Zoro sat, saying absolutely nothing. He had sensed the palpable anger radiating from the ero-cook as soon as he had strode up to him and the old man at the police station. Zoro had been standing with his arms crossed near the door, waiting eagerly (secretly of course...) for the love-cook's return; he couldn't wait to start what was set to be a very interesting part of his not-so-good life, and Sanji looked set to pay an integral part in it.

Zeff, meanwhile, had been leaning on the front desk, twirling his mustache, a hard frown creasing an already wrinkled brow.

And then, Zoro had spotted that head of brilliant golden hair, and a very angrily curled eyebrow, heading down the corridor towards them.

"Oi. The idiot's here at last." Zoro pushed himself off the wall, and alerted the big chef of the approaching fireball.

Zeff turned. As soon as he caught sight of Sanji, he matched the boy's expression with a piercing glare. Sanji's fists were clenched, and his face was slightly red - there was a dangerous;y dark aura radiating off the naturally porcelain skin.

"You, shitty old-man, have some serious balls to pull this kind of trick. Look at the shit you've gotten me into, you-you..."

Zeff grabbed a fistful of Sanji's, already slightly ruffled, suit, and pulled the irate teenager right up to his face. Sanji was tall, but he had to rise on his tiptoes so as not to be lifted right off the floor. Zeff's face was dark, yet his voice betrayed no emotion. Except something which promised a beating.

"Listen, idiot. Can you remember what I told your thick head before?"

Sanji didn't answer - not that he was nervous or anything ( Sanji? Hell no!), but he didn't like the feeling Zeff was giving off. He just stood there, and waited for the old man to continue, his anger having been replaced by something...quieter.

Zeff grunted at the silence.

"Of course not - I don't know what else I expected from you. Well, I'll tell you agai-"

All of a sudden, there was a very exaggerated cough from somewhere, and the three men realized that they still hadn't left the station, and were about to make a yet another scene in the worst possible place. Zeff looked around sulkily, and let go of Sanji's jacket with a shove. Sanji glared daggers at the old man, smoothing out his jacket carefully. Zeff brought his face up close to Sanji's nose again.

"Outside. Now." He spat, before turning to a rather bemused Zoro, who had been standing, watching the cook getting intimidated by this old chef. It wasn't that Zoro thought it was funny as such...besides, it was only amusing when it was him getting the cook all fussed up. Nevertheless, he certainly hadn't bothered to hide the satisfied smirk reclining on his lips.

"And you. Wipe that fucking grin off your mouth; you're in deep shit too. Now - out."

And with that, Zeff turned on his heel, and stormed out through the glass doors, leaving the two teens to follow - both a little nervous, but neither one willing to show it.

~/~/~/~/~/~

Pause.

"Well...that was a bit brutal."

Zoro's voice still sounded a little strained, and Sanji's non-committal grunt in reply was proof that the cook was still very, very pissed with him.

"Damn..." Zoro thought. The silence was boring. The room was stifling. And right now, the company sucked.

Zoro was sitting in that same small room back at the Baratie, with a very irate Sanji.

Zeff had made it quite clear, once they had got back into the privacy of four closed walls, that neither of them were going to be getting off lightly.

As a result of a tirade of abuse from the old geezer , Zoro was now sporting some impressive bruises to his stomach and to the sides of his head. And he had a rather crushed ego too boot.

But.

And for Zoro, as he watched the cook smoking across from him out of the corner of his eye, it was a very big but.

Zeff hadn't sent him away. He still had this opportunity, and no matter how fun it was to rile this blonde-haired pervert up, he wasn't prepared to throw away this chance to rebuild his life.

So, one thing had been made clear: Zeff was angry, yes, but more than that - he was obstinate as hell.

Sanji had obviously had issues when he'd found out that Zoro wasn't a girl, hence the shouting match which had ensued between the two blondes as soon as the threesome were back in the Baratie.

"You shitty old geezer! This whole thing is all your fucking fault! Look at what you're little joke here has achieved - I can't fucking believe you got me in this mess...AND WHERE THE HELL IS MY WAITRESS ANYHOW!?"

"If you know what's good for you, you'll shut that fucking trap of yours! You're just a spoiled brat with a stick up your ass, who can't take a 'no' even once in his life!"

"What?! You're the one who started this whole shitty personal fucking waiter thing in the beginning! Don't go blaming me if you can't uphold your side of the bargain! You're just an old geezer who can't take the responsibility of not being able to fulfill your promises!"

"Oh? And what exactly did I promise? I don't think I've digressed from our agreement." Zeff growled.

Zoro just watched.

"Don't give me that shit!" Sanji spat. "Do you see slim hips and smooth curves on this asshole?!"

Zeff cackled suddenly then.

"No... I see an uncultured, ungrateful bastard who doesn't know how to appreciate a break." Zeff had turned towards Zoro now, and walked up to him threateningly. "Listen to me, punk. I'll bet you've been told all your life that you're fucking worthless. That you have no job, no money, no friends, and probably no fucking brains to boot. You're a dead man. Yet you're willing to throw away this chance because you're too arrogant and ungrateful to just not fuck it up." Zeff paused for breath, and lowered his voice so he was no longer near to shouting. "Let's get this straight, kid. You are nothing to me. You're here because of that fucker over there. I don't need you, and I don't want you. But I'm not letting you go, either. Get this in your head, now. Mess with me, and I'll kill you. Hurt my boy, and I'll kill you again. Fuck this up..." Zeff stopped, but just made a swift slicing motion with his hand against Zoro's throat.

Zoro nodded. He knew that that was all he was expected to do, and he held Zeff's steady gaze in, what he hoped, was a silent promise. Then Zeff turned, and without a word, strode over to the door. Sanji let his jaw drop.

"Oi! Get back here you shitty geezer! We're not done yet! You still haven't answered m-"

"Just remember, Sanji - it's him or nothing. If you respect me at all, you'll shut the fuck up, and face it like a man."

And with that, the door swung softly shut, and the two men were left awkwardly in the room; one silent and composed, the other, silent and shocked.

So now, Sanji was thinking - he wasn't concerned with the green-headed idiot for the moment. Zeff's words were swirling around inside his head, and he sat on the couch, smoking in silence, contemplating.

If you respect me at all, you'll shut the fuck up, and face it like a man.

Respect.

That one word was niggling away at the cook. Zeff could have said anything else, and by now Sanji would have already thrown Zoro out, ignored Zeff completely, and carried on with life as normal.

But. Sanji respected Zeff more than anyone in his life. He had been his father, his mother, his brother, his best-friend...he had been the little boy Sanji's world. In fact, he was still everything to him. Sanji only had the Baratie, its chefs, and Zeff - no other friends, no other family...

So, now that that one word, respect, had entered the equation, Sanji couldn't argue. Hell, he didn't even want to.

Suddenly, he looked up at Zoro, who was watching him. But this time, he didn't see the same moss-headed, uncultured, rude, sarcastic bastard he'd seen before.

Now, he just saw his own personal waiter.

Ready and waiting.

A/N:

Just a quick note - firstly, thank you so much to everyone who is, and has, reviewed! It just makes me sooooo happy, and because of you guys, I'm enjoying writing this story so much! But - it's the Easter holidays coming up, and so my next update may take a little longer - BUT I WILL UPDATE! And it won't be tooooooo long, just not, y'know' super regular... family 'n' stuff...

So anyways~ thank you again, and I'm sorry there may be a little delay...but please wait for me :) XD

Ja ne~