A/N: I took some liberty concerning Luffy that I'll explain at the end of this chapter.

Warnings: Violence, Legal kidnapping

Chapter 2: Luffy is not OK with this

Things sucked! Luffy was not happy with his current situation. Stupid ship. Stupid sailors that are apparently marines. Stupid same cabin for days on end. But most of all, stupid bracelet that was sapping all his energy. Since they forced it on him he couldn't stretch any more, and it made every action tiring. It had been weeks now, and it was starting to take a toll on him. He even stopped trying to escape. Mostly. At least he was still looking for the good occasion, it just never presented itself. There was nothing to entertain himself in the small… room? Cell? He was a prisoner, right? He felt like a prisoner. The marines didn't explain. One moment he was sailing with his friends alongside Dawn Island, the next they were boarded by a big marine ship.

Luffy was sitting on the deck, deep in concentration with a set of ropes when it happened. One of his new friends had shown him a few knots that he was trying with more or less success to replicate. So enthralled by this activity, he didn't even detect the other ship's approach. The distinctive sound of several feet walking towards him, however, made him raise his head. Marines, led by a man draped in an identical coat as his Gramps, came to a stop in front of him. The man wore a lilac and white striped suit, and had a funny purplish hairstyle. Luffy wondered why he wasn't dressed in white and blue like all the other marines he had seen so far. Even Gramps wore white. Maybe he was on holiday? Or maybe marines could dress as they pleased, they just so happened to be liking the same clothes? He'd have to ask Gramps next time he visits…

"Monkey D. Luffy?" Purple-Man asked, stopping Luffy's interrogations about uniform regulation.

"Hum? It's me." The boy responded, a sunny smile on his face. Purple-Man knew his name, was he a friend of his Gramps?

"I'm here to escort you to Marineford. Please, come."

Luffy tilted his head to the side. He thought he heard that name once or twice, certainly from Gramps' mouth while he was chasing them throughout the forest during "training". He shivered at the memory before forcing it down. He didn't want to go there.

"No thanks." His attention went back to the rope he still had in his hands. It really was a tricky knot.

"It wasn't a question."

At his words, the men surrounded Luffy, two of them trying to seize his upper arms. He didn't let them.

Jumping to his feet, he punched the one to his left, sending him flying into those behind him. A few tumbled, which made him giggle mischievously, before he started choking as a harsh pull on the back of his shirt thrown him backwards. He fell on his back, slamming his head on the deck with a loud bang that would have stunned any human who wasn't made of rubber. Before he could get back to his feet, the marines dog pilled him, efficiently pinning him down.

He struggled, trying to wiggle out from under the bodies stacked on top of him, squealing from irritation. His eyes landed on Purple-Man, who looked exasperated.

"Enough! Get him to his cabin already!"

"Right-away-Sir!"

The weight shifted on top of him, but he didn't have time to do anything before he was turned face to the deck, his arms firmly pined in his back, then hoisted upright, his feet barely reaching the floor. Miraculously, his treasured straw hat was still attached to his neck by its cord.

With a pang of panic, however, he realised that in his struggle, his t-shirt had been raised and was now stuck just beneath his chest. He couldn't see if it revealed the bottom of the tight vest he was wearing underneath. He wiggled desperately until the fabric of the t-shirt was called down by gravity. Attention back to his surroundings, he saw that nobody was paying him any mind. While he was absorbed by the position of his t-shirt, the marines had brought him to their ship, and they were already walking down a corridor.

Purple-Man was leading the way. Luffy wasn't sure how many marines had followed, but it seemed like he could hear at least three or four people behind him. One of the guys holding his arms muttered, "How the hell's this kid so flexible…". They stopped in front of a wooden door, closed by a heavy lock, with a metal trap embedded in it at the height of an adult's face. A marine opened it in a clanking noise, revealing a small cabin, furnished with a bed, an empty desk and a stool. Luffy couldn't see the rest of it yet, and his attention was brought back to Purple-Man who had turned to face him.

"I am Vice-Admiral Momonga. Welcome to your new quarters. You'll be staying here until we reach Marineford in a few weeks. If you don't make a fuss you'll be well treated, but don't fool yourself believing that we'd be lenient just because you're a child. If you try to resist or run away, we will use all the means necessary to keep you here. This ship and its crew are used to go head to head with Grand-Line pirates, you will not escape."

Luffy responded with one of his best glares. Like hell he was going to let them take him somewhere he didn't want to go! He opened his mouth to say so, but was cutoff by the marines throwing him through the door. He landed on the bed and heard the door shut, the ominous clanks of metal telltales of a key turning into a lock.

He slammed himself against it, banging his fist on the wood, shooting with his foot, ramming with his shoulder, all the while screaming insults and demands to be let out.

How long did he kept at it, he didn't know. Enough to give everyone on the ship a headache, he hoped. When he had enough, and it was clear that no one was bothering to open the door, he flopped down on the floor.

He took in the rest of the cabin. On the wall facing the door, a porthole the size of a small plate was letting in some natural light. The glass seemed thick. However, if he could break it he might be able to squeeze through, reach the deck and steal a dinghy or something… He'd have to be careful not to fall in the water, though. Searching around, he also noticed a cabinet in a corner, with what looked like a chamber pot next to it (kind of like the ones Makino gave to the clients who were too drunk to find their way home, and ended up staying in a room for the night, in case they needed to empty their stomach but couldn't get out of bed). He crawled to the cabinet, not seeing the point in getting up since the room was so cramped. Opening it, he found some towels, a soap bar, and a large enamel bowl.

That was about all. There weren't any drawers under the table. Nothing on the floor, except for the small bag that he had prepared for his trip with the sailors. He had forgotten about it, but one of the marines must have carried and dropped it inside at the same time he was. It had been searched, he knew just by looking at the buckle. Going through each item, he discovered that his knife was gone (which, really, wasn't a surprise), alongside the fish hooks he had brought. Everything else must have been deemed safe for him to keep. Some jerky, a change of clothes, an almost not broken compass that he found in the Grey Terminal a year ago,… He was glad they didn't touch the only thing he was truly attached to: a picture of him and his brothers.

He took the time to observe it, eyes lingering on Sabo's face. He missed him so much. Even after all those years. He missed Ace too, but it wasn't the same. He knew one day they would see each other again on the Grand Line.

Sabo was gone. His light snuffed out just as he was escaping his cage.

It was so unfair. And sad. And it made him so angry at the people who had enabled this tragedy. Gramps had explained, after being harassed by Ace, that the trash that had shot their brother was called a Celestial Dragon, and that they were the founder of the World Government, so the marines had to obey and protect them. His explanation had been long, and Luffy had dozed off at some point, but he understood that he wanted nothing to do with those Celestial Dungs.

That's why he would never ever become a marine. As much as he respected (feared) his Gramps, he would never join an organisation that was controlled by a bunch of mean jerks. Well, that, and also because he was going to be the pirate king. You can't be the pirate king and a marine at the same time. You'd have to arrest yourself. A highly unhealthy situation.

He carefully placed back all of his belongings in his bag. Through the porthole, he could see the sun slowly nearing the sea, striking the sky with vibrant shades of orange, pink and yellow. The cabin was bathed in the warm light. He realised there wasn't any lamp in the room, he would be in the dark during the night. It didn't bother him, he was used to relying only on natural light, living in the forest.

Sitting on the bed, he wondered not for the first time, nor the last, why he was here. Somehow, he didn't think the marines were sent by his Gramps, he would have come himself to get him, it didn't make sense. Had he dine and dash one too many times? Did they knew he was a (future) pirate?

The sound of the metal trap opening stopped his musings.

"Stay on the bed! Do not move! We're gonna unlock the door to bring food."

He contemplated the idea of escaping right now. Jumping on the guards as soon as they opened and making a dash for it, but he was hungry. And tired. If they were feeding him today, there was a decent chance they would again tomorrow. He'd have time to prepare, and be rested with a good night's sleep.

A marine entered, a tray in his hands with a plate of food, a loaf of bread and a tin cup of water. Behind him, two others were standing in the door, rifle at the ready if he tried to escape. Not like it would do anything to stop him, he smirked internally.

As the man put the tray on the table, Luffy startled. It was one of his sailor friends. He gaped. The man saw the recognition on his face and sniggered.

"Yeah, sorry about that. Have nothing 'gainst you really. Higher ups said to get you discreetly. 'T was a fun mission, kind of like a holiday. You're a bit dumb, easier to fool than I thought…"

He couldn't comprehend what was happening. His mind refusing to understand.

"B-but we're friends…"

The marine laughed.

"Nah kid, we aren't." And with that he ruffled Luffy's hair mockingly. He went back to the corridor to fetch a bucket of water that he deposited near the cabinet, and exited the room without a look.

The silence that followed his departure was suffocating. Luffy's throat constricted as the utter sense of betrayal was crashing down on him. He had shouldered being overpowered by marines and thrown on a ship to who knew where. It didn't matter if they threatened him, or beat him. But discovering that people he trusted, he considered his friends, had been lying all this time was devastating.

A drop of moisture fell to his hand, and he rubbed his eyes angrily. He couldn't let it get to him, but his body wasn't cooperating. He felt cold. The smell of the food next to him wasn't alluring any more. He curled up onto himself, hugging his knees tightly.

He was alone.

At some point, he laid down on his side and drifted off to sleep.

Luffy woke up to near darkness and the loud rumble of his stomach. He had no idea what time it was, but judging by the faint light in the sky, it must've been a few hours before dawn.

Reaching for the cold plate of food, without a care for the lack of a fork or knife, he started eating. It was a mediocre meal. Not a good one, but not a terrible one. It didn't matter, he needed to think, to plan, and it's impossible to do so on an empty stomach. So he ate.

For now he could see two options to escape. The door and the window. The door was nice, but he couldn't unlock it alone, and last time there were at least three marines guarding it. Once he'd make a run for it, he'd immediately have people chasing him. The window, on the other hand, wasn't guarded and could be open (he hopped) when he wanted. Yep, window it would be. Look at him, using his brain an' all, Sabo would be so proud!

Great, he was rested, fed, and he had a plan. He decided to wait for the middle of the next night to act, it was a bit too late right now.

About two hours later, he was already regretting his decision to wait. It was so boring. The sun had started raising somewhere on the other side of the ship, bringing a bit of indirect light into the cabin.

Luffy was bored, but most of all, Luffy had a problem.

He had procrastinated using the chamber pot, and it was becoming difficult to ignore it any more. Now he really needed to use it, but he didn't know when the marines would bring him breakfast, or just check on him, and he didn't want to flash them.

When he was younger, Sabo had explained. The marines were serving the nobles, and the nobles were bigots, so the marines as a whole were bigots. Gramps was a marine and wasn't a bigot, some marines weren't bigots. But they still had to follow the rules dictated by the nobles. And Sabo knew the rules of the nobles. That's why he escaped, alongside other things. He was five years old and he already knew his parents were grooming him to marry a princess. It felt wrong to him. Luffy had asked if he would have preferred a prince, and Sabo had laughed so hard it brought tears to his eyes. Like hell he would have married a snotty noble asshole! He'd choose any street rat over a prince. But even if he had wanted to, it wasn't an option. It was frowned upon, and sometimes dangerous to express attraction for someone of the same gender.

And it was the same (if not worse) for people with a gender that didn't match how they were born.

He told Luffy and Ace about a noble woman, who had been thrown out of her own house by her wife and children, when she had started expressing the desire to wear feminine clothes. Apparently, she had left the island, after months of harassment from the whole noble community and a very close call with some hired thugs. The marines had done nothing to help her.

This particular story had come as a lecture, when Luffy had started running around naked after a bath, on a too warm summer day. His brothers had stressed the importance of him keeping his body a secret from strangers. That it was OK for them to see him naked, cause they knew he was a boy, but that others would not. Luffy thought it was dumb. That they just had to ask and he would tell them he was a boy. That had earned him a punch on the head from Ace, and he had had to promise to be careful from now on.

Now that he was older and had more experience with society, he had a bit more grasp on the danger he was currently in. Even if he planned to leave very soon, he wouldn't divulge his secret.

That's when he was hit with a brilliant idea.

Jumping from the bed, he went to the cabinet. It was bolted to the floor, like the bed and the table, so nothing he could do about it, but there was a small space between the side of it and the wall. Enough for him to put the chamber pot and sit on it. He opened the cabinet door wide and voilà! It isolated this corner of the room from prying eyes. That way he had a semblance of privacy, and it would at least give him time to put his shorts back on if someone entered at the wrong moment.

The day went on in painful boredom.

At some point a marine brought him breakfast, replacing his pot with a clean one. He had to wrestle himself to stay put and follow his plan, he really wanted to punch his way out.

He napped a lot, sometimes waking at the sound of the metal trap door when marines were checking in on him. In the afternoon, when the sun was passing through the porthole, he made shadow puppets with his hands, filling with stories the emptiness of his cell.

When the sun finally set, excitement coursed through his veins. He still had to wait, but he was mentally gearing up for what was to come. As the sky darkened, the noises of the ship died down. Throughout the day, Luffy had heard the footsteps of the marine's tour in the corridor. It didn't look like someone was permanently keeping watch behind the door.

He waited in bed, faking sleep in case a guard decided to take a peek through the trap door.

When the sky was completely dark and it felt like enough time had passed, he waited a few minutes after the telltale sound of footsteps went away to gather his belongings (which didn't take long). There wasn't a lot of options to limit the noise of the window breaking, but he tried anyway, wrapping the sturdy stool in the blanket.

He was ready. Smiling like the devil, under the pale moonlight, he slammed the stool into the glass with all his might. It shattered on the first try.

A/N: Thank you for reading!

Sorry-not-sorry for the cliffhanger (*laughs maniacally*).

So yeah, if you didn't get it, Luffy is trans in this story (assigned female at birth, then socially transitioned in his childhood). It won't be the centre of the story, but it might shape how some people treat him, especially the marines. I already plan to explain his transition, but it won't happen until a few chapters.

I really wanted to read more stories with trans masc characters, and I find Luffy to be a good fit, but I grew frustrated from not finding a lot of them. It's part of why I started to write.

The other part is that I have read many "What if the marine discovers Luffy's parentage?" and a lot of them were amazing, but for most, the marine tends to send a buster call, and or Akainu or the CP9. I just don't find it realistic, and I wanted to try a different angle. And also to write about politics.

Lately Oda has been giving us so many answers, but a lot of stuff remains secret. It is a bit scary to write a fanfiction without all of the information, so I really hope I won't make too much wrong assumptions. However it's part of the game, and hopefully this story will have enough personality to be worth reading anyway (*tries valiantly to be optimistic*).

On another note, the next chapter is a bit intense at times, so if you know that some stuff is triggering for you, please read the warnings I'll put at the beginning.

Unanium: Aw, thanks! More is coming!

Spooky jimm: I hope you'll like the direction this is going!

Thank you so much for the reviews, follows and favs. It warmed my little heart.

Until next time!