A Force Against Inertia
By Dixxy Mouri
Chapter 10
Sanji and Nami were given a simple choice: they could either take the new pills they were being given at breakfast and dinner, or spend five minutes in the Tank. If it was discovered they were palming them or flushing them, it would be a half hour in the Tank. As far as the pirates were concerned, there was no choice. The pills were taken without argument.
Nami mostly slept through her sample collection, injections, and vital sign tests the day the new pills started. This was somewhat normal. Since she and Sanji had started their late night conversations, they ended up sleeping through much of their tests (if they were a matter of receiving IVs and observation).
She woke up to see Absalom standing next to her table.
Nami shrieked at the sight of her former captor, struggling to get away. He stood there laughing and looming over her with bloody red eyes and those huge, gnashing teeth. He pressed a finger to her neck and drew a claw down, scarlet seeping from the wound. Her shirt split as he dragged his finger further down, exposing more and more of her chest and stomach.
Not him, not him, not HIM! Nami squirmed from her position on the table. Even though he was long gone, Absalom was still very creepy and everything he had tried to do to her still bothered her: marrying her would have been a far cry from the worst thing he could have done. She didn't know how he'd found her but she wanted him gone. Nami continued to scream, begging for Luffy or Sanji to help her.
There was a slap to her face – in an instant Absalom was gone and Curie was standing over her, yelling at her to stay quiet. Nami quiet, breathing heavily. She tried to get a look at her chest – no blood, and her neck seemed to be okay. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes, still breathing heavily.
She didn't think she'd fallen asleep again – she was positive she'd been awake when it happened. Nami's eyes stayed wide for the rest of the afternoon, and her heart was racing. A scientist made a note of it somewhere, and what felt like days later she was removed from the table and brought back to her holding cell.
Sanji wasn't sure what to think anymore. He didn't want to move (not that he could move very far, what with all the restraints they used) for fear of upsetting and attracting the massive swarm of insects flying around the room to his helpless frame. He swallowed, keeping his mouth shut tight – what if one of them flew into his mouth or something to lay their eggs under his tongue?
He hated bugs. All of them.
And he hated that thousands of them were swarming around him and there was nothing he could do to get away. He squirmed as much as his restraints would allow, his eyes darting back and forth as he tried to keep an eye on the insects. He tried to grip the table, but his fingers only found flat metal. He whimpered a little.
And then, in the blink of an eye, every last one of them was gone. Sanji opened his mouth to gasp for air and raised his head, wondering where the offensive little buggers had gone off to. No sign of them – just the scientists on duty. He laid his head back down and wondered what had happened, and then it came to him.
"That new pill has something in it that causes hallucinations," Sanji said dryly over dinner.
"Hallucinations," said Nami. She whined and lied back on the floor. "Every time we take one of those we're going to have a HALLUCINATION!" She screamed in frustration and sat back up. "Just when we think this place can't POSSIBLY get any worse they think of something else to make us miserable!" She got to her feet and stormed towards the door.
"Nami-san?" Sanji asked as the navigator started to bang her fists into the door.
"YOU ASSHOLES! LET US GO! LET US OUT! STOP HURTING US! LET US GO HOME! BRING US BACK TO LUFFY! STOP IT! STOP IT YOU FUCKING SONS OF BITCHES! LEAVE US ALONE!" The door made a loud echoing banging sound with each punch she threw at the door. Sanji got to his feet behind her, embracing her when she finally gave up and started to cry.
Her knuckles were bloody and raw.
"Nami-san . . ."
"I'm sorry."
"No, it's all right," he said. He lifted the bottom of his shirt for inspection, trying to decide if it was clean enough for a bandage. He closed his eyes – he didn't think so, but maybe someone would come by to investigate and, for the sake of their "precious results" Curie would swing by and heal her up. He walked her over to one of the benches and sat her down, rubbing her back
"I don't know how much longer I can do this, Sanji-kun," Nami said. "It's been over a month – why hasn't Luffy saved us yet?" she asked. She sniffled, clenching her eyes shut as she tried to suppress a sob. Sanji wiped some of her tears aside. "Why doesn't he know where we are? Why hasn't he . . . why hasn't he found us?"
Sanji closed his eyes. "He . . . probably doesn't know who took us. I doubt any of them do. It isn't Luffy's style, but he needs to find a lead before he can find us," said the cook. He didn't want to say it, but it was true – that must have been what was going on. They hadn't told Luffy which ship they were going to try and rob (they didn't even know that until they saw the ship). The likelihood of them finding out which pirate ships were in port that day was slim – even if they knew that, they had no idea where Tesla was sailing.
The futility of their situation was starting to become too real. No, Luffy hadn't quit on them – he probably wouldn't for a very long time. But he didn't know anything about their situation. He didn't know what had happened to them. Luffy must have been looking in all the wrong places – maybe Marine vessels or they were still combing that island for them.
Sanji took a second look at his hospital gown, decided it was just stained and not actually dirty, and ripped a few strips off the bottom. "Give me your hands," he said. Nami quietly nodded as he led them to the sink, washed her hands and the strips as best he could with the soap they hand, and wrapped them around her sore knuckles. "Curie'll probably do something with them in the morning but this should be good for now."
"Thanks, Sanji-kun," she said. Sanji put his arm around her shoulder and led her back to the bench. "I guess I just lost it."
"I'm not mad – we're both going to be losing out tempers left and right here. It's all right."
Nami turned to hug him. "What are we gonna do?"
Sanji embraced her back. "We need to be patient. Our time will come."
Nami dozed off in his arms sometime later, leaving Sanji to pick her up to bring her to the center of the floor for bedtime. He was starting to get tired, too, and they had a very shitty day ahead of them the next morning. He sighed, trying to make sure she looked comfortable before lying himself down next to her.
"Ooooo, you've finally done it!"
Sanji sat up in shock. "What?" He looked around for the source of the voice. "Who's there?"
"Me. You. Us."
The cook was stunned to see someone sitting on one of the benches. His jaw dropped and his eyes widened. There was a man sitting on one of the benches. He was grinning like an idiot, a cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth. He was dressed in a neatly pressed black suit with yellow buttons, a red shirt, and a black tie.
It was himself.
"How . . . how . . ." Sanji narrowed his eyes. "I know what you are."
"Of course you do! You're ME! I'm YOU!" The other Sanji stood up and shoved his hands into his pockets, grinning and laughing smugly. "I don't see how you aren't thrilled with the situation we've found ourselves in, or is the swordsman right about how stupid we are?" Sanji watched the Love Cook pause in front of him and grin longingly at Nami.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Look at those legs. Those breasts. She's mostly naked right now. Mmm, mmm, mmm!"
"You're getting OFF on this?" Sanji hissed.
The Love Cook bent down in front of him, blowing smoke in his face. "It's what you wanted."
Sanji paled. "Not like this!"
"You touch yourself when you think about her."
Sanji's cheeks flared. Not right now he wasn't (and even if he wanted to, no privacy). "Stop it."
"You fantasize about fucking her. All the time."
His palms felt cold and sweaty. Yes, it was true – he'd certainly fantasized about Nami before. Plenty of times. But he CERTAINLY didn't get off on her crying and wanting to go home and being tortured at the hands of the sadistic bastards keeping them captive. His fantasies about Nami were about romantic evenings – things like dinner and a trip to the theatre, long walks on the beach, making love at midnight and watching the sunrise while they cuddled in bed. THAT was what he fantasized about.
Not . . . this.
"Get out of my sight," Sanji said. "You're just a hallucination!"
"Oh I'm more than that. I'm your sexuality. I'm the one that's driven you since the first moment you figured out women were fuckable. I've been with you when you had you first kiss, your first date, your first FUCK." The Love Cook blew more smoke in his face and laughed. "You really think you're not attracted to her anymore?"
"Of course I am!" Sanji said. "But I'm not going to take advantage of her! Not here, not anywhere!" He shielded her with his arms. "Nami-san is my friend first and foremost – hell, after this she's my best friend. I'm not going to hurt! The people here are doing a damn fine job of that without my help, so fuck off!"
Nami started to whimper in her sleep. Sanji turned to try and comfort her. She didn't wake up, but the Love Cook had shut up. He turned to see the Love Cook was gone. He sighed and shook his head – he'd been a hallucination. A fucking obnoxious one, but a hallucination none the less. Sanji shuddered as he lied down next to Nami, wrapped his arms around her, and tried to sleep.
Author's Notes:
So there was a little survey on LiveJournal I thought I'd share with the FanfictionDotNet readers (i.e. you guys) – it's for me to see how well I'm doing, where I can be improving, and see where you guys stand on things like who the Voice is.
1. What is your favorite part so far?
2. What is your least favorite part so far?
3. If different from your favorite, what do you think is the best written part?
4. If different from your least favorite, what do you think is the worst written part?
5. What do you think Tesla and his men are trying to accomplish? Why?
6. Who do you think the Voice is? Why?
7. Miscellaneous comments (other theories, questions, etc.)
Don't be afraid to answer #2 and #4 - telling me what you don't like if just as helpful if not more helpful than letting me know what you do like.
Thanks!
Dixxy
