I do not own One Piece.

This fic is rated M.

Day One

"…shit."

Sanji sucked in a deep breath through tightly clenched teeth. His head was pounding in what was quite possibly the worst headache he had ever had in his entire life. It felt like someone had blocked up his ears and then put his head in a vice. He could feel every beat of his heart pushing against his eardrums and the insides of his eyelids. It was almost like his skull was suddenly too small for his brain. Any moment now it would crack open at the seams and spill its contents all over the floor. Sanji forced a breath back out through his teeth, squeezing his eyes even further shut, but that somehow made it worse.

"Hhhhhh….fuck."

If he concentrated hard enough, Sanji thought that he might be able to pinpoint the source of the pain. There was blood caked in the hair on his left temple. It was mostly dry already, tightening over his flesh and contributing to his headache. Sanji clenched his hands and opened them over and over. He wanted to lift them to rub his headache away, but had already discovered that they were bound. He tugged at them for what may have been the hundredth time, but the metal cuffs that circled his wrists held strong. They had to have Sea Prism in them. Had to. The same cuffs bound his ankles to the legs of his chair. That was all. Nothing else was bound and other than the small cut on his temple, nothing else was injured. He could even sort of stand, at least as much as his immobilized arms would allow. Sanji couldn't help but to feel a little ridiculous for being held against his will by so little.

He moaned again, rolling his shoulders and cracking his neck. The chair he was tied to was far from comfortable. There were no cushions to offer him support, only hard and unyielding wood. Its back rose to the middle of the back of his head, just high enough that he couldn't see what was behind him when he turned, but not actually high enough to lean his head back to rest properly. Worse yet, Sanji was beginning to notice that the legs were just short enough that his thighs didn't quite rest on the seat. Instead his knees bent at acute angles, causing them to throb painfully and his ankles to strain against their chains.

Sanji swallowed another moan before it could escape past his lips. He was uncomfortable, but he had been in worse shape before. He needed to stay calm, collect his thoughts. Make a plan to escape. Sanji assumed that he was to be interrogated. His captors, whoever they were, were trying to break him down. They wanted him frustrated and vulnerable when they began their questioning. Well. They had a whole other thing coming. Sanji would never give up his crew.

"Breathe," he muttered to himself, forcing air in and out of his lungs. "Think, dammit."

Sanji sat perfectly still for a moment, his head bowed and his brow furrowed as he focused on willing away the throbbing pain in his head. He needed to figure out where he was. His memory was so fuzzy. He remembered leaving Dressrosa with Nami and the others. And running from Big Mom. And reaching Zou and the devastation there. Sanji even recalled helping its furry citizens to recover. But beyond that, there was nothing. Part of him said that he should be worried for his nakama, but something told him that they were safe. That he was alone in this.

He sighed, frustrated with himself. He was clearly missing something important.

Finally, the pounding between his ears began to subside, and Sanji ventured to open his eyes again. Perhaps there would be some clue as to his location or captors. Unfortunately, his gaze was met by nothing but a blank stone wall and a small window. Sanji stared dumbly at it for a moment. The stone was smooth, absolutely pristine. As far as he could tell, each slate grey brick was exactly the same size and was laid tightly against its neighbor, as if they had been cut by one of Franky's lasers. The craftsmanship was absolutely impeccable, even if the design was more than a little boring. Sanji let his eyes wander up the featureless wall to the window above. It was centered perfectly in front of him, placed just high enough that all he could see from his seated position was the sky. Sanji did his best to stand, craning his neck and stretching as far as he could to see if there was more than sky out there. He just barely caught a glimpse of glistening blue ocean before he felt the metal cuffs cut into his wrists and his legs gave out beneath him. Sanji collapsed back into the chair with a huff. At least, he supposed, he could track the passage of time. And the fresh air and sunlight couldn't hurt either. It was better than nothing.

Satisfied that he had exhausted the details of this wall, Sanji did his best to look around the rest of the room. His chair sat directly in the center of it, with enough space that he had no hope of even trying to touch any of the walls. In every direction that he looked, Sanji found more of the same featureless stone. Even what little of the wall behind him that he could see when he twisted in his seat was the same. He experimentally rocked back and forth, only to find that the chair didn't budge. When he leaned over either of the arms, he found bolts holding the legs to the same perfectly smooth stone floor.

Maybe they intended to bore him to death. That was a thing, right?

Sanji idly tapped his fingers on the arm of the chair, returning his gaze to the sky outside the window. Judging by the angle of the sun, it was close to midday. Sanji sighed loudly. He should have been making lunch for Nami and the others right now. He wished that his captors would come and get whatever it was they wanted to do over with so he could kick their asses and go home. This constant waiting was starting to wear thin.

Sanji strained to look around the back of his chair again, seeing no more than he'd seen before. He knew that there was a door behind him, but it was centered such that the most of it he could see around the high back of the chair was the very edge of the trim. Sanji guessed that his captors were likely watching him through it, waiting for the perfect chance to do whatever they intended.

He finally sat back when the muscles in his neck began to burn down into his shoulders and up behind his ears, bringing his headache back with renewed vigor. Sanji closed his eyes and wheezed softly. He would have to wait this out.

After all, how long could they possibly keep this up?

Before long, Sanji found himself drifting off to sleep. At first he tried to stop it from happening, blinking his eyes open wide and taking several deep breaths. When that didn't work, he would lightly tap the back of his head against the hard wood of the chair, hoping that the impact would wake him up. He dug his nails into his palms and twisted his wrists against the metal of his cuffs. He even bit his tongue once, but to no avail. Each time Sanji lasted maybe fifteen minutes staring at the blank wall in front of him before his eyes drooped closed again. And every time he woke up, he found that the sun had advanced a few hours further across the sky. Finally, around early evening, Sanji gave in. He needed the sleep, as much as he was loath to admit it. It might even help to make his headache go away.

Sanji slumped in his chair as far as the metal cuffs would allow, hunching his shoulders a little painfully in an attempt to rest his chin on his chest. Hopefully sleep would clear his head and he would be able to form a decent plan for escape.

And maybe in the morning something would have changed.

This fic is purely self-indulgent and a little something of an experiment.

Please let me know what you think!