Title: Tough Choices

Author: Phoenix

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece. I am poor. This fic is for entertainment only.

Fandom: One Piece

Rating: PG-13 this part

Pairing: variousXZoro mentioned this part and hints in other directions

Warnings: NCS mentioned, evil happenings, betrayal, and I wrote it. Can't deal? Don't read.

Archive: WWOMB, CkoS if they want it. All others please ask.

Summary: Shanks must get Luffy to fight him if their destinies are to be fulfilled. But since Luffy refuses to fight, Shanks finds himself forced to do something awful.

Tough Choices
By Phoenix

The crew cringed as the noise from their Captain's cabin reached the deck. Shanks was beyond angry. Curse words filled the air and not even Ben dared approach the room. All this because of the young man the red haired pirate loved like a son. Or rather, the duty in conflict with his emotions.

They were hired by the World Government to make sure no one reached the end of the Grand Line. Simple, easy work. No one could stand up to their combined power. No one lasted more than a minute or two. Usually. Until just a few weeks before. Luffy and his crew finally sailed into the part of the ocean Shanks kept guard over.

Naturally the Captain issued his challenge. However, the young pirate refused to respond. When Shanks tried to force the issue, Luffy and crew ran away. Such became the status quo over the following days. No matter how Shanks and his men tried to catch the young sailors, they always got away. Without a real fight. So there was no way gage their true power.

Suddenly the noise stopped. A cry of frustrated rage sent Ben running for his lover's cabin and the crew scrambling for bandages fearing what Shanks may have done in his despair.

Ben found the Captain leaning against his bed drinking a bottle of rum surrounded by a field of debris. There were tears on his cheeks. Hearing the rest of the crew arriving, he waved them off. Whatever was eating Shanks wasn't something he'd talk about in front of everyone.

"Nice job redecorating," he mused while closing the door. Shanks just finished the bottle and threw it at him. It missed by a good three feet. "Need to talk?"

"He has to fight me."

Ben moved to sit on the bed and pulled his lover into his arms. "I know."

"I have to know if he's strong enough. If he can't beat me, the others'll eat him alive. I can't let him die, Ben."

"But he won't fight you."

"After all these years he still loves me like a father. I don't want to lose that."

"So don't."

"But what if he's not strong enough? If I can beat him, I can keep him here and train him. The crew can train his men. Make him able to survive. You've seen the rest of the Grand Line. You know what it'll do to them if they aren't ready."

Ben sighed. The Grand Line could eat a person's soul without trying. Something about it drained people of their will. A Luffy with no spirit would be a tragedy.

"So what can you do, Shanks? The kid isn't going to face you. He'll just run away until they're out of our ocean."

"And then I won't be able to save him."

Ben could feel tears striking his chest; it frightened him. Shanks wasn't a man to cry. Even when his arm was bitten off. Not one drop. Something really bad must be eating at him.

"You know how to get him to fight you, don't you?"

"He's a lot like me."

Cold ran down Ben's back. There was only one real way to make Shanks angry.

"We have to go after his crew," Ben whispered.

"Yes."

To get Luffy to fight someone he cared about had to be hurt. He struggled to find another answer, coming up empty. The young pirates could not be allowed to continue the journey unless they could prove themselves. Yet they wouldn't fight.

"There's no other way, is there?" Shanks said quietly; secretly, he'd been hoping his first mate could see another way out.

"Have you picked the one?"

"Not one of the women. We won't touch them."

Ben nodded his agreement. Besides, that Miss All Sunday was creepy. "So one of the men." But which one? Did the kid have a special attachment?

"He's close to the swordsman." A deadness had crept into Shanks' voice. Sure warning something was bothering him more than normal.

"And?"

"Luffy looks at him..." He couldn't complete the thought. If he was right, hurting Zoro was the worst thing Shanks could do.

"He's in love?"

"Maybe. I think so."

"We can chose another. The cook."

"You don't understand. We can't just beat him up."

Now the real reason behind Shanks' rage was obvious. They couldn't just hurt the young man's body. They had to break him. Only that could guarantee Luffy would come after them. Physical pain wasn't enough. What they did had to so enrage Luffy he would forget how much he cared
for Shanks and his men. Blind hate bringing out all his power and turning it against them.

"I don't think the cook can handle being...broken. So it will have to be Zoro. He could survive." Ben pulled Shanks into a tighter embrace. Hurting innocent people went against everything Shanks stood for. However, Luffy was like a son to the entire crew and letting him continue on the Grand Line without knowing how good he and his partners were was akin to committing murder. Not to mention Usopo was the son of one of the crew.

"I'll take care of it." Ben comforted.

"I can't ask you," his first mate cut him off.

"And I won't let you. Now tell me where he is."

Shanks looked shocked, but Ben knew him better than most. His fury came from knowing what had to be done and having the opportunity to do it. It was the First Mate's duty to keep the Captain out of situations like this one. His lover didn't need more on his mind than testing Luffy.
Ben would bury his own feelings for the good of those he loved. "Where are they?"

"They've stopped on Icara Island. Tomis village." Every word was dipped in reluctance.

"Get some sleep, Shanks." Ben ordered, actually putting his Captain under the sheets and tucking him in. "It'll all be over by morning."

Leaving the room, he ordered five of the crew to guard the door; anyone who let Shanks out of the room before Ben returned would answer to him. Thus promising Shanks stayed put.

He gathered ten men once on deck.

"What's up, Ben?"

"Remember that pretty green-haired swordsman?" Several nodded. The young man was damn memorable. "We going to go play with him."

"How far are we taking the game?"

"All the way."

Unlike most pirate crews, there were no cheers. No lewd comments. This was not their style. It happened only because there was no other way. Silently they moved toward the island and the unsuspecting man. Hearts heavy but necessity pushing each forward. Tonight, the young swordsman was going to learn the worst pirates could do.

end