Chapter Text

MARINE HERO TURNED PIRATE

Yesterday evening, Marine Officials announced the arrest of former Rear Admiral X Drake. Despite previous reports, it turns out X Drake did not desert his function as a Marine Officer and instead acted undercover as a pirate in order to infiltrate the ranks of Kaido of the Beasts. His presence in Wano turned the tide of the war, the conflict ending with the defeat of the Emperor. However, his intentions remain unclear as Marine Officials have reported X Drake’s affiliation to an unknown pirate crew settled on Renegade Reef.

As we all know, the World Government has rescinded any previous peace offers and deals that have been made with pirates over the years. Any sort of pirate allyship will no longer be tolerated by parties that have sworn allegiance to the World Government. As such, X Drake was taken into custody for treason and trial will soon follow. If found guilty, execution will commence.

Residents of North Blue might remember the name Diez Barrels, a former Marine turned pirate. This criminal was none other than X Drake’s own father. It is a well known fact that X Drake defected his own father’s pirate crew in order to join the Marine ranks, but as it seems history tends to repeat itself and it is surely not a coincidence that this notorious man’s son has been arrested for treason against the Marines. In the end, it might just be another case that fits the saying “Once a pirate, always a pirate” or perhaps spending so much time with the Beast Pirates caused X Drake to continue the lifestyle out of commodity. The truth behind these accusations will be revealed soon enough, but if indeed such acts of treason take place so often within the Marines it might make one question the competency of the organisation as a whole. Perhaps this new reform will change the order of things, but then again, it might not. Time will tell.

Hawkins puts down the newspaper and brings the cup of tea to his lips. The news didn't surprise him as much as they should have, but he still didn’t expect to find information about Drake in today’s newspaper.

Faust peeks at the headline from where he is sitting, ever the curious cat. “Who’s that about?”

“No one,” comes Hawkins’s curt reply.

Normally, Hawkins would pride himself on his stoicism but it seems like today he is failing at keeping his face blank because Faust immediately notices that something is wrong. Before he can stop him, Faust grabs the newspaper and reads the whole thing.

“Huh? X Drake? Wait, why does this say that he is a Meowrine?”

“Because he is a Marine, Faust.” Hawkins takes another sip. “He just went undercover as a pirate in Kaido’s crew.”

“Oh, so you guys met there.” He continues to read the article, peeking over the paper when he is done. “Were you guys friends? Why are you so upset?”

“I’m not upset. I’m not interested in any Marine business.” He focuses on his tea. It’s true, this is none of his business.

“Are you sure?” Faust probes. “This seems pretty serious.”

“I don’t care.” Another sip. “He’s had it coming.”

To be fair, Hawkins did tell Drake to leave the island numerous times. Who knows what sort of trouble he got caught up in while there? Not that it matters to Hawkins, it’s all the same to him. It’s unlikely that he will know about the outcome of the trial anyway. Not that he cares to hear it.

He is also aware that Faust is staring at him quite intently and it doesn’t matter to him if Faust doesn’t believe him. Why should he care about what he thinks? He continues drinking his tea until he finishes.

Putting the cup down, Hawkins tilts it slightly to get a better view of the inside. Nothing comes to him as he studies the leaves and the lack of insight only irritates him more. He’s ready to give up when he finally notices something. At the furthest point away from the handle of the cup a small “x” formed. It taunts him and for the first time in his life, his favourite tea becomes bitter.

“There’s no more tea,” Hawkins says abruptly as he stands up and grabs the newspaper from the table. Faust eyes follow him even as he makes his way down into the captain’s quarters.

₊⋆✦⋆₊

For the entire day, Hawkins makes himself busy, spending time either checking on his crew and thoroughly annoying them in the process or walking around the ship aimlessly. It doesn't help that they don’t have a destination as they are simply sailing between islands, looking for battles and plunder.

Sayda and her brother’s crew have joined his crew after dropping him off and they seem to get along with his own crew, despite their differences. They all seem to share a love of gambling which eases their introduction into the crew.

On their first day in Hawkins’s crew they all played cards. Hawkins joined them, of course, and his entire ship was rowdy with games, stories and alcohol. He felt at ease and he enjoyed the new found peace as it was something that he wasn’t able to partake in during his time in Wano.

Today, it seems like they have switched to playing dice. Hawkins doesn’t know the extent of their addiction and he doesn’t want to know either; he’s happy to simply watch them until Pierce looks at him and grins.

“You should join in, Cap’.” His cheeks are red, no doubt from the alcohol.

“Yeah! We’re at 5 million now, you could take it all!” Navee, his navigator, intervenes as well.

Hawkins stands. 5 million? He wonders where that money is coming from, most likely from the ship’s treasury. He is a bit concerned, but he’ll let them have their fun until it becomes a problem.

Walking up to the table, he grabs two dice. Someone stands up to offer him their chair, but he prefers to stand as he observes the table and the coins in the middle. Their eyes are on him, glimmering with anticipation while the dice in his hands are smooth and cold against his skin.

He plays with them in his palm for a bit, then tosses them and lets them roll over the table.

“Ha! It's a ten!” Someone exclaims and Hawkins bends a bit to see.

It is indeed a ten. To anyone else, it would be just that, a ten, the “point” and they would simply wait their turn to roll again. For Hawkins? He tends to see signs everywhere and this must be no coincidence.

The others hurry to grab the dice and roll too, but Hawkins turns his back and walks away. Someone calls after him, but he can’t bring himself to respond and just returns to his room.

₊⋆✦⋆₊

By dusk, he’s back on deck, watching the sunset.

It’s hard to not think about the article he read in the newspaper earlier this morning. He doesn’t know how their connection was revealed or what Drake did to get himself arrested but whatever it is, it has to be serious if the media got wind of it. Even worse, he’s been receiving signs all day, seeing x’s and tens everywhere. It bothered him

Still, even if Hawkins has somehow played a part in it, he can’t feel responsible, not when he told Drake numerous times that he has to go away and leave him alone. It was Drake himself who was too stubborn to listen or do anything productive. What did he expect to happen when all he did all day was walk around a pirate island while his superiors probably tried to get in contact with him?

Either way, Hawkins couldn’t care less about what would happen to Drake.

Perhaps this is a sign that he must let go and stop thinking about it. That’s a chapter of his life that he has long since put behind him and even if he has to remind himself every time to stop bringing it up in his thoughts, he will do it until it finally becomes reality. Even the newspaper in his hand — he must throw it out and he will. He definitely will.

In fact he’s in the middle of doing exactly that when Faust sneaks up behind him with his quiet feline feet.

“Cap’.”

Hawkins clenches his jaw. “What is it, Faust?”

“You missed dinner. I brought you a plate.”

Faust does tend to be quite considerate of those around him and it’s a quality that Hawkins has come to respect over the years.. Today he is unhappy at being interrupted.

“I don’t need it, go to sleep.”

“The sun is barely setting,” Faust points out and it’s true. Hawkins knows it as well, because he has been watching the sunset for the past hour. It’s not late enough to sleep, especially not for a lazy cat like Faust.

“Then do something else.” Hawkins wants him off his back.

“Yes, I will do something else. I will sit with you while you eat. Remember, you have to get your strength back, doctor’s orders!” And he does just that. He sits at the small table they both sat at during morning tea and sets the plate down in front of Hawkins.

Hawkins does have to suppress a sigh because he knows Faust is probably the most stubborn cat in existence, and that’s saying something. He sits at the table, which is more productive than arguing. To Faust’s credit the food does look incredible and smells very good. For the first time in hours he puts down the newspaper and starts eating while pretending he does not see Faust craning his neck to see just what is written on the newspaper.

“Wait, this again? I thought you said you don’t care.” He looks puzzled

“I don’t.” Elegantly, he brings a piece of fish to his mouth, chewing slowly, perhaps so that he does not have to answer more of this interrogation.

Unfortunately, Faust doesn’t seem to get the hint. “Then why are you holding onto it?”

“Faust, stop talking.” Damned cat, asking way too many questions. Hawkins can’t even enjoy his food in peace.

Faust must notice that he is not his usual self because he stops talking for some time and instead stares out on the horizon. The food is delicious but it does nothing to calm his racing mind, if anything Faust’s concern just makes him more aware of the gravity of this situation. Drake could die. Does Hawkins feel nothing about that?

And of course he does, no matter how many times he tells himself he’s not responsible and that he does not care in the slightest, deep down he knows that he can’t walk away from this.

Fuck…

Hawkins drops the fork from his hand and it makes a loud clang as it falls on the porcelain below. A heavy wave of pain from his lost arm washes over him. These days the pain is fainter and fainter but it’s still there, ready to remind him of what he is trying so hard to forget.

A debt is owed and if Drake dies in some prison cell, he will never be able to pay it back.

“Cap’?” Faust looks concerned again.

“Call Navee, we’re changing course.” He wipes a bead of sweat from his forehead as he tries to push through the pain. Instead of focusing more on it, he reaches for his cards and after he pushes away the plate of food he begins shuffling them with the help of his straws.

“Where to?”

“I don’t know yet.”

Turning over card after card, he tries to get any and all insight he could get. He knows it’s unlikely that he can figure out Drake’s location just from his cards, but with their help and his navigator’s knowledge they can definitely work something out.

Faust must have taken note of Hawkins’s serious and somber look because he stands up without any more arguments and goes to call Navee.

Whether or not he can admit to himself that he cares about Drake, he still can’t let him die.