Hope

"Roooobiiiiiin! I've come for youuuuu!"

In the large meeting room in the Tower of Justice, Spandam froze mid-rant as Straw-Hat Luffy's voice cut through the clamour. Seated on the floor in chains next to the odd blue-haired cyborg who had attempted to help rescue her on the train, Robin's eyes widened.

"Luffy…" she whispered

"He's here," Franky said redundantly, grinning.

"Roooooobiiiiiiinnnnn!" Luffy's voice echoed between the buildings.

"Chief sir!" one of the marines by the widows said, "A guy with a straw hat is shouting on the roof of the courthouse! No doubt it's Straw-Hat Luffy, the leader of the crew! There's a woman in a cowboy hat with him!"

Spandam dashed to the window, ranting about Blueno and what the man thought he was doing. Robin turned to watch, not sure why her heart had both jumped and sank at the news. Luffy was here and Fox was with him; no doubt the rest of the crew were not far behind him. Spandam had already gloated that by following Robin, the crew had forfeited the free pass she had surrendered herself to get for them. She had never expected them to follow her this fiercely, nor get this far.

"Blueno! He lost to that brat!" Spandam was panicking, muttering to himself how Blueno losing shouldn't have been possible.

"WOOOOOOH!" Luffy's next shout startled the leader of CP9 and the disgusting man fell on his backside in shock.

"What should we do? Chief?" one of the marines asked as Spandam sat and trembled. The man pulled himself together at the request for orders and demanded all members of CP9 be summoned and ordered to annihilate Luffy and his crew. Robin hung her head; her actions had all been for nothing.

"Lift up your head, Nico Robin," came Franky's voice from her left. "They've come this far. Do you understand how completely this is?"

Robin said nothing.

"I understand you accepted the government's terms for the sake of your nakama, but the idiot chief broke the agreement. It's not like anybody will be saved if you surrender yourself. There's only one way to get out of here: respond to their rescue!" he encouraged her.

Robin resolutely kept her eyes on the floor. She didn't even want to think about facing Luffy right now; her mind was in turmoil and her masks and walls were shaking. For Fox to be here, out in the open… how much was she sacrificing? Why were the Straw-Hat crew giving up their dreams to chase after her?

"Are you afraid your nakama will die here?" Franky asked, frowning. "If you look away, they won't be able to rescue you!" He turned to glance around the room, taking in the chaos. "I'll force you to see Straw-Hat now," the cyborg muttered.

Robin would never, ever be able to tell anyonet what the crazy man with the metal nose did next; it was just too ridiculous. It did however result in her and Franky being fired through the window onto the balcony facing the Courthouse and being seen by Luffy, who was standing on top of one of the merlons, Fox in the crenel to his right.

"Heeey! Robiiin!" Luffy shouted, spotting her. "I'm glad you're still here!"

There was an explosion behind the archaeologist as Franky laid into their captors.

"Franky's there too, isn't he?" Luffy noticed. "Okay! Wait there!" he turned and ran across the roof. "It's kinda far but I'll try to jump over there!"

"Wait!" Robin shouted. She couldn't let this insanity continue, couldn't let Luffy risk himself. Not for her. She ground her teeth. "I told you several times I…" she paused so her voice wouldn't crack. "I'll never come back to you! Go away! I never want to see your faces again! Why'd you come to rescue me?! When did I ever ask you to do that!?" She took a deep breath. "I just want to die!"

Luffy stared as the remaining members of CP9 assembled on the parapet beside her.

"You want to die?!" he asked, shouting so his voice carried over the gaping void between them.

"That's right!" Robin shouted back.

"Robiiin! Is death what you want?!" Luffy demanded as the roof behind him exploded upwards. "Listen Robin, we've come all the way here, so we're gonna rescue you anyway! And if you still wanna die, then Fox can kill you afterwards!"

Beside him the black cowboy hat bobbed agreement as Nami, Chopper and Zoro emerged from the rubble. Another explosion at the other end of the roof revealed Sanji and Usopp, still in his Sogeking mask, flew through the air to land beside them. Robin stared.

"I beg of you Robin!" Luffy roared at her. "I don't care what you want, whether you chose to live or die, but whatever you choose, say it while you're with us!"

"That's right Robin-chan!" Sanji chipped in.

"Robin come baaack!" Chopper called out. Robin couldn't stop the tears welling up in her eyes as her crew lined up on the merlons, Fox hopping up to be on the same level as the rest.

"Now leave everything to us!" Luffy shouted.

Robin hesitated, at war within herself. Spandam took the opportunity to step out on the balcony and insult the Straw-Hats, ranting and boasting of the power at his back and call and showing them the Golden Den Den Mushi with which he could trigger a Buster Call. He then turned on her, gloating about the destruction of Ohara.

"Stop it!" Robin shouted at the horrible man, "Don't do that!" He had no idea… the terror and destruction and devastation. He was a child playing with high explosives and he gloated over her desperate response. "Do you even know what happens when you press it?!" she demanded.

His response indicated he didn't not really.

"You said Ohara disappeared from the map, didn't you?" she said, voice shaking as her memories rose up from the depths she had banished them to. "Can you see any humans on that map? You could only be so cruel because you look at the world like that!" she fell to her knees, swallowed by the past.

Fox was patient; it wasn't a natural trait but one she had learned in blood, tears and broken bones and it was all the dearer to her for it. She waited through Robin's emotional outburst and impassioned demand to live, Spandam's gloating and the partial lowering of the drawbridge to the Tower of Justice, until she heard the whistle of the train. She even waited through Luffy catching hold of her and dropping them onto the top of the runaway train and launching them through the wall, but when the large CP9 agent with the zipper across his mouth started yammering pointlessly at them, waving a key, Fox decided she had waited enough for one day.

"Don't rush! I never said this was the real –Urk!" He fell face down on the stone floor, Fox twisting the knife she had shoved through his liver as she moved behind him.

"Fox is tired of silly bleating," she growled, "and Fox wants to get Blackbird back. Is this the key?"

"Don't… know," her victim croaked as she stuck another knife in him. "Aah! Chapapapa! All the other agents in the tower… have a key, too! Aah!" Fox planted her heel firmly on a pressure point in his neck and the irritating blabbermouth passed out.

"Fox will follow Captain after Blackbird," she announced to her frozen audience as she retrieved his key, "since Captain wants to fight Kitten and Kitten is with Blackbird."

"Excluding Luffy and Fox, there are six of us," Sanji pointed out. "We can get the other four keys and meet with them after we have them."

"If Robin-kun enters the Gates, it's all over. Time is very important here," Usopp added.

"It's a waste of time to lose," Zoro said seriously, "so win, even if you die!" His impromptu speech got a cheer and the Straw-Hats plus Franky scattered, Fox right behind Luffy.

I fancied a bit of Robin, so here we have it.