Chapter Text
There is a gun in Stede’s face, a crack as it goes off, and then the body of Chauncey Badminton lies at Stede’s feet and two paths wind out before him. One leads back to Mary, to his children, his house, and the stifling life he left behind. One leads to Ed, to the sea and shaky promises and a future full of possibilities. The mistakes he’s made and the mistakes he’ll make. Panic and guilt and a whole storm of emotions sit in his chest and claw at his ribcage, but there’s a quiet blanketing his thoughts, something like dissociation, something like shock. He doesn’t make any kind of conscious decision, but he thinks about ruin and beautiful things and his hands shake and his feet move and he takes the path that goes back.
There is good from it; a reconciliation with Mary, understanding at last, a rapport with Doug and the rift with his children mending. Stede knows who he is now, knows what love is, can finally put a name to his feelings and find his bearings in that kind of foundation. He throws himself back out at the sea, determined to forge a better path.
But there is a crew marooned, three of them stolen, and a trail of books and fabrics and fine things floating in the water. There is a desperate pursuit, Blackbeard’s wrath cutting a dark trail they follow. There is still the Navy – furious at having Blackbeard slip through their grasp – and there’s a Navy ship and Ed is tearing through officers and Stede is cutting his way towards him and there’s angershockhurt when their eyes meet across the deck. But Stede can work with this, because he’s angry as well and they can talk this through or draw their swords or kiss in front of both their crews, it doesn’t matter to Stede, because he’s been running after Ed for weeks and he finally knows what he wants and by god, he’s going to fight for it.
And then there’s a ringing in his ears. And then he’s on the ground and staring at the sky, obscured by torn sails and smoke. The world around him goes muffled and then all at once, it rushes back in, all fire and yelling and a sudden terrible pain in his chest.
Oh. He’s been shot.
Voices clamor around and above him, and Stede simply lies there, trying to breathe. Just as his vision starts to blur around the edges, there’s a familiar face hovering over him. Ed is just as beautiful as he remembers, beard or no beard, though his eyes and chin are streaked with black kohl and sweat and, Stede notices absently, now tears. He feels his mind drift, flitting somewhere between ‘you’re a lunatic and I like it’ and ‘what makes Ed happy is you’, before he curls around ‘never left’ and feels like he could fall asleep right there.
“Stede! Stede, what the fuck man, stay awake!”
Right, right, he shouldn’t be sleeping right now.
Stede forces his eyes back open (when had they shut?) and stares blearily up at Ed. There’s a million things he wants to say, but his energy is waning, the adrenaline high of battle spilling out with the blood from his wound, so he settles on the simplest one.
“Sorry I’m late.”
Ed’s face does something complicated, terrified and heartbroken, and Stede wishes he had the strength to reassure him, but his limbs are like lead and it feels like the sea is rising up to meet him, and he can’t help but sink down. He thinks Ed might be saying something, but everything starts to fade. He wants to hang on, he wants to let go, he wants Ed.
Stede closes his eyes and the world tilts beneath him. He opens his eyes, disoriented, and blinks. He stares.
There is a gun in Stede’s face, a crack as it goes off, and then the body of Chauncey Badminton lies at Stede’s feet. He takes a moment to process what he’s seeing and promptly screams.