Rayne's Pov
"You're back! Sit down, sit down, you need to rest." Vein pulls up a chair in the galley and ushers me into it.
"Here darlin'." Oz settles down yet another cup of Ginger mint tea. I'm getting to the point where I really don't want to drink this stuff. It's getting annoying.
"Thank you Oz, I was just in the mood for this." I lie through my teeth. Honestly all I want to do is just go and lie down for a bit. Finishing up our talk with Sam actually knocked me on my ass. The things I know now, well, it's definitely given me a different outlook.
"She's fine. If anything Rayne needs sleep." Law's hand on my shoulder feels warm and comforting. I finish the cup of tea and then he ushers me out of the galley and away from the rest of the crew.
We enter into our room and I lay down on the bed. Law slips in beside me a few minutes later hatless and hoodie-less. I curl up into him, pressing my face into the crook of his neck. "Law?" I ask after a few minutes of us just lying there in silence.
"Hm?"
"Tell me something about you? Something I don't know."
He's quit for a moment and I'm worried that I've offended him or something. I mean I don't really know a lot about his past. "I had a sister."
I'm jolted, "You did? W-what happened?"
"The same sickness that took my mother... it took her too."
"That's horrible, I'm so sorry."
He hugs me closer, "It doesn't matter, it's done with."
"Still... how did you not catch it?" I mean if everyone else in his family had it then it would be assumed that he would've gotten it.
"Who said I didn't? I had it when I joined the Donquixote pirates. It was only when I ate my devilfruit that I was cured."
I sit up in shock at that statement. "Oh my god, Law! Are you okay? Are-are you-." He cuts me off with his lips covering my own.
Law pins me down to the mattress and breaks our kiss. "I'm fine, do a physical yourself if you don't believe me, you know how." He's grinning now, suggesting 'other' methods of a physical.
I roll my eyes but kiss him none the less, "You're such a male."
"I know."
Law's Pov
A mug of coffee in hand and a good medical journal should've spelled a good morning.
Should have.
"Mama look! Fuzzy!" That brat Kai had spent the better part of the morning trying to get Law's hat off of his head. The one that Rayne had painstakingly reanimated for him. Law really hated this kid.
"Kai settle down and eat your breakfast." Sam says.
It was the last day the Whitebeard Pirates were staying and so Rayne, being the emotional pregnant lady she was, had asked if everyone could have a meal together. No one was about to deny her such a request.
So, here Law was, sitting on the deck of the Moby Dick, eating breakfast with the Whitebeard Pirates and his own crew. Not to mention being annoyed by a little brat who was the spawn of the two most annoying people in the world.
Well, second most annoying, Luffy still took that spot hands down.
"Here Kai, sit next to me and eat." Rayne says, patting the spot on the other side of her. Law frowns at that, she shouldn't encourage that brat.
Kai jumps away from Law and sits down next to Rayne, cuddling into her side. Ace laughs at Law's expression, proud of his son. Sam on the other hand wasn't so enthused. Still if her son would eat breakfast there then she wouldn't dispute the matter.
Breakfast was certainly a crazy affair. The Heart Pirates crew was going crazy alongside the Whitebeard crew. In fact many of them were already heavy on the drinking. Not to mention Kai was busy trying to get himself a seat on Rayne's lap.
"Nooooo wanna sit! Wanna sit!" Kai squirms in Rayne's grip as she tries to set himdown away from her lap.
"Big boys sit on their own."
"Nooo! Wanna sit!"
Sam comes over and picks him up, "Don't worry, he's just a little squirmy today. I'll take him." She picks Kai up and Law notes that there really is no disputing that the two are related. That red hair apparently was some dominant trait.
"Mama noooooooo!"
"Kai you behave yourself. You can't sit yourself on every pretty girl's lap that you see. That's not proper." Sam says, annoyed at her son's perverted tendencies.
"Don't worry little man, there's plenty of time for that when you're older." Ace chims in, ruffling is son's hair.
Sam punches him in the stomach, "You stupid pyro-head! Don't be teaching your son perverted behaviors! Ugh!"
"Oh come on it's not perverted to want to get attention from beautiful w-."
"You had better not finish that sentence."
"Wives! I was gonna say wives! Seriously, you never let me finish!" Ace hurriedly grabs up Kai in his arms, "Son you should make sure you get a good wife and make sure you always treat her beautifully!"
Sam shakes her head and pushes her son and husband over to sit down again. Law has no idea of how she manages those two. It seems that Kai takes after his father in the attitude department, especially with how he reacts towards Law.
Law gets to his feet, done with this lovely gathering, "I'm going back, don't make fools of yourselves while I'm gone."
He goes back to the submarine and settles down at his desk. He had a few things to get to. Picking up the papers on his desk he shuffles through them to get an idea of what he'd left off with. However the slip of paper with that symbol on it once again caught his eye. So far he'd looked up this symbol in every book and wanted poster compilation he had on hand and nothing. It was like this symbol didn't exist anywhere.
Reaching over he opens his desk drawer and pulls out he other letters that had been sent to Rayne. He'd never tell her but he'd seen this mark on the other papers too. They were small and out of the way but it was definitely the same symbol.
A knock sounds on the door, "Hey cap, mind if I have a word?" Vein asks standing in the doorway to Law's office.
"What?"
Vein pulls up a chair and seats himself in front of Law, "I was contacted by Vergo the other day."
Now Law's full attention was on Vein, "You're in contact with Vergo?"
For a moment it looks like Vein isn't going to answer. Reluctantly he sighs and closes his eyes, "Yes, Vergo was someone I worked with personally for many years. We had ties together way back when."
"Why tell me this?"
"Because I know you don't trust me. I'm not going to lie; I still have ties with the Marines and-." Law cuts him off with a forearm to the throat. Vein rolls across the floor and jumps back to his feet. "Hey-!" Law pins him to the wall, an arm across the older man's throat.
"How long?"
"How long what?"
Law applies more pressure, "How long have you been contacting him since you've been here?"
"O-only twice! Jeez let me go you idiot!"
Vein struggles a bit and a piece of paper falls out onto the floor. A familiar symbol printed in the lower right corner.
"You're a danger to my crew Mr. Vein."
Rayne's Pov
"Seriously it was so nice to see you again, thank you so much." I say, giving Sam a tight hug.
She returns it, "It's not really a problem. We're definitely taking it easier these days. Either way, keep on your toes and remember those tips I gave you for the rest of your symptoms." She places a gentle hand on my stomach and gives me a smile.
I have to work hard to keep the blush off of my face. "Er... thanks, I'll keep them in mind." I turn to Ace and Kai.
The older man gives me a grin and opens his arms wide. I go to give him a hug, only to be intercepted by Kai jumping and latching himself onto me around my waist. I hug him back and everyone is laughing hard. This kid seriously had an attatchment to me.
"No leave! Stay!" He wails.
"I'm so sorry but I can't stay. I'm not a part of this crew."
"Join! Be Whiteybeard!"
I look around helplessly. "I got this." Sam steps up and grabs her son, prying his hands off from around my waist, "Kai stop it, she's got to go. You'll find someone your own age someday... much, much, much later in life hopefully." She takes him back but keeps the pouting redhead in her arms.
Ace finally gives me a hug. It's crazy the stark difference between him and Law. While Law's frame was definitely taller and sleighter, Ace won out in the muscle department. Not to mention his body temperature was much higher than Law's as well. They also smelled incredibly different. Law's scent was something similar to hospital disinfectant, while Ace had a musky, slightly burned smell to him. All in all, he fit well with Sam.
"Don't get yourself killed, Luffy would be devastated that he didn't get to drink a round with you." Ace finally says.
I snort and smack him, "Ya' know, Sam isn't the only one who can kick your ass."
"Yeah right, we all know I'd take you down before then." He ruffles my hair like a kid.
"Oi! Stop that!" I smack his hand away and pout, "You're impossible... Besides I'm not that bad."
"We'll see one day, we'll see." With that the remaining Heart Pirate crew 'helps' me back onto the submarine and the Whitebeard pirates are waving good-bye. Even from here I can hear Kai yelling for me to come back and joint their crew.
Cute kid.
Yawning, I take a good stretch and then decide to go and find a book to read. I open the door to go below deck. I'm greeted with the sight of blood staining the entire inside of the submarine. It's caked on the walls and the stairs. I let out a horrified scream.
"Rayne! What's- oh holy hell!" Shachi yells, the first one to get to me.
He grabs me by my arms and hauls me away from the opening. I land back in Penguin's arms and he hugs me tight, body taught like he's ready to lash out should an intruder show up. My body is positively shaking, that was so much blood, there's no way someone could be alive. What happened? No one heard anything at all.
"Rayne! What's going on?" We turn around and see Ace and Sam there. Apparently they'd been close enough to hear me scream and come back to investigate. However a quick glance at the doorway of the stairway was enough to give them an idea.
Both of them start forward, frowning. "Sam, stay behind me." Ace says, flames dancing across his arms.
Sam rolls her eyes, "Shut up husband, I'll be fine. Focus."
They disappear downstairs and everything is silent for a few moments. I can hear my heartbeat in my ears. What happened? How is it that none of us heard anything going on? Also, where was the rest of the crew? On deck with me was Shachi, Penguin, Oz, the twins, and Darwin. Law and Bepo were certainly nowhere to be seen, Tema either.
Screams sound and I jump in shock. Suddenly fire erupts from below deck and out of the open doorway. It scares me honestly, what the hell is going on? Penguin holds me tighter, a frown on his face.
"Rayne, I want you to stay here."
"But-."
"No! We don't know what the hell is going on! If something managed to take captain down then we're all fucked! Now please just stay here. If we don't get back up here then go with the Whitebeard pirates!" Shachi and Penguin rush downstairs.
I watch them go, partly pissed off at them babying me and partly scared for everyone's lives. Just the thought of someone managing to kill Law paralyzes me.
Another scream echoes through the air and someone comes flying out of the hatch. They hit the deck and roll before hitting the rail and coming to a stop. I freeze when I see that it's Ace. He's got a nasty bruise swelling up on his jaw and he has several cuts all over his body. I go running. Coming to a stop beside him, I help him up.
"Ace what's going on?" I ask.
He shakes his head, "He's gone berzerk, stay up here and well away from the hatch. This is going to get bloodier." With that he leaves me and rushes back down below deck.
I can't do this though, this waiting is killing me.
"Oi! Darlin' wait!"
"Rayne no!"
Both the twins and Oz attempt to catch me but I easily shoot around them. Rushing to the hatch I duck inside and try not to think about the blood I was rushing through. Going down the hallway I bank a right and come into the main hallway that offers a lot of other branching hallways I can go into. There are slashes in the walls, the metal curling at the edges.
A macabre blood trail leads back toward a familiar wing, ours. I rush down the hallway, following the trail. It takes a familiar path and I come to a stop when I find an even worse scene. Vein is trapped in the corner, bleeding heavily. Law looks equally as bloody but he has his 'Room' and Nodachi out in full force. Sam has her 'blood armor' on and a sword in her hands, Ace right next to her in a flury of flames.
Vein snarls at all of them and the words die in my throat, what the hell was going on?
Vein lunges at Law and all hell breaks loose. Law countered, Sam attacked, and Ace lanced off a round of flames. The sound of screeching metal was enough to cause my eyes to water. This battle was between devil fruit users and devil fruit users only. I'll only get in the way and get killed.
Pushing myself into an empty room, I'm thrown to the floor by something causing the submarine to rock. I hit the wall and a large amount of random things just pile on top of me.
Oh this was such a bad idea on my part. Curling up I close my eyes and wait for it all to be over because really, I don't know what else I can do in this situation.
The door breaks off its henges and I'm left alone in a room with Vein, who looks to be sizing me up.
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NOTICE: PLEASE READ
Ya well, we figured out that I cannot be a drug-addict if that was ever my life goal.
Last week I was stuck in the ER because I went into anaphylactic shock and then cardiac arrest. I'm doing much better but my immune system basically collapsed in on itself and I'm having to basically start from scratch on rebuilding it.
I have about 4 other doctors appointments set up in the next couple of weeks and so I'm asking everyone to please be patient with me. I will try and keep updating but incase I seem to disappear off the face of the planet please understand why.
I am in no way going to abandon this story or my SnK oneshots but I will probably be very slow in updating them.
ANyways enjoy the newest chapter ^_^;