#luca vs yamamotto

[luca-moreno]

(before asteria)

He doesn’t know why his feet take him where they do, but somehow he ends up in the bowels of the ship, hovering in the hallway outside the brig and eying Zeus and Ajax warily.

“Are you back for seconds, kid?” Zeus growls it, but there’s no heat. If anything, he almost sounds a little concerned. Luca looks past him, past Ajax and into the cell.

“Did you hurt him?”

Ajax and Zeus exchange a glance. “Not yet.”

Luca steps inside and the movement makes the man in the cell snap to attention. 

“Fuck all of you,” Yamamotto snarls it from behind the barrier. He huddles in the corner of the cell with dried blood streaked down his chin and hatred in his eyes. Luca wonders if he shouldn’t be cleaned up by now and says as much to Zeus.

The big man shrugs. “Doc tried. He refused. So fuck him.”

“Oh,” Luca says it deflated. “Um. So, can I talk to him?’

There’s a moment of charged silence. Ajax and Zeus swap another silent glance that says too much for Luca to guess at. None of it probably good though.

“Does the commander know you’re here?” Zeus eventually rumbles. “The captain?”

“No,” Luca says it stubbornly. He still hasn’t taken his eyes off Yamamotto but now they shift to the golden pair studying him so intently. “Do they know you’re here? Both of you? Are you gonna rough him up?”

Another silent exchange between the two men tells Luca everything. He flexes his fingers restlessly and glances down at the bandage covering his wrist. It still hurts but Kate promised him he would be good to pilot the shuttle to Asteria before too long. “I just need a few minutes to talk to him.”

“Not leaving you in here with him,” Ajax says. He uncurls himself from the wall and moves to stand directly in front of Luca. He’s not as big as Zeus but his aura fills the room so much its stifling. Luca swallow hard but he doesn’t budge.

“I still wanna talk to him.”

“Go back to Hurricane, kid,” Zeus shakes his head. His tone is almost… gentle. Which is weird. “Leave it alone.”

Luca sets his jaw. “No. Because he was wrong. And I want him to know that.”

Ajax snickers. “Oh, he knows. He knows that now. Good kick, by the way.”

There’s no flush of pride of that. Luca eyes the two phoenix and the closed path to Yamamoto ahead of him and decides he’s not going to let them stop him. What are they going to do? Aside from physically pick him up and carry him back to his room (which, granted, they might so Luca will just have to take his chances), they won’t hurt him. He knows this in his bones.

So he pushes past both of them and comes to a stop in front of the buzzing barrier. On the other side, Yamamotto glares at him, nothing but fury in his eyes.

“I’m sorry about your friend,” Luca says after a moment, when the silence stretches too long. He can sense Ajax and Zeus at his back and ignores them. “For whatever that’s worth.”

“Nothing,” Yamamotto spits. “It’s worth fucking nothing. That was my only family I had left and now-”

Yamamotto bites it off. His chest heaves, like he’s trying to hold back all his grief and fury and resentment from falling to the floor at his feet. Luca thinks about his brother, not by blood, but in everything else. He hasn’t heard from Kiosho in over two years. He hopes he’s safe, alive somewhere, worries every night that he’s not. He can’t even fathom the pain if he was confirmed dead. He doesn’t want to imagine it but Yamamotto was living it.

“Hinata was my friend,” Luca starts but he doesn’t get far before Yamamotto snarls and lunges at the barrier.

“Fuck. Off.”

Luca flinches but doesnt step back. He takes a second to rally himself and stubbornly sets his jaw. He hunches down, taking a seat on the floor where he sits crossed legged and props his chin up in his hand as he stares at the other man through the flowy barrier.

“No, I think I’m going to stay here for a bit. Maybe you need a friend.”

Yamamotto’s growl is savage as he stalks around the small cell. He ignores Luca and addresses the phoenix behind him. “Get this fucking prick away from me!”

Luca doesn’t bother to look back at the men behind him but he hears the tremor of what might be humor in Ajax’s voice, despite his tone oozing with boredom. “Nah, I don’t think we will.”

“Fucking…” Yamamotto hisses more curse words through his teeth, and enough insults flung Luca’s way to make him almost wince. But Luca forces a swallow, forces his heart to slow it’s rapid thumping with quiet, steady breaths. Eva would be proud of him, he thinks. Hopes.

He keeps his voice measured but it’s hard. “You’re not the first person to say those things to me, you know,” Luca continues. “The whole op was a mess. I lost almost everyone on my team. That was really hard-“

“I don’t want to hear your fucking boohoo story. I don’t want anything from you, except to see you floating in space without a suit on!”

Luca’s eyes narrow. “Your dick seemed to want something else when you shoved me against the wall.”

There’s a small, choked sound from behind him that Luca ignores. Yamamotto’s face goes bright red and his jaw works soundlessly and his eyes bulge.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” Luca continues quietly. “The punches might have been enough but... That crossed the line. They’re gonna throw the book at you for it”

“Yeah,” Yamamotto sneers it. “You’d like that wouldn’t you, asshole.”

Luca runs his gaze over the other man. He’s a mess, still bloody, still snotty, still angry and hurting. Ben was right though. Luca didn’t deserve it. He was just the target of all Yamamotto’s sadness.

Luca sighs, suddenly tired.

“He was my friend,” Luca says again as he climbs to his feet and turns to leave. He’s little worn out from all the emotion. “But he didn’t die because of me.”

Luca glances up at Zeus as he passes. There’s a guarded look to his face as he shakes his head and says in a low voice, “You’re something else, kid.”

Luca glances behind him, through the barrier to where Yamamotto huddles against the wall on the furthest side of the cell.  

“Ben said… Ben said I was easier for him to attack than a whole war.” Luca shrugs. “I think he was right.”

“Sounds like something scoots would say,” Ajax’s lips stretch, almost into a smile.

“He’s smart, huh,” Luca nods. He’s glad he’s made a friend in Ben. Ajax raises a golden brow. There’s another silent look between him and Zeus Luca doesn’t even bother trying to decipher. His phoenix connected hive mind theory seems to be gathering strength though.

“He’s a lot of things.”

“Anyway, I think I’m gonna go find him and say thanks.” Luca casts a sly glance at Zeus. “I know where you keep the pudding cups.”