Trials: fic exchange, x-posted to zosopp
I did not intend on this fic ever seeing the light of day, but in a pinch, you use what you've got, and I finished it up instead.
I wanted to write ‘fluff’ H/C, because I’m greatly entertained by the prospect of writing things that should not go together; but I couldn’t focus enough for it, so we end up with this. Sorry to everyone who reads it. ^_^;;
Title: Trials
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: ZoSopp (obviously)
Word Count: 5,821
Warnings: Overused plot cliche #578
Written for: sanji09 requesting: H/C, Fluff or Smut on zosopp
Notes: No pron, and so little fluff you have to squint to see it. I fail. BUT! I fail at great length. ;)
It HAD been a nice, if rare, outing; Zoro so rarely wanted to waste time on anything that could be even vaguely classified as 'romantic'- what with always having to train, ‘catch up’ on sleep, or save Luffy from whatever trouble he'd stumbled his way into this time, and so on- but a packed lunch at their next dock had gone quite a distance to tempting the other from his normal regimen.
It was a sunny day, with just the faintest breeze cooling it to a comfortable level. The food was delicious (as it should be, pilfered from Sanji as it was; he'd have to thank Nami for deciding to sunbathe that morning, later- although, she'd probably charge for it if he did, so maybe he wouldn't), the grass was soft, and it was nice to just relax for once.
Yes... it had been a nice outing. Until the burly men showed up.
Subtly, the sharpshooter sidled behind his partner, hoping to go unnoticed while Zoro took down what would inevitably be their opponents. With his luck, there was nothing else the newcomers could be; life couldn't just let them have one, quiet afternoon. ‘Ooooh no, not members of Luffy's crew.’ He allowed part of his mind to rant silently, while the rest calculated their odds and plans of escape.
His first clue that there would be a problem with this bunch was purely visual; they actually appeared relatively well kempt for thugs, and he noticed a definite lack of both drooling, and leering. Not a good sign; this implied actual cognitive ability. That none of them seemed to be missing any teeth or fingers also spoke to the ability in their chosen profession. His second clue had come when Zoro murmured in an undertone for him to run, as he freed two of his swords. THAT was a suggestion he was most happy to hear- while even he wouldn't abandon the swordsman, even if the other man could almost certainly take care of himself- he much preferred his battles to be fought from a safe distance; there was a reason he used a ranged weapon, after all. Things never worked out quite that easily, however.
The third, and sadly final, came in the form of whatever drugged dart had imbedded itself in his neck before he could make good on that suggestion. He didn't have time to notice much else before darkness claimed him.
~*~
Darkness surrounded him, comfortingly, and Usopp tried to wrap himself deeper in it; he wasn’t sure why, but some part of him recoiled from the prospect of waking, so he didn’t try to fight the urge at first, distantly thinking he’d just sleep in today. Something niggled at him, though, some noise he couldn’t make sense of, and unwilling as he may be to wake and face it, the voice of self-preservation that was so loud in his head was not letting him rest quietly.
The first awareness that returned to him was the pain. Why was it always the pain? As his mind started to work again, albeit muzzily, he mused briefly on if that was some great, cosmic joke on him, or just the way bodies worked. Chopper might know, he'd have to bring it up, later. Made sense, though; if you were in pain, you were probably in danger- though how a headache would help anyone get OUT of it, he wasn't sure.
He would have stirred at this point, testing his surroundings and ability to use his limbs, if voices around him weren't the next thing to enter his awareness. The events just previous to his decent into unconsciousness returned to his clouded mind in a disjointed rush, and he was suddenly a lot MORE aware.
He was splayed across a hard floor, cold stone pressed against his cheek. His haphazard prostration, and the bruises he could now feel making themselves known (again with the pain!) told him he'd been tossed rather carelessly to wherever he was, now. Ok, that meant he probably wasn't a point of major interest, here- which also meant he might not be being watched very closely.
Even so, he tried not to move, keeping his breathing even, unhurried; no reason to pay attention to an unconscious man, after all. More garbled sounds reached his ears, and he tried to focus on the voices, making out words and sentences that he knew his brain could understand if it would only cooperate.
"...was rather surprised when they caught you so easily. I wonder how they could have possibly managed that; I expected to lure you out and trap you- they were only the distraction. Fodder. I know full well you have taken on stronger men than I hired, with little to no injury to yourself..."
The voice sounded preoccupied, almost disappointed- which was completely at odds with the words themselves, which should have sounded pleased given the implied success of what was obviously someone’s capture. For a moment Usopp almost thought he’d misheard it, when a familiar voice diverted his attention.
"Caught me on an off day; lucky you."
The reply was dry, with an acerbic undertone, but the unknown man only made a noncommittal noise, pausing briefly before continuing, “Regardless, I have waited for this moment for some time. You will, of course, regret having crossed me; you cost me quite a lot of time and effort that I am not entirely certain I can replace. My previous employer may have been unintelligent scum, but he was willing to pay quite a high price for very little work, which left me a surplus of both time and resources to pursue my personal interests. This is not an easily replaceable position, so you will pay for this transgression, with a great deal of interest."
Usopp swallowed hard and shifted slightly, coming further into awareness. This did not sound good at all; even knowing nothing about their apparent captor, he could hear the naked threat in those words, under the apparent indifference of the tone, and a chill went up his spine at the implication of what 'payment' he'd have in mind. More than a little anxious, he finally cracked his eyes open the barest amount, leaving thick lashes knitted over the telling sliver of white. The visibility wasn't terribly good, but his attention would go largely unnoticed to the casual observer. Resisting the urge to move his head, he glanced to the side, and around the extent of his limited vision; the room they were in was neither large, nor cramped- there was perhaps room to walk ten paces from the door to the wall he had been dumped in front of, and the adjoining wall across the room was roughly the same distance. Zoro was leaning up against the back wall, further to the other side of the room- thick chains cuffed his wrists and neck, linking him to three separate metal rungs recessed into the stone floor. He was slightly bloodied, but from Usopp’s vantage point, it didn’t seem serious enough to be a concern for the swordsman, so he continued his cursory exploration of the room.
The walls he could see were also heavy stone block, and he could just catch high, thin shafts of light coming from what would likely be very narrow windows near the ceiling. Ventilation, then; this was probably a storage cellar of some sort. Not that that knowledge helped him, much- he couldn’t even tell if they were above ground or not. Probably not, given the chill.
Straining for more, he realized their captor was just outside of his peripheral vision, so his eyes slid back to nearer surroundings. He flinched involuntarily when he finally noticed his own chains, though his comparative treatment all but assured his earlier conviction that he was of no real interest; bound only by the wrists to just one spot; chain looped through another rung similar to Zoro's three.
He stilled immediately after realizing his error, but unfortunately, even that small movement of surprise drew their captor’s attention.
"...and who's your little friend?"
The sharpshooter kept completely still, hoping it was just an idle question, but the other man shifted in his direction- shoes scraping faintly on the stones, and he knew he’d been caught. Wincing again in earnest, Usopp's eyes opened fully, and he started to push himself up- berating himself for loosing the only edge he’d had. Much as the voice had suggested, the man holding them was a little older, hair lightly streaked in grey- otherwise he was average, fairly thin, and looked just a little like a weasel. It was in the eyes, Usopp decided…
Zoro snorted in response, shooting the sniper a look of derision. "No friend of mine; he's just one of my worthless crewmates- don't know why the captain ever picked him up."
Usopp froze on hands and knees at the words, turning to stare at the swordsman in disbelief. Zoro didn't seem to notice the attention; he grunted in annoyance, looking back at his captor with his scowl still firmly in place. "Pretty worthless if you ask me, needs too damn much protecting; can't take care of himself- lousy pirate he is." A shoulder raised and dropped slightly, in a careless shrug. "Might as well get rid of him, now; bruise him a couple times and he'll be crying like a damn baby. Not worth the effort really, 'much as I'd like to see him take a couple hits without being able to turn tail and run, he'll have Luffy out lookin' for him well before they think about trying to find me, and I intend to have a go at you myself before he shows up.” He smiled vindictively, look alone promising worlds of pain as soon as he was able to get at the other man.
"Ah, well then, I see no reason to keep him around..."
A hand reached carelessly towards a gun the sharpshooter had not noticed earlier at the man’s hip, and Usopp surged back, falling on his ass against the wall. “But-but-but- I’m captain Usopp!!” His eyes bulged, other man’s movement barely pausing at his words, and he continued in a frantic rush, “I’ve been all over the world, and have gained thous-- millions of followers who will avenge me- So-sogeking, the worlds greatest sniper is my best friend, he’d hunt you down, and Luffy- Luffy’s gonna be the pirate king, and he would come after you too- you don’t want to see him when he’s angry, he’s taken out entire villages- islands! He’s destroyed islands! You’ve heard of Enies lobby? That was him! I’m a very important person, and- and…” he trailed off, searching for a solid motivation not to kill him.
The man sighed, slightly, discarding all of Usopp's reasons with a wry turn of his lips. "That's all well and good, but none of it is of any consequence to me. Goodbye, Captain Usopp."
As the pistol rose, aiming at his chest, he blurted the first thing that came into his mind.
"I'm Zoro's lover!"
In the sudden stillness that followed, he couldn’t explain to himself why he’d said that, why he’d thought that would save him. Did he mean that Zoro would avenge him, or did he realize the other man was looking for leverage over the otherwise impassive swordsman? Regardless, the finger paused over the trigger, and the pistol was lowered ever so slightly as the man glanced at Zoro, eyebrow quirked. "Oh?"
There had been a gleam in his eye for just a moment; not quite surprise, and not quite recognition, but it was replaced with the faintest traces of hunger and it briefly occurred to Ussop that letting himself be shot might just have been the better choice.
The swordsman snorted. "So I fucked 'im, what's that supposed to mean? We live on a ship for fuck’s sake; needed to get off somehow.”
Usopp turned to him, predicament momentarily forgotten in the hurt of the other man's words. “But... you said... I thought...?” He knew the betrayal showed cleanly on his features, but he didn't really care. “You lied to me?”
He snickered darkly. “You should be used to lies by now.” Rolling his eyes, the green haired man looked back at his captor. “Can you just get him out of here? He's going to be whiny now, and that really makes it hard to sleep. Hell, let him go, and he'll probably tell Luffy I left the crew out of spite when he gets back- no one will even think to look for me.” Another feral grin split his lips, “Win-win for the both of us, if you ask me.”
The man looked thoughtful for a moment, then- eyes never leaving the swordsman- abruptly raised the gun and shot at Usopp.
Zoro hadn't flinched during the display, and the man frowned slightly, eyes sliding back to the second captive who now sat rigidly, back pressed to the wall behind him. A chip of stone was missing no more than three millimeters from his right ear, and a look of betrayal and fear was etched across his features.
"I can't be certain if he is trying to protect you, or honestly doesn't care; in any case, I'll keep you alive for the moment- this matter bears further testing.”
With that, he swept from the room.
~*~
Usopp wasn’t sure how much time had passed since their first encounter; he had been quiet since then, and the light had changed very little in their dark room. He suspected it had been several days, just by the number of ‘visits’ they had received. The next several encounters involved beatings- likely to wear them down, but not much else until the weasel-man strode in again in high spirits, angling directly for the sharpshooter.
"I have a special treat for you, this session." The smile was delighted, and the prospect of what could possibly be going through his head to create that look made Usopp's stomach tie itself in knots. The man held out one of the sharpshooter's tools; the blunt-nosed clippers he used on wires, and small bits of metal; he hadn’t even realized he’d been carrying them, before - his last project left untended on the deck when he’d gotten the chance to lure Zoro away for a few hours. How long ago was that, now?
"I found this on you, when we were removing your weapons..." He lifted the tool a little, twisting it in the meager light of the cell. His eyes slid over to their previous owner. "It’s only fair that you have first rights to them, being as they belonged to you."
The smile only widened at his obvious look of fear, and he tried to scramble backward as the other man approached, only succeeding in pressing himself further against the wall. "Oh, th-they were never that special to me!" His voice rose a little in speed and octave, "Don't feel you need to make any special exceptions over just that! H-heck, I'd f-forgotten I had them..."
The smile softened at the edges, taking on a perverted look of indulgence. "Oh, come now, don't be so modest; these tools are in pristine condition- you obviously put a lot of effort into maintaining them..." He clicked the clippers shut once as he approached, stressing his point. "They're so sharp, it may not even hurt much... this could be the cleanest amputation I've ever preformed."
"Am-amp-amput-t-t....?" He pulled desperately at his chains, trying to put more distance between them to no avail. Three more steps and his left hand had been caught up in a vice-like grip; clippers gently encasing the flesh at the base of his pinky finger. "As a special gift to you, for taking such good care of my new tools, I'll start with a digit you won't miss, much."
His breathing increased with the first touch of pressure from the metal jaws, but pure horror kept him still, mind running in circles as a denial ran through his head over and over again. This isn’t happening, this isn’t happening, this isn’t happening… and all he could think as he tried to push himself further into the stonework was that this had to be a horrible dream - oh please let this be a horrible dream.
"Start with his toes”, a deep voice interrupted, “he's a runner; bastard's faster than me - that'll hit him hardest."
Usopp flinched at the words, horrified that Zoro was participating in this; but their captor read the reaction wrong, thinking the alternative suggestion had spawned more fear. The pressure was released from his precious finger, and the clippers slowly removed.
“I…see…” He looked distant for moment, then blinked and continued as before,”well then, I’ll have to take your advice.” He looked almost calculatingly at Zoro before reaching down to remove Usopp’s left shoe, which proved to be the last straw in the sharpshooter’s stress-index. The world went blessedly dark for him, once again.
~*~
When he came around the next time, it was dark. He had no idea how much time had passed since he fai-- fell asleep, but he could barely see anything in the room now. Gasping, he sat bolt-upright, franticly feeling over hands, feet and face, afraid of how much damage he would find.
"He lost interest in you, once you fainted."
A few last pats proved the truth of those words, and with a shuttering sigh of relief, he slid down the wall, leaning boneless against the stonework. He was still whole.
After a moment the overwhelming relief ebbed, and he turned his head to seek out the source of the voice. They hadn’t really spoken to each other since that first day, when… Usopp’s eyes narrowed, pushing the thought aside.
The room was nearly pitch black, meager evening light barely making it through the high windows, but even so, he could just make out the darker shadows where he was sure the swordsman lay. He almost jumped, when the other man spoke again, unbidden.
"I think he's loosing interest in you- he's not getting the reactions he wants."
For all that he didn’t want the weasel-man’s attention, Usopp wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not; it sounded ominous.
~*~
The next ‘day’ was spent largely in silence; the morning came and went with no outside interference, and they had gotten well into the afternoon before the heavy door was unbolted and the weasel-man finally strode in.
He did not look particularly happy.
“This exercise has not been as entertaining as I had hoped”, he said without preamble. “I had set aside a month to work on you, but I am not certain I wish to waste even the remainder of the week.” Beady eyes shifted to focus on Usopp. “There is, however, one point I would like to test before I decide to terminate this project; I do hate riddles after all- my experiments always have to have clear results.”
And then, the beating began. Weasel-man got more vicious as time went on, glancing from time to time at the swordsman, and throwing himself more fully into his work each time he didn’t get a reaction. Usopp’s body felt like it was on fire, and he was sure tears were streaming down his face, because he could barely see. He didn’t know if he had been screaming or not, as time all bled together, but his throat felt raw, and the man was smirking at him.
You’re stronger than this!
His head snapped up at the words, needing to hear them, needing the support like nothing else in his life. Eyes wild, he sought out Zoro, but he was completely impassive and their captor hadn’t seemed to react, either. Had he… had he finally lost it? Was he hearing things, now?
The man paused only briefly, rating the change in behavior, and the sharpshooter took the chance to look around the room- but no other speaker was present. When the abuse started once more, he heard the voice again: stronger, clearer.
You know who I am. He focused on the words, his lifeline, and he almost swore he could feel a touch on his shoulder. Relax, now- stop fighting it.
A manic grin split his lips- crazy or not, he finally had someone there for him. Following the directions, he went completely limp, flopping slightly with each impact, but making no other reaction. The kicks didn’t hurt any more now than they did before, but weasel-man was clearly getting irritated by the sudden lack of response.
Good... the voice approved in his ear, just a little longer…
Finally, he was kicked against the wall in frustration, and the weasel-man drew his gun, looking fully at Zoro.
“I will kill him right in front of you!”
There was a negligent shrug of one shoulder, and Zoro couldn’t have looked less interested. “I don’t really care.”
Sogeking was whispering in his ear, telling him to stay still, stay calm, to trust him; so he did. The remaining tension left him and he leaned back, upright once more, and watched. The trigger finger tightened slowly, deliberately, but he was completely calm. A detached part of his mind noted that he would normally be panicking right now, but that didn’t matter, he could trust Sogeking.
The weapon was abruptly lowered, and an icy calm closed over the rage that had shown on weasel-man’s face. He turned on his heel and took several steps away before pausing.
"In the morning, one of you will be dead." His voice was calm once more, and he turned briefly back, tossing a pistol onto the floor- more to Usopp's side, but still just out of reach; he would have to strain quite a bit to get it. "I'll let you choose amongst yourselves which it will be."
He turned to leave again, stepping toward the doorway, and a weary smile crept onto Usopp's face as the first hope he'd had since their capture flooded through him; he was a sharpshooter, after all- finally, finally he had something he could plan with... but their captor stopped suddenly, mere feet from the archway, regaining his attention.
"Don't get too excited about the gift; there is only one shot, and I don't intend on returning before it is spent. If this matter is not resolved, I may not return at all. Should you choose to be difficult, you both may just starve in here; which, frankly, suits me just as well. Goodbye."
With that, he finally left the room, taking all of Usopp's newfound hope with him. This time, the sound seemed disturbingly final when the bolts slid home.
~*~
It took a lot of effort, and the straining of many shaking muscles, but he finally managed to get a hold on the discarded pistol, and slowly made his way back to the wall. He had taken several shaking, but triumphant, breaths before Zoro finally made comment.
“This has gone better than I expected.”
He didn’t know what he had been expecting, but after all the pain, and fear, and the sheer STRESS of it all, the casual comment finally shattered his fragile calm. Shaking, he pointed the gun at his nakama- what he'd thought had been his nakama... more, even…
"I should... I should just...",he trailed off, stricken.
"You wouldn't."
Somehow, the relaxed tone of the words broke something in him, and the conflicting emotions suddenly died away. He sat ramrod straight, pistol now firmly sighted on his crewmate. "Why not?" The words felt oddly detached, as if he were listening to someone else speak. Maybe he was; Sogeking had been there earlier, after all. He could almost feel the hands over his, steadying him. "You contributed to my torture, you lied to me about... us. I think I have every right, at this point."
Zoro gave him a vaguely incredulous look. “I’ve been trying to save your life.”
“Oh, is that what you call complete disinterest? You TOLD him how to HURT me!”
Zoro seemed completely unmoved, simply replying, “If I showed any reaction, he would have hurt you much more, much longer, and you’d probably be dead right now. I saved your hand, didn’t I?” He glanced at the door, “Anyway, I’ve got a plan.”
“Oh?” He shot a suspicious look toward the green haired man.
"Shoot me."
At Usopp's confused look, he tapped his chest just left of center. "Just above my heart- close as you can manage; make it look good, or they'll never think I'm dead."
He raised an eyebrow, then, adding, "Unless you want to do it for real. You have the gun, after all..."
He watched the sniper steadily, no sign of fear or doubt in his eyes - and suddenly the tense moment had passed. Usopp sagged in relief, doubt washing away. He couldn’t take it anymore, so he chose to trust instead. Zoro was his his rock; loyal, dependable, and strong. He wouldn't lie to him- wouldn't see the point in it- he was too straightforward; and he wouldn't hurt him without a damn good reason.
Saving his life was a damn good reason.
Usopp finally lowered the gun.
"There's one catch."
He looked up, suspicion once again creeping onto his features.
"If you manage to kill me, you'll have to become the best swordsman in the world for me. With my swords. I made a promise..."
Zoro watched Usopp with a calculating eye, but the sniper couldn't tell if he was serious, or just teasing him. Knowing Zoro, he was probably serious. If he was, that meant...
"w-wait... you mean I'd have to fight Mi-mi-mi-mihaw..." He couldn't quite get the name out, but Zoro still got the idea, because he smiled in that scary way he had, and nodded.
Usopp decided the other man was enjoying this entirely too much. Abruptly, he pulled the gun tightly against his stomach, to stop the rattling.
"I won't miss", he declared firmly.
He couldn't. There was NO way he was facing the older swordsman. He was scary.
Zoro simply smirked.
~*~
Some hours later Zoro cocked his head, as if listening intently to something the sniper couldn't hear.
"He's coming."
Usopp huddled back against the wall, suddenly not liking this plan at all. "Get ready..." Zoro spared a glance at him, but his attention was clearly still on the hall.
"Ok..." He shifted to fully face the sharpshooter, giving him a cleaner target, "do it now."
His only outward show of preparation came as his hands tensed into fists, but when Usopp failed to comply, he scowled. "Usopp, do it now!"
The pistol rattled in his hand as he reluctantly raised it, but did not act any further.
"Sogeking!" The name, barked like an order, finally forced his hand; the shot rang out, deafening in the previous silence. Blood blossomed a vibrant red from Zoro's chest and immediately Usopp felt sick.
No, no, no, no... he didn't want this, he didn't want this at all. As Zoro fell back into a bloody heap, motionless, and his eyes slid back to the gun in his hand, accusingly, as if it had somehow betrayed him by actually shooting the other man.
Three endless heartbeats passed, the shot still ringing clearly in his head- echoing well after he knew it had ended. Three heartbeats and he could discern no motion from his nakama; no steady rise or fall of his chest- simply the steady ooze of red, red blood. Three heartbeats more and the deafening silence was finally shattered, cell door banging open.
"Marvelous!", their captor exclaimed, moving into the room. "I didn't think you had it in you."
Usopp didn't bother looking at him, eyes staring blankly at the pistol. Zoro wasn't moving. He had killed Zoro. He had killed Zoro. He had... Sogeking had killed Zoro. Sogeking had killed his lover. Sogeking had...
"Oh my, perhaps you didn't have it in you, after all..." The man moved a little closer, at that, and only then did Usopp realize he was murmuring to himself, "Sogeking, what have you done? What have you done?" over and over again.
He stopped when he noticed it, sitting mutely then, eyes still down, but seeing only the replay of Zoro's chest, washed in red, in his minds eye.
"Ah well, no matter; the results were all I was concerned with." The man was smiling- he could tell without looking, because he could hear it in the words. "Did he suffer much? Did he beg?"
Bright, anxious eyes watched the sniper for a moment, before a frown pulled at his lips. "I suppose I'll never know." He let loose a small sigh before stepping back again. "Well, you're in no fit state to talk to anyone, now, so that makes the cleanup a much easier affair; I won't have to kill you after all. Won’t it be interesting to see how long you last?"
Usopp could hear him turn, footsteps slow, but loud on the stone floor. "I'll just contact the marine base, then; pirates are killing each other all the time- they'll happily come take care of the rest, and I'll have never had to get my hands dirty. Splendid."
~*~
Usopp sat there, nearly catatonic, for a long while. He refused to accept reality, so he withdrew from it. Zoro couldn’t be dead, he couldn’t die. He couldn’t. He’d outlive all of them, he was too stubborn not to. And there was no way… he couldn’t be responsible for it, he couldn’t have been the one…
His mind finally shut down, unwilling to strain itself anymore, and he stared blindly into space, consciousness adrift. It was surprising, therefore, how quickly he came out of it at the first faint traces of hope.
A wet wheeze brought him back, and a gurgling cough had him strained to the far reach of his chains before he could even think about it. Alive! Zoro was alive!
He could just reach the man, and pulled him closer, tentatively checking his wound. He had no eye for this, couldn’t tell how severe it was, but knew the bleeding needed to stop. At least it only seemed to be oozing, rather than gushing, and he hoped that was a good thing, and didn’t mean there wasn’t enough blood left to gush.
He dug into his pocket, pulling out the bandana he’d worn before; it was the cleanest thing he had after the time spent, there - and applied as much pressure to the area as he dared. That got a growl, and a glare, but he couldn’t help being relieved by both, because they meant Zoro was ALIVE.
“What-“, he hacked a few times, red coloring his mouth and hand, and Usopp tried not to panic at the sight. “What happened after?”
Usopp did his best to retell the events after his ‘demise’, although things had gotten slightly fuzzy for him about it. After he was finished, the swordsman rested his head on the floor again, looking relieved, and closing his eyes. “Good.”
“Good?!”, the sharpshooter exclaimed incredulously, “What’s good about it?! You’ve been shot, we’re both beaten to hell and back, we’re STILL chained to the DAMN FLOOR, and now the MARINES are coming for us! How the hell could this be GOOD?!”
“That’s more like you”, the swordsman smirked, then yawned. “ It’ll sort itself out. The marines show up, we play possum, they get us out of here, then we beat them up and steal their boat. All we have to do then is find the ship, get patched up ,and we’re good.”
Gaping at the plan, Usopp couldn’t think of a good response before the snoring started.
~*~
When the marines finally came, luck had decided to smile on them; although Usopp was sure it was only setting them up for later, and refused to breathe a sigh of relief. They had been taken far enough from any major cities or islands that the military here was relaxed at best, and to be kind, not expectant of trouble or any major catches in the area - so when they sent two trainees to pick up the ‘bodies’ (i.e., do the dirty work), they paid no mind of who they might have been.
As far as they were concerned, one man was dead, and the other catatonic, so the pirates were simply unchained and dragged out. It must have been a great surprise to them when the dead man sprung up, and at that point he only had to knock out one of the marines, because the other had fainted dead away.
Usopp supposed Zoro had that effect on people, but kept the thought entirely to himself. He also kept down the giddy laughter that wanted to bubble up his throat, because he felt it was neither healthy, nor helpful in this instance. He didn’t think he was altogether back together, yet, so he just quietly followed Zoro’s shaky lead.
They availed themselves of the unconscious men’s weapons, and anything else they thought might be useful, before heading off to find their boat. When they were well away, though, Zoro stopped abruptly, nearly running Usopp into his back.
The swordsman turned, and suddenly, he was lifted by the straps of his overalls; fingers digging firmly into the fabric of his shirt, beneath. "Don't. You. EVER. Do. That. Again." Each word was punctuated with a hard shake that nearly left his teeth rattling.
If he hadn't been told to do it, he would have thought Zoro meant the shooting him thing, but given that, he rather doubted it.
"That was the HARDEST thing I've ever had to do", Zoro growled out, and Usopp almost responded that it had been no picnic for him either, but for the flash of the swordsman’s eyes when he opened his mouth. He meekly shut it again and looked down, breaking eye contact.
"The next time I tell you to run", he punctuated the word with another shake, "you damn well run."
Oh. That was the problem. His safety.
The thought was both touching, and frustrating all at once; its not exactly like he had wanted to get tortured for days by a madman. Really. Then there were the results. Had things happened differently... had Zoro been taken alone...
He swallowed thickly, thinking about it- mouth working silently for a moment before any sound managed to come out.
“How about we both run, next time?”
There was a pause, a faint ‘hmm’, then, “Maybe.”
Usopp was set down again, gently, and Zoro turned away from the path, striding off. “Let's go find our Nakama; Chopper will want to yell at us for getting hurt when we get back.”
Usopp smiled, and started to follow before realization struck, “Oi! Zoro, that’s the wrong way!”, and chased after his nakama.
~
End. (Finally)
Post-fic notes, or: This didn't exactly turn out like I'd originally planned... So ya, when this idea popped into my head the clear vision I had for it was a ‘they both get caught, and Zoro has to talk Usopp through it so he survives’. Instead it became, ‘They get caught and Usopp is left in loads of emotional (and physical) turmoil because Zoro CAN’T comfort him, because the distance is how he’s trying to protect him’. So ya, that was a nice little 180, there; wtf muse? o_O
I wanted to write ‘fluff’ H/C, because I’m greatly entertained by the prospect of writing things that should not go together; but I couldn’t focus enough for it, so we end up with this. Sorry to everyone who reads it. ^_^;;
Title: Trials
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: ZoSopp (obviously)
Word Count: 5,821
Warnings: Overused plot cliche #578
Written for: sanji09 requesting: H/C, Fluff or Smut on zosopp
Notes: No pron, and so little fluff you have to squint to see it. I fail. BUT! I fail at great length. ;)
It HAD been a nice, if rare, outing; Zoro so rarely wanted to waste time on anything that could be even vaguely classified as 'romantic'- what with always having to train, ‘catch up’ on sleep, or save Luffy from whatever trouble he'd stumbled his way into this time, and so on- but a packed lunch at their next dock had gone quite a distance to tempting the other from his normal regimen.
It was a sunny day, with just the faintest breeze cooling it to a comfortable level. The food was delicious (as it should be, pilfered from Sanji as it was; he'd have to thank Nami for deciding to sunbathe that morning, later- although, she'd probably charge for it if he did, so maybe he wouldn't), the grass was soft, and it was nice to just relax for once.
Yes... it had been a nice outing. Until the burly men showed up.
Subtly, the sharpshooter sidled behind his partner, hoping to go unnoticed while Zoro took down what would inevitably be their opponents. With his luck, there was nothing else the newcomers could be; life couldn't just let them have one, quiet afternoon. ‘Ooooh no, not members of Luffy's crew.’ He allowed part of his mind to rant silently, while the rest calculated their odds and plans of escape.
His first clue that there would be a problem with this bunch was purely visual; they actually appeared relatively well kempt for thugs, and he noticed a definite lack of both drooling, and leering. Not a good sign; this implied actual cognitive ability. That none of them seemed to be missing any teeth or fingers also spoke to the ability in their chosen profession. His second clue had come when Zoro murmured in an undertone for him to run, as he freed two of his swords. THAT was a suggestion he was most happy to hear- while even he wouldn't abandon the swordsman, even if the other man could almost certainly take care of himself- he much preferred his battles to be fought from a safe distance; there was a reason he used a ranged weapon, after all. Things never worked out quite that easily, however.
The third, and sadly final, came in the form of whatever drugged dart had imbedded itself in his neck before he could make good on that suggestion. He didn't have time to notice much else before darkness claimed him.
~*~
Darkness surrounded him, comfortingly, and Usopp tried to wrap himself deeper in it; he wasn’t sure why, but some part of him recoiled from the prospect of waking, so he didn’t try to fight the urge at first, distantly thinking he’d just sleep in today. Something niggled at him, though, some noise he couldn’t make sense of, and unwilling as he may be to wake and face it, the voice of self-preservation that was so loud in his head was not letting him rest quietly.
The first awareness that returned to him was the pain. Why was it always the pain? As his mind started to work again, albeit muzzily, he mused briefly on if that was some great, cosmic joke on him, or just the way bodies worked. Chopper might know, he'd have to bring it up, later. Made sense, though; if you were in pain, you were probably in danger- though how a headache would help anyone get OUT of it, he wasn't sure.
He would have stirred at this point, testing his surroundings and ability to use his limbs, if voices around him weren't the next thing to enter his awareness. The events just previous to his decent into unconsciousness returned to his clouded mind in a disjointed rush, and he was suddenly a lot MORE aware.
He was splayed across a hard floor, cold stone pressed against his cheek. His haphazard prostration, and the bruises he could now feel making themselves known (again with the pain!) told him he'd been tossed rather carelessly to wherever he was, now. Ok, that meant he probably wasn't a point of major interest, here- which also meant he might not be being watched very closely.
Even so, he tried not to move, keeping his breathing even, unhurried; no reason to pay attention to an unconscious man, after all. More garbled sounds reached his ears, and he tried to focus on the voices, making out words and sentences that he knew his brain could understand if it would only cooperate.
"...was rather surprised when they caught you so easily. I wonder how they could have possibly managed that; I expected to lure you out and trap you- they were only the distraction. Fodder. I know full well you have taken on stronger men than I hired, with little to no injury to yourself..."
The voice sounded preoccupied, almost disappointed- which was completely at odds with the words themselves, which should have sounded pleased given the implied success of what was obviously someone’s capture. For a moment Usopp almost thought he’d misheard it, when a familiar voice diverted his attention.
"Caught me on an off day; lucky you."
The reply was dry, with an acerbic undertone, but the unknown man only made a noncommittal noise, pausing briefly before continuing, “Regardless, I have waited for this moment for some time. You will, of course, regret having crossed me; you cost me quite a lot of time and effort that I am not entirely certain I can replace. My previous employer may have been unintelligent scum, but he was willing to pay quite a high price for very little work, which left me a surplus of both time and resources to pursue my personal interests. This is not an easily replaceable position, so you will pay for this transgression, with a great deal of interest."
Usopp swallowed hard and shifted slightly, coming further into awareness. This did not sound good at all; even knowing nothing about their apparent captor, he could hear the naked threat in those words, under the apparent indifference of the tone, and a chill went up his spine at the implication of what 'payment' he'd have in mind. More than a little anxious, he finally cracked his eyes open the barest amount, leaving thick lashes knitted over the telling sliver of white. The visibility wasn't terribly good, but his attention would go largely unnoticed to the casual observer. Resisting the urge to move his head, he glanced to the side, and around the extent of his limited vision; the room they were in was neither large, nor cramped- there was perhaps room to walk ten paces from the door to the wall he had been dumped in front of, and the adjoining wall across the room was roughly the same distance. Zoro was leaning up against the back wall, further to the other side of the room- thick chains cuffed his wrists and neck, linking him to three separate metal rungs recessed into the stone floor. He was slightly bloodied, but from Usopp’s vantage point, it didn’t seem serious enough to be a concern for the swordsman, so he continued his cursory exploration of the room.
The walls he could see were also heavy stone block, and he could just catch high, thin shafts of light coming from what would likely be very narrow windows near the ceiling. Ventilation, then; this was probably a storage cellar of some sort. Not that that knowledge helped him, much- he couldn’t even tell if they were above ground or not. Probably not, given the chill.
Straining for more, he realized their captor was just outside of his peripheral vision, so his eyes slid back to nearer surroundings. He flinched involuntarily when he finally noticed his own chains, though his comparative treatment all but assured his earlier conviction that he was of no real interest; bound only by the wrists to just one spot; chain looped through another rung similar to Zoro's three.
He stilled immediately after realizing his error, but unfortunately, even that small movement of surprise drew their captor’s attention.
"...and who's your little friend?"
The sharpshooter kept completely still, hoping it was just an idle question, but the other man shifted in his direction- shoes scraping faintly on the stones, and he knew he’d been caught. Wincing again in earnest, Usopp's eyes opened fully, and he started to push himself up- berating himself for loosing the only edge he’d had. Much as the voice had suggested, the man holding them was a little older, hair lightly streaked in grey- otherwise he was average, fairly thin, and looked just a little like a weasel. It was in the eyes, Usopp decided…
Zoro snorted in response, shooting the sniper a look of derision. "No friend of mine; he's just one of my worthless crewmates- don't know why the captain ever picked him up."
Usopp froze on hands and knees at the words, turning to stare at the swordsman in disbelief. Zoro didn't seem to notice the attention; he grunted in annoyance, looking back at his captor with his scowl still firmly in place. "Pretty worthless if you ask me, needs too damn much protecting; can't take care of himself- lousy pirate he is." A shoulder raised and dropped slightly, in a careless shrug. "Might as well get rid of him, now; bruise him a couple times and he'll be crying like a damn baby. Not worth the effort really, 'much as I'd like to see him take a couple hits without being able to turn tail and run, he'll have Luffy out lookin' for him well before they think about trying to find me, and I intend to have a go at you myself before he shows up.” He smiled vindictively, look alone promising worlds of pain as soon as he was able to get at the other man.
"Ah, well then, I see no reason to keep him around..."
A hand reached carelessly towards a gun the sharpshooter had not noticed earlier at the man’s hip, and Usopp surged back, falling on his ass against the wall. “But-but-but- I’m captain Usopp!!” His eyes bulged, other man’s movement barely pausing at his words, and he continued in a frantic rush, “I’ve been all over the world, and have gained thous-- millions of followers who will avenge me- So-sogeking, the worlds greatest sniper is my best friend, he’d hunt you down, and Luffy- Luffy’s gonna be the pirate king, and he would come after you too- you don’t want to see him when he’s angry, he’s taken out entire villages- islands! He’s destroyed islands! You’ve heard of Enies lobby? That was him! I’m a very important person, and- and…” he trailed off, searching for a solid motivation not to kill him.
The man sighed, slightly, discarding all of Usopp's reasons with a wry turn of his lips. "That's all well and good, but none of it is of any consequence to me. Goodbye, Captain Usopp."
As the pistol rose, aiming at his chest, he blurted the first thing that came into his mind.
"I'm Zoro's lover!"
In the sudden stillness that followed, he couldn’t explain to himself why he’d said that, why he’d thought that would save him. Did he mean that Zoro would avenge him, or did he realize the other man was looking for leverage over the otherwise impassive swordsman? Regardless, the finger paused over the trigger, and the pistol was lowered ever so slightly as the man glanced at Zoro, eyebrow quirked. "Oh?"
There had been a gleam in his eye for just a moment; not quite surprise, and not quite recognition, but it was replaced with the faintest traces of hunger and it briefly occurred to Ussop that letting himself be shot might just have been the better choice.
The swordsman snorted. "So I fucked 'im, what's that supposed to mean? We live on a ship for fuck’s sake; needed to get off somehow.”
Usopp turned to him, predicament momentarily forgotten in the hurt of the other man's words. “But... you said... I thought...?” He knew the betrayal showed cleanly on his features, but he didn't really care. “You lied to me?”
He snickered darkly. “You should be used to lies by now.” Rolling his eyes, the green haired man looked back at his captor. “Can you just get him out of here? He's going to be whiny now, and that really makes it hard to sleep. Hell, let him go, and he'll probably tell Luffy I left the crew out of spite when he gets back- no one will even think to look for me.” Another feral grin split his lips, “Win-win for the both of us, if you ask me.”
The man looked thoughtful for a moment, then- eyes never leaving the swordsman- abruptly raised the gun and shot at Usopp.
Zoro hadn't flinched during the display, and the man frowned slightly, eyes sliding back to the second captive who now sat rigidly, back pressed to the wall behind him. A chip of stone was missing no more than three millimeters from his right ear, and a look of betrayal and fear was etched across his features.
"I can't be certain if he is trying to protect you, or honestly doesn't care; in any case, I'll keep you alive for the moment- this matter bears further testing.”
With that, he swept from the room.
~*~
Usopp wasn’t sure how much time had passed since their first encounter; he had been quiet since then, and the light had changed very little in their dark room. He suspected it had been several days, just by the number of ‘visits’ they had received. The next several encounters involved beatings- likely to wear them down, but not much else until the weasel-man strode in again in high spirits, angling directly for the sharpshooter.
"I have a special treat for you, this session." The smile was delighted, and the prospect of what could possibly be going through his head to create that look made Usopp's stomach tie itself in knots. The man held out one of the sharpshooter's tools; the blunt-nosed clippers he used on wires, and small bits of metal; he hadn’t even realized he’d been carrying them, before - his last project left untended on the deck when he’d gotten the chance to lure Zoro away for a few hours. How long ago was that, now?
"I found this on you, when we were removing your weapons..." He lifted the tool a little, twisting it in the meager light of the cell. His eyes slid over to their previous owner. "It’s only fair that you have first rights to them, being as they belonged to you."
The smile only widened at his obvious look of fear, and he tried to scramble backward as the other man approached, only succeeding in pressing himself further against the wall. "Oh, th-they were never that special to me!" His voice rose a little in speed and octave, "Don't feel you need to make any special exceptions over just that! H-heck, I'd f-forgotten I had them..."
The smile softened at the edges, taking on a perverted look of indulgence. "Oh, come now, don't be so modest; these tools are in pristine condition- you obviously put a lot of effort into maintaining them..." He clicked the clippers shut once as he approached, stressing his point. "They're so sharp, it may not even hurt much... this could be the cleanest amputation I've ever preformed."
"Am-amp-amput-t-t....?" He pulled desperately at his chains, trying to put more distance between them to no avail. Three more steps and his left hand had been caught up in a vice-like grip; clippers gently encasing the flesh at the base of his pinky finger. "As a special gift to you, for taking such good care of my new tools, I'll start with a digit you won't miss, much."
His breathing increased with the first touch of pressure from the metal jaws, but pure horror kept him still, mind running in circles as a denial ran through his head over and over again. This isn’t happening, this isn’t happening, this isn’t happening… and all he could think as he tried to push himself further into the stonework was that this had to be a horrible dream - oh please let this be a horrible dream.
"Start with his toes”, a deep voice interrupted, “he's a runner; bastard's faster than me - that'll hit him hardest."
Usopp flinched at the words, horrified that Zoro was participating in this; but their captor read the reaction wrong, thinking the alternative suggestion had spawned more fear. The pressure was released from his precious finger, and the clippers slowly removed.
“I…see…” He looked distant for moment, then blinked and continued as before,”well then, I’ll have to take your advice.” He looked almost calculatingly at Zoro before reaching down to remove Usopp’s left shoe, which proved to be the last straw in the sharpshooter’s stress-index. The world went blessedly dark for him, once again.
~*~
When he came around the next time, it was dark. He had no idea how much time had passed since he fai-- fell asleep, but he could barely see anything in the room now. Gasping, he sat bolt-upright, franticly feeling over hands, feet and face, afraid of how much damage he would find.
"He lost interest in you, once you fainted."
A few last pats proved the truth of those words, and with a shuttering sigh of relief, he slid down the wall, leaning boneless against the stonework. He was still whole.
After a moment the overwhelming relief ebbed, and he turned his head to seek out the source of the voice. They hadn’t really spoken to each other since that first day, when… Usopp’s eyes narrowed, pushing the thought aside.
The room was nearly pitch black, meager evening light barely making it through the high windows, but even so, he could just make out the darker shadows where he was sure the swordsman lay. He almost jumped, when the other man spoke again, unbidden.
"I think he's loosing interest in you- he's not getting the reactions he wants."
For all that he didn’t want the weasel-man’s attention, Usopp wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not; it sounded ominous.
~*~
The next ‘day’ was spent largely in silence; the morning came and went with no outside interference, and they had gotten well into the afternoon before the heavy door was unbolted and the weasel-man finally strode in.
He did not look particularly happy.
“This exercise has not been as entertaining as I had hoped”, he said without preamble. “I had set aside a month to work on you, but I am not certain I wish to waste even the remainder of the week.” Beady eyes shifted to focus on Usopp. “There is, however, one point I would like to test before I decide to terminate this project; I do hate riddles after all- my experiments always have to have clear results.”
And then, the beating began. Weasel-man got more vicious as time went on, glancing from time to time at the swordsman, and throwing himself more fully into his work each time he didn’t get a reaction. Usopp’s body felt like it was on fire, and he was sure tears were streaming down his face, because he could barely see. He didn’t know if he had been screaming or not, as time all bled together, but his throat felt raw, and the man was smirking at him.
You’re stronger than this!
His head snapped up at the words, needing to hear them, needing the support like nothing else in his life. Eyes wild, he sought out Zoro, but he was completely impassive and their captor hadn’t seemed to react, either. Had he… had he finally lost it? Was he hearing things, now?
The man paused only briefly, rating the change in behavior, and the sharpshooter took the chance to look around the room- but no other speaker was present. When the abuse started once more, he heard the voice again: stronger, clearer.
You know who I am. He focused on the words, his lifeline, and he almost swore he could feel a touch on his shoulder. Relax, now- stop fighting it.
A manic grin split his lips- crazy or not, he finally had someone there for him. Following the directions, he went completely limp, flopping slightly with each impact, but making no other reaction. The kicks didn’t hurt any more now than they did before, but weasel-man was clearly getting irritated by the sudden lack of response.
Good... the voice approved in his ear, just a little longer…
Finally, he was kicked against the wall in frustration, and the weasel-man drew his gun, looking fully at Zoro.
“I will kill him right in front of you!”
There was a negligent shrug of one shoulder, and Zoro couldn’t have looked less interested. “I don’t really care.”
Sogeking was whispering in his ear, telling him to stay still, stay calm, to trust him; so he did. The remaining tension left him and he leaned back, upright once more, and watched. The trigger finger tightened slowly, deliberately, but he was completely calm. A detached part of his mind noted that he would normally be panicking right now, but that didn’t matter, he could trust Sogeking.
The weapon was abruptly lowered, and an icy calm closed over the rage that had shown on weasel-man’s face. He turned on his heel and took several steps away before pausing.
"In the morning, one of you will be dead." His voice was calm once more, and he turned briefly back, tossing a pistol onto the floor- more to Usopp's side, but still just out of reach; he would have to strain quite a bit to get it. "I'll let you choose amongst yourselves which it will be."
He turned to leave again, stepping toward the doorway, and a weary smile crept onto Usopp's face as the first hope he'd had since their capture flooded through him; he was a sharpshooter, after all- finally, finally he had something he could plan with... but their captor stopped suddenly, mere feet from the archway, regaining his attention.
"Don't get too excited about the gift; there is only one shot, and I don't intend on returning before it is spent. If this matter is not resolved, I may not return at all. Should you choose to be difficult, you both may just starve in here; which, frankly, suits me just as well. Goodbye."
With that, he finally left the room, taking all of Usopp's newfound hope with him. This time, the sound seemed disturbingly final when the bolts slid home.
~*~
It took a lot of effort, and the straining of many shaking muscles, but he finally managed to get a hold on the discarded pistol, and slowly made his way back to the wall. He had taken several shaking, but triumphant, breaths before Zoro finally made comment.
“This has gone better than I expected.”
He didn’t know what he had been expecting, but after all the pain, and fear, and the sheer STRESS of it all, the casual comment finally shattered his fragile calm. Shaking, he pointed the gun at his nakama- what he'd thought had been his nakama... more, even…
"I should... I should just...",he trailed off, stricken.
"You wouldn't."
Somehow, the relaxed tone of the words broke something in him, and the conflicting emotions suddenly died away. He sat ramrod straight, pistol now firmly sighted on his crewmate. "Why not?" The words felt oddly detached, as if he were listening to someone else speak. Maybe he was; Sogeking had been there earlier, after all. He could almost feel the hands over his, steadying him. "You contributed to my torture, you lied to me about... us. I think I have every right, at this point."
Zoro gave him a vaguely incredulous look. “I’ve been trying to save your life.”
“Oh, is that what you call complete disinterest? You TOLD him how to HURT me!”
Zoro seemed completely unmoved, simply replying, “If I showed any reaction, he would have hurt you much more, much longer, and you’d probably be dead right now. I saved your hand, didn’t I?” He glanced at the door, “Anyway, I’ve got a plan.”
“Oh?” He shot a suspicious look toward the green haired man.
"Shoot me."
At Usopp's confused look, he tapped his chest just left of center. "Just above my heart- close as you can manage; make it look good, or they'll never think I'm dead."
He raised an eyebrow, then, adding, "Unless you want to do it for real. You have the gun, after all..."
He watched the sniper steadily, no sign of fear or doubt in his eyes - and suddenly the tense moment had passed. Usopp sagged in relief, doubt washing away. He couldn’t take it anymore, so he chose to trust instead. Zoro was his his rock; loyal, dependable, and strong. He wouldn't lie to him- wouldn't see the point in it- he was too straightforward; and he wouldn't hurt him without a damn good reason.
Saving his life was a damn good reason.
Usopp finally lowered the gun.
"There's one catch."
He looked up, suspicion once again creeping onto his features.
"If you manage to kill me, you'll have to become the best swordsman in the world for me. With my swords. I made a promise..."
Zoro watched Usopp with a calculating eye, but the sniper couldn't tell if he was serious, or just teasing him. Knowing Zoro, he was probably serious. If he was, that meant...
"w-wait... you mean I'd have to fight Mi-mi-mi-mihaw..." He couldn't quite get the name out, but Zoro still got the idea, because he smiled in that scary way he had, and nodded.
Usopp decided the other man was enjoying this entirely too much. Abruptly, he pulled the gun tightly against his stomach, to stop the rattling.
"I won't miss", he declared firmly.
He couldn't. There was NO way he was facing the older swordsman. He was scary.
Zoro simply smirked.
~*~
Some hours later Zoro cocked his head, as if listening intently to something the sniper couldn't hear.
"He's coming."
Usopp huddled back against the wall, suddenly not liking this plan at all. "Get ready..." Zoro spared a glance at him, but his attention was clearly still on the hall.
"Ok..." He shifted to fully face the sharpshooter, giving him a cleaner target, "do it now."
His only outward show of preparation came as his hands tensed into fists, but when Usopp failed to comply, he scowled. "Usopp, do it now!"
The pistol rattled in his hand as he reluctantly raised it, but did not act any further.
"Sogeking!" The name, barked like an order, finally forced his hand; the shot rang out, deafening in the previous silence. Blood blossomed a vibrant red from Zoro's chest and immediately Usopp felt sick.
No, no, no, no... he didn't want this, he didn't want this at all. As Zoro fell back into a bloody heap, motionless, and his eyes slid back to the gun in his hand, accusingly, as if it had somehow betrayed him by actually shooting the other man.
Three endless heartbeats passed, the shot still ringing clearly in his head- echoing well after he knew it had ended. Three heartbeats and he could discern no motion from his nakama; no steady rise or fall of his chest- simply the steady ooze of red, red blood. Three heartbeats more and the deafening silence was finally shattered, cell door banging open.
"Marvelous!", their captor exclaimed, moving into the room. "I didn't think you had it in you."
Usopp didn't bother looking at him, eyes staring blankly at the pistol. Zoro wasn't moving. He had killed Zoro. He had killed Zoro. He had... Sogeking had killed Zoro. Sogeking had killed his lover. Sogeking had...
"Oh my, perhaps you didn't have it in you, after all..." The man moved a little closer, at that, and only then did Usopp realize he was murmuring to himself, "Sogeking, what have you done? What have you done?" over and over again.
He stopped when he noticed it, sitting mutely then, eyes still down, but seeing only the replay of Zoro's chest, washed in red, in his minds eye.
"Ah well, no matter; the results were all I was concerned with." The man was smiling- he could tell without looking, because he could hear it in the words. "Did he suffer much? Did he beg?"
Bright, anxious eyes watched the sniper for a moment, before a frown pulled at his lips. "I suppose I'll never know." He let loose a small sigh before stepping back again. "Well, you're in no fit state to talk to anyone, now, so that makes the cleanup a much easier affair; I won't have to kill you after all. Won’t it be interesting to see how long you last?"
Usopp could hear him turn, footsteps slow, but loud on the stone floor. "I'll just contact the marine base, then; pirates are killing each other all the time- they'll happily come take care of the rest, and I'll have never had to get my hands dirty. Splendid."
~*~
Usopp sat there, nearly catatonic, for a long while. He refused to accept reality, so he withdrew from it. Zoro couldn’t be dead, he couldn’t die. He couldn’t. He’d outlive all of them, he was too stubborn not to. And there was no way… he couldn’t be responsible for it, he couldn’t have been the one…
His mind finally shut down, unwilling to strain itself anymore, and he stared blindly into space, consciousness adrift. It was surprising, therefore, how quickly he came out of it at the first faint traces of hope.
A wet wheeze brought him back, and a gurgling cough had him strained to the far reach of his chains before he could even think about it. Alive! Zoro was alive!
He could just reach the man, and pulled him closer, tentatively checking his wound. He had no eye for this, couldn’t tell how severe it was, but knew the bleeding needed to stop. At least it only seemed to be oozing, rather than gushing, and he hoped that was a good thing, and didn’t mean there wasn’t enough blood left to gush.
He dug into his pocket, pulling out the bandana he’d worn before; it was the cleanest thing he had after the time spent, there - and applied as much pressure to the area as he dared. That got a growl, and a glare, but he couldn’t help being relieved by both, because they meant Zoro was ALIVE.
“What-“, he hacked a few times, red coloring his mouth and hand, and Usopp tried not to panic at the sight. “What happened after?”
Usopp did his best to retell the events after his ‘demise’, although things had gotten slightly fuzzy for him about it. After he was finished, the swordsman rested his head on the floor again, looking relieved, and closing his eyes. “Good.”
“Good?!”, the sharpshooter exclaimed incredulously, “What’s good about it?! You’ve been shot, we’re both beaten to hell and back, we’re STILL chained to the DAMN FLOOR, and now the MARINES are coming for us! How the hell could this be GOOD?!”
“That’s more like you”, the swordsman smirked, then yawned. “ It’ll sort itself out. The marines show up, we play possum, they get us out of here, then we beat them up and steal their boat. All we have to do then is find the ship, get patched up ,and we’re good.”
Gaping at the plan, Usopp couldn’t think of a good response before the snoring started.
~*~
When the marines finally came, luck had decided to smile on them; although Usopp was sure it was only setting them up for later, and refused to breathe a sigh of relief. They had been taken far enough from any major cities or islands that the military here was relaxed at best, and to be kind, not expectant of trouble or any major catches in the area - so when they sent two trainees to pick up the ‘bodies’ (i.e., do the dirty work), they paid no mind of who they might have been.
As far as they were concerned, one man was dead, and the other catatonic, so the pirates were simply unchained and dragged out. It must have been a great surprise to them when the dead man sprung up, and at that point he only had to knock out one of the marines, because the other had fainted dead away.
Usopp supposed Zoro had that effect on people, but kept the thought entirely to himself. He also kept down the giddy laughter that wanted to bubble up his throat, because he felt it was neither healthy, nor helpful in this instance. He didn’t think he was altogether back together, yet, so he just quietly followed Zoro’s shaky lead.
They availed themselves of the unconscious men’s weapons, and anything else they thought might be useful, before heading off to find their boat. When they were well away, though, Zoro stopped abruptly, nearly running Usopp into his back.
The swordsman turned, and suddenly, he was lifted by the straps of his overalls; fingers digging firmly into the fabric of his shirt, beneath. "Don't. You. EVER. Do. That. Again." Each word was punctuated with a hard shake that nearly left his teeth rattling.
If he hadn't been told to do it, he would have thought Zoro meant the shooting him thing, but given that, he rather doubted it.
"That was the HARDEST thing I've ever had to do", Zoro growled out, and Usopp almost responded that it had been no picnic for him either, but for the flash of the swordsman’s eyes when he opened his mouth. He meekly shut it again and looked down, breaking eye contact.
"The next time I tell you to run", he punctuated the word with another shake, "you damn well run."
Oh. That was the problem. His safety.
The thought was both touching, and frustrating all at once; its not exactly like he had wanted to get tortured for days by a madman. Really. Then there were the results. Had things happened differently... had Zoro been taken alone...
He swallowed thickly, thinking about it- mouth working silently for a moment before any sound managed to come out.
“How about we both run, next time?”
There was a pause, a faint ‘hmm’, then, “Maybe.”
Usopp was set down again, gently, and Zoro turned away from the path, striding off. “Let's go find our Nakama; Chopper will want to yell at us for getting hurt when we get back.”
Usopp smiled, and started to follow before realization struck, “Oi! Zoro, that’s the wrong way!”, and chased after his nakama.
~
End. (Finally)
Post-fic notes, or: This didn't exactly turn out like I'd originally planned... So ya, when this idea popped into my head the clear vision I had for it was a ‘they both get caught, and Zoro has to talk Usopp through it so he survives’. Instead it became, ‘They get caught and Usopp is left in loads of emotional (and physical) turmoil because Zoro CAN’T comfort him, because the distance is how he’s trying to protect him’. So ya, that was a nice little 180, there; wtf muse? o_O