#ch. * study / reaver.

[jadedrrose]

The Silent Reaver - Ch. Four

Things don’t feel right in the laboratory, which prompts you to search for something that could indicate why you felt so off. But you’re not able to get away discreetly.

Other Chapters

Warnings: spoilers for Dressrosa/PH, violence/fighting, fem reader.

Two days ago, you saw him for the first time in thirteen years. And now, you couldn’t find the courage to leave your room too much, afraid of running into him. 

The night you’d accidentally seen him from up high on the rafters, Law entirely unaware that you existed within the same space as him, you’d dreamt of the last time you saw him, when you were both kids.

So when you’d awoken the next morning, it made it all the more surreal that you were seeing him, in person, again. Not a blurry photo from his wanted posters; the real him. Your heart raced at the thought of how handsome he was now, and you’d curse yourself for having such inappropriate thoughts about the person who was literally the target of your mission. If it came down to it, it would really be a shame to see him die.

That thought sent shivers down your spine, shaking you to your core as you realized how horrible that sounded. At this point, you think that you’d rather die to Doflamingo than have to kill Law. 

It’s your fourth day on Punk Hazard, and you’re finding that it’s been incredibly hard to sleep in the cold laboratory. Though this was probably partially your fault since you hadn’t packed warm pajamas. That aside, the entire place had an odd vibe to it. You knew about the prisoners, the once existing poisonous gas that covered the entire island, all of the things that were common knowledge; things that the government hadn’t deemed to be confidential. 

But there’s something else that’s bothering you, a strange energy you can’t quite explain. Especially with how Monet had seemed to avoid telling you anything about what they were even studying or experimenting with. Yes, there was the SAD, but that was more of the prisoner’s task than Caesar’s or Monet’s. Those two had to be up to something much more sinister, but it would take you a bit of time to get to the bottom of it.

With that in mind, you realized you’d slept in and jumped out of bed, changing into one of the outfits you’d brought. Your weapons were all laid out on the desk, other than your sniper rifle, which had to be laid against the wall as it was much longer than the desk. Throwing the cross-body strap around yourself, you wore it backwards as you hooked your sniper gun to it, as well as the pistol that rested at your waist. Once the two guns were secured, you flipped the strap so that the sniper rifle was against your back. Lastly was your knife, which went on your thigh belt. With everything in place, you figured you were ready for the day.

You started by going to the kitchen to get a light snack, not feeling very hungry for whatever reason. There, you found some fruit and ate that, hoping nobody would walk in and bother you.

After successfully eating your snack with no interruptions, you decided to try and start with your investigation. 

The first thing you did was go to the lounge and grab a book, acting like you were simply relaxing before getting to your assassin work. Caesar wasn’t in the room at the moment, but Monet was. The green-haired woman was writing in her journal, and what exactly she was writing, you’d never know. 

Caesar ended up coming into the room after a short while, and his shrill laughter unnerved you, as it always did. He approached Monet with a wicked grin. “Monet, I’m going to need your assistance in the biscuits room in a couple of moments. You know how the newer ones get.”

That request struck you as odd. What the hell was going on in that biscuits room they kept speaking of? And what were these “never ones” that Caesar needed assistance with? As the two left the lounge room, you decided to hang back for a couple of moments before trying to stealthily follow them.

Of course, your devil fruit capabilities came to your aid here, allowing you to remain entirely silent and unknown as you slowly trailed behind Caesar and Monet. 

From way far down the hall, you could barely see the painted rainbows that were around the biscuits room’s door. The two entered the room, but you couldn’t hear or see anything from where you were hiding.

Sighing, you decided to give up on sneaking behind them for the time being. Maybe it would be better to search other areas, perhaps where the prisoners conducted various experiments and researched? 

Your climb to the rafters was just as difficult as it was the first time, especially as you tried to remain unseen. But, you were able to make your way up and began walking around, looking for any rooms of interest. 

As you continued to look around, you realized that not all areas of the laboratory would allow you to climb up to the darkness of the ceiling to remain hidden. So, reluctantly, you climbed your way down and began walking throughout the hallway you found yourself in.

There were various rooms resembling offices, but most, if not all of them, were empty. Regardless, you still needed to check through them for any evidence as to what was truly going on within this laboratory. The first few were truly empty, nothing left behind other than chairs and tables. Though in the fourth room, you found some plans for the SMILE fruits. You looked through the files, deciding they were indeed old, as it was stated that the fruits had not yet been perfected and weren’t suitable for anybody of real importance to eat yet. You knew that they were now being made in mass production, therefore these papers had to be old.

The next file contained graphic descriptions of what happened to those who consumed the prototype SMILE fruits. It was haunting to read, let alone imagine. Reports of the prisoners going insane, a permanent smile fixated on their faces as they could only laugh, before succumbing to the effects of the fruit; dying within days of consumption. 

The next page noted ways this could be fixed, and the more you looked through the files, they all seemed to progress on how the fruit was performing, though the last file you found seemed old as the fruit still hadn’t been deemed “safe” enough.

With all of that information in mind, you decided to leave the files behind and move onto the next room. Yet they all seemed to only consist of old files explaining the process of discovering SAD and how to use it to make artificial devil fruits. There was nothing that indicated something else was going on within the laboratory. 

You were in what you guessed was the tenth room, deciding that you wouldn’t find anything to use as evidence today. You ran a hand through your hair, shaking your head to try and cool yourself down. Oddly enough, these rooms were much warmer compared to the cold hallways of the rest of the lab. You couldn’t think of any reason for this other than the fact that these offices used to be occupied by many researchers. 

Deciding you’d had enough, you emerged from the last room of the day, the cool air rushing against what skin you had exposed. It felt nice, after being in those small, hot offices for at least a couple hours. 

You made it back to where you could once again climb to the rafters and silently make your way to your room completely hidden. You’d been walking for a few minutes when you heard faint footsteps approaching from down below. 

To your surprise, it was Law. The pirate was by himself, and like you, it seemed like he was searching the laboratory for something. 

An idea came to mind, and although you felt kinda bad doing it, you decided to try it anyway. You unloaded your sniper rifle from your back, holding it in position as though you were preparing to fire. Only, you wouldn’t be shooting at all. You were simply using the scope to get a better look at Law.

Everything including the pirate was tinted red as you peered through the scope, and even with the closer sight, you still couldn’t make out too many details about his face. Sighing, you lowered the gun and stared down at Law, wishing you could get a better look at him.

Just as you thought you’d gotten away with it, you watched as Law froze, appearing to grip his katana tightly as he began looking around himself, observing his surroundings. His head slowly began to crane upwards, though, and your eyes widened as you realized you needed to hide.

You crouched down, getting yourself as low to the ground as possible so that he wouldn’t see you. You remained in the uncomfortable position for what felt like eternity, until you could hear him walking away. When you stood back up, you winced as your back now ached. And of course you had to load your sniper rifle back onto it.

—

After a day of exploring and searching, you finally made it back to the hallway your room was in. You yawned as you started your descent to the ground, watching your feet to make sure you didn’t slip off the ladder. 

Being close enough to the floor, you breathed in deeply before letting go, pushing with your feet to bounce off the ladder, jumping to the ground. As your feet landed silently, you began patting yourself down as though you’d been covered in dust or something. However, when you looked up, panic surged through your body as you stared with widened eyes, realizing you apparently had not been paying very good attention to the hallway before jumping down. 

Less than twenty feet in front of you, was Law. His back was turned toward you, and thanks to your devil fruit, this meant he hadn’t yet noticed you. While part of you wanted to stay behind and admire him, try and get the closest look yet, the rest of your body was screaming at you to run away before he turned around. Deciding that you didn’t want to be caught, you turned on your heel and dashed for your room, relief washing over you as you hastily opened the door and promptly slammed it shut. As it closed, you snapped your fingers to undo the effects of your devil fruit.

Except, you’d made a mistake. You had only silenced yourself and nothing else. So when you’d slammed the door, it was incredibly loud, and once again, you froze with fear.

You knew the reasonable thing to do was lock the door, but you just couldn’t move an inch. It was as though you were glued to the floor, afraid that you’d accidentally make any noise and alert Law to the fact that it was your door that had slammed shut. In fact, you were terrified that you’d end up breathing too loud. all you could do was twist your eyes shut, praying Law would decide to ignore it and leave.

But, unfortunately for you, he didn’t.

Footsteps approached your room, and you placed a hand over your mouth to try and silence your breathing. At this point, you couldn’t even use your devil fruit, as you needed to snap your fingers and say the words aloud to activate it. You were completely screwed; within seconds you’d be discovered and exposed.

There was a knock on your door. It didn’t sound harsh or angry, but it didn’t sound as though the person knocking was trying to be gentle. It was just a normal knock. This frightened you more, wondering if he was trying to bait you out by acting calm. 

Another knock, and you still didn’t respond, which prompted Law to respond to your silence.

“Who’s there?” He smoothly asked, and if you weren’t so terrified, you’d be swooning over how nice his voice sounded. Deep and smooth, yet so intimidating. 

Remaining silent once again, you thought you were finally in the clear as all sounds outside your door ceased. You lowered your hand from your mouth, sighing heavily as you turned around, getting ready to take off your weapons.

But then you realized you weren’t alone just yet.

“Room!”

A blue orb expanded quickly, surrounding your entire room and you began to panic once more, having no idea what Law’s powers were capable of.

And as if it couldn’t get any worse, you discovered one of his abilities was swapping himself with another object, effectively teleporting himself into your room with a “Shambles.” 

All you saw was the outline of his body appearing in front of you, but your body reacted on its own as your turned on your heel, making a run for the door. Fight or flight had overtaken you, and it seemed that you’d unconsciously chosen flight.

You shoved the door open and burst into the hallway, trying to run away from your own room. But that was no good, Law was already trailing you, and fast. His long legs allowed him to catch up to you with ease, and as you glanced behind to see how close he was, you realized he’d drawn his sword, ready to attack.

Reaching behind you, your body seemed to act on its own as you grabbed your sniper rifle, pulling it around to your chest as you put your hands in the correct position, but before you fired, you activated your silent field. “Calm.”

This way, when you fired your weapon, it wouldn’t make any noise and alert the prisoners or Caesar as to what was occurring. You raised the weapon to your face, barely looking into the scope as your finger curled around the trigger. 

It was hard to maneuver while running, but you leaped into the air, successfully twisting your body to face Law as you seemed to move in slow motion.

Despite your hesitancy to attack him before, you wasted no time in pulling the trigger, firing a bullet at Law. You watched as it soundlessly flew toward him. Then a shiver went down your spine as your body chilled over with fear, suddenly fearing you would accidentally hurt him. Shit, shit. No. This isn’t what I wanted.

You feared for the worst as you tried willing yourself to look away, but to your complete shock, Law shouted “shambles” again, and you stared in a mixture of horror and awe as his body swapped places with the bullet, which dropped to the floor without making a noise.

He was now less than ten feet away from you, and quickly running toward you with his katana blade fully out. Bullets wouldn’t work, so without thinking, you stood firmly in place, holding up your sniper rifle in front of you. 

Law’s sword clashed into your gun, and the force of his blow nearly pushed you over. But you forced yourself to fight back, using all of your strength to push back, and with a scream that was silent to Law, you forced him backward. It was now his turn to be shocked.

He stared at you in what looked like horror, before closing his eyes and turning away from you, sheathing his katana. 

Snapping your fingers, you reversed your calm effect and strapped your sniper rifle back onto it’s strap, body feeling hot and weak in the knees as you hopelessly stared at Law. He couldn’t even look at you, and like a spear through your heart, it hurt. Law being unable to look your way hurt. You didn’t even know why it hurt so bad.

The two of you stayed like this for what felt like slow, excruciating hours. You were on the verge of tears now, as though you were glass that was cracked but was one movement away from shattering. The silence between you and him was killing you. And yet you were such a coward that you couldn’t break the silence.

Law slowly began to turn around, finally looking at you, with hurt eyes that seemed dark, conveying his emotions to you; sadness, confusion, anger and a strange sense of relief. Upon seeing his expression, you frowned deeper, eyebrows knit together with worry.

“Y/n… why are you here?” He finally spoke, shattering the silence. Like the glass, you now crumbled, his voice sending you over the edge.

Head lowered, tears slipped past your eyes and your body trembled. Your knees then gave out next, as you stumbled down to the floor.

You remained hunched over, crying into your hands as broken sobs escaped your lips. You were so overcome with emotion that all you could do was cry. 

As you sobbed, you could hear him slowly approaching you, and you stared through your fingers as his shadow washed over you. Letting your hands fall from your tear-stained face, you looked up at him. You didn’t know what to say.

Law lowered himself to crouch in front of you, and one cold, tattooed hand reached out for your face. And all you could do was stare ahead, as his palm landed against your cheek gently, his thumb swiping outward to wipe your tears.

“I don’t know why you’re here…” he started to say, his shaken voice indicating he was every bit as scared as you were. “But… I don’t want to fight you. Had I known that was you, I wouldn’t have attacked, I’m sor-“

You cut him off, suddenly feeling like pouring your heart out to him. “You should’ve attacked! I’m nothing but a horrible assassin, serving evil leaders. Why couldn’t you have just killed me, Law?!”

He was surprised at your outburst, his eyes looking less angry now as he looked at you with confusion. “Wh- I don’t understand,” he mumbled. 

You shook your head, before deciding you needed to silence yourself before anybody else heard what you were about to say. “S-silent.” 

“Doflamingo sent me to kill you, Law. That or to forcefully take you back- and I, I just can’t do it. But I’m terrified of what will happen if I defy him,” you explained, heart pounding in your chest as you finally got it all out. “I’m terrified…”

“So you’re the one who’s been watching me,” he stated, looking away with dismay. “And… your ability, just now- is… is it his?”

You nodded, looking into Law’s eyes now, “they fed it to me so that I’d become their perfect assassin. And I just.. feel so guilty, that I could’ve used this devil fruit to kill you after its last user saved you.”

“…But you didn’t,” Law said, his thumb swiping to wipe your tears again. “You’re not a horrible person. Your actions show that.”

It was then that you realized how close you were to him; his face mere inches from yours. You observed his features, how his skin was tanned and no longer covered in white splotches from his disease. The silver in his eyes that you’d never noticed years ago, the neatly-groomed goatee and sideburns. He was breathtaking.

It appeared Law was doing the same to you, as his eyes were darting around but not looking away. Unable to form any words, you decided to speak with your actions, diving in to embrace him, arms wrapping around his warm body.

You buried your face into the fur of his coat’s collar, holding him tight; like you were afraid he’d disappear right before you if you dared to let go. All your pain and emotions aside, you could at least be glad about one thing;

 Law is by your side now. And really, that’s all you wanted.

[battlesworn]

imagine noticing roth around haven or skyhold, just this soft nurturing man who's always smiling and laughing, who gives the best hugs and brings people flowers when they're sad. then, imagine going out in the field with roth and seeing him in battle, in an all out rage, bloodied and tearing through enemies with the ease and ferocity of a practiced killer. the juxtaposition is terrifying and you have to wonder how those two halves can reconcile one another.