hiding

...

It had been almost too easy. Marco sent a kick into the last standing Marine's gut, sending him flying across the room, hitting the floor with a gut-wrenching thud. After scouting the island for a couple hours, give or take a few bribes and some *cough* light torture; they had found out about the hidden Marine base, just on the edge of town. To any outsider, it would have looked like a big generic house. The island had an agreement with the Navy. The islander's report any pirates landing on the island, and the Navy provide them protection and purchase their products for a higher than average price.

The base was now burning to the ground, the roof of it completely absent now. They had found they had actually defeated most of the Marines the first time around when they were confronted, leaving very few to defend their base.

Unfortunately, they had contacted headquarters, making them aware of the Whitebeard Pirate's movements. A vice admiral would probably be on the island within a matter of days. Thankfully the log pose would reset within a few hours, and they could leave before the vice admiral would ever get close.

The marines had very little wealth within their base. The tenth division commander, Curiel, had already gathered most of the weaponry he considered useful; which sadly was also not much. Most of their weapons had been basic flintlocks and tarnished swords, something the Whitebeard Pirates already had plenty of.

Thatch grinned, as Jozu hoisted up two large barrels of sake on his shoulders. It had proven to be one of their only decent finds on this raid.

"Do we really need more sake?" Marco groaned.

"Of course!" Haruta grinned, "Pops has drained most of the supply, and Alexia is one of us now right?"

"We need to throw her a proper party of course!" Thatch laughed, Jozu smiled in agreement.

"Something tells me a girl like her isn't into alcohol." Izo smiled, shaking his head.

"We'll see about that!" Curiel laughed, "Every Whitebeard Pirate becomes a drinker."

"I didn't." Marco scoffed, as they made their way through the town, returning to the Moby.

"That's because you make yourself worry too much to enjoy being drunk." Thatch whined.

"Maybe because unlike you, my thoughts of fun don't involve me waking up with a migraine and vomiting." Marco responded.

"Wait..." Haruta thought for a second, "Are you telling me you have ideas of fun?" Thatch and Haruta burst out laughing.

The Moby was slowly but surely growing into sight after walking for almost half an hour in silence. It had been several hours now since they had been away. No one admitted it, but they all craved some sleep. It was dusk, making it harder to see. They all made their separate ways, Marco assisting Jozu with placing the barrels of sake in the kitchen. A nurse that passed by shook her head in disapproval, knowing Pops would be drinking a large quantity of it.

Marco slowly made his way back up to his room, stopping as he noticed Izo at his door, a grim look on his face.

"I thought you needed your beauty rest yoi." Marco laughed, "Why do you look like someone just poisoned your food?"

"You shouldn't go in there right now." Izo grabbed the door handle stopping Marco from pushing the door open.

"What do you mean?" Marco furrowed his eyebrows, "Where's Alexia?"

Izo looked down at the ground, starting to take a deep breath. Ignoring Izo, Marco pushed through the door. Papers were littered on the ground, the blankets jumbled up at the foot of the bed. The desk drawer was upside down on the floor; quills and ink jars everywhere. The next thing Marco noticed was the blood, there was too much of it, making Marco on edge. His knife was unsheathed, lying in the middle of it all, blood glistening on its blade. Marco walked over to it, kneeling down and picking it up, examining it.

"What the hell happened?" Marco hissed, looking at Izo as Vista appeared next to him, "Where's Alexia?"

"She's not good..." Izo looked apologetic, "Doc said she tried to kill herself... Marco wait!"

Marco was already out the door. His emotions fighting between fury, confusion, and disbelief. He made his way below deck, opening the door to the medical bay quickly. He froze in his spot, starring at Alexia as she laid on the hospital bed. IV's and monitors were hooked up to her, an oxygen mask covered her face. Her chest and left arm were bandaged, something that hadn't been there when he had left. She looked pale, too pale. He felt his chest grow heavy, frowning as he approached her side. Vista and Izo soon behind him.

"What...why?" Marco wasn't sure what the correct question would be at this point.

"A vertical cut up her left arm, a knife wound to her left upper chest. She lost a lot of blood." Doc stated from across the room, "Self-inflicted. I don't think she truly knew what she was doing."

"How could she not have known what she was doing?!" Marco growled, slamming his fist down on the bed.

"Because she came to us for help. She apologized, she admitted it was a mistake. She looked so scared and filled with guilt." Doc reasoned, "If she was really trying to kill herself, she wouldn't have come to us."

"Why. Why would she do this."

"It seemed like she was looking for something no? Your room doesn't look like it was tore up for the fun of it. Is there something you normally keep in your drawers?" Doc questioned, curious.

"No, nothing that I can..." Marco paused as he put his hands in his pockets, his eyes widening. He pulled out the bottle from his pocket, "The anxiety medication."

"Is that where you normally..."

"Yes." Marco interrupted Doc, "I've always kept them there, but for some reason I kept them in my pocket this time. You don't think... this bad?"

Doc nodded his head, "I do. She had been so tearful, she looked distraught, like she had been through one hell of a fight. I guarantee you she had another episode."

"Are you saying that these episodes," Izo spoke up, "This post-traumatic stress reaction ordeal, can cause her to take her life?"

"It is possible unfortunately," He frowned, "In all honesty anything can trigger an episode, even if she just over thinks."

"This is my fault." Marco muttered, dropping his head onto the side of her bed.

"You couldn't have known Marco." Vista encouraged, putting a hand on his shoulder, which Marco quickly brushed off.

"But I did know. We've talked about this! She hasn't been alone in so long I never even thought about it! Here she actually attempted to take medicine she doesn't even trust, and I was a dumbass and had it with me." Marco gritted his teeth, "For her to willing want this without me forcing it on her, it must have been bad, and we weren't there. It was a Marine for gods sake! I should have known better!"

"What does a Marine have to do with anything?" Izo asked.

"It has everything to do with it, they held her captive for years! Put her through hell," Marco hissed, "She's terrified of them. And I left her after one just hurt her and expected her to be alright."

Izo and Vista gave a grim expression, Izo looking slightly angered.

"Son, you didn't know." Doc put his hand on Marco's shoulder, this time Marco didn't brush it off, "We'll give you some time with her if you'd like, but don't blame yourself. She'll recover just fine. We'll work with her."

Marco nodded his head. Soon it was only him and Alexia in the room. The sounds of the monitors and the oxygen machine filled the room. Marco grabbed her hand, frowning at how cold it was, mentally cursing himself for being so careless. He vowed he would remain there until she woke up, so he could apologize.