Chapter Text
Stiles had no idea how he got in this position, tied up, blindfolded and gagged on a ship. Well, maybe he did have some sort of idea. He started his day regularly; he gossiped about the town with Lydia and Allison while their parents went over their defensive plans. Then he snuck into town, because being stuck inside the gates is tormenting. All he does is learn, train and eat. It’s nothing like the bustle of the townspeople trying to sell their items, chasing after their children across the fields, and keeping watch for pirates. Don’t get Stiles wrong, he doesn’t WANT pirates to come in and raid the village and the whole point of his dad’s job was to ensure the safety of the town and ports, but he was getting a little bored.
He was just minding his own business, strolling down the seaside, when someone came behind him and knocked him out cold. Which was totally rude if he may add, he didn’t realize him walking offended someone enough to knock him unconscious. Stiles might regret a little for not telling his father where he was going beforehand, but in his defense, if he mentioned he was going out his father would either reject his request or ask him to bring one or two men with him. It’s not like Stiles was some high member of society, his father may be the captain of the queen’s navy but who really has a grudge against them. Well, other than pirates. So that’s how he found himself tied up on a freaking pirate ship, because life hates him.
Stiles wiggled around in his restraints, attempting to at least get something loosened or off. He already had a fair amount of slack on his wrists but that was only after about an hour of twisting and possibly rubbing his wrists raw. It was hard to tell the time when he couldn’t see the sun. When he gets out, someone’s gonna get beaten into a pulp and probably pushed off this ship and the person will not be Stiles. If he gets out that is.
The sound of approaching footsteps stops Stiles from escaping his bounds and goes back to pretending to be unconscious, letting his head drop back on the molding wood.
“He’s still out cold” A feminine voice stated.
“For god’s sake, I didn’t even hit him that hard, how is he still out of it? Someone just bring him to the deck.” A male’s voice responded.
Light and the sound of rushing waves flooded the room when the door was opened. The figure made their way down the steps with heavy footsteps causing the wood to groan. They gripped Stiles by the waist, heaving him over their shoulder and walked back up the steps.
“Are you sure this one’s not a lady, he’s surprisingly light.”
“Yes, Isaac, we’re sure he’s a boy. Now put him down on the deck and I’ll wake him up.” Stiles was gently placed on the wooden floor and tried his best to stay still, better to stay unconscious than to stay in these people’s company. He could hear his dad’s voice reminding him over and over again ‘All pirate are the scum of the Earth, that’s why I do this job, it’s to protect you and everyone we care about.’
Stiles was in the middle of reminiscing of his dad when he was drenched by sea water. Stiles jumped into a sitting position and spat out the water that landed in his mouth.
“Fuck, what’d you do that for?” He said while coughing. The man above him is smiling like he knew Stiles was awake the whole time and just wanted to see how long his façade would last. Asshole.
“Nice of you to finally join us Captain Stilinski. Now about your town…” the man said.
“Wait a sec, did you just call me Captain Stilinski?” Stiles asked.
“Yes.” he grunted
“I hope you realize that I’m not, you know, my father. ‘Cause that would be kinda weird …and disturbing.” The man pulled on Stiles’s shirt lifting him up.
“What the hell are you talking about?” he growled. Stiles was never one to back down from a fight and glared at the man holding him up. If Stiles was going to go down it’d be with a fight.
“You do speak English right? Me, not Captain Stilinski.” The man dropped Stiles on the wooden floors and he landed with a thud. Stiles rubbed his sore side muttering curses.
“JACKSON, GET YOUR ASS HERE!” A blond man appeared up from one of the separate rooms within the ship. Stiles had to admit, he was pretty attractive. Like everyone Stiles has seen on this ship so far. He was fit; his blond hair cut short and his eyes the colour of the sea itself. If Lydia ever saw him she’d be quite taken. To hell with him being a pirate, if Lydia saw something she wanted she was going to have it.
“What is it Derek?” The man, Derek, glared at Jackson before shifting his gaze over to Stiles.
“I told you to get me Captain Stilinski, not his son. How in hell does this look like the Captain of the Queen’s navy?”
Jackson flinched slightly in Derek’s gaze and directed his eyes downward, tilting his head slightly before speaking. “Derek, I was told this was the guy we were looking for. A whole bunch of town people pointed me to him.”
“Oooh, someone’s in trouble.” The female Stiles heard before said.
“Shut it Erica.” replied Jackson.
“Why don’t you get something right for once?” she quipped back.
“Both of you stop.” Derek said and they both shut their mouths. “We are already too far from the port and it would be too dangerous to get near the town again. So what are we gonna do with him?” He said point to Stiles.
“We could make him one of us, I mean, I wouldn’t mind being in his company for a long period of time.” Erica leered.
“We should just push him off the ship. He’s going to be too much trouble.” Jackson said.
“Thanks for talking about me like I’m not here, really appreciate it.” Stiles responded.
“You shut up.” Derek said and Stiles rolled his eyes.
“Yes, yes, oh mighty captain.”
“Why don’t we just keep him hostage? I’m pretty sure we can get something good out of him, he is the captains son after all.” Another voice said. ‘Really where are all of these people coming from? They just seem to spawn from areas of the ship like no end.’ Stiles thought.
“Yes, great idea. Keep me and the whole navy is probably gonna be on your asses.”
“They already are. Isaac tie him up to one of the railings.”
“Okay.” Isaac said. He took the bundle of rope that was around his waist and unraveled it. Stiles could probably say at this moment he hated Isaac the most, even if he looked like a giant puppy. He was the stupid voice of reason, hell, Stiles probably would have preferred being thrown off the ship than this.
Isaac bound Stiles’s wrists to one of the sides of the ship. “Here, from this spot you can see our flag perfectly, just in case you forgot who you were taken by.” He grinned before walking away.
Stiles took in the site of the flag and that’s when he realized he really was screwed. ‘Yup being thrown off the boat is a much better opinion now.’ He thought. Stiles knew the flag, everyone did. They were the group of pirates that parent’s told their children about before they went to bed. They were the ones rumoured of destroying the most towns and destroying any other rival pirates in their way. They were also his father’s number one target – The Hales. It was obvious with just a single look at their flag. Instead of the standard skull and crossbones, which Stiles totally believes is part of the standard pirate rulebook, it was the skull of a wolf on top of a triskelion.
His father once told him they attacked the town of Beacon once and took a bunch of children with them, one being his best friend Scott, but that was nearly ten years ago. Stiles would bet his life that the three crew members he met before were some of the children that were taken those years ago.
Stiles tried to work on his wrists again, conscious of his movements. Any sudden or jerky movements would seem suspicious, and he would rather not be caught trying to escape. He still had a small chance to escape. As long as they weren’t that far from town. His brain supplied.
Stiles almost cried out in glee when he felt the rope slip off his wrists. Now if he could just slip off the side of the boat –
“Don’t even think about it.” A gruff voice said.
“Holy shit.” Stiles said and tried to slide away from the location of the voice. Derek looked at Stiles to the rope.
“Well, it seems like tying you up is useless. I’ll leave you be but if you try to escape I’ll rip your throat out… with my teeth.”
Stiles had to admit that was one of the weirdest threats he’s ever heard in his life. He highly doubts any human would be able to rip out another person’s throat with their teeth especially but Stiles’s dad always did say pirates were ruthless. Maybe extra strong teeth were a perk in becoming a pirate. He was highly doubtful though. Stiles didn’t offer up a response, he just glared at Derek.
Stiles leaned back onto the side of the ship again, feeling himself calm down again with the breeze brushing against him. Stiles shuts his eyes and let the ways drift him off. The day was beautiful, in a way it seemed to mock him. Here he was, surrounding by people who probably hate his father and probably will want him dead by the end of the day and the sun is shining bright behind the thin layer of clouds. The future is inevitable so he decided to enjoy the freedom while it lasted.
Every once and a while a crew member would walk past Stiles. Probably captain’s orders. He saw a buff dark skinned man would seemed as silent as his footsteps. A tanned man who smiled when he walked past Stiles and Stiles was pretty sure those dimples should have been illegal. The last man kept causing an itch at the back of Stiles’s head, like he had met the man before but he just couldn’t remember where. Like the man before him, he smiled when he walked past Stiles. He had a crooked jaw and seemed to emit sunshine wherever he went. He totally did not seem like pirate material. Probably one of the most anti-pirates he’s ever met.
“Hey, what’s your name? Derek wouldn’t tell me.” The man asked. “Oh, I’m Scott by the way.”
Scott… Shit how did he not recognize that before? The same smile, the crooked jaw. THIS was his best friend. “Scott…like Scott McCall?” he asked.
Scott stared at him. “Yea, how did you know?”
Stiles didn’t know what overcame him, it just hit him all at once, relief, happiness, and anger. He jumped to his feet and punched him across the jaw. Scott landed on the deck with a thump causing the rest of the crew to come. Stiles made a move to jump on top of Scott, to do anything to get rid of the anger when a firm body held him in place. He struggled against the man and screamed “Fuck you Scott, I thought you were dead this whole time. Do you understand how many times I walked near the shore in hope of seeing you there? How many times I had to do a double take because I thought I saw you? How many times my dad and I had to comfort Melissa because not only had she lost her son but her husband too? Was it too difficult to send us a note? Something we could at least hold onto so we had a least the hope you could come back rather than just being fish food.” Stiles started to slack in Derek’s hold, defeated. “I thought I lost you.” He said, his voice so soft it could barely be heard.
Scott looked stunned. His voice cracking when he says the name “Stiles?” With that the previous tension snapped. Scott broke into a fit of tears and ran to his best friend scooping him into his arms when Derek let him go. “Stiles, oh my god, I thought I’d never see you again.” He said, rubbing his face all over Stiles’s neck and cheek and Stiles just slumps into his arms, missing the way his best friend used to hold him whenever he was sad. Stiles could barely hear Scott’s repetition of ‘sorry’ that was being spoken into his shoulder. His anger was burnt out and he could only feel the relief from seeing his best friend again. Even if it was on a pirate ship.
The rest of the crew stood awkwardly around them. Isaac was shuffling his feet back and forth, Erica was glaring at her nails clearly trying to not look anywhere else, and the rest just blatantly stared. They had all heard some story about Scott’s best friend, the one who was filled with wit and jitters. The rest of them had no such stories to share, they were loners in comparison and found family in their crew. Scott on the other hand held onto his bond with his best friend, the one who he was now holding tight in his arms.
***
Allison rushed through the hallways, her boot clicking with each footstep. She pushes open the door to revel three figures staring back at her. “Stiles is gone.” She says breathlessly.
“Of course he is Ali, today’s a Tuesday, which means Stiles will explore the town, like he always does.” John chuckles, although it was annoying that his son escapes the same day every week he knows he won’t be able to keep Stiles in if he doesn’t want to stay. So he usually lets this day slide.
“Yes, I know today’s a Tuesday but did any of you bother to look at the time? Stiles always comes back before noon so none of the men who are supposed to be watching him get in trouble. It’s already 3 in the afternoon. I’ve went into town and no one has even seen him recently. The last time was early in the morning; he was walking along the shore again and then nothing.” Allison said.
John’s face paled, he had heard rumours of an unmarked ship around the vicinity and he had hoped they weren’t pirates. He didn’t want a repeat of the attack by the Hales.
“John, we can all guess what took him.” Chris said and placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him. “We’ll get him back John, no matter what.”