He blinked at her incredulously. "What… What do you mean you're done?"
"Well I've finished cleaning the ship obviously," replied Strauss back to him, completely spotless save for a light smudge of soot on her cheek. "I mopped the passageways, cleaned the boiler room-"
"N-No." Law pinched the bridge of his nose. "That's not what I was asking… What I meant to say… What I meant to say was…"
Oh dear lord… Just what was he meant to say? He'd figured the girl would work for a day or two at tops before everything was done. Not that Strauss would only take a few hours to scrub down every single inch of the Polar Tang.
ONLY. THREE. HOURS.
She was insane. Plain and simple. Absolutely insane!
How the hell she'd managed to do everything in that time he had no idea. But she had, and with meticulous detail. He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen the ship this spotless, even in the most filthy areas, and neither did the crew for that matter. He couldn't help but notice that they were not as careless as they usually were, or as messy, to avoid undoing the pristine work…
Or to avoid Strauss's wrath. From what he'd seen so far, it wouldn't be that much of a stretch.
"So-" He tried his hardest to not let his emotions show on the outside- "why are you back here then? Do you want to be praised for your hard work? Well tough since-"
"What do I do next?"
…what?
"Praise is pointless really. It doesn't add any actual contribution to anything." Strauss shrugged, finally noticing the smudge in a reflection in the metalwork and scrubbing it off her skin. "I'm your crewmember so I should be useful, shouldn't I?"
Okay… He had to admit it. She was the first person he'd met to have been that diligent while working. Ever. And he probably should have expected it too. Back in Sabaody Strauss had been meticulous with… everything. From mixing the drinks, to attending the customers, to making the place absolutely spotless. She was the reason that bar had taken off so well, and everyone knew it.
On second thought he really shouldn't have been surprised by her dedication to cleaning.
"So." Law muttered, trying his hardest to appear calm despite the various cogs whirring in his brain. "What exactly is it you want now?"
She paused in her cleaning, "What do you mean?"
"You want work, no? Then go off and work. Don't bother me about it." He returned to his book, pouring over every work despite the fact he'd read this work cover to cover two or three times already.
If he appeared busy, perhaps she would finally leave him in peace. Or at least alone for a few more hours. Or she may just stand there and insist she got given a task or four to do until his head split open.
"Okay."
The door clicked shut behind her.
Law lowered his book suspiciously. Had that… really worked? He almost couldn't believe it. For someone so stubborn (and boy was she stubborn) to just back down without a fight like that…
It unsettled him more than he'd like it to.
But nevermind. The fact she'd left him alone was a blessing he wasn't going to turn away. There was so much work and planning that had to be done, especially thanks to her stupid request to go into that hellhole. She was so lucky they had a submarine that could avoid detection for the most part. Otherwise this would be pretty much imposs-
Knock knock knock.
Oh for crying out… Would he ever get some peace?!
"Come in," he droned, making sure to sound as irritated as he felt inside.
"Excuse me for intruding again."
SHE HADN'T EVEN BEEN GONE FOR 15 MINUTES DAMMIT! He resisted the urge to bang his head against the wall.
Strauss moved back into the room, this time bearing a small tray (where the hell had she got that) balanced on her fingertips. "I brought you some coffee."
…Oh. Well that was… nice of her? He guessed? But she could just be doing this to curry favour with him. Others had tried to do that before.
"I don't want coffee." He hummed disinterestedly as he turned away from her once more.
"Not even a double shot express with a splash of milk and goji berries on the side?"
…
"Give it here." Law grumbled, taking a good long sip of the god juice as she held it out towards him. How the hell could he resist? And damn she made good coffee. "What do you want then?"
A piece of paper got lifted from the tray and handed towards him. "Only to give you this.
Okay… It took him a bit to decipher the pointed scrawl, but when he actually got down to it- His eyes widened.
"It isn't much. I just tried to remember what I could about Marine structure and hierarchy from that time I was forced to raid one of their bases."
'Isn't much' his ass… How the hell was something so detailed?! There was so much there it made his eyes spin. Was the girl just that good at infiltrating places or what?!
"I asked you to do an impossible mission after all. I might as well help you as much as I can." Strauss moved towards the doorway, one hand on the frame. "Call me if you need me."
"Wait."
She paused, "Yes?"
This was stupid. So damn stupid. He always worked alone, that was the way he liked it. But he would be an idiot if he passed up an assistant like this. Especially when she was so damn useful.
"Fetch another coffee. Then we talk."
.
Law was beginning to lose it. Strauss could see it clearly in his eyes. He clearly hadn't expected the enthusiasm and energy Monkey D Luffy carried around everywhere he went, let alone the chaos that was his crew.
First there had been their insistance to save Caesar's test subjects. That one, Strauss was actually happy about. She didn't feel comfortable about performing tests on children, let alone giving them additives so they weren't able to escape. But she'd never bought it up, because she'd known that Law wouldn't be happy. Sacrifices had to be made for the greater plan… at least in his eyes.
Then was the whole thing about the samurai. Strauss wasn't exactly sure about what that was even about, save for that was why Sanji, Zoro, and 'Soul King' Brook weren't currently there. Apparently Law had sliced him up at some point. Which didn't surprise her in the slightest. But Luffy wanted to help him, so obviously they had to help. Another dent in Law's master plan.
Next was… uh…
She glanced over the scene before her, where Usopp was enthusiastically tying up an immobile reindeer onto Law's head because he was needed to research the children's ailment behind Caesar's back, and felt a bead of sweat drip down her head.
Strauss let out a long, long, sigh. She had warned him they were difficult. This one wasn't on her.
But as she watched the last few threads of sanity begin to snap in Law's eyes, she knew she had to do something and fast.
"I'll take Chopper."
The sudden hope in her captain's face was enough to make her splutter.
"Aw!" Luffy pouted. "But he looks so funny!"
"SUPER CUTE!" Cyborg Franky bellowed in agreement.
"Thanks for telling me now," grumbled Usopp, "Right when I've almost finished securing him to Law's head…"
Because if she didn't speak up now Chopper was likely to be hung from a nodachi… "S-sorry about that!" Strauss waved her hands. "I just realised that… that… it would be easier if I was the one to move around with him. Because Caesar keeps more of an eye on Law in particular."
A blatant lie. If anything they contacted her more. Even if it was to monitor Law's position.
"She makes a good point." Robin hummed to herself. "We do not want Chopper to fall into harm's way."
"No need for ropes by the way," Strauss simply held out her arms as Usopp readied the ropes. "I'll just carry him. I can fight without my hands."
"Ah… ok then…"
"As you can tell from the assassins earlier-" Law turned towards the Straw Hats once he had (eventually) recentered himself- "Caesar-ya wants to get rid of you guys and White Chase-ya's G5, and take back those children. Until he gets what he wants, he won't stop attacking."
Strauss felt her grip on Chopper tighten as Law continued, detailing just how dangerous and selfish Caesar Clown really was. It was strange. She actually worked under this guy, well technically she worked under Law who worked under Caesar but still… she worked under him.
It made her stomach churn.
"Anyone who can't use Haki stay away from him," Law ended with, eyes narrowing. "He's not just a scientist, but has a Logia fruit to boot. Anything less will be ineffective."
"Me and Zoro and Sanji are the ones who can use Haki out of all of us," Luffy piped up. "And you and 'Traussy, right?"
Strauss winced. She really shouldn't be included in the equation. Her Armament Haki was pretty weak compared to Law's. At best it coated her fingers. But… it was better than nothing.
"Correct. The five of us should be enough to deal with him." Law mumbled under his breath before speaking out, "We're going to go back to the lab now."
Luffy crossed his arms. "So what we're gonna do is kidnap the Master, right?"
"Yes, that's it."
"But-" Franky scratched his head- "Why should we kidnap him?"
"Money perhaps," Usopp shrugged. "I thought the Master guy is their boss."
"Who else can pay us a ransom?" Nami-in-Sanji's-body beamed.
"We're not doing it for the money. Just to create havoc."
The Straw Hats straightened.
"Havoc?"
"Whaddaya mean?"
Law cocked his head. "There's no point in telling you what lies ahead before we even kidnap him successfully. Just focus on capturing Caesar Clown for now."
"Just know that there is a reason." Strauss added. "But this plan is so complex that it's better to only think about one section at a time."
Not even she knew everything Law was thinking…
"Strauss-ya is correct. It's not going to be easy, but we'll tell you all the details of our plan after that. However…" His lips curled into a grimace," when we kidnap Caesar successfully things will start moving whether you like it or not. In other words-" Law straightened- "There will be no turning back."
Chopper, Usopp, Franky, Robin, and Nami-in-Sanji's-body exchanged several wary looks between the five of them.
"This is the last chance for you to reconsider-"
"That's okay!" Luffy beamed. "We're with you!"
Law paused, turning towards Strauss. "Then we will go along with what you want to do as well. Is that alright, Strauss-ya?"
She smiled. "I have no complaints."
"Good." Back to Luffy. "You need to convince the rest of your crew."
"Yeah, I got it!" He giggled a little, "They're gonna be fine with it, I know it! And Sanji's gonna be so happy to see you again 'Traussy!"
"Uh…" Nami-in-Sanji's-body raised a hand. "She did punch him remember? I can still feel it…" She grimaced, rubbing the very spot where Strauss had attacked earlier.
"I…" Strauss faltered, feeling her foot begin to tap against the ground. "I really am sorry about that… There was a camera above the door. Didn't exactly have many options."
"Oh I'm not doubting you or anything!" Nami-in-Sanji's-body flustered, waving her arms. "You've already explained it to us and we understand why you had to do what you did! I'm just saying…" Her energy faltered. "Sanji-kun might be a little bitter about it. That's all."
Yeah… She sagged. She knew. Part of her was happy… so happy to see him again. The butterflies in her stomach hadn't stopped fluttering once he had said her name at the facility. He was still the same but so different, so alien but familiar. He'd even managed to grow in that beard he had always boasted about.
But the rest of her? That part was just grateful that he wasn't there at the moment. Things were too… messy. At least for her. They had to meet at some point, but it wasn't now.
And she hoped it wouldn't be for a while.
"Room…"
Fwp!
The harsh white of snow was blinding compared to the gloom of the tunnel he'd just been travelling in. Law raised a hand over his eyes, squinting to reduce the glare. Didn't help that the exhaustion was beginning to set in. While that large underground tunnel that connected this facility and the wrecked ones was useful for avoiding the snow, opening and closing so many rooms one after the other was draining.
Maybe he could ask Strauss to make him a coffee. Those always seemed to perk him up again.
"I was wondering when you'd show up."
Speak of the devil… "You know as well as I do that my speed is no match for yours, Strauss-ya." Law arched an eyebrow as he stalked forwards to where she was standing just outside of the security camera's range. "Although your worry is appreciated."
"Any time."
"What was that?" Chopper blinked out of the cloth bag in Strauss's arms. "Your powers are so useful! Was that teleportation?!"
Law shoved his head back down as he passed. "Shut up and stay in the bag. We're close the backdoor of the lab."
"Monet will be in the main room, but I don't know about Caesar." Strauss instantly fell into step behind him. "From the sound of things on that call, he might be performing a few experiments right now."
Well that didn't sound good… Still. He didn't have the time or energy to worry about that now. "That makes things easier. I'll try to draw her out of the room. You help Doctor-ya find out about the drug while we're gone."
"Sure."
"But…" Chopper wiggled his head back out. "If you guys can reach the Master that easily and you're so strong, why don't you capture the Master yourselves? Then we can take our time to find out about the-"
"We can't do anything to him."
Law flicked his eyes towards his crewmate, setting his lips together in a fine line.
She rolled her eyes.
He narrowed his even more.
Eventually she sighed in defeat. "Let's just say there's a slight problem. Something which means we can't do anything we're not supposed to. That's why we need your help."
Good. He felt his shoulders sag. The last thing he wanted those idiots to know was about the heart. Especially after seeing just how headstrong and insane and… empathetic they were. It would ruin everything.
"In any case," he butted in, shoving Chopper's head back down once again. "I just want your crew to kidnap Caesar. We'll do the rest."
"Ah… okay…"
All of a sudden, Strauss stopped walking.
Law froze midstep. "What is it?"
"There's something going on over there."
"What? The Marines?" Since that's where they had been trying to break in when he'd left earlier.
"Maybe…" Swiftly she took a glance across the scene of swords and smoke. "But I don't…" Then, her eyes widened. At something behind them.
What the… Law furrowed his brow, but decided to look to see what had caught her attention. And promptly felt his jaw drop.
That jacket… and scar… They couldn't be that stupid could they?!
Whatever it was plummeted forwards, through the remnants of the Marine ship and directly into the ground. "WHAM!"
…
Nico Robin delicately descended from on high next to the chaos, the fleshy wings on her back disappearing with a flick of her wrists. Law swore he saw her wink at them.
A robotic fist punched out of pure stone. "Oh yeah! SUPER cool! That was a nice shortcut!"
"Shishishi!" A demonically pleased smile gleamed out of the smoke.
Oh. Dear. Lord.
"MASTER! SHOW YOURSEEEEEELF! WE WILL KICK YOUR ASS AND KIDNAP YOOOOOU!"
"Luffy, that was supposed to be a secret."
…
Law felt all remaining colour drain from his skin.
That… that fool! When had he said anything about confronting everyone?! The utter rubber idiot!
"Wooo!" Out of the corner of his eye Chopper wiggled in Strauss's arms. "Go Luffy!"
Strauss pushed him back down, face impossibly stiff. "Not now." She turned towards him, probably looking as mildly panicked as he did. "We keep on going?"
Good question.
"Just let it be." He nodded slowly, turning back towards the door. "Let's just… go inside."
"Yeah…"
Law raised a hand, casting out the blue dome from his fingertips until it reached inside the laboratory. "Room." Once he felt Strauss's hand on his shoulder he flicked, leaving the rush of cold frozen air back outside where it belonged. "Remember-" he turned towards the bag in Strauss's arms- "Do as we discussed."
"I know." The bag rustled. "While you're taking that woman somewhere else, Strauss and I are gonna find out about the drug."
"You're going to have to do most of the work," Strauss hissed under her breath. "My medical knowledge only goes as far as first aid and basic anatomy. You're going to have to tell me what to look for."
"'Kay!"
"Be quiet, we're almost there."
Law made a motion to Strauss, who nodded in return. Skipping ahead as silently as she could, which he still found surprising even after all this time, she ducked her head around the open doorway. Surveying the scene a little, she shrugged her shoulders and raised a singular finger.
Just Monet then. So Strauss had been right…
"This is our chance," he murmured next to her, more for Chopper's benefit than anyone else's. She nodded in return.
"The master is not here."
They both flinched.
"Yeah?" Law tried his hardest to hide the surprise on his face. After the Straw Hats, he had almost forgotten what cunning looked like. "Where did he go?"
"I don't know." Monet crooned, not even bothering to look up from her writing. "Being the hideous person that he is, he's probably watching the fight outside.
"Well I've seen pretty much everything of what I wanted to see on the island-"
Next to him, Strauss subtly dropped the bag with Chopper in it onto one of the surprisingly uncomfortable sofas that dotted the room. Monet hadn't seemed to have noticed that one. Good.
"-so we're thinking about leaving here soon."
"Oh. We'll miss you."
Really now? He arched a brow. He always loved her sarcasm… if it even was sarcasm. With Monet it was hard to tell. Her voice just remained the same no matter what. Same tone. Same intonation.
How disgusting.
"Before I go-" Law pushed those thoughts out of his head- "There's something I could use your help with."
She twitched, quill pen finally still.
How did this work again? It was so easy with Strauss to just order her around and ask her for favours… but other people? They were so… odd. He had always seen them as unpredictable, and after meeting the Straw Hats that feeling only intensified. Maybe he should just act like he did with Strauss. That was normal enough. "Could you come with me?" Wait, maybe add a little something more. He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. That should get the message across right?
He heard Strauss let out a low groan.
…well what did she know about people anyway? It wasn't as if she had spend years interacting and dealing with people on… a daily basis…
It would be fine!
"My!" With a delicate feather Monet removed her thick glasses from her face, revealing a pair of haunting orange eyes. "Are you asking me out, Trafalgar? How sweet!" Her head cocked to the side. "But won't Straussy be jealous? The two of you are together so often after all!"
Why did females always have to talk about dating? Couldn't they realise that there were far better things to be doing in life than cavorting around with someone who may or may not even be trustworthy?
Strauss herself merely shrugged. "I'm going to hang out here for a bit," she sank as best as she could into those horrible sofas. "I was wondering around outside for quite some time. I would prefer to be well rested in case I am needed in due cause." She waved an idle hand. "You guys go off and have fun though."
"You're both such unfriendly people aren't you." Monet hopped off her stool and stalked towards her, those long slender bird claws clacking against the scratched tiles. "You know I would much rather spend more time with you Straussy! You're far more fun than that stick in the mud."
"Well the stick in the mud wants you to go with him apparently." Strauss rolled her eyes. "Not much I can do about that."
Monet pouted. Or at least came the closest she could to pouting. The corners of her lips turned downwards. "I guess I shall have to settle for second best," she crooned, those golden orange eyes staring right towards him. Through him even. "Although this really is a large step down."
He… wasn't going to respond to that. So he turned on his heel and stalked off. "This way."
"Where exactly are we going?"
"You'll see."
She paused a moment, before spreading her wing-clad arms. "Alright. I was bored anyway."
Law tried not to look behind him as she landed, leaving the sanctuary of the room with the scrape of talons. Hopefully Strauss and that reindeer would be able to find out more about the drug. Two heads were better than one, and Strauss had a better head than most. She'd keep the kid out of danger.
Hopefully.
"Are we going to be walking for long?"
The voice snapped him clear out of his thoughts, although not visibly enough for anyone to notice. "Yes. It's a little ways away." He turned down a larger corridor, filled with various pipes and control panels.
"Ooh a romantic walk then?" He heard the flap of wings as Monet took off into the higher ceiling. "I never took you for the quaint type, Tra-fal-gar! But I have time if you do."
Come to think of it, he wasn't quite sure where he was going. Meeting the Straw Hats had been unexpected, and this plan had come together in next to an instant. He had repeated the same old excuse he had planned to… but he couldn't exactly keep walking forever. Unless he wanted to actually use the bone Monet had tossed at him and call this a date. Which he wouldn't. He refused. Unlike some, he had pride.
Something in his chest ached.
…
If this had been any other person in this situation, they may have come to a completely different conclusion to what Law had. As it was, he was thankfully still in possession of many working brain cells and was able to correctly identify that this was indeed a physical pain…
…Coming from a spot that didn't exist in his chest anymore.
Without warning his heart gave another lurching squeeze. ARGH! Law quickly reached an arm up to claw at the empty hole pulsating in his chest. Begging for it to stop.
This was… bad… Very very bad…
He forced a foot to shuffle forwards, weight staggering dangerously to the side.
"Law? Is everything alright?"
"Who is it," he spat. It was getting worse. Far far worse. Screaming at himself every moment he was doing it, Kikoku clattered down to the ground. Dropped from limp fingers. He quickly followed afterwards, knees digging down down down into the tiles with all the energy he could muster.
They must… they must…
"Oh no." He could hear the smirk in that damn harpy's face as she landed right in front of him. "You look like you're in pain."
Yeah… he was in pain. His face was scrunched in five different directions at once as muscles began to lock in on themselves. Toppling to all fours, Law could only hate himself as his teeth slammed down onto his tongue. He panted, heavily, ridding his mouth of the heavy taste of iron, "Who… is… there…"
"Me."
What?
He… he couldn't have really heard that voice, could he? Not here! Not now! He wasn't supposed to be around! But Law couldn't fool himself. Especially as the voice's footsteps sauntered forwards and into the hazy artificial light.
"Why are you here?!" He forced himself to spit, to writhe on the floor. To play the fool. It was the least he could do. Otherwise things would be at least 10 times worse than they actually were.
Vergo was droning on and on above him, accompanied by Monet's mirthless giggles, but Law barely heard a word. Instead, his eyes flickered closed. Reluctantly, but resignedly, accepting himself to his fate.
Hopefully Strauss could figure a way out of this. That doctor was there with her after all.
The doctor was with her. She would be fine.
…
At least if it wasn't too late already.
Chopper's jaw hung slack. "STRAUSS!"
What… what was he supposed to do?! One minute she'd been picking him up and directing him towards the area he could do his research and the next…
Strauss gasped for air on the floor, drenched in wave after wave of clammy sweat. It… it hurt to watch, as she writhed this way and that scrabbling at something on, no, in her chest… A growing pool of blood forming from where her back had collided with the counter… And he couldn't do a thing about it! He still couldn't move. HE STILL COULDN'T MOVE DAMMIT!
He felt tears bite at the back of his eyes.
This was stupid! What sort of a doctor was he if he couldn't even save someone who'd helped him?! His fists clenched. What sort of-
Wait! He blinked. His fists! Had the aftereffects of Franky's stupidity worn off already! Perfect timing! Well there was no time to wait.
"STRAUSS!" With a hop and a leap, and a grimace at his aching muscles, Chopper scurried down to the woman convulsing on the floor. "STRAUSS CAN YOU HEAR ME?! TALK TO ME!"
In a brief fit of calm, one singular eye managed to blink itself open. "Cho…pper…?"
Oh that goodness! His heart soared, "Yes! I'm here! You're gonna be okay, I promise! On my word as a doctor!" Swinging his trusty blue satchel over his shoulder, he stuck a hoof in and rummaged. "I probably have something here that will help… Some painkillers at leEEEEEK!"
A hand, slick with blood and sweat, had grabbed onto his arm, "Need to… hide…"
"Hide?!" He hurriedly shook his head. "No, I can't move you in this condition! I don't even know how much blood you've lost-"
"Danger…"
Chopper felt his insides freeze over. "...what?"
Strauss's face convulsed, as if it physically hurt for her to get the words out. But, although it seemed to take every fibre of her being, she managed to whisper it loud enough for Chopper to hear.
"Law's in… danger…"
A/N
:)
I'm not sorry. Not in the slightest. If anything, I'm mildly proud of myself for creating this gorgeous flaming mess of... whatever it is... I'm not even sure anymore!
Pretty Law heavy chapter this one. I wanted to try and figure out his brain a little more, and see things in the present day from his perspective. He's a pretty fun character to write, because most of the time (with the Straw Hats) it's just silent screaming. Which is just relatable.
I hope you all have had wonderful Christmases (or Winter breaks if you don't celebrate the holiday) and here's to a wonderful new 2022! I won't jinx it by saying anything, since we know that just won't work anymore!
Stay safe and happy, and I shall see you next time!