Rocinante was ecstatic for days after his call with Law that even those that had come with him on assignment noticed. The blond had merely done what he had to do for work, but would keep coming back to that call he had had with Law during any downtime. The call that had the dark haired surgeon tell him that he'd loved him, even though Rocinante was so very clumsy that the blond felt that he should be labeled a walking hazard. But at the very least, the worst that his colleagues had said was very tame.

"Looks like Corazon is in a real good mood."

"I wonder if it's a certain someone that's distracting him."

"Maybe that's why that building down the street caught fire the other day."

At that particular comment, the blond haired officer resolved to not get so close to fire. It never seemed to go too well when he happened upon it. But the building bursting into flames wasn't his fault.

Really, it wasn't.

-x

Rocinante was in his hotel room another few days later as he waited to hear from someone else that had come with him on the investigation. It gave him time to play Law's words in his mind over and over, smiling happily over the simple fact that Law had been the one to say them. Rocinante was even happier about the fact that Law could admit love without being awkward about it. Well, at least not as much as the blond thought he might have. At the sound of a knock on his door, Rocinante ended up falling off the bed, the air driven out of him, as well as the thoughts about the surgeon.

There was a sigh on the other side of the door. "Did you fall over again, Rocinante?"

The blond used the bed to get himself back up to his knees before he responded, a little embarrassed. "Yes. Did you learn anything else, Sengoku?"

"I did. But to get the rest of the information, I'll need you to go undercover in the furthest part of town." There was a rustling sound as something was slid under the door. "The people in question are aware of who I am, so you should be cautious of what you say while there."

Rocinante carefully stood before he went to retrieve the piece of paper. He looked it over before he wondered if perhaps it would be better to just play mute. It would be a bit of a hassle, but there'd be more time for him to formulate his answers to questions he might be asked. Rocinante wouldn't want to give some important bit of information up unnecessarily. "Where will you be when I get back?"

"In your room here, if you'll open the door. My room was compromised. Someone was there while I was gone."

Rocinante hastily opened the door to the room to allow his superior in before he closed it.

Sengoku went into the room further but not before he'd tossed a bag to the other officer. "Here. Those clothes that you're wearing won't do for where you'll be going."

Rocinante opened the bag to look at the clothes before he sighed. The things he did for his job. As Rocinante went to change he hoped that Law would be fine. The blond was worried that something from his current assignment might follow him back home. Rocinante would have to make sure that Law would be safe, whether or not there was backlash from what he was up to.

-x

Rocinante was exhausted after a few days of gathering information. It had been very difficult to play mute, and a few times the people he'd been spying on had nearly caught him in the act. While he was done with the job for the time being and away from anyone discovering what he'd really been up to, he had not been able to hand off the information he'd discovered to Sengoku. The senior officer had been called back to their city the day before to take care of something urgent that had cropped up. Rocinante considered calling Law, even though it had only been a day since he'd last talked to the dark haired surgeon.

The cell phone on the bedside table began to ring, and the blond reached over to answer it. Maybe it was Law, though Rocinante was the more likely of the two to make the phone call, unless the blond began to tease Law again about not calling him. Rocinante's stomach dropped as soon as he heard exactly who it was that he was now speaking to.

'Hello, Roci.'

Oh no. How had his brother found his new phone number? It was private too. Not just anyone could call it. Rocinante had a feeling he knew what the call would be about, although why Doflamingo waited for months to check in on him was debatable. Especially since the last time had been right before Rocinante had ended up in the hospital, nearly at death's door.

'I know what you're up to.' Doflamingo's voice was cheerful, but there was an underlying note of menace. 'If you don't want something to happen to you or anyone else you know, you had better leave whatever it is that you've found behind.'

Rocinante was momentarily speechless as he thought about the implications of Doflamingo's words, before he steadied himself and spoke. "I won't let you get away with what you've been doing. It doesn't matter that it isn't directly you yourself either." The blond haired officer hung up before Doflamingo could respond. But it was clear that that dismissal did not deter Doflamingo in the slightest, as a text appeared not too long after Rocinante had ended their call.

'That's a shame. I might just have to find a way to change your mind.'

Rocinante found that ominous, and he immediately called Law, to find that the dark haired surgeon was perfectly fine, if only a little irritated about something. It still made Rocinante wonder what might happen should he fail to heed his brother's words, but this new information that he had found would leave little doubt that Doflamingo had a dealing in some illegal businesses. It would also connect his brother to the doctor that had been arrested for malpractice. Rocinante checked his phone after the call to Law to see what day it was and shifted uneasily on the bed.

There were still three and a half days to go before he could return home. It seemed such a long time from now, what with Doflamingo's none too subtle threat.

Rocinante resolved to call Law in the morning and in the evening the next few days until he returned home.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

A/N: I should have posted this yesterday. I have another chapter or two that I should be able to get up today, one soon, actually, after I edit it (the reason I update this so much, which I think I mentioned earlier in this fic, is because I had ideas/short little outlines for it since last year. It was just sitting around for so long cause I wasn't sure if people would want to read it. Also, it's easy for me to write up).

So thanks for the reviews/favs/follows again! I'm glad that people like this (it was my intention to make this fic ridiculously fluffy and silly because sometimes I just need to read that kind of a thing and figured other people would too). And anti social/socially awkward Law is great. Him being around Cora is perfectly fine, while being around people like Luffy is a big 'no' that will happen on and off throughout the story anyway because everyone else thinks that Law still needs to be socialized.