Chapter Twenty-Five

Nothing is an accident; we are free to have it all

We are what we want to be; it's in ourselves to rise or fall

~Radames from Aida, "Fortune Favors the Brave"

xxx

Zoro walked back into the bar slowly, feeling a strange sort of detachment from the world around him. His feet were moving, true, but it was only finely-tuned instinct that kept him from crashing into tables or people as he moved through the crowd.

It was over.

It was finished.

And he really, really wanted to scream. Or attack something…Krieg, preferably, but since that wasn't possible at the moment, and really, he couldn't just go around smashing glasses on the floor, he tried to find that inner Zen he could only achieve through meditation.

Usually bringing his mind to that state was enough to calm him down, but in this case, it wasn't working. This wasn't about him anymore; he couldn't force himself to detach the way he did during a particularly difficult fight.

This was about someone else, someone he loved, and, like whenever he dwelled too long on Kuina, he couldn't shake the emotions so easily.

"Mr. Roronoa."

Zoro glanced up at Law, who was holding a rather large mug of dark beer toward him, and gratefully ambled over just to down half of it in one gulp.

"It's done, then?"

Zoro glanced up at the rough voice and eyed the new speaker, a rather intimidating looking man who appeared to be perpetually frowning. "You…"

"My apologies; I've been rude," Law clapped Zoro on his shoulder and gestured. "This is my partner, Kidd Eustass. His bark is worse than his bite, believe me," the dark-haired man winked, and Zoro forced a smile onto his face. "But now I believe that you have to answer his question."

"Yes," Zoro finally said with a resigned sigh. "And now, we wait," he took his phone out and began compulsively opening and closing it. "And now…"

"And now, we're going to get into a car and meet the others at Krieg's hideout," came a voice from behind him, and he froze as a hand was placed on his back.

"We're…"

"Well, Mr. Roronoa, considering how much Mr. Blackleg means to you, you didn't think we were just going to sit here and wait for news, did you?" Law stood up, picking up a fuzzy hat from the table and plopping it on his head. "Besides, I hear you're quite the proficient swordsman, and I daresay that if it comes to a battle of numbers, we're going to lose regardless."

"Wait, you're…"

"We're vagabonds," Kidd finally broke into a grin, but there was no trace of humor in it. "We help whomever offers us the best deal."

"But, to be fair," Law held up his hands in a placating gesture as Zoro turned a glare on him, "We believe that Krieg needs to be stopped, and generally we don't move in any ways that could be considered criminal."

"You think we'd associate with them if they did?" the man behind Zoro spoke again, and Zoro shook his head with a sigh. "Your box is outside, Zoro; we've got your swords."

"Why aren't you with Lucci?" Zoro finally turned, and Kaku shrugged, swiping a hand through his rain-dark hair and sending droplets of water flying.

"I was. But he refused to let me be on the frontlines with Kalifa and himself, as it were. Claimed that I'm still recovering," Kaku looked unimpressed.

"And you are," Zoro attempted to look stern, but as soon as he learned he would be part of the fight adrenaline started coursing through him and he couldn't keep the smirk from his face.

"Be that as it may, I'm far from useless, and I wish you all would stop treating me as such. So, let's be on our way," Kaku turned smartly on his heel as Zoro gulped the rest of the beer down and started after him.

They reached his Element behind the building, and just as he was about to climb into the driver's seat, Kaku shoved him around to the passenger's side. "What the…"

"If we let you drive we'll end up on the ferry to Vancouver Island. Law knows where he's going," Kaku opened the door and hopped into the front seat. "And before you ask, I'm injured, remember? It's too much work climbing into the back."

"I hate you."

"No, you don't," Kaku patted his arm. "Now get in."

Zoro did, although he continued to make his displeasure at the situation known, and Law got into the driver's seat, looking altogether too comfortable. "You really know where we're going?"

"No, I just said that for a lark. Of course I know," Law glanced at Zoro through the rearview mirror. "It's not all that far, to be honest with you; are you prepared to face whatever we may eventually have to?"

"Yeah. Whatever," Zoro grunted, obviously trying to look like he honestly didn't care about whatever they were going to face. He failed horribly, of course, but nobody said anything.

000

"Finally," Ace got out of the car when the Element pulled up, flicking away some ash from his cigarette. "I thought you guys'd never get…hey, wait…"

"Sorry to interrupt," Law hopped out of the driver's seat, and snagged the cigarette out of Ace's hand, taking a quick drag. "I'm Law Trafalgar."

"Okay," Ace glanced at the cigarette, and when Law offered it, he shook his head. "Keep it. I don't smoke…well, usually, but I'm so nervous…"

"Trafalgar! Put that death stick away!" Kidd stomped up and yanked the cigarette out of his boyfriend's hand before angrily throwing it to the ground.

"Well, now look what you made me do! That was a perfectly good cigarette!" Law crossed his arms.

"Ah…" Ace blinked.

"It's alright, Ace," Zoro crawled out of the backseat. "They're friends…well, I really don't know how they're connected with anything, but they're friends."

"Alright, then," Ace stuck his hands in his pockets and sighed. "I just…man, Zoro, I'm freakin' out here."

"Me too," Zoro clapped him on the shoulder. "But we've gotta stay positive. What's the word?"

"Dunno," Ace flipped open his phone and clapped it shut only a moment later. "Nobody's given me any updates since they went in, and I'm expressly forbidden to enter the building unless Smoker gives me the go-ahead."

"Just our luck," Zoro sighed and leant back against the wall, tilting his face toward the grey sky. "At least the rain's stopped."

"Small blessing," Ace shook his head. "But really, who are you guys?"

"I told you my name already," Law pointed out before holding out a hand. "And this is Kidd Eustass."

"Oh. I'm…"

"Ace Portgas. We know," Law assured him. "You come from a very powerful family, my friend. People are bound to hear of it."

Ace's eyes widened in the darkness before he sighed and scuffled his feet. "Bad enough my would-be father is a wanted man, isn't it?"

"Ace?" Zoro blinked. "Wh-what are they…"

"Zoro, Luffy and I aren't brothers. We're barely related," Ace said coldly. "I've never told anyone because I've never felt the need to, but if you want the honest truth, now's as good a time as any for me to tell it. My mother died during childbirth and I took her name as my own, and my grandfather…Garp…took me to live with Luffy as his brother.

"My father…" Ace ran a hand through his hair. "My…my father…"

"Was a man named Gol. D Roger," Kaku supplied, hopping on the roof of the Element and resting one hand on his bent knee. "One of the real-life pirates. Well, he had a boat, at least, but before he died he was one of the wealthiest men in the entire world. His treasure, they say…his fortune…is still hidden out there somewhere, but nobody knows for sure if it's real or a myth. Ace has to protect himself, you see, for if people knew he was Roger's son…" he shook his head.

"You're…"

"Yeah, Zoro. That's me."

"Wow. I mean…wow, Ace, I would have never…"

"Don't worry about it," Ace sighed. "Like I said, he may be my father by blood, but the only name I will ever consider my own is Portgas."

"So nobody…"

"Knows? No. Not until now," he glared at Law, who shrugged and stuck his hands in his pockets.

"Sorry; I wasn't aware that it was classified information," Law looked unconcerned.

"Fair enough. But how did you all know?"

"Rob," Kaku explained, and Ace sighed, knowing that with that man the name was explanation enough. "And I'm betting that Commodore knows a little as well, if he's worked under Garp."

"Wonderful," Ace was obviously sulking.

"Hey, it's not that big a deal; we're not going to go blabbing it out all over the city, you realize. And besides, even if we did, nobody would believe us regardless," Law attempted to placate Ace, who continued to glare at him.

"I thought you just mentioned the horrors that would occur if the people knew?" Kidd elbowed the other man.

"Well, hypothetically, yes. But since it was never known if Roger actually had any offspring, and since Rouge was his secret lover, Law is right in hypothesizing that the amount of people who would believe such a seemingly far-fetched claim is low indeed," Kaku slid off of the roof and walked over to Ace, putting a hand on his shoulder and barely flinching as the other man caught him in a light hug, thankfully being mindful of his injuries. "I know it's hard, Ace. I know."

"How could you? Have you ever had to give up the man you loved just because you knew he could be happier elsewhere?" he glared at Zoro here, and Zoro returned it with all the intensity as Law put a gripped the swordsman's arm.

"Don't," he said shortly, although Zoro growled at him.

"Was your father a notorious criminal? Well? Was he?" Ace was raising his voice now, sobs breaking through as he finally broke down and buried his face in the material of Kaku's jacket, his entire body trembling.

"Ace, listen to me. We all love Sanji, in one way or another…"

"I've never met him," Kidd pointed out.

"Not helping, Mr. Kidd," Law muttered.

"And it's true that you've had to give up a lot, but I refuse to believe that you're not happy. You love Luffy as your own brother; does it really matter that both you and he know that you're not? Do you truly think that, if the news gets out, anybody will think any different of you? Most of them are too young to remember Roger anyway, and those that do are hopefully mature enough to recognize that the sins of the father need not be the sins of the son. Your mother, as I've heard from those that perhaps knew her better, only wanted the best for you, and if you ask me I think you've done pretty good for yourself. I'm betting that in the daylight all of this will seem silly and trivial, so pull yourself together, alright?" he patted Ace on the back as the dark-haired man sniffed and pulled away, nodding.

"You're right. Thanks. And sorry, Zoro; I shouldn't have said that," he looked vaguely embarrassed before tugging an aerosol can out of the satchel at his side. "So, we've got the go-ahead for this?" he wagged the can in the air and jumped as a voice sounded from behind him.

"The police are on their way," Robin walked sedately into the clearing, her impressive heeled boots clicking on the concrete and making her a few inches taller than her already impressive height. "Any word from inside yet?"

"None," Zoro rolled his eyes. "And waiting's getting boring."

"Calm yourself," Robin instructed him. "And what was your inquiry, Ace?"

"Just…if it comes to it…" he waved the can again.

"Ah. Iceburg?"

"We're cleared," the city clerk came into view, crossing his arms and absently petting the head of the small mouse in his coat pocket. "I've checked with the city and these warehouses are slated for demolition in the near future regardless, so in the end it's probably a good thing it rained tonight: it'll prevent the spread of flames if that becomes our only option. It's highly dangerous, but I'm sure you know that."

"Of course," Ace nodded. "But you never know…"

"You're right, you never do," Iceburg agreed. "Nmaa, but I felt I should let you know: there's an access window around the building. It's quite high, but Paulie can get anyone up there if they…" he hadn't even finished when Zoro and Ace were already tearing around the building to look, and he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Ah, kids these days."

"No word from Lucci, either?" Robin directed this to Kaku, who shook his head.

"Honestly, Robin, I doubt he would have contacted me even if there was news. It's just the way Rob is, you see: he'll never tell me outright that he's concerned about my injuries, but he'll deliberately withhold crucial information in order to leave me uninformed and hopefully keep me out of whatever he's involved himself in," Kaku explained to her.

"But surely he knows that you know this?"

"Naturally. But he's got one up on me, I fear, for unless he does call, I have no reason to go bursting in all heroically when inevitably I'll only get hurt in the end," Kaku crossed his arms and glared at the warehouse.

"So who's all inside, then?" Zoro asked as he and Ace came back into view. "Nobody would tell me anything about what was going on out here."

"Well, Rob and Kalifa…"

"And Smoker," Ace scratched his head. "Mihawk and Shanks were skulking around in another warehouse, too, so I wouldn't be surprised if they made their way into this one at some point."

"So. Three old guys and your lot," Kidd grunted. "Wonderful. We have a snowball's chance in…"

"Don't, Mr. Kidd," Law elbowed him. "Mr. Shanks and Mr. Mihawk may not be twenty anymore, but they're far from weak. And Commodore Smoker is hardly a pushover himself. They'll be fine."

At that moment, there was a horrendous crash from within the building, and Law grimaced and scrubbed a hand through his cropped black hair. "That hardly sounds fine, Trafalgar. That sounds like…"

Zoro closed his eyes, listening to the damp, crisp air and hearing every creak and crack the old rusty building made in the rapidly cooling night. He stretched his consciousness toward the building, unable to tell anything except for the fact that there were several bodies within the large hollow structure, but there was no immediate danger for them. The walls of the warehouse, despite being old, were thick and sturdy, and nothing short of a dynamite explosion would penetrate them. They were safe, for now. He came back to the present, unsurprised to hear Law and Kidd bickering like an old married couple behind him.

"You can feel it, can't you?" Kaku asked him quietly, cupping the back of his neck and pressing their foreheads together so that they could talk privately. Zoro supposed that it should have been uncomfortable, but he knew that Kaku meant nothing intimate by it. "The air…it's tight. It's going to snap, and when it does, something's going to break. We have to be inside when that happens."

"I know," Zoro replied in a low voice. "I know it. But how are we supposed to get in without knowing where they are? We can't just run yelling like maniacs into the middle of a hostage situation…and that's what it'll be, you know."

"If Rob's there? Of course," he chuckled. "Krieg's not a stupid man, Zoro; he's hasty, but not entirely stupid. If there's opposition, he won't kill them immediately, and he won't kill Sanji. He'll try to milk them for whatever they're worth, and…if I'm being brutally honest…he'll try to get rid of Rob and Kalifa first. He may have some sort of unfounded grudge against Sanji because of that misinformed waiter at the restaurant, but to be the man to take down two of the highest ranking members of CP9? He'd be the king of the underground, no question."

"But Lucci and Kalifa aren't easy nuts to crack, I'll bet," Zoro grinned.

"You should know."

"Oh, I do," Zoro pulled back and looked up at the sky, the waning moon peeking out from behind the now-dissipating clouds. "I…I want to thank you, Kaku."

"For what?"

"Just…everything you've done for me. And Sanji. He…he loves you, you know."

"I've assumed," Kaku leant back against the warehouse and smiled. "It's meant a lot to me, having a real friend. Not that you aren't, of course, but you know what I mean. We're kindred spirits, I suppose. But I never pegged you to be the sentimental type, so we can go on about how much we all love each other when this is over and done with."

"Right," Zoro nodded and crossed to the Element, taking his swords out of their cases and attaching them to his belt before digging out Kaku's spare katana and passing them over to him. He nodded his thanks and Zoro turned back, pausing as he spotted another sword laying in the back area. He was quite sure it didn't belong to anybody he knew, unless…

"Mine!" Law scooped up the massive hand-and-a-half sword and drew it from its sheathe, propping it on the ground and leaning on it as he grinned. "Should have told you I was bringing this; sorry."

"No worries," Zoro shrugged, closing up the hatch and locking the vehicle, his hand lingering on the handle as another loud 'boom' rang through the air. He sighed and closed his eyes; the air was becoming tenser by the moment and he decided that it was time to get inside, no matter what anybody else might tell him. "I'm…"

"We're going in," Ace corrected him, looking over to where he was standing. "It's time, and I'm sick of sitting out here. Coming?"

"You know I am," Zoro nodded, and the two of them headed for the door.

000

Sanji ducked, the bullet whistling over his head as he tried desperately to get his bearings. The counter-attack had come nearly the exact moment they'd entered the warehouse, and despite the fact that he was pretty sure the people on his side were few and far between, it was complete pandemonium. He'd only caught one glimpse of a large, armoured man with (apparently) lavender hair before a rain of bullets had him scrambling for cover, kicking Krieg's grunts out of the way as he headed for a series of crates set up in the corner.

He wasn't a coward, mind you, but he needed to get his bearings before he decided upon the best course of action, and it wasn't possible to do that when you were dodging bullets. He dove behind the wall of crates, executing a neat somersault and ending up in a mini-alcove where he peeked out at the rest of the large open space.

"A word of advice, boy."

Sanji clapped a hand over his mouth to stifle his yell of surprise and glanced up at Lucci, who regarded him calmly from his position atop the wooden crates. "Lucci," he breathed in relief.

"Yes, me. Listen: the first chance you get, head for the door. We're burning the place."

"We're…"

"Don't ask questions, just trust me. As soon as you're out of the picture, their attention will turn to us, and we're more than qualified to take care of nameless cronies. The police are on their way, but they're not going to enter unless they know for certain there's something going on, and in order for that to happen you have to get out," Lucci glanced behind him. "Be careful," he added as he jumped off the tower and headed back into the fray.

"Careful. Right," Sanji glanced out once more and immediately ducked as a bullet whizzed by again. "Careful," he sighed, looking over to the large warehouse doors, which, of course, happened to be directly across from him. Right through the battlefield.

"We'll cover you, just go," Kalifa was suddenly behind him, grabbing his hand and lifting him up, her spiked whip unfurled and held in her free hand. "Go!" she prompted, pushing him forward and he immediately started running, his eyes on the door and vowing silently to himself not to look anywhere else until he was outside.

This, of course, didn't work very well, as there were still enemies coming at them, but thankfully even if he couldn't stop to kick them down he was agile enough to dodge most of them. He could hear the sharp 'snap'-ing of Kalifa's whip as it flashed through the air and the pained cries of the men she took down with it, but he desperately tried to focus only on the door and not on what was going on around him.

He dimly registered the sound of several guns going off at once and turned his head, spotting Krieg across the way; the armoured man seemed to have firearms literally growing from his body, and it was evidently he who had loosed the bullets. Sanji could guess that at the speed he was going, he would be well out of range, but…he noticed with a jolt that Kalifa was currently busy fending off about four of the thugs at once, and unless she moved…

Sanji turned abruptly, skidding on the smooth floor and shifting his momentum almost without breaking his speed as he ran back, long legs extending to their full length as he pounded across the floor and grabbed her around the waist, throwing himself backwards to the floor and wincing as a bullet clipped his shoulder. Luckily, he thought, Krieg managed to take out his own men with the majority of the bullets, but he could feel blood slowly seeping through his coat and dripping down his arm.

"You okay?" he asked Kalifa, breathing heavily.

"Fine. Thank you," she looked at him and smiled. "Come on. We have to get out of here."

"Right," he helped her up and they took off running again, Sanji now hearing the unmistakeable sound of swords whipping through the air. He knew it was Zoro without looking, somehow, and although he could hardly be called religious, he decided sending up a quick prayer of safety, not just for Zoro but for all of the people on his side, wasn't necessarily a bad idea.

"Don't look, just run," Kalifa urged him. "They'll be fine."

"Right," he looked forward again, almost surprised to find the door right in front of him. The path there was clear, and mere seconds later he was outside, the cool breeze ruffling his hair as he sighed in relief.

"Welcome back," Robin was standing by the door, and Sanji turned to smile at her, but she simply said, "Duck," in an altogether too calm voice. He obeyed immediately, out of habit, and a second later he heard a loud 'whoosh'-ing noise and a gurgling scream; turning, he saw a man who had snuck out after them thrashing on the ground with a small knife lodged in his throat.

"R-Robin-chan?"

"You knew I worked for Crocodile, once," her cheery smile was back in place and she twirled a knife between her fingers. "I can fight as well as those boys."

"Great," he sighed, his eyes wide. "So now what?"

"We have to get around to the police cars and…"

She stopped as an explosion came from behind them and they all ducked as flames shot through the doors. "What was that?" Robin's eyes were wide, the bright blue of her irises reflecting the firelight.

"I…" Sanji stared at the warehouse, his hands clenching into fists. "I'm going back in."

"Sanji, don't be a fool," Kalifa set a firm hand on his shoulder. "You're signing your own death warrant."

"Kalifa, those people are in there because of me! I'm not letting them die!" Sanji protested. "I'm going back."

"We're going back," she corrected him. "Robin?"

"I'll stay out here, just in case," Robin drew a couple more knives out from…well, Sanji didn't really know where they came from, but she had them in her hands immediately. "Iceburg's around too…somewhere."

"Well, if the two of you are out here, we should be fine. Let's go, Sanji; apparently those boys can't do anything without messing it up," Kalifa smirked at him from behind her glasses.

"Right," Sanji nodded and they burst back into the building, splitting up this time. Sanji desperately hunted through the thick black smoke, coughing and covering his mouth with his hand as he tried to see anything that remotely resembled a person.

"Oof!" he collided with something…or someone, who pulled him roughly to one side and dropped down behind another set of crates, one hand over Sanji's own on his mouth. The blonde didn't struggle, even when he saw that whoever had him was also carrying a giant sword.

"You're causing us quite a bit of trouble, Mr. Blackleg," a soft voice spoke into his ear and the hand over his mouth was removed.

"Law?"

"Yes."

Sanji turned and impulsively threw his arms around the dark-haired man, who returned the hug with one arm while he kept the other on his sword. "What happened? Is everyone alright? What…?"

"I don't know. One minute I was fighting, and then…Mr. Portgas had control of the flammables, but I doubt he would have ignited anything without permission from Commodore Smoker or someone else of authority, and especially when he had no need to. It's probable somebody from Krieg's side had explosives as well, but…" Law grimaced and glanced at his leg, and Sanji noticed that the bottom half of his right pantleg was stained a deep crimson.

"Are you…?"

"Fine. It's just a scratch," Law assured him. "But we have to stay down here, at least until the smoke clears. It's useless trying to see anything out there."

"True enough," Sanji agreed, jumping as somebody landed on top of the crates and back-flipped down to where they were.

"Try talking louder, lads; I'm surprised the whole warehouse hasn't heard you yet. Alright, Sanji?"

"I'm okay. My shoulder's bleeding, but it's nothing I can't handle. You?" Sanji couldn't stop the grin that stole across his face.

"I'm fine. This, however, is turning into much more of a pain than I thought it would be. I don't know who set that off, but whoever it was is not on my good list right now," Kaku growled, and Sanji noticed with a start that his katana were stained with blood. "Sanji, don't look at me like that. I'm licensed to kill under threat, remember?"

"I…yeah, but it's…"

"Remember that I'm not who you think I am," Kaku dropped his swords down beside him and slouched against the wall, sliding down until he was seated. "That took more out of me than it should have."

"You're still healing," Sanji reached to touch his shoulder. "Have you seen…"

"Zoro? Not since the place blew up," Kaku shook his head. "He'll be fine."

"I know."

"He was trying my patience a little outside, you know; getting all sappy with me about how wonderful I am. He really loves you," Kaku added, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I know he does, and I'm thankful. Now, if he'll just let me screw him, we'll be all good," Sanji chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.

"Haven't gotten that far yet?" Law looked surprised.

"He's a virgin," Sanji informed the other man.

"Oh, you're lucky, then," he smiled back.

"Yes, I'm going to teach him everything I…"

"Good luck with that, love-cook," Zoro hopped over the crates and took Wadou out of his mouth.

"Zoro!"

"Ack!" Zoro stumbled backward as he ended up with an armful of very relieved blonde cook, and he hugged Sanji tight to him. "I wasn't worried."

"Yeah, right; Kaku said you were crying like a little girl…"

"I did not!" Kaku looked indignant.

"So what's going on?" Law asked.

"One of Krieg's men…dunno who he is, he's got some weird armor on, but he's flicking around these little black balls that explode as soon as they hit anything and…" he was drowned out as another one of the pellets was evidently thrown and more thick smoke filled the air.

"That's it, then," Sanji's eyes were narrowed. "We have to get everybody out. If this keeps up somebody's going to die."

"You're right," Zoro nodded. "I'll try to…"

"No."

Zoro turned, his eyes widening before he growled. "Let him go."

"I'd rather not, if it's all the same to you." Kaku had somehow managed to lock an arm across Sanji's chest and his other hand held one of his katana, blade side up, against Sanji's throat. Law's eyebrows twitched but he kept silent, merely observing.

"Let. Him. Go."

"Roronoa, there's a problem here. You see, CP9 was given control of this mission, and unless one of us gives the go-ahead to change it, it remains as-is. The point of this whole fiasco was to take down Krieg…you, dear, were just the means to the end," he hissed at Sanji, who tried to remain perfectly still. "You all know perfectly well that we don't play by the rules, and if anybody asks…well, you were interfering. We're going to bring down Krieg whether or not your little friends make it out alive, and if they don't, they're just regrettable casualties.

"Mark my words, however: if you decide to move against us, we will stop you. So I would suggest you drop those swords, Zoro, if you want your little boyfriend here to keep all of his blood in his body," his voice was cold, and Zoro placed his swords down, an incredulous look on his face.

"Kaku, please," he held out a hand and Kaku pressed the blade closer to Sanji's throat. The blonde whimpered involuntarily, his eyes wide and haunted as Zoro pulled back. "Don't hurt him. We'll…we won't interfere, just please…"

"You both seem so shocked," Kaku laughed, but there was no mirth in it. "You know what my job is, you know how ruthless I can be, and yet all night you've been spouting drivel about love and friendship and complete nonsense and believing that I saw it the same way you did. I don't have friends. I'm in love with a sadist; that should tell you all you need to know. Apart from that, I'm the second in command of CP9, and since Rob isn't here at the moment…"

"Wait, you…"

"Yes. Me."

"But you…you saved Sanji…"

"Yes. I had to, in order to create this opportunity. You see, everything I've done has only brought us closer to our goal," he sneered. "I couldn't care less about what happens to you and your friends, as long as Krieg is brought down."

"But wait…" Zoro was scrambling, and he said the first thing that came to mind: "If you're the second-in-command, if you say the mission's changed, is it…"

"Yes, it would be."

"So…you…"

"The mission, Zoro, is this:" Kaku said in a low voice. "If we catch Krieg, we catch Krieg. But right now…right now, we get everyone out safely. I'm not putting unnecessary blood on my hands," he spun the katana around and removed his arm from across Sanji's chest, but to his surprise instead of bolting the young blonde turned and hugged him fiercely. "Don't look so stunned, Zoro. My bark is far worse than my bite, you know that," he grinned. "I have to make sure you're on your toes, isn't that right?"

"Thank you," Sanji said honestly. "I just…really…Kaku, thank you."

"Of course. Now," he stood and helped Sanji to his feet. "Let's get everyone out of here."

Notes:

1. School is eating my LIFE. Ugh, I got this pounded out (and the ending was just a stroke of inspiration and I had to write it all at once xP) but once again make no promises for the next instalment.

2. Guess where I'm going next week? Yup, Vancouver :D Guess what the weather is? Yup, rain . However, it's SNOWING here right now, so I won't complain…

3. Reviews/comments make me want to write faster :)

4. Hope everyone enjoyed ;)