ericadawn16 | Joshamee Gibbs of the Royal Navy

Characters: Joshamee Gibbs, Theodore Groves, Gillette
Fandoms: Pirates of the Caribbean
Rated: PG-13
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Summary: Gibbs reveals one of the reasons that drove him to drink.
Warning: Mentions canon child abuse.
Author's Note: This is related to Indya , inspired by On Stranger Tides.

Joshamee Gibbs of the Royal Navy

Joshamee Gibbs tried to keep down his hard tack and rations at the sight before them. The large Navy ship was being torn apart from vicious mermaids. The high-pitched sounds of the cabin boys carried farthest. Barbossa, their fearless leader, did nothing.

"I've still served under worse," Groves spat.

"And each of us served under one of the best," Gibbs retorted. Being a conscripted man was bringing back the memories he had hoped to dash with drink.

"You didn't seem to have any love for him or the Navy when you took to drink rather than your duties," Groves commented with a hard edge. Gibbs didn't deny it.

"I've seen a lot of things lad and I wasn't going to stand by and see an honest man turn into his no good father," Gibbs told them and longed for his flask.

"Admiral Lawrence Norrington? This is who you refer to as a "no good father"? He was a celebrated man of the navy, one of the best," Gillette defended.

"Aye, he was the very embodiment of the Navy's ideals; hard and cruel to anyone who crossed them but I served under both father and son. I saw how he treated James," Gibbs spat, remembering. The two men stared at him; unbelieving. "He was just as cruel to his own flesh and blood. I know what a man does to his own household is supposed to be his own business but James was just a boy and no boy deserves that."

"Well, surely..." Groves started and stopped. Gibbs' expression must have stopped him.

"He beat him. He beat him every single day and told him how he wouldn't amount to anything. When I saw how easily James could fall to that same fate as he advanced in ranks...I couldn't see history repeat itself," Gibbs explained and shook his head. It was clear the other two had no idea. Such things weren't supposed to be said.

"What happened? In the end?" Groves asked. "Beckett and his men wouldn't say a thing. We were simply informed that Jones was now in charge of his own ship. I looked for him with the pirates, but...he wasn't there either."

"He died in letting Elizabeth escape," Gibbs informed them and they both sighed.

"I always thought she'd be the death of him," Groves complained. Gibbs hoped Barbossa wouldn't be the death of them.

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Gibbs watched the sun disappear under the horizon. He couldn't help watching for the green flash that meant that Will had delivered souls to paradise. There wasn't one tonight even though he knew there were at least two more souls that needed it. He tried not to think about Groves and Gillette unburied in some cave. There was no burial at sea for them.
Then, there was Gibbs' own big mouth. Without a single thought, he had suggested that he knew a man with a goat.

Maybe he could find a different one. Maybe there wouldn't be a need to reveal James' secret.