This might have been the longest week in Marco's entire life.

Once you'd told him about your work and related relationship issues, he was on high alert. With Izou already knowing, he just made sure to put the rest of his brothers on the same alert. Marco knew more about Charlotte Linlin than most, none of it gave him a sense of peace.

Pops had already moved away from his underworld life when he adopted Marco. There were pieces and parts of the burgeoning business that were sprung up from that life, slowly detangled from it as Marco grew up, but Pops didn't leave his kids in the dark about any of it. With the exception of those adopted in the last five years or so, everyone son and daughter knew their father's legacy.

One generation wasn't enough to separate the risks from the family and it was better for all his children to be both aware, and educated on how to deal with things. Thus, when there were legit business conferences and not so legitimate business conferences, Pops brought his sons along.

Family business trips, of a kind. In reality it wasn't just so his kids would know all the players, it was also so everyone in the old life understood his kids weren't to be trifled with.

From these Marco had met Linlin and some of her children. He'd also known Gol Roger in a different light as well, and ended up going to the same business academy as his protégés. Both had become part of his poor extracurricular decisions, but in the end he would consider both more friend than foe.

One thing Marco knew for certain was that Charlotte Linlin was insane. Not in the way someone might declare skydiving insane, because who in their right mind would leap bodily from a perfectly functional airplane. But in a far darker, and more literal sense of the word.

And the old girl was in denial.

Being Pops' kid was like being protected by a wide back and a strong arm. That arm might toss you into the deep end of the pool unexpectedly, but he'll talk you through the process of swimming, and he'll pull you out if you start to drown. The idea was that you'd learn, and survive the lesson. Pops managed to walk the line well, especially for having so many kids, and for having had no parents of his own.

Linlin, by comparison, would drag her children below the water and eat the ones that drowned.

Literally.

Because of that, her children were more like stressed out prison guards, constantly on alert to divert whatever disaster might be surfacing next. It made some of them strong, but even the strong ones were broken in some way, and the weak broken ones were in as much denial as their mother.

Marco had to give them credit though. It was a family effort, but they had built a successful multi-island business that was legitimate enough to be publicly known, all with Linlin at the helm. No one outside the family, except for a few people like Pops and Roger, had an inkling of what she was like, so carefully cultivated was her public persona.

Her children were her pride, more than the company at the very least, even if they maybe didn't rank above their mother in the end. The fact that you had called off the engagement, and not Perospero, made you enemy number one, and Marco only wished Makino's lips had been a little looser so he would've known a little sooner, but it was what it was. No one died, but it was a matter of luck, and that scared him.

Just knowing what Linlin could do scared him so much he almost pushed the idea of dating onto you a little too hard. The idea that he never would've been able to confess if things had gone differently ate at him.

Fortunately for him, his family was every bit as big as Linlin's, if not bigger. Most of his brothers were married, or getting there, and while some had dispersed to different parts of the world, with the holidays, most everyone was here. Which meant everyone was on the lookout.

The pinky incident had nearly given him a heart attack. Luck had been on your side, and he was grateful for that. At the start of the week he still wasn't sure who took the shot, but it wasn't his primary concern even now.

The shot in his lot on Monday was more of a concern, but by then him and his brothers had already tightened their own net. He'd moved enough to take the hit, using his tail feathers to knock you off balance, so he could shift easier. The shot was far enough away you, and everyone else nearby, thought it was your fall that made the loud popping sound, and that suited him just fine.

Two birds with one stone.

The guy who came into the store had caught Marco's attention and he slammed him up against the shelves, putting the man's own knife to his throat. He didn't want to fight inside his store, and once Marco started to give him an out, the guy took it. Their short conversation had been enough, and at least he wasn't going to have to worry about Kaku, or his friends, continuing to be a problem.

But according to the blonde, they weren't the only ones going for this.

Linlin must've put quite the bounty on your head, considering. Kaku wasn't going to tell him everything, but he gave up enough to keep his life, as far as Marco was concerned.

It wasn't that he didn't think you couldn't handle knowing, but he wanted you to enjoy your holidays for one, and even more than that he wanted to resolve it without you knowing. This was a part of life you didn't need to be aware of. You didn't need that kind of fear, or knowledge. Something as fantastical as organized crime should stay in the realm of shows and movies for you.

But he also didn't like keeping things from you.

By the end of the week, however, he'd dealt with another six attempts at the shop alone. Izou and Thatch found the pinky-shooter, and Haruta caught someone outside the boys' school.

After that, even Teach was out doing patrols from his car.

Sphinx was, in effect, the safest town in the world right now, so long as you weren't a hired killer. Which was good for a town whose only sheriff was off on some hunt for his missing son. Not that Garp was going to be exactly subtle, and that was Marco's preference. The old man was uncannily good at his job, but he had all the grace of a newborn giraffe with a bomb.

The problem would be fixed, but the town could also be leveled in the process.

Frustratingly, taking care of all the issues meant he'd barely had time to sleep. Never mind getting to spend extra time with you. It was great that you'd offered to help at the store, but he didn't even really get to enjoy that either. Considering everything else it was not much of a complaint, but it had been the stuff he was looking forward to.

By Friday, at least, the message had gotten out that Sphinx was not the town to try and pull any kind of work in. Marco never asked any of his brothers to what extent they dealt with those they found, as for himself he only had to let most of them attack him to get them to decide to quit.

It was difficult to deal with a man who healed instantly. Especially an angry one who was just as capable of fighting as they were and 100% less susceptible to damage. In a world where maybe only a couple dozen devil fruits still existed, the younger ones couldn't even process what they were seeing.

The decline of the fruits meant there were very few people who knew how to deal with them as well. Less devil fruits also meant less people investing in haki. Sure, it had uses beyond fighting logia types, but for most people, a brawl was a brawl, there was no reason to escalate it.

All of these converging factors meant that while Marco wasn't truly immortal, he was alarmingly close to being indestructible. If he was driven by ambitions like some other people he knew, then he could probably turn the world on its head.

But he didn't want to be known as the Mythological Phoenix. He didn't even really care if people knew he was one of Edward Newgate's children, since that alone was enough to garner him some level of respect by his father's name alone.

He just wanted to live a nice quiet life.

It didn't matter if it was here in Sphinx, or in the city. He could care less if it was some other island, or even the Fishmen kingdom deep below the waves.

As long as you were there with him, he'd live on the moon with the rabbits if that's what you wanted.

You came out into the back of the store, after having used Marco's office to take a call, and he looks over and gives you an easy smile.

"Everything alright, little warrior?"

"Yeah... I think so." You admit, confusion scrawled on your face. "My boss is coming into town. They just landed and are taxiing to the gate. He should be here in an hour or so."

"Here?" Marco questions, pointing to the ground.

"Yeah, I told him I was helping you out and he said he'd just come here." You explain a little sheepishly. "I don't know why he's here, he wouldn't say over the phone."

"Alright, well... uh..." Marco's not sure what to say. "You're welcome to use the office, it's all cinder-block and no one's going to be able to overhear. Do you want me to be there, or be scarce?"

"Thanks, and... be there, I think. I'm nervous. Kata's never acted like this before, and given our last conversation I'm just worried."

"Worried about what?" He prompts.

You look down and your face flushes, but it's not the kind of embarrassment Marco causes in you. This is a discomfort of a different kind.

"This is going to sound nuts." You mutter and Marco steps over to you, curling an errant lock of your hair around his finger and kissing it before giving you a smile.

"After you told me that old grizzly had cubs, I don't think anything can sound nuts." He assures you, voice low.

"Well, fair, but..." You fidget and look away. "I think Linlin's trying to kill me. That's crazy right? I mean, the company has a really tight PR game, and I know she's really big on the whole family and loyalty stuff and what not, and I know - I know, you know, cause you told me, so I know, but that's stuff in the past right?"

Marco can feel his heart twist, and from the look on your face, he wasn't able to keep it his expression as neutral as he would've liked. Pulling you into a hug he does his best to comfort you.

"It'll be alright, yoi."

Now it was going to be a matter of degree, he laments silently. Hopefully Katakuri was still as sharp as ever, and he would be able to at least shield you from just how terrifying Linlin really was.