Archive of Our Own

It was still dark in the captain’s cabin when Ed woke up. At first, he wasn’t sure what had woken him, but then, there came the sound of a floorboard creaking, just the other side of the curtain that separated the bed from the rest of the room. In one swift movement, Ed snatched up the knife he kept under the pillow and flung the curtain aside so that he was facing the intruder.

“Stede‽” Ed gasped, as he set eyes on the intruder.

Stede smiled softly as Ed, not seeming phased at all by the knife now pointing at him. He looked exactly the same as he had the last time Ed had seen him, weeks ago on that beach at the Naval academy. “Hi Ed,”

“You came back,” Ed whispered, as he slowly the knife. He was still in disbelief that Stede was there in the same room as him, after weeks of painful heartache.

Stede made his way over to the bed, slowly at first so as to give Ed the chance to object, but when Ed said nothing Stede sped up, practically jumping at the bed as he sat down next to him. He took hold of Ed’s hand and squeezed it slightly. “I’m sorry,” Stede said, “I never should have left.” He reached out and cupped Ed’s cheek with his spare hand, “And, if you’ll have me, I’ll never leave again.”

Ed stared at Stede. He wasn’t sure he’d blinked since he’d set his eyes on the man trying to sneak into the cabin. “I’ll have you,” he whispered.

Stede smiled, drawing Ed’s gaze to his lips.

“May I?” Stede asked.

Ed nodded and Stede closed the gap between them, pressing his lips against Ed’s. However, the pressure of Stede’s lips on his only existed for a second, before it suddenly vanished, as did the feeling of Stede’s hands on Ed.

Ed’s eyes fluttered open. He expected to see Stede sat in front of him on the bed but instead he saw just an empty cabin.

“Stede?” Ed called out. He swung his legs to get off the bed, only to realise that he wasn’t sat in bed at all, but he was instead sat in the window nook.

Ed let out a groan, his body ached, but he still got to his feet. However, his knee buckled as soon as he put his weight on it and his hands flew back to catch himself on the nook. He really shouldn’t fall asleep in the window nook, it made him feel worse than not going to sleep at all did.

Ed looked around the room for any sign of Stede, but all he could see were empty bottles littering the floor. Had they been there when Stede had been there? Ed didn’t think so, in fact, now he thought about it, the entire room had looked different when Stede had walked in, and not just because he lit up every room that he walked into. Just a few minutes ago the room had been full of furniture. Furniture that Ed had had thrown overboard. It was impossible. Just like Stede being there was.

Ed sunk back down into the window nook as reality came crashing down around him. None of it had been real. Stede hadn’t come back for him. It had all been a dream. Ed was still alone.

Ed was sat at the desk in the captain’s cabin, watching Izzy pace back and forth in front of him.

“The hold’s full,” Izzy said, “We’re going to have to make land soon to off-load it.”

Ed nodded mindlessly, just as he had been for the past half an hour, letting Izzy’s report wash over him. He looked down at Izzy’s foot, where he knew the man was missing a toe. The toe he’d cut off. Izzy didn’t seem to mind, weirdly, if anything, he seemed to relish the fact that Blackbeard had cut off his toe. There was always a sense of pride radiating off him whenever he limped across the deck. It was probably the reason why he was pacing back and forth instead of just standing in front of the desk, like anybody else would have.

“And when we do, we’ll need to recruit some more crew,” Izzy kept going, “Although that should be easy, everyone wants to serve on Blackbeard’s crew.”

Ed rolled his eyes; every meeting he’d had with Izzy recently involved some comment about how good it was to have Blackbeard back. About how much better things were. About how much easier things were,

“And of course your reputation will get us a good deal on the supplies we need.”

Ed wondered if easier meant without feelings. This hollow, empty feeling inside certainly wasn’t better, but maybe it was easier. Easier to not care about anyone else. Easier to not worry about whether he would wake up the next morning. Easier to not feel guilty about mutilating his first mate.

“What are your orders Captain?” Izzy asked.

Ed looked up. He knew he should feel bad about the fact he hadn’t been listening to Izzy’s report, but he really couldn’t bring himself to care. He searched his mind for any of the snippets he’d actually heard. “Make for land,” Ed said, “Whatever’s closest.”

Izzy nodded at Ed then turned on his heals and hobbled out of the cabin.

Ed got to his feet and made his way over to where a bottle of rum lay forgotten on the floor. He picked it up and was pleased to find it still half full. He took a swig and let the alcohol fill the hollow void inside of him.

Night had fallen over The Revenge, but Ed wasn’t asleep. Ed had never been a particularly good sleeper, he supposed that came with never feeling truly safe anywhere, one of the many perks of spending all of one’s adult life on a pirate ship. For a few weeks the Revenge had felt safe, and during that time Ed had slept better than he had at any other point in his life, but now Stede…but now everything was different and The Revenge was as unsafe as every other place Ed had ever slept, and so, Ed only slept when his mind finally succumbed to the inevitable and his consciousness stopped haunting his body and switched to haunting his dreams instead.

As much as Ed never made the choice to sleep, he could feel when his body was close to passing out, and he could also tell when there were still many hours left in him yet. Hours he intended to spend at the bottom of whatever bottle he could find. That night fell into the second category.

Ed crept silently cross the deck, past the sleeping crew and past the man on watch, nobody noticing him as he went. He made his way down towards the kitchen; however, he paused when he heard voices coming from inside the room.

“Take it,” Came a voice that was unmistakably Jim’s,

“Izzy’ll notice it’s missing.” Frenchie.

There was the sound of shuffling and Ed crept forward. He poked his head around the door, just in time to see Jim press a hunk of bread into Frenchie’s hand.

“Nah, I did inventory this morning and as far as Izzy is concerned this loaf of bread doesn’t exist.”

Ed ducked back out of sight before Jim or Frenchie could spot him.

He heard Frenchie tear the bread. He assumed he passed one of the halves back to Jim because that’s the type of person Frenchie was.

Ed tiptoed past the kitchen, not wanting to be caught by Jim and Frenchie. As he went by, Jim and Frenchie started whispering to each other again, however, Ed wasn’t close enough to make out what they were saying. He wondered if they were plotting ways to get rid of him. He knew Jim had at least considered it; he’d seen it in their eyes when he’d walked past them on deck. He hoped that’s what they were talking about. As far as Ed was concerned, they couldn’t get rid of him quick enough.

There was a loud crash from outside the captain’s cabin. Ed’s head snapped up and he frowned, “Izzy‽” he called. There was the sound of swords clanging but no reply.

Ed picked his sword up off the floor and slipped it into his belt. He made his way out of the cabin and onto the deck, where his eyes widened in shock at the sight that greeted him. There on the deck was Stede’s crew, the ones Ed had abandoned and left to die, fighting Ed’s crew. He spied Jim and Frenchie in the mix, fighting alongside Stede’s crew, clearly having switched sides the moment their friends had shown up. Ed whipped his head around, if Stede’s crew were here the man himself couldn’t be far behind…

Ed’s eyes fell upon Stede, there fighting Izzy, right in the middle of all the action. A wave of worry crashed over him; there was no way Stede could beat Izzy in a fight again. Stede had got lucky the first time, and that didn’t happen twice. But, as Ed watched the fight it became apparent that Stede was not only holding his own against Izzy, but it looked a lot like he was winning.

Stede swung his sword past Izzy’s defences, and pierced Izzy’s shoulder. Izzy cried out in pain and dropped his sword.

“That’s for Edward!” Stede cried. He then turned away from Izzy, and his eyes fell on Ed. His face softened and he smiled at him.

The fight around them was dying down but neither Ed nor Stede seemed to notice; just Stede looking at him was enough to freeze Ed to the spot. However, it didn’t seem to matter to Stede that Ed wasn’t moving; he just sheathed his sword and marched towards him, the crew parting around them to clear Stede’s path.

Stede came to a stop directly in front of Ed. He wrapped his arms around him then suddenly dipped him backwards.

“My love,” Stede said before closing the gap between himself and Ed.

Ed’s eyes fluttered closed but just as their lips met the world fell out from under Ed.

Ed’s eyes sprang open and instead of being greeted with the sight of Stede leaning over him, he was greeted with the sight of the captain’s cabin. Ed looked around but there was no sign of Stede, instead Ed was lying on the floor surrounded by empty bottles of rum. Ed pushed himself into a sitting position, his muscles screaming in protest, the same way they always did when he slept on the floor. Of course, Stede wasn’t there. It was just another dream.

It should have been a straightforward raid, easy pickings as Izzy had put it, and it largely was, until a rogue cabin boy had lunged at Frenchie with a knife. He lodged it into Frenchie’s shoulder and Frenchie let out a shocking scream. There was a loud bang, and the cabin boy crumpled to the ground. Ed looked over to see Fang standing there with his gun drawn and freshly fired.

Jim hurried over to Frenchie, slung his non-injured arm over their shoulder and started to lead him back towards the Revenge.

The rest of the enemy crew quickly surrendered after that, and soon everyone was dragging their treasure back to the Revenge.

Ed picked up a crate of rum and set off towards the kitchen with it. However, when he reached the kitchen, he found that it wasn’t empty. Frenchie was sat on the table with his shirt off and Jim and Fang were leaning over him. Fang was holding a deep red cloth over the stab wound while Jim was preparing a needle and thread.

“I should have seen him coming,” Frenchie said, causing Jim’s eyes dart up,

“It’s not your fault,” they snapped,

“I should have been-”

“It’s his fault.”

Frenchie and Fang both froze and stared at Jim for a moment,

“It’s not Blackbeard’s fault I got stabbed,”

“You shouldn’t have been in that situation the begin with. He should have had your back,”

“He can’t have the back of everyone on the ship.”

“Do you remember when Stede was here, and we all cared about each other? We all had each other’s back then.”

Frenchie fell silent and Jim started to stitch up the wound in his shoulder.

“It did used to be like that on Blackbeard’s crew too,” Fang said, “Well, not quite like that, it was still crazy and scary, but there was a time when we’d all take a bullet for each other. Now it’s every man for himself.”

Frenchie placed his good hand on Fang’s arm in comfort.

“Oi!” Somebody shouted.

Ed jumped and spun around to see Izzy standing behind him.

“Captain!” Fang stuttered. Jim and Frenchie both looked terrified at the sight of Ed and Izzy standing in the doorway.

“What are you all sitting around here for?” Izzy snapped,

“We were just patching up Frenchie,” Fang explained, his eyes nervously darting between Ed and Izzy,

“And that required all three of you? Go make yourself useful!”

Jim, Frenchie and Fang all darted past Ed and away from the kitchen, clearly all terrified that they’d been overheard.

Ed sat his box of run down on the table where Frenchie had been sitting.

“He’s a fucking liability,” Izzy said,

“Who is?” Ed asked, even though he already knew the answer,

“Frenchie. That was a straightforward raid, nobody should have got injured, nobody else would have got injured. We should get rid of him now, instead of wasting our supplied on him,”

“We’re not getting rid of him,” Ed said,

“You just want to keep him around because he reminds you of-”

With lightning speed he didn’t know he still had, Ed grabbed hold of Izzy’s throat and slammed him into the wall, “You do not want to finish that sentence,” Ed hissed,

“Yes, Boss,” Izzy croaked,

“He’s staying because we need the crew, because you haven’t recruited enough people. Frenchie will either get better or get killed, either way, problem solved.” Ed released Izzy and he crumpled to the floor wheezing,

“Yes, Captain,” Izzy said.

Ed glared at him then turned and stalked out of the room.

Ed was sat on the dock at the pirate academy. It was still dark, but it couldn’t be long until sunrise. The water was cold, but Ed still had his feet dangling in it. Ed looked down into the water, wondering if he could see any fish but the water was too murky.

There came the sound of a twig snapping from behind him and Ed spun around to see Stede emerging from the woods. Ed beamed at the sight of him and quickly got to his feet.

“Stede!” He cried, “I was starting to worry you weren’t going to show,”

“Never,” Stede smiled, “I just got held up.”

Stede gathered Ed up in his arms and suddenly Ed felt warm and safe. There was nowhere else in the world he’d rather be.

“You still want to run away to China with me?” Ed asked,

“I’d go anywhere with you, just so long as it is with you.”

Ed could feel himself melting under Stede’s romantic words, to the point where he was sure that Stede’s arms were the only thing keeping him upright. “I’d go anywhere with you too,” Ed whispered. Ed’s eyes flicked down to Stede’s lips, and he could feel Stede’s eyes doing the same thing,

“Stede?”

“May I kiss you?”

Ed looked back up to meet Stede’s eyes, “Please.”

Stede’s lips met Ed’s for just a split second before they were gone.

Ed opened his eyes to find himself curled up in the bathtub. Ed let out a sigh and pulled his knees up to his chest. He should be getting used to these dreams by now, but he fell for it every time and every time it left him feeling worse than the last one.

Just as he had done every evening for the past several weeks, Ed made his way from the captain’s cabin, towards the kitchen to collect a few bottles of alcohol for the night. It would be easier if Ed took a weeks’ worth in one go, but the last time he’d done that Izzy had confiscated it.

As Ed made his way across the deck, he spied Jim, Frenchie, Fang and Ivan sitting around a barrel sharing a bottle of some unknown alcohol.

“He’s going to get us killed,” Jim snapped.

Ed ducked behind the mast, so he was out of sight.

“He’s always been…reckless, but there was always a plan behind it, this is just insanity,” Fang said,

“Actual insanity,” Ivan agreed, “Not just normal levels of Blackbeard insanity.”

Jim picked up the bottle and took a swig, “So why are we still here?” they asked,

“Where else would we go?” Fang asked, “We’re all that’s left,”

“Yeah, besides, this place is home,” Frenchie said,

“No, it’s not!” Jim cried, “It was home! It’s not anymore,”

“But this is Stede’s ship,” Frenchie said,

“Was,” Jim replied, “This was Stede’s ship. Just like this was home. It’s just some psychopath’s ship now,”

“I’d never been on a ship that felt like home before,” Fang said,

“Me neither,” Ivan said, “Even on well-run ships, there was always a sense that it would be every man for himself if something happened,”

“I liked that about this ship,” Fang said, “It always felt like everyone cared,”

“I miss that,” Jim said sadly,

“Me too,” the other three agreed.

Frenchie poured our four glasses and passed them out, “To the Revenge,” Frenchie said,

“To Captain Bonnet,” Fang added.

The four of them clinked their glasses and downed their drink.

Ed wrapped his arms around his middle and hugged himself, tears prickling in his eyes. Clearly, Fang and Ivan didn’t remember standing there, demanding that Ed kill the guy they were just toasting. Clearly, they didn’t remember backing Izzy up when he was telling Ed Stede was making him soft and enough was enough. That had been enough, had it?

Ed swiped the back of his hand across his eyes and hardened his expression before stepping out from behind the mast.

Frenchie spotted Ed first. He nudged Jim and nodded at Ed, causing Ivan and Fang to look over their shoulder at him too.

“Sorry Captain,” Ivan stuttered, “We were just-”

“Don’t you have some work to be doing?” Ed snapped.

Jim raised their chin, “No,” They said, “We’ve finished our jobs for the day.”

Ed looked dramatically around at the deck, “Really? Because this deck is filthy.”

Frenchie frowned at the deck, “It is?”

It really wasn’t but Ed glared at Frenchie anyway, “Are you questioning your captain?”

Frenchie’s eyes widened in fear, “No sir.”

Ed smiled, “Good. Now get to work.”

The four of them all jumped to their feet and set about gathering what the needed to scrub the deck.

Ed picked up the bottle the crew had been drinking from and downed the remainder of the liquid. He turned around and continued on his journey to the kitchen. He could feel the others glare at him as he left. He knew they hated him. He could see it in their eyes, behind the fear. He didn’t care though, he understood. He hated him too.

Ed raised a bottle of rum to his lips. He’d lost count of how many bottles he’d gone through a long time ago, he just knew he’d woken up that morning and started drinking. He also wasn’t sure how long ago that was. Really, he was too drunk to care, just as he was too drunk to count the number of empty bottles on the floor around him.

“What a disgusting mess,” came a very familiar voice, cutting through Ed’s drunken haze. Ed’s head snapped over to look at the entrance to the cabin and there, leaning against the door frame, was Stede Bonnet, with his perfect blonde curls and bright blue suit.

“Stede?” Ed whispered.

Stede didn’t reply, he just pursed his lips and stepped into the room. He walked over to the empty shelves and ran his finger along them. “Then again, you are matching the state of the rest of the room.”

Ed looked down at his bottle then back up at Stede again. He’d never gotten drunk enough to hallucinate before; he’d always passed out first. “Am I asleep?” Ed asked.

Stede turned to looked at Ed with derision, “I should hope not. It would be very sad if this was your dream and you’ve put us in a trashed version of my cabin. If you were asleep, you could have picked literally anywhere.” Stede turned away from Ed and walked over to the desk.

Ed put his bottle down and pinched his arm, hard enough to hurt. Not dreaming then. Ed put his hands on the floor and slowly pushed himself up to stand on shaky legs. “Are you real?” he asked,

“Who’s to say what’s real,” Stede said, “Did you have to get rid of everything? There were some good pieces of furniture in here before. They still had lots of use in them before you got hold of them.”

Ed just stood and stared at Stede as he walked around the cabin, commenting on every little thing Ed had gotten rid of. Ed himself was rooted to the spot. He daren’t move just in case it made Stede vanish. In case he was wrong, and this really was just a dream.

“Edward!”

Ed and Stede’s heads both snapped to the doorway to see Izzy standing there.

Ed glanced between the two men, but Izzy didn’t seem to notice Stede.

“We need to make land to pick up some more supplies,” Izzy took Ed’s silence as permission to enter the room; he strode past Stede and came to a stop in front of Ed.

“Ugh, is he ever happy?” Stede said, frowning in disgust at Izzy, “You could be running the most efficient ship on the seven seas, and he would still find something to complain about.”

Ed looked between Stede and Izzy again, but Izzy gave no indication that he’d even heard Stede. Right. So Stede was a hallucination then.

“Edward!” Izzy snapped again, dragging Ed’s focus back to him, “Are you even listening to me?”

“Yep,” Ed’s eyes flicked back over to Stede, “Definitely listening, need more stuff.”

“How does he have the time to be such a constant pain and to keep his hair like that?” Stede said, not caring at all about the conversation Izzy was trying to hold.

Izzy followed Ed’s gaze to the spot where Stede was standing just behind him, “What are you looking at?” Izzy snapped, “Something more interesting going on?”

“His hair doesn’t even look that good, it would look so much better if he used less product. Let it flow a bit more freely. Spend less time on it.”

“No.”

Izzy narrowed his eyes, “Okay,” he said somewhat nervously, “You need to keep focused on the ship. Don’t want you getting all distracted again,”

“And that outfit! Could he be less original? He’s clearly just coping your whole image.”

Ed narrowed his eyes at Izzy, “Distracted?” He said lowly. He’d been going for dangerous, but he missed the mark. Honestly, he was impressed he could follow Izzy at all given the constant stream coming from Stede.

Thankfully, Izzy seemed to notice the dangerous road he was walking, “I just meant you’ve already got enough on your mind,”

“I bet there’s never anything on his mind,” Stede said, “I bet his brain just goes eat, sleep, be a pain in the ass,”

“There’s a port just two days sail from here,” Izzy continued,

“Actually, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him eat.”

Ed’s eyes kept flicking between Stede and Izzy as the two of them kept talking. It was getting increasingly difficult to listen to either of them. He didn’t realise Izzy had asked him a question until he stopped talking, clearly waiting for an answer,

“Ermmm…”

Stede rolled his eyes, “You couldn’t pay attention long enough to listen to the question?”

Ed glanced at Stede, but he couldn’t hold his judgmental gaze for more than a second.

“That sounds fine, do that,”

“Aye Captain.”

Stede rolled his eyes, “Oh yes, do what Izzy says, he’ll have suggested something reasonable.”

“We also need to go over the chore rotor for the next few days,”

“Oh good,” Stede groaned, “Yet more things for you to not listen to.”

Ed slammed his hands over his ears, “Nope,” he snapped, “Not now. Fuck. Off.”

Izzy frowned at Ed, clearly startled by his outburst. Izzy turned to leave but Stede stayed put. Ed shook his head, if Stede wasn’t going to leave then he would. He pushed past Izzy and stormed towards the door, walking directly through Stede as he went. He marched out the room and into blissful silence.

Rope bit into Ed’s wrists. He was tied to the mast of an unfamiliar ship, but he wasn’t tied up in the traditional way, there were no ropes around his middle or his legs, just around his wrists, pulling him so his back was flush against the mast with his arms wrapped around it. The rope was tied tightly enough that he had no widdle room to escape and he was sure he’d have rope burns when he was freed.

Suddenly, there was the sound of a cannon firing and the ship rocked.

Ed smiled; he could feel in his gut that whoever was attacking the ship was here to rescue him.

There was a loud cry, and a swarm of men flooded the deck with their swords drawn. A fight broke out around Ed, but he barely paid it any mind because there, in the middle of the fight, was Stede, heroically battling his way through the enemy crew towards Ed.

“Ed!” He shouted, “I’m coming!”

Stede swung his sword at the nearest man, causing him to fall to the ground.

Stede beamed at Ed then sprinted around to the other side of the mast. He slipped his sword under the ropes around Ed’s wrists and sliced through them. He took hold of Ed’s, now free, hand and pulled Ed into his arms,

“I’ve got you,” Stede said gently.

Ed gazed into Stede’s eyes, “I’ve missed you,” he said.

Stede smiled again then leant forward and closed the gap between himself and Ed.

Ed closed his eyes but the moment he did, he felt Stede’s presence melt away.

Ed let out a sigh and opened his eyes to see that he was slumped in the crow’s nest. He wasn’t even surprised anymore. It seemed that every few days Stede would come back to him, only for Ed to wake up just as alone as he’d always been.

Ed swung his sword at a member of the crew of the ship they were attacking. He didn’t know the ships name. He didn’t care. It didn’t matter. It was a fight. A raid. The thing successful pirates did.

The man Ed was fighting swung fiercely at Ed, knocking his sword out of his hand. The man grinned menacingly, clearly thinking he’d beaten Ed. Ed scoffed at the man’s expression and pulled out his pistol. He levelled it at the man’s head and fired before the man could even react. The man fell to the ground, dead. Ed tucked his pistol back away and bent down to pick back up his sword. As he straightened back up, he saw Izzy staring at him, with his mouth hanging open.

Ed made his way over to Izzy, “Finish up here,” he ordered gruffly, finally snapped Izzy out of his shock,

“Yes, Boss,” Izzy replied.

Ed made his way off the ship and towards the captain’s cabin on the Revenge. He quickened his pace as soon as he was out of sight of Izzy. He was almost running by the time he reached the cabin. He darted inside and slammed the door behind him, before collapsing against it. He slid down the door as his legs gave out beneath him and he ended up in a heap on the floor. He held his hands out in front of him to see that he was shaking. Ed took a gasping breath, desperately trying to quell the raising panic within him.

“God, what type of pirate are you?”

Ed slowly turned his head to see Stede standing by the bed.

“I mean what sort of pirate can’t cope with killing someone.” Stede walked over so that he was standing directly in front of Ed,

“I am the Kraken,” Ed said,

“Oh, the Kraken!” Stede mocked, “The fictional creature you named a persona after, so you don’t have to face the fact you killed your dad. Did you have a breakdown after you did that too?”

“Fuck off,” Ed hissed,

“I don’t think you want that,” Stede tutted, “Then you’d be all alone, and you’re too pathetic and weak to actually want that. Just like you’re too pathetic and weak to do something every pirate does. How are you considered the greatest pirate of all time when you can’t even kill somebody without breaking down in tears?”

Ed swiped at his cheek. He wasn’t sure when he’d started crying.

“Do you think that’s why I left you? I realised that you were just pathetic little Ed, too weak to be the Blackbeard you promised me?”

Ed slammed his hands over his ears, “Shut up!” He shouted, “Fuck off and leave me alone!”

The room fell silent and after a beat Ed removed his hands. He looked around the room, but Stede wasn’t there. Ed was alone, just as Stede had said he would be.

Ed stood next to Izzy, looking into the hold. The walls were lined with crates of coins and jewels and more gold than the average pirate saw in a lifetime.

“It’s not enough!” Ed cried, slamming his hand against the wall.

Izzy turned to look at Ed in shock, “Not enough?”

“The room should be full; I shouldn’t be able to see the floor.”

Izzy turned back to the room, “We offloaded several crates last time we made land,” he explained, “And this is still more loot than we acquired in our entire first year.”

Ed glared at Izzy, “We’re ten times the pirates we were back then so we should have ten times the treasure. If Blackbeard can’t fill his hold, then how is he meant to keep his reputation as the best pirate?”

“We’ll find a ship to raid as soon as the crew is rested.”

Ed narrowed his eyes, since when did Izzy care about the crew? He certainly hadn’t when he’d marooned Stede’s crew for Ed.

“No, we’re going after the next ship we come across,” Ed ordered.

Izzy’s eyes snapped back to Ed, “The crew will be much more effective if you give them a few days rest.”

Ed scoffed, a few days rest? Why were the crew allowed a break when Ed himself wasn’t? “I am the captain, the crew will do what I say,”

“Yes Captain.”

Ed narrowed his eyes at Izzy. He glared at him for a second before turning on his heals and marching out on to the deck.

“Listen up!” Ed shouted. He didn’t bother to check that Izzy had followed him on deck, he knew he would have, “We’re halving rations until the hold is full again,” Ed shouted,

“What‽” Jim cried.

Ed levelled his best cold stare at Jim, “Got a problem?”

Jim gulped nervously, “No, Captain.”

Ed nodded, “Good. Now somebody go find us a ship to raid.” Ed turned on his heals and marched back to the captain’s cabin, not wanting to stay on deck and see the crews’ feelings towards him.

“You need to give the crew a break.”

Ed looked up from where he was slumped over a bottle of run at the desk in the captain’s cabin, to see Izzy standing in the doorway, “What did you just say?”

“You need to give the crew a break,” Izzy repeated.

Ed slowly got to his feet and made his way around to the front of the desk so that he was standing in front of Izzy, “Are you trying to tell me what to do?” Anyone other than Izzy would be quaking in their boots at the tone of Ed’s voice,

“The crew are exhausted and if you don’t give them a break and some proper food soon somebody is going to do something that gets them or somebody else killed.”

Ed drew his knife and closed the gap between himself and Izzy. He shoved Izzy against the wall and held the knife to his throat. For the first time Izzy looked nervous,

“Do you think you know better than me?” Ed hissed,

“No Captain,”

“And are you the captain of this ship?”

“No Captain.”

“Exactly. So, you will follow my orders, and you will not question them.”

Ed lowered the knife and took a step back, “Now go.”

Izzy high-tailed it out the room, a look in his eyes that Ed hadn’t seen in a long time.

“See, even Izzy doesn’t like you.”

Ed turned to see Stede sat in the chair Ed had vacated to threaten Izzy, with his legs up on the desk,

“And Izzy was the one person left. The one person who actually still liked Blackbeard, now what have you got?”

Ed marched back over to the desk and snatched up the bottle of rum he’d left there, doing his best to ignore Stede.

“Izzy doesn’t like you, I don’t like you, and you certainly don’t like you. Nobody likes you.”

Ed sat down on the floor with his back against the desk and raised the bottle to his lips. He intended to keep drinking until he could no longer see the Stede sat behind him.

Ed’s eyes fluttered open to see the sun streaming into the captain’s cabin. He let out a groan and stretched his arms above his head, hitting into the headboard of the bed he was lying on. He sat up causing the soft white blanket he’d been wrapped up in to pool around his waist.

“Good morning, Darling.”

Ed turned to see Stede walking into the cabin clutching a tray of scones.

“I’ve bought you breakfast in bed.” Stede came to sit down on the edge of the bed next to Ed.

Ed picked up a scone and took a large bite, sweet dough and fruit filled his mouth and he couldn’t help but hum in pleasure.

Stede reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind Ed’s ear, “You look so beautiful when you’ve just woken up,” he said.

Ed’s eyes swept over Stede’s tussled hair, he’d clearly just gotten out of bed and thrown on a robe before going to get Ed breakfast. “You don’t look bad yourself,” Ed replied with a grin.

Stede smiled bashfully and ran his hand through his hair in an effort to smooth it down, but he just succeeded in messing it up further, “Well it’s your fault my hair’s like that, if you’d managed to keep your hands to yourself last night…”

Ed smirked, “Oh, you know you’d have been disappointed if I’d done that,”

“No, I wouldn’t have,”

“Yes, you would!” Ed shook his head, “Why don’t I show you what me keeping my hands to myself is like?”

Stede raised an eyebrow at Ed, “You think you can go without touching me?”

Ed spread his arms in invitation, “Why don’t you find out?”

“What? Now?” Stede glanced down at the scones, “But what about breakfast?”

Ed smiled, picked up the tray and placed it on the floor next to the bed, “There,”

“That works.”

Stede launched himself at Ed, pushing him backwards onto the bed.

Ed let out a laugh as Stede pinned his wrists to the bed. Stede grinned down at Ed then surged forward and captured his lips in a deep kiss.

Ed’s eyes shot open, and he came face to face with the rails of the auxiliary wardrobe. He pushed himself up into a sitting position and looked around the room but there was no sign of Stede. He knew there wouldn’t be, instead Ed was left alone, like always, and this time slightly horny.

Izzy had warned him that it was a bad idea, that was navy vessel was too well equipped with too many men from them to beat, but Ed hadn’t cared. Attacking navy ships was something Blackbeard did so, Ed was going to do just that. As the raid started though, it became quickly apparent that Izzy was right. The navy were well trained and efficient, and while Ed’s crew were incredibly skilled, they were used to walking their raids, and now they were fighting for their life.

Ed swung his sword at a navy officer, but he was effectively blocked. Ed lunged at the man again. He was once again blocked, but this time the navy officer was left on the back foot, Ed swung again and at the same time kicked at the officer’s legs. The man tumbled to the ground and Ed lodged his sword into the man’s shoulder.

There came a pained cry from somewhere behind Ed that sounded like Jim, but Ed didn’t turn around. Instead, he drew his gun and levelled it at the navy officer in front of him.

“Please,” The man begged.

Ed stared at him blankly before firing. He turned on his heals glanced around at the rest of his crew. Jim was clutching their side, but they were still up and fighting. Nobody else looked injured beyond the odd scratch.

Ed launched himself at another navy officer. As their swords met, there came another scream from behind him,

“Ivan!” Fang cried.

Ed swung hard at the man he was fighting, sending him tumbling over the side of the ship. He turned around to see Ivan lying on the floor, a bullet hole in his chest. He was still breathing but Ed had seen enough bullet wounds to know that he wouldn’t be for long.

Izzy and Fang ran over to Ivan and started to lift him up, “We need to get him back to the Revenge,” Izzy said, and Fang nodded in agreement.

“Do not retreat,” Ed shouted.

Izzy and Fang froze and turned to look at him,

“We have not won so we are not leaving,” Ed hissed.

Fang looked down at Ivan, “But…”

Ed levelled his gun at Fang, “Are you disobeying a direct order?”

“No, Captain.”

Ed turned back to the fight, he didn’t need to watch to know Izzy and Fang were following his orders.

Ed took out another two navy soldiers before turning his attention on the ship’s captain.

“We surrender!” The captain shouted, raising his hands as Ed advanced on him, “Take what you want, the ship’s yours!”

There came the sound of swords clattering to the ground before Ed had even sheathed his.

The rest of Ed’s crew all ran over to where Ivan was slumped at the side of the ship. Fang gathered Ivan up in his arms, tears welling up in his eyes,

“Stay with us,” Fang said.

Ivan raised his hand up towards Fang before slumping back in his arms and taking his last breath.

Jim tugged at Fang’s arm, “Come on, let’s take him back to the Revenge, this ship with still be here.”

Fang and Frenchie lifted Ivan’s body and carried it over to the Revenge. They laid it down on the floor and the crew gathered around it.

“I’d like to say a few words,” Fang said.

Ed turned on his heals and hurried back to the captain’s cabin. Ed slammed the door closed and slid down it, landing on his knees on the floor. He couldn’t bear to listen to Fang’s eulogy. He’d known Ivan from nearly a decade and now he was just gone.

“It should have been you.”

Ed looked up to see Stede standing there looking down at him, “Do you think they’d be up there eulogising you like that if it was you who’d died?”

Ed just blinked at Stede, unanswering. He didn’t need to answer, they both knew what it would be.

“They’d be having a party,” Stede said.

Ed pushed himself to his feet and pushed past Stede, “Fuck off,” he said.

Stede let out a sharp laugh, “You know I’m right! Everyone would have preferred it if it had been you. If you’d died in Ivan’s place!”

Ed wrapped his arms around himself and tried to block Stede out, but he couldn’t bring himself to disagree.

“And one last thing, you need to give the crew a break.” Ed narrowed his eyes at Izzy. He hadn’t enjoyed his weekly meetings with his first mate in probably a decade but recently they’d become unbearable.

“So, you’ve said before,” Ed said, “Many times,”

“And I will keep saying it until you listen to me! Give them a break!”

“And why should I do that?” Ed asked as he picked up a knife and twirled it through his fingers.

“The crew will do much better work if you give them a few days off, let them let off some steam.”

Ed stabbed the knife into his desk, “Are you telling me I should be soft on them?” Ed asked, with a dangerous edge to his voice,

“No, it’s not soft to give your crew a day off,”

“Yes, it is,” Ed said. It was. It was something Stede would do, “You’re saying that the crew would work better if they were feeling happy.”

Izzy scoffed, “I’m not talking about feelings, I’m just saying that you should stop pushing them so hard or they’re going to crack.”

Ed got to his feet and made his way around the desk to stand in front of Izzy, “Are you trying to tell me that you know better than I do what’s best for my crew?” How dare Izzy lecture Ed on people cracking. Ed knew what it took for a person to crack, after all he was beyond cracked; he was broken.

“No, Captain,”

“Good. Wouldn’t want you forgetting who’s in charge around here.” Ed pointedly looked down at Izzy’s foot, “After all you know what happens to people who forget their place.” Izzy gulped and took a step back, with an unmistakable look of fear in his eyes.

Ed wasn’t sure he’d ever seen Izzy look properly scared of him. If he had, it hadn’t happened in twenty years.

A shot of anger flared through Ed. How dare Izzy be scared of him. This is what Izzy had asked for! Some twisted part of Izzy had loved the fact Ed had cut his toe off. Ed had seen it in his face. Maybe cutting another toe off would remind Izzy that this had been what he wanted. Maybe it would remind him what he had felt that night.

“Maybe you need a reminder,” Ed said, “Take your boot off. I’ll let you pick which one this time.”

Izzy’s eyes widened as Ed walked back over to his desk and plucked out the knife he’d left stuck there. He turned back around to see that Izzy hadn’t moved, “Now!” He shouted.

Izzy jumped then quickly set about pulling off his boot with shaking hands. Once Izzy had his boot off, Ed shoved him towards the desk then pushed him into the chair. He grabbed Izzy’s foot and held it down on the desktop, then swung at it with the knife, chopping a toe off in one quick movement. Izzy let out a cry but stoically remained still.

Ed stared menacingly at Izzy for a moment before marching over to the door. He threw it open and called out, “Fang! Clean up the mess in the captain’s quarters.” Then he marched out of the room without so much as a glance back at Izzy.

Ed was shaking as he pulled on the mannequin that opened the door to the auxiliary wardrobe. The moment the door was open, he flew inside and flung himself onto a pile of clothes at the far end of the room.

The only things of Stede’s Ed had left were the items that had been in the auxiliary wardrobe during the purge, as Ed had taken to calling it. Ed tried to avoid spending too much time in the auxiliary wardrobe, on the whole it just made him feel sad and reminded him of what he couldn’t have, but sometimes life was just too much and no matter how much it hurt, Ed just needed Stede. This was one of those days. So, Ed buried his face into one of Stede’s old shirts and tried his best not to cry.

“Of course you couldn’t stay away.”

Ed turned his head and looked over his shoulder to see Stede standing in the doorway.

“You could never stay away from this, you’re just too pathetic. Hung up on a guy who’s made it perfectly clear he doesn’t want you,”

“Go away,” Ed mumbled, burying his face back into Stede’s shirt.

“And I mean, why would I want you? You’re a fucked-up psychopath who makes a habit of cutting off his first mate’s toes.”

Ed slammed his hands over his ears.

“You’re cold and uncaring; all thing I’m not.”

“No, I’m not,” Ed whispered,

“No, of course not,” Stede jeered, “You tried being friendly and caring and look where that got you, alone on a beach, property of the British navy.” Stede stepped forward so that he was fully in the room, “I didn’t like that version of you either. That’s why I ran off when I did. I took one look at you, completely removed from Blackbeard, and fled as quickly as I could.”

Ed sat up and pulled the shirt he was clutching into his chest.

“Maybe it wasn’t that you weren’t Blackbeard anymore, that you weren’t the myth I adored. No, maybe it was the idea that you loved me, after all the last time you saw me, you confessed all your soft feelings and horrified me so much that I left. The idea that somebody like you could be in love with somebody like me? We’re not even close to being in the same league. What’s worse than that though, is the fact that you thought I might love you back. You really thought that you were worthy of somebody else’s love? You thought that somebody could love the big bad Blackbeard? The heartless scourer of the seven seas? You thought that somebody could love Edward Teach? The pathetic little boy who killed his father? You thought that somebody could love him? Could love you?” Stede snorted in derision, “Then you’re madder than everyone says you are.”

“FUCK OFF!” Ed shouted, he threw the shirt to the side and scrambled to his feet, “I know all of this already, you’re not telling me anything I don’t already know so why don’t you just fuck off and leave me alone‽”

Stede smiled mockingly, “I’m in your head,” he said, “I’m a figment of your imagination. You can make me disappear any time you want but you don’t.”

Ed pushed past Stede, back into the captain’s quarters. Stede didn’t follow him.

Ed was sat on a beach looking up at the sky. The sun was only just starting to set, but the moon was already out and high in the sky. The dusk air was cool, but it was still warm enough to sit there in just a shirt.

A pair of arms slipped around Ed’s waist. “Hey,” Somebody whispered in his ear.

Ed turned to see Stede sat behind him, “Hey,” Ed replied, with a soft smile. He scooted around so that was fully facing Stede.

Stede reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind Ed’s ear, “You look beautiful,” Stede said,

“Really?”

“Of course, you always look beautiful but with the light of the sunset you look positively angelic,”

“Angelic, you say?”

“Yeah, the sun is framing your head perfectly, it makes you look like you have a halo.”

Ed glanced up at Stede’s hair, golden as always, “You’re one to talk about having a halo,” he said.

Stede let out a laugh, before looking around Ed at the surrounding beach, “It really is lovely here,” he said, turning back to Ed, “A lovely setting for a lovely man.”

Ed smiled at Stede, “You know the one thing that would make it better?”

Stede returned Ed’s smile, “A kiss?”

Ed was about to agree when something stopped him. He looked around at the beach again with a frown on his face,

“Ed?” Stede asked, “Are you alright?”

“This isn’t real,” Ed said slowly, “This is all a dream,”

“What do you mean?”

“This is all in my head; I’m asleep right now.”

Stede frowned, “Does this mean you don’t want to kiss me?”

Ed’s eyes darted down to Stede’s lips, “No, I still want to kiss you,” he said.

Stede smiled again and leaned forward, ready to kiss Ed.

Ed could feel something pulling in the back of his mind, telling him that he shouldn’t kiss Stede but, as he glanced down at Stede’s lips, he couldn’t remember the reason why. The desired to kiss Stede was out waying the warning not to, and Ed leant forward, closing the gap between the two of them.

Ed slowly came back to consciousness. His head felt groggy, and his cheeks were damp, like he had been crying. He opened his eyes to see the auxiliary wardrobe staring back at him. He pushed himself out of the nest of Stede’s clothes he’d been curled up in. He stared down at the pile before making his way out of the wardrobe, but not without a backwards glance at Stede’s belongings.

Ed stormed out on to the deck and jumped onto a barrel in one swift movement. “Oi!” He shouted.

The entire crew turned to look at him.

“I have an announcement.”

Jim and Frenchie glanced at each other, but other than that nobody reacted, too worried about what Ed would do if they did.

“I have decided that we’re going after Ned Low’s record,” Ed said.

Izzy frowned, “The record for the most consecutive raids?” He asked,

“That’s the one.”

There were several nervous glances between the crew, but again none of them were brave enough to speak,

“This is Blackbeard’s crew, it should be easy for us,”

“It’s suicide,” a snooty voice said,

Ed glanced over to the source of the voice to see Stede standing there, leaning against the rails picking at his nails,

“But of course, you already know that,” Stede continued.

Ed shot a look at Stede, but he didn’t reply; being caught talking to thin air would make Ed look more insane than even he was willing to appear. Ed turned back to the crew, “Fang!” He shouted, “Go find us a ship to raid.” Ed jumped back down off the barrel and turned back towards the captain’s cabin.

“There are easier ways to kill yourself,” Stede said. Ed glanced over at Stede, “But you know that too. You’re just too much of a coward to do any of them.”

They had been going after Ned Lowe’s record for weeks now and the days after days of constant raids was taking its toll on the crew. Ed could see to toll it was taking on the crew. He could see the limp Fang was trying to hide. He could see the long, bloody cut on Izzy’s arm. He could see Archie sitting on a barrel while Jim knelt at her feet, wrapping her knee.

They were whispering to each other, about what Ed didn’t know, he wasn’t close enough to hear, but he could imagine. He could imagine the words of comfort Jim would be saying, something about how it would be okay, that they’d be okay, and they’d get through this. He didn’t know if Jim believed the words, they probably didn’t. Ed certainly didn’t. He didn’t think there was any getting through this. He knew there was no other side to this pit of darkness inside of him.

Ed looked back over at Jim and Archie. Jim took hold of Archie’s hand and squeezed it. Ed felt a twist of guilt in his stomach as he watched them. They only need to comfort each other because of Ed. They were only going through all of this because of Ed.

Ed pushed off the wall he was leaning against and turned away from Jim and Archie. He felt guilty for putting them through this, but he also knew he wasn’t going to stop. The darkness was going to consume him and everyone around him, and he was going to let it.

The first thing Ed noticed was that he felt pleasantly warm, the second was that he was lying on something incredibly soft. He opened his eyes to see that he was curled up in bed in the captain’s quarters. There was a lovely soft blanket wrapped around him, and the sun was streaming through the window, bathing him in a soft golden glow.

“Hey.”

Ed turned to see Stede walk into the room holding a tray of toast,

“Hey,” Ed replied, smiling brightly at Stede.

Stede placed the tray on the ground and sat down on the bed next to Ed. He reached out and gently ran his fingers through Ed’s hair.

“Did you sleep well?” He asked.

Ed hummed in affirmation, “Better now you’re here.”

Stede smiled at Ed then leaned forward to kiss him, however, Ed caught his shoulder and pushed him away.

Stede sat up and frowned, the hurt expression on his face was nearly enough to break Ed’s heart, “Ed?”

Ed shook his head, “No. I don’t want to wake up,”

“Darling, you’re not making any sense,” Stede said,

“If we kiss then I’ll wake up and you’ll be gone.”

Stede wrapped his arms around Ed,

“I don’t want to wake up,” Ed repeated, “I want to stay here with you.”

Stede gently pulled Ed over, so his head was leaning on Stede’s shoulder, “You can’t stay here,” he said softly, like Ed was a skittish animal, “You have to go back to the real world.”

Ed closed his eyes as he started to feel them prick with tears, “Why?” He whispered.

Stede smiled sadly, “Because that’s what living is.”

Tears started to spill out and roll down Ed’s cheeks, “I don’t know that I want to live,” he said in an impossibly quiet voice.

Stede reached up and started to stroke Ed’s hair. “The real me is out there in the real world,” Stede said after a while.

Ed sat up and turned to look at Stede, his face streaked with tears. “Where?” He said desperately, “You left, without a single word, if that’s not a hint that you want to be left alone, I don’t know what is,”

“You don’t know that’s what happened,” Stede said, “Anything could have happened,”

“So why did you leave?”

Stede just smiled at Ed, “I can’t answer that.”

“Because you don’t know,” Ed said, “Because I don’t know and you’re just in my head.”

Stede nodded,

“But you’re here,” Ed concluded, “And when I’m here I have you so why shouldn’t I stay here?”

“Because it doesn’t work like that,” Stede said sympathetically.

Ed flopped back down against Stede’s shoulder, “I know.”

Stede wrapped his arms back around Ed and pulled him into a hug.

Ed closed his eyes and basked in the feeling of having Stede wrapped around him for just a moment, before he sat back up and turned to Stede, “Say it,” he said, “Please.”

“I love you.”

Ed felt tears start to fill his eyes once more, but he didn’t let them fall. Instead, he lunged forward and pressed his lips against Stede’s.

The world faded away, leaving Ed alone in the captain’s cabin, slumped over his desk. He slowly pushed himself up and reached for a bottle of rum, anything to fill the empty hole inside of him.

Ed pulled his knife out of his belt and scratched another mark onto the wall in the captain’s cabin, where he’d tracking the number of consecutive raids they’d done.

“You’d think you’d be happy,” came Stede’s voice from somewhere behind him, “You’ve just beaten the record.”

Ed turned away from the wall and walked over towards the bed, where he sat down on the floor, leaning against it, ignoring Stede all the while.

“Unless, of course, that wasn’t what you were aiming for, and the record was just your way of trying to get yourself killed. Of course you would fail at getting killed. It’s not that hard, people do it all the time!”

Ed reached into his pocket and pulled out the wedding cake topper he’d taken from their last raid.

“Oh, of course you took that,” Stede spat, “You’re just pathetic. Still hopelessly pining after Stede Bonnet. I left you! I left you and you’re still sat here looking at a bride and groom, imagining that they’re you and me. Like I would ever marry you.”

Ed slipped the topper back into his jacket, still not looking at Stede. He got to his feet and walked over to the door. He paused just before walking out and glanced back over his shoulder to look at Stede, for the first time that evening. He opened his mouth, as if to say something but then he closed it again and shook his head. He sighed deeply then left the room.

Ed burst into the captain’s cabin, the door crashing against the wall as he entered. He fell to his knees and wrapped his arms around himself. He took a few gasping breaths, trying in vain to calm himself down before letting out a gut-wrenching sob. Tears filled Ed’s eyes and once they started falling, they wouldn’t stop.

Izzy was dead.

Izzy was dead and Ed had killed him.

“And there we have the big bad Kraken.”

Ed glanced up to see Stede staring down his nose at him, “Go away,” Ed said weakly,

“You just killed the one person who’s ever cared about you. He had your back when nobody else did and you repaid that by killing him.”

Ed shook his head and slammed his hands over his ears.

“He was right as well. Your feelings for me have destroyed everything. Even Izzy saw it and you killed him for it.”

Ed fell forward so that his head was resting against the floor.

“You’re just a pathetic mess who can’t cope with what he’s done with he’s life, because he’s ruined it,”

“SHUT UP!” Ed screamed, “Just shut up!” Ed let out another little sob, “Shut up.” To Ed’s surprise the room fell quiet. There was no sound of Stede, just the sound of Ed’s ragged breathing.

Ed rolled over so he was lying on his side and pulled his knees up to his chest. Slowly, his breathing evened out, the tears stopped falling and Ed fell into a deep dreamless sleep.

Ed was standing in the centre of the deck of the Revenge. He glanced around but there was nobody else in sight. He smiled slightly to himself. He was asleep. He had to be, the Revenge hadn’t been this calm since he took over as Captain. And if he was asleep that could only mean once thing, that he was about to see Stede, the version he liked.

Somebody coughed behind Ed, “I was wondering when you’d show up.”

Ed frowned, that wasn’t Stede’s voice. He slowly turned around to see Izzy standing there.

“Why are you here?” Ed asked,

“Why do you think?”

Ed shrugged, “Guilt?”

Izzy let out a mirthless smirk, “I’m here to put you down, Edward, like the rabid dog you are.”

Ed nodded slightly, a sense of almost relief settled over him.

Izzy raised his eyebrow, “You’re not going to argue?”

“No.”

Izzy nodded and pulled his gun out of his holster. He raised his gun to aim at Ed then frowned, “Turn around,” He said,

“Why?”

“I can’t do it with those big sad eyes looking at me.”

Ed nodded and dutifully obeyed, turning his back to Izzy. After a second, he heard Izzy cock the gun, then there was a loud bang and everything went black.

Ed opened his eyes to find himself slumped behind a barrel on the deck of the Revenge. He pushed himself up into a sitting position and rubbed his eyes. He heard a creaking sound that could only be somebody walking across the deck. He frowned slightly, it sounded like Frenchie. Ed peered around the barrel to see Frenchie nervously making his way across the deck. He kept looking back over his shoulder, as if to check he wasn’t being followed. Ed smiled to himself and ducked back down behind the barrel. For the first time in a long time he felt sharp. He had an idea, and he planned to execute it.

Ed was stood at the railing of the Revenge looking out over the sea. The sun was just starting to rise, and the light was catching on the water in such a way that the surface seemed to sparkle.

“Another sunrise, another day you’re not dead,” Came Stede’s voice from next to him. Ed didn’t pay him any attention; he just kept gazing out at the sea. “Oh, I see, you’re suddenly too good for me, are you?” Stede grumbled, “These are your thoughts you know, you can’t just ignore them,”

“I’m not ignoring you,” Ed said, “I’ve just…Accepted what you’re saying,”

“Oh?”

Ed tapped the railings a few times, “There’s a storm coming,” he said.

Stede frowned, “So?”

Ed turned and smiled at Stede. He looked almost peaceful for the first time since his return to the Revenge, “So, I’m going to sail directly into it.”