Title: Thread

Rating: PG-13 (will go up)

Pairing: Paulie+Kaku, KakuxLucci, Paulie+Iceburg, LuccixKaku.

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece and characters.

Unbeta-ed. I tried filtering out the worst spelling mistakes.

Summary: A/U. Youthful & just 15 years old. Paulie knew what was expected from him when he received his first solo mission from the Government. But sometimes, not everything goes as planned.

Warning: A/U. OOC (which is not OOC after a while)

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

(Please read this first, before questioning)

I am very conscious that I changed the name of the Devil's Fruit. I am very aware that helicopters are not supposed to exist in the OP-verse, and Yes I knew Paulie can make a knot.

This might seem OOC and A/U-to-the-max at first. But purposely I left everything quite unexplained at first; things will be explained in later chapters.

1514, Kingou-River, San Faldo, 17:30

"Ready." Paulie, a 15-year-old orphan, quietly said more to himself than to anyone else.

Probably because he was currently standing in a quick flowing river up to his waist, while finally having put on his diving outfit. Thank god that he never got the chance to eat a Heaven's Fruit.

He looked once more at his compass. He would have to swim underwater for more than an hour, because his superior Iceburg-sama had informed him that the base was heavily protected with a camera security system in a radius of 3 miles. That they did not have any camera security underwater, this was something that both Iceburg-sama and Paulie did not understand.

Well, they were talking about the Marines, who were a great enemy of the World Government. Obviously, they were all retards.

Paulie readied himself to submerge completely. Not too difficult, because he was fully ready for the mission. Luckily Iceburg-sama had informants at the Karakuri island, close to the lab of Dr. Sentoumaru, who knew ways to get the most modern divers equipment.

Paulie rechecked his water-resistant bag as well, and then secured it on his back before submerging. Well, the explosive wouldn't carry themselves to the base.

Then Paulie looked up to the sky for the last time, before submerging. Quick and supple as any fish he descended 4 yards before he started moving with powerful breast strokes. His condition was fine, and he covered ground quickly.

Almost 3 quarters later the river gained depth. Paulie knew that in a few moments there would be a current, but if he would be deep enough, he would not be troubled with it.

And if Paulie would have crossed the current then he would come in face with a steel wall. If that would not be the case, then the Marines would have been so cunning to falsify their own blueprint - which was unlikely, for they didn't even install underwater security cameras.

And indeed. As Paulie thought that the Marines were all ridiculously senile, he felt his body drift away with the current slowly. Into the wrong direction of course. Paulie let himself sink a bit more, and soon he was floating again, while the current was moving above him. Paulie felt like smirking out of pure egocentrism to the current above him.

He started swimming again. The steel wall wouldn't be far anymore, but because the water was rather murky here his vision was no more than a small 40 inch.

.. And those 40 inch were only just enough to prevent Paulie from colliding with the wall.

He immediately went back to action. Even though he had already spent almost an hour underwater, that did not mean the hard part was done yet. No, that part was yet to come.

Paulie swam towards the surface, but didn't emerge. One mistake could be fatal, and Paulie wasn't someone to fuck up his first solo mission for the Government. He wanted to do his job right, and kill the imbeciles that were habituating the building.

Because Paulie knew the blueprints of the building by heart, he knew where he was immediately. The building was made in an entirely non-symmetric way, and in every outside wall one could find bends and curves. He only needed to swim past 3 bends and 5 curves, before the water discharge came in view. Paulie did not want to know what junk went through the outlet. But it was the only safe way to get inside, Iceburg-sama had established. It was even void of any camera system, which made everything almost too easy.

The water discharge had the fabulous size of 20 by 20 inch, which meant it was possible for him to sneak inside as well. The greatest part of the building had been built underwater, but the covered water discharge with ventilation shaft, was above water level.

Why the architects had placed a hole like this here, Paulie did not understand. But the hole was exactly big enough to fit his small and lean body (these were moment where Paulie felt happy that his body had only recently hit puberty and was still developing slowly), plus the bag with explosives, in it. The Marines were stupid.

When Paulie finally emerged it was already twilight. Exactly according to his schedule. If his mission was completed and he had to get away, he would have darkness by his side. Paulie crouched into the small shack which was, according to Iceburg-sama, completely free of cameras.

Immediately Paulie pulled off his diving suit, revealing another waterproof black suit, though this one was a better fit. Paulie then stuffed the unnecessary things for the rest of the mission in a bundle. He let the bundle sink under water in the shack, where the water hardly reached his ankles. If he would come back here again, he would at least still have his diving suit. That would be a lot simpler than to blindly running away in an attempt to escape.

The package with explosives was still firmly tied on his back. After a double-check to see if everything was still intact, Paulie skilfully fished a screwdriver from the side pocket of the suit he wore, and calmly started to unscrew the screws which hold the grate. There were 4 in total, and Paulie had completed the small task within a few minutes. With a soft click Paulie took out the grate from the water discharge, and dropped it next to his diving suit into the water.

He peered inside, and immediately noted he would need a small light for the first 110 yards. Of course he also brought one of those with him. Neatly wrapped in plastic, so it could not be put out of action.

But first, Paulie wrapped a headband around his head, and then assembled the light between the band and his hair. He didn't put on the light yet, to be safe.

Then Paulie entered the shaft.

He crawled one inch after the other with a deadly calmness surrounding him. After a total of bumping 3 times into a wall, he switched on the little light. A dim beam lit up the stretched out shaft, which didn't seem to end.

"But there is an end. In 63 and a half yard is the first one." Paulie mumbled to himself, satisfied he knew the distances of all shafts and rooms by heart. What one could learn from blueprints!

And indeed, after 63 and a half yard later Paulie encountered another grate on his left. He had already put out the little light a few yards earlier, so no one would spot the dim glow. This grate, if the blueprints were not lying, emerged in the kitchen. And three hallways away from the kitchen was the most central room of the building, stocked with the higher-ups who ran the base.

It was just too painfully simple.

Paulie analysed the situation: three cooks, probably preparing dinner for the higher-ups. One of the three stood a mere yard away from him, loudly complaining that he still had to wash so many cups, while the other two were garnishing appetizers, complaining where the hell their maid was. She was new, yeah, but that was NO reason whatsoever to arrive late for the evening shift! Everyone was waiting inside!

Paulie crawled further without waiting any longer, and a good 9 yards further he was unscrewing the grate under him. This grate had view on a hallway from above. Paulie listened quietly to the sounds under him, or rather hearing the absence of sounds under him; the hallway was deserted.

Paulie loosened the grate with ridiculous ease, and then slid down to the floor of the hallway with only minor sound. He immediately sneaked into the nearest girl bathroom. Checking his watch quickly, Paulie calculated that the next security would pass by only after 8 minutes again. Paulie had more than enough time to redress.

As soon as Paulie has entered the bathroom, he unfastened his bag with explosives and dropped them unceremoniously on the ground and undid himself of his water-resistant black suit. Under the suit he was wearing a cute looking maid's uniform, complete with satin apron and black tights.

Like it was a coincidence that the maid was late.

With trained profession he applied a bit lip-gloss and minor foundation (Thanks that those fat witches Mozz and Kiwi taught him how to). He really hoped that his young age could explain his flat chest: because he was still rather small and meagre, Paulie could easily say he had just turned 13. But his hair, his hair did need attention to complete his cover.

Paulie's slicked back hair needed no further attention as he put on a hairnet and dark brown wig which he fished from his backpack. The wig had a pony with long bangs, so most of his forehead and his cheeks were covered. Even though his face was still rather heart-shaped, Paulie didn't need anyone to question his gender now. He had done this dressing-up thing before, but he still rather disliked it and he still was rather afraid that one day someone would see through him.

Then he checked himself in the nearest mirror and nodded to reassure himself. No-one would expect him, a cute and naïve looking girl with long dark brown curly hair, to be part of an assassination mission given by the director of the Government.

It was a shame he had to pull such a ridiculous stunt to get inside the building. But alas, the only people here who paid extra attention to packages you had hid to your bag, and who paid extra attention to your ID and how often you came here and with what reason and take your fingerprint to see if you really are who you say you are, were the security guards at the entrance of the building.

Iceburg-sama and Paulie had soon agreed that avoiding the main entrance was the best possible strategy on short term.

After putting on matching heels, and clipping on a name tag, he was done. How women could walk on these things comfortably was a mystery to him, but alas, they were the only type of shoes that went with the outfit. Paulie then unpacked his bag with explosives, and inspected the bombs meticulously. They had survived the journey, so Paulie immediately started preparing them. He tied together the two loose threads, so they would explode with a simple push of the button on his not-yet-working remote control.

But now! No more fooling around! Those three cooks were already losing their temper a few minutes ago. Their mood wouldn't magically grow better as he stood here wasting time.

Paulie left the bombs in the bathroom, under a piece of fabric, because he knew from the list of employees that there was only one female supposed to be walking around at this time of the day, and that was he. His cover. It was quite anti-feministic, but Paulie could live with it.

Then Paulie hurried to the hallways, into the kitchen. The click-clack of his shoes echoed through the hallways, announcing his presence beforehand. But that didn't matter anymore. He wasn't an assassin anymore, but just the maid 'Gatherine' who was almost 20 minutes late.

(Both Mozz and Kiwi gambled for Paulie to use their name for his cover, but since Paulie didn't see any profit nor purpose in gambling, he randomly choose the name of some very pretty girl who owned a restaurant back on his own island.)

"Sorry!" Gatherine came barging into the kitchen with high speed, and immediately used puppy eyes to avoid any snide comment. Of course it worked.

"Ah, it's okay girl. But you better hurry and bring those plates to the high-placed men, because they might be less forgiving." The three laughed almost teasingly, but Gatherine ignored them. She had already grabbed the trolley and straightened the white cloth which lay on it. Then she nodded to the three cooks, who seemed to like Gatherine's very short skirt more than the face, before she pushed the trolley out of the kitchen.

Gatherine had to hurry, she knew that. She worked so hard to get this job, and it would be a shame if she would get fired because she was late only once.

But before Gatherine arrived at the meeting room, she made a quick stop at the ladies bathroom. She went inside in a complete natural way, and emerged a few seconds later with a wrapped package. The package disappeared under the white cloth on the bottom shelve of the trolley, and the remote control which went with the package was slipped in the back pocket of Gatherine's skirt. After rechecking if the cloth was still straight, Gatherine continued her walk to the meeting room.

Gatherine knocked twice, before she entered the conference room with the trolley. She put on her cutest smile as an apology.

"Excuses me for the waiting." She said in her high-pitched voice (Thank god that Paulie had not hit puberty completely yet), and soon she was placing exotic looking aperitifs in front of the gentlemen. Most of them nodded approvingly, and only one gentleman looked like something filthy just walked in.

Then Gatherine grabbed a bottle of expensive Bordeaux-red wine, and filled the glasses of those in need. Her smile never disappeared from her young and pretty heart-shaped face, even when one of the gentlemen touched his ass briefly.

When she was about to leave the gentlemen, she pushed the trolley tactfully into a far corner of the room, so no-one would bump into it.

"I will be back soon, to see if the dishes are to everyone's taste." Gatherine made a small bow, before she left through the door again.

"Gathy-chan, girl, this is delicious!" One of the gentlemen nonsensically commented, but it was a lost case. For as soon as the youngster left the room, she was no longer Gatherine. The assassin had awoken again, and he wanted to see blood. The explosives would make a lot of damage, which would also result in that at least half of the building would be flooded.

Paulie smirked in a satisfied manner, and disappeared into the toilettes again.

Off with the ridiculous outfit, wig and shoes. Off with the tights too! He quickly swiped away his make-up with a tissue. From the bag he had left earlier, he soon found a piece of baggy jeans, T-shirt and sneakers. He preferred not to wear the woman's clothing any longer, for they would attract a lot of attention when he would mix with people again.

Paulie quickly changed his clothes to some plain jeans and a t-shirt, and then put on his water-resistant black suit. Then he bundled the remote control and screwdriver together in a piece of canvas, which would serve as an improvised backpack for the rest of his mission. The piece of canvas was tied neatly, so the bundle would be waterproof. Paulie then tied the bundle around his middle with a rope, and at last, he tied the little light around it as well. He had practised with this with Iceburg-sama beforehand, but he still lacked in making decent knots. Still, he was pretty sure that the rope would hold the items.

Then Paulie calmly returned to the hallways again, this time not ready to bump into someone. (Because the last security check had been already 4 minutes ago, and the next would be in about 6 minutes. Paulie had been very sure of this.)

And from that moment, everything sort of went downhill.

SHIGAN.

Not thinking it over another moment, Paulie pierced the target beautifully bulls eye. Straight in the middle of the chest, immediately dead. He pulled his finger out of the chest of the large man with one fluid motion. The large man, the cook from earlier, would never complain about washing cups anymore.

But alas, the alarm was now activated in the building, and the beeping sound was now screeching through all hallways.

The cook, fucker that he was, had pushed the alarm button as soon as he saw Paulie emerge from the bathroom.

"Fuck." Paulie hissed softly, while starting to run towards the vent he had come from earlier. Arrived there, Paulie climbed into the ventilation vent (using Geppo) with little difficulty, and put the grate back in place. No time for the screws, for under him there were already security guards running past. And even though the Marines were very stupid, they wouldn't need much time to think that the only safe way out of the building was this particular ventilation shaft.

This time, Paulie put on the little dim light after only crawling a few yards. It took him less time than before to reach the end of the tunnel, but that was probably because of the adrenaline rush which was pulsing through his veins. Paulie immediately climbed out of the shaft, and dropped himself into the knee-deep water, and felt where he had put his diving suit.

Right where he had left it, of course.

But this time the Marines seemed to be prepared well. Paulie just didn't have the time to put on his diving suit, because there were already bullets flying his way.

Surely he would have no problem taking on those retarded guards, but the mission instructions stated specifically he was not to fight anyone. He only needed to place the bomb inside, and leave just as quiet as he came. He hadn't liked the prospect of hiding instead of attacking those who deserved to die, but his boss, Iceburg-sama, had been very clear about it. It had something to do with the camera's, and face identification, and somewhere there was this guy with some Heaven Fruit ability that made everything even more difficult, and long distance camera record saving, blabla, whatever. Paulie did not understand the finer part of the technical details; all he knew was that fighting was an absolute no-no today. (the cook was an exception, Paulie justified. He was too pathetic to live on)

"Than just without diving suit." Paulie mumbled, and when a bullet nearly grazed him, he immediately dived into the cold water. With a little bit of luck he would immediately find that strong current again, which would allow him to cover a large distance underwater.

But luck was not on his side today. He didn't find the current, which meant he had to merge again out of necessity. The bullets were still flying everywhere.

Under water again.

Still no current.

Again emerge a few yards further.

Then Paulie would just have to detonate the bomb now. Maybe he would then get enough time, because of the commotion, to get away.

Maybe, yeah.

Paulie dived under water one more time, because he suddenly saw something large flying above him. Probably some fucker with Heaven Fruit abilities. It really was a shame that he wasn't allowed to fight them.

He emerged a few yards further, close to a bush of reed. Then he quickly untied the canvas and opened it, in search of the remote control.

Another set of bullets. But that didn't matter anymore. These bullets were off so badly, it meant that either the shooters were very inexperienced, or that they were running.

Paulie saw the large flying object making a circle above the base. He was waiting for that.

Paulie then twisted three loose threads around each other, and then pushed the button in the middle twice.

A thundering noise echoed on every side, coming from the central space of the building. Two walls directed above the water immediately collapsed, and a third wall, half above and half under water, also went down.

That would turn into a big leak.

Paulie immediately felt a new and strong current, pulling him slowly to the collapsing building. The higher-ups, those dirty men, were probably already dead. And if they weren't, then they would soon drown.

Not that Paulie cared the slightest bit.

He climbed out of the river, because he would get pulled towards the building otherwise. And that was just plain stupid to happen to him.

He first crawled a short distance and hoped that the bushes would cover him, but he soon started running as it started raining bullets.

Only this time, the shooters did seem to have the ability to aim properly.

A sharp pain made Paulie realise that he was badly grazed by a bullet. Fuck! He eyed his shoulder and saw the wound, bleeding like a horse. Damn it. He was getting sloppy again. He wouldn't hear the end of it back at Water7; that he wasn't paying enough attention again to activate Tekkai in time.

"Damn it.. You cocksuckers." He couldn't help himself to put energy into cursing the shooters behind him.

His answer was another bullet, but this time he did activate Tekkai in time.

Paulie started running faster, because he really didn't want to get caught. But he wouldn't get caught. He was far too intelligent and mission-driven to get caught by a bunch of cocksuckers like them. And he would get those dickheads back later, when he didn't need to worry about camera's and security systems and blabla shit.

He could hardly keep himself from smirking, even though people were still shooting at him.

He would show the Marines who they were dealing with!

Pumped up with adrenaline, he picked up even more speed, using Soru every so often. He wasn't the quickest of the CP9 team for nothing.