Hey there everyone, I'm back from vacation! Well, I've been back for awhile it was just that college preparations got in the way of me sitting down and writing. Back to school for me in less than a month... Well, I won't sit around and bore you with the story of my life so onward with the chapter. Disclaimer: I do NOT own One Piece. Mina and the son of a bitch you meet in this chapter are mine though.

Chapter 6: Another Meeting... FROM HELL!

"Tell your boss what you think of him, and the truth shall set you free." -Author Unknown

Mina found that the smell of the ocean always calmed her nerves and more or less made her content with just staring out at the horizon. Perhaps it was the fact that the ocean was always a symbol of freedom for her and many others. Piracy may not be her first job choice, hell if she had her way she'd just remain unaffiliated with pirates, Marines, or any black market idiots altogether, but if there was one thing she at least held a minuscule amount of respect for, it was the fact that pirates were free to do as they pleased with little to no questions asked. The sound of crashing waves filled her ears as the brunette stared at Lostrowan Isle in the distance from the safety of the deck as she reflected on the last few days with the pirates.

-:-

It had been an interesting two days to say the least. The first night was rather fun because somewhere around midnight, something became glaringly apparent for Mina: they were on a submarine. It had all happened when a blaring alarm went off when she was dead asleep. Now, there were several things in life Mina just didn't appreciate; being woken up was one of them as she was never a morning person. Oh, Roger help your pitiful soul if you just so happened to piss Mina off when she first woke up. Her victims usually ended up sobbing in the corner while unintelligibly muttering something about how they'd never do it again and that they would never be able to have children. It was a complete mystery to Mina why the ended up that way. Well luckily for the Heart Pirates the thing that woke her up was an alarm. A much better option as she at least had the capacity to distinguish a person from an alarm; so there was no one sobbing hysterically in the corner at least. Or dead. Dead was always an open option when it came to Mina's sense of retribution, but waking her up wasn't something that normally warranted death. No, to get her to kill you, all you had to do was majorly piss her off. Not a hard thing to do really...

When the alarm went off that night, Mina sat bolt upright and tried shaking the stupor of sleep off her mind; Astor, who had orders from Law to explain what the alarm was there for, barely had time to explain that it was just the signal that the submarine was going under before she had a conniption. Blearily asking "Huh?", Mina was given the information that they were on a submarine. Now that woke her up for several reasons: she had never been on a submarine before and it was a rather new concept to her and the sound of being submerged in water with only a shell of metal protecting them from the crushing water pressure and ocean of the Grand Line made her a bit twitchy. However, since Law was obviously a Devil Fruit user himself, the submarine was sure to be safe... She tried telling herself that but she still couldn't sleep. Also, the fact that her side was causing her some pain as the pain killer wore off around two in the morning; effectively barring her from falling asleep thanks to the pain and a growing sense of paranoia thanks to her minor case of claustrophobia. It wasn't so much that the walls were closing in on her, but more the fact that the walls were there in the first place. Luckily the infirmary was rather spacious so it eased her mind a bit.

With a sleepless night under her belt, Mina felt even worse the next morning when Astor walked in at six. Upon entering the infirmary, Astor stood there for a moment processing what he saw. She was leaning up against the headboard of the bed, clipboard in hand, and pen scribbling something down with fervor. The brunette had decided that six in the morning was an apt time to do some paperwork. Yes, Mina had paperwork to do; and yes, she hated it with the passion of a thousand burning suns. Mainly the forms were menial and repetitive; so it drove her up the far wall and back whenever she had to fill out a "Mission Report" form along with some "Expenses" form that asked how much she spent at the inn, on food, and bribes as well as some related costs.

"Paperwork?" Astor asked, his eyebrows meeting his hairline.

"Yeah," Mina said flatly. "It's all part of Alderman's grand plan to fuck his secretary. Basically, the more paperwork she has to file, the more often she's with Alderman, and you can see where this is going."

Astor wasn't quite sure what to think of that one. He wasn't sure if she was joking or not; though he'd bet that she wasn't.

"Did you sleep at all?" Astor asked as he walked closer to the woman still scribbling things down. He noticed the dark circles under her eyes.

"I slept for a little while, but then my side decided to start acting up at two in the morning," She shifted ever so slightly in the bed and grimaced. "Even if I could sleep I don't think I would've been able to."

She was a bit hesitant to say that the reason why she was unable to sleep was more the fact that her brain wouldn't stop counting the ways she could die on a submarine instead of her side, but it was true at least. Even without the submarine fact eating away at her mind, the pain would've just made it hard to sleep anyway. Mina now knew the importance of painkillers with an injury like this one; broken ribs aren't fun. Granted she's been injured in more ways than she cared to count but she didn't remember being strangled, tossed into walls (or trees), or even getting attacked by that tiger a few year back were ever this painful.

"Damn Olaf... Damn Caito..." Mina muttered as she stopped writing mid-sentence. Her knuckles turned a much lighter shade of tan as she held the pencil in a death-grip. "If I ever get my hands on Alderman..."

A dark aura surrounded Mina as she continued to play with the thoughts of death. A bead of sweat slid down Astor's face as he watched her mutter to herself. Then he paled at what he heard her saying and took a step back for good measure.

'Wow... She-She has a rather scary imagination,' Astor thought to himself. 'And she was going to do what with a pear?!'

Just then, due to the amount of pressure she had put the poor pencil under, it snapped in her grip as she barely contained her rage.

-:-

Mina snapped out of her reverie when she heard footsteps coming up behind her on the deck. Casting a glance over her shoulder, she found the talking polar bear coming up behind her. Bepo was his name, she reminded herself. Mina was never one for bears as the kind she met usually wanted to eat her face off, but since this one had yet to attack her, Mina had to say he was as close to "normal" as anything else on this ship. How ironic... Snorting to herself in amusement, she ignored the pain that the rib kicked up she sidled over (and away from the bear) a bit when Bepo decided to join her at the rail. His button eyes took in the sight of the island up ahead and he turned to the brunette next to him.

"Are there any girl bears on that island?" He inquired.

Mina blinked as she stared up at the talking bear.

"They have a circus," She finally said after a moment. "With bears as part of their act. I don't know anything other than that."

"Oi, Bepo!" A voice called to the polar bear.

Both bear and human turned their heads to see who it was calling to the bear. It was the man in the casquette hat and sunglasses.

"Shachi," Bepo greeted. "What is it?"

Shachi stopped in front of the bear and scowled.

"You were supposed to be watching her," The ginger stated. It seemed he was mildly annoyed by something.

Mina smirked and turned her head off to the side to hide it. She actually wasn't supposed to be up on the deck right now... No, Law had "suggested" she stay in the infirmary under the watchful eye of Bepo. However, easily giving the bear the slip, she had somehow found her way up on deck. Don't ask her to retrace her steps though; ending up where she wanted was more blind luck than anything else. However, she had made the generalization that she wanted to go up to get to the deck.

"I'm sorry..." Bepo hung his head suddenly depressed.

"You're so weak-willed," Shachi observed before turning to Mina. "And you shouldn't have pulled a vanishing act on us like that. The Captain's pretty much ordered us to turn the sub upside down looking for you."

"And I care why?" Mina deadpanned. "I just needed a little fresh air. Being cooped up in the infirmary isn't good for me."

"Yeah, well the Captain in a bad mood isn't good for us," The ginger shot back.

"And who said I was in a bad mood, Shachi?" That all too familiar voice came from behind him.

Shachi, paling considerably, turned to see that Law was indeed behind them; he was leaning against the wall next to the door.

"N-No one did Captain," The ginger stuttered before laughing it off. "I think I'll go see if Penguin needs help with- With the uh... The thing he was trying to do this morning."

With that, Shachi promptly vanished into the darkness of the submarine; much to the amusement of the woman still standing by the railing. Looks like the fuzzy hatted Captain ran a tight ship.

Law detached himself from the wall he was propping up and moved closer to Mina, stopping short of reaching the rail.

"That was some vanishing act you pulled," Law didn't even sound angry with her. What a shame; Mina was hoping he'd a least make this interesting for her.

"It comes with practice," Was all she said on the matter before turning back towards the rail to look out at Lostrowan.

Law noticed that she was looking at the island with a mixture of dread and annoyance.

"I take it you aren't too happy to be going back," Law remarked.

Mina rolled her eyes.

"I'm not looking forward to being chewed out by my boss," She sounded less than pleased by the idea. "Even though I don't have time limits on my 'missions', he still likes everything done quickly and quietly."

It didn't take a genius to figure out that the mission involving Caito's ledgers was anything but quickly and quietly done. Over a week to get the books and then massacring the mansion was anything but quiet. Mina was screwed when she met up with Alderman. It meant docked pay for her; something she probably couldn't afford. Alderman, the evil, evil bastard he was, was attempting to make Mina desperate for money so he could extend the contract another 18 months where he could pay her a fraction of what he actually payed the "real" employees.

"Are you all right Miss Mina?" Law asked her once he saw the dark look on her face. She had begun glowering at the island.

"Peachy," Mina said through clenched teeth. "Just thinking about how I'm probably going to get killed after I murder Alderman for docking my pay... Again!"

"You really don't like that man," Law observed.

Turning on her heel, Mina faced the pirate captain with a furious look on her face; Law didn't expect such a knee-jerk reaction from her.

"Don't like?!" She snarled loudly, her face flushing with rage. "I fucking hate that evil bastard! He can go die in a fucking ditch for all I care!"

Now quietly seething, Mina turned back to the rail and left Bepo to nurse his strained eardrums by putting his paws over his ears. She was very loud when she was angry; and setting her off didn't seem that hard to do. To spare the bear's eardrums from any further assault Law dropped the issue completely.

"We'll be arriving in half an hour," Law told the angry young woman.

Her rage suddenly dropped and Mina hung her head.

"Wonderful..." She muttered to herself before sighing. Now that she had gotten used to the pain, she didn't even flinch when her rib started hurting. "Another thirty minutes and I'll be back where I started."

With that, Law and Bepo left Mina to her sulking.

-:-

Mina watched with interest as the Heart Pirates docked their submarine at Lostrowan's port city, Shathen. They all moved independently of one another with their assignments, but it didn't take a genius to see that the crew worked together, some of them joked as they raised sails. Laughter and conversation ringing out across the deck as they worked on the task at hand. Mina was leaning against the cabin wall and staying out of their way with her suitcase by her feet. Wearing a blue short-sleeved shirt and one of her only pairs of jeans without blood on them, Mina's bandaged arms stood out against her tan skin and the bruises on her face had begun to fade. They were healing quite nicely according to Law and while her rib still hurt like hell, as long as she didn't do anything too stupid or too strenuous it would be fine in a matter of weeks.

When the men on the deck started jumping over the rail and onto the wooden dock below, Mina took that as her cue to leave. Swinging the suitcase onto her back, she hopped from the railing to the dock without so much as a flinch. Her sandals, cleaned of blood, slapped against the wood as the familiar smells of the island came back to her. The docks always smelled like a mixture of sweat and fish. It was slightly disgusting to her, but she had smelled a lot worse than that in her many years of traveling. Lostrowan island was one of the more heavily populated islands on the Grand Line. People congregated by the sea thanks to the fishing industry and only those who sought adventure or solitude went towards the heart of the island where a dormant volcano was located. The volcano had been dormant for centuries now so trees blanketed the slope of the mountain as they did much of the uninhabited parts of the island. Shathen Port was mostly a flat location with businesses lining main street while the side streets had more out of the way businesses and apartment buildings. However, there was one thing that stood out against the dormant volcano looming in the distance. It was a mansion at the end of Main Street and was Alderman's headquarters.

With the Heart Pirate's escort completed, Mina started down the street without so much as a glance backwards. Suddenly, the pressure of another hand wrapped around her left wrist. However, as her wrist was grabbed, she reacted. Spinning around, she prepared to nail the person in the gut with a punch, however a calloused hand with the letters D.E.A.T.H tattooed on them closed over her fist and barred her from going through with the punch. Mina stared at the sneering jolly roger on his yellow hoodie before she looked up to see the calm face of Law. He wasn't even fazed that she tried to punch him in the gut.

"Are you still going to punch me, Miss Mina?" Law asked with humor laced in his voice; now having possession of both her hands.

"I'm thinking about it," She shot back at him. "It is what you get for coming up behind someone and grabbing their wrist."

His smirk widened.

"I just wanted to get your attention before you up and vanished on me," He said smoothly before letting go of her fist, he kept his grip on her wrist though.

Mina put her fist down and straightened out her stance as Law let go of her other hand when he saw that she was sticking around and wasn't going to blow him off.

"What for?" Mina asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You seem unhappy here," Law stated the obvious. "Why stay somewhere you don't like being?"

"Stop beating around the bush and say what you have to say Law," Mina said flatly.

He chuckled.

"How about you join my crew, Miss Mina?" Law asked her.

The brunette stared at the pirate captain, her bronze eyes wide. Piracy? Well, that was certainly a job. There was a certain ring to it and Mina couldn't help but glancing at the glaring yellow submarine sitting at the docks. Yellow submarine and a yellow hoodie... Mina figured out his favorite color in a flash. Shoving those ideas aside, she thought about it a bit more. Law, despite being creepy as hell in her opinion, seemed like the much better option to go with than Alderman. The lesser of two evils as you'd put it? The rest of the crew seemed like they were alright and some of the more stable people you'd meet on an ocean like the Grand Line and despite her skepticism about the safety of the submarine, the fact that she got to Lostrowan in one piece was enough to put some of those fears to rest. She could always get used to it after all... Then the nagging voice of reality gnawed at the back of her mind and as much as she wanted to ignore it, to crush it beneath the soles of her sandals, the little bugger was persistent.

"I can't," Mina said, making Law frown. "Alderman has me under contract. I can't leave otherwise he sends his dogs after me and drags me back kicking and screaming."

Silence followed for another moment.

"I owe him, Law," Mina continued. "I sort of have a policy about not falling into debt. But the point is I still owe that son of a bitch. For another three weeks that is and I do sort of owe you for helping me out still."

Mina smirked at that thought before turning around to continue walking.

"So, after three weeks, will the invite still be there?" Mina asked, looking over her shoulder at the pirate Captain.

"Of course," Law said with his usual smirk.

That made Mina grin over her shoulder.

"Alright. Three weeks and I'll catch up. See ya' then Captain," Mina said as she waved.

Law watched her vanish into the crowd with a smirk. The fuzzy hatted captain knew she was hiding something about her employment with Alderman, but it didn't matter. He'd still get his way in the end and that's all that really mattered to him. With that, Law went back to his crew.

-:-

Oh would Mina love to be anywhere but here. Staring up at the gates of Alderman's mansion, she wondered if it was too late to throw the ledgers over the wall and run. The word "hate" didn't really cover her feeling about the job she had. It wasn't the job as it was more the man she had to deal with. Alderman was twisting her arm, she loathed to admit it but it was true. He was twisting her arm and forcing her to work for him. That's one of the things she hated; being forced to do something when she obviously had no interest in doing whatever it was.

With the iron gates of Alderman's heavily armed mansion opening, Mina sighed and walked through and entered the courtyard. The cobblestones lead to the front door, but Alderman wasn't inside on this particular day. Following one of his random guards to the garden, Mina was met with the sight of her boss sitting on his ass and eating lunch. Alderman was a man with power, and he carried himself as such. He also wore a suit everyday of the week and she was pretty sure he even slept in it. Graying black hair and a defined face made him almost handsome to other women if him having at least five wives in his lifetime was anything to go by. Strange thing was, there was never a divorce. Just, "accidents." Being a widower five times over was suspicious in Mina's opinion, but hey, she could always be wrong. He could just have really, really bad luck when it came to his wives... Oh, who was she kidding. This man was psychotic and she worked for him! Granted she had a feeling working for pirates wouldn't be any better, but at least she'd be on the move again. Staying in one place was boring.

Standing five feet away, the brunette waited for Alderman to acknowledge her presence. If she spoke to him, he'd just ignore her so she had to wait for him to speak to her first. "Speak only when spoken to" was one of the first rules she learnt from the bastard.

"You're late," The boss remarked.

Mina snorted.

"You'll read all about that in my reports," She said.

His eyes flicked up from the steak he was eating to bore into Mina's bronze ones. She swallowed out of reflex; it suddenly felt a bit hard to breathe. This man scared her for a reason; she saw firsthand what he did to the people who displeased him. However, Mina knew that he wouldn't hurt her as long as he still viewed her as an asset and not a risk.

"I got caught," She admitted much to her boss's disappointment.

His silverware clanking to the plate, he took the napkin out of his lap and stood up. Closing the five feet with nary a word, he walked past her.

"Not acceptable," He said. "I hired you to stay out of sight and to complete your missions in shadow. How hard can that be for someone with your talents?"

"Hired? You basically blackmailed me into working for you," Mina disputed, turning to face the man. "And how can I know that Caito had over sixty guards in his mansion when you don't give me the proper information? Also, if you aren't happy with the way I do my job then fire me! I paid back my debts over six months ago. Plus interest."

"Do no argue with me Mina," Alderman ordered. "You are to do as I say until your contract is up."

"At least I got what you asked for," Mina said as she pulled her suitcase off her back.

Quickly undoing the locks, Mina grabbed the ledgers and clipboard from the top of her suitcase and slammed the lid shut. Walking to the table she dropped the items onto the marble table.

"Caito's a liar by the way," Mina spat as she collected her suitcase off the ground. "He's been taking you for a ride all along."

"I will deal with him as I see fit," Alderman said. "Now, go wait for further orders. I will have Juliet look over your paperwork and I will reimburse you for your own expenses. After I collect rent and my cut of course."

"Of course," Mina said as she stalked out of the courtyard.

That man infuriated her to no end. More or less storming to her apartment building, she hoped someone would piss her off. Oh how she wanted to punch someone's lights out. Much to her disappointment, no one so much as crossed her path on her way "home." The apartment building was in a sort of crappy neighborhood; it was low rent but Alderman owned the building so he took her rent out of her already low payment. It was a five floor apartment complex and Mina lived on the third floor. Clomping up the stairs to her run-down apartment, she unlocked her door and threw her suitcase into the room. There was a reason why it needed to be durable; she manhandled the poor object more often than not.

Flicking the lights on, the sight that met Mina's eyes was a pathetic one. The apartment was wall to wall wood floors with wood paneling. No photos lined the walls, there were no curtains, and there was barely any furniture in the place. A table, one chair, a bed, and a small kitchen was the count for the place. Then there was the bathroom with the standard toilet and shower. Looking to her right she saw her bed and had a view of the town as well as part of the ocean through the window above the bed. To her left was the kitchen that she had left in a state of disarray. Dishes from well over a week ago sat in the sink... Needless to say, Mina wasn't a homemaker. She may be able to do some housework and knew some basic skills like sewing, but she couldn't care less about things like interior decorating so long as there was some semblance of matching colors in a room. Rubbing the back of her neck and sighing, Mina closed the door behind her using her heel and then promptly went over to her bed. Being careful not to hurt her rib, she laid facedown on the bed that was more or less in the same state as her kitchen.

Now, if Mina had known what was going to happen in the weeks to come, she would've booked it back to Law's submarine faster than a bat out of hell. If she thought fate was a bitch, wait until she met it's sister: life. Oh, now that was the biggest bitch of all and it couldn't wait to start playing with her. But for now, it was just content to let Mina lay on her bed and curse Alderman to the fiery pits of hell.

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Send a review then! I'd love to hear from you guys. Next time, Mina has some fun. Of course my definition of fun when it comes to Mina usually includes torture of some sort so I'm sure she won't think it's fun. Next chapter also signals the end of the first arc. I'd better get cracking then. Bye bye~!