"Get in the wheelchair, Mouse." Eustass directed. He and Killer had arrived early to visit and were already here when you started going through the discharge process. The two of them were more comfortable with the steps needed than you had expected and you wondered if there were a lot of injuries at their mechanic shop.

"I can walk." You assert, sliding off the bed after Killer had tied your shoes for you.

"Yeah, and if you don't get into the wheelchair, they'll sic an orderly on us. It's hospital policy." He grins and pats the seat.

You narrow your eyes. "You ass, you just want to be able to say you can push me around."

"I could just carry you out of here." He threatens, but the smile on his face tempts you.

You look between Eustass and the chair and then decide to sit in the chair. You're currently on day three of knowing this guy and there's no way you're going to catch feelings for someone who you don't really know. Even if his scars, eyes, hair, voice and body are hot in ways that you hadn't expected. At least when you first noticed him you could blame the painkillers.

Your face is turning pink, but you're not facing him so you're so safe.

"I'll go get the truck. You two try not to burn down the hospital." Killer says, slipping out of the room with your stuff. He held out the rumpled gift box from the day before. "Not opening this?"

Your eyes widen. The box had been set at your bedside, but you slept so much you'd forgotten about it, and then Coby had arrived and you napped before Kid and Killer showed up.

"Ack – uh, I will when I get home, I guess. I don't want to delay getting out of here."

"Don't like hospitals, Mouse?" Kid teases, pushing you out of the room and following behind Killer.

"Mm." You grunt the response, and seem to shrink in your chair as you're wheeled through the hallway.

"Care to elaborate?" There wasn't a tone in his voice. No teasing, no demand.

"In the car, sure." You answer automatically.

"You're not going to panic on me before we get there?"

"I never panic." You assert, maybe a little too forcefully.

"Everyone panics." Eustass said flatly.

"Even you?"

"Mm."

"Can't picture it."

"Flattery won't get you anything, Mouse."

"Oh, I bet I-." You stop, feeling heat in your ears.

You didn't need to turn around to be able to picture the devilish grin curling across Eustass Kid's face. You could feel the evil glee practically radiating off of him, and the worst part was that it stirred things in you. He could be married for all you knew. To Killer, for that matter. None of your conversations had been personal, or at least not overly personal.

You felt Kid lean down as his pace slowed just a little. His voice was soft and low near your ear, and you could feel goosebumps race across your skin.

"You bet you could, what, Mouse?"

You can't stop yourself from making a noise, an undeniably needy noise.

You half expect steam to rise up from your skin you're so red so fast. You put a hand over your face and just will the Universe to whisk you away before you die from literal embarrassment.

There's a hum from Eustass, and you can practically picture someone ringing a gong and awarding the round to him. There's nothing you can say to salvage your predicament, it's best to just remain as quiet as possible until something distracts him.

As it turned out, the one to get distracted was you.

Coming up to the exit you caught sight of a car in the pick up area and couldn't help a small gasp.

"What's up?" Eustass asks, looking around.

"I think that's a 1957 Chevy Bel Air!" You try to keep your voice down, but the excitement was spilling out into your words. "Haa, it looks like a sedan model, those're rare. The collectors snap up all the convertibles and coupes and the sedans get forgotten, but for a sedan it's just so nice. Oh man, I wish I could see the interior. The original leather seats are nice, but some people have done suede instead and I'd almost be afraid to sit on that, but it's gotta be so comfortable. I wonder if it's inline 6-cylinder or the original turbo V8. I mean, it's been so many years an original stock engine would be insane, and a modern V8 would have a lot more power and fuel efficiency.

"Ah it's oil-slick black too!" You're outside now, getting a proper look at it, and the sun plays off the black paint, sending up subtle sparkles of rainbow color flecks. "Damn that's deep red... suede... and Killer."

Killer had closed the trunk and had a wide smile on his face.

"No way." Your eyes go wide and your jaw drops. You leap out of the chair and look at Eustass, who has the most impressive shit eating grin on his face. "THAT'S YOUR CAR?!" You're pointing at him almost accusingly.

"It's slightly modified." He admits, setting the wheelchair off to the side and holding out a hand. "Wanna sit in the front, Mouse?"

"Yes. Yes, I do." There might've been something about maintaining your pride, or not giving Kid another win so soon after the last one, but you'd never been so close to such a cool car. The idea of getting to ride in one almost makes you nervous, but if Kid's going to let you ride upfront you're not going to argue.

You go over to the other side of the car and reach for the handle. You hiss in pain as you knock the raw end of your hand-less arm into the door. Swearing you turn from the car and stomp your foot on the ground a couple times until the initial sharp sting begins to subside.

The smiles on Kid and Killer's faces evaporate.

"Son of a feathered mother bitch." You growl, and then reach out with your right hand. "I'mma ram this damn thing into everything until I get a prosthetic, aren't I?"

You successfully break the uncomfortable tension that had started to fall over everyone with your creative swearing, and Kid snorts. "Probably."

"The rehab from the prosthetic's not going to be graceful either," Killer warns, holding the door for you as you get into the front seat.

"Don't worry Mouse, we'll make it as painfully embarrassing as possible." Kid promises, slipping into the driver's seat.

You laugh despite it all, and only sigh a little when you start struggling with the seatbelt. You grumble under your breath for a moment, trying to snap it into place on your own, but it's not happening. Eustass is looking at you with half a smirk on his face.

"Need a hand, Mouse?" He says deliberately.

"You have just been sitting on that, waiting, haven'tcha?" You grumble, even as you smirk. There's a bemused grunt and you decide that you'll give as good as you're getting, respect for the car or not. You look into Kid's eyes and flash the biggest, toothiest smile, before chomping down on the seatbelt to steady it so you can click it into place.

"I'm good." You say, settling into the seat comfortably.

You hear Killer grunt behind you and even Kid laughs. "Bite Victoria again and I'll bite you, Mouse."

"You're all bark anyway," You dismiss the threat.

"Care to test that?" The edge in Eustass' tone is almost enough to feel like a bite all on its own.

"Not with me in the damn car, Kid." Killer barks. There's an sound in his voice that makes you realize Kid may have actually bit you.

Kid grunts and turns the key, bringing Victoria to life. The rumble of the engine hits so well, and you're realizing some of Kid's modifications. It might be the sedan body, but it wasn't the original V8, there's too much power in it. It's not a modern engine though, or if it is it's been modified to purr like a proper muscle car's engine.

"Where to, Mouse?"

"North," you muttered absently, checking out all the knobs and accents and even checking out the glove box. "When you run out of land you can turn around and head back to South Blue."

Kid grunts and looks over his shoulder at Killer. "What's her license say?"

"42 Rosilea," Killer started reading. "Glao district, it's not far from the shop."

"You're both horrible."

"I'll drive you to your rehab appointments in Victoria, so calm your tits, Mouse." Eustass grumbles, putting the car into the gear and taking you away from the hospital.

Your dream car rides like one too. Victoria purrs once she's up to speed, but accelerating causes her to growl and it's perfect. The shocks are a step up from the stock option for the older model car, and you can barely tell that you're touching the road things are so smooth. Whether he meant for it to be or not, the car was a glimpse into a side of Eustass you imagine he wouldn't admit to.

Luxurious.

"We're in the car, Mouse." Eustass points out as you start to get comfortable and stop poking at everything within reach.

"We are." You answer him honestly, not understanding.

He rolls his eyes. "You said you'd elaborate in the car."

"Hu---oh!" You clear your throat and sigh. "I said, I heal fast right?" Eustass makes a positive sound. "And I do, and if someone pays too much attention it can get uncomfortable."

"Do you actually have a devil fruit power?"

"Nope. I wasn't even fed one without my knowledge as a kid or something." You admit. "I work for the Registry office, everyone there gets tested as part of the hiring process. I just heal fast."

"I'm getting the impression you're underplaying the 'fast' part of this."

"I mean, I'm not going to regenerate my hand, it's gone." You admit a little more sourly than you mean to. "But I already lied to the nurses a couple times before we left. Ah... shit, if you two were going to take advantage of me, you'da bloody done it by now."

You start pulling the gauze and tape from your arm.

"You get blood on that seat, Mouse, and we will have a problem." Eustass warned.

"Calm down, all the scabbing came and went last night." You admit, and feel the car swerve a bit before Kid regains control.

"Sorry, what?" Killer questioned, undoing his seatbelt and leaning forward.

You hold up your left arm. The end of it is still raw, and there'll be a good bit of scarring, but the amount of damage meant you should've been dealing with stitches and wound care for at least two weeks, if not longer. Instead there's some angry red lines, and completely clean bandages.

"And you've been tested?" Killer questions in disbelief.

You nod. "Yearly, it's part of the compliance of the job. I don't know how to explain it. I heal fast."

"You don't heal fast, you heal like you're wearing a goddamned Germa Raid Suit." Kid barks.

"I wish I had that kind of resilience." You admit.

"Don't we all? Fuck, Mouse, no wonder you wanted to get out of there." Kid swore.

"My mom was pretty adamant about not letting people know how fast I healed up. She used to say she was worried about the government conducting experiments or something. I don't know, it sounded a little paranoid to me, but I listened to her talk about it for years, so I get nervous in hospitals. They run all kinds of tests cause they have to, and who knows what would've popped up on some routine scan."

There was a heavy silence in the car for a long moment and you felt Killer grip the back of your seat. With his hand on your right side, his voice on your left, you effectively felt caged. Not that there was much of an escape from two healthy tall guys while you were in their car. Even if you were outside of the car, your differences in stride did not give you an advantage.

"Yet you're telling me and Kid." Killer points out. His voice is low and dangerous, and you feel a chill run through you despite it all. You aren't afraid, but you're realizing that there's a side to Killer that might be why he's called Killer. "You don't know us, (Y/N), we could turn you over to worse than the government."

You could feel Kid side-eyeing you while Killer leaned back into the back seat. You start wrapping your hand back up and sighed lightly.

"Right or wrong for it," you admit, staying focused on your task, "I trust you two. You've already had a lot of chances to be real bastards if you wanted to, and you haven't been. I'm not going to demand you spill your life stories to me or anything, but if you're like, gangsters or something, then maybe I'm just destined to be friends with gangs."

"You make it sound like you're the kid of a Warlord." Eustass states flatly.

You can't help yourself, laughing before you continue. "Who knows? Mom never talked about my dad, so maybe?" You shrug it off and smile. "I told you guys, you're my first friends since school, yeah?"

"Yeah, Mouse." He grunts.

"You might know my friends, I don't know exactly what they're up to lately, but I heard something about them being the kings of East Blue." You explain and hear Eustass swear.

"I swear to the gods, Mouse, if you tell me you're friends with the Straw Hats I'm going to throw you out of my car."

You wrap your arm around the seatbelt and consider things for a moment. "Can I answer after you drop me off at home?"

You see Eustass' grip tighten on the steering wheel. If he was a cat you were sure you'd be able to see his fur on end and his tail would be so fluffy it wouldn't fit in the car. He wasn't angry, he wasn't full of rage, but there was a very strong feeling of aggravation rolling off him. Killer wasn't saying anything, so you didn't say anything either, and after a long moment Eustass let out a string of swear words that would make a sailor pale.

You swallow hard, but the tension has your stomach knotted. It feels like you've already lost your new friends. You open your mouth a couple times, but you can't bring yourself to say anything. Shrinking into your seat the rest of the ride goes by quietly, and you do you best to hold back bitter tears that keep threatening to flow in the silence.

Ah well, at least you got to ride in Victoria before things fell to pieces.

A/N – I waffled on giving the Reader anything unique, but then I made plans contingent on their parentage, so here we are. (I heal pretty fast myself, and often joked I had a mutant healing factor. Though, still nowhere near as fast as in this story! I mean, it's One Piece, if you aren't cranking things up to 11 then Oda-sensei would be sad.)