DISCLAIMER I DO NOT OWN ONE PIECE

Aurelia squealed loudly while jumping around her temporary home. "I did it! I did it! I'm going to be a Heart pirate! I can't believe this! What am I saying? Of course I can. It's me! Compared to that stupid Trafalgar Law, I will always be superior. And now I'm a Heart pirate starting tomorrow!"

She grabbed her den-den mushi off her desk. A few rings and her Father picked up. She didn't even give him a chance to say anything before talking. "Good afternoon my dear Father. I am the bearer of fantastic news. You are talking to the newest member of the Heart pirates! That's right! Your daughter is now a pirate. Sort of. What do you say to that?"

There was a pause. "You actually did it. I didn't think the boy was that stupid."

"Why does it sound like you're insulting him more than complimenting me? Can I have some acknowledgement for my hard work, please?"

She could tell he was rolling his eyes from wherever he was. "Good work Aurelia. But the hard part starts now. Being around him and his crew for so long poses a threat. You can't keep up an act forever."

"Not forever. Just until I kill him." She slumped back onto her bed.

"That is if he doesn't catch you. Why become a Heart pirate? You could have easily killed him when you splashed him with sea water. Why go through the effort of getting on his good side? It's not like you to not go for the kill."

"Because as much as I hate to admit it, his devil fruit is annoyingly powerful. The moment I get in the range for his room with malice intent, I'm a goner. My seastone trident and seawater could only do so much to restrict his powers. Push comes to shove he could have found energy to remove his drenched clothes and kill me. He doesn't even like walking close to water. Now that I'm in his crew I can learn everything I can and put him in a vulnerable position without him knowing."

She sighed contently. "Doesn't that sound so perfect? Imagine the headline. Big bad Trafalgar Law gets killed by one of his crew members. Do you think I can get the bounty too? 200 million beri in my pocket is very appealing."

"You can use that money to pay back for this favour. That rat venom wasn't cheap." 'Good thing he's not mentioning that fence. I should replace that before I leave tomorrow.'

"And I thank you for that. Only you would be able to provide that kind of material in such a short period of time. I can imagine with how limited it is, that even for you, it wasn't easy to get."

"At least you know the struggle I went through to get it. Was there a specific reason as to why you wanted that one in particular? There were plenty of other psychedelic drugs I could have gotten you." She loved the sound of that.

"I know, but thanks to those rats being so rare, there was a lesser chance of Trafalgar recognizing the side effects. Only found on a small island in the West blue that has no settled community. Even if he did know about them, the iron eating bacteria samples I gave him were different from the venom I gave your workers."

"Bacteria?"

"Oh I didn't tell you? I tricked Trafalgar into thinking that the illness was due to an iron-eating bacteria in the water." She smiled remembering how stupidly proud Law looked when he gave the wrong answer to the illness mystery.

"And how did you do that?"

"You're not the only one that can gain health risking substances. Unfortunately, both the venom and bacteria have their faults. The venom being temporary and the bacteria being ineffective to relatively healthly adults. So I gave the venom to your men since most of them can't act to save their lives. I needed them out of commission in a way that can give a lethal appearance. Then I polluted the water in the cove and the samples I gave him had the bacteria under the guise that I was only giving him some fish and patient blood. If he was smarter he would have seen that the bacteria works fast and effective but not on a larger scale. Of course, the only real way he could have seen it would have been to make someone drink their weight in the infested water and realize that he was wrong."

"Then what would have happened if he examined the patients himself? Instead of trusting your samples."

"Well that was another thing I wanted to test out. People always say that Trafalgar is sooo smart. A doctor, a strategist, all that shit. But give him someone that sympathizes with the White City and he's puddy in their hands. This all proves that my plan worked perfectly and he still doesn't have any reason to doubt me. The bacteria are as he claims. Purple in waste and reduces the iron levels in blood causing exhaustion and hallucinations but the venom was way more potent. Regardless, a cause was found and so there wasn't any need for more research beyond it."

"That was a big risk, Aurelia."

"I know, I know. Be careful, blah blah blah. Let me have my happiness for a little while."

"Sometimes I can forget how big of a child you can be. You spent all these years training for this moment and you keep risking too much. You should have planned something better out."

"Well I did plan to intercept him at Sabody. However, I'll remind you that I was only delayed because I was collecting payment for a job you put me on. Sometimes I feel like you put me on jobs solely to clean up your mess." She mumbled the last part.

"Do not speak to me like that."

She shut her mouth. Even through a den-den mushi. her father's presence was overwhelming. 'Ahh. I made him mad again. He's already done a lot these past few weeks. Fuck. I didn't want him to pissed off right now.' She slowly curled up.

"Take this as a warning. I won't be around to fix things for you if you fail. Use this time to prepare yourself. When do you leave?"

"Tomorrow morning is when I give my response. I assume that we will leave in the afternoon after some check ups."

"Are you ready?" She looked around the fully barren room. Since she was always on the move she knew how to pack light. One suitcase and the satchel she always kept on her was all she needed. The only thing that she left outside of it currently was her plastic clown mask and trident. The two items that kept her alive during her assassin days.

There was a part of her that wanted to change her weapon and get rid of the clown mask in order to ensure that Law wouldn't be able to connect the dots of her being the assassin hunting him down. But the sentimental value that the two items had was unmeasured. If the Hearts pirates did find it suspicious then she'll burn that bridge when it gets down to it. She doubted that she'd even be with them for long.

"I've never been more ready in my entire life." He groaned.

"I should have known that nothing would be able to stop you. I only have one last thing to tell you." She tensed up at the mention of this being possibly the last thing he'll ever say to her.

"Yes Father?"

"Your dad was a great man. Never forget what Trafalgar Law did to him. Or to your family. As long as you remember that then you won't lose." The memories that have been seared into her mind flashed. She clutched her fist, feeling her anger build up just thinking about it.

"I won't. I won't ever forget nor forgive that day. I'm going to kill Trafalgar Law if it's the last thing I do."

"Then I wish you luck, my daughter." Aurelia's eyes started to tear up hearing that. Her Father hardly gave words of encouragement. Even rarer for him to call her as his daughter.

Not wanting to show her weak side she hung up on him first. She weakly laughed. 'That wasn't fair. You can't end it like that. I'm going to come back. I'll make you and my family proud.'

She removed the den-den mushi's equipment and gave it some food. Being a part of the Heart pirates she couldn't contact him anymore in case anyone found out. They already talked about how she would have to get rid of her den-den mushi and cut all connections with him but it didn't ease some of her worries. She was completely on her own now.

Aurelia shook her head of the last conversation she had with her father. Just like she expected she was given her own room until they added more female members. It was nice that she had some privacy for the time being. Gave her time to think about how she was going to kill Law. After her little exchange with her father she found the need to express some caution. Only a little bit.

It's not like she didn't understand that Law was a dangerous man. She studied everything about him. He didn't get his high bounty by stealing candy from babies. He got it from slicing Marines, his extensive knowledge on the world and the human body, cruelty, his ability to escape with the Polar Tang and so much more.

He was an enigma amongst the Worst generation. He didn't go after money or power. No one really knew what his goal was besides the infamous One Piece. There were still some that thought that was a secondary goal. He was too unpredictable.

But she wasn't weak either. Ever since she started to hate him, she's been in training. She was both a well versed doctor and assassin. Neither of those titles came easy for her either. No free time; only training, learning, studying. He was the sitting duck in the relationship. Not knowing that he allowed his demise to walk so closely to him. So far she's never revealed anything to him that would put her in danger. There was no reason for her to be too cautious. That'll only reflect in the way she acts.

Looking around the room she needed to take in all the information that she could about the place. Since it was previously used as a storage room, she was tasked with cleaning it all up. It took 2 full days to do everything herself. Some of the guys did offer to help out but she found it was more efficient if she did it herself. She didn't need any of them to snooping in her stuff either.

The room was more spacious than she originally imagined. One entire wall was filled with bunk beds. It'll be a hassle to put on all the bed sheets again but she still decided to throw all of them into the laundry to keep the space clean. Another wall was built in closets, equal to the amount of beds. She didn't have a lot of clothes that she used some of the space to throw in the storage from before. She wasn't big on dressing fancy with her line of work so if needed she'll just buy more clothes if needed depending on the island they went to.

Finally, was a single long desk going down the middle of the room. There were more than enough chairs that were heavy weighted to keep them from being thrown around during turbulence. Same with everything in the room. There was no form of decoration and she intended to keep it that way. Clean and with purpose was all she needed.

With the design and furniture of the room it was obvious that the bedroom was meant purely for sleeping. Keep their stuff and then leave. It was possible to hang out in the room but the overall environment wasn't very likely to help with that. Maybe it was just because she was alone right now. There were plenty of other rooms meant for recreation so at least there was that.

Now that Aurelia was all done unpacking and cleaning she was ready to explore the rest of the submarine. 'Where shall I start? Trafalgar's room? Probably not a good idea. The navigation base? It'll probably make the most sense if I find the medical bay. Find out how he runs that place.'

She paused when she found her stomach rumbling. 'Kitchen it is.'

She placed her hand on the metal door to see if her haki could sense anyone walking by. Now that she thought about it, there weren't a lot of reports about Law using haki. Perhaps it's because he avoided a lot of close combat that it wasn't needed. Then again, a lot of the worst generation were cocky, rookie pirates that haven't been roughed up by the New World. She'll have to be careful not to use it around the others then.

After making sure that the coast was clear she made her way to the kitchen. Having metal walls made it even easier to hear when people came closer. She did avoid people but only because she didn't feel like dealing with any of them.

There was only one person in the kitchen as the rest probably went to work around the sub. "Afternoon Mister Crow. May I trouble you for some lunch?"

All he did was nod. Crow was the main chef here. There was barely any information on him compared to the other crewmates. That may have been due to him having never having a presence in the battlefield. It surprised her when she found that he hardly spoke. And when he did, it was monotone and short. From her own observations he wasn't that big of a concern. He loved to serve people his food and was a big push over when people complimented him. Combat skills still to be evaluated.

They didn't talk as he prepared everything and even when he gave her a plate of food. She ate quickly so that she could start her investigation of the sub. He didn't even have time to try coming up with a small talk topic. It didn't help that Aurelia was trained to be extremely quiet that Crow didn't hear a peep of her leaving.

She looked out the peephole. Currently they were underwater. Apparently they always dive after leaving an island just in case people tried to follow them. Aurelia cursed in her head after they told her that since it would have been a lot easier to have known when she was tracking them down. The annoying thing with the sub was that she couldn't rely on following wind patterns or water currents to track them. It had to be via trailing or waiting for them to pop up randomly.

'If I'm going to kill Trafalgar doing it while we're docked on an island would probably be easiest. Don't want to go down with the ship.'

"Oh Aurelia-chan." Shachi approached her from the side.

'Wow didn't think he'd actually talk to me. Whatever, I'm going to leave in a second anyways.' "Afternoon Mister Shachi. How are you today?"

"I'm okay, just taking a break from the control room." 'Ooo the control room. I would love to see how easy it is to break this thing down. Then we would be forced to dock.'

"Say, how do you control the sub? It's very different from a ship. Is it hard? How secure would you say this place is?"

"I see what you're doing." 'Very much doubt it.' "You don't need to worry about your safety. The Polar Tang is our pride and joy. We are completely safe in it and if not, me and the rest of the guys know how to fix it."

"That's reliable. I don't suppose I can get a tour of the controls, could I?"

"Sorry, no can do. When we're underwater it can be a matter of life and death if we're distracted so no visitors. You wouldn't want to be in there anyways. There's a bunch of guys sweating in a cramped space. Maybe in the future." Aurelia nodded along. She could already tell the environment based on the fact that he was sweating bullets despite the cool temperature they were in now. Plus, if there were many people around she wouldn't be able to tamper with the equipment.

"I see. That's no problem. I was going to check out the medical bay so I'll be on my way." Now that she knew that he was useless to her she was ready to leave.

"Oh wait! Do you know where it is? I still have time before I head back; I can lead the way." 'I already have the entire blueprint memorized idiot.' She shook her head.

"I appreciate the thought but I can figure it out. You should use the time to relax. Mister Crow is in the kitchen. Why don't you have something to eat?" She bowed to him, leaving.

"A-alright..." She heard Shachi dejectedly mumble under his breath. She was just glad he didn't try following after her.

'Messing with the Tang is out of the question. Waiting until the next island it is then.' She sighed thinking of prolonging this more than necessary. But she wasn't in any rush since there was still a lot that she had to learn about Law.

Aurelia paused when she heard 2 people heading in her direction. There weren't any places that she could duck into to avoid them. She swore in her head, hoping that they would pass her. Their smiles upon seeing her proved to her that it was wrong to believe in these pirates to grant her wishes.

"Afternoon Frost-san, you settling in okay?" She took a deep breath.

"Mister Keith, Mister Ryder. I'm settling in fine. Though my room is a bit empty, I can easily fix that over time." Keith and Ryder, two marksmen. Both used long distance weapons that they were thought to also control the submarine's armed weapons. More information needed. From what she's seen so far their personalities were stresses and lax respectively. They were almost always at each other's throats that she would love to see them in battle one day.

"That's good to hear. Do you need any help moving those boxes? We have a lot of storage throughout the sub so don't hesitate to ask one of us to help you move them."

"I, actually, already handled the box situation so I won't be requiring your assistance in that. Other than that I feel that I'm okay to handle on my own. If you gentlemen will excuse me, I was on my way to the medical bay so I'll leave you to what you were doing before." Conversing with the two marksmen had little benefits to her plan. Better to remain friendly than to try pumping them for info.

Aurelia carefully walked in between the two of them to leave. 'I swear it shouldn't be this hard to get to the medical bay. Do they seriously have nothing else to do than to bother me? Might as well just throw Trafalgar in my face right now to really make my day.'

Without anyone stopping her again she finally made it to the quiet medical bay. On her very first day they did give a quick tour but now she was fully able to take in how much effort was put into Law's medical bay.

She had to give it to him that he took a lot of measures making sure everything was secured in a proper place. A part of her did predict that this place would be a mess given that he was a busy pirate. She opened a few of the cabinets and drawers to see all the materials he had collected.

'Holy shit this is fucking extensive.' From regular cough syrup to herbs that could only be found on an island from one of the blues, he had a wide collection. Mainly North blue and well known Paradise islands to note. It was a literal doctor's dream to have all these resources here. The only thing that was missing were some of the larger types of machinery but with his devil fruit that wouldn't be a problem.

Though Aurelia was mainly an assassin, she still had years of medical knowledge to appreciate a good set up. On the main desk she found a binder that had pretty detailed notes on each thing in his collection. There was even one page recently added on the iron eating bacteria she gave him. She snorted seeing that he made a note that it can cause hallucinations when consumed. 'One day you'll probably learn the truth. Will you realize my threat then?'

She flipped through most of the ones that was most familiar with. The ones that did catch her eye were the poisonous ones. 'Wonder what Trafalgar's poison tolerance is like. No way is Crow going to not see me put anything in his food. Injection way harder to pull off. With this kind of collection, he probably keeps count. If I do go with poison, I'll have to buy it myself.'

Aurelia grabbed a few unfamiliar cases. She briefly scanned Law's notes to see which ones more she wanted to examine first. She plopped herself onto a chair near his equipment. He may have done his work with this but she barely trusted his research. Might as well kill some time studying. At least no one was going to bother her here.

Night had fallen faster than Law realized. For the most part he spent the day studying in his room. Unless a problem showed up, there wasn't a reason to watch over the crew. Most of the time they fell into a predictable schedule for the daily work. That brought him to the main dining hall. Usually around this time majority of the crew would gather for dinner. He would join them if he wasn't busy. It was a great way to relax after studying for so long.

The first thing he did after getting his food was scan who was here and who wasn't. "Where is Lia-ya?"

The new girl wasn't here. It was only her fourth day here but she hasn't made her presence at any of the dinners since they left the island. He did allow it for the beginning since she was focusing on cleaning up the girl's dorm. But team dinners were something that allowed everyone to let loose. And given that she was new, it would let them get to know one another.

"Uhh last I saw she said that she was heading to the medical bay."

"Hey Cap', when you asked the newbie to join us, how did she react?" He was a bit confused at Ryder's question.

"She was thrown off at first but she still accepted. Why?" A few of the guys looked hesitant.

"I don't think she wants to be a Heart pirate. Or maybe she doesn't like us."

"Aurelia-chan doesn't speak much to us. She doesn't even make small talk."

"She's pretty formal too. Still nice but like I'm speaking to royalty." The guys were easy to agree with these points. On the island she got along with them for a few minutes. So changing to seeing them repeatedly everyday seemed like she was having trouble adjusting to being causal with them.

"I'll go talk to her about that. She's in the medical bay?" The ones that saw her today nodded. It wasn't a problem if she wanted to be alone for the most part. It became difficult when the members felt uncomfortable with her presence.

Putting aside his dinner he went to where she was. It was a strange feeling having someone else resign in his medical bay. He didn't knock as he went inside. She paid little attention to him as she continued with her studies.

"Mister Trafalgar, I hope you don't mind me being in here. I tried to make sure I didn't use up too much of your supplies." He peeked past her to see the sprawl of her work. She must have been here all day to get this level of mess.

"I don't mind. However, I'm here for a different way reason."

'That doesn't sound like a good tone.' She turned so that she can face him. "Is there something wrong?"

"Have you had a chance to hang out with the rest of the crew?"

"I've chatted with them as a passing. I haven't had the chance to get to know them on a personal level." 'The guys must have told on my attitude. Not my fault I don't want my brain cells to die from talking to them for long.'

"That's not going to work. You're going to have to put in some effort to get along with them better."

"I don't know what you're talking about. I get along with them just fine."

"You act like you don't want to be around them." 'That's because I don't want to, smart guy.'

"I treat them like I'm supposed to; I'm meant to be the second doctor on board. How does it sound if I'm messing around too much in such a professional occupation? I won't be taken seriously. I still recognize them as equals."

"They aren't solely your patients. These are your crewmates. Professionalism isn't needed here. You're going to be with them during life daring situations. They have to be able to get along with you in their everyday life before they can trust you with their life."

"I'm a certified doctor and your medical bay is state of the art. Not to mention that I live with them, I need them to take care of the sub so that we don't all die. We both have benefits from one another. A symbiotic relationship doesn't need to be mutually friendly."

"You really don't see an issue with the way you're acting?"

"I can try speaking informally with them?" She really didn't know what was wrong. Entrusting one's life to another didn't have to mean being friends. In her job there was never time to get to know patients when they are spewing blood out more than words. The only benefit she saw from being friendly to the non-Trafalgar's was in unveiling his secrets that she was going to find out herself anyways.

He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I didn't want to do this but, Lia-ya this is an order from your captain. You need to spend time with the rest of the crew."

She bit back her tongue from snapping. "And how do you propose I do that?"

"I'm glad you asked. You are to spend a minimum 5 hours daily with another member until I say so. If you don't then I'm restricting your access to the medical bay. I know you're used to travelling alone so use this opportunity to get to know the guys better."

'5 hours?!' "No wait, isn't that a bit extreme? It's only my first week being a part of the crew. Give me some time."

"5 hours is time. Who knows? Maybe they'll surprise you." Law didn't say anything else as he left. She held back glaring at him since there could have been someone around who could see her. There was no reason to be getting super close to the Heart pirates in Aurelia's mind. Her only goal here was to kill their captain. Getting chummy with them was just a waste of energy on her end.

'That fucking pirate. 5 hours? Really? That might as well be 24 with these idiots! It's bad enough they're everywhere that I can barely move around.' His smug face popped into mind. 'I'll show you Trafalgar. Making some friends shouldn't be too hard.'