"Keep pressure on it!" Sanji reprimanded Zoro for the umpteenth time from the driver's seat as he expertly navigated their car through the downtown night time traffic. Far more people were out than to be expected, but it seemed Sanji's time driving an ambulance had at least giving him a proclivity for dodging vehicles with imperceptible timing.

"I am!" A sharp turn had Zoro lurching in his seat with a groan of pain, hand readjusting itself as he attempted to apply even more pressure to the wound that had managed to drench his front in blood. Hissing in pain as the pressure against the expanded bullet in his shoulder was far from pleasant. Trying to mask his discomfort,he growled out, "Focus on driving, Curly."

"No, you're not!" Sanji snapped irritably as he took another aggressive turn, wanting to get Zoro back to the safety of the hotel as soon as possible. Casting an annoyed glance Zoro's way, he yelled, "Your front wouldn't be covered in blood if you were doing it properly!"

"Who's been shot before?!" Zoro demanded breathlessly, the road ahead of them swimming in his vision as he fought to stay conscious. The blood loss was beginning to go to his head, and the only thing really helping to keep him present was the infuriating blond on his right who insisted on this petty banter.

"And who's dealt with gunshot victims before?!" Sanji rebuked incredulously as Zoro attempted to add more pressure to the wound, only to concerningly find his arms feeling far too heavy. Soreness starting to fade in the wake of a numbness that was beginning to crawl up his legs, and tingling in the tips of his fingers. An old but familiar sensation. It explained the darkness fighting to take over his vision, and reluctantly had him nervously turning back to Sanji.

"You're an idiot, you know that?" Sanji ranted with a frustrated shake of his head, keeping his eyes firmly on the road as he wove the car through traffic at near dangerous speeds, "Getting yourself shot like this. I can't believe you would... I mean who does that..."

"Hey..." Zoro breathed out weakly, the word feeling like it slid out of his mouth with how heavy it had felt to pronounce. Blinking slowly, the street lights behind the blond shimmering and dancing in his fading vision as he murmured on an exhale, "Sa... ji?"

At the mention of his butchered name Sanji actually slowed the car enough to look up at Zoro with a surprised shout, "Wha- Zoro!"

Judging from the blond's panicked expression Zoro probably looked about as good as he felt. Slumping further over in his seat at the distant sensation of the car jolting to a stop; the pressure of unconsciousness weighing down on his body, darkness invading his vision at a concerning rate until all that remained was the hazy visage of Sanji looming over him.

"Zoro!" Sanji managed sternly, one hand gripping Zoro's shoulder as the other hand came up to turn Zoro's limp head towards him, "Zoro stay with me. C'mon."

Blackness encroached further unto his limited vision and Sanji's words became muffled tones of panicked concern. Body getting increasingly heavier, he found himself unable to even lift a hand to weakly wave off Sanji's hand from where it gripped his shoulder uncomfortably. His last conscious sensation that of Sanji's palm on his face, cradling it gently, as smooth, muffled words followed him into unconsciousness.

~X~

Lifting his eyes open was almost an impossible challenge as his entire body felt heavy, the only part of him significantly less fatigued was his mind. It had been years since he had passed out due to blood loss, but the heavy sensation on his body was one he was well acquainted with. However, it was quite obvious he had recovered remarkably since. Not only was he not dead, but the amount of cognitive function returning to him at this rate meant he must not have gotten hurt too bad. Or at least his recovery time hadn't suffered nearly as much as he had thought it might have over the past three years in retirement.

The hazy visage of a ceiling came into view as Zoro vaguely remembered passing out in the car with a distressed Sanji. Immediately feeling guilty over causing the blond to have to worry, and forcing himself to look around tiredly to ascertain that he was in fact back in the hotel they had been making for in the first place. Though how he was here and not completely dead thanks to blood loss was another mystery.

Keeping himself from moving too suddenly, he turned his head to the side where he found Sanji sitting beside him with his eyes shut and a worried expression creasing his brow. A movement lower down had Zoro's eyes falling to the man's right hand where it rested elevated on the arm of the chair, grasping a balled up sock, clenching and releasing it in a steady rhythm.

A frown grew on Zoro's own face as his confusion mounted before he finally noted the tubing sticking out of Sanji's wrist with bright garnet liquid suspended within. Following the trail of plastic out of the chair and up the bed until finally noticing the matching needle keeping the tubing embedded in the crook of his elbow[1]. It took several full seconds before he realized what Sanji was doing and nearly fell out of bed in his panicked rush to sit up.

Sanji's head shot up immediately at the tug on the tube, dropping the sock as soon as he noticed Zoro was awake. Keeping his arm steady, he lurched out of the chair in an attempt to push Zoro back onto the bed, "Hey, chill ou-"

"What are you doing?!" Zoro bellowed in horror, voice not coming out nearly as loud as he expected it to and his body not responding as vigorously as intended. Voice a harsh rasp as his attempt to jump out of bed was more of a pathetic writhe to sit up which gave Sanji more than enough time to launch at him.

"Relax!" Sanji ordered a little more firmly, placing his free hand on Zoro's good shoulder and shoving him back into the bed with a tad more force than Zoro had assumed the blond was capable of. "I'm a universal donor."

There was a moment of struggling before the meaning of Sanji's words fully sunk in and he stopped attempting to fight the blond off and remove the tubing. Instead, just blinking up at the paramedic with a perplexed expression as the realization of what Sanji had done was beginning to sink in. Especially the notion that if he had passed out in the car and now he was here, then that meant Sanji had managed to lug his unconscious body here as well..

"You had severe blood loss." Sanji pointed out a little irritably, though it seemed having to fight Zoro back into bed was the cause of his grumpiness, "And I figured we couldn't go to a hospital... given our situation."

"You-" Zoro managed, sounding far too indignant despite his gratitude before muttering in awe, "Thank you..."

"Start with that next time." Sanji groused with a wry smile, finally trusting Zoro enough to pull away and fall back into the chair beside the bed. Despite looking relieved, now that they were no longer fighting, Zoro could see the tension practically deflating from the blond's body as he sunk further into his chair in relief.

"You..." Zoro began again, softly, still a little in awe over what the blond had done. He watched as Sanji rooted around in the medical kit and started pulling out some swabs and bandages, "you saved my life..."

"Don't sound so surprised." Sanji chuckled far more weakly than he had probably intended, finger applying pressure to the wound with a swab as he carefully retracted the needle from his wrist. Pausing once it was removed to glance back up at Zoro with a dashing grin, "I am quite fond of you; can't have you dying on me yet."

Zoro remained in stunned silence as Sanji finished cleaning his wrist and patching it with a bit of medical tape, before doing the same to Zoro. Retracting the tubing from his elbow and cleaning the area as best he could, despite the fact that nearly half of Zoro was covered in blood, thanks to the open wound he had sustained to the chest. As Sanji finished putting away the scattered medical supplies, Zoro finally had the chance to glance at the wound responsible for the whole mess.

Brows raising, he found the wound neatly sutured into a thin line with impeccable unison thread work. Fingers coming up to rub across the stitches as delicately as he could, Zoro still felt utterly flummoxed with all Sanji had managed to accomplish while he had been unconscious. This was the first time Zoro really got to see Sanji's work - aside from his brief stint in the ambulance - and he had to admit he was incredibly impressed.

"I cleaned and sutured it, but I didn't have time to go digging around." Sanji explained from his awkwardly stiff position in the chair beside Zoro's bed. His professionalism feeling out of place but clearly masking a much deeper set worry over what had previously occurred, "Not with the way you were doing…"

"Can you get it now?" Zoro asked bluntly, eyes still fixated on the stitches.

"It's not really necessary." Sanji tentatively pressed. Zoro's hand fell away and eyes rose to meet Sanji's gaze, "You're more likely to die from blood loss or infection than from anything that bullet will do to you."

It wasn't that Zoro didn't value Sanji's medical knowledge - he knew for a fact that the blond was right - but he also had enough metal in him to know that the more he could get out now the better. Not to mention he was pretty sure a piece of his shirt had gotten lodged in there with the curled bits of the bullet.

"Either you can do it," Zoro offered as sincerely as he could, given his current situation, "Or I will."

A tight moue of disapproval pulled at Sanji's lips as it was evident he was not impressed with Zoro's stubborn behaviour at the moment, but his silence was even more telling. Eyes unwaveringly locked with Zoro's - which Zoro only managed to maintain due to the delirium still hovering over him - until the blond finally conceded with an exasperated sigh, throwing his hands up in defeat.

Without a word - aside from some unimpressed grumbling - Sanji went about digging through the medical kit for everything he would need to not only prep the injury, but also remove the bullet and patch it closed again. It wasn't long before everything was ready; all the tools disinfected, Zoro's wound reopened, and a very unenthusiatic - yet angrily determined - blond leaning over Zoro.

They were both tensely silent as Zoro lay back down on the ruined bed, and Sanji took his place leaning over him working at getting the bits and fragments of broken bullet and pieces of cloth from the wound. He was barely halfway done and Zoro began to remember why he found other people operating on him much more tenuous.

"Stop moving!" Sanji snapped with a livid hiss, hands pulling away as he held up the pliers he had just been using in one hand and the tongs in another. Zoro scowled up at him as a sheen of sweat had started to grow across his brow in his attempt to keep himself silent during all of Sanji's prodding.

"It hurts!" Zoro seethed back, teeth gritted as he forced his head up off the pillow to glare daggers at the blond who claimed to know what he was doing. Wound flaring up but no longer leaking copious amounts of blood onto the white sheets, his hands fisted in the blankets under him to keep from clawing his palms.

"Well, it'll hurt less if you stop squirming!" Sanji growled, narrowing his eyes and brandishing the tongs at Zoro as though they were something far more threatening. Zoro stared back just as defiantly because he was seriously beginning to regret persuading the blond to remove the bullet.

"Let's shoot you and let me play operation on your chest." Zoro snapped, laying back regardless as he allowed Sanji to once more near him, "See how you handle that!"

"By all means." Sanji spat back in exasperation, adjusting his grip on the tools again and levelling Zoro with a sharp look, "If it'll stop your infernal bitching!"

"You kidding me?!" Zoro grunted sharply as Sanji was back over him, tongs sliding into the wound, the blond skillfully prying it open with one hand as the other adjusted the pliers in his right, "That's all you do."

"You dragged me from rural East Blue County to a war zone." Sanji snipped back, gaze turned to the wound as a steady hand guided the pliers to once more search for the bullet fragments, "I reserve the right."

"Well, I reserve the right to tell you to shu – AH!" Zoro cut himself off with a pained wail as Sanji managed to close around the largest fragment of bullet and twist it free, the flesh entwined around it burning. Zoro gave a throaty moan, face contorting in pain as it took all his willpower to keep himself from moving as the next few seconds were crucial.

Both of Sanji's hands were incredibly steady as one kept the wound pried wide, and the other slowly retracted the piece of deformed metal until eventually pulling it free. Only then was Zoro able to relax enough to open his eyes to see the tongs held just above his skin with the bullet covered in his own crimson blood. Releasing a long and heady breath that transformed into a weak chuckle, Zoro noted, "So much for gentle."

"Nice patients get gentle." Sanji hummed, turning away to drop the bullet into a small dish to the side before glancing over his shoulder at Zoro with a smirk, "You deserve a swift kick to the ass."

"You can just try it, you-" Zoro once more cut himself off with a pained gasp as the muscles around the wound spasmed and he found himself falling back on the bed with a groan. It had been years since the last time he had been shot, and while it didn't hurt nearly as much as he remembered, it was still inflamed beyond belief at the moment.

"Fuck." Sanji breathed out once more in heavy exasperation, discarding the tools on the bedside table as he dragged the medical kit over, "Let me finish patching you up before you hemorrhage yourself to death."

"I'll hemorrhage you to death you..." Zoro grunted back breathlessly,

"Okay, that doesn't even make sense." Sanji rolled his eyes, gently cleaning the wound once again with alcohol swabs before pulling out a large hooked needle and some medical thread. Going through the motions as though he had done it a hundred times – which Zoro assumed he must have – needle threaded easily before leaning over Zoro once more.

The first jab of the thread into the skin stung, but was soon washed away by the continuous throb from the wound itself as Zoro let his head fall back and relax for the first time in minutes. Idly noting the warm pressure from Sanji's fingers as they pressed on the wound to pull the needle through, before retracting to knot the thread and then coming back down to repeat the process.

"It's hard to believe you've been shot so many times," Sanji mused as he continued to gently suture the wound, wiping away some of the blood that had begun to pool with an alcoholic swab before continuing, "You're such a baby about it."

"It's been a while." Zoro grunted softly, holding his breath as Sanji hooked the needle through his skin once more, able to sprawl a bit more comfortably on the bed now that he didn't have a piece of metal embedded in his collar bone. Suit jacket long since discarded, and the shredded remnants of yet another blood stained shirt hung off his limp frame, "Plus, I usually do it myself."

"Are you saying I do shoddy work?" Sanji raised a brow, feigning offence, however the small smile at the corner of his mouth gave it away. Zoro forcefully shifted his gaze back to the ceiling, not needing to get caught up in looking at the other man more than he should.

"No," Zoro admitted softly, knowing that despite how much he had previously complained, Sanji had removed the bullet faster than Zoro ever had. Half of his bullet scars were a hacked mess because it took so long for him to dig around to get it out, "Just, it's easier to work on yourself."

"It does explain the scarring." Sanji muttered slyly under his breath.

"Hm?" Zoro prodded, hearing him just fine but wanting to prompt the man regardless.

"You heard me." The paramedic groused.

Zoro allowed a soft snicker to wheeze out of him painfully as Sanji continued to suture the wound with steady, dexterous hands. Their bickering finally ceasing as Sanji put the finishing touches on the stitches he was forced to redo, hand jerking up near his head with a final flourish as he completed the last knot. Cutting the thread, disinfecting the area for the dozenth time, and then finally pushed himself away with a sigh of relief.

"Can I get up now?" Zoro groused, wincing a little as the question came out a tad harsher than he had intended. Attempting to pass it off as grimace of pain instead, he moved to swing his legs over the side of the bed and hopefully get out of the puddle of his blood he was still lying in. "We need to get out of here."

"Absolutely not." Sanji snarled, moving again to bracket Zoro against the bed to keep him from fully pushing himself to his feet, "You have an exposed hip and a hole the size of a quarter in your shoulder – not to mention severe blood loss – you need to rest."

"We're gonna get tracked here." Zoro argued seriously, finding the blond's concern terribly endearing and also incredibly inconveniencing given how much time they had already wasted. Judging from the time on the small digital clock perched on the night stand, he had already been unconscious for close to three hours, "We've already wasted enough time."

"Well..." Sanji floundered with a disgruntled shrug, heaving an unhappy sigh, "How long do we still have?"

"Eight." Zoro estimated, shaking his head disapprovingly as he weighed his options. Given what had happened with Boa and the trail that had been on them in Japan, it wouldn't be long until operatives would be sweeping Shanghai for any noticeable video footage of them. "Maybe ten hours."

"Fine." Sanji accepted immediately, "Give yourself that much."

Zoro shook his head firmly, "Each hour we lose is dangerous."

"And you not allowing yourself to heal is dangerous!" Sanji rebuffed irritably, throwing his hands up to cover his face in obvious distress as he bemoaned to himself, "If Chopper knew what I was letting you do he'd have an aneurysm."

"Well, Chopper's not here." Zoro murmured softly, voice growing gentle at the mention of the worrisome young doctor, finally able to push himself to his feet and stand level with the blond without getting pushed back down, "Now can we get a move on?"

Sanji's index finger jerked aside to reveal his right eye as he glared Zoro down for several moments before allowing his hands to drop with a defeated sigh. Dried, bloodied hands fell to his hips, lips forming a thin line as he demanded sharply, "Six hours and you sleep through all of them."

Glaring hard, Zoro countered, "Four. And we get everything packed and ready."

"Five." Sanji rebuked, "You shower and sleep. I pack."

Zoro's mouth remained in a petulantly thin line for several seconds as he glared down the fiery blond who refused to back down. Glowering just as defiantly at Zoro with not an iota of fear in his eyes as Zoro began to realize that when it came to Sanji he was probably always going to falter. He looked away first with a hiss, "Fine."

Ignoring Sanji's jubilant grin, Zoro stalked off to the bathroom to wash himself of all the blood currently on him while Sanji began dealing with the bloody mess Zoro had made. Feeling guilty about letting Sanji deal with it, but he also had the suspicion that if he attempted to help, Sanji would drag him off by his ear and make him sit in the corner. So instead, he followed the grouchy blond's instructions, undressed, and got in the shower.

Standing under the poorly regulated spray of the shower, he kept his head dipped to keep the water from aggravating his wounds as his mind whirred with the events of that evening. Miraculously more stunned by Sanji's abilities than he was over the fact that Boa had nearly taken his head off for his bounty. They had a rough past, but he had never thought she would so blatantly attempt to actually end his life.

Prick on his left arm throbbing slightly, Zoro's thoughts were once more brought back to himself and what had just happened. Raising his arm up, he blearily stared at it through the dim lighting afforded to him by the bathroom light shining through the curtain. Aging skin pockmarked and scarred - riddled with lacerations and old wounds – the palm of his hand a dry, calloused mess of weathered lines and cracks. The appendage rugged and withered from the abuse he had put it through. And through it all a small dot of red sat in the crook of his elbow, itching far worse than the bullet wound to his shoulder.

Other hand coming up with tentative fingers, he gently pressed into the mark to relieve some of the aching and attempt to rub out an even deeper ache that was far more than the skin deep. Fingers pressed in until he could feel the corded tendons, giving a sharp press before pulling back with a final scratch at the dot that was probably going to become his most haunting scar yet.

Arm falling heavily to his side once more, he tried to ignore the confusing concoction of feelings in his chest and instead focused on scrubbing the blood from his body. Trying to focus on the task at hand and not the blond haired, blue eyed man in the next room - and his feelings for him that were making it increasingly harder for Zoro to forget.

~X~

Sitting bolt upright in bed with a howl of fear, Zoro jerked forward until he was curled into himself, his hands fisted in the sweat soaked sheets. Cold streams of stress slid down his face and dripped in the blankets pooled between his legs, the dark stains dancing in and out of focus as his eyes adjusted to the darkness surrounding him.

Laboured gasping finally dying down, he began to calm after the startling horror of a nightmare that was already fading from his memory. Old visions and distant incidents that had happened long ago but still tormented him and haunted him despite being able to fully understand why they did.

"Ugh..." Zoro bemoaned wearily, hand braced against his brow in exhausted frustration before sliding it down his face in an attempt to swipe some of the sweat away. Hand dropping back to the blankets, he pulled them aside as he slid out of bed and trekked his way silently across the room.

Getting the balcony door open as quietly as he could, Zoro stepped out onto the quaint veranda and shuffled over to the railing which he leaned against with a defeated groan. Old metal bit into his elbows as he stared down at the desolate street below and the reality of what had just transpired hit him fully.

It had been literally months since he had even had an inkling of a bad dream, and now he had just had a night terror so bad he was woken up screaming. There was no way he hadn't woken Sanji, and it was only through the blond's polite discretion that he was not embarrassed more.

Keeping his anger in check was a struggle – the urge to throw the decorative table off the veranda was very strong – but he managed to remain calm as he tried to rationalize the situation. In all honestly this was how it had all begun the first time, and he had to wonder if due to the high-level stress of the situation, his PTSD was manifesting itself in the only way it could outside of Zoro's consciousness.

They were incredibly lucky that up until this point, Zoro hadn't had a worse episode, but he had already deduced that Sanji was the reason for that. He loathed his nightmares, but if they were necessary to keep him levelheaded enough when he was awake then so be it-

A jarring noise of the rickety balcony door being opened had Zoro's shoulders tensing nervously as the sound of Sanji's bare feet on the deck announced the man's arrival. Giving Zoro a wide berth, Sanji shuffled over and leaned on the railing a couple feet away as he went about lighting a cigarette with casual indifference.

Zoro's agitation slowly waned as it seemed Sanji wasn't intending on speaking about what had occurred, but it didn't prevent the awkward silence from making Zoro feel foolish. The only reason Sanji was awake at all was because Zoro had woken him. Turning cautiously to fully look at the man for the first time since he had joined Zoro out in the cool night air, he found his shoulders finally sagging in reverent defeat.

Hair down in a sleep tousled mess, Sanji puffed on his smoke as the bangs messily curled over half his face and obstructed his view. Wispy tresses curling at the nape of his neck as he hunched over the railing with a tad of exhaustion apparent in his frame. Loose shirt hung from his lanky form, rustling in the night breeze as he kept his gaze turned towards the city horizon alight before them. Most of him was cast in shadow except for the few street lights that illuminated his hair a golden orange.

"It's beautiful..."

"Yea..." Zoro found himself breathing out in agreement before even realizing what Sanji was referring to. Eyes growing wide as he realized his folly and turned his gaze out towards the city and horizon that the blond was no doubt actually referring to. Cold sweat returning in an instant as his hands gripped the railing in front of him for dear life.

"I mean," Sanji floundered, completely oblivious to Zoro's comment, "nothing will ever beat the countryside back home, but... there's something magical about twinkling city lights. A world that never sleeps..."

Hands and body now tense for an entirely different reason, Zoro's heart raced in relief that Sanji hadn't noticed him staring. Pointedly looking elsewhere when the blond turned to cast a sideways glance in his direction, Zoro blurted out somewhat awkwardly, "Sorry for waking you."

"Eh," Sanji raised a shoulder in a half-hearted shrug, limp wrist raising to lazily bring the cigarette back to his mouth for another thoughtful puff, "Wasn't sleeping that well anyway."

Zoro firmly remained silent in his regret.

"Besides," Sanji continued airily, waving a dismissive hand towards Zoro, "you held up your end of the bargain and at least got some sleep."

Zoro wasn't entirely sure if this was Sanji's polite way of saying thank you for at least trying to get some rest, or if he was implying they were allowed to leave now. Biting his lip before broaching tentatively, "You tired?"

Sanji shook his head, "Not really."

"We should leave." Zoro concluded firmly, waiting silently on Sanji's consent.

"Okay..." Sanji agreed tentatively, stubbing out his cigarette, "What's next?"

"I need to find who set the bounty." Zoro explained as he began carefully making his way back inside the hotel room. Sanji following after disposing of his smoke in the tray on the table outside. Having slept in his clothes, all Zoro had to do was grab his boots and jacket while continuing, "I have a buddy in India that'll be able to help."

"India?" Sanji questioned, not nearly as surprised as he had been the last time Zoro had announced he was dragging them halfway across the world. Following Zoro's lead, he pulled on his shoes as well, while the other man finished lashing his laces and stood, slinging his bag over his good shoulder.

"It's about a four day drive," Zoro estimated, "But given my condition we'll need to stop for the nights so about a week."

Zoro reached for the car keys but Sanji snagged them out from under his outstretched hand in the last moment. Flicking them up and into his hand protectively, he grinned cheekily, "I'm driving."

Zoro's mouth opened on instinct to complain, but he very quickly realized that when it came to his health, it seemed like Sanji was going to be an absolute pain in his ass. Closing his mouth and stifling his complaints, he accepted his lot with quiet dignity and a nod of agreement before following Sanji outside to the car.

~X~

The first couple days of their driving went by as uninterrupted as Zoro had expected they would, after having lost any trail that might have started back in Japan. Miles were put between them and the coast they left behind, cities and towns blending into each other as they drove for as long as they could before finding somewhere to rest. Civilization became more distant as the highway turned gorgeously scenic and for a while, it was almost easy to forget why they were there in the first place.

The road took them through mountainous valleys, weaving through heavy forests sunken between towering cliffs, and across flat plains of endless sky with rolling black clouds in the distant horizon. There were stretches of road seemingly in the middle of nowhere, without a hint of civilization until they would finally emerge from a thick forest and head out into a broad valley.

However, returning night terrors kept Zoro – and subsequently Sanji – sensibly aware that things were not okay. And on the fourth day, it became apparent that outside of the larger cities, it was far easier to be tracked, and that news of his bounty had no doubt travelled quick. He was woken from his nap by a nervous blond as the first sign of trouble in days finally presented itself.

"Hey..." Sanji murmured softly as his hand shook Zoro's uninjured shoulder to gently wake him while keeping his other on the wheel, "Mosshead."

"Hm?" Zoro grumbled tiredly, lifting his head from where it had been resting against the seat belt and ignored the teasing moniker. Rubbing the lethargy from his eyes, he turned on the man currently driving, brow raising in question while his eyes still remained nearly crinkled shut in the midday light.

"I might be paranoid," Sanji noted, "but this car has been following us for a while."

Without moving much, Zoro carefully glanced in the sidecar mirror and watched the silver car that followed them in the distance; two heads visible within but otherwise too far away to note any discerning features. It was obviously a rental car, however considering the usual heavily packed tourists that frequented the scenic part of this highway the vehicle seemed suspiciously empty...

"Oh my God, did you go back to sleep?" Sanji grumbled indignantly.

"When did you notice them?" Zoro murmured, ignoring Sanji's question entirely as he continued to keep his eyes on the car. The consistent distance it maintained behind them was a little odd, especially if they had been following them for long enough to arise Sanji's suspicion. It seemed appropriate that they would only be able to remained untracked for so long before someone recognized him.

"Uh, a while back." Sanji mused, "Can't remember the town."

"Have they been maintaining the same distance?"

"Yeah," Sanji muttered wearily, obviously coming to the same conclusion Zoro had as he adjusted his grip on the wheel nervously, "At one point I thought they might want to pass so I slowed down but they didn't. Seemed weird."

"Pull in to the next gas station." Zoro ordered calmly, turning his head back to staring out the front window. Sitting a tad more up right, "Stay calm and act like you don't notice them."

It wasn't long before they were nearing a small outpost that clearly stood as a marker for the outskirts of the city beyond. It was more of a junkyard than a gas station as the building nestled behind it was overflowing with old cars and various miscellaneous pieces of junk and rubbish. Gas prices were listed on a decrepit sign rising out of the top of the weathered overhang, the pumps inside rusted and dented from years of neglect and misuse.

"This one looks kinda deserted..." Sanji noted nervously, "You sure?"

"Even better."

"What..." Sanji paused momentarily before continuing, "what are you gonna do?"

"Just a friendly chat."

"See... I know you're lying but I'm not sure I want the truth..." Sanji jibed playfully before asking seriously, "Is it going to be dangerous?"

"Probably."

As Sanji began slowing the vehicle down so he could prepare to make the turn off, he cast a sideways glance in Zoro's direction with an uncomfortable smile. Mouthing his words for several seconds before making the turn and asking while keeping his gaze set on the gas station, "You gonna be okay?"

Zoro immediately knew what Sanji was referring to, and instinctively he felt the need to be defensive about what the blond was implying. However he couldn't exactly fault the blond for worrying about the exact same thing Zoro had been stressing about since the moment he had been thrown back into his old life.

But everything else he had dealt with up to this point hadn't caused a relapse and as he looked down to his hands, he found them uncompromisingly steady. An unbelievable calm settling over him as he knew he was mere days from getting Sanji to safety and he wasn't about to trip at the finish line.

Hands closing into resolved fists, he looked up and confirmed confidently, "Yeah."

Sanji didn't seem entirely convinced, but trusted Zoro's response nonetheless. He pulled up in front of a gas pump and cut the engine. Both of them remained in the car silently as their collective gaze turned to the road and watched as the car continued on its way down the highway without an inkling of intention to slow down.

"False alarm?" Sanji muttered quietly.

"Doubt it." Zoro commented as he flung his door open, stiffly pushing himself out as he added, "They'll probably double back."

Sanji got out as well, watching while Zoro rounded the car and began pulling some of the local currency from his pocket. Nearing the weary blond, Zoro could already hear the engine of a familiar car making its way back down the highway towards their location.

"Go inside and pay." Zoro quietly explained to Sanji while handing him a few bills, "They're gonna follow me. Once they do; get back to the car, fill up the tank, and wait for me."

"But..."

"Whatever happens. No matter what you hear," Zoro kept his eyes locked with intent blue while he ordered sternly, "stay by the car."

"Okay..." It was clear the blond wasn't ecstatic about the plan, but nodded nonetheless and took the money.

Remaining where he stood, Zoro watched as Sanji sidestepped around him and made his way inside just as the approaching engine slowed near the turn off. Zoro turned and made his way towards the marked bathroom off the side of the building, his back turned to the road, already hearing vehicle tires crunching over the gravel as it pulled to a stop.

Taking casually slow strides so that the arriving men would no doubt see where he was going, he rounded the corner and walked out of sight. Zoro didn't like splitting up from Sanji, but inside the gas station - where the owner was milling about - was where Sanji had the most likely chance of not getting hurt in this ordeal. Not to mention these didn't seem like particularly high end hit-men and they would probably immediately jump at the opportunity to literally catch Zoro with his pants down.

Pushing in the filthy door to the grungy bathroom, Zoro made his way over to the sink and took a moment to splash some questionably dirty water onto his heated face before glaring at his reflection. Steeling himself for what was about to happen, he met his own dark brown eyes for the first time in what felt like weeks and tried not to feel like it was a stranger staring back at him.

Giving an aggressive huff, he turned back to the still running faucet, cupping a handful of water and flicked it absently onto the floor by the bathroom door before turning the tap off and shaking his hands to dry them as best he could. Stalking over to the bathroom stall, he wrestled the heavy porcelain lid off the back tank of the toilet and hefted it in his hands to get a feel for the weight as he made his way back to the entry door.

Taking a firm grip on the large slab of ceramic, he turned and with his back to the tiled wall near the door. Listening intently, he could already hear hurried footsteps making their way over, and a distinct, hostile murmuring between whoever was approaching. Judging by the voices, it was both men from the car, which Zoro couldn't have planned better.

The door was pulled open aggressively as a man moved to step inside, Zoro darting his leg out to hook the top of his foot at the back of the man's heel and jerking him forward into an unexpectedly larger step. The man's heel landed in the water Zoro had spilled on the tiles previously and lunged forward, head perfectly at hip level as Zoro turned into the falling man's momentum and slammed the toilet tank cover directly into his face.

Slumping to the wet and slimy floor, blood oozed from his face to mix with the grout between the tiles as Zoro launched at the other man frozen in the doorway with a gun extended in his hands. Ceramic lid coming up just as swiftly, Zoro slammed it into the man's hands and knocked the gun clean out of his grasp. Following the motion with a quick lunge forward and the end of the slab slamming directly into the man's nose.

An audibly grotesque crunch had a gusher of blood spewing from the man's nose as he too fell to the ground. Zoro stood between the two beaten bodies while giving each a cursory glance to ascertain that they were indeed dead before dropping the lid carelessly onto the first man's limp corpse and stepping over the second to get out of the filthy bathroom.

Having barely broken a sweat, Zoro was happy to find that the ordeal had been much easier than he had anticipated. Rounding the corner back to the main fill up area, he found his heart jumping into his throat as he stumbled upon a scene he had not been expecting to find. Three more men and an entirely separate car were stationed out front, and had Sanji completely surrounded.

"I stayed by the car." Sanji grinned proudly, though his smile was clearly strained due to the multiple guns pointed at him. Hands raised by his ears, he stared Zoro down with a far less panicked expression than Zoro would have expected from him.

Zoro continued to walk slowly towards the hostile situation the blond had found himself in, masking his horror at not noticing or assuming the potential of a second car. It was sheer, dumb luck that they hadn't just shot Sanji on the spot and came racing in after him instead. It was uncertain how much intel these men had on him, and if they were as aware as the other attackers just how important Sanji was.

"Oi! Oi!" The man nearest him warned angrily, "Don't move."

A final step and Zoro came to a halt several feet away, watching the entire scene quietly as a million scenarios raced through his head and thousands of outcomes played out before his eyes. Focusing mainly on the ones that put Sanji's safety first. Meanwhile, the thug looked him up and down, noting the blood on him with a scowl.

"Go check on them!" The man barked angrily, looking sharply to the side to yell at one of the less confident men, before turning back to Zoro with a snarl, "And you; hands up."

With a scowl Zoro slowly brought his own arms up to mimic Sanji as he refused to break eye contact with the man clearly in charge. Jet black hair slicked back, a sleazy scowl on his rat face as the man rounded on Zoro, barrel of the gun trained to his skull, his buddy darting past Zoro to go check on what had happened to their accomplices.

"Don't move, Roronoa." The thug snarled.

Zoro kept his hands raised lazily as he glanced over at Sanji to find the blond watching him with a tense curiosity. Questioning blue eyes peered at him across the lot as the hot dry air whipped around them and stirred up swirling clouds of dust.

Keeping his posture as aloof as possible he slowly dropped his gaze to the undercarriage of the car before back up again, eyes widening a fraction as he pointedly watched the blond. Sanji watched Zoro stiffly, keeping his entire body from moving as his eyes shone with understanding and all he gave in recognition was the faintest of smiles quirking the corner of his lip up before becoming impassive once more.

Relieved that Sanji was clever enough to know what he needed him to do, Zoro slowly turned his gaze back to the man that still had the gun trained on him. There was always an ever present worry that his mind might start playing tricks on him in the middle of their fight, or worse he might collapse completely under the weight of a memory. However that was something he could not allow to happen, a single slip up could cost Sanji his life.

As the wind rustled past them a final time, Zoro took the reprieve to let out a long, calming breath as he began planning out the next several scenarios. Their numbers likely indicated that the thugs weren't extremely good at close combat, and if he timed it right, he should be able to disarm both men without any casualties. All he needed was a moment for the man nearest him to drop his guard...

Seconds ticked by until the moment presented itself when rat-face turned his beady, black eyes away for a moment to glance back at Sanji. Zoro didn't waste a moment as he launched himself at the man with the full intention of making both of them regret ever pointing a gun him.

Darting low, he lunged for the man and at the same time ducked behind the car so the other thug couldn't get a clean shot at him. In the same moment Sanji dropped to the ground and crawled under the car, his captor distracted by Zoro's actions. Hand expertly twisting the weapon from the man's grasp, his other lashed forward to strike the unsuspecting man directly on the throat. Zoro grinned as he realized this was going to be easier than he thought.

Tossing the gun aside, his hand slid up to grab the cuff of the man's long-sleeve and pulled forward with a sudden jerk. Getting as much of the fabric free as possible, and trapping his hand inside, before stretching the fabric up and over the rat-faced assailant's head.

Wrapping the shirt sleeve around the still recovering man's neck, Zoro dragged him along to confront the other attacker who had already fired two shots; one narrowly missing Zoro's leg judging by the reverberation he felt as he rounded the car and swung the man's friend in front of himself as a shield. A couple shots whizzed by them, one catching Zoro's human-shield in the leg, his yelp of pain muffled due to the shirt sleeve still around his throat, cutting off his air supply.

The man immediately ceased firing. Zoro took the opportunity and dropped the wounded man, stalking forward before the armed man even realized what was happening. A rather ugly fellow that began blubbering in rage as he realized what was happening, raising his gun once more now that his friend was no longer in the way.

Deflecting the weapon to the side, Zoro's hand lashed out, hit the release on the gun with practised ease causing the magazine to slip from the weapon. Using the man's surprise, he striked again and connected with his nose. The man stumbled backwards with a yelp of pain while Zoro could already hear the injured man behind him getting up and limping towards him.

Hooking his foot under the gas nozzle that Sanji had previously dropped, Zoro kicked it up, swiped it out of the air, and spun around to whap the man behind him directly on the nose with the blunt, metal side. Turning back to the second, a lethal kick aimed at Zoro's knee was quickly deflected with a bit of clever work from the gas line hose, hooking the man's heel and reefing up to send the ugly man sprawling onto his back before rat-face was back on him again.

This time, having to dodge multiple skillfully thrown punches from the rat-faced man who was clearly intent on incapacitating him. Finally managing to trap a wrist in the hose, Zoro slammed the man into the side of the car before whipping him towards his buddy who had managed to get back up. One stumbling to the ground as the other allowed his accomplice to fall as he launched himself at Zoro with an enraged scream.

Dodging a swipe meant for his throat, Zoro looped the hose around the back of the man's neck and jerked down as hard as he could. Bringing the man's face directly into his swiftly raised knee with a painful sounding crack that didn't knock him out but had him pulling away with a yell.

Wrapping the hose around the distracted attacker's neck, he kept it seized as tight as he could in an attempt to get him to pass out as the second man was back on him in an instant; bloodied but determined as he rushed Zoro while he was currently occupied. Leg snapping out to catch the man directly in the throat, the assailant fell to the ground by Zoro's feet while grasping his neck and wheezing painfully.

Keeping the hose pinched around rat-face man's neck, Zoro dropped down to latch his hand around the ugly one's throat as tight as possible. Tugging the nozzle down towards him, as far as it could reach with the other man still caught in the hose, who began to writhe from the lack of air. Ignoring rat-face's squirming, Zoro forced the nozzle into the ugly man's mouth before pressing the lever until thick gasoline came spewing out and filled his mouth, soaking his face.

Memories of drowning victims flashed across his vision, the blood rushing in his ears louder than the guzzling sound of fuel gurgling onto the ground. Zoro's body was shaking nearly as badly as the two men he currently had entangled in the gas hose but his hands were steady with rage. Despite each horrible image he remembered, and every memory that threatened to make him disassociate; the image of Sanji surrounded by the three assailants was stronger.

Once the last of the twitching faded, Zoro finally released his hold on the men - who both fell to the ground in limp, lifeless, heaps - and dropped the nozzle to the ground where it clanged against the asphalt. Hands sore from remaining tightened for so long, he slowly pushing himself to his feet and flexed them as he cast a glance around for the man that had just returned from checking on his friends.

The timid shuffle he made towards Zoro and his comrades made it clear just how shook up he was about the state he had found the other two in. And after seeing what Zoro had just done to his other friends he didn't look all too eager to be the last one standing.

Stalking around the car, Zoro idly reached out for a piece of piping leaning against one of the posts and made his way over with a dark glower. As he rounded the vehicle and headed towards the fifth and final man, he could already see from his trembling grip on his gun that he was no longer as confident as he had been when he arrived.

Getting close enough to see the whites of the man's eyes, Zoro side stepped a moment before the man's finger retracted fearfully on the trigger, gunshot cracking across the silent roadside as Zoro's steps never faltered. The ringing was sharp in his ears, but unaffected as he strode forward with livid purpose.

Ducking low, Zoro brought the pipe up in a swift arc that connected perfectly with the man's hand and sent his gun sailing into the air. Barely pausing before recovering his stance and bring the pipe around again to smack the man across the side of the head and sent him spinning to the ground with hardly a moan of pain before passing out cold. Blood pooled from his shattered jaw to soak into the golden earth below and stain it a dark black.

It was only in the sudden silence of the dusty, deserted gas station that Zoro could hear the heaving of his own exerted breaths. Sweat staining his brow as he slowly pivoted on his heel to ascertain that there was no one else around before dropping the blood splattered pipe to the ground at his feet and shuffling back to the car.

His footsteps faltered just at the edge of the shadow cast from the overhanging shelter of the gas station as he glanced up to find Sanji standing beside the car. Dirt muddled the front of his clothes from laying on the ground under the vehicle, but his hands remaining loosely at his sides as he looked at Zoro with nothing short of slack jawed exhilaration.

A grimace remained stuck on Zoro's face as he continued to pant lightly in his recovery, the pain from his wounds making itself known. He couldn't discern exactly what was going on from Sanji's expression, but he couldn't help to be relieved that the blond no longer looked at him in horror over the things he did.

Another gust of wind whipped through the lot, only this time the silence was much more tangible with the several bodies littered on the ground and the tension lingering between the two standing. The collar of his yellow button up whipped against his cheek as the unbuttoned front fluttered in the breeze. Wind eventually dying down, allowing his shirt settle onto his no longer heaving shoulders. Both Sanji and Zoro watched each other before the blond finally spoke up, "Holy shit..."

With a guilty wince Zoro slowly trudged forward until he was able to lean heavily on the car before sliding down to sit with his back resting against the vehicle. Keeping a hand pressed to his inflamed shoulder, Zoro muttered the only thing that came to his mind in that moment, "I tore my stitches."

Sanji stood eerily silent for a moment before breaking out into hysterical, raucous laughter, sliding down the car to take a seat adjacent Zoro while tears blossomed in the corners of his eyes. Holding his sides while Zoro watched incredulously as the blond nearly laughed himself into a stupor, only managing to compose himself nearly a minute later when the cackles finally began to cease. Head leaning back against the car as he stared up at the canopy of the gas station, he heaved a sigh of relief before his head dropped to the side. Wide smile still showing a dazzling grin as Sanji remarked, "You're fucking insane…"

TBC…

A/N:

[1] When doing a direct blood transfusion, typically the donor has the tube connected to an artery (ie Sanji's wrist) and the recipient is through a vein (ie Zoro's elbow). Since arteries have higher blood pressure there is no 'back flow' of blood. HOWEVER, my medical knowledge is limited so somethings may be a tad inaccurate, but this fic is mostly for fun so I'm hoping that's okay :D

Also I should mention that the car they got from Johnny and Yosaku has the steering wheel on of the right. Which is why when driving, Zoro's uninjured shoulder is on Sanji's left. (Confusing, I know. Sorry hehe)