Chapter Text
Sanji’s head flew back as his mouth opened in a silent scream. Abused fingers gripped the arms of the chair, splinters prodding his palms as he did so. Colors flashed across his vision as blinding pain nearly stole his consciousness away. Tendrils like fire-laced snakes slithered up his leg, biting every inch on their way up. It all radiated from his left foot. Even through the ringing in his ears, the blond could hear the sizzling of his flesh. He almost gagged as the scent charcoal reached his nose. It wasn’t particularly a putrid odor, but the knowledge of where it was coming from was enough to make his stomach churn.
His next breath caught on the back of his tongue, nearly causing the man to gag on it. As the metal poker was finally peeled away, his head fell back forward, chin striking his chest. Pants came out shallow and quick.
He hated the sound of his own whimpers with each exhale, but there was nothing Sanji could do to stop them. The chef wasn’t left with much time to catch his breath before the burning serpent was having a taste on his other foot. The same sensation erupted up the limb, and this time there was no stifling the cry that tore its way out of his throat. He was convinced it didn’t belong to him.
Sanji was positive this one lasted longer. Fortunately, the offended area was starting to grow numb. Either from being on the verge of passing out, or from the feeling being singed away, he didn’t know. But he was thankful for whichever it was. There was some talking among his captors. They were so close, and yet he couldn’t make out a word of what they were saying. The blond tried to lift his head, only for it to fall forward once more. Everything was blurred. It was making him nauseous, and the pounding in the side of his head was multiplying that feeling.
There was one voice in particular, one he could pick out above the rest that was surprisingly speaking with a different tone than the rest. He tried to latch onto it, to stay away as he listened to the words spoken.
“I-I think he’s had enough for now.”
He focused on each syllable. He couldn’t pass out, not in this place. But his body craved the bliss of unconsciousness. At least there, it was pain-free. There was more mumbling among the others, and then, he once again had his mind engulfed in flame.
“Hey, dumbass, did you hear me?” Sanji asked, trying not to lose his patience as he spoke into the transponder snail. There was a muffled ‘yeah’. “I said go left, so why the hell are you going right!?”
The blond grit his teeth hard enough to nearly bite his cigarette in half. Seriously, why did he have to be stuck with this idiot? He took a drag, and slowly huffed back out as he rolled back on his heels. Closely, he watched as the swordsman sharply turned around and headed in the direction he instructed the first damn time.
Sanji let out an annoyed groan and leaned his head back before standing on his perch to prepare to hop to the next building over. When they were this far into the enemy base, losing sight of Zoro was something neither of them could afford. Around almost every corner was another marine. He swore, it was like infiltrating an ant colony...only more obnoxious. Slowly, the swordsman was making his way through unnoticed. All he had to do now was make it to one of the carts, find a couple uniforms, and bring one back to Sanji.
Just a couple more corners and he would be able to walk these streets without drawing in unnecessary attention.
“Alright, in a couple more blocks, turn left...got that, LEFT!”
‘Shut the hell up, I got it the first time. And keep your voice down before you give me away, shithead.’
The chef’s brow twitched. Why did they have to take the stealth route? Zoro had less grace than Luffy. Then again, it was better than him giving the directions, he guessed. If that were the case, there’s no telling where Sanji would have ended up by now.
‘ Just bear with it,’ the blond told himself with a deep breath.
Zoro listened carefully, taking - almost - every turn he was told to take. But, he also kept a sharp ear out for any stragglers. Sanji may have had the high ground, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have blind spots. Hell, the man could probably only see half of what he could otherwise with that stupid hair of his. The swordsman grit his teeth at the thought of him missing something thanks to that.
Holding his breath, Zoro slowly peeked around the next corner. Coast was still clear and he sighed out in relief. “Alright, how much farther?” he whispered into his own snail.
‘Just keep going forward,’ Sanji replied, earning another scoff from the other. ‘At the next cross, turn RIGHT!’
“I GOT IT!” Zoro shouted back, unaware of the cook flinching on the other end.
‘Keep your voice down, mosshead,’ Sanji hissed back. ‘Ok, so after you turn right, I want you to wait until I tell you to continue. There are a couple o-’
His voice was suddenly cut off, replaced with choking and spluttering.
“Hey, Sanji!” Zoro hissed through the snail. “What the hell is going on, can you hear m-” He drew in a sharp breath when the sounds on the other end were cut off, as if it had been disconnected. He growled in frustration and tossed his snail to the side in the heat of the moment. Stepping back until his back was against one of the buildings, Zoro tried to get a view of where he last saw the chef, but of course, the space was empty.
The swordsman swore under his breath and glanced in either direction. There was no point in turning back when he was this close. He could still make it, get the uniform, and then look for the idiot. Whatever trouble he got himself into, he’d just have to hold out until he got there, or Sanji would have to get himself out of it.
Zoro kept his steps as light as he could, not wanting anything to cover up the sound of others moving about. And if Sanji really did get caught then the place would likely be even harder to sneak around in with all of them on alert now. Great, not only did he cause trouble form himself, but he had to go and cause trouble for both of them. This only served to annoy the man more.
Ok, now which ways did he say to go again?
Zoro lowered his head and tapped his foot in thought., but for the life of him, it just wasn’t coming to mind.
He didn’t have time for this, he’d just have to wing it and hope for the best.
When in doubt, keep to the left.
At least he knew that worked for mazes, so same with streets, right? They were basically the same thing. He inched towards every corner, listened for a few seconds, and when he deemed it clear, he rounded the corner. This process was repeated, one turn at a time. And for the first few, it went smoothly, no run ins and no sight of anyone. Either he was really good at this whole stealth thing, getting luck, or Sanji was full of shit when he said how many there were.
He started growing impatient, forgetting which way he was going long ago. As he rounded the seventh corner, he paused...he’d seen this window before. He knew it was the same because of the crack stretching from one corner to the other.
“Hmmm.”
Zoro blinked in confusion before it finally dawned on him.
“Dammit…” he muttered, furiously scratching the back of his head. He had been going in fucking circles for the last few minutes.
Straightening back up, he turned and headed in the opposite direction now, making sure to get away from this spot this time. His pace was slowly quickening. He wasn’t willing to admit it even to himself, but there was an inkling of worry drumming in his chest. Even if he got the uniform, there was no telling where Sanji was. And he’d look suspicious carrying around a spare uniform for no reason.
At this point, he was almost convinced he was better of just busting in and causing hell. But, he held onto the hope that the cook, wherever he was, had everything under control on his end.
Right, stick to the task at hand. Get the uniform with a slight change of plans.
Zoro weaved in and out of the streets, this time going for a zigzag pattern to avoid his earlier mistake. Doing this, he wasn’t surprised when he almost ran into his first marine. Luckily there was only one of them, and they didn’t seem like a particularly strong one… He narrowed his eyes. New plan.
Carefully, he unsheathed one of his swords and hid himself around the corner. He waited, gripped his hilt tighter as the steps grew closer. His breathing even and low, he took a deep breath before he struck. The swordsman made sure to use the dull edge of his sword. He wasn’t sure, but he had a feeling getting blood on the uniform would bring some unwanted questions.
The enemy went down with ease. Just as he thought, nothing more than small fry. Taking a quick look around, ensuring there were no others, Zoro stripped the man down without hesitation.
In less than a minute, he was placing the cap on his head. They weren’t the best fit, but they would do well enough to get in and out of this place before anyone noticed, or before this guy woke up. Only problem though...he still had no idea where the hell he was supposed to be going.
Sanji groaned and tried to lift his head, but the sharp throbs made it feel and weigh like lead. A pained sound passed over his lips. The blond didn’t get a chance to get his bearings before his chin was roughly grabbed. He tried to pull away out of instinct, but every twitch had metal digging into his wrists and ankles.
“Rise ‘n shine, ya little rat,” rasped out a voice. Sanji flinched as wet droplets sprinkled his face. “Caught ya sneakin’ ‘round. What’s someone like you doin’ ‘round ‘ere?”
Defiantly, the blond yanked his head away, instantly regretting it when he felt pain pulse through it. Making it even worse, his action was followed by a swift - and hard - strike to his left cheek. His head snapped to the side as stars exploded in his vision. A copper flavor filled his mouth. He didn’t have time to recompose himself as his face was punched a second time, snapping his head in the other direction.
“I’d watch that attitude. I don’t think ya’re in the position to be misbehavin’.” He grabbed the chef’s chin again, and forced Sanji to face him once more. The cook cringed inwardly when the marine leaned in closer, his foul breath assaulted his nostrils. The guy looked like he didn’t know what a shower was. “Who were you talkin’ to on that rooftop?” he asked. Sanji’s eyes flicked in either direction, just now noticing the three others surrounding him, and he swallowed thickly.
“It’s not important,” he figuratively spit, followed by a literal spit. He couldn’t help but smirk to himself as the man swiped the blood from his face with a scowl. He couldn’t let them know Zoro was still out there somewhere. Unless they already knew, but if that were the case, he probably wouldn’t be sitting where he was.
If that damn shit-
Another strike, this one straight to the temple. His mind buzzed, vision spun as ringing faded in and out.
“I suggest you answer the question,” one of the men to the side said lowly. His voice was deep, gravelly almost. “Not all of us are as patient with disobedience.” Even if Sanji couldn’t see the man, he could hear the grin spreading on his face more and more with each word. The blond growled in discomfort as his hair was gripped and his head was yanked back. His eyes squeezed shut with the force of it and a small, pained sound hissed between his teeth.
He took a deep breath, and knew he was about to regret this before he opened his mouth. “You’re wasting your time.”
Pain rippled over his scalp and his face stung with another punch. There was the vague sound of hairs tearing from their place. This time, black teased the corners of his eyes. He could hear his own heavy pants through obnoxious buzzing. Barely aware, he could at least make out that his hair was finally released, and with nothing to hold his head up anymore, it fell forward. A few droplets of blood dripped from the corner of his mouth and stained his lap.
“Alright,” the first guy spoke up again. Small pops sounded out, like the popping of knuckles. “Let’s try this again shall we? Who was it you were talkin’ to out there, and where are they?”
Zoro leaned forward, hands on his knees to catch his breath. It’s been close to an hour by now, and it felt as though no progress had been made. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and straightened back up. Still, he’d been going in only one direction - or he was sure he had - so he had to be covering some sort of ground.
Regardless, he couldn’t stop here.With half the crew poisoned, it was up to him and Sanji to get the antidote. They didn’t know what sort of toxin was used, but it was clear it was man-made, and Chopper lacked the equipment to make a cure for it himself. That, and they simply didn’t have the time for him to think of something. Luffy and Usopp had been hit with something, something quite potent, that much was clear from the beginning. Franky and Brook would have instantly drawn in too much attention, so it was up to the two of them.
Luckily, they had an idea of where the vials of antidote were, but it required them to get close to the inside to retrieve. In that case, getting into the main building would be a good start as far as he was concerned.
With that in mind, Zoro took off again. He no longer paid any mind to marines he passed by and they paid little mind to him. He was fortunate that no one here seemed to really know the faces of those they worked with. Though, the more he passed by, the more frustrated he became. They all looked the same, small fry, none of them important. If that was the case, then how was he supposed to know if he was in a different part of the base or not?
Picking up his speed, he ran for a few more minutes before finally jolting to a halt. The swordsman paused just outside another building. There was a sign plastered on the door.
“...Authorized Personnel Only…”
He blinked a couple times and rubbed the back of his neck. Well, it looked promising. He reached for the handle and turned, only to grunt when it refused to turn. Why the hell was everything always locked? His brows furrowed and he turned harder, willing to break the damn thing if he had to.
Grinding his teeth together, Zoro glanced in either direction. Coast clear. No more playing around, he was in a hurry. Once more, and hopefully for the last time, he unsheathed one of his swords. In a single, swift stroke, he smirked to himself as the handle ‘clinked’ on the ground. He heard the same noise muffled on the other side, signalling the slash had made it all the way through. Just as his weapon ‘clacked’ back into place, the door creaked part way open with nothing left to hold it shut.
He peeked in and let out a sigh of relief to see the hall empty. Carefully, placing his feet as lightly as he could, he stepped inside, pulling the door as close to being shut as he could. He pressed his back against it and waited for only a few seconds. He was going to wait a couple more, but something echoed down the hall, something that made his skin crawl.
He was positive he heard someone scream. It was muffled and barely heard, but he had little doubt about what it was. The hairs on the back of his neck prickled and he swallowed thickly. What the hell was this place? Then, he heard it again, it was louder, lasted a little longer. Where ever it was, it was in this building.
Instinctively, he took a step down the hall, towards the direction he was sure the screams were coming from. His footfalls were slow, cautious, and the farther he traveled, the louder the yells became. When he rounded the next corner, his blood froze in his body mid step. Another scream...he knew that voice.
Shit.
His legs were moving before he could stop them. If there were others near, he couldn’t hear them over his heart pounding in his ears. The only other sound was the continuing screams of agony. It was like a beacon, leading him towards its source when all he could see was red.
Another turn, another hall and a single door at the end of it. There was no slowing down. In the moment, he couldn’t care less what or who was on the other side, there was just a driving need to get to the source. Before he could take a moment to think about what he was doing, he was bursting through the door. Everything, the screaming, his racing pulse, everything froze for a solid second.
Zoro’s eyes widened, voice caught in the base of his throat. His gaze locked onto one thing, one person sitting in a chair in the center of the room. Crimson ran down the side of his face, his jacket and shirt torn down his arms and chest to reveal the torn flesh underneath. Blond strands hung low, hiding what he could only assume was a grimace of pain.
Sanji
“What the hell…”