A Renegade Loves
Warning :-
May you be warned of somewhat adult(but a bit addled) themes and violence.
It's set in the modern world. AU. Doffy is a gang boss. Law works for him.
Also I've no clue how much is too much. Forgive any non-warning on my part.
It's the next morning. The blinds are drawn and the room is dark but Law can hear the chirping of birds. The clock on the opposite wall shows 05:00. He hears the whistling sound of the coffee pot.
He's up again in his pants, boots and undershirt but try as much as he wants, he cannot trace his jacket. The location of his shirt he has a very good idea about considering a flimsy blue frock that is still on the floor. He picks it up, neatly folds it and places it on the arm of the sofa.
Now where was his jacket?
He's ruffling through anything and everything he can, trying not to disturb a thing nor leave fingerprints on the crooked stuff(tough, that).
Where had he kept it last?
Oh yeah! The bathroom.
Before he can make his way there a beautiful smiling blond head appears from behind the partition.
"So, would you like your eggs scrambled or boiled?"
"No bread", is all Law says.
Addled -_- delddA
Law was walking down the street looking for a particular apartment. The previous afternoon. In broad daylight. A solstice day in summer.
The building, it was half empty. Lucky, Law thinks to himself.
He lives on the twelfth floor in a studio apartment. No neighbors.
It's his hideout and prime business unit.
Law rings the bell.
A man with a scruffy stubble and hungover look answers. Not noticing Law properly he tells him he hasn't a thing to buy. Interesting point, Law notes it to ponder over later. Do these fancy people get harried by salesmen too? Joker wouldn't. Security made sure of it. But then again, there would've been too many corpses to hide.
This particular artist was in high demand as of now.
Apart from that he was a man of prominence, a man with connections pretty high up. In a sense a man who was immune to most judgements were they ever levied.
Though Doffy issued the orders, Cora-san gave him the thumbs up for this mission. This guy was the worst of the worst it seemed. Apart from drug trade, his crimes were pretty unmentionable. And he was perfectly immune to the arrest of the police with whom Cora-san and now he and the heart faction of the gang were secretly affiliated.
"I'm here to talk.", Law says calmly.
"Get outta my sight...", comes the drunken drawl."Who sent you anyway?"
Law carefully puts his foot in the gap of the entrance before replying, "Joker."
Ouch!
Even with his boots it felt like a few bones broke.
"To talk. Only.", Law says in a calm tone, hiding his expletives in a careful bid to gain entrance. "Won't take long", he adds in a reassuring manner.
The man, wary, opens the door wider and makes his greatest mistake.
He turns his back to Law when going in.
Law tuts in mock irritation.
'If you're gonna be careful, be so all the way through' is Law's motto.
Murder x_x redruM
The studio was a large room with the kitchen area separated by a partition and the rest strewn with odds and ends including a sofa that had blankets across it and a covered painting-in-progress.
He finished the job pretty quick. The artist sat neatly packaged in his own bathtub, ready for dispatch. The air-conditioning was on full and he'd filled the tub with just enough ice to last till midnight.
Law'd cleaned himself as well as he could. As he patted his face dry he felt his blood freeze over.
What the...
The doorbell rang.
Nobody was supposed to come today. They'd researched it thoroughly.
His assistant had been taken care of the night before.
So who?
05:30
When the ringing persists for some more time Law opens the door.
Better get rid of...A young pretty girl in a flimsy frock?
"So you must be Master's new assistant, Theo. Pleased to meet you. I'm Liza."
Setup ^_^ puteS
Just how did things end up this way?
Law was used to messed up jobs but this was beyond him.
She was petite and beautiful. She had long golden hair left open. Her eyes were a strange shade of purple. She had an extreme case of optimism. And she had grown infatuated with him within these two hours. He wanted to hit his head. Hard.
"Where's Master?", was the first thing she had asked him.
"He's gone out. Business", Law'd lied.
Oh, yes. I wasn't scheduled to come...", she says cheerfully.
"Would you be drawing me then...", she adds in wide-eyed wonder, a little blush on her cheeks.
"Ahh...I.."
"It's ok. Master said he was going to let you give finishing touches to get a new effect.", she giggled.
He wondered now though. He stood in front of the canvas, a brush in his hand wondering what part of the painting was the girl. He'd heard this man drew only women. Heard.
There was some splayed blue streaked across the canvas which was probably her dress. A splotch of yellow like a bad egg yolk and purple and black dots were the only other indications of some human anatomy. The rest...was a puke green and brown with streaks of red and neon pink. The pink was probably her arms and legs considering how it stuck out of the blue at odd angles.
Just how rich had this guy got off such paintings alone again?
Law had no artistic skills as it was but what was he supposed to do? She was looking at him with the expectant eyes of a puppy.
Awkwardly he'd been drawing something randomly for a while. A sun.
Yes, she as was bright as the sun.
What the...!
What Was He Thinking?
Law suddenly regains his composure.
She'd seen his face. She would see the news about Master the next day. She'd make the connection.
It was her own fault for coming out of schedule. The Master wouldn't really have let her live as it was.
He placed the brush and pallet back by the easel. He made his way towards her. She looked a little startled.
He sat down on the sofa arm opposite her. It was a pretty low sofa he thought to himself. His feet were touching the floor too soon. The way she slouched though on the other end, almost fitting exactly...she really was petite.
He begins, hesitating a bit, "Look here, its a bit complicated but I want you to know what you've gotten yourself into."
"The drug business?", she cuts him midway, "Don't worry. I only peddle. Is the painting difficult?"
"That thing ain't a painting!", Law exclaims before realizing he'd been diverted.
She's laughing. It tinkles.
"Master said you'd disagree!", she says between breaths...laughing harder.
Law looks at her startled. That is not what he meant.
"Look. It's like this..."
"You got a wife?"
"No."
"Girlfriend."
"Noo.",
"Guy-friend?"
"NO! Now lis.."
"No problem then", she says closing the gap between them.
Adult*_*tludA
O_o
The digital face of the clock shines blue.
12:00
It's midnight.
The door opens. He'd left it unlocked after all.
A sudden thud as a clumsy man hits an oddly placed table in the dark.
Law's eyes flutter open. So do Liza's. At best though she hears the whispered word 'Joker' before her heavy lids float her back to sleep.
Law himself shuts his eyes subconsciously. He'll eventually deny whatever they tease. But now...
He's so self-conscious suddenly!
He's lying on a sofa with a girl atop him and a blanket over them both.
He can actually hear Shachi's shocked expression and Cora-san's suppressed guffaw's and chokes of...laughter(?) and Penguin's amused but business-like whisper of leaving that cleaning to the Captain whose main job was already done and carrying out their share of Joker's orders for if the body wasn't where it was supposed to be by noon, they'd be the ones hanging.
The other side of the town, by the bank. The neatly strangled body would be hanged. Traces with fingerprints matching his missing and hopefully for now unrecognizable assistant faked with gloves Law'd disposed of. Only the apartment was left to 'clean'. He'd figure a way out. Eventually this business would get buried though. The man had connections while he was alive. No true friends in real life. Nobody but his assistant would've mourned him. Both went together. The art world would only devour him now; the prices for his junk would soar. Doffy wanted him dead for payments he had no intention of making and the trouble he had promised Doffy were he pestered by Doffy again. Wrong choice of words. Poor guy. Died middle-aged and disagreeable.
Law only relaxes when he hears the click of the doorknob and their laughter out in the corridor. He tries not to feel self-conscious. She shifts a little and he puts his arms around her to keep her from falling off.
Morning+o_O+gninroM
She's sitting on his lap, her head tucked under his chin against his long neck. Her hair tickles. She's sipping slowly at her coffee, unusually quiet for her extroverted self of the day before.
It''s not the content sort of quiet. He spies her bag on the table. It's a small handbag. He saw the contents yesterday night when she'd opened it. She's missing two of her capsules.
"Won't you have your coffee. It's getting cold.", she says out of the blue.
"I'm not so much a coffee person", he replies lifting the cup nonetheless from the tray on her lap.
His one arm was around her, the other was holding aloft the morning paper that had strangely enough been delivered. It had nothing thankfully. A short article on the mutilated body in the river but nothing to identify the assistant just yet. This was his plan but that was Bellamy's job and he seemed to have gone overboard. Really overboard. What if they never discovered the identity of the guy who was an orphan with barely any records? The fingerprints were fine but Law didn't like such boring mysteries where the culprit disappeared into thin air and thus remained only a suspect. There was no thrill in it for him, the real murderer. But then again, he'd have to hide these feelings from Cora-san.
His Jacket! Cora-san or Penguin must've taken that and his cellphone away. They really were more careful than him. He'd really thrown caution to the winds this time around!
Law raises the cup to his lip, thinks the better of it and swirling it once pours most of it into her half empty cup.
She seems to stiffen. A bit offended?
He nuzzles her head with his nose.
"I prefer tea in the mornings. Green tea, no milk, no sugar. I'm a surgeon by profession, see. Coffee isn't good for bodies."
He kisses the top of her head lightly.
"Especially with poison."
Her reaction is faster than he'd anticipate.
The newspaper's on the floor. The tray and crumbs likewise. A small petite gun she'd held under it is holding his chin in an up position. Her finger on the trigger is firm.
Her face is crunched up in an odd miserable expression. Her eyes though are determined.
Law grins pleasantly at her.
"At that angle, you'd be giving me a bad time but not death."
She doesn't say a word but pulls the trigger, her breath hitching a little.
Her miserable face turns astonished when nothing much happens after a bang.
"Looking for these', Law teases pulling the bullets out of his pocket.
Her face goes pale. The gun slips from her slack fingers.
He takes the chance and pins her to the sofa. She struggles but his left hand holds both hers firm by the wrist. His knees hold her legs down. He pulls a knife out from under the sofa's cushion and holds it to her neck.
"So. Who do you work for?", he asks pleasantly.
"Why does a surgeon work as Joker's assassin?!", she shoots back, her spirit finally glowing fiery again, a pout playing on her lips.
'Yeah. That's how she is.' Law thinks to himself. 'Fiery and cheery. And soft-hearted.'
He grins at her and removing his knife kisses her. Not so surprisingly, she kisses him back.
He lets his hold slacken. Her one arm she wraps around his back. She suddenly turns them around with a force he didn't expect from her. She's sitting atop him, wearing his shirt. Smiling softly at him. He pats her head softly, she giggles, he smiles and then strokes the side of her head, her hair so silken.
Surprise _ esirpruS
*********************************************************************BANG!************************
A shot suddenly rings out.
"Aaahh!", Law cries out. His hand is bleeding.
She slumps onto the backrest of the sofa not quite dead. Her golden hair slowly turning red.
Law looks around at the entrance incredulously.
There he stands.
And how calmly he speaks.
"Rocci said you'd be fine. To leave you alone. But I guess things did get out of hand, didn't they - Law?"
Law is numb. He doesn't quite hear what Doflamingo is saying.
"She works for the King. A big-shot but potentially risky person to take business away from. Let's just say we got here but she was already dead, shall we?"
"She's not dead", Law whispers.
"What?"
He feels his numbness dive into something deep.
Anger? Hatred? Despair?
"SHE'S NOT DEAD!"
Joker +_+ rekoJ