A/N: Delayed half a day :P You guys would not believe how easily I get distracted sometimes... Yesterday was just one of those days -though I did manage to finish, like, five sevenths of the chapter yesterday. But it got late, so I stopped for the night.

Now we're getting somewhere :P Next chapter, everybody should be reunited again!

100 reviews! You guys make me so happy :)

And since I have nothing else really to say: Enjoy!

Plans and Smart Ideas

Suki

I fell to my knees as the rest of them ran away.

"Yohoho, look at them run," Brooke's spirit snaked around me.

"You're such an idiot," I told him, tears welling in my eyes. I didn't know if it were from relief or from the fear that still remained though the ones to be scared of had disappeared. I wiped my eyes as Brooke's spirit returned to his skeleton.

"Yohoho, are those tears I see?" he knelt in front of me, placing a gentle hand over one of mine. The was a small ding nearby, but both of us ignored it.

"No, because you have no eyes to see with," I took a shaky breath, then forced a laugh.

Brooke laughed. "Yohoho! Skull joke!" He pulled his suit's jacket straight, finding the hole and sticking his boney finger through it. He sighed as he bent down and picked up his violin case. There was a large dent, and a bullet hole. Neither had been there before.

"What happened?" I raised a trembling hand to the case. Brooke's fingers closed around my wrist gently.

"I would not let them take you," he told me. I'll be the first to admit that the serious Brooke scared me.

"I know," A half-lie. I had really believed he would for a second. "So what happened to the violin's case?"

"This?" He ran his fingers over the dent, then let out a loud laugh, "Yohoho! I hit Zoro over the head."

"When?" I asked. I didn't remember him doing so.

"When they shot at us," Brooke said.

"I didn't see you," I told him.

"But I felt him do it," Zoro grounded out behind me.

I spun, slipping in the process, and Brooke caught me. He pushed himself to a sitting position. Blood covered his shirt front, and he tugged his shirt up, revealing a wound.

"I see you saved the girl from a bullet, but you were only fast enough to hit me over the head," he grunted out.

"No, I just figured a bullet wouldn't stop you," Brooke said, opening the violin case and taking the violin out. He looked it over before replacing it back in the case and closing it carefully, making sure that my box with the ring was alright first. On closer inspection, the bullet hole was shallow –the ding from earlier must have been it falling.

"I could have taken those guys on," Zoro said, pinching the wound. It was just under his rib on the left side.

"We're not here to fight with ordinary citizens," Brooke said. "The less fighting, the better."

"Couldn't you have found a way to talk to them?" Robin's voice came through, a little bit shaky.

"Robin, they shot at us before we could even say a word," Brooke bent down to help Zoro to his feet.

"I suppose you're right… Well, just don't tell Nami that you ran into more people than necessary. She knows you were shot at –just don't tell her the right numbers."

"Is she being emotional?" Zoro scoffed, as if it were a bad thing.

"Zoro," Robin said, not harsh enough to be a warning, but I think he got the message anyway. "She's just sensitive to the idea of not being able to save as many people as possible –knowing that you let an entire group disappear just wouldn't be a good idea."

"Tell Luffy to get a hold on his woman," Zoro muttered. Hurt or not, I was going to smack the guy.

"He's given her a wake-up call," Robin assured him. Her voice softened a bit, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Zoro grunted. "It was just a bullet."

"And –?"

"It's still inside him," Brooke said. "And it's still bleeding."

"Hurry up and get back here so we can take care of that," She said.

"Let's go back towards the staircase," I said.

"Need help?" Brooke asked Zoro.

"I'm fine," Zoro told him, beginning to walk.

"Zoro," Brooke said.

"What?" he nearly growled at us.

"Stairs are this way," Brooke told him.

"Oh."

Zoro

I held my hand against the wound as I walked. It was still bleeding, but I don't think it hit any vital organs. My head throbbed from Brooke having hit me over the head. But I'd be fine.

"How'd you do it anyway? Hit Zoro so fast?" Suki asked as the two of them walked slightly in front of me.

"With his sword, he's fast enough to take down a group without looking like he's moved a muscle," I told her.

"That's so cool," she told him. She seemed to be fine too.

"Yohoho, you both flatter me," Brooke laughed. "It pleases me to hear such pleasant words!"

He may be an idiot, but I had respect for a fellow swordsman.

"Except you don't have ears to hear with," Suki grinned.

The girl I could live without.

Robin

"Everything all right?" Nami asked.

"Mm," I told her. "Nothing too serious. Zoro's been shot. He's walking on his own though. He should be fine." Or at least fine enough to get back so that I could take care of him.

"That's good," she said. "How are Brooke and that girl?"

"Suki," I told her. "And they're good, too."

"See?" Luffy grinned, still sitting on top of the counter. The others had come back in, away from the bodies.

"Do you regret letting them go?" Nami asked.

"No," I said. "I mean, if they don't regret going, I have no right to regret letting them go."

"Do you wish you went with them?" Loki asked.

"There's not a lot a person can do in those kinds of situations –I'd only be able to get them back here faster," I said, using one of the knives I'd found to cut up fruit, ready for when Zoro and the others came back. Luffy kept on stealing the slices though. I didn't mind. At a time like this I hated to be idling about.

"I know they aren't katana," Nami began slowly, watching me as I cut, "But do you think Zoro could use these knives until we get back to our ship?"

"I'm sure he could," I smiled. I don't know why I hadn't thought of that. It was good to have the old Nami back.

"Oh, thank god," Someone panted, and it wasn't Zoro or the others. Female. "Please. You have to help me –my friend's pinned under a support beam of the ship –she –she's lost a lot of blood."

"Robin?" Zoro spoke this time.

"No, her name's Sala," the girl sounded confused.

"Help her," I told him. Although I wanted to get him back here as soon as possible. The chances of them falling in the same trap twice were slim. Not impossible –but highly unlikely. Especially from the seemingly innocent sounding girl they were dealing with.

"We'll be up there soon," Brooke promised. "We'll probably need Zoro's strength."

"I know," I told them. "Go on. First, are you near the stairwell?"

"It's around the next corner," Suki said.

"What's the closest room number?" I asked.

"Umm," there was silence for a moment. "Room 563."

"563," I murmured out loud.

"What's that?" Nami asked.

"563," I repeated. "We're on the sixth floor. We should try to find the area with similar ending numbers. So that we can establish a path to make sure they get back alright, and faster."

"We can rip up left over table cloths into strips, tie them together and make a rope," Nami said.

"Mm," I nodded. "I'll go get the table cloths."

By the time we had the cloth strips torn and ready for us to tie together, Zoro and the other were at the scene. I used my powers to tie all the strips together.

"I'll go with Robin," Nami said, looping the long rope around her hand. "Luffy, stay here, and make sure that… certain people don't get out of hand." As she spoke she cast a long glance at Windsworth, who puffed up with anger.

"Now look here," he said, pointing a finger at Nami. "I'll be damned if you think I have to be watched over by a pirate."

"Calm down," I said before Nami could say another thing. "Don't forget that we're all working towards a common cause –getting out of here."

Windsworth glared at us, but said nothing.

"And, actually, Nami," I turned to her. "I'd prefer it if Luffy came. In case Zoro needs help."

"Zoro's pride will never let him be helped for something like a gunshot wound," she pointed out. Before I could say anything she nodded. "Fine. I'll stay behind with the others."

"Do you want me to –?"

"Don't go stretching your powers in every direction –that's Luffy's fruit power, Robin," she told me, quickly checking over all the knots. The three of us headed to the dining hall. Nami tied the end to the door handle. "Do you think it'll be long enough?"

"We ripped five table cloths into thin strips," I reminded her.

"We should probably take it with us when we move on from here as a group too," she said. "There're so many things we could use it for, especially in a situation like this."

"Mm," I agreed.

"Na~mi," Luffy pulled lightly at her hand, back to the usual childish captain.

"What, Luffy?" she turned to him, only to be captured by his lips. I smiled.

"Miss me, okay?" he told her as he pulled away.

"Whatever," Nami rolled her eyes. "Just go on."

"Shishishi," Luffy laughed.

"Hurry back," Nami told us.

"Mm," I nodded.

The Luffy and I left, unraveling the rope as we walked.

Suki

I was relieved to find out it wasn't another trap. I think even if the person had been suspicious looking, Brooke and Zoro would go along anyway –that was who they were; the kind of people that would help others, even if the chances were slim. And I think if they were any different, I wouldn't have gotten my ring back.

The room we were led to was large, a dance hall, it looked like. There was a stage for a band to play –upside down and on the ceiling –similar to the one that I had played on, but the over all look of the room was cheap compared to where I'd been singing.

And that's what I concentrated on –the décor of the room, rather than all the bodies that were lying around us as we walked to the small group around the beam.

There were two other people, aside from the girl pinned under the support, and the girl that had brought us here. Only one in this group was a male. And he couldn't lift the support himself.

Zoro grabbed the support beam, and the guy nodded at him, "On the count of –"

Zoro lifted the beam all by himself, wound and all, and moved it aside.

"Holy shit," the guy said.

"Are you okay, ma'am?" Brooke held his hand out to the girl –Sala, I think the other girl had said her name was.

"Thank you," she murmured, taking his hand before looking up at his face and screaming. "It's the Soul King!"

"This is not the time, nor place," I told her, taking her other hand and helping her to her feet. "Can you walk?"

"My legs –" she winced.

"Here," the guy said, kneeling in front of her so that she could be carried on his back. He wobbled as he stood up, but refused help from both Zoro and Brooke.

"Would you guys like to come with us?" I asked. "We're going to get off the ship."

"We have other nakama waiting for us on the level above," Brooke told them.

They exchanged glances, but all nodded. "Thank you. We wouldn't know where else to go from here."

"Unless you want to drown, the only way is up," Zoro grunted, his back to us. He had his shirt pulled up, examining the wound once more. I wondered if it was bleeding more, or even still, but with all the blood that covered his shirt front I couldn't tell anyway, and he certainly wasn't going to show us now.

Brooke looked concerned –not that I could tell with his black hole-for-eyes.

Zoro tugged his shirt down, "Let's go."