The fearsome captain with a beard not nearly as black as his name stalked through the ship until he reached the upper deck where everybody had settled so they could just casually chat with one another. They'd all relaxed and started to laugh as though the duel hadn't ever happened, as though everything had just been a joke, as though Izzy hadn't ever been there to begin with.

"Alright, listen the fuck up." The whole crew suddenly sobered at his deep voice, the voice which took no argument. "Make a course for the Republic of Pirates."

Lucius' brow furrowed though he didn't move from his spot against Black Pete's chest. "Why are we going there?"

"Because it'll be where Izzy went."

Now that confused everybody, had puzzled expressions handed out to the lot of them, though Buttons' wasn't all that dissimilar from his usual face. Izzy had literally just been banished from the ship so why the hell would they go looking for such an asshole.

"As of right now you have one mission and one mission only. Find Israel Hands."

People started to rush about then, not when they could see the seriousness in the bearded man's eyes. The whole crew knew to do as they were told and yes, finding Israel Hands had become their mission.

Jim leaned toward Olu. "Are we going to kill him? Are we hunting that piss ant down?"

"Not a clue," the black man shrugged. "Maybe?"

"I'll sharpen my knives."

Jim shot of to gather up their blade collection while Buttons caused the vessel to jerk to port as they abruptly changed course and the sails filled with wind. The sky was dark, hard to see a single tiny boat in the vast ocean but the infamous Captain Blackbeard had issued an order so they'd obey it. Wasn't like any of them thought it would be hard to locate the misanthropic asshole since they assumed they'd hear Izzy grumbling from a good mile away.

Edward was focused, way too focused. Didn't speak as they sailed, just stood there staring out at the inky ocean. He hardly even blinked lest he miss that tiny dinghy they'd shoved Izzy into. The former first mate had maybe a ninety minute head start on them but he was rowing under a single man's power while the Revenge had numerous sails and a full crew. They'd catch up quick enough.

For so very long the sea remained little more than a black expanse, and then, without warning, a tiny light appeared out of the void.

"There he is!" Blackbeard screamed as he spotted the small boat.

Izzy had worked quickly and made it further than they'd anticipated but they'd found him. The crew watched stunned as the bearded man rushed to a long length of coiled rope in which he tied a reasonably large loop at one end and then shoved the other into the hands of Wee John.

"When I give the signal pull as hard as you fucking can, mate."

"Sure, of course, Captain." Agreed the big man but it went unheard since the tall man promptly threw himself overboard with the rope loop.

Meanwhile Izzy stared at the display. What the actual fuck was happening? He'd been all alone in the dark, just him and his ire in the boat, and then there was Blackbeard pulling himself into the small craft beside his former first mate like some kind of fucking mermaid.

Captain Blackbeard, his captain was there, he'd come back and it made Izzy's heart soar a moment. Then it all crashed back down. The taller man had rope, looked angry and seemed determined.

"Edward, what is this?" Izzy asked before he even knew he'd spoken.

Punishment, it could have been punishment, the only thing which made any sense as to why his former captain had chased Izzy down, chucked himself into the drink and swam over to the dinghy.

"Get your ass back on the ship, Iz."

Izzy's head cocked to one side. "I was banished. I have to leave. I did leave."

"Ship, now." The taller man thrust a finger out toward the Revenge as water poured off of him.

"But-"

Izzy never got any further with his complaining because the captain started to force the loop of rope over his head and underneath Izzy's arms. The man with salt and pepper hair tried to shove Edward away but to no avail, not when he was bigger and stronger than Izzy was. Like a child being shoved into their Sunday best, Izzy had no choice.

With his former first mate ensnared by the rope Blackbeard gestured over to the ship and called out at the top of his lungs.

"Alright guys, start pulling!"

Next thing Izzy knew he was bing yanked out of the dinghy into the cold water. His body was hauled against the current in a jagged motion. Slap! Izzy's small frame crashed into the starboard side of the hull which forced a deep hiss out of him as sea water tried to invade his lungs. Thrashing and flapping did nothing to rescue him from the water, only Wee John reeling him in like a prized fish saved Izzy from Davy Jones. A barnacle tore a small gash into his pant leg on the way up as though he were being subjected to some kind of reverse keelhauling, then Izzy was unceremoniously tossed onto the deck still spitting out water while the captain clambered up the ladder.

The infamous pirate didn't pause for a single second, the weight of salty water didn't slow him down for a moment either, just marched to Izzy who was dragged to his feet and the rope loop shoved free and tossed aside. Before the former first mate could squeeze a word out he was grasped by the collar and forced toward the bathroom.

"Edward, get the fuck off!" Izzy screamed. "I'm meant to leave. The fuck are you going to do?!"

The rest of the crew heard Izzy's loud objections but did nothing, it was a situation none of them wanted any part of; not even Lucius with his constant urge for gossip.

The leather-clad man continued to be pulled down the narrow passageways. He'd no idea what to expect, anticipated a fight maybe but instead of violence he found himself shoved into the bathroom door while the bearded man rested his hands on his hips and let out a sigh. This was all very out of character.

"What is this, Edward?"

"This is me trying to be better."

Perplexity was robbed of it's chance to dominate Izzy's face because the taller man practically kicked him through the bathroom door where he collapsed on the floor and almost cracked his head on the bathtub.

Somewhere in the search for Izzy the blond captain had managed to shuffle into the angled chair. He looked deathly pale, while the vital bits may have been missed he'd still lost more blood than was advisable. Blue orbs then snapped to Willa curled up in the bath crying her eyes out and hiccuping. Izzy just watched her a moment and swallowed. Red face, bloodshot eyes and tears which seemed endless as though they were two gushing rivers. Even during her nightmares Izzy hadn't heard this level of anguish from her; it made something inside him hurt.

Izzy glared at Stede; even with his hair wet and stuck to his forehead he radiated a wild ferocity.

"The fuck did you do to her, Bonnet?!"

"I think we all did this to her, " said Stede in a pained, quiet tone. "Willa included."

Having known Basilica Hands for decades Edward could see the willpower it took for Izzy not to launch at the blond, so he jumped in.

"All she wants is you. Talk to her." With that he helped Stede to his feet and aided him out of the room only pausing to close the door.

The man with damp salt and pepper hair gazed at the closed door a second, he'd not expected to see the Revenge again for a while. Willa didn't appear to have actually noticed him, too consumed with sobbing. She'd not cried like this, not after Hohenstaufen or before him. The girl was too strong to just start crying like this and surely he wasn't important enough to warrant such sorrow. Something was seriously wrong and for the first time in his life he didn't care that his captain cared so much for Stede Bonnet, didn't care that his world was broken and gone. All Izzy craved was for his sweet Prussian to stop weeping, and the only way he could think of was to kneel by the tub uncaring that he was in a small pool of Stede's blood.

"Lass? Wilhelmina?"

Those dazzling green eyes finally found him as he mouth hung open. When he thought about it Izzy wasn't sure he'd ever called her by her full name before, always just his little lass. The teenager stared at him for a few seconds as though she couldn't quite decide if he was real or not, but then she enveloped him in her arms, her grasp so tight he almost couldn't breathe.

"Was soll ich dir sagen? Es tut mir virklich leid, Izzy. Das habe ich nicht so germeint. Ich liebe dich, Ich liebe dich. Ich bin so verliebt in dich." (What should I say to you? I'm so sorry, Izzy. I didn't mean it that way. I love you. I love you. I'm so in love with you.)

"Little lass, I only know what three of those words mean." He shifted to pet her hair with his gloved hand. "You're okay. Everything is okay."

"Versprochen?" (Promise?)

Izzy sighed. "I know you've said that word before but I don't know what it means. English, lass, talk English."

Willa breathed so fast that he wasn't entirely certain swapping language was something she was capable of. Never let it be said Wilhelmina von Krieger couldn't surprise a man though, because somehow she managed calm her breathing.

"Ver- pro- promise?" She cried.

Izzy could take the pain in his kneecaps no longer so awkwardly slipped into the tub behind Willa without ever being released from her grasp. If asked later Izzy wouldn't have been able to explain the physics of the action, but as soon as her back was pressed against his chest her crying started to ease. In that moment he understood.

"Yeah, I promise you're okay."

"… I didn't mean to hurt you." She sobbed while he petted her hair. "I didn't want you to leave. I never wanted that."

"I know, it's okay. Duel rules were I had to leave, that isn't your fault."

Willa was suddenly kissing him, had stretched her hands up to grab his head and pull him down to her awaiting lips.

"Don't ever leave me again! Please, Izzy. Please don't go."

Willa being so small worked in her benefit as she forced herself around to straddle Izzy. She gripped his wet shirt and waistcoat with such urgency and need that Izzy felt her nails rip out strands of his chest hair. Spikes of wonderful pain rolled through him. Her perfect body was on top of him as she lavished him with beyond desperate kisses. Izzy couldn't shake the feeling of being needed and wanted; not that he really wanted to. Then everything happened so very fast. She pulled at the laces of his leather pants, kissed him deeply and hadshifted from utter sorrow to total desperation quicker than Izzy's brain could function.

"Willa-" Her tried but she cut him off with her own one still doused in wanton desire and tears.

"Shut up and get inside me, puppy."

She needed him, wanted him, had to confirm he was really there and not some guilt induced hallucination. He had little option but to let her pull and tug his clothing before she went to do the same with her own leather pants.

"Ich liebe dich." Willa muttered when she snared his neckerchief with her fingers and tossed it aside, the ring he always wore there clattered around on the floor.

With his neck and clavicle exposed Izzy found his skin caressed with kisses, her soft lips always so perfect and warm. When she bit him Izzy jolted upward as a needy breath he'd not expected escaped his lungs.

"Harder!" He begged and it was the only urge Willa needed.

She bit down into his flesh where neck met his shoulder hard enough to draw blood and it hurt so good that his cock strained to be inside her. Finally her leather pants were fully freed from her legs and went the same way as his neckerchief. There was no prep, no sweet words, just an intense need and the sharp thrust which sheathed him inside her.

Her surprisingly sharp nails embedded in the flesh of his shoulders after she'd pulled his waistcoat open and pushed it and his shirt as far down his arms as it would go. Those nails left almost perfect crescents when she slipped her fingers from his shoulders to Izzy's hairy chest while she continued to blather in German.

The bathtub wasn't exactly large so space was tight and the way Izzy's knife kept digging into his hip and elbow wasn't an enjoyable feeling. His elbow would likely be bruised the next day. However, when he made to toss it away Willa grabbed Izzy's wrist and took the knife from him. Blue orbs looked at green ones, Izzy wasn't quite sure what his girl had going on inside her mind but then she nicked him. A tiny trickle of blood slipped down from his clavicle into Izzy's chest hair only for Wilhelmina to kiss the blood away.

"I love you." Did she? Nobody loved him. The only person who ever had died years ago. No one loved him but sweet Willa kept saying it. "I love you, Izzy. My puppy."

"My lass." He said before he knew the words had left his lips, though it made Willa purr as he thrust deep into her wet heat.

"My Izzy, my perfect Izzy." His beautiful girl blathered. "Tell me I'm yours, puppy."

"All mine."

Gentle, petal-soft lips caressed the shallow cut she'd made, the rich metal-flavored blood stained her tongue with the sweet taste of him; yet more proof he was genuinely wanted and needed.

"Put your name on me!" Izzy suddenly urged her in that deep baritone from him.

Willa ground to a halt. "Was?" (What?)

He hated that the way she refused him the warm depth of her body he so craved; maybe the bath hadn't been the best of places for this.

The former first mate tapped just next to where she'd cut him already with two gloved fingers. "Right here. Cut a fucking W into me."

"Are you serious?"

"Do it!" He commanded.

With a desperation he'd never encountered before Izzy grasped her hips to enter her perfect heat once more, erratic jerks of his hips which turned almost frenzied with the thought of a new scar to wear with pride, new pain that would caress his body and tingle inside. To be marked and owned.

"Really?" Willa still didn't sound exactly convinced but Izzy was done debating it.

"Do it! Now!"

The leather-clad man didn't know if he'd demanded or begged, not when he was much too focused on the sweet noises Willa made when he entered her with sharp movements.

Finally Willa obeyed his begs or demands – whatever they were. Silver glinted momentarily. The metal sharp, Izzy had always taken pride in tending to his weapons, it dug easily through his flesh and made his head fall back with gleeful pain. Ichor trickled through chest hair and dripped down into the bathtub. One line at a time. The pain stung at first, little more than a bee sting, but rapidly it grew to a throbbing agony Izzy would always treasure. Pain had always been good to him, been truthful and honest, never deceived him. So each slice of that W carved into his left pectoral would be an eternal echo of truth for him.

Wine-colored blood stained him, bathed him in her work and her want. The edges of those trickles tickled a little but the ache grounded him, the tight heat of her core bathed him in ecstasy and the scent of blood made him feel alive.

The crude W was made of four uneven lines which overlapped at the bottom joins, when asked later Willa would think it looked reminiscent of Izzy's early handwriting. Being impaled repeatedly by a horny ex-first mate hadn't helped. Willa hadn't carved anything into a person before, she'd been educated in language and embroidery, not mutilation. Each time she'd dug the knife in her puppy had let out a little moan of delight a tiny sound he'd not even been aware of, it was a sound that did something to her, something deep inside which made Willa long to never let him go.

"Cut deeper." The pirate insisted. "Make it scar."

His breathless words were quick to spur Willa to take up the knife again, to slice into each cut once more and really ensure that W would mark him for the rest of time. Izzy's eyes fluttered shut, he'd not last much longer. They'd gone too far to stop now and as soon as she'd finished Willa leaned down to lick up the blood with a smile as she casually trailed her tongue down to his nipple. The fingertips at her hips gripped so tightly there wasn't any doubt she'd be bruised; a painting to carry with her from the man she loved.

"I love you." She purred, her breath hot against his bloody skin.

She kissed his wound again then, the iron-rich flavor tasted of life and Izzy wanted to taste his blood on her tongue but before he could grab her for that kiss he found the blade shoved against his chest. Izzy raised a perplexed eyebrow as his movements stopped dead and flicked her messy braid over her shoulder.

"My turn."

"You sure?" She wanted it too? She wanted it too?! No, Izzy really wouldn't last much longer. "It'll hurt."

Willa smiled softly at him. Everything smelt of sex and blood, everything a pungent cocktail of bliss and tears.

"You could never hurt me." Was all she said as encouragement not that Izzy needed much.

With fervent speed Izzy used his teeth to rip his glove away, took up the knife from where she'd pressed it to his chest while Willa let her head fall back so a wanton moan could escape her sweet lips.

She kept saying she loved him and Izzy had found himself starting to believe her words. That was the only reason Izzy actually took up the knife with intent, he couldn't have dared scar her if he'd not believed those heartfelt words.

The tip glistened with his own blood and soon it would mix with hers. Her obvious need was what had him filling her slender body again. So close, just a few more drops of blood. As their pleasure grew Willa tilted her head even further back giving him all the freedom Izzy could ask for to do as he pleased with her.

Snowy skin unblemished by scars or callouses unlike Izzy's own, all pale and smooth, but an I would mark her, would be the only purposely placed scar and it appealed to Izzy do damn much that it made his heart tingle. He'd carry his scar with him, hopefully Willa would also.

Slowly he cut the initial into her porcelain flesh. She hissed but it quickly turned into a moan when another powerful thrust pounded into her.

Izzy remembered her teaching him to write, to write his own name, and Izzy knew this meant he was marking her as his own because that was exactly what he was doing. It was what he wanted, what she'd just done to him. He was her puppy dog. Fuck Izzy had basically turned into her pet.

The teen ground her teeth and latched onto his bare shoulders for more support. Too much pain or too much pleasure Izzy didn't know. Both? Neither? The main branch of the I was done easily enough, had her own ichor fall free of her body to mingle with his own, the little lines to make up the top and bottom were harder, he'd got no intent of cutting too deep.

It was the unsurpassed, practically indefectible scream of pain she let out which tipped Izzy over the edge. Everything became quick and desperate, their kisses more teeth and blood than anything else which left them each with a taste of the cocktail that formed from their mingled blood. To the former first mate his blood had tasted of nothing but nondescript metal but Willa's noble blood had fruity undertones to it. Izzy came with a deep grunt only a man with Izzy's deep baritone was capable of.

"I love you." She gasped into his mouth. "So much." Then moved to lick the bleeding W again with pride.

He continued to thrust through his orgasm until finally, finally, she gasped as her own climax took her. The sweet girl practically convulsed atop him and Izzy adored every tiny second of it. Her delightful whimpers and breathy mews echoed around the small room like a chorus until she collapsed against his bloody chest; pressure on the wound made it sting but that was just another thing Izzy Hands adored.

The lovers panted against one another as all fell silent save for those ragged breaths. Nothing needed to be said so nothing was, the two just remained there in the tub covered in blood, sweat, tears and salt water which eventually found its way to the cuts to increase the ache.

Wilhelmina told him she loved him once again, her words heavily accented and quiet, though it sounded louder since they'd been lingering in a quietude. Izzy's mouth opened to respond but nothing managed to drip out, he said absolutely nothing. Love, such a strange thing for Israel Hands. Love hadn't been kind to him in any form. Love had been nothing but cruel, heartless and Izzy didn't trust it. He didn't want to feel it. Love, a savage and vicious emotion. So no, Izzy didn't manage to respond in kind, but he didn't know how he felt about the silence either. That was something to worry about later, in that moment he wanted to get his breath back and focus on the throb in his upper pectoral. Pain was real. Pain didn't lie like love. Pain was good. Pain made sense to Izzy and fortunately Willa didn't seem to mind that he'd not responded with decelerations of love. No, the wonderful girl just continued to hold him happily like Izzy were her life line. Did he make her feel safe? Could Izzy really keep anyone safe? Izzy forced his thoughts to shut their damn mouth for a while, wanted his brain to shut off just for a short time.

They couldn't remain there in the bathtub awkwardly forever though. He'd got no idea what was going on in Blackbeard's head but Izzy thought it would probably be better for him and Willa to put themselves somewhere out of the way though. Somewhere quiet that didn't remind Izzy of Bonnet.

Being a man well accustom to pain, Izzy hardly let out split-second hiss when he gathered little Willa up and rose to his full height and stepped out of the tub. He held her bridal style which forced Willa to snake her arms around his neck. Izzy didn't bother picking up any of their discarded clothes, just left his neckerchief and glove behind so he could carry his girl back to their cabin; a cabin he'd not thought he'd see again.

They made it to the cabin unseen which was nice, and as soon as they were inside Izzy kicked the door shut and lay a half-naked Willa down on the narrow bed before he essentially collapsed down beside her. The former first mate managed to shrug off his waistcoat but his black shirt remained dangling off of him stinking of blood. Willa was the one who favored cuddles but for that night Izzy would cling to her for dear life.