A/N: Double update for you guys because you've been so patient, and life was in the way a LOT lately!
Chapter 6: Broken Sniper! Bellamy in Sogeking's Sights!
It was Zoro who saw the little ship and recognized it for what it was. Zoro who leapt overboard and swam to the poor vessel. Who grabbed a rope, jumped back in the water, and towed it over to the All Blue. It was Zoro who carried their deeply wounded sniper into the medical bay and reported what he had found. And it was Zoro's scream of rage and pain that penetrated Usopp's delusional haze when the ship doctor informed him of just how hurt their sniper was currently and how badly hurt he had been previously. He might never be the King of Snipers again if they didn't re-wound him to set his bones to heal properly.
Coming back to himself the first thing that hit him was warmth, spice, and hint of something only one cook in the entire world could produce. His eyes wouldn't open, his body wouldn't respond correctly, but the taste on his lips gave his tongue the motivation to slip between them and lap at the drops. It was heavenly. He must have died to be tasting Sanji's broth after that Hell, and he found he didn't much care if he had. Only one thing really truly mattered, and she'd been stolen away. A few more drops, another fleeting taste and he had enough moisture in his throat to form sounds.
"...ya... kch... ya..." His tongue tried to loosen his lips again, "Kai... ya..."
His fingers twitched, trying to reach for her, as behind his sealed eyelids he saw the blond haired bastard stealing her away, laughing his sick, twisted laugh, and tormenting the weakest Strawhat with the knowledge that he'd never be able to get her back.
There was a rumble of sound, almost too deep to be understandable. "Kaya's 'is wife. She must've been on the Merry Two with him." Zoro's voice was thick and husky as he spoke to the medic. The man was like a caged tiger. "Y'know when he'll be able to tell us who it was?"
Tears began to break the glue holding his eyes closed as he began to realize that he wasn't dreaming, and he wasn't dead. Kaya really was kidnapped, but he had been rescued. He couldn't hear what the medic was saying but he knew the other voice. He knew it as well as he knew his own.
"Z'rrro..." His voice was hoarse, abused and roughed. "Waz... B'l'my... D-D'n's f-f-fl-fl'g."
"Usopp? You're with us?" The voice was suddenly closer and clearer, Zoro's furnace-like warmth within feeling distance as his snarl rumbled the floor. "Was who? Whose flag?!"
Someone was telling Zoro not to pressure him, but he hissed.
"Don't tell me to leave him alone! He's trying to speak, whatever the message is it's important—someone fuckin' get the cook already!"
"Already here, Marimo. Don't bellow in the patient's room. Chopper would have your nuts for doing that." The soothing tones of the cook filtered through almost before the smell of his infamous mulled cider did. "Thank you, doctor-san, we'll take it from here."
Usopp was already drooling and his face twitched, trying to get the words out. "D-D'n... f-flam... ing... oh."
There was socked silence.
"But he's... he's dead. Years dead," Zoro murmured, hands in his hair. "Who would dare... B'l'my," he sounded it out, slowly, "B'l... me... Bel... me... Bell... ah... me. Bellamy?!" His voice turned into an animal's snarl, "That blond-haired little shit from Jaya?! I forgot the smallfry fuckin' existed after that bullshit with God-Enel."
The sniper's throat was in agony, but he couldn't hold back the sobs as his body responded to the fact that he'd fulfilled his promise. He'd gotten the message to the Monster Trio. They'd save his Kaya, he was sure of it. If he had to die now, he could greet death happily, knowing his precious beloved would be rescued.
"Z'rro! S-san... j-ji!" He wailed as best he could, his eyes coming open for the first time in he didn't know how long.
The cook was immediately at his side, a certain pain echoing between the two of them that made the normally aloof blond kneel and wipe away the sniper's tears. In his other hand was a tray of small foodstuffs designed specifically to ease the starved body. He and Chopper had developed them as something of a coping method to ease Sanji's own trauma. The fact that the recipes were actually useful now that someone else had been on that brink of death… that was just a very fortunate bonus.
Zoro's heavy body thumped to its knees on his other side. "We're here. We'll get the bastard," he assured softly, fingers combing that dark, curly-matted hair back. "And we'll get you strong again, so you can be right there with us when we destroy him."
He knew the feeling of being helpless, of being defeated and forced to watch as an enemy ripped through everything you had tried so hard to protect. He'd seen enough on the ship to form a theory, and what he saw now in the trauma of Usopp's eyes solidified it.
Even though the movements strained the darker man's horribly mangled body, his chest heaved, and already, the sniper was trying to sit up, proving for once and for all, he was a Strawhat. Just as monstrous, just as resilient, and just as stubborn as any of the others. His glare was hard, even as his arm shook, but he managed, through sheer willpower alone, to raise his head and shoulders from the pillows. He was done being weak. He'd had quite enough of that floating around the Grand Line aimlessly, through several nasty storms, and two chance encounters with sea kings that thought Merry II's figurehead looked tasty. The once smiling sheep now had several deep gouges that made her look like she was glaring at the world.
Usopp found he agreed with her.
"Whoa... w-wait a minute. You need rest." Sanji grabbed the sniper's chest as he almost fell out of the bed. "Let's get you fed and healed first. Then we'll go on that murderous rampage you and the baka-marimo are planning, ne?"
Zoro's strong hand joined in keeping the brunette pinned. "Right. Just like Chopper always tells me, Usopp: Sit down, rest, and get better so you can go to work. Ain't no good to get the fucker all pinned right where you want him if your body gives out before you can really make him suffer. Meanwhile, we gotta find him. So you get better while we track and corner the sonuvabitch, ne?"
His eyes were dark and dangerous. Vengeance was not something Zoro took lightly; it wasn't something he jumped to easily. But in this case there was no other option, only to pay it back in full, or better, tenfold—no, a thousand-fold!
The growl that tore from the sniper's damaged vocal cords threw back in their faces just how often they had listened to Chopper when it had been them in his place, but as his strength really was failing him, he allowed the pair to guide him back to the pillows. The motion brought his left hand into view and he gasped at the way his first three fingers were twisted. He knew without having heard the doctor before that they'd need to be re-broken to heal properly, and he needed them to heal properly to aim his kabuto. With a deep sigh that was cut off by a stab of pain reminding him that his ribs weren't too healthy either, Usopp cast his death glare at the ceiling.
"Oi. Don't go burning holes in my bedroom floor, Sogeking-aho!" Sanji chided. "Here, drink the broth. It'll help with your energy, and if you can handle that I'll make dango for dinner. I may even let certain mossheads have some."
Zoro grunted noncommittally. "...Cook. I need to ask Usopp something."
Privately. What he was about to say, what he was about to offer, was nothing he'd ever thought he'd even have to contemplate after Chopper joined the crew. And he didn't really want Sanji to hear it.
Casting a sidelong look at his lover, the blond nodded. "I'll just go start on that dango then."
He climbed to his feet, leaving the bowl of broth and plate of finger foods on the table next to the bed. He had a fair idea of what was about to happen, and as such he made his way quickly to the kitchens, where he instructed his entire staff to deliberately ignore any sounds coming from his private rooms. Several of the servers and the newest busboy looked at him confused but a glance or two at the sous-chef and the line cooks—big, burly pirates just like the ones at the Baratie—and those who had questions determined it was safer to keep to themselves.
Once the cook was gone, the curly-haired brunette turned to the swordsman, "Un?" His voice was still ragged and uncooperative, but slowly, with the broth he'd consumed it was lubricating what had been dangerously close to giving out permanently.
The swordsman slowly looked him in the face, in the eyes. His big hands clenched into huge fists and his shoulders were tense. "Y'know your bones need to be... re-broken. The doc—he's a good doc, Chopper trained him and all, but he ain't Chopper. I don't... trust him to break exactly where the break needs to be. So... if you say so... I'll break 'em."
His entire body flinched as he said it. Hurting his Nakama with his own hands... but hurting to heal. Regardless, the process made his insides twist.
"And... when you're better... I'll help you get strong again. Really strong," he added, mostly to soothe his own conscience. "You're never gonna be Luffy, or even me, or Sanji. But we can make you a close fourth. You'll need to use therapy to get full use of your body again anyway."
"Ah." was all Usopp actually said, but he raised his left hand, mangled fingers and all, offering the currently offensive appendage to the green-haired man. After a moment, he growled. "M-ma... ke m-me s-strong... f-for Kai... ya."
Zoro took the hand and gave his sniper a firm nod. He carefully felt for the exact place he needed, gripped it firmly, and the same way he used to snap metal rods for Usopp's inventions, he twitched his arms. The snap, for all that it wasn't particularly loud, seemed to echo through the whole of the ship, followed by two more, which the larger man performed with equal precision.
Amazingly, the sniper never made a sound. Sometime ago, even at the beginning of that same year, he might have been wailing, moaning the pain, or cursing, but now, after the last seven weeks... the only sign that it hurt at all was a small quiver in the nerve that ran down the side of his face. And the stillness with which he waited for Zoro to splint the three re-broken bones was something that previously had only ever been seen when he was wearing his Sogeking mask and could hide behind that persona. It was actually a little scary, the hard as flint core the sniper had developed. In the end, it would be a waiting game to see if the brunet ever returned to his carefree, fun-loving attitude.
Once the task was done, the swordsman retrieved the bowl of broth, helping Usopp to sit up just enough to swallow without choking while still avoiding pressure on the smaller man's injured ribs. The marimo had complete faith that the King of Sniper's recovery, or lack thereof, would all depend strictly on the Bellamy situation. And Kaya. Though it hadn't been said aloud, the fact that the brunet called for her gave Zoro the seed of hope that she'd been taken rather than killed, as was obviously what had happened to the rest of the crew from the stench of blood hanging on the Merry II's decks.
"We need to feed you before I work on the rest. And you gotta give them time enough to set so when we start training your muscles, the tenseness of the muscle doesn't force the bones out of alignment," the first mate said. "If that happens they'll have to be re-broken again and that takes from valuable training time."
It was a concise explanation. How Chopper got him to start taking things actually easy: the more often he reinjured himself, the longer it took to heal, and the longer he was healing, the less he would be able to train, which was definitely not smart. He may not have been the most strategic crewmember in the Strawhats, but one did not become the World's Strongest Swordsman without knowing a few things. And, if there was anything he was knowledgeable about besides killing and swordplay, it was injuries, even if the reindeer doctor disagreed about his timescale regarding healing himself.
Another couple of swallows of the broth, and the sniper began to be able to form full words again, "Wh-where is Ch-Chopper n-now?"
He'd been out of touch for the better part of the last year. One of the main reasons he was coming back was to actually introduce his Nakama to his wife, as several of the members hadn't been there when he'd joined the crew. Getting a letter via messenger bird meant nothing to them because they knew nothing of her. For all that he was a very open person, Kaya was the one thing in his life that he never shared. Oh, he spoke of how he'd entertained her, and even re-told some of the lies he'd spun to make her laugh, and that had been enough to tell everyone on the Sunny he was in love with the girl. But he never described her. The only picture he had of her, he had sewn to the inside of his shoulder bag, which no one went into for fear of being blown up. And he hadn't talked about her personality outside of the way she liked his lies. So, to think that she'd been taken just when she was about to formally be included in his family, it made him grind his teeth.
"In Skypiea. Some epidemic. We've been working at contacting him for months now but birds can't get up there and travel via the streams takes so fucking long. He should be on his way soon though, Brook set off to fetch him back when the shit went down." Zoro cleared the bowl away, getting ready to move forward with the 'healing' process.
"Sh-shit went down?" The sniper frowned, the unspoken 'were the entire Strawhats being targeted' was written in his eyes.
"You were with Kaya... um... Nami got knocked up. Luffy found out about it one day and there was a big blowup. Nami ran, said it was better if we didn't know where. I know Robin and Franky were taking her to Water Seven, but I'm sure she went somewhere else after. Too dangerous to stay there, everyone knows our crew there." Dark eyes looked down and to the side. That situation still burned at him. "...we've had issues. Everyone knows the crew's down a member and they're taking advantage of it, trying to topple Luffy harder than they ever have. It's a bad situation all around, especially now since that damned little prick has managed to hurt you."
"N-Nami's pr-pregnant?! H-how?!" Usopp's eyes went wide.
The rest was easy to process, with the rumor of weakness in the reigning King's crew, of course all the smallfry would be throwing their big guns at them in an attempt to steal One Piece, especially since none of them even knew what it was anyway. It seemed the only one that was going about it in any sort of logical form was the Hyena, which, grudgingly, the sniper had to give him credit for his plan. However, the idea that their navigator could be expecting was something that just made all of his stories look like children's fibs.
"She wouldn't say. Wouldn't even tell Luffy. That's why he was so angry," Zoro explained quietly, bringing over more of the treats and helping the brunet hold it in his good hand. "Eat now. As much as you can stand. Sanji's orders. He's managed to come up with special foods that bring people back from starvation quicker without overloading their systems. Let's hope it works. You're the first he's had to make it for."
"That's-s cuz he's th-that g-good." Ignoring the topic of his captain and the navigator, a small smile cracked the brunet's bottom lip, but he hardly noticed as he drained the last of the broth. "H-he'd feed th-the world if he c-could."
"I think he can," Zoro replied with a tiny grin in return. "The part he doesn't kick to death, anyway."
The flint was back, "He only gets wh-what I don't shoot."
"You only get to shoot what's out of range of my swords, sniper," Zoro returned, steel and flint meeting and creating sparks of mutual anger and bloodlust. "Make sure you get 'em before they get close enough or there'll be nothing left."
"There won't be enough to get in close enough. While I'm waiting for my bones to heal, I need to talk to Franky about an idea I have for my Kaisen and Shuriken Stars."
Usopp reached to the side of the bed, hoping that his bag, like always, would be right there. He wasn't disappointed, and once he'd fumbled the notepad and pen from the inner pocket, he made quick work of writing down the ideas that had come to him since last he'd gone over what he was going to do to Bellamy if he ever had the fucker in his sights again.
Once done, he nodded at Zoro. "Ok, let's break the others and get this over with. I wanna have everything set before Franky gets here."
The swordsman gently set the pad on the table and placed the bag back on the floor. "These are going to hurt more. You want something to bite? Sanji will kill me if I let you damage your teeth," he added with a bit of grim humor as he produced that appeared to be a leather strip.
"Yeah, sure." Again there was no hesitation, just that core of steel and flint that marked the sniper among the other trauma survivors in the crew. He took the leather between his teeth and nodded, not really caring where the stronger man started.
Zoro worked quickly and efficiently, eyes closed to use his fingers to determine every place that needed re-breaking. The sound of each bone snapping made the cook's hair stand on end, and when his lover snarled for the doc to come, and bring as many bandages and splint wood as he could fucking carry, many of the others jumped. The one he'd done last was the poor sniper's long nose. It had been broken in three places. It would always now have one of those little humps in the bridge that marked the break.