Summary: Domingo Reyes' life has always been shitty. But this? This takes it to a whole 'nother level. (A SI/OC-Insert reborn as one Heavenly Demon, knows the plot, and throws a middlefinger to the entirety of this new damn world whilst walking backwards to hell)

Warnings: AU, Canon Divergence, Yaoi/Het, Reincarnation, Canon Typical Violence, Language, Murder, Trauma, Triggers, Mentione Slavery/Rape/Abuse of different forms/etc., Puppy Dog Eyes, Little Siblings, Fucking With The Plot, the Shichibukais As One Very Chaotic Family, Boa Hancock, etc.

Disclaimer: this plot bunny had been raised and given to me by my big sis. Hope you're enjoying my suffering, bitch :).

.

Bluntly put, life was shitty.

Sure, it had its moments, like playing with my little sister and humoring her by reading some manga (and listening to her rants, but that's neither here nor there), but that doesn't change the fact that life was really fucked-up.

Case in point, me being tied up and held at numerous weapons. As well as my invasion of personal space.

Ah, I forgot. I hadn't introduced myself yet, haven't I?

.

My name is Domingo Reyes, and I'm a mob boss currently at the hands of one of my rival groups.

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Told you that the world was fucked up.

"Hey, I'm talking to you, dipshit!" Snarled one of those grunte at the front. Nothing worth mentioning, and a waste of my time. Angered by my ignoring him, he pistol-whipped my chin and tched, "Fucking arrogant bastard. Already trapped but still so prideful."

No, I wasn't. I knew very well that I can be killed at any moment. I just deemed you unworthy of my attention.

"What did you say, you little shit!?" Ah, I spoke out loud, didn't I? Well, if he's so eager for it...

I blankly stared at him, hair mussed and falling over my eyes as I drawled, "Why, I didn't expect you to understand the minds of adults, ragazzo."

As expected, he fumed, nostrils flaring and making him look uglier than he is. "Speak English, you retard! You're in America, so speak it!"

Americas. Truly, the evolution simply bypassed them entirely and left them with hulking muscles and little to no common sense.

Resisting the urge to roll my eyes, I simply ignored the brute and continued in counting the stains in the abandoned warehouse (how cliché) I was at. If I remember correctly, I was at fifty-four...

Suddenly, a lanky man wearing a cap spoke up, sotto voice and steady, "You know, you'll just end up being more embarrased if you continue bothering him, Conney. I thought you were at this business for, what, nearly a decade now?"

I inwardly hummed, amusing myself at the sight of dearest 'Conney' spluttering over his comrade's remark. Shame he was an enemy, I would've liked to exchange words with the only intelligent individual around.

The doors opened then, and revealed your typical nobody gangster boss: fat, wearing a suit, and had more rings needed on his stubby fingers.

I immediately recognized him—Boss Jack Hummingbird from Queens. What was he doing here at quaint Manhatten?

He grinned, and it made me feel slimy and dirty all at once. An achievement, since it had been so long since I've ever felt disgusted from my line of work. Not that it was a notable one, though.

"Don Reyes, how nice of you to join us!" Oh, merda. If he was going to monolouge, I'll bite my tongue. "Pity that your men aren't here to enjoy this memorable day."

I faced him, face devoid of any emotion, and graced his attempt to rile me up with a slow raise of an eyebrow. As if that petty sentence would get on my nerves; my men were dutifully standing guard over Daniela as she watches her animes, not blithering idiots bumbling about like his.

A snicker covered as a cough sounded from somewhere near my left (possibly the cap-wearing man), and a vein pulsed on Jack's sweaty face.

"Charming, aren't you?" He sneered, finally losing cool. How droll, I've interrogated stronger mooks than him. Boring. "Just because you're one of the youngest bigshots in Europe, you think you're all that, huh?"

"Oh, no," I cut in, relishing in the jolt of surprise that ran down their spines. Edmond had always noted that my shockingly light voice caught people wrong-footed more often than once. "I have no idea where that title came from, but I assure you, I don't deserve it."

Nothing like taking over your stepdad's famiglia at age twelve to work out some family problems, no. It was very invigorating.

He growled. "Are you mocking me?" And I chuckled, as if everything was right in the world and I was on my way to pick up a snack for mio tesoro. "Me, Jack Hummingbird, largest political figure in South America. And you, an half-Italian immigrant playing with his daddy's toys, have the gall to mock me!?"

I waited for him until he was quiet, still huffing and puffing from his exclamation, and leaned forward in as much as I could while tied up in a chair and him being three feet away.

"Mocking defines as making fun of someone. But this?"

I smirked, lowering my tone just a tad.

"This is telling the cold, hard truth, Don Hummingbird."

I expected the kick to my face, laughing silently at how easy it was to get under his skin. As was the sound of a gun's safety going off, and a muzzle against my head.

"You...!" His gross breath fanned on my nape, and I grimaced inside. Had he ever heard of a mouthwash before? "I'll kill you. You and your ragtag group of rats!"

I looked at him, and could practically taste the fear in his every pore.

"How unoriginal."

And then an explosion went off.

.

Three hours later, I was in sitting shotgun in a familiar black van and adjusting my leather gloves, muttering, "Next time you light up dynamite, look before throwing, okay?"

Edmond, a brunette with an irritating stubble to look at and crow's feet around his eyes, merely let out a guffaw. "Sorry, Boss. Was a bit in a rush, since Lady Daniela's been asking for you after the episode ended. Said she had something to give to you."

I shook my head and sighed at his easygoing attitude. Sometimes, I wonder what possessed me to appoint this idiot as my right-hand man. A lapse of sanity, perhaps. Or maybe a demon took over my mind and body.

Minutes later sees me hugging my little sister, who was already dragging me upstairs for a surprise that I'm equally dreading and resigned to being a victim of. Was it another cosplay session? A new yaoi manga she wanted?

"Ta-dah!" She cheered, dainty hands holding up a small koala keychain hanging on a large pink heart. She smiled, cinnamon-brown eyes shining with barely repressed excitement as she asked, "Do you like it?"

I stared at it, vaguely recalling that my birthday had come and gone days ago while I was on a trip to Rome while I left Daniela in America, and returned her smile as I hugged her close. "I love it. Thank you, sorella."

She giggled as I ran ungloved fingers through her short, blonde hair. It's getting a bit longer now. "No problem, fratello!" And all was right in the world. If only for a mintue or two. Here in my sister's bedroom, holding her in my arms with people whom I trusted outside looking for any hostiles around the neighborhood, everything was gentle and kind.

.

It's while I was walking in the city that it happened.

I didn't know if the driver was drunk, or the brakes were broken, but one moment I'm perfectly alright whilst walking down on a green light. And the next, I'm on the ground bleeding from a head injury with my ribs caved in.

Someone was shouting, telling someone to call the ambulance. Another was holding me in their lap, tears falling on my face as they begged me to stay awake. One was announcing that there had been an accident, and asking if there was anyone present with medical knowledge, even if it's just first-aid.

But all I had eyes on was my phone, and the tiny koala keychain hanging on it against the bloody pavement and thought, oh dear, Daniela's going to be so upset.

Then it was black, my hand reaching out to my phone falling limp as my heart stopped and brain shut down.

.

Death was fake, the Catholics were wrong, and Reincarnation apparently existed.

And life was still shitty.

I watched as my mother of this life died on her pathetic excuse of a bed, and wondered idly if I should've read those fanfics my sister (oh, dearest sorella. Forgive your brother for dying and leaving you alone—) raved about. Then decided to pat Donquixote "Corazon" Rocinante's shaking form, and pushed away that thought. Regrets were regrets, and the important thing is what I could do now.

If my memory was still as clear as I had in Domingo Reyes' body, then after this comes the tying the Tenryūbito being tied up and set in flames as well as Homing's death, leading to Fleet Admiral Sengoku adopting my apparent brother here.

And the start of Doflamingo's little 'family'.

Biting down a sigh, I weighed the pros and cons of killing my birth father and glanced at Rocinante from the corner of my eye.

Donquixote Homings was weak and naïve of the world's ways. He would be dead weight until he sobers up.

Yes. He'll have to die. But not where Rocinante can see.

.

Burying Homings beside our mother was a quick but somber affair. Rocinante wouldn't stop crying, and I was still at odds between letting him grow up under Marine custody and making him stay as I grow up to be one of the deadliest pirates ever to roam in the Grand Line.

In the end, I watch him leave with a younger Sengoku after giving him my blessings, hiding behind a pile of trash as Rocinante tried to look for any sign of his older brother nearby.

And as I unlocked my Conqueror's, fueled by the rage of them hurting my younger sibling and my own powerlessness, I waited for the inner circle of the Donquixote Pirates to approach and claim me as their god. Along with a gun and a Devil Fruit that will change my fate.

.

Rocinante remembers living a life filled with riches and happy days. He also remembers scavenging for food and nearly dying at the hands of people angry at their name and leaving his sole family to join the Marines.

But he's still there. He's there in random messages written in code, waiting for him to be found. He's there in sudden disappearances of pirate crews both in the Blues and the Grand Line, leaving not a single trace nor a whisper behind. He's there in every shades and sunglasses Rocinante sees and wonders if his sensitive eyes are still alright. He's there in quiet mornings on his birthday with a present sitting innocently on his bed, whether he was in Marineford or at sea.

Because Donquixote Doflamingo was Domingo Reyes, and both individuals loved their respective siblings very much.

.

Vergo was nothing like Edmond, all rigid lines and dark colors. But he was still an efficient right-hand man, and his strange quirk of having food and various items stuck on his face was still running gag in real life, much to my joy.

"Here are the reports of the newest crews coming from the East Blue, Doflamingo-san."

I accepted the thick folder handed to me and started leafing through it, acknowledging his efforts with an approving nod.

Curious and still young, a four year-old Baby 5 clambered on my leg and stood on the tips of her toes, wondering what I was reading.

"What's it about, young master?" She inquired, and I had long ago given up in getting her to stop me calling that after I've picked her up (and killed her so-called family) a few months prior, so I patted her head and smiled.

"It's about the new pirate crews from East Blue, bambina."

She tilted her head, leaning against my touch (and I crave for my gun to shoot those utter bastardos who made her feel as if she was useless—) and pouting in confusion. "But that's the weakest sea, right? Why bother looking for enemies there?"

I thought about her words and how to answer them in a way a child could understand, because she's not as exposed to the world as she was in canon, and started with a low hum.

"Do you remember the Pirate King, bambina? He hailed from the East Blue as well. Monkey D. Garp and his son, Dragon, were also born in the calmest of the Blues."

She blinked, as if just realizing that, and made an 'oh' face. "So the East Blue is actually really strong?"

I shrugged. "Not entirely correct, but not entirely wrong either."

"You see, the East has always been kind to her inhabitants. And being kind means being taken advantage of."

My mind went to Buggy destroying Orange Village, Arlong and his merry gang of fishmen enslaving multiple islands, and the many corrupt Marines lingering in those waters.

Closing my eyes behind my black shades, I answered, "It's not that the East Blue is strong. It's the opposite, in fact. But because of her kindness, chaos will soon inevitably come and turn the world upside-down. An equal exchange, if you must. Or Murphy's Law in the works. Whatever may happen, can happen."

"After all," I stared at the face of all four East Blue legends—Gol D. Roger, Silvers Rayleigh, the Monkey D. Duo—and placed it atop my desk with a plop. "Who are we in the eyes of Fate but pawns for her to play with and discard?"

Young still, innocent she was, Baby 5 pretended to understand.

And I hope she'll never have to understand.

.

"You want me to... what?"

Sengoku watched as the crying boy he had adopted, now grown into a fine Marine (a clumsy one, but a Marine all the same) look at him, jaw-slacked and eyes wide. It was to be expected from the task he had just been given.

"I want you to go undercover in the Donquixote Pirates, Rocinante. The infamous pirate crew rarely seen but always leaving destruction in its wake. And your brother's very own crew."

Rocinante gulped audibly, the silver bear charm on his anklet feeling very warm. While Sengoku knew about his status as a former Tenryūbito, he didn't know that he had been keeping contact with said estranged brother. Or rather, his brother was the one keeping contact with him.

(He had a heart attack when he first saw a present in his room in Marineford. What if Doffy got caught!? He'll be sent to Impel Down for trespassing!)

"I—er—don't you think there'll be a conflict in interests?" He desperately tried to change his mind. No way was he going to be able to spy on his brother. He's his brother! He hasn't been able to sneak up on him since he was five! "Surely someone else could, I don't know, sneak in? A Cipher Pol agent?" Not Lucci, mind you. Because while that boy is a genius, he was still a boy.

Sengoku sighed, looking every inch a tired Fleet Admiral, and Rocinante felt slightly bad. But he still wouldn't accept the mission. It was too much!

"There had been reports of children being on the crew—" dammit, they knew about Baby 5 and Buffalo? "—and part of your mission is to discourage more young… recruits. And possibly alienate them from Doflamingo."

Yeaaaaah, that's not going to happen, Rocinante inwardly grimaced. Those kids loved Doflamingo like a child only could to their parent. And since they've been abandoned… well.

Shoulders slumping, Rocinante felt all the fight leave him at the thought of another Marine separating the kids from his brother. There would be a lit of screaming and crying, maybe a mention of brainwashing or grooming, and Doffy would raise hell and bring down heaven for his kids. Definitely not something Rocinante wanted to see.

"Alright… but remember what I said about snooping around being a no-go. I'm pretty sure Doffy—Doflamingo has Observation Haki."

Sengoku nodded. "I'm well aware. Keep caution when investigating them. Word has it that Doflamingo has demons under his hand."

Rocinante thought about Vergo with food always stuck on his face, Pica and his voice, Trebol's obnoxious teasing but quick defense to his family, and Diamante's strange reactions to compliments, before saluting to his superior and leaving to prepare.

.

When Rocinante comes, he's all lanky limbs and sewn lips with fingers to speak with and eyes that show more than words could ever hope to convey.

Doflamingo takes one look at him before carefully enveloping him in a hug, as if waiting for him to push him away, and Rocinante's heart breaks into a million pieces as he all but pulls his brother (his brother, seas, his brother who was afraid of his rejection—) flush against himself, burying his entire being to the warmth and smell of his lone family and just sags in relief.

Sengoku might have sheltered and raised him all these years, but Doflamingo was always safety and sweet, sweet home.

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NYD: Short, but felt right to stop here.

So here we have Do(fla)mingo Donquixote in all his brooding glory! Funny how this fic finished first before the other ideas I have… if you know about my tumblr account, you'll know what I'm, talking about.