Chapter 72: Good planning without good working is nothing

The morning came too soon to Rick’s taste. After last night's activities with Hancock, he would have gladly spent the day in bed under the covers. The pirate queen has been as the ex-marine expected: Wild. He seriously had flashbacks of his former redhead captain for a moment there. However, as aggressive as she was, she didn’t have the same dominant aura as Kaza, though in comparison to Robin - when she was really into it - she fell a bit short in that category but almost equaled her in kinkiness. Rick mentally patted himself in the back for having helped her all those years ago as the results proved to be quite satisfying.
Currently the vice-captain of the strawhats was almost being squeezed to death by the beautiful long-haired brunette who was using as a mattress. He didn’t quite know what to do to escape from the deadly embrace he was in but knew he had to. Rick needed to have a talk with Luffy; he didn’t want for his little brother to go on in his denial of the inevitable.

‘Little brother huh.. I wonder… When did I stop fan boying over Luffy?’

That was a good question. While Luffy was never his favorite character in the manga or the anime, the strawhat captain was still in his top 10 and easily at that. The whole leaving the marines thingy was so he could explore (and save) the world while being beside the main protagonist and secretly fan-boying but now… Now that he’s actually at that moment he thought about, there is no fan boy in sight.

‘I guess I grew up and I’m more mature now. The time in the marines taking care of others definitely helped too.’

He was right; spending time in the marines, taking care of his superiors or subordinates made him develop a big brother mentality. That was obvious as he was currently the vice-captain of the strawhats and taking care of everyone. The whole Enies Lobby, among others events, was proof of that. Rick had never realized though, at least until now. That brought a far more important question to the table.

‘What if Luffy sees me as a brother too?’

When Luffy lost Ace, he was devastated. He fought so hard to save his brother and failed when he was so close. Losing another brother, in his own arms, after losing his crew was too much for him to handle and without Jinbe there he probably wouldn’t have pulled out of it. Would Luffy act and feel the same for him too? That’d be unlikely, after all Ace and Luffy have known each other since they were kids. Rick, he had known for roughly 6 months. There was no comparison, but with Luffy… you never know.

‘Either way, I need to prepare him for what’s to come. Both with me and for the foreseeable future’

He patted Hancock’s head with one hand while taking a handful of a butt cheek with the other and tried to wake her up. That only made the pirate queen smile in bliss more than anything. The thought of using his gravity popped up but she was hugging him too tightly for that and the amount of force needed to succeed would be nothing but harmful. So as tempted as he was, because he really wanted his freedom and vital space, he decided against it, and took his time to think things through.

‘Okay… So What do I know about Hancock? She’s beautiful, she has an overinflated ego, she’s condescending to anyone and everyone… She’s also a former slave, that imply a lot of traumas and insecurities, notably thanks to the brand on her back. She’s also very satisfied after last night, both physically and emotionally and has a craving to be married. Hmm… I think I got it.’

I brought his face close to her ear and whispered a few words prompting the snake mistress to immediately wake up but still not letting him go out of her grasp. She apparently wasn’t as asleep as she appeared to be.

“REALLY?!” she asked in surprise.

“Yes, if we succeed.”
“You promise?”
“I do.”

Two magic words that made her squealed in delight. Two simple words that many people, madly in love, wish to hear from the person they love the most. The answer Rick gave may lead people to believe it was an agreement for his part to marry her. They couldn’t be further from the truth. Rick had played the promised marriage card once years ago, he was neither ready nor stupid enough to play it again, especially for another bat-shit crazy in love with him woman. One was enough, after all Rick still had nightmares from time to time about this particular event in his youth. Hancock was already giving him lots and lots of deja-vu vibes; he wasn't about to add more to it. No, this time he promised something but not as extravagant. It would only cost him his time and nothing more.

Still high on his promise, Hancock didn’t even fight when Rick rolled her on her back and got out of bed now that he was free. He washed himself up quickly in the bathroom area of the room and dressed himself. He gave his lover a kiss that she gave back and exited the room. Thankfully the ship wasn’t big and he quickly found the cabin where Luffy spent the night. He greeted him but got no answer, his captain not even bothering to look at him.

“It’s not the end of the world you know.”
“...”
“Well at least not for you and everyone else, for me it’s a whole other matter.” the ex-marine said with a chuckle. A chuckle that pissed Luffy off and let him lash out.
“HOW CAN YOU LAUGH ABOUT IT?!”
“Why shouldn’t I?”
“Because you’re talking about your death! There is nothing funny in that.”
“True. But that won’t stop me from making jokes about it. It… helps dealing with the fatality of it. Besides, I'd rather die with a smile on my face than tears falling.”

That answer cut off any reply Luffy had to say. It took him back to that time in LogueTown, when Buggy was about to decapitate him. He couldn’t get out of his restraints, he couldn’t fight it, so he just accepted it with a smile on his face. It was his life after all, it was up to him to react the way he wanted about what’s happening in it. Now that Rick was more or less in the same situation he found it hard to have the same acceptance he had back then. Because it wasn’t his life, but the life of someone he cared about. It infuriated him to be powerless. To not be able to do anything about, just like on Sabaody, when Kuma sent flying his friends. He thought again about that day in LogueTown and wondered if back then Zoro and Sanji felt the same way he’s feeling now.

“That’s not fair. It shouldn’t be like that.” said Luffy
“No, it’s not but to quote Zoro : Life is a bitch.”
“What about the others? What am I supposed to say to them when we all get back together?”
“Robin, Nami, Zoro and Sanji already know.”
“You told them but not me?!” exclaimed the elastic man, clearly not happy about this news.
“I didn’t..”
“You just said they knew!”
“Not from me!” yelled Rick, confusing Luffy.
“After Enies Lobby I knew something was wrong with my body. Since Chopper didn’t find anything I kept quiet but I knew it was bad. Then on Thriller Bark when Kuma knocked out everyone, I made him a deal. My life for everyone else.” lied Rick. He wasn’t about to spill everything about what happened on that island, not when Luffy was feeling so down.
“What?!”
“A life that was soon going to end against eight others that still have plenty of years? Best deal I ever made.” said Rick laughing.
“That’s…” began Luffy but he was cut off.
“Miraculously I survived, even Kuma was surprised at that fact on Sabaody. Anyway two of the pirates stuck on the island saw what happened and when they tried to spill the beans, Zoro and Sanji took them aside. They forbade them to say anything about it but too bad for them Robin was listening into the conversation and shared it with Nami.”
“Why did they keep quiet too?” said Luffy. He was not happy with his crewmates keeping things like that from him.
“Because they chose to respect my privacy and I’m thankful for that. I wasn’t ready to announce it to anyone at the time. As for how I know those four knew well… When I left the bar back on Sabaody I felt down. Seriously down. Rayleigh had just rubbed in my face my old dream that I couldn’t realize no matter what… Anyway, Robin and Nami came to comfort me and I just blurted it out and the rest is history. So don’t worry about saying anything to the others. You won’t be shouldering the responsibility alone. And it’s not like the crew would be back together anytime soon, water would have passed under the bridge by then.”
“What do you mean?”
“The crew was not ready to go to the New World, Luffy. You know that. If it was, we wouldn’t have been separated like we were. So the best course of action we should take is to postpone going into the New World and train like crazy instead.”

Luffy took a moment to think about what Rick was telling him. It was true, they were weak. Too weak to venture into the most dangerous part of the seas. They needed to regroup and train but how and where?
“You’re right but how do we get everyone back?” asked the strawhat.
“We don’t.”
“What?”
“Searching everyone one by one would take too much time. Instead everyone needs to gather in a single place.
“But where?”
“I’d say the Sunny. I don’t think any of them will wait for the rest of the crew to come pick them up. If anything they would probably go to the last place everyone was together, meaning Sabaody Archipelago and the Sunny seems like a good rally point.”
“Great! But how do we make sure they know? What about the time?”
“To make sure they know… I don’t know honestly but I’m sure you’ll figure it out. As for the time… Two years.”
“Two years?!”
“Yes, two years. That would give everyone plenty of time to train.”

“That’s too long!”
“But necessary. Kuma gave us an opportunity we can’t afford to miss.”
“What do you mean? What opportunities?”
“Think about it. You ended up on an island the marines don’t have access to and whose leader is acquainted with Rayleigh and is a shichibukai. Me? I ended up on the island of the only man in the world that could cure me. I wouldn’t be surprised if everyone else ended up on an island on which they would find something or someone that could help them get stronger. Heck, I won’t even be surprised if Zoro landed on Mihawk’s island and became his apprentice or Nami on a sky island full of scientists studying the weather.
“You know, if I didn’t know better I’d say you’re crazy.” said Luffy with a deadpan face.
“But you do know better.”
“That I do.”

With a plan, or a bit of a plan, set in place, Rick hoped that it would help Luffy. With a plan set, the captain wouldn’t be in the dark anymore about what to day and instead be on a set course. A focused Luffy was a force to reckon with after all.

They kept talking about many things or to be more accurate Luffy asked questions about Rick and Rick just answered. The questions were mainly about the ex-marine. His adventures and time during the marines. When it was time for lunch they joined Hancock in her cabin who latched onto Rick as if her life was at stake. Once done with the food, which took some time thanks to Luffy, they began formulating a plan to get Ace out. Sure the plan would be useless as Ace would already be at Marineford by the time they arrived in Impel Down, but there were plenty of pirates there worth the trouble. Especially Jinbe, so Rick couldn’t really tell them that Ace won’t be there. Even if he did and they decided to go straight to Marineford, he doubted they couldn’t. For one because the marine ship escorting them wouldn’t allow them to do so, for two even if they reach Marineford, There would be a lone ship and crew versus the might of the marines. It wouldn’t bode well for them. For three Hancock was not ready to risk her status as shichibukai and the safety of Amazon Lily. Well For rick maybe, no she definitely would but points one and two were more than enough to stick on the current course and go to Impel Down.

“So, here is the plan I have in my mind.” announced Rick to Luffy and Hancock.
“I’ll be Hancock’s prisoner.” he added.
“What?”
“YESSSSS!”

That tidbit of information confused Luffy and overjoyed the pirate queen who was already playing different kinds of kinky scenarios in her head.

“Focus Hancock. Anyway, the story goes like this: I landed on Amazon Lily after I disappeared from Sabaody. The amazons captured me and when Hancock knew I was in her custody she decided to bring me to Impel Down.”
“Won’t the commander of the escort find it suspicious that I didn’t tell him about capturing you?” asked the brunette.
“Yes, but you’re a pirate, he's a marine, so you don’t trust him to begin with, and since I’m worth a whooping 450 Million…”
“So I didn’t announce your capture for fear of getting shafted by the marine? That’s a bit weak, don’t you think?”
“It is, but that’d be enough, besides it’s not like those marines would see me. I’d be cuffed with non-sea stoned cuffs and a bag on the head to hide my face. The only people who will see me are the ones inside Impel Down. You’ll just have to say that you capture a pirate with a bounty on your island and the bag is there so I don’t leer at you or something.”
“But I want you to leer at me or something.” said Hancock with a pout.

Completely ignoring her, Rick continued.

“Meanwhile Luffy you’ll be hiding under Hancock’s coat.”
“Okay!”
“What?! That’s not happening!”
“For me? Please?” said Rick with (fake) pleading eyes.
“I… But I… Okay fine!”
“Good. Now here is where things are uncertain. I know they will put me in a cell but I don’t know which one and more importantly in which level.”
“Level?” asked Luffy.
“Impel Down is an underwater prison, made of 6 different levels. The lower you go the more heinous and strong the pirates are. Considering Ace is the second of Whitebeard, he’ll probably be in the last level, level 6. Considering my own notoriety I’d be put either in the same level or at least level 5. Once in my cell and the guards away I break out and start searching for Ace. Once I found him, it’s break out time for everyone. We climb up the levels and offer freedom to any pirates on the way to act as a diversion. Meanwhile Luffy you infiltrate level by level. Try to learn the ins and outs about each level, it would make our escape easier. The guards will try to stop us on our way, once they do, you strike them from behind.”
“Hmm… Okay.”
“I know it’s not your style, that you’d prefer to go all out punching everyone but we can’t afford to do that.”
“Fine.” said Luffy with a dejected expression.
“How does Luffy go from under my coat to… not under my coat without anyone noticing?” asked Hancock.
“That part is easy, before letting you in Impel Down they will subject you to a body check.”
“THEY WHAT?! I refuse to let those men touch my body!”
“They won’t, it will be done by a woman.”
“I don’t care! Only you have that privilege!”
“That’s… good to know I guess. Anyway, you’ll just have to turn the people doing the body check to stone. Luffy gets out to begin his infiltration, then you turn them back to normal. At best you will only have to remove your coat. With your dress, anyone can see you don’t have anything to hide.” replied Rick with a wink.

Hancock mumbled a simple “fine” clearly not happy with her part of the plan. In any case, that was their Plan. It may not be the best plan ever but that’s what they have and it will have to do. Now, all they had to do was wait to arrive at the prison tomorrow. Luffy left for his cabin to think about what he had to do, both for his brother and his crew. He wasn’t out of the room for more than a second when an infamous pirate queen pounced on her prey.