Calamity

Characters: Jean Bart, Nico Robin. Rating: T. Warnings: Mentions of torture.

Jean Bart was alone in the Polar Tang's control room when Nico Robin approached him, delicately perching herself in the co-pilot's chair as if she belonged there.

"Your captain has been coerced into giving a tour of the submarine to Franky and Usopp," she informed him. Unsure of her point – if he needed the captain, or vice versa, there were tannoys installed in almost every room – he simply shrugged in response, guiding the Polar Tang around an underwater mountain effortlessly.

Nico Robin waited until the manoeuvre was completed before speaking again. Jean Bart appreciated it, as her next words would have broken his concentration completely.

"How many of you did Jack torture?"

He froze, immediately looking around to make sure his captain hadn't entered the room unnoticed. He hadn't, and he spotted a disembodied hand by the tannoy, clearly having muted the microphone completely. Her earlier comment regarding his captain's whereabouts suddenly made sense.

"Four," he admitted, realising that denying it was futile. Nico Robin would just prey on other crewmembers until she got the answer anyway. He fought the urge to rub his wrists. "How did you know?" What gave them away?

"Wanda mentioned that the strongest warriors were tortured," Nico Robin told him. "I assumed that the Heart Pirates would fall within that category, even if you are mainly humans." She offered nothing more but Jean Bart was aware of her reputation from before she joined the Straw Hats. He wouldn't have been surprised if she'd noticed something in the way they currently held themselves.

"Captain doesn't know," he confirmed for her. She inclined her head in unsurprised acknowledgement. The crew had collectively agreed that Law need not know everything that went wrong on Zou, an opinion solidified after his reaction to the fact there had been a battle at all. "Bepo is one of the stronger Minks, so it was inevitable he was chosen. Aside from that, they thought humans might be easier to break."

"So, you…" She left it hanging expectantly and he turned back to the controls, seeing no reason to tell her any more. If they weren't telling their own captain, there was no need to tell another crew. Nico Robin should have learnt enough to satisfy her curiosity.

The woman rose to her feet gracefully and headed for the door.

"Penguin and Shachi are more subdued than I recall from Sabaody," she commented idly, and breezed out of the room before her disembodied hand returned the tannoy's microphone to its previous setting.

Jean Bart's hand tightened over the controls, trying and failing to push the memories away. While he was no stranger to torturous experiences, due to his time as a tenryubito slave, it was a new experience for the two younger men, shown in their reactions and currently subdued state – while Law didn't know what had happened, he had certainly picked up on their current attitude and had attempted to probe once already with no success. Jack and his men hadn't broken them, but Jean Bart didn't want to think about how close they might have been. It had been a minor blessing, for Penguin and Shachi at least, that the humans were an afterthought; Jack hadn't truly believed the Heart Pirates knew about Raizo.

Still, their screams would haunt his mind for some time to come.

I doubt Oda will ever reveal if this happened in the manga, but it makes sense to me that they might have tried a different angle just in case it worked. Also I'm sorry, Heart Pirates, but I can't avoid the angst plot bunnies sometimes, and Zou is a perfect setup. As for why Penguin/Shachi/Jean Bart in particular, I headcanon that they're the strongest in the crew after Law and Bepo (hopefully next arc we'll get a better grasp on the Heart Pirates' strengths!).

Thanks for reading!
Tsari