Chapter Text
The blade sinks in neatly, and Izzy is all too aware of exactly how bad its position is. Right side, chest level. Alright, so it missed his heart at least. His opponent pulls it out in the split second of shock that stops Izzy from reacting and thrusts it in again, this time lower. Izzy doesn’t let him pull it out a second time, bringing his hand up to cover the pommel pulling the other man in and slamming his forehead into the fucker’s nose. He grabs the dagger at his hip and brings it up diagonally across the man’s belly, but he’s able to back up just enough the killing blow becomes a red stripe across his skin instead. The man abandons his sword, stepping back and pulling out his own dagger as he takes a defensive stance.
There is the briefest moment, that Izzy is worried he is going to lose this fight. They’re in a narrow hallway, and his manoeuvrability has always been his strength in fights like this. His opponent is both larger and younger than Izzy, but that could be said about most people Izzy gets in fights with nowadays. Fucker probably hasn’t been at sea half as long as him.
He’s still waiting for Izzy to make the first move (is he cocky or stupid? Is there a fucking difference?).
“Right.” He mutters, flipping the knife in his left hand. He’s still got the rapier sticking out of his chest like he’s a damn pin cushion. “Fuck this.” He pulls it out, grunting thickly around the wet sensation at the back of his throat. He tastes blood, all his unfortunately.
Izzy moves first, stepping forward and thrusting the blade out. His arm is caught when the man also steps forward, grabbing Izzy’s sword arm and trapping it against his side before peppering his left side with a succession of shallow stabs from his knife. Izzy gets his knife into the man’s shoulder but the cuts don’t stop. This has gone from a battle to a brawl, and there are no rules in a brawl but to survive.
Izzy slumps forward, his left hand twisting the blade in the man's shoulder enough to elicit a scream and stop the hammering at his ribs for a moment. His right hand drops the sword, abandoning it to wrap his arm around his opponent's waist so he can pull himself against the body in front of him. He lets his teeth find flesh and then he tears.
Blood loss can be a slow killer, Izzy knows this from watching countless acquaintances and enemies alike die after they thought battle has been won.
And sometimes it’s much faster.
It’s no longer just his own blood anymore.
“Oh fuck.” He manages to say, tasting iron on every syllable. The shirt, which had once been a lovely robin’s egg blue, is now ruined. Bonnet would be upset, it had been a gift. Figures the day Izzy finally decided to wear it they’d go on a raid.
He grunts, pulling himself up against the wall. His vision briefly turns black, but he’s able to regain his balance while only lightly colliding with the wall opposite. There’s enough sense left in Izzy to know he needs to get above, see how Bonnet’s merry band of idiots are getting along, begrudgingly let Roach sew him back up…
He makes it three steps into the bright sunlight before one of said merry idiots spots Izzy.
“Izzy, man, holy fuck.” Oluwande says, eyes looking at his chest.
He spits out a mouthful of blood.
“S’not that bad.” He says before completely losing his balance.
His knees hit the ground but his chest never makes it, colliding into someone solid. He hopes it’s Ed, but as he breathes in he can tell it isn’t. Plus, he hadn’t seen him in his quick scan on the deck, but his vision had been going dark along the edges.
“Someone get Captain.” The voice above him says. Oh, it’s Oluwande again. Well that isn’t so bad, at least he’s mostly competent. Still if he had to die in anyone’s arms, Oluwande wasn’t even considered a candidate.
Oh there’s a thought. Dying.
Right.
He’s dying.
Fuck.
~
“Stay with me, Ed.” Stede is kneeling next to the bed, holding Ed’s hand to his lips.
Edward for his part, doesn’t think he can very well do anything but stay right where he is. For one, they’d cut open the leg of his pants so unless he wanted to show the entire crew half his ass and whole cock he’d stay right where he was. It was already bad enough having Roach’s head so close to his crotch, as hidden under the blanket as it was.
“It’s fine, it just-ah. Uncomfortable.” Ed winced as the needle was worked through the skin of his inner thigh.
“Nah, he’s right to be worried.” Roach chirped, still holding a cigarette between his teeth, ash teetering far too close to Edward’s lap for comfort. “Hit like this can kill a man in seconds.”
Stede lets out an uncomfortably high pitch sound at that, hand covering his mouth as he noticeably tries not to sob.
“Buuut.” Ed says, glaring daggers at Roach who takes far too long to pick up on his tone.
“No really. It happened back home once, a bull got my uncle right here in the same spot. Dead in under a minute flat.” Roach answers matter of factly, head bobbing in a nod.
“But not this one, right?” He asks, this time giving the chef a little shove.
“This. Exact. Spot.” Roach looked up, meeting Edward’s eye, unblinking. Their gazes held until another strange noise came out of Stede. “But uh… yeah. He’ll be fine. Won’t be walking anytime soon… but he’ll be fine.”
There’s a horrible wet sniffle from Stede followed by a long exhale. “Yes, thank you, Roach. As always, your bedside manner is commendable.”
The door to the captain’s cabin bursts open and Ed tears his hand away from Stede’s to adjust the blanket around his crotch. When he sees Izzy, slung between Wee John and Oluwande, all thoughts of modesty leave him.
“Iz?” He says weakly, trying to push himself forward.
“That’s a lot of blood.” Roach hisses, finally putting out his cigarette on the windowsill.
“Not all mine.” Izzy says helpfully, head lolling to the side. His eyes are barely open, but he must spot Ed and Stede’s shocked faces across the room because he tries to smile, flashing red teeth for the briefest second before his head falls forward. His shoulders shake as he coughs and a spray of red spittle falls across his chest.
“Couch.” Roach snaps his fingers, directing the two men holding the other bleeding body. “Stay put. John, take over for me.” He’s already up, helping Oluwande position Izzy’s as Wee John lumbers over to take his place.
“Iz!” Ed shouts this time, only stopped by Stede’s hand on his chest.
“I’ll go. Just… Just let him finish your stitches. Okay?” His hands are shaking, even as Ed takes them in his own, holding them far too tightly.
Ed nods once, unable to do much else.
Unable to do anything but watch.
~
It was the bickering that woke him up.
“Absolutely not.” Izzy’s voice said, too loud this early in the morning.
“Well you certainly can’t wear your usual, not after-” Stede waved his hand up and down over his chest.
“Since you and Edward ruined all the buttons?”
Ed could practically hear the way Stede was blushing.
“Well, I suppose we may have been a little enthusiastic with our ministrations-”
“Enthusiastic? You tore it off me before I even got through the fucking door.” His voice was harsh but Ed could see the barest hint of a smile as Stede turned a brighter shade of red. Poor thing, he had to know Izzy was doing this on purpose now.
“Stop torturing him, Iz.” Ed yawned, finally sitting up. He rubbed a palm across his face and smiled lazily to his two lovers. Stede was already fully dressed, but Izzy was naked from the waist up. “Mmm, this a new look? I like it.” It wasn’t often Izzy showed off his tattoos, not with how buttoned up his first mate liked to be when out on deck, but it did make Ed savour the moments he could spot them. The curl of tentacle around his hip felt particularly enticing at this moment.
Izzy sighed, rolling his neck before raising an eyebrow at him.
“I really need to get to work and this one’s solution is-” Izzy began.
“It hasn’t even got any ruffles! And the colour would suit you so well. Really bring out your eyes.” He held up the shirt over Izzy’s front, displaying it for Ed.
“It’s too nice.” Izzy answered meekly, feeling the fabric between his fingers.
“Nonsense. Nothing is too nice for my darling.” It was Izzy’s turn to blush.
Ed laughed and leaned back on his elbows. “Looks good. Though you could just go out like that, you know I love seeing your tits.” He winked, eliciting a choked noise from Izzy who grabbed the blue shirt from Stede.
“Fine! I’ll wear it, but it’ll be ruined by the end of the day, then you’ll regret wasting it on some random-fuck day!”
“Thank you! We love you!” Stede called after him.
“Fuck you both.”
~
The raid had been Stede’s idea.
Just a spur of the moment decision to spice up the day, he’d thought. Maybe it would even put Izzy in a better mood.
The crew had spotted the shirt almost immediately and then the wolf whistles began, which meant Izzy had been pacing around the ship like a wild animal in search of any imperfections that needed immediate remedy. In the end, Lucius, Frenchie and Black Pete all ended up over the side of the ship scrapping barnacles (though all in different parts because at first they’d all spent the whole time joking around or flirting, and had even come up with a little song), while the Swede and Oluwande were swabbing the deck a third time. The other’s managed to find other tasks or places to be pretty quickly after that.
When the ship was spotted later that afternoon, there was a collective sigh of relief.
“Looks Dutch.” Izzy confirmed, handing the spyglass back to Buttons.
“Aye, can’t have more than six cannons by the size of her.”
“Well then!” Stede clapped his hands. “Why don’t we get closer, hm? Make an afternoon of it.”
Izzy crossed his arms and frowned thoughtfully.
“We’re pretty well stocked, Captain. And…” He looks over his shoulder to the rest of the crew. “...all that.” He said by way of explanation.
“Nonsense! I think you’ll find in a pinch this crew is quite capable. Isn’t that right, Mr Buttons.”
“Aye, Cap’n.” Buttons was already taking his dentures out, polishing the metal.
“Fantastic! It’s decided. I’ll go get Ed.” Stede leaned over, planting a kiss on Izzy’s cheek which Button’s mercifully ignored.
Izzy made a distressed sound at the back if throat but allowed it to happen, pointedly looking over the horizon. He stood there a long moment with Buttons before looking over.
“That for-”
“Chompin’ out some fecker’s windpipe.” He answered cheerfully.
“Right.” Izzy nodded, as if that was a perfectly natural thing to say.
~
“Edward.” Izzy tried to say in reply to his name being called, though he can’t quite understand what he actually said. It sounded wet and wrong. Someone was cutting through his shirt. He raised a hand to stop them but someone else was already pulling them away.
“Just let them work, love.” A voice said next to his ear.
Izzy let his head drop back and collided with a solid body. He let out a shaky sigh, recognizing the floral smell of his soap. He closed his eyes and hummed, content.
“Don’t let him fall asleep!”
“Izzy, darling.” A hand pushed the back of his head up, away from the shoulder he’d been resting it on. “You need to stay awake, alright?” One hand held under his chin, the other came to wipe the hair from his forehead.
He couldn’t really feel anything below his chest, and somewhere in his brain Izzy knew this was a bad thing. Pain was good, pain meant you were alive, but he wasn’t really alive anymore, not fully anyways. He was dying, but he still had work to do. Stede was here but what about-
“Where’s Ed?” He asked, voice rough but legible. Quiet.
“He’s nearby, don’t worry.” Stede answered, still holding Izzy’s head. “He’s safe.”
Izzy tried to nod, but felt himself firmly held in place. “Good. He’s going to need you.”
“He’s going to need both of us, you absolute goon.”
There’s a yelp, then a loud thump which makes the bodies around Izzy jump. He winces, feeling a horrid jolt through his chest. The pain isn’t completely gone then. Good, he has time, there’s still time…
“Alright, it’s fucking done! Out of my fucking way.” Ed comes into view near his feet, moving stiffly. Izzy’s body relaxes instantly.
“Won’t wear the brace unless you make him, make sure he eats. Forgets when he’s sad.”
“Christ, Iz. You’re not going anywhere. You don’t need to lay out all my shit like that.” He sees Edward grasp his ankle but can’t feel it. Fuck, he wishes he could feel it.
“Teach him to use a sword, don’t just flirt.” Izzy tries to punctuate the sentence with a little kick to Ed’s hand around his foot. He doesn’t think he manages it. He doesn’t think he’s speaking loud enough for anyone to hear him anymore because they just go on talking around him. They keep drifting further away, and Izzy has to wonder when did he start sinking…
A hand slaps him across the face. He barely feels it but it’s enough of a jolt to make him open his eyes. When he looks up he sees Stede above him, face red and scrunched and cheeks wet. For some reason it makes Izzy smile. He never thought Stede would cry over him, but here at the end he’s gotten his turn. Stede will be fine. He’ll cry it out, talk about his feelings with the crew, the whole bit that Izzy usually found absolutely repulsive but had been coming around to these last few months. Edward though… He would need Stede to guide him through it.
He opens his mouth to speak, looking directly into Stede’s eyes above him. Something chokes him at the back of his throat and instead his voice comes out a gurgled mess. Izzy coughs, painting his lover’s face in a fine red mist, then sinks back down, eyes dropping closed.
He doesn’t open them again.