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.

He may not be able to do much for Izzy at the moment, but he can at least try to look after Edward.

*

Ed stares into the dark. He's curled on his side, blankets pulled tight around him. The cabin is stuffy, too hot. A drop of sweat rolls down his forehead. He shut the windows as soon as Stede went above, the curtains, too. He's seen men sweat to death before. Doesn't seem like a bad way to go, at least not compared to a lot of options. Ed shivers.

Benjamin Hornigold is back. As if he ever fucking left, the bastard. They'd stayed out of each other's territory for years, a wary detente. It always felt fragile to Ed. And now...

Now Hornigold has Izzy. Ed shivers again, pulls the blankets tighter around him. He has to do something, make some sort of plan. Izzy was always running after him, wanting a fucking plan and now... now Izzy's gone, and Hornigold's back, and Ed doesn't have a fucking plan.

Hell, at the moment, he doesn't have a fucking prayer. He squeezes his eyes shut and drifts back down into sleep.

*

Izzy can smell Hornigold's breath, rum and pipe smoke and decay. Hornigold's fingers, still twisting inside him, are rough and thick and Izzy can't help the pained whine that slips out when another one forces its way inside him.

"Now then, Israel," Hornigold says, for all the world like they're having a civilized chat in his quarters.

"You're a man with a reputation, aren't you?" There's a laugh in Hornigold's voice and Izzy grits his teeth, jaw aching as he fights the urge to scream. "A man of the world."

He curls his fingers inside Izzy, the feeling of it in his already-raw cunt fucking unbearable. Izzy makes a high, animal noise, tears starting down his cheeks again.

"A man like you certainly has information that would be useful to a man like me," Hornigold continues, unphased.

Izzy snarls, trying to kick, trying to roll away. Hornigold plants a knee in the small of his back, pinning him, hand in his hair still forcing his face against the floor.

"Ah, ah, ah," Hornigold says. "You're going to answer my questions, little bird. You don't have a choice."

Izzy shakes his head--he doesn't know what nonsense Hornigold is on about, but he won't be telling him a fucking thing, that's for damned sure.

"Oh, but you will, Israel."

Fuck. Izzy's heart pounds in his throat. He didn't say that out loud. He didn't. He's fucking sure of it, he knows how to bite his fucking tongue, he...

Hornigold is laughing.

"Of course you do, little bird," he says. "Under any other circumstances, I'm sure you'd die before giving up any of Teach's secrets. But it's not up to you now."

Hornigold leans in closer, breath foul against Izzy's face.

"It's up to me, my wayward little bedwarmer."

"Now," Hornigold says, smug, "what is Teach's next heading? Where is he planning to raid?"

And Izzy could fucking laugh, would if Hornigold's fingers in him weren't enough to make him puke instead, because he doesn't know. Edward hasn't discussed strategy with him in fuckin' months. Izzy's aware of his babbling now, hears himself repeating, over and over

"Don't know, don't know, hah, I don't... don't fuckin' know, fuckin' never talks to me anymore..."

Hornigold sighs, irritated, and Izzy wants to pull away from him, knows nothing good has ever come of that fucking sound, not for him at least, but he's trapped. Just like Ben likes it. Ben's fingers twist in him and he realizes he's babbling again. Useless fucking nonsense pours out of him, "No, please, stop, stop, it hurts, please," Hornigold's little laugh over top of it and Izzy's voice breaks on another sob.

"Now, now, Israel, don't make a fuss."

"The king likes it better when I catch pirates in the act, of course," Hornigold murmurs. "Makes for a better story, you know. But don't you worry, my little bird. It will make a marvelous story no matter how I catch the legendary Blackbeard."

And that is so fucking stupid that Izzy realizes he is laughing, a high-pitched, mirthless sound.

"Fuckin' won't," he mutters, knowing he should keep his mouth shut, not even trying anymore. No fucking point now

"You'll never... he's... he's fuckin' smarter than you, you evil old prick," he gasps, then groans as Hornigold slams his face down into the wood. Blood flows hot from his nose as he laughs.

"But don't you see, little bird?" Hornigold says through his teeth. "He'll come for you. His loyal dog. Won't he?"

The laugh turns to a sob halfway through, Izzy almost dizzy with elation even as the weight of despair bears down on him with crushing certainty.

"No," Izzy says, feeling the truth of it in his bones. "He's not coming for me."

The pain of that certainty, the joy of knowing this bastard will never lay eyes on Ed again, overwhelm him, face down on the floor under the only man he's ever really feared. It's almost a relief when Hornigold drags him up by his hair, and sends him crashing down into the deck again. Unconsciousness embraces him like an old friend.

For now, though, the bastard's flying high.

"Captain says we can have you when he's finished," the man sneers, face too close to Izzy's. Not close enough to bite, sadly. Izzy stares at him thoughtfully for a moment and then, without warning, spits in his face. The man reels back, shocked, then shouts in rage. He grabs Izzy by the hair and for a moment Izzy wonders if he might get lucky, if this stupid fucker might just kill him and have done with it.

"That's enough, Jeremiah."

Hornigold stands in the door, light behind him casting his face in shadow.

"But sir...!" the sailor, Jeremiah, protests. Foolhardy, then. Izzy revises his estimate--the lad'll be lucky to last a few weeks, let alone months. Ben's standards have fallen. For now, he just shakes his head, and Jeremiah falls silent, sulking

"Not to worry, lad," Hornigold says. The kindness in his voice makes Izzy's skin crawl. "I'll handle him"

Hornigold nudges him with his boot, rolling him over to his back. He shakes his head, the movement exaggerated, everything a performance with him.

"I'm afraid I can't let disrespect like that stand, Israel," he says mournfully, as if he genuinely regrets whatever he's about to do. As if he wouldn't have found an excuse no matter what Izzy did. Just another fucking game. Izzy's breath speeds up, out of his control. Fear makes a hollow pit in his chest.

His eyes follow the motion as Hornigold's hands go to his belt. He still can't see the bastard's face, not properly, as if this didn't already feel like a fucking nightmare. Izzy wants to scream and scream and scream until he wakes up. Hornigold pulls the belt loose, wrapping one end around his fist. Izzy hears himself babbling again, can't fucking stop it, feels fucking sick with it.

"No, no, no, please, Ben, please, don't, I won't, please..."

Hornigold clicks his tongue, grabbing Izzy by the hair again, pulling him up to his knees

"Hush now, boy," Hornigold says firmly. "I know you haven't forgotten my rules. I won't have lax discipline on my ship."

Izzy whimpers as Hornigold drags him to a low wooden bench at the side of his cell, manhandling him until he's draped over it, ass in the air. He shudders at the feeling of exposure. Hornigold's fingers stroke over his ass, the slit of his cunt