A/N: Hello again! Another chapter, and more characters to add to the mix! Just a heads-up, I finally got around to revising some of my earlier chapters, so I will probably begin to go through an replace some of the old chapters with their updated versions over the next few weeks, depending on how long it takes me to be satisfied with the reboot. (Don't worry, I don't think I changed anything drastic. Mostly just improving some weak spots in my writing, and the story) If you suddenly get an influx of updates from me over the next week or two, it's probably that.

This isn't a super fluffy chapter, but it's not angst on par with chapter 11. Also, if you noticed that I suddenly changed how Rosinante's name is spelled...yeah. That's one of the edits I made. I looked up his wiki while I was getting details for another fanfic I'm writing, and I found out that I've been spelling it wrong the whole time...Oh well. That's what editing is for.

Enjoy~RandomViolets

Benn Pov:

After the Garp scare in the East Blue, we decided that it would be best to stay out of the East Blue for a little while, and drop off Rosinante and Law after things had settled down. Somewhat surprisingly, the former marine had less qualms with that plan than expected.

After a few months as guest on our ship, and several events of him witnessing the aftermath of the boys' night terrors, he had become quite protective of them. One of the guys-probably Yasopp-had let it slip that the boys were running from their grandfather, and after hearing Luffy's full name, the man had pieced most of the story together. He'd confronted Shanks and I a few weeks ago and asked if his suspicions were correct. We'd seen no problem with telling him most of the situation, though we left out Ace and Sabo's heritage. I suspected that he knew that Sabo was the son of a noble, but he didn't ask, and I wasn't worried about him sharing that information even if he did. As long as Ace's heritage remained a secret, all was relatively well.

When the man had heard that Garp was the one the boys were running from, he'd been pissed. Largely because, from the sounds of it, he'd spent a good portion of his life looking up to the man. Between that, and his need to keep his own son away from the navy as well, he was quite alright with us thoroughly avoiding Garp's ship, and any others that would be associated with the area for a while.

We couldn't return to Paradise just yet, since doing so would mean that Rosinante and Law would have to stay with us for several years, rather than the few months it took to get them back to Cocoyashi. With them running from the North Blue-and all of us thoroughly sick of the weather-Shanks had asked the boys which Blue they wanted to see next: South Blue, or West Blue.

They had decided on South Blue.

Thankfully, there was an area in the northern end of South Blue that was both relatively marine-free, and known for staying fairly quiet-by that sea's standards, anyway. Plus, with it being the northern end of the South Blue, we were close enough to the equator for the weather to be nice and warm, and not the frigid cold of the southern South Blue.

Not-as-thankfully, the kids did as they seemed to do best, and found trouble.

I couldn't blame them though, this time they truly had tried to avoid trouble. They'd done everything we told them to, and only gone exploring with an adult with them. They hadn't set us up to rescue an island again. They did however, find some kids who needed rescuing.

The island we were on was called "The Junkyard", and it lived up to its name. There were massive piles of scrap and garbage littered everywhere. There was a village, but its prices were high. Not enough to be prohibiting for us, but enough that we watched our budget a bit more than usual there. The thing that both irritated and saddened us the most about the island was the children. The boys, accompanied by Yasopp, had discovered one particular bunch of these children.

Four boys, all injured from a recent shipwreck. All running away from a kingdom led by nobles who wanted them dead.

This sounded way too similar to Goa for my own liking.

After hearing their story, and examining their injuries, Yasopp and the kids had led the four injured boys back to the ship to get Kincaid to look at them. It was a damn good thing they did, because those boys would not have lasted long without help.

All of them had injuries ranging from broken bones to deep gashes that really should have been stitched up properly days ago, but the most worrying one was the one with goggles around his neck.

The unofficial "leader" of their tiny group was a lanky boy with spiky red hair, around 11 or twelve. He had bruises all over his body, and a fair number of gashes all his own, which his companions had tried to bandage along with their own, using what they'd found on the boat they stole. According to the other three, he had taken a heavy beating from a pack of guards before they had escaped and set sail, and had only worsened from there.

One look at the boy and Kincaid's normally warm and mild demeanor darkened considerably. He'd barked at Yasopp to get the boy to an infirmary bed immediately, and take the other three to get cleaned up, and properly wash their injuries.

It wasn't good. The boy had several broken ribs, bruising on several of his internal organs, and an infected stab wound on his thigh that had been on the verge of going septic. On top of that, his chest rattled with something wet and thick every time he fought to get a shallow breath into his lungs. He was dehydrated and malnourished, same as the other three. Then there was the fever.

His fever was high. According to Kincaid, if his temp didn't come down soon, the heatstroke would be irreversible. Kincaid had Maverick running back and forth to the galley to get cold packs to put behind his knees, under his armpits, and on his forehead. He'd asked Shanks to cut a barrel lengthwise, to turn it into a tub that we could give the kid a cool bath in.

Lucky Roo finished hauling in the cool water from the galley to fill the makeshift tub, and Kincaid scooped up the feverish child and gently arranged him in the water.

The second the cool water hit his skin, the boy gave a thin noise of pain, and began weakly struggling against the grip that kept him submerged up to his chest.

Shanks had left to get our own boys settled back in their room-the sight of the other boys' injuries, combined with their story had brought back too many memories, too many nightmares, and all three of them were unsettled.

Hesitant footsteps stopped at the doorway of the infirmary. Looking up, I saw Law watching us frantically try to bring down the other boy's temperature. His expression was odd. He was biting his lip, and his eyes were caught between worry and determination.

"Can I help?" He asked quietly, gaze switching between the boy and Kincaid.

"Help?" Kincaid asked, applying a cool rag to the sweaty forehead.

Law's voice was a little stronger this time. "My parents were both doctors. I grew up helping them in the clinic, and the school I went to before they died was focused on teaching medicine. I'm not licensed, and I didn't get to finish my training before they died, but if I can help, I want to."

Kincaid looked at him for a long moment, "How do you treat gashes?"

Law answered automatically, listing off cleaning and treatment procedures like they had been drilled into him. They probably had.

His answers seemed to satisfy Kincaid. "Alright. You know where those items are in here?"

"Yes."

The doctor nodded at the older boy, "Very well then. Gather what you need and go treat the other three for their gashes, and perform a basic exam, if you know how. Leave the broken bones for now, I'll see to them once this one is stable. You can assist me with that if you like."

Law's eyes brightened, and he nodded once, darting forward to find the items in the cupboards and drawers.

Kincaid re-wetted the cloth and swiped it around the younger boy's face while I kept the small hands from fighting against the cold water he was half-submerged in.

"Take one of the medical carts to carry it on, and if you finish before I'm done in here, come back and give me a report of their injuries and the treatments you gave them." He ordered over his shoulder.

"Understood."

A few minutes later, Law led a small metal cart laden with bandages, disinfectant, and other relevant supplies out the door with him, heading towards the office near the showers where the boys with less significant injuries and ailments were being kept until Kincaid got the fever stabilized.

It took several hours, but slowly the fever had receded. The boy's temperature had been holding steadily at a mid-grade fever for nearly an hour now, and it seemed that the medications were beginning to take hold.

Kincaid and I sat back and took a breather now that the child was resting peacefully, and out of immediate danger. Kincaid had administered the start of what would probably be a long round of antibiotics for the infections in his chest and leg, and the boy seemed to be responding well to them so far.

Law had poked his head in a few hours prior, to see if Kincaid had time to listen to the report on the other boys' conditions, but he'd arrived just as the red-haired child had launched into a violent coughing fit which had displaced at least one of the broken ribs.

Several hours and an operation to reset that rib later, it seemed that it was calm enough for the Doctor to take a break to hear Law's report and check on the other three.

I'd gone to get the kids from the office, and had found Law chatting with them and Yasopp.

Now the other boys were settled onto infirmary cots, and Kincaid and Law had reset the broken bones. Two broken arms and one broken leg between the three, and a broken wrist on the boy with the fever.

It was oddly heart-warming to watch Law work with Kincaid. It was clear that the boy knew what he was doing, and that he loved the work. Kincaid had been impressed by the quality of work done on the stitches and bandaging job, and was even more impressed when Yasopp mentioned how little time it had taken Law to do it in.

After all of the injuries had been treated, and the four boys sleeping peacefully, Kincaid began to quiz Law's medical knowledge, trying to pinpoint where he'd been in his studies before he'd had to stop.

Each question was met with an answer immediately, and without hesitation. They'd been going for over an hour already, and I hadn't heard Law give a wrong answer yet.

Eventually, Kincaid leaned back and eyed Law, more than a small bit impressed. "Sounds like you were in your last year of study. After that you would have begun your internship, correct?"

"Mhm," Law nodded, though his eyes saddened.

"What field were you looking to specify in?"

"Surgery."

"Hmm," Kincaid rubbed the graying beard on his chin. "Well, he doesn't specialize in surgery, but there is a doctor on the island that we're planning to take you to, once that nonsense in the East calms down. Doctor Nako. He mostly focuses on civilian medicine, I believe, but if you wanted to finish your training and get a basic certification, I can't imagine him objecting to being your mentor, if you'd like."

Law's eyes widened, "Really?"

"Sure," Kincaid nodded, "And while you're here, I don't mind teaching you what I can about ship medicine. It's a bit different from what Dr. Nako is likely to see in his practice, so the two experiences should give you a bit of a wider base of experience to work form."

Law was almost beaming at the prospect, and immediately launched into a million eager questions.

Kincaid smiled, and shifted to get more comfortable in his chair.

I watched the interaction, and shook my head with a warm smile before quietly slipping out of the infirmary.

The boys' names were Heat, Wire, Killer, and Kidd. Kidd didn't really become lucid for about three days, but the other boys perked up quickly with the additions of proper nourishment and medical treatment.

Once we'd promised to take them away from the island, and help them get some distance away from the nobles who wanted the dead, the boys opened up more about their story.

Their parents had worked in the royal palace. Heat's parents had been cooks, Killer's mom had been a maid, and his dad a butler. Wire's dad had died when he was too young to remember, but his mother had been an archer on the royal guard. Kidd's father had never been around, and his mother had been the head of the royal guard.

Two years prior, there had been a coup. One of the princes made a power-grab, and killed the King in the process. The kingdom had split into a civil war over it. One side, the Kashti, was loyal to the fallen king, the other, the Corommi, was loyal to the Prince. The boys' parents had been Kashtis, and were recently captured and executed for their loyalties.

With their parents gone, the resistance had crumbled, and many Kashti children fled the kingdom by ship. The four of them had been among the few who had survived the blockade.

There were bounty hunters being paid to hunt down the handful of Kashtis who had escaped. If they remained on Junkyard Island, it would only be a matter of time before someone found them.

The names that they had given us were aliases, based on nicknames that their parents had given them. Their real names were Jordan Killich, Frank Harstad, Markus Davenport, and Devin Kohlmeister. Jordan and Frank were 13, Markus and Devin were 12. Devin, the red-haired boy, was their unofficial leader.

Luffy, Ace, and Sabo were quick to offer the older boys a position on their future crew. To our surprise, the boys had planned to become pirates from the moment they were exiled, but after a secret conversation that Kidd (as Devin preferred to be called) had with Luffy, Ace, and Law, he agreed to join the future Strawhat pirates, as long as his friends could join as well.

Which was, quite obviously, a non-issue. The other boys enthusiastically agreed.

We made plans to drop the four of them off on Cocoyashi along with Law and Rosinante, and called ahead to tell Bellmere what to expect when we eventually got back to the East. She was sympathetic to the boys' plight, and informed us that she and Genzo would make sure that they would have a place to stay, and would be well-cared for when they got to Cocoyashi.

When Shanks and I got off of our call with Bellmere, we poked our heads into the somewhat over-crowded infirmary, where all eight boys were currently crouched around our sons' den-den mushi, as well as one of the spares that they had probably nicked from Maverick.

We smiled to ourselves when we heard the exited voices of Nami and Zoro on the line, promising to call Usopp and Sanji when they got done to inform them of the new nakama.

I shook my head as we quietly stepped away from the door. Our youngest was barely seven, and he had a crew of eleven people already.

And I had a feeling that his crew was only just getting started.

A/N: Since next to nothing is known about the Kidd Pirates' pasts, other than Kidd and Killer growing up together, I've kind of taken that lack of knowledge and run with it. Fair warning, Kidd (and probably Killer, Heat, and Wire as well) will be extremely OOC. I'm inventing a backstory for them here, and basically completely inverting my own personal take on what may have happened to them in the un-written cannon story, and turning it on its head. Don't expect them to turn into the angry, murder-y people that we saw in cannon.

Secondary note for people who may be reading this in the distant future, at some point after I've begun posting my longest-running fanfic that I've ever worked on, (I've been working on it for three and a half years, and I haven't posted it because I keep re-writing because I keep finding MASSIVE plot holes that can only be patched by fixing something in the very beginning of the story, and adding/subtracting the dynamic from the rest of what I have written so far.), you might recognize the names that I gave Kidd and his bunch. Though, currently their backstory is a bit different in that story, it might change to become more similar to this one. I'm still fiddling with his childhood for now. I will probably recycle some other OC-ish characters into that story as well, if they come up.

(I swear, someday I'll stop teasing about that damn fic and actually get it posted.)