Work Text:
Things after Marineford are different.
It's been weeks since the world watched Justice prevail, the son of the Pirate King dying and the end and start of an unknown era. Weeks since their teacher Garp watched his first grandson smile before death, unable or unwilling to move until it was too late.
(Weeks since gazes and whispers follow Coby wherever he goes,whispers and echoes like look, the kid who tried to stop Akainu and isn't that treason, Akainu was only going after pirates what's so wrong-)
Helmeppo tried to hide it from him, to try and protect him from cruel rumors, but Coby isn't deaf. Since Marineford, it feels like he hears a lot more than he ever could before. It's not really a good thing.
Not to say that all rumors or looks are cruel, far from it. Some looks, most of them from older soldiers who saw too much but keep fighting, are full of respect and acknowledgment that leave his face red, head ducking or hiding behind the others to avoid their gazes.
Because what he did wasn't incredible or extraordinary or brave. It was desperate, suicidal as Helmeppo liked to remind him.
It's not courage that made Coby stand in Akainu's path. It's not even fear.
Coby listened to a father's cries for his child, a brother's tears, a broken family's screams. He looked at this battlefield, at his allies and enemies's corpses, and all he could feel was tiredness.
He did what we couldn't, he hears once, and he wants to turn around and yell Why not?
Why was he the only one to see how useless this war has been? When Coby was called to the Summit, he didn't wonder about Fire Fist's crimes- he was Whitebeard's second commander, there was so many deeds he was guilty of. Coby thought execution was too much, but killing was often too harsh for him.
(Two years on a pirate ship, beaten and hit and Coby will forever be grateful for Luffy, but it still happened. Days of cleaning blood on a ship's deck after screams and screams-)
(Coby can't hate pirates, not after meeting one like Luffy. But he could have, in another life.)
And then, the revelation that shook the world. Gol D. Ace, they called him, and amidst the shock, the disgust and the questions of his fellow soldiers, all Coby could think was, Does it matter?
Executing Fire Fist for his crimes was one thing. Coby could stand behind this, could understand broken laws and destroyed towns. Whitebeard Pirates tried to avoid hurting innocents when they could, but being a civilian wouldn't save you if they felt wronged.
(Fourteen and trapped on a pirate ship because of a stupid mistake, because the captain felt like it-)
But blood- it seemed so stupid. Garp was standing right there, on the platform with the son of the Pirate King, the Hero of the Marine whose son was the world's worst enemy. It seemed so laughable.
Coby wondered how many marines have been rejected, people who could have been amazing, a force to reckon on, because they shared blood with the wrong person.
(Cleaning, again and again, until his hands hurt and his own blood mingled with the one he was trying to make disappear-)
So when they are called back to sail away, it feels like deliverance.
They're leaving Marineford behind, deemed healed and rested enough to leave even though Coby aches everywhere, even though his head is full of screams and anger and fear that isn't his.
Helmeppo doesn't come with him, leaves on a different ship headed to a nearby island. It's strange to be separated after so long sailing together, but it happens sometimes.
They're not happy when they read the news, displayed in a hallway near one of Marineford's many infirmaries, though Coby is more resigned than Helmeppo who frowns at the papers.
“It's weird.” he whispers slowly, glancing around to see if others are listening, “Everyone under Garp is on my ship. You're the only one left out.”
“I'm not the only one.” Coby refutes, reading the paper given to him, “There's also a few others.”
They haven't seen Garp since the war, since his grandson died with a smile on his face, and Coby would like to hope that his superior is okay- but he knows he's not.
His friend glances at the paper where names are scribbled, and his frown deepens.
“Those guys are the ones who started to work with Garp very recently.” he notices. Coby can't see with his glasses, but he would bet that his eyes are narrowed, “Why are you being sent with them?”
“It may be random.” the younger boy points out, hands playing with his headband. He put it on his ears to try and muffle screams loud sounds, but it's not doing much. Helmeppo scoffs.
“Nothing is random here. It's weird, and I don't like it.”
“Well,” Coby whispers, hands on his ears and eyes down, “It's not like it can be changed and it won't be long anyways, just a few days. What could happen?”
The look Helmeppo gives him forces a laugh out of him. “You just had to jinx it, did you?!”
Coby smiles. “It's okay! Besides,” he adds in a whisper, “It can't be worse than Marineford.”
That does not reassure Helmeppo in the slightlest.
“I don't like it.” he repeats, frowning and worry in his eyes. But Coby's head hurts, death and grief ringing in his ears and whispers following him every minute, and he doesn't notice.
Despite what his crew will claim later on, Shanks didn't actually plan to recruit the kid at first.
Sure, he planned to keep an eye on him. After all, good marines are getting fewer and fewer as years passed, and even Garp didn't have the guts to stand and protest against that mess of a war.
Shanks couldn't believe his eyes when, running towards the battlefield while his crew followed behind him, he saw a marine -merely a boy, a child- stand in Akainu's path, crying and sobbing but unwavering in his determination.
There aren't a lot of things that can truly impress him, not after so long on the seas. But when he sees the crying boy screaming and fighting for his enemies and allies alike, Shanks feels respect build up in his chest in a way it never did before, not even for his fellow Yonkos.
(And Shanks remembers his Captain, who would have destroyed enemies after enemies when he felt wronged, not stopping even when it became too much not worth it-)
(Coby had stood in front of his superior, the one so much stronger than him and who he admired, and said stop. And the thing is- Shanks remembers Roger with his wide and feral smile, larger than life and stronger than anyone, who fought on a whim despite his crew's protests, and doesn't think he could have done the same.)
Shanks is impressed in a way he hasn't been in years. When he leaves the battlefield, he helps organize Ace and Whitebeard's funerals and bury the dead. It takes longer than he would have liked, but this is important. This is history and respect and the end of an era, and he will not rush this despite his impatience.
(His Captain's son, Rouge's son, and he knew, of course he knew, he knew the instant his eyes fell on Ace but there was something in the younger man's eyes that stopped him from saying anything. So he tried to help from afar, but it wasn't enough -of course it wasn't- and damn Newgate for ignoring his warnings.)
Still, when all is said and done and the Red Force sails away from the island, leaving behind the grieving pirates, Shanks turns towards Benn. His heart is full of rage and despair, Luffy's screams echoing in his head, but the image of the boy who tried to stop this slaughter is clear in his mind.
“I want to know his name.” he says, and his first mate doesn't ask who he's talking about. He already knows. Shanks watches him disappear in his cabin, muttering under his breath, and smiles bitterly.
Every Yonko has connections, and while Shanks isn't as well informed and established in the underworld's networks as someone like Kaidou, he still has spies and allies hidden within the Marines. It's enough for what he wants to know.
It takes longer than it would normally, because eveything is a mess, both on Marine's and Pirate's sides. So many dead and damages confuse everyone, too many soldiers from too many places resting in Marineford. Still, before long, Benn comes to his cabin just as he drinks his second bottle with papers in his hand.
Coby.
It's such a normal name that it takes him aback. He doesn't know why- after all, you don't need to be a D. to make a storm or be suicidal. Maybe it's because the child standing in front of a far superior opponent reminded him of Luffy.
There's not a lot more: kid joined recently, not even a year ago, at sixteen years old and started in East Blue before being trained under Garp and going to Grandline with him.
“That old man sure knows how to spot potential.” Shanks says, grudgingly impressed. Seems like he's not the only one to have seen something in the kid. He's not sure if this is a good thing.
Benn nods and glances at the picture on the table, his own cup of sake in hand.
“Reminds me of Anchor.” his first mate adds, and Shanks barks out a laugh before he can help it. It's his first laugh since Ace's death.
“Both reckless brats!” he agrees, and grabs the third bottle.
And it should have stopped there. The war was over -for now at least- and things were slowly going back to a new kind of normal without Whitebeard. Sure, Shanks would keep an eye on the young marine, watching from afar like he always did, observing the new generation -marines and pirates- as they make waves across the world.
Shanks doesn't expect anything special to happen, not after Marineford and certainly not so soon after Akainu became Fleet Admiral. He expects even less something happening to the brat who tried to stop the war, not when Shanks made sure to keep the world's attention directed towards himself.
He should have known better than to underestimate the World Government's corruption.
Benn and Rockstar appear on the deck one morning while Shanks and Yasopp are leaning on the railing, after consulting their usual information networks, both looking serious and -something that makes Shanks freeze- angry.
Because Benn isn't someone who gets angry, not really, unless something or someone get out of their way to piss him off, and Shanks knows that the silent anger in his dark eyes means trouble.
“What happened?” he demands, and his voice comes out colder than intended. Rockstar looks disgusted and angry, but Benn's face is carefully blank in a way that puts him on edge.
“Bad news from the Marines.” Rockstar says, as if Shanks couldn't tell by the sheer indignation radiating from his first mate. He glances at him, a question in his eyes, and Benn chews on his cigarette.
“Akainu.” he almost spits, and Shanks wants to scream without knowing why, “The new Fleet Admiral thinks that the child who stood in his path is a threat and a traitor and should be treated accordingly.”
Dead silence.
“He wants to kill a child? A marine?” Yasopp repeats incredulously, looking at Benn with disbelief. Lucky Roux, who walked closer upon hearing the news, scoffs.
“That didn't stop him in Marineford.” he says, meat in hand and cold smile on his face, “Why would that stop him now?”
Yasopp opens his mouth to speak but Shanks cuts him off, “Under what charges?”
His own voice sounds far away, mind reeling from the unexpected news. Shanks isn't a strategist by any mean, not like Benn or Buggy, but after so long on the seas and so long as a Yonko, he's good at guessing what the Marines will do and how they react. Watching them freak out after his meeting with Whitebeard was a good example of this, something he expected. It was how he made his plans, too.
This isn't what was supposed to happen.
Benn answers his question after exhaling smoke slowly, “Disobedience, interferance in a conflict, association with pirates, treason.”
A pause. Shanks breathes, in, out. Then-
“All together, punishable by death.”
Under his hand, the railing cracks.
Coby is almost asleep in the infirmary when someone enters the room.
Granted, they don't make much noises. He probably wouldn't have heard it if he wasn't already awake. He's not supposed to be there, not really, but even the quarters are already too crowded and the doctor took one look at Coby's eyebags before dragging him back to bed.
It's not surprising to hear the door open and close during the night, as soldiers and doctors walk around, there's always someone awake.
But there's something different this time. It's how the person seems to hesitate, taking too much time and making less noises than others, as if afraid of being heard. It's not how doctors, who walk in the infirmaries with confidence, act. Maybe it's Coby's paranoia, but it feels like someone who isn't supposed to be here.
He doesn't dare to move, stays still in his bed, hands curled into fists. The person walks slowly, as if looking for something, and alarm bells are ringing in his head but he doesn't move, doesn't attract attention to himself. His head is hidden under the blanket, and he's a bit too warm for comfort, but still he doesn't dare to move as the intruder keeps walking around.
Go away, he thinks, wants to scream, heart racing without knowing why, muscles tense and ready to move if-
(If what?)
The intruder walks, slowly nearing Coby's row of beds, and for a terrible moment he imagines it, imagines someone stopping in front of his bed and uncovering him of his blanket to-
(To what?)
Another door opens, much more confidently than the last one, and Coby almost feels the way every movement stops when the newcomer sees the intruder.
“Visitors aren't allowed at night,” the now familiar voice of a doctor rings out in the silence, soft yet dangerous, “Please leave immediately.”
A warning or a threat, Coby doesn't know, but it's enough to make the other person back off. Faintly, he hears a mumbled apology before another door opens. He barely hears it over the sound of his own beating heart.
The following nights, someone always stays at night with the patients, making sure to leave at least one person to watch out for any unwelcome guest. Coby doesn't sleep much, those following nights.
“How long until he's arrested?”
There are whispers on the ship, his men glancing at him from where they're working. Most look concerned and angry, having heard the news of the child condemned to death for stopping a war, while others are confused, not having heard yet.
“A month at least.” Rockstar looks up from where he's scribbling notes and muttering under his breath, “They still have a lot of cleanup to do, and it'll take time to get Akainu properly settled as Fleet Admiral.”
And that's the root of the problem, isn't it? If it was still Sengoku in charge, this wouldn't happen. For all Shanks dislikes the man, hates him for blaming a child for his father's sins, he at least wanted his own men to live. He wouldn't let one of his own be hunted for doing the right thing, not one so young, not with being friends with Garp. But he's not in charge anymore.
(Why couldn't Aokiji win?)
“So?” Lucky asks, munching on his meat, “What are we going to do?”
Shanks blinks, startled. His crewmates all look at him, Yasopp and Lucky grinning while Benn simply stares back. Rockstar is still writing and listening to the Den-Den Mushi, not even looking up.
“What makes you think we're doing something?” Shanks says, and his friends simultaneously send him an unimpressed look.
“As if you'll let that happen after showing interest in the kid! We're not blind, Captain.” Benn raises an eyebrow, but Shanks stays silent.
“So what,” Yasopp says, “We're taking the kid?” He doesn't look bothered by the idea. At this, Rockstar finally looks up from his notes and glances at them.
Sixteen years old is young, far younger than anyone on their crew. Shanks swore a long time ago not to let children on his ship, never allowing anyone below twenty to join them, and most the Red Hair Pirates are in their thirties or even fourties. Usually, the answer would be no.
But Shanks isn't naive enough to think that the kid will survive without help. Brave and suicidal but still a child, a young marine who disobeyed orders and training under someone famous for doing so. Both having protected pirates, and this doesn't paint a picture favorable for Coby. Even if he somehow miraculously escapes, he'll be hunted, a marine chased like a pirate without anywhere to go.
His decision is taken before he realizes it.
“What do you think of having a new member?” Shanks asks slowly, carefully.
There's a silence, and then-
“Hell yeah!” Yasopp exclaims, “If the marines are killing off the kids with potential, more for us!”
“They're not puppies, Yasopp.” Lucky points out, though he's nodding along to show his agreement.
“He kind of looked like one.” Rockstar says, smiling widely.
“Heh.” Benn sighs, grinning, “He seemed pretty smart, despite being a crybaby. Would be a nice change.”
“Pretty sure I would have cried too if that mad dog came charging at me when I was a kid. Hell, even as an adult!”
“I'm in! I wouldn't be the youngest anymore!”
“We could teach him how to fight!”
“AH! You'd be a lousy teacher! The kid would just be confused by your stupid methods!”
“OI!”
The crew buzzes with excitement at the idea of the child joining them, and Shanks smiles.
The circumstances aren't the best, but he'll be damned if he lets one of his nakama get hurt. Even if this nakama isn't one yet.
Helmeppo leaves two days before him. Coby makes sure to wave from the docks despite the odd looks he receives, until the ship disappears from the horizon.
The two days before his own departure are terribly long. Helmeppo was right when he said that most of their unit left on his ship, and Coby wanders around Marineford with no one to talk to until his injuries force him to go back to the infirmary. All the while, he can feel gazes following and watching his every movement.
He almost cries in relief when he finally boards the ship. He's alone, but at least he's away from that place reeking of death.
The whispers and voices never leave him, but it's better than before. Coby no longer feels like an army is screaming in his head, raging on a battlefield, though his mind is never quiet anymore.
It's more manageable, but it still hurts. His headache never leaves him, a constant weight at the back of his mind dragging him down and down as days go by. It's a good thing that important tasks aren't given to him, because he's not sure he would be able to follow it even if he wanted to.
The trip to the island is supposed to take a week. It's not long, but surrounded by older marines who look at him, judging him with their eyes (the kid who took a stand against the Fleet Admiral-), it feels like forever.
Weirdly, it reminds him of his time from before, but he pushes this thought away he's on a marine ship, not a pirate one, and he's safe.
(Except they all look at him like they did back then, watching his every move, waiting for something and he doesn't know what.)
A soldier shoves him in the corridor, his plate is much less full than it should be, and Coby stays quiet.
His injuries hurt, and he's pretty sure that he shouldn't be walking around and even less working. But Marineford was crowded, so Coby grits his teeth and works alongside the other marines.
It's okay. He's okay. He's fine, it's over.
(So why doesn't he feel safe?)
At night, surrounded by sleeping strangers, Coby keeps his eyes wide open, hands on his ears as whispers no one else hears echo on the ship, his nails digging in his skin until drawing blood.
(He used to do this too, on Alvida's ship. Sleeping in a closet, curled into himself, nails digging in his arms. He bled then, and he bled too when he started slipping away to build his boat. It's a bad habit, but he can't stop doing it when he feels in danger.)
The worst is hearing soldiers talk about Akainu, his ruthlessness and cruelty praised as something good and necessary. Some, like an older marine called Sitherm, likes to speak loudly about how every soldier should take example and how they would be better off without “rebel marines”.
He says this while staring right at Coby, watching his face and waiting for a reaction, and sees none.
Three days pass slowly like this. He tries and tries to stay deaf to this world he struggles to understand and to the whispers of those supposed to support and help him.
(Tries not to notice the stares, the sneers and disgust, the damned word whispered again and again.)
(Traitor.)
It doesn't take long for Rockstar to identify which ship the kid is on.
After Marineford, marines have been busy repairing and organizing new squads, to see where which soldier should go. It's a mess, made greater by all the deaths left in the war's aftermath.
Recruit Coby, no other name given, is to leave on Rear-Admiral Mortier's ship heading to an island in Paradise.
(The fact that almost half of the marines on the ship are fervent supporters of Akainu doesn't escape his notice, and he grits his teeth.)
The plan is laughably easy, in his opinion. Get in as quietly as possible, take the kid, leave. The Red-Hair Pirates aren't known for being stealthy, but it's more because they rarely need to be than because they can't. Shanks never forgot his time as cabin boy, when being quiet and fast served him far more than using brute strength.
Shanks wanted to go alone -after all, it's not like a bunch of low-graded soldiers can be considered as a threat for someone like him- but Benn shut down that idea pretty fast.
“You're not fighting everyone on the ship.” he says, “It'll take too long.”
“And it would scare the kid.” adds Yasopp.
“We're kidnapping him,” Lucky points out, “he'll be scared either way.”
“I'm not kidnapping him!” Shanks protests, and receives some very unimpressed looks. “I'm saving him.”
“Same thing.”
Shanks doesn't pout. He doesn't.
It happens on the fourth night, with the moon still shining brightly in the night.
Coby doesn't know why, but as he lies in his hammock, fear brutally grips in chest, whispers suddenly ringing in his head move move move! and he leaves the sleeping quarters before he can think better of it.
A minute passes without anything happening, and for a moment he allows himself to wonder if his lack of sleep is playing tricks on him when he hears it.
There are footsteps behind him, and something inside him, something just awoken, says Run.
So he does.
Coby sprints towards the kitchens, careful not to make too much noises despite his hurry. When he hears running following him, he feels like throwing up.
Why am I running? he thinks faintly, though he doesn't stop, They're marines. They won't hurt him. They won't!
Then what are they doing?
The man behind him -it's Sitherm, the one who shoved him back then, of course it is- swears as he trips over something, but Coby doesn't slow down until he's standing in front of the kitchen's locked door.
Shit.
The older marine catches up to him, looking almost feral, rage on his face and snarling once his eyes fall on Coby.
“Thought you would get away scotfree, brat?! After what you did for those scums!”
He takes a step forwards, and Coby braces himself for a fight even though his body still hurts, not properly healed yet after the disaster that was the war. He's not defenseless anymore, not after so long under Garp, and he won't let himself be pushed around.
(Not again.)
“What do you want?!” he asks, because maybe this is all just a misunderstanding, maybe there's something he missed, a hint, some way to explain the utter hatred in Sitherm's eyes-
“The Fleet Admiral wants you dead,” his colleague says, a smirk brightening his enraged face, “He hasn't given the orders yet but we all know, you're worthless and you protected pirate scums, you disrespected-”
Coby doesn't hear the rest, static ringing in his head as he fully registers what he was told.
The Fleet Admiral wants you dead, and his first thought is Sengoku, a familiar face often followed by Garp, but surely he wouldn't, they got along well the few times they talked despite Coby's stammering-
Sengoku retired, a little voice whispers in his ears, and Coby understands, of course he does. Akainu didn't manage to kill him when Red Hair protected him, and now he has the power to rectify his mistake-
His world is crashing down, his dream turning to dust at his feet, yet his colleague- his attacker, keeps talking.
“Admiral Akainu is the best of us! He-” At that, Coby stops listening, pushing down his panic as he takes in his surroundings.
Trapped between four walls, but he can hear people yelling on the ship, in his head and above him, and wonders if someone saw them running. It's strange since he doesn't remember seeing anyone in the corridors, but he hopes someone noticed his and Sitherm's empty hammocks.
(Hopes that it wasn't premeditated, that Sitherm is the only one angry enough to hurt one of his colleagues, that surely, the others can't be as angry, they can't all be with Akainu, can't all wish his death-)
(Coby remembers what it's like, to fear for his life every night, surrounded by criminals and murderers, and those two years on that cursed ship still appear in his nightmares. He doesn't think he'll be able to take it if the same starts to happen where he's supposed to be safe.)
His thoughts are cut short when Sitherm's voice fades, and he looks up with horror because there's a gun in Sitherm's hand, and Garp trained him for this kind of situation (did he know no he can't have no not him-) but he's still hurt from the war and with no exit in sight-
An invisible wave rolls over them, the weight almost making him fall to his knees, and breathing is suddenly much harder than it's supposed to be.
Sitherm falls, and Coby's heart stops in his chest.
“Hello,” says Red Hair Shanks, a kind smile on his face even as his hand rests in the sheath of his sword, “I'm sorry to disturb you, but I'm afraid you'll have to come with me.”
Lucky is the one to come with him, both men boarding a smaller ship which would be unseen in the night. Benn and the others stay on the Red Force, watching them board the boat carefully and nearby in case things go awry. It doesn't take long to reach the ship, and Lucky watches him prepare to jump on the ship with a serene expression.
“Don't be reckless and don't scare him,” is all he says, still sitting on the boat. He doesn't bother to get up, knowing he'll only need a second to come if his Captain calls him. Shanks nods and jumps away.
The two soldiers on watch didn't notice them, probably not bothering or not even knowing how to use haki (and really, the standards of the Marine seem to have dropped since a few years) and the Emperor lands on the mast in front of them with a grin on his face.
“Hi!” Shanks says brightly, and the way marines' eyes go round when they see him and the speed in which their faces pale is still hilarious, decades after.
(It's been weeks since Shanks truly laughed, truly smiled, because his Captain's son is dead and Luffy traumatized, and he has to take his amusement where he can.)
He doesn't wait for their answers, and a blow to the neck knocks them unconscious.
Humming, Shanks quietly walks toward one of the door on the back of the ship. He's been on multiple marine ships before, and knows them well enough to locate the sleeping quarters. In any case, finding the kid shouldn't be a problem with how loud his Voice is.
Even if Shanks only met the kid briefly, he remembers Coby's Voice well. His Haki is pretty memorable, would be even if he hadn't jumped in to stop Akainu and stayed with his fellow marines. The kid shines in the night, a soft hue of pink and blue reminding Shanks of the sun setting down and the light reflecting on the sea. It's beautiful.
It's also full of panic and fear.
Shanks freezes, taken aback by these sudden and powerful emotions. It's too loud, too bright to come from someone whose Haki isn't awoken, yet there's no restraints, no shields to speak of, and an uneasy weight settle in his stomach.
The kid has only just awoken his Haki, and there's not many places other than Marineford in which it could have happened.
A war zone.
(Decades since the Edd War, since Captain's laugh and Shiki's yells, and still he remembers. Buggy's cries and his own nightmares haunt him, thousands of voices screaming from the depths of the sea, and some things would be better forgotten but life is rarely merciful enough for that.)
Not even bothering with being stealthy, Shanks heads toward Coby's Voice with quick steps, knocking the few marines he meets with his Haki. All low-ranked, yet the Emperor is on edge, and he's almost running when the kid's Voice screams in fear. The corridors are dark, moonlight barely shining through some of the windows, but that's more than enough for an Emperor.
There are few things that can truly anger Shanks after so long on the seas. Yet, the scene he stumbled on almost manages it.
The first thing he sees is Coby, bandaged, exhausted and pale -he doesn't look like he should be standing- but otherwise unhurt. Only then does he take notice of the other marine, spitting curses at the child.
The marine is screaming at the kid, about how treacherous stopping a useless war is, about how worthless he is and how Akainu is right to have him executed-
(Executed like Ace was for being born, except this time this child's crime is to have saved countless of lives, and how could they be blind enough to still call it Justice?)
The wave of Haki he unleashes is instinctive, a part of him screaming and wishing to hurt the one who dares to insult his new and young nakama, and he only just stops it from hurting Coby.
It would be unacceptable for a Captain to hurt someone under his protection.
(And maybe, just maybe, he isn't quite over Ace's death, Captain's son and another failure, another face to haunt his nightmares, and he refuses to let one of his people get hurt, even if that person doesn't know it yet.)
Silence falls, heavy and tense, as he meets the eyes of his new recruit.
“Hello,” Shanks says, smiling and doing his best to appear as non-threatening as possible despite the way anger still boils under his skin, “I'm sorry to disturb you, but I'm afraid you'll have to come with me.”
So much for not scaring the kid.
For a moment he thinks Coby won't answer, his eyes wide with shock as he stares at the pirate who saved his life, but he does.
“Why?” the kid asks, voice barely above a whisper, and Shanks could knock him out. It would make things easier, and he could explain the situation later when the kid is safe aboard the Red Force. He could choose to push away his kindness.
But killing everyone on the marine ship, or simply letting the kid die would have been easy, too. Shanks didn't do things because they were easy. He wouldn't be an Emperor otherwise.
This is the kid who was braver than all of the soldiers, marines and pirates, standing on the battlefield. This is the child who stood in front of a monster and stared at him without flinching, begging those who are supposed to fight for what is right to stop killing needlessly.
He deserves the truth and Shanks will give it to him even if it breaks his heart.
“Akainu-” the name is spoken with disgust, with hate even as Shanks tries to be as gentle as possible, “-is a mad man, who should have never been made Fleet Admiral, or even admiral. He’s insane and scared of losing his authority, so now that you've defied him he has to make you disappear.”
Coby doesn’t look surprised by that fact, despite his wide eyes and pale face. His Voice is incredibly agitated and loud, but it’s been this way since Shanks landed on the ship.
“Why?”, he repeats, and this time his voice is loud, and Shanks stares at him without understanding.
“Akainu-”
“I know,” Coby cuts him off, voice shaking but determined, just like when he faced a mad dog charging at him, “I mean- What I meant is- why are you saving me?”
He's covered in bandages, headband on his ears and hands are clasped around it, likely in a vain attempt to muffle the Voices. His pink hair are ruffled, his clothes crumpled and he looks ready to pass out, but in front of the Emperor, Coby does not flinch.
Shanks already respected the kid, but now he can't help the awe and admiration blooming in his chest. If he had any doubt or worry about how he would manage on an Emperor's ship, they're gone in the face of the steady determination of the boy before him.
“What you did in Marineford was amazing.” he starts slowly, choosing his words carefully because this kid deserves the truth, no matter how ugly it is, “You did what was right, and you were the only one brave enough to do it. You are a great marine.”
One of the few there is at least.
“But the world isn't fair. If it was there would be no pirate, no revolutionnary, no marine. Most people now only think of themselves, and those they love. To be frank, I'm often one of them.”
People move above them, marines finally noticing the kid's disappearance, but neither of them bothers to comment on it. Coby watches him, examines his face, his words, and doesn't speak.
“You're a good kid, a good person, and you saved someone I hold dear.” Shanks tells him, “It's enough for me to save you.”
To protect you, he almost adds, but it's too much, too soon. There will be time for this, for wounds to close and for trust to build, but now isn't it.
Noises above them, near them- marines finally noticing their colleagues' absence, probably. Lucky Roux will intervene soon if they don't hurry, even if his haki betrays no anger or disress, but Shanks waits for Coby's answer.
There is none for a few seconds, but then the kid does something he didn't expect.
Coby smiles, eyes empty, and it' a terrible thing to behold, the smile of a child who has lost hope, who lost his dreams and friends to follow his beliefs.
“My dream was to be an Admiral,” he whispers, like it's a secret, a shame, and Shanks wants to rage because dreams should never be spoken of in past tense unless they're accomplished, yet this dream is nothing but dust on the ground in face of Akainu's anger and pettiness.
There is nothing he can say to that, so he doesn't. Shanks holds out his hand, and Coby meets his eyes.
“Come with me.”
Please, I can't fail another person, even if you're not one of us you protected Luffy, please let yourself be saved, let yourself live.
A smaller hands grabs his, and his grip on it immediately tightens.
“He's small,” the other pirate -Lucky Roux- says, voice flat as Coby jumps on the boat with unsteady legs. Shanks doesn't answer. Coby probably wasn't meant to hear that, but he's been hearing a lot of things he's not supposed to recently. What's one more?
Walking to Red Hair's boat was one of the strangest experiences in his short life. The Emperor somehow managed to knock out evey marine on his path without even looking at them.
(Red Hair never let go of his hand, not until they reached their boat, and it shouldn't make him feel safe, not when he is -or was- a marine, not when this man could crush him before he could even understand what was happening, yet it does.)
This is it , Coby thinks, numb. There's not going back.
After this, he'll be a criminal, a traitor wanted by the government.
A pirate.
It hasn't sunk in, not yet. It probably won't for a few days, but he's a pirate once again, except this time he chose this (it was that or death and can you really call this a choice-), this time there won't be anyone to save him.
The pirates are the ones saving him, by kidnapping him, and sure he came willingly but it's still too much like Alvida, choices taken away from him or choices made for him.
Coby doesn't know if he should laugh or cry, but if there's one thing he learned on Alvida's ship besides how to clean blood and take hits, it's how to stay quiet.
The boat sails toward the Red Force, nervousness growing inside him, and the former marine doesn't dare raise his head and look at the pirates sitting in front of him.
“You need a doctor,” Red Hair says, voice soft yet incredibly loud in the silence, and Coby startles.
“What?”
Lucky Roux snorts, and Coby notices that he's munching on something -meat?- even as he stares at him behind his glasses. “You look dead on your feet, kid.”
His protest dies on his tongue. He knows how true the statement is, as much as he dislikes how weak he must seem to these legends of piracy.
“You should sleep,” Red Hair says, and Coby forces himself not to flinch. This is his Captain now, and he can't afford to show fear in front of him.
Oh, well, that ship sailed a long time ago but still, he'll do his best to preserve what's left of his dignity.
“I don't think I'll be able to,” he mutters, and is surprised to see Red Hair and Lucky Roux smile. Despite this, he closes his eyes and leans on the railing.
He's out a few minutes after.
They leave Coby on one of the beds of the empty infirmary. He's deeply asleep, finally away from the marine ship, and it doesn't surprise Shanks that he lost consciousness the moment he was away from malevolent Voices.
“He's small,” Lucky says again, and Shanks hears his true meaning easily.
He's young, a child younger than our Anchor, a newbie condamned to death for being kind.
“He is.”
And what else is there to say?
“We'll be here for him,” Benn reminds him, voice muffled by his cigarette. Most of the members of his crew are asleep, but his officers stayed awake, hidden so their presence would not alarm the child.
“We'll train him,” Yasopp adds, fiddling with his gun with a thoughtful expression, “And we'll keep him safe. Can't be that hard.”
“Don't jinx it!”
Silence falls, comfortable in the cold air of dawn.
“Look,” Shanks mutters, as he watches the sun rises and the sea glow- a soft hue of blue and pink, just like the Voice of the child sleeping on his ship. “It's a new beginning.”
And he cannot wait to see how it'll turn out.