Chapter Text
Izzy settled into his bed with a heavy sigh. It had been a long day, made even longer by the reappearance of Stede fucking Bonnet. He didn’t know what the little shit had been doing in Blackbeard’s cabin for all those hours, and he wasn’t going to ask. But judging by the black tarnishing the twat’s shirt when he left, Izzy thought he had a pretty good idea.
His only consolation was how upset Bonnet had looked when he left. His crew members had tried to talk to him, but Bonnet had just snapped a terse ‘we’re leaving’ and started moving down the ladder. When Blackbeard reappeared a few minutes later he was wearing a fresh coat of warpaint, and Bonnet’s dinghy was all but out of sight.
“Keep our course for the Republic of Pirates, Izzy, I want to make port in two days at most,” he’d ordered tersely.
“And what about Bonnet?” Izzy had asked.
“Fuck Bonnet. I doubt we’ll ever see him again,” came the growled reply, before Blackbeard had stormed back to his quarters.
Izzy was happy the boss had finally come to his fucking senses. He only wished the man would let him kill the foppish bastard and be done with it. Fucking Bonnet, screwing with Blackbeard’s head like that. The captain would never let Izzy kill him on the ship, but once they reached the Republic he could reach out to some of his old contacts. There was never a shortage of discreet little men who were willing to take care of problems for a small fee. And what Blackbeard didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him . . .
There was a loud crash! Followed by prolonged groaning as the ship juddered to a halt. Izzy hit his head against the wall behind him and cursed. He could hear confused shouting outside his room as the rest of the crew scrambled to investigate the noise. Izzy jumped out of bed and hurriedly pulled his trousers on, not bothering to locate a shirt.
When he staggered out on deck the crew was in chaos. The men were running about, yelling curses at each other and generally being complete fools. Izzy snagged one of them as he tried to dart past. The man struggled in his grip but froze when he realized who had grabbed him.
“What the fuck is going on?” Izzy snarled.
“Sir! We’ve run aground!” He babbled.
“What? How the fuck – what idiot was on the helm tonight?”
“I think it was Two-toe Jenkins, sir, but – “
Izzy tossed the man aside. “Mr. Jenkins!” He bellowed, “report!”
“Sir!” Jenkins called from the quarterdeck.
Izzy stormed up the stairs and shoved him against the mizzen mast. “What the fuck were you doing, you twat? How the fuck did you run us aground? Are you a complete fucking moron? The captain will have your head for this!” He roared, a hand around the smaller man’s throat.
“But sir!” Jenkins clutched at Izzy’s arm, “I was on the helm tonight, it’s true! But the captain came on deck about an hour after you left and gave me the night off. Said he was taking first shift.”
“What?” A sense of dread began settling in Izzy’s stomach, “Why the fuck would the captain volunteer to take your watch?”
“I don’t know, sir! And I’m not stupid enough to ask Blackbeard questions.”
Izzy shoved Jenkins against the mast one more time and stalked back towards the main deck. A quick scan of the crowd revealed a distinct absence of the infamous Blackbeard.
“Captain!” Izzy shouted, charging down the stairs towards Blackbeard’s cabin, “Fucking – Edward, where the fuck are you?”
The cabin was dark as he slammed through the doors, lit only by a single candle. He searched frantically for Blackbeard, but there was no one in the room. Izzy trembled with rage as he approached the candle. Tacked to the wall beside it was a torn page from a book, and as he got closer, he could see the image printed on it. The two-dimensional visage of Blackbeard scowled at him accusingly. And, scrawled on the top right corner of the page, was a note:
You’re the captain now, Izzy
Izzy tore the paper off the wall. Hands shaking, he read the message again in incomprehension. Then he snarled, balling the paper up and hurling it across the room with a shout.
“Fucking Bonnet!”
~*~
Edward sagged against Stede’s shoulder as the Revenge disappeared over the horizon. They were crowded close together, though not by choice. While the dinghy could have comfortably fit its original occupants plus Ed, the inclusion of four additional people made for tight quarters. Taking Frenchie and Jim with them had been a given, but Fang and Ivan were a bit of a surprise. The two men had been shockingly willing to jump ship when Ed had explained the plan. He didn’t even need to threaten them, and they had been instrumental in helping Ed ground the ship unnoticed.
Still, Ed couldn’t complain. Blackbeard may not have liked being crowded in, but Edward was perfectly content to feel Stede’s warmth pressed against his side.
“Alright there, Ed?” Stede asked quietly.
“Yeah,” Ed croaked, “Alright. Izzy’s gonna be fucking pissed.”
“He’s always pissed, so that’s okay,” Stede teased.
Edward huffed a laugh. “Probably a bit more pissed than usual, now. He’ll be after us as soon as he can get the ship afloat again.”
Stede wrapped a careful arm around his shoulders. “It’s going to be fine, Ed. We’ve bought a few days, at least. That’s plenty of time to figure something out.”
Ed buried his face in the crook of Stede’s neck and closed his eyes.
“I hope you’re right, Stede. I really do.”