10th Squad 3rd Seat, MsWildLuck, Girl-luvs-manga: Thank you for your support and review. It really means a lot to me.

Guest.124: Yes, I know the time transition was bad. I was tired and busy last week. Sorry about that.

inspiritexo: Thank you for all the reviews you posted the past week! And yes, Kidd and Miranda are on bad terms.

This is Chapter 10; hope you guys enjoy! Flames and reviews are welcomed!

Chap. 10

Miranda was pulled back violently and a hand held strong onto her neck. She could feel air being blocked from her lungs, making it hard for her to breathe. It was one of Kidd's crew mates, an incredibly tall man with long, shaggy blue hair. He was furious, she could tell, as his grip was hard and pitiless, judging by the strength he was using. She tried her best not to fight back; it would better if she died right here right now. Blood started rushing to her head. Her sight was blurred, and hearing became an awfully difficult task. Miranda managed to pull out something that she thought would turn out to be a weak smile.

Someone was shouting. Something hit the man who was choking her hard; she fell onto the ground. Air rushed into her lungs; her sight and hearing started to return to her. Miranda gasped for oxygen as she pressed her hand on her neck that was still sore, lifting her head searching who had "saved" her. Not like that was a good thing. In fact, if she could, Miranda would probably punch him in the face for breaking the egg in her pocket.

"Heat! Don't you dare lay a hand on her! She is mine; I thought I made that clear from the start."

Miranda was pissed by what he had said. Very pissed. It seemed that Eustass Kidd was always in her way, robbing her of everything she had, destroying her life in his own way. "I don't belong to anyone, thank you very much." She growled as she stood up. Eustass Kidd simply smirked.

"It's not your place to say." He said as he grabbed her by the arm. "How the hell did you get out here? I remember locking the door."

"You got it coming and you knew it, Heat. You know Kidd doesn't like people messing with his stuff." Killer helped the tall man up as he watched Kidd drag away the marine girl. There was a struggle between the two, and Killer couldn't help feeling that the girl was hoping to be killed by his crewmate. She was smiling when he tried to. Perhaps it would be better for her if Heat did do so.

Personally, Killer felt a bit pity (Pity! He didn't even know that the word existed in his dictionary) for her. In the end Kidd would get what he wanted and the girl could not do anything to stop that fate from coming, no matter how she would try to fight back and resist it.

"I just don't like the way she acted towards Master Kidd. Who on earth does she think she is?" Heat gritted his teeth.

"Well, if you were a woman and fell into a situation like that, I wouldn't be surprised if you'll act more violently than that girl did."

Killer didn't even need to turn around to see who was speaking. He sighed as Heat spat hatefully, "What are you doing here, Doc?"

Doc just simply sneered back. "What do you mean by 'what are you doing here'? I'm the doctor of this ship; where else do you think I should be?"

Heat towered over the doctor, even though Doc was a tall lean man. "You know, if you shut up nobody would think you were mute."

The tan, white-haired man just laughed. "So who do YOU think you are, Heat, telling me what to do?" Doc lifted up his head, his gaze straight into Heat's eyes. "If you want a fight I'm always here for one. My hands are getting a bit too clean these days."

"You two stop right there. We don't need any damages on this ship and we certainly do not need dead men. If you can't stand each other just find something to do and avoid each other!" Killer yelled at his crewmates. He had much more things to worry about than to think about that girl and Kidd. Kidd would take care of that poor girl.

Doc did not like it at all when Kidd brought back the girl. Not only because of the "bad luck" could women supposedly bring to a pirate ship, but also the fact that she was a marine. Why did his captain have to choose to mess with the marines? Now if they knew the girl's whereabouts they'd probably be after them even wilder. They were already annoying enough to Doc. He'd love it if they could just quit hunting the Kidd Pirates; something he knew that would never come true.

He was also quite amazed when Kidd beat the girl himself when she tried to escape. Kidd warned Heat about the consequences he might deal with if he dared lay a hand on the girl. So why did he do it himself? It wasn't very like his captain to do so. He also didn't remember Kidd taking any interest in beaten-up women, but then, before he'd never brought one onto the ship before. The girl was sent to him to treat the wounds. She had a broken arm and various bruises. Bruises healed quicker, but a broken arm…? Doc sighed as he turned to get bandages. Seemed like he'd be meeting her again sometime soon. Kidd wasn't a very patient person.

"You know, girl, you're adding to my burden right now." He glanced at her quickly. The girl just turned away her gaze.

"It's not like I want to. If your captain would let me go you wouldn't even need to treat my broken arm." She said as she looked hopefully to the door. Doc realized that no one was guarding it; he turned around to face her.

"Don't try to escape underneath my eyes, dear. You sure are feisty, aren't you. No wonder Kidd hasn't killed you by now."

"I wish he had." Mumbling under her breath, she turned her head away. "What does he want from me anyway? It's not like I can give him anything."

The doctor raised an eyebrow. "I'm not good at guessing others thought, and I don't guess what others are thinking. But you do know that there's a lot of woman who would want to be in your place."

"I don't know." The girl snapped back. "Why would they? He's such a beast."

A beast. Just wait till she finds out more about Kidd. Rolling his eyes, Doc thought to himself. "Don't say that in front of his face." The doctor warned, frowning. "I don't want to treat any more wounds of yours."

"Will he kill me if I do so?" She asked a bit hopefully. Doc turned around to face her.

"He probably won't. And why do you engage in yourself being killed?" He asked her as he started to wipe his hands. The girl simply shrugged.

"It's much better than staying here."

He didn't know that a marine could loathe pirates so much that they'd rather die than stay captive by a pirate crew. But the girl was certainly smart enough to know that staying would be dangerous for her. At least she wasn't that dumb. To her, that was probably a misfortunate; it could have contributed to her captive path that she was forced to walk on now.

"Why don't you commit suicide then? I'm pretty sure that Heat would like to help you out on that." He asked her, eyeing the door, making sure no one was there. Kidd and Heat would kill him if they'd heard that.

"Heat?" She blinked in confusion. Doc sighed impatiently.

"The man who almost chocked you to death." He reminded her.

"Oh, Heat. Well, first of all, I don't think he'll do it this time. Second, I don't have a weapon. I was beaten and then fell unconscious before I was taken to this ship."

"Oh, yes. And Kidd changed your clothing. No wonder you are not armed." The ship doctor smirked. The marine girl shot him a sharp glare.

"I don't need you to remind me that, thank you very much." Laughing, Doc opened the door and called out to his captain. "Kidd! I'm done treating that bitch of yours; get her out of here now."

"And I'm not his thing!" The expression on the girl's face was priceless. Perhaps it wasn't that bad that Kidd brought the girl onto the ship.