Title: Discussing Terms
Author: Tamara
Email: tamara@bitchenvy.com
Series: Sharing Will Turner
Rating: PG-13
Paring: E/W, J/W, and a hint of J/W/E
Summary: We've acknowledged love and lust. Now the only question is who gets Will when.
Disclaimer: Pirates of the Caribbean and all of its characters belong to Disney.
Distribution: My page, eventually. If you want it, drop me a line. We'll talk.
A/N: I think this might actually be part five. I got the idea for this one when I was working on another idea for part four. Instead this came out. And really, part two is coming, soon. And I'm sure part four will be coming soon after that. Don't you just love how I keep posting these things out of order?

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The sight that greeted Ana, when she opened the door of the captain's quarters and stepped inside, was not what she had been expecting. Jack, Will, and Elizabeth had been missing for an hour and, from the occasional shriek from Elizabeth (who could be quite noisy in the heat of passion, a fact the crew knew all too well), Ana had expected to find the three of them curled up in bed, engaged in acts naughty and indecent.

What she got, instead, was Elizabeth and Jack seated across from each other at the table that occupied one side of the room, staring at each other with hostile eyes, while Will lounged, all by his lonesome, on the bed.

Frowning at the very wrongness of the scene, Ana closed the door and made her way over to Will. "What the bloody hell is going on?" she asked as she sat down beside him.

Will gave her a weary sigh. "Negotiations," he replied, rolling his eyes.

Ana looked at him blankly. "Negotiations for what?" she asked in confusion.

"Me," Will replied, sounding less than enthused at the idea.

Ana tried her hardest not to smile, lost the battle when her lips tilted up slightly. "Things not going well, eh?" she asked after watching the proceedings for a moment.

Another eye roll from Will told her plainly that "not going well" was an understatement. "They've been sitting there for almost an hour," he said, annoyance creeping into his tone, as if he, too, had expected something a little more pleasurable happening in Jack's cabin. "Elizabeth has threatened Jack with death, dismemberment, and," here he shuddered, "castration."

Ana winced, giving the captain a sympathetic look. Elizabeth was a force to be reckoned with, and she fought with every scrap of fire within her for the man she loved. It was clear, from the look on her face, that Jack would only get what he wanted when she was satisfied with the terms.

And, obviously, the current terms did not sit well with Elizabeth at all.

"Are you daft?" Elizabeth demanded just then, her tone incredulous as well as angry. Remembering to whom she was speaking, she rolled her eyes, a gesture Ana was positive she learned from Will. Will had the act of eye rolling down to a science. "Look who I'm speaking to," Elizabeth continued, almost to herself, "of course you're daft. But when, Jack Sparrow, have I ever given you the impression that I am stupid?"

Jack, who appeared completely unaffected by the angry woman insulting him, merely smiled. "The fact that you're here at all is proof of that," he remarked with a shrug. "Imagine, letting the lad come back to the Pearl, to me. Love really is blind, eh Liz?"

Ana and Will shared a look. "Oh, no," they said in complete unison.

If negotiations had been bad before, Jack's comments had just made things ten times worse.

Elizabeth made a move to get up from her seat, her eyes flashing with fury, when Jack leaned forward, his eyes narrowing dangerously. "You leave that seat, love, and the deal's off," the captain warned. "And you'll be swimming to the next shore."

Elizabeth glared at him. "You wouldn't."

Jack smiled. "Oh, yes, love, I would," he replied, his tone serious.

Elizabeth stopped moving in her chair, her hands clenched tightly, looking as if she wanted nothing more than to wring Jack's neck. Then her eyes flicked up, her gaze meeting Will's, and she gave Jack a slow smile.

"I would not be swimming alone," she said when her eyes met Jack's again. "If you throw me off this ship, Will is coming with me." She raised a brow, her face smug. "And then you'll never get what you want."

Ana knew from the look on Jack's face, eyes wide and mouth open, that Elizabeth had stumped him. "She's good," Ana remarked, her gaze straying to Will, who had made himself comfortable on the bed and looked as if he could care less what the captain and his wife were discussing.

"Why do you think I married her?" he replied, smiling slightly.

Ana shook her head, fighting against amusement and losing, again. "I would think you'd be paying more attention to this," she said as she turned her attention back to Elizabeth and Jack, who were staring at each other, once again at a stalemate. "Jack could throw Liz in the brig. Liz could slit Jack's throat with that dagger you made her. Things could get bloody."

Will shrugged absently. "If they kill each other, I won't have to listen to them argue anymore," he reminded her. Then he frowned. "Of course, I'd probably go crazy from all the blissful silence."

Ana nodded, trying to imagine life on the Pearl without Elizabeth and Jack trading barbs and insults. It was dismal and dark indeed. "The crew would throw you off the ship for good," she said with a smile. "But still, this is you they're fighting over. It always is. What are you going to do about it?"

Will flashed his friend a smile. "I'm going to wait until they've settled up and then I'm going to remind them who has the upper hand here," he informed her. "Me."

On the other side of the room, Jack raised his arms, bowing under the pressure that was Elizabeth Turner's angry stare. "Fine," he said, getting up from his chair. "Fine, you win."

Elizabeth's smile was smug. "I always knew you were a smart man, Jack Sparrow," she said.

There was a shaking of hands, and all the hostility between Liz and Jack disappeared as if it had never been there at all. Ana took all this in, rolling her eyes when Jack, ever the opportunist, hauled Elizabeth close and pressed his lips against hers, and shook her head. There was no way, in this lifetime or any other, she would ever understand these three. How three people who were so different were so good together, she would never figure out.

Nudging Will, who looked two seconds away from a good nap, Ana got up from the bed. "Negotiations are over," she told the blacksmith pirate. "And, lucky for us, no blood was shed." Eying Jack, she smiled. "Although, Jack looks as though he'd like to shed a few other things, mainly Elizabeth's clothes."

Will looked up at that and frowned. "Take your hands off my wife," he demanded, half-heartedly.

Jack gave Will a look of such false innocence, Ana had to laugh. "But I thought that was what you wanted, love," the pirate said as he made his way over to Will. "You, me, and Liz, one big happy family."

Will rolled his eyes again, shifting away from Jack when the captain made a move to embrace him. "So, have the two of you finished fighting over my virtue?" he asked, eying them both stonily.

Elizabeth nodded as she attached herself to Will's other side. "Yes, we have," she said, smiling at the captain. "And your virtue is safe with me."

"The same, however, cannot be said of me," Jack informed him, his smile lecherous. "I have made it my personal duty to see that you are thoroughly corrupted."

Will eyed the two, and Ana smiled. "Is that right?" he asked after a moment.

Elizabeth and Jack shared a smile. "Absolutely," they replied together.

"And do I get a say in the time and place of this corruption?" Will asked, trying hard to keep the smile off his face.

This time it was Jack who rolled his eyes. "You can't schedule corruption, mate," he said on a sigh. Then, much to Ana's surprise, and Will's as well, Jack snaked a hand behind Will's neck and pulled him forward, their lips meeting roughly. After a moment, he pulled away and smiled. "It just happens."

Will raised his eyes to the heavens, as if seeking help from the divine. Unfortunately, for him, none was forthcoming, and Jack looked as if he was ready to start doing a little corrupting right then and there.

When Jack's hands dipped south of Will's waist, and Elizabeth's hands undid the buttons of her husband's shirt, Ana took that as her sign to leave. She barely made it out of the room before Will's back hit the bed and Jack had miraculously divested the blacksmith of his pants. As she closed the door behind her, Ana heard the very distinct sounds of Will moaning in pleasure.

"Guess the boy didn't mind the terms after all," she said to herself. And with a smile, she made her way to the deck.

After all, if the captain was going to be lax in his duties, someone had to steer the ship.



END