"I'm not very smart."

Nami stopped at the bottom of the stairs, turning to Luffy. They had gathered quickly after the walk to the garden, and he had simmered with her since, his lid so far holding while Nami felt only cold spikes of anger. He stared at her now, brows pinched.

"Luffy?"

When he cupped her cheek, Nami flushed as she felt eyes on them. Usopp was fiddling with his tablet, grimacing, but he cast long gazes over at them.

Before her, Luffy pouted, shifting on his feet before he said, "I'm an idiot."

She opened her mouth, intending fully to say he wasn't, but when his lips flattened at how long her hesitation went on, she sighed. "You're not the smartest man I know, no. What's it matter now though?"

"I think you should tell them about me." Nami inhaled sharply and shook her head, but he said, "I'm not good at thinking, but you are. They can help you too."

Her brow drew in, but he at least had a point there. Luffy, well-intentioned as he was, was not the thinker in their dynamic. Besides that, she had already been wondering if she should bring up the clones' possible involvement. She would have felt better if she knew for certain, but Command had approved them as colonists.

Were they working with the doctors that had made Luffy and the other clones? Why would they not be working together?

They would have to have if the clones were here now.

"Okay. I'll tell them." For a moment, Nami stared at him, watching the way his eyes still burned with heat. He was a fool, but sometimes, she didn't know how far that went. Luffy did only what made sense to him, and Nami had learned that meant following his heart. It had led him to her.

Luffy's grip tightened, and Nami found a thread to cling onto.

He had permitted her to speak about it, at least. Perhaps there would be a way through this.

When she went upstairs to sit with the others, Robin's lips thinned somewhat. "Some hold up, Nami?"

"Sorry," she said, sitting by Kaya.

She realized she had an excellent view of most of the other women. They were a diverse lot, from botanists to nutritionists, and administrative officers to rover drivers; they sat speaking in low voices with those they knew in the living space of Alvida's MARSHA. As in a circle as they could be, it was like a round table, but she knew the power laid stronger with Robin and Alvida.

"Telling us that we had to give birth sounded reasonable enough. It's a colony after all," Alvida said as she stirred her drink. "But now it's stinking of admittance. Of a plan! This is outrageous!"

Nami studied the motley of women in Alvida's living space again.

All the women were pregnant, and a good half had not turned off their birth control.

It was true that sometimes birth control failed. But so many at once? When their birth control app had been tampered with? The percentage for failing birth control was so much lower than this.

"I am not a test subject," Kaya said to agree. Her eyes darted to Nami, but Nami nodded too and frowned ahead at nothing as many others agreed in varying ways.

One lady called Chiffon worried her fingers at one another in a tapping motion, brows pinched as she seemed to see something they could not. But Nami knew exactly what she saw. Command's ever reaching claws to control the colony. They already controlled everything else in their lives.

Chiffon asked, "What do we do though?"

What was controlling their birth control to Command?

Tuesday?

Kaya straightened, head lifted in defiance. "We have to send messages out to Earth - not to Command. To Earth. Our families."

"And say what to them?" Alvida asked. "We're sitting ducks here. We still rely on them for certain things. Resources. People and other manpower. We don't even have our own rockets. They're all controlled remotely by Command!"

Robin pursed lips with a hum. "They'll be monitoring our video messages too. Everything goes through them. They can do worse than this too."

She didn't want to think about what could be worse than being forced to carry babies. Hadn't they already agreed to do it anyway by coming here? Nami's stomach twisted further, not helped by general nausea. What was Command thinking?

"They've already done worse," Nami whispered. When their eyes were on her, she wanted nothing more than to shrink into the floor. Instead, she said, "Kaya and I have information about people that Command may have sent here."

Kaya stared at her while Robin and Alvida both gaped outright. Robin asked, "What is it about?"

Alvida narrowed her eyes. "What does it have to do with this?"

"It might be why Command did it. I can't think of why else they would turn every woman's birth control off at once," Kaya said, and Nami was only a bit relieved they took hard eyes off of her to look at Kaya instead. "They sent clones with their somatic genes modified. They're meant to help improve the human genome on Mars, but their orders were to mate with as many women as possible."

Nami paled when Robin turned wide eyes to her, dawning in them, but she couldn't take it back.

"I've been wondering how much any of you knew about it. The orders came from Command," Kaya said.

Shivers tried to take over Nami's body. She clung to her knees, chewing in worry.

"I can assure you, we have received no such orders," Alvida said.

Kaya sighed. "Then the doctors did. Dr. Law passed along a folder to me, but he left with more than one. It told us to keep quiet, but it did not mention any plans with birth control. I compared my folder to another doctor's - a man's. His was no different from mine."

Robin's eyes narrowed. "But who knows if they gave separate orders to other doctors."

"Who knows if they just gave orders to doctors?" Alvida whispered.

The room seemed to chill. Nami's mind raced. More folders? Who would they give orders to? And what were the orders? For certain, they would have to keep the colonists quiet.

"The only good in it is that rape wouldn't have been forgiven. They were supposed to try impregnating as many women as possible, but only as lovers or-" Kaya shrugged. "Most of them have made little headway from what I've seen."

"And here, I was hoping the most dystopian thing had already happened," Alvida scoffed before she shook her head. "I don't like this one bit. We don't even know if another doctor knows more than you or if Law gave that information to other colonists for who knows what reason!"

"We don't know if he gave any folder to security," Robin said.

Heads snapped up at that.

Chiffon looked queasy. "If my husband knew that, he'd tear them apart."

Nami thought of Zoro and wondered about the odd casual nature he exuded. Had that meant anything? That he might know something and didn't care about their rights made her boil, but he had also been so confused by that fight between Luffy and Law. This only cleared him so much though.

"The first ones monitoring us would be our own security here." Lips thinning, Alvida heaved a sigh. "What would sending information to Earth do, but just kick the nest and have them come after us? But there's not much else to do."

Robin stroked her baby bump, and Nami couldn't tell if she was trying to soothe a kicking baby or herself. "Security has all the weapons on Mars."

"We hardly have the time to find the spies in Command's hands either. And who knows what the rest of Earth would or could even do about them." Alvida shook her head, but her jaw pulsed as if clenching continuously.

How she hated this. The hemming and hawing gnawed at her. Do this or do that. Could they do nothing until Robin or Alvida agreed upon it?

Looking at them, she couldn't tell that they had come to any decision.

"We have to try!" Nami lifted her head, fists in her jumpsuit over her belly. "I won't let them treat us or our babies like this." She looked at Kaya. "We're not test-tube experiments."

Eyes widening, Kaya tittered when Nami stood. "What - Nami, we have to think of something else to do."

"While you do that, just keep an ear out for any security heading to our MARSHA. That way we'll see who's in Command's pockets." Nami's words felt braver than she felt, but at least she hadn't stuttered. She hadn't caved in and given up.

"Nami, that's ridiculous!" Robin stood with effort, hands bracing her belly, but Nami waved her away as she turned to the stairs.

"Don't be an idiot!"

Nami paused before her eyes found Alvida's. "That makes two of us. Luffy and I will be idiots together. Just come watch and see who from security tries to stop us. Kaya, tell them who the other clones are."

"'Other'? Wait!" Alvida tried to stand quickly, but her girth prevented this as much as Robin's had. Another woman pushed herself up to help her, but Nami turned to go downstairs.

Robin followed her, however.

"Nami?" Her voice slapped Nami's head upright. "How did you learn about this?"

Lips thinning, Nami took a shaky breath before she faced her. Her eyes wavered, wanting to look anywhere else but at Robin's face. She didn't owe her this, but Luffy had given permission. He had asked her to do it, and Robin was her friend.

"Luffy told me. He doesn't want to follow the orders."

"Are we going already?" Luffy joined her side, and Nami watched how Robin gaped at him, a new light in her eyes, but he either did not notice or deigned to ignore it. His eyes were only for her.

"Yeah, we're going to go tell my family."

He grinned, eyes sparkling, and she melted when he accepted her answer. "Let's go then."

Nami adjusted her tablet so it would record both of them, fiddling until it sat right on their coffee table before she sat next to Luffy. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, warm lips caressing her cheek. When his head laid against hers, Nami smiled as she curled against him. She wanted nothing more than to turn the screen to the tabletop and curl up for a nap with him as her pillow.

Luffy kissed her temple and hummed though. "You ready?"

"I don't even know what to say."

He laughed. "Isn't that the easy part? I'm a clone, and Command turned off everyone's birth control."

A snort from her made him snicker. She could imagine the response from her family.

Except she had a feeling that her message would never reach them. When Nami looked at him, he grinned enough that she was sure the entire colony would light up under his rays.

"They won't let this go - even if this message reaches my family," she said. "We might be in danger." When she finally said it, she realized it for the truth.

Who knew what kind of response that Command would send after them? The least they could do was not allow the message to get through, but the worst could be someone knocking their door down. Security had all the weapons.

She stroked over her flat belly, frowning at the tablet.

"Do you want to stop?"

Nami winced. "More than anything, but I don't want them to get away with this either. We're-" their eyes met, and she shivered "- not on Earth anymore. This is Mars, and we have to stand for what's right even here."

He nodded before he rested his forehead on hers, noses tapping as he whispered, "Then let's do this. I'll keep you safe."

Luffy pressed the record button, and she pouted at him before she turned to the screen.

"Uh, hey, guys, I know this is probably coming early, but we just found something out. Or, well, I found out about this one thing a while ago, but then this other thing ..." She glanced at Luffy, blushing. "Wait, I gotta restart. This isn't-"

"I'm a clone," Luffy said to the tablet. Nami sucked in her lips, clutching his hand tight enough that she would hurt someone else, but he didn't flinch. "We're supposed to be breeding with a bunch of women, but I don't want that. I chose Nami. Command sent more clones than just me to Mars though."

Taking a deep breath, Nami continued after him, licking dry lips. "We just found out something else too. There are a lot more women pregnant than there should be. Command might've turned everyone's birth control off. I ... I know they turned off mine. I didn't." She sat taller, staring into the camera as if she could see their faces. "Please, tell the media. Send this video to them. Command has taken our rights away."

Their response came as a knock on their door only an hour later. Nami went down to the dry lab, staring at the closed door. Theirs had no window. She looked about the little dry lab with its computers and the sole comfortable chair - given to her when she had told them she was pregnant. This way, she could work easily from their MARSHA if she was not feeling up to going all the way to the office. It was the little things like that that made her wonder if they were wrong.

Didn't Command care about the wellbeing of the pregnant people on Mars?

Perhaps the birth control was an error.

When Luffy swung the door open, he stood in front of her while she gripped his shoulders to peek around his body.

Looking out into the corridor, Nami wondered though. If Command cared, why had they sent security to talk to them personally instead of over the tablets?

The security officer who stood before them squinted down with what Nami figured he thought was a smile, except it only reminded Nami of teeth bared. He glanced at her before he ignored her. Looked at Luffy.

"Sorry for bothering you, folks. I'm Magellan. We intercepted a message that was sent from this MARSHA that contained sensitive information. I know it can be hard sometimes to not share important or exciting secrets about our colony with your families, but I'm here as a gentle reminder to remind you to follow the rules."

Nami stared at the huge, gentle reminder. To his right was another equally tall, gentle reminder though he had developed a gut. When she craned her neck, she could see more security outside - another bull of a man who stared ahead as if bored or sleepy.

At least Zoro was not there.

She cleared her throat, but his next look just dismissed her again.

"What information was sensitive?" She asked.

Ignoring her, Magellan said, "You'll be given another chance to send your message to your family without the sensitive information."

Her shoulders hunched, scowling when he spoke to Luffy instead. Under her fingers, his muscles tensed under her hands though.

"What kind of stupid threat is this? Do you want us to lie to people too?" Nami clung to Luffy when he tried to step toward him, but he dragged her along. "I'm a clone! Command turned off your wives' birth-"

Magellan lashed out with his club, and she screamed in shock, but Luffy had deflected the blow with an arm.

When they tried to shove inside, past the door, Luffy slammed against the door to try to snap it shut. Nami joined him, adding her weight, if not her strength. The door had become a wall for herself. Every inch they gained seemed to be all from Luffy. His lips pulled back in a rictus, growling while he pushed and slowly overpowered three grown men. However, Magellan's large leg and foot stomped between the door and the frame, stopping the full closure.

With just enough space, the security guard could bat at Luffy with his club.

As the club arched for his head, Nami stuck her hand between them. She yelped, but she stayed braced against the door, hand still laying against his head protectively.

"Damned fools!"

"Nami, get back!"

Tears in her eyes, she ducked away, but she reached for the only chair in the dry lab - the one Command had given her. When Luffy saw, he took the chair from her, but this allowed the door to spring open.

The stumble surprised them enough for Luffy to crack the chair over the two heads that came inside.

Nami slammed the door on them again. Luffy's shoulder crashed against the door, and it banged shut at last. He shoved the lock into place, panting hard.

Luffy dropped the chair before he slid down the door to collapse with a heavy sigh.

"You're both under house arrest for the foreseeable future! Your tablets will be confiscated!" Quieter, Magellan said, "Main office, this is Magellan. Turn off Monkey D. Luffy and Cat L. Nami's tablets, and summon the other men in Monkey D. Luffy's situation. We need their strength here."

"Yes, sir!"

The sting hurt first, but then a deep burning of pain hit her, and Nami hissed as she inspected her fingers. She could bend them, she realized, but noticed one probably shouldn't bend like that. Not where it did,

With a wince, she braced her palm, shaking.

When he lifted his head, Luffy gaped, springing to his feet to cup his hands around her fingers, but didn't touch. His hands trembled too.

"Nami? Nami, you okay?"

"It's nothing. I'm fine. How's your head?"

Shivering, she studied the side of his head where she had deflected the blow, but she caught the raging fire in his eyes instead. She gasped, stunned by his rage.

"Luffy, no!"

He tore the door open, chair back in his hand before he struck.

The chair splintered to pieces, leaving the broken end of a thick chair leg he cracked across Magellan's face.

"You hurt my Nami!"

The man the size of a bull rushed for him, but Luffy's swing caught him in the gut before he banged straight down on top of his head. He fell in a heap at Luffy's feet. Nami clutched her hand tighter, shivering until the sound of running footsteps caught her attention.

"Luffy! Someone's coming!"

Luffy yanked Magellan's collar to pull him to his knees at least. His broad back, tense and looming over Magellan, sent a shock of sudden fear through her. He had taken them all down so quickly.

Was this just rage or was it his abilities as an improved clone? Nami braced her hand against her chest while she held the doorknob, poised to shut the door for when Luffy returned.

Magellan growled. "You'll do better to put me down, boy. You and your woman should give up now."

With a sneer taking over his face like a mask, Luffy raised the chair leg over his head, and Magellan flinched. "You don't get to call her that."

Nami's jaw dropped, and she screamed, "Luffy, don't kill him!"

He could do it, she realized. Kill them all. In quick, shocking succession.

Whether he used a weapon or not.

Luffy's hand stopped though, hovering over them both.

"Get Nami a doctor."

The footsteps grew louder, and Nami looked up and down the corridor. Several people peeked out from MARSHAs with shocked, wide eyes. They stared at Luffy with fear.

Pregnant people with their lovers.

"Help," she started, quieter than she had expected, but then she shouted. "Help us! Command turned off the birth control! They're using security to control everyone! Someone help us!"

The other clones turned the corner as more people peered out. Terrified eyes somehow widened more.

Someone turned on their tablet.

"Main office? Something strange is-"

"Hang that up! This has nothing to do with you. They're spreading-"

Luffy backhanded him, but Nami reached for him. Grabbed his hand and pulled him inside.

The door snapped shut just as she saw Law's dark face turn the corner.

Locked once more, Nami grasped Luffy's collar, pulled him down to kiss him over his lips and face with soft pants, and whispered, "You didn't have to prove anything!"

"Luffy! Open up!"

His fingers laced into her hair, pulling tenderly. When he kissed her, for a few brief moments, she wanted to pretend none of this had happened. That they could open the door and see no one without.

"Open the door, Luffy!"

When they parted though, the clones were still outside with several security guards on the floor, only a locked door between them and chaos.

Luffy's fingers grazed her cheek before she realized she could feel warm blood.

His or Magellan's?

She shivered.

"I'm not doing anything without a doctor for Nami! Get her a doctor right now! That dead man out there hurt her!" His teeth ground visibly, still bared in that snarl.

Nami gasped, but Magellan said, "I'm not dead, you fool boy."

"You are. You just don't know it yet." Luffy twitched toward the door, but her grip on his shoulder kept him before he turned back to her, gentle as his muscled hand hovered over her broken fingers. He whispered, for her ears alone, "I'm sorry. You didn't have to-"

"You don't get to say that," she said, pinching his nose with the good fingers of her other hand.

Luffy gaped at her, trying to draw back before he smiled. "Sorry." When he kissed her fingers, she released him, and he asked, "They didn't hurt anything else? The baby ..."

"I'm sure the baby's fine. They only got my hand." The pain was getting worse the longer adrenaline no longer soared through her body. Whether that was good or bad for the baby would have to be a question for someone more knowledgeable, but no one had struck her belly, so she was less concerned there. She smiled. "We'll survive."

On the other side of the door, Law raised his voice. "We'll have to break the door down, Luffy. Do you really want this? Who knows who'll get hurt if we do that."

Luffy gazed at her when he answered. "This is Mars, Torao. We're not here to survive. We're here to live."

The PA system crackled overhead, and their heads snapped up as one.

"Attention all colonists. This is Officer Finch N. Robin from the command center."

"Attention all colonists. This is Officer Newt L. Alvida from the engineering division."

"Attention all colonists. This is Officer Goat A. Sengoku from the recreation division."

Nami's eyes bulged. Had they gone around to find allies in so short a time?

"Attention all colonists. This is Doctor Racoon K. Chopper from the health division."

"What is this?" Magellan's growl.

Robin's voice returned to take over. "Attention all colonists. Security is attempting to take control of the colony. Hide in your homes or take up arms. All security personnel who are not part of the mutiny, put down your weapons and step aside."

Blinking away tears, Nami pressed her face into Luffy's chest and clung to him.

"Damn," Law said, but it sounded tired rather than upset. "So this is it."

"Command has betrayed the colony," Robin continued on the PA system. "They turned off birth control against women's rights and wishes. Security is attempting to suppress us now. Attention all colonists. Hide in your homes or take up arms."

"Put your weapons down!" She hiccuped with a sob, and Luffy stroked her back as the corridors outside seemed to burst with people.

Shouts rang up and down the halls.

"Get away from that MARSHA!"

"Show us your hands, traitors!"

"Someone call a doctor!"

When they finally peeked out together, Nami bit her lip through a smile. The clones had stepped aside with raised hands, much to the shocked faces of the security team. Their clubs laid tossed to the colonists' feet.

Luffy frowned in confusion at the other clones, pursing lips before he grimaced deeper and turned back to her. When he smiled, small and tremulous, Nami beamed enough for the both of them.

"Colonists, please, step aside."

Nami stared when she saw the security guard woman who had released Luffy from his house arrest. Her hands were up, but she still walked through the crowd with a scowl so fierce, Nami drew away. She was gorgeous, but the anger contorted the lines in her face into what she could only describe as a thunderhead.

The other colonists slid away from her, and when she was before the other security guards, Nami could see only handcuffs at her side rather than any weapons.

"I am Snake B. Hancock from security. I'd like to arrest these men. If anyone wishes to follow me, please do." The sneer deepened, and she snarled. "I don't know what I'll do if I'm left alone with them."

When she stomped her foot, Hancock ground her boot heel into the concrete hard enough to smear boot rubber across the floor. Magellan paled and squeezed his legs together.

As handcuffs clipped around wrists, Nami sagged with relief. Luffy's hard chest supported her as her eyes closed.

His chest rumbled though. "Why'd you want to follow their orders anyway?"

She stared at him before she turned to the clones who waited with hands cuffed behind their backs.

Law shrugged. "I'm more confused why you didn't."

"They sucked! Like I'd do anything those annoying guys would say!"

The other black-haired clone burst out laughing. For a moment, he looked like Luffy, freckles giving him a more youthful appearance, though his smile seemed more bitter than happy. "You were always the problem child, Luffy."

"They never could get a handle on you," the ginger clone said with a toothy grin.

Luffy pouted. "Still doesn't really answer me though. Ace, you hated them too, right?"

The man with freckles lifted his brows before he shook his head. "What else could we do? We are what we are. Nothing would change that." His eyes flickered to Nami though.

She had to make herself meet his gaze. "You're a colonist."

Ace winced, but he smiled sadly, bowing his head. "Can I be anymore?"

They left with Hancock, followed by other colonists. While she watched them go, Nami wondered if it was really so easy as this. Wasn't life supposed to be harder? At least, most of the colony seemed to have come to this agreement for the moment, however.

When Kaya came rushing through the crowd next, Nami was reminded of the dull ache in her fingers, and Luffy ushered them both into their MARSHA.