Chapter Text
Edward was in the crow's nest enjoying the quiet after the storm when he heard a scuffle at the deck.
It was probably Stede, waking up from his nap after they had secured the deck, looking for him. The man was an enthusiastic learner, but the first time fighting both the sea and the sky could take a toll on any man, and he had fallen deep asleep after everything calmed down.
Ed smirked to himself when he heard someone climbing the rigging. He shifted a bit, fixing his pose just so he was facing the entry of the crow's nest, so he could greet Stede when his head popped in.
He took his gun out when he saw it wasn't Stede. His hand trembled a bit when he saw who it was.
It was- himself.
He blinked, and his copy did so too. His other - younger, so much younger - self was at disadvantage, but at the challenge of the weapon, he saw a spark in his eyes that he recognized all too well.
"Who the fuck are you?" He asked.
"I'm Blackbeard," the copy replied, licking his lips. As if he wasn't used to the name at all. As if it was new. The beard clearly was still short and thin. "Who the fuck are you?"
"I'm Blackbeard," he said despite himself, possessive of the name he resented.
"Ed-" he heard another voice, quieter. Was that- no, it couldn't be.
"I've got it," his copy replied, completely certain of it.
It made him laugh. The boy - because that's what he was, probably close to twenty, if he was already going by Blackbeard, but still young as fuck - had a gun pointed at his face but thought he had it handled.
"Ed-" the other voice sounded more urgent, but the copy just shushed him, without taking his eyes off Edward.
"Care to put that away? We both know I don't die this young."
Edward moved his finger to the trigger out of spite, wanted to shoot the little fucker just to prove him wrong. But what would happen? Would he himself die? Would he just disappear?
It was something he had wanted. Wished for, even, a few weeks ago, before Stede had come back. But now?
Now he wouldn't risk it.
He put the gun away, and he caught the subtle drop of the copy's shoulder in relief. He wasn't good at masking his emotions.
Edward knew he would learn, with time, but that it would always be such a fucking struggle.
The copy climbed up to the crow's nest, and even though Edward knew what was coming, seeing the person that followed took the air out of his lungs.
Brown hair slicked back, fresh x on his cheek. No wrinkles set yet, but his frown was already there.
Izzy climbed onto the crow's nest and immediately moved close to the younger Edward.
The duo stared at Ed, silent, like two feral cats who would tear him apart if he dared to move, ready to defend each other no matter what the cost. Edward stared at them and wondered if he had finally completely lost his mind, or died and gone to hell, or if this was the sick sort of joke God thought would be funny.
No one was willing to break the silence until he and the copy were, at the same time.
"What are-" They both started, before stopping. Edward frowned, narrowing his eyes, and so did the copy.
Izzy - not his Izzy, who was asleep in his cabin - but the copy's, kept looking from one to the other, as if he, too, thought he was going insane.
"Where are we?" He asked after it seemed neither of the Blackbeards were willing to
give an inch.
"Iz!" The copy complained.
"We're clearly lost, Ed," Izzy said, his voice low, but the space between them too small for Edward not to hear.
It was weird to see Izzy talking to him - a version of him, at least - like that. He wasn't deferential. The two of them were on equal ground. Two deckhands, maybe? Before the mutiny, then.
"He doesn't need to know that!" The copy said, exasperated, and Izzy rolled his eyes, but it was different from how his Izzy rolled his eyes.
It was- endeared. Not really annoyed.
"Why do you even trust him?" the copy asked, his voice a whisper now, a little pout on his lips.
"He's you." Izzy said, as if not trusting Edward was not part of his vocabulary. Back then, it hadn't been.
"Exactly what I mean!"
Edward interrupted them, clearing his throat. His skin was crawling, and he couldn't tell why.
"This is my ship."
Both boys smiled then, surprise and excitement crinkling in their eyes. Definitely before the mutiny.
"You're the captain," Izzy said.
The copy looked so- happy. As if it was all he ever wanted. It had been, of course. But that had been- too long ago.
"Well- co-captain."
"What the fuck that supposed to mean?"
"It means we got a ship, Iz. The two of us!" The copy said, the smile on his face so bright that Edward felt like disappearing maybe wouldn't be so bad.
He looked away from the two of them, could barely handle it anymore. His young self and Izzy, their- whatever they had, was too bright, too much for him to experience.
"I wouldn't-" Izzy started, and then looked at Edward. "I'm not the co-captain."
The copy's expression fell, his smile taking its time to melt off his face. He looked at Edward as if he had committed a crime. Edward really didn't appreciate it.
"His name is Stede," Edward said, playing with a bit of stray fabric on his pants.
He heard a short, exasperated huff from the copy, but he interrupted him before he could ask more.
He didn't think he could explain Stede Bonnet to his younger self right now. Maybe ever.
"How the fuck did you get here?"
The copy and Izzy looked at each other, as if weighing their options. By the shift of their eyebrows, Edward knew they were communicating without any words, in a secret language he had long forgotten.
When had he forgotten? When had he stopped looking at Izzy to assess a threat, to decide their next step?
No. No use dwelling on that. Not now. He schooled his own face into a semblance of calm. As if meeting his younger self was something he did every day.
"Hey, mate, I asked you a question," he pushed.
"We don't fucking know, alright?" The copy replied, his tone short, his eyes flickering to Edward and then to the floor. Edward saw his eyes wide, his lips pressed together.
When the copy looked at him again, he had gotten his expression back under control, but as any good liar, Edward knew his own tells.
"You're lying through your teeth. You did something."
"I didn't do shit-" the copy started, angry, ready to jump at him, and Edward was already reaching for his gun as well, but Izzy stopped them both with just two words.
"Tell him.”
His younger self looked at his Izzy, his eyebrows furrowed. Izzy shifted his head, goading him on. And the copy… seemed to give in. Edward could barely remember the last time he had given in to anything, much less anything Izzy was asking him.
When he looked back at Edward, he tossed his head a bit, shaking his hair from his eyes. He was all posturing, his back straight, shoulders back. Trying to look brave. Like he knew what he was doing.
Edward wondered if he looked like that, too. If anyone could tell.
The copy probably could.
“We made a deal with a sea witch,” he said, with his no-nonsense voice on.
Edward barked out a humorless laugh.
“You think I’m daft?”
“What does it even matter? We're here, aren't we?” The copy snapped back, not cowering at his bite. Edward arched one eyebrow at him.
They stared at each other, simmering, both of them waiting for the other to give an opening of some sort. But Blackbeard didn’t get made by showing his cards, and it was clear that the copy, as young as he was, had already learned that well enough.
Edward gave up and moved his gaze to Izzy. It really was something if Izzy fucking Hands was the better conversationalist.
Thinking of Izzy as a boy made his head hurt - he was used to being the younger one in this dynamic, but this Izzy- he couldn’t be older than 25. He looked at him with guarded eyes, but behind it, Edward could see that spark of adoration that seemed to have dulled so much in his Izzy.
He knew it would probably be gone in this Izzy soon - when he realized what a shell of a man Edward had become.
“How did you get here, Iz?”
He saw the way the copy reacted to the nickname. How he shifted on his feet, how his entire face contorted in anger. Izzy noticed too - and had his hand over the young Edward’s shoulder in an instant. They exchanged another look, that showed just how much of a unit they were, how much they shared.
Let me handle this.
I can handle it.
I know, but let me.
“We… made some stupid choices. That’s all we can tell you,” Izzy murmured. He raised his eyes at Edward, almost- demure. Edward was not proud of how that made him feel.
He was about to ask for more information - knew that if he pushed, he would be able to get something more out of them. Or he would get stabbed. But it wouldn’t be the first time he tried to stab himself, so he figured it was worth a shot.
But the Revenge was waking up, the sun rising on the horizon. Edward almost thought - hoped? - that the two boys would disappear when the light hit them, like trolls turning to stone in one of Stede’s books, but all it did was show him their determined expressions more clearly.
“Ed? Are you up there, Ed?” Stede called from the deck, and he didn’t have to look to know the man had his hands cupped around his mouth. “Roach is making that chai I told you about!”
“That your co-captain?” The copy asked, sharp and vicious.
“Ed, for fuck’s sake-“ Izzy chastened him, and then looked over at the older man. “Captain. Sir- we need a place to stay. Until we… Until we figure things out.”
“You never call me sir,” the copy mumbled, clearly bothered by it, looking at Edward with murder on his eyes, as if Izzy was a toy he was not willing to share.
Ed couldn’t say he didn’t know the feeling.
“Ed, please, shut the fuck up.”
“Man, I told you to call me Blackbeard in front of other people!”
“It’s you, Ed, not other people!”
“He’s not me.”
On that, he and the copy could agree. That Edward - so witty, and fast and alive - was not him.
But it wasn’t like he could let an younger copy of him and Izzy Hands out in the world, not when the English, the Spanish and whoever the fuck else would kill and die for a chance of putting a sword through his gut before he brought all the trouble he could to the world.
This is why he told them they could stay. It was the only reason.
He sighed and passed a hand on his face. Suddenly, he felt very old.
“Just stay here while I talk to Stede.”