Can I Steal Your Heart? - A LawLu fanfic

(Law) Chapter 27 - Condemnation

He should've shut his damn mouth and taken the miracle at face value. Dealt with the consequences later.

Law swore, burying his head in his hands for just a brief second before the rage hit. He flipped the table, breaking the coffee cup and splattering lukewarm coffee on the now-empty bed. The fire in his chest burned too hot to care. Nor did it care when he slammed the books on his bedside table to the floor or when he slammed his fist into the wardrobe so hard it left a dent in the wood. He knocked the chairs over, one at a time, just for the slight satisfaction of the heavy clatter they made as they hit the floor. A noise somewhere between a scream and a sob tore from his throat as he finally collapsed in front of the door.

"... Captain? Are you okay?" Bepo asked quietly from outside. Law would guess most of the crew was there with him.

'No,' he thought about saying. 'No, I hurt him and it broke me.' But he couldn't say that. Couldn't let them see more of his failings. Couldn't let them wonder about his tentative grip on sanity. So instead he opted for, "We need to go. Immediately. Set course for..." He had to think. Somewhere far, far enough to outrun these feelings, although the tiny piece of his mind that was still rational reminded him that was impossible. "Little Haven."

"Are you sure, Captain? That's almost a month in the other direction..."

"I'm sure. Do it. No lengthy farewells, either." He wasn't sure how he managed to get the words out, but he heard Bepo's odd footsteps leave from the door as he went off to obey them, leaving Law to hate himself and his damned skepticism in peace.

—--

It was his first time back on the bridge since they'd left the Sunny, and they were deep enough under the waves that only a few specially-designed transponder snails could reach them. So it was a bit of a surprise when their receiver rang. Law waved apathetic permission for Penguin to answer it.

"Put Trafalgar on the line. NOW," a deadly cold but far-too-familiar female voice demanded from the snail. Law was halfway across the room, but at the chill in that voice, he crossed it in three strides and took the receiver from Penguin.

"I'm here, Nico-ya. Is something wrong?" It was a bit of a dumb question, honestly. The chill in the older woman's voice, the use of his last name instead of 'Torao-kun' that she usually used... something was clearly wrong and she blamed him for it. Which, unfortunately, probably meant that it was related to his last... conversation... with Luffy. The one thing he didn't want to think about, much less talk about.

"You have 10 seconds to get away from anyone you don't want to hear this. Nine. Eight."

Her voice was still cold and too serious, and Law knew she didn't make idle threats. "Room. Shambles." He transported himself and the snail into his room, shutting the door as she hit 'five'. "... I'm clear."

"You always seemed too smart to do something so damn STUPID, Trafalgar. Do you have any clue what you did?! Luffy's barely eaten these last three days! If the range of my powers was great enough to reach you, I'd already have slapped the hell out of you."

"... What did he tell you I did?" He asked, trying to avoid incriminating himself further.

Robin's voice got impossibly colder. "He said you accused him of only wanting a 'pity-fuck'. That you called him cruel, as if that child has a single cruel bone in his body. He already agonized over his feelings for you. He even asked Zoro for help trying to understand what he felt! Did you really think he would ever offer a pity-fuck? He doesn't pity you. He doesn't pity very many people, and he certainly wouldn't offer that to just anyone!"

Law had no words. He knew it was true. He'd known it was true even as Luffy had walked out of the room Law now stood in, but he had no way to retract the words he'd let out in the confusion and desperation of the moment.