Chapter Text
Jesus Burgess won’t stop laughing at them. Otari puts her hands on her hips, standing at the edge of the makeshift cell the Blackbeards have them in. Burgess made it himself, using the sniper’s warp power and his own super strength to pull pieces of the Tang up from the sea, then tear them into crude strips and shove them into the ground around the Hearts.
It’s just another bit of humiliation, to be trapped by the scraps of their own ship.
Behind her, Uni shifts in his sleep, a sheen of sweat already broken out across his skin. Delphi is next to him, trapped in Sea Prism Stone cuffs, having used their powers enough in the battle to expose themself as a Devil Fruit user.
(Lutrina, at least, stayed hidden — she’s currently in her cat form, hidden underneath Salmona’s jumpsuit.)
Uni needs insulin. All the Hearts had was what was in the emergency bags in their jumpsuits, but not everyone was able to grab an emergency bag before the Tang went down. Otari managed to ration their supply out over the first several days, but it’s now been three days since Uni has had any insulin, and he’s starting to get sick. There’s only so much Otari can do without it.
“We need insulin, you bastards!” She shouts over Burgess’s obnoxious laugh. “Uni will die without it!”
“Weh ha ha ha! And why should we care?”
Otari stares at him, mouth agape, fury washing over her like a waterfall over a cliffside. She surges forward in a rage, reaching out to attack him, to choke him, to do anything, but she’s stopped by the walls of her own home, the familiar yellow metal digging into her shoulders as her arms extend uselessly from between the makeshift bars.
“Weh ha ha ha!” Burgess cackles, throwing his head back and actually pointing at her as he laughs. Gods, what a child. He’s so high on his own power trip he doesn’t even care that he’s letting a prisoner die under his watch.
A hand grips her shoulder firmly, though the way it guides her to move back is gentle. Penguin steps in front of her, and Otari’s nurse instincts protest — he shouldn’t be walking on that sprained ankle. She opens her mouth, but then she catches the look in his eye and knows better than to say anything now.
She lets Penguin step in front of her, though she hates to do it. She’s six years older than him, after all, and she only joined the crew in the first place to try to protect those four lonely kids she met, who were so determined to take on the world. But he’s determined to protect the crew in their captain’s place, and Otari won’t take that away from him. Not when there’s so little she herself can do against this asshole.
(Not that Penguin can do much more. He’s mostly just trying to make sure that any retaliation Burgess makes will be focused on him rather than Otari, who needs to stay well so she can care for the others. Otari hates that part even more.)
She stays nearby as Penguin argues with Burgess, though she turns part of her attention to Uni behind her.
Clione kneels over him, dabbing at his forehead with a wet cloth. It’s a torn piece of Clione’s own sleeve, wet with water from the few canteens the Blackbeards have left them, but they really don’t have many resources here. They’re doing what they can.
She tunes out the actual words of Penguin and Burgess’s argument, but she tunes back in when the massive man reaches through the bars and grabs the front of Penguin’s jumpsuit, lifting his feet from the ground.
Several of the Hearts — everyone who isn’t too injured to, anyway — stand up at that, the chains connecting their ankles together clinking as they move. Shachi moves forward, as if to get involved, and Otari goes to stop him — the last thing they need is two people getting more hurt.
That means her gaze is on Shachi when the atmosphere changes. A new presence of haki surges into this area of grassy beach, and by the time Otari turns to look, Burgess is slumping against the bars, his grip on Penguin loosening as he falls unconscious.
Looking around, Otari sees that the other two of Blackbeard’s officers — the sniper and that awful Catarina woman — are also unconscious, slumped against each other several meters away.
Approaching from behind them is a single figure, silhouetted against the horizon. The figure has shoulder-length hair, carries a sheathed sword, and wears a long black cloak that covers their entire left side. With the newly-risen sun directly behind them, it’s impossible to make out any other features as the figure stalks closer.
Shachi helps Penguin to his feet as everyone else braces themselves. They don’t know what’s going on, or who this is, whether they’re an ally or yet another enemy. They can’t relax yet, even if Burgess is finally dealt with.
The figure finally stops a few feet behind Burgess, putting a hand on his hip and cocking it to the side. Now that he’s this close, Otari can tell it’s a man, and she even recognizes him.
“R-Red Hair Shanks?” Delphi is the first one to speak, though they’re still seated. Their head injury combined with the weakness of the Sea Prism Stone means that Otari has ordered them to stay as still as possible.
“That’s me,” the Emperor of the Sea says, his gaze traveling over their group and the makeshift cage around them. “You’re the Heart Pirates, right?”
“Why are you asking?” Penguin asks quickly, cutting in over anyone else who might try to respond.
Well, that’s just too damn bad. Otari needs resources, and an Emperor absolutely has those in spades. It doesn’t matter why he’s here — the Blackbeards are knocked out, and he seems willing to help. That’s good enough for her. She steps forward quickly, putting a hand on Penguin’s arm to push him carefully aside.
“Where’s your doctor?” She demands, pressing her face between the bars. It fits quite well, thanks to her small stature.
“Uh, back on the ship,” Shanks replies, blinking in confusion and thumbing over his shoulder towards the coast.
“We have a crew member who’s diabetic and hasn’t had insulin in three days, get your doctor here now!” Otari yells, flaring her scent to communicate to both Red Hair and her crew just how urgent this is.
She hasn’t said much about it to the crew, on Uni’s request — he didn’t want everybody to worry about him. But he needs insulin; he’s already gone for far too long without it. She doesn’t care who this guy is or why he’s here or what threat he might pose — they can deal with all of that once Uni isn’t on death’s door.
Shanks looks appropriately cowed by Otari’s desperate fury, for he immediately digs a baby snail out of his pocket.
“Hongo,” he says into it. “Get over here with a whole pharmacy as soon as you can. Bring insulin, someone’s diabetic.”
The snail moves in his hand, probably matching the motions of his doctor’s face.
“Aye, Chief, be right there,” Otari hears faintly, before the snail goes back to sleep and is returned to Shanks’ pocket.
“Alright, now in the meantime, why don’t I get you guys out of there?” the Emperor says, drawing his sword.
Ikkaku surges upwards from her spot on the ground, even though she’s got a stab wound in her gut. Thankfully, Cephan manages to hold her down with a hand on her shoulder.
“Don’t you dare! ” She screeches, writhing under the fishman’s hold. “Don’t you dare cut the Tang up anymore!”
“Ikkaku,” Salmona chokes from next to her, tears in her eyes. “Ikkaku, she’s already gone.”
“I don’t care! I won’t let him hurt her anymore!” Ikkaku cries, and Otari’s heart aches. Oh, but they’ve lost so much.
They’re all so young, to have lost so much.
She’s hurting too, but she can’t look at it yet.
“Alright, okay, I won’t cut the cage,” Shanks says, re-sheathing his sword. He looks pale — he seems to have realized what their cage is made of. “I’ve got some guys who are strong enough to lift a few pieces out, probably,” he says, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
~~~
Penguin narrows his eyes at the Emperor. He seems innocent enough now, but that flare of haki was strong. Strong enough to knock out three of Blackbeard’s top captains before they even realized anyone else had shown up.
The Hearts are still in a cage, facing down an Emperor. Otari seems insistent on getting Red Hair’s help, and Penguin knows she wouldn’t be this frantic unless Uni’s life was genuinely in danger.
(Seas. He knew it was bad for Uni to go without insulin, but not this bad. From how frantic Otari’s starting to look around the edges, Uni is far closer to death than any of the rest of them. That’s…terrifying. They can’t lose anyone else. They just can’t. )
Still, Law wouldn’t trust this man blindly, so Penguin won’t either.
“While we wait, you can answer my questions,” he says, leaning his elbows against the Tang’s familiar, destroyed hull. He’s aiming for a relaxed, in-control posture, but he’s also trying to take some weight off of his sprained ankle. Otari is starting to glare at him.
He can’t sit down in front of an Emperor while trying to interrogate him! Law can pull that kind of thing off, but how is Penguin supposed to?
“Oh, sure!” Red Hair says with a wide smile, plopping right down where he is criss-cross-applesauce. Penguin blinks.
Well, now he feels awkward standing up, looming over the guy. He lowers himself to the ground as well, trying to achieve the kind of easy flow Law always has when he moves. Penguin isn’t sure he entirely succeeds — his ankle trembles too much on the way down for him to be entirely graceful like Captain. Still, he doesn’t wipe out entirely, so that’s a win.
And Otari can finally stop glaring at him and go back to fussing over Uni like she so clearly wants to be doing. Penguin sends her a meaningful look, paired with a glance towards Uni for emphasis, as he turns back to Red Hair.
“Why are you here?” Penguin asks. When Law wants to know something, he always talks first.
“Funny story,” Red Hair grins. “Do you want the long version or the short version?”
“I want the true version,” Penguin says, directly quoting his Captain.
Red Hair smiles at that too, but it looks different than his previous excited grins. It’s no more or less genuine, just…smaller. A little more private, maybe. It’s an odd expression to make during an interrogation, though Penguin supposes he is a random pirate in a cage made of his own ship trying to interrogate a literal Emperor of the Sea. He isn’t really in a place to call anyone else weird.
(Captain always makes stuff like this look easy. Penguin misses him like a limb. )
Are they okay where are they did they find land did Bepo drown did Law drown what happened—
Penguin takes a deep, slow breath in through his nose, holds it for a second, then exhales slowly. Think about it later, he reminds himself, shoving the worry back into its closet as he focuses on Red Hair’s words.
“One of my subordinate crews, the Magpie Pirates, ran across a couple of ‘drifters’ shortly after parting from my fleet,” the Emperor says, raising his hand to do air quotes for emphasis. What a strange man.
“Drifters?” Shachi speaks up from behind, and Penguin glances to his right to see his best friend approaching, looking hopefully between Red Hair and Penguin, who blinks as he tries to figure out what the hell Shachi is thinking.
Drifters…oh, he’s hoping it’s Captain. Oh, divine fucking gods of the sea, please let it be true. Now that the seed is planted, hope can’t help but take root. If anyone could get out of that bind, wouldn’t it be their Captain and navigator? How many scrapes have the two of them gotten into and out of over the years?
Penguin and Shachi look at each other for a long moment, then turn back to Red Hair as one. Penguin does his best to keep the eagerness out of his scent and expression, but he doesn’t know how good of a job he does.
Red Hair looks between them, smiles, and nods once. “Yeah, they found your captain and navigator,” he says, and Penguin hears several loud gasps from the crew behind them. Still, that wouldn’t be enough information for Captain.
“Where are they now?” He asks, leaning forward and wrapping his hand around a thin part of one of the strips of the Tang. It hurts to see her like this, but her familiar metal gives him some strength, too.
“They’re safe, I promise,” Red Hair says with a chuckle, holding up his hand. “They’re with those same subordinates of mine and my first mate, and they just made it to the Straw Hats. Luffy’s an old friend of mine, so I figured I’d save him the trouble and come offer you guys a ride myself. If you’d rather hang out and wait for Luffy and your captain, though, I’m sure they’ll be here soon. They don’t actually know I’m doing this.”
Penguin blinks. That was…a very forthright answer. Captain would probably still be suspicious, but Penguin is having trouble doubting this man. The way he said Luffy…it just sounded so genuinely fond. He’s offering options, too, not forcing the Hearts to go along with him, or trying to use them as hostages against Law.
Figures approach over the hill behind Red Hair, shouting for him. The Emperor turns around, then grins at the sight of what must be some of his crew, running down the hill carrying several litters of what Penguin assumes are medical supplies.
“Ah, they’re here!” Red Hair announces, still looking over his shoulder and raising his hand to wave at the pirates hurrying down the hill.
He turns back around and pushes to his feet. He frowns down at the slumped form of Burgess against the bars, then draws his sword and hooks it in the back of the weird harness thing Burgess is wearing instead of a shirt. Red Hair walks away to meet his crew, dragging the unconscious pirate behind him.
Red Hair glances over the group as they set down their litters in the center of the clearing and start unloading supplies.
“Ah, Collin!” The Emperor suddenly calls, smoothly unhooking his sword from Burgess and hurrying over to a younger man, heavily-built with deep brown hair and beefy arms. “I need your help with something. C’mon.”
“Of course, Chief!” Collin exclaims, following after Red Hair easily. He wears an affable grin at first, but his expression becomes serious as Red Hair mutters to him, indicating the cage holding the Hearts. Penguin grits his teeth, turning away. This is so humiliating.
At least Captain doesn’t have to see it. Penguin misses him and Bepo, worries about them, but the worry has settled some now that he knows they’re on their way to the Straw Hats, or possibly even there already? Is that what Red Hair said? He’ll find out in a minute.
The Straw Hats are good for Law, and no matter how much Captain insists on their alliance being over, the Hearts have always known that the Straw Hats will never be their enemies.
Collin and Red Hair approach their cage again, and Collin meets Shachi’s eyes, then Penguin’s, then Ikkaku’s, offering each of them an apologetic smile.
“I’ll be careful with your home, you guys,” he says, his tone and scent — Penguin idly notes that he’s a beta, like himself and Red Hair — projecting sincerity more than anything else.
Penguin glances at their mechanic, still being held down by Hakugan, with Salmona kneeling near Ikkaku’s head. The mechanic herself stares at Collin for a long moment, then nods once, closing her eyes and turning her head. Salmona bends over her, keeping both of their eyes away from what’s about to happen.
Penguin aches for them. He hates to see the Tang like this, but he knows it’s worse for the two of them, who knew the ship better than any of them.
Collin wraps two large hands around the largest of the strips of yellow metal, and Penguin hears the metal creak under his firm grip, but he doesn’t see it dent. He was being honest — he is being careful. Penguin still doesn’t relax as he lifts the spike out of the ground, then carries it a few steps away. He lays it on the ground gently, almost reverently, and Penguin finally feels himself relax.
With the largest piece missing, there’s a gap wide enough for everyone to fit through single-file.
Otari immediately takes charge again, leaping to her feet. “Shachi, don’t let Penguin put weight on his right ankle. Hakugan, you carry Ikkaku. Jean Bart, can you get Delphi and Uni?”
“Of course,” Jean Bart says in his gentle way, rising from where he sits to one side of the cage, watching for threats.
“Before you get started moving,” Red Hair says, stepping through the opening. Penguin and Shachi freeze where they’ve just stood up, Shachi supporting Penguin’s weight. “May I take care of the chains? I just need to touch one of the shackles.”
Penguin and Shachi exchange a glance, before Shachi holds up his right leg — on the side not supporting Penguin. Chained to him on his other side, Hakugan moves as far away as he can, keeping Ikkaku and Salmona shielded from Red Hair by his own body.
Red Hair moves forward only as much as he needs to in order to kneel and put two fingers on the metal of Shachi’s shackle. He closes his eyes, and after an extended moment, everybody’s shackles break off, shattering outwards into several pieces each, which all fall to the ground harmlessly.
The Heart Pirates can only gape for a moment. What the ever-loving fuck was that, Penguin thinks, turning to meet Shachi’s eyes and finding the same question there.
Red Hair meanwhile, just grins and pushes to his feet, running his hand easily through his hair. “Alright, that was easy enough! Now, let’s get you guys some medical attention, huh?”
~~~
Shachi is honestly still struggling to believe that an Emperor just appeared out of nowhere to save them. Especially since it wasn’t even Straw Hat!
Straw Hat showing up wouldn’t even seem all that unusual. That’s just kind of what he does.
Maybe some of the Straw Hats’ good luck rubbed off on the Hearts a little bit? Not enough to keep them out of this situation, but enough to get them out of it. A real miracle. The Straw Hats are good at those.
(They managed the impossible — they brought Law back. Shachi was more than half convinced he was never again going to see his captain — his little brother in all the ways that matter. Straw Hat came back from the dead to beat Kaido. Their crew survived Sabaody and Marineford and every other disaster that landed them in the paper.
And somehow, they did what the Hearts tried and failed to do for years. They made Law so much lighter, so much happier, so much healthier, even as they went to fight an Emperor.)
After the last few days, Shachi is pretty thrilled to be ushered towards Red Hair’s huge ship. Medical care and Penguin in less danger and Seas, maybe he can even have a bath.
Shachi is really looking forward to being clean.
Later they’ll be able to figure out how to get back to Law. Hopefully he hasn’t done anything too stupid in the meantime. Bepo being with him should help with that, at least. Law always does the worst when he’s alone.
A flash of white on the beach catches Shachi’s eye, and he glances over again before stopping in his tracks, staring open-mouthed at the little scrap of fabric some yards down the sand, mere feet from the waveline.
Shachi turns on his heel and sprints over, ignoring everything but that one piece of white. Calls from his crew, questions from the Red Hairs, even his own pain — Shachi doesn’t pay any of it any mind at all.
(Over the past few months, overexposure has led to Shachi getting scarily good at not worrying about people who could absolutely kill him with ease.)
He falls to his knees, hands shaking slightly as he reaches out and gingerly brushes some sand off before scooping the hat up.
Law’s hat. The fluffy, spotted bit of fabric he’s been wearing the entire time Shachi has known him. This hat is the only bit of home Law has left.
His sister gave it to him.
Shachi is getting this back to him, no matter what.
He rises to his feet, brushing more sand off as he tries to mold the hat back into its original shape. The Blackbeards probably stepped on it as they were leaving the beach. Dickheads.
It’s covered in dirt and sand, contorted out of shape and damp with seawater, but it’s Law’s. It’s the only piece of their captain the Hearts have.
Bepo managed to grab Kikoku — Lutrina saw it. That means that other than the Hearts themselves, this is the only real belonging the crew is leaving with, other than the clothes on their backs.
(And those are barely more than rags at this point, so many of their jumpsuits torn up to be used as makeshift bandages.)
They can figure all of that out later. They’ll find a new ship…somewhere. Ikkaku might just build it herself.
Shachi wishes they could bring the rest of the Tang like Ikkaku wants to, but all that’s left of their home is scraps, and Red Hair seems eager to get going. They simply don’t have the time, let alone the resources.
All of them are alive, and they have Law’s hat. That’ll just have to be enough.
Shachi nods once to himself, clutches the hat to his chest like a favored book, then strides back to the gaggle of Hearts still at the foot of the gangplank.
Not one of them stepped onto the ship after Shachi ran off; they waited right there for him to return. Paranoid, maybe, but their captain taught them to always be wary of double-crossings, and to never let themselves be separated among enemies.
“Can’t leave without this,” Shachi says, opening his arms slightly to reveal the hat, dirty and discolored as it is.
The Hearts all beam at him for it anyway.