Title: I Knew You Would Come
Genre: Friendship/angst
Rating: T
Warnings: a few mentions of torture, Usopp-angst, bad words. Slightly gory scenes. Warn me if I should make this a higher rating, okay?
Pairings: Nakama-shipping, but if you really want to you can imagine it as LuffyXUsopp.
Disclaimer: Yeah, I don't own One Piece. Yeah…I'm sad about that too.
Summery: Usopp is kidnapped by the marines and is put through unimaginable tortures. But he holds his own and waits for Nakama to save him, knowing for sure they'll come.
Inumaru: Hopefully Ice-kun doesn't hurt me for hurting Usopp. If he tries to… (Hides behind computer chair, only to see it be blown to pieces) Ah. I see…you make a very good point Ice-kun…but I make a better one… (Runs away)
Luffy: Please review for Inumaru-chan!
Special Note: Thanks to my amazingly awesome, super duper, Beta/friend Icebender21 for looking over this for me.
I Knew You Would Come
Usopp shivered slightly as a cold breeze hit his skin before he burrowed deeper into himself for warmth and comfort. He then heard a door open and foot steps echo through the cave walls until the foot steps ended in front of his jail door. He heard the sound of keys being put into the door. The tan skinned pirate stiffened and straightened out a bit, fingering the makeshift weapon he had made. It was now or never. He knew that his Nakama would eventually come but he didn't know if when they finally made it if he would be in one piece. He took a deep breath and waited as the man before him opened and grinned sadistically at him…It was time.
XxXxXxXx
It had started on a seemingly normal day for the Straw Hat pirates. They were all out in town loading up on supplies when the marines had surrounded them. They had all fought hard, but in the end some high ranking marine who used a devil fruit power capture them. Without even thinking about it, Usopp pushed little Chopper out of the way and the beam. (Later when he was locked up in the jail he would rant to himself about how crazy he had been, but of course he would never regret that decision.) He was taken by the Marines and his Nakama was forced to retreat. Luffy obviously didn't want to leave but he couldn't risk having his other Nakama taken so they left. Without him.
But Usopp wasn't worried. No, he knew his Nakama would come back. They would, Luffy would never give up on one of his crewmates. So Usopp waited.
The sharpshooter's prized Kabuto had been taken from him and he was thrown into a small and damp cave like prison. The bed was the ground and Usopp was sure that the cave walls were cleaner then the toilet. He was also sure that the food they fed him was some of the worst tasting shit he had ever had the misfortune of tasting. He'll admit it; he was spoiled off of Sanji's cooking. He couldn't wait to get home and get a good, warm meal into his stomach.
Of course…there was that man. The pit of the sharpshooter's stomach twisted with fear, anger, and other emotions Usopp couldn't identify. The man who had captured him decided to have…fun with him as well. He would torture him just for the amusement or to get information on the Straw Hats. But as much as Usopp was a coward he was strictly loyal to Luffy and his Nakama, even if it caused him to go into terrifying adventures that he knew that if it wasn't for Luffy that he wouldn't even think of doing it.
The man would do gruesome things to him, things that Usopp knew he would have nightmares about in later dates. It scared him, and the only thing that kept him from breaking was the thought of his Nakama coming to save him. He knew though that as he lay on the ground from another session with the man, his wounds bleeding and he was in spasms from the pain that the end was near. The man chuckled darkly before telling him that they were going to execute him the next day. Usopp knew it was only a matter of hours, so he had to get ready. He pulled himself off the floor and crawled to the corner where the loose brick was. He blocked out the pain and shakily sat up and sat his back to the wall. With his less shaky and pain filled hand he pulled a loose brick out and began to pull the things he had been making. It was all he had and hopefully it would do.
XxXxXxXx
The next day was the day of his execution and of his escape attempt. It was now or never as the man who tortured him opened the door to his jail and grinned down at him with malicious intent shining in his eyes. It was obvious he loved his job.
Now or never…Usopp chose now.
He whipped out his makeshift slingshot and shot last night dinner into the man's eyes. The man yelled with disgust, Usopp almost felt pity, but then it disappeared quite quickly. He shot up-ignoring the tremendous pain in his body- and flew down the hallway. He had made the little slingshot out of things he could quickly grab while he was being dragged back to his cage after a "session" with that monster. He had made most out of what he could. He kind of had a feeling that Franky would be proud of it though, and him.
Usopp felt his side hurt painfully from lack of nutrition and from the wound that was already there before. He slid quickly into a room at the end of the hall way and found stairs spiraling upward.
'Great,' thought the black haired man. 'This should be fun.'
He then proceeded to climb the stairs as quick as he could. When he finally made it up the stairs his side was bleeding and he was out of breath. He wobbled towards the door in front of him and peaked out of it to see if anyone was out in the hallway. He gave a sigh of relief when no one was out there. He walked out and the first door he opened that was to his right he gave another sigh of relief. It was a bathroom. This way he would be able to get at least some of the grime off of himself. He walked in front of the mirror and nearly had a heart attack. The man in the mirror wasn't him; it was someone who was covered in so much grime and blood that he couldn't even tell his natural skin color. There were dark rings around his eyes that reminded him of a tanuki. It infuriated Usopp in a way. Where was the brave man who he promised to be in this mess? He turned the water on half way and took as much soap as his hands could hold (never mind that it was hand soap) and scrubbed his face raw. It hurt a lot, especially with the open wounds on his face but he kept at it.
Finally after thinking he had done enough he splashed some water on his face and dried it off he looked at himself in the mirror. He was happier with what he saw. He could see his face better now, but of course that meant he could see his wounds better now too. Deciding it was better to keep going, Usopp hobbled on.
After coming across nothing of importance in any other rooms, except of course, the one in the very end of the hallway. He carefully opened this one, hoping that he wouldn't run into anyone. He gasped with surprise and happiness as he saw his Kabuto and the pouch full of supplies. When he held it in his hand it was as if all of his strength was returning to him. He felt unstoppable, and he vowed never to take it for granted again.
"Hey! How did you get out of your cell?!"
On instinct, Usopp turned around and quickly and skillfully grabbed a pellet from his bag and shot it off straight into the chest of the man in front of him. The man gave a strangled yell of pain before falling to the ground in convulsions, grasping his chest. Usopp quickly ran over the man's dying body and focused on the path in front of him so he wouldn't have to see him die.
About a couple weeks ago Usopp had went to Chopper about making a poison that he could put his pellets into so he could kill quicker. Chopper was reluctant at first to do so, especially after what had happened with his "father" but he gave in when Usopp said they would die quickly and not in so much pain. Chopper made the antidote, just incase though.
Usopp hurried along as fast as he possibly could. He opened another door that was at the end of the hallway and was nearly blinded by the light. After a week of darkness it hurt his eyes to see the light. He stepped out and found him self on a large bridge that oversaw the entire compound. He looked around, for any sign of escape when he saw and heard something in the not so far distance. He quickly pulled his telescope out of his bag of treats and pulled it out of its self and looked to see what it was.
The sharpshooter's breath got caught in his throat. It was his Nakama! He could see Nami, Chopper, and Brooke fighting and protecting the ship. He turned his scope around, hoping to find the others. He saw Robin and Franky fighting side by side and continued to look. Where were Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji? Suddenly the sound of a gun cocking was heard behind him; Usopp cursed darkly for being so foolish to turn his back and not pay attention while in enemy territory. He turned slowly and saw the man that had been the sole one of making his last week a week of hell and several navy officers with guns all pointing at him. He gripped his Kabuto tighter, his knuckles turning white and he forced himself to stand straight up and not shake like he wanted to.
"Well, well, well. Looks like the pirate scum actually has a spine to try to escape. And look your friends came to try to save you, too bad doing so will just lead them to the same fate it met you." The horrible man said, grinning evilly.
Something seemed to snap inside of Usopp. The thoughts of his Nakama-his family-going through that made his blood boil. He wouldn't let them go through that. He wanted to protect his precious ones, just like Luffy. So he decided, right then and there. He would stop these men, no matter what happened to him.
He quickly pulled out some weapons from his bag and quickly shot them off.
"Shuriken shooting star!" He yelled, using his speed to dodge the men. He nailed a good couple of men and saw blood emerge from where he had hit them, they tried to pull it out of them but it only caused the wound to become bigger and more blood to gush out. Eventually the men had to fall back so they wouldn't be hurt more. Usopp was holding his own when suddenly he lost sight of the man, when he felt a very hurtful blow to his back in which it sent him sprawling to the ground. When he landed his head hit the pavement pretty hard that it took him about half a minute to realize that he was suddenly in the air and another half a minute to feel the pain.
Pain exploded in his head and dots erupted brightly in his vision, it was as if he was seeing fireworks.
There was dark laughter coming from the man as he held him up. He then kneed him in gut, right where his worst wound was. The sharpshooter gasped with pain and curled into a ball as he was dropped carelessly, trying to protect his wounds as the man began to kick at him. Usopp gritted his teeth. He couldn't be weak, not when the rest of his Nakama were being so strong and were fighting to save him! He couldn't give up! Shakily the boy-no, man- began to stand. Blood was running down the side of his face. He had picked up his trusty slingshot and took aim. Just as the man started to come forward Usopp's mind flashed to something he had read when he was a little kid from one of the mangas he had often enjoyed.
"Shoot To Kill, Kabuto!" (1) He yelled, his voice hoarse. He let loose his last weapon-his secret weapon that he had made. He had never told his Nakama about it, he had wanted it to be a surprise-something he could use to cheer them up but now it was used for a different purpose, a deadlier purpose.
Four medium sized pellets came and missed the giant man in front of him and it went past his back. The man laughed a big roaring laugh.
"I guess you're not as great a sharpshooter as you thought, eh long nose?" The man sneered. Usopp smirked and then shot one more pellet-his last one- into the man's mouth. The man gagged as he felt something hit the back of his throat.
"I wasn't aiming at you." The dark haired and tan skinned man rasped.
Suddenly something exploded behind the man with an array of colors. He turned to see four of his lackeys were hit by the pellets and were now bleeding from the explosions. They most likely all had third degree burns. He turned his head quickly to look at the pirate and saw him smirking at him before he suddenly felt almost unbearable pain in his mouth. The pellet exploded in his mouth and Usopp could hear a loud snap. He knew that the man's jaw must have been broken.
He fell to his knees and began to cough up blood. A huge amount of blood was growing on the ground in front of the man. The man looked up; a furious and evil look in his eyes.
" 'ou suma bith! I'll 'ill 'ou!" The man's horribly slurred words that came through his broken jaw were vicious and very angry. He got up and began to make his way over to where Usopp was on the ground. He knew he was in deep shit; he didn't have any more pellets for anything or any kind of tricks…he was screwed.
"USOPP!!"
It made everyone around Usopp, and Usopp himself, freeze. While he was still outside on the inside his heart was beating rapidly. He knew that voice…Luffy.
He looked up and saw Zoro and Sanji standing beside his Captain. Usopp could see Zoro's narrowed eyes and his hand gripping his sword and Sanji's shocked and angry face. But it was Luffy's face that made his insides twirl a bit. Luffy's face was completely blank. Usopp always thought that Luffy would be the easiest to read and that Zoro and Robin was the hardest to read but right now he couldn't tell anything about his Captain, and it scared him.
Luffy then began to walk towards Usopp and within seconds was in front of the long nosed man and looking down at him. He bent down to he was eye level with Usopp and looked over Usopp with a critical eye, "hmm"-ing if he saw something that displeased him. He did that a lot because of all the cuts and burns on the younger man's body. He then picked Usopp up, as gently as he could, and walked over to his first mate and chef and gave him to the blond.
"Take him to Chopper as fast as you can, but please try to be careful." Luffy said, his voice clipped and monotone like a professional. Sanji swallowed slightly and nodded. He put Usopp on his back piggy back style while the sharp shooter was trying to let him walk saying that he would be fine. But one look from Sanji told him that the man wasn't going to put him down to so he sighed and allowed himself to be carried. Sanji then nodded to his Captain and turned and ran back down the path they had just taken, trying not to hurt the crewmate on his back. He started to go a bit slower but as soon as he felt Usopp's blood soaking through the back of his coat he said hell to it and began to run faster. He urged his legs to go faster and pushed himself harder then ever. Usopp's life was now on his shoulders-or back- and his Captain and everyone else, especially Usopp, was counting on him! He couldn't let them down like that.
Sanji bit his lip hard, causing a bit of blood to appear which was quickly ignored, and kicked it into high gear.
XxXxXxXx
Luffy watched Sanji leave with Usopp on his back. His back was towards his enemies and he seemingly wasn't paying any attention to them. That was mistake number one. Zoro, whose back was facing the way Luffy was looking and was facing towards the enemies, could see his captain's fist was so tight that his nails were digging into his skin and blood was starting to escape from his closed up fist. Luffy's face was seemingly calm but Zoro knew he really wasn't. This was the calm before the storm.
Luffy slowly turned and glared at the soldiers of the navy. No, Zoro mused absentmindedly, glare isn't the right word. What Luffy was doing right now was so much more then that, it was so much killer intent that it was nearly drowning everyone. It still amazed Zoro how he had felt so much killer intent in his lifetime yet when Luffy did it, it was staggering and shocking. Who would've thought that this innocent, childlike man could release such a frightening aura?
"Which one did that to Usopp?" Luffy asked, his words slowly drawn out as if he was saying they weren't going to get in trouble for it if they told, much like they were children.
The man who had his jaw broken got up and stood up straight and looked down at him.
"Me." The tall man gurgled through the blood in his mouth before turning to the side and spitting the blood out. He looked back at Luffy with a nasty grin on his face, he was proud of what he had done to Luffy's Nakama.
Suddenly the man arched forward, his face expressing his pain and blood dripping down his mouth. Luffy's fist was deep in his stomach and his other hand was holding him there so he couldn't fly away. The straw hat wearing man flipped the taller man around and pinned him to the ground, his hand tightly around his throat and his knee in his gut while his other foot held him up.
The man gasped and then swung his hand at Luffy only to have it caught by Luffy's free hand. The dark haired man's hand was twisted painfully and the man let out a yell as he felt his arm snap. He let go of the man's arm and there was a dark mark on his arm that would obviously last for a long time.
"How dare you put your filthy hands on my Nakama. How dare you think that you could possibly get away with hurting Usopp and I not do anything about it. You'll pay for what you did to him." Luffy growled, his anger starting to leak out.
"Zoro." Luffy said his first mate's name and the green haired man nodded. He knew what to do. He took his swords out and glared at the navy lackeys, who gulped and began to shake. He then took a few steps forward and got to it.
Zoro wiped the blood from his swords and looked at Luffy and what was left of the man from before. The man was now just a mass of purple, blue, and red. Luffy got up from his crouching position and wiped his hands on his pants, leaving some red stains on his blue shorts. He turned towards Zoro with his had down and covering his eyes.
"Let's go."
The bushido nodded and followed after his Captain.
XxXxXxXx
Chopper sat on the chair next to the bed, waiting for Usopp to wake. All week when the older man had been in the hands of torture and information unit of the navy he had been so worried and guilt ridden that he could barely sleep. Luffy had to order him to get some sleep and even when he did finally fell asleep he had dreams of Usopp. Usopp who was dead and perhaps even worse, Usopp who was alive but in so much pain that he didn't want to live. In his dreams the long nose sharpshooter would keep asking why Chopper did this to him and how he could be so happy with a fed belly and a nice bed while he was alone, cold, hungry, and sleeping on a bed of nails. It tore Chopper apart; the only one he could really confide in was Robin. She wouldn't lie to him and treat him like a child. She told him the truth of what danger Usopp was in. She definitely didn't sugar coat it.
Chopper shuttered as he thought of the marks and wounds he had found all over Usopp's body. They would all heal with time but there would be scars as reminders of what had happened to him.
The reindeer gave a gasp and leaned forward slightly as he saw Usopp stir and his eyes flutter opened.
"C-Chopper?" When Usopp's weak voice reached his ears the doctor squealed and leaned forward even more before swinging his arms so he gained balance on the chair he almost fell off of.
"Uso-Usopp…I-I…You idiot!" Sobbed Chopper. "Why did you push me out of the way? Look at you now. Your all-all…" Chopper couldn't even say it, his sobs becoming louder. The tanned man's eyes softened as he looked at the small reindeer. The reindeer he considered to be his little brother was now crying because of him, because he was hurt. Usopp raised his arm shakily and rested his hand on top of his furry little head. He briefly wondered where Chopper's hat was but realized it most likely didn't matter.
"Chopper, we're Nakama right?" He asked.
"O-Of course!" Chopper all but shouted.
"That's why I did it. Because as Nakama we've got to protect one another and I know for a fact that you would do the same thing for me and I would be sitting here instead and you in this bed." Usopp said; a small smile on his face.
The reindeer was floored. He had wondered why he would do that over several nights and it never came to him that just because they were Nakama. But as he looked at it, the more it made sense. Chopper looked at Usopp with respect and love in his eyes. They fell into a comfortable silence that was soon cut short by a knock on the door, soon followed after by the door opening. Luffy stood at the door, his face seemed odd at how serious it was.
"Hey." He said, nodding to the both of them, his eyes on Usopp.
"How are you feeling?" He asked.
"I feel okay." Usopp said truthfully. "I don't feel much pain at all."
"That's because Chopper supped you up on pain meds as soon as you were in here." Luffy said.
Chopper saw the tell tale signs of a serious and private conversation going on so he quickly excused himself and made his way to the kitchen. He wondered what Sanji was making…
Luffy now sat where Chopper had vacated and stared unblinkingly at Usopp. It made the sharpshooter feel weird, like he was a specimen under a microscope. Suddenly Luffy sighed, closing his eyes and running a hand through his hair and knocking his hat back onto his shoulders while in the process.
"I should've been faster. I should've been able to get to you faster or maybe even take the hit instead of you." Luffy's voice was soft but Usopp could hear the regret in it and it tore him up inside.
"Luffy, please. Don't beat your self up over this. It's not your fault, it's nobody's fault." Usopp pleaded. He didn't want him blaming him self too.
"I-I know…It's just…" A sigh "I'm the Captain I'm suppose to be able to take care of you and the others. It's like one thing after another that I'm almost always so close to losing my Nakama from me. From Robin to Zoro to everyone…It terrifies me."
Usopp felt his heart freeze a bit. He never knew his Captain to be truly scared of something. He understood what he meant by Robin but what happened to Zoro?
"Luffy…we're all Nakama. The choices we make to protect them are our own. Besides, I knew you would come." He said.
Luffy's head shot up and his eyes blazed into Usopp's. The sharpshooter had to force himself not to look away from the fierceness in them. "How?" He asked.
Usopp smiled as if he knew something that Luffy didn't which in reality wasn't that far.
"Because Luffy, I knew you would never give up on one of your Nakama. You'd come after us even if we were in Hell. That's just the way you are." Usopp said, smiling at his Captain.
"I could've been late-" Luffy was cut off by his friend.
"But you weren't. It's okay Luffy. All that matters now is that we're Nakama and we're all here." Usopp said.
Luffy took a moment to look at Usopp. He wondered if maybe this whole ordeal maybe made him grow up a bit but then he realized that Usopp had been growing up more and more during their travels. He touched Usopp's face, mindful of the wounds, and thought of their travels together. He guessed that all the crazy stunts he had done would make anyone grow up a bit. Luffy smiled lightly at Usopp.
"Of course."
Epilogue
Two months after the entire ordeal and Usopp was completely healed except for the scars that marred his body. The first couple of weeks took some getting used to for everyone. Everyone was kind of in an awkward stage; they didn't know exactly what to say to Usopp. But after seeing Usopp just smile and talk to everyone they decided to not say anything about it at all. It got to the point in Usopp's life that he needed to talk to someone but he was scared to do so. So he finally sat down with Luffy after he kept having nightmares.
Talking about it helped him a lot apparently, because after that his nightmares just seemed to disappear. He could now sleep peacefully again and not worry about having to relive that place in his dreams.
His life was getting better.
Owari
About Usopp: Usopp is portrayed as a frightened liar who has amazing artistic talents by Oda in the beginning of the manga. I've noticed though, as the story progress that he seems to have gotten stronger and braver. I mean, he even took out that one girl by himself in Thriller Bark. I hate it when people say that they don't really care what happens to him he's just a minor character. No, he is not! He's one of the main characters who have progressed further then seemingly the other characters at times. So yeah, I wanted to do a Usopp fic about him. Hope you enjoyed it.
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