A/N: I really got bitten by the writing bug again, which is a good thing for this fic, but not so much for my dissertation. (It's in the works, but going ever so slowly. I think after this chapter, and maybe the next, I'll have to step back from writing this until my dissertation gets done done .)

Hope you all enjoy!

Bailey had to leave to go to her shift, but Barto stayed on the line. He apparently had some information to give to me privately, and didn't want (or need) Bailey to hear it, regardless of what people thought of the kid being my supposed replacement as underworld information broker. Bart didn't mind nor care too much if the rest of the Straw Hats heard, and knew that if I did want to keep things private I would say something.

Sanji, Luffy and I had been joined by Zoro at that point. Usopp and Nami were talking about writing up a contract to find a shipwright to build Sunny, and were discussing with Merry how they were going to get the as yet unnamed Franky onboard. Merry knew who we were after, but wouldn't name him, only saying that she had a plan in place and was going to use all her wiles to get him to agree not only to build the Thousand Sunny, but to rebuild parts of her and all without Robin needing to yank on his balls. (The looks she got after that comment made all the men on board look queasy, whilst she stood there and laughed.) Chopper was still looking after Robin, who had awoken by that point and was trying her best to convince the little doctor to let her get out of the bed.

Chopper, when in absolute doctor mode, was a force to be reckoned with and nothing would or could stop him from looking after a stubborn patient.

"Catch me up, what have I missed?"

Succinct, and to the point. It was what made mine and Barto's initial relationship so easy and enjoyable. (The Cannibal and the Morrigan working together again was going to send shivers down the backs of all the enemies that the Straw Hats ever came across.)

"Joker's been seen around the area," I couldn't help but swear. "Heard he took out the hyena's crew, and now has the man himself back under his thumb."

Fucking Bellamy! Fucking Donquixote Doflamingo!

It was a damn good thing that this connection was as secure as it was, using the weird almost white den den mushi that Barto had gotten his hands on. He said that they'd tested it out alongside the black den den's that the marines used, and hadn't heard a damn thing. I hadn't asked how he got his hands on some, and really didn't want to know the answer to the question, but even if we were one hundred percent certain of its efficacy, code words and names would still be used.

"Damnit, and I warned him too. Either he didn't take me seriously, or…"

"Joker was already in town."

"Glad we missed him." Sanji muttered, anxiously lighting up a cigarette in the opposite direction to where I was sitting.

A thought occurred to me, "Fuck! I bet I know exactly why Joker was in town! I know he would have gotten there sooner or later, but he came sooner because he'd sent out scouts in Alabasta."

Luffy cocked his head to the side, "Scouts? Oh! Those slavers you caught!"

Sanji and Zoro growled, with Zero's voice almost a rumble as he spoke. "Oi! Chronicler! You never said you ran into slavers!"

"Must have forgotten to mention it, Lu was there."

The Captain nodded at his First Mate. "At least after, Cobra had them taken away to be interrogated."

"No wonder he was more brutal than normal. The capture of his slaver scouts pissed him off. Which means, you've pissed him off."

Barton's voice held a tinge of fear to it, knowing the rumours and the stories circulating around about Joker.

"I should hope that I've pissed him off, he can go drown in the ocean for all that he's done."

I did not want his attention anytime soon, not for at least another two years and then hopefully we'd all be strong enough to go along with Trafalgar Law's plan. Assuming any part of it survived impact with Luffy, that is.

Almost changing the subject, Barto steered the conversation onto slightly safer waters.

"Morgans has his people asking after you, but you know the people around here are loyal. They won't let anything slip unless you want it to."

I had no idea what I had done to earn that sort of loyalty, but it was most definitely appreciated.

"The old bird is swooping about? Maybe leave a few crumbs here and there, nothing too heavy" I went to rest my head on my hands, but forgot about the pain and hissed at the sharp cramp that ran the length of my arm. "I'd ordered why he hadn't added Morrigan to the poster, but considering his own connections…"

"Wouldn't want to expose himself to soon." Sanji grumbled.

"Also that project that you started is going fantastically!"

I straightened up in my seat, almost vibrating with joy. Zoro looked at me in alarm, "You alright?"

I grinned, "I'm great! Barto, that's fantastic!"

He laughed, delighted at being able to finally share some decently good news. "They're all ready to go! The first few should be arriving at their locations, soon. The trainer sent them off a day, or two ago."

The grin on the face of the snail was matched by my own, "Who did you send?"

"It'll be a surprise when they get there!"

I couldn't help but pout, even as Luffy tilted his head to the side and began asking what we were talking about.

"Just a little idea I had about networking Luffy, if it works then it'll be game changing!"

"Shishishi! You'll have to tell us more about it after!"

The den den once again had stars in its eyes, "They'll also be bringing that list you were looking at, too."

"The one about devil fruits?"

"And more."

I rubbed my hands together in excitement. Finally! I was getting somewhere with some extra plotting and planning.

"Are you interested in a particular devil fruit?" Sanji queried, putting out the cigarette that had dwindled significantly in the time since he had first lit it.

"Not so much for eating, I enjoy being able to swim and breath underwater. I just want to see what the world Government and the Marines consider to be dangerous, or if there's been any reclassifications recently. Sometimes they also list has has what fruit, which could definitely come in handy if we run into someone we're not quite able to handle."

"Like 'Kiji."

Luffy pointed out.

"Exactly, and even if the document is out of date it'll still have really good information about the fruits themselves and from there we can extrapolate what they have the potential to do and what we could do to defend against them."

Buggy, for the first time in a long time, couldn't help but look to the future.

Monkey D. Luffy was on his mind, as were his two brothers (Captain's son was alive! Rouge's son was alive!) and the Outlier that had once slipped up whilst drunk and called him 'Uncle Buggy'.

How did he manage to avoid the madness that was his Captain's brand of crazy for as long as he had? It was one of the reasons he had split from his brother all those years ago, needing a break from the New World, a break from the constant fight for survival and away from the constant migraines that had only gone away when he had come to the East Blue. Damn his observational haki! Damn his captain for taking two brats out into fights that they had no business being in! (Damn his Captain, his father for abandoning them and dying. Damn him!)

The sudden shouts of his crew pulled him from his thoughts, a welcome change to the depressing nature that he could feel himself spiralling downwards into again. The crew had been shouting something about an intruder, and when he went to see what was going on he rolled his eyes, ready knives going back into their sheaths. The intruder that his crew was panicking over was a hovering bird, a crow more specifically that had decided to land on the Big Top.

The crow sat on the railing, staring at him, a little backpack attached to its back and clearly willing Buggy to take the contents out.

Alvida was looking at the bird wearily, "Are we sure that we can trust it. Birds don't normally come with packages."

Buggy sighed, running a hand down his face, before pointing out the obvious.

"News coos do."

"I don't know if you've noticed, but that is not a news coo."

"No. But it is a crow."

A memory occurred to him, a conversation that he had had with Ebony.

"Wouldn't it be cool if you could train birds to take messages to people all of the Grand Line?"

"What, like a news coo? They keep that secret locked up tight with how far those birds travel."

She had pouted at him then, "I bet I could find a way to replicate the training! I'll send you a letter first!"

Buggy let out a whistle, knowing that Ebony was as stubborn as they came, but if anyone could train a bunch of crows to send and receive messages, it would be her.

"What do crows eat?" Shouting to his crew, Buggy put out an arm for the crow to step up onto. It had very sharp claws, but some some reason two claws on each foot had tiny little seastone caps on them. It was for sure a defence mechanism for the crows themselves, if they ever got caught by a devil fruit user, then they'd have the chance to get away.

Clever.

"I've got some fish here, Captain!"

Cabaji held the small fish in one hand, whilst fending off Richie with the other.

"Bring it here!"

Putting the crow onto the deck, Buggy took the fish away from Cabaji and placed it in front of the crow, who happily tore into it. Buggy watched it for a moment, before reaching over and into the small pouch that was attached to the crows back. It blended in with the crows feathers, and he knew that if you weren't aware of it, when it flew overhead one wouldn't even notice it was carrying something. Slipping the letter from the pouch was easy enough, and Buggy's theory was only more confirmed when he saw he name written across the seal.

Breaking the seal, and unfurling the letter Buggy knew instantly that Ebony had been successful in training the crows like a news coo. He let out a burst of laughter, happy at her success, and particularly happy because this could help her crew, his crew and many others like them in stabilising their information networks.

(And if Morgans could have his, why couldn't Ebony and buggy have theirs?)

"What is it?"

Alvida was as straight forward as ever, and it was one of the reasons why he liked her so much. Ever since eating the devil fruit, she seemed to have mellowed out dramatically, as though all her anger was tied up in her previous appearance and now that she no longer looked that way, the anger was drained away. Her previous shield no longer needed.

(She still had a mean club swing, but that was few and far between now.)

"Looks like Ebony has managed to do what the World Economy News Paper did."

Alvida startled, "Crow Queen had managed to train crows to deliver stuff?"

He nodded, "She would have started the training, but I'd bet that she has others helping out. This could change so much!" The last bit was spoken with so much excitement that his crew looked on at him in astonishment.

Alvida, on the other hand, was clearly questioning Buggy's sanity, her query etched upon her face. "In what way could this change so much?"

Buggy cackled, "Getting information to and from different crews, spreading that information to civilians. Spying, dropping off newsletters that explain our side of the story rather than whatever the World Government wants to tell. A huge plus to all of this is that crows can be found everywhere! They don't look a bit out of place!"

Alvida made a noise of agreement, face clearing up into something a bit more understanding, "Didn't realise that brat had someone that smart on his crew, now there's someone who can think about the bigger picture."

Privately Buggy couldn't help but think that sometimes Ebony thought too much about the bigger picture. Too focused on keeping other people safe, and not enough time spent on making sure that she didn't get herself discover and killed!

"Well, I'm going to go and read this," holding the letter up, as the rest of the crew drooped. They'd obviously wanted him to read the letter aloud, like a aren't reading their child a bedtime story.

"Keep an eye on the bird, I may need to send a reply."

The crow let out a happy caw, before going back to its almost finished meal.

"Will do, Captain!"

'Hi Uncle,

It seems I've finally found out how the news coo system works and all those things we talked about can finally go into the actual production stage, so to speak.

So to start with, J has been sniffing about for a particular fruit said to have once been held by his heart. Nothing concrete on why he wants it. Maybe a lure? I don't know if this will affect yours, but just in case, watch out for that if you can.

If everything happens that way I hope, then Baroque Works will finally stop pestering you. Crocodile is tenacious in his consistency, and vicious enough to wilfully ignore a good 'fuck off, no.' I have a feeling he's headed to the deep, but for how long I couldn't be sure.'

Buggy let out a snort at that. He had known Crocodile for over a decade at that point, and the words 'tenacious and vicious' were accurate to his character.

'Red Leg should be proud of the little eggplant. If you seen him let him know, would you? Please pass along my den den number to him if you get the chance.'

Following that was a series of numbers that he knew to be the frequency of Ebony's now the Straw Hats', transponder snail. Next time he went to the Barite he would pass it along; the old man most likely hadn't heard anything but rumours of his son since he'd joined the Straw Hats, and would probably appreciate being able to get into contact with him. (The kid would probably be happy, too.)

'I've also been thinking about some trench knives. I love the knuckledusters I've got, and the season dagger you gave me has been a lifesaver, but I feel like I need something that combines the two. Something a bit more offensive. Also, love the steal tipped boots that you found for me at the market, but I have a feeling I'm going to need another pair or two. I remember you say something about Water 7 being good for underground dealings, so I might have a look around there.'

Buggy thought it was a little strange, considering she hadn't seemed to be entirely sure about using daggers when he had taught her some tricks, regardless of the fact that she seemed to take to them like a fish in water. But combining them, and using trench knives? He could see that working well for her.

'Also, uncle, I know you're not on great terms with him at the moment, but I would seriously appreciate it if you would be able to put me in touch with your brother.'

She was buttering him by by calling him uncle, but it was working, however grumpily it would make him to get back into contact with Shanks.

'I wanted to see if I could confirm something with him, since he was the one to find it in the first place.

One last thing, I really hope that you'll call more often. I would love to hear you continue that story you started telling me about your old crew and Oden?

Call more often, uncle,

Ebony.'

All of us were sitting around the kitchen table, an oddly familiar setting and one that was incredibly comforting. Merry had decided that all of us could do with a break from being on lookout, and had taken on that duty by herself considering she didn't actually need to eat anything much to Sanji's dismay.

"What's this project you've been working on that Rooser was talking about?"

I could see it now, Luffy was never going to call Barto anything but Rooster from here until the end of time. And Barto would most likely fully embrace it considering it was Luffy.

After swallowing the mouthful of dinner that I had been eating, I replied. "My solution to the news coo."

Robin perked up, "Let me guess, you've somehow replicated the training that the W.E.N.P has for their birds with crows?"

I nodded, pouting at her, "I would say you ruined my fun, but you would have found out in the morning more than likely."

Luffy, alongside Chopper and Usopp had star in their eyes.

"So cool!"

"Is that how you got the name?" Nami was curious, even putting her knife and fork down despite not having finished her meal to rest her head on her hands.

"Kind of? I used to sit and feed the crows out the back of the bar; there was a murder of them that would just hover around, waiting for food. One time Barto came across me and just burst into laughter, calling me the Crow Queen with her little court of crows. Everyone started calling me that behind my back (and sometimes to my face), and the name just kind of stuck. Honestly doesn't surprise me that the marines took notice and added it to the list of criminal epithet's, even if they never really knew where the name came from."

Zoro laughed, having finished his meal. "A bit like pirate Hunter, just not as bloody."

I grinned at him, watching as he chugged another cup of sake like it was water. "Yeah, that's a name that'll stick around for a while."

The rest of the meal went on, only quiet conversation and the actual enjoyment of each others company. It was something that I didn't want to ruin the calm of, but I had an idea and needed to see if it was a good one.

"Captain, if I could? I've had an idea."

Luffy looked at me, mouth full of meat. "Sure, what's the idea?"

Usopp piped ups having been quieter than normal since the earlier revelation of his would-have-been argument. "if it's along the same lines as what I've been thinking, I think it's a good one."

I turned to him, gesturing for him to continue.

"It's about what you and Merry were telling me earlier, about disagreements within the crew."

I nodded, "So we are thinking along the same lines, that's good."

Zoro and Sanji looked at each other in shock. Neither of them had been present when that particular conversation had taken place, before looking at Usopp and I, as we both went on to explain the future-that-could-have-been, with Merry interjecting her own comments.

Zoro was stone faced, his own thoughts and opinions not showing but we could all see that he was having a difficult time not scolding Usopp for actions that he hadn't actually as of yet performed. Sanji on the other hand had been flicking his lighter on and off, as his foot tapped in rapid succession on the floor. Luffy had been calmly watching the pair, as Usopp wrung his hands together.

"I know it didn't happen here, but it happened in that other timeline that Ebony saw. I want to be able to stop arguments like that from happening altogether."

I interjected, "This crew is full of very strong willed individuals, and honestly for as well as all get along, there will be times when we will get frustrated and angry with each other. That's okay…"

Usopp nodded, "But if we could somehow put into place a system that will stop us from going overboard, from getting so angry with each other that one of us leaves…"

There was silence for a moment, before Luffy nodded, his eyes slightly shadowed by his hat. I couldn't be sure, but for a moment I thought that they were glowing red.

"What's this idea?"

"A way of settling disputes, something that we all know to follow."

There were a few different pirates codes and articles that I could vaguely remember, but I wasn't all that interested in learning about real-world pirates outside of those that had been in the Assassin's Creed franchise and wouldn't be much help outside of that considering the Golden Age of Piracy back on Earth had been gone for a bit over three hundred years.

"There was a thing called a complaints box back home, if that helps any? Like it could be an anonymous thing if we wanted, but also not?"

My idea felt a bit childish, but in some circumstances I knew that it could work. I had a feeling that the Articles of Bartholomew Roberts wouldn't work all that well amongst the Straw Hats.

Usopp nodded, "That sounds like a good idea, and at the end of each week or fortnight we could read them out?"

Luffy laughed, "That could work! I still haven't learnt how to write properly yet, though."

"I'm willing to be in charge of the box." Robin spoke up, voice calm. Zoro looked at her with sharp eyes, gaging how truthful she was being, before looking Luffy's way and shrugging.

"If that's what you want?" Luffy waited until Robin nodded, before turning back to me. "We'd better get back to those lessons, Ebony!"

I smiled back at him, "Happy to Luffy, happy to."

The rest of the evening was spent working out a way of settling disputes amongst the crew, with Usopp having even begun working on building a box that would serve for the initial complaints that would inevitably come in the next week or so as we made our way towards Water 7.

A/N: So I cancelled my Netflix subscription like three years ago (if I wasn't using it in lockdown, then I wasn't using it at all), but when the one Piece live action comes out you can bet that I'll probably be resubscribing just because I'm going to be very curious about it. I really want it to be good! (Also the casting is absolutely fantastic! And the fact that they made Buggy look that intimidating, when we all know what he's like is great!)

Stay safe, and hydrate!