Sam isn't sure how much time passes before she's conscious again but it's to the sound of shouts and cannon fire. Despite the amount of noise happening around her she still manages to sleep on without any effort. The next time it's to murmuring and someone holding her close. Their heartbeat is steady and a hand is running through her hair.

"Just hang in there, Sam. Don't be a hypocrite, you asked me to survive, now it's your turn. We have plans with Corasan, don't forget that. We're suppose to get through this together. Just hang in there until we make it through Reverse Mountain." Sam ends up falling asleep without even twitching.

The next time she wakes up she's able to actually open her eyes, even though she has a blinding headache and every inch of her body is aching and she's unable to move very far. Turning her head she meets the face of someone she's never met.

She takes in the fact that he is a partially bald man with white hair and a flower blooming on the sides of his head, he's wearing thin silver frames, and has a white beard that split in two parts. His lower lip was also noticeably larger than his upper. He was also hovering way to close for comfort. Her head is pounding and she's all sorts of disoriented. She wonders where Corazon or Law is and why there is this man just staring at her. Sam looks closer and realizes that this guy is familiar. Something that started with a C...Cro-something.

"Who the hell are you?" Sam slurs as she looks blearily at the man. The glare he gives her is nothing to scoff at, but still, it doesn't instill the type of unease that one of Doflamingo's does. Sam slowly pushes herself up in the bed and notices that Corazon and Law are not in the room. Now confused and slightly startled she looks back at the man.

"Where's Law and Corazon?" She prompts the man to start answering her questions by asking even more. He still gives her a glare but she ignores it. She's already sweating and panting from moving up the bed the last thing she needs is this old man giving her grief. The older man looks put out that she completely ignored his glare. Huffing, the bearded man takes a seat in a chair near a desk. That was when Sam took the time to look around to see if she could find any similar furniture.

The room she's in is small, but cozy. The sheets she was laying on were in a plaid red and white color. The room was covered all in warm tones, that Sam never realized that she actually liked together. In this life she was always exposed to cold and austere decor, or camping like conditions, or worse yet, shitty flamingo's medical bay. This actually felt like a bedroom.

"Can you explain to me what happened, who you are, and where my friends are?" Sam asks as she focuses her attention back on the man. He crosses his legs and pulls a paper out of nowhere and lets the silence draw on for way too long. Sam takes in the small details like he wears shorts and a pink shirt with green accents. He looks really familiar, but Sam just can't put a name to him.

"You over taxed your Devil Fruit. From what your clown friend told me, you managed to clone yourself and switch bodies when your original body was too damaged to adequately survive. This in itself was a heavy task, let alone the mass net of clones you had planted across the island. The fact that you continued to run even though your body was still adjusting to the changes was reckless, and trying to heal a man with only a devil fruit with multiplication properties was just stupid." Sam winces and lets her head hang down, because she knows this man is only speaking the brutal truth.

"How bad was Corazon," she asks quietly as her hands clench at the sheets. Her stomach aches at the thought she caused him any permanent or lasting injuries. The glare the man sends over his paper tells her that he was not happy with her patch job. Well, he could join the club. She wasn't either, but there wasn't much she could do when running on fumes.

"You're lucky that I am an experienced surgeon, I was able to fix the damaged organs and the improper clots you created. I can't tell you how lucky you were not to have induce cancerous growths. Especially in the more delicate organs and systems like the liver, lymph nodes, and the lungs. But you did save his life, and that's all anyone can ask for when healing someone." Something in Sam's chest relaxed. That was her biggest worry when healing with her multiplication. It was a precise way of healing someone and could go wrong in so many ways if you didn't know what to look for when trying to patch things together. The man looked back down at his paper before continuing.

"By overtaxing yourself you ended up in a healing coma for the past three months. The Marines are hunting down your clown friend for treason, Law for interfering with the transaction of the Marines, and yourself for colluding against the Marines. From what I understand, they caught him and a couple of kids lugging you around on Diez Barrel's stolen pirate ship. They chased them through the entire of North Blue. When the Marines lost them, Germa 66 picked up the chase and followed you guys all the way to Reverse Mountain. They showed a particular interest in your survival when they found your dead body on Minion Island. There is a lot of confusion regarding the whole situation." The man pauses and flips through the paper before pulling out three sheets and handing it over to her.

Sam swipes her sweaty hair out of her face and looks down at the paper.

DONQUIXOTE ROSCINANTE (alias CORAZON)

WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE

530,000,000 B

She doesn't even notice when her jaw hangs open and she stares at the poster of a sunglasses clad Corazon with his cigarette hanging out of his mouth and donning his black cloak. She slowly looks away and to the next poster, only to see a picture of her friend looking sullen and pissed off.

TRAFALGER D. WATER LAW

WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE

100,000,000 B

Twitching at the fact that Law now had a bounty when she was sure he didn't get one until much later has her switching quickly to the next poster only to be met by her own scowling face.

OUTLOOK SAMANTHA (alias SKULL SLAM SAM)

WANTED ALIVE

70,000,000 B

"Son of a bitch!" Sam curses as she slams a hand to her face. Nothing could ever be simple! They now had her name which could lead them directly to Sabo and Ace if they decided to dig, or Doflamingo decided that he wanted to be an even bigger shit. She's sure the only way they got her full name was because he decided he wanted her to be as miserable as possible. But, Doflamingo was nothing if not stingy and selfish. He would want her power to himself, and he would wait if he had to. He had other methods to get cloned Devil Fruits, granted having her would have made it considerably more easy, but Doflamingo was also thorough. She's sure he already had a couple back up plans up his sleeve. Also, no one knew about her twin, so long as Outlook III kept his nose out of it.

But, she's pretty sure at the moment Doflamingo was busy with plotting the overthrow of Dressrosa. He would probably become a pain in her ass once he established a stable powerbase on the island. Also, he would have to set up all of his contacts with the underworld. But he still wouldn't know where she was, and would think she was with Law and Corazon. He knew her well enough that she would stay clear of any familiar places that could be searched. He was very confident in his skills at reading people.

But her hands were in a bind on taking any preventative action. Drawing in a deep breath Sam tries to center her scattered thoughts. The blinding headache that's throbbing behind her eyes does nothing to help.

The only thing she could do at the moment was run damage control. That included understanding how her presence effected the timeline. From what she gathered so far is that she has to be directly present for anything to change significantly. That meant that she would have to decide to be present for the whole Porchemy ordeal. But, if she remembered right, she was currently somewhere on the Grand Line. That meant that she would have to sail down Reverse Mountain and she had no clue how to do that. She knows she has at least 4 years before anything comes to pass. Sam is derailed from her thoughts when the man starts talking again, clearly not paying attention to the panic attack she's currently experiencing.

"Watch your language, young miss. As of right now, your friends are currently in hiding. They couldn't stay for too long due to the Marines and Underworld actively searching for them. On that note, everyone still thinks you are still sailing with them. That Law fellow told me to tell you that they would keep your brothers' secret safe and try to direct attention away from you and your origins." The man comments as he flips through the newspaper.

Something in her heart clenches at the thought of Law agreeing to protect her brothers. He knew just how important family was to her. He understood that if the World Government got it in their head to buster call the entirety of Goa Kingdom they would just to get to Sam. While she knew, logically, that Luffy and Ace would be safe due to Garp and Dragon, that meant nothing in terms of Sabo. Law was smart, he and his friends developed a submarine that could take them under the water to hide. Somewhere where no one would think to look.

Sam was also smart, she was coming to the point where she would have to find Emporio Ivankov for a couple of changes, at least until she was ready to face the Government, when she was stronger, when she didn't have to worry about her brother's being found on Goa where he was defenseless. She knew he was there for the destruction of Gray Terminal that would be her only chance. But she would have to figure out a way to get away from wherever the hell she was at the moment. Sam is once again pulled from her thoughts when the old man interrupts her.

"As for myself, my name is Crocus. My blood type is AB, I'm a doctor, and I'm a Gemini." Sam's eye twitches at the unnecessary information and dramatic pauses. But the name finally registers and the name did ring a bell in her mind. This was the man that kept Gol D. Roger healthy and stable on his adventure through the Grand Line.

This dude was essentially the one that kept a mother fucking pirate king alive to reach Raftel. Something inside of her jerks at the thought that she might actually get to see her tentative dream of destroying the World Government come through. This was a guy that fought alongside Silvers Rayleigh, a total and complete badass. He also, probably, had a thorough grounding in haki and sharp shooting if she remembers the harpoon he carried correctly. He could also teach her the skills of a surgeon. She would never end up in the same situation as she did when Corazon was when he was shot.

If she was honest with herself she would fit more in the role of a doctor and sharpshooter. She was pretty sure at the end of the day a mix of brute force and subterfuge would be the name of the game if she wanted to get anywhere with the World Government, and the only crews she knew that would be able to help her with her goals was either Law, Luffy, or the Revolutionaries.

Sam knew that her brother would be drawn to the Revolutionaries for the same reason she was drawn. To see their parents and their shitty kingdom torn to shreds. To free the people that the World Government enslaved and abused. While it would make more sense for her to join the Revolutionaries, she felt that was where Sabo grew as a person. She couldn't keep hovering at his side for the rest of his life. The Revolutionaries was where he came into his own, but that didn't mean that she could allow him to go and get himself killed in the process.

"Are you alright?" The man grunts as he gets up from his chair at the desk. Sam looks up from the bounty posters and stares at the man. He tried to give her a dramatic stare, but Sam looked back with the same determination. Looking for any weakness in his gaze.

"You are an experienced surgeon, are you not?" The man raised an eye in question and interest. He waited a moment and nodded. Sam nodded and looked back down at the posters before clenching her hands as thoughts of visiting her brother flooded her mind. She would have to get stronger. This man knew about Devil Fruits, after sailing with the Roger Pirates she had no doubt about it. He knew about haki, he also knew about the New World. He had all of the information she would need to be of any help. This was an opportunity that she couldn't pass up, she would be a complete and utter idiot if she did.

Looking back up at the man she looked him in the eyes and clenched her jaw.

"Teach me! I never want to be this useless again! My friends nearly died and there was nothing I could do beside step in front of a gun for him. That's not being strong, being strong is being able to fight with and next to a friend. I'm tired of always sacrificing myself for the one's I love. I have no problem with it, but I would like to learn how to be an active participant. To not to have to constantly worry them with my actions." Sam stares back at the man never dropping his gaze as she speaks to him. Crocus folds up his paper and puts it back on the desk before looking over his glasses at Sam in consideration.

"You're asking a lot of an old retired man, young miss." Crocus sighs as he rubs his face under his glasses in thought. Sam bites her lip as she considers his words. He's right she is asking a lot from a man that lost his captain. But there is no other option Sam can think of at the moment.

"Two years," Sam states. "Teach me for two years, please. Give me the knowledge that I will be able to use if I ever encounter the same situation again, that I will be able to help if it ever comes to it. Please, Crocus." Sam pleads as she keeps her eyes on the man. Crocus purses his lips as he stares at her.

"Somehow, I know I'm going to regret this, but who am I to deny someone the ability to grow stronger to protect their family and friends. But, let it be known that I expect your full focus and attention while I am giving you lessons. Also, keep the back sass to a minimum, I was already warned by the man in the clown paint that you can be a handful when roused." The man readjusts his glasses only to be met with Sam's scowling face. The smile he cracks does nothing to help the violent thoughts of rearranging Corazon's face paint permanently by hitting him in his ugly mug a few times.

"Clown is going down as soon as I see his face again for the comment," Sam grunts as she crosses her arms in aggravation. The chortling that comes from Crocus has her glaring.

"Don't start with me old man, I have more back sass in my body than I do water. Trust me, I can make your life so much more unpleasant." Sam warns as she barely bites back the snarl that wants to make an appearance.

Crocus bursts out laughing and starts slapping his knee. "You know what, I think you and I are going to get along just fine Samantha." Sam finds no humor in this and narrows her eyes even more as she contemplates how she could get the old man back. She's starting to think that she is the one that is going to regret this more than Crocus.

When Sabo invades Dadan's house to wake up his lazy brother the last thing he expects to find is him already awake and actually reading a newspaper for, what Sabo assumes, is the first time in his life. What's more, is that his hand is clenched in his ruffled mussed up hair and he looks to be having a panic attack. Sabo, being concerned for his brother, walks over and looks over Ace's shoulder. In bold print WANTED ALIVE SKULL SLAM SAM. His heart leaps in his chest. It was his sister. Her white blonde fly away hair, her piercing eyes that always reassured him, and the scar on her lip standout. The blood on her hand is slightly worrying but that was Sam for you.

A pressure in his chest that has been present since her disappearance releases in a flood of relief. He knew on a personal level that his sister was still alive, but it was infinitely better to see her face and that she was causing trouble for Doflamingo. His sister was not someone that could be controlled easily. Sabo is drawn from his thoughts by Ace's shouting.

"I...I can't believe that she got a bounty before me! She's never going to let me live this down! How am I supposed to catch up to setting giants free and cloning dinosaurs to destroy half an island! This is so unfair. Also, IS SHE INSANE! SHE DREW THE ATTENTION OF THE WORLD GOVERNMENT!" Ace yells as he shoves the wanted poster and the paper in Sabo's face. Sabo takes hold of Ace's wrist and plucks the paper from his hand so he can get a better look. There was in fact an entire article on his sister's antics. From freeing giants to beating in the heads of medical personnel.

It made his lips quirk at the amount of trouble his sister could cause in just a couple years. It was impressive, though she always did have a thing for big, flashy, displays of destruction. For all that she complained that Sabo and Ace needed to be more sneaky, she was always the one that ended up causing the most damage due to her devil fruit.

"Maa, Ace. Don't worry so much Sam is tough. She's made it this far, I have faith she'll go even farther. Though I wonder what the medical personnel did to so thoroughly piss her off? Mysteries of life, ne?" Sabo looks up from the paper to smile at his friend. Ace give his brother a deadpan look.

"You're both crazy!" Ace shouts waking up Dadan in the process. The screaming match between the two has the other bandits in the house scattering.

Sabo silently thinks to himself...Be careful Sam, you're playing with fire.

Sam finds no joy in being on bed rest. So, she looks for other ways to bide her time like poking at Crocus to see what makes him tick. Not that she is very successful really, the man is more closed lip than the World Government at a Reverie.

"Come on old man, at least tell me how you got that massive scar on your left arm. It looks pretty bad, like taking out a good chunk of meat bad." Sam whines as she looks up at the ceiling of the little hut she's currently stuck. The whack on the nose with a newspaper makes her feel like she's being thought of as a bad puppy. Sam's not sure how she feels about this. On one hand she loves dogs, but she is, in fact, human. She's also pretty sure that training methods for puppies and children are vastly different. But she's also sure that Crocus couldn't careless, so long as it works.

"Do you ever shut up," Crocus asks absentmindedly as he opens his paper back up to the page he was reading previously. Sam blows a raspberry as she looks back up at the ceiling.

"I am surprisingly quiet when I have something to do, right now: I don't have any guns to clean, or books to read, I am unable to use my Devil Fruit for the next year or so, I have no plots to plan, or plots to ruin, and no little or older brothers to treat. So, your stuck with a bored Sam, and I'm not pleasant when I'm bored. Find a way to entertain me, old man!" Sam whines as she throws her head to the side to watch as Crocus sighs and pulls out a book from the desk drawer. He throws the thick, heavy book at Sam and she barely catches it.

Anatomy for Dummies

Sam sweat drops, which is evidently a thing, at the amount of reading she has ahead of her. She also thinks that Crocus is trying to tell her something with the title of the book, but is too sarcastic to actually call her an idiot out right, least it ruin his fun. Ruuuude.

"By the end of that I expect a full report on what you did wrong with your clown friend when you healed him." The man tells her as he turns the page in his paper. She's not sure if it's the same paper or new paper, but she finds it infinitely more interesting than the anatomy book she is currently holding. Damn, she hadn't done a real report in years. This was going to suck, like big time. Sighing, she gets to work and pulls out the notepad on the bedside table and starts to read.

It isn't until the hut she's in with Crocus starts to vibrate and groan that she remembers that she is in the belly of a whale for the foreseeable future. That thought is kind of depressing, and she vaguely wonders whether or not Crocus had started putting passageways in the whale or even painting it with the colors of the sky. Sam ignores the noise and goes back to reading. Not noticing the incredulous look she garners from the old man that just finished eating his dinner.

It isn't until another 6 months that she is actually allowed to move around more than just the hut itself. The healing process she has to endure from overtaxing her Devil Fruit is complicated and confusing. But, switching bodies when the original is too damaged is not simple, and is more trouble than it's worth. Like bed rest for a full nine months, and no access to her Devil Fruit abilities for a full year so her body can recalibrate itself. But, despite not being able to access her abilities, Sam is still able to study and learn. Specifically, she is able to help out with keeping Laboon healthy and calm.

Sam knows that Luffy essentially stabbed the poor creature in the nose and challenged it to a battle royal when he returned from the Grand Line, but somehow, she doesn't think that method would work for herself. So, she follows Crocus' example and helps keep the whale calm and patches up any damage he does when he starts hitting his head against the Red Line. Sam wishes there was more that she could do, but she isn't Luffy, and she is not going to break a mast in half to stab Laboon.

Though she and the whale do get along, Sam usually parks herself on the top of his head and reads aloud her medical books to Laboon. She always gives small commentary about what she is reading and what she agrees and disagrees with. She also talks about her brothers and how worried she is for them. How she's excited to meet Luffy and hopes that Ace isn't challenging too many man eating squirrels. She talks about the future and how she hopes to run into Law and Corazon so she can thank them for saving her. She tells him how she hopes that Law is doing okay and that he still has his cute little hat and scowley face. She doesn't notice that these are the times that Laboon calms down and just listens. But Crocus sure does.

After a year has passed, Sam finds herself painting the inside of Laboon's stomach. The commentary on her poor art skills are most certainly not welcomed in the least.

"You call that a bird?" Crocus hedges as he flips through his damned newspaper. Sam who was currently dressed in paint stained overalls, her hair held back by a purple bandanna, sweating, and was covered head to toe in paint smudges; does not appreciate the commentary. She slowly turns her head to glare over her shoulder at the old man, darkly.

"You want to say that again, old man." Sam asks quietly as she grips her paint brush tightly. Crocus finally gets a hint when her aura is so thick that it actually penetrates his reading time. Gulping he quickly back tracks.

"WHAT A FINE PIECE OF ART!" Sam stares a little longer before turning around to her painted bird. Sure it looks like a two year old had been given free reign to draw, but that didn't matter. She had just finished painting the entirety of Laboon's stomach. She wasn't in the mood for his sarcasm. Sam starts muttering to herself as she continues to paint.

"Don't worry, Gully the seagull, he didn't mean it." Sam assures her drawing. She takes no notice of the concerned look Crocus sends her. Perhaps he shouldn't have let her paint Laboon's entire stomach in only three days, he's not entirely sure how the fumes effect the human body…

It isn't until a couple months into her first year with Crocus that she is introduced to haki. Of course, it had to be in the most frightening of ways.

"Oi! Damn it, you shitty old man! Why the hell are you throwing harpoons at me! Do I look like a mother fucking whale!?...Don't answer that!" Sam yells as she dodges out of one aimed right at her head. Laboon gives, what Sam assumes is, a cry of agreement as he watches her dodge the sharp pointy objects of death. Or, he's just hungry. Sam prefers the former.

"The power to feel other's presence more strongly is called observation haki," Crocus announces calmly as Sam dodges out of the way of another spear.

"If you enhance this power, you can tell where your invisible enemy is, and how many there are, and what their next move will be." The old man tells her as he continues his assault on her person. Sam is sweating, and cursing the day that Crocus was born. Which turns out is January 4 making him a Capricorn and not a Gemini. What a freaking liar. Sam's not really sure where this line of thought is headed. But, its better than considering that she's about to be impaled by a tool used to kill WHALES.

"Next is Armament Haki. This power is the same as wearing invisible armor. You can even add it to give more punch to your weapons when you are proficient enough." Crocus announces as his movements speed up and Sam watches as the harpoons start to pierce the wall of Reverse Mountain all the way to the end of the staff. She was going to fucking die!

"Damn you, Crocus!" Sam yells as she continues dodging the harpoons until the moon is full in the sky and she is face down, panting on the dock. Where the hell did he get so many of those things, anyway.

Crocus eventually comes over to pick her up and swing her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"You're a mean, mean man, Crocus." The old man snorts as he enters Laboon. Sam is just dead weight and doesn't have it in her to fight.

"You haven't seen anything yet, Samantha. You want to survive, and to protect your friends and family? You train harder than ever before, remember that feeling you had when you woke up here. Embrace it, and remember it every time you curse my name." Crocus grunts as he drops her on the bed in his guest room.

Sam has no energy to even roll over to talk, so she speaks into her pillow.

"Thanks, old man." All he gives is a vague hum of approval as he shuts the door behind him.

A year passes by in a blink of an eye. It's between reading medical books, taking tests, writing overviews of medical techniques, practicing on travelers who barely survive reverse mountain, and dodging Crocus' harpoons that she realizes that she can predict when and where the harpoons are coming, and block them with her haki covered hands or feet. She can also sense when there is an incoming ship. Which is bugging the hell out of her at the moment.

Sam takes a second to think about that before going back to her patient who ended up falling half way down Reverse Mountain with his crew. It happened surprisingly often and it made for great practice for the practicing surgeon. She also made short trips to Whisky Peak with Crocus to help out there when they needed surgeons for the more serious injuries.

Of course she had to go out in a disguise anytime she wanted to go anywhere. She eventually just let her hair grow out and dyed it a darker red blonde so she wouldn't have to put on more make up than eyebrow pencil. She often wore her hair in a bun with a straight line of bangs. She usually wore circular glasses similar to Crocus', and never took off her white doctor's mask. Sam slowly stitches up the man's abdomen and wipes away the excess blood.

"Very good, Sam. He should make a fine recovery." The pat on the back makes her blush a bit, because it wasn't often that she got praised by Crocus. It was more likely for him to tease her mercilessly.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't get sappy on me old geezer." Sam brushes it off as she goes over to the sink to wash her hands before changing out of her clothes for her black turtle neck mid drift tee shirt and suspender clad grey pants. Sam feels a another ping of the incoming ship, she can already tell by the way it's coming down the mountain that there is no fear of it crashing. Adjusting her suspender straps she walks out of the lighthouse. Only to be met with the sight of a massive ship. A massive ship with a jolly roger that is achingly familiar.

Red Haired Shanks... Well, shit.

Hey, guys. Damn, I half expected everyone to forget about this story. Thank you so much for the feedback, suggestions, favorites, and likes. They tell me what you like and if you like where I'm going. They really helped with moving this chapter along. They also made me laugh hysterically at work that had my bosses questioning if I was alright. Thank you, I need a laugh to break the monotony.

Now, don't worry Law and Corazon. They will be back, I've got plans. Also, we're getting close to getting back with Sabo, Ace, and Luffy.

Honestly, I've got more plot twists planned for this than a twisty tie has.

Anyway, on my profile I put info on the times I intend to update, and things that I am working on at the moment. I'll try to update that every Saturday so you guys know I'm not dead or something.