Chapter Text
Being a secretary was work for a woman, some of the only work for a woman, really. Robin had been there for three months now, trying to catch hints on what her bosses at the bank were talking about. Good enough work could get her to a real government building, but for now she took as many free tours as she could in her free time, which she was leaving for now. Robin grabbed her bag and shook out her hair a bit before standing up and walking over to her boss.
"I'm going to leave now. have a nice evening." She said, waving at the man before walking out. It was five o'clock and not that dark but as much as a hell she had heard America was, she was careful to watch herself. Her training made sure she would stay safe and undercover, and if that meant looking out just a bit then that was that.
"Waaooh! Sorry there Missy!" Robin twisted her feet just a bit to keep a stable position as a tall man bumped into her. He had a metal nose, strong chin, and was quite muscular. Some part of her also took note of his round eyes and wide smile. With a plaid jacket and baggy brown pants, he was clearly a city man, not unlike Robin in her trim green work dress and coat. The man was backing up with his hands in the air and a cheeky grin.
Robin softly smiled, the polite American way she was taught. "It's alright. Where are you off to in such a hurry?"
He chuckled and looked at the ground, straightening his posture. "Got a couple of kiddos, got 'emselves into a mess."
Robin knew she should stay put. Interpersonal connections shouldn't be attempted yet, but wouldn't a good American woman help? "Children? Would you like some help? I care for my older sister's children all the time!" That was all a lie, but Robin was determined.
"Really? These'll probably be older than your sister's kids, but I'll take all the help I can get! I'm Franky, by the way." He said, rubbing the back of his neck. Robin looked up enough to see he was wearing a perplexing hat. A bright turquoise with a small brim and jet black hair like Elvis underneath it.
"Robin."
"Well, it's super to meet you! Come on, the home's this way"
As they set off, Franky began telling her about the aforementioned 'kiddos'. "If you're gonna help out, you gotta know who they are, y'know? Sanji, Nami, and Usopp are born and bred Americans like me, Zoro's Japanese, Luffy's from the south and Chopper's from way north, so they talk a little-" He suddenly stopped in his tracks.
"CHOPPER! Oh DAMN IT!" he took off down the street, grabbing Robin's hand. She stumbled but quickly caught pace with him, following him down an alley and swerving into a crooked door, Franky's metal nose just touching the door as he dug his heels into the ground to stop. He swung open the door, still gripping Robin's arm with his other hand.
"CHOPPER! LUFFY!" two kids ran in the room, one tiny with shaggy brown hair under a maroon top hat, the other kid a gangly teen with thick black curls and a straw hat.
"H-hi Franky!" said the smaller one, while the teenager remarked "Who's weird lady?" in a thick Spanish accent. Franky turned back to look at Robin and realized he still held her hand and dropped it shyly, momentarily distracted from whatever urgency possessed him.
"Don't distract me! why are you two home alone?" Franky shouted, light flush on his face. Both the boys looked around anywhere but Franky, tapping their chins with their pointer fingers. "Now what did you do? Why did the neighbor call about a loud noise? You're not in trouble yet."
The tiny one snapped first. "We broke the floor."
Franky's eyes seemed to bulge out of his head. "You WHAT! HOW!"
The curly haired boy began to pout and ran over to Franky, grabbing the little boys collar and haphazardly dragging him. "We didn't try to! Look at little Chopper, could he ever do such a thing?" He squished Chopper's face as he spoke.
Robin stepped forward. "Oh aren't you two little darlings. From what Franky told me, you're Chopper and Luffy right? I'm Robin, I'm here to help out." She smiled with her eyes closed and patted Chopper's head.
"Hey! Stay away from me!" Chopper waved his arms at her hand, bracing his teeth to hide his grin.
Franky guffawed and hoisted Chopper up in the air and onto his shoulders, then kicked Luffy in the shin. "C'mon kiddos, let's see what you guys broke." Luffy grinned wide enough to show his gums and ran off to the left. Franky kicked the front door shut and turned to Robin. "You coming?"
"Uh- Yes." Robin took after him, her training making sure there was no sound on the cheap wood flooring as her heels trodded along. The group went down a hallway that was previously out of sight and turned into a room with hammocks and beds and a strangely lumpy rug in the center. Franky swung Chopper off his shoulders and used him to point at the floor.
"Let me guess. You two jumped between the hammocks and when Luffy fell and broke the floor you moved the rug to cover it?" He said, putting down Chopper. Both boys nodded sheepishly. "HAHAHAHAHA! Oh you guys never learn! Go out and see if you can find some wood in an old apartment. You'll have to apologize to Usopp too, he and I will be fixing it tonight."
"You're not mad?" Chopper mumbled.
"Ah, well a little bit. But you were just having a little fun! I'm just glad you're okay." Franky ruffled Chopper's hair while Luffy was rocking back and forth on his ankles in the back.
Robin walked over to the boy and patted him on the back. "Come on, can you tell me about the others if I'm going to be here for a bit?"
Luffy immediately lit up. "Well there's Zoro, he has a job bricklaying east of the city, he's always tired. Nami, she usually works here and watches us, selling her maps. She can be really mean! Sanji works at a fancy restaurant and smokes, it smells real bad. And Usopp works as a handyman sometimes, just helps people out." He counted them off on his fingers as he talked, looking at the wall and talking animatedly, forgetting Robin was even there. "And you've met Chopper. He's gonna be a doctor!"
"I am a doctor!" the little boy cried from across the room, 'helping' Franky assess the damage.
Franky stood up and dusted his hands on his thighs, then ruffled Chopper's hair, saying "Yeah you are bud.", receiving a beaming smile in return. "Well Robin, would'ya like to stay for dinner?"
Robin stewed on this one for a moment. She had her daily report due, but not much else really. "Why, of course I'd like to eat with a handsome man like yourself and these fine young men."
Luffy laughed and Chopper gained a small smile. Franky, however, was quite the show. His face was fully flushed, making his metal nose stand out. He began cracking his knuckles and, if Robin wasn't mistaken, he was near giggling! "I mean, if you say so." Franky then became lost in his own world for a moment before speaking up again. "We eat when most people are home, Sanji usually works through dinner time, so we eat without him. Kinda funny we eat without the chef, huh?"
Robin nodded and opened her mouth to speak, but just then the door slammed open.
"I'm home guys!"
"NAMI!" Chopper and Luffy both shouted while running out of the room.
"Come on Robin, let's have you meet the real boss of the house." Franky said, patting the woman on the back and walking out of the room, Robin following closely with firm posture. Once they left the hallway Robin saw a ginger girl showing something in her bag to the two boys. Luffy tried to reach his hand in, but she snatched the bag shut before he could touch anything.
"Not yet, Luffy! When everyone's home and your gross booger hands are clean, maybe." She scolded, hitting him on the top of his hat with a fist. "Hey Franky! Who's lady?" she said, turning her head up to look over the boys, who were still hunched over to look in the once open bag.
"I'm Nico Robin." Robin bowed her head slightly, following code to show she's not a threat.
Franky tried to explain. "Robin came over with me because I heard something happened with the boys and she was willing to help. She's staying for dinner because I feel bad for taking up her time."
Nami nodded and walked over past the adults to set her bag down on the dining room table. "'Kay. I stopped by Usopp on my way here, he'll grab Zoro on his way back. Someone needs to help him back and he's always disgusting after work, so I'm not going near him."
"That's good enough, thanks Nami." Franky said, walking past her and patting her on the shoulder before going into the kitchen. Robin didn't see Nami's face change, but she felt, somehow, that she lit up with the praise. /poor thing,/ Robin thought. /A girl doing a mother's job./ It wasn't as if Franky wasn't pulling his weight, he's the one who took in the kids. Yet Nami saw a role where she was needed, and she slipped in easily to be treated like a good daughter and not just a girl off the street. It was obvious in the way she mothered the boys and lit up inside from praise. Robin had studied people so long, and it broke her heart to think of what happened to Nami to make her this old. /She should be in school talking about local cuties and going to malt shops, where is her American dream?/ Robin thought.
She felt a poking on her hand and looked down to see Chopper staring up at her with warm dark eyes. "Are you okay, Miss Robin? You've been standing there a little while."
Robin shook her head and laughed a bit. "I'm fine, silly. Don't you ever just get caught up in all the new people you meet?"
Chopper nodded vigorously and Robin had to stop herself from saying 'Aw' out loud.
"Robin, I'm going to start with dinner, can you please go on a walk with Chopper and Luffy, they need to find wood. They're not going to the-" Franky paused. "Safest place, we'll say. But Luffy can handle pretty much anything and no one really tries anything back there." Robin turned to give him a nod and saw he was wearing a pink apron with frills. She held back a giggle and nodded with her eyes closed and turned around fast to not laugh.
"Okay Franky." She called over her shoulder, walking to the boys who were already anxious at the front door, stomping lightly with energy. Chopper had put on a nice baby blue coat over his maroon slacks and darker blue shirt. Luffy was wearing a Red vest and denim pants. "No jacket, Luffy?"
He shook his head. "Not that cold. I don't even get cold." he said as he crossed his arms.
"Okay then. Let's go." Robin opened the door. They were greeted with a cold wind and Luffy's teeh audibly chattered. Robin turned to look at him and he rolled his eyes.
"Fiiiiiiine. I'll go get a coat." Luffy said as he rushed out. Robin closed the door while she and Chopper waited.
"You'll see Robin, we have the best place to find stuff for repairs." Chopper tried to fill the space, but it wasn't a long one as Luffy came back quick in a bright red button up coat over the vest, with a yellow scarf in his hand.
"Okayyyy I'm readyyyyyy!" The teenager near shouted, throwing the scarf around his neck a couple times while jogging over to the door. He locked his knees to stop and wobbled a bit, then hopped around on one foot trying to put on his shoes. Chopper rolled his eyes at Robin, who chuckled.
"Now we can go." Robin said once Luffy was back proper on two feet. She reached hand to the doorknob and turned.