AN: Hello everyone. With everything closing down I thought you might be running out of things to read, so here's an extra chapter this month. I'm home from work for three weeks and will have plenty of time to do nothing but write, so hopefully the next one will be out early April. Keep yourselves safe, wash your hands, and do your best not to get cabin fever.


Myron spies a visored man standing stock still in the tunnels and knows there's only one person it could be. He approaches confidently. "Hello, Pierce. I heard from one of the others about how it was you who sought us out," he says, extending his hand. "I wanted to thank you formally for being the one who spearheaded our rescue."

Pierce turns his face toward the extended hand, then his ear toward Myron, remaining silent for so long that the courier feels that he might need to turn away and end the awkward silence between them. "I don't know what you think happened, but I can assure you, you're wrong," he says. "My Mistress was greatly distressed by the news of your crew's fate. I only did what she would have done, and I did it for my lady's well-being. She is, and always will be, my priority."

Myron drops his hand. "That could be the case," he says, "but I remember you. We were marched past the room Gallowcomb was keeping you in. You looked so terrible that I thought you were dead, hanging from the wall like that. Seeing the state you were in… I think it helped Captain Turig prepare for what happened to him."

"I was unconscious when you were taken past me," Pierce says, collecting his thoughts, "but I do remember your crew being drug back to the surface. You didn't want to leave his body."

"And you taunted Ikaika to distract him. I was too upset to remember what you said, but you got him to beat you instead," he says.

"I asked him when he would see that no matter how many people he tortures to death, he'll never get the answers he wants," he recalls, rubbing the rim of his visor. "That she would always be out of his reach." With half his face covered and his muscles always tense, it's hard to gauge his emotions. Myron can see little change in his demeanor, so he continues.

"You might have saved me that day. I'd been driven mad with anger and was willing to die too until I heard you speak. You reminded me that I needed to protect my men in my captain's stead."

"You save who you can," Pierce agrees. "Karmen and my Master taught by example."

Myron looks confused. "I'm assuming your Master and Gallowcomb are two separate people?"

"They are."

"But you don't consider yourself a slave to them?"

"He is my employer. There's a big difference."

Myron rubs the back of his head. "I'm ashamed to say that there was a point in my life when I'd joke that there wasn't, but having a choice in what you do makes a big difference," he says. "I suppose I shouldn't question your path if this is what you've chosen."

"It is."

"So this Karmen woman, she said she 'killed herself' to be free of Gallowcomb," he says, lowering his voice. "Do you think it worked? Is she really free of that monster?"

"I think she's trying to be. Right now, I think that's the best most of us can do." Pierce's mind seems to wander before he clears his throat and straightens. "If everything's been cleared for you, I need to return to my duties."

"Of course," Myron says with a nod. "And thanks again."

Pierce gives an awkward nod and stiffly marches away down the tunnel.


It feels like Karmen has barely gotten to sleep before she's awoken by the ferocious growling of what sounds like a wild animal. Deep, guttural howls echo down the tunnels. She slips into her dressing gown and arms herself with a quill before slowly making her way through the declining path. She can sense a small crowd of accumulating patients waking up above her, curious and frightened of the noise. Soon they will brave an investigation.

Twenty feet down from her own room, claw marks line the tunnel walls. They start near the next chamber, empty, and continue down to the end of a passage.

Do you feel cornered and trapped? she wonders. Poor dear.

There is a slight breeze here from a known ventilation crack in a lower tunnel. She follows the fresh air until she's standing at the mouth of the pitch-black room, observing with everything but her eyes. Camilla had yet to get the bioluminescent lichens to grow down here. Other rooms had taken priority, but the darkness did not matter to the being inside.

The room smells of earth and lizards with a fresher smell of fur and sweat. She can feel the wind emanating from his fevered movements. Scouring, thrashing, desperate to flee or to find. Claws and limbs flail wildly with resounding sounds that pass through his bestial mouths.

She remains there, not only as a deterrent to the being inside, but as a barrier between him and the fast-approaching footsteps.

He can hear them too. His growls become more threatening as they approach, then slow to a walk when they see Karmen.

"What is it?" Winston asks. He has a pair of large sewing scissors in his hand. She sees Saaresto and Camilla among patients armed with large rocks, ready to defend themselves if need be. Julimes and Myron are at the back of the crowd empty-handed.

"No need to show up in such force," Karmen says gently. "Pierce is simply having a nightmare. I was determining the best way to wake him."

"Do you need help?" Winston asks, lowering his voice significantly. "He doesn't exactly sound stable."

"He's not," she says. "Which is exactly why I need you to keep everyone out while I deal with the situation."

She can feel his liquid skin boiling and rolling as transformations tear at Pierce's body. The six wings that seem solidified to his form fill with empty eye sockets, teeth, claws, and horns. His hands are snarling bat heads that snap at the air wildly and his clawed feet gouge the rock beneath him as he seeks his invisible enemy.

Winston takes Karmen's place as she steps into the room. "Dearest, you're going to use up all your protein stores," she says gently. "It's me, Pierce. Wake up and we can go grab a snack."

A large dark form dives for her and she has to hug the ground to avoid being torn apart.

"If you don't want to talk, that's fine," she continues, voice a little louder. "But you can't go on like this. It isn't healthy for you, or for me."

She break-dances out of the way of another pass, feeling hot breath as he nearly grazes her arm.

"Dearie, I know that seeing Geraldo again brought up some bad memories, but if you don't wake up I'm going to have to resort to drastic tactics," she says firmly.

This time when he lunges, she doesn't move. He barrels into her, knocking the wind from her lungs as he slams her against the uncomfortably jagged stone wall. Her dressing gown rips as claws and horns compress her. The weight of his body doesn't allow for her to take a breath, so she holds what little air she has left.

Finally having a solid target seems to focus his unconscious mind as he roars spittle in her face and sniffs at her neck. His bat-bat faced hand closes its mouth around her throat, teeth pressing into her flesh. He doesn't bite down, just holds her in place with the threatening possibility.

She knows she should panic, fight back, but all she can think of is how scared he must be. She pulls one arm free and strokes his cheek, letting her wrist rest just before his nose. "It's just me here, Pierce. It's Karmen. You're safe," she says. "They can't reach us. I won't let them. I promise."

He gives a mournful croon as the teeth around her neck dissolve into a wing and his transformations settle. Karmen drops to the ground as she's released and she's barely able to catch him in time, still asleep in his bat-bat form. She pulls his shredded nightshirt from him and cradles him to her chest, covering him with what's left of her dressing gown. He clings to her and his breathing relaxes.

After taking a moment to ensure she herself is not harmed, save a few bruises, she sweeps back into the tunnels. Her authoritative pace parts the crowd. "Saaresto, with me." He falls into step behind her as she returns to her bed chamber and lights a candle.

"What do you need?" he asks.

"Check him for injuries, please. Gently," she requests as she sits down on her bed. When Winston pokes his head beyond the curtain that serves as her door, she adds, "Have some of the kitchen volunteers that are awake make him something to eat. Anything with lots of meat."

He smooths his sleep-tangled hair and gives a heavy sigh. "I'll ask the rays to restore our fish supplies as well. We'll need to make more jerky afterward."

"Thank you." She's grateful that he doesn't ask any more questions.

"You let him hit you," Saaresto says in a low voice as he extends Pierce's wing, checking for cuts or tears or broken bones.

"It was the only way to calm him down without hurting him."

"You took your quill in there with you. Why didn't you use it?"

"Because that wouldn't have helped him."

"And letting him kill you would?"

"He wouldn't."

"You had no way of knowing that. Not when he was in a state like that."

"If I hadn't, I would have used my weapon," she says firmly. "Trauma doesn't make him a monster, no matter his state."

Saaresto gives a heavy sigh but relents. "For both your sakes, I hope you're right."

"How can you sit there and question his character after all we've been through," she says sharply. "He needs our support. You're a doctor, for Kudra's sake."

"It's what we went through that makes me worry. I'm sorry, Karmen," he says gently. "I didn't mean to upset you. It's just that I know how much you care for him and I don't want to see you putting yourself at any more risk than is necessary. I want to make sure you're doing what you need to look after yourself. You're my patient too."

She gives him a gentle smile. "Uncle Saaresto," she says, letting her fingers sink into Pierce's soft fur. "I'm sorry I snapped. I just can't stand to see him looking so scared and defenseless. It's painful to see him so alone."

"It may be best to keep him with you tonight if that's alright," the doctor responds. "I think he was looking for you. It's not a professional opinion, but I've only seen him like that when he thought that you were in danger. I'd get rid of that dressing gown. If he found out he attacked you in his sleep he'd never forgive himself."

Her smile softens toward him. "Thank you. I'm sure Winston already has a mountain of them that he's desperate for me to try on."

Saaresto chuckles. "He has three new wardrobes for you because he knows how little the two of you value clothing."

Karmen shrugs. "Skin is a little more important."

"When you get him back to bed, I'll have ointment for those bruises."

"I'll find you."

When he departs, she can still feel worried patients lingering in the hall. Slowly, one by one, they disperse. Only then does she allow herself to feel. To express. To breathe. She wraps her arms around Pierce's small form and takes a shuddering breath. In his zoan shape he seems like a child, even though he's two years older than she is. She just wants to hold him until all the nightmares go away.

She must have squeezed him a little because he begins to stir. "I'm sore."

"I bet you are. And hungry too, no doubt," she says, loosening her grip a little. "You were having a nightmare."

He doesn't say anything, but lowers his head into her shoulder until his horns press against her collarbone.

"You and I are going to sleep in the Whist Room for a couple of nights until this passes. Is that alright with you?"

He nods.

She pulls her ruined dressing gown off him and replaces it with a blanket that she wraps around both of them before standing.

"What happened to your robe?" he asks.

"I used it as a distraction," she tells him. "A small sacrifice for your well-being."

"I attacked you?" He lifts his visorless face to speak more clearly. "Mistress, if I harmed you in any way-"

"You defended yourself." She begins walking up to the dining hall at a slow pace as she remembers the nightmares she used to have. "And you didn't do anything that I haven't done before, except maybe the transforming bit. However, I did nearly graze my crewmate with a quill once. But to answer your question, you didn't get any closer to me than I let you."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't go apologizing for things you had no control over," she says gently. "I never told my crewmates what I had nightmares for the longest time. I wish that I had, though. I think I would have had a much easier time with things. So if you want to talk about it, I'm here to listen. If not, I can keep talking so you don't feel you have to."

"I don't remember all of it," Pierce says slowly. "Antawan was there and he tied me up while Doflamingo trapped you in a cage and carried you away. I tried to get free so I could follow you, but Ikaika put me in chains and was taking me to the basement so some scientist could experiment on me. I was able to break free, but every time I tried to look for you, Moria's shadow monsters attacked me."

That last detail takes Karmen by surprise. "Moria was in your dream? That's interesting. I hear that he's been out of commission since the War of Marineford."

"I know. It doesn't make any sense," he says. "I shouldn't have even been scared."

"It's ok to be scared," she says gently. "I know you're often more scared than you show. I know that you know I am as well. Anxiety: the great inheritance of our childhoods."

This gets a snort of laughter from him. "Did anyone else see me like that?" he asks. She can hear the worry in his voice.

"Not even I did," she tells him truthfully. "You went to a lightless cavern and I used haki to locate you."

This relaxes him. "Thank you for not leaving me in the dark."

They make it to the dining hall where an array of food is being prepared. There are mozzarella-stuffed meatballs, chicken kabobs, grilled fish, steak, and lettuce wraps stuffed with ground beef and vegetables. Pierce's stomach growls hungrily and Karmen's does too, a little. It had been a while since they'd had such a feast. Luffy would have demolished it in seconds.

Despite being half-starved, Pierce is reluctant to let go of Karmen, even for food. She notices some stiffness in his wings when he finally does unlatch his clawed thumbs from her shoulders and he flexes his toes when he lets go of her waist. She transfers him over to a backward chair that he can reach around or over for his food while still having a grip on something. He doesn't transform back to eat, but nearly climbs onto the table to reach his food until he notices a few of the patients from earlier beginning to brave entering the room.

Karmen isn't sure if it's the food, concern, or the spectacle that's drawn them, but Pierce slows his eating nearly to a halt. She wonders if they've noticed how the color and pattern of his fur changes where his scars are, or if they can see the starburst around his eyes from the angle they're standing. Her silent query to him is simple, yet impossibly too complicated to answer herself. What do you need?

Pierce squares his wings and turns his ear toward them. "If you just stand there, the food will get cold," he says simply. "If you're hungry, come eat."

At his request, they come in and questioningly get a snack for themselves. They look between Pierce and Karmen without saying a word and find themselves a place to sit and eat. Pierce isn't comfortable, but he's managing. It will work for now. Karmen watches them until she decides she needs something to fill her own silence. She grabs a lettuce wrap and eats it casually as if nothing at all had happened. Everyone else follows her lead.

Between bites, she talks casually of the work she's been doing in her lab and what poisons she's been experimenting with and how well her new time-release capsule had worked with sunblade to burn the cocoon around the last island and cover their escape.

Slowly, Pierce relaxes. He finishes eating and delicately wipes his muzzle. "Mistress, I believe I am ready to go to sleep if you are."

"Oh, you aren't sleeping yet," she says, wiping her hands.

He seems perplexed. "I thought you said we were moving to the Whist Room for a few nights."

"Oh, we are," she says, cracking her knuckles and giving him a wicked grin. "But we're going to train until you pass out before I'll be ready to sleep. I'm going to make sure you're exhausted every night until you're sleeping soundly again."

Pierce shrinks in his chair under her gaze. Some of the patients from the initial group wince while others look confused or blush. "If you think it's a necessity, Mistress."

She stands and bows to the kitchen volunteers. "Thank you for pulling this together at such a late hour. Please inform the morning shift that we will be needing a similar breakfast." She nudges Pierce and bounces lightly from foot to foot. "Go grab a barrel of jerky and let's go. I haven't had a good spar in weeks."

Pierce silently transforms back to human and does as he's told before following her down. Once inside, Karmen locks the door and only the people with strong observation haki know what happened after.