Trust

Characters: Law, Shachi, Penguin, Heart Pirates. Rating: K+. Warnings: Minor injury

Law clenched the heart he was holding more tightly than he meant to as another wince of pain hit him. He needed to treat it, but the fight had gone on longer than he's anticipated, so his stamina was low. The injury was nothing life-threatening, so it would wait until he'd rested up a little. He spared a moment to pull his coat tighter, thanking the dark colour for hiding the blood. His crew didn't need to know his victim had landed a lucky hit. They'd probably do something stupid, like kill the pirate, but he wanted all the hearts to be still-beating when he handed them over.

One last check to make sure there was definitely no visible blood, and he returned to the Polar Tang, showing his crew the heart triumphantly before heading to the infirmary to put it with the rest.

He didn't anticipate Shachi chasing him less than a minute later, the slightly slower Penguin trailing behind, at the head of the stampede of the rest of his off-duty crew.

"Is something wrong?" he asked them, mildly concerned. His crew were hyperactive, yes, but rarely quite so frantic.

"Bepo smelt blood," Shachi gasped, grabbing at his coat. Law barely stopped himself from flinching as his wound was agitated by the movement.

"Did he now?" he asked, looking at the grasping hand disapprovingly. Shachi's response was to tighten his grip as the crew descended. Penguin took the heart from him before it was damaged and put it away as the rest of the crew pawed at his coat to remove it.

Outnumbered and not yet sufficiently recovered to use a Room, Law had no chance when faced with the majority of his very determined crew. His coat was forcibly stripped from him, electing a muffled hiss before Law clamped his mouth shut.

The exact moment his crew spotted the injury, a gunshot to his side, was clearly apparent from the way their focus zeroed in on it. It went cleanly through, front to back, missing anything vital. He knew it looked worse than it was, but his crew leapt into action, guiding – or rather dragging – him over to a bed to sit. Penguin and Shachi led the team in stripping Law of his top before wiping the blood away and examining it critically.

"Stitches," Penguin declared. Law opened his mouth to protest – it wouldn't be that long before he regained the energy to treat it himself, so it only needed wrapping until then – and Shachi stuffed in a piece of rawhide used whenever anaesthetic wasn't available. Uni and Clione helped Shachi in holding the gagged Law immobile while Penguin mercilessly began the treatment.

Law's pain tolerance was reasonably high, so he was never in danger of crying out although he did clench the rawhide firmly between his teeth. Strictly speaking, anaesthetic wasn't necessary, and it was rather expensive to keep replacing.

Regardless, he was certain his crew had an ulterior motive for neglecting to use it, which he queried as soon as Penguin finished stitching and the rawhide was removed from his mouth. He received no immediate reply as Penguin busied himself with the bandages and it was only once the treatment was fully finished and he was pushed to lie down that Penguin looked at him sternly.

"You weren't going to tell us." It wasn't a question, so Law didn't dignify it with a response. Penguin sighed, clearly exasperated, and crossed his arms.

"Stop relying on that damn fruit of yours and rely on us sometimes, dammit!" he scolded, visibly irritated and upset. "You've taught us all enough to at least be able to deal with something of this calibre." He wasn't wrong, although Law didn't like to admit it. It appeared that the lack of anaesthetic had been the closest his crew felt like getting to a punishment.

"Look, Law," Shachi added, perching on the side of the bed and using his captain's given name for additional emphasis. "The no hiding injuries rule goes both ways. Your fruit takes stamina, so you shouldn't rely on it if you don't have to!" Law fixed his nakama with a baleful stare.

"Are you done?" he asked them dryly. They faced him down stubbornly.

"No hiding injuries!" they chorused, Shachi's hand shooting out to pin Law back to the bed as he began to sit.

"You're staying there for the next hour," he told him. "You need to get your strength back." Law resisted the urge to sigh, and decided it was less hassle if he did rest for the hour, as he did need to recover his stamina. He could heal himself up later.

Too bad his crew refused to give him the chance to 'cheat', as they put it, and forced him not-so-patiently heal at a non-enhanced pace.

I was asked for Law trying to hide an injury from his crew, and this happened.

Thanks for reading!
Tsari