Deny

Characters: Law, Penguin, Shachi. Rating: K. Warnings: none

Something was wrong. Stepping out onto the deck of the Polar Tang, feeling the wet wood beneath his feet as the water finished running off, the air was tense and loaded. There was no reason for it. It was just a supply stop at a small island that Bepo had somehow found with his uncanny sense for Grand Line navigation (not having to solidly rely on a log pose was a blessing at times). Nothing to get worked up about, yet as he looked around he could see the ramrod straight backs of Penguin and Shachi and pinpointed them as the cause.

"What is it?" he asked them, approaching to see their faces set in identical expressions of pure, unadulterated hate. They were clutching at the railings of the Polar Tang so fiercely Law feared they'd splinter, and he put his hands on their shoulders.

They were shaking.

Beneath his fingers he felt their bodies trembling like leaves before a storm, although he considered it more akin to the quivering of a predator itching to pounce. Frowning, he surveyed the island in front of them as the Tang glided elegantly towards the harbour, trying to discern the source of their uncharacteristic rage.

The island itself was relatively unassuming on first assessment. It was largely covered in trees, with a large mountain protruding from the centre. A well-trodden track from the harbour cut through the trees, and Law assumed it headed to the main settlement. All in all, there was nothing particularly unusual about it. If he squinted and looked at it from Penguin and Shachi's point of view, he supposed it could look a bit like his hazy memories of Swallow Island, minus the snow and with the mountain far less distinctively shaped, but this was hardly the first such island they'd landed at and his nakama hadn't reacted with such fury to any before.

There was another pirate ship in the harbour, but that, too, was nothing unusual. The New World was full of crews, and very few islands were pirate-free. Law noted the emblem of Kaido flying alongside what he assumed was the crew's own flag and made a mental note not to get involved with them. Kaido might not hold the reputation Whitebeard once had regarding his affiliated crews, but Law was not interested in testing it.

His nakama seemed to have other ideas as an audible snarl escaped Penguin, followed by a growl from Shachi, and Law tightened his grip on their shoulders. A closer inspection revealed that the pirate ship in question was the target of their ire, and Law was struck by an unwelcome thought. It couldn't possibly be…

"Do you know them?" he asked quietly, feeling the pair both stiffen under his hands.

"I'll never forget that flag," Penguin ground out, and Law felt the world disappear from beneath his feet as his grip tightened again. Neither commented, despite his fingers now digging into their shoulders like talons, too caught up in trying to destroy the other ship with their eyes.

If he was honest, Law had never expected to meet that particular crew. Any crew lasting twenty years was impressive, especially one so inclined to posing rather than practicality. The combination of logic and probability had meant that he'd believed the crew had likely met their unfortunate demise long ago, and yet that wasn't the case.

Kaido's mark probably contributed to their ongoing survival, but as far as Law was concerned it was just a complication. They couldn't afford to prematurely aggravate the Yonkou. There was only one decision he could make, although even as he reached that conclusion he could hear the protests of his nakama in his mind.

"Turn the Tang around," he ordered, turning his head to address Bepo. He kept his hands firmly still, holding Penguin and Shachi in place even as they simultaneously lunged for the sea at his words. In unison, they started to claw at his hands, fighting to get free. Law held on stubbornly. "We're not docking there. Kaido's men are there."

"Aye, Captain!" the ever-faithful Mink saluted, running back to the engine room as Penguin and Shachi started protesting vehemently. Wanting the pair of them out of sight of the other pirate crew, Law gritted his teeth against their attacks and Shambled them into his room, locking the door behind him so they couldn't escape.

"You can't do this!" Shachi hissed, lunging forwards. Law let him slam him against the door, the ginger's fingers on his shoulders like a vice. "You know who they are. We can't just run away. I'm sick of running from them!"

"They slaughtered our parents," Penguin added, his voice a low guttural sound Law had never heard it produce before. "And you want us to just run away?" Law felt the movement of the Tang as she turned, obeying his orders. From the way Penguin punched the door, less than an inch from Law's face, he wasn't the only one.

"I know," Law said calmly, gently but firmly removing Shachi's hands from his collar. "And you'll get your vengeance. I promise I won't take that from you."

"Then why-"

"They're flying under Kaido's protection," Law continued as if Penguin hadn't spoken. "We can't just attack them, or we'll bring his wrath down on our head. We need to plan carefully, so he can't trace it back to us. Otherwise we'll doom ourselves." He reached out, and in a rare display of affection wrapped his arms around his two nakama, pulling them in close.

"But they're right there," Shachi whined, although he didn't fight Law's arm as he was crushed against his captain's chest. "Right there. I want them dead, Law."

"I know," Law repeated, because he understood all too well. His burning rage against Doflamingo hadn't faded at all in thirteen years, and Doflamingo had only killed one person, not even someone Law was related to by blood. To Penguin and Shachi, who lost both their parents, their rage had to be reaching boiling point. "You found them, at last."

"And you want us to wait," Penguin complained, shoving at Law's chest and forcing the air out of his lungs as he collided once again with his own door.

"I want to separate them from Kaido's influence," Law agreed, despite knowing that nothing he said would get through to them. If Doflamingo stood in front of him, so close he could end it all, nothing would sway him. To have survived his brattish personality for so long, Penguin and Shachi had to be even more stubborn than Law himself.

The Polar Tang's sirens sounded, declaring the sealing of the external doors before she entered a dive and headed away from the island, and away from the pirates of Penguin and Shachi's nightmares.

The further they moved, the more energy drained from the duo, until they slid down to the floor in a tangled heap of limbs. Law crouched down besides them, feeling awful. If it wasn't for Kaido, if he didn't have a duty to keep the entire crew safe, Penguin and Shachi could have claimed the closure they'd been seeking ever since they left Swallow Island.

Doflamingo was his main concern, plans spiralling around in his head as he worked out the best way to claim his own revenge, but now he had a secondary target. The jolly roger of the other crew was securely added to his mental catalogue, and the quandary posed by Kaido became the second most important thing for him to solve.

Penguin and Shachi had waited twenty years. Law wouldn't add to that any more than he absolutely had to.

Someone asked for an encounter with those pirates where Law had to stop Penguin and Shachi. Having the crew in question under a Yonkou was the only way, without making them one of the canonical crews, I could see them still being around twenty years later, and Kaido was an obvious choice. Law is too protective of his crew to let them willingly bring the wrath of Kaido down on themselves (even if he later ends up doing that anyway thanks to Luffy's influence).

Thanks for reading!
Tsari