Pain Management

Chapter 1: A Thorough Examination

A sudden flash. A deep, searing pain that cut through your insides.

You doubled over, the feeling of a phantom knife stabbing you near your core. The wrench in your hand fell, a loud clang ringing through the air, and you dropped to your knees on the floor as the air was punched out of your lungs.

"Hey, you alright?" Franky turned off the welder and lifted his goggles, a sudden worry settling into his expression.

"No, but I will be," you grunted. "Just give me a minute."

"Should I get Chopper?" he asked as he started to get up from his position on the ground.

"No, really, it's alright." The wave of misery was subsiding, leaving behind only a vague feeling of queasiness. "He can't do anything for me."

It was almost your entire adult life that you'd experienced these phantom pains, and you struggled to have anyone tell you the reason. It was most certainly tied to your monthly cycle, of that you were sure, but the way in which it incapacitated you mentally and physically was becoming more of an annoyance and a hindrance than anything else, rendering you disabled at the most inconvenient times. Chopper had done the best he could since you'd joined the Strawhats some time ago, giving you pain medicine he formulated himself. But as time went on, and the pain pills could only dull the worst aches, Chopper conceded that perhaps, despite his training, he didn't have the equipment or the specific experience needed to properly diagnose and treat you. As you lay in bed one night, biting your pillow with every shockwave in your abdomen, it occurred to you there may be a way to get help yet.

"So wait. You wanna leave and join the Heart Pirates?" Luffy asked, his eyebrows knitted in confusion as you told him your plan over breakfast. "But why?"

"Not leave as in forever. It'll be like...an internship," you said cheerfully.

"What's that?" His head tilted slowly to the side, as if it would help him process your words more effectively.

"It's a temporary assignment," Nami clarified from her spot next to you at the table. "Not forever, just for a while to learn some things that can help us."

"Ohh, I get it now." The look on Luffy's face said he absolutely did not get it, but you pressed on.

"It would be a great opportunity to learn how a submarine functions," you continued, a smile plastered across your face. "Just think of how much I'd be able to help Franky if he needs to build any specialized vehicles for us!"

"Well as long as Traffy thinks it's fine, I think it's a great idea!" Luffy grinned in a way that said he still was not entirely clear on what exactly you were doing or why, but that he trusted your judgment.

As you packed your bags the following week, waiting for Law and his crew to meet you at the port, you wondered if you could even trust your judgment. Sure, it seemed that "Traffy" had been fairly easy to convince when it came to bringing you aboard (after all, what's one more warm body and willing set of hands?), and sure, you were a pirate after all, and deception was perfectly in your wheelhouse, but was it worth the ruse?

You boarded the Polar Tang, waving goodbye to the captain you'd just lied to and nodding hello to your new captain who you'd also just lied to, and wondered if Law or his crew could smell the dishonesty on you. There was no need to wear your paranoia like a coat, you told yourself over and over as you were shown to your quarters—you were going to keep your head down for a while, learn the ins and outs of your new underwater home, and bide your time before knocking on your Captain's door to beg for help.

***************

"Come in."

You were surprised that Law even heard you knock; you had barely touched your knuckles to the door. "Captain? I was hoping I could possibly talk to you about something."