1: Drugs

They had known each other for awhile, both of them fresh out of high school with dreams to chase. They had met when their dealer had left them both high and dry one night, when they were in need of their fixes the most. It wasn't easy to admit that they had a problem, and they knew it was wrong to get involved. But it was difficult to stay away. Eventually, their problems merged and months later, they were sharing that problem with each other. It led to terrible decisions, destroyed relationships and already shaky bridges. Family members had already made the choice to turn their backs on them out of frustration and grief, friends had drifted away and the isolation had left them grasping at each other.

It felt like they both had a death wish, acknowledging it for what it was and leaving it as that.

One summer night, windows down and music blaring, Trafalgar Law had his foot on the gas and Sanji Blackleg had his seatbelt on and his legs stretched over onto the other man's side while he prepared their next fix. Both of them were lacking sleep, common sense and an urgency to get to their destination on time. The speedometer told Law he was going too fast for the country roads, but his foot was heavy and his soul seemed to be singing with urgency to just get there. At that moment, neither of them had a single care in the world. At this point in their life, there was nothing to care for. They were barely entering their twenties and already failing at rescuing themselves.

After wiping his upper gum line with his thumb, Sanji sniffed and looked over at Law. His nose always felt like it was running. His eyes felt dry and heavy and he was at that stage where he kept seeing things move from the corner of his vision and he was hearing words that had yet to be spoken. He was half convinced he had some sort of mind powers. He was steadily shrinking and he thought that he'd eventually disappear into a void of no return. He couldn't stop moving, and his hands wouldn't stop shaking. His fingers were covered in knicks and scrapes caused by his knife, the skin around his nails peeling and gruesome. He'd lost his self-preservation a long time ago.

"I had a dream the other night," he said lightly, reaching over to turn down the music. Law turned it back up, tires screeching across the pavement. Above the open window and the squealing of guitars and angry voices, Sanji raised his voice. His partner was too lost in his focus and in the throes of slight withdrawal. So Sanji spoke aloud to himself. "Kind of fantastic, really. I had this restaurant. It was stuck in the middle of a big sea that was bluer than any sky, and all I had to do was reach in and pull something up, and it was always the most fantastic dish I could ever make. I didn't see you there. It was almost as if…I were the only one left in the world. I thought it was a nightmare, at first. But you should have been there. The shit I made was the best shit I could ever make in my life."

Sanji reflected on the remnants of this dream. He smiled grimly, head nodding. "Best shit ever. Everything was pure. Untouched. But everything was possible. Anything was….I mean, it was…almost beautiful. You should've been there."

Law was aware that Sanji was talking, and finally took notice of him. He glanced over momentarily, taking a turn too sharply. The person in the other lane facing them had to swerve violently to avoid being swiped. It was funny how the driver looked at them with shock as they drove past. He snickered.

"All of these ants, man," he murmured, shaking his head. "All of them. They're just in the way. They just show up and stand there and watch and say nothing. Have you ever given it any thought to how many there are? Too many."

Sanji furrowed his brow with confusion, looking out the windshield while he straightened in his seat. He hadn't noticed ants that much. He rubbed and tugged at his nose, then searched for tissue in the glove compartment. Law glanced at him again for an answer, then pushed on the gas pedal once they had the straightaway.

"Like aliens?" Sanji then asked curiously, looking up at the night sky.

"Where?"

"I meant, are you talking about aliens?" Sanji asked impatiently as Law scanned the sky through the windshield, the car swerving slightly with his delayed reaction.

"No…? I was talking about people."

"You said something about ants. I can't hear a thing above this noise."

"Five more minutes, and I would beat my last run time," Law told him, grinning. His eyes were near black – rimmed with sleeplessness and carelessness. Looking too long at Sanji and not at the road. But Sanji just smirked at him, then tended to the tin on his lap. He'd turned a few tricks at the truck stop for some cash. Law watched over him, a gun tucked into his pants for Sanji's safety. Law did that, sometimes – watched over him protectively and was quick to react if something was dangerous. It reminded Sanji that the man was still just as human as he was. The man still had a heart inside of him.

In Sanji's mind, Law cared for Sanji. Not just to rely on Sanji to get the money needed for the drugs they wanted. When everyone else had turned their backs on Sanji, Law was there to watch his back and feed him when Sanji needed it. In return, Sanji treated him gently and gave him fuel for his manic thoughts, helped Law think that he wasn't alone. Together, the pair of them were toxic and unstoppable. Their families and friends had abandoned them because of this.

"Last one for the road," he murmured, handing Law the rolled up bill they shared. He took the wheel while Law took the tin. Concentrating on the road, Sanji kept them steady while Law indulged. When he straightened up, wiping his nose, Law took the wheel back and Sanji took the tin. He used his fingertip to scrape up the rest. "Then we get back to being people, again."

"I'm so tired of it," Law complained, feeling the rush. They could go faster – he'd beat his time by at least a minute if he could keep the vehicle steady. In his mind, everything about his actions were steady and reflective of his super-fast reflexes. He only had these reflexes when his powers were heightened by his bad choices, but no one could understand that. Only Sanji did, which is why the blond trusted him. "Being people. In the end, we're just sheep for slaughter. What a waste of capitalism."

"Let's not get into that debate again."

"Seriously. Sanji. Think about it. If we could just…go back to the time where we could just be pirates again – just do shit for ourselves, by ourselves, for nobody but ourselves, just us – think of that freedom. Think of how easy it would be. Think," Law insisted, hand waving through the air as the scenery ripped past them. It was almost like they were on the Millennium Falcon, with the stars zipping by them in continuous bright lines but they were passing by farms and large country houses – passing by fence lines and blinking animals. "Our own freedom determined by what we needed for that time, at that time."

Sanji sighed noisily, resting his head against the frame of the open window. Watching the trees pass by, allowing him fleeting glances of the night sky. His hair whipped by harshly, stinging at his hairline. Like millions of tiny bugs were grasping desperately at the strands in their effort to pull him out of the car.

"We're a modern society," he murmured. "Too many years past what we can only dream…"

"Then let's go back to that dream," Law insisted. "Let's go back in time and determine our own fates. Instead of allowing this shit to happen. Sanji."

"How? How, Law? How do we travel back through time?"

"I don't know…somehow. The government knows how. Only they know the truth. Sending agents back through time to manipulate key events – JFK. Modern day agents. They couldn't find the assassins because it was our modern day agents that did it. Determining the choice of fate with calculated effort to switch up the sheeple thinking."

Sanji could see sheep with human faces watching them fly by. It made his skin itch.

"I couldn't do it," he murmured vaguely. "How would we take showers on the sea?"

"We don't. Moron. We stink like men."

"I'd need a bath. You can't bathe in seawater."

"You're missing the point of this entire conversation."

"We'd stink so bad," Sanji whispered delicately, concerned. "Worse than we do now."

Frustrated that Sanji wasn't contributing to the conversation properly, Law hit the brake. The speedometer dipped and they took a turn too fast. It forced Sanji to sit up and grasp at his seatbelt with a laugh, upper body slamming against the seat as it locked. Law caught the steering wheel and yet they were fine to continue on as the car slowed.

Eventually, they came to a stop near a grassy knoll. The headlights illuminated a guardrail in the distance, protecting drivers from a ditch. Cows called out in the distance, and Sanji looked up to see that Law was peering out the windshield again. He folded his arms over the wheel and just marveled at the sight of the stars.

"It'd go on forever," Law murmured. "Seeing nothing but darkness and the blink of burning gases. And the sound of water would carry everywhere, with the stench of salt and humidity. It'd just be us on that sea. Only us. Feeling like the last two people in the whole, entire world…"

"I don't know about you, but my sense of smell is shot. I can smell in my dreams, but not waking life."

"Maybe that's what we need to do. We can only travel through time in our dreams. Make that an active mission. We can do it, Sanji. It's all about the will."

"I don't even if mine is as powerful as yours." Sanji lowered the volume of their music once more. They could hear crickets, animals in the distance, and a dog barking. The car's engine hummed violently – Law's car was an older modal, but the sound system was modernized. The parts underneath the faded and dented hood needed work. But they had plenty of leg room, the back seat was comfortable and the promise of steel against modern plastic felt safe. The wide wheel supporting Law was bigger than Sanji's shoulder length.

Wide awake, Law considered the possibilities. Modern day living was harsh and unforgiving, but he could imagine how easy it would be to be a pirate. He looked over at Sanji with mirth. "With code names," he added. "We'd have code names. And have big bounties."

"You're dreaming," Sanji told him. "You would suck as a pirate."

"I'd be a great pirate. Cut out hearts and shit? Be a heartthrob."

"HAH."

"Wear stupid clothes."

"Like you don't already."

"Take all the men's hearts…"

"You're just a romantic. Bigger than me." Sanji leaned over and kissed him. "You could never make it as a pirate. You're too nice."

Law just chuckled. He reached over and patted one of Sanji's bony knees. His own skin was stretched thin – both of them in bad condition. Sharing clothes and thoughts as easily as they shared rolled dollar bills and bad habits. They were twins – fraternal twins. Only able to read each other's minds and dreams as easily as speaking them. He had his greasy hair in a tight ponytail at the top of his head, so it resembled a palm tree. His face was spotted and scabbed, and his scruff thick and uneven. He was too far gone to feel pity for himself, though. Both of them were.

They had piled the trunk and back seat with all their personal belongings and had vowed to leave everything else behind – mostly because they couldn't pay rent anymore. They'd lost their jobs, they couldn't fit in. But they needed just one more fix for the road. Their new dealer lived out in the countryside, and this was their "last stop". Then they were going to beg for gas at truck stops and live off gas station trash cans until they could reach the west coast. The Emerald Triangle was calling for them. They could drop their expensive habits living as trimmigants and slowly get their shit back together. Live off the abundant green land and wear dreads, smoke every day and maybe disappear in Humboldt County with their own bad decisions.

Whichever happened, Law was fine with it because Sanji was with him. Whatever thinking he'd had before was long gone. He was once a promising medical student and Sanji a chef with aspirations. But now they were skeletons with big dreams and a lost sense of smell. Without family, without friends – just each other.

Sanji looked over at him. His expression seemed suddenly stiff. "We should stop," he said quietly. He reached over and rested a hot hand against Law's thigh. "Turn around and get on the road to Humboldt. Use the money for gas, instead."

It took a few moments for Law to register what he said. He looked over at him, leaning back in the driver's seat. "It's our last round. It'd be good to have it on the road. You didn't work for nothing…"

"I have…a bad feeling. So…we should just stop. Let that be our last time."

"It wasn't enough, Sanji. We agreed on this."

"I know, but…I feel like we're not going to get far."

"That's the paranoia talking for you. We'll be fine. I'll be fine. Considering our destination, I just need one more to get us as far as we can go from here." Law then looked at him with concern. "You don't even have to do that stuff, anymore. That back there…that was the last time. Okay?"

Sanji exhaled, folding his hands between his thighs. He nodded. "Okay. Well… let's do this."

Law put the car into drive, gas pedal pressed delicately. They were rolling along the shoulder, not going fast. Sanji could reach out and brush his fingers against the roadside brush that scratched the car's sides and caught on the corner of his open window. After checking his mirror, Law touched the gas pedal while Sanji pulled his hand in and resettled up against his seat.

The lurching figure crossing the road caused them both confusion. Neither of them were sure what it was, but Law ended up driving towards it for a better look. They were still only rolling atop of the side shoulder, the speedometer barely lifted. The headlights fell onto a tall stick figure with long limbs and a gaping mouth. Sanji sucked in his breath and put his feet on the dashboard to brace himself while Law pushed on the gas pedal in an effort to drive closer to it.

The next was the sound of crunching metal. Gravity took hold of the car and pulled it violently to the side. Both of them snapped to the side, helpless against the velocity. Glass crunched, shattering atop of them from every direction. A dim scream pierced the continuous vicious movement, shaking their eardrums with a painful screech. The lights died, the engine following moments later. But the pavement met them while trees shattered violently, bark raining around them as limbs fell heavily. Everything that they'd packed in their car tumbled out behind them as the heavy metal tipped and rolled, slamming hard into the guardrail. They continued on with velocity but the car kept moving. Metal pierced metal and ripped apart seats. Both of them were utterly helpless as their limbs crashed and flailed without their consent. Heads slammed, brains bounced.

In the silence after, Law was the first to open his eyes. He stared at the heavy darkness all around him as his body told him everything was wrong. The sound of crickets filled his senses but the sound seemed erroneous. It was more of a whining sound than a cricket. A high, metallic whining that almost sounded like an engine but merged into the sing-song of insects. Leaves fluttered over and around them. The stars continued to twinkle high above him.

He turned his head to check on his companion. Sanji was dead, it seemed, boneless in his seat. The seatbelt had failed, and there was blood in the blonde's hair, pieces of glass shimmering amongst the dirty, greasy strands. Law reached out to touch him, the rest of his body unmoving. The dash was pressed up against his chest and stomach, and he registered the heavy weight against his legs. He was trapped, and the steering wheel was digging into his ribs. His breath was short and cut into his lungs like knives. His fingernails scraped empty air as he stretched to shake Sanji awake. The car was split right in middle, with a wide distance between them. It took Law some minutes to register that it was the guardrail that separated them.

The ratty bear he'd given Sanji one Valentine's Day caught Law's eye. His vision felt blurred, dark in one eye. For some reason, the bear was looking at him with accusation as it lay on its side just atop one of the wooden posts. Sanji slept with it every night – Law could hear the bear being angry with him for doing this.

Look at what you did. The bear blamed him.

He began to hyperventilate, pain starting to light his senses. The silence outside of the wreckage was maddening, save for those crickets.

The pitch hurt his ears.

He had no idea what just happened. All he recalled was pulling off the shoulder, the speedometer barely moving. He remembered watching Sanji touching the brush outside. He recalled thinking that he had to drive closer.

Closer to what?

His neck and head began to ache. There was a runny movement to his ears that made him feel like his brain was trying to escape. He could not feel his left leg and hip. He was still too superhuman to feel too much pain. He looked over at Sanji once more, reaching for him. The bear tipped at the brush of his elbow, disappearing onto the other side of the guardrail.

Law couldn't even hear Sanji breathing. The terror in that causing a seizing sensation in his chest and throat. He emitted a raw scream that silenced the crickets around them, and caused dogs to bark. He screamed because he couldn't formulate words, and Sanji wasn't responding to him. He screamed Sanji's name like he lost him, like the sound of his voice would bring him back. As he breathed in, he shuddered, remembering suddenly why they'd crashed.

There was a thing in the road. Something that shouldn't have been there. Something frightening and scary, and it was still out there.

Metal creaked as the car began to settle. The sound only told Law that the thing was still out there. It was coming to finish them off, and he couldn't move. Terror made his blood run hot. Paranoia told him that they were in trouble, now. The image of the thing he saw drifted away, being replaced by the spread of a cool, blue sea. His breathing slowed as he focused on the image. He could smell it. The sharp salt, the thick humidity that made his skin sweat. He could see Sanji's restaurant in the distance. Could see the man plucking out a brilliant colored fish from a sea that was bluer than the sky.

His blood raced and thundered like racehorses on a track. His heart was slamming hard against the steering wheel – he couldn't breathe. He focused on the image instead. His head tilted back and he stopped reaching for Sanji.

He could only see him in his dream.

: :

The judge was tired of these sob stories. They both ended up serving sentences for their drug use and illegal actions. Drugs, illegal weapon, prostitution, reckless driving, and theft. They lost contact with each other because they ended up at different facilities. At the end of his time served, years later, Law had no idea where Sanji ended up.

But he was clean and sober by the time he walked out of the prison rehabilitation center he had to stay in for six months to rework his way back into society. He was a different person, now.

He had nowhere or no one to turn to by the time he found a job that accepted felons and worked the rest of the year to make honest money and get his route back onto track. It never stopped him from thinking about Sanji, though. The last time they'd seen each other, they were in the throes of withdrawal and being sentenced. Two people who only had each other, and they were being forced apart without any comforting faces in the room.

In the aftermath of these things, the reason for the car wreck was covered up by the weight of consequences and sobriety.

So Law never gave that thing they saw another thought.

It always made him feel depressed whenever he thought back to the time where he was on scholarship to medical school; where he could have had everything. His family still spoke to him, his friends were there on speed dial and no one had ever suspected that he was using to stay awake and steady through deadlines and hours upon hours of studying. Now, he worked as a janitor at nights at a local university – not the one he used to attend, but one down state, away from his crimes. In a county that didn't know his name nor bothered to learn who he was.

On those long, lonely nights of sweeping floors and emptying trash bins, he thought about what could have been. He had regret, shame and guilt to deal with, and none of it was easy. He kept to himself and walked with a permanent limp. His tattoos were reminders of what he'd escaped. He barely spoke and lived every day with the same push as he did the day before – just get through it. He didn't reach out to those that turned their backs to him – what could he say?

The building was ghostly, emptied of presence and full of reminders of the day's previous activities. He cleaned bathrooms that made him squirm and pulled a cart behind him through long, empty corridors. Occasionally, he'd run into a security guard or another janitor, and they exchange small talk but Law wasn't interested in living.

He thought about dreams of an endless blue sea and a pirate that he might've been named after. He thought about the way Sanji slept with his bear and how nervous he was in gas stations when they chose potential buyers. He thought about cows calling in the distance and fences passing by like stars.

During his lunch break, he sat at a table in the staff room and watched the news from the day before. He was chewing on a bland sandwich (prison habit) when a reporter spoke excitedly about a salon opening downtown with most of its workers being rehabilitated felons eager to make new lives. Law's mouth stopped moving when, in the background of one shot, he saw Sanji for a fleeting moment. Excitement raced through him as he swallowed. He took note of the salon's location and hours, then spent the rest of his night trying to think of the right thing to say.

The next day, he watched the entrance of the salon from a distance. He couldn't make himself approach the building. Everything in his mind that he'd rehearsed felt unstable and useless. He'd nearly taken this man's life – if not with the car wreck, but with everything else. He was a horrible person back then – why should Sanji talk to him again? The things Law convinced him to do for them, the conversations they had, the actions they'd taken – why would Sanji want to revisit that?

Law went to work that night, feeling restless and upset. Maybe it was best he didn't approach Sanji. Maybe it was better this way – both of them were on the right track, now. Both of them were clean and working through their mistakes, fixing their own roads. If Law approached him now, what if it dredged up too many unwelcome memories?

He decided that it was best to keep his distance.

One spring day, he shopped for basic groceries while lost in the thoughts of a book he was reading. He had trouble sleeping, sometimes, the sound of the car crash entering his thoughts and forcing his body awake, so he read. There were books piled all around his home – half read, abandoned, piled in various towers on different surfaces. Any subject that caught his eye – bodice rippers, medical tomes, economics, astrology, business, manga…his coworkers would recommend one to him so he'd either check it out from the library or buy it off Amazon

He was staring at a shelf full of condiments, basket at his side when he felt an unsettling feeling. The feel of eyes upon him made him turn his head just in time to see someone walk past him. He turned to see if he recognized the person, but it was only him in the aisle. Puzzled, he second guessed himself. But he plucked the bottle off the shelf and carefully set it into his basket before limping towards the canned meats.

The cans of tuna made him think of that time Sanji had eaten his fill from the can. Both of them were sitting in some stranger's house, high on their choice with activity around them. Sanji was hungry and rifled through the stranger's kitchens for something to eat. He used his fingers to scoop tuna into his mouth while Law argued about capitalism with some guy that plugged his bleeding nose with tissue he'd used to clean his Four Loko spill with. It was an ugly memory. They were both young and in love and nothing could stop them. Their families had begged them to break up, but neither of them could bear the thought.

Bitterness caused Law's lips to thin. He reached for sausage instead. He headed to the freezer section and took out the same meals he always bought, then limped towards the foreign foods section. He lingered on his choices of rice, thinking that perhaps a change would help his pace. The store had few customers – being small and locally owned, it wasn't as busy as the national chain across the street. But the workers were friendly and the prices comparable.

His hip ached, signaling that rain was incoming. Law rubbed it with a discomforted grimace. He'd broken it in the car wreck. Lost his lower leg just below his knee because they hadn't been found for nearly an hour after that. The phantom pain that remained was a bitch to deal with. He grabbed the rice he always used and shuffled towards the check-out lines.

It confused him when he realized none of the stations were manned. The silence and stillness of the store caused him to realize that the Top Forty hit playing was the only thing alive, here. The windows outside showed him an empty lot, the road empty of traffic. The stillness caused him goosebumps.

Law froze in mid-step, unsure of what was happening. He glanced in both directions, and saw a single cart with groceries sitting abandoned near one aisle. There was another just outside the doorway. He turned in a slow circle, searching for a familiar face. He wondered if something had happened and he'd been too lost in his thoughts to notice.

The sound of his prosthetic squeaking with movement seemed obscenely loud. It was usually an unnoticeable whisper, apparent only to himself. But it squeaked so noisily that he winced. His knee throbbed, as well as his shin bone. He had to remind himself he didn't have a shin.

He slowly approached a station, noticing that it looked abandoned. Groceries were left on the line and the scanner sat on the scale top with a blink of light. Someone's purse was left on the floor right below the debit machine.

Puzzled, Law looked at the other stations and found a similar scene at all of them. He set his basket down and listened for any signs of life. All he heard was his breath in the silence.

"Hey. You okay?"

The voice snapped him out of the dream. Law looked up with a start. He was still facing the rice shelf, the bag of his choice in hand. His arm was shaking with the weight of it. He looked up into the concerned face of a worker that gently took the bag from him. He indicated to Law that his nose was bleeding.

Law touched his nose, drawing his fingers out to see blood. Startled, Law used the sleeve of his jacket to wipe, confused at the abrupt change of scene. He looked around himself and saw shoppers going about their business. The song was still playing overhead. The stations were busy. The squeak of the shopping carts in movement were noisy.

Law felt like he'd just woken up. It didn't make sense. He looked at the worker with an embarrassed look, making sure his nose wasn't running. The worker looked at him with sympathy.

Law paid for his things and went straight home. In the silence of his apartment, he struggled to understand what had just happened to him.