sigh...let's just get this over with *groans* trying to meet your own deadlines is like trying to stand on your back- a fruitless endeavor and also impossible to achieve. BUT I DID IT. MUAHAHA.

yeah just read and please don't throw anything at meh :3 enjoy~

If ya'll need a refresher:

LOL JK JUST GO READ THE END OF THE LAST CHAPTER. YOU REALLY THINK I'M GONNA WRITE IT OUT FOR YOU? AHAHAHAHA.

Sorry I couldn't resist. I was going to rewrite it, but I'm too tired. SUCKS~ 3 LOVE Y'ALL THOUGH. ALLL Y'ALL. ALSO I HAVE DEVELOPED A SLIGHT SOUTHERN ACCENT. ALSO, I AM THE SLIGHTEST BIT HIGH.

Mik seethed quietly. His face was set into a harsh, grim line. He usually looked like that, he supposed, but now the blank demeanor had an edge about it.

He stared down impassively at the potbellied, burly bandit who called himself Bob, who was shaking like a leaf.

Mik kept his knife pointed at the bandit's throat, while the other hand grabbed a fistful of Bob's shirt and yanked forward. Bob gulped as his jugular came dangerously close to being slit.

"I should kill you," Mik hissed. "Going around, kidnapping defenseless girls? You're sick." He tightened his grip. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't take your head as a trophy right now."

Bob eyed the knife and kept his mouth firmly sealed, but his Adam's apple bobbed as he trembled furiously, eyes wide and fearful.

Mik looked at him disdainfully and let go. "You worthless piece of trash." he spat, stepping back and sheathing his knife. "It would dirty my blade to cut you."

Bandit Bob fell back and gasped, rubbing his throbbing chest. He watched Mik as he took two deep breaths and then relaxed, squatting until the two were eye level with each other. Bob stared into the dark grey eyes, now more calmer and focused.

"Now then," he resumed speaking, getting to down to business. "You better tell me everything you know." He poked his blade against Bob's chest for emphasis. "Don't leave out anything now."

[***]

From a distance, Lily watched the others interrogate the bandit. The drowsy haze was beginning to wear off and her thoughts began drifting from "Mik is hot when he's angry" to "Oh my god I'm alive. I have a throbbing headache, and I'm alive."

Though she was relieved...she was still too dizzy to move. She could feel her hands and feet though, which may or may not have been a good thing, as they were smarting and prickling like needlepoints.

Without a warning, she began to cry. Thin rivulets of tears fell silently upon her pale, bruised face. She lifted her hands up to stifle her quiet sobs- what would her mother say?

Ladies do not shed tears in public, young lady. Noble ladies are calm and composed. We represent the highest class of society, and we are demure yet strong. Do not cry, girl!

Do not cry! She repeated to herself, sniffling as softly as she could. Although she couldn't help the tears that dripped, she could control how loud she was, desperately trying to hide her face, for fear that Mik would notice and worry.

"Lily?" Mira, hearing the faint noises behind her, bent to her level, dark hair falling forward. Seeing the tears, she called out more urgently. "Lily! What's wrong? Does something hurt?"

"Nothing's wrong," Lily muttered back. "I'm fine."

Mira seemed to want to say something, but at Lily's glare, she thought better of it. "Okay."

Instead, she rummaged around and pulled out a small cloth napkin and handed it to Lily. Lily grabbed it hesitantly and muttered a quiet, "Thank you." She rubbed her eyes but then started crying again.

I was scared.

[***]

"That's all, I swear!" Bob pleaded.

Rekka slid a sideways glance to me. "Well, Kiko? What do you think?"

I gave a derisive snort and turned away. The man was obviously terrified out of his wits, and useless. This was what we had gotten out of him so far:

He was a bandit.

His name was Bandit Bob.

He wasn't a stranger to the slave trade- but he only sold girls to the actual traders. He didn't trade the girls himself- as if that made him any better. It was only a 'side business', so to speak. Lily was just one of the girls he was paid to transport, because she had been spotted on the street as easy prey. Wrong place, wrong time. There was no one out for her specifically, so she didn't have hitmen after her or anything, which was a good thing.

Thao sighed. "Mik, he's useless. Let's just beat him up and go."

"Yeah," Rekka interjected. "Ash is still back there too, remember? Let's just go."

Mik looked at the bandit coolly one more time. The poor man was shaking in his worn and frayed boots. "What are you going to do to me?"

Mik smiled. "Nothing," he said, standing up. "I'm going to let you go." As Bob sighed in relief, he closed his eyes, which is why he didn't notice the handle of a butterfly knife strike the side of his head, knocking him unconscious.

"What do we do with him?" I asked, looking at them shrug. "If we leave him here, when he wakes up he'll still go around and capture little girls and sell them. We can't just let him do that."

"We could hand him into authority," Rekka suggested.

I took advantage of the idea. "That's not a bad idea. Who's stationed here?"

"Loguetown is a Marine Base- Branch 67, I think."

"They ain't corrupt, are they?" Thao said dubiously.

Mik shrugged. "Who knows? Let's just take 'em in and hope for the best."

"No need, gentlemen," a voice rang out from across the clearing. "We came to you."

All persons in the clearing stiffened and went on guard, alarmed at the new presences. From the edge of the clearing came marching a troop of marines, white-blue dressed uniforms walking in disarrayed union. At the forefront stood what appeared to be the captain, cape slung casually over his shoulders. At his side was a very pale, androgynous looking person- could have been male or a female- lieutenant, following obediently after the captain, who was leading the group. He was a tall man, eyes shadowed by the brim of the marine's cap he wore. He lifted an arm in halfhearted salute.

"Greetings, gentlemen," he said cordially. "I am Captain Clyde, and this is my lieutenant, Bonnie." The lieutenant gave a nod in recognition. The lieutenant's eyes were quick, darting, keen to assess the situation as the captain continued to talk, I noticed.

"We heard there was a commotion in this area, and we are now here to take control of the situation. Please sheathe your weapons and hand over the notorious bandit known as Bob and his men so that we may dispatch of him as soon as possible."

We looked at each other, each silently confirming the other's suspicions. Was this too good to be true?

But what else could we do? We needed to hurry back, needed to see to Lily's potential wounds, needed to see to Ash and get the heck outta here before we got into any more trouble.

Mik made up his mind. "Take him, then." He said, and motioned for us to leave, only to be stopped by the captain's lean muscled arm. "Just a moment, please," the captain spoke with a deceptive calm. "We'd like to know who you are as well, the people who caught such a notorious bandit."

I snorted. "Notorious my left foot. [woulda said something worse] The only reason you couldn't have gotten rid of him by now is because you obviously deemed him as no threat and now that we did all the work- which was not much, by the way- you come in to swoop him up and get the glory." I scoffed but placed my hands up in a placating gesture. "Not that I care. It wasn't really that hard." You guys are just lazy, I said to myself.

The captain, eyes still shadowed under the brim, turned to face me, and all of us. "Oh? Now I'm even more curious as to who you guys are." His voice lowered to a dangerous pitch. "Pirates, perhaps?"

"We are NOT pirates!" Mira called from the edge of the group, on the other side of me. She was still huddled around Lily protectively, eyeing the marines who were inching towards them distrustfully.

The captain then thankfully turned his attention away from me, and towards Mira. "Not pirates? Then what, may I ask?"

Mira clenched her hands but didn't falter under the steady gaze (assuming, since his eyes were hidden) of the captain. "We're not pirates," she stated once more. "We're...we're a mercenary team. Bounty hunters," she quickly decided. "We work together and split bounty evenly. Is there a problem with that?" There shouldn't have been. Bounty hunting teams were quite popular these days, much more so than they had been in the past. Being in a team meant that you were grouped with someone probably stronger than you, and thus could catch more criminals that you otherwise couldn't catch.

We weren't, of course, but then the Marines didn't know that yet.

The captain spoke coolly. "A mercenary team," he said, obviously unimpressed.

A chuckle sounded from the partner beside. The lieutenant had laughed and now began to speak. Even with its high, careless tone, it seemed to be a male.

"A mercenary team? What is this ramshackle crew," He turned and addressed us all in a row, from me. "Marieke , one of the most skilled Dock workers-woman, nonetheless- ever to walk the planks of Galley-La. Kuron, a secretive gypsy thief who steals while entertaining to make a living. Thao, the hermit-like 'Alchemic Terror'. Trenchcoat-boy looks familiar as well." He said. "But nothing comes to mind this quickly." He then smirked at Mira and Lily. "And who are you, little ones? Aren't you a little too young to be the manager of this little circus troupe?" He chuckled as she bristled. "I'm 23!"

"What next?" I interrupted, impressed with this knowledge but trying not to show it- and also offended by the jibe on my gender. "'I have gathered you all here today for a very special purpose?' Please." I mocked.

He turned his large, almond shaped eyes toward me, unnaturally cold. "Careful, love, you don't want to mess with me."

The captain took control of the situation once again, nodding towards Bob. "Let us be going then." He tilted his cap at us. "Misses, gentlemen." As he nodded up the light entered the shadow under the brim of his cap and his eye glittered with a ferality- like a wild cat, I thought. And as soon as I thought it, they were long gone.

"What was their problem..." I muttered.

With a nod, we began to head back to the ship.

[***]

Bandit Bob awoke to the sound of pacing. He opened his eyes tentatively- damn that man! His head was still throbbing. If he ever got his hands on the lot of them again…

His brain began to register what he was seeing and hearing and he tried to discern his surroundings.

The thumping sounds from the pacing had come from a blond haired guy, who was apparently agitated. Looking around, there were a few Marine uniforms thrown carelessly down on the floor, and the blond man was currently wearing a loosely buttoned white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up.

Bandit Bob fully awoke when he saw and heard the sheen of a sword being drawn from its sheath.

"Bonnie?" the guy hissed, irritated, pointing his sword at Kai's throat, who was lounging around in half-zoan form, tail swinging lazily. Pooling around him- this 'Kai'- was a Marine Captain coat.

"Sorry Callie," he drawled, not fazed -or apologetic, for that matter- in the least. "I couldn't resist."

Callie sighed and sheathed the sword, but not without a sullen glare to his subordinate. "I'm letting it go because you joke so rarely," he warned. "But I won't hesitate to cut you the next time."

Kai…Callie…Bandit Bob ran the names through his head.

Callie…Crime King….Callie 'Crime King' Jones..

The realization shot a spark in his head, warning bells ringing frantically. The fear gave him a shot of adrenaline to let him move- but unfortunately not enough.

Callie, sensing the movement, had his sword out in a flash and aimed it close to Bob's nose.

Why do I feel a sense of déjà vu? He wondered sullenly, stilling his movements in lieu of accidental death for the second time today as he waited for Callie to name his terms.

"You're awake," Callie said blandly.

Bob didn't realize the statement was a question until the silent pause. "Um. Yeah." He scrambled for something to say. "So..you guys aren't really Marines?"

"Yes." Callie replied shortly.

Bandit Bob again struggled for something to say that wouldn't effectively kill him. "Um. Thank you?"

At this, Callie finally showed emotion and chuckled darkly. "Don't thank me just yet, bandit," he said, tapping the dulled edge of his blade gently against the underside of Bob's chin. "We're not done with you."

[***]

"We're back!" Kiko called out.

They head a scrambling and a crash from inside the ship and then a bright orange head peeked out from behind the door way to the interior of the ship. "Finally! Oh my god, it's about time! Do you know how worried and paranoid I was that-" Ash saw Lily, carried up in Mik's arms with her torn dress. "Whoa. What happened? Are you guys okay?" Ash asked worriedly.

"We're fine," Mira answered. "Kiko will give you the run-down on what happened, won't she?" she looked pointedly at said woman.

"Yeah, sure." Kiko answered unsurely. "Come on Ash. Hey Rekka, do we have anything in the fridge? I'm starving and I haven't had anything but bar peanuts."

"I'll bet all of you are hungry. I'll make like..dinner or something. We really need to get a real cook though," Rekka grumbled.

Thao rubbed his eyes and groaned. "I'm tired. I think I'll take a nap," he called. "Wake me up when dinner's ready!" he called.

"Wake up yourself or starve!" Kiko yelled from the kitchen. Thao groaned again. "Seems like someone's still mad at me for this afternoon," he shrugged as Mira grinned, and then headed downstairs.

Mik didn't particularly care about what was going on one way or the other. He carried Lily to the sole bedroom on the ship and laid her down on the bed. As she yawned, coming down from her drugged and adrenaline-induced high, Mik began treating her bruises and wounds methodically. He cleaned out the knee she skinned and wrapped clean bandages around it, and did likewise for the other cuts and bruises.

He didn't say anything at the sight of handprint-shaped bruises, purple and blue and brown marring her otherwise pearly skin. He didn't say anything, just tightened his grip slightly, at which Lily hissed in discomfort. He immediately loosened his grip. "Sorry," he muttered.

"Mmm, what?" Lily questioned in confusion.

She gasped as he suddenly buried his face in her silken-clad stomach. "Mik..?" she asked hesitatingly.

"Sorry," he muttered into the fabric over her small waist, voice vibrating through her clothes. "Sorry, sorry…"

A slow red heat crawled up Lily's face as she closed her eyes and wrapped her delicate hands into Mik's brown locks.

"It's okay."

[***]

Mik exited the room composed and blank as always. He turned to see Mira leaning against the outside of the room, arms crossed and eyes closed.

"How long have you been there?" he asked.

"I was waiting."

Mik didn't reply, just stared at her a moment more, before walking off to the kitchen.

Inside the room, Lily, now all cleaned and bandaged up, was sitting up in bed, looking at the ceiling. She could feel the last of the drug's effects begin to wear off and hazy complacency was beginning to give way back to the haughty girl she used to be.

Albeit a sleepy, haughty girl. It had been a long day.

She looked up when the door creaked open again. "Mik? That was fast."

"Nope, it's me." Mira walked through the door and closed it behind her, taking a seat beside the bed. "You okay?"

"Course." Lily said smartly. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Mira rolled her eyes. "Okay, okay." She crossed her arms and leaned back in the chair. "I have a quick question."

Lily narrowed her eyes. "Go ahead."

"When we were back there," Mira began. "with the Marines. That would have been perfect. We could have just handed you over to the Marines and you may have been home free."

Flashback:

"We are NOT pirates!" Mira called from the edge of the group. She was still huddled around Lily protectively, eyeing the marines who were inching towards them distrustfully.

The captain turned his attention away from the others and towards Mira and Lily. "Not pirates? Then what, may I ask?"

This is the perfect chance. We can tell them about Lily- ow!

Lily, as if anticipating what Mira was beginning to say, had squeezed her hand tightly, in almost a sort of panic. What the hell? Did she not want to be found?

Deciding quickly, Mira clenched her hands but didn't falter under the Captain's gaze.

"We're not pirates," she stated once more. "We're...we're a mercenary team. Bounty hunters," she amended. "We work together and split bounty evenly. Is there a problem with that?"

End flashback

"Why didn't you want me to tell them who you were?" Mira asked.

"I didn't recognize them," Lily said shortly.

"Well it's quite likely that you wouldn't recognize them," Mira said patiently. "There are hundreds of them, there's no way you could know them all."

Lily turned her gaze on Mira steadily. "You'd be surprised."

She then shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. "Anyway, I just didn't trust them. Plus, remember? I don't have any credentials. I need to just go to the Rains directly. That's all there is to it."

Mira bit her lip, as if thinking about saying something, but then thought better of it. Sighing, she uncrossed her arms and got up. "Fair enough," she called as she left. "See you at dinner then."

[***]

Mik wiped his mouth and set down his fork, scooting his chair back and standing up.

"Going somewhere?" Ash asked curiously, to which he nodded. "Gotta go make a call," he said evasively. "Thanks for dinner, Kuron," he said to Rekka. "I'll take first watch too."

He gave a small wave in response to their callings of 'good night'- Thao had gotten up after all- and shut the door, walking slowly to the captain's study.

Lily watched him go with an unreadable gaze, then turned back to the food and the conversation. She would have thought that eating, with this bunch of people who didn't know each other that well, would be awkward and silent, but surprisingly, the meals were always eaten in either peaceable silence, or companionable laughter. There was still an element of politeness, but it still wasn't as bad as dinners back at the mansion.

Still, she thought. It was weird. She had never eaten at a table where she wasn't being served and was expected to get food for herself. It was awkward because when Mik had finally coaxed her to come eat with the rest of them, she had looked at the large plates in the middle of the table and asked bluntly, "What is that?" to the sudden odd silence in the room. It had taken a few explanations from Mik until she discovered that those were the different meals, and she had to take her own chopsticks and place them on her own plate.

To others it probably seems like common sense, right? She thought to herself, sucking on a chopstick, a habit her mother would have killed her for at home. [Ladies do not participate in that unlady-like behavior, Lily! Have you ever seen a noble sucking on their chopsticks?]

She had never eaten at a table where it wasn't silence and cold dinnerware. Even with the politeness of strangers, dinners here were closer than food eaten at her own home. Should that mean something?

She shook off the feeling and turned back to her food. It was useless to think of such sentiment anyway

[***]

In the Captain's study….

"Hello? This is an operator speaking."

"Yes, could you connect to a Transponder Snail belonging to a Mister Black for me please."

"I can."

"Thank you."

*click. Silence*

"I'm sorry, I don't believe he's picking up."

"That's okay. Would you mind leaving a message for him?"

"Sure thing."

"Please inform him that Kattan needs to speak to him as soon as possible."

"Kattan?"

"Yes, that is correct."

"I will leave a message for him. He will probably respond tomorrow. Is this your personal Transponder Snail?"

"No."

"Very well. I'll leave the message. Have a good night."

"Thank you. You as well."

Mik clicked the Transponder Snail asleep and sat at the desk a moment more.

Mister Black…Kattan…all names he had not used in quite a while.

Nostalgic…

Omake:

Ash: FINALLY! God, you took me out for SO long…and I don't even have that good of a role in this chapter! DO YOU HATE ME IS THAY WHY

Me: ermm…no…it just TT happened! I told you, I'm sorry! I promise to write more of you.

A: YOU BETTER. OR ELSE…I'll SUE FOR ABUSE

M: -_- really….

Rekka: We need like a cook…being a cook isn't in my character profile.

M: Yeah I know…we also need a navigator…and a doctor…and lots of other stuff -_-

Kiko: yeah instead we have no captain, no navigator, no doctor, and no cook, but wait we have an ALCHEMIST! That makes it all better *sarcastic*

Thao: Y U NO LIKE ME?

K: No particular reason. Kiza's the one writing this. Plus apparently I already have a lover in my life.

M: Hey! These things just happen, okay! Leave me alone. I got to go anyway.

Mira: To do what? You have no life.

M: TT I'm so sad….my own characters bully me… TT

And I gotta end there TT I met my deadline! Week after school ends~ just like I promised, if any of you were checking the Ocs submission story, haha. -that is no one- but yes. I feel like this one was kind of rushed for me, because as some of you know I suffered MAJOR writer's block…so in the end I was like SCREW THIS *flips table* I'M JUST GONNA POWER THROUGH. Use yo imaginationnsss for better….betterness…*ahem*

So basically I finally got rid of stupid Bandit Bob…introduced some main antagonists…more characterization (hopefully anyway TT). In case of confusions, yes Mik knocked him out, yes that first person section was told through the view of Kiko, yes the Marines were actually not Marines, [dey were FAKKEE hoh yes mindblown], yes Bandit Bob is not gonna have a good time, NO Mik and Lily did not do anything R rated, they just cuddled as Mik shows off his rare vulnerability, and yes Mik is trying to connect with someone…MYSTERIOUSS *wooo mysteryy*

And yes Thao and Kiko don't particularly get along XD muahah I dunno why because their dynamic should be good but LOL it just happened…sigh.

Special excerpt of what I was feeling like writing that awk scene with Mik/Lily [yeah I had to spaz out below because I felt so WURD]: Ah gahd I felt like I was reading a shoujo manga ah mah gahd dfhskldfhlsdhflkas spaz. I'm not any good at this stuff, I know, because the only thing I have to go off of is from reading and other people's experiences TT I'm a loner loser so I've never experienced anything like that personally. So I have no idea if like tsdlsdfjhsa I mean when the only thing you can base it off of is Harlequin romances and shoujo, its bound to end up weird and awkward and things and-

*inhales*

Yeah I'm done. REVIEW. And don't...harass meh about characters TT I know already..I have them all lined up in the order of appearanceee

next one's gonna be a long one, y'all. Be warned.