Stede swallows the sour little seed of unease that settles in his throat. Why should he worry about Izzy? The man's been nothing but a complete asshole since the moment they met. No matter how hunky he may be... Stede shudders at the thought, pouring Ed a fresh cup of tea to replace the last one, long since gone cold. It's not Stede's problem. It's not Stede's fault.

Izzy can look after himself.

He knows what's coming. Been expecting it since the moment he heard that fucking voice. Surprised it took this long really, but that's just another of Hornigold's games, isn't it? Izzy fucking hates games

It feels like the middle of the night when the door to his little cell clangs open. He'd just managed to finally drift towards sleep. Should have expected that, he reflects. Ben never liked to give him time to brace himself

Izzy's lip curls in a snarl. Hornigold laughs, hand tightening in Izzy's hair until he can't help but whimper

"Now," Hornigold says, voice cold. "Open your mouth."

Breathe in, breathe out. Izzy can do this. He can do this. Hornigold cocks the pistol

"You'll be good for me, won't you, little bird?" Hornigold says, smiling indulgently. "What do you think Mr. Teach would say if I left your corpse at the next port for him to find?"

Izzy's eyes fly back to Hornigold's face. Hornigold gives him a sympathetic smile. Izzy wishes he could rip the fucker's throat out with his teeth.

"Always a little fragile isn't he, your Captain Blackbeard," Hornigold says. Breathe in, breathe out. His cock bobs in front of Izzy's face, hard and red. It brushes the tip of Izzy's chin and he tries to turn his face away. Hornigold's hand fisted in his hair holds him in place.

"Now," Hornigold says, with a confidence Izzy fucking wishes were unwarranted. "Open."

Breathe in, breathe out. Izzy closes his eyes, lets his mouth fall open. The wood floor digs into his knees, splinters and whorls. His fingers scrabble at the wall behind him, the same wood. Cold steel of the pistol at his temple. Breathe in, breathe out, and Hornigold drags him onto his cock, thrusting forward, pinning Izzy against the wall.

Izzy chokes, drool spilling out his mouth and down his chin as Hornigold's cock bullies its way down his throat. Hornigold groans, thrusting fast and hard. At least he's not trying to make it last, Izzy thinks distantly.

"Open your eyes," Hornigold growls, the gun at Izzy's head digging in painfully. "Open your fucking eyes, slut."

Izzy can't find the rhythm of his breathing anymore. The hand in his hair twists cruelly.

He opens his eyes. Above him, Hornigold grins

"Such a good little whore," he says, breathless. He's getting close. This, at least, Izzy knows how to finish. He looks up into those cold, blue nightmare eyes and swirls his tongue around Hornigold's cock as he pulls out and then thrusts back in. Hornigold moans, hips stuttering as Izzy hollows his cheeks, lips soft as the hard shaft of Hornigold's cock forces its way down his throat

"I see you still haven't forgotten your little tricks," Hornigold sneers. "You really were born for this. But of course, deep down, you know that, don't you Israel?"

Izzy doesn't respond. He stares past Benjamin Hornigold, through him. Come and whatever else are cooling on his skin, sticky and foul. When he gets out of here, he'll find an inn with a tub and scrub until every inch of him feels clean again. He's going to get out.

Hornigold lets go of Izzy's hair, watches impassively as Izzy slumps to the floor at his feet.

"Get some rest, little bird," he says as he turns to leave. "I'll be back. I want to take my time with you."

Izzy stares at the wood floor under his face, memorizing the wood grain, the feel of it, ignoring the cooling come on his face, the smell of Ben Hornigold all around him. Breathe in. Breathe out.

Almost two full days pass while Stede dithers. Ed is no help at all, curled up in bed, barely responding when Stede tries to get him to talk.

"Maybe... maybe he doesn't want to be found," he says quietly, once, when Stede tries to press him, to get him to participate in the search, or at least acknowledge it. Given what Stede knows about the time before he returned, it's not an unreasonable question. Maybe Izzy just left.

Something about that doesn't sit quite right with Stede, though, and so he sends the crew into town again. No one seems willing to answer their questions. In retrospect, Stede probably should have paid more attention to that.

It's Buttons, in the end, who gets them out of port. Buttons, who comes to the captains' quarters early on the morning of the third day, standing in a slightly off kilter parade rest at Stede squints at him.

"I've news, cap'n, of Mr. Hands," he says, staring at a point somewhere beyond Stede's shoulder. "But I'm afraid ye're not gonna like it much."

On the bed, Ed shifts, turning a tear stained face to the door as he listens, dark circles under his eyes somehow only making him more beautiful. Buttons pauses, either for dramatic effect or, unsettlingly, to listen to something that Stede can't hear

"Well? Out with it, man!" Stede says

Buttons sighs, glancing at Ed and then looking away again.

"I've heard rumours," he says, cryptic, "of a Captain Hornigold passing through this port, cap'ns. A regular, ye might say. Certainly well known enough to pay a tavern wench to slip something into a man's drink, if ye get my drift."

Stede listens, jaw slack. Hornigold. He recognizes that name, though it takes him a moment to place it. Ed's old captain. Stede frowns.

He turns back to Ed, hoping for a more thorough explanation. What on earth would his former captain want with Israel bloody Hands? Kidnapping the disagreeable little man seems like more trouble than it's worth. Perhaps some kind of aggressive recruiting tactic? If Izzy wants to accept a new job, Stede certainly won't stand in his way...

The look on Ed's face stops Stede in his tracks. He looks like a child suddenly, eyes wide and full of tears.

He meets Stede's gaze and a few tears spring free, rolling fat and iridescent down his cheeks. His mouth works soundlessly for a moment before he finally manages to force a word out. It sounds hollow. Despairing.

"Izzy."

Ed pulls the blankets tight around him and rolls over, hiding his face. Stede watches his shoulders shake. The kernel of unease rises up his throat again, lodging there as he realizes with an uncomfortable lurch: he needs to save Izzy

Finally, the sailor tosses the ladle back into the bucket. He leaves Izzy gasping and shivering on the floor of his cell

Izzy sleeps. The sound of Hornigold throwing open the door catches him by surprise. He gasps, tries to roll away. Hornigold grabs hold of the rope around his ankles and drags him across the floor. Izzy's mind is foggy. Movements feel sluggish, dreamlike, not under his control. He kicks and struggles. Hornigold laughs, pins him easily

"Oh, little bird," he says quietly, close enough for Izzy to feel Hornigold's breath on his ear as he speaks. "No one takes me like you do."

In one brutal thrust, he drives himself home in Izzy's cunt.

Izzy screams.

He smacks a hand down on Izzy's ass, hard, laughing when Izzy jumps, crying out.

"Always so sensitive, boy," he says, gripping Izzy's ass hard enough to bruise, then smacking it again. "Thought you might have toughened up after all these years. Should have known better, eh?"

Izzy says nothing, squeezes his eyes shut. Ben's done. He's done and he'll leave, that's how this works. Hornigold doesn't move. Izzy's heart pounds in his chest, panic thrumming.

He feels Hornigold's fingers tracing the soft folds of his cunt, jerks in surprise, trying to pull away. Hornigold grabs him by the hair again, smacking his head against the floor, holding him there. He plays with Izzy's cunt casually, scooping up his come and pushing it back inside.

"Should have gotten a bastard on you 20 years ago, shouldn't I, little bird?" he says, conversational. "A bit late now, but no reason not to try."

Izzy doesn't move.

Ice cold terror freezes him in place as Hornigold's fingers press inside, twisting painfully in his already aching cunt.

"Now, I think we've waited quite long enough, don't you?" Hornigold says. "It's high time you and I had a conversation."

He leans down, lips by Izzy's ear as he shoves his fingers deeper into Izzy's cunt, making Izzy whimper and squirm.

"And for once, little bird, you won't be able to lie to your captain."

*

It takes half a day to get the Revenge underway--the currents are not in their favour. Stede doesn't let himself think about what that means, the fact that Hornigold has three full days' lead on them. Buttons seems confident about their heading, though the fact that a seagull seems to be his primary advisory raises some questions. The rest of the crew don't hesitate. They watch intently as Buttons stands on the ship's rail, squinting at the horizon.

He licks a finger holds it up in the air, hums, sniffs the finger and grimaces.

"They're headed due east," he says at last. "They've had a fine wind--we'll have to move quickly if we hope to catch 'em, cap'n!"

The crew is already moving as Stede gives the order to set a course due east. He sidles up next to Buttons, standing at the helm.

"Um," he says. "If I may ask. The, uh... the business with your finger. Is that something I could learn, perhaps?"

Buttons looks at him sideways, frowning.

"Oh that? Nay, cap'n. I were just making sure it were mine," he says, as if that explains anything. "It's Livvy as gave me the directions--she's offerin' us a bird's eye view, if ye catch my drift."

"O-oh," Stede says, and then, falsely, "I see."

Buttons just nods, eyes fixed on the horizon. Above them, the sails billow and snap as they catch the wind, and the ship moves at a steady clip through the harbour.

"Well," Stede says, "I suppose I'll just... I'll just go and check on Edward then, shall I?"

He moves slowly towards the companionway, looking around for something useful to do. The crew seem totally absorbed in their own tasks. Their focus since Stede told them Izzy'd been abducted has taken him by surprise. When he called the crew together to propose a rescue mission, well... he expected more of a fight, if he's honest. Izzy's never been popular.