A/N: Hey! I'm so sorry for the long hiatus this story has had. A lot of things happened in my life and I lost all motivation to write because of such; however, I've found myself finding said lost motivation, hence why there's an update now. Again, many apologizes for taking *forever* to update.
*A few days have passed in the timeline of this story from the previous chapter.
*Chapter is violent
To Serve at his Command| Witnessing
"What is it?" she gasped, eyes snapping open as her heart pounded hard in the dead of the night. Her stare found its way to the hand shaking her shoulder, fingertips digging into her flesh.
"Wake up." His voice was as stern as ever, eyes blank of any emotion as he pulled away from the cot. He sported his suit, a black outline in the lightless room.
Rubbing her eyes, Luffy sat up slowly, watching Daz turn and head for the door. "We're to leave, now," he added quickly, attention falling down upon the other maid.
"What is going on?" Nami muttered, sleep still strong in her tone. When her white eyes came to life in the dark of the room, she sat up quickly, looking the driver's way. "What…?"
"This doesn't concern you," he answered, turning to glance back Luffy's direction before giving the final order. "Get dressed."
In silence she met him in the main hall, outfit sloppily pulled together, her hair unkempt, and darken circles under her eyes hinting at the lack of sleep. The entrance door hung open, cold air sweeping in softly and brushing along her face as she approached the driver. "What is it?" she finally questioned, glancing up his way when she failed to see anything of interest outside.
"We're leaving," he answered, hand taking to her shoulder to not so gently guide her out.
Luffy objected with the smallest of grunts, frowning as she almost tripped over the ledge that was the door frame, but one hard glance from Daz terminated any complaints. Folding her arms, she tucked tiny fingers under her underarms and followed the driver down the drive, narrowing her stare when she spotted his favorite car of use awaiting them.
It sat empty.
"Is Crocodile coming?" she questioned softly, quickening her pace so she could examine his face.
"He's waiting for us," Daz answered simply, opening the door for her before taking to the driver's seat. "Get in," he ordered before slamming his own door.
Exhaling hard, she shook her head once before hopping in, trying her best to match his strength when she closed her own door. Weakly, it closed, with her falling back on the seating when he drove the car forward at an alarming rate. Shifting, she leaned forward, hand pulling open the small window separating the two.
"Where are we going," she questioned, widening her stare when he made a sharp turn, prompting her body to fly towards the opposite side of the car. "Be careful!" As she made her way to lean back towards the window, Daz slammed it shut, the muffled words of stay quite coming to life from his side.
Lowering her brows, Luffy pushed it back open, sporting a fat pout when she felt the car start to make another harsh turn. "Just tell me where we're going," she stated, hands steading her from another fall.
"I can't drive with you pestering me like this," the driver shot back, tone tired and hinting at his annoyance. When his hand lifted back to shut the window, she swatted it away, causing him to turn his attention back briefly to share one hard glance.
"I'll stop talking if you answer my question," she bargained, offering him one weak—and regretful—look to accompany his unamused expression. She watched as he gave one long eye roll, face returning forward before he exhaled loudly.
"We might have found him," he answered, defeat in his voice.
"Who?" Luffy quickly asked, gasping when the car came to an abrupt halt. Her body flung forward, forehead hitting the small area above the window and prompting her body to fall back on the seat.
Turning around to fully face her to the best of his ability, Daz sharply stated, "The intruder from the other day," before slamming the window hard and driving forward once again.
Rubbing her head, Luffy sank back in her seat, sending daggers at the back of the driver's skull. You didn't have to stop the car like that, she thought bitterly. And while she would have loved to bug him so more to get back at him for doing such a thing, her mind focused on what he said. Did they really find that guy?
Luffy had hoped so. The cut on her hand only just started to scab over, still a sting whenever she pressed it against an object. They probably want me to identify him as the intruder…If it is him, he deserves whatever he gets, attacking me like that…
A slight frown took to forming upon her lips, eyes glancing down to her palm to examine the healing cut. What will happen to him, though? The maid was unsure if Crocodile was one for involving authority. Yes, in the past, he used them as a threat to get what he wanted, yet, was he truly able to report a detective in—if what the man claimed was true—without getting in some form of trouble himself?
Luffy was sure that one slip of the tongue from the intruder to the right people could land Crocodile in some big trouble, so she had to wonder what exactly her employer had in mind for the future of such a man.
He'll probably just beat him up, she convinced herself after a few minutes of horrid imaginations. Of course, she was full aware that Crocodile was capable of doing something much more lethal than that, but simply because he trespassed and happened to cause a small cut on her palm?
No, she thought to herself with a weak tilt of her head. He isn't that monstrous…
Is he?
The building before her was unfamiliar, but in similar taste to the warehouse she was taken to before, only smaller and farther away from the city limits. Inhaling deeply, Luffy quickly followed Daz inside, wincing at the blinding lights within. A strong smell of iron attacked her nostrils, causing her to exhale and wiggle her nose in disgust.
"This way," Daz called out for her when she began to fall behind. He disappeared behind a flight of stairs, and when she made her way there, she found a room hidden from main sight.
Curiously, she followed suit, frowning at the ever-growing odor of iron and blinking when she spotted familiar faces. Mr. Five stood towards the back of the small room, arms crossed and stare lingering towards the ceiling. Opposite of him sat Crocodile, elbow propped to an adjacent table and hand holding a small gun. And to the middle sat what appeared to be a man, face covered with a small brown sack and wrists and ankles bound to the chair that held him.
Splotches of blood covered his shirt, clothes ripped from an obvious scuffle.
Once again, Daz gave her a push forward before leaving the room altogether, closing the door behind him and alerting all those inside of her presence.
She noticed Mr. Five's stare first, watching as he tilted his head briefly before smirking and glancing back upwards. Then she was looking Crocodile's way, offering him a confused look and backing up a foot or so when he arose. His clothes weren't as tidy as he typically wore them; sleeves rolled up high, neck collar unbutton, not to mention a rather alarming spot of blood towards the bottom of his shirt. When she went to question him, he silenced her by taking her forearm and pulling her his way.
Her side met his, his hand settling upon her hip and holding her in close. "I have a present for you," he simply said before greeting her with a brief kiss. A smile took to his face after pulling away, eyes lingering towards the center of the room. "We found him," he explained, leading her towards the chair and gesturing for her to sit.
"Mr. Five caught him snooping around one of my warehouse," Crocodile continued on, turning his back to her, avoiding her wide-eyed stare. "Only an idiot would be foolish enough to do as such after trespassing upon my property."
Luffy watched as Mr. Five offered another smirk, pulling forward and slapping the side of the sack, earning a loud muffled groan from the man. "Only an idiot would be foolish enough to attack the boss's…" Pausing, he sent her a coy stare, shrugged, and amusedly said, "…the boss's precious little toy." He gave the man another good smack, this time much harder than before.
"Mr. Five…" Crocodile's tone was duller than previous, prompting the younger male to give a weak frown before pulling the sack off, revealing a snot-nosed mess of bruised eyes and one fat lower lip. A black rag sat in his mouth, muffling out his loud cries of protest and fear.
Panicked eyes searched the room frantically before darting over Luffy's way, widening slightly when they locked stares.
Crocodile looked her way, cocking one thin brow. "Is this the man who attacked you?"
While the abuse placed upon the man's face made him unrecognizable, Luffy could easily remember those eyes, wide and full of horror. Swallowing, she glanced up at Crocodile, nodding once, stiffly and silently.
"Isn't that something," Crocodile slowly commented as he returned his attention back to the man. "Mr. Five?"
"Sir?" Mr. Five answered as he circled around the man.
"Did you not say that this man claimed no recollection of the trespassing incident?"
"I did," Mr. Five responded, sporting a smile as he placed one hand to the man's shoulder, earning a low pained groan. "In fact, he swore up and down that he was not the man we were searching for. I suppose that makes him a liar?"
Crocodile nodded in agreement, placing his gun down upon the table beside Luffy before stepping forward. "Remove the rag, Mr. Five."
Mr. Five did as such, pulling away to toss it in a corner.
Haggard breaths filled the room, eyes bouncing from one person to the next, pleading. When he met Luffy's stare, she felt her stomach drop, almost as she too felt his desperation. Don't look at me like that, she thought, too afraid to speak her mind.
"Leave," Crocodile blankly ordered, prompting her to shift in her seat, ready to get up. "Not you," he added, glancing Luffy's way.
Uncomfortable, she slid back against the chair, eyes trailing after Mr. Five as he left the room, the door creaking as he opened and closed it.
"Do you even realize who I am?" Crocodile began as he made his way behind the man, almost as if a hawk circling around its future prey. When the captive made no attempts to answer, he kicked at one of the legs of the chair, earning a low cry. "Did I not just ask you a question?"
"C-Crocodile," the man spoke, a lisp to his words, as if hard to speak from his bruised lips. "You're Crocodile," he repeated, eyes glancing off to the side when Crocodile slowly approached in said direction.
Nodding once, Crocodile slowly added, "And I'm to assume you are fully aware of what I do?"
Wincing, the man nodded, bloodied spittle falling from his mouth.
"Interesting," Crocodile observed, head tilting slightly. "And knowing all this, you still decided to attack my maid?"
The man's eyes shot up to meet his, head shaking wildly no. "I didn't…I didn't! I swear, I never touched her."
Crocodile's smirk dissolved to form a firm frown. "I don't appreciate liars."
"I didn't!" the man cried out again, wrists wiggling at his obvious attempts to break free. After a moment of struggle, his body went limp, a long string of curses falling from his lips from the defeat.
Exhaling, Crocodile motioned to Luffy. "She has the cut to prove it," he countered softly. "And she has identified you—why feel the need to continue the lies? You're only digging yourself in a deeper ditch."
The man opened his mouth to object once more; however, mid-sentence he was met with a fist to his nose, head snapping back and the sound of bone cracking filling the room.
Jumping up in her seat, Luffy watched in horror as the man's head tilted forward, a trail of blood running down his nose and pooling down upon his lap.
Shaking his hand out, Crocodile laughed lightly before stating, "I did tell you I didn't appreciated liars."
"Fucking bastard," the man snarled, lifting his head to spit but failing miserably as his spittle only drew down his chin. More blood flew out from his nostrils as he exhaled, throwing one angry glance Luffy's way. "Barely touched your damn whore…" When he went to spit, this time in her direction, he made contact with her cheek.
In a frantic spew of whines and disgusted gasps, Luffy wiped the bloodied fluid from her skin with the back of her sleeve. Lowering her brows, she returned a hard stare his way, gritting her teeth at how disgusted she felt at the moment, any fear and pity she had for him quickly dissolving.
Crocodile's fist met his stomach, causing him to cough out and laugh between pained cries. "Didn't like how I talked to the lady, huh?" he asked, throwing a tired look upwards at the mobster.
"This night just got much worse for you because of such," Crocodile informed him, tone empty of any amusement he had earlier. He turned his attention Luffy's way, eyes searching hers briefly before he smirked and simply ordered, "Bring me the knife upon the table."
Blinking twice, Luffy glanced to her side, first taking in the hand gun before finding a rather large knife across the table. Biting down on her lower lip, she looked back to Crocodile, taking in his single nod before slowly grabbing the weapon. With weak legs, she got up and approached him, handing it over tentatively.
His fingers weaved around the handle and returned his gaze to the man before them. "Who do you work for?"
"Fuck y—"
Crocodile slammed the knife deep into the man's hand, earning a loud piercing cry that caused Luffy to tense up. On instinct, her hands clamped together over her chest, as if she too had felt the same pain he did. The worse part, however, was the look of calm upon her employer's face after doing such an act, unbothered by what he just did.
"Who sent you," he repeated, tone sterner this time as he left the blade wedged inside the palm.
"The government, fuck!" the detective cried out, eyes glued upon his new wound. His fingers twitched, legs shaking. "Get it out," he pleaded, gaze shooting up to meet Luffy's.
She only looked away, her breathing hard to keep under control.
"And how does the government know where I live, hmm?" Crocodile questioned next, twisting the weapon only slightly. "Who tipped them off?"
The man's eye began to roll back, teeth clamping down on his lower lip. "S-stop," he begged, gasping out when Crocodile did as such. Between rough pants, he spat up more blood, tears rolling down his cheeks. "A source, somebody close to you…"
Luffy widened her stare at his answer, a frown beginning to form upon her lips. Somebody close to Crocodile…?
"Who?" The word was strained, the urgency in his voice strong and obvious. "Tell me!"
Laughing, the man shook his head, slumping in his seat as he howled out another spew of curses. "Fuck you," he groaned, eyes snapping towards Crocodile's direction. "FUCK. YOU."
"I really doubt you can in the state you're in right now," the older male snapped back, circling around to the side of the man. "If you tell me who tipped you all off, I'll let you live—a promise."
The captive shook his head, unconvinced. "Not that stupid," he objected. "Besides, seeing you squirm trying to figure out who's betrayed you makes my night a hell of a lot better right now."
"You do realize your life is literally in the palm of hand right now, don't you?" Crocodile retorted, frustration taking to his face.
Licking his lips, the man softly said, "Somebody in your life has alternative motives, working with the government to get you behind bars…but you'll never pry the name from my lips."
Alternative motives? Holding her breath, Luffy glanced down at her hands, eyes widening as she thought over the man's words. Working…for the government? Had she not just learnt of a man working in secret for the government? Somebody in relations to a person close to her?
Luffy's gut tightened, her fingers curling inward. Law…Law mentioned Corazon and his affiliations to the government…sneaking information about his brother…She exhaled slowly, piecing together a horrid realization.
Is the man he's speaking of Corazon?
And if so, how would Corazon know such information about Crocodile?
Unless…Law…?
An arm slunk around her waist, pulling her back against something hard.
No…he wouldn't…Law promised he wouldn't!
Hot breath tickled her ear, lips sinking down to touch the curve of her jaw. "How should we punish him?" Crocodile's voice was a whisper in her mind.
Law swore to me he wouldn't repeat what I told him…But…but how would this man and the government know then? Through…through Corazon?
"I want you to help me teach him a lesson," Crocodile continued to sing into her ear, hand cupping her neck and holding her in close. "I want this to be a learning experience for you, as well, to understand and witness what I'm willing to do for you."
If it truly was Corazon, then who told him?
"Together, we can eliminate all our enemies."
Law.
Pulling away from Luffy, Crocodile went for the gun, picking it up and approaching her front. In silence, he slid it into her hands, eyes searching her blank stare. "I want you to shoot him in the leg."
"I…" Her stare fell down upon the weapon, yet she could not process Crocodile's request.
"I'll help you," he offered, returning back to her backside, handless arm wrapping around her waist and hand drawing hers upward. The gun was pointed straight at the man, and loud exhales of bloody snot escaped his nostrils.
"I don't…" she tried to object, voice weak, mind a flutter with other thoughts of betrayal and hurt.
"Wrap you finger around here," he instructed, working her fingers with his own to properly hold the weapon. "And pull."
Her palm grew hot when her finger flexed, a loud explosion stinging her ears as blood struck her face. Between whimpers, she watched as the man struggled in his seat, eyes glued down upon his knee now busted open. She made her own attempts to struggle free, but Crocodile kept her close, whispering you did well over and over again as he wiped her face clean, almost as if he were proud of her.
The gun fell from her grip, legs growing weak beneath her. She could barely believe she actually pulled the trigger, and as she went to fall to her knees, the man behind her kept her firmly in the standing position. "You did amazing," he'd whisper to her between kisses, voice full of lust. "Perfect…in every way…"
She shook her head, a whine crawling out of her throat. "No." No, no, no, no!
"I want you to watch," he continued, allowing her to slip down to the floor and fall upon her bottom. In utter disgust, Luffy watched in horror as he scooped the gun up before approaching the screaming man. Quickly, he pushed the handle into the mouth, keeping it propped open. "I've grown tired of your voice," he declared, pulling the knife up and out of its fleshy prison. "And since you've decided to withhold information, I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume you don't need this anymore."
Her hands clamped over her mouth as she watched the scene unfurl before her, the sound of pure terror erupting from the man's lungs sending shivers down her spine. The metal flashed as it cut through the pink muscle, blood pooling down from purple lips.
She felt her stomach travel up and she bolted up for the door, pushing past whoever was in her path and making her way for the outside world. She didn't know how far she got but soon enough, she found herself hurling up her insides, tears streaking down pale cheeks. Everything hurt: her mind, stomach, and throat…nothing seemed right. That smell of blood and guts still lingered in her nose and no amount of fresh air seemed to cure her of it. Inhaling sharply, she got up, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. The world was spinning around her, fast and hard.
A hand touched her back and she pulled forward, away—far away from him. "No," she cried out, more disgusted than anything. "Don't…don't touch me," she ordered, falling down on her knees to throw up once more.
His arms were around her, almost as if he were trying to comfort her at such a trying time; however, his touch only seemed to do the opposite. "Come back inside," he suggested.
"No," she objected, shaking her head and covering her wet eyes with her arm. "I don't…I don't want to go back in there."
"Okay, you don't have to," Crocodile agreed, hand resting on her side as he tried to work his way to her front, failing to when she pulled away farther.
"I want to go home," she begged, wincing when she felt another round of nausea.
"We will," he offered as he tried to pull her arm away from her face. "We will, just get up."
Luffy shook her head once more, gagging once when she felt the need to throw up, yet nothing came up. "I want to go home, with my family!"
His chest rose against her side. "You can't," he simply answered.
"I didn't sign up for this," she whined, shrugging his hand off her in order to pull away fully. Getting up, she wiped her nose and eyes, shaking her head as the image of that man's tongue getting severed off attacked her mind. "You didn't need to do all that!"
Still sitting on the ground, Crocodile shook his head, heavy eyes falling to her feet. "You knew what I was capable of…" He met her stare soon enough, a smirk alive under his scar. "It'd be idiotic of you if you didn't realize this by now."
"I'm going home," she stated, flexing her fingers as she turned towards the car, mind frantic to keep her under control. "I'm…"
"Not like you've used that threat before," Crocodile called out, laughing as he got up and followed her into the dark of the night. "You'll throw you're tantrum," he continued on as he caught up to her side, "and by morning, you'll be in my arms. Is that not the case?"
Approaching the car, Luffy tried to open the door, failing to do so when Crocodile pulled her around to face him, her body pinned between his and the machine.
"Did you not feel a rush when you shot him?" he questioned, eyes wide and searching. "Did it not feel wonderful to pull that trigger?"
"No," Luffy shot back, horrified and angry at his excitement over the matter. "That…that was cruel!"
Crocodile's eyes hardened ever so slightly. "What was cruel was him bringing you harm the other day. He was your enemy and deserved what he got."
"He was your enemy!" Luffy objected. She wiggled, trying her best to worm away from him, but stopped when he pressed his hand beside her head on the car door.
"Yes," he agreed. "The moment he harmed you, he became my enemy. And I destroyed him before he could do anymore damage." His eyes trailed down to her hand, lips forming a firm line. "Do you truly expect any less from me?"
Her lips opened to speak, yet nothing came out except a heavy exhale. Slumping against the car, she fluttered her eyes shut and brought her fist up gently to his chest, mind churning around all the new information she gained that night. From the fear of Law betraying her to the horrifying experience with that detective, Luffy almost thought this all to be some sick nightmare.
She wished that was the case, that she were still asleep in her cot beside Nami's, with Daz never waking her up to drag her all the way out there.
"You're just not used to it yet, that's all," Crocodile finally concluded for her. His hand slid down the car, pulling the door handle and moving her aside to lead her in. "I'll have Daz drive you back to the mansion," he added when she sat down, hand lingering on her shoulder. "But I want to teach you…everything."
Before she had the chance to respond, he closed the door.
To be continued…
Next Time: Luffy ponders more on her fears of Law betraying her as well as the situation between her and Crocodile. Crocodile brings up an idea that Luffy strongly disagrees with and she realizes she needs to grow more confident if she wishes to have a fighting chance with her employer.
A/N2: Okay, so I'm thinking the update schedule will be as such: I'll update the story once a week, but if I finish writing to the ending of part one, I'll upload the chapters at a faster rate (multiple updates within a week). I have about twentyish chapters left until the ending of part one, and I'm hoping to write at about a rate of three-four chapters a week. We'll see how that turns up.
As always, thank you so much for reading and being patient with me. Again, I'm sorry for the long update, but hopefully, the go around, I'll finish the story, or at least up to part one.
