"Hey, get up already."
Law groaned, head rolling to face the other side, faintly feeling something touching him. Or tapping, more like. Over and over. Still mostly unconscious, he couldn't quite tell, nor did he really care to. All he heard was the fog of his own mind. And some voice, sounding so far away, floating in from somewhere in his head.
"Seriously, come on. We don't have all day."
He grimaced, trying to push away whatever was touching his face and making so much noise, but his arms wouldn't move. Pain shot down his body, and he stopped moving, not wanting to experience the sensation again.
"Oh, for fuck's sake…"
The next thing Law was aware of was something wet and cold splashing against his face.
"Sh-shit…" It snapped him into consciousness immediately. He sat up painfully, coughing out and sputtering whatever had doused him with gasping breaths. Droplets shook off his head as he trembled in both cold and pain, and he blinked his eyes open.
Kidd stood over him with a frown, holding an empty bottle of water in his hand, before tossing it to the side without care. "Must have punched you harder than I thought." He muttered, crossing his arms over his chest. "Can you stand? Or walk?"
"What is this?" Law mumbled through a swollen face, still thoroughly confused as to what was going on.
"What do you think? It's a fucking rescue, Rapunzel."
Law didn't respond to the jibe, too focused on breathing in a way where his ribs wouldn't hurt too much.
Kidd realized that his normal surly attitude probably wasn't going to get him anywhere. "Look, do you want out of here or not? We've got to get a move on." The redhead replied impatiently. "That Vergo guy could come back any minute now."
Was Kidd…helping him? That seemed unlikely. Maybe it was one of Vergo's mind tricks. Sometimes he liked to do that: let the hope return in his victims just so he could see it extinguished all over again.
"Why should I…trust you?" He ground out, struggling to breathe in his position. Everything felt like it was on fire, and the water wasn't doing anything good for Law's mood. He searched around, but couldn't find his captor anywhere.
The two men that had only watched the events unfold were laying in heaps on the floor. Dead or unconscious, Law couldn't tell.
Kidd sighed heavily, shaking his head, as if all of this was a waste of time. "Why don't we get out of here first, and you can ask your questions later? I'm not too keen on getting caught breaking you out." Just to emphasize his intention, he held up the key for what Law assumed to be the cuffs around his legs. Maybe he'd gotten it from one of the unconscious or dead guards on the floor.
Once Law started to really think about it, he didn't much care as to what Kidd's reasonings were for suddenly turning into his impromptu savior. All he wanted was out of here. Away from Vergo, who according to Kidd could come back at any time. If he was going to take a chance on his life, he'd rather it be with Kidd than Vergo. Law nodded slowly, mindful that his head was probably severely concussed at the very least.
Kidd knelt down and unlocked the cuffs holding his ankles. Feeling the metal release from his legs was bliss, and Law gave a sigh of relief without really meaning to. The redhead tossed the cuffs behind him, and they clanged against the concrete floor.
Then he walked behind the bartender, still seated awkwardly on the floor, and broke the zip ties holding his wrists together. Law's shoulders snapped back into a relaxed position, alleviating some of the ache. He rubbed at them, trying not to look at all of the bruises otherwise littering his skin.
Kidd's hand was shoved into his line of sight, waiting for him to take it to hoist himself up. Law stared up at the redhead a moment, eyes flickering between his eyes as if searching for his reasoning for helping him.
"I will leave your ass here if you don't get up now." He threatened with malice. However, he didn't move his hand, just waiting for Law to reach for it.
Satisfied that he wasn't being brought away from here just to be killed somewhere else, Law grabbed the man's hand and brought himself to his feet with difficulty. His bruised and battered legs had taken quite a beating, and couldn't fully support his full weight. Stumbling forward, he was surprised and a bit irked to watch as Kidd caught him, then ducked his head under one of his arms and wrapped it around his neck, helping him to stand upright.
"This is ridiculous…" Law ground out, feeling his pride take a hit. At least there was no one to see this happening.
Kidd looked no happier to be doing so, glaring ahead of his as he helped Law hobble towards the stairs to the house above. "Breathe a word of this to anyone and I'll kill you myself." He mumbled darkly.
Law winced with each step, trying his best not to fall as he panted. "Whatever…"
It was painstaking getting up the stairs, more so for Law than his companion, but each stumble made it difficult to the redhead to keep his own footing, having a majority of Law's weight to counterbalance and keep upright.
There weren't any other guards in the house upstairs, so Kidd was able to navigate them—albeit, slowly—through the interior and out the door with relative ease. Law was fully sweating by the time they made it on the cracked and dilapidated concrete front porch, taking all of his stamina not to pass out from the pain alone. His desire to keep his ego intact in front of Kidd prevented him from doing more than grunt in exertion at the more painful . No way would he show enough weakness to actually leak a single tear or cry of pain from his throat. Not in a million years.
Using the cover of darkness to their advantage, Kidd lead them both down the unlit sidewalk towards a car parked along the curb. It was nondescript and old, and he opened the passenger door to shove Law inside. Obviously he had some sort of reason to make sure Law stayed alive, but whatever condition he was in didn't matter much to him. He muffled the groan when his body fell into the vehicle's passenger seat.
"Why are you helping me?" He breathed out once Kidd situated himself into the seat beside him, already shoving the keys into the ignition.
Kidd didn't bother glancing in his direction. "Personally, I couldn't care less what happens to you. But there are a few people who have a vested interest in making sure you continue to disrupt Joker's network."
"A few people?" Law pressed, holding his arm to his chest. It felt like one of the bones may have been broken, or fractured at the very least.
The car pulled away from the curb and began to drive off. "You're not getting specifics out of me." Kidd said angrily. "Who I work for isn't any of your damn business."
"Fine." Law said, shaking his head in resignation, letting it fall back against the headrest. He was reminded of how stubborn and difficult the redhead could be. "Can you at least tell me what they want with me?"
"Like I said, you're making trouble for the right people." He continued in as neutral a tone as someone like Kidd could manage. His eyes never left the road. "Just enough that others are beginning to notice."
"How do you mean?"Law narrowed his eyes, wanting more info.
"Fucking…" Kidd muttered, shaking his head again with a scowl. "Are you goddamn stupid? Sharks are gonna swarm when they smell blood. This is the same thing. You thought your interference would end at Joker? Hell no. Everyone's feeling the effects."
He hadn't even thought that far. Honestly, Law had wholeheartedly believed he'd be going at Joker's network alone. Sure, he'd pull strings where he could to get his favors pulled to his advantage, but that was the extent he'd expected. People in this business didn't do things out of the kindness of their hearts. And if they did, it was always for the promise of receiving something in return. Nothing came for free.
Plus, he had stuck only to Joker's people. He had no qualms with any of the other street bosses around. He supposed it had been a large oversight on his part not to see that as one pillar was chipped away at, the others would scramble to take its place.
For awhile after, the car ride was silent as Law mulled on his thoughts. Hell, maybe he had supporters in more places than he'd thought. The bartender didn't have a clue as to who Kidd worked for or had ties to, but if they were willing to pull him out of a bind like that, well…Things were looking up a bit more than he'd first thought.
The only question was what they'd want in return. Hopefully it wasn't anything he couldn't fulfill. That would only put him in greater hot water.
"Ok, you're pissing me off." Kidd quipped, and Law looked over at him sharply. "I can practically feel you thinking over there, and it's nauseating. Tone down the concentration."
"Well, you weren't going to answer any of my questions." Law reasoned in an even voice, shrugging minutely. He watched as they turned into an run-down apartment complex on the opposite side of town from his own. Now that he thought about it, he had no idea where Kidd was actually taking him. "Where are we, anyway?"
"My place. I was told to help you lay low for awhile, and this is the best place I could think of."
Law frowned. "How long is awhile?"
"However long it takes for you to get your ass out of my apartment without landing yourself back into a torture chamber." Was his reply, making quick work of his parking job, before throwing the vehicle into park.
Stay with…Kidd? Law may have trusted him enough to get him away from Vergo—temporarily, of course—but that didn't mean they were best friends or allies in any sense of the word. "I'll be gone by tomorrow."
Kidd laughed without humor, clicking off his seat belt. "Oh, I think the fuck not. You should take a look in the mirror. You're staying until you can fucking stand without needing someone to hold your ass up for you. I didn't risk my own neck just to watch you throw yourself to the wolves tomorrow."
Law glared at the redhead with a stale gaze, watching as he got out of the car and moved around to his side. Even though every fiber of his being wanted to be able to tell Kidd off for exploiting his weakness, the guy was right. As the passenger door opened, he found it difficult just to drag himself out of the seat by himself. Kidd had to pull him out and once again support him as they walked towards his apartment.
"I guess…this makes us…even, then?" Law inquired through heavy breaths as they made their way up the stairs at a slow pace.
"Hell no. We were even after I knocked your ass out. You owe me a metric fuck ton now that I saved it."
"Figures." Law muttered, sucking in a sharp breath as his ribs were jostled against the railing as they passed by. "Watch it."
"We're here anyway."
Law looked up at the door, a slightly crooked and peeling number '4' nailed to the top to indicate the apartment suite. Kidd turned the knob with his free hand and pushed it open with his foot, guiding them both inside into the dark room.
There was a brief stumble between the both of them as Kidd searched for the light switch. Kidd cursed, perhaps stubbing his toe against something lying on the floor, but a moment later the lights switched on, bathing the room in light.
It was a fairly accurate statement to say the place was a shit hole. The couches had seen better days, parts of the fabric scratched and faded and stained with unknown liquids. A low setting coffee table in front of it was littered with beer and soda cans, and the tv set against the wall had a smudged screen.
There were a few holes punched into the walls too. Small wonder to think that Kidd had anger issues.
Kidd dragged him over to the couch before letting him fall to the springy cushions. It was painful against his limbs, but anything was better than the concrete floor and a thin carpet swathe he'd been forced to lie on for most of the day. He let out a groan, feeling both in pain and strangely relieved.
"Don't think I'm gonna nurse you back to health or some shit." Kidd said, wandering to the kitchen. "I'm only letting you hide out here for the time being."
"And here I thought we'd grow to become the best of friends." Law couldn't help but retort.
"Fuck you." He called neutrally from the kitchen, opening the fridge and perusing the contents. "As soon as you can walk then you're out. That's the most I was told to do for you."
"Great."
The fridge door closed and Kidd returned to the living room, holding two cans of beer. He tossed one to Law, who caught it with a wince. "Just don't be a nuisance. I might decide it's more worth it just to let you fend for yourself."
The bartender cracked open the beer can and downed most of it in one go. He was extremely thirsty and, as his stomach decided to loudly pronounce at that moment, hungry as all hell.
"Anything to eat around here?"
Kidd scoffed, dismissing Law with a wave of his hand. "Order yourself a pizza or something." And with that parting remark, he disappeared back down the hallway, presumably towards his own bedroom. A door shut somewhere in the back, leaving Law alone to his thoughts.
Eyebrow raised, Law wondered to himself how he was supposed to order a pizza when he didn't know the address and could hardly stand up to answer the door. Idiot. It was looking more like Law would die of starvation than anything having to do with Joker's syndicate. What a way to go.
So, figuring he'd deal with his hunger in the morning, he laid down as best he could on the shoddy sofa and nestled into a somewhat comfortable position. It was difficult to find anything that wouldn't hurt some part of his body but Law managed. He was asleep within minutes, the adrenaline from his torture slowly giving way to exhaustion.
Hitomi jiggled the handle of her front door another few times, just to test out the new installation and satisfy her own worries, before sighing with relief. She stood, walking over to Zoro in the kitchen and placing the old door handle onto the counter.
"There. That should take care of one worry for the time being. The store associate said these were the latest models to come out. Very secure." She wiped a bead of sweat on her forehead, glad that the task was complete. She had refused Zoro's offer to help simply because she wanted to do something with her hands. It hadn't been easy, per se, but satisfying to complete by herself.
Zoro nodded, drinking from the iced tea she'd offered him earlier. "Let's hope he was telling the truth and not just trying to meet a sales quota."
Hitomi sat at the counter stool and glanced around her living room and kitchen area. Everything had been cleaned from the night of the break-in, swept up and straightened, the broken furniture beyond repair having been tossed into the apartment's dumpsters. Minus a few pieces of her furniture, everything looked to be back to normal. The living room felt a little sparse and empty, but a few replacement pots and chairs would be an easy enough fix.
However, the tense feeling of having to watch her back wasn't something she could fix with a replacement from the store. Hitomi's peace of mind was essentially shot, left behind at the mall where Zoro had taken her on their date. Soma's call had ripped something from her she hadn't known she was terrified to lose again.
Her confidence. It was still there, surely. But slowly beginning to wean, bit by bit. It had been years since she'd last felt this helpless…All this business with Summer, and now this? One could hardly handle the events taking place without going mad.
"Hey, you alright?" Zoro interrupted, seeming to notice her far off stare. "What's on your mind?"
Hitomi glanced at him with a small, barely genuine smile. She wouldn't lie to Zoro. He was trustworthy, and thrown into the middle of all of this whether he liked it or not. No use trying to hide the truth or her feelings away now.
"I can't help but feel all of this has something to do with Law and his past. I've been in the litigation business a long time. I've seen the strangest things. And funnily enough, none of them happen to be coincidences. I don't believe in such things." She said firmly, clenching one hand into a fist.
"Yeah, I think you're right." Zoro said with a nod. "With everything going on, I can't see how these aren't connected somehow."
"I'm itching to get back to work and find out everything I can on this man. Vergo. I'm sure it will answer a few questions-"
"Are you sure it's a good idea to go digging into these peoples' files and histories? You might just be digging yourself further into this than you want to be."
Hitomi let out a huff and gestured to the room. "If this isn't already in too deep, I don't know what is. Face it, Zoro. We're already as involved as we can be with Law's dealings, no matter how unintentional. There's no getting out now."
Zoro let out a deep sigh, but shook his head sadly. He offered up no other rebuke, and Hitomi knew he knew she was right. Now that they were where they were, the best course of action was to be as prepared and informed as possible. And Hitomi was an expert in being informed.
"I'll get with a few of my colleagues and see if they have any experience with underground criminals. Surely there's some sort of case I can look back on that this guy has been a part of."
Zoro had the sneaking suspicion there wouldn't be any solid information on Vergo, because if there had been, he would have been locked away already, but he wouldn't say anything and ruin her optimism. He may be blunt, but he wasn't a cruel man. Hitomi deserved at least his faith in her ability.
Instead, he decided to focus on the things that he felt were important to speak up about. "I'm still worried about you and Soma." This earned him and deep sigh from the silver-haired woman, who stood to go to the fridge. "They've already targeted you once. Nothing's stopping them from doing it again. Especially if they know Soma overheard something he wasn't supposed to."
"I know." She said quietly, back turned to him as she searched through the contents of the fridge. "But I can handle myself. If I had been there-"
"Don't start thinking like that." Zoro pressed gently but with a firmness she knew not to argue against. "There's no use bothering with 'what if's.' I know full well you could have protected him if you had been there."
"Yeah…I would have. As long as I'm around, nothing's going to get to Soma. I won't lose another member of my family. Not again." Her eyes were fixed on the apple in her hand as she placed it on the counter, already reaching for a knife to slice it into pieces.
"When I'm home I'm not worried, but I can't just stop working to stay with him 24/7." She added, chopping the apple up piece by piece. "What's worse, Soma is on Christmas break. He doesn't have school for another two weeks. He would be home alone until then."
She finally looked up to him, setting the knife down. "Ideally, I'd like you to be around to make him feel safer, but I know you and I share a similar work schedule at the firm a few days a week. I'm not sure what-"
"I'll quit my job to stay with him, if that's what will work best."
Hitomi straight up paused, stunned by his offer. She blinked, finally finding her words in a rush. "You don't have to do that for me. That's asking a lot! You don't even live here, to ask you to spend so much time away from home, not to mention the sacrifice to your own financial situation-"
"Hitomi." He said, stopping her tirade before it could really begin. He looked her evenly in the eyes and raised a brow. "I still work nights at the bar. Don't worry about my money situation. Would it give you and Soma peace of mind if I stayed here to look after him while you are away?"
He could see she was torn between admitting that yes, she would feel better if he did, and doing the courteous thing by refusing his offer. She didn't want to inconvenience him, despite the very obvious logical reasoning as to him doing this. But he knew her fierce protectiveness of family would win out in the end. There wasn't anything Hitomi wouldn't consider when it came to making sure her family was safe.
He nodded his head a little, giving her the reminder that he was waiting for an answer.
Finally, she lowered her gaze, bangs shadowing her eyes. "Yes, it would ease my worries."
"Then I'll stay here temporarily until everything-"
"Actually, now that I think about it…why not just move in?" She interrupted in a sudden thought, cocking her head to the side. Now it was his turn to take a moment's pause. Move…in? As in…
"Permanently?" He wanted to be sure he'd heard her correctly or was interpreting what she meant the right way.
"Yes." She replied, as if it was the simplest answer in the world. As if this wasn't some big step in the relationship they had going. She finally seemed to understand his hesitation. "I know it's sudden. Perhaps a bit too soon in our relationship…but, given the circumstances…I don't know what the future holds for me, and I don't want to live knowing I regretted not taking a chance with you."
Zoro wasn't quite sure how to respond to that, and Hitomi forged on tactically.
"I understand if you want to refuse. You can stay here as long as you wish, or just during all of this mess, and you can leave whenever you wish afterwards. I won't hold you to anything you don't feel comfortable with."
For awhile, he didn't answer, thinking over everything he was feeling. He was a cautious man by nature, and didn't like rushing headfirst into things. Hitomi was still unknown territory to him. The last thing he wanted to do was mess this all up because he was too eager or made a stupid decision.
So all he offered up was a shrug and a small, disarming smile. "We'll see how things go. I don't necessarily have to decide right this moment, but I'll bring some things over to stay at least until things go back to normal."
Hitomi smiled back, reaching over and squeezing his hand with hers. "That's all I could ask for."
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