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Izzy wakes up and his left boot is missing. That in of itself is shocking because Izzy, for all his admitted flaws, is precise and careful and he had left his left boot just next to his right when he'd gone to bed the night before.
Thankfully, Izzy also has a backup boot. Unthankfully, it's his left boot, which means the fabric padding he uses to protect the spot where his toe used to be has also been taken.
It's going to hurt, tonight. He puts the boot on anyway.
His food tastes foul. The trick's on them, he supposes; he's been eating far worse for twenty years. He eats it without letting his expression move an inch; he doesn't know who's doing this, but...he won't give them the satisfaction.
There is no one on watch when he wakes up. He's not entirely sure who was meant to be on it (He was pretty sure it was Lucius) so he doesn't say anything. He puts Ivan and Fang on first and last, after that, because then they can deal with whoever's meant to be in the middle.
His foot throbs. His food still tastes like shit, and somehow it frustrates him more and more as time goes on but he still doesn't say a word.
He can barely bring himself to touch his foot. His foot screams in pain and he still doesn't touch it.
His sword vanishes.
He doesn't complain. Stede and Edward didn't seem to notice that he was limping worse, that he had his daggers on his person at all time (including when he slept.) That he'd taken to locking and barricading the door. Clearly, it shouldn't matter to him like that.
It still really, really hurts. It's the sort of pain he's barely had to deal with since it finally healed, stabbing from the side of his foot up to his knee. he spends as much time in the rigging as physically possible, to try and keep the weight off of it.
They go on a raid. He steals a sword from the general crew's stockpile and it...it works but it's not his and he wants *his*. He wants the sword Edward gave him ten years ago, the sword he's kept in perfect condition ever since.
One of his shirts goes missing. If there was any more secure room on the boat for him to sleep in, he would; he's barely sleeping as it is, now, with the knowledge that nothing can keep people out.
His room isn't safe. If someone can get in to steal someone can get in for worse
He breaks out the cane the morning he can't stand up without pain. It doesn't do enough to get rid of the pain, but it does enough that he can get out of his room.
He can hear the crew calling him old behind his back. It hurts, especially when Ed walks past them and makes no comment. Clearly, it was fine with his captain, so it was fine with him.
He thinks maybe it isn't fine.
He's barely sleeping. He's eating, at least, if only because he can't deal with them laughing when he doesn't eat the food that is always cold or too spicy or just tastes *awful*. He's long since torn open the fragile skin on his foot again and it aches with every step.
His leg aches. He almost is stabbed; the sword is shorter than his and he's still not used to it. He wakes up and there's no watch and he about has a heart attack.
When he can't sleep now, he sits on the deck. at least he's productive. At least someone would hear him scream.
He tries not to let it bother him, he does. He works through the pain and the hunger and the exhaustion. He's exhausted and somewhere deep in the soul he tries to bury a Lot, it hurts.
He doesn't threaten them anymore. He doesn't stab anyone. he does more than his job.
It could be worse, of course; he still wears the marks of displeasure from previous crews but it hurts, somehow, that he's too broken for the soft band of idiots that Stede had accumulated. That even when he's trying, he deserves nothing but ridicule and laughter.
He wakes up convinced there's someone there. There isn't, but he still curls protectively around his damaged foot and stares at the door until the sun rises.
It's possible he's not doing *wonderfully*
It's maybe three and a half weeks after this bullshit begins that Izzy cracks.
He wakes up, rolls over, grabs his shirt, reaches for the pocket he uses as storage.
His ring isn't there. For just an instant, Izzy seriously considers mass murder.
He has his sword in his hand as he reaches for the cane next to the door and
And his cane is gone. He can barely bring himself to care about that, if he's being honest, because the only thing he can feel right now is 'where is it where is it where is it where is it.'
He hobbles up to the deck, painfully aware how disheveled he looks. He can already hear someone cackling and he hates it but he's scanning the deck frantically as if it will be somewhere obvious as if it isn't already gone and he's never going to get it back and and and
He's jerked back into awareness by Stede's hand on his elbow. "Izzy, dear, are you alright?" He asks and somehow that's what does it; Izzy *shatters*.
"Of fucking COURSE I'm not alright." he roars. "Your good-for-nothing pile of fucking assholes is gonna get skinned this time."
"Woah, Woah, what" Ed is there as Stede takes a step back and looks vaguely horrified. Stede opens his mouth to say something and Edward shakes his head, Stede falling silent. He can still hear the crew laughing (He isn't sure if they even are. Maybe he's finally gone mad)
Ed is staring at him, or at least Izzy thinks he is, but he looks *gentle* and that means it can't be at him. "Iz. What's up? What's happening man?" Izzy shakes his head; he's so tired and he's in so much pain and he's shaking so hard he thinks he might fall over.
Ed looks him up and down and then he stills. "Iz." His voice is oh-so-soft. "Iz, where the fuck's your ring?"
Izzy falls to his knees and *Clings* to the edge of his coat. "Please" he begs. "Please I didn't lose it they took it I'm sorry *please* Edward I wouldn't lose it you know I wouldn't I'm sorry please don't be angry please."
"Fuck, Iz." Ed tugs him closer, till Izzy's face is hidden in his legs so no one else can see his tears. No one gets to see Izzy like this.
"Shhh, shh, mate. I'm not mad." he soothes. "I know you wouldn't lose it, Iz, fuck. I know." He pauses, as if finally hearing him. "who?"
"I don't know" Izzy wails. Ed can feel his tears through the silk pants and tightens his grip as Izzy whimpers. "They...I thought I was being...better but they keep...they keep takin' my stuff and I'm so tired and I just want something to taste good and I know I deserve it but.."
He trails off, sniffling miserably into Ed's knees. He looks so fucking small, like this, and Ed is going to *kill* whoever did this to his first mate.
He turns just his head; he is not making Izzy move for anything.
"If his ring is not in my hand in five seconds, I am keelhauling every fucking one of you until I find out who has it. And then they're getting it again."
"Edward, we do not keelhaul people!" Stede protested and Ed *growled*. "We don' fuckin' steal from 'em or torture 'em either, do we? 'cept my goddamn first mate, apparently! LOOK AT HIM stede! What the FUCK have your fucking morons been doing to him if not torturing him?"
Izzy mewls. Ed is seeing red; someone has hurt his Izzy. No one hurts his Izzy. No one *breaks* his Izzy (and his Izzy is clearly perilously close to shattering).
Lucius puts the ring in his hand. Ed is thankfully close enough to pin him to the wall, hand around his throat without forcing Izzy to stop hiding in his knees.
"I don' know what the fuck you fucking pricks have been doing to him. But if you don't start treating your first mate like a goddamn part of your crew, you can find a new one." He snarls.
He holds it for just a moment before releasing him because Izzy is still shaking.
"C'mon, Iz." his voice has gone soft again. "c'mere, that's it" he pulls him up, and down the steps, because no one gets to see Izzy upset.
He unties his cravat carefully, threads the ring on, and secures it to the base of his throat. Izzy reaches up to touch it, bursts into tears.
"I know, I know" Ed soothes, dragging a hand through Izzy's hair. "Shhh, that's it, c'mere mate. C'mere, you're safe, I gotcha." he settles Izzy in his arms and strokes his hair as Izzy whimpers into his chest. "you're alright, there you go. Just breathe."
Izzy shutters. "I'm sorry, Captain" his voice is tiny and wretched. "No, Iz. Don't. I...how long has this been going on?"
"Few weeks. They took my boot Ed. And my cane" It comes out a little whiney but he thinks it's justified. Ed growls.
"Fuck, Iz." ed whispers. "I'm so sorry, Iz." he buries his face in Izzy's hair and tries not to cry. "I should've noticed. What've they been doing? Gotta figure out how to fucking make them regret it." Izzy bites his lip but Ed is patient.
"They took my boot. Food's been fuckin' shit for weeks. They keep leavin' the watch. They've been movin' my shit around. They took my *sword*, ed." He gives an aching sound and Edward has to force himself not to go wring someone's neck right now.
"Fuck, Iz. I'm so sorry, mate." He drags a hand gently over Izzy's shoulder. "Can I try and help the foot out?" Izzy nods, turning so he's half in Ed's lap. Ed starts massaging his foot the way Izzy always has done for his leg.
Izzy makes a sound so relieved it's nearly obscene.
He shutters and goes limp under Edward's careful ministrations. "There we go, that's better, hm?" "Yessir."
He waits till the worst of the pain in Izzy's expression has faded. He eases him down, Izzy's head pillowed in his lap, stroking his hair.
Finally, *finally*, he sleeps
Ed eases Izzy's head onto the pillow and tucks a blanket over him. Then he picks up his sword, and goes to get dressed.
He slams his sword into the boards between Lucius' feet, snarling viciously. "I should cut your goddamn balls off with this." He roars. "I should feed you to the fucking sharks."
Lucius takes a step back. Ed has to resist the urge to actually throw him off the boat, because if Stede gets upset Izzy will *never* forgive himself for somehow being the cause.
That doesn't mean he can't grab the man by the jaw and shove him against the mast. Like this, in his leathers, he is every bit Blackbeard.
"Let me make it Very. Very. Very. Clear. Izzy. Is. Mine. The next person to hurt him in *any* way gets a one-way ticket off of this boat. Permanently. Is. That. Clear." He can hear the crew agreeing but he doesn't look up as he drops Lucius to the deck in a gasping heap.
"You." He glares down at Lucius."Are getting whatever Izzy decides the worst chores are for the foreseeable future. I would expect a lot of late night watches in your future. And that goes for whoever has been helping; if I find out you said nothing I swear to the fucking gods."
"I expect his things with an apology letter in my quarters before he wakes up. And you better fucking beg for forgiveness."
He spits on his boot, turns, and stalks over to the rest of the crew.
"who. helped." He's beyond relieved when Fang and Ivan don't raise their hands, and beyond furious when The Swede, Pete, and Jim raise their hands.
He shoes Jim aside pretty quickly; he doesn't fucking care if they left the watch to freak Izzy out Once, that pales in comparison to the rest of this bullshit.
The other two, though...
He doesn't touch them. He doesn't need to. By the time he's done describing how they'll be skinned if it happens again, in vivid detail, both (and to be fair most of the crew) look ill.
"Roach. Please make Izzy some food that tastes like actual food. And a chocolate cake."
Izzy can bitch about the food wasted all he wants. He's getting fucking cake if Ed has to make it himself (but it wouldn't be very good, then, so he's glad he doesn't have to.)
He walks back to his quarters and gathers Izzy up into his arms without a second thought. Izzy's eyes flutter but he stays asleep, which is a good sign of how tired he really is.
Stede creeps back into the room, pulling a chair up to the side of the bed. "I...Edward, dear, I feel like I may be slightly behind on what's occurring?"
"Your fucking idiots have been harassing my first mate. They stole his fucking cane, Stede! By the sounds of it, he's been eating fucking awful shit for weeks! They can't fucking do this, man!"
"I know Iz can be prickly but you've even said you saw how hard he's trying! And THIS IS WHAT THEY DO WHEN HE'S FUCKING TRYING?" He's too loud, he knows it, but the fury is boiling over now. They *hurt* his Izzy and he hadn't even come to Ed so Ed could help.
"Alright. I'm going to go...speak to the crew." There's a fire in Stede's eyes.
Ed doesn't need to watch this, he decides. He's quite happy right here, where he can know with absolute certainty that *nothing* is going to hurt his first mate.
Stede stalks up onto the deck, eyes dark and furious. He meets the crew's eyes and says very simply, "If any of you ever do that to anyone on this crew ever again you are fired. You don't have to like First Mate Hands, but you are not allowed to harm him physically OR emotionally."
"I will be docking the pay of those responsible" He glares at Lucius with absolute fury on his face. It's scary. "For the next three months. And I hope you are all prepared to be doing a *lot* of hard work to make up for it."
Roach has brought up the food, by now, so Stede brings it down. Izzy is awake now, still in Ed's lap, eyes wide. "Did you...really go tell them off?" "Of course I did, darling. They were awful to you."
Izzy's eyes are huge but terrified as he stares at the plate. Stede's eyes soften and he grasps a fork, taking a bite from both the cake and the roasted meats and potatoes. "They're good, darling." Izzy visibly relaxed and took up his own fork.
He ate the first bite slowly, as if he genuinely thought this might still be some awful prank, but then he was eating with the desperation of someone who finally remembered what it was supposed to be like.
"What can we do, Iz?" Ed's voice is soft and Izzy trembles. "I...I don't...my room isn't safe." he manages, softly, tipping back into Ed's chest and trembling. "I...I don't...they keep..."
"Alright, shh" a hand strokes down his side. "Okay. That's okay. we got you."
The door opened slowly and Izzy flinched. "Easy, Iz." Lucius crept into the room and placed Izzy's cane, boot, shirt, and sword on the ground with an envelope on top. "Sword here." Izzy managed and then it was in his hands. He curled around the sheathed blade and shook.
"Alright. Shh, c'mon Iz, you can't sleep like this. C'mon mate, I'll put it right here." He coaxed the sword from Izzy's hands onto the bedside table and lay down cradling him to his chest. Izzy hid his face in Ed's chest before seeming to remember Stede and glancing at him.
Stede gave him a soft smile. "Why don't you two take a nice nap? I'm going to go supervise the crew. We can handle making sure the miscreants get the appropriate tasks for punishment tomorrow."
Izzy gives a hesitant nod, and Stede smiles down at them. He leans forward to press an impulsive kiss to Izzy's forehead, leaving the smaller man blinking in confusion, and then he's gone.
He isn't given very much time to panic; Ed hauls him in as close as he can get. "If anyone pulls this shit again, you tell me." "Yessir."
Tomorrow, he'll put the right boot on and take his cane and his sword and walk up to the deck. Tomorrow, he'll try and decide what jobs Bonnet's crew are likely to think are the worst. Tomorrow, he'll try and make his room feel safe again.
Today for once in his long, miserable life, he rests.