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Brook stood behind most of the crew quietly waiting for Chopper to speak. The others were in a flurry of concerned conversation, impatient suggestions, and a few wild speculations. Brook normally would be joining in on this type of banter, but something about knowing his Captain wasn't doing so well made Brook go quiet and wait patiently.
"Luffy has picked up a flu-like sickness from the last island; he's going to be quarantined to the infirmary, so I need all of you to keep out of the infirmary," Chopper explained his small voice easily carrying over the crowd. As the chatter settled to a dull roar Chopper continued to speak, "I'm doing some tests, and hopefully once I know what's going on, I'll have a cure for Luffy in a few days. I just need a little bit of time."
The day had started quietly on the Thousand Sunny, which was abnormal. Days on the large ship did not start quietly, not with Luffy around. Days started with shouting for meat, and a "shishishi," laughter, and a high pitched whine for fun, adventure, and entertainment. But today, the Captain had seemed subdued... He had barely spoken at breakfast and only stolen food from a handful of plates.
When asked if something was wrong he would say he was fine and flash a big grin. But as the day passed, Luffy grew quieter, preferring to lay on the lawn deck, rather than chase Usopp and Chopper around. When lunchtime came up, Luffy shocked everyone when he said he wasn't hungry. At that, Luffy had been rushed to the sickbay, and after several nervous hours, the reindeer finally had news.
Hearing that Luffy was sick, was not good news... but at least it explained Luffy's downtrodden behavior.
"What about food?" Sanji asked Chopper, a thumbnail in his mouth. It seemed he had burned through his cigarettes as they stood on the deck waiting for news on their beloved rubber man.
Chopper shook his head, "He's started to throw up, and has had a loss of appetite. I think just a broth soup, and maybe just some rice. Bring it on a cart and leave it outside the door at mealtimes, you can't bring it to him. We need to contain this illness until I finish with the tests. So for now, everyone keep away!"
"Hold on!" Franky interrupted, "You say it's from the last island, aren't we all at risk for this illness? Why stay away!?"
Chopper sighed, tapping a hoof to his nose, "Yes... and I've got some preventatives for you to all take, but anyone could get sick. It would be bad if we all were to get sick and were still so far off from the next island. So if anyone starts to experience dizziness, diarrhea, aches, pains, or vomiting you need to come see me. And you might also need to go into quarantine. I think this is a bacterial illness, but it still could have gone airborne. For now, Luffy needs to rest, and we need to keep an eye out for each other!"
Murmurs of agreement echoed around the crew.
Brook remained silent.
"Now... I also need to know who was with Luffy the most on the last island," Chopper continued, tucking his arms behind him, and looking up at his friends.
"Hmmm... I was with him a large part of the time," Zoro commented, before looking at Nami, "You too right?"
Nami pursed her lips, "Well... Usopp and I had to chase Luffy out of a cave he just had to go explore. But it was you and... Franky who went with him to explore the forest right?"
"Ah, that's right! We found those SUUUUPER trees that were furry on the outside!" Franky cackled as he remembered the rare find of excellent and new exciting wood.
"Moss?" Robin asked, tilting her head at Franky.
"Nah! Thicker! Like a lion's mane!" Franky crowed.
As the conversation continued back and forth, Brook stepped away from his crewmates. He distantly heard them discussing meals they could make for Luffy, or tangerines that could be juiced or any of the other small things that could help their Captain. For some reason Brook found he couldn't take part in this careful planning, his mind was feeling a little too cluttered.
Brook walked until he was in the kitchen, and with a shaking hand began to brew himself a bit of tea. Tea would keep him calm.
His old Captain... Captain Yorki, had gotten sick too. A small bug from an island. Something that seemed simple enough... that grew worse with time. Worse until Yorki didn't want to hear music, his head hurt too much. He could no longer lift his own instrument, and his friends' joyous merrymaking just tired him out. The Rumbar pirate's doctor thought their beloved Captain would get better with some rest too... but he died. Captain Yorki died... and it had seemed like such a small thing.
In lieu of closing his eyes, Brook placed a skeletal hand over his sockets. He took a steadying breath and told himself that it was different this time. Luffy was not Yorki, and Chopper was an amazing doctor. Even better than the doctor they had over fifty years ago. It would be fine. Everything would be fine. This time for sure...
It was going to be okay.
As the day went on, it was some relief to note that Brook wasn't alone in his fears. Everyone seemed more subdued and concerned. Nami had been checking her log pose, and known maps, and was murmuring to herself calculations that would be needed to arrive at their destination sooner. Chopper had shut himself away with Luffy, no doubt working on some sort of medicine for the rubber man. Sanji was preparing meals that would be good for Luffy, and boost the immune system of everyone else on the crew. Franky had been assisting Robin with her garden quietly, the two plucking herbs for Luffy that might prove helpful if boiled in a tea later. Usopp was picking ripe fruit from Nami's trees so that a vitamin c boosted smoothie could be presented to Luffy as soon as he could drink something more substantial than water.
Everyone was busy and everyone was worrying.
Brook wished he could think of something to do, but found himself quietly drifting along the ship from room to room. Friend to friend. He felt too anxious to do much and was glad to have the first watch that night. The time alone to think would be beneficial, and looking after the others as they slept would give him some feeling of accomplishment.
He normally liked to play a little tune on his violin, or come up with a new song when he watched the ocean at night... but nothing was coming to him. Brook could not find it in himself to play. No music came to his mind. Only Luffy. Smiling Luffy, holding his straw hat to his head as a gust of wind tried to take it. He could hear Luffy's laugh now if he thought hard enough. A laugh that made you want to echo it, made you want to respond, to sing, to laugh as well... A laugh that in his mind suddenly shifted into coughing.
And oh... would Luffy get pale, like Yorki had?
Brook banged his skull against the foremast.
'It's not like last time,' Brook thought again, 'It won't be.'
Even when Brook switched out with Zoro, Brook got no sleep that night. Brook lay awake in his hammock, peering at his sleeping crewmates wondering if they would start coughing soon. Some of them were very stubborn... would they pretend nothing was wrong only to get sicker? Brook could name three people offhand who would stubbornly deny they were sick.
'Here comes one now,' Brook thought as Zoro came to switch out with the next person on night watch duty.
SIlently, Brook watched Zoro trudge inside and shove Usopp who groaned softly as Zoro persisted.
Brook could see Zoro's smile in the dark as he tugged Usopp up out of his hammock. Zoro would deny it, but the swordsman seemed to have quite a soft spot for the younger members of the crew. It felt like a charming little secret Brook knew about his stoic friend, and one he wouldn't dare tease the other man over. Usopp seemed to be resisting getting up more than normal, not that Usopp was ever eager to take the last watch of the night anyway.
But it took a couple of tries for Usopp to get up out of his hammock. When Usopp managed to get to his feet, he rubbed an eye and quietly pouted at Zoro. With all the affection of an older brother, Zoro tousled Usopp's black curls, hands roughly jostling the young man. Usopp made a small noise, muffled as quietly as the young man could. He swatted Zoro on the arm, Zoro grinning savagely back in response until Usopp too was smiling.
Usopp gave one last wave and then headed out of the men's quarters, Zoro flopping into his own sleeping space and falling asleep in an instant.
It was moments, small tender moments like these that made Brook happy to be part of a group again. A small, terrified part of him wondered if his new friends, his new family... would become memories of the past like the ones before.
'It's not like last time,' Brook thought again, listening desperately to the snores and heartbeats of his fellows. 'It's not!' he thought fiercely, desperately.
It was different this time, it had to be.
The next morning, Brook watched with a cold shudder of despair and fear as Chopper helped Nami to the infirmary room.
Nami's face was flushed, and her eyes a little bleary, but her mouth was curved upwards in a small smile. She was bent forward and her hand was clasped on the top of Chopper's head, the reindeer not seeming to mind as she used him like a crutch. She didn't seem to be doing too bad when compared to Luffy, and Brook could just faintly hear her speaking kindly to the little doctor.
"...I really didn't notice I was feeling poorly until this morning. I'm sorry Chopper."
"It's alright!" Chopper whispered reassuringly, "Let's just get you inside. You don't seem as bad as Luffy, so maybe I'll give you a mask too in case this is something else..." Chopper's voice disappeared as he led Nami inside the infirmary, and shut the door.
Brook stood for several long moments staring at the door, willing it to open and return his friends to him, safe and healthy.
Numbly, Brook walked to the dining area, where Sanji was preparing breakfast. Brook sat down, feeling oddly empty, but not hungry, and his head was full of fog. The sickness was spreading, wasn't it? This would be the end. No, the beginning of the end. Everyone would get sick, absolutely everyone. All but him. Brook would be alone. Would he be able to take care of them all as they got sick?
Would they die on the sea, or at the next island... leaving Brook alone?
It was happening again.
"Brook!"
Brook jolted and looked up.
He was startled to see that movement in the kitchen and dining area had stopped. Zoro, who had not been in the dining room before was now next to him and had placed a strong hand on Brook's shoulder, his thick fingers curled around Brook's humerus bone, and his thumb pressing into Brook's scapula. It seemed Zoro had been trying to get his attention and had maybe even given him a shake.
Brook had been so caught up in his thoughts he hadn't noticed.
Sanji had set down the breakfast dishes, and his eyes, or at least his visible left eye was fixed on Brook's face. Sanji's eyes darted, no doubt sharing a look with Zoro, before Sanji asked, "Did you not hear us just a minute ago?"
"Oh... Oh... dear me... no... no... I..." Brook's mandible hung open for a moment, and then he closed it with a click. He didn't really know what to say.
"You're not alright," Zoro stated firmly, his tone firm and laced with concern. He did not ask, he stated.
Brook took in a deep breath, trying to steady the heartbeat he did not have (but oh it felt like his heart was racing) and sighed, "I'm sorry... Nami... Nami is sick now."
Zoro squeezed Brook's shoulder hard and swore.
Sanji let out a louder gasp, and a hand flew to his heart, "No! My poor Nami-Swan!"
As Zoro and Sanji broke out into conversation that was half hot-headed insults, and half mumbled whispers of concern, Brook went back into staring into space. What were they going to do? Their Captain was sick, as was their navigator. A course had been set, but no one could predict the weather changes like Nami. She had become an expert and navigating the seas of the Grand Line. What if a storm caught them by surprise? What if they were blown off course and away from an island that could provide help?
Luffy and Nami... coughing in their beds.
Yorki dead somewhere, alone and away from his crew.
His crew who later died on the sea, save for one.
Brook's fingers itched to play his violin.
Getting up sharply, he hastily left the dining room, looking to go snatch back up his instrument. He was so focused on the task, he didn't apologize to Franky who he bumped into in his exit, or bid Robin a good morning as he passed her.
Brook just needed to go.
When Brook was in the men's qaurters he carefully picked up his violin and bow. In a single motion, he had the violin at his shoulder and the bow poised to play.
His fingers itched to play, to be kept busy.
The music wouldn't come.
Frozen in place for a moment, Brook tried to remember a song, any song, that he could play.
Nothing would come to mind.
Not even the first three notes of Bink's Sake.
Brook returned back up to the deck and decided to sit in a chair on the lawn deck. The scent of the grass always brought back memories of a home he had not seen in over half a century. But still... it was comforting. He sat quietly for several long moments, his face tilted instinctively to the infirmary entry. Brook waited for the doors to open, unsure what he even wanted to see. Luffy and Nami wouldn't come bounding out of it. There was nothing that would fix them up right away.
Brook supposed he hoped the door remained shut. If Chopper came bursting out in a panic... well then that wouldn't be good news.
Another door opening brought Brook's attention away from the infirmary.
Sanji had hastily exited the dining room and walked with purposeful strides towards Brook. Slowly, the rest of the crew were following, looking around the deck as if looking for someone. Zoro's eyes landed on Brook and rest there. Zoro had this quiet stare about him, one that was picking Brook apart. It was unnerving to think the swordsman might know what was going on in Brook's head, very unnerving since Brook wasn't sure what was going on up there himself.
Brook turned his focus to the approaching Sanji, and as brightly as he could laughed, "Oh my! I'm terribly sorry, I should have stayed for breakfast right?"
Sanji stopped, his face tight with concern. "We can talk about that... in a bit.. but... uhm..." Sanji's eyes were darting around, "Have you seen Usopp? He's not come up for food, and Franky says he wasn't in his shop..."
Brook felt a cold shiver pass over him. His bones rattled audibly and he felt Sanji's jump rather than saw it. Brook had stopped seeing Sanji and instead thought of Usopp last night. Zoro had tousled the boy's hair affectionately, and the sniper had smiled, his eyes looking tired. More tired than they should. Usopp had been reluctant to get out of bed. Had Usopp been...
"Brook?"
Sanji's voice barely registered.
Brook got up and strode towards the foremast, leaving Sanji to have to trail after him.
"Usopp had the last watch last night..." Brooke whispered, his instrument and bow slipping from his fingers, and landing in the grass as he strode across the lawn.
Sanji was half jogging to keep up with Brook's pace and actually had to jump to dodge Brook's suddenly discarded instrument. Sanji glanced back, seemingly surprised by Brook's release of the object, before Brook's words registered.
"You think he's in the crow's nest? Still?" Sanji pressed, a shadow of suspicion and worry beginning to settle in his eye. "Brook... You think-"
Brook didn't stay to hear Sanji's question. Brook dropped to the ground in a tight squat, before launching his lighter body up in the air. He flew high into the air, hands outstretched to catch the rigging alongside the foremast. Almost at the top of the crow's nest, Brook's hands hooked into to rope ladder that ran alongside the foremast. Brook's bones creaked in protest as they always did when he pulled a stunt like this, but it did not deter him.
Hand over hand he pushed himself forward and flung his thin frame into the crow's nest. Tucking and rolling off to the side, he shot his head up looking around the room.
Curled up next to the bench that was along the edge of the crow's nest, was Usopp.
Brook was touching Usopp even before he realized he had moved to gather the young man in his arms.
Pulling Usopp to him, Brook could feel the burning fever on Usopp's skin. The corner of his mouth had dried vomit, and there was a bit in his hair. Brook glanced to the spot he had pulled Usopp from and saw a bit of last night's dinner resting in a puddle on the bench.
Usopp must have gotten sick sometime last night, and perhaps too weak to call for help, or maybe too stubborn, had passed out up here all alone in the crow's nest.
Brook held Usopp hard against him, the sniper grunting a small protest in his sleep as Brook squeezed him.
The small sound of protest grounded Brook a bit. Usopp was alive. He was still alive, and so there was still something he could do.
As fast as he could, Brook made his way down the rigging, Usopp secured over his shoulder. As he reached the deck, he saw that he had gained a crowd.
"Oi! Usopp!" Zoro's voice rang out, his eyes narrowed in anger and shock.
"Shit!" Sanji hissed a hand reaching to help Brook down. His pale fingers curled for Usopp's limp hand.
"Don't!" Brook snarled, startling his friends. Brook shook himself, and marched forward, "Don't. You all could get sick. Don't... Don't touch him. No one goto the crow's nest. I will clean the mess up later. I won't get sick."
"Mess?" Robin echoed, following Brook, the others at her heels.
"Usopp got sick up there," Brook answered.
"Last night? Alone?!" Franky despaired with disbelief.
"It appears so," Brook muttered, answering any rapid questions that were shot at him.
He charged ahead, pulling Usopp to rest more comfortably in his arms, rather than draped along his boney back. Usopp pressed his cheek into Brook's ribcage, and Brook shuddered again as he felt the heat from Usopp's body radiate through his bones. Usopp was oddly dry... most likely dehydrated. If they hadn't thought to look for him... when would Usopp have been found?
Yorki's body was alone at sea.
Brook was pounding on the door to the infirmary before he knew it, and a frazzled Chopper opened up, his eyes narrowed with anger. He looked like he was about to tell Brook to be quiet when he spotted Usopp. Chopper squawked, and shifted into his heavy point form, taking Usopp up in his arms and inside the infirmary. Brook's arms hung in the air, his fingers twitching with the memory of Usopp's fevered weight. He felt sick watching Usopp being carried away into the darkness of Chopper's infirmary.
It was like he was watching his friend be swallowed up.
"I... I can help," Brook offered suddenly. His voice sounded pathetic and lost.
"No!" Chopper snapped, disappearing further inside to deposit Usopp on a bed. "No, no one should come in here now!"
Brook could see Luffy tucked in the covers of a bed, a rag on his forehead. Luffy's eyes were closed in sleep, but he looked uncomfortable. His brow was narrowed, and his lips tilted down in a painful frown, even as he slept. He looked so small. Luffy's meal, a bowl of chicken broth, and a small portion of rice was sitting untouched next to his bedside. Luffy... hadn't eaten. Something about that was so entirely wrong Brook himself was beginning to feel a little ill.
"Brook... Brook are you okay?" Nami's voice rasped.
Brook shifted to look at the next bed where Nami was resting. She still seemed a bit healthier than Luffy, but held a wastebasket in her hands. Her voice was thick with bile, and the paleness in her cheeks probably meant she was going to be puking or had been puking. Nami held her concerned gaze on Brook before she winced at some unknown symptom, and closed her eyes, her hands gripping the wastebasket tighter.
Usopp was choking now.
Brook's head whipped to the back where Chopper had taken Usopp.
Chopper had pressed smelling salts under the sniper's long nose, and now Usopp groaned as he began to wake. Chopper was ordering Usopp to wake up and sit up, but it looked like Usopp could barely manage. Usopp gasped, and placed a hand to his mouth, his shoulders shuddering with a cough, that turned into a dry heave.
"I...help. I can... help," Brook tried weakly again.
"There's no helping this right now," Chopper called over his shoulder his voice tired and a bit impatient, "It just needs to run its course-"
Brook swayed on the spot.
There was no helping this. There was nothing Brook could do. His friends were sick. And they were all going to die. This was it. Just like last time, all over again.
A hand was on Brook's back.
This was just like last time!
"Brook?" Robin's voice was tight and filled with concern.
They were all dead. The sickness was the beginning. It was going to steal his Captain.
Chopper stopped worrying over Usopp to look back at Brook, his eyes darting over Brook's face with apprehension.
And then they'd be alone. And then... who would lead the charge? Brook. No. No wait. This wasn't the Rumbar pirates... Zoro would lead. But they were all still going to die, right?
"Brook?" Chopper questioned.
It was too late.
"Too late," Brook whispered.
They would all die. All over again. Brook would be alone. Again. It was happening again!
"Brook you're swaying."
They were going to die.
That was it.
This was it.
"Brook?"
Yorki was dead.
All the Rumbar Pirates, save Laboon and himself-
"Brook!"
---were dead.
Brook collapsed in a heap, barely aware of the voices of his friends as everything faded to dark.
Brook was startled awake by some sort of disturbance. He wasn't sure what had woken him, but something had snapped Brook out of the darkness of his sleep. Looking around, Brook realized he was in a bed, and after a moment he recognized it to be the infirmary.
"Oh thank goodness!" A soft whisper caught his ear (or would have caught his ear if he had them! Skull joke!) and Brook shifted to see Nami smiling at him.
She was tucked into her own bed, and her hand reached out for Brook. Gentle fingers landed on Brook's forehead. Her fingers were clammy and a bit cold... she must have just broken through a fever, "You passed out! Chopper thought it was a panic attack?"
Brook's mouth opened and then closed with a click. He wasn't sure what to say. Timidly, Brook took Nami's hand, meaning to only remove it from his brow. But she squeezed his hand tight, and her reassuring surge of life made him fill at ease. Brook squeezed gently back, which Nami echoed twice as hard, and the musician was humbled to hold the hand of his dear friend who had been reaching for him.
"I didn't realize I could faint from something like that..." Brook finally said after a long moment.
"Well from what we heard the others say, it sounds like you've been very stressed all day," Nami whispered back. Her eyes were searing into Brook's, and she was dissecting him the same way Zoro had tried before.
Brook snapped his mouth shut and looked away. He held fast to Nami's hand, her thudding pulse easing the pains and fears itching in the back of his head.
It was with a great amount of shock that he noticed Luffy was sitting on the end of his bed, a bowl of broth to his lips. Brook had no idea how his Captain had managed to get there unnoticed, but there Luffy was. Luffy was glaring at Brook over his bowl, and let out a satisfied belch, that turned into a half groan when he finished his meal.
"Luffy! Chopper said to eat slow!" Nami sighed, closing her eyes with exhaustion.
"What's wrong Brook?" Luffy asked instead of acknowledging Nami.
Brook only looked at his Captain. Luffy was up. He was still pale, and his hair clung damply to Luffy's forehead. His eyes were tired, and his body sagged a little too much, but it was Luffy. He was awake. Brook turned and found Usopp sleeping in the bed in the corner. Usopp had been cleaned up, and his cheeks were flushed red with fever, but Usopp was asleep looking peaceful.
"You all... don't look so bad," Brook found himself saying.
"Chopper said we all got sick from a spider bite. Something about bacteria in the spider's mouth... he made us medicine once he had given us all a look over," Nami was explaining. She sighed grumpily, "I told you we shouldn't have gone in that cave!"
"I saw something interesting inside!" Luffy whined, pouting at Nami.
"It was a bat! Nothing interesting at all! Usopp and I wouldn't have gotten sick if we hadn't followed you!" Nami snapped back, before wincing at her own loud voice.
"Hey! That's not fair!" Luffy proclaimed, voice sulky, "I didn't tell the spider to bite us!"
Nami sighed, relenting, "I know. I know... I'm sorry! It's not your fault, but really Luffy! Can you try to think before tearing off into some unknown place?!"
"You're... not sick?" Brooke whispered interrupting the pair's conversation. He was amazed. His crewmates were doing so well. So much better than he had thought.
Luffy and Nami looked back at Brook, quietly looking him over.
"Yeah we're sick," Luffy said after a while, "But Chopper is making us better. It's what Chopper is best at!" Luffy nodded his head, his serious expression still fixed on Brook. "Why did you doubt Chopper?"
"I-I didn't!" Brook tried to defend himself, "I... you were all sick and I..." Brook grasped for the words but they wouldn't come.
"You made yourself sick because we were sick?" Luffy mused, crossing his arms as he held Brook under his gaze.
Brook nodded, wilting slightly, "I... I thought I was..." The words were hard to say, and suddenly Brook's vision had become so foggy, "I thought everyone would get sick and I would lose you. And I..." Brook sniffled and blinked rapidly. Oh, he was crying. When did that happen? Brook shuddered, "I was going to lose you all... my friends. My Captain was..."
Brook's vision was obscured again, not by tears, but by a straw hat that Luffy had gently shoved on his face.
After a long moment, Brook brought his hand up and held the hat gently in his hands. Peaking out from under it, he saw Luffy was still gazing at him with a serious expression. These looks were often something that would make one shudder, but there was something very gentle about it this time. Brook had seen these looks before, not directed at him. But he had seen these soft serious looks the Captain sometimes gave the members of his crew.
Brook guessed it was his turn to be on the receiving end now.
Luffy held Brook with his gaze, a gaze full of promises and expectations, for a long while, and when he spoke, his words rippled with resolve, "We're not dying. I'm not dying. I'm not going to get sick and die. Chopper can cure everything. I trust him. You need to trust him a little better. You need to trust me a little better."
Luffy's eyes narrowed, and he nodded his head firmly, "You won't be alone again Brook."
Brook felt a wail build up in his ribcage, but he choked it back, His tears fell unbidden however, and he nodded at his Captain. Luffy stretched and pushed the straw hat on Brook's head.
"Wear that until you feel better. You have to give it back though," Luffy said firmly.
Brook kept one hand on his eyes and cried loudly as Nami held his other hand.
Her grip was warm and alive.
"I'm... so grateful... to b-be a member on this crew! I'm tha-thankful to be your friend!" Brook managed after several minutes of sobbing.
Luffy laughed, and finally removed himself from the bed, "Of course!"
Luffy was in bed when Chopped came back, who immediately began fussing over Brook. Brook allowed Chopped to coddle and scold him, apologizing through his own tears. Luffy's hat was balanced strangely on Brook's fro, but he kept it there for now. He made a small note to himself to return it later.
Brook thought of Yorki's smiling face, and with his heart feeling lighter, he also thought that Yorki would have really liked Luffy.
Brook sure did.
The End.