Title: Almost Easy
Author: kikokus (AoiTsukikage)
Rating: NC-17 overall
Characters/Pairing: Zoro/Sanji, Law/Sanji, Law/Zoro/Sanji
Chapter: 11/?
Word Count: 3807
Summary: Sequel to 'So Good So Far.' Everything was supposed to get easier after Dressrosa – at least, that's what Sanji had assumed. He was wrong. .
Spoilers: Up to chapter 773.

Other Notes: This chapter contains some description of a panic attack, so proceed with caution if that affects you.

Chapter Eleven

They didn't find anything in the town.

Robin eventually discovered the town hall but while there were plenty of books still in the library, nothing they could find held either a detailed map of the entire mine system or any sort of report as to what was being mined.

That was extremely suspicious, especially since whatever they got from the mines would have had to have gone somewhere, so there should have been export records, sales records, something to indicate an exchange of money and goods, but the utter lack of it could only mean it had been deliberately removed.

The town leaving personal items behind but taking the time to destroy certain pieces of paper just smacked of something strange going on, Sanji knew, and he reached unconsciously into his pocket to tighten his fingers around the cool metal of the necklace.

By mid-afternoon they still hadn't found anything worth looking at, and Sanji knew if they didn't get back to the ship soon he wouldn't have enough time to cook dinner (the food he'd left for Luffy would have run out by now anyway). Nobody seemed opposed to leaving, however, and Sanji could tell Law wanted to try and get that mineral powder identified.

He'd been a little…off since they left the cavern, more withdrawn than normal, and Sanji had a feeling that he had some idea of what the substance was even if he wasn't voicing that aloud. He didn't speak a word as they headed back to Zou, and once they'd gotten back onto the Sunny all he did was pick Chopper up by the back of his jacket and head into the medical lab with the reindeer dangling from his mechanical hand, asking rapid-fire questions that Law wasn't bothering to answer.

"Well, so much for 'trying' to not be a total bastard," Zoro grunted. Sanji nudged him in the side, causing Zoro to turn to him. "Hey! I'm trying to defend you, Cook, so if…"

"I know," Sanji promised. "And I appreciate it, but I've got a bad feeling about whatever he found in that mine," he shivered even though the air was warm, rubbing his arms. "Look, you know I'm not the type of guy to take shit from anybody, so if he keeps that stick up his ass for too long I'll kick it out for him," he grinned, and Zoro snorted and wrapped an arm around his shoulders after a quick glance around showed they were alone.

"You really don't care about reputations, do you?" he asked, and Sanji leaned against him and shrugged.

"Nah. I care about people being decent. I don't think any sort of status gives you the right to be a bastard," he replied. Back at the Baratie, it didn't matter if you were a peasant or a King, if you acted up you got kicked out and that's definitely something he'd carried with him. "Didn't think you did, either."

"I don't really," Zoro replied with a shrug. "I mean, if somebody's got a justified reputation as a fighter I might respect them more for it, but it doesn't mean I'm gonna let them get away with treating people like shit."

"Sanjiiiiiii! I'm out of fooooooood!"

Sanji pulled away from Zoro and prepared himself for the impending Luffy-assault, knowing that there was no way he'd get out of it now that the Captain knew they were back.

Oh, well. He needed to start dinner anyway.

000

Law and Chopper didn't show their faces during dinner except for the reindeer to totter in and request two plates of food to take back to the lab because they 'couldn't stop right now.'

Sanji debated sending Law nothing but a plate of bread but he wasn't that cruel, and again, he knew Law wouldn't be acting this way unless it was something important.

The man himself finally showed up just as Sanji was finishing the dishes, his shoulders hunched as he trudged into the galley and settled himself on the bench behind the table. He was glowering at nothing, hair mussed, and if people actually could walk around with thunderclouds over their heads he would probably have a giant one at the moment.

"No luck?" Sanji guessed, because he'd learned by now that if there was one thing that annoyed Law more than anything else, it was not getting the answers he wanted.

"Not especially. We found a couple of compounds that are similar, but nothing that seems to be a direct match. I can't stop feeling like I'm missing something, but…" he sighed and flopped forward onto the table.

"You'll figure it out," Sanji wasn't even trying to be falsely reassuring. Law was stubborn enough that he wouldn't stop until he found an exact match, after all.

"I'm sorry again for how I behaved earlier…"

"I told you, it's fine," Sanji promised, leaning against the counter and draping his dishtowel over his forearm. "I get it, and I'm not so insecure that I'm gonna assume I've done something wrong every time you close off."

"Still, Zoro's right in that…"

"Torao! Torao, I think I found it!"

Law's head snapped up when Chopper trotted into the galley, a book nearly bigger than he was in his hooves. He jumped onto the bench beside Law and dropped it on the table, gesturing excitedly. "It's not an exact match, but it's similar enough that it has to be from the same family. I've never really heard of amber lead before, but…"

And Sanji literally felt time screech to a halt.

"No," Law whispered, all of the color draining from his face as his eyes widened.

"No, see, the compounds are…" Chopper had mistaken his 'no' for one of disagreement instead of disbelief and kept chattering away, oblivious to what Law had actually meant.

Law moved then, scrambling away from the table, and the look in his eyes was honestly frightening. They looked almost feral, flashing gold, but they were unfocused and Sanji knew that whatever he was seeing right now, it wasn't the inside of the galley.

He stumbled over to the corner of the room, nearly tripping over his own feet like he'd forgotten how to walk properly, and pulled his knees to his chest, burying his face against them. He was repeating the word 'no' like some sort of mantra, like saying it enough would somehow make it less true. Sanji felt a stab of pain go through his own body because the force of Law's despair was so powerful it was suffocating even from across the room.

"Torao? Hey! Are you okay?" Chopper started toward Law, concerned, and Sanji shook himself out of his own stupor to grab the reindeer before he could reach the man. The way Law was now, there wasn't any proof he wouldn't lash out, especially if he was trapped in the memory of a day when the only other living people around him were enemies.

"I think you'd better go, Chopper," Sanji murmured, carrying the little doctor to the door.

"What's wrong with Torao?" he demanded (and dammit, why did all of his crewmates have to be so irritatingly stubborn?).

"He'll be okay," Sanji tried to sound as reassuring as possible. "Amber lead is…he's had bad experiences with it," he didn't want to say too much, especially since Law was still reluctant to open up to many people and Sanji was pretty sure he wouldn't want any of them that knew telling stories on his behalf. "If that's what it is, this is bad, Chopper."

"What can we do?" Chopper had tears in his eyes and Sanji reached to pat him on the head, trying to figure that out for himself.

"First I'm gonna calm him down, and then tomorrow I think we're gonna have to talk to some people in town to find out exactly what the deal with the mines was. Can you check if we've got any more information on amber lead in the library?" he asked, because giving Chopper something to do would at least distract him from feeling guilty over the state Law was in now. "Just…don't believe anything you read about it being contagious, okay?"

Chopper looked confused at that but eventually, he nodded and sniffed, blue nose twitching. "Yeah. Okay," he opened his mouth as if to say something else but closed it after a few seconds and shook his head, giving Sanji a tiny smile before he headed off toward the library.

Sanji leaned against the doorframe and sighed, running his hand over his eyes and trying to prepare himself for what was to come.

He had no idea how bad Law was, and while he knew enough about panic attacks to hopefully alleviate them, if Law was so far gone he didn't even recognize him they were going to have a problem.

Still, leaving him alone was the worst thing, so Sanji walked over to where Law was still curled up, shaking and muttering and damn near gasping for breath.

Shit.

He made sure to make his approach known, letting his shoes knock loudly on the floor and causing Law to lift his head, but there was no awareness in his gaze. "No," he whimpered, lifting a hand. "No, she said…she said the ships would save us, she…"

"Law, she's not here," Sanji said, as firmly as he could, trying to think of Law as just a…a customer or something, and not a guy he was in love with because that side of him just wanted to wrap his arms around Law and never let go, but that would be the worst thing he could possibly do. He wouldn't touch him, not until Law made it clear that he wanted it.

"N-no," Law laughed, but it was a harsh, ugly sound, his teeth bared as he growled. "No. Dead. All dead. Blood on the white snow, so much…" he trailed off, letting out a sound that was too much like a sob.

"Law, there's no blood. Nobody's dead," Sanji said, keeping his voice as calm as possible. The last thing Law needed right now was to know how close to freaking out Sanji himself was, after all. "You're safe."

"No," Law cut him off, but that was all he said before he seemed to slip into some sort of stupor, eyes unblinking and barely even breathing.

"Law. Law, hey," Sanji stomped the heel of his boot on the wooden planks of the galley floor, but even that didn't get any reaction. "Fuck," he snarled to himself, fingers reaching for a cigarette and lighting it before he'd even considered that it might not be a good idea to do so.

Law's head lifted a little as the smoke drifted over him, and he blinked slowly. "C-Cora-san?" he asked, his voice sounding extremely young.

Well. Okay, then. Sanji could work with that.

"No," he said slowly, kneeling down and forcing Law to look at him by staying in his line of vision. "It's me. Sanji. You're in the galley of the Thousand Sunny," he kept his eyes locked with the surgeon's, and eventually the tiniest flicker of recognition flashed through them.

"Sanji?"

"Yeah," Sanji sighed, relieved, but he was feeling about as emotionally drained as Law looked after that one. "Yeah, it's me. You scared me."

"What?" Law narrowed his eyes, uncurling his body. "Why am I…shit. The mines. Amber lead," he recited quickly, and Sanji nodded. "Why am I…"

"You had a panic attack," Sanji replied. "You flashed back to…to your childhood, I think, and when I started smoking you thought I was Corazon," he was betting that Law didn't remember any of that, and it was probably for the best.

Law bit his lip, something defeated in his gaze that told Sanji he somehow thought himself weak for it.

"Hey," Sanji tried to keep him in the moment, because Law had nothing to feel ashamed for although the cook doubted he saw it that way. "You're gonna be fine."

"I do know the symptoms of a panic attack and how to deal with them, Sanji," Law replied dryly, and Sanji smiled, because if Law was back to being able to use sarcasm he'd be okay. "It's much harder to recall them in the moment, though."

"You fucking scared me, you asshole," Sanji moved so he was sitting beside Law, not touching him but close enough to feel the heat of his body.

"I'm really tired of my past sneaking up on me all the time," Law replied, and he sounded like he was, his voice void of emotion. "I'm just tired."

"I know," Sanji shifted closer still, sliding his arm around Law's back and not being all that surprised when Law damn near clambered into his lap, nosing against his neck. "I love you," he said, because he didn't know what else to say, but it seemed like Law needed a reminder of that more than anything.

"I know. I don't know why half the time, and I'm quite sure I don't deserve it, but I know," he let his head rest against Sanji's shoulder, heaving a sigh. "Thank you for helping me through that."

"I'd say 'anytime' but it wasn't exactly fun, so try not to do it again," Sanji was pretty sure now that Law had at least come to terms about the whole amber lead mine thing he wouldn't regress quite that badly again, at least. He was still a little on-edge, his senses more finely-tuned than normal, and sitting against the kitchen wall wasn't the best place to relax.

"I'm okay now," Law promised, and Sanji believed he was for the moment.

Still, it was obvious they were both still a little shaken, and Sanji kind of just wanted to draw a hot bath and let the water wash the weight of the day away.

Hopefully Law wouldn't object, because he really didn't want to let the older man out of his sight right now, but either Law was having similar thoughts or else he was deciding to placate Sanji because his suggestion was met with remarkably little resistance.

000

"You know how much trust I'm putting in you, right?" Law was fairly boneless in his arms, which Sanji attributed half to how exhausted he had to have been and half because the bathwater was fairly high and even though Law seemingly had a much higher tolerance than Luffy for dealing with water or seastone, it would still be affecting him.

"I'm not gonna let you drown in the bath, idiot," Sanji chuckled, leaning his head back on the rim of the tub and inhaling deeply.

He'd used some of Nami's bath oils, something that on the bottle said was for 'relaxation', and it seemed to be doing the trick. The air smelled pleasant, herbal and fresh, steam from the hot water wafting around them.

Even the sound of the door opening barely made them flinch, but Sanji knew it was Zoro before he'd even bothered to look.

"Hey. Chopper told me," Zoro said quietly, and it was obvious he'd just come from training. He was shirtless, muscles glistening with a thin sheen of sweat, wearing only a pair of plain black pants and with a towel wrapped around the back of his neck. "You guys okay?"

"I believe we are now," Law's voice was slurred, but he looked at peace. Zoro moved closer, reaching out and cupping Law's cheek with his hand, and Law nuzzled against his palm. Sanji looked up in surprise because Zoro was just…exuding calmness so strongly that he was sure Law felt it, too. He knew Zoro had some measure of Observation Haki, but it wasn't nearly as strong as Sanji's and he didn't think it was a conscious move on Zoro's part.

Maybe it was because he was just so naturally calm compared to both Sanji and Law, but it seemed to be having a positive effect.

"So, what's the plan?" Sanji asked, feeling that Law might be docile enough to talk about it now without freaking out again. "I mean, if it's not exactly the same…"

"Well, not that I took a good look at the book, but I'm inclined to believe it's a less pure form of the same substance. Amber lead was only found in Flevance, and it was pure white, whereas the residue we found was most certainly grey. There's a chance it's a less potent form, which may mean symptoms will take longer to manifest, but the only way we'll know for sure is by talking to whoever took the time to destroy the records from the mining town," he shivered even though the water was steaming hot and Sanji hugged him more tightly. "It all adds up, though. The date of the mine closing coincides with the…attack on Flevance, and word of that spread around the world. No doubt the miners feared the same would happen to them if the government ever caught wind of what was coming out of the mine, so pretending it never existed was the easiest way to keep everybody safe."

"The skin thing, though," Zoro spoke up. "Wouldn't people around here get that, too?"

"It depends," Law replied. "It's possible it might take longer to manifest, especially if the mines hadn't been in operation long. Fifteen years is about the right amount of time for any children to start showing more severe exposure symptoms, though…" he frowned. "Regardless, I can't do much more than hypothesize right now. We need to speak to somebody with first-hand knowledge," he reiterated.

"Tomorrow," Sanji promised. "It's too late to do anything tonight, and from what you said, it's not like one night's gonna make any difference since it's a slow-acting poison, right?" he rubbed his hands down Law's arms, kissing the back of the other man's neck.

"Mm," Law's body went limp under his touch. "I'm not in much of a state to do anything at the moment regardless."

"You need to sleep," Sanji replied, yawning himself, and he knew that he needed the same thing. "And you need to get in here because if you were just working out you're going to fucking stink," he directed that at Zoro, who bristled a little but just as quickly stripped down and stepped into the other side of the tub, groaning as the hot water soothed his muscles.

"You'll come with me?" Law laced his fingers with Sanji's, laying his head on the blond's shoulder and staring up at him.

"Of course," Sanji nodded, because there was no way he was letting Law do this on his own.

"I'm coming, too," Zoro stated, kicking at Sanji's knee with his foot from across the tub. Sanji glowered at him for that although the look on Zoro's face was deadly serious. "Look, I don't know exactly what went on tonight, or back then, but from how fucking hard it's hitting you it had to have been bad and…I'm part of this thing, too. I want to be there," he added, sounding as if he was nervous by the end Law would refuse.

"You're more than welcome to, if you desire it," Law assured him, and Zoro grinned at that. "But I'm falling asleep, so perhaps I'd better," he tried to sit up, although he didn't make much progress so Sanji helped him to his feet. Once he was mostly out of the water he could move on his own, grabbing a towel and drying his body off quickly before he shrugged back into his clothes. "I'll…be in my room. If you two want…"

Sanji didn't even reply, he just stared at the surgeon (and he was pretty sure Zoro was doing the exact same thing). Eventually Law nodded, looking a little sheepish, and turned to leave the bathroom.

He'd barely shut the door behind him when Zoro was practically diving across the tub and flopping on top of Sanji, leaning in for a kiss. Sanji wrapped his arms around Zoro's shoulders and returned it eagerly, letting the swordsman's presence calm him even further.

"Is he really okay?" Zoro asked, keeping his eye locked with Sanji's, and the blond nodded.

"Yeah. I mean, he had a pretty bad panic attack so he's gonna be shaky for a while yet, but he's okay. This is just…"

"It's fucked up," Zoro grunted, cupping his cheeks and kissing him again. "But I'm starting to see just how damn broken he is, if he still thinks we're gonna leave him alone after all of that."

"It's like he said," Sanji shrugged. "He's spent so long being alone it's hard for him to get used to taking for granted that people are gonna be there."

Zoro sighed, but there wasn't much he could say to dispute that, and after another lingering kiss he pushed himself off of Sanji's body and stood up. Sanji watched him, admiring his body glistening with water droplets in the bright light of the bathroom, and followed him out of the tub a moment later after reaching to pull the plug.

000

By the time they got to Law's room the man in question was in bed, but his body was so tense Sanji knew he wasn't sleeping.

"I'm seriously gonna kick your ass if you tell me you were worried we wouldn't show," he undid the buttons of his shirt and slid it off, crawling in beside Law and trying to see his face in the dark room. His mouth was drawn into a tight line, eyes locked on the ceiling and the blanket pulled up to his chin like a child trying to hide from the monsters under his bed.

Well, Sanji thought as he brushed Law's hair back and tugged him closer, he was dealing with monsters of a sort, and tomorrow wasn't likely to be any easier for him emotionally.

"It's not the same," Zoro said as he got into the other side of the bed, and Law turned his head to slowly blink at him.

"What isn't?"

"Last time. You were alone, right?" Zoro didn't look like he expected an answer since he already knew it. "Well, this time you've got us, and we're not going anywhere."

"I think, Zoro, that you need to stop badgering about Sanji and myself being sappy because you're quite proficient in that department, too," Law's voice had a hint of his normal snarkiness in it and Zoro snorted, nudging the man with his elbow.

"Go to sleep, smartass," Zoro grumbled, getting a breathy laugh from Law, and it was a sound Sanji was more than happy to hear after the day they'd had.

Whatever the morning would bring, they'd get through it together, and he knew that all of them could take at least a little comfort in the thought.

Notes:

1. Cookies to all of you who guessed that it was am amber lead mine (or, well, close to it, at least)! I don't have a whole lot to say here other than thank you all again for continuing to read and comment on this fic :)