A Pirate's Life For Us

Chapter 13 - Love Hurts

Ed cradled Stede's head in his lap, his hands covered in blood.

"You know..." croaked Stede, "...I think you managed to stab me in the exact same spot I was stabbed before." He then chuckled, which caused a burble of blood up to his lips.

Under different circumstances, Ed might have found that funny. His old self certainly would have seen the gallows humour in that. But all he could feel was guilt and regret. "I'm sorry..." he whispered as he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the man's forehead.

All around them, the battle for the Antelope raged. A man dropped like a ragdoll a half a foot from them, his eyes vacant and staring, a dagger in his chest.

The man who dealt that blow was suddenly looming over the pair. He was the largest of the brigands Izzy had hired, with a long dangle of dark hair, a severely broken nose and a near full set of gold teeth.

Ed heard the heavy footfalls and looked up, his eyes streaked with tears as he cradled Stede's head. He shifted himself between the man and Stede.

There was suddenly a cutlass at his throat. It was so sharp that Ed felt a prick at his skin with only the barest touch. The man smelled of sweat and blood and the deep pungent odor of a man who didn't care to wash himself.

"So this is the mighty Blackbeard," he rumbled. "I'd heard rumours that you'd gone soft. When Hands came to hire more crew, I had hoped it was just slander. But I thought I'd come see for m'self." The man shifted and the boards creaked under his weight. "Ah well. Not a waste. At least I get to say I'm the man who killed you."

Stede let out a cough and reached for Ed's arm, gripping his bicep.

Ed was still. He let that familiar mask of coldness cascade over his features. "Do it," he murmured. If he'd killed Stede, he didn't want to go on. Couldn't go on. The mere thought of it made him push his neck into the cutlass.

Stede's hand pawed at his arm. He made a sound but it wasn't a proper word. It was just a desperate, sad, choking sound.

Ed shifted, then gripped Stede's hand tightly in his own. Then he closed his eyes and bared his throat.

There was suddenly a chorus of shouts and a thundering of new footfalls on the deck of the Antelope.

Ed opened his eyes in time to see a dagger with Jiminez carved into the handle enter the hulking man's ear. He twitched, his eyes rolling back in his head, then he collapsed so hard against the deck that it further jostled the sword dug into Stede's shoulder.

And there, backlit by the setting sun, was the crew of the Revenge, kitted out for battle and seeking out the four remaining brigands. It didn't take long before those formidable men were surrounded and subdued, with only a few minor skirmishes of misunderstanding with the merchant crew.

And just like that, the battle was over. The fuckery had been a resounding failure, but their enemies were either subdued or dead. The merchant crew had lost many of their own, but it seemed, at least at first glance, that the civilians had been spared.

Ed could hardly process everything that had happened. He was still clasping Stede's hand, but the hand was growing more limp.

"Ed..." Stede whispered. "Ed, our family saved us."

—

What happened next was a blur. Ed refused to leave Stede's side or let go of his hand as they moved him carefully back to the Revenge. Roach and the doctor from the Antelope worked to remove the sword from Stede's shoulder and stitch up the wound.

"If we cleaned the wound properly, and it is not infected, he should be all right," Roach told Ed, though it was a small comfort.

Stede was settled in the threadbare cabin on the Revenge. Ed sat on his bed, keeping vigil in a direct mirror of the first time they met. At the time, he had no idea how hard he would fall for the bizarre little man, but he had - almost from that very first moment.

Eventually Ed moved to a chair by the bed, head pillowed on the edge. He fell asleep and woke some time later to the feeling of fingers in his hair.

He opened his eyes to see Stede smiling at him as the early morning sunshine cast colourful rays from the stained glass window across them both. "Hey," he whispered.

Ed was suddenly completely awake. He reached out to paw his cheek and grip his hand fiercely, stopped only by a wince of pain on the other man's face. "Stede...?" he croaked. "Oh god, Stede, I'm so sorry."

"That's all right. The way I see it," Stede mused, "Fair play, isn't it? I hurt you, you hurt me." He paused thoughtfully, and then smiled a warmhearted smile that made the sun-filled room a million times brighter. "And isn't the old saying...you always hurt the ones...you love?"

Those words reached out to the last of the darkness that was trying to harden around Ed's heart and banished it in an instant. He knew it wasn't gone forever, but for the moment, Stede's light had pushed it away. He shifted up and gently pulled the other man up in order to kiss him fully and properly.

"I love you too," Ed whispered.

"Ah, good. Otherwise, I would've had egg on my face," said Stede.

Both smiled at each other, and then kissed again.