Not sure what to say about this one. The title of the chapter kind of says it all.

Also, thank you for everyone who favorited or followed this story. It means makes me so happy to be able to share these crazy ideas with you.

Chapter 6-The Chase is On

Damian Wayne sat on top of the Thousand Sunny's crow's-nest, looking out over the blue water to the horizon. He knew that somewhere beyond that horizon, Grayson was injured, alone, and probably convinced that there was no one to rescue him. Why would he? He had been in this strange world for days without contact before he was arrested. He might have felt abandoned. Damian fought to keep the rage in his chest under control. He focused on his breathing, remembering his lessons both from his mother and his father. He listened to the wind and the waves. Below him he could hear the swordsman, Roronoa Zoro training. The man had been swinging ridiculously large weights around when Damian had retreated up here and he was still at it. The rhythmic clanking was actually soothing. Once he felt under control again, Damian returned to thinking about Grayson. He couldn't help it, like poking at a loose tooth.

He was worried about his older brother. He was scared that they would be too late. Both emotions were weaknesses that he thought were trained away by his mother. Yet here they were, irritating him again. His father had explained that emotions were only a weakness if they are allowed to control one's actions. Never attack in anger, never freeze in fear, never move rashly in worry. That is what Batman believed, though how well he follows his own preaching is debatable. Emotions are healthy important parts of being human. That is what Grayson taught him and Damien appreciated the jovial man's attempts to "cheer up the baby bat" as much as they rankled. Grayson never dismissed Damien's feelings and had a way of seeing what Damien was really feeling under the anger and annoyance he projected. The boy gazed out over the waves. Out there, somewhere, Grayson was waiting for them to rescue him. They would not fail.

Beneath him, the clanking stopped. "Oi," Zoro called out the window. "You should come down soon. It's almost lunch time."

Robin rolled his eyes. "Fine," he snapped. He hooked a grapple to the edge of the roof and leapt off, passing the swordsman with a whoosh. Zoro looked surprised for a second before he noticed the line attached to the youth's utility belt. Robin cackled all the way down until he hit the deck with a muffled thud. The long nosed sniper, Ussop, squealed in surprise from where he was tending his plants with the other Robin. The woman laughed politely behind her hand before turning back to her watering. Robin rolled his eyes at the pair and made his way to the helm where the fishman and navigator were talking with Red Hood.

"According to the charts I picked up on the last island," Nami was saying, "we should be crossing their path by tomorrow unless something slowed them down at their last stop."

"We caught a good current," Jimbe said with a nod. "We are making excellent time."

"Is the weather going to hold out?" Red Hood asked. He was fingering his sidearm, which was a nervous habit of his.

Nami stared up at the clouds. "It will for today, but I'm not sure about tomorrow. The Grand Line is nearly unpredictable."

"What does that mean for Greyson?" Robin asked as he joined the discussion.

"We'll catch up to the marine ship tomorrow," Nami said. "We should decide on a plan of action."

Hood nodded. "Isn't your captain in charge of strategy?" he asked.

"Have you met Luffy?" Nami inquired. She shook her head and sighed. "No, we just point him at the strongest fighter and let him take care of that while we handle the details."

Jimbe laughed. "He is a most exciting captain to follow."

Hood shrugged, apparently accepting the whole idea, which seemed ludicrous to Robin. "How can you follow a leader like that?" the younger hero barked.

Nami smiled. "He's an idiot but he's our idiot captain so we follow him. We don't need any other reason."

Robin glared at the woman before shifting his attention to the fishman. Jimbe had seemed like a rational individual and Robin hoped that he would have better insight into this ridiculous situation. Grayson was relying on them!

"Luffy-san is a special case. We trust him to fight and he trusts us to deal with the things he cannot. It is a worthy partnership," the whale shark fishman explained as best he could.

Nami nodded vehemently, her hair bobbing around her head. "Now then," she said, regaining control of the situation. "We still need a plan."

"And a name," Jimbe added.

Nami rolled her eyes and was about to argue with her nakama when Sanji stepped out of the dining room to call everyone to lunch.

"Yippee!" Luffy shouted, popping out of the hold like a rocket. He raced across the deck right into Sanji's foot. The blond cook glared at the captain and with a deft twist, had the smaller man pinned under one shiny dress shoe.

"You stay put until the ladies are seated, you shitty rubber-man," Sanji ordered as he pulled out a cigarette. He lit it quickly and blew a puff of smoke into the ocean breeze. "Laaadies!" he called, his tone completely changed.

Nami unbent enough to give the cook a smile which made the man dance like a noodle while still keeping the whining captain pinned.

"We'll talk after we eat," Nami told the young heroes who had watched the action with amazement. She didn't acknowledge their surprise, just walking calmly into the dining room followed closely by the rest of the crew.

"You better hurry," Sanji called out to Hood and Robin, who had not followed Nami and Jimbe. "When I let him up, it'll be a fight to get your share."

The two young men shared a look before racing, with dignity, to join the pirates at the table. As they claimed their seats, Sanji released Luffy who hurled himself at the table, barely avoiding crashing into it. After that it was a race for everyone to eat their fill before Luffy inhaled everything. Damien got into a tug of war with Ussop over the bean sprouts while Nami gracefully took her fill from the bowl. Hood, who unfortunately ended up beside the gluttonous captain, spent the whole meal hunched over his plate to defend from roaming fingers. However, despite the stress on their guests, the Straw-hats were in a fine mood. They ate and joked with the same joyful energy they put into most of their activities. It was a very different scene from the formal dinners or quiet meals that occurred in the Wayne household.

Finally, once all the food was consumed and Sanji, with the forced assistance of Zoro, started cleaning up, Nami stood up to get everyone's attention.

"Okay, everyone," the red head barked. She glared at Ussop until he put down a gadget he was playing with. "We will catch up with the Marines tomorrow morning. We need to come up with a plan." She held up a hand when Luffy opened his mouth. "I know that we can handle the Marines in our sleep, but this is a warship full of soldiers and we have an objective. We need to find and rescue our target without endangering him. That means that Luffy can't just fling himself over there and have at it. And no cutting the ship," she snapped at Zoro who was turning away from his drying duty to say something.

"We need a distraction," Ussop pointed out. "Otherwise the marines could hurt the boys' brother before we get there."

"I suggest three teams," Jimbe added. "A distraction team, a retrieval team, and a team here on the Sunny."

Nami nodded encouragement. She looked around for anyone else to say anything before she picked up the thread. "I agree. Luffy, I think you and Zoro should be the distraction. You two have the highest bounties and will easily get their attention." Zoro smirked at Sanji who bristled at the implied insult, but Nami continued before they could start fighting. "Sanji, I want you on the retrieval team. You're the muscle. Chopper, you should be on that team as well. We don't know what shape Grayson will be in."

"Oh, yeah!" Franky burst out in enthusiasm. He struck a pose, bonking Luffy on the back of his head with his oversized forearms. "What about me, Navigator Nami?"

"Perhaps you should stay on the ship," Nico Robin spoke up, putting the man in his place without raising her voice. "In case we need to make a run for it."

"Then I will stay aboard as well," Jimbe added. "If Franky-san will control the mechanical aspects of the ship, I can steer her into waters where the marines cannot follow."

"I'll stay aboard as well," Ussop declared. "To defend the Sunny."

"No," Nami said, her grin growing mischievous as she pinned the sniper with her eyes. "You will pilot the Shark Sub for the retrieval team. I will stay on the ship to watch the weather and protect the ship." She laid her hand on her climatact that never left her belt.

"What about us?" Hood broke in when Ussop started to sputter over his assignment.

Nami tipped her head in consideration. "Maybe you should stay on the ship to. We don't know how you will handle the marines."

Robin stood up and slammed his hands on the table hard enough to rattle the glasses. "No way are we staying out of the way while you rescue our brother!" he shouted.

"Be reasonable," Ussop pleaded. "The Marines are no joke. It's dangerous!"

Hood stood up to add his part to the argument, his hand on his gun. He opened his mouth to argue that they were heroes from Gotham, that they had plenty of experience with danger, but someone else spoke up first and everyone fell silent to listen.

"Robin will join the retrieval team," Luffy said calmly. His hat was tipped down to hide his eyes and his words held more steel than usual. "Red Hood will help Zoro and me keep the marines busy. If we see the Captain who beat up your brother, you get first crack at him." His gaze bore into Hood, making the hero agree with a dark glee. "Good." There was silence for a minute as Luffy sat back, tipping his hat back up and grinning at his crew. "This is going to be fun."

"Yo ho ho ho!" Brook laughed. "Luffy-san, where should I be assigned?" The skeleton whipped out his sword to swish through the air a few times until Ussop complained. "I can be most distracting!"

"Yosh!" Luffy cheered. "You can join us!" The rubberman jumped up and started dancing with Brook to the song "Dis-trac-tion! Dis-trac-tion!"

Robin raised her hand, a gentle smile gracing her mouth. "I'll assist the retrieval team. I think I'll be the most use with them."

Nami sank into her chair bonelessly. "Thank you, Robin," she said with a weary smile. "At least someone is taking this seriously." On the other side of the table, Chopper and Ussop had joined the conga line.

Recognizing the saner members of the crew, Damien changed seats to sit next to the women. "What can you tell me about Marine Warships?" he asked. "It would be more efficient if we knew where to look."

Nami nodded. "Let's go to the library. We have a couple books that have the blueprints from different ships that should help. Let's leave these idiots."

Hood watched the women leave with Damien. The demon-spawn needed to stop going by Robin for a while because the confusion between him and the archeologist was giving Hood a headache. The kid probably wouldn't agree to that though. He was pretty attached to the handed down moniker.

"Can you fight?" Zoro said, surprising Hood enough to jump and spill his drink.

Red Hood glared at the swordsman, whose perpetual scowl didn't change in the least. Hood took a drink before answering. "Yeah, I can fight. Been doing it long enough."

Zoro studied him for a minute before plopping in a chair and taking a swig from a bottle that he must have stolen from Sanji. He held out the bottle to Hood who accepted. The bottle had no markings and smelled very strongly of alcohol. He took a swig and about choked at the burn of the sake. That got a grin from the swordsman who accepted the bottle back.

"I've been training most of my life to fight," Hood said when he could breathe again. That was some strong sake and Zoro was chugging it like water. "Don't worry about me."

The green haired man shrugged. "Wasn't worried," he corrected with a wave of his hand. "Mostly curious. I know you're not as strong as me, but I can tell you're skilled."

"How can you tell?" Hood asked. He narrowed his eyes and causally reached for his gun. He had to keep reminding himself that these people were pirates and dangerous, so the weight in his holster was comforting.

"Oh, oh, I know," Luffy interrupted, draping himself over Zoro's back to give Hood an unnaturally large, toothy smile. "It's haki, right? I know because I got the feeling too. You and the bird boy, you're really strong even if you're not strong strong."

Zoro let his head fall forward in exasperation as he reach back to knock his captain over the head. "Idiot, how can he be strong if he's not strong."

"Shishishi," Luffy giggled but didn't answer the question. "Can you be scary? Zoro and Brook can be scary, but I'm not real good at it."

Hood felt the corners of his mouth pull up involuntarily. He blamed Luffy's boundless energy and the up-coming fight. "Oh, don't worry. I can be very scary. I learned from the best."

Luffy laughed loudly, right into Zoro's ear. The swordsman shoved the boy off and stood up, draining the last of his sake. "I'm going to take a nap before my watch," he announced before leaving.

Sanji grabbed the bottle that Zoro left and cursed the swordsman for raiding his stores again. Luffy just laughed from the floor where he had landed when Zoro pushed him off.

"Oh, no!" Chopper cried, scuttling to Luffy and grabbing his wrist to check the rubberman's pulse. "Are you okay?!"

"He's fine, Chopper," Sanji insisted. He had to step over both the doctor and the captain to get back to his kitchen.

The pirates dispersed to their various chores and hobbies soon after the swordsman's departure. Ussop and Franky disappeared into the bowels of the ship to prepare the Shark Sub, Brook went to enjoy his tea under the tree, Sanji disappeared into the storage room to plan dinner, and Chopper went to check his inventory for the third time. He was murmuring about making tinctures and extracts as he made his way out the door. That left Hood alone with Monkey D. Luffy.

Jason Todd studied the other man, a term he used loosely. Luffy looked like a kid even though he said he was 19. Jason still couldn't believe the man was the captain of this motley crew. With his short stature and wiry physique, he didn't look very strong, especially when compared to powerhouses like Zoro or Franky. He certainly wasn't smart like Robin or Nami, as evidenced by his attempts to eat the lock off the fridge. Yet all these people followed him with surprising devotion. The idea was baffling. Jason leaned back to stare at the ceiling, contemplating the paradox. When he thought about it he could think of similarities between Luffy and the heroes he knew back home. His unending optimism for one, and his appetite was certainly reminiscent of a speedster.

"We'll rescue him," Luffy said out of the blue. Jason looked around to see the pirate staring at him with surprising gravity.

"Huh?" Jason questioned. He raised an eyebrow and gave his best "What the hell are you talking about?" look.

"Your brother, we'll rescue him, so don't worry," Luffy answered.

Jason considered arguing that he wasn't worried, that he didn't care about Dick; but something in Luffy's expression made him reconsider. "I know," he admitted finally. When Luffy didn't drop his expectant look, Jason continued. "I'm more worried about finding him, and what state he'll be in." Luffy nodded, flopping his hair. "It's not that I haven't seen people messed up, we're crime fighters; it happens. It's just," he paused, "he's the oldest. He shouldn't need a rescue and it makes my skin crawl."

"When I," Luffy's voice cracked and he started over, "when I tried to rescue Ace, he was mad that I came for him but I couldn't not go. That's family, you just do what you need to."

"Funny thing is, not too long ago I was trying to kill him," Jason admitted with a forced chuckle. It hurt his throat and he had to take a drink. "I was going through some stuff, because, you know, I died. But no matter how angry I was at him, he still loved me."
Luffy's mouth stretched in one of his trademark grins. "I know how that feels, Sabo died but we met him again at Dressarosa. I was so happy to see him I couldn't stop crying, until I had to rescue Trafal-guy and kick Doflamingo's ass."

Jason knew there was a story there, but he decided not to ask. Luffy's stories were either completely incomprehensible or impossible. "Thanks for the talk, Luffy," he said instead, getting up. He'd go see if Franky had any extra weapons he could use. He was really looking forward to kicking some ass.

"Anytime, Hoody," Luffy said, waving happily as Jason reached for the door.

The hero knocked his head on the door frame. "Don't call me that," he pleaded. He turned his head to look at the grinning pirate. "How about you call me Jason?"

If he hadn't seen it, Jason would have said that it was impossible for Luffy's smile to grow any bigger, but it did. "Yosh, Jason it is."

"Thank you," Jason said as he opened the door to step out on deck. Behind him he heard "Bye, Hoody!" and he groaned loudly.

"Sorry for that," Sanji said from where he was leaning against the wall, smoking. "He gets stuck on weird nicknames, sometimes."

"Better than bird-boy," Jason admitted. He waved at the cook as he walked away with a surprisingly lighter heart then he had started with. Maybe he was starting to understand why Luffy was the captain.