Broken Faith

Observation 16: Sometimes temporary allies are better than friends

You lounged in the tall armchair, one leg draped over the other, eyes focused on Nico Robin.

Nico Robin sat bolt upright on her stool, poised with a deadly mix of fear and outright loathing, eyes focused on you.

No-one spoke. No-one moved. You were just two figures in an otherwise empty room.

And it had been like that for the past hour.

You had half expected this would happen. Initially the plan had been to take you straight from your hotel room to board the sea train, however the latest developments had changed that. Now you needed to spend a few additional nights in Water 7. And as you had been so called 'kidnapped', it wasn't as if you could go about freely through town. Which is why you had been taken to Kalifa's apartment. She was not at home due to the assassination attempt on 'her beloved Mayor', so it would be fit for your use.

Then Nico Robin entered the picture.

Not only did she too need a place to stay, but you had a sneaking suspicion that she was there as a security measure. Just as you were simultaneously hers. Neither of you fully trusted the other. Nor did you hold faith in the rest of CP9. And yet there was nothing either of you could do but completely rely on them.

Which made both of you excellent surveillance systems.

If one of you set a toe out of line, the other would report it. If someone made any effort to escape, the other would promptly stop them. It was a vicious cycle... and one neither of you wanted to break. You because of your agenda to destroy the entire CP9 organisation, and Nico Robin because...

You felt your eyes narrow.

That was the question, wasn't it? Why was Nico Robin allowing herself to be trapped like this. The deal she'd mentioned had concerned protecting the Straw Hat crew, which had already begun to make you wary of the whole situation, but you had no way to tell if she truly meant it or not. For all you knew, she was using Luffy's kindness to manipulate him towards a greater goal. She'd done it before in the past. But this time it just didn't make sense.

The image you had of her in your head didn't match up with her actions. And while you knew the whole situation regarding 'the demon child of Ohara' was mostly government propaganda, you really didn't want to take chances. Yet simultaneously, you were afraid that if you probed too far and she was not in fact on Luffy's side...

Everything would be ruined. CP9 would be on you in seconds.

Hence the stalemate.

...

If there had been a clock in the room, you would have been annoyed by its ticking. But without it the silence just seemed to linger that much longer. Sink that much deeper. You'd had your fair share of heavy silences before, but this was one of the worst. Especially because it had been created by your own indecisiveness.

Eventually... you decided to risk it.

"That deal you mentioned-" Your own voice now felt so loud you practically winced- "about the Straw Hats... why did you bother making it?"

Nico Robin flinched, clearly not expecting you to so much as talk let alone ask questions. "I fail to see how that is any of your business, Miss Saint."

"Oh it isn't." You cocked your head to rest on your hand. Anything to make yourself more comfortable. "But considering that we are to share each others company for the next few days, I thought that it would be mutually beneficial to understand one another."

She didn't like that. She didn't like that one little bit. Eyes narrowing into slits, she crossed one arm over the other. Intimidating, save for the way her fingers clawed into her leather sleeves. "You thought wrong," she muttered. "I owe you nothing, so expect nothing out of me."