Chapter Text
She hated the way she was right now. Under normal circumstances she was a formidable fighter. Pirates respected her, and marines and civilians spoke of her in a low and fearful voice. But like this there wasn’t much she could do.
She had been lucky this far, and it left a bitter taste in her mouth knowing she needed to rely on someone other than herself. Dragon was quickly becoming a name people knew. A name both feared and adored. Not only for his strength, but for his need to protect the weak.
The notion sickened her. This world was a cruel and unforgiving place. Even if they weren’t on the Grand Line, it was still obvious that the strong ruled the weak. And if you had a problem with that, you became stronger and ruled over them. It was as simple as that. What good would a world be if you wasted effort coddling the weak.
Even though his backwards world view had driven a wedge between them, Alison could respect him on a physical level. He had been by far the strongest marine she had come across. He was no slouch as a pirate either. Already they were making note of him as he continues to defy the government.
The inspection and careful disposal of pregnant women in South Blue had certainly been an enduring problem. It was a pointless waste of resources and nothing more than a show of power and dedication to eliminating any possible heirs to Gold Roger’s legacy. It had been long past the potential nine months. If there was an heir, then they’d have already been born.
Even if the kid did exist, it wasn’t like it mattered. She was going to be the King of the Pirates anyways. You were going to need to be more than just the son of some big name to take that from her.
The island she was on was a small one. It was barely a blip on the map to the navy, and as such made it an excellent place to away couples with child. It hadn’t been that long since he left, and already Dragon found it easy to find people willing to help with the birthing and early care of these children. He might’ve had a foolish goal, but he wasn’t short of fools ready to follow him.
She had no interest in interacting with anyone here. There was no point. None of them were willing to be true pirates. They wanted to be marines with morals, so she already knew none of them craved the power that would come with being the most powerful and feared being on the sea. They were all too content to stay here catering to the weak.
Besides, looking at the sickeningly sweet couples so overjoyed to have their perfect partners and perfect children made her want to barf. So tender and doting, like something out of a cheesy romance novel. The only child she was interested in was her own.
Her hands touched her stomach as she felt the kid kick. They weren’t even born, and already she knew this kid was going to be miles ahead of the rest of these brats. They were going to be her and Dragon’s kid after all, it wasn’t like they were going to have much of a choice.
There was a knock on the door. On occasion there were couples that would try and pity her. They felt some obligation to help her, seeing as she was one of the few women here without a partner. You lash out against enough and they get the message and fuck off. Must’ve been someone new to the island.
“I’ve come to check on you, candy girl.” The large and heavily makeuped woman entered the room. She was a fairly new addition to the mix, and one Alison hated. As far as she was concerned, the woman was as much a nuisance as she was a doctor. Perhaps even more so.
Alison felt no need to respond with words, choosing instead to attack back with a pillar of sand.
“AAACK!!! THAT HURT SO MUCH!!!!” She screamed as she was thrown back. Perhaps she’d get the message this time and leave her be. But Alison felt as the stream of sand was stopped with a single blow. “NOT!!!”
The woman continued into her room, unknowing exactly how fortunate she was that Alison had promised that she wouldn’t kill the inhabitants of the island, no matter how temporary, and that she wasn’t in a great position to fight regardless as she was presently very pregnant.
“You’re not going to set a good example for the baby if you keep lashing out like that.” She teased, ignoring the glares she was getting.
“I fail to see how letting unwanted guests get what they deserve for trying to impose themselves on them is a bad example. You have to be strong to get what you want.” It was worth mentioning, as everyone here seemed to have forgotten.
“I’m a doctor, and from the sounds of it the only one that hasn’t been frightened off by you. So you’re stuck with me, honey.”
She went over and took one of her wrists. Alison had been avoiding using her devil fruits on her body. She might’ve had a devil fruit, but her baby did not. She had no idea what would happen if she used it right now. What if she turned to sand and her baby fell to the floor? She had no proof from any other logia users that that wouldn’t happen, because as far as she was aware, she was the only one who was both a logia user and pregnant.
Her wrists were of no consequence to her baby. So long as her abdomen remained untouched, she could do as she pleased.
But her wrist didn’t fall to sand and free her. It stayed firmly in the grasp of that long clawed woman. Alison found this trick far less intriguing when it wasn’t Dragon. Perhaps the factor that she was interested in was Dragon, and not the act of properly restraining her.
“I’m simply checking your vitals, dear. There’s no need to struggle.” She said, as if she hadn’t grabbed her. She agreed to nothing. Not once did she say she needed a doctor. All she needed was a place safe from the eyes of the government. If she needed one, she’d let them know.
“I don’t remember asking for any assistance.” Her wrist was let go, and she recrossed her arms, keeping her arms close to her body.
“I know your type, candy. You’d only ask for help if you were on death’s door. You only came here because you were cornered by the marines and we just happened to be nearby. What you need to remember, is that it’s not just about you anymore. You have a child that you also need to look out for.” She also wasn’t looking forward to parenting advice from this woman. She was strong, yet had no idea on how the world worked.
“All I need is a place to stay until my child is born. The rest I’m perfectly capable of acquiring on my own.” The woman raised an eyebrow at her.
“Okay, I guess I’ll just be on my way.” The woman put a hand to her head, feigning hurt. Before heel turning at the door. “NOT!!!”
“You’re really pissing me off.” It was obvious, and Alison knew it wouldn’t stop her, but it felt better to have her feelings out there.
“That’s not my problem. I take my job very seriously I’ll have you know. Now if you don’t mind, may I check your baby’s health. It’ll only take a moment.” Alison was eight months pregnant, and her main form of combat had proven useless so far. It wasn’t as if she had much of a choice either way.
“Fine. Make it quick.” What Alison hadn’t expected, were needle like nails going into her stomach after a quick pat from the woman.
Instinctively, she threw a punch. She knew it wouldn’t do much, the woman already proved that she was able to deflect her stronger attacks like they were nothing. And before she was able to land it, the woman had taken her fingers out and stepped out of the way of the punch.
With the fingers out, she felt her stomach. She didn’t know how hard she had been hit, nor what she had done. Running her hands all over her stomach, she couldn’t even feel a trace of what happened. Like all of that had never even happened.
“I forgot you haven’t been around to see me checking up on the other women. I guess I do owe you a bit of an explanation.” Alison heard the woman say after a kick from her baby brought her back to reality. “I’m Emporio Ivankov. I’m a hormone controlling person. I used my devil fruit powers to check the amount of growth hormone in your uterus to see if everything is progressing nicely.”
A devil fruit user, you don’t see a lot of those around. She herself was a rarity. That being said, being a devil fruit user wouldn’t be the oddest part about this woman. Alison would bet that there wasn’t a single normal part about her.
She did take some comfort in knowing that her child was doing well. She did her best in what she could scrounge up without alerting the government to the fact that she was pregnant. She hadn’t done them wrong yet.
“I also found out whether it’s a boy or a girl, it’s all subject to change, but would you like to know?” She didn’t know a lot about pregnancy, but she was pretty sure that something like that would’ve already been set in stone. It wasn’t ideal, but babies had been born early. That meant that it had to have been figured out by this point.
“Might as well.” It could make things like naming easier. The rest was rather inconsequential to her.
“It’s a boy!” Somehow hearing that it was a boy made her feel a little easier. No matter what, her child was going to be strong. But if they’re a boy, then their fight is going to be much less of an uphill battle. He deserved to live a life where he didn’t have to spend the whole time proving himself.
“And speaking of boys,” A knot formed in her stomach. Ivankov had better not say that she was having twins. Or triplets, or whatever. She was barely equipped to deal with the one that she had. “Dragon wants to talk to you.”
Truly she hated this woman. She was nothing but a nuisance to her since the moment she entered her life unwelcomed. All of this was intentional to fuck with her, as if she didn’t have enough going on in her life already. As soon as she has this child and her promise ends, she’s going to be the first person she kills.
But if it was Dragon, she might as well see him. She had nothing to worry about. She kept her end of the bargain, and she never claimed that she was going to be nice to anyone. She was very pregnant and didn’t have to deal with anyone she wanted to. The only luxury she gave them in return was their life.
“I suppose I can go see him, I’m guessing that means he’s on the island, correct?” As far as she was aware, he had been out destroying marine bases, and finding pregnant couples to save. He put a few trusted members in charge of keeping the peace here, but overall there were very few serious spats. If there had, she would’ve heard and she would’ve been interested.
“Excellent! Grab your things honey, because we’re going to pay the boss a visit!” She narrowed her eyes at her. She had no intention of bringing anything or anyone with her. She had no reason to, because she could find her way to the harbor where he no doubt was easily. She still didn’t need any help.
“I know where he’d be.” She’d get up and try and push past the tall woman. Surprisingly, the woman let her do it. Knowing everything she did about this woman, she doubted this was going to be as easy as it felt.
She had barely made it a block when she heard the clack of heels on the cobblestone. It grated on her nerves just like the person that they belonged to. There was no doubt in heart that this was that bastard.
“Hold on there, my candy. You’re forgetting something.” As much as she dreaded it, she turned around to see exactly what it was she thought Alison was forgetting. Her fury burned as she saw her bag of possessions that she kept together as she had no intention of staying long after she was ready to leave.
“Why the hell do you have my things!” She grabbed for them, the taller woman kept her grip.
“Well in the state you’re in, you’re in no shape to carry heavy things. Not to mention I was the one sent to get you. It’d look bad if I let you walk over with your heavy bag of things alone. Don’t think it’d make Dragon Boy very happy if I did.” That was really her own problem. Alison was more than capable of doing it herself.
“It has no business being moved, nor do you have any business touching it.” For someone who lived to serve people like one of Dragon’s fools, Ivankov seemed pretty dead set on throwing her strength around. She’d enjoy killing her later for this. She didn’t get to keep this over her head.
“Alright. You can carry your bag. Geez.” Alison stumbled back as Ivankov let go of the bag. It was embarrassing that she had to get permission to get her stolen goods back. The things she was going to have to do once this was over to get the respect she deserved back.
She had no time to say anything, as shortly after the bag was let go, Ivankov had decided to scoop her up instead.
“Then I guess I’ll just have to carry you instead!! HEEE HAW!!!!!!” She yelled as her walk turned into a sprint as they ran from one end of the town from the other. This truly insufferable woman. Her death would be a miserable one!