Character: Trafalgar Law, Penguin, Shachi

XXI

His crew was weak; he could no longer deny it.

Sitting in his medical bay, Law could do nothing but listen to the slow beeping of life support machines, face buried in his hands. Just looking at his crewmates' sleeping forms pained him.

That they had been trashed by another up-and-coming North Blue pirate crew was an understatement; their fight was more a carnage than a battle. If Law had not able to take his submarine away from the battleground with his devil fruit ability, their losses would have been greater.

It was not entirely their fault. Doflamingo – his 'brother', the man he swore his loyalty to – requested the meet up; why should he have suspected anything? Law had not seen him since he set sail with the Heart Pirates and the man did promise to see him before he returned to the Grand Line.

The pirate-doctor dropped his plans and sailed to their rendezvous point, where a different pirate crew awaited them. The battle that followed was nothing more than a drawn-out escape: they were unprepared and combat was not his crew's forte. (Not yet, he desperately wanted to believe, but what use were his hopes when he could barely assure his men their safety?)

His first thoughts then, when surprise dissipated and panic took over, were for his brother, so much so that he failed to mind his own crew. Thinking on it now, he should not have wasted even a trickle of worry for that sadist he called his superior. He recognized the variant of the New Age smiley on their attacker's flag, if only in passing. It was a setup and he walked right into it.

After all, Donquixote Doflamingo toyed with everybody. He found enjoyment in pitting people against each other, both to weed out the weak and to constantly test his aces. Or just to give fodder to his favorite subordinates. Law was stupid to believe he would be treated any differently, that Doflamingo would leave him alone because he came from under his wing. He even gave him a submarine, damn him. Who wouldn't feel special?

But the facts stood—the Heart Pirates were being tested and they were faring very poorly.

The betrayal and his foolishness didn't make it any easier to accept. Being his own captain, having a name that inspired respect from all those who heard it, and in some deep secret part of him, making Donquixote Doflamingo proud of having him in his roster was everything he had been working for.

And he was none of them.

The very thought made breathing painful and his chest throb. In a fit of rage, Trafalgar Law swept his arms across his desk to throw his possessions to the ground; books, journals and glass jars came crashing to floor. When the deed was done, he clasped his hands over his eyes, screaming and swearing repeatedly. He screamed until all anger left him, leaving him gasping and shaking.

By then his mind had calmed, and gingerly, he willed it to focus, to think and to plan. Hands dropped to his sides, and for the first time in many hours, Law looked up. The sight of his injured crewmates had lost its piercing sting, now just a dull reminder of his guilt, as the gears in his head slowly began to turn.

+.+

The door noisily swung open and two sets of footsteps shuffled inside. Another sound – an irregular, heavy scraping against steel – accompanied the steps. Law waited expectantly for the new arrivals to announce themselves, although he did not pause in his work.

"Hey captain?" Shachi was the first to speak up.

"Hn?"

"We got that guy you asked for."

At this answer, their captain looked to them. Shachi and Penguin stood midway between the door and himself, all grins and snickers as they supported an unconscious, burly man between them. A corner of Law's mouth stretched into a smirk.

"Put him on the table. Strap him down while you're at it."

His crewmates adjusted their grips on their burden, and heaved him up on one of the many operating tables of the Heart Pirates medical bay, the captain coming forward as they bound their capture.

"Looks a lot older up close," Law murmured. "We might have to forego his lungs along with the liver and kidneys."

Shachi snorted. "Yeah, you could smell the smoke and alcohol on him from a mile away."

"He's sturdy, at least," Penguin added, looking over Law's shoulders for another look at their capture. "I heard he worked at the docks. His muscles'll be useful."

"We'll see," was the doctor's reply. "So how'd you guys manage to get this one? Funny, you two don't look too roughed up."

"Eh? Don't you believe in our powers of persuasion, captain? We've been working real hard on them, you know. Nearly got a girl last week. But, uh, it wasn't like we were seducing this guy or anything. We…were…oh okay, fine. So maybe we snuck a pill or two in his drink—"

While the exchange progressed, a blue sphere engulfed the group. Law held out his hand, palm up and fingers partway curled, and a loosely tied bunch of pill boxes fell into it. He offered them to his crew mates, who quieted down and accepted them.

"Schedules and dosages are inside," the doctor said as he fished out the pack of surgical gloves tucked in his pants' back pocket. His eyes veered to the form on the table, already starting on a preliminary inspection. "Yours have your names on it. Get them wrong and consider yourselves next on this table."

"Aye, aye, captain," Penguin replied, he and his companion taking their leave. "Anything else, sir?"

"Lock the door."

The pair shut the door behind them as instructed. Then, they strolled off to pass on the crew's medication, heedless of the muffled screams from the room they had just left.

A/N: It's been a while since I added anything to this but hopefully, I'll have a few more chapters up in the next few days.

Just in case it was unclear, this vignette is set in the early days of the Heart Pirates in North Blue.

EDIT: [5-15-13]

REVIEWS REPLIES:

To 10th Squad 3rd Seat & Paint-Splattered Teardrops:
I'm glad to hear that the message was effectively portrayed. ^-^

To Shiningheart of ThunderClan:
I apologize for the confusion. Hopefully, the revision has made it a little clearer. :)

To CherishCherries:
I hope to write about my headcanon pirate motivations for Law, but with all the new things being revealed in the past arcs, my theories are a little unstable at the moment. Rest assured, though, that it's tied to Doflamingo.