"I need answers, Sanji."

Sanji laid his head in his hands, his eyes closed.

"Sir," Caesar spoke, leaning toward the speakerphone. "I apologize for any trouble my research team has caused…"

"I don't think it was the research team that caused this fiasco…"

"I didn't create those monsters," Sanji spat out angrily, "My job is to move them from point A to point B without anyone dying and we did that."

"Two people were bitten-"

"No one is dead. Now let me go do my job." Sanji yelled, slamming his finger down on the disconnect button.

"Did you just hang up on Judge Vinsmoke?" Caesar asked, his eyes wide.

Sanji stood up, slamming both hands against the oak table, "If he doesn't like it he can bring his fat ass down to Brazil and tell me himself."

The phone rang. Loud and clear. Caesar looked from the phone to Sanji in horror. "Are you going to answer?"

"You can if you want to," Sanji said before walking from the room.

"How'd the call from Daddy go?" Vergo asked, pushing off from the wall to follow after Sanji.

"What the hell do you want?" Sanji barked.

"I heard about the two guys being bitten in Deadhouse. Such a tragedy."

"Hold your tears," Sanji breathed, "They're both alive and will be back to work next week."

"It's a miracle." Vergo said simply.

Sanji halted abruptly in the hall and turned to face Vergo, "Oh, Vergo, you're just so wise and mature. Please take me under your wing…"

"All you had to do was ask, gorgeous," Vergo drawled.

"Oh barf," Sanji spat. "You literally make me ill."

"You should request a transfer while you still can," Vergo said, rubbing his hands. "More important people than you have died in Deadhouse."

Sanji was caught off guard by the statement. He blinked slowly, trying to absorb the comment. Vergo merely smiled, his thumb brushing over Sanji's chin. "Shut your mouth, love. You'll look smarter."

"Ohhh, fuck you." Sanji kicked Vergo hard in the shin, stomping on his foot before storming down the hall.

A few hours later he was sitting in the gym. It was quiet, subdued. Zoro was on mandatory leave and LAW had been put somewhere as a punishment. TCH slept and LUF drew pictures by smudging the glass.

"Do you like drawing?" Sanji asked.

LUF shrugged, "I'm not good at it but it's something to do."

"I still draw stick people too," Sanji replied with a laugh. "Don't worry."

"Will Zoro be back soon?" LUF asked, drawing devil horns on his stick figures.

"He's on mandatory leave until next week."

"What does that mean?"

Sanji sighed, "It means even if he wants to come back he has to wait until the doctors approve it."

"And next week is a bad week," LUF groaned, smacking his palms against the tile.

"Why's next week a bad week?" But as soon as the question left Sanji's mouth he had his own answer.

TCH laughed, "Cause we'll be drugged up and drooling and hungry for flesh." He laughed even louder, "And if you think Law's bad… You ain't seen nothin' yet…"

"What happened to Law?" Sanji asked, scooting closer to LUF. "Why did he do that? Why was he like that?"

"He's weak." TCH said simply.

"That's not true," LUF argued.

"Then what?" TCH demanded, rolling his tongue against his cheek. "Whaddaya call it then?"

"He's always done it." LUF said, shrugging.

"But why? What is it?" Sanji pressed, tapping his fingers against his leg, wishing for a cigarette.

"It's the medication…" TCH declared before breaking into laughter.

"Law's better at storytelling," LUF sighed, leaning back on his hands and wriggling his feet back and forth. It took a moment but Sanji realized he was tanning.

"Law's not here," Sanji replied, scooting over to sit directly beside LUF. "And, honestly, I don't particularly like Teach, so I'd rather talk to you…"

"I heard that," TCH chuckled.

LUF turned to face Sanji. He unexpectedly touched Sanji's face. His hands were surprisingly cold for being in such a hot room. His skin was soft, but felt almost damp. LUF brushed the hair from over Sanji's eye, tucking it behind his ear. When several strands of Sanji's hair popped out, LUF grunted. He removed Sanji's sunglasses, putting them on his own face. He turned from side to side, modelling the frames. "How do I look?"

"Like I was just robbed by a monkey." Sanji murmured.

LUF made a pouty face and it was surprisingly endearing. Sanji laughed, "You can keep 'em."

"We're not supposed to wear them," LUF mumbled, pushing his cheeks forward to make kissy fish lips.

"They look better on you," Sanji insisted.

"Don't lie to 'im," TCH called from the couch. "It doesn't do 'im any favors."

"I think you do look better," Sanji sighed, ruffling his hand through LUF's hair.

The gesture shocked LUF. He tensed until it was over. And when he realized there was no pain involved his eyes grew wide and his face turned upward in a wide grin. He tilted his head to the side, his fingers strumming against the floor, "It's been years since anyone was brave enough to touch us… Or let us touch them…"

"Yeah, well," Sanji exhaled heavily, "Zoro and me aren't like the others."

"Say that now," TCH barked, no laughter in his voice, "But will you say it next week? Will you say it when you see us? Really see us? And the fucking monsters we are?"

"Don't judge me on things I can't control, like my father, and I won't judge you on things you can't control, like side effects from medication." Sanji said simply.

TCH laughed loud and forced. He rolled over, the couch creaking beneath his weight. "Oh, I hope I don't eat you. You're pretty. It gives me something good to look at."

Sanji turned away, his lashes fluttering irritably over his blue eyes. He licked his teeth, his jaw jutting forward in agitation. He opened his mouth to reply when LUF interjected sweetly, "Deal."

Sanji smiled and nodded, "Deal."

"If Law were here," TCH mused, "He'd be tellin' ya not to get too attached, Luffy."

LUF swallowed and nodded, his face darkening. It caused a weird sensation in Sanji's chest to see him suffering. Sanji closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. He was in no position to be a hero of any sort. He inhaled and exhaled, scolding himself. And then he reminded himself what he was after and he asked again, "So what happened with Law?"

"Law was one of the 15,000 corpses assigned to Deadhouse research. And he was one of the 30 who were brought back to life with the medication." LUF recited, almost as if it were all scripted for him. "Of the 30, only four were capable of speech and communication."

Sanji grabbed onto that information and didn't let go, "Four? Who's the fourth? Where is he?"

LUF turned, his face blank and expressionless, "He's dead."

"When did he die?" Sanji questioned.

"6 years ago," TCH answered, "One of the zookeepers killed him."

"Zookeepers?" Sanji shook his head in confusion.

"One of you people," TCH clarified, "What else should we call you?"

"We're the security team," Sanji insisted.

"Sure, the security team," TCH drawled. He laughed at the ridiculousness of it and Sanji had to agree. He had a point.

"I'm pretty sure zookeepers are much nicer with their residents," Sanji replied, shaking his head.

"But do the animals think so?" TCH questioned, wriggling his thick brows.

"Shut up!" LUF shouted. "Stop ruining things for me!"

"What?" Sanji looked from TCH to LUF in surprise.

"He knows I've never been to a zoo and he's an asshole that always tries to ruin things!" LUF accused, pointing at TCH angrily.

"You've never been to the zoo?" Sanji asked, sitting up straighter.

LUF shook his head, "Nope. But I'm gonna. One day I'll go. I don't care."

"You're never gettin' outta here, stupid," TCH barked.

"Have you been to the zoo?" LUF asked Sanji, peering expectantly into his face.

"Ah, yeah, I went once when I was little, with my mother," Sanji explained. "It was fun. And I must add that the animals were happy and cared for. Zoos are important rehabilitation programs…"

"Luffy died when he was five," TCH revealed suddenly, "So he didn't have time for much."

"Five?" Sanji managed to squeak out.

"All of us died somehow," TCH pointed out, "And yet here we are. Alive and growing and eating and…" TCH paused, "Let's just say they don't provide us with the finer things in life. It makes our shitty life even fucking shittier."

"How did you die?" Sanji asked. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"It's in our files," TCH replied, chuckling, "Didn't you read them?"

"It's a lot of information to process at once," Sanji defended himself, "And I didn't know you guys then. I just saw letters and numbers and research."

"I was stabbed in the gut during a knife fight," TCH explained, "In the prime of my life too. Such a fucking waste to wake up here."

"He was stabbed 36 times," LUF added, "And after five minutes with him you can understand why."

Sanji let out a breathy laugh, "One can see how, yes."

"Fuck you too," TCH snapped. "Like yours is better?"

Sanji held his breath. He was very curious to hear LUF's details. But LUF only smiled, placing his fingers on the frames of his sunglasses. He lifted them slightly to give TCH a certain look before saying simply, "Mine was a tragic accident. And I'm sure everyone involved is filled with remorse…"

"What kind of accident?" Sanji murmured.

"Accidental discharge of a weapon," LUF replied, "Fatal gunshot wound to the chest."

Sanji's brows raised in surprise, "Wow." And then Sanji shook his head, "Who shot a five year old?"

"That's all that's in the file," LUF said, "So I don't know much more."

"Can you remember… before…?"

LUF shrugged, "Not much at all." LUF looked toward TCH for confirmation and the man nodded, "But it seems to be freshest after the medication wears off. Like the day after we get back to normal, I can almost remember faces and people…"

"And what about Law?"

LUF hesitated for a moment before answering, "He died of some disease. It wiped out like everyone wherever he's from…"

"And he has episodes even when he's not on the medication?"

"Law's weak," TCH barked, "If any of us should've died, it should've been Law."

"Shut up." LUF growled.

"Why's he weak?" Sanji pressed on.

"What they're injecting us with never leaves," TCH explained. "It's not fat soluble, if that means anything to you."

"I have a Bachelor's in chemical engineering." Sanji replied.

"Don't care," TCH murmured before continuing, "The virus brought us back to life and it keeps us alive. Those 26 others never spoke a word. They drooled all over each other. They ate researchers and tried to eat us. And they sure as hell ate a fuck ton of zookeepers."

"They tried to eat you? Even though you also have the virus?" Sanji wondered.

"Eventually they euthanized the others. They were too dangerous and too strong to keep around," TCH continued. "And yeah, they kept trying to eat us, the valuable subjects."

TCH paused for breath before adding, "Immediately Law fucked us over. He would revert unexpectedly. He would drool and attack us, for no reason. They decided we were too unpredictable to be used for whatever the hell they ordered us for and now they pump us full of the virus once a month to see if we can still come back from it."

"This department has the highest funding after the CEO and COO," Sanji replied, "I'm sure it doesn't make it better, but you're definitely a priority to the powers that be."

TCH let out a peculiar noise, nearly mewling in glee, "Oh that does make me feel better. I wanna be special…"

"It does make me curious," Sanji admitted, "Why Law has relapses and you others don't."

"I think it's the small study group," Caesar said suddenly. Sanji snapped up in surprise, on his feet in a moment.

"I didn't realize you were in here…" Sanji breathed out.

Caesar laughed before continuing, "I believe if I had more subjects LAW's anomaly would be more prevalent."

"Makes sense." Sanji said, nodding his head.

Caesar smiled, leaning in closely, "And if you have any other questions, Little Vinsmoke, you're more than welcome to ask me…" Caesar gestured to the Ds, "This is very unorthodox."

"To speak to them?!" Sanji questioned, his eyes narrowing.

Caesar laughed again, "You're very unlike your father."

"Thank you." Sanji retorted.

Caesar smiled, "Speaking of your father, there's a video call waiting for you in my office."

Sanji blinked in response. He inhaled deeply before turning back to LUF and TCH, "See you guys tomorrow, I guess…"

TCH chortled, "No one's been fired from Deadhouse for years… Restarting the tradition?!"

Sanji smiled widely, nodding his head. He was just given an irreplaceable piece of information. "Hopefully not," Sanji said simply. "Bye, Luffy."

"Bye!" LUF called, chasing Sanji until the yellow line. He stuck out his tongue at Caesar's back, encouraged by Sanji's responsive laughter. He waved until Sanji was too far to see him anymore.

Sanji followed Caesar into his office. The video stream was cast on the wall. Sanji sat down in Casesar's chair, ignoring the scientist's huffs of indignation. "Good morning, gentlemen."

Two blonde men, in two separate locations, were shown on the wall. Sanji smiled into the computer's camera. The blonde on the left smiled wide, almost too wide to be perceived as friendly. "Good morning, San-ji," the smiling man rumbled, his voice low and slow.

"Sanji," his father said quietly, his blue eyes sharp and critical.

"What can I do for you?" Sanji asked, leaning back in Caesar's chair.

"Caesar has some concerns," the blonde man sighed. "Do I need to be concerned, Sanji?"

Sanji smiled, as charming and confident as he could muster, "Absolutely not, Mr. Donquixote."

An hour and two ass chewings later, Sanji was knocking on Zoro's apartment door. Zoro opened the door a crack, opening it wide when he saw it was Sanji. Zoro immediately went to the fridge and grabbed two beers. He popped the top with his teeth before handing it to Sanji.

"Rough night?" Zoro murmured, sitting down on the firm, navy blue couch.

"Day? Night? Who knows?" Sanji sighed, placing his beer bottle between his thighs. "Care if I smoke?"

Zoro shrugged, "Not really."

"Ya know," Sanji began, "I guess I knew they had died, but it didn't really sink in…"

"What're you on about?" Zoro muttered before drinking from his bottle.

"They were regular people. And then they died. And suddenly they woke up here and this is their life now…" Sanji explained, shaking his head. "Can you imagine?"

"I've had a lot of time to think today," Zoro said, "And the thing that's fucking me up the most is thinking what the hell the other units do?"

"Jesus," Sanji groaned, sinking back against the sofa. "You know, forgetting this might be the best gift we'll ever receive."

Zoro nodded in agreement before finishing his beer. "I saw Diez today. He looks like shit but he's moving around."

"That's good," Sanji replied, chugging the rest of his beer. "Well, sort of."

"He's on some serious pain meds," Zoro added, "It's not pretty. All pus-y and green…"

Sanji pulled Zoro's shirt down, exposing the bite on his shoulder. "Yours doesn't look so bad."

"Doctor said the same thing," Zoro mentioned. "Said I had the best bite they'd seen. Whatever that means."

"It means somewhere deep down Law was in there and didn't want to hurt you…" Sanji said.

Zoro laughed, "Were you there? He was about to kill us both."

Sanji shook his head and rubbed his eyes, "Ignore me. I'm emotionally compromised…"

"How so?"

Sanji sighed, "He's never been to the zoo, Zoro."

"Who?!" Zoro asked, his brows knit together in confusion.

"Luffy."

"Don't get too attached," Zoro warned, knocking his empty bottle gently against Sanji's head. "There ain't anything we can do for them."

"We can be kind," Sanji said simply, chewing on his bottom lip. "I understand the thought; it's cruel to get their hopes up or whatever. We'll be gone in two years. I understand. But what's the alternative?"

"I don't disagree with you," Zoro murmured, "Why are you yelling at me?"

"I'm not yelling at you!" Sanji yelled, "I'm just saying; If they'll always remember us, isn't it better to have been kind?!"

"You are too high strung." Zoro declared. "I agree with you… I was telling you the same thing yesterday…"

"This job is aging me…," Sanji groaned, sliding down and nearly off the couch.

"You have greys already," Zoro pointed out.

Sanji's hands flew to his hair, "Where?"

"I was kidding," Zoro sighed, "But relax. This job will suck even worse if you die and I have to get a new boss and shift partner…"

"So how do we bring a zoo to Deadhouse…?" Sanji wondered, smoke unfurling past his lips.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Zoro refused firmly, shaking his head, "That's insane. And won't happen. And there's certainly no 'we' involved in it."

"You didn't see his face," Sanji murmured, "If you had you'd be figuring out how to get a zoo in there too…"

"Jesus, how old are you?!" Zoro groaned.

Sanji puffed on his cigarette easily before answering, "I'll be 19 in March."

"You're in charge of Deadhouse and you're a fucking 18 year old…"

"How old are you?"

"That's not the point."

"I've read your file, you're a few months younger than me." Sanji gloated. "So what's the issue?"

"Well, I'm not in charge… That's the difference…" Zoro argued, "Everyone knows the brain isn't fully mature until 25…"

Sanji eyed Zoro in amusement, taking his cigarette between his fingers, "Everyone?"

"Yeah, Mister Scientist," Zoro maintained, "Even dumbass MMA fighters know that."

"So why do you think the preferred age range for Deadhouse unit employees is 18-22?" Sanji questioned slowly.

Zoro thought for a moment before answering, "Younger, faster, stronger?"

"Maybe," Sanji allowed, "Or perhaps it's because most men aren't married at that age. And there'll be no one to miss them…" Sanji took another drag of his cigarette, "20 Million is a hot amount of money, how often do you think they actually pay it out?"

"No fucking clue," Zoro admitted, "They made it seem like Deadhouse employees drop like flies, but there are really only six at a time plus researchers…"

"My job before coming to Brazil was to staff the units of this compound, Deadhouse included. Deadhouse is a dangerous place and it always needs new employees… It was the bane of my existence. So when an upper managerial position opened up, I assigned myself as director, got approval from the D Foundation and then quit my actual job with Germa Six Six via Memo."

"What do your brothers do with the company?" Zoro asked, walking over to the fridge to get another beer.

"Heir and Spare shadow the Judge; learn from the Asshole-in-Chief how to run the Germa. And the youngest is in China, doing something they don't like me enough to explain…" Sanji said, "And then my sister, she's the oldest, she is currently the acting CFO of Germa Six Six."

"I'm kinda lost," Zoro admitted, "So I'm just gonna nod."

"She's actually the one who signs the checks," Sanji said with a grin.

"Got it."

"Think we could take a kitten or a puppy in?" Sanji inquired, "We could keep it in the security lounge and it can be our mascot."

"People get eaten in Deadhouse," Zoro said flatly, "I don't even wanna think about a puppy or kitten…"

"Well we wouldn't leave it in there with them. We'd supervise," Sanji maintained, annoyed his suggestion wasn't well-received. "And we obviously wouldn't bring it when they were medicated…."

"I got bit, you didn't," Zoro snapped, "It fucking hurt. It hurts now. He's not normal, physically. He's too strong to be normal. There's no way the medication is the only testing they've done…" Zoro breathed heavily into his hands, "I just see this backfiring in a fucking traumatic blaze. Deadhouse will be known for being puppy murderers…"

"Okay, I get it…" Sanji groaned, grabbing Zoro's remote. He turned on the television and began flipping through the guide at a rapid pace.

"Now you're mad," Zoro realized.

"I'm not mad," Sanji argued, continuing to blast through the list of channels.

"You're mad," Zoro insisted.

"Well, now I'm mad!" Sanji growled, turning to find Zoro smirking. Sanji shook his head, an irritated laugh escaping his lips, "Fuck you."

"I don't have any siblings," Zoro murmured, "What do I do next? Kick you? Steal the remote?"

Sanji groaned loudly, launching the remote roughly at Zoro's head. Zoro caught it, much to Sanji's surprise. Zoro flipped through the channels before settling on a subtitled film. Sanji shrugged, making a surprised face, "You can read?"

"Shut up." Zoro growled, "Of course I can read."

"Why this?" Sanji demanded, leaning forward on the couch.

"Watch, listen, understand," Zoro instructed, taking a swig of beer. "It's a good movie."

"Looks sad already," Sanji accused.

Zoro nodded, "It is."

"Then why are we watching it?" Sanji questioned.

Zoro shrugged uncomfortably, "Because when it's over, it's over. Just like real life. It doesn't matter how sad the movie is, we can't do anything about it. We have to learn to accept bad endings we can't change."