Buggy sat back in his chair taking it all in. The smell of food wafting through the air, the sound of a room full of people talking amongst themselves and creating a background of unintelligible noise, being surrounded by his nakama and laughing as they tried their best to not strangle one another.

Of course, it was mostly him trying to keep Devlin from placing him and Solomon in a chokehold. That girl was relentless in her pursuit for vengeance.

It was nice…and it reminded him of his days with the Roger pirates. Wherever they went they had been sure to make a mess and throw a party while they did it. And it looked like it was up to him to instill this tradition into his crew.

Because while they did seem to enjoy their time together, it was a far cry from what his old crew was capable of. This was entire island spanning parties, mind you. No one as left out and no one was left sober.

‘No doubt Shanks is doing the same thing. That guy lived to party for days on end.’ He wryly smiled to himself. No word from Shanks since they’d said their goodbyes at Loguetown. Which was good. A call so soon meant that either Shanks somehow got in way over his head or something had happened with Rouge and the baby.

Damn it. He’d allowed his ever-present worries to take him away from the good time he was having. Luckily, Lilith seemed to be his way back.

“What did I miss?” Her voice was still a new sound to them. She rarely spoke out loud, relying instead on tugging on their clothes to grab their attention. So, when she did, they listened. “Where exactly are we?”

Devlin decided to take the role of storyteller, much to Buggy’s exasperation. As she retold the events in great detail and even greater exaggeration, he and Solomon found themselves correcting every other detail.

“So, after you collapsed on the ship we tried our best to make sure you were ok. We watered you, made sure you got plenty of sunlight, and everything.” Lilith giggled. “We managed to haul ass to, um, what was this place called again?”

“Outcast Island! Your home away from home!” He spread his arms in a dramatic fashion. And then faltered with an afterthought “Though I’m not sure if I’d get such expensive medical bills back home.”

“Anyway,” Devlin was unappreciative of Buggy’s display. “we made our way to this tiny little rock and brought you to the nearest doctor-” Buggy grumbled off to the side “A very expensive doctor…”

“Will you shut up about that already!?” Buggy raised his hands in surrender. “Anyway~” She shot a glare at Buggy, daring him to say something. “we brought you to Dr. Fels and he fixed you up. Gave you some medicine to ‘keep you under’, some sort of coma deal, and then eventually let you wake up on your own.”

She shrugged her shoulders. “There isn’t much else to tell. In hindsight, it was something we could’ve done ourselves had we had a doctor on board.” Solomon chuckled. “Please…we couldn’t have done half the things the doc did. And we might’ve killed her if we tried.”

Lilith took this in with a slight nod of the head. “But it’s all good now. Though, we should really look in to getting a doctor for the ship. We were lucky that this place was only a few days away instead of a few weeks. In any other situation that might’ve been incredibly dangerous.”

Buggy nodded his head in agreement. “I know. It’s why we’re spending the next few days on this island preparing for our journey to the North Blue.”

“Why’re we going to the North-” The waitress finally arrived with their food, momentarily stopping Devlin mid-sentence. “Thank you. So, why go to the North Blue? I would think Dr. Fels would be willing to come with us if we asked. He seems like the pirate doctor type.”

The blank look on their captain’s face said it all. “Okay. Never mind. So…North Blue?”

Replacing the blank look with a smirk and swallowing a reasonably sized bite of his sandwich, Buggy laid out the master plan. “So…there’s a country somewhere up there known as Flevance. Or to others as White City.”

“Though you guys don’t really look like you’ve heard either name. Well, anyway, the place is known for two reasons. Its world-renowned doctors, which is what we’re heading over for, and its leading export: Amber Lead.”

His three companions nodded in understanding, but he could tell it was mostly for show. They badly needed an education in the worldly affairs. An uninformed pirate crew was a vulnerable pirate crew, and Buggy would not tolerate anything of the sort while he was captain.

Solomon pushed his plate away, leaning in and keeping his voice low. “I thought you wanted to stay inside the Calm Belt and away from everything outside of it. Why the sudden change of heart.”

The others leaned in as well, though not as inconspicuously as Solomon had. Devlin in particular looked funny as she could only go so far before needing to kneel on the chair.

“In light of Lilith’s injuries, I think it’s best to take our chances and get a doctor as soon as possible. If it means coming out of hiding, and make no mistake we are in hiding, then I think it’s worth the risk. Especially if the doctor is one we can trust without exemption.”

Which is why Outcast Island was not the place to recruit loyal members. The name was what it was for a reason. It was the island that harbored what the rest of the world tossed aside and forgot about.

And Buggy knew that Solomon still wanted to return to Fishman Island. And while it was unsaid, everyone also knew that Solomon was sticking around until they brought him there. As it was, they were the only people in the world who came close to having his trust.

Which they did, much to his annoyance.

“Oh! The ship! We haven’t told her yet.” He was excited at just the thought of seeing the final product. “So…the ship was great and all, bar the cargo hold full of empty slave cages and the rooms with anti-escape locks, but it wasn’t right. Not for us, anyway.”

Lilith shivered at the mention of the cages. “I even tried giving her a name…but even after that and months of sailing her she just doesn’t feel right.”

Buggy sighed at the sight of a confused Lilith and an exasperated Solomon and Devlin. They didn’t understand what he was talking about. Didn’t understand what a ship was supposed to feel like.

“…it doesn’t feel like a home…” His reminiscent tone had their attention “When I was younger, just around the age that you look Devlin” He easily avoided a barrage of sharp utensils aimed at his face.

“I was taken in to be an apprentice on a pretty famous pirate ship,” Seeing the curious expressions he pushed on. He wasn’t up for discussing his time with the Roger Pirates. Not at the moment, anyway.

“along with another kid, Nah! Ah! Ah! Ah! That’s another story for another time. Just, listen. The ship we sailed the Grand Line on was more than just a ship. I lived on the Oro Jackson for three years. Not a long time, but long enough to know what a home feels like.”

‘The Oro Jackson…why does that name ring a bell? Oro…Jackson…’ Devlin furrowed her brows, trying and failing to remember. Pushing it aside, she figured she’d remember sooner or later.

“And this ship…it doesn’t give me that feeling. It wasn’t built to my specifications or even to my impeccable tastes” Lilith smiled as they rolled their eyes at him. “No…that ship was just to get us here. To the place where we get a new ship. One that’ll take us as far as Water 7.”

Silence. “Which~ is an island in the Grand Line known for its shipwrights. Specifically, the shipwright Tom.” More. Silence. ‘I seriously need to have that talk with these guys. Absolutely clueless.’

“So, before we turn in for the night, we should go and take everything we can carry with us. Anything else will either be put aside by the workers or sold directly to the shipwright down at the yard.”

Lilith smiled at the thought of her former prison being destroyed and replaced with what Buggy claimed to be their new home.

A ship that’s also a home? She liked that idea. She liked it a lot.

-

The rest of their afternoon was spent enjoying dish after dish of the sandwiches and other delicious foods. Of course, the good times for Buggy ended as the bill fell into his waiting hands.

What else would one expect from an island of outcasts if not an overly priced meal? Forty-one meals worth if the bill was accurate. He let out a sigh. “Why does the world want to see me poor?”

A small hand snatches the bill out of his hands. “Maybe it’s because you’re such a tight ass when it comes to money. I mean, we could easily afford to pay three times this amount.” She didn’t understand why Buggy hated spending money. They had more than she knew w.

She could get the fact that he was tense about the doctor’s prices being a bit on the high side and with the new ship they were paying for…as well as the dismantling of their old one………also the storage fees until their ship was ready in about a month………plus the twelve thousand Berries they needed to spend now and the fees for staying at that inn…

Crunching the numbers together, the entirety of their savings and then some would be gone. What they couldn’t pay out of pocket would be taken from the old ship’s furniture. Even then, it’d be more than just one or two things.

Though you’d never be able to tell what was going through her head. At least, not until her facial expressions began to closely resemble Buggy’s. Who slid out of his chair and made his way behind her.

He placed his hands on her shoulders and grinned like a madman. “Uh-huh! See!? You did the math in your head and now you know the horrible truth. The one you’ve tried to deny from the moment we set sail together.”

A loud haunting whisper had the them all snickering and giggling like idiots. “Buggy was right~ Life is expensive~ ooooOOOOooooohhh~~~”

Even the waitress from before, who was coming back to get them to leave so she could clean the table for the next customers to use, brought a hand to her mouth to stifle her laughs as she walked over.

“Sh-shut up! Y-you’re n-n-not-hehehaha!!” The laughs went on for several more minutes before they calmed down and began to stack their dishes neatly in the middle of the table.

While they did that, Buggy reached into his still oversized pack and pulled out several crisp looking bills. He never knew when he’d need to pose as someone who was not…well, him. And nothing said ‘not a dirty pirate’ more than handsome looking money that wasn’t crumpled up or dirty gold coins inside an old drawstring sack.

“Let’s get out of here. I think we’ve terrorized this place long enough with Devlin and Solomon’s appetite.” Said voracious eater planted her fist in his arm as they left. Buggy hissed in mock pain. “Ow! That almost hurt.”

She growled. “You just wait. One day it will.” That brought up an issue, one of several hundred thousand that had crossed his mind since Lilith’s incident, but also one that needed to be dealt with as soon as possible.

Devlin was, much to his chagrin and hers, the weakest member of their group despite being the First Mate. Initially, Lilith was pretty much in the same boat, but after recovering from her year of imprisonment she regained a lot of her original muscle mass.

That coupled with her recent dabbling in both Armament and Observational put her on the fast track to becoming a force to be reckoned with.

As such, Buggy had tried to teach Devlin Haki. The results of which…less than promising. So, he’d need to confront her about what they were going to do.

Given that she was someone who carried the Will of D, that doing so would cement any loyalties she had towards him, and that she was a vulnerable member of his crew, Buggy was fully prepared to give her one of his Devil Fruits.

It was a difficult decision to make. He’d have to give up one of the most sought-after items in the world in exchange for giving Devlin a power that may or may not even be a good one. There were Devil Fruits out there whose abilities were useless to some and priceless to others.

That, however, was if she chose the fruit he had no information on. If she chose the Smooth-Smooth fruit, then she’d make herself incapable of being held down or touched in anyway. Buggy was unsure if that meant all touching or just what the user allowed.

But the fact remained that it was a gamble either way. If he was honest, he’d rather have her take the gamble and maybe get a Logia or Paramecia type rather than definitely getting stuck with a mediocre power.

Of course, it was up to her…maybe…

He’d decide before talking about it with her.

It didn’t take long to make it back to their rooms at the inn, maybe ten minutes. The man behind the desk greeted them with a grunt before going back to his newspaper.

Solomon walked Lilith to her and Devlin’s room before disappearing into the one he shared with Buggy who tapped his first mate on the arm.

“Devlin, you mind taking a walk with me? There’s something I want to talk to you about.” She nodded, unsure of what Buggy wanted. All the joy and the carefree look on his face from before at the restaurant was gone; and in its place was the solemnity that she’d seen when the two had come across the cages in the cargo hold.

Actually, it was more than that. He looked serious, yes. But also…guilty? Almost dreadful… And for a reason she couldn’t quite understand, a lump formed in her stomach. A heavy, foreboding lump that had her on edge.

“Okay. Let’s go.” With that, she quietly walked out the door with Buggy on her tail.

As terribly overpriced as it was during the day, Outcast at night wasn’t half bad. In fact, it was actually quite beautiful. A fact especially apparent now that Buggy was avoiding looking at her or even in her general direction.

“So, I’m not sure how to say this Devlin…” He sighed ‘How do I tell you that you’re too weak as you are to be a part of the crew? How do I say that I could give you an instant power up at the cost of developing a weakness to the ocean itself?’

Aw, fuck it. He’d just go ahead and see what happens. “It’s been a few months since you joined, and you haven’t really…gotten stronger…like, at all.”

They had slowed their walking to a stop. “And the group of people I imagined being a part of this crew…well, they’re very far above your current self.”

A bad part of being trained by the men who trained him was that he learned to be observant of all that was around him almost unconsciously; such was the burden of using Haki. So even as Devlin stood in the corner of his vision, he could clearly see the tears building in her eyes.

Tears. Which meant she was about to cry. ‘Ah shit! Better make this quick.’ But Devlin had taken his words and allowed her imagination to interpret them as it pleased.

“No…”

“What I’m trying to say is-” He was cut off by a child sized missile burying herself into his stomach. “Please…don’t!” Too late. Devlin sobbed uncontrollably into his shirt, choking out broken sentences.

She knew it, from the moment he’d given her that look, that her time as his First Mate was over. The lump in her stomach moved up towards her chest, then her throat, and stayed there for as long as she could restrain it before it all came out.

“I-I-I-I-I’m s-s-sorry~” Each word spoken cracked with more raw emotion than the last. “I-I-I know I-I’m not s-strong enough now~ But-but-but- I’m tryiiing…I really am Buggy~!” She spoke fast, not allowing him a word in edgewise.

“I know I’m not good at Haki and I know I’m smaller and weaker than you guys…And I know that I’m nothing special! But I can be. I can be special too! So please don’t make me leave…this is all I have...All I want…”

Pirate, Merchant, Marine, it didn’t matter to her what she started out as. Not at first. Devlin just wanted the chance to be more. More than what little she really was.

It just so happened that she was destined to do so as a pirate.

Her muffled rant finished, she waited breathlessly for Buggy to say something. But he only stood there, silently holding her. Devlin took a few calming breaths before rubbing her face into his shirt to clear away the mess, Buggy would have to remember to gag about that later.

“B-*hic*Buggy?” No response. She took a chance and looked up. Her heart dropped as Buggy stared down angrily at her. Slowly he raised his arm and brought it down on her head. Not hard. Just a soft tap on the top of her head.

She flinched as he did, and again as he softly voiced his thoughts. “You. Absolute. Idiot.” What? Idiot? “Do you think so little of me? We’ve only been together for a few months…but I had hoped you would have come to realize in that time that I’m not an asshole. At the very least not the kind of asshole who would leave a friend behind because she was weak.”

He let out a huff as she quietly sniffed away her runny nose. “I didn’t bring you here to kick you out.” He reached into his jacket pocket, taking out the mystery Devil Fruit. He’d decided on giving her the best possible chance.

‘The Smooth-Smooth fruit will have to do for someone else, then.’ Devlin was quiet for a few moments. “You’re not-” Another tap on the head, harder than before.

“No, I’m not. And I never will without good reason. I told you before, Devlin…What I do, I do for the good of the crew. For the good of my Nakama. You are my nakama and you are a part of my crew.”

“And this,” He held the fruit in front of her. “is for you, Devlin. I don’t know which one it is or what effect it’ll have on you….”

An act of desperation in the face of opportunity. That’s what it was as she snatched the fruit out of his hands and prepared to take a giant bite. A bite that would at its best make her as strong as Buggy was and at its worst allow her to stay.

And it didn’t matter whether or not the powers it gave her were shitty or amazing. Whatever she got from it would be enough so long as she didn’t have to go back to Loguetown…Back to Him.

No. She would never go back. ‘Just a single bite and I’ll finally be free.’