Vetica awoke to the sound of yelling. It was unusual for such a commotion to be going on without the sound of cannon fire. Blearily, she was helped to her feet by Rider who had a look of panic on his face to match the chatter coming from outside their room.
"What's happening?" She asked, rubbing her eyes and pulling on her sweater vest.
Rider let out a small grunt. "There's something crazy going on with Dressrosa'
Vetica's eyes grew wide as she whipped around to look at her friend. "Dressrosa!?"
She clambered onto the ships deck to see a projector screen towering above a crowd of marines. On the screen was a distant view of a strange white cage surrounding an island. Her breath caught; Rider had been right. She grabbed a nearby seaman's shoulder, turning him to face her.
"What's going on?" She demanded. "Have they reported anything?"
The marine was pale as he shook his head. "They- they say it's S-s-strawhat Luffy..."
"My buddy in Fujitora's division said that they were trying to trap pirates at a tournament, and Doflamingo suddenly went nuts," A freckled marine offered.
Vetica's mouth felt dry. Barty said that he was going to that tournament. Without even thinking about it, her feet began to carrying her back to her cabin. The freckled marine reached after her.
"Miss reporter! Where are you going?!"
Suddenly a pair of arms wrapped themselves around her, immediately bringing her to a halt. She looked up to see Rider slowly shake his head. She attempted to pull away, but he forcefully cradled her head against his shoulder.
"You can't call him now," he whispered to her. "Just wait until more news comes."
"Is she alright?" Vetica heard the freckled marine ask Rider.
Rider gently released her, nodding. "She has friends there. That's all."
Her heart thudded, as Vetica came to grips with the fact that Bartolomeo may have already been captured. For now she had to focus on getting what scraps of this story she could.
"Oh man..." The marine gave her shoulder a reassuring pat. "I'm sure Admiral Fujitora will get rid of those disgusting pirates."
Vetica gulped and nodded, forcing herself to smile.
"Yeah," she said turning to fully face him. "Is there anyone who can give me a list of what pirates attended the tournament?"
The young marine grinned down at her. "I bet Captain Delfin would know. Just you follow me."
It was a tense couple of hours while Vetica and the crew watched the situation unfold, attempting to make sense of the sparse amounts of information that were being passed along. Vetica was able to confirm that Bartolomeo had in fact entered Doflamingo's tournament, but from that point his whereabouts were unknown.
Mountains moved on the distant island, explosions shone, and dust filled the air from buildings falling. Vetica could not imagine how many casualties there must have been. The crowd packed closer together with each shrinking of the cage. As they watched the island quake and ripple, Vetica clutched her notepad tight.
"You better be alright you idiot..." She muttered under her breath.
Then with a bang that resonated over the vast ocean, the birdcage disappeared. Marines cheered and celebrated as their officers barked orders to prepare themselves in case they were called to aid with the capture efforts. Amongst the celebrating Vetica was finally able to slip away to her room. She quickly dug through the snail palace, pulling out Shea and dialing Bartolomeo's number.
She paced the room as the snail rang. Her teeth dug into the bottom corner of her lip. Nobody was answering. She sat and waited for the longest two minutes of her life, until a familiar voice answered.
"Hello?" A deep smooth voice said.
Vetica's stomach rolled; it wasn't Bartolomeo's voice.
"Gambia?" She whispered, shielding her mouth as Rider entered the room. Her friend looked at her questioningly before she motioned for him to quickly close the door. "Where's Barty?"
"Oh it's you… I don't know," the man on the other end groaned. "We got separated during the tournament. I was goin' to go get him, but then everything went to hell."
Vetica's heart raced as she considered all the possibilities. If Barty did die at least she wouldn't have to worry about the agreement they made, but then she wouldn't have a star rookie either. If he was caught then there was the possibility he would rat her out, in which case she would have to figure out who captured him and pay to have someone rescue or kill him.
The snail spoke again. "...you don't know what happened to him right? You've got ties to the government right?... If you know anything the guys and I freakin' out. He hasn't been caught right-"
"I don't know anything right now," she hissed, trying to keep her voice steady. "But I will let you know if I hear anything... just please have him call me if he comes back."
"Okay," Gambia replied. There was a moment of pause. "I know it's none of my business, but why d'you care? You made Barto-aniki say he raped you but keep calling. How's that make any sense-"
Vetica's face felt hot. She looked up at Rider who shrugged as if to agree with Gambia's statement before pulling out a magazine to read. Vetica took a deep breath. "Look... it's complicated okay, just-"
"Bullshit. He keeps your picture on his nightstand right next to Luffy's. Every time you talk he shuts us all out. If you like him you should be here. If not, leave him alone dammit."
A tick of annoyance flared through the girl's veins. Her brow twitched. "Fine!"
She hung up.
She sighed.
She sat.
Rider looked down at her with an unsympathetic smirk. He licked his finger and flipped the page of his magazine. "Good to know they aren't all complete idiots."
Vetica shot him a glare, as she put the snail away, certain her face was bright red. The absolute nerve of Gambia... Didn't he realize that it wasn't the time for stuff like that. Obviously, she cared. She didn't have to justify that to him, but, all the same, him accusing her was... annoying.
Vetica spent the next two days making business calls and writing, with Shea constantly on her shoulder in hopes that Barty might contact her, but no phone call ever came. She went to bed with the small snail right by her pillow, but no call ever came. She even took the snail with her to shower, but even then there was no call from Bartolomeo.
However, luckily, her mind was finally put to ease on the third day when she received several briefings and wanted posters from headquarters, including Bartolomeo's, whose bounty had gone up again. Apparently, the moron had nearly died helping Monkey D. Luffy defeat Doquixote Doflamingo. To say that she was a little jealous would be a huge understatement. That jerk probably hadn't called her so he could spend all his time with "Luffy-senpai," though, admittedly she would probably do the same. She forwarded some copies to his ship as usual, but still received no reply.
Once she was alone in her cabin, she ran her fingers over a copy of his mocking grimace. She chewed her lip and let out a sigh, before jamming her thumb into the photo's eye. The edge of her lip twitched.
"Jerk, not calling... do you know how much you distracted me from my job?" She began the rip the poster but froze before she could tear his face. Her hands shook, as his ugly eyes playfully grinned at her. She tossed it to the side and sank against the wall. "What am I doing? Vetica, you idiot... you can't get tied back up in this. You should be sad he's not dead..."
Vetica balled up her sweater around her mouth and let out a muted scream.
Once her throat felt sufficiently raw, she threw her head back with a groan. "I need a distraction."
And as they continued to the Marine Base Vetica found what she was looking for in the freckled marine who had helped her, named Joshua. He came from a small remote island in the South Blue and was a remarkably skilled kisser. He took time to listen to the young reporter's stories and showed her all the places marines snuck off to on a ship to avoid their duties. Rider of course did not fully approve but kept his nose out of it, and in three days their journey and Vetica's brief relationship were over.
"Corsia has nice weather and interesting stuff from time to time," Joshua said, grasping at her hand, as Vetica walked down the gangplank. "Plus you could write about, our Captain. His seventh anniversary is coming up, you know."
Vetica stopped and turned to face the young man. "I don't write 'Just and Brave' anymore Joshua, and a reporter like me needs to be on the front line."
"So you're heading into Emperor Territory?"
Vetica looked up and around at the sky as if there was some sort of answer as to why she should not go hidden amongst the clouds, before raising her eyebrows and smiling. "Mhm."
The marine scoffed and rolled his eyes. Then he looked up past her and stiffly saluted. "Sir!"
"Dismissed," a gruff voice ordered from behind Vetica, and Joshua scampered off with a pout. She pivoted to see a very large grey haired man with a distinctive scar underneath his eye. He looked Vetica over and beamed, pulling her into a rough hug.
"Vice Admiral!-" Vetica gasped, squirming in an attempt to escape being smothered by the man's hard warm chest. The man laughed and pushed her out to arm's length, studying her with glassy eyes.
"You look just like your old man," he said then smacked her back, knocking her off balance. "I can't believe how much you've grown! Such a handsome young lady!"
"Thanks..." Vetica choked out, not sure whether to feel complimented or insulted by his statement. Then with a pause of realization she straightened her posture. "But wait, Vice Admiral Garp, why aren't you at Dressrosa? I heard your grandson is there."
Garp swatted away the notion. "They don't need me over there. Besides, then I would miss the chance to see Marlon Fuller's daughter."
There was a tinge of sadness in his voice which made Vetica's feel like a icicle had been driven into her chest. Then she felt a familiar presence come up beside her. Garp looked the newcomer over and held out a hand. Rider shook it.
"You must be the tech," the older man mused.
"I am," Rider replied, friendly for once. "Are you the one taking us to Hubble?"
Garp let out another laugh.
"That hell hole? No, that's Commander Twill. I have other duties to do," He lowered his gaze. "It's pretty gutsy even for veteran reporters to want to enter Shanks' territory. Though, guess I shouldn't be too surprised, you being Marlon's kid and all. That man was insane. It's a real shame that he had to go like that."
The phantom scent of blood and tears filled her nose, as memories threatened to make themselves apparent. She shook her head and took a deep breath. "You know, I don't remember much about it actually."
Garp took her hands, placing a small envelope in them, his expression solemn. Vetica fiddled with the edge of the flap, but the old man's hand stopped her from opening it.
"I never got to give this to your father, but I'll tell you what I would have told him. Some information is best not read until asked for. Ahem... Anyways," He ruffled Vetica's hair and nodded off to the right. "She's waiting for you at Dock Three."
He then thrust his hands back in his pockets and began to head off in the opposite direction. "Stay safe! It'd be a shame if you died before you got the chance to read it!"
Vetica and Rider watched him leave before checking through their things and making their way to their escort. The vice admiral's warning was cryptic enough to make Vetica stash the letter in her blouse pocket. Reading it would have to wait until they made it to their destination.