Chapter Text
Izzy Hands watched as Ed and Bonnet rowed toward the shore and sighed. They were headed into town to get Ed a replacement knee brace from a leather worker that Stede was fond of. Roach and Frenchie had gone for some supplies. Jim, Oluwande, and Fang were also going on shore for various reasons.
That left Izzy in charge of the Revenge. He wasn’t nervous, not really but… fuck maybe he was. While Bonnet and Ed were happy together, while Black Pete had forgiven Ed for throwing Lucius overboard and nearly killing him, and Jim was less murderous around Oluwande, they still hadn’t warmed up to Izzy. Not that he wanted them to; he just wasn't sure if they were still apt to throw him overboard.
Izzy wasn’t sure he belonged on the Revenge, but where else would he go? He was a little old to be setting off on his own. He didn’t want to leave Ed. He mostly knew what to expect being first mate to Edward Teach. He didn’t want to leave. So he stayed. He wasn’t miserable with how things were but…he was uncertain to say the least.
“He’ll be back, you know.”
“Course he will, Mr. Spriggs, Bonnet wouldn’t leave without his wardrobe.”
Lucius snorted, “It’s true.”
“Something I can do for you Mr. Spriggs or is bothering me your goal for the day?”
“I’m going to be sketching in the Captain’s cabin. Pete and the Swede for sure, maybe Wee John, just so you know.”
“I’ll be sure to avoid the area then,” Izzy said. Izzy found the whole thing utterly ridiculous but the Captains knew it was going on so there wasn’t much he could do. And really there wasn’t much to do around the ship at the moment. They were tucked away in a hidden cove and the weather was good, and if the others were busy being…weird in the Captain’s cabin then they wouldn’t have time to throw Izzy overboard.
Izzy checked the ship over anyway and kept a lookout for other ships on the horizon or the returning crew members. He set himself up in the crow’s nest to keep an eye on things. He could also see the crew on the ship from there in case they got bored with sketching and decided to fuck with him.
Izzy was still in the nest in the late afternoon, napping a bit, when he woke up and saw a dinghy approaching, almost upon them. There were a dozen men rowing hard. Izzy couldn’t see any other ship around and wondered where the men had come from.
“Fuck.”
Izzy swung down to the deck making sure his sword was at his hip and started to load his pistol.
“All hands on deck, now!” he yelled. He went to the Captain’s cabin and opened the door without looking in, “All hands, we’ve got company!”
Izzy heard scrambling in the room and hoped it didn’t take too long for them to get on deck. Izzy prepared to fire a shot at the men then stopped still as he looked down at the men.
“Fuck.”
“We’re coming on board, if you shoot us he dies,” the apparent leader of the group said. Somehow the men had managed to nab Fang and had him subdued. Izzy looked at the crew of misfits behind him and growled. This was not going to be easy. At least they were armed.
“Stand down for now,” Izzy said, “They’ve got Fang.”
The dozen men came aboard the Revenge dragging Fang up with them. There was something familiar about the men, especially the leader but Izzy couldn’t quite place them.
“Thank you for the warm welcome Mr. Hands.”
“Who the fuck are you and what the fuck do you want,” Izzy said.
“You don’t recognize me?”
“No.”
“Maybe you remember the name, Captain Bell.”
Izzy did remember the name. Months ago they had a run-in with the English Navy that ended badly for the Navy men, “I see you’re out of a captaincy, or an official one, Mr. Bell.”
“You little fucker, it’s your fault, all of you! I lost my ship, my life, my family because of your damned Captains!”
“Well they aren’t aboard so if you’d fuck off…”
“Oh they’ll be back. We’ll be waiting for them,” Bell said, “Now get below deck.”
“We’re not gonna do that,” Izzy said.
“We’ll kill him then all of you,” Bell said.
“Over my dead body,” Izzy growled and drew his sword.
“None of that,” one of Bell’s men put a knife to Fang’s throat. Bell laughed, “Do you think you can take us all by yourself, old man.”
“If I have to.”
Bell’s smile warped into a smirk, “Oh really? Now I seem to recall when we fought before you were the one to take my lieutenant's life.”
“Might have been me,” Izzy said.
“I know it was you. You know I think I’d like to play a game, what do you say Mr. Hands?”
“What sort of game?” Izzy asked. He had no idea what the fuck Bell was going on about but the longer he could keep everyone on deck the better. If Ed came back and saw the strange men on deck he would know something was wrong. Izzy couldn’t allow them to be led below deck where they’d be tied up and gagged. He couldn’t let Ed walk into a trap.
“Let’s see how many of us you can duel before you drop dead,” Bell said.
“What happens when I win?” Izzy asked and Bell laughed.
“If you win we’ll go, but once you fall your crew has to surrender,” Bell said, “As a show of faith once you beat my best man we’ll release him to be with the rest of the crew.”
Izzy looked back at the crew. It was surrender either way, but if Izzy fought it would buy them time. Really they were just baiting Izzy into getting himself killed so they would be left with an easier crew to deal with. But he needed to waste time and he needed to get Fang out of harm's way.
“I accept.”
Bell laughed and turned to talk to his men.
Izzy turned to speak to the crew, “I’ll get Fang back, after that when I fall you can fight. We need to buy enough time so no one walks into a trap.”
“Izzy…this is nuts,” Lucius said.
“Anybody have any better ideas? Thought not. I’ll try to beat them down to make it easier for you,” he said and turned away just as Bell waved at him.
Izzy stepped forward, sword at the ready. He looked at the man who came forward. He wasn’t as cocky as Bell but looked confident. Izzy decided to beat him as fast as possible to win Fang’s release. Then he would stall for time.
For all Bell’s bravado and arrogance he was right about the man he sent to best Izzy; the man was a very good swordsman. Izzy knew that both sides were cheering and jeering but he blocked all that out to focus on the movements of his blade and his opponents.
Izzy drew first blood; catching the man on the arm. Izzy rushed and tried to get past the man’s defenses but he recovered quickly, and nearly struck Izzy on the side. Izzy had wanted to get the duel done and over with but the man was drawing it out. Well two could play at that fucking game and Izzy, despite being older, knew he could outlast the man.
It ended quickly, as most fights did, with the man just missing Izzy and Izzy disarming him.
“I yield!”
Izzy let the man scramble back, “Release him.” Bell released Fang with a snarl and sent the next fighter in. Izzy hoped that Ed was on his way back.
The second fighter yielded after only a few passes after Izzy struck him on the side. Ten more men to go.
The third fell, bleeding badly from a wound on his back..
The fourth fell, limping back with a deep cut into his thigh.
Izzy’s blade slashed through the air, Izzy danced and fought and dodged. The fifth fighter landed a blow on Izzy’s left arm but it wasn’t bad enough to stop him and it ended shortly after that with Izzy’s sword in the man’s gut.
Izzy glanced back at the crew of the Revenge before turning to look out at the ocean. There was no sign of Edward yet. No sign of Jim, not even of Roach and Frenchie. Izzy still had seven men to fight and he was starting to get tired. He tried to hide the fact that his sword arm was shaking, he pushed his hair back and wiped the sweat from his face. He did his best to control his breathing, to look confident and strong.
Bell glared at him and sent another man in.
Izzy had wondered briefly after the first fight if Bell had truly sent in his best fighter or if he was trying to trick Izzy into being overconfident in beating every man after that. It was a possibility. As the sixth man started to fight Izzy realized it was the truth. The first man had not been the best fighter.
Izzy fell on his ass and barely managed to scramble up to avoid a strike. He didn’t manage to avoid the next one.
The man’s blade cut deep into Izzy’s right side sliding between his ribs, cutting muscle, breaking bone. Izzy stumbled back, doubling over and clutching his bleeding side. There was a cheer amongst Bell’s men and the crew of the Revenge had fallen silent.
“Do you yield Mr. Hands?”
Izzy straightened up. There was no mistaking his shaking hand now, lifting his right arm pulled at the wound and he considered switching to his left. He could fight left handed, he just wasn’t quite as good, but logically…
Izzy switched his sword to his left hand, pressing his right arm and hand to try to stop some of the bleeding, “I do not fucking yield.” Behind Izzy he heard several gasps and mutterings. He didn’t have time to ponder that as the man attacked.
Izzy was losing the duel, or at the very least he wasn’t in control. He was merely reacting to the man. Izzy was getting slower, his movements felt heavy, he felt dizzy and sick.
Time. He just needed to stall for time for a little longer. He could go on a little longer.
The man got a jab in Izzy’s thigh and Izzy started to go down to his knees. The man took this as a victory and was slow to react to Izzy’s sword, which tore the man open.
Izzy remained on his knees panting for air and trying to get himself to stand up and fight. There were six more men…he wasn’t going to make it. He was not going to be able to fight six more men, he was going to lose, he was likely going to die.
Well, he wasn’t fucking dead yet.
“Do you yield?” Bell asked. Izzy looked up at Bell who had drawn his sword, he must have been aching to deal the death blow to Izzy. Fuck him. Izzy wasn’t done yet, and he wasn’t going to go down as easily as Bell thought.
Izzy dragged himself to his feet fighting the dizziness and nausea. Behind him he heard gasps.
“Izzy no…”
“Yield Izzy, please…”
Izzy looked at Bell, “I do not yield.”
Izzy found that his mind wandered for an instant. He thought it would be a good death, dying to protect Ed and the ship, fighting seven men, it wasn’t an ignoble death. He was going to go down fighting. He wished he could see Ed one last time, and still hoped that he would not fall into Bell's trap.
Bell attacked. Izzy found himself barely surviving from the first strike. It was only a matter of time before Bell got in a blow and it wasn’t going to take much to bring Izzy down for good..
It was almost over.
Izzy managed to strike Bell on the arm but any pride in the hit vanished as Bell’s sword bit into Izzy’s neck, low toward the shoulder. Izzy scrambled back and slipped to his knees again. He nearly dropped his sword but instead moved his right hand from his side wound to put pressure on his neck.
“Do you yield Mr. Hands?” Bell asked.
Izzy gasped for air, fighting the dizziness that threatened to consume him. With a shaking hand he lifted his sword, maybe he could deflect one blow.
“I do not yield.”
Bell laughed and lifted his sword, “So be it.”
Izzy heard gasps from the crew behind him and wished he could turn to see a friendly face before he was struck down, but he could barely move. He closed his eyes for a moment and pictured Ed.
Someone cried out and suddenly people were moving about in a panic. Bell was no longer in front of him and Izzy could no longer hold onto his sword. It clattered to the deck. Izzy started to crumple, expecting to fall on the bloody deck, but he fell into someone instead. He managed to focus enough to see Fang, Lucius, and Pete moving around him, placing hands on his bleeding wounds and urging him to keep still.
Izzy did. He didn’t think he could move if he wanted to. He was utterly spent; it took all his energy to stay awake, to keep breathing through the pain. He was going to die right here on deck. That was alright, from the noise he could guess that Ed was back, therefore safe, or at least aware of the situation. Izzy had done his best.
His eyes wandered looking above and beyond the crew. It was a nice evening. The sky was a pinkish hue, a nice breeze blew across the deck, he thought he could make out the first star shining in the sky.
Izzy was slipping away.
“Izzy, Izzy try to stay with me mate.”
Ed.
Ed was there looking at Izzy, looking worried. Izzy wished he had the strength to tell Ed he was alright, but he could barely keep his eyes open, and they soon slipped shut. The last thing he was aware of was Ed calling his name.