A/N: Takes place before the main story. Dragon and Luffy bonding time.

Dragon understood well the restrictions that his job would impose on his life. Minimized his relationships. Minimized his public exposure. Became the silent observer of the country, without forming attachments that could compromise his job. When all was said and done, he preferred to think that he had never broken his own rules so much as stretched them to interpretation, made exceptions. Or rather, just one exception, in the form of a teenage son with a troubling tendency to make messes for him to clean up. Just like the other miscreants he was often associated with. In any case, Dragon wasn't a man to regret his actions, so he endeavored to give Luffy as much love as he possessed in the black cockles of his heart, and just as much security.

And yet sometimes Dragon felt like he hadn't given Luffy enough of either. The boy could get himself into scrapes and injuries that defied logic and rational human actions. As for affection, well… Dragon would argue that his job didn't allow him to visit Luffy very often. Besides, Luffy didn't seem to mind his absence very much, since he had two brothers and a grandfa… ok, two brothers who could look out for him, as well as everyone else from the CLAN directive. Not to mention Luffy's friends, who Dragon had investigated thoroughly and determined to be of sound mind and intent.

Nevertheless, there were moments when he felt guilty that he spent far more time with Sabo, his adopted son of sorts and the more rational of Luffy's brother, than with his real son; a guilt which was intensified by some not-so-subtle hints from said adopted son. Besides, Dragon wasn't ashamed to admit that he enjoyed the occasional father-son bonding experience. There was probably some research out there that spending time with one's biological family was healthy.

Case in point: it was a weekly tradition for Dragon and Luffy to go to the movies together. Nice, dark space with background noise to hide behind, accessible exits, yet public enough not to invite an outside attack without scrutiny. While Luffy cared more about which movie they were watching rather than where, Dragon always chose the old theater behind the Galley-la shopping center. It had one road through which cars would come in and out, and the roof was readily accessible to members of his security team, since they had a long-standing agreement with the terrified theater owner. Two guards sat in the theater with father and son, each one close to an exit. One guard also pretended to be on his phone outside the theater, in case the theater couldn't be opened from the inside in the unlikely chance of an earthquake, mad gunman, terrorist threat, and who knows what madness the world would sic upon them.

This was the life of the director of the NSA. Precaution above precaution, with the hopes that everything would end up redundant and unnecessary. Honestly, Dragon admired the men and women of his security, for their dedication to waiting around for hours on end.

Nothing like the movie interpretation of governments and spies.

"That," Dragon pointed to the screen, where the protagonists were currently climbing a rope along the side of a building, "is a horrible idea."

Luffy was munching on an extra extra large tub of popcorn that reached from his lap to just below his chin. "Why?"

"You shouldn't underestimate the wind velocity above ground level. Besides, they don't have safety harnesses. One false slip from the man who's highest up, and he'll come crashing down onto everybody who's climbing underneath."

"He'd squish them?"

"Like pancakes."

Luffy let out a delighted laugh, which had the person in front shushing them.

"Besides, that grappling hook is a joke. Do they honestly think they can support five people, at least 800 pounds, on a flimsy metal hook latched to a concrete ledge? If I were the antagonist in this movie, I wouldn't have to lift a finger to defend myself. Those amateurs would have wiped themselves out before they ever reached me."

The small children sitting nearby seemed to have become utterly traumatized. Their fault for sneaking into a PG-13 movie. Luckily, his son found the idea of the protagonists' demise hilarious.

The guy in front turned around again to glare at them.

Dragon raised an eyebrow.

The guy blanched and turned around, sliding down his seat. Dragon had that sort of effect on people. He looked up only to grimace, as the protagonist and his love interest started making out in the middle of a shootout. This time, Dragon couldn't suppress a sigh. "Just let the one of the bullets hit them already."

Luffy giggled. "Nami would get mad. That's not very romantic."

"Well neither am I."

"Not even with Mom?"

Dragon stilled. That had come out of nowhere. He'd never told Luffy a thing about his mother. "Why do you ask?"

"Just curious. I mean, I gotta have one, right? Unless I was born in one of the super secret labs? Or I'm a clone? Or I have half sabertooth tiger DNA? That would be the best case scenario."

"No. you are a very normal human child."

"Boo," Luffy pouted.

"As for your mother: meeting her was one of the biggest mistakes of my life." He glanced at his son with a rare smile. "But I guess some good came out of it." He saw the rare shy grin on Luffy's face, as he unconsciously tugged his hat down a bit.

Luffy, for all his 17 years, still had a poor understanding of what Dragon did at his job. It was a lucky day if he actually remembered what NSA stood for, instead of the Naughty Suited Acrobats, or the Nasty Screeching Acorns. He was a strangely innocent boy, for someone registered under the CLAN directive. Compared to him, Rayleigh had seem some things he couldn't talk about in polite company, before his retirement; Garp was insane; Shanks was in and out of prison with a regularity that Dragon hoped wouldn't rub off on Luffy; Ace could only pretend he was a law-abiding citizen for so long, what with Whitebeard's backing; and Dragon admitted that he and Sabo had long lost the ability to judge things in terms of black and white. Luffy was oddly accepting of the fact that his upbringing wasn't normal, though he had yet to get into any real trouble.

"Luffy. What do you want to be when you grow up?"

"Free," Luffy automatically said. "To do whatever I want."

"That's already part of the US constitution."

"What's that?"

Oh dear. "A document by the government."

"A paper? That won't protect me. I have to be the one to protect myself. And whatever's precious to me."

Hmph. perhaps his son wasn't as innocent as he'd thought. Deep down, Dragon hoped to protect his son's freedom from the darker side of the world. But he wondered how long Luffy would believe that villains looked like the caricatures on the movie screen.

Dragon sighed as he watched Dr. Boom(?) get catapulted into space. "If I were the antagonist, I would hunt them down using the government's information network, set up a cordon around their hideout. And enlist the local police. No need for elaborate plans. They've done enough to be arrested for trespassing, destroying public property, theft, assault-"

"That's boring. You're boring."

"Yes well." As long as Dragon stuck around, he could at least teach Luffy what a real-life villain acted like.