"So I can't come visit you today?" Ivankov asked yet again.

"Kid said no visitors outside the gang." You repeated yourself, holding the phone to your ear with your shoulder while trying to pull Clover away from the pile of clean clothes you were attempting to fold.

"Well how much longer are you stuck at home?"

"Um...." You glanced at Killer who was helping you for help on that.

"Not much longer." He answered for you, loud enough for Ivankov to hear.

"That's not a real timeframe." Ivankov pouted.

"It's the best we'll get with Kid." You sighed.

It'd been a week and you were healing up pretty well. Most of your bruising had either disappeared completely or had faded to dull yellow marks. The only exception was the large one covering your stomach. While it was getting better, it was a much slower process. At least all the cuts and nicks you'd received were doing well. Give it a few more weeks and you'd be as good as new.

"You let him know that as soon as you have a day off and aren't stuck at home, you've got a date with me."

Killer smiled at that. He could hear every word of the conversation.

"Take her out somewhere nice." He said. "I haven't had the chance to take her on a nice date."

You blushed as he gave you a playful wink.

"Kill-boy, you need to step your game up! What if she decides to leave you for someone else?"

The blush deepened as Killer laughed quietly. "I'd never do that!"

"Well he doesn't know that! Keep him on his toes Blue!"

You giggled. "Hear that? I gotta keep you on your toes."

"I'd love to see you try." Your lover tossed the article of clothing he was getting ready to fold on the bed and approached you with a wild grin.

He loved reminding you how much bigger he was than you and this time was no exception. His chest took over your view and you craned your neck to look him in the eye. A hand slid around your waist to jerk your body flush with his and you let out a squeak.

"Are you two getting handsy? I swear if you start having sex with me on the line again–"

"We'll talk to you later Ivankov." Killer took your phone and hung up.

His smile never wavered as he tossed your phone to the side and cupped your face with his free hand.

"W-why'd you hang up on them?" The look in his eyes had you all kinds of flustered.

"They just got me thinking...." He brushed his thumb along your bottom lip thoughtfully. "They want to take you out when I haven't been able to for a while now. I don't think I've been doing enough for you lately."

You were too surprised for words. The man made a habit of only getting the best for you and he was constantly affectionate. Either through touch or words he was always making you feel loved. You'd never thought once that he didn't do enough for you.

"Killer, you–"

"They've claimed your first day off already but after that, I'll take you out on a real date."

"Does this have to do with Scratchmen?"

He stiffened up for a second, it was so quick you almost missed it. And then he was relaxed again. "Why do you say that?"

You pulled his hand from your face and held it in your own. It still amazed you how much bigger his hands were than yours. They were always warm but never clammy. Tiny, almost imperceivable scars covered them from years of fighting. And yet they were always gentle.

"You've been much more..... affectionate since that happened and there's nothing wrong with that, but I feel like you're worrying about something."

Killer finally let his smile drop as he twisted his hand around in your grip so that he could play with yours, running his fingers over your knuckles and taking in every detail with his eyes.

"He hurt you and you were afraid to show me. I've been wondering if it was because you were scared of me hurting you too."

"No." You shook your head vigorously. "No I never thought about that. I was more afraid that you wouldn't want me anymore."

"Because someone else touched you against your will?" His tone suggest that line of thinking made no sense. And he was right, it didn't. That was something you'd realized when he didn't toss your ass out after seeing all the evidence.

"I know, it was stupid to think that way. But it's not like I've been with anyone else and it almost felt like I was cheating."

"You've got more class than that." His mouth twitched up into a teasing smile.

"Someone like him would be a real downgrade anyway." You both laughed at that before you continued. "But for real, don't worry, you do plenty for me."

"Say that all you want, we're still going out on a hot date at some point."

"I won't turn down a good time." You replied as you got back to the laundry.

"I was hoping you'd say something like that." Killer practically purred as he moved behind you and rest his hands on your hips. "Question is, does that statement apply now?"

"Sure." You answered breathlessly, right before his lips met yours.

----

All it took was a few more days for Scratchmen to finally break. You hadn't seen him since the day you dropped him off on the beach and you hadn't been allowed to go see him since. But you were told when he had decided to spill on the details of everything he controlled for his gang. All his properties, assets, and even where to find the vast majority of his underlings.

Armed with all the important information, the alliance made its next big move. You were in good enough shape to be included in on the upcoming jobs and your "house arrest" was lifted. Everything was a flurry as you got to witness the preparations for the entire gang before heading out to complete your part of this. With Scratchmen under the alliance's control, all that was left now was dismantling everything he had.

The gang was set to go, piled into the common area as they waited to receive their orders from Kid. There wasn't a single man without a gun or knife on them. Killer was armed with his wrist guards and his blades were tucked in their sheathe safely. Wire held a trident while Heat had a matching set of swords hanging from his hips. Your dragon form was your weapon so it didn't make sense for you to carry anything else. But Killer had made sure you dressed well on the off chance you had to do anything in your half or human form.

You had on a pair of thick soled boots that almost matched his own, black pants that fit like a second skin but moved and stretched easily, and to finish it off a blue shirt with a skull smack dab in the middle with the twin blades crossed under it. Yep, Killer had gotten a hold of a shirt to match his favorite for you. And right now, both of you were wearing them at his encouragement.

Were you really going to commit crime as one of those cheesy matching couples? Yes, yes you were.

"Listen up asshats!" Kid stepped into the room, wearing a strange pair of printed pants with an open vest on top. A deep red fur coat was slung over his shoulders to finish the look. You vaguely remember him wearing the same getup when you first met him as the dragon. "This is the first of many jobs like this so you better get used to these big operations!"

The men had no complaints as they cheered their boss on. All of them were bloodthirsty and this was the perfect kind of work to tame that need for killing. They could take part in that all they wanted, you still planned on refraining from doing any killing yourself.

"Here's the deal; the Heart gang is going to focus on collecting anything of use and taking what they find to our warehouses. They're going to need some more numbers for that so a few of you will tag along with them."

There was a collective groan as they realized some of them would miss out on the action.

"Quit your complaining!" Kid roared. "You're getting paid to do a job, I don't care if you fucking like it or not! Heat, you're going as well, pick your men and meet up with the freaky doctor."

Heat nodded and got started pulling those he felt were necessary for the side mission. The group of men thinned some but the majority were still present for the rest of the job.

"As for everyone else, our goal is to search and destroy, Strawhat and his group will be doing the same. We have a few locations we need to hit, kill any of Scratchmen's men you find and render the locations unusable. We'll be splitting up into groups to get this done faster. Blue, Killer, you're with me. Wire, Hayate, take half the men each and get it done fast. Let's whoop some ass!"

You were completely baffled as to why Wire and Hayate were taking large groups while Kid was content with just you and Killer. Surely three people couldn't be enough to do the same amount of damage as the others could, especially as efficiently. After Kid had given out the locations the other men would be hitting, you had to ask.

"I'm sorry, why is it only us three together? And does it really make sense to keep the stronger members together instead of having us work with others?"

Kid snickered. "Simple, with you, we don't need numbers."

"But I made it clear I won't kill."

"You won't have to. Stick to tearing shit up and herding Scratchmen's lackeys to us, we'll take care of the rest."

The room cleared quickly as men headed out to the plethora of heavy vehicles parked outside, whooping and shouting in excitement the whole way.

"Okay." You sighed. "If you think it'll work."

"Oh it will." Kid broke out into a wild grin as the three of you filed out last.

You were confused all over again as you watched the men fill every vehicle and leave the complex parking lot.

"So....what are we taking?"

Kid's smile only widened as his eyes started to sparkle in a way you were most definitely not a fan of. "We don't need a vehicle Blue, you know that."

"Hold up, I never agreed to giving two people a ride at once."

"And you never said it was a definite no either." He chuckled darkly.

"Killer..." You whined, hoping for some backup.

"Sorry (Y/n)." He shrugged. "I couldn't convince him a car was better."

You let out a defeated groan. Of course Kid would plan on flying in to battle for the first big fight you'd take part in. What else should you have expected?

With a huff, you shifted quickly. The parking lot was much roomier with the startling lack of vehicles and you had no problem stretching out before leaning down to let the men up. Kid hopped on first, settling up front around your neck. Killer decided the best place to go without bothering you or getting to cuddly with Kid was further back, past where your wings connected to your spine. While that was probably the best spot for him to be, it still didn't feel great.

But it was past time to complain. There was a schedule to stick to. The goal was to hit the locations almost simultaneously to keep any of Scratchmen's gang members from hiding away or planning a counter attack. They wouldn't even know what hit them.

"Let's go!" Kid pat the side of your neck roughly with his metal hand. "We've got competition to take down!"

You didn't need any more encouragement than that. Your wings snapped open and with a few powerful strokes, you were airborne. Both men held on like they'd fall off at any moment until you'd leveled out, going the direction Kid pointed you to. As soon as they were sure you wouldn't let them fall, your boss let out a delighted laugh.

"This is the shit Blue! I can't wait for them to see us coming!"

Despite the discomfort of carrying two people, you were actually excited too. This was going to be one helluva show.