Title: From Here On Out
Author: AoiTsukikage
Rating: R-ish
Characters/Pairing: ZoSan, other secondary pairings
Chapters: 4/?
Word Count: 3058
Summary: Sequel to 'This Is Your Life.' Sanji had thought that balancing real life and working to take down a new crime boss would be easier the second time around. He was wrong. Modern!AU, ZoSan primarily, other secondary pairings.
Chapter Four
"You think he's right?"
"I mean, I don't want him to be, but…" Sanji leaned back against Zoro and pursed his lips, his fingers flexing on the other man's thigh. "I really don't want him to be. But no matter how much I like somebody, if they're double-crossing us I'm not gonna show them any mercy,," he decided, hearing Zoro laugh behind him.
"You try to be so tough, Cook, but I know you'd never be able to hurt anybody you really considered a friend. And so what if he worked for Doflamingo? Gin worked for Krieg and he's an okay guy. And Robin and that freaky cross dresser worked for Crocodile," he pointed out, and Sanji had to agree because, well, he might not be alive if it hadn't been for Gin, and when it came down to it the same was true where Robin and Bon were concerned.
"Yeah, you're right. It's probably nothing," he admitted, although inwardly he still knew he had to do a little bit of investigating. He doubted that Lucci would be okay with Law working with them if he wasn't trustworthy, but he still needed to find out for himself.
"Hey," Zoro nudged him, his arms wrapping around Sanji's waist as he leaned forward to whisper in his ear, "I can think of a way to take your mind off of all of this for a while…"
"You know, for somebody who used to have no interest in sex, you're certainly getting good at thinking with your dick," Sanji replied, but it was entirely good-natured and Zoro's answering chuckle told him that he knew.
"Is that a 'yes', Cook?" Zoro asked quietly, his voice almost a growl, and Sanji shivered without meaning to and flipped himself around so that he was straddling the other man. He cupped Zoro's cheeks and pulled him up for a kiss, holding him there for a few moments before breaking away.
"Yeah. That's a yes."
000
He decided to head into the bar at the tail-end of the lunch rush and it turned out to be a good move. It was empty enough that Shanks wasn't getting bombarded for drinks so Sanji would be able to have a conversation with him, and either he was extremely lucky or else Mihawk just…never left, because the swordsman was seated at the bar, looking disinterested as Sanji took in the woman sitting right beside him.
She was stunning, and he felt his heartbeat quicken even as he told himself to keep his composure, but he wasn't blind and this lady, whoever she was, had to be the most gorgeous person he'd ever laid eyes on.
"Sanji!" Shanks' yell broke him out of his musings and he walked quickly over, taking a stool on the other side of Mihawk and nodding at him. "What brings you here?"
"Just…got a couple of questions to ask," he pitched his voice in a way that he hoped conveyed that these questions weren't for outside ears, but both of the older men looked unfazed by it.
"Anything you need to ask us you can ask Hancock, too," Shanks assured him. "Sanji, this is Hancock Boa, and I think we're all grateful she's on our side in this."
"I am," she replied, primly crossing her legs and giving Sanji a smile that nearly had him melting over the bar. "And I've heard a lot about you and your adventures. I would have been here to help last time but I had…business to attend to."
The way she said 'business' made Sanji immediately think that she didn't mean an innocent trip, and it kind of surprised him how little that type of thing fazed him anymore.
"So what did you need to ask?" Mihawk prompted, and Sanji stopped staring at Hancock long enough to answer.
"Oh! Right. I was talking to Marco, and he said that Law…used to work for Doflamingo. I thought that since you know him you'd know more about that," he explained, and Mihawk narrowed his strange golden eyes before looking downward and sighing.
"Marco's right. All I know is that at one time Law was…fairly close to Doflamingo, certainly one of his highest-ranked men, and that Doflamingo looked at him almost like a little brother. I don't know if he was being bred to inherit his gang at some point, but regardless, somewhere along the way something happened and they hate each other now. In fact, I'd hazard a guess that the reason Law's out here at all is to stay far away from Doflamingo, because word on the street is that he betrayed him somehow. Anything else you'd need to ask him about, because I don't know," the man admitted and Sanji was silent for a moment, accepting the glass of wine Shanks passed him and swirling it thoughtfully as he pieced everything together.
"So what does that mean?" he finally asked, and Hancock cleared her throat and answered.
"If you ask me, you can trust him. I don't…put my faith in men easily, Sanji, but I do know Law and he's never done anything to make me believe he's anything other than what he says he is. He's got a dark past, perhaps, but I think many of us do," her words implied that she herself did as well but Sanji was hardly going to inquire about that. "Regardless, I don't blame this other friend of yours for being wary, but while I think Law's capable of…terrible things, I don't think he'd betray you without a very good reason."
Sanji was having a hard time concentrating on her words because she was just so beautiful, but he managed to pay attention long enough to absorb what was needed and, since it fit with his own feelings, decided that it was probably the truth.
"Right. Thanks," he added, and she gave him another heartbreaking smile as he stared down into his wine glass and tried not to think about it.
"Anyway, if you ever need my help, you've got it," Hancock assured him, and Sanji had a feeling he was going to be grateful to have her around as well.
"I think what's the most troublesome right now is that we know next to nothing about Enel. Krieg at least was well-established and had enough supporters that it was easy to find information on him, and it wasn't as if he made a secret of how many guns he had or that he was coating things in snake venom. This guy, though…" Mihawk was staring straight ahead as if he could see something none of the rest of them could.
"Yeah. He seems to be pretty new to the city, from what I've heard, and nobody knows how he's convincing people to go along with him but he's obviously got some sort of influence. I think that's why Law and Kid have been gone so much, they're trying to find out all they can but it's not going to be easy," Shanks added. "And until we find out anything more it's too dangerous to move against him. All we really know is that he's got a humongous ego but so far he's not getting overconfident."
"That might change," Hancock put in. "By now, everybody in the underground knows what happened to Krieg and Doflamingo and Crocodile, so if he has any brains at all he and whomever he's convinced to follow him will be working as low-key as they can to avoid detection from CP9. Which may be to our advantage because if they don't know we're aware of their existence, they might be more willing to give out information to your friends, since they won't suspect that anybody's working against them yet," she said to Sanji, who realized that it did make sense.
"I've been trying to call both of them for a couple of days now and haven't gotten any reply, so…."
"Yeah, well, 'excuse me, I need to take a call from a guy who's working to take you down' isn't a very good excuse," a voice behind Sanji intoned flatly and he spun around, eyes widening. Kid looked as happy as ever (that is to say, the complete opposite of it) and Shanks was passing a pint of beer over before he could even say the word that he wanted one. "So. Enel."
"Yeah, what've you got on him?" Shanks asked, leaning forward interestedly.
"Not much more, except we know what his main weapons are and it's…it's not gonna be easy to get rid of him," he narrowed his eyes and hopped up beside Sanji, downing about half his beer in one go before elaborating. "Electricity. I guess a few years back the US Government created a type of taser-like pellet, essentially, that can be fired from a gun, and well, he's got some of those. So we're not up against bullets, we're up against something that's going to paralyze and maybe kill on contact, and that's fucking scary," he didn't look scared, but then, he never really did.
"So they've got electric guns. Fantastic," Shanks' voice was dripping sarcasm. "I'm guessing they're illegal?"
"Highly. They've never been approved, and with good reason, because if they fall into the wrong hands…" he shrugged. "And my idiot boyfriend is digging himself in way too deep but he won't listen to me about it," he sniffed and looked over at Sanji, who blinked. "Meh, he's fine," he spoke with apparent disinterest and finished off the rest of his drink. "Anyway, I've gotta get down to City Hall and tell one of those CP9 bastards about this, but thanks for the drink," he started digging in his pocket but Shanks waved him off.
"It's fine. One of the perks of owning the place," the older man said with a grin.
"Cool. Anyway, Sanji, you coming with?" he looked expectant, like there was something he needed to talk to Sanji about, and since the blond was pretty much finished with what he'd come to the bar for he carefully sipped the rest of his wine and nodded.
"Yeah, I need to tell them something, too," he added, because he did have to relay Ace's information about the Admirals being in town. "Thanks," he nodded to Shanks and Mihawk, meaning the information, and then steeled himself before taking Hancock's hand and kissing the back of it as she trilled a laugh at him.
He was trying very, very hard not to focus on the softness and warmth of her skin, but honestly, you'd have to be blind not to see how captivating she was. He left the bar with Kid, and they were a couple of streets away before the other man handed him a piece of paper that, from what Sanji could see, only had an address written on it.
"What's this for?"
"Law's house. In case you can't get a hold of those doctor friends of yours or if it's something you want him to deal with. He's got more surgery experience than anything but that might be useful," he stopped beside a rather nondescript black sedan, nothing like Sanji would imagine him driving but he guessed it was probably beneficial to be inconspicuous.
He got into the passenger's side once Kid unlocked the door, turning the paper over in his hand before entering the address into his phone and slipping it back inside his pocket. "He doesn't mind you giving this out?"
"To you? He asked me to," Kid pulled away from the curb as they headed through downtown to get to City Hall. His painted nails were gripping the steering wheel tighter than what Sanji would consider normal, and there was something far too tense about the way he was sitting.
"You're worried."
"Fuck, of course I am," Kid growled. "I know I might not act like it sometimes, but I do love him. I cover it up with scaring people and he covers it up with indifference but we've gotta do that or else we become dangers to each other and that's not happening," he decided, taking the next corner a little too recklessly. "I know I'm probably way easier to read than he is, he's…smart. Too smart, sometimes, but he wouldn't be alive if he wasn't."
Sanji had a feeling there was more to that statement than face-value but he let it go, chalking it up to just one more thing he didn't quite know about Law.
"Anyway, shred that or something once you get home, I don't want anybody finding out where his house is," Kid grunted and Sanji nodded, slipping it into his pocket for safekeeping.
They were silent until they'd pulled up outside City Hall, the tires screeching as Kid slid into a reserved parking spot, but nobody was around to try and get them to move and, well, Sanji figured they probably had priority.
The woman at the front desk directed them to a boardroom of sorts, and Sanji pushed open the door to find what he assumed to be the entirety of CP9 (except of course Kaku and Lucci, that figured,) involved in some sort of squabble.
Well, three of them were: Jyabura, a man who appeared to be dressed in full kabuki attire, and another rather large and round man who was flailing rather uselessly at them. Kalifa looked about a second away from kicking them all through the window and Blueno, as always, was entirely expressionless.
"Can it, fools!" Kalifa finally shouted, and the three of them looked at her. "Or are you so unprofessional that you keep fighting when we have company?" she pointed.
"It's just Sanji," Jyabura grinned at him and Sanji smiled hesitantly back, but suddenly he was swarmed by the other two and he took a step back as Kid started snickering behind him.
"Yoyoi! So you are the famous Sanji!" the kabuki-costumed man intoned, his voice full of strange inflections.
"Chapapa! They all told us we could never meet you because we'd scare you!" the other man's voice was surprisingly high-pitched and Sanji laughed nervously.
"And you are, so you two go…do whatever it is you do, and let us speak to him," Kalifa grumbled, but the two men apparently considered this an order and bustled out of the room, something which Sanji was grateful for. "I told you you wouldn't want to meet them."
"Um," was all Sanji could get out, because for as…eccentric (or, well, plain sadistic, in Lucci's case) as the rest of CP9 were, they had nothing on these guys.
"Ignore them. And come in, I'm guessing this isn't a friendly visit," she seated herself on a long couch and Sanji took a seat beside her, looking at Kid.
"You want to start?"
"Yeah. I probably should."
000
"That's…unexpected."
"That's a fucking understatement. Sorry," Kid added hastily but Iceburg waved it off. They'd managed to get the mayor out of some meeting or other and while none of them knew where Kaku and Lucci were (oh, Jyabura quite loudly suggested a couple of things, but Kalifa actually did kick him for that), they could inform them later.
"Nmaa, don't worry about it, I hear worse all the time with this crew," Iceburg shrugged, but he did look concerned. "And you're right, Mr. Eustass, those guns are definitely not approved in Canada so that's at least enough to arrest him for right there."
"If we can catch the bastard," Jyabura added. "We don't even know what he looks like!"
"We're working on that," Kid promised. "It might take a little bit of time, but if anybody can worm his way in there, it's Law."
"Speaking of time," Sanji cleared his throat. "I came along because Ace told me the Navy Admirals are in town so it might be best to…"
"Not let them know we're trying to covertly take out a gang lord? Probably," Kalifa admitted. "We'll lay low."
"And at the very least Garp knows what we're doing and I doubt he'd go giving that information out," Blueno spoke, his bass voice rumbling through the room.
"Akainu's coming. That's what the issue is."
Sanji turned around to see Lucci leaning casually in the doorway, Hattori immediately diving for Sanji's shoulder and taking up his perch there.
"Ace is…I've never seen him worried before, but…"
"The man is possibly more ruthless than I am, which is an asset when working in the name of justice, but he's reckless and I'm….quite sure there've been a few times where he's moved too fast and done more damage than necessary," he walked into the room and sat down, tapping his fingers on the armrest of the chair. "Admirals on one side and electric guns on the other. This is a new one."
"Nmaa, we've got it under control. Mr. Eustass and Mr. Trafalgar will keep up their work in the underground and the rest of us will cease all suspicious activities until the Admirals leave," Iceburg made it sound so simple, even though Sanji had long learned that things never quite turned out that way.
"Robbie, where's your boytoy?" Jyabura asked then and Lucci sighed, annoyance rolling off him in waves even though his expression didn't change.
"I don't own him, he can come and go as he pleases. By the way, how are things with you and that secretary…"
"I'll fucking kill you!"
"And these are your elite government agents," Kid murmured to Sanji, who had to stifle his laughter because, well, at the moment they were acting more like squabbling children and he could see why Kid would be having some doubts.
There was a startling 'crack' that was loud even over Lucci and Jyabura snarling at each other, and they all turned to Kalifa who was brandishing her rather imposing spiked whip as she coiled it up neatly and held it loosely in one hand. "Now. Don't make me do that again."
"Of course you won't have to. I promise to behave if this unruly mutt does," Lucci stared coolly at Jyabura before taking his own seat. "And Sanji, we'll stay out of trouble while the Admirals are here, don't worry."
Sanji didn't exactly believe him, but then, he'd been around these guys long enough by now to know that at least they'd try, and that would have to be enough.
Notes:
1. I've got one more chapter of this done and then parts of two others written that I'm going to try and piece together over Christmas, so hopefully I should be able to update soon :) Also, yes, the electric guns are a real thing; you can check them out on Wikipedia.
2. I don't want to be one of those people that demands reviews, but as a writer it's very helpful to hear feedback and engage with readers because it makes me feel like I'm not just writing for myself. I know how many people are reading this fic because of the hit counter, and it's encouraging to know that it's because it's enjoyable and not just because people keep clicking on it by accident so…if you feel so inclined, please drop me a review! I do reply to all signed ones personally :)
3. Um, if anybody's interested, I used to do these like picspam-recaps in which I attempted to be funny of some of the episodes, and I did one for last night's episode because it's a mini-filler arc and why not, so if you want to check that out it's at my LJ which is aoitsukikage dot livejournal dot com / 204659 dot html