Chapter Text
“You’re more trouble than you’re worth,” Kid spits to the side, ignoring the fact that it’s mostly blood in favor of prodding at a tooth with his tongue. It’d already been loose from a fight just last week, and now it’s gotten worse. Still worth it to take that wild punch to the face just to see the dumbfounded shock on the marine’s face when his best hit didn’t even phase Kid. “You better be ready to pay me back for this.”
Kid feels his fingers getting numb with each step he makes, his knuckles cramping from the force he has to use to make sure he’s still holding onto the damn sword. He should’ve grabbed it with the hand that doesn’t have functioning nerves, but he hadn’t expected to be attacked by the damn thing and Kid refuses to switch now out of principle. Like hell is he going to back down from any challenge, especially not from Trafalgar’s fucking sword. He glares down at the stupidly oversized hunk of metal and swears that he can feel something glaring right back at him.
“Of course you’ve got a fucking cursed sword as prickly as you,” Kid grunts to the unconscious mass of dead weight he’s got slung over his other shoulder. Metal fingers spanning Trafalgar’s back to keep him from sliding off and to keep the pressure up on the cloth sopping up blood from the wound that put the infuriating bastard down. After he’d made sure to take down the lucky ass marine that got the shot in and told Kid off for getting in his way. Stubborn fucker. “Probably the only thing in the world that can stand your rotten attitude.”
The insult rolls off Kid’s tongue easily to plonk into the unnatural silence as he keeps walking, and the lack of a return insult irritates Kid as much as everything else that’s happened in the last hour. Ignoring the blinding pain in every other step as something shifts each time he plants his right foot on the ground he continues on. There’s a cove not far from where Kid was ambushed that’s deep enough to hide a submarine, and Kid’s betting Trafalgar’s crew is holed up there. Safe and sound while their overprotective captain went out to scout the island and get on Kid’s last damn nerve.
“What’s the point in bringing such a weak crew to the New World?” Kid bitches as he shakes his head to clear the spots that’ve started to cloud his vision. Annoying things that can fuck right off because he’s got a destination and nothing’s going to stop him from getting there. Not the dead weight, the pissy sword, or the little scrapes he got before Trafalgar stepped into a fight Kid had a handle on. “You spend most of your time playing mama bear to them and they’ll never fucking learn.”
And they love him for it. Kid’s no stranger to loyalty or the necessity of it when sailing, but the care the Heart pirates display is on a different level altogether. He tried imagining his own crew sharing the same connection once and had to raid a merchant ship to stop his skin from crawling off. His crew are his crew, he’s got them and they back him, but thinking about anyone other than Killer being that close is unnerving as hell. It’s a pretty big weak spot, and Kid doesn’t know how Trafalgar can stand it.
“Too fucking soft,” Kid snorts derisively as he very carefully starts down the slopped path that leads down to sea level. The tip of a familiar, and damn near useless, mast just visible over the scraggly trees that still block most of the cove from view. “Think if I toss you over now they’ll notice in time to save you?”
The numbness turns biting as the sword flares and Kid growls as he slides a little too fast down the path before regaining control. The cold radiates up from his fingers into his arm in waves of pain that he refuses to acknowledge. Much.
“I was fucking joking!” Kid yells. At the sword and the empty space that finally gives up the sight of a yellow submarine. “Maybe I’ll just throw you down there you useless hunk of metal!”
There’s a shout from below. Indistinct but the tone is questioning, and Kid makes himself stand straighter to stomp down towards where he can see Trafalgar’s crew spilling out into the open. Their stupid jumpsuits making them look like a a bunch of milling ants as faces turn towards him. He doesn’t get the pleasure of seeing the alarm spread across their faces, but there’s some satisfaction in seeing the group splinter apart. Some going to the sub, some sprinting all out towards Kid, and more than a few dancing around in what looks like panic.
“I don’t owe you shit, I didn’t even need any help at all,” Kid growls to the unconscious man as he keeps his pace, careful to not allow himself to get too close to one side or the other. “So, I don’t want to hear a single word about me owing you shit. I got you back to yours so if anyone owes anything it’s going to be you.”
Kid gets no answer. No smirk or politely veiled stab, just the awareness of warmth and wetness seeping further down his vest. And if Kid starts to move faster to meet the pirates running towards him it’s to keep that shit from staining his pants. He likes this pair and he managed to not get marine blood on them before so why ruin that streak?
“Get this shit outta my sight!” Kid barks as he throws the sword at the first Heart pirate to get close. Not caring at all as the man curses and fumbles with it. The sword can rust in the sea for all he cares. He takes another step forward and slings the other captain at the next in line. The big guy Trafalgar snagged in Sabaody is quick but Kid doesn’t get to see if he fumbles or not. As soon as Trafalgar’s weight –fucker is surprisingly dense despite being lanky– is off him Kid’s head swims and it takes all he has to stay upright. Like hell is he going to waver now.
Fucking marines. Yeah they bit off more than they could chew gunning for Kid, but he’ll admit they came at him with enough numbers to make him hurt. Killer’s going to rag him good when he gets back to the ship. Trafalgar’s being carted away by the bear with the annoyingly pitched voice when the world steadies around Kid again, and that’s the end of this shitty day as far as he’s concerned.
“Captain Kid,” the big guy –Jean Bart, Kid’s heard stories about the ex-slave– rumbles out as he turns to leave. Craggy face set in a permanent scowl that should be intimidating but there’s something off in the man’s eyes. Something soft and Kid knows the other man isn’t going to say anything Kid wants to hear.
“You fuck right off with that!” Kid turns his back on the other pirates and stomps back up the path, teeth gritting at the extra jolt the motion sends through his leg. “Tell Trafalgar he owes me one hell of a favor when he wakes up.”
Because it is useful to have the man owe him one. There’s not many places willing to treat pirates without charging a shit ton of money, and Kid knows there’s a limit to the kind of medical care threats will get. So having a doctor in his debt is just good sense. That’s the only reason he brought the man back, so his weak ass crew can save their fucking thanks and pay him back when he calls –and Kid will– the favor in later.
(It’s good fucking sense and nothing else. Killer can fuck right off with that judging silence he gives anytime Kid crosses paths with Trafalgar.)