He stares down at his hands, not bothering to look at Hornigold. His hair hangs lank around his face, sallow and too thin. Fuckin' hell, Jack. Ed keeps his expression blank, looking up at Hornigold like he's waiting for the fucker to explain why he's decided to waste Ed's fucking time like this.

Hornigold looks back at him, trying to stare him down. God, that look would have had him weeping 20 years ago. He pictures Izzy's face, as it was.

He remembers the bruises, the haunted look as he whispered in Hornigold's ear, distracting him, drawing him away from Ed, from Jack. Jack always wanted to fight. Ed held him back, too full of fucking dread for so long. And now...

He tries to picture Izzy as he is now with those haunted eyes, those bruises, furtive and frightened. Rage rips through him like an icy wildfire. And Jack. Stupid, funny Jack, watching Izzy with laughing eyes.

Jack, slumped in the corner of this fucking cell, tear tracks in the dirt on his cheeks.

Ed meets Hornigold's eyes with all that cold fury in his own, and in that moment they both know who is the more powerful man.

Too bad, then, Ed reflects as the butt of Hornigold's pistol catches him across the jaw, that he's also the one in chains at the moment.

Well, that's something real at least.

He still hasn't heard Ed move.

God damn it.

It's not his problem. Ed's not his friend. What kind of pirate has a friend? He squeezes his eyes shut, tries to picture Izzy's smile. The Izzy in his mind's eye glares at him instead. Sad sack Jack, ready to just lie down and die like some namby pamby pining for his boyfriend. Jack almost laughs at that, coughs instead, throat aching from weeks of disuse.

Izzy would kick his ass if he saw him like this.

Izzy would kick his ass for not helping Ed. Edward fucking Teach, who stole Izzy out from under him. The worst part of it was, he saw it coming. He wasn't blind. He saw the way Izzy looked at Ed. It was the same way Jack looked at Izzy. God, Jack never had a fucking chance.

Well. Too fuckin' late now.

In the dark of the cell, Ed groans.

"Shh!" Jack whispers sharply. Ed goes silent again.

Jack listens carefully, trying to hear anything other than Ed's breathing and his own heartbeat throbbing in his ears. He's closest to the door. He shifts carefully, slowly, making sure the chains around his wrists don't clank together as he moves. He leans his head against the wall, as close to the door as he can get, and listens again

Nothing

Good. The last thing they need is fucking Hornigold bursting in before they have a chance to talk

*
Ed shakes his head, groans quietly. Been a while since he took the butt of a gun to the jaw. He doesn't like it any more than he did last time. Hell, he thinks, as the spot where he was struck throbs, hot. He feels blood crusting the wound. He must have been out for a while. He pushes himself slowly to sit, groaning louder at the sharp pain in his neck.

"Shh!"

Jack's voice. Ed falls silent, listening. He can hear Jack breathing softly.

He thinks he hears Jack move in the dark, quiet rustle of fabric, no sound of chains. Jack's being careful. Ed waits. His jaw aches. He wonders vaguely if Hornigold's cracked it. Wouldn't be the first time

Finally, a long, shaky sigh from Jack

"I figure we've got five minutes."

Jack sounds barely interested. Ed'll take it. Right now, he'll take all the help he can get

*

The wind ruffles Izzy's hair. It's getting long, brushing his collar

His hands shake and he presses them together, arms tight against his sides. Breathe. He just has to fucking breathe.

Below, Stede slips again, overextending himself as he tries to block Jim's practice blade, exposing his injured side. Jim shows him his mistake, gently but ruthlessly miming a killing blow. Stede shakes his head, frustrated, serious as he accepts another hand up. He takes his stance again. It's gotten better, that's for sure.

Not enough. It's never more than thirty seconds for Jim to find their way through Stede's meager defenses. A lamb with a knife in its mouth is still a fucking lamb. If it manages to cut you, it'll only be by accident, and your own bloody fault. Stede Bonnet is a fucking lamb. And Benjamin Hornigold is a wolf.

Izzy takes a deep, slow breath. Ed's trapped on Ben's ship. Stede's not ready, not yet. And Izzy, if nothing else, is a loyal dog.

He looks down at the pile of pistols. He picks up the one he dropped, checking it over for damage, then rechecking for any faults. Not a spot of rust remains. The whole pile shines. Slowly, glancing around to make sure no one notices, he tucks a gun into his waistband and another into his boot, concealing them

Crew be damned, and Stede be damned too. He won't be left behind on this raid. And Stede Bonnet will not be the one to face Hornigold

*
"Fuck does he want, anyway?" Ed hisses. He and Jack both shift, moving as close to each other as they can get. Still not very close, but enough that they can keep their voices low. "Revenge? Fuck me, Jack, we mutinied what, twenty years ago? Twenty five? Why now?"

Jack grunts, shrugging awkwardly. He angles his body so he can keep an eye on the door, staying as close as possible to Ed. He stretches his arms long, chain taking his weight.

"Fuck should I know, man," he mutters. Ed's nervous energy fills the cell, making Jack's teeth itch. He got so used to the weight of his despair, almost comforting. Ed's need for action, for explanations, grates on him. There isn't an explanation, not really. Hornigold is Hornigold. Same evil bastard he was 20 years ago. Even if the man laid out his reasoning, plain as day, Jack wouldn't believe him. Not really.

And as for a plan...

Well, Jack's not convinced there's any point to that either. But...

It reminds him of Izzy. Izzy liked having a plan, liked knowing where they were going next, what they were gonna do when they got there. Everything laid out, nice and neat and tidy. Jack used to tease him for it, call him a control freak, a fussy bitch. Always trying to get a rise out of him. Fuck, Iz was always so pretty when he got mad. Izzy'd want a plan if he were here.

And Izzy would kick Jack's ass if he did anything less than he possibly could to save Eddie. So, he supposes, that's that. He's gonna save Edward Teach.

And if Jack doesn't make it out himself, well, after these last few weeks, he doesn't think that's much of a loss.

"Come on, Jack, work with me!"

Ed sounds annoyed. He's been talking, Jack realizes. Fucked if he knows what he's been talking about, though. That explains the annoyance.

Jack takes a breath, tries to focus again. They've been putting something in the water, he thinks. It tastes weird. Too little of the stuff not to drink it, but it makes his head feel fuzzy.

"Jack!" Ed again. Shit. Jack takes another breath, licks his lips.

"They put it in the water," he says. His voice still sounds strange. There's a pause as Ed processes.

"You know what it is?" Ed asks. Jack shakes his head, then remembers that's useless

"No," he says. "Try not to drink too much of it."

He hears Ed breathe in, can feel the gears turning in his head. If Ed doesn't have an idea yet, he will soon, Jack thinks. Crazy, brilliant fucker. No wonder Izzy always wanted him.

The sound of the key in the lock breaks the silence. Jack slides back to the wall, quick as he can, trying not to make too much noise, hoping Ed has the sense to do the same. Lantern light blinds them again.

*
The sun has long since set when Stede finally flops down next to Izzy on the fo'c'sle, covered in sweat. Izzy's hands are covered in cannon grease. His face, too, he realizes, as Stede reaches out and wipes at a smudge with his thumb.

"I think I'm just making it worse," he says, smiling apologetically. He doesn't lower his hand though. Izzy leans into the touch as Stede cups his cheek.

"No sign of them yet." Stede states the obvious.

As if Izzy hasn't been scanning the horizon this entire time, looking for sails. Fucking absurd. Out here in the middle of nowhere, following a lead from a fucking seagull. It's the best they've got. He tries not to think about it too hard.

"Buttons, or Olivia, I suppose, thinks we'll cross paths in about two days," Stede continues, smile a little forced. "Plenty of time to prepare. And we'll have the advantage! They don't know we're coming"

Izzy smiles back at Stede, though he suspects it's more of a grimace. Two days. Two days of Ed locked in that monster's brig. And Jack...

Izzy squeezes his eyes shut. Stede wraps his hand around the back of Izzy's neck, pulling him in to rest against his broad, firm chest. He smells of sweat and steel and somehow underneath it all, lavender and a hint of spice. Ponce. Izzy wraps his hands in Stede's shirt and breathes in deep.

Two days.

The visits seem random at first, no rhyme or reason, no pattern to detect... no pattern...

Ed squeezes his eyes shut, thinking, worrying at the idea, grain of sand in a shell--

"Christ, Eddie, will you shut up for five minutes?"

Ed jumps at Jack's voice. Whatever they've given him, it's affecting Jack too. He seems to drift, unmoored. More often than not, he lapses into silence before finishing a sentence. It's scaring the hell out of Ed.

But--

"Ed!" Jack snaps.

It's the most feeling Ed's heard from him since he arrived, but what--

"Ed, stop!"

An edge of panic in Jack's voice. Ed's guts go cold. He's been talking. Fuck, he's been talking this whole time?

"Yup," Jack whispers, irritation overtaking panic, "mumbling about fuckin' patterns and shit. Only pattern you're gonna have to worry about is the one your brains'll make when ol Horny splatters 'em over the fuckin' wall"

"Told you not to drink too much of that fuckin' water, but you couldn't just fuckin' listen, could you?"

Ed's not listening. Jack hears the sound of fabric ripping, loud in the silence of their cell. A moment later, he hears Ed start mumbling again, muffled this time, incomprehensible, hell, almost inaudible, and Jack almost laughs. Fuckin' Eddie. Crazy bastard gagged himself.

Leaning against the bench he's chained to, Ed shuts his eyes.

He worries at it, at the pattern. It's there, he knows it, can almost see it... something... something about what Jack said seemed to make what was forming in his mind a little brighter, a little clearer.

He can hear himself mumbling now that he's aware of it. The bit of his own sleeve he's stuffed in his mouth tastes of sweat and dried blood. He bites down, grinding his molars into it as he tries not to talk. He focuses on the pattern.

*
Izzy rises before the dawn. A heavy mist hangs over the water, the chill scent of morning air filling his lungs as he steps out onto the deck. He left Stede sleeping. The man had grumbled as Izzy slipped out of his bed reaching out with grasping hands. Izzy shoved a pillow into Stede's arms to replace himself, pretending he wasn't the least bit tempted to crawl back in with him.

Stede will have to rise soon anyway. There's more to be done.

The deck is silent, save the rippling of the sails above. Izzy steps around sleeping bodies, loathe to disturb them. Embarrassing, that. Soft.

But with what's coming, they'll need to be in a fit state. A decent night's sleep will stand them in good stead

He moves to the gun deck, checking the cannons again, counting munitions. He wears the gun he squirreled away yesterday in his boot, sword at his hip as always. They've plenty of ammunition

He runs a hand along the ship's rail. Above him, in the dull grey predawn light, he sees Buttons keeping watch in the crow's nest. The scent of coffee drifts up from belowdecks. Roach is already up, then. On the water around them, the mist has already begun to burn away at the promise of the rising sun, barest hint of a glow on the horizon

Izzy stares out at the sea, focused, intent, not sure if he wants Hornigold's ship to appear or not.

He squeezes his gloved hand into a fist, feeling the leather creak as it stretches with the motion. He wants to see it. Of course he wants to see it. Ed needs him. Nothing else matters.

He swallows hard, willing his heart out of his throat. Footsteps behind him disrupt his thoughts, and an arm wraps around his waist before he can turn.

"That's gotten better men than you stabbed, you know," he drawls, leaning back against Stede's chest.

Christ. When the hell did he get this comfortable with the bastard, anyway? Behind him, Stede bends, pressing a kiss to the nape of Izzy's neck

"Better men, I'm sure," he says softly, "but not luckier ones, I'd wager."

Izzy snorts, caught off guard

"Fuck off," he mutters automatically, and then, "We'll be needing that fucking luck against Hornigold, that's for sure."

He feels Stede's smile against his neck. Stede's arm tightens around him

He nudges a coffee into Izzy's hands and then wraps the other arm around him as well.

"And you can't just rely on luck," Izzy presses, "You need a proper plan. Something he won't be expecting. If Ed were here..."

He trails off, blinking quickly, glad Stede can't see his face as he struggles to control it. The silence stretches out. Stede waits patiently as Izzy clears his throat and tries again, voice rough.

"What you need is a fuckery."

He sways, deliberately a bit out of sync with the rolling of the waves, looking for all the world as if he might tumble down to the floor at any moment. He doesn't resist when one o fthe bastards grabs the back of his hair, yanking his head back. The man looks young, maybe thirty, copper hair close shaved and a nasty smile

"Not so tough, is he?" the lad sneers to his companion, a broad, slow-moving man with a leather cap pulled over his ears

The slow man snickers, pushing a ladle of water to Ed's lips. Ed whines, tilting his head away until the redheaded man's hand tightens in his hair, twisting til he stills. The other man pushes the ladle between his lips, laughing when Ed sputters and gags.

Neither man seems to notice that more of the water by far ends up on the cell floor than down Ed's throat. They go through several ladles before they turn to give Jack the same treatment.

Ed sways as they move away, coughing as he slumps against the bench. The men look back as they leave the cell, shaking their heads at the great Blackbeard, greasy hair concealing his face as he leans forward, barely conscious, drooling on the floor of the cell.

"Fuckin' disappointing, that's what I call it," the slow man mutters as they close the door behind them. Jack snorts as the key scrapes in the lock. The men's footsteps recede quickly

"You done?" Jack says, when Ed's quiet moaning carries on. The moaning stops.

"They gone?" Ed asks. Jack rolls his eyes, knowing Ed can't see it, hoping he can feel it instead. Eddie was always pretty good at picking up vibes.

"Yeah, they're gone," Jack mutters. "Fuckin' drama queen."

Ed sighs. After a moment, the muttering starts up again, first clear, then muffled. Jack leans back against the wall. This shit sure as hell wears off slow.

Or maybe they're still just getting too much of it. Not more than a mouthful or two a day at this point, but enough to cloud Jack's head, loosen his tongue

Not that Jack's tongue ever needed much loosening, mind. The rum did that all on its own. Still, the first time he woke up in this cell...

He was confused. Thought he was hungover. Probably was hungover, for that matter. Head aching like crazy. Took him a few minutes to notice the chains