Chapter 5 - First Encounter

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The first thing he was aware of…was the sensation of floating.

It wasn't a bad sensation….just strange.

He couldn't see. Everything about him was nothingness. Not black or even white, some bizarre middle ground where he had no idea where he actually was.

It didn't even really feel like he was alone either, and yet he also couldn't feel anyone else there.

He just seemed to—exist.

It was a weird feeling…

But not an unpleasant one. In fact…it was actually rather nice.

Like being out on Striker in the middle of the night, in the still empty sea. Simply laying back and drifting with nothing but a jeweled sky full of stars above, mirrored in the glassy still waters below. Their gentle sway in no way disturbs the utter stillness of the ambiance.

Wait…Striker?

What was that again?

Oh well, that didn't really matter right now. The thought slipped from his consciousness just as easily as it had entered and he really could feel the need to care all that much.

Peace just seemed to exist around him. His heart for once felt unburdened—completely unchained.

It was a curious feeling. One that he was unaccustomed to. He couldn't remember knowing this kind of tranquility before.

A soft warmth began to surround and envelop him like he was wrapped in the softest blanket in the world, or like laying out on the grassy cliffs with nothing but the sun shining on your face and a gentle warm breeze fluttering through your hair.

It was a far, far better rest than he had ever known.

He felt both safe and free. Both unbound and sheltered all at once. Protected from everything and yet able to do anything.

Distantly, the feeling of the zephyr playing its way through his hair slowly began to change to the peculiar feeling of tender fingers strumming their way through the wavy strands.

He had never felt the like before in his life.

It was rather nice. Wonderful in fact.

He could now feel a soft surface beneath him and he realized that somewhere along the way he had ended up with his head resting on someone's lap.

Now that was a feeling that wasn't as unknown to him. He could remember as a boy, having gotten knocked unconscious from one acting animal or another, and waking up with his head cradled by one of his brothers. (Wait, brothers?)

But that had always been laced with frustration and embarrassment, even if the affection always lay beneath the surface.

Those feelings were absent here. Instead, he could only feel fond feelings from every movement of the person's hand. A deep sense of love in every movement.

He still could not see, but the feeling that he was not alone becoming stronger.

He didn't mind. Whoever the person was, they meant him no harm. It was a truth that he could feel at the very core of his being.

A voice seemed to break through the comfortable silence that had been having free reign up until now. It wasn't jarring though. In fact, he doesn't think he has ever heard a voice so beautiful in his life.

'Rest my little noble one. You've earned it.'

A pleasant glow spread over him at the sound of the woman's voice. He had thought that there would never be such a wonderful sensation as the fingers that were softly threading through his hair, but he had been wrong. The woman's words were like a balm to his soul in a way he never knew he could experience. He just wanted her to continue to talk to him forever.

He was thus overjoyed when she continued, even though the meaning in her words was curious to him.

'Be at ease, my darling. It won't be long now. Be ready, for there is still much for you to do.'

One of the disadvantages to using this Cyto-Cyto fruit's power was that while it allowed Lily this whole new microscopic world at her fingertips, that world was the only one she could see while using it. Usually, this wasn't a problem as she usually knew who was at her back and in her surroundings before going into the state. This time, she didn't have that luxury. She could not see in the state, only seeing the mass of cells that formed the man who had intruded into HER makeshift operating room, and the stuttering, currently dying cells of FireFist.

With whatever the guy was doing to keep her paralyzed, she couldn't turn off her power either. So she was stuck not being able to see who was threatening her life and the life of her patient. She was stuck as a sitting duck to whoever was strong enough to get past Schaden (and who knew what had happened to her friend!), who considering the probability of who they'd run into on these seas, was an enemy–either as a marine or a pirate.

But at the moment that didn't matter.

Because right now, Lily was pissed.

This man, whoever he was, dared to ask her what she was doing.

What the hell was he doing?

The paralysis of her body allowed her enough leverage to speak, and she let her voice reach the most scathing tone it could possibly achieve.

"How dare you? Let me go now, you imbecile!"

There seemed to be a bit of a pause from the intruder, but the man quickly moved past it. A hand restrained her arm and the blade at her throat held true.

"I'm not going to ask again. What the hell are you doing to him? The kid's dead. What more do you marines want, that you can't even let the boy rest in peace?"

The man's frigid voice sent shudders down her spine, but Lily had learned to have a pretty strong spine. She took as deep a breath as she could.

She couldn't stay angry. She had to think this through. This man was strong enough with his haki presence to hold her in place, and one didn't have to be skilled to kill someone with a sword at this range. FireFist would die for sure if she were to get her throat slit here, and she sadly couldn't put her own cells back together.

No, rage would get her nowhere. She was a Revolutionary special agent, she'd been trained to be calm, collected, and not break under pressure. Her CO was always telling her that the first indication that a plan was going to go horribly awry, was when a soldier couldn't keep a clear mind in a tight situation. If the soldier begins to fall apart, then expect everything else to follow.

She had to be calm about this. Think this through.

From the intruder's words, the man wasn't a marine coming to arrest a traitor, so while there were other slight possibilities, the most likely identity of the man was that of a pirate. He was also one who seemed to know Portgas' identity and that the marines had done their absolute best to kill him. Though considering how publicized the battle had been and how fast word travels, she couldn't be sure if this particular pirate was close to the war, or had simply heard the breaking news.

However, one thing that was clear from the man's wording and tone, was that the man seemed to be at least upset at FireFist's supposed death. And that she could work with.

She had to be careful and feel this out. Get the intruder to let down his guard. FireFist had enemies even among the pirates. This one might have felt it was a bad way to go and be an enemy to the marines, but that didn't mean they would be enthused at the possibility of the Whitebeard commander crossing back over to the land of the living.

She had to hurry though. If this took too long, all the progress she had made thus far on the body's repair would be undone.

Letting her body relax, trying to appear as less threatening as possible. She spoke to the pirate clearly but calmly. "I am no marine, sir. Despite what the uniform may show."

A slight dry chuckle came in response. "I had begun to think as much, but nice to hear it confirmed. But we can discuss that after you answer my question."

She answered with a question of her own, "Why do you care?"

The pressure increased on her carotid and she could feel the sting as well as a slight bit of superficial blood drip down her neck.

"I think I'm the one asking the questions here."

Lily gritted her teeth, "I can't tell you that."

She felt the man's breath on her skin and watched the twinkling lights of his form get closer to her. His voice a harsh whisper against her ear.

"I'm being pretty nice here, missy. I'm well known to be quite a harbinger of misfortune to those who mess with my comrades. That boy, whose body you're currently playing with, might have been a little brother to me in another life. It's been a long day. My patience is at its limit. I don't tend to harm ladies if I can help it, but know that I have no problem removing your head from your shoulders if you don't answer my question and soon."

Her heartbeat sped up as panic tried to settle in the back of her mind. The man wasn't kidding, he would kill her if she didn't tell him. The deadly intent in his voice and presence told her so.

Lily was not so much afraid of the idea of death. She had gone through too much to let the idea scare her.

She had been trained to resist torture, to withstand mental and physical strain in the worst of situations.

But she also knew that she had others who were depending on her at this moment. Schaden would be completely crushed and lost by her death. Her best friend who tended to be her literal shadow.

And then there was Portgas D. Ace himself. She didn't know him personally, nor did he her, but she had seen him on that execution stand. She had seen him pleading with his crew, with his little brother. She had seen the light and laughter dance in his eyes when he was freed and fought by Strawhat's side. And she'd seen when he lost both while being the bastion for that same little brother, protecting him from harm with his own body.

In the very back of her mind, Lily had resonated with such a display. The idea of being under the aegis of another that one looked up to as a tower of strength and protection. It was a warm feeling, almost nostalgic in nature. She had wondered at the time if she had ever had anyone like that in her life. In the past? Had she ever had anyone like Portgas in her life? Had she ever been like that for someone else once upon a time? She assumes that she must have had parents at one time, but had she ever had siblings?

She didn't know, all of her past relationships were lost along with her infernal memories. However, it was a nice thought to think of someone needing you that much in their lives.

However, right now, Portgas was the one who DID need her right now. She wanted to bring that light and laughter back to those gray eyes. She wanted to return Strawhat's bastion to him. And she couldn't do that if she was dead.

She decided to tell the truth.

The intruder's words had made one thing clear. Whoever he was, he was no enemy of the flame pirate. The way that he had spoken of FireFist suggested that the emotional tie was definitely there. She had to take the gamble. If all went well she could return to her patient and save a life. If not, she could try a more drastic approach and try to stop the man's heart and lungs when he eventually dropped his guard. Though without knowing how long that could take, it was not an ideal solution.

Well, here goes nothing.

The intruder had been waiting patiently for the few moments it had taken to gather her thoughts, seemingly aware that she was wavering in making her decision. Lily took a deep breath before looking up and attempting to find where the man's eyes should have been, with her own.

"If you must kill me, please wait until I have saved his life first."

Complete silence was her answer. There was a pause and the slightest of gives to the sword's grip on her throat. Though the paralysis created and pressure from the man's haki maintained its hold.

After a moment, an incredulous, harsh reply was given, "Save whose life, now?"

She indicated with her eyes, letting her gaze return to the dying body of her poor patient. "Commander Portgas'."

This time, the blade is taken away entirely and Lily can't help but breathe a small sigh of relief.

It's short-lived as an instant later, the man grabs the front of her shirt and pulls her closer to him, his face directly in hers, even though she can't see it.

"What the heck are you talking about? Are you trying to play me for a fool?! Ace is dead."

She doesn't fold at the rough treatment; it's not like her prone body could anyway, and instead continues to indicate with her eyes. "Take a look for yourself. I was in the midst of reforming his most vital organs."

There was another pause, longer this time, that she was beginning to recognize as indecision. She knew that he was trying to decide if this was a trick or not. After a moment, the intruder let go and stood her back up on her own feet. She was thankful as with her body frozen, she could have easily just fallen to the ground in an unbalanced heap.

The man spoke unnecessarily, "Stay there."

She didn't answer with the first quip that came to her head, but you had better believe, she was mighty tempted. But now was not the time.

She saw the man walk over to the table, taking a closer look. She knew at that angle, he should be able to see the mostly reformed organs and the work she had been doing to put Portgas back together. The work had been paused and while some of the systems were still somewhat moving on autopilot once she had started them up, many of them were shut down without her constant guidance. She needed to get back to work, now!

She was about to plead again but was stopped by a quiet, hesitant question from the man. "How did you do this?"

She jumped at the opportunity, "Let me show you."

He didn't look up from the Portgas' body, his silence heavy. She couldn't see the expression on his face, but she could guess that he was both in shock and also deciding if it was wise to take a chance on her.

He was wise to be cautious. She might have taken the chance to just kill him once he released her, but there were currently too many unknown variables at play. She didn't know if he was alone or had backup. And considering the power of his haki, the man was no slouch and he would be expecting a betrayal. If she lost the chance, she would never regain his trust again, and then the whole shebang would go down the drain.

No, if he was going to take a chance on her, she'd have to take a chance on him.

It seems that the intruder too had made his decision as well, though he didn't move from his position. "I'm going to release you. Know that if you do anything foolish, it will not turn out well for you, Miss."

"Doctor" she corrected absently, too eager to get back to her long-suffering patient.

She could almost hear the smile in his voice as he snarkily retorted. "Miss Doctor."

Lily felt the pressure release off her steadily, and she could feel her body relax as she began to breathe easier.

The moment the paralysis attack faded, her entire body suddenly felt bereft. She wavered on her feet nearly wanting to collapse from the sudden freedom. Yet, she steeled herself, taking several deep breaths to try and steady her weakened body.

Once she was quite sure she wouldn't fall over, she walked back to her patient, and even though she knew the annoying pirate was watching like a hawk, she raised her hands and immediately immersed herself back into the intricacies of Portgas D. Ace's body.

A white glow once again formed around her fingers and white light spilled out of her eyes. She thrust herself back into the man's systems, taking control once again of his nerves, blood, bone, and muscle.

The moment she reconnected, the commands that she had already given the body's cellular structure reactivated. For the ones that had latterly died in her absence, she pushed more power through them, reviving them once again.

'LIVE!'

'DIVIDE!'

So far, so good. There wasn't too much damage, thankfully nothing that couldn't be reversed. It was a close call though.

Keeping an eye on all that, she then went back to work on the organs that needed her the most. What she had been doing before she had been rudely interrupted mind you.

As she reformed tissue layer by layer, Lily gave an outside thought as to what the pirate intruder was seeing. She didn't quite have a grasp of what her work looked like from the outside looking in, but she had been told it was everything from "cool" to "creepy" and a lot of other adjectives in between.

While she couldn't take time to look up at him, the man had not made a sound and so she guessed he was watching her work intently. She was still alive and able to do her job, so that's all that really mattered.

After a few moments of her silently continuing to work, she became aware of the feeling of the man's eyes on her.

She waited for him to speak, not pausing in the continuing operation.

This time, when he spoke, it was with a low tone, a sense of awe, and behind all of that—the smallest modicum of hope.

"Is this really possible?"

She smiled softly in understanding and relief, "It is…he was nearly dead. But give me another half an hour and I can restart his heart."

There was a pause, "But his heart has stopped for so long…."

"I've been keeping his systems from shutting down with my power. His life support if you will. If I can get his major systems rebuilt, I won't have to."

The intruder seemed to consider her and her words for a moment before asking, "You're not with the Navy, and there is no CP agent I can imagine that would challenge me in the way you have."

Lily didn't know what to make of that. Was this guy some kind of big shot or something? He did seem moderately strong, she guessed, though she couldn't think of that impeding a dedicated Cipher Pol agent. There was little the World Government's dogs wouldn't do for their masters.

The man went on, "You also don't give me the impression of a fellow pirate either…"

There was a question there, one that Lily decided not to answer. Saving Portgas' life was one thing, but revealing her allegiances was something else entirely. She looked back down at her work, her back straight. "I'm not a pirate, but that's all I can tell you."

She felt his eyes on her, assessing her for a few long moments. She would have to fight back if he insisted, but she hoped that he would accept the non-answer, at least for the sake of the life she was trying to save.

"I see…"

The man suddenly stood up from the table and moved around, past her, and assumedly moved to the door behind her. He stopped short of leaving however and spoke with his back turned to her.

"What else do you need?"

She snapped up in shock at him, "What?"

"What else do you need…for him? This place doesn't seem to have the best medical supplies on the seas."

"You have medical supplies?" She asked incredulously.

His answer came with a shrug. "Not with me, but I can get them."

She thought about it and how she had just been lamenting the monumental job that was before her. And her "operating room" was lacking at best. If this pirate was on the level, perhaps he or someone on his crew could indeed give assistance. It was a gamble but she wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth.

Though before she attempted to give a list, perhaps she'd better find out if her uninvited guest would actually be useful to her.

"Do you have any medical experience?"

The man answered in the negative, "I do not…but I do have someone with me who does."

There were more of them?!

"I appreciate the offer, any assistance would be appreciated. I can relay my list to them."

The man turned to go, his voice soft, vulnerable even, "I-If you can save his life….you will have my eternal gratitude, Miss."

She didn't need it, but she knew that these proud pirate types, denying it would probably be meaningless. So she just nodded before immersing herself back into her work.

"Doctor." she absently corrected once again knowing it probably wouldn't make a difference with such a hard-headed man.

Moving to reform the pulmonary arteries, she had assumed he'd departed only for him to speak again.

"'Doctor' it is."

Well, that was a pleasant surprise.

"Can I at least ask, what name do you go by, Doctor?"

She smiled and thought about pushing the "doctor" title again, but she didn't need to be petty. Someone had to be the mature one here. Also, it wouldn't be that dangerous to give her name at this stage of the game.

"Lily"

"Lily…" He seemed to try her name out to get a feel for it. "Well thank you, Dr. Lily. I'll be back soon. I have to have a talk with a flaming chicken."

She raised an eyebrow at that bizarre statement before remembering to ask, "Oh, Schaden! you didn't hurt him too badly did you?"

"Schaden?"

"You couldn't have missed him, You would have had to go through him to get to me."

"Ahhh, the teleporting mist monster."

"He is not a 'mist monster'."

"Well, your friend was being stubborn and he didn't seem to want to talk to us, so I had to force my way through. He might have a splitting headache when he wakes back up, but there should be no lasting damage."

Lily let out a soft breath of relief, "He probably did try to talk to you, but it's hard for humans to understand his language, and he has no tongue or vocal cords to speak ours."

"What IS he exactly?"

She turned her attention back to her patient, needing her concentration. "Later pirate, stop distracting me. Make yourself helpful or make yourself scarce."

"Alright, alright…at least use my name, Dr. Lily. 'Pirate' just seems so cold and generic."

She answered back, her voice taking on a preoccupied air, "I would if I knew what your name was ."

There was an awkward lull that came over the room that had not been there before.

The man's response was incredulous, "Y-you don't know who I am?"

She raised an eyebrow but continued working, "How could I? I am effectively blind in this state except for what my devil fruit shows me. Did you not notice that I never truly met your eyes?"

Inwardly she rolled her eyes. Every pirate on the seas thinks he's a big shot.

She heard the man let out an exasperated sigh while murmuring something under his breath about stooping to manhandling a blind woman.

She didn't bother to correct his misconception and simply waited to see if he would say more or finally leave to allow her to fully immerse herself in her work.

The upstart intruder surprisingly did both and walked right out of the room, his voice calling back to her,

"I'll get what you need, doctor. Concentrate on saving Ace. My comrades and I can take care of everything else. Just call out for what you need."

She this time really rolled her eyes before letting her voice carry back to him. "Thanks, but just medical supplies and a possible assistant is fine. And how do you expect me to call out to you when I still don't know what to call you?"

She could distantly hear the door to the upper deck open. His response though could still be heard. "I'm called by many names, but my friends call me Shanks."

Lily then finally heard the door slam shut and she blew out an exasperated breath before going back to her patient.

This was not how she had expected her day to go. She had known that she and Scha would have to probably make a speedy getaway either post or mid-war. The probability that their cover would get blown had just been too high in such a chaotic situation. However, how was she to know that their getaway transport would end up inundated with pirates of all things?

She sighed and immersed herself back into her work. She didn't need this. Portgas needed her to be focused. She could only keep his systems working on her own for so long. She needed to concentrate on this. She couldn't let this "Shanks" or any of his pirate friends distract her.

To the man's credit, a small part of her brain that wasn't being utilized by the many tasks that she had given it, seemed to recognize the name.

Hmm, why did that name sound so familiar?

She was halfway through completing the venae cavae when the realization finally hit her.

Her hand slammed against the table before she whirled back towards the empty door, half expecting the man to still be standing there.

"Wait a minute! As in the emperor?!"