The trip to Hubble was relatively uneventful for a trip through the New World. With the exception of a sudden blizzard halfway through their journey, the seas were calm. Vetica still had received no news about Bartolomeo besides that he had managed to escape Admiral Fujitora's grasp. She considered attempting to call him, but she didn't want to have to potentially talk to Gambia again.
Commander Twill was a wonderful escort, though was nothing like Vetica had expected. Twill was a tall but very soft looking woman in her forties with a demeanor to match. She wore her bright red hair in a loose ponytail over her shoulder at all times and could regularly be found wearing an apron and sewing on the helm. Every single one of her crew members had their initials embroidered on their collars, which was more than likely how they received the nickname "The Monogramed Marines". Apparently, Twill had a great distaste for many crews' lack of refinement, making the young reporter wonder how exactly the woman became a commander.
She offered to teach Vetica how to embroider while they traveled as well as make her an apron, which Vetica politely refused. She instead spent her time aboard the ship interviewing what men would actually talk to her, avoiding the commander's constant eerily friendly questions about her articles, and counting the minutes till they could leave. Rider on the hand was more than happy to spend the week by the commander's side, chatting about fashion, baking, and stitching his name on all of his clothes.
Arriving at Hubble provided little relief to Vetica's desire to avoid the cheery commander. The island was just as Garp had described it: a hell hole. The terrain was swampy and the buildings were rundown, their wooden structures warped and paint flaking. To make things worse, due to the large amount of pirate activity and Vetica's apparent reputation, Twill insisted on staying as their escort until she felt they were sufficiently safe on the island, which Rider of course loved.
They checked in to a white-ish two story inn which was situated between the bayou and shoreline. The people who ran it seemed nice, despite the fact their clothes were almost constantly covered in chicken blood. They brought in fresh fruit from the bayou every day for them to try and threw large dinners with the locals every night. Vetica observed that it was almost like the entire island consisted of one huge family. The generous atmosphere even made Twill's constant nagging a little more bearable.
The only thing that still bothered Vetica was the fact that she had heard nothing from Bartolomeo for two-and-a-half weeks. It wasn't like she missed hearing his voice, but when she was alone she found herself wondering if he had been killed or compromised after all. That was until Rider brought her a local newspaper, with a picture of Bartolomeo's ship and a headline about him harassing a nearby island.
Vetica let out a sigh, prompting her friend to give a questioning look.
"So he seriously hasn't contacted you at all," he asked.
Vetica sat on the edge of her bed, listless. "No, not since before Dressrosa."
Rider slowly approached her, clearly studying her expression. "You think he ditched us."
Vetica let out an unconvincing scoff.
"He couldn't... He wouldn't," She said, but the truth was she was not sure anymore. Then a thought came to mind. She looked up at Rider. "You don't think one of Luffy's crew told him not to call me... Or maybe Gambia told him not to call."
Rider's brows shot up as he scrunched his lips together, clearly holding back a snicker.
"What?" Vetica demanded.
He cleared his throat and turned away from her slightly. "Nothing. Just the first time in a while, I've seen you this self-conscious. Almost makes you cute."
Vetica chucked her pillow at him and covered her mouth, at the realization that she had just reinforced his point. Her face burned. She scowled at him and grabbed her other pillow, holding it up threateningly, only causing Rider smile more. "It's not like that."
"Whatever, you say," Rider chuckled. His face became serious again. "Just promise me you'll stay stubborn and let him be."
"As if I'd call him at this point," Vetica pouted, glancing around the room. She didn't want Rider to know it felt like all of her energy was slowly oozing into the floor. She forced a smile, hugging the pillow against her chest. "His reputation will go up no matter what, now that he's buddies with Monkey D. Luffy. I don't have to do anything at this point."
She looked up to see Rider staring at her intensely.
"I'll be good, really; I promise," she insisted. "I can always find another rookie to follow. You should go see Twill since she's leaving tomorrow."
Rider blushed.
"It's not weird is it?" He asked.
Vetica blinked at him. "Are you seriously asking me that question?"
The large man nodded as he made his way to the door. "Good point. See you at dinner."
And with a slam of the door, Vetica was left alone.
She flopped on the bed and fanned herself. The humidity on this island was truly awful, sometimes the room felt like a hot box. She rolled over onto her stomach.
"I hate this," She groaned, before flipping back over. "I hate Twill, and I hate this weather."
Vetica looked over at the window considering whether or not it would be inappropriate to strip since there were no curtains. It was pretty dark, both outside and in her room. Plus her window backed up to the bayou, so, unless one of Twill's "Monogramed Marines" was willing to risk getting his uniform muddy for a peek, the chance of someone seeing her was probably pretty low. Besides, if someone did see her, she could always scream for one of the marines guarding her room to catch them.
It was decided then. She sat up and removed her sweater vest, which made her feel a little cooler. Then she unbuttoned the top of her blouse, but it still was not enough to cool off her face. She sighed and went to open the window.
"I wonder if it's this bad in Rider's room..."
She unfastened the lock and looked down into a pair of intense red irises.
Vetica yelped, falling back from the slowly opening window. Her heart thumped wildly in her chest. She covered her mouth as she stared up at the smiling face of Bartolomeo. There was a knocked on the door.
"Miss Vetica, is everything okay?" A marine's voice called from the hall.
"Umm..." She uncovered her mouth and quickly attempted to catch her breath. The fanged man was now crouched in her windowsill. If he was caught here, she was definitely going to get interrogated again.
"Yeah, sorry. Uh... just got startled by a bug," she said loudly. She smacked the floor next to her, eyes never leaving Bartolomeo's. "Got it!"
She slowly stood as he lowered himself into the room. A cool breeze gently brushed her cheeks.
"Okay," the marine replied. "Just holler if you need us."
She looked to the door. "Thank you!"
She had scarcely finished her words before she was pulled into a warm embrace. Warm breath tickled her neck, as Bartolomeo pressed his face against her hair. Despite every urge she had to slap him, the comfort of his familiar scent caused her body to melt. She wrapped her arms around his broad back, which was even more muscular now than she remembered.
After a minute she finally found the strength to push away slightly. She took his face in her hand and forced him to look into her eyes, determined to give him a proper scolding. "Barty you-"
Warm lips stopped her own from speaking, once more causing Vetica's body to lose its will to fight. She wrapped her arms around his neck pulling him closer, as they stumbled back towards the bed. As the back of her knee ran into the bed, she broke away with a gasp.
"Wait, wait," she breathed, forming a wall between their lips with her hands.
The man let go of her, and she quickly dragged him away from the window and locked her door. She then pressed him into a corner where no one could see them from outside. Once she felt like her nerves had settled enough, she released him.
"What are you doing?" She hissed. "Do you have a death wish?"
" I missed you-dabe," He whispered, lifting a hand to her face. His unchanging grin made Vetica wonder if he had even heard her. She slapped his hand away with a scowl.
Bartolomeo frowned, as if he was a small child who had just been scolded. She pursed her lips.
"You don't call me for two weeks, break into my bedroom, and just magically want me to be happy to see you?"
"It's not like two weeks is a long time-," he muttered.
"Yeah, when you're just sailing around doing whatever the hell you usually do, not fighting psychotic former warlords," Vetica spat, poking him forcefully in the abs. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked away. "I thought you might have died until you apparently came busting into the town next-door."
Bartolomeo leaned down until his face was in front of hers. He smiled. "So you were worried about me-dabe?"
Vetica gulped and cleared her throat turning away from him. "And if I was-?"
Knock, knock, knock...
The pair froze.
"Vetica," a soft feminine voice called. "It's me. I just wanted to check on you."
Vetica closed her eyes and swore under her breath; it was Twill. She looked around for a possible spot to hide her guest, praying she wouldn't have to. "I'm fine!"
There was silence and the sound of someone shifting their footing. "I know... But could you please open the door?"
Vetica nodded to the bed, and Bartolomeo clumsily scampered over to it, while Vetica sighed loudly and walked over to the door. She took a quick glance at the bed, where Bartolomeo was climbing under, and slowly cracked the door open.
"Yes, Commander?" Vetica asked, making a show of rubbing her eyes. "What was it?"
The taller woman peered in the door, around Vetica who opened it more ever so slightly, hoping the pirate was good enough at hiding not to get them caught. Then Commander Twill leaned back.
"It's dangerous to nap with the window open," she commented.
Vetica blinked at her before leaning out the door and looking at the marines stationed along the wall. She did her best to smile, fanning herself. "Sorry, It's just so hot, and I felt safe knowing your men were here."
Twill let out a small sigh and nodded. "Well, that might change after what I have to tell you, unfortunately. May I?"
Vetica licked her lips and opened the door all the way to let the other woman in. She glanced over at the bed. To her relief she couldn't see any sign of Bartolomeo. She looked back at the commander, who gracefully pulled a small folded paper from her apron. The woman unfolded it and handed it to Vetica. It was the news article Rider had shown her before.
"Where did this come from?" Vetica asked, pretending to be surprised. She covered her mouth, as she read some more. "Isn't this near here?"
Twill gently nodded, placing a hand on Vetica's arm. "Yes, I'm afraid it is, but I promise my men and I will make sure to do everything in our power to protect you."
Vetica shook her head. "It's probably just a coincidence."
Twill's gave her arm a gentle squeeze before making her way over to the window. "That may be so..." With a small click she locked the window shut. "But I don't think it is."
She then returned to Vetica's side. Her heart felt as though it was going to burst with Twill in such close proximity to the bed. The woman studied her face.
"Do you need me to keep you company tonight?" She said.
Vetica wiped her eyes in an attempt to convince Twill she was trying not to cry. "No...I-I'm sorry, but I think I'd just like to be alone right now."
Twill let out another heavy sigh but nodded. Slowly she opened the door and looked up at Vetica. "Well, I'm just a few rooms away if you need to talk."
Vetica forced a smile and nodded, as she helped her out the door, quickly locking it behind her. Quietly Bartolomeo emerged from his hiding spot, rolling his shoulders with clear discomfort. Vetica quickly motioned for him to come over to her side. As he came over he lifted his arms to pin her between himself and the wall putting her eye level with the middle of his very well-toned chest. Vetica felt her face flush. He smirked. She gulped.
"Well I hope you have some sort of brilliant escape plan," she whispered.
"I don't."
"Well then I hope you don't mind leaving quickly."
He pulled something out of his pocket and held it out to her. She looked down to see him holding a bobblehead in the likeness of Monkey D. Luffy, clearly some of Barty's unusual handywork. A disbelieving smile spread across her face.
"What is this?"
"It's a gift-dabe," he said softly, giving her the look that somehow always managed to win her over. "From a commanding officer of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet."
Vetica's eyes grew wide and her smile faded. She blinked up at him. "You mean, you?" He just grinned even more. Her mouth was agape. "Oh shit... You mean, you're part of Luffy's fleet? You really did meet?"
He nodded placing the bobblehead in her hands. His eyes were glittering with excitement. "And I got something I think you'll really wanna see-dabe."
She gave him a flat look. "It's not on your ship right."
The man's grin skewed to one side. She was right.
Vetica looked from the door to the window, calculations running through her head at a million meters per second. Twill hadn't left that long ago which meant the chances of there already being a guard outside the were pretty low, but even then, it was possible that the commander might have sent someone out there in anticipation of an incident before her visit, but if that was the case then it meant whether or not she left with Bartolomeo, she would more than likely be caught since he was already in her room, and if they saw him carrying her, then she could possibly play it off as another kidnapping.
She sighed. "Fine. Let's go."
Luckily for Vetica and Barty, it appeared that Commander Twill had not posted anyone by the window yet. Carefully Bartolomeo helped Vetica down to the ground, and the two slipped into the bayou. The path was slick and dark, but it did not take too long for them to reach the inlet where the Going Luffy-senpai was moored. Or, at least, It did not feel like a long time since Bartolomeo told her all about his adventures in Dressrossa while they hiked.
As they got closer to the ship, Vetica stopped. None of the ships windows were lit, but she still felt uneasy. Bartolomeo cocked his head back at her.
"What about your men?" She said, indicating the cabins.
He shrugged. "I told them to go party it up on the far side of the island-dabe?"
Vetica blinked at him. "Aren't you worried about them getting caught?"
The man sighed and trudged towards her through the wet grass. A strong arm wrapped around her waist and he lifted her into his arms. He chuckled, bringing his face inches from her own. Vetica's breath caught.
"You doubting my ability as a captain-dabe?" He challenged.
The young woman could scarcely answer him as she found herself transfixed by the confidence in his eyes. Chills ran down her spine. She shook her head, averting her gaze with as much of a frown as she could manage.
"N-no. Of course not." She placed a hand on his chest. "just take to me to whatever it was you wanted to show me."
With ease, Bartolomeo jumped aboard the ship and began to carry Vetica to the hall that lead to the captain's quarters. She pressed away to glare up at him, skeptically. "This better not be a trick to take me to your bed."
"It's not a trick-dabe!" Then he set her down in the entry hall and went to light a lamp. "There. We're here."
Vetica's jaw dropped as the room lit up. Before her, framed next to the Straw Hat's wanted posters, were five scribbled pieces of paper. She looked to Barty who beamed and nodded for her to look closer. Slowly she approached the pieces of paper inspecting each one. Individually they were honestly sorry excuses for signatures and one strange drawing of a chicken, but what they represented, that was much bigger.
"These are the real deal," she breathed. Her eyes were beginning to sting; it felt like she was in some sort of dream and she wasn't sure whether to be incredibly grateful or jealous. A calloused finger wiped a tear from her cheek, before Bartolomeo pulled her into a hug. She pointed to the paper which only contained the character for "sword."
"This is Zoro's, isn't it?"
Bartolomeo nodded.
"And this one is 'Iron Man' Franky's."
"Mhm."
She studied the most flourished signature. She remembered seeing a wanted poster with a similar name, but couldn't recognize it from her research. She pointed. "Who's Usopp? Is he new?"
Bartolomeo seemed to bounce up and down with excitement. "That's the real identity of Sogeking-dabe!"
Vetica's eyes grew wide. "No way!"
"Way!" He said, nodding enthusiastically before pointing at the weird chicken drawing. "And that was made by Robin-senpai!"
A twinge of annoyance flashed through the woman, as she read the description: "rooster-kun." She glanced up at the man's very rooster-like hair before grimacing. No wonder he hadn't called him if Robin had given him any kind of attention. "I'm sure you loved that..."
But Bartolomeo ignored her jab, instead pointing at the final autograph which simply read, "me". There were no words needed. Nobody else could have possibly made that dumb of an autograph. She could suddenly feel the warmth of pure joy cut through any feelings of jealousy as she remembered the first time she had seen the future pirate king's face.
"It's beautiful," she whispered, wiping her face.
"I stand and stare at it twenty minutes every morning-dabe."
Vetica could believe that from him. She sighed. She really wished she still had her own prized possession so she could place it in such a shrine. It had been a year and she still could barely believe she lost it.
"Barty..." She looked up at the pirate, eyes glistening. "Thank you for this."
He pulled her tighter against him and pressed his head against hers. "I wanted to get you, a set of your own, but we ran out of paper-dabe."
Vetica attempted to stifle the sudden snort, which threatened to turn into a full out laugh at the absurd failure of his attempt at a kind gesture. She leaned forward and attempted to cover her face but straightened back up as something hard poked her in the back. She pulled away from him, face slowly heating up.
"Barty!" She looked down at his pants to see a handle protruding from his waistband. How had she not noticed that before. She stopped and pointed. "I-... wha-... Is that a knife?"
Bartolomeo looked down at it as if he was just as surprised as she was before removing the knife from his pants and holding it out for her to see. "Yeah, what about it-dabe?"
Vetica's face heated up even more, as she realized the perversion of her mistake. She looked from the knife to his belt, desperately trying to think of a good excuse, but her mind was drawing a blank. She quickly looked away as she realized she was staring at the man's crotch. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Bartolomeo straighten up. There was the sound of the knife clattering on the deck, and she could feel the sweat begin to pool on the back of her neck, as his hulking form approached her.
Bartolomeo leaned over so she was face to face with his mind-numbingly confident smirk, and Vetica knew that she had been caught. She pulled her lips into a firm line, trying to avoid letting him know exactly what she had been thinking, but it only made her feel guiltier.
"Were you hoping it was something else-dabe?" He teased, menacingly. Adrenaline surged through Vetica's veins, but she couldn't pull away. Something had changed in the year they had been apart, something about the way he looked at her, or carried himself, or got to her, and it was scary. Scary in the way that one feels looking into the horizon of eternity in awe, but scary nonetheless. "I've waited for you a long time-dabe..."
"You still have two years left..." She said pressing herself against the wall, looking only at his lips. "Remember."
Slowly he removed his jacket, revealing the admittedly attractive results of his year in the New World. Then with a hungry smile he took her hands in his and placed them on his chest. "Do you want to wait another two years-dabe?"
Vetica's mind froze. She was almost one-hundred percent certain her face was completely red and her soul was about to leave her body. Her eyes were burning. How could she be so stupid? Just a few hours before she was swearing up and down about how she was going to move on and never call him again. She had risked her job and potentially her life on a whim because he said he wanted to show her something. She and Rider had discussed time and time again how he was dangerous for her, so why? Why of all the people in the world, was he the only person who made her feel this way?
She ripped her hands away from his warm muscular chest and straightened up, lifting her chin. Barty's eyes gazed expectantly into her own, as he waited to see what she'd do.
Without looking away, Vetica carefully unbuttoned her top the rest of the way. With the exception of his eyes Bartolomeo didn't move a muscle. Then she dropped her skirt, causing the man's shoulder muscle to twitch slightly, but still he did not move. She removed her camisole, then her bra, then her panties, until she was left standing completely naked before him.
Bartolomeo inhaled deeply, gaze softening, as he looked her over from head to toe in seeming awe. Vetica smiled, at his reaction. Then, after a moment of steeling herself, she gently placed her hands on the man's pecs. Inwardly, she moaned; they were glorious. She looked back into Bartolomeo's eyes and stepped close to him and took a deep breath.
"Just tonight."
Within an instant he lifted her into a kiss, pressing her body against his, his fangs awkwardly poking her cheek and jaw, and carried her into the bedroom, dropping his pants along the way. Vetica moaned and raked her fingernails along his back, as he pressed her against the wall and entered her. From there things were loud, rough, and fast, ending with the pair sprawled breathlessly halfway across Bartolomeo's bed.
Vetica continued to groan as she sat up, running her hand through her now extremely poofy hair, before collapsing again. She smiled over at Barty, who had begun to make his way to the bathroom.
"Where did you learn to do that?" She panted, finally finding the strength to sit back up. She would have thought he would have been way rustier after a year.
"Girl I met on Corsia-dabe," he replied while pissing. A cold chill formed in the pit of Vetica's stomach, as she stared at him. When he finished wiping himself off he turned back to her. "She gave me a whole book full of cool stuff to try..."
He trailed off as he got a good look at her expression. He looked away while he pulled up his pants.
"I didn't fuck her, if that's what you're wonderin'-dabe," He stated firmly. His expression had grown dark. "I told you I want you and that's that. I don't go back on my word." He then looked at her in a way that seemed almost pointed. "I'm not a good liar like you-dabe."
Vetica's stomach felt suddenly hollow, as if it was going to engulf her entire world at any moment, as she wondered how he found out about her numerous flings. "What do you-?"
"Rumors spread fast at port-dabe. Even when it's marines."
"Barty, they didn't mean anything, I was just-"
"I doesn't matter," he snapped, before she could finish. He eyes were once again those of a wild animal, like the ones the day they executed those men. His mouth had curled into more of a snarl than a smile. "Because I will survive-dabe... I'm going to help Luffy-Senpai become king of the pirates, and then you will be mine."
Vetica's concentration on him was suddenly broken by the sound of distant laughter. Bartolomeo looked towards the door, clearly hearing it as well.
"I'll get your clothes-dabe," he murmured, before leaving the room.
Once he was gone, Vetica let out a sigh of relief. She quickly and quietly stood, looking around to make sure she had not accidentally brought anything in the room. That's when she saw it, sitting on his bedside table, a photograph of her holding up a peace sign with Luffy standing in the background at Marineford. Every ounce of happiness, fear, and confusion instantly flipped to anger, as she snatched up the photo and stormed out to the deck, where Bartolomeo was happily scooping up her bra.
She shoved the photo into his face causing him to drop everything he was carrying. "Why do you have this!?"
For the first time in a year she saw the man look physically nervous. He looked like he had seen a ghost.
"Why do you have this?" She demanded. Tears tumbled down her cheeks as she thought about the way he last touched her before they parted in Sabaody. "Did you want it that badly that you decided to steal from me?"
He looked down and around like he was searching for the answer somewhere in the floor boards. Vetica's stomach rolled.
"Answer me!"
There were gasps as men began to emerge from the bayou to see the altercation taking place between their captain and a naked woman. The young woman's hands flew up to cover herself.
Bartolomeo bent down and handed Vetica her skirt, which she quickly snatched and wrapped around herself, tears still streaming down her face. He then handed over her shirt and her panties, both of which she put on silently.
She let out a huff, wiping her face roughly as she looked back up at him. She licked her lips, inhaled deeply, and turned away. "Fine. You know what? Don't answer; I've risked enough on you."
As Vetica stepped forward, her face collided with some kind of invisible surface. She looked back at Bartolomeo who held up two crossed fingers, tears streaming down his cheeks. She tried to go another way but once again an invisible barrier stopped her. She pursed her lips.
"Barty, don't do this."
The man gritted his teeth, clearly trying to keep from crying more than he already was. "Please don't leave me-dabe..."
Vetica lashed out at the barrier again, causing bruises to appear on her arms. "Barty, let me go!"
"I don't want you to leave... Please just listen-" His voice quaked.
Vetica collapsed to her knees. Rider had been right about him using her all along. The second he wanted something he took it, even though he knew how much it meant to her. He was just a filthy pirate. At that moment, she didn't have the strength to beg anymore. She just wanted to run, to get away from this man who had lied to her. One last time she pressed her hands against the barrier and pushed.
"That's enough Barto-aniki!" She heard Gambia yell. "Think about Luffy-senpai! Would he think this is okay?"
Vetica looked back to see Bartolomeo drop to his knees. This was it. Her hands suddenly were falling forward once more, pulling the young woman into a dead sprint. She seized a length of rope from the decks edge and quickly swung down into the dense swamp-growth, never looking back.
"Wait Vetica-Senpai!" She heard him scream.
As she ran, her legs burned, her feet burned, her eyes burned, her face burned, and her heart stood frozen like a block of ice in her chest. She couldn't quite grasp the entirety of what had just happened, but she knew she had to keep moving. She had to get away from Bartolomeo. And after what felt like an eternity of running, she could finally see the lights of the inn coming into view in the distance, until, with a sudden gasp and thud, she couldn't see anything at all.