turned_captain | (no subject)

Will surprises himself with how easily he takes to the job.

His first act as Captain is to release everyone of their obligation to Jones, and many of his crew are quick to take it. Jones was a cruel Captain and they'd committed to a hundred years under him without really meaning it: choosing servitude out of a fear of death. When Will offers them release from this bond, they take it readily, and as the Dutchman sails away from Elizabeth, the sky lights up with a green flash as the souls enslaved to the ship are paid for their service with a second chance at life.

It's the men who choose to stay, like his father, that surprise Will and fill him with a sense of satisfied gratitude. He'd be the first to admit that his dedication to his duty was very much trying to keep him occupied so he didn't have to think too hard on the woman he left behind. The importance of what he is charged with goes some way to waylaying the despair of not being able to see her, and the gentle surge of the sea against the ship of his soul is a nearly adequate replacement for the hole where his heart should be beating.

The Dutchman is his mistress now, but she's a poor replacement for his wife.

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There's a long line of faces waiting to board.

One of them is more familiar than most.

Will recognises him before he admits to recognising him, and takes a moment to steel himself for this reunion.

He may have tried to kill Norrington on one occasion, but that doesn't mean he doesn't wish he weren't dead now.

He offers his own hand to help the dead man board.

"Welcome on board the Flying Dutchman, Commodore Norrington."

"I hardly think I merit that title now", is the only response before he takes Will's hand and steps onto the deck. "Good day, Captain Turner. Or is it night?"

"Somewhere? Probably both."

Will steps back, examining his former rival, and not quite sure what to say. Eventually he smiles faintly, in gratitude.

"Elizabeth told me you saved her life. I owe you thanks for that."

His smile widens quickly. "Even if you won't take them."

That makes him look up, the movement sharp.

"She lives, then? You won?"

Will's smile widens even more, until it's very nearly a grin.

"We did. Thanks in part to your actions."

Norrington isn't smiling, but his relief is clear.

"Then at least I achieved something worth the name, at the last."

"You did."

Will straightens, looking a little more serious now as he turns slightly to survey the ship.

He's never asked any of his passengers what he knows now he's going to ask. And yet he isn't sure why he does.

"James Norrington, will you join my crew?"

Norrington looks startled - he knows Will never liked him, and had little reason to, let alone to make such an offer - but then he turns to follow the other man's gaze, and he knows there's only one choice he can make.

"When I was a boy", he says softly, "I wanted nothing more than a life on the seas, forever. At least, a lifetime seems forever, when you're twelve years old and new out in the world. I thought it would be freedom." He looks up at Will. "I was wrong. But now, it seems I have the chance to truly sail forever. Yes, Captain Turner. I'll join you."

Will grins again, satisfied, and offers his hand again, this time to clasp in an almost friendly manner.

"Welcome aboard indeed, then, James."

It means something, the first man to willingly join his crew.

Norrington smiles, now, setting the past aside along with his mortal life in a conscious decision, and clasps Will's hand.

"Where do I start?"

On a higher deck of the Dutchman, the elder William Turner stands and watches.

He barely remembers his last encounter with the man, but he remembers enough to know that here too is a debt.

As the two men below clasp hands, Bootstrap slowly starts toward them.