Hi everyone. A new fanfiction, my first one for this manga, and my very first angst, together with my very first oneshot. Lots of firsst!

Since I'm Italian I hope that my English will be good for you international readers. The rating is on M just to be sure, since there are a couple of scenes that could be included into that category. Maybe I'm overdoing it, but better be safe.

Please Read&Review!

Disclaimer: I obviously, and unfortunately, do not own One Piece and any of the characters inside it. Eiichiro Oda does, and he is doing a great job with them! I do not own the song Forever by Red too. I only own the idea of this fanfiction.
SPOILERS from the latest chapters of the manga (Dressrosa/Zou Arcs).

Beyond Suspicion

by Stormchaser17

They say that the closer people get to you, the more damage they can do.

And when they have gotten their free ride on your sailing ship, they will turn you in.

Nobody could have ever suspected, or even imagined, something like that. Nobody.

After all the things the crew went through together, that was one of the most remote that could had ever happened to them. Nobody could have seen that come. And now, it was too late.

Going a bit back in time, everything began to brew after Dressrosa, and after the events with Big Mom. Sanji was successfully rescued (almost incredibly without creating a big incident) by Luffy, who managed thanks to Pekoms to infiltrate his wedding party and to 'kidnap' the groom. This was done in such an hilarious way that only the Captain would have thought of it: masking himself as the priest of the ceremony, coming with a piece of meat from the banquet under his arm instead of the rings, trying to read the vows without luck before grabbing Sanji's hand and saying loudly "You are mine and not hers!" referring naturally to the fact of being Nakama, and nothing else.

The ship's cook simply fainted on the spot, his wife-not-to-be completely stunned while she was watching her not-groom going away pulled by a strange priest with a strawhat.

Obviously this fact did not go unnoticed by Big Mom herself, who again directed her massive fury and rage towards the Strawhat boy and his crew. Luckily this meant that everyone next to Sanji was safe, but on the other side of the coin, it meant the beginning of the end for all of them.

After a big and heartfelt reunion that happened on the giant elephant Zunisha Luffy's crew decided to leave again towards the Country of Wano, to help in one single swoop the minks of Zou and their new samurai friends and allies, and to give a good blow to the forces of one of the Yonkou, Kaidou, as Traffy suggested.

Undetected by everyone, even by the ever observant and expert spy Nico Robin, the problem brewed in the darkness. Silently, but steadily.

After that adventure, unfortunately, things went from bad to worse very quickly. The confrontation against Kaidou left quasi-total destruction in its wake, Wano was almost wiped from the charts, and the Emperor was not even scratched. It was simply impossible to manage to even put a wound on him, as he seemed really and truly 'immortal'. Even with the help of the other Supernova Pirates alliance, Kidd, Apoo and Hawkins, there was nothing that simple humans or Devil's Fruit powered people could do against him.

This lead to the second total retreat that the crew ever had to face, the first being at the Sabaody Archipelago two years before. All together, they went to recover their strengths and to elaborate a possible strategy to use. But the gears of the world were moving, and then… after only three days and three nights, the incredible news reached them.

Kaidou was dead.

The news shocked everyone around the New World, from the foundation of the new branch of the Marines, led by Admiral Akainu, to the ivory towers of the Holy Land of Mariejois. What, or who, could have managed to defeat, and kill, that incredible monster? The answer was only one.

Marshall D. Teach – Blackbeard.

In is apparent quest for Devil's Fruits all around the New World GrandLine he finally decided to come more in the open battlefield, and confront directly one of his 'colleagues', if one can call him so. No details were provided about the battle, and since everyone suspected that the powers of the late Emperor were given to him by a Fruit, they assumed that whatever it was, now it was in the hand of Blackbeard himself.

Luffy hated that man, even if he talked of dreams in a way similar to his, he was the main responsible of his brother's death in Marineford, together with Akainu. For that, Luffy could never forgive him. Now, it seemed like that he became way more powerful.

While everyone was preoccupied, and tried to recover more and more information from all the available means, one person was more and more overwhelmed with a big sense of dread. With this, the problem continued to grow, and it was almost impossible to contain anymore.

"… I have to do something about this. I cannot go on in this situation." Heavy breathing was paired with this reasoning, together with wide open bloodshot eyes and hair plastered with sweat. "We cannot go on on this situation. We are all going to die in one way or another following him."

Weeks passed, and the crew seemed like to recover well, again ready for another battle. This time they went straight for Big Mom, trying to get the second Road Poneglyph from her, or at least his copy; Robin would have deciphered it, and Nami would have plotted a combined map based on the information from the two. Not that this would have helped much in the end, since no one had a previous complete map to compare the information with, but it was indeed a step towards new horizons.

Black horizons of betrayal.

Puru puru puru… puru puru puru… puru puru puru...

Gatcha

"It's me."

"For the last time, stop calling. I know what I have to do, but I have to do it at the right time. You cannot continue to pressure me!"

"I know. But you were not think of going against our agreement, right?"

"No. Again, I know what I have to do."

"Good."

"Speaking about you and our agreement. You will abide to it, right?"

"Why are you asking this, and now of all times?"

"Because I want to be sure that I am not going inside my own trap. And we both do not trust each other, am I wrong?"

A little pause was followed by a powerful laugh.

"No, we do not trust each other, I am afraid." Another pause. "And for that, I will not go against it, and you will do the same." The tone was final and serious.

"Good then. I will contact you when everything will be in place. The situation is becoming crazier with minutes passing, and I have to do it without fault."

"Exactly. You cannot fail. If you fail… let's say that the consequences will not be pleasurable."

"Thanks for the added pressure. I needed it."

"One can do only his best." Another laugh.

"No, I am doing my best betraying them. You are doing nothing! If the other one even suspected the tiniest little bit I would be dead within seconds, or maimed at best!"

"Then, be sure to do your very best." Gatcha

Admiral Akainu smirked with fulfillment. Finally, with their capture, this useless and dangerous Pirate Age would meet its end. In the name of Justice.

He never expected a call by one of them, it was an impossible thought, but it happened. And a mole inside their crew was the best thing that he could ask for.

Why he did not think of it before? It could have solved many many problems of the past in a sigle fast swoop.

The moment the mole was waiting for was right after the confrontation with the men of Big Mom, on an uncharted island of the New World. When they would have been tired, out of concentration, and out of focus for other threats, especially from inside the Thousand Sunny itself!

The battle raged on for days, with the Monster Trio leading the way into the enormous palace of the female Yonkou, searching for a print copy of the Poneglyph, or even the real one if it was there. Robin tried to infiltrate the place by herself, but she was discovered and severely wounded, thus she had to go back to the Sunny together with Chopper. The little doctor always did an excellent job in assisting and treating her at his best.

Usopp and Nami tried instead to be a backup to the guys with their long range abilities, but they were forced to flee when the Emperor herself showed in front of them… Usopp had a single chance to shoot a smokescreen star before grabbing the crew's Navigator and running for dear life towards the safe spot everyone decided.

Brook and Franky were surroundend, with continuous waves of enemies going towards them, until they were forced to get away from there too, because the numbers were becoming always more and more against them. Franky always had a Coup de Vent available, just for cases like these.

The Trio was alone, and they did not hear anything from them anymore since two days later, when a battered Zoro returned to the ship with an unconscious Sanji on a shoulder. The latter had a broken leg, while the swordsman showed more cuts than ever before. Now Luffy was totally on his own, and now was the moment to act!

The Captain had always had a perception, a sixth sense, for these kind of things. Maybe his experiences, maybe his Haki, but he always managed to get it. So, if he was out of the picture from some time, everything would have gone smoothly.

And it did.

"Now is the time to act. I hope you will fulfill your part."

"As we agreed."

The Archeologist and the Doctor were the easiest, since one was unconscious in the infirmary and the other too busy to notice the person approaching behind him. A little hit on his head and a sedative to the woman were more than enough to put them out of the game.

Cook-san and the Swordsman were surely the most difficult. Even if the first one was almost lifeless from the blood loss, and the other too much in pain with the broken leg their senses were the best in the crew, excluding their Captain. The situation required extreme caution but the mole managed to do it almost swiftly, even if he or she was surely breaking into a sweat, and figuratively, losing years of life for each second passed near them.

The Shipwright was simply too shaken to manage a decent counterattack, it was easy. The Musician proved to be slightly better than the blue haired man, but it seemed that panties were his classic weak point. A load of them solved everything in a fast way.

Lastly, Sniper-kun and Cat Burglar were not a big problem. A little incident with all the special and prototype weapons that he was always building was more than enough, while for the Navigator a simple shock made the job finally done. Her beautiful orange hair falling after her towards the floor.

When Luffy emerged from the rubble of the palace, after having successfully defeated Big Mom herself, all that he found was Marine ships all around, legions of Marine soldiers on land, and his most hated enemy on board the Sunny.

Near him, beyond suspicion, the mole. The betrayer.

"You…"

"Me."

The Captain was confused. Why was this happening? Was it his fault? Did he forget something or someone, somewhere? "W-Why? D-did I do s-something?"

"Yes and no."

He tilted is head in his usual manner, pursing his lips. "I do not understand."

"That is the norm with you, Captain." The last word had deep disgust inside it. "You followed your dreams, as we did. But now the situation has become out of control. We could die in every moment of the day due to the incredible amount of enemies that you instigated against us."

"B-but we will manage to it in the end. You know we always do!" The young man was experiencing one of the worst shattering pains that ever existed. Betrayal.

"Not this time, Captain. This is the end."

The mole went inside, leaving Luffy speechless and without any will left inside his tired body. He collapsed on the grassy deck of the Thousand Sunny on his knees, not opposing all the swarming Marines. This was an unexpected event that scarred him, and everyone else, for the rest of their lives.

One year later, Impel Down, Secret Level Six.

The place was like he remembered it. Cold, damp, and devoid of life, even if there were other prisoners around. He was chained to the walls of that cell since… he did not remember. Even the meals were scarce down there, and his strength –with the aid of the seastone cuffs– was not enough to do almost anything. Even breathing was painful.

Why everything happened like that? He did something, that was sure. But what? Nobody said anything, ever. And if there was some real problem Zoro, Nami or Robin would have pointed that out, and they would have solved him all together, as always. Why? Why?

Suddenly, he could swear he was imagining it, he heard something. Like soft steps advancing towards him. No one came down there, except for the wardens that left the weekly meal.

He managed to lift his head a bit and with the only eye that he could still use he got a glimpse of the person that was in front of his cell, from under the brim of his strawhat. Rage build up instantly inside him, and he strained with newfound force against the chains that continued to keep him in place. He was furious, to say the least.

"You." The tone was disgustingly sweet.

"Me." The other person chirped, happily.

"Do you know… Do you know what they did to us? What they did To me?!"

"I am sorry, but no. They did not tell me."

"They… They made me watch while they did it."

"What? They did what?"

"…"

"…"

"They…" Tears, long forgotten tears, found again their way down the young man cheeks. It was so painful, so dreadful…

"They tortured them! Everyone of them!" He wanted to scream, but his throat was too dry.

"Who?"

"Robin! Chopper! They wanted to know how he managed to get his Fruit to that point, with all the Seven Transformation thingies… and they abused him while he was awake!"

He cried without restraints while the other seemed unimpressed.

"He did not cry, he endured everything, even when they began to open his body! It was horrible! He continued to watch me grinning, as to say 'Watch how strong I am Captain!' until… until… he simply dropped his head, defeated." The cry was more and more distressed, and more and more intense. "I don't know if he is even alive right now! And it is all your fault!"

"Not mine. Yours Captain. You brought us together! You challenged always everyone without thinking! You used to go around in search of adventures that every time could potentially kill us!" Breathing was fast and difficult for the other person outside the cell, the face red with pent emotions. "And you never cared! Yes, you saved us, everyone of us, time after time, but until when? We are not monsters like you! We cannot survive like you!"

Luffy did not listen to those words. They made no sense to him. He always did what he thought best for his crew, and his crew always supported him. Those words were only words, and nothing more.

"And Robin! Do you know what they did to her?" Now the cry was being replaced by another feeling, untamed fury.

"They asked her for the big stones things, and she did not speak in the beginning. She was strong, and firm, and straight, like Robin, for all those times they asked her. But then, one time, like the others, they released and we all imagined that it was the end for that day."

His body shuddered violently when the images came back from the far insides of his memory. From the other eye blood began flowing, instead of tears.

"In an instant, they cut one of her legs! She was walking normally and then a leg fell to the side. It was immediate, we did not understand, I did not understand what was happening…" Waves and waves of Haki were pouring from the man inside the cell, and almost all of the prisoners of the level had fainted. The person outside that secluded space was having serious problems in keeping it together.

"After that, one arm, then the other leg, and finally the last arm! She was there, on the floor, in her blood, shouting and screaming for the pain! You have not heard her. You have not heard her screams! They passed through us and we could not do anything! Anything!"

A pause. It was necessary since the feelings were too overwhelming.

"And do you know what was the worst part of it?!"

"Enlighten me."

"They were mocking her, saying that if she wanted she could grow back those limbs again, like the Demon she was!" The sentence was filled with venom. A tone that one never expected from the normal Luffy. But now, he was everything except normal. He was almost another person in his same body.

"I do not know what they did to the others, but surely something… terrible." He finished like that, crashing voluntarily again against the wall, his energy apparently spent.

"As I said, it's your fault!" The other was again attacking him, and his actions, with words. "If you thought better, if you cared a little bit more about our lives, if you…"

Suddenly he jumped. He jumped towards the bars that divided the cell from the open space. He jumped towards the other person with an inhuman expression etched on his face. His usual grin was distorted, his only good eye devoid of life and at the same time full of some other indecipherable thing. His arms extended from each side of his body, like a swimmer that was going to dive, but was stopped in mid movement. His muscles tensed and aching from the pain and the abuse, overall giving him almost a new body, almost the one of a devil!

The rage topped over, and began flowing. "It was not my fault! It was yours! You betrayed us! You!"

"I did it to have a chance to live more!"

"We would have lived! We would have been on the top! And we would have been free!"

"No! That is not it! We would have been dead! Everyone of us! Did you not see how the things were going down, and going down fast?!"

"What…"

"Big Mom was just the beginning, then Kaidou killed by Blackbeard! Who do you think we would have faced before Raftel? And Shanks? Even if he is your friend he is a Yonkou too. And the Marines? And the whole Government itself?!"

"… do you mean…"

"It was one thing burning a single flag in Enies Lobby, another thing to punch a World Noble, but this… this is wanting to take over the whole world! And we are only in nine! And everyone out there wants to kill us to take our place! This is freedom?!"

"… with those…"

"I want to live a long life! I want to be able to enjoy it! And that was not the way! We would have ended up dead, or worse, always on the run because someone would have wanted to kill us to take the title! Tell me Captain, that is your freedom?!"

"… stupid words!?" He roared again towards the bars, almost reaching them this time, his grin madder than ever before. His eye lit with a new brightness, a crazed one.

The other recoiled in fear. The Captain was never so insane, never! Maybe he was pushed over the brink by everything that has happened?

They remained still for some time, it is impossible to tell how many seconds or minutes passed, but they were like frozen and suspended. Until the other person began to move away.

"And your dream?!" He finally shouted.

"I will do it, only in a way that is safer than ours." The words were final. "And also, I will be all right, I have everything I need to go on now, thanks to you all!"

Realization hit him immediately. "They gave them to you…"

"Yes. In the end, I was the one that managed to capture everyone of you. And they erased mine. So everything is ok." The person continued to go towards the stairs that led to the exit of the prison. That strange guy Hannyabal and the big one Magellan were waiting.

"You all gave me so much more than I could ever ask for." The last sentence was filled with sarcasm and greediness.

"Shishishishishishishi…"

The person stopped. "What? Do you have to say something else?"

"Zoro was right. He was always right, from the beginning. And I, no, we, never payed attention to what he said, to what he saw in you!" A long sigh, followed by the same tone from him. "But don't worry, we will find you." The madness was back together with his powerful Haki. It sent massive cold shivers down her spine and her legs almost transformed into jelly cylinders.

"We will find you, Nami."

After that, he began to laugh, a crazy and hollow laugh that vibrated trough the stone walls of the massive underwater prison. For a moment, she seemed to hear all the other crewmembers laugh together with him. She had to get out from there, and fast.

"We will find you because we are Nakama, Nami."

She began to run along the cold and shallowly lit corridors. Her dark blue cape that was in straight contrast with her flowing orange hair was not so warm now, and she felt the cold sweat all over her body, her face. The scar under her tattoo ached with renewed pain. The only sounds were her heels that stomped on the stony ground, her panicked and ragged breath, her jewels tingling against each other, and that laughter.

"Shishishishishishishi…"

Now it was too late.

Or not?

THE END

Here we are. If you managed to reach this point, thank you for reading!

I bet that a lot of you guessed right on who could possibly be the mole inside the Strawhats crew. I tried to mantain a certain level of suspense, but I don't know if I managed to do it well.

This story was inspired by the very evocative artwork 'Fuck Nakama' of Volt-Hanyou on DeviantArt. You can find it here (remove the spaces): volt-hanyou . deviantart art / Fuck-Nakama-172611806

The characters are obviously OOC, and in this strange and new situation for the them I think that it was unavoidable. I hated making Nami the villain, but she was so perfect for the role that I could not chose another person if not her!

The sentence "You all gave me so much more than I could ever ask for." was taken from the song "Forever" by Red. It was simply perfect for the last statement of Nami, even if in the song the meaning is totally different from the one I gave it.

I hope that you liked it! Don't forget to leave a Review!

See ya at the next one! Ciao!