"Go back to your crew, Phoenix."
"Oh, you know me?"
"First Division Commander of Whitebeard Pirates, Marco the Phoenix."

Despite the condition she was in, she still attempted to give him a response and even perfectly managed to mention his position, the pirate crew's name that he belonged to, and his epithet. Normally, people would just ignore it. But somehow, she got a hunch that he would keep pestering her if she didn't answer. Thus, she had no other choice than to answer it, hoping that the pirate would leave her alone after she did that.

"Then, you should know that I'm also a doctor," Marco said. "I mean, your wounds 'bother' me, yoi."
"There! Vice-Admirals, we found her!"
"Shit," the woman cursed under her breath. She tried to run faster upon hearing their footsteps got closer. "Anyway, that's why I said, go back to your crew now, so you would not have to see it."
"Marco the Phoenix?! What's the commander of Whitebeard Pirates' first division doing here?!" Shouted a marine officer.
"Argh—! Go, Phoenix! You'll be in a trouble if you stay here any longer and I hate it if you were to blame it on me later!"

Her face contorted in pain, as it went paler by minutes. The woman felt that she would be caught in no time as her head got dizzier, perhaps due to blood loss. But in the same time, she couldn't bring herself to ask the pirate to help her. First, it was a pride problem, as he was practically her enemy. And second, she couldn't trouble others for something that she brought upon herself. That's why the woman couldn't just casually ask for his assistance. Besides, for many years, she always tried to do everything alone. She had forgotten when was the last time she asked someone for their help. And before she knew it, she got used to it.

"Focus on capturing the traitor first and just ignore Marco, you lot!"
"Stop right there, Cederschiöld Calixta!"

The said woman clicked her tongue upon hearing Doberman and Onigumo's voice. Calixta then turned to face them before pushing her ankles to its limit by doing geppo. She thought that running backward was a no go since it would hinder her attack and movement. Doing one of the Rokushiki techniques indeed require more power. That's why she refrained herself from doing it until she was in a really dangerous situation.

"Tobu jusshigan!"
"Fire!"

With so many attackers, apparently from both sides –front and behind her, which she was too late to notice the latter—, she couldn't avoid all of it, even though she made use of her kenbunshoku haki. And since she was unable to use her busoshoku haki due to overusing it before, one bullet managed to injure her left thigh. The ex-government agent flinched and began losing more of her strength. Yet, she managed to stay midair.

"Rankyaku: Crescent Moon!"

Rather than shigan, rankyaku indeed would be more efficient to attack them all at once, although she needed to use her legs in performing that technique, and thus she had to withhold the pain.

"You won't get away this time, Cederschiöld!"

Her eyes widened upon hearing a familiar voice that came from behind her. Too late. She was definitely too late to parry Momonga's attack. How could she forget that Momonga also mastered some Rokushiki techniques? And even more, it's geppo and soru. But when she turned her body to –at least, trying to—guard the attack, her jade orbs met a blue flame. It was a bird; a beautiful and magnificent bird. One of its talons held the Vice Admiral's sword and eventually kicked it away before it transformed back to its original form while still maintaining the wings.

"Oi, oi. It's pretty sad to be ignored even though my head also worth a lot, you know," said the devil fruit user. "Vice Admiral Momonga."
"I'll let you go this time, Marco the Phoenix. We have a more important task to do."
"To capture her? No can do, yoi."
"Do you know that she's a former government agent? A CP-0's member."
"It doesn't really matter to me, though. All that matters to me is to save her from you guys. You may call it a doctor's sense of responsibility," he said, the corner of his lips perked up. "Besides, you said so yourself. A 'former', which means that right now, she just a normal woman."
"I said I don't need your help, Phoenix! Just leave me be!"
"Do I really need a permission to help you?" he asked, a coy smile graced his face. "If you're worried of my wellbeing, then don't be. After all, I'm Whitebeard Pirates' First Division Commander. I will never bring shame to my crew and captain by getting defeated so easily, yoi!"
Her eyes widened almost instantly, before her surprised face turned into a frown. "Of course not! I'm not worried ab—"
"Then it's fine, isn't it?"
"Attack both of them!" Momonga ordered as he launched another attack on Marco, which the pirate countered it easily.
"Tch," she clicked her tongue, giving up to the blonde's insistence.
"Aim for Cederschiöld's legs! She can't use geppo if her legs are incapacitated!"
"Rankyaku: Fire Wave!"

As Marco kept Momonga busy and acted like her back's shield, Calixta had a better focus to deal with Doberman, Onigumo, and their subordinates. The technique that she used this time was a level higher than what she did before. She took advantage of friction to create a huge air blade of fire, which indeed inflicted huge damage on her opponents.

'Just a little more,' she said while launching several continuous attacks. 'Hang on, Calixta!'

She knew her limit. The wounds that she got from her comrades, back in Mariejois when she committed the crime were pretty severe. She was no doctor; she didn't have an ability to cure herself too. All she could do was wrapping the wound tightly with a bandage to prevent losing more of her blood. There was something that she still had to do and that's why, she couldn't die yet.

But it seemed like the Lady Luck wasn't on her side since the beginning. In addition to her previous wounds, Onigumo managed to capture her briefly and slash her calves, before she escaped, thanks to the Rokushiki techniques that always came in handy. Within such proximity, she was able to attack him with shigan and flee with geppo and soru, right before he tried to put a sea stone cuffs on her. That cuffs couldn't do much indeed, since except to help her escaping without any noise, her devil fruit's ability didn't have any extra use for her in that situation. But, as any other devil fruit users, it still would drain her energy to a certain degree and she surely wouldn't want that to happen.

'BANG!'

One of the bullets hit her right thigh, before another two followed shortly after that; one hit the same thigh, while another pierced her abdomen. She lost her focus after the first shot and felt that her consciousness began to slightly fade. She didn't have any power left to stay midair, as well. Clearly understanding the whole situation and accepting her fate, she kicked the air with the last spurt of her energy and leaned close to the pirate who had been assisting her since then.

"Leave me here and go, Phoenix."

Marco definitely gave Momonga and his subordinates a tough time. And he was determined to finish them all when he volunteered to help her. Yes, at first. Yet, after an unexpected turn of events, the commander changed his mind and thought that retreating was the only option that he could take if he wanted to save her, to prevent them from capturing her. Before her body met the ground, he immediately changed into his full phoenix form and caught her safely on his back.

"Marco!"
"Oh, Thatch, Vista, Izo! Could you guys lend me a hand? Hold them for a while. I'll join you later, yoi!"
"Them? Who?"
"The marines!" He gave them a mischievous laugh as he flew towards their ship.
"Wha—" All three of them nearly protested. Yet they decided to hold it when they noticed limbs dangling from his back.
"Got it!" replied Vista.
"You don't need to come! We'll finish them for good!" Thatch said.
"Yeah. Just do whatever you need to do now!" added Izo.
"Okay. Thank you!"

Marco knew that he could count on them. The marines definitely could not take them lightly. They didn't get their position as commanders without reason. Even without him, his friends could defeat them. As soon as he landed on Moby Dick's deck, he rushed while carrying her towards the infirmary. When the wooden door opened, Marco wasted no time. Right after he put Calixta on the operating table, he immediately sterilized his hands then wore surgical attire as he gave several instructions for the nurses, which they followed at once. They were doing such a great job. After all, they weren't a bunch of amateurs. And while the nurses were busy to stop her bleeding and clean her wounds, Marco was trying to remove the bullets from her body. As a ship's doctor with plenty years of experience, Marco knew what he should do. It was something that he often dealt with, so no wonder that he stayed calm and composed, even though the woman lost a lot amount of blood.

"Commander! The blood pressure goes down!"
"Have you finished checking her blood type, yet?" Marco asked without looking up.
"Her blood is X type, Rh+!"
A nurse then came with a tray of some blood packs. "I've brought it!"
"Great. Start the transfusion then."

It was a good thing that he always controlled the blood stocks in the ship, so whenever an emergency case occurred, he wouldn't be troubled. And thank god, she had a common type of blood. If she had Rh- blood, it would create another problem since it's rare and maybe he only got one or two packs in the inventory, just in case someone needed it. The surgery ended in no time, as Marco tried to stitch her open wounds as quickly as he could since he only gave her a small amount of anesthetic drug, proceeding with local anesthesia instead of regional nor general. It wasn't a big operation, after all. Probably life threatening if earlier, they didn't have any blood stocks, though he could always ask someone on the ship to give their blood via direct transfusion. Jozu, Vista, and even Marco himself had the same blood type as her.

"… Phoenix?"

A quiet and tired voice stopped his hands from removing his surgical gown. His orbs found hers, which only opened a bit.

"Take some rest. I had treated your wounds, yoi," he said to her, before he averted his eyes to one of the nurses. "Could you lend her a change of clothes? And help her to change, afterwards."
"I can change my clothes by myself."

Marco's eyebrows knitted instantly. He was obviously confused by then. In such a state, she still cared about that? Moreover, he's not the one who would help. Heck, even if he was the one who helped her change, he would never take advantage of her. Never. He was a pirate, indeed. Yet, he got manner. He knew his boundaries and wouldn't cross the line if she didn't allow him to. After tossing the gown to a big rubbish bin in the corner of the room, he walked towards her.

"In your state, you should refrain from—"
"I can do it. I'm not that weak."
"That's not the matter!"
"Please."
"At least, let the nurses—"
"I'm begging you."

She looked helpless, desperate even. When a long sigh slipped past his lips, that was a sign that he had given up. Technically, he couldn't say no to that. He wouldn't admit that he was weak to her plea, but it's more like, he just respected her wish. He believed that there had to be something that made her persist like that and it was definitely not his place to pry.

"Okay. Do whatever you want. But," he said sternly. "as I said before, don't move around too much, or your wound will be opened again. Also don't get out from that bed and call anyone if you want something. You got it?"

His order was answered by a weak nod.

"Good. Go to sleep now, yoi."

When Marco turned on his heel, intending to leave the room, her hand grabbed the sleeve of his white shirt, which made the commander turned his head. And what he heard next put a smile on his face.

"Thank you, Marco."

Marco was right. His help wasn't necessary at all. When he got out from the infirmary, he saw his friends walked towards the deck with a satisfied smile, brimming on their faces.

"Oh? Back already? Great job, yoi!"
"Great job my ass," Thatch snorted. "You should know that their reinforcement came right after you went away!"
"Then why were you smiling like that?" Marco inquired as he lifted one of his eyebrows.
"Yes, the reinforcement did come. But we took them down, alright. My division's members were nearby, so we didn't get overpowered by them," explained Vista.
"Darn. I should be there to watch the match of fifth division, featuring the commander of fourth and sixteenth division versus marine's three vice admirals!" said Marco with an exaggerating tone, which then made him earn a kick from Thatch on his shin and Izo's elbow on his gut. The first division commander chuckled after he faked his exclamation of pain. "Thanks for covering me, yoi."

This time, he earned simultaneous pats on his back. Or more like a hit, since Vista did hit him quite hard. Laughter could be heard next, before it ceased when the other guys came back to the ship with a lot of supplies. And the sight reminded Marco. They planned to depart tonight, but he took a stranger aboard.

"Shit. I haven't told Pops yet," he groaned.
"Tell Pops about what?" asked Vista.
"Ah! Is it about the one whom you helped earlier?"

Marco nodded at Izo's guess.

"So, who is it? A man or a woman? But I bet it's a woman since she has a pair of beautiful, slender legs."
"You pervert," the blonde rolled his eyes at Thatch's words. "But, yeah. It's a woman."
"After you tell Pops, you have to tell us the whole story, okay?"
"There's nothing to tell but alright. Catch you later guys!"

He ran towards the captain's chamber hastily. Usually, the old man could be found on the deck, sitting on his massive seat. But since he was nowhere to be seen, Marco guessed that he had to be in his room. Yet, when he knocked on the door, there wasn't any single answer.

"Pops probably is still in town," said Rakuyo who, by chance, came across him. "You know that this island is famous for their delicious sake, right?"
"And where is he, exactly?"
"I don't know. I was with Curiel and Blenheim. The last time we saw Pops was the time when he entered a bar. I've been back here since half an hour ago, but I haven't caught a glimpse of him. And since there was no one answering your knock, I assume that he hasn't come back yet."
The blonde man sighed and facepalmed when he heard that. It meant that he should search the whole town. "Okay. Thank you for the information."
"Is it about your woman, Marco? You want to ask Pops to allow her to be here?"
"Yes, it's ab— wait. You got a wrong idea there, Fossa!"

The sudden question from the fifteenth division commander caught him off guard. Heck, even Marco didn't know since when did he join them. Fossa guffawed as he patted Marco's shoulder.

"It's fine to admit it, you know. Considering your age, you should start searching for a good woman."
"But really, she's not my woman!" he groaned. "And where did you get that information? I believe when I came back, earlier, I didn't see any of you guys here."
"The boys told me. And they heard it from the nurses. They said, 'the nurses told us that Commander Marco brought a woman back! Probably, it's his lover, since when he first came to the infirmary, they said he was rather frantic, which was out of his character.' That's what they told me."
"I wasn't being frantic, yoi! I just wanted the nurses to move as quickly as possible to aid her since she was losing so much blood," Marco argued, as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "How could they take it that way, anyway?"
"Then who is she if she's not your woman?" asked Rakuyo, who became interested with the identity of 'Marco's woman'.
"An ex CP-0's member."
"CP-0?!" Both of them exclaimed in unison.
"Oi oi. What were you doing, Marco? Helping an enemy? Are you sane?" Fossa questioned with a rather displeased look.
"I said, she's an ex. She's no longer a World Government agent. And she was chased by marines. Doesn't that make her just like us?"
"But still—"
"Don't worry. I'll be the first one who chased her out when she does something suspicious," the blonde replied.

Marco walked away to find his captain after he gave his friends a reassuring smile. Even though he somehow had a hunch that the old man would tell him to do whatever he liked, he still needed to seek for his permission. And he was right, once again. When Marco finally found him, the mighty captain gave him an approval, although he also reminded Marco that he shouldn't let his guard down. The first division commander fully understood his captain's words. It's normal to be wary of her due to her job. Still, that wasn't a wise reason to kick her out from the ship, especially when she was seriously injured. Plus, Whitebeard Pirates was famous for welcoming anyone in their ship and its captain regarded every one of them as his own child.

Yeah, it's normal to be vigilant. What's not normal was his intuition, that told him she wouldn't do something that would harm his crewmates. It's indeed weird for him to trust a stranger, moreover someone who once belonged to the opposite side. If Marco were asked to state one reason, perhaps it was because of her words before she lost consciousness. Instead of asking him for help, she told him to go, which was weird. In the verge of death, normally, people would ask others to lend their hand. It piqued his interest at first as he wondered why didn't she ask for help. And when he tried to find the answer, he recalled what she had said to him before.

'You'll be in a trouble if you stay here any longer.'

At that time, he couldn't help to think that she wasn't a bad person. She probably said that because she hated pirates or because of other reasons. Yet, he believed that she also didn't want to trouble him by helping her dealing with her enemies. And when she thanked him earlier, it was so sincere. Albeit it was hard to intentionally grow seeds of doubt in him, he needed to try. Or else, he might lose his objectivity and ended being back stabbed if turned out, she wasn't anything like he believed in.

Or to be more precise, what he chose to believe in.