Writing Prompts – One Piece Series

A/N: Here's my collection of prompts inspired by One Piece. A lot of them were half-assed, but who knows, some may end up being developed into longer fics in the future. The prompts in this chapter were inspired by my fanfic Critical Hit – they were written as either prequels to the fic or set somewhere during its timeline. They're an expansion of the headcanons I established about the Critical Hit universe and I hope you enjoy reading about them as much as I enjoyed revisiting the fic.

Puppy Love (#95)

He felt like a complete idiot for acting the way he was. Butterflies in the stomach were for love-sick teenagers, not for grown men with stubble, permanent bags under the eyes and dealings in illegal organ harvesting. And the focus of his affections was hardly the type of guy he'd have bought a poster of and stuck up on his wall as an adolescent either. Shocking red hair, a nose which looked like it'd been broken twice in both directions and never healed properly, and a body almost too ripped. Note the almost. For all his arrogance there was an easy charm about the arms dealer and, well, let's face it; his current occupation considered, there was no way he'd ever want to settle down with a civilian. The nuclear family and white picket fence really didn't appeal to him. He wanted danger, he wanted excitement, and most of all he wanted someone that had an instant chemistry with him. And for Trafalgar Law, Eustass Kidd was an excellent fit.

A Dark Alley (#40)

"Is that everything? … Yeah, I'm just on my way to the rendezvous point now so I'll give you a ring once it's over. … I'll be fine goddamnit, I've been in this business as long as you have, remember? I can take care of myself. … Shut up, that was one time, you can't just – fuck!"

Trafalgar Law's phone conversation was cut off by a hard impact to the back of his neck with what he assumed was a fist, phone flying out of his hand in shock and scattering across the ground as he stumbled forward. As he struggled to right himself he caught sight of movement ahead and to the right of him, and twisted his body to the side so his right shoulder took the brunt of his assailant's punch. He hit out at the shadowy figure in front of him with his left fist, but only found empty air. Law spun sideways, his back to the wall to give himself a slight tactical advantage.

"I don't have any money on me, so if you just leave me alone now it doesn't have to go any further than this."

"Hah, and they call you the Surgeon of Death? You don't look all that deadly to me." A deep male voice with a distinct Cockney accent spoke from his left, obviously belonging to the person who'd hit him in the back of the neck. Law then knew that this wasn't just a mugging; he'd been targeted, and these guys were out for blood. Bracing himself for impact he looked between the two hooded men, faces indistinguishable in the misty evening light, and tried to figure out who would attack first. The man on his left swung a punch which he ducked to avoid, but the other closed the short distance between them quicker than he could get his bearings and then there was a boot in his abdomen and a crack as the back of his skull hit the wall behind him.

Law wasn't sure how long the men were working him; after the fourth or fifth punch to the mouth and multiple feet in his gut his sight got hazy and he begun to lose track. Sure, he tried to defend himself by bringing his arms up to his face and his knees into his chest, but that did little to ease the pain and much to his displeasure he could no longer hold in moans and grunts of pain, tears burning in the corners of his eyes.

That is, until a gun was fired. Even when muffled by a silencer the sound still echoed between the high walls of the alleyway and his attackers, obviously not expecting company turned to face the new arrival, bloody fists raised.

"If you're out of my sight in five seconds, I won't shoot you." Law raised his head, albeit slowly, at the familiar voice, pinching the bridge of his nose to try and stem the steady flow of blood as his doctor's instincts kicked in.

"Yeah, and who the fuck are you? Mind your own business." The Cockney spoke up, seeming ready to fight his corner.

"Five. Because, sunshine, I'm Eustass Kidd. Four. Also known as The Captain; you may have heard of me. Three. And even in this shitty lighting I could still shoot you through the heart at fifty feet. Two. So I suggest you run along. One." Kidd lowered his gun as his opponents ran away, but not before firing a further two shots; the sound of their footsteps running away became erratic and uneven as their right legs, now accommodating one bullet each, became dead weights. He made his way over to Law, crouching beside him and removing his hand from his nose, which had stopped bleeding.

"Why'd you let them go?" Law demanded.

"Because," Kidd started as he gently eased the doctor forward, gingerly checking the back of his head for any wounds which needed immediate attention, "They're small fry, and word travels fast, and they'll spread the word that nobody fucks with us and gets off lightly."

"Or they'll tell people I'm a complete pussy, as well as vulnerable without my knight in shining armour turning up to rescue me."

"I'm not your protector, Law, I'm your partner. We do this shit together, understand?" Kidd extended a hand which Law used to pull himself up onto his feet, ignoring as best he could the throbbing ache in his gut and sides and the way the walls of the dark alley started to spin.

"Well, to be fair, I am the brains of this operation." He said with a smirk, keeping hold of the others' hand to help maintain his balance.

"Hah, you're obviously not that badly hurt if you're coherent enough to bitch at me." That earned him a punch to the shoulder.

"Shut up and get me home, Kidd. I dripped blood on my chest and this is my favourite hoodie."

Self-Gratification (#12)

He knew it was dangerous. Law knew that, by going to bed with this man, this brutish man, he was putting everything he'd built at risk. His team, his business, his way of life…all of it could disappear in the blink of an eye if he ended up on the wrong side of this man. When he'd been approached at Doflamingo's club that night he should have turned him away, finished his drink and left, before he discovered the fiery redhead's identity. Because that was the dangerous element to this whole arrangement: Law knew who Eustass Kidd was, and that now made him a liability and a target. If anything went wrong in his business Law knew he'd be first to face Kidd's firing squad.

But still, knowing all this, Law continued to see him. Why? Well, he was never very good at denying himself life's pleasures.

Big Strong Hands (#57)

No matter what kind of fucked up, shitty situation they'd managed to get themselves into, Law never felt worried when he was with Kidd. It was stupid to be so reckless, he knew that, and the redhead delighted in reminding him of it afterwards, but when a deal went sour seeing the others' big strong hands comfortably wrapped around a gun told him they were gonna get out of it ok.