Chapter Text
"Heh. Just as I thought."
Stede's saber fell to the ground with a sad, dull clink. He hissed and pressed his cut hand to his chest. It stung, but not as much as being defeated yet once again.
"Still just a gentleman. Not in the least a pirate," Izzy spat, hiding his sword in the sheath. "Come back when you actually have some skill."
"I-I'm..." Stede's voice sounded weak and creaky, so he cleared his throat, raised his head and pushed his jaw forward. Then tried again. "As long as you're on my ship, you're gonna treat me as the captain I am." He straightened up, adjusting his doublet.
"I only have one captain," Izzy said steadily, taking a turn on his heel. "And it ain't you."
With a feeling of utter defeat, and immense shame, Stede did just the same - turned away and disappeared under the deck to hide away in his cabin.
Ed was waiting for him in his captain's suite, lounging on Stede's favourite, velvet-covered low sofa.
"I wish you were there with me, could use some emotional support," Stede sighed, dropping dramatically onto his bed.
"I could, but I believe that's a thing that needs to be sorted between just the two of you," Ed offered.
Stede covered his face with one of the many pillows scattered around the bed. "Still, seeing you from the corner of my eye would've helped me. I'm yet to establish any authority here, since Izzy doesn't have even an ounce of respect for me. At all."
As if he could see right through me. As if he knew that I was a fraud, an imposter. Everything that Ed refused to see in me.
After a long moment of silence, Stede heard the clicking of glass and the bourbon bottle, and then his bed dipped under Ed's weight, somewhere close to Stede's feet. Ed nudged his foot with a knee, prompting Stede to take the pillow off of his head.
"Izzy's an angry, conceited bastard. But you'll find a way to get to him."
With a heavy sigh, Stede sat up on the bed and accepted the bourbon glass from Ed's outstretched hand.
"None of my methods work. I've tried talking, and reasoning, and bargaining..." He sighed again. "I have no idea how to get him to like me."
"He doesn't have to like you. But he does owe you respect."
"Yeah, well, somehow I can't get any of these," Stede mumbled, taking a sip of the honey-colored drink. "He defeated me again and treated me as if I'm some mere... boor. A peasant. And not a pirate captain."
He gestured with his cut hand, forgetting that he had yet to bandage it up, and hissed when the sudden stretch caused the cut to bleed again. He shut his mouth with a swallowed gasp, as he saw Ed notice his wound. Edward's eyes widened and his nostrils flared, and he pulled Stede's hand closer to his face, taking in the size of the cut.
"He did that to you?! Fucking dog, I'm gonna-" He rose to his feet and by his sudden change in posture and demeanor, Stede saw it wasn't Ed by his side anymore. That was Blackbeard. World's most fearsome pirate, the brutal, bloodthirsty ruler of the seas.
"Ed, no, wait," Stede shouted, getting up immediately too, grabbing Ed by the leather sleeve. "Don't."
"There's a limit to everything, and I draw a line at my men hurting you." Those big brown eyes were now squinting in anger, hidden under drawn together brows and wild hair. Ed, Blackbeard, was so scary like that, but when it was because of his love for Stede, it only made Stede's heart melt with fondness and affection.
"Don't act too rushed, love," Stede pleaded, the grip on Edward's arm tightening, urging him to turn around and face Stede. "Darling."
"He needs to know his place," Ed said through gritted teeth. "If he won't listen to you, he has to listen to me."
"Ed, please. I will lose every little bit of respect he has for me if you try to handle the issue for me." Stede looked into Ed's eyes, searching for understanding and agreement. "Let me try one last time. I believe, I know, that he has a soft spot under all that anger and cocky demeanor. Maybe... maybe hugging it out will solve the issue," he offered with a coquettish smile.
"Or, you could best him in a swordfight and bring him to his knees. Teach him to obey. The only language Iz understands is violence." The way Ed said that, looking somewhere above Stede's head, made Stede shiver with fear and sudden excitement. Ed was clearly talking from experience and the image of... of Blackbeard towering over his kneeling first mate made Stede want things he didn't even know were possible.
Stede cleared his throat, still holding onto Ed's sleeve, but his gaze fixed on the tips of his shoes. "I'll... I'll try the nice way first, though. One last time. Then... I'll try to beat him?"
Ed huffed, turning softer in Stede's grip. He squinted, the crow's feet at the corners of his eyes making him look warmer, amicable. He then let out a sigh and grunt and shook his head. "Fine. But I'll watch you this time and if this bastard tries anything..." Stede's finger on his lips shut him up.
"I know, darling, I know."
Izzy was already in his cot, his boots, vest and weapons scattered on the floor beneath him, when he heard the footsteps and rustling on the deck above him. He grunted and turned to face the wall.
"Mr. Hands! We've an unfinished business that I'd like to address!"
Stupid fucking Stede Bonnet. There was no way he'd get out of bed now, for another round of him fencing off Bonnet's pathetic attempts at sword fighting.
"Pirate captain my ass," he mumbled under his breath, squeezing his eyes shut.
"Izzy. Come finish what you've started." The tone in Blackbeard's voice brooked no argument.
Stupid fucking Stede Bonnet. Somehow he managed to wrap Blackbeard around his little finger, making him his own pennyboy.
Izzy's been loyal to Edward for so many years, staying at his side through thick and thin and yet... he never got this close to Ed as this fucker did in a matter of few weeks.
Begrudgingly, he slipped out of bed, grabbed his rapier and made his way up on deck. Captain's order, he told himself. It had nothing to do with wanting to humiliate Bonnet in front of his boss. With wanting to show Ed who really was worth his time, attention and... affection.
Stede was waiting for him, standing in the middle of the main deck, while Blackbeard stood just a few feet away from them, on the wooden stairs.
"Izzy," Bonnet started, opening his hands wide in a sort of weird invitation. "We might have started off on the wrong foot, but I want to let you know that I hold no grudges. I believe you can let me captain you just like the rest of my crew does. If you feel left out or unwelcome, let me fix that. Let us hug it out," he offered, taking a few steps forward.
Izzy burst into a manic laughter.
"Edward, you hear this?" He turned towards him. "You allow this?!"
"He's the captain here. His ship, his rules," was all that Ed told him in response.
"Fuck you, Bonnet! And fuck you too, Ed!" He grabbed his sword and pointed it towards Bonnet, but didn't dare to make the first move. "Hug it out?" he spat, his lips curled in an ugly, sarcastic smile. "Why don't we all just make a huge fucking hugging puppy pile?!"
"It works with some of my people," Stede replied honestly, his lips curved in an inviting smile.
Izzy was sure this was a prank by then. They were pulling his leg, checking what was the most insane shit they could tell him and make him believe. But despite his conviction, he let himself get worked up by Stede's words, be caught up in that weird game, dragged in like a helpless fish in a fisherman's net.
"Pirates don't hug! Pirates don't talk about their feelings! They tough it out, grit their teeth and solve things with punches and blades!"
"Well I tried the talking about feelings route, Iz, and I loved it," Ed said, looking at Stede with unspoken affection. Izzy saw red at the corners of his eyes, his grip on his rapier tightening.
Stupid fucking Stede Bonnet. How did he turn the world's greatest pirate into... this?
Blind rage already pulsing under his skin, Izzy turned towards Stede and spat on the ground, right in front of Bonnet's feet.
"You're nothing more than a little boy playing pirates, you're not my captain and you'll never be. Fuck you!"
"Mr. Hands." Stede adjusted his shirt and unsheathed his saber. "As long as you're staying on Revenge, I expect you to respect me and honor my orders as the ship's captain. If I have to earn your respect by beating you in a swordfight, instead of taking the easier way, so be it."
Izzy used all his willpower not to snort condescendingly. Instead he just shot Ed a look. His captain was leaning against the stairs, standing only a few feet above them, watching them. He clearly was enjoying this, expecting a show.
If Blackbeard needed Izzy to show his loyalty to him this way, so be it.
He charged at Bonnet, with the sole intention of humiliating him, showing him how little he was truly worth, to make him feel inadequate and unwanted. Just Izzy had been feeling ever since they set foot on this goddamned fucking godforsaken ship.
To his surprise, Stede parred his first few hits, one of his brows shooting up in unashamed satisfaction. This only made Izzy's blood boil and his anger fog his mind completely.
He hit and cut blindly, quickly, channeling all his unspoken feelings into his movements.
"You made him weak! You made him fucking soft! And meek!" he spat angrily with every swing of his rapier.
Why is he freely giving you everything I have been yearning for for years?
"You want to bring him to his knees and I'm the only one who can remind you who Blackbeard truly is!"
Blackbeard is fierce and ruthless and mean; how come he becomes so pliant and soft around this bastard? How does he let himself be so vulnerable around this fucker when all he had for me was... a cold shoulder and hardships?
"Hug it out?!" Izzy shouted between cuts. "What else are you gonna try next? Kisses? A good fuck to make everyone get along?!"
"Might as well try," Stede replied with a half smile, shooting a knowing look towards Ed.
The loud, fucking pearly laugh that left his boss's mouth was the goddamned last drop. Izzy spun and charged at Stede, throwing the blade out of Stede's hand. The surprised gasp his opponent let out sounded like the sweetest music to Izzy's ears. Bonnet looked down with eyes wide at Izzy's blade, still pointing in his direction.
He heard a thud coming from the stairs where Ed stood and he was sure he could hear Edward inhale sharply, but Izzy saw from the corner of his eye that his boss didn't move. He was only watching.
Emboldened, he closed the few steps of distance between Stede and himself, his blade still pointing threateningly towards Revenge's captain. And when Stede's back met the cabin's door with a dull thud and he had nowhere to go, Izzy reached into his boot for his trusty knife. He threw his rapier away and held the blade at Bonnet's throat.
"Iz..." Ed whispered sharply, but Izzy was focused only on the man in front of him.
To his surprise, there wasn't fear in Bonnet's eyes. Defeat, disappointment - maybe. But Stede wasn't even the slightest afraid.
"Beat you. Again." Somehow Izzy felt he had to say those words out loud. He leaned in, his face only a few inches away from Stede's.
"Well then? What now? Are you gonna stab me or kiss me mad about it?"
"Wh-" Izzy was lost for words. He didn't want to do it, but before he could stop himself, his gaze flicked down to Bonnet's lips, then quickly to where Blackbeard was standing at the ship's stairs. And both men saw it.
"Go on, Iz. It's your call." A voice, no louder than a whisper, reached his ears.
With his knife still pressing to the side of Stede's throat, with his gaze fixed on Stede's quivering lip, he leaned in and pressed their mouths together.