#tw: sword fight | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

sortofanobsession · 1 year ago

Text

Death is in the Details - Our Flag Means Death (Post Season 1 fic) Part 6 Complete

Summary: Blackbeard succeeds in hunting down the Gentleman Pirate. Izzy Hands loses his temper. Blackbeard finally gets the answers he didn't think he would ever get.

Final Chapter.

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5 (Ao3)

Author’s Note: Thanks again for sticking around and reading. I know Izzy will probably have a big role in the show still, but I just had to do it. I never really give up on a fic. I just get distracted (sometimes for a very long time). New season is soon, maybe I'll get some inspiration. Or let me know what you want to see.

wordcount: 3k+

Warnings: Violence, anger, betrayal, sword fighting, stabbing, blood, death (the typical pirate stuff), doubt, guilt, pain

Blackbeard storms into the deck of the ship Stede and his crew commandeered. He remains stoic as he passes a few members of the crew he had basically sentenced to death for no other reason than Ed was heartbroken, and it made his heart hurt to see so many people that were so inextricably linked to Stede Bonnet. But no matter how much he had tried to prepare himself to see the Gentleman Pirate, it did little to prepare him for actually seeing him. He stopped in his tracks as Stede came up from below deck. And it was like his chest was too small and his insides too big. His chest hurt in a way he had only felt a few times. And almost always having to do with Stede fucking Bonnet. The last time had been when he was directed to the grave he was told bared Stede's name. It had overwhelmed him then. He could still vividly remember it. The groundskeeper had also pointed out the Badminton brothers' comically large monument of a headstone as he recounted the tale of Stede Bonnet and the brothers. He'd taken his anger out on the Badminton's graves. Then Ed had felt grief and anger, as he often had in life. But now, he wasn't sure what he was feeling. Grief at the chance he had lost that night at the dock. Anger at Stede for breaking his heart. Relief that Stede was still very much alive and he had found him. His attempts to figure out his emotions were interrupted by his first mate shouting.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me!" Izzy Hands snaps when he lays eyes on the Stede Bonnet. "Why won't you fucking stay dead?!" the mate's anger boils over as he lashes out with his blade. He repeatedly strikes at Stede, but his anger makes him sloppy, and Stede was managing to hold his own.

Initially, Ed finds it a bit amusing how furious Izzy is and how Stede seems to do what Stede does best. Manages to make the best of the worst, but the longer it goes on, the more desperate Izzy seems to get. And when Izzy landed a decent blow that Stede managed to mostly block but sliced open Stede's forearm, that was too much. That was when something in Edward Teach broke. Like before, the idea of watching Stede die, especially after genuinely thinking he was dead for a time, gripped Ed's heart. Fear. He hadn't truly felt it since Stede had faced the firing squad. His petty anger at being abandoned was outweighed by the idea that Izzy might not only ruin his chance to know what really happened that night at the dock but also take away the hope that still lives deep in Ed's chest. The hope that Stede didn't leave him by choice. That Mary had been telling the truth when she said Stede had loved him. He just didn't know what love actually was. He couldn't just do nothing. As Stede went to try and block another blow, his arm bleeding from where the blade had grazed his flesh, Ed was there, his own blade blocking his first mates.

"You've made your point, Izzy," Ed says.

"You defend him after he fucking abandoned you. You told me yourself you'd-"

"I did not," Stede says. "I was going to meet you, Ed, I swear, but Chauncey-"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Izzy snapped as he attempted to get past Ed to kill Stede, but the pirate captain wasn't having it. Especially when he had interrupted Stede when he was telling Ed exactly what Ed had wanted to know. With a swift movement, he frees his blade and makes quick work of getting the upper hand over his emotional first mate. He draws on every ounce of his Blackbeard mentality as he does. And with little resistance, disarms the first mate.

"You disobey me?" Blackbeard challenges. "You, Israel Hands, have betrayed me. Questioned my command, and you forgot your place." The Captain backs the unarmed man against the railing. "Now, you turn on me again. I have grown tired of your attitude. I let you live because I had so few crew members left. But you make a mockery of me. It's time you pay for your actions."

"Ed," Stede goes to try and reason with him because betrayal aside, Izzy had been Ed's friend. He shouldn't have to be the one to do it. But Blackbeard doesn't show mercy, and he has already let this traitor live far too long. One flick of the blade, and he cuts Izzy across the face. Then he drives his blade through his shoulder.

The crew watches in shock as Blackbeard stalks forward and gets in Izzy's bloody face. "I should have made you eat more than your toe," Blackbeard states. "I should kill you slowly and painfully, make you pay for every betrayal, but I have more pressing matters." Ed draws back and runs him through again. "Don't worry, Izzy. I'll see you again in hell." With that, Ed shoves him over the railing and into the harsh waters of the sea.

He turns around and takes in the shocked faces of both his crew and Stede's. They see a look of determination on the Kraken's face. He doesn't miss the way Frenchie and Jim have joined their friends.

"Those who question me from here on will join him, understood!" Blackbeard states. "Mutiny, betrayal." He looks at both crews. "Once more, you will pay with your life. I AM your captain. If you don't agree, this is your only chance." He gestures to the ship he stood on as he heads towards his own but stops. "Leave now, but if you do and you betray me, I will hunt you down, and you will beg for death." He looks at Stede's crew. "Your survival shows you have more guts than I expected. Consider yourself lucky."

"About that," Stede starts to say, but before he can continue, Ed turns his focus on him, and it's like when he first saw the truly intimidating part of Blackbeard.

"You," the legendary pirate says. The crews silently watch as Blackbeard crosses over to get in Stede's face before heading back to his transport. A handful of the crew follow him. Stede is quick after him. Most of the crew, practically all, makes their way back to the Revenge for lack of knowing what else to do for now. It didn't seem like either boat would be going anywhere quite yet. One barely had a crew, and the other they had very little attachment to. Their goal had always been to get back to their original one.

"Ed," Stede starts, but an angry noise accompanied by the man's blade stops him.

"Blackbeard," Stede corrects, even if it feels wrong. "I can explain." Blackbeard gets in his space again.

Most of Stede's crew steps away to be out of the blade's reach. All but Jim and Frenchie.

"Don't be a fucking idiot," Jim hisses before going to join Olu and the others.

"Pretty sure they mean that to both of you," Frenchie says. "Glad you're not dead, Stede." He looks at Blackbeard. "If you kill him, at least show him the drawing first." Blackbeard glares at him. But nods. The musician/scribe/confidant pats the so-called gentlemen pirate on the shoulder, earning a slight wince. The fearsome pirate looks down at the blood still dripping from Stede's torn sleeve.

He looks over at Jim and then at both crews.

"Get back to work!" He practically barks at the crew before dragging Stede toward the cabin. He isn't exactly gentle with the gentleman pirate as he drags him to the quarters they once shared. There is an uneasy air in the room as both pirates stare at each other. The awkward silence is broken as Frenchie comes in.

"Roach said you might need these," Frenchie sets down a tray with a bowl of water and some cloth and looks at Stede. "For your arm." The man then leaves because he does not want to be drawn into that mess any more than he already is. With the momentary distraction gone, the two men look back at each other. Stede Bonnet sighs. He has to fix this. He loved Ed. He knew that now. He had to say something.

"I know you're angry, and that's understandable, but did you have to take it out on my crew? I still can't believe you-" Stede stops when he finally looks away from the man he loves and takes in the state of the cabin he designed. "Ed…"

Ed has to look away because Stede looks so concerned. So caring as he looked back at Ed that it did funny things to the pirate's cold heart. He looks at the tray and the supplies Frenchie had brought him. He goes over and retrieves a bottle of rum from the desk. He takes a long pull off the bottle in an attempt to soothe his demons.

"Tell me what happened that night before I change my mind," he says as he shoves Stede down in a chair. Stede goes without a fight. Ed is almost shocked when Stede doesn't even flinch when Ed bares a knife and cuts away the torn and bloody sleeve. Ed was surprised that Stede didn't even lament the loss of a good shirt. And Stede clearly still trusted Ed if he didn't even bat an eye at the idea of an angry Blackbeard having a knife so close. Ed could kill him in several ways from the way Stede is just sitting there, looking up at him. And again, his chest feels too small, too tight for his body, but still somehow cold and empty.

"As I said before, I didn't intend to leave you, I didn't have much choice. Chauncey came for me before your guard did." He explains the whole thing, and Ed doesn't say a single word the whole time. His face was an unreadable expression masking his internal turmoil. Even as Stede goes over the parts, Ed already knows. The parts he had heard from Mary Bonnet herself.

"He loves you, you know," she had told him. "Find him, Ed. He is looking for you." And now he had found him. But Stede is still talking, and Ed focuses back on that because that is what he needs to know.

"Even if I had a way to find the guard, to get to you, it was too dangerous. Chauncey was dead. I didn't do it, but they wouldn't believe me. If they had followed me, I would have led them to you, and I…I couldn't risk it. And I needed to make things right. I have made so many mistakes. And I didn't realize…Nothing I can say could ever tell you how sorry I am. You weren't you, not really, in that place. You didn't even care about your beard." Stede says sadly before gesturing at Ed's gray beard with a slight grin. "Grown back nicely, I'd say."

And Ed isn't sure what he is feeling. Or even how to process what he had just been told. He abruptly stood and pulled the now slightly worn paper Mary had given him.

"I'm sure Stede would want to see it," she had told him. He had kept his word now. He owed them nothing. Stede had gone to her instead of him. But he kept it. And thinking about it now, he knows it's because she had given him hope. Hope that his life wasn't the rage and darkness of the Karken and nothing more. Hope that Stede hadn't chosen her over Ed because here Stede was with him and not her—all the effort Stede had made to get back to where they were.

"From your wife," Ed states and hands the paper to Stede.

"My…my wife?" Stede is confused as he unfolds the paper and sees the slightly worn but clear-as-day drawing of the leopard that belonged to the widow Evelyn Higgins, the little signature at the bottom being his son's. And as much as it tugs at his heart, he knows he will probably never see his son again. He knew it was the way it should be. He didn't even understand how he was even looking at this drawing now. "You went to-"

"I needed answers," Ed states.

"Did you get them?"

"Some, but I got far more questions than answers," Ed admits.

"For me?" Stede asks, earning an annoyed glare from the tired captain.

"For the cat," the loathsome pirate deadpans, "of fucking course for you!"

"Alright, that was probably a given," Stede admits, his unease showing in exaggerated gestures swinging the drawing around. "But I told you, it was never my intention to-"

Ed curses and grabs Stede's injured arm so the foolish man won't make it worse as he moves. "You're bleeding all over my ship," Ed states.

"Our ship," Stede corrects. Ed pointedly ignores him as he sets the booze down and starts to clean up the bloody wound on Stede's arm. "Ed, what questions do you still have?"

"I wanted to know why you didn't come to the dock. I wanted to know why you chose her over me. I wanted to know if I had been wrong. To know if I was sitting on the docks while you needed me. Could I have done anything differently?"

"Well, I told you why I didn't go to the docks. I didn't choose Mary over you. I just needed to make things right with my family. My children. And Mary, she didn't need me. She never really did. She didn't love me. Not sure even my parents did. Or anyone." Stede says sadly. He looks at the drawing by his son. And that pains Ed because Ed knows he wasn't loved as a child. He always had known. But he had known love to an extent.

"Your daughter wanted me to tell you she still has half of the orange," Ed says.

Stede sets the drawing aside and looks at him. Stede can't bring himself to say anything to that. He just thinks about his half of the orange that is safe in the few things he had. He just hoped that some of the crew would take the boat. He hoped someone had at least grabbed them for him. He hoped Olu or Buttons would have the forethought to do so. But there wasn't much he could do right now.

"Your home was nice," Ed says. And Stede nods.

"That was Mary's doing. She made it more of a home than I ever could."

"Is that why you left them everything?"

"Considering what all I had taken from her when I left, it was owed. I was a fool. A selfish fool. I can see that now."

"What changed?" Ed genuinely asks.

"You," Stede says. And Ed's hand stills where he had carefully cleaned the dried blood on Stede's arm. Because he had doubts since that night that he had any real impact on Stede's life, to hear it put so bluntly was jarring. He distracted himself by using the rum to rinse the cleaned wound. Stede winced as he did.

"Sorry," Ed mumbled.

"I'm the sorry one," Stede says, putting his free hand over Ed's as he wraps a bandage around his arm. "I know I hurt you, and I know I can never truly take that hurt back. But I wanted to make things right here, too. I know I will never see my family again. And I'm okay with that, so long as I have you. If you'll have me still. I don't need to-"

He's cut off when Ed knocks him back against the seat with a kiss because Ed had missed Stede more than he had ever missed anyone.

"Wait, wait," Stede pulls away, leaving a confused Ed to wonder if he was wrong again. The pirate's annoyance grows at the possibility of rejection, but Stede just smiles and grips the other man's face. "I didn't even tell you the best part."

"Was it the fuckery? Because your wife said, it was exactly as you planned it."

"She did? Wait, no, that's not," Stede laughs. "It was a good show. You'd have loved it."

"I don't think I would have. You nearly die far too often," Ed points out.

"Fair enough," Stede nods.

"You were saying?" Ed prompts him. He didn't even mind that Stede still had a hold of his face. Stede was laughing and smiling as Ed's world had righted itself. That the warmth he had so greatly missed was back, and it wasn't just the warmth of the man's hands on his face. It was like the sun coming out after a storm.

"Right, yes," Stede nods again. "I realized that I had been selfish because I wanted to run off with you. More than I had ever wanted to be a pirate. And trust me, I had wanted that more than anything. I would spend the rest of my life in the run from the crown, to spend with you. I was even willing to risk you or Izzy Hands killing me just to spend whatever life I had left with you. And it might have been short if you hadn't stepped in. And I'd have been fine with that. I'd have let you kill me without a fight."

"That's mental," Ed states.

"Olu thought so too, but at least I'd have died knowing you were still you. That I hadn't ruined you like I do most things I love. Like my family, like this ship, like-" he is cut off again by Ed's lips.

"I love you too," Ed says when they separate for air. "But if you ever pull a fuckery like that again," Ed says in all seriousness. "I will kill you."

Stede laughs, but Ed doesn't think it's funny. He isn't sure his heart can take the idea of losing Stede again, even if it was just another fuckery.

"Only ones you're in on. How does that sound?"

Ed weighs the options and ultimately agrees because he still loves a good fuckery, and he had seen the planning and detail, even if he couldn't read it, that Stede had put into his death fuckery.

"Fine, but no death, not yours, at least."

"Those are acceptable terms, Captain," Stede smiles, and Ed can't help but kiss him again. "So now what?"

"Fuck if I know," Ed admits. "Never expected to make it this far."

"With me or just in general?" Stede asks.

"Both," he admits.

"Should probably at least sort out the whole crew thing. They might be a bit mad at you, especially Black Pete. He misses Lucius." And Ed does genuinely feel guilty about that. "But in time, I'm sure you can win them over. Most of them, maybe. We can try."

"Together?" Ed asks hopefully.

"Yes, together," Stede agrees.

2 notes · View notes