Chapter Text
Law had rendezvoused with the Revolutionary members Dragon directed him to the next morning. He was sure he looked like shit, he hadn’t been able to sleep, even the combined warmth of Bepo, Penguin, and Shachi wasn’t enough to keep the nightmares at bay. Eventually he had given up to join Hakugan in the control room with the file Dragon had given him on the base.
He hadn’t answered any of the helmsman’s looks and was grateful the masked man was content to let him be silent for the night. The only time he spoke up was after the sub had emerged from the water at the docks at the small island.
“Captain,” Hakugan said, not turning his head away from the controls, “we’ll get them. Whoever they are to you doesn’t matter to me beyond the fact that they are important to you, so we will all do whatever it takes to get them. Okay?”
Law took a deep breath before patting the helmsman on the shoulder on his way past. “Get some rest, I don’t know when we’ll be leaving again.”
“Aye, Captain,” he responded simply.
When he met up with the other three on the deck, Law did everything he could not to meet any of their eyes.
“Weren’t able to sleep, huh?” Shachi asked gently as they docked the Polar Tang.
“No,” Law left it at that and was grateful when they let it go.
They had barely stepped onto the docks when Law’s Observation alerted him to a teenager shaped projectile, giving himself enough time to brace himself before a body collided into him.
“You know, I thought I had enough of that when I left the boys,” Law griped half-heartedly, looking down at the little ginger haired girl. “What are you doing here, Koala?”
Koala pulled back enough to grin at Law. “Dragon thought you could use a friendly face, plus he figured I could take you all somewhere to catch up after, if we had time.”
Law was so thankful he had learned to read between the lines of what people said ages ago. She was here to show that these were trusted members of the RA and she could take them somewhere to lay low and let injuries heal. Good.
“Right,” Law sighed. “Koala this is my crew. Penguin, Bepo, Shachi, this is Koala. I worked with her a bit when I was with them last.”
“I’m surprised someone so young is with the Army,” Bepo mused before immediately apologizing.
Koala just giggled before looking at Law again. “Come on, we were waiting on you to start debriefing.”
Law nodded and followed Koala into the little town, trying not to show how comforted he was when Shachi knocked against his left shoulder while Penguin brushed his knuckles against his right hand. Bepo was a steady heat at his back as well, carrying Kikoku so Law could have his hands free.
The town was small and was mostly populated by Revolutionary members and their families, though that was an ironclad secret that Law only knew due to his ‘family’ ties. Mostly a farming village, though it did boast a rather nice tavern. After Koala spoke to the barkeeper, they were led down into the wine cellar, then through a small door into a large underground hub. Koala hummed as she led them down a hallway, passed several doors on either side, before she stopped at one.
“I’m not allowed to know the details,” she rolled her eyes, telling Law that rule was specifically due to her age, “but this is where they’re meeting. They should all be waiting for you.”
Law huffed and ruffled her hair before she ran off, watching her go for a moment.
“She seems awfully chipper,” Shachi commented.
“She’s lying through her teeth,” Law responded.
“Wha–”
“Koala has already been in training with the Revolutionary Army for four years, the girl is an expert in espionage. Right now she knows I’m in a rough place and was doing something she hoped would bring some levity to the situation,” Law explained. He took his hat off to run his fingers through his hair and sigh.
“So she’s devious as well as cute?” Shachi stared at the hall where Koala was already long gone.
“Yes and no,” Law put his hat back on and squared his shoulders. “Koala and I get along fairly well. She’s a good kid who’s been through a lot, but she also knows that I am very close to the Red Devils so she was trying to be kind.”
Before anyone could comment any more, Law opened the door and stepped through. There were four people already in the room, all of whom looked at Law as he stepped in.
“Trafalgar, I assume?” the man sitting at the far end of the room spoke up first. He didn’t look like anything special, then again most of the out and about members of the RA looked as average as possible. He was an older man with dark brown hair and an average build, but from the way he held himself and spoke to Law, he was the man in charge of this mission.
“I am,” Law answered. “Trafalgar Law, captain of the Heart pirates, these are the most trusted members of my crew.”
“Ah, yes, well my apologies, but we only set the room for five,” the guy in charge said.
Law glanced at the last chair between a man in glasses with strawberry blond hair that looked mildly uncomfortable and a woman with long curly brown hair who just looked annoyed.
“No matter,” Law hummed. “Shachi do you have the–ah thank you.”
Law took the three pebbles that Shachi had stashed in his pocket and tossed them on the floor. With a quick flick of his wrist he exchanged them for three chairs in the next unused room, he barely managed to hide the smirk at the uncomfortable look on the leader’s face at the casual display of power as they took their seats.
“Now, I do believe you all have me at a disadvantage,” Law said, he set his elbow on the table and rested his chin in his hand.
“I, uh–” he cleared his throat and seemed to get himself back together. “Of course. I am Kin, I’ve been the one handling the intelligence on this project. Dai has been the contact for our undercover operatives.” The strawberry blond man stood and bowed. “Takamura will be the one getting transport for us.” Another dark haired man who looked like he was dozing off snapped his head up at his name. “And–”
“And I’m Ikkaku. My reason for being here is personal. Let’s leave it at that,” the girl said.
Law nodded, he could respect that.
“So, what’s the situation?” Law asked.
Kin nodded and slid a folder over to Law, who in turn passed it to Penguin. “The situation is this, there is a marine base about six hours away from here, they deal with a lot of experimental things, which is why we try to keep a close eye on it. A few months ago we started getting reports that they were working with a substance that we had gotten information on a little over a year ago. A substance they referred to as Dust, assumed to be made from pollen from an island in the South.”
“If you don’t know the information, don’t speak on it,” Law interrupted. “Dust is made from butterfly scales from a small island in Paradise. On its own, it’s used as a component in sleep aids, when tampered with, it can knock out several grown adults with ease.”
Kin looked flabbergasted as Shachi snickered behind Law, who just sighed in annoyance.
“How do you know any of that?” Kin almost sounded accusatory.
“Ivankov did say that Captain Trafalgar had some expertise in this situation,” Dai cut in easily.
Law huffed out a laugh, expertise? He hadn’t had time to even look at the tests he had run after Cho since before he passed the information over to the Revolutionaries. But if that was the excuse the higher ups used to explain why they were working with pirates, who was Law to judge. As long as they got him in so he could get to the boys he didn’t care.
“Yes, well, anyways. Whoever it is that had the information on this Dust, brought it in for a trade. The trade being the Red Devils, who arrived at the base this morning,” Kin continued.
“Are you sure it’s actually the Red Devils?” Ikkaku asked. She sounded bored, but Law could see something sharp in her eyes.
“Quite,” Dai replied. “Our contact said Anchor nearly took off the hand of a soldier that got a little too full of himself.”
Good Law thought if Luffy is still trying to bite then they’re not in too bad of shape.
“Our job is simple,” Kin said loudly, trying to take back control of the conversation. “We are to go in and get any additional information on the Dust and find out who their informant is.”
“What about the kids?” Ikkaku cut in again.
“The Red Devils are not our priority,” Kin said.
Kin’s mouth kept moving, but Law couldn’t hear the words over the blood in his ears and the dread that dripped down his spine.
“I’m sorry,” Law could feel the eyes on his face as he glared daggers at Kin. “Did you just say that the three children who have been taken prisoner by the marines, the marines who have no qualms about killing an entire islands worth of women and children for hopes of finding one child who may or may not exist, the marines who destroyed an entire island because they learned something the World Government deemed taboo, and it’s not our priority to get them out?”
Kin narrowed his eyes as Law’s volume rose. “I don’t see how pirate children should be the main concern of our organization.”
Law stood, eyes blazing. “It’s so funny that you think that when it was a pirate child who got you the information on the Dust to start with,” Law snarled before turning to storm out the door.
Law paced the hallway for a moment, steps echoing louder than he had expected in the empty area. He should find Koala, Dragon should know how some of his people were thinking, he really needed to. Why wasn’t he looking for Koala? Why couldn’t he breathe?
His next turn was stopped when someone grabbed onto his wrist. Law turned to whoever it was that touched him, teeth bared, only to come face to face with Shachi’s hazel eyes. The lack of sunglasses was enough to stop Law before he could say anything he would regret.
“Hey, come here please,” Shachi murmured.
“Shachi, I can’t–”
“Law, babe, look at me,” Shachi stepped into his space and pressed their foreheads together, one hand resting on the nape of Law’s neck. “I need you to breathe with me, okay?”
“They’re mine , Shachi,” Law snarled.
“I know, we know,” Shachi soothed and Law felt himself relax just a bit when Penguin came into his view and grabbed his other hand.
“We’ve got you, Law. If it comes to it, we know for sure where they are, if the revs wont help then we can go get them ourselves,” Penguin assured, squeezing Law’s hand.
Law closed his eyes and sucked in a ragged breath. “I can’t fail them. I already failed one family, I can’t fuck up another.”
“You’re not going to fail anyone,” Shachi moved his hand to rest on Law’s cheek.
Law gave himself a few breaths in their embrace, just another moment before he stilled the trembling of his hands and squared his shoulders.
“You ready, Cap?” Penguin asked gently.
Law didn’t answer, not verbally at least, instead he turned back to the door he had fled from and walked back in. Bepo was standing where Law had been seated previously, taking advantage of his full height to loom over the now standing Kin with his lips pulled back in a snarl. Law had to admit, even knowing that the mink was more of a teddy bear than a real bear, the sight was startling.
“Stand down,” Law ordered, pleased to hear that his voice was level again.
Bepo gave him an appraising look before nodding and stepping back, letting Law take his spot back.
“You wanted to know how I know about the Dust? You want to know how I have information on something that the Army had just recently become aware of? Information that was given to you by the Red Devil Doc?” Law slammed his hands on the table, watching the Kin cower under his glower. “Because I gave Dragon that information. I killed the leader of the Silver Lions on the island they had taken over for the fucking butterflies. I am the oldest Red Devil. So I fucking dare you, tell me again that those boys are not a priority. No, actually, I dare you to tell Akagami that his children are not a priority, because he called me to meet up with Dragon so if you think for a second he is not on his way.” Law let himself trail off as Kin’s face went pale.
“Well, well I–” Kin stammered for a moment.
“Well what, Kin?” Law watched every head but his turn to where Koala was leaning in the doorway.
“So you were eavesdropping,” Law commented blandly.
“Of course I was eavesdropping, I’m the best damn spy we have,” Koala bragged, kicking away from the door. “Ivankov has been made aware of your feelings about ‘pirate children’ and said that they will enjoy having a conversation with you when this is over, Kin.”
Law smirked as Kin’s face blanched further. “And the mission?” he asked.
“They said there isn’t enough time to get someone out here and up to speed to take it on,” Koala gave Law an apologetic look. “However they did specify that the mission parameters are to get the boys and take out the informant. If we can get the new documents, that would be great, but they were sure that the base wouldn’t be standing for more than a week no matter what.”
Law turned his attention away from Koala and back to the waste of oxygen in the room, his eyes molten gold in rage. “Here’s the deal. I will follow along with whatever plan you all have concocted until such a time that I can get to my family and get them out, understood?”
Kin swallowed loudly as every eye in the room watched him. “U-understood,” he stuttered out.
“Good. Now, please continue with how we are getting into that base.”
0808
Sabo wished he knew how long they sat there. There was at least sunlight that streamed into their cell, but it was weak enough that all he could tell was that the sun was still shining. He was almost sure they had done it to try and intimidate the boys, make them anxious for when someone was coming for them, Sabo wondered idly how annoyed they would actually be.
Without discussing it in any way, all three boys dropped into a light meditation. Shanks and Beckman and even Uncle Ray, on the few occasions he worked with them, had pounded the need for a clear head and the importance of meditation for their Haki. So when faced with an undetermined amount of time where they would have to sit uncomfortably and at least mostly silent, they all even out their breathing and turned their focus inward. It was entirely possible that Luffy was asleep though.
Finally Sabo could feel someone coming towards them at the edge of his Haki, a brush against Ace said that his twin had felt it too.
“Look what we have here, a couple of sleeping pups,” Millers commented from outside of the cell.
None of them flinched, breathing even and Haki firm. Millers snarled and slammed his hand on the bars making Sabo’s chains rattle.
Ace looked up calmly, though his eyes blazed in anger. “The fuck you want, asshole?”
“I don’t think you understand the position you children are in,” he growled.
“I don’t think you understand how to threaten us,” Sabo countered. “We’re children of a Yonko, this isn’t the first time we’ve been grabbed.” Sabo opted not to think that this was certainly the worst time though.
“Yeah, Dad’ll come get us and I don’t think you’re going to like it when he does,” Luffy’s voice was more chipper than it had been earlier, which brought Sabo some relief for now.
“Maybe so, but Red Hair is going to have a hard time finding this place, which gives me plenty of time to have some fun,” Sabo may have been facing away from Millers, but he could almost see the leer the man had on his face.
A moment later a marine came down the hall and opened the cell, pushing a cart that made Sabo more than a little nervous. He could hear the rattle of metal on top and he could see several gnarly torture implements hanging from the sides. Sabo glanced at Luffy out of the corner of his eye and between the look on his face and the steel in his Haki, he knew that they would not say a damn thing to these fuckers.
They had started with Ace, Sabo assumed because Ace pissed Millers off the most, and Sabo wanted to laugh at how enraged they had already gotten. First they had tried to remove his mask, but the way they were made made it nearly impossible to undo the latching if you didn’t already know how, and whatever material Uncle Blue made them out of meant they were incredibly hard to break. Next they tried to intimidate him, waving around knives and hammers and threatening him. When Ace just rolled his eyes at them, they moved on to trying to hurt him. Millers asked questions about Law while littering Ace’s skin with shallow cuts, the marine asked questions about Shanks while smacking him around. Neither got a reaction out of Ace.
They took a break when they were done with Ace, an ordeal that took long enough that the sun had long since set and the boy’s empty stomachs were starting to complain.
“I’m hungry, Bo,” Luffy somehow made the harsher Flevian language sound whiner than Standard when he drew it out like that. “How long do you think we’re going to be here?”
“I don’t know, Sunbeam. We just have to stay strong for a while longer,” Sabo responded.
The two had made a silent agreement to let Ace rest as much as he could. While he had dealt with much worse abuse in the past, they could tell that he was still hurting and got through a lot of the session by hiding in his own mind, which wasn’t a fun place for him to be either. Currently, Ace had his head leaned all the way back against the wall. He was covered in blood, but from what Sabo could tell it looked like most of the wounds had quit bleeding. It was also clear to Sabo that Ace was working very hard to keep his breathing even through the pain that had already been inflicted. They knew better than to ask if he was okay, so they opted to let him rest for as long as he was able.
“Let’s try to rest while we have the chance. I’m sure it’s going to be rough no matter what happens,” Sabo sighed.
Millers was back with a different marine just as sunlight started streaming into the cell. Sabo had expected them to come for him, maybe an attempt to get Luffy to break first, so Sabo wasn’t prepared to choke down the snarl when they grabbed Luffy.
“What, big brother, not ready to watch your sibling get hurt?” Millers crooned at him. Sabo just snarled in response as they hooked Luffy to a chain from the ceiling.
“Leave him alone,” Ace snarled.
Millers just laughed as he took a knife to Luffy’s arm.
“I really don’t know why you’re bothering to do this,” Sabo cut in quickly, a hit of old noble drawl coloring his tone to hide the panic. “We’ve already made it clear we don’t know where Doc is, and at this point torturing us will only get us to tell you lies to get out of the pain.
Sabo watched as Millers turned his attention to him, cruelty sharp in his eyes. The chains rattled as Luffy flinched, the knife flicking against his skin as Millers walked to Sabo, and Sabo could see the blood already welling up in the cut.
“What makes you think I want any information you could give me?” His voice was a dark murmur, using the knife that now had his younger brother's blood on it to force Sabo’s chin up. “The marines, they want information on Akagami. I just want you to suffer until your brother comes to get you. If he comes to get you, that is. If he doesn’t, well, that’s no skin off my nose.”
Millers lifted his leg and Sabo just barely had enough time to coat his legs in a thin layer of Haki before the foot connected. Even with the protection, he could barely stifle the scream as the snap rang out.
“You fucker !” Ace snarled, jerking in his restraints.
Sabo breathed heavily, trying to force the spots out of his vision. He was positive his tibia was broken, but his quick thinking meant that it wasn’t shattered.
Millers had turned back to Luffy by the time Sabo opened his eyes again, sure he wasn’t going to pass out, and even the marine in the cell with them looked a bit uncomfortable with the violence.
Sabo met Ace’s eyes across the room, and he could tell that his twin was only moments from losing it, and Sabo was in no condition to stop him. He could feel the cold sweat at his hairline and down his back and the pain made him want to throw up whatever stomach bile was left in his system. His will was so shaken he couldn’t gather his Haki. Sabo closed his eyes and leaned his head back, so he didn’t see what the final straw was.
“Leave. Them. Alone. ” Ace’s voice echoed in the cell, Haki burning hot and strong enough that Sabo could hear the clatter of people dropping to the ground. Even Sabo couldn’t stop the gasp he made from the blast.
When he opened his eyes, there was a cut down Luffy’s chest that was already dripping blood and Millers was getting up off the floor with a mean smile.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve felt Conqueror's Haki,” Millers laughed and the sound sent a shudder down Sabo’s spine. “But I know a good way to keep you from being able to use it.”
Millers moved faster than Sabo could track, all Sabo knew was he heard a crunch and Ace’s responding scream made him sicker than his own pain.
“ Fire! ” Luffy screamed, the chains rattled and shook as Luffy tried desperately to get free.
Meanwhile Sabo had a hard time figuring out what he was seeing. Ace’s face had gone white, eyes wide and unseeing as he went completely limp, left elbow bent in the wrong direction
For the first time since they had woken up on that ship, Sabo was afraid that they wouldn’t make it out of here alive.