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When carrying death in one's hands, it's important not to let it creep up from behind. Law's not even sure what island he's on. It's been that kind of week. Too many problems to cover, fires to put out. He was just out here to resupply with Bepo. One of them had gotten lost. Normally Law would assume it was Bepo, except he was the one who couldn't find his ship. He was the one clutching his shoulder as he run through twisting alleyways. He was the one with a sea prism stone bullet lodged in his damn clavicle.
It wasn't hard to recognize Law, and maybe he should think that through next time he went into town. But if he wanted to live long enough to think about that he had to find a quiet place to pull this damn bullet out and Shambles himself back to the Polar Tang.
Four men after him, maybe five. The footsteps had gotten more intense. He scrambled up a lattice, biting back a scream at the movement. He knew his shoulder wasn't on fire, but damn it sure felt that way.
Running and leaping across rooftops wasn't going to make his body hurt any less. In fact, it might end up wedging the bullet deeper inside. If it was an ordinary one, Law could just leave it. Heal around it. Maybe have a bit of pain the rest of his life, but no. This was sea prism stone. He had to get it out or he could call being a pirate and taking down Doflamingo a pipe dream. Even if they already were, he wasn't going to let one bullet stop him.
He ripped a pipe from a wall as he ran past and jumped onto the next rooftop, rolling into his side. He couldn't bite the scream back this time, it was a weakness that the men chasing him and the people in the street could hear. The guys who had shot him hadn't caught up yet. That was good. He forced himself up with the help of the pipe and ran behind the corner of a second floor balcony, throwing the pipe into the alleyway below him. He pressed himself against a potted plant and waited.
One at a time, people jumped down into the alley. One… two… three… four…
Guess he'd counted wrong. He reached into his coat and pulled out a small first aid kit. It was only ever for emergencies when he got hit with sea water, or in this case sea prism stone. He cursed quietly as he fumbled with the latch and spilled the contents across the balcony. He only needed the tweezers.
Without hesitation he angled the tweezers into his shoulder and grabbed the bullet, biting into the collar of his shirt to keep from crying out. He'd be fine as soon as he was back on the Polar Tang.
The bullet clattered to the ground. Law used Shambles to put everything back into the box in his coat, and slowly stood up, holding his hand out as his room expanded.
"Captain!"
He jumped and turned to see Bepo standing at the edge of the roof and balcony.
"Hey," Law ran his good hand over his face. "I was just on my way back to—"
"Don't lie to me, Captain. Besides, I already know what happened. I was chasing those guys."
Ah. Mystery man five.
"Do you need my help with anything—"
"Shambles!"
"—at all?" Bepo blinked, then started following Law back to his room.
"No thanks," Law waved a hand. "Just get us out of here."
"Captain…"
He stopped and felt his lips quirk up. Just a bit. "I'll be fine, Bepo. Although, I could do with a nap later. Once we're in the clear."
"Aye aye!"