The stakeout wasn't going as well as they would have liked. They were spread out, staying close to the brick wall surrounding the house and hiding in the bushes that littered the perimeter. It had been hours, and so far they still had no information. Nobody came out of the house, but after a while a few of the lights from inside flicked off. At that point Robin sprouted hands inside of the house, an eye in the center of each one. There were four of them, from what she could see, all male. With the men sleeping, she couldn't really gather anything else.
Nami asked if she could see into the basement. Robin tried, but it was too dark to make anything out.
It was getting late, and it didn't look like they would be getting any information. That is, until Luffy came sprinting from the direction of the barn, a large grin on his face. Seeing him run across the backyard caught everyone's attention, and they all gathered to where he and Nami were, wondering what had their captain so excited this time.
"There's people in the barn! We heard them talking, but it was hard to hear. We need Robin!" he said, grabbing the archeologist and running off with her. Sanji wanted to follow, but Nami told all of them to spread out again and keep watching. If all of them kept moving around so much, they might get spotted.
The longer they waited, the more paranoid Sanji got. Why would anyone be in the barn? What were they talking about? Would Luffy be able to stay hidden, or would their cover be blown? He was tired of having so many questions and no answers.
But then, finally, someone emerged from the backdoor of the house. It was a man, from what Sanji could make out, dressed in a rather well tailored suit. He was short and extremely thin, with a sharp looking nose that stuck out a little too much. He looked...creepy, and gave Sanji all sorts of bad vibes.
And he was making his way towards the barn.
"Shit." he whispered, knowing if any of them moved they would be seen. He just hoped the others had a good hiding place. If only there was some way to signal them that someone was coming.
He saw a sudden sphere of translucent blue appear in his peripheral vision, eyes snapping over to where Law was crouched down. The man locked eyes with him, nodding once before suddenly vanishing. Sanji sighed in relief, glad that Law knew what to do. He'd teleported himself to wherever Robin and the others were hiding, or at least in that general area. Sanji wasn't entirely sure how his powers worked, but as long as he warned them it didn't matter. They couldn't afford to get caught.
Especially by that man. Whoever he was, Sanji had a feeling he was important.
As soon as he disappeared into the forest, Nami came rushing over to him. "Where did Law go? He could have been seen!" She whispered harshly, ticked that Law would take that risk.
"It was necessary. He went to warn the others about that guy. Nami-san, we have to follow him. Something important is going on in that barn." Sanji replied, eyes never leaving the spot where the man had vanished.
"He's important, I know, but if we follow him we risk being seen. I'm curious about the barn, but I know the treasure is in that house. Let Law help them, we have to trust him as an ally." Nami responded sternly, clapping him on the shoulder before quietly making her way back to her own hiding spot. Sanji sighed, knowing she was right. But he had a bad feeling about that guy, and whatever was going on in the barn. His eyes never left the forest, waiting for the man to return. He had no idea what time it was, but it was definitely too late to be going into a barn.
He just hoped the others would give them all the information they needed.
Law had teleported himself to the general area Luffy had ran off with Robin, knowing he needed to warn them about whoever that man was. He found them huddled together not far from the barn, Robin using her ability to see what was happening inside. His sudden presence had nearly given Usopp a heart attack, but he warned them just in time. They moved farther back into the trees just as the mysterious man emerged from the shadows, opening the barn doors and then shutting them. From this distance, they couldn't hear anything, but Robin took care of that.
"There's three of them, they're talking about the prey that they caught yesterday. There's a boar strung up by it's hind legs that has already been gutted. They seem to be saving the organs for some reason." Robin said, eyes shut in concentration.
"Ugh, Robin please, we don't need all the details." Usopp muttered, shuddering at the imagery. Robin merely chuckled, but then a gasp startled all of them. Robin's eyes shot open as she covered her mouth in shock.
"There's a woman in there, shackled to the floor. She's covered in blood and looks like she hasn't eaten in months. They're laughing at her, kicking the bucket of organs over to her...oh, that's terrible..." Robin trailed off, and Luffy nearly lost it then, because if these people were keeping hostages…
"They've been starving her, giving her only the innards of whatever prey they catch. The man in the suit is doing something to her, but I can't quite tell what...she's trying to back away, but he's touching her forehead...what..?" Robin looked confused, pausing as she tried to figure out what exactly was going on. There was a sudden scream then, and Robin jolted back.
"That man did something to her, but I don't know what...she seems terrified. They're leaving now, but she's still trying to move away from something...what did he do to her?" Robin wondered aloud, quieting as the three men emerged from the barn. One of them was carrying the boars body over his shoulder, laughing at something the man in the suit said.
"Whoever he is, he's definitely the leader. He has some sort of power, but more importantly, he's keeping that woman hostage. We have to let the others know about this immediately." Robin said, her hand from inside the barn vanishing.
"We have to get her out of there!" Luffy growled, a furious expression on his face. "There's no one around now, we have to do something!"
"But Luffy, she's probably scared. If we try to break her out, she might make too much noise." Usopp said, although the sniper wanted just as badly to help the woman out.
"He's right. Whatever they're doing to her, it's very traumatizing. If we go near her right now she's likely to make enough noise to draw attention. But we can't just leave her here..." Robin trailed off, wondering if they should leave her for another night or not. The idea didn't sit well with any of them, and it was Law who spoke first.
"I can easily transport myself in there and attempt to free her, but I can't guarantee she'll be quiet. However, seeing a multitude of strangers is likely to make her even more terrified. Only one of us should go inside. Although...they will notice that she's gone, and we might not be able to get inside the house if that happens."
"You're right. They'll know someone is trying to get the treasure, and we might not get any more chances to get to it. I hate to say this...but we may have to leave her for now." Robin said, not liking that fact but knowing the treasure came first. They were pirates, not heroes.
"But we can't just leave her forever!" Usopp cried, looking mortified by the mere thought. Luffy nodded in agreement, eyes fixed on the barn.
"We won't. Nami will have a chance to get inside and find the treasure eventually, and while she's doing that we'll focus on freeing this girl. For now...she'll have to wait. I don't like it, but we don't have a choice. But we need to tell the others."
"Right," they all nodded in agreement, quickly returning to the backyard of the house to regroup with everyone else.
Sanji's eyes narrowed as three men returned from the barn with a dead boar. The men were talking about something, but from his distance Sanji couldn't hear much. Just that the boar looked ready to butcher and would be delicious. The men returned to the house, and minutes later Luffy and the others ran over to Nami, all of them looking too serious for Sanji's liking. He watched as they told Nami something, the navigator's face going pale as she covered her mouth. Sanji was about to run over to see what happened when a hand sprouted on his shoulder, as well as everyone else's who was still hiding.
That was the signal that indicated it was time to leave. They ran back to the front gates, waiting until Nami unlocked it again before saying anything.
"We have a problem," Luffy said as Nami relocked the iron gate, looking far too serious for comfort. The next words out of his mouth had Sanji's entire body feeling cold. "They have a hostage in the barn. It's a woman, and it looks like they've been keeping her locked in there for a long time. We can't free her until we have the treasure."
"We can't leave her there!" Sanji nearly shouted, appalled that Luffy hadn't rescued her while he had the chance. The fact that an innocent woman was being tortured by these people had Sanji seething. He couldn't even imagine what they had been doing to her, and it set his nerves on fire.
"Sanji, if we save her now they'll know someone has been watching them. They'll never let their guard down for us to sneak in. But as soon as we get the chance, we'll get her out of there. I know it's awful..." Nami said, still looking shocked by the news as they traversed back into town.
"Are we really putting treasure above someone's life?" he growled. The treasure was important to Nami, and therefore it was important to all of them, but leaving a defenseless woman at the mercy of people like that was so wrong.
"I'm not going to let them get away with this," Luffy said, fists clenched at his side. "We aren't just going to take their treasure. I'm going to make sure they never do anything like this again! We're going to destroy that house, and anyone in it!"
"Damn right," Zoro nodded, looking just as pissed off as Luffy.
"When we get inside, Luffy is going to get her somewhere safe. I'm going to focus on getting the treasure as far away from them as possible. While I'm doing that, you're all free to fight them as much as you want," Nami told him, and while it didn't calm him down any, at least he knew they wouldn't just let those people get away with this.
"We're coming back tomorrow at sunset. I don't know how long it will take for us to get inside, it might not happen for a few days...but we will save her."
They returned to the inn late, not a single person awake. They would have to tell the old men about the woman tomorrow. Sanji couldn't sleep knowing a woman was scared out of her mind, locked up in a barn. He stayed out on the rooms balcony, chain smoking and grinding his teeth. From what Robin had told them, the girl was starving, and whatever the strange man had done to her was traumatizing. He had some sort of power, but Sanji couldn't imagine what it was. He didn't care, he just wanted to kick the bastards skull in.
"You'll be no good to anyone if you don't sleep, Mr. Blackleg." Law said, standing in the doorway behind Sanji.
"How am I supposed to sleep? Who knows what else they've done to her. Screw waiting, I'd rather we just break into their house now. They're outnumbered, we can definitely beat them." Sanji really wasn't sure why they were waiting now, because really, they were strong enough to handle a few creeps.
"I agree with you, however we aren't sure what they are capable of yet. We know their leader has some sort of power. He could be stronger than he looks." Law had a good point, but still, one man with power didn't compare to all of them.
"So you'd rather we continue waiting? I thought you wanted to get to Dressrosa." He could feel Law tense at that, but he wasn't wrong. Law was the one who didn't want to stop in the first place. "With your power, we could have this done in an instant."
"You're putting an awful amount of faith in me, given the fact that you don't know a thing about me," Law said, something in his tone causing Sanji to turn and face the man with narrowed eyes.
"And just what does that mean? Are you saying I shouldn't trust you?" he growled, wondering what Law was trying to imply.
"Do you? Because from what I've seen, I make you uneasy. You're uncertain about my motives. Not that I can blame you, I'm not someone many people want to believe in. You're smart, Mr. Blackleg, perhaps too smart. But you let your emotions get the best of you." Law was scrutinizing him, and it was incredibly unnerving, because Sanji had been trying to figure the man out for so long. But Law seemed to be able to read him much easier.
"What the fuck are you getting at, Trafalgar? Are you an ally or not?" He was ready to attack Law at any moment, but the man waved a hand in dismissal, irritating Sanji even more.
"I am for now. I can't promise anything after Kaido is defeated, however. Just know that I've been just as observant of all of you as you have been of me. Now I suggest you get some sleep, we can't have you this touchy tomorrow." Law smirked at him, and Sanji nearly kicked the man in the face, but decided to let it go. Law was becoming an increasingly bigger distraction for Sanji.
He had a feeling he'd missed something in their conversation, but Law was too cryptic for his rattled brain to handle. He decided to just keep a close eye on the Warlord, not that he hadn't been doing that already.
And apparently Law had been doing the same to him.
"They got Carol?!" Daryl shrieked the next day, gaining the attention of everyone in the inn's lobby.
"How do you know it's her? I thought they killed her." Nami asked, surprised at the sudden change in the two men's attitude.
"It's gotta be her! Ya said her hair was gray, right? Real short?" He asked Robin, the archeologist nodding. "There's nobody else it could be. They've had Carol all this time...ya gotta save her! Carol's an angel, she don't deserve torture!"
"But why would they keep her, and nobody else?" Luffy asked, knowing other people had gone missing. That could only mean that they had been murdered.
"They gotta be usin her for somethin. Ya said they had a boar…Carol's good at guttin animals. It was part of her job, back when she worked at the store. But she wouldn't let those bastards steal any food...that's gotta be why they took her. To think she's alive...ya have to bring her back right away!" Daryl seemed frantic, and Sanji couldn't help but wonder what his relationship was with Carol. But it didn't matter, because they had to save her.
"We'll go back before sunset then. We can't wait for the house to be empty." Nami said, the others nodding in agreement. "We'll have to create a distraction though, so I can at least get into the house. The plan needs to be tweaked a little, but everything's going to happen tonight. We'll bring her back safe, I promise." She nodded solemnly at the two, and Sanji felt relieved, because he really couldn't wait any longer.
He still had a bad feeling about the basement, but that didn't matter anymore. They had to act now, no matter what.
Still no lawsan, but that should be coming up in the next few chapters. Things are going to take a few unexpected turns, so get ready for that as well. Slowburn is so hard to write ^^ Also, updates might be a bit slower, as school is taking up all of my free time. Not to mention that I've been sick for weeks now, so I'm lacking in the energy department. Bare with me though, I'll try to start the next chapter soon!