The Hunter and the Pirate (Pirate!England x Reader)

Old Friends, New Enemies

Alfred is passed out on the bed in the inn your crew is frequenting. Probably for the best. The emotional rush at seeing Arthur had worn off, and now you were wondering how Alfred was going to react to knowing you, one of his most trusted friends, was conspiring to bust his seemingly "worst enemy" out of prison.

You purse your lips. It didn't really matter. You knew that Arthur was hardly the monster that Alfred made him out to be, and you could only hope that one day the two would make up. Of course, that would never happen if Arthur swung from the Capital's noose.

Which is why you decided to take preemptive action.

You take a mental note of everything you're going to need to escape. There's not much. Money mainly.

You wince. Well, money being one of the easier things to get. You're still mulling over the possibility of commandeering a Capital ship.

Well, first things first. Get Arthur.

You slip out of the inn without a problem, making out with your crew's money like a bandit. You barely have time to think about how much of a difference half a year had made. If that. You never would've imagined that you would eventually steal from your own crewmates.

Making your way to the prison wasn't a problem. Snatching the keys off of the sleeping guard wasn't a problem. Even getting to Arthur's cell and unlocking all the locks wasn't a problem.

Moving Arthur, however, was.

You hadn't realized how malnourished he was. Using all of his strength, he was only able to hobble along while leaning on you for support. And despite Arthur having lost a lot of weight, he still was taller than you, and he was all but a dead weight. Well, this was going to be a stealth mission then.

And if the guy would stop breathing so heavily, that would be great.

Unfortunately for you, the guard woke up pretty quick, and now you were dodging between buildings, watching guards stomp by as they looked for Arthur while you simultaneously tried to figure out how to get to a ship. You wince to yourself. You also kind of needed a crew for that too, you guessed.

Meanwhile, Arthur was swinging his dead weight around almost a comical amount. You knew even this slight physical exercise after having been bedridden for weeks with minimal food was probably taxing on him, but for heaven's sakes could he stop panting?

You are about to round another corner when you see shadows and quickly pull yourself and Arthur back, clasping a hand over his mouth in an attempt to silence him. You hear voices fade in and out, two voices in an earnest conversation. Your stomach drops the minute you're able to make them out.

"... sure that she's the one behind it."

Dammit. That was Gilbert's voice.

"This? No way."

And there was Albert's curt reply. There was no way he didn't have an inkling of what was going on. Despite his occasional idiocy, Alfred was dangerously sharp. A trait that made him an excellent first mate. And a trait that was working against you at the moment. You guessed the only reason he was denying your involvement was because... well, because he wanted to deny it.

"But listen, Alfred, she's the only one who would have the skillset to actually break him out—"

"Why?"

"... Alfred, I don't kno—"

"Why?"

The shadows stop moving. Arthur quietly whimpers behind your hand, and you in turn quietly shush him. He was probably slightly delirious at this point. Goodness, were all prisoners treated this horribly?