Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.

Content Warning: Mentions of violence/torture

Chapter 12

Cat and Mouse

Nami sat quietly in the push armchair. She idly checked her nails, putting on a face of casual disinterest, determined not to be the first one to speak.

"I'm so pleased you decided to drop by, Kitten."

"You asked me to come here," she corrected shortly.

Doflamingo peered at her from behind the large desk in his private office. His large smile only grew with the small hint of annoyance in her voice.

"Violet tells me you're settling in well. How do you like your new quarters?"

Nami was not expecting to be called to report to the king so soon after their last meeting. She hoped this would be about a new mission or assignment and not about him wanting her to join the family again. Either way, she was never one for small talk, especially when she was eager to know what business he actually had with her.

"Listen, if you want an answer about whether or not I'll join your family-"

"Of course not." He waved his hand to dismiss her before she could finish. "You'll come to me when you're ready to accept my offer. No, today..." He let out a sigh. "Today, I was simply hoping we could have another chat."

She eyed him suspiciously, still not entirely sure what his motives were behind their last chat. Unable to find Law at a time that he wasn't annoyingly close to Monet, Nami still had not gotten a chance to speak with him about Doflamingo's offer. That and all the other burning questions about him that she couldn't seem to get out of her head.

"Can I be honest with you?" He slightly raised a brow with the question.

Ok, now she was really suspicious.

"Don't be so skittish, Kitten." He rolled his eyes at her clear distrust of his suggestion. "I'm simply... curious. I find you interesting."

She remained guarded, but she made no attempt to stop him or leave, hoping he would get to the point sooner if she was willing to listen.

He rounded the large desk and leaned against it, slipping his hands in his pockets casually and crossing his legs at his ankles.

"I have a problem, and I want your opinion on it."

"What kind of problem?" she asked cautiously. There were so many thoughts running through her head. She struggled to tamp down her anxiety at all of the possible ways she could be the cause of his problem, realizing just how many secrets from this man she had - from her relationship with Law to her secret with Viola and even to her task to gather information on him for Arlong.

"The night you returned from your mission in Germa, Diamante and Violet returned from a mission of their own. They brought me exactly what I asked for, but I still can't seem to get what I want - what I need from him." Doflamingo was looking out into the empty parts of the room, one fist clenched tightly in the air, seeming talking to himself as he spoke aloud.

"Him?" she questioned softly.

He looked down at Nami before replying, a slight frown tugged at his lips. "What do you do when you can't get information out of someone?"

Nami returned his frown. This was all news to her. She remembered Vergo mentioning another successful mission, but she had honestly forgotten about it with everything else that was going on. And she certainly wasn't aware that they brought someone back with them.

Her frown turned thoughtful as she sought to honestly answer the question. Now that she knew the subject of his agitation was not her own deception, she could relax enough to be intrigued by the situation.

"First of all, I never can't get information out of someone." He snorted at her response. "But if you're hitting a wall, just change your approach."

"You think we haven't tried that already?"

"If you haven't gotten him to talk, then you haven't tried enough. What all have you done so far?"

"Threats, pain, various methods of torture. We've done everything that has always seemed to work in the past, but he hasn't said a word. He won't so much as speak his own name."

"Interrogation tactics aren't exactly my specialty," she conceded.

"That's why I'm asking you, pet," he stated lowly. "Vergo thinks it's a lost cause, that I'm wasting my time at this point."

"I'm not surprised," she scoffed.

"So tell me, if you were in my position, how would you get what you wanted?"

She paused in thought. The conversation wasn't what she expected, but she couldn't deny that she enjoyed the strategy involved in his request and the excitement from devising a way to steal something others thought of as unobtainable. This was, in fact, her specialty.

"Well, hypothetically speaking," she began. "I wouldn't have started with torture. I mean, if you had thrown in a little good cop with your bad cop from the beginning, it may have worked, but it sounds like you've gone from zero to sixty in terms of punishment without reprieve since you brought him here. If that's the case and he hasn't cracked already, there's little to no chance he'll give in to anyone of your people, let alone trust them."

He nodded slightly, agreeing that her assumption of their prisoner's treatment had been correct.

"Ok then, again, hypothetically, I would dig up as much as I could about this person. Does he have weaknesses to exploit? Any treasured or strained relationships? What does he like or dislike? Anything I can use to make myself seem more sympathetic or relatable in his eyes."

"I thought you said no one else approaching him would be able to win his trust?"

"No one associated with his captors." She shrugged. "In this scenario, I'm not torturing him first off anyway. But let's say that I did. At the end of the day, he's still only human, and a part of him is probably desperate to believe he isn't alone. So, I'd give him that. For starters anyway. The torture is really an annoying setback, if I'm being honest." She muttered the last sentence just under her breath, somewhat surprised that the king she assumed to be exceedingly cunning would have taken a solely violent approach to begin with.

Doflamingo's lips curled up at the edges, amused at both her candor and reasoning. "So, you'd have me give him a little friend?"

She tilted her head slightly as she nodded toward him, signaling a silent yes to his question. "The only type of person I can see him opening up to now is another prisoner. Of course, his friend would actually be your friend. Oh, and I'm assuming you know this already, but you wouldn't be able to completely stop torturing him while this is happening. Halting your obvious attempts at extracting information will make him more likely to question his new cellmate. I mean, you can change it up, even make it less violent. Don't escalate it though. We don't want him shutting down altogether if he's fully traumatized, or worse, dying before he talks."

His toothy grin was pulled wide across his face at this point, and he looked down at her with a mixture of amusement and what almost seemed like pride.

"Who knew you were so cold blooded?"

"I would say I'm practical. You are the one who introduced the torture, not me. I'm just offering a way to work with the situation you created."

Doflamingo threw his head back with a loud laugh. "I suppose you don't become an officer for fishmen without having a... practical side," he mused. "Well, this turned out to be more interesting than I imagined. A fantastic plan indeed, Kitten. Well done."

Nami did her best to remain unfazed, keeping on an air of professionalism. Detachment was a skill she learned a long time ago. She was hardly a killer, but she was far from innocent. The crimes she committed were the price she agreed to pay when she made a deal with the devil for her sister's freedom. Still, there was some sick part of her deep down that, only for the briefest of moments, warmed at his honest praise.

"How soon can you start?" he asked.

"I thought we were talking hypothetically."

"We were. Now, we are talking practically. What do you need to start tonight?"

She let out a short chuckle. She couldn't even pretend she wasn't interested. Besides the fact that this was obviously something she would excel at, it would give her access to a part of the castle she hadn't been to and a chance for more info gathering for Arlong.

She began counting off requirements on her fingers. "A change of clothes - or whatever you make your prisoners wear. Reassurance that I will be taken out of the cell after a certain period of time. This one could take a while, and if you want me at my best I'll at least need to be able to sleep in my own bed and get a decent meal every once in a while." And attempt to track down Law, she added only in her mind.

"Consider it done."

"Oh, and of course, I'll need a quick run down on the prisoner."

He raised a brow only at her final request.

"You know, who is he, where he's from? I mean, at the very least, what am I trying to get out of him?" she asked as if it was an obvious requirement.

Doflamingo studied her briefly before denying her. "No."

She scoffed in disbelief. "How am I supposed to know what I need to get out of him if you won't tell me what you want?"

"Quite frankly, I want everything." His tone was serious now. "He hasn't spoken a word to anyone yet, so whatever you can get from him will be an improvement. That's all you need to worry about for now. Just get him talking, and I'm sure he'll give you everything I require eventually." His lips curled slightly, his serious tone now sprinkled with a hint of mischief. "Don't worry, Kitten. I'm quite certain you'll be more prepared than you realize once you begin."

She hesitated. With the cryptic teasing of his last words, she was much less excited for this scenario. There was no way she was going to back out of this opportunity, but she had enough pause to ask for one final condition.

"I can accept that, but I need to be kept in a separate cell." She raised her hand to stop him before he could protest. "I don't care if he's chained to the wall and unconscious. I want iron bars separating us. If I'm going in blind, you can at least grant me some semblance of protection."

He was more than pleased. He was almost giddy as he agreed to her final demand before ushering her to the exit.

She glanced over her shoulder at him as she left, watching him retreat back behind his desk. The satisfied look on his face made her wonder if their conversation had been 'more interesting than he imagined,' or if it had actually gone exactly how he planned.

"It's almost showtime. You ready?" Diamante's ever-present smile seemed even larger than Doflamingo's.

She was as ready as she could be with the little information she had. They had no prisoner's uniform, so she opted for a simple white t-shirt and worn jean shorts. She traded out her sandals for a pair of boots. They definitely weren't as cute as she preferred, but they allowed her to easily sneak in the few items she refused to be voluntarily locked up without: three lockpicks, a small knife, and a box of matches. Her hair was pulled back in a high ponytail where the fourth and final lockpick was secured. She completed the look by mussing up her hair and clothing a bit. She couldn't look like she was treated too well, even if this was the first time she was supposedly being locked up beneath the castle.

He led her across several winding corridors, managing to carry the conversation between them fully. She imagined he was the type of person who enjoyed hearing himself speak, but she was glad for it. They finally came to a stop in front of an elevator. He patted her gently on the head and chuckled softly.

"Hey, you're a pretty good listener. I can see why he likes you so much."

Her eyes widened slightly, and she realized she was only half listening to whatever he said before. "Who?"

He laughed at her again. "The young master, of course. Who did you think I was talking about?"

The elevator doors opened, and her voice caught in her throat as her eyes met with Law. He stood casually next to his mint-haired companion. His features were unreadable, but she knew him enough to notice that he stopped breathing for a moment the second he saw her. She shifted to the side to allow them room to exit the elevator. She couldn't help but look away uncomfortably, wondering what he was thinking of her disheveled appearance. This was not the way she intended on seeing him again.

She kept her eyes to the floor also they passed but couldn't help a small wince when she heard Monet mutter a suggestive comment about Nami getting comfortable with more of the family.

They entered the now empty elevator, and she watched him depart without turning back as the doors closed.

"Don't let them get under your skin, Red. They might be family, but they're both huge assholes."

She gave Diamante a small smile. He led her out of the elevator and down the hallway through the dungeons. After a short walk, they stopped in front of two adjacent doors.

He explained that he was going to be behind the door on the left the entire time should anything go wrong. He delicately placed her wrists in handcuffs as he assured her that he would be watching and listening the whole time through a hidden surveillance snail in one of the vents.

"Ready?" he asked one final time.

She nodded confidently. She definitely wouldn't call Diamante a friend, but she did appreciate certain things about him. He was clearly invested in the success of this plan. It was likely that he didn't want whatever he went through to track down and capture this person to be a waste. Despite his intimidating stature, he didn't give Nami any indication that he was a threat to her. His eyes and hands never wandered where they shouldn't, and although he had a flair for the dramatic, he kept himself professional and on task. Of everyone she had met in the family so far, she found herself slightly comforted by knowing this was the person who had her back in their current situation.

"Let's put on a good show." He whispered, shooting her a quick wink before grabbing her roughly by her restraints.

Her body tensed on instinct as he kicked open the door to the right and dragged her inside.

She kept her head down as she was tossed unceremoniously into one of the empty cells. The cell door slammed shut as she caught herself on the cold floor by her bound hands. She stayed knelt on the floor as she lifted her head and squinted, her eyes adjusting to the horribly bright lights just enough to see Diamante exit. The only sound was the locking of the door once he was gone. Part of her wished Diamante had at least given her an idea of what the room would be like, but she also knew that her disoriented reaction to the new space would only help sell her as a realistic prisoner.

The sudden shifting of chains caused her to whip her head to the cell next to her.

A quick glance to the other cells confirmed that he was the only other person there. Doflamingo's prisoner. He remained seated, leaning against the back wall of his cell while he shifted to get a better look at her.

She blinked a few more times, finally beginning to adjust to the brightness of the room. His wrists were bound in the same style chains as she was, although his ankles were also chained together. His pale skin contrasted harshly with the deep coloring of fresh bruises peeking out from his torn clothing. He let his matted blond locks fall across his face, and if the lights weren't quite so bright, she might have missed his telltale brow.

No.

Her heart suddenly felt like it was going to beat out of her chest, and her hands instinctively moved in front of her neck. She was utterly unable to hide the combination of recognition and fear on her face as she locked into his pale blue eyes.

"Vinsmoke," she whispered.

His eyes shut tightly at the sound of the name. His head hung low as a fierce grimace twisted his features, as if her fear of him and of that name was as painful as whatever physical torture he had received.

He swallowed hard in an effort to compose himself. His head lifted again slowly, eyes falling over her terrified form once more.

He moved toward the bars separating them, and she immediately scrabbled back, keeping the distance they had as she was forced against the opposite side of the cell.

He stilled himself, raising his hands in front of his chest in a sign of surrender. He opened his mouth but found himself struggling to form sounds. It took a few attempts at clearing his throat before he finally spoke.

"I'm not a Vinsmoke," he rasped.

She narrowed her eyes as her anger started to eclipse her fear. "Show me your arm," she demanded.

His eyes widened. "Listen, I don't know what they did to you, but I'm not-"

"Show. Me. Your. Arm."

He slouched back in defeat, letting his gaze fall to the floor. He knew what she was asking for. He raised a hand to his sleeve, hesitating briefly before brushing it aside to reveal a large number three inked into his skin. It wasn't adorned with the elaborate tribal borders that his brothers' tattoos had, but they both understood what it meant.

She sent a murderous glare toward the large air vent in the wall outside the cells. Doflamingo knew exactly who he had locked up in this cell when he sent her here. She needed to get her emotions under control. She could deal with the king later - and she definitely would. But for now, she needed to get it together before she blew her cover.

"My name is Sanji," he rasped softly. "I don't know what my family did to you, but I am truly sorry."

She took a deep breath, finally willing her body to relax from it's fight or flight state. Her hands fell to her lap, and she found herself slightly embarrassed that the incident in Germa was still affecting her as much as it was. She kept her place against the far side of the cell and let several moments pass before she decided to speak again.

"You're supposed to be dead."

He let out a joyless laugh. "Yeah, being alive is just one of the many ways I'm a disappointment to my father."

She looked away again, endlessly frustrated at how unprepared she had been for this situation. She willed herself to remember everything she could from what Law told her about this missing brother. He was presumed dead. He had been presumed dead from a young age. The enhancements didn't work on him. Was that really all she had to work with?

"Have they fed you?" His unsteady voice, still rough from lack of use, pulled her from her thoughts.

"Uh, no," she admitted, realizing she actually had missed dinner with her preparations for this task.

"I saved the bread from the last meal they gave me if you need it." He gestured to a metal tray near the cell door.

"I'm not hungry." She wasn't sure why she was being so obstinate in her attitude toward him, although her genuine reluctance seemed to make him even more eager to change her mind.

"I'll save it in case you get hungry later. They haven't been very consistent in how or when they offer food."

"Why are you doing this?" she asked without thinking.

"Doing what?"

"Being... I don't know, kind to me? You don't even know who I am."

"I told you." He let out a small sigh and rested his head against the bars of her cell. "I'm not a Vinsmoke."