It didn't take long for them to arrive back at Marine HQ. Amy sat behind Smoker as he sat forward enough to fit. His bike was quite impressive, being powered by his own smoke. Sadly, more than a few people managed to see them, despite it getting rather late. Some even threw Amy death glares. Well at least that meant they didn't recognize her at first, until someone posts it on PHO and calls her out.

Carol was going to kill her.

"Shouldn't you be wearing a helmet?" Amy said as Smoker pulled into the garage.

"Nope. I've been told that I'm rather hardheaded." Smoker grinned as he reformed his legs, got off the bike, and extended a gloved hand towards her. Amy took it and he helped her off.

"That was a horrible joke and you know that." Amy said bluntly. Smoker simply shrugged his shoulder and took some puffs from his cigars when two men dressed in white uniforms walked up to them. Amy vaguely remembered their faces from the time she gave them a check up. They had...unique facial features.

"Captain Smoker Sir!" They both saluted at him, but seemed a bit confused when they saw Amy.

"Shoko, Karaburma." Smoker said simply. "Miss Dallon is our guest."

Amy stood there awkwardly.

"Yes sir. We will begin our maintenance now." One of them answered, saluted again, and scurried past them.

"Strict huh." Amy said as Smoker led her through a door. It seemed funny that this was the same guy who helped that little girl with her kite in the tree.

"I prefer the term tough love." Smoker grunted as they walked past several Marines playing cards, and even an off duty PRT Agent? The female officer kept their PRT officer badge on.

"Soooo, how's being a Protectorate member being?" Amy knew that question was wrong, but Smoker seemed fun to bother. She vaguely heard some whispers coming from a different direction.

"Protectorate affiliated." Smoker corrected her. Amy shrugged after she almost bumped into a wet floor sign. "And decent I suppose. They supply us with some equipment, we have our own chain of command, and we just supplement their forces when needed."

"Supplement?"

Smoker stopped walking and looked down at her.

"They're using me just like I'm using them. Give and take. Nothing in this world is free. I'm sure they called in a favor when you gave us medical attention."

This guy was even more pessimistic than Amy. She liked him. The noise was getting louder.

"Yeah, wait, how do you know where my sister is in this big building?" Amy asked all of a sudden. She didn't remember asking anyone for directions. Amy then heard a loud scream. So that was the noise.

"That's how."

Smoker quickly guided her through some hallways before stopping at a door.

"In here."

Amy gave him a sideway look, and opened the door slowly.

"RAAAAAAAAAAA!"

They were greeted to the sight of Tashigi and Vicky playing a game of cards? Judging by the scream, Vicky was losing. She...wasn't normally this much of a sore loser.

"YOU SURE YOU NEVER PLAYED BEFORE?"

"I ONLY PLAYED ONCE BEFORE! AND WE USED DIFFERENT RULES AND CARD SETS!"

"I BET YOU COUNTED THE CARDS-"

Smoker and Amy simply observed the exchange for a few seconds and closed the door silently.

"I dont think they're here." Amy said dryly. She wasn't about to enter that mess. Smoker seemed amused and chuckled a bit.

"Agreed. Shall we head to the mess hall until they're done?" It seemed funny that the guy who managed to beat Lung in a fight was too chicken to get in the middle of a cat fight.

"Sure."

They quickly got away from the door before Vicky and Tashigi could notice that they were there.

Only a handful of marines were in the mess hall when they got there. Smoker simply kept smoking after they sat at a table away from the others.

It was...a good silence.

"Here." Smoker pulled out a cigar and held it out for Amy. "You seem like you need it. If your sister shows up I'll just say I tried using three at the same time." Amy stared at it for a second before grabbing it. It's not like anyone could see her here. Well aside from Vicky, but she seemed busy.

"Is this one like the one you gave me?"

Smoker shook his head slightly. "That's a Cuban apparently."

"I never smoked a cigar before. I'm more used to cigarettes." Smoker simply shrugged his shoulders and explained to her how to use it.

Not even five minutes later they were both puffing smoke.

"I hear that smoking here is quite unhealthy." Smoker said after some moments of silence.

"They are. They cause your lungs to blacken, lowering your stamina in the long run and can cause cancer." Amy said simply. Of course he wouldn't know. The man could turn into smoke and was literally named Smoker. "I'm immune to it though thanks to my power."

Smoker simply nodded in silence.

"And...they help me relax after a long day at the hospital, home or school." Or after dealing with Carol.

"Family problems I assume."

Amy nodded slowly, blowing a puff of smoke. These were pretty nice.

"Aren't you going to ask me about them?" Amy asked. She usually wasn't this open with her problems.

"It's not my business if you tell me or not. If you want to you can. Your choice. We barely know each other after all." Smoker said simply, causing the smoke to swirl around him casually. This guy was awesome.

"Tough love huh."

Smoker nodded. "Tough love."

They sat there in silence for a while, with Smoker even putting on a little show for her with his smoke. A few of his marines joined them with smaller cigarettes. Shit, she was going to smell like smoke. Oh well, she could manipulate something to change her odor.

"Ammmmmmy where are youuuu?"

There went her peace. Quickly taking the cigar out of her mouth, Amy threw it at Smoker who caughted it and removed the smoke surrounding her. Seeing this, the other marines quickly started hiding their cigarettes when Vicky and Tashigi entered the mess hall.

"There you are!" Vicky walked up to their small group. She caught sight of Smoker. "Hiya Papa Smoke."

Smoker scowled at Vicky. "Hello Glory Girl."

"Tsk tsk. Call me Vicky or Victoria out of costume old man." Vicky said as she sat in the seat next to Amy.

"When didja get back?" Vicky pulled out her phone.

"Not long ago." Amy said, sighing.

"Cool cool. Shoot, I'm going to be late for my date with Dean. You ready to go Amy?"

Great...another double date.

"Sure."

"Great!" Vicky turned to Tashigi. "I'll beat you next time." And turned to Smoker. "See ya Smokey. Thanks for having us over." Vicky quickly pulled out her phone and started talking to Tashigi again who kept trying to push her away.

"If you want a place to relax, Marine HQ is always open." Amy heard Smoker said softly who simply grinned.

Amy...was sure she was going to take him up on his offer in the future.

A/N

What's One Piece without some filler?

More fights will come in the future, maybe even sooner than you think. I just need Smoker and co settled in.