Kara, at work at Catco, gets a text on her phone from Lena inviting her to an evening at the beach. When she shows up at the intended spot as Supergirl, Kara notices Lena is nowhere to be seen. With her super-hearing, she picks up traces on Lena’s voice and notices a tanker sailing into the distance. Fearing the worst, Kara flies after the ship and sees that it’s guarded by men in balaclavas carrying guns. She descends onto the ship and demands the goons tell her Lena’s whereabouts. A battle erupts, ending with Supergirl beating and knocking all the goons out, then she flies down into the ship’s cargo hold.
Coming up to one of the doors in the brig, Supergirl punches the door in and steps into the cell. She then sees Lena wearing a skimpy black bikini with her hands chained to the wall above her head. Lena notices Supergirl and gives her a saucy smirk, then delivers a rather risqué one-liner. How do you imagine Kara responds?
Lena watches Kara gape for a good five seconds before breaking the silence.
“As much as I’m enjoying your appreciation,” she says, allowing a smirk to curl her lips, “I’m fucking freezing.”
In her defense, Lena hadn’t expected the summer afternoon temperature to plummet so quickly when she’d chosen her attire, and she sure as hell hadn’t anticipated being stuff into the frigid hold of a cargo ship. Even so, watching her rescuer’s jaw work soundlessly for a few heartbeats more keeps any true regret at bay.
“O-Of course,” Supergirl stammers. She crosses the hold in a few powerful strides, and gives the chains a yank, snapping the bolt that tethered them to the bulkhead. In the next instant, she sweeps the cape from her shoulders and wraps it around Lena’s scantily-clad frame. It immediately envelops Lena in a pocket of warmth, easing the ache left by the shivers that had wracked her even before Lex’s goons had swarmed her on the beach.
“Thank you,” Lena hums. Her fear has fully abated in the hero’s presence, and when she steps forward, Kara hugs her close, cape and all. The moment of intimacy is out of place on a ship that could very well have enemies prowling its deck, but Lena doesn’t care. She simply sighs.
“So, maybe not the romantic sunset rendezvous on the beach wasn’t the best idea I’ve ever had.”
She feels Kara twitch in surprise. “Romantic?”
Lena nods. “Yep. Had a whole speech planned, intimate picnic, stargazing…”
“We… can still do that?” Kara breathes into a question, before clearing her throat into something more confident. “If you want.”
Lena smiles. “Another time.” The mood for such romanticism has been thoroughly ruined. But there’s still one thing Lena hoped to salvage from this disastrous night. Rising to her tiptoes, she presses a kiss to Kara’s lips.
There.
She pulls back to find Kara’s cheeks have immediately turned a vivid pink. Even so, an incredulous yet hopeful smile shines back at Lena. “Really?”
Lena chuckles, then kisses Kara again. “Take me home, darling.”
Stuff in this fic: pheromone stuff, gnc!reader but that's not too important, aliens not used to humans and especially not human affection, he totally freaks out at the slighted bit of tension between you
...
The date movie night had been going well. He rarely relaxes around you, but the movie he picked out was something without subtitles in your language so he got to explain the entire plot for you.
When you got up for a restroom break and snack refills. He finally let out a sigh of relief. You leaning against him like that.. limbs pressed together... Goddd what he would've given up to get a chance to just reach over and touch you. He bets your skin would be as nice against his as he imagined probably even better.
He quickly had to put a pin in that thought. Something for him to unpack later when you arent just in the other room. He quickly got up to go to the bathroom himself.
Meanwhile, you were pouring yourself some more soda for yourself.
You noticed a little spilled onto the counter so you went to reach for a napkin, miscalculated a bit, and got the sticky drink all over your shirt and the counter. How lovely.
Letting out an annoyed groan, you wiped up the mess you made on the counter that began dripping onto the floor. When you were done with that you had to deal with your shirt.
With that, an idea popped into your head. His uniform looks the exact same as yours, if not for it being a bit bigger. Maybe he wouldn't mind, might even think you look good in it! Maybe he'd look good in you!
You didn't wanna run all the way back to your place just for a shirt, but you certainly couldn't keep wearing the soaked one you've got on.
Anyways, you stop in his bedroom and borrow a shirt, slipping yours into his laundry.
Making your way back to the living room, you start second guessing yourself. Shit. What if he's not cool with you wearing one of his shirts? Would he be pissed?? Why are you only ever confident in theory but never in practice???
By the time you're in the room with him he just stared. Staring at his shirt. Shoot. Was he not okay with it? "I uh, spilled soda on my shirt. Kinda stole yours, is that okay?" A second or two passed before he snapped out of his shirt induced trance. Lightly clearing his throat, he spoke up "uhm. Yeah, I don't mind,,, let's just get back to the movie!"
You were just glad he didn't snap at you for it. Not that he's the type to do that, it's just that your brain made you think otherwise.
With that, you plopped back down on the couch. Cozying up to him to finish the last half of the movie.
-
You may not be able to smell what he is smelling, but you're now just utterly covered in him. You, there, in his shirt, pressed up against him, making it impossible for him to concentrate on explaining the movie. Even though he's watched it plenty of times now he knows the plot by heart.
This could've broken him honestly. Between you and everything you've been doing. It's difficult to keep from assuming it's on purpose. How can a single person just... utterly wreck him just by wearing his clothes.
He was barely hanging on. You were probably hanging on too tight. How haven't you noticed the tent growing in his pajama pants (you have BTW, just haven't mentioned it, don't wanna assume ig) ? His eyes Lazer focused on the movie, using it as a lifeline to keep him from possibly slipping up.
-
A while later, between the climax and the ending, he ever so cautiously slips his arm across the back of the couch behind you. You scoot a bit closer so your thighs press the other's.
You're driving him crazy. Unintentionally or not, he needs to do something.
Finally breaking his stare with the TV, he glances down at you. Leans in a bit. "Thanks for watching this movie with me.. I know this stuff isn't really your thing." He thanks.
"I don't mind. It's nice to see what kinda stuff you're into." You reply.
A beat of silence.
He glances down at your lips then back up at your eyes. He clears his throat again. He really wants to say something, anything, but seeing you like this; So comfortably leaning against him, and this close. He just can't think properly right now.
"You okay?" You ask
He looks away a moment. Snapping out of the little trance he was in He responds. "yeah.. I just wanted to say you can keep the shirt. Looks better on you anyways." He says, moving a bit away.
"The uh, movie. I spaced out for a minute. Sorry." He said, trying to redirect his focus again.
-
The movie finishes pretty uneventful after that, he finishes explaining the parts he failed to fill you in on and you head back to your quarters.
As soon as your gone he makes a break for his room.
Slipping out of his pj pants and boxers he lays in his bed. Being so close to someone so hot for that long could have drove him insane. It almost did.
Under the Microscope, Part 21 (Yandere Sabo x Reader
18+ MDNI | on Ao3 | the other parts
Thank you to @tryingandfailingtowrite for beta-ing and editing <3 Lots of love for @kiberrymatcha
I never explained my reasons for how Sabo got out of the handcuffs in chapter 3 and it's been bugging me so I'm explaining here rather than retconning.
Your POV
It was such a shame. You were going to have to kill Sabo just when you’d finally hooked up together and shared a wonderful night. But it needed to be done, and he would deserve it too. No one would blame you for your actions. No court of law would convict you. You felt this needed to be done for three very understandable reasons.
The first reason was that Sabo didn’t wake you up when he left your room in the morning.
Instead, you woke up with a start, grabbing your clock off the table and cursing when you saw the time. You hadn’t overslept since your first formal reprimand in the Marines, but you and Sabo had been up so late kissing that you hadn’t heard the alarm go off. You cursed again as you stubbed your toe on the bed in your rush to get ready and out the door. Why didn’t he wake you? You had interviews in the morning and you didn’t want to give the wrong impression. You weren’t sure if anyone was even interested, and you wanted to present yourself as professionally as possible. You had about ten minutes before the interviews began, and that included time to get dressed and get to the lab. Fuck.
You threw on some of the new clothes you’d gotten from Koala the previous day. Thankfully this was only your second outfit, so you had plenty of clean clothes. Your eyes slid over your dirty skirt and shirt that Sabo had thoughtfully folded and placed on a chair. If he’d only given you the same consideration and woken you up, maybe you wouldn’t be so annoyed right now. You tucked your shirt into your clean skirt, looked down at your outfit, and nodded.
Good enough.
You ripped open the door, planning on running to the lab as fast as you could. You bumped into yet another thing -
“Good mor-”
“FUCK!” you screamed, your hand on your heart. An unknown woman was standing outside your door, someone you didn’t recognize from your tour through the buildings.
“Who are you?” you snapped, already weaving around the woman. You did note she had a robotic arm in a lovely shade of pink as you scurried down the hallway towards the door.
“I’m Ahiru. Sabo asked me to help you this morning,” she explained, her long legs letting easily keeping pace with your hurried steps.
“Of course he did. Thank you, but I know where the lab is,” you said with a roll of your eyes. You didn’t need help. You needed another alarm clock, a cup of coffee, and a chocolate croissant. Ahiru made a small mechanical noise as she lifted her arm to hand you a thermos you hadn’t seen before.
“For you,” Ahiru said, handing you the thermos. Ok, that was helpful and thoughtful. You slowed for a moment to consider her as her arm returned to its normal position, a whirring sound from her mouth accompanying the movements.
“Are you manually mimicking hydraulic noises?” you asked, giving her arm a once over. Ahiru didn’t answer, but the light flush that spread across her face told you everything. You sipped at the coffee and nearly moaned. It was almost perfect, only needing a touch more sugar. You took a breath to calibrate yourself as you left the dorm building and looked for the lab.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to embarrass you. What I meant to say was thank you for the coffee. I’m just noting that your arm isn’t hydraulic. I can adjust it to make noise, if that’s something you’d want,” you offered to try and smooth things over. It wasn’t Ahiru’s fault that Sabo was being annoying.
“Mmh. Maybe, it probably wouldn’t be good for missions,” Ahiru replied, her eyes downcast. You hummed in response.
“We can probably figure out a happy medium,” you mused before taking another sip of your coffee. “Maybe a setting you can change to make noise or be silent depending on the circumstances.”
Your eyes darted around as you attempted to pinpoint some kind of familiar landmark. Where was the lab again? You remembered the inside of the building, but someone had always been with you to bring you to the actual building. Looking around, all the buildings were frustratingly similar. Which one…?
“This way,” Ahiru said, making a noise to point towards a nondescript building. You bit your lip as you started walking at a fast clip towards the building. Maybe Sabo was right about this one thing. It didn’t mean that you forgave him for starting your morning the wrong way. You’d make yourself a map later and use that to get around. Ahiru led you along the path, handing you your keys as you entered the building.
You stopped in your tracks as you passed by a glass window of a different building. Your face heated all the way to your ears.
The second reason you needed to kill Sabo was for what he did to your chest and neck.
Looking over yourself in the window, you couldn’t find a part of you that Sabo hadn’t marked. Your neck was littered with red and purple hickies that led in a trail down to your decolletage. It was very clear what you had been up to the previous night, your actions on display for the entire base to see. Obviously, you knew that hickeys and love bites were a consequence of hookups – you’d seen them on plenty of Marines after they spent a night off base – but in the moment you hadn’t thought to tell Sabo to be more gentle. Your stomach flipped as you remembered just how you got the marks, but it did little to quell your ire.
You looked like an unprofessional slag, not like someone a scientist would want to work under. Strike two against Sabo.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” you whispered at Ahiru, using your hands to try to cover your neck. She shrugged, completely unfazed by your embarrassment.
“ ‘S not my business,” she said simply, looking you over. Your face heated once more, probably matching the shade of your hickies.
“Can I borrow your scarf? I don’t wanna- I need to cover all this,” you begged, eyeing the thin red sash around her neck. Ahiru frowned but made a quiet sound as she reached to pull it over her head.
“Careful with it. My girlfriend gave it to me as a gift. Don’t lose it,” she said, placing the scarf in your hands.
“How sweet! Who’s your girlfriend?” you asked as you wound it around your neck. You wouldn’t lose it, that was for sure. You wouldn’t be taking the scarf off at all, and it would be on your person the whole day.
“Koala,” Ahiru answered, her eyes soft. You smiled, patting her robotic hand with your own.
“Oh, right. I’m sorry, I forgot. Koala mentioned you yesterday, it just slipped my mind. The scarf won’t leave my neck,” you said, reassuring the cyborg. You tucked the ends into the collar of your shirt, trying to cover as much skin as you could before resuming the walk to your lab.
Unfortunately, it seemed like there was some kind of event in the lab today, because the halls were too crowded to easily pass through. People were waiting for something, standing shoulder to shoulder as they shuffled towards your lab. You huffed – you were already late for your interviews and this wasn’t helping you get anywhere faster. It seemed like practically half the RA was in the hallways of the lab for some reason. You leaned back to avoid being elbowed in the face by some tall man, stumbling back into Ahiru.
“That’s it,” she grumbled before carefully sidling in front of you.
“Move aside maggots,” Ahiru yelled, flinging aside various people in lab coats. Your eyes widened at the sudden aggression. She didn’t need to be so rough, but it proved helpful as everyone parted, allowing you to pass through. As people saw you, they pointed and whispered, which only made you flush more. Of course they were talking about your hickeys, you thought as your face heated once more. You hunched forward a little, uncomfortable with the amount of attention you were attracting. After finally making it into the lab, Ahiru pushed open the door and let you in.
“Are they all here for the interviews?” you asked, the scarf around your neck suddenly tight. You thought you’d get maybe two to three applicants but by the looks of it, you’d be interviewing until dusk. You sighed, this was going to be a challenge for you. You would have to talk to that many people and make countless decisions about which applicants were good enough. Your eye was aching and you hadn’t even started yet.
“Yep. Everyone wants to join your lab! Fun, isn’t it?” Ahiru asked with a smile. She had just flung several applicants against the brick walls, but apparently was happy once more. Looking out the window in the door, you groaned. You already wished you could revoke the offer and just work by yourself again and not have to deal with this process.
In the lab, someone had set up three chairs, two behind one of the lab tables and another on the other side. You quickly walked over and sat down in one of the two chairs, setting your coffee on the table in front of you. Now, where was your lab coat and notebook? Hadn’t you left them here or were they-
“OK, bye, Sunny!” Ahiru called from the door.
“Wait, you’re not staying? There’s space for you!” you called from your seat. If Ahiru was leaving, who was the other chair for? And really, where did you put your lab coat?
“No, I have to go. But I can send in the first scientist if you’d like,” Ahiru offered, looking out the door.
“Uh, sure. Sure,” you said, a little flustered already. But you didn’t want to keep people waiting past the time Sabo had stated the previous day.
You didn’t have to wonder who the other chair was for as a familiar face came in, carrying another cup of coffee, your freshly pressed lab coat over his arm, and a large, chocolate-filled croissant.
Sabo, the source of all your current troubles.
You closed your eyes and took a deep breath as he walked over to you, handed you the coffee, and set your lab coat over the back of your chair. You did take the coffee even though you were annoyed – it wasn’t like the coffee had done anything to you.
“Good morning Sunny!” he chirped, giving you a kiss on the cheek before handing you the still warm croissant and sitting down. You knew – and he knew – all the applicants waiting in the hall could see his actions through the glass half window in the door of the lab. They all saw him kissing you and scooting his chair close enough so that his thigh touched your own. You set the coffee and croissant down on the table in front of you.
“I figured you finished your first coffee by now and took the liberty of having your coat cleaned. And look! They had your favorite pastry this morning," Sabo said, his undaunted enthusiasm almost blinding as he beamed at you. You rubbed your temples – this was going to be a long day.
“Why didn’t you wake me up,” you asked, taking a sip from the second coffee.
“You looked so angelic sleeping, I couldn’t bear to wake you. I had a few meetings already this morning, I barely made it here in time,” Sabo replied, leaning in for another kiss. You scowled and pushed him away by the face, in no mood for his foolishness. Sabo only laughed and smiled at you.
“And why do I look like I’ve been mauled by a Sea King?” you hissed, moving your scarf away momentarily to show him your neck. Sabo’s eyes lit up at the sight of the bruises, his hand reaching for you once again before you smacked it away. Sabo wasn’t abashed in the slightest. If anything, he seemed proud of himself.
“I may have been a little overzealous last night,” he said, placing his hand on your thigh. You glared at him even though you didn’t dislodge his hand. It had been a great night together, but that didn’t mean the whole world had to know about it.
“Fine. Let’s just get on with the interviews,” you griped, pulling on the (now cleaner) lab coat. Sabo leaned back in his chair, his fingers now stroking your leg over your skirt.
You reached to rub your eye, but were intercepted by Sabo who threaded his fingers through your own. You pulled your hand away, determined to appear one hundred percent professional.
It was going to be a long day.
Sabo POV
He really hadn’t meant for your morning to be rushed. Sabo had meetings beginning at 7 AM and needed to be gone from your room far before you were. It didn’t matter how late the two of you had stayed up the previous night, Sabo felt more energized than he could remember. Just seeing the hickies on your neck was making him hard, and left him wantingto give you more. He didn’t have to kiss you in front of all the scientists or trail his fingers on your legs, but he was plenty happy to do so.
Just the sight of you had replaced his annoyed mood with a much happier one. Sabo had come from Dragon’s office, where his dad was being so fucking irritating it had taken everything in him not to burn the building to the ground.
“There’s news,” Dragon said, taking a sip of his morning espresso. His face was impassive, but there were several missives on the table in front of him. Sabo said nothing but leaned forward, curious which country was about to revolt. Your killing of Akainu had caused many ripples in the world, and they were busier than they had been in Sabo’s memory. Unfortunately, that meant that Sabo would have to go on missions soon, but he would enjoy your company while he could.
“I heard you had a fun night,” his father continued, his wide smile making his face tattoo stretch across his face. Sabo audibly growled, his hand reflexively reaching for his pipe. Dragon laughed. Sabo shouldn’t have been surprised at how quickly information moved, given that it was their lifeblood. It was different when it was his private information being shared and especially when it came to you.
“We’re not talking about this,” Sabo bit out, crossing his legs with flourish. Dragon’s smile only grew but he acquiesced in dropping the subject.
“Fine. But I hear everything. I’ll know what you’re up to, you dirty dog-”
“OH MY GOD! SHUT UP-” Sabo’s face flushed despite his years of training. He was fairly sure he could hold his composure in front of Imu themselves, but hearing your dad teasing you for finally getting with your dream girl was simply too much.
Dragon laughed again heartily before picking up one of the papers on his desk and handing it to Sabo. It featured Ace and Marco wearing Wanese-style kimonos. Ace was eating some kind of meat on a stick and talking with his mouth full. Marco was laughing at whatever he was saying, his arm slung around the younger man.
“She isn’t the only one making waves.”
-
After learning some actual information about potential revolutions and not just being sent to hell via dad jokes, Sabo was finally able to leave Dragon’s office. He had back-to-back meetings all day but he’d cancelled the majority to help you out with your interviews. It wasn’t just that he knew everyone and could help pick the best lab assistants for you. Sabo also had a secondary reason for wanting to attend.
Everyone needed to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you were his.
You didn’t see how people were drawn to you, how everyone wanted to be in your circle. The other scientists gravitated to you, and everyone wanted your attention for themselves. You didn’t notice in the slightest.
But Sabo did.
Everyone needed to know that if they hurt you or got too close to you, he’d crush every single bone in their bodies without breaking a sweat. He didn’t care if it was Vegapunk himself, he’d slaughter anyone who caused you harm.
And he’d been doing a great job thus far. Sabo had stared down every single applicant as you spoke to them. Some were weirded out or uncomfortable, and Sabo wrote them off immediately. Others were able to ignore his death glare as they began engaging with you, answering your rather interesting interview questions. Sabo had never been to an interview for a scientist position, but he guessed the questions you were asking weren’t standard in the Marines or anywhere else.
Instead of asking what experience people had or what projects they were working on, you were asking off the wall questions that unnerved some just as much as Sabo’s stare. After accepting their written applications, you would hand them off to Sabo without even glancing at them. Instead of the usual questions, you asked things like what the applicants wanted to be when they were kids, what kind of island climates they preferred, their favorite kind of insect, what they thought about astrology, and their biggest unsolved mystery. Sabo was sure you had some kind of method to your questioning, but he couldn’t determine what it was. After each interview, you asked Sabo to put people’s written applications in one of two piles – accepted or rejected.
You didn’t seem to care about years of experience or what people had done in their previous position – there was some kind of criteria you were searching for that wasn’t quantifiable as far as Sabo could tell. It didn’t even seem to matter what the answers to the questions were – people had answered the same things, and you’d put one application into accepted and the other into denied.
For someone who was so uncertain about most choices, you knew who you did and didn’t want to work for you. You had just swiftly rejected the lab’s secondary scientist without a second thought after sending the man out the door with a smile. He had been Toni’s chief assistant, and Sabo thought you would for sure want his expertise, but you’d asked Sabo to reject him as soon as he could no longer hear you. The door opened, but you were jotting down a few notes in your notebook, your gaze focused on your writing.
“Last interview before a break,” Sabo said, gently squeezing your elbow. You hummed and finally closed your notebook.
Looking up, you gasped. Sabo instinctively drew closer to you, even though he knew the person in front of you was no threat. You looked your former colleague up and down, your foot jiggling rapidly against the floor
“Mark? Is it- it’s you right?” you asked, leaning forward in your seat. Sabo wasn’t surprised to see Mark, he had left Bayonette once Sabo destroyed their base. The RA claimed Sabo had kidnapped the scientist and forced him to work for the RA. It wasn’t true, but this way Mark could continue to work without arousing suspicion.
“Yeah, hi Mag-”
“She doesn’t go by that name anymore,” Sabo interjected. He had been silent thus far during all the interviews, but he felt it important that you didn’t go back to the nickname from before he’d met you. You gulped but didn’t correct Sabo.
“I- how are you- why are you here?” you asked, pinching your thumbnail between your fingers.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you before, I’ve always been a Revolutionary mole. My research wasn’t really in various uses for crab secretions,” the older scientist said, plopping down in the chair. He crossed his leg before continuing to explain, “I mean it was, I did make those meds. But I was also covertly assigned to several projects – monitoring your progress through the Marines, integrating some faulty design plans, but mostly reverse engineering medications.”
Sabo nodded, Sabo himself had specifically chosen Mark for those very projects. He had been the one who alerted the RA about your work on the Will of D.
“Reverse engineering medications? Like what?” you asked, your nose wrinkling. “The Marines don’t put a lot of money into pharmaceuticals. There’s nothing particularly interesting they are working on. Sorry,” you said with a wince, realizing you’d insulted his research. Mark hummed, scratching his neck.
“I’m working on antibiotics, mostly.”
“What?! Why antibiotics? Everyone has those already-”
“No, they don’t. The Marines have antibiotics, and the islands they protect do too. But everyone else who can’t afford the heavenly tribute doesn’t have access-”
“That can’t be right. I got– Sabo, you had some, right?” you asked, addressing him directly. Sabo adjusted his hat and reached for your hand.
“No, Mark is correct. We only have what we steal from the Marines. The RA does give out what we can to islands under our own protection, but we don’t have that much. We would do more but we don’t know how to manufacture the drugs ourselves,” he lamented, now reaching to play with the ends of Ahiru’s scarf. You slapped his hand away, but Sabo simply put it on your knee.
“But it’s such a simple– and it saves so many lives- why wouldn’t…” you trailed off, bringing your nail to your mouth to bite. Sabo let you ruminate for a few moments longer – anything to weaken your relationship to the Marines was beneficial to them. Along with ribbing him earlier, Dragon had made it clear you were a key RA asset. You couldn’t leave them. Sabo just had to make sure you never wanted to.
Your POV
The third reason you were really going to kill Sabo was for how he acted during the interviews you held that morning.
It wasn’t enough that he touched you incessantly – draping his arm over your shoulders, touching your arm with his fingers, or rubbing your knee. All of that was annoying on its own. No, the real reason was the way he stared down every single applicant like he was personally going to crush their skulls with his bare hands. You actually wanted people to join your lab, not be thrown off by the murderous aura of the second in command.
Despite Sabo riding on your last nerve, the interviews had actually been better than you anticipated. You found a small pool of people who you thought would work well with you. You didn’t really care about what they did or where they worked before – you needed people who could work on a collaborative team, who didn’t have egos, and who had a genuine interest in intellectual pursuits. It didn’t really matter to you what they were interested in, just the intensity of their interest.
You’d been confident in your choices, already passing on several people you wouldn’t want to sit next to in the mess hall, much less working under you. Some of their vibes had been off, too competitive or mean, and you didn’t want them working for or with you. You’d been feeling pretty good…until you saw Mark.
You didn’t hold Mark’s betrayal against him. He was doing a job, and frankly his benzo had been very efficient. Actually, it was rather pleasant to see someone you already knew and didn’t have to introduce yourself to. But what Mark was telling you (and Sabo corroborated) was unbearable. How could the Marines withhold such a critical drug from millions of people? Not every island was wealthy enough to pay the tribute but surely that didn’t mean they deserved a death sentence for something as small as an infected tooth? You worried your lip between your teeth - how could they do this? It was so immoral, so wrong, how could a force dedicated to saving people act like this? You began talking again, rubbing your fingers against your forehead with your eyes closed.
“I don’t- I mean, we can- we can reverse engineer it,” you said, already thinking about the work that would need to be done. You had been working on a class of cholesterol-lowering drugs but that would have to wait until antibiotics were available to everyone in the world.
“Sabo, I’ll- I can work on it. But on one condition,” you said to a solemn looking Sabo. He held your hand gently in his as he looked you in the eye. “We have to make them available to anyone who wants them. Any production facility can have the plans for manufacture,” you stated, completely sincere. Sabo nodded.
“That seems reasonable. But you don’t need to stop your current research-”
“I do, this is more important,” you protested, taking your hand out of his to rub your shoulder. A dull ache had settled back over you as the stress of the situation hit you in full. There was no direct need, no one you currently knew who needed it, but this felt like Project Seraphim all over again. All these lives depended on you and how fast you can work, how fast you can undo something evil from the Marines.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” you asked, looking into his blue eye. Sabo gave you a sad smile.
“I thought you knew,” he said forlornly, placing his own hand on your shoulder. You didn’t remove him, letting Sabo massage your muscles as you began to think through the process you’d need to follow to figure out how to make the medications. First, you’d obviously need a sample of the drugs, but it seemed like the RA had some in stock. You opened your notebook and tried to scribble down a few ideas, your pen moving faster and faster as you thought about the drug class and the action of the medication and - what the fuck was that word? Experience? Excitedness? Excoriation? Ex-something. It was on the tip of your tongue, what was it?
“Ah, Sunny, Mark is still here,” Sabo said with a squeeze to your shoulder. Oh. Right. You flicked your eyes up from the paper.
“Hi,” Mark said with a wave, his crow’s feet deepening as he smiled again.
“Sorry,” you said with a grimace, shutting your notebook.
“‘S alright, I remember what you were like on base. I’d like to help you if I can,” Mark replied, handing his resume to Sabo. “My experience is really more in espionage than biology, but given my Zoan form-”
“Excuse me?” you asked with a tilt of your head. “Zoan form?” Mark didn’t have a Devil Fruit as far as you knew, you would have seen him on the roster for guard duty. You probably would have talked to him about it too, given that you had a pleasant professional relationship on the island.
“Yeah. I’m a Zoan crab. ‘S where I got the Blue Line secretions from mostly,” Mark replied with a shrug. “I had to keep leaking and replacing faulty handcuff and shackle designs into the Marines, which left me little time to actually find the crabs.”
“Wait, then how come you didn’t have to take shifts watching the prisoners?!” you yelled indignantly, crossing your arms.
“I didn’t tell them I was a Devil Fruit user-”
“THEN HOW DID YOU PASS THE SWIM TEST,” you yelled, throwing your hands in the air. Mark shrugged.
“I said I didn’t know how to swim.” Your mouth hung open – it was that easy?! You rolled your eyes and huffed. But then your thoughts moved to his Zoan crab form…
“So can you regenerate limbs?” you asked with a tilt of your head. Mark nodded, his salt and pepper bangs bobbing up and down.
“Yeah, that’s part of why I was chosen to test the handcuff designs. It still hurts to cut off my hand but once it’s off, I can just regrow it,” Mark said, pushing up his sleeve to reveal a nasty, long scar over his wrist.
“Why are you working on handcuff designs? The Marines have handcuffs, I know that much,” you replied tersely. But your mind soon drifted to thinking about his eye stalks and Mark’s ability to see given that he was wearing glasses. And if you cut off his eyes, would his skin change color in his human form? You wouldn’t actually do it, of course. But he did say they’d grow back…
“Yes, but I designed ones that break if you press strongly enough on specific weak points in the metal. They look identical to the original Marine design. I’ve been strategically replacing them at bases with high-profile RA members in captivity, like Sabo. I’ve also been replacing the manufacturing blueprints so our operatives can get out if needed. Bayonette was a great base for me to do all that, but well….you know what happened,” he said, running a hand through his hair. You kind of remembered Sabo saying it was destroyed in passing but nothing specific.
“Well, I’m glad to see you made it out ok,” you said, not really listening anymore. You had wondered a few times how Sabo had broken out of the cuffs when others with higher bounties didn’t seem able to. But you’d chalked it up to Sabo being himself and things just working out for him. But what you really wanted to know was about Mark’s x-organ and if you could study it, what color crab he was, and especially his molting cycle. Maybe you’d…
“Ok, come back when the lab’s open. You’re hired,” you said with a firm nod. Mark was the first person you had given a definitive answer to, but you felt certain in your choice. You already knew you could work with him and you wanted to see the hemocyanin in his blue crab blood.
“Thank you Ma- er, Sunny,” Mark said, reaching forward with an outstretched hand. Sabo stopped its advance with his pipe.
“You’re welcome. We’re done here,” Sabo said in a clipped tone, twirling his pipe. Mark gulped and quickly gave another nod and got up to leave.
“Sabo, stop,” you hissed as Mark made his way to the door. “I have more interviews to conduct and you aren’t helping.” You groaned and sank back in your chair – you were tired, irritable and wished you had a little more coffee.
“No, we’re done for now,” Sabo said, standing up to stretch as the door shut behind the Zoan. “We’re gonna get coffee, train, eat lunch, then you’re gonna take a nap,” Sabo announced, ticking the list off his fingers as he walked back over to you.
“I don’t have time for all of heeey!-” The words coming out of your mouth changed to a shriek as Sabo picked you up and slung you over his shoulder. He gave your ass a firm pat before marching towards the door. You pounded on his back, not wanting someone’s first impression of you to be your rump.
“Interviews are over for now,” Sabo called out to the scientists still assembled outside. They didn’t bat an eye, quickly dissipating at Sabo’s behest.
“Sabo! Put me down!” you complained, kicking your feet. Sabo set you down, though you knew it wasn’t on account of your squirming.
“Sorry,” he said with a self-satisfied smile, adjusting his hat. He grabbed the lapel of your lab coat and started to remove it for you.
“No, you’re not,” you huffed even as you allowed him to take the coat from your shoulders.
“Sabo, I need you to take me seriously. All this makes me look weak in front of the other scientists, like I can’t do things on my own. And it’s embarrassing,” you said as Sabo intercepted your hand to prevent you from rubbing your eye. It was all too much – the antibiotics, Mark, the scientists in the hall…
“I do take you seriously,” Sabo said, cupping your chin to tilt your head upward. “Everyone here does. I respect you immensely, and you leave me and everyone else in awe daily. That’s the problem – I get too jealous. I want to show you off as mine,” Sabo said plainly. You blinked, you weren’t expecting him to be so forthcoming about his feelings. You didn’t know he felt that strongly about you, but it made sense given that he’d marked you like a dog marking its territory.
“I– wh- well, don’t. At least not in public. You need to control yourself,” you said, trying to pull your face out of his hand.
“I’ll try,” Sabo replied, running his finger over the scar on the left side of your face.
Sabo POV
He was not going to try.
Sabo had no intention of giving you more space or giving anyone else the opportunity of getting closer to you. He was going to have to leave on a mission soon. He needed to be sure that your status as the RA’s premier scientist and his girlfriend were perfectly clear in everyone’s minds.
“Do you have the energy to train before lunch? I thought we could train then I’ll bring food to your room, letting you nap right after,” he said, guiding you towards the mess hall. You still didn’t know your way around the RA headquarters, but Sabo had a plan for that too. He’d enact it once you had your lab going and were a little less stressed. Until then, he’d just ask Koala, Ahiru, and Karasu to guide you around when he wasn’t available.
Sabo felt a little guilty for asking Mark to bait you into working on the antibiotics. He could have just told you directly, but Sabo thought it would be better if you thought it was your idea. It wasn’t even Sabo’s idea. Dragon wanted the RA to be able to provide true benefits to islands that were on the precipice of revolution, showing the allure of additional resources and life saving medications. Dragon hadn’t wanted Sabo to ask directly because he had just promised you he wouldn’t be interfering with your research. It was convoluted, but ultimately had worked out just the way Dragon wanted.
The news had stressed you just as he thought it would, your mouth in a thin line as you already began biting at your lips. Your thoughts were elsewhere as he held your hand on the way to the mess hall, tacitly guiding you there. A far-off look had settled across your face as he brought you to the coffee station and refilled your cup. You jolted as Sabo handed you the coffee cup on your left side, your attention far from the situation at hand. You grimaced as the taste hit your tongue and grabbed the sugar canister.
“Sabo, can you teach me to be more aware of my left side? During training today?” you asked, dumping more sugar inside.
“We can start. I’m not sure if you’re going to be able to use haki, but we can work on getting you to be able to recognize when things are coming into your blind spot,” Sabo agreed easily. Looking around the mess hall, Sabo saw people staring at the two of you. He casually placed his hand on your waist as he started taking you to the training room.
“I don’t know that I’m getting any better even with all your help,” you said with a sigh.
“You are. There’s no doubt in my mind that you’re improving. Besides, I have a new incentive plan for you to get better at dodging,” he said, gripping your waist a little tighter as you passed by two low-ranking RA members on the sidewalk.
“What’s that?” you asked, your eyes narrowing suspiciously.
“If I pin you, I’m going to kiss you,” he said with a bright smile.
“No, Sabo,” you said with exasperation, stopping in your tracks.
“Yes. It will help you learn to avoid capture,” he continued, propelling you forward.
“B-but there are other people in the training rooms. They’re g-gonna see,” you sputtered as he held the door to the training facility open and walked inside. True, there were a few people exercising on the mats, but not that many. Caging you against the wall with his arms, Sabo leaned in and whispered into your ear.
