#rollinouttahere

Izou, who had been in a reflexive state, opened his eyes at the doctor’s words, glancing up at the girl sleeping soundly before letting out a thoughtful hum.

“She was significantly slower than what my intel reported, if she was fighting on that scale while malnourished it would explained why she was struggling during our fight” he surmized as he stood up and approached the child, brushing away stray hairs from her face with his Gaze once again softening; something here was simply not adding up and he was determined to get to the bottom of it.

Marco could only let out another sigh at this, turning back around to continue dotting information in the previously forgotten papers, before Thatch's voice interrupted his thoughts once again.

"The fella is awake!" He cheered, eyes glanced down towards the end of Dokucha’s bed, where the older of the two sat, knees tucked under his shin, and despite his eyes looking slightly dazed, they never lost track of his sister, tracking any move made on her.

"No…he never fell asleep-yoi" Marco corrected

" I really think ya should check those dosages, Marco, you definitely gave this kid too much of something," he chided as he waved a hand in front of the young boy, a frown overtaking his previous grin as he received nothing but a simple glance before Yomite's head dropped, his gaze glazing over completely.

"I never gave him anything-yoi; he went catatonic the moment we brought him on board; he hasn't said a word and has barely moved”

"Marco, don't tell him you scared em out of his wits, ya rascal," he barked, only getting an eye roll from the first mate

"Well, I declare that's nothing a good meal can fix, right?! c'mon fella, I can make anything you want, as long as I have the ingredients, least I can do after this whole situation!" Thatch offered with a grin, melting into a wince as the kid made no move to acknowledge him.

"Tough crowd…c'mon," he urged

"Can't Promise it won't be the same fellin' ya could get at home but it will be plumb tasty! He exclaimed, eyes brightening as his statement finally got the pre-teen to glance up at him.

"Unless it's poisoned, I don't want it."

"Well now…. No need to be like that; I know you are mighty ways from home but as soon as we get some thing settla we will get you right back to your old man. Hell, I will personally take ya to Greenbull if that makes things betta."

That single comment snapped him from his stupor. He had already failed; he had failed to escape, he had failed his sister, but his only hope now was that these pirates could eliminate them so they could finally rest in peace. But now, even that was about to be put in jeopardy. No matter what, he would not be going back, even if that decision cost them their lives.

"I won't let you ruin what my sister and I went through only to be sent back to that asshole," he snarled, jumping for the nearest person, that person being Izou, and in one quick motion, he grabbed one of the man's Flintlocks before the latter could stop him.

At the motion, a tense atmosphere grew in the room as the three men turned their attention to the sudden commotion, Marco dropping the papers in his hand in favor of trying to approach the child, trying to convince him to drop the gun he was currently aiming at his head.

"Now, now, kid, how about we talk about this?" Thatch tried as he inched closer to the pre-teen with the caution a person would use when approaching a terrified cornered animal, which he supposed was not very different from the current situation.

"There's nothing to talk about. I won't go back! I won't let you take her back either!" he swore

"I'm sorry, Dokucha, but I will have to head off early," he bawled with a war cry, his tiny fingers tightening around the trigger. Normally, the child would have been more in tune with his surroundings, but in his craze and altered state, he missed the small signals the Doctor was suddenly giving, and when he had finally noticed it was already too late, as an arm suddenly enveloped him.

Ace had expected many things when he heard news of his brother's sudden capture of the Admiral's children, but walking in on the oldest holding what looked to be his own brother's weapon, straight into his head, was not one of them. He glanced up at the three commanders who were trying to settle the situation before Marco finally took notice of his sudden arrival, gesturing down to the kid. Easily understanding his intention, he swiftly wrapped one of his arms around the kid's torso.

"It's okay, kid, let it go," he shushed, bringing him to his chest and beginning to kneel down as his other hand gripped the arm holding the weapon, sliding closer to Yomite's hand until finally he was able to press into the kid's wrist, twisting enough to make him drop the weapon with a cry.

Ace could only let a hiss as the loss of the weapon caused Yomite to suddenly go haywire, trying to reach for something, anything that could replace the gun, soon resorting to using his own hand to claw himself in an attempt to finish the job himself

"I won't let you, I won't let you."

"Hold him-yoi," Marco ordered, dashing forwards towards the two, a syringe in hand as Ace switched his hold from holding the kid's torso to holding their head and hands still to allow access for Marco and to avoid any damage Yomite himself was attempting to inflict on himself.

"NO! Get way from me; I'll kill you all!"

"It's going to be alright-yoi," Marco assured him as he injected the sedative into his neck, quickly taking over for Ace, lowering Yomite to the floor as he shushed him, waiting for the anesthetic to do its job.

"You don't have to go anywhere if you don't want to kid, it's okay" Marco promised, but Yomite was already to far gone, tears rolling down his face at the turn of events, conscious swiftly fading as the men in the room transformed into nothing more than blurs, a single word floating in his mind before black completely enveloped him.

'Dokucha'

Dokucha let out a small whine, eyes opening slightly only to be bombarded by bright lights, lifting her hands to cover them only brought more confusion as she was unable, trying once again only to met with resistance a second time, eyes forcing themselves opening despite the sudden illumination to find an explanation, only to be filled with most questions when she spotted herself cuffed to what appeared to be a hospital bed

"You're awake-yoi, How are you feeling?" a voice piped in, causing her to whip her head in the direction of the voice, eyes furrowing as she spotted a familiar Face

"You're….Mister… Phoenix?" she inquired, head spinning as the man let a small chuckle in response, her eyes drifted downward where another familiar face stood.

"Mister Izou?"

"I'm sorry about the cuffs, but I couldn't risk you hurting yourself," he apologized, taking a few notes in a nearby chart before giving her his full attention, chair rolling closer to her.

"Why would I injure myself?" she mumbled, tilting her head when her question caused the two men to glance at each other before the Doctor eventually broke their gaze, only to switch to looking at something next to her, prompting her to do so as well, the sight bringing tears to her eyes.

"Yomite?" she questioned with a cry, trying to reach for him, only for the same obstacle to stop her, turning around back towards the commanders, lips trembling.

"Can..Can I see him?"

Marco pursed his lips at the question, a thoughtful hum leaving him. It was true that the youngest seemed to be in a much calmer state than her older counterpart. Still, they had believed the same from Yomite at first, only to accidentally drop what seemed to be the catalyst for his sudden shift in attitude. The only way to check Dokucha's mental state was to provide the same Catalyst, something Izou seemed to catch on to easily.

"Before that, dear, I must ask you something."

"Okay…"

"After we do our negotiations would you like us to drop you Near a marine base? So that your Father can retrieve you-yoi," Marco inquired, a frown growing as she noticed the girl freezing up, eyes beginning to water even further.

"Please don't send us back, we can't; we can't go back," she sobbed

“I ‘ll tell you anything you want, everything I know so please; don’t send us back”

Despite being seasoned Pirates and seeing bloodshed in levels one could only imagine, a child sobbing, begging not to be sent home to the point that they would be willing to die to escape, was still something that broke their hearts.

The fought people of all kinds daily, whether they were honorable pirates holding themselves to their honor despite their path or pirates who, due to lack of strength or wickedness, had to resort to less than honorable means, but these, these were children, terrified children that sought not fame or glory but respite, escape. And the way things were going it was growing abundantly clear what the pair was running away from.

Marco let out a sigh as he got up easily undoing the girls binds one by one until she was finally able to sit up on her cot, glancing back at her brother she looked up at the Doctor who extended her hand; giving the blessing to he unspoken request, watching as she wasted no time to run to her brother's bed; enveloping him to the best of her abilities. They let her lie like that for a while until Izou eventually approached her, kneeling beside her with a gentle smile.

"Hey, I need to talk with you."

"About Aramaki?"

"Including him, yes."

"What about Yomite?" she mumble looking up at her brother, his face scrunching up in what she could only guess was another nightmare.

"I will take care of him-yoi" Marco assured her, approaching them to check on the boy's vitals.

"We can also come back in a little bit. We will let you know the moment he wakes up," Izou called, straightening himself up and extending a hand towards her, which with much hesitation she accepted as the two walked away from the infirmary, as Dokucha gave her brother one last glance before continuing to walk beside the gun-user.

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