The Price of Your Freedom

by Going To Asgard

The crew spot a mysterious ship on the horizon and the two men who pride themselves on being fearless freeze with terror. It's been decades since Hornigold placed a bounty on Ed and Izzy's heads but it looks like their past is finally about to catch up with them.

Ed was perched on the edge of the desk in Stede's quarters. He was meant to be helping Stede go over some maps they'd stolen in their last raid, but he was looking at Stede a lot more than he was looking at the maps.

"This has got to be one of the weirdest maps I've ever come across," Stede said, "I mean what is that even meant to be?"

Ed reluctantly took his eyes off of Stede and looked over to where Stede was pointing, "That looks like a siren to me,"

"A siren?" Stede cried in disbelief,

"It probably just means a lot of ships have been destroyed on the rocks there, you know the stories of sirens tempting sailors to their doom,"

Stede frowned at the map, "Well why couldn't they just put that instead of a mythical creature?"

Ed shrugged, "Sailors are a superstitious bunch, and they'd much rather blame sirens for a shipwreck than admit it's because of bad sailing,"

Stede huffed, "Ok, so then what's this symbol?"

"That would be a ghost,"

"A ghost‽"

"They must have run into a ghost ship there,"

"But ghosts don't exist!"

"I'm sure whoever made this map had enough rum in them, that their mind would believe anything, whether it was actually there or not,"

"You must need a lot of rum to believe you've seen a ghost ship,"

"Not necessarily, given the right conditions you can get even a sober mind to believe just about anything,"

"So, what makes you think it was rum with this one?" Stede asked,

"Well, I happen to know that that is very near to a frequently used smugglers route. They were probably drunk out of their mind,"

Before Stede could ask about another drawing there was a knock at the door,

"Come in," Stede called.

The cabin door swung open to reveal Frenchie standing there, "Captains, Buttons has spotted a ship on the horizon, thought you'd like to check it out,"

Stede excitedly jumped to his feet, "Of course we would," he turned to face Ed, "Are you coming?"

"Lead the way."

Ed and Stede followed Frenchie on to the deck where most of the crew were already waiting.

"What have we got?" Stede asked Buttons,

"Looks like another pirate ship, Captain," Buttons replied as he passed his telescope over,

"It doesn't look like any we've crossed before," Stede said, before holding the telescope out to Ed, "What do you think?"

Ed took the telescope and raised it to his eye, expecting to see a small pirate ship they could easily intimidate, however, what he saw chilled him to the core,

"What is it?" Stede asked.

Ed slowly lowered the telescope, not taking his eyes off the ship on the horizon, "Get Izzy," he said,

"He's asleep, he was on night watch," Olu said,

Ed turned to glare at the rest of the crew, "I don't care. Go wake him up and get him up here now. You can tell him I ordered it if it means you'll do as I say,"

Black Pete, Roach, and Wee John hurried off and Ed turned back to the horizon.

Stede shot him a worried glace, "Ed, what is it?" he asked again.

Ed just shook his head, "I hope I'm wrong."

There was a loud bang as somebody flung a door open and Izzy stormed out on to the deck, "This better be important," he snapped. Wordlessly Ed passed Izzy the telescope. Izzy raised it to his eye then froze. The colour drained from his face, "It can't be," he whispered,

"Will one of you two please tell me what's going on!" Stede cried,

"It's The Ranger, Hornigold's ship," Ed finally explained,

"Your old Captain?"

"Yeah,"

"Well, surely this will be a great opportunity for the three of you to catch up,"

Izzy and Ed turned to stare at Stede with wide eyes and a look of what could only be described as pure horror,

"Or not,"

"Hornigold has had a bounty on mine and Izzy's heads since we stole a ship from him two decades ago," Ed explained,

"Two decades and nobody has claimed it?" Pete questioned,

"Being Blackbeard has it's uses. But Stede, he's not going to be put off by my reputation, he will come for us,"

"If he's going to come no matter what why don't we just turn you over?" Jim suggested, "Claim the bounty for ourselves?"

"Jim!" Stede cried, "We are not turning over any members of our crew!"

"Stede…" Ed tried but Stede shook his head,

"Mr Buttons, how long do we have until Hornigold's ship catches up with us?"

"A good few hours, Captain," Buttons said, "We should have until tomorrow morning before they're upon us,"

Stede nodded, "Right. We have until morning to prepare for battle then. Everyone, do what you need to do," he turned on his heals and headed back across the deck.

"Stede!" Ed cried, running after him,

Stede paused and looked at Ed over his shoulder,

Ed shook his head, "Not out here,"

Stede nodded and the two of them ducked into Stede's cabin.

Ed took a deep breath, "Jim's right," he said, "You should turn us over while you still have the chance,"

Stede shook his head, "No, I can't," he raised his hand to Ed's cheek, "I can't turn you over. I can't lose you,"

Ed closed his eyes and leant into Stede's touch. He wanted nothing more than to get lost in Stede and forget all about the horror that was waiting for him on the horizon. But no. He couldn't do that. Ed slowly opened his eyes and took a step back, "No," he said, sounding more firm than he felt, "You don't understand, Hornigold will kill everyone on this ship to get to me and Izzy. We're not worth that. I'm not worth that,"

Stede pulled Ed back into his arms, "There's nothing you can say that will persuade me to give you over to Hornigold. I will fight for you Edward Teach,"

"Ok," Ed said softly, despite what everyone thought about Blackbeard, he did know when to pick his battles and he knew this wasn't a fight he was going to win, "I'm going to go help the crew prepare,"

Stede nodded reassuringly and Ed pulled away from him before making his way back on deck.

Izzy was where Ed had left him, standing at the edge of the deck with the telescope raised, his eyes glued to Hornigold's ship.

Ed made his way over and stood next to him.

"We're going to die if we stay here," Izzy said,

"I know,"

Izzy lowered the telescope and turned to Ed, "If we were still on the Queen Anne, if we had all of Blackbeard's resources behind us, we might stand a chance, but instead we're stuck here, on a ship full of idiots,"

Ed stayed quiet for a moment, gazing out to sea, before he sighed and pushed away from the railings. He turned to Izzy with a steely look in his eye, "Pack your things," he said, "We're leaving at nightfall."

-x-

Ed stumbled down the corridor of The Ranger, one hand braced against the wall as he tried to push past the searing pain in his shoulder, from where he had been branded by Captain Hornigold just minutes before. He just needed somewhere quiet where he could patch himself up, but it was looking increasingly more likely that he was just going to pass out in the middle of the corridor.

He turned a corner and tripped down a set of stairs, tumbling into a heap at the bottom. It took all Ed's self-control not to scream in pain, as his shoulder collided with the floor.

Using his good arm, he pushed himself up so that he was sitting with his back against the wall. He took a deep breath; he just needed a moment to catch his breath before he forced himself to get up. He knew there was nowhere truly safe on a pirate ship, but some places were safer than others, and he knew he would be in trouble if he passed out in the middle of the corridor.

He took another deep breath and placed his hand against the wall. He then used the wall to leaver himself back to his feet. He bit his lip in an effort to muffle his cry of pain and his eyes slipped shut. He took yet another deep breath before forcing his eyes open again, only to find himself face to face with a strange man, who couldn't have been any older than Ed.

The man looked him up and down, "Come with me," he said in a gruff voice and then he turned on his heals and walked through a nearby door that Ed had failed to notice, despite having collapsed next to it.

Ed pushed off the wall and stumbled after the man into the room. He found himself in what seemed to be a storeroom; however, the man had laid some planks of wood across the top of two barrels and placed some blankets on top to make a bed.

The man knelt down near the far wall and pulled up two floorboards, "Get up there," he said, pointing to the makeshift bed, "And take your shirt off,"

"What?"

The man pulled a bottle of amber liquid out of the hidden compartment in the floor then turned to look at Ed, "Do you want your shoulder to get infected?"

"No,"

"Then do as I say,"

Ed looked at the man. He didn't know him. He didn't know if he could trust him, but Ed did need to clean the brand on his shoulder, and in his current state he seriously doubted his ability to do it himself.

Ed took one last looked at the man before walking over to the bed, undoing his shirt as he went. He pushed himself up onto the bed, then pealed his shirt off, barely containing his screams as he pulled the fabric over his shoulder.

"Are you a doctor?" Ed asked the man as he walked over,

"No,"

Ed frowned, "But you know what you're doing?"

The man glanced up at Ed, "I'm as good as you're going to get. Lie down,"

Ed turned to lie on his stomach so as to give the man a better view of his shoulder.

The man nodded and pulled the cork out of the bottle he'd retrieved from the floor, "This is going to hurt," he said, and that was all the warning Ed got before the man poured the alcohol over this shoulder. Pain seared across Ed's shoulder, and it burned. He didn't realise he'd screamed until the man clamped his hand over Ed's mouth,

"Be quiet," the man said, "We don't want people coming to investigate what all the noise is."

The man poured one more slosh of alcohol over the brand before removing his hand from Ed's mouth and taking a step back, "I had to clean the wound," the man explained as he held out the bottle to Ed.

Ed slowly pushed himself back into a sitting position and accepted the bottle. He took a large swig and turned back to the man, "Thanks," he said, offering him back the bottle. The man took it and sat down next to Ed on the bed,

"If you're not a doctor then who are you?" Ed asked,

"The name's Izzy,"

"Edward,"

"Well Edward, you've already lasted longer than the last guy who joined Benjamin Hornigold's crew,"

"I've only been here a day,"

"The last guy didn't even make it to the branding,"

Ed looked at the angry, red brand on his shoulder, "He does this to everyone then?"

"He does," Izzy confirmed,

"Do you have one?"

Izzy scowled and held the bottle back out to Ed, "Have as much as you want, it'll help with the pain,"

Ed took the bottle and drank deeply; the alcohol burnt his throat as it went down. He glanced back at the mark on his shoulder, "What is it?" he asked,

"A brand,"

Ed scowled, "I know that, I'm not an idiot, I meant do you know what the shape is meant to be?"

"It's a 'H', for Hornigold,"

Ed frowned down at the shape, "You can read?"

"No, I just know what it's meant to be, for all I know it could be Japanese, but Hornigold certainly believed it's a 'H',"

Ed took another swig from the bottle, "I'll add egomaniac to my list of words to describe him," he said, "Along with sadistic bastard,"

"Don't let him hear you say that,"

"I don't care," Ed said, as he climbed off the bed, "He's already branded me, I'm not sure there's much worse he can do," Ed picked up his shirt and made his way over to the door, still quite unsteady on his feet,

"You can sleep in here if you want," Izzy called after him, "I mean you'll be sleeping on the floor, but you don't want to sleep on deck with the rest of the crew while you're in that much pain,"

"I'm not in pain," Ed objected,

"Yes, you are, remember I've been where you are," Izzy picked up one of his blankets and threw it at Ed, "Take it or leave it, it makes no difference to me."

Ed wrapped the blanket around his shoulder and lowered himself to the floor next to a barrel. He curled up and closed his eyes. He finally let the pain overtake him and he quickly passed out.

-x-

Ed was lying awake in bed curled up on his side, watching Stede sleep. His plan had been to wait for Stede to fall asleep then sneak out and meet up with Izzy, but now… he hadn't realised just how hard that was going to be.

Ed closed his eyes and took a deep breath, he was doing this for Stede, he just had to keep reminding himself that. He slowly got out of bed and crept over to the auxiliary wardrobe. He opened the secret door and snuck inside.

One of the first things Stede had done after their reunion had been to offer Ed the use of auxiliary wardrobe, something Ed had taken full advantage of. He hadn't realised clothes could feel so nice, he'd spent so long wearing exclusively black leather that he'd forgotten what it felt like to be truly comfy.

That wasn't why he was here tonight though, tonight he needed his battle armour. He walked over to where his Blackbeard outfit sat on a nearby shelf, where it had lain untouched for what felt like a lifetime. Ed unfolded the clothes and started to take off his nightwear, however, his fingers hesitated when he reached to take off Stede's black cravat. He hadn't taken it off since the night he'd returned to the Revenge without Stede. Even when he'd thrown all of Stede's belongings overboard he'd kept the cravat, still in pride of place around his neck, and it felt wrong to take it off now. Ed ran the end of the cravat through his fingers before smoothing it back down, he supposed he could keep it as his reminder of what he why he was doing this.

Ed finished dressing then, made his way out of the auxiliary wardrobe and tiptoed over to the door of the cabin. He paused to looked back at Stede over his shoulder. He looked so peaceful in his sleep, unaware of what Ed was about to do for him. Ed bit lip and tightened his grip on the door, he wanted nothing more than to jump back into bed and wrap Stede up in his arms. Ed shook his head and tore his gaze away from Stede. He pulled the door open and made his way on to deck where Izzy was waiting for him.

"Thought you'd changed your mind, Boss" Izzy said as Ed walked over,

"You should know me better than that, Iz,"

"I do, that's why I thought you'd take one look at Bonnet and jump right back into bed with him, death be damned,"

Ed looked down at his feet, he didn't need Izzy to know to close he had been to doing just that, "Let's get a dinghy free and get out of here," Ed said.

Izzy nodded and the two of them made their way over to where the dinghies were stored. They were stopped, however, by the sound of somebody coughing behind them. They turned around to see Lucius standing there, scowling, with his arms crossed, "A word," he said with a glare at Ed,

"Get the dinghy ready," Ed said to Izzy, "I'll only be a minute." He followed Lucius over to the side of the deck where Izzy couldn't overhear them,

"What do you think you're doing‽" Lucius hissed,

"Leaving," Ed said, as firmly as he could manage,

"I can see that," Lucius snapped, "What I meant is what are you thinking‽"

"That if I stay here, you're all going to die!"

Lucius turned to look at the door that led down to Stede's cabin, "You're going to break his heart you know,"

"Better heartbroken than dead,"

"I don't know that the captain will see it that way,"

Ed sighed and ran his hand over his face, "You can't let him come after me Lucius, promise me that,"

"I don't know that I'll be able to stop him,"

"You have to, you can't let him come after me or all this will be for nothing," Ed said desperately,

Lucius gave him a look that could only be described as pitying, "Oh, Edward…"

"Don't," Ed snapped, he took a shuddery breath, "Just…take care of him for me Lucius, please,"

"You could take care of him yourself, it's not too late to stay,"

"This is my way of taking care of him,"

"Edward!" Izzy shouted.

Ed looked over his shoulder to see that Izzy had the boat ready to leave. He turned back to Lucius, "Tell him I'm sorry, that this really is the only way."

Before Lucius had the chance to reply he turned on his heals and marched back over to Izzy,

"What did Spriggs want?" Izzy asked as the two of them lowered the dinghy it into the water,

"Nothing,"

"You sure he didn't convince you to stay,"

"He tried. He failed,"

"I'm glad to hear it."

The two of them climbed into the dinghy and Izzy took up a pair of oars.

"There's land not far from here," Izzy said,

"Ok, let's head there and then we can try and commandeer a ship,"

"Yes Captain," Izzy said with a small smile as he began to row.

-x-

Ed kicked the door to their shared room open, causing Izzy to look up from the sword he was polishing. Ed marched forward and dumped an armful of apples into Izzy's lap.

Izzy stared at them in shock for a moment, before looking up at Ed, "Where did you get these?"

"The hold," Ed said casually, snapping up one of the apples and taking a bite,

"You stole them?"

Ed shrugged.

Izzy jumped to his feet, sending all the apples tumbling to the ground, "Edward!" he cried, "Hornigold's going to kill you! He chopped off someone's hand for stealing some bread last year!"

Ed just smiled smugly and took another bite of the apple, "Hornigold is not going to find out,"

"Of course, he is! You think he doesn't know exactly how many apples are in the hold‽"

"Oh, I know he does," Ed said, sitting down on the floor. He picked up one of the apples and held it out to Izzy, "What do you notice about that?"

Izzy sighed irritably, "It's an apple,"

Ed scowled.

Izzy rolled his eyes and plucked the apple out of Ed's hand, "It's red?"

"Yeah, that's still not really the depth I was looking for,"

Izzy threw up his arms in frustration, "Well why don't you just tell me instead of playing a stupid guessing game?"

"It's overripe," Ed said, taking another bite of his apple.

Izzy looked back down at the apple in his hand, now Ed mentioned it the apple wasn't a fresh rosy red, it was a deep dark red and he felt a give in the apple when he pressed down on it. He looked back up at Ed who grinned at him,

"They have three days left tops, and the next stock take isn't for another five days,"

Izzy looked at Ed in disbelief and slowly sat back down next to him, "So, when Tom does the next manifest he will find a stash of rotten apples,"

"Exactly! And he's not going to count how many rotten apples there are,"

Izzy took a bite of the apple, now confident that they wouldn't get whipped for eating them.

"Hornigold can't even say he wasn't warned," Ed mused,

"What?"

"I told him yesterday that we need to use all the apples and he ignored me. Told me I didn't know what I was talking about," Ed took another bite of his apple, "It seemed like a waste of food just to let them go off,"

Izzy looked down at the apples that surrounded them, "I couldn't agree more,"

Ed grinned at him and finished his apple.

-x-

The sun was just starting to rise as Ed and Izzy reached land. They jumped out of the dinghy and pulled it up on to the shore, then collapsed down onto the sandy beach.

"We should have bought some food with us," Ed said.

Izzy looked around, "There's got to be something to eat around here," he got to his feet and turned to the bushes at the edge of the beach, "I'll go and investigate."

Ed grunted in affirmation, but he didn't turn to look at Izzy. Instead, he pulled his knees up to his chest and stared out at the horizon, where he knew The Revenge lay just out of sight. Stede would be waking up about now and discovering that Ed was gone. He would start searching the ship only to find that one of the dinghies was missing. Or maybe Stede would run into Lucius before he could discover Ed's treachery and Lucius would have to break the news to him. Ed couldn't imagine Lucius would be especially kind about him. Maybe that's what Stede needed, if he cursed Ed out and hated him, he wouldn't come after him. He would move on with his life, maybe he'd even meet somebody else. He'd be happy. Still…The thought of Stede hating him and finding somebody else made Ed's stomach churn. He shook his head, no, he wanted Stede to be happy and he couldn't be the person who did that anymore.

Ed pulled his arms tighter around his legs, as if they were the only thing holding him together.

"I found some berries,"

Ed turned to see Izzy walking back over to him, holding a few branches adorned with red berries. He sat down next to Ed and passed him one of the branches.

The sun was now fully up meaning Hornigold would have reached The Revenge. There was no sound of cannon fire which hopefully meant Hornigold had realised Ed and Izzy were no longer on the ship. If Hornigold attacked The Revenge, then it all would be for nothing.

"So, what's the plan Boss?" Izzy asked, drawing Ed from his thoughts,

"Oh, well, I guess we track down the Queen Anne,"

"I heard whisperings that it's been sighted east of here,"

Ed nodded, "That's a good place to start,"

Izzy glanced over at the dinghy they'd made their escape in, "We're not rowing after it,"

"No," Ed agreed, "We need a ship." He got to his feet and turned to Izzy, "Let's go in land and scope the place out," he said,

"Yes Captain," Izzy got to his feet and set off in land, "Are you coming?" he shouted over his shoulder,

Ed took one last look at the horizon before following Izzy.

-x-

It was rare that Hornigold called the entire crew on to deck and when he did it was never for anything good, consequently, there was an uneasy feeling in the air as everyone gathered one evening.

Ed pushed his way through the crowd to join Izzy, standing at the edge, next to the railings of the ship.

There was a nervous chatter going round but everyone fell silent when Hornigold stepped out and turned to face them, he was wearing a look that brokered no arguments.

"Stein, Sherman, Lane, Nathan," Hornigold said, with a level of calm that put Ed on edge, "Step forward,"

The crowd parted around the four men, but they all remained frozen to the spot.

"Step forward!" Hornigold shouted.

Somebody shoved Sherman hard enough that he stumbled forward and the four of them made their way over to the front of the crowd.

Hornigold started pacing in front of them, his cool was quickly slipping and there was a spark of anger visible in his eye, "What do I value most on this crew‽" he shouted, "Stein?"

"Erm, sword fighting?" Stein replied, his voice barely above a whisper,

"No. Sherman?

"Sailing?"

"Incorrect. Lane? Nathan? Do any of you have an answer?"

"No, Captain." Lane said.

Hornigold scoffed and turned to the rest of his crew, "What about the rest of you? Edward?"

"Loyalty Captain," Ed said, trying to hide any uncertainty in his voice,

"Correct! This ship runs on loyalty so when somebody decides that aren't going to be loyal, I have to make an example of them, wouldn't you agree Nathan?" Hornigold turned expectantly to Nathan, but the man didn't answer, he was frozen to the spot, shaking with fear, looking like a startled animal who could bolt at any second. Hornigold sighed in annoyance and spun around, "Do you agree, Izzy?"

"Yes, Captain,"

"Good. Now, the four of you have been plotting a mutiny against me!"

A murmur went around the crew,

"Silence!" Hornigold yelled. He turned back to Lane, Sherman, Stein, and Nathan, "And as punishment for your crime, I sentence the four of you to death by hanging!"

Ed watched as Hornigold ordered some of his crew to make up four nooses and hang them from the mast. Lane, Sherman, Stein, and Nathan were each forced on top of a barrel, their hands were bound, and nooses placed around their necks.

Hornigold walked up to them and nodded before kicking the barrels out in turn. A quick glare at the crew told them they all better keep their eyes on the execution.

Ed glanced at the crowd around him, Izzy was staring straight at the hanging with his jaw clenched. Ed looked over at Hornigold's first mate, Jenkins, rather worryingly he wasn't trying to hide his glee at the situation and had a huge grin on his face.

Next to Jenkins was Tom the cabin boy, he looked like he was trying hard not to burst into tears. He flinched and looked away multiple times, but each time he forced his gaze back to the execution.

It took several minutes for all four of the mutineers to die.

"Let that be a lesson to you all!" Hornigold shouted, "This is what happens to those who are not loyal to me!"

-x-

Ed and Izzy made their way into the wooded area at the back of the beach. It was thick and over-grown, and it was clear nobody had walked through it in a long time. Ed drew his sword and used it to cut aside branches, clearing a path for the two of them.

After about half an hour there was the sound of a twig snapping just a few feet to the left of them. Ed and Izzy both froze. They turned to look at each other and Ed nodded. Izzy tightened his grip on his sword and Ed silently moved so that he was standing back-to-back with Izzy.

"Who's there?" Ed shouted.

There was silence for a moment before there was the sound of another stick breaking, this time from the right.

"Hornigold!"

Somebody let out a cry and jumped out of the greenery. They swung their sword at Izzy, but he easily blocked them. Five more men jumped out, three of them running at Ed and two at Izzy.

Ed jumped forward, batting one of the attacker's swords away, he spun around and stabbed the next attacker in the stomach. Without breaking his momentum, he kicked the third man in the stomach, winding him. The first man launched at Ed again with his sword raised. Ed grabbed hold of the man's wrist and spun him around, sending him tumbling to into the man he'd winded, and they both ended up in a pile on the floor.

Ed spun around to see how Izzy was fairing. Two of his attackers lay dead on the floor and he was engaging the final one in a sword fight. Ed held up his sword with the intention of joining the fight but before he could there was the sound of a gun being cocked behind his head,

"Drop it,"

Ed glanced over his shoulder to see one of them men he'd sent tumbling to the floor holding a gun to his temple. Ed dropped his sword and slowly raised his hands, however, before he fully straightened up, he swung around and grabbed the man's gun. He wrestled the gun out of the man's grasp and spun it around to point it at the man. He paused for a second before swinging the gun and hitting the man in the temple with it, knocking him out.

Ed looked back over at Izzy just in time to see him stab the last attacker.

"We need to move," Ed said. Izzy nodded in agreement. Ed bent down to pick up his sword, but he was stopped by the sound of several more guns being cocked. Ed froze and looked up. They were surrounded. A dozen men were all pointing their guns at them. Ed heard Izzy drop his sword and the two of them raised their hands in surrender.

"The captain said you'd be hard to capture," one of the men said, looking down at the bodies that surrounded Ed and Izzy, "Tie them up, we're taking them back to the ship."

Two men grabbed Ed and Izzy from behind, holding them still, while two more men roughly grabbed their wrists and bound them. Two more men collected Ed and Izzy's weapons then they were led back down towards the beach.

-x-

The ship shook with the force of cannon fire as Ed ran up the stairs and onto the deck of The Ranger.

"What's going on?" He shouted to Izzy,

"We're attacking a ship,"

"And they're firing back?"

Izzy nodded, "Idiots."

The ship shook again as more cannons were fired.

"Get ready to board!" Hornigold shouted from where he was stood proud on the deck. Izzy and Ed both grabbed some rope ready to swing over to the other ship.

The moment they were close enough, Hornigold gave the order, "Now!" Half the crew swung over to the other ship, with their swords drawn.

Ed landed on the deck and found himself face to face with a man who could only be the captain of the merchant ship. The man swung his sword clumsily at Ed. Ed easily dodged out of the way and raised his eyebrow at the men, "You really want to do this?" he asked.

The man glared at Ed and let out a cry, lunging at Ed with his sword again,

"Ok," Ed sighed. He raised his sword and took a swipe at the other captain, their swords making a loud clanking noise as they met. Ed was just toying with the man really, if he wanted to, he could kill the man in one move. Instead, he used their fight to manoeuvre the man over to the mast. Once they were directly in front of the mast, Ed dived forward and drove his sword into the man's stomach, pinning him there. The captain let out a shout of pain and dropped his sword. Ed bent down and quickly grabbed it, before holding it to his throat, "Do you surrender?" He asked,

"Yes," The man choaked, "I surrender!"

Ed grinned and lowered his sword.

Once their captain has surrendered, it didn't take long for the rest of the crew to follow.

Ed rounded up the remaining members of the merchant crew and got Izzy and Tom to secure them while he went to find Hornigold.

He found him standing proudly at helm of the newly captured ship,

"Captain!" Ed called,

"Edward,"

"What do you want doing with the crew?" Ed asked,

"Put them in the brig for now," Hornigold said, "We'll maroon them once we're done here,"

Ed frowned, that wasn't their normal procedure when raiding a ship, "Maroon them, Captain?"

"Are you questioning my orders Teach?"

"No, Captain, I just wondered why the plan wasn't to release them once we've raided the ship, let them spread word of the fearsome pirate, Captain Hornigold,"

Hornigold smiled darkly at Ed, "Because, Edward, I'm going to keep this ship, it'll be the beginning of my fleet,"

Ed's eyes widened at the thought, but he didn't question it, "Yes, Captain."

Ed hurried back over to Izzy and Tom and the prisoners and directed them to put the prisoners in the brig. If Izzy and Tom could tell he was somewhat distracted, they didn't comment on it.

It didn't take long for Hornigold's crew to clear the new ship, now that the old crew had surrendered, and soon they were ready to set sail.

"Jenkins!" Hornigold shouted,

"Yes, Captain?"

"Take command of The Adventure,"

"The Adventure, Captain?"

"The new ship, it's what I'm naming it,"

"Yes, Captain,"

"Edward!"

Ed looked over from where he was checking the rigging, "Yes, Captain?"

"Strip the prisoners of their belongings, tie them up and set them adrift. Take Izzy with you,"

Ed frowned, "Yes, Captain."

-x-

Ed and Izzy were brought onto Hornigold's ship, where they were promptly shoved into the brig.

Ed went and sat down on the bench at the far side of the room, while Izzy instantly started pulling at the bars on the door,

"Give it up, Iz," Ed sighed,

"There's got to be a weak point, something we can use to break out,"

"This is The Ranger, you lived here for how long? You know there's not going to be a weak point,"

Izzy whirled around and glared at Ed, "Just because you've given up doesn't mean that I'm just going to accept death is our only option,"

"It was always our only option Izzy,"

"What‽" Izzy's eyes narrowed, "You wanted us to get caught!"

"No-"

"Yes! You wanted us to get caught so Hornigold didn't go after your precious Bonnet, no wonder you were so keen to leave The Revenge,"

Ed couldn't disguise the guilt in his eyes, "Izzy, I-"

"No!" Izzy stormed over to Ed, getting in his face, "You have gone fucking soft!"

Ed jumped to his feet, sending Izzy stumbling backwards, "I have not gone soft," Ed snapped, "Having something to die for is not soft. I just sacrificed you to save Stede and there is nothing soft about that,"

"Oh no, Edward," Ed and Izzy both spun around to see Benjamin Hornigold standing on the other side of the bars, "We both know Izzy has it right, you have gone soft,"

"Hornigold," Izzy growled,

"What happened to The Revenge?" Ed asked, taking a few steps forward,

"Nothing," Hornigold replied, "We saw you two leave in the early hours of this morning, figured you were making your escape but if what Izzy here says is true…" Hornigold tutted, "Dear oh dear, Edward. I'd heard rumours about you going soft, I didn't believe them but here you are, easily captured, without a ship and with a fancy piece of material round your neck," Hornigold reached through the bars of the brig with his sword and fished the ends of Stede's cravat out from under Ed's jacket.

Ed's jaw tightened but he didn't say a word.

Hornigold lowered his sword with a smug smile, as if Ed's silence confirmed everything he'd said. He turned to Izzy and shook his head, "And you! I knew Edward would be the death of you Izzy, you should have left him years ago."

Hornigold stepped back from the bars and called up the stairs to two of his crew, "Bring them up on deck," he ordered.

-x-

Everyone had been stretched incredibly thin ever since Hornigold had taken over The Adventure. There had been more than enough crew when they had just the one ship but now there was two? There was a reason Captain's didn't usually kill all of the crew of the ship they wanted to take over.

The only person who wasn't working any harder was Hornigold, he'd delegated most of the day to day running of The Adventure to Jenkins and spent most of his time standing on the hull of The Ranger, presiding over his empire.

For three days Ed and Izzy worked themselves to the bone, it was relentless, not a moment to themselves, not even to sleep, there was always something that needed doing, some rigging that need mending, some watch that needed taking.

Eventually, Ed finally managed to get a few hours' to himself to sleep. He collapsed in his hammock in his and Izzy's room and within seconds he was dead to the world.

When he woke up Ed was surprised to find himself alone in the room, Izzy had said he'd join Ed when his watch finished, which should have been half an hour after Ed has retired. Izzy had been awake longer than he had, and it was a miracle he hadn't collapsed before now, he really should be asleep in his bed.

There was a knock on the door and Ed begrudgingly got out of his hammock to open it. He found Tom standing there with a sympathetic look on his face,

"What?" Ed groaned, still not fully awake,

"Captain wants everyone on deck,"

"Why?"

Tom shrugged, "He didn't say, but it can't be good."

Ed followed Tom onto deck and what he saw there made his heard sink. Hornigold was stood in front of the gathered crew, clutching Izzy's arm in a vice like grip.

Ed pushed his way to the front of the crowd and tried to meet Izzy's gaze, but Izzy just looked at the floor.

Hornigold glared at the crowd, and everyone feel silent, "Hands," Hornigold cried, "Would you like to explain to everyone why we are here,"

"I fell asleep while on watch," Izzy said, still looking down at his feet.

Hornigold smiled menacingly, "And we can't let that go unpunished, can we?" Hornigold dragged Izzy over to the side of the ship, where the end of a coil of rope lay on the floor, "As punishment Hands you will be keelhauled,"

"No!" Ed cried.

Everyone spun around to look at him, shocked that he had dared speak at all.

"That could kill him! All he did was fall asleep and he only fell asleep because you've had him on watch for days!"

Hornigold pulled out his gun and pointed it at Ed, "Think very carefully about what you are saying Teach," he said, with a dangerous edge to his voice, "If you even think about interfering with this, I will keelhaul you too,"

Izzy finally looked up and met Ed's eye. He shook his head slightly, trying his best to tell Ed that it wasn't worth it. Ed bit his lip, but he didn't say anything. Hornigold smiled, "Good choice," he passed his gun to Jenkins, "Keep an eye on Edward,"

"Yes Captain," Jenkins said, as he pointed the gun back at Ed.

Hornigold ordered two of his men to tie the end of the coil of rope around Izzy's ankles and wrists. Once this was done, he ordered Izzy thrown over the side of the ship. Ed couldn't help but wince at the sound of Izzy hitting the water.

Hornigold nodded at three men standing at the other side of the deck. Next to them was a length of rope, the end of which was dangling into the water. The men grabbed the rope and pulled, hauling Izzy under the ship.

Ed kept his eyes on the edge of the ship, just waiting for Izzy to reappear, it felt like it had been too long, what if Izzy didn't come back‽

After what felt like an age Izzy was hauled back up the other side of the ship. He flopped down on to the ground barely catching himself with his bound arms. He coughed violently, bringing up salt water on to the deck.

Hornigold nodded at Jenkins, and he lowered the gun he had trained on Ed. The moment he was no longer being threatened, Ed ran over to Izzy. He knelt down next to him and made quick work of the rope binding his wrists and ankles.

Once Izzy had finally finished throwing up sea water he collapsed on to the deck,

"No, Izzy, come on," Ed said, looping Izzy's arm over his shoulder, "Let's get back to our room then you can sleep for as long as you want."

Izzy groaned but let Ed haul him to his feet. The two of them stumbled down to their room and Ed heaved Izzy up onto his bed. It wasn't until then that Ed finally got a god look at Izzy's injuries. Every inch of exposed skin was covered in cuts and bruised. Ed could only be thankful that the thick leather Izzy was wearing had protected the majority of his body, the bottom of the ship tearing up his clothes instead of his skin. Still, he was going to need a lot of stitches.

Ed knelt down and pulled up the loose floorboards near the far wall. He pulled out a bottle and a needle and thread. He stood back up to see that Izzy had fallen unconscious, at least that would make stitching him up easier.

Ed stitched and cleaned Izzy's wounds then sat down on the barrel next to him, with the intention of sitting there and drinking until Izzy woke up, fortunately, it didn't take long for that to happen.

Izzy slowly sat up, trying to hide his wince when the movement pulled on his stiches.

Ed held out the bottle he was drinking from, and Izzy graciously took it, "We've got to get out of here," Ed said,

"And sleep on deck with everyone else? Why would we do that?"

"I meant off this ship,"

Izzy gave a short laugh, "Be serious,"

"I am! What if we took control of The Adventure and sailed away from here, away from Hornigold and started our own crew,"

"Edward," Izzy signed, "You've seen what Hornigold does to people who plan mutinies,"

"He only does that if they get caught,"

"We can't let anyone else know," Izzy said,

"No, of course not, the more people know the more danger we're in,"

Izzy and Ed nodded at each other then smiled,

"We're actually doing this?" Izzy laughed,

"We're actually doing this."

-x-

Ed and Izzy were walked onto the deck of The Ranger at gun point. The sun had set since they'd been thrown in the brig and a thick fog had set in.

Hornigold's crew were already all gathered on the deck. Ed's eyes flittered across the crowd, subconsciously looking for any familiar faces, not that he expected to see any, it had been twenty years and no doubt all of the crew from Ed and Izzy's days were long gone. But then Ed's eyes landed on a man frowning at the edge of the crowd, he was much bulkier and his hair was now flecked with grey but it was unmistakably Tom the cabin boy.

Hornigold gave Ed a rough shove and he stumbled towards the mast. Hornigold then drew his sword and turned to Ed. With a flick of his wrist, he cut through Ed's jacket and shirt, causing them to fall to the floor. He grabbed Ed and pushed him face first into the mast. He ran the tip of his sword over Ed's shoulder, looking for the 'H' branded there. Ed had done his best to cover it up with tattoos, but you could still find it if you knew what you were looking for. It only took Hornigold a second to find the 'H', and when he did, he traced it with his sword to highlight it to the rest of his crew,

"Pay attention!" Hornigold shouted, "This is what happens to members of my crew who betray me!"

Hornigold took a step back and nodded to two of crew, "Tie him to the mast,"

The two men grabbed Ed. One of them untied his wrist while the other held him still. His arms were then pulled around to the other side of the mast and retied. Ed twisted his head to see Hornigold standing behind him holding a cat o' nine tails. Ed's stomach twisted, for the first time since he's left The Revenge, he felt scared.

Hornigold turned and smiled menacingly at Izzy, who was stood off just to the side of the mast, being held by two more men, "Don't worry Hands, you'll get your turn soon enough," Hornigold spun around to address his crew, "For their crimes Edward Teach and Israel Hands will each receive thirty-nine lashes with a cat o' nine tails before they are both hanged."

-x-

Ed was stood at the edge of Hornigold's ship, looking out over The Adventure. The two ships were stationery and planks had been laid between them so the crew could transfer cargo over.

Ed resisted the urge to check his sword and gun, both of which hung from his belt. He looked up when Izzy walked over and stood next to him.

"You ready?"

Izzy nodded, "Edward, whatever happens today-"

Ed clapped Izzy on the shoulder, "Yeah mate, I know."

The two of them hoped up on to one of the planks and made their way over to The Adventure. They jumped down onto the deck near where Jenkins was standing,

"What are you doing here?" Jenkins sneered at them,

"Captain wants everyone on the deck of The Ranger, apparently somebody's been stealing food,"

Jenkins groaned in frustration but turned to address everyone else on deck, "Everyone to The Ranger!" He shouted. The crew all groaned but they laid down their weapons and made their way to the other ship. Jenkins moved to go below deck but Izzy held out his hand to stop him,

"You go join the captain," Ed said, "We'll go round up everyone below deck,"

Jenkins nodded at them then he too made his way off The Adventure.

Ed and Izzy walked over to the door that led below deck. They collected two barrels and rolled them in front of it, blocking it from opening. The two of them ran back over to the side of the ship and pushed away the planks connecting the two ships. Ed then ran over to the wheel and Izzy ran over to the sails.

"Hey!" Ed looked over to see Jenkins standing by the edge of the deck on The Ranger, red faced, "Captain!" He yelled, "They're stealing The Adventure!"

Ed spun the wheel and the ship lurched away from The Ranger.

"Fire on them!" Hornigold shouted,

Ed turned to grin at Izzy who was pulling on the rope attached to the main sail.

There was the sound of banging coming from the door leading below the deck, as the remaining people on the ship realised something was going on, but the barrels held strong.

There was another shout from the Ranger, "What do you mean the cannons have been disabled‽"

Ed grinned to himself, it was almost as if he and Izzy had spent every spare moment they had planning this,

"After them!" Hornigold shouted.

The Adventure was fast, but they couldn't beat The Ranger in pure speed.

Ed nodded at Izzy and the two of them made their way back over to the door leading below deck. They both drew their guns then Izzy pushed the barrels out of the way. They levelled their guns at the men stumbling on to deck,

"I have taken over as Captain of this ship," Ed said, "As I see it you have four options: One, you join my crew and sail under me. Two, you help us escape The Ranger and we let you off at the next port. Three, you turn us over to Hornigold and get killed for participating in our mutiny. Or four, we kill you, which of course we will do if you attempt option three,"

Izzy cocked his gun, "Would anyone like to take options three or four?"

Several people shook their head and one person said, "No sir,"

"Good!"

Ed and Izzy put away their guns.

"Load the cannons," Ed ordered. Nobody moved for a second, "Now!"

"Yes, Captain," The crew all jumped to follow Ed's orders. Izzy ran back over to the wheel and Ed took his place next to the railings, watching Hornigold's ship approaching them.

"Line us up Izzy," Ed called.

Izzy maneuverer The Adventure so it was pointing in the same direction as The Ranger,

"Fire!" Ed shouted. The cannons went off, blowing several holes in the side of The Ranger, "Reload!"

"It's not going to take them long to fix the cannons," Izzy said,

"I know, one more round should cripple them enough for us to get away," Ed looked over at The Ranger, he could see Jenkins and Hornigold running around on deck.

"Fire!" Ed yelled again. The cannons went off and Ed turned to Izzy, "Go,"

Izzy spun the wheel, turning The Adventure away from The Ranger. As Ed predicted The Ranger did not follow them, too busy dealing with the damage to their ship. Ed turned to grin at Izzy, they'd done it, they were free.

-x-

Ed screwed his eyes shut as he heard Hornigold move around behind him, normally he'd have been given something to bite down on, to preserve his dignity in front of the crew but Hornigold clearly didn't care about his crew's opinion of Ed, not that it mattered, he'd be dead within the hour.

Hornigold raised his arm and slammed the whip down on Ed's back. Ed bit his lip to stop himself from crying out, he knew it was fruitless though, there was no way he'd be able to stay silent for all thirty-nine lashes.

Hornigold brought the whip down again and Ed's back burnt, he didn't know how he was going to survive long enough to get hanged.

Ed braced himself for the third hit, but it didn't come. Instead came the sound of haunting singing from somewhere beneath the ship. Ed opened his eyes and turned to glance at Izzy. The two of them locked eyes and Ed smiled slightly, seeing the same knowing look reflected in Izzy's eyes. They knew that voice, it could only be Buttons singing.

"It's a siren!" Somebody yelled, and the crew descended into chaos. Then, the fog lit up and everybody froze. Everyone turned to look out over the sea and there, in the fog, were the silhouettes of countless ships. Most of them appeared to be in the distance but one, very familiar ship, stood large in the foreground.

Somebody on Hornigold's ship let out another scream, "It's a ghost army!"

"Be quiet!" Hornigold shouted. The crew froze but the fear was still evident in their faces.

The Revenge sailed forward, out of the fog to reveal that somebody had dressed it up to make it look as ghost like as possible, the sails were torn and something red was dripping down the side of the ship. Stede, Ivan and Fang were stood on the deck. They were all dressed from head to toe in white, but their outfits were flecked with something that had been made to look like blood.

"Benjamin Hornigold!" Stede cried, "We are the ghosts of all the ships you've plundered, the crews you've killed over your life, and we are here to get our revenge,"

Hornigold scoffed but he didn't sound that confident,

"Revenge!" One of the men cried, "But we weren't the ones that killed you,"

Stede smiled but he didn't reply.

The crew screamed again, and somebody launched a knife through the air straight at Stede. Ed gasped, his heart in his throat, but to his shock the knife passed straight through Stede, as if he weren't there.

"They are ghosts!" Somebody shouted, "They're going to kill us!"

"Our quarrel isn't with your crew," Stede said, "They are free to leave, and we won't harm them if they do,"

Two of Hornigold's crew climbed over the railings and jumped overboard, clearly deciding that they'd rather face the sea than ghosts. Several more of the crew made as if to follow them.

"I order you to stay," Hornigold shouted, but nobody seemed to pay him any attention, "I will have all of you killed for desertion! I am not afraid of some ghosts!"

"Psst,"

Ed turned his head to see Jim had appeared next to him. They raised their finger to their lips then pulled a knife out of their belt and cut the ropes binding Ed to the mast. Ed slowly pulled his arms back to his side while Jim turned to Izzy. The men who had been holding Izzy had vanished, no doubt they had forgotten their duty the moment Stede had revealed himself, meaning it was easy for Jim to cut the rope around his wrists.

Jim pulled out two swords and presented them to Ed and Izzy, "Stay quiet and wait for my signal," they ordered before disappearing back into the crowd.

"This is your final warning," Stede said, "Surrender now or we will board your ship,"

"You don't scare me!"

"Very well." Stede, Ivan and Fang disappeared in an instant from their position on the deck and reappeared at the side of The Revenge. Several members of Hornigold's crew gasped at the trick. Stede, Ivan and Fang each grabbed a rope and swung over to The Ranger.

Somebody let out another scream and the members of the crew who had stood frozen at the railings dived overboard.

"Now!" Jim shouted.

Ed and Izzy swung into action, brandishing their swords at Hornigold's remaining crew, while Jim, Fang and Ivan did the same. Ed did his best to ignore the way the lashes on his back pulled with every movement, causing a stabbing pain to run through him, as he pinned one of Hornigold's crew to the mast with his sword.

Ed turned, trying to see where Stede was. He found him striding across the deck towards Hornigold with his sword drawn.

"Stede!" Ed cried, pushing through the crowd to get to the man. He was getting better at sword fighting but there was no way Stede could take Hornigold. However, before Ed could reach them, Olu jumped out from behind Hornigold and hit him hard on the back of the head with a plank of wood. Hornigold crumbled instantly and fell to the floor. Stede smiled at Olu, seemingly unsurprised at the turn of events. Stede stepped over Hornigold's body and climbed on to a barrel,

"I have subdued your Captain," Stede announced, "I have assumed control of this ship,"

The remaining members of Hornigold's crew stopped fighting and threw down their weapons.

"Excellent," Stede said. He then turned out to the sea, "Everyone back to The Revenge!" He shouted out.

Ed watched as the silhouettes of all the ships disappeared and the earie lights went out.

Stede jumped off the barrel and made a beeline for Ed.

"Stede," Ed breathed.

Stede smiled at him and pulled him into a kiss. Ed melted under Stede's touch, but he couldn't help but tense up when Stede's hands drifted towards his back. Stede pulled away from Ed with a concerned look on his face. He spun Ed around and gasped when he saw his back,

"It's not that bad," Ed said, "It was only two lashes,"

"That was only two lashes‽" Stede cried, "Oh, Ed, I'm so sorry,"

"Don't be sorry, this wasn't your fault,"

Stede shook his head, "Come on, let's get Roach to take a look,"

Stede took hold of Ed's hand and lead him over to the edge of The Ranger where somebody had laid a gangplank between the two ships.

"Olu, you're in charge," Stede cried over his shoulder before leading Ed across the plank.

Ed looked out at the sea to see the remainder of Stede's crew approaching the two ships in dinghies with all of Hornigold's crew who had thrown themselves overboard,

"You saved them?" Ed asked,

Stede followed Ed's gaze and smiled, "Of course, they surrendered,"

"And you're going to need somebody to man The Ranger," Ed added.

Stede nodded and hopped down onto the deck of The Revenge. He walked over to the side of the ship and threw a ladder down. After a moment Roach appeared and climbed on board.

"Roach!" Stede called, "I need you to take a look at Ed's back,"

"I'm fine," Ed insisted, "It's really not that bad,"

Stede frowned at him, "You can't see what your back looks like."

Roach walked around to get a look at Ed's back, "Hmm, they'll need disinfecting and dressing, a few probably want stitches,"

"See!"

Ed huffed but allowed Stede to lead him down to the kitchen where Roach instructed him to lie on the table. Roach picked up a needle and thread and walked over to Ed. He made quick work of stitching up the worst of Ed's lashes before he picked up a bottle of rum, "Sorry," he said before pouring it over to cuts on his back.

Ed bit his lip to stop himself from crying out. He hadn't cried out while Hornigold had been whipping him, he wouldn't cry out while his wounds were being cleaned.

Ed let out a whimper as Stede coxed him into a sitting position. Roach passed Stede a bundle of bandages with a nod, "I'll leave you two to it."

Stede wrapped the bandages around Ed's torso, politely ignoring every wince Ed made when his back was touched. "All done," Stede said. He offered Ed a hand and helped him to his feet, "Let's find you a shirt,"

"What, you don't like me shirtless?" Ed teased, as they walked out of the kitchen and towards the captain's quarters.

Stede smiled softly at Ed, "Always," he said. He pushed open the door to his cabin and walked over to his auxiliary wardrobe.

"I'll find you something loose," Stede called, "You don't want something that'll put too much pressure on your back,"

"Get something dark in colour," Ed called back as he sat down on the bed, "Don't want any blood to show up,"

"Ed!" Stede poked his head back around the auxiliary wardrobe door,

Ed shrugged, "I might tear the stiches,"

"Please don't,"

"I won't do it on purpose, but it happens sometimes,"

Stede let out a pained whine and ducked back into the auxiliary wardrobe. He re-emerged holding a billowy black shirt, "Will this work?"

"Thanks," Ed pulled the shirt over his head and Stede sat down next to him,

"I'm sorry I didn't get to you sooner," Stede said, "If I'd just been a few minutes earlier,"

"Don't be sorry, I knew what was going to happen when I left,"

Stede glanced down at his lap, trying to hide the hurt in his eyes.

Ed sighed and took hold of Stede's hand, "And besides, I'm the one that owes you an apology," he said,

"You don't,"

"I do. I left because I thought it was the only way to protect you. Hornigold was always going to kill me, but I thought if I wasn't near you when he found me, he would leave you alone. I thought I was giving you the best chance at survival,"

Stede smiled at Ed, "You don't always need to protect me,"

"Clearly! You saved my life! And Izzy's, I'm never going to let him forget that,"

Stede beamed at Ed, "And with an excellent fuckery if I do say so myself,"

"You've got to have to tell me how you did it, I mean a knife passed directly through you!"

"Some of my best work I daresay," Stede said, "Lucius, Pete, Frenchie, Wee John, Roach, and the Swede were all in dinghies behind the Revenge. They used lanterns and some cut outs of ships to make it look like was had a whole army behind us; the fog gave an excellent material to project the silhouettes against. The singing was Buttons, of course, he has such a good voice, doesn't he? And Olu and Jim were in a dinghy with him, and they sneaked up to Hornigold's ship so they could free you and Izzy,"

"How did you get the knife to pass through you?" Ed pressed,

"Ah, yes, we knew that if anyone tried to stab or shoot us, they'd realise we weren't ghosts so we used this neat trick I'd read about called Pepper's ghost! Did you know you can use a large pane of glass and a lantern to make it look like you're in a completely different location than you actually are? I'd never done it before, but I'd always wanted to try it,"

"Mental!" Ed grinned,

"Well, it worked very well,"

Ed nodded his head in agreement, Stede had pulled off his rescue so beautifully and it was just making him feel guiltier about leaving, he couldn't help but imagine how Stede had felt when he realised Ed had gone, "I assume Lucius told you what happened?"

"Oh yes, when I woke up to find you missing, I ran all over, looking for you until he cornered me and told me you'd been an idiot and taken off in a dinghy with Izzy. It was very easy to track you down after that, you didn't go far,"

"Yes, well, Izzy's not the strongest rower,"

"How is Izzy?"

"I don't know, Hornigold didn't touch him, but he was pretty mad with me,"

"You should go talk to him,"

Ed smiled at Stede, "And talk it through as a crew?" he teased,

"Well, I was more thinking talk it though as Ed and Izzy, but the rest of the crew could get involved if you want?"

"Nah, I don't think Izzy would like that. I'll go find him,"

Stede kissed Ed, "Good luck."

Ed made his way out of Stede's room and back over to The Ranger. He looked around trying to spot Izzy. He could see most of Stede's crew milling around but Izzy was nowhere in sight.

"Edward!"

Ed spun around to see Tom hurrying over to him,

"How are you doing?" Tom asked glancing at Ed's shoulder, as if he was trying to look over it at his back,

"I'm fine, we both know two lashes is nothing,"

"I'm still sorry, you and Izzy didn't deserve that, I mean the two of you did what the rest of us couldn't. I should have stepped in,"

"Nah, don't beat yourself up about it, mate, we both know Hornigold would have just punished you if you'd stepped in. Speaking of Izzy though, do you know where he's gone?"

"He went below deck just after you left with the blonde guy,"

"Thanks Tom," Ed clapped Tom on the shoulder and went below deck, knowing exactly where Izzy would have gone.

-x-

Ed pushed open the door to the captain's quarters on The Adventure, "Holy fuck!" he cried, "It's huge!"

Izzy followed Ed into the room, "Much bigger than the storeroom on The Ranger,"

"And there's an actual bed!" Ed grinned and threw himself down on the bed in the centre of the cabin, "Oh wow, this is so much better than a hammock! You have got to try this,"

Izzy lay down on the bed next to Ed, sinking down into the mattress.

"We don't even have to share a room anymore; we can have a bed each Izzy!"

"We have an entire ship Edward,"

Ed sat up and glanced around the room, "Yeah, I guess we do," he turned and smiled at Izzy, "We are never going to have to see Benjamin Hornigold ever again,"

Izzy sat up, "He's going to come after us you know,"

"Doesn't mean he's going to catch us,"

"No, I don't suppose it does,"

Ed wrapped his arm around Izzy's shoulder, "We are going to become the greatest pirates who ever sailed the seven seas,"

"No, you're going to become the greatest pirate who ever sailed the seven seas, the captain's the one who gets the reputation,"

"I can't do it without you though,"

Izzy turned his head to look fully at Ed, "You have me, Captain,"

Ed let out a laugh, "It sounds weird, you calling me that,"

"What, Captain?"

"Yeah,"

Izzy shrugged, "It's what you are now, you're my Captain,"

Ed smiled, "And you're my first mate,"

"And what are your orders for your first mate?"

"To sit an enjoy how comfy this is for just a little bit longer,"

"Edward…"

Ed sighed, "I know, we have the rest of our ship to explore,"

"And a crew to manage,"

Ed sighed dramatically and got to his feet, "It sounds like we have a lot of work to do," he said, holding out his hand out to Izzy.

Izzy took Ed's hand and let him pull him to his feet, "Yes it does, Captain, shall we get started?"

-x-

Ed pushed open the door to their old room to find Izzy sitting on the floor, leaning against the far wall with a bottle of rum in his hand. Ed walked over and sat down next to Izzy, hissing when his back touched the wall. Wordlessly Izzy passed Ed the bottle and he took a swig.

"It's weird being back here," Ed said, just as a way to break the silence, "They've got rid of my hammock and your bed,"

"I miss it sometimes, being here," Izzy said, "It was much simpler back then,"

Ed turned to frown at Izzy, "Hornigold sucked, man! Leaving was one of the best things we ever did,"

"You have to agree it was simpler though. It was just me and you against the world, now it's you and Bonnet," Izzy sneered,

"No, it isn't," Ed said weakly.

Izzy gave Ed a condescending look, "You sold me out for him, and you'd do it again in a heartbeat,"

Ed looked away, he couldn't deny it, he knew it to be true.

Izzy huffed and snatched the rum back when Ed didn't reply.

"I love Stede but if I was going to take on the world I'd want you by my side," Ed said,

"See that's the problem,"

"What is?"

"We're not taking on anyone these days, let alone the world,"

"We haven't been doing for years Izzy, long before Stede came along,"

"It was still different before Bonnet showed up,"

"Yes, it was," Ed snapped, "It was worse. It was boring and miserable, and I was ready to throw it all away,"

"You were living your dream! You were the most feared pirate on the seven seas,"

"I don't know what to tell you Iz, that's not my dream anymore,"

"So what? Your dream is to flounce around in fancy shirts with Stede fucking Bonnet?"

"Yes!"

Izzy stared at Ed, his eyes wide with shock, he clearly hadn't expected Ed to agree with him, "I just want to be happy and that's what makes me happy,"

Izzy looked down at his lap, "So what? Did nothing we ever did make you happy?"

"That's not what I meant, we used to have fun, it just wasn't fun when we'd crawl back to our rooms to lick our wounds, and it wasn't fun when everyone would just surrender to us on sight, and it wasn't fun when we'd go for weeks on end with nothing to do,"

"So that's it then, you've officially thrown it all away?"

"That's not what I'm saying…"

Izzy got to his feet, "I guess you don't need me anymore then," he said as he made to walk out of the door,

"Wait, Izzy!" Ed called, jumping up after him. He grabbed hold of his wrist and spun him back around, "I'm not going to stop you from leaving if that's what you want, hell, you could take The Ranger, become a pirate Captain in your own right, but don't leave because you think that's what I want, I'll always need you Izzy,"

Izzy sighed, "Why?"

"Why? What do you mean why?"

"Why do you need me? You have Bonnet now,"

"You're still my best friend,"

Izzy scoffed, "Pirates don't have friends,"

"We're all just in various stages of fucking each other over, yeah, I know, but how else would you describe out relationship?"

"You're my Captain,"

Ed shrugged, "So was Hornigold,"

"Hornigold's a dick,"

"So am I,"

Izzy frowned, "You're a much better Captain then Hornigold ever was,"

Ed smiled slightly and pulled Izzy back down to sit on the floor, "My point was, you haven't stuck by me for all this time because I'm your Captain, and I haven't kept you around for so long just because you're my first mate,"

Izzy huffed, "Ok, fine, we're friends,"

"So, you'll stay?"

"Who else is going to keep all of Bonnet's sorry crew in line?"

Ed grinned and picked back up the bottle of run, "And it's not that I don't want to have sword fights and raid ships anymore, I just want to do it on my terms, not Blackbeard's,"

Izzy took the bottle off of Ed, "It did used to be more fun in the old days when everything was a proper fight,"

If Izzy were anyone else Ed would have pulled him into a hug.

There was a crash outside their storeroom and Ed and Izzy turned to frown at each other. They made as if to get up but before they could the door swung open and Stede's head poked around it. He grinned upon seeing Ed and Izzy, "Ah, perfect, one of Hornigold's crew said I'd find you two in here,"

"What was that crash‽" Ed cried,

"Oh nothing, I just stumbled down the stairs, did you know one of those planks is loose?"

Izzy groaned, "What do you want Bonnet?"

"Oh, yes, Hornigold is awake, and I thought you two would like to come with me to confront him,"

"Of course," Ed agreed. He got up and walked over to Stede, "You coming, Iz?"

Izzy nodded and got to his feet.

They followed Stede out of the room and down to the brig where Hornigold was standing behind the bars. Jim was sat next to the entrance, twirling a knife,

"Thank you, Jim, we can take it from here," Stede said,

"If you're sure Captain," Jim said with a dubious look, but they still got up and left the room.

Stede turned back to Hornigold, "I have taken control of your ship and your crew," he informed him,

"And my prisoners I see," Hornigold sneered,

"Ed and Izzy aren't me prisoners, in fact you're about to be theirs,"

Ed frowned, "What?"

"I'm transferring the custody of Benjamin Hornigold to you and Izzy. Do with him what you like,"

Izzy's mouth fell open in shock and Stede turned on his heals to walk out of the room.

"Stede!" Ed shouted,

Stede turned around and raised an eyebrow at Ed,

"You know that by doing this you're basically condemning him to death?"

"I know," Stede said then walked out of the room.

Ed and Izzy stared after Stede in shock. They were broken from their thought by the sound of Hornigold chuckling, "Look at you two, having to ask permission to kill me, what happened to you? The Edward and Izzy I knew…" The words died in Hornigold's mouth as Ed and Izzy turned to face him with a dangerous glint in their eyes.

"What do you think Izzy? Stede said we could do whatever we liked,"

"Oh, I was thinking we could stab him and watch him bleed out, or shoot him, that would be just as good, what do you think Edward?"

"I was thinking something more poetic, get the cat back out, maybe even some branding,"

"A taste of his own medicine?"

"Exactly,"

Hornigold scoffed, "Oh grow up," he snapped, "You're not special, and it wasn't personal, you two are hardly the first people I've done that to,"

"Shut up Hornigold!" Izzy shouted,

"No wait, he's right,"

"What? No, don't let him get to you, Edward, he deserves everything coming to him,"

"Yes, but we aren't the only people he's hurt. They should get a chance for retribution too,"

"We can't go and round up everyone who's ever been crossed by Benjamin Hornigold,"

"No, obviously, but a whole bunch of those people are currently on deck,"

Izzy glanced up at the ceiling, "If you're sure Captain,"

Ed glanced around the room. There was a coil of rope at the bottom of the chair Jim had been sitting on and the key to the cell was hanging on a hook on the wall. Ed collected the rope and key then nodded at Izzy. Ed unlocked the door to the cell, while Izzy drew his gun and pointed it at Hornigold. Ed took a step inside and grabbed hold of Hornigold's arms. He wrenched them behind his back then used the rope to bind them before he dragged him out of the cell. Izzy and Ed each took hold of one of Hornigold's arm and the two of them led him up on deck.

Everyone turned to look at them when they stormed out on to the deck. They dragged Hornigold over to the mast and Ed jumped on the same barrel Stede had stood on earlier.

"Ed?" Stede questioned from where he was standing at the side of the ship,

"Benjamin Hornigold has been found guilty of many crimes, far too many to list, as a selection of his victims, you are invited to put forward suggestions for his sentence," Ed announced,

"You want our input?" One of the crew repeated,

"We do,"

"Why don't we just kill him?" somebody shouted,

"Deaths too good for him, he deserves to suffer,"

"A slow and painful death?" Somebody else suggested,

"We should let him bleed out,"

Izzy glanced up at Ed as if to register his approval at that suggestion,

"Still seems too easy for him,"

"We should torture him,"

"Tear him limb from limb," somebody said darkly,

"How about we maroon him," Tom suggested. Everyone fell quiet and turned to look at Tom, "That would be a slow death,"

Ed looked at Izzy, "It's not a bad suggestion,"

Izzy nodded in agreement,

"Any objections?" Ed called out, "No? Ok, Benjamin Hornigold, you are to be set adrift with no supplies, no food, no water, no weapons. You will be kept here in the brig under guard until we find a suitable location to carry out your sentence, somewhere further away from land," Ed reached into his pocket, pulled out the key to the brig and tossed it to Izzy, "Take him back to the brig, Jim, go with him and keep watch,"

"Yes, Captain," Izzy said as he led Hornigold back below deck, closely followed by Jim and Olu.

Ed jumped off the barrel and made his way over to Stede. "Thank you," Ed said,

"For what?" Stede asked,

"For being so understanding, I know this isn't really your style,"

"Not normally," Stede agreed, "But he hurt you. He deserves everything coming to him,"

Ed smiled, "Hey, can I give you a suggestion?"

"Always,"

"You should give The Ranger to Tom,"

"Tom?"

"The large blonde guy. He's been here since mine and Izzy's day, and he knows this ship inside out. The Ranger should really go to Hornigold's crew, it's their home,"

Stede nodded, "It's a good idea." He turned to look fully at Ed, "How are you doing?"

"I'm good,"

"Ed…"

"No, I really am, it's like this whole weight has been lifted, I don't have to constantly look over my shoulder for Hornigold anymore,"

"And being back here?"

"Being back here has just confirmed some things for me,"

"And what things are they?"

"That what I'm doing now, on The Revenge, is truly what I want. I am doing what makes Ed happy,"

Stede beamed at Ed and pulled him into a kiss,

"Get a room!"

Stede and Ed broke apart and turned to see Lucius grinning at them. Ed smiled and slipped his hand into Stede's, it felt good to be home.