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A knock on the front door interrupted what was shaping up to be a rather wholesome dinner for the family. The final plate in Sanji’s hands had just made contact with the table, and Cracker had just rounded the corner with Jammie and Graham thrown over each of his shoulders.
Cracker and Sanji made eye contact as if to ask the other if they had invited anyone over. Had it been a sibling of Cracker’s, they would have just welcomed themselves in. Not to mention that the knock sounded rather serious. Sanji paused for a beat before stepping over to the window and peeking outside. He froze in place when his eyes landed on their unwanted guests.
He slowly turned to look at Cracker with wide eyes. His hand waved for him to go back into the hallway where he would be obscured from the view of the front door. Cracker did as he was instructed, but only long enough to sit the children in their room. He returned quickly after and peered around the corner to watch as an argument quickly broke out.
“I don’t care who sent you - you are not taking my children from me,” Sanji’s voice was low and threatening. There was no room for discussion or compromise. His grip on the door handle was tight enough to turn his knuckles white and caused his hands to shake. “Tell that bastard that he can kick rocks. They will be no use to him. They’re failures just like me.”
“We have research that suggests that the mutated genes may be dormant in you and could have come out in them,” What Cracker assumed to be a Germa doctor explained in a cold voice. “You’d be doing them a disservice denying them their power - their purpose .”
Cracker had already begun to creep out from the hallway as the doctor plead his case and caught a glimpse at the absolute army Germa had sent their way. Hoping that he hadn’t gotten caught already, Cracker rushed to his bedroom as quietly as he could. He needed to get a snail. Something told him that this wouldn’t end well.
“Pick up , Brulee,” Cracker grumbled into the receiver as the transponder snail continued to ring. Why would she be away now - of all times?!
He felt a wave of relief wash over him as he heard the “ cah-lick ”.
“Brulee! Germa sent a damn army to get the twins. I need you to get them- “
A small explosion rang out from the living room. The intensity shook the entire house and knocked nearly everything off of the walls. His heart dropped.
“I need you to get as many people as you can - please - I don’t know how much we can do.”
His words were rushed and panicked. He threw the receiver down, not even hanging it up in the process, and ran from his room to see what had happened.
The soldiers had already begun to storm their home. Men donning Germa 66 uniforms came in multiples in search of their target. The regular soldiers were nothing. Just one biscuit warrior could take that horde down with ease. No, it was the three figures slowly approaching from behind the regular, run-of-the-mill soldiers that were a real threat. Cracker hated to admit that he would be overwhelmed with a crew as pathetic as the Vinsmoke boys, but he was incredibly underprepared and had at least fifty other men to deal with on top of them. If anyone got by, his kids' lives were at stake. There was no room for error.
Sanji had clearly been taken off guard by the explosion. He was climbing back onto his shaking legs as Cracker reached him and tried to help him up. His right arm - the one that had been holding onto the door handle - was now missing its lower half. He held it close to him and tried to gather his bearings. Despite his missing limb and several deep gashes from shrapnel, his leg was alight, and he swung on the first soldier he could.
Cracker did what he did best: he clapped frantically. Two biscuit warriors were barely able to fit in their living room, but that didn’t stop them from swinging their swords with purpose. Just to be safe, he also closed up the hallway in hopes that it would hold anyone who might have slipped through the cracks back.
Several soldiers fell. Most fell. Even the doctor was wiped out in the crossfire.
But the soldiers were nothing compared to the three figures- Wait, where did they go?
Cracker’s blood ran cold as he stared out into the empty field.
Surely they wouldn’t have snuck around back while they were distracted rather than take them head-on. Surely they wouldn’t fight dirty like that. Cracker frantically looked between Sanji and the hallway. He needed to be ready to replace the warriors should they be broken, but there was no way he was letting his children see Sanji with half of his arm missing. He would just have to take the risk and make a run for it.
The biscuits blocking the hallway disintegrated just as quickly as they had materialized. He ran down the hallway as fast as he could, but even as he gave his all he felt like he was running through molasses. He flung the bedroom door open the moment his hand made contact with the handle and was met with a hauntingly empty room. The window was open.
“ No ,” He breathed out, horrified, followed by a shout. “ No !”
Trying his best to keep his hopes up, Cracker rushed to the full body mirror sitting in the corner of their room and shook it frantically.
“Brulee!” He shouted in a panic.
To his surprise, she appeared.
Empty handed.
“Please tell me you got them,” He pleaded to the glass, but the pitiful look on her face answered his question.
Cracker sank to his knees and let out a tortured scream as despair carved a pit in his chest. His children were gone . They could fight off the soldiers all they wanted, but they had successfully been fooled. The Vinsmokes were more than likely halfway back to Germa already. Sanji was bleeding out, his siblings were too far to get there any time soon, and Cracker couldn’t fight the soldiers off and chase the Vinsmokes at the same time. If he stayed, his kids would be experimented on, but they would be kept alive. If he left, he could save his kids from horrific trauma, but Sanji would die. What was he going to do?!
“Cracker,” Brulee’s voice was oddly calm as it cut through his screaming. “Cracker, this isn’t real.”
His head shot up, and he looked up at Brulee with wide eyes. Suddenly, the mirror she stood in didn’t look quite right. The lighting in the room was off. It was almost like shadows were being cast incorrectly. Nothing quite felt… real anymore. Brulee sank into the darkness that now consumed the mirro-world with a blank look she never wore.
If it wasn’t real, then why did his body ache with such hopelessness? Why did he feel more distressed than he had ever been in his entire life? If none of this was real, then why did the reflection looking back at him have the face of a broken, suffering, evil man - a man who deserved this agony for the pain he inflicted on others? A disgusting, wretched man that tore lives away from hundreds and laughed as victory was secured. A vile man that found amusement in torture, in death -
Cracker’s arm swung back, and his fist connected with the mirror. As the glass shattered and carved lacerations into his knuckles, he found that it didn’t hurt.
-
Cracker’s eyes flew open, but he saw nothing as his room was shrouded in darkness. Panicked, he reached out towards Sanji’s side of the bed in search of him. He had completely forgotten that he fell asleep on the opposite side that night, so as he continued to pull himself closer and closer to where he believed Sanji should be laying, he ended up throwing himself off of the edge instead.
His head connected with the nightstand as he fell, and the pain confirmed that he was, in fact, awake. He hit the floor and clutched his forehead with a groan. He began to stand to look for Sanji when his voice blessed his ears.
Who knew that a simple “What the hell?” would bring him so much relief.
Sanji flicked on the candy tiffany lamp on his nightstand, casting the room in a light pink glow. Cracker stood and removed his hand from his forehead. In the low light of the room he could see the blood on his palm, and he could feel as it continued to run down his face. The injury didn’t feel severe, but it still throbbed horribly.
His face wasn’t only wet with blood, however. Tears he didn’t remember crying streaked his cheeks, and more continued to fall as he stood there nearly catatonic.
“What the hell happened?” Sanji croaked, his voice still rough with sleep. He caught sight of the injury and decided to postpone his questioning until after he was patched up. He climbed off of the bed and walked towards the bathroom. “Come on, you’re gonna get blood everywhere.”
Cracker felt like quite the child as he followed. He sat on the ground by the sink and watched with teary eyes as Sanji grabbed a rag and doused it in antiseptic before pressing it to the gash in Cracker’s forehead. Cracker, naturally, recoiled with a hiss. Sanji grabbed the top of his head and held him firmly in place.
“You’re worse than the children,” Sanji grumbled tiredly. He was clearly amused, but his voice wasn’t quite showing it.
Cracker wasn’t exactly in a lighthearted mood, so he continued to stare straight ahead without any particular emotion that could be read. He felt better to know that the horrors he had just endured were nothing more than a dream, but it still shook him. He wasn’t one to have nightmares - especially none so realistic and extreme. He almost felt like the sins of his past had crept up on him and now haunted him. Why now ?
Sanji finished cleaning up Cracker’s very minor injury and stuck an adhesive over it to keep the bleeding under control. He patted the top of his head much like he would do to their children after bandaging a scraped knee.
“I’ve done a lot of bad things, Sanji,” Cracker said hesitantly and looked up at him.
“I know. Part of the job, isn’t it?” He replied casually. He put the supplies away before turning to look at him again.
It was strange for Sanji to see Cracker so shaken. He had seen Cracker sad, vulnerable, and in pain, but fear was an emotion that Sanji had never seen from him prior.
“Nightmare was pretty bad?” Sanji asked as he leaned against the counter.
“ Very ,” Cracker responded with a nod. “It reminded me of the time I slaughtered a man in front of his home while his wife stood watching. His children were inside. I thought nothing of it at the time, but now… it’s different.”
“It sounds like someone is developing empathy,” Sanji chuckled. “Well, there isn’t anything you can do to change it now, but maybe you can do something different in the future, yeah?”
Cracker nodded solemnly. Sanji walked over to him and wrapped his arms around his head, pulling him into his chest. It was the least he could do when Cracker had held him after his own nightmares. Cracker’s arms came up to loosely wrap around his waist.
“What was this nightmare even about, anyway?”
Cracker let out a sigh.
“Germa came and took the twins. You… were dying . In front of me.”
Sanji huffed out a small laugh.
“As if they could take me down so easily. You give them too much credit,” He reached up to pet his head tenderly, trying to offer some comfort. “Besides, Germa doesn’t want my kids. They’re failures just like me.”
Where had he heard that before?
It wasn’t important.
Cracker tucked his head into Sanji’s chest and shut his eyes. The hint of Sanji’s cologne that lingered on his shirt (and that putrid cigarette smell Cracker complained about frequently) brought him a sense of comfort as he took in a deep breath. The warmth of his skin nearly made him fall asleep sitting on the bathroom floor. He had lived the majority of his life alone, and now that he had someone like Sanji he couldn’t comprehend how he had ever done it.
Perhaps it was Sanji’s fault. Since meeting him, Cracker felt … different . It was almost like his compassion - his love for people - rubbed off on Cracker bit by bit every day. Sanji slowly but surely morphed Cracker’s perspective on life and love without ever really trying. For most of his life, Cracker had only known the love of his siblings - of familial comfort. He had no time for romance, for “ true love” , or for curling around someone and learning their scent and the feeling of their skin. He only knew violence when it came to outsiders. Anyone not blessed with the Charlotte name and bloodline were not worthy of his empathy let alone his love.
Sanji wasn’t born a Charlotte. He was forced to become one, yet Cracker loved him. In the dark of night and afraid, he reached for him . He’d never reached for someone before. He was self reliant - not even his family could see him so weak and helpless, but Sanji could. He didn’t feel insulted when Sanji would tell him that everything would be alright. He didn’t feel emasculated when he was petted and held. He felt comforted . It was a strange feeling at first, but was quickly welcomed.
Cracker really hadn’t been sure if he would be able to go back to sleep after the night he had, but his eyelids grew heavier the longer he soaked up Sanji’s affection. That man had an effect on him that he could never comprehend. Maybe it was for the best that he didn’t think about it too hard and just let it happen.