FicWad

Law had deemed Kat healthy and able to meet the rest of the crew, much to Summer's irritation. She had hoped that maybe the woman would be holed up in the infirmary for several days, like she had. It would reduce the amount of time she would have to stand face to face with her.

The announcement was made to the crew that same hour, and a small party was being prepared in celebration of another addition to their little 'family.' Penguin and Shachi had immediately demanded to see Kat and then began drooling over her innocent and young appearance. Liam and Reid had to physically drag them away from the very confused and flustered young woman.

Most of the men were gathered around her in the mess deck, firing off questions one after the other. She obviously couldn't handle the situation; her face was red from embarrassment or stress and her little nervous hand-wringing habit had shown itself. The others didn't seem to notice her discomfort. Everyone was in high spirits.

Even Law, who was normally so cold and reserved, had personally introduced her the his crew.

Summer and Casper were the only ones not celebrating.

A feast had been called for and Casper and Summer were holed up in the kitchen preparing the large meal. The old cook had broken out his largest pots and pans. Summer helped in any way she could, gathering ingredients and equipment, preparing the oven for the food, or forcing hungry crewmen out of the kitchen. The hard work was a welcome distraction from what, or rather who, was really on her mind.

Kat.

"Hand me those tomatoes, lass." He said, focused on stirring soup in a massive pot. Without a word, she brought the fruits over to him, immediately returning to her post of chopping the vegetables.

She forced her eyes to stay on the task in front of her, but her body ached to go wring the neck of the Dark Doctor. Or Kat, whichever she ran into first. Logic dictated that Kat had nothing to do with Law's decision to give her the choice of joining, but it still left a sour taste in her mouth.

Why would Law let someone as strange and uncertain as that join the crew? Would he really risk the safety of his crew for one girl?

'/He let /you /join the crew, didn't he? That took a whole lot of crazy in itself.' /She had to admit, albeit reluctantly, that when she had joined the crew Law must have looked at her the same way as Kat: unpredictable and an unknown danger. Giving an audible sigh, she accepted that maybe Kat wasn't such a bad person after all. Maybe it was just her own emotions that caused her to hate the young woman.

'Something is strange about her. She is not to be trusted.'

That nagging feeling about her didn't go away, however. That tiny part of her brain that she had marked as her internal instincts was telling her to throw her overboard or something, but she just racked that over to jealousy.

"What are you thinkin' about, Summer? You're staring off into space." Casper's voice cut through her thoughts and brought her back to reality. Looking down, she realized she had stopped cutting halfway through an onion while she was daydreaming.

"Oh, nothing important. I just got distracted is all." The look Casper sent her way made it obvious he didn't believe her, but he left her alone anyway.

Shaking her head, she continued with her work, unconsciously plotting ways to make someone's death look like an accident. She wasn't done with Law yet.

"What do you think of her?" The question came out of her mouth before she had a chance to think. She hadn't meant for it to come out, but nothing could change that now. The old cook glanced through the serving window into the cafeteria where the commotion surrounding the new recruit was still happening. He went back to cooking, taking several seconds to think before answering her question.

"I think she's worthy of a chance." He said keeping his voice low so no one would hear, despite the fact that Summer was the only other person in the room. She looked away in slight shame. "But," He continued, causing her to look back up to him. "I wouldn't get too cozy with her. It can't hurt to be too cautious." She gave a tiny smile.

'At least someone's on my side.'

Dinner was served out quickly, considering how unruly the crew was. Law noticed the men weren't paying much attention to the food they were given. Instead, their eyes held only the new recruit. They looked decidedly happier than they had been the past few days.

It was a shame that his plans would take that away, but there was nothing to do about it now.

As always, Summer scurried around the room handing out the bowls of soup. Though her demeanor had changed dramatically from the night before. Instead of a contented smile on her face, she watched the ground and gave away nothing but a blank look. He knew she was intentionally hiding her real emotions. Judging by the perfectly maintained neutral expression, she had had plenty of practice with that skill.

His own food was placed on his table without so much as a word or a glance in his direction. If he didn't know any better, he would think she hadn't even known he was there. It was like she was running on autopilot, handing out food and dodging legs in the aisles.

It didn't slip by his notice when Summer brought Kat her food last, and he couldn't help but grin. At least he knew his plan with Kat wouldn't give her reason to be sad. In fact, he wouldn't be surprised if she thanked him for it.

"Summer doesn't look too happy, Captain." Bepo said. The bear sat across from him eating his usual plate of fish, but his attention was rapt on Summer's retreating back. She disappeared behind the kitchen door.

Law nodded silently, lost in his own thoughts. He was sure he wouldn't see her again until tomorrow, since she always ate in the kitchen and stayed late to clean up. To his surprise, however, she reappeared a moment later. Her apron was gone, leaving her in her normal tank top and jeans, and she was heading towards the hallway door. Without really knowing what he was doing, he got up after her.

"Aren't you going to eat, Summer-ya?" He said, catching up to her by the door frame. He leaned against the door and crossed his arms, making it obvious that he was not going to be deflected that easily. She had been reaching for the handle but froze at his words. He couldn't see her face, but he could tell she wasn't happy.

"I'm not hungry." She said quietly. He raised a brow.

"You haven't eaten anything since breakfast." Her hand tightened on the handle, her knuckles starting to turn white.

"I'm fine." Her response was clipped, as if it were difficult to talk. A grin spread across his face. Her reactions were so amusing, he couldn't help but prod her a little.

"Is this about Kat-ya?" She bowed her head slightly.

"No."

"Then what's gotten you so uptight?"

Her answer was silence, much to his amusement.

"Are you sure this has nothing to do with Kat-ya? Why don't you join them over there?" He gestured to the loud group in the middle, watching her back like a hawk for any sign of aggression. She took a deep, shuddering breath before turning to look him in the eye.

"What does it matter? I've already met her."

"I would think another woman aboard would make things easier for you. Maybe you should-"

"I'd like to go to sleep now." She interrupted. Her jaw was clenched with barely restrained anger and he knew that one more wrong word and she would snap. Much as he would have liked to witness such an event, he decided that she had had enough for one day. Summer's fury might scare the girl out of staying, and that was something that Law wanted to avoid.

He said nothing more, and she took that as a sign that she could leave. The door opened harder than he was sure she intended it to, and she quickly walked down the darker hallway. Law was left to watch her

She closed the door behind her, not bothering to even turn on the light. All she wanted to do was rest for awhile and get all these negative feelings out of her system. Summer changed into her sleepwear as calmly as her anger would let her, hopping around a little when her sweatpants got caught on one foot. She left the tank top on and flung herself onto the soft comforter.

Burrowing herself until she created a sort of cocoon in the sheets, she forced her eyes closed and willed any thoughts at all out of her mind. She did not want to keep feeling this strongly about something that probably wasn't that big a deal anyway. It just wasn't worth it, she kept telling herself.

But at the same time, the hurt and anger wouldn't leave her system and she couldn't figure out why. Why did the mention of Kat get her so worked up? Normally, she was a very calm person. This was so unlike her, and she got a headache just thinking about. With a loud sigh, she snuggled deeper into the bed.

'Just sleep. Things will be better in the morning.'

"Do you hate me?" Kat asked, pale blue eyes wide as she gazed over Summer. She tried to speak but found nothing came out. She went to put a hand over her mouth but found that her body wouldn't move either. Looking around, she realized where she was.

A metal laboratory table was set in the middle of a pitch black room, and both arms and leg were strapped down with leather restraints. Panic set in and the thrashing began. The leather held, and her struggling only served to make the skin around her wrists red and irritated. Her clothes were gone, replaced with a white hospital gown. The chilly air and exposed skin gave her goosebumps all over her body. Unbidden, her teeth began to chatter.

Her mouth opened in a silent scream and Kat giggled above her. "No one can hear you, we're all alone. Just you and me." The woman reached for something above Summer's head, too far for her to see. But she didn't have to wait long. A wickedly sharp scalpel dangled from Kat's fingers right in front of her face.

"You know, I don't hate you." Kat said, lazily tracing a line down Summer's face with the metal tool. She looked content, almost bored, with the situation. Summer kept her eyes on the scalpel. "In fact, I want to thank you. Thanks to you, I'm his favorite now. That means I can get rid of you, and no one will think twice."

The blade continued down her jaw and onto her neck. The cold metal barely touched her skin but it burned wherever she traced the faint line. She didn't feel any blood.

"Do you hate me?" She repeated in no more than a whisper, this time with a chillingly wide smile. Her giggling was the last thing Summer heard before the blade plunged down into her exposed neck.

"Ah!" She shot up in the bed, her hands flying to her neck to stop the bleeding. It took a moment in her dazed state to realize that there was no blood, and that she wasn't in the hospital room but in her quarters on the submarine.

She was too relieved to even check the clock to see what time it was. Falling back onto the bed, she curled up on her side into a fetal position and began to sob quietly.