Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Please state your name for the record.”

The room is as boring as the rest of the prison. Bars on windows that are too high up to see anything of the outside world, let alone reach. Grey floor, grey walls, grey chairs. Even the committee’s suits are grey. The only colorful thing in the whole fucking room is Sanji’s uniform, and he didn’t even chose that. That’s what it has all come to, a reality as bleak as the prison food before his input.

“Sanji Black,” he finally states. After all these years, it’s still a satisfaction to utter this name, the name he chose, and not the name that connects him to his birth family.

“Thank you.” The corrections officer marks something down on the papers in front of her. If it wasn’t dismal enough that this wonderful lady is wearing a grey suit, it also fits her poorly. Someone really needs to advise these corrections officers on their fashion choices. “Mr. Black, the purpose of this meeting is to determine whether, if released, you are likely to break the law again. While this was your first conviction, you have been implicated, though never charged, in over a dozen other confidence schemes and frauds. What can you tell us about this?”

It had been unfortunately unlucky that it turned out this way. The plan had been good, the loot even better. Someone had let him down, and he’d been caught, charged and judged for the first time. A tiny voice in his head that sounds suspiciously like the mosshead’s claims ‘he’d told him so’. What utter bullshit. Sanji puts on his most charming smile because ladies, even this one, do not deserve anything less, no matter their terrible life choices. “As you say, I’ve never been charged.”

“Mr. Black, we’re trying to determine if there was a reason you committed this crime, or if there was a reason you got caught this time?” The officer asks. The other two stay silent, merely staring at him with blank faces as if that would somehow intimidate him. It has always been harder for him to charm men, not that he’d tried many times. A fact that could very well become a problem in the next few weeks due to some unexpected realizations about his own feelings.

“My wife left me. I was upset. Got into a self-destructive pattern.” Sanji shrugs to emphasize the point.

The officers exchange a glance. “If released, is it likely you would fall back into a similar pattern?”

“She already left me once. I don't think she'll do it again just for fun.” Besides, from what he has gathered from the fallout at the time, Pudding is with Reiju now. There is nothing more humiliating than your wife leaving you for your much richer sister who hasn’t cut off the even richer family. Not that he wants to insinuate anything. Or that he’s still bitter about it.

One of the other two officers speaks up. “Mr. Black, what would you do if you were released?”

Sanji pretends to think on that. “No idea. How much do you guys make a year?”

Chapter Text

The suit still fits perfectly. With a few beri bills, the divorce papers Pudding has sent him, and his old wedding band, Sanji makes his way from Impel Down to East Blue Capital, straight to Shimotsuki Casino. The place is sandwiched between a dojo and a bar. It is totally unclear how the bar makes any money because anyone who wants to drink can do so at the casino. In fact, Sanji has never even set foot in the bar.

Inside, the casino looks the same as it did two years ago. Golden wallpaper covers the length of the walls, reflecting the light from the chandeliers. Heavy green rugs sprawl on wooden floors, dotted with black tables and golden pachinko machines. Despite the crowd, money and alcohol, there is a faint smell of steel underneath it all that never seems to go away. On top of it all: the clack clack clack of the machines, shuffling of cards, clinking glasses, numbers being called out, roaring laughter, and the occasional shout of joy. Sanji takes it all in, and the muscles in his shoulders relax a little.

A look around reveals a lot of people, but no green hair. Undeterred, Sanji makes his way over to the exchange. Most of his money comes back in the form of chips. They feel cool and smooth in his hands, and make a familiar clicking sound that promises wins. With his last bill, Sanji orders a whiskey on the rocks at the bar. It might not be the best idea for his first drink after prison, but it’s in honor of Zoro. Who does not seem to be here. If he was, he would steal Sanji’s drink and look all smug doing it. Sanji takes a tentative sip. The drink goes down with a burn and Sanji suppresses a shiver. Whiskey really is something you can only enjoy iced.

A stroll over the floor doesn’t offer any sign of Zoro either. Not at the bar, not at one of the tables, not even on the machines. The Shimotsuki has always been Zoro’s home turf. If Zoro is still in the East Blue, he’d be here. It’s only been two years. That much can’t change in two years. Right? And if it did, how the fuck is he supposed to find Zoro?

With a sigh, Sanji sits down at one of the blackjack tables. The dealer is an unknown face and Sanji nods to him, depositing his glass at the edge of the table. He places a bet, if only to kill some time. Zoro has to turn up eventually. Sanji’s a bit hazy on the time, so it might be too early for Zoro to show his face yet. While he sips his drink and glances around the place, Sanji identifies two of the pit bosses and wins three rounds.

That’s when the dealer excuses himself, and another takes his place. Sanji empties his glass and looks the new guy in the face. He smiles. The round face, long dark braids and immaculate beard are more than familiar. It’s not Zoro, but it’s good enough. “Hey Jinbei.”

The other man looks up quickly and there's recognition in his eyes for the fraction of a second before he schools his face. “I’m sorry, Sir. You must have mistaken me with someone else.” Jinbei shuffles the cards with one hand and taps his name tag with the other. “My name’s Saigo.”

A quick look at the name tag confirms the story. Sanji shrugs. They all have to do whatever it takes to get by. Some go to prison, others change names. Same difference. Out of the corner of his eyes, Sanji notices one of the pit bosses walking past their table again. “My mistake,” he offers, grabbing his chips and his empty glass. “The table’s cold anyway.”

“You might try the lounge at Fishman, Sir,” Jinbei suggests. That’s the bar next door. “It gets busy at one.”

Sanji nods to show he’s heard, but doesn’t reply. He returns his glass, trades his chips for cash, notably more than he started with, and walks out of the casino. Jinbei is a good lead. He’s been working in the casinos of this world forever, has tons of connections, and knows Zoro well. If anyone here can tell Sanji where to look, it’s gotta be Jinbei.

***

If he’d known that the Fishman has the prettiest waitresses, Sanji would’ve come here sooner. Although Zoro has never been particularly interested in pretty girls and Sanji had been married since before he went to prison, so it was kind of a moot point. All the more reason to enjoy the view now.

The vibe and color scheme are distinctly different from Shimotsuki casino. The wallpaper is a dark navy color, the floor tiles are laid out in intricate patterns in different shades of blue. The whole place is dotted with fish tanks, from a tiny bowl on the bar to a huge tank that lines the entrance corridor. It gives the whole place the eerie effect of being under water. Sanji sits in a booth with his second whiskey. On his left, instead of a wall, there is, of course, a fish tank, through which he can observe the entrance. He has so far discouraged two women and one man trying to sit with him. What does a guy have to do to look at his fish in peace?

Out of habit, Sanji keeps his eyes and ears open for slivers of important information. What that would be, he doesn’t know. He’s been out of the loop for two years, so any information on any of the people he knows would do. Unfortunately, most people present at the bar are supremely dull. The question where Zoro might be is a much more pressing one. East Blue Capital had been their space, their hunting ground, home base. But no sign of Zoro. Maybe he’s moved somewhere else. While this is certainly possible, it also begs the question of where Sanji stands with the guy. Moving without notice might mean the man doesn’t want to talk to him anymore which is simply unacceptable. They had their disagreements before Sanji had been caught, but certainly that doesn’t mean Zoro is done with Sanji. Another possibility would be prison. Sanji grimaces at the thought. Without him, the possibility is high that Zoro had done something reckless that landed him in prison. Which would make it impossible to track him down without a hint from someone. It would also, inconveniently, throw a wrench in all of Sanji’s carefully thought out plans. He wants Zoro on this job. Not even necessarily for his skills, although those are very welcome too. No, this has more to do with the discovery of some inconvenient feelings, and what they might mean outside of the sort of confinement that would drive anyone to extremes. To figure that out, he does need to see Zoro in person.

“Are you trying to figure out how to cook one of these?” Jinbei looks between Sanji and the fish tank with a raised eyebrow before sitting down.

Proof that Sanji needs to pay more attention to his surroundings. “Saigo?” He asks.

“Nice to meet you. Jinbei Knight couldn’t get past the board.” Jinbei eyes Sanji’s drink. “Did you just get out?”

Sanji takes another sip, overstating the enjoyment of his drink. “This afternoon.”

“And already turning over a new leaf,” Jinbei observes.

Sanji smirks for a second before leaning onto the table and into Jinbei’s space. Enough small talk. There’s only one thing he wants to know. “Have you seen him?”

Jinbei half-shrugs, not in the least surprised by the question. “Last I heard he was in Grand Line Central, teaching poker to some young upstarts.” Jinbei hesitates. “Why? Do you already have something planned?”

Sanji puts down his glass and leans against the backrest, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “What are you talking about? I just got out.”

Jinbei stares at the fish tank in the middle of the room and frowns. When he finally turns back to Sanji and registers his expression, he smirks. “Why did I even ask?”

Sanji shrugs. Downs his liquor. Pointedly looks over at the entrance. Jinbei nods in response and stands. In the hallway, Sanji spots a pay phone and waves Jinbei out while he stops. He fumbles in his pockets until he finds the slip of paper the prison guards have handed him. He dials the number. Despite the time, it takes only one ring for the other person to pick up.

“Hello, Officer Drake? This is Sanji Black. I just got out and was told to call you by the end of the day.”

The voice at the other end of the line is smooth. “Mr. Black, glad to hear from you.” There’s some paper shuffling. “Are you staying out of trouble? No gambling, no drinking?”

What a blessing that pay phones don’t have video. “No, Sir, I wouldn’t dream of drinking.” Sanji checks the corridor, but there’s no one around to make an unhelpful comment.

“Good.” Some click-clacking on a keyboard. “You better keep it that way. Are you still in the city?”

Sanji smiles brightly. “Officer, who do you take me for? I love Marineford.”

Drake chuckles. “Okay, Mr. Black. Make sure to call me again in a week from now.”

“You got it.” Sanji hangs up before the officer can say anything else. On the way outside, he pulls his pack free and lights a cigarette. He inhales deeply. So Zoro is in Grand Line Central. What a convenient coincidence. That’s exactly where his birth family’s casinos are as well. He joins Jinbei by a streetlight, then follows him down the road.

“It’s gotten more difficult every year in our line of work,” Jinbei sighs. “More surveillance, everyone’s afraid. What are you gonna do? Steal from regular citizens?”

Sanji makes a face. “That would be criminal,” he scoffs. Robbing regular citizens is a total hassle, and most people don’t have enough money to get by every day. No. The only worthwhile target are the super rich. They are stealing from everyone else anyway. The one target that interests him at the moment is the Vinsmoke fortune. Plus a little security, so that Judge can never come for him ever again.

“Then what?” Jinbei sounds genuinely curious now. “The only place that still has cash is…”

“Casinos,” Sanji helpfully supplies when Jinbei trails off.

Prison is, for the most part, utterly boring. He’s had a lot of time to think. To hatch a plan. Pick a target. Exploit every single one of his family’s weaknesses he’s aware of. Ichiji and Niji are usually caught up in their own stuff, and with the upcoming fight, they won’t be useful to anyone. Yonji is ruthless, but thoughtless. Reiju is keeping an eye on all of them, and she’s doing the annual inspections to which she probably brings Pudding. The moment Reiju leaves will be the perfect moment to attack. He just has to make sure that it coincides with the fight, and they’re set.

“Oh no…” Jinbei looks as if it suddenly occurred to him that he doesn’t actually want to have this conversation. “When?”

“Soon.” Sanji kills his cigarette on a streetlight and immediately lights another one. “Do you want in?”

Jinbei smirks. Sanji chuckles. That’s what he thought. He’s missed this. It will be fun. He just needs to find Zoro.

***

The only thing Grand Line Central has going for itself is the casinos. For people like him, that means gullible customers and easy money. For everyone else, it’s the promise of quick hookups, endless drinking and big money. No wonder Zoro has moved his business here. In this city, you always have to be on. On your toes, on your best game. It’s a welcome challenge, and gruesome work at the same time.

Sanji resists going to one of the Vinsmoke casinos first thing upon arrival. They’ll know soon enough that he’s in town, and out for their money. He doesn’t have to announce his presence weeks in advance. Instead, he uses the information Jinbei provided him with and asks around for Zoro. The trail leads him to a nightclub that blasts noise Sanji wouldn’t ever call music, and is so packed with people that it’s hard to get a foot on the ground.

With practiced ease, Sanji moves through the mass of people, smiling at every pretty lady he comes across out of habit. At the bar, he orders a whiskey on the rocks again, in the hopes it will lead him to Zoro this time. Third time’s the charm. With his drink in hand, Sanji leans against a pillar from where he can observe most of the room. He waits for half an hour until Zoro emerges from a back room, looking about as exasperated as Sanji has expected. While Zoro walks up to the bar, Sanji slinks by and takes himself through the back door. A small corridor leads him to a badly lit back room where four young people sit around a poker table. They have water bottles on the table and chat among themselves in low voices. Drinking water at a poker game seems like the original sin. Zoro really has his work cut out for him.

Sanji puts on his most charming smile and steps into the room. “Good evening folks, mind if I join you?”

They stare at him helplessly for a second, obviously out of their depths. Then all heads swivel to a pink-haired guy with round glasses who valiantly takes on the conversation. “Sure, why not? Take a seat.”

“Thanks.” Sanji takes one of the empty chairs, folds his legs and places his drink onto the table. “The name’s Black. Mind if I smoke?”

They exchange glances again, and it seems glasses is the designated speaker for now because he says “Go ahead” with a wave of his hand, as if he already wants to dispel some smoke from the room. He follows up with his name, Koby, which prompts the other three to utter their names as well. Sanji nods at each of them when they introduce themselves. He lights his cigarette just as Zoro walks in, whiskey neat in hand. A long scar slashes through his left eye, and Sanji has to force his face not to betray any emotions because that definitely wasn’t there the last time he’s seen the guy. The immediate urge to stab whoever is responsible and take their eye out in retaliation overcomes Sanji and he grips his glass, hard. He swallows the sentiment and keeps his eyes on Zoro.

“Hey Roronoa, we have another player,” Koby announces, thereby cementing his role as the speaker of the group. He gestures at Sanji, “if that’s alright.”

Zoro’s eye finds Sanji’s face and betrays nothing. “What’s this?”

Sanji smirks and gestures towards the door with his cigarette, disseminating smoke just to get under Zoro’s skin. “The bouncer mentioned there was a game in progress. I hope I’m not intruding.” He is definitely not intruding. He has never seen Zoro that bored in his life, and they’ve been through some boring stuff. His appearance is the most interesting thing that’s happened in Zoro’s life today.

At least he hopes it is. They haven’t parted on the best of terms.

“No intrusion-,” Koby starts.

“What was his name, the bouncer’s?” Zoro demands, ignoring Koby and gesturing towards the door.

Sanji holds his gaze. “I don’t remember.”

Zoro rolls his one remaining eye and Sanji has to bite his tongue not to ask about it. Zoro keeps his eye on him and sits on the last empty seat. “A card player with amnesia. Fun.” He takes a big swing from his glass and picks up the deck of cards.

While Zoro shuffles, Koby turns to Sanji. “What do you do for a living, Mr. Black?”

The glance Zoro throws Sanji is so quick and his dealing so smooth that nobody notices. Sanji suppresses a smile and turns to Koby. “I’m just out of prison.” He has nothing to be ashamed off. He got caught one time. The other twenty-something times he got away with it.

Koby and Helmeppo exchange a glance before Koby turns back to Sanji. “Really?”

“Really,” Sanji confirms, not looking at Zoro at his next words. “Two cards.”

Zoro deals him the cards without comment and turns to the young ones. “Helmeppo, you’re showing again.”

Helmeppo quickly tugs his cards close to his chest, looking around to see if anyone has taken a peak. “Sorry.”

“So what did you go to prison for?” Tashigi asks, seemingly unperturbed by the fact itself.

“I stole things.” Sanji shrugs and checks his cards before he lays them on the table. He is absolutely going to win this. The only question is how high he and Zoro can drive these kids.

“What did you steal? Money? Jewelry?” Tashigi has called one card and now holds them down on the table, careful not to repeat Helmeppo’s mistake.

Sanji glances at Zoro for the fraction of a second.

Zoro’s eyes flick from his cards to his face and then over to Tashigi. After a beat, he supplies, “Seastone.”

They exchange glances again. Tashigi leans over to Isaku to whisper something to her to which Isaku nods. She fixes with Sanji with a look. “From a mine?”

“Marines,” Sanji replies. The Marines are the only other entity besides the super rich he is willing to steal from, after all.

“Is there any money in seastone?” Helmeppo asks.

Sanji takes the last drag from his cigarette before he stubs it out in an ashtray. “Some.”

“Don’t let him fool you, Helmeppo,” Zoro glares across the table. “There’s lots of money if you can move the seastone safely from under the marines’ noses. Which is impossible.”

“My fence seemed confident enough.” It had been Pudding’s contact. Zoro and Sanji had disagreed about it. Zoro had pulled out of the job, Sanji had landed in prison. The rest is history. It’s impossible to verify if Pudding set him up at the time. It doesn’t matter anymore anyway.

Zoro doesn’t even look at him. “One card for me,” he deals himself a card. “If you’re dealing with cash, you don’t need a fence.”

Sanji raises an eyebrow at that. “Some people just lack vision.”

“Probably everyone in cell block E,” Zoro shoots back.

From the looks the kids are exchanging, it’s obvious they have caught on. Sanji keeps his eyes on Zoro. “Well, that’s all behind us now.”

“I should hope so.”

Sanji smiles at him while he pulls out his wallet. Time to put their relationship and connection to the test. He knows he can win this game, and it’s time to win big. He needs a new suit. He also needs to make sure that he can still work as effortlessly with Zoro as he used to. Two years have cost Zoro an eye and Sanji a wife, so many things could have changed. He wants Zoro on the job, but only if they’re both playing the same game. He pulls out some of the money he won at the Shimotsuki. “I raise you five hundred dollars.”

The kids go silent immediately and throw around glances at each other and at Zoro. Zoro is still staring at Sanji, eye narrowing almost imperceptibly. Sanji keeps his smile plastered on his face.

Slowly, Zoro leans back into his seat and crosses his arms over his chest. “Guys, what’s the first rule of poker?”

Helmeppo starts stammering, but Koby cuts in. “Leave emotion at the door.”

“Exactly.” Zoro taps a finger against his glass. “My friend here just raised me out of pique.”

Sanji is a pro. Which is why he doesn’t smile. The game is finally on, and they are going to cash in big tonight.

“Today’s lesson,” Zoro throws each of the kids a heavy look, “how to draw out a bluff. This early in the game, that much money, I’m thinking he’s holding nothing better than a pair of face cards. Tashigi, raise him.”

Tashigi separates some chips from her stacks. “Five hundred, and another two?”

Zoro nods.

Koby throws some of his chips into the middle. “Plus three.”

“What?” Helmeppo looks at the chips in the middle with big eyes.

“Indeed,” Zoro encourages Koby, and throws some of his own chips into the middle of the table. “But be careful you don’t push him too high too fast. Want to keep him on the leash. I call. Helmeppo’s turn.”

Helmeppo still stares at the money and chips in the middle of the table. “So that’s a thousand?”

“You just have to call,” Zoro replies, a hint of annoyance in his voice. Sanji can pick that out easily. Helmeppo doesn’t seem all that observant, but Koby or Tashigi might have picked up on one or two of the marimo’s tells. It is impossible to say at this point. The only thing that’s abundantly clear is how bored Zoro is with all of this. He’s only doing this job because he can drink as much as he wants, and for the money he makes off of these kids.

“Come on Helmeppo, don’t hold up the game,” Isaku pushes.

Helmeppo gives in with a sigh and a last look at Koby before he pushes his chips into the middle of the table.

Sanji glances around the table. He knows that Zoro knows that he has this game in the pocket. Helmeppo is whispering to Koby now, clearly uncomfortable with how much money they’re currently betting. There’s a few thousand beri on the table. Not enough to buy a decent new suit yet. “Whatever Roronoa here might say, I always check my cards before I make a bet.” Sanji eyes Koby out of the corner of his eye. He’s the only one of the kids who doesn’t seem that fazed by all that money. “Be careful Koby, I can tell from your face that you have three of a kind or better.”

Koby doesn’t react, his face carefully schooled.

Sanji smirks and fishes some more money out of his wallet, shoving 2500 beri into the middle of the table. “Five hundred to call, and two grand more.”

Sanji catches Zoro’s eye. Zoro stares back, his features unmoving. He’s always been hard to read, especially when he’s conning someone.

“You’re all free to do what you want. It’s a lot of money. But I’m staying. He’s trying to buy his bluff out,” Zoro announces to noone in particular. He’s giving the kids an out if they want it.

Helmeppo is still furiously whispering at Koby. Tashigi communicates with Isaku through eye movements alone. In the end, one by one, they all throw their money in the middle.

Zoro follows suit and holds Sanji’s gaze. “We call.”

Sanji doesn’t bother saying anything, but he breaks eye contact with Zoro when he puts his cards down face up. Four of a kind.

Helmeppo looks like he wants to fly over the table to lunge at either Zoro or Sanji. Isaku and Tashigi stare at the cards in front of Sanji. Koby fiddles with his glasses for a moment, then forces his hands into his lap. Zoro does such a good job at looking flustered that even Sanji is fooled for a second. The asshole has definitely stepped up his game in the last two years.

“Fuck.” Zoro runs a hand through his green hair. “Sorry guys, I was sure he was bluffing.”

With his most charming smile, Sanji collects the pot, bills and chips alike. “Thanks for the game, guys.”

***

After he’s exchanged the chips for actual cash, Sanji follows Zoro out of the venue. There’s still a long line of people at least ten years younger than them trying to get into the club. The area is lit by street lamps and neon signs. Zoro is wearing a surprisingly expensive suit that hugs his body in all the right places. Despite the fabric, Sanji can tell the other man is in even better shape than two years ago. When his gaze drops down the other man’s back, Sanji catches himself and fishes for a cigarette. Zoro waits for him once he’s pushed through a throng of young people, then leads the way. Sanji lights his cigarette and keeps his gaze at eye level. They’ve pulled off a con right of the bat, so things are looking good. The only thing Sanji needs to do now is convince Zoro to do the job with him. Preferably without blurting out all his pent up feelings in the next half hour.

Zoro walks towards a poison green convertible that is parked in a no parking zone. Some things never change. Sanji takes the passenger seat and, with the roof off, doesn’t bother putting out his cigarette. Zoro backs out of his spot, one arm over Sanji’s backrest, and steers them into traffic. Smoking in a convertible on a mild summer night makes even Grand Line Central bearable. Sanji enjoys the wind in his face, the nicotine hit, and Zoro’s proximity.

At the next traffic light, Zoro speaks up. “That was…”

“Unprofessional?” Sanji offers. Probably not best business practice to rob your clients blank. Even if they are rich.

Zoro huffs. “Did you get my cookies?”

“Did Perona make them?” Zoro might be a decent enough cook, but he sucks when it comes to baking. So unless Zoro has picked up a domestic partner, Perona seems like the most sensible option.

Zoro grunts in confirmation.

Sanji chuckles. “Of course I did, why do you think I came to you first?”

“Because I’m such good company?” Zoro tries.

Sanji snorts. With the cigarette stuck between his lips, he wiggles in his seat to get to his wallet. He takes out the bills he just cashed in and divides them equally in two. Putting his wallet away, he holds half of the bills out to Zoro. “Your share.”

Zoro doesn’t take his hands off the wheel. “You barge into my new workplace and ruin my reputation, and all I get is ‘your share’?” He huffs. “The least you could do is tell me you have something better for me.”

“I have something better for you.”

Finally, Zoro takes the offered money and stuffs it into his jacket pocket. They don’t talk while Zoro drives them into the parking lot of a diner. Going to Zoro’s apartment would somehow tip the odds in his favor, and Sanji is grateful for the neutral ground. They choose a booth and order coffee and donuts. Bad diner coffee and shitty donuts always taste like a job well done. Even if it’s a small job, and the prelude to something so much better.

When their order has been placed on the table between them, Zoro takes a sip from his coffee and Sanji’s gaze drifts to Zoro’s face. “What happened to your eye?”

Zoro chuckles. “You held that in pretty long.”

“Just spit it out.” He hates how well the guy knows him. It makes it impossible for him to run a con on Zoro. He’s tried once. It ended with a broken leg. How long he’s going to be able to keep his new insights into his own feelings to himself before Zoro sniffs them out is impossible to tell.

“Training accident,” Zoro shrugs. “How’s Pudding?”

Sanji makes a face. “Divorced.”

Zoro raises an eyebrow, but instead of asking anything else, he takes a bite out of a donut. “Okay, tell me. About the job.”

Sanji leans forward onto the table. “It’s never been done before. So we need to stick to the plan, and we need a big crew.”

“Weapons?” There’s a glint in Zoro’s eye.

Sanji rolls his eyes. Typical. “Guns, but not loaded ones. You cannot, in any circumstances, bring your swords.”

Zoro makes a face as if he’s eaten something bad.

“There’s gonna be a lot of security, you won’t even get close with a sword,” Sanji stresses and taps the table for emphasis.

“What’s the target?” Zoro’s eye never leaves Sanji, even when he’s finishing off his donut with two big bites.

“The take will be eight figures each,” Sanji drags it out. It won’t work on Zoro, but he can try.

“What’s the fucking target, curly.”

Sanji takes a deep breath in and lets his gaze travel out the window. He can see the ridiculous glowing pyramid that Crocodile has put there a decade ago. It is bound to be demolished in less than two weeks. Next to it, Germa tower is blinking obnoxiously. Sanji indicates the sight with his head.

Zoro follows his gaze. “You wanna hit a casino?”

Sanji takes a sip of his coffee before he holds up three fingers. What use is one? He is gonna hit the Vinsmokes where it really hurts, and in the only language they understand: their money.

Zoro slowly puts down his mug.

***

Equipped with a flashlight from Zoro’s glovebox, Sanji and Zoro snoop around in the closed offices of Nakaiwa & Associates. Architects. Zoro is messing with papers on someone’s desk while Sanji goes through the blueprints for casinos.

“Ha!” He fishes the ones for the Vinsmoke casinos out of the folder and spreads them on a random desk, shoving everything else to the side with his flashlight. “Come look at this.”

Zoro wanders over as if he belongs here, dropping some files in a paper basket on the way. He leans onto the table, shoulder bumping into Sanji’s. He smells like he always has: like steel, musk, and crushed lime. As if he’s bathed himself in a mojito before leaving the house. Sanji pushes any thoughts about Zoro’s smell out of his head and flattens the paper on the desk.

“Blazing Red, Lucky Blue, and The House of Green,” Zoro reads. “Those are all Vinsmoke casinos.”

Sanji straightens up and lets that sentence hang between them. Either Zoro is going along with his plans for revenge, or he walks away. “Do you think they’ll mind?”

Zoro snorts. “If it’s you? Even more than usual.”

Satisfied that Zoro hasn’t scolded him yet, Sanji sits on the desk, uncaring about what kind of paper he’s sitting on. He gives Zoro a wide smile and stops himself in the last moment from reaching out for the other’s chin.

Zoro clears his throat and frowns down at the blueprints. “How are we gonna hit them all at the same time?”

Leaning sideways into Zoro’s space, and tempting all kinds of devils with that, Sanji fans out the documents and points to the vault of The House of Green.

“That’s the most well guarded vault I’ve ever seen in my life. You sure you don’t want me to hack my way into it?” Zoro straightens up with a raised eyebrow, putting more space between them.

Sanji schools his face so that his disappointment at Zoro’s retreat doesn’t show. “That’s the vault of The House of Green.” He taps three little signs on the print. “That’s where they keep the money from all three casinos.”

Zoro lets out a low whistle. “I guess we’re going all in with the revenge thing.” Zoro scrutinizes the blueprints, then Sanji’s face. “Is that it? This is only about money?”

It is a lot of money. So much money that it will hurt Judge. And Zoro hasn’t yet complained about this being a revenge plan, even though he is normally quite strict on his ‘no emotions on a con’ rule. But when it comes to the Vinsmokes, Zoro would probably put his swords right through them if Sanji ever asked.

Sanji smirks. “Do you know what else they keep in that vault?” When Zoro doesn’t answer, Sanji taps the paper where a small vault-in-a-vault is drawn in. “The intel Judge has on each of his children to keep them in line.” Sanji might not be planning to tell the whole crew that this is what he’s really after because it’s none of their business. But he can’t lie to Zoro. Not about this. That intel will finally set him free from the clutches of his birth family. It is the one thing that will unmistakably tell Judge who was behind the heist even if none of them get caught. Sanji’s not the only person who could use this data, but he is the only one who would go to these lengths to get it. It ups the stakes a hundredfold.

Zoro’s eye goes wide as saucers. Then he starts barking his signature laugh.

Zoro's laugh is cut off by a flashlight in their faces.

“Bellamy, lower that fucking light,” Sanji orders.

The light points back onto the floor. “Sorry, guys.” The blond man takes a step closer, keeping his flashlight down. Sanji knows him from a con a long time ago. Although he doesn’t run cons anymore, Bellamy helps where he can. “Did you find what you were looking for?”

Sanji taps the blueprints. “Yes, do you mind if we take these and make copies? We’ll bring them back before your shift ends.”

“Sure, no problem,” Bellamy agrees.

Sanji hops from the table and rolls up the blueprints of the Vinsmoke casinos. He even puts the ones they don’t need neatly back into the folder he found them in. They don’t need anyone knowing what they are after. When Bellamy goes back to his rounds, Sanji and Zoro make their way over to the elevator.

While they wait, Sanji searches his pockets for his pack. “So, what do you think?”

“You need a dozen of people, doing a variety of cons.”

“Like what?” Sanji finally produces his pack and plucks a cigarette from it at the same time the elevators arrives. He’s thought about the arrangement. But he wants to know what Zoro thinks. The other man usually looks from another angle, and this way, they are sure not to miss anything. They step onto the elevator.

“Off the top of my head? You’re looking at a Joker, one Mr. Prince, a Going Merry, two Klabautermann, and a Lucy. Oh, and the biggest Bon Clay ever.” Zoro leans against the elevator wall and crosses his arms which shows off his muscles. Sanji has to swallow his flirty comment because Zoro is staring at him seriously. “How do you even wanna finance this thing?”

Sanji smirks. “The Vinsmokes have a lot of enemies. Did you hear that they wanna build a new casino for Reiju to run?”

Realization dawns on Zoro’s face. “Crocodile.”

Sanji nods. “I wonder what he will say.”

Chapter Text

“You’re out of your fucking minds.” Crocodile points at each of them with his fork forcefully, then feeds the piece of filet that’s hanging from it to Mihawk who eats it without blinking.

Sanji pointedly averts his gaze. He doesn’t need to see this. He especially doesn’t need the unbidden thoughts that come with it. What he would feed Zoro. How he would feed him. What would follow after. Very inappropriate thoughts for this situation, or any other they’ll be finding themselves in during the next few weeks.

“Are you listening to me?” Crocodile brandishes his fork like a sword at Sanji. “You are, both of you, nuts. I know more about casino security than any man alive. I invented it, and it cannot be beaten. They have video den dens, they have watchers, they have locks, they have timers, they have vaults. They have enough armed personnel to occupy Marineford.” He twitches at his own comment. “Okay, bad example…”

Sanji chooses to ignore the comment about Marineford like he chooses to ignore everything about Marineford. “It’s never been tried,” he ventures.

“Oh, it’s been tried. A few guys even came close. In fact, some tried at my casinos! You know the three most successful robberies in Grand Line Central history?”

While Crocodile drones on about attempted casino thefts as if they didn’t do their homework, Mihawk looks as bored as Sanji feels. The reserved man now eats from his own plate in tiny bits without looking at either of them. Zoro has his eyes on Mihawk which isn’t surprising. Zoro has always been fixated on Mihawk in a weird way. It has to do with their shared passion for swords, but sometimes Sanji wonders if there is another reason for Zoro’s obsession. Although Zoro is the kind of person who takes what he wants, so if there was anything else, Sanji would probably have heard about it.

Is Mihawk Zoro’s type? Sanji has never asked, hasn’t even thought about things like these before his stint in prison. Zoro, in turn, has never volunteered any information about his love life or the lack thereof. In the time they’ve been working together, Sanji hasn’t ever seen Zoro leave with anyone. Which makes it rather difficult to determine who might or might not be his type.

“But what am I saying?” Crocodile exclaims, recapturing Sanji’s attention. “You guys are pros, the best of the best. I’m sure you can make it out of the casino.” His fork still drawn like a sword, Crocodile fixes Sanji with a sinister look. “Of course, once you’re out of the front door, you’re still in the middle of fucking nowhere!”

Sanji puts on his best chastened face and turns his head to look at Zoro.

Right on cue, Zoro makes an equally pressed face and shrugs. “He’s right.”

“You’re right, Crocodile.” Sanji sits up straight. “Our eyes were bigger than our stomach.”

“Yeah,” Zoro drawls. “Pure ego.”

Crocodile rolls his eyes. “Blah blah.”

“Thank you for setting us straight.” Sanji raises to his feet and closes his jacket. “Sorry for bothering you.”

Zoro follows suit without another word.

“Look,” Crocodile starts, “we all go way back. I owe you from that thing with the guy in the place and I’ll never forget it.”

“Our pleasure,” Sanji smiles.

“Any time,” Zoro adds.

Without waiting for another attempt at stalling them through small talk, Sanji turns. Zoro is right behind him as they pass Crocodile’s pool. Sanji wouldn’t be surprised if he came here one day to find actual crocodiles in the pool. Absolutely Crocodile’s style. Next to him, Zoro is holding his fingers in front of his chest so that Crocodile and Mihawk can’t see them and counts down. Sanji rolls his eyes.

“Just out of curiosity,” Mihawk’s voice stops them right in front of the steps that lead to the house. It’s the first time the man has spoken up all afternoon. “Which casinos did you decide to rob?”

Sanji doesn’t need to look at Zoro to know he’s smiling his sharpest smile. He can barely contain his own. “Blazing Red, Lucky Blue, and The House of Green,” he replies, his back still turned.

“Those are the Vinsmoke casinos,” Crocodile comments.

As if they don’t know that, Zoro eggs Crocodile on: “He’s right, curly.”

“Come back here!” Crocodile commands. “What do you have against the Vinsmokes, Black?”

They both turn around at the same time. Sanji makes sure nothing is showing on his face. He has changed his name a long time ago and even with the whole Charlotte marriage ordeal, he hasn’t let them change his name back to Vinsmoke. Only Zeff and Zoro know about his connections to that damned family. Which is how it is supposed to be. Sanji slowly walks back to the table, hands in his pockets. “What do you have against the Vinsmokes?”

Crocodile huffs. “They attacked me and my casino, now they’re going to blow up my beautiful pyramid to build a generic casino with another color fucking coded name. Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing.”

“What are we doing, Crocodile?” Zoro asks, trailing behind Sanji, the picture of innocence. Or as best as he can pull that off.

“You’re gonna steal from Vinsmoke Judge, so you have to know. This all used to be civilized. You’d hit a guy, he’d whack you. Done. But Vinsmoke…” Crocodile glances at Mihawk and bristles. “At the end of this he better not know you’re involved, not know your names, or think you’re dead. Because he’ll kill you, and then he’ll experiment on you.”

None of this is news to Sanji. However, he isn’t about to contradict Crocodile by telling him Judge will know exactly who’d robbed him. If everything goes according to plan, Sanji will have insurance, and it won’t matter. Judge won’t be able to touch Sanji anymore. Not ever again. “That’s why we’ve got to be very careful. We have to be precise. We have to be well-funded.”

“Yeah yeah,” Crocodile waves a hand at them. “You gotta be nuts, too. And you’re gonna need a crew as nuts as you are. What do you have in mind?”

Sanji smirks and sits back down.

***

With Crocodile’s money secured and Jinbei already planted in The House of Green as a dealer, Sanji’s next concern is drivers. They need people who are reliable and can outfit any car. There aren’t a lot of people that Sanji trusts with driving an escape vehicle. It’s still up for debate if Franky is one of them. But Franky can build anything you ask him to and will be exited about it, too. He also comes with Chopper who has a good handle on the mechanic. Mainly because nobody, especially not Franky, could say no to Chopper. Sanji sends Zoro to fly over to Water 7 to bring them in. They come back in a truck the size of a small home three days later.

For electronics, Zoro suggests Nico Robin. Sanji has heard of her, but he’s never worked with the woman before. Zoro, it turns out, has run a few jobs with her the past two years, and he even vouches for her. Zoro rarely vouches for anyone. That, combined with the fact that Sanji doesn’t have any better ideas, forces him to follow Zoro’s lead on this one. Not that Sanji is actually opposed to the idea. Nico Robin is the best of the best when it comes to surveillance technology and is known as the Devil Child in hacker circles. This is Sanji’s best and most likely only opportunity to ever meet the woman.

Which is how Sanji finds himself sitting opposite Zoro in a small coffee shop at the edge of the city. The round table between them is so small that their knees touch under the table. Moving his legs isn’t an option because there is simply no space. He would either bump into the window or put his legs in the corridor, to potentially trip someone. Changing position would also attract Zoro’s attention and potentially betray how jittery the contact makes him. To make matters worse, Zoro is half draped across the table so he can see the white surveillance van a few feet away, his right hand right next to Sanji’s arm. Sanji has to focus on his espresso so he doesn’t take Zoro’s hand or leans down to kiss him. It’s really all he can do in this situation.

Not taking his eye from the van outside, Zoro clears his throat. “Munitions.”

Sanji nods slowly, keeping his eyes on his coffee. “Ace,” he suggests.

Zoro tears his gaze from the scene outside to make a face at Sanji. “Dead.”

Sanji’s heart sinks into his stomach. It has always been a pleasure to work with Ace because he had such a sunshine personality. “On the job?”

“Something like that,” Zoro replies mysteriously. He looks away, his eyebrows drawn together.

Sanji hesitates only for a second, then gives up. He knows this expression, and he’s not getting anywhere on this topic now. He changes track. “Usopp?”

Zoro nods, still looking out of the window, but his face relaxes.

The little bell above the door jingles and when Sanji looks over, he realizes that Robin has walked in. This seems awfully in character. Rumor has it that you only need to drop your guard for a millisecond, and Nico Robin will have sneaked up on you. Out of habit, Sanji puts on his most charming smile.

Robin weaves her way around the other tables and ignores Sanji, instead fixing Zoro with a look. “Roronoa,” she announces her presence. “I thought I’d told you not to bother me at work.”

How she even knows that they are here and that they are here for her remains a mystery. They haven’t exactly phoned in. She most likely taps into all of the surrounding security cameras so that nobody can sneak up on her. It's either genius or paranoid.

Zoro sighs. “Just listen to him.” He gestures first at Sanji, then at an empty chair at another table.

They keep their eyes locked for several more moments as if they’re holding a silent conversation. It’s as if Sanji isn’t even there although Zoro has just pointed at him. He’s never seen Zoro hold a silent discussion with anyone else. It has always been just the two of them with the knowing looks. He keeps his smile intact out of sheer spite. He’s not going to show his emotions now of all times.

Finally, Robin relents and grabs an empty chair to sit down. “Fine. Talk.”

***

Sanji leans against Zoro’s green convertible, a lit cigarette dangling from his mouth. This car is way too flashy to be a get away car, but it’s the only one they have, apparently.

Around the corner is a whole SWAT team, and Sanji really wants to keep his distance. He’s seen enough of the marines during the last two years of his life, thank you very much. Which is why Zoro is the one striding off towards the commotion around the corner, with a small trigger and explosives hidden in his coat pockets. They are harmless on Zoro, but they are anything but on Usopp.

It’s a shame that Usopp has maneuvered himself into a pickle right when they’re about to pick him up, but it can’t be helped. With Ace out of the picture, Usopp is their best bet. Usopp can detonate practically everything if you give him enough money. Thanks to Crocodile, money isn’t an issue, so Usopp’s perfect for the job. Besides, Sanji likes working with Usopp, and the guy is friends with Franky which is definitely a plus in this operation. Chopper and Usopp together can probably keep the mechanic under control.

Around the corner, something explodes. People start shouting. Sanji kills the cigarette on his heel and slinks back into the car, dropping the stump into the car’s ashtray. He starts the motor and puts the first gear in. A second later, Zoro and Usopp tear around the corner and head straight for the car. Sanji leans over and pushes the passenger door open. Zoro glides into the seat with a smirk and shuts the door behind himself. Usopp yanks the back door open and throws himself into the car. Sanji floors the gas pedal.

When they turn the next corner, Usopp breaks into relieved laughter, finally sitting up correctly. Zoro follows suit with his typical bark of laughter. Sanji’s heart skips a beat at the sound, and he can’t suppress a smile of his own. Too concentrated on the busy streets of Grand Line Central, and throroughly distracted by Zoro’s laughter, Sanji cannot come up with a smart line right now. The marimo laughs less since Sanji has gotten out of prison, and every laugh drawn out of the man lifts Sanji’s heart a little.

“Sanji, so pleased to work with professionals again,” Usopp finally presses out between hiccups of laughter. He claps Sanji’s shoulder in greeting.

“If everything goes according to plan, you won’t be apprehended by a SWAT team this time around,” Sanji shoots back.

Zoro chuckles knowingly, and Sanji smirks at Usopp in the rearview mirror. Their team has no idea what is coming for them.

***

The next day, Sanji finds himself in Windmill Village. Zoro dragged him into the backwaters of Grand Line Central against his will, and without telling him why. Apparently, they are here to watch a circus performance. As if Sanji can’t waste his time on other things. Looking at pretty female hackers while pining after his best friend being top of the list.

The announcer, big red nose, weird blue hair, is the most annoying clown Sanji has ever seen. If it was legal to shoot a clown in Windmill Village, Sanji would have done it already. Unfortunately, it isn’t legal, and he’s not here to draw any attention to himself. Or so he hopes. It’s impossible to tell what Zoro thinks they’re doing here. The only thing that’s sure is that Zoro is even more annoyed by the clown than Sanji. Serves him right.

“Why are we in a circus?” Sanji leans into Zoro’s space, but doesn’t make any effort to whisper. Instead, he pulls some cotton candy from its stick and puts it in his mouth. It’s not as good as a cigarette, but it gives him something to do while he craves a cigarette. Even though the circus tent is clearly not a building, it is for some reason still forbidden to smoke in here.

“Just shut up and watch,” Zoro grumbles.

Sanji grits his teeth. He trusts Zoro, but he hates not being in control. The two voices in his head fight with each other when they announce a funambulist named Monkey D. Luffy.

“Great, his name’s Monkey,” Sanji comments, just to annoy Zoro some more. “Aaaaaaaand he can walk on a rope.”

“More than that,” Zoro insists through gritted teeth.

Oh, this is fun. “He can probably juggle to,” Sanji muses. “We need a greaseman, you know that, right? Who else is on the list?”

“He’s the list,” Zoro nods towards the guy walking the rope.

“Who else?”

“Just. Watch. The. Damn. Show.”

Sanji rolls his eyes, but does as he is told. As an exception. Because he has cotton candy and his arm brushes against Zoro’s.

Monkey D. Luffy, what a name! What does the D stand for? Doofus? The guy walks along the rope as if he’s walking on the ground which is impressive, but not what they need. Right when Sanji is about to open his mouth to complain again, Monkey D. Luffy jumps backwards onto a pole, hooking himself onto the pole with one knee and striking a pose. Sanji leans backs and stuffs the rest of the cotton candy in his mouth. He hates when he has to admit that Zoro is right. “Fine. We have a greaseman.”

“We have a greaseman,” Zoro repeats with a smug smile, just to annoy him.

After the show, they wander out of the tent towards Zoro’s green convertible. Sanji ponders their list of people. They still need a Bon Clay. “We need Brook.”

Zoro sighs while he fishes for his keys in his pants. “He won’t come. He retired last year.”

“You can ask him,” Sanji points out. Partly to rile Zoro up, partly because he wants Brook. Period.

Zoro stops in his tracks to look at Sanji with narrowed eyes. He sighs again. “I can ask.” He pushes a button on his keys and sinks into the driver’s seat as if his limbs are suddenly made out of lead.

Sanji sits in the passenger seat. “With Brook, we’d be eleven. That should do it, right?”

Zoro doesn’t answer, only stares out of the windshield.

“You think we need one more?” Sanji cocks his head at Zoro.

No answer.

“You think we need one more.”

Still no answer.

Sanji nods. “Fine, we’ll get one more.”

Zoro grins. He pulls an envelope out of his door and hands it to Sanji. “Find her in Weatheria.”

***

While Zoro is out in Sabaody to convince Brook to join, Sanji finds himself on a train in Weatheria, trailing the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen. How Zoro even knows a woman like this one is beyond him. First Nico Robin. Now Mikan Nami. Zoro is keeping his lips sealed on how he knows them, probably full aware that it drives Sanji up the walls of his mind.

The gorgeous ginger-haired woman is scrolling on her phone, seemingly uninterested in everyone and everything around her. She even pretends not to notice the guy next to her staring rudely at her ass. At the next turn Nami lets herself fall against the guy. In the blink of an eye, her free hand dips into his coat pocket and dumps his wallet into her purse. The guy is too distracted by her breasts against his chest to notice anything. She apologizes to the man who nods in response and then lets his eyes trail down her legs again. What an asshole.

When Nami gets out of the train, Sanji follows her. He speeds up to pass her, slipping a note into her purse and taking the wallet she just nicked. She doesn’t even flinch. Sanji suppresses a smirk. He’s still got it.

He’s picked a worn down bar around the corner where he orders a whiskey on the rocks, still hoping for some insight into Zoro’s feelings by emulating his drinking habits. He lights a cigarette and puts the wallet on the table in front of himself. He has no reason to look inside. He’s not interested in pocket money.

It doesn’t take Nami long to find him. When she walks into the bar, her phone still in her hand like in the train, she spots the wallet on the table and stalks towards his table.

Sanji doesn’t give her a chance to speak. “Hello Nami, sit down.” He stands and pulls out the chair for her before taking another drag from his cigarette.

She stops next to the chair. “Who are you?”

He has her attention, and now he needs to keep it. “A friend of a friend. Please sit down.”

She rolls her eyes, but finally does as he's asked, and he sits back down as well. She clutches her purse and phone close to her chest as if she’s afraid he’s gonna take something else from her.

“Roronoa told me about you,” Sanji starts, intentionally keeping his relationship to Zoro vague by using his last name. It’s always better when people don’t know how close they are or aren’t. It’s not hard to pretend. When he’s feeling down, even he doesn’t know how close they really are. Only how close he wishes they were. “He said you were the best he’s ever seen. I didn’t expect to find you working wallets on the train.”

Nami shrugs. “That wasn’t work, that was practice.”

Sanji takes a deep hit from his cigarette before he pulls a plane ticket out of his suit jacket. He places it in front of Nami, hand still shielding it. “You’re either in or out right now.”

Nami eyes the paper with a raised eyebrow. “What is it?”

“A plane ticket. A job offer.” Sanji holds her gaze.

“You’re pretty trusting pretty fast,” Nami snarks. She returns her purse to her shoulder as if she doesn’t have anything to fear anymore.

“Roronoa put a good word in for you.”

Nami narrows her eyes at him, scrutinizing his every move. “Childhood friends will do that for you.” When his eyes widen inadvertently, she smirks. “He didn’t tell you, did he?” If possible, her smirks gets even sharper. “I know all about you, Sanji Black.”

Sanji doubts that, but she clearly knows something. And the asshole marimo apparently didn’t think to warn him about how close he is to Nami. Or the bastard didn’t let on to fuck with him. Sanji schools his face. “In or out?” He repeats. In these situations, it’s better to stay on topic than get himself dragged into a conversation in which he can only loose. He hates Zoro for putting him into this situation.

Nami cocks her head at him. “What if I say no?”

With a shrug, Sanji kills his cigarette in the ashtray between them. “Zoro will be annoyed, and we’ll get someone else who isn’t as good as you. You can go back to feeling up rich kids on the train.” Sanji finds the nearest waitress and signals her for his bill. When he looks back at the table, the plane ticket is gone from under his hand. He fixes Nami with a look. “That’s the best lift I’ve seen you make yet.”

Nami doesn’t take her eyes off the plane ticket. “Grand Line Central, huh?”

“The world’s playground.” Sanji nods at her one last time before he stands. He buttons his jacket close and walks out of the bar as collected as he can.

Out on the street, he takes out his phone and dials the only number saved in there. When the phone’s picked up on the other side, he doesn’t wait for a greeting. “She’s your childhood friend?”

There’s a short silence before Zoro answers. “Brook is in.”

Sanji stalks down a busy street. “Not what I was asking.” He lights another cigarette and looks around for a taxi. He doesn’t want to stay here longer than necessary. And he doesn’t want to let the bastard know how glad he is that Brook’s in. Zoro doesn’t deserve it. Not right now.

“So what?” Zoro finally sighs. “Got a problem with that?”

“You could have told me!” Sanji waves down a taxi that comes to a screeching halt next to him.

“Would you have gone to Weatheria to see her?”

Sanji sinks into the back seat of the taxi and ends the call without another word. He hates how well Zoro knows him. “To the airport.”

***

Back in Grand Line Central, Sanji sits in one of the many rooms of Crocodile’s mansion. The room Crocodile has assigned to him is covered in light blue tapestries, has a small desk with exactly one chair, a huge bed and an even bigger wardrobe that is sinfully empty. For a lack of other sitting opportunities, Zoro lays sprawled out on Sanji’s bed, his feet hanging over the edge and his shirt hitched up a bit. Sanji tries not to stare at the revealed skin.

Their suits hang, freshly pressed, on one of the wardrobe’s doors. Turns out Crocodile employs one person specifically to iron his clothes. It explains quite a lot of things about the man. Sanji is not about to complain, though. His clothes have never been in better shape.

Zoro throws a tennis ball into the air. “Something’s still bothering me,” he announces, not looking at Sanji.

“What is it?” Sanji spins in his chair, so he’s not staring at Zoro and his exposed skin any longer.

“Part of your plan is stealing the codes from Yonji.”

“Yes.”

“You can’t do that,” Zoro points out. “Yonji will have you arrested before you can even say peep.”

Sanji stops his chair and tries to look at Zoro’s face instead of his stomach. “I know.”

“Plus, they’ll red flag you once they realize you’re in town.”

“Probably.” Sanji knows all this. It’s part of the reason they took Nami on board. Although they haven’t adjusted the plan to incorporate her yet. And they haven’t solved the red flagging problem. So Zoro is right, but Sanji hates saying so.

Zoro catches the ball and sits up to look at Sanji. “What are we gonna do about it?”

“Haven’t figured that out yet,” Sanji confesses. It’s, apart from Brook, the weakest part of the plan so far.

Zoro nods to himself for a bit, then looks up. “I might have an idea. Do you trust me?”

Sanji wills himself not to blush. He’s trusted Zoro since their first con together. Nothing has ever changed about that. Zoro knows, and probably just wants to hear it out loud. “Always,” Sanji finally concedes.

A smug grin appears on Zoro’s face. “Let’s keep the plan as is for now. I’ll figure it out. When the time comes, follow my lead.”

Narrowing his eyes, Sanji scrutinizes Zoro. This doesn’t bode well. He does trust Zoro, but the marimo is prone to some really weird ideas. A con in a con. A surprise attack. If Sanji doesn’t get to the bottom of it, anything could happen. But complaining now would only give Zoro more ammunition. After all, he’s just confessed he always trusts Zoro. He can’t take it back a minute later. “Fine.”

Zoro nods, and lets himself sink back onto his elbows, cockily throwing the ball with one hand now. Sanji can’t tear his gaze away, and the worst thing is that he has no idea if Zoro has caught on already. He wishes, desperately, that he didn’t think so much in prison. He should have just not thought at all. Unplug his brain. Unfortunately, there really wasn’t anything better to do. This whole thing is made worse by the fact that there seem to be so many things popping up that Sanji didn’t know about Zoro. There’s his work with Robin, his relationship to Nami, his weird silences with Mihawk. The thought about a possible past fling between Zoro and Mihawk has nestled in his brain since Zoro kept staring at the other man on their first trip to the mansion. It doesn’t matter, not really, because Mihawk is clearly as devoted to Crocodile as the man is to him. But it still bothers Sanji.

“Just spit it out.” Zoro drops the ball to the bed and fixes Sanji with his one working eye.

He can’t exactly ask about Zoro’s past relationships. Or the lack thereof. It’s not a topic of conversation for them, except when it comes to the hellish disaster of Sanji’s arranged marriage. But there’s other things Zoro hasn’t talked about that Sanji is equally eager to get to the bottom of. “What happened to your eye?”

“I told you,” Zoro sinks back onto the bed. “Training accident.”

Sanji pats his pockets where he finds his lighter, but not his cigarettes. In a mansion as big as this, they could be anywhere. “What kind of training?” He asks, half thinking about his pack of cigarettes. “Did you let someone stab you with a knife?”

The only answer is an ominous silence.

Sanji stops his frantic searching and looks over to the bed where Zoro is pointedly not looking at him. “You did not!”

With a groan, Zoro sits back up and throws something at Sanji. For a second, he thinks it’s the tennis balls and he squeaks, before he realizes it’s his pack. He catches it at the last second.

Zoro snorts. “It was an accident,” he repeats. “Training with Mihawk.”

The cigarette already in his mouth and the flame burning, Sanji stops. They stare at each other over the empty room between them. Something fierce and angry roils in Sanji’s stomach. With a sudden clarity, he remembers his quite inconvenient urge to take out the other party’s eye in revenge. Flapping his hand, Sanji gestures towards the closed door. “That Mihawk?”

“Do we know another one?” Zoro sounds defeated.

With a shaking hand, Sanji finally lights his cigarette and takes a long drag to steady himself. He can’t go and take out Dracule Mihawk’s eye. Not only because they’re currently partners, but also because Mihawk would probably stab him to death before he could even get close enough. “Is that why you guys are being weird with each other?” And there’s the opening to secretly ask about Zoro’s past relationships without the other man noticing.

“What are you talking about?” Zoro raises an eyebrow at him.

Sanji flaps his hand around some more, distributing some smoke in the room at which Zoro sniffs. The good thing about living in Crocodile’s mansion is that the house owner smokes everywhere, so Sanji doesn’t need to hold back. “You’re not talking to each other,” he clarifies.

Zoro huffs. “How many times have you actually heard Mihawk talk? To someone other than Crocodile?”

Sanji furrows his brows. When they laid out the plan, Mihawk had very prominently spoken up at the right time to get Crocodile on their side. Since then… Sanji goes through the last few days in his head. No, he hasn’t exchanged even a single word with Mihawk. He’s seen the man, at the table for a meal, and in other parts of the house always sipping on a wine glass. He spotted him sitting in an armchair reading. He even noticed how the stern yellow eyes were following them around whenever they were in the same room. Sometimes, in another room and therefore unintelligibly, he heard Mihawk and Crocodile talk among themselves. Now that he thinks about it, he can’t even remember the sound of Mihawk’s voice.

“That’s what I thought,” Zoro concludes with a smug grin.

After Sanji finishes his cigarette, they get ready. Everyone is coming to the mansion today to be brought into the loop about the plan. Everything is outlined, every step they’ll take, every word they’ll say. The only thing left to do is change into their freshly pressed clothes and get themselves a drink.

Sanji challenges himself not to look at Zoro while the other man is changing in his room instead of going back to his own. It fails spectacularly. While he pulls on his own trousers, Sanji can’t keep his eyes off of Zoro’s muscular and very exposed back. He’s almost sure Zoro is doing it just to needle him.

***

Sanji throws a glance at Zoro who nods and flattens down his shirt. It hugs his body as if it’s been made just for this purpose, and it should be illegal all over Grand Line Central to look this hot in a simple shirt and slacks. If he wants to go through this night without a hitch, Sanji won’t be able to look at the guy for the rest of the evening. Which poses a conundrum because the plan does require him to look at Zoro a great deal. How is this his life?

Crocodile and Mihawk join them just out of sight of the living room which starts down a flight of stairs. Both of them are clad in suits as well, one in green, the other in the color of desert sand. Their dedication to each other could not be made more obvious. Sanji swallows an eye roll.

“You ready?” Crocodile asks, standing a few inches too close for comfort. The usual then.

Sanji merely nods, smoothens down his suit jacket that definitely does not need any more smoothing, and walks down the stairs. Zoro is to his right immediately, and Crocodile and Mihawk follow behind on their left. Since Crocodile’s house staff has been dismissed for the evening for obvious reasons, Jinbei stands at the bar to their right, mixing drinks. The others are spread over the off-white velvet sofa arrangements. With whiskey tumblers in hand, Nami and Robin have their heads together, talking in low voices. Usopp, Chopper and Franky sit on the floor by the couch table where Franky is assembling a castle out of playing cards under the small cheers of the other two. Luffy is sprawled on a beige carpet that looks like it’s worth more than Sanji’s suit. He watches Brook who is improvising a jolly tune on the piano in the corner of the living room, a glass with champagne on top of the piano in front of him. Without a coaster. Crocodile won’t like that.

At their entrance, all heads turn towards them. Everyone sits up a little straighter except Luffy who just cocks his head with a bright smile on his lips. “Did everyone eat?” Sanji waits for their nods because he won’t have anyone dealing with this on an empty stomach. “Good. Everyone sober?” He lets his glance sway from the ladies to Brook and finally Jinbei, and shrugs. “Close enough I guess.” Robin and Nami clink their glasses together pointedly. Sanji indulges them with a smile before he continues. “Most of you know each other already. If not, I trust you acquainted yourselves already.” Luffy gives him a thumbs up and grins at Zoro.

“Okay.” Sanji claps once. “Before we start, nobody’s on the line here yet. What I’m about to propose to you happens to be both highly lucrative and highly dangerous. If that doesn’t sound like your particular type of fish, help yourself to as much food as you like and safe journey. No hard feelings.” Eight curious sets of eyes look back at him, now more intrigued than ever. Nami leans over to Robin to whisper something, and the other woman smirks. Franky punches the air. “Sounds super, Sanji-bro!”

Sanji settles for a smile and suppresses his second eye roll for the night. Maybe he should have made a bet with Zoro on how many eye rolls each of them would like to make before this evening is over. A lost opportunity. “Well then, come with me.”

He leads the way. Crocodile’s mansion is a maze, and he doesn’t trust most of these people to find their way through it. Zoro follows while Crocodile and Mihawk stay behind to make sure nobody takes a wrong turn into a bedroom or the treasure chamber.

In the room at the end of the corridor, they have set up a miniature model of the Red Line, the busiest street in Grand Line Central due to the abundance of casinos, bars and brothels. The three casinos Sanji is planning to hit are the center piece. One after the other, all the crew members file into the room and scatter around the table. Nami stays close to Robin who slides into place next to Franky of all people. Usopp and Chopper end up next to Luffy, Jinbei and Brook gather on his other side. Crocodile and Mihawk stay close to the door to survey the whole thing from afar. They’ve heard this before.

Sanji leans down on the pool table and stares at the model of the city. He points to three of the casinos. “These are the Blazing Red, Lucky Blue, and The House of Green. Otherwise known as the most lucrative casinos in Grand Line Central.” And his birth family’s whole pride, but nobody needs to know that. Crocodile snorts derisively in the back, clearly not over the fact that the Vinsmokes are going to demolish Rain Dinners to make space for yet another of their own casinos. Sanji removes the street between the casinos to reveal the underground structure of the model. “This is the vault of The House of Green. As you can see, it’s connected to the Blazing Red and the Lucky Blue, beneath two hundred feet of solid earth. It safeguards every beri that comes through each of the three casinos above it.” Pause for effect. “And we’re going to rob it.”

There’s a hush over the room that gets broken by Nami’s voice. “Grab-and-smash job, huh?” She raises a skeptical eyebrow, but it’s not very convincing because her eyes are shining with beri signs.

“It’s more complicated than that, witch,” Zoro retorts. He is definitely not hiding his eye roll.

Sanji bites his tongue so he doesn’t lash out at Zoro’s treatment of women. This is not the time or space. They need to present as a front. And he doesn’t know enough about Zoro’s relationship to either woman to really comment. So Sanji grabs a remote from the table and points it at one of the monitors behind him. Without Crocodile and his mansion, this would be so much more tedious. “Courtesy of Jinbei, new blackjack dealer at The House of Green, security tapes from the three casinos.”

Everyone’s eyes are glued to the screen, watching how people move through the public spaces of the casinos, between tables and slot machines.

“Bad news first,” Sanji interrupts the starry eyed staring. “This place houses a security system which rivals most Pluton sized hiding places. First, we have to get within the casino cages” – Zoro helpfully points them out on the model – “which anyone knows takes more than a smile.” Sanji smiles because it fits and he’s a pro. “Next we need to get through these doors, each of which requires a different six-digit code changed every twelve hours. Past those lies the elevator, and this is where it gets tricky. The elevator won’t move without authorized fingerprint identifications-”

“-which we can’t fake,” Zoro offers with a smirk.

“- and vocal confirmations from both the security center within The House of Green and the vault below-”

“- which we won’t get.”

“Furthermore,” Sanji carries on as if he’s never been interrupted in his life, and especially not by a marimo, “the elevator shaft is rigged with motion detectors-”

“-meaning if we manually override the lift, the shaft’s exit will lock down automatically and we’ll be trapped,” Zoro explains, still with a smirk, as if this is business as usual.

“Once we've gotten down the shaft, though, then it's a walk in the park: just three more guards with weapons and a preference towards not being robbed, and the most elaborate vault door ever conceived. Any questions?” Sanji offers them his most dazzling smile, the one that gets every lady swooning.

There is a pregnant silence that Sanji can’t quite read. He knows this plan is daring, to say the least. He’s heard the speech from Zoro, and later from Crocodile. Both of whom are now on board. It has to work on these people as well.

“¿Podemos cavar un túnel?” That’s Luffy. Sanji merely stares at him. He hasn’t talked to the guy before, and he wasn’t prepared for the Spanish. Did he even understand anything they’d said?

“No. Tunneling is out, perezoso.” Zoro doesn’t seem fazed at all, and Nami and Luffy chuckle at what is probably a Spanish insult. “There are scales monitoring the ground for one hundred meters in every direction. If a groundhog tried to nest there, they'd know about it. Anyone else?”

Another silence. This time, there’s confusion about the recent exchange mixed in with the wary feelings about the plan. Finally, Chopper speaks up. “You said something about good news, Sanji?”

Sanji can’t help but smile. He’s been waiting for that question. It’s the one that will do all the convincing work for him. If these people are here for anything, it’s the money. “The World Government stipulates: a casino must hold in reserve enough cash to cover every chip at play on its floor. As I mentioned, this vault services each of the three casinos above it. That means: during the week, by law, it must hold anywhere from sixty to seventy million beri in cash and coin. On a weekend, between eighty and ninety million. On a fight night, like the Trafalgar-Donquixote one two weeks from tonight, the night we're going to rob it, at least a hundred and fifty million. Without breaking a sweat.” Sanji takes a look around the room. Nami’s eyes have permanently turned into beri signs. “Now there are twelve of us. Each with an equal share. You do the math.”

Franky whistles.

Zoro smirks. “That’s what I said.”

Everyone seems to be in daydreams about what they’d do with the money. Until Brook speaks up. “I have a question.”

Sanji turns to look at him. They need to placate Brook most of all. Everything hinges on the old man playing his part. Sanji nods at him.

“Say we do get into the cage, and through the security doors there, and down the elevator we can't move, and past the guards with guns, and into the vault we can't open…”

“Without being seen by the cameras,” Zoro adds, ever helpful.

“Oh, right. Sorry. I forgot to mention that,” Sanji nods slowly as if he’d ever forget about that.

Brook clears his throat. “Say we do all that. We're just supposed to walk out of there with a hundred million beri in cash on us without getting stopped?”

The second question he’s been waiting for. Sanji’s smile broadens even more, if that is even possible. “Yeah.” Sanji fixes everyone with a look. Crocodile looks impatient, Mihawk impressed. Nami’s eyes are still beri signs, Robin appears thoughtful as if she’s already planning how she’s gonna hack their system. Chopper and Franky are exchanging looks that speak volumes, just not to Sanji, while Usopp cocks his head at the model as if he’s trying to figure out where to place explosives. Luffy is picking his nose, Jinbei sips at his drink, and Brook looks like he’s about to faint. Sanji leans forward conspiratorially. Time to share the real plan. “This is how we’ll do it…”

Chapter Text

As nice as Crocodile’s mansion is, hiding under your enemy’s nose is even better. So Sanji has put them all up in The House of Green hotel under fake names. One of their rooms is a suite so they have a space where they can easily meet and set up their operation.

Until the materials for the vault replica arrive, everyone’s first priority is to familiarize themselves with the casino and figure out the best way to do their jobs. Most of it doesn’t need Sanji’s supervision. Jinbei is doing his actual job and works the tables on the casino floor. He chats up colleagues, listens in on the conversations of guests, and clocks which pit bosses are the strictest. Nami, Chopper and Franky are also on the casino floor. Nami trails Reiju and Yonji whenever they pop up in public and multiplies the money Sanji gave her when they don’t. So far she hasn’t said a word about the resemblance between Sanji and Yonji, and Sanji’s not going to complain about that. Chopper and Franky scout the floor layout and camera positions. Since they’d only lose all their money, Sanji doesn’t give them any. If they wanna gamble, they have to do it out of their own pockets. Usopp is out on and below the streets surrounding the casinos to figure out how to best take out the lights, Luffy trailing after him like an excited puppy.

This leaves Sanji and Zoro to deal with Robin and surveillance. Robin has set up her various electronics, including way too many screens on the coffee table in the suite. One displays the casino blueprints, another the security footage Jinbei napped. A third shows a window full of gibberish Sanji doesn’t understand a word of. The rest are blank and waiting for more security input.

Zoro flattens a blueprint copy at the end of the coffee table and the three of them crowd around it. Robin’s finger hovers over it and follows some of the lines while her eyebrows are drawn. Zoro’s eyes follow her finger as if he’s trying to follow her thought process. Sanji just stares at the print and waits. He’s never been good with electronics, so he has no hope of understanding what’s going on unless Robin explains it to him.

“It’s not the least accessible system I’ve seen,” Robin finally concludes, addressing Zoro. Something she’s done since the start of the operation and although Sanji tries not to let it bother him, he fails more often than not. “But it’s close. I don’t suppose they have a closed-circuit feed I could tap into?”

Sanji has no idea what she’s talking about, but Zoro shakes his head.

Robin hums and nods. “It’s definitely a black bag job.” She glances over at Sanji before she addresses Zoro again. “Do they employ an in-house technician?”

“Two.” Zoro smirks sharply. “One of them is lonely.”

Robin matches his smirk and looks wholly like she knows exactly what he’s talking about. The unseemly knot in Sanji’s stomach tightens at that. He pushes the feeling down. He knows what Zoro is talking about, too. There’s no reason to be jealous. Robin is a lovely woman, and she deserves only his best behavior. So he smiles broadly at her, and tells Zoro to handle it. There’s other things to take care of, and he can’t let his feelings distract him from the job.

The next day, Robin has an access key to the casino back rooms and moves in to hack into the system. Sanji joins Zoro up in the suite to check whether Robin’s plan is working, keeping an eye out, ready to move in if she needs some kind of backup. Franky and Chopper are also positioned down on the casino floor on stand-by, always ready to create a diversion.

Sanji sinks into the very comfortable, beige couch and fishes for his cigarettes. Zoro fiddles with Robin’s computer set-up.

“Should you be touching that?” Sanji asks before he lights his cigarette.

“Should you be smoking in here?” Zoro bites back without looking at him.

Sanji huffs, but walks over to one of the windows anyway. He’s not going to admit out loud that Zoro is right. Instead he pushes the glass open and leans onto the windowsill to blow the smoke outside while he watches Zoro without danger of being discovered. Eventually, the computer comes to life and displays the same images on the screens as it had yesterday.

“So we’re gonna watch black screens now?” Sanji drawls.

Zoro shrugs and sinks into the sofa cushions. “You were the one who wanted to be on top of everything.”

Sanji nods absently even though Zoro can’t see him. The others report to him throughout the day, and he’s always on his feet to organize, placate, and assign new jobs. His biggest worry right now, besides his own feelings, is Brook. Although the old man has agreed to be a part of the job, he’s complaining to Sanji non-stop about the smallest of issue: who sleeps where, what will Soul King wear, what happens when they’re found out, how to best take care of his health. Half of it isn’t even Sanji’s responsibility. It’s made one thing clear though: if they don’t get Brook into his own suite as Soul King soon, Sanji cannot guarantee the other’s integrity anymore.

Another drag from his cigarette and a slow exhale remind Sanji that he seldom has time with Zoro now that they’ve put everything in motion. This is a rare opportunity to tackle one of the topics that are weighing heavy on his mind. Since they’re currently overseeing Robin, she’s the most obvious choice. “How do you know Robin anyway?”

Zoro leans his head back to look sideways at Sanji. “I know her from a job.” The ‘as I’ve already told you’ is clearly implied.

“She’s very distant”, Sanji points out and tries not to sound like it bothers him.

“To you”, Zoro quips with a knowing smirk.

So it’s not just in his imagination then. Sanji narrows his eyes at him. “What’s up with that?”

Zoro shrugs. “She doesn’t trust people easily.”

Sanji turns that around in his head for a minute. He can relate to that. If you’ve grown up like he has, you wouldn’t trust people easily either. The work they’re doing, there’s no point in trusting anyone, except yourself and the people you’re currently working with. However, Robin seems quite at ease with everyone who isn’t him. And Sanji wants to argue out of principle. “She’s chummy with everyone else.”

Zoro turns halfway, one arm slung over the backrest and that insufferable smirk still on his face. “Why does that bother you so much?”

“Because this is my operation,” Sanji hisses. Which is at least 50% true. Maybe 35%. He kills the cigarette on the windowsill with too much force and then snips it out of the window.

Zoro looks like he’s debating whether to call him out or not, then sighs. “I introduced her to Nami and Luffy some time ago, and she’s been dating Franky for years, so she knows the others through him.”

Sanji finally walks over to sit next to Zoro on the sofa. “She’s dating Franky?” Neither of them have given any indication they were more than acquaintances. Or he didn’t look at it closely enough, blinded by his own jealousy and insecurity.

“Does that bother you too?”

“No.” Quite the opposite, but Zoro doesn’t need to know that. Now that there’s no danger of anything between Zoro and Robin, Sanji feels his feelings for the woman bloom into pleasantry. So he’s the only person Robin didn’t know before the job. She took the offer because it came from Zoro. He can work with that. He’ll just have to be even more charming going forward.

As if on cue to the end of this conversation, several video feeds appear on the formerly black screens. It’s dizzying to see all the back hallways at once and it takes Sanji a moment to spot Robin. He elbows Zoro in the side and points to where Robin walks down a central corridor.

Zoro leans forward on his knees with a predatory smirk. “We’re in.”

***

Over the next few days, Robin continues monitoring the casino proceedings through their access to the video den dens, and Nami trails Yonji and Reiju. The rest of the crew gathers at the huge warehouse Crocodile rented to build a vault replica once all the material has been delivered.

The warehouse is a huge, bare space with one bathroom and a lot of construction material. Franky takes the lead on the construction, and Sanji and Zoro alternate the supervision. Luffy is more helpful than Sanji expected, carrying more than he should physically be able to and jumping in wherever a hand is needed. With all hands on deck, the vault of The House of Green slowly takes shape before their eyes.

Sanji’s next priority is getting Brook into character. So when the vault construction is well on its way and Zoro checks in with Nami at the casino, Sanji acquires Crocodile’s credit card and takes Brook to his favorite tailor in Grand Line Central. Bentham is an old friend and has impeccable taste. If he doesn’t manage to get Brook on board with exquisite clothes, Sanji might have to think up a plan B.

As expected, Bentham talks Brook through every suit they’re trying. They start with more flashy outfits and uncommon colors, and work their way to more traditional colors and more expensive setups when it becomes clear that Brook feels more comfortable in the latter.

Finally, Brook is in a dark grey Ma suit with a surprisingly small amount of ruffles. He keeps looking at himself from all sides in the array of mirrors arranged in front of him in a half circle and fusses with the perfectly fitting cuffs. “This is some nice material,” he notes.

“It’s Ma, Brook,” Sanji retorts. Not that Brook would know Perona personally, but everyone knows her brand and the superior quality, even the old man.

“Really nice material,” Brook repeats as if in thought.

Sanji suppresses a sigh and catches Bentham’s eye. The man is hovering slightly out of mirror frame, critically evaluating his work. It’s by far the best fit for Brook, but if they let him think a bit more about it, he’s gonna find something to complain about and they’ll have to try another hundred suits. Brook moves from fussing with the cuffs to fussing with the buttons, seeing as he couldn’t find any fault with the cuffs. Bentham is still all smiles and patience, but Sanji is done. “Give us a minute, Bon.”

Bentham nods and retreats behind the curtain that shields them from the main showroom. Sanji finds Brook’s eyes in the mirror. “Brook, are you ready for this job?”

Brook holds Sanji’s gaze in the mirror and lifts his chin in defiance. He automatically stands up taller. There’s a fire in his eyes that Sanji has missed the last couple of days. “If you ever question me again, Sanji Black, you won’t wake up the following morning.”

Sanji smirks. “That’s the Brook I know.”

He lets Brook look at himself some more while the man mutters under his breath, clearly practicing for his role as the Soul King. Sanji goes out to pay and decides to invite Robin to come look at the vault.

Brook leaves the shop a new man. He holds himself differently and looks at Sanji as if he’s dirt under his shoes. The round glasses complete his outfit, making him look more sophisticated. Soul King has finally arrived. Sanji lets Chopper and Franky know to get ready and takes Soul King back to the casino in a limousine. Before Soul King steps out, they exchange one last look and Soul King nods with more conviction than he’s shown all week. Sanji nods back, before he presses himself into the other corner as not to be seen when Soul King gets out of the car. The VIP is greeted by Chopper and Franky, both in suits, and acting as his bodyguards.

Sanji heaves a sigh of relief and waits for Robin to join him.

***

Two days later, the vault replica is finished, and they can finally use it for trial runs. Robin stands right next to Sanji, watching as Luffy frees himself from a container in the middle of the vault. Once Luffy sits back on top of the container, grinning at them with a broad smile, Sanji stops his timer. “29:47. Everything okay in there?”

Luffy grins at him. “Asco!, pero mejor que trabajar en el circo.”

Sanji nods as if he’s understood every word the other man said, frantically trying to find an adequate reply.

“But what isn’t better than being a circus performer?” A voice behind them replies.

Luffy cackles and jumps back down to the floor, brushing off his clothes.

Sanji turns and is suddenly face to face and up close with Zoro whose eyebrows are drawn together and whose arms are crossed over his chest. He fixes Sanji with a look that spells trouble. Nami passes them and throws Sanji a look somewhere between worry and anger. She stops next to Robin and immediately starts whispering to the other woman. Luffy joins them, still with a bright smile. A part of Sanji wonders how much Luffy understands, but judging by the look on Zoro’s face, he has other problems right now.

Without another word, Sanji leads Zoro outside of the side entrance where they are greeted by an empty parking lot, safe for the escape cars Jinbei, Franky and Chopper have procured. He doesn’t want anyone listening in on this conversation, whatever it’s going to be, so he walks until they’re at least 30 meters from the door. Turning to Zoro, Sanji fishes his pack out of his pocket. “What is it?”

Zoro stares him down, his whole body tense. “Tell me this isn’t about her or I’ll walk off the job right now.”

Sanji manages to light his cigarette without his hands shaking and inhales the first drag. It helps keep him steady while he stares back at Zoro and tries to figure out what this is about. In the end, he merely raises an eyebrow before taking another drag.

Zoro huffs, but doesn’t uncross his arms. “Pudding. She’s with Reiju now. Tell me this isn’t about screwing over your sister who’s screwing your wife.”

“Ex wife.” It’s childish, but it’s also true and kind of important here.

“Tell me.”

To stall, Sanji takes another long drag of his cigarette. It has the advantage of making him seem unaffected, no matter how much his fingers are trembling or how hard his heart is beating against his chest. His eyes don’t leave Zoro who looks exactly like a person who’d walk if Sanji says the wrong thing now. And the one thing Sanji’s sure of is that he doesn’t want to do this without Zoro. “It’s not.”

Zoro raises an eyebrow at him, face hard, jaw set.

Sanji takes a deep breath in. “You know about the security,” he points out. They’ve been over this. Zoro knows this is about smashing the last hold Judge has over him.

“That’s it?” Zoro neither looks nor sounds convinced. “No feelings left, just like that?”

“Don’t pretend it was a clear cut thing with Pudding,” Sanji protests, quickly puffing on his cigarette. “You were there.” Zoro is the only one present on this whole operation who knows how his family forced him into the arrangement. Who watched them do it unable to do anything about it.

“It was complicated,” Zoro concedes, “but you were also clearly in love with her.” When Sanji opens his mouth to protest, Zoro makes an abrupt gesture. “Enough to try stealing seastone from under the marines’ noses. Which I warned you about, and landed you in prison. In case you forgot.”

Sanji closes his mouth with a click. Maybe part of the problem is that Zoro was there and privy to the effort Sanji had put into making it work with Pudding. Another part, of course, is that Sanji hasn’t told him about his actual feelings yet. Something he desperately doesn’t want to do in the middle of this whole operation. “It’s not about Pudding,” he reiterates.

The most straightforward thing would be to just blurt the truth out. Get it over with. Take the bandaid off. Tell Zoro he’s been in love with him for ages. But Sanji doesn’t have a read on Zoro’s feelings. They’ve never explicitly talked about Zoro’s love life, and the other man keeps a tight lid on his feelings at the best of times. Whereas Sanji is a good conman because he can charm his way out of everything and he can lie to save his life, but he’s an open book to those who know him when it comes to his private feelings. And if Zoro rejects him here and now, he won’t be able to make this job work. Not without Zoro, and not with Zoro. So Sanji needs to keep this bottled. “I don’t think this is the right time to talk about this.” He casts a glance at the warehouse door where he cannot see anyone lurking. But that doesn’t mean anything. They’re all professionals.

“I need some reassurance here, curly,” Zoro insists, but the nickname immediately eases some of the tension in Sanji’s body. “We can’t split Pudding twelve ways.”

Sanji snorts against his will. He snips the cigarette onto the floor and stamps it. “Look, I won’t give you the whole rundown now.” He puts his hands into his pants pockets so they can’t betray him. “But I promise to tell you everything once this is over.”

“Sanji-” Zoro starts and it’s clear that he’s not happy with the way this conversation is going.

“Let’s just say,” Sanji says right over him, although his name on Zoro’s lips almost takes his resolve away, “that I had a lot of free time in prison, and it helped me figure out some stuff.” He has to give Zoro something, even if it’s not the whole truth. “Like the fact that I’ve been in love with someone else for a long time.” He takes in a shaky breath and forces himself to look at Zoro. “So this is not about Pudding. Not at all.”

Zoro opens his mouth, but nothing comes out. That’s a first. He swallows, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat, and balls his hands. “Fine,” he eventually croaks out before abruptly turning around and stalking back into the warehouse without another word.

Sanji lets out a long breath and stares after him. At least Zoro’s not walking away from the job.

***

As if to test his luck, Sanji does what he’s been stalling on since they arrived at The House of Green and goes to find Pudding. According to Nami’s intel, Pudding and Reiju have dinner every night in the casino restaurant, at the same time on the dot. It gives him a tiny opening to catch Pudding alone, but he won’t shy away if he runs into Reiju. It’s just gonna get more complicated then.

Sanji doesn’t want to implicate Reiju and Pudding in what’s about to go down in Yonji’s casino. Despite everything, he doesn’t harbor any bad feelings towards either of them, and he’s seen first hand how much they both suffer at the hands of their families. While he was married to Pudding, he had hoped that their relationship could be like a respite from the rest of the family. Now, he hopes they can be that for each other.

Like the rest of the casino, the restaurant looks expensive: a thick red carpet that swallows every sound and must be expensive to clean; gold wallpaper that sports the Vinsmoke sigil ad infinitum; floor length windows that show off the impressive view over the city. Sanji hates everything about it.

It’s busy for an early evening, but Sanji spots Pudding immediately. Her long brown hair cascades down her back, and she wears a casual yellow dress that highlights her complexion. She seems relaxed and content, sitting in a booth with a glass of wine in front of her and looking out the window.

When Sanji slides into the seat opposite her, Pudding doesn’t look away from the blinking lights outside. “You’re almost 30 seconds late, I was about-” She finally looks over and knocks against her glass of red wine.

Sanji catches it and puts it back in front of her.

“Sanji.”

“Hello Pudding.” Sanji gives her one of his careless, bright smiles and wishes he could light a cigarette just to annoy her a little.

“What are you doing here?” Pudding stares at him with huge round eyes.

“I’m out.”

“You’re out.” She narrows her eyes at him before she takes a sip off her wine. “And the first place you show your face is a Vinsmoke casino?”

“Not exactly the first place,” Sanji concedes.

“Let me guess.” There’s a glint in Pudding’s eyes now as she puts her hands flat on the table in front of herself and leans forward. “You went to see Zoro first.”

Sanji raises an eyebrow in answer although the hand in his pocket tightens around his lighter. She shouldn’t know this.

“At least you stopped denying it,” Pudding comments with a smug smile.

“What makes you say that?” He can’t stop himself. He’s only realized his feelings while he was in prison, and he hasn’t seen her since. If she can tell, who else can?

“Sanji.” Pudding’s voice is suddenly softer, the way she’d talked to him when they’d first met. When both of them had been miserable, and yet hopeful to make something nice out of a pile of shit. “We’ve had a good run together, but even at the best of times, it was always Zoro this and Zoro that. I’m not that dense.”

“We did have a good time, didn’t we?” Sanji concentrates on that so he doesn’t have to engage with the latter part of her statement. He’d desperately tried to make it work, to fall in love with her beyond the initial excitement over a pretty face and the sensation of something new. He wouldn’t admit it, especially not to Pudding, but it had been doomed from the start with Zoro around. “Are you happy now?”

“I am.” Pudding gives him a small smile, almost shy before she hides behind her wine glass.

“Good.”

“Why are you really here, Sanji?”

He leans forward onto the table and studies her face. She hasn’t changed much. Warm brown eyes, a spotless complexion, one of the brightest smiles he’s ever seen. She has suffered by being part of her family as much as he has. “There’s only one reason I would be here, and we both know what it is.”

Pudding sits up straighter at that and glances around the restaurant without turning her head. Narrows her eyes at him. “The last time you pulled a stunt, you ended up in prison.”

He doesn’t point out that his last stunt was her idea. It would only ruin the mood. “I know what I’m doing.”

“And what are you doing, Sanji?” A cold voice says to his right. Reiju glances quickly at Pudding, as if to check whether the other woman is okay, before she looks down on Sanji with a blank face. “You’re out of prison, apparently, so what are you doing here? Do you want Judge to put you right back in?”

Sanji leans back in his chair so he can look at her without being stared down. “Judge is not here.”

For the fraction of a second, Reiju’s eyes flicker to a ceiling corner. “There’s always someone watching in here.”

As if he didn’t know that. “Judge is not watching security footage,” Sanji retorts. “He has better things to do. Like ruin people’s lives. And I’m not afraid of Yonji.”

Reiju narrows her eyes almost imperceptibly at him. “You haven’t changed.”

That is almost certainly a lie, but he’s not about to point that. Instead, he smirks. “Did you expect prison to do a job everyone else has given up on?”

This time Reiju sighs, a rare show of emotion. “What do you want, Sanji?”

For a second, Sanji hesitates. He hasn’t exactly coordinated this with Zoro. After their confrontation today, none of this might be a good idea. But Zoro knows him, and Sanji trusts Zoro. It works both ways. Or that’s what he’s betting on anyway. He glances one last time at Pudding before standing and fixing Reiju with a look. “You’re supposed to finish the inspection on the 13th.”

It’s not a question, but Reiju still nods in affirmation.

“If you can speed it up a day or two, finish it off before the fight, you should.” Sanji juts his chin forward and holds Reiju’s gaze. “Maybe go on a vacation or something. As a treat.” With a final smile, he knocks on the table in goodbye. “See you around.”

With his hands in his pockets and a smug smile on his face, Sanji strolls out of the restaurant. Now it’s in their hands. If they get caught up in this, it’s not his fault anymore.

He doesn’t notice the red-haired woman following him out of the restaurant with a pinched expression.

***

Two days later, Crocodile is in a bad mood because he had to watch the Vinsmokes blow up his precious pyramid. Still, he’s in the warehouse with the others, watching a trial run in the vault. The only one who’s missing is Usopp who hasn’t been seen by anyone since the day prior. Sanji’s not worried yet. Usopp is all excited about his job and it’s not necessary for him to attend all the practice runs. He’ll be busy elsewhere for most of the heist.

Franky, in a casino uniform that threatens to burst at the seams, moves the cart with Luffy into the fake vault. Everyone else is spread outside of the vault perimeter. Franky positions the cart in the middle of the vault, then leaves the vault and joins Sanji on the outside. There’s a sudden hush in the room until the lid pops open and Luffy audibly breathes in. His hands appear on both side of the cart.

Zoro marches towards the cart, all business. When he stops, he notably doesn’t put himself between the cart and the vault door. “So they’ve put you in the middle of the room, far from everything. You have to get from here to the door without touching the floor. What do you do?”

Luffy doesn’t reply while he hoists himself out and onto the cart into a squat.

“Any bets?” Nami drawls.

“1000 beri he butchers it,” Crocodile pipes up.

“2000 he doesn’t,” Nami retorts, a dangerous twinkle in her eyes.

Zoro and Luffy snort without turning around. There’s something here that still bothers Sanji. He’s heard the explanations about Robin, and he accepts them. That leaves Nami and Luffy. In all the years Sanji has worked with Zoro, he hasn’t met them once. Zoro hasn’t ever talked about them. But now they’re here, and they’re close. They have inside jokes. Zoro looks more relaxed than he has in years. And Sanji doesn’t like how that makes him feel, especially not about Nami who only deserves his best behavior.

Without further ado, Luffy jumps backwards on the hoof. With his hands outstretched, he clings to one of the safes behind him and slowly uncurls so his feet reach the top. He lets go of the safe with his hands and pulls himself into a crouch, then crabwalks towards the door. He grins first at Zoro, then at Nami, and finally gives Crocodile a bright-eyed smirk. Crocodile's face doesn’t show any kind of reaction, but the man pulls a roll of bills out of his jacket and puts a few into Nami’s outstretched hand.

Behind them, the door slams. Everyone turns to see Usopp stalking towards them, covered in what, judging from the smell, can only be feces.

Usopp comes to a stand a few meters away from them, his expression pinched. “We’re in deep shit.”

Sanji waves him over into a corner where there’s some tarp and a hose. At a second wave from Sanji, Jinbei steps forward and hoses Usopp down with the pressure on the highest setting. Usopp tries to relay his story while being sprayed, but he rambles and throws in all kinds of words that seem vaguely familiar, but don’t align to make any sense. “The damn demo crew didn't use a coaxial lynch to back the mainline! Onioned the mainframe couplet!”

Behind Sanji, Crocodile murmurs: “Do you understand any of that?”

“I’ll explain later,” Robin replies flatly.

“Blew the backup grid one by one! Like dominoes!” Usopp rants when a jet of water hits him right in the mouth and he starts coughing.

Sanji uses the moment to step in and get a grip on the conservation. “Usopp, what’s going on?”

When Usopp steps out of the water jet, Zoro hands him a towel from the side. Usopps does his best to dry himself, but he’s still wearing his dripping clothes, so it doesn’t have any effect. Calmer now, he explains that the destruction of Crocodile’s pyramid exposed the weakness in the electricity grid that Usopp had planned to use for the heist. Now, every handyman at the Vinsmokes’ disposal works to correct the weakness, making it unusable.

“So what?” Sanji prompts although it’s pretty obvious he’s not gonna like Usopp’s final verdict.

“So unless we decide to do this job in Skypeia, we’re screwed.”

Sanji kicks a metal scrap as hard as he can, catapulting it over the length of the warehouse until it hits the opposite wall with a deafening bang. He lights a cigarette and starts pacing. They need to disable the energy grid, otherwise Luffy is going to suffocate in the cart. And nobody is going to make it down to meet him in the vault.

“We could…,” Zoro starts.

Sanji turns to stare at him with narrowed eyes. “By tomorrow?”

“Fuck.” Zoro turns away, two fingers pinching his forehead.

Suddenly, Usopp lights up and lets his towel sink. “We could use a pinch.”

Sanji stops pacing and catches his eye, but doesn’t dare hope yet. “What is a pinch?”

Usopp explains that it’s a device that gives off an electromagnetic pulse that takes out any power source in its vicinity. Everyone is staring at Usopp with big eyes, except Robin who smirks.

Zoro shakes himself out of his stupor first. “For how long would it take out the power?”

“Ten seconds”.

It would be enough time to not kill Luffy which is all they need. “Could a pinch take out the power of an entire city? Like, I don't know…”

“Grand Line Central?” Usopp grimaces. “But there's only one pinch in the whole world big enough to handle it.”

“Where?” Sanji lights another cigarette on the first.

Usopp looks only a little bit guilty. “Punk Hazard.”

***

Sanji makes a quick calculation on who he’ll need to take. Zoro will stay at the casino to oversee the recording there, of course. Usopp has to come because he’s the only one who knows what the pinch even is. Except maybe Robin, but she’s better placed behind her security cameras. Chopper and Franky won’t separate even though one of them would be enough to drive the van. But Sanji knows how to pick his fights. That one is not worth it. He takes Luffy because the guy can carry more in one hand than most people carry in two. He takes Nami because he doesn’t want to leave her with Zoro. He doesn’t have a job for her exactly. A part of him feels guilty about it. The other, bigger part insists that this is his heist and he can do whatever he wants as long as it doesn’t disrupt anything. And Nami’s not needed anywhere else right now.

They’re pressed for time and Sanji has smoked one cigarette after the other since they’ve boarded the van. Nobody dares to complain about the smoke. Chopper and Franky bicker in the front seats which Sanji blocks out. It’s like ignoring chatter on a den den. Next to him, Luffy and Nami chat in low voices in Spanish again. That is easy to ignore because Sanji doesn’t understand one word of it. Usopp seems to be listening in although Sanji has no idea if Usopp actually speaks Spanish. Then, after a comment from Luffy, Usopp starts laughing. “That can’t be true.”

“Oh it’s true,” Nami confirms, switching into English. “Zoro is such an oaf.”

“Tonto,” Luffy snickers.

Before Sanji can ask, the van screeches to a halt. A look out of the window confirms that they’ve reached their destination. The huge research facility looks like someone vomited paint all over. The left side is covered in an icy blue, the right in a fiery orange and red. The colors meet and mesh in the middle, but not in a good way. More in a some-people-fought-over-how-much-space-their-color-was-allowed-to-take way. Sanji doesn’t know much about Punk Hazard, but he knows that it wouldn’t be very pleasant to be caught stealing a pinch, or even a nail, from this place. Which is why this is a stealth operation. Hopefully, he’s brought the right people for that.

Usopp picks up the small bag he’s prepared, and Luffy grabs a torchlight and some rope from the floor of the van. Sanji steps out first, Luffy and Usopp hot on his heels. When Nami tries to jump out behind them, Sanji shakes his head at her. “What are you doing?” He doesn’t need her inside. He needs her on alert out here because Chopper and Franky live in their own world and have the contextual awareness of five year old children.

“Coming with you?” Nami crosses her arms across her chest as if to dare him.

He shakes his head again and gives her his most charming smile. He should be nicer to her, but he can’t make himself. “Stay with the van.” With his head, he indicates the two drivers who are currently debating if a slot or a Philipps screwdriver is the superior tool.

“But!” Nami stares daggers at him, but shuts her mouth when she sees he’s serious.

Still smiling, Sanji shuts the door in her face.

Usopp indicates one of the several doors they could be entering and Sanji picks it without triggering the alarms. He holds the door open for Usopp because he’s the one who knows where they have to go and what this pinch looks like. An hour ago, Sanji didn’t even know they’d need a whole van to transport it. Luffy and Sanji follow Usopp as quietly as they can, and Luffy keeps his torchlight down. They avoid the security cameras which Robin has indicated for them beforehand.

It doesn’t take them long to locate the pinch. In a matter of minutes, Usopp has screwed it loose from its mount and Luffy has installed the ropes so they can easily lower it down. Luffy holds the ropes while Sanji and Usopp take the pinch, then cleans up after them without a sound and they’re back out of the building and at the van. Once the pinch is secured inside, all three of them file into the car and Franky floors it.

Sanji grins first at Usopp, then at Luffy. And stills. “Wait a minute.”

Franky immediately breaks, rocking the pinch. Usopp lets out an alarmed squeak and throws himself at the pinch to see if anything is out of place.

“Where’s Nami?”

“Probablemente se aburrió,” Luffy snarks.

Not a second later, light floods Punk Hazard and a blazing alarm goes off.

“Fuck,” Sanji curses under his breath while Luffy starts laughing of all things. Out of the back window, Sanji spots Nami running along a part of the roof. There’s guards following her from both sides. Then she’s suddenly gone and the guards crash into each other, tumbling off the roof. Sanji curses again as Usopp and Luffy press close to him to look out of the window as well.

“Esto no se ve bien. Siempre se aburro muy rápido. ¡No puede dejarse atrapar aquí, todavía la necesitamos!” Luffy mutters beside him, and Usopp nods in agreement. Whatever.

“One of us should help her,” Chopper pipes up.

“Then there’d be two of us who need help,” Usopp remarks.

Sanji can’t agree more. Nami should have stayed in the van, like he’d told her. This was a done deal already. They got the pinch without triggering any alarms. So no one is allowed to leave the van. Nami has to get her ass back here herself.

As if on cue, Nami appears again by smashing a window with a chair, two stories above them. She scrambles out of the window onto a another roof. The alarm is still blaring, but there’s no security guards in sight.

“Back up the car, Franky,” Sanji snaps.

They drive as close to the building as they can get while Nami runs along the roof. She jumps onto the van and rolls down over the windshield. Chopper gesticulates to her through the window to get in the back and Sanji reopens the back doors. Luffy appears next to him and both of them grab a hand each to pull Nami inside. Franky floors the gas again and the car jumps forward, shutting the door on Luffy’s hand.

“Mierda mierda mierda!” Luffy screams and Sanji doesn’t need to know Spanish to understand that. He grabs the door shut with too much force while Usopp jumps to Luffy’s side, inspecting his hand.

Sanji turns on Nami. “I say stay in the van, you stay in the van, got it? If you lose focus for one second in this game, someone gets hurt.”

Nami scowls. “I got it.” She mutters something under her breath that sounds like “culo”, but Sanji has had enough of this. He shoves past her to where Usopp is gingerly holding Luffy’s hand. Even though they have the pinch, he can tell from Usopp’s face that Luffy’s hand is busted.

***

Back at the casino, Sanji and Nami climb out of the van alone. Because of the dent this trip has put into their timeline, Franky and Chopper are gonna deposit Usopp and the pinch in the warehouse, change, and return to deliver Luffy in his cart. Luffy has assured them on the ride back that he was fine, bandaging his hand with Nami’s help. Sanji has to accept it. He needs Luffy, and when the guy thinks he can do it, Sanji will take it. He doesn’t have any other contortionists he can just knock out.

Sanji hasn’t exchanged a word with Nami for the rest of the trip and he doesn’t intend to change that now. He might have been worried, jealous even earlier, but now he is pissed. She is here on Zoro’s insistence, and they need her, too, but Sanji doesn’t have to like any part of it.

When they enter the casino from the side entrance, Zoro falls into step with them. When Sanji looks over at Zoro, he gives him a bright smile and Sanji can’t help but smile back.

Once they’re in the elevator, Zoro looks between them with a smirk. “You guys have a good trip?”

Nami scowls at him. Sanji opens his mouth, but before he can say anything, the elevator door opens again.

Robin’s on the other side, looking at them with heavy eyes. “We have a problem.”

They follow her back into the suite. Crocodile and Mihawk are sitting in a corner and talking to each other in hushed voices. From the bathroom, there’s the sound of sloshing water and Soul King humming. Robin hastens over to her computers and turns one of the screens around. It shows what looks like a bounty poster, complete with a picture of Sanji and his official criminal history.

Fuck. Sanji’s heart sinks even though he knew this might be coming.

Robin is all business when she speaks. “You’ve been red-flagged by the casino. The moment you step on the casino floor, they’ll be watching you. Like hawks. Hawks with video den dens.”

Sanji swallows, wrecking his brain. “This is a problem,” he says slowly. What was the fucking plan?

Everyone present is staring at them. Soul King’s humming continues faintly in the background. Nobody dares to move, except of course Zoro. “Brook, get out and your ass over here.”

“I get out when I feel like it,” Soul King drawls.

“Now!” Zoro barks.

There’s more whooshing of water as Brook heaves himself out of the bathtub, not even muttering under his breath. Sanji’s thoughts are racing. He and Zoro absolutely talked this through. They have backup plans of backup plans. Or did he really mess up when he went to talk to Pudding and Reiju? He didn’t and doesn’t want them caught in the crossfire. And at this point, Reiju wouldn’t sell him out. Or would she?

“I’m out.” Brook arrives in the main room in a bathing robe that barely conceals his legs, but Sanji doesn’t have the bandwidth do complain about that right now.

Zoro finally turns to Sanji, eyebrows raised. “Do you have any idea how this happened?”

While Sanji is still trying to come up with a good answer, Nami pipes up. “I do. He’s been chasing Reiju’s girlfriend. They got into an argument two nights ago.”

Sanji stares at her with wide eyes. How the fuck does she know that?

His face must have betrayed him somehow because she answers his unspoken question. “I’ve been trailing you.” She doesn’t even sound sorry when she says it.

The fury from Punk Hazard is suddenly back, stoked by this brazenness. Partly fueled by insecurity and jealousy, but he shoves that thought away. “Who told you to do that?”

“I did.”

Sanji closes his eyes, but forces himself not to visibly slump. When he opens them again, he turns to face Zoro. Of course. Zoro knows him too well for his own good. He has threatened to leave over something like this. And Sanji, like the ass that he is, hasn’t told him he would warn his sister, so now it looks like he’s betrayed Zoro of all people. After they talked it out.

“I knew you couldn’t leave Pudding alone,” Zoro shrugs, as if this is not a big deal.

“I told you-” Sanji starts although he’s not sure he can repeat what he told Zoro in front of everyone else.

“Who’s Pudding?” Crocodile’s voice cuts across his from across the room.

Sanji doesn’t bother to look at him, keeping his eyes on Zoro. “My ex wife.”

“Pudding is here?” Brook, apparently, is slow to follow the plot of the day.

Sanji searches Zoro’s face, but it’s closed off. No miniature movements, no hints. Like when he’s running a con. Dread creeps up Sanji’s spine. He should know what to do. What is the fucking plan?

“I’m sorry,” Zoro finally says, and he sounds it too. “I didn’t know if it would sting you, but it did.” Zoro lifts one of his eyebrows, and Sanji knows the blow is coming. “You’re out, curly.”

“He’s out!?” Crocodile almost screeches and looks as if he wants to physically throw himself between them. Mihawk’s hand appears on Crocodile’s arm to hold him back, and Crocodile deflates immediately.

Zoro doesn’t even look at them, eyes still on Sanji. “It’s that or we shut down everything right now. His involvement puts us all at risk.”

Zoro’s right. Of course he’s right. Sanji’s anger and the stress of the day threaten to overwhelm his thinking. There must be a plan. He’s sure of it. He’s about to protest again when the memory hits him. Back in Crocodile’s mansion, before they revealed their plan, Zoro offered to take care of this particular problem. Because Sanji could never take the codes from Yonji. And Sanji had promised to follow his lead. He holds tight onto his anger before it can deflate. “This isn’t your call,” he finally hisses.

A miniature shift in Zoro’s stance. They’re on the same page now. “You made it my call. When you put her ahead of us, you made it mine.” Zoro’s stare is hard, but something in his shoulders has relaxed.

“This is my job!” Sanji takes a step forward as if to grab Zoro by his collar.

“Not anymore.”

Sanji curses and turns around. A look at Nami tells him that she neither wanted nor expected this development which means that they pulled it off. With more force than necessary, he stalks out onto the balcony and if the door wasn’t glass, he’d bang it shut behind himself.

He carefully keeps his back to the others so that nobody sees him smiling. He barely manages to finish his first cigarette before Zoro comes to stand next to him, elbows on the railing.

“You told Nami to trail me.”

It’s not a question, but Zoro answers anyway. “I figured it would be better if the accusation came from someone who isn’t me. Makes it more believable.”

“You know this is not about Pudding, don’t you?” Sanji shouldn’t ask. But he’s afraid Pudding is going to come between them for real. Again.

Zoro stares down at the twinkling lights of the city below them. “You warned them, didn’t you?”

“I didn’t tell them the plan,” Sanji clarifies.

“I know.” Zoro finally turns, leaning with his side against the railing. There’s amusement visible in his good eye. “It worked, by the way. Robin saw them leave the casino after lunch with all of their luggage.”

Something uncurls itself in Sanji’s stomach and he lets out a sigh of relief. “So who red-flagged me?”

Zoro shrugs. “Probably Yonji.”

Sanji hums in agreement. After he lights another cigarette, he eyes Zoro out of the corner of his eye. “So what’s the plan?”

“I thought you’d never ask.”

While Zoro explains the plan he’s come up with, Sanji slowly puffs on his cigarette and stares down at the city. The plan has backup plans, like every plan Zoro makes. If they weren’t about to rob his birth family blank, Sanji would swoon right here and now. Instead, he agrees to every bit of Zoro’s plan with glee, his former anger mostly forgotten. He still can’t let go off his insecurity about Nami though, and if he doesn’t get it out of the way now, it might ruin the rest of the operation. He’s not making the mistake of not talking to Zoro again.

So when everything’s settled and they stand side by side, looking out at the city lights, Sanji blurts out: “What’s Nami to you?”

Zoro sighs as if he expected and dreaded this question. He grits his teeth. “She’s my best friend.”

The words hit harder than Sanji expected them to. For a second, he can’t speak and then the most pathetic thing leaves his mouth. “I thought I was your best friend.”

Zoro snorts. He’s in Sanji’s personal space before Sanji really registers what is happening, so close that Sanji feels Zoro’s breath on his skin. One of Zoro’s hands cups his cheek, warm and comforting, the other boxes him in against the railing. Zoro holds his gaze with a small smile. “You, Sanji Black, are something different altogether.”

Before Sanji can react to that, Zoro retreats back into the suite and closes the balcony door behind himself. Sanji stares after him, his heart thundering in his chest, his cigarette trembling between his fingers.

Chapter Text

Sanji smokes three more cigarettes to calm himself down. He returns to the suite lighter on his feet than he’s been since he was forced to marry Pudding. Inside, Zoro and Robin look intently at Robin’s screens but both look up when he closes the balcony door. Robin’s look is inscrutable. Zoro has the audacity to wink at him. Sanji ignores them and the flutter in his chest. Everyone else has left, hopefully to get on with the plan. That he’s officially not a part of anymore.

One of the doors leading into the living room opens and reveals Nami, clad in a white suit, a light blue blouse and some killer heels. She locks eyes with him for a moment, and a range of emotions pass over Nami’s face, settling on defiance. Sanji glares at her for good measure although he has never been more delighted and benevolent to see her. She’ll do her job much better than he ever could have.

Sanji turns abruptly and leaves the suite. Before the door closes behind him, he hears Zoro’s voice. “Where are you gonna put your hands?”

Trying not to swagger too much, Sanji makes his way over to the elevator and down onto the casino floor. He immediately spots Jinbei, towering over a blackjack table dealing cards. They lock eyes for a second, but ever the professional, Jinbei doesn’t show any sign that they know each other. Since he’s been working down here during the disagreement in the suite, he doesn’t know anything about what happened. It doesn’t matter either way. Everything’s about to fall into place beautifully. Sanji strolls over to the machines, choosing one at random and sitting down. He pushes some money in and pulls the lever. Cherries and berries and clovers fly by, but Sanji doesn’t really pay attention. He’s checking the state of the floor to gauge where they’re at in the plan. The only people who will be able to see the big picture from now on are Zoro and Robin. If Sanji didn’t trust Zoro with his life, this would be a lot scarier.

The floor is packed. Just as they calculated, people have been flooding to Grand Line Central for the big fight between Trafalgar and Doflamingo, and everyone who doesn’t have a ticket, which means most people, is in one of the many casinos right now. Where else would they be in Grand Line Central?

At 7 pm sharp, Yonji appears on the top of the stairs like he has since Nami started trailing him, only today he’s on his own. Yonji talks to his pit manager for a bit, sticking to the process Reiju taught him. A few moments later, Yonji walks onto the floor and greets Soul King who’s in the grey Ma suit Sanji bought for him. They talk shortly, walk together to the casino entrance and return followed by Franky and Chopper, and with a black case on Soul King’s arm. That would be the delivery of the explosives.

Yonji ushers Soul King into the backrooms, but dismisses Chopper and Franky. Just as planned. While they’re leaving, Chopper and Franky are bickering again. Lost in their own world, they don’t spot Sanji. With a smug smile, he moves over to another machine, puts in some money, and pulls the lever.

DING! DING! DING! DING! Four red cherries smile down at Sanji. He smirks at the good omen for the night and stands immediately. He can’t cash in a prize right now, there’s a much bigger one waiting for him somewhere else. Instead, he smiles charmingly at an elderly women next to him, gently jostles her in front of his own machine and pats her shoulder. “You’ve won, Ma’am.”

“Oh dear, really?” She smiles brightly up at him.

He nods at her one last time and when he turns, Nami steps out of one of the elevators. There’s a folder tucked under her arm and if she’s nervous at all, Sanji can’t make it out from the distance. Without drawing attention to herself and looking like she belongs, Nami strides over to the doors leading into the back and idles there for Yonji to return. It had always been the most ludicrous idea that Sanji could have been the one to do it. Yonji would never trust him and would have thrown him out of the casino even if he hadn’t red-flagged him already.

As soon as the door opens and Yonji appears, this time without Soul King, Nami launches into action. She shows off her ID and doesn’t give Yonji much room to talk. She didn’t even have to bother. Even from his spot out of the fray, Sanji can identify the look Yonji gives her and in any other situation, Sanji would have socked him for it. Now he just idly pulls another machine lever and deliberately catches Yonji’s eye as his brother directs Nami over the pit. Yonji scowls and discreetly waves two security guards over. Impossible to tell what they’re talking about, but the gist is clear. Yonji isn’t happy that Sanji is here, and that none of his people have spotted him yet.

Sanji weaves through the people at the slot machines. It’s only a matter of time until security will drag him away. The guards have stepped away from Yonji and gone off in the opposite direction, but there’s no doubt they’ll be back. Or someone else in their stead. Sanji catches sight of Nami and Yonji when they come back out onto the pit and make their way towards Jinbei. That’s good news. Up in the suite, Luffy should be stuffed into a casino cart with no air to breathe right about now. As if on cue, another elevator door dings open, revealing Chopper and Franky, now in casino uniforms. They push a cart towards the backrooms where they make a scene. As Sanji raises to follow them, two people step into his path. They look like regular customers, dressed in leather pants, and wearing ridiculous cowboy hats like so many people do when they come to Grand Line Central, for reasons utterly unclear to Sanji. Despite their questionable looks, Sanji smiles brightly at them. They don’t smile back. Just like in prison.

“Mr. Vinsmoke would like to see you, Mr. Black,” one of them says and gestures towards the backrooms.

Sanji covers up a snort with a cough. “I thought he might,” he muses. Are they paying these people enough not to notice the similarities between his and Yonji’s faces? Or are they too ignorant to notice? Either way, Yonji probably doesn’t like his employees to butt into his personal business, but he also can’t afford to employ people who are slow on the uptake. Paid off then.

He follows them without making a fuss. He’s not here to make a fuss. Yet. Besides, this is all part of the plan. The plan Zoro made and Sanji trusts is going to work. Because if not, he’s gonna end up beaten to a pulp by one of Yonji’s goons, and won’t be able to participate in the heist. The one job he really desperately wants to pull off without being caught. Just to dangle it in his family’s face. From a safe distance.

The goons guide him into the back corridor for which he almost thanks them. This is exactly where he wants to be. They open a door to a nondescript room with no cameras. Ask him to sit on a rickety chair while they close the door and stand guard at both sides of it. As if he would try to run. This is his fucking alibi.

Doesn’t mean he can’t have fun. “How long do you think Mr. Vinsmoke is gonna be?”

“Just a few minutes more,” the taller one says.

Sanji makes a show of scanning the room. “No cameras in this room, huh? Don't want anyone seeing what happens here?”

They don’t answer. Boring, really. Exactly like prison. A sneak peek into his immediate future. The least Yonji could do, if he insists on keeping him here, would be to supply entertaining guards. Sanji deliberately looks at his watch. It would be very obvious by now, even if Zoro hadn’t told him on the balcony that Yonji has booked three extremely expensive escort girls to accompany him to the fight tonight which he’s certainly not going to ditch for Sanji. “He’s not coming, is he?”

Again, no answer from the goons. Sanji suppresses a sigh. By now, Nami should have gotten the codes off Yonji, Jinbei will be fired, and Luffy hopefully isn’t suffocating yet. When the knock comes, both goons smirk at him as if their scheme isn’t transparent. The smaller guy opens the door only to reveal Gin. He’s beefed up in the years since Sanji last saw him, but dresses in his usual hideous sweatband that wasn’t even cool in the 80s.

Sanji eyes him wearily, but addresses the goons. “I guess Mr. Vinsmoke didn’t like that I was talking to his sister.” Not that Yonji could ever stop him.

Both goons shake their heads and grin. They’ve gotten a lot more animated since Gin arrived.

“We’re gonna step outside now and leave you two to talk things over,” the taller one announces, and with that, they’re gone.

Sanji stands and faces Gin, hands in his pockets. When he opens his mouth to speak, Gin punches him right in the jaw. Sanji curses and retreats, hiding his jaw behind a hand. “Fuck Gin, didn’t Zoro tell you this part comes later?”

“Sorry Sanji, I forgot.” Gin looks at him sheepishly while shaking his hand out.

Sanji tests his jaw and shakes his head lightly as if that would help disperse the pain. When he looks back at Gin, he huffs a laugh. “It’s okay. How’s the Don?”

“On a new crusade,” Gin offers warily.

Sanji decides not to comment on that. Don Krieg is on a new crusade every other week. It wrecks his men each time, and yet Gin stays like a loyal dog. Sanji has long since stopped trying to get the other man out of that mess. It’s a miracle Gin is here now. Zoro has never liked the guy, has even refused to talk to him on a couple of occasions. Not that Gin would have noticed with how fixated he’s always been on Sanji. The fact that Zoro asked Gin for help really drives home how desperately Zoro wants to make the plan work.

“Let’s get you out of here,” Gin suggests, already squatting down. Sanji uses Gin’s hands as a foothold to climb onto his shoulders. When Gin stands up, Sanji reaches up to the ceiling to keep himself steady. Once they’re secure, Gin punches into his hands and Sanji acts out a groan for the benefit of the guards outside, and to hide the sound of pushing the ceiling rafter in the corner out of the way. He hoists himself up, Gin already stepping away to kick the table. Sanji leaves Gin behind without another look back.

He crawls through the ceiling until he reaches the elevator shaft and checks his watch. Before he’s been escorted from the casino floor, he’d seen Nami and Yonji head for Jinbei. They should be done by now with their ‘interrogation’. Which means Yonji should be on his way off the premises, and Nami should be on her way to the elevator.

Sanji moves onto the inert elevator and spots the emergency hatch immediately. He waits another ten seconds for good measure before he pulls the hatch open and lets it swing open. Nami stares up at him, her hand suspended in midair, as if she was about to push the hatch open from inside. Several emotions flash over Nami’s face, too fast for Sanji to make sense of.

He directs his brightest smile at her. “Did you really think I was gonna sit this out?” Before she can answer that, he grabs her hand still in the air and pulls her straight up onto the top of the elevator. As Nami regains her balance, Sanji chucks his jacket and dress shirt off to reveal a tight black t-shirt and a rappelling line.

Nami glowers at him before she steps out of the white suit and blue dress shirt. Underneath, she’s wearing black leggings and a shirt not unlike Sanji’s, as well as her own rappelling line. “How did you even get here?”

“Crawlspace,” Sanji shrugs nonchalantly as if crawling through dirty air vents didn’t bother him at all. He rolls Nami’s clothes into his own and hides them in the air vent that he came through before he closes the elevator hatch and walks over to the ladder that leads down past the elevator.

“What about your fight with Zoro?” Nami is so close he can feel her breath in his neck, but then she stops and groans. “Did you seriously con us?”

Sanji can’t help but snort. He turns around to climb down which brings him face to face with a very annoyed Nami. “It’s what we do.”

“You are such assholes,” she snarls. “I hate you both.”

“We’ve known from the beginning that I might get red-flagged,” Sanji shrugs. It skirts dangerously close to his family ties, but Nami is more likely to think this is about Pudding. “We needed a plan for that.” Without waiting for her answer, he climbs down towards the underside of the elevator.

Despite her obvious anger, Nami follows him. They secure their rappelling lines to the bottom of the elevator. Sanji is acutely aware of the fact that they’re hanging over a deep well of nothing but a concrete floor. His fingers around the rope tighten.

“I still can’t quite believe you got red-flagged because of your ex, and Zoro made a backup plan for that,” Nami muses, her voice carefully level.

Sanji shrugs because what is there to say? He doesn’t know Nami well enough to tell her about his family, and Zoro obviously didn’t tell her either.

Nami sighs and fixes him with a stern look. “He would do anything for you,” she starts, and Sanji’s heart leaps into his throat. But Nami doesn’t give him a chance to speak anyway. “If you hurt him, I’ll track you down, and I’ll make sure no one will ever find what’s left of you.”

So Nami’s been aware of Zoro’s feelings. It explains her wariness, her knowing looks, the distance from which she’s observed him. She is, in Zoro’s words, his best friend, and she’s looking out for him. Sanji can’t fault her for that. He clears his throat. “I have no intention of hurting him.”

Nami hums as if she has to think about this, but her reply comes too fast for that. “You did in the past. Don’t do it again.”

If he was still wondering why Nami sold him out earlier, Sanji can stop now. All she saw was Sanji seeking out his ex wife, and Zoro getting upset about it. Without the knowledge about Sanji’s connection to Reiju, the whole situation can only look one way. “I won’t,” he vows before he changes the subject. “Who do you like tonight?”

“What?” Nami’s head snaps up from where she’s been checking her line.

“Trafalgar or Donquixote?”

Nami scoffs once she understands he’s talking about the fight. “Law obviously.”

“Law?”

“He’s Luffy’s… “ Nami pauses, searching for the right word, “person. And Doflamingo’s an asshole.”

“He certainly seems like one,” Sanji agrees even though he’s only ever seen the other man from afar. There’s a story here, but there’s no time to inquire about it right now.

Nami smirks, then checks her watch. “Do you think Brook’s down already?”

Checking his own watch, Sanji nods. Then he taps his ear piece. “Robin, we’re ready.”

If everything’s going as planned, Zoro should be escorting Brook out of the casino watch room with Chopper and Franky in tow. Once they’re out, Usopp will flip the pinch to cut the electricity for ten seconds. Enough time for them to get to the bottom of the elevator shaft. Hopefully. Both Sanji and Nami peer into the darkness below them.

“Did you ever rappell before?” Nami asks, her voice a bit higher than usual.

“No, you?”

“No,” she breathes, clinging to her rope.

Staring down, Sanji feels like the darkness only gets darker while he looks into it. Without warning, the lights from the elevator go out.

“Let’s go!” Sanji disables the security on his line and plunges into the now complete darkness. He can more feel than see Nami falling right next to him. The air whooshes past them until they stop abruptly some 5 meters above the ground.

“Fuck.”

As quickly as he can, Sanji pulls a knife free from his pants pocket and cuts both lines in one sweep motion. They tumble to the ground and their lines zip back up. Nami rolls over her shoulder like a professional while Sanji lands on his ass with a curse. Above them, faint lights switch back on.

Nami holds a hand out for him. “You okay?”

“Sure.” He takes her hand and lets himself be pulled up. He pretends his ass doesn’t hurt as he cautiously approaches the elevator door that starts at his chest level. As silently as he can, he pries it open. Nami is on her tiptoes behind him, trying to look through the slit. In the corridor, three guards with machine guns are looking around with confused expressions. Likely wondering why the light had been cut. They talk among each other and turn to inspect the vault door. Sanji exchanges a glance with Nami. As one, they toss gas canisters into the corridor and get away from the door.

Thud. Thud Thud.

Sanji peeks into the corridor again to confirm that all three guards have gone down. When Nami moves to pull herself up, Sanji grabs her wrist to stop her. He shakes his head and gestures towards the corridor, hoping she gets the hint. If they don’t want to join the guards on the floor, they need to wait a bit. He eyes his watch and lets Nami’s wrist go after fifteen more seconds, then pulls himself up after her into the corridor.

Nami walks confidently towards the vault, but when she speaks, her voice betrays her. “Do you think Luffy made it out okay?”

“I’m sure he’s fine,” Sanji reassures her. “But you know him better than I do.”

With a nod, Nami pulls the codes she took off Yonji from her pants pocket and unfolds the paper to punch in the code for the antechamber. They exchange a nervous glance. After what feels like an eternity, the door opens.

Sanji can’t help the smile that sneaks onto his face. They’re almost there. To the treasure. And his life insurance.

The vault door in front of them is huge, all sleek steel and supposedly impenetrable. As far as Sanji is concerned, it’s only as impenetrable as you can realistically make something. Tough luck for the Vinsmokes that Usopp is the best at what he does.

“Fuck.” Nami’s eyes roam over the vault door, assessing. It certainly hits different seeing it in person.

Sanji claps his hands. “There’s 160 million beri and a Spanish speaking guy behind that door. Let’s get him out.” Sanji smiles brightly at Nami as he unrolls a wire that he’d stashed in his back pockets.

Nami watches him with a raised eyebrow. “You know Luffy speaks English, don’t you?”

Sanji stills. “What?”

Nami doubles over from laughter. There’s actual tears falling out of her eyes. When she straightens back up, she has trouble keeping her face straight. “Luffy is perfectly capable of speaking English. Teachers have been giving him shit for talking out of turn, so he started sticking to Spanish exclusively in high school. It kinda stuck.”

“You guys went to high school together?”

“Yes.” Nami checks her papers again for the codes to the vault. “Which is why Luffy is going to help me dispose of your body if you ever hurt Zoro.”

Sanji groans. “I’m not gonna hurt him, okay?”

“I believe it when I see it,” Nami mutters before she flashes him a bright smile. “Let’s do this.”

Sanji unrolls his wire and slaps the vault door. If everything went according to plan, Luffy should be out of the cart and, ideally, already next to the vault door. But since his hand is hurt, courtesy of Nami, it’s possible that his jump got delayed. Or went wrong.

Sanji slaps the vault door again with as much force as he can muster. Finally, there’s a slap back. Sanji grins at Nami who has come up next to the pad of the vault. She plunges in the numbers and Sanji installs the wire like Usopp has shown him in the replica. Luffy is setting up the small explosives that Brook left in the vault for him exactly at the spaces that Sanji is wiring.

There’s two slaps from Luffy’s side, the sign that he finished his part of the job and will jump away from the door. Sanji slaps twice back to signal that they’re ready as well, and will detonate in twenty seconds. Eyeing his watch and counting under his breath, Sanji retreats from the vault with Nami at his side, unrolling the wire further at the same time until there’s nothing left except the detonator. When he’s counted down to zero, Sanji presses the switch.

Nothing happens.

Sanji turns the detonator in his hands. He doesn’t know anything about this part of the job, this is all Usopp. He presses the switch again. Nothing. He looks over at Nami for help.

She raises an eyebrow. “Did you check the batteries?”

The color drains from his checks. He did not check the batteries. Nami rolls her eyes and hurries back into the corridor. She searches the guards while Sanji pries open the small device in his hands and takes the batteries out.

Nami strolls back, holding two batteries from the guards’ flashlights. “You know, you lose focus for one second in this game-”

“And someone gets hurt, haha.” Sanji huffs at hearing his own words redirected at himself. She’s right, and she’s annoying. “I don’t hear Luffy complaining about it.” He takes the batteries from her and shoves them into the detonator while he walks back towards the vault door. He slaps twice to warn Luffy and makes his way back to Nami.

He doesn’t wait 20 seconds this time. Luffy had enough time to leave. He just presses the detonator. There’s several small blasts instead of the big showy explosions Usopp is usually known for. It sounds more like popping corn than blowing up a vault.

Nami looks unconvinced. Because he’s the boss, even though Zoro officially kicked him off his own operation, Sanji waves Nami over to the door. She hesitates one more second before she goes and pulls.

The door opens without a hitch and Sanji grins. This is it.

He strolls into the vault after Nami as if it’s his. If his family life had been any different, it might have been. While Nami makes her way over to the racks on the walls, Sanji crouches down in the middle of the vault where the carts have been reduced to dust. He feels for small irregularities in the floor. When he finds them, he pulls out his knife to pry open the almost invisible compartment. The micro SD is secured in a shell, and both of them have survived the explosion. Sanji stares at it for a long moment. All the background information Judge has on his children to keep them in line, and information on the Charlotte family to keep them tethered to the Vinsmokes. Obviously, Judge has other copies elsewhere. But if he releases any of his information on Sanji after this, Sanji has something to counter it with. Probably enough to take down the whole family. He lets himself smirk to himself and pockets the memory card. Before he turns back towards Nami, he closes the compartment, swipes his foot over it to cover it with dust and schools his expression into mildly interested in whatever Nami has found.

Nami pulls one rack open. Without warning, Luffy’s head appears, his hair an even bigger mess than usual. Nami takes a step back in surprise.

“What the fuck have you two been doing!” Luffy complains while he scrambles out of the rack.

Nami smacks him over the head, apparently recovered from her shock. “Quit complaining!”

After that, they pack away the money and sit down onto the now full bags to wait for the others. He would kill for a cigarette, but that would definitely trigger the smoke alarm, and the jig would be up immediately. He tugs at his hair instead while Nami and Luffy quietly talk to each other, but the sound just washes over Sanji.

Finally, several people come down on rappelling lines through the elevator shaft. Sanji immediately sits up straighter, eyes on the slit in the elevator door. The doors are pushed slightly apart to reveal a SWAT helmet.

“Night goggles on,” Zoro’s distorted voice comes from the elevator, “prepare to cut power.”

Suddenly, everything goes dark and Zoro steps out of the elevator. The only light is coming from the SWAT night vision lamps until Jinbei turns on a flashlight. Zoro pushes a bag over the floor that stops directly in front of Nami’s and Luffy’s feet.

Nami and Zoro exchange a glance before Zoro barks: “First wave in! Second wave now!”

Usopp and Chopper climb out of the elevator behind Zoro, run on the spot and pant loudly into their microphones, trying not to laugh. Nami and Luffy pull SWAT uniforms out of the bag Zoro has pushed at them and change into the gear.

Nami has one leg into her SWAT uniform when she grins at Zoro. “Guys, someone’s here!” She manages to sound genuinely panicked.

Zoro extends a hand to Sanji without a word while Nami and Luffy finish suiting up and the others carry the money bags towards the elevator. With a smirk, Sanji drops the micro SD into Zoro’s hand and lets his fingers linger for a second. Zoro holds his gaze when he disappears the memory card into his gear.

After a last look at Sanji, Zoro goes into position. “Take him down, now!” He barks.

There’s more commotion from the others while Sanji slinks back into the elevator shaft and away from the cameras. He can hear Zoro shooting blanks into the air. Something explodes in the vault.

“Light! We need power. NOW!” Zoro shouts into his mic.

Lights, and with it the cameras come back on.

“What’s the situation down there?” Yonji’s voice comes crackling through Zoro’s mic.

“They blew it. They blew the…” Zoro sounds genuinely distraught. He’s always been too good at conning people. “Oh fuck… If there was anyone in there, they’re not in one piece anymore.”

Sanji grins. He has to suppress the sudden urge to kiss Zoro because that would definitely blow their cover. Instead, he makes his way back up the elevator shaft, collects his jacket from where he stored it what feels like a lifetime ago and returns to the crawlspace.

The sound of Gin kicking and grunting reverberates until two corners before Sanji reaches his destination. Sanji robs towards the open ceiling panel and peers down. Gin spots him immediately and kicks a chair for good measure before he comes over to the corner to lend Sanji a hand to climb down. They close the hole in the ceiling and Gin punches his own hand one last time. Sanji gets into position and braces for impact.

Gin doesn’t hold anything back. In a matter of minutes, everything hurts. Sanji’s left eye is already swelling shut. His lip is bleeding and his jaw is going to bruise. As are his rips. He’s also, incidentally, lying on the floor by now and tries to shield his head as best as he can while Gin kicks him wherever he can reach.

The door is yanked open without warning. Gin steps away from Sanji’s body on the floor and takes a handkerchief out of his pocket to clean his knuckles. What a bastard. Where did he even get the idea for that move? Sanji doesn’t make any move to stand up and squints at his brother from the floor instead. Yonji is blocking the door as if Sanji would run away now. This is still his alibi.

“Heyyyyy Yonji,” he greets. “How’s the other fight going?” Hopefully, Trafalgar has won. That would be the icing on the cake. Sanji sits up slowly and feels his rips. Not broken. Not yet anyway.

Yonji stares down at him with narrowed eyes. “Did you have a hand in this?”

Sanji doesn’t answer, just stares back. What’s there to say? He’s been beaten to a pulp.

“Did you?” Yonji repeats, a growl in his voice.

“Did I have a hand in what?” Sanji finally asks, still on the floor, eyes as wide as he can get them in his state.

Yonji’s gaze flicks to Gin who’s standing in the corner and attempting to clean his hands with a dry handkerchief. Yonji looks between them once before he steps out into the corridor. “Get him out of here,” he says to someone out of Sanji’s field of vision.

The two guards from before step in, still wearing their ridiculous cowboy hats. They yank Sanji to his feet unceremoniously and drag him out of the room. Sanji leans into them more than he technically has to. This con isn’t over yet. At least not for him. He really hopes that Zoro remembered to call the marines. After all, Sanji is in violation of his parole by being in a casino. And the safest place for him to be right now is out of his family’s reach.

The cowboys drag Sanji along while Yonji trails behind them.

Sanji braces himself internally. “You get robbed or something, Yonji?” He looks over is shoulder and catches the moment that Yonji falters. “Geez, that’s a shame.”

“Stop right there.” Yonji stalks around his cowboys to look Sanji in the eye. “Where. is. my. money.”

Sanji looks at Yonji through his lashes. His brother’s face distorts in rage. There’s no way to tell if Yonji knows or not without asking. “Are you sure the money’s the most important thing in your vault?”

The cowboys exchange a look that tells Sanji they certainly don’t know what he’s talking about. But Yonji turns pale almost instantly. “You didn’t!” Then he visibly wrangles his emotions until his face is a blank mask again. “Frisk him.”

One of the cowboys fixes Sanji’s hands onto his back which wouldn’t be an obstacle for Sanji under normal circumstances. Or if he wanted to escape right now. But it hurts with all the damage Gin has dealt him. The other cowboy starts frisking him but clearly has no idea what he’s looking for because he holds up the lighter and cigarettes questioningly at Yonji. Yonji yanks them out of the cowboy’s hands and riffles through the pack as if Sanji would ever hide the micro chip somewhere where Yonji could find it. When he comes up empty, Yonji throws everything to the floor and glares at Sanji as if he's hoping that one angry look from him would get Sanji to talk. That ship has sailed a long time ago.

Sanji shrugs as best as he can with his hands still bend at his back. “Too bad I didn’t have anything to do with it.”

Yonji stares another moment before he schools his face back into the blank mask his family has cultivated for years. He addresses his guards when he speaks next. “Escort Mr. Black to the exit. And contact the marines. Mr. Black is in violation of his parole.” He pivots on his heel and storms away. If Sanji’s not mistaken, he’s going back down to the vault to see if the chip is still there. By the time he figures it out, Sanji will have already been escorted off the premises by the marines. It’s a shame he won’t be able to see Yonji’s face when he realizes that he has to tell Judge that his precious blackmail material is gone.

For a moment, Sanji ponders if he should ask the cowboys to retrieve his cigarettes, but he’ll have to surrender them in prison anyway. And the guards never return cigarettes. Outside the casino, a car with the symbol of the marines is already waiting, proof that Zoro stuck to his promise. The cowboys deliver him to the marines and he’s being shoved into the car without further ado. Sanji leans his head against the window while they marines and the cowboys talk outside. None of this concerns him anymore.

When they finally leave, Sanji scans the streets. Technically, he shouldn’t spot any of the others. It’s not safe, and the plan had been for everyone to disperse immediately. Still, a part of him yearns. At the huge fountain that used to be in front of Crocodile’s pyramid and stands now in front of a huge pile of rubble, Sanji spots a flash of green. Zoro leans against the fountain, clad in a blue Ma suit that looks like it’s tailored to him. Which it likely is since Perona made it. Sanji finds his eyes immediately. Zoro smiles the cockiest smile Sanji has ever seen on his face. Sanji returns it.

Chapter Text

The second time they let Sanji out of prison, the sun shines down on Impel Down. Sanji wears the suit he wore for the heist. He has even fewer belongings than last time: just himself and the suit. No wedding ring, no divorce papers, no baggage. They gave him six months for violating his parole. Gambling and drinking. The heist has been hushed up. It would be bad rep for the Vinsmokes if word got out. And Sanji hasn’t been boasting, as much as he would have liked to.

Sanji takes in the empty walkway in front of the prison and frowns. Two things are missing: his cigarettes, and his ride. The car park is full, but the car he’s looking for is nowhere to be seen. It would be just like Zoro to be late for picking him up.

With a resigned sigh, Sanji puts his hands in his suit pockets and strolls down the walkway. Halfway, he notices the green convertible with its roof closed. His heartbeat speeds up and he perks up. A few steps later, he spots Zoro, casually leaning against the prison fence, hands in his pockets, eyes shaded by sun glasses.

The urge to throw himself at Zoro is so strong that Sanji balls his fists in his pockets and grits his teeth. With a carefully curated smirk, he strolls over to where Zoro is waiting. “Fancy seeing you here.”

Zoro shrugs and crosses his arms in front of his chest, but he stays against the fence. “Someone had to come pick you up.”

Sanji snorts. “Where’s the chip?”

“Safe.”

“Did they come for you?”

“Were they supposed to?” Zoro pushes his sunglasses up and raises an eyebrow. “That the only thing you wanna say to me?”

Finally, Sanji allows a genuine smile to shine through. He steps into Zoro’s space and puts his hands on the fence next to Zoro’s head, boxing the other man in. “Tell me, marimo. What kind of something else am I?”

Zoro hums as if he needs to think about it, but he doesn’t suppress his smug grin. “Wasn’t it you who promised to tell me all about your feelings?”

The heat raises to Sanji’s cheeks. He had said that, unfortunately. He opens his mouth to say something. He swallows, and closes his mouth again. It shouldn’t be this hard.

Zoro chuckles. “Fine.” A beat. “Sanji.”

His name like that, with intention, punches right through him. Goosebumps erupt all over his arms. He holds Zoro’s gaze even though his face is burning.

Zoro leans forward so that Sanji can feel his breath on his face. “You are the only something else that really matters.” In one smooth motion, Zoro cups his cheeks and closes the distance between them. He tastes of promise and longing and strawberry shake. Sanji crowds closer to Zoro, pressing him into the fence. This is what he wanted since he’d had his big epiphany during his first stint in prison: Zoro’s hot mouth on his own and those hands all over his body.

“Get a room!”

Zoro groans and pushes Sanji away, although his hands linger. “Sorry, I couldn’t get rid of them.”

The roof of the convertible has been retracted to reveal Luffy, Nami and Usopp in the back seat.

“How do all of them even fit in your car?”

“Beats me,” Zoro grumbles. He snatches Sanji’s hand up and puts something in it.

When Sanji looks, there’s his lighter and his favorite brand of cigarettes. He smiles and pecks Zoro on the cheek in thanks.

Zoro takes his other hand in his own and tugs him away from the fence. “Let’s go, curly, I don’t want to spend the whole day at Impel Down.”

Sanji follows Zoro back to his car and jumps into the passenger seat. In the back, the other three are already babbling at them in Spanglish. Sanji tunes them out. When he looks over to his partner in crime, Zoro is already looking back at him with soft eyes. Sanji interlaces hins fingers with Zoro’s on the stick. He’s finally free of his family, free to do with his life what he wants. He grins. “Floor it.”