Things had been quiet for another long stretch with little wind in the sails, and then a Dutch ship had swanned into view and – thanks to Izzy – the Revenge had descended. Blackbeard had let Izzy run the raid, that was his thing and always had been, damn good at planning a pirate raid was Izzy Hands, and soon they'd taken over the vessel in record time. If shit kept going this way Bonnet's bunch of maladroit nitwits stood a chance of becoming a tolerable crew.

Turned out the vessel was a passenger ship transporting mostly the families of newly stationed men but that didn't mean their was nothing to take. One of the few men aboard though turned out to be Prussian, and that was how Stede and the walking mononym had found themselves leaned against a wall as they watched Willa converse with him cautiously in their native tongue.

"You got any idea what they're on about?" Blackbeard asked.

"Not a clue." Stede responded casually as the German words continued as a background noise. "For some reason I've never been able to get to grips with German."

"Wie bitte?" They heard her ask. "Wie viel has du?"

Izzy appeared from the shadows beside them then, so quiet that Stede jumped.

"He's got something, she wants to know how much."

"Huh, wonder what – wait." Blackbeard tilted his attention to his first mate. "Iz, when the fuck did you learn German?"

"Course I didn't learn fucking German, Edward." He gestured loosely to the teenager that warmed his bed. "She mutters a lot though, you pick bits up. Be nice if bitte didn't mean fucking everything though."

Strangely Stede chose to praise Izzy's understanding, unusual because the two normally avoided one another like the plague.

"Well done. Learning a new language is difficult."

"Shut up, Bonnet." Ah, there was normality again.

Blackbeard fortunately seemed more interested in the conversation Wilhelmina and the middle-aged man were having rather than Izzy death-glaring Stede.

"Baby girl," he called. "What is it he's got?"

She didn't bother looking at them, just threw 'Perlen' over her shoulder and went back to speaking with the man. Almost comically the blond and bearded captains looked to Izzy for explanation.

The first mate sighed. "Seriously? That one's easy to translate. Pearls. He's got fucking pearls."

"Nice." Blackbeard nodded approvingly. "That could bring us some decent money." He called out to Willa once more. "Where are the pearls, Willa?"

With a sigh eerily similar to Izzy's own, Willa left the Prussian man and spoke as she approached the two captains and first mate.

"I was getting that out of him slowly; he doesn't speak English. As soon as he thought I was your lot's captive he became talkative. Now he's on to me."

As if to prove it the middle-aged man growled at her. "Gottverdammt! Du-" (Goddammit! You-)

She cut him off abruptly with an unimpressed, sharp look. "Die Wahrheit ist grausam, Herr Schmidt." (The truth is cruel, Mister Schmidt.)

With that Willa leaned herself comfortably against Izzy's surprisingly strong chest and flashed a smile at her captains.

"Well, if we need info there are other ways." Blackbeard suggested. "Iz, bet you can have it out of him in under five minutes."

Izzy smirked. "Oh I doubt it'll even take me one."

The Prussian man registered the change in Izzy's eyes and tried to run but the leather-clad Mister Hands was on him in an instant, had him by the collar and slammed him against the wall. The man appealed to Willa for help but she knew he'd get a few punches and cracked ribs so there wasn't much point. Stede probably wouldn't stand for anything more bloody or disfiguring.

With desperation the Prussian man shoved and pushed the shorter Izzy but he didn't budge. Izzy could plant his weight when he needed to, to be fair, the only way to get him off his feet would be to blindside him.

Whenever brute force failed man started searching for alternative options, for a brave man of decent morals this was to think logically and look for an escape, for a coward such as Herr Schmidt, the next best option was to beg. Only after almost a full ten seconds had passed did the captains, girl and first mate realize that begging could be an art form.

"Seien Sie bitte mal still." (Please be quiet.) Breathed Willa but the last few words were drowned out by Izzy's demands.

"Where are these fucking pearls?"

All he received was a horrified expression and a roll of Willa's eyes.

"I told you, he doesn't speak English. Would you like me to translate? It's sort of my thing."

"Oh, I think I can get through to him." With that he gut punch the taller man. "Die Perlen!" (The pearls) If their victim hadn't already proven himself a caitiff, he certainly did with the scream he let out as Izzy's knife slammed deep into the wood wall right between his legs. "Tell me or you're a eunuch!"

Izzy truly did use violence and threats as a protective shield, but damn was it effective with people like Schmidt.

Stede flashed the auburn-haired girl beside him a glance. "Not going to translate that?"

"Trust me, he understands. Eunuch is the same in both languages."

Begging ended then and the information they wanted spilled from Schmidt 's lips, as did snot and the beginnings of tears so Izzy suckerpunched the poor fucker and let him drop down unconscious.

Blackbeard spoke as Izzy returned his blade to its rightful place. "You know, I think that was under a minute."

"You get all that, little lass?"

"Na klar." (Of course) She told him, surprised he'd even bothered to ask.

The blond captain clapped his hands together a single time. "Well, a job well done, I think. Willa, new rule, you can just help yourself to any women's clothing and such on ships we raid. Rest of us aren't really going to want it … I don't think."

"That's very kind of you, Captain. If the boys do want something I'll share."

"Very kind."

"Iz," the first mate's attention was instantly on his beloved Blackbeard. "Go with Willa, find these pearls."

"Aye, Cap'n." He made a jerking motion with his head meant to tell Willa to get going. "Come on, lass."

Izzy took her by the elbow only for Willa to point back the way they'd come. "Other way."

With only the smallest of breathy sighs Izzy spun them around and together they went in search of their treasure leaving Stede and Blackbeard behind.

"How did you get that asshole talking about pearls?" He asked after they'd rounded a corner or two.

Sick of being led around like an unruly child, Willa pulled free of his grasp only to neatly loop her arm with his as if Izzy were a noble come to court her.

"Links- left here." She informed. "I came looking for books like I always do with Ivan, but he got distracted and by Lucius and wandered off. Herr Schmidt back there thought I'd been kidnapped, and I was excited to be able to have a full conversation in my native tongue. He's not overly smart so as soon as he hinted at why he's on the ship I figured I'd be helpful and see if he brought anything interesting with him."

"Not built for beating the shit out of folk so she talks information out of them instead." He surmised. "A wise choice."

"I try." She told him as they finally reached Herr Schmidt's cabin in the bowel of the Dutch vessel.

Izzy disentangled himself from his teenage lover to shove the door open, he took a quick gander around to ascertain if it was safe then headed inside with her hot on his heels.

"So where are they?"

Willa didn't respond, just dropped to her knees before a trunk and shoved on the lid only to find it securely locked with a padlock, and so impenetrable to one such as Wilhelmina.

"Puppy, help me?"

He made a show of coming closer like she'd placed a heavy burden upon him and kicked the lock with the right heel of his leather boot once, twice, thrice until it finally gave way and hit the floor with a dense thud almost like a dunk.

Task accomplished Izzy retreated to the wall behind Willa while she opened the lid for a peak inside. Quickly Willa ripped clothing out until she finally reached the chest's flower-patterned bottom. She ran her hand over all of it until a raised corner presented itself and was quickly pushed aside which caused a tiny hidey-hole to reveal itself.

"Doubt we'd have found that."

With triumph Willa removed a black bag and tugged softly on the cords to see a good handful of pearls of a slightly oval shape. One was plucked out for a better look and held between her thumb and forefinger.

"Pretty."

"Don't really care." He uttered. "Give them here, lass." She didn't need asking twice, just dropped the pearl back into the bag and handed it over to First Mate Hands who sequestered it away inside his waistcoat. "Hunted them down well. Hey, maybe we should start calling you that. The Hunter, it's got a nice ring to it."

"Der Jäger." She said to herself only for Izzy to haul her to her feet with a gloved hand.

"How about I show you how to sort decent cargo from utter shit."

It wasn't a question so Willa didn't take it as one, just followed him out the cabin and off toward the hold. What had been a boring week had finally given way to a fun day. Ah how the winds had changed.

~X~

The winds certainly had changed. That night after everything had been plundered a storm started as though Njord and Poseidon had decided to have a fight over who was the better sea god. At first there had just been an increased wind and listing, but then the rain had started and a bad feeling had settled itself in the pit of Willa's stomach.

Blackbeard and Izzy hadn't wasted a moment to start yelling out orders that even Lucius hadn't argued with or questioned. The whole crew rushed about lashing things down and doing things Willa couldn't put names to. Willa herself felt useless though, she still knew fuck all about ships despite the lessons Wee John had provided. Honestly it didn't seem as though she could do much to assist so Willa just stayed out of their way for the most part and offer to help where she could; about as useless as Stede Bonnet to be honest.

When the Revenge really started to rock, just staying upright became a chore and it was then she realized her black and gray puppy had disappeared. Über Bord?! (Overboard?!) No, Izzy wouldn't let himself go out that way. She had to ask Blackbeard, he'd been with Izzy when she'd last seen him.

~X~

Izzy sat himself down slowly on his tiny bed and took a calming breath. His stomach lurched and threatened to spill its contents all over the place. Izzy hated it. He'd been sailing for years, been through storms much worse than the one going on outside, but he just couldn't find his fucking sea legs. He cursed himself with each calming breath. Pathetic, this was pathetic. He was pathetic. Christ, no wonder Blackbeard had started to pull away from him. What was a first mate who couldn't stop himself hurling chunks over the gunwales every time a little rain came? Fucking pathetic!

He could feel his stomach churning and no amount of willpower or prayer – not that Basilica Hands was a religious man – seemed to help. Lucius had already started calling him 'Dizzy Izzy' every chance he got. If Izzy threw up now he'd never hear the shitting end of it.

Back went his head as Izzy tried to steady himself and drew in another slow breath of cool air. All he wanted was to be left alone now everything was pretty much lashed down until his stomach obeyed his order to settle the ever-loving fuck down. Yet, that was not to be as the cabin door opened and Willa stepped in holding one of Stede's china cups on a saucer.

"Just as I guessed," she said as she closed the door behind her. "You don't feel well."

"Stating the fucking obvious there, lass." He growled only to think better of it when his stomach lurched again.

The sixteen-year-old walked to stand before him with a sigh. He was soaking wet from aiding the rest of the crew before he could take it no longer and fled. Willa had been soaked through as well, her hair so wet it had moulded itself to her neck and shoulder in the braid.

"Drink this." She ordered and swayed with the ship's movements.

Blue eyes glanced at the proffered cup, he took it slowly only to sneer at the color, a pale brown almost like burnt honey.

"I'm not in the mood for drinks."

She pushed the cup closer to him when he tried to give it back. "Just drink it, Izzy. Be a good little puppy and do as you're told."

"Best watch your mouth, lass." Willa by this point was totally impervious to Izzy's warnings and threats.

"Even lambs have teeth. And besides, you love my mouth." That was true. "Everything is under control on deck; Frenchie is even playing his lute. Now drink your damn tea."

Tea? Is that what it was? Izzy let out an irritated sound before he sniffed at the oddly colored liquid.

"What is this?"

"Ginger tea, it will help you to settle your stomach. Sip it slowly though."

So he did, took a sip because anything that could help his stomach cease its infernal churning would be delightful.

Willa was actually a little impressed she'd managed to make it from the galley without spilling it everywhere. If the storm got any worse she'd probably need to have some tea as well. They'd not go down though. Die Hölle muss warte (Hell must wait), she thought and brought the bowl she'd taken to using to wash her face in the morning closer. She rang her hair out into the bowl as best she could then released her braid and wound her green ribbon around her wrist like every night.

"This tastes fucking disgusting." He announced.

"I'm not a fan of ginger either but it will help, I promise." Willa pushed the bowl away with her foot and combed her fingers through her now damp but not soaked hair. "Giftig was the word my brother used for ginger I believe. It means poisonous."

Together the couple sat in silence a while. Willa watched Izzy drink his tea out the corner of his eye. He looked so out of place with an ornate china cup in his hands. Rough, calloused hands awkwardly wrapped around such a delicate object while the ocean jostled them about. However, at the same time, the cup rather suited him. He'd never dress in the fancy garments them men of her own station did, or even Stede's, but that didn't matter. Izzy wore his outfit well; black really was his color, brought out the blue of his eyes and the danger which lingered behind them. Then there was the salt and pepper of his hair, a mark of age which actually made Willa think of him as distinguished instead of just old; not that it was any secret that she had come to adore Izzy's hair, especially in the mornings when it was all over his face and in his eyes.

The vessel jerked suddenly and Willa was thrown into Izzy's side which almost had him drop the cup. He managed to push her back into a seated position only to take another sip of ginger tea.

"How long is this going to last?" She asked with a touch of fear entering her tone.

Izzy shrugged. "Until it ends." Now which one of them was stating the obvious? "It's not a particularly bad storm so we'll be alright. Just a case of battening down the hatches and not doing anything stupid. Once I've drunk this I'll go back up on deck, you should stay here were you're safe and warm. Take those wet things off."

"Normally I'd ask if there was something I could do to help, but from what's happened so far in this storm, I know I can't."

"Nah, you can't."

"You don't hand it out with any honey, do you?"

"No point."

Willa just rolled her dazzling emerald eyes and changed the subject. "Feeling better?"

Izzy paused as though he'd not actually noticed the calming inside his stomach. The tea was almost gone and his breathing had levelled out.

"Actually yeah. Little lass done good."

Se breathed out a laugh as he downed the last of the ginger tea and gave her back the empty cup so he could stand.

"Stay here and try to get some sleep." He ordered before he turned to leave but she caught his hand and forced him to look back at her.

"Küss mich." (Kiss me) Izzy flashed her a huh expression. "Thought you'd started to pick up my language?"

"Just a few words here and there. Don't go expecting things, lass." He responded in classic Izzy style.

"Kiss me."

Having learned it was quicker to do as she wanted rather than argue, he didn't complain. That was how the dogmatic First Mate Hands bent at the waist to kiss the young Prussian with emeralds for eyes, but he stayed no longer than that kiss. As soon as Willa's grasp of his hand had loosened he'd slipped away from the cabin, back out into the storm, back to his duty and back to his Blackbeard.

With a slightly mournful expression she turned her attention to a memory from years previous in her twelfth year, when a storm so violent had ravaged the estate and local area that she'd honestly thought the roof would be ripped off. Had her mother still lived then Willa and Friedrich would have been gathered up in Vilja's arms and settled under a comforting blanket of sweet words and motherly love. Vilja had died though, the siblings had watched consumption take her. There was nobody to comfort the von Krieger children with sweet words or motherly love, instead the pair had nestled themselves in Friedrich's room and stared out the window at the tempest going on outside.

Trees thrashed violently and pieces of the stables had broken free of their nails to join the other objects whirling around. In some ways Wilhelmina and Friedrich had been fortunate to have been born into a wealthy family with a title, they had a well constructed home to live in, a safe place to sleep and food to eat; many didn't have such basic things. On the other hand, living with Freiherr Gerhard von Krieger was nothing but a nightmare. To their father Freidrich was too kind, too soft and needed it beaten out of him, needed to be violent and demanding just like Gerhard himself. He couldn't have cared less about the simple people in their territory, just money he could gamble away. Wilhelmina though, she was a pretty jewel to be totally ignored until he found someone to marry her off to; she was his bargaining chip, a get out of jail free card to be played at Gerhard's discretion.

Willa shook her head, that storm had been a long time ago and she truly had no desire to think of her father, his arrogance or idiocy. Perhaps Izzy had been right, trying to get some sleep sounded like a good idea. So, after stripping out of her wet things, she climbed under the blanket and took out one of her stolen books from under the bed. Reading would either make the dangerous listing less noticeable or things would get much, much worse.

~X~

Izzy returned to his cabin when the storm had calmed from frenzied to just perturbed, and found Willa laying on her side facing the door with her eyes closed; her typical bed position. He watched her a moment, she'd balled the pillow up beneath her head and her chest rose and fell softly.

"Willa, you awake?"

"Of course I'm awake." She told him with a grumble though her eyes didn't open. "I can't take much more of this rocking."

Izzy removed his baldric, placed it on the small table then yanked off his boots and waistcoat. He wasn't exactly dripping but the rain was still going and he'd gotten more than a little damp. He'd lost track of the hour and had left orders to be woken immediately if something went wrong, so, after he'd stripped down to his smallclothes, Izzy clambered into the too-small bed as well. Thanks to the way Willa had positioned herself he'd ended up with his head rested on the area of her right shoulder and breast.

"Lass," he began after a moment. "Any chance of another cup of that tea?"

Willa smiled, she'd known that ginger would come in handy. "Thought it tasted disgusting."

"It does … but it did help."

The Prussian agreed to make him some more then managed to clamber over Izzy and stand up. It was only then that Izzy seemedto notice she'd dressed in his spare shirt at some point rather than being in her slip or – as he preferred – naked.

"What the fuck are you doing wearing that?" His clothes were soaked, if he had to go out he'd need it.

"Oh, I figured you'd be wet when you cameback so thing way you'll have something warm to put on."

Izzy raised an eyebrow. "That's what you're going with?"

"Ja, that's my story and I'm sticking to it."

With a smile only a Prussian teenager in her lovers clothes was capable of, she bent over him giving Izzy a full view of her breasts and kissed him; his goatee tickled her skin a little.

"Dry your hair off or you'll soak the bed, I don't want you getting sick." Willa straightened up.

"You're throwing a lot of commands around."

"Of course I am. What else am I to do when my puppy isn't doing what he should?"

She headed out then to go get his ginger tea while Izzy begrudgingly got out of the bed so he could knock some more water free fromhis hair.

Meanwhile Willa made her way to the galley to make tea. Her movements were quick and controlled considering the Revenge still swayed this way and that more than she'd have liked. At one point she almost dropped the cup she'd pilfered from Stede's fine collection but fortunately for Willa she'd found her sea legs early on and had very good balance.

It was right before she made to leave that Roach wobbled in, the galley was his territory after all. Carefully he rounded her behind the pass and started to push a few things that had slid about back into place.

"You okay?" He asked softly.

Lately things had been better between Willa and Roach, they'd almost be back to their friendship, hopefully as though nothing had ever happened, soon.

"Fine, just making some tea."

The messy-haired man peered closer at the cup. "Ah, wondered what you'd do with all that ginger."

She offered to let him try some since it only seemed polite. He only took a small sip, just enough for a taste, let out a hum of approval at the spicy but sweet flavor.

"It's actually pretty good."

Willa still wasn't convinced by the flavor and Izzy had made it pretty clear he wasn't a fan of the taste, just the results.

"I suppose I could make some and we could just warm it up when we need it maybe."

"Could do." Roach agreed. "Flavor might be a bit off since it would be fresh, but we can work with it. Captain might like having more tea options available too."

The girl with auburn hair had intended to make two cups, one for Izzy and one for her just to ensure her stomach was settled, but instead she gave her cup to Roach since he actually seemed to like it. It was when she turned to slide the cup closer to him that Roach noticed her bare legs properly, he'd mentally pushed the acknowledgment from his mind, but with her so close that had become impossible.

"Is that Izzy's shirt?"

"It is, ja." She nodded as a little of that tension returned to the situation between them.

"Looks better on you." His expression changed then, almost reminded her of Friedrich when he did his concerned face. "He treats you well?"

"He does."

"That ever stops being true, you just tell me." He wandered away speaking as he walked, cup of ginger tea firmly in hand. "Just friends still care."

Offers to protect her from Izzy had come from multiple members of the crew now, some had been more along the lines of moral support and somebody to talk to while others were clear threats to castrate the first mate; Jim's for instance. This made Willa smile, not because she had a plethora of people willing to do Izzy harm at the drop of a hat, but because this unusual group of people had become her friends – family even.

Not wanting the tea to grow too cold she returned to Izzy having only spilt the smallest of drops when she'd bumped into Wee John as they rounded a corner, he'd kindly helped to straighten her and no more harm befell the tea.

First Mate Hands had settled himself in the bed properly by this point dressed only in his smallclothes and his hair looked significantly dryer. He'd even gotten underneath the blanket which said a lot since he normally slept on top of it. Willa handed over the cup then crawled over him to her side and underneath the blanket as well, then took his spare shirt off and lay it in his lap.

"Give me your tea and put that on, you're cold."

Again he knew better than to start arguing with her and just did as instructed. The warmth of her body passed through the shirt and into his chilled frame to sooth, what would be in the morning, aching muscles. Willa didn't anticipate any words of thanks so she wasn't surprised in the slightest when she didn't get any.

The whole scene was very domestic which confused Izzy, it was so natural to him. This girl of sixteen treated him too much like a puppy. Willa had a way of making him do as he was told as well, a way he rather liked. Izzy wasn't entirely certain if it was interfering with his duty as first mate, Blackbeard seemed to like Willa but Blackbeard also liked Stede as well so maybe his bearded captain wasn't a very good judge any longer.

All the pirate knew in that moment was that the tea did its job of keeping Dizzy Izzy at bay admirably.

Slowly the storm eased from perturbed to mildly irked and then the war between Njord and Poseidon came to an end, probably in a draw, and the crashing waves, rain and incessant rocking faded into memory. With sleep again possible and exhaustion insistent, slumber was quickly found by everyone aboard save those on watch and at the helm.

Everything could just wash away in the sands of time.

~X~

"Oh hold still." Willa grumbled as she stood bent slightly while Izzy sat in the tiny chair with his legs open to accommodate her. "You'll get cut if you don't."

In recent days Izzy's goatee had become somewhat unkempt as a result of the storm breaking the tiny mirror he used when shaving, so Willa had dutifully offered her assistance. That was how she found herself holding a straight razor he'd stolen years earlier. Her finger rested on the spine while the edge was repeatedly drawn along his cheek. The pivot pin was a little loose but otherwise the straight razor was sharpened nicely and in good working order.

"This feels unnatural." He muttered mostly to himself.

Willa rolled her eyes. "It's this or I shave the whole thing off and we just wait for you to find a new mirror. Actually, now I think about it, I'd like to know what you look like clean shaven."

"Don't you dare." He warned, voice deep leaving no room for argument.

"You'll have to hold still then."

Her hands moved slowly to take only the scruffy stubble from his cheek rather than flesh and blood. Something about the situation felt unusually intimate, but that created a sense of pride and gratitude in Wilhelmina rather than discomfort. Israel Hands wasn't the sort of person who'd let just anyone hold a blade to his throat.

When she finally finished tiding him up and had certified him as presentable, Izzy hid his straight razor away in the box of his things and marched out the cabin door for the main deck. Willa remained stood there a moment before a little sigh slipped out of her.

"You're welcome then."