Okay, I'll stop being mean. You guys can know what happened to Penguin now. And it'll be a great bonding moment! ^^ Had this running through my head the night after I posted the previous chapter. Gotta write it, gotta write it!

Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece. I'm just playing with them for right now.

Here the Chapter Starts

"Coby!"

As soon as he was punched in, his name was called. Turning around, he spotted Kaku waving at him, signaling him to head his way. Curious, the pink-haired guard went to his lead, managing to avoid the sneering night guard that was muttering darkly under his breath.

"Don't mind Nero," Kaku told him once he was at the older guard's side. "He just got a royal chew out from Lucci and is sulking."

"What about?" Coby inquired curiously.

Nudging his head down the hall, he said, "Walk with me for a minute." Unsure what else he should do at the moment, he obliged the other, following him as they headed towards medical, if the signs on the walls were any indication. "Last night, Trafalgar called out for a guard. Nero was the one that came, even though he's inexperienced enough that he should stay upstairs like you do with me. One of his cellmates was sick, puking all over the floor. Nero was refusing to take the poor guy to Medical, saying he could last until the morning."

"What?! But what if it was contagious?!" Coby exclaimed angrily, in disbelief that another would even do such a thing, prison or no.

"Thankfully, it wasn't," Kaku mumbled before clearing his throat and continuing on. "Lucci gave him the most royal chew-out I have ever seen from him because of it. Let me tell you, I've been living with that man for six years, working with him for almost as long, and I know how collected he can be better than most. He was not happy one bit over last night. Anyway, Blueno got to the cell and took Penguin out. Trafalgar and Shachi were worried enough that they let him, didn't try anything."

"So what's wrong with him?" the younger asked, still waiting for that bit of information. "Was it food poisoning?"

"With Vinsmoke as the cook, I doubt any of the inmates will ever get food poisoning," he replied, shaking his head. "No, this is a lot more serious. And it would explain a lot about Penguin that has always been a mystery. He always wants Trafalgar to treat him when he's hurt or sick, and he always throws fits when we attempt body searches. He had to be sedated last night when they were bringing him to Medical. Night crew is too small to handle Trafalgar if he decides he wants to act up."

They turned a corner and spotted Lucci standing in front of the double doors, hand on his forehead and his eyes closed with his lips in a tight line. His eyes snapped open, focusing on the duo before lowering his hand and looking straight at Coby. "I will assume I do not need to give you the same lecture as that imbecile concerning the health risks of leaving ill inmates in their cells," he said sternly.

"No, sir," Coby assured with a sharp nod. "I know that sick inmates need to be moved to medical as soon as possible or risk everyone's health."

"Good," Lucci accepted then looked to Kaku. "He has yet to be fully discharged, but when he is, take him back to the block."

"Understood," Kaku replied with a nod. Seeing the quirked brow of the other, he sighed lowly, rubbing the back of his head. "I'm just… How did we miss this?"

"This changes nothing, but try to get them contraceptives or it may happen again," Lucci advised. "I doubt simply telling them 'no' will be enough."

Contraceptives? Why would the inmates need birth control? As far as he was aware, the women weren't active and it's not like men could get pregnant. "Um, sir?" Coby hesitantly called. "What happened last night?"

"We made a surprising discovering concerning one of the prisoners," Lucci explained. "Penguin is, in fact, a woman. When Trafalgar was questioned about it, he informed us that Penguin is transgender and that he has been on medication to lower his estrogen hormones while increasing his testosterone. We do not know where he has been getting the medication since we do not have any in stock."

"Probably something his uncle smuggles in for them," Kaku offered.

"Possible. They have gone through great deals to hide this from us."

Coby half listened as Lucci and Kaku continued speaking, looking through the glass window into the medical ward. Curled up on one of the beds was Penguin, chin on his knees and glaring at a wall. Casting a quick glance to the other two, he slipped into the room, doubting that he was unnoticed but they were allowing it. Of course, if Penguin does try anything, Lucci is right there.

It was odd seeing the prisoner without his (or her) usual hat, platinum blonde hair that looked silver under the fluorescence and dark blue eyes shifting to look to him. Penguin scowled at him, turning his head away as the guard sat on the bed, not entirely sure what he was doing. They were silent for a moment before Coby looked towards the door, noticing the other two watching him, but Lucci was holding Kaku back.

He wasn't sure what he was going to say. Why he came in. But his mouth opened and the words started pouring out. "When I was a kid, a woman took me into her group. Mainly to use as her punching bag or to stroke her ego when she needed it. She was a huge woman, over three hundred pounds, and she was hideous. Even her hair was dull and always frizzing. There was nothing nice about her. She would constantly ask us who the most beautiful woman in the world is. If we said it was anyone but Alvida, she'd beat us."

Penguin glanced back to him, annoyed but not hostile.

"I managed to get away from her and told police where she was holed up. I was just so tired of being her punching bag. Garp took me in after. Anyway, Alvida got a few years in jail and she lost a lot of weight. When she got back out, it was like she was a different woman, but had the same attitude. She ate a bit healthier, would do exercises. Last time I saw her, she was actually gorgeous. They were scouting her for modeling at any chance they could get. She was still a total bitch, but I realized something after she was locked away. She knew she wasn't pretty, but she just needed someone to tell her she was. Even if she had to bully them into saying it.

"I was told early on to not let my past be known. Even if I was more of a prisoner than a member, people would still treat me like I was in a gang. They wouldn't trust me. I would be blacklisted before I would even get into a school. So I never told anyone."

The two were in silence for a moment before Penguin sighed lowly. "Dad didn't want another son. At least, we don't think he did. Mom and I didn't know he had another family, but when he saw me trying to do the things he did, he would get mad and hit me. Yell at me to go learn how to be a proper woman from my mother." He shook his head slowly. "I followed him one day, trying to figure out where he worked that he was gone for days. I wanted to learn how to do a man's work, too. That's how I found about my half-brother, though at that age, I wasn't able to fully understand the situation.

"Shachi found me first, saw the way I dressed myself then dragged me into his room. He gave me his clothes to wear, we were about the same size so it was an easy fit. I would go over to his home every day, and he'd let me wear his clothes and he'd let me do the things he did." A soft chuckle slipped out. "He had this treehouse in his backyard with a huge 'no girls allowed' sign on the door. But he dragged me up there, too. When his friends tried to get rid of me, he hit them all and said to stop picking on his brother."

Coby let out a small chuckle. "Sounds like he's a real good brother."

"The best I could ask for," Penguin said softly. "I actually got the name Penguin from him. Mom put me in this dress once and I hated it so much, I ran away from the party she was hosting and found Shachi. He looked at me like I was some kind of alien. Then, after I told him about Mom and the party, took me into his room and gave me a small suit that his mother bought him. When I changed into it, he laughed and said I looked like a cute little penguin. So the name stuck.

"When Mom died, Dad took me to live with his second family. He introduced me to Shachi as his sister. Shachi just shook his head and said as loud as he could 'That's not my sister. Penguin is my brother.' Dad was mad about that, too. He realized then that Shachi and I met before, and thought that Shachi was encouraging my thought process of being more boy than girl. Beat him, too."

"You dad just didn't know how to handle you or he just didn't want to admit that his daughter is different?" the guard inquired.

"We never found out," Penguin answered then smirked at the young guard. "You wouldn't know it looking at me now, but I used to have an really slim waist, wide hips, and double D breasts. My figure used to be close to Nami's."

"No way," Coby quickly denied, earning a laugh from the prisoner.

"It's true," the other replied through his soft laughter. "When I started developing, Shachi would help me bind my breasts and let me wear his clothes, the baggier the better. He even cut my hair, then I would wear my hat to hide it from Dad. At first glance, I was a boy. A lot of people had to actually look at me to realize that I am female."

"Here I was thinking you're just a really pretty boy," Coby joked with a small smile.

Penguin huffed out a soft laugh. "Some thought so, too," he said lowly. "Shachi's mother died when we were in our freshman year. Dad had women but never settled with any of them. Maybe he did and we just don't know it. He hid us from each other for so long, who's to say he wasn't hiding another family? But he was noticing the way I was, and it was making him angry. 'Act like a woman. Talk like a woman. Dress like a woman.' Over and over and over again." Smiling bitterly, he looked to Coby. "Shachi and I both share a murder under our belts, which was why we became homeless and later found by Law."

"You do?" the guard asked, blinking owlishly.

"Our father. He tried to force me into accepting my role of a woman." Penguin shook his head then bitterly continued. "A father doesn't force his daughter to accept her role as a woman by trying to rape her." Coby flinched back as Penguin let out a dark laugh. "Shachi came to help me. We were sophomores, no money beyond whatever Dad hid in the house, and we just killed him. So we ran. A few months later, Law found us. After a while, we followed him. He diagnosed me as transgender, a man living in the body of a woman, and has been getting me medication to change me. I've been on it long enough that my periods basically disappeared, my breast shrank into these tiny things, and I even started filled out more like a boy. He was supposed to do the sex-change surgery on me, but then we were caught and ended up in here. If we weren't, I would be completely male as of last month."

The guard nodded in understanding then furrowed his brows in confusion. "Wait, Lucci told me when I started that you were claiming to be a 'street urchin' that was just called Penguin," he said gently. "Then I heard the tapes and one of the sessions with Shachi mentioned you two being half-brothers."

"Shachi won't deny we're related," Penguin shrugged off. "I just kept telling a new story every time, throwing people off what I am. Usually works."

"And that was the real story," Coby deduced, but was staring at the other curiously.

Penguin smiled at him. "I'll let you decide."

Humming lowly, Coby glanced back to the door, noticing that Lucci was gone now, but Kaku was waiting for him. The guard captain was probably reassured somehow that nothing would happen. "So what happened last night?" he hesitantly asked, thinking maybe it would be too personal.

Scoffing, the prisoner shook his head. "Miscarried. That's all."

"Miscarried?!" the younger exclaimed. "You were pregnant?!"

"A while back, I was a week without my medication," he explained. "Killer knows the way I am and he knew that I was out of meds then. We were trying to be careful, but accidents happen. I got my medication again and my body wasn't producing the hormones necessary to keep on with the pregnancy. It was waging war with itself, which caused me to get violently sick and miscarry."

"Does Killer know about the baby?"

"No. Didn't tell him. I knew it wouldn't last once I got my pills back. Besides, it's for the best. Two criminals having a child in a prison would only result in the child being taken away and placed into foster care or an orphanage. And once people realize who the parents are, the child would never find a permanent home. And we would never be able to find it or see it."

Coby didn't even have to think about it to realize that it made sense. It would be what happens if the baby did survive to full term. And he doubted that it would be a peaceful pass-off when the baby would be taken away.

"I'm sorry you had to go through all that," he offered. "It sounds like you've had a rough life, but at least you had your brother and Trafalgar through it."

"My one small blessing," Penguin huffed, turning away to hide his smiling lips.

"Hey, can I ask you one more thing?"

"Guess so. You already know more than the rest of these guards."

Brow furrowed for a moment before the pink-haired guard let out a low breath. "What was your real name?"

Penguin looked back to him, staring into his gaze before straightening up and lowering his legs until they were crossed. "Penny. Not Penelope or anything like that. Just… Penny."

"Penny," Coby copied then scrunched up his face in thought. "I think Penguin rolls off the tongue better."

He earned another laugh.

Here is a line!

Coby was given the privilege of escorting Penguin back down the stairs and into the block. Lucci had already let out the inmates, Strawhat and his group watching curiously as Trafalgar and Shachi argued with Killer. Eustass was just watching silently, snickering under his breath. Everyone paused upon hearing the gate open and the steps descending down. Coby led the front with Kaku behind Penguin, his nerves jittering with the various pairs of eyes on them.

Keeping a calm and cool front, he stepped off the stairs and onto the floor, stepping to the side to let Penguin stand next to him. The inmate held out his bound wrists for Coby to unlock, watching the key enter the slots then twist until the cuffs clicked open.

"Thanks," he said with a nod to the guard, stepping away.

Three steps from the guards, Penguin was grabbed by Shachi first, his brother holding him tightly before pushing him arm length away. "Are you okay? What happened? What'd they do to you?" One after another, the other was firing off questions, Penguin trying futilely to answer before finally having enough and covering the yammering mouth with his hands as Law approached next.

Kaku grabbed Coby's shoulder, signaling him to head back up the stairs. Once they were past the gate, Coby looked over his shoulder to see Penguin answering the questions calmly while Killer held onto him. Even Eustass seemed curious about what was going on, though acted like he could care less. Luffy and his crew came over as well, wanting to know if Penguin just had an upset stomach or something else was going on with him.

"What did you two talk about?" Kaku asked him curiously. "He… I mean she…"

"He," the pink-haired guard corrected. "He's transgender. He's a woman physically, but in any other regard, Penguin is a man. I think it's insulting to refer to them by birth gender than their gender identity." Shrugging, he gave the other a reassuring smirk. "I just told him a little about my past and he told me a bit about his. By the way, if it would help Lucci get a better background on him, Penguin's original name is Penny."

"I'll let him know when I can. For now, though, the doctors are here," Kaku sighed loudly, his shoulders drooping. "They're both eccentric in their own right. Jyabura and Kalifa tend to handle the ones for Kureha while Lucci and I would take care of Hiriluk's patients. But with you here, it's just you and me. Lucci has other matters to tend to anyway."

"Hiriluk has Trafalgar, Luffy, Franky, Chopper, Portgas, Vinsmoke, Killer, and Shachi," Coby listed out loud, thinking back to the tapes he listened to just days ago. "Right?"

"Right," the older guard replied with a small nod of his head. "For good reason. Hiriluk can keep up with them best, or Kureha just refuses them. Though the ones she refused were mainly Franky and Vinsmoke. She handles the others well enough. We tried splitting them evenly."

"But why only two psychiatrists to sixteen prisoners?" he inquired curiously.

"We had more," Kaku grumbled. "Eustass killed one in a fit of rage. They kept pushing him and pushing him. Two of his murder counts happened in this prison. The other was an inmate that thought he was tougher and could make Eustass submit to him."

Gulping, Coby looked to Eustass Kidd with wide, fearful eyes. Kaku bumped his arm before the younger inhaled deeply then school his face to an impassive expression. Showing fear of one of the prisoners was opening a door for them. A door they would gladly walk through.

"The others just gave up on the rest, seeing that they were getting nowhere and eventually, only Hiriluk and Kureha would do the job," the other sighed heavily. "We've had to put some of them under heavy restraint in order to keep the good doctors safe, but so long as fists don't go flying, the two are fine. Not to mention, they can handle themselves. Kureha is an old woman, but she can make anyone unable to move with just a few pokes. Good enough reason to keep her and Trafalgar apart is because the two would start talking medical and then nothing gets done."

"I will have you know, boy, that I am not old," someone said, causing Coby to sharply spin around while Kaku just sighed but kept his eyes on the inmates. The woman standing there was quite tall and very thin, long wavy silver hair falling down her back with the bangs behind held up by a pair of sunglasses. Coby was surprised by her state of dress, however. Skinny blue jeans with a sakura tank top and a blue leather jacket. Now that he thought about it, she was one of the ones talking with Chopper during Visitor's Day, but this is the first time Coby got a close-up look of her. "Who's the new kid?"

"His name is Coby, and Lucci happens to like him," Kaku explained, still not turning to the doctor. "Well enough to not hover over him or give him a chew out like Nero gets."

"Nero?" the woman repeated before waving her hand. "Never mind. If he's as bad as you're already making him sound, I'll hear all about him." Looking back to Coby, she grinned widely. "So you're the new guy? Well then, Coby, my name if Doctor Kureha. I'm one of the psychiatrists in this hellhole, but don't let my young age fool you."

"Young?" Kaku scoffed playfully. "Kureha, admit it. You're ancient."

"Shut up!" the woman shouted, bringing a foot down onto his shoulder. Kaku hardly flinched, but Coby could see just how strong that kick could be. "You're just upset that I won't share the secret to my youth!"

"You're ninety-four," the guard sighed, brushing the leg off. "Coby, as I'm sure you can already guess, Doctor Kureha likes to believe that she's a young woman and refuses to admit just how old she really is. To stay on her good side, say nothing of her age."

"Noted," the younger accepted with a sharp nod.

Here is a line!

Hiriluk was not what Coby expected after listening to the tapes. He expected a calm man, probably middle age if not older, with a wise look about him. Instead, the psychiatrist is about as eccentric as everyone else in the prison. His hair was stuck out in three different directions, one up and the other two to the sides. He seemed to try and dress professionally (somewhat), but the colors jumped out and hit Coby across the face.

"Ah-ha! Who is the new kid?" the doctor asked enthusiastically.

"This is Coby," Kaku introduced. "He'll be taking Lucci's place for the sessions today. Maybe all sessions, if he manages to stick around."

"Well, the more the merrier!" Hiriluk accepted with a beaming smile and nod of his head. "Nice to meet you, Coby."

"You too, Doctor," Coby replied politely, giving the older man a small bow.

"Now then!" Hiriluk exclaimed, clasping his hands together. "Shall we begin? Tell me, who is my first visitor today?"

"Same as usual," Kaku told him as he opened the door to allow the psychiatrist to enter the room, his eyes focused on the tattooed doctor smirking at them from his seat, his wrists and ankles handcuffed to the chair. "I trust you were already informed of our latest discovery."

"Yes, Kureha was told and she just had to share it with me," the man replied with a nod of his head as he went to the other side of the table. "But that is one of her patients, so it of no concern to me for the moment."

Kaku signaled for Coby to stay by the door before going to the opposite corner along the same wall. Hiriluk pulled out a recorder then placed a tape inside. Closing the item, he pressed play to make sure the unlabelled tape was not one that was used and just not written on. When no sounds emerged from the speakers, he stopped the tape then pressed the record button.

"This is Doctor Hiriluk with Trafalgar D Water Law," he spoke out loud, calmer than earlier. "Session Sixteen. Tell me how you're doing today, Law."

"I don't follow orders," the prisoner threw out.

"It wasn't meant as an order, simply an inquiry," Hiriluk excused before waving his hand. "Last time we spoke, you told me about your experiences in Amazon Lily. Though your crimes were not as numerous there as they were everywhere else, was there anything about that place that drew you?"

"No," Trafalgar answered. "Amazon Lily was a good place to lay low for a while, though most of the population is made up of women."

"And that is where one of your men was charged with kidnapping and rape," the psychiatrist commented. "A young girl of sixteen."

"If she didn't tease him so much, she wouldn't have been kidnapped in the first place," the tattooed prisoner scoffed, rolling his golden eyes. "Well, it wasn't really kidnap. You see, she was curious about the anatomy of a man, having no father in her life and interacting with only women. She kept asking us questions, and Shachi offered to show her the answers. I simply let them do what they wanted."

"And after Amazon Lily, when you and your friends had to leave so abruptly," Hiriluk continued, opening a thick manila folder and looking over the various pages inside. "You completely vanished for months. No murders matching your MO. No signs of you. Nothing. Where did you go?"

"Why should I even tell you?" Trafalgar chuckled darkly. "If you must know, we were laying low with a good friend of ours. Their name is… Nowhere."

Coby almost blanched, catching Kaku's eye long enough to notice the eye-roll the other guard sent him.

"Very funny," the older man sighed lowly, shaking his head. "Is there anything you wanted to share with me this session?"

"Well… hmm…" Trafalgar rolled his head back, looking at Coby with narrowed eyes before they slid close and he let out a soft huff. "We have difficulty sleeping at night because of the new guard. In fact, just about everyone in the block wants to kill him. If Penguin was not so sick last night, Nero would be dead."

"You planned to murder another guard?" Hiriluk asked incredulously. Kaku's fists clenched tightly into his elbow, easy to miss if Coby didn't look over when he did.

"We wish to sleep at night without having someone hit the bars and yell at us to be quiet every time someone snores," Trafalgar drawled boredly. "We kind of like this one here. Strawhat and his brothers already adopted him, from what I understand. Nero, however… He needs to leave. Whether it be of his own will, Lucci's will, or in a body bag." He chuckled again, licking at his lips. "I would love to start a new collection."

Collection? Coby tried to think back to what he read in that file. Certain locations when they managed to figure out where the Surgeon was showed signs of immediate vacancy. Meaning everyone grabbed what they needed and bolted. At those certain locations, there were hearts belonging to the victims. DNA testing provided which heart belongs to which victim, some of them belong to people they hadn't even found yet. And still haven't, from what he understands.

Trafalgar collected the hearts. It would make sense, after all. A proud serial killer like him would want to keep a trophy of his accomplishment. A reason to gloat over the police. 'Seen how many people I killed before you caught me?' he asked during his interrogation. No one ever found the hearts right after finding the victims, so it would make sense that he simply took the organs for keeps before getting rid of the bodies.

The questions continued on until the half-hour was up. They only get thirty minutes with the prisoners due to how many there are and because of their short staff concerning the ones who could handle the dangerous criminals. He and Kaku escorted Trafalgar back to the block. The pink-haired guard was told to stay at the stairs to prevent anyone from trying an escape attempt while Kaku grabbed the next prisoner.

"Hey, Coby!" Luffy called excitedly, running up to him and throwing his arms around Coby's head in order to hug him with the cuffs on. "You get to be there? Awesome!"

"Strawhat," Kaku sighed, forcefully removing the arms from the surprised guard. "Stop grabbing people."

"Aw, but I was just so happy to see him," the raven pouted as Kaku pushed him to the stairs. "You don't let him talk to us."

"You have enough friends," the orange-haired guard chuckled with a shake of his head. "You don't need anymore."

"I know why you're always against me making friends," Luffy said calmly. "It's because you don't have enough."

"I have friends, but you're not supposed to make friends with guards," he corrected. "I keep telling you that."

"Nya, you're boring!" Luffy declared, sticking his tongue out at the older guard.

"Come on, Luffy," Coby laughed lightly. "Don't pester Kaku too much or I have to suffer under his bad mood."

"What is this? Gang Up On Kaku Day?" the older scoffed half-heartedly.

"I thought that was every day," Coby quipped with a smile.

Golden eyes watched the trio leave the block, waiting for them to ascend the stairs and close the gate behind them. With a low huff, he turned to Shachi. "How is Penguin?" he inquired.

"Doing better," Shachi sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "The trick is getting Killer away from him. I don't think I've ever seen that guy so worried before."

Law chuckled softly, plucking Bepo off the seat next to his subordinate. "I think we will have to extend an invitation to Eustass-ya and Killer-ya. Either that, or an alliance."

"Doflamingo would probably stab them in the back," Shachi pointed out.

"Not if he wants me back in his bed," the surgeon replied, looking into Bepo's eyes. "Hear that? If anything happens to Eustass-ya, or to Killer-ya because he's Penguin's, Doffy gets nothing from me."

"I'm sure the message is loud and clear," the other laughed lightly.

Here the Chapter Ends

So this is as far as I am able to go. For now. You guys know that updates don't happen as often as you guys would like concerning this story. That's mainly because, unlike my other stories that are multiple chapters written before I even post the first, this one is written chapter by chapter and posted almost as soon as the chapter is done. Because I'm impatient.

And yes, I threw in a gender-bender that is transgender. I thought it would make things a bit more dramatic. And admit it! It was a curve none of you were expecting. ^^ I sometimes like to think I'm clever.

Well, let me know what you guys think! I will try to update as soon as I can, but promise nothing.