As you wanted, you learn everything from the Donquixote Family.

Note:

So, it's been more than a year since I last updated this work and I apologize for that ^^U I have fallen deeply inside the DMC fandom and my last works had been focused on writing for it, but now that I have only one WIP I FINALLY had time to sit and write this through.

I've tried to keep the same style as usual, but after a year without having written this story maybe you detect some changes in writing that I hope don't bother you.

Finally, I want to say that I know where this story is going and that not much remains so that it's finished, although I don't know if the number of chapters I marked as remaining will be respected or not. I will be updating it if that's the case xD

When going to see Smoker, you have been rather sure that the man wouldn't bring you to the police department since, by then, you were rather recognizable as Doflamingo's girlfriend. However, the last thing you are expecting is that the inspector takes you to his house, sited a couple of blocks from the alley where he had caught you.

Your shocked face when Smoker stops in front of the apartments is so evident that the inspector stops when he is about to open the street door with his key.

"Something wrong?"

"No, it's just that you shouldn't frisk me or something before entering?", Smoker's raised eyebrow makes you understand you need to explain yourself better, "I mean, aren't you worried that I'm wearing a micro or something?"

The inspector drags on his cigars in silence before eventually shaking his head.

"I honestly doubt I'm important enough so that Doflamingo uses you to spy on me directly, and in any case, I'm not planning to do anything but giving you a bunch of reading material."

With that topic finished, Smoker discards both of his cigars on the ground and opens the door, indicating you to enter first with a brief jerk of his head. After that, you both enter the small elevator of the building.

You don't know if the device is especially small or if you are used to the Donquixote Company too big elevators, but you and Smoker are quite close during the ride. In fact, there's not enough space so that you can stand next to each other. You can't help to notice the way Smoker looks upwards in order to avoid having his face too close to yours, which makes you suppress a small smile, amused by the man's chivalry.

Smoker's home is in the fifth floor. The apartment is small, but surprisingly neat. You don't know very well why that last fact surprises you, although probably all those detective dramas you sometimes watch, with the typical police inspector suffering from drinking and/or smoking problems that always bring work home, have the blame for that. And well, Smoker certainly fitted in that profile, given that practically all the times you have met he was in the process of smoking not one but two damn cigars at the same time.

You are still taking a not-very-subtle look at the small living room when Smoker interrupts your thoughts.

"Do you want something to drink?", you notice that the inspector has removed his coat, so you proceed to do the same with the hooded jacket you are wearing, "Coffee? Tea? Blood of decent people who bother the Donquixote family?"

You offer Smoker a look when hearing the last bit. You really wanted to answer something back, but at the end you bite your tongue and make your choice with a polite tone. You are bothering the man enough already after all. He shouldn't be helping you in the first place given your story together and the fact you betrayed his trust on Doflamingo's behalf not long ago.

While Smokers goes towards the kitchen, you take your time looking around the room. Your eyes eventually stop in the small aquarium placed next to a pretty old TV. You bent a little forward to better observe the two fishes swimming around, surely without any worries.

You cannot help to remember what happened with Crocodile, when the man caged you in that gigantic terrarium and you were barely able to escape alive. A shiver runs down your spine at the memory, followed by a pang of frustration. After that incident, you thought that you had passed the entrance exam to be part to the Donquixote family with flying colors, but it seems you had been too optimistic.

'You do have to be ready to do anything it takes for the Family, and for me. Anything. The same way we are willing to do that for you without the least hint of hesitation. Which includes betraying your friends if necessary, and never to interfere in the Family business.'

Doflamingo's words resonate within your head at that moment. You wondered how damn far you needed to go to prove him that you were more than capable to accept whatever the Family was up to. Doflamingo had assured you that you didn't need to kill anyone to prove your value, but at that rate you were beginning to suspect that was the crux of the matter.

You hear at that moment Smoker's steps coming from the corridor. You straighten your position while the inspector enters the room. The man is carrying your drink and a heavy folder under his arm.

"Thank you", you say after he places both things on the small table situated between the TV and the old sofa, where you sit. You take a sip of your drink, observing Smoker as this one crouches in front of the TV to recover something from the piece of furniture placed below. He stands up carrying a bottle of Whiskey and an empty glass.

"I'll leave it here", Smoker comments when seeing your confused expression after he deposits everything on the table, "because I guarantee you that you will need something stronger to stand all that intel."

The man sits then on the armchair next to the sofa after recovering a book that was resting on it, with the clear intention of staying there 'reading', which meant 'keeping an eye on you while you read through Doflamingo's report'.

You exhale a patient sigh, leaving your glass on the table before taking with certain effort the folder to rest it in your legs.

"Inspector Smoker, I'm tougher than I look", you say while opening the folder, "so don't worry, I don't plan to waste your alcohol."

Smoker hums distractedly, crossing his legs while leaning his back against his seat.

"We'll see about that."

You roll your eyes and take a hold of the first document, which was Doflamingo's personal file.

It doesn't take you even 5 minutes to replace your drink for the glass of Whiskey waiting for you at the table. The first of many.

You don't know how much time has passed since you finished reading the entire folder, and neither how much time you have spent in that position: elbows leaning on your knees and your face buried in your hands.

You don't notice that it's been some time since Smoker left the house until you hear the door of the apartment open and close. You slowly raise your face up your hands in time to see Smoker at the living room's door, wearing his coat again and carrying a couple of plastic bags.

"I went to buy dinner", he removes his coat and let it hanging on the armchair before depositing the bag on the table, next to the half-empty bottle of Whiskey, "I asked you what you wanted but you were quite concentrated and didn't even hear me", he sat down on the armchair, his expression imperturbable but his eyes showing unexpected kindness, "I guess asking you how you are is a little stupid, right?"

You have the intention of snorting as an answer, but it comes out like a sob that causes you to settle your face in your hands again so that Smoker doesn't see you crying directly. Not that you can hide much at that point. Your cheeks are damp for the tears streaming down your face, your eyes are swollen, and preventing your shoulders from shaking for the stuttered sobs that traverse your body is a task more difficult that you had imagined.

Smoker sighs then, and you give a small jump when feeling the man's hand settling on your back. You hadn't realized that the inspector had changed position to be sitting next to you on the sofa, though leaving enough distance between your bodies.

"Try to breathe deeply. It will help you calm down."

Following his advice is not as easy as it sounds, especially when you feel such pressure clutching your chest. Your first attempts of taking deep breaths fail miserably, since they break easily into stuttered, shorter ones. However, when Smoker's hand begins to soothingly rub your back in a circular movement, it turns easier, and at the end you manage to calm yourself enough to breath without breaking into sobs.

"Better?"

You nod and finally straightens your position again. You bring yourself to look at the Inspector, who has already removed his hand from your back. A surprised laugh escapes you when seeing the man sustaining a packet of tissues for you.

"You're such a gentleman", you comment while accepting the packet. Your voice sounds ragger than usual, because your previous useless attempts of holding back the crying have left your throat sore.

"I'm not", Smoker answers with a matter of fact tone, "I plan to charge you the tissues and the Whiskey that you definitely weren't going to drink."

You chuckle with embarrassment. You extract a tissue and blow your nose while Smoker wisely finishes drinking the remaining liquid from your still full glass, as if he was scared that you suddenly decided to finish it yourself.

It doesn't seem like Smoker has the intention of asking your again, as if he was giving you the choice of speaking or not. After a moment of silence, the words begin to sprout your mouth without you being able to contain them anymore. The alcohol in your veins provokes that you are slurring more than talking, letting you know that you have drunk more than you had intended.

"Doffy was right, you know? He said I wasn't ready to learn everything about the company, but I didn't listen. I thought that after knowing about what happened with his father, there was nothing I couldn't accept, you know? But all this…", you feel the lump coming back in your throat and gulp thickly to try to remove it, "...shit, it's too much."

Despite your efforts, some silent tears begin to roll down your eyes again.

When you decided to be with Doflamingo, you perfectly knew that the company was part of the organized crime. You knew that most part of their deals were fishy, and that the people the Donquixote Family associated themselves with weren't precisely saints. However, one thing was to be aware of it, and another to learn all the crude details that all those deals involved. And some of them, mostly of them, had brought consequences more terrible than you had been willing to imagine:

Entire wars for the weapons or information they sold; impoverishment and destruction of cities while the rulers turned even richer; suffering and death of innocent victims as a collateral damage of all those transactions; murders of decent people that had just tried to do their job and that had ended sticking their noses where they shouldn't.

Up till now, you hadn't realized that Doflamingo's empire had been built on the misery of so many people. More accurately, you have chosen not to see it. However, you had always known that there were two things that drove Doflamingo forward: power, and his family. Since the beginning, and perhaps unconsciously, you had decided to overlook the first to focus on the second. You had decided to focus on the side of Doflamingo that had made you fell in love with him: his unwavering loyalty and love towards his Family, feelings that he had also professed towards you.

'However, I want you to read it, just to make sure that you completely understand who I am, and who the Family you have joined is.'

But, as you had begun to fear that same day, merely focusing on his better side wasn't going to work.

'I know that you are clever, young lady, and that when you decided to be with me you already knew that I am not an ordinary man…'

Because even Doflamingo's love for his Family was extreme, and twisted, and required certain things that you had compromised yourself to accept.

'...but you have to be sure that you are able to support me and the family from now after knowing our origins and our way of living.'

For Doflamingo, his Family was one of his pillars. Everything and everyone that wasn't part of it was none of his concern. The entire world could be burning, and he would merely watch it happen, even cause it, without blinking an eye.

'Because in case you are thinking that I can eventually change and become an honorable man such as Corazon, you must know I won't.'

That's the kind of man Doflamingo was. The kind of man your boyfriend was. But now, while sitting in that sofa next to one of Doflamingo's enemies, an honorable man who one day could be killed in case of becoming a hindrance, you wondered for the first time if you could keep going.

If you could simply come back to that home, with your new clothes and all those fancy whims Doflamingo had indulge you with, while knowing they had been bought with blood;

If you could simply come back to the company and continue working while knowing that all your hard efforts will be devoted to enriching yourselves while doing someone else miserable.

If you could be part of a Family that could eventually require you to sacrifice the people you had come to love because it went against their interest, like it had happened with Vivi.

If you could come back to Doflamingo's side, when knowing that those hands that embraced could sentence a whole damn city with a mere clap of fingers.

If the love you had felt for Doflamingo, and the one who you still felt towards him despite everything, was enough to compensate for the guilt that you were now feeling for being part of a Family who could sacrifice others so easily for their own selfish reasons.

Six months ago, you were just a common girl with and a common job and a common life. A common girl that chose Doflamingo, the less common man ever. And now, the full consequences of that choice were right there, in front of you, and you couldn't feel more lost.

"I don't know what to do", you find yourself saying, thinking aloud, "I really don't know."

Smoker doesn't say anything immediately, observing you in silence for a moment before sighing.

"Certainly, the mess you've gotten yourself into is quite big, miss. On my part, the only thing I can say is that in case you decide to leave that man's side, I'll do everything in my hand to guarantee your protection. You have my word on that", you look at Smoker with your eyes open so wide in stupor that the man frowns, "what?"

"You're a really good man, you know?", the alcohol makes you talk with way too much emphasis, "I mean, you could easily make me speak, and learn about all Doffy's secrets, including the dirty ones, and you aren't doing that."

Smoker shifts in his seat, a little uncomfortable for the effusive compliment.

"That's because I have something called 'decency', miss, so taking advantage of heartbroken, drunk women isn't something I like to do."

"Hey, I'm not drunk! Just a little tipsy."

"Really? How many fingers do you see?"

"Three. No, four! Damn, stop moving them, that's cheating!"

"I'm not moving them, miss (y/n)."

"...Shit, then maybe I'm more wasted than I thought."

"Yes, definitely you are", Smoker's tone turns serious once again, "so, if I were you, I would sleep the whole night before deciding what to do. Do you know any safe place to stay besides your usual home?"

You gulp, feeling suddenly less drunk at the realization that you can't come back with the Donquixote Family when your head and feelings were such a mess. You need to stay alone for a while, in order to properly decide what you wanted to do with your life, and that implied staying somewhere where Doflamingo wouldn't find you when he discovered you were gone. Something that he would do eventually. Probably very soon.

"Well, I could stay with my co-workers I guess, but I think that's the first place Doffy would look and I don't want them to be in trouble for hiding me."

Smoker nods, averts his eyes for a moment, and after exhaling a defeated sigh stands up from the sofa. You raise your face way too brusquely to look at him, which provokes a piercing pain in your temples that makes you rub them while exhaling a pained 'Ouch'.

"I'll get the guest room ready then", your eyes are about to leave their sockets, which makes Smoker talk then with an impatient tone, "what? It's evident this is the last place where Doflamingo is going to look for you, but if you have any other alternative, by all means mention it because having the girlfriend of a psychopath criminal at home is just an added problem I would like to avoid-"

Smoker is still talking when you clumsily stand up too, almost tripping over. You enclose your arms around the man's neck, hugging him effusively and causing him to go instantly stiff.

"In my next life, I hope to choose a man as well-natured as you, inspector. Even if you're a little old."

After a moment of hesitation, Smoker's hands hesitantly land on your waist, the touch extremely superficial.

"I'll take the first part as a compliment, but regarding the second, I'm just 36 years-old, miss (y/n)."

"WHAT?! Doffy is older than you?! Damn, I thought YOU were older!"

"...Do you want to be kicked out this house?"

You gasp and hurriedly separate from him, joining your hands together.

"No no no no, sorry, it's probably the white hair what makes you look older, you know? But you have nothing to worry, inspector: you're more than handsome and super fit for your age and okay, probably I should shut up in that same instant."

Smoker rolls his eyes while you make an apologetic grimace, but there is a hint of a resigned smile in his face that you miss because of your intoxicated state.

"I'll show you your room", he grabs your arm to guide you through the small corridor, after seeing that your step is everything but firm, "and I advise you not to turn on your mobile under any circumstances not to be tracked."

"Don't worry about that: I turned it off after meeting you so that my trace is lost there."

Smoker lets out an approving grunt before opening the door of the guest room. Once you're sitting on the bed, you bounce on it to test the mattress while the inspector extracts some clothes from the drawer that he next throws in the bed.

"You can use this. I guess you'll go to bed directly, but if you feel hungry or something, I have ordered some extra food. Just in case."

You nod even if you just catch half of what he says, since the stress and emotional exhaustion of the entire day mixed with the alcohol makes you be about to fall asleep at any moment.

"These clothes aren't a little feminine for you?", you tease after fully seeing the nightgown, causing Smoker to half-close his eyes at you.

"It's not mine. It belongs to my sister."

"Oh, I didn't know that you had a sister."

"That's because we don't move in the same circles."

Smoker's ironic comment causes you to feel your stomach clenching again. You then exhale a humorless laugh before gulping, you (e/c) eyes fixed now on the floor.

"Well, maybe that changes from now on."

Your voice breaks a little at the end. There is a small pause before Smoker talks again, with a tone that sounds softer than usual.

"Take your time to make your mind. And whatever the answer you come up with, don't hesitate in asking for help."

You remember what Smoker told you that day about not wanting to 'find a promising young woman like you in the morgue one day'. For the light concern slipping in Smoker's tone, it seemed that he was worried that Doflamingo tried to do something to you if he learnt about your 'runaway'. Maybe you should be scared too, because if Doflamingo saw your absence as a treason, maybe your life was more in danger than you thought.

However, you decide to postpone all those worries for the next day and force yourself to offer Smoker your best smile.

"Thank you for everything, inspector. You're a really good and super young man."

Smoker rolls his eyes but offers you a brief lopsided smile before closing the door of the room behind him.

You change into the nightgown, tuck yourself under the sheets, and the moment you close your eyes with the intention and will to sleep, you discover that you haven't emptied all your tears as you thought.

That night you cry yourself to sleep, with multiple doubts about what you would do from then on rounding your head. At least, you were glad that the inspector was kind enough to let you stay while you made up your mind.

Because somehow, you have the feeling that finding your way would take you more than a day. And more than two.

I promise it won't take me another year to update this work. I swear (L)(L)