"Are you *sure* this is legal?"
"I'm over twenty-one. You're over twenty-one."
"You know that wasn't what I meant."
"Trust me," Jack said, smiling, "I work for the government."
"Seven scariest words in the English language."
"I'll drink to that!"
"Oh, fine." Will sighed and his shoulders slumped, but he smiled, and tipped
back the rum and coke that came courtesy of his companion.
"Seriously. The audit's almost over, as these things go, and if it helps, I
don't think Mr. Swan has anything to worry about. And you're just a
manufacturing manager…no offense, but I'm satisfied that you don't know any more
about where the money at that company's going beyond who signs your paychecks."
Will, though, read between the lines of the good-natured slam. //He didn't say
the company was fine,// Will thought, eyes narrowing slightly, //just the
president. Was that a hint?//
"Likewise with Liz, if you're wondering."
//Now he's fishing.// "You're fishing," Will Smith ("no relation") observed, and
Jack's eyes widened with a look of such patently false innocence that Will had
to grin again. "Yes, we went out, once, during the course of which date I told
her I was gay. We've been best friends for a while now." Will leaned forward
over his drink, and confided, "Anyway, she's been sleeping with Greg Norton in
Security for a year and a half."
Jack snorted. "That tightass?"
"He's not that bad. He just doesn't like you because he thinks you and your team
have been doing illegal things to get into the financial records."
"If we were exceeding our access, it would only be in the course of accessing
things we should have been enabled to access in the first place."
Will stopped and ran the last sentence back through his mind. It was something
he'd had to do often since meeting Jack Byrd, currently of the Internal Revenue
Service.
"So, what's on your mind, besides taxes? And don't say death," Jack advised.
"It's the natural association, but it's depressing."
"Just thinking about when we met. Running into you and Annie Mae in the
cafeteria. She forgive you for wrecking her car yet?"
"That'd be a no." He leaned forward. "If I wasn't her boss, I think she'd have
smacked me. Probably more than once."
"It was an accident."
"By definition," Jack agreed, smiling. "Anyway, if I hadn't, you might never
have given me a ride, and then you'd never have met me, and we wouldn't have
gone for drinks, and tonight would have been utterly dull for both of us."
//Damn. He's got an ego, but who'd ever have thought an accountant would have
been this bloody charming.// And a little flattery never hurt, Will decided.
"Well, you are the most interesting accountant I've ever seen."
Jack gave him a cockeyed look. "Thanks, I think."
Had the backhanded complement backfired? They'd been playing this game since
April, banter and flirtation, thrust and parry…Will watched Jack toss back his
own rum and coke and say, "I ever tell you what the real IRS motto is?"
"Faster than a speeding 1040 EZ?"
Jack rolled his eyes. "No."
"We're human beings just like you, except we breathe via gills?"
"No, not the Dave Barry version."
"Okay, fine. What then?"
Jack leaned forward, a gleam in his eye, smile turned predatory. "Take all you
can. Give nothing back."
Will felt his breath catch and his blood leave his brain. He waved down a
waitress.
"Check, please."
* * *
Will fumbled slightly with the keys to his apartment. This was likely due to
Jack's hand, snaking between Will's shirt and his jacket and moving in
distracting circular patterns.
They made it inside, but once there, Will began to wonder if they'd make it to
the bed. Their first kiss burned in him, to the point where he had to break
away and gasp. Two steps backward landed them on his black leather couch, Jack
on top, which seemed natural.
"This…aah…this feels so insanely…right, you know?"
Jack kissed him thoroughly. "Insanely? Should I be insulted?"
"Only if you're nuts."
Hips twitched, ground…Will gasped.
"I'm not nuts. I am, however, incorrigible. You going to encourage me?"
In answer, Will grabbed the back of Jack's head and pulled him in for another
kiss that actually made his eyes vibrate. When they came up for air again, he
managed, "I just…this is going to sound like a line, but I feel like I've known
you forever. I don't want to screw this up." Then the younger man gave a small
moan as Jack nibbled his collarbone and did something unmentionable with his
hands while undoing Will's pants.
"Well," Jack replied, "It might seem like a line, if I weren't the one who
seduced you."
"Seduced, past tense? You're a little…aah…"
"You were saying?"
"Oh, hell, I'm a goner."
"There you go." Shirts were untucked, shed. Backs arched up, arms clasped nearly
feverish skin. "But it's not just you." No mockery now, gentle or otherwise.
"This was meant to be. I just know. I've known since I saw you. We were meant to
be here, together, now." Another deep kiss, and this one caused small
explosions. "I know every inch of you, somehow. I know exactly what happens
when I do *this…*"
Will bucked and writhed. "Oh GOD…"
Jack smiled that smile again. "Well, that's interesting. I was right." Then,
considering…"We still have way too much clothing on…"
They stood for about as much time as it took to shed shoes and pants. When they
sank back onto the couch, Will was still wearing his socks, and decided that he
didn't care. Heat spread throughout his body from his arousal, then twisting
about his nipple as Jack scraped it with his teeth. Will hissed, and when Jack
moved his hands, he forgot how to breathe. This led to more gasping, and
another one of those scorching smiles. His own hands furrowed the muscle of
Jack's shoulders as Jack kept one hand between them, and the other…
"You ready for this our first night?" Seducer or not, there was real concern.
"Mmm…" Something calm and languid had settled over Will, quite suddenly.
"Doesn't feel like our first night, does it?"
"Nay, lad…"
"What?"
"I said, no, you know, it really doesn't…"
"That's what I thought." One hand groped beneath the sofa, above the supports,
and came up with supplies. Jack eyed them with a raised eyebrow.
"What is this, the make-out couch?"
"Well, yeah."
"I should be jealous, but…mmmm…..Aah!" Will took the opportunity to take a bit
of the initiative, switching his naked hips against Jack's. "Oh, my." And then
Will had trouble thinking again, as two of Jack's fingers went exploring. His
eyes rolled back with the next kiss, Jack's other hand not in the obvious place,
but rather tickling the back of his neck, ever so lightly.
Then the fingers slid out, and Will moaned just a little. Covered and prepared,
Jack began to press within, oh, so slowly.
Completion, like nothing Will had ever known with any other lover.
Completion, like he'd always known with … with….
Slow, so slow. Waves building, beginning to rush through his mind, so harmless
as they lapped at the sand, enough to swamp a man who went any farther.
Hips rolled. He went farther. His eyes opened…he saw Jack. Jack. *Captain…*
Jack's eyes, wide, confused. Body caught up in its own rhythm, soul carried in
currents…"What…What's happening…Will…Will, me lad…"
Riptide, and he was helpless…he gave himself up entirely, knowing this man,
remembering…"Right here. I'm here." And each movement of their loving became the
shaping of white-hot steel, the roll of a ship beneath their feet.
"Will, please. Help me…" The abandon in his voice was near madness. "Tell me who
I am…"
Arms, legs clasped. The horizon beckoned. I am…he is…"Why, you're Captain Jack
Sparrow, of course."
That smile again, completely unleashed. "Of course!" And the heat of him, as he
moved…a temperate ocean, wind over water, iron on the forge…Will Turner cried
out with the intensity of it, mind, soul, and heart. He felt himself draw tight,
and managed only a gasp as he came, his captain only an instant behind,
whispering his name.
The waves receded, slowly, so much more slowly. It had only seemed slow, their
approach. Their departure lingered. Will and Jack lay wrapped around one
another, and it was awhile before either could move, much less speak. When Jack
could move, he raised one hand to where he could see it and turned it slowly, as
if he'd never seen it before.
"That's…very…"
"Interesting?" Will finished, smiling slightly.
"Well, yes." He paused, then said, "Will, do you believe in past lives?"
"You mean, did I an hour ago, or do I now?"
"Good answer. Me too."
They kissed, then, long, slow, and somewhat sleepily, and when they drew apart,
Jack's black hair pillowed on Will's chest.
"I can still feel him," Jack murmured.
"Hmm?"
"Jack Sparrow. He's here. He's still here. I can feel him in the back of my
mind. I should be worried about that, shouldn't I?" Dark eyes looked into his
own. "One night with you and I've got multiple personalities…"
Will smiled softly, a tolerant smile with which Will Turner had often favored
his captain. "I can still feel Will Turner. I'm not worried…but we can analyze
this later. Right now, it's magic at least, and maybe just a little bit of a
miracle. We've found each other."
"Heathen gods…" Jack said suddenly. "I just hope it's not their sort of
miracle."
"Well, it's hardly a curse." That same soft smile, which only faltered an
instant as he glanced toward the window and back.
"What is it?"
"Nothing. It's nothing." And his mind tried very hard to dismiss it, but Will
couldn't shake the impression that he'd seen tiny, sharp fangs, and a gleam of
gold.
