Electric

Characters: Law, Shachi, Bepo, Penguin. Rating: K+. Warnings: Injury

"Hey, what's that?"

Law looked away from the sonar to glance over to Shachi, who was crouching down in front of a section of exposed wiring. The panel had fallen off in a storm earlier that day, and Shachi had tasked himself with putting it back on. It was a simple task, requiring nothing more than locating the escapee screws and using a screwdriver to put them all back where they belonged. It wasn't the first time they'd had to put a panel back – it was almost as if she hadn't been quite ready to sail when they'd liberated her – but it was the first time Shachi made a fuss about it.

"What's what?" Penguin asked, wandering over to him. Shachi pointed at something in the tangle of wires, piquing Law's curiosity just enough for him to leave his chair and look for himself.

"Does that look right to you?" Shachi was asking Penguin, who was shaking his head, looking concerned. Law crouched down besides them to get a better look. The exposed wiring was nothing new – a complex pattern that none of them knew enough about to understand – but Shachi's reason for concern was immediately apparent.

One wire was sparking slightly, spitting out fragments of light every second or so as if it was damaged. Law leaned in closer, now sharing Shachi's concern. They didn't know enough about the technology to make more than basic repairs; if this was something complicated they were going to need to find someone that knew submarines, and such people were few and far between.

"It's falling out of its socket," Penguin observed, and Law realised that he was right. That shouldn't be too difficult a fix, although the way it was actively sparking concerned him.

"That's what I thought," the ginger mused, before shifting closer, weaving his arm through the intact wires. "I'll just give that a n-"

The moment his finger made contact, there was an energy surge, slashing its way through Shachi and hurling him backwards. He crashed into the wall before slumping to the ground, unresponsive, and Law scrambled to his side, hearing Penguin following suit behind him.

"Shachi?" he asked, hoping to get some sort of reaction. There was none, the ginger completely out cold, but Law quickly realised that the unconsciousness was the least of his worries. His breathing was uneven and hurried, and a feeling of dread crept over Law.

"Shachi!" Penguin reached for him, probably to shake him until he woke up (Law had discovered early on that the pair had almost no knowledge of any treatment), but Law threw his arm out, halting him. He didn't pay attention to Penguin's complaints, his attention instead focused on Shachi. He knew these symptoms, knew what an electric shock could do to the heart, and how fatal it could be.

Cardial Arrhythmia. An erratic heartbeat that had to be treated immediately to increase the odds of survival, but there was a major problem. The Polar Tang, for all her space and potential, didn't have a defibrillator, and they had no time to find one.

"What do we do?" Penguin asked him, sounding frantic, and Law forced himself to think because he wasn't losing a nakama to their own ship. A second shock to restore the rhythm was needed, but Law wasn't about to zap Shachi again with the exposed wire.

He had the ultimate Devil Fruit, didn't he? He had a fruit that was toted as being able to do medical miracles. Surely there was a way to mimic a defibrillator?

Trying to work that out would take too long. They needed a secondary shock and they needed it now.

"Bepo!" he shouted, his voice too shrill and panicked even to his own voice. He vaguely heard the mink respond, fumbling his way over, as he tore at Shachi's clothes, exposing his chest and praying it would work.

"Captai-?" He didn't give Bepo a chance to talk, grabbing the mink's paws and pressing them on the ginger's torso, upper right, lower left.

"Electro, now!" he snapped, and to his credit Bepo didn't question it, jumping at the tone and sending a surge of electricity out through his paws almost reflexively. Law barely had a moment to retract his own hands and ensure Penguin was back before the charge shot through Shachi, eliciting a small sigh from him. Law watched, staying back just long enough for the residual charge to filter away before lunging forwards, fingers finding the pulse in his neck and praying.

Thumpthump. Thumpthump. Thumpthump.

It was still fast, but it was regular, as if Shachi had just done a sprint. Just to be sure, Law rested his other hand on the ginger's chest, right above his heart, to feel the heart doing its job properly. Bepo hadn't moved his paws, but Law didn't bother to remind him as Penguin reasserted himself in the group, fingers tangling lightly in ginger hair.

"Ow," Shachi whined, and his eyes opened slightly, squinting in the light. Law had been so preoccupied with everything else that he hadn't realised the shades had been lost in the process. "Ow. What the hell happened?" He tried to move, one arm shifting to prop him up while his other tried to go to his head, but his arms flopped back to his sides.

"You got electrocuted," Law told him bluntly, silently assessing his condition. Certainly he'd be going nowhere under his own steam for a while, and Law tossed up between putting him in his own bunk or the infirmary. "How do you feel?"

"Urgh," was the ginger's eloquent response, and Law shook his head fondly. That told him nothing he couldn't already see. "Kinda dizzy? But I'm not moving so it's weird."

The infirmary, then. Law didn't want to risk him falling out of his bunk.

"What were you thinking?" Penguin demanded, sounding thoroughly fed up with the ginger's stupidity. "It was sparking so you just decided to put your hand in there? Without even a glove on?" Shachi winced, letting out a sheepish laugh.

"Not my brightest moment," he admitted.

"Clearly," Penguin drawled, his fingers carding through the ginger hair. "Don't do it again. You made Law panic." Law shot him a glare but didn't bother to deny it. He couldn't, really. Not when his fingers were still on Shachi's pulse and his palm was still over his heart.

"Oops," Shachi grinned nervously.

"Bepo," Law said, choosing not to respond to his fellow humans. "Carry him to the infirmary."

"Aye, Captain," the mink obeyed, finally moving his paws from their position on Shachi's chest and gathering him up gently in his arms. Shachi sighed a bit at the action.

"And no-one is touching any wiring without insulating gloves from now on," Law added firmly. "We are not having a repeat of this stupidity."

Once Shachi was settled and largely recovered, Law would start experimenting with his own abilities. Having a nakama capable of producing electricity on command was useful, but he couldn't rely on Bepo always being close enough to get there on time. He had the Ope Ope no Mi. There had to be a way to defibrillate using it.

Law just had to find it, preferably before any other stupid mistakes happened.

Countershock (and its potential origins) is fascinating. I've seen it where Law came up with it on the fly one time when he needed a defibrillator, but that's one of those scenes that seems a little too cliche to me (just happens to unlock the ability he needs, in time, and get it right first try?) With Bepo's electro, that's a potentially useful defib right there, and I can't see Law not thinking of that in a pinch. Of course, with Bepo not knowing how much voltage to use it's a risky strategy, but it's still an option if it comes down to it.

Thanks for reading!
Tsari