CHAPTER 9: An Unexpected Discovery

True to her word, Aylin successfully organized a meeting with the Inner Circle the very next day. Practically dragging Rocinante along behind her, she marched into the otherwise empty meeting room with purpose, her face set in a hard expression, hands on her hips as she addressed the higher-ups.

Yes, the mission was a failure, she'd admitted, but was quick to throw the blame at the sources that the Syndicate had relied on. She and Rocinante had done the best with what they had been thrown into, and were damned lucky to be alive at all.

Rocinante was actually rather surprised that Aylin was allowed to speak so freely before them; everything he'd heard so far about the Inner Circle had convinced him that they were an unreasonable bunch who saw their employees as expendable. The way Maynard told it, the slightest affront to the Inner Circle earned a swift and severe punishment. How else had they managed to keep all of their people in line?

So while she gave her account of the incident, not bothering to hide her anger over the way things had transpired, Rocinante occasionally nodded in agreement and contributed to the discussion only when prompted.

"Your displeasure has been noted, Ms. Wild," Scarlet quipped toward the end of their meeting. She was curt and professional as ever, although her brow was furrowed just slightly and her annoyance was made quite clear by the stare she was giving Aylin. "As you request, Blackburn will be made aware that the issue was not the fault of you and Rocinante. And I assure you, it will be dealt with. Finish writing up your report in the meantime. Should you be needed for more input, you will be contacted."

Aylin gave her a short nod, still looking displeased but satisfied that she'd given them a piece of her mind. She motioned for Rocinante to follow her out of the room when Scarlet spoke up once more.

"Some advice, Ms. Wild…" She waited until Aylin had stopped and turned back toward the group before continuing, "In the future, you may want to be more mindful of the way you address your superiors. Don't forget your place within this organization. Not all of us would welcome such blatant insubordination." Scarlet's eyes narrowed at that last sentence, and Aylin had a pretty good idea of who she'd just pissed off.

"Of course…" Aylin pursed her lips and managed another nod. "May we go?"

"Yes, you are dismissed."

And with that, the meeting came to an end. Rocinante had often thought Scarlet sounded extremely militaristic, and idly wondered if she had any kind of background with the marines. He figured he'd have to ask Sengoku sometime...which reminded him that he was late with his status report yet again. Damn. The man was probably worried. Rocinante couldn't help but smile thinking about it.

The moment he returned to his cramped apartment that night, the young marine set his den den mushi onto the coffee table and contacted his superior officer. He waited several moments while the den den rang, marine HQ was in a different time zone, so it was several hours earlier there and he hoped he hadn't caught him at a bad time. Finally, someone picked up on the other end.

"Yes?!" There was some sort of cacophony in the background, making Sengoku's voice difficult to hear at first.

"Is that you, Bagels?" Rocinante grinned into the receiver. "Sounds like your family is livelier than ever!"

Sengoku's voice perked up immediately. "Muffins! Yes, it's me. Let me just—BUKIYOUSUKE, take your friends and go outside! It's too sunny to spend the day indoors anyhow!" After some jumbling, there was the sound of a door slamming shut and Sengoku's voice came through much clearer. "It's always something around here," he grumbled. "At any rate, I'd say it's past due for an update from you. What caused the delay? It's been over a month since your last report! Need I remind you that I was hesitant about sending you into that pit of snakes in the first place?"

"I know, sir, and I have managed to move up in ranks here but there were some recent…complications on my latest mission." Rocinante cringed inwardly, thinking about having to talk to his superior about having been beaten half to death by a rogue Mafia leader. "A certain Don of a certain family may have been involved…BUT I'M OKAY! Lin and I are only on probation, so it looks like things are going to be pretty slow for the next few weeks." He let out a breathy sigh unbidden.

Sengoku hummed in response, well aware of Rocinante's partnership with one of the Syndicate's high-ranking associates. He had been wary, but couldn't deny that it gave the young man a definite leg-up in his endeavors. "I see. And how are things progressing? Are you any closer to uncovering the Syndicate's secrets?" He hoped to keep Rocinante on track. Sengoku recalled a previous undercover mission during which the young marine had befriended someone who ended up being killed in action. He didn't want to see a repeat of that incident, or worse.

"Oh, I think it's going really well! Lin and I are closer than ever…" Rocinante felt his face heat up and he touched a hand to his cheek in surprise. "I..I…me-mean," he stuttered into the receiver, "she's so…EHEHEHEHE…SORRY, I don't know what came over me, I mean… I don't know how much longer this is going to take. I still haven't been able to meet or even catch a glimpse of Blackburn, but suffice to say, the Syndicate has their sticky fingers all over the underworld…"

Sengoku sighed into the receiver and Rocinante could practically hear him massaging his temples. "I see...well, I hadn't expected it to be a quick and simple mission. You seem to have earned their trust, at least. That's good. If only we had more information on Blackburn, we could actually make a move...unfortunately, storming their current base of operations would be pointless. Previous attempts have shown us that Blackburn simply goes off the map for a stretch of time, only to reappear in the underworld again with new numbers. At any rate, I'll keep an eye on the Alfredo Family's movements for you. But in the meantime, do be careful. Remember, no matter how close you become to these Syndicate members, in the end you are working to bring them all down. Be careful not to form real attachments to them."

"Thanks, Bagels...take care of yourself, okay? Don't stress out, you'll go gray!" Rocinante chuckled as he heard some more crashing and yelling in the background at Sengoku's place. He knew the man had an office at home and was actually pretty happy to learn that he spent time there. It gave Rocinante hope for his own future, that he too might have a happy family someday.

"Darling, lunch is ready!" The slightly muffled voice of Sengoku's wife could be heard. "AND THAT DAMN GOAT GOES OUTSIDE, HE IS NOT EATING AT THE TABLE WITH US!"

"Bah!" Sengoku scoffed gruffly. "What did Billy ever do to you? Honestly, what a heartless woman... Anyway, Muffins, I'll be awaiting your next report in a few weeks. Try to be a bit more punctual," he added, his voice stern but with an obvious note of concern for the younger man. More muffled voices in the background prompted Sengoku to call out, "Alright, alright! I'll be there in a moment! Honestly, it's impossible to get any—" The connection cut out at that moment as Sengoku left to join his family for lunch.

Rocinante hung up the receiver with a smile, pushing back all thoughts about him having to take down the entire Blackburn Syndicate. Because the entire Blackburn Syndicate included Aylin. He already knew the risks. He already paid the consequences on a previous mission. He knew that the chances of the same thing happening again were likely in this business, and especially in this stepping stone of a place he'd chosen to get closer to his brother…

Which he'd had no such luck in achieving thus far. In fact, he hadn't once heard the Donquixote Pirates mentioned among the Syndicate, despite the rumors that they had some sort of connection. Still, that key piece of information was something that Rocinante had held back from Sengoku when he took this mission. The Blackburn Syndicate was a hornets' nest—Sengoku wasn't wrong about that—and Rocinante was sure that his superior never would have let him take this mission if he'd known there was any chance of running into Doflamingo so soon.

Rocinante supposed he would have to start digging deeper in the near future…just as soon as he recovered from the latest incident. He supposed he'd be stuck with Maynard hauling freight for quite a while after his injuries were healed, while Aylin would likely be up to her ears in paperwork.

He breathed out a long sigh thinking it would probably be best to get to sleep early, that way he could surprise her with coffee before the morning shift started.

Rocinante brushed his teeth hunched over in his tiny bathroom, staring in the cracked mirror at his disheveled appearance. A myriad of cuts, scrapes and bruises adorned his face and body after the last mission.

It had been a draining and painful experience for the both of them. He was just thankful that Aylin was okay. He would have been more than willing to take even more damage and pain if it meant less for her. He'd come to think quite highly of her, and perhaps she thought the same of him; she'd told him her secret about her daughter back home, after all. She was kind, caring, didn't enjoy killing even if it were an enemy, and he speculated that she didn't particularly care to work in this corrupt business at all. The whole venture was for the sake of her daughter, as she'd previously indicated.

Rocinante flopped down into the tiny bed and buried his face into his ratty pillow. His thoughts were filled with Aylin's wry smile as he drifted off to sleep.

oOo

The next morning, Rocinante woke early and practically bolted down to the cafe to secure coffee and biscuits. Once he'd purchased the goods, he rushed to the place that he and Aylin usually met outside of the shoe factory. He'd made sure to arrive about twenty minutes early, just in case the woman had the same idea about going in to work ahead of schedule.

It was there that he waited for her.

He shuffled his feet back and forth in impatience, feeling a sense of both excitement and nervousness at the same time. When her familiar head of orange hair finally came into view, Rocinante felt his heart begin to pound in his chest.

"L-LIN!" He called out to her, somehow managing not to fall over and waste all the biscuits and coffee he'd procured. "G-good morning!" He smiled brightly, bending down to offer her the coffee.

"Oh." She raised a brow in surprise at the gesture, though reached out to accept the beverage. "Thanks."

His cheeks flushed as their fingers brushed together momentarily. He almost pulled back his hand, but stopped himself in time, stammering an apology as he got a good look at her and noted with relief that she seemed to be okay.

"How…how are you feeling?" He asked as he opened up the little basket and offered her a biscuit with her coffee. "Sorry, I forgot the butter and jam…"

Aylin chuckled. "You're earlier than usual. And here I thought I was the crazy one for wanting to get a jump start on the workload." She gave him a small smirk before reaching into the basket for a biscuit. "But I do appreciate this. Actually, I needed to find you anyway so this saves me some time."

Rocinante had nearly fallen over when she smirked at him, just barely managing not to burn himself on his coffee; it was extremely hot after all. "AH, UM…you were looking for me?" Another dark flush covered his cheeks as he became painfully aware that he was acting like a complete fool, though probably no more than usual to Aylin. At least he hoped so.

She had just opened her mouth to reply when Rocinante tripped on a large rock that was on the pathway toward the factory. He flailed his arms as he fell backward, the contents of both hands flying up into the air.

"AUUUUGH!" He fell flat on his back, feet straight up in the air as hot coffee spilled on his face, resulting in another shriek. The basket of biscuits bounced off his chest and landed nearby.

Aylin immediately halted in her footsteps. "Whoa! Are you alright?"

Rocinante gave her a weak thumbs-up, noting with relief that nothing inside the basket had spilled out. "Oh good, the biscuits are safe! I didn't want you go hungry…" He laughed nervously and sat up, coffee dribbling down his face. His cheeks were becoming redder by the moment, and not just from the heat of the liquid.

Honestly, was he always such an embarrassment?

'Probably,' he thought.

The redhead sighed and shook her head, her expression a mixture of amusement and sympathy as she bent to his level, pulling a napkin out of her shoulder bag. "Here, I'll get that, it looks like it burns." She leaned a bit closer to dab off the hot liquid scorching his face. "I've got some ointment in my office, too. You might as well come up and get some, since you'll be with me all day anyway."

Rocinante immediately reacted, nearly knocking her off her feet when he sat straight up. "WHAT? All…all day with you?" Rocinante's heart began to race once more. He knew that the reason had to be for work's sake, but he was honestly extremely happy about it, and a stupid smile appeared on his face.

Aylin snorted. "Don't get too excited, it's not exactly going to be fun. You aren't supposed to be doing any heavy lifting while you're healing up—I know, I know, because I'm the paragon of healthy habits—and Maynard wouldn't care; he'd work his people to death if he could. So I put in a request to have you assist me for a while."

Rocinante felt his heart leap. "REALLY?" He mentally slapped himself and immediately schooled his features. "Er, I mean...I see. You can do that?"

She shrugged. "It wasn't too difficult. You should see the state of my desk right now."

He nodded. "Oh, well…okay…" He got up and dusted off his pants, following her like an obedient puppy the rest of the way into the factory and then toward Aylin's office, all the while making promises about how he wouldn't set the papers on fire or spill ink and mess up her alphabetical stacks.

Once there, Aylin unlocked the door and stepped inside, grabbing hold of his arm before he could smack his head on the door frame. That little gesture had practically become a reflex by now. Gesturing wordlessly toward her desk, Rocinante could see that it was indeed in utter disarray. The Syndicate was clearly taking every advantage of her suspense from active duty. The folders were piled so high that it was almost impossible to see around them, even for a man of nearly ten feet.

Noticing his wide-eyed expression, Aylin nodded. "Yeah. That was my thought, too." She wheeled over a chair for him, though it was quite small for someone of his size. "It should go a lot quicker with two people working on it. We'll get a good system going, organize them by businesses and individuals..." She sighed, raking a hand through her hair. It was still going to be a monstrous task.

Rocinante moved at a slow enough pace not to send any of the stacks tumbling down at a moment's notice. He followed Aylin's instructions on how to sort the stacks into the groups that she'd indicated. It appeared that some of them were already in alphabetical order, whether that was by chance or design. The chair that Aylin had gotten for him was extremely cramped and his knees kept bumping the table, but in a way, he did find himself in a fortunate position as he was able to watch Aylin from his towering height above her, even when seated. Several times he had to hold back a contented sigh as he snuck peeks at her while she was hard at work. She was like a focused machine, and he couldn't help but admire that.

Shaking himself from his daze, Rocinante reached for the next folder on the stack and nearly cried out upon seeing the name emblazoned across the tab. He quickly clapped his free hand over his mouth, the folder slightly shaking in his other hand before he set it down on the empty space of the table.

He softly cleared his throat and pushed the folder toward Aylin.

"So," he began, keeping his voice calm and collected, "this name looks familiar. Does the Blackburn Syndicate have any dealings with this group on the regular? Seems…a bit high-profile."

Aylin glanced up from the folder she'd been currently sifting through, eyeing the name for a moment before nodding in recognition. "Oh. The Donquixote Family." She placed one hand on the folder, which was not quite as thick as many of the others, sliding it a bit closer. "Yeah, now and then, although I would bet we'll be doing more business with them in the future. You've heard of Doflamingo, eh?" Upon his robotic nod in response, she gave a mirthless chuckle. "I guess you'd have to be living under a rock around here to not know who he is. The guy is bad news... Nobody in the Syndicate likes dealing with him, but he's been so good for business that it would be insane not to."

Rocinante swallowed, careful not to let his expression give anything away. "I see..." He looked from the folder to Aylin, a disconcerting thought causing his brow to furrow. "Have you met him, then?"

She shook her head. "Can't say I've had the displeasure. Scarlet has nothing nice to say about him, though. For such a young guy, it's a little unnerving to have that kind of reputation already..." Noticing the look on Rocinante's face, she added, "Don't worry. Blackburn usually sends the top dogs out for those kinds of deals. Chances are, you'll probably never cross paths with him."

Rocinante laughed somewhat awkwardly before managing to reply with, "O-oh, okay! That's good."

Aylin quirked one eyebrow at this display, but Rocinante was able to play it off as nervousness quite easily. He let the subject drop after that and returned to the task at hand.

He would have continued to ponder upon the discovery for a while longer, but when he looked down to retrieve another file for sorting, he caught sight of Aylin again. She wasn't paying any attention to him, completely absorbed in what she was doing as she tapped her pen on her bottom lip in thought. Another stupid grin pasted itself across his face. Now that he thought about it, he'd been smiling like a fool ever since that morning and his cheeks quite hurt. All those cuts and bruises sure didn't help!

Still, despite the distraction, his mind kept bouncing back to the folder with his brother's name on it. That was a significant discovery. After half a year undercover within the Syndicate, he'd finally found the lead he'd been searching for. The rumors of his brother being involved with the Blackburn Syndicate were true after all. He had to see what that folder contained, and while managing to avoid arising any suspicion from Aylin. Simply asking to see its contents would seem strange when he hadn't expressed interest in any of the other ones. She would ask questions, and he would possibly have no choice but to be truthful. He felt sure that he could trust her, but what would happen when she realized he'd been deceiving her the entire time? He felt a pang in his chest at the thought of her rejecting him. She would probably never forgive him. Perhaps she would even hate him. If his mission was a success, then such a thing would be inevitable... He couldn't bear the thought of disappointing her. He was being dishonest with her, but he couldn't help but want to prolong the time that he could spend with her like this.

Rocinante vehemently shoved those thoughts into the back of his mind. He would simply cross that bridge when the time came. No sense in worrying about what hadn't happened.

And so he continued to work well into the afternoon, making sure to keep note of where the folder recording his brother's activity was located. He had his chance to take a closer look at it when Aylin stepped out of the office for a few minutes to use the restroom. That was the moment he scrambled over to the pile of sorted folders, accidentally knocking everything off the desk as he did so. He hastily sifted through the records until he found the one dedicated to the Donquixote Family. Flipping through the papers within, his eyes scanned the forms for any information he could put to use.

There were documents recording transactions, some of them quite recent. One of them had occurred just last month. It also contained the location in which the trade had been made and the merchandise sold, though neither of those facts told him very much. Doflamingo most likely only used the island as a neutral zone in order to make the transaction, like many other individuals commonly did.

Still, there was a definite trend, indicating that it was only a matter of time before Doflamingo made another deal with the Blackburn Syndicate. Rocinante vowed to himself to keep an ear out for whenever that happened. His primary objective was to bring down the Syndicate…but if he could keep tabs on his brother's activity as well, then he'd be able to fulfill his secondary, secret goal at the same time.

All for the sake of his ultimate personal mission—to put an end to his elder brother's madness.

oOo

Rocinante continued to work with Aylin in her office for about a week until Stokes cleared him for manual labor. He was a little disappointed to say the least, but he knew that it was inevitable.

Doing physical labor left his mind completely free to wander to any topic it pleased, and Rocinante soon realized that 90% of that topic was Aylin Wild. She was there every time he closed his eyes. Her voice resonated inside his head. His heart sped up every time he caught so much as a glimpse of her or even if he saw someone with red hair out of the corner of his eye.

Rocinante looked forward to seeing her more than anything and found himself asking more and more questions at each of their hangouts or lunches. He wanted to know everything about her, no matter how mundane the detail might be. He'd been hesitant to put a name to the feelings that welled up inside of him every time she called his name, every time she smiled. But he already knew what it was; the thing that had changed between them over the course of time.

What he felt for her now was definitely more than friendship.

He found himself staring at her lips sometimes when she spoke, causing her to become annoyed when he hadn't heard or comprehended a word she'd said and resulting in her swatting at his arm. His heart pounded at each and every small touch from her, no matter how innocent, and he often thought about what it would feel like to hold her. To run his fingers through her hair. To kiss her lips softly.

He'd rolled around on the floor of his apartment, knocking over anything that wasn't bolted down on more than one occasion when he'd thought too much about her. He felt both sweet agony and elation in his constant thought process that revolved around the woman who was his co-worker and partner. It was unprofessional and he knew it, but it was simply impossible for him to stop.

Out of everything he had hoped to gain from the mission, this was the last thing he'd thought would happen. Rocinante wasn't sure if he believed in fate or not, but every time he looked at her, he wanted to.

He wanted to do all the nice things in the world for her, to make her happy, to see her smile every day.

For now, he thought, that would be enough.