Chapter Text
Sanji couldn’t stop smiling. It was a perfect day – for the first time in a while, he found himself completely at peace. The sun was warm against his back, and the vegetables in the paper bag he held against his chest smelled sweet and fresh and promising. Robin was smiling by his side, describing to him the properties of the various species of flowers that were blossoming along the main street of the lively little town they were in. A bell chimed, high and melodic, as one of the town's many trams passed them by. He turned to watch it go, grinning wider and returning the waves of some children hanging out the window. How scenic, he thought to himself. I could happily spend all day here, strolling with Robin-chan.
“Look at those ones, Sanji, aren’t they beautiful?” Sanji turned back to the sound of Robin’s voice, and smiled at the gentle look of delight on her face. He followed her extended finger to the little cluster of vibrant purple flowers sprouting between two cobblestones, and hummed his agreement.
“They are, Robin-chan, very beautiful,” he winked at her, putting on his dopiest smile and feeling a thrum of giddiness at the fond way she rolled her eyes, already anticipating his next words. “But not as beautiful as you!”
“That’s enough of that, cook-san,” she admonished, but Sanji could tell, even as a hand sprouted from his shoulder to tug playfully on his ear, that she was more amused than anything else. Sanji's smile stretched wider still, and when Robin turned to him, her face softened at the sight. “You should–” Someone bumped into her suddenly, and Sanji wouldn’t have thought much of it at all on such a busy street if not for the way her eyes widened and her face paled.
“Robin-chan, what –” She jerked her arm forward, and Sanji took a moment to register exactly what the fuck he was looking at – seastone cuffs, his brain provided him, as he tried to make sense of the sudden turn the day was taking. Seastone cuffs. Enemies. Sanji’s eyes snapped to the man behind Robin, his hulking figure reaching for her again – Sanji moved faster, groceries spilling onto the ground as he snagged Robin’s sleeve, pulling her back before the other cuff could snap in place. The damage had already been done though, Robin wilting in his grasp.
Sanji stepped back – his haki flared, far too late, as someone approached him from behind. Unable to move away without placing Robin back in harm’s way, he twisted – the sharp prick of pain in his arm almost went unnoticed underneath the impact of his kick as it landed. Almost, but not quite.
When Sanji looked down to find the source of the pain he grimaced at the sight of the syringe sticking out of his forearm. How did they even get it in there? He wondered briefly. “Fuck,” he gasped, tightening his grip on Robin and kicking out again when more grabbing hands appeared by his side – how many were there? Together, he and Robin backed up, Sanji stumbling slightly. Robin reached out to steady him, blue eyes wide and worried, even as she wobbled herself under the effect of the seastone cuff dangling from her wrist.
“Sanji, what –”
“S-sorry, Robin-chan, they’ve…” he stumbled again, his knees wobbling as his vision wavered. He raised his arm shakily, and Robin hissed at the sight of the syringe still sticking out of it, plunger half compressed. “Works fast,” Sanji muttered, yanking it out harshly and crushing it beneath his heel. He looked back to where they’d been standing, at the man – no, men. As he watched, Sanji saw more people turn to face them. The man who’d been several paces ahead of them since they’d left that charming little lemonade cafe an hour ago; the two men who’d been bartering at a pottery stall a few feet away from them; more appearing from the alleyways surrounding them – Sanji’s vision wavered again, and he gritted his teeth as he tried to assess how many opponents they’d have to face.
“What did you give him?” Robin asked from beside him, her voice tight with fury and her hand resting on his upper arm. Sanji could feel it trembling – or was that him?
The man who’d stuck him grinned at the question. “Something augmented with his particular… biology … in mind,” he said, and Sanji felt his stomach swoop with sudden unease. “Something that will work." Sanji wished the world would stop spinning so that he could argue against that cocky statement. He opened his mouth to say something – something sharp, something angry. Or maybe to ask for some clarification, because only half of that shit had been injected and he could barely even stand up anymore. He could only gasp, swaying where he stood, and Robin tightened her grip on his arm.
“Well, I’m afraid that’s where your fun ends, gentlemen,” she said, her voice cold. “I don’t take kindly to anyone hurting my friends, and neither does he. So unless you want your legs broken –”
“Ah, actually,” the man interrupted her, and Sanji wanted nothing more than to kick his teeth in, " I’m afraid you’ll be coming with us. Both of you. I’d only really planned on taking the Vinsmoke,” Sanji growled at that, “but I won’t say no to cashing in the Demon Child’s bounty alongside everything else.” Sanji heard movement behind them, and turned in time to see more men reaching for them –
His leg was out before he’d even registered it, the one closest to Robin flying back and through the abandoned pottery stall – the whole street was abandoned, Sanji belatedly realised, everyone clearly having scampered at the first sign of fighting. That makes this easier, I suppose, he thought, spinning to knee the person grabbing his jacket, grinning at their pained shout – the movement was too fast, and he stumbled again. Robin’s arm moved to wrap around his waist, and he wished he could enjoy it. As it was, she was basically the only thing holding him up at this point, and there were more men approaching from all sides. He could see more cuffs in their hands. Weapons, too. Robin was capable enough in a fight, even without the use of her Devil Fruit, but under the draining effects of seastone…
The bell of an approaching tram sounded, and Sanji knew immediately what he needed to do.
“Robin-chan,” he muttered, trying not to let his words slur. “I – we won’t be able to fight for much longer.”
“Yes, I know,” Robin replied in a low voice, looking at him briefly before turning to the tram, almost level with them now. “If you can move fast enough – let’s get on that tram. Can you make it?” The world was spinning, and he was seeing double as he tried to follow the railcar’s movement, to make sure he got this right, because if he didn’t then who knows what these fuckers were going to do to her –
“No,” he whispered, as the tram passed them and the open carriage beckoned to him. “I can’t, I’m sorry.”
“What – Sanji!” Gathering what strength he had left, Sanji twisted himself out of Robin’s grip, hooked a leg around her waist and launched her into the tram car, wincing at the hard sound of her landing. “Sanji – don’t!” He smiled, watching her go. Even as the men reached for him again, grabbing his arms and his legs and the back of his neck and wrestling him down onto his stomach, he smiled at her.
“Fuckin’ prick,” one of the men holding him grunted, kneeling on Sanji’s back with all of his weight, even though the cook was completely pliant beneath him. Sanji grunted, feeling the air rush out of his lungs, his vision darkening at the edges – but he couldn’t pass out, not yet. Not before –
“Robin-chan!” He shouted, his voice strained but carrying across the empty street to the receding tram nonetheless. Robin had been struggling to her feet, pushing off the hands of the people helping her up, looking for a way to get back to him, crossing her arms in front of her in vain, desperately trying to find a way to get him back – but she paused at his call, and he saw her look back at him. He kept smiling. “Go get Luffy – I’ll be waiting!”
The tram turned a corner and was gone, taking Robin safely with it. He kept watching the empty street, finally letting his smile drop as heavy footsteps approached. Gleaming black shoes filled his vision, and Sanji stared resolutely ahead as the man from before crouched by his side.
“Sacrificing yourself, eh? How noble.” Sanji snorted, curling his lip.
“Hardly,” he said, placing all of his conviction into his words. “Robin-chan will be back for me, and she’ll bring far more than you and your shitty henchmen can handle.” The man was silent for a long moment, before he reached out and rested a hand on Sanji’s head, running his fingers through his hair. Sanji jerked back, because what the fuck, but the hand tightened suddenly in a brutal grip, twisting his head until he had no choice but to face him. The man was still smiling, and Sanji realised suddenly, as he lifted another syringe and coated it with haki – that’s how he got it through my skin. How did he know? – that he might actually be kind of fucked here.
“Will Monkey D. Luffy be with her? I had been hoping to snatch him alongside you, but Nico Robin accompanied you instead, and we had to take what we could get. But if they come directly to me – well, that makes things much easier.” Sanji scoffed.
“As if you could even lay a finger on Lu– ah!” His words were cut off by another harsh jerk of his head, his face scraping against the cobblestones beneath him, and the syringe being sunk into his exposed throat. He felt the foreign substance entering his bloodstream, a dull ache, and immediately the darkness that had been hovering on the edge of his vision overtook him.
“Even the strongest Devil Fruit users are susceptible to seastone,” the man’s voice was saying as Sanji’s world faded around him. A sharp knee was still in his back, and an unfamiliar hand was still in his hair, and Sanji couldn’t hold on anymore. “We’ll see how it goes.”
“M-Miss, are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yes, thank you,” Robin muttered, shifting to hide her cuffed hand from the small crowd gathered around her. She watched the ground moving beneath the tram, taking her further and further away from Sanji, and clenched her fist. You fool, she thought, remembering that look on his face. That smile. You kind-hearted fool. She turned to the elderly woman resting a hand on her shoulder, and tried to smile. “Would you be so kind as to direct me to the harbour, ma’am?”
By the time the tram reached the stop closest to the harbour, over half an hour had passed since Robin and Sanji had been separated, and Robin was closer to panicking than she had been in two years. She remembered the man who had spoken to them, who had seemed to be the leader. She remembered the way he had looked at Sanji – hungry, as if he were a thing to be devoured. That man could be doing anything at all to him. He could be hurting him, right now. He could be – Sanji could already be –
“No,” she whispered out loud, shaking her head to clear the thought. She ignored the stares she received as she finally clambered off the tramcar, fighting not to stumble under the dizzying effects of the seastone. “Th-the harbour is just at the end of this street, love. Are you sure you’re alright? You look awfully pale…” Robin tried to smile again for the kind woman watching her with so much concern in her eyes.
“I promise, I’m fine. Thank you for your assistance, it’s greatly appreciated.” The woman clearly wasn’t appeased, but Robin didn’t have time to reassure her. Instead she turned in the direction the woman had pointed her in, and set off in as hasty a jog as she could manage without falling.
Luffy will fix this, was all she could think. Luffy will fix this. Luffy will –
“Luffy!” She cried out as soon as the Sunny was in view. She was panting, a light sheen of sweat shining on her forehead. The seastone was making her feel lightheaded, and her ankle was twinging from when she’d landed on it after Sanji had thrown her – almost an hour ago now. An hour since she’d left Sanji behind. An hour with people who knew how to subdue him, how to hurt him. People who had studied him.
She needed to move faster. She needed Luffy.
“Luffy!” She called again, finally reaching the gangway and beginning to ascend. She heard scrambling on the deck, and doors opening. Luffy was waiting for her on the lawn, Chopper and Usopp hanging off his shoulders, whatever card game they'd been playing scattered across the grass in their haste to stand at her shout. Nami was standing in the door to the galley, looking at her with wide, worried eyes, and she could hear Zoro calling down from the crow’s nest. The others were calling from Sunny's depths as well, asking about the sudden commotion, but Robin only had eyes for her captain.
“Luffy. They – Sanji is gone.” Nami made a wounded noise, hands coming up to cover her mouth and stumbling steps carrying her down to join them on the deck, and Robin was reminded abruptly of Zou. Of Nami saying those exact same words, tears in her eyes. She hated to be doing this to her, to them all, again. Luffy’s expression darkened as he took in her sorry state. He shook off the others and moved to stand before her, eyes raking over her body for any visible injuries.
“Robin,” he said, his voice low and quiet, “come and let Chopper look you over. Tell us what happened.” Robin wanted to argue, wanted to impress the importance of acting fast because too much time had passed already, far too much time. But, as another wave of exhaustion fell over her and she very nearly stumbled where she stood, Luffy’s hand reaching out to steady her, she realised he was right. She needed to calm down. Panicking wouldn’t help anyone. They needed to know what had happened – they needed every detail her brain could pick out as important.
“I’m not hurt,” she said after taking a deep, steadying breath, “Sanji made sure of that. But I do need one of you to get this cuff off of me.” She lifted her arm to show them, and Luffy’s hand on her shoulder tightened.
“Nami,” he said sharply. Then he turned his head slightly, not taking his eyes off of her. “Zoro! Franky, Jinbei, Brook! Everyone on deck!” Robin could hear the sounds of them all responding to the captain’s call, roused by the kind of anger in Luffy’s voice that promised a fight.
“Robin, come on – I can pick the lock,” Nami muttered as she took up Robin's hand and led her over to one of their deck chairs, gently pushing her until she sat. Luffy followed closely, hand still wrapped securely around her arm. “Wait here,” Nami said, her voice high and tight in that way it got when she was afraid. Robin wanted to smile for her, but could only give her hand a squeeze in thanks. Nami nodded and disappeared into their room for her lockpicking tools.
“Robin,” Zoro said, coming over to crouch in front of her. His face was carefully blank, but when Robin looked into his eye she could see the beginnings of something cold and dangerous. Good, she thought. We’ll need it. “What happened?”
“We were ambushed,” she said, raising her voice slightly so everyone could hear where they were scattered across the deck. Nami appeared back by her side, Chopper with her, carrying his little portable first aid kit. “I’m really not hurt, Chopper, other than a little pain in my ankle. It’s just this cuff, that’s all.” Chopper sniffled and began checking over her anyway, lifting her tender ankle with the utmost care. Nami set to work on the lock. “They got the cuff on me first – they’d blended into the crowd perfectly, completely inconspicuous. Sanji pulled me away before they could secure them properly, but not before they injected him with something. I don’t know what, but – it worked fast. Almost immediately he could barely stand anymore.”
“What – was it poison? Did they poison him?” Chopper’s voice was shrill, and Robin reached out her free hand to run soothing fingers over the downy fur on his cheek. “No,” she said, at least sure of that much. “They weren't trying to kill us. The man who’d injected him – he said that it was something ‘augmented with his particular biology in mind’.” The words came back to her with startling clarity, as did the ugly sneer on the man’s face as he’d said them. “He wanted Sanji specifically. He – he knew exactly how to subdue him, how to catch him off guard. He used haki – I could see it on the syringe, and I believe he shielded himself from Sanji’s observation. He knew to use armament to break through Sanji’s hardened skin – Luffy,” she turned once again to her young captain, needing him to understand, “this is bad."
Luffy nodded, “What happened next?” He asked in a low voice.
“They kept on coming – there were a lot of them, and they all seemed to have seastone in some form or another. They appear to have an abundance of it, in various forms – we’ll need to be careful when we face them.”
“What happened to Sanji?” Any other day Robin might have been stung by the impatience in Luffy’s voice, but not today. Today she found herself grateful for it.
“He got me onto the tram, but he couldn’t follow himself.”
“Couldn’t?” Zoro asked sharply, eye narrowing as he stood again. “Or didn’t?” Robin hesitated, and that was all the answer they needed.
“For fuck’s sake," Nami moaned, voice rising. She paused momentarily in her ministrations, pinching her nose. “When will he fucking – every fucking time –”
“It’s not like that,” Robin insisted, raising her own voice over the navigator’s. Nami opened her mouth to argue right back, but Robin didn’t let her. “It’s different this time. It is. He’s counting on us – on me. He told me –” a lump rose in her throat, and she swallowed around it painfully, needing them to understand, “he told me he’d wait for me, for us. Luffy, Nami,” when she turned to the younger woman now it was to find her looking stricken, if not also a little more hopeful. “Sanji is trusting us to save him this time – we need to hurry. I will not betray that trust.”
“Of course not,” Luffy said, and his voice carried absolutely no uncertainty. Robin tried to feel buoyed by it. “We’ll get Sanji back, obviously. And I’m gonna beat up anyone who hurt him, and you. Robin,” he crouched in front of her like Zoro had, reaching out to take both her hands in his as Nami finally managed to unlock the seastone cuff, tossing it aside with a look of pure disgust on her face. Robin breathed a heavy sigh of relief as strength returned to her, and as Luffy squeezed her fingers gently between his. “We’re gonna get him back.” She tried to smile.
“Of course, captain.”
Sanji woke slowly. He was lying on his side, legs crushed up by his chest in a way that made his back throb sharply. Trying to straighten out, Sanji could barely extend his legs a few inches before they met resistance. He panicked briefly, the image of his body crammed in a box coming to him suddenly and vividly, but he quickly dismissed the notion. It was dark here, wherever ‘here’ was, but he could see a sliver of light in front of him, and that meant he was facing a door. And a door, at the very least, meant he was in a room of some sort. He’d take a room over a box. A room, he could work with.
Using the wall for leverage, he gritted his teeth as he rolled onto his back, his body stiff and heavy after being stuck in the same crumpled position for who knows how long. He was cold, he realised. His feet were bare, his shirt untucked. His pockets had been turned out, the familiar weight of his cigarettes and lighter noticably absent, and he swallowed back nausea at the thought that someone had searched him so thoroughly when he hadn’t even been conscious enough to fight against it.
He tried to sit, and as his back protested the movement, he suddenly remembered it all – Robin, the attack, the knee in his back and the hands on his arms and his legs and in his hair –
He bolted upright, and nearly tipped to the side when he couldn’t steady himself – his hands were restrained behind him, he was realising now. And his legs were cuffed too, the metal around his ankles thick and heavy, connected by a short length of chain. He gave them an experimental tug, and felt absolutely no give. He hoped it was more to do with the fact his brain still felt full of molasses rather than the strength of the cuffs themselves – but they'd been using seastone, he remembered, and if these were seastone – Sanji felt dread pooling in his stomach as he realised he wasn’t likely to break out of them with his strength alone.
He looked around himself, trying to focus through the darkness and the fugginess of his brain. The room he was in was small, too small for a grown man to be stuffed into. It was also quiet, and it was cold. It’s a cell, some cruel little voice in his head told him. It’s just a room, he tried to argue back. Basically a fucking cupboard. He couldn’t start panicking. Not now, not already.
Robin was safe, he was sure of it. She’d surely have gotten back to the Sunny by now, and the others will have helped her, treated her for any injuries that she may have gotten without Sanji noticing. They’ll have gotten the seastone cuffs off her, and she’ll have told them about what had happened. Sanji wouldn’t be surprised if they were outside whatever shithole building this was right now, ready to tear the place apart. He huffed out a laugh, trying to focus on the thought of Luffy punching the smug smirk off of that creep’s face rather than the fact that he was drugged and cuffed and alone in a small, cold, dark cell –
Sanji tried to stifle a groan as he twisted his body, bending his aching back until he could loop his arms over his legs so they were in front of him instead of behind him. He could get himself out, surely. The cuffs might be a bit of a hindrance, but he could manage around them. He just had to break down the door, then he could find the key to the cuffs, and once he was free – once he was free, these fuckers wouldn’t stand a chance. He moved to stand, and promptly planted his face onto the opposite wall as the world shifted around him.
“Fucking shit,” he muttered, waiting for his head to stop spinning. Whatever they’d given him was strong, strong enough that it was still kicking his ass even now, what must be hours after he was dosed. But still – he had to try…
Shifting back until he was on his haunches took far more effort than he was willing to admit, and by the time he was standing on shaky legs he had broken a cold sweat. He tried a hesitant step forward, and stumbled until he was pressed against the wall again. I can’t fight like this, he realised, gritting his teeth. Even if I break down the door, I won’t be able to do much else…
There was movement on the other side of the door, and Sanji straightened. I’ll fight as much as I can, he decided, clenching his fists and doing his absolute damndest to ignore the vertigo threatening to send him back to knees. I’m not weak – not anymore. I’m going to fight – I’ll fight until Luffy gets here. Luffy will get here –
The door opened, and Sanji pounced on the first person through it. He looped his cuffed arms around their neck, using it first to steady himself and then as leverage to jump up and kick the next person with both his cuffed legs. The man in front of him choked, clawing at his hands desperately, but Sanji pulled the chain taught and twisted until he was hanging off the man’s back. His vision was spinning, and he had to close his eyes against a sudden surge of nausea. He heard shouts, and more people approaching – he kicked out again, and grinned savagely when he heard cries of pain.
The man he was choking threw his head back, and Sanji grunted as it connected with his chin. He tightened his grip – there was a flash of deep obsidian and then – the man threw his head back again, and this time stars burst behind Sanji’s closed eyelids. He shouted out as pain exploded across his face. His nose was broken, he was sure of it, and blood flowed freely down his chin –
Awareness returned to him as he felt rough hands grabbing him around his waist and under his arms and lifting him, pulling him away from the gasping man he had damn near strangled to death. Sanji growled at the men holding him, and threw back his elbow, hitting one in the throat. He was released on one side, and the sudden weight sent him and the other man crashing to the floor. Sanji scrambled to stand, but the chain between his ankles was too short, and he was seeing double, and he stumbled –
A hand latched around his throat and held him tightly. He gasped, reaching up to scramble at the sudden pressure. He opened his eyes, and was suddenly face to face with the same man from before. The one with the syringe, the one in charge. The one who could use haki, he was reminded as he clawed uselessly at the gleaming obsidian hand squeezing his throat – but they were all using haki. Everywhere his eyes darted he caught deep black-purple glimpses of it –
He was lifted off the ground, the man carrying his weight seemingly effortlessly. Sanji choked, his pulse throbbing in his temples. His nails scraped harshly against unyielding skin. The man holding him looked around at the chaos Sanji had caused, and his expression darkened. His grip tightened minutely, but enough for Sanji’s vision to begin to cloud over. His flailing legs couldn’t reach far enough to make contact.
“Doesn’t feel too good, does it?” The man said to him suddenly, as though reprimanding a misbehaving child. “Not being able to breathe. Maybe you should think of that next time to try to choke out one of my men, hm? Everything you do to them, I’ll do to you. Keep that in mind, boy.” He gave Sanji’s throat one more savage squeeze, and for a blinding second Sanji thought he might actually do it, he might actually break his neck – and then released him.
Sanji collapsed in a heap on the floor, limbs crumpling under him. His mouth gaped uselessly for a few seconds before he finally managed to draw in an agonised breath. He lay there gasping and coughing, tears streaming down his cheeks, unable to think about anything else except getting air into his lungs again.
“That dose and a half only lasted a couple of hours,” the man standing above him was saying, sounding more like he was talking to himself than addressing Sanji. “Your tolerance is higher than I expected, given you were the supposed ‘failure’ of Germa… let’s double the dose. Doc won’t be happy, but that should last until we get you on the ship at least…” When the hands reached for him again, Sanji could do little to resist. Another syringe, another prick in his neck. It didn’t take long at all this time for his vision to fade to black.
Robin was wringing her hands in her lap, and her leg was bouncing, and she felt ready to snap at the next person to ask her if she was okay. She knew it was uncharacteristic of her to fall apart so thoroughly – she prided herself on her ability to keep a level head in tense situations, especially knowing how easily stirred her friends’ emotions were. But today… today she had failed those friends, even if they would never say so. And if they didn’t get Sanji back – she doubted she would ever be able to forgive herself.
“Stop thinking so much,” Zoro growled, reaching out a hand to still her bouncing leg. She stared down at it, and then up at his face. He looked at first glance quite unconcerned by the whole situation, but when Robin looked closer she could see the clench of his jaw, the slightest furrow of his brow. She knew he was worried. They all were.
“Sorry,” she murmured. Zoro only grunted, but he gave her knee a small squeeze before releasing her. She forced herself to stop fidgeting, and turned to look out the window at the passing streets. They had opted to take the tram back to where Sanji had been taken, thinking it would be the faster option – now Robin had to wonder if they might not have been better off running there. Too slow, her mind was whispering to her. We’re going too slow. They could be hurting Sanji right now – they could be doing anything at all to him. Maybe they’re torturing him, or maybe they’ve handed him over to some marines, or slave traders, or maybe – maybe he’s already dead, and we’ll arrive too late to take anything home except a cold corpse –
“Robin,” Luffy spoke from the seat behind her, and she felt his warm hand rest on her shoulder. “Zoro’s right, you’re thinking too much. Don’t worry, we’re gonna get him back.” Robin reached up and threaded her fingers through her captain’s.
“Of course,” she murmured. She didn’t let go, and he didn’t pull away. Before long, they were approaching the main street – Robin’s grip tightened involuntarily, and her breath hitched. They rounded the corner – the street was full and bustling again, the high afternoon sun painting a pretty picture. Everyone was smiling, and the air was full of happy cries and friendly chatter – as if they hadn’t fled at the first sign of danger; as if they hadn’t abandoned Robin and Sanji to their fates. Robin tried very hard not to be angry.
“It was here,” she said, releasing Luffy’s hand. She stood, and heard the rest of them following suit. “It was – right there. Come on.” The tram wouldn’t stop for another few minutes, but the driver slowed agreeably so they could safely hop off onto the cobbled street.
“So should we just ask people?” Usopp asked nervously, scanning the crowds with sharp eyes. “I mean, surely someone will know some thing. People don’t just get snatched off the street without people taking notice, right?”
“They were quick to scamper when the fight started,” Robin mused. “Maybe too quick – almost as if they had expected it, or were used to it. I think you’re right. Someone is bound to know something useful.”
“Sanji!” Luffy shouted out, cupping his hands around his mouth. “Sanji, where are you? Sa–”
“Shut up, Luffy!” Nami hissed, snatching his earlobe in a way that couldn’t have been truly painful to the rubber man but made his face screw up anyway. “As if he’s going to answer you – and if the people who took him are still around, we don’t want them to know we’re here.”
“Ow – okay, okay, let me go –"
“– remember the discussion about discretion? That’s why we left the others on the Sunny, remember? So we wouldn’t stand out – you can’t just go around shouting –”
“Nami, he gets it,” Zoro stepped forward and pulled the navigator back firmly. She whirled to face him, face flushed with anger, while Luffy bolted to Robin’s side, rubbing his abused ear and pouting childishly.
“This isn’t a game,” Nami hissed at Zoro. “This is – Sanji-kun could be hurt, they could be hurting him right now –”
“We know, Nami!” Zoro’s voice raised slightly, and Nami finally fell silent. Her eyes were shiny, and her mouth was twisted into something difficult to look at. It wasn’t anger, Robin knew. It was fear. “We need to keep our shit together,” Zoro continued, refusing to back down from the navigator’s thunderous expression. “If we fall apart, then the cook is fucked. We need you put together, Nami, not losing your shit at every single dumb decision Luffy makes.” Nami’s mouth opened around what was sure to be another vehement argument, but as they watched she seemed to deflate instead. The hand she ran down her face was trembling.
“Right,” she muttered, “you’re right. Sorry. Sorry, Luffy.”
Something caught Robin’s eye, and she turned sharply – it was a certain stillness, amongst all the movement of the crowded main street. She found the person immediately, drawn to the nervous way they were holding themselves, the way they looked ready to bolt. And to the way they were staring directly at her – Robin met the man’s eyes, and before he could do anything more than gasp in fright, she had sprouted arms all over his body. She trapped his arms by his side, and squeezed his legs together, and pressed her palm flat against his mouth to stop him from shouting. She pulled him back into the alley he had been peeking around at her from, and no one on the street was any the wiser.
“Luffy,” she said, her voice sharp. Everyone turned to look at her, and she nodded in the direction of the man she could feel struggling in her grasp. “The alley.”
By the time they rounded the corner into the dim gap between two stout buildings, the man Robin had caught was sobbing into her hand. They all watched him for a moment, before Luffy murmured her name and she released him in a flurry of petals. His voice rang out loudly in the confined space.
“Please – please – it’s not what you think! It’s not what you think! I’m not –”
“Shut up,” Zoro growled, and nudged one of his swords out of its scabbard. The man fell silent immediately, watching the movement with wide eyes. Zoro continued in a low voice, “Tell us exactly what you know, and tell us quietly."
“R-right, right,” the man was clearly still terrified, but as Robin watched he managed to calm himself down enough that his voice no longer jarred so much in the quiet of the alleyway. “It’s not – it’s not what you think. I-I’m not one of them, I didn’t take your – your friend. I didn’t – I just know what – I know where they took him, that’s all. Or I think I do. That’s all. I just – I just want to help.”
“Why?” Luffy asked, his voice betraying nothing at all. The man’s eyes flashed between them. He was still sweating nervously, and his breathing was fast and panicked, and he was shaking – but he seemed honest enough when he said, “Because they’re thugs. They’ve been terrorising this town for weeks now, and I – I just –” when he looked up at them again, Robin was surprised to see something of a fire in his eyes, “I don’t want them to get away with it. That’s all. I just – I know I should have done something, said something, when they – when they attacked you. I’m sorry. But I – last time I tried to, they destroyed my stall, smashed all of my wares, and I – I don’t have the strength to –”
“Where are they?” Luffy spoke over him, and the man swallowed audibly. “Where did they take Sanji?”
“They – they’ve been staying at the inn, the one further inland. They’ve taken over the whole building, turned it into a sort of base of operations for themselves. If they took him anywhere, it would have been there. It’s still on the main street, but at the farther end, I can take you –”
“We’ll find it ourselves,” Nami said curtly, already walking away. The man was still shaking when they left him, but Robin couldn't find it in herself to offer more than a nod in thanks.
Deciding this time to travel by foot, Robin knew they were heading in the right direction by the way the crowds thinned, and the few people they did come across looked more and more nervous the further they went. Robin's ankle was aching as they ran, but she refused to slow down. It had been hours now since she'd lost him – she refused to be the reason for any more delay.
"There!" Usopp cried suddenly, pointing to a large building on the opposite side of the tram line. It presented a similar front to the rest of the buildings they passed, and the sign advertising it as an inn was subtle, and Robin felt a horrible swoop of dread in her stomach at the realisation that if they hadn't had the discerning eyes of their sharpshooter with them they'd likely have run right past it.
None of them wasted any time on caution, not now that they were so close. They burst through the doors into what Robin would normally have appreciated as a charming little lobby, with potted flowers and a fireplace and plush looking armchairs – it was empty.
"Sanji!" Luffy called, and Nami didn't shush him this time, gripping Usopp's arm tightly with one hand and clutching her throat with the other. "Sanji!"
"Let's search the rooms," Nami said, still breathless from their sprint. "He's here somewhere – he has to be here somewhere!" Robin snatched Zoro's arm to keep him from wandering, and together they began their search.
The ground floor, with its lobby and storage cupboard and cold, messy kitchen, was completely empty. So were the rooms on the storey above, though they had clearly been lived in until very recently, judging by the complete disarray of the bedclothes and half-finished meals and odd items of clothing strewn across their floors. Robin felt despair gripping her. From the way Luffy had fallen silent as they climbed the final flight of stairs to the third floor, she knew he was realising the same thing that she had, that they all had – they were too late.
When finally they came to a room that wasn’t empty, it wasn’t Sanji that they found, nor was it his captors. It was a frail looking man, face decorated with colourful bruises, and a couple of tearful girls that could only be his daughters, judging by the unfortunate nose they all shared. They looked up fearfully as Luffy slammed the door open, but their faces relaxed slightly as they realised it wasn't who they had expected.
“Where are they?” Luffy’s voice was deep, carrying the sort of weight usually reserved for the battlefield. Here, in this pretty bedroom in a quaint little inn on a peaceful island, it was damn near suffocating. “Where is Sanji?”
“Th-the people who were – who were here –”
“Where is Sanji?”
“They – they left! They put out to sea!” Robin could feel Luffy’s rage surging, but she couldn’t find it in her to calm him. Not when she’d looked into a corner of the room and spotted –
“Luffy,” she said sharply, and in two long strides she had crossed the room and picked up – “These are Sanji’s,” she said, turning over the polished shoes in her hands. She looked down at the pile again, and spotted his pastel pink socks, the ones that made Sanji flush red to the ears to wear, but had been gifted to him by Chopper a few weeks ago and that he had been too kind-hearted to turn down. Next to them lay his treasured gold lighter, and a crumpled packet of cigarettes, and the silk handkerchief that Robin had watched Sanji purchase for Brook just earlier that day, the pretty gold paper he'd paid extra for the vendor to wrap it in torn and discarded – “These are all Sanji’s.”
“– didn’t see, I swear! I didn’t – they only paid for a week, but anytime I tried to get them to leave, they would beat me… I didn’t want to risk making them angry... I have daughters, who knows what they might have – ”
“It’s – it’s okay,” Usopp tried to reassure the man, but Robin could hear the way his voice trembled. Luffy stepped up beside her, and carefully began gathering Sanji’s belongings into his arms. When he turned back to face the room, his rage was contained once more, and somehow he even sounded calm when he spoke to the man again.
“Did they definitely go out to sea? Or are they somewhere else on the island?” The innkeep’s eyes flashed nervously around the room, afraid to be addressed so directly.
“They – they’re not native, they have nowhere else to go. I don’t – I didn’t ask any questions, I was just so happy to see them leave… I’m sorry!” Robin saw Luffy’s jaw clenching and unclenching.
“No, it’s not your fault,” he said, his voice tight. Robin knew that if the circumstances were any different he would have been able to really comfort the man properly, maybe even entice a smile out of him. For now, that strained reassurance was the best any of them could hope for. “Thank you for telling us. Guys, let’s go.”
Nami was already pulling the baby den-den mushi out of her bag by the time they stepped onto the street again, and they barely even needed to wait before Franky’s eager voice rang out from the other end.
“Yo! Is Sanji good? Did you get him?”
“Franky,” Luffy stepped forward and snatched the receiver out of Nami’s hand. She didn’t protest. Robin doubted she’d be able to say anything for a while without bursting into tears. “They’re headed to the harbour, they might have already left. Check every single ship, don’t let anyone leave. Got it?” There was silence for a short moment, and Franky’s voice had sobered considerably when he answered again.
“Got it, cap’n. If we find them, we’ll give ‘em hell. Hurry yer ass back or there won’t be anyone left for you to beat up.” Luffy managed a short huff at that, but he didn’t smile. He wouldn’t smile until they had their cook safe with them again, Robin knew. When that would be though… that, she was less certain of.
When Sanji woke this time, he knew immediately that they were at sea. He also knew, from the strange smell in the air, and the unfamiliar chill of the room, that he wasn’t back on the Sunny. Yet, he reminded himself firmly. He opened his eyes slowly.
The room was startlingly different to the one he’d woken up in last time. Where before it had been cramped and dark, now there were pristine walls, shining white and sterile. It was larger, too – an actual room, rather than a cupboard. A cell nonetheless, that cruel voice whispered to him again, sounding suspiciously like his brothers. And a proper one, this time.
“Fuck,” he muttered, and his voice came out hoarse. He ghosted his fingers over his throat, and felt it light up with pain. What a fucking mess, he thought, gritting his teeth. He took a breath, and sat up slowly.
He was on a bed, he noted. More of a cot really, a metal frame with a thin mattress and a single pathetic pillow. There was a toilet with no lid in the corner, and a basic sink beside it. There was a door in the far corner, but no windows. The light, white and harsh and making Sanji’s head pound, was provided by two long LED lights, the ceiling too high for Sanji to reach. In short, there was absolutely nothing there that Sanji could use to assist him in getting the fuck out of there.
He swung his legs over the side of the bed, realising with no small amount of relief that the cuffs had been removed from his wrists and ankles, and shivered when his bare feet touched the cold tile floor. When he stood his head spun again, and he had to hold himself very still to let it pass. He slowly and carefully shuffled over to the door, pressing his face against it and listening intently. The lights overhead were buzzing, and the blood was rushing in his ears, and his breathing was loud and shaky despite his attempts to calm it – but other than that he couldn’t hear anything. No voices, no movement. Even the typical sounds of a sailing ship seemed muted and absent in the oppressive white of the room.
Sanji stepped back from the door, frowning. It had no handle, nor any sort of window for him to look through. There was a slot at the bottom of it, which Sanji guessed – hoped – would be used to pass through food. But it was narrow, too narrow for him to fit through, even with his embarrassingly slender shoulders. He looked around.
The room was brightly lit, and the air smelled clean, and despite the cold tiles under his feet, the temperature was bearable – but all at once Sanji felt suffocated, and before his brain could catch up with his body to remind it that announcing he was awake to his captors was perhaps not the best idea, he’d lifted a foot and slammed it against the door. The noise seemed deafening in the oppressive quiet of the cell, and the impact jarred his entire body, but the door didn’t budge. There wasn’t even a dent, and Sanji realised it must be seastone. How much of that shit do they have?
He kicked again, and again. And again. He kicked until the effort made him lightheaded, until he couldn’t even stand anymore without leaning on the wall for support. And when he came back to himself, when his vision cleared and his head stopped buzzing and he’d caught his breath again, he looked at the door and found it just as unscathed as it had been before.
“Fuck,” he whispered, eyes burning. He pressed his back against the wall and slid down, bringing his legs up to his chest. He pressed his face against his knees, and tried to breathe. He pictured Usopp’s face, recalled his voice. Just keep taking deep breaths, he’d told him once, when he’d found Sanji hyperventilating over a mouldy loaf of bread. It feels impossible right now – but this feeling is gonna pass, and we’ll still be right here, completely fine. I promise. You’re gonna be –
“Finished with your little tantrum?” Sanji’s head shot up, eyes flashing open to see the man from before standing over him. He hadn’t even registered him coming in, hadn’t heard his footsteps or the door opening – he needed to get a grip. The man was watching him smugly, eyes roving over his face, his bruised neck, the way he was making himself so small – Sanji scrambled to his feet, but he was still too unsteady to do much more than glare at the man.
“Fuck you,” he spat out, incensed at the way the man’s smile only grew. “The fuck did you do to me?”
“Nothing much, yet,” the man said, shrugging his shoulders. His posture was entirely relaxed, hands in his pockets and attention wandering. He clearly didn’t see Sanji as much of a threat at all. Sanji clenched his fists and tried to convince himself the man was wrong. “We just gave you a little something to make you sleep. Should wear off completely soon enough. Though,” he chuckled slightly, “if the doc had it his way you wouldn’t be awake for any of this.” Sanji bared his teeth.
“The fuck does that mean?”
“Exactly what it sounds like,” the man shrugged again, and stepped forward until he was looming over Sanji. “He wants you to sleep through everything. Thinks it’ll be more humane. As if he can somehow convince himself that what he's doing is anything other than what it is.”
“Which is?” Sanji straightened, pushing himself from the wall and jutting his chin defiantly at the bigger man in front of him. Dread was a weight in his stomach, every word the man spoke making it heavier and heavier. A hand flashed out and seized him again by his neck, and Sanji was too breathless from the pain of it to do much more than hiss at the man like an affronted cat and push uselessly against the man's broad chest as he leaned forward, breath hot against Sanji’s ear.
“He’s going to give me everything that you have – everything that you are. I’m going to become so much more than any Vinsmoke; more than Germa or Judge or even Vegapunk could ever dream of. And you – you’re the key to everything. So thank you." Sanji felt dizzy with pain and fear and dread – but he managed to get a knee up, landing a solid, heavy hit on the man’s solar plexus that drove him back. But the hand around his neck held firm, and Sanji was dragged forward before his world tipped and he was slammed onto the floor, driving any remaining breath from his lungs. He gasped as the man straddled his chest, and when he looked up into his face it was no longer smiling. Sanji opened his mouth to speak, and the hand around his throat squeezed again.
“You’re more useful to me alive,” the man said, “but that doesn’t mean you’ll be useless to me dead. Understand?” Sanji glared at him, and the man squeezed harder, legs pressing his arms to his sides. “Understand?” He kept squeezing, and squeezing, and Sanji couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t breathe – and he couldn’t hear Usopp’s voice anymore, couldn’t see his face, couldn’t feel anything at all but complete, consuming panic –
The pressure was gone, and as Sanji drew in a hoarse breath he realised he had nodded, and was still nodding. The man hummed, sounding pleased, and when Sanji looked up with burning eyes he saw his smug expression had returned. The man raised his hand again and Sanji couldn’t help but flinch as it landed back in his hair, ruffling it like a child, as though he hadn’t been throttling him not even a minute ago. Finally the man stood, and Sanji curled back into himself as he kept gasping, trying not to choke on every breath he managed to take.
“If you behave yourself,” the man said from where he stood over him, “then maybe I’ll even give you back to your little crew when I’m finished with you. But keep testing me – and I promise you, you’ll be begging me to kill you by the end of this.” Sanji heard his footsteps retreating, heard the door opening.
“They’re coming for me,” he said before the door closed again. His voice was ruined, hoarse and breathless and shaking. But his conviction was as strong as ever – he wouldn't doubt Luffy. Never again. “They’re coming for me. And they’re going to kill you.” Sanji could feel the man’s presence behind him, still standing in the open doorway. He was silent for a long moment, the only sound in the room Sanji’s pained breathing.
“They can try,” the man finally said, then the door slammed behind him, and Sanji was alone.