"

"Peggy! Peggy! Wait!" Will tried scrambling after her as she turned and grabbed at Jimmy, and Katrina shoved them backward towards him.

"Go! Go to the helm, stick with Gibbs and Cotton, and stay close to the deck! Elizabeth, you too. Keep watch on our stern!"

To Will's surprise, Elizabeth obeyed the instruction without question and without any snark or anger. But the situation was so dire that he supposed even she could not ignore the urgency to follow orders, and Peggy's stern tone left no room for argument.

At her shouts, men jumped to attention; no one questioned her. Then again, the sight of the blood all over her mouth was quite terrifying and would make anyone think twice about crossing her.

Jack seemed to have forgotten his earlier order for her to be put in his cabin, as the desperation to get away from Davy Jones took hold. Now he was Captain, and he needed his first mate and his quartermaster on his side, whatever their condition.

"What are we up against?" the pirate barked as Peggy finally managed to reach him..

"She's better sailing upwind than the Pearl." Peggy huffed, clutching her right arm close to her chest. "We need to pull further leeward and go on a full run if we're going to escape the reach of her cannons. She also has a pair of triple guns at the bow-"

BOOM! CRASH!

The ship rocked and juddered as the Flying Dutchman's side cannons clipped the sides and stern of the Black Pearl, one cannonball bursting through the door to the Captain's cabin, which was now a shredded mess of splinters and shrapnel.

Jack barely managed to grab a hold of Peggy and keep his footing, his brown eyes darkening as he caught sight of her wince of pain as she clutched her chest.

"I'm fine," she snapped before Jack could comment. "Let's get out of here, then worry."

Jack's gaze hardened, but he shut his mouth and nodded. As ghastly and horrible as the situation was, this was not the time nor the place for this argument.

He grabbed at Peggy's hand and hauled her to the helm.

Behind them, he could see Will trying to follow them, only to be forced to duck as another cannonball flew over their heads from behind and smashed into a piece of rigging and the crewman who manned it.

The poor man flew into the ocean with a spluttered shriek, forcing Will to take his place to secure the piece of rigging before it could unravel.

"Hold fast!" Will called as another crewman leapt forward to take their friend's place.

"SHE'S ON OUR TAIL!" Ragetti's rough voice cried out above all the hubbub.

"TURNER LOOK OUT!"

Will felt his body be slammed to the side as something heavy whizzed through the air right at the spot his head had been.

"Thanks," he nodded at Sloane, accepting the hand that helped him up and held him hunched over to stay low as another cannon flew overhead as the boat turned away from the wind.

"Go on me, darlin'! Show us what ye got! Come on, girl!" Will heard Pintel bleat as he kissed the railing of the Pearl desperately.

He was not the only pirate at their wits' end. From what Will could see, many people in the crew were muttering prayers to any god that could hear them as they hauled and pulled and rushed about in their duties.

The only one not panicking was Jack, who had taken over from Gibbs and Cotton at the helm and was steering the wheel one-handed while he kept his precious jar of dirt close to him. Peggy was behind him, doing her best to shield Katrina and Jimmy from debris as cannons blasted the carved stern above their heads.

"Are you two alright?" she asked, softening a fraction as she tilted Jimmy's injured face side to side.

"We're fine. How far is she now?!" Jimmy called to the railing where Elizabeth and Gibbs were looking back at the way they had come.

"She's falling behind!" Elizabeth called as they watched a cannonball splash harmlessly into the waters behind them as the Pearl sailed out of range.

"Aye! We've got her!" Gibbs grinned, laughing at the grey skies above.

"We're the faster?" Will frowned as he paused on deck to see the shadow of the Flying Dutchman getting smaller and smaller in the distance.

"Aye, against the wind, the Dutchman beats us. That's how she takes her prey. But with the wind-"

"We rob her advantage," Will sighed in relief. At least that was one less thing to worry about.

"Is it over?" Katrina wept, her head still bowed and eyes still shut, even though she lowered her hands from her ears to listen.

"The cannons have stopped. But we've still got a ways to go." Peggy stroked her sister's curls down soothingly, glancing back at the jar of dirt in Jack's hands, then at Will, who shared in her worry as they both wondered the same thing.

Would Jones send the Kraken? If their suspicions were true and Jack had the heart in the jar…would Jones risk it?

"They're givin' up! YEAAAH!" Marty hollered.

Peggy winced as the rest of the crew cheered, but she did not smile nor did she join the celebration. Men even jigged and stamped their feet in celebration, but it wasn't enough to mask the strange, deep pulse that gently rocked the ship from below.

She didn't know if Will had felt it too, because he was now hissing something to Jack, his words muffled but his harsh tone unmistakable.

Good grief. He thinks he can fight Jones? Peggy sighed as she helped Jimmy and Katrina up to their feet and dusted them off.

The Flying Dutchman will never sink. She's not like the Pearl was when she was sailing under Barbossa's cursed colours. She's a true ship of ghosts.

"Why fight when you can negotiate?" Jack's voice wafted to her ears, smug and languid like a fat cat lounging in front of a bird trapped on a silver platter.

WHAM!

Peggy braced herself, Katrina and Jimmy only just in time as the Black Pearl jolted to a sudden halt.

The jerk was so hard that men fell over, Elizabeth and Gibbs almost tripping backwards down the stairs from the helm. Will stumbled into the helm wheel with Cotton and Jack…Jack tripped into the railing, his precious jar of dirt slipping from his grip.

Peggy watched as if in slow motion as the glass of earth tilted over the edge of the railing and vanished out of sight.

"NO!" Jack cried, but it was too late. Glass shattered down below.

Jack ran down the stairs helter-skelter, falling to his knees and digging through the dirt and glass, muttering wildly under his breath.

"Where is it? Where's the thump thump?!"

Peggy shut her eyes in dismay as the words hit her.

Oh no…oh no-no-no…

"Jack," she mouthed. "What have you done?"

Of all the times he had to go and get hoodwinked…

"What the hell-" Jimmy hissed as he and Katrina rushed to the edge of the ship, still holding hands.

"Did we hit something? Did they hit us?" Katrina looked around wildly, tears returning to her wide blue eyes.

"Stay right here!" Peggy turned on her heel to look over the side of the ship, only to stop in her tracks as the smell hit her nose.

The fishy smell of rotting flesh and death.

It was enough to make her fangs and claws grow and her curls literally stand on end.

She wasn't the only one who noticed. Down below on the deck, Sloane's hackles were also raised as he stiffened where he stood.

When he met Peggy's eyes, their faces fell as they realised the same thing.

Will noticed them, and at first, the familiar churning of jealousy swelled in his gut, only for it to fall away as he saw the same look of fear in both selkies' faces.

Then he heard it.

A deep, bubbling sound far below.

The same bubbling he had heard earlier that morning…

His heart froze as he caught Peggy's wide eyes, hope fading as she nodded in confirmation to the silent question hanging in the air.

"Must've hit a reef!" A sailor called, but Will shook his head.

"No. It's not a reef!" He dashed to the railing and roughly grabbed Elizabeth and Jimmy, hauling them both to the safety of the middle deck while Peggy grabbed at Katrina. "Get away from the rail!"

"What is it?" Elizabeth shouted, confused.

"The Kraken!" Will barked, causing Jack's head to shoot up like a startled dog down below on deck. "TO ARMS!"

"Load guns! Defend the mast," Gibbs called.

"What do we do?" Katrina cried, but Peggy was already pushing her and Jimmy back together.

"Stick together. Whatever happens, don't let yourselves get separated. If you know how to shoot, then get a gun. Cotton, keep them close. Don't let them out of your sight. If worst comes to worst, take a boat and get them far from here." Peggy called, and the mute sailor nodded solidly and took a protective stance next to the two adolescents, ushering them towards one of the safer hiding spots on the Pearl's stern. At the same time, Peggy ran after Gibbs and Will, repeating orders while dashing back inside the ruined captain's cabin.

The cold breeze that hit her face through the massive gaping hole where the windows had once been shocked her for a moment, but she was quick to pick her path through the ruined room back to the door to her nook.

Amazingly, the room was not destroyed. Hell, the only damage that it had taken was the door being blasted off its hinges.

She quickly found her gun and her cutlass hanging just where she had left them the fateful night Jones had taken her back, along with that precious, rare copy of Tales of the Deep, which she tucked into her sash.

She wasn't sure why she took the damn book. She was going to die anyway. But something told her in her gut that it was important.

"Run out the Cannons and hold for my signal!" Will yelled in the distance while footsteps rushed towards the captain's cabin.

"Pegsy?! Oy, where are ye, love?" Jack's voice called, nearly a panicked bleat in his anxiety.

"In here, Captain! AGHH!" Peggy cried in pain as her arm burned.

In the ruined Captain's cabin, Jack leapt around, hand flying to his gun, only to pause as he spotted a red mass of hair in the shadows of the nook.

Peggy was leaning against a wall, face pale and sweaty as she hunched over her arm, which she extended to inspect.

The pirate lord almost felt his stomach nearly disappear as he dashed towards her.

The dark ring on her wrist was visibly throbbing now, and the tips of her fingers had started to turn that awful shade of black just like the rest of the blood vessels in her arm.

The worst part was that even as the Kraken's grip rocked the ship, Peggy tried to grab a beam for support, her fingers barely responded and slipped against the wood.

She stumbled, arm flailing for support as she desperately tried to regain her footing. Jack reached out to grab her, only to jolt back as something appeared in the shadows behind Peggy.

A figure, tall with a tentacled beard and sneering face and a pincer-clawed hand that grabbed at her injured arm

"PEGGY!"

Peggy hardly heard Jack shout as fresh stinging pain erupted in her right wrist. Pain from the spot where the black ring of the Devil's Mark had first spawned all those months ago.

Jack stared as all the blood vessels in her elbow began to get stained, the lines of poison sneaking further and further up her arm in front of his very eyes.

The cry she let out was even more pitiful, more like a wounded animal than a human sound, but for once, she didn't care about embarrassment or holding back to spare others the worry. She had no energy to do so. All her mind could focus on was that horrible agony in her wrist and the terrifying cold numbness spreading swiftly to her fingers.

It felt almost like someone had taken a knife and was slowly cutting in circles into the mark over and over again, bleeding her dry.

"OI!" Jack's nostrils flared as he rushed forward, drawing his gun, only to stop short as Davy Jones stepped fully out of the shadows and onto the floorboards behind the selkie.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" Davy Jones sneered with malicious pleasure as he shoved a sobbing Peggy back at Jack, almost pushing them back onto the floor. "And it's slow too. Takes around half a full day to stop your heart and lungs, unless you choke to death before that. There is no cure, no escaping it. No matter what ye do, swim, run or sail, ye will die before the sun rises again, and YOU Sparrow," he glared at Jack with a malice that was so palpable it almost stained the air "You will be in the locker before you even see the sun setting. A fitting end to two treacherous, mangy dogs such as yourselves."

"Not if I don't gut you first, squid face," Jack muttered, his face awfully blank and kohl-lined eyes steely as he glared at the vindictive psychopomp.

Tears welled in Peggy's eyes as the Devil slipped back into the shadows, his body seeming to meld with the ship until all that remained was the dark wooden wall.

"Peg? Peggy, where are you?" Will's voice called in the distance, a slight waver in his commanding tone the only hint of his worry.

At the sound of the blacksmith's voice, Jack scowled and grabbed at Peggy's arms.

"Come on, lass. Let's go."

But instead of dragging her back towards the deck, he pulled her towards the gaping hole in the wall.

"Jack, where are you going?" Peggy pulled back only to get hauled to her feet.

"Where'd ya think? Outta here, of course. That whelp's no use to us now." Jack hissed, tugging her behind him towards the open gap in the wall that fell out onto open water.

Outside, they could see one of the longboats kept below the stern just above the waterline, ready to go. To Peggy's relief, the water wasn't bubbling here, though she could see the shadow of the kraken's main body submerged deep beneath the water. Had it not been for the clear skies, she might have mistaken it for the shadow of a passing cloud, so large was the shape.

"C'mon." Jack pulled at her arm "I know your arm is a bit busted, but we can get down while they're all busy."

But Peggy stayed where she was.

"What about the others?" she gulped. "What about Gibbs? Cotton? Marty? Will-"

"Forget about them!" Jack waved her off. "They'll be fine. They've gotten out of worse scrapes before."

"What about Jimmy and Katrina? What about them?" Peggy's gut broiled angrily as she tugged her arm out of his grip, causing him to pause. "They're just children, Jack. One of them is your blood."

"Jimbo's too injured, lass, he'd slow us down." Jack sighed, and to his credit, he did have the decency to look a little guilty. "As for Kitty…well…She's the daughter of my enemy-"

"She's my sister!"

"You hardly know the kid" Jack's scowl deepened, and Peggy's eyes watered.

"That doesn't matter!" she growled "She's still my sister."

"And ye think that makes her matter more than you?"

"In these circumstances, YES!" Peggy's nostrils flared "I'm a dead woman walking, Jack. She's still got a whole life ahead of her."

"So would you if you'd stop being so bleeding-hearted and be selfish for goddamn once." Jack rolled his eyes as he tried reaching for her. "Tia Dalma's not too far from where we are. If we row hard enough, we could get a cure before the day is up-"

"No, we couldn't" Peggy shook her head, pulling her injured arm away from him before he could grab her. "Jack, what's wrong with you?"

"No, what's wrong with you?" Jack snapped back. "You just fought a one-on-one with the slippery bastard and escaped him all to avoid dying. But one drop of ruddy poison in yer veins and yer giving up?"

"Jack, there is no cure! Tia Dalma told me herself." Tears streamed down Peggy's cheeks. "And even if there was, there would be no point. The bond's almost gone, I'd be dead in a day or two anyway."

"Then why'd ye bother fighting back in the first place?"

"Because I wanted to come home!" Peggy sobbed as something heavy rocked the ship from below, buckling her legs and forcing her onto her knees along with Jack. "I…I just wanted to be here at home when I died. Is that so wrong?"

Jack was silent as her words hit him with the force of a bullet. She sounded so small…so broken. Just like that scared little girl, he and Barbossa had watched topple out of that apple barrel down below in the cargo hold all those years ago. That same frightened little girl who begged him not to throw her overboard and desperately pleaded for him to give her a job as cabin boy, despite shaking in her boots at the sight of him.

The same little girl who had desperately pleaded and wept for him to help her before being gagged and tossed overboard the night of that horrible mutiny.

"No…" Jack muttered softly, gulping down something hard in his throat that he was not going to acknowledge, no matter how much his chest tightened and stung. "It ain't wrong at all."

He pulled her back by the shoulders.

"You should go, Jack, " she whispered before he could speak. "Go without me."

"Pegs-"

"Jack, go." She said flatly. "If you're not going to help the others, then don't bother helping me. I'm dead weight. More so than Jimmy. What would it matter if you escaped with me if I'm going to die anyway?"

Peggy sniffed as she desperately tried to get herself under control, vaguely noticing that even though the pirate's face was blank, his ringed hands shook slightly as they rested on her shoulders.

"It matters more than ye think." Jack's voice was soft and strained, oddly in a way she had never heard before. "Because you matter. You may not believe it, love, but you do. You mean more to me than any of these fools put together."

"You're just saying that-"

"Don't mean it's not true."

Peggy stared at Jack wide-eyed as one of his ringed hands ruffled her hair and patted her head.

His face was unreadable. It was serious and stern, yet there was a slight softness to the kohl-lined brown eyes she had never seen before. These weren't just pretty words he was spinning to win her over. It wasn't a manipulation or a part of some scheme.

These were real…that look in his eyes could not be faked. Not even by a liar like Jack Sparrow.

That only made the aching in her chest grow by the second.

"Come on, love, come with me." Jack hissed, his tone almost pleading, "It'll be just you and me like old times. You and me, ey? Against this cruel world."

Peggy sucked in a deep breath and stood up, shaking her head as he tried to follow her.

"Not this time, Jack. I'm sorry…But I won't." She mumbled, and Jack sighed.

"You really want to stay behind. " He muttered bitterly, "for them? For him?" he added with a glower to the door where they could hear Will barking more orders.

Peggy nodded, biting her lip as the pirate lord sighed and looked around the room thoughtfully. She could see the gears turning in his head. He was torn between knocking her out and dragging her with him or just going on his own.

The fact it took him so long to decide the latter almost made her want to cry harder. She had never expected this of the man, not in all the time she'd known him. He almost always put his own life above everyone else's, except on today of all days.

"Fine." He sighed heavily, the choice heavy in his sombre gaze "Fine. You want to stay behind. That's yer choice. It's a bloody stupid choice but so long as ye don't regret it, I can't say anything, can I?"

"Thank you, Jack." Peggy reached out and hugged him briefly but bracingly.

"I just wish I knew why." Jack sighed heavily, annoyance now lacing his voice as he patted her back awkwardly. "Why do you care so much about what happens to these louts? Most of them would happily leave you behind for dead if they had the chance."

"I know. But I care…well…Because I care!" Peggy swallowed the sob in her throat "It's…It's just a part of who I am…just like being a selfish scallywag is part of who you are. But you could be so much more if you weren't so afraid of seeing the best in yourself and doing what you know is right."

"Hark, who's talking?" Jack snorted as he prized himself from her, his feet wobbling as the ship tilted to one side slightly.

"The Kraken." Peggy hissed, stiffening as she caught sight of a gigantic sucker ring on a tentacle through a gap in one of the walls. "You should go now."

"Pegsy, are you really sure-"

"I'm sure." She nodded as she carefully pulled out the sword on her hip, and she heard people rushing near the cabin entrance. "Go, I'll keep them distracted."

Jack nodded, stepping out onto the edge…only to hesitate and look back over his shoulder.

She was standing side on to him, her curls billowing in the blustery winds under that blue bandanna. Her face was grim and gaunt, her mouth still gruesomely slathered in dark blood, which had also splattered a little onto her shirt, but he could see the spark in her eyes. A spark he had not seen for a very long time.

A spark as bright as the glitter of the sun on water.

Not even the Devil himself was able to dull it…even this close to death.

"What?" Peggy frowned as she glanced back at him.

"…Nothing love," Jack murmured, his voice oddly distant and his eyes strangely misty even as he coughed "Give the slippery bastard hell."

She smiled then. A real smile. Not a fake one to reassure him that all was well. Not a nervous, anxious smile to hide her fear.

It almost broke his shrivelled heart to see it on this miserable day.

"Aye-Aye, Captain." She nodded at him.

Jack said nothing. He wasn't sure what was wrong with him now; the awful lump that was in his throat might make him do something he would forever be embarrassed to admit.

So he merely nodded back and began climbing down the height of the hull along a spare rope that tethered the longboat below to the ship.

It hardly took him any time at all before he was in the little tub, and even then, he tried to beckon to Peggy one more time to join him.

But Peggy shook her head, tears streaming down her face as she watched his shoulders sag, and his arms reach out to pick up the oars dejectedly, only to flinch as more tentacles rose from the water just a few short feet away from his vessel.

Startled, Jack started to row frantically, but to Peggy's relief, the Kraken did not notice him and continued to inch its appendages up the sides of the much larger ship, the juicier of the two targets.

From what Peggy could tell, its whole attention was on the Pearl; she could feel the creaking and groaning of the wood of the ship as its many tentacles squeezed it on the sides, trying to find a solid grip to launch its attack while other tentacles poised themselves to pierce the hull.

Guess it's time to face the music. Peggy sighed as she pulled herself away from the hole in the stern and ran back to the door of the Captain's cabin, only to nearly run into Katrina and Jimmy, who were hiding beneath the gap behind the stairs to the helm.

Meanwhile, everyone on deck seemed to have a weapon in their hands, ready to strike, some with muskets and guns, others with spears, harpoons, or swords. Peggy spotted Elizabeth and Gibbs right next to the stairs that led down to the cannons below deck, from where she could hear Will's voice commanding the men to hold their fire.

"Peggy! There you are." Katrina squeaked, nearly jumping in surprise as she saw her sister behind her. "Where were you?"

"Talking with the captain," Peggy grunted, hunching behind the children to spy on the ship's deck and pulling her sleeve as far down her injured right arm as she could to hide it "What's going on? Why's no one attacking?"

"Mister Turner is making everyone hold fire." Jimmy hissed. "I think he's trying to lure the Kraken in."

"Good idea." Peggy nodded, "That'll give our guns a bigger target to hit."

"Hold!" Will's voice called out, cutting her off.

"Stay here." She hissed, carefully slipping onto the deck, drawing her sword in her left hand. It wasn't her favoured hand, but it could cut and defend well enough in a pinch. It had to now; she had no choice.

"Easy, boys! Don't fire yet!" she called as a gargantuan tentacle slid over the side of the railing towards Elizabeth and two men who nearly pulled the trigger on their muskets.

"Will?" Elizabeth bleated, her feet slipping on the wood so that she almost stumbled backwards into Peggy, who caught her and steadied her on her feet as Will called out another command:

"Hold! Keep them holding, Peg!"

"Steady!" Peggy snapped warningly at several nearby men who looked ready to jump into action early. "Hold the lines."

Higher and higher the tentacles rose, the port side being held tight by the kraken, while the ones on the starboard side poised themselves to pierce and attack.

"Will? How much longer?" Peggy snarled as she caught sight of Sloane, teeth bared and body tense, being forced to back away from a tentacle slipping and sliding its way to the deck to aim for his feet.

"Hold until it's right below us!" Will shouted upwards, the nerves in his voice just noticeable if one listened hard enough, "Hold! Hold!"

"I think we've held fire long enough!" Pintel's voice snarled from below.

"WILL!" Elizabeth screeched as the thick, meaty tentacle before her raised itself high and straight, ready to slam down on her and Peggy, who scowled as she felt something shift in the water below her as if a large mass were pressing itself into the bottom of the ship.

"Now!" she shouted.

"FIRE!" Will roared.

BOOOM! BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

Behind the stairs, Jimmy and Katrina both covered their ears as cannons fired on both sides of the ship, accompanied by big splashes, horrible non-human shrieks of pain and thumps of something heavy against wood.

Peggy pulled Elizabeth out of the way of a tentacle that fell onto the deck, right on top of a small rowboat that had not been appropriately secured to a safe location.

Peggy's nostrils flared in disgust as they inhaled a whiff of rotten flesh, half charred, wafting up from a hole lower down the length of the boneless appendage, where a cannonball had landed a hit. The smoke of gunpowder filled the air, making the already grey day even greyer as the Kraken retreated all its limbs back into the water.

Cheers once again clamoured all around Peggy, but like before, she did not feel like celebrating. How could she when she could still feel the immense creature's presence lingering far below in the water?

There was the swift thudding of footsteps, and a hand grabbed her arm to steady her as she sheathed her sword, wobbling slightly on her feet.

"It'll be back," Will murmured, pulling both her and Elizabeth away from the railing before they could look over the side to check. "We have to get off the ship."

"There's no boats." Elizabeth looked at the wrecked boat in the middle of the ship that the Kraken had just destroyed.

Dammit Jack. You could have at least left us something to work with. Peggy bit her lip but said nothing. Was it terrible that she covered for the man even now? Probably. After all, it was his fault they were stuck in this mess…his and hers…

She gripped hard at her right arm as it throbbed painfully. She could hardly feel her palm anymore and could only barely turn it over, let alone bend it up and down.

Looks like we're both cowards till the end. She shook her head only to frown as she glanced at Will, hoping he hadn't noticed anything. The last thing she needed was him panicking about her when he was the closest thing they had to a leader, with Jack nowhere to be found.

And as a leader, he needed to keep his head clear.

Thankfully, Will hadn't noticed her unusual silence, though that seemed to be because his eyes were instead fixed on a small barrel of spare gunpowder that had rolled across the deck to land at Peggy's toes.

He patted her on the shoulder gently, not noticing her grimace of pain, nor the grief in her eyes as she watched him weave through the men and straighten up, Elizabeth following close behind him as he barked.

"Pull the grates. Get all the gunpowder onto the net and into the cargo hold."

Even in a crisis, she can stand beside him. Peggy sighed as she watched Will grab a rifle from one of the men and hand it to Elizabeth with a murmur.

"C'mon, Blake!" Peggy felt a hand push gently at her back to steer her to the side and out of the men's way as they began to roll barrels and ammunition down below.

She looked back and saw Sloane's worried face.

"The Captain's left…hasn't he?" He whispered in Peggy's ear, and she sighed.

"Yes."

"I thought as much. Else he'd be arguing with Turner." Sloane shook his head, his hand slipping down to grip her arm, only to pull back as she hissed sharply in pain.

Peggy silently cursed as he looked down at her blackening hand and sucked in a sharp breath.

"Old gods have mercy." The male selkie breathed only to have Peggy clap a hand over his mouth.

"Sloane no."

"But Blake-"

"I know." She nodded quietly, "I know it's bad. Jack knows too."

"But Turner doesn't." Sloane finished, eyes narrowed dangerously at the back of the blacksmith's head. "bastard. Says he cares, but he can't even see this-"

"Because I don't want him to." Peggy snapped, yanking her arm down before anyone could look, "The crew needs him right now. They need him to lead. They don't need me to worry about and mourn over."

"Blake-"

"Sloane. No. Not now. It's not worth it." Peggy hissed. "Just promise me one thing."

"What?"

"Whatever happens next, keep my sister safe. Please keep her and Jimmy safe. That's all I ask."

There was a pause as Sloane stared at her, his eyes drifting to her chest over her heart. She wondered if he could sense the bond now. Could he, like Tia Dalma, see how fractured her heart was? Surely he must be able to tell that she was close to the end now.

She shut her eyes as the blonde selkie's arms wrapped around her tightly in a brief, bracing hug.

It was a very different embrace from Will's. With Will, she felt like she slotted perfectly into place against him in a way that made her feel complete and whole. With Will, she could happily melt into his embrace and never leave. With Sloane, it was strong and warm, yes, but it was his scent that hit her hardest. Beneath the smell of cologne, sweat and spice, she smelled something different.

Something that wasn't a human smell at all.

Selkie. A small piece of her mind said. This was what a selkie smelled like.

For so long, she had given up hope she'd ever meet another selkie. But now here she was in the arms of one of her own kind for the first time since her mother…

Her mother…whom she would see soon in the afterlife once that poison had run its course.

"Sloane!" Will's shout snapped her out of her stupor. It sounded a little angry. "Get below and help Gibbs."

Sloane quickly detached from her, patting her shoulders as he did his best to blink back tears in his eyes.

"I'll be fine." She whispered, "Go help the men."

"You're sure?"

"I'm sure."

"If we don't get through this…" Sloane gulped, "then…I'm glad to have met you, Peggy Blake."

"I'm glad to have met you, too." Peggy smiled weakly, "You're the first selkie I've ever met apart from my mother."

"I hope I didn't disappoint. Especially after the way I butchered our first meeting with my fists," Sloane muttered, and Peggy grinned.

"So you finally admit it?" she rolled her eyes.

"I do. And I sincerely apologise."

"No need. You've more than made up for it since then. Goodbye, Ronan Sloane. If you make it out of this alive, then live a good life." Peggy nodded at the selkie male, who nodded silently, not trusting himself to speak even as he dashed below deck.

"What was that about?" Will muttered gruffly as he stalked up to her side, face tense.

"Wishing each other luck," Peggy muttered stiffly. "Seriously, Will, you're going to start this shit now with him?" She didn't mean to sound harsh, but she was in too much pain to care. With the disgusting smell of the supernatural gargantuan predator beneath her, her patience with the drama was wearing so thin that it, like her heart, was barely hanging on by a thread.

Will had the decency to look a little ashamed even as he reached to take her right hand.

"C'mon. You know the stores downstairs better than anyone. Stay close. It's going to be bedlam up here soon."

But Peggy shook her head and pulled it back before he could connect to the deadening limb. Heaven forbid he notice how cold her skin was or how pale it had gotten.

"Stay focused on the crew." She clipped, quickly sidestepping him in the hopes he would not look down. "I'll stick with Katrina and Jimmy. Keep them out of everyone's hair."

"Too late, Kitty's already helping load the powder down below." Will shrugged, grimacing as she narrowed her eyes at him. "What? I couldn't stop her. She's as stubborn as you when she wants to help. Must run in the family." He added with a slight smirk, grabbing her left hand and dragging her below deck, almost colliding with Gibbs as the older sailor ran up towards them.

"There's only half a dozen kegs of powder!" Gibbs shouted.

"What about the fireworks? The ones we looted from the Libertine two moons ago?" Peggy frowned. Surely they could not have so little gunpowder. What had Jack been doing while they were gone? Surely he would have taken the opportunity to resupply properly while in Tortuga. Or had the men used too much in their fear while facing down the Kraken?

"LOAD THE FIREWORKS TOO!" Gibbs shouted to the men below, and several boots made to dash to the stores near the bow. "Still not enough firepower. We don't have much to blow." He grunted at Will and Peggy.

"Then load the rum!" Will yelled, rolling his eyes as he dragged Peggy down the stairs, completely ignoring the stunned silence as the men stared after him in horror.

But Peggy noticed it all.

These men had just shot at a Kraken barely a few moments ago, but THIS was what made their hearts stop? Sacrificing their precious rum?

Pirates. She shook her head in fond exasperation as she heard Gibbs bark orders to load the rum into the net. Now it was getting fuller much faster. In a way, it seemed that the men were loading it as fast as they could, if only to avoid thinking about it lest they change their minds and try to drink their precious rum instead.

Besides, they could always comfort themselves by telling each other they could buy more after they survived this day.

If any of us survives today. Peggy bit her lip as she was dragged down to the lowest bilges, where the net was being secured around the barrels, while the crew loaded as much as they could into it.

Among these crew members were Katrina and Jimmy, both of whom stuck together as Peggy had told them, as they helped load the smaller barrels into the net.

"I told you to stay put!" She shouted at the two youths over the din of men and the rumbling of larger barrels being rolled.

"We had to help!" Jimmy shouted back. "We brought down the gunpowder from the armoury too!"

He moved out of the way as Katrina rushed out behind him, carrying two small barrels under each arm. Behind her, Peggy could also see a small pile of around ten similarly sized barrels usually kept in store up above.

"Good thinking." She patted her sister on the shoulder as she let go of Will's hand and rushed towards the pile.

The barrels were small and light compared to the rest of the cargo, but at least it would show Will and everyone that there was nothing to worry about.

"Put those little ones on top. Spread the fireworks." Will ordered, showing the men that had just come forward with more rum barrels and a few sticks of fireworks where to position them. "Rum goes there!"

"Get hay from the stores too! And oil!" Peggy shouted. "Pour oil on the nets! Georgie! Get the barrel of pig fat from the kitchens!"

"Aye, ma'am!"

"Anything that burns or bursts, add it into the pile!" Will nodded. And so they continued to add to the net. Soon, men came with the oil and started pouring it all over some of the barrels, while others began taking out fuses and small grenade bombs from the boxes that had been flung down from the armoury.

And yet for all the progress, Will found his gaze drifting worriedly to Peggy. Despite helping him organise the net and shouting orders, she wasn't nearly as active as she usually was in a crisis. She wasn't handling the heavy barrels and was avoiding using her right arm.

He knew she must be tired after that duel, but she had seemed spritely enough during the chase. It was only after she had come out of the Captain's Cabin that she had seemed down.

The Captain's Cabin, where Jack had entered and not come back out.

He's gone. Will realised, a cold dread filling him.

He's gone and left all of us behind…left her behind.

Jack Sparrow stared at the Black Pearl.

The last time he had watched the ship from this distance, it had been on Black Sams Spit all those months ago, and he'd left her in Barbossa's hands.

Now it was in the tentacles of that beast.

He could hear men screaming from here, see their bodies either dive or be tossed overboard like scraps.

There was a mewling sound, and Jack almost leapt where he sat as a mound of white fur hopped up from the bottom of the longboat onto one of the seats.

"YOU!" Jack snarled at Orion the cat, "What the hell are you doin' here? Why aren't ye with yer little lady ey?"

The feline stared him dead in the eye as it raised a leg and began to groom itself. Jack noticed the damn feline was still quite squeaky clean despite the mess of the ship they had left behind.

That sneaky little bastard. It must have done a runner the second it smelled the Kraken closing in.

And now here it was, staring him down with those big yellow eyes. It seemed almost baleful…pleading. But no. Cats were selfish buggers. Why would it be pleading for the life of its owner while leaving them behind?

"No. No, I ain't goin' back." Jack snapped at the cat, doing his best to avoid its piercing stare and failing. Damn the thing. "Look, yer mistress made her choice alright! She chose to live the life of a pirate, which means she needs to learn that it's every man for themselves out here."

The cat meowed, glaring him down. Was it disappointed? No cats were ever disappointed. It was their natural state when confronted with human stupidity.

So, why did he feel so guilty?

His ringed fingers gripped the oars tighter, gut squirming as he thought back to that tear-stained face telling him to go.

He should have just knocked her out and taken her with him. Or, at the very least, give her a proper goodbye.

But he couldn't. Not because he did not care to.

No.

He was not made for this sort of thing. He was made for adventure, for seeking his own fortune, for the selfishness of getting that thrill.

He wasn't made for the sappy, sad, emotional stuff. That was for people like the whelp who enjoyed wallowing in drama. Or it was for people like Peggy, who needed to connect with people to find joy.

True, there had been moments in his life where even he, Jack, had caved into the weakness of seeking connection with others. He was human after all. Usually, he found such a connection in the men of his crew, like Gibbs or Cotton (the mute being an excellent secret keeper), though occasionally, he found it in lovers like that beautiful young novitiate turned pirate whom he had met in that Spanish convent – but no. Jack was NOT going to think about HER right now.

As for Peggy, she was an unusual case. She was not a lover, nor had she ever really counted as part of the crew.

She was…She was his…Well, she was his Pegsy. That's who she was.

His Cabin Girl. Although he called her that, Jack had not really given much thought to what that title meant to him, if only because he knew that thinking about such things led the mind and heart down treacherous paths.

But she was one of the few people in his life who had been worth giving a damn about. He had never been sure why. Maybe it was those big selkie eyes that suckered him in. He had always been weak to deny any female who could master the pleading look. Or perhaps it was because she was one of the few who saw right through him down to the mushy bits he kept hidden.

Whatever it was, he cared about the girl. Even he could no longer deny it. How he cared, he wasn't sure. He just did.

He looked back at the ship, gulping as he saw a tentacle wrap itself around the prow, breaking the woman raising the gull in her palm that had been carved into the bowsprit.

For some reason, the words of Elizabeth Swann wafted over his mind.

"You're going to want it. A chance to be admired and gain the rewards that follow. You won't be able to resist"

That was true at least. He was selfish, and a part of him wanted to know what it would be like to be the hero, too. To receive the accolades and the adoration. To be revered and respected, to have songs sung in taverns about his legend, even while he was still alive. A living legend. That's what he truly wanted.

It was part of the reason he had initially agreed to go straight and work for Cutler Beckett all those years ago. After growing up in Shipwreck Cove in his family's shadow, going legitimate was the only way he felt he could break away from them.

But look at how well that turned out for him?

Then again, it had led him down the path to other tremendous feats…one of which was staring him in the face right now.

He could turn back now. Turn back and save all their hides. Be the bloody hero. Show them all how he had truly earned the title of captain. It wouldn't be hard. Of course, most of them would die in the attempt (hopefully including the whelp), but maybe he could at least get the kids out like Peggy had said.

His mind wandered back to the selkie's fight on the Dutchman. She had the opportunity to end it all right then and there, but chose to save her sister first instead.

It was, Jack thought, the dumbest thing to do. She had the chance to win. She had freedom right there at her fingertips.

But no she chose to save someone else and stay behind because it was the right thing to do.

And worse still, Jack knew the girl would have done no less for his sorry hide.

Peggy…who knew he was a scallywag but still somehow found something in him to love and care for despite all his bullshit.

He reached down to pat his sash. There beneath the bindings, he could feel the square shape of paper folded. The picture the whelp had drawn of Peggy—the one where she was smiling.

A true smile, just like the ones she used to wear when she was a little girl hanging off the shrouds of the Pearl when the ship was at full speed, joyfully whooping as the sea spray hit her face, and gleefully laughing even as Jack and Barbossa hollered at her to get down and get back to her chores.

Jack turned his gaze back on Orion, who had started to groom his private parts, his leg held high in the air without shame. However, upon feeling Jack's gaze back upon him, he quickly stopped and fixed him back in his piercing, yellow-eyed stare.

"Not a word of this to ANYONE!" Jack growled as he tightened his grip on his oars. "Stupid bloody cat"

Will Turner swore loudly, his heart hammering in his chest as something constricted tight around his ankle.

Against all odds, the net full of explosives and gunpowder had been hoisted up high into the rigging, Will hanging off it by the ankle that had been snagged.

"WILL GRAB THE RIGGING! GET OUTTA THERE!" He could hear Peggy shout at him from far below as she dragged Kitty and Jimmy out of reach of a tentacle that grabbed a sailor and pulled him through the hull with a sickening crushing and snapping of bone.

She had been down below, instructing whatever men she could to abandon ship and tread water as long as they could or hang onto pieces of flotsam. Even if they did win this round and the plan to blow up the Kraken was a success, there was not much any of them could do until after the dust had settled and the creature had cleared off.

But it was no use. One by one, tentacles pierced through the ship and dragged off men, or pieces of timber and rigging would fall on them or fly into them, crushing, impaling and shredding them on impact.

There was carnage everywhere the eye could see. But Will felt strangely detached from it all.

It wasn't as if he didn't care. He did care. He did not know these men, but when this mess was all over, he knew he would grieve their loss, even if it were only out of guilt for having led them to the grave.

But right now, nothing but pure will to live was driving him.

Live.

Fight.

Get out of danger.

Get her out of danger.

Nothing else mattered.

He spotted Elizabeth above deck, holding a rifle and doing her best to steady her aim to take the shot that would save them all.

"SHOOT! ELIZABETH SHOOT!" Will roared as he desperately tried to cut through the rope with his father's knife that he had kept tucked in his boot.

But still she hesitated. Will cursed softly as his knife slipped against the oiled ropes.

Why? Why was Elizabeth hesitating NOW? Now of all times? She was a decent shot thanks to going hunting with her father. She knew she had to take the shot. Why couldn't she do it now?

It must have been because she didn't want to sacrifice him. He reasoned, guilt flooding him.

Yes. Whatever was going on with Peggy, Elizabeth was still his fiancée. She did care about him. She wouldn't want him to die. He'd feel touched if such nobility were not coming at such a cost to everyone else's lives.

"Come on! Come on! Gah!" he hissed as a tentacle jostled the net and his blade fell from his hand to the deck.

He looked down, hoping to shout to Elizabeth to throw the blade up at him, but he couldn't see her.

Where was she? Why wasn't she shooting?

"Take the barrel!" a man's voice shouted, much closer now.

He looked down and saw Sloane ducking and weaving with Katrina and Jimmy, the two children rolling a barrel across the deck as per his instructions. Will couldn't hear what the male selkie was saying over the crashes and screams of the other sailors, but from what he could tell, the selkie was instructing the two youths to throw the barrel over the side so that when they jumped overboard, they could hold onto it and float. A good plan. One that the two children were quick to heed, after Sloane promised to follow them and bring someone else along. Whoever they were, Katrina was adamant that Sloane find that person. Was it Peggy?

Whoever it was, Will was at least relieved to see that Sloane had made sure the two kids had jumped overboard.

Good. Will sighed in relief. At least the children would be safe with Sloane. Whatever his allegiance, Will at least could trust the man would not let innocent children come to harm.

"WILL!"

Will grunted as the net of explosives suddenly swung dramatically, the force making his hand slip on the oily ropes and he would have flipped upside down had not someone grabbed his arm to steady him.

"PEG?! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" He shouted as Peggy tried to haul him back upright before the blood could rush to his head.

"Savin' your stupid, big lubber backside, that's what!" she growled, and Will noticed that her clawed nails had extended so she could grip the ropes much tighter. In her belt, she had his father's knife tucked safely.

"Will, help me, ya lug! I can't hold onto you forever!" she snapped, tugging on his arm.

Will readjusted his hold on her arm, and as he rose, he became aware of a loud rip of material as her wet sleeve tore under his grip.

But he could hardly focus on that as Peggy shoved his father's knife into his hand, holding the rope away from his ankle as far as it could go so he wouldn't cut himself.

It was a hard task, even with Peggy's help. The net of explosives was swinging side to side like an erratic pendulum while massive tentacles with huge suckers closed in around the two of them.

"Keep cutting!" Peggy shouted, bringing one of her claws down to help him slash at a rope that was nearly cut through.

Will's heart nearly flew out of his mouth at the sight of his blade cutting off her fingers, but desperation kept his hands moving without his consent.

Luckily for him, Peggy was dexterous enough not to get nicked despite his trembling fingers.

"Got it!" He shouted victoriously, sighing in relief as his ankle was finally freed of its constraints.

But he had little time to celebrate his achievement. Not when a nearby tentacle pushed them both into such a massive swing that they both were jostled off.

As they fell, Will saw, to his great confusion and oddly enough elation, that Jack was standing at the helm of the Pearl. The pirate lord's face was as cool as a cucumber despite the devastation that surrounded him. He was holding a rifle in his hand, ready to fire. Elizabeth cowered behind his legs to hide, even as he sneered in concentration, the tip of his firearm pointing up at the last second to follow the barrels just as Will and Peggy came crashing down to the deck.

"GAH!" Will grunted as he rolled over onto his side, his back aching as the old wounds and bruises from his whipping on the Flying Dutchman throbbed painfully.

Beside him Peggy was already rolling over onto her front, adrenaline fuelling her as she shot up to her hands and knees, shaking her head out.

BANG!

The gunshot pierced the air like a knife, and it was as if everything slowed down for Will.

There was Jack, his face half obscured by smoke from the gun. There was Elizabeth ducking for cover behind the stern. There was a bullet, a small sphere of black, hurtling through the air like a minuscule comet aiming for a planet.

Then there was Peggy, face a mask of fear as she knelt beneath the explosives and the tentacles coiling high above. If it exploded above her, the flames and shrapnel would surely-

Before that thought could even complete itself in his head, Will dove at Peggy, tackling her so hard they rolled across the deck, him landing on top of her just as the bullet pierced one of the fireworks strapped to a barrel.

Will shut his eyes, cradling Peggy's head into his chest as he felt the heat of the flames blow over his back like a gale, felt pieces of wood shower over him, small splinters and tiny droplets of burning oil burying themselves painfully into his hair.

But he stayed on top of Peggy, his arms wrapped so tight around her as he cloaked her from above, shielding her as burning flesh and blood splattered down upon them from on high like thick rain and hail.

The smell was horrible, but Will buried his face into Peggy's curls, his mouth brushing her ear as he whispered:

"It's alright. We're alright. We're alright. We're alive. It's alright."

"Will-"

"We're alright. We're alive. It's alright." His mouth would not stop. Like a prayer, he was compelled to keep going.

It was just like the poor man he had seen on that ship the night Jones had first captured him – the man who had kept pulling on that rope and pulley even though his vessel had run aground. Will remembered thinking the man so foolish for continuing with his task after all was lost…but now…now he realised it was he who was the fool.

"Will-" She breathed only to shut her mouth as a gargantuan groan rose from far below. Will fell silent, too.

The groan was so loud and so deep it rattled the boards beneath them like a child's toy.

Yet as the monstrous sound faded into the air, so too did any sounds of crashing or screaming.

To Will, the lack of noise was more disturbing than the cacophony of all the chaos.

Chaos was easy to deal with in a crisis. Chaos was supposed to be there.

But silence. Silence was deafening.

It meant he could hear his heart pounding and his ears ringing like bells. He hated how loud it was in his ears, if only because it blocked out all other sounds, leaving him vulnerable to surprise.

He was hardly aware that Peggy had pushed him off her so they could roll onto their sides.

"Will. Will look at me." Peggy's voice was gentle as she cupped his cheek. "William."

Will did look at her, relief flooding him as her voice cut through the fog in his mind.

She was here. She was still here. And from what he could see of her blood-smeared face, she did not have a scratch.

She stiffened as his arms shot out to wrap around her, his grip so tight she actually found it a bit hard to breathe.

Will, however, did not let her go. She was here and she was safe.

He had kept her safe.

"Did we kill it?" The rasp of Marty wafted over the deck.

"No. We just made it angry." Gibbs's voice growled.

Will looked up and finally took in the scene around him.

There was absolute carnage on the Black Pearl. Bodies of men were scattered, some whole, some torn to pieces.

The rigging was in complete shambles, one of the masts half-bent and nearly on its way to collapsing, while bits of sail drifted down to the deck, gently burning as flames licked at the material.

Amidst the destruction, very few were left.

There was Gibbs and Marty; Cotton had also survived, as had his parrot, Paulie. Those two bilge rats, Pintel and Ragetti, came running out of the Captain's quarters, shaking with nerves as they fretfully looked out across the deck.

Elizabeth was rushing down the stairs to the helm, Jack sauntering behind her, gun still in hand.

She stopped short as she saw Will on the ground, something in her gaze hardening as she noticed Peggy in his arms.

His grip tightened around the selkie.

Will was not sure why, but something about the look on his fiancée's face unnerved him. There was a coldness he had never seen before, an edge of sharpness that hardened her features as she glared at the back of Peggy's head even as they both gingerly rose to their feet, Will stumbling over a piece of debris.

"Easy Will," Peggy whispered as she caught him and held him steady.

Elizabeth's nostrils flared at the sight, any concern she might have felt for his well-being clearly flying out the window as they stared at one another across the deck.

The silence between the pair was so unnerving that even Paulie the Parrot hardly made a squawk.

Sensing the hostility, Peggy quickly detached from Will, stumbling towards the railing as voices shouted from below.

"HELLO! ANYONE STILL ABOARD! HELLO! UNCLE JACK YOU UP THERE?!"

"JIMMY?" Gibbs called as he, Peggy and Marty all peered over the railing.

And there they were. Katrina, Jimmy and Sloane all sat in the lone longboat Jack had hijacked, a white cat sitting on the young noblewoman's lap and clinging to her.

"Thank god you're alright," Katrina called, nearly weeping in joy at the sight of them.

"Speak for yourself," Peggy sighed, almost slumping into the railing in her relief, tears springing to her eyes as she glared at Sloane. "I thought I told you to get them far from here."

"The barrel sank," Sloane grumbled. "Someone must've put cannonballs in it or something."

"Must've been Grimsby." Pintel snarled irritably, "That blighter is always takin' shortcuts."

"Not anymore, he's not." Ragetti grimaced as they caught sight of the aforementioned sailor lying amongst the numerous dead.

"What do we do now?" Jimmy called. "Uncle Jack?"

There was a pause as Jack looked about his ruined ship, eyes swimming with a myriad of emotions—relief at being alive, anger at their circumstances, grief at his loss.

"We're not out of this yet," Gibbs growled as Jack finally reached them. "Captain. Your orders?"

"Abandon ship. Into the longboat." He muttered much to the shock of everyone, including Will, who finally was able to tear his gaze away from Elizabeth's glower in his amazement at the order.

"But Jack…the Pearl." Gibbs frowned, and Jack sighed.

"She's only a ship, mate."

Peggy felt her already ruined heart ache for the man. This Black Pearl had been the jewel of Jack Sparrow's eye for so many years, but even he knew there was no way in all the layers of hell she was going to survive any longer today.

"Jack." She whispered with the barest hint of a smirk. "You came back."

"Couldn't leave without a proper goodbye and a final screw you to that bastard." Jack grumbled, gently pushing her towards the railing with a gentle touch "Into the boat, Peggy, there's a girl."

That made Will even more bewildered. It occurred to him that he had never really heard the pirate ever use Peggy's real name before. It sounded odd coming from the usually smarmy pirate. He always called her 'Pegsy' or 'love' or 'lass' and other such endearments, but never by her name. At least, not in front of Will as far as he was aware.

"He's right, we have to head for land." Elizabeth clipped, sucking in a deep breath to school herself to something resembling normal, but Will could sense her snarl even from here.

"That's a lot of open water", Ragetti whimpered as he gazed at the ocean.

"That's a lot of water", Pintel agreed, looking out onto the horizon where a large, familiar landmass lay waiting for them.

Will felt his heart race as he recognised the shape of it. It was Cuba. More importantly, it was the side of the island where lay the river on which Tia Dalma lived. To think the heart had been so close to her domain all this time, and yet they had to sail so far to find it.

"We have to try." Will grit his teeth as he willed himself to master his nerves. "We can get away as it takes down the Pearl."

"Sloane and I can tow the boat from the bow." Peggy nodded.

"Ye sure lass?" Marty frowned, and Peggy nodded.

"Aye, just tie two ropes to the front and we'll hold it in our teeth when we transform. So long as you lot keep rowing as we pull, we'll reach the shore in no time."

Jack looked at Peggy, really looked at her hard, and it seemed to Will that once again he was watching a silent conversation. If he didn't know any better, he might have thought Peggy and Jack had the selkie's bond. But no. He knew they didn't. He knew it in his gut.

But they did have a powerful connection. One Will would never be able to break, no matter how badly he had broken her heart.

"Abandon ship," Gibbs growled in dismay as he finally finished digesting the bad news. "Abandon ship or abandon hope."

Will had hardly stepped forward to usher Peggy towards the longboat before she had stepped to a hole in the edge and dived over the edge with all the grace of a seabird.

She pierced the water with barely a scratch, and Will shuddered as he felt her pelt tingle against his skin beneath his shirt. Despite all the destruction of the day, the precious pelt had not been damaged.

And yet…yet something felt very wrong to him.

It was still prickling against his skin like embers from the forge. And not in a good way.

She must be stressed. He thought wildly. Yes. Maybe the stress and exhaustion were making her transformations harder on her body.

That HAD to be it. It had to be.

Yet a dread had settled in his stomach that he could not shake.

He grimaced as he looked overboard and saw a familiar brown seal head bob up near the bow where Sloane was.

There were no words between her and human-shaped Sloane, but Will could read the man's expressions.

Clearly, he was on board with the plan, as exhausting as it was, for he slid into the water, quietly reassuring a confused Jimmy and Katrina that all would be well soon.

"Quick! Throw me two ropes!" Marty called as he lowered himself into the longboat first.

Will followed shortly after, carrying a couple of rifles under one arm and three swords on his belt. Cotton and joined them shortly after, tying the two towing ropes tight and fast to the iron ring at the bow of the longboat and making sure Peggy and Sloane, now both transformed into seals, had them secure in their teeth.

"Will take these!" Gibbs shouted from above, thrusting some scavenged waterskins to Will as he scrambled up to take them.

Yet as Will reached out to grab the essentials, he froze.

There, behind Gibbs's back, were Elizabeth and Jack.

Elizabeth and Jack…wrapped…in an embrace…arms around one another, their lips locked and their bodies held tight together as they moved backwards out of sight.

But even as they disappeared from his line of vision, Will could not erase what he had just seen from his mind.

Elizabeth…Jack…Elizabeth and Jack…

"Prepare to cast off. There's no time to lose." Gibbs shouted as he turned around to descend the side of the ship, hardly noticing the noblewoman and pirate lord still passionately lip-locked on the deck of the crumbling Black Pearl.

But Will could not unsee it. The brief glimpse he saw played over and over in his mind.

With each repeat, something cold and hard etched itself in his heart as his mind raced.

How could she? How could Elizabeth do this to him? he thought wildly, anger flooding him.

After everything he'd done to win her affections - to prove himself the best fiancé…

All those months just thrown away with one kiss…

She had told him – no, she had promised him she would not betray him, that she would not make a fool of him.

But here he was. A fool watching her switch targets to a new hero who had saved the day at the last second.

Just like she had with Norrington.

Will's fists clenched as he descended back into the longboat.

How could she? How could she? How dare she?

No…

Another inner voice sneered in his head.

THIS is what you gave up your dignity for? THIS is the reason you gave up a good, honest life with respect and dignity?

THIS is the reason you gave up a good, honest woman who gave her life to love you with all her heart?

You gave all that love in your life…FOR THIS?!

No Will Turner…how dare YOU?!

"Where's Jack?" He snapped as Elizabeth finally deigned to descend towards them, doing his best to ignore the hateful voice turning its vindictive vitriol upon himself.

Elizabeth looked surprised at first, but quickly resettled as she met his gaze levelly. It seemed to Will that she had guessed what he had seen, and despite the direness of the situation, she was pleased with herself.

Why? Was this some vindictive ploy to get back at him for being there for Peggy? Or had she just been waiting for the chance to switch targets now that he, Will, had served his purpose?

Now that she had a new 'hero' to dote on and remember fondly.

"He elected to stay behind to give us a chance." She clipped, and he recognised the condescending tone of her voice as the same kind she used to address servants that annoyed her.

In a way, he wasn't surprised. In the end, he supposed that was all he had ever been to her. A tool she could use to buck the system for a while and prove her desirability to the masses. The stupid naïve village blacksmith, who had turned to a dashing life of piracy to save her from death.

What a wonderful prop he had made for her story. And now she had roped Jack into playing the tragic hero of whatever next chapter of her life she had planned next.

Will actually found himself feeling sorry for the pirate rather than angry. Jack thought he was above being seduced for others' gain. But Elizabeth had spun a pretty web for him, hadn't she?

Will had wondered if the pirate was the one weaving the net around the noblewoman when, in fact, it was probably the other way around.

"What?" Katrina gasped only to be restrained as Gibbs grabbed hold of her just as Cotton held fast to Jimmy, who had started to squirm, tears springing to his eyes.

"No! No, he can't! UNCLE JACK NO! UNCLE JACK! JACK!"

But Elizabeth was unfazed by the boy's cries as he writhed and struggled against the combined efforts of Marty and Cotton. She only turned her face away to bark an order to "Go!" to Pintel and Ragetti, not even deigning to look any of them in the eye as they cast off.

Will felt his gut curdle in disgust as any last vestiges of warm affection for his fiancé vanished from him, leaving his gut as cold as ice.

How could she? He knew they were in danger and needed to be pragmatic, but she could at least show SOME pity for her newest conquest's family. The boy had lost his mother; Jack was all he had left.

"We can't just leave him!" Katrina cried as Gibbs thrust her into Will's arms to stop her. "We can't-It's not right."

"I know," Will murmured, holding the girl close and patting the top of her head as she buried her tearful face into his shirt. "I know, but it's his choice."

"It's a bad choice!" She shrieked.

"I know, lass." Gibbs's usually steady voice shook, and Will was surprised to see the older sailor's eyes were also wet. "But it's his choice."

Katrina struggled, but the effort was weak and vain as her grief took her over.

There was a soft thud, and Will turned to see Jimmy slump in Cotton's arms, Marty's fist rising slowly as the smaller pirate shrugged guiltily.

"Had to. He would have capsized us."

And so they passed over the water. Pintel and Ragetti kept rowing hard and fast while Peggy and Sloane towed the boat in their seal forms.

At firs,t Will had wondered if the two selkies would be strong enough for the task. An empty longboat was one thing, but there were five adults and two adolescents in the boat along with weapons and small supplies. That had to be hefty cargo even for a child of the ocean, right?

But to Will's relief, it seemed that once they got momentum going, it wasn't as complicated as he thought to keep them moving fast across the water towards land.

Even if the view was the most horrific he had ever seen.

There…there on the horizon was the dark mass of the Black Pearl, slowly sinking further and further down below the water line as gigantic, thick, meaty tentacles curled and coiled around it, dragging it down like a deformed hand of a demon from hell with a massive roar that echoed across the empty seas.

Will shut his eyes, his hand rubbing circles on Katrina's shaking back as she turned to weep in his arms, big, hefty sobs that almost shook him.

But he stayed steady. He had to. They needed to stay strong now for one another…

Peggy…Will sucked in a sharp breath as he heard a cry of grief in his head.

She had sensed Jack's death. Will wasn't sure how she could possibly know, since she had been underwater all this time. Maybe it was her selkie senses, or perhaps she knew by smell alone that Jack wasn't with them and had been smart enough to put two and two together.

Maybe she just knew…she just knew in that eerie way what Jack had done because she knew the man.

Had loved him selflessly and been loyal to him through thick and thin.

Will grimaced. However mixed up he was in Elizabeth's betrayal, he was still important to Peggy. He would never begrudge her grief or deny her feelings, not even for his own jealousy.

"Jack Sparrow…our debt is settled."

"The Captain goes down with his ship…"

"Turns out not even Jack Sparrow can best the devil."

"What about Bootstrap's whelp? What if he's still alive?"

"…He doesn't matter anymore. Dead or alive, I have already ripped out his heart."

…

"Open the chest."

…

"Open the chest I need ter see it!"

Thunk!

Clink.

Thud-thud-thud.

Scrrech!

Flip!

"Damn you….JACK SPARRROOOOW!"

Beneath the water, Peggy gripped the rope in her mouth tighter. She could not cry; she had no tear ducts while in seal form. She didn't need them because the water kept her eyes moist.

But in her mind, she wept as the last threads of her broken heart began to be plucked apart like overstressed guitar strings.

She wanted to go back. To find him. The Kraken might have taken down the Pearl but Jack could have still leapt overboard.

But she kept swimming.

She kept swimming even though she could feel the edges of her vision slowly begin to blacken.

"Blake? Blake, you in there?"

Sloane's voice in her head sounded very far away. It was almost as if her mind were underwater, too. She could hardly think straight…as if it were her mind that was drowning in shadows. Darkening shadows in which she could hear voices.

But she didn't feel any fear. She had nothing to fear from the water. Not drowning, not the Kraken or the Devil himself.

After all, death was just another part of the adventure. One that they all would take eventually. She was just reaching there sooner than the others.

The thought was oddly soothing.

If she were dying and Jack was already dead…then that meant she was probably going to see him soon.

She'd see him again.

And Barbossa…and her mother…

Her mother…she had not seen her mother in years since that horrible day…since she had been on the beach and run to see that window open high above and her father's pale, terrified face staring down at the rocks in front of Peggy's feet.

Peggy wondered if she would be whole and hale in the afterlife? Or would she still bear the scars from her dreadful death?

Either way, she wanted to see her…even if it was only one time…if only to hold her and smell her scent just once more so she could remember what it was like.

Mama. She whispered in her mind, shutting her eyes as she felt the rope slip from her mouth. Mama, where are you?

"Blake? BLAKE! BLAKE, WAKE UP! DON'T LET GO!"

But Peggy was no longer listening to Sloane.

She could hear voices speaking to her, other voices she had not heard in a long time. Some were familiar, crewmates she'd seen fallen in battle, elderly neighbours from Port Royal…hell, she was sure she even heard Mister Brown's gruff voice in there too. Was he dead? He had seemed perfectly fine, according to Will, the last time they had talked about him.

Maybe the bottle had finally taken him.

Peggy wondered pityingly how a man like that could succumb to the drink. Was he just a horrible man who was trying to escape his problems through a bottle? Or had he started drinking because of some horrific tragedy that only drink could make him forget? All these years, she had never bothered to ask the man. She had just resented him for hurting her and stealing all her money. Never once had she sought to understand his motives.

And he had died all alone…the same way she was about to.

"Hold on chil'" She could hear Tia Dalma shout at her over all the whispers. The voice of the voodoo woman was oddly clear despite having an echoy quality to it. "Don' give up. Don' give up now! Ye so close."

Peggy opened her eyes as something brushed by her fur. It was a current, hard and fast and pushing her along. Coral and reef sped beneath her as she was carried through the ocean blue towards clear, shallow waters.

She tried to move, to swim with it, animal instinct forcing her to try to survive. But her body hardly responded. She couldn't see how badly the poison had spread in her seal form, as it was so different from her human one. But from what she could feel, her right hand flipper and her feet flipper were hardly moving at all. Only her left side remained uselessly flapping around as she tried to steer herself and failed.

Eventually, she saw the coral decreasing and being replaced by white sands.

Hot white sand that cradled her as a wave gently pushed her onto a beach.

White foam lapped around her body, which slid and stretched as it transformed back to human shape.

Shore…she realised. They had reached the shore. And since she had let go quite some time ago, she was probably washed up far away from anyone. A small mercy, allowing her to die alone, but at least with her dignity intact.

"Damn! The tide's too low!" she heard a voice grumble nearby. "We'll have to drag the boat over if we're going to go upriver."

So much for dignity, she snorted wordlessly as she gingerly rolled over onto her back. She had an audience to witness her pathetic demise.

Oh well, at least the clouds had dispersed and a blue sky was overhead. She always liked blue skies…so bright…so open and free…like the ocean below.

There was a roar, like that of a mammal, that morphed into a man's yell.

"BLAKE! BLAKE, wake up!"

"What is it?" She heard Will's voice shout. "Where's – Oh my god, Peggy!"

She shut her eyes as the rustling of sand hit her ears, and Will gasped somewhere above her.

"Oh no. Oh no-no-no-no-no-no! Peg. Peggy. Peggy, please open your eyes."

The corners of Peggy's lips quirked upwards as she felt a familiar pair of hands touch her face: those callouses, those rough finger pads.

How many times had he held her face in them? How many times had he stroked her hair?

She prized her eyes open, the effort taking so much out of her that she could hardly lift her fingers.

"Will…" She breathed, gazing up at the shadow that blocked the sun.

"Peggy! Peggy, come on. Come on, Peg, stay with me." He pleaded.

She could see his eyes now. His frantic brown eyes stared down at her, wandering in horror over her face.

Ah, the poison was spreading there, too?

Now she truly must look like a nightmare.

She smiled humourlessly at the desperation on his face, just like that fateful day when they had first met ten years ago.

Poor William…he always wanted to fix everything with those sweet words and gentle but steady hands.

But she had been broken far longer than he had known her.

She had always been broken since the day she was born.

She had just deluded herself into believing she could be fixed eventually because she thought she had patched up enough to keep going.

"Looks like this is it, huh?" she whispered.

"No…no it's not." Will shook his head, tears streaming down his cheeks. "Dammit, Pegs! Why didn't you say anything? Why did you keep this hidden? We could have spared you-"

"I don't want to be spared." She mumbled. "Jack's gone."

"But you can live-"

"For what?" She breathed. "For what? My home is gone, Will…Jack's gone…my life's gone…and even if I stay, you'll just leave me again-"

"No-no, I won't!" he hissed, hands grabbing at her to haul her into his grip. "I'm not leaving you this time. I'm no,t I swear. I swear I'll be with you all the way. We'll fix this."

"Will come on the boat's ready."

As Peggy began to slip into darkness, she was vaguely aware of the dangling of her legs as Will stood with her in his arms, pleading desperately into the crown of her head as her eyes slid back shut.

"NO! No, Peg, wake up! Wake up! Peggy, stay with me! Stay with me! You can't leave me now! You can't. I'm not losing you again. Not now. Not after how far we've come-"

She felt wood beneath her body and the arms around her tighten as Will rocked back and forth with her, raising one of her hands to press a gentle kiss to her knuckles.

One day ye found yer silkie cloak,

Hidden where nae words were spoke,

Wi' a tear, ye kissed guidbye,

An' slipped intae the waves sae high.

"We'll reach Tia Dalma's soon and you'll be fine. We'll find a cure just hold on-"

Ma sweet love, wi' eyes sae clear,

I long tae haud ye near,

A woman's voice sang soothingly in her ear.

But ye've gone back tae the sea,

An' left me wae an' drear.

That voice. That beautiful voice with that melodious lilt.

Noo I sit by the ocean's roar,

Dreamin' o' the days afore,

But yer hame is now 'neath the tide,

An' I'm left here, wae and tried.

So warm so inviting…

Ma sweet love, wi' eyes sae sad n' clear,

I long tae haud ye near.

It called to her soul…

But ye've gone back tae the sea,

An' left me wae an' drear.

Called her home.

"I'm coming, mama", she breathed, her voice as soft as a gust of wind "I'm nearly there."

Ma sweet love, wi' eyes sae clear,

"NO! NO!" Will shouted, his voice now shrill as terror gripped him tight in its chokehold, "You're not going anywhere! You're not Peggy no-PEGGY! PEGGY DON'T LEAVE ME! DON'T YOU DARE LEAVE ME! DON'T YOU DARE! PEGGY NO!"

I long tae haud ye near,

Her hand wilted in his grip.

But ye've gone back tae the sea,

"PEGGY! PEGGY!"

Then all she knew was black.

"PEGGY!"

An' left me wae an' drear…