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"You're lying." Flint spits. The gun pointing at him says everything that Silver won't, and the promise of Thomas feels hollow, a way that Silver could feel better about this. "Pull the trigger, coward."
"No, I'm not lying. I want you to go." He needs Flint to go. Silver can't pull the trigger, he's not strong enough for that. "Leave this war behind."
"Fuck off."
Silver almost laughs, he puts his gun down and steps closer to Flint. "For once in my miserable life, I'm not lying." And, by now, he wouldn't lie to Flint.
"I don't chase fool's gold. I don't even know your fucking name, you weren't on the ships manifesto, don't talk to me like I've never heard a lie leave your lips."
"I was a stowaway," Silver says, "I made myself useful so they couldn't dispose of me. I've lied about a lot before, I won't tell you that I'm honest or admirable, there'd be no point pretending that I'm good. Not to you, you know exactly who I am. I wouldn't lie to you about Thomas, I know you love him."
Flint does, but for a long time, he's loved Silver too. He'd overlooked the times Silver has lied to him, the times he knows about; the shit with the Urca gold is something he still dreams about. But what Silver said made sense and he let it go, he realised that he'd already fallen for Silver. "I'm not going, you can fucking shoot me if you want this war to be over."
"But Thomas is waiting—"
"I don't give a shit."
"There's nothing left, Woodes will be gone. Rackham and Max are changing Nassau as we speak. You'd only be fighting yourself, or you'll fight me."
"I don't care about hurting myself." Silver squints at Flint, confused, he doesn't know why Flint wouldn't mention him. He's standing right here, in front of Flint with the gun still warm in his waistband. "I won't give up."
"You must, go to Thomas, get away from all of this. Leave this world behind. Let us be."
"Who is we?" Flint asks, the grit of his voice almost tears Silver to shreds on the spot, "You want to play happy families with Madi? She will not forgive you for this treacherous behaviour."
"I will give her a lifetime to forgive me, I do not need a family. I need her, I need her in the way you needed Thomas. She helps me breathe, she will come to understand that." Silver sounds like he's trying to convince Flint, as though he knows that getting Madi's forgiveness won't be so easy. It might take forever, but Silver will wait for her. "You understand me, I cannot have anyone standing in my way."
"Take out that gun again, put a stop to me here. Thomas will not convince me, I left that life behind long ago. Death will be sweeter and maybe that way, she can forgive you."
Silver isn't stupid enough to believe that, if he killed Flint here then she would only hate him more. He cannot do that, he's as much of a coward as Flint claims him to be. He loves Madi, in his own way, but the way he loves Flint is overwhelming and completely destructive. Silver has already lost his leg because of it, because he was hard-headed and sarcastic. But it saved Flint, just like that time when it was the two of them against Spanish officers.
"I won't kill you." He admits.
"And I won't run. We're at a stalemate, then."
"Why won't you go?"
"There's no reason to," And, for Flint, Thomas isn't a reason, "It's been a long time since I was McGraw, that is the man Thomas loves. I've been Flint for too long, I can't love him any longer. I can't let him love me-- not Flint. And I can 't go back to being his McGraw, I'm not who he remembers."
Silver scoffs, this whole thing feels like a show, Flint hates fool's gold and he's standing there pretending to be sand but Silver sees him glistening— always has —and he's too good for the war that he's trying to start, a war born from Thomas's name, a war that has dried and is over before it has ever began. "There's no war, Flint. There will be no war."
"But you will not kill me so you can't even leave me here to die."
"There is no choice," He brandishes the gun again, "Walk, Flint."
"No." Flint refuses, challenging Silver with a single step towards him. "If you want Flint to end and you want to stop Madi fighting then kill me. Lie to her after, if it makes you feel better." Silver is at a crossroad, it's Flint or Madi, and Flint isn't giving him an option, "You cannot have both. Kill me and Madi will hate you or leave this island with me and forgo the war. Forego her."
"With you...?" Silver hesitates to the point of freezing completely. Leaving Madi feels cruel where she had expected more, but Flint is right, Madi will not forgive him for a reason. "I don't want you to die," he admits, lowing the gun to his side, "You should go, you should be happy there with him."
"Perhaps I should be, but I wouldn't be. I cannot be McGraw again, not even for Thomas. This anger, the violence, my insatiable needs for war... it's not for him and the thought of him does not prevent the course we have been on. I cannot love Thomas as I used to. I'd be lying to both of us if I said otherwise, and I would rather die than lie to him."
Silver's mouth opens and closes like a fish hunting for water; he doesn't know what to think— what to say to Flint. Whatever he's offering feels far away, a way that Silver won't have to kill Flint and a way to never have to face Madi.. "I don't think I could do that."
"You can do whatever you'd like, John." And something about the way that Flint says his name disarms Silver and the gun falls to the grass.
Silver stares at Flint, his hand moving over Flint's chest, his fingertips brushing Flint's collarbones. "Flint," he whispers, his voice on the edge of a rasp, "Do you miss New Providence?" Without them, any idea of a war has died, and Rogers was paying for his crimes. They have been forgotten.
"No," Flint answers, his tone entirely serious. He looks at Silver and takes his hand, "I like this. I love you, this is what I'm content to ignore starting a war for. You, and us, and this place that we have found together."
"I would always choose you, I'd choose this life over New Providence. I love you." Flint smiles, his fingers sliding down Silver's spine as he leans in to kiss him. Silver gently holds Flint's face, indulging in the kiss and the idea of New Providence— of Madi —falls away, just like the gun had fell in the forest. They're ghosts now, able to be in love, able to ignore any thoughts of piracy.