While Doflamingo searches for you, you're still on the hiding in Smoker's house trying to guess what to do, but a small emergency leads to an unexpected outcome...
Two days later
Corazon exhales a resigned sigh while leaning against his desk with his arms crossed, observing how a dozen of employees of the Donquixote Family untiringly search his shop, turning everything upside-down. He closes his eyes with a grimace when hearing something breaking coming from the basement. Something that sounded expensive.
"I hope you are ready to cover the expenses of all the things you're breaking."
Using sarcasm with Doflamingo at that moment probably wasn't the wisest move. The man is standing in the middle of the room dressing his attire of 'serious business', consisting of a full black suit, red cravat, and his characteristic pink feathery coat and sunglasses. His jaw is clenched, almost as much as the fist of his left arm hanging at the side of his body while he sustains his mobile with the other. The vein almost popping out his forehead tells Corazon he isn't receiving good news.
"Alright, Diamante. Stay put for further instructions." Doflamingo hangs up before focusing his attention on Corazon. "Well, it seems that we won't have to break your boyfriend's legs for now."
Corazon grits his teeth as the mention of Doflamingo hurting Law, because he knows he's capable of doing so, and much more.
"I've told you already that we don't know where she is, Doffy. And neither do Bartolomeo nor Cavendish."
"Well, sorry for my lack of trust, but given the circumstances, I prefer that Trebol and Pica confirm the innocence of your loyal employees."
Corazon shakes his head and straightens his position, causing one of Doflamingo's employees to appear instantly next to him.
"I'm just going to my office for a coffee," he says with a tired tone, but the man still follows him anyway, observing him with annoying inquisitiveness during the whole process it takes him to prepare himself a cup. He hears Doflamingo talking again on his phone in the meantime, but when he returns the man has already hung up.
Doflamingo's angry aura has accentuated even more during those five minutes, confirming what Corazon already knew about you not being with neither Bartolomeo nor Cavendish.
"Here." Corazon offers the cup to his brother. "You seem to need it more than me."
For a moment Corazon is not sure that Doflamingo is going to accept it, but eventually the man takes it in his right hand.
Doflamingo makes a light disgusted grimace when taking the first sip. The drink probably has too much sugar for his liking, but he doesn't return the cup to him. Maybe he needed some extra caffeine in his veins to keep himself awake. Corazon doubts he has got any sleep since you disappeared, with the only warning of an email addressed to the Family in which a handwritten note had been scanned and attached, saying that you were fine and safe but that you needed to spend some time alone to think.
The fact that Viola assured everyone that you had written that note without any kind of coercion, discarding that way the theory of you having been kidnapped, didn't stop Doflamingo to cancel his trip to Wano in order to come back to search you through the entire city, for now without success.
"So?" Corazon inquiries after a pause. "Do you believe in our innocence already?"
"Not yet. We still have to finish here, and check your house and your doctor's one." Doflamingo finishes the coffee in one go and leaves the cup on the desk. "So I recommend that you give me both keys, unless you prefer to have your apartments' door blown by Baby 5's launcher."
Doflamingo's threatening comment makes all his men suffer a shiver of fear, but Corazon stares at Doflamingo impassible, not feeling scared in the least.
"You don't need to do that, Doffy." He recovers his key ring from the pocket of his trousers and shakes it once. "I'm planning to accompany you there after you finish destroying my workshop."
Doflamingo snorts, turning around to lean against the desk next to Corazon.
"Don't worry, little brother. If you turn out to be innocent, I'll make sure to compensate for any damage."
"I guess I have to give thanks for that," Corazon says with an ironic tone, reaching for his other pocket to extract his pack of cigarettes. He takes one while feeling Doflamingo's covered stare fixed on him.
"What about the fire alarm?"
"It's been a year since it stopped working. And spare me the lecture; I know I must call to fix it, but I haven't had the time for it."
He offers the pack to Doflamingo, who hesitates before taking one. After a couple of failed attempts and more than a couple of shakes, the lighter manages to work to light both cigars.
"It's been years since I've had one of these," Doflamingo comments after the first drag.
"Really? And how does it taste?"
"Cheap."
Corazon rolls his eyes at Doflamingo's remark but decides to ignore his ingratitude for the sake of asking about a more pressing matter.
"So, you have no idea of where (y/n) is."
The mention of your name makes Doflamingo take a deep breath before answering with a tone that is just calm in appearance. Corazon wasn't very surprised when discovering that not just the Executives were searching for you, but every member of the Family:
Machvise and Gladius were keeping an eye on your former friends of the University while Baby 5 and Buffalo investigated the area; Lao G and Jora were sweeping the area in the limousine; Vergo had travelled to where your family lived to see if you had ran away there...Literally everyone was looking for you but Rebecca, who was under vigilance courtesy of Senor Pink in case you decided to contact her, and Dellinger and Sugar who had to go to school even if they had insisted they wanted to help with the search.
"Monet and Violet are also devoting all her resources to discover where she was seen for the last time, and if they can get something from the email she sent us." Doflamingo's next words sound incredibly frustrated, with a faint hint of admiration in them. "She has done a good job hiding her trace. It seems we taught her well."
"I told you she was really good at her job." Corazon puffs away. "Can I ask why she left?"
"Yes, you can."
Corazon sighs when realizing Doflamingo isn't planning to add anything else, which confirms his theory of a fight exploding between you two.
"Well, whatever has happened, I don't think that dragging her back by force is a good idea."
"I haven't asked for your advice, Corazon."
"I know, but you're getting it anyway. I love you, brother, you know that." Corazon's tone acquires a harsh edge that finally makes Doflamingo look at him. "But (y/n) is also important to me. Very important. And I'm sure that her decision of leaving is sound, so if I were you, I would respect her wishes of being left alone."
Doflamingo's expression doesn't change during the silence that follows, though Corazon can feel a dangerous aura appearing around the man.
"Shall I assume then that you aren't planning to warn me in case she comes to you?"
Corazon sustains Doflamingo's gaze, exhaling the smoke of his last drag slowly.
"No, I won't."
Doflamingo surprises Corazon with a laugh.
"Well, I appreciate your sincerity, little brother. Though in that case, I hope you don't mind having some escorts watching you during the next few days."
"I guess nothing will change if I say that I do mind, right?"
"Indeed, it won't."
Corazon sighs with resignation.
"Well, I guess those escorts do not mind helping me with the shop. I'm really noticing (y/n)'s absence even if it's just been two days." Corazon puts out his cigarette on the ashtray of the desk. "I guess you'll feel the same way."
Doflamingo doesn't say anything, but his jaw clenches before indicating Corazon to get moving to check his apartment, confirming your boss' suspicions about the man being missing you, despite the anger your sudden departure is causing him.
Two weeks later
You type the return-key of the laptop that Smoker has lent you with force, exhaling a tired sigh while reclining back against the chair. Your head is aching, and your eyes must be reddened with all the time you have spent surfing the Internet; a time that long surpassed the recommended one.
You are feeling quite tired, and a little dizzy, but the good news is that you aren't as lost as when you discovered everything about Doflamingo. The first two days after reading his complete report had been shitty, with you having no clue of what you wanted to do in regards with Doflamingo, and neither with your life. On the third day though, you forced yourself to stop drowning in sadness and stood up, determined to find out what you wanted to do.
It hasn't been easy, and you have got really frustrated during those two weeks, sometimes feeling that you weren't going to find your way. However, the fact that you were alone in Smoker's house almost the entire day helped you concentrate, allowing you to focus on your goal and persevere until you had a clear idea of what you wanted to do. Of course, you still needed to leave everything tied, making sure that you could do what you wanted to do, but you were close to make it. You felt it.
Until you don't stop to rest your eyesight, you don't realize that in fact you had to go to the toilet. You stand up, feeling your legs a little numb for all the hours you have spent sitting in front of the screen without barely moving. You also feel an uncomfortable pressure in your lower stomach, whose origin you find out when you lower your panties to discover that your period has decided to make you an improvised visit, even if it wasn't supposed to come until the next week.
"Fuck." You curse with your eyes closed, insulting yourself for not having been carrying your birth control pills with you the day you went to see Smoker, since now your hormones were all crazy.
Of course, expecting that Smoker had the proper supplies for the little emergency was too much to ask. Your only hope is that his sister, who now was overseas and whose clothes you have been borrowing these days, had left some tampons or sanitary pads behind.
The thorough search in the bathroom and the guest room is unsuccessful, so you evaluate your options:
The first one is to wait for the inspector to come home to send him away to buy what you needed, but by basing on the man's horrible schedule, you estimate that he wouldn't be home in 5 hours at least, which was an awful amount of time given your current situation.
The second one is to text the inspector explaining the situation. Part of you is tempted to discover if the man was the type of getting embarrassed when talking about women stuff, but you decide not to. You knew how easy to hack Smoker's mobile was, and you preferred to avoid contacting him in that way unless it was a real emergency.
The third one is asking around the building to see if someone could lend you what you needed, but considering that the average age of Smoker's neighbors surpassed the 50s, you thought it would be useless. Besides, your presence there would raise questions about who you were or where you lived that you preferred to avoid.
And the fourth option, you could go to the convenience store sited 5 minutes away from his home in order to buy the supplies yourself.
You spend some minutes considering your options, but eventually the increasing period pain makes you decide to take the risk of going outside. Since you are sure that Doflamingo is sweeping the city to search for you, you put extra effort in dressing as differently as possible not to be recognized. You also borrow one of Smoker's hoodies to use it as a coat, and also one of his sunglasses to cover your eyes.
Once you are dressed, you take the spare key the man keeps in his bed table and leave the apartment. You walk as quickly as you can but without running, remembering the lessons Gladius and Machvise gave you to make sure not to catch anyone's attention. You try to be as relaxed as possible, but the short walk seems eternal to you, and you almost exhale a relieved sigh when reaching the small convenience store.
As usual, it takes you two attempts to find the correct shelf, since normally you go buy shopping with Rebecca and she is always the one who knows where everything is. You really miss her, and you feel like crap for not being able to tell her you're okay, but you knew you couldn't risk contacting her. At least, if everything went according to you plan, you could see her soon.
There aren't many people in the store, since it is 3:00 p.m. on a Wednesday. You only spend a couple of minutes in the queue before the old woman in front of you is attended, moment in which the cashier smiles at you before signaling the empty space next to her in the counter.
"Wait here, hon. My companion will attend you soon."
You smile back and nod, getting in place and depositing your purchase on the counter. At that moment the old woman next to drops her keys, so you rapidly crouch to recover them. You are still crouching on the floor when you hear someone whistling at the other side of the counter while approaching the cash register, and your heart stops when recognizing the bark of laughter that that person exhales.
"Let me guess: your period was a bitch and came when she shouldn't—"
Bartolomeo's eyes snap opened in complete stupor while looking at your frozen, crouched figure.
'SHIT', it's the first thing that comes to your mind when realizing that, first, the guy has recognized you despite your attire, and second, that there's a 95% probability that he's gonna shout your name.
So, after hurriedly returning the keys to the old man, you rapidly stand up and snap your hand about the guy's mouth just when this one is saying the first syllable of your name.
"Please, Barto, don't shout," you say nervously. You are noticing the cashier and old woman's eyes dug in you, so you look at them with a pretended embarrassed smile. "H-He's my ex. We broke up a little abruptly and he hasn't got over it so can you give us a moment? Thank you!"
Without waiting for the cashier's answer, you grab Bartolomeo's wrist while the man is still completely shocked and force the man to leave the counter towards the rear of the store, which leads to a dead end with a couple of rubbish containers.
"Damn, since when are you working here too?!" you exclaim, and certainly you can't blame Bartolomeo when, the moment that you are outside, your friend sets himself free from your grip to grab your arms and press you against the wall, looking angrier than you have ever seen him .
"What am I doing here?! That's my damn line: what the fuck are you doing here, (y/n)?! Why the hell did you disappear on us like that?! Are you damn nuts?! Shit, Cora-san, Cavendish and I spent the whole night searching for you! Why the fuck you didn't send that email sooner saying you were okay, huh?! We thought someone had kidnapped you again and—"
You interrupt Bartolomeo's shouts with a hug.
"I'm sorry, Barto," you say, feeling super guilty. "I'm really sorry, I didn't want to worry any of you, but I promise that I warned you as soon as I could."
Bartolomeo cursed again and returned your hug tightly, taking a long, trembling breath.
"Shit, I'm so happy to see you're okay." You smile and when you both separate there is just confusion in the punk's expression. "Where the hell have you been?"
You exhale a sigh.
"It's complicated. Let's say that I needed some time to think, without Doflamingo being around."
Bartolomeo snorted, crossing his arms.
"Let me guess: you don't want to tell me more because of my big mouth."
You chuckle.
"Well, you're not the best at keeping secrets." You tease him before adopting a concerned tone. "But also I don't want to cause you trouble, and the less you know, the better."
"You mean that the less I know, the smaller the chance that your scary boyfriend tortures me to confess where you are?" Your eyes open more at that. "He already sent his people to inspect my apartment, and also Cavendish's and the boss'."
You gulp, showing an apologetic expression next.
"I'm sorry about that."
Bartolomeo made a dismissive gesture with his hand.
"Nah, it's okay. I mean, we were aware of the risks of being your friends, but you are worth the trouble."
You exhale a laugh, feeling a lump on your throat for the guy's kindness.
"I'm not sure I am, but thank you, Barto. I promise that I will come back as soon as I can so everything is back to normal...Or well, as 'normal' as it can be."
Bartolomeo nodded, offering you one of his wide smirks before ruffling the hoodie you were still wearing.
"I'll take your word in that, (y/n). And hey, I know that I'm usually awful at keeping secrets, but I promise that this time, I won't say a word. I don't want to get anyone in trouble."
You feel relieved, somehow feeling that Bartolomeo would be able to keep his word for once. After that, you talk for another minute and hug again before returning to the store to buy your supplies, returning then to Smoker's house.
You spend the rest of the day in higher spirits after having verified with Bartolomeo that the others were concerned but okay, and Smoker notices the change of mood when he comes back from work, once it's past 9 p.m. as usual.
"Has something happened today?", he asks with curiosity, leaving a plastic bag with your dinner on the dining room table, causing you to raise your eyes from your laptop with surprise.
"How the hell can you guess that?" you say in an impressed tone that causes Smoker to offer you a patient expression while removing his coat.
"I wouldn't be able to do my job right if I weren't observant, miss. Although truth to be told, you're pretty easy to read."
You stick your tongue at the man, causing him to chuckle before bringing the dinner to the small table in front of the TV. As impossible as it could seem when meeting the man for the first time, and even if the man spent most part of the time in the police station working, you two now got along quite well. You wondered if your unexpected friendship with the man would be able to somehow last after you finished your lifestyle plan. You really hope so.
"Yes, something happened." You close the laptop and look at him. "I had to go outside."
Smoker looks at you when he is about to extract a couple of plastic containers from the bag.
"What for?"
You answer with a blunt tone, expecting a reaction in Smoker that doesn't come, since the man simply nods in understanding.
"You could have told me you needed them when I went shopping two days ago." He frowns when seeing your disappointed expression. "What?"
"Nothing. I thought you'd get embarrassed."
"And why should I? Menstruation is a natural thing."
"Tell it to Crocodile. He got all flustered when I told him I had to change a tampon."
"Well, thank you for comparing me with a macho criminal who treats women as trophies."
Smoker's sarcastic comment makes you chuckle.
"I'm sorry, inspector. I didn't mean to compare you to him. It's obvious you're so much better."
Smoker snorts.
"That's not very difficult," he says before handing you the food that you had asked him that morning before he left. "But coming back to the subject, I doubt your good mood is due to your period forcing you to get out."
You were hungrier than you thought, which as usual has made you take a too big bite, which forces you to devote some seconds to chew and swallow before answering.
"One of my shop co-workers was working there and saw me. I didn't tell him where I was staying, but it was nice seeing him and knowing that the others were okay."
Smoker nods.
"I guess it was Bartolomeo the one you saw." You look at Smoker in surprise, causing the man to offer you a lopsided smile. "I remind you I've been after Doflamingo for years, so investigating his associates is part of my job."
You hum, taking another bite at your food.
"Well, that's not fair. Friends should know the same about each other, so you better tell me more details about yourself."
"Who has said we're friends, miss (y/n)?"
"Come on, inspector, we're roomies! That's very close to being friends!"
"No, we're not. For starters, you're just a squatter."
"But a squatter who has all the intention of eventually paying you for the room she's occupying."
"And you still call me 'inspector' all the time, which is not a very friendly thing to do."
You chuckle, tilting your head to the side while Smoker takes the first bite to his food.
"Hey, if you want me to call you by your name so badly, you only had to ask...Smoker."
You pronounce his name in a teasing seductive voice that makes the man roll his eyes and you to laugh. You're about to tease the man again saying that he's the type of playing hard to get when at that moment the doorbell sounds.
You and the inspector frown at the same time.
"You're expecting someone?" you ask in your lowest voice, making Smoker shake his head no in tension.
"Go to the bedroom." He says after leaving his dinner on the table. Your heart misses a beat when seeing the man reach for the pistol he has left resting on the table. "I'll go check who it is."
"No." Your negative makes the man stop. "If it's the Family, I'm not letting you alone with them."
The doorbell sounds again, more insistent.
"If it's the Family and they find you here, I'll be in more trouble than if you hide right now." Smoker hisses. "So don't argue with me, (y/n). Go upstairs. Now."
You sigh but decide that he has a point, so you rapidly climb up the stairs while Smoker goes to open the door.
You only manage to reach the middle of the corridor leading to the bedroom, since you hear the recognizable sound of a door snapping open forcibly, followed by a body being tackled to the floor and Smoker's gasp mixed pain and surprise.
Some months ago, before meeting the Family, you would have probably been frozen in the spot, fearing for your life when hearing that. But at that moment, your body moves by instinct and rapidly comes back to the first floor instead of running for your life, your heart crazy at the prospect of Smoker being hurt by the Family because of you.
You run towards the entrance, determined to fight whoever Doflamingo had sent to avoid that Smoker was punished for having helped you, but once there you stop in shock, because the five men who have intruded in the room are clearly a special force of the police, with all those badges and helmets and blast shields.
"Stubborn woman, I told you to—"
One of the two officers that are keeping Smoker against the ground hits him in the head hard, making it begin to bleed from his eyebrow and causing you to grit your teeth for the unnecessary violent action. At that moment another officer tries to grab your arm, but you manage to knock him down by using one of the techniques Lao-G taught you. You manage to get rid of the three of them, but when you are about to reach Smoker to try to get himself free, someone shoots at your feet, making you stop in your tracks with your pulse racing.
"I wouldn't give another step if I were you."
You don't recognize the voice of the man who has talked, but you recognize him when he steps into view, stopping in the opened door frame.
"And now, be a good girl, and do not resist."
The vision of Chief of the Police Department Sakazuki in person standing there is enough so that you can't react when the fallen officers raise to his feet to immobilize you against the floor, Smoker's frustrated face being the last thing you see before a black bag is put over your head and you're dragged out the apartment towards an unknown destination.
Weeell, it was time already for another enemy to appear :P