Disclaimer: See Chapter One

Chapter Seventeen

Do it on your own, it makes no difference to me

What you leave behind; what you choose to be

And whatever they say, your soul's unbreakable

-Muse, "Invincible"

xxx

Sanji really hated it when people were wrong. Admittedly, it probably wasn't Kaku's fault, but when you open the door to your apartment and find about fifteen armed men inside you tend to look for someone to blame.

As it was, that was about the only thing he could do, because even though he was pretty sure these thugs wouldn't kill him until he had personally met Krieg, they were under no instructions to spare Zoro's life.

Stupid idiot Marimo. Sanji abruptly shifted his blame placement and decided that, for whatever reason, all of this was now Zoro's fault. His fault that Sanji was going to be kidnapped. His fault that he was now restrained by five men, a gag stuffed in his mouth and a gun pressing against the skin of his throat. His fault that Sanji was absolutely helpless, fists clenched and eyes wide and wet with something that was not, could not possibly be tears.

"So are you comin', Blackleg, or are we gonna have to kill your little friend here just to convince you?"

"Who's my friend?" Sanji's hands were shaking as he attempted to light a cigarette, and when he found he couldn't and dropped the lighter to the ground, that was more than likely Zoro's fault too. "Oh, you mean this seaweed-brained moron over here?" he tried to sneer and ended up failing miserably at that as well. "You're being a little optimistic if you're calling him my friend."

"So you don't care if we do this, then?" one of the men, the one holding the pistol, cocked it, and Sanji saw a flash of panic flit through Zoro's eyes at the sound.

"Feh. He's not even worth your time. Why bother killing him?" Sanji snorted. "He's got all the brain cells of a plant anyway, so let him crawl somewhere in the sun to photosynthesize or something. He'll probably fall asleep if you keep holding him up like that."

Sanji ignored the hurt that had crept into Zoro's face at the words and moved forward, throwing his un-smoked cigarette to the ground as he shooed the men away and grabbed the gun. He knew they'd let him do whatever he wanted so long as he eventually came with them, so the fact that there were still guns levelled at him was enough of a threat. One of the men had managed to tie Zoro's hands behind his back and the green-haired man was looking decidedly vulnerable, his eyes darkening to become nearly unreadable once more. The cook's hand, thankfully, was steady as he held the gun in place and just stared at Zoro, hoping to convey everything with one look.

"Give us a moment?"

He knew he was asking for a lot, but he had taken for granted that Krieg's men were dumb as sticks, and he was proven right when the lot of them shuffled out into the hallway. Only one, the one who had originally pulled the gun, turned and said, "If you cross us, Blackleg, you die right here and now, no matter what our orders were. Krieg just wants you dead, and if he can see the body, it'll be proof enough."

Orders? Sanji thought as the man left and shut the door. From who? Gin?

He finally lowered the gun, dropping it to the floor as numbness slid through his fingers and he fell to his knees, dropping his head into his hands in frustration. How did these idiots even find their apartment? Dumb luck? It must have been, because there was no other way…of course, that wasn't true. They could have followed him home from the Baratie or the University any given day; even guards couldn't have prevented that. But now…

Taking a deep breath, he tensed as Zoro slid to his knees beside him, but realized that the other man really couldn't talk in his present condition, so he slid the gag out of Zoro's mouth and the dirty rag hung around his neck as the other man turned that dark gaze on him again. "I didn't mean it."

"I know, love-cook," Zoro assured him. "Believe me, I know. Don't know how you convinced them, anyway…not with the way your hands were shaking," Zoro shot him a grin.

"Don't," Sanji shook his head once and let a hand raise to cup the back of Zoro's neck, his fingertips stroking the soft green hair there. "Just…"

"You'll be fine. I promise. I'll get help."

"Zoro, we don't know if…what if they're lying? What if they don't take me to Krieg at all? What if the second we get out of here they just shoot me?" His voice rose in pitch slightly. "I'm not afraid of death, Zoro, but…"

"It. Won't. Happen," Zoro said firmly, breaking through the film of panic surrounding the blonde and shuffling forward, letting his chin drop over Sanji's shoulder as he nuzzled against his neck, lips brushing the pale skin. "It won't, Sanji. I'm going to get you out of there."

Sanji let his head rest against Zoro's as he closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around the larger man. "I trust you."

"I know."

"I have to go," Sanji wasn't going to chance staying longer than it would have taken to have a quick snarky argument, so he pulled away; or attempted to, at least, when Zoro tilted his head to the side and caught his lips, and he found that all he could do then was return the kiss, as soft and brief as it had to be. "I…I don't…"

"You don't have to say anything," Zoro assured him. "Just go if you're going."

Sanji bit his lower lip before steeling his features and nodding stiffly, putting the gag back into place and letting his fingers caress Zoro's cheek as he stood. He opened his mouth to say something but closed it almost immediately, shaking his head and walking briskly from the room.

He had barely left before the leader of the gang came in, picking up his gun and turning it around so that the barrel was in his hand. And even though Zoro knew what was coming, it still hurt far worse than it should have as everything faded to black.

000

Zoro came back to awareness slowly, a groan escaping his mouth as his head protested the action of waking up.

"Nmaa, so you're awake, then."

Zoro blearily opened his eyes and focussed them on the blue-haired man sitting beside the bed. Iceburg's face was impassive, but there were slight wrinkles around the corners of his eyes that spoke volumes. Zoro felt a slight pull at his finger and looked to see the man's small white mouse tugging on his hand, and he opened his fist to let the creature climb in. "How long…"

"Don't worry, Zoro," the man shook his head firmly. "I arrived at your apartment only to see them leaving, and since then it has only been a couple of hours."

"But…"

"I've got CP9 looking," Iceburg continued. "They will find him."

Zoro's mind was still processing everything, and his furrowed his brow and thought for a moment. Iceburg had said 'apartment,' but as far as he knew their room in the apartment didn't have bed-curtains. Or mahogany ceiling-beams. Or sand-coloured walls covered in hieroglyphics. Which could only mean one thing… "We're at Vivi's?"

"Well, we couldn't very well leave you there," Iceburg said bluntly. "Everyone's here."

"Define 'everyone.'"

"Everyone from the bar that night, mostly."

"Wonderful," Zoro pushed himself up onto an elbow and put a hand to his head to stay the dizziness that threatened to send him back under, somewhat surprised to feel a hand clasp his arm in order to steady him.

"You don't have to go out there if you do not wish to," Iceburg said softly. "This must be hard for you."

"Don't need your pity," Zoro shook off the arm and attempted to stand, but a bout of dizziness came over him again and he finally met the other man's eyes with a resigned nod as Iceburg grabbed his arm again. "Thanks," he grunted.

"If you're certain."

"Yeah. Let's just go," Zoro grunted, and Iceburg finally nodded and helped him out into the parlour.

"Zoro!"

Surprisingly, Nami was the first one to run over, her large brown eyes filled with worry and slightly puffy from crying. Zoro wasn't quite sure what to do with the girl in his arms, so he patted her back awkwardly until she finally pulled back. "It's going to be alright, Zoro. We'll…we'll get him back."

"Yeah," Zoro said vaguely, thinking that he probably should have just stayed in the room. Nami took his hand and led him over to one of the couches so he could sit beside Luffy, who regarded him with what was probably the most serious look Zoro had ever seen on his normally smiling face as he clasped the green-haired man's shoulder sympathetically. Zoro figured he was emitting a pretty strong aura of 'nobody talk to me,' because the room filled with people that normally would have been ear-splittingly loud was dead silent. He flinched immediately at his chosen thoughts, preferring to keep the word 'dead' out of his vocabulary for the time being.

Zoro glanced around the room, taking the time to note the expressions of the people there. Friends, acquaintances, it didn't really matter how they were connected; not now. All that was important was that they had a common goal, a common want.

Kaya was seated in Usopp's lap, her eyes wet as the long-nosed would-be engineer rubbed her back soothingly. Vivi was beside them, face set with a fierce determination that was mirrored in Kohza's eyes behind his glasses; the same look was firmly on Robin and Franky's faces, too, and even Brook looked strangely subdued. Iceburg had gone to sit beside Paulie, who was fiddling with a cigar and glancing up every once in a while before lowering his eyes once more.

Chopper, the poor boy, was curled beside Usopp, thankfully fast asleep. Usopp was petting his hair every once in a while with his free hand and Zoro was once again reminded how happy everyone had been at the bar. That was how he liked his friends, as annoying and boisterous as they could be. Not like this. Never like this.

"Well, I still say that we should look ourselves and just kill them."

"Dracule, no," Shanks was looking particularly frazzled as he growled at the completely unruffled swordsman. "We can't do that, and you know it. I'm worried enough as it is for the boy. None of you…" he looked up and blinked. "None of you know Krieg and what he's capable of the way we do, so while you all may be worried, we…"

"There's no need to distress them more, is there?" Mihawk looked resigned as he let a hand rest on Shanks' shoulder. "After all, it isn't that I don't trust Rob, but it's the sitting and waiting that does me in."

"I think we all feel that way."

Zoro glanced up at the speaker, Smoker, who was standing behind a rather large armchair. He hadn't noticed him before; he was somewhat in the shadows, and at the moment he was truly wishing that he hadn't seen him now either. Not so much because of him; Smoker looked disgruntled no matter what situation he was in, but because of the man seated in the chair.

And his eyes. Dark eyes burning with a heat that was all directed at Zoro; throwing accusations as clear as if he had been shouting them, even though Zoro knew that he couldn't have done anything to save Sanji. It was still his fault.

Ace noticed him looking and sniffed, dragging one hand through his already messy hair and looking noticeably less-composed than his brother. He was making no effort to hide the fact that he had been crying. Zoro felt the need to say something, but all that came out was a name. "Ace…"

The older man looked at him properly then, eyes still wild and the corner of his mouth lifted up in a sneer. "What?"

"There was nothing I could have done."

"You could have tried!" Ace surged to his feet, taking a step across the room, and Zoro noticed that he was dressed in clothing three sizes too big that made him look small and young. "If you loved him…"

"Love?" Zoro snorted. "What, just because we've gotten each other off a couple of times it's suddenly love?"

"It doesn't matter! You still could have done something!"

"Well yes, and next time you're tied up and gagged with a gun to your throat I'd like to see you try!" Zoro was almost yelling, but he tried to force a semblance of calm over himself.

"Oh, that's right," Ace had a rather unpleasant smile on his face. "You'd never do something so self-sacrificial to help a friend, would you? Not when you have a goal to achieve. Is he more important to you than Sanji?" Ace jerked his head toward Mihawk. "Because if he is then go fight him."

"That's not it and you know it, Portgas!" Zoro snarled. "Look, just because I may not love him doesn't mean I don't care about him…"

"But I love him!" Ace all but screamed, his chest heaving and his body shaking. "The only reason I let you have him was because I thought you were better for him than I was. I guess I was wrong." He sniffed and turned, hugging himself as he stared at the wall.

"Oi," Zoro cleared his throat. "Look, Ace, I…maybe I love him, okay? Maybe I…" Zoro heaved a frustrated sigh and moved forward, knowing he was being impulsive but somehow figuring that what he was offering was needed. He wrapped his arms around Ace and felt the older man stiffen before he leant back against Zoro and sighed, the tension draining out of his body.

"I know, Zoro," Ace finally said. "I know you'd never hurt him. I'm just…I'm just worried, that's all. I don't want anything to happen to him."

"He'll be fine, Portgas," Smoker broke in gruffly.

"Yes, Ace," Vivi nodded. "I know from experience. CP9 will find him."

"It isn't that I don't trust those guys," Ace shook his head, "But Krieg's unpredictable. What if he just decides to kill Sanji on the spot?"

"Actually, Krieg isn't in town at the moment," Iceburg cleared his throat. "He went down to the States for some business the last we heard, so the man likely heading up this little kidnapping is his second."

Zoro blinked, a smile coming onto his face at the words.

"Well, I think Roronoa's finally lost it," Smoker grunted. "He's smirking."

"Sanji'll be fine, Ace," Zoro gave the dark-haired man a quick squeeze. "If it's Krieg's second, he'll be fine."

"Zoro, do you even know the stories they tell about Gin?" Ace had started breathing heavily again. "Some say he's worse than Krieg himself! They call him a demon!"

"Sanji…" Usopp raised a hand, and Zoro gave him a quick nod. Usopp swallowed convulsively before continuing, "Sanji and Gin are old friends. Gin wouldn't…he wouldn't hurt him."

"What?" Ace went rigid in Zoro's arms. "Sanji is…"

"Long story, but apparently the love-cook saved his life once and they've been tight ever since," Zoro said quickly. "If it's Gin that's organizing this, he's doing it to keep Sanji safe."

"You're sure?" Ace turned his head so he could look Zoro in the eyes.

"Hey, I'm just telling you what he told me," Zoro said defensively. "Sanji trusts him, Ace. I wouldn't lie to you about that."

"I…" Ace heaved a sigh that could have easily been relief. "Thank goodness for that, then."

"It doesn't mean he's out of danger…"

"But at least he's got a chance. A friend on Krieg's side; that's huge, Zoro. Do Lucci and them know?" Ace asked.

"Yeah."

"Okay, then," Ace slumped back against him. "Zoro, I'm sorry. I had no right to…"

"Hey, we're all worried, Ace," Zoro assured him, although when Ace turned around and literally hugged him it was a little disconcerting. "Oi, get a hold of yourself," he muttered, looking rather exasperated.

"Portgas, stop molesting him," Smoker broke in, and Ace finally let go of Zoro and returned to the chair, looking a tad more composed than he had been. Zoro was just about to turn around and go back to the couch when the door burst open and a young, blue-haired woman rushed in.

"Commodore!"

Zoro froze. The hair; the voice; the body…it was too much right now, and he had to keep it together because nobody except Sanji knew about her.

Kuina.

If Kuina were still alive…

"What, Tashigi?" Smoker growled.

"We've just received word, sir. Don Krieg is most definitely out of the country, but he's scheduled to be back tomorrow evening," she saluted smartly.

"Good work," Smoker nodded. "Oh, girl, this is…"

"Zoro Roronoa?" she gasped. "It really is you! Your blonde friend told me all about you. I'm a swordsman, too," she smiled.

"R-really now?" Zoro was still reeling. Even her words sounded like they could have come from Kuina's mouth. "That's nice."

"He said that you'd spar with me sometime."

"Sometime," Zoro agreed vaguely. "When all of this is done with."

"Oh, yeah," she closed her eyes and smiled, a tad embarrassed. "I'm really sorry about what's happened. He's a nice man."

"Yeah. Sometimes," Zoro forced a cocky grin onto his face. "So you really think you can beat me, eh?"

"You're not afraid to fight me because I'm a girl?" she looked surprised. "Most people won't, you know."

"My training partner when I was young was a girl," Zoro shrugged, even though mentioning Kuina was more painful than ever. "It doesn't matter what your sex is, all that matters is how good you are."

"I like you," she crossed her arms and smiled. "Is it true what they say, though? You possess one of the Kitetsu blades?"

"Kitetsu III, I think," Zoro nodded.

"But isn't it…"

"Cursed? Of course," Zoro was grinning now. "But what's the point of being a great swordsman if you have ordinary swords? I like the challenge."

"You're a strange man, Roronoa," Tashigi shook her head, but it seemed that her arrival had broken the awkward fear-filled tension in the room and people began to talk once more. Admittedly, it was subdued and lacked the normal enthusiasm, but at least it was companionable and Zoro even caught Ace teasing Smoker about something-or-other.

He eventually made his way back to the couch and sat beside Luffy, who patted his leg with an encouraging smile. "Sanji will be fine, Zoro. I know it."

And for some reason, those simple words from that boy were the greatest thing anyone could have said to him in that moment.

"Yeah. Yeah, Luffy, I know."

000

Sanji, however, was not feeling nearly so optimistic at the moment. He had picked up on the fact that for whatever reason Krieg was nowhere to be found, and had resigned himself to believing that these idiots must have been hanging around the University too much and so Gin decided to take action by himself. Sanji had no doubt that the sallow-faced man was planning on swinging this whole situation so that Sanji ended up getting away in the end, but the one man…the one who had originally pointed the gun at Zoro…he was worrying.

He was smart, for one thing, and seemed not to respect orders the way that the others did at all times. And that worried Sanji, because there were far too many weapons around right now to risk something untoward happening.

"So, Mr. Blackleg, how does it feel to be at our mercy?"

Sanji felt that on some level he had never had to do so much acting in one day. And he was horrible at it, apparently, even though thankfully Krieg's men were for the most part buying it. But pretending to be indifferent when it came to Zoro and now pretending to be scared of Gin…who, Sanji thought, was rather convincing, although it was still Gin…it really wore a person down.

But if there was anything Sanji was good at, it was being snarky, so he decided that at least he could play that up to the fullest. "Mercy? Funny, I always thought that mercy was a good thing," he struggled a bit, the ropes they'd used biting into his wrists and cutting off his circulation. He cursed softly at the realization, knowing that it could compromise his hands if he lost blood flow for too long, and his struggling only served to tighten the ropes.

"He's pretty, isn't he?"

Sanji's head snapped up and he glared at the speaker, the irritating man who, he decided, was going to be called…let's see, what would be a properly degrading name…well, Idiot would have to do for now.

"Too bad you're so ugly you'll never have the chance to be with anyone like me," Sanji wished he had a cigarette so he could blow some smoke into the moron's face, but sadly that wasn't an option.

"What'd you say, blondie?" Idiot wrenched his head back, fingers gripping tightly in Sanji's golden hair. "As far as I'm concerned, I could do anything I wanted to…"

"That's enough," Gin broke in, one of his infamous tonfa balls in his hand. Rumor was that he kept them with him wherever he went, but for the life of him Sanji could not remember ever seeing them. They were formidable looking things; the handle made it easier to gain momentum, and he didn't like to think about how easily they could crush somebody's chest if enough force was applied. "We're just to hold him until Don Krieg returns. Those were his orders."

"Meh, I still don't see why Krieg's so bent on being here. I mean, sure it's fun to make 'im squirm a bit, but if you're just going to kill 'im anyway…why not get it over with?" Idiot had an evil leer on his face as he continued to hold Sanji's head back at an awkward angle.

"Those were his orders," Gin hissed.

"No, they weren't," the other man shook his head. "Those were your orders. We have no idea what Krieg actually wants…" this was accompanied by a rather sharp hair pull and Sanji let out a tiny groan at the pain. "Hey, so did Krieg give any orders as to how we're supposed to treat the prisoner?"

"Get your hands off of him," Gin looked positively livid by this point, and Sanji was thanking every deity he could think of that the demonic man was on his side. "Unlike him, I am under no orders to spare your life."

"You'd kill one of your own men, then?"

"You're compromising the mission."

"Because I don't get the mission!" Idiot growled. "We're supposed to kill him, right?" Sanji flinched when he felt the cool blade of a knife press against his throat hard enough to draw blood, and the man ran it down to the collar of his shirt. "So why are we bothering to keep him alive just until Krieg gets back?"

"If you want to keep your own life much longer, you won't question Don Krieg's decisions. Maybe he wants to kill the boy himself," Gin suggested, crossing his arms.

"Hmm, that's no fun," suddenly the man was in front of Sanji, his eyes going dark with a kind of feral madness that was more than a little disconcerting. "And he's so pretty, too…"

Sanji gasped as the man slid a rough hand under his shirt and trailed it up his chest. "Get off of me, pervert!" However, what he saw next caused him more concern than whatever molestations were going on. One of the men, probably one of Idiot's goons, was sneaking up behind Gin with an iron bar in his hand, and Sanji had to get the man's attention without saying anything or the proverbial jig would be up.

Luckily, Gin was a perceptive man, and as soon as he saw Sanji's eyes widen with something that wasn't because of the unwanted attention, he swung his tonfa ball in a wide arc behind him and laid the man out cold. This seemed to start a chain reaction, as whatever men still loyal to Gin and Krieg attacked those who seemed to be Idiot's converts.

Unluckily, however, this left Sanji completely vulnerable, and Idiot snarled and reached to give one of his nipples a harsh twist. "That moron, I told him to wait until I had you all good and distracted, but he just had to jump the gun. I was looking forward to spending some time with your body, blondie, but I guess having you dead is more important than that," he glanced behind him, a smile coming to his face at the sight of Gin's other tonfa ball just lying on the ground. The rest of the men had seemingly moved the battle outside, leaving them alone, although Sanji caught Gin trying to make his way back into the building.

Idiot picked up the heavy metal weapon, twirling it easily in his hand. "They say one solid hit from this can kill a person quickly. I wonder if it's true." He swung it around to build up momentum. "I guess we'll see, won't we?"

Sanji barely had time to realized what was about to happen and close his eyes before he heard the unmistakeable 'whoosh' of something large and heavy displacing the air, and the horrible sound of breaking bones brought bile to his throat instantly.

It was only a few seconds later, when he realized that there was no pain, that he dared to open his eyes. So the tonfa ball hadn't hit him after all.

But then, what had it hit?

Notes:

1. I know; I know. Evil me, to leave it on a cliffhanger…xP. And I still am unable to tell you all why my generic evil villains all have to molest poor Sanji at one point or another…but apparently it's inevitable.

2. It's a little shorter than the previous few chapters, but I had to end it there for…obvious reasons…

3. SPOILER ALERT!!! Er-hem. So, this week's chapter was…

Yeah. Oh, Bon-chan, you dear you. Luffy SO has to make it up to him after this one, and I'm pretty sure he realizes that.

But on a lighter note: AT LEAST THEY'RE OUT OF THERE. NOW GO SAVE YOUR BROTHER, LUFFY! GO! (And meet up with your crew. Cause that'd be, you know, good…).

That's it! Thanks for the continued support!