Title: Of Dreams and Desires

Pairings: Smoker x Ace, Sanji x Zoro, and other side pairings

Ratings: T - NC-17

Chapter: 15 of ?

Summary: A Mouse Trap…

Disclaimer: I do not make any profit from this story; all props go to Eiichiro Oda.

Author Note: Just to clear up any confusion, just because the chapters have the name of a certain person does not mean the chapter will necessarily be from their POV.

Shout Outs: Thank you to EroTenshi-Hime for adding my story to your favorites. Big thanks to ThePoliceLlama for reading, reviewing, alerting, and favoring my story. Much love babe!

Beta Reader: descriptionsalive21, thank you so much!

Monkey D. Luffy

Both the pirates and Marine hit the hard ground of the cell, pulling moans of pain from the occupants. Nami rolled on the floor and got up to her feet, rubbing her sore butt. "Damn it, Luffy, this could have been completely avoided had you of just listened to me."

"Yeah but Nami… we're pirates." Luffy whined.

Before she could make a reply, Smoker–who was quick to recover from the fall–stood and jabbed Luffy in the stomach with the tip of his Jitte, looming over the irritating captain. "Now there is no possible way you can escape me because the tip of my Jitte is made of seastone. No one quite understands it, but studies thus far have shown that this material has the power of the ocean in it. Once touch from it," Smoker pressed the Jitte down harder into Luffy's abdomen, causing him to yelp in pain, "will put even the strongest devil user to his knees."

After regaining his senses, Zoro widened his stance and touched the hilt of his swords, ready to draw on the Marine at the sight of Luffy in trouble. "I suggest you let him go."

Usopp squealed and pressed against the stone wall, trying to distance himself from the soon to be altercation. "I suddenly got the I-Can't-Get-Involved disease."

Nami rolled her eyes at Usopp then glanced to the swordsman. "Zoro your swords can't touch him. He'll just turn to smoke."

Zoro growled and shifted his posture so he could release his blades, apathetic of the logic Nami spoke; but just before he could, a deep voice cut through the silent room. "I would listen to the harpy. You'll all die together anyways. You should try to get along and enjoy your last moments in life."

Luffy turned his head and his eyes honed in on Crocodile sitting in a chair facing the cage with a smirk on his lips. A rage that the captain had never felt before filled him and he gathered his strength to move the Jitte off his chest before throwing his body against the bars of the cage. He growled as he thrusted his arm in between the bars growling as he tried to reach the villain. "You! Crocodile! When I get out of here I'm going to huuuuuu…" He muttered off as he slid to the ground in exhaustion mid-speech when he felt his energy drained from his body.

Crocodile laughed at the empty threat. "That cage is made of seastone, there's no way you will be escaping. Like I said, sit back and enjoy what little time you have left in this world."

"Where is Vivi? What have you done to her?" Luffy demanded as he stood and glared at Crocodile, his energy having returned now that he was no longer touching the cage.

The scarred man picked up a cigar that was on the table and lit it before replying, "I have done nothing to her yet. My partner is going to retrieve Princess Vivi now." It wasn't shortly after those words left his mouth did the door to the room opened and at the top of the stairs stood Nico Robin clutching Vivi's arm.

As the ladies made their way down the stairs, Vivi pulled at the grip on her arm to try to get free all the while Robin dragged her. When they were near to the bottom Robin threw the princess down the last few steps causing Vivi to stumbled. She barely regained her footing in time before landing on the floor and she threw a heated glare to Robin as she walked by laughing. When Robin nodded her head to someone, Vivi swung her head to the right only Crocodile relaxing comfortably, smiling as if he weren't killing innocent people every day. Anger erupted in the princess and she swung her hidden peacock slashers at Crocodile, hitting him square in the center of his head.

Luffy, proud that she attacked him, yelled out in triumph. "Good one, Vivi! Hit that bastard again for me!"

Crocodile chuckled before he relinquished his hold on his devil and allowed his body to be overtaken by it, turning to sand and appearing behind Vivi. He took hold of her arm and clutched it tightly before slapping her then throwing her into the chair he was previously occupying. "Sit, child. Your weapon has no effect on Suna and you have no skills as a warrior–even if I didn't use my devil you wouldn't be able to physically beat me. So sit and wait."

"Just what am I waiting for?!" She spat at him, the cut on her lip projecting blood when she spoke and droplets of blood hit the ground near Crocodile's shoes.

Before she could get a reply from Crocodile, Robin said, "Sir, it's past twelve o'clock, Operation Utopia has commenced."

Crocodile let out a kuhahaha as he rested his hook on the table in front of Vivi. "That is what you were waiting for."

"What are you doing?! What is Operation Utopia? What are you doing to Alabasta!?"

Instead of answering her, he countered her with another question. "Do you know what I hate the most?"

Usopp, who was standing next to the now seated Smoker, muttered behind his hand, "Clearly, you don't hate the sound of your own voice."

Nami chuckled and Smoker shook his head as they said, "Idiot."

Nami's snickers echoed throughout the room and Crocodile glowered at Usopp. "Don't make me shorten your pathetic life, boy."

Usopp gulped, standing a little closer to the corner of the cage and Luffy stuck his tongue out at the Shichibukai. Seeing no more words were going to be spoken from his captives, Crocodile focused his attention back on Vivi. "Now, to answer you, Princess, what I hate the most are people who place their lives and happiness over less fortunate others. Hypocrites. They disgust me."

"People do it all the time! So, what? Are you going to kill my father?"

Crocodile laughed before tapping his cigar ashes onto the floor. "Tell me, simpleton, what would I gain from killing your father?"

"The crown!" Vivi hastily replied.

Robin laughed and pet Vivi on the head as she cooed out, "How foolish she is. She's been fighting all this time and she doesn't even know anything."

"I would gain nothing from killing King Nefertari Cobra. No, instead I plan on humiliating him because that, my dear, is much crueler than death."

Vivi let out an audible gasp before she spat at Crocodile's feet. "You are despicable. Tell me what Operation Utopia is, now!"

Crocodile stepped his Italian leather shoes over the glob of blood and spit on the floor before he wrapped his thick fingers around Vivi's neck, choking her as he tilted her head so she was looking him in the eyes. "Princess, it would do you well to be mindful of your position, understood?"

She glared at him but nodded due to lack of air and he let her go, blowing some smoke in her face. "You ask what Operation Utopia is, so I'll tell you. For years now, it has not rained in the Kingdom of Alabasta, and the sand storms have been sweeping over towns, causing frustration and anger amongst the citizens. The only cities not affected by this 'freak weather' are Alubarna and Rainbase, have you ever wondered why?"

Crocodile let Suna make himself known as he produced a small sand tornado in the palm of his hand. Vivi's jaw became slack with realization and Luffy banged against the cage, yelling, "It's you! You're the asshole sending the sand storms."

Crocodile raised an eyebrow at Luffy's words. "For someone so stupid, you tend to catch on to situations rather quickly." He called off Suna and moved to watch the Bananawani swim and fight each other. "The citizens who blame the King will join the Rebel Army and the Royal Army of the Kingdom of Alabasta will protect the King until their deaths. Their desperation will fuel their anger and their anger will fuel their passion. Soon, the only thing will be is death. The one thing that will run through everyone's head while they are killing each other is 'we will protect Alabasta, at any and all cost'." Crocodile turned with his arms open wide and a smile plastered on his face. "So you see, the love for the country is what will destroy the country and there is nothing you nor the King can do about it."

Bang. Bang. Bang.

The occupants in the room, both in and out of the cage, watched Luffy bash his body over and over again against the seastone bars. He could feel Vivi's pain, anger, and frustration, and those emotions woke Gomu from her restful state, clawing at Luffy to break free and release her. "When I get out of here Crocodile, I will kick your ahhhh…" The seastone drained Luffy and he could now relate to Vivi's despondency.

Crocodile chuckled and spotting movement out the corner of his eye, he looked over to see that Vivi had knocked her chair over in an attempt to escape, and with tears soaking her face, she slithered her bound body across the floor. "I must get to Alubarna! If I leave now, I can make it in time to stop this senseless war."

Crocodile bellowed a kuhahaha at her desperate endeavors to gaining freedom. "Child where do you think you're going? Your attempts at escape are futile." He produced a key from the inner folds of his fur coat that hung over his shoulders and asked, "Tell me, Princess, do you like to gamble?"

Vivi stopped her struggling to watch for Crocodile's next actions as he clicked his heel on the tile and stepped to the side. A section of the floor opened and he dropped the key into the feeding hatch. The Bananawani snapped at one another, fighting to see who would eat the key; and once one of the Bananawani had consumed it, Crocodile tapped his heel again, watching the water as it began to flood the opening in the floor and spill over into the room.

"In one hour this room and my Baroque Works office will flood. Now you can choose who you will save; one million people, or these five individuals here?"

"How dare you make me choose?!" Vivi demanded, tears and snot flooding her face. "You dare make me choose between my friends or my people! Haven't you done enough?"

"Vivi!"

She turned her head to the cage where Luffy's face showed just as much forlorn as hers did. "If we die here then who will kill that bastard?!"

Crocodile scoffed at his words. "Little man, don't get ahead of yourself. Remember, you are stuck in that cage." With a snap of his fingers, the door behind him opened and a Bananawani stepped forward, resting the corner of its massive head on Crocodile's shoulder. Said man gave its snout a good pat before he addressed the captives in the room. "I suggest you make all your decisions with m haste. The room will flood soon, and you must also make way past my Bananawani. I wish you good luck."

Usopp found his voice again and pushed past Zoro to press his face against the bars of the cage. "That thing's fucking huge! Vivi, run for it! But… but also free us!"

Smoker pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation. Zoro shook his head, ashamed to call Usopp his nakama. Luffy agreed with Usopp's statement and Nami slapped the long nose on the back of the head, completely fed up with the whole situation. "Dumbass, how the hell do you expect her to do that? Just… shut up."

Crocodile laughed at the helplessness of their situation. "Come, Robin, we have other business to attend to," he said as he turned to exit down the long glass aquarium hallway.

Luffy watched the pair leave the room before he yelled to Vivi, "Now, Vivi, it's your chance!"

Vivi stood on shaky legs and moved to attack the Bananawani, but it dodged her and swung its hind legs around to swipe her with its large tail, knocking her into the stairs. The overly large creature, seeing its prey was knocked down and cornered, swiftly moved in with its jaws open, hoping to snatch a bite out of Vivi.

She yelped and rolled out of the way, wiping the blood away from her eyes and she tried to get up and once again make a run for the stairs, but her clothes were caught under some rubble. She looked down to try and free herself, not paying attention to her foe.

The Bananawani circle around to face Vivi and Luffy screamed to grab her attention. "Vivi move! It's coming back!"

Nami gasped as the monster shuffled closer to Vivi and opened its mouth, ready to swallow her whole. Zoro yelled for Vivi to move when the familiar sound of a mushi going off distracted everyone from the near death event–even the Bananawani turned its head to locate the noise. Had the situation not been so dire, the entire thing would have been comical to watch everyone pat themselves down to check if it was their den going off.

Robin pulled hers from her pocket and answered it. "What is it?"

"Miss All Sunday, there is a problem."

Crocodile snatched the mushi out of Robin's hand, exasperated by the problems that continued to occur. "Speak now, what is the problem?"

The snail begin to sweat profusely. "Sir, we've captured one of the Mugiwara Pirates, what do you want me to do with him?"

On the outside, Crocodile's composure was cool, but his voice alone could choke the life from someone. "What in the hell do you mean you have a member of the Mugiwara Pirates?"

"Sir, there was one we didn't-" There was a thud and the voice of the snail changed.

"Sorry about that, figure I'd let you speak to me personally. Is this Mr. 0?"

Crocodile's brow twitched at the aplomb tone the caller used. "Who is this?"

"You don't remember me? You're lucky my feelings don't get hurt easy. For now, you can call me Mr. Prince."

Luffy pressed his body to the seastone bars, excited to hear Sanji's voice. "Oi, it's–"

Nami quickly covered her captain's mouth, harshly whispering, "Idiot, he's our trump card."

Zoro shook his head and snorted. Mr. Prince, more like idiot Ero-Cook.

"What is it that you want, Mr. Prince?"

"You have my friends; I trust you are taking care of them."

Crocodile looked back at the cage and chuckled. "I'm showing them the V.I.P treatment."

"Good, I'd hate to see any of my nakama harmed, it wouldn't be–"

The line went quiet when the bang of a gun filled the ears of the listeners and there was a moment of silence before a different voice came through the speaker. "Sir, we've subdued the last one. What should we do with him?"

"Report your location."

"We are in Rainbase in front of Rain Dinners Casino."

"I'm on the way."

The dapper man cut the communication and returned the mushi to its owner. He glanced back at the cage and laughed. "It seems your rescuer has just fallen. Remember, Vivi, you're on a time limit."

Luffy watched Robin and Crocodile leave and growled under his breath, "I'm going to kill him."

Smoker was the only one to watch Vivi get herself unstuck and climb inconspicuously up the broken stairs until she reached the top. It wasn't until she had stood and was sure she was in the clear did she speak, "Guys, I'm going to get help, I'll be back for you!"

The Bananawani lashed out at her but she ran out the door before it could climb the broken stairs to get to her and the creature looked around, contemplating its next move.

"Oh, look, the big ugly crocodile lost its prey!"

Its eyes squinted as it turned around to face the orange haired woman in the cage and growled.

"Na-Nami what are you doing?"

She ignored Usopp and threw out another insult. "You must be the stupid one out of the bunch if you can't kill a single girl."

"Nami! Stop insulting the crocodile and worry about us getting out of this cage! The water is already to my ankles!"

Nami clicked her tongue as she turned to Luffy. "Idiot, if we can get him to break the cage then we can be free and get out this room before it floods."

Usopp and Luffy blinked a couple of times to make sure they understood the plan before they faced the Bananawani to pick up where Nami left off. "Come on you fail excuse for a crocodile with a banana on your head!"

"Uh, Luffy, it's not a crocodile it's a Bananawani. See the banana shape on its head–"

Luffy rolled his eyes as Usopp rambled on and he reached out to touch the seastone bar so he could faint. Seeing his captain go slack, Usopp slapped his hand away from the bar. "Listen to me!"

The Bananawani, sick of hearing the squabble between the two, open its massive jaws and took a bite out of the cage, or… so it thought. The moment its teeth connected with the cage they all broke, pulling a whimper from the large creature.

"What the fuck is up with this cage?!" Luffy pulled on his hat in frustration.

Observing that the water was now to his knees, Smoker crossed his legs on the bench he was sitting on and watched the other occupants of the cell. That woman that's with Crocodile... she's the one, Nico Robin. He thought to himself glancing over to Zoro. "Oi, you–"

Before he could get his question out, Usopp and Luffy interrupted him. "How the hell can you be so damn calm? Think up a way to get us out of here. Your ass is in trouble too!"

Smoker disregarded them and looked Zoro in the eye. "About how much knowledge do you have on Crocodile's objectives?"

Zoro shrugged his shoulders. "Not much, why?"

"That woman that's working with him, her name is Nico Robin. She's been wanted by the

World Government for twenty years and she's got a bounty of over 70,000,000 beli on her head; with the two of them working together, I fear this is no longer about one kingdom but about a crisis that–if they succeed–will develop the entire world if not stopped."

The sounds of rushing water and Bananawani's growls filled the room as the Straw Hat Pirates quietly took in all the information Smoker spoke on. "That doesn't matter," Luffy grunted, "we've never needed a reason to kick some guy's ass."

Simple minded fool. Smoker thought as he shook his head. "Fine, then get us out of here."

Luffy nodded his head and looked around the cage for some sort of exit but then screamed, "The water, it's reached my thighs! I feel my strength draining." He promptly fainted and Usopp rushed to catch him before he hit the water.

"Shit, this is bad, we have to get out of here now."

"If only I were stronger…" Zoro said as he clutched the hilt of Wado. "I'd be able to get us out of here if I were a better swordsman."

Before Nami could comment, a nasally voice gained the attention of the occupants of the cage. "Never make any noise when eating your meal… Anti-Manner Kick Course." The Bananawani that was lurking outside of the cage was tossed into the air by a kick to its gut and landed on its back unconscious. Zoro let out a small sigh and the corner of his mouth rose into a smirk as their rescuer said, "I didn't keep you waiting too long did I?"

Zoro rolled his eyes at Sanji's theatrics. "Stop screwing around and find the damn key."

Sanji gave Zoro a once over before he looked at Nami. "Nami-chan, do you love me now?"

"Yeah, yeah, now get us out of here."

"Of course, my love, right away!"

During Sanji's love confession, more Bananawani entered the room only to surround him and Usopp yelled, "Hey, one of the big crocodiles ate the key!"

Sanji glanced at each of the massive Bananawani around him. "That doesn't help me in the slightest, they're all big."

Smoker pinched the bridge of his nose; he needed a smoke, badly. "Take out the third one that just entered the room, that's the one with the key in its stomach."

Sanji raised his curly eyebrow and Usopp voiced his question, "How can you tell?"

"Are you deaf? That growl is the same growl of the one that ate the key."

Zoro observed Smoker's trained eyes on the Bananawani he mentioned before nodding to Sanji and the cook kicked the abnormally large crocodile in the stomach, causing it to spit out a sphere like object.

"What the fuck is that?" Sanji asked as a muffled noise came from the egg shaped sphere as it started to crack.

At that moment a very shriveled Galdino punched his way from the ball with a wheezed yell. "That damn Crocodile! Thinks he can kill me off! I'll show him!" Mr. 3 fell to his knees and drank some of the water on the ground, hydrating his body enough for it to return back to normal. He saw a key on the floor in the water next to the wax ball he'd just broke out of and he picked it up, lifting it in the air to get a better look at it. "Wonder what this is to," he mumbled.

Luffy, Nami, and Usopp simultaneously reached out for the object and yelled, "Hey! Give us that key!"

Mr. 3 looked up and noticed the Straw Hats plus one in the cage and he screamed, "You again!"

Zoro glared at the Baroque agent. "Give us the damn key."

Mr. 3 looked at the object in his fingers then back to the cage. This must be the key to their cell. He looked around room. The water will fill this room in a manner of minutes. A slow grin grew across his face. Time for a little payback.

While Galdino was contemplating his revenge against the Straw Hat Pirates, Sanji walked over to him. "Are you Mr. 3?"

Said man jumped and clutched at his chest. "You gave me quite the start."

Sanji took in the three shaped hair style the man wore and memories of his and Chopper's conversation ran through his mind. He's the reason Zoro resorted to trying to cut off his feet on Little Garden. "I'll ask again, are you Mr. 3? If so, your life depends on you giving me the key now."

Seeing murder in the blond's eyes, Galdino threw the key across the room and it landed in the center of a group of Bananawani. "I know not who you are but you must be one of them."

Usopp rolled his eyes and Mr. 3's actions. "Sanji, just kick his ass and make him make us a key. He can use his devil's abilities to do it."

Sanji grinned at Mr. 3 who was now taking slow steps back. "Is that so?"

Galdino yelped and attempted to run away but a few well-placed kicks to his face forced him to cooperate. He called on Doru to make a wax key to open the cage then Sanji tossed him aside. With the cage door now open, the Straw Hats and Smoker escaped only to find the Bananawani closing in on them.

"Zoro, let's go!" Luffy called out and the swordsman nodded to his captain, joining the fight to protect everyone from the creatures that threatened to eat them.

Usopp helped Vivi crawl her way back down the broken stairs and Sanji ran over to Nami, checking on her well-being. Once Vivi made it to the ground level, she and Usopp gathered with Sanji and Nami before she asked, "Is everyone ok?"

Nami smiled in gratitude at Vivi. "Thanks to you Vivi."

Vivi blushed and smiled at her friends. "That's good, I was worried. We need to make it to Alubarna but the tunnel is blocked by Banana…"

Vivi trailed off as she watch Zoro and Luffy defeat the last Bananawani standing in the room and the short captain shouted, "Is that it?! Where are the rest of you!?"

Shocked at how fast they defeated the Bananawani, Vivi hung her head in shame. "They disposed of them so easily and I almost died trying to kill one."

Usopp quickly turned to her offering words of consult. "Don't worry about it Vivi, they are freakishly strong," he patted her back, "it's not your fault at all."

The cracking of the windows and walls halted all conversation and Luffy felt Gomu stirred within him, her message was loud and clear. Water was dangerous for them and they needed to leave, now. Luffy looked to his crew and was about to give the command for them to leave when he noticed the passed out Marine in the cage. "Zoro, grab Smokey!"

Zoro shot him a surprised look. "Why? It's easier to leave him to die now so later he won't be on our asses."

"He's like a hammer Zoro, he'll die," Luffy shook his head, "and that's not how we defeat our enemies."

Zoro looked at his captain and once again understood why he followed this man. He nodded and swam over to the cage just in time to reach Smoker as the water busted through the windows and walls, completely flooding the room. Everyone grabbed on to someone as they were swept out of the room by the rushing water.

It was a while before Sanji's head broke through the surface of the pond outside Rain Dinners, dragging Luffy to the stone curb. Once out of the water, Sanji kicked Luffy to push the water from his swollen belly before he walked over to the edge to see if his other nakama had made it.

Vivi and Nami were next to emerge from the water and behind them was an unconscious

Usopp. Sanji helped the ladies to land before he pulled Usopp out of the water and laid him next to their captain. "Where's Zoro?" he questioned, looking at Nami then back at the water in anticipation.

Come on, Moss Head.

A few moments felt like eternity before Zoro broke the surface of the water, dragging behind him the Marine captain. Zoro hoisted himself and the extra weight out of the water and onto the curb, catching his breath before standing up and doing a head count of the crew. "Everyone alright?"

Sanji looked back to Vivi and Nami. "Do either of you still have some perfume on you?"

Each checked their pockets and Nami was the one to produce a small bottle, "Why?"

"Put some on so Chopper can track us." Sanji said and Nami nodded, doing as told and once he was satisfied their last crewmate would be able to find them, Sanji turned his attention to Zoro. "Why did you save him?"

Before Zoro could answer, Smoker stood and pointed the end of his Jitte at the swordsman. "Roronoa–" he coughed up some water that was still in his lungs, "Roronoa, why did you save me?"

Zoro knocked the end of Jitte away with Wado. "It wasn't because I wanted to. I was following captain's orders, don't thank me or anything."

Smoker looked at the Straw Hat Pirates weighing his options. "Then I assume you wouldn't mind if I carried out my official duties?"

Sanji shook his head in disappointment. "See, this is what we get for rescuing a Marine."

The statement irritated Smoker but his response was interrupted by Usopp and Luffy coming back to consciousness.

"Let's head off to Alubarna!" Usopp shouted to the pedestrians walking by on the street, arms thrown in the air.

Luffy growled and began to stalk around demanding, "Where's Crocodile?!" He noticed Smoker and relief passed through him with the knowledge that Zoro followed his orders to save the man, but that feeling past and he turned to growl at him. "You lookin' for a fight?!"

The Marine eyed the pirate for a moment–it would be dishonorable to attack the man who just saved his life, so instead of getting into an altercation with him, Smoker pulled two dry cigars from his inner pocket and lit them. "Leave now, Mugiwara; but it'll be the last time I let you go. If I see you again, your life is over."

The Straw Hats, including Vivi, held their breaths as they waited for Luffy's response. "Everyone, head out," he said with a grin on his face as he ran a finger under his nose and they let out relieved breaths.

"Alubarna is east of here." Vivi said.

Nami bobbed her head in confirmation. "Yeah, let's go east!"

Smoker watched on as the Straw Hat Pirates–the pirates he'd been chasing for a few months now–walked away from him. Their captain, however, still stood in the same spot, staring at Smoker. "Y'know, I don't hate you." Luffy felt Gomu crackle in amusement as the shock fell over the Marine's features.

Smoker flushed a bright red before he growled at Luffy and swung his Jitte, forcing the teen to jump out of the way. "Get out of here now before I change my mind."

Luffy laughed and ran to catch up with his crew. "Yosh! We go straight to Alubarna and kick Crocodile's ass!"

Feeling their captain's energy, the Mugiwara Pirates shouted, "aye!" as they reached the outskirts of Rainbase.

I love how Luffy can befriend everyone he comes across. Now just to make it known, here are a list of the set in stone couples so far:

Tensa Smoker x Portgas D. Ace

Roronoa Zoro x Noir Sanji

Shanks x Dracule "Hawk Eyes" Mihawk

Sir Crocodile x Don Quixote Doflamingo

I'll update this every time a couple becomes set. I'll do this simply for the fact that there is a lot of sex between people and I don't want to confuse anyone on who's with who. Once again thanks for reading, review if can. :3 Stay tune for next chapter: Hina - Huredhiel