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Bullets whizz by and screams rip through the air. Stede hunches in on himself next to Izzy as they cower behind what’s left of the cabin’s wall. These battles are getting scarier, and even though Stede has learned a lot more about fighting, he keeps finding himself wondering if he and the crew are all going to make it out of this in one piece. Izzy nearly didn’t make it out of the last one, and he had to leave a piece of himself behind to survive.
The man in question is leaning on his natural leg to peek around the corner and take stock of the British soldiers who are bearing down on them.
“Bonnet, c’mere,” he hisses, still keeping watch while he crooks a finger at Stede. Stede creeps down the wall towards the other pirate. His height allows him to crane his neck over the shorter man and he leans forward, thinking that Izzy will point out some clever exit route. Or perhaps he’s thought of a distraction, some fuckery that will save them all.
Izzy grabs his cravat and yanks him down. Stede’s lips land on his and the blonde barely remembers not to yelp in shock.
He pulls away when Izzy lets him go, and finds the other man’s eyes shining in the dim light. Izzy blinks rapidly, and the dots of moisture collecting in his crow’s feet dissipate.
“Give that to Ed,” Izzy’s whisper is rough, and before Stede can fully process what he’s said, he’s stepping out from their cover with his hands in the air.
“Don’t shoot!” he rasps at the British soldiers, “Blackbeard is giving himself up! You’ve got me- but let the crew go.”
There’s a flurry of activity around him, but Stede stands there staring as the smaller, black-clad man is surrounded by soldiers. Stede’s heard tales of sharks and their feeding frenzies. He thinks they must look something like this. Izzy’s eyes lock with his over the cacophony of men grabbing at his weapons, and the older man mouths an order at him, somewhere between angry and frantic: “ Go. ”
Someone must grab Stede’s wrist and lead him away. It seems like he blinks, and suddenly he’s in the dinghies alongside his crew, rowing for their lives.
“You don’t know the first thing about piracy,” Izzy scoffs at the no-nosed idiot who smirks at him across the table, “It’s not about glory. It’s about belonging to something.”
He’s talking tough, but he knows there’s no hope of escape, with his one leg chained under the table and the other smashed and floating in the waves.
He hopes Bonnet got to Edward. He hopes they’re happy now, and safe. He’s always counted himself among the lucky, just for being about to spend the years he’s had with Edward. Being a part of that man’s life is worth whatever torment these bootlickers are about to inflict on him.
They came back for him.
Izzy’s furious. Or at least he tries to be, though he’s bleeding too badly, too malnourished and dehydrated to make much sense. Still, he glares at Bonnet when he’s carried out of the wreckage of the British ship. Stede only smirks.
“Nice to see you too, Iggy.”
And it doesn’t really seem worth it to continue the argument once he’s recovered enough for Edward to fuck him into the mattress. They’re both too busy crying one another’s names to quarrel, anyhow.
He does ask Stede about it eventually though, on a quiet morning as they watch the sunrise. They’re both wrapped in the captain’s ostentatious silk robes, sipping tea and coffee respectively. It's a beautiful day, and it might be the way he’s still loose and dreamy after their morning sex, but he realizes he’s grateful that he’s still alive to see it.
“Why did you come back?” Izzy murmurs, “You were almost rid of me. Could have gone to China with your new boyfriend and never looked back.”
Stede knocks his hip against Izzy’s- and Izzy spares a fleeting thought to appreciate how well Pete’s carved his new leg, that he can absorb the playful bump.
“I’d only run away with the whole crew. And you’re crew, Izzy.”
Izzy hums in place of formulating a response. A few silent minutes pass, and he can tell the blonde is working himself up to something.
“As a matter of fact,” Stede finally continues, “I’d say you’re more than crew to me, Izzy. You’re family.”
Izzy’s sharp intake of breath says more than his words ever could, and when Stede looks over he sees a flush on the pirate’s face that’s not just the red lighting of the rising sun.
“I was mulling over an idea with Ed a few days ago…” Stede continues, “If it’s alright, I’d like to buy you a ring. A second one.”
Izzy’s fingers fly to the first, knotted at his neck.
“S’pose that’d be alright.”
“Really?! You’d like that?” Stede’s face lights up and he crowds closer towards Izzy, kissing him thoroughly.
Edward joins them a few minutes later and together they watch the light spill out, onto their new day and the rest of their lives together.