Chapter 43

Law was going to commit murder. He had barely slept, his magic was depleted, and now Paulie was begging him to heal Iceburg. Water 7 was going to owe him a huge favour at this rate. Reluctantly, and cranky, Law went in with Paulie and Bepo at his side.

"I've healed his internal bleeding," Law said, scanning Iceburg with his devil fruit, under the watchful eyes of Lucci, Paulie and Kalifa. "But my magic is too drained now for much else."

"Shit, because you healed me?" Paulie paled.

"And two other people yesterday who had been attacked," Law explained. "I've not had much of a chance to rest."

Even if he had only healed Shachi a little bit. Which Law hated. He would rather have healed Shachi properly than a moronic Straw Hat. Law wavered on his feet, the room suddenly spinning. Bepo shoved a chair beneath him, much to Law's relief. He leaned back against it and relaxed.

Paulie winced. "I'm sorry-"

"You should be resting too, Paulie. I treated you yesterday, remember?" Law said, closing his eyes.

"I won't be able to sleep-" Paulie frowned.

"At least sit down," Law muttered, and thankfully Paulie obeyed.

"Thank you, Trafalgar-san." Kalifa bowed her head. "You've done a lot to help us."

Iceburg stirred, much to Law's surprise. He thought Iceburg would sleep most of the day away after being shot, but apparently not. Paulie gasped, then smiled shakily.

"Thank god! I'm so glad you're awake, Iceburg-san," Paulie said.

"Thank you... Paulie..." Iceburg's voice was weak, and he was pale, but his eyes remained focused on the ceiling. "I know who did it..."

Law frowned. "You saw your attackers?"

"Trafalgar...?"

"He came here to heal you," Paulie said.

"Thank you... We're even further in your debt now..." Iceburg's frown deepened. "It was Nico Robin. She attacked me with a masked man..."

"She's a member of the Straw Hat crew," Kalfia said instantly.

Law frowned. "She wasn't on the ship when I was there."

"You know her?" Paulie frowned.

"She's from the Death Clan, like yours is Creation," Law explained, lowering his voice. "The Straw Hats have been looking for her ever since they arrived in Water 7. They told me she disappeared during their first outing into the city."

"Then we should talk to them," Paulie said.

"For now the Straw Hats seem like our main culprits," Kaku said. "I know you seem on pretty good terms with them, Trafalgar-san, so can we ask you stay here out of the way while we talk to them?"

Law snorted. "I'm not leaving this chair for a while. I'd suggest asking them to come here to talk. They will tell you the same thing I did, that they haven't seen Nico Robin, but maybe then you can all start a search together."

"I'll help search-" Paulie began.

"Don't you dare," Law scolded.

Paulie winced. "I'm fine-"

Law reached over and grabbed his wrist, concentrating on his magical energy. It was pulsing weakly, fluttering away, and Law knew it would waver at any moment and leave Paulie feeling sick and faint.

"It's a fluttering mess right now," Law said, releasing his grasp on Paulie to lean back again. "The stress hadn't done you any good. You should keep Iceburg-ya and I company here if you refuse to go rest, because if you do try and wander off, you're going to be sick and faint when your magical energy wavers too much."

Paulie sighed. "This is the worst timing for me to be weak right now, Law."

"I know, but you'll just have to bare with it."

The problem was when they all found out Luffy and Franky were wrecking Dock One. Law had to grab Paulie's wrist again, and Lucci forced him to sit back down.

"Stay put," 'Lucci' ordered. "Listen to Doctor Trafalgar. We'll sort this out."

"GAHHH!" Paulie screeched once they were all gone, and Kalifa flinched when he did that.

"Be quiet, Paulie!" she hissed. "Iceburg-san is resting!"

"This is so frustrating. What is going on?" Paulie groaned, but he did quieten down.

"Kalfia-ya, is there a den den mushi I can borrow?" Law asked. "One of my crew mates was injured yesterday and I would like to check on him. I left before he even woke up."

"Of course." She nodded. "Follow me please. I don't want your conversation disturbing Iceburg-san's rest."

"Thanks." Law followed her down the hallways to a study, and sat down on shaky legs with a sigh of relief. Bepo looked worried, and even Kalifa threw him a concerned look, as Law dialled the Polar Tang's snail.

"Does that tend to happen often after you heal people?" she asked. "The exhaustion?"

"Magic drainage is tiring," Law admitted. "And I've been overdoing it these past couple of days."

"Hello, Penguin speaking."

Law smiled down at the den den mushi. "Hello, Penguin. I'm checking in."

"Shit, Law, are you alright? The newspapers have been saying that the Straw Hats tried to assassinate Iceburg! That's impossible though, right? We were with them yesterday."

"All except for one Straw Hat," Law said. "Nico Robin."

"Jeez, this is insane. Why are they so dramatic?"

Law chuckled. "It's exhausting, isn't it? And we only had to deal with their Captain for a few years."

"Yeah, how did Sabo and Ace survive?"

"Portgas D. Sabo?" Kalifa startled.

"Shit, someone's with you?" Penguin cursed.

"It's fine." Law could create some drama of his own with this. "Yes, Ace's brother. Blonde hair, nice clothes, noble looking guy."

He loved how Sabo began to slowly spread that around to people. The chaos it brought was entertaining. Morgans had written a panic newspaper about the Portgas twins, except the twins had different birthdays to confuse everyone, and how their was a conspiracy theory about the Portgas twins mother lying to them about said birthdays. It was great. Law had cackled reading that newspaper.

Kalifa looked baffled to say the least. "They really are brothers? I thought Morgans was just trying to confuse everyone?"

"Yeah, they were born and raised together," Law lied.

"More importantly, how are you doing, Law?" Penguin asked.

"Tired, but otherwise fine." Law frowned. "I wanted to check in about how we're responding to Aqua Laguna, and on Shachi."

"I'm coming up to join you, but the others will remain on the ship with Ikkaku in charge-"

"I told him it wasn't his best decision!" Ikkaku yelled from the background.

"I can still lead!" Shachi insisted.

"Shut up you. You've got a broken ankle and bruised ribs. Ikkaku was a good girl and stabbed those Franky guys."

"Then why am I being punished with being put in command?" Ikkaku complained.

"Think of it as a reward."

"I prefer wine, a hot bath and a box of chocolates."

"Tough."

Law snorted. "You'll be fine, Ikkaku, just protect the Polar Tang."

"We'll sail out deep into the sea where we won't be affected by Aqua Laguna. But make sure you stay safe, Captain," Ikkaku insisted.

"I'll be fine. I'll have Bepo and Penguin watching my back."

"Aye, aye!" Bepo saluted.

Law smiled fondly at the sight.

"Are you not sailing out as well?" Kalfia asked.

"No," Law said. "Two of my patients are here, so I'll be keeping an eye on them both."

"Two?"

"I'm in the middle of treating Paulie-ya for his magical drainage, and I treated Iceburg-ya for his bullet wounds. I'm not about to let Paulie-ya get himself killed trying to protect Iceburg-ya tonight either, so I'll be here."

"It might be dangerous-"

"I'm a pirate and a head witch," Law said sharply. "We're used to danger."

Besides, something was off here. Law just hadn't quiet put his finger on it yet, but there was something wrong with some of Iceburg's staff.

They stank of death.