Faith

Characters: Usopp, Heart Pirates, Law. Rating: T. Warnings: Blood, injury

The Heart Pirates were pretty okay, Usopp eventually decided after weeks spent confined in their submarine. The ship was a good start – Usopp was no Franky, but Usopp liked things that could be tinkered with, and while Law was far too scary for him to risk tampering with the submarine, he was less afraid of just following Franky around while he investigated.

Even better was their social atmosphere as they gradually opened up over time to the other crew on their ship. They weren't afraid of a good time (Usopp had not expected that, not with Mr Scary-Grumpy-Pants for a captain, but the Heart Pirates seemed good at exceeding the expectations of even the great Usopp-sama). Without Sanji and Luffy and Brook and Chopper, parties couldn't possibly be right, but the Heart Pirates had a similar feel if one stripped away the uniqueness of a Straw Hat party.

Not that the Heart Pirates were throwing parties. They didn't seem like the sort to celebrate after a battle when they were injured (and that was definitely Mr Scary-Grumpy-Pants' influence, although in this particular instance Usopp could concede that as they'd effectively lost to Jack there wasn't much to celebrate past their survival). Still, there was a lightness in the air in the evenings that Usopp genuinely enjoyed, and in true Straw Hat fashion he found himself getting attached to their new allies.

If only their new allies didn't share their penchant for not getting through battles unscathed. Usopp should have seen it coming, after Dressrosa and the realisation that Mr Scary-Grumpy-Pants was human and could bleed. There was always a bit of the captain's insanity in the crew, so logic dictated that the Heart Pirates, too, were human and could bleed.

Usopp was fairly certain that that was supposed to be a fatal wound. Of course, on their own Monster Trio it barely classified as a scratch, but that was Luffy, Zoro and Sanji for you. Normal people were supposed to collapse after being run through, and while it was true they had Mr Scary-Grumpy-Pants for a captain, he'd got the impression that most of the Heart Pirates were at least not that brand of monster (after seeing Law post-Dressrosa, even the Surgeon of Death didn't quite make those ranks). But no, Shachi was still on his own two feet – if swaying a little – despite the definite hole in him.

If that was the strangest thing, maybe he'd have been able to keep his mouth shut. After all, members of his own crew sometimes did ridiculous things like that (to Chopper's frustration), so he could hardly judge.

No, the strangest thing was everyone's reactions. Penguin, who Usopp had come to understand had a similar relationship with Shachi to the Ace/Sabo-Luffy brotherhood, showed no signs of overprotective older brotherhood. He sighed a lot, as if this was usual, tugged Shachi's arm over his shoulders, and guided him away from what little was left of their enemies. Shachi was laughing and joking, as if he wasn't spilling blood everywhere he went.

None of them seemed to realise that should be a cause for concern, even Ikkaku, who had wandered off with purpose but no frantic hurry to find their captain-doctor. Usopp was no doctor, but he was sure that shock and panic was the appropriate response to a hole running through one's body. Even he, the great God Usopp-sama, would be concerned at such a sight in one of his nakama (and the Heart Pirates were hovering somewhere on the edge of that label, so he was sorta-worried, really).

"What's wrong with you?" he most-definitely-did-not-flail, keeping pace with the group of Heart pirates with their injured nakama in the centre.

"Oh, don't worry about it," Shachi himself flapped casually in response, even though he was leaning more and more heavily on Penguin as each second passed. "It's just a hole."

"J-j-j-" Usopp spluttered, before drawing himself up with some effort. "I mean, of course it's just a hole. Why, I once knew a man who was riddled so full of holes he looked like cheese but was still perfectly fine!" They laughed at him, and Usopp chose to take that as amazed laughter. "However," he continued, his voice serious. "The great Usopp-sama can see that you are not so fine."

"Maybe not," Shachi admitted, although he still attempted a nonchalant shrug. Usopp mentally placed him in his category of 'monsters' because anyone who could do that was decidedly not normal. "But it doesn't matter. Captain'll be here soon, then I'll be all healed up again."

The surety in his voice was one Usopp recognised and appreciated; the complete and utter faith in someone to make everything fine even though it clearly wasn't. He held the same faith in Luffy, and the others. Still, to be so confident that he didn't even slip into shock (at least not noticeably; Usopp didn't know much about medicine but he knew shock came in various guises)? That was an impressive feat of belief, and one Usopp had never seen directed at anyone other than his own captain before.

He was spared the need to recite another completely true anecdote by the arrival of the Heart Pirate's captain. Bizarrely, his reaction fell somewhere on Usopp's Completely Sane to Relatively Normal scale, rather than off the chart like the rest of the crew had been.

Law could get emotional; Usopp had seen it on Dressrosa. It was still jarring to see him worried as he hurried over to them – actually hurried! He started barking orders and Usopp hung back, because allies or not this didn't concern him, not unless his own captain told him to help.

The trust that the Heart Pirates had in their captain's abilities was astounding, but then Usopp thought back to Luffy's scar, and how easily they could have lost him at Marineford. And why they didn't. Then the faith made sense, because with his Devil Fruit Law could do amazing things like that – even moreso than Chopper, despite the reindeer being one of the best doctors Usopp had ever met.

Still, the whole thing was just plain creepy.

If your captain/doctor can heal almost anything, your idea of 'panic-worthy' is likely to shift. What Usopp doesn't know is that Law's done his organ-extraction thing, so once again blood loss would be the only real concern, no matter what it looks like.

Thanks for reading!
Tsari