Sanji wakes up in a haze, his dreams as always chasing Zoro and desperately wondering where he could be and what could be happening to him. Sanji sits up and bed and shakily lights a cigarette. Part of him wishes that he'd never read Cabaji's damned recommendations, that he didn't have to dream what he did. He breathes the smoke deep into his lungs and tries to force the images out of his brain.
In his dream he was stuck behind cell-like bars with Zoro on the other side. He heard Zoro's yelp as he was shoved to the ground, he saw Blackbeard's hand pinning Zoro between his shoulder blades as he held him down and…
It was the scream that really got to him, the way Zoro begged and pleaded for it to stop. No matter how hard Sanji kicked, how much he screamed or demanded that Blackbeard stopped he couldn't get to Zoro, he couldn't stop him or do anything but watch. But his brain just had to dream up such details, Zoro's broken sob, the way his fingernails split and bled from clawing at the concrete floor in a desperate attempt to claw his way to escape.
He feels sick. He curls over his knees and tries to get a hold of his writhing stomach. He wants nothing more than to find Blackbeard's house, break in and get Zoro. But Nami has told him that he can't a thousand times. He'll be caught, he'll be thrown in jail and Zoro will never get out. And that's the best case scenario, the worst is that the world thinks he's gone missing and Blackbeard just keeps him. He could get thrown in Blackbeard's dungeon or whatever it is and see Zoro getting hurt first hand as well as being tortured himself. None of that will help Zoro, but damn if he doesn't want to just try.
He touches the small key on his neck and prays to any god listening that he can get Zoro out okay. His first cigarette is burnt down to the filter now so he lights another, his nerves still not feeling calm enough yet. He makes his way down the kitchen to find everyone else already up and awake in the kitchen, it's Saturday so there's no court but Zeff seems to have completely shut the Baratie down for Operation Zoro. The others are all in the midst of planning together.
"If we're going to distribute a signal to everyone it really needs to be a master signal, something that will open all of the collars at once, if we do it one at a time we risk missing people or being stopped halfway through when they realise what's happening." Robin says with conviction.
"That's far harder to make though, it may not even be possible – definitely not if you want it done soon. But I could perhaps run a program that would send out keys to each individual collar at an alarming rate, Nami, how many mates are there?" Usopp asks from across the table with a frown.
"The Royal Institute has about a thousand new mates per year, but when you take into account the short life expectancy of the position there are probably only about twenty… maybe twenty five thousand of us about? But we're all over the world, not just this country." Nami answers with a sigh as she rubs her temples through stress.
Usopp frowns and turns to his calculator, tapping in numbers and scribbling on a sheet of paper. Zeff slides a drink over to him without so much as a glance and Sanji sips it automatically, it's hot chocolate with a strong kick of rum in. Zeff used to give it to him when he had nightmares of his mother drowning; it always took the edge off of his anxiety. He smiles a little and relaxes some, feeling grateful to his old man for the understanding.
"That kind of program could run in five minutes, perhaps slightly less if I can make the code better." Usopp announces.
"How long do you think it would take to make? You've been looking at my collar so…" Vivi asks hesitantly.
"I don't know! It's not exactly easy! And I'm going to need to get access to the institute's systems to do it, in order to send the signal out to unlock everything." Usopp exclaims tensely. Sanji sympathises, it must be hard having so many people's hopes riding on you like that.
There's a knock on the door which startles everyone else out of conversation, Nami slips off to the side, ready to escape into a side room should it be someone at the door who might recognise who she is and know that she's not supposed to be alive. The others watch him as he pulls the door open.
On the other side is a pretty blonde woman dressed entirely in black with a white plastic looking collar around her neck with a heavy looking black padlock on it. She is… familiar.
"Hello?" He asks with a frown, trying to place her. He leans in the doorway and looks at her; he does know her, but from where? He goes to so many charity balls and social events that it's hard to place people.
"I have a delivery for you Sanji." She says, her face impassive. The blank expression and her voice triggers a memory in his mind.
"Hey, I know you… from the hospital. You're… Cindry, wasn't it?" Sanji asks as the name comes back to him in a flash. Wasn't she the one that Zoro said had slipped her the small black device? Was she here to get it back from him? That could jeopardise their entire plan, no way could he let her have it, no matter how much he hates to deny a lady.
"I have a delivery for you Sanji." She repeats, raising her hand. There appears to be a phone in it, the kind that can transfer calls into the device built into Sanji's ear. He frowns, why would she be delivering a phone to him? She doesn't look like a delivery girl; she's a nurse after all isn't she? And he's not ordered a phone…
"Cindry?" Nami gasps from behind the door. The redhead peeks her head around the door with wide eyes, her expression becoming overjoyed when she sees Cindry.
"Cindry!" She exclaims joyfully, pulling the woman inside and grabbing her into a close hug. But Cindry's slender body remains stiff and impassive, her eyes glazed and unfocused until they swing back to Sanji again. Her empty stare disconcerts him somewhere deep in his soul but he can't quite put his fingers on why.
Vivi comes close, her beautiful features pinched into a frown as Nami pulls back from Cindry, confused at her hug not being returned.
"Cindry, what's wrong? It's me, Nami." Nami frowns, reaching for the scarred woman's cheek.
"Nami, no! LOOK!" Vivi yelps, intercepting Nami's hand and yanking her back. Vivi's trembling finger is pointing at the dark metal padlock at Cindry's throat and the mere sight of it is enough to make both girls pull further away in terror.
"No, no! He got her!" Nami chokes out, her hand covering her mouth and tears springing to her eyes.
Sanji's mind snaps back to the ball with Blackbeard, Zoro's terrified face appearing in his mind, the way that he wouldn't say Blackbeard's name but just referred to him as him. Zoro had told him what Blackbeard did, he tortured mates until they either died altogether or died inside, until their souls and minds broke irreparably.
"I have a delivery for you Sanji." She repeats once more, her blank eyes fixed on him. Sanji backs away, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. This woman is completely dead inside, blank and destroyed, so much so that Blackbeard has been able to mould her into doing whatever he wants, enough that he trusts that she won't dare disobey him. He's left her so broken that she doesn't even have the free will left to do it.
Nami is crying into Vivi's shoulder now and Sanji can see why Zoro said that this was what they were all afraid of, how this was worse than death. He understands Zoro's fear of this, how he'd rather endure anything than become this, and yet he's ended up in Blackbeard's hands anyway.
Cindry's expression turns feral and she leaps at him, he sees the attack with more than enough time to deflect it but he can't do so without hurting her, he can't bring himself to do that. He'll never hurt a lady. She tackles him to the floor and slams the phone into the side of his head, connecting a call. He hears the final ring echoing in his head before the voice that picks up chills him to the bone.
"Hello Sanji." Blackbeard's voice purrs inside the confines of Sanji's head, making his skin crawl.
"Blackbeard!" he snaps, making Vivi and Nami flinch. He sits up and Cindry, without any resistance now, moves with him.
"I'm glad you got my call, I wanted to talk to you. How do you like my work by the way? Cindry is one that I made earlier; she lost something very important to her master so I got given her for free. I've had a week head start on her in comparison to your Zoro but I thought you might like seeing the finished product." Blackbeard laughs menacingly in a way that makes Sanji's blood boil.
Sanji's eyes widen and he stares at Cindry, she's ragdoll like in his arms now, keeling to the side and onto the floor. Her body is limp now that she has no further orders from Blackbeard, her eyes staring into nothingness. He scans down her petite body and can't help but notice the healing cuts and bruises all over her, her skin was scarred before but now… now she's truly carrying the evidence of her abuse.
"You're a monster, I'll kill you, I swear it." He snarls at Blackbeard as his eyes hang on a hand-shaped bruise on her inner thigh, knowing just how she must have got that.
"I'm not a monster, I'm just strong. Weak people in this world don't interest me, they're just there to be exploited. Even the strong are all weaker than I am, so finding out just how strong people are interests me." The man continues conversationally, as if this was a casual chat over tea!
"You see, everyone's mind is different. Every person has weaknesses and flaws, pride, fear, guilt, and so on and so forth. Everyone has something that will break them, or a combination of things. Cindry here had a very high pain tolerance, her last master liked to test just how far he could go with anaesthetic, hence all the scars on her, so pain couldn't break her. Mates are actually quite resilient, they're used to living in fear and they become stronger for it." He adds with a small note of admiration in his voice.
"What broke Cindry here was fear, it turns out that she couldn't stand being stuck in her own head. It's amazing what a solid week of sensory deprivation can do, the mind eats itself from the inside out, it's beautiful to see." Blackbeard says wistfully inside Sanji's skull.
Sanji shuts his eyes and keeps his mouth shut. He doesn't want to ask about Zoro, to ask what he's doing to him.
"I'm having fun with Zoro though, he's stronger than most, the strongest I've seen in fact. But that's the thing with strength, diamonds are strong, but if you hit them in just the right place they turn to dust. Now, I don't know if you can hear this…" Blackbeard says. There's a pause and all Sanji can hear is the crackle of the connection and a low, almost inaudibly so, growl. He knows it well, it's the slight sound that Zoro makes in the bottom of his chest when he's really REALLY angry. Just the sound of it makes Sanji picture his furious face. Part of him worries that Zoro is mad at him, but he's almost sure that it's at Blackbeard. He smiles slightly, if Zoro is angry that means he's still fighting, he's not broken yet.
"Well, Zoro. Don't you have anything to say to Sanji? I'm sure he'd love to hear your voice." Blackbeard says gloatingly. There's a silence but he can still hear Zoro breathing, the stubborn man is refusing to say anything.
"Blackbeard, I'm going to find you and I'm going to kill you. I will watch as the life drains from you and I'm going to enjoy it, assuming that Zoro doesn't get you first. But you're going to die for this, I promise you." Sanji promises, meaning it with every inch of his soul.
Blackbeard laughs his disgusting laugh and ignores Sanji's threat, making no acknowledgement that he's even said a word.
"Still not got anything to say Zoro? No? Well I'm sure I can make you make some noise." Blackbeard says lightly.
There's a metallic noise then, like something metal being pulled loose, no doubt done for Sanji's benefit. There's a scuffling sound and the sound of heavy metal links clinking together, like the sound of someone chained trying to pull away.
"Less of that." Blackbeard chides.
"AH! Get off-" Zoro snaps, only to be drowned out by the metal links clinking louder.
"You know the struggling doesn't make it better, so come on, surely you have something to say to Sanji?" Blackbeard asks again but Zoro falls silent once more, except for a small growl.
"Don't you touch him!" Sanji shouts but Blackbeard simply chuckles. The rest of the room is silent, watching him, horrified at what must be going on through the one side of the conversation that they can hear. He ignores them, he can't focus on anything else but the voice in his head.
"You're trying to be so good and so quiet Zoro, just so that Sanji can't hear you. You see Sanji, Zoro's biggest weakness; his largest flaw… is you. The thought of you hurting because of him… well… it's just unbearable. So you're trying to be strong aren't you Zoro? But you're not strong, you're weak, and I'll prove it." Blackbeard taunts them both, making Sanji's blood run cold. The metal sound reappears, like something being dragged over concrete.
He hears Zoro suck in a sharp breath then but other than the hiss of Zoro's sharp pained breathing he doesn't make a noise. There's a sound though… it's… familiar somehow. Sanji searches his brain and with a sense of horror his mind lands on all the time's he's been to the butcher for the Baratie and heard the sound of a knife slicing through skin and muscle. Except… there's no way Blackbeard is making himself a sandwich here, the meat that he's going to be cutting into is… Zoro.
"No, no don't, please!" he begs, but it's no use.
"You know, you have an impressive pain tolerance. I wonder how long I could do this to before you scream, I'm sure Sanji wants to hear that. Which will happen first, will you scream or will I get through do you think?" Blackbeard muses, but Sanji can still hear that horrible cutting sound.
Zoro draws in a shaking juddering breath, Sanji can hear it hissing around clenched teeth. It seems to stick for a second and there's a quiet high pitched whine, almost a squeak, the start of a scream that was killed before it truly began. Sanji clasps a hand over his own mouth, not daring to make a sound that could encourage Blackbeard.
Blackbeard laughs quietly to himself and Sanji hears the twist of a knife again, drawing a sharp exhale from Zoro. The man's breathing is erratic and shaky now, as if he's only holding on to silence by a hair's breadth.
"You know it's possible, if you're talented like me, if you keep control of the bleeding that is, to expose so much raw nerve- why, you could skin someone alive if you were so inclined. But if you surrender Zoro, admit that you're weak and scream and I'll stop. So which lives out, your mind or your body? This won't kill you, I promise you that. But I'm not going to stop, not unless you scream." Blackbeard promises.
Zoro makes a high, thin noise, his breathing sounds choked. He's trying not to cry, he doesn't want to make a noise because he knows that Sanji is listening. Should he hang up? Would that help Zoro? He glances around for the phone but Cindry has it held tightly in her fingers.
"I won't let you do this, if he's trying to be quiet for me then I'll just hang up and it won't matter if he screams or not!" Sanji threatens, reaching for the phone.
"If you stop listening Sanji, I won't stop even if he does scream. And I'll keep recording, and I'll send it to you. I'll let him scream until his throat won't take it any more and all because you couldn't stand to even listen." Blackbeard says sharply, stilling Sanji's hand.
"No, please- don't-" Zoro begs, his voice uneven and ragged. Sanji doesn't know if Zoro can hear him or not, he doesn't know if Zoro is begging him not to hang up or Blackbeard not to continue but he's begging and oh god…
"Well frankly Zoro that's just rude, I was in the middle of talking there. I've gone through all this trouble of making you make some noise and you refuse, only to interrupt me when I'm talking, it's… salt in the wound if you will." Blackbeard huffs, interrupting Zoro in fake offence.
There's a sound, almost like gravel, and Sanji knows already that it's rock salt – it has to be. He hears the sharp inhale as Zoro realises what's about to happen.
"No, no no! Don't!" Sanji yells, but the sound continues. Zoro screams, the sound rattling around inside the confines of Sanji's head. It's short, only a second or two at most, but full of pain and agony and burnt into Sanji's memory forever.
"There it is." Blackbeard practically purrs. There's a thump then, like Zoro's been dropped on the ground, or part of him anyway, like his arm or his legs. Then a slow sound of movement, Sanji just pictures Zoro curling in on himself in pain. Sanji can hear Zoro choking on his own breath, it sounds like he's trying not to actually cry but then… there's this whine and then a sob. It's small and quiet and so impossibly sad, it's simply the most broken sound he's ever heard from any human being. It's pain, but it's not physical, it's pure emotional agony and hearing it wounds Sanji far more than the scream ever did.
Zoro is starting to break and so is he.
"Thanks for listening Sanji, and you can keep Cindry, she's no use to me any more. Consider her… a souvenir." Blackbeard laughs and disconnects the call.
Sanji sits there numbly, his mind still needs to catch up to all that he just heard inside his own head. Zoro's scream and his sobs are still running over and over in his mind, and endless loop of pain that cuts Sanji a little deeper with each repetition. This is his fault, he did this, he put Zoro there, he opened his mouth in court, he wasn't strong enough. It's him, it's all him.
"Sanji?" Ace's hand on his shoulder startles him back into the kitchen with a startled breath. Everyone is staring at him with worried eyes. He locks eyes with the concerned looking fire starter crouched in front of him and his lip trembles.
He's doing everything that he can but it's not enough, not as long as Zoro hurts like this.
"I need- I need to get him!" He yells, launching himself from the floor with speed. He's not faster than Ace though, who grabs the back of his shirt and hauls him back down to the floor. Ace slams him down, shoves his shoulders down and pins him with his bulk, his knee in Sanji's hip preventing him from levering himself up.
"Let me go! Blackbeard is cutting into him like meat, let me GO!" He screams, thrashing against Ace.
"You're not going anywhere! Don't be so goddamn stupid! You're falling for the bait, again! If you go there it'll be a hundred times worse for Zoro, you know that." Ace shouts in his face, his eyes burning with determination. Sanji weakens, tears streaming freely from his eyes.
"Zoro needs you, so don't you dare let him down." Ace snaps and pulls back off of him, his look is a clear challenge. Will he be selfish and leave, to try to rescue Zoro out of stupidity and weakness or will he be strong and stay? He sits up and wraps his arms around his knees as he tries to suppress the choking sob in his throat.
Ace's hand is on his shoulder again now, gentler this time though. The fire-fist's eyes are honest and sincere as he speaks.
"Blackbeard will pay, he'll die and it'll be slow and painful. I'll burn every inch of him, I'll burn his lungs until he can't breathe. He will pay. That's a promise. We just… we need to be smart here." Ace vows, his clenched fist bursting into flame.
"We'll get him out, we need a plan. Usopp, get planning!" Luffy orders, pointing across the kitchen at the long-nose.
"I'm going to go and code a key." Usopp nods firmly and leaves the room.
"I have a few investigative journalists I need to talk to." Robin adds and stands up.
"I'm going to get the floor plans to his house. When we do rescue Zoro, I want to know my way around." Nami says with a determined expression on her face as she strides out of the room. It seems that Zoro's pain is spurring everyone into action, everyone but him.
His eyes slide to the blank eyed Cindry again, Zeff is pulling her to her feet and she's obeying but there's really no life in her. In an unusual display of tenderness he brushes Cindry's hair out of her face and mumbles something to himself that Sanji can't quite catch. When he turns back the old cook's eyes are distant, as if remembering something painful.
"What are we going to do with her? He said he doesn't want her back, I want to help but…" Sanji says looking at her worriedly.
"She's probably beyond help, from us at least." Ace finishes for him. Sanji nods in agreement but also he doesn't trust her, who knows what else Blackbeard programmed the poor woman to do?
"Ivankov!" He gasps as the thought occurs to him. If anyone could help that weird okama could! He pulls out his phone and calls the man, making sure to keep the call outside his head this time, he's not sure he can stand any other voices in his brain right now.
The phone rings a few times before someone picks up.
"Hello, revolution." A slightly bored woman's voice says over the phone.
"Hello! Yes, can I speak to Ivankov please? It's Sanji, Sanji-" he cuts himself off then because, actually, he's not Spandam's son anymore and so he's no longer Sanji Prince. What's the protocol in this situation for not having a last name any more?
"Just… Sanji." He finishes lamely. Crap, is he gonna need a new last name now? He supposes he could take Zeff's but… that'd be a little weird, and he certainly wouldn't do that without asking.
"The one who's getting sued?" The voice on the other end asks with some interest.
"Yeah." He says with a nod.
"One moment." The voice says and puts him on hold. He watches Cindry warily out of the corner of his eye but she's just standing there like a mannequin, her chest rising and falling as she breathes the only clue that she's alive at all.
"Curly-chan? Is that you?" Iva's voice booms down the phone so loudly that Sanji actually holds it away from his ear for a moment.
"Yeah, it's me. Listen… Blackbeard keeps sending me… never mind- I… I've got a mate here, not mine. Blackbeard has had her and she seems completely… dead. Inside I mean, she's still breathing but that's about it. I know you deal with slavery cases and that's what this is really so do you know anyone that could help? I can't just leave her like this." He tries to explain.
"One of Blackbeard's victims? Yeah, I'll be right with you, I've got a doctor that might be able to help. Are you at that restaurant?" Ivankov asks, his tone serious now.
"Yeah." Sanji confirms.
"Stay there, and… keep an eye on her." The man says to him and hangs up.
Sanji puts the phone back in his pocket and sighs. He looks around the room, Vivi and Igaram have left with Nami, leaving only Franky, Luffy, Ace and Zeff in the room with him and Cindry.
"I've never seen anyone look like that, it's like she's not even here." Franky says quietly from the table.
"He's had her a week longer than he's had Zoro, I'm worried that Zoro might be running out of time." Sanji admits quietly as he watches the impassive woman.
"Zoro's strong, but… I'm not sure I want to test just how strong he is." Ace agrees with a nod as he too gazes at Cindry, clearly wondering as they all are, whether when they get Zoro back he'll be like this.
"Zoro used to talk about it sometimes, so did Nami." Luffy says in a quiet tone that has them all staring at him.
Luffy's hat is low over his eyes and his expression is sombre. Sanji's not sure that he's ever seen Luffy so serious or detached as this.
"He said that they brought them back to the institute every so often, that they let the people who loved them go to them, to try to coax some life back into them. They never managed it and Zoro said it was just as awful watching them try as it was seeing them come back like that. It always made Nami cry when it happened, and it really scared Zoro." Luffy continues quietly.
"I don't know what Zoro's going through right now, but I know he wouldn't want to put us through that, definitely not Nami. So he won't let that happen to him, I know it." Luffy says with some confidence.
"The last thing Zoro should be worrying about is us!" Sanji exclaims in horror.
"Yeah, but it's just what the idiot will be doing." Ace says with a morbid laugh and a shake of his head.
Sanji grits his teeth as Blackbeard's words echo around his head, that he is Zoro's biggest weakness. Ace is right, it'd be just like the stupid marimo to be worrying about him when he's getting hurt.
"I need a smoke." He mutters and slips outside.
The sound of the city washes over him as he smokes, he wants nothing else but to whisk Zoro away from Blackbeard and run off to somewhere that he'll be safe, but he can't just do that. He wishes so badly that he could be in court today, at least then he could be doing something that would help Zoro, instead of just standing around being useless.
He's on cigarette number four of the day when Ivankov and another man show up. The new guy is skinny, not a dissimilar build from Sanji himself, but he's covered with tattoos and frankly, he looks a little sinister. He also can't help but notice the large sword at the man's side, his brain automatically flicks to Zoro and thinks that the other man would probably like to fight with another swordsman.
"Where is she? I'm a doctor." The new guy asks Sanji abruptly. Iva rolls his eyes and smacks the new guy around the back of his furry-hatted head.
"Manners Law. Sanji, this is Trafalgar Law, he is, as he says, a doctor. He's dealt with Blackbeard's victims before, he might be able to help yours." Ivankov says introducing them. The doctor gives him an unimpressed "well?" expression so Sanji jerks his head for the two of them to follow.
"Cindry's in here, Blackbeard sent her here to deliver a message to me." Sanji explains, opening the door to the kitchen. When they get in there only Ace and Zeff are left watching Cindry. Ace nods to him as they enter and leaves to give them some space.
"Why's he sending you messages?" Law questions with a raised eyebrow as he puts his bag down on the table by Cindry.
"To torture him." Zeff answers for him. Sanji's eyes widen, hearing what Zoro went through is certainly damn near the most awful thing he's ever experienced but what's happening to Zoro is torture, not what's happening to him.
"So he has your love then, he's got Zoro." Ivankov says quietly. Sanji glances up at the bigger man and nods with regret.
"You are aware then, that he has never had a mate that he hasn't killed or broken? Your mate isn't exactly facing good odds if he has him." Law says, avoiding the use of Blackbeard's name, probably for Cindry's benefit as he snaps on sterile gloves.
Law turns his attention to Cindry and smiles gently at her.
"Hello, my name is Trafalgar Law, I'm a doctor. Can you tell me your name?" Law asks gently, as if talking to a frightened child. Sanji's mouth opens, he already told Law her name but he shuts it again as he realises that it's a test, to see if she knows her own name still.
Cindry remains silent and stares straight ahead at nothing.
Law narrates his actions and asks gentle questions as he goes about his work; he mends any wounds that he finds and tests to see if he can get any response out of her. She doesn't flinch when Law pricks her with a needle, nor when he touches her injuries. She doesn't react when Law attaches sticky monitors to her chest and switches on a heart rate monitoring device.
"Well?" Ivankov asks after a while.
"She's unresponsive, as you can see. Not unusual, I don't know if there's anything of her still in there but I can see if she responds to the last test." Law says softly.
"Do you have any windowless rooms in this place with a door and a light in them?" Law asks, looking up at Sanji.
"The upstairs bathroom doesn't have any windows, why?" he frowns at the odd questions.
"Lead the way, come with me Cindry." Law says instead of answering and takes Cindry's hand, pulling her after Sanji.
"You have to understand about his powers Sanji, his devil's fruit power is a darkness power. Absolute power over darkness, he spreads it everywhere, he can use it to attack people, to restrain them, anything he wants. He's incredibly strong." Iva explains as the four of them climb the narrow stairs.
"Specifically he can absorb people into it, he can swallow them up into the darkness inside himself, literally absorbing them. It's complete sensory deprivation." Law adds, keeping a close eye on Cindry's reaction to their conversation or lack thereof.
"He said that he kept her in sensory deprivation for a whole week, I didn't know what he meant but…" Sanji trails off.
Law's expression tells him that a week isn't good news. The four of them arrive at the bathroom and Sanji opens the door for them, flicking the light on as he does so. Law leads them inside and sets Cindry in the middle of the room and looks down at the device in his hand again.
"Her heart rate is seventy now, it's pretty low but she does look quite physically fit." Law says and exits the room.
Puzzled Sanji follows him and Ivankov out of the room. Law leans past Sanji flicks the light off and shuts the door, he pulls his coat off and throws it at the underside of the door, blocking out all light. Sanji opens his mouth to protest but Law holds up a finger to his lips in a shush gesture.
Their eyes all fall on the heart rate device in the doctor's hands. The number that was at seventy is rapidly climbing, passing eighty, then ninety before it starts climbing into the hundreds. It's absolutely dark in there and Cindry is panicking.
"She's still in there, she still feels fear. I can help her." Law smiles and picks his coat up, pulling the door open and flicking the light on. Cindry is still in the same place but her breathing is a little faster and her skin a little paler. Her eyes, instead of being blank straight ahead are staring up at the glaring bare bulb of their bathroom, fixated on the light..
She's still trembling when Law puts his hand on her arm and gently guides her out of the room.
"I'll take her to the hospital, I'll see you later Iva, thanks for calling Sanji." Law nods and leaves with Cindry.
"Will she be okay? Can Law make her better?" Sanji asks quietly, wondering just how much help Zoro is going to need when he gets back. Ivankov looks over to him with pitying eyes that Sanji can't bear to meet, he lights cigarette number five as an excuse for a distraction.
"Law has brought some victims back a little, they can talk and hold some conversation on a good day. But as soon as it gets dark they fall apart, they couldn't ever live on their own. Unless you manage to get him out of there before Blackbeard is done with him, you're never going to get your Zoro back, even if you have his body." Iva says gently, his hand on Sanji's shoulder.
Sanji fights to keep the tears from spilling over his lids, but it's hard.
"This is entirely my fault, it's my fault that Zoro is there, I can never forgive myself for this." He says shaking. Iva looks at him with a sad tilt of his giant head.
"Did you personally give Zoro to Blackbeard?" he challenges. Sanji looks up with a scowl, he may well have done.
"No, but-" he begins.
"Then shut up, blaming yourself will get you and Zoro nowhere. I won't have it." Iva declares, clapping a hand over Sanji's mouth. Luckily his cigarette was in his hand at the time and not his mouth.
The blue haired okama's hand falls after a moment with a sigh.
"When you said that Blackbeard said that she delivered a message… and that you spoke to him…?" Iva asks, trailing off.
"She had a phone, she put a call from Blackbeard into my head. He made me listen to him torturing Zoro, making him scream. I can never forget… I'm going to hear that forever." Sanji answers, wrapping his arms around himself as Zoro's scream echoes through Sanji's mind again.
Ivankov's large face softens then and he pulls a small device out of his boot, it's an MP3 player.
"I have something for you, I was going to show it to your lawyer friend first, to help with your case, but maybe you need to hear it now." Ivankov says as he switches it on.
"I record all the calls that go in and out of revolution, so that we can back up any claims we have to make in court. I'll… leave you alone with this." Iva says, pressing it to the space behind Sanji's ear and then into his hand. The recording starts and plays inside Sanji's head.
There's a ringing in his ears, but it's a telephone ring.
"Huh? What? Who is this?" Zoro's voice suddenly fills his head, his speech slurred with sleep. Sanji gasps as memories of Zoro's warm sleeping body fill his mind, brought about by the sense memory of Zoro's tired voice.
"Zoro, it's Ivankov, from the Revolution." Iva's voice cuts in.
"It's- fuck, four in the morning. Why are you calling me? How did you even get this number anyway?" Zoro demands grumpily inside Sanji's head.
"I wanted to ask you about today, your master-" Ivankov begins.
"Sanji, his name is Sanji. And he's not my master." Zoro corrects.
"…Is he there with you? Are you saying this because you have to? If he's there just say no, but if he's genuinely asleep say so." Ivankov asks, his tone concerned.
"No, he's not here. He's in his own room asleep because it's four in the goddamned morning. I already told you today what he's like, if you're not going to believe me then you can just get lost." Zoro snaps irritably. Ivankov falls silent then, a quiet which stretches for quite a few moments.
"I hope you're right about him. I really don't want to help him out if he's just trying to take over his father's company." Iva says warily.
"Hardly, Sanji wants nothing to do with that company, he's ashamed by it. The last thing he wants to do is take it over, I told you. Give him a chance to prove to you that he's a good guy, he really is." Zoro says, his voice gentle and affectionate.
"You love him." Iva says, it's a statement, not a question and one said in slight awe.
"More than anyone." Zoro says softly, with a smile to his tone.
"I guess I'll see, won't I?" Ivankov states simply.
"Sanji won't let you down, you can rely on him." Zoro says warmly.
"Sorry to disturb your sleep, goodnight." Iva says and hangs up. The recording finishes and Sanji lets out the breath that he hadn't realised that he was holding.
"I love you Zoro. I'm getting you out of there, I swear it." Sanji vows, clutching at the MP3 player in his hand which proves that even Zoro didn't think he was out to destroy the institute. Although Zoro knew better, he was smarter than to say that over the phone, or maybe he thought that Sanji couldn't go through with it. Either way it would help in court, and the quicker he won, the quicker Zoro could be rescued. No way was he going to let Zoro end up like Cindry, no way in hell.
He stays on the floor for some time, clutching at the key around his neck once again, one that could open the padlock that was supposed to be at Zoro's throat but even then couldn't open his collar. He squeezes it tight enough in his hand for it to start cutting indentations into his palm. Zeff's old calloused hand on the top of his head startles him out of his thoughts.
"Oi, eggplant. Your cousins and an eight foot skeleton are here to see you." Zeff says quietly.
"My… cousins?" Sanji blinks in surprise as he stands up. He follows Zeff down the stairs to see his three cousins and Brook standing in the kitchen looking up at him.
"Sanji!" Bonney exclaims happily, pulling him into a hug.
"Bonney, what are you doing here?" he asks in surprise. The pink haired girl pulls back and grins cockily at him.
"Well, whilst you and Spandam have been dragging each other over the coals in court some of us have been rallying people to your cause." She grins at him, broad and beaming.
"You ought to open this place up tonight, everyone's going to be coming out to support Sanji, or at least to say that they hate Spandam." Perona says to Zeff with a smile.
"You would be surprised how many allies you have Sanji, we've all been talking to people and so many people are unhappy with how Spandam treats people, he's scarred more lives than just yours." Brook says softly.
Mouth hanging slack from surprise he looks around the four of them, unsure of what to say, eventually he can only manage:
"You… you know about the test though right? That Spandam isn't my father? You're not actually my cousins." He says in surprise.
"Bullshit, family is family! Even if you did have the good taste to not actually be related to Spandam!" Bonney laughs, slapping him painfully on the arm, her eyes bright with laughter.
"Besides, we've known that you weren't Spandam's son for years, I mean, you look nothing like any of us." Coby smiles shyly at him. Sanji blinks owlishly in surprise, they knew? He looks at the others; they're all giving him looks like he's some kind of moron.
"Well why did no one tell me?!" he finally demands, throwing his hands up in the air in exasperation.
"We thought you knew!" Perona exclaims exasperatedly, her gaze flicking quickly to Zeff and back.
"Tch, dumbass." Bonney says affectionately, her arm wrapping around his shoulders.
"So come on cuz, get cooking!" Bonney laughs, slapping him on the shoulder. Sanji looks to Zeff and grins. That they can do.
By that evening the kitchen is alive and bustling, and the front of the Baratie is filled with rich people drawing attention and offering Sanji words of support and encouragement. It's enough of a social gathering to get the attention of the press too, which will no doubt upset Spandam and probably make his life more difficult. He knows full well just how much Spandam relies on the tacit approval and investment of other rich people, enough of them withdrawing their support will seriously worry him and perhaps even mess his finances up.
This is another step on the road to freeing Zoro. He understands a little more just how important it is that he do so now, he sees just how much Zoro has to lose. But Blackbeard is a fool, it's just making him more determined to win and to win fast and by any means necessary. Spandam had better be ready on Monday because he's going to be serving up a slice of pain for him in court.