Under the cover of night, Izzy slipped out of his room and carefully crept past the captain's quarters, pausing only to listen for Edward's snoring.

Instead, he heard muffled sobs. The sound was preferable to the madness Izzy had heard only an hour before, but fucking hell did Izzy hate it. A few weeks before, he would have given anything for the madness over the heartbreak.

How badly he had fucked up.

A dinghy was waiting for him. Izzy had gone back and forth on whether he actually needed to follow through with his ridiculous plan, but that night had been the final straw.

Edward was his mess to fix, and he needed to do it regardless of the cost.

As Izzy began to lower himself, a hand shot out of the dark and gripped his. After weeks of being on the same ship, Izzy was still unaccustomed to how stealthily Jim moved. It gave Izzy the distinct impression that they could've killed him at any moment but simply chose not to.

"Jumping ship after you ruined everything?" Jim asked. Their grip was tight, and Izzy knew they could've killed him in a dozen different ways right then.

"I'm going to fix things," Izzy said. He knew he wasn't imagining the glint of a knife in Jim's other hand. "I'm going to find Bonnet. Talk to him."

"Let's pretend we're sure the Captain's alive. You think he can fix this?" Jim asked. They had never called Edward 'captain', and the disrespect had been enough to make Izzy exhaust his arsenal in an attempt to make Jim fall in line. They wouldn't yield.

"That's what this is all about," Izzy said. "If I can get Bonnet to come back, Edward will return to normal."

Jim said nothing, stiller than freshwater hidden deep in a jungle. And then they released Izzy's wrist and took a step back.

"I thought this was the normal Edward," Jim said, slipping back into the shadows. Even in the dark night, Izzy could clearly see the bruise across their collarbones. "Careful what you ask for, Israel."

#

The first few days after Bonnet left, Izzy wondered if he had ever been half as happy. The weeks spent in his presence had left Izzy with nothing but a renewed hatred for aristocrats and more gray hair than he had expected at his age.

Everything was back in order. He had a crew that obeyed his every word and a fresh hunger for battle. There were no talent shows or talks about feelings. The work was hard and the days were long.

It was all perfect.

Except.

Something was horribly wrong with Edward.

Izzy hadn't noticed it right away. Edward was too busy flying his new flag and swaggering about the Revenge like he was all-powerful for Izzy to notice that he was different from the Blackbeard Izzy had so longed to bring back.

Edward didn't leave his quarters unless a ship was nearby. He wouldn't take counsel from Izzy. Sometimes, if Izzy woke up early enough, he would find Edward at the bow, staring over the water with a blank look on his face. When Izzy had tried to speak to him on those mornings, Ed turned to him with red-rimmed eyes and glared.

"Don't try to play nice, Izzy," Ed would growl. "Don't fucking test me."

It was fine. He had been out of sorts the first time Jack had left, and Izzy had waited. He had stood at Edward's side and let him figure himself out and come back to being a captain. Whatever dalliances entered and left Edward's orbit couldn't dream of holding the same place in Edward's heart that Izzy did. So he would wait, like a perfect fucking first mate did, and he would be ready for Edward to come back to himself.

But this was different.

Weeks passed, and Edward didn't get better. He wouldn't laugh at Izzy's dry comments. He wouldn't indulge Fang's requests to dock and buy more citrus. He won't hum along to Frenchie's tunes.

If anything, Edward got worse. He reeked of rum from sunup to sunset and was never seen without his face painted. He laid siege to ships with a brutality that gave Izzy pause.

Edward had always attacked with bravado and precision, and he always had plans. But the battles he waged weren't strategic. They were just bloody.

Izzy, still learning how to walk with his cane, stayed behind on the Revenge during an encounter with Portuguese traders. Through his spyglass, Izzy watched as Edward attacked sailor after sailor without hesitation or thought. Chefs fell at his hand just the same as officers. Fire burned across the deck and sent men jumping overboard for the safety of the ocean.

After a few minutes, Izzy noticed the careless mistakes Edward was making. He left his left side completely open; he wandered about the deck without direction; he stood too close to the fire, and Izzy could see his hair was singed when he returned to the Revenge.

"Sir," Izzy said, following him to the captain's quarters. "We need to talk—"

Edward stopped at the doorway, gripping it tight with a hand wrapped in a bloody glove.

Izzy thought Edward might let him in. He thought that his captain might listen.

Instead, Edward turned, snatched Izzy's cane out of his hand, and smashed the pommel into his face. Izzy staggered back against the wall, clutching his mouth. A fucking tooth fell into his hand.

Edward threw the cane at Izzy's feet and stepped into the captain's quarters without turning around.

"Izzy, I swear to god, if you say anything else to me I'll put you on that ship and let you burn to death," Edward said. "Just leave me alone."

The sound of the door slamming behind him was worse than the splitting pain Izzy felt.

It was the moment Izzy accepted that—maybe—the Edward who had come back was not the Edward he knew. The Edward he knew was Blackbeard—a leader who was harsh, but fair; a pirate who showed no remorse but was found of drinking and celebrating with his crew; a man who Izzy had seen on a burning ship over a decade before and had dedicated his entire fucking life and his entire fucking heart to in a single moment.

Izzy had gone back to his bunk and stared at the ceiling, wondering if this had been his fault, somehow. When he was sure everyone was asleep that night, he moved a dinghy to the side of the boat. He stared at it for a few minutes before deciding to wait a few more days.

It was the least he could do for Edward.

When he snuck around the boat later that night, he heard something close to howling. He knew it was Edward, and when he held himself so still that he wasn't sure he was breathing, he could hear:

"—fucking left me, you fucking left me! Why—why?! I loved you—I loved you so much—"

Izzy left Edward alone, because he could follow orders to a T. Because that's what a first mate did.

When they docked the next morning—the Revenge still smelling like ash—Izzy was sent out to retrieve supplies. It was work below him, but everyone else was either nursing their wounds or piss drunk, and someone had to keep the ship running.

As Izzy made his way through the market, crossing items off of his neat little list, he listened closely to the chatter. As much as he had wanted to pretend that Bonnet had no sense at all, he was correct in his assertion that listening carefully wielded power. It truly pained Izzy to admit even that much.

"—swear on my life," the fishmonger said. "A piano!"

"That's awful," the woman at his stand replied. "I enjoyed when he came through the Republic last time. What a funny man."

"First time I heard of him, I thought he would die out at sea. Can't believe he made it back to land," the fishmonger said. "Did you know he sailed with Blackbeard?"

Izzy stopped in his tracks, staring at the stand. He knew his life would be easier if he could just keep walking, finish the tasks at hand, and return to the Revenge.

But because he apparently delighted in making his own life absolute shit, Izzy approached the stand and said, "Are you talking about Stede Bonnet?"

"Aye," the fishmonger said. "Just got the news he died. Mauled by a leopard and crushed by a piano."

"Terrible," the woman next to Izzy said, and he could hear a small sniffle.

For a small moment, Izzy let himself be happy over the idea of Bonnet in doggy heaven. There would be no chance of Edward ever running into him again. They could sail off into the sunset as Izzy popped champagne and toasted to the leopard that had taken stupid fucking Stede Bonnet out of this world.

And then Izzy thought about how Edward would react to the news.

And Izzy fucking legged it back to the Revenge.

No one else had left the ship, so it was easy for Izzy to wake the crew, leave port, and muster them all on the quarterdeck.

"If any of you so much as breathes a word of this news to Blackbeard, I'll throw you to the fucking sharks myself," Izzy said. "Am I clear?"

No one said anything, but there were nods all around. When Izzy looked closely, everyone—even the crew that had sailed with Blackbeard long before Bonnet had come along—were wiping their eyes.

None of them had known Edward as long as Izzy had, and that meant none of them could smell a fuckery from a mile away. Sure, there was a chance Bonnet had someone been stupid enough to die in a way that served as the pinnacle of comedy.

But Izzy doubted it.

Still, when Edward made his way out of his quarters, eyes red and hair matted, Izzy didn't say anything to him. He knew it would be too much.

He knew it would be what finally broke his captain.

The next night was when he knew it was time.

Izzy had been contemplating the dinghy again. Edward had stumbled across the ship all day, shouting and pointing his blade fairly liberally, even for him. He hadn't bathed since the battle with the Portuguese, and his makeup had mixed with dried blood to make him look particularly monstrous.

It wasn't Edward. It wasn't even Blackbeard.

There was movement at the end of the hall—some sort of struggle. What the crew did at night had never been any of Izzy's concern so long as it didn't affect how the ship ran. But he didn't go back to his bunk. He followed the sound down the hall and froze when he could make out Jim and Edward at the end, illuminated by a small candle.

Edward had Jim pinned to the wall with an arm to their chest. Their faces were close together and Jim's teeth were bared.

"Say that again," Edward said. His voice was the dangerous low that promised a fate worse than death. It made Izzy's skin raise with goosebumps.

"You never deserved him," Jim said, defiant. "You never deserved his kindness or his love."

"I should have you punished for insubordination," Edward said, but where Izzy expected a raging inferno of anger, he only saw a stillness on Edward's face. "Clearly, Stede was too soft on all of you–"

Jim had Edward pinned to the opposite wall in an instant, the damned knife they were always carrying at Edward's throat. Izzy had never seen rage like theirs before, and Izzy briefly thought of Edward in the middle of battle.

Edward, meanwhile, was completely still against the wall. His hands were flat at his sides, and his chin was tipped up. At some point, he had washed his face, and Izzy could plainly see how hollow and lifeless he looked in the candlelight.

"Go on," Edward said, "Do it."

"You left them for dead," Jim growled. "You left Oluwande behind."

"You want to kill me," Edward said, voice exhausted. "So get it over with. Kill me."

Izzy wanted to step out of the shadows and beat Jim back with his cane, but he was rooted to the spot. He had never seen Edward like he had right then.

Because Izzy had seen Edward as everything from a demon to a king.

But he had never seen him for what he was: a heartbroken man.

"You want this?" Jim asked, sounding angrier.

"I deserve it, don't I?" Edward asked. Izzy swore he pressed his throat closer to the blade. "That's why Stede left. So do it. Kill the monster. Make it right. It'll make everyone feel better."

Jim tucked away their blade in an instant and instead spat at Edward's feet.

"The captain would be so disappointed in you," Jim said.

#

Mutiny was the part of being a pirate that Izzy had never quite grown accustomed to. He had seen his fair share of captains thrown overboard and run through. He had even been part of orchestrating such schemes. But he had never—ever—liked the idea of going behind his captain's back.

Above all else, Izzy Hands valued loyalty.

Which made his all the more on edge as Stede fucking Bonnet set a teacup and saucer in front of him and said, "I don't know how you take it."

It was painfully Bonnet, which meant it was exactly what Izzy hated. He hated the man's softness, his openness, his hospitality.

But to show he had grown just a little, Bonnet then sniffed and added, "But I don't care, so I prepared it just the same as mine."

Izzy couldn't fucking believe he was sitting in Bonnet's makeshift quarters. Finding him hadn't been easy, not when there was a rumor going around that he had died in an unfortunate piano-leopard accident (of all fucking things).

The Bonnet standing before Izzy was not the Bonnet he remembered. Instead of the ornate and colorful coats, Bonnet wore a simple white shirt and red breeches. He had grown a beard—which made Izzy irrationally angry, because he didn't thing Bonnet should be allowed to grow a beard—and looked perfectly fucking windswept and roguish.

Bonnet looked like a pirate. Izzy wanted to smash his teacup against the floor.

The tea was bitter. Strange—Izzy had always assumed Bonnet had the same sweet tooth as Edward.

Bonnet took the seat across from Izzy and stared at him in silence. They were in a rented ship—who the fuck rented a ship—aside from Stede Bonnet, the prat—just a few miles off of the coast South Florida. Finding him had cost Izzy a small fortune. He had worked through half a dozen informants at the Republic, each providing him with another name who had seen Bonnet prancing about with his crew.

When Izzy had finally figured out where his ridiculous rental ship was parked, he had said a few prayers to the nameless sea gods he owed his life to and asked to make sure he wasn't tossed overboard for leaving the crew for dead.

What had scared Izzy the most—more than the hands on him, more than the violence, more than the shadow of death that loomed too close to him for a moment—was how Bonnet looked at him teetering on the edge of the ship, and fucking hesitated.

"Thank you," Izzy said, the words rusty on his tongue. "For listening to me."

"I won't lie, Izzy," Bonnet said, not breaking eye contact, "I considered letting them toss you."

Flattery never got Izzy anywhere with Edward. Where Izzy valued loyalty, Edward valued truth. It was the roadmap that had landed Izzy as his right hand.

But Bonnet? Bonnet was all about social strategy.

So, Izzy said, "I like the ship."

Bonnet said, "No you don't."

So much for flattery. Izzy gripped the head of his cane. He had noticed how Bonnet eyed it when they had settled for tea, and he wished Bonnet would just fucking ask about it.

It would be a good transition, at least.

Izzy shrugged and said, "You're right. Fucking hate it. Smells too new."

"Then why come aboard?" Bonnet asked. "I would've thought you and Ed would be off plundering and… rebuilding his reputation."

"The reputation is why I'm here, actually," Izzy said. Bonnet quirked an eyebrow, and Izzy found himself wondering how anyone could actually make their face move like that.

And then he realized exactly how Ed had been seduced by this idiot.

"Yes, well, I've been hearing plenty. The crew filled me in on what happened to the Revenge, and everyone in the Republic was talking about how he's been on a rampage," Bonnet said, and then he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Honestly, you think they would've caught on that half of that is fiction. Who keeps a mermaid aboard a ship?"

"It's not fiction," Izzy said. "Edward has gone… mad."

Bonnet leaned toward Izzy then, looking scandalized, and asked, "So he really has a mermaid?"

Izzy's hand twitched toward his blade. Really, he didn't even need it—the cane could deal more than enough damage with him wielding it. It certainly had when Edward had turned it on him.

But Izzy couldn't threaten Bonnet, not when he needed him.

"Not the mermaid, you moron," Izzy said. "Edward has changed. Calls himself the Kraken now. He's looting every ship he sees and killing anyone who gets in his way. His cruelty to the crew has exploded. Like I said: mad. I worry he won't see the next full moon."

Bonnet frowned and took a sip of his tea—pinky up and everything. He looked troubled, but not rattled.

Izzy had expected a scandalized shock, maybe even fainting. The news of his precious Ed—killing? Abusing the crew? It should've been enough to scare Bonnet to death and send him charging out to sea.

"What happened?" Bonnet asked.

"You did, you fucking twat," Izzy said, running a hand down his face. The leather was worn, but the glove had been a gift from Edward—stolen right off of some dead French captain's hand. Izzy couldn't get rid of it.

"I don't remember telling him to kill anyone," Bonnet said, and—goddamn him, he was too perceptive. Izzy watched as Bonnet picked him apart and saw his guilt. "Why, Izzy, I seem to remember you always pushing him in that direction."

Izzy could still feel Edward's hand around his throat, so close to Blackbeard yet so far. It was the happiest Izzy had been in weeks. He had wanted it–he had wanted more. That was his Edward.

But he could also taste the blood in his mouth and feel the gap in his teeth he had yet to fill. He could smell the smoke rolling off of the Portuguese ship. He could see the bruise across Jim's chest and hear Edward telling them to kill him.

"I… miscalculated," Izzy said, with some difficulty.

"The true mark of a man's honor is being able to admit he was wrong," Bonnet said, finishing his tea and setting the empty cup on the saucer. "So, Izzy—are you a man of honor?"

"Fuck, no," Izzy said. "I'm a pirate, Bonnet. Honor doesn't mean shit around these parts."

"Honor is everything!" Bonnet said, scandalized.

Izzy glared at Bonnet and sipped his bitter tea. While he did, Izzy pondered how exactly his life had gotten to that point. One day he was serving a ruthless pirate king, and the next—he was trying to parent trap his captain and his captain's ex.

Madness.

"Look, here's what you want to hear: I was wrong thinking Edward would return to normal. I thought he was broken before, but the man is in tatters over you. It's quite pathetic, really. And I hate you—so fucking much—but Edward doesn't, and I would rather deal with you and him making heart eyes and fucking on the deck than spend the rest of my life trying to live with what Edward has become."

Bonnet nodded, thoughtful, and scratched his beard.

"There is a slight wrinkle to this whole thing, Izzy," Bonnet said. "He tried to kill our crew."

The ease with which he used 'our' bothered Izzy more than he would ever admit. For the longest time, 'we' meant Izzy and Edward—Hands and Blackbeard.

But that was over. Izzy would have to accept that if he wanted to keep Edward alive.

"Not his finest moment, I admit," Izzy said. "If it helps, he did lock himself in your quarters and cry for several hours afterwards."

"It certainly shows remorse," Bonnet said.

He stared at Izzy in a strange way. Izzy hated being stared at, and he gripped his cane tight to contain his usual outburst of violence.

"You know, I'm just realizing something," Bonnet said, standing and gathering his and Izzy's teacups. "If it came down to it, I would also rather Ed be happy with someone else than be a monster alone. Or a monster with me, for that matter."

Bonnet set the dishes down on a table that was filled with books. He turned back to Izzy, and Izzy wanted to run. He wouldn't, because he wasn't a coward, and he couldn't, because he was missing a toe.

"When I returned to my old life, I realized a few things about myself. My wife—er, my ex-wife now, I suppose—helped me understand what I felt towards Ed. So I guess you could say I became a bit of an expert in the subject of love," Bonnet said. "I guess I could go by 'the Love Pirate' now."

"I loathe your monologues. I hope you know that," Izzy said, keeping his voice level.

"What I'm saying, mate, is that I've grown a bit more perceptive than when we last met," Bonnet said. "Especially about the people around me."

Maybe it was all the universe's way of getting even with Izzy after all those years. Hell was talking about feelings of any kind, but Izzy's personal hell would be talking about his feelings with Stede Bonnet.

"I didn't know you were in love with Ed," Bonnet finally said, a sad and sincere look on his face. "And I'm sorry if he and I starting a relationship of some kind hurt you."

Izzy was perfectly still as a million scenarios ran through his mind: shooting Bonnet with the firearm at his hip, flipping over the table and storming out of the room, finally—finally—admitting it out loud to someone after years of locking away the weakest, softest thing that had ever hatched in his mind.

Instead he said, "What I feel toward Edward is none of your concern."

Bonnet looked thoughtful as he continued to analyze Izzy. He could pretend to be a bumbling fool all he wanted—Izzy could see the way he took stock and assessed the situation like he was preparing for battle.

"I told you my job was to make sure Edward was content," Izzy said, hating the feeling of eyes on his skin and silence in his ears.

"I remember," Bonnet said, and damn him, Izzy could hear pity in his voice.

"That was half of the truth," Izzy said. "The other half of my job is keeping him alive. Don't make me grovel or kneel or beg—because I will, if that's what it takes. I fucking hate you, Stede Bonnet. But I'll call you captain until I'm dragged to the bottom of the sea if that's what you need to hear to make you come back."

"I really don't think that's necessary," Bonnet said. "A simple 'please' does the trick."

The door to the captain's quarters swung open, and Izzy's jaw dropped as Lucius entered the room, looking very much annoyed and very much not drowned.

Edward's record of having never killed anyone remained unblemished, apparently.

"Oh, Izzy," Lucius sneered, and Izzy wondered how he was able to properly sneer with a smile on his face. "So good to see you here. I thought I smelled something pathetic."

"Watch your tone," Izzy said. "I'm here on official business regarding Blackbeard."

"So he actually rebounded with you?" Lucius said, folding his arms. "Fucking amazing. I bet you're over the moon."

"Lucius," Bonnet said, and Izzy was surprised to hear an unexpected note of authority in his voice. His back was turned as he stirred something in a fresh teacup. "Izzy came here to ask us to come back to the Revenge. Apparently things haven't been going well."

"Wow, who would've guessed," Lucius deadpanned, still glaring at Izzy with contempt usually reserved for rotting fish and the French.

Bonnet crossed the room, full teacup in his hand. Lucius accepted it wordlessly, and Izzy was taken aback at the scene.

Yes, before meeting Bonnet, Edward had been a warm captain. He enjoyed drinking with the crew and staying on the deck until sunrise to play games and gamble.

But a kind gesture like that? Izzy had never seen it from a captain to his crew.

"You're actually exactly who I wanted to talk to," Bonnet said. "Now, I know you didn't leave the Revenge under good circumstances—"

"Yeah, getting thrown overboard by your ex during his emo phase isn't exactly how I planned it would happen," Lucius said, and then he took a quick sip of his tea. "This is good."

"A spoonful of honey, just the way you like it," Bonnet said. "Anyway, I wanted to know how you would feel about us going back to the Revenge."

"Wait, are you fucking joking?" Izzy asked. "You're leaving his decision to your scribe?"

"I'm actually his first mate," Lucius said. " Buttons stepped down to spend more time with Olivia."

Izzy silently seethed at the smile Lucius threw his way that clearly said, we have the same rank, you prick.

"Look, Izzy," Bonnet said. "I love Ed. Dearly. More than I ever thought was possible. But I can't go back if the people he hurt along the way aren't okay with it. What kind of captain would I be if I did that?"

"A pirate," Izzy said. "You would finally become a real fucking pirate."

"Open up your mind, Izzy!" Bonnet said, waving his hand. "You're here because you don't want Edward to be the pirate you know. Change is good. Maybe it's time you change, too."

"That was so good," Lucius said. "I wish I was writing it down, honestly."

"If I didn't need you, I would kill you right now," Izzy said to Bonnet.

"But that would make Edward sad," Lucius said, mocking. "And you don't want to make him sad, do you?"

And Izzy could read the grin on Lucius' face well enough to understand that he knew. Maybe he had figured it out right away, the perceptive bastard. Bonnet and his crew could dick around across the Caribbean and never notice and Edward could take dozens of men to bed and never notice—but Lucius could. It took Bonnet going on a fucking journey of self-discovery for him to realize, but Lucius could see the truth Izzy had never spoken aloud but never once hidden with just a single look.

"Enough," Bonnet said before Izzy could reply, though he was having a difficult time coming up with anything that could serve as a solid comeback.

"Sorry," Lucius said. "I wasn't trying to be a dick. It just happens around him."

"All I need is a yes or no. Should we go back to the Revenge?" Bonnet asked.

"Oh my god, yes," Lucius said. "Obviously, I was not happy with being thrown into the ocean. But honestly, who hasn't acted all dramatic during a breakup? I'm not saying I agree. I'm just saying I get it."

Bonnet clapped his hands together and turned to Izzy.

"It's settled. Take us to Ed," he said.

"Thank fucking Christ," Izzy groaned. He wanted to escape back to his dingy and proceed to never discuss his feelings again and stare at the clouds as he thought up lies to explain his absence to Edward.

Those fantasies were shattered when Bonnet said, "In the meantime, Lucius, would you mind preparing a cabin for Izzy? It might take a few days to track Edward down."

"Can't we just tie him to the mast?" Lucius whined.

Izzy would've preferred it to Bonnet's stupid fucking hospitality.

#

When Izzy boarded the Revenge two days later, Edward was waiting for him. With the whole crew assembled around him, Edward stared coldly as Izzy boarded the ship. Jim stood a few yards to Edward's left, and Izzy wondered if the hand on their knife was to use it on him or Edward.

"Israel Hands," Edward said, his singsong voice setting Izzy's nerves ablaze. "What kind of trouble have you been getting yourself into? I thought you were dead—but we both know you'd never die where I couldn't see."

Izzy had gone over this part with Bonnet, and he had warned him that this would happen. But it was their only choice.

"I—" Izzy began, and then he paused and squared his shoulders. He hated what he was about to say, but Bonnet had insisted on it and Izzy hadn't been able to come up with anything more… piratey. "I was worried about you. You're going to kill yourself at this rate."

"Well, death is the greatest adventure, isn't it?" Edward said. "And one you have to do alone, anyway."

Izzy wondered if Bonnet could hear from the dinghy. He wondered if Edward could tell that the shiny ship Izzy had rowed over from was Bonnet's. It felt possible that the two idiots had some sort of way to know when the other was close.

"I went to find help," Izzy said, and he regretted his life choices until that point as he said, "the Gentleman Pirate would like to speak to you."

At that moment, Bonnet hoisted himself onto the railing of the ship, looking like some dickish actor in a romance play. Shirt billowing in the wind, hair becoming artfully tousled—Izzy hoped he would fall overboard.

"Ed," Bonnet said, "I'm home."

All eyes, including the ones poking out from between the rails where Bonnet posed, turned to Edward.

Izzy had never seen the expression on his face before. He knew Edward well enough to know all of his expressions, and he figured that one fell somewhere between rage and adoration.

Fucking disgusting.

"You… you came back," Edward said, and Izzy considered how stupid the whole thing really was. Two grown men—one looking like he was auditioning for Pirate Illustrated and the other covered in face paint—staring at each other after the world's stupidest fucking misunderstandngs.

"Never left," Bonnet said, hopping onto the ship. Edward stood perfectly still, which was always a strange phenomenon, as Bonnet approached him.

For a moment, Izzy thought Edward might punch Bonnet. The tension in the air felt similar to the one after the English had seized the Revenge, and Izzy's jaw had hurt for the whole day after that.

Bonnet stopped a few feet from Edward and gently took his hand. Izzy wanted to throw something.

"Can we speak alone?" Bonnet asked, more gentle than he had any right to be. "I think there's a lot we need to discuss."

Edward nodded. He nodded like he had been waiting weeks for Bonnet to ask that very question. He nodded just like Bonnet said he would, despite Izzy's insistence that he would never let him in so easily.

Well, fuck Izzy Hand's wealth of knowledge about Edward.

When the two went below decks, the deck came alive. The original Revenge crew climbed aboard and welcomed their lost friends with open arms, all laughing and crying. Oluwande kissed Jim hard enough to send their hat tumbling off of their head, Frenchie began strumming a merry tune, and Fang and Ivan began to dance with Buttons and his insufferable seagull.

And Izzy stood alone, staring at the door Edward had shut behind him.

"Come on," Lucius said, sliding up next to him. "I think we should listen in. Since we're their first mates and all."

Izzy said nothing, but Lucius must've known that it was an agreement, because he turned to Black Pete and said, "We'll be back soon, love. Just have to take care of a few things."

#

Bonnet had built secret passages into the ship, because of course he had. And Izzy had been unaware of them, because of course he was.

As he shipping his way down a narrow crawlspace between rooms, he turned to Lucius and said, "If this is a way to kill me, you're a fucking idiot."

"Izzy, if I wanted to kill you, this is the best way to make it happen. No one knows where you are, and you would be completely helpless if I left you here," Lucius said, rolling his eyes. "Anyways, shut up and listen. We didn't come here just to hang out."

Izzy pressed his ear against the wood in front of him and listened closely.

"I waited for you," Edward said, and Izzy liked to imagine that he was standing in front of the fireplace as Bonnet sat cowering in one of the few remaining chairs Edward hadn't burned. "At first I thought the guard had bailed, and then I figured you had just overslept. Then I realized you didn't want to come. So you didn't."

Izzy hadn't heard the full details of what had happened the night before Edward returned. Edward had refused to fill him in, instead choosing to hide away and simply tell Izzy, "He left me."

Izzy could picture his captain–his Blackbeard, his Edward—sitting alone on a dock, waiting for a man who would choose a life on land over him. It made him furious in a way he couldn't describe. Stede Bonnet was a fool for what he had done.

"I know," Bonnet said. "And I'm sorry. I just couldn't bear to ruin you any further."

Edward laughed, the sound coming out rusty after so many weeks of mourning.

"Ruin me?" Edward asked. "Stede, you fucking freed me. I was happier than I had ever been because of you. And then you just…"

"Ruined it," Bonnet finished for him. "I know, and I'm sorry. I went back to my family and realized they weren't my home anymore. You were my home. I thought about you every day, and I missed you like I had never missed something before."

"Aw," Lucius said from next to Izzy.

"Fuck off," Izzy replied.

"I missed you too," Edward admitted. "Couldn't stand to think of you, so I got rid of everything."

"Well, I can replace all that," Bonent said. "You kept the lighthouse, though. Which is the one thing I can't replace, since I can't go back to Mary now that I'm dead."

"You're the lighthouse," Edward said.

"Ah," Bonnet replied, as if that made any fucking sense.

They were quiet for a moment, and Izzy pressed his ear closer to the wall.

"I'm sorry for, you know, destroying all this," Edward said, sounding a little softer.

"Like I said, it can be replaced," Bonnet replied.

"And for trying to kill the crew," Edward continued.

"They've already forgiven you," Bonnet said. "And I'm sorry for leaving you without an explanation."

"Yeah, well, it's a pretty good one, actually," Edward said. "Can't exactly blame you."

They were silent again, and Izzy could hear the hardwood creaking as one of them walked across the room.

"D'you think we could make this work?" Edward asked softly.

"I do. I really do," Bonnet said. "Ed, when I went back to Mary, we talked. And I realized something."

"He's not about to fucking say it," Izzy said, his body going cold.

"Oh, he is," Lucius said, grinning.

"I love you," Bonnet said, and Izzy couldn't believe it. He just… fucking said it. No dramatic build up, no flowery musical number. Stede Bonnet, the biggest diva in the Caribbean, had just come out and said what Izzy had never once had the courage to.

Edward sucked in a breath, sounding like he had been punched. And then there was silence.

"What?" Izzy asked, brows knitting together in confusion after a few seconds. "Did he keel over from the shock?"

"I think they're making out," Lucius said. "If you listen closely… yep, that's a moan. I think we're good to leave them be for the time being."

As Izzy followed Lucius out of the crawlspace, he told himself it was for the best. He had set the whole thing up knowing that was the best possible outcome. Edward would be happy. He and Bonnet would co-captain together. Edward wouldn't die.

But still, when the sunlight hit Izzy's face upon returning to the deck, he wanted to lock himself away like Edward had for weeks. He wanted to mope and cry and throw a tantrum.

He wanted to feel. He wanted to feel without shame. He wanted to feel out loud.

"Hey," Lucius said, grabbing his arm with a soft grip. "You did something really brave. I just wanted to make sure you know that."

"If you don't take your fucking hand off of me, I'll kill you," Izzy said, though he didn't think he had it in him to kill at the moment. Lucius let him go regardless.

"I'm getting tired of handling everyone's relationships, but you should know that Blackbeard loving the Captain doesn't make him love you less," Lucius said. "You're still special to him even if he has another person in his life."

Izzy said nothing, because he felt a knot at the back of his throat that he was deathly afraid of untying.

"Also, I think you should get laid," Lucius added. "An orgasm will probably help you loosen up a bit."

As Lucius turned to walk to Black Pete's waiting embrace, Izzy grabbed his arm in the way he had just done.

"Thank you," Izzy said. He couldn't say more, because he had never said more, but it seemed to be enough for Lucius.

"Aw, Jiggy," Lucius said, "this is cute and all, but I'm not going to fuck you."

"Fuck off," Izzy said, but there was no malice behind the words.

In fact, as he tipped his head toward the sunlight and breathed in the salt air, there was no malice left in him at all.


A/N: The curse of me writing a fic every time I move continues!

I've watched OFMD about three times (rookie numbers, I know), and I continue to be fascinated by Izzy and his relationship with Edward. Thus, this fic!

Thank you all for the continued support, and thank you to Renee for being the first eyes on everything I write.