Title:From Here On Out
Author:AoiTsukikage
Rating:R-ish
Characters/Pairing:ZoSan, other secondary pairings
Chapter: 13/?
Word Count: 3264
Summary:Sequel to 'This Is Your Life.' Sanji had thought that balancing real life and working to take down a new crime boss would be easier the second time around. He was wrong. Modern!AU, ZoSan primarily, other secondary pairings.

ChapterThirteen

"So why are you our third man?" Sanji looked behind him and Zoro gave him a glare, hands stuffed in his pockets as they walked up the drive toward a rather modest-looking house. "I mean, it's not like you're going to go easy on her…"

"That's exactly why," Zoro sniffed. "You guys need somebody that's not gonna take any crap, and you know I won't."

"You wanted to bring your swords along, Marimo, that all by itself should tell you that you're not the right man for the job," Sanji nudged the younger man with his elbow and Zoro shrugged, looking not at all put out.

"Zoro!" Chopper squeaked, eyes wide. "We're not trying to hurt her!"

"I wasn't going to," Zoro grumbled. "But you'd be amazed how quick people talk when you pull a sword on them."

"Yes, well, we're trying not to be barbarians here," Sanji rang the doorbell, keeping a steadying hand on Chopper's shoulder. They could hear somebody moving around inside before the door opened and a pretty, wispy blonde girl with her hair in pigtails stared out, her eyes widening as she took them in.

"Oh," she said, clasping her hands in front of her and shifting her feet nervously. "I…oh."

"You must be Conis," Sanji put on the brightest smile he could, trying to put her at ease. "My name's Sanji, and we think you might have a little insight as to the…events that occurred at my old man's restaurant last night."

"Yes," she finally said, and Sanji had to admire her for how calm she was remaining "Come in," she stepped back and Sanji entered, toeing his shoes off and taking in the entranceway. The color scheme of the house was mostly light blues and whites, cloud-themes on the paintings scattered about the front entrance, and she led them into a comfortable sitting room as a small white fox-like dog came out of the kitchen. "This is Suu," she picked up the animal, keeping it in her lap as she sat, and then gave them a tiny smile. "This may be the wrong time to bring it up, but if you're the people that are going to take down Enel, I'm very glad to meet you."

"What d'you mean by that? Don't you work for him?" Zoro was still standing, arms crossed, and Conis shook her head.

"No. Well, that is, not voluntarily. My father and I ran afoul of his men when he was just starting to gain some power as a gang leader and I suppose we should count ourselves lucky that they chose to spare us in order to have 'civilian eyes', as they put it. It's not as if we're prisoners or anything, but once in a while he'll ask us to talk to people or go check out areas of the city and report back to him. I've never met him," she added, and Sanji was a little disappointed that she wouldn't be able to give them any insight on his appearance. "But it would be nice to not have to worry about that anymore."

"So how'd he find out about us?" Zoro asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Well, um, the…incident with Krieg was well-broadcast throughout the underground, Mr…"

"Just call me Zoro," Zoro replied. "So what? This guy figured we'd be trying to bring him down too if he got too powerful?"

"'Essentially, yes. I didn't know that Kaya and Chopper knew you, but when they mentioned the owner of the Baratie's son having a party there, I connected the dots. And I'm…I did send word to Enel about it, I'm so sorry," she had her hands clenched in the fabric of her skirt but her eyes were clear and honest, afraid but nothing about her body language read that she was trying to garner sympathy for what she'd done. Her little dog whined at her and nudged her hand with his head, obviously picking up on her distress.

"Well, it kind of backfired," Sanji replied. "He didn't send enough men to do any damage to us and all of them have been arrested, so don't feel too guilty," he added and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good. That's…that's good to hear. I know that perhaps I shouldn't be that afraid of Enel, the chances he'd find out I was keeping that information from him are minimal, but it still frightens me enough that I feel…compelled to tell him, just to keep myself and my father safe," she added.

"And we don't blame you for that," Chopper put in. "But you don't have to do that anymore if you don't want to. It would be really great if you could give us information about Enel and what his plans are if you get it, but we'd never ask you to put yourself in danger or hold anything over your head for it," the little medical student's voice got stronger through his speech, and Sanji reached to ruffle his hair affectionately.

"But if you sell us out again, we're not gonna be nearly as nice," Zoro added darkly, Conis nodding.

"Of course. I understand. I'm not going to take advantage of your kindness, and I thank you greatly for it," she assured them. "But perhaps it's best if only Chopper and Kaya are seen here from now on. At least with them I have the excuse of school; it would be hard to explain the rest of you if Enel's men catch you about."

"Sounds good," Zoro stretched his arms over his head.

"Thank you, my dear. You've been ever so helpful," Sanji reached to take her hand, kissing the back of it as she giggled in surprise, and Chopper gave her a rather wide smile.

"I knew you weren't a bad person!" he said and she shrugged her thin shoulders.

"No. At least, I truly hope I'm not. I just want to protect my family."

"We all understand that," Sanji stood up and brushed his jeans off, his phone buzzing in his pocket at that moment so he picked it up and read the incoming text. "Shit."

"What's wrong, Sanji?" Chopper asked anxiously. "What…"

"I dunno. It's Kid, he wants us to come to hideout and 'bring that little doctor friend of yours with you,' but…."

"But Law's a doctor and if he can't handle whatever's going on there, it's gotta be bad," Zoro even looked worried and Sanji nodded firmly.

"Right, then. We've gotta take care of this. Thank you again, my dear," he added, turning on his heel to leave, Chopper rushing out after him.

Zoro came out a moment later, looking rather self-satisfied, and Sanji wasn't even going to berate him for probably threatening Conis about the dangers in betraying them. He had a pretty good feeling the girl was telling the truth, and if that was so, it was just one more reason to take Enel down for good.

000

"You trust her?" Zoro asked as they headed downtown, Sanji welcoming the distraction because his reply text to Kid had never been returned and, well, he was never exactly one to not worry, after all.

"Yeah, I do. Not just because she's a girl, but she was completely honest with us and either she's the best actor in the world or she's telling the truth," he turned toward the Lion's Gate Bridge, glad that the traffic wasn't heavy this time of day, and tapped his fingers on the steering wheel as they sped along over the water. "But I trust your judgement more on this one because I know I'm biased."

"Then it's a good thing I feel the same way," Zoro grinned over at him and Sanji spared him a quick glance before focusing on the road again, the trees of Stanley Park whipping by. "Nah, she's not lying. You can blame me if I'm wrong."

"I know I won't need to," Sanji replied, eyes darting down to the speedometer because he was pushing the limit but, well, he was worried.

"So what d'you think the problem is?" Zoro's voice was quieter now and Sanji shrugged.

"Dunno. Kid hasn't texted me back," he tapped his fingers on the wheel before clenching it tightly again, heading into downtown proper and toward the East side of the city.

"I hope it's nothing bad," Chopper piped up from the backseat. "But I always carry everything I need with me in case an emergency comes up."

"Well, that just might save somebody today," Zoro's words were cryptic and Sanji really hoped it wasn't that bad. "You think it's Law, don't you?"

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure it is. The way he fixed up Ace's back, I think he can handle pretty much anything, so either he's the reason we're going or it's too big for him to handle alone, which…" he shook his head, telling himself to concentrate on driving.

Although right now, he wasn't sure which option would be worse.

000

"What's the matter?" Chopper burst through the door, first aid kit in hand, and Sanji followed at a slower pace, trying and probably failing to hide his own fears.

"I told you, I don't need a doctor…"

"Yes, you do, now shut the fuck up and stop whining like a little bitch…oh. Good. You guys made it," Kid looked uncharacteristically worried, brow furrowed and body language tense, and Sanji could immediately see why.

"Holy shit, man, what happened?" he walked across the floor to the couch, breath quickening a little because he was never going to get used to seeing people he liked injured.

"Nothing," Law raised a hand to wave it dismissively but winced halfway through and dropped it, cradling his wrist to his chest and grimacing. "It's nothing. Nothing I didn't deserve, at any rate," he added, although his clothing was nearly shredded, streaked with fresh blood, and his eyes looked haunted. There was a streak of half-dried blood running from his hairline down the side of his face and from the way he was holding his arm at an awkward angle Sanji was willing to bet there were other injuries they couldn't see right away.

"I should look at your wrist…" Chopper started.

"Sprained, it's not broken. The man who did this to me is…adept at causing enough damage to produce excruciating pain without leaving any permanent marks," he tried to sit up and abandoned that with a whimper of pain, laying his head back against the armrest. "I'm okay."

"You might not have been if Killer hadn't've run across you doing a patrol," Kid grumbled.

"Yes, thank your little soldier for me," Law blinked slowly, turning his head to look at Chopper. "If you have painkillers, I'm not too proud to ask for those."

"You know, for as good a doctor as you are, you make a shit patient," Kid sat down by the other man's feet, his eyes never leaving Law as if he were afraid he'd disappear if he so much as looked away.

"That's always the way it works," Law looked over at Sanji. "But it's not important. I wanted to tell you that I've had my men keep an eye on the most accessible weapons cache for the last little while, and from what they've told me it's left unguarded overnight and there doesn't seem to be anything more than a padlock keeping people from getting in. More than likely nobody down there is stupid enough to try, but if you've got somebody that can pick a lock we can likely get in."

"Nami," Zoro and Sanji said at the same time, looking at each other a moment later.

"But I thought since Franky got his hands on one of their guns, we don't need to get into the weapons rooms anymore…" Zoro paused and Law half-smiled.

"True, but think about how troublesome for him it would be to find a third of his supplies gone without a trace. The more we can disable him, the better," he pointed out, and Sanji could easily see the wisdom in that.

"Yeah, good point," Zoro conceded with a shrug.

"Good. I'll get you in contact with Penguin and Shachi and you can…do whatever you think is best there," he stopped talking and squeezed his eyes shut, hands folding over his stomach. "Fuck."

"If you're hemorrhaging, we need to get you to the hospital…"

"I'm not, I'm…" Law shook his head. "I'm fine, stop worrying about me," he pulled his hands away from his abdomen as Chopper lifted up his shirt, the boy's face going dark. "See?"

"Yeah. There's a lot of bruising, but it looks like it's mostly superficial," he admitted.

"We'll talk to the others about the weapons cache, but if you think we're leaving without hearing an explanation, you don't know us very well," Zoro crossed his arms, his eyes narrowed. "So spill."

"It's nothing to worry about," Law said, sounding fed up with the whole conversation. "Suffice to say that we used to…know each other, back when I worked for Doflamingo. He was a Vice-Admiral in the Navy at one point although he's probably on the run from them now and I'm surprised he showed up at all with the real Admirals in town, but regardless, he's not sticking around to risk getting arrested. And he…well, let's just say this isn't the first time this has happened," he spoke with finality but that wasn't good enough for Sanji.

"So what? He beat you within an inch of your life and just…took off?" he wasn't sure how these underground organizations worked, but that didn't make any sense to him.

"More than likely Doflamingo wants to exact his revenge personally…if he ever gets out of jail, that is, so yes, this was just…a reminder of sorts. Not that I could ever forget Vergo," he chuckled mirthlessly, throwing his good arm over his eyes and going mostly still. "You can all leave now. I've told you everything I'm going to."

Sanji looked at Zoro, who was giving him a look that clearly said 'I'm not good with this sort of thing so it's all on you,' and Sanji sighed but realized he was right. Zoro, and he was sure Kid was the same way, were not really the guys you'd turn to when you wanted somebody to offer some comfort.

Not that he was much better, maybe, especially since Law was so damn stubborn when it came to admitting he had human emotions, but Sanji didn't feel right leaving him like this.

"Hey," he sat on the arm of the sofa beside Law and the other man looked up, mumbling something too low to hear and sliding down the couch so that Sanji could sit on the seat properly. "Look, I don't care what you did in the past, okay? None of us do. Whatever walls you've got up are your own business, but it doesn't make you weak to admit that sometimes things get a little too rough to face by yourself," he tried to sound as convincing as he could, and Law groaned a little when Chopper kept prodding at his chest, obviously checking to make sure he didn't have any broken ribs. "I get the feeling you've gone it alone for so long you're forgetting that sometimes you can trust other people, but…"

"Yeah," Kid agreed with a vague shrug. "And, I mean, it's not like I'm much better so I probably haven't helped him much there."

Law pushed himself into a sitting position, and Sanji could see him shaking with what was probably a mixture of exhaustion and suppressed emotion, before the fight went completely out of him and he slumped against Sanji's side, bracing himself with the blond's body, head lolling onto Sanji's shoulder.

Sanji didn't know if this counted as a victory, or even a breakthrough, but Law didn't tense up when he brought up his arm to hold him steady, fingers sliding through his hair under the guise of soothing him but really checking for any head injuries because, with how out of it Law seemed, that was a real possibility. Everything seemed okay, though, and Law wasn't protesting the action, so he kept his hand there.

"Thank you," Law mumbled, eyes half-closed. "You're all right, of course, I'm not used to having other people take care of me and I'm probably not going to be used to it for a while, but…I do appreciate it," he sounded half-asleep, Chopper looking relieved (and Sanji would bet anything that the boy had given Law a sedative along with the painkillers).

"I've got 'im," Kid promised, pulling Law gently against his side as the smaller man curled into him, breathing already evening out. "Thanks, though. I'm shit with the comforting stuff even though…fuck, I've never seen him like this…"

The door slammed open then and Bonney rushed in, holding a half-empty pizza box with a slice still hanging from her mouth, "The fuck happened to you, Heart? You look like shit!" she mumbled, mouth full, before swallowing heavily and moving to the couch.

"Nothing, please, I do not need some sort of pseudo-sympathy committee."

"I warned you," was what Hawkins added, sweeping by as if he held no concern for Law other than what he'd just said, and as usual Drake was tailing him although he stopped by the couch.

"I didn't look for him, Mr. Hawkins, and truth be told you just warned me that I would be no match for him…which I've never doubted," he muttered under his breath, and Sanji was willing to bet it was hard for him to admit a weakness like that. "I had no idea he would show up here, but I daresay he's gone now."

"Out to Toronto, no doubt," Hawkins blinked slowly. "Now that Whitebeard has effectively retired all of the places he used to look over have fallen apart."

"Mm, I highly doubt all of Doflamingo's commanders were captured with him, and they're too smart to stay where they were smoked out of, so that's my guess as well," Law cracked his eyes open a little. "I'm not excessively worried about them coming after me at this point, but today was…"

"Who is this guy?" Drake asked, crossing his arms and frowning. "I've never seen you scared of anybody before."

"Yes, well, when said person has…exerted their authority over you since you were a small child, that tends to build fear," Law's words were clipped and Sanji reached out without thinking, fingers brushing his arm as Law looked at him, because that had almost sounded like… "Don't worry, Mr. Blackleg, I don't think his interest in me went any farther than as a glorified punching bag. Vergo's always been merciless, if a little…strange, otherwise."

"Hold up. Vergo, as in Vice-Admiral Vergo?" Drake asked, his eyes wide even though they were still shadowed by his hat, and Law nodded.

"You know him?" Zoro looked immediately alert and Sanji was trying to figure out what was going on here.

"He was undercover working on special operations, but…"

"No," Law laughed sharply. "Well, maybe at one point he was, but he's Doflamingo's man through and through. Has been for years."

Sanji was still trying to connect the dots, or more specifically trying to figure out why or how Drake would know about the inner workings of the Navy, but the older man looked smug and he cleared his throat, glancing around the room.

"Gentlemen…lady," Drake started, smiling a little. "I think…we may have just found the answer to our Admiral problem."

Notes:

1. I would apologize to Law but it was necessary for the plot that this happened and we know just enough about his backstory that I could spin this and have it stay mostly-canon. Other than that, please feel free to drop me a review or comment; it's nice to see hits/faves/alerts on the fic and I appreciate all of you silent readers but please don't be afraid to let me know your thoughts :)