Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Leorio had been told his entire career, that there was no way that he’d be working until he had a diploma in his hands. That mentality was rooted into minds of every medical student at school from the get-go. Every rumor of students who had gotten themselves a job before that were quickly silenced in one way or another in hopes of keeping the students in the school to finish their studies and therefore bring the school much needed cash. But despite their valiant efforts to silence these rumors, it was widely known fact, that from time to time, students dropped out of the school, not because they were frustrated, wanted to change the career or because they lacked money to continue, but because they were offered a job.

There were lots of cons for working independently, although Leorio couldn’t really say that working as an undercover, illegal doctor for a mafia was something he had envisioned himself to be doing. He could barely remember the bright lighted clinics he had been working at, learning from actual doctors that were there to teach and guide him. All of it seemed like a distant dream of the past now, for his current working environment was far, far different from that.

The bright lights had been changed into barely working ones, ones that flickered all the time, no matter how many times the Family had sent electricians to fix them. To compensate for this, Leorio had gotten himself desk lamps to brighten up the otherwise dark office. Another thing that bothered him was the fact that he had to work underground, in a place where he felt like he was disconnected from rest of the world and in many ways, he indeed was. Back when he was still a student, he got to work at public places, he got to meet lots of different  people, ranging from patients, to doctors and nurses through out the day, but as for now, he was mostly on his own.

“At least I get paid by simply being on standby…” Leorio mumbled as he gazed at a clock. He had been at his clinic for only about an hour, but to him it felt more like six. He missed many things from his previous life, yet at same time, being able to afford things he had previously only dreamed of was also a nice change. It was a good thing that he had a steady, even if illegal, source of incomes, as with his new job, Leorio had picked some bad habits, with smoking being the most notable one. To pass the time, Leorio smoked plenty of cigarettes to numb his mind, only having radio and television there to keep him company most of the time and even they grew rather tiresome after a while.

Leorio was digging his pockets to find a lighter. No matter how many packs he smoked, he always forgot in which pocket he kept the damn thing. Pulling it out, Leorio started to search rest of his coat’s pockets to find his cigarettes, yet he had to stop with his plans as the phone on a nearby desk began to ring.

“Leorio here, what’s the situation?” Leorio asked. There was no use in asking who the caller was, for it didn’t really matter. Only people who had number to the clinic, were people working for the Nostrade Family. Names didn’t truly matter, so Leorio didn’t really bother to learn them.

“Get your shit ready, we’re bringing you a patient in five minutes!” Leorio had hard time hearing just what the man was yelling, as the background noise of gun shooting and sirens made it hard for him to hear anything.

“Can you repeat that? It’s kinda hard to hear what you’re saying–”

“Just be ready! 5 minutes!” Leorio didn’t get any further details or anything, as the only sound after that was the steady sound of phone beeping.

“Finally, some action!” It was in a way odd dilemma, knowing that whatever he’d have to deal with, would most likely be life or death situation, or by very least, bloody as all hell, yet he was willing to take just about anything to help with his boredom, even a cursing patient threatening to end his life if he made even a single mistake. Indeed, it wasn’t just his work environment that had drastically changed, but his patients too. Back when he was still more or less, a model citizen, treating gunshot wounds was something Leorio had only seen at textbooks or heard from old timers, yet now it was something he saw almost on daily basis.

Leorio could faintly hear the sound of sirens that only got stronger and stronger with each passing second. A small part of him wanted to see what it was all about, most likely having something to do with his upcoming patient, yet he wasn’t paid to do that, quite the opposite. The less he knew, the better, for the Family and for his own safety.

Leorio was staring up, waiting for the door to open and soon a figure kicked it open, carrying someone in their lap. Even if Leorio didn’t know the names, he did recognize familiar face when he saw one. This time however, the person in his hands, his future patient, was someone he hadn’t seen before. Leorio took a very quick glance at him as the man carried him down the stairs, looking around for a place to put him down before Leorio pointed at a nearby table in middle of the room. In his quick analysis, Leorio figured out that he was injured quite badly, most likely not lethally, yet he was definitely in pain, that much was for certain. The blood on his jacket and shirt was both dried up and new, yet judging by the look on his face, it seemed to be something he was used to, which did make Leorio scratch his head.

“How in the…normally even the big tough guys curse or cry at this point…” It wasn’t just the fact that he was most likely less experienced than most of the other men Leorio had the luxury of patching up, but he was also notably younger than others. While other members started to have facial hair growing on them, this young man was as clean as baby’s bottom when it came to that. Just how someone like him even ended up into a position like this, to be trusted with a gun, was a mystery that already perked up Leorio’s curiosity, but it was one he’d have to wait, as other duties were now more pressing than that.

“So what happened? Or spare me that, what happened to him?” Leorio asked, pointing at the wounded blonde as he adjusted lamps on his way.

“I didn’t fucking get to see it, he was shot, he’s injured. And besides, I can’t stay here, you two are going to have to get along. We’ll send someone to pick him up when situation calms down, but you two stay here, that’s an order” The man said, patting Kurapika few times on his shoulder before he stormed his way out of the clinic.

“So…I guess it’s just you and me then” Leorio chuckled a bit forcefully, yet stopped once he saw just how angry his patient seemed to be. The blonde hadn’t said a word yet, not even grunted in pain, yet the mere look in his eyes told Leorio that perhaps now wasn’t the time to push his luck with his bad jokes. He could practically see his eyes flaring up, a crimson shade intensifying, yet clearly his rage wasn’t directed at Leorio, but towards someone or something else.

“So you’re the quiet type…sure, makes my job easier I guess…but I do need to know where you’re injured, makes this a lot less painful for both of us when I don’t have to poke you with a stick and ask if it hurts you know?” Leorio wasn’t joking this time around, even if it sounded like it. Despite him being a doctor for the Nostrade family for few years now, Leorio still wasn’t a fully qualified doctor. Where actual one might be able to quickly analyze situation and treat their patient accordingly, Leorio still lacked some skills to be considered a proper one.

“Gunshot, two bullets, one scratched, other one wounded, around my right side, is that good enough?” The blonde asked.

“I don’t normally do this but…you’re different. Given that we need to  be here for a while and your life is possibly in my hands right now, I’d like to know your name, if it’s not too much to ask. Not sure if you’ve heard of me but my name is–”

“Leorio, yes, I’ve heard a lot about you. Promising medical student who was tempted into joining Nostrade family, first for a quick cash but then ended up staying. I’ve heard from others how you’ve helped them, saving their lives and by very least their limbs. I’m hoping that you could do the same for me now Leorio.” Kurapika said, his expression still not changing, not even slightly.
“And my name, you can call me Kurapika” Kurapika quickly added, after realizing he hadn’t given Leorio answer to his question.

“So formal…” Leorio sighed as he pulled himself a chair so he could get a better look of just what happened to Kurapika.

“I’ve gotta ask you one more thing though before we do this…do you want to sleep during it or not, or do you want pain medicine or not?” This thing at least, was a standard procedure, even if his clinic was illegal in almost every way possible.

“Pain reminds me of my failure, it’s there to punish me for acting without thinking. It’s only fitting to be punished for it, so don’t spend anymore of Family’s money on me than it’s necessary Leorio”

“…It’s not really…that expensive you know. Even the toughest of guys ask at least for some pills–”

“You asked me and I answered. What more do you want me to do before you’ll treat me?” Kurapika grunted.

“Fine fine…are you ready?” Leorio asked, swirling a knife in his hand as he lifted Kurapika’s shirt up. It was easy to locate the wound, as whole right side of Kurapika was more or less painted in red by now.

“I am…do it”

Chapter Text

Despite his young age, Leorio had already seen many different kinds of patients during his career. It was during those lingering moments between life and death when most of them were willing to come to terms with their mortality. His current patient, however, wasn’t ready to open the door for the Grim Reaper just yet. The determination reflecting from Kurapika’s eyes told him more than words ever could.

A scalpel sunk into wounded flesh with ease as Leorio did his best to get the bullet out. Focusing not to cause his patient more harm than had already been inflicted became increasingly hard though, as the gunshots outside got louder and more frequent with each passing moment. Taking a series of deep and slow breaths, Leorio focused all of his attention on the man in front of him; doing his best to ignore the outside world.

“How does he stay quiet during all of this? I’ve barely heard him grunt…” Being a doctor and a people person had given Leorio more than enough skills to be good at reading people. This Kurapika however; he was definitely a unique case. He didn’t curse or cry, although that was perhaps partly due to him having a piece of plastic in his mouth, to prevent him from biting his tongue, otherwise injuring himself.

“Okay, so, now comes the actually painful part. Don’t go trashing around, or gripping my hand. It’s crucial that you try to stay still when I pull the bullet out of you, got it?” Leorio asked as he turned around in his spinning stool to grab himself a pair of pliers. Kurapika nodded back at him, his forehead dripping from sweat.

“Putting on such a brave act, but for who, or what for?” Leorio thought to himself as he gathered his focus once more, inhaling and exhaling as the world around him became irrelevant once more. The flickering lights around him were now spotlights for his work and sounds of ambulance sirens were nothing but mere background noise. The small metal tools in Leorio’s hand soon stopped shaking as he lowered them into the pulsing wound. Thanks to the adrenaline now filling his body, heightening his senses, Leorio could properly see the bullet. Pinching it in between his pliers, Leorio turned to look at Kurapika. What he got out of him was a quick nod, signaling him to continue. 

With his blessing, he began to slowly pull the bullet out of him. Around Leorio, there was nothing in that moment. The only thing that mattered was making sure that his patient would survive to see another day, even if his job was to make sure other people didn’t. It was an odd dilemma, in a sense, to keep a killer alive, but Leorio justified it all with the fact that he wasn’t a killer himself. What his patients did wasn’t his concern. Keeping his hand as steady as he possibly could, Leorio managed to pull out the bloody piece of ammunition, putting it on a metal plate next to him before he’d get back to his panting patient.

“Well the hard…hardest part is now over, so now I’m going to make sure this won’t get all dirty and such, and then we’ll patch it up. You might want to keep that thing in your mouth still, as this is still going to hurt like hell if my previous patients are to be believed.” Leorio closed his eyes for a moment, swiping his own forehead clean from the sweat. His job wasn’t nearly finished, but with the hardest part checked off the list, he could feel himself a bit more at ease.

“Good job Leorio, you did good.” Leorio figuratively patted himself on his back. Going over to his worktable, Leorio grabbed some disinfectant and a rag to go with it. Turning in his spinning stool once more to face Kurapika, Leorio eyed the wound for a moment before he began to wipe it clean. It was a good call to have something in between Kurapika’s mouth, as this part got even him to grunt and curse.

“Well…at least you’re not some sort of monster, even though you’re definitely a masochist.” Leorio grinned to himself as he continued to wipe the wound clean of blood. With the bullet out of his body, the bleeding was clearly slowing down, which was a good sign. Once most of the blood wiped clean, it was time to add in the disinfectant so the wound wouldn’t start to become infected. Leorio was swift and decisive with his actions, pouring in the medicine with the correct doses to keep his patient in a minimal amount of pain.

“Well, now that part is over, so we can get into actually sealing the wound. Some mess you sure got yourself into, I must say, but I think you’ll survive this one just fine. Although you really won’t want to go running and waving a gun around for a few days, that’s for sure.” Leorio remarked as he spun once more 360 degrees in his chair, now with a needle and stitches in his glove covered hands.

“But I can’t just be out of action for that long.” Kurapika said in response as he took off the piece covering his mouth; his voice sounding at the same time as weak as one would expect someone in his position to be in, yet at same time full of determination.

“Yes you can, and you kinda have to. Not sure how much my orders will really bind you, but I’m saying this not just because you people pay me, but also because I care for my patients. Rest for a moment. In that state you’re but a liability, and most likely you’d end up dead, or at the very least, you’ll open up the wounds that I’m just trying to patch up. So if not for your own sake, then at least think of me.” Leorio grunted and rolled his eyes. This wasn’t the best time to pick a fight with him, yet Leorio could already tell that this Kurapika wasn’t one that was keen on listening to reason.

“Are you positive about this? I really have to prove myself to the Family, and being out of action like this might jeopardize–”
“Oh shut up. Just listen to me, okay?” Leorio sighed, as he prepared the stitches.
“I’ve seen a lot of shit happen this past year or so working as a doctor for the Nostrade Family, and you’re no exception to that rule. When most of their guys come here, it means they’re unable to serve the family. But you’ll be back to action in no time, trust me. I’ll be sure to put in a good word about you for them, but in turn you better give me your word that you ain’t going there until I give you permission.” It was a pleasant change to have a different kind of patient. Not one that cursed or threatened Leorio’s life, but sadly still a difficult case, just in a completely different way. Kurapika was clearly pondering his question, but his face was hard to read, even for someone like Leorio.

“I’ll accept your terms Doctor Leorio.” Kurapika said after a moment’s hesitation, reaching out his hand towards him. Normally, Leorio would have told his patient to stop joking around while the operation was going on, but for some reason he was willing to make an exception to that rule with this exceptional young man.

“Just Leorio will do.” Leorio smirked, grabbing a hold of his hand, shaking it and the chains and rings attached and wrapped around it as well.
“But since you’re awake and not drugged, why don’t you tell me what happened out there? Or is it strictly family business? The less I know the better…or what you fellows usually say…” Leorio asked as he rubbed the stubble on his chin.

“I think it’s a good thing that you know, as your life might also be in danger.” Kurapika said, his voice stern and confident as always. Feeling a lump in his throat, Leorio swallowed it as the truth started to come to light.
“I’m afraid we’re at war.”