Chapter Text
"Ace," Sabo called as he exited the kitchen, "please stop stalking the window and come help me prepare the meat for the barbecue."
The freckled raven was staring through the window, clutching a curtain in one hand while the other's fingers were nervously tapping against the windowsill. "They should have already been here…" he muttered, scanning the road to the mansion. "I want to see how that man who claims to be Luffy's boyfriend is treating my brother…"
The blonde sighed. "Ace, promise me to play nice." The only answer he got was just more grumbles from under his nose. "If that man is really a D and another half of Luffy, you know that you can't do anything against them being together," Sabo scolded him.
"Yeah, yeah," Ace replied distracted. "We all know that a D can betray their other half. I'm sure you remember Teach."
Sabo's face darkened, and he glared at his boyfriend. "Do NOT talk about that person here, especially in front of Luffy!"
The raven winced. "Sorry, Sabo, I…" he uttered, glancing back just to see the blonde returning to the kitchen. "Sabo? I said I'm sorry! Sabo?!"
A rumble of a car's engine drew Ace's attention back to the outside. A yellow and black jaguar cabriolet rolled into the yard and parked next to his red mustang. Ace whistled. He always appreciated a good car, even owned by a person he didn't like. "Nice wheels," he commended. The roof of the jaguar was up, so Ace wasn't able to see the driver just yet.
Luffy jumped from the passenger's side and bounced to the boot. From his quickly moving mouth, Ace figured he was babbling happily about everything and anything as usual. He glared at the driver who finally climbed out of the car. Black jacket with a line of orange spots around the waist, blue jeans with dark spots and spotted hat on the head. Ace frowned. What the hell with all these spots?
The man said something, and Luffy beamed at him. Damn, Ace cursed in his mind, his little brother seemed extremely happy being with him. They both grabbed their bags and started to walk towards the main doors. The freckled raven tore himself from the window and stalked to the lobby to welcome the new arrivals.
Ace rounded the corner and suddenly stopped dead in his track as he observed the man flicking his little brother on his forehead. Anger boiled inside of him. He gritted his teeth, and with an outraged, "You bastard!" Ace shot forward… and smashed into the glass door with all his might.
The door rattled, but withstood the attack, sending a vibration throughout the whole house. Ace bounced back and fell to the floor, groaning from pain.
Sabo entered the lobby to see what was happening. He stopped by the sprawled Ace and looked down at him. "Did you attack the door?" he asked, amused. "Again?"
"…No," his boyfriend denied, rubbing a lump on his forehead.
Sabo chuckled. He glanced outside. Luffy and his friend were standing a bit further from the door, locked in an intense conversation. Sabo opened the door to invite them inside.
"–you were on top of me and had me pinned down, so I couldn't reach it!" Luffy's disgruntled voice reached their ears.
The man beside him smirked, and, damn, that was an evil looking smile. He took pouting Luffy's chin and forced him to look at him. "If you're so unsatisfied with a result, we can always play it again," he offered.
"WHOA!" Ace roared all of a sudden, jumping on his feet. "Stop right there, you, you… bastard! Stop molesting my brother!"
They both turned their heads to look at the other two Ds. "Oh, Ace, Sabo, hi!" Luffy greeted them cheerfully, while Law just scowled at the accusation.
"How can you act so carefree when this man just said he will… he will..!" Ace trailed off, as red colored the tips of his ears. He coughed into his fist and waved a hand trying to show his point. "You know..! That!"
Luffy just tilted his head to the side, totally confused about his words. Law snorted. "We were talking about a game," he finally explained. "Twister, to be precise."
"Shishishishi! It was fun!"
Sabo burst out laughing. Ace only blinked at him. "Huh?" was his intellectual response.
"Let us introduce ourselves," Sabo finally said, after he got his laughter under control. "I'm Outlook D. Sabo, this grump here is Portgas D. Ace."
"Hmph!" Ace folded his arms in front of him, keeping his narrowed eyes on the stranger.
"This is Traffy!" Luffy pointed at the older man.
Law rolled his eyes. "I'm Trafalgar Law."
Sabo blinked at him, and even Ace frowned in confusion. "Not a D?" the blonde asked.
An awkward silence stretched between the four men before Law sighed. "Trafalgar D. Water Law," he reintroduced himself. He hadn't said his full name in ages, not after Cora-san told him about the D bloodline's curse. These people were the same as him, so it should have been alright to tell them that name.
"It's nice to meet you, Law-san," Sabo said, giving him a friendly smile and offering him a hand.
Law shook it and replied, "Thank you. It's very nice to meet you as well, Sabo-ya."
"Your name is so cool!" the straw-hatted teen exclaimed, staring at his boyfriend in awe. Law simply smiled at him, then lifted his hand and ruffled his black unruly hair.
"Oi!" Ace yelled, stepping forward, but Sabo grabbed him by his collar and stopped him. "Keep your hands to yourself, you… you… spots-maniac!"
Everyone just stared at him for a second dumbfounded.
"I love Traffy's spots!" Luffy declared with delight. He caught Law's hand and dragged him towards the mansion, but before entering he stopped next to the blonde and gave him a quick hug. "I'm happy to see you, Sabo."
"Good to see you too, Lu."
"Now, come, Traffy, I want to show you our room!" Luffy proceeded to drag the older man inside.
Law flashed a mocking smirk at Ace as he passed him. The freckled raven growled and readied himself for an attack, but Sabo, who was still holding him by his t-shirt collar, yanked him back.
"Spots-maniac? Really, Ace?" Sabo shook his head as the other two disappeared up the stairs, letting the other man go.
"What?"
"That was so unoriginal, even for you," the blonde answered, an amused smile curled on his lips. He shook his head again, also turning to leave. "And be civil. Law seems like a decent guy. Besides, Luffy won't be happy if you'll hurt him."
Ace grumbled under his breath when he suddenly perked up. "Wait a minute… Oi, Luffy!" He sprung after his little brother. "I haven't had my hug yet!"
"Have you already done it?"
Law turned to look at Ace who glowered at him like he already hated whatever answer he'd decide to say.
"Done what?"
Four of them were gathered at the inner yard, preparing to start barbecuing their food.
"You know…" Ace trailed off, waving his hand as his gaze only intensified. He stared at the older man, trying his non-existent mind reading abilities.
Law frowned at him, annoyed. "Can you be more specific, Ace-ya?"
Luffy and Sabo came from inside the mansion chattering with each other.
"Had sex!" the freckled D shouted, and promptly red dyed his cheeks as he noticed his younger brother and boyfriend halting nearby.
Sabo just sighed in surrender, while Luffy cocked his head to the side, staring intensely at them.
"I don't see how that concerns you," the Surgeon retorted coolly, narrowing his sharp silver eyes at the man in front of him. "It's a personal thing."
Sabo shook his head, settling on looking around for a lighter to start a fire. He found only couple boxes of matches. "Oi, guys, I need help here," he called out to the others but was thoroughly ignored.
"Luffy is my brother!" Ace declared aggressively.
"So, what? He's my boyfriend," Law replied, eliciting a joyful 'Shishishishi' from Luffy.
Sabo glared at matches. They were the bane of his life. "Guys, do any of you have a lighter?" he inquired, but no one paid any attention to him.
"I'm his big brother, I have to decide if you're good for him or not!"
"By asking such personal things? What are you, a pervert?"
Ace face went red again. It was not clear if he was reddened from embarrassment or anger. Probably both.
"Traffy is awesome!" Luffy chimed in.
"You stay out of this!" his older brother demanded.
"Don't yell at him," Law growled.
In the background, Sabo tried to pick up a box of matches, but as soon as he touched it, water surged from his fingers, completely soaking the box. "Dammit…" the blonde muttered, glancing at the other Ds who still ignored him.
"Yeah, Ace, it's mean!" Luffy agreed. "Traffy never yells at me."
Ace folded his arms in front of him. "B-because he has another agenda!" he said in his defense.
"It's because I lov–" Law suddenly cut himself off. He cleared his throat, before continuing, "…because I care about Luffy."
"Shishishishi!"
Meanwhile, Sabo carefully picked up the second box of matches, knitting his brow in great concentration to hold his powers in. He managed to open it, take one match and even light it up when his water washed the box, soaking it once again. The blonde's heart almost stopped as the wind blew at that moment. "Nonononono…" he hurriedly mumbled, stretching his hand towards charcoal. The lit match went out half an inch from it. Sabo let out a frustrated growl. "Luffy!" he called, but the teen was too absorbed into Ace's and Law's bickering. The blonde frowned. It was time to get serious. "Luffy, I'll give you extra meat if you help me."
A result was instantaneous – Luffy swiveled around and gave him his full attention. "What do you need?"
"Do you have a lighter?"
"Nope." Luffy glanced at soaked matches and laughed. "What happened here?!"
"For some reasons, I can't control my water around matches," Sabo confessed, eliciting another laughter from the younger D. "There won't be any meat to eat if we don't figure out how to start a fire."
A horror gripped Luffy's features. "Oh, no! We need to do something! We need to save meat!" he panicked.
"You do what?" Law teased Ace. "Gonna call me 'spots-maniac' again?"
Ace growled. "Aren't that true? What's up will all those spots anyway? Tattoos, too!"
Sabo heaved a heavy sigh. "I'll just go inside and look for a lighter."
"No, Sabo, wait," Luffy stopped him. He stared at those two, a lop-sided smirk slowly curling on his lips. "I have an idea. Be prepared to catch your fire."
"What do you–?"
Luffy made a beeline to Law and tugged his sleeve to get his attention. When both pairs of eyes got fixed on him, he grinned, grabbed Law by his jacket collar and pulled him into a kiss.
A deadly silence fell on the inner yard for a moment.
Then there was a sound of crackle as fire flared across Ace's shoulders. Law's eyes widened when a split second later Luffy's brother was all consumed by fire, but he didn't scream or moan from pain. His eyes were trained on Law, seething with hot wrath.
"Finally! We have fire!" Sabo suddenly exclaimed triumphantly. "But, Lu, I must say, that was one ingenious, although dangerous move." He shoved his hand into Ace's fire and put it on his head like it was not a big deal. "Good thing this guy hadn't exploded." Sabo laughed, and a water suddenly sploshed over whole Ace's body like someone would had thrown a bucket of water on him, extinguishing all the fire.
The freckled D was now standing completely soaked, with water dripping from his black bangs. He glared at Sabo who just laughed it off.
"See, Traffy? Ace and Sabo are two halves of the same piece." Luffy beamed at his boyfriend. "Just like us!"
And then Ace noticed it – Law's eyes when he looked at Luffy. They were full of affection, gratitude, and love. He seemed at peace simply standing beside his little brother and hearing his words. Ace realized that he saw that kind of emotions before in another person's eyes – his own.
Law was saved by Luffy like he had been saved by Sabo years ago.
None of the Ds had an easy life. It was part of their blood curse. Every each of them stumbled through the darkness of this world until they met their light which illuminated their path. Ds came in pairs. They were two halves of the same soul.
Ace smiled, glancing at his own light who was now happily humming something while kindling barbecue's fire. As he looked back at Law and Luffy, he concluded that his little brother was definitely in good hands. "Alright, I need to go to change my clothes," he said cheerfully. "Oh, by the way, Law?" The oldest raven sighed and faced him ready to go another round, but Ace simply grinned at him. "I saw your girl, she's gorgeous! You parked her right next to my red lady. We should really let them go wild in a race later!"
Law was startled by his sudden change in attitude, but Ace seemed honest with his friendliness. He returned a smile. "Sure, why not? Your's isn't bad, either."
Sabo and Luffy blinked, stunned by unexpectedly jovial exchange. They shared a baffled glance and shrugged at each other.
Ace started to walk towards the mansion. As he was passing Sabo he smacked him across his butt. It caught the blonde totally by surprise and he jumped, letting out a girlish squall. Ace leaned closer to him and whispered in his ear, "I'll get my revenge tonight, smartass."
Sabo gripped Ace by a collar and pulled him closer. "I'll hold you to that," he said, smiling. Ace also grinned at him before leaving.
Luffy stared at his brother's and Sabo's interaction. He glanced at his hand, then at Law's ass. A mischievous grin spread across his face as he slapped his palm on his boyfriend's behind. His smile fell when he didn't get the same reaction as Ace got from Sabo. Maybe he did it wrong?
Law sighed, feeling a hand groping his butt. "Luffy, what are you doing?"
The younger raven blinked owlishly at him. "Nothing," he replied innocently.
The Surgeon of Death only rolled his eyes at his light's antics.
Luffy and Law were slowly walking down the street, carrying grocery bags full of snacks and drinks for the movie night with Ace and Sabo. The younger raven was telling a story about how Ace and he sneaked into Zoo at night when they were kids. He waved his hands expressively, recalling how all the mammals they let out from their cages wrecked havoc in the Zoo. Law simply smiled at his lover's enthusiasm. He hadn't expected anything else from this goofball.
Suddenly Luffy halted in his steps, a serious expression on his face. He stared at the alley they were just passing by. It was full of trash, broken bottles; very old advertisements covered the wall above the huge trash container. There was a half-dry blood track of someone being dragged deeper into the alley.
Law frowned at it. "Luffy?" he called.
"There is someone here," the straw-hatted teen replied, put grocery bags on the ground and walked into the alley without any hesitation. He gasped as soon as he reached the other side of the trash container.
"What is it?" Law asked, also stepping into the alley to see what his lover had found.
"It's a dog!" Luffy exclaimed and crouched down. "We need to help him!"
The older raven looked around the corner of the container. The sight was gruesome: a big dog was lying on the ground in the pool of his own blood. His snow white fur matted with blood clots, especially around his rear; a red saliva was coverings his mouth.
Once Luffy's hand gently touched the dog's head, he weakly whined. "He's alive! Law, he's alive!" the teen exclaimed, turning to his boyfriend and beaming at him.
Law crouched beside the teen. His hands ran over the dog's body, professionally checking and noting all the injuries.
"What happened to you, buddy?" Luffy softly cooed the animal, petting his neck. "Don't worry, we're gonna help you."
"He was probably hit by the car and dragged here to die, hidden from all the eyes," the Surgeon said his theory aloud, scowling as his hand stopped at the rear end of the dog's spine. "His spine is broken, and I'm sure he has internal bleeding. There is no chance for him."
Luffy looked at him, eyes wide with disbelief. "No, no, there must be something we could do! We can't just leave him here like that!"
"Yeah, there is something we can do," Law noted, pulling a knife from under his jacket. "We can put him out of his misery."
Luffy's eyes widened even more. There was a flash of fear in them and then anger. "No! I won't let you do it!" he cried out.
"Luffy…"
"No!"
Law stiffened as he noticed a glimmer of tears in his lover's eyes. He sighed, and then smirked. "There is one more thing we can do," he said. "If you're willing to help."
"What should I do?"
Law gripped the collar of Luffy's jacket and yanked him closer for a kiss. Feeling full, the Surgeon of Death leaned away and licked his lips. "You could cheer up because you're starting to taste bitter." Luffy's face formed a pout from hearing his words, and Law snickered. "Hold him still," he said, finally giving his attention to the injured animal in front of him. "This surgery won't be pleasant for him."
"Surgery?" the teen echoed. "You can help him?"
"Yes."
Luffy watched in fascination when a small blue bubble formed under Law's palm and all of a sudden stretched to the sides, engulfing the injured dog. Law's eyes flashed in gold as he surveyed the patient. His tattooed fingers swiftly moved an inch from the flesh, but his powers reached deep inside: stopping the bleeding, knitting muscles back together and pushing bones into correct places.
"That's it," Law exhaled, the gold color melting away from his eyes and the blue bubble vanishing into thin air. "He should get better now."
Luffy grinned. It was a mystery how his face hadn't split in half yet. "Thanks, Traffy! You're the best!" He turned to the dog, nudging him awake. "Buddy, did you hear that? You'll be okay now."
"I used my powers to fix the life-threatening injuries," the older raven explained. "We still need to take care of the lesser ones." He was brushing a hand over the dog's shoulder, checking for any wounds he might have missed, when the dog lifted his head and licked his fingers. Law blinked at him dumbly.
"Shishishishi," Luffy chuckled beside him. "He knows who saved his life!"
Law was startled by his words. He didn't save lives. He exchanged one life for another. That's why he was called the Surgeon of Death. The dog's chest under his hand was heaving regularly and calmly and the realization that a life was saved today washed over him. Law smiled. He ruffled Luffy's hair, pushing his straw hat off. "It was you who saved him. I just used my powers, but without you, I couldn't do that." The teen opened his mouth to give a retort but was silenced with a finger on his lips. "Besides, I would have just walked past this alley, so it was all you."
Luffy knitted his eyebrows in annoyance. "It was a team work, then!" he proudly declared, his tone not giving any chance to object. "C'mon, buddy, let's go home," he said, lifting a big dog and pressing him tightly to his chest. "Whoa, heavy…"
"I think he's still a pup," Law observed. "He should grow even bigger."
"Shishishishi! You're a big boy, eh, buddy?"
They left the alley, and Law picked up all the grocery bags they had left on the ground earlier. Then two Ds continued walking towards Monkey family's mansion.
"Will you keep calling him 'Buddy'?"
Luffy hummed. "Nope. How about we name him Tiger?"
The older raven snorted. "He's a dog, not a cat. And fully white at that."
"Lion? Gorilla? …Bear would be a cool name!"
"What's with you and animal names for another animal?"
Luffy pouted again. "If you're so smart, then you think up a name for him!"
Law glanced at the dog, reaching and scratching behind his ear. "How does Bepo sounds for you, furball?"
A back window of a parked limo rolled down, and the man inside blew a puff of smoke from his cigar into the air. A dark scar ran from one of his ears, over the nose bridge and across the other cheek, clearly visible juxtaposed against his pale skin. His deep-set and heavy-lidded eyes were now following two men further down the road.
"So, this is infamous Surgeon of Death, Trafalgar Law?" he asked, with a flick of his hand pushing a stray strand of hair into a place where it was kept neatly slicked back. "Paula, who's the shrimp with him?"
"Already searching," a young woman with curly dark-blue hair replied, pushing her square glasses up. Her fingers were running over the laptop's keyboard at unbelievable speed as she searched every database for needed information. "Monkey D. Luffy, nineteen years old, unemployed, a dropout from the university. Several arrests, nothing too impressive. Mother is deceased, father is… Whoa, you're not gonna believe this. His father is Monkey D. Dragon. Also has an adoptive brother Portgas D. Ace who's in a relationship with Outlook D. Sabo. ...What's up with all these one letter middle names?"
"Revolutionary Dragon?"
"The very same," Paula answered, still looking at the monitor. "There is nothing else notable in his files. This kid tends to spend his days in a café, owned by his friend – whom I already checked, he's clean – lazing around and doing nothing."
"Hm," the man with a cigar hummed. "Are you sure that there is no information of him partaking in his father's business?"
The woman smiled sweetly at him. "I'm one of the best information searchers you could find, Sir Crocodile. They call me Miss Doublefinger because I can hack into any database with a double tap of my finger."
"Don't get all cocky on me," the man growled. "Your reputation is the reason I hired you, so I expect of you to live up to it."
Paula tossed a lock of her curly hair back, offended. "I can guarantee that Monkey D. Luffy is nothing more than just a worthless neet*. If he had a name in the underground world, I would have already known it."
"A worthless neet, you say," Crocodile drawled, blowing another puff of smoke out. "Keep digging. If your information will turn out correct, we could even use that brat to persuade Surgeon of Death to work for me."
"You mean blackmail him into submission," Miss Doublefinger specified. "You're not concerned about the fact that you're planning to use the Revolutionary Dragon's son?"
"If that brat is as worthless as you say," the man glared at her, causing her to gulp nervously, "Dragon probably doesn't even care about him. Besides," a cruel smirk appeared on his scarred face, "others already set a plan in motion to take Dragon down from his throne. Killing his spawn would just help it. Kuhahaha!"