**** DISCLAIMER-PLEASE READ- I wrote this with another author, Jesachi u/711995/Jesachi, a long time ago. This is a continuation of a One Piece Fan Fiction Series, which began with The Way of the Sword and Rose, s/7270558/1/The-Way-of-The-Sword-and-Rose. Unlike Zoro's story, we HAVE NO EDITED THIS STORY, and may never do so, but we felt we wanted to share the story with you anyways. Because this story was written as a role play between myself and Jesachi, the story continually switches perspectives between the two main characters. I hope this doesn't bother you, but I apologize if it does, but you HAVE BEEN WARNED.

This Story takes place many years after the conclusion of the One Piece Story Line, and continues on with the story of Rouge, Ace's daughter. Ace survives the Battle of Marineford in a roleplay we aren't ready to put up yet. His survival is not known to many people in the world, but he and his wife Mara have two lovely children, and this is the story of their eldest child, Rouge. It is, perhaps, my absolute favorite FanFiction that I have ever written, so...Please enjoy!********

The Jolly Roger was one of the more popular taverns in town, and often boasted a number of different outlaws, most prominently of which are pirates, for obvious reasons. However, the outlaw who stepped through the faded and scratched door and into the darkened interior wasn't a pirate. No, this outlaw was famous for quite a different reason, though few would know by the sight of her. That's right, a her.

Portgas D. Rouge, known by most as Dragon Rouge, let a slow and wicked smile curve her lips as she strut her way past the numerous tables that littered the tavern, and didn't stop until she plopped herself down on a stool in front of the bar. She was a slender woman of twenty years, and wore only a pair of cropped black shorts that hung dangerously low on her hips, a black string bikini top with flames racing up the triangles of material, and a bright blue, puffy down vest, unzipped. As for weapons, a dagger was secured on her belt, right above her left ass cheek, and heavy black boots came up to her knees, boasting small knives that could shoot out from under the toe.

Besides that, she had only her fists. But then, when one was part dragon thanks to the abilities of a devil fruit, one didn't need many weapons. It also helped that she'd been trained in martial arts since her infancy by some of the most powerful people in the world.

Few in that tavern, or indeed most of the world, knew her as Portgas D. Rouge, since she shouldn't even exist in the first place. Her father was Portgas D. Ace, after all, and he was supposed to be dead. It was a good thing, too, because she looked an awful lot like her father, especially with her freckles. These days, though, few would be able to pick up on that.

"Well well...if it isn't little Rouge...what can I get for ya, darlin'?" A rough voice asked from across the pitted and dented wood of the bartop. The woman popped her black stetson off her head with one finger, letting it fall across her shoulders, secured by the tie around her neck, and offered a smile to the older man with short salt and pepper hair. He held a rag in one hand and a glass in the other, and was slowly cleaning the glass with said rag as he watched her with amused but kind brown eyes. His mustache bristled with every word he spoke, and twitched when he wasn't saying a word at all.

"I'll take a tankard and any food your willing to part with, Jonny," she replied, and pulled off the thick leather gloves that covered her slender fingers.

Portgas D. Rouge was smuggler, but most of her family and friends were pirates, so she'd always been welcomed at this particular tavern. Not only was her father the supposedly late Fire Fist Ace, but her uncle was the King of the Pirates, Monkey D. Luffy. Because of that, she was also very close with the rest of the man's crew, and through them, a multitude of pirates renown around the world. In fact, it was their influence that got her into her present line of work. Sorta.

She grew up on an island that had once been a rebel island to the old World Government, and so smugglers had been the only way for her island, Roctortue Island, to receive many of the goods they needed. The smugglers who most often came to her island belonged to the worlds biggest smuggling ring, let by the notorious Black Bull. Since her only dream since childhood had been to be free and able to travel the world, she's seen smuggling as the perfect opportunity to spread her wings, so to speak. With her uncle's backing and his many connections, along with her own connections with the smugglers she'd become familiar with since childhood, she'd been able to join Black Bull's smuggling ring. In fact, she'd made quite a name for herself as the Dragon Smuggler, with a bounty of 200,000,000 beris on her head.

It had been a hard fight, to get her extremely protective father to allow her to sail the open sea, and many concessions had been made, but now she was living her dream, and she couldn't be happier. She had her own ship, and was able to sail the open ocean alone thanks to all of the modifications that her Uncle Franky had put into it. It was about the size of a one-man skiff, but deeper, so that she had a small set of living quarters below deck. The bottom was lined with sea stone to ward off the sea kings, and there were more hidden canons and guns on the thing than she could ever imagine. It was capable of sailing, but also had a cola-powered engine for getting across the calm belt easily if necessary. Franky had wanted to call her ship the "Frankinator 2000," but she'd respectfully declined and named it the Wave Dragon instead.

Suffice as it is to say, she'd been obsessed with dragons for a long time, ever since she'd discovered their relationship with fire and the ocean when she was only 4 years old. Since her infancy, she'd been obsessed with fire and water because of the seemingly magical things her parents-the owners of the fire fire fruit and the water water fruit-could do. That had also played a part into why she'd become a smuggler. Once she'd learned that a zoan-type devil fruit for a dragon did exist, she'd known that the smuggling underworld would be the best way to find it. She'd always wanted to be a devil fruit user, despite her father's warnings. It had taken her two years of hard searching, but eventually she'd been successful.

Since then, her reputation as the Dragon Smuggler had only skyrocketed. Being able to fly short distances and breath fire had definitely allowed her to take on more dangerous and notorious smuggling assignments. Because of this, she'd been promoted to the Inner Circle of the Bull, a group of twelve smugglers who are the Black Bulls most trusted agents. It was part of the reason why her bounty was so high. If they knew who her father was, it would be higher, but that secret had been kept tightly seal to the few who knew.

"It's yer lucky day, Rouge. We made some hearty beef stew, one of yer favorites," Jonny's voice interrupted her nostalgic thoughts as he placed a large bowl down in front of her, followed by a plate of sliced bread and a large tankard of creamy ale. Rouge grinned up at him eagerly, and was already digging in when she mumbled her thanks through a mouthful of bread and stew. The man only laughed and shook his head at her.

"Ya eat like yer Uncle," Jonny added as he reached for his rag and glass once more. What he didn't know was that she learned her eating habits from her father before Luffy. When people asked her how she was related to Luffy, she just told them he'd known her since her childhood and so she called him Uncle. It wasn't far from the truth, and seemed to satisfy everyone who had been curious about a lone female naming the Pirate king as her Uncle.

"A good appetite means a person is healthy," Rouge told the man as she whipped her lips off of frothy ale. She grinned at his loud laughter before digging back in to her food.

Dragons had good hearing, and it was this reason that she was able to overhear the conversation being had across the room at two tables surrounded by a multitude of men.

"Did you hear what that damn King of the Pirates did? They destroyed Larsen and his crew the other day! Now their rotting in Impel Down. Who does he think he is, putting another pirate in jail like that? He's getting old now too...I say we get some people together and get some revenge."

Rouge turned her head, and stopped eating. Jonny had already wandered down the bar to talk to a couple of pirates.

"I dunno, Gid, he is the Pirate King..." one of the men said in a more nervous voice.

"Yeah, but that was year ago. He's old now," the apparent leader, Gid, replied, leaning back in his hair and cross his arms behind his head. "If we get enough people, it'll be a breeze. It's about time he stepped down anyways."

Very slowly, Rouge put down her stew spoon, and then stood up. Jonny glanced over at her for a moment, saw the calm, cold look on her face, and stopped polishing the glass in his hand. Apprehension slid over the old man's face as he watched Rouge calmly make her way over to the group of men in the corner, laughing now at some joke that had been tossed out about the "old" king of the pirates.

Once she was close enough, she stepped right between two men, then lifted her heavy boot and let it fall on the table's surface, causing the man next to her to jump, and the rest to turn, and gape.

"Excuse me, gentlemen...but I couldn't help but overhear your conversation while I was enjoying my delicious stew," she said sweetly.

"It's none of your business, bitch," the man Gid said in nasty voice, dropping his hands from behind his head and leaning towards her threateningly. Rouge didn't budge an inch, and continued to smile coldly at the man, her bright blue eyes twinkling.

"Oh, it most certainly is my business when you're talking about my Uncle," she answered, and her voice slowly lost its sweetness and picked up a hard edge. "Who doesn't need to be putting any shitty pirates like you in jail. They're pathetic enough to get themselves caught, obviously. And if you think he's getting old enough for a couple of weaklings like you to take him out...well, I almost feel inclined to let you try, just so I can see how badly you get your asses handed to you. He would only need his pinky finger to do it, judging from what I see."

For a full thirty seconds, no one moved or spoke as they openly gaped at her in full surprise. She could well imagine their shock, since very few people knew her reputation by sight. There weren't too many female outlaws who got bounties as high as she had, after all. Even less who could claim the King of the Pirates as their uncle.

"You-you dirty whore!" Gid suddenly screeched indignantly, shooting to his feet. "Watch what you say or I'll tear that pretty mouth of yours right off!" Belatedly, the rest of his crew also shot to their feet. Rouge still didn't move, and continued to smile at them coldly.

"Oh, I'm sure I could handle myself with a bunch of pansies like you. It might even give you an idea of the type of power the Pirate King has, if his niece can kick your ass," She said with a wicked grin, tossing her head back confidently and crossed her arms over her chest.

That was the last straw. She was known for her sassy mouth, and it often got her into trouble. Today, it started a tavern-wide brawl. After the men jumped for her, other pirates and outlaws naturally got bumped in the process, and that only snow-balled fight until it had escalated to a tavern-wide brawl.

Honestly, she hadn't meant for that to happen...She had wanted to kick their asses before it got out of hand. Funny how they never sit still for that...

Now she was in the midst of it, ducking and throwing punches with the best of them, a large grin on her face. She was rubbing her knuckles after bunching a man with a particularly hard face when someone grabbed her from behind, hefting her off the ground with an angry roar. Startled, Rouge let out a surprised gasp and she flailed, trying to twist around enough to kick him where it counts.

The Government had gone through some serious face-lifts in the past two decades. After The Straw Hat Pirates basically blew up the new Marine Headquarters in the New World and led the world into a history-altering revolution and Monkey D. Luffy took his predestined seat as King of the Pirates, the current government had been disabled and built again, this time lacking the corruption and ulterior motives. There still needed to be Marines, still needed to be a governing system because not every civilian was good and not every pirate was bad. Each island/kingdom came together and formed a ruling body compromised of elected officials and they together made decisions involving the world. There are no more rebel islands, no more indentured slaves. The Marines, governed by this body exist purely to keep the peace, balance justice and the only wars that happen are civil ones where larger islands fight other islands over resources or local government issues.

And of course, anything involving pirates. Because pirates and Marines represented the opposing ends of justice; the good guys and the bad guys.

King of the Pirates Monkey D. Luffy headed the pirate campaign and after the second war, Coby stepped up in a ruined Marine system to take the seat of Fleet Admiral. As far as everyone was concerned, no one else could match against the pure craziness and power that is the Straw Hat captain. While the Fleet Admiral would not waste a chance to capture and kill Straw Hat Luffy should the opportunity arise, he had more important matters to tend to. And with zero beef against the Marines now, said pirate and all his affiliates and allies basically minded their own business. The two major warring powers; the Marines and the Straw Hats had reached an unofficial cease-fire.

This is where the world was at, some twenty years later.

Knowles Lukas sat at the desk in his office doing his least favorite thing in the whole world; paper work. But it was required of him, especially having just tossed some pirate and his whole crew into the pits of Impel Down. Not that he did any of the work, really. Straw Hat Luffy had basically blown through those guys and left them in a pile of unconscious bodies for the Marines to scoop up at their earliest convenience. And the Pirate King himself had disappeared – again – without a trace.

Lukas heaved a sigh and tossed the pen on the desk and leaned back in his chair, his head listing back. His boots made a hollow noise as he propped them up on the ornate wood. His office was large, mirroring his status as vice admiral and the two walls that corned his desk were painted with wanted posters. Looking at him, normally vice admiral was not the first status people assumed. He was the youngest vice admiral to come along in a long time, a whopping twenty-seven years old. But he'd been in the Marines nearly as long as the rest of them, having enlisted as soon as he could at the age of thirteen. Fourteen years of devoted service in the name of justice.

A knock sounded on his door, "Vice Admiral Knowles! Sir, the island has been spotted!"

He picked his head up and peered at the paperwork on his desk, then flickered his eyes to the door. Paper work… island… paper work… island…

The island won out – not a tough fight because he despised paper work – and he stood, slinging his jacket over his shoulders. It was heavier than he made it look, a few of his custom-made firearms tucked inside it, capable of being drawn in the blink of an eye. As was customary, he had a three piece suit underneath the jacket in a light slate gray color with a seafoam green shirt with a white tie. The color brought out the green of his eyes. It was crisp, it was clean, it was adult and being younger than his colleagues, it was important to dress the part of senior ranking.

The day was overcast yet not damp, a perfect day for sailing. As soon as he exited his office, his captain came up to his side and handed him a scope. Lukas put it right to his peepers and took a look at the horizon.

"You're certain this is the island?" he asked, collapsing the looking glass and handing it back the captain.

"Yes, sir," she replied. Captain Sethe Jahzara was a force to be reckoned with. Strong, beautiful, her fists were as sharp as her wits. And she was loyal to a fault, "When the call came in, I had the navigators set the coordinates to this place right away, sir."

"Good. We'll see if we can't sniff them out here," recently, there had been some huge problems occurring in the smuggling business, big enough so that Marines were actually getting hits on it, rather than the problems simply resolving themselves within the organizations. This time, shit was going down. The Inner Circle of the Bulls, top smugglers of the largest underground smuggling trade in the world run by the Black Bull, were rumored to be involved in sealing a deal with a local organized crime family here on this island.

He had a feeling that all hell was going to break loose. In that case, he wanted to bag and tag someone, preferably one of the Inner Circle.

He and his ship of one hundred marine soldiers were greeted at the pier by those stationed at this island.

"Vice Admiral, sir!" he was saluted by the Commodore of the military station here.

"Commodore," Lukas greeted, waving off the subordinates and walking with the Commodore back to the station, "How are things here?"

"Quiet, sir," he replied, "We have scouts out keeping an eye on things."

"Very good. Mind if I take a look around town?"

"Not at all, sir."

The town was large, more or less like a city. It was bustling and loud, people out shopping and socializing. A few people greeted him, a couple of the marines that were out and about stopped and saluted him. Mostly, people stayed clear of him. He was a vice admiral; people knew his face as much as they knew his name. And with it came some respect and fear.

A sound drew him. It sounded like a fight. Swears, curses, the squelching sound of fists hitting faces, the thud and crash of bodies being thrown. It was coming from the tavern at the end of the street, evident from the people skirting around it and the fact that a chair flew out of the window with violent velocity.

Lukas raced to the scene and threw the doors open, one hand on a gun at his hip, ready to fire shots into the air to still the crowd. What met his eyes was pure chaos. Not a soul stopped to give him a second look, so focused on maiming whoever was closest to them. Outlaws alike traded shiners, liquor bottles shattered. Some pirate tossed another one like he was a sack of rice right out the door, missing Lukas by a hair.

A behemoth of a man caught his eye and – though his size was enough to pick him out of the crowd any day – it wasn't so much the man as it was the little woman he was hauling by the collar of her puffy blue vest. She was a spitfire, that was for sure. She was kicking and punching for everything that she was worth, flailing her limbs and twisting her body around. Her black Stetson bounced around her shoulders, tangling with the strands of dark curls that came loose from the thick bun she had it tied up in. And she was cursing like a sailor.

It looked like she caught herself in a wrong place at the wrong time situation. She didn't look anything like the riffraff in here. Probably some poor civilian who got caught up in this mess before she had time to get the hell out of dodge.

He shoved his way through the fight and tapped the behemoth on the shoulder. The guy turned and it was the shock factor that worked in Lukas' favor. As the pirate was processing the fact that he was just interrupted by a Marine officer, Lukas decked him hard in the temple, knocking the guy out instantly. Then, he grabbed the girl by her thing wrist and hauled her out of the tavern and into the street.

In the light, he got a good look at her. She was younger and very pretty, with bright, bold blue eyes, the dark curls and a splash of freckles across her face. And a rocking body, if he did say so.

"Hey, are you alright, miss?" he asked her, brushing off the sleeves of his suit jacket.

One second, she was struggling to kick a guy in the jewels, the next, she was being dragged out of the tavern by her wrist. She put up no resistance, deciding she was done with the tavern anyways, but didn't see who, exactly, was pulling her out until the bright sun tumbled down around her and fresh air filled her nostrils.

"Yeah, I'm just fine. Damn shitheads don't know when-" she turned towards the figure that had pulled her out and blinked up at him in the bright light. It took a second for her eyes to adjust, but when they did, she abruptly shut right up. The man she was staring at had short-cropped blond hair, striking green eyes, and towered a head above her own average height. His broad shoulders were covered in a heavy-looking white jacket with golden tassels off his shoulders.

She was staring up at Marine Vice Admiral Knowles.

Being a smuggler, she made it a habit of being familiar with all of the marines who could potentially bring her to justice. This one in particular got her attention; he was currently the youngest vice admiral, but he more than made up for it in his relentless attitude of bringing in outlaws.

Shit.

"Well, it's been nice, thanks very much!" she said hastily, flashing him a grin before she hurriedly took three steps back, turned, and took off down the alley next to the tavern. She booked it, knowing that while none of the men that had been in that tavern could have harmed a hair on her head, he most certainly could.

As soon as she made it to the next alley over, she shot a quick glance over her shoulder, and when she saw that it was still empty, she hurriedly shifted to her middle zoan. Elegant dragon wings burst from her back, out under the back of her vest, and spread wide to scoop up air as she jumped up. The powerful wings beat once, twice, three times, giving her the height needed to step onto the roof. Just as swiftly as the wings had appeared, they disappeared now as she continued her sprint along the rooftops.

Her booted feet barely made a sound as she shot from roof to roof. After she'd traveled almost a quarter of the city in length, she skidded to a stop and whipped around, her brows furrowed as she plopped her hat back on her head, and scanned the rooftops.

Nothing.

Her long, wavy black hair had come loose in her sprint, so she scooped up the unruly length and hastily secured it in a messy bun as she continued to scan. Hadn't he pursued her? Maybe he hadn't recognized her...

After another three minutes of nothing, she shrugged, and headed for the edge of the roof. This was for the better, even if the guy had been a hottie. She didn't need a Vice Admiral on her tail when she had serious business to attend to. Tomorrow night, she would meet with the Don to deliver her precious cargo of illegal tiger-leopard kittens. The Don was the head of a notorious crime family from this particular island that had never done business with the Black Bull before, and her boss was particularly keen on this transaction going without a hitch in order to ensure future business with the wealthy family.

Rouge, the Dragon Smuggler, jumped down from the roof, landed on a second story balcony, then leapt the rest of the way to land in an easy crouch, startling the men and women on the street. She offered her cheeky smile, dusted off her shorts, then headed in the direction of the inn she'd rented a room in. Time to feed the cubs!

She looked up at him like she was seeing a ghost, her words dying in her throat. Then, with a jaunty wave and a cheeky grin, she was gone and he was left standing literally in her dust, blinking in confusion.

What… was that? Why did she just take off like that? Granted, he was a Marine Vice Admiral and ya, that gave people some lenience to fear him, but he didn't think that anyone had run away from him that fast unless they were a criminal.

He analyzed her appearance in his head. Black hat, bold blue eyes, freckles, shit-eating smirk, waves of cascading curls… she was very pretty.

It hit him like a freight train and he cursed. He should have recognized her right away! Since the call had come in that he was to be tracking down possibly one of the Inner Circle of the Bull smuggling ring, he'd posted their wanted posters right up on his wall. They were a dangerous group, with high bounties for a reason. But one of the Circle had struck him; a young girl, around his own age probably with dark curls and wicked blue eyes and that smile…

He'd just saved the Dragon Smuggler from a bar fight and let her slip through his fingers. 200,000,000 beri bounty, she was easily the most lethal. It was rumored she was as cunning as a dragon and her wits were just as fast. Coupled with the ability to horde and smuggle, that had been how she earned the nickname Dragon Smuggler. Little else was known about her, not even her name. It made finding her an absolute bitch.

He couldn't believe that he just let her slip through his fingers! But she was here and she was not going to leave this island unless it was in chains on his ship. Smuggling was not as dangerous on his list as say, pirates could be – they weren't known for raping and pillaging villages at least – but smuggling was dangerous and the trade of illegal goods was illegal for a reason.

She would be brought to justice. A few years in Impel Down would straighten her right out.

Lukas headed back to the station immediately and gave orders to shut down the harbors. No one was leaving without his permission. Marines were dispatched to the harbor to keep an eye on who came in and out.

He headed onto his ship to his office and pulled her wanted poster over in front of him. Striking really, she was a total knockout. A crocodile smile, her hat pulled low over her eyes and giving the camera the bird. Lukas chuckled under his breath and pinned her poster on his wall before propping his boots on the desk to stare at it. Dangerous and beautiful. That kinda woman would have turned on any sane man, but he was a man of justice. He strove for peace and balance.

He flexed his hands and the fine white scars across the backs of his knuckles shone bright white against the tight skin. His childhood had been riddled with tragedy and bad decisions; those lines were his reminder that the whips had come down hard on his hands for stealing and trading on the black market. He was lucky he didn't lose them, but the Marine officer had been fair with him. He had been given an ultimatum: join the Marines or be arrested. At ten years old, being arrested was worse than death. (OOC- In my last post, I said that he enlisted at age thirteen. I'm changing that now. He joined at ten years old as a chore boy or something)

And here he was, nearly two decades later.

He leaned over and grabbed a marker off his desk and turned, drawing a circle around the Dragon Smuggler's face. He would get her, if she was here. He would get her, and she would lead him come hell or high water to the Black Bull and he, Lukas Knowles, would disband the biggest smuggling ring in the world.

The following evening, Rouge got the tiger leopard cubs into a large box, filled with straw bedding and cuts of meat. Then, she moved the box up to the roof. It was dark out, and no moon shone to illuminate the darkened rooftops over most of the town. Rouge smirked, dusting her hands off as she finished securing the harness and stood. Her blue eyes glittered like sapphires in the night, calculating the distance and direction she would be heading in to meet up with the De Maccello family.

Still, it worried her that a vice admiral was around. She couldn't get the guys face out of her head. He'd been an extremely handsome man, and the fact that he wasn't old definitely helped. Most of the vice admirals were much older, but he had seemed barely older than herself.

Still, even though he was a sexy beast, it didn't mean she wanted to meet up with him any time soon. She had to get this job done, and get the hell out of there.

Moving a few steps away from the secured crate, Rouge rolled her shoulders and craned her neck from side to side, stretching out her muscles before her skin suddenly rippled. Across the tops of her arms, shoulders, back, along the front of her knees, and down her chest and across the tops of her breasts, glittering blue scales erupted. The true reason for her dangerously low shorts became apparent when a long and slender tail suddenly grew out from the base of her spine, also covered in the hard-as stone scales and bearing a fine black ridge along the center to the very agile tip. From her forehead, nestled in her thick, wavy hair, two black horns slide gracefully back, and and her pupils suddenly slid like that of a lizards. From her back, below her vest, grew out two large dragon wings, covered in the same blue scales and a fine blue-black membrane.

Letting out a yawn as her transformation finished, it became revealed that her canines had grown as well, into delicate but sharp looking fangs. "Time to get to business," she muttered, and stretched out her wings and beat them hard, leaping up into the air.

She flew gracefully over the crate, bent down to pick up the rigging with black claw tipped fingers. With a grunt, she was airborne, and headed in the direction of the Don's estates.

Since she was a dark color, she was near invisible as she flew across the dark, moonless sky. Once her wings began pumping, she moved quite swiftly. She couldn't stay airborne for too long, but she was fast in the time that she was able to. Within minutes, she was gliding over the outer perimeter. It was located at the edge of town, and boasted grand gardens in front of the man cluster of buildings.

She headed for the middle of the estate, then gracefully aimed for the courtyard, her powerful wings back-drafting as she came in for a landing. She dropped her parcel, then followed suit, landing on top of the crane and swiftly shifting to her human form, replacing her stetson back on top of her unruly mane of hair.

Around her, four men suddenly appeared, all holding large guns aimed right at her. She watched them with an amused smile playing over her red lips. "Is this the kind of greeting a person receives when hearing gifts of adorable kittens? Come on guys, too much," she said in a teasing voice, then hopped down from the crate, apparently unconcerned about the artillery aimed at her.

"Are you her, the Dragon Smuggler?" one of the men asked, and she glanced up at him with a raised brow.

"Who else do you think drops out of the sky bearing illegal goods? Are you that blind?" she asked dryly, then laughed when the man scowled at her. He grumbled under his breath, turn on his heel, and disappeared.

Within a minute, he was back, then lowered his gun now and indicated the entrance to the main house with his hand. "This way, miss," he said in a grudgingly polite voice, and glared at her cheeky grin as she sauntered past him.

"Thanks buddy. I appreciate it. Now don't let those darlings get cold. Bring them inside too," she said over her shoulder. She reaching out a hand with gloves that had the fingers cut off at the tip, and snapped her fingers at the men. All of them gaped at her openly, before reluctantly picking up the crate between them.

With a scowl on his face, the first man lead her down a series of halls until they came to a large room. She found herself face to face with a heavy man wearing a suit made of fine silk that she wanted to whistle her appreciate at. Since she was a smuggler, she was an excellent judge of value in items. She'd gotten a lot of help with that as a child too, since Nami the Thief was her aunt.

"Well hello there, Don De Maccello. I've brought the tiger-leopard kittens, as per ordered with my boss," she informed the guy, cocking out a hip and crossing her arms over her breasts. She smiled up at the guy an accomplished grin.

"Open the cart! I wish to see my merchandise before I pay for it..." the Don commanded, gesturing his hand to his men as his eyes continued to flicker over the female smuggler before him. A slow smile curved his lips as he studied her.

"My my, you're a very delicate woman for an outlaw with such a bounty...And with such a rare devil fruit too, or so I've heard...Miss Dragon Smuggler," the Don said in a slow drawl. His eyes shot away from her as the tiger-leopard cubs were revealed, and his smile only increased. "You know, I'm a collector of fine things," the Don continued, and his eyes returned to her.

Rouge took a step back, feeling like his grin was much too creepy for her likings. Still...She had a job to do.

"Do you have the payment that was agreed upon?" she asked, tilting her head to the side as she studied him back.

The man slowly nodded, and lazily shooed his hand to a man standing near the back of the room. The guy jumped, bowed, and disappeared through a nearby door. He then reappeared, bearing a suitcase full of beris. Rouge grinned, and waited patiently as she man approached, then held out the case, open, for her to inspect.

She leaned forward, and sniffed. She had an excellent sense of smell, just like a dragon. She could smell fake treasure, and money, from a mile away. She glanced up at the Don, grinned in spite of herself, and held up a thumb. "Looks good, my man. Thanks for your business...The Bull gives his regards."

"You know...I have been unwilling to make arrangements with this Bull for a long time, since my men can very easily acquire most of what I need themselves." the man suddenly said, and forced her to stop and turn back to the guy. The case was secure in her right hand. She glanced up at the man and perked a brow, wondering why this mattered to her.

"But then I saw your poster, in the newspaper...You see, I'm a collector of rare and fine things, and when I found out about your fruit...I just had to meet you. That's why I requested you, after all."

Rouge frowned. She hadn't known that she'd been requested. She felt her muscles get tense involuntarily.

"Though I requested you not be told, of course, because I wanted to surprise you," the man continued. Her lifted his chin, then subtly nodded. "Now that I've met you, I know I just have to own you too, just like those beautiful tiger-leopard kittens!"

They'd snuck up behind her while the man had talked. By the time she realized what he intended, it was too late. She was halfway to her dragon form before they got the first cuff on her. She gasped as her energy was sucked out of her, and she lost control of her dragon.

She was utterly dumbfounded by how they'd managed to surprise her like this that she stood stock still for three seconds, paralyzed. Then, with a gasp, she leapt into action, jumping high in the air and shooting her legs out in a round-house kick to the nearest guys head.

He went down like a stone.

"Guards! Get her!" The Don suddenly roared, and Rouge suddenly went into a flurry of action, moving so fast she was practically a blur as she disentangled the man who had leapt for her and brought him down with a fast punch to his gut. Fury took the place of surprise as she fumed over how she could be dump enough to let them get a sea stone cuff on her. How the hell had the guy gotten his hands on one in the first place?

She shot away from them, and took off at a run. "After her! Bring her back to me! Lorin, Tucker, and George, go!" she could hear the Don yell.

And so the chase began. Rouge was fast, but so there the three men he'd sent after her. She cursed under her breath. Those guys looked tough, and she probably couldn't take them on without her devil fruit ability. No weakened the way she was. Already it was a strain just to run. Thank the heavens they had only gotten one cuff on her too.

She managed to get over the wall of the compound, and shot through the streets with the energy born from desperation. She was NOT going back to that place...How dare that ugly bastard think he could just pluck a person up like that and decide he wants to keep her! What an asshole. She was so getting revenge on him once she had her abilities back.

It was dark, but not late enough that the streets were empty. As she ran, she found herself needing to weave through people on the streets, and many of them let out shrieks of surprise as she shot past them, toppling some onto their asses. "Sorry!" she called back, waving a hand as she bolted, the three goons hot on her heels.

"Halt!" another voice called, and she shot a look over her shoulder only to see that a couple of marines on patrol had spotted the disturbance, and where pointing their swords at them imperiously. She rolled her eyes, heaving a sigh. Damn wouldn't be the same if the authorities didn't get involve, eh?

He was trained in reconnaissance. It had been his motif before he had demonstrated an affinity with Haki and was promoted to be a Vice Admiral.

Old habits die hard.

He wanted the Dragon Smuggler; she wasn't just going to fall into his lap. He had to go out and look for her.

He'd dressed down for this mission; combat boots, black pants and a dark, forest green long sleeved sweater. No coat tonight. His sword was attached at the belt and a chest holster with two custom-made long barreled handguns under his ribs. One was loaded with tranquilizers and the other was real, honest-to-god bullets. He wanted her alive, but at the same time, he wasn't taking any chances.

There was no evidence that she was going to be making the deal tonight; but he knew that she hadn't left the island. No one had come or went today without his immediate attention.

Currently, he was perched on the rooftops, checking out the scene with his scope, fitted with night-vision on it. The town was cloaked in a green tinge. It was quiet, but not too quiet. It wasn't so late that people had bunked in for the night and Marines were out and about, patrolling.

He was prepared to wait here all night for her. But it looked like he wasn't going to have to wait that long. The screams came from far off at first, and steadily got closer. Through his scope, he saw people rushing and moving to the sides of the streets as someone hurriedly shoved them aside, running. More people followed behind, behemoth men, easily his height and twice as broad.

It was the Dragon. She was beating feet like her vey life depended on it. Not surprising. Those were big fuckers chasing after his prize. Not tonight, friends. Not tonight.

Lukas collapsed his scope and rose. There was a fire escape off to his left and after one more look to track her trajectory, he hustled down the fire escape to give chase.

"Move move MOVE!" Rouge hollered to the people in street as she booked it, running as fast as possible. Dammit, didn't people sleep? She almost collided with three different people within a minute as she dashed and swerved. Always behind her were the heavy footsteps of the thugs on her tail.

Seriously, how did she ALWAYS get herself in situations like this? Well, she'd never been wanted as a "fine object" before, but she always got herself in unnecessary trouble. She really had to start being more careful with what she said and who she talked to...

There was a chance...a small chance that there might be someone...but she couldn't know if he would make it on time, or if he even knew she was in trouble for that matter.. Her eyes flickered up to the rooftops briefly, and picked up the pace, pushing herself. No, positive thinking, Rouge, she told herself grimly. She could not let a bunch of thugs like this take her in.

She rounded a corner, and found herself in an alley with no exit. Cursing under her breath, she tried to spin around to correct her mistake, but the men were closer than she thought. She grit her teeth and shot for the exit anyways, but despite her commendable speed, it was too late.

The closest man caught her by her the shoulders of her vest, and used the momentum of his running body to drive her back into the alley and against the wall hard enough to force the air from her lungs and make her gasp.

She recovered fast, her hand shooting out and punching him, hard, in the temple before she let her legs buckle beneath her to drop low, simultaneously swinging her foot up to catch him in the balls. The man let out a grunt, falling back in pain as she rolled away and scrambled to her feet, a smirk of amusement playing over her lips. She back-flipped away from her attackers, kicking her legs out threateningly as she went. The second man, taller than the first, rushed her when she came to a stop.

Rouge skidded as she spun around to face him, then stomped both feet with enough pressure to send the blades hidden in her boots shooting out from under her toes. As the second man lunged for her, she dropped into a crouch, forcing the man to bend almost double as he went for her, then suddenly fell to the right as her left foot lashed out and then around towards the man. Her hands kept her balance as she moved with blurring speed, and the much larger man couldn't recover fast enough to avoid the blade as it slashed across his chest.

"Bitch!" he roared, rearing back with his fist. Rouge let out a taunting laugh and moved her head out of the way, then grabbed his wrist and continued his momentum as she tossed him over her hip. "Too slow!" she said with a nasty grin. He went down hard, and she launched herself up in the air to come crashing down on him with her elbow aimed at his spine, intending to knock him out, but she didn't see one of his buddies coming it before it was too late.

She was caught around the ankle, and the suddenly found herself tossed to the right until her body hit the wall with a thud. She bit back a yell and scrambled to recover her footing, but already she was surrounded.

This was what she was afraid of. One or two, and she could have handled them, but all three at once when she was wearing sea stone cuffs? Not so much confidence there...

As they grabbed for her, she fought like a madwoman, kicking, punching, even biting when she could. She could feel bruises and cuts being formed on her body by their rough hands as they fought for purchase, and she realized she at least had the advantaged that they wanted her alive.

A fist caught her on her temple, and her vision when blurry and her movements became sluggish. Panic set in, along with a sense of self-disappointment that she had let herself get in this situation. Pathetic, really. Even if the Bull sent men in after her, it was damn embarrassing to get caught in the first place. "You...assholes..." she grit out, her muscles screaming as she strained.

"Shut up and stop squirming," the tallest of them hissed in her ear as he pinned her against the wall, turning his hips away to protect himself from her wildly squirming body. His friend had her legs pinned to protect them from her bladed boots, but she got a sense of satisfaction from seeing all of the shallow cuts she had managed to inflict on them.

There she was, just ahead of him. Being pursued by those guys.

Unless he wanted a downright fist fight with those guys, he needed a different method.

The street was crowded with people still milling about. He twisted and turned and said more "excuse me!" and "sorry!" than he probably had in his entire life. People shrieked and hustled out of his way. But he wasn't violent enough and every second was putting him farther and farther away from his catch. The street had been a poor decision. The roofs weren't crowded...

It would waste precious seconds... But he might be able to make up the time by sprinting. He was a pretty fast runner.

Lukas skidded and turned a sharp right, darting into an alley and catching the fire escape with his hand. He swung around and climbed the escape three steps at a time until he was pounding across the roof. At the edge of the building he jumped with everything he was worth and hit the roof of the next building running. He followed the indignant shouts of people until he finally caught up enough to get a visual on her.

Why wasn't she fighting? The Dragon Smuggler was known for not only her cunning wit and her sharp tongue, but her mythic Zoan type. She had the tokage-tokage no mi, model: dragon. It was rumored to be an incredible fruit and seeing it in person was as rare as knowing her first name. So why… there. He spotted it. Dangling from her right wrist was a hand cuff. It was unmistakable. A sea stone shackle.

Son of a sea cook, they might as well have gift wrapped her for him. Sea stone shackles rendered her down to the skill of a decent fighter.

He pulled to a quick stop at the edge of a building. She had turned down an alley way and he'd thought to catch her coming out the other side, but it seemed that this particular one had been a dead end. Carefully, Lukas back tracked and it was the sound of a full blown sparring match that guided him back to where she was, cornered in the alley and fighting like a lion. He watched her for a moment; the idea was to let her tire herself out or even take these thugs out for him, but he found himself instead analyzing her fighting style. She was quick with her hands and fairly acrobatic. It wasn't the type of skill she could have acquired from the street; it didn't have the distinct feel of street-smart boxing. And there was no way she could be that good in just the few years that she had been around. She had been trained by a professional. Without knowing her upbringing, there was no way to figure out who, exactly, mentored her.

In a matter of minutes, it became apparent that she was overpowered by the sheer size of them. One clocked her right in the temple and her body language told Lukas that she was hazy at best now. He considered shooting the thugs from the roof with the tranqs he had, but that would give her a chance to escape. So, he hammered down the fire escape and tore around the corner so that he was blocking the alley. The two long barreled hand guns were immediately in his hands, steadily aimed at the assailants as they manhandled the Dragon.

"The party ends here, boys," he said, causing the thugs to snap their heads up. The process of recognition was priceless. First, they sneered at him and then, one by one, they froze and their faces got this lovely shade of pallor and their eyes widened.

"That's… you're… Vice Admiral Knowles!" one of them stuttered out.

"You got it. And that's my catch right there." He stated. He didn't even give them time to breathe before he shot three tranqs out of the gun in his right hand and the thugs went down like a sack of rice.

She stood there, breathing heavily in the alley way. She was littered in cuts and slashes, easily identifiable by the fact that she didn't wear much to begin with. Her dark curls had come loose a little from the bun she wore and her hat dangled around her shoulders. For some reason, the vision struck him as eerily familiar; a blurry face came to mind with freckles and dark hair, dirty and bloody. But he couldn't place it for the life of him.

"Sea stone shackles look good on you, Dragon," he commented, focusing his tranq gun on her, "Come quietly and I won't knock you out like this riff-raff here," he nodded his head at the unconscious bodies on the ground.

Ignoring the dull pain throbbing through much of her body, Rouge lifted her chin defiantly as she stared down a Marine Vice Admiral in the darkened alley. Her hands were relaxed but ready at her sides, and her legs were just slightly bent in preparation for anything. Her quick eyes took in the red feathered tips of tranq darts sticking out from the thick necks of the thugs at her feet, and also took in the absolute steadiness of the marine's hands as he aimed both of his modified, long-barreled guns at her.

Okay, so this was not the best position to be in...She would have rather taken her chances with the thugs.

Rouge tilted her head to the side, gazing at him through the strands of her tousled black hair, and calculated her chances. His hands weren't the only steady thing; his eyes never wavered as he stared her down with as much determination as she felt swirling in her chest. If she hadn't been in such a pickle, she might have found it downright sexy.

Something moved in her periphery. Her stomach tightened with hope, and she slowly, non-threateningly, lifted her open, cuffed hand and grabbed her hat from her shoulders, and replaced it on her head. She used the shadows cast by the brim to flicker her gaze up to the rooftops. It was a brief glance, but all she needed to confirm what she'd suspected.

"Now now...no need to use those on me, Vice Admiral..." Rouge said slowly, drawling his name in a husky voice. "I'll come peacefully. I can see when I'm beaten," she added in a soft voice, the corners of her lips drawing up into a warm, willing smile. As she spoke, she slowly started walking towards him, one boot in front of the other. Her hips swayed slowly, and she kept her hands out and open, illustrating her desire to be compliant.

"I never expected to be taken in by someone like you, ya know." Rouge kept walking, and didn't stop until the tips of his guns brushed against the flaming bikini triangles covering her breasts between the open lapels of her vest. Her hands were up by her head now, completely vulnerable to him. "Especially such a sexy marine as yourself," Rouge's voice was pitched low, almost to a whisper, and her eyes glowed with interest as they flickered from his handsome face down to the broad expanse of his shoulders, then lower, over his muscled chest and lower.

A seductive, heated smile lit up her gaze as she looked back up to his face. "Get's me all... worked up, just thinking about it," she murmured, and the huskiness in her voice was unmistakable. In fact, she didn't even have to fake it. From this close, she could see every hard line of his face, could feel the power that practically radiated off him. It was a heady aphrodisiac to a woman who'd been raised by men of similar power. Even if he was a marine, he was still damn sexy. She let him see the attraction she felt for him, and took another step forward, forcing his guns to slide along her breasts to either side of her torso until she was between them, the cold steel pressed against the warm flesh of her flanks.

He kept his weapons steady, even as she plopped her hat on her head and folded her fingers behind her neck deliberately, making a show that she would "come quietly" as he asked. But there was something fishy about it. There was no fear, no defeat in her eyes, only grim determination.

She wasn't going to come quietly and he really knew it the moment she started walking. Slow steps, placed carefully, one right in front of the other so that her hips swayed seductively. And she opened her mouth and her voice was dark, not necessarily deep, but at least not pitchy like some girls had. He hadn't really had a chance to listen before, because she had been in such a hurry to get away from him that somehow it had made her tone more falsetto. Now it was really quite mellifluous. Smooth. The kinda voice you wanted to hear between the sheets.

If he really had to get right down to it, everything about her screamed sex. Sex and danger. Her voice, the wicked smile, the sinful figure, that 'who gives a shit' attitude. He had a feeling that depending upon the situation, her face was her most deadly tool. The splash of freckles coupled with the bright baby blues and he suspected that she could turn an older man to mush with a cute bat of her thick eyelashes or turn a man her own age to a simpering mess.

Lukas, at the very least, held his ground against her assault. What was her angle? Was she hoping to dare him into letting her go? Calling his bluff, banking that he might not just tranq her and drag her unconscious body to Impel Down? Was she trying to play up the man in him by putting on the seduction act? He wouldn't be a straight man if he denied that that at least wasn't working somewhat.

He didn't move a single muscle, didn't even blink as she came so close to him that she stepped between the barrels of his firearms. The cool steel slid under her vest and along the curve of her breasts until both his hands and the guns were settled right against her ribs. Completely and utterly useless.

If any of his subordinates saw him like this… needless to say, it was a compromising position. Thinking back to this moment, he knew that as soon as she got that close to him, there was no way he was taking her in chains to his ship. He should have anticipated the diversion. As it was, in that time period, she just shocked the hell out of him with her bravado, with her blatant attempt at seduction and from the way her eyes were lighting on different parts of him from his face to his shoulders, down and back up, she liked what she was seeing too.

"What game are you trying to play here, Dragon?" he growled, not moving a single inch. Her body was warm where his hands rested against the flesh of her ribs.

His words drew a throaty chuckle from her, and her eyes danced with amusement and wickedness as she tilted her head back and gazed up at him with parted lips. "Oh, no game, vice admiral...this is serious business, my friend."

"You know," she continued, and cocked her hip to the side, but kept her hands up by her neck, exposed to him. "You seem like a pretty cool dude, even if you are a marine..." she murmured, almost absently as her eyes flickered from his serious green eyes down to his lips, drawn in a tight line.

His eyes were riveted to her, studying her, even somewhat suspiciously, but because of that, he didn't see the large rock that came flying down on top of his head until it was too late. The rock was practically the size of a small boulder, and when it struck the direct crown of his head, he stood no chance. She watched his eyes roll into the back of his head, and felt the guns in his hands slide down as gravity overpowered his muscles.

A sigh slipped form her lips and her arms suddenly shot out, catching him under his armpits as she stepped into his suddenly limp form, and kept him from crashing to the ground. She paused, his head lolling back on his neck as she held him against her taunt stomach, her arms straining against his substantial weight.

"Sorry bud, but it's the only way. I really do think your bombing though," she added, and slowly lowered him down to the ground. "Jeez, you're pretty heavy for a guy your size...how much muscles do you have?" she muttered in an exaggerated whisper, shaking her head with an amused grin before she took a step back from him. Behind her, she heard the soft thud of her rescuer dropping to the ground form the rooftops above.

"You okay, little Dragon?" a deep, rough voice came from the shadowy alley, and Rouge spun around with a wide grin, plopping her hands on her hips cocking her head to the side, peering up at the large black man before her.

"Teddy!" she exclaimed ruefully, her eyes twinkling with mirth. "I sure am glad you showed up when you did, but I'm fine. Thugs just caught me by surprise with THIS!" she shot her arm out in front of her, exposing the sea stone shackle, the second manacle dangling open two inches from the cuff around her wrist. She grimaced up at him and wrinkled her freckled nose. "It was a pain in the ass, to say the least."

The mans laugh was deep and baritone, making Rouge grin as he stepped closer to her, reached out, and wrapped his two large hands around the cuff. Two veins popped in his thick neck, but it was the only indicator that he was exerting any force until suddenly, the shackle snapped in half with a loud crack. Rouge didn't even jump, but regarded the man with an expression of mixed amusement and gratitude.

"You rock dude. Thanks! Now I can get the hell out of this place...I came much too close to some kind of confinement tonight...Whether it would have been permanent or not is debatable, but it still would have ruined my day. I figured the Bull would send someone to oversee such an important deal...Glad it was you," she tipped her chin at him and half-turned to glanced over her shoulder at the marine. "You can say you got the best of a vice admiral now too."

The man chuckled and shook his head at her, reaching out to knock her hat off and knuckle the top of her head. "You're such a trouble maker. What the hell happened with the deal?"

Rouge let out a mixture between a squeal and a giggle, ducking her head and moving a step away from the towering man. "Stop! It's not my fault, the freaking Don is a nutcase! He wanted to keep me as a 'fine object.' Fuck that...Just because I have a rare devil fruit doesn't mean anyone has the right to keep me on display," she retorted, and replaced her hat on top of her head with an unladylike snort. She rolled her bright blue eyes and cross her arms over her chest.

The black man froze, then regarded her with cold, black glittering eyes. He had eyes as dark as obsidian, and the skin around his eyes, all the way back to his temple, was as dark as night. He was known as the Black-Eyed Smuggler, and specialized in explosives and boxing. "What a stupid man...like we wouldn't notice one of our top agents going missing." He sighed and shook his head again, rubbing the back of his neck as his eyes flickered over to the unconscious Marine. "Come one, we gotta scram...people are going to work up the courage to come down here soon."

"Roger," the woman said with a quick salute to her fellow smuggle, then abruptly leapt up into the air. She shifted mid-leap, and caught the air with the sleek dragon wings that suddenly slid out from under her vest. "See you in Port Town for that huge rave Niki was talking about the other day? In three nights?" she called down to him.

"Wouldn't miss it," he called back with a wave, then seemed to melt back into the shadows. After that, she lost sight of him as she turned her head to the sky, and made her escape. She went directly to her boat, hidden in a cove on the far east side of the harbor. Because she wasn't coming from the harbor, she wasn't pursued as she fired up her engine and headed out into the open, dark ocean.

Lukas sat up with a shot, straight up in bed. Immediately, his head throbbed so hard to the beat of his racing heart that he had to lay back down, this time with a groan. He nearly passed out again and it was sheer willpower that he kept himself awake.

"Vice Admiral, sir!" that was Jahzara's voice. Lukas rolled his head over to the side and glanced at her. She was leaning over, right in his vision, but as soon as he made eye contact with her, she backed away and saluted him briefly.

"Whaa…?" he started, his eyes sweeping the room. He was in his room, not his office, but literally his bedroom on his ship and judging by the feel of the motion, they had set sail. He sat up again, this time more gingerly and laid his hand against his head. A lump greeted him the size of an orange on the side of his head with a bandage over it.

His captain, loyal as ever, was right there, pulling up a chair and perching right on the very edge of it, reminiscent of a bird about to take flight, "Vice Admiral, sir, we found you unconscious in a back alley with three of Don Maccello's men, also unconscious. They stirred before you did, however, sir and we were able to question them about the situation. We are currently in pursuit of the Dragon Smuggler."

He took a minute to process that. The thugs… he chased them and her into the alley and after tranquilizing them, he had been all lined up to catch the Dragon, but she had distracted him…

"That bitch!" he cursed, causing Jahzara to jump a little and his head to pound, "How long was I out?"

"It's been just over a day, sir. It's the middle of the night."

He gave her a good look and she seemed exhausted. No doubt she had been up all night, watching his bedside like a hawk and managing his subordinates for him, "Right. Go get some sleep, Jahzara."

"But sir…"

"That's an order, Captain."

She swallowed her protests and nodded, "Yes, sir!" she said, getting up, offering him a quick salute and left his room.

Lukas sighed and gently rotated his neck, wincing. Damn it! She'd gotten the best of him. He would be more vigilant next time. He wouldn't be as distracted by her sex appeal. Slowly, he managed to swing his long legs out of the bed and made his way to his office. There, behind his desk, was her pretty little face, staring at him, mocking him.

Bitch! He was gonna get her. He touched the top of his head again and winced.

Two days later, he was feeling significantly better and his ship docked at an island called Port Town. It was a huge island, literally separated into sections; the pier, the Marine station, the business district, the Red Light District, the residential district. It was more or less an island to stop to stretch the sea legs. When travelling with a hundred soldiers, things tended to get restless.

They had had no clues on the whereabouts of the Dragon since his accident with her. She had disappeared yet again, slipped through his fingers like the little lizard she was.

He sat in his office, feet proper up on the desk, his usual position when there was a knock on his door and Jahzara came in.

"Vice Admiral, sir," she greeted, not taking one step into the office.

"Captain," he replied with a nod, twirling a pen in his fingers and staring at the Dragon's picture. That woman… "What can I do for you?"

"Sir, there has been a report that there are a lot of pirate ships coming into the harbor near the Red Light District. I thought you might like to take a look around. Perhaps… it's a stretch, sir but the district here is supposedly a draw for all sorts of criminals and the Dragon might just show up here. At least a lead, sir?"

He turned his chair to regard his Captain. Her blonde hair was short in the back and long in the front, the longest pieces coming right to her chin, but most of it was tucked under a Marine cap. Her gun-metal gray eyes were sharp as her wit and alert. He had made sure that despite her rank, she had a coat like his, minus the golden caps on the shoulders and she was dressed sharp underneath in a red skirt suit. He kept her around because appearance was very youthful and yet she was capable and he found her relatable in that way.

"That's a good idea, Captain," he said, rising from his chair.

"Sir, shall I accompany you as back up?"

"No, thank you, Jahzara. I'm going this alone," he had a strange feeling now, since she mentioned the Red Light District. So preoccupied as he was and with his back turn, he missed the slight stutter in Jahzara's impeccable sense of duty and the flush across her cheeks when he said her name but as soon as he turned to face her, she had pulled herself back together again.

"Take care out there, sir. You are heading into outlaw land. 99 percent of them want you dead."

He grinned, "I wager more than that."

The rave, featuring the famous DJ PurplePirate, was to be held in the bowels of the Red Light District of Port Town. The raves that DJ PurplePirate put on were particularly popular, and tended to attract outlaws of all kinds, along with civilians who didn't mean rubbing shoulders with the most dangerous men and women of the underworld.

Rouge was particularly looking forward to this rave as she had missed the last two that had been put on. In the three days between her last business deal and the rave, she got word to the Bull about what had gone down with the Don, and was still awaiting a reply the night of the rave. Two other members of the Inner Circle had shown up for the rave, those who weren't on active assignment, along with other members of the Bull's organization that were part of the lower echelon of workers he controlled.

Since smugglers were famous for their ability to remain unknown, they had devised a way to let each other know of their presence for these sort of functions, since many of the smugglers were very fond partying and liked to mingle whenever they could, since most of the time they were kept apart on assignments.

In the three days that she had to recover and prepare for the rave, Rouge found her thoughts lingering on that vice admiral from before. Though she'd only known him briefly, she was intensely interested in the guy. He was attractive, yes, but something about his persona just intrigued her. He'd tried to save her twice so far, even if she hadn't needed it the first time. He could have tranqed her along with the thugs, but he hadn't. He'd given her the choice to go quietly. What did that say about him? Even though she had no business getting friendly with a marine, especially a vice admiral, she wanted to know more about him. Odd really.

A couple of hours before the rave, Rouge met up with those members she was particularly close with, and went out to the local bars for some drinks. Teddy was there, along with Rouge's close girlfriend, Niki, who was also one of the Inner Circle. They spent hours moving from bar to bar, singing, drinking, and sharing stories of their latest exploits. Rouge's story with the Don had caused an uproar of both indignation and laughter, but the cuts and bruises were already fading so Rouge shrugged it off and joined in with the laughter. She'd been in worse situations, after all, and if you couldn't laugh about life then what was the point?

They got drunk, but Rouge had been sneaking drinks with her uncle Zoro since she was fifteen, so she knew how to handle her liquor. While Teddy got sloshed and Niki started getting giggly, Rouge just grinned like a madwoman, her eyes glittering with mischief and fun as they told jokes and took shots at one another.

When it was half past midnight, Rouge suggested they head over to the rave, and was met with a loud and rambunctious agreement from her party pals. Laughing, Niki slug her arm over Rouge's shoulders and together the girls lead the rest of their party to the secret location. Those who had been to PurplePirates previous raves received the secret location by carrier pigeon the night before the actual even, and all were allowed to bring one guest. That guest was then registered for future raves so long as no trouble was caused and their background was cleared. The DJs bouncers and managers were quite thorough and quite capable of handling most of the outlaws that attended the events.

As they approached the door, hidden down a side alley, Rouge could hear the muffled music through the walls, and felt a smile curve her lips as excitement danced in her stomach. She LOVED dancing, and took every chance she could to let loose. This evening, her regular flaming bikini had been switched out for a neon green-blue one covered in glittering sequins; it brought out an aquamarine tinge to her eyes, ringed in black kohl and dusted with blue and green eye-shadow. Her black shorts were replaced with a low-slung leather skirt, and the blue vest she normally wore was nowhere in sight. Its absence exposed the dragon tattoo that curled up her spine and across her shoulders with its delicate wings. Her hair was down, for once, and features blue and green feathers throughout. According to Niki, she was SMOKIN', and that was exactly what Rouge had been aiming for.

"You ready for this, sexy lady?" Rouge asked with a giggle as they waltzed past the bouncers, who nodded their recognition.

"Oh, I'm more than ready for this. Be prepared to have your ass kicked by my awesome dancing skills," Niki responded, and the red-head winked her bright green eye with a saucy grin on her luscious red lips. She sashayed her hips, covered in a short black dress that slinked off her shoulders in spaghetti straps and shimmered with sequins.

"Dream on," Rouge retorted and stepped through the door to the dance floor. They were instantly assaulted by music so loud that Rouge could feel the pressure of it against her eardrums. The beat was amazing, just like all of DJ PurplePirate's music, and Rouge found it difficult to hold herself still as they headed for the center, where the dancing was the thickest. The air was heavy with white smoke and flashing, neon lights, illuminating the darkness and giving everything an erie, unreal feeling. The lights made her blue-green clothing and makeup practically glow and scintillate as she moved.

"Hell yeah...time to get our groove on!" Niki shouted over the music, and started to dance with her head tossed back and a huge smile on her lips. Rouge laughed and turned around to poke Teddy in the chest. The man perked a brow at her, and she rolled her eyes at his seriousness before she joined Niki and began to swing her hips to the beat. The man chuckled at them, then began head bang to the music.

When one is walking alone through the seedier, lawless parts of town, one needs to dress in such a way as to communicate strength, power and confidence. So that evening, when Lukas ventured out, solo, to the Lawless District in pursuit of some lead on the Dragon, he wasn't garbed out in his Marine getup. No, that would have been a poor decision and the outlaws would have been on him like stink on shit.

He was dressed more casual, yet something that said 'I'm a bad ass, don't fuck with me or I will fuck you up'; a blue collared button down, unbuttoned with the sleeves folded up to his elbows. It displayed his whole torso, which was fine by him considering that he was pretty proud of his physique, but it also showed many of the various scars he'd received over his lifetime. All of them were fine white lines now. Some were from scuffles with bad guys, but a good amount was from the stupid shit he'd done as a kid.

He had a small one just above his collarbone where a fish hook had snagged him and in a drunken moment, he'd just yanked it out. Blood had gone everywhere from that one.

Another one on his hip from falling down the stairs. That was it. End of that story.

One on his ribs. Sword fight with a pirate. Hadn't ended pretty for the pirate.

On his legs he had on a pair of black pants, tucked into his black combat boots. Around his hips was a black belt with two gun holsters on either side. That was it. No sword or anything fancy like a shoulder holster. He was more undercover, less recon.

It was late by the time he was ready to head through the District. He'd been to some sordid towns before, but tonight may have just been the icing on the cake for him. Whatever was going on here tonight was drawing the criminals like piranhas. Pirates, outlaws, smugglers, thieves, you name it and they were there were out in the streets. Shady deals went down in alleyways, seemingly empty warehouses vibrated on their foundations with bass and the bars and restaurants were overflowing with bodies, sex, smoke and fighting. Lukas saw bad guys he knew other marines were out hunting at this very moment, but he couldn't bag and tag them. He couldn't risk his cover by nabbing every person with a bounty that he saw.

The district only seemed to get more and more congested as the night wore on. He flitted in and out of bars and clubs, casually listening to conversations, drinking enough to appear as though he was in certain locations to enjoy drinks. Mentally, he kept a running list of things that would be interesting to report back, but nothing on the Dragon or the smuggling ring. A few girls came up to him – alright, more than a few – but he always managed to brush them off by the time he was ready to leave a place. His story changed every time he spoke to someone; sometimes he was a smuggler, the captain of a pirate ship, a klepto, a black market merchant, an arms dealer. Anything really. That was the beauty of undercover; he could be anyone he wanted to be for the night. And he was damned good at selling it.

It was on the way to another bar or somewhere when he spotted her. His insides jumped wildly in excitement. He hadn't expected to actually find her. He'd hoped for information at best, but there was no mistaking the downright sexy beauty as she turned into an alleyway, arm and arm with some spunky red head and a large, beastly man trailing behind the group a little. He hadn't gotten a great look at her other than a shimmer of sequins and the loads of dark curls playing peek-a-boo with a large, intricate and finely detailed dragon tattoo on her back before she disappeared around the corner. No one else could fit that description.

Lukas kept a steady pace and when he turned the alleyway, he quickly turned tail and went back around the corner to peer. There she was, laughing and chatting as she and her entourage waltzed passed two huge bouncers. He was much closer to her now and as she passed under the emergency light that beamed down above the door, he really caught an eyeful of her. Her hair was tousled and green and blue feathers were clipped in among the strands, giving her a wholly wild and exotic look about her. Her eyes were lined in kohl and he imagined that that made the blue of them stand out bright and bold. And she switched out her little shortie shorts for a tight, equally short black leather skirt.

She was, well. She was hot, for a criminal. Scandalous, even.

There was no way he was getting into that place without knowing the bouncers. It looked like it was a "members only" kinda party and well, he wasn't a member. The trained recon in him knew instantly that if he wanted her in shackles, he was going to have to break into the club and somehow follow her out. No way was he going to be able to dog this place until she left. There was no guarantee she would leave through the door she went in. No, he was going to have to follow her right into the lion's den if he wanted the job done right.

The door wasn't an option. Lukas went down to the next alley and sought the roof of the building behind the warehouse. He needed a window or an access door…

There! It was blacked out with paint, but that was a window. There was a small ledge about three feet wide underneath it. A run, a jump and he landed on the roof of the warehouse and it was some careful climbing that got him down to that ledge. The ledge of lined with windows, spaced about seven feet apart. The window was just high enough that he could slip through it.

Naturally, it was locked from the inside. Lukas pulled off his shirt, wrapped his fist in it and smashed one of the panels open. He waited a heartbeat, his gun in his hand, pointing it in the ragged gap he'd made. Nothing happened. The music was so loud that he wasn't expecting anything to happen.

He reached in, clicked the lock and popped the window open. He was in the rafters, which was fortunate. Holstering his gun and swinging his shirt back over his shoulders, he climbed across the rafters and beams until he reached the ladder that brought him down to ground level. Below him, bodies clustered together, hot, steamy, smelling like sex, sweat and alcohol. The DJ was playing in the corner, the music so loud the bass was vibrating his ribcage. A bar had been constructed along one wall, packed with bodies and scantily dressed men and women serving beverages that smoked, that glowed, big, small, whatever. In the middle of the floor were cages where half naked females were dancing and more lining up to get a turn. A catwalk fifteen feet above the crowd hoisted a myriad of gyrating bodies and poles where more girls were dancing and swaying.

Lukas decided that on a given day, this was probably not the type of place he'd like to be. The music and dancing were okay, but pure virile energy pumping through this place mixed with the overload of dangerous people was putting him on edge. Any second, he expected someone to recognize him and for the whole mob to jump on him like white on rice. A Vice Admiral in a place like this? 110 percent of this population wanted his head on a stake.

But no one would recognize him; he wouldn't ever be expected in a rave like this and without his military garb, he could be anyone.

The ladder brought him backstage where some people were dancing and strutting their stuff and he disappeared again down a short flight of stairs and slipped out a door onto the main dance floor. It was one hundred times warmer down here and way more congested than he had estimated from his position above in the rafters. Bodies pushed together in a dancing, sensuous orgy and the low, flashing light hurt his eyes to try and make out individual faces.

But he seemed to be drawn to her silhouette like a moth to flame because in a matter of seconds, he picked her out of the crowd. She was in the very middle of the floor where the dancing was thickest, in the middle of a suffocating crowd of bodies and she seemed to be having the time of her life. Her slender, smuggling hands traced the curves of her body and lifted the heavy curls off her neck before she laughed and circled her hips to the beat. A fine glisten of perspiration shone over the swell of her breasts and along her lithe stomach.

Lukas kept to the edges of the crowd, keeping a low profile and moving around the outside of the dancers, keeping an eye on her. No way would she pick him out of this crowd, but he would watch her like a hawk and as soon as she left, he'd nab her.

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