Happy birthday, Law ^^

Beta'ed by Vergina-spva and MyLadyDay

Breaking through Fire

Chapter 3

"Could you do me a favour?"

Annoyed, Law looked up from his medical book. He just wanted to have some peace and quiet to study, but after several months of living with the D-brothers, he knew better than to do that at home. Usually, he caught up with his studies in the university library, so this attempt had just been to kill the boredom he was feeling. As usual, he had hardly slept that night, his insomnia haunting him, which was why he had decided to give up on getting some shut-eye and tried to study.

On a normal day, between five and nine in the morning was perfect for that, as both the D-brothers were still sleeping like a log at that time. So it was definitely unusual to see Ace up and about at seven in the morning. And the weirdest part was that he didn't look like a zombie. Well, maybe a little, but not as much as Law had expected. In fact, Ace looked rather excited.

Law, on the other hand, felt quite like a zombie and rubbed his eyes. "Why are you here?"

"Dude, how could you forget? From today on, I'm officially a firefighter," the freckled man declared proudly.

Law scratched the back of his head. Ace had started his firefighter education even before the doctor-to-be moved in. Apparently, he wanted to become a fireman ever since he was a kid, though he had postponed a little after graduating from secondary school to travel the world, which was actually how they had met. Ace had been driving through the town where Law had lived at the time, but at some point, he had had a narcoleptic attack when he stepped on his motorcycle. The bike had fallen over on Ace's ankle, effectively trapping him. At that moment Law, just started with his medicine studies at the time, had passed by and wondering if the guy might be dead and if the university would be interested in the body or if he would better dissect it at home, he had leaned over the freckled man, only to discover the man was snoring loudly. At that moment, Ace had woken up, which caused some awkwardness, before he started to complain about his ankle. Law had picked up the motorcycle and examined the ankle. It was bruised enough to have Ace put his foot up for a few days and Law foolishly offered Ace to stay at his place. After a weekend filled with what had to be the cheesiest pick-up lines ever, Law had made clear that he wasn't interested. Ace didn't seem too disappointed, though.

After Ace left, they kept in touch and when Law complained that his house was far from the university, the freckled man had generously offered his home, which Law gratefully accepted. Then he met Luffy.

In all, the place wasn't that bad to live. The mornings were quiet and somehow, the place wasn't the pigsty he had expected it to be, though he had never caught either of the brothers cleaning. Ace's and Luffy's friends weren't that bad either. There was Nami, Luffy's so-called girlfriend who made a bet out of everything – and always won – who Luffy had met at college before he dropped out a while ago. Then there was Zoro, an alcoholic who had been Luffy's roommate, though he was still in college now, and his cousin Vivi, who had briefly dated Ace – though Law never understood why.

It was his insomnia, however, that made it difficult to put up with everything and his study stress wasn't helping. Basically, he just needed to get laid, but he was a lot more picky when it came to choosing his bed partners than Ace was – and not only because half the population dropped out because he was gay.

"Remind me again why a pyromaniac such as yourself became a firefighter?" Law inquired as he casually blew his coffee.

"Shut up! I can't help it that things sometimes spontaneously burst into flames and I happen to be near it," Ace muttered insulted. It did happen too often for it to be a coincidence, though. The freckled man sometimes even set something on fire when he was heating food in the microwave.

"Even if you don't make the fires worse, do they even allow you to work there with narcolepsy and no working medication?" Law continued. "You can't fall asleep on the job, after all."

"I have it under control. As long as I drink enough coffee." To emphasise his point, Ace poured a cup of which the size reminded Law of a bathtub rather than a mug.

He shrugged. "Suit yourself." He picked up the newspaper.

"You can still hook me up with new drug trials if you want," Ace offered. "Though, make sure that this time they're a little more thoroughly tested beforehand. I don't think that rash is gone yet."

Behind his paper, Law couldn't help but smirk. The side effects of the last drug trial had provided him with enough material for another paper, earning him another high grade.

"Which is why I think you should do me a favour this once."

The doctor-to-be looked over the edge of the newspaper. "Why?"

"'Cause I'm acting like your guinea pig! And I let you live here without paying the rent!"

Law raised a sceptical eyebrow.

Ace huffed, before a smug smirk appeared on his face. "And if you don't do it, I'll tell Luffy you've been dying to have a slumber party with him."

"You wouldn't dare!" Law would have grabbed him by the collar if the man would wear a damn shirt for once.

Ace, however, crossed his arms before his chest and cocked his head to the side. "Your move."

Law growled under his breath, but he had to hand it to his friend; the guy had guts. Any other person trying to blackmail him he would have used as a test subject for his new scalpels. He sighed in defeat. "Fine. What do I need to do?"

"I need you to pick up my motorcycle at the garage."

"Why don't you do it yourself?"

"'Cause I'll be working all day and I don't want to take the bus again tomorrow. You don't even have classes today. Please, Law?" He pouted, despite knowing that that didn't work on the med student.

Law sighed. "Can't you ask Luffy to do it?"

They stared at each other for a moment before they both started laughing. After all, the only thing you could count on Luffy to pick up was meat, and that never made it back.

"Alright, fine. I'll do it. But the next side effects better be good ones!"

"I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for burning when I pee. My licence and the address are on the table. Later, Law!" Less than a second later, the front door fell shut.

Law cast a look at the clock. The garage would probably open at nine, which gave him a full hour and a half to study. On the other hand, he needed to leave in time, otherwise he risked running into Luffy and when it came to Law, the younger D-brother was annoyingly clingy. He probably wanted to be invited along and that was not going to happen.

He opened his study books again, listening intensively if he heard something upstairs. As soon as he did, around quarter to nine, he rushed out of the door, barely remembering to take Ace's motorcycle licence, a helmet for on the way back and the actual address of the garage. Glancing at the note, he cursed inwardly when he realised it wasn't the garage closest by where he needed to go to, but he actually had to take the bus to get to another town. The garage Ace had brought his motorcycle to was the one that was manned by students at the college there. Though, now that Law thought about it, Ace did mention something about getting a dent when he was visiting Zoro, who lived at the college campus. Still, the sneaky bastard could have told him that when he blackmailed into doing him this favour. Now he wished he had brought his books, but going back meant the danger of running into Luffy. Therefore, he just sat down at the bus stop and plopped his earbuds in his ear while he scrolled through his phone, looking for a song.

When he scrolled over Linkin Park's song In the End, he couldn't help but smirk. That song reminded him of what happened in the train about a week ago, when he ran into that red haired punk guy. That had been fun, aside the guy being as homophobic as they came, but that made teasing him all the better. Yes, if there was anything he would like to do, other than screwing – preferably that redhead – it was having some fun by riling someone up until he was ready to strangle Law. Too bad the med student didn't know where the redhead lived.

About an hour later, Law found himself in front of the garage. He didn't see anyone nearby, other than students hurrying across the campus property to get to class in time. He just hoped the garage would be open, or he would kill Ace when he got back.

Inside, it was just as deserted as outside, but from the back, he could hear some noises. On the counter was a small bell and impatiently, he rang it. After a while, a man with long blond hair and bangs covering his eyes entered the garage. "May I help you?" He sounded more polite than his looks let on.

"I'm here to pick up a motorcycle for a friend. Name's Portgas," he said bored as he placed Ace's licence on the counter.

The blond picked it up, before turning to the computer. "What's the licence plate?"

Law rolled his eyes. "How should I know?"

The mechanic looked up and Law imagined getting a deadpanned look if it weren't for the bangs. The med student rolled his eyes and after some digging through his memory, he managed to cough up all the numbers. "And he has painted flames on it, for some reason."

The blond nodded and after having typed something into the computer, he called to the back: "Oi, Kid! Get the motorcycle with the flames on it, will ya?"

Law raised an eyebrow at the nickname. "I thought you were all students here? Yet you call him 'kid'?"

"'Cause that's his name," the blond retorted.

The med student snorted. "Really? And what is your name? Little girl?"

The blond leaned in a little closer, tilting his chin up. "They call me Killer."

An amused smirk tugged at the corner of Law's mouth. Maybe this visit was getting interesting after all. "Fascinating." He tapped with his fingers on the counter to draw attention to the ink on his hands, spelling out the word 'Death' on his knuckles.

He was imagining having somewhat of a staring contest with the mechanic – he couldn't be sure, for all he knew the blond was blinking all the time behind the curtain of hair – once the man looked up from his ink, but they were interrupted when another mechanic entered the front part of the garage. "You meant the one from Portgas, right?"

Something about the voice rang a bell with Law, but he couldn't place his finger on it until he turned around and was met by obnoxiously red hair. This trip was definitely interesting.

It seemed the redhead – 'Kid' apparently, however ridiculous that was – remembered him as well, as he almost dropped the motorcycle he was pushing. "You're not the guy that brought it in!"

"How unexpectedly sharp of you," Law said amusedly. Even with the distance between them, he could see the other's eye twitch. The redhead was dressed differently than on the train, wearing overalls covered in oil stains. The top part was hanging down, revealing a tight black t-shirt, which only seemed barely able to contain the muscles underneath. Subconsciously, Law licked his lips.

"How the hell did you find me?!"

"I didn't. Call it a lucky coincidence, or fate, if you will." Law just loved how the redhead looked like he wanted to strangle him, preferably slowly and painful. "I was just chatting with your friend here – Killer, was it? – and we decided your name is just plain ridiculous. I can't call you that with a straight face."

"Good, because the second you utter it, I will run you over with your motorcycle!"

'Technically, that's not mine." Law pointed at the vehicle.

"You two are already acquainted?" Killer asked.

"He's the guy from the train," Kid answered through clenched teeth.

"How adorable! You told your friend about me? Maybe bragged a little?" Law waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

That moment, Kid seemed to snap. After placing the motorcycle on the stand – probably because he was proud of his handy work – he reached for the first thing that came to hand, which was a spanner, and lunged at Law's head. Killer took that as his cue to interfere, barely managing to hold the redhead back.

"Really? A spanner? What is this, Cluedo?" Law snorted.

That only seemed to add fuel to the flames, however, and Killer had to brace himself to hold back his friend. "If you don't want your brains bashed in, I suggest you leave now!" he called over his shoulder.

Law rolled his eyes. "Don't I need to pay the bill or something?"

"Oh, I will make you pay," Kid spat at him as he threw the spanner in Law's direction, missing him by a hair.

The med student remained unfazed and lifted an unimpressed eyebrow. "How unfortunate for you. Well, I'll be going now." Giving a sarcastic wave, he placed the helmet on his head and walked over to the motorcycle next to where Killer was still restraining Kid.

Starting the engine, Law smirked and called over his shoulder: "Try not to look too much at my ass as I leave."

As he drove out of the garage, he was followed by sounds that reminded him of a building collapsing and he smirked. Maybe Ace needed to find a new garage.