White Knight
Black Pete/Lucius | 1.5k words | Rated T
Warnings: Ed gets shot but he’s very much okay
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They had only been aboard the revenge for a couple of minutes, and it was already turning to shit. Everyone was shouting over each other and Pete was pretty sure this was going to end in a fight. Blackbeard had like, ten more guys on his crew and they looked mean too. Izzy was the only one in the group talking, but they were all squared up like they were ready to fight. Blackbeard was there too, of course, and he looked… he looked a little weird actually. Kinda bummed out. He was just staring at Captain who kept on trying to talk to him, but Blackbeard wouldn’t answer.
“At a minimum,” Stede’s high voice rises above the din, “We’re here for our crewmembers. Jim, Frenchie, and Lucius will be coming with us.”
“Yeah, where’s Lucius!” Pete shouts to make sure he's heard, because there’s Frenchie and Jim, both looking pretty cool in their new black get-ups, but no Lucius.
Izzy glances at him and chuckles, then turns back to Stede.
“Lucius is dead,” Izzy spits, “Blackbeard killed the ponce.”
Pete stands there stock still for a moment, the sound of the crew’s angry shouting is like a distant echo as his head goes fuzzy. He hadn’t believed it. Everyone had been tiptoeing around it because no one had seen Lucius for a full day before they’d been stranded. But Pete hadn’t for a second believed it possible that he was actually dead.
He doesn’t think. He can’t. Instead, he raises his pistol.
It’s loaded despite Stede’s instructions that this was to remain peaceful at all costs. Blackbeard sees the movement, turns towards Pete, and Izzy moves fast but it’s too late. Izzy’s sword comes down on his gun the moment he pulls the trigger - in that spit second pulling his aim from Ed’s skull to his chest before the bullet’s path is set, but that’s good too.
Izzy’s shout of rage is almost as loud as Stede’s, not quite, but that all sounds far away too. Pete sees Stede break rank and rush to Blackbeard's side who is collapsing to the ground. Izzy lunges for Pete with murderous eyes. His face is twisted with anguish. Pete dodges the first strike, reckless and sloppy, and then the back swing is –
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“Can I stay here for a minute?”
“Course you can, Pete… c’mere.”
The dream swims into the memory it belongs to as he starts to wake up.
“You don’t have to pretend with me.”
Lucius had said it so simply.
“You can be as macho as you want out there. But when we’re alone you can just… do what feels nice.”
Lucius had held him, Pete’s head cradled on his chest in a forgotten corner of the ship made comfortable with a pile of torn sails and a single lit candle.
“Does this feel nice?”
“Feels nice,” Pete says out loud, something gentle touching the side of his head. When he opens his eyes, he sees stars glittering above him, or maybe shards of heaven’s light.
“You stupid idiot,” a voice says, affectionate and close to his face.
Pete breathes a sigh of relief.
Dead then, he thinks, was bound to happen eventually. At least I’m dead with him.
Lucius’s face eclipses the light reflecting above him.
“Shooting the scariest man on the fucking ocean…” Lucius says shaking his head and wiping Pete’s face with a wet cloth.
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