Title: The Dark Side Of My Shadow
Author: AoiTsukikage
Rating: R-ish for now, will increase
Characters/Pairing:Eventual Law/Sanji, other pairings mentioned
Chapter: 10/?
Word Count: 3603
Summary: Sanji hadn't planned on getting bitten that night. Law hadn't planned on taking a vampire home with him. Now there's no going back. AU, Vampire!Sanji, eventual Law/Sanji.
Spoilers: For recent chapters.
Chapter Ten
Sanji pushes the door to the bedroom open, a tray held deftly in one hand as he navigates to the bed. Law's still asleep, thankfully, but his brow is furrowed and he looks uneasy. Sanji sighs and sets the tray down on the dresser, walking over to the bed and laying his fingers gently on Law's shoulder.
"Hey," he murmurs, stepping back when Law's eyes snap open, but he merely looks around the room for a moment or two before relaxing. "Good morning."
"Well, it's morning, at least," Law sounds defeated and Sanji's not sure what he can say to make him feel better. Yesterday had been…well, honestly he's pretty proud of himself for how well he'd handled it and how calm he'd been, but it had been terrifying to see Law like that, and last night is definitely not how he'd assumed his first sexual experience would go.
Not that he regrets it, not really, but everything's so fucked up that he was hardly in the moment at the time.
"I made oatmeal," he murmurs, and Law pushes himself upright, groaning. "Hey, take it easy…"
"It's okay. I think the painkillers are doing their job," Law sits up and grimaces, leaning back against the headboard. He still looks a little detached, but there's something endearing about him in the morning, hair mussed and with his guards completely down.
"Good. Chopper said you could take them every twelve hours, so if it starts to hurt again you're probably good to have more," Sanji walks over, telling himself to stop being such a coward, and leans down to give Law a quick kiss. "So. Oatmeal?" he asks, and Law gives him a tiny smile at that.
"Yes. I'm rather hungry now, actually."
"Is that a good sign?" Sanji asks, handing over the bowl, and Law takes it with a nod of thanks.
"Well, Doctor Tony seemed to think that my injuries shouldn't affect my capacity to eat whatever I want, but I would be lying if I said that last night…" he pauses and shrugs, staring off into the middle distance, and Sanji frowns and sits down beside him, hands cradling a cup of coffee he'd brought from the kitchen.
"What?"
"If Doflamingo's plan was to entirely humiliate me and make me feel like I don't deserve to be alive, he's succeeded," Law says quietly, eyes dropping, and Sanji honestly isn't sure what to say to that. His first impulse is to be snarky, but that seems kind of…callous given the situation, and he's shit at being genuinely sympathetic so he just stays quiet, sipping at his coffee and letting Law collect himself. "Sorry. I'm just pitying myself now and you shouldn't have to deal with that. I've spent most of my life believing that I'm the only person who I can truly depend on, and the one time I thought I had found somebody else I could trust and that would look out for me he was taken away before I could truly appreciate what he'd done. That was…" he frowns, furrowing his brow. "Nearly fifteen years ago, now, but since then it's just been me. Yes, the government has sort of looked out for me because not all of them are heartless bastards and I think they saw my potential even as a teenager, but other than providing me with necessities and funding for education I've been a solitary creature," he bites his lip and Sanji still remains quiet, just listening.
Law pauses to take a few swallows of the porridge, a slight raise of an eyebrow letting Sanji know that he's enjoying it, before continuing.
"And now…I had honestly thought I was doing fine, but Doflamingo's effectively proven to me that whatever confidence I have in myself means nothing where he's concerned, and if he'd wanted to kill me there was literally nothing I could have done. I was completely helpless against him, and it's made me feel like I'm not…strong enough, I suppose," he furrows his brow and breathes out slowly through his nose. "It's forcing me to depend on other people, and I'm not comfortable with that."
"Yeah, well, I'm not either, but since this whole…thing I've kinda been forced into it, too," Sanji says quietly, and Law looks over at him. "I fucking hate looking weak. But I'm not too proud to admit that you've saved my life twice now and without you and everybody else that's been amazing to me this whole time I'd be dead, or fully Turned, or…fuck, I dunno, but I get it, okay?" he says, trying to speak with as much conviction as possible, and Law nods although his eyes are completely dead.
"Perhaps."
"It's not weak to need somebody else once in a while," Sanji clears his throat and looks to the side, unsure if he's even helping or just making it worse. "And I promise that I'm never gonna make you feel like you're weak to need it."
"I do appreciate that," Law hunches his shoulders forward, curling in on himself, and Sanji decides that it's high time he stop being a coward and wraps his arm around Law, pulling him in gently and breathing a sigh of relief when Law doesn't try to move away. "It's not going to be easy for me, though."
"Yeah, I get that," Sanji assures him, closing his eyes and just sitting there for a few moments. "Did he…I mean, what did he…"
"Does it matter?" Law glances up, but he sighs and burrows his nose against Sanji's neck. "Nothing I can't handle. My back was…I must have been unconscious when he did that, so most of it I only felt the aftermath. I'm trying not to think about it, though," he adds, and Sanji has the rather strong feeling that he wants the subject dropped so he obliges.
"So. You have any ideas on who the mole is?" he asks, and Law nods.
"Vaguely. He mentioned something about being interested in the hybrid experimentation so it has to be somebody that works with it directly. I know Vegapunk is too upstanding a man to be working with an underground lord, so that leaves…" he groans and Sanji looks at him curiously. "Caesar. I should have known. I know I was gassed and Caesar's always playing around with gases and strange shit. Well, that answers that question," he sounds almost relieved and Sanji can understand that, since at least they won't have to go snooping around to find the culprit.
"Wait, he gassed you?" he asks, and Law nods.
"Chloroform or something like it, I think. It smelled sweet, regardless, and I've had a headache since last night so that's consistent with its properties. Nothing damaging in the long run," he adds quickly, and Sanji presses his nose into Law's fluffy hair and sighs. He can't even imagine what the other man's been through in the last couple of days, and the fact that he's handling it as well as he is is kind of remarkable.
"You're so fucking strong, you know that?" he's not sure why he's saying it, but it seems like Law needs to hear it now more than ever.
"Hardly," Law snorts and Sanji pulls away enough that he can look into Law's eyes, trying to let him know he's being serious.
"I mean it. After what you went through, acting like it's nothing…"
"It is nothing," Law grits his teeth and Sanji rolls his eyes, knowing that Law's resolved to be stubborn for now so there's probably no getting through to him yet. He stays silent while Law finishes his oatmeal, grimacing and setting the bowl aside before taking a couple more of the painkillers. "We should probably change these bandages," he notes, attempting to get up before Sanji grabs his arm. "I'm quite capable of walking the ten steps to my bathroom, Mr. Blackleg," he mutters, but Sanji's definitely not having that and he slides an arm under Law's knees, carefully lifting him up.
"Hey. I'm not gonna tell anybody," he promises, because Law's pride seems to be intact even after all of this, and he sits him down on the toilet and starts to unwrap the bandages, breathing a sigh of relief when he sees that at least nothing looks worse than last night. The whip marks are still raw and ugly-looking but there's no signs of infection. Chopper's able to do a marvelous job considering he's got hooves, and the wounds look clean and free of any discoloration at the edges. He's not an expert on injuries, really, but he's seen some nasty knife cuts and burns working in a kitchen so he's got basic knowledge when it comes to taking care of things like this.
He keeps quiet while he works, reapplying the ointment and grabbing clean bandages, and Law sits equally as silent, wincing a little from time to time, but soon enough Sanji's done and he looks up. "How are your shoulders?"
"Okay," Law moves his arm a little. "Just stiff, mostly. How's my throat?" he reaches a hand up and Sanji glances at it, eyes narrowing because the bruising's almost gone and that doesn't make any sense, unless… "What? Something wrong?"
"No, it's…they're pretty much healed," he starts slowly, brain trying to make sense of it and coming to the only conclusion it can. "I was…kissing your neck last night…"
"Of course," Law half-smiles. "Your saliva…"
"Yeah. Healing properties," Sanji chuckles. "I mean, I could…"
"No," Law shakes his head. "I appreciate the offer, but I'll let the rest heal on their own. I need a reminder of this," his eyes are dark and Sanji winces because Law's still punishing himself for this and he shouldn't be. "Now, if you'll excuse me…"
"I can help with whatever," Sanji promises, but Law laughs a little nervously and shakes his head.
"I'm quite sure I'm capable of using the toilet without assistance, Mr. Blackleg," he mumbles, and Sanji feels a little embarrassed because, yeah, way to be overprotective.
"Okay," he stands up, hesitating before tipping Law's chin up and kissing him, and Law closes his eyes and looks almost happy for that brief second of contact, but Sanji decides to let him be and leaves the bathroom, closing the door behind him.
He can hear his phone vibrating from the nightstand the second that he does, and when he picks it up he's not all that surprised to hear Kaku on the other side.
"Are you checking up on us?" he asks, sitting down on the bed, and Kaku chuckles.
"Not precisely. Or, rather, I'm doing it on behalf of Doctor Chopper who seems rather anxious but won't admit it outright," he states, and Sanji hasn't known Chopper for that long but the news isn't surprising in the least. "So what should I tell him?"
"Things are good," Sanji says immediately. "I mean, as good as they can be. He's not in much pain, I don't think, and nothing looks infected so…I changed his bandages this morning and he took some more painkillers, and he ate some oatmeal…maybe he's a little surlier than normal but pretty much fine," he relays, and Kaku hums thoughtfully.
"Surlier than usual, eh? You can tell with him?" he asks, and Sanji laughs because yeah, Law's kind of…grumpy at the best of times. "But that's reassuring news. I'll be sure to tell our reindeer friend," he pauses and yawns, and Sanji remembers what he'd said about being on patrol all night.
"Shit, man, have you gotten any sleep yet?"
"That's my next plan after we finish conversing. I thought I would call you before it slipped my mind…" he cuts off to reply to an muffled voice behind him, and Sanji hears what sounds like wings flapping and a door closing before Kaku comes back on the line. "Sorry. My partner sometimes fails to understand that the world does not revolve around their schedule," he mutters, but there's a lot of affection in it, and it's just one more question Sanji has about the agent.
He knows that Kaku never reveals anything unless he damn well wants to, though, so it's better to leave it be for now. "Are you any farther along getting information out of Law about yesterday?" Kaku asks then, and it jogs Sanji's memory.
"Yeah, fuck, I almost forgot!" Sanji flops back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. "He thinks that Caesar's behind it. Or, well, that he's been informing the guy who did kidnap him about what he's up to with…me," he finishes, and Kaku hums thoughtfully.
"He's always seemed mighty shady, I have to admit. We'll look into it, but of course we can't accuse him without proper proof. No word on who actually snagged him, eh?"
"He said it was his mentor's older brother," Sanji says slowly, and he hears Kaku let out an uncharacteristic 'fucking hell' on the other end of the line. "What? Is it bad?"
"If Doflamingo's involved this isn't just some paltry grudge. The man is an expert at getting away with illegal activity by always having a good cover, but we know he's at least involved in drugs and weapons trade, and there's been talk of him sniffing around the hybrid experimentation process. Along with…" he pauses and Sanji waits for him to continue. "Human trafficking," Kaku sounds disgusted and Sanji can't blame him because shit, that's getting heavy. "I'll talk to Rob and we'll figure something out to start investigating Caesar," he sounds determined now and Sanji knows that, one way or another, they'll get it done.
"Sounds good."
"I'll get back to you once we've found something out, but just…take care of him, alright? I know he's a stubborn lad but I think you've got a pretty firm grip on things," there's something in his tone that almost sounds like innuendo but Sanji just doesn't expect that from him, so he's probably imagining it. Still, if anybody's perceptive enough to figure out there's something more to his and Law's relationship than straight friendship, it's Kaku.
"I will," he promises, hanging up just as the bathroom door opens and Law wanders into the room. He's moving a little stiffly but he doesn't look like he's struggling, and he sighs as he lies down beside Sanji, keeping his distance until Sanji tugs on his arm and he turns to curl closer.
"Who was that?"
"Kaku. Checking up on you on behalf of Chopper, and I told him about Caesar," he added, unsure how Law would react, but he merely shrugs.
"Good. If anybody has a chance at finding out what he's up to or what his connections to…"
"Doflamingo."
"Fuck. Kaku knows, then?" he looks worried for a second or two before his body relaxes. "Well, it's not hard to figure out, I suppose. I know they'll be careful, at least," he seems to shrug it off, then, and Sanji stokes his back above the bandages, tracing the swirled heart tattoo over one shoulder.
"You seem okay with this," Sanji says carefully, and Law makes a non-committal sound.
"I know CP9. And I know that once they get an idea in their heads, there's no stopping them until they consider their mission complete. It's just easier, this time, to let them do as they will. And quite frankly I'm not opposed to the threat of Doflamingo going away," he shivers and Sanji holds him a little tighter.
"Are you tired?"
"Not especially. I've slept for most of the past two days, after all," he notes wryly, but he looks…spent, if nothing else, and Sanji's got a feeling if Chopper were here he'd be telling Law to rest regardless. "I'm not going to object to not moving for a while, though…"
"Good. I was gonna say that," Sanji's glad Law brought it up because that means he won't have to argue with him, at least, but honestly he's comfortable now (and a few weeks ago he never thought he'd say he felt comfortable cuddling with another man) and Law's warm enough to take away his perpetual chill when he's this close. He keeps idly stroking Law's skin, needing the contact to reassure him that the other man is here and safe because the few hours when they hadn't known where he was had been some of the most frightening he can remember in a long time.
"I'm not going anywhere," Law promises, reaching a hand up, and Sanji clasps it and intertwines their fingers, holding it over his heart.
It's far too sappy, and he knows it, but right now he can't bring himself to care.
000
"You look troubled."
"That's a fair bit of an understatement," Kaku walks back into the bedroom proper and takes his baseball cap off to run his fingers through his hair, spiking it up a little. "Sanji told me who we're up against, and it's not going to be a walk in the park."
"Is it within our interests?"
"Quite, actually. Are you implying if it had not been we'd just let this go?"
"We're not in the business of settling personal disputes, whether or not government employees are involved. You know that well enough."
"Mm," Kaku doesn't really respond, because it's not necessary, but the continual jibes at his good nature get tiring after a while.
Yes, he's somewhat more…human than the majority of CP9, probably, but that hardly means he's ever going to compromise his position. He's worked too hard to get where he is to consider that.
"Well, don't leave me in suspense," the words are stated as if there are going to be dire consequences should Kaku delay any longer, but he's hardly intimidated by Lucci anymore. To begin with, maybe, because even as children he'd had a rather overbearing and dark presence that made it impossible not to notice him, but now…
"Law suspects that Caesar is working under somebody else," he starts, drawing it out as long as possible because he gets more than a little enjoyment from knowing something Lucci doesn't.
"The man who kidnapped him," Lucci leans forward and frowns, brows knotting together. "The Donquixote clan's arm is getting longer, I see," he barely glances up to see if he's right, but then, of course he's already put the pieces together. "You're right about this being to our advantage. He's been in a thorn in our side for years without us having any proof on him, but this is the closest he's come to giving himself away."
"It's not gonna be easy figuring out what he's up to without him getting suspicious," Kaku points out, but Lucci shrugs.
"I'm never one to back down from a challenge. And besides, it's far more interesting than what we've been doing for the last God knows how many years. Our talents are wasted going out scouting every night," he practically sneers the word and Kaku can't really argue with him. "Besides, I know you, and you like Law and this little half-vamp of his enough that you'd have found a way to help them regardless of whether I agreed or not," he sounds smug and Kaku looks over his shoulder to glare at him although, again, he's probably correct in that assessment as well.
He notes that neither of them bring up the inherent danger involved in trying to expose somebody with as many connections as Doflamingo, because while vampires are bloodthirsty and irrational, they're also fairly brainless and it's easy to outsmart a creature whose only aim is to main and kill. Doflamingo, by all accounts, is incredibly wily and it will be much harder to predict his movements.
Still, he's far past the point where danger is going to stop him from doing something, and none of them are in the business of dissuading each other just because somebody might die. He hadn't been lying to Sanji when he'd said that relationships often went messy in their occupation, but he's half-convinced the reason he and Lucci have…whatever they have…is because he's willing to take a bullet for the other man while Lucci would be willing to let him and, probably, be fine to watch him bleed out in the aftermath.
It's a sobering thought, and not a pleasant one, but he's never been under any illusions that what they have is healthy. Or, really, anything more than simple stress relief, because he's quite certain Rob Lucci is incapable of actually having feelings for another person.
He sighs, then, and strips off his jacket, kicking his boots off and flopping back on the bed because he's too exhausted to think clearly, especially when it comes to the amount of strategizing they're going to have to do soon enough.
"Get some rest," Lucci doesn't look inclined to move and Kaku thinks absently that more than a little of his hybrid is rubbing off on him because he's seemingly developed the sleeping habits of a cat, as well.
"I will," he pushes himself upright with some effort, thinking about one last thing he should do before he calls it a night…morning…whatever it happens to be. "But first, can I borrow Hattori for a bit?"
Lucci doesn't really answer him but if it had been a 'no' Kaku's quite sure he would have made it clear, so he goes to the desk to find a pen while the pigeon hops over and coos in a questioning manner. "What for?" Lucci eventually asks, and Kaku stops searching around to look back and reply,
"I need him to deliver a message."
Notes:
1. I'm not sure when the next chapter of this will be out because I start both school and work again this week so my fandom-time will probably be reduced until I get used to my schedule, but I'll try to keep updates regular-ish!