Chapter Text
Stede stood, hands on his hips, looking up at a dilapidated cottage on a grassy beach. He smiled at it, nodding to himself as he focused on the gaping hole in the roof.
“It’s got good bones,” He said with certainty, even though he knew next to nothing about foundations, supports, or construction in general.
But he had always believed that if he put enough positivity in the world, it would manifest itself into being. He'd said with confidence that he was a great pirate captain, even when he was arguably one of the worst, and eventually he became, at the very least, mediocre. So, if he was confident that the structure of this barely-there building was sound, it would eventually turn into the Inn of Ed’s dreams.
Ed.
He turned to his right and gazed upon that soft, gentle smile.
Ed was dressed in Button’s old shirt and his own leather pants. His hair was half up, and while it was hard to tell, Stede could have sworn there were traces of coal beneath Ed’s eyes.
“Whaddya say, mate? Me and you? Simple life? Running an inn? We can be innkeepers.”
“I thought you wanted to be a fisherman?” Stede asked as the inkling of a memory that didn’t fit came to mind.
“I wanna be anything, as long as it’s with you,” Ed replied, turning toward Stede and taking a step toward him.
“That’s the biggest load of shit I’ve heard in a while.”
Stede startled and turned to his left to see Izzy on his left. His heart swelled at the sight of his First Mate standing casually at his side, though there was something off about him that Stede couldn’t quite put his finger on.
“The fuck you mean, ‘biggest load of shit?’ I love him, I want to do all sorts of non-piratey things with him.” Ed protested, turning to Izzy with his hands on his hips.
“You took off when things got too real, like you always do. Or you got bored, hard to tell with you these days.” Izzy replied evenly, mirroring Ed’s posture. It drew attention to his legs, of which he had two.
“Ah,” Stede said to himself, believing he was understanding what was happening now.
“What are you even doing here, anyway? This is supposed to be a romantic dream. I mean, look, there’s a fucking sunset.” Ed replied, gesturing out toward the ocean.
Stede turned around, noting that while the colors were all those of a magnificent sunset, there was no sun actually doing anything. Not that he really needed more proof that this was, in fact, a fairly marvelous dream.
“He’d rather watch it with me these days,” Izzy retorted, not even bothering to look at the illusion of a sunset. He smirked in that way that Stede had come to like, and he went momentarily stupid before what was said clicked in.
“I would not,” Stede assured Ed. “Not… not just him, anyway. If you’re amenable to… sharing?”
“It’s your dream, mate, does it really matter what I want?” Ed asked him.
It mattered. Of course, it mattered. Stede was just moments away from agreeing to run an inn. On land! Out of a shack that had nothing going for it except that the foundation and frames were good. Not that Stede knew much about that, or fixing things, or even how to run an inn. He didn’t really know how to do anything except be part of the gentry or be a pirate. Though, admittedly, the latter was only a recent thing, and he was aware he wasn’t very good.
But looking into Ed’s eyes, his heart ached at seeing them almost dead with the anticipation of Stede saying “no.”
Which he could, and should. But this was a dream, wasn’t it? And if it was a dream, he could just will the inn into existence, and then-
“Captain, ship’s docking.
“Docking?” Stede said with a frown, glancing around them for a sign of what was going on. He thought he saw a ship crashing into the sand dunes, but before he had a chance to really look-
His eyes opened.
The linen of the blanket wasn’t precisely scratchy against his skin, but it wasn’t as soft as he had once had. The sky was grey beyond the windows, but not so dark and heavy that he believed there would be rain or a storm right away. Besides, the clouds he could see weren’t quite right for it.
There was a thunk against the floor, and he knew without turning in his bunk who was in his room behind him.
The door closed, firm but not a slam, and there were a couple more clomps toward him.
“Stede,” Izzy said, gentle but firm, and Stede knew what Izzy thought was happening.
“I’m just waking up, is all,” Stede said with a sigh as he pushed himself up, the blanket falling to his waist. There wasn’t any need for modesty, and not just because this was a pirate ship. He’d taken to sleeping in at least his pants, which wasn’t always the most comfortable, but there was something too vulnerable about being naked and alone that Stede didn’t like, especially these days.
He swung his feet over the side of the bunk and slipped his feet into his boots.
“What’s it look like?” He asked Izzy as he twisted to look for his shirt.
“Still standing,” Izzy replied. “Which, for a town known to favor pirates, is a minor miracle.”
Stede found his shirt bunched in the corner of the bunk and pulled it on. Sometimes he missed the complicated method of getting dressed that his old clothes required. But in hindsight, he could see how it had hindered him.
That life, and the early stages of his career as a pirate, felt like a lifetime ago. The man he was had been dead for some time, and even this newer version of himself had grown and changed a few times.
But he was getting maudlin. Dreams with Ed usually did that to him.
“Any other ships in the harbor?” Stede asked as he got up, tucking his shirt in and coming up beside his First Mate.
“One. No colors, same as us.”
“Doesn’t mean they’re pirates, though,” Stede said what he knew Izzy already knew. It had to be said, anyway. More for his sake, so that the unjaded part of him didn’t get too hopeful.
“No, it doesn’t,” Izzy agreed as they began to head for the door together. “But given where we are, there’s a better chance than most.”
When they emerged on the deck, it was to the crew bringing the ship up to port.
It had been a couple of months since the destruction of the Republic of Pirates. Most of that time was spent trying to keep as low a profile as possible while raiding what ships they could to keep surviving at sea. It was luck that they hadn’t spent everything from the treasure room on Calypso’s Birthday, or that they didn’t give that much to the former crew of Ned Lowe. It allowed them to be comfortable and not have to worry if it was a week or so between ship sightings.
Better still, it allowed them to be able to purchase what they needed in towns where pirates had once been welcomed but were now looked at wearily, if not run out.
Stede went up to the side of the ship to gauge the reception they could receive should they start asking questions. Nothing about the town appeared particularly disreputable, but there weren’t any obvious signs of naval men, either. They were off to at least a neutral start.
“Anything in particular we should know?” Stede asked Izzy as he clomped up beside him.
“There’s a tavern on the east side of town most of this lot should stay the fuck away from. Especially Frenchie, he’ll want to run a con, and the proprietor will gut him if he’s caught.”
That sounded mildly more pirate-like and gave Stede a modicum of hope.
“Alright, crew,” He said as the anchor settled.
He turned to them as they gathered around attentively. It was nice of them, even though nothing Stede was about to say was new.
“As before, we go in, we keep a low profile, we ask around, we eavesdrop. If there’s someone who knows something, show them the portrait of Jim that Lucius was kind enough to sketch out for us all. Speaking of Lucius, it’s your turn to get provisions. Take whoever you want with you, except Black Pete.”
“Um, excuse me!” Lucius protested.
“You two would just fuck the whole time,” Wee John pointed out. “And we need oranges.”
“And flour,” Roach added pointedly. “Especially if you all want bread with your stew.”
“Right. Flour, oranges, anything else?” Stede asked the crew, glancing around them to see if anyone had anything to add. He then glanced at Izzy at his side, anticipating a request for copious amounts of rum.
His First Mate stood stoically, glancing at the crew with an assessing scowl.
“Nothing more for the grocery side of things,” Stede said. “Anyone have anything they’d like to add, or request?”
“You lot stay on this side of town,” Izzy said firmly. “Spriggs and whoever he takes with him are the exceptions aside from the Captain and myself. This town was not hostile, but it was not exactly a haven.”
“Right, Izzy did say you shouldn’t go east,” Stede reiterated pointedly. “Also, if you see any sign of the Navy?”
“We caw like seagulls and run,” Frenchie said proudly. Not surprisingly, it was his impromptu cawing and flapping his arms that got the rest of the crew’s attention in the first port they made after the bombing of the Republic of Pirates. He’d caught a glimpse of a group of officers and panicked, but the result was effective. He drew attention to himself, but it was also quickly ignored by everyone aside from the crew, and allowed them to escape back to the ship.
“Just so! Alright. Who’s staying behind this go?”
“Us,” Roach said, gesturing to himself and Wee John, who had his knitting in hand already.
“Okay, with that, head out. Everyone back by sundown.”
As the crew departed, Stede turned to Izzy for direction.
Izzy nodded his head toward the very direction the crew wasn’t meant to go in, and then started down the plank. Stede followed.
He watched people going about their days as he and Izzy navigated the streets. It was sort of nice to witness a mundane life on land. Although the more he watched, the more his dream crept back to the forefront of his mind.
Stede had wanted to be at sea for as long as he could remember. Finally getting to live his dream had meant the world to him. And yes, he was a selfish man; he could own up to it. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to give up the sea for Ed on their best days, barring needing funds or to lay low for a little while.
“You’re awful quiet,” Izzy stated.
Stede’s attention snapped to the shorter man, and he gave him an amused smirk.
“Would’ve thought you’d prefer it that way,” He replied.
Izzy tried to give him a rather sardonic look, but there was a light in his eye that betrayed his enjoyment of their banter.
“Normally, I would. But I need your head outta the fucking clouds. So, what is it? Something’s on your mind, you got that sorta pinched look about you.”
If someone had told Stede during his time of trying to get back to Ed that he would eventually find himself close to Izzy of all people, he’d have thought they’d sampled something that altered their brain. Izzy? The bastard who tried to kill him on more than one occasion? Who sold him and the crew out to the English? Absolutely not, it would never have been feasible.
But something happened after he rescued the crew who were imprisoned by Zheng, and what started as a mutual respect turned into a genuine friendship. It wasn’t until after Ed left, and the whole thing with the Republic of Pirates, that Stede realized that he spent an equal amount of time with Izzy as he ever had with Ed. More, now, since Ed left.
“Have you ever considered doing something else?” Stede asked him. “Something on land, I mean.”
“No,” Izzy replied without a second’s hesitation. “Signed up to join the fucking navy, didn’t I?”
“I suppose,” Stede conceded.
“Don’t tell me you’re thinking of packing it in?”
“No,” Stede replied immediately. “No, there’s still too much I want to do. I just… I had a dream last night.”
“Ed?”
“He wanted to run an inn.”
“Shit, sounds like him,” Izzy said as he paused for a moment, either to catch his breath or to assess where they were. Stede wasn’t entirely sure, and he wasn’t about to ask. “So, you got it in your fucking head that if you fucked off and got an inn, he’d come back ‘round, is that it?”
“No,” Stede shook his head. “No, quite the contrary. Dream me did it in a heartbeat, but I think I’d probably grow to hate it.”
“Well, even Ed stayed on the water, so what’s that tell you?” Izzy said, then gestured in the direction they needed to go. They went a short way before Izzy said, “Been a while since you brought him up.”
“I’m fine,” Stede assured.
“You fucking better be,” Izzy grumbled.
Stede smiled.
It was understandable that in the first couple of weeks after what happened to the Republic of Pirates that Stede would be outright depressed. He’d lost Ed and wasn’t even able to fully begin coping with that before the attack happened. He’d been in a numb state for the first couple of weeks, doing whatever he could to keep the ship and crew moving. They’d returned to the Republic when it was safe in hopes of finding survivors, or signs that maybe people escaped. What they had found instead was a gallows, a harbor decorated with nooses still around necks, and the once bustling town reduced to a few buildings and a lot of ashes. The only light in the dark was that Jackiez was filled with the corpses of naval men, a sign that maybe at least she and a few of her husbands escaped.
It wasn’t a bright enough light to pull Stede out of his gloom. He’d still Captained, still pirated, but there was a lack of vigor to it. And when he wasn’t needed, he remained in his cabin, under the blankets of his bunk that had long lost the scent of Ed.
He wasn’t sure precisely what it was that pulled him from the fog. Perhaps it was Izzy showing up every night with a bottle of rum or two in hand. Sometimes he’d sit and silently whittle, sometimes he would talk about everything and nothing. Maybe it was that Lucius eventually started joining them, which of course meant Black Pete did as well. Or it could be the massive raid they had on a privateer ship that hadn’t been as well trained as they ought to have been, giving Stede a victory that he hadn’t known he needed.
Either way, Stede had come through his depressive state and didn’t intend to head back to it any time soon.
They came up to a tavern that wasn’t anything special. There wasn’t even any real character to it, nothing distinctive. If it weren’t for the simple sign hanging over the door, Stede would have thought it was just a decent-sized home in an odd place.
Inside was only slightly better. Music, the scent of ale heavy in the air, and the buzz of conversation with a sudden shout or boisterous laugh lent a charm to the otherwise nondescript space.
Stede followed Izzy through the crowd to the bar where there was an empty stool. A part of Stede wanted to offer a hand to his First Mate to get him on the slightly high seat, but he knew better than to attempt anything of the sort when they weren’t on the Revenge.
The lady working the bar glanced up as Izzy sat down, then immediately scoffed and rolled her eyes.
“Didn’t think I’d see you ‘round,” She said as she continued to pour a drink from the keg.
“Been like that, has it?” Izzy replied, unbothered by his reception.
“It has,” The lady replied. “Where’s Eddie?”
“Gone.”
The lady didn’t respond at first. She finished her pouring, handed the tankard off to a customer, then paused. She seemed to contemplate what that might mean, maybe even braced herself for the next part of the conversation, then turned to Izzy with her shoulders squared and her head held high.
“Gone, is he?”
“Went off to be a fisherman,” Izzy said, conversational but with the barest hint of gentleness.
Stede watched the lady’s shoulders drop a fraction.
“A fisherman?”
“’S what I said.”
“How long ago was that, then?”
“About three months, give or take. He was already gone when the Republic went up. Which I’m guessing you already know about?”
“I did.”
“Anyone who was there pass through here?” Izzy asked, and Stede snapped to attention. He removed the sketch from his pocket, gently unfolding it and showing it to the lady.
“Namely, we’re looking for them,” Stede told her. “They’re a part of our crew, and got separated.”
The lady looked at Stede instead of the drawing, glanced him over, then turned to Izzy with an arched brow and a slightly incredulous look.
Izzy shrugged, but there was a hint of a smirk there that he was being very careful not to let loose.
It made Stede grin a moment before he recalled he was supposed to be a Pirate Captain who was, if not formidable, then at least competent and capable.
The lady glanced away from Izzy, leaning in to look at the drawing. She shook her head.
“I’m afraid I ain’t seen him,” She told Stede. To Izzy, she said, “Only had a couple people from the Republic pass through, and they weren’t close enough to the town to be considered ‘there’ when things happened.” She looked fleetingly at Stede again before asking Izzy, “So are you Captain, now?”
Izzy scoffed.
“No, that’s this fucker’s job.”
“Stede Bonnet,” He introduced himself, offering her his hand.
“The Gentleman Pirate,” She said with understanding. “You get a drink.”
“I do?”
“You killed Ned Lowe.”
“Ah,” Stede said, getting an uncomfortable sense of deja vu. “I might pass, if it’s all the same to you.”
“I’ll drink it if he won’t,” Izzy said, and the lady gave a knowing grin his way before turning back to the keg.
Stede leaned in to Izzy and, in a low voice, asked, “Who is she?”
“Elsabeth,” Izzy replied quietly. “She’s a relation of Ed’s, never knew to what extent.”
“Ah,” Stede nodded, standing straight as Elsabeth turned back around.
She set the tankard down, but was pulled away almost immediately to another customer.
Stede leaned with his back to the bar, scanning the rest of the room while Izzy had his drink.
He would guess most of the people were locals, which made sense since this particular tavern was further away from the docks. He thought he spied a blacksmith, a woodworker, and someone who was undoubtedly a painter. Of those whose professions weren’t as easily guessed, he figured a few of them were sailors.
“Anyone watching us?” Izzy asked.
“Not that I can see,” Stede replied without looking at his First Mate. “I think we have maybe a half-dozen sailors, but if they know who we are, they haven’t reacted.”
Izzy made a noise of acknowledgment, and Stede kept scanning the crowd.
One man glanced up at Stede and away very quickly when their eyes met. Not unusual, but what was odd was how much he was trying very hard not to look in Stede’s direction at all. He was almost squirrelly with how much he was trying not to glance Stede’s way.
“I take that back,” Stede said.
“Shit. How bad?”
“Not terrible. Won’t do anything right now.”
Izzy sighed, then drained the tankard. He set it down on the bar top with a thud, then shifted off the stool.
“Elsabeth,” He got her attention from down the bar. When she glanced up, he gave a short wave.
“Was nice meeting you,” Stede called to her, giving a slightly more jaunty wave, then followed Izzy out of the bar.
“Which way are we going?” Stede asked.
“I don’t fucking care, just pick a direction that’s not back to the ship,” Izzy replied, hand resting on his sword, ready to draw.
Stede rested his hand on his gun and started walking off in a random direction away from the dock.
They ended up on a street where there were more stalls for selling goods than actual shops, though there were enough of those to provide more than a few alleys. Stede lingered at a merchant or two, looking over their wares, stalling in a way he was hoping was adequate for their man in the bar to catch up to them.
“After you’re done here, we’re gonna head down that alley so we can meet your admirer,” Izzy said as Stede spotted a ring he quite liked.
He picked it up to better examine it, turning it this way and that. The gem was a lovely sea green color, probably made of sea glass rather than any actual jewel. The ring itself was a sort of black metal, likely nothing overly valuable, though the merchant was certainly trying to make it seem it was.
“How’s he looking?” Stede asked Izzy as he waited for the merchant to get distracted.
“Like he’s gonna die today if he’s not careful,” Izzy replied as the proprietor turned to another customer.
Stede moved a few rings around while slipping the sea glass one into his pocket. Then, because even after all this time, he still felt guilty about stealing, he slipped a ring he’d recently acquired on a raid into the mix. He wasn’t completely attached to it - the color was too orange for his taste - but it was likely more valuable than the one he nicked.
Turning to Izzy, he gestured for the First Mate to lead on.
“You’re getting better,” Izzy said as he led Stede into the alley.
“Can’t be that much better if you still saw,” Stede replied.
“Yeah, but no one else did,” Izzy retorted as they stopped a touch more in the shadows, keeping their backs turned to the mouth of the alley for a moment. “How do you wanna play this?”
“I thought we’d just stand here and have a genial conversation while we wait for him to approach,” Stede shrugged. “We’ll know soon enough if he’s a fan.”
“He’s not bloody likely,” Izzy retorted. “He’s probably there.”
“Should we?”
They turned to the mouth of the alley just as the young man stepped into it. Stede drew his gun, Izzy his sword, and the man merely yelped and lifted his hands absurdly high in the air.
“What do you want?” Stede asked with a touch of sharpness.
“You’re Stede Bonnet.” The man replied, eyes wide and terrified. Though Stede had to give him credit, he held eye contact instead of looking at the weapons in their hands.
“I am.”
“You’ve got a hundred-pound reward on your head.”
Stede pursed his lips and gave a tilted nod as he considered the price.
“Not horrible," He determined.
“You made the navy turn on itself.”
“Now that sounds like bullshit,” Izzy said, inching a touch closer to the lad.
“I saw!” The man took a step back, eyes now going to the tip of Izzy’s sword even though there was still some distance between them. “I was on a privateer vessel. We’d just met up with a naval ship with new orders, and who we were meant to look for. Another ship was coming up behind, so we sailed on. Then we heard it: cannon fire. Ship we got our orders from never stood a chance. It was dead in the water before it was out of our sight. Could hear the screams carry on the wind.”
That sounded odd. Stede looked to Izzy and found the same disbelief and confusion in his First Mate.
“Why do you think it has anything to do with me?” Stede asked the man.
“Because word is you know something about Prince Richard that he doesn’t want anyone to know. That you were there at the Republic of Pirate when it was attacked, but slipped away on the wind. That you surviving and continuing to sail made a whole ship of naval men turn on the crown. That wasn’t the first ship attacked. It was just the only one I saw.”
A sense of dread crept up Stede’s spine as he pictured the scene in his mind. That magnified as the longer he looked at the young man, the more he could see the excitement in his eyes under the fear. It reminded him a lot of Ricky.
He lowered his gun.
“You will not breathe a word of this to anyone,” Stede told him firmly. “We were never here, you never saw us.”
“Or we could make sure you don’t talk at all,” Izzy added.
The young man’s eyes widened, and then he took off. Smart of him, really, since Izzy would never be able to follow, and Stede wasn’t about to risk taking a shot in the crowded market.
“Let’s get you back on the ship,” Izzy said, hand on Stede’s arm to stir him into movement. He didn’t hold on to Stede the whole way back, but Izzy was close enough that their shoulders brushed with every other step.
Izzy
“Twatty,” Izzy said to Spriggs, getting his attention before he slinked off to some corner of the ship with Pete.
It was well after sunset. Stede had just retired to the cabin after finishing telling a story of a small fellow trying to find a princess. It was the new routine that mimicked the original story time they had in The Before, only now, Stede either told the story by memory, or perhaps made it up as he went, Izzy didn't know.
The rest of the crew were preoccupied with settling in, if they weren’t fully asleep before the story was even done. Even Pete wasn't paying attention to them, not even seeming to realize that his fiancé was held back a moment.
Spriggs rolled his eyes but came up to Izzy anyway. Hands on his hips, he looked expectantly for a second, then sighed and went defensive.
“I swear, the little ones were all they had,” He said with half an eye roll.
“The fuck are you on about?” Izzy asked with a sigh.
“The oranges?” Lucius replied with a confused frown. “I thought that’s why I was being called aside. Unless,” he looked Izzy over.
“Fuck off,” Izzy said without heat, making Spriggs grin. “Did any of you lot hear anything about a naval ship attacking one of its own?”
Spriggs reared back and blinked.
“And here I thought we weren’t talking dirty fantasies anymore.”
“That a 'no?'”
“Unfortunately. We ran into a couple of privateers, but they were more interested in other things, if you catch my drift.”
“Would be fucking hard not to.”
“Rude.”
“Always. So that was it?”
“Yeah, that was it,” Spriggs turned serious. “Stede’s been acting weird. Was that why? A rumor about infighting?”
“Don’t worry about him, I got him covered.”
“I’m sure you do,” came the coy reply.
Instead of responding, because any response would only provoke Spriggs further, Izzy rolled his eyes and waved him off. Spriggs went on, Pete having clued in at some point that he Spriggs wasn't with him and waited to head below deck, where they wouldn’t be too loud for everyone else.
Izzy would like to say he’d normally be not far behind them as he headed for his own room, but that wasn’t the case. Instead, he clomped his way toward the Captain’s cabin.
He probably spent more time there once Stede returned and retook the role of Captain than he had the whole time the ship belonged to Blackbeard. He certainly spent more time one-on-one with Stede than he had with Ed after the whole nonsense with the English. It allowed them to air out all their grievances in a surprisingly civilized manner, get around to the required apologies, and bury the hatchet into something that wasn’t one another’s backs.
It also allowed for something else.
As Izzy opened the door to the cabin, he braced himself for the wave of want that he knew would hit him.
Sure enough, his knee wanted to buckle as he found Stede in his favorite, patched-up chair, staring into the empty fireplace with a far-off look.
He had come a long way since they first met on that island.
Izzy had found him attractive from the onset - hard not to with shoulders that broad, and a face that was annoyingly pleasant to look at. But where everything about Stede’s personality had grated on him in the beginning, now it was only a few minor annoyances here and there. His enthusiasm for pirating, even if he still wasn’t as competent as a Captain should be, was infectious. His positive attitude was begrudgingly helpful. His knowledge of expensive wares was a turn on, as was his wrath when it came to anyone even thinking of hurting Izzy or the Crew.
That wasn’t even accounting for Stede's kindness, or his near-relentless optimism, both of which Izzy had needed in his lowest and certainly hadn’t deserved.
His falling for Stede Bonnet was probably written in the stars somewhere, and that Stede had fallen for Edward was the inevitable tragedy for this chapter of Izzy’s life.
He took a moment just to stare and drink the man in before he inevitably broke whatever spell had occupied Stede’s mind.
When Izzy closed the door, and Stede still didn’t look toward him, Izzy clomped a little louder than normal just to make sure he didn’t startle his Captain as he made his way to his chair, placed opposite Stede.
“You thinking ‘bout that kid in the market, then?” Izzy asked as he settled into his seat.
Stede pursed his lips, but his eyes were still unfocused.
“More or less what he said,” Stede replied.
“That the traitors in the Navy are because of you?”
Stede scoffed.
“I’ve been told I can be rather self-important, but even I don’t believe I could turn a whole ship against its commanding officers.” He turned toward Izzy, but still didn’t meet his eye. “It was what he said about Prince Richard.”
“What? That you know something?”
“Prince Richard Banes was the Rick from Jackie’s bar I told you about,” Stede informed him.
“Shit.”
“Mmm,” Stede hummed and nodded. He met Izzy’s gaze for a moment, then looked away again. “I genuinely thought she’d kill him. Now to know he’s still out there?”
“You said he was you before Ed,” Izzy reminded him.
“That’s part of the problem,” Stede countered. “He’s just insane enough to come up with something like blowing up the Republic of Pirates as revenge against Jackie. I left him there. I didn’t even try to convince him to stop making that stupid apertief. He’s got the power of the British Navy on his side. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn he was on the ship that destroyed the other Navy vessel, or that he gave the order to destroy it because of a minor slight. And if he can do that? What happens when they eventually catch up to us?”
“He’s never seen the Revenge,” Izzy reminded him. “We got rid of the broken figurehead, we took the name off the back of the ship so it’s not as obvious, and you never had a known flag. We watch the horizon, we keep our wits about us, and we’ll sail on as long as we can.”
“And if we have to stop?” Stede asked, holding Izzy’s gaze with intensity. “If pirating means we put the crew’s life at risk? What then?”
“Then we live lean, but we live. Got enough fucking treasure on this ship to get us through the harder times, and if the crew wanna leave, they can.”
“I can’t go back to living on land,” Stede said softly. “Not full-time, not forever.”
“Then we don’t,” Izzy vowed. “I’m a pirate, I love being a pirate, it’s the only life I want. But if I can’t have it, I damn well better still be sailing. I’ll sail with you, if that’s what it takes.”
Stede grinned, the first one since their encounter with the kid in the market.
“Is that a threat?” He asked teasingly.
“It’s a fucking promise,” Izzy said, imbuing every word with just a little bit of how much he loved the man across from him.
He’d been here before. He’s made promises to a Captain laced with love and devotion, all while knowing it wouldn’t be mutual. He’d broken those promises, every fucking one of them. But maybe it would be different this time.
As Stede’s cheeks flushed, and he looked back at the fireplace, the possibility of history repeating felt just a little bit less likely.