Light from the afternoon sun filtered through the singed trees that once surrounded the beautiful property. The light and shadows danced along a ten foot tall giant standing in the middle of the burned down study. Law froze in place as he took in the frightful looming figure. He couldn't make out much aside from a large coat puffed up like a crow's chest. The feathers rustled in the slight breeze. Slowly the figure started to turn away from the bookshelves and face the tiny boy.
Blood turned to ice in the child's veins. He wanted to run, to save himself and hide in the concrete room back at the police station, but his legs had turned to stone. All he could do was stare up at the painted face that stared back at him. The tall man wore an angry expression as his eyes narrowed. He was lean, tall, and had a long, thin smile painted in red on his face. Law could feel dread well up inside him at the man's odd appearance. His grey eyes jumped around the man's whole being, trying to take in every detail to retell to the police later. If there was a later, he feared.
A loud slam sounded through the burnt building as the tall figure closed the book in his hands. Law hadn't even noticed before, but it was one of his dad's medical journals. Why was this man here? Why was he disrespecting his dad's study and life work? His tiny hands balled up into fists at his side. He wanted to shout at the stranger who was intruding on such a sacred place. Before he could, the man took two large steps and stopped right in front of the boy. Any and all emotions other than fear flushed out of his body as he stood next to the man. His size was daunting, much like the criminals back at the station, Law was an ant in comparison. He didn't even come up to the other man's knees. His tiny eyes widened in horror. What could such a scary, large man want with him?
The stranger crouched down to what had to be an uncomfortable stance. His knees bent fully trying to frame his body, his face dropping nearly to the same height as Law's own. It was only then, while the two were inches apart, that the kid saw heavy scaring that marked up the man's face. The tips of his lips had been split and torn across his cheeks. A large scar was burned into his skin just under his right eye, thinly masked by purple makeup.
Something clinical overwhelmed the tiny child. He no longer saw a huge stranger, but instead a patient that he needed to unlock the mystery behind. What scaring he could see under the thick red lipstick was old and ridged. What ever happened occurred long ago. Most likely someone with a shaking hand or someone who was untrained tried to leave slow cuts on the man's face. Law could see what appeared to be the residue of stitches from the time. Tiny holes dotted the top and bottom of each scar. The job was far from medical quality. He had seen this poor first aide before from a patient who tried to patch themselves up after a bad work accident.
Law didn't even notice his hand was reaching out towards the scarred cheek in front of him until the man stopped him. A small notebook with a message written on the pages was held up between them. "Scram kid" was scrawled out in messy handwriting on the lined page. Trafalgar read this out loud and looked back at the still angry man in front of him. "I will not!" He spat out in anger. Suddenly he felt braver. "This is my dad's study. I have every right to be here."
"Leave brat. I have work to do." The stranger quickly scrawled out on the page. He tossed the note pad on the ash covered floor near Law's feet as the man drew up to his full height once more. He turned his back to Law and started to rifle through the contents of the bookcases.
Trafalgar felt a painful fire burn in his chest as he struggled to breath. Tears raced down his face as he stared at that stupid note pad. Who did this guy think he was? More importantly what could a small kid like him do to get rid of the man defacing the only thing left of his dad?
He heard a dull thunk sound as a medical book was casually tossed over the man's shoulder. The pages were bent in odd directions as the debris and ash painted the book. "How dare you treat my dad like that!" Law screamed. He meant to say his dad's study. He really did. But this place was the very epitome of his father. Absorbed in his work yet always a beacon for Law and Lami. He had so many memories of his dad pouring over books and paperwork in his room. All the medical lessons he gave and how his door was always open to listen to the kid's dreams, nightmares, worries, and even just casual conversations. Seeing the books treated so lowly as the stranger tossed another one into a pile of collapsed ceiling left the kid seeing red.
"Get out!" Law demanded. He rushed up to the gigantic man and started pounding his tiny fists against scrawny legs. "Leave my dad alone!" He cried through a face full of salt water and snot. Law felt himself fly through the room and slam into a shaky wall. A chunk of scorched debris fell on top of his. The stranger had kicked him and man did that hurt!
Law wasn't done. He jumped back up and ran at the tall man. His tiny hands grasped at a metal pipe that was left from the fire. Before he could bring it down with his full force, a large hand scooped him up by the scruff of his neck. Trafalgar struggled and strained against the stranger's grip. After quickly realizing he was stuck he gasped out at the livid man who held him tightly. "I'll help you find what you want, just leave?" He cried out in defeat. His face and eyes already burned from how many tears he had shed.
Terrifying red eyes stared at the boy as he swung in his grip. Seconds felt like hours as the stranger looked the boy over. Finally he let the boy go. While Law fell onto the floor the man scooped up the note pad from earlier and started scratching out another message. "You can just tell me, ya know?" Law offered as he dusted himself off. He jumped back in fear as the stranger snapped his head back to him. His hands started moving rapidly. The kid recognized the movements enough to realize the man was using sign language. He was far from fluent, but his class taught him the bare basics. He quickly and clumsily signed back "sorry" as he said it out loud as well.
The stranger rolled his eyes and threw the note pad at the boy. "You're dad was hired to do some research for my boss. Any clue where his latest research journal is?" Law read and reread the page. He didn't remember his dad ever doing research for anyone else. In fact his dad only ever took interest in questions he asked himself.
"I doubt you'll find anything like that mister." Law answered as he handed the note pad back. "My dad was researching my sister's condition last. It's right here." Law hesitantly walked past the large man and to the bookshelf closest to the desk. He thumbed through a few of the burned books and picked out a thick journal with lots of notes that stuck out of it. Law went to hold it up, but a large hand snatched it out of his hands. The large man rushed through the pages looking at the words and entries. He hadn't even gone through the whole thing before slamming the journal on the ash covered floor.
A hand reached out for his note pad as he hastily scratched out "Not that one!" He shoved the note in Law's face for a second before pulling back and writing on the next page. "Think long and hard. Was there another journal your dad kept for a new drug?"
"I don't..." Fear crept into Law's voice as he tried to answer. "That's the only one I know of. We were working on it together. He doesn't keep things from me." Law tried to stitch words together in his panicked state, but he could only get out slightly understandable sentences.
The tall stranger's foot connected with the desk right next to Law and shoved the whole thing with a loud KACHUNK. The kid cowered in on himself, hiding under his hat and arms. He shook in fear for his life. His mind started racing. That really was the only journal Law knew his dad was working on. Or... Now that he thought of it, he did find a journal awhile back. His dad got angry when Law was found studying it, which was odd since his dad usually encouraged it.
Law chanced a glance through his arms up at the stranger who was now throwing things around the burnt office. He had turned towards the kid and looked like his rampage was about to make a direct course towards the child. "W-WAIT!" Law yelled out. "I think I know where it is!" The older man's hand stilled in the air just inches away from Law's tear stained face. "He..." Trafalgar swallowed a lump in his throat before continuing. "He kept one that I wasn't supposed to mess with. It's in the safe last time I checked."
The stranger grabbed the kid by the shoulder and pulled him up to his feet. He signed something that Law guessed was along the lines of "Show me" or "Where is it". The kid pulled out one of the bottom drawers of the desk and reached in the empty space between where the drawer was and the floor. Tiny hands produced a small metal box that was tightly locked.
"The key is on top of that shelf there." Law said as he pointed to a near by book shelf. The tall stranger effortlessly slid his hand over the top, knocking much of the ash and burnt house off of it. A smell metal key clinked against the ground in a flash of silver. The large man tossed Law the key and he quickly opened the safe up. He picked a smaller journal out of the safe and looked it over. It was far smaller and less decorated than what his dad usually wrote it, but this was definitely the one he remembered being yelled at over. His hands shakily handed the journal over to the stranger.
The man thumbed through the book and looked over the writing. He suddenly seemed content with what he was holding. The tall stranger turned on his heels and offered a vague wave as he started towards the door Law had left open. The kid couldn't believe that was all it took to get rid of him. "Wait..." The word left his lips before he even noticed he was speaking.
The stranger turned around slightly annoyed. "What do you want with that? It's not even finished."
"Need it." The man wrote on the pad before trying to leave once again.
"It's not even finished. I don't know what it's supposed to cure, but that drug isn't finished yet."
This caught the stranger's attention suddenly. He scribbled on his pad and held it out for Law once again. "You know it's a drug?" Law nodded and another note followed. "Forget what you know about this journal and leave." The demand threw Law off guard.
He couldn't believe this stranger would ask him to forget something of his dads. Anger welled inside him and he launched forward. His hands wrenched it out of the unsuspecting man's hands and he held it to his chest as he raced halfway through the burned down house. "You forget it then!" Law didn't know much, but he was fairly certain this man was a mean evil old guy. He didn't want his dad's research to fall into his hands.
The stranger started to use his long legs to close the distance between them. The look on his face was less than friendly. He held one hand out in a "Give it to me" kind of way. Law's grey eyes darted around the burned room as he tried to think. He threw the book open and tore out the pages. This caused the man to suddenly stop. Law took the opportunity to shove the pages in his mouth and eat them.
The tall man rushed over trying to force Law's mouth open. The two struggled in the burnt living room. Somewhere along the way Law felt his side smash into a table they kept near the front entrance. He was pretty sure he had smacked the man's face a few times but his eyes were closed for most of it. In the end, Law had swallowed a hand full of pages from the journal. Many more were torn when the two of them fought over the book that now laid in pieces smothered in damp ashes and burnt house debris.
"Now only I know his research! You'll never have it." Law yelled out. He bit the man's hand trying to get loose. All he needed was a few seconds to slip out and race down the law and drive way. If he could just get to the street he'd be close enough to the rest of the neighbors. They'd surely hear his yelling and come to his aid. All he had to do was get free.
The stranger took more from that outburst than Law meant for him to. He had accidentally let it be known that he had in fact studied his dad's forbidden journal. This child prodigy was about to learn that being smart wasn't always a good thing. The kid suddenly felt the man's hands wrap around his neck. Small hands scratched at the bigger ones that held him in place. The world was quickly getting darker and farther away. He struggled with all his might but found that his strength was leaving him.
Small grey hands scanned over the dilapidated house he once called a home. The black ash was soon the only thing he saw as his lungs burned for air. His head fell to the side in the stranger's grasp as he lost consciousness.
