AN: As promised, another chapter. This almost catches us up to present where i have everything edited. I really hope you guys enjoy. I'm not getting much feedback, so i'm a bit worried i lost a bunch of readers during my absense. I hope not, but it's possible. Either way, I'll keep posting. Fanmail gives me motivation though.
Leaving it All Behind Chapter 5
Her fingers flew over the keys as she bypassed the security yet again, gaining full access to the mainframe at the downtown precinct. They were still able to gain valuable information regarding other individuals of interest, however, the one person that they were hoping to find continued to eluded them. Apparently the man in charge of guarding Sanji Black was none other than Detective Chase Smoker, unfortunately one of the few who hated using the computer to keep all of his files organized. It would pose a problem in finding out the safe house location if the detective refused to enter it into the database. There were no e-mails between he and any of the others regarding… well, anything. It wasn't that Smoker couldn't use the machine; he just seemed to be refusing to do so. Had he somehow caught on to everything? There was no way. She had been too careful, even framing one of their own inside informants to take the fall. Something was up, and the hacker didn't like it at all. She began to dig deeper into files, searching for anything that might help.
A few more clicks and the blonde paused as a picture of her own face stared back at her. It was the missing person's report that her fiancé had filed ten years ago. A picture of his smiling face brought tears to her normally emotionless eyes, making her blink rapidly to keep them from falling. Why the case was still open, she didn't know, but nevertheless, it worried her. If someone had spotted her during one of her rare outings and had reported it to the police, it could inevitably lead the officials here. She needed to throw them off track quickly. Pulling up recent activity on the case, she hurried to find the name of the detective in charge. Just before she could locate it, the door to the office opened and she quickly closed the file before the man could see what she had been doing.
"Have you found anything yet?" he asked as his eyes glanced over the scattered printouts littering the desk.
"No. I was just trying to see if Detective Smoker had logged anything, but either he knows, or seriously hates computers. He has yet to do anything as of late." The woman made a few more clicks and a separate window popped up, causing her to hold up her hand for the man in the room to stop. "It seems that he made a small oversight."
"Fosh, fosh, fosh! Nice work Cindry. Let's show them how much we appreciate this. Send the message."
oOoOoOo
The earth was shaking. Memories of long ago lingered in the back of his mind and he threw his arms over his face to shield any debris that might fall from the walls due to the earthquake. Laughter accompanied the violent shaking and remembered he hadn't lived in California for many years. Opening his eyes, he saw Luffy grinning down at him from his standing point on the bed.
"Hi Zoro!"
Groaning as he rolled over, Zoro pulled the blanket up over his head and tried to ignore Luffy's prattling about how nice the place looked. Then he remembered that the noisy guy was usually working about now, so why was he here? Luffy fell back onto the bed, bouncing a few times before settling next to the aggravated lump under the blanket. Hoping that Luffy would follow his lineage and pass out from narcolepsy, Zoro closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep.
"Zoro? I though you said you weren't going to cut your hair until you knew the truth about your parents. Does that mean you found something?"
Zoro stiffened; amazed that Luffy would remember that vow. It had been the only thing to make him hesitate when he picked up the scissors. "No…" Zoro's words were muffled through the thick covers.
"Hm, well we'll just have to keep looking." Luffy's elbow smacked Zoro across the face as he tried to put his arms behind his head. Luffy giggled at the grouchy 'Hey' he received and flopped over to wrap his arms around Zoro's still bundled figure. "Zoooorrrroooo, take me to Franky's to see the Thousand Sunny, OK?"
Zoro pulled the blanket down enough to look at the clock and wanted to kill the guy. It was just past noon and he had only been asleep for roughly three hours, taking forever for sleep to find him after the massive amounts of adrenaline that had been forced through his system the night before. His stomach answered for him though as it growled quietly.
"I'll buy lunch if you buy dinner!" Luffy squeezed him hard, and had it not been for Zoro's rigorous muscle training he was sure that ribs would have snapped. "Pllllleeeaaaasssssseeeee!"
"Fine!" Zoro bellowed as he threw the lanky body off of him and stood up, not caring that he was only in his underwear. He walked down the hall to use the bathroom, fingering the edge of the bandages that he had acquired the night before. He shut the door in Luffy's face as the fool tried to follow him in. Granted Luffy was in his 20's now, but he still acted like he was a child most of the time. It was because of that innocent outlook on life that Zoro found himself drawn to the youngest member of the D family. The reason he hung around Ace was entirely different and usually included lots of alcohol and running from authorities of some kind; be they mall security or the MPs at the Reserve Base just outside the city.
Undoing the gauze, he checked to see if any of the cuts really needed to be re-bandaged. Satisfied that everything seemed to be healing fairly well, Zoro opened the door and stepped to the side allowing Luffy to fall to the floor. Zoro rolled his eyes at Luffy's dramatics and walked around him to gather clean clothes. He could hear Luffy wandering around the apartment, ooh'ing and ahh'ing as he inspected the reformed state of the place. When everything went silent, Zoro decided it was time to see what the idiot was up to.
Luffy was holding a small photo very carefully, knowing the value of such a rare picture and how much it meant to his friend. Three young men on the left were standing together with their arms around each other's shoulders as they laughed at something beyond the sight of the camera. On the right was an older man with an almost maniacal grin on his face. It was younger versions of Zoro and Luffy's fathers along with a teenage Smoker, Garp being the crazy one to the side. Luffy looked up at him and grinned as he gently placed the photo back on the shelf where it had been resting.
"Ready?" Zoro asked.
"Yosh!" Luffy cried out as he attempted to jump over the back of the couch, his toes catching the edge and sending him straight down into the hardwood floor.
oOoOoOo
Lunch consisted of getting thrown out of a pizza joint for eating everything off the buffet and leaving nothing for the other customers. Though they could never return to the restaurant, they did get away somehow without having to pay for the meal. Zoro frowned and questioned if Luffy had planned it that way since it was the brat's turn to pay. Deciding it wasn't worth worrying over, Zoro pulled into the parking lot at Franky's and wondered about the excessive amount of vehicles that seemed to be there. A look to Luffy showed that the younger man was thinking the same thing. Together they entered the noisy shop.
It seemed like everyone associated with the Franky Family had come in to work that day. The twins were trying to handle their paperwork around all the hassle of additional requests, even putting some of the boys to work at answering phones. People were calling in from all over to check on Kokoro, sending heartfelt prayers and offers to help in any way possible. Robin was standing by the desk in the back office, long fingers rubbing at the bridge of her nose as she silently held the phone to her ear, obviously not pleased with what she was hearing. The window view into the bay showed Zambi giving orders to several groups of men working on various projects that Franky had been commissioned for. The shop owner himself was arguing with Paulie and it looked like it was very close to becoming violent. Overall, it was chaos.
As Zoro and Luffy closed in on the arguing pair, Paulie threw his hands up in the air and stormed off, shouting that he put up with enough bitching at home. Franky turned around to vent his anger out and caught sight of the two approaching, relief washing over his face as he visibly relaxed.
"Zoro! Luffy! Awesome that you came! I was hoping that I'd see you today."
"Hey, can I go look at Sunny?" Luffy wasted no time in asking as he tried to control his excitement while waiting for the answer.
"Sure, that'd be super! Go on. I need to talk to Zoro anyway." Franky patted the younger guy on the back and laughed as Luffy bounded off towards the ship. He waited until Luffy was past the plastic curtain before speaking again. His words were forced as his whole body slumped in defeat. "This ain't cool, bro. I dropped Chimney off at school this morning and went to see Mama. She told me about what the doctors said."
Zoro grunted and crossed his arms over his chest as he stood by his friend, watching the rest of the 'family' work on vehicles. "I thought Auntie already told you or I would have said something. Do you know if there's anything that can be done?"
Franky shook his head and ran a hand through his hair, trying to get it to perk back up the way it usually did. Seeing that it wasn't working, he gave up and looked Zoro square in the eyes. "She's seen the best of them, and nothing has changed. She says she's ready, and there's nothing left here for her to do."
Zoro clasped him on the shoulder, about as much of an affectionate gesture that one could ever hope from the swordsman. Pulling themselves together, and out of the odd melancholy moment, they started walking back to the offices where Robin was waiting for them.
"You know, on top of finding that out, she tells me she's leaving Chimney with Robin and me."
Zoro couldn't help himself and let a small huff of laughter escape. "She offered the brat to me."
This caught Franky off guard and it took a few seconds for the idea to process before the mechanic threw his head back and began laughing loudly. He caught Zoro's irritated look and it only increased the hilarity of the situation and soon Franky had to wipe the tears from his eyes, he was laughing so hard.
"Laugh all you want to, asshole, you're the one who gets to deal with her crawling into bed with you at all hours of the night. I guess this means the honeymoon is over." Zoro's smirk grew when the meaning finally sank in and Franky's face dropped.
Zoro looked to see Robin's concerned, yet somewhat amused face peering out at them from the window. He was about to gesture that everything was ok when he saw a small blonde head pop up beside her. Chimeny's sad face lit up as soon as she saw him and the little girl began waving wildly as she tugged on Robin's sleeve. Absalom's words came back to haunt him again and a shiver, that had nothing to do with the outside cold, ran down his spine.
"Franky," Zoro's tone immediately had the larger man's attention and Franky drew himself back up to stand tall. What he was about to say would either gain him support or a severe beating, so Zoro proceeded carefully. "A week or so ago I went to the cages and apparently caught the eye of someone rather nasty. They called and offered me a job, which I refused, and since have threatened to find an incentive to get me to change my mind."
"Whoa… That's super intense." Franky followed Zoro's eyes and looked up to see Robin ushering Chimney away from the window. "You don't think…"
Zoro shook his head and turned back to his blue haired friend. "I don't want to take any chances. Keep your eyes open."
"She's not the only one you should be worried about," Franky said as he looked back to where his masterpiece was sitting, enclosed in a protected room, though the thing that could do the most damage happened to be in there with it at the moment. Occasional whoops of glee could be heard from Luffy as he inspected the progress on his new vessel.
"Luffy's fine. His best friend is in the police force, as well as his grandfather. I don't think that anyone will mess with him. Besides, you've seen him fight. He can kick ass with the best of us." Zoro's confidence in Luffy echoed in every word, reminding Franky that their childish friend was capable of taking care of himself.
"Guys, guys! Guess what?!" Luffy shouted as he raced back over to them, not sensing that anything was amiss. "Ace just called! He's back in town and wants us to go pick him up. Can we Zoro? And then maybe we can go get Usopp too and go out to eat!"
Between Usopp being called out a lot for work lately and Ace's always busy schedule, Luffy hadn't had anyone to keep him entertained. Zoro agreed that maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to talk with his friend. Perhaps Ace would even have some insight into the strange things going on.
"We'll get Ace, and you can call Usopp, but no dinner until at least seven, got it? We just had lunch a little while ago," Zoro argued, hoping that they could at least hold off the starving monster until six. Ace would be another matter.
oOoOoOo
Ace closed his phone and grinned, happy to hear his brother's voice again after nearly a month. This last job had taken him all the way to Key West; not that he was complaining that he had to spend three weeks in the sun, but he had missed everyone greatly. Ace leaned up against the wall at the bus station and pulled his hat off to reach for the picture he kept stashed inside. A sad smile crossed his face as he gently caressed the fading surface and tattered edges. He really should get it laminated, but then there'd be something else blocking his way from touching that stoic face.
Ace wondered how Smoker had been doing since they had parted ways. It hadn't been easy on either of them; cruel words opening wounds that he wasn't sure could ever heal. He closed his eyes and held the photo against his chest, longing for the feel of his former lover instead of the bitter cold wind. Those days would never be again, no matter how hard he wished; the two of them on different sides of the law. Ace laughed as he thought about Romeo and Juliet, wondering if the two could have worked out their differences instead of dying. Opening his eyes, Ace stared out across the street and wondered how long it would take for his friend to get there. Ace tucked the picture back in his hat and sat the gaudy looking thing back on his head. Maybe he could take a nap.
A dark blue sedan turned the corner and Ace swore his heart stopped. Wide, shocked eyes met with narrowed angry ones as Smoker stared out the driver's window at him. Ace pushed off the wall and stepped out of the shadows as his heart started racing again; desperately wanting call out yet knowing that the action would be pointless. The detective had warned Ace to never speak to him again and the look on Smoker's face had Ace thinking that he hadn't changed his mind. Tashigi looked back and forth between them as Smoker's eyes returned to the road and the vehicle picked up speed as they drove past. Ace stared after them, long after they disappeared from his sight.
He woke with a start and looked around, his watch showing that only an hour has passed since he had place a call to Luffy. He had somehow ended up sitting on the sidewalk, resting against the wall he had previously been leaning against before. Before Smoker had shown up… Ace rubbed his face to help rid the remnants of sleep and pushed the thoughts of the man to the back of his mind as he heard the loud rumbling of Zoro's GTO coming around the corner. He fixed a smile on his face and laughed at Luffy hanging out the window waving to him. Ace grabbed his bag and stood, returning the greeting to his little brother and waited for Zoro to pull up alongside of him.
"Yo, Zoro, Luffy!"
"Ace!" Luffy grinned up at him as he held onto his own precious hat.
"You guys took your time getting here," Ace chided as he opened the door and shoved Luffy over the seat into the back so he could ride shotgun.
"I had some business to take care of over at Franky's," Zoro said as he waited for Ace to toss his bag in back with his brother. Zoro's face was somber as he shook hands with his long time friend. "Kokoro's in the hospital."
Ace knew how important the old woman was to Zoro and clapped him on the shoulder as they just nodded to each other, no further words needed on the subject. It was then that Ace realized that Zoro's usual ponytail wasn't sticking out from under his knit cap. "Hey, what happened to your hair?"
Zoro swatted him away when Ace started playing with the short hair on the back of his neck. Luffy popped up between them and laughed. "He's pretending to be a normal guy now. He cleaned his apartment and everything!"
Ace's jaw dropped as he just stared at Zoro. "No shit?"
"Yup! And he even opened the spare bedroom up. Almost all the boxes are gone and he even put sheets on the spare bed. You think that maybe he's expecting someone to come over?" Luffy folded his arms over the back seat and rested his chin on his hands.
"So what else have I missed?" Ace asked, wonder still covering his face.
Zoro laughed as he thought about all that had occurred in just the last week alone. He shook his head and decided that maybe they should go somewhere comfortable to talk. Keeping Luffy entertained was the biggest key, so he headed to The Arena, intent on letting the youngest of them play laser tag to his heart's content. "Not much, just another asshole trying to play god."
oOoOoOo
Sanji stood in the kitchen frowning at the less than desirable accommodations, but happy that he had been allowed to cook instead of being forced to stomach whatever the men decided to pick up that night. The long nose guy brought two grocery bags full of assorted meats, vegetables, and a few spices. It wasn't much to work with but he'd had less before. The cook rolled up his shirt sleeves and began to wash all the dishes before he used them, not trusting what might have touched them since they had last been put away. Feeling better than he had in months, Sanji felt life finally begin to filter back into his drained body.
The blonde moved with precision and grace as he wielded the familiar knives, never showing that he was off in his rhythm but mentally yelling at himself for not keeping up with his skills. This was his livelihood, his passion and he had tossed it aside when he found out there was a price on his head. If he continued like this, that old geezer would never let him return to work when this was all done. Sanji chopped at the green peppers a little more venomously, determined to get things right by the end of the night. It didn't take long for the house to fill with the delicious aromas of beef, vegetables and biscuits. Usopp and the other two men stood in the doorway drooling as they watched skilled hands prepare the most elaborate meal that any of them had ever eaten. None of them heard the faint ringtone of Sanji's cell in the back bedroom as they scrambled to set the table.
Sanji stood by the sink smoking a cigarette as he watched the men devour every scrap of food in sight. When done, Usopp walked over and placed his plate in the sink, profusely thanking Sanji over and over. Everyone froze when they heard the neighbor's dog's barking end in a high pitched yelp. Immediately, all three policemen withdrew their guns and Usopp ushered the concerned blonde into the back room.
"Sanji, get down and stay quiet. We'll handle things, don't worry," Usopp tried to reassure.
With the way the last few places had been, Sanji couldn't help but doubt him. "I'm not as helpless as that fucking detective makes me out to be. I can fight. Besides, usually I get a call that there is an attack coming. I haven't heard my phone ring all night… shit." Sanji patted his pockets and realized that said phone wasn't with him. He scrambled to look for it, finding the elusive thing under his sweatshirt on the bed. 34 missed calls. 29 voicemails. 17 texts. Almost all of them from the caller labeled INFO. "Usopp, I think we'd better run."
"Sorry, I don't think we're going to have that choice this time. There's at least fifty guys out there right now. I could probably take down forty or so myself, but I'm not sure if the guys out front could handle the rest." Usopp had taken the rifle that had been slung across his back and was peeking out the blinds of the only window in the room. His voice wavered a little as he continued to speak, "Don't worry; I'll make sure you get out of here alive."
Fed up with life, Sanji yanked him away from the window and looked outside himself. He could make out two shapes in the yard, though there was no way to tell if they were carrying a weapon or not. The shaking hand on his shoulder made him jump and he looked into Usopp's determined face. Sanji nodded to him and took a step back. That's when there was a knock at the front door. Curiosity getting the better of him, Sanji cracked open the bedroom door and peeked out. He could see both officers flanking the door and giving hand signals to each other.
"Who is it?" one of them called out. The answer was muffled at his end of the house, but Sanji could distinguish it was a woman's voice and immediately began to relax. "Look girl, I'm sorry but now's not a good time. Go check with the guy across the street."
Usopp and Sanji smiled at each other, happy to see that this time it was just a normal visitor instead of a messenger of death. Then the front door exploded and a barrage of bullets came flying in. Pissed now and thinking that someone had used a woman as a lure to get close to the house, Sanji used the cover of the smoke from the blast to creep towards the front and check on his other two guards, and the woman if he could find her. A heavy fist came straight at his face and he had to fall backwards to avoid the blow. Three men surrounded him and he scowled deeply at the sight of a pretty girl standing by the door, still somewhat shadowed by the settling haze. Throwing caution to the wind, Sanji decided it was time to stop running.
The blonde crouched and spun swiftly to the left, his long leg sweeping out with the motion and knocking two of the assailants off their feet. The third man stood back and waited as the men regained their feet and attacked. Sanji planted his heavy sole into the underside of the first man's jaw, sending him flying up in the air slightly and quickly followed with a roundhouse to the gut. Blood was coughed up and the unfortunate victim went down hard. Sanji smiled as he caught the next attack with his shin, surprise evident on the assailant's face since the punch was aimed at Sanji's head. Using the momentum of bringing his leg up to block, Sanji grabbed the shocked man's hair and slammed his knee into the gaping face, shattering the man's nose and knocking him out. He could hear the woman screaming behind him, though unable to make out her words, and it pissed him off that he still had one more man to deal with before he could rescue the beautiful maiden. Unfortunately, the last one was proving a bit more troublesome due to the simple fact that he was huge!
Precise punches were thrown, forcing Sanji back as he tried to evade, knowing that if any of the giant's blows actually touched him he was done for. He tried several times to land a hit of his own, but was blocked by a shoulder, forearm or well executed dodge. Suddenly there was something hard pressed to the back of his head and Sanji stilled when he heard the click of the hammer on the gun.
"I don't think I like you anymore."
The cute feminine voice had Sanji wanting to turn and lavish the woman with attention as he would normally do, but the anger in it, combined with the gun still at his head, was enough to remind him that he was in a tight predicament.
"You're a lot cuter than the last man I was sent to deal with, but then again I wasn't given any authorization to hurt him, horo-horo-horo-horo-horo! You I am supposed to kill, just as soon as you tell me what you did with the evidence." The girl stepped up behind him and was speaking softly into his ear as she trailed her free hand up and down the bare skin of his forearm. "Do it quickly and maybe I'll give you the same courtesy."
Sanji scowled hard at the masked man across from him and wondered just how he was supposed to get out of this. If nothing else, he could stall for time, and hopefully that kid, Usopp, had made a call to the station and requested backup. "It doesn't seem like you're giving me much of an incentive to give in. Either way you'll kill me. I have nothing to gain from handing it over to you."
"Oh of course you do, horo-horo-horo-horo-horo. You can die peacefully rather than be tortured for hours on end, even days or weeks." She seemed pleased when a shiver ran through Sanji's body. The barrel of the gun moved to caress the side of his neck. "If I were you, I'd just give up. You have nothing to live for anyway. Your parents are long dead, you have no other relatives, women usually giggle when asked about you, and that creepy old man you were working for does nothing but threaten to kill you himself if your name is even whispered."
Sanji didn't have time to respond before the girl flew back screaming and the gun in her hand went off, the bullet embedding into the ceiling. Sanji watched in shock as the large man in front of him also dropped to the floor, blood pouring from the gaping hole in his head. A knife, bigger than most of the cook's own cutlery, fell from his hand as dead eyes stared into nothingness. Sanji spun around to check on the woman only to see Usopp standing there with his sniper rifle pointed at the girl's chest.
"You have the right to remain silent…" Usopp's words droned on as Sanji realized how close he had come to not making it out this time. He ripped off his shirt and bent down to help press it against the bullet wound in the girl's shoulder when he was knocked to the side by three other uniformed officers.
"You really are a dumb shit, aren't you?" a gravelly voice barked out. Sanji spun around to face Smoker who looked slightly more pissed than normal, if that were possible. "You should try answering your phone once in a while."
The two guards that had been knocked down by the blast were being helped up by paramedics, their torn shirts revealing bulletproof vests beneath. The two unconscious attackers were loaded onto stretchers while the cute girl with pink pigtails and a pleasingly short skirt was handcuffed and lead away to have her injuries looked at. She looked at the dead man on the floor and began crying again. Outside the door, Sanji could see several vehicles and many more men in cuffs.
"You knew I would be attacked." The blonde couldn't believe it. He had been so worried that he would be responsible for yet more deaths and the man in charge of his safety had let another attack go down.
"And if you had answered your phone, you would have known as well. I have to admit that I didn't expect it to happen this soon though. Good thing that second team got here in time." Smoker pulled out a cigar and stuck the thick dark roll between his teeth. After a moment's thought, he pulled out a second one and offered it to the blonde.
Sanji was still trying to process information, unsure just how pissed he really should be. Part of him wanted to lash out at the detective and tell him how irresponsible he had been, but the man had already pointed out that he did in fact try to inform him of the possible threat. When the cigar had been practically shoved in his face, he took it gratefully and took the liberty to offer the older man a light before bringing the match to his own. The taste was richer, and definitely more potent than his normal cigarettes, but Sanji welcomed it and let the rush of nicotine help to calm him.
Smoker walked around, barking out orders and threats if the orders weren't carried out immediately, as he surveyed the damage done. There was no way to know if this was the person who had done the last attack until ballistics came back on the gun. He had taken a big chance when he finally realized the major blunder in replying to the e-mail Garp had sent. Hoping to turn it into an advantage, he added another group across the street under the guise of homeless men breaking into an abandoned home to keep warm. Apparently the ruse worked, because the men that were left outside were taken down easily while that pink haired twit and her oversized friend went after the witness. The detective looked over to see the long-nosed sniper retelling his story, embellishing it even further with each person who would listen. Though the young man tended to spin tales, Smoker had to admit that he had proved his worth today. Maybe he'd put in a good word for him with SWAT. Sighing heavily, and lighting his second cigar since he'd gotten to the scene, Smoker walked back over to where Sanji and Usopp were chatting.
"Sunny," he started.
"I'm not your fucking son, and you already know my damn name, so use it," Sanji snapped at him and glared at the men who had been guarding him when they began laughing. "Fuck you too."
Never one to pass up an opportunity to belittle someone, Smoker huffed, "'Sun,' as in the big yellow thing in the sky, not 'son' like a child, though the second one does seem to fit you better."
Apparently not in the mood, the blonde jumped up from his seat on the kitchen counter to begin yelling at the larger man. Smoker cut him off by slapping a large hand over his face and mouth, amused at the furious blue eye that glared out at him from between splayed fingers.
"Just go gather your things, Mr. Black. Since I can't seem to trust you in any police issued safe house, I'm resorting to something a bit different." Smoker turned to look at the nervous marksman. "Nice work. Take the rest of the evening off; just make sure that you have your report ready first thing in the morning."
Usopp nodded nervously to him and waved goodbye to Sanji as he ran out the door, quickly dialing on his cell phone as he went. "Hey guys! Yah, I'm sorry I had to bail, but are you guys still there? Oh, ok, great! I'll meet you guys. No, everything is good, I just finished up early. OK, I'll be there in about fifteen minutes. Tell …"
Sanji listened to Usopp's voice fade into the noise of the crowd, angrily waiting for his face to be released. When it finally was, he didn't get the opportunity to lash out like he had wanted before Smoker was gone, dealing with questions from his men. Exhaustion started to inch its way into the cook's body as he debated if he really wanted to continue to go through all of this. He could just give up the box and be rid of this nightmare. But the girl tonight said she was ordered to kill him after she got it; in other words, he would never be truly free. The only way for him to even begin to think about returning to a normal life was to see this mess to the end. Tired, stressed, and generally pissed, Sanji walked solemnly back to the room he had been sleeping in and retrieved his things.
Smoker motioned Sanji over to where he was talking to a colleague. "I know the risk, but what else would you have me do? I'm out of options. He can't stay with me because that would raise too many questions and sooner or later someone at the precinct would blab. I can't keep an eye on him 24/7 and I need somewhere he can be safe."
"Hina knows, but does Smoker have to put the pretty cook there? Is it wise?" Hina crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed here eyes at her old friend. She was about to argue further when Smoker put up a hand to stop her.
"You know, I didn't have to even tell you this. I did it as a courtesy because we're friends."
Sanji stood there watching them glare at each other and wondered if maybe there was underlying sexual tension between the two. They did seem awfully close. His mind shut off the thoughts as the beautiful older woman turned to greet him.
"Hina has heard much about Mr. Sanji Black."
"Ah, but unfortunately I have heard nothing about the beautiful Hina. Would you care to join me for the evening so I could remedy this tragic oversight?" Sanji took her hand and gently kissed the pale skin above her knuckles. "I assure you that it will be a night of pleasure for both of us."
Hina blushed deeply and jerked her hand back before slapping him… hard. Sanji fell to his knees and watched after her longingly as she stormed off towards her car. Smoker's light chuckling brought him out of his daze and he remembered that he was extremely pissed at the older man. He got to his feet and dusted off his warn jeans, longing for the feel of Versace against his skin again. A small duffle bag held what little clothing and personal items he had, usually losing what he had been previously given when he had to run for his life.
"Just what the fuck is going on? I'm really sick of being shuffled around, only to be found and shot at."
Smoker didn't answer; he just grabbed Sanji by the arm and shoved him towards the unmarked patrol car. Grudgingly, Sanji opened the door and got in, stubbornly refusing to buckle up.
"I'm taking you somewhere off the books, with no one remotely connected to the police department watching over you. You will not tell ANYONE who you really are, and you will not break cover. I don't care what kind of story you two come up with, but it'd better be a solid one. Hell, you can pretend to be lovers if you want, though he'll probably kill you for suggesting it." Smoker halfway grinned around his cigar and started the car. "I don't give a rat's ass if you two don't get along. You'll be staying with him until trial. As long as you two don't break cover, you should be able to stay alive."
"Wait! You're putting me with some random guy, against my will, who doesn't even work for the police. How am I supposed to trust that he'll be able to protect himself if they DO happen to find us? I just proved that I can defend myself, but I can't be responsible for some pansy assed fucker who doesn't know what the fuck is going on." Sanji swore that the grin widened, but the detective kept driving and soon the lights from the scene were far behind them. Still not happy about being kept in the dark, Sanji decided to pry a little more. "How do you know you can trust this guy? If he doesn't work for the police, then just who is he, a brother or something?"
"I don't even trust Garp right now, since he's the one who got us in this mess tonight. But the guy you're going to stay with is as close as it gets." Smoker lost his grin and his lips turned down into a stern frown, refusing to say anything else.
Sanji slouched in his seat indignantly, and hoped that even if the other guy didn't like him, they could at least survive together long enough for him to make it to trial. "So has he already agreed to all this?"
"More or less."