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Ed doesn't tell Stede what he's thinking about. All he says is, "I'll apologize to Izzy last."
Stede nods, because he realizes that there's a lot going on between those two, and he doesn't want to interfere.
After Lucius and Fang, it's Pete. Then it's Jim, Archie, and Oluwande. Because he made them fight, Ed offers Jim and Archie the chance to punch him, fight him, like he made them do.
Jim takes him up on it and doubles Ed over with a fist to the belly. His bell jingles loudly as he pants for breath, holding his gut as he turns to Archie. Archie shrugs and cracks his jaw.
Then Ed turns to Oluwande and offers him a free hit.
"What you did to me, I can't pay you back. I won't do anything to take you away from Stede, cause that's about all that could fix it. So don't worry about it, and let me be in peace," Olu says with great effort before turning his back to Blackbeard.
Buttons is a bird, Frenchie is acting like nothing is wrong, and Ed is actually a little bit afraid of Wee John. Frenchie wants nothing to do with him, and John is equally cold, knitting like Ed isn't even standing there trying to talk to him.
Ed gives up, after standing in front of Wee John for an hour. He hurts all over; his knee is stiff, his gut is throbbing, his jaw is bruised, and he is tired.
But there is more left to do; the Swede is unavailable, he seems to be happy with Jackie, which means he's out of Ed's reach, now. He's probably the best off of all of them.
The tool bag is heavy on his shoulder as he knocks on Izzy's door.
"Fuck off, Edward," came the predictable response.
"Who told you?" Ed asked through the door.
"Who didn't? After you pushed into everybody's healing, of fucking course they'd come to me and warn me that you were coming." There are muffled thumps, and finally Izzy's door opens, revealing Izzy leaning on his crutch. "What do you want, really?"
"Say I'm sorry. I can do it through the door, if you don't want me in your room." Ed stays out of the room until Izzy sighs and rolls his eyes.
"Whatever the fuck you want, right?" Izzy thumps his way back to the bed, massaging his stump once he was seated. "Well?"
Ed assumes that's as close to an invitation as he is going to get. "Okay. So. I'm trying to tell everyone that I'm sorry about what I did. I let Lucius throw me off the boat, and I think it helped him. I let Jim and Archie have free shots, since I made them fight."
"Oh, fuck," Izzy mumbles, rubbing his stump harder. "Ed--"
"No, listen. I know. I know that I hurt you most of all. Your toes, your... your leg. I'm sorry that I did that to you. I could say I was fucked up, but that's just an excuse. I'm sorry, Iz, fucking sorry."
Izzy watches as Ed drops the toolbag, and Ed pulls out a gun and...
"... Oh, fuck no."
Ed lays a gun in Izzy's lap, and then he lays a pair of scissor shears and then a saw. "I didn't know what you'd want, or where you'd want to start."
Izzy gives those tools a hard shove, watching them clatter to the floor as Ed scrambles to pick them up.
Once they're in his hands, Ed doesn't know what to do with them except offer them to Izzy again. "You can start with my toes or shoot me or take my leg."
The smell of rotting flesh still lingers in the air, though Izzy is sure that it's only in his own mind. "You stupid son of a bitch, I don't want your fucking toes or your fucking leg!" He swipes out at Ed, once again scattering the armful of tools. "I don't want it, do you hear me? I wouldn't fuckin' do that to you."
Ed collapses on the floor beside Izzy's bed, pulling the shears over to him as he peels off his boot and his sock. "Then I'll do it. I remember which ones they were. I'll eat them, too."
Izzy does all he can think to do; he swings his crutch and knocks the shears out of Edward's hands, and then presses it against his chest. "Fucking listen to me, you sack of shite. Listen to the words coming out of my mouth. I don't want your fucking toes, I don't want your fucking leg. I don't want to cripple Blackbeard, I don't want to fucking cripple Edward."
The sweeping crutch had knocked over the wooden unicorn leg that had been turned into Izzy's new leg, and it is all Edward could focus on. "But we'd be even then, Iz. You'd have to forgive me, because we'd be even."
Ed's hair is down, hiding his face, but Izzy could see it anyway. "I don't want to be fucking even, Edward." Izzy was exhausted, he wanted to rest, hadn't he earned that?
"What do you want?" Ed asks, and he doesn't lift his head.
Izzy uses the tip of his crutch to raise Ed's chin, so he could see the silver moonlight in Edward's wet eyes. "I want you to be okay, Eddie," he says quietly. "Not fucked in the head and trying to trade body parts for fuckin' forgiveness. I forgave you already, you know I'd forgive you for anything."
"Not this, don't forgive me this," Ed says softly, and he reaches up to place his hand on Izzy's remaining leg. "I don't, I don't..."
"You don't get forgiven because you deserve it. I forgave you because I needed to get past it. Just like I told Twatty, not movin' on is worse. I needed to move on, and you need it too. So I forgive you, because I need you to get better, Eddie. That's all I want. And that fucking twat Bonnet, if he is what helps you get better, fuckin'... I don't know. Just get better. Let him love you. Let somebody love you."
"You have love for me," Ed says hopefully.
"Not any more. Not like you need. Not like you want." Izzy dragged his fingers over his face. "Now get out and leave me be. We'll talk later. But not now. Just... go. Please."
Ed scrambles to his feet, stuffing everything he'd brought into his bag. "I would have done it."
Tired, so tired. "I know." But he didn't want that any more; he was learning to be better, too.
End