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One night at port, they run into a man named John “Calico Jack” Rackham. He greets Blackbeard and Izzy like old friends.
“Eddy! Israel!” He cries, pulling them each into a hug. “It’s been years! How are ya?”
“Jack.” Izzy says icily, voice and expression full of thinly veiled contempt. Blackbeard looks shell shocked, stunned and unprepared.
“Aw, Israel, don’t talk like that. You missed me, admit it.”
“Don’t call ‘im that mate, you know he doesn’t like it.” Blackbeard says, frowning. Jack laughs it off, waving his hand dismissively. He eyes their small group, just Blackbeard, Izzy, and Jim.
“Running with a new crew now, Eddy? I hear you’ve shacked up with someone else.”
“Fuck off, Jack.”
“The Gentleman Pirate, eh?” Jack laughs. “I’d like to meet ‘im. Make sure he’s treating you alright.” Blackbeard frowns.
“I don’t need your approval.”
“Aw, c’mon, Eddy, where’s your ship?” He wraps his arm around Blackbeard’s neck and turns him back towards the docks.
“You lost your ship again, didn’t you.” Izzy says, eyeing Jack. “That’s why you want to come back with us so badly.”
“Can’t I just want to hang out with my friends?”
“You haven’t called either of us your friend in decades.” Blackbeard deadpans, exchanging a glance with Izzy. The tension in the air is so thick Jim would probably need two knives to cut it.
“One night. You can stay one night, and that’s it. You’re off the ship in the morning.” Blackbeard says eventually. From the look on Izzy’s face, Jim thinks that might be a mistake.
It’s a mistake, alright. Jack is a complete and utter asshole. It’s very clear, just looking at them, that he makes both the Captain and the First Mate extremely uncomfortable. As soon as they get back to the ship, Izzy flees below deck to his room. Blackbeard asks Lucius to get Stede, and they stand awkwardly on the deck.
“You don’t have to stay, Jim, if you’ve got better things to do.” They shrug.
“Nah, I got nothing to do.” Jack raises his eyebrows, and they wince. Damn voice.
“You’ve got a woman on your ship now?” Jim growls, but Blackbeard steps in before they have a chance to do anything.
“Jim’s not a woman. Another word about them, and you’re going overboard.” Jack raises his hands, placating.
“Just curious, mate.”
“Bull shit. Leave them alone.” Stede finally makes his way up to the deck, saving them from further confrontation.
“Stede, this is Jack, an old friend. Jack, this is Stede.” Blackbeard waves his hand between the two of them. The rest of the crew begins to crawl out from where ever they were hiding, curious to meet a friend of Blackbeard’s. As soon as they get the opportunity, Jim uses the mild chaos to slip away.
They duck down to visit Izzy. There’s a not quite friendship between the two of them, more of a mutual respect. They rap sharply on his door.
“Izzy? Are you alright?” The door opens. He looks awful, almost like he’s been crying.
“What do you want?”
“Jack seems like an asshole, and I don’t think you like him very much. Wanted to check on you.”
“Oh.” He’s quiet for a moment.
“Yeah, Jack’s always been a prick. He still around?” They nod, and Izzy swears.
“I better get back. Shouldn’t leave Edward alone with him.”
“I’m sure the Captain wouldn’t mind if you needed more time.” Izzy sighs.
“Jack’s an asshole. A really fucking big asshole. I can’t leave him to deal with that by himself.” He follows Jim back up to the deck, where the crew is gathered around Jack, who seems to be telling stories. Blackbeard and Stede are standing off to the side, which is where Izzy heads towards. Jim decides to go sit beside Olu.
For the first maybe hour, hour and a half, it’s cool to have Jack around, someone to tell more Blackbeard stories. He’s got different ones than ones they’ve heard before, and it quickly becomes obvious why Blackbeard never shared them.
They’re deeply personal.
He tells stories about Izzy’s dead husband, including the heartbreaking tale of how he died, which he laughs at. He tells them how Blackbeard had to learn English when they first met, and mocks Izzy’s accent. He talks about the time he and another crew member interrupted Blackbeard and Izzy during their Friday prayers and set fire to Izzy’s religious texts. He tells them all about Izzy’s shitty dad and his even worse mom, all about how Blackbeard was abused by his father and thrown out by his mother. He laughs, joking about older crew members taking a liking to a very young Blackbeard, jeering about how they’d stop him in the halls trying to talk him into sucking their cocks.
It’s incredibly uncomfortable, and not something Blackbeard or Izzy would want spread around.
Once they realize where Jack’s going with his stories, they all do their best to steer him away from the deeply personal topics, begging for stories of his own travels. It works, to an extent. At the very least, he stops making jokes about Blackbeard being molested.
Eventually, story time has to end, and the crew has to get back to work. Jack wanders the ship freely, and Jim follows him. They don’t trust him, not after all the shit he’s said.
Sure enough, Jack follows Blackbeard down below decks and grabs him, slamming him against the wall and pinning his wrists above his head. The Captain looks afraid and uncomfortable, but Jim hesitates to step in, on the off chance he’s into it.
“It’s been a while, hasn’t it, Eddy?” Blackbeard sighs.
“Let me go, Jack. I don’t do this shit anymore.” Jack laughs, biting at his neck.
“Aw, don’t be like that. It’ll be fun. Just like old times.”
“I don’t remember fun. I remember you pinning me down and beating me until I’d do what you wanted.” Jack laughs.
“You were into it, little slut.” He leans forward for a kiss, and Blackbeard turns his head.
“He said no.” Jim snaps, stepping forward with a knife in hand. “I suggest you let him go before I make you, puto.” Startled, Jack steps away.
“I think you’ve misunderstood the situation.” He says, chuckling. Jim takes one look at their Captain's face, and shakes their head.
“No, I don’t think I have. Get the hell out of here.” Jack looks around, realizes he’s not going to get out of this alive if he keeps pushing, and leaves. Blackbeard sinks to the floor.
“Thank you,” he whispers.
“Are you alright? Should I get someone for you?” He shakes his head.
“I’m fine.”
“We’ll be happy to through him over board.”
“It’s just a few more hours. I’ll be fine.”
“You should know, sir, he’s been telling stories.” Blackbeard sighs, and gently smacks his head against the wall behind him.
“What kind of stories?”
“Really personal ones. He talked about Sam, and some other things from the past.”
“Shit. Iz won’t be happy about that.”
“I’m not good at this feelings shit but, you don’t have to put up with him. I think the rest of us want him gone just as much as you do. Just say the word, Captain.” He smiles, small and shy and tired.
“Thanks, Jim. You won’t, ah, you won’t tell anyone about this, will you?”
“Of course not.” He breathes a sigh of relief.
“Thanks, mate.”
“Are you sure you don’t want me to get anyone?” Blackbeard bites his lip.
“Can you get Izzy? And maybe Stede?” They nod, and hurry up the stairs. Jack is sulking by the main mast, and he stiffens when Jim comes back on deck. They stride over to where Captain Bonnet and Izzy are standing, near the rails.
“Ah, Jim. Everything alright?” They shake their head.
“Captain Blackbeard needs you below deck. It’s urgent.” Bonnet frowns, concern filling his features.
“Is he alright?” Jim hesitates.
“I promised I wouldn’t say anything. But he needs you right now.” Izzy seems to know what Jim’s not saying, and he pales a little before grabbing Captain Bonnet’s sleeve and dragging him below. Olu wanders over from where he was helping Fang with… something.
“You alright, Jim?” They shake their head and tuck their head into his broad chest.
“I want Calico Jack off this fucking ship.” They whisper. “I want to kill him.”
“I think we all feel that way,” Olu murmurs. “Bastard. He’s got no right to be blabbin’ the Captain’s business like that.”
“Izzy’s really private.” Ivan says softly, shooting Jack a fierce glare. “Do you know, I was on their ship for almost five years before I learned his first name?” Jim snorts.
“No way.” Ivan nods.
“Yeah. Blackbeard would call him First Mate Hands in front of the crew. I only learned his name was Izzy cuz I overheard him and the Captain talking one night. I thought Izzy was going to kill me when he realized.”
“Captain doesn’t like people knowing, but he’s shy.” Fang adds.
“And Izzy is overprotective.”
“They both are.” Fang corrects. “They came off of one of Hornigold’s ships together.” Jim winces. Hornigold has a reputation for how he treats his crew, and none of it is good. More of the crew drift over.
“That explains a lot, actually.” Lucius remarked. “Even if nothing happened, living on a ship like that would certainly explain some things.” Jack laughs, cruelly, startling them all.
“Oh, things happened, alright,” he sneers with a grin. “Your precious Israel was the ship’s little slut,” he spits out the word with malicious joy, “up until Eddy came. He was Hornigold’s favorite whore. Called him to his room just about every night, sometimes twice a day. He-” filled with red-hot rage, Jim pulls away from Olu and drags Jack to the edge of the ship. It takes all of their strength, but they heave him overboard with a grunt. Behind them, the crew cheers.