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He should focus on the number. It had jumped again, ridiculous figures he should be shoving in Zoro's face. Money. All of it was ruined, of course, by the other change, huge letters. Wanted: Only Alive
Sanji was very good at a couple things. Cooking. Violence. Imagining the worst possible outcome to any given scenario. He employed that third skill now with immediacy. Germa had found him, somehow. Despite the years and the life lived that now stretched between him and who he had been. The failure, the mistake, the lab experiment. All titles chased him now, had maybe never let go in the first place. His photo was blurry, but it was a photo nonetheless. His name, his number, emblazoned there below it. The face, the name, no wonder the north had found him.
It was proof he had lived.
Sanji couldn't begin to dredge the depths of possibility for why they wanted him back. Did they think him strong, or just property?
"Why does Sanji's bounty say 'Only Alive'?" Chopper asked, hooves pawing innocently over Sanji's arm.
Sanji let the poster drop and flutter to the deck. He wished it would fly into the ocean and dissolve. "Fuck if I know." He snorted, twisting away from Chopper and stalking gruffly back to the galley.
Who knew? Maybe it wasn't Germa 66 behind the change. Maybe some other freak wanted him instead. What a fucking dream. He started dinner prep early, clanging his tools much more roughly than he normally would. Tension tangled the tendons in his arms, and he chopped and stirred with true ferocity.
"Are you upset they want you alive?" Nami's tone was half-teasing as it floated across the room towards his back. Sanji tried not to jump.
"What gave it away?" He growled, as politely as he possible could. He couldn't look at her until he had schooled his face. When he had enough of a smile plastered together, he turned in time to catch her rolling her eyes.
She leaned on the counter. "I thought it'd be a good thing. You know, it could give us an advantage in dealing with bounty hunters. With the amount of money on your head, idiots will overthink like crazy." The last statement was pointed, and Sanji released air from his chest in a quick sigh.
"Sure. I'm sure." He said, turning back to the stove.
Nami's heels tapped on the ground, once, twice. "Or are you just upset because it'll be harder for you to throw yourself on every sword you see?" Steam clouded his vision as he lifted a lid.
He almost wanted to laugh. His fingers were cold despite the rising heat from the range flames. "Nami, my dear, it isn't that." He managed. "Though, of course, I would never suggest you to be wrong about anything."
Nami's arms were crossed when he glanced back. She looked unimpressed, but her fingertips were white from strain.
"I'm just concerned about the implications." He let himself say, as if they were newly occurring. "Someone has enough focused interest in me to make that change. Someone powerful enough to influence the world government." He let gravity seep into his words, fished a bite out of the pan and brought it to his mouth. He focused wholly on his consideration of the taste, reached for his spice rack to make the adjustment.
Nami was quiet, but it was a considering silence. "Like who?" She asked, driving a spike into the back of his skull.
He bit down on fear. "Fuck if I know!" He lied, carefully tuning frustration into his voice.
Nami hummed. "I'll talk to Robin about it." Her voice had the cadence of a suggestion, of a problem being solved. Sanji wasn't sure how to convey how little he wanted that to happen.
What he said instead was "She is a genius~"
Nami hummed again, not disagreeing, and turned, heels clicking as she took her leave. Near-casual, over her shoulder, she called out "Sanji?"
"Yes, beloved?" He trilled back.
Uncowed, Nami's tone was all sparkle, false-light. "If you die now, it would be a huge waste of money." The navigator made her exit. Sanji breathed in steam and imagined it was hot enough to burn.
---
Robin cornered him in the library with all the tact of a professional assassin. He had brought coffee and a selection of well-paired treats in for her to enjoy as she read, and she had led him into staying by asking about a book he dearly loved. It spiraled from there, but who could blame him, when Robin was just such a good conversationalist? He was sitting across from her before he realized, his guard far too lowered for the killing blow. Delivered, in Robin's careful, delicate fashion, in the form of a bounty poster, laid out on the coffee table between them.
Sanji considered how rude it would be to stand up and leave. Probably too rude. Probably.
Robin's piercing eyes watched him for far too long. He was hyper aware of every movement, every fidget, every shift of hair and drop of sweat. As much as he should be relishing her attention, he was frightened of her eye, of her mind and what it could recognize. There was safety in being unseen, in being looked over. Sanji did not want to be known.
"I would like to discuss possible reasons behind your new wanted status." She opened, smoothly, breaking what could have been a centuries-long silence.
"Like what." Sanji choked, feeling extremely undignified in every way.
She tilted her head, arm blooming to lay a finger next to her mouth. "It seems to me that someone with a lot of power has set their sights on you. If you were to be captured, I have no doubt you would find yourself turned over right away."
Sanji swallowed. "Probably, yeah." He said, feeling faint.
Robin's face was expressionless and focused. She leaned forward, just a bit. "Does that bother you?"
Sanji immediately fumbled his response, hands splaying as feeling exploded out from him. "Of course it does! It's not just about me, I don't want the rest of the crew to get dragged into my bullshit either." He tried to defend, but the words felt too honest the instant they left him.
"Of course." Robin mirrored, nodding in what seemed like agreement but was probably more sinister. "So you believe it is someone you know?"
Sanji froze. "I didn't say that." He managed.
Robin's face didn't change. "I see." She said. He was suddenly very very worried that she did.
When the silence stretched on for a beat too long, Sanji forced himself into motion, gathering the dishes and arranging the leftovers. Robin's cup wasn't empty, he would come back for it later. "I apologize for taking up so much of your time, Robin, dear. I'm sure the others are breaking into the kitchen for snacks as we speak." He tried to ignore the feeling of her gaze on his back as he ran away.
Her voice was raised just enough for him to hear it clear as a bell. "You know, this crew would never let you go." Her voice held the gravity of experience. "No matter who is out there, no matter where they take you. Our captain would pull down the sun to get you back."
"I know." Sanji breathed, despair choking his voice. He did know. If Germa wanted him back, Luffy would give up anything to keep him. If it ever came to that... Sanji knew he would have to find some way to keep his crew out of it. To convince them to let go before they burned their hands. Sanji had never forgotten where he came from. He knew he was powerless. He knew when the time came, he wouldn't have a choice.