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It had been an uneventful day. His crew was on day five on being on the summer island they had docked, the heat was sweltering, and the locals were just now finally calming down enough to barter and trade with them now having realized no harm was going to come to the island.
Visitors were few and far between, pirates being uncommon. But Buggy's Band of Pirates had been knocked off course by a wayward storm and drifted until they luckily spotted land in the distance after several days of a depleting lager. Their captain had instructed their ship towards the island in what was seemingly a blind guess to the crew when the log pose lost course. There was reluctance in following the direction their captain pointed, but they humored him nonetheless. When they spotted land they sung his praises even more so that one of the bards had taken to writing a song about it. In truth, Buggy’s observation haki had picked up the quaint island like a blip on his radar and had guessed it would take a few days to reach. He was right and they reached the island without trouble.
The locals had told them the long pose would take two weeks to reset, and so they were stuck trying to establish a friendly relationship with the locals in order to restock and allow their log pose time to reset.
Buggy had taken to walking around the market for a while to get off the ship before deciding it was too damn hot and he missed the feel of the waves beneath his feet. He headed towards the main ship sitting happily upon the waves by the few fishing boats at the docks. He had made it about half-way to the ship before hearing a voice call out to him.
"Captain Buggy!"
Buggy paused on the docks, cocking his head to the side in an effort to see who called his name. The voice was unfamiliar, but with his ever-growing crew, he could never be quite sure if it was one of his. It seemed every island he went to, some lad decided to take up residence with the famous captain Buggy, brother of one of the yonko.
"Ah! A moment of your time, please." Buggy turned his head further, having detached it giving the appearance of an owl–an advantage of the baro baro no mi–and took in the voice. He screamed money at first glance. A top hat sat upon blonde waves, royal blues made up his clothes. He looked every part the nobleman, except something was off. It took a moment to identify but Buggy's eyes took in the long metal pipe hung over the man's shoulder. Patches in his clothing a noble wouldn't be caught dead wearing. A scar marring his face. His shoes were scuffed and worn. Gloves of thick leather with wearing on the fingers. Buggy turned his body now to fully face his prospector.
"Can I help you?"
The wannabe noble stood to attention from his slight bow and cleared his throat, “Well you see. I would like to discuss the possibility of an alliance. My employer believes it would be beneficial for both of us."
Buggy had to hold back a scoff. Ever since Marineford and leaving the East Blue, Buggy had been accosted by other crews wanting alliances or crews begging to fly his flag for protection. It was annoying and unnecessary. He hadn't wanted the attention Marineford garnished him in the first place, but after the announcement that he had been one of Roger’s apprentices, considered himself Shanks’ brother, and his stint with Akainu on the battlefield, his days of lying low were over. "I don't do alliances. It'd be better if you go ahead and scram while I still feel willing to leave you with a head."
The wannabe noble shook his head and sighed dramatically as if inconvenienced by Buggy’s refusal. "That simply won't do. See I'm kind of in a bind. I told my employer that I wouldn't return without us making a deal. So, if you would be so kind--"
Buggy cut him off there. "Look kid--I don't know who your employer is or what they they've heard, but I--”
The wannabe cut in again, "A shame we can't come to an agreement. My brother seems to like you, so I thought you'd have been a more reasonable man."
Buggy paused. There were very few people that could be used to sway Buggy in their favor. Most of them were on his crew. The other few included his brother Shanks and his crew. Some nobody’s brother should mean nothing to Buggy and yet, his curiosity was piqued. "Your brother huh?"
The blond smiled something soft and proud, "Yeah. You've met him a few times." The man squared his shoulders. "His name is Luffy."
"No kidding? " Buggy sweatdropped. From some little test in the East Blue to Impel Down then Marineford to Shanks talking his ear off, Buggy couldn’t escape the rubbery little pain in the ass.
The man nodded a bit too violently for Buggy’s tastes, “Yeah! He told me that you weren't a half-bad guy."
Buggy swept his eyes over the man once again. Nothing about him screamed wild and reckless like the supernova was. This guy seemed calculated and held himself with authority. He took in the blond hair, blue eyes (Well eye–one was a milky white where the scar made itself home on his face) the overall feel of the man and found himself asking out loud this time, "You’re strawhat's brother?"
Strawhat’s self-proclaimed brother raised a hand to his chest and bowed forward slightly before righting himself again, "One and the same!"
They stood in silence sizing each other up, the sound of the seagulls filling the void, Buggy reached out with his haki and confirmed his crew was still milling around the marketplace. If this man said he was Strawhat's brother then that also meant that he was Ace’s brother as well, right? And if that was true then he owed it to his brother, the son of his captain, the man who was more of a father to him than anyone else, to hear him out. Shanks wouldn’t forgive him if he let this one walk away without some form of conversation. Breaking the silent standoff, Buggy jerked his head in the direction of the Big Top, "Follow me. We can talk on the ship."
"Really? Thanks!" The blond took off after Buggy.
"Well then,” Strawhat’s apparent brother had seated himself comfortably in one of the chairs in the captain’s quarters on the Big Top. Normally Buggy would have never allowed some stranger into the heart of his ship–much less his own private quarters–but he hadn’t wanted his crew butting in and they all knew his room was off limits. He took a sip of the drink prepared for him, “ I guess introductions are in order. My name is Sabo. I represent the revolutionary army."
That got Buggy’s attention. "Revolutionary army? What does the revolutionary army want with me?" He vaguely remembers something about the head of the Revolutionary army, Dragon, being announced as Strawhat’s father during the war. Surely, he wasn’t being hunted down in thanks for Buggy’s efforts during the war. He had managed to save Ace and Luffy, sure, but he wasn’t looking for thanks. Sabo, as he was introduced, instead quelled his suspicions of an extended thank you with what could only have been called some sort of an alliance as he had originally stated.
"Well, we understand that your connections in the underworld are quite expansive. Essentially we'd like to take advantage of the Buggy Delivery Service and put some of our spies into your mercenary groups in order to gain exclusive access to kingdoms we would have been unable to access otherwise."
Buggy scoffed, “If you wanted to do that, I have no doubt you already could have done so. "
Sabo smiled, "True, we could have, but working together would make things run much more smoothly. Your connections would be very useful."
Buggy could feel the headache coming on already. He didn’t even know why he was considering the proposition. It absolutely put more of a target on his back and didn’t seem to be very beneficial for him. "Let me guess. If I say no, you'll do it anyway."
"A man of good instinct I see!" This guy was irritating. He could see the resemblance to Strawhat now.
“And what’s in it for me?” Buggy asked, “I give you access to my extensive underground network and you what? Leave me alone?”
“I’m sure we’ll be able to come up with something. Maybe some information on some previously thought to be lost treasures could pique your interest?”
Hook. Line. Sinker. No matter how old Buggy got, the prospect of treasure, of those foretold piles of gold and jewels, of the mystery of the search and the satisfaction of the end of the hunt would always tempt and intrigue him.
“How many spies are we talking?”
Sabo smiled, “Oh just a dozen or so for now.”
For now? What was Buggy getting himself into? But true, it would be beneficial to have the revolutionary army at his back. The more power he had in the war he could feel brewing every day between the powers of the world would be useful. He was a captain in his own right. A powerful man with hundreds under his command. Buggy could handle a few dozen revolutionary army grunts. That and his observation haki couldn’t detect any deceit in what the blond before him was saying.
Buggy swirled the drink in his glass before downing it in one go. He’d probably regret what he was about to say later, but for now he settled on “I’d like to discuss this more in detail with my crew.”
Sabo nodded, as if he was expecting nothing less. No one ever said Buggy wasn’t a reasonable man. “Of course, I’ll give you access to my line, the details can be hashed out at a later date.”
“We’ll be in contact then.” Buggy said as a comfortable silence came over the room. He didn’t really know what else to say. He had agreed to hearing out the Revolutionary army, and no longer had a reason for Sabo to be on his ship and in his chambers. He went to stand as a silent cue for Sabo to leave, but Sabo beat him to it.
“Captain Buggy—” Sabo stood then to his full height, not nearly as impressive as most on the Grand Line or in the New World. But he filled it well, with confidence and a sureness of himself and his body that came from years of battle experience and espionage. Then he bowed, low, nearly parallel to the floor. “ I’d like to thank you.”
Buggy stared at the top hat that was threating to fall of its owner’s head, “No need to thank me yet. We haven’t worked out the details–I haven’t agreed yet.”
“No, not about that.” And Buggy could hear to slight smile in Sabo’s voice, “This is more personal. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have either of my brothers left. I wasn’t there to protect them. I didn’t even know–but that’s beside the point. I’m eternally grateful for your actions during the war. Thank you for saving them!”
Buggy stared at Sabo still bowing in front of him and began to feel slightly uncomfortable. It’s not like he saved the brothers for any thanks or appreciation. He honestly couldn’t tell you exactly why he saved them in the first place. Just that a feeling of absolute dread washed over him when he saw Akainu’s fist targeting Ace. And the thought of Roger’s, his captain’s, kid dying for the sake of the blood in his veins and not for the crimes he had committed himself rubbed him wrong. He didn’t even know he was going to step in until his fist was meeting Akainu’s and he was blocking the brothers with his body. He hadn’t planned to go into a full on war with the intention to make a scene. It paid off, of course, the brothers had gotten away safely, and Shanks soon appeared to put an end to the fighting. Buggy grabbing at his lapels and yelling at him for being late. And sure, the war didn’t end without casualties, Whitebeard himself the biggest name among them, but the reason for the war had gotten away, and that was what mattered.
“No need to thank me. I had no intention of saving them. It’s just the way things worked out.” Buggy said, brushing off Sabo’s gratitude.
Sabo righted himself, standing again to his full height. “Still. I’ll never be able to repay you. You have a favor from me.”
Buggy held back a look of shock. A favor from the chief of staff of the revolutionary army was huge. He’d keep that favor to his chest for a long time to come. It seemed his infamy kept growing without his meaning to. An upward trajectory promoted strictly by luck and connections. When he looked back to a few years ago, he was almost ashamed of what he saw. A weak East Blue based pirate who let all his skills and lessons from his past crew go to waste. Meeting Luffy had changed that. His piqued his interest. Had reminded him of what he was and what he had thrown away when he saw that hat twenty two years after forgetting all about it. He had seen roger in Luffy when they met in that dinky town Buggy terrorized, and it drove him back to the Grand Line.
“You can thank straw hat instead.” Buggy began, noticing the confusion taking over Sabo’s face at the statement, “He’s the one that pushed me to return to the Grand Line.” Not that Buggy would ever lower himself enough to thank strawhat of all people. Shanks had chosen well, sure, but it didn’t mean Buggy had to be happy about it.
“Lu does have a way of inspiring people, doesn’t he?” Sabo beamed, looking like he was remembering something precious. “But man is he a trouble maker. Always has been. And a crybaby too, which he’ll never grow out of no matter how strong he gets. And reckless to boot. But once he claims you as his, he’ll never let you go.”
“ You’re not going to talk my ear off about him like Shanks does are you?” Buggy knew that look and that tone of voice. He had seen it enough times on the den den, had heard it in Shanks enough times to know that a Luffy-centered rambling was about to start.
“Oh? You want stories about my precious baby brother? Why didn’t you just say so!” Sabo was almost glowing about that chance to talk about his little brother. He sat back down in the seat he was occupying previously and got comfortable. It seemed Buggy was going to be on the receiving end of yet another Luffy rant. “So, there was this time when we were younger that we had to fish him out of crocodile’s mouth—this was the third time that week—and”
Buggy started to tune him out, already occupying himself with pouring himself another drink. It seemed he was in for the long haul. Maybe he shouldn’t have invited Sabo onto his ship. These brothers kept getting him into messes he didn’t want to be in. Oh well, he acquiesced, he could listen to some more stories about the brat as long as he got to keep his favor with the revolutionary army. Having them in his pocket seemed like a fair trade to the headache he knew he was going to receive. Maybe he’d need more than the drink he was currently downing. Shanks would get a kick out of this.
“And then the tiger lord came out of nowhere and flung us off the cliff and straight into the river, where Luffy was proceeded to be eaten again by the very same crocodile!”
Yeah, Buggy could feel the headache forming.