Future

Chapter 4: Law - Planning

No one came the next day except to shove half-full cups of water to them. Law had to get creative with his legs to drink his, to the guffaws of the guards, but he managed to get a few sips down his throat instead of his shirt. It was tepid at best, and not really very refreshing, but it was at least something. Barely enough to quiet the growling of his stomach for a few hours.

When they came the following day, he tried to get their attention as they prepared to drag Sanji out again. "Hey, morons! What do you think he knows, huh? He's just our cook." He'd apologize for that later — he was well aware that saying Sanji was 'just' their cook was like saying Zoro 'just' liked swords; a major downplaying of both skills and importance to the crew. "I'm Luffy's co-captain and the primary strategist! I'm the one who has the information you want!"

He could see Sanji's grateful look, but he could also tell from the "guards" faces that it wouldn't be enough to really help him. Sure enough, after a brief conversation between themselves, they still dragged Sanji away, his broken leg bending wrongly again as it caught on the floor. But this time, they also somehow unchained Law — without removing the cuffs, dammit — and pushed him out the door to stumble clumsily down the too-bright hallway, too, uncaring of the numbness in his legs from sitting for so long.

It allowed him to see a little more, at least once he blinked away the temporary blindness from being kept in darkness. For example, his cuffs did not have to be connected to each other — there was a link in the middle that separated them if undone, which explained how they'd gotten him up without removing one. The concrete hallways they went through were wide and institutional. An abandoned hospital, maybe, built for two gurneys with teams to pass through? But it hadn't been maintained at all. There was dirt and dust everywhere, and rust covered every occasional steel beam they passed. Still, there weren't any cracks that he could see, either in the concrete or anywhere else. Which increased the chances that it was structurally sound.

Their path wound back and forth, and most people would have lost their way. Fortunately for Law, he'd always been good at mazes, and he committed the path to memory as he was rushed along. The guards still dragged Sanji, who had gone silent already except for the occasional tiny gasp of pain. A glance at his face told Law he was already dissociating, which was probably for the best.

Artificial light gave way to natural as they finally passed an area with big windows. Through them, Law saw the big field of tall grasses, then an even taller fence lined with barbed wire. Beyond that was a copse of trees — not as dense as he'd like, but reasonably sized. A coastline of some sort was barely visible beyond the trees. That would probably be their best shot at an escape.

Just not yet. He needed more to work with, unfortunately. He needed his sword, maybe a map of the island, an idea of the numbers and weapons and schedules of their enemies.

A few more turns put them back in the false light, now in a narrower hallway. Then he was pushed into another dark room, this one with a singular bright light and a chair in the middle that Sanji was roughly shoved into, his chest against the back and the slightly tattered jacket on his back exposed. Maybe a minute later, another chair was brought and Law was shoved into that one. A burly, bearded man with a whip entered, getting in Law's face.

"You're the co-captain?"

Law nodded once, stiffly.

"Then you'll answer our questions. Or else your crewmate here will pay. Rumor has it that the 'Strawheart' Captains will protect their precious crew, after all. Think he believes it?" The man gestured to Sanji, quiet in his chair. "Think he can take it if you don't answer?"

Law had heard enough stories of Sanji's toughness to believe he could, but he would try not to make him 'take' too much. Still, he'd have to play this carefully. Make it believable, without endangering their crew for real. Making a note to himself to thank Penguin for the other's love of theatre, he braced himself to give the best acting performance of his life.

When their guards dragged them smugly back to their cell almost two hours later, Sanji only had three whip marks across his back and their torturers had intel pointing them in the opposite direction of the vague plans he and Luffy had come up with to find the fourth and final Road Poneglyph.

Even while Law apologized to Sanji in the relative privacy of their cell, he swore to himself again that he would get them out, preferably without either of them taking too much more damage.

His best bet was to use one of the few times their captors unlinked the middle link on his cuffs, which was most commonly when they let him up briefly to use the hole in the corner of the cell that constituted a 'bathroom' — not that that happened enough, barely once a day. If he did it just right, he might be able to get enough strength to overpower the guard before they could cry out and alert others. Then, if he dislocated his thumbs and was very, very lucky, he might be able to slip the cuffs. The minimal food and water and lack of exercise had already made him lose most of the little weight he had gained during the course of his relationship to Luffy, and they hadn't adjusted the cuffs, so it might be enough of a difference to work.

He'd have to be ready to pull some big stunts with his powers right after he slipped the damn cuffs off, though. He'd need to create a room big enough to find Kikoku while simultaneously freeing Sanji and warping them both to the small wooded area. And though they might be able to rest there, it wouldn't be for long.

Law sighed as his brain spun. There were still too many variables he couldn't account for. Like how would they get off the island? What would they do for food or supplies? Luffy's Vivre card piece was tucked into a tiny compartment in Kikoku's handle that only he and Shachi knew about, so that would suffice for a Log Pose, but he knew he would need more energy than he currently had, and Sanji was pretty beat up and would need medical attention sooner rather than later.

But he needed to get them out, first. That was the most important thing. He could only hope that enough of Luffy's ineffable, unfailing luck had rubbed off on him so the rest of the details would follow.

He'd planned for the next day, but their captors came early and took Sanji away — alone this time, try though Law might to get them to take him, too. Sitting alone in that cold cell for hours only made him more determined to get them out. When they dragged Sanji back and chained him to his usual spot, the blond was wincing with each movement.

"Broke my ribs," he said when Law asked, his tone almost nonchalant if not for the ragged edge to his breathing.

"Tomorrow," Law promised quietly. "I've got what I need now." He didn't. He still didn't have nearly enough to be assured of victory, assured of a way out. But he would try. He would need to try.

Sanji nodded gratefully. "Then I'll get as much sleep as I can now so I can help."

"Yeah. Rest."