[ Normal P.O.V. ]

"Bonney, what do you mean by it?" I knelled beside her, a bit thrown apart from my normal state while also trying not to inhale to much of the bloody stench. Scarily whimpering, her pained face made my body tense. The shine from her eyes decreased, it was like a fogy battle inside her. 

"Bonney, what do you mean by it?!"

She ignored my question and laid a bit to the floor. The pinkette used her hands to slide herself from the trapped spot, but it was no use. Her muscles didn't obey any of her commands, not even when she wrapped the right hand around the ankles and pulled them to make a move. "I can't feel them. Shit." Within moments her hands were gathered into a fist, yanking forward, as the first blow to the stone floor was released. "Fuck!"

"Calm down!" I angrily shouted, the sight of her immeasurably depressing me.

"How can I calm down?" She swiped over her face. "Y/n, only one of us possesses a weapon, and right that person is now unable to move from this damn place!" Bonney glanced up to me, her eyes filled with the heart-breaking seriousness that only a real wounded person could possess.

Running out of options, I shut my eyes in concentration, struggling to erase everything for a minute and decipher a logical solution. But there weren't many.

I sighed while pushing myself from the ground. "Give me the pistol." I said, no shaking presentable at that moment.

"What?" She glanced down to her weapon. "Y/n...you want to..." When she wasn't sure if she heard me right, the pinkette frisked over to my pale face, searching for something to affirm my request. "Wait, no way! You are going to get hurt!"

Of course I knew there was a high possibility, but at this kind of situation everything was better than staying here. But of course I couldn't say that. "We will never find out if we don't try. Give it to me!"

Turning into a vile, volatile personification, she hissed, not even showing any mercy. "No! Over my dead body! Stop goofing around and help me stand!"

"You can't do anything to me in this state." I leisurely replied, instantly regretting using the harsh tone. But this wasn't the time to retract it. It all sounded wrong in my head, however it was the right thing to do.

"What...what did you say?!" She seemed amazed by my sudden boldness, raising a brow. And I would have been proud if it wasn't for the poor circumstances.

I was giving a fairly wide stare, while softly whispering. "You wait here, I'm getting help. Everything will be alright."

I subconsciously looked over my shoulder to glance again to the pinkette before sprinting down the stairs. The pavement at some parts was uneven, so I head to skip it, making side jumps  and twisting my ankles to the extend of almost tripping.

"Ok, a few meters left." I murmured, holding the metallic object as far as possible from me. My focus now glued itself to the red carpet as I continued skipping, consequently losing the surrounding. I accidentally bumped into a man. The blow was strong, my head automatically bounced from his hard, with suit covered chest. 

"Watch it!" He hissed, the voice deep but raspy. I apologized immediately, not wanting any unpleasantries during my mission. I recollected myself and tried to forget the throbbing pain, also avoiding making any kind of eye contact with the man.

He seemed pissed with the attitude I had showed him, cause he swiftly clicked his tongue in disapproval. I could feel his stare boring into my back. When I finally thought I regained the feeling of safety, I wasn't expecting for it to be so short. The man out of nowhere grabbed me by the wrists and fiercely yanked me around, only to gawk directly in my eyes. I had the perfect chance to examine the tall, muscular man. Wearing a strange white bandana, he towered me with the enormous height difference. His diamond-shaped gold earrings sparkled within the movements. But those were the only normal things about the blond. Everything else seemed displaced. His skin was pale, but not in a normal shade. A sallow perhaps? The lips also weren't full, but thin and all dried up, some cracks of blood opening from them.

"It's you!" Strangely, the irises were red, sweat droplets falling from his pale face.

"Sir, let go of me!" I took I a deep breath, pumping my muscles to twirl from the grip.

He suddenly grinned, and his teeth were white, sharp. "It's you! Heh..." His brief laugh changed into dried loud coughing, which later on made the man release me. He leaned on the wall, trying to catch his breath. Wondering what I should do, I decided for the most obvious. Run.

A shouting resonated from the previous direction, however I ignored it.

When I at last reached the bottom floor, Wire already in my viewing area and seemingly sprinting towards me, he questioned as in disbelief. "Y/n?" The giant's lazy eyes examined my slightly tarnished and stained clothes. "You are ok." He let out a sigh, lightly misted with compassion and hidden exasperation. "We need to get from here." He whispered-required, now walking towards the exit. 

I absorbed the words, carefully, one after another, until my heel hit the ground, frustration taking over me. "No we can't!"

"We can't?" He paused mid-step, regarding me, nevertheless musing out loud.

"No we can't." I repeated, quietly considering his reaction.

"Y/n." Without waiting for any further explanation for my sudden refusal, he grabbed be by my bicep and pull me to his side, strangely being gentle. My legs buried themselves hard in the floor, crunching to loosen up the force. "No! Let. Go. Of. Me-! Bonney is hurt!" Wire beetled his brows at me. "Did you just say...?"

"Yes!" I chimed, facing him straight and my heart beating fast.

Preparing myself to describe him the pinkette's location and what had happened, he externally surprised me by saying: "It can't be helped. Kid distinctively told me to bring you to safety. And that's what I'll do. "

"We can't just let her there!" My face by that point became rigid, clamped tight, teeth gridding. I must had looked like a small child throwing it's usual daily tantrums.

He didn't answer. "Can you at least let go of my arm?"

"No. You'll just escape."

"I won't. You would easily catch me." I used the trap card, intentionally making my eyes glaze in a thin cover of tears. The handle of the gun, which was methodically hid behind my back, was begging to warm up from my radiating skin. I made the last push and sobbed. "It hurts." That word itself forced his long, slender fingers to forthwith release me.

And then I did it.

My hand extended from the locked spot, a full gun barrel pointed at Wire' s chest. Positioning the fragile object to his heart, I noticed his beating so frantic that it seemed to want to escape his chest, to flee the oncoming bullet. "As I said. You would easily catch me-If I didn't have a gun."

"Who gave it to you?" He rubbed his chin, with a sharp shake of his head, a policy decision in action.

"It doesn't matter who or how did I get this." I nudged the weapon to the staircase, mutely indicating him. "Wire go help her. Go to Bonney."

"I won't take any orders from you." A short shudder shot through me, numbing my hand as it curled loosely around the metallic object. We both stared at each other, no one of us prepared to surrender.

I whipped my hand in dismissal. "Ok, fine. Then you won't mind if I pull the trigger..." I changed the position of the gun. Now it rested directly on my temple, the cold glazed material making me insensitive.

"And blow up my brain?" I whispered, prolonging the question. For one black moment, I was tempted to grant the threat. The thought of it seemed like an enormous relief-all the blood, death...Red. Like Kid.

Kid.

At the same time adrenalin rushed through me for having the upper hand. I couldn't believe how my melancholy changed into a boiling rage. In my heart I retracted all the bad things I ever said, even about the things I thought about now...My inner demons.

Stop it, Y/n! Focus! Bonney is in danger!

After weeks of his expressionless face, I found myself confronting the crumble of the perfect wall of emotions. He widened his eyes. "You wouldn't-"

"There's a helpless person waiting alone, surrounded by blood and screams." I crunched my face. "Wire, please, I'm begging you, ..." The muscles of my chin trembled like a small child.

"Help her!"

A pair of tears raced down my cheeks.

I can't bear to see someone hurt because of me. Not again.