Marineford, two years before.
The war was over.
Shanks' crew was facing Blackbeard's crew.
One single curl in the air, and the two tremendous snipers pointed their weapons at each other.
You acted quickly, jumping down the balcony, racing towards the Yonkos.
You wanted to join the battle, you wanted to take down the pirates, to cross your rifle with Yasop's and Augur's, you wanted...
A direct hit sent you flying against some ruins. You coughed and touched your cheek.
Ice.
«Are you trying to get yourself killed?»
Aokiji towered over you in all his impressive height.
«You are no match for those people. Don't act like a child and stay here.»
Your expression crumbled, but he was already looking forward, and he never noticed.
As promised, the day after, Kid left the Victoria Punk to reach one of their lairs, along with Killer, Heat and some other men. Wire was left in charge.
Since they took you captive, that was probably the first day you were not feeling like you were about to be raped or gutted or both.
You couldn't say you were relaxed, but at least you weren't spasmodically tense.
Kid's little gory show from the night before made you feel safer around the crew. It was highly improbable that someone else was willing to try what Gordo did.
Plus, the new drugs really seemed to be miraculous. Or maybe your wounds were starting to heal. You just had your shoulder in plaster cast now, but the side and the pain were definitely better.
At noon, someone knocked to Kid's door. You frowned. Who the hell bothered knocking anyway?
«Hi!»
It was a young guy, probably a few years younger than you, big smile on a freckled face, light brown hair, with no sign of beard on his cheeks. He had a plate full of food and your painkillers.
You twisted your mouth at the sight.
«Who are you supposed to be?»
«I'm Jen, nice to meet you!»
You blinked.
«Why are you acting friendly? What do you want?»
He blinked too.
«Nothing. I was just thinking... you could use some kindness, I mean... you are here captive, the only woman on the ship and stuff.»
Confusion was all over your face.
Was him for real?
«Are you for real?» you asked.
«I... am.» he muttered awkwardly, discouraged by your cynicism.
You took the plate from his hands and began to eat.
He didn't seem to be acting. He actually looked like a good person.
«Are you part of the Kid Pirates?»
He puffed his chest with pride, smiling enthusiastically.
«I am! New recruit!»
«Oh.»
«You don't approve?»
«Well, you know I'm a marine, right?»
«Oh, true.»
«Listen, you look like a decent person... why on earth are you on this ship?»
His eyes glowed with vivid dreams.
«I've always wanted to become a pirate! The freedom, the glory! One challenge after the other!»
«Slaughtering innocent people, scaring the shit out of good families who just want to reach the end of the day without tragedies...» you echoed.
«Okay, but that's not mandatory!»
«Except you are on Kid's ship, and that's what he does.»
Someone entered the room, interrupting. He was a tall man, yellow fur, glasses, Mohican hairstyle. You were pretty sure you had seen it before on a bounty poster.
«We spotted a ship belonging to Big Mom and we are soon engaging battle. Wire says the marine girl can fight.»
Your eyes widened.
«What?»
The man walked over and handed you an old shotgun and a stack of bullets.
«We are authorized to kill you if we even sense you could attack one of us. At the end of the battle, if you are alive, give the weapon back. If you act suspicious, every man of the crew gets the permission to fuck you.» he smiled «So please, do.»
You nodded ironically, taking the shotgun.
«Nice.»
Oh god, the metal on your fingers, it felt good.
The pirate turned to the boy.
«You, get ready to fight.»
Then he got off.
On the deck, the sounds of men eager for battle began to rise.
«Don't worry!»
Jen was giving you a thumb up, that big smile still in place.
«If anything happens, come near me! I will protect you! A real man protects women.»
«Yeah, whatever.»
He ran out in excitement.
The battle exploded less chaotic and violent than last time, maybe because Big Mom's pirates were caught by surprise and the Kid Pirates were totally ruling the situation.
There were a few enemies that put on a good resistance though.
The main action was on the other ship, but they were fighting on your deck as well.
Of course, none of your business. Your only concern was reaching the basement and stealing a lifeboat to get as far as possible from that horrible place.
Again, life got in the way.
You shot a few blows to Big Mom's men, just to disguise Kid's crew, but you were only looking for the freaking stairs.
Luckily for you, an enemy Devil fruit user was going berserk on the deck, seriously challenging other pirates. He had a super lame power like laser eyes or something, but at least four men were already down.
But who cares?
It was your chance: no one was paying attention to you, Wire and the strongest among your captors were on the other ship.
You slid up to a door, finally spotting the stairs.
Goodbye, Kid. Oh, and fuck you.
Your hand was already on the doorknob, when a sudden squeak caught your attention.
You turned to the deck just to see the Devil fruit user sticking his terrible eyes on Jen's leg, creating a burning hole in it. He then moved his orbs, starting to sever the limb away. The poor boy was screaming like hell.
Holy shit.
None of your business, [Y/n], go, GO NOW!
But while your brain was ordering you to get to the basement, your hands had already embraced the weapon, your aim was focused and the blow was shot.
Somehow (kenbunshoku haki?) he noticed, and since he had no time to avoid the bullet, he stopped it with his muscular shoulder.
The pirate grunted in pain, but didn't go down, redirecting his lasers towards you.
You were ready, and rolled to the other side of the deck, aiming once again. It was your speciality, moving and aiming at the same time.
With the special boots Vegapunk designed for you, no one could get you. At the moment, though, you had to rely on your own agility.
«Face someone your age, you fucking asshole!» you yelled, firing a second bullet.
He dodged. But you knew.
The third bullet followed immediately, exploding right in his left eye, killing him.
You leaped to Jen's side, kneeling beside him.
His eyes were widened in horror, his face soaked in tears, fingers gripped on his missing leg. The blood was everywhere.
«No, no, no, c'mon!» you called him, tearing your shirt apart to stop the haemorrhage.
Why so much blood?! Laser is supposed to cauterize a wound... maybe it was not laser, maybe it was just a cutting devil shit...
«DOCTOR!!» you screamed, tying the fabric tight around his nub.
Other pirates were gathering nearby. The battle seemed to be over.
Jen was a mess of muttering whimpers and cries.
«Boy! Oi, boy, stay with me!» you ordered, cupping his cheeks with your bloody hands and forcing him to look at you «Easy, breath! It's okay, you can do it. One challenge after the other, remember?»
His eyes seemed to focus on yours.
«Good! Okay, okay, breath! You're doing great.»
A lot of men were towering all around you two now, and no one was moving a fucking finger.
The little doctor finally appeared by your side.
«Jen, the doctor is here!» you smiled at the boy, who tried his best to smile back, although the pain twisted his face immediately.
You felt a light touch on your arm and turned to the doctor.
The little man was bent over the hulled leg, but he was looking at you. When your eyes met, he shook his head.
What?
«He lost too much blood.» he whispered, so Jen couldn't hear.
Your eyes sharpened.
«The fuck are you saying?»
«He's beyond hope. I'm sorry.»
«You gotta be kidding me.»
A pained groan escaped Jen's lips, and you redirected all your attention to him.
«It's okay.» you said softly, light fingers caressing his soaked cheek «You won the battle. Kid's crew won thanks to brave men like you who fought all along.»
You could feel the gazes of dozens of pirates on the back of your head, all in silence, space to your words.
Wire was back among them. You didn't give a shit.
«Oi...» Jen's lips barely moved in his fragile attempt to form words «do you think... I'll make... a good pirate?»
You felt your stomach sunk somewhere in the black hole you had inside.
«There's no such a thing as a good pirate.» you fought with all you had not to let your smile quiver «There are just free pirates. And you surely are free. And bold. You might even find the One Piece, someday.»
«The One Piece...»
His eyes moved from yours, roaming the blue sky.
Once again, they were full of dreams.
«That would be nice...»
«It would. But you need to rest now.»
He nodded.
You caressed his forehead, as he lowered his eyelids.
«Good...night then.»
«Goodnight, Jen.»
The boy died quietly in your arms.
It was not the first time you had to do this.
You were at Marineford, two years before. One of the most life-changing experiences you had.
During the War of the Best you experienced fear, despair, sorrow, resolution.
But now, on that pirate ship, you were filled with something new, something burning.
Rage.
You slowly got on your feet.
Your torn shirt and pants were heavily stained with blood.
«It was nice from you, marine girl.»
It was the man that gave you the shotgun who talked.
You raised your blank eyes on him
«It was nice?» you repeated, low voice.
The doctor sensed something from you, something that made him step away.
«Girl...»
You approached the pirate, perfectly conscious of all the other eyes on you.
Wire was silently following the scene.
«Tell me, mister, which part of this» you gestured at the corpse «was nice?»
His lip twitched.
«I...»
«And you all!» you suddenly shouted, startling various men «It's your fault this boy died! He was a fucking child and you killed him! YOUR FILTHY PIRATE LIFE KILLED HIM!»
For some reason, no one answered.
Those big rough pirates, used to killing with their bare hands and laugh at the victim, could not reply to a captive marine girl.
Except for one.
«He died free.»
Your eyes darted to the pirate who talked. It was Wire.
He was staring at you with his blank face.
A disgusted smile tugged at your lips.
«He died!»
You dropped the shotgun to his feet.
« Here, take it, you pirate scum. And tell Kid I'll be in his cabin, if he feels like raping me when he's back.»
Without another word, you headed for the cabin and locked yourself in.
No one disturbed you until late afternoon.
Late afternoon was when Kid and the others were back.
The captain was not happy.
Something went wrong with the mission.
They fought, they won, but they were supposed to settle an alliance with powerful people, which they failed miserably.
Also, these powerful people (now all dead) were able to hit hard.
The first man who approached Kid to inform him about the battle was sent flying outboard. The second man decided to inform Killer instead.
Eustass Kid didn't say a single word. He just marched straight to his cabin.
The very moment he entered the room, you felt the air freezing.
His vitreous amber eyes were lost and fixed at the same time. His fingers were twitching with ravenous rage.
He wanted blood and guts all over the floor.
You had a few hours to pour out your overwhelming emotions with screams muffled in the pillow and tears roughly rubbed away from your face.
At first your anger was powerful enough to erase the fear of Eustass "Captain" Kid.
Now he was there with you, and he was a crazy blood-thirsty monster, one step away from going berserk.
You tried to make your movements imperceptible as you pulled back against the wall.
He didn't look at you. He didn't look at anything.
The mad animal just reached the desk and sat down.
Kid let the fur fall on the floor, revealing a deep jagged cut across his back.
You frowned, instinctively taking a step ahead to have a better look.
Wrong move.
A knife flashed towards you, cutting the air.
You were able to dodge just in time.
It plunged in the wall behind you.
A small cut opened just under your right eye, a single droplet of blood rolling silently down your cheek.
Again, he didn't move or say anything.
You pressed a hand on your lips to avoid your hyperventilation to get too loud and crawled in the bathroom.
He's completely mad. He's a fucking monster.
I should be out of here, I COULD be out of here.
You huddled in the tub, hugging your legs to your chest, your ears tensed for every little sound from the cabin.
Will he give in to rage, come here and slaughter me?
Great, another good night approaching.
At some point you fell asleep in the tub.
The cold woke you up, the cold and some tormented noise coming from the other room.
Like... groans and the sound of the mattress constantly shifting.
You shivered in the cold bathroom, wrapped in darkness. Only the dim light of some stars filtered through the porthole. It was a cloudy night.
The ship was silent.
The mattress seemed to shift again.
Is it him?
Will he kill me if I enter the cabin?
You took a few minutes to collect your courage.
Still shivering, couldn't say if for the cold or the fear, you silently reached the door and pushed it slightly open.
The room was in almost complete darkness.
Eustass' huge body laid on the bed. He couldn't stay still, though, ontinuously shifting to different positions, tormented.
The sheets were stained with sweats and blood. The horrible cut on his back was open.
Your sight fell on the knife, still plunged into the wall.
Kid was asleep and weakened. No one was there. You had a weapon.
I can kill him.
You pulled the blade out of the wall.
Step by step, without breathing, you walked closer.
The temperature around him didn't match the one in the bathroom. He was probably burning in fever.
Now you could see his closed eyes, his painted lips curled in torment, the absent eyebrows furrowed, his damp red hair still held up by the goggles.
I can cut his throat open.
Your eyes flicked to the desk. There was a first-aid kit resting there, untouched.
Jen's dying face suddenly flashed in your head.
"I've always wanted to be a pirate! The freedom, the glory! One challenge after the other!"
You grit your teeth, tightening the grip around the knife.
Why?!
"The One Piece... that would be nice."
You raised the blade.
C'mon.
You've killed before.
This man is a monster!
Another flash through your mind. Him, fighting on the deck.
Hair of fire all over the place, mouth wide in sick joy, flesh and metal darting in a deadly dance.
The most fierce beast you had ever seen.
Living free, running for the One Piece.
There was a time you also...
No.
You swallowed, lowering the knife.
«Who am I to stop you?» you whispered, words barely leaving your lips.
You left the blade on the desk and grabbed the first-aid kit instead.
«Now, please, don't wake up and don't kill me.»
First, you disinfected the wound.
His skin was pearly white, apart from the numerous red scars running all over his massive body.
You closed the biggest cut at the best of your capabilities, praying he wouldn't wake up during every stich.
Surprisingly, he didn't. He didn't even complain in his sleep. That pirate was probably used to pain.
When you finished, you gently wiped his sweated back with a humid towel.
Kid seemed to relax a little.
What am I doing? I must have lost my mind.
But you couldn't help tracing some of the scars with light fingers. Each one was a story... such a pity the beast was too wild to tell someone those stories.
You ended up staring at his metallic arm.
I wonder...
Jen came back to your mind.
The fault was of that crazy pirate life they were living...
"He died free."
...right?
You laid on the bed beside the captain, your back almost touching his huge torso.
The cold was gone, around Kid. It felt good.
You closed your eyes.