I don't own anything but my ideas.
In Which Zoro is Entirely Surrounded by Darkness
Thick, rhythmic panting was slowly becoming the only thing that Sanji could comprehend in the stewy blackness. It was loud, and pained, like the creature had just burst through the surface of the water after swimming from the bottom of the ocean, tasting air after it thought it never would again.
It took an unnervingly long time for him to realize that the one panting was him. And it took an even longer time for his mind to come around to the fact that him breathing like he thought he never would again was not in any way a good thing.
The blackness in front of—or maybe in—his eyes was starting to recede. Large blobs were becoming shapes, than objects, then things with names that his brain could connect. Ceiling. Table. Bed. Tank. Cord. The objects started to categorize themselves in the back of his mind—medical—and his blood ran cold, but he swallowed and forced himself to wait a moment before he panicked. This could be Law's… something. Exam room. Home. Something. He couldn't react yet. He might hurt someone if he did.
The next thing to come back online were his NSPH senses, which wasted no time in informing him that there was someone behind him even though he couldn't smell them or hear them yet.
Sanji nearly swallowed his tongue in shock, knowing that no one from home would sneak up on him in a place as sterile as this, knowing how he'd reacted on previous occasions, knowing what had happened to him, and whipped around to lock eyes on his target.
Nami shrieked, leaping back and pressing herself up against the large, metal door behind her.
Her eyes were wide, skin pale, body quivering, toes turned in, tears staining her face, hands pressed over her mouth to keep from making another sound, all in fear.
Something was terrifying her.
Sanji spun again, not trusting his senses enough yet to tell him if there was another threat in the room, but there was nothing behind him. Just cold, solid walls.
No, wait.
Sanji blinked again, giving his head a slight shake, forcing his brain to see color even though it wasn't necessary for survival. He blinked a third time, now in confusion, unable to process the thick red thrown haphazardly against the white walls.
He turned back to Nami, who was looking straight into his eyes, and not at any threat around him in the room.
"…N-Nami-swan…"
His sense of touch came next, and he was suddenly vividly aware of the cold air, the crisp, dry draft leaking in through the moldy vent, and the starkly hot, wetness soaking into the knees of his pants where he was kneeling on the floor.
Sanji's eyes dropped down as he tried to make sense of everything that was being thrown at him, his entire being—mind, breath, heart—stopping short as he caught sight of a head of green hair, its owner face down in a lake of blood, and the jagged hole torn deep into the side of his throat.
Sanji choked, bile rising like magma from a volcano in his throat, his body rejecting everything that his eyes were screaming not to be looking at. His body was jerking with ragged confusion, reaching for Zoro's still form and fighting to get as far as it could anywhere but next to this body, his tongue leaping in his mouth, needing words but not having any that could change what was beneath him, and finally his fingers clenched shakily into Zoro's blood-soaked shirt and shook hard, as if the movement would wake Zoro and they'd all have a hearty laugh.
Something inappropriately dark and sarcastic in him knew that now was the time for him to laugh, to start the joke and beat them all—whoever they were—to their fucking hilarious punch. Fucking hilarious. Motherfucking goddamn fucking hilarious. But Zoro wasn't moving. There was no rise and fall in his chest—from either breath or heartbeat, and as Sanji blankly rolled him over to the glaring light above their heads, shuddering with another gag at the blood running off of Zoro's face, there was no reaction in the deep green eyes to the change in light.
The air in his lungs burned like acid, his chest spasming over and over with pathetic hiccups to rid himself of the awful, numbing, searing heat.
Oh god… oh god…!
There was no way. It wasn't him. There was no way he did this…!
But he knew in his heart that he did. He reached up before he could stop himself and his fingertips found his lips, coming away wet and bloody.
Oh god.
Sanji's head snapped up as something—Nami—appeared at his side and she gasped at the sudden, jerky movement. Her body unconsciously jumped back half a step, but he could see the resolve in her eyes not to move—her body language trained on Zoro—and Sanji scrambled back pitifully against the floor to give her the space that she needed.
She was afraid of him.
Nami watched him for a moment, eyes flicking back to Zoro multiple times before her body finally accepted that Sanji was going to stay there, and she lowered herself gingerly to her knees, uncaring of the pool of blood that she settled in. Her hands hovered uselessly over Zoro's body for a minute and she bit into her lip so hard that it bled, but there was nothing that her hands could find to do that would change the scene in front of her.
After a pregnant wait her body seemed to give out and she slumped slowly forward, laying her torso across Zoro's chest, wracking, choking sobs echoing throughout the room, bouncing off of the blood-soaked walls. Sanji pressed a hand over his mouth and bit down on his palm to keep from making any noise. His mind was going quiet, closing him off from any unnecessary thought, keeping the sight of Zoro's dead body from burning into his mind like an iron brand fresh from the coals.
Strange voices echoing down the hallway, coming towards them, made them both snap up, eyes trained on the looming, metal door. Nami let out a frantic keen and forced herself to her feet, grabbing Zoro's shirt and heaving, dragging him toward the door on the opposite side of the room. Her eyes were set in determination, but Zoro's body was heavy, and she would never make it to the stairs before the voices—growing quickly closer and more intelligible—found them. They must have heard the sounds of the fight. Sanji could tell from the wounds—now old scars—in his skin, that Zoro had not gone down without a fight, and something inside him died knowing that this miracle in his life had died fully aware that the person—thing, monster, demon, vampire his mind screamed at him—he loved most had wanted him dead.
Nami slipped in the blood at her feet, stumbling as she gave Zoro's body another yank, slipping again.
Sanji was at her side in an instant, not remembering that he moved, to catch her, but she jerked in alarm at his touch and he dropped her, letting her crash to the floor.
Nami couldn't explain how guilty her reaction made her feel, understanding the broken look in Sanji's iridescent blue eye. It wasn't his fault, and she knew that, but something had made him absolutely and utterly crazy beyond words and there was no way of knowing what that was. For all she knew he could snap again, and she could be in his arms at the time. Not that she'd be able to escape him even if she were already halfway out the door, not with his speed and strength.
She gripped Zoro's shirt tighter and stood again, yanking him towards the door. There was no time for this. She had to get him out. Chopper could fix this. Law could fix this. Shanks could fix this! In the back of her mind though, nothing would make her forget the feeling of Zoro's skin, already growing cold, no blood left in his body to keep him warm. The thought made her nauseous, but she swallowed the bile rising in her throat and yanked again. The voices were growing louder. There was no time.
"You can't take him." Sanji's voice rose up quietly, confused and drained. "You'll never make it out before you're found."
Nami ignored him, throwing her whole body into the next pull, vicious anger rising in her spine and making every nerve in her body stand on end.
"…He's dead. It won't matter where his body is."
"Shut up," she hissed, turning to glare into his downturned eye. She wanted to spit insults at him, she wanted to hit him, she wanted to hurt him for daring to give up on Zoro because Zoro never gave up on Sanji and Zoro didn't deserve this bullshit—!
Without realizing it, hot tears had started running down her face again, and she hated them with everything in her so that she wouldn't have to hate Sanji.
How could she hate Sanji?
Zoro had never hated Sanji. He'd never feared Sanji. Even in his last moments Nami had watched him fear only one thing—hurting Sanji, and he'd given his life for it.
A shuddering sob forced its way out of her throat and she yanked on Zoro again, shrieking in frustration.
"The marimo would be furious if someone died for him for such a silly reason."
He was right.
Nami shook her head. "You have to come with me. Carry him. This isn't over, you can't give up yet!"
Footsteps were suddenly audible, sprinting towards them through the echoing halls and Sanji reacted before she could really be aware of the change. He grabbed her arms, dragging her away—Zoro pulled harshly from her grip, his body lying there on the floor as Sanji rushed her to the door.
She screamed in protest, unable to form any words for her argument as Sanji tossed her as gently as he could into the hallway where she tumbled like a broken ragdoll, coming down on the floor hard as she fought against everything he was doing.
"Sanji, don't!" Nami wailed, trying desperately to find her footing.
"Run," Sanji told her simply, his one iridescent, beautiful eye never leaving the floor as he slammed the door behind her.
Nami threw herself against the cold, cruel metal as the lock echoed from the other side, beating against it with her fists and knees and boots and screaming for Sanji to open the door, to come with her. Her movements grew still as she leaned helplessly against the metal, sobbing and listening to it echo down the cold hallway behind her. She gasped as she was suddenly able to hear voices again, farther away but still growing closer, and she cursed the stupidly heavy door one more time before she sprinted away.
-oOo-
Sanji stared blankly down at Zoro's body. There were no tears on his face, no shaking in his form, no show of pain, and he hated himself for it. How could he not feel pain? After what he did? To Nami, Usopp, Chopper, Brook, Franky, Luffy, Law, Kid—oh god, Killer—
And the pain hit him. Waves of rage and aguish beating against him like the fury of an ocean storm, slapping him down before he had the chance to collect himself, battering his body and mind. Sanji dropped to his knees beside Zoro, feeling the sobs start to wrack his body, and pulled the swordsman into his arms, holding him as close into the warmth of his chest as he could.
He wouldn't apologize. There was no way being sorry could make up for this.
Dozens of footsteps thundered through the door, heavy boots thumping in formation to wrap around Sanji in a circle, a pitiful attempt to keep him closed in, but Sanji wasn't going anywhere.
The foot soldiers waited for what felt like days to them. They'd been told the NSPH would be hostile, and what's more, volatile, dangerous, malicious. This sobbing… creature on the floor wasn't what they'd been expecting. More than one shared looks between them, wondering what to do next. Their guns were cocked and ready, but this thing looked beaten down and broken already. From the sheer amount of blood on the walls, whatever happened had happened to more than one person in here.
But they had their orders, and after another stagnant pause, a few of them stepped forward to apprehend it and remove the dead body.
The NSPH was unresponsive, and the foot soldiers were staring to feel confident in the outcome of their mission until one reached down to pull the body out of the NSPH's arms.
"If you touch him," Sanji snarled suddenly, making the men start, "I'll remove every tendon in your necks, individually, until you can't move, and the eyelids from your eyes, and I'll make you watch as I suck you dry."
Nothing moved for a long moment, and then one man readjusted his gun, toying with the idea of aiming it at the adversary's head—just to warn it, remembering what Doflamingo told them about needing to put the NSPH in it's place and remind it who has the power—and Sanji erupted in a feral roar, one black eye locking on the soldier as the rest of them went for their guns, and Sanji lunged.
Sanji didn't understand what was happening to his body. He was like a wild animal. Tearing through pathetic body after pathetic body. They were all so weak, firing at him blindly where the bullets ricocheted off of the walls and hit their comrades, making their weak bodies that much easier to rip open. There was no hunger in Sanji's desire. He didn't care for the scent of any of them, he just wanted them all spilled open across the floor, a medley of blood unlike his nose had ever smelled before. But even through the wild instincts that had taken over him—the weird, gross enjoyment he was getting from hearing them scream as he dove from one body to the next, his fangs finding every exposed piece of their skin—he could still find the smell of Zoro's blood through it all. It was taking everything in him not to throw up.
Sanji skidded to a halt, suddenly very aware of the new body in the room as a tall man adorned in a pink, feather coat stepped up beside Zoro's body, and Sanji flashed to his side, forgetting the rest of the men in the room, laying his body across Zoro's like a shield.
The man was still for a moment, and then very deliberately and with no fear crouched down next to the two smaller forms, laying a hand on Sanji's back without hesitation even when Sanji flinched violently and the rest of the men in the room took a step back.
"Sanji, my name is Doflamingo. I oversee this hospital."
Sanji's mind went black, memories of the facility—the pain, the dark, the cold, the blood, the screaming, the bodies of the other children, the screaming, the laughs of the doctors, the men that forced him back after he got out, the chains that dug into his body, the endless screaming that lasted for days echoing through the halls as he listened to the children in the experimentation rooms die around him screaming for the pain to end—
"We brought you here after you were kidnapped, do you remember?"
Sanji couldn't find words. The only thing in his mind was the screaming. His arms were starting to hurt where the needles—thousands of needles for hours upon hours of injections—chains on his wrists and ankles so tight his bones were strained not to break with the pressure—
"Sanji, can you hear me? Can you tell me what happened?"
Sanji shuddered, thickly, unknowingly, like an animal, and Doflamingo grinned.
"…We have to keep everyone safe. You're strong, Sanji, but the disease inside you is stronger. It's not your fault, but no matter how strong you are, there will always be a chance of this happening."
A sob found it's way from Sanji's lips, words starting to poor from his tongue, but it didn't seem like he knew he was speaking. "I didn't mean… I didn't know… I… what was… happening… I just woke up… and…"
Good. Caesar was right. The hospital setting had triggered him.
"I know. I understand how you feel. My own little brother was killed in a situation like this." The grin splitting his face hadn't wavered for a moment.
"We want to help you. We want to keep things like this from happening, for all afflicted with this disease. With the research we're doing, we think we can. …We know what you went through as a child, Sanji, and we're very sorry."
Sanji was still, blank eye never leaving the floor, lips still moving slightly as if he were uttering useless nothings, but he was making no sound.
"This isn't your fault, Sanji. It isn't anyone's fault but the monsters that did this to you. But we must keep it from happening again. You need to let us help you. We can keep the darker side of you hidden, make you stronger so that you can stop it."
Sanji was still. Doflamingo's grin wavered, but the strength in his voice didn't. It was time to try suggestion. If Sanji was triggered enough, he'd be back in the facility as a child, and he'd do what he was told.
"Come with me," Doflamingo said firmly, standing, waiting to see if Caesar's theories were right.
Sanji was still, and then slowly he moved to stand, hands slipping from Zoro's back and letting the body slide to the floor, the only warmth left in him gone with the loss of Sanji's touch.
Doflamingo put his arm around Sanji's shoulders and pulled him in close, Sanji's blank stare never leaving the floor. Wherever his mind was, it wasn't here.
"Everything's going to be all right, you can trust us," and Doflamingo waved the remaining men forward with a gentle flick of his hand. They were slow to move toward the monster that had attacked them, but one by one started shakily forward. "Show Sanji to Caesar, he'll be able to help best now."
The soldiers moved for their guns but Doflamingo waved them down. "Sanji won't hurt anyone, will you?" he asked, looking down at the slumped, blond head. Sanji said nothing. Doflamingo took his arm from Sanji's shoulders and gave him a light push toward the stairs and the open door, the men moving to circle him nervously and guide him down the hallway.
Doflamingo turned to survey the destroyed room, his eyes resting last on Zoro's dead form, the last piece of Sanji's conditioning. He flicked his hand, waving at it vapidly and turning for the door. "Toss it out with the trash." The last few men nodded to his back and grabbed the body, lifting it into the air and carrying it towards the window, the sound of the river rushing below flooding into the room as they pushed the glass open.
-oOo-
Nami stumbled blindly from the hospital doors she'd entered from, scrubbing at her eyes and sobbing as she tried to catch her breath—tried to make sense of what had just happened—tried to—
Arms grabbed her shoulders and she screamed, lashing out again and again until her wrists were caught and someone was screaming in her face.
"Nami! Nami, stop! It's just us!"
Usopp.
Nami's knees gave out and she dropped like a stone, coming down hard in Usopp's arms and Chopper gasped next to her, diving to her side and holding her head up, checking her pulse
"What happened?!" he demanded, looking her over frantically. "Are you hurt? Where's Zoro?!"
"Tell us what happened!" Usopp begged, shaking her roughly even when Chopper shrieked and slapped his hands away from her.
Nami grabbed Usopp's shirt, choking on feeble breath after feeble breath, her head whirling like a tornado and throbbing in pain.
"H-He's… he's… S-Sanji… Sanji ki-ki… Z-Zoro's…"
"What happened?!" Usopp wailed, looking back to the hospital, working up the nerve to stand and run inside after Zoro. He might have to be the hero here—even if the thought made his very bones shake—
"Zoro's dead."
Usopp and Chopper froze, staring blankly back at Nami as she sobbed into the ground. Chopper shook his head, slowly at first, picking up speed until he was almost knocking himself over.
"S-Sanji… Sanji attacked h-him… he-he didn't know what he was doing… he-he's… he's dead…"
Nami burried her face in her hands, pulling away from Usopp. "I-I t-tried… to ge-get S-S-Sanji… but h-he locked me out…he-he wouldn't come with me…"
"Nami, are you sure? Are you… are you sure?! Sanji…"
Nami just nodded, "S-Sanji didn't know who he was… he just… went right for Zoro's… I distracted him—it's my fault!"
Usopp grabbed her again, letting her sob into his shirt, staring in horror up at the hospital looking over them as it seemed to grow bigger and bigger in the night, staring back at him.
"It's my fault! They hired someone that looks like Sanji to pretend to be him, and Sanji didn't know who we were, he was like an NSPH superior… and when I found out I tried to stop Zoro, but—"
"You couldn't have stopped it," Usopp cut her off. "Zoro's distraction wasn't your fault."
Chopper had joined Nami in sobbing, still shaking his head and wailing as quietly as he could into his hands. "No!" he shrieked suddenly. "This isn't happening!"
Usopp gulped, turning to stone as the hospital opened an eye and stared back at him from above the river. It was coming for them—!
And then people appeared in the window. Two of them, which suddenly became three, and Usopp gasped, hissing, "Look!" as the first two tipped the third out the window and the distinctly human form plummeted toward the rushing water.
Nami yanked away from Usopp like he was on fire and raced for the river, diving into the frozen, blackness the second the body hit the water as Chopper and Usopp hissed for her, trying not to be seen by the people in the window tossing large hunks of demolished furniture into the water.
"Nami!" Usopp screamed under his voice and scrambled for her, watching her swim the best she could against the rushing water to the body racing downstream. She wasn't going to make it. Usopp swallowed and dove in after her before he could think twice about the water opening its mouth to swallow him whole.
Chopper clapped his hands over his mouth to keep from screaming, "I can't swim!" and ran along the bank after them after a moment of floundering. He grabbed a stick along the way, nearly tripping numerous times trying to get the biggest one he could. They were all nerve-wrackingly tiny. Even if he caught up with them he might not be able to pull them out.
Usopp had almost reached Nami when she seemed to realize that she was going to miss Zoro and dove under the water, kicking her legs as hard as she could as she strained into the black, feeling frantically for anything she could grab onto.
She screamed into the thick silence, lungs about to explode and bogged down with inky fear that she had missed him, when her fingers suddenly caught in a thin strip of cloth and her arm was yanked downstream with the sudden weight.
His bandana! Nami nearly inhaled water in relief, gasping for air as she surfaced just as Usopp grabbed onto her. She pulled Zoro in close to her, kicking desperately with Usopp to drag them to shore.
"Nami! Usopp!"
The two looked up the best they could, water splashing in their eyes and down their throats, their bodies going numb with the cold, to where Chopper had dashed out onto a log across the river and was waving a long stick down at them. Both with a hand on Zoro's person, they reached for the stick.
Chopper yelped as the sudden jerk of weight as they grabbed it nearly pulled him off the log. He grabbed onto the closest knot he could before he fell, straining against the water, ignoring the bark slicing deep into his hands as Nami and Usopp spluttered, water rushing over them and keeping their heads under.
Chopper gasped as his hand slipped, the world going silent as he plunged toward the water after them, knowing that they were all going to die, when Franky's enormous hand snatched his wrist and hauled, dragging him back up onto the log and grabbing the stick Usopp and Nami were clinging to, grunting against the weight. Chopper sobbed in relief as Robin raced down next to them, sliding to her knees and skinning them deep to grab Zoro's body and pull him as hard as she could out of the water. The woman was strong enough to be an octopus with eight arms. Nami and Usopp let go and Chopper rushed to help Robin, dragging Zoro's limp, ice-cold form from the water as Nami and Usopp flopped down on the log next to them, coughing the remaining water from their lungs. But Chopper wasn't giving them any time to rest.
"Franky, pick up Zoro! Robin, hold his head! Keep him warm! Get him back to the car! We need to get him home now! I want to see movement, people! Nami, how long has it been without him breathing?!"
"I don't know," Nami gasped around her waterlogged lungs, running next to them as best as she could, Usopp gasping and stumbling behind her.
"I need a better answer than that!" Chopper demanded.
"Ten minutes!" Nami blurted out. "Maybe less! I don't know! It took me maybe four minutes to get outside!"
Franky threw Zoro like a rag doll into the back seat and rushed for the front, everyone else cramming into the car and as out of Chopper's way as possible so he could start compressions, beating hard on Zoro's chest.
"Robin, breathe for him! Every two compressions! Franky, get us home!"
Tires screamed as they tore against the gravel, the car vanishing into the night. Zoro was getting colder and greyer by the minute, if that was even possible, Chopper gasping with exhaustion from the river and the compressions but he wouldn't let anyone touch Zoro. Every couple of compressions he could swear he saw Zoro's chest rise on its own, and that was enough to keep him going.
"Nami, call Shanks! Get Law ready to take Zoro the second we get home! Usopp, get me the blankets from the back and pack Zoro as tight as you can! Get him warm! I don't care if you have to spoon him! Get him warm!"
-oOo-
Law tapped his foot as he waited, his arms crossed tightly in front of him, every once and a while his fingers jerking towards his bangs to twist them anxiously before they gave up their mission and wedged themselves back under the security of his arm. Kid and Killer were waiting anxiously behind him, Shanks at their side, maybe to see Zoro himself, maybe for the support he'd have to show with what he knew was coming. Nami hadn't said anything promising… or, uplifting, over the phone—from what he could understand through her tears. Shanks hadn't relayed everything to Law, upsetting him now would only be unproductive. Law knew that Zoro had been injured further since they'd gotten off the phone, that he'd been attacked by Sanji, and that he hadn't been breathing when Nami had called. Everything else could be left up to Chopper when they arrived.
The approaching engine could be heard from what felt like miles off, and Law continued to dance in front of the door to the arena, mentally spitting vicious insults at the sky and ground and everywhere else that someone important might hear him. He'd only been religious at the research facility when he was a child. Now, he was strictly anti. Religion was just a piss-poor distraction for the shit-show called earth as far as he was concerned.
Franky screeched to a halt in front of the fight club where Law, Kid, and Shanks were already waiting outside. Zoro flung open the door, trying to get out of the way so Law could see Chopper desperately doing compressions on Sanji's chest and quickly losing energy. He'd been pushing nonstop for the last ten minutes of the drive and hadn't let anyone take over for him. Zoro had one foot on the ground and was halfway out of the car before Law appeared like a phantom on top of him, draped across his lap, and jammed a huge syringe into Sanji's neck. Before Zoro could even react to the invasion of space, Law had grabbed Sanji's collar and yanked him over Zoro's legs and out of the car where he spilled across the ground like a ragdoll.
"Eustass!" Law barked, but Kid was already there, grabbing the guy's feet as Law lifted his shoulders and they rushed him inside. Chopper was blubbering Sanji's medical history of the last half hour, running alongside them as they went, still panting from the compressions.
It was so fucking like when they'd brought Sanji home Law wanted to throw up. Disgusting. Fucking universe and its fucking déjà vu.
Law was ready for the door before Franky's car had even ground to a screeching halt, his face uncomfortable and pinched, like he was prepared to take the door clean off if it got him to Zoro faster. Shanks was sure that, had Law had any sort of superhuman strength, the car would have been relieved of the offending barrier.
As it was, Law moved with almost inhuman speed—Shanks was sure he was seeing things from the nerves—and was on the door in half a second, only half as long as it took Killer to appear in front of him with his actual inhuman speed and whip the door back where it snapped off of its holdings and came to rest firmly wedged into the driver's side front door with a gnarled crunch and glass raining down across their feet, locking Franky in on his side.
Neither moved, both sets of eyes locked on Chopper, who was sobbing pitifully and wholeheartedly into his hands, sitting next to Zoro's limp form. Zoro's head had been thrown to the side during the nasty car ride, exposing the blood-soaked face and hair for the world to see, and his arms dangled limply off of the seat, where his nearly blood-drained wounds were leaking the last of his life onto the floor of the car.
Law's mind was blank. An odd—and inappropriately fascinating—difference to his usual mental chatter. But Law had always found a fascination in the inappropriate.
Zoro's heavy-lidded eyes stared with an unsettling emptiness at the back of the front seat, as if his mind were searching for the reboot code and would be up momentarily.
This wasn't supposed to happen.
This isn't supposed to happen, his mind told him again, as if he had the power to change anything.
I know, he replied vacantly. He searched for more words, but there were none that would change this.
Why is this happening?
He had no answer for that.
Killer's breathing started to pick up, and he pressed his hands over his mouth as his body started to shake, stumbling back where he hit Kid's unmoving body, leaning up against his father like it was the only thing keeping him on planet earth. His eyes flicked up to Law, waiting for him to do something, back to Zoro's body, back to Law, back to Zoro, slowly realizing that Law wasn't reacting because there wasn't anything to be done.
"How long?" Law demanded after a weighty moment of silence, and when Chopper said nothing between his choked sobs, Law yelled, "How long?!" and dove for the body. We can change this, his mind insisted. His body was keen to agree.
"An hour," Chopper supplied suddenly, stopping Law in his tracks, his face still in his hands, voice waterlogged—a sad acceptance in the back of his voice. Law didn't understand that acceptance.
There is nothing to accept, his mind insisted, quiet at first and then louder when he didn't listen.
"Zoro wasn't breathing before the car ride," Chopper continued quietly, like he was reminding himself instead of informing Law. "I got Zoro's heart going twice on the way home and kept it going for a while, but it's been twenty minutes since it stopped last and… and there's no sign…"
There is nothing to accept.
Shut up.
"Zoro's lost so much blood."
There is nothing to accept.
Shut. Up.
"He's covered in wounds that have been flooded with bacteria."
There is nothing to accept.
I'll kill you.
"And he was thrown in the river by Doflamingo's men. We've had the heat cranked but without his blood to warm him, it's pointless."
There is nothing to accept.
I will murder you where you stand. I will filet you and hang you in shop windows for everyone to see. I will show your friends and family and everyone you knew how sordid and dark your insides are. I will find every nerve in your body and play them with needles like a bow over a violin until you beg me for death.
Law's eyes found Nami first, her tear-streaked face and horrified expression locked on him. Usopp next, more frightened and tear-streaked then Nami was. Robin wasn't giving him a promising look either. It occurred to him that he might have death in his eyes, but he didn't care if he was scaring them.
There is nothing to accept.
His mind was so quiet, gentle. Asking him.
Behind him, he could hear Killer screaming in Kid's arms, fighting to get to Zoro's side. He could only imagine Killer's state right now. Part of him wanted to test his hormone levels. Another part of him imagined the injuries Killer would inflict on Kid as he held him back that Law would get to fix. Another part of him imagined Kid stripped and dotted with those new wounds, embellished with stitches and gauze. Another part asked him to help Zoro, because Zoro needed him.
A bolt of raw nerves shot through him, the sudden realization of how boring life would be without his first child dawning on him.
Zoro was dead.
There is nothing to accept.
He's gone.
There is nothing to accept.
He's dead. I can't fix that.
There is nothing to accept.
…Why do you keep saying that?
Because you're better than this.
Law blinked, confused, and looked down slowly to scan over Zoro. Scores of claw marks had found skin, flesh, muscle, joint, and bone. Blood had drained and dried, leaving the marred flesh looking old. His eyes had drifted open and his skin was sallow and stiff. But it wasn't tinged, and the bones didn't glisten through his flesh.
Medical training told him that not enough time had passed for any of these changes to occur, but his eyes kept looking.
Law leaned in, finally catching Chopper's eye as he examined up and down, looking for any sort of indication that Sanji had done something more than claw him.
And then he saw it.
Law smirked, tipping Zoro's head to the side to look deeply into the gaping tear in the side of Zoro's throat. It easily could have been a claw wound, or even a wound caused by debris, but buried deep in the torn flesh were a distinct and full set of fangs.
Law's smirk grew and he brushed his fingers over the arc of punctures, marveling even after all these years how quickly the skin healed. Of course it looked old. To Zoro's flesh, the wound was old.
The venom was setting in.
"Sanji bit him," he said casually, making Chopper's head pop up. No doubt, the younger man had already done a sweep for bite marks—knowing Sanji's venomous status—but in his rush it was not strange that he would have missed something buried so deeply. It was a nasty wound. Zoro had fought hard, swinging his head back and forth and pushing on Sanji as hard as he could, knowing even as Sanji was draining him that he could stop death if his blood was given enough time to flush through Sanji's system and stop him from drinking. Given the opportunity, an NSPH would drain their victim in an instant, but fight back while their sanity starts to return… hopefully, before the victim has no blood left to circulate the venom.
Zoro had just enough.
"Oh my god," Chopper whispered, leaning in to watch the little spot Law had zeroed in on. Sure enough, even in the first couple of still moments, the skin was stretching slowly but visibly back over the open laceration.
"Killer," Law barked out of the vehicle to where Killer was calm enough to hear him, clutching desperately at Kid's torn forearms. Kid, in the meantime, was gripping Killer so hard that if he were human, Kid would have broken his shoulders. Kid only had so much more control in himself as it was. They needed a distraction.
"Bring me my stethoscope," Law ordered, and when Killer didn't react fast enough, he turned to glare to let his second child know that he was serious.
Killer vanished from Kid's arms, slipping out from under them like smoke, and had Law's bag open and the stethoscope in his hand before Law could think to ask again. He clambered up onto Law's shoulder, leaning heavily on him as Law turned around to place the metal end against Zoro's chest, listening in multiple places. Killer was silent, holding his breath, waiting for the verdict. All Chopper could do for the moment was sit in silence, relief flooding through him to the point where he would have collapsed on the ground had he not been sitting.
It was faint, and weak, but there was definitely a heartbeat. Chopper wouldn't have been able to find it without equipment. But as it was, Chopper frantically keeping his heart going all this time was probably the reason that the venom was able to circulate enough to start the transition.
Law was grinning. He hadn't realized it, but Killer had, and leapt from the car with a whoop, diving into Kid's arms, jolting the older man from the killing spree he was planning to himself. All he needed was a gun, a backpack of bullets, a small sword, and a car…
"Oh my god," Chopper breathed again, leaning back heavily against the car. Nami and Usopp were staring in dumb shock, Franky and Robin waiting anxiously for their next job in the process of saving Zoro. Law was super calm and it was surprisingly unfitting. This was supposed to be a really happy moment.
"Is… is he going to be ok?" Usopp asked after a moment.
Law, satisfied that Zoro's heartbeat wasn't losing strength or speed, hung the stethoscope around his neck and waved Kid forward.
"Eustass," he called, but Kid was already there, grabbing Zoro's shoulders and pulling him swiftly from the pool of blood that had collected under him. He'd need another couple of pints. Law took Zoro's feet and lifted as Killer raced to hold the door for them.
Law looked up at the sky, and then at the ground, musing to himself how he'd been insulting a nonexistent entity—or entities.
But despite himself, before he was all the way inside, he gave the sky a hearty smile, a: Suck my mortal penis, and flipped a mental bird into the clouds.
-oOo-