In the desert, the only God is a well.

~Vera Nazarian; Dreams of the Compass Rose

"I have to thank you again for coming Vice Admiral, I have to admit, I was unsure if the Marines would be offering us aid." King Cobra Nefeltari admitted, putting down his glass of wine and meeting the calculating eyes of the Vice Admiral. He couldn't help but be taken aback when he looked at her, the girl couldn't be that much older than his own daughter, yet her eyes told a different tale.

"Alabasta is one of the twenty founding countries, the Marines would not sit idly by when it was in need of aid. Helping keep order is our mission." Lucy replied diplomatically, raising her own cup to her lips and taking a sip. She rarely drank alcoholic beverages, but it would have been rude to refuse the King's offer. Rin, who was seated to her right, took a long swig of their own beverage and Lucy resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"How many men have you brought?" Chaka, one of the two head guards and possessor of the Dog-Dog Fruit: Model Jackal, inquired.

"Five hundred." Lucy answered before continuing. "But let's hope it doesn't escalate to that point."

"I agree with the Vice Admiral." King Cobra sighed. "The last thing I want is for my citizens' blood to be shed. The lack of rain has been hard on everybody, I share in my people's frustration."

Lucy only knew the man in front of her from reports, and most of the time words on a paper hardly did someone justice. She had read how caring and compassionate the king was, it was reassuring it turned out to be true. Being a Marine meant she had to follow orders, she was required to help him no matter what kind of man he turned out to be as long as he wasn't breaking the law. Sadly, there was no law against being a scumbag so she had to bite her tongue and soldiered on more times than she would have liked to.

"There was something else I wished to discuss with you." Lucy admitted, treading lightly. "Crocodile seems to have taken up residence in your country, correct?"

She knew the answer, but it was the easiest way to breach the subject.

"Ah yes." Cobra sighed. "Sir Crocodile has become somewhat of a hero. He's always there when my people need him. I could never repay him."

Lucy folded her hands in contemplation. She wasn't surprised by what she heard. Of course, Crocodile had himself shown in the best light. He was a hero, he was trusted, even Cobra had respect for him. She couldn't openly oppose him without repercussion from those who see him as a savior.

"I'm happy to know he's doing such an honorable thing." Lucy replied, keeping a neutral expression on her face, but noticing Pell -the other head guard and possessor of the Bird-Bird Fruit: Model Falcon- keeping an eye on her. "However, a government ordained pirate is still a pirate and I will have to visit him myself."

A lie, but she needed a reason to investigate the man.

"I understand." Cobra nodded. "So, what do you propose?"

"I will go alone and leave Rin here to act in my stead." Lucy felt Rin tense and knew her friend was poised to argue, so she gave them a swift kick. "I shouldn't be more than two or three days, and should a situation arise Rin is more than capable of leading the crew."

"Are you sure about travelling by yourself?" Cobra asked, concern lacing his features. "I'm sure you're more than capable of taking care of yourself, but you are a stranger to Alabasta and the terrain is not forgiving."

"With all due respect, I work better alone Your Majesty. I will not be making the journey on foot, so any persons accompanying me would only hinder me." There were two reasons Lucy needed to go alone, the first being the reason she gave the king, the second being that Crocodile was a dangerous man whom she needed to tread carefully against. Should she bring someone along and things get messy, she didn't need another casualty to worry about.

"When do you plan to set out then?" He asked, deciding not to argue with Lucy.

"I'll depart when the sun sets."

…

"Are you serious Lucy?!" Rin huffed angrily, the two of them in the privacy of Lucy's temporary room. The woman in question was sprawled out on the bed in an uncommonly relaxed manner, relishing in the softness of the bed, in the lack of movement that accompanied being on solid ground. Though she had gotten used to the constant rocking that being at sea brought, she appreciated the stillness.

"I'm very serious Rin." She replied, eyes shut.

"Crocodile is dangerous. I know how strong you are but this is his terrain, this geography is where he's at his strongest." They informed and Lucy sighed before sitting up.

"Why can't you just trust me?"

"I do trust you, with my life, but you try and do everything alone. Let me help you." Her friend stressed, eyes pleading with her to change her mind.

"You will be helping me, by staying here and mobilizing the crew should it come to it. There's no one else I could trust with that task Rin, you know that." She said. "I'm not visiting Crocodile to instigate a fight, I'm simply going to collect as much information about his plans here as I can. He wouldn't dare attack me outright. Cobra, King of Alabasta, knows I'm going visit him, if something happened to me the Government would jump at the chance to remove that despicable man from power."

"You are impossible." Rin groaned, flopping down on the bed in defeat.

Lucy didn't respond, opting to lay back down in silence. The pair stayed like that until the sun began to set.

"That's my cue." She said, leaving the comfort of the bed and stretching, a yawn escaping.

"You could at least rest for a day." Rin suggested.

"No time, we don't know when the rebels will attack or when Crocodile will execute his own plans. I'll sleep when the whole mess is over." Lucy promised, grabbing her discarded white coat and slipping it on, the familiar weight of the heavy garment a constant reminder of who she was.

"Good luck out there." They called as she strapped her naginata across her back. It was rare of her to carry a physical weapon, but she wasn't taking any chances.

"You too." She replied before slipping out the door. Lucy wasn't surprised to see Pell waiting for her at the front gate.

"You lied to His Majesty about your reasoning for visiting Crocodile." He said in place of a greeting.

"You are correct." There was no use lying to the man.

"You do not trust him. You believe he has something to do with whatever is happening."

"I would bet my life on it."

"I'm coming with you, I have no need to make the journey on foot."

Lucy sighed. She had been expecting this. From what she had gathered of the man standing in front of her his loyalty to the royal family was unyielding and he was completely selfless. He would do anything to protect them.

"I don't plan on engaging Crocodile, I'm merely going to collect intel." She stressed.

"Okay."

Lucy sighed again. "Don't slow me down."

"I won't." He said, already in his full falcon form. She shrugged her shoulders and grabbed her naginata from her back, spinning it upright and holding it firmly in her right hand. Pell tensed and Lucy couldn't help but smirk. She tapped it once on the ground and the blade retracted while fan-like wings sprouted from the sides, effectively transforming the weapon into a glider like object.

"Let's go." She said, grabbing onto the handles on the front -larger- wings as a gust of wind blew past them, catching onto the glider and sending Lucy soaring ahead.

…

The desert was hot and that was an understatement, but it was the first word that sprung to Lucy's mind as the unforgiving sun beat down on her and her feathered friend. They rarely stopped for breaks, both wanting to get there as fast as possible and both too stubborn to admit they might need one as they were both prideful. Lucy and Pell didn't talk, both were quiet people by nature and found no need to fill the silence with unnecessary conversation.

"We should be arriving soon." Pell stated simply and Lucy merely nodded in acknowledgement. That was the extent of their interactions.

Taking a deep breath, Lucy willed a small breeze to circulate around herself for a moment before sending it to her companion. She only did it when the heat became unbearable, wanting to conserve her energy should her meeting with Crocodile turn sour.

However, there was another reason she was pushing herself to get to Rainbase, another reason she was conserving her energy.

Luffy.

She knew he was in Alabasta. She had known the minute they docked and she knew he was already in Rainbase.

Lucy also knew if Luffy figured out how Crocodile was tied to the dissent in Alabasta, he wouldn't hesitate to try and take on the Shichibukai by himself. While Lucy knew her brother was no pushover, he hadn't been in the Grand Line long. He met Mihawk, yes, he had seen the strength that was out there, but her brother had a stunning lack of self-preservation, something they seemed to share.

Crocodile was in his element in Alabasta and her brother was the definition of bullheaded.

"Something is weighing heavy on your mind." Pell observed, eyes focused straight ahead.

"You are correct." Was all Lucy said in response.

"It's not good to go into a fight with a clouded mind." She felt a twinge of irritation at the man's words. What right did he have to give her advice on battles?

"I'm aware of that Pell, thank you." Lucy replied calmer than she felt. She took a deep breath, reminding herself not to get worked it. It was the heat. The wings on her glider gave her some relief, shading her from the harsh sun but it was still suffocating.

After what seemed like an eternity, the city finally came into view and, stretching out of Observation Haki, sensed someone she hadn't been expecting.

"Excuse me Pell." Lucy said, diving into the city and landing in front of Smoker.

"Vice Admiral." He greeted curtly, nodding once.

"Smoker, I wasn't aware you would be here." She admitted. He wasn't here on a mission from headquarters, that was certain. But what would he be doing in Alabasta? Lucy couldn't remember the last time he left his post in Loguetown.

"I had some business to take care of." He stated, not elaborating. Strange.

"Have you seen Crocodile by any chance, I'm here to talk to him."

"Crocodile has gone rogue, tried to kill me and the Strawhats." Smoker grumbled and Lucy nodded.

"Well, that's certainly not surprising. I'll need you to give me a briefing of what exactly went down." Lucy commanded.

And so he told her everything; about how he planned on making Smoker's death "accidental", how he was the leader of Baroque Works, how he used the Rain Powder, how he fueled the growing dissent, how he planned to destroy Alabasta, how the rebel and royal armies were going to clash at any minute.

"I've called for reinforcements." Smoker finished, taking a long drag of his cigars. Lucy nodded, then had a startling thought. Pell. He would have gone straight to Vivi.

Stretching out her Observation Haki, she felt his startling weak presence coming from her feathered friend and took off without a word to Smoker.

"Pell." She gasped, finding the man beaten and broken, alone atop a building. Pell was not a pushover, he was a captain of the guard, she had heard about his prowess. To be so thoroughly defeated. The person was no joke.

"Vivi." He managed to joke out as Lucy kneeled beside him. "Save her. Please."

Before she could reply, he was unconscious.

"Shit."

Lucy didn't curse often, but when she did it was because things were going horribly wrong and her current situation could certainly be defined as horribly wrong.

In a flurry of activity, Lucy dropped Pell off with Smoker, giving the man clear instructions to make sure the head guard survived and disappeared. Luffy was on the move, and so was Crocodile.

Lucy saw the sandstorm at the same moment she doubled over in pain.

Luffy.

The scene she came across made her blood run cold.

There he was. Luffy. Her twin. Her other half. Her little brother by two hours. Held up only by Crocodiles hook, which he was impaled upon.

She saw red.

"Luffy!" She shrieked, switching her glider back to its weapon form midair and diving towards Crocodile.

The Shichibukai threw her brother like a ragdoll and moved to block her blade with his hook. However, she dropped low and swiped at his legs, managing to slice one of his legs before he had enough sense to jump away.

"You imbed your weapon with Armament, smart." He commented lazily. "Nice to finally meet you Vice Admiral Monkey D. Lucy."

"I can't say the same for you." She snapped, striking at him and managing to slash at his torso. He was getting angry. That was good.

"I've had it with you Monkeys'." He growled angrily and Lucy struck again. However, instead of striking him, when she was close enough, she put her hand in front of his mouth, formed a fist, and pulled hard.

Crocodile sunk to his knees immediately.

"I like it better when you can't talk." Lucy smirked as the man gasped for air.

"Lu?" A weak voice called and her attention immediately went to her brother whom was slowly sinking into quicksand. Crocodile took advantage of her distraction and disappeared into a whirlwind of sand.

"I'm here Lu." Lucy said, dropping to her knees next to her bloodied brother and pulling him out of the quicksand.

"Can I hug you know?" He asked and she felt tears come to her eyes and she wrapped her arms around his limp form and held him tight to her chest.

"You're gonna be okay Lu. I promise." Lucy whispered and she didn't have to look at her brother to know he was smiling.

"Okay." And he was unconscious.

"Why does he fight? Why do you fight?" A feminine voice asked from behind you. It was the same person she had sensed the day she arrived in Alabasta. "You, who have the name of "D"?"

"We both have dreams we wish to make realities, though I must admit my brother tends to fight for more noble causes than myself." Lucy replied, turning and meeting the calculating eyes of Nico Robin.

She knew who the woman was, of course she did. Ever marine knew the "Devil Child".

"I answered your question, so now answer mine." Lucy started, strapping her naginata across of back and throwing Luffy over her shoulder. "Why did you ally yourself with Crocodile? What could you possibly gain by working for him?"

"That was two questions." Robin pointed out.

"As I recall, you also asked me two questions." Lucy shot back and saw the corners of Robin's mouth lift, if only slightly.

"I guess I too have a dream I wish to make a reality, and Crocodile might be able to help me achieve it."

"I'll see you in Alubarna then?" The vice admiral asked, Luffy's blood seeping into her white coat.

"That you will." Robin replied and she was gone.

A/N: It's 4am and I'm so sleepy but here ya go. I love you all, sorry about any grammar/spelling mistakes.

thanzintay.2000: thank you so much!

baronnis: hope the lil lucy/croc mini battle lived up to your expectations!

UchakoAro: ask and you shall receive, hope you liked it!