FicWad

"Will you take this to the Captain, Summer?" Casper held out a tray with that morning's breakfast. Summer finished washing her hands and dried them with a towel.

"Sure." She said, gently taking the silver tray from the older cook. He gave a tired sigh and set to work on preparing for lunch. This didn't go unnoticed.

"Casper, why don't you take a break. I'll start lunch when I get back." The old cook shook his head, taking a large pot from the high cabinets and a wooden spoon from one of the drawers. Setting the pot on the counter, he turned towards Summer who waited for an answer, waving the spoon at her.

"You go take the Captain his food, and make sure he eats it! Don't come back until everything is gone. He's been skipping meals as of late and it ain't good for his health." He turned back to the kitchen. "As for lunch, leave it to me. You've been helpful today, so I'll let you off for the afternoon. But don't be expecting to slack off for dinner, now."

Casper had opened up to her slowly, but surely, over the past month. He no longer called her 'Red Hunter,' but her real name. The kitchen was their safe haven, a place to forget worries through work and the other's presence. The two had learned to respect each other, which Summer greatly appreciated.

"Yes, sir." Summer grinned and made her way into the hallway, still wearing her apron from breakfast.

"Morning, Summer-chan." A still half-asleep Reid greeted as they passed in the hall. She glanced him over, taking in the half tucked shirt and only one sock. A smile threatened to show, but she held it back.

"Morning, Reid. You missed breakfast."

"Yeah, I kinda slept in. Does Casper still have any leftovers?" A yawn escaped the engineer's mouth.

"There should be, but he probably won't be too happy that you missed it in the first place." She warned, grinning at his sudden grimace. He sighed and passed her. She shook her head and went ahead.

Summer continued towards Law's quarters, greeting men who she walked by. Finally coming to Law's room, Summer balanced the tray on one hand and knocked sharply. She waited a moment for him to answer, but there was only silence.

Frowning, she knocked again a little harder. "Law? Are you awake?" The silence continued and Summer was left confused in the hall.

'Where would he be this early in the morning?'

The only other place she could think of was the infirmary, so she quickly set off to the double doors. Pushing it open gently, she stopped short at the sight inside.

Law was taking blood from a person lying on one of the beds, slowly filling the syringe with the deep red liquid. The person looked vaguely familiar, but she only glanced in their direction. A tiny gasp escaped her and Law looked up at the noise.

"You'll catch flies if you leave your mouth open." He said, turning back to his work. Summer angrily snapped her mouth shut, briskly walking to the desk and setting the tray down harder than she had really wanted to. The dishes rattled loudly, permeating the almost silent room.

Glancing at the woman on the bed, Summer raised her eyebrows in surprise.

'Is that Kat?'

She said, gesturing to the patient, or so she hoped, lying on the infirmary bed. For all she knew, Kat could be one of Law's strange experiments or something. She wasn't exactly angry. Summer held no special feelings towards the woman. They had only met briefly on the street and for all she knew, Kat could be a dangerous criminal who was really good at acting. And Law's behavior was expected, him being a pirate and a sadist. No, she wasn't irked because she recognized the person lying at the Dark Doctor's mercy.

She just wasn't about to let him off the hook for teasing her to the degree he seemed to think appropriate.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Treating this woman."

"Is she in stable condition?" Law proceeded to fill small tubes with the blood from the syringe, lining them up in the wooden holder. He still didn't look at her.

"Yes." Summer crossed her arms and leaned on one hip.

"Then eat your breakfast."

"Afterwards." Summer sighed.

"She can wait. Just eat your damn breakfast. Casper told me to make sure you ate it because you've been skipping meals." At this, he straightened and gave her a cold look.

"I don't take orders, Miss Summer. Be sure to remember that."

'Stubborn, pig-headed, sadistic bastard...'

"Fine, do what you want. I can't leave until it's eaten though." His gaze turned dry and she raised her hands in front of her defensively. "Casper's orders."

"Then it seems you will be here longer than you anticipated." The growing smirk on his face wasn't missed by Summer and she huffed in annoyance. Rolling her eyes, she walked over to the desk and sat on top.

"Why is she here anyway?" She asked in exasperation, hating the thick silence that hung between them. It came out more forcefully than she intended, and Law glanced up in amusement.

"She was fleeing from someone last night and ended up passing out in front of the submarine. Unfortunately, I was there to help her." He said, obviously annoyed that he had some sort of obligation to treat the woman.

"I met her yesterday. Pretty sure her name is Kat." Summer swung her legs beneath the table, leaning forward over her knees.

"You've met her?"

"Yeah, we ran into each other on the street. She kept asking questions, like how it was to be a pirate and all that. She was super awkward too." He seemed to ponder that for a long moment, before continuing his work.

"She should regain consciousness soon. I seem to have a knack for finding unconscious women around." He teased, smirking at the scowl planted on her face.

"Just don't make it a habit." She huffed, looking another direction. Something in her felt...threatened. It was strange and unpleasant, and Summer couldn't figure out why the hell she even felt that way. She didn't even know what it was /related /to.

Law chuckled lowly, before turning back to Kat. She watched him work in silence, glancing at the tray of food beside her every once in a while.

'Why can't he just eat the damn food so I can leave?'

"Mmm…" A quiet mumble made Law and Summer look up at the source. Kat stirred in her sleep, her face scrunching in either pain or displeasure. Law grabbed a clipboard from the desk and watched the woman slowly awaken. He wrote down every action she made, checking to make sure no psychological or nerve damage had been caused from her unconscious state.

Finally, one eye cracked open just slightly to look around the room. A moment later, she blinked rapidly to clear the grogginess. Then her eyes flicked around the room before widening in alarm. She tensed and tried to rise from the bed, a whimper escaping her lips.

"Lay down or I /will /restrain you by force." Law's cold voice stopped her movements immediately and she lowered herself back onto the bed.

"Umm...w-where am I?" She asked in a tiny voice that cracked with evident fear. Law took a stool nearby and set it close to the bed. Taking a seat, he leaned in closer than was really necessary, fully knowing his actions were making the woman uncomfortable. She squirmed in place, looking everywhere but him.

"Before you start asking questions, you'll answer of few of my own." He stated, grinning when he noticed her gulp.

"I don't think-" She started.

"Who were you running from?"

"I can't-"

"Answer the question." She looked about ready to start hyperventilating, but Law wasn't about to let up. "Who were you running from?"

"Law, give her a break. She just woke up, let her breathe a little, will ya?" A flash of irritation sprang through him and he glanced at Summer still sitting on his desk. If she was going to play the nice person in this scenario, he would have to send her away.

"Are you ordering me around, Miss Summer?" Giving her an obviously deadly glare. She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, unknowingly giving him a better view of her chest. He shook those thoughts from his mind as soon as they entered it. Now wasn't the time for that.

"Whatever. All I'm saying is if you don't give her room to answer, you'll never get anywhere with this interrogation, or whatever the hell this is."

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Kat's grateful expression directed to Summer. As if she were taking her side. She had somewhat of a point, but that didn't mean Law was going to kindly ask if this woman would be so nice as to tell him what he wanted to know. Law didn't do things the nice way, nor could he be considered a nice person.

His reputation was proof of that.

Instead, he sent the woman a look that silently demanded she start talking or there would be pain involved. It obviously worked because her hands shook in her lap and she leaned back slightly.

"The marines." She said quickly, as if the speed of the words would somehow make it easier. Law raised a brow.

"Why were you pursued by the marines?" She gave a small sigh, resigning herself to fessing up.

"I belong to a wealthy family on another island. I ran away from home, and they hired marines to bring me back." Her eyes turned watery and the last thing Law wanted was a sobbing mess of a woman in his infirmary.

"A wealthy family?" He asked, rubbing his goatee in thought. He caught Summer's glance in his direction. No doubt, she was wondering what he would do with this information. In the short month she had been aboard, she had caught on quickly as to how his mind worked.

The Heart Pirates hadn't done anything directly against society or illegal in a while. His plan to lay low after the War of the Best had been effective in reducing the amount of trouble they could cause, which was good and bad. He knew his men were starting to get bored and impatient; he planned on entering the New World soon and that would most definitely keep them occupied.

Perhaps this would be the first step.

"Where are you from, Miss Kat?" He said, noticing her tense up when he used her name.

"E-Elysium. Please, I don't want to go back there." She begged, meeting his eyes for the first time. The paleness of her eyes came as a slight shock, though the strange hue was nothing compared to Summer's own striking violet eyes.

"I wasn't planning on bringing you back."

Kat jumped slightly, as if his admission were a physical shock.

"Y-you're not?"

"No. On the contrary, I'd like you to join my crew."

He felt Summer's furious stare at the back of his head, no doubt with malicious intent behind it. He knew full well that the offer given to Kat hadn't been extended to Summer; a choice to join the crew or not. He knew he'd face an enraged blonde cook's assistant later, but his plan had to be implemented this way.

The girl's fascination with pirates was a sure sign that she had aspirations to become one, and Law planned to use that to his advantage.

Kat's eyes took on a clear quality they hadn't shown before and she looked in awe at him. "Really? You would let me?" When he nodded she smiled sickeningly bright and gave a shrill squeal. It almost made him second guess his decision.

When he heard rushed footsteps and the slamming of the infirmary doors, he smirked. Surely, the blonde would rein hell against him when she had the chance.