Ed was stood at the edge of the Revenge, clinging onto the railings, tight enough that his knuckles were starting to going white. He was looking out over the port with an intense frown on his face. Most of the crew had gone into town but he had elected to stay aboard the ship. He didn't think he'd be able focus on anything other than Tilly, and that included getting a good price for their loot.

"How are you doing?"

Ed started and turned to see that Stede had joined him by the railings. He must have been deep in his own head if he hadn't heard Stede come over.

"Do you think she was right?" Ed asked, instead of answering Stede's question,

"Which part?"

"When she said I didn't care."

Stede wrapped his arm around Ed, "No, I don't think she was right. I know you care, and I think Tilly knows that too, she was just angry,"

"So, do you think I was wrong?" Ed asked, "To keep Tilly from the raid,"

"I think…" Stede trailed off.

Ed threw his hands in the air, "You think I should have let her go‽"

"No! No, I don't," Stede said, "I just think it might not have been the best idea to stop her by locking her in the kitchen,"

"So how should I have stopped her? By physically restraining her?"

"Edward…"

Ed turned back to look out over the port, "I fucked up and now she's gone."

Stede squeezed Ed's arm, "She'll be back, don't worry. She just needs some time to cool off."

Ed ran his hand through his hair, "I hope you're right."

-x-

Throughout the afternoon the crew made their way back to the ship in dribs and drabs until all of them were back apart from Tilly.

"Where is she?" Ed said, as he started pacing back and forth,

"Hmm, it is starting to get late," Stede said, glancing up at the darkening sky, "Maybe we should go looking for her?"

Ed turned to look at Stede, his eyes large with worry, "You think? She already thinks I think she can't look after herself,"

"She might be fine, in which case we find her and she either accepts your apology and comes back or she tells us to leave her alone and we do. Or she's not fine and needs help."

Ed nodded quickly, "You're right. Let's go," he said, marching over to the gangplank,

"Right, yes," Stede agreed. He spun around to face the crew, who were all milling around on the deck, "We're all going to go and search for Tilly," he announced, "We'll regroup in an hour at…" He turned back to Ed, "Where's a good place to regroup?"

"There's a pub called The Chain and Anchor, we'll meet there. Now come on, we're wasting time!"

"That," Stede said before he hurried over to the gangplank and followed Ed off the ship.

The crew didn't hesitate, they all followed Ed and Stede into the port, where they then split up and fanned to cover as much ground as possible. They searched high and low for Tilly, looking down every ally and into every building but there was no sign of her anywhere, and one by one the crew all made their way to The Chain and Anchor.

"Where is she?" Ed said over the sound of the hustle and bustle of the pub, "She can't have disappeared into thin air,"

"Maybe she went further in land?" Olu suggested, "I mean there's only so much ground we were able to search,"

"What if something's happened to her‽ Then I really would be as bad of a brother as she claimed!"

Izzy slammed his fist into the table, "Everyone shut up," he snapped,

Ed narrowed his eyes, "What-"

"Shhh."

The crew all fell silent but none of them could work out what it was Izzy was trying to listen to.

"Well?" Ed ventured after a few minutes,

"The Demon's been spotted," Izzy said,

"A demon?" Stede exclaimed,

"No, not a demon, The Demon, it's the name of a ship," Izzy corrected,

Ed looked around the pub, "Who spotted it?" He asked,

"Them, the men in red at the bar." Izzy nodded at a group of men.

Ed shot to his feet and marched over to the group. He hauled one of them up and pinned them to the bar. Before any of the men even knew what was happening, Ed had a knife pointing at the man's throat. "Tell me everything you know about The Demon," He hissed,

The man started to stutter, clearly terrified, "It's captained by-"

"No!" Ed pressed down ever so slightly harder with the tip of his knife, "Tell me about its sighting,"

"Of course, Mr Blackbeard, sir! It's been moored here for the past few days, but we saw it leave a little under three hours ago,"

"Did you see them take anyone aboard?"

"I don't know,"

Ed growled.

"I swear I don't know! We were too far away to make out any individuals,"

"Where was it heading?"

"We didn't ask!"

Ed pressed down with the knife hard enough to draw blood, "What direction‽"

"South."

Ed withdrew his knife and turned on his heals. He stormed back over to the crew, "Let's go," he said.

The crew all scrambled to obey him,

"Where are we going?" Stede asked,

"After The Demon,"

"I know you said it's a ship but what is The Demon?"

"It's a trafficking ship," Izzy explained, "They snatch people up then sell them to anyone who'll pay,"

"And they have Tilly?" Stede cried as they headed out of the pub.

Ed didn't reply as he set off back towards the ship,

"Edward, did they see Tilly get taken on board The Demon?" Izzy asked, cautiously,

"...No,"

"So, we don't actually know if they have her?"

"Tilly disappeared at the same time The Demon was spotted; that's a pretty big coincidence."

Izzy nodded, "It is,"

"And if there's chance they've got her, I can't leave her. I wouldn't wish that fate on my worst enemies, let alone my sister."

The group reached The Revenge, and everyone started to make their way back on board,

"It's going to take a few hours for us to catch up with The Demon," Izzy said, "You should try and get some rest."

Ed gave Izzy a tiny smile, "You know I can't do that,"

"I know. Thought I'd suggest it anyway."