Chapter Text
Edward Teach, once the dread pirate captain, Blackbeard, started fidgeting on the end of the pier. Stede wasn’t there yet. Had things gone wrong? Had Stede changed his mind?
No. He wouldn’t do that to him, would he? Not after Ed told him that Stede made him happy; that those last few weeks were the happiest Ed had ever been. Would he?
There was a chance that things could still go right with the plan, right? Perhaps the guard he bribed had trouble getting to Stede. Perhaps he had been called away, and Stede was still asleep. But Stede could still get here, right? He would get here. He wouldn’t leave Ed waiting forever on this pier.
Ed was about to get up and pace again. Dawn would be here soon. But Stede could still show up. He hadn’t abandoned him, in spite of the worry in his face when Ed had kissed him. Ed hadn’t missed that worry. But he hoped that Stede meant it when he said that Ed made him happy too. He wouldn’t lie about that, would he?
Trees rustled behind him. Edward leapt to his feet, realizing that footsteps accompanied that rustling. He stood in a defensive crouch, ready for action, whether it meant fighting for his life, running away, or even yelling at Stede, for making him wait so long. But it wasn’t Stede.
The bald admiral with the birthmark on his head led a group of soldiers to his location.
“There he is!” he screeched.
Jesus Christ, is the man’s only two settings whispering or screeching? Ed thought with a wince. Ed couldn’t remember the man’s name. Hadn’t cared to remember it. He had been so anxious at the time to save Stede from his own folly. But he thought that the man believed that Stede had somehow killed his brother? He wasn’t sure, though. He hadn’t cared enough about the circumstances to remember. All he had cared about was that Stede Bonnet was almost executed by firing squad. He remembered the desperation to stop it. With the view in front of him, that desperation returned. The way that the admiral was leaning at every step told Ed that the man was drunk off of his ass. Somehow, though, he had managed to rouse other soldiers to find Ed.
“I knew it! I knew you were trying to escape!” the admiral shouted. “You are the world’s greatest pirate, after all!” He crowed. Ed rolled his eyes. This man was utterly ridiculous, and the worst version of a British soldier he had ever met, and most of them were complete and utter twats.
“We’ll still have to take you back, of course,” the admiral continued. “But I have good news for you. I have ended Stede Bonnet’s reign of terror tonight!”
“What do you mean?” Ed said, going very, very still. That man better not mean what Ed thought he meant by those words, or he would be meeting Blackbeard…or even worse, the Kraken.
“I took God’s perfect little rich boy, Stede Bonnet, by gunpoint into the woods, and I shot him!” the admiral bragged.
Edward Teach hadn’t been sure his heart or soul still existed in his body. But in that moment, he knew that they had still been around, because he felt them freeze in his body. He felt his heart cleave in two at the thought of Stede’s death. And this asshole was bragging about it like the he hadn’t stolen the fucking light out of Edward Teach’s godforsaken life. If Ed had been armed in that moment, he would have killed him. He wanted to tear the man apart with his bare hands.
“You killed Stede Bonnet,” he said flatly.
“I did! I am the hero who killed Stede Bonnet,” the admiral said. “And the man who will be taking Blackbeard back in to fight for the king.” He turned to look at the rest of the soldiers. “Arrest him.”
Ed really wanted to show this small man the true darkness in Blackbeard’s soul, but there were more soldiers than he could take on by himself. His survival instincts temporarily overtook the heartbreak in his chest. He threw himself into his dinghy, and rowed like there was no tomorrow. Gunshots erupted around him, but none managed to hit him, as per usual with the British twats. Sometimes he wondered how they had managed to take over as much as they had.
As he rowed away, pushing his arm strength as much as it would go, his eyes darkened with hatred. He vowed revenge on this admiral. He would tear him apart with his bare hands the next time he saw him. He refused to let himself dwell on the heartbreak of Stede, not until he reached the safety of the Revenge, and Stede’s crew.