"You made me feel very good indeed earlier," Stede says, pleased when his voice doesn't shake. "I'd like to return the favour."

He presses a kiss to the softest skin of Izzy's thigh, the joint where it meets his cunt and Izzy gasps, hands reaching down to tangle in Stede's hair. His cunt looks swollen still, bruising half-healed, but when Stede presses a gentle kiss to it, Izzy's hands tighten reflexively, pulling him in closer. Stede does it again.

He moans as he tastes himself on Stede's lips, an aftershock running through his body, hips bucking into the air again and...

"Hey! Open up, hijo de puta, we know you're in there! You've got ten seconds before I kick this fucking door down and use it to fucking beat you to death!"

"Oh," Stede says, eyes widening, "shit."

Jim pounds on the door again, rattling it in its frame. The chair braced under the knob shakes but doesn't fall.

"Abre esta maldita puerta!" Jim shouts. There's a thump lower down as though they've kicked the door, and the sound of them cursing more quietly at their aching foot.

"Uh. Just a moment!" Stede calls. "Everything, uh, everything's fine! No need to overreact!"

"You listen to me, cabrón," Jim shouts.

"I'm gonna react however the fuck I want and if you don't open this fucking door the only thing that's gonna be over is your miserable fucking life!"

The door rattles again. Stede jumps to his feet, looks around the room desperately. Izzy's clothes are rumpled on the floor and, as the chair under the doorknob shakes again, the odds of him being convincingly dressed by the time Jim breaks the door down seem... Not good. Stede squeezes his hands together

Well. He'll just have to protect Izzy's modesty some other way. The door shakes in its frame again and, for a relatively small person, Stede reflects, Jim really is terrifyingly strong. He turns back to Izzy.

Izzy has pushed himself back into the corner. He stares at the door like a trapped fox looks at an approaching hound.

"Izzy?" Stede says quietly. He sits back down on the bed. Izzy glances at him, then looks back to the door, breathing hard.

"Izzy, darling, I'm going to wrap the comforter around you, alright?" Stede says. He pulls the crumpled comforter off the bed. Izzy startles a bit when Stede wraps it around him like a cloak, but then leans into it, clutching it around him. Stede holds him for a moment, stroking his shoulders, his hair.

"Ten seconds, cabrón," Jim shouts. "Ten! Nine! Eight--"

"Shut up, Jim!"

Stede's voice is sharp, piercing even--the sound of it startles him.

Jim's voice cuts off, shocked into silence.

"Give me a bloody moment!" Stede yells. He fiddles with the blanket around Izzy's shoulders, covering him all the way from his neck to his feet. He kisses Izzy's face, his hands. Izzy stares at him, baffled. The silence is tense. Finally, after one last kiss to Izzy's forehead, Stede stands, straightens his shirt and strides over to the door. He pulls the chair out from beneath the knob and opens it.

He hears shouting, pounding on the door, his heart hammering in his ears so fucking loud he can't even hear who's yelling, or what about.

Hornigold wants him back.

That thought repeats in his head, over and over, drowning everything else out. He wants to get up and fight at least, but his limbs have turned to lead and god shitting damn it, he fought just fine earlier. He shivers, naked under the comforter. He hates how vulnerable it makes him feel.

He watches, wide eyed, as Stede opens the door--it opens inward, obscuring Izzy's view of what lies beyond. All he sees is the glint of steel as someone points a knife at Stede's throat.

*

"Ah." Stede stares cross-eyed at Jim's blade. "Right. That's. Well, I can't say I blame you under the circumstances but I... I rather wonder if we might, um, talk about this?"

His voice rises to a squeak as Jim's blade presses in just firmly enough to pierce flesh.

A tiny pearl of blood rolls down from the tiny wound to the collar of Stede's shirt. Well, he reflects, it was rather badly in need of cleaning anyway. Jim's eyes narrow, focused. They step forward and Stede steps back, hands raised.

"Where is he?" Their voice is a nearly unrecognizable growl. He opens his mouth to reply.

"Wait!" Izzy stands by the side of the bed, swaying on his feet. "Don't hurt him, please. I'll go with you. I won't fight, I swear"

Jim's hand falters for just a second--Stede, with a lack of self preservation remarkable even for him, shoves their knife away, feeling it scrape across his throat as he snaps, "Oh, stop it!"

He grabs them by the arm and in one fluid--or, well, mostly fluid, he has to admit as he stumbles a bit, nearly tripping over his own feet--pulls them into the room and slams the door behind them. A litany of angry Spanish pours out of them as he locks it.

Their eyes light on Izzy, shaking, wrapped only in a comforter, standing next to the bed.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" they demand, turning back to Stede. He pays them no mind. As Izzy's eyes finally focus on the assassin's familiar face, his knees buckle. Stede crosses the room in two strides, catching Izzy in his arms and lowering him gently back to the bed. Izzy clings to him, shivering uncontrollably.

"Shit," Jim mutters, tucking their knife away

Stede holds Izzy against his chest, pulling the comforter around him snugly. Izzy wraps his hands in the front of Stede's shirt.

"You're hurt," he says, taking in the little line of blood that crosses Stede's throat diagonally from his jugular down towards his collarbone

"It's nothing, darling, don't worry," Stede says, smiling with more confidence than he feels--the fact Jim isn't actively murdering him is encouraging, but likely a temporary reprieve

Ed lies on his back, staring up at the patterned ceiling, tracing the delicate lines of gold filigree in the wallpaper and who the fuck uses gold for their fucking ceiling anyway? That's overkill...

He runs a hand over his face. He feels fucking disgusting. How many days has he been wearing this fucking robe, anyway? How many days since he left this room? How many days since... he squeezes his eyes shut, swallowing hard around the lump in his throat.

He doesn't even know how long Izzy's been back. Hasn't seen him. Hasn't even asked Stede about him. What kind of captain does that make him? What kind of friend? What kind of man? Thoughts come fast and furious, too many all at once and Ed feels himself crushed under the weight of them, pinned to this fucking bed.

There's a commotion on deck, the sound of feet pounding overhead, then down the corridor. Someone pounds on the door of the captains' cabin

"Captain?"

The door creaks open. Ed still doesn't move, a strange panic clawing its way up his throat

"Izzy?" It's Olu--he sounds worried. Ed watches him out the corner of his eye. Olu's shoulders sag when he takes in the room, empty save for the lump on the bed that used to be fucking Blackbeard. Oof. Now that fucking stings. For the first time in days, Ed feels something stirring in his chest. Olu sighs, turning to withdraw

"Wait." Ed almost coughs

Fucking hell, he hasn't even been speaking these past few days, has he? Stede's talked at him, though he sure as hell couldn't say about what. But he doesn't think he's said a single word back.

Olu stops, not moving, faintly terrified. Ed doesn't know whether he's relieved he can still inspire something other than pity, or horrified that even his own crew's still fucking scared of him. He pushes himself to sit up, slowly, muscles sore with disuse.

"You're looking for Stede?" he asks, voice still rough in his throat. "He went into town."

That much he's almost certain of. He remembers Stede asking him to come, begging him almost. The desperation in Stede's voice stabbed through him, catching and twisting until he felt sick with it. Still not enough to make him move, though.

"Yeah, I know," Olu says, hesitant. "But we lost him. There was... well, there was a fight. At Jackie's."

Ed frowns.

There's always a fight at Jackie's. Olu should know that.

"Hornigold put a bounty on Izzy--wants him alive. Stede got him out of the bar, but we haven't seen either of them since. Jim's looking in town. I came back here in case they made it to the ship."

Ed doesn't know what his face shows, but Olu blanches

"They're not here, though, right?" Olu says, backing out the door. "So I'll just... I'll. Right."

The door slams behind him. Ed barely hears it.

He hasn't even seen Izzy since he's been back. And Stede...

Fear curls around Ed's spine, icy cold. A shudder runs through him. His feet hit the floor before he realizes he's getting up. He stands, shaky, letting the robe fall from his shoulders to puddle on the floor by the bed. He needs a bath. He needs a bath, and then he needs his clothes. And a dinghy. He pushes greasy hair out of his face, taking a deep breath.

He knows what he needs to do.

They watch closely--when they see Stede really is just lying with Izzy, holding him, adjusting the comforter to protect his modesty, they relax a little, leaning back in the little wooden chair.

Outside, darkness falls, brick across from them hidden in deep shadows. Shouting and laughter drift up from the street. Finally, Izzy's breath slows, turning to the steady, even rhythm of sleep. Stede and Jim exchange a nod. It's going to be a long night.

It's about 6am when they hear a knock on the door. Jim, drowsing in the wooden chair, startles upright, knife appearing in each hand. Stede jerks awake too, disoriented. He squints at Jim blurrily. The knock sounds again and his arms tighten around Izzy, who's only just begun to stir. Then...

"Hey! It's me! Open the door!"

Jim steps back, glancing at Stede--he looks as baffled as they feel.

"Roach?" they hiss in a stage whisper. Stede hushes them.

Izzy shifts, raising one hand to scrub sleep out of his eye.

"Wha's happening," he mumbles, looking up at Stede, eyes bleary and trusting.

"Nothing to worry about darling," Stede says, aiming for reassurance. Izzy's eyes sharpen, familiar frown slipping into place.

"Fuck's that mean?" he says, shoving at Stede's chest with surprising force. He still sounds sleepy, anger still soft at the edges. " 'm not a bloody child, Stede!"

He struggles to sit up

Stede sits up too, guiding Izzy to sit with gentle hands on his waist. Izzy glares harder

"Oh for god's sake, Izzy" Stede snaps, the familiar rhythm of an argument with Izzy almost comforting. "I'm not treating you like a child, I just didn't see a need to wake you for--"

"Wake me for what?" Izzy interrupts, still leaning against Stede's side. "Not bloody nothing, that's for fuckin' sure!"

Stede stammers, irritated, one arm around Izzy's shoulders

"So are you going to let me in or what?" Roach drawls from the other side of the door. Izzy glances between Stede and Jim.

"Is that Roach?" he asks, incredulous. Jim shrugs, skeptical.

"We're about to find out," they say. They keep a knife ready in one hand as they reach for the door handle. Izzy turns back to glare at Stede again.

"You could have just said it was fuckin' Roach," he says. Stede rolls his eyes, exasperated.

"You need your rest!"

"You've been through an ordeal, I didn't want to disturb you!"

Izzy's glare darkens with each layer of explanation.

"Well, I'm fuckin' disturbed," he mutters, "and the next time you tell me not to worry my pretty little head, I'll disturb your fuckin' guts with my sword."

"Honestly!" Stede squawks, and then, tilting his head, "Right side or left?"

Izzy grits his teeth, leaning into Stede's side, head almost resting on his shoulder

"Left," he snarls

Stede's eyes light up. Izzy blushes, glancing away.

Someone clears their throat and Izzy and Stede look up simultaneously, embarrassed. Roach leans against the door, lit joint dangling from one side of his mouth, legs crossed at the ankles.

"Captain," he says with a nod and then "Izzy," with another.

"How'd you find us," Jim asks, one professional to another. Roach just shrugged.

"Everybody's looking for you," he says. "I just looked better."

Jim nods as if this makes perfect sense. Stede looks from one to the other, still confounded.

"What exactly do you mean, everyone's looking?" Stede asks cautiously, dreading the answer. Roach glances between him and Izzy, hesitating. Stede feels Izzy tense. He curls a hand around the cap of his shoulder, holding him a little tighter. Roach sighs.

"Hornigold's bounty," he says apologetically. Stede looks appalled

"It can't be that popular!" he insists

"This is the Republic of Pirates!" Stede adds, voice high with indignation. "Surely they don't want to hand one of their own over to a... a turncoat pirate hunter licking the king's boots!"

Izzy snorts, again somewhere between affection and derision.

"No honour amongst thieves, Bonnet," he says ruefully. Stede looks to Roach, appalled. Roach just shrugs again.

"It's a very big bounty," he says apologetically. Stede clicks his tongue, disgusted.

"Well," he says, breathless with disapproval. He wraps both arms around Izzy, pulling him in against his chest and tucking his head under his chin again. Izzy fits there so snugly.

"Mierda," Jim says. They move to the window, glance outside and draw the curtains. They turn back to Stede. "Who saw you when you came in?"

"The innkeeper, I suppose," he says, casting his mind back. "But I paid him handsomely, and Izzy wore a cloak to hide his face!"

Jim and Roach exchange a look, lips pressed tight. Stede watches nervously, stroking Izzy's back. Izzy's teeth have started to chatter.

"I-- is that bad?" Stede asks, heart pounding. "Was that not right?"

Roach takes a drag from his joint

"Could be worse," Jim says. "Might even buy us some time depending on how much the innkeeper values his reputation. But we've got to get out of here."

Roach sucks his teeth and repeats,

"It's a very big bounty."