After they'd returned to the ship with prisoners and loot in tow, they'd sunk the merchant ship. It was too small to really be worth anything and Bonnet's crew wasn't large enough nor competent enough to split in order to sail both.

Blackbeard had enjoyed his day of raids and fun with Stede, he'd not been so happy in years, however, when he'd caught sight of Willa while the other ship vanished under the waves his heart sank. That wasn't a feeling he cared for in the slightest. She'd not spoken but he spotted the pain in her eyes, a look he knew well. That odd mix of sadness and terror that didn't have a word to describe it well enough. When her eyes slipped shut to shed a single tear he recognized that as well, the desperation to never cry again. Edward had been so heavily focused on making himself feel better and having fun with Stede that he'd never thought that this girl who was hardly out of being a child would know pain as he did.

Willa wandered away into the lower decks then, just slipped off without anybody being any the wiser. All he could do was ask himself what Stede Bonnet would do. That was how the bearded man followed her like an other worldly entity had pushed him. Blackbeard traipsed after her to the cabin she shared with Izzy ten minutes after she'd vanished with only a brief stop to get what he'd found earlier in one of the French vessel's cabins.

Normally he'd have just waltzed on in to Izzy's cabin uncaring as to if the man was sleeping, shaving or jerking himself off but somehow he managed to stop an knock.

"Come in." Called the teenager in that accented voice of hers and Blackbeard pushed the door open. "Captain, do you need me for something?"

Of course she thought he'd he'd want something, wasn't like he'd make that much of an attempt to talk to her. She moved to sit up on the bed and closed her book.

"No." He said a little too quickly. "I em, I have something for you."

Awkwardly he thrust out a pair of cavalier boots, when she didn't instantly take them he shook the boots a little encouragingly. He kind of liked the way her eyes lit up with happiness.

She took the boots. "Danke schön! These are perfect."

Without hesitation she was pulling the boots on after that and Blackbeard found he also liked the feeling that rattled around inside his chest. He'd originally grabbed them because they'd been new and of good quality but giving them to Willa had been a much better idea. He'd made this girl smile and oddly it was almost as nice as when he saw Stede smile.

"No more burning your feet on sand."

"None at all." She agreed as she shot up to take a few strides.

The girl was still tiny but they'd given her a bit of a boost. Truthfully Blackbeard found her practically pocket sized, it was cute. The leather-clad man scratched his head then raked the hand down over his full beard.

"Did – did seeing that ship sink upset you?"

He didn't talk to people, talking wasn't his thing, but something made him want to try. The girl was a kid and he couldn't help wondering how his life would have turned out had someone just bothered to ask him if he was okay.

Willa paused a moment to take a calming breath. "A little. When I blew Die Falke up I never expected to wake up." She told him honestly. "Izzy isn't exactly an angel but … he's good enough. I know that to most people being hauled out of the water by pirates would just be another bad step on their journey of bad steps, but I like it here." She peered up at the tall man, Willa had feared him so much at first but after all her time with the crew Blackbeard provided a safe feeling rather than one of terror. "When I first woke up I thought I'd have to – as Izzy puts it – 'play little girl' but I don't have to here. For the first time in my life I don't have to pretend, I don't have to be something simply because it is what is expected of me. Doesn't matter I was born a noble. Doesn't matter how I ended up at sea. It doesn't matter where I came from. I don't have to be Wilhelmina, daughter of Freiherr Gerhard von Krieger, and I sure as hell don't have to be Hohenstaufen's Butterblume." She seemed to lighten then, as though an invisible weight had been lifted. "I can just be Willa and I find I rather like being Willa."

Blackbeard's mouth hung open a few seconds before words managed to pour out. "So, what you're saying is … you feel at home."

"Unbedingt!" (Absolutely) She exclaimed. "That's exactly it."

"I think Stede'll be pleased to hear that. He wants all the crew to be like a family. To be honest I think he's doing kinda well at it."

Willa let out a sweet chuckle, all her sadness seemingly cast away for the time bing. "Well, probably until it comes to Izzy."

"Yeah." Blackbeard nodded. "Izzy has always been a dick but-"

He cut himself off and when no follow up appeared Willa took a guess for him.

"He's a dick but not cruel?"

"That's it. There are people worse than Izzy in the world. People better than him too but there's more good in him than bad."

Willa's eyes grew serious and Blackbeard wondered if he'd let too much out, had he sounded stupid?

"Perhaps you should tell him that." She suggested only for the man to let out a grunt of objection.

"Iz doesn't want me spilling my guts to him and I don't want to either."

"Fair enough." She backed down.

"You're a sweet girl, Willa. You are. In my experience most nobles treat anyone outside of a title like scum. You don't do that."

Willa smiled a little as she glanced back down at her boots before her polished emeralds met his lovely brown eyes.

"I had a similar conversation with Izzy this morning. I'll tell you the same thing I told him. From what I've seen nobles are monsters and pirates are the nicest people I've ever met. I mean look." She pointed downward to her feet. "The Captain Blackbeard has brought me a pair of boots so I didn't hurt my feet again."

"I'm not completely evil." He muttered to himself which got another of those soft smiles from the teenager.

"You're not evil at all."

That was enough talking, he felt uncomfortable and wanted to leave but he paused roughly half of the way to the exit when a question popped into his mind, a question which actually had him turn back to face her.

"You em – you and Iz- He likes you … and he doesn't like very many people. At all. You and he-?"

"Ja." She told him as simply as she'd told Lucius earlier in the day at that bookshelf. "He likes me and I like him so we had sex."

Blackbeard lifted his hands in a non-threatening manner. "Hey, not judging, not judging, was just curious."

"Why? Did he say something?" She couldn't quite hide the hint of alert in her tone.

"No. Nah, he hasn't said anything to me."

"You sure?"

"Course." He paused, just a split second. "I've known him for decades and he just seems … less on edge lately."

Willa's brow furrowed. "Is that good?"

"Think it is, yeah." Once more a large hand combed through his beard. "I'll just – I'll leave you to your boots and your book."

With that the infamous Captain Blackbeard fled the room not to mention the situation. Alone Willa found herself staring at the new boots she'd been gifted with. They were a little too big and hard but she knew they'd soon soften. Oh to have shoes on her feet again after almost a year was blissful. How she took such thing a for granted as a young girl she'd never know. Without a shadow of a doubt she stood by what she'd told Blackbeard, he wasn't evil in the slightest.

~X~

Nassau and the Republic of Pirates had drawn close, in fact they'd probably arrive about mid-morning of the next day. Finally they'd be able to sell off the stuff they'd taken from the French ship and get some coin back in their pockets. Fuck, maybe Izzy would splurge and buy himself a new sheath for his sword.

Until he'd crammed himself in a quiet corner of the galley with a bowl that he realized he'd not seen Willa in hours, he'd gotten so focused on the ship that he'd totally forgotten about her. Wasn't as if he stalked her or anything but it was his job to keep track of her so it pissed him off when he realized he'd not been for a good portion of the day. He'd grown lax in his duties, a duty given to him by Blackbeard.

Izzy shoved the last few mouthfuls of his meal in before he slipped out of the galley still chewing on a piece of meat. A little too salty but Izzy hadn't ever been picky about the food he consumed. He wiped his face on the back of his gloveless hand, pleased that nobody bothered attempting to speak to him; the less interaction he had with Bonnet's crew the better in his opinion.

Booted feet carried him swiftly along the passageways of a swaying Revenge while the ever present scent of wood and salt caressed his nostrils. Off in the distance he heard the sound of Fang and Ivan joking with one another in the hold, he ignored it in favor of continuing back to his quarters.

He wasn't concerned, no of course it wasn't that, just doing his duty for Blackbeard. Yet when he stepped inside his cabin Izzy found it empty, no lantern lit and certainly no Wilhelmina reading one of her many pilfered books.

"Where's the girl?" He asked the air that, of course, seemed unwilling to provide an answer. "Alright, where's she gotten to?"

With only mild irritation he set out in search of the teenager, he didn't quite trust her vanishing so easily. He looked and looked and actually deemed to ask Frenchie when he passed him before he wandered all the way down to the hold intent on questioning the boys. There, sat at either side of a large crate topped with a candle were Fang and Ivan in the middle of a game of cards. It was Willa who had his attention though. She sat in Fang's lap with a grin, it was pretty damn obvious the bearded man had been teaching her to play; Izzy spotted a cup of dice as well so they'd been playing Liar's Dice at some point too.

"What next?" She asked sweetly of Fang, but Izzy cut in before an answer could come.

"The fuck is going on here?" Three sets of eyes snapped to him. "You know the rules about gambling aboard ship."

"We weren't bettin' money, Izzy, honest." Ivan assured the first mate quickly. "Just teaching her how to play a few games is all."

Izzy cocked an eyebrow upward when Willa wrapped an arm around Fang's shoulders so she could kiss his bearded cheek.

"We were having a good time." She fluttered her eyes at him. "And I like Fang, he's funny."

Ivan let out a disgruntled noise and tossed down his cards. "What about me?"

"I like you too." That had the black man smiling happily again.

"You could play a few rounds with us." Fang suggested.

Frankly he was one of the more level-headed pirates amongst them; didn't make Izzy any more inclined to go along with it though.

"I'll pass, thanks."

As far as the man with salt and pepper hair was concerned he'd figured out where Willa had gotten to, decided that she wasn't up to no good and was clearly safe enough with Ivan and Fang. Izzy could go back to his cabin and be alone for a while; shame she'd not been in the room though, he'd been thinking about fucking her again. That said, peace and quiet couldn't be overrated.

"I'll make it worth your while." Willa called after him and it had Izzy pause in his stride to the exit; pause but not turn.

"Still not interested."

Oh they all knew that couldn't have been true, if he'd actually not had any interest he'd have simply walked away.

"You win and I'll suck your cock."

The faces of Fang and Ivan lit up with curious glee and excitement, how vulgar this noble could be had always amused them.

"Ooh she's got him." Fang chuckled which bounced Willa in his lap a little.

Finally, finally, Izzy spun around, a smooth motion full of a surprising amount of grace like a dancer on stage. "And if I lose?"

The auburn-haired beauty left Fang's lap, padded over to him and rose up on her toes so she could whisper in his ear, ensuring the boys wouldn't hear. He felt her smile against his cheek.

"You put that tongue of yours to good use."

The cogs of Izzy's mind clicked around as he thought. Maybe Ivan and Fang had been bad influences on her because he was certain she hadn't been as blunt when they'd first met. Nah, this was better than the act she'd tried at first.

"Deal." He agreed with a smirk then sank down on a barrel with his back to the exit.

Willa shuffled a little in Fang's lap like a child who'd just gotten their way, because, well, that was pretty much what had just happened. Izzy didn't expect this to last too long, Fang couldn't have been that good a teacher.

Ivan collected up the cards, shuffled them nimbly then dealt them out with a smirk; Izzy might not have looked all that excited but Ivan certainly was. The boys had been teaching Willa for a good three hours now and her intellect hadn't been lost on them.

The game went on and on with Fang and Ivan occasionally sharing glances containing various amounts of amusement. Izzy's expression remained unreadable the entire time, not a twitch of the lips or the eye, no, Izzy Hands had a perfect poker face. Willa on the other hand, she smiled and chuckled from her comfortable spot rested against Fang's exposed torso.

In the end it matter what their faces said or didn't say one would have better cards then the other. As soon as Willa lay her cards down for Izzy to see Fang let out a chortle so strong it caused Willa to bounce in his lap.

"So? Did I win?" Green eyes sparkled at the first mate with genuine curiosity.

Izzy sighed and tossed his cards to the table face down. "You're a lucky fucking lass, ain't you."

The teenager clapped with glee, she'd learned quickly from Fang and Ivan but knowing how to play didn't negate her lack of experience. Winning honestly had been a long shot. Intent on getting her prize Willa hopped down from Fang's lap, grabbed Izzy by his gloveless hand and hauled him to his feet. He let her yank him toward the exit with a sharp smirk.

"Night boys!" She threw over her shoulder and then they were gone.

The remaining pirates stared at the exit a while as though Willa would suddenly return laughing to tell them she'd just been teasing him for her own merriment. The girl didn't appear though and a hunch had Fang reach for Izzy's discarded cards.

"Thought so."

Ivan lifted a brow. "What?"

"He lost on purpose. Izzy's hand beats hers."

Ivan's lips parted in mild shock as he snatched the cards out of Fang's hand to see for himself.

"The hell did she say to make losing better than getting his cock sucked?!"

~X~

Meanwhile, Izzy and Willa had made it back to their quarters. He longed to kiss the slightly sunburnt skin of her shoulders, caress her softness with his tongue, but as soon as the door was closed Willa kicked him in the back of the knee which forced his leg to buckle. He could have straightened himself but when he felt Willa's hand on his shoulder he didn't bother trying, just went to his knees willingly.

"Such a good puppy." She purred and Izzy loved the way her accent caressed the pet name.

The auburn-haired girl flashed him that beautiful smile of hers as she wrapped her arms around his head and kissed the top of it. In an instant he'd buried his face into her stomach, let his eyes slip shut while his nose flooded with her sweet scent. Izzy's calloused fingers caressed her leather-clad hips.

"Good boy."

Willa's fingers scraped against his scalp, a sensory rapture he'd never known he wanted, craved, needed. His knees hurt pressed against the hard wood but it was a pain he'd happily suffer through.

"Going to pay your debt, puppy dog?"

A growl sounded as he shoved her leather pants down and she easily aided him in removing her boots to leave her naked from the waist down before him. The bruises on her legs had almost entirely healed by this point and Izzy delighted in the porcelain beauty on display to him. His hands forced between her legs so he could snare her thighs; as soon as he had hold of her Izzy lifted her and spun on his knees to press her against the wall. Israel Hands had spent almost all of his life aboard sailing vessels, he might have been on the shorter side but he possessed tremendous upper body strength, so supporting her practically non-existent weight was simple.

Having flooded with encouragement Izzy slipped a finger inside her wet heat earning another groan from the Prussian girl. When a second entered her he crooked his fingers to meet that spot within Willa before he began to pump the calloused digits in and out of her while his tongue lapped at her core. He savored her flavor, so wet and all for him; a gift he didn't deserve.

Willa let out the most delightful of mews when his thumb moved to stimulate her almost magically sensitive clit.

"More, puppy." He couldn't deny Willa, he was the one in debt after all.

With her exposed to him properly Izzy took his fill or paid his debt, whatever one wanted to call it. Her legs moved higher to his shoulders for better support and tiny hands found their way back into the first mate's graying hair to give him more of her tantalizing fingernails against his scalp.

"Ah!" She cried when his tongue finally dipped into her core, it got a wolfish grin out of him.

Izzy kissed, licked and sucked at her sex like the hungry dog he was. Her pants and mews echoed around the poorly lit cabin until they grew breathless and wanton, until sweet nothings and her preferred pet name for him slipped from her mouth without Willa being fully aware of them. Then, with a moan caught in her throat, Willa came, stumbled over the proverbial cliff into blissful, sex scented waters. Fingers knotted in his slicked back hair so tightly he felt strands free themselves from his head, something which caused a grunt from his throat and a twitch from his hard cock.

Somehow Izzy managed to splay his sweet lass out on the bed while she danced through her orgasm. Had sex scented air ever smelt so perfect?

"Go on, puppy, grind against me like the needy doggy you are." Willa breathed with half-lidded eyes.

Izzy needed no further encouragement though, his cock, which strained inside his leather pants, demanded release. He thrust were erratic and shameless, came in sprightly stabs as he ground himself against her demanding his own climax. Yet, right before he could find an end to his neediness, Willa stopped him in his tracks.

"Stop."

Izzy obeyed her softly delivered order and let the girl awkwardly force him to roll onto his back so she could straddle him. He longed to thrust upward but she'd told him to stop and Izzy was good at obeying orders.

"Lass, please." He whined while she freed herself from her blue stays.

His hands caressed her hips but still she'd not let him move; it got a smile out of her.

"Have you been a good boy?" Willa asked, voice lyrical and tantalizingly accented. "Is my adorable puppy all desperate?"

Slowly she loosened the laces of his trousers and reached inside to cup him just enough to take the edge off.

"Christ!"

"My little puppy in rut? Okay. My good boy needs it so bad he can have it." Finally the Prussian took pity on the elder man and pulled him free of his leather pants before she sank down onto his length. Izzy's head practically rolled back in his head, they'd been at sea so long that even Izzy had moved from basic horniness and into lustful. "It's okay, I was going to play but if you're this needy just flip me over and rut as hard as you like."

So that was exactly what he did. Izzy flipped and fucked into the girl with wanton abandon. Her head rocked with the force of his thrusts which left her hair pooled around her head like a ring of dark flames.

A better man wouldn't have touched her the first time let alone the second. A better man wouldn't have sought out pleasure from a girl who wasn't as unaffected by her forced stint as a slave as she liked to pretend. However, long ago Izzy Hands had accepted he wasn't a good man.

With a shudder and a grunt the first mate came, spilling himself inside her while his breath left a wet sheen over the skin of her neck. Sweetly Willa petted his sweaty graying hair as he panted and groaned through his sticky orgasm. Actually, it wasn't until she pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead that Izzy realized almost all of his weight had been rested upon her. His muscles longed to just lay there but he took kindness on Willa and managed to roll onto his side rather than straight off the edge of the bed; it really wasn't designed for two.

The emerald-eyed beauty moved to cuddle against him, she enjoyed snuggling up to Izzy Hands. In a way the situation was akin to how cats always knew who didn't like them. She settled her hand across his stomach to lazily comb through the spattering of hair there while her lips found his pectoral which soon got a kiss. Izzy's chest rose and fell as he got his breath back. He held her mostly because Willa hadn't given him a choice when she'd slotted against him, but the longer they lay there the more Izzy decided he liked the warmth which settled between them.

"I see you found yourself some boots." He observed after a while.

Wilhelmina nodded. "A gift from Blackbeard."

Izzy's eyes, which had been partly closed, flew open and locked onto her. "Gift? Blackbeard? What?"

The girl smirked to herself; frankly he'd just made himself look more adorable to her.

"He was being sweet."

"Blackbeard isn't fucking sweet." Izzy insisted in that husky voice of his.

Most sixteen-year-old girls would have grown concerned and recoiled at such a tone but not Willa, she'd spent too long around his eternally irritated tone to know not to take it personally.

"He is, he just pretends he isn't."

Izzy hissed. "What is Bonnet turning him fucking into?! That goddamn ponce is ruining him."

She rolled her eyes. "He seems rather happy spending time with Stede."

"I don't fucking give a shit. He's got a reputation to keep." Izzy glared up at the ceiling. "And I'm his first mate, It's my fucking job to protect him whether it be from armies, himself or Stede fucking Bonnet."

"I know you adore him, but perhaps he doesn't need saving from Stede."

She felt the entirety of Izzy tense, felt him turn stony and angry.

"How the fuck would you know?"

Wilhelmina shrugged a little while she drew patterns through his chest hair. "I'm usually a good judge of character, and Stede is a nice person."

First Mate Hands' eye twitched to the point it was practically fully shut. "Fuck off."

Then he was on his feet, or at least that was what he'd planned, instead Willa just reacted and grabbed him by the hair so she could pull him back to her. His surprise was the only reason she managed to straddle him without getting shoved or thrown at the ground.

"I'm sorry, okay?" She spoke a little too quickly as worry flooded into her eyes. "I know you don't like Stede and I'm sorry I pushed the conversation. Just … please don't go?"

The angry expression which often called Izzy's face home was usurped by one of confusion as the sadness in her polished emeralds grew. Willa had such strength inside her, she wasn't afraid to speak her mind now she'd realized they didn't care who she'd killed. There was also the fact he'd gotten used to her being so at ease with just about everything that he'd forgotten Willa would always have the dark trauma inside her. No matter how brave she acted, in the end, Willa remained an abused teenage girl. At that realization even his apathetic heart twinged. Once more his eye twitched with irritation moving the X on his cheek slightly; an all too common occurrence. This time his disgruntlement found itself focused on himself though. Abandoned, she was scared of being abandoned again and despite not liking it Izzy could relate. Wilhelmina wasn't some harlot whose time he'd bought, not by a long shot.

She'd pinned his body down with her full weight as best she could, her hands on his clavicles as they betrayed her feelings by trembling a little. He glanced back up but she'd averted her gaze to the swallow at his neck.

"Fine, we'll just go to sleep." Izzy acquiesced which earned him a relieved smile and a nod of thanks. "Now get off me, you're heavier than you look."

She wasn't, she really wasn't, that was glaringly obvious. Truthfully Willa weighed practically nothing but it gave him something to say and eased the awkward tension somewhat.

Before the teenager could speak or even move Izzy had shifted his arm to cradle her so he could roll Willa back onto her side so her back was to the wall while his was to the door. Didn't take her long to snuggle up against him again as though that was her divinely bestowed spot and let her eyes fall shut. Slumber hadn't taken the Prussian, he knew that, but even he had to admit she looked beautiful and innocent. Izzy felt the remnants of his previous anger drain away while he watched her. Maybe this girl was a witch underneath it all, would explain the effect she had on him.

Israel lay there a long time, longer than he'd intended or thought necessary, but it was rare a pirate such as himself was provided the opportunity to gaze at such wonderfully porcelain skin.