Chapter Text
“Boss?” Lucius asked nervously. “We found something in the cargo hold that I think you should see.”
“Oh dear, have we got rats again?” Stede worried. “Roach’ll be happy at least, he seemed to really enjoy killing them last time.” Stede wasn’t very fond of Roach’s ‘a knife is a knife’ policy because in Stede’s mind, a rat killing knife and a cooking knife should definitely be different knives, but they couldn’t have rats eating their supplies so there were only so many options.
“No, it’s not rats,” Lucius told him, nervously, fidgeting with his wooden finger. “It’s a rather bigger thing? I think you should just come have a look.”
“Well if it’s such a big deal then I think we’d better have both captains come along, just let me get Ed.” Stede hurried past Lucius and walked towards where Blackbeard was sitting, sharpening his sword, on the other side of the deck. “Ed! Ed, Lucius has something big to show us in the cargo hold!”
“Something big? What, like a really big rat?” Ed asked, annoyed, looking up from the task at hand. He had been looking forward to a calm, relaxed day of sharpening blades, maybe polishing them afterwards. Just doing some pirate-ly puttering around the ship; he didn’t want to deal with this.
“No, he says it’s not rats this time,” Stede told him cheerfully.
“Not rats? Well what is it then?”
“I don’t know, he said we’d better come see,” Stede replied, jerking his head towards where Lucius was standing by the door to the lower parts of the ship.
Ed sighed. Stede had that ridiculous grin on his face, like whatever mess was waiting for them in the cargo hold was something wonderful because it meant ‘adventure’; Ed could never resist that grin. “Alright, let’s go have a look then,” he grumbled, setting his sword down and following Stede over to where Lucius was standing.
“Now I want to preface this by saying, we have no idea how this happened,” Lucius said, as he led them down the stairs and along the hall, towards the cargo hold.
“Is that supposed to make it better?” Ed asked, confused. “You’re our crew, your whole job is sort of to take care of the ship and know what’s going on on the ship.”
“Now Ed,” Stede warned, “we’re a team. Knowing what’s going on on the ship is everyone’s responsibility and if there’s something wrong, we’ll all deal with it together.” Ed shrugged, teamwork had never really been his bag but it was Stede’s preferred method of handling things and generally it went alright.
They had made it to the cargo hold and were standing in the dimly lit hallway in front of the big, dark wooden door. Stede thought he could hear voices inside, but he couldn’t make out what they were saying. Lucius was standing in front of the door, blocking it but not opening it. “It’s alright Lucius,” Stede assured him, “we won’t be angry, just let us see.”
Lucius gulped and opened the door to the cargo hold were Pete was standing with–
“A child?” Ed cried.
“Good heavens, how did this happen?” Stede asked.
“She says she snuck on at the last port we stopped at,” Pete explained. “She says she wants to be a pirate.”
“But our last stop was over a week ago, have you been down here this whole time?” Stede asked the young girl, worried. It couldn’t be good for a young person’s health to be stuffed up in a cramped, windowless room for so long.
“I came out sometimes at night,” the girl replied. “I was fine,” she added, sounding annoyed by everyone’s concern “I had food. That’s why I hid in here with the supplies, so I’d have something to eat.”
“Smart kid,” Ed commented, with a nod. He could tell this girl was a fighter, a survivor, and he liked that.
Stede knelt down and looked the girl over. She was a bit thin, her clothes were ragged and she needed a bath, but otherwise she seemed unharmed. “What’s your name, sweetheart?” he asked.
“My name’s Nell and I’m not a sweetheart,” the girl spat.
“‘Course you aren’t, you snuck on board a pirate ship,” Ed chuckled.
“Are you gonna let me stay?” Nell asked, squinting up at the dark-haired man; she liked him better than the blonde man, who seemed to be a bit too prissy.
“Well-” Ed started.
“How old are you, Nell?” Stede asked, cutting him off.
“6,” she replied defensively.
“Wouldn’t you say that’s a bit young to be joining the crew of a pirate ship?” Stede asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I’ve been taking care of myself since I was 5,” Nell argued. “So I reckon, I’m a lot more mature than most 6-year-olds.”
“I reckon you’re right about that,” Ed agreed evenly, but Stede turned and gave him a you’re-not-helping-right-now glare so he put his hands up as if to say ‘alright, you take the lead then.’ Ed and Stede had spent enough time as co-captains that they didn’t always need to speak to understand what the other was trying to say.
“Nell, have you lost your parents, or your family?” Stede asked the girl gently.
“Didn’t lose ‘em. They died,” she replied with a tone that indicated how she felt about Stede’s question: that it was ridiculous. Ed had to cover his mouth to hide the smile this answer caused. He really liked this kid.
“Well, I’m very sorry that happened,” Stede told her sincerely, looking her in the eye, “and we’ll be sure to find you a safe place, where you will be properly taken care of, but I’m afraid you can’t stay here.” He stood up then and addressed his last remark to his co-captain and his crew, “ A pirate ship simply isn’t a place for a child.”
“But I-” Nell began to protest, but the dark-haired man held up his hand so she stopped.
“Can we talk?” Ed asked Stede seriously. “Not here?”
“Yes alright then,” Stede agreed, although he had no intention of changing his mind on this matter. “Watch her closely,” he added to Lucius and Pete.
“Right boss.”
“Will do.”
Stede followed Ed back along the hall and up the steps to the deck. Once they were there, Ed beckoned him through the door to the co-captain’s quarters; since there were two of them, Stede insisted that this was the name for their shared rooms.
“I know you disagree with me, but I think we should let her stay,” Ed said calmly, “It’s what she wants and she’s a tough kid. She’ll be alright.”
“Ed this is a pirate ship! There’ll be battles! She could be killed!” Stede cried. He couldn’t believe he was having to explain these very simple facts.
“Well if there’s a battle she can hide. She’s clearly very good at that,” Ed pointed out.
Stede sighed. “Alright, say she does hide during the battles, the rest of life on a pirate ship is still pretty hard.”
“All of life is pretty hard for an orphan,” Ed countered. “I’m surprised she made it this long without anyone to look after her,” he added. “She deserves a break from having to take care of herself. She deserves to have someone else take care of her for a change.”
“Yes, that’s why we need to find her a proper home, where she’ll be safe and loved,” Stede argued. He sat down on the couch and put his head in his hands. He was getting flustered now, did Ed not understand he had the child’s best interests at heart?
“But where will that home be? We gonna take her to an orphanage? Because those are pretty shitty, don’t really do a great job of showering kids in love there,” Ed said flatly. He knew an independent kid like Nell would get in a lot of trouble anywhere that tried to rein her in, tell her what to do, and that’s what any sort of children’s home would try to do to her.
“Well, I hadn’t really thought of that, but you’re right I suppose,” Stede admitted. Ed came and sat next to him on the couch and Stede looked at him worriedly, “What are we going to do then?” Stede asked desperately.
“Look I know it’s a bit… unconventional, but I really think we should let her stay,” Ed said. “It’s what she wants and if there was ever a pirate crew that could raise a child, I think it would be this one.” He reached over and took both of Stede’s hands in his own. “There’s a lot of love on this ship,” he said.
Stede smiled slightly at this. “I can’t argue with that,” he replied.
“So we let her stay?” Ed asked hopefully. It was a bit of a soppy thought, but he sort of liked the idea of having a kid around. He imagined with Stede by his side he could do a pretty good job with a kid; with Stede by his side he figured he could do pretty much anything.
“We’ll let her stay for now,” Stede agreed, “but the first time she gets stabbed, or shot or loses a limb, that’s it: we’re docking and finding a safer home for her.”
“Then I’ll just have to keep her safe, won’t I?” Ed asked, smiling.
“I think you’re up for the task actually,” Stede told him. “You’ve always done a pretty good job keeping me safe,” he said warmly. He still wasn’t sure this was the best plan, but he loved how quickly Ed had gotten on board with the idea of essentially being a parent. Ed liked to make everyone think he was the toughest pirate on the high seas but Stede knew better.
“Thank you,” Ed said softly, giving Stede a kiss on the cheek.
“No thank you,” Stede replied, giving him a kiss back.
“For what?” Ed asked.
“I don’t know, being you, convincing me to keep Nell around, it could be fun after all, she seems like a nice kid.”
“It’s gonna be so fun,” Ed said, grinning from ear-to-ear. He didn’t even care that now he was the one with a ridiculous grin on his face. “Should we go tell her, then?” he asked.
“I suppose so,” Stede agreed, raising both eyebrows in his oh-boy-here-we-go face. Ed loved that face too.
Ed took Stede’s hand and together, they stood up and walked out of the co-captain’s quarters, back down to the cargo hold, to welcome Nell to her new home.