Title: Home
Chapter 4: Death Threat
A/N: I'm really sorry everyone, but this chapter is probably going to be crap. I'm kind of short on time at the moment, so I can't beta it myself. None of the beta readers on FF seem to be replying to my messages, too. :S
It was finally time. The sun had long since set, glozing with scarlet rays in jagged, slashed patterns through the draping blinds at the window, until eventually succumbing to a dark, murky night. Robin remained seated in the corner, the rocking chair softly swinging back and forth in a slow, steady pattern, like the harsh thumps of his heart.
They'd rarely spoken since yesterday, and the unnerving silence between the two remained with venomous intent. Luffy wished himself to hate the woman, and dragged himself to despise her composed, icy façade. She'd abandoned his life, she'd led him with the false hope of friendship. The mere thought of her pathetic, callous coldness left a bitter tang at his tongue. That was all she was, that was all she could ever be; a brutal, masochistic bitch bearing only a heart of stone.
At precisely five minutes to eight, a rhythmic knock tapped on the heavy wooden door, and rung sharply, like the echo of a chiming bell. Robin swiftly stood, and Luffy seized his persistent pacing, halting mid-step.
Not a word was spoken, only a sharp nod from the heavily equipped man, with a series of guns at his belt and a crisp black and white suit garbing his stocky figure. The security agent had the darkest skin and pleasantly soft features, like sugary, warm black coffee. His oddly kind features, coupled with his tall, wide stature coexisted in a slightly unnerving ill-fitting amalgamation, but he was the kind of man you could only ever take an immediate stricken liking to, no matter how coldblooded you happened to be.
Robin coolly strode to the man, who flashed a quick, warm smile, which she serenely returned. Luffy, gritting his teeth like a raging angry wild beast, huffed in annoyance. The smaller figure stomped towards the two, and they immediately departed from the room (although Luffy hesitantly stalled, giving the despised location one last once-over).
The harsh clicks of Professor Robin's heels resounded along the freakishly white hallway, with Luffy's reluctant, tardy gait following behind, whilst the security agent, patiently marched after. The special operating room wasn't too far away, and so it only took three sharp turns along the monotonous, colorless corridors; right, left, and then a sudden, dreadful, horrendous left turn, where Robin stopped at the door, opening her long, slender palm to the identification den-den mushi embedded within the wall.
A dry, ragged pant fluttered like a fleeing butterfly at an unnerving rate with the simultaneous rapid rushing in his chest. Robin gave a soft, chiding tut.
"Calm down, Luffy," she murmured with surprising gentleness. "Your heart is accelerating at a ridiculously fast rate, if we want the operation to function at its utmost capability we'll need you in your average state."
An unfamiliar expression plastered itself at Luffy's face; one of the utmost disgust. He sneered, glaring with the accusing eyes of a child. He slicked past her, and Robin impulsively grabbed his arm. "Luffy, wait!" she cried, uncaring to their present company.
Luffy didn't try to pull away, simply turning to gaze at Robin, curiosity and hope casting a halo behind the flaring projector light behind the open doorway.
"I…I," she stuttered, staring like a rabbit caught in headlights. She sighed, bowing her head and slackening her grip. "Never mind."
Fervently keeping her long, svelte inky hair over her eyes, the young Professor could only blink rapidly, desperately wishing the blossoming tears to leave. A soft, large hand gently touched her shoulder, giving a light squeeze before departing all too soon. The security agent was far too kind, and she could only dolefully, hurriedly wipe her eyes with her sleeves.
"Thank you," she sniffled, giving a civil smile in his direction, before following Luffy in and to the waiting room.
The lights were far too bright, and she swiftly shaded her eyes, wincing at how all the whiteness seemed to reflect every single beam of artificial light and practically sear a hole within her eyeball. She could feel a migraine coming on, and, with the other hand, cupped her head, inwardly seething in a drowning puddle of self-pity and misery.
"Ah, good. Professor Robin has finally come to join us," a blonde nurse joked. Her name was something insignificant and stupid to Robin's recollection, something along the lines of 'Coco Candi' or some other trashy hooker title. She was positively extraordinarily irritating, with a fake white smile, pineapple ponytail and a horrifically obvious push-up bra. It was a wonder how she'd managed to wheedle her way into one of the most prestigious hospitals in the world.
'Probably slept with the Manager or something,' Robin internally deadpanned, shooting a subtle heated glare. "Yes, indeed I have," she then further replied, sure to add the faintest tinge of sarcasm in her dubious tone.
Nurse Coco Shandy or whatever gave a nervous, teetering giggle, clapping her arms like a retarded seal. Giving a discreet embarrassed cough at the gloomy, bored presence she was within, she immediately plastered her horrendously fake, disgusting lip-glossed smile back on.
"Anyway, I'm afraid you're going to have to remove your clothing before entering the operation room, Mr. Luffy," she smiled, as if being somehow comforting.
Luffy immediately flushed as bright as a red rose, casting a quick glance in Robin's direction. She caught his doe brown eyes, and immediately obliged his silent plea, averting her gaze to the extremely uninteresting eastern wall.
Luffy pursed his lips, scowling to the floor as his black, scruffy hair shaded his gaze. Hoisting his hospital gown slightly upwards to his thigh, and then further to the small of his back, he found the waistline of his boxers, and briefly fumbled at the small of his back, as though finding an itch. His fingers briefly caught the solid, sharp object, located precisely at the lumbar area, where a small, dainty curving handle stuck out from the elastic waistline. Casting yet another feverish, worrisome glance towards Robin, he made absolute certain she was glancing away as he abruptly flew to her side, wrapped his arms around her shoulders in a rough bear hug.
She gasped, slowly, hysterically clasping his waist in an alarmed grasp, her fingernails sharply dragging into his skin. These frenzied actions availed to absolutely no consequence, and she remembered her seastone nail polish had long since crumbled and pealed away. In a cruel twist of fate, it was her own heart rate accelerating as she faced death.
The ridiculously stupid nurse gushed like a ludicrous fan-girl. "Aw, that's so cute!" she cooed, clasping her hands together in another unintentional botched impression of an awkward seal. Luffy slowly, carefully shifted, arms still wrapped around Robin's shoulders as their clothes sheaved together in an involuntarily intimate action. His chest was now pressed to her back, and he gasped in sheer shock and terror. The three prongs placed harshly at her neck could only be what she assumed as a…fork.
"What…" the nurse frowned in confusion, tilting her head in a vastly similar movement to a naïve, little puppy. "A fork?"
"Well done," Luffy mockingly praised, his breath tickling at her ear as he lazily rested his chin on her shoulder. "And where is it placed?"
Coco-what's-her-face scowled, and then gasped, cupping her hands over her mouth. Her eyes widened desperately, and Robin inwardly screamed at her to do something!
"You got it? Well done, that's an A-star for you," Luffy chuckled. "Yosh, yosh. Can you say it out loud?"
"T…t-t-the jugular vein…"
Robin wanted to shriek and yell at this stupid woman, but she knew one unwise movement could lead to an inevitable death. The prongs of the fork were unusually acute, as if they'd been purposely sharpened to an accurate, piercing makeshift weapon. 'Don't struggle,' Robin mentally reprimanded herself, enforcing the chant into an ersatz calming lullaby. 'Don't struggle, don't struggle, don't struggle…' She gulped, harshly in taking a breath as the fork was pushed deeper.
"Spot-on," Luffy sing-songed, the vibrations of his speech ricocheting along the nape of her neck. "Now, I want you to go into the operation room and tell them that there is an unfortunate delay with the patient."
Coco gulped, eyebrows comically raised atop her brow. She teetered nervously, unsteadily swaying as if unsure of what to do.
"Well, go on," Luffy smirked. He, very, very slightly, pulled the fork away from Robin's neck, and she realized his silent indication.
"D-do as he says," Robin gasped breathily. Coco tearfully looked at her, like a child would adoringly gaze towards their mother. "Please," the Professor added.
The nurse sprinted away, her slipper-clad feet clumsily sliding along the smooth surface of the floor. Luffy callously, hurriedly dragged Robin along, hastily scampering away to the closed door. He backed against the wall, Robin pressed against him, cutlery still held towards the side of her throat.
"Right, okay," he worriedly said, as if experiencing mild hyperventilation. "I want you to put your palm on that den-den mushi."
Robin refused, remaining still against Luffy's torso. The boy huffed, adjusting his grip on her neck to roughly grab her forearm and shove her hand against the identification den-den mushi. As expected, the security guard whipped around, not expecting such an early departure.
"Hello? Who's there," he called, hand securely wrapped around the gun secured at his belt in a snug leather holster. A Beretta 92FS handgun, 9mm long and an absolute beauty. Good at shooting long-range targets, can hit a 50-yard gong over and over again with perfect precision. The sudden flashback left Luffy giddy with confidence, and he precipitously pushed himself and Robin into view, utilizing Robin as a human shield.
"Don't even try. I won't hesitate to stab this slut in the neck," Luffy spat, glaring darkly. The soft, kind, security guard, far too kind for this gruesome job, removed his sweaty, sausage fingers, earnestly gazing at Robin in confusion.
"Now," Luffy continued. "Er…give me your gun." The security agent was far too quick to oblige, making as if to walk to the duo. "No, put it on safety setting first. Yosh, yosh, like that. Now chuck it over."
It whizzed through the air like a bullet, inches from Robin's nose before Luffy's hand swiftly, with the skill of an expert amongst experts, seized the handgun by the handle in mid-air. He manually flicked it off safety mode with one hand, until languidly dropping the fork with a sharp metallic clang!
'Only Luffy…' Robin couldn't help but think as the cutlery was deftly replaced by the instrument of war, 'only Luffy could get this far with a fork.'
"So then, Robin," Luffy whispered to her ear, his soft lips pressing against the sensitive flesh. "I'm going to pretend to be unconscious, and you, sweetie," he spat the word like it was a curse in his mouth. "Are going to pretend to give me a piggy-back. You're escorting me to a private, confidential location, which cannot be mentioned to anyone under any means, and I was so sleepy from worrying about that operation you couldn't help but let me doze off for a bit." The plan was slightly dodgy, but remarkably believe for a man who'd fooled everyone with his happy, childish disposition. "If this doesn't work," he seethed, pressing the gun closer to her collar, "I'll blow your fucking brains out. Understood?"
Robin nodded feverishly.
"Good. Right then," he said, now addressing the security guard. "I see you've taken a rather lovely liking to this fair lady, so I'll let you off for now. You're going to casually walk in the opposite direction. If anyone asks, the operation had to unexpectedly be cancelled. If you tell anyone about this, your pretty little lady will be dead."
Robin gave a pathetic whimper, never once, in her entire lifetime, wishing to live so dreadfully. 'I'm nothing but a coward. A stupid, selfish coward.'
A/U: Sorry if you hated that. I'm terrible with action-y scenes, so it's kind of tricky to convey 'the mood'. Hopefully you'll still like it. :o(
And please, please review. I'll love you forever. 3
