Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was a normal morning on Karai Bari Island. The sun had just begun its ascent above the hills and already the docks were bustling with Cross Guild employees starting their work for the day.

Dracule Mihawk always rose with the sun. Every morning he would wake up and make his way to the kitchen for a cup of coffee before starting his training regiment. Being an executive of Cross Guild meant he didn’t have to use the communal cafeteria tent like all the other employees. No, he got to use a smaller kitchen only available to the top officials of the company. Which, granted, was eight other people, but it was better than nothing he supposed.

And that was another reason he got up so early. Usually he could wake up and make his coffee in peace, escaping the kitchen before anyone else showed up. He wasn’t a social man by any means and being on an island with hundreds of other people was probably one of the most exhausting and annoying things he’s done in years.

“Good morning,”

“Good morning,” Mihawk nodded politely to the silk robed woman sitting on the counter. He pulled open the door of his personal cabinet and reached for his bag of coffee beans before freezing.

What?

He slowly peeked back out around the door to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating. The woman watched him with a calculated smile, holding her teacup up to her lips. Her black silk robe was tied loosely around her waist and sliding off one shoulder, although it was covered by her long black hair. She swept it back, revealing a lacy black bra and a neck marred by bruised hickies.

Mihawk blinked once, and buried himself back in the cabinet.

He pretended to be looking for something, but he was just trying to figure out what was going on. She wasn’t a member of Cross guild, at least, not to his knowledge. This kitchen was off limits to everyone who wasn’t a top officer and not even Buggy’s most rabid of fans would risk the consequences of entering. Which meant she must have had permission to enter from someone, but who? Mihawk’s mental gears spun as he mulled this over.

He immediately ruled out Mohji and Cabaji. They were far too eccentric to attract a beauty like that, not to mention both were off island at the moment overseeing other projects. He dismissed Alvida as well. Not out of prejudice, but because she was obviously enamored with someone else. Mihawk didn’t know much about the former Baroque Works members Daz Bonez and Galdino, but he doubted Daz would bring a woman back to headquarters. Galdino probably would but he was too much of a sniveling mess over the return of Crocodile to pull a stunt like that.

Which left only two other options. The other executives of Cross Guild. Mihawk shuddered. He really did not want to think about that. But out of all of them, only Buggy would be foolish enough to-

“G-good morning, Hawkeye, sir,” Buggy stuttered. Mihawk looked over to where Buggy stood hovering in the doorway, obviously uncomfortable at being in the same room as him. He looked down at his fidgeting hands. “I-I thought you were already out of here already. I’ll just go.” Buggy gestured over his shoulder and looked up for the first time. His eyes bugged comically out of his head at the sight of the woman. She gave him a fluttering wave and Buggy’s face turned bright red. He immediately hid his face in his hands, crying something under his breath that Mihawk couldn’t make out, rocking back and forth.

“Have you started the coffee yet?” Alvida wandered into the room with a yawn, stretching her arms out above her head. Her black hair fell down her back in waves and she was already dressed and ready for the day, complete with her signature white cowboy hat. She opened her eyes and promptly screeched. “Who the hell is she?!” Alvida demanded, flinging an arm out to point at the woman. She looked accusingly between Buggy, who was still hiding his face, and Mihawk, who had finally accepted his fate and clutched his bag of coffee beans. “Well?” Alvida put her hands on her hips.

Mihawk just shrugged while Buggy whimpered. He was just as confused as both of them. He walked over to the coffee machine and began making his coffee. It was too early for this and honestly he didn’t care enough.

“I heard screaming! What’s wrong? What’s going on? AIEHHHH!” Galdino slid into the room, taking in the sight before him before screaming louder and higher than Alvida ever could and falling to his face. “Miss. All Sunday! What a pleasant surprise!” the stylised three on top of his head quivered.

“Mr. Three,” the woman smiled widely, resting her chin in her hand as she leaned forward. “It’s been a long time.” so she was a former member of Baroque Works, Mihawk mused, busing himself with the coffee machine. Interesting.

“How have you been? Is there anything I could possibly do for you?” Galdino groveled, still on the floor.

Miss. All Sunday, surely that wasn’t her real name but that was all Mihawk had to go on now, laughed lightly. “Not at this moment, no.” Evidently she had been a high ranking member of the former crime syndicate. Mihawk knew from passing that Galdino had ranked quite high himself, but to see him acting like this, a way he only acted with Crocodile, must mean she had ranked far above him.

“Get up, Galdino, you’re embarrassing us all.” Daz Bonez scolded. Somehow the kitchen had become the place to be today. They were only missing one person and Mihawk was realizing why with rising alarm. “Good morning to you, Miss. All Sunday.” he nodded to the woman.

“And to you as well, Mr. One.”

“What brings you to this island?” he asked conversationally, leaning against the counter. Galdino slowly got to his feet and hid behind Alvida, who still looked livid.
“I had some unfinished business to attend to,” Miss. All Sunday said casually, crossing her legs and exposing more dark tanned skin. Buggy, who had finally decided to uncover his face and join the little party, looked ready to faint. Everyone stood there in silence, eyes dancing from person to person, daring someone to speak first. They had all undoubtably reached the same conclusion about why she was here. Miss. All Sunday just continued to smile at them, unfazed.

A coffee machine in a secluded corner beeped loudly, breaking the tension.

“That’s my cue,” Miss. All Sunday slid gracefully from the counter and grabbed the coffee pot. Her robe swished elegantly with each step giving the impression of a dancer. She pulled out a tray that had been hidden behind her and put the pot in the center of it. Two coffee cups were already there, placed upside down in their saucers. The owner of said cups was well known to everyone present. “It was lovely to meet all of you,” she smiled as she picked up the tray and slipped out the back door.

“Are… we going to talk about that?” Galdino said slowly.

“No,” Mihawk spoke for the first time, surprising everyone around him.

“She took the only other coffee pot…” Buggy whined quietly. Everyone turned to Mihawk, who was already using the spare one. He looked them in the eye, unplugged the machine, picked it up, holding it tightly in his arms, and walked out.

Chapter Text

The atmosphere around the table was awkward to say the least. It was tucked in the corner of Cross Guild’s largest tent and could be hidden by a string of curtains if need be. Not that it would do much good, but it did offer the illusion of privacy.

Buggy sat at the head of the table, flanked by Crocodile on his right and Mihawk on his left. The other officials filled in the rest of the seats in no particular order.

“We need to address this issue now,” Alvida growled, jamming her finger on top of the table. “This is a business, not a college dormitory. Captain Buggy is traumatized after what he was forced to witness!”

Buggy’s face was beet red as he avoided looking at anyone.

“I’m traumatized!” Alvida held a hand to her chest. “I knew I was working with a bunch of males, but I didn’t think they were nothing more than hormone fueled teenagers!”

Crocodile breathed deeply through his cigar and rolled his eyes. Mihawk was inclined to agree with him, even though he was the whole reason for this meeting.

“Not to mention she’s a Straw Hat!” Alvida screeched. “An enemy! He let one of our greatest adversaries walk through our compound completely unsupervised, left to do whatever she wanted! That’s treasonous behavior as far as I’m concerned!”

“You’re forgetting one crucial detail here. This is my company.” Crocodile’s eyes narrowed. “I am the one who provided the funds, came up with the idea, and recruited the two other top executives. Do you really think I would do something that would jeopardize all my hard work?”

“I don’t think you thought about anything at all,” Alvida sniffed. “The fact that you own this company is irrelevant. You put the rest of us in danger for what?”

“Jealousy does not become you, Alvida.”

“E-excuse me?” Alvida’s face flushed. “I have no idea-”

“He has a point,” Mihawk blinked slowly. “How do the kids say it? Just because he is ‘getting action’ and you are not does not mean you can attack him over it.”

“Please never phrase it like that again,” Crocodile winced, overcome with flashbacks of a pink wearing prick.

“My apologies.” Mihawk didn’t sound sorry at all. If anything he was slightly amused.

“I’m not attacking him over jealousy!” Alvida insisted. “This isn’t a dictatorship! He doesn't get to bring anyone he wants on the island without consulting the other executives-”

“Woman,” Crocodile interrupted. “Who’s faces do you see on the poster right there?” he pointed to the giant Cross Guild poster hanging on the wall above Buggy. “Is your face on it? No, it is not. You are my subordinate and therefore have no authority over me. Go back to writing about your pathetic clown.”

“Pathetic clown? What clown?” Galdino looked up from his nap.

“There’s only one clown here.” Mihawk turned to face Buggy. “He is pretty pathetic; I’ll give Sir Crocodile that.”

“S-shut up!” Alvida stammered. “Both of you! I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Clown,” Crocodile leaned forward into Buggy’s space. “That is objectively a beautiful woman. Unless you want to be like Shanks, stop dragging your feet and do something about your ridiculous feelings.”
Buggy squeaked and hid his face in his hands. It seemed to be his only defense mechanism.

“What’s this meeting about?” Nico Robin appeared out of the swirling maze of curtains. She was wearing real clothes this time. Sort of.

“You,” Crocodile said around his cigar.

“Both of you!” Alvida pointed at them threateningly. “And this is a Cross Guild executive only meeting! Butt out!”

“Aw,” Robin pouted, propping her arms on the back of Crocodile’s chair so she was peering over his shoulder. “Can’t I stay?”

“You can stay,” Crocodile didn’t turn to look at her or acknowledge her in anything other than words.

“Yay.” She cheered emotionlessly.
“No!” Alvida cried. “She has to leave! She’s probably a spy sent by the Straw Hats to figure out all our secrets and weaknesses so they can destroy us!”

“Paranoid much?” Mihawk gave her an unimpressed stare.

“It’s cute how you think Luffy knows where I am right now,” Robin smiled. “The Thousand Sunny was in need of dire repairs, so I elected to go out and find some of the materials needed. I just happened to sail to Karai Bari Island on the way back.”

“That’s just what she wants us to think!” Alvida’s face was starting to turn an interesting shade of red. “How well do you even know her?”

“She worked beside me as the Vice President of Baroque Works for four years,” Crocodile’s eyes narrowed. “And how long have you been with Straw Hat?” he glanced over his shoulder at Robin.

“A little over two years,” Robin smiled pleasantly.

“She owes me her life,” Crocodile added.

“And besides,” Robin added. “I don’t need to spy on you all to know your secrets. It doesn’t take a criminal mastermind to know this is the most dysfunctional pirate crew the New World has ever seen.”

Mihawk chuckled. She had a point.

“That is irrelevant!” Alvida slammed her fist against the table. “For the safety of Cross Guild, she needs to be ejected from the island immediately!”

“For the safety of Cross Guild?” Crocodile raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t react this why when Perona dropped by just last week to visit Hawkeyes.”

“That was different,” Alvida scowled.

“How was it different?” Crocodile leaned back in his chair. “Please enlighten us on how one executive can have a visitor while the other cannot?”

“She’s a member of the Straw Hat Pirates! She’s our enemy!”

“Perona is good friends with the Straw Hat crew,” Mihawk said quietly. “She even helped them out on Sabaody. She has nothing tying her to Cross Guild that we could use to blackmail her with.”

“Perona is just as dangerous as Robin is,” Crocodile nodded. “But she didn’t warrant a meeting.”

“Hawkeyes is Perona’s mentor,” Alvida argued. “Are we just supposed to cut off her access to him?”

“Yes,” Mihawk said simply.

“This feels personal, doesn’t it?” Robin tilted her head.

“It really does,” Crocodile agreed.

“You are a traitor and a disgrace to piracy!” Alvida screeched, pointing an accusing finger at Crocodile.

He blinked slowly at her. “And you are a pitiful disgusting creature with no regard to the chain of command. Know your place, woman.”

Alvida’s face turned so red she had more in common with Buggy’s nose than a proper human.

“This meeting is adjourned for being a complete waste of my time,” Crocodile continued, pushing his chair back as he stood. Alvida shrank beneath him as she was reminded of how massive the ex-Warlord truly was. “Let us go,” he wrapped his good hand around Robin’s waist and steered her out of the room. The sound of her laughter faintly echoing back to the rest of them.

“Well,” Mihawk said, getting to his feet as well. “I have to agree with Sir Crocodile. Your concerns have been noted and completely disregarded. Have a nice day.” he nodded to Alvida and stalked away with the hope that surely this day could not get any worse.