Chapter Text
"Are you with them?"
Coby had wanted to be a Marine for as long as he could remember. Catch the bad guys, take them off the seas, join the noble and honourable Marines. Then he’d witnessed the corruption that was wrought upon them by one of their own Captains. And headquarters had just let it happen. Maybe there was a reason so many pirates were still on the seas and unchallenged, if there was selfishness and corruption on the inside of the force meant to capture them. For the first time he could remember, Coby was torn. He could try to get in, fix things from the inside, or he could set sail with his friend and get away from it all, but throw away his shot at his dream. He was just one man though. Not even a man yet. What could he expect to do even if he went?
"I…" Coby glanced over at Luffy, who had raised an eyebrow. "Yes, I am! I-I was supposed to be a Marine, but I can’t be part of an organization so…twisted."
Luffy blinked at him. "You’re…coming with?"
"Um…if that’s okay, I mean. I can be your navigator or something." Coby stared down at the ground.
"Navigator and second mate. I mean, you were the second to join the crew!"
"Ah…isn’t that a high position?"
"So? You got a problem with it?"
Coby tensed. Luffy's tone wasn’t the same as Alvida's, it was bright and curious, but the words were familiar. "N-No, sir."
"And quit being formal and all. If you’re gonna be part of our crew, you’re gonna be nakama."
"I…" Coby trailed off, nodding. "Thanks." He faced the Marine officer and saluted. "Thank you for the opportunity. We wish you all the best."
"We cannot harbour criminals at our shores, but leave now and we will not pursue you this time," the officer promised.
"That’s our cue!" Luffy declared, rising from his seat. He glanced over his shoulder at the young girl who had served them plate after plate of food. "Thanks for the meal!"
Coby smiled apologetically. Between Zoro, Luffy, and himself, they’d downed at least sixteen plates. At least. That was a lot of food! Well, at least we won’t have to worry about feed for a couple days.
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"Well, welcome to the crew!" Luffy said as they set off in their rowboat from the dock. "I bet you'll be like, the beeeeest navigator in the world!"
"Oh...um...I...I wouldn't go that far." Coby ducked his head, smiling sheepishly. "I just need a place to be. Maybe sailing with you guys will teach me I can do more than hide behind a barrel when things get tough."
"You can only get better with practice," Zoro pointed out with a casual shrug. "You work on your navigational skills, I bet I can teach you to fight. Then you won’t have to hide behind barrels."
Luffy grinned sheepishly. "I’d teach ya something too, but...I can’t really teach you stretching. That’s my thing."
"Hah...with all due respect, Captain Luffy, I would rather not stretch like you anyway," Coby told him. He stood up and brushed off his pants. "Where are we headed to? I’ll set a course."
Luffy laughed, leaning back against the wall of the boat. "Don’t know, don’t care!"
Coby stared blankly at him, then sighed and shook his head. "You’re not at all prepared for this, are you? Bet you don’t have food and water either."
Luffy frowned. "We have plenty of water..." he stared down at the sea below them.
"Drinkable water!"
"Wait you can't drink seawater?!?"
Coby looked at Zoro imploringly, to which Zoro just shrugged, grinning. "Only the three of us, and we've already got one hell of a crew."
______________
As time went by, they collected member after member. Coby was pushed out of the navigator role and into that of the second mate, and lord did they need it. Luffy was chaos at its finest, and it took Zoro, Nami, and Coby combined to get him under control at the best of times. Coby had, as promised, trained with Zoro. He wielded only one sword, largely due to his lesser strength, but had trained up his form and reflexes. He’d lost a bit of excess weight through the workouts Zoro put him through, and from the sudden growth spurt that was puberty, just enough that he was around average build. The workouts did him good though, and sometimes he was still called in to help Nami in rough seas. There was rarely a lack of things to do, so Coby savoured the moments of peace and relaxation they got.
While everyone— minus Sanji and Zoro— seemed to be on good terms, Luffy and Zoro aside, Coby's favourite crew member absolutely had to be Usopp. They had a lot in common, and most notably, Usopp wasn’t perfect or overpowered in a battle. Far from it. He wasn’t insanely strong or lightning fast or foolishly— and recklessly— courageous. He was a thinker. Maybe a bit too much for his own good, but because of it, it seemed like he was more real. Real in a way that Coby could relate to. Then there was Nami, who more or less had adopted the big-sister role for Coby, and he didn’t mind in the least, even if it meant getting smothered with hugs after a risky situation separated them. But the best part was Luffy. Luffy, who placed complete and unconditional trust in him, simply because he was a friend. How long had it been since someone had looked at Coby like that and told him that they trusted him, rather than feeding him insults or pushing him off to the side altogether?
Then one day, they had yet another run-in with the Marines. This time, it was different. This time, there was a familiar face.
"You three!" Shouted the Marine from the deck of the warship. "I know you! Straw-Hat, Pirate Hunter Zoro, and pink haired kid-"
"It’s Coby!" Coby shouted.
"Whatever! You three are the ones who ruined everything! My father's on the run because of you two, I was forced into the damn Marines because I had nowhere else to go, and-"
"And what? You're gonna make us pay for it?" Zoro taunted. "So classic villain." He set a hand on Coby's shoulder and lowered his voice to a whisper. "Be ready for anything."
The blond man's hands went to his belt as the ships pulled closer, and he drew oddly shaped, long knives. Kukri. "Maybe I do want to make you guys pay for how you screwed us over."
Zoro grinned. "Bring it!"
"No, wait." Coby stepped forward, hand going to the hilt of his sword, Hikari. "The guy didn’t care about you, yet…you’re mad we beat him?"
"Of course I am! He…" The guy glared. "Nevermind. It’s complicated."
"You guys beat Captain Morgan. This one is my fight. This is the guy who threatened Rika and used me as a hostage. He looks different now, but it’s him," Coby insisted.
"Coby, you’re not ready for a real fight yet," Zoro insisted. "You can barely last a few seconds in some of the training exercises."
"Yeah. Some. And yet, twice I won."
"You mean the times I went easy on you."
Coby faltered. "How…How can I learn if you go easy on me?"
"It was meant to be a confidence booster, but clearly it’s only deceiving you."
Luffy looked over at them. "If Coby says it’s his fight, then leave it to him," he said, just as the blond man reached them and jumped onto their deck. "Coby, if you need help, just say the word."
"What, the pink twerp thinks he can beat me? I’ve been training for almost half a year now." The Marine sneered at them, tightening his grip on the kukri. "I’ll take him out, then you two."
"You can’t," Coby murmured. He looked up at the man. "Captain Luffy and Zoro are two of our strongest."
"So what? I have to settle for just you?"
"Yeah. Pretty much." Coby drew Hikari. "I’m ready when you are."
Coby was not ready. For only half a year's training, the man was fast, and he spun the knives expertly. Zoro had been right after all. For the longest time, Coby couldn’t land a blow, and it was all he could do not to end up getting hit. Then he did get hit. Right in the shoulder, and the wound cut deep. Coby staggered back, his spine hitting the ship's rail with enough force that he almost went right overboard. Burning, searing pain tore through the afflicted wound, and he didn’t miss the man's cruel grin.
"Who are you?"
The man stepped forward to stop only inches from Coby. "I'm Chief Petty Officer Helmeppo. Captain Morgan's son, from Shells-Town. You know, the base you ruined. The man you deposed. I’m a Marine now, and I swore I’d give you hell." He lay the blade of one of the knives against Coby's throat. "I should kill you. If not for you and your captain, things would’ve worked out like they were supposed to. Then Zoro got in the mix and I have a bone to pick with all three of you."
Coby's heart pounded. In such close quarters, using his sword would be tricky, so he was trapped, and he wasn’t brave like Sanji or Luffy or Zoro either. "Please…"
The man called Helmeppo smirked. "Please what? Pirate boy begging for his life?"
Coby barely dared to breathe, and never a deep breath. "Y-Yes," he admitted. "Please, don’t…don't do it. I'm sixteen, I’m way too young to die. Don’t…Don't take my life!"
"You forfeited the right to mercy when you started sailing under a pirate flag. Besides, I love it when people beg. Even better on the terrified face of my enemy."
Coby got the impression it was an intimidation game…and it was working. "Chief Petty Officer, please! I don’t care that my entire crew can see me reduced to a pleading mess, but please spare me. Please…I’m so scared…" tears formed in Coby's eyes, and they didn’t stop when the knife was pulled away, though not without a tiny cut on the side of his throat. A warning.
"So gullible," Helmeppo huffed. "You didn’t think I’d actually kill you, right? I’m not that messed up."
Coby's face burned. "You mean you just made me a sobbing, begging mess in front of my entire crew for your own amusement? That's sick!"
"What can I say? People remind me too often I’m a dirtbag, so I may as well act like one."
"That’s not funny!"
"I can’t help but notice none of your crewmates came to help you."
"I…" Coby stared past his opponent towards Zoro, Luffy, and Usopp. "Guys…why didn’t you help when I was begging for my life over here?"
"You didn’t call on us, so we didn't come. Kinda thought you had a plan," Luffy said. "Need me to kick his ass now?"
Coby bit his lip. "No, I’m okay. I’ll take care of it." With that, he slashed outward, towards Helmeppo, narrowly missing when he caught the man off-guard. "Zoro, take my sword!"
Coby handed it off to his confused mentor, then threw himself towards his opponent bare-handed. The risky move certainly caught Helmeppo off-guard, which allowed Coby to land a punch to the diaphragm. Not as strong as he would’ve liked, but he’d build up muscle soon enough. It was still enough to push Helmeppo back and make him choke. One of his knives slipped from his hand and Coby kicked it away from him. Helmeppo didn’t have time to recover before Coby slammed his elbow into the taller man's gut, slamming him against the cabin wall. On the sidelines, Nami winced. Sympathy pain.
"Coby, retreat!" Chopper ordered. "You’ve hurt him enough to get the message across."
Coby threw another punch though, at Helmeppo's shoulder, clenching his teeth. "Stay away. Stay the fuck away from my crew! Next time, I’ll kill you!" He didn’t know what he was saying. He knew he wouldn’t have the guts to go through with it, but he was angry. This man threatened him, his captain, all his crewmates. No one threatened his crewmates.
Helmeppo ducked Coby's sixth strike to grab his fallen weapon and backed away. "Give it up already, I'm going, I’m going! I’m not done with you or your crew, Coby. Not by a longshot."
Chopper waddled up to Coby and nudged him into the infirmary and onto the low bed. "Let me see where he hit you."
Coby winced as the adrenaline wore off and the shoulder pain returned. He pulled off his shirt with a hiss of pain when torn fabric brushed it. "I’ll be okay, it’s just-"
"If you just leave it, it’ll get infected, so you’re going to let me treat it."
"Doctor Chopper-"
"That’s doctor's orders. And no more training or fights for the rest of the week, to let it heal, and I want you in here, where I can keep an eye on you."
Coby groaned. "Fiiiine."
_______________
"Hey, Coby?" The infirmary door opened and Coby sat bolt upright, making his now-bandaged shoulder scream in complain.
"Who's there?"
"It’s just me."
Now that he’d taken a couple deep breaths, Coby recognized Luffy's voice. "Don’t scare me like that, okay? At least knock next time?"
"I just wanted to see how you were doing, and I didn’t want to wake you up if you were sleeping."
Coby's lips curved up. "I have a thoughtful captain. I’ll be okay."
Luffy's eyes seemed to glow in the dimly lit infirmary. "You’re not just saying that to look strong?"
"I am strong!" Coby insisted.
Okay. So he couldn’t deny maybe he played things up a bit around Luffy. The last thing he wanted was for his captain to look down on him. Captain and, ultimately, saviour, freeing him from Alvida and being a source of encouragement and all. The first trace of social warmth he'd had in over two years at the time. He couldn’t deny that Luffy's compliments and blind trust made him blush and his heart warm. Luffy had quite generously taken Coby into his crew, even knowing he’d wanted to be a direct enemy of pirates, and Coby didn’t want to let him down.
"You weren’t strong, you were mad."
Coby bit his lip, moving over to make room on the bed for Luffy. "I want so bad to be strong like you or Sanji or Zoro…"
"With Zoro training you, you’ll get there!" Luffy promised, hopping up next to Coby.
Coby looked down. "Sometimes it’s hard to believe. We train and work out every day, but it never seems to get much better the past couple months."
"Takes time. Zoro didn’t get there by sitting around. Up your workouts, or specialize to focus on a specific muscle set," Luffy advised. Much of the time, Luffy was a chaotic and childlike presence, but on the other hand, sometimes he got serious and gave considerable advice.
"I want to be able to do that again, but when I’m not mad. I want to be able to fight and defend like that. Maybe I wasn’t meant to be a swordsman like Zoro insists I can be. Maybe I was built to be a martial artist."
"If your performance yesterday was anything to go by, yeah."
"I’m stuck here until the end of the week, captain Luffy!"
"Quit with the whole captain thing." Luffy ghosted fingers across the tiny slit in Coby's neck, not bandaged, but washed out and stitched up. "Does it hurt?"
"That one? No. Not anymore. The shoulder one bothers me though. That’s my dominant arm."
"That’s probably why Chopper wants you to stay here all week." Luffy slowly breathed out, wrapping an arm around Coby's waist as to avoid touching his shoulders. "Sleep. Maybe the pain will go away."
"I can’t sleep. I’ve been trying for a couple hours. The pain either keeps me up, or my thoughts start racing, and Doctor Chopper's asleep, so I don’t know-"
"Shhh." Luffy lay down and pulled Coby overtop him. "I’ll be a pillow. Maybe you’ll be more comfy if someone else is here. You’re safe."
Coby snuggled his head against Luffy's chest, blushing. "Y-Yeah."
Careful to avoid the injured shoulder, Luffy stretched and wrapped his arms a couple times around Coby as a blanket. "I’ll be here if you need me, and Chopper doesn’t mind being woken up. You should know that. You’ve been in here more than anyone except maybe Usopp."
Coby closed his eyes. "I know, but I’d hate to disturb anyone's beauty sleep."
"Promise to wake me up if something is wrong?"
Coby smiled sleepily. "If that’s what you want."
"I want nothing to be wrong, but if it is, yeah."
"Th-Then I promise. Thanks, Luffy. Really."
"Anything for my crew. Now go to sleep, will ya?"