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By the time he’s thirty, Edward Teach has spent a lot of time in prisons.
This one is, at least, relatively clean, with mostly fresh straw on the floor and only a few rats. The rats aren’t even mean ones! This is definitely a step up from last time.
It almost makes up for the fact that he’s been kidnapped out of a bar fight and sold to the English, who are absolutely going to hang him next week.
At least Izzy got out of the tavern safely. The last Ed had seen of him was a flash of black clothes and dark hair as he shoved Izzy out the back door and told him to fucking run. Always loyal, Izzy had tried to stay by his side and fight, but by that time things had been getting truly hairy and Ed had ordered him, as his captain, to get out of there.
He’s only sorry he didn’t get a chance to kiss him goodbye.
He’s lost in thoughts of Izzy, sitting on the cell floor with his head tipped back against the wall, when he hears the warden come in, jingling his ring of keys. “Teach! It’s your lucky day, you rat bastard, you’ve been sprung.”
“Wait, what?” Ed whips around to look at him, but he can barely make out his shape in the gloom. “The fuck did you just say?”
“I said you’ve been sprung. Now get out of my sight before I change my mind.”
Ed jumps to his feet. This is certainly some sort of trap, but fuck it, he has a fighting chance if he’s on his feet.
Then the warden steps aside, revealing Izzy standing in the hall behind him. Out of the jailer’s line of sight, he gives Ed a grin and a wink. Oh, fuck, Ed loves that man so fucking much.
“Come on, you fucking idiot,” Izzy grumbles at him, grabbing him by the arm and yanking him forcefully out of the jail and into the street. He doesn’t say anything as they walk, heading with determined strides toward the docks.
“Izzy? Izzy, Izzy, what happened? What did you do? What the fuck is going on?”
Izzy glares at him, but slows his pace a bit. “Shut up. Walk with me, stay calm, and do not do anything. Do you understand me, you moron?”
“Iz, come on, what the fuck? How did you spring me?”
Izzy sighs, furiously exasperated. “I wagered with the fucking governor. Now will you come the fuck on?”
“Wagered with the – wait. Wait, Iz, wait, oh my god.” Realization dawns on Ed with glee. “Israel Hands, did you spring me from jail by cheating at cards?”
Izzy yanks him into an alley so fast he stumbles over his own feet and slams him into a wall, clapping a hand over his mouth. “Oh my god, shut up. Shut up, shut up, shut all the way up, you are going to get us both killed.”
Ed pulls his hand away. “You did. Oh my god, Izzy, this is the funniest thing that’s ever happened to me, I am in love with you.”
“Yes, Ed, thank you, I love you too, now will you shut the fuck up so we can get back to the ship?” He pauses, then adds, almost sheepish, “We have to get out of town before he realizes how much of his wife’s jewelry I nicked.”
Ed bursts out laughing, throwing his head back and cackling, before grabbing Izzy’s shirt to pull him in for a kiss. “You absolute madman,” he says against Izzy’s lips, feeling him smile in return, “I am going to marry you.”
“Ed, if we get back to the ship in one piece, you can have your choice of all the rings I have in my pockets. Let’s go.”
Ed laughs all the way back to the Queen Anne’s Revenge, fingers laced with Izzy’s. He laughs even harder when Izzy, blushing furiously, hands him a small heap of rings.