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snickers-the-fluffy-boi · 5 months ago

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Abusive Sexual Contact

Advocating Overthrow of Government

Aggravated Assault/Battery

Aggravated Identity Theft

Aggravated Sexual Abuse

Aiming a Laser Pointer at an Aircraft

Airplane Hijacking

Anti-racketeering

Antitrust

Armed Robbery

Arson

Assassination

Assault with a Deadly Weapon

Assaulting or Killing Federal Officer

Assisting or Instigating Escape

Attempt to commit Murder/Manslaughter

Bank Burglary

Bankruptcy Fraud/Embezzlement

Bank Larceny

Bank Robbery

Blackmail

Bombing Matters

Bond Default

Breaking and/or Entering Carrier Facilities

Bribery Crimes

Certification of Checks (Fraud)

Child Abuse

Child Exploitation

Child Pornography

Civil Action to Restrain Harassment of a Victim or Witness

Coercion

Commodities Price Fixing

Computer Crime

Concealing Escaped Prisoner

Concealing Person from Arrest

Concealment of Assets

Conspiracy (in matters under FBI jurisdiction)

Conspiracy to Impede or Injure an Officer

Contempt of Court

Continuing Criminal Enterprise

Conveying False Information

Counterfeiting

Counterintelligence Crimes

Credit/Debit Card Fraud

Crime Aboard Aircraft

Crimes on Government Reservations

Crimes on Indian Reservations

Criminal Contempt of Court

Criminal Forfeiture

Criminal Infringement of a Copyright

Cyber Crimes

Damage to Religious Property

Delivery to Consignee

Demands Against the U.S.

Destruction of Aircraft or Motor Vehicles Used in Foreign Commerce

Destruction of an Energy Facility

Destruction of Property to Prevent Seizure

Destruction of Records in Federal Investigations and Bankruptcy

Destruction of Corporate Audit Records

Destruction of Veterans’ Memorials

Detention of Armed Vessel

Disclosure of Confidential Information

Domestic Security

Domestic Terrorism

Domestic Violence

Drive-by Shooting

Drug Abuse Violations

Drug Smuggling

Drug Trafficking

DUI/DWI on Federal Property

Economic Espionage

Election Law Crimes

Embezzlement

Embezzlement Against Estate

Entering Train to Commit Crime

Enlistment to Serve Against the U.S.

Environmental Scheme Crimes

Escaping Custody/Escaped Federal Prisoners

Examiner Performing Other Services

Exportation of Drugs

Extortion

Failure to Appear on Felony Offense

Failure to Pay Legal Child Support Obligations

False Bail

False Pretenses

False Statements Relating to Health Care Matters

Falsely Claiming Citizenship

False Declarations before Grand Jury or Court

False Entries in Records of Interstate Carriers

False Information and Hoaxes

False Statement to Obtain Unemployment Compensation

Federal Aviation Act

Federal Civil Rights Violations (hate crimes, police misconduct)

Female Genital Mutilation

Financial Transactions with Foreign Government

First Degree Murder

Flight to Avoid Prosecution or Giving Testimony

Forced Labor

Forcible Rape

Forgery

Fraud Activity in Connection with Electronic Mail

Fraud Against the Government

Genocide

Hacking Crimes

Harboring Terrorists

Harming Animals Used in Law Enforcement

Hate Crime Acts

Homicide

Hostage Taking

Identity Theft

Illegal Possession of Firearms

Immigration Offenses

Impersonator Making Arrest or Search

Importation of Drugs

Influencing Juror by Writing

Injuring Officer

Insider Trading Crimes

Insurance Fraud

Interference with the Operation of a Satellite

International Parental Kidnapping

International Terrorism

Interstate Domestic Violence

Interstate Violation of Protection Order

Larceny

Lobbying with Appropriated Moneys

Mailing Threatening Communications

Major Fraud Against the U.S.

Manslaughter

Medical/Health Care Fraud

Missile Systems Designed to Destroy Aircraft

Misuse of Passport

Misuse of Visas, Permits, or Other Documents

Molestation

Money Laundering

Motor Vehicle Theft

Murder by a Federal Prisoner

Murder Committed During Drug-related Drive-by shooting

Murder Committed in Federal Government Facility

Narcotics Violations

Obstructing Examination of Financial Institution

Obstruction of Court Orders

Obstruction of Federal audit

Obstruction of Justice

Obstruction of Criminal Investigations

Officer Failing to Make Reports

Partial Birth Abortion

Penalties for Neglect or Refusal to Answer Subpoena

Peonage

Perjury

Picketing or Parading

Pirating

Possession by Restricted Persons

Possession of False Papers to Defraud the U.S.

Possession of Narcotics

Possession of Child Pornography

Private Correspondence with Foreign Government

Probation Violation

Product Tampering

Prohibition of Illegal Gambling Businesses

Prostitution

Protection of Foreign Officials

Public Corruption Crimes

Racketeering

Radiological Dispersal Devices

Ransom Money

Rape

Receiving the Proceeds of Extortion

Recording or Listening to Grand or Petit Juries While Deliberating

Reentry of an Alien Removed on National Security Grounds

Registration of Certain Organizations

Reproduction of Citizenship Papers

Resistance to Extradition Agent

Rescue of Seized Property

Retaliating Against a Federal Judge by False Claim or Slander of Title

Retaliating Against a Witness, Victim, or an Informant

Robbery

Robberies and Burglaries Involving Controlled Substances

Sabotage

Sale of Citizenship Papers

Sale of Stolen Vehicles

Searches Without Warrant

Second Degree Murder

Serial Murders

Sexual Abuse

Sexual Abuse of a Minor

Sexual Assault

Sexual Battery

Sexual Conduct with a Minor

Sexual Exploitation

Sex Trafficking

Shoplifting

Smuggling

Solicitation to Commit a Crime of Violence

Stalking (In Violation of Restraining Order)

Stolen Property; Buying, Receiving, or Possessing

Subornation of Perjury

Suits Against Government Officials

Tampering with a Witness, Victim, or Informant

Tampering with Consumer Products

Tampering with Vessels

Theft of Trade Secrets

Torture

Trafficking in Counterfeit Goods or Services

Transmission of Wagering Information (Gambling)

Transportation into State Prohibiting Sale

Transportation of Slaves from U.S.

Transportation of Stolen Vehicles

Transportation of Terrorists

Trespassing

Treason

Unauthorized Removal of Classified Documents

Use of Fire or Explosives to Destroy Property

Use of Weapons of Mass Destruction

Vandalism

Video Voyeurism

Violation of Prohibitions Governing Atomic Weapons

Violence at International airports

Violent Crimes in Aid of Racketeering Activity

Willful Wrecking of a Train Resulting in Death

Wire Fraud

That’s the list of all of my crimes

#i’m a menace

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silkendandelion · 1 year ago

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Mirage In The Desert - Chapter 8

No summary today, angst is your only hint.

Rated Mature for non-graphic violence and blood. Female pregnancy warning as well, meaning a flashback has a brief description of a hard labor. Ongoing, will cover the Alabasta Arc. Cross-posted to Ao3, same username. Send me a DM: yell at me, send flowers. Cheers.

~*~

“Welcome back, Sir.” Mila said as Crocodile returned at the casino. She chose not to comment on the bags under his eyes, and he said nothing as he walked passed her to the elevator.

“Has the Oasin returned?” He asks Miss All Sunday, meaning Mr. i’s absence for his last assignment. His subsequent leave for Oasis remains unsaid, along with the hope that he had come back to give Crocodile a piece of his mind like he tried to assert.

The numbers above the elevator blink on and off as they descend obediently. Has it always been so slow?

“No, Sir. I didn’t think he would; isn’t he returning to Oasis?”

He only hums to answer her, worrying the cigar between his lips and listening to Mila bid her manager goodnight.

The casino wasn’t immune to slow days, especially following a holiday, but Crocodile found the lobby empty tonight not because it lacked tourists in gaudy bobbles and wide-brimmed sunhats, but because his spot at the end of the bar was empty.

No scribbling thoughts on napkins while he nursed a single drink for hours.

“Welcome home, Crocodile!”, he would say, cheery and bright, yet the ghost of him was easily shooed away by the bartender wiping the already clean counter.

It wasn’t enough.

He should have gone upstairs and straight to bed.

Instead, he finds himself getting off several floors before his own, among the suites, and down the hall that one year ago he had instructed Miss All Sunday to keep vacant whenever possible. No sense disturbing the other guests if their new asset had to be “removed”.

But the betrayal Crocodile anticipated never came, and he continued to leave the floor vacant to not be seen coming and going, led along by his nose on a plume of perfume and following footsteps in the sand to the last door on the left.

Now he’s come to say goodbye, cursing himself for being too cruel to not come when he was there.

A year wasn’t nearly enough.

He takes the key from his breast pocket and feels every pin of the lock sliding open before stepping inside. The suite is only illuminated by the light from the window, and as he flicks on a lamp he wonders if the smell of bergamot and almonds will ever wash out. An empty pack of cigarettes sits among the undone sheets, beneath the window he closes on an unseasonably cool breeze.

The closet is open, messy as ever, a missing jewelry box and some empty hangers telling him he doesn’t have to look under the bed to know his suitcase is gone too.

Will Oasin linens feel foreign on your body now after a year in suits and furs? Or will they feel like returning home?

The desk is strewn with papers; he had expected more to be taken than what few were missing. Or did you simply let your collection get away from you, filled your suitcase to the brim and not made a dent?

His memory has always been too much, and the image of River folded into his chair, hair bundled to his crown and itching the beginnings of his stubble while he writes draft after draft with his golden pen is too vibrant to touch.

“What is ‘for Pete’s sake’? Who’s Pete?” The memory asks him.

And I said, “What are you going on about now?”

You just laughed, deciding you would take a break from your poetry to research who “Pete” is, before giving up and asking if I would explain to you all the idioms I could think of that made no sense to Oasins.

The memory is clear but fragile, all of his memories of River are, and stepping closer to the desk startles the writer away. Most of the papers splayed out are abandoned drafts, notes, and his finger scratches gently over a blue scribble that reads “When is Croco’s birthday?”, beside another, smushed scribble, “silver polish”.

A year wasn’t enough time for me to learn to love you the way you need. Could I have done it in ten years? Twenty?

He wished they hadn’t met here, so hard his teeth hurt when he thought of how much he would give to be back on his first ship, before his rise, before his failures, and see River standing at port with a rucksack slung over his shoulder.

Are you the captain of this boat? I’m River. I’m on pilgrimage from a Paradise island, but I’m handy with a sword if you have work for me.

He had thought he was out of tears until a single, furious drop was lost in his lashes before it even fell.

You will never know how much you mean to me. But I betrayed you the moment we met, and forced you into my employment for reasons I admit were selfish. Finally, you will return to your little island and realize you should hate me. Oasis will be sparred, as per our agreement. And it will be the last good thing I ever do.

One of the papers runs from him when he means to sit, fluttering to the ground and drawing his eyes to unfamiliar literature. Books stacked beneath the desk and, with further snooping, beneath the bed, titles he didn’t assume River to read, he never showed much interest in history, and no names Crocodile could recall from his invoices.

Island Geography of the Grand Line, Volume 1, A-E. Civil War of Recent Memory. Artificial Rain Production: Peace and Devastation. The Great Warlords of Alabasta. His good hand skims the spines and covers, finding them dusty but legible. Quick thumbing reveals a note, a hastily torn scrap to mark his place, written in his scrawl.

“Dance powder.”

What’s this? What do you know?

His hand grips the book so tight his fingers come away from the aging leather in sunken indents.

Who made you curious?

Plenty of traitors come to mind, especially Miss Wednesday (her investigation ongoing), all made to disappear over months and years to keep his plan moving forward. None of them had been allowed to meet River if he could help it, he had been so careful to keep him safe.

Isolated.

No, safe.

Safe from who? ____ ___ __ _

“After we’re finished here, we’ll come back to the ship, and I’ll have you to port by lunch tomorrow,” Mr. 2 assured him, taking his suitcase with gentle hands.

“Thank you. It means a lot to have you take me,” River said.

“When will you be back?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted. The schedule didn’t line up, and he would have to wait in the port town until the land bridge appeared.

Will I ever come back?

The research had felt fruitless, bombarded by most of Alabasta’s history, and unable to draw parallels to their unprecedented times. The country had always been lush, yet suddenly forsaken by their Gods, doomed to die of thirst and hunger with no written record to draw wisdom or anyone to blame.

Until the dance powder.

A king with no evidence of tyranny, his only lay to opulence the palace he was born in, risking his power—his people—for rain? By a temporary solution proven to cause destruction?

River knew hunger and thirst but, even with his inherited disdain for the king, he struggled to justify the king’s rumored actions by anything other than evil.

But isn’t evil meant to be obvious? How can you hide it?

Stacks of books neglected to give answers to his questions, and no one in town had been willing to talk about such awful circumstances with the local layabout who’s meant to smile and play blackjack—not ask questions. How can they enjoy their holidays if he’s bringing up the suffering of a country they will only see for a few weeks?

Maybe it’s that simple. Kings are evil by design and no one can save Alabasta now. He looked to the sky where Oasis would be if he could see beyond the horizon.

“Those clouds don’t look too good.” He said, pointing to the storm system that skirted the sea off the edge of the island, melting almost unseen into the indigo of a stale sunset.

“They’re headed south... Maybe my island will get some rain.”

“Un, deux—huh? What did you say?”

“Nothing, Mr. 2. We need to go further inland.” He gestured to the map they were given, as bare as their instructions.

‘Enclosed is the location of a house on the western shore of the island. Retrieve any suspicious literature. If not possible to retrieve, destroy all evidence. Do not be seen.’

“What does Mr. 0 want with this?” River said.

The ballerina stopped, more grounded than River could ever recall, having assumed they meant to cheer him up with a joke as they always did. “Don’t look so worried, baby. As long as we work together.”

Regardless, River flicked open the strap on his sword holster, his instincts unwilling to let him ignore the prickling static in the air, the sweat on his spine. “Of course, Mr. 2. I’ve just been anxious lately.”

They squeezed his shoulder. “You’ve been a lot of things lately.”

The night grew darker, their clothes wetter, the longer they walked, joined only by the new moon and the silence left behind by the wildlife asleep in their holes.

“Is that it?” River motioned to a house, more of a shack, beside a pit that might have been a watering hole before the drought, now looking like it might swallow the leaning dwelling with the first stiff wind—consume it the way the drought has eaten everything except agony and rage.

“Look’s like it, Mr. i.”

“You take the front of the house, I’ll go around the back,” River said quietly.

Mr. 2 entered the house with their usual commotion, a threat to all inside that retreat was the better option, but a swift kick to the lock of the back door revealed no danger. No one at all, actually.

“OH—How awful, who even lives this way?” Mr. 2 covered their nose at the stench, the acridity of perpetual neglect. An open window lended the ammonia to unwanted animal activity, mixed with gunpowder and sweat, keeping both agents fighting to not vomit onto the rickety floorboards.

“I’m gonna be sick—” Mr. 2 ran from the house, presumably far away while River wrapped his ascot around his mouth and rooted through sandy belongings with the tip of his boot.

Literature? Evidence of what? There’s nothing here but trash and—

He spotted a clean floorboard among the dry-rotted floor. “You removed the sand when you moved it last,” he said to himself, finding the board ripped easily off it’s trick latch with a firm yank.

He gasped.

That’s a lot of guns.

In varying degrees of disrepair, the haphazard collection of weapons covered a glimpse of something else. Documents? “How many guns does one person need—”

A quiet click rang out in the dark shack, and the press of warm iron against the back of his head made him freeze.

“You Baroque Works?” Came a man’s voice.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He showed his gloved hands to be empty, but the stranger doubted he was unarmed under his coat and kept the gun pressed to his hair.

A second click, probably a knife, and River was already sizing up the stranger by the amount of sound the floorboards made under his anxious feet. “If I cut that coat off, am I going to find a tattoo that says you’re lying to me?”

“How do you know about our organization?” He listened to the attacker side step, reaching for something? He recalled rope among the trash.

“Miss Saturday made sure word traveled. Though most of us are dead now.”

“She’s dead too,” River reminded him.

“Everyone who follows Crocodile too close ends up that way. It’s just that most of them are pirates and mercenaries so no one thinks anything of it when he goes to work.”

“What is it you want? Information? I only have cash,” he jokes, and the way the gun shakes when the man yells at him makes him wonder if he can haki his skull; he’s never tried.

“SHUT UP—”

From where Mr. 2 had gone to will their stomach to stop swimming, they hear yelling coming from over the dune. “River?”

“—You’re just one of his dogs, I don’t have to keep you alive to bring him down.”

River ducks so hard his brain rattles, and the gun goes off in the wall across from his face. The stranger is armed but ultimately an amateur, he decides, performing no great feat to tackle him to the ground. His weight comes down hard on the other man’s legs and dust flies up in their faces where the floorboards protest.

”Stop moving. You’re going to hurt yourself,” River says as his swords press in an ‘X’ over the man’s throat, tight but not bloody, so long as he doesn’t move too much, a threat he hopes will stick.

”I’ll kill you,” the man grunts as he claws at River’s coat with grimy, bandaged hands.

“You said that—stop moving. Let’s talk.”

“I don’t talk to mercenary dogs like you.”

He hesitates for only a second but long enough the man sees him falter, and uses his bigger bulk to buck him off.

River huffs when he lands on his chest. “All right, no talking then—”

WACK. Metal strikes the back of his skull.

River wants to touch his head where he’s sure he’s bleeding but the blows keep coming, the stranger now pressed to his back as he grabs handfuls of his coat for leverage to beat him over and over, harder still.

”Wait, stop—” The pipe hits him again and he feels something in his cheek give, but his patience is what’s beaten to hell as he rears up to grip the stranger by his wrist, feeling the bones creak before he lets go of the pipe with a shout.

Their positions reverse with River holding him down, fingers digging into the back of his neck while he shoves his face into the sandy floor and spits the blood off his teeth.

“I don’t want to hurt you… but you don’t want to talk, you just want to beat me blind.”

“I told you, I’m going to kill you—”

“WHY?!” He presses him harder into the floor, feeling his nails bite even through the gloves.

“Because it’s you or him! Crocodile has done enough to this country, all of his dogs deserve to die!”

He can feel the stranger shaking where he grips him. Or is that me?

“What does that mean? His methods, this company is… criminal, sure, but he’s still a Warlord; he has no motive to harm this country. It’s his business, his power.”

“Every day he lives, this country is one day closer to death.”

”Don’t… don’t give me riddles. Not now.” He lets his hands fall away, but neither man moves.

“What does he have you do for him, huh?” The stranger wheezes quietly where River held him too tight.

“Make collections? Run shipments?” He coughs. “Keep guests spending money at his casino?”

River squints but the stranger doesn’t see him, his eyes are somewhere else, reliving a war River can’t say he understands. “Everything you’ve ever done in his name has contributed to my people’s suffering.”

Your people? “See, now I know you’re fooling; no one controls the weather, certainly not Crocodile.” He pushes off his knees to stand, wishing Mr. 2 would come through the door and help him onto his feet.

“The Sand-Sand man is threatened by water. His men brought the Dance Powder.”

River’s voice feels small even to his own ears. “Shut up.”

“You can’t believe the ‘Hero of Alabasta’ crap, can you? Not when you’re so close—” The fold of his brow makes River want to vomit; he’s tired of people looking at him like that.

Like he’s so naive.

“He’s framed the King—”

“Shut up—”

“He’s using you—”

“Shut up—”

“He keeps us hungry, weak. He’s evil. And you’re his dog—”

“SHUT UP!” His swords fall to the floor but his hands are hard, throwing the man away with a crash that he’s surprised doesn’t obliterate the rickety shack.

His sob hitches in his chest when he manages to breathe.

“I’M NOT A DOG!” His throat burns when he screams. “Does a dog cry when you say it’s useless?! Does a dog care if you were lying when you said you loved them—”

He stops when he receives no interruption.

The man is still where he landed among the debris, eyes almost-closed and drowsy except for the blood that runs from behind his ears and down his neck.

“No,” River chokes out, at his side in an instant to cradle his head, feeling give where there should be none. “No no no, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“Please, don’t—I—Seth, help him. Seth!” His teeth creak where they grit, tasting salt when he struggles to suck in air.

“River!” Mr. 2 steps over the mess in the doorway. They freeze, meeting frantic eyes as River leans posed over the man, blood on his cheeks where he wiped his eyes to see how horrible his world has become.

“What happened?! I heard shouting, and I ran over.” They stoop to press fingers to his neck. “River… River, let go, he’s gone.”

They peel his hand’s away one finger at a time, a large palm on his quivering jaw to force him to meet their eyes.

It wasn’t Bon Clay he saw staring back but someone harder, the person they painted over every morning in their vanity mirror. The one who years ago accepted a job for Baroque Works with delight and said “whatever it is, it’s better than here”.

“You have to breathe, River, or you’re going to hyperventilate. Please, baby, breathe. In… out. Again.”

Air stutters from his lips, eyelids screwed shut squeezing more tears down his cheeks.

“A little better? There you go, you’re going to be okay.” They smiled, and it was the cheery okama who brought him in for a hug, pressing his head tight to their shoulder.

“Will you tell me what happened?”

He opens his mouth but can’t will his aching throat to speak. How do you even say that your world has come crashing down? And you’re helpless to stop it?

“… I know you did what you could. Write up the report tomorrow: we found nothing. And I’ll see you for our next assignment, yeah? The next one will be better.”

More tears fell onto their shoulder, another flinch of a sob in his chest.

Mr. 2 disappears to bury the man properly, mournful they have no name to mark the grave (for whoever came looking for him), and River can hear them speaking over the grave as he rummages to the bottom of the compartment under the floor.

The guns had been laid across rumpled papers, some financial statements, some transcribed conversations that River had no time to study.

Is this what we’ve been sent to destroy?

Are those my letters?

He held back another wave of tears, not this, not again.

‘River! Let’s get to the boat!’ He heard Mr. 2 call from outside.

There’s no time to consider the words of a stranger (no way to ask him anything else). No time to hesitate.

“We were instructed to destroy any documents we found.” Mr. 2’s voice comes from the doorway, and River freezes where he’s dragging stacks of documents from the hole to shove in handfuls into a stained, makeshift sack.

Everything you’ve ever done in his name has contributed to my people’s suffering.

If the dead man spoke the truth, did any else know? Was River the last one to know? He decided the only way this day could get any worse would be to discover Mr. 2 was actually his enemy.

“… I can’t do that.”

Mr. 2 sighs, rubbing one eye like they also wanted to go home. “How many more secrets do you need, River? Aren’t you tired?”

“I’m exhausted. I don’t—I don’t know what any of this means, if that man was telling the truth.”

“What did he say? You must have feared for your life or you wouldn’t have…”

River feels his eyes getting hot again. “I can’t tell you—”

“But—”

“Because I’m trying to protect you. Don’t friends protect each other?”

They kneel beside him to cradle his hands in their own. “Who’s going to protect you?”

“I don’t know, but I—we can’t destroy these documents. Please trust me, we can’t—Mr. 2!” River pleads when they step away. He scrambles to gather them in his arms, maybe he could save a few, and halts when another sack landed beside him.

“It’s a trick question: I’m going to protect you.” They flash a winning, toothy grin. “Hurry hurry, baby, pack faster, we have to get back to the boat before the sun comes up.” ____ ___ __ _

On Oasis, the days weren’t usually this quiet.

800 people, even peppered across a small island in pockets of families, made enough noise to compete with the birds and the tide. Someone always needed laundry hung, or help bringing in a mouthy fish, and they relied on community more than food, more than the sky.

But not today.

Parents decided the laundry could wait, hunters held off filling their zeer pots, and children took turns looking out the window to see if the leaders had emerged.

For Claudia, she stood waiting at the edge of the land bridge (there was no market today), while Ines and her leadership decided if they were going to war.

Her aching hands rung the necklace in her fingers while she watched the horizon, the same blue pearls in River’s earrings, now cutting into her fingertips where she couldn’t let go.

20 years ago, she had yelled at him for going off to gather clams for the necklace without telling her, unmoved by the way his lip trembled. She looked down her nose at the young River while he feebly explained he just wanted to find pearls.

Her sister’s words came back to her, the ones she demanded Claudia agree to even as she fought to speak with the contractions crashing over her. After hours in the water, the other mothers were beginning to worry, and she brought Claudia close.

“Listen to me, Claudia... Be kind to him. My River.”

“You sure it’s a boy? You haven’t even met him—”

“Be kind to him. Be kind to Joel.”

Claudia nodded, barely, and the two sisters ate around the fire that night with a veil of embarrassment when Sofia laughed at how close she came to death. Joel didn’t find it as funny as she did, soothed only by the sleeping baby in his arms.

“You sure we can’t name him Joel the second?”

‘No.’ Both sister’s barked at him.

Be kind to River.

Claudia looked down at the little boy struggling not to cry, quiet hiccups in his chest, and a guilt began to constrict around her heart.

“Let’s go swimming. Would you like that? And we can look for clams tomorrow, together.”

Esai and Ines were already at the shore, and River wasted no time leaping into the waves after his friend, leaving a trail of linens that Claudia huffed as she picked up and shook one by one.

“You’re hard on him,” Ines said from beside her.

For a young woman playing mother, who had hoped never to have children of her own and, still grieving the loss of her sister and brother-in-law, she was at least self-aware to flush at being seen through. “Of course, I am. He’s wild; he needs a firm hand to raise him right.”

“He’s not wild,” Ines laughed, soft and kind. “He’s a little boy. A boy who needs love more than anything, so he can look back on this as ‘Claudia always told me to stay in the shallows because she loves me’, and not ‘Claudia never let me do anything fun’.”

She blushed even darker under the older woman’s confident grin. “Then how do you suggest I go about being more loving?”

“I never said I knew how to do it, just that you should. Every child’s different, you have to figure it out.” Ines settled down into the sand to close her eyes, her hard work finished, it seemed.

Claudia turned back to the sea with a scoff. Their two boys bobbed in the shallow water with smiles, Esai using his greater bulk to lift River from the waves and toss him, the latter landing on his belly with a cutoff shriek.

He flinched, sensing he was being watched, and turned to Claudia with slumped shoulders.

“Sorry, Claudia! I’ll be more careful!”

Be kind to River. “No, Esai, it’s fine! Actually, how far can you throw him?” She smiled, mischievous, and River pawed his soaked bangs from his eyes.

“What?!”

“Yeah, how much do you weigh anyway?!” Esai shouted back. He dove under the water to attack from below, snatching River up with a war cry to meet his warble of terror.

Ines and Claudia laughed from the shore. “That’s a start,” the former said.

“I suppose if it’s Esai, its fine,” Claudia said.

“Like I said, it’s a start.”

Easy to smile. Kind eyes. That ink-dark hair, and a smudge of birthmark on your left shoulder that I never told you matches your mother’s.

You laugh like him, he always laughed too loud and squeezed his eyes shut like his belly hurt. I can see that Sofia’s eyes are yours now, and when you’re older you might think they’re too soft on a man’s face. But it’s Joel’s face, his voice, and your mother’s stars in your eyes when you tell me about a book I don’t really understand.

It’s just the two of us now. I know I’m not the mother you wanted, but I will give everything I have, everything I am to be the mother you need. For Sofia. For Joel.

For you, River.

“The sun’s going down.”

Esai’s voice startled her from her reminiscing, her grip finally softening on the necklace that left lines on her hands. “He said today.”

“I know, Claudia. I know.” His hand hovered in the space between them, wondering if she would let him comfort her.

“Nothing on the den… den mushi? No letters?”

He wanted to tell her River was fine, but it felt wrong to tell her what might be a lie when she was already hurting. “You know how River is, he’s dumb.” That’s worse, that’s worse.

“Esai—!”

“I know, I’m sorry! Sorry, sorry. I really don’t know how to…” He scratched his neck, willing to admit to himself he was as rubbish at making people feel better as Claudia.

“The leaders have made their decision,” he said finally. “I’m taking 35 of us to Yuba to fight in the rebellion. We’ve written a letter to the resistance leader that will hopefully precede us.”

“That’s so many—Ines agreed to this?”

“If I’m going to lead us one day, I need to be willing to make any sacrifice… And I want to know what happened to River too. Maybe from the mainland I can finally give you answers.”

She let him hug her, embracing him in turn as she reached to rub the nape of his short hair.

“Ramon is going with me.”

Her back tensed against his palms. “No way Ines agreed to that. Are you sure? He’s a leader, there must be some rule against it.”

“He’s our strongest Temple user, and he volunteered. Said how can he face his children anymore if he doesn’t fight for them?”

“They’ll be the ones to suffer if he doesn’t come home.”

“He’s made up his mind, and I’ll make sure he comes home. Make sure River comes home.” ____ ___ __ _

“I’m closing up for the night,” a street food vendor called out to River as he passed. “Have you had supper? Last chance, traveler.”

He considered the time, adjusting his grip on his suitcase. “Well, you talked me into it. What do you have, sir?”

“You’ll love it.” The man piled his plate high with the last of the night’s stock, and River wondered how many Alabastans would go hungry tonight because they didn’t live in the tourist’s city.

“You coming or going?” The man nodded to River’s suitcase as he wiped his hands.

“I had planned to go, but plan’s change,” he blew on his food, still wincing when hot sauce splattered on his lip.

“I hear that. Welcome back to Rainbase.”

He paused the food on it’s way to his mouth, the hair on his neck standing up when he thought of the casino down the street, the suitcase beside his feet.

“For now.” ____ ___ __ _

“River. Shouldn’t you be across the country by now?” Miss All Sunday asked as he entered the lobby, a genuine gape of surprise on both of their faces.

Can she see my guilt on my face? That I’m more of a liability now more than ever?

“Are you all right? River?”

He backed away from the hand she extended towards him, only heightening her worry. “I’m filthy—exhausted.”

Not a lie, at least. “I need to lie down… Goodnight, Ro—Miss Manager.”

She turned to watch him go to the elevator, his head swiveling around and gripping his suitcase until she could see his knuckles through his gloves.

He never got her name wrong in front of the guests; it was always something she liked about him, his attention to her wishes.

Upstairs, he dropped his key twice before getting into the lock, and his hands froze when the hammer didn’t slide free.

Already unlocked.

I’m sure I locked it. Of all days, I locked it today, I know it.

He swallowed against the sting of his throat, his instincts hammering in his chest to run, out of Alabasta, passed Oasis, somewhere where there were no kings and the water was cool.

Someone was in his apartment.

And yet he found himself turning the knob, his heart willing his body to move when his head only wanted to go home.

A familiar tobacco cloud drifted out into the hall, and the headiness of the smell told River the intruder had also closed his window.

“Crocodile?”

He sits at the desk, ankle propped on one knee as he reads one of the books from River’s shelf. He doesn’t acknowledge the door but it’s not strange, and River feels his shoulders relax to see him acting like the past couple days were all one long, horrible dream.

But he can’t see the notes on the desk, the papers now organized after Crocodile read every single one to determine how much of his plans were running around in the fool’s brain. Turns out very little existed in the suspicious notes, nothing but his aching soul in the memos of a man he mistrusted again when there was none.

You weren’t meant to come back here. I don’t know if I can take it.

But he can’t restrain himself from seeing him. “Are you hungry? I can ring the kitchen for—”

Crocodile doesn’t finish his statement, and River doesn’t fight his stare. He lets himself be caught by the intrusive thought of black eyes in blue water, the moment you know you’ve wandered too close to a predator, and you know it sees you too.

For all the untruths River tells by saying nothing or insisting he’s fine, Crocodile couldn’t manage to make a liar out of him, and he can’t make any kind of excuse for the tears in his eyes, or the pattering drips of his heart leaking onto the floor.

Those golden eyes, warm only moments ago, are suddenly boiling—threatened—seeing the proof on his face that a fundamental truth has shifted between them.

“What happened out there, in the desert?”

River’s tongue lay immobile in his mouth, the quivering of his diaphragm keeping him breathless, lest he try to breathe and be unable to exhale.

Crocodile stands waiting for his answer, watching the dumb flap of his lips when he can’t bring himself to speak, deception by omission.

Did you ever think the light would burn, my love?

His aching soul stands before him, all his love, his pain smeared across his cheeks in hot tears, and Crocodile steels himself to remember that killing him, widening the hole in his chest with the bloody hook he tried to spare him, had always been an option.

“What will you do?”

#one piece #sir crocodile #sir crocodile one piece #sir crocodile x reader #male reader #sir crocodile x oc #oc fanfiction #ao3 fanfic #mirage in the desert #silkendandelion #x reader #x oc

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mylionheart2 · 1 month ago

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“The crown jewel for any intelligence agency is to recruit an asset inside your adversaries intelligence agency.”

#Tulsi Gabbard #RedSparrow #ActiveMeasures

Spy World Vexed by Trump Choice of Gabbard as US Intelligence Chief.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/spy-world-vexed-by-trump-choice-gabbard-us-intelligence-chief-2024-11-14/

#tulsi gabbard #donald trump #red sparrow #trump #trump russia #trump tower #russia #russian spy #russian agent #jd vance #project 2025 #the resistance #trump crime family #trump crime syndicate

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dailyweb · 2 years ago

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Hungarian Government Confirms Decision to Pull Out of Sanctions-hit IIB

The Hungarian government has confirmed media reports that it will withdraw from the International Investment Bank (IIB) after US sanctions were imposed on the Budapest-based, Russia-controlled development bank on April 12.

The decision to withdraw by the bank's second-largest shareholder implies that Hungary will refuse to take part in any attempt to rescue the IIB, which had been rumoured to be in crisis even before the imposition of sanctions. Western financial institutions such as the Belgium-based Euroclear network, which settles securities transactions, have reportedly refused to deal with it. The IIB's bonds have been downgraded to junk status by ratings agencies.

The withdrawal of Hungary ends Moscow's dream of building a European-focussed international financial institution such as the EBRD or EIB, leaving it as the last significant shareholder.

The decision also marks a humiliating defeat for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's project to attract the IIB to Budapest in 2019 and thereby forge closer financial ties with Moscow and strengthen Hungary's role as an international financial centre. Hacked documents sent to the investigative CEE media network VSquare showed how Budapest had desperately tried to lobby inside the EU for the bank not to be frozen out of European financial networks, and had schemed to hide the bank's Russian dominance by keeping Moscow's stake under 50%.

Hungarian Economic Development Minister Marton Nagy said the government had come to the conclusion that participation in the bank no longer made sense, as US sanctions have rendered the bank's operations meaningless. The government hence decided to withdraw its representative from the board, although IIB has played an important financing role in Central and Eastern Europe, Nagy told state news agency MTI on Thursday afternoon, a few hours after the news first leaked by pro-government business website Vilaggazdasag. Hungary is the last EU member state to leave IIB. The Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Romania announced their decision to quit both the IIB and the International Bank for Economic Cooperation (IBEC) following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Poland already quit the IIB in 2000. The IIB has refused to repay the equity capital invested by the exiting countries.

As of Thursday afternoon, the Hungarian government had not officially reacted to the announcement made by US Ambassador to Hungary, David Pressman to sanction IIB, along with three executives resident in Hungary, Nikolay Kosov chairman, Georgy Potapov deputy chairman and Imre Laszloczki, deputy chairman in charge of strategy and policy. The 62-year-old banker, a former ambassador to Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, is the only Hungarian national on the list.

The US diplomat, some nine months in office, told the international press at the Budapest embassy that Washington had repeatedly raised concerns concerns about how Russia could use the bank to expand its influence in the region, but that these had been ignored.

“Unlike other Nato allies previously engaged with this Russian entity,” Pressman said, “Hungary has dismissed the concerns of the United States government regarding the risks [the IIB's] continued presence poses to the alliance.”

According to the statement released by the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the IIB's presence in Budapest enables Russia to increase its intelligence presence in Europe, opens the door for the Kremlin’s malign influence activities in Central Europe and the Western Balkans, and could serve as a mechanism for corruption and illicit finance, including sanctions violations. The US has accused the bank of co-ordinating its policy with the Kremlin.

At the end of the press conference, Pressman struck a conciliatory tone, leaving the door open for talks with the government. "The United States is committed to a close and constructive relationship with Hungary, our valued Nato ally", he added.

While Orban has reluctantly approved sanctions against Russia and acknowledged Ukraine's right to territory integrity, he drew criticism from its allies for his pro-Kremlin narratives during the war and for strengthening economic ties with Moscow in the face of bloody conflict.

Budapest has done little to reduce its dependence on Russian energy imports, and just this week Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto signed new energy contracts earlier in Moscow that will cement Russian influence for decades to come.

Hungary's isolation among its regional allies, the Visegrad Four, has also deepened since the outbreak of the war and regional cooperation is now all but dead.

At the time the US ambassador was providing details of sanctions against Russian interests in Hungary, the country's foreign minister hosted his Belorussian counterpart in Budapest "to keep the channels of communication" open for peace. A day earlier in Warsaw, US Vice President Kamala Harris and Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki discussed the “importance of a shared commitment to democratic values” and the two country's strategic partnership.

Hungary, together with Turkey, is also still blocking Sweden's application to join Nato, to the frustration of its allies

“We have concerns,” Pressman said, “about the continued eagerness of Hungarian leaders to expand and deepen ties with the Russian Federation.”

The IIB was originally established in 1970 as the Comecon bank serving the then Soviet bloc’s economic area and third-world countries and was revitalised in the early 2010s under Putin.

Hungary renewed its membership in IIB in October 2014 after a decade-long absence, and four years later IIB member states unanimously voted for the proposal to relocate the bank's HQ to Budapest from Moscow.

According to the blog of a leading Hungarian geopolitical analyst, this was proposed by Orban's former chief foreign adviser, Janos Balla, a former career diplomat, born in Moscow.

The government argued that moving IIB's seat to Budapest will strengthen Hungary's role as an international financial centre and it fitted into the government's Opening to the East policy, which aimed to bolster economic ties with Russia, China and other emerging markets outside the EU.

The United States expressed reservations over the relocation from the onset. Washington successfully blocked the lender to have its HQ established alongside the US Embassy in Hungary at the landmark Freedom Square, close to the Parliament building. It also successfully pressured Hungary to reduce the number of officials at the bank with diplomatic immunity.

In an interview on Wednesday, the Hungarian government’s delegate to the board, Imre Boros raised eyebrows when commenting on the latest sanctions on IIB, saying "the US was trying to strike at Russia while attacking one of Russia's allies, Hungary". This was the first time that a leading public figure close to the government called Russia Hungary’s ally.

The 75-year-old former minister in the first Orban cabinet also said that Hungary is the number one shareholder in the bank, a claim that is not backed up by official data from IIB.

The latest data shows that Russia is currently the largest owner in the bank, holding 45.44% of the shares, followed by Hungary with 25.27%, while Cuba holds 2.83%, Mongolia 1.8% and Vietnam 1.26%.

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head-post · 7 months ago

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Ukraine ready for EU accession talks, EU diplomats say

European commissioners believe that Ukraine has fulfilled the necessary criteria for EU membership, Brussels expects Hungary to object. The enlargement of the union must be approved by all countries at an intergovernmental conference, Financial Times reports.

The European Commission intends to recommend that Ukraine’s accession negotiations begin in June, before the presidency of the Council of the European Union passes to Hungary.

On Friday, Brussels will announce that Ukraine now meets European criteria, including anti-corruption reforms, restrictions on political lobbying, asset declaration rules for officials and protection of minority languages.

The European Commission will issue a similar recommendation for Moldova to send a positive signal to both countries. Georgia will not receive Brussels’ approval against the background of the adoption of the law on foreign agents in defiance of the EU position.

Read more HERE

#world news #world politics #news #europe #european news #european union #eu politics #eu news #ukraine #ukraine war #ukraine conflict #ukraine news #ukraine russia news #ukraine russia conflict #russia ukraine war #russia ukraine conflict #russia ukraine crisis #russia ukraine today

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complaintreviews · 2 years ago

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Hungarian Government Confirms Decision to Pull Out of Sanctions-hit IIB