present:past

...

Sanji woke up as he did every time Law would stay over; with his best friend wrapped around him like he was a body pillow and too warm for comfort. He looked over at the digital clock on his nightstand and saw that it was still in the dark hours of the morning, but he also knew that he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep like this. Being too hot made him have dreams he'd much rather avoid. So, it would be better if he got up and distracted himself with something, and cooking was always his favorite past-time. He remembered a new sushi recipe he wanted to try and decided that since he would just lay in bed otherwise, he might as well get up and try it out.

The hard part would be getting free from Law without waking him. Then again, Sanji was an expert at it by now, since this had begun when they were both very young. Law seemed extremely exhausted yesterday, so Sanji thought that he probably stood a good chance of getting free without waking him. Still Law had both arms wrapped around him and one leg haphazardly thrown over his and his face buried in Sanji's chest. So Sanji knew it wouldn't be easy.

Sanji slowly shifted just a few inches away from Law moving one limb off of him at a time. Law grumbled and tried to move them back again but Sanji gentling held them back. Then he reached behind him to where one of his pillows had ended up during his sleep and slowly moved it between him and Law. Law immediately flung his arms around the pillow barely missing hitting Sanji's face in the process. Sanji was slightly annoyed but just rolled his eyes. He was finally able to back the rest of the way towards the edge of the bed and get up. He quickly grabbed clothes and went into the bathroom to change when he heard his name being said behind him. He surmised that he had accidently awoken Law, until he heard heard him mummer in his sleep again.

"Sanji-ya, no bread," He muttered still asleep clinging to the pillow with his face in a frown.

Sanji made a deadpan expression before heading into the bathroom. As he showered and got ready he thought about Law and his sleep talking. He sighed to himself as he remembered when Law would scream rather than speak in his sleep. He was thankful that all that was on Law subconscious mind now seemed to be his own mundane annoyances instead of terrible memories. However he also knew exactly why Law would frequently come to his house to sleep.

There were still nights where Sanji would wake up to see Law in a corner of the room reliving things that would be better left forgotten. He wasn't entirely Law then it seemed to Sanji, just a child a very scared very mistrusting child. Sanji was the only one that could calm him during these time, most of the time without having Law attack him, but not always. Sometimes it would take a long time just to convince Law of who he was and even longer to convince him that he was safe now. However even when things got to be their worst having Law finally fall asleep peacefully in his arms made it worth it.

Although lately Law woke up with different fears, since Sanji's run in with Don Krieg and what had happened with Gin. Ever since Sanji had walked out of that burning factory with blood staining his shoes and tears in his eyes, Law was even more worried just not about himself but rather about Sanji and his propensity to trust those who didn't deserve it. He had not doubt that Zoro wouldn't help that matter but rather would only make it worse. Not because Sanji believed that he had bad intentions but rather because Law would not allow anyone to get close to Sanji again.

Sanji finished getting ready and took one last look at his friend asleep in his bed before heading out to his kitchen. However, when he made to walk past the living room he felt eyes on him and sensed that his guest wasn't asleep any longer.

"Couldn't sleep Marimo?" Sanji asked in a whisper still not wanting to wake Law even though he knew his voice probably wouldn't from out here.

"It's stupid to sleep at night where I'm from." Zoro responded. "I sleep during the day. It's the best way to prevent being attacked."

"You mean you stay awake at night because in your district you're likely to get attacked more at night. Are the lower districts really that unsafe?" Sanji questioned.

"I guess a Celestial Dragon like you wouldn't get it, would you Curly-Que?" Zoro responded slightly annoyed. "Your house is as big as entire blocks in my district. There's not enough space for everyone. There's not enough food or clean water for everyone. People get desperate and desperate people attack others who have their guard down."

Sanji wanted to get annoyed. It wasn't that he didn't understand the plights of those who were worse off than him. He was trying to understand by asking the question but Zoro seemed to have taken it as a sort of insult instead. However, Sanji would pick something different to be angry about later he didn't think this subject was one he should start an argument about.

"It didn't mean it in a bad way," Sanji sighed. "I wasn't trying to downplay your experiences."

"Sure," Zoro said with a shrug and Sanji was unsure if Zoro actually believed him. "Where's your friend?"

"Still asleep," Sanji replied somewhat grateful that the subject had changed. "He'll probably sleep until late in the afternoon I don't think he's slept that last few days other than a few short naps."

"So, are you going to tell me what all of that was about yesterday with him wanting to murder me as soon as he saw me or not?" Zoro asked in a deep voice. "Or is this some good cop bad cop thing where you'll be nice and convince me to stay so he can kill me later. He seemed pretty pissed I was here."

Sanji's hand twitched; he really needed a smoke if he was going to get into this discussion and some part of him knew that he really shouldn't. He knew Law would be even more pissed at him if he told Zoro about what happened with Krieg but he also thought that Zoro should have some sort of explanation for what had happened. He walked over to the table by the door and grabbed a cigarette out of his pack that he had left there and lit it. He took a deep drag before letting it go in a long sigh before refocusing on the conversation at hand.

"He's worried you'll turn out to be like the last person I tried to help." Sanji stated to explain and Zoro nodded showing that he had his attention. "His name was Gin, I found him one day outside the restaurant I work at. He was emaciated and starving and, even though the Geezer said not to, I gave him some food anyway. He ended up here while he was getting back on his feet and trying to help his captain and their crew apparently. We became close, probably too close." Sanji took a deep breath. "I thought that he was someone I could trust but I didn't know what was going on with his crew or what they were planning. I should have realized that Gin was acting weird. I should have seen it coming but I didn't because I thought Gin would never betray me."

Gin and Sanji walked through the streets at dusk with Gin leading and Sanji staying close but not too close. Gin had said it would look weird for a Celestial Dragon to be walking side by side with an untouchable. He said he didn't want to cause troubled for Sanji, but Sanji couldn't have said that he really cared what most people would think. It was also strange that Gin would refuse to meet his eyes or speak to him until they were off of the main roads, but Sanji had shrugged it off and figured that if Gin felt he needed to do that then Sanji would just let him.

The sun was nearly setting when they made their way into one of the bronze districts where most of the factories were and the unskilled workers would work and live. Finally, Gin waved him up to walk beside him and Sanji jogged a bit to catch up. Once he was beside Gin he shot him a smile but only got a timid smirk as a response, something felt wrong but he ignored it. He thought maybe Gin was just nervous about introducing him to his captain.

"So, is there anything you can tell me about your captain?" Sanji asked making conversation. "You seem pretty dedicated to him, so he must be kinda impressive right?"

"There's no kinda about it." Gin scoffed and crossed his arms but eventually relaxed a little from their walk. "He's the strongest guy I know."

"I see," Sanji replied. "Is that why you're so loyal to him?"

"Part of it I guess," Gin explained, "But also not just because he's my captain. He'd never known defeat, until…"

Gin left off there and Sanji wondered if he should press the issue or just let it go. It seemed like a little bit of a touchy subject. Gin had said that their crew was in a state of turmoil in the moment and that was the reason why Sanji had found him the way he had.

"You don't have to say it if you don't want to." Sanji offered.

"Have you ever heard of Dracule Mihawk?" Gin questioned.

"Yeah he's one of the Shichibukai right? The rebels that work for the government now as the seven warlords." Sanji answered. "He's known as the world's best swordsman."

"Yeah," Gin nodded in affirmation, "We had a run in with that guy. He collapsed the building that was our headquarters in a single slash."

"That's why you've been having some trouble?" Sanji guessed slightly in surprise that Gin had encountered such a person and lived to tell the tale and pulled out a cigarette to smoke.

"Yeah and Krieg wants to rebuild and go after him again. He just can't accept that he was defeated, since he never has been in any other battle." Gin explained. "He wants to talk to you because I told him what you had done for me and he's hoping that you could help everyone else out too. It would be a good thing for us to have someone in your position, he'd said."

"He means because I'm a Celestial Dragon right?" Sanji questioned touching his collar absentmindedly.

"I can't say that's not right but it does sound worse when you put it that way." Gin admitted.

"Well, you trust him and believe in him so I guess that I can trust that." Sanji replied with a shrug.

Gin nodded but then grabbed Sanji's arm and pointed to the warehouse just across the street. Sanji turned to look and it was obvious to him that Gin and his crewmates were in bad straights if that building was their base of operations. It was a crumbling structure and it looked as if it had been abandoned quite some time ago. The holes in the walls were patched with crude materials. Sanji doubted such a building would be capable of surviving a strong storm let alone if someone had attacked them.

"Well that's home, for the minute anyway." Gin spoke in a slightly embarrassed tone but Sanji tried to shoot him a reassuring smile. "Sorry if it's not up to your standards."

"Home isn't really about looks, it's about the people that live there right?" Sanji responded.

"Yeah," Gin said with a nod. "We better get in there I'm sure the boss is anxious to meet you."

Sanji nodded and they headed towards the decrepit building. Sanji's hair seemed to stand on end as he followed Gin inside. It felt like something was off like he could sense some kind of bad intent in the air around him. After entering through the large metal sliding door Sanji and Gin were surrounded by Gin's fellow crew members and Sanji's spine was tingling. He looked over at Gin to ask what was up with the atmosphere, however Gin just shrugged in response.

Sanji focused on the people he was in front of as Gin bowed to a man with purple hair wearing large golden armor. The man was tall and muscular but also gaunt and had a smile that seemed to turn on alarms in Sanji's mind. Beside him was a larger man in circular armor that made Sanji think of pancakes or waffle irons. Even that man was wearing a condescending smirk like he knew something Sanji didn't. Something was wrong but Sanji couldn't see what. Gin wouldn't have taken him anywhere that he could've been hurt. Gin was his friend, and maybe could be more, and these were his crewmates there wasn't any reason they would harm him. Still, his instincts were telling him one thing while his mind was telling him something vastly different. He decided to trust these people as he trusted Gin, surely they wouldn't hurt him.

"Sanji," Gin caught his attention with his voice. "This is my captain, Don Krieg and one of my strongest fellow crewmates, Pearl. Captain, this is Sanji the Celestial Dragon who helped me that I was telling you about."

Sanji, minding his manners gave a polite but slight bow, "It's a pleasure to meet you. Gin talks about his captain and crew all the time."

"Really, all he seems to talk about when he's here is you." Pearl said with a derisive snicker that caused Sanji's eyebrow to twitch.

"You did well by bringing him here Gin, I think he'll be very useful to us." Don Krieg said with a smile that made Sanji even more suspicious of the man.

"Gin told me that you wanted me to come here and talk about helping you guys in some way." Sanji pushed on anyway trying to rid himself of his negative thoughts. "If its food or supplies that you need I'd be willing to help since your Gin's crewmates."

"How generous of you," Krieg said with a smirk, "that makes this so much easier."

As Krieg spoke Sanji noticed some of the crewmembers circling around him to block off his access to the exit. He glance at Gin who had a confused and concerned frown on his face and looked at his Captain questioningly. Sanji felt like this must be what it's like when a fish realizes it's been ensnared in a fisherman's net. He turned to glare first at the men now blocking the exit who were all smiling creepily and then at the man in charge of them.

"Captain what's this about?" Gin asked in a perplexed manner.

"It's simple Gin. Did you even consider what a Celestial Dragon is worth to the government?" Don Krieg replied. "Sure we could have him help us but that's not the way that we get the most out of this situation. The Government would meet any price we'd set on a Celestial Dragon's ransom. We could ask for anything and they would have to give it to us to ensure his safety. He's so much more valuable to us as a hostage than he would be as an ally. We could ask for the best weapons money could buy, large land that we could rule as kings, even the head of their loyal dog Mihawk. They'd do anything, give us anything to get him back from us."

Sanji felt annoyed and insulted. A hostage, did they expect him to just let them take him hostage without a fight? Did they think he was weak because of the caste he came from? He took the cigarette out of his mouth and crushed it into the ground beneath his shoe.

"You want to take him hostage?" Gin asked incredulous. "He helped me. He offered to help all of us, how could you think about doing something like that?"

"Are you questioning me, Gin?" Don Krieg asked, threateningly. "Are you going to go against your captains orders? If I say we are taking him hostage then that's what we are going to do. You are in no position to question me. This is how we get revenge on that hawk-eyed freak. This is how we win and that's all that matters; winning."

Gin clenched his fist but hesitated and Sanji's stomach sunk when he realized exactly what Gin was thinking. Sanji turned his glare to Gin and held back the urge to scream or to curse. He should have realized from the start that he wasn't worth betraying Krieg for in Gin's mind. It hurt but more than anything else it pissed him off. Sanji could feel his blood boil inside his and his skin get warm, warmer than a human's should be by any right.

Gin turned towards him with a defeated look and pleaded, "Please just go along with what they say; it will be better for you that way. I'm sorry it has to be like this but I promise we won't hurt you unless you make us."

"Don't you fucking dare apologize," Sanji snarled, "You don't have that right. You think I'm going to go along with this, you think I'm so weak that I'd be captured by a worthless rebel crew like yours. Don't you dare fucking underestimate me. Now that I know I don't have to hold back anymore; I'll finish what Mihawk started."

"You're going to fight us?" The man known as Pearl laughed and rose to approach him. "A Celestial Dragon that probably has never seen combat wants to challenge our entire crew all at once?"

"You're an idiot if you think I've never fought before." Sanji replied with an irritated grimace on his face. "I was raised by former rebels and I've trained with people who are much stronger than you."

"Let's see it then," Krieg responded, "If you can defeat everyone else then maybe I'll give you the honor of defeat at my own hands, if you make it that far. Get him boys," He commanded.

Sanji could sense the encroaching foot soldiers of Kriegs crew charging him. Sanji turn to glare at the closest of them. They came at him with pipes and makeshift weapons, very few carried undamaged swords or guns. These were the people they thought he couldn't beat; weaklings by any sense. He was faster than them. He was stronger than them. There attacks were slow and obvious and he could see right through them.

As the first attackers reached him he dodged at such speed that he seemed to disappear and reappear behind them. He singled out the one who was out in front of the group and swept his feet out from under him and then delivered a painful downwards kick to the man's stomach which left the man unconscious and cracks in the cement floor beneath him. This caused most of the other to hesitate but he wouldn't give them a chance to surrender. He went on to his hands to spin and kick away all the people who were surrounding him.

A man carrying a sword then approached and tried to slice at him, but his flipped out of the way and then kicked the man in the stomach with such ferocity that it sent him flying backwards taking out many of the man's companions. Sanji then knocked the pipe a man close to him was carrying and flipped onto the man's shoulders landing on his hands. Then spinning again to take out many of the men. He then jumped off the man to use a few other enemies as stepping stones as he kicked each one in the face to propel himself forward. A the last kick he jumped high into the air and flipped rapidly to perform a heel drop that left a small crater in the floor and the building shook from the power of it. There was only a small group of enemies left and as he landed and glared at him they backed away from him in fear. That's when Pearl's voice cut through the room.

"Useless, all of you are useless. You can't even capture one measly Celestial Dragon." Pearl screeched in anger. "I, the great iron wall Pearl, will step up to defeat you if my weak comrades cannot."

"Go ahead and try, you walking talking waffle iron." Sanji yelled in annoyance.

"How dare you act so insolent!" Pearl exclaimed. "I'll have you know that I've never shed a single drop of blood in battle."

"There's a first time for everything you bastard." Sanji retorted.

Pearl's steps were heavy, but Sanji figured that it was caused by the weight of him armor. The armor would complicate the battle but only slightly. When training with Law, Sanji had already learned how to break such defenses easily. Pearl approached him and took his first swing at him with smaller circular plates, but his speed made Sanji want to laugh. Sanji barely had to move back to avoid such slow and predictable strikes. Yet, apparently Pearl thought he was running away.

"You can't even stand one of my attack so you keep running away." Pearl laughs and Sanji rolls his eyes. "Are you that afraid?"

"If anyone should be afraid it should be you, asshole." Sanji scoffed and decided to begin his counterattack.

Sanji waited for two more of Pearl's strikes to miss him and then he had the opening he was looking for. Pearl's way of attacking was too wide and he had left is chest wide open. Perhaps, he thought that the armor he was wearing would protect him, but it wouldn't. Sanji delivers a round of kick to that armor and caused dents to be formed in the metal. Pearl obviously felt the impact as he seemed to have the air knocked out of him. Sanji used this opportunity to kick the side of Pearl's face were there was no armor to protect him.

Pearl stumbled and put a hand to the cheek that Sanji had just attacked. It was obvious that he thought highly of his appearance and was caught off guard to be injured there. Sanji could see Pearl's face grow bright red with anger that flowed all the way down his neck. Sanji just grinned at him.

"You dare attack my face, my handsome face!" Pearl yelled. "I'll kill you for this!"

"If you're so worried maybe you should have worn armor there." Sanji replied.

Pearl ignited his shield with friction and soon his entire body was surrounded by flames, but Sanji was not worried. Pearl seemed to be having some kind of breakdown as his attacks became more sporadic and he left himself open far more often. However now his flaming attacks would ignite the wood and garbage that was littered around the base. Pearl didn't seem to care that he was setting fire to his own base. Still, if Pearl wanted to play with fire so bad, then that's what they would do.

"Only cooks should play with fire, idiots like you will only hurt yourselves." Sanji snarked before spinning rapidly to ignite one of his legs with fire as well, "diablo jumble."

"You have fire too?" Pearl screamed in surprise and fear.

"Let's finish this," Sanji said.

Sanji seemed to disappear again with his silhouette flashing in and out of existence in many point until Pearl couldn't follow where he was anymore. As Pearl tried to figure out where Sanji was, Sanji swept his feet out from under him sending the man wearing the metal plate falling onto his back on the ground. Sanji appeared above him and kicked off the ceiling to finish the battle with a downwards kick that shattered the man's armor and sent the pieces exploding out like fragments of glass leaving Pearl unconscious and bleeding from his mouth and stomach where the armor had be broken. Sanji's fire died out once the attack had finished.

"Like I said; first time for everything." Sanji smirks as he says it.

"Not bad," Krieg says patronizingly. "Gin, it's time you take care of the trouble that your friend is causing."

Gin hesitates and looks over at Sanji. Sanji responds to Gin's pleading look with a glare and a stance that shows he's ready to fight. Gin shakes his head and looks back at his captain.

"Captain, I've followed you all this time and you know that I'm loyal to you, but I cannot do what you ask of me." Gin explain and Sanji's temper was tampered slightly as Gin continued to speak. "He saved my life and offered to help us. I can't hurt him."

"You're defying my order," Don Krieg asked grinding his teeth.

Gin opened his mouth but didn't have time to reply as Krieg leapt from his seat and seemed to appear suddenly above Gin. Sanji opened his mouth to scream at Gin to move but he didn't do it in time. He watch as Krieg grabbed Gin by the face and slammed him into the ground. Sanji glares at Krieg like the cockroach he felt he was. What kind of person would hurt their own crew member for something that was insignificant like that?

"I'll just do it myself." Krieg ground out through his teeth as he released Gin and turned to face Sanji. "Don't expect any mercy from me, boy."

"Same here asshole," Sanji growled and reignited diablo jumble.

Krieg rose in his golden armor and grabbed a strange spear that was nearby and pointed it at Sanji. Sanji started to dodge again and was gone by the time that Krieg had swung the spear at him. Krieg however wasn't fazed by his disappearing act as he had seen it used in the battle with Pearl. Instead, Krieg changed strategies and pulled a string on his armor to reveal a bunch of guns that had been built into his armor. Krieg seemed to activate some sort of machine gun that rapidly fired rounds as Krieg tried to hit Sanji by firing in a round sending shots all around the base sometimes barely missing his own crew.

Sanji had been focusing on dodging but he hadn't realized that he was near a barrel of gunpowder until it was too late and Krieg had seemed to have planned it. Sanji only had a second to curse under his breath before the barrel exploded next to him, however he was able to avoid taking critical injuries. Krieg laughed until Sanji stepped out of the smoke annoyed but not seriously injured.

"That didn't kill you," Krieg snarled.

"I'm quite hard to kill." Sanji replied.

Krieg tried to reload but Sanji moved quicker than he had expected. Sanji Aimed at Krieg's chest but Krieg turned and made his cape face Sanji. Sanji could see then why he had done so. The cape was made of sharp needle like fibers. Sanji change his movement and back-flipped to put some space in between them.

Krieg sneered and swung the spear at Sanji again and Sanji resigned himself to wait for an opening as he was sure his endurance would outlast Krieg's. Krieg must have surmised the same as his swung widely as he tried to end the battle as quickly as possible. Sanji would not give him any chance to land a hit and then Krieg had an idea. Krieg glanced to where Gin had started to rise from his earlier attack and Sanji followed where Krieg's eyes went. Krieg quickly changed direction and swiftly tried to attack Gin instead.

"Gin," Sanji called out, realizing who Krieg was trying to attack next.

Sanji ran to intercept the attack when Krieg changed directions again and his spear caught Sanji in the ribs. The laceration wasn't deep but Sanji smelled something other than blood and steel. He realized then that Krieg weapon must have been coated in some sort of poison which meant he needed to end this quickly.

"Sanji," Gin cried out.

Sanji didn't have time to worry about the wound he had gained at the moment, instead he used the opening it had made for him. He switch to his hands and caught the shaft of Krieg's spear between his ankles and twisted. The metal screeched but ultimately gave and the weapon was broken in half. Sanji then jumped away putting distance between the two of the again.

"That's not possible," Krieg snarled. "You must have some kind of devils fruit to be able to do that."

"Hate to disappoint you but I'm just a normal cook." Sanji snarled in reply.

"You liar," Krieg accused. "If you're going to play dirty then I will too! I'll do whatever it takes to win against you, against Mihawk, against everyone!"

"Captain you can't use the gas. We'll kill our own men since they're unconscious!" Gin argued.

"Gas?" Sanji asked.

"If their sacrifice is what is needed to win then that's fine with me." Krieg replied.

Krieg then reaches inside his cape to withdraw two items from it. One is a bomb of some sort and the other is a golden gas mask. Sanji surmised that the bomb must be one made of deadly gas given Gin's earlier statement.

Now Sanji was worried. He glance behind him and saw that the pathway to the exit was completely open. He could try to escape. He was fast enough to avoid Krieg most likely, but that would mean that Krieg might activate the bomb while he made his escape. He'd have to abandon Gin to fend for himself with the gas and leave many other people to possibly die as well. He vision was starting to get blurry. He knew then that the poison was starting to take effect.

One more, Sanji thought, just one more shot and that had to be the end if this guy decided that he was going to go this far. Sanji could feel himself light afire, it was something that hadn't happened before, now the way it was now at any rate. His whole body was covered in flames but not being consumed by them. All he really knew was that he was really pissed off.

Krieg drew his arm back to set off the bomb and covered his face with a gasmask and Sanji took off running. Krieg only saw a godlike figure wrapped in flames appear before him and tried to open his mouth to scream about devil's fruits and the situation being unfair but no sound was made. Sanji begun his assault, taking care not to set off the bomb, but being as brutal as a vengeful demon may be. There was blood splatter on his shoes, on his suit and the bomb rolled uselessly out of Krieg's grip as he became unconscious. How many of Krieg's bones had he broken, Sanji wasn't counting but he figured it was a high number. Yet, he wasn't thinking about stopping until arms wrapped around him pulling him backwards.

"Stop," Gin pleaded, "You're killing him, stop please."

Sanji's rage disappeared but the sting of betrayal was still there, ever present now but his vision and his mind were getting more shrouded by the poison with each moment. He realized that Gin was right with a slight terror coiling in his stomach. He hadn't wanted to be like this; to go this far, to be like all the other people in his caste. He allowed himself a deep breath before he broke out of Gin's grasp.

"If I ever see either of your faces again, I won't stop no matter how much you ask me to." He snarled before pushing Gin aside and walking towards the exit his flames now having died out alone with most of his anger.

As he left the building and Gin and Krieg behind his anger dissipated all together as people of the lower castes in the area looking at him walking by them like a monster. His eyes were blurry but they had been since he was infected with the poison, it took him some time to realize that he had started to cry at some point. He wrapped his arms around himself and tried to hold them back. He tried to focus on just walking and staying conscious until he could get to the hospital that Law worked at.

It seemed like he had blacked out for a while as he was walking because he couldn't remember how exactly he'd gotten to the hospital when the sliding doors opened for him. Everyone froze for a second to see a Celestial Dragon in his condition before the medical staff immediately sprang into action to help him suddenly ignoring their other patients, something he didn't approve of but didn't have the energy or time to get angry about. Then he seemed to be asked a million questions but only answered with one sentence.

"Poison," Sanji rasped, "Get Law."

"He's trying to protect me." Sanji says with a small smile. "I know he's overzealous about it but I can't say that I wouldn't be doing the same thing if our situations were reversed. He's my best friend and it's not like we have a lot of other people in our lives that are as close to us as we are to each other."

Sanji left it at that. He wouldn't divulge any more of Law's and his past than was absolutely necessary. They were Law's secrets to keep or reveal and Sanji definitely wasn't going to reveal them to some weird green haired swordsman he just met. He had told him what he could if it wasn't enough then Zoro would just have to deal with it.

"Just best friends huh," Zoro grumbled and narrowed his eyes slightly.

Sanji rolled his eyes, "Yes, just best friends. You thought we were more than that."

"I don't cling to my best friends like he does to you and I don't sleep in the same bed as them either." Zoro retorted with a shrug.

"Your loss," Sanji said back with a smirk. "Why? Are you worried about me dating someone; that's pretty forward for having just met me yesterday moss-head?"

"It's also very forward to tell your houseguest everything about yourself without vetting them first," a hoarse sounding Law said from the hallway with glinting eyes.

Sanji and Zoro froze as if they had been caught in some crime. Law moved towards Sanji and gave him a long unappreciative look. Sanji swallowed thickly but also scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. Law sighed in response.

"Guess it's too late now, but fine if you told him so much then I think he owes us something as well." Law says turned his glaring eyes at Zoro.

"Why the hell do I owe you anything raccoon?" Zoro yelled abashed. "You're the one who tried to murder me on first sight."

"You're a rebel," Law stated completely ignoring Zoro's argument. "I don't trust rebels around Sanji anymore."

"Oi, you're a rebel too," Sanji reminded with a wave of his hand.

"That's not the point," Law responded dryly, "What crew do you belong to? If you tell me I can check them out and determine if you're a threat or not and I'll let them know that you aren't dead as I do."

Zoro glanced between Law and Sanji. He didn't like the idea of the raccoon going to investigate Luffy and the others. If Sanji was as powerful as he said he was and he had trained with Law then Law wasn't someone to be trifled with. However, it wasn't like Luffy couldn't handle himself.

"How do I know you won't hurt them?" Zoro asked.

"As long as they don't hurt Sanji or plan to then I have no reason to." Law replied with a sly smile.

Zoro looked to Sanji who just shrugged and sighed before leaving to the kitchen probably to cook something for them. Zoro thought for a few more seconds, Luffy wasn't the type to attack without a reason either but it wasn't like he was guarded when it came to new people and that didn't always go well, especially if someone wanted to use or hurt him. Then again, he did have that seas witch Nami and everyone else with him, so he supposed he'd just have to hope they could keep Luffy from doing anything too stupid.

"Fine," Zoro grumbled, "I'm the first mate of the Strawhat Pirates. If you want to know about them so badly you can find them at the Sunny Go Bar in the silver district."

"Good," Law smiled in a happy yet creepy way. "I'll pay them a visit then."

Marco had taken the whole night to reorganize the reports, however that wasn't caused by the task being difficult but rather that he was too distracted by reorganizing his own thoughts to focus on the papers in his hands. All that was on his mind was Ace and Teach, Teach and Ace, round and round in circles his mind spun giving him a headache. How were they connected; it was obvious that they were an employer and employee but why? Marco felt certain that Ace was a decent person and he was usually an excellent judge of character. If he had been more forthright about his opinions of Teach when they'd first met perhaps they wouldn't be in the position they were in now. His thought continued on this path as he made his way to work where Oyaji would be so that he could bring his concerns to him directly.

Marco had felt there was something off about the man the moment he first saw him. There was something wrong with the air whenever Teach was near. It had always made Marco very cautious around the man who always seemed to be plotting something. Marco knew he was plotting even now. Had Teach planned on Ace and him meeting? Marco considered it but they're meeting had been so random that it probably hadn't been planned in advance. Still, Marco knew that Teach wouldn't pass up a golden opportunity when one made itself known. Which meant that he would definitely be seeing Ace again and that he'd have to be very careful of him from this point on. Marco's mind went back to the last time he had seen Teach, when they had almost lost Thatch to his treachery all over a devil's fruit.

The Yami yami no mi was found by Thatch and at first none of them had known that Teach had been searching for it for years already at that point. Thatch wasn't sure if he was going to eat it or not. He didn't seem inclined to give up his ability to swim for whatever power the devil's fruit would provide. Teach never mentioned even then that he had wanted it, instead his actions had grown increasingly troubling to Marco. He had taken to following Thatch everywhere and the way he looked at him made Marco's hair stand on end. He could sense that something wasn't normal, but he had only divulged his thought to Oyaji and they had agreed that they didn't want to panic the rest of the crew unless they had proof. They only realized much later that they had made a huge mistake.

The day everything came to fruition had been the day of Izou's birth, and Marco had been distracted with the festivities both partaking in them and stopping others from partaking too much. He wasn't keeping an eye on Thatch and Teach like he should have been. Oyaji had already gone over the alcohol limit the nurses gave him and Marco was busy picking up the drunkards off the floor and helping them to their rooms to notice when Thatch and Teach disappeared.

It was only as everyone gathered around to give gifts that he, along with everyone else noticed Thatch's absence. Thatch had always been bombastic at Birthday parties and always demanded to be the first to give gifts. However, when Izou sat down to receive gifts there was silence when they should have heard his shouting. Izou was questioning where he was while Marco in a panic scanned the gathering of his family and noticed two people absent. His stomach sank and his breathing seemed to slow to a crawl as he turned to lock eyes with Whitebeard who had arrived at the exact conclusion that he had.

Marco had cursed fairly loudly before he ran from the room in a dead sprint as panic curled inside him and made a whole in his gut. He felt cold although he never could and no matter how fast he ran it seemed like he was running through a heavy swamp; the thickness of his fear made it so. Marco was kicking down every door and searching every room when he noticed Izou and the other commanders doing the same thing following after him. Izou's looked even more terrified than he did, so much so that Marco was reminded of what Izou was like as a child clinging to his sleeve in uneasiness.

It seemed to take an eternity for them to reach the kitchen, but Marco found the door latched; locked shut. He knew what he would find inside and dread filled him, he prayed he wasn't too late. With one well-placed kick the door fell open off of its hinges, revealing the exact scene Marco had been hoping to prevent.

Thatch lay on the floor still conscious and trying to hold his multiple wounds shut and he glared up at Teach who stood over him holding the half eaten devil's fruit in his hands. His mouth dripped with the fruits juices and he looked like he was in the middle of a laugh. Marco could barely hear Izou screamed Thatch's name above his own primal yell. The phoenix came forth without Marco truly calling for its presence; it was just the beast that he turned into because of his rage. He was on Teach before he thought to be blood spilling from the flesh his talons had dug into like knives through butter.

Teach only laughed through the pain as he struggled to try to bring the rest of the devil's fruit to his lips. Marco's thoughts were none existent and all he wanted to do at the moment was to bring death upon the traitorous prey in front of him. Only predatory instinct was driving him as he turned and started to drag Teach towards the third story window. Teach's empty hand was trying to rip the talons out of him while he clutched the devil's fruit in his other.

With one more beat of his wings Marco threw himself through the glass and felt it shatter against the force of his weight. The glass merely moved through his fire and he felt none of his cuts but his noticed with pleasure that the man he was dragging wasn't so lucky. He quickly released his hold on the evil man and watched with vested interest as gravity took the man and drew him towards the pavement. He was about to dive towards his enemy to attack again when a voice quickly called back his humanity to the surface.

"Marco, help please," Izou screamed in distress. "Thatch is dying, you have to fly him to the hospital now!"

Marco came out of his delusion quickly and returned to have Izou lift Thatch and place him onto his back as Marco kept his flames in check so that they wouldn't hurt him. His rage was gone now replaced with desperation and worry. He didn't notice that Teach had survived his fall and escaped with the rest of the devil's fruit off into the night, into hiding where Marco had been unable to find him again.

Thatch had survived but Marco had always know that he would meet Teach again and that he was someone whom he had to kill no matter what stood in the way. Marco looked up at the door to Whitebeard's office and gently knocked before entering. He had no idea had he looked at the moment, if his unease was slipping past the strong mask he tried to wear so that people wouldn't know if he was affected by them. He knew it would be of no use to hide it though, not in front of Oyaji.

"Marco," Oyaji nodded as he inspected Marco sensing in the air that something had gone very wrong.

"Oyaji, he's back, Teach." Marco stated simply. "He's been hiding out in the lowest caste district most likely for some time now, yoi."

"And how did you come across this information?" Whitebeard asked.

"By coincidence unfortunately." Marco admitted. "I think he's about to target us again but if I'm right it's not Thatch he's after this time."

"Who is he after then?" Whitebeard questioned.

"Based on the circumstances, he'll be targeting me next, yoi." Marco explained. "He's been granted a great opportunity and we both know that he's not someone who would pass that up. I ran into one of his workers yesterday at random I was walking him home when I found out that he was someone under Teach's control. I have no doubt that Teach will try to use that kid against me now."

"Tell me what you know about this kid."

"Not much other than his name is Ace and he has a brother whom he cares about deeply. I also believe he's doing something he's ashamed of under Teach and that Teach has something over him to force him into it. I'm sure that Teach will use that to try to turn Ace into a weapon he can use against me since he believes I've taken an interest in him." Marco surmised.

"Have you taken an interest in him?" Oyaji asked in surprise knowing that Marco didn't usually branch out from their family.

"As much as I do in someone I meet and don't have a reason to despise. He's interesting however you don't need to worry I'm not inclined towards him or anything hazardous." Marco replied with a shrug to hear Oyaji sigh in disappointment behind him. "I taking an interest in anyone would always lead nowhere, and there's no changing that, yoi. Still, since he's in Teach's claws I would like to help him escape if possible."

"What are you planning to do then?" Oyaji asked. "Teach plans to use this Ace against you and you plan to help him escape Teach's grasp, but in doing so you're stepping into his trap."

"True, in a sense but since I know it's a trap I think it'd be easy for me to avoid getting caught in it." Marco stated. "In fact if I can turn Ace against Teach I may have everything I need to take him down once and for all."

Whitebeard sighed before saying, "Just be careful Marco, Teach is more conniving than we ever gave him credit for and we have no idea what he's using to control the boy. We can't afford to lose you especially not to him."

"Don't worry Oyaji," Marco said with a smile, "You know as well as I do that I'm not going to die anytime soon no matter how many people come for my head, yoi."

Nami was on her way to the Sunny Go bar we she heard it. She had always eavesdropped since she was a little girl. Now she found it was extremely useful and she was always listening, though she knew Robin was better at it because of her ability. The news came from two guards who walked by her.

"Did you hear what happened with the Mariejois night patrol?" One guard said to the other. "You know, about the Celestial Dragon who captured that wanted criminal and refused to give him up to the guards."

"You mean the crazy guy who was torturing that criminal right and threatened the guards because they interrupted." The other replied. "Who was that criminal again didn't he have a bounty over one hundred and fifty million beli?"

Nami listened closer slowing down so she could hear more. She wasn't surprised that some Celestial Dragon had a thing for torturing people but most of them were fairly fearful of rebels and criminals and only picked on the weak. She wondered what kind of criminal with that high of a bounty could get captured by a Celestial Dragon. She wasn't prepared for the answer.

"Roanoa Zoro, the rebel hunter," The first one replied then.

Nami inhaled so sharply she was sure that the two guards would notice that she had been listening. However they paid her no mind, but her mind was racing. She thought about how injured Zoro had been when the fighting and how his-stupid-self had gotten lost again on their way back. She thought about attacking the guards but knew it would be too rash of a decision and that instead she needed to get this information to Luffy and the others as quickly as possible. She took off running in the direction of the Sunny.

...

I'm sorry this took so long I've been working full time and don't have a lot of time to write. Please review, thank you. -LPC