The steady beep of the heart monitor was a common sound for you to wake up too, even if it had been years since you had passed out and been hospitalized for it. You had been extra careful during college, because any incidents would've been used to bring you back home.

You let your eyes open slowly, and adjusted to the dim lighting in the room.

"Hey, lil' spark." Sabo says softly, taking your hand into his as you continue to come around. "You with me?"

"Thing so." You mumble thickly, licking dry lips. "Think so. How long?"

"Only about," Sabo looks at his watch and does some quick math. "Thirteen hours. I think that's a record recovery time for you, especially given what all you went through."

"What... happened?" You question, struggling to sit up a little, but Sabo puts a hand on your shoulder.

"Stay back, I'll lean the bed up for you." He says, and the soft click of a button brings you up slowly. You notice two lumps snoring in a single chair in the corner. Ace is tucked into the back of the chair with his legs draped over one arm rest, and Luffy is laying over him, drooling against Ace's knees as the rest of his limbs are sprawled out.

"Good news is, Dr. Law met us at the hospital entrance and took over your care immediately. He removed, well, two poisons. He took some of what came from the medication, and all of what came from the food you ate." Sabo explains slowly. He gives you a moment to think about what he's already said.

"It wasn't bad food."

"No, it wasn't."

"... Why?"

"Considering it effected just about everyone in the building, forcing several offices to send people home early, the current assumption is that it was a tactic to clear the building prior to setting fire to it."

"Why not just... wait? Until night?"

Sabo shakes his head. "I don't know. Maybe someone was making a point? Maybe some casualties were the goal, just not too many? Sorry, I don't know enough yet."

"S'only been thirteen hours." You say giving him a weak smile. "Ace and Luffy?"

Sabo smiles widely. "They're okay. You have quite the grip, sister dear."

You tilt your head. "Huh?"

"You wouldn't let go of Ace." Sabo explains, his grin becoming more Cheshire cat-like as you feel your face heat up. "He had to ride in the ambulance with you, and Law had to use his curse to separate you when you arrived at the hospital."

"I would like to sleep forever." You pull the sheets up over your face. "Sabo, please."

"Sorry, but my own feelings aside, I think Ace would object." He admits with a soft chuckle. "Shall I tell you embarrassing things he did to help alleviate your mortification, sister dear?"

"... Please."

"He said you called his fire pretty, then went on to ramble for a solid five minutes about how he would become flames forever if that's what you wanted. It was quite poetic. Burning for you, being a guiding light, I should've recorded it. He basically confessed to Luffy and I." Sabo explains, shooting quick glances to the sleeping forms in the corner and making sure they were still asleep.

"When he realized what he had said, he burst into flames and set the sprinklers off." Sabo's trying to suppress a laugh at the memory. "We had to switch rooms and Law was quite irritated when he brought you in from the ICU."

You put a hand to your mouth, trying not to laugh. "That's adorable."

Sabo nods in agreement before looking over at them again and leaning in close. "Despite his usual demeanor, he has his own demons, lil' spark."

Sabo leans back and pats your hand. "Regardless, I am here for you. If this is what you want, let nothing discourage you."

"That's quite the praise." You say with a smile.

Sabo shrugs. "He is, despite his belief, an exemplary human. Ah, but are you hungry? I'm sure I can find something for you to eat. It's 4am, in a couple hours the cafeteria will be open."

"Cafeteria food." You say it with a groan and Sabo pats your hand.

"I can promise their food will not have been maliciously compromised, but I can go to a 24-hour drive thru if that is preferable?"

"I don't think you can bring outside food in."

"You cannot get caught bringing outside food in," he corrects.

"Mmm, a hotdog then? Some design of warm sandwich sounds good."

"Hotdogs aren't sandwiches." Sabo argues.

"Bread, meat, stuff – don't argue with me, I'm in the hospital." You grin.

Sabo makes a face and then chuckles. "Very well. Let me wake the guards before I leave."

"Let them sleep."

"They've slept." Sabo insists. "I won't leave you unattended."

You roll your eyes, but smile anyway. You can't argue with your brother being concerned for you. You were literally just in a burning building a few hours prior.

Sabo flicks Ace's forehead and he wakes up with a snorted gasp, rubbing his forehead as he looks up at Sabo with aggravation. Sabo nods toward the bed and Ace sees you are awake. His expression brightens so much you can feel the heat rushing into your face from it.

"Oh he-guh." He falls back into the chair, as his attempt to get up makes him realize Luffy had passed out on top of him. He heaves the younger man off him with a grunt, and despite the heavy thud, Luffy seems unbothered by being relocated.

"I'm going to find something for her to eat, keep an eye out while I'm gone." Sabo says.

"Yeah, sure." Ace agrees, stepping over Luffy and coming over to the chair Sabo had been using earlier. "Anything new?"

"No, not so far."

"Sleep when you come back." Ace calls out as Sabo leaves the room and you see your brother flinch. He gives Ace a disgruntled look, but doesn't say anything back.

"He hasn't slept yet?" You question Ace.

"Nah, but he'll be okay for a couple more hours. I've seen Sabo pull an all-nighter back-to-back before." He explains, giving you a smile before it turns into a yawn. "How're you feeling?"

"I – uh... f-fine." You stammer. Being aware of how explicitly he liked you, made his proximity raise your heartbeat. He was in his fireman's pants and boots, a tight, white A-shirt that must've been under the uniform jacket that Luffy was currently laying on.

"You did good, you know?" Ace says, giving you a soft smile. "You didn't hurl, and you held on tight. Just like I needed."

"Sorry." You mutter quietly, pulling your eyes away and fidgeting with the edge of the blankets.

Ace looks confused. "For?"

"Er... Sabo said it took... um... quite the effort to, uhm, free you." You could almost feel yourself sweating, and even worse, the heart monitor was beeping noticeably faster.

Ace is biting his lip, trying not to laugh. "I wasn't complaining." He admits, giving you a small grin when you manage to look at him. Even in the dim light of the room you can see his cheeks turning pink under the freckles.

"You had other responsibilities, I'm sure." You manage to say after a moment.

"Ah, I wouldn't have been able to concentrate anyway. I'm glad it worked out how it did." He admits.

You cover your face with your hands as the heart monitor beeps faster, causing an alarm to go off. A Nurse comes in from the night station and you point to Ace, and Ace points to himself.

"Sorry." He says, as the nurse comes over and turns the alarm off.

She smiles at the two of you and goes about giving you a quick check. Once she's satisfied, she takes the heart monitor and turns it away, muting the beeping sound and giving you a wink before she leaves.

A silence settles over you, but you keep stealing glances at each other and shy smiles turn into soft giggles and awkward laughs. You haven't said anything, but you both want to, and you're both giving each other the chance to start.

"I called your fire pretty."

"You did."

"It is." You insist. "Can I see it again?"

"Yeah... uh, but not here." Ace puts his hands up and points to the ceiling. "I could set the sprinklers off again and I don't want to risk it."

"Again?" You prompt, and when he looks at you, you can't hold back the knowing laugh.

Ace turns so red you're surprised he hasn't caught fire. "Sabo." He says, eyes narrowing.

You nod, covering your mouth and trying not to laugh. "He told me and then, um, gave his... su-support." You stammer the words, but manage to keep your eyes on his.

Ace stares at you for a moment, and when his hair flickers, he puts a hand over it.

"We can talk, once we get home." You say, fidgeting absently with the bed sheets again. "If you don't mind."

Ace's mouth opens and closes a couple times, and he makes a few weird noises before he laughs at himself a little. "I – I don't mind at all. I... oh man." He stretches and looks around the room letting out a long breath of air. "I don't know what to say now. I kind of want to run around the hospital a few times."

He puts his hands over his face and leans back in the chair.

"You could." You prompt.

"Nuh-uh. Not until Sabo gets back." He answers.

"I... I can't imagine an entire building was poisoned and set on fire just for, uh... me."

He leans forward, and his face is uncharacteristically stern. "Probably not, but we don't know. Until we know I'm not taking the risk. Neither is Sabo. If I stepped out for a few minutes and came back and you were hurt, or worse." He shakes his head. "Not risking it."

You don't have time to say anything in response, before a new voice catches your attention.

"Good, you're awake." Law says, stepping into the room. He looks at the heart rate monitor, pressing a few buttons on it to turn the beep back on. "How are you feeling?"

"Hungry, but good otherwise." You answer. You were glad to hear the steady beep of the heart monitor.

The blue shift covers you and Law, and he begins to scan you again. "I didn't remove as much of it as I would've liked." He says flatly. "But under the circumstances, I wanted to err on the side of caution."

"I understand."

"Everything seems stable. I want you to eat and rest today. I don't know what your work situation is going to be, given the fire, but tomorrow I'd like to still come by."

"I'm being released then?" You question in surprise.

"Yes. You're awake, you're stable, your scan has come back as expected." Law explains, as the blue shift fades. "People don't often stay at my hospital for observation Miss (Y/N), but even so I'm quite certain you won't be left unattended until I see you Wednesday." He looks from you to Ace but doesn't say anything more.

Despite your efforts, the heart monitor beeps a little faster.