Chapter Text
When Jack wakes, his head is spinning and he’s paralysed by fear. He doesn’t understand what’s happening to him, can’t trust his own mind. More and more recently, his brain has shut down like this and he can’t figure out why it’s happening. He trusted Hector to figure it out for him but Hector… isn’t as he remembers him. But any time he thinks that, even for a second, the thought escapes him, like sand blown away by the wind. He trusts Hector. He doesn’t understand why that is.
The fear is overwhelming for a moment. It traps him in his mind and sends his thoughts running in a circle. He’s not going to work anything out like this. Grasping for another emotion, he clings instead to his anger. He’s angry a lot these days, although he normally represses it. He doesn’t know where the anger come from – it seems directionless, just this seething sea of frustration inside him.
When he’s able to sit up and take in his surroundings, he realises he’s alone. He was arguing with Hector, he thinks, although the memories are incomplete and he’s having to fill in blanks with guesses. He remembers the man on the island – and the woman he’d had with him. That memory is crystal clear. He focusses on it. He’s sitting on Hector’s – on their – bed, although he doesn’t think he collapsed here. Hector moved him most likely. His hat and boots have been removed to make him more comfortable. It’s a thoughtful gesture, it proves that Hector cares about him. He’s never doubted Hector cares about him. Where is Hector?
They were arguing about… something. The man on the island. Hector wanted to kill him, and Jack didn’t want him to do that for some reason. The man was a threat, Hector had said that, but that hadn’t seemed like a good enough argument, at the time. So, they’d argued and then he’d passed out and Hector had carried him to bed to keep him comfortable. And then he’d left? Jack needed to find him.
Jack stumbles his way to standing and makes straight for the door, only to find it locked. He… doesn’t remember there being a lock on the door, actually. When had Hector added that? And why had he locked him in? Jack rattles the door a few times, just to be sure, but it doesn’t budge. The fear is creeping back again, he scowls at his own weakness, wrestles it away.
Not finding an easy exit through the door, Jack turns his attention back to the rest of the room, hoping for something he could use to pick the lock. It’s at this moment that he notices the note left on the captain’s desk, laid out in plain view. He doesn’t quite want to read it, but in the end he forces himself too. He plucks the parchment from the table, holds it up to read.
Jack,
Gone to remove the threat. You’ll understand when I return. Stay safe.
Yours,
Hector
Jack blinks at the words on the page. He’s reassured, he thinks. Hector is looking out for him. Involuntarily, the hand holding the paper has formed into a fist, crumpling the page. Slowly, he puts it down and reaches for the quill sharpener. Tool in hand, he returns to the door.
All the letter had asked him to do was stay safe. There was no reason he had to stay on the Pearl in order to do that. He bends, and starts to pick the lock.