~

Law couldn't deal with it. He couldn't deal with Luffy's voice still ringing in his head, even after two weeks. He tried listening to the original Fall Out Boy but every time, he remembered Luffy's voice and was reduced to an embarrassed mess. If that was bad, his friends teasing him about Luffy was worse. The younger had 'accidentally' shared the recorded file in the group chat and Shachi had been online at that time and had quickly downloaded it before Luffy realized and deleted it. Law had to constantly get out of the building or stay cooped in his room to avoid wiggling eyebrows and sly smirks.

Law had made himself busy with back to back surgeries to avoid his brain getting swept up in adoration for Luffy. Sure, he didn't deny it, Law even found it a nice feeling but he was still afraid that if he told Luffy everything, the younger would reject him. There were so many aspects of his personality that Law had kept hidden from everyone because they were all temporary around him, Luffy too, Law wasn't with him all the time so it was easy. But if Law were to be involved with Luffy in a relationship, something or other would slip sooner or later and Law was afraid Luffy wouldn't like that.

He needed to give Luffy an answer though, he owed it to Luffy. Luffy said he would be ok with whatever Law chose. Law smiled to himself under the covers that Luffy made sure to not burden Law. He couldn't sleep, Luffy was on his mind again, just like every other night since the live. Law decided he needed to be honest with Luffy, tell him what was really bothering Law about allowing himself to like Luffy back and be open about it. Luffy deserved at least that much.

Law decided he would tell Luffy the important bits about himself if the next surgery went alright. The operation was in Goa, the client had chosen it, it was easy but Law couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right. As if this wasn't enough, he had been feeling like he was being watched every time he stepped outside Flevance for an underworld client. Law was of course careful but whoever was watching him, they were better. The paranoia of being watched was another thing that was stopping Law from arranging a meeting with Luffy. If this was somehow a mess or an assassin he had brought upon himself because of his activities, Law didn't want Luffy to get dragged in it and should he die or sustain not-normal injuries, Luffy would be better off not knowing about Law's feelings for him.

~

Law looked over his shoulder and exited the airport, he was either growing paranoid or he really was being watched. It brought back bad memories and Law didn't want a reminder of those times especially so close to a surgery. Law thanked his foresight for bringing multiple disguises with him and changed into one at the public restrooms to shake the tail off him. It worked or maybe whoever was following him wasn't out for his blood and let him go on purpose. Regardless, Law quickly checked into his usual hotel and room and went straight to the basement.

Everything was in place inside the basement, things were clean and ready for the operation, the incinerator was working - Law had illegally acquired it over a few weeks and got it installed in the basement because one never knew when there would be a need to burn bodies. Needless to say, Law hadn't informed Luffy about his arrival in Goa and needed it that way till the surgery was done with. The surgery itself was easy, just a gall bladder removal. For someone of Law's skill, he would have it done in thirty minutes.

Law stayed in the basement the entire time it would take for his client to arrive and he wasn't really shocked when he did arrive, three hours late and with company of another thug. The surgeon checked both the men for weapons and took his payment in advance.

"You, stand somewhere in the corner and out of my way." Law told the other guy and helped his patient on the operating table, throwing sterilized gear at the other man to prevent infections. Law attached the machines on his patient and turned around to get the syringe for a muscle relaxant, ready to pump it with general anesthesia. Law felt he had no obligation to walk these kinds of patients through the operative procedure, he really didn't care if they lived or died but he only pulled the miraculous surgeries to increase his reputation in the underworld and consequently, increasing his means to obtain information to get closer to his goal.

A gall bladder removal surgery was too easy for Law, he could do it with his eyes closed. He put the mask on the patient's mouth and had him inhale the anesthesia, monitoring the vitals while injecting the relaxants. It was taking longer than it should but sometimes it did, not everyone responded to anesthesia in the same way and this guy was putting up a lot more resistance. Law's nerves were already stressed from someone tailing him and his intuition blaring alarms and the guy on his table not going under even after the usual thirty seconds mark was putting Law in a state of controlled panic.

Law gripped his scalpel tight in his left hand and kept a peripheral eye on his patient's companion, feeling like something would go wrong. Forty seconds passed and the man on the table finally started going under and Law relaxed a little, thinking it was a false alarm but he was still on guard. Law had already cleaned the area of incisions so he quickly got to work, still keeping his guard up with the man standing in the corner.

But an attack came from where Law hadn't expected it. The doctor was about to make an incision in his patient's torso when a loud noise rang very close to his ear and he felt numb in his left side. The second guy hadn't moved so what...

"What the fuc-" Law cursed when his brain registered that he had been shot. His loosening grip on the scalpel tightened and Law steadied himself on his feet having stumbled back from the impact. He was quickly coming to terms that he needed to react but then another shot sounded and this time, Law's scalpel fell from his hand, having taken the shot in his left shoulder.

A few seconds passed and Law couldn't think until his heart started pumping adrenaline throughout his body at inhuman levels, he had a bastard to thank for that. With his right hand Law grabbed another scalpel and jabbed it in his patient's neck, not removing it and gathering enough wits to dislodge his gun from under the instruments' table and shooting the second guy before he could cause further damage to the surgeon.

"Who sent you?!" Law snarled, feeling pain shoot out of his two wounds. He knew he was losing blood, he could feel the bullets still inside his flesh, he was taking damage by the second but he needed to question this man before ending his life.

Unsurprisingly, the man on the table laughed. "Just wanted to score one on the Surgeon of Death." The man croaked around the blade and grinned. Law had anticipated something like this would happen sooner or later so he was quick in taking his scalpel out of the guy's neck and shooting him in the head. Law was being reckless when he decided to put both the bodies in his new incinerator, he was taking time to clean up when he might not even have time. He didn't know if those were the only two men around or if they had silent company, waiting for the first shots to ring to move and finish the job if need be.

Law couldn't keep staying in the basement.

He needed to get out.

And get out fast.

Law was torn between leaving quickly and to stop for a few seconds and equip himself with some bandages to treat his own wounds. His dilemma was answered for him when he heard footsteps on the upper floor. Law grabbed a shit ton of gauze, keeping it pressed on his abdomen wound with his left hand and pointing his gun forward with his right to shoot first and ask questions later. He easily evaded whoever was running around the abandoned house and made for his car. He threw his gun aside and groaned when the movement shot more pain through his bullet wounds.

How the fuck was he even able to shoot?! Where did he even hide his weapon?! He was going under- how the fuck-

Law was very confused about how the man on his table, the man who must have been under the effects of anesthesia, managed to shoot him twice, more so the doctor was bewildered and annoyed that the idiot didn't make a clean-through shot even at point blank range. This whole thing reeked of something Law didn't want to admit so he put it aside for the time being and turned the ignition. He ducked when the third guy appeared behind the car and started shooting. Law reversed the car and sandwiched that man between the house and trunk and quickly drove off before somebody else caught up.

Not five minutes of driving away and Law was feeling the blood loss getting to his head and making his vision blurry. If this kept on, Law was sure he would lose consciousness, he needed to find shelter soon. He knew he couldn't go to the hotel where he had his medical kit to patch himself, he wouldn't make it that far and with how bloody his entire body was from running for his life, Law doubted the hotel staff would let him waltz in just like that too. He didn't want to admit it but he was at a loss. Maybe it was because of the blood loss, maybe it was because of the long passage of time that had passed before Law got to experience such a situation again but the surgeon was panicking.

He didn't know who to call, he didn't know where to go – he didn't know Goa well enough to save his life. Even the slightest movements hurt and the gauze Law had picked up were soaked through – he was losing too much blood. He couldn't die, he refused to die, not until-

Wait a second-

Law stared at the time on his car's digital display and debated whether to act on his idea or not. He didn't know shit about the hiding places in Goa but Luffy did – this was Luffy's turf, his home ground, he must know about safe places. But it was way past midnight, no way would Luffy be awake. Law fucked it all to hell and took the chance, the leap of faith that Luffy would help him even at such an hour. While Law was going through his contacts to dial Luffy, he realized that he had never acknowledged Luffy as the mafia boss type of person the younger always claimed he was or would be but right in that moment, Law was using words associated with a mafia to address Luffy. Strange how the world worked.

Law's hands were slipping, there was blood on his fingers making it difficult for him to call Luffy but when he finally did, he stopped the car while the phone rang. Law's breathing was getting shallow with the passing minutes and he didn't know how long he would be able to keep his head up. Law didn't know how many rings had already went through but peace and calm flooded his whole being despite the pain when he heard Luffy's voice.

"Torao?"

"Mugiwara-ya-"

"Hey! What's up Torao?"

"Listen to me-" Law breathed and winced at the intake of breath.

"You sound bad-"

"I'd sound dead if you don't shut up and listen. Tell me some place safe and void of prying eyes." Law said and took another breath. Luffy was quiet for a few seconds and Law thought his leap of faith had failed him, he blamed himself for having expectations to begin with.

"I'll send you an address, I'll be there too, I don't think you should be alone right now." And just like that Law's doubt disappeared and he almost teared up at the concern from the younger. "See you soon." Luffy hung up and Law soon received a location. He drove there as fast as he could with his vision blurring and arms shaking. He was two seconds short of crashing the car in the pedestrian path near the harbour. He was just driving and hadn't noticed that the address was for the harbour. Why did Luffy give him this address? Law was too out of it to think anything and form any theories.

Coughing and wincing, Law got out of the car and fell on the solid pavement the moment his feet hit the ground. He couldn't keep his head up anymore, he had lost too much blood. His vision was blurring bad now and his ears had started ringing, he was seeing two of everything. Amidst all this, Law's mind started returned when he saw a pair of sandal clad feet running towards him. It felt like the ground was shaking with the vibrations of those running feet and it hurt his head so much. The loud voice soon after didn't help either.

"Torao!"

"Stop shouting..." Law managed to utter a whine and tried getting up but his hand slipped and he braced for an impact that didn't come.

Instead came Luffy's soft whisper. "I gotchu."

Luffy cradled Law's head before he moved his hands to the not-bloodied parts of the shirt, the younger assumed it safe to touch. Law looked very hurt, Luffy didn't like it. His eyes were scrunched close probably from the pain and his jaw was clenched, one of his hands was pressing something on his abdomen and his left shoulder was wet as heck. Luffy wondered what had happened but decided to keep the questions for later. He hoisted the older by his good shoulder and kept a reassuring arm on his back. Torao was tall so Luffy couldn't help it that the doctor's feet were dragging behind him. Law was barely making sense of where he was being led but he didn't care at that point. He doubted Luffy would do anything bad, or maybe he would and Law was trusting him too much.

Law closed his eyes for what felt like a moment and opened them to a completely different surrounding, the smell of antiseptic brought him back to alertness with a jolt and once it had started an adrenaline rush, Law felt like he would live. That smell belonged to surroundings he usually called home so he was ready to do the job.

"Torao use whatever you need here." Luffy said and helped Law sit on the infirmary bed in the Thousand Sunny. The moment the younger had brought him there, he saw how Law sprung back to life. "Ok what do I do?" Luffy asked fidgeting with the hem of his now bloodied shirt and since Law had clearer vision, he could see the boy was panicking.

"Step one, don't panic." The older said through pain and tried sitting up straighter.

"This is Chopper's doctor's room so he must have everything you might need but if there isn't I'll go get it-" Luffy was panicking. Now that there was light, he could see how bad Law looked, he could see two proper holes in his torso, Luffy felt sick but not because of seeing raw wounds, because he was worried about the pain Torao was suffering from and definitely hiding and Luffy wasn't a doctor, he didn't know how to help, he would just be in the way and Torao needed professional help or at least assistance-

"Luffy, help me with the clothes. Grab the scissors." Law said above a breath, he could not manage more because of the pain. He could see Luffy's thoughts spiraling and he didn't want the younger to fall down that rabbit hole so he was going to have him help and stay busy enough to not think. Law shifted a little on the infirmary bed, he noticed he was on and pulled a box that was at the edge of the bed, towards him, he assumed it would have the tools he needed.

"You're gonna cut those? But that's a waste of a good shirt." Luffy said and followed Law with his eyes when the older gingerly got off the bed and moved around to locate and ready the other things he would need. Once done, he went back to the bed.

"It's got two holes in it and a hell lot of blood I'm too lazy to clean...so let it waste. Help me cut it open and get it off." Law didn't mind Luffy making conversation, he needed it too just like Luffy did. Luffy obliged and carefully began cutting the gown and shirt, hands shaking slightly from all the concentration so he wouldn't hurt Law. "I'm bleeding out here, hurry up." Law pushed and Luffy hurried and slid off the shirt and gown from Law's arms. Even though Law's chest tattoos were visible to Luffy for the first time ever, he couldn't stop and allow himself to be mesmerized, Torao's life was still not out of danger.

"Ok now what?" Luffy asked quickly.

"Where do you keep the blood?" Law asked examining the scissors he would use to grab the bullets out of his body. He was mentally reeling that the fucking idiot didn't get a clean shot.

"Uhh... Chopper has it here for me all the time, right we have matching blood!" Luffy chimed opening the door to a blood chilling facility. It was full of all sorts of blood types, Law was very impressed and would have commented on it if he wasn't dying.

Law scanned the area for a blood warmer machine and found it tucked in a corner. "Take a bag and put it in that machine. Turn it on like I tell you."

"Got it." Luffy was quick to work on Law's instructions. When that was done, Law took a deep breath and spilled rubbing alcohol all over his abdomen entry wound. He hissed at the pain and that got Luffy to look at him worriedly. "You sure you'll handle this? Don't you wanna go to a doctor?" Luffy didn't want to ask a lot of questions but he was getting more and more worried by each passing second and by how Law was slowly losing filters and letting out his pain.

"I fucking am a doctor." Law retorted through gritted teeth as he dove in with his grabby scissors and poked around for the bullet.

"Yeah but I haven't really seen anybody get their own bullets out 'cept in the movies." Law was grateful that Luffy was talking, he needed that a lot or his brain would be overwhelmed with pain.

"How many people do you know who are black market surgeons and end up getting shot by the patient under their blade?"

"No one like that."

"You're looking at one."

"You got shot by your patient?!" Luffy asked, a bit too excitedly. Law used that as the distraction he needed from the pain again and made the difficult plunge to finally locate the bullet.

"Ugh-ya. Yeah." Law pulled out the bullet and bagged it with a big sigh of relief. He'd examine it later. He spilled some more alcohol on the wound and quickly stitched it up to the best of his ability. Law repeated the process with his shoulder, his mind slowly starting to slip again the closer he was to the end of his tasks. Law cleaned the rest of the blood from his torso and bandaged himself up with Luffy's help. The slump of his back and the adrenaline wearing off after the wounds were stitched up was not a good thing. "Get me the blood."

"You sound like a vampire." Luffy laughed trying to lighten the mood as he handed Law the bag of blood from the machine. Law got new gloves and hooked himself up to the blood followed by a hydration IV.

Luffy was watching Law attach needles to his arm and once he was done, he closed his eyes, that was ok. Soon after Law slumped on the bed and it looked like he wasn't breathing. It was too sudden for Luffy to be comfortable. "Torao?" Law didn't respond. "Hey, Torao." Luffy shook him a little.

"I've been shot twice, lost an insane amount of blood, stitched myself up, can I have a moment of rest?" Law didn't mean to bark but that was how it came out anyway. Luffy pouted.

Why the fuck is he pouting?!

"You're mean. You just well all jelly suddenly so I was worried." Luffy said with a tilt of his head.

Law exhaled. "Sorry... thank you for helping."

"Yeah, so, you're gonna be ok now?"

"Yes... after some sleep, steady nutrition, I'll live."

"That's great! Because really I was just thinking of showing you around Sunny but then you called and this is not the best situation so some time else."

"So, the Thousand Sunny huh?" Law asked gesturing to his surroundings, this was his first time being in the ship and he was frankly touched that Luffy brought him there of all places the younger could have chosen. He was feeling a little better with nutrients entering his blood stream.

"Yeah! Franky and Ice Pops and his fellas built it! But the entire thing was Franky's idea! It's so cool!" Law smiled to himself at the stars in Luffy's eyes.

"Speaking of your friends, do they know I'm here?"

"No."

"Will they be coming here anytime soon then?"

"Yeah, tomorrow." Luffy answered and sat down on Chopper's spinning chair.

"Ok, let me rest a few hours then I'll be gone-"

"What?! No. You're holey right now, you stay here." In an instant Luffy was up on his feet and in front of Law as if the older was leaving right then.

"Do you want your friends to find out about this and ask you questions, maybe report this to the police and get you in trouble?"

"My friends aren't like that and I mean I want you to meet my friends and I want them to meet you but..." Law raised an eyebrow at the nervousness Luffy was showing.

"But what Mugiwara-ya?"

"I..."

"You don't think it's the right time." Law answered for him.

"Sorry..." Luffy looked solemn. It felt stupid to him for some reason but he wanted to be the only one to know about Torao for as long as he could, when his nakama would know Law personally, Luffy would stop being the only person and he felt a strange tightness in his chest whenever he thought about it and he didn't like it.

"I'm glad for that actually, I don't want to meet new people when I'm not even staying here for long." Law breathed.

"What?" Luffy's head snapped up. "You're going back? But we haven't caught up on everything-"

"Laying low. Not going back yet. I need to find out who the fucking hell shot me and avoid another situation like this."

"Oh." Luffy looked relieved. "Ok, where will you be staying?"

"I think I lost the tail and I can't really be tracked if those three were the only ones... so my hotel room for now. Might need to relocate though." Luffy frowned at the way Law was mumbling to himself.

"Ok I'll come see you then."

"That isn't happening. And do not tell anybody about this. I'll get you the blood back and the IVs too-"

"I'll just tell Chopper a friend needed it, he won't mind-"

"Money it is then."

"Hey! I said it's ok!"

"I don't do debts Mugiwara-ya." Law spat venomously, not knowing what had gotten over him. Maybe it was past experiences or his annoyance from getting shot that he was taking out of Luffy.

"I didn't help you to make you owe me Torao." Luffy said, voice dangerous.

"You didn't. I asked. And I'm repaying. Better money than something else like it always is with people." Law said with a roll of his eyes.

"What? What something else?"

"Services. Blood." Law said, took a breath then continued. "Life."

"You think I'll ask you to die for me?" Luffy asked, now angry that Law said what he did. He wasn't angry at Torao, he was angry at the something that was making Torao say such things.

"I don't know you enough to be confident in the knowledge that you won't."

"Stay here long enough and I'll change that. Or even if you don't, I'll change that anyway."

Law eyed Luffy for a while, taking in his stance and the dangerous aura he was exuding and just sighed. "What were you doing up at an hour this late anyway?" Law asked casually, adjusting the pillow under his head and slipping to lay down. He wasn't in the mood or state of mind to have confrontational conversations.

"I couldn't sleep so I was taking a walk." Luffy answered just as casually and sat down by Law's bed with his arms on the bed and head on his arms.

"Nightmares?" Law shot in the dark.

"Yeah." Law took a brief glance at the boy then closed his eyes.

"Try to sleep now."

"Oh yeah, I can always sleep with you."

"Sounds wrong but ok."

"You somehow keep my nightmares away, nishishi." Luffy grinned and closed his eyes, now fearlessly going to sleep. He had Torao around to ward the bad stuff off.

~