"Bwahahahaha!"

Strauss… blinked. And blinked again.

"You look good in that uniform kid!" A meaty hand slapped her across the back and practically snapped her spine in two. "Almost as if it was made for ya! I shoulda known you'd be a good Marine!"

How the hell had she ended up like this? All she'd done was accidentally meet this Vice Admiral, someone she was pretty certain could reduce her to a bloody smear in one hit, and suddenly she was interning as his subordinate?! When all she'd been was a chore boy?!

Her brow twitched.

What the actual hell?!

"Ah I dunno why…" Garp circled around her like a shark, stroking his chin pensively. "But you sorta remind me of someone…"

Act natural don't panic he's not thinking of the wanted poster don't start sweating bullets this is fine this is completely fine-

"Yeah…Yeah!" He grinned toothily. "You're about the same age as those brats aren't ya? Bwahahaha! And just as unwilling as them too! You guys'd get along just great, if you weren't a girl that is! Bwahahahaha!"

If there was a god out there please, oh please, get her out of this stupid situation before she got a heart attack.

Then, all of a sudden, he sighed. And the smile dropped from his face. "Those stinking brats…"

"What… happened to them," Strauss asked through her teeth (she didn't want to, she really didn't, but right now she had to be a nice innocent Marine officer otherwise she'd be killed on the spot).

"Ah!" Garp whirled around as if he'd momentarily forgotten she was there. "Forgot you were still there for a bit!"

…of course.

"Now you just forget you heard that, 'kay?" The hand that clapped her back had about half its previous force behind it. No, maybe a quarter. "I didn't say a thing just then." His face darkened. "And I'm sure you can figure out what'll happen if you do."

Strauss gulped, a very real shiver drifting through her bones. "N-no sir! I'd never, sir!"

"Good!" Without warning a firm grip clamped onto her shoulder. "Now shall we go meet the two kids you'll be training with? It'd be good for the three of you to get to know each other before the… before we leave."

Wait what?! Hold on a moment. "I-If I may, sir!" She tried to wiggle out of his grip and inevitably failed. "I'm only a chore boy! I need to go back and finish my shift. Otherwise my boss will-"

"Eh don't worry about your boss. I'm sure they'll figure out what's going on." The Vice Admiral beamed, displaying a fine set of large teeth. "You're with me after all!"

Again, why was that toothy grin so familiar? She really couldn't place it. Was it from a customer at the Baratie? Someone she'd met on her travels? She was so close… just a few connections away… but the answer always faded away before she managed to figure anything out.

"Besides, didn't ya want to be a Marine anyways? Why else would you join?"

She gave up. There was absolutely no way she could weasel her way out of this one. No way in hell. Besides, this might just give her a chance to get closer to Ace on execution day to not get horribly and brutally killed. Law needed to know about the change of plan… but she'd figure that out later.

"Me sir?" She blinked innocently up at Garp. "I joined so I could save people."

"Bwahahaha that's a cute answer! Now I dunno how the hell you were planning to do that as a damn chore boy… girl… whatever, but just you wait! You've got good potential for an awesome future here, kid, so if you stick with me…"

Strauss followed him down the corridor, nodding and smiling as if nothing was wrong. Constantly aware of that large dangerous hand on her shoulders.

If only he knew.

.

A…! Ngh…!

Strauss writhed on the floor, nails gouging lines into the linoleum. The pain… the pain… was more than she'd ever experienced. She could feel it, the gouging and twisting in her chest… even though Law's heart was beating perfectly fine where hers once was… How sickening was that?!

It had been something she and Law had decided on before they'd even arrived at Punk Hazard. While Strauss didn't know that much, she could pick up enough social cues to see the rift between her captain and 'Joker'. Ironic. How that man really was a puppet master through and through. In a twisted way, seeing that dynamic was why she'd gotten so close with Law in the first place. They both knew what it was like to live and act influenced by the whims of someone they hated.

Her body screamed. She wanted to scream. But as that invisible grip tensed tighter and tighter her throat clamped smaller and smaller. Air… Breath… She wished she could focus on those small luxuries. Instead of… this.

So it was obvious he'd ask his men for an insurance of sorts against Law. Obvious… and alarming. It made it hard to one-up Caesar if his puppeteer kept one-upping them first. And, while they had absolutely no way of knowing the exact specifics of what Caesar would ask for, it was a fairly decent guess to say that it would involve something that could kill Law instantly.

"Hah… hahahah…" Her face forcibly contorted into a grimacing smile.

And she couldn't have that now could she? Wouldn't be a great subordinate otherwise.

Get up. The pain wasn't that bad now was it? She'd scavenged on the streets for years. She should be used to gnawing holes in her stomach. Sure this was a little more intense than the usual… but it was about time she got shocked awake from her cushy life, huh? This was her idea to begin with! Things had been too easy so far. You see?

Her legs swayed dangerously, unable to balance out the abnormal twitching of her body, but stayed upright.

She could stand just fine, couldn't she?

"M-Miss Strauss?"

And just in time too. She straightened, using a hand to lean back against the ginormous candy behind her in a way she hoped looked natural. "Hey… Mocha was it?"

The large girl nodded.

"Whe-" NGGGGGH! The agony was intensifying by the second! Goddamit! She tried again. "Where's Cho…pper? I can't move the candy on my own…"

"The nice reindeer brother stayed behind to stop the others from getting to the Biscuits Room, but… Are you alright?" Mocha shuffled tentatively forwards. "You're not… You're not sick are you?"

Fuck. So she'd noticed. Strauss forced a smile onto her face. Well, it wasn't as if something like this would be a good idea to hide forever. Still, she didn't want the kid to panic. "I'll be alright. This is just… a heart condition. Nothing that big. A quick rest and I'll be good to go again." She craned her neck up at Mocha. "How close are they?"

Her lips curled into a pout. "I dunno… but it didn't take me long to run here."

Just perfect… Well! "Would you mind holding that candy for me then? And be prepared to run when the other kids arrive. I'll…" Her arm shook. "I'll be able to-"

Ah.

Ah.

Her heart. Was small. So so small. And being compressed further. And further. And further. There was no more pain. How could there be when her whole body felt like it was engulfed in white hot flames. Numb.

Badump… Badump…

She couldn't feel her legs. She couldn't feel anything. Apart from that horrid feeling. The disembodied thumping. Or rather the lack of it. But it was still there. It was all she could focus on. But it was just… So. Far. Away.

Badump Badump Badump Badump…

Her ears heard nothing. Her eyes saw nothing. She just felt. Cold gloved hands squeeze and squeeze and squeeze where no person should ever be squeezing. She could feel it all. Every press of a finger, every twitch of a muscle. The weave of the fabric as it snagged against disembodied flesh. Everything.

BadumpBadumpBadumpBadumpBadumpBadumpBadumpBadumpBadumpBadumpBadumpBa-

…

. . .

. . .

Then there was nothing… No feeling… No thumping... Not even a dull heat in the empty cavity of her chest. Simply… Nothing.

Not even the shift in her balance. Or the rush of air in her ears. As Strauss's body pitched forwards, limp, and sprawled out onto the floor.

To lie there unmoving.

"You really have changed, Law."

Law bit back his grimace as the Haki coated bamboo shoot whammed him once again against the steel railing. This was bad. Very, very bad. He didn't even have the strength to wisecrack back anymore, which was just egging Vergo on even more. Besides…

Vergo raised the barely twitching organ up in his hand. "The Law I knew wouldn't be foolish enough to care about a mere subordinate this much. You would have sat back and let her die."

Yeah… but that Law was long gone by now. But that wasn't the point. He winced, staring up at Strauss's contorted heart. He'd damn near had a heart attack himself when Vergo had kept compressing it so much. Was this what having friends was like? Where people just cared about other people that much? He hated it.

It looked like she was alive at least… Maybe… For now anyways. But it wasn't exactly a permanent condition. Her heart was still beating, if he could even call that feeble flinching a heartbeat, but a couple more seconds and it'd be anyone's game.

She'd be dead in minutes.

Law straightened, flexing out the tension in his fingertips.

Someone had to help him deal with the insanity of those damn Straw Hats after all. And make him excellent coffee. And he'd be damned if he'd let the best candidate go to waste like that.

He barked out a snicker, bloody smirk already forming on his face, "You're just pissed because you know Joker wouldn't do the same to yo-"

WHAM!

A blurred leg collided with his abdomen, sending Law flying far enough to cause a dent in the railing. That metal railing which was the only separation between safety and a hundred foot fall into nothing.

"Watch your mouth." Vergo stepped deceptively calmly forwards, a thin sheen of black starting to stretch down one arm. "How dare you slander the person who took you in like that."

Strange. Law resisted the urge to chuckle. He didn't think he'd mentioned Corazon.

"Stop smiling."

WHACK!

Urgh… He'd been hit with Haki before in the past, but this was… Law felt the cartilage in his nose give way, sending a wave of blood streaming down his face. White lights. Fuzzy noise. His hat just… flew off. Down and down and down and down…

WHACK!

Again! The force from that hit practically toppled Law himself over the railing, the blood from his broken nose travelling up into the back of his throat. His head rung. His vision blurred. And still that hat of his fell.

Down and down and down.

With all the woozy strength he could muster, he forced his arms upwards. Fists clenched. Thumbs pointing towards each other… with Vergo in their cross hairs.

Electricity beginning to pool around his body, Law smirked.

Got you.

"COUNTER SHOCK!"

A blazing stream of lighting zipped down from the metal ceiling, perfectly encapsulating the tall man in boiling hot light.

"Hah… hah…" Law staggered himself upright as gloom returned to the room once more. Vergo, for the first time that fight, actually looked damaged. Smoke billowed out of his clothes… and a faint trickle of red dripped down from his mouth. Law self consciously wiped away the trails from his own bloody nose.

Right… where was it? He needed to see if that'd worked and Strauss's heart was-

"I have a message from Joker."

Ah.

"He said…" Vergo's head lolled upright. "'What a shame'."

Not even that had taken him down?! Law's teeth ground tracks into each other. "The only reason I agreed to my subordinate's stupid idea in the first place was that I felt pretty sure I could take her heart back from Caesar. I sure as hell didn't expect you to show up." His eyes glittered tauntingly. "Ve-r-go."

It was worth it just to see the sheer rage in his face.

"WHAT HAVE I SAID ABOUT CALLING ME WITH RESPECT?!"

He lost count of how many fists pummelled into his body. If they were even fists. At this point he couldn't tell. Nor could he be bothered to. That was fine. As long as that stupid baffoon wasn't compressing his subordinate's heart anymore… Vergo had never been one for psychological warfare. To him, physical pain was the best motivator. So as long as Law kept pissing him off like this… and Vergo kept his attention on him… she could still pull herself together. She could fight her way out of it.

If that had worked… she could manage. She had to.

His jaw tensed.

He didn't think he could take someone dying for him again.

But then… the fists stopped. No warning. No change in intensity. They just… ceased. Although, Law groaned as the last remaining strength in his legs gave out and he slid to the floor, it wasn't exactly hard to see why.

"I'm in the middle of something." Vergo droned, barely even bothered by the intense wave of Haki that had stepped into the room. "Does it really have to be now…"

The cloud of white gathered, morphing, solidifying, until a glimmer of a face could be seen protruding from the smoke. A very, very, pissed face.

"...Vice Admiral Smoker?"

Ba… dump…

Cold… So… Cold…

This was like her days back in Zhelesk… where she roamed the streets in the dead of winter. Those winters when the snow was tall enough to reach her waist and winds dropped the temperature to below freezing. Wearing nothing more than rags.

Father never did well then. It was at times like this where he remembered his times performing centre stage over the winter solstice. The Nutcracker. Sleeping Beauty. The Little Matchgirl. So many classics that he had appeared in centre stage over and over again until he knew the steps by heart… but couldn't ever perform again.

He tried. He tried to dance the steps, tried until he collapsed from lack of sleep or dehydration. But he never could. The only thing he ever managed to do was make that injury of his get worse and worse and worse. Which made him get angrier and angrier and angrier.

And the price she as his daughter had to pay just get higher… and higher… and higher…

Hence her time in the cold.

It wasn't all that bad. Strauss never admitted it to anyone, but she actually quite liked the cold. Sure there were times when it got overwhelming and her lips turned blue or she almost lost a toe or finger… but the cold saved her.

That constant bite. The permanent prickle of her skin. It wasn't something that hurt. Not in the way pain usually did. So she always felt it. And she could always focus on it. Even if her body felt numb and every drop of blood froze in her veins.

She could focus.

And it stopped her from sleeping for good.

It stopped her from just giving up.

Because death by cold wasn't helpful to anyone. It wasn't a sacrifice towards a greater good, or falling for a cause she believed in. It was just a means of accepting the way things were… and refusing to move forwards.

A death she refused to have.

So she recognised it. This new cold she now felt… Which in her new healthy body was nowhere near as tormenting as it had been back then. She took the cold.

And fixated on it.

I can't die. Not like this. Not after all this time… when there's still so much I need to do. People I need to save… and atone for… I refuse.

She took this cold, even though she couldn't even open her eyes…

And made sure it kept her lifeblood thrumming.

"Strauss!" Tiny hooves were prodding and shaking the unmoving body as it was raised above the layer of snow coating the Biscuits Room. "Strauss open your eyes! You need to stay awake!"

"Her skin is like ice…" Robin sprouted another layer of hands to protect the body from the cold. And…" She flinched, expression dark. "I… don't believe she's breathing…"

"What the hell's going on here…" Chopper's brow furrowed. "I think… Her heart's beating just fine so she should be… then why's her pulse so weak? She's showing all symptoms of cardiac arrest but… her heart's fine… It's like it isn't even hers…"

Nami's grip on him tightened. "So she's alive?"

"I think so…" His nose twitched. "But I'm not sure for how long..."

"As long as she doesn't die, I'd call that a win!" Usopp's hand gripped tighter on his hat. "Alliance or no, I really don't wanna see that Warlord's reaction when we tell him his crew mate's kicked the bucket." He shuddered. "We'd all end up switched in other peoples bodies. Or worse! As living heads…"

"Oh I wouldn't worry about him if I were you." A gust of pale lime feathers sent yet another blizzard streaming into their eyes. "Huhu!" Monet giggled. "Not when you may freeze to death in this very room."

"M-Miss Monet…" Mocha cried, the large candy wrapped tightly in her arms as the salivating group of mis-sized children stalked closer and closer. "Why… Why are you doing this?!"

"Why am I doing this?" The harpy cocked her head, a faint glimmer of a tongue snaking across her lips. "Mocha… those sweet candies are for everybody, aren't they? Aren't you going to be a good girl and share?"

"N-No! We shouldn't eat them anymore!"

"Haaah…" A long misty sigh escaped those cold lips. "You're a difficult girl."

Nami's brow furrowed. "What the hell d'you think you've done!"

"Y-Yeah!" Usopp took a tentative step forwards. "We don't have any time for you!"

"But how could you say such a thing?" The smile on Monet's face only grew wider. "I know about you people oh so well. The infamous Straw Hats…" Golden eyes tracked across the figures before her. "I'm actually quite happy to see you."

Zoro's fingers brushed against his katanas. "What the hell are you?"

"My name is Monet…"

The bird woman watched in amusement as Nico Robin murmured something to her skeleton companion, who promptly ran out of the room with the sniper and that wretched samurai. It was no matter. They'd still be killed even if they ran.

Besides- her tongue swiped once more across her lips- she so did enjoy the hunt.

"...I ate the Snow Snow Fruit. It's a pleasure."

And the Biscuits Room got painted white.

The wind roared, screeching at their eardrums like some sort of demonic beast while snow kept rushing in out of seemingly nowhere… each tiny flake sharp enough to burn the moment they touched skin.

Chopper, one of the only two (conscious) people who could handle this weather in the room, lurched forwards out of Nami's arms, "MOCHA! RUN! JUST RUN! DON'T LET THE KIDS GET THAT CANDY!"

"A-Ah!" A silhouette in the haze nodded. "Okay!" And sprinted as fast as she could out of the room.

"OI!" The enraged children screeched. "COME BACK!"

"MOOCHAAAA!"

"I HAAATE YOOOU!"

"CAAAAAAAANDY!"

"GIVE US THE CAAAAAAANDY!"

"You're not going after them?" Zoro's eye narrowed questioningly.

"Why would I?" Monet giggled demurely. "It isn't as if they'd get very far. They are the Master's precious test subjects after all. Someone's bound to stop them."

Chopper's fur bristled. "How… How could you! You're a monster!"

"Fufufu!" A gust of snow and the harpy vanished. "Why thank you for the compliment!"

"We… We'll go after the kids!" Nami started forwards, openly flinching as her sandals sunk several inches into the snow drifts. "You just handle her before we all freeze. Damn that snow woman," she hissed at her goosebumps. "I just took off my coat too!"

Robin pursed her lips as she watched the horde of mad children scramble around the room. "I'll try to hold them, if only for a little while."

The heavy beat of wings echoed amidst the snow, only briefly revealing the thin glint of long, sharp, razor thin blades. "Don't do that."

"R-ROBIN!"

She gaped, collapsing forwards onto her knees… hand snaking up to feel the tiny puncture wound from where that icepick had slid beneath her skin… But not through. Almost as if it had been…

"That's enough…" The figure behind her panted, black fingers trembling from the strain of holding back an icepick the side of her forearm. "It's time to give up, Monet."

"If it isn't Miss Strauss," Monet's lips curled into her ear. "You must forgive me for not greeting you sooner, but I though you had already passed on from this mortal coil."

Strauss raised her head, looking pallid and blue enough to keel over at any moment. "It'll take a whole lot more than a light chill to do me in."

"So it would seem." A beat of her wings and Monet swooped far up into the air, "I suppose I should count myself lucky." A hungry smirk split her face. "I always wanted to be the one who would land the blow that ended your life."

"Hah…" Strauss grimaced in amusement. "Good luck with that one."

"Thank you. Truly-" Her feathery wings scraped the peak of the ceiling- "your support means a lot to me-" before curling in as she plummeted towards the ground.

Now Strauss could dodge this… But that would leave Nico Robin lying vulnerable on the ground. Her shoulders tensed, sending another wave of Haki into her trembling fingers. She couldn't do that. Not to one of his crewmates. This hit probably wouldn't kill her. Monet enjoyed playing with her 'food' too much for that. No she'd make sure Strauss had a long and drawn out death… eventually looking more like a porcupine than anything human.

Her lips curled.

If Strauss just sat there and let her that is.

Shiiiiiing!

She blinked up at the sudden web of metal straining her above her head, the tall figure before her not even so much as flinching with the effort.

"Oh..." Monet's giggle took on a more sinister tone… as her face just grew more and more demonic. "You're Pirate Hunter Zoro with a 120 million belli bounty! How… fun!"

"Oi. You." The swordsman didn't so much as bother to respond, instead directing his attention over his shoulder. "You're that chick from the Baratie yeah? Think you've got enough Haki left in ya to fight?"

"Probably not, but that won't stop me from trying." Strauss cautiously rolled out her frozen shoulders. "I'm gonna be pretty pissed at myself if I just sit back while people are out there fighting, so might as well do something." Before she passed out again.

"Heh." The scar through his eye twitched. "Guess that's gonna have to do for now."

Pausing a moment, Strauss raised a hand and slowly bought it to the cavity in her chest. Still beating. Still warm. And her own pulse echoed back. It was weak, so faint that she could have barely felt it, but it was there. Her fist clenched.

She wasn't really one to look a gift horse in the mouth, but had she really… She could have sworn that for a moment before that strange jolt…

No. Strauss shook her head and refocused her attention onto calming her rapidly strengthening pulse.

Later. She'd ask Law about it later. When she actually had time to think about the haze swirling around her head… and when the mere thought of what had just happened to her didn't send shivers down her spine.

Her fingers discretely went to pinch her arm. Focus on the pain… then focus on the body. She could do this. She was still fighting. She was still whole, and still here.

"Hey." Roronoa's one working eye flicked back towards her. "You good?"

Strauss straightened, letting the icy wind whip past her pallid face. "Yeah. As much as I'll ever be."

"Good. You three!"

Robin, Nami, and Chopper flinched.

"Go stop those kids already. She's a Logia type, so you guys ain't gonna do shit."

Strauss cracked her fingers, bracing herself for what could only be one of the most difficult fights she'd ever faced in her entire life.

As Zoro said the line she'd been craving to hear.

"Just leave her to us."

A/N

...wow. Just wow. This one was both really easy and immensely difficult to write. I was actually supposed to post this yesterday, but I wasn't happy with the way the chapter ended and decided to take a step back for a day. And I'm glad I did. I wouldn't have managed to figure things out if I didn't... plus it's nice to go over the whole chapter once in a while and make sure everything fits in with each other.

And I had assessments. That too. But fanfic takes priority right? Right!? Ah who am I kidding I'm just gorgeously weird lmao.

I know many of you are waiting for the big reunion, I KNOW, but Sanji in Punk Hazard is actually an idiot? And splits away from the main action for most of the arc? Because Tashigi has boobs? Ok maybe I'm doing him dirty there, but him being away from the Straw Hats really makes it tough to try and make these two meet up. But it's coming! I promise! You can come for me with pitchforks if it doesn't happen soon! Trust me when I say I really want to write that scene already!

Thank you all for reading! You guys are all awesome, and I love each and every single one of you (yes you! I'm talking to you!) This has really been my first fic which I've tried to branch out and try out cool stuff with, so I'm genuinely honoured it's been getting the love it has been. Seriously... thank you. We wouldn't have gotten this far without you guys. And if you've just hopped on the bandwagon here, welcome! We're happy to have you! Thank you for being a part of this wonderful group of people.

Let's keep on exploring this story together.