Law had not expected to lose consciousness on the spot, but figured that he had been exhausted to begin with. And being harassed by some vaguely familiar and menacing presence did nothing to get him to better health nor help the aching of his head from being struck down in the first place. The dark haired man had not even seen the strike coming, and had had no time to get out of the way. Law had tried to remain awake, but the pain from the unexpected strike had knocked him out.
The dark haired man let out a slow sigh as he tested his limbs to see that no serious damage had been done by being all but thrown to the ground. Nothing appeared to be broken and was only a tad bit sore and for that Law was grateful. But right now, he couldn't tell why he was upright when his weariness pointed to the fact that he ought to still be on the ground and not on his feet. Law's eyes flicked to the tall man before him, Doflamingo, he recalled, for some reason, and couldn't help but feel that he was the reason for why he was standing. Law wasn't sure why he felt that way.
He just did.
And Law had only asked Doflamingo who he was because he couldn't remember anything other than the man's name. And even that told him nothing other than the fact that he knew the blond from somewhere. Law was waiting for a response, and wasn't sure what to think of the massive grin that crossed the other man's face. It was a bit disconcerting because the man's eyes were on him as he grinned, and it almost looked as if Doflamingo were delighted by the fact that he did not know who he was.
That was rather suspicious, coupled with the fact that the blond haired man had struck him before.
"Are you doing something to my body?" Law asked, when the silence had stretched for too long and he was uncomfortable with the other man's grin and eyes on him. "I feel as if something is holding it up."
"That would be my Devil Fruit powers. I figured I would get you to your feet so you weren't lying at such an odd angle while unconscious." Doflamingo said with an easy smile.
"Only because you hit me with your...was that your hand or your fist?" Law looked Doflamingo over and then added dryly. "Not that it matters because you're larger than me and either way it would have hurt."
"If I had hit you with my fist you would likely still be unconscious as well as injured." Doflamingo responded. "And I wouldn't have even been able to hit you if you had gotten out of the way like I expected you to."
"You expected me to dodge?" Law asked, politely confused now as he attempted to figure out why that would be. "Why would you attack me in the first place then?"
"Do I need a reason to test one of my crew's reflexes?" Doflamingo asked with a grin, as if he'd made a joke of some sort that only he knew the punchline to.
Even more suspicious.
"Crew?" Law asked, and then recalled, from a conversation with Straw Hat and his crew. "I thought I was the captain of a ship."
"You are, you just report to me on occasion. You insisted on going off on your own." Doflamingo said smoothly.
"I'm not so sure about that..." Law said, a nagging feeling in the back of his mind over the idea. It didn't seem right to him.
"We don't need to nitpick right now. It seems like something happened to you." Doflamingo stated as he flexed as hand.
Law held perfectly still as he felt his body forced into movement. It was a bizarre sensation and he didn't like it.
"Doesn't seem like you were injured when you fell down." The blond commented as he watched the other man walk around.
"If you are doing that, stop it. I feel terrible and I would like to not make my body sorer than it already is." Law insisted with a grimace. He nearly fell over when he felt the sensation leave him, and Law only remained standing because he was next to a tree and was able to prevent himself from falling over by catching himself against it.
"What were you running from?" Doflamingo asked, the taller man's tone curious. "I'd say part of the reason you didn't dodge was because you were preoccupied by something else."
"Marines." Law made brief eye contact with the blond before he averted his gaze. For some reason, looking the other man in the eyes was unnerving, as if he hadn't done so before when he had apparently run into Doflamingo before. "I escaped from their ship and one of their leaders. He...I don't know. I think he did something because I remember even less than before, but I am not sure why."
"Sounds like someone got you with their Devil Fruit." Doflamingo mused with a frown. "That would explain why you don't remember who I am."
"You never did say who you were." Law pointed out.
"Donquixote Doflamingo." The blond said with a faint grin. "And why do you think it was a marine that scrambled you memory?"
"Scrambled...I suppose that is a good way to put it." Law said, before he sagged against the tree. "I'm not certain how it happened. I just felt that I needed to get away for some reason or another. There's a big blank as to why I needed to get away from the marines." Law paused briefly before he met Doflamingo's eyes again. "I need to go assist the people that the marines forced me into helping capture. Something happened that made me feel as if I was supposed to help the marines, and now I know that I shouldn't have." Law frowned thoughtfully. "I presume that they are being taken to another island. I was the only one brought to this base that I am aware of."
"Who was captured?" Doflamingo asked, amused.
"Straw Hat and some of his crew, as well as a person or two from another crew." Law stated, and frowned some more when his words made Doflamingo crack up. The dark haired man wasn't sure why it was so funny, and had no desire to ask for the other man's reasoning.
"Can't have that, now can we?" Doflamingo said, more to himself than Law. "It would most definitely be no fun should they think they have captured Straw Hat without underhanded tricks." The blond grinned again, and beckoned for Law to come over to him. "I think I would like to get back at the navy for an insult they have given me, so I will assist you to the next island." Doflamingo shook his head at Law's glare. "Not because I want to help you but because those idiots should have never been able to get their hands on Straw Hat Luffy and his crew that easily. Besides..." Doflamingo's grin stretched into a terrifying grin. "I want to have the honor of dealing with Straw Hat myself."
Law was suspicious of the man at those words but felt that he did need the assistance. And the dark haired man was mainly going to find the others because he had realized that he had been forced to attack Luffy but despite that, Straw Hat had held back from injuring him. And Law had seen that Luffy had had to try hard to not lash back out in return, and that alone had given Law the clarity to not injure Straw Hat as seriously as he could have from the angle he'd struck from. Law figured that he owed Luffy for that because he was certain that Straw Hat could have harmed him greatly had he chosen to.
"Can you use your Devil Fruit powers or did you forget how to do that as well?" Doflamingo cut in.
"I think I can figure them out from what little I can remember." Law said, flexing a hand and calling on his powers briefly before dismissing them. Memories of exhausting himself and having Straw Hat strike him unconscious lingered in the back of his mind from when he couldn't recall how to properly dismiss his powers. "It should suffice to assist Straw Hat and the others."
"I feel rested enough that I can get the two of us to another marine base. It is likely where they would be headed, if you were brought to the one on this island." Doflamingo hesitated before he smirked at the sound of shouts drawing nearer. "It sounds as if your pursuers are getting closer."
"I can hear that perfectly well without you informing me." Law shook his head as he eyed Doflamingo suspiciously. "And how are we to go anywhere without a ship?"
"There isn't much time to explain, so as irritating as it may be for me..." Doflamingo grudgingly turned around and gritted out. "Get on my back and hang on."
"Excuse me?" Law stared at the other man's back in complete and utter confusion. This did nothing to solve the problem of having on vessel to sail on, and two people commandeering a marine ship on a base full of marines was out of the question.
"Just do it. I don't like it anymore than you would had you actually had all of your memories." Doflamingo grumbled. "I can only hope that you won't remember any of this when you regain your memory or I'll be forced to kill you."
"That doesn't sound very promising." Law said, still skeptical of what would be accomplished by piggybacking with the other man other than sheer embarrassment for the both of them. But a stray marine bullet prompted Law to hoist himself up and for some reason, he had a weird sort of satisfaction of having his arms around the other man's neck and partially choking him. Like he wanted to cause harm to the other man but had no idea why that would be. And then Law had to focus on not falling off when Doflamingo somehow was up in the air and traversing the sky like some overgrown bird. And then some words sprang unbidden to Law's lips, even if it seemed utterly trivial. "Where is your jacket?"
Doflamingo was silent but he did twitch ever so slightly when he took in the question.
Law fell quiet himself, wondering where in the world the question had even come from. The blond haired man wasn't even wearing a jacket right now, and he had no memory of this man other than a vague sense of unease and knowing that he'd run into him before. The disquieting feeling of forgetting something important left Law's mind as he clung to Doflamingo in an attempt to not fall off and into the sea.
"What are you doing? We'll fall and drown!" Law snapped suddenly as Doflamingo changed directions midair and began to move in a northern direction. Doflamingo merely laughed away like he found the dark haired man amusing in that moment, and it made Law tighten his grasp.
Little did Law know that had he fallen Doflamingo would have not bothered going to retrieve him.
-x
"I can't believe this happened." Nami said, glancing around the small cell she and a fellow crewmate were in. "And I can't believe that vice admiral was able to manipulate Law like that." The orange haired navigator paced the entire cell fruitlessly. "I hope Robin is all right."
"She was with Franky and the others. Chopper will be able to help if she was hurt." Usopp was over by the door and feeling the entire frame, searching for some weakened hinges.
"Any luck with the door?" Nami asked as she joined her crewmate by the door.
Usopp offered a half smile. "These guys must not oil the hinges often." The sniper pointed out the top most hinge that held the door in place. "I think I can erode the hinge all the way through, and that will leave the middle and lower ones."
"It's too bad they took my clima tackt. I could have just blown the door down with a gust of wind." Nami stated, before she turned her head back toward Usopp. "I thought that they took your weapon as well?"
"They did." Usopp fished a small bottle out of his pocket. "But they didn't take everything." The sniper puffed his chest out. "I call this 'Usopp's super special firey hot sauce,' guaranteed to melt through just about anything."
"You mixed something erosive in it?" Nami asked, brightening at the prospect of escape.
"You got it." Usopp struck a pose. "I always carry it in case of capture."
"Then use it so we can go and meet up with the others." Nami insisted. "Knowing Luffy, as soon as he gets free everything is going to get crazy."
"Right."
-x
Penguin was just a tad bit on the unnerved side at the sight of Sanji striking the door over and over and saying 'Nami' was in danger and that he had to go and help her.
What about helping themselves first?
The Heart Pirate stayed well out of the way and decided it best to let the Straw Hat crewmate whale on the door do as he would. In the meantime, Penguin was going to try and think of the best way to meet up with everyone who had been captured, and, more importantly, how they were going to get off of an island crawling with marines.
And Law.
Where was his captain? Was he on this island as well or had he been taken to another one?
Penguin moved to the far side of the cell as Sanji's legs seemed to catch fire and he went at the door with even more vigor than before.
-x
Law and Doflamingo reached the island in what seemed like record time for traversing between islands. There had been no words between them and yet Law got the feeling that Doflamingo was silently laughing at him for one reason or another.
The dark haired man was grateful that he was on solid ground in what felt like half a hour or so of flying through the air. Doflamingo had landed on a less populated area of the island, away from prying marine eyes, yet close enough that the base was within sight and not too far away to walk to.
Law shouldered his blade and made his way to the fortified fortress that was the marine base. He didn't particularly care at this point in time that the tall, blond haired man was silently trailing along after him, even if he did have a sense of unease because of it. All the while Law was questioning himself over why exactly he was doing this. In the end, the dark haired man decided that he was assisting the pirates because he was trying to make up for stabbing Luffy when he hadn't exactly wanted to but the voice in his head had wanted him to. Law shook the troubling thought away to focus on breaking in to the marine facility.
Doflamingo made it easier for him, because the blond haired man laughed eerily as he laid waste to the side entrance with a show of his Devil Fruit power.
Reckless was a word that crossed Law's mind as he darted past Doflamingo laughing merrily as he cut down the marines who tried to attack him in return. Law's eyes were on the cut open door and not the marines or the laughing blond.
The dark haired man's jaw set.
There was no turning back.
-x
Usopp's plan to melt through the hinge was a success, and he and Nami managed their escape through trickery and some marine's gullibliliy to a lady in distress.
"Ready?" Usopp muttered, his eyes on a marine walking down the hall their way.
"Ready." Nami agreed from where she was on the ground of the cell.
"Hey! You! Marine! Come quick!" Usopp hollered at the guard. "There's something wrong in here!"
The guard looked agitated as he hurried over.
Usopp wisely kept away from the bars as the guard rattled it with his weapon.
"What's the problem?"
Usopp arranged his expression to be one of deep concern as he sighed. "Well, you see, my friend here has a problem when she's locked away."
The guard looked puzzled.
"See? Over there? Can't you see that she's in pain?" Usopp waved his hand in Nami's direction.
"Oh I feel faint." Nami said dramatically, dragging herself over to the bars. "Won't you please help me?" The orange haired navigator had carefully arranged her outfit just so in order for her cleavage to be clearly visible to the guard. Nami lifted her gaze to meet the guard's. "Please? I feel so terrible."
"I, um...well..." The guard clearly didn't seem to know what to make of the display, other than faint interest as his eyes were drawn to one area in particular.
Nami adjusted as she smiled sweetly at the guard, who was unable to hold back a nosebleed at the sight he was presented with.
Bam.
Sucker caught.
"Usopp, now!"
The Straw Hat sniper threw himself at the cell door, and the broken hinges of the door gave way, collapsing onto the guard who was unable to get out of the way. Usopp fell with the door and on top of the guard, knocking the poor man out.
Nami squatted down next to the door, none the worse for the wear as she pick pocketed the man for his money.
"What are you doing?" Usopp demanded, looking up and down the hall as if a horde of marines were going to appear at any second.
"I charge for a peek, remember?" Nami asked as she took what beli the unconscious marine had. "And he got two small peeks, so that makes the total come to-"
"Here they come!" Usopp warned, and the sniper was relieved that Nami left the poor unconscious marine alone with an empty wallet as she joined him to race in the opposite direction the other marines were coming from.
"Let's go look for our weapons. I'm sure they took Zoro's katana when they captured him." Nami said as she caught up and ran alongside Usopp.
"Good idea. Zoro can take care of the marines chasing us." Usopp agreed. The Straw Hat sniper swerved down another hall at the sight of more marines, but in doing so, he was separated from Nami, who called after him.
"Look for weapons but keep an eye out for Luffy!"
"Right!"
Nami focused on running from the marines behind her, frustrated that she had no weapon to defend herself with. The orange haired navigator let out a surprised cry as she tripped over uneven flooring tripped fell to the ground. But in doing so, she managed to avoid being wounded by marines coming from the opposite direction.
"Nami!" Sanji came out of nowhere to take out the gathered marines. "How dare you bastards try to lay a finger on Nami!" As soon as the marines were all scattered on the ground and unconscious, Sanji raced over to swoon over the Straw Hat navigator. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine." Nami said, as she brushed herself free of dust, missing the sight of Penguin flushing and turning away at the sight of her dusting her chest off as well. Satisfied with her appearance for the time being, Nami turned her attention to the Heart Pirate. "How'd you two get out of the cell?"
"Captain did." Penguin said softly.
"Does he remember you?" Nami asked.
"No, he didn't."
Nami doesn't pursue the topic, mainly because Penguin looked so upset over the fact that his own captain didn't remember him. Instead, she said. "Usopp and I were separated not too long ago."
"We should go find him and Luffy." Sanji said as he lit a cigarette. "And moss head while we're at it."
"We should find our confiscated weapons first." Nami stated, inwardly hoping that the marines weren't too organized, despite the high level officers that appeared to be there on that island.
-x
Zoro breathed heavily from exertion of trying to escape but was having no luck thus far. The green haired swordsman didn't want to waste time, in case Luffy was taken off of the island, which wouldn't be good. Zoro lifted his head to the cell door as he sensed someone else's presence, followed by that person's shadow.
Law.
Zoro and Law stared at one another before the green haired swordsman spoke. "Do you remember me?"
"No." Law shook his head. "I only remember that you and Straw Hat found me in the forest and were trying to help me remember." Law hesitated before he added. "Jumping off of the ship had not been the best idea."
Zoro left it at that. If Law didn't remember, there was no point in pushing him to. "Can you get me out of here? The marines have taken Luffy away."
"They did?" Law eyed the cell before he raised a hand. "Room." The surgeon twisted his hand and used his Devil Fruit powers to bring the green haired swordsman out of the cell. With a few deft movements of his blade, Law freed Zoro's hands.
"I thought you didn't know how to use your powers." Zoro said. "Robin said you didn't even remember having them."
"For some reason, after being with the marines and using those powers against you and your captain...I...remembered them. For the most part." Law said vaguely. "I'm sure there's more to it, but I felt it would be enough to come and assist you all."
"It does seem to be enough for now." Zoro agreed before he began to head down a hall. "I need my katana now if I'm going to go help Luffy."
"You shouldn't go that way." Law warned. "It's the mess hall."
Zoro turned on his heels immediately and went in the opposite direction.
Law joined the swordsman, blade sheathed. "Where did the marines take Straw Hat?"
"I'm not sure but I have a bad feeling about it. They just came and took him out of the cell. Less than an hour ago." Zoro shook his head. "I don't even know if he is still on this island."
Both Zoro and Law stopped in their tracks at the sight of Usopp hurtling toward them, a group of marines hot on his trail. The Straw Hat sniper, upon seeing one of his crewmates, waved to him desperately.
"Zoro! Help meee!"
-x
Law had found two of Luffy's crew, and now another, after he and Zoro had taken out the marines that had been chasing the sniper. Law recognized him as the one whose foot had been injured before, that he, Law, had treated. That was right, he was a doctor of some sort, even if he couldn't remember it. The dark haired man was not sure what he thought about the idea of Straw Hat being taken away to another island because Zoro was right. They would try and take Luffy somewhere where is allies were not able to easily reach him. Law took care of a few more marines as the green haired swordsman nearby took a few weapons from the marines until he found his own.
At least, Zoro would have taken the weapons had Nami, Sanji and Penguin not joined them then, the orange haired navigator carrying three katana.
Law watched as Usopp received his sling, before something...something distracted him.
A voice.
A voice was calling out to him.
And he felt that he needed to go to where it was. Just to see what it was. He would still find Straw Hat.
Go.
He had to go there now.
He had to ignore the people telling him to not go wherever it was that he was now running to.
But he had to.
Law had to go there or something terrible would happen.
He had to go, even when someone called out to him, laughing and asking where he was going off to in such a daze.
But he wasn't in a daze
Law was just going where he was supposed to go.
And when the dark haired man got there, he would have nothing to worry about.
The voice had said so, and Law felt that the voice had been right.
There was nothing to worry about.
Law stood near a stern faced man, and did nothing but go in the direction of the ship when he was urged to do so. He was to ignore the voices that called out to him to stop. Because he wasn't supposed to listen to them. They were pirates, after all. Law didn't have to listen to them. Law also didn't need to react to the sight of a green haired swordsman fending off a group of marines. Nor did he have to react to someone with a symbol on his chest similar to Law's own, pleading for him to snap out of it.
Snap out of it?
Law had nothing to snap out of.
"You're pathetic, letting them manipulate you like this."
Law halted mid step.
He couldn't move. He couldn't take another step. This sensation, it was familiar. Law was sure it had happened to him that same day. But who had done it? What had caused him to stop moving?
"Doflamingo! Capture him! He escaped custody a few days ago!"
"He doesn't have his warlord status anymore!"
"Where is the sea stone prism! Get it quick!"
There was some cacophony of sound, and suddenly, Law could move again, because something had struck the tall man. Doflamingo had presumably stopped him from moving, but now it was gone, and whatever had stopped the blond had caused Doflamingo to fall to his knees.
And yet...
Law started to walk again, dismissing the blond entirely from his mind.
It wasn't important. What was important was that he get on the ship and get on it now.
There wasn't any time to linger. No reason to watch people try to stop him. They were pirates, after all. No reason to pay them any heed. All Law was supposed to do was to go to the ship and then down to the cell. Why he was supposed to go to the cell, he didn't know, but Law knew he was supposed to go, so he would.
But when sea stone shackles settled over his wrists the moment he entered that cell, everything snapped back into sharp clarity.
"Hey! What are you doing to him?"
Law struggled to wade through the memories that were flowing back to him as if they'd never been gone, and when he was able to focus, it was to see vice admiral Fall leave the holding cell of the ship.
But the voice that had spoken let Law know that he had found Straw Hat Luffy, even if both of them were now prisoners.
-x
Luffy was upset at what Fall had done to Law, but as soon as the marine was out of sight the Straw Hat captain scooted over to the cell door in order to look over at Law, and saw that he hadn't yet moved from where he sat. "Hey, are you okay?"
"Straw Hat-ya." Law said after a moment as he dropped his hands onto his lap and lifted his head to meet Luffy's eyes.
"You remember!" Luffy brightened up immediately.
"Yes, I remember." Law said quietly as he glanced in the direction Fall had gone. "That marine's Devil Fruit is troublesome." The dark haired Heart Pirate whipped his head back to Luffy to fix him an irritable glare as something came to mind just then. "And since when in the hell am I your friend?"
"Well, you are. That's how it is." Luffy stated, as if Law was stupid for even asking.
"Don't go deciding that on your own, Straw Hat-ya." Law rattled his shackles irritably.
"I'm glad that you can remember everything now." Luffy said with a laugh, clearly unconcerned that Law had taken offense to being thought of as a friend.
"That vice admiral may try to use his powers on me again." Law warned. "I will forget things again if that is the case.'
"We'll just kick his ass before he can do it again." Luffy said simply.
"How are we to do that, shackled as we are?" Law wondered how the other captain could be so optimistic.
"We'll figure something out." Luffy said confidently.
Law didn't find that a ringing endorsement. The Heart Pirate was silent for a moment before he suddenly groaned as something else surfaced in his memories.
Luffy wore a confused look, at least until Law spoke again.
"I cannot believe that you and your crew made me do such embarrassing things." Law said in a deadpan voice, as if too mortified to even recall them now that he had even thought of it.
Luffy just grinned in return as if remembering the events as well.
Law leaned against the nearest wall before a troubled expression rose on his face. The Heart Pirate glanced at Luffy before he looked away again and spoke off handedly. "How is your wound?"
"It's fine since you didn't hit anything important." Luffy said cheerfully. "Chopper looked at it for me and took care of it." Luffy crossed his arms and frowned a little. "Besides, it was that marine made you do it, so don't worry about it."
"I wasn't going to." Law said gruffly, though his expression said otherwise.
Luffy noticed and grinned again.
Law ignored the smiling Straw Hat captain as he went back to sorting through his memories of what had happened. Law remembered what happened the first time Fall had used his powers on him, and what went on when he had run into the Straw Hats. The Heart Pirate counted himself lucky that his mind was jumbled, especially when he'd run into Doflamingo. Law was not sure if the blond haired pirate would have tortured him or killed him otherwise. It was disconcerting enough to find the man alive and breathing after he'd hit the man with his gamma knife. Doflamingo was certainly a monster to have survived that, even if he didn't seem to be in the best of shape right now.
Law gave his head a brief shake, breaking off that train of thought. He needed to focus on his and Luffy's predicament.
What could they do now? And where were the marines taking him and the Straw Hat captain? Wherever it was, it could spell nothing but trouble for himself and Luffy. And then the Straw Hat captain spoke, confirming that the black haired teen had no sense of just how much trouble they were in.
"Hey, do you think they will give us any meat?"
Law stared up at the ceiling in despair. If ever there was a time to be without his memory, now was a good a time as any. It was hard enough trying to come up with some semblance of a plan when Luffy could only think of his stomach.
His stomach...
The dark haired Heart Pirate smirked suddenly.
Law had an idea and he felt that even if nothing came of it, it would be amusing to see Straw Hat wreck destruction upon a ship in search of food as well as his straw hat, which Law had noticed just then was absent.
And it seemed that Luffy had just noticed as well, if the sight of Luffy striking the cell door was any indication, coupled with his displeased proclamation.
"Where's my hat?"
"That marine took it." Law supplied helpfully, and sat back to watch as Luffy made short work of the cell which, for some reason, was not made of sea stone.
"I'm gonna kick their ass!" Luffy claimed before he swung his foot at the cell Law was in.
The dark haired Heart Pirate ducked, believing that perhaps he didn't think this through very well. He most certainly hadn't expected for Luffy to have enough stamina while cuffed with sea stone until Law realized that some fool had put ordinary shackles on the other captain, as he snapped the shackles off impatiently.
Why hadn't he done that before?
Law grunted as Luffy hoisted him over one shoulder and had a terrible sense of dejavu after being carted around Dressrosa for a time.
And then they were off with Luffy hollering the entire way.
"Give me back my hat!"
Law hung his head as he just barely held back a groan.
This wasn't how he envisioned escaping from the marines, but if it worked, he might be a little more forgiving of Luffy jostling him around so much.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
A/N: Thank you very much for all of the reviews (and favs and follows)! I really appreciated it and it made me really happy to read them all and see what you guys thought of the previous chapter (it was a little tricky for me to get it written out). This chapter is a bit odd as well, though mainly because there is so much going on in it before the end of the chapter. And Luffy realizing someone took his hat and only doing so much to retrieve his hat is hilarious, so I decided to do it in this fic as well.
I figured I should focus on another story for a time and as this one is actually all written out to the end, I am going to try and get this fic finished (as it is shorter than some other fics-I'm a little over halfway through the outline I made for it).