The beer helped. The beer always helped. It numbed his senses and lessened the chance of his anger erupting whenever a random partygoer would bump into him, or when a song which severely disagreed with his music taste was played more than once. Yes...the beer always helped.

It didn't help however when it came to erasing the uneasy feeling that had crept up on Zoro. It was no doubt caused by his failure to pass on crucial information as soon as he caught sight of the idiot hobo that evening. However, there was also something else that was bothering him, something that had left him feeling disturbed...something that was staring him right in the face, but hadn't the guts to reveal itself.

Zoro was distracted from these thoughts when he felt a rumbling in his pocket, making him flinch slightly; a further indication that something was not quite right.

He checked the screen of his vibrating phone, which informed him that an unknown number was attempting to contact him. Zoro, ever the risk-taker, didn't even consider the fact that he rarely gave out his mobile number outside of his circle of friends, and answered. "Hell-o?"

"Roronoa? Is the asset with you?" Said a muffled and frenzied voice on the other end.

"Kaku? Is that you!?" Zoro shouted over the blaring dubstep music. Who even likes this shit anyway? No-one, that's who.

"Answer the damn question! Is he with you?!" Shit, he got distracted.

"Shit sorry Kaku I can't hear you over this damn music!" Zoro shouted and held the phone against his chest as he pushed past the tide of sweaty dancers and overly enthusiastic stag doers. He headed up the stairs leading to the VIP lounge and straight to the fire exit.

The narrow alley behind the back of the club was a familiar sight, as Zoro would often visit this secluded area when it was time for Ace to get his puke on. Zoro slammed the fire door behind him with slightly too much force, and winced when he heard something crack.

He put his phone back up to his ear and could just make out the sounds of a roaring engine accompanied by screeching wheels in the background.

"Kaku what the hell's going on?"

"Listen to me Roronoa. You've gotta get Sanji the hell outta there right now, you hear me?! His location's been compromised!"

Zoro's hand instinctively curled into a fist and his back straightened, "Shit! Are you sure?"

Sounds of heightened distress came from within the club and Zoro's concentration couldn't decide whether to focus on them or Kaku's voice.

"Yes I'm fucking sure otherwise I wouldn't be tailing an armoured riot van filled with all six CP9 agents headed your way!" Kaku screamed down the phone.

"Oh fuck-shit! I-I don't know where Sanji is...shit he's probably still with Robin!"

"Robin?...Nico Robin?"

Zoro narrowed his eyes. Something's wrong. "Yeah, you know her?"

"Shit this is...Shit!"

"Will you just tell me what the fuck-" Zoro spun round when he heard a loud BANG! behind him, and could only stare in disbelief as the cook came stumbling out of the fire exit. His eyelids were droopy and his movements wobbly and unbalanced.

"Cook?" Zoro asked cautiously.

"...marimo?" Sanji managed to drool out.

Just as Zoro was about to ask whether this was a seriously pathetic excuse for a joke, he lunged forward to catch Sanji when his knees buckled underneath him.

Zoro slowly lowered himself and the cook into a kneeling position and held up his drooping head. He tried slapping him into consciousness, but to no avail.

"Hey, hey, hey, cook, cook? C'mon stay awake, you gotta stay awake," Zoro spoke as he lifted one of the cook's eyelids. He didn't exactly know what he was looking for, he was just attempting to mimic his observations of Chopper in his doctor mode. Was it a good sign for your eyes to be rolling into the back of your head? He never needed to know the difference up until now.

"Shit!" Zoro swore. He couldn't be passed out drunk could he? No...shit maybe he'd been drugged.

Zoro's questions were answered when he caught sight of a shiny object protruding from the cook's shoulder.

He'd seen something similar to this before, on nature programmes when an animal is drugged for transport. They're using these things on humans now?

"Roronoa?! Roronoa, you still there?!"

Kaku's panic stricken voice bought Zoro out of his daydream and he lifted the drifting phone back up to his ear.

"Hey, yeah look the cook's with me but he's out cold, he's been hit with some kind of dart."

Kaku swore and Zoro heard a fist slamming down against something solid, probably the dashboard. "Jesus, fuck- alright listen I need you to take a look at your surroundings, see if you can spot any potential escape routes"

"Urr…well I'm actually in the alleyway, next to the back entrance of the club," Zoro said as looked up and down both sides of the narrow passages. He spotted a crowd of panic stricken party goers running in the opposite direction of the club. What the hell had happened in there?

"Okay that's good that means you've got a heads start. Listen, the first thing CP9's gonna want to do is storm in and make as many arrests as they can so you got around forty seconds to get as far away from there as possible!"

Zoro hauled the limp cook over his shoulder, "Okay, got it!" Shit, his bad sense of direction better not let him down now.

"Hail the first taxi you see, get him back to your apartment and stay there until I say otherwise, got it?!"

"Okay...shit-okay." Hadn't the guy Kaku worked for put the whole city on lockdown? Wouldn't it be game over as soon as he was spotted by a CCTV camera?

Before Zoro could voice his concerns over this improvised plan, the sounds of a heavy vehicle screeching to a halt and blaring sirens made a sudden appearance behind him. Zoro angled his head to the side, only being able to catch a glimpse of the rears of some military grade vehicles.

"Shit!" Zoro cursed. Seemed like Kaku's sense of urgency was definitely justified, these guys don't fuck around.

Zoro hung up on Kaku, a little abrupt, but totally called for. He launched into an unabated sprint toward the other end of the alley which was glowing in a symbolic warm light, emanating from the busy restaurant row on the opposite side of the street. Good, that was good, he thought. There'll be lots of civilians there, lots of potential witnesses in case this Spandam guy decided to open fire on him.

As per Kaku's instructions, Zoro launched himself toward the first taxi he saw as soon as he cleared the opening of the alley. Shoving past an annoyed businessman who was keen on getting home early, Zoro managed to cram the cook's limp body onto one of the back seats, and took his place next to him.

After slamming the door shut, and ignoring an outraged hand banging against the window, Zoro barked instructions at the driver, "Hey, can you get us to the Sunny-go apartments, on 74th street?"

The greasy haired driver turned round to look Zoro up and down and raised his eyebrows when he noticed the unconscious man next to him. He licked his badly chapped lips before speaking, "You know there's a fine if he throws up."

"He's not gonna throw up okay? He's just the kind of drunk who passes out after two shots."

The driver scoffed as he faced forward, "Whatever pal, it's your funeral."

Once the taxi pulled out of the layby, Zoro sat back in his seat and let out a huge sigh of relief. They were safe...for now. He rested his cheek against the headrest as he regained his breath, and studied the faces of the people passing by. They appeared to be calm and nonchalant, indicating that they weren't aware of the threat posed by those riot vans parked just a few streets away.

Zoro turned his attention to the cook, and when he noticed the dart again it finally put into perspective the kind of shit he was really dealing with. Sure Kaku sounded pretty legit when he revealed who the cook really was and why he was on the run. But there was always this nagging feeling in the back of Zoro's mind that it was all made up bullshit, and Kaku was just one of those weird fantasizer guys who lived in his parent's basement, dreaming about what it would be like to be a CIA agent. But that feeling had disappeared, and he was now fully aware of the lengths Spandam was willing to go through in order to get this guy.

Zoro reached over and carefully plucked the dart from out of the cook's shoulder. He tried examining the syringe closely in the pulsating light entering the taxi. Zoro didn't have the first clue as to what kind of drug cocktail you would put in this thing. He just hoped that the effects would wear off soon so that he could kick the shit out of the cook for making him carry his lazy ass all this way. Zoro discreetly wrapped the dart up in his green bandana, taking care not to break it. Maybe he get Chopper to take a look at it.

Zoro turned to the driver, "Hey you mind speeding it up a bit? I got work tomorrow".

"I'll go as fast as I want pal, I ain't getting no ticket just for your sorry ass."

Zoro grinded his teeth in anger. Out of all the taxi's in Grandline, and he just had to choose this one. "Aright fine, I'll pay you double to get us home in five minutes."

"Call it fifty and you got yourself a deal," the driver replied smugly.

Zoro sat back in his seat, dumbfounded. Oh, he's definitely gonna get his ass kicked.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Zoro flung a handful of notes at the driver and made sure to slam the door with extra force after he hauled Sanji's useless and now expensive ass out of the taxi. He headed over to the front entrance of the Sunny-Go apartments, and was glad to see the reception desk empty. He didn't have anything against Caimie, it's just that she was the kind of person to ask an endless amount of questions all at once. Plus, there was no point in getting her involved in this mess. In fact it would better if no-one in the building saw Zoro lugging Sanji around on his back. There were way too many potential narratives people in this close-knit community would dream up. His dignity wouldn't be able to withstand that kind of abuse.

He chanced it by taking the elevator. Not many people used it around this time of the evening, and there was a high chance that a curious neighbour would stick their head round the door as soon as they heard his heavy footsteps and rasping breath. Nothing gets by people in this place.

Thankfully Zoro's elevator journey went ahead uninterrupted and he managed to sneak into his apartment unnoticed. Zoro chucked his keys into the dark space of his apartment and grudgingly headed into his bedroom.

"God damn shitty cook," he grumbled, "first you take my wallet, then you use my shower, and now you're even using my own fucking bed." Zoro practically flung the cook onto the mattress, not caring which position he landed in. "I swear you spend 80% of your life unconscious." He headed straight to the kitchen and reached into the back of a shelf to retrieve a two year-old bottle of sake. As much as he hated to admit it, he needed something to calm his nerves. He took a swig of the strong liquor and leaned against the kitchen counter.

Things just...happened so suddenly. If he knew there was gonna be an ambush, he could've come prepared, hell Luffy would've been more than willing to kick the shit out of every one of those CP9 agents. Of course if Zoro was in Sanji's position, he would've dealt with this Spandam guy the first chance he got. Zoro poured another glass and downed it, savouring the numbing, tingling sensation gliding down his throat. Although saying that, the shitty hobo had a lot riding on this. Either he chose to live a life where he was constantly looking over his shoulder, unable to trust anyone wherever he went, or he surrendered his freedom, and handed over the only means necessary to control a weapon capable of crippling an entire country, into the hands of a power hungry maniac. What kind of shitty choice is that?

Zoro's eyes flickered over to the window when he noticed a helicopter circling over the city, and rushed over to draw the blinds. Even though it was a fair distance away, there was no way Zoro was gonna risk being spotted in his own apartment. He promptly headed back into the bedroom and drew the blinds in there. He carefully took a peek through one of the slits in the blinds. Again, there wasn't anything particularly suspicious looking, and the amount of police sirens wailing in the distance was appropriate for a Saturday night. Zoro's brows furrowed when he heard the sound of teeth chattering behind him. He swivelled round to see the cook's body shivering, and his face distorted like he was in pain.

"Shit!" Zoro hissed as he scooted round the foot of the bed, and roughly cupped the cook's face to shake it. "Hey, hey, come on shit-head, wake up!" Zoro instructed. He tried wrenching open one of the cook's eyes, but remembered he still didn't know what he was looking for. Zoro stood up straight and paced round the room. Shit, he shouldn't be doing this, he should be finding a proper doctor to look after this asshole. For all he knew, he should be up and awake by now. Maybe he was having a reaction to the drugs, whatever the hell they were. Zoro wiped at his sweaty brow and headed over to the front door, his hand stopping halfway.

Chopper would've been the first person he'd go to, but judging by the lack of shouting and banging on the walls, neither him nor the rest of the strawhat crew had yet to return from the club. He wasn't worried about it, that group of hooligans could survive a zombie apocalypse if they wanted to. He was sure Nami or Ace took the lead on getting them out of that place in time. So who did that leave...maybe Dr Hiriluk? She didn't have a preference of who she treated but, again he'd prefer not to get her involved seeing as how close she was with Chopper. He needed someone who didn't have any ties to his friends, someone who couldn't care less about who Sanji was or what had happened to him.

Zoro clicked his fingers when the perfect person came to mind. He wrenched the door open and flew down the two flights of stairs, coming to a stop outside Apartment 64 and gave the door a couple of wary knocks. In less than half a second it was pulled open as far as the security chain would allow it. Zoro was immediately hit by the strong aroma of antiseptic mixed with weed, and raised his eyebrow when Trafalgar Law poked his head round door and eyed Zoro suspiciously, "Yes?"

It was strange seeing the sleepy eyed man without his signature spotted hat. "Hi uhh…I'm uh Zoro, I live two floors above you in apartment-"

"-Apartment 83, yeah I know who you are, what do you want?" Law asked bluntly. Geez, maybe this guy was too closed off.

"Urr well I heard you were a doctor and urr I have this friend- well he's not really a friend he's just someone I know- anyway he's out cold and he just won't wake up, and he's shivering for some reason and- I don't really know what to do...with him," Zoro said and rubbed the back of his head. Yeah that totally didn't sound suspicious at all.

Law gave Zoro a once over before slamming the door shut in his face. After a few seconds of silence, the sound of a chain rattling around reassured him that Law hadn't just dismissed his request, and stepped back when he emerged from his dimly lit apartment. He immediately set off up the stairs with Zoro trailing behind. Once they reached his apartment, Zoro barged past Law before he had time to presumptively barge into his own home.

"So what'd you do? Get in a fight with him?" Law asked as entered the apartment, taking note of Zoro's choice of decor. Nosey prick.

"No he was just...hit by something," Zoro said, cringing internally. What the hell kind of excuse should he make up?

Zoro motioned Law over to the bedroom and flicked on the lights. Law slowly walked up to the bed, pausing for a moment before taking off his hoodie, and kneeling down beside the cook to gently take a hold of his wrist. Looking down at his watch, he asked, "How long has he been unconscious for?"

Zoro leaned against the doorframe and folded his arms, "Urr I dunno like half an hour or something."

Law opened one of the cook's eyes and flicked a pen light at it. Zoro leaned on his tip toes to see what all the fuss was about but Law quickly moved on to poking and prodding at an area behind Sanji's ear. Satisfied with whatever the hell he was looking for, he stood up and and walked over to Zoro, not afraid to look him straight in the eye.

"If you want to know what's wrong with your friend you need to tell me the truth. What happened really happened?"

Zoro looked off to the side and shuffled his feet. Shit, this was a bad idea. Begrudgingly he reached into his pocket and pulled out the bandana. "He...someone shot him," Zoro revealed the dart and carefully picked it up, "with this." Zoro braced himself for a fierce look of confusion, but was surprised when Law snatched the syringe away and inspected it closely. His face was etched with concern and he held the dart up to the light. Zoro grimaced slightly when he decided to dip his finger into the remaining fluid inside and lick it. His thin black eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he tried deciphering the ingredients of the drug. At least, that's what Zoro thought he was doing.

Law regarded Zoro for a second before swiping away the bandana, wrapping it around the dart, and shoved it hard enough into Zoro's chest to make him stumble a bit, "You'd better hide that somewhere."

He barged past Zoro, who was a bit taken aback by his calm attitude toward the situation. He shoved the bandana into one of his drawers and turned round to see Law pouring a glass of water in the kitchen and rooting around in his drawers for something.

"W-what is it, what're you looking for?"

"You got a first aid kit, or some kind medicine cabinet?" Law asked distractedly.

"Urr yeah the top cupboard on the left, why? Is there something wrong?"

Law pulled out a basket full of his frequently used pharmaceutical supply and retrieved a bottle of aspirin.

"Your friend's fine, he's just gonna be asleep until morning, or at least until the sedative wears off. Either way he's gonna wake up with one hell of a headache, which is where these come in," Law said as he shook the bottle. He headed back into the bedroom and placed the water and aspirin on the bedside table.

He proceeded to remove the cook's shoes, "As to why he's shivering, well I'm sure I would be too if was wearing nothing but a shirt in December."

Zoro clicked his tongue at the doctor's patronising remark. It wasn't his fault for assuming the worst.

Law lifted Sanji up like he weighed nothing and nodded toward the duvet, "You mind?"

Zoro mumbled an insult under his breath as he flung the corner of the duvet aside for Law to dump the blonde into his fucking bed. There's no way he was gonna let that go anytime soon.

Law pulled the duvet up to Sanji's neck and quickly checked his temperature before swiftly walking past Zoro, "There's no need for you to contact me again. I'm sure that doctor friend of yours is more than qualified to deal with him once he wakes up."

Zoro frowned and marched up to Law who was already halfway out the door. Zoro shoved himself into the space between the door and the apartment, and made sure to keep his voice low as he spoke, "Look, you're not gonna tell anyone about this are you?"

Law raised his eyebrows and even smirked a little, "What? About your friend being shot with something only zookeepers use?"

"Look pal, I only know as much about that as you do, okay- but...look you seem like a smart guy so you can probably tell why it's a bad idea for anyone to know about this."

Law snickered and glanced at his feet, "Ah, don't worry Mr. Roronoa, I'm not gonna tell anyone. I'm assuming that's why you asked me to help in the first place. I guess I do seem like the kind of guy who has no interest in other people's business."

Zoro sheepishly looked down at his feet and stepped back for Law to, once again, barge past him.

"Hey, don't you want payment or something cause I don't really know if he's got health insurance," Zoro called after him.

Law didn't answer, he just simply laughed cynically to himself as he walked back to his isolated apartment.

Zoro slammed his apartment door and muttered, "fucking weirdo," to himself. He rummaged around in his pocket and retrieved his phone. First thing's first, he'd better find out where the hell the others were.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

As he pushed the old coke machine aside, and kicked away some empty cardboard boxes, a cloud of dust swarmed into his gasping mouth, causing him to cough uncontrollably. He didn't care though. He just needed to make his way over to Franky. It was fine, he thought, he could do this, there was still plenty of time.

Sanji's knees smashed into the concrete as he tripped over a repurposed moped, but he ignored the clap of pain that coursed up and down his legs, and crawled over to Franky's bear-like body. No, shit, don't think of him like that. He's not a body, he's still breathing, he's still alive.

Sanji tried not to take any notice of the familiar sensation of warm blood against his skin and tried his best to wrap one of Franky's beastly arms around his shoulder. "Arghh, come oooon," Sanji groaned as he tried, and failed, to lift the bulky man off the ground. He dropped his arm and bent over to gear himself up for a second attempt, "Come on you can do this...don't let it happen again."

Sanji felt a shaking hand reach up and grab a handful of his suit. He looked down to see Franky's glossy eyes gazing up at him, a trail of blood dripping out from the corner of his mouth, "Sanji...you have to get out of here..." he said weakly.

"No...no come on just," Sanji tried wrapping his arm over his shoulder again, "just hold onto to that thing there and we'll both pull together, okay?" He tried pulling on the arm, but Franky was still a dead weight, refusing to budge.

"Sanji...please...you need to go...if you don't leave now…they'll find you..."

Sanji dropped Franky's arm, which landed in the pool of blood flowing from the gunshot wound. Franky's words reminded him of the entire conversation he had just witnessed from his hiding place. "Is it true Franky? Was all that shit about my blood true?"

A film of solemness coated Franky's eyes, "...yes…"

"A-and the microchip?...I can't believe you did that to me...when I told you that I felt like I'd missed an entire day...that I couldn't remember a thing...that whole time you knew...and you didn't say anything?"

Franky succumbed to his shame and couldn't stand to look Sanji in the eye, "...yes...it's true…"

Sanji's panicked state was interrupted and his eyes became fixated on Franky's blood stained hair as he was overcome with shock. What the fuck does this mean? He was a wanted man? But he hadn't done anything wrong! All he'd done was fed a poor man in need of food...and this was his reward?

The panic resurfaced when Franky heaved up some blood trapped in his throat, and Sanji frantically tried to spot something in the garage that had wheels, anything to help him get Franky out of there.

"Come on asshole you gotta help me out." Sanji looked down and his heart nearly stopped when he saw Franky's eyes were closed. He cupped his face and roughly shook it, "No, no, no, no come on Franky don't do this to me! You're fine, you're gonna be fine, just wake up!" Sanji shouted into the man's blood drained face.

Sanji's heart started beating again when Franky's eyes weakly flickered open, "Sanji?"

"Yeah, it's me oh thank god, it's okay I'm right here!"

Franky was now able to look him in the eye, "...I'm sorry…." he said in a barely audible whisper.

"Hey, hey, hey don't, don't apologise okay? You'll be fine, once we get you fixed up and on your feet again, then I get to kick your ass okay? But for now you've gotta hold on alright?"

Franky didn't respond, and Sanji managed to stir him awake again, "Come on you gotta hold on okay? I thought you said you had a girl huh? You can't leave her all alone can you?"

"...Nah…" Franky whispered with a weak smile.

"What's she like huh? I bet she's pretty, amirite?"

"Yeah…..heh...she's beautiful….someone like her…..I don't even know why she stuck around all these years….with someone like me…."

"Hey, that's not true, you were just...just tryna do the right thing...I'm sure she knows that…"

"...Sanji...can you promise me something?"

As soon as those words were uttered the last of Sanji's hope burned away and all he could now was ensure that Franky's passing wasn't painful in any way. If that meant fulfilling his last dying wish, then so be it.

"Yeah, of course anything"

"...No matter what happens...don't let Spandam catch you...if he does...she...I can't let anything happen to her...or you…"

"Okay yeah, I promise, I promise that won't happen"

Franky smiled and with the last of his strength, managed to plant one of his enormous hands onto Sanji's shoulder, "You mind...singing me that song I like, bro?"

Tears came streaming down Sanji's face as he smiled as best as he could, and he stared down into Franky's eyes, watching as the light slowly started to fade away.

"One evening as the sun went down, and the jungle fires were burning, down the track came a hobo hiking, and he said "Boys, I'm not turning, I'm headed for a land that's far away, besides the crystal fountains, so come with me, we'll go and see, the big rock candy mountains….."