A/N: I know it took me forever to update - but hey, I did it! And I made this chapter a little longer...
Sanji woke from the sun tickling his face. He groaned he felt like he got run over by a truck. Oh, he remembered. Zeff was fucking dead, the "Baratie" burnt to the ground. Fuck, he wished, he'd been hit by a truck instead of this mess. Speaking of mess, where the fuck was he? He didn't recognize the room, the bed, nothing.
The room was pretty simple, consisted just of the queen bed, a drawer and a bookshelf. That was it. He could make out a door that led to a bathroom – fuck, the bathroom he'd been in with Zoro. Zoro. This was Zoro's room.
He sat up and hastily looked around, but Zoro was nowhere to be seen. He didn't know if he should be happy about it or not. Waking up next to another man would be weird for him, sure. But Zoro did give him some comfort when he was around; it was like he could share the weight that lasted on his shoulders. But then, waking up next to Zoro would definitely make him gay. He was not gay. Period.
Maybe he was bisexual, a small voice in his head said.
"Shut up, voice." Sanji murmured.
"What was that?" Someone said.
"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Sanji screamed. A red haired man, grinning like a manic, just appeared in front of his bed.
The man just laughed at Sanji's dumbstruck expression.
"Where did you just come from? Do I know you? And what the FUCK are you doing here, creeping around my bed?" Sanji asked.
"Well, I came from the hallway. I walked through the door. But I'm pretty sure, we don't know each other, but not for long anymore. I'm Shanks. And this bed isn't yours, it's Zoro's."
Sanji didn't really know what to say to the red-haired creep: "Uhm… I'm Sanji."
"Yeah, I already knew your name, curly."
"Don't call me curly, one-arm!"
"Good one, curly."
Sanji ignored the last remark: "So why are you in my room?"
"By definition, this is not your room. It's Zoro's. But actually after you lost your home, I guess you should consider this your room from now on, too. You got my permission, and I'm the owner of this apartment complex. So yeah, you're welcome, curly. You just got a new home."
"Wait, what? Why do you know that I need a new home? Why do you know me? I don't want to live with Zoro!"
"Haha, sure, curly. Well, Zoro just talked to me this morning-"
"What the fuck? What did this fucker do? Did he ran around and told random guys that I would move in with him? I'm going to shove my foot up his ass-"
"Haha, no, I just assumed that you'll live here from now on. Zoro didn't say anything 'bout living together or the kind of relationship you two got, but well, you did sleep in his bed-"
"That was an accident."
"Haha, you're funny, curly-brow. Zoro just told me that you had some trouble, losing your home and your work so abrupt… pretty harsh. He told me about what Smoker told you – and 'bout Zeff. I heard the news, it's fucking sad. Don't look at me like this, kiddo, I knew Zeff from the good old days. I mean, business out there is pretty rough, but he never lost his humanity out there. He was one of the good ones."
"You…you knew Zeff?"
"Haha, crazy old bastard, left the business only because some blonde orphan warmed his heart-"
"So you know him because you were involved in some underground shit, too."
"Wrong, curly, we are still pretty involved and active."
"So, you say we. That means you got partners. And I guess Zoro is one of your partners. That explains his fighting skills."
"He's my nakama. And now you're with him, you belong to him, so that makes you nakama, too. Welcome to the family."
"Wait, wait. You can't be serious. First, I do fucking not belong to Zoro. Second, just because I spent one night in Zoro's bed won't make me part of some twisted mafia family."
"Haha, you're funny, kiddo. It's not because of Zoro, well, maybe a little, you're part of the family, no, it's because Zeff was part of the family. Well, he had been, back then. When he found you, he made me promise that I would look after his shit when… when he'd die."
"What the fuck? I don't even know you and Zeff made you promise to look after me?"
"In case that he'd die. He's pretty dead now."
"I'm capable of looking after my own sorry ass, thank you very much."
"Haha, obviously not. Man, look at you, all beat up – caused some havoc down at the 'Arabasta' I heard."
Sanji blushed slightly. But that was not fair. He may have been a little devastated after he heard the news of Zeff's death. But shit, his life had just broken into tiny little pieces, irreparable.
"So you're telling me this while I'm still in bed…"
"Well, let's start with the reason I came here in the first place. Don fucking Krieg. That motherfucker just burnt your whole existence to ashes. Guess you want some sweet revenge, don't you?"
"Revenge?"
"Revenge, curly. Sweet, dirty revenge. That motherfucker Krieg poached in our preserve; caused some sweet deals to blow up. And now the shit with Zeff and the 'Baratie' – I guess it's time to do something. That was the reason why Zoro talked to me this morning and told me why I would find some hot blonde sleeping in his bed. He asked me if you are allowed to partake in our sweet little revenge-party. He said that you would most likely prefer to take Krieg's head yourself."
Sanji didn't know what to say. This Shanks guy must be kidding. This was too good to be true. Shit. So Zoro did not only listen to him and gave him some weird kind of manly solace, but he did also give him the biggest gift ever: A chance to take down the man responsible for the biggest shit that ever happened in his life.
"You're…you are really saying I can take down Krieg? What about…I mean, this Smoker dude said that even the police couldn't catch him for the last thirty years…"
"Yeah, you're talking about the motherfucking police, curly. Don't you think that Krieg might've paid someone off in the police? That's all that Krieg is capable off: bribery. We are not the police; we got different methods, curly. We don't care about money, we care about honor. If one of our nakama is hurt, we will hurt back. That's rule number one."
"But…but isn't Krieg like real dangerous?"
"Haha, kiddo, you're not alone. It's not only you, me and Zoro. Come, get up, take a look out of the window."
Sanji got up and he was really happy that he wore a decent pair of sweat pants and not just his briefs. He walked over to the large window and stood next to Shanks. He could view the whole shipyard from this window. It was huge, but really messy.
"See that fellow over there?" Shanks asked and pointed someone out with spiked red hair and a fur coat. "That's Eustass Kidd."
Sanji watched with a sick fascination how Kidd bent some metal slabs with his bare hands. No shit, he just looked plain brutal.
"Oh, and over there. See the one with the hat and the bird? That's Rob Lucci."
Sanji watched this Lucci carrying half a tree on his shoulders. Suddenly Lucci dropped the tree and stared right in their direction with a frown on his face.
"Fuck, he's scary."
"Haha, I think he's kinda funny. You should hear his bird talk, fucking awesome!"
Sanji started to doubt that Shanks was a sane person.
"Well, you're not alone. We can handle Krieg, he's not really a problem. So come on, if you lived with Zeff, I'm pretty sure you're able to cook. We take down Krieg, and you'll be the new cook for the Galleya-Company. How does it sound? You'll get paid and shit, and if you don't wanna work the night shift, dealing and shit, it's fine. As long as your food is edible – but we got some pretty big eaters here, just to let you know."
"Wait. You just offered me a job?"
"Yeah, pretty much. The 'Baratie' does no longer exist, kiddo. I'm sorry. You can work here for just one or two months, stay here in the 'Sunny', just for the start, till you stand on your own feet again."
"Just for one or two months?"
"Well, you can work here forever, if you want. No limits. Just cook decent food, I can't stand the crap Usopp or Kalifa produce. It's really gross."
"I just need to cook?"
"Yeah, like two or three meals a day. Maybe a midnight snack for Luffy and Ace, haha. Oh, and you gotta abide the rules."
"What rules?"
"Just our basic rules: It's okay to dislike your nakama, it's okay to fight with your nakama, but if anyone of us is threatened or hurt or some shit happens to him, we all got his back. We all would fight for him, no matter who or what his enemies are. We simply watch out for eachother."
"Yeah. Nakama was the word, right?"
"So you're in?"
Sanji didn't even need a second to answer: "Yeah, I'm in. I'm not sure how long I'll stay, though. And I really want to kick Krieg's ass."
"That's the spirit, curly. Come one, I'll introduce you to everyone after you took a shower – who knows what sticky substances might stick on your body, Zoro is a wild one-" Shanks hardly managed to block Sanji's furious kick and left the room laughing really hard.
Zoro woke up when a yelling Luffy entered the living room. "Zoro, MEAT!"
"Shit, Luffy. Help yourself to your fucking meat." Zoro groaned and got up from the couch he had crashed on after he'd woke up right next to a hot blonde – he had to leave the bed rather quick, he had a raging hard-on and the blonde had been way to tempting. He'd fled the room before he did something that he might've regretted later.
He'd met Shanks in the shipyard, still up from his nightly business. He'd told him the basics about Sanji's hardships – and that the fucker Don fucking Krieg was all fucking responsible for Sanji being totally devastated. There was no fucking way he'd let Krieg live through this. No fucking way.
He followed Luffy in the open kitchen area and helped himself to a big mug of coffee. Luffy raided the fridge of basically anything edible that looked or smelled slightly like meat. That boy got some serious issues.
Luffy had just started gulping down some meat when Shanks came down the stairs. Luffy got all excited when he saw Shanks: "Shanks!"
Zoro got some chunks of meat spit all over him, gross. But he ignored it due to the fact that he burnt to know how the conversation between Sanji and Shanks went down.
"Haha, Luffy, you got meat all over Zoro!"
Zoro brushed the biggest chunks of his shirt. He found a half empty bottle of Sake on the counter and helped himself to some rather huge gulps. He was sure he'd need the liquor for whatever Shanks was going to tell him.
"Hand me that bottle, Zoro." Shanks took Zoro's bottle and emptied it in one swift gulp. He wiped his mouth with his sleeve and grinned like the maniac he was.
"Luffy, sit down, this is serious." Shanks said in a gravely tone. Luffy immediately sat down. Shanks was probably the only person he'd take orders from without complaining, whining or fighting. Zoro was getting anxious. What was this about?
"So, Luffy, guess what?" Shanks teased.
"What, what, what?" Luffy bounced.
"We'll have our own cook for the Galleya-Company! A professional cook who will just cook the whole day for us, whatever you like, all day long!"
Zoro thought that Luffy might pass out. Suddenly he had a look of utter glee in his eyes and he stormed off, hugging Shanks, yelling for his brother, who would no doubt be as thrilled as Luffy was. Luffy caused some pretty bad havoc in the living room, when out of nowhere an orange haired girl appeared. She smacked Luffy in the head – hard.
Zoro gasped. This was all a little too much to comprehend. First, who was this orange haired witch, being able to smack Luffy so that he was actually calming down? And second, did he hear right? Was Sanji really going to be their own cook? That meant that he would live here, in the same building, that he'd see him every day, that he could fight him every single day, that he could touch him all the time-
He stopped his train of thoughts, getting distracted by that orange haired girl that currently dragged Luffy back in the kitchen.
"Sit." She ordered Luffy and to his surprise he did and just pouted.
"Luffy, who is this witch?" He asked.
A second later and a huge bump was forming on his head. "I'm Nami. I'm Luffy's girlfriend."
Zoro didn't think he heard right. "You are his girlfriend?" He asked incredulously.
"Got a problem with that?" This Nami-witch snapped.
"Uh, I guess not, but you do realize this is Luffy, right? Monkey D. Luffy. You realize what he does for his living?"
"I know exactly who this is, you ape. I just moved in with him." Nami yelled angrily.
Luffy just chuckled. Zoro was still disbelieving. There was no way Luffy would attract any women, leave out the pretty ones, and Nami was even in his eyes really pretty. But then, Nami didn't seem to be the sanest person around, the way she was killing every living being with just her glares. She could compete with Lucci in death glares. And she could keep Luffy under control – that was a big plus. Having Nami on his side would be a great advantage he figured.
He ignored his big bump and offered Nami a small smile. "Well, I'm Zoro. Pretty impressive that you got Luffy to settle down with you. It's nice to see that he has actually feelings for something else than meat."
Nami smiled slightly. Luffy complained: "You are unfair Zoro, I got even bigger feelings more my nakama that meat!"
Zoro chuckled affectionate. "I know, Luffy, I know."
Luffy got back in his good mood and he pulled Nami close and buried his head in her neck. It was still weird for Zoro to see Luffy all over a girl. The boy had never taken interest in the other gender yet, he'd figured that he was gay, just like his older brother, but apparently he just needed someone that could match his character.
They settled around the kitchen table, chatting; Luffy was nudging Nami, she giggled and obviously enjoyed the attention she got from Luffy. Usopp joined them at the table; he didn't seem surprised that Nami was with them. They started to chat, pretty soon Franky joined and Zoro zoomed out of the conversation. He was wondering what Sanji was doing upstairs. If he went back to sleep – he liked the idea of having the blonde sleep in his bed; if he was alright, hardly a day passed by since he found out that the man who was basically his father had died.
Zoro got up and joined Shanks at the bar. He needed a large drink now. He couldn't think straight, he needed to figure out some things. He ignored the trouble in the kitchen; Luffy, Franky and Usopp were all interested in Nami, all he wanted was that a blonde man would show up-
Thinking of the devil, Sanji just came down the stairs. He noticed that his hair was still wet, probably from a shower. He had some nasty looking bruises in his face, but other than that he looked ok. He didn't look like he'd cried or broke down again over the loss of his life. But then Zoro didn't expect Sanji to cry. Sanji was strong.
He noticed that Sanji wore one of his sweatshirts and a pair of his sweatpants. He wondered if he wore on of his briefs, too. He immediately pictured Sanji in nothing but a pair of dark green briefs… Fuck, he started to salivate…
Sanji met his eyes and nodded briefly and walked right over to him. "Hey." He said.
Zoro ran his fingers over an especially nasty looking bruise right on his cheekbone, he couldn't resist the temptation. "Hey."
He liked how Sanji's skin felt under his thumbs; he liked the way one blue eye stared at him –
Suddenly Nami screamed from the kitchen: "SANJI! What are you doing here? Robin promised me she would tell nobody- "
"NAMI-SWAN!" Sanji screamed and wiggled over to Nami who looked rather shocked to see Sanji here. Zoro tried to understand what was going on, again. Obviously Sanji and Nami knew each other and Sanji liked Nami very much. Well, his sympathy for Nami just went close to zero.
Sanji was all over Nami, he couldn't even watch, he was so grossed out.
The room suddenly grew really quiet, like in dead fucking silent.
Luffy had moved so fast nobody had seen him till he had his hand around Sanji's throat and held him up in the air. His eyes were shadowed.
"Luffy-" Zoro tried to save the situation, but he was cut off by a death glare from Luffy. His shadowed eyes were downright scary.
"I don't know who you are, but Nami belongs with me now. You understand?"
"I…I get it, I'm sorry." Sanji struggled in Luffy's hold.
"Luffy, let him down. He's with me." Zoro said calm.
"Fine."
Everybody in the room let out a shaky breath. Luffy could be really intimidating, and usually if he got this special look in his eyes, people got hurt, really hurt. Luckily nothing bad had happened. Luffy let Sanji down and he rubbed his neck and stepped back. Zoro quickly put an arm around Sanji's waist to signal Luffy that Sanji belonged with him, and to calm Sanji down.
Nami seemed to get rid of her shock and smacked Luffy in the head, hard. "You idiot! Sanji is my friend! I would never date him, he's just a weirdo who freaks over boobs! He is actually my nakama, so don't kill him!" She screeched.
Luffy pouted: "But he touched what is mine."
Nami visibly softened at his words.
"But if you say he's your nakama, he's my nakama, too!" Luffy declared happy after all.
"Actually he's our new cook." Zoro added.
"WHAT? AWESOME!"
Luffy flew over and caught Sanji in a fierce hug and climbed on his back and shouted something along the lines like: "Meat!" or "Sanji, FOOD!"
Zoro sighed. This morning was way too turbulent for his taste. He poured himself another drink. He sure needed it by now.
He observed Sanji settling in the kitchen, getting introduced to Franky; apparently Sanji had met Usopp before. Sanji was followed by a very excited Luffy who watched every single one of his movements closely, like Sanji cooking was the most thrilling thing he'd ever seen. Well, Zoro had to agree, watching Sanji move in the kitchen was a fascinating sight. It was like watching Sanji fight – he was completely at ease with himself; confident, knowing exactly what to do –
The spell was broken when an annoyed Nami dragged Luffy out of the kitchen. Finally they all settled at the dinner table and soon the table was filled with mouthwatering dishes. Luffy salivated all over Nami's shirt which led to more yelling and head-smacking.
Sanji joined them after he served the last dish.
Zoro tried the food and rich flavors exploded in his mouth. Fuck, this had to be the best food he'd ever eaten.
They all finished the meal in no time, thanks to Luffy. After Nami successfully calmed Luffy down after he still bugged Sanji for more food she asked: "So, I was pretty surprised to see you here. You were the last person I'd expect to get involved with these people."
"Uh, Nami-Swan, I was surprised to see you here, too..."
Zoro watched with interest when Sanji explained Nami what he was doing here at the Galleya-shipyard, why he'd just agreed to become their new cook, he told her about the "Baratie" and Zeff, she gasped when she heard the news, and he ended summarizing how Zoro found him at the "Arabasta".
Zoro didn't like Sanji and Nami so close, so intimate and familiar with each other. He shrugged it off. Nami was all Luffy's, Nami was no threat he told himself. He grabbed another bottle rum and left the building to find Shanks and Eisberg.
He found them both in Eisberg's office. Both were involved in an intense conversation.
They stopped talking when Zoro walked in the office.
"Hey, Zoro, what can I do for you?" Eisberg asked.
"Eisberg, what can we do about the Krieg shit?"
"We were already discussing that matter. Zeff had been a good man and we had respected his wish to leave the business behind all those years ago. It's not fair from Krieg to get revenge after twenty fucking years." Eisberg explained.
"No shit, Krieg is the biggest fucking coward out there. He stepped over his boundaries, he has to pay. We gotta deliver a message: Don't fuck with us." Shanks added.
"He knew that Zeff was an old friend of us. He knew that a blow against Zeff is a blow against us. We got a reputation to defend. We have to take action against Krieg."
"Zoro, bro, mind getting Lucci, Kidd and Ace in here? We gotta plan some shit." Shanks ordered.
Zoro nodded. He left the office and searched for his nakama. He was relieved that Eisberg and Shanks wanted to take down Krieg - that meant that Sanji might get his revenge. Now he still needed to convince Shanks and Eisberg that Sanji could fight, that we wouldn't puss out and that he'd be a great addition to their team.
He found Lucci and Kidd working on a ship while Ace was snoring on a pile of timber. Zoro carried Ace on his back to the office, Lucci and Kidd following him.
He dropped Ace on the floor in the office - the sudden impact woke Ace up. "Arggh, you fucker- oh, Eisberg, Shanks, how are you doing? "
Eisberg stood up and the room grew quiet. "You probably all heard of the latest arson case downtown: the 'Baratie'."
"What? The 'Baratie' burnt down? It wasn't me, I swear, I didn't burn any houses last week-" Ace interrupted.
"We know. It was an old mafia boss who stepped over his boundaries. The owner of the restaurant died because of smoke poisoning. He was an old friend of the Galleya-Company. In addition to that the son of the owner is Zoro's friend and will be our new cook-"
"WHAT? We'll have our own personal cook? AWESOME!" Ace cried.
Zoro smacked Ace in the back of his head. "Shut up and listen what Eisberg says."
"Thank you, Zoro. Sanji, the cook, is now one of us. He'll work for the Galleya-Company from now on, and you all know what that means for you. He is nakama. He is hurt. If you hurt one of our nakama, we hurt back."
All of them murmured in agreement. There was no questioning the reasoning. Even if Kidd, Lucci and Ace never met Sanji, they already considered him their brother. This is how they worked: Loyalty was the first priority.
"So do we know this Sanji-kid?" Kidd asked.
"Remember the last time at the 'Rock'? The blonde man I fought? That's him." Zoro said.
"Shit, Zoro, he's hot-" Ace added.
"He belongs with me."
"Good. I don't care where he belongs, but I've seen him fight. He was a decent fighter. That's all I need." Kidd said. Lucci's bird nodded in agreement.
"So it's settled." Eisberg continued. "Let's plan our response to Krieg's provocation. I say we take action as soon as possible. I don't know what goes on in that twisted mind of his, but I don't want any more innocent people to get hurt. And he just proved that he doesn't care if civilians are in danger. Shanks said he got a fair idea where his hideout is, from which he operates his shitty business..."
Eisberg and Shanks laid out a plan, a pretty simple and basic one, but forceful and Zoro knew that it would work. Eisberg and Shanks plans were always flawless. It would be Kidd, Ace, Lucci, Khoza, Luffy and he, Shanks would be the backup.
When Lucci went off the retrieve Luffy and Khoza from whatever they were doing, Zoro said: "Uhm, Eisberg, could you do me a favor?"
"Yeah, Zoro, what is it?"
"Sanji is a good fighter, he can handle stressful situations…"
"Kidd already mentioned that he is a decent fighter, and I respect Kidd's judgment. So I figure that you want Sanji to take part in the operation, am I right?"
"Yeah. He deserves it. Krieg ruined his life. He should be the one who takes his head."
"I see, but he has no experience. He's nakama, but not part of our team yet. He doesn't know how we operate, how we work together."
"But-"
"Imagine he sees how a gun is pointed at Luffy. He doesn't know what that boy is capable of. He doesn't understand yet what our unique powers are, he doesn't understand how we complement one another in our operations. Remember when you started working the night shifts? You always wanted to protect Chopper-"
"I know! God damn it! But Sanji really deserves a chance-"
"Zoro, I know. We can't let him partake in the operation, but he can stay in the car. After the scene is clear, after we took Krieg down, he can get in there and finish Krieg off if he wants to. How does this sound?"
"Yeah, sounds good to me. But I don't think Sanji will just patiently in the car and wait for us take tear Krieg's hideout apart."
"Yeah, you're right. Shanks will be there for backup, but you know, he usually thinks after three seconds that you guys need backup, and he really wants to get Krieg… I guess I'll just come too and make sure that Sanji stays in the car. This actually seems like a nice chance to talk to him – I'm going to be his boss for the next couple months, so I should at least get to know him…"
Sanji sat in a dark SUV and he was sure, he'd never been this anxious in his whole life. It was around midnight and Zoro and Kidd had just left the car to raid the hideout of this motherfucker Krieg. They all went in there: Zoro and Kidd, Luffy and his big brother Ace, Khoza, Lucci and Shanks. People he didn't even know – he barely knew their names – left to avenge him, risked their life because of him.
Fuck – he has wanted to follow Zoro out of the car so bad, he wanted to be there, to take part in this, to help – he couldn't stand sitting around and doing nothing. He just couldn't –
"I wouldn't do it." The blue-haired man said who had stayed in the car with him.
Sanji wondered how the man knew that he had his hands on the door handle. He slowly pulled his hands back.
Zoro had told him to stay in the fucking car; to stay in the car no matter what happened. It was unfair! Zoro knew he could fight – it was fucking unfair that he had to sit in the car like a fucking pussy-
The blue-haired man interrupted his thoughts: "You know, Zoro actually wanted you out there with them, but Shanks and I didn't think you were ready yet. So don't blame Zoro that you were left in the car."
"So why don't you think I'm not capable of defending myself properly?"
"I do think you can defend yourself. But you have to figure out how this group works together. They have their own dynamics, pretty special dynamics actually; and you'll need to learn to fight with them. Also you need to learn that no one of them needs protection. I've seen the worried look in your eyes when Luffy ran headfirst in the building. You have to understand that they all needed protection and some support once in their life – and they all overcame this state. They are proud that they overcame this state. You would offend them if you would try to protect them – especially Luffy. Luffy is probably the strongest one out there – next to Ace and Kidd. And trust me, they are all smart enough to evaluate the danger they are in. Try to understand: Protection is not a bad thing, but protection when you're strong hurts your pride. Your pride is hurt right now because you are protected by us."
"Yeah, whatever."
"Don't get me wrong kid, there is nothing bad in saving your nakama when they are in serious trouble. And they get in serious trouble all the time. But you need to understand the difference."
"And why exactly are you telling me this?"
"So you learn. I figured that one day you'll want to be part of the fighting, right?"
"I guess."
"So…I'm not sure if you know, but I was a friend of Zeff's. Back in the old days when I was just some obstreperous rookie, he was there and took care of us. My old man knew him and somehow we were nakama back then. I was never really into the business, see, I'm more into ships - but Zeff introduced me to Shanks and this was how it all started. It was Shanks, Mihawk, Franky and me. We were all doing our thing, Franky and I building ships – haha, we never got along; we'd fight all the time… Well, shit happened… Things got messy… The fucking government did shit… It was around the time Zeff found you – and he took the chance to get out before it was too late. He managed his stuff and it all worked out good for him…"
Sanji was intrigued by the story the man told him: "Who is Mihawk? And what happened with the government and you?"
"Dracule Mihawk – he is a legend on the streets. But yeah, things got really messy. The city authorities here in Grand Line City kinda wanted to clean the streets, they wanted to tear down the slums on the eastside, you know the Sabondy-area, there were a lot of protests, even riots in the general public…And the underground got messy, too. Franky and I were just rookies, more interested in building ships, well Franky was interested in building weapons – but Mihawk and Shanks were really big in the business – and because of the government struggles some underground bosses tried to take the new lead in Grand Line City… there had been pretty bad fights…"
"So this is why Shanks only got one arm?"
"No, he lost his arm somehow in the process of saving Luffy. You gotta ask him for the story; it's not my place to tell you this. But the three gashes through his eye – they were a sweet little reminder of Teach…nevermind."
"Where is Mihawk? I mean, he was with you guys once, right?"
"He sold his soul to the government."
"What does it mean?"
"He officially works for them now. He did it to protect us back then. Shanks never forgave him."
"Shit, no I see why you all got issues due protection."
"That's not everything. I know that Mihawk did it to allow us to survive. Otherwise we wouldn't be here. He did it to not only protect us, but to save the people in Sabondy, and he knew he'd be the only one who could bring the government authorities to stop."
"So this Mihawk-guy works now for the government?"
"Yeah, if you see him, you should thank him. The government wanted to get not only the active underground bosses, but the one who retired, too. They wanted to get Zeff. They wanted to erase everything that had something to do with us. You would've been affected, too. Mihawk manipulated the authorities, faked documents and delivered false information. They were close to us, once, not too long ago – and they got Zoro. They sent Mihawk to kill him. Mihawk cut him up, everybody thought he was dead – Shanks went berserk - but you know, Mihawk can handle his blade. He'd put up a perfect show for everyone. Zoro survived, recovered only after two months. Now he got a pretty bad scar across his chest, but that's it."
"No shit, that's intense."
"Yeah, pretty much. So you know what you're getting into – but well, I guess you've been part of it all way long, you just never really knew about it."
"I guess so."
"Yeah, but don't worry too much. Things have calmed down a lot. Since Rob Lucci joined us things were going pretty easy."
"Why that?"
"Oh, well, don't tell anybody, nobody is supposed to know, well, nobody outside the Galley-Company, but Lucci is a government spy. Kalifa is one, too. They were assigned to infiltrate the company, and in the beginning they really worked for the government, but pretty soon Mihawk told us what was going on. We decided to test Lucci and Kalifa. We slowed the nightly activities down and increased our ship constructing branch. Mihawk stayed in touch with us what exactly Kalifa and Lucci were reporting. A couple months went by and we kinda tried to open Lucci and Kalifa up, well, I guess I opened Kalifa up-" Sanji could see the man blush even in the darkness of the car.
"But yeah, Mihawk called one day to warn us that Lucci and Kalifa supposedly leaked pretty important information about some huge deal – but we never even set a deal up. So Shanks and I were just like: 'What the hell was that about?' The next day we found out that the police raided the warehouse of our archrivals; the police tore the whole thing apart and caused the Blackbeards a huge loss of money, they busted big time… Apparently Lucci and Kalifa were the ones who gave his hideout away. After the Blackbeards went down we had a talk, they were both pretty shocked that we knew from the very beginning, but they acknowledged that we gave them a chance, that we didn't kill them the instant we found out that they were government spies… We gave them a choice: Either leave and never step a foot back on the grounds of the Galleya-Company, or stay and work for us. They didn't even need to think about it. So now we are the ones that got two spies inside the government."
"How do you know that they are working for you and not for the government?"
"I trust them."
"You trust them?"
"Yeah, trust. And the whole affair was like five years ago. We are still alive. Lucci killed policeman in the last five years, plenty of them. He never attacked us – well, he did, but we all fight all the time. So yeah, I trust him. You should do, too. He's in there right now, risking his life to avenge you."
That was impressive. He'd never known that the government was so fixed on smashing the underground – but wait, hadn't Kaku told him something like this? Fuck, this was messed up. Shit, he had been all caught up in the stories the blue-haired man told him, he completely forgot where they were and what Zoro and the others were doing right now! Shit!
"Do they always take this long? Are you sure they are alright?" Sanji asked anxious.
"Trust, Sanji, trust. They know what they are doing."
"Uhm, thanks. What is your name, by the way? I think you never told me-"
"Oh, sorry, I'm Eisberg. That was pretty rude-"
"Nah, don't mind…FUCK!" A huge body just crashed into their SUV. Eisberg and Sanji jumped both out of the car and Sanji raised his leg, whatever might await him, he was prepared-
"You dumb shit, I told you to let him alive so Sanji can finish him off-" Zoro snapped at an oblivious Luffy. Apparently it was Luffy's body that caused the impact on the car. And apparently a very angry Zoro had just thrown him.
Luffy just laughed: "Haha, Zorro, you're funny – Sanji, FOOD!"
Sanji saw the others coming back from the building, some of them were bleeding and their clothes looked slightly deranged, but other than that everything seemed fine. No one was limping or something worse. They nodded in Eisberg's direction and got in the two other SUVs and drove off. It was just Zoro, Luffy, Eisberg and him that were still in the alley.
"Is everything alright with you?" A concerned Zoro asked him.
"Moss-brain, I should be the one asking you that."
Zoro replied something insulting, but Sanji didn't listen anymore. He had just noticed the pretty beat up body that was in a pool of blood on the pavement next to Zoro's feet.
"Is this… this is Krieg, right?" Shit, why was his voice shaking?
Sanji felt how Zoro put a hand on his shoulder. He immediately felt a little calmer. But just a tiny little bit. Zoro's presence did not make him feel better.
"Yeah, this is Krieg."
"Is he…is he dead?"
"Yeah. Luffy finished him off."
Luffy just laughed at Sanji's dumbstruck expression. He couldn't really believe that Luffy, the smiling, meat-loving, innocent-looking Luffy just killed this huge and mean looking motherfucker. But then – Luffy was dating Nami. And he still felt his neck where Luffy had choked him this morning.
"I'm sorry, Sanji, Zoro told me that you wanted to be the one that ended him, but he made me so mad with the things he said, I mean he was saying ugly things about you and this Zeff-dude…"
"It's ok, Luffy." Sanji was actually relieved that he didn't have to kill a man. He'd never killed someone in his life. He beat the shit out of some guys, but he'd never killed. He knew that Krieg deserved what he had got, he knew that he had wished that Krieg would die – but in the end he was fortunate that he didn't have to end someone's life. He knew that Zeff wouldn't want him to.
"Let's go." Zoro said and put Sanji back in the car. Luffy followed and complained that he was hungry, distracting Sanji with his whines of hunger from the bloody body that haunted his thoughts. He could never ignore a starving stomach. Eisberg and Zoro joined them in the car and Eisberg drove back to the Galleya-shipyard.
"What will happen with the body? Can we just leave it there on the pavement?" He asked.
"Yeah, it's a warning. And Lucci will pull some strings, so the right people will find him, if you understand." Eisberg said.
Sanji nodded.
After they arrived back at the shipyard, Sanji went straight in the kitchen and made some food for the obviously close-to-death-starving Luffy and Ace. The cooking somewhat calmed his mind.
He watched Ace and Luffy dig his food and he lit up his probably hundredths cig that day. He was drained. He just wanted a comfortable bed to sleep in.
"Ok, where is my room?" He asked.
"We got a spare bedroom-" Zoro started, but Ace interrupted him: "Uh, I don't think so, I guess Luffy took it, he moved there with Nami, she wasn't really fond of sleeping in the same bed as me and Luffy; I don't know why, though. So Luffy moved out of my room, so I got plenty of space in my bed – Sanji can always come and cuddle-"
"He is NOT going to sleep in the same room as you do, Ace." Zoro shouted. Ace just shrugged.
"WHAT? Where am I gonna stay? I will not sleep on the couch, NO FUCKING WAY!"
Sanji looked around and just saw exhausted faces, probably mirroring his own expression. Zoro walked over to him and put and arm around his waist. He wanted to protest and to kick Zoro really hard, but this had been a long day and he just wanted to sleep in peace. Hardly 48 hours passed since Zeff's death, and his murderer was already cold on the pavement. He found a new job, new friends, he found out that his beautiful Nami-chan had a serious relationship…
He ignored the fact that Zoro's arm around his waist was calming him down, easing his spinning thoughts and helping him focus again on his surroundings. He would never admit it, though.
"Guess it's my room then. Come on, Sanji, we'll figure something out tomorrow."
Sanji just followed Zoro upstairs in his room because Zoro had called him 'Sanji' instead of some shitty insult.
A/N: I just wanted to thank you for your sweet reviews! They motivated me going on with this even during my exams... Well, I'll be through with them on 3/18/13, can't wait! I'll write more after this date - promise!
love, M... p.s. the next chapter will be smutty...