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Escape

Smoker. That was his name. He was a grouchy, easily annoyed, obsessed Marine that wouldn't let anyone rest until he had gotten what he wanted. Monkey D Luffy. That runt of a pirate who had managed to elude him and then defeat one of the strongest crime lords in the Grand line.

How had that little bastard escaped him so easily!? And the pure gall of him, telling his first mate to save Smoker's life. That had been just plain embarrassing. And then… Smoker had let him go. How weak could you get?! Luffy had disappeared with a parting remark, holding his hat to his head as the Marine captain swung his Jitte. Now, Smoker was finding himself following the damn kid around.

Like some kind of lost puppy. And it was pissing him off to no end. For some reason, he found an undeniable fascination in the boy. Like… a lion that has smelled meat for the first time and is following it to try and eat it, but find out what it is before doing so. Yes… that was it.

He was following Luffy to try and find out what the boy was. But… Smoker's brain niggled at him, telling him that he already knew what the boy was. A nuisance… a pest. A little whinging, whining, brat of a Captain with delusions of becoming the Pirate King. Well, Smoker wasn't going to let that happen.

"Sir!" a voice called and Smoker looked up from the wanted pictures of the D brothers. Tashigi burst into the room, stumbling only once as she moved over to his desk.

"What is it now?" Smoker growled lowly as he rolled the cigars around in his mouth with his tongue. Tashigi grinned at him, her eyes made even larger by the glasses she was wearing.

"Straw hat's ship has been spotted sir." she replied, a note of triumph creeping into her voice. Smoker blinked and then stood, pulling on his gloves and grabbing his Jitte before following his second up to the deck.

As Smoker reached the deck, where various men were rushing around, trying to get looks at the strange pirate ship before them, he noticed one thing. Monkey D was staring at him from the figurehead, his grin visible even from this distance. And then that green head, Roronoa Zoro was beside him, leaning on the railing and watching the Marine's ship interestedly.

"Can we fire on them?" a private asked as he appeared at Smoker's side. The Captain turned and glared at the boy, his eyes harsh.

"Does it look like we would even be able to hit them from this distance?" he asked slowly. The private quivered under Smoker's glare, a sheen of sweat forming on his upper lip as he shook his head frantically. Smoker turned back to the Straw Hat pirate ship, and noticed another thing.

Luffy… was waving at him. His arms were held in the air, waving around and around. Zoro had also raised a hand, but, his wave was a little more rude than Luffy's, and it required only one finger. Just try and guess which one. Pretty obvious. Smoker frowned angrily as he bit into his cigars.

"I think they're mocking you sir." Tashigi muttered.

"Of course they are." Smoker snapped in return before looking up at the top of the mast and gauging the distance. Not that far. He would be able to simple smoke up, and go up there without having to worry about falling short. And so he did.

He was standing in the crow's nest before anyone had known what had happened. Their ship was gaining on… what had Straw hat called it? The... Merry, was it? Yes, that was it. The Going Merry. Soon, Smoker would be able to simple jump from his ship, smoke through the air and land easily on the deck of the Merry.

"Che, what a stupid name for a ship." Smoker muttered to himself as he stared at it. One hand had unconsciously reached up to grab the handle of his Jitte, while the other was twitching at his side. He longed to fight straw hat again… and now, that Dragon guy wouldn't be here to help him. There was no meddling Crocodile to interfere. No brothers to appear out of the blue. Nothing at all. It was just him… and straw hat. That idea seemed to please him… a lot.

"Sir!" Tashigi called up and Smoker pulled his eyes away from the picture of Luffy, who was now making faces at him. The boy was pulling his nose out in front of him like that marksman kid, and then he was thrashing his tongue around in the air as he pulled down the bottom eyelid of his right eye. It was all very… gruesome actually.

"What is it Tashigi?" Smoker asked, a little more tolerant. He was feeling a little more patient than earlier on, because he had finally caught up to Straw hat, and was going to have the opportunity to collect a particularly meaningful bounty.

"Sir, the cannons are in range. We can fire now… at your will." She replied, her back straightened resolutely. Smoker raised an eyebrow.

"No." he replied, "I don't want you to fire at all. In fact, have all the men on the cannons, stand down." and he turned back to the ship and Monkey D. The pirate hunter had long since wandered off, leaving Luffy alone on the figure head. The boy was now just watching, having become bored with making faces, and waving at someone who wasn't going to respond.

"Sir!" Tashigi called again and Smoker growled, poking his head out of the nest to glare down at his second.

"What. Is. It!" he grit out from between angrily clenched teeth. Tashigi almost quailed under his harsh snarl, but, she kept her cool… until she screamed.

"SIR!" and all Smoker knew, was that a moment after Tashigi had screamed that, he was hit by a low flying ball of something all rather, that knocked him backwards into the wall of the crow's nest. Smoker heard his head hit the wood with a loud clunk, and suddenly he saw stars. They were dancing in front of his eyes crazily, kind of like fairies or something.

"Hee, sorry." a familiar voice said and Smoker's head quickly snapped up and he had to blink twice before he realised who it was that was straddling his hips. For some reason, Smoker felt himself almost blushing as Luffy grinned down at him.

"Straw hat…" Smoker growled in a low… and deadly voice. Luffy tilted his head.

"Shoulda looked sooner. Wouldn't have hit you then, would I? So… it's your fault, not mine." and the boy crossed his arms. Smoker blinked and then went a darker shade of red, this time, the heat under his collar was having nothing to do with the fact that a boy he had thought about constantly, was now sitting on his lap.

"What the hell are you doing here!?" Smoker hissed, trying to pry Luffy's legs from his hips, but, it just wasn't working. The boy stayed stuck… tight. Luffy shrugged, not paying any attention to Smoker's attempts at freeing himself.

"Well, I kinda thought that it would be fun if we played together. I mean… I know you're a Marine and stuff… but, I'm a Captain… and you're a Captain. Doesn't that make things a little more easier now?"

"Get the hell off me you little runt!" Smoker growled. Luffy pouted.

"Naww, I wanna play but!"

"I don't want to!" Smoker said as he tried to reach the Jitte on his back, but, he couldn't move. Luffy leaned forward, placing both hands beside Smoker's head on the floor and then grinning into the older man's face.

"Aww, I can see right through ya! I know you want to play!" and Luffy giggled. Smoker blinked. Was Luffy… flirting?! What the hell!? Did that no brained, brat of a kid even know what flirting was, let alone how to do it?

All the same, it brought a large red tinge to Smoker's cheeks. Luffy grinned down at him and Smoker felt his heart thudding in his chest. But, hang on, he was smoke. What the hell was he doing, pinned underneath a rubber boy!? Instantly smoking up, he leaped away from the boy to stand nearby. Luffy blinked and tilted his head before grinning.

"See? I knew you wanted to play!" and the boy jumped up. Smoker frowned.

"I am not playing! You are under arrest you little brat!" and Smoker's arms extended into smoke. Luffy grinned.

"Aha! I knew you would do that! But, I have a counter… thingy." and Luffy twirled his arms together, and then held them straight, twisted from the elbows up to his shoulders. He then let the twist go, his arms spinning like a pinwheel and blowing Smoker's arms away from him.

Smoker blinked and looked up at Luffy with a frown. He hadn't expected that. He didn't expect those same rubber arms to snake forward and grab his shoulders either. Next thing he knew, he was feeling soft lips upon his own. It was strange… and unique. The lips were soft, but stretchy. Rubbery, but sweet. Luffy pulled back, grinned at him.

"Game's over! I win!" and then Luffy turned, grabbed onto the railing around the crow's nest, pulled himself back and then flung himself back to his own ship. Smoker stood in a daze.

"Sir! Are you alright sir!?" Tashigi called as she finally reached the lookout. Smoker turned and blinked at her before frowning.

"I'm fine!" he growled, "Get down there and turn our ship away from that brat of a pirate's. Who knows what he'll do." and he turned back to the Going Merry. Luffy was once again sitting on the figure head. The boy grinned at him, waved and then jumped down and disappeared down the stairs, onto the main deck and then into what must have been the galley. Smoker smiled slightly.

"Until next time, runt. And next time, I'll win the game." he muttered before leaning against the rail and watching the Merry slowly drift out of view.

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