I decided to post this early since it's the last chapter of the set. I've decided I'm going to finish this story before I switch over to something else, so I'll be taking a short break to figure out how the last eight chapters are going to go and write them up.

Another important announcement! There will be a sequel! It will be called A Shot Across the Bow, and I'll start working on it after I finish Deep Blue Sea, though I don't know when I'll start posting. For those of you following this story, I will post a short notice announcing when I've posted the first chapter so don't worry about missing it.

The Devil, reversed - Freedom, release, restoring control

Mid October 1522

Puru puru puru puru. Puru puru puru-

Click. "Speaking."

"Noir."

Aokiji? "Why are you calling this number?" This was Noir's private den den, paid for out of her own pocket and kept in her office instead of the comms room. "How did you get this number?" Very few people knew this number, and Noir was certain Aokiji didn't know most of them.

"Garp." Noir sighed in frustration. She needed a new den den if Garp was just handing that information out. Who else had he told? She liked this den den dammit. Her crew had painted a queen of clubs and queen of spades on the sides of its shell for her birthday. They were going pitch a fit over this.

She'd gift it to the crew to make personal calls on. That way Orion's artistic skills wouldn't go unappreciated.

"What can I do for you, Admiral?"

"Is this line secure?"

"Yes." Noir always had a white den den attached. Too many of the conversations she had over this line were conversations she did not want a black den den picking up on - even by accident. That cost her another pretty beri, but Vie was the only person outside the World Government to breed them, and Vie didn't care that Noir used it to catch up with Buggy along with using it for Net business.

That Vie bred anything other than the regular communication and visual den den mushis was one of The Net's most guarded secrets.

"Have you heard about Enies Lobby?" Aokiji asked. Noir frowned. Did she hear cheering in the background? Where was he?

"Sengoku reamed me out." That had been an ear splitting conversation.

Luffy had broken into one of the three Marine strongholds and declared war on the World Government. Not only did he rescue his crewmate from CP9, but escaped a sea-damned Buster Call.

This was why Noir had grey hairs.

Aokiji hummed. "Nico Robin has picked Straw Hat as an anchor."

Noir's breath caught in her throat. That - that was fantastic news.

She remembered Robin from Ohara. After the Ohara Incident Noir had followed Robin's movements. She'd despaired when Robin delved into assassin work, yet failed to find an anchor again and again.

It seemed counterintuitive, but Rouge always insisted on it. They were assassins, damn good ones at that. Anchors, good anchors, kept them human. Kept them from retreating so far into themselves that they couldn't come back out. Kept them from devolving and taking everyone else with them.

After four years with Baroque Works, Noir had hoped Robin had found one. Not the best, all things considered, but one that would keep her stable. But she'd jumped ship again, landing with Luffy and then Noir could no longer deny the threat Robin had become.

Noir knew Aokiji intended to hunt Robin down. She provided the information to lead him to Long Ring Long Land and quietly mourned the little eight year old girl covered in ash.

Only it seemed Luffy had pulled off a miracle and done what no one else managed in twenty years.

"You've spoken with her?" Noir knew Aokiji - no, Kuzan. This wasn't the hardened Admiral. This was the man who let a little girl live because she was all that remained of his best friend.

"Yeah." Kuzan said. "She's… settled in herself. Happy."

Noir let out a breathless laugh. That was great. Better than great. She smiled, wide and carefree and happy in a way she hadn't felt for years. "I'm glad."

She shouldn't be. Thousands of Marines and their families died in the Buster Call on Enies Lobby. Noir should be angry. Noir should care. But she learned a long time ago that she couldn't protect everyone who needed it. Caring about them, no matter how much she wanted to, only hurt her in the long run.

Noir had told Makino - she wasn't a good person. Noir would have to live with that.

"Commodore." Cade paused, turning to Lieutenant Commander Sin. The doctor glanced towards the door. "A word, if you will?"

Cade obliged the unsaid request for privacy and closed the door to the doctor's office. He took a seat next to the tiny desk and waited for the older man to order his thoughts. The doctor did not appreciate being rushed outside of a legitimate emergency and preferred getting things right the first time.

So Cade said nothing as the doctor shuffled through the papers on his desk, a frown creasing his brow.

"The Vice Admiral is currently seated in the figurehead." Dr. Sin said. Lips turned down in an expression of displeasure. "Her Haki indicates a level of distress. According to evidence, you are best suited to address this."

Cade nodded shortly, reaching out with his Observation Haki. Nothing from the figurehead, but if the Vice Admiral was cloaking herself in Conqueror's Haki Dr. Sin was the only crew member capable of seeing through it.

Cade would have to trust Dr. Sin's senses, no matter how much his own insisted no one was on the figurehead. "How long has she been there?" Cade hadn't seen the Vice Admiral since lunch.

The doctor consulted a slip of paper covered in hasty scribbles. "First noted distress at 1433 hours two days ago. Levels were not significantly elevated and behaviour was not affected. At 0913 hours today distress levels rose and the Vice Admiral retreated to the figurehead at 1607 hours, drawing on her Haki shortly after. Distress levels have remained unchanged from this morning."

The Vice Admiral had been sitting there for almost five hours. Cade sighed. Dr. Sin was a brilliant medical professional and surgeon - saving Noir's life last year proved that - but the man had the annoying tendency to get so caught up studying his patients that he forgot to help them. At least Kita was able to remind him most of the time. "If this happens again, please inform me if the Vice Admiral hides for more than two hours."

Dr. Sin nodded and made a note under his observations. Conversation over, Cade let himself out of the office and went searching for the Vice Admiral.

Sure enough, Cade couldn't see or sense anyone on the figurehead. He forged forwards regardless, taking care not to trip over the Vice Admiral by accident. She could swim, but Cade couldn't and he didn't feel like imitating a dropped hammer.

Then the Vice Admiral was there, knees pulled up under her chin and blank gaze fixed on the horizon.

Cade settled behind the Vice Admiral, resting back-to-back. He didn't say anything, instead letting the silence persist. The Vice Admiral ignored him and continued to look out over the horizon.

He knew better than to think he could gauge the Vice Admiral's mood. Not when she was masking it. She could be incandescently furious and her Haki would be as smooth as when she was calm and content.

From what Sin said, the Vice Admiral would let the silence stretch for another couple hours if Cade didn't say anything.

"What's bothering you?" The Vice Admiral might be grumpy with him for pressing the issue, but she wouldn't take it out on him.

Cade felt the Vice Admiral shrug. "It's nothing much."

'Nothing much' didn't elicit this kind of reaction. "It's enough."

She sighed. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Should you talk about it?" Which was what the Vice Admiral had asked Rafi years back when the Logia first joined the crew. Rafi's temper had resulted in a number of minor fights and one beatdown that left the other Marine in Sin's care for three days.

The Vice Admiral growled. "Don't quote my own words back at me."

"Of course, Vice Admiral."

He lapsed back into silence as the Vice Admiral simmered. Slight downside, she was angrier than expected. He could get a read on her Haki now, so Cade would take a tentative win for now.

Observation Haki was not Cade's specialty. He could sense if someone was nearby. If he was close enough, he could get a basic feel of their emotions. Useful to see if someone was trying to kill him or not.

This close to the Vice Admiral, he could sense more than usual. She was angry, but that was turning to resignation.

Patience, then. She'd talk when she was ready, now that she'd decided to talk.

"Did you read about Enies Lobby?"

Cade grunted. The news about the attack on the Judiciary stronghold sent the crew into a furor. Cade wasn't impressed with the article. Lots of sensation, but little information of actual use. A gloriously written piece of propaganda that wasn't fit to manure a garden.

What information was there told Cade that multiple criminal groups fought their way past the island's defenses and escaped the Buster Call led by Vice Admiral Strawberry.

The paper claimed the criminals tried to breach the Gates of Justice, but Cade privately doubted that. There was nothing beyond the Gates valuable enough that criminals would risk attacking the headquarters of CP9.

Listening to the Vice Admiral detail the actual events of the attack, Cade realized he would have to revise that thought.

As she spoke, Cade wrapped his Devil Fruit power around them. An added layer of security - with the Vice Admiral's Haki cloaking them no one was close enough to eavesdrop. But this way the sound wouldn't travel beyond their immediate area.

There was something the Vice Admiral wasn't saying.

"I taught Luffy Haki." Ah, that would be it. "And then Luffy used those skills to declare war on the World Government."

"You don't care about the World Government." Cade pointed out dryly. No one on the Akatokuro cared all that much. They were the troublemakers of the Corps. The ones who hated the Celestial Dragons and would cheerfully shove them off a cliff if they thought they could get away with it. The only reason the Marines hadn't kicked them out was because they were all good enough and crazy enough to follow the Vice Admiral against a Yonko.

The Vice Admiral huffed, sounding amused despite herself. "I'm not exactly a good person, Cade. I try, but my childhood didn't instill an inclination for the moral high ground. What little I've got is probably because of Garp."

"Did you know how Straw Hat was going to use the skills you taught him?"

"I knew he was going to become a pirate."

Damn it, Vice Admiral.

Deep breath. He was not judge, jury, and executioner, and Cade refused to become so. It wasn't right for someone to hold that much power, not when no one could ever be completely objective.

And Cade knew the Vice Admiral. She must have had a reason. "Why did you teach him? Beyond getting revenge on Vice Admiral Garp."

"It was revenge at first." The Vice Admiral admitted. "But the brat grows on you. Like a fungus." She added grudgingly. Cade withheld a snort. Yeah, he knew a couple people like that.

A moment passed in good natured silence. The Vice Admiral broke it. "Luffy has a good heart. Don't get me wrong," she said as Cade's eyebrows shot to his hairline, "Luffy is as selfish as any pirate. But the reason he is a pirate, the reason he wants to be Pirate King, is for the freedom."

Cade blinked, considering the odd note to the Vice Admiral's tone. She sounded... proud, like she did when she talked about her scamp of a ropemaker.

Of course she would adopt a pirate. He didn't know why he was surprised. "He sounds like a good kid."

"It doesn't change the death toll."

"Enies Lobby is not your fault." Cade said firmly. The Vice Admiral felt was right and wrong differently than other people. She knew the high death toll was wrong, knew someone had to be held accountable for it, but she didn't truly care. And somehow, someone had given her the idea that she was to blame.

Cade knew his worth to the Vice Admiral went beyond his duties as her First Mate. Two days after he transferred to her command, two days after she'd asked why he'd chosen her, the Vice Admiral had decided his morals were worth following. It didn't matter she didn't believe in the morals herself. She'd chosen Cade as her First Mate because she knew he would hold her to them. Knew he would keep her from slipping off the edge.

He did not appreciate someone else fucking that up. "You are not responsible for this, Vice Admiral."

The Vice Admiral couldn't quite crane her neck to glare at him. She settled for glaring at the horizon.

"Straw Hat could not have killed everyone who died. Not even with Haki." Cade insisted. It was doubtful the kid would have killed them. From all reports, Straw Hat was not a killer. Not on purpose. "The ones responsible are Spandam and the Vice Admirals who executed the Buster Call."

Cade would like to have words with Admiral Aokiji about that. He was the one to give authorization to Spandam, but a Buster Call to eliminate a mere handful of people was not an appropriate response!

"You aren't going to let me feel guilty about this." The Vice Admiral guessed.

"No." Cade confirmed. "There is plenty of blame to go around. It's not fair to everyone else if you hoard it all." She barked out a laugh at that, and her Haki loosened, finally. "I don't fault you for teaching Straw Hat either."

"You don't?"

Straw Hat would've been, what, fifteen at the time the Vice Admiral taught him? Sixteen at most. Still a kid, and the Red Line would collapse before Vice Admiral Garp won any parenting awards.

"He was a kid. I don't blame you for trying to protect him the only way you could." He heaved himself to his feet. "That's what family's supposed to do."

He ambled off while the Vice Admiral thought his words over. But he kept his Devil Fruit power focused backwards.

Wait for it…

"He's not my nephew dammit!"

As always, please leave reviews! I cannot stress how much hearing from all of you gives me motivation and excitement to write. Even if it's only a few words.