#stede whump | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

adzeisval · 7 months

Text

Safety Net

Happy Whumptober everybody!

A quick note, for the OFMD whumptober fics , all were written before season two comes out, but there might be some correct guesses for things that happen. There may be on that's season two specific later in the month and I'll let you know which one. On to the whump!

Izzy narrowed his eyes and frowned at the sight of Stede Bonnet rowing back to the Revenge alone. Exactly three hours ago Edward had been captured by pirate hunters and taken to a small abandoned fortress on an equally abandoned island.

Pirate hunters were annoying but they usually had a price and Bonnet had gone to the negotiation willing to give anything to them for Ed’s safe return. In fact Bonnet had taken an obscene amount of loot which Izzy could make out in the bottom of the dinghy as it got closer. Not enough loot apparently. Maybe someone had already made another offer to buy Ed. They would figure it out, everyone had their price.

Bonnet and Fang hopped back on the Revenge.

“We need to talk, Izzy,” Stede said and Izzy followed the man to the Captain’s cabin without a word.

“How much do the bastards want, and did they let you see Ed?”

“He’s alright, they let me see him briefly. And they named a price, and if they don’t get it they are going to sell Ed to the English.”

“We can’t let that happen the fucking English will hang him,” Izzy said.

“I know.”

“So? What do they want?”

“You. They want you Izzy. Their leader Higgins, you killed his father apparently. And maimed his brother.”

Izzy shrugged, “Probably did.”

Bonnet was looking at Izzy strangely and Izzy couldn’t figure out what he was missing. Should be an easy set up, get Ed back then rescue Izzy and slaughter all the pirate hunters.

“What are you not telling me?”

“Well. Higgins expects a trap, and he doesn’t believe I have the guts to do what he asks…”

“Which is?” Izzy was starting to get very annoyed.

“He wants me to kill you and bring him the body,” Bonnet said.

Izzy froze. He looked carefully at Bonnet, the man appeared to be unarmed and there was no one else in the cabin. Izzy was armed and Bonnet knew that. He wouldn’t blame Bonnet for killing him to save Ed, but it didn’t look like Bonnet was willing to make a move.

“I’m not doing it myself,” Izzy snarled.

“I’m not sure we have to kill you at all, just make it look like you’re dead,” Bonnet said.

“He might not fall for it.”

“I think we can make it look convincing, but it will be risky,” Bonnet said. Before Izzy could ask Bonnet to stop beating around the fucking bush and tell him what the fuck was going on Roach entered the cabin.

“Captain?”

“Ah good Roach,” Bonnet said.

Now it was two against one and Izzy still didn’t know what was going on but he didn’t like it.

“We need to make Izzy look as dead as possible without actually killing him. We can do make up of course but is there any way we can slow his breathing or something to make it look like he’s dead?”

“I…actually do think I have something like that,” Roach said.

Of course. No matter what off the wall crazy plan Bonnet had they would somehow have exactly what they needed.

“So here’s the plan. We make Izzy look dead, take his body to trade for Edward. Once we can get Edward away we grab him and Izzy and go.”

“We’ll have to be careful, I won’t be able to wake Izzy up in an instant.”

Izzy swallowed. He was going to be helpless. He was going to be unconscious and unable to fight or defend himself. He was going to have to trust that Roach knew what he was doing and didn’t overdose him on whatever it was. He was going to have to trust that they weren’t going to just overdose him on purpose, kill him, but make it easy on everyone by making Izzy believe he was going to wake up. They knew him well enough to know he’d give his life for Edward. They could even make it look like an accident. Every survival instinct that Izzy had was screaming at him that this was a bad idea, that he shouldn’t trust Bonnet and Roach.

But…

Edward was in danger, they needed to get him back. And Izzy had been on the Revenge for years now and no one had tried to kill him. Roach had treated Izzy’s wounds and illnesses several times without killing him or hurting him. He was safe on the Revenge and had been for years.

“So what do you say Izzy? Are you in?”

“Yes,” Izzy said.

“Right, we’d better get going, meetings in two hours.”

“Fuck,” Izzy cursed under his breath then turned to Roach, “Can you explain to me what exactly you’re going to do to me?”

“Follow me to the galley, we’ll get you ready,” Roach said. Izzy nodded and followed and thought he was completely insane.

“How safe is this?” Izzy asked as Roach gathered herbs and ingredients.

“I’ll take good care of you.”

“I know you will Roach you always have, but…I’m nervous and I’d like details please. How do you know this will work? And how much to use?”

“It can make surgery easier, slow bleeding enough to save someone. It’ll slow your heart, your breathing will get shallow. It’ll be hard to notice that you’re breathing, if someone tries to check your pulse quickly they won’t feel anything.”

“It’s not dangerous?”

“It can be. Too much will kill you. But I won’t let you leave this ship without making sure you’re stable. I’ll have the antidote with me. You might feel a bit hungover for a bit after but that’s all.”

Izzy nodded. He was still nervous. Roach knew what he was doing but there was still a risk. And then there was the chance that something would happen during the exchange. What if Higgins decided to shoot Izzy in the head to make sure?

Bonnet and Jim came into the galley and Izzy tried to not look as nervous as he felt.

“Don’t worry I’ll stab anyone who tries to hurt you,” Jim said.

“I’d appreciate that,” Izzy said.

“We won’t let anyone hurt you Izzy,” Bonnet said, “Now I’m going to make it look like you got shot in the chest. I’ll have you change into a white shirt so they can see the blood.”

“Alright,” Izzy said, “Make sure to put a little blood by my lips.” He couldn’t believe he was going along with this insanity, “Do you have a plan to signal to Edward that this is fake?”

“Yes. I figure Higgins doesn’t know about your prosthetic leg so I’m going to make it look like I chopped that off too. Ed will know the truth.”

“You are fucking nuts, I’m fucking nuts,” Izzy said putting his head in his hands for a few moments.

“Are you up to this Izzy?” Bonnet asked.

“Yes, I can do this.”

Izzy changed into a bloody white shirt and an old pair of leather pants and let Stede, Frenchie, and Wee John do the make up. He sat on the edge of a cot. Stede Frenchie and Wee John left to get ready.

“Alright, ready Izzy?” Roach asked, handing Izzy a cup.

“Not really,” Izzy said but tipped the cup into his mouth and swallowed the foul tasting liquid in one go. He laid down on the cot and waited.

“You’re going to feel sleepy and maybe a little dizzy. Let me know if you feel anything odd.”

At first Izzy felt nothing and he wondered if it wasn’t going to work. Then he felt suddenly weak and very dizzy.

“Oh…”

“You’re alright Izzy,” Roach said.

Izzy tried to let it happen, he was just falling asleep, but he also had the urge to fight it. He had the fear that it was killing him, that once he was asleep he wouldn’t wake up. Izzy had been close to death before and it felt a lot like this.

Izzy started to cry.

“You’re alright Izzy,” Roach repeated, “You don’t have to fight it.”

“Sorry,” Izzy said. It felt wrong. It felt like he was dying. He didn’t know if he was going to wake up.

“We’ve got you Izzy,” Jim said, taking his hand.

Izzy’s brain spiraled into anxiety. He was dying. They were lying to him. They were killing him. But then Jim squeezed his hand and Roach took his other hand.

“We’re not going to let anyone hurt you Izzy,” Jim said.

They weren’t killing him. They would take care of him. Izzy trusted the crew; he trusted Jim and Roach. They had to save Edward. Izzy let himself slip away and trusted that he was going to wake again.

*****

Stede walked back into the galley and stopped short. Izzy was lying on the cot, completely still and bloody. Jim was kneeling by the cot and holding Izzy’s hand. It was clear Izzy had been crying. Roach was checking for a pulse. Stede felt a little ill. Did…did it not work? Had his plan gotten Izzy killed?

“Roach?” Stede asked.

“He’s stable, he’s doing well.”

“If he was dead I would have knifed you the second you came in,” Jim said.

“Jim, can you help me turn him on his side,” Roach said. Jim did so without letting go of Izzy’s hand. Stede knew that Izzy had been nervous but the fact that Izzy was nervous enough to cry and hold Jim’s hand made him sad.

“Was he scared?”

“Very,” Jim said.

“We won’t let him down, and on that note, we need to keep him on his side like this as much as possible. With how shallow and slow he’s breathing if he’s on his back too long he might stop breathing,” Roach said, “We should get going, I’d like to bring him out of this as soon as possible.”

“We’re ready to go,” Stede said.

They wrapped Izzy in a piece of sail and carried him carefully to the dinghy. Stede was a little nervous about the whole thing; but he had the best people with him. Jim wasn’t going to let anyone hurt Izzy. Roach was there to help. Stede was nervous about how Ed was going to react. Hopefully he would see through the fuckery and know that Izzy was alive, that Stede would never hurt Izzy.

Higgins was waiting for them in the courtyard of the old fort. He saw Roach and Jim and the sail they were carrying and he smiled.

Roach and Jim dropped Izzy as carefully as they could opening the sail to make sure Izzy fell on his side.

Higgins laughed, “Holy shit. You actually fucking did it.” Higgins took a step forward.

“None of that,” Stede said, “You release Blackbeard to me and we leave you the corpse.”

Higgins looked again at Izzy, “I’m going to have my surgeon check him.”

“Very well,” Stede said and hoped that Roach’s potion did the trick. The surgeon came forward and kicked Izzy onto his back before kneeling. Jim was pretending not to care but Stede knew them well enough to know Jim was second from reaching for a knife.

The surgeon knelt and put both his hands on Izzy’s neck to check for a pulse.

“He’s dead,” the man announced and stepped back beside Higgins.

“Bring him out!” Higgins yelled.

Stede tried not to look over at Izzy. Izzy was supposed to be dead so it shouldn’t matter what position the body was in. But of course Izzy wasn’t dead and he shouldn’t be on his back. They couldn’t move him until they safely had Ed. Stede hoped that Izzy was still able to breathe.

Two men dragged Ed out. Ed looked alright, more bored than anything, he was still tied up. Until he saw Izzy. Then he gasped.

“Ha! Didn’t think he’d do it, did you Blackbeard.”

Ed looked betrayed and looked at Stede who wished he could tell Ed that Izzy was alright. That it was all a fuckery.

“Even cut his fucking leg off, what didn’t think shooting him in the chest was showy enough Bonnet?,” Higgins said.

“Something like that,” Stede said.

Ed blinked and looked at Izzy’s leg. He looked at Roach and Jim and for just a split second there was a quirk of a smile on Ed’s lips.

“What did you do?” Ed asked.

“Saved you,” Stede said.

Higgins laughed but didn’t make a move to release Ed. Stede glanced over at Izzy and hoped that he was alright.

“Well are you going to return him and hold up your end of the bargain Higgins. I’ve given you your corpse.”

“In a hurry are you?” Higgins asked.

“Yes. I’d rather get going,” Stede said.

“You know what Captain Bonnet?”

“I’m losing patience with you Higgins,” Stede said.

“I know that you and Blackbeard are insane and I know for a fact that Izzy Hands lost his left leg years ago. He’s not dead. Not yet. I’ll see to that later then sell you all.”

The fight didn’t last long, Higgins and his men were much more competent than Stede had made out. In a matter of minutes he and the others were tossed in a cell beneath the old fort.

Stede took stock, none of them were badly wounded in the fight and Ed looked alright.

“Fuck,” Roach cursed as he knelt by Izzy’s body. Stede’s blood ran cold. Had Izzy stopped breathing? Was he truly gone?

“What’s going on?” Ed asked.

“I gave Izzy some herbs to make it seem like he was dead. I brought the antidote to bring him out, but the bottle broke,” Roach said.

“Is he going to die?” Ed asked.

“Probably not, but I’d rather get him out of this sooner, he’ll come out on his own, but it’ll be harder on him,” Roach said.

“I’m sorry love, I thought Higgins was an idiot, I thought he’d buy Izzy being dead,” Stede said.

“I thought he was an idiot too,” Ed said with a sigh, “Who did you leave in charge back at the ship?”

“Oluwande,” Stede said.

“Oh good. He’ll be coming up with a rescue plan when he realizes things have gone wrong,” Ed said.

Stede knew it was true. There was no way that Olu would leave without rescuing Jim and the others as well. Stede still felt horrible for fucking everything up and getting them all captured and putting Izzy in greater danger.

Ed was staring at Izzy, “Fuck, he really does look dead, you did a good job there.”

“It was disturbing to come in and see him like that,” Stede said.

“Was hard watching him go under too,” Jim said, “He fought it for a bit.”

“We won’t let him down,” Stede said, “How long before he wakes up?”

“Another hour maybe,” Roach said.

They group sat in silence for a while. Stede tried to remain hopeful and ignore the nagging anxiety in his gut. He was the most nervous about the Izzy situation. While Roach seemed calm it didn’t escape Stede’s notice that he was checking Izzy’s vitals more and more frequently.

At last Stede couldn’t keep silent, “Roach?”

Roach sighed, “His pulse is a little irregular, but he’s hanging in there.”

“Is there anything we can do?” Ed asked.

“Maybe,” Roach said, “Holding him might help. Someone who taught me swore by it.”

Ed moved quickly to scoop Izzy up in his arms, “It’s alright Izzy, we’re all with you. I’ve got you, just stay with us mate.”

Minutes ticked by slower than hours as they waited for Izzy to come out of his stupor. Ed spoke to Izzy often, urging him to wake up and telling him it was alright. Ed was pleading with Izzy to wake when Izzy suddenly jerked in his arms.

“Izzy?”

Stede could hear the panic in Ed’s voice.

Roach moved in to check on the situation and Stede thought he might be sick. Please. Please let Izzy be alright.

“You can do it Izzy, come back,” Ed pleaded.

A moment later Izzy gasped and coughed.

“That’s it Iz, just breathe mate, we’ve got you,” Ed said.

Stede sighed in relief. He hadn’t gotten Izzy killed, at least not yet.

*****

Izzy’s head was pounding and his throat was parched and he wished he was back on the Revenge. Things had gone wrong but at least he hadn’t been killed.

“I’m sorry Izzy,” Stede said.

“It’s alright,” Izzy shrugged. He knew that the rest of the crew would be coming to their rescue soon enough. Oluwande wouldn’t leave Jim.

Izzy was still going to have to rely on everyone else to keep him protected, he didn’t have his prosthetic so he couldn’t even stand on his own much less fight. He didn’t like being so helpless even if he did trust the others to protect him.

When rescue came it was chaos and somehow Izzy ended up being carried by Ed out of the prison cell. Izzy’s head was still pounding and everything was too loud and too much and his brain couldn’t process what was going on.

They made it back to the ship.

“Alright Izzy?” Ed asked after setting him down on deck.

“Head hurts,” he said, “Thirsty.”

“Alright I’ll get you something to drink and get your prosthetic, then we can get you cleaned up.”

“Thanks Ed.”

Stede sat down beside Izzy, “I am really sorry Izzy.”

“It’s alright Stede, it really is. It all worked out and you kept your word and kept me safe.”

“Thank you Izzy for being willing to trust us to protect you. That was very brave.”

Izzy snorted, “Thanks.”

Ed came back with the prosthetic and then lead Izzy into the galley were Roach had drinks and snacks. Izzy was feeling better already.

#whumptober2023 #no.1 #safety net #ofmd #fic #izzy hands #stede bonnet #edward teach #whump

24 notes · View notes