The Life I Live

How About Down?

"You're so smart!"

Summer and Jean Bart froze in the hallway, listening closely to the sound again. They exchanged a cautious look. There was definitely conversation in the mess deck, and they remained silent. She recognized that god-awful high pitched voice of hers and as quietly as she could, crept forward towards the door. She gestured for Jean Bart to stay where he was. His large frame might cause more commotion than she wanted. He gave a quick nod in understanding. The door was opened just a crack, enough for her to see out but not wide enough to be seen looking.

Law was seated at one of the tables with Kat across from him. She was leaning closer to Law than she found comfortable. Law's back was to her, but Kat was so focused on Law that Summer might as well have been standing full in the doorway and she wouldn't have noticed. Turning towards Jean Bart, she mouthed 'Kat' and he nodded. She peered out the door again to watch.

"Kat-ya, you should really go to sleep." Came Law's tired voice. In that moment, Summer felt pity towards the sadistic captain. From posture alone he looked exhausted. Remembering that the dark circles under his eyes had started to grow in the past few days, she wondered idly how long it had been since he had last slept.

"Not until you sleep too. Reading late at night is bad for you!"

'No, it isn't.' Summer thought with an eye roll.

"The book isn't the only reason I'm not sleeping." Kat's brows furrowed in blatant, almost comical, concern. It almost looked fake.

"Then, what's wrong?" She asked. His head gave a tiny shake and his body moved away from hers just slightly, and Summer knew that Law was about fed up with the woman's presence.

"I've always had trouble sleeping. Reading helps me relax."

"Oh, I see. So you just can't relax? Is that it?" Resting her head in both hands, she had this stupid grin on her face, as if she were mocking him. For some reason, Summer didn't appreciate her making fun of a completely understandable problem. She herself had trouble sleeping most nights, her thoughts plagued by horrific nightmares.

"I suppose..." Law answered hesitantly.

"Let me help you then!"

Summer's eye twitched unconsciously as Kat leaned forward and kissed Law outright. She couldn't see the captain's face, but he wasn't pushing her away. She did notice his hands twitched, though. The kiss only lasted a second before Kat pulled away again, a triumphant smile on her face.

'Did she just...'

"Did that help?" It took a moment before Law did anything. He sat there for a moment before suddenly pressing the girl against the wall by her arms, a dainty gasp escaping her mouth as her back hit the chair. The sight was so similar to Summer's own experience two days previous that she initially believed he was going to kiss her back. It hurt her, that he would do such a thing, even though there was nothing between them.

'Right?' She questioned herself. His dark voice cut through her fears before they could manifest.

"I don't recommend doing that again. Unless you want me to kill you." A small smile appeared on Summer's face and it grew as the horror in Kat's eyes became apparent.

'Ha! That's right you little tramp!' She thought as the woman wrenched herself away from the angry captain and took off down the hall. She could hear the bedroom door slam and deciding that it was safe to emerge from the hallway. Standing up, she entered the room.

At the sound, Law twisted in his seat and faced them. Summer couldn't wipe the smug look off of her face and gave up masking it. She sensed Jean Bart enter behind her.

"Having trouble?" She asked, crossing her arms and cocking her hip. Law raised a brow and closed the book on the table.

"I would have liked to avoid a situation like that." Summer didn't miss the inconspicuous swipe of his sleeve across his mouth, fanning the flames of her ego.

'You disgust him! I knew it!' Where these thoughts were coming from kind of scared her, but felt great at the same time.

"What did you find?" His voice interrupted her internal celebration and Jean Bart took out the missing poster from his pocket. Taking the offered paper, Law glanced over it and narrowed his eyes.

"Winslow...That name sounds familiar." He stated, dropping the poster on the table.

"We saw posters all around town for Winslow Silks. Apparently, it's their biggest textile factory. They are the reason the city's become so prosperous." Summer dropped into a nearby chair and relaxed, happy to be out of the trashed streets.

Jean Bart remained standing. "The image of Winslow is a red-haired woman with similar features to Kat." Law nodded.

"Why don't we just turn her in nicely and collect the reward money?" Summer asked, and watched as Law's face broke out in a wolfish grin.

"What's the fun in that? I think it's been too long since we've broken the law, don't you think?" She laughed at the expression on his face and nodded.

"I suppose, just let me in on the action." It struck her then how normal of a conversation this was between them. It wasn't usual they would get along so easily, but the feeling wasn't unpleasant. She was brought out of her thoughts by the captain's voice.

"You two should go get some rest, you'll need it for tomorrow." Summer sighed in relief, trudging off towards the comfort of her bed.

~~~

Several other crewmen arrived shortly afterwards. Reports of the red-headed woman and Kat's missing person's poster made up the bulk of the news brought back to him. A few commented on the unusually high number of marines occupying the island, which didn't give Law much cause to worry.

Bepo, whom he had sent to find out how long a log pose set, had informed him it was a short 8 hours. Given the fact that they had arrived in the dead of night, Law was confident they would execute the ransom and be off the island before the marines were getting the initial reports.

Shachi and Penguin, who were quite ecstatic over something they had discovered about the city, informed him of a possible sighting of the Winslow woman. Their description and direction of travel was very insightful, and based on their rough maps of the city, Law was fairly certain which residence belonged to Kat's wealthy family.

All that was left was to confirm this fact.

~~~

"Reid, we need to be getting back. It's almost 4." He checked his watch and sure enough, it was 3:52. Liam glanced around at the many marines that seemed to materialize from every alley on the street. None seemed to notice that they were there. They must be either blind or were intent on finding someone else because the jolly roger on their jumpsuits should have been spotted immediately.

"I know, but which street do we take? I think we're lost again." The layout of the city was confusing and neither of the men could remember Shachi's drawing from the briefing on the sub. Mobs of people kept walking in front of them and they began to get disoriented and distracted. Liam had a pounding headache, most likely from the combination of loud noise and smoke-filled air that hung low to the ground everywhere they walked.

"Let's just take one all the way to the edge of the city and circle around until we find the sub." After unsuccessfully trying again to understand the city map, Reid nodded and tossed it into a nearby trash bin. The two slowly made their way to the alleys, struggling to stay together in the throng of passersby. One woman flipped them off as Liam accidently bumped into her back. Her male counterpart gave them a dark look before dragging the obviously high woman back into the crowd.

Wary of the many marines prowling the streets, they darted into the darkened alley and gave a sigh of relief. They stopped and rested before going any further.

"So, where do we go? Left or right?" Reid asked, glancing at the wilderness outside the city boundaries.

"How about down?" A male voice said behind them.

They didn't have time to turn around, as both of them felt a hard blow to the head before they hit the ground. Neither of them saw the attacker before their vision turned black.