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cebwrites · 1 year

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holding out for a hero (AU)

a/n: hmmmmmrgrgmmm AU brainrot that i’ve been recently reminded of and remember how severely obsessed i am with this concept //vibrates into the floor brought on by this Aviators cover!

he/they law | oc x canon word count: 1.7k

Law and Kirin first met years ago during one of the Warlord meetings at Doffy and Crocodile's sides

Kirin also stays with Baroque a little longer here and gathers his crew in less wide-eyed shonen protagonist-y ways but the underlying heart is still there

They slowly get to know each other by tagging along on those meetings

Doflamingo asks if Law's taken a liking to Croccy's 'plaything' and dishes about Kirin's private stuff with Crocodile that he has no business knowing in his usual condescending way, Law says no and that they get bored during those long conferences so interacting with him is just another way to kill time

It's a while before they see each other again after Kirin leaves Baroque but when they do Kirin's his own captain with maybe about half what his usual crew would be on board + some of the original Heart Pirates (Pen/Shach, Bepo, Ikkaku, etc)

They meet in a quiet trading town while Law's on his own or at least away from Doffy's direct influence and get to talking again, Law doesn't understand why but he feels drawn to him and his big talks about 'freedom' even if he doesn't quite believe in any of it

When it's time to go Law asks if he'll see him again and Kirin flashes him that cheeky 'so long as the ocean is vast and the wind fills our sails' bullshit

Kirin doesn't think much of it because he's given this spiel to so many people he can never see again at this point but Law finds themself yearning for that 'next time'

It comes surprisingly quickly and more frequently than either of them expect, and it's also the first time Law starts keeping something secret from Doflamingo even as his 'right hand' because he knows Doffy well enough to know that if he does catch wind of Kirin that this little bubble of content they’ve fostered with him won't last

Kirin takes Law's place as a warlord in this AU post-Marineford like how they offered a position to Buggy

For freer mobility's sake and there's a chance that he could interact with his brother or at least try to

(I haven't decided if Reiji would have even made it out of Wano as a kid in this AU - part of me acknowledges that it's lingering monogamous bad habits to focus centrally on the emotionally challenged disasters but Reiji's absence would also lend well to the idea that Kirin's just a little bit colder here without someone with Reiji’s patience and compassion throughout the years to keep him on the straight and narrow)

Kirin's crew end up on Dressrosa here because they want to find out what the hell happened to Rio after Sabaody and where better to start than THE infamous underworld broker to see if Rio's still pulling his connections wherever he is and if that'd lead them to him

Of course once they get there they're faced with the numerous injustices Dressrosa is built on and Kirin can't say no the Tontatta asking for help even with everything he's turned a blind eye to so far

There’s brief thing with Kirin and Fujitora sharing lunch while Takashi avoids his 'pirate scum' brother like the plague and afterwards Kirin tells Issho that this is probably the last moment of peace they'll have together, since there's no way Akainu's going to let him keep his position after what he's going to do

Doffy somehow catches wind of their ulterior motives (or rather that he never trusted them to begin with) so negotiations about Rio break down and he sends Law in to deal with them

Law's outmatched because he tried to take them down all at once (much like how he underestimated Kirin during their first interaction in the regular verse) but once the other higher-ups step in it's obvious that they're woefully unprepared for this fight and have to retreat for the moment with non-insignificant injuries

Doffy 'forgives' Law's failure like he did with Baby 5 and Buffalo so he leaves Law to catch his breath in his quarters or whatever but the seeds of doubt planted by interacting with Kirin over the years start to bud in the silence Law takes for themself

Imagining from here Kirin and co meet up with the Strawhats that end up on Dressrosa anyway because of Kin'emon and they start to hash out a plan even though Kirin isn't nearly as trusting of some upstart brat as he would be in the regular verse but he doesn't really have any other option at this point

Most of the arc plays out like how it normally would with the exception of some extra help in some battles, Rebecca not getting sidelined in her fight with Diamante because we're not clowns in this house, Tetsu going up against Vergo since he was never axed during Punk Hazard, and the snipers from both crews proving themselves to be much bigger thorns in Doffy's side than he expected (Migi with seastone bullets and Usopp being Usopp)

During their final standoff on the roof it's Luffy and Kirin against Doflamingo and it's

A shitshow

While Luffy's recovering his haki or something Doffy takes a little 'insurance' since he knows Kirin will be trouble even on his own and essentially uses his brother as a shield by manipulating him with his strings, Kirin refuses to go on the offense even when Takashi's yelling at him for 'feigning heroism' as a pirate so Doffy takes a different approach and puppets both brothers against each other in some sick game for his amusement

When he's just about bored enough and decides to have one of them deal the killing blow Kirin resists against the strings on his arms, essentially severing them in lieu of harming him

Takashi's horrified and confused while Doffy laughs, harkening back to how Kirin didn't make a sound even when Doflamingo cut his leg off back on Sabaody either

Takashi demands to know why he's been on the defensive the entire time, on the verge of tears, why he's ONLY been tanking damage from him this whole time, how even before this he refused to fight him as an equal, if he still sees him as that weak after all this time and all he's done, Doflamingo's strings still entangling them both, and all Kirin says is that, pirate or not, he'll be damned if he raises a vengeful hand against his own baby brother

This sets Doffy off

He lets Kirin drop to the ground and writhe while he goes into full monologue mode about how ridiculous those ideals are, especially in the pirate world, slowly wrapping Takashi up more and more until he's got absolute control over his entire body and makes him point his naginata at Kirin with the intention to kill

Try as he may to struggle Takashi doesn't have the same resolve to pull off what his brother did and even then with the position he's in now, clearly perceiving the strings around his neck, he knows that if he made so much as a sudden move he'd be in ribbons before he knew it

He's never really quite known fear in his life before like the feeling of Doflamingo looming over his back with the expectation to cut down an already incapacitated man

He's still monologuing like a madman, something about treachery and snowy islands

Just as Doffy forces him to raise his weapon up high a gunshot rings out and they all see Law step out from the shadows

He’s been watching his whole time and, at least for the moment, the repressed memories of Corazon and the kindness he showed him coming to surface and the rage at being manipulated and lied to flooding his system is enough to override the programming Doffy’s wormed into his head over the years

Obviously it’s just a regular bullet so it does nothing, Doffy chuckles at the expression on his face and says he figured this would’ve happened sooner or later

His attention turns to Law, giving more exposition dump about Rosi but at the same time trying to discredit and gaslight his conclusions as usual, asking if mingling with such filth (gestures to Kirin bleeding out on the edge of the roof) messed with his mind and loyalty

He reminds Law of who took him in, fed, clothed, and trained them, asking them to remember who his ‘family’ is not unlike an abusive parent Law tosses the gun with an air of disdain but still stands their ground, unsheathing Kikoku for battle

Doflamingo’s closing in on Law, mentioning that he looks like a cornered little mouse and how they’ve made him stray from his ‘family’, so his hold on Takashi loosens just enough during this little Domestique Incidente™ for Kirin to say something just out of Doffy and the viewer’s earshot but the next thing we see is Takashi wearing Kirin’s gauntlets and grabbing onto Doffy’s leg, yelling at Law not to waste any more time Doflamingo starts his ‘you wouldn’t dare’ speech but the sound of Luffy shonen protagonist screaming his way back for Mingo’s head is just enough incentive for Law to lunge with their gamma knife directly into Doffy’s heart before anyone can rob them of this opportunity

Law watches keenly and unblinkingly when the light drains from Doflamingo’s eyes

When Luffy gets up there ready to kick ass the threat is long gone but everything’s still in a bit of a mess, first and foremost that Takashi’s trying to stop his stupid, unreasonably calm pirate brother from bleeding out but he can’t see well through his tears and Law’s kind of just Reeling from what they just did and what that’d mean for him going forward

What snaps him out is Takashi’s cracking voice telling Luffy that they need to get him medical care immediately and Law tentatively, almost hesitantly, mentions that he’s a doctor Takashi’s obviously against it and Luffy’s frown is set firm in place but Kirin coughs out that he trusts him, ignoring any complaints his brother has, and then turns to Law

Flashing him a crooked, tired smile as he tells him he’s happy to see he’s finally made up their mind

Everyone holding their breath for the outcome of this battle gets put at ease when Luffy’s victory cheers ring out loud and clear