Won'ton't own anything but my ideas.

Blood Sport

"Have you seen this?"

Zoro looked up from the table where the homework he was scrambling to finish before school started was scattered around and littered with crumbs from the toast hanging out of his mouth. Law was holding a newspaper, head turned to look over his shoulder where Kid was standing at the counter, throwing together a sandwich that was drowning in meat and mayonnaise. Kid reached over and took the paper, laying it out next to his ingredients to skim through as he finished making his lunch.

Zoro looked over to the other side of the table where Killer, having lost interest long ago, was busy trying to cover every inch of his own toast equally with jam. Zoro rolled his eyes, turning back to his geometry. A quick glance at the clock told him that he would have to do three problems a minute in order to get it done before he had to drive Killer to school. He'd have to take another zero for this. Ugh. It was definitely worth last night's bonfire though.

Every time Ace threw something like a house party, and especially when he organized a bonfire, doing homework was in no way worth missing seeing everyone. Ace drew people like moths to a flame, and last night everyone had miraculously been free. Chopper had had a light homework load, which meant that they had spent the whole night teaching him how to get drunk ("encouraging" him to keep drinking and assuring him he hadn't reached his limit yet). Luffy ate his way through the first half of the night and slept the other half, but he had actually remembered to come this time. Sabo brought two cases of beer with him and was enveloped in a pig pile the second he arrived. Usopp brought Kaya and Nami had been there too, no doubt after Ace again, but the attention towards her had been drowned out by the arrival of Ace's older friends: Marco, Thatch and Conis. Vivi had even come after Robin offered to pick her up on her way into town, and Zoro was always game to talk with Robin.

Robin made him uneasy, much more so than anyone ever had, and the adrenaline rush was nice when talking to her. It also meant that he could spend more time relaxing and drinking with Thatch, Marco, Sabo, and Ace while the younger kids experimented with the alcohol. Thatch, the oldest at nineteen, had had more than his quota of teenage drinking and was fine as long as he had two or three beers to get him through the night. He was also the one who was most inclined to keep an eye on those experimenting and everyone else was fine to let him do so.

Zoro had been surprised when Ace showed up with Saga, but not displeased. Saga and Zoro had run into each other a couple of times before when Mihawk had been forcing Zoro to take lessons from someone other than Law and Shanks, and they'd wrestled a little, practicing their attacks and blocks on each other. Saga was strong enough even with one arm missing and was a decent guy, and Zoro wasn't really sure what to think about the looks Saga gave him, but beyond the thinking level, he knew they made something jump behind his navel and his face heat up.

Right off the bat Saga had grabbed two beers and plunked down next to Zoro, passing him one and cranking the top of the other off with his teeth, what with the lack of two hands and all. He held out his hand, offering to do the same with Zoro's and Zoro had barked out a small laugh, choked slightly by the nervous lump in his throat, and handed his bottle back to the older boy. He'd been tense at first, but Saga had no problems launching right into a conversation and pulling Zoro into his light bantering, and as the night went on and the beer kept coming, the talk got easier and the two somehow kept moving closer and closer.

Marco, Sabo, and Ace spent the night swapping stories, occasionally pulling Robin in to tell her account—the brief few sentences she would tell when not giggling at their antics—and yelling at Zoro for not joining them more often. They didn't know Saga all that well, being that he only knew them through Zoro and that Saga never saw Zoro anymore since Zoro had left the dojo and gone back to live with Kid and Law (Ace said he ran into him in the liquor store), but Saga seemed happy to sit and listen to their ridiculous escapades and laugh along with everyone. His laughter seemed to pull Zoro more into the humor of the conversation too, which was a plus in and of itself. Thatch gave the two of them a knowing look, but beyond that it seemed to go unnoticed.

It was nice finally not being too young to hang out with those who were mentally his age. Watching Luffy and Usopp trip over themselves with vodka coursing through their system and Chopper puke his brains out into the reeds made it so easy to remember why he didn't miss that time period. Besides, Law and Kid had always let him drink with them, so his experimental phase had ended a couple years ago. Vivi had also attached herself to him by the middle of the night, and with Saga on his other side, jaunty as usual, he had nothing to complain about. Drinking time was bonding time, and being that nearly all of them lived in separate towns and went to different schools (excluding Thatch and Robin, who had already graduated, Thatch going off to culinary school and Robin doing god knows what), it was difficult to find time with everyone.

"Listen," Ace slung an arm over Zoro's shoulder a minute or two after Vivi had left, hair swishing wildly around her as she leapt onto Nami's back and sent them both tumbling to the ground. Ace had interrupted the teasing Saga had picked right up with after Vivi left, but the older boy didn't seem to mind, so Zoro grinned and offered Ace his beer. Ace took a second to blink at the bewildering object that was now far too close to his face for his eyes to focus on and then took a swig before handing it back to Zoro.

Saga laughed at the exchange and moved to stand. Zoro felt something jump in his throat, and moved to shove Ace off of him but Saga stopped him with a calm wave of his hand. "I'm getting another beer. You want one?"

Immediately the gnawing worry in his chest ceased and Zoro nodded, stupid half-grin back in place. Saga slipped him another smile and then turned to join Thatch and Marco by the cooler.

"Listen, listen," Ace started again, scooching closer into Zoro's personal space. "I really, you know, don't care."

Zoro snorted, alcohol clouding his own vision slightly, which gave him no right to judge. "About what?"

"You're a good kid… I forget all the time that you're only sixteen!"

Another snort. "Thanks."

"So, like, if you like her, I really don't care."

"…Who?" Zoro wracked his brain for the person Ace could have meant. He obviously didn't mean Saga. Not that Zoro was bringing up Saga for any particular reason. Damn the alcohol. "Conis? Didn't you two break up? …Like, a couple months ago?"

Ace shook his head and waved his hand in a flippant manner. "Yea, bu' we're fine, she's cool."

Conis was cool. She was the teenager that did most of the insane things she did specifically to rile her parents up. They were very strict and very protective. Conis had been born with a silver spoon in her mouth, with the best education and everything money could buy. So naturally that meant she started hanging around with Ace and his friends, coercing them into teaching her how to fight with her fists and how to use a knife, stealing things and running from the police, the list went on and on. It took a long time to get her worked up, but when she was mad, Conis had the quickest tongue and the most painful bark. No bite, but the bark was enough.

She also had the most amazing angel wings tattooed across the entirety of her back—her most recent rebellion against her parents. Conis was cool, but she wasn't exactly what Zoro was looking for. The whole rebelling for the hell of it thing was too much drama; he'd heard the screaming fights between her and her parents and it was not something he wanted to get involved in. He had enough of that with Kid and Law.

"…So who then?" he took another gulp from his beer.

"Vivi, like, hangs all over you, all the time, and so, you know, if you like her I really don't care."

"She jus' does that because Robin trusts me," Zoro said around the lip of his beer. His eyes drifted of their own accord up to the cooler where Saga had struck up a conversation with the two already there and was laughing along with them, alcohol bleeding happily through their veins. Zoro felt the smile creeping back onto his lips. His stomach flipped weirdly when Sabo bounded over out of nowhere and leapt onto Saga's back—apparently they lived pretty close to each other and had hung out before—but he was too confused as to what the sensation meant to really pay attention after that, and Sabo jumped down to get another beer so it didn't even matter.

Ace's indignant cry snapped him back. "Robin trusts me!"

Zoro just grinned and stuck the bottle back in his mouth, ignoring Ace's dejected look and how much he resembled a sad puppy. And then with incredible resiliency he shook it off with a literal shake of his head and was back to a boozed-up smile. Zoro laughed to himself at the snap change.

"Whatever, she's Robin."

"Exactly."

"You know she only trusts you because you didn't trust her at first, right? She doesn't get attached easily so she's biased for other people that don't."

Is that why? He'd actually never been able to figure out just why Robin trusted him. There was no reason to, they hadn't been close until very recently, which was her initiation, and when they first started hanging around each other Zoro hadn't been very discreet about his distrust of the daughter of a military spy that showed very few emotions and a love for all things macabre and morbid. He'd heard rumors that Robin's mother had actually defected before getting killed, but with Killer around he hadn't liked the idea that Robin would be there too.

Zoro wasn't about to mention that Robin's level of trusting Zoro had reached her offering to help him lose his virginity. That would actually offend Ace.

Zoro waited for a minute, glancing to the right where Ace was slumped against him, but the older boy never continued so Zoro turned back to his beer. He occupied himself with watching Vivi's electric blue hair swish through the sand as she laughed with Nami as he drank.

"…What is it with you and defiant girls?" he asked finally, tipping the rest of his beer down his throat before grinding the bottle into the sand next to him so it would stand up. Ace gave him a look, obviously questioning his IQ level, before explaining.

"You know that whole "flame" in your heart, or the relationship?"

Ugh, what a romantic. Zoro took a breath and tried not to role his eyes. "Yeah?"

"It's a lot better if it's a roaring fire…" he winked, "and that blue fire is the hottest there is."

"She's my age." Actually, he was pretty sure she was younger.

"You act as old as my grandpa sometimes, get over yourself."

Now it was Zoro's turn to give him a look. "She doesn't act like that."

"Nah, but she's not a kid either. She's got enough spirit to keep her young, but the soul of someone who's seen a lot of years."

Zoro sat quietly, mulling over Ace's words before he finally remembered the whole point of this conversation. "I don't like her."

"You don't?"

Zoro shook his head and made another face. "That would mean I'd have to be nice to Nami. Completely kills the attraction." Not that there was any really. She was hot but that was about it. She was way too bubbly and head-in-the-clouds for his personality.

Ace thought about that for a second before breaking into a signature "D" brother grin and clapping him heavily on the back. "Cool."

Zoro just nodded, looking up with that stupid half smile as Saga returned and handed him a beer. The guy had even brought one over for Ace, though Zoro was pretty sure Thatch had cut the older boy off already. Ace poked Zoro's side as Saga sat back down.

"Conis on the other hand—"

"No."

"So, what then?" Ace sat up, pulling his knife out of his pocket to flip out the bottle opener. The cap flipped through the air and landed in the sand by Zoro's feet, where Ace seemed to remember that Zoro had a new bottle too and popped his top with coordination that a drunken man really shouldn't have at this point in the night. "You're just going to float through life a virgin until the perfect person comes along and hope you don't suck badly enough to scare them off the first night you're together? Anyone stupid enough to go for you won't have saved themselves for that."

Zoro felt a nervous twitter in his chest as his cap hit the ground alongside Ace's, for some reason worrying that Saga might have just that sort of reaction, especially now that he'd definitely overheard that, but he stomped on it just as quickly as it had risen up. What the fuck was wrong with him?

Maybe he should cut himself off. What number beer was this anyways? …Eight? Nine? It took him a lot to get drunk—closer to twelve or thirteen, but this was definitely enough to start feeling the effects. He hadn't been expecting to go through this many; he'd have to give Thatch and Marco more money before the night was out.

Ace reached over to do Saga's cap as well and the other boy gave him a warm smile, preserving his teeth and letting Ace pry his off. The fact that Saga hadn't been chased off yet was helping Zoro relax, and took he another swig.

"I didn't say that," he answered Ace finally, giving the older boy a shove with his heel. "I just don't wanna get some stupid girl in bed that I don't like and then have to please too. Girls talk; I have a reputation at stake."

Ace and Saga laughed, and Zoro felt himself grinning again in Saga's direction before he quickly shoved his bottle in his mouth.

"Well," Ace said suddenly, drawing both sets of eyes to him. "I'd better go accompany the young lady; seems she's all alone tonight." And he gave the two of them a smile and a wink and set off confidently down the beach to where Vivi and Nami were chatting excitedly with great hand flourishes. Zoro laughed again, realizing that Ace would be hitting on Vivi in front of Nami. That gave him way more pleasure than it should have.

"He's a good guy," Saga said suddenly, and Zoro turned back towards the water to sit side by side with the older boy, nodding his agreement as he nursed his beer. "Came right up to me in the liquor store. I don't even think he'd been drinking at that point."

Zoro snorted, shaking his head. "Yeah, he does that. He wasn't drunk."

"Bold."

"I would say obnoxious, but that works too."

Now it was Saga's turn to laugh, and Zoro felt his eyes being drawn to the side to watch the older man's profile. It was probably the drunken rose-tinted glasses, but the only word that Zoro could come up with that seemed to fit the situation was "wow".

"So," Saga started again after they'd been sitting there quietly for a while. "Who's this certain girl you've got your eye on that you're waiting for?"

Zoro nearly choked on his swallow, but managed to get it down without making any extra noise and calling attention to himself. He set the bottle slowly on his leg, grip tight on the neck, weighing his options for answering that question. There was no way he'd been interpreting things wrong all night, not with those smoldering looks; everything was in his court now.

He shrugged finally, taking another sip to stay calm. It gave his hands something to do at least. "No one. That's the fourth time Ace has tried to get me with Conis, even though I'm pretty sure she's dating someone now, but she just… doesn't do it for me."

"Wado the only girl in your life right now?"

That one merited a full smile. "Yeah, she's good for me. You?"

Saga shook his head, twisting his bottle into the sand next to him so he could lean back on his arm and look at the stars. "Girls aren't for me. Too soft."

Zoro was kind of impressed. It took guts to just come out and say it like that, especially around guys from this area, where a good number of them were pretty homophobic. "…Yeah, I see that."

Zoro swallowed, realizing that he hadn't even admitted this to Law or Kid yet, and he was about to say it to some guy that gave him pathetic twitters just because he was drinking. "…They only do it for me some of the time."

Zoro kept his face blank and facing straight ahead as Saga turned, watching him for a moment before he leaned forward to grab his beer and finish the last few gulps. Zoro took a silent breath, feeling the energy begin to crackle in between them in the air. He was sure Saga felt it too.

"We should spar again soon," Saga said when he'd finished his drink and returned it to its place in the ground to free up his hand. "You're not around enough; it sucks not seeing you at the dojo."

"Oh, you miss me?" Zoro gave him a cocky grin and Saga returned it easily, shifting his body to face Zoro completely, still leaning forward with one elbow on his knee. An assertive aura was rolling off of him in waves, and a pleasant shiver skittered up Zoro's spine at the intensity of his gaze.

"Maybe I do," he said coolly.

The nervous twitter was back, but the alcohol seemed to be doing enough of its job. "Yeah? What're you gonna do about it?"

Saga shrugged, seeming to think to himself about an appropriate retort, but the alcohol was hitting him too and Zoro saw him shrug again mentally before the older boy placed his hand on the ground and leaned in suddenly, laying his lips firmly against Zoro's.

Zoro's heart leapt up into his throat, and then back down into his stomach and back up again as Saga moved in closer, giving Zoro's brain no time to even catch up with the kiss before he was splayed flat on his back with Saga balancing above him, forcefully dominating the kiss. Zoro's back arched and the spot behind his navel took on a distinct heat that hadn't been there before. He reached up slowly, hands hovering uncertainly in the air, an inch from Saga's shoulders, when Luffy whooped suddenly from where he and Usopp were playing and Zoro's hands snapped to shove Saga back. His eyes flicked around nervously, looking for someone who may have seen them, but everyone else seemed preoccupied with their own night. Remembering the body above him, he looked up sheepishly to the man hovering above him, who was only grinning back at him. Saga sat back on his heels and, not once breaking eye contact with Zoro, reached down and gripped Zoro firmly through his jeans. Zoro's head dropped back to the ground and a thick sound rolled off of his tongue.

Saga's grin was confident as he rubbed his palm over Zoro's increasingly sensitive cock, moving his hand in ways that told Zoro without a doubt that this wasn't his first time. "Drive you home?" His voice just oozed coolness.

Zoro nodded, still slightly shaken from the first touch, and let Saga grab his hand and pull him to his feet, leading him back to where he had parked off in the woods.

"Eustass?"

"I'm almost done," Kid said as he shoved another slice of ham in his mouth. Law pinched his lips together slightly and reached around to take the newspaper back.

"You weren't actually reading it," he retorted. Zoro and Killer exchanged a smirk before returning to their separate distractions.

"So what? They find a guy dead in an alley and suddenly it's huge news?"

"It was the way he was killed—did you read any of it?"

"Traf, I'm trying to get to the garage early so we could just get this thing we're working on—"

"The guy was totally drained."

"And?"

"Of blood."

That made Zoro stop. The pencil stopped scratching across the table as he paused to listen to the end of the conversation and Killer's crunching went quiet as he followed suit.

Kid let out a slow breath and shoved his sandwich into a paper bag. "And?"

"…You don't think this is something we need to keep an eye—"

"Killer's not the only one in the world; this shouldn't be that surprising."

"What's surprising is the lack of care to clean up after themselves. Just because deaths like this have never been covered doesn't mean they haven't happened. The tracks were just buried well enough to not call attention to it. This guy was found completely drained with two punctures in his brachial artery. They were messy too, which means the guy died struggling."

"Alright, we'll keep an eye on it," Kid kissed Law lightly on the head before turning towards the door. "I have to go. Zoro, you got Killer?"

"Yeah," Zoro drawled, turning back to his homework. Three minutes, twenty questions.

He leaned back with a groan and dropped his pencil on the table.

Law looked up at him out of the corner of his eye and then down at the homework before back up at him. "…Was the bonfire good?"

"Awesome," Zoro returned easily before reaching forward to shove the paper into his backpack. "Everyone made it, even Robin and Vivi this time, and Ace brought Saga." What had really happened last night danced across Zoro's tongue, but he decided against saying anything at the last moment, instead covering his slip with, "You remember the kid I used to fight at the dojo, right?"

Law nodded absently with a bored "Mm-hmm," leaning over to look at Zoro's paper more closely.

"Zoro! You said you'd bring me next time!" Killer wailed suddenly and Zoro smirked.

"I said I'd bring you next time we weren't doing things that were too old for you. Or when Law says you're ok to drink."

"Dad—!"

"No," Law cut him off easily and leaned forward, snatching the paper out of Zoro's hand like a hawk. "You're eight."

"When can I then?"

"I have to do some more tests before I decide. Alcohol gets into your blood stream and with your blood I don't know how that would work. Your body might not be able to process it."

"But it's the liver that processes it, not the blood!"

Zoro grinned at the loud whine backed by information too advanced for Killer's age. With all the testing Law had done on him over the years to make sure his body could handle everything from sugar to sunscreen, Killer had all of the medical terminology down.

"And the level of blood you have in your body might affect that, especially because we don't know if your body destroys the blood cells or if they aren't strong enough and just deteriorate. For whatever reason though, your blood disintegrates—especially under light—and your liver may be partially to blame. Alcohol could make the problem worse. Because you can't filter it, the alcohol might stay in your blood stream indefinitely. You could be like a cat when given LSD and never get sober."

"That isn't true and you know it!"

"Well, let's not test the theory."

Killer groaned loudly and went back to munching on his toast. Zoro blinked as Law picked up his pencil and began furiously scribbling, sitting back in slight wonder and crossing his arms. Law glanced up at him for a second before back at the paper.

"It seems Kid and I taught you something right," he said with a small smile.

Family first. Always family first. And with both Law and Kid's backgrounds as orphans, as well as his own, he knew that him displaying family first held a certain point of pride for Law. Zoro was sure there was a time in his life when Law wondered if he'd ever get close to anyone like that.

Zoro got up from the table and grabbed his and Killer's lunches off the counter. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah," Killer slipped his backpack on and ran to get his shoes just as Law handed him his now finished homework.

Zoro grinned. "Thanks, really."

"Get it done early next time. Mihawk will kill me if you fail in any subjects. He thinks Kid is stupid, so therefor not to blame and Killer won't be alone if I die, but I'd like to stick around and see how you two end up. How can I know if we failed as parents if I don't see the end of the experiment?"

Zoro made a face and stuck his tongue out, provoking Law to pull his bottom eyelid down and stick his own tongue out.

"Thee you athter thcool," the surgeon said around his tongue. Zoro just stuck his tongue out further, and Killer joined in with a loud "THHHPPPBBBTTTT" sound when he noticed the exchange between the two before following the older boy out the door.

"You still can't drink!" Law called as the door slammed, smiling to himself and returning to the newspaper.

-oOo-

"The number of victims has continued to rise since Saturday, when a whopping thirty-two people were found dead and drained of blood in an alley just inside the city. Prior to that, the "vampire killers" as they've been nicknamed, had only been leaving a single body every two or three days. All of the victims have had their blood removed, and no correlation has been found between any of the victims. The ages range from seventeen to thirty-nine; both males and females from all races have been found in all corners of the city. The victims did not appear to have known each other and came from different areas of the city and different socioeconomic statuses. The only thing they all had in common was that no one saw them being attacked and no one heard anyone call for help, even though there were people not far from the vicinity of the crime when forensic specialists estimate the deaths to have occurred. Including the tragic deaths from the last week, and the missing people that have yet to turn up and are thought to have been taken by the same group, the death toll has reached eighty-three."

Vampire killers. It was far too ironic. The screen flashed with pictures of victims with their families and the owners of local stores that had been shut down, intermittently switching back to the reporter who—if her unease said anything—was used to reporting on high school sports teams and other highly uninteresting news. The fact that it was their home city made the news even harder to deliver.

"Police are reminding people to remain indoors at night and to avoid traveling alone until more information is found about the killers. Most of the bodies have been found after dark, but twelve of the victims—a father of three walking to work, a lawyer that had left the law firm building during her lunch break, and a recent graduate from the local high school—have all been found during the day. Police also say that due to the locations of the victims and the number of bodies found on Saturday, there are at least fifteen killers and probably more on the loose and all acting without selection of victims, and are asking people to take extreme care when going outside. Due to the fact that all of the blood has been drained from the bodies, police are speculating that only adults have been attacked so far because of the amount in their bodies. Police are monitoring known black market areas of trade and businesses like blood donation collectors, but no spike has been found in any of the places investigated. As of today and the recent decision of the courts, all most public places have been shut down to try and keep the number of people out on the streets down. All schools in the surrounding area, DMVs, parks, the zoo, and others have been ordered to close. Grocery stores and hospitals remain open under law, but officials want to remind everyone to take extra precautions when venturing outside. You may check online for a full list of establishments that have been temporarily closed. Government officials are now deciding on the severity of the situation, and if more police from surrounding areas need to be sent in or if the circumstances require military invention—"

"They'd better send the fucking military in. It's their fucking fault," Law snapped suddenly and slapped the power button, making the television wobble dangerously on the rickety table. Everyone watched him as he stormed out of the room, no doubt back to the files he had been able to sneak out of the hospital during the recent confusion of the swarm of pronounced-dead-at-the-scene people being flooded into the hospital and the following paranoia. Apparently, by "let's keep an eye on the issue" he'd meant that he would hack into the military database in the hospital and download all of their information. It was only blind luck that the hack had been missed, smothered under the paperwork of all the dead people popping up around the city.

Law had been pouring over case after case of what they had come to find were military experiments being done on "negligible senescent porphyric humanoids," or "NSPH's" for short. The most recent one he'd read was of the first experiments done on an NSPH captured in 1583. There was no information on how old the man was or where he was living when he was captured, and there was nothing on how he'd died.

Law didn't know where the sudden spike in NSPH's had originated from, but he did know that the military (from many different countries over the centuries, according to the paperwork) was "balls deep in their own shit" as Kid described it. None of the subjects appeared to be venomous, so for whatever reason it was that the number of NSPH's was rising, they themselves weren't to blame. Any parents of the subjects that had been documented and were completely normal with no "superhuman" defects. NSPH's had literally appeared out of nowhere.

"…Well…" Killer said after a moment, no doubt waiting to see if Law would cool down and return to the living room. "So many people are being attacked, sooner or later one is going to get caught… won't they see something in an autopsy?" He looked around the room for any input. "I mean, my DNA looks different—"

"If the cover up is worth anything than nothing will be found and nothing will be released," Law called from the other room, his voice clipped.

Kid took a deep breath and adjusted the bandana further down on his head. "So now what?"

"You mean now that everything has been shut down and no one is out on the streets even though the number of NSPH is still rising?" Law snarled from the kitchen. "Now they start actually hunting, instead of just happening upon any prey like they have been. And the government still refuses to do anything to help, because by helping this early on in a relatively small crisis, they'd be admitting some sort of fault, which is already being speculated so they want to stay removed. But by the time they do get their asses in gear, this will be too big to stop!"

Law stormed back into the room and gestured wildly to the mountain of papers burying the table. "There are one hundred and forty-two cases here. One hundred and eight have been killed during experimentation. Thirteen have been shipped out of the country and traded to other militaries. Four have escaped, including Killer, with one being found in another city and killed during recapture, and there are current records of fifteen still being held in other facilities around the country. That leaves seven NSPH rampaging the city, who are apparently very angry if they've killed eighty-three people—except that seven NSPH would die if they consumed that much blood. Eighty-three victims killed over the course of two weeks mean closer to fifty NSPH, unless they're storing a lot of blood. Killer is a negligible senescent porphyric humanoid minor, and he doesn't have the speed or the strength or any other traits that that make this situation really scary. Negligible senescent porphyric humanoid major on the other hand makes folklore vampires look like reality, and considering the lack of evidence found and how the victims literally just vanish before turning up as bodies, I'd say we have a sufficient lack of NSPH minor!" By now, he was inches away from Kid's face.

"Traf, calm down—"

"So not only have they set a monster loose with no record of its existence, now they're shutting down the only source of food around!"

"Jesus, Traf, Killer is right here!" Kid snarled, advancing on Law. What Law normally did then was take a step back to keep from riling Kid up any further, but the doctor held his ground and kept glaring. Zoro's head flicked back and forth between the two, unsure if he should try and intervene or just get Killer out of the room so he wouldn't see whatever followed. Shanks used to joke about the way Law and Kid fought when they first met, but he never elaborated, so Zoro could only assume that meant the fights were either really bland or really, really bad.

"I'm ok—" Killer interjected quietly before Law started again.

"When the military does get involved they'll just neutralize any possible threat because the situation will have become that bad, which I would bet my license is why it'll take them so long to respond—"

"Traf—!"

"And once they start, how long do you think it'll take them to go through the paperwork and realize that Killer's history is a dead end right around the exact age and time NSPH139 disappeared from a military facility?! A facility, by the way, that's just two hours away from here and linked to a hospital I work at!"

Law finally stopped and the room went silent as the realization suddenly hit them. Law had both hands pressed over his eyes and his lips pinched tightly together, like he was holding himself back from screaming any more. Any other yelling would just be out of fear and Law was smart enough to realize that everyone else in the room would realize what he was feeling if he continued. He didn't, however, seem to be calm enough though to relax the knots that had worked their way into his shoulders or to keep his breathing controlled.

Zoro's eyes flicked over to Killer, where the younger boy was slumped down into his chair, eyes obscured by his thick bangs but bottom lip quivering as reality struck them all in the face.

They couldn't just ride this one out.

Kid's head dropped and he stilled. He crossed his arms and stood staring at the ground for a minute until Law finally let the hands fall from his eyes and jammed them into his pockets.

"So what do we do?"

Law breathed, defeated, shaking his head slowly. "…I don't know."

"Should we leave?"

"And go where?" Law snorted, pushing his hat back slightly to play with his bangs.

Kid's expression darkened. "You don't get to freak out like that and not have anything to follow it up with—"

"And where's your brilliant plan?" Law returned vapidly, not breaking eye contact.

"We get the fuck out of here and wait until this has passed. We invent new paperwork for Killer, destroy the current stuff, change his age, and let them think NSPH139 died years ago like Killer would have if you hadn't discovered his experiment file. No one would have guessed to give him blood without it and they don't know that anyone outside the experiment saw it. He was a deteriorating infant, he wasn't getting by on his own."

Law didn't answer.

"Or," Kid growled, miffed at the lack of response, "we wait until the tanks roll in and annihilate all possible threats and they can think that NSPH139, if he did survive, was killed during the fight. And the only reason that wouldn't happen is because they would think NSPH139 would have had to be stupid to stay in a city only two hours from the facility he was being held at."

Law closed his eyes, thinking, and then opened his mouth before deciding against what he was going to say and closing it. When Kid looked up expectantly at him, a tick developing in his eye, Law just shook his head. "Let's just call Mihawk, find out if he wants Zoro before they inevitably barricade the city and then—"

"I'm not leaving," Zoro snarled suddenly, making Killer jump even from his seat across the room.

"…You don't get a say in this—" Law started firmly without bothering to even look over his shoulder, patience wearing thin.

"I'm not fucking leaving Killer," Zoro stood, hands clenched into fists and shoulders shaking. "You don't get to send me away every time shit—"

"Your uncle might not want you around because he knows where Killer came from and isn't stupid enough not to put the pieces together—"

"My uncle hasn't been in my life for six years! He isn't my uncle just as much as you aren't my father!" Zoro roared, waiting with his teeth bared until Law finally turned around to face him with black eyes and lips shut tight. Behind him, Kid's expression was dark and maniacal, framed by flaming red hair and a wild yellow and black zebra striped bandana. He honestly looked unhinged, and fully ready to physically enforce what he and Law decided would keep Zoro safe. Zoro had no doubt that Kid would beat him into submission if it looked like Zoro was going to fight back against them; he'd almost done so a couple times already.

"Your father," Law said quietly, "left you with a man he barely knew to go gallivanting off with his newest wife two months after your mother died from birth complications that killed her and your younger sister, and then lost all of his money gambling and died mixing alcohol and cocaine."

Zoro gritted his teeth. He knew the story. It didn't change anything. He didn't have a father, he didn't have a mother, he didn't have an uncle, and Law and Kid sure as hell weren't his parents.

"A man," Law continued through his teeth, voice clipped, "that hasn't been in your life for ten out of sixteen years because he's busy living the life of a government dog and reaping the benefits. So you may not have an uncle, you may not have a father, you may not have parents, and Eustass and I may not be those parents, but we are the only people you do have and right now we're deciding what will keep you safe and alive, just as any guardian would do—"

"Yeah, this "family" is the greatest thing I could ever ask for!" Zoro screamed. "Guardians with no legal standing that can't do shit even if I really need them that spend half the time deciding whether or not to send me away and take me from a brother that needs us all to keep him alive!"

"Sit the fuck down," Kid growled dangerously, waves of anger rolling out of his voice. Kid didn't have rules. Zoro understood exactly how Kid worked: if you were going to dish it, expect it in return. If you got him too angry, it was wise to leave and let the situation cool down before Kid let you know exactly what he was feeling. On the other side of the room, Killer made to do just that and slid slowly out of his chair, smart enough to understand when to remove himself from the situation. Zoro wasn't quite so smart. Or he chose to ignore it.

Zoro felt the beginnings of tears prick at the corner of his eyes as he realized they were scaring Killer off. It didn't help the smothering realization that the two people he was still fighting to convince himself honestly cared and didn't just pity him weren't on his side. He bit deep into his lip, opening his mouth, retort ready like a weapon at the back of his throat and armed to draw blood when the sound of shattering glass and a sharp scream split the air. Killer jumped, having just made it to the kitchen, and whirled around as the other three in the room silenced, waiting for—

Another scream, much more shrill this time, echoing up through the floors. Almost immediately it was followed by another deeper scream, frantic and desperate.

In an instant Kid had lunged across the room, yanked the gun from the top drawer of the desk, and sprinted down the front hall to fling open the front door. The doorknob connected sharply with the wall, leaving a deep hole in the plaster and the door vibrated slightly as it bounced back, Kid disappearing down the hall and towards the sound of the scream.

Zoro raced after him, tearing through the living room and into the front hall when something clamped down hard around his collar and he was clotheslined, feet flying out from him as his shirt bit back against his neck and closed his windpipe. Zoro gasped, pulling at the cloth when it was yanked back again and he flew off of the floor. Law's hand closed harshly around his upper arm and dragged him stumbling backwards into the living room.

Law was fast, and Zoro had no time to react before the doctor suddenly had Killer slung like a sack of flour under one arm and Zoro gripped in the other and had dragged them both through the apartment and thrown them into the closet in his and Kid's bedroom. Flimsy boxes of shoes and coats exploded like water balloons around them as they landed, raining their contents down on them and covering them like a bunker.

Zoro sat gasping for air, still a little disoriented at the sudden change in location. His collar was sticking up to the side, and Killer was sprawled on top of him where they had landed. Because of how small Law was, it was easy to forget sometimes that both he and Kid had been very well renowned during their days of underground fighting, and for good reason.

Law's hat had fallen off his head somewhere along the way through the apartment and his hair was sticking out wildly in all directions. He heaved himself up by his arms and gripped the top shelf of the closet, scrabbling with his feet against the door to stay in reach of the boxes above their heads. Zoro made to get up and help him when Law pulled his sword, Kikoku, from behind the boxes, dropped to the ground, and kicked Zoro back into the closet all in one motion.

"Stay here," he said quietly. "I'm locking the front door—don't open it."

And then he slammed the closet door and left them both sitting in the dark. Zoro followed Law's rushed footsteps around the sound of his and Killer's labored breathing, and then the front door slammed heavily and the key in the lock clacked.

Beside him, Killer whimpered and Zoro inched himself up, pulling the younger boy into his side and holding him tightly there.

"I'm scared," Killer whispered.

"…Me too," Zoro admitted quietly.

The silence was heavy. Way too heavy. And Zoro felt the instant that it hit both him and Killer—thoughts of Kuina's funeral and god knows what was going through Killer's head—hovering around them in the black. Killer shivered slightly and Zoro held him even closer, burying his head in the younger boy's thick hair as Killer did the same in his shirt, hiding from the black in each other's living, breathing, healthy, unharmed bodies.

"You ok?" Zoro managed finally, though it was stupid and hypocritical for him to be the one asking that. Killer nodded just the same and hugged him, grateful for the presence.

They both jumped as the sound of gunshots cut through the darkness. Four bullets, and quick, all one after the other, and then silence again. Killer clutched at Zoro's shirt and Zoro pulled him in even closer, straining for any more sounds below them. It was a long and heavy few minutes before either of them dared to move again. Killer reached out finally, like he was going to push the closet door open and let in some of the light, but decided against it and curled back up in Zoro's chest. Zoro wasn't ready to reach out yet. The dark seemed all to eager to bite off his hand and swallow it whole.

Quietly, so quietly Zoro wasn't even sure he was hearing it correctly at first, the front door rattled. Someone jiggling the doorknob. With no purchase. …Law had a key…

Zoro leaned down after a moment and whispered, "…Killer—"

The door banged against the frame suddenly, lock still holding tight, and Killer yelped. Zoro froze as the clatter against the door suddenly ceased at the sound of Killer's yell, and neither breathed, and then something slammed hard against the door and Killer screamed, hiding his face in Zoro's shirt.

Zoro's foot snapped forward and the closet door flew open, cracking against the wall and knocking it off the top hinge. He grabbed Killer and flung him around to his back, holding the boy's arms around his neck until Killer understood and squeezed him nearly tight enough to choke, but Zoro couldn't even register the pain. He dove for the window and threw it open. The sharp smack of the sill against the frame startled Killer and he yelped again, burying his face in Zoro's back and another slam echoed down the hall. He could hear muffled yells coming from the other side of the door that sounded just a little too edgy and curt, and he had no desire to find out who it was.

Zoro stuck his head out the window, looking around for anyone that might have also thought of using the fire escape but another slam against the door had him clambering out without a second thought and up the metal rungs, Killer dangling from his back and swinging blindly through the night air as Zoro scrambled to haul both of them up. Behind him, the sound of splintering wood echoed down the hall and into the bedroom.

Blood was roaring in his ears and Killer's grip was starting to really cut off oxygen, but he didn't even think to stop—the only thought in his head was how small and weak the little boy on his back was compared to—

Something snapped around his ankle, gripping him hard enough to hurt even through the fear, and yanked. Zoro gasped, nearly losing his grip on the metal ladder, and he kicked back viciously, his heel connecting with a crunch against skin and bone and the person below them snarled at the sudden pain.

Zoro froze, unable to breathe for a moment as he registered Kid's voice and his eyes whipped down. The redhead was gripping his nose where Zoro's foot had broken it, eyes squeezed shut as he tried not to let tears leak through. Blood was already starting to drip through his fingers and down his chin. His hand was still clamped like a vice around Zoro's ankle.

There was a huge gash on Kid's head from god knows what—not Zoro's foot though—and blood was oozing steadily from a deep gouge in his right pectoral. Law's head appeared suddenly through the window, looking up and them and making sure everyone was accounted for. His shirt was splattered through with blood, and there was some matted in his hair, but other than that he looked unharmed. Kid must have gotten to them first.

"Door was stuck, fuggin' lock jammed again," Kid said nasally through his fingers, blinking up at Zoro with one eye. "Ad' Killer was… id' sounded like… I didn' think you would hear us."

Zoro was coursing with adrenaline and unable to make himself let go of the ladder, even when Killer hiccupped pathetically and started sobbing against his back. Killer reached down with one hand, but Zoro's fingers were welded to the metal, and he just looked away leaned his head against the coolness of the rungs, away from Kid's expectant eyes.

He had to calm down. Breathe, he told himself quietly.

Kid was scared.

How long had it been since he'd seen Kid scared?

Another shaky breath.

Come on, breathe.

Kid stepped out onto the stoop, his boots clanging against the grate and Zoro jolted. He'd forgotten he was holding Killer, or that the small boy was sobbing on his back and dangling off of the side of a building in the middle of the night. Kid helped Killer down into his arms and then climbed back into the apartment, making room for Law to climb out and hoist himself up next to Zoro.

"Come on," he urged gently, pulling on one of Zoro's wrists. "We're all ok, let's go back inside."

Zoro let out a slow, shuddering breath, but his grip only seemed to tighten more.

He had to get Killer safe.

Zoro closed his eyes and shut his mouth, forcing himself to take deep breaths in through his nose. Killer is safe. It's over.

"Come on, shrimp," Law tried again. "You did good. You can let go now."

Zoro looked over at the man that had practically raised him even while he was a child himself, now dripping with blood and looking at him with an expression that made Zoro feel as though he looked as pathetic as he felt. Which probably wasn't far from the truth. He made himself relax though with a few more breaths, and stepped down carefully off of the ladder and onto the landing outside the window. His legs were shaking, and he felt unstable, enough so that he didn't trust himself to let go of the ladder. Fourteen floors was a long way to fall to the street.

Law seemed to understand and gripped one of Zoro's wrists and his shoulder on the opposite side. "Come on. We're ok, we're all ok."

Zoro nodded and eased himself away from the fire escape and back into the apartment. He kept himself close to Law the entire time for support, all the way into the kitchen where Law sat him down at the table. Kid was on the phone, Killer still wrapped around him like a baby monkey. Zoro stared dumbly down the hall to where the front door was split down the middle and hanging slightly askew. Killer screaming must have made them just react.

He swallowed again and closed his eyes, counting his breathing.

Kid and Law were scared.

He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this vulnerable.

"We killed three," Law told him quietly and handed him a glass of water. "Two got away, but there's an apartment full of dead people downstairs. They're really fast, much faster than Killer, and they jumped all the way from the thirteenth floor to the ground without getting hurt. The police are coming to clean everything up. I'm going to go down and collect some samples before they get here."

Zoro nodded stiffly and sipped at his water. He still couldn't see straight from the adrenaline, and the soreness in his neck from Killer's grip was starting to sink in. He rubbed at it absently and followed Kid and Law around with his eyes as they milled about the kitchen, stripping out of the bloodied clothes and washing it off of their skin. All of the ruined clothes were crammed immediately into the trash, not worth the effort it would take to try and get the thick blood out.

Zoro's eyes drifted to the hallway where he could see the door to his bedroom. A majestic, white sword was sitting on top of the dresser in there, left to him by someone with a powerful dream and an immense will to protect those close to her at all costs. And he'd been ready to run. It would have been different if he'd had Wado in his hand.

"Law, Kid." His voice was wobbly, but he made himself continue once the two of them had stopped what they were doing, Law's medical bag in his hands as he prepared to run back downstairs, and looked over. "I want to learn to fight."

He looked up to meet their blank stares. "Really fight, not bullshit that won't…" he took another deep breath through his nose, heart rate starting to pick up again. "Like you guys, when you were fighting underground."

Kid and Law blinked at each other before both turned suddenly away, but not fast enough for Zoro to miss the small smirks they were trying to hide from him.

"Traf's better with all of that sword crap," Kid said finally, adjusting Killer to a more comfortable position. "That was his weapon of choice. I mostly stuck with my hands, and you can't make Kuina proud with a shitty sensei—and Mihawk isn't helping, stingy bastard. I'll teach you gun stuff when you want. Or fist fighting. Or cars. Or whatever weapon… not so much flame throwers though, homemade ones have a tendency to explode."

Zoro nodded, mustering up a smirk and finished his water, slumping back in his chair as he wondered if he was too old to set up a mattress in their room for the night. Killer was probably going to sleep in their bed anyways so he doubted they'd say no.

"I guess that means you'll have to stay here if we're going to teach you."

Zoro looked up at Kid, eyes wide, and then over to Law. When the surgeon didn't object, Zoro grinned, sitting back heavily in his chair, breathing finally calm.

-oOo-