FicWad

"You're what?" Summer asked harshly, her eyes wide with disbelief. Her sudden outburst and rapid rise to her feet in the cafeteria full of silent crewmen caused Law to turn his smooth gaze towards her. Several men glanced in her direction, looking visibly uncomfortable in the now packed room.

"Those are my orders, and they will be followed." He retorted crisply from his position standing in front, sweeping his gaze across the rest of the men's faces. Each one looked away uneasily but nodded their understanding. Only Bepo looked unaffected.

"Heh...you can't really...you can't be serious…" She sputtered, running a hand through her unruly hair. Her disgusted face seemed to see right through him. Law's outward demeanor hadn't changed, but internally his patience was beginning to run thin with Summer.

"Do you have a problem with my decision?" He question, to which she threw her hands up in objection.

"Hell yes I do!" She began pacing what space she had in the cramped space, but a few men retreated from her furious figure. "Did you not go through the month we all have had? Did you not feel the anger and irritation we all did?" She gestured to the men around her.

"I did." He replied.

"Then you should agree that we need to just kill her." She pushed. Law let the silence ring through the tense air that surrounded the submarine's mess deck. There were murmurs of agreement and reluctant questions throughout the men. Angry glares at the floor, uncomfortable whispers, heavy sighs, resigned gazes...that is what greeted the captain as he looked to the Heart Pirates.

A sigh of his own escaped his lips and his arms crossed over his chest. "No, I don't."

"And why not?" Summer pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to understand Law's reasoning. You could clearly hear the effort she put through to make her voice sound calmer, it wavered through her anger.

"Yes, Kat-ya has been a rather unpleasant passenger aboard this submarine. She has caused us all countless headaches and unnecessary stress. However, the one who almost killed two of our own was her mother.

"We've taken her hostage and she will be properly punished. I will personally see to that." He commented darkly. Several men cursed the woman quietly, a common hatred in all of their eyes. "But her daughter did not bring harm to either of them. For that she cannot be accused."

Summer opened her mouth to speak but he continued. "Because of that, I will not condemn her to death."

"Then, what are we going to do with her, Captain?" Shachi asked, scratching his head.

"Please tell me we're not letting her join the crew officially." Scott said, a pleading look on his face.

"What's the plan?" Someone in the back shouted. The noise was growing louder, and he raised a hand to quiet the rowdy crew.

"She will not remain on the submarine."

"How are we going to get rid of her?" Bepo spoke now for the first time. Glancing at his first mate, he felt the rest of the eyes in the room stare at him.

"We'll resurface in the morning and set her adrift at sea."

There was a silence as Law watched his crew process and think over this information. It took only a few moments before many started nodding their heads in agreement. Summer however, kept her eyes on the floor stubbornly. It looked like she was trying to burn a hole in the carpet with her gaze alone.

"Are we going to give her any supplies? We don't really have much to spare her since we didn't restock on the island." Casper mentioned. Law forced back a yawn, wondering briefly what time it was. While the sub was submerged it was difficult to tell but something told him it was late at night.

"As you said, we can't spare anything. No food or water, but she will be given a blanket and a pistol with two shots."

"Are you sure she'll be able to survive that? It sounds like a death sentence to me…" Someone muttered.

Law nodded to Bepo, who produced a map from his jumpsuit pocket. The map was spread over a table in the middle of the room where everyone could see. The captain pointed to a spot in the ocean.

"This is our current position. There's an island about two day's travel from here." His finger trailed across the blue section and landed on a small island just to the south. "With the currents around here, she would drift south at a speed that would take her four days to get there. It's possible, if she has the will to hang on for that long."

"It sounds reasonable enough." Bepo said, rolling up the map.

"Shachi-ya, Penguin-ya, I want you up early in the morning with me to figure out where to resurface. Everyone else will have regular duties after this is over. Now get to sleep." Law concluded, and everyone stood up and stretched. The tired crew slowly trickled out of the room and wandered to their beds. The captain watched the room slowly grow empty. However, one figure didn't leave. Who it was didn't surprise him in the least.

"Summer-ya, that was an order." She was still seated at one of the tables, arms crossed and head down. At his voice, she looked up and glared.

"I still don't agree with this. I say we get rid of her now, save us the trouble later." His eyes narrowed.

"Frankly, I don't much care whether you agree or not. My decision has been made. I suggest you get over this issue and move on." Without waiting for a response, he turned his back on her and walked out of the room. He'd had enough of people for one night.

Summer took the long hallway back to her room at the slowest speed possible, her arms hugging her body tightly. Her mind was racing and she had a giant headache.

'Why is he letting her go? Doesn't he see something about her isn't right?' She shook her head to try to rid of the pulsing pain, but it only made her slightly dizzy.

'This is a mistake, I can feel it. We should end it now.'

Glancing to the sides, she saw the other quarters were dark and faint snoring came from behind the doors. Snoring, soft footsteps, and the low hum of the engines were the only noises on the whole sub. It began calming her down, just a little. The events of the past day or so were really taking their toll on her mind and body.

'Maybe she'll die at sea. Maybe some seagulls will pick at her eye sockets and her corpse will land on some island a thousand miles away. Maybe...maybe...maybe…'

Looking back up, she stopped. Her head turned and she saw her own room several feet behind her. She had passed it in her wandering thoughts. With another shake of her head, she returned to her door and entered the black room.

Law finished checking over Reid and Liam for the night before glancing at the clock. It was close to midnight. He put down the two clipboards on his desk and moved to go to his room. He stopped, eyes landing on one of his scalpels he still needed to clean. There was still one more thing he needed to do. With hardened eyes, he snatched up the tool and set out in the opposite direction from his quarters.

The Dark Doctor opened the door carefully and silently, not waking the sleeping woman. She was still strapped hand and foot in the wooden chair, somehow finding sleep in her awkward position. He frowned, deciding that her time being treated humanely was up. Once he was inside he slammed the door closed, jerking the redhead awake in a panic.

After a moment of confusion, her eyes landed on the approaching pirate in fear.

"Wha-what-"

"The rest of my men are currently sleeping, since it's so late at night. I normally wouldn't do this when my crew might be bothered." He said, a smirk slowly forming on his face. "But this room is soundproof. So you can scream as loud as you want."

Scarlet's breath quickened as he walked closer, eyes focused on the scalpel he twirled between his fingers. She could see the excited gleam in his eyes.

"Shall we begin?"