Steady, As She Goes (ZoSan)

Chapter 6; Bulls-eye

When Zoro awoke, he felt an unpleasant pressure pounding from the inside of his skull, temples splitting with a massive headache. Eyes flickering open to discover he was hanging upside down. Blood draining into his brain and causing a severe migraine that was making it difficult for him to remember how he got here, and it took even longer to notice the man that was making his way over.

Shaking his head in an attempt to get a better grip on himself, he noted the greasy man approaching as the memory of his capture came flooding back with embarrassing clarity. Groaning in annoyance as the agent came to a stop in front of Zoro and began sneering down at him, "Roronoa."

"Galdino." Zoro muttered back politely, letting his bound hands fall to hang below his head as he watched the sleazy man with thinly veiled contempt. Despite having dropped his guard enough to get him jumped in an ambush, it was easy to see that the man didn't see Zoro as a threat at the moment; his first mistake.

"Hope you find the accommodations comfortable?" Galdino simpered.

"Ngh." Zoro grunted noncommittally, eyes already zeroing in on the knife in the man's hands that was no doubt meant for him. The large bucket and tarp on the floor beneath him the real tip off that it wouldn't be long until that knife was going to be drawing across his neck. It was only a question of when.

"I mean it obviously doesn't matter since you're going to be bled like a farm animal in a moment, right?" Galdino continued congenially; talking about cutting Zoro open as casually as one would when talking about the weather. Walking a lazy circle around the green-haired man as he was obviously riffed with a pride at managing to get Zoro into such a position.

Zoro just rolled his eyes.

"You know I was thinking of doing it slowly..." Galdino mused, crouching down to be more on Zoro's level as he pointed the blade uncomfortably close to Zoro's jugular, "But I realized it would be way more fun seeing the panic in your eyes as you struggl--"

Arms swiping up in an aggressive jab, Zoro managed to knock the knife from the man's grasp and snatch it out of the air as he slammed his head forward into the still yammering man's nose. As Galdino fell to the floor in pain Zoro pulled himself up and slashing the knife across his bonds around his ankles with little regard for himself as the ropes gave way and he was falling to the floor.

Rolling out of the impact, he sprang to his feet, and expertly cutting the rope binding his wrists before launching himself at his captor without a moment of hesitation. Blade poised expertly in his hand as he caught the still disoriented operative from behind.

Hand clamping over his mouth to muffle the scream at the same time he embedded the man's own blade deep into his guts, twisting it for good measure to make sure the man wouldn't live through his wounds. Continuing to twist the blade deeper as the man struggled in Zoro's hold until he eventually went limp and Zoro released him where he fell to the ground with a wet smack.

The sound registering as odd to his ears before glancing down with a hazy shake of his head and finding himself standing in a pool of blood as he slowly realized that it was his own. Noting the cuts to both his ankles that he had cut deeper than he had intended when he had cut the ropes to free himself. Dark garnet staining his skin and oozing out from the cuts in dangerous amounts.

"Shit." Zoro mumbled faintly, tumbling to the floor and into the pool of his own blood, only barely able to find the distress signal in his pocket and turning it on before succumbing to the blackness once more.

~X~

Alarm clock went off at the usual time as Zoro had slowly acclimated to the oddity of allowing a machine to wake him rather than his own senses. It had now been a couple weeks since he hadn't been awoken by his own incessant need to rise before the sun crested the small town mountains. Letting go of that small aspect of control had been a little disconcerting at first, but a session with Robin had quickly turned it into something rather significant; instead of feeling dejected, he was actually proud of his minute progress towards suburban normalcy.