Helpless

Characters: Uni, Clione. Rating: T. Warnings: Blood, injury, minor character death

Uni fidgeted with his scarf, trying to ignore his shorter companion, who seemed far too enthusiastic about their current situation. It wasn't that he didn't like being able to go out on shore occasionally, escaping the confines of their submarine for a few hours, but it was only a supply run. Clione had no reason to be quite so hyped up. Although, he supposed he was still new to the crew, so maybe the weight of the responsibility hadn't registered yet.

A supply run with so few people meant that the captain wasn't planning on staying there any longer than necessary, which in turn implied that there was something fundamentally off with the island in question. Normally Penguin or Shachi would be in charge of the run in that situation, but for some reason, the captain had decided that Uni and Clione should be the ones to go today. The logic behind the decision hadn't been made known to any of them, as best he could figure, although neither Penguin nor Shachi had protested.

Either they were sick of the shore runs, or they were capable of reading their captain's mind and knew why they hadn't been sent this time. If it was anyone else in the crew, Uni would have automatically gone for the first one, but those two had never been heard complaining about it – never mind the fact that if there was anyone in the crew that could read the captain's mind, it was those two and Bepo. Regardless, that meant that it was him and Clione going incognito – all signs of piracy hidden under orders from a seemingly paranoid captain – into a bustling island town.

Uni found supply runs simultaneously boring and incredibly stressful. There was nothing fun or interesting about traipsing from stall to stall, picking up various items depending on what had been called out as they'd left the ship, although from the way Clione was bouncing around it seemed as though the sandy-haired man disagreed. Uni was certain he'd be changing his tune as soon as he realised how much they had to pick up and make sure they didn't forget. If they were in a hurry, as it seemed like they were – anything they forgot wouldn't be noticed until they were already on their way, with up to a week before another chance at getting it.

Uni could do without that pressure, thank you very much. Or at the very least, he could do with a nakama that shared it, as he grabbed the tip of Clione's hood to pull him along towards the sign proudly proclaiming fresh vegetables.

They never made it there.

A gunshot. A shout. A scream.

The hood in his hand felt suddenly heavy, as though Clione was fighting against him – and he had been, but only half-heartedly, complaining that he was a spoil sport and that he could walk by himself stop pulling – and Uni looked back at him, wondering what the problem was, because if there was trouble they needed to get out.

The problem was that he was supporting his entire nakama's weight; trouble had already found them.

"Clione!" he shouted, inadvertently loosening his hold until the smaller man collapsed onto the street before kneeling down beside him and rolling him onto his back. A patch of red bloomed on his chest, and his mind froze.

Clione had been shot. Clione was unconscious. Clione was bleeding.

Uni didn't know what to do.

More gunshots rang out, and he hunched over his nakama's still form, shielding him as he tried to take in the situation. Bullets were falling indiscriminately, hitting anyone unfortunate enough to be in their paths. Uni relaxed slightly at that – Clione had been unlucky, not a target.

But he had to get him out of there now, and the captain had said he was moving the Tang to an outcrop away from the town and that they were to meet them there once they were done with the shopping. That meant that they were far further away than normal. Hooking his arms under Clione's shoulders, Uni hauled him to a more sheltered spot, behind a stall knocked over in the panic, before fumbling in his pocket.

It took several long moments to register and accept the absence of a den den mushi. In the hurried situation with mooring and the captain's impatience to be moving, they'd clearly forgotten to pick up the small transponder they usually took on supply runs.

"Wake up!" he hissed urgently, shaking Clione's shoulders with far more vigour than he should have done. He needed Clione awake and on his feet so they could run for it. The captain would understand their lack of shopping, he was sure.

Clione wasn't waking up, and Uni didn't dare try to move him any further as he was. He didn't know how bad the injury was, didn't know if the bullet had gone all the way through or if it was still lodged in bone. Their nakama would eventually get wind of the chaos, but how long would that take? Was Clione's wound fatal?

He found himself gasping for breath, hands shaking uncontrollably. He'd thought the pressure of making sure they got everything they needed was stressful, but this was off the charts in comparison. He could fight, but what good would that do? All the stalls were broken and abandoned, so there was nothing to be gained there. He was outnumbered, and the chances of dodging all the bullets was slim to none.

Most importantly, that wouldn't help Clione. He had to stay with his nakama, had to save his nakama, but he didn't know what to do, flinching as the stall they were sheltering behind creaked alarmingly.

Stop the bleeding.

The voice sounded a bit like his captain, or maybe his mother. He wasn't even sure, but it was steady and confident so Uni obeyed unthinkingly, yanking his scarf away from his face and balling it up before pressing it to where the blood seemed to be coming from. He didn't know if it was the right place, but his trembling fingers pressed harder and harder. His vision was blurry, but Uni wasn't looking for reasons.

"Help," he sobbed, feeling less like a pirate and more like a scared child. He leaned over Clione's body, still pressing his now bloody neckerchief to the wound whilst shielding him from the world with his larger frame. "Captain, help."

Life wasn't a fairy tale. People didn't just miraculously appear because they were called, not when they were out of earshot. This was no different, screams and crazed laughter Uni's only reply as he huddled closer to Clione, resting their foreheads together and staring at the out of focus closed eyelids in front of him.

"Hey!" A hand landed on his shoulder gently and he jerked upright, scrambling backwards while trying to keep himself between Clione and the intruder. The man that looked back at him, hands held up as if dealing with a spooked animal, was young and fresh-faced. He offered a comforting smile that would have served its purpose far better if he hadn't been wearing the white and blue uniform of a low-ranking Marine. "It's okay," the man said, "I'm here to help. Your friend needs treatment, doesn't he?"

"No!" Uni snapped before he could think. A Marine – there was hardly anything that could have been worse! Marines didn't help pirates, Marines tricked and locked up pirates, although why they'd even bother with those steps when he hadn't even noticed him approaching was beyond Uni.

"Easy," the Marine said again. His hands were still raised. "My nakama are subduing the pirates; it's safe now. Let's get your friend some treatment, okay? He doesn't look too good."

Unable to help himself, Uni glanced back at Clione – too pale – and blinked. In everything that had happened, he'd forgotten that they'd been incognito. Trying to keep down and out of trouble, they'd forgone wearing their uniforms, leaving them in civilian clothes.

This Marine thought they were regular citizens.

Uni didn't want to accept help from a Marine. They were pirates – more than that, he'd been a Heart Pirate long enough to know that several of his nakama had personal reasons for hating Marines. But Clione wasn't waking up, their nakama didn't even know they were in trouble, and this Marine could be the ticket between life and death.

His heart screamed at him as he forced himself to relax, shifting backwards and lowering his defences as much as he could bring himself to do. It wasn't much, but hopefully the Marine was young and inexperienced enough not to notice.

The Marine smiled, finally lowering his hands, and Uni couldn't stop himself from tensing when he put a hand in his pocket. A baby den den mushi was withdrawn, and Uni considered changing tact, just taking down the Marine and stealing the den den mushi to get in contact with his own captain.

That would be stupid, he scolded himself as the Marine spoke urgently, calling for a stretcher and a doctor. Marine den den mushis were probably all tapped and tracked. He'd end up giving away the Tang's own number at best, and completely revealing all of his nakama at worst. Besides, as much as the whole situation screamed wrong, the Marine doctor would reach them first.

"What are your names?" the Marine asked them, pocketing the den den mushi. Clearly the call was over.

Uni shook his head, unwilling to make up a name – lies always came back to haunt you in the end – but certainly never giving a Marine their real names. The Marine looked taken aback, but thankfully didn't press, changing tact instead.

"Do you live here?" Another shake of the head – another lie he couldn't tell – and Uni began to dread the other questions. He couldn't say they'd arrived on a ship, or the Marines would look for the ship and their nakama. "Are you visiting someone? Are you with anyone else?"

He shook his head to both, although the second was more twisting the truth than anything. He was only with Clione on the island, but the rest of his nakama were offshore and waiting for them.

The arrival of another man saved him from any more questions, and he was forced to make way so the Marine doctor could get at Clione, tearing his clothes carelessly to get at the wound.

Stitches, he said, already pulling out a small pack of things Uni recognised from the Tang's infirmary. Needles, sutures and shots of anaesthetic. "Is he allergic to anything?" Uni had to think hard, but ended up shaking his head. He hadn't heard of anything, and he hoped that was good enough as the doctor got to work, doing all the things Uni should have done, if he'd known how.

"We'll take him to the hospital," the first Marine said. "You'll be able to find him there-"

"I'm not letting him out of my sight," Uni growled, once again forgetting to think and allowing his pirate attitude to shine through. He didn't – couldn't – trust the Marines. They might be closing the wound, but any moment they could find out that they were dealing with pirates, and then it wouldn't matter that they were victims.

Clione had a tattoo, he remembered suddenly. He was new, but not so new he hadn't joined most of them in getting their jolly roger inked into his skin. The doctor hadn't found it yet, but it wasn't all that far from the wound, and while it wasn't a conventional jolly roger it was still unmistakeably pirate.

"It won't be for long," the Marine tried to reassure him, but Uni wasn't having that – couldn't have that. If they realised Clione was a pirate now… It would be easy, so easy for them to kill him. "You can follow right on behind us, that's not a problem."

"No," he said firmly. "Leave us here. We'll be fine."

"That should hold for now," the doctor interrupted. "I'll just bandage it up then we can move hi- What's this?"

Uni whirled around, the sudden change in tune sending alarms blaring through his mind, and as he'd feared-

"What's what?" the young Marine asked, leaning forwards.

Uni moved.

The doctor didn't have a chance to react, his eyes still open and face shocked even as his throat was slashed. As he fell, he stopped blocking the Marine's view of Clione's chest – jolly roger now on show – and the young man's face twisted into horror, his hand plunging back into his pocket for that den den mushi. Uni lurched forwards, but there was too much distance – he wouldn't make it in time.

A flash of a blade, and the Marine crumpled, revealing a familiar face behind him.

"That was way too close," Shachi panted, flicking blood off his knife before sheathing it and pushing forwards until he was by Clione's side. "Fuck!" He fumbled in his own pocket. "Pick him up, they're going to come investigating after these guys any moment."

The ginger's presence was a comfort, the orders simple to follow and overriding the residue panic in Uni's mind. Clione was still breathing as he pulled him into his arms; Uni hadn't expected that, somehow, some corner of his brain giving up and writing Clione off as dead.

"This way," Shachi urged, and Uni had no issues keeping up with the other man as they darted through the streets, evading the Marines. Shachi made it seem so easy, barking short sharp reports over a den den mushi as he led the way, and Uni was reminded how much he still had to learn.

"Uni." His captain's voice emerged from the creature, and he focused on it, making a noise of acknowledgement. His voice didn't want to work at all now, a whirlwind of emotions choking him up. "You did well."

Uni didn't know how he could say that when he wasn't there, hadn't seen him break apart and end up helped by Marines, of all people, but Shachi was giving him a comforting grin and a thumbs' up, too, as if he'd saved Clione single-handedly.

He hadn't. He didn't even have any shopping to show for their excursion.

"He's still breathing," Shachi said, pocketing the den den mushi again. "Marines aren't ideal, but using them was the best thing you could have done with what you know."

"I didn't-" Uni protested, because he'd done nothing. He'd just let them come in and walk all over him.

"You didn't drive them away," Shachi interrupted him. "There was one weak one, you could have killed him, but you didn't, and now Clione's going to be okay." The ginger's eyes were hidden as always by those darkened glasses, but Uni felt the weight of the gaze resting on him regardless. "He's going to be okay."

There was no room for argument, and Uni didn't bother, although he felt like he'd failed some unspoken test. Clione was almost killed, he let the Marines near his injured nakama.

Shachi could say what he wanted, but Uni needed more than empty words.

I'm back! And with angst because what better way to return than to torture some Heart Pirates?

Thanks for reading!
Tsari