A/N: Thank you to YukihanaRei, irv, GirlKitsune, Shadowed-Shikyo, xxOMGgalxx, MystiquePanache, Chuu 112, Decadent Decay, anon and kimichee for reviewing. :D


Pick Your Poison
Chapter 11

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"Give me your hand."

"...Um... Why?" They had been walking in silence up until they had reached the dead end where Law had said they would be going. There, the pair had decided that they would take a small break while they thought of their next step.

"Because your hand is bleeding," he said. "We might as well take care of it now. Your first-aid kit, Miss Pandora."

She complied, handing him her basic kit from her bag. One would think that as a doctor, Law would be better prepared for these types of situations.

Pandora started when she heard him speak, inwardly wincing when she realized she had said that sentence out loud. Oops.

"It would be too cumbersome to carry medical supplies." He continued wiping away the blood with gauze, despite her hissing from his firm grasp. His movements were sure and methodical, the actions of a man who was experienced in this field of work. "Besides, my men tend to not get hurt so I've, up until now, deemed it useless to carry a kit around. You seem to be the only exception, so maybe I'll have to rethink my decision on that."

Pandora scowled.

"You're the one that caused me to get hurt!" she exclaimed. The rusted metal from the torch holder had been sharp at some spots, causing a number of cuts on her hand. "I wouldn't have gotten hurt if you hadn't been completely useless— ouch!"

"You're testing my patience, Pandora."

His thumb had pressed on a large cut for a second in warning before releasing. It had stung a little and made her shut up in her tirade, which seemed to be his goal because he went back to cleaning it as if nothing happened. His nonchalance made her glower, but he didn't shirk away like she had. She pulled her hand away when he reached over to get the bandages.

"You're testing the last of mine too," she retorted slowly while she cradled her hand to her chest.

He didn't reply. Tried to coax her back. "I need to finish bandaging the rest of your hand."

"...I can do it myself." She was cold, wet, tired, her back hurt and now her hand had been stinging for hours. A passing thought had her wondering if she could get an infection. Law didn't mention it, so she assumed 'no'.

"...Come help me when you're done then," he said before walking away to examine the walls.

When Pandora had finished clumsily bandaging her hand, she stood up. She purposely turned away from him while he turned his head slightly from his inspection of the wall.

Fine, just fine... She marched up to an opposite wall, stone map in hand, and mimicked his actions. Her fingers brushed and pushed lightly against the surface. There had to be some kind of switch that did something... anything. As Law had said, this was the only path that was suspicious. If there was any place to start, here was the place.

After minutes of futile searching, Pandora rested her forehead against the wall. There was no hidden button or switch against the walls. She was tempted to start spouting words and hoping a door magically opened. The torches that had activated when they had stepped into the pyramid were slowly going out, one by one.

After that, well... Finding the treasure would be the least of their problems while they were trying to find their way around in the dark.

Her eyes drifted down forlornly. The instant that her eyes closed was when she spotted something interesting at her foot.

A small circle. A symbol on the wall.

"Ah..." She bent down. It was the same symbol that had been right above the pyramid's entrance. Two spears with feathers crossed in an X shape. Pandora grew excited at the prospect of a lead. She examined the symbol for a moment more before looking at the surrounding area.

There was a specific pattern along the walls of the maze's paths.

She had been staring at the walls when she, Law and Bepo had been wandering. Five large stone blocks followed by a long piece of stone that stretched from the ceiling to the floor. Then the pattern would continue with the five stone blocks again. The symbol was at the bottom of one of these long stones. She looked down the hallways just to confirm the pattern again though.

Her brows furrowed. There was something different about this piece though. Instead of being fairly flat along with the rest of its counterparts, the stone jutted out a bit. Her gaze wandered up and she saw a small crack at the very bottom, almost as if the architects of the pyramid had accidentally cut this long piece too short.

Or maybe on purpose?

"Found something?"

She jumped.

"Y-yes! I mean no! I mean-maybe." Why was she even talking to him anyway?

He wasn't paying attention to her. Instead, he had taken to inspecting where she had been looking, where his gaze finally settled at the bottom as well, below the symbol.

"I'm thinking there's a lever or switch in there..." she continued reluctantly. Something to activate it was probably in there.

"Miss Pandora," he said quietly. He had knelt down, but she couldn't see what he was doing.

"I want you to put your fingers through the crack to lift the lever." He wiggled his long fingers. "Your fingers are smaller than mine, after all."

She looked at her digits before reluctantly replying. "They look the same," she insisted. Well, they didn't really, but she wouldn't admit that now that she had claimed otherwise.

Pandora squeaked when she felt him grab her wrist and tug her down.

"Your hand is smaller," he insisted mildly. He held it up to show her before dropping it.

She scowled at him. He was looking completely serious. "The sooner you put your hand in there, the sooner you can leave my presence as you seem to wish." He waved a hand. "Go on now."

...

It was hard for her to say it, but he was right. If they were on the right track, they should hypothetically be able to get out. She doubted the place where they came in was also the only way out. With any luck, they would be able to get out after they found this supposed treasure that was hidden in this stupid pyramid.

"Would you like me to tell you my reason for choosing you to accompany me on this little expedition?" he enquired when he saw that she was still hesitating.

"Err..."

"It's because I thought you were intelligent enough to assist me with any obstacles that may obstruct our path, as I had guessed they would need someone of more intelligence." He ignored her stare that was silently asking him if he thought his men were stupid.

"Outside-of-the-box creativity," he amended when he caught her staring. At that, Pandora understood. For example, though Shachi and Penguin acted like complete morons, they weren't morons (well, she genuinely believed that notion that times). She had seen them direct supplies into the ship with an air of authority and maturity that she wouldn't be able to do with such a large crowd.

Pandora squinted, caught between suspicious and vaguely flattered. "Did you just—"

"Compliment you? Yes, I did."

She knew she was being manipulated by his disarming comment, but she couldn't help it. Half the reason was because she knew that Law wasn't the type to hand out compliments often and if he did, they were genuine. The other (more dominant) half was that she wanted to get out of here. Standing around here arguing with him wouldn't help.

"Can you feel it?" he drawled when she put her hand in.

She felt her hand brushed against something. "I think I got it..."

"Pull on it," he instructed lowly, curtly. She sighed at the wall. It seemed she wasn't the only one frustrated with their little adventure.

"With more strength if you would, Miss Pandora."

"I can't. It's too hard..."

The innuendos of the words was lost on the couple.

"Oh!" The creaking of machinery years ahead of its time greeted their ears. She stepped back and from the corner of her peripheral vision, saw the wall where the dead end was sliding, as in it was freaking moving.

As it was conveniently moving thanks to her, Law admitted, "And I saw no loss if I brought you or not if there was no need for out-of-the-box thinking."

She snapped her head in his direction so fast that she almost got whiplash.

Pandora managed out an indignant, "What?" Law was now looking at the stone tablet with a sort of suppressed awe in his dark eyes, but she wasn't letting this go.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked just to clarify.

"If there was anything dangerous here, I would be able to handle it on my own." He was still examining the stone tablet.

"...Right." Pandora rubbed her temple. Was it like a requirement for pirates to be arrogant? She blinked as she realized something.

"But you can't swim. Even if that flood's water had been fresh water, you would have drowned," she shot back confidently. Try and see if he could deny her help there.

Law smirked.

"Touche."

...Pandora didn't feel exactly good about his response, but it wasn't like she felt bad either. Just... mild contentment knowing that was the closest thing to a thank you that she would get, especially seeing who it was and all.

He was still staring at the piece of rock in the wall.

"What is it?" She couldn't stop the curiosity from leaking into her voice. He handed her the map and finally began to walk to the moving wall.

"The gap is being filled up."

Her eyes widened. It really was. The maze, which had originally had no solution, was now moving with the help of Pandora activating it. The square shaped gap at bottom middle of the maze was being filled in by the maze above it.

"Wow," she said breathlessly. Whoever made this maze was freaking smart.

"If you're finished gawking, Miss Pandora..." Law trailed off.

"Yeah, yeah..." she muttered as she followed after his lanky form. Still, she couldn't suppress the smile that surfaced on her lips.

Smooth sailing from here.


Oh dear Roger, I think I jinxed us.

Pandora was greeted with a look from Law and she realized that she had said her thought out loud.

"N-nothing." She waved a hand, motioning like she was swatting a fly. "Anyway, what should we do about the door that we can't open?"

Indeed, before them there was a gigantic stone door that reached up to the tall ceiling that was physically impossible for them to open.

"Maybe you could use your ability?" she suggested. She only knew of the infamous Surgeon of Death moving body parts around, but maybe he could move objects around too.

"It's too large for me to move..." he trailed off, his hand tightening into a fist around the sword he didn't have.

"Then..." Pandora closed her eyes. One of her swords appeared into her hands. "Can we just cut it into smaller pieces?"

He saw the large two-handed sword. "It's possible with your..."

"Claymore," she supplied. If she wasn't mistaken, her sword was from an island in the New World that was filled with these types of warriors called 'knights'.

"My ability will be able to manipulate the stone so that you're able to use your sword on it." Law turned back to the obstacle in front of them.

"Seriously?"

Law nodded.

Devil Fruit powers are amazing... She blinked at his back before looking down at the blade in her hands. She didn't doubt that his ability could manipulate the very laws of physics, but still hearing it out loud just hit it home for her.

"Room."

A light blue barrier surrounded them and their obstruction. Pandora took it as a cue. She stepped forward and would of crossed her fingers for good measure if she wasn't wielding a sword. With a few clumsy slashes from the Claymore she seldom used, the stone broke into fairly clean pieces.

Pandora's eyes widened when she saw a piece bigger than her fall towards her.

Shit.

She yelped loudly when she felt an arm wrap around her waist followed by a rush of air as she was pulled away from the danger.

Wide eyes stared half in shock at Law holding her under her arm. His lanky form really did hide his strength if he could carry her weight (the sword had disappeared accordingly) with one arm. The man himself was grinning as he watched the dust settle.

He let her go, the grin still plastered on his face.

"Good work."

She sighed under her breath but a pleased smile was on her face too.


"I smell something in the air," Bepo said with the tone of someone acting very self-important.

Penguin smelled his armpit. "Huh. I took a bath three days ago though." While this would be considered disgusting for most people, it was indeed the norm for pirates to wash that often.

"What is it, Bepo?" Shachi looked to the bear, who was looking off into the distance at the forest behind the pyramid.

"Captain!" one of the Heart Pirates cried out in joy. Instantly, there was hubbub from the rest of the crew. Making their way to the group of men was their captain and Pandora.

"C-Captain," Penguin stuttered to the grinning captain. He started shooting question after question. "Where did you come from? Did you find the treasure? Why are you wearing different clothes?"

"The other side has an exit in the treasure room." Law angled his head in the direction of the pyramid. "I need all of you to come with me to carry the treasure." He looked to Pandora, who had her arms wrapped around herself as she stood beside Bepo. "Miss Pandora, go back to the ship with Bepo to rest. Take my clothes to the laundry room as well."

"...Aye aye, Captain," she said tiredly. Pandora spun on her heel and walked off with Bepo following close behind, who was asking her what had happened.


Pandora leaned against the squishiness that was Bepo as they walked back to the yellow submarine. "I missed you guys."

"You were only gone for a few hours, Pandora."

"...and it was the longest few hours of my life."

He tilted his head. "Was it really that bad?" From what he had heard, it hadn't seemed as horrible as she was making to be. He was quickly learning that Pandora could get a tad dramatic.

"It was-" She hesitated, eyes downcast as she thought about Law. He had been acting a little differently there. Was it just her imagination? She wasn't sure.

"It was all right."

"Okay," Bepo said, watching a tiny smile appear.


Bepo came into her room (without knocking) while she was in the middle of changing. She didn't mind since despite him being male, he was still a bear. He sat at the corner of the hard mattress while she shimmied out of her pants.

"The Captain wanted you to know that you don't have to go out to carry out the gold," he said.

Pandora, who had been reaching for her customary skirt, paused. She had had the intention to go out again. "What?"

He huffed, seemingly exasperated. "He said that you can go to sleep."

She found it hard to believe: Law giving her a break. Did he hit his head when he almost drowned? And also... if he was supervising everyone taking the gold out, didn't that mean that he would be awake the whole night?

"I think that he thinks you've done enough... that you've done well," Bepo quipped.

"I see..." There was a long pause where she was deeply contemplative. "...Isn't he going to be tired if he stays up all night?" Pandora had seen the dark circles under his eyes, knew that he stayed up long nights in the medical bay.

Bepo blinked. "You're worried about him?"

She let out a laugh.

"A little but not why I asked," she replied honestly. She would like to think of herself as a good enough person to feel worried for someone who could drop dead from sleep deprivation. Even though he was the one who told her to sleep more. She frowned. You would think he would follow his own advice, if anything.

"Why are you frowning?"

"Thinking of something...funny," Pandora said before continuing. "I'll ask outright then: What does he do late at night anyway?" It had been bugging her ever since she went in the bay that night.

"Why do you want to know?" He cocked his head to one side. "It isn't any of your business what the Captain does in his spare time."

"Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back." She smiled. "But if it's such a big secret, then I won't pry anymore." She folded her clothes and put them in the drawers as she patiently waited for Bepo to say something.

"He dissects things," he told her blankly.

"...Huh?" was her response. Instantly, an image of Law with a scalpel standing over a human corpse flashed into her mind. She paled at the thought.

"He dissects animals we find in the ocean..." he clarified. She blinked. That didn't seem too bad. It did seem to fit his personality too.

"...other times he writes his findings down," he continued. "The Captain told me he feels more comfortable in the medical bay than his office when he's writing his observations down."

Bepo blinked, as if remembering something from a long time ago. He suddenly said, "He wanted to dissect me once."

"What?"

"My mom was killed by hunters and the Captain thought I was dead. Then he saved me," Bepo simply said.

He could remember how he had stayed by the still body of the larger bear for what seemed to be an eternity and the familiar warmth that did not surround him as he huddled closer to her. And he remembered the confusion that had overtaken his young mind, the bewilderment of why his mother was not moving and the ignorance of the fact that she would never move again.

He could see someone small, a young boy, making their way over the snow bank. Even now, he could feel the cold soft skin of the person's cheek under his paw and the red of his mother's blood that had stained the child's skin as dark, inquisitive eyes looked at him with an indecipherable gleam.

He could remember the small boy and an equally small hand reaching out towards him as the sun sunk under the white blanket of snow.

Bepo was pulled out of his memories when she felt the mattress shift. Pandora had situated herself at the head of the bed, knees pulled to her chest. She was rocking back and forth, or trying to. The wall at her back was a bit of a problem.

"You know," Pandora finally began. "I lost my mom. Did I tell you? Of course I didn't." She was looking down at her toes, but there was a wistful smile on her face that didn't look quite right. "I miss her a lot, so I know where you're coming from. When she died, I thought about her a lot and I mean a lot. I still think of her, but less so..." She let out a almost sad sigh, hugged her knees. "When I think about how much I used to think about her before to now, I get kinda... sad and guilty. Do you know where I'm coming from?"

Bepo did. The sad thing was that he knew where she was coming from. He had been really young, younger than what Pandora had been, so he didn't miss his mom as much as the woman before him did hers. But even then...

"But cheesy as it may sound, I try to tell myself after that she wouldn't have wanted me to wallow so much." She shrugged haplessly. "Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't."

His mother's death had also been his first meeting with the Captain. He guessed that was the only reason he could still remember. "I don't think about her much since I don't really remember her all too much."

Pandora frowned. "Then why did you suddenly tell me about her?"

Even he wasn't quite sure. Bepo's nose scrunched up in thought. After a long while, he answered. "Because I thought the Captain was going to go away too."

"Right," she said flatly, but there was a twinkle of sympathy in her eyes. "I'm hurt that you didn't have any confidence in me."

"You don't sound hurt."

"That could be because I don't feel too hurt." Pandora shrugged, though a dismayed Bepo could practically feel her displeasure prickling at him. "I'm used to people underestimating me."

"You're not very modest, Pandora," he pointed out tactlessly.

She snickered. "I'm not all that great, but that doesn't mean people should underestimate me."

...

"I guess I'm telling you all this as a 'comrade in arms'?" she confessed very suddenly.

Bepo wasn't satisfied, but it would do for now. The whole topic of their conversation was making even him uncomfortable. The pair drifted into an easy silence. Pandora was picking at her hair but was staring blankly at a section of the wall. She turned to him very suddenly, eyes bright and determined.

"Do you want a hug?"

Pandora didn't wait for his reply.

"You're squeezing my neck too hard, Pandora," Bepo complained. It wasn't like she was choking her, but it still.

"...Sorry," but she squeezed tighter anyway.


irv: I was going for One Piece-y! Not only the humour and adventure, but also the little (sometimes random!) details that eventually connect. The only one I can think of without spoiling anything are the cute little groundhogs from PYP's chapter 10 that Eneru met when he went to the moon. Glad you're reading despite not particularly fancying OC fics! (:
anon: Her name's actually inspired by that magical myth! It may or may not be touched on later. I haven't decided yet. We'll see if I can fit it in.


A/N: OKAY, I must give some props to a few people.
I'm glad to say that the story got fanart by GirlKitsune. It's of one of the hopefully funnier scenes of the fic and is delightful to look at. Link on my profile.
Secondly, I'm sad to say that I did not come up with the idea of Bepo and Law's past. ): I got the great idea from reading an amazing nakamaship oneshot called Stained Shadows by So Beyond Crazy. If you have time, you should read it and review to tell her what you think!

Thanks for reading and as always, please give feedback.