Shattered Memories

The meeting

Word count for this chapter: 8,344

Disclaimer: One Piece and all of it's lovely characters belong to Oda, I don't and never will own One Piece except for in my dreams

Warnings: Swearing and blood, and a little bit of ooc not much else that you really need to watch out for.

Hey there! (^U^) This is my new story which I am starting with a whole new and different style of writing. As per mentioned, first time writing like this, and it's only my second story. If you see anything, and I mean anything that I can improve on - whether it's grammar checking or writing styles - please tell me, I will really appreciate it if you do. Oh, and if you have any good ideas for titles (I just took that one because it somewhat fits, somewhat) please tell me, that goes for the chapter names as well. Other then that, please enjoy!

~.o.O.x.X.x.O.o.~

Tap... Tap... Tap...

A long narrow hallway. It was completely painted a blinding white which made the walls and ceiling blend together with the just-as-white floor. The white made it seem like the hallway was clean, like no life was ever ended there, like no sins have ever been committed in the rooms it once lead to, like a normal hallway. However, the sharp metallic smell of blood drifting through the air would mix with the antibiotic smell soaked into the walls which made it seem like a hospital for the demented. Like a sick lab where experiments were conducted with no regards to the suffering caused. There were no exits, no windows or doors anywhere in sight, the only way to go was forwards, or backwards...

Tap... Tap... Tap...

A lone man staggers through the long white hallway, bathed in blood staining his clothes. He stumbles and trips, licking his blood splattered lips. He heavily leaned on his arm, which was pressed onto the walls, smudging the clean white and painting a bright red streak on the walls. His other hand was pressed to his stomach, trying to put pressure there, where more blood pooled out from between his fingers, behind him was a sea of blood and bodies, an embodiment of hell as some would call it. His yellow sweat-shirt was now red, his blue jeans now brown. His tanned skin could barely be seen from beneath the blood. His tattoos, part of his identity, were unreadable, whether due to all of the blood on them, or the amount of cuts and scratches on them.

Tap... Tap... Tap...

Suddenly, the man trips, blood pouring from his mouth, chocking on it as it doesn't come out fast enough. His breaths become more labored as he tried to get up, his body shakes from the effort as he manages to lean on one side of the wall. His vision blurs, causing him to see a sheet of white in front of him. His legs shake from blood loss and with no more means to keep him up, crumples beneath him. He falls down. His stomach painting a bright crimson flower on the floor, his head was facing the side, his glassy eyes already unseeing. Unseeing but not yet dead. His ragged breath being the only sound in the hallway, echoing around him. Mocking his weakness as his eyes slowly close, and the world fades away...

~.x.X.o.O.o.X.x.~

Kidd groaned in his bed, ears blaring with the sound of his phone ringing. He was not, and never would be, a morning person. He hated having to get up and get ready every morning, so on the weekends he would sleep in well past noon. Waking up at seven in the morning on a Saturday because his phone was ringing was not his definition of a good start on a day. He rolled over, one hand going through his messy red hair (Which he claims defies gravity, not that he really cared) with the other hand pulling his thick red blanket over his head, in a childish attempt to drown out the noise. When that only succeeded in irritating him further he pulled away the blankets. The cold morning air hit him as he took a step off of his bed, and he slightly shivered. Not surprising since he was only wearing a pair of black boxers.

Muttering about he is going to 'Fucking strangle the bastard who decided to wake me up at seven in the fucking morning, then dump the damned carcass into the river so that he would be eaten by fish' etc. etc. etc. He crossed the room in a few long strides and picks up his cell phone which was on the other side of the room for some ('Goddamn') reason. He snatched up the phone and put it to his ears without checking the caller ID, he nearly snarled into the receiver.

"What?" okay, maybe he did snarl at the other person, but he was sure that it wasn't his friends seeing as they knew him well enough to not wake him up in the morning. Actually, anyone who even remotely knew him stayed away as far as they could in the mornings. This guy must be an idiot to want to mess with Kidd.

"Is this Eustass Kidd?", okay, scratch that, this was a women. Well, this girl should be insane to want to mess with him. That is, until he remembers about how only one place actually addresses him using his whole name (Supposedly, he didn't need a middle name, stupid father). This day just got a whole lot more ridiculous, and it was still only seven in the morning.

Kidd sighed as he ran his hand though his hair again. It seemed to be a habit, a habit he was planing on breaking. His eyes turned to slits and he started snarling into the phone. "What does the police want with me on such a fine day?" Kidd nearly growled the last part out. He was irritated and his bed was looking more and more comfortable by the second. If this was another one of the reports on how his father was doing he was going to smash something, most likely something valuable.

"We currently have a teen that was found with major injuries on one of the scouting's. Squad 12 was searching a building which was believed to have been a part of Baroque Works." at this point Kidd yawned. So what if they found a kid that got into a fight? He bet that the injuries weren't even 'Major', most likely just another parent that demanded better protection of the city when her son came back with a few broken bones. The lady on the other side of the phone seemed to hear him yawn. He swore he could hear her start to smirk. "And here is the interesting part. When they got there, it seemed that the adolescent had walked a period before collapsing-"Kidd sniggered again. Collapsed, that meant he was weak, he hated weak, and he still couldn't see how this had anything to do with him, "-and when they followed the trail, it lead to a scene of carnage". Okay, that piqued his interest.

The lady stopped her talking again, and when she started her 'speech' once more, Kidd swore she was just messing with him. "And that is all I know, if you truly want to know more then come to the police station as soon as possible... A.S.A.P. As they say it these days isn't it?".

"And why would I do that?" Kidd muttered under his breath, sure that the lady wouldn't be able to hear him, but of course, he just had to be wrong.

"Well, other then the fact that you are currently quite interested in the situation" Kidd tried to deny the fact, but the lady just continued on, "We have reasons to believe that he is either a member or a victim of 'Joker's' and since the officers in charge of that division are... away, you being 'Captain Smoker's' son are in charge of him".

Kidd couldn't say anything against this since it was the truth, but it made no sense! Sure, his dad was an important man in the police force, and he was in charge of the division searching for 'Joker's' head quarters, but that didn't mean that once he was away that all of the responsibilities fell on his shoulders. In fact, he was too shocked to do anything but make gagging noises. He had never really done anything in the police force except some minor volunteer stuff, and he didn't really want to become a police in the future. The only reason he went to the place for volunteering was because his father demanded it. Now they were planning on putting him 'In Charge' of a guy who might be the lead to an important case that hasn't been able to be solved in years? Even he, a person who tried to stay away from most of that kind of shit knew about it, and that was saying something. This new information was throwing Kidd into a moment of turmoil, and yet the lady still had more that she wanted to say.

"You have come to volunteer many times before so you know the place very well, and that also means that you are someone we can trust. From numerous reports of... fights we can gather you aren't weak and can handle yourself, so we aren't putting an innocent officer who has never been in a fight before to someone who might turn out to be a murderer. You won't have to do much, just look after him if he turns out to be a victim, and if he turns out to be a part of the gang, he will be handed to someone else... probably, and most likely thrown in jail for it. You will also be in charge of the interrogation, that is all you need to do. Now, I expect you in the station in exactly one hour, do not be late." with that the lady hanged up and Kidd was left listening to the ring tone, before bursting into a fit of swear words and rushing to get ready.

~.o.O.x.X.x.O.o.~

Law hadn't felt this comfortable in ages. Which lead him to believe that almost dieing might have been just a dream. But when he tried to get up, a sharp pain in his stomach exploded in him, he frowned and sighed. Realizing that it wasn't a dream, he had failed. Which was very curious now since he was not lying on the cold ground chained to a wall with a blindfold and gag on. He quickly opened his eyes which he didn't know was closed and was blinded by all of the light, causing him to squeeze his eyes close again. When the burning sensation subsided, he opened his eyes again, they were slits this time though, and observed what he could about the room.

He was lying in one of those white beds that you normally find in hospitals. Law noticed a beeping beside him and turned his head to face the sound, it was from a heart monitor which was showing a jagged line and beeping according to his heart beat. Law found this sound very irritating, he didn't need the machine to tell him his heart beat, he could feel it just fine. And it was going normally, not at all strained like the machine thought it was. His body was just different, sometimes his heart beats slower then a normal person's would, it's just how he is. So he wished the machine would just shut up and let him sleep.

Already awake thanks to the machine's beeping, Law's eyes wandered some more until they came across the man that was siting on a chair that had been propped up beside the bed. He was looking at his phone a few seconds earlier but as if on cue, looked up the moment that Law noticed him. He was met with a sharp, burning, copper red, or was it blood red. Law had seen enough blood during his life that he could easily determine the shade, but this man's eyes seemed to blend together the two shades, and Law quite liked it. He studied the man's eyes a little longer till said man started to get up. That was when Law noticed the flamboyant red hair on his head. As he moved, his hair shifted as well, giving his hair a fire like feeling, and Law couldn't help but feel that he has seen that hair style before...

The man stood up, towering over Law who was still lying down, "You're up aren't you." more of a statement then a question, red eyes flickered and Law felt good just by looking at them. He could not tell why, and he didn't really care. He kept a strait face before breaking into a smirk, old habits surfacing.

"Why yes I am, why? Should I still be unconscious? Or would you prefer me dead?" Law had many enemies, some of which would actually save him just so they could kill him while he was conscious. He would not be surprised if this was one of those cases. He hardly had any reason to live for, so he didn't feel frightened, if anything, he felt amused that his time had finally come, and by a guy who had such wonderful-er... nice eyes too.

The man stared at Law for a while longer before he continued, expressionless "You aren't going to be killed, not if you are under my watch". Law now felt confused, why was this guy saying he would protect him? He didn't recognize him, although the red hair seemed familiar...

Law made his bored face, because, well... he was bored. If this guy wasn't going to kill him, might as well get some sleep. However, he did wonder why (And how) he was planning on protecting him. The way he said it says 'I have no idea why I was put to this' all over it. Someone told the red-head to protect him, but who and why were the question...

Law was soon drifting in and out of consciousness. He would fall asleep, wake up ten minuets later, only to fall asleep again almost immediately. In his sleepless state, he was thrown into a white haze, similar to the long hallway, you could only go forward, but no matter how far you went, you would never get anywhere. Another ten minuets and his eyes would flutter open for a second, then close again. Open. Close. Open. Close. All the while, the red-head was just looking at him thought fully, never saying a word. Until at last Law managed to fall into a dreamless sleep, this time black taking over his mind. He welcomed it. White made him stand out, made him vulnerable, he much more preferred this black, which would soak up all of the red as if it weren't ever there. He vaguely heard the door opening as he drifted off. His last thought went along the line of 'Is he going to kill me?'.

~.x.X.o.O.o.X.x.~

Kidd found this day to be much more eventful then he had thought it would have been. Once he had stepped into the familiar police station after getting off his motorbike, he walked over to the desk to find out that they had replaced the old desk lady, Kalifa, because it seemed that she was secretly part of this gang that had infiltrated the police and tried to kill the mayor. It didn't bother him too much, the guy was way too weird for Kidd's liking. However she got busted and they replaced her with this new lady, Monet. Now that did bother the guy, Kidd found her obnoxious and rude. She was bugging him about how it took him an extra ten minuets to get to the station. Out of spite he called her harpy once and now she demands him to call her harpy all the time. He was all too happy when he got past the desk and walked to the medical apartment.

The doctor who was waiting for him at the door gave him a clipboard filled with medical terminology which he didn't understand. Before he could ask anything, the doctor told him that it was unlikely that the guy behind the door would wake up within the next two days, so the obvious thought that went through his mind was 'Weakling'. The doctor walked away and Kidd walked though the door.

The first thing that Kidd noticed was the slow beeping of the machine hooked up to the body, then it was the many tubes leading to blood bags, pumping in blood. Finally, it was the body it self. When he first saw it by following the tubes, he swore it was a mummy. The blanket was pulled up the the chest and only one arm was see able, but everything, his face, his arms, were covered in bandages. The only thing Kidd could see were his closed eyes and blue lips. Kidd couldn't even tell what hair color the man had, it was wrapped in bandages. The bandages which were wrapped around the guy looked new, but they were already leaking and the bed was starting to get stained red.

Kidd decided he might as well do some reading since he didn't have to do anything other then keep watch over the guy. Now, Kidd was curious as to why the guy needed so many bandages on him, he may be a brute, but he was a brute who knew about injuries and the need of bandages. They already looked like they were plenty thick yet the blood had already seeped out to the outer most layer and began ruining the bed. He took out his phone, pulled out a chair, and began reading the clip board, using his phone to search up any words he didn't know.

...

After a few hours, Kidd was contemplating whether he should chuck the clipboard out the window and drag a doctor over to actually explain what the text meant. He had all but gotten three sentences translated and only understood that the guy had a shattered femur, and a broken patella on his left leg, and dislocated a metacarpus. "Can't they just use goddamn English for once instead of taking all these words from Latin and Greece and shit like that" Kidd muttered very bitterly, his pride had been hurt very bad.

He suddenly felt like he was being watched by something, so he looked up. He had been expecting to see a bird or squirrel which had landed on the window somehow. He had not been expecting to come face to face with a pair of mesmerizing grey-blue eyes. In fact, the eyes looked so out of place that he almost let out a yelp of surprise. But Kidd would not have that. He would not let himself squeal like a little girl who looked into the eyes of a big bad wolf. But in doing so he accidentally got caught up in staring in his eyes. The eyes shimmered with amusement, while they were currently covered by tiredness and boredom, something told him that those eyes were ones which would most of the time show intrigue and light curiosity. The eyes also looked... deep somehow. It seemed that they had emotions, but had been broken into and ripped out of their souls. This lead to an empty looking silveriness and blue looking curiosity flickering around. The kind of eyes that Kidd felt he could spend all day studying. Which is why he stood up so fast.

He would have none of that. This was Kidd, and he was not the kind of person who gets himself lost in another's eyes. Especially not a guy's. So he said the first thing to come to mind, which of course made himself sound stupid.

"You're up, aren't you,", when the words left his lips, Kidd was slapping himself mentally for how stupid that sounded. He was more surprised by what the other said though.

The man smirked, he fucking smirked at the question. WHo finds that kind of question funny? "Why yes I am, why? Should I still be unconscious? Or would you prefer me dead?" the man's smirk made Kidd wonder whether he was joking or serious. His gut told him that it was a little of both. Now Kidd was intrigued. He didn't get to hear this man's story since he 'Arrived so Late', he had simply been told to come into the room and make sure the now smirking man didn't get attacked. And it turns out that the doctor had been wrong, he woke up already.

"You aren't going to be killed, not if you are under my watch" Kidd wasn't too sure as to why he said that, but the way that the man said it seemed that he was used to being hunted down and killed. The thought excited Kidd, fighting other men always made it more interesting for Kidd.

The other man suddenly looked bored, it seemed that he wasn't too concerned about what was happening if he wasn't about to killed, Kidd would have been lying to himself if he wasn't intrigued by this. Soon, it seemed that the man had fallen asleep, and another person entered the room.

Kidd turned his head around and saw a grey suite wearing a hat, he literally only saw a suit and a hat which read Penguin. The only thing that proved him wrong, that there was a person beneath those clothes, was a thin stretch of skin between the shadow caused by the hat and the long pulled out collar. Kidd didn't recognize this person, but it seemed that this 'Penguin' knew Kidd.

"Good morning Kidd", it seemed that Kidd's confused face was see able by Penguin through the shadow of his hat. A chuckle rolled off of his mouth and he continued, "I met you when I was brought in as a suspected victim a few years ago" that clicked in Kidd's head. Indeed, when he was younger, he used to accompany his dad to work, those days he had wanted to become an officer, but it had passed once he had started playing with screws and bolts and what not.

"Ah. So what are you doing here...?"

"Penguin" Kidd's non-existent eyebrows went up as the thought that he might have heard wrong played in his head. Said man seemed to read his thoughts and nodded, somehow not allowing the patch of see able skin increase in area. "My parents named me Penguin, but if that bothers you, feel free to call me whatever you like".

Kidd started shaking, Penguin walked further in, closing the door. He only met this guy once before in his life, and yet he still knew what was about to happen. Almost immediately after the door was closed, Kidd burst out in laughter so loud and erratic that he clutched his stomach to try and stop it's shaking. Penguin blushed slightly, this happened often enough, but that didn't make it any less embarrassing. Despite all of the noise that Kidd was making, Law didn't wake up again. Only scrunched up his eyebrows and grunted in his sleep.

After a few moments of boisterous laughter, Kidd finally quieted down and sighed. A smile was still on his lips since he was still amused though. "Well, first we've got Kidd, then there is Killer, and now we have Penguin?" A chuckle escaped his lips as he thought about the irony of their names, "What is with parents and their naming? I thought me and Killer were the only ones...".

"Killer?... You have a friend name Killer?" Penguin asked him, with the same amount of curiosity Kidd had moments ago.

Kidd was sure that underneath the hat, Penguin was making a face, a 'Are You Sure?' face. "Yeah, Killer, also got Heat and Wire as well", Kidd thought back to the guys he used to hang out with. Heat and Wire had gone to another University, so they haven't been hanging out much. They had planned for a get-together in the next month, so he was fine with it. Penguin however...

"Ha ha ha, This is just... wow..." he was doubling over with laughter, Kidd didn't see how it was that funny, but seeing as how he had just done the same to Penguin, he decided not to speak against it. "Well, that makes five of us which have stupid names, enough to start a club".

"Five?"

"I have a friend named Shachi" Penguin waited for Kidd's response, whether or not he knew Japanese would tell him whether or not Kidd got the joke.

There was a momentary silence before Kidd once again burst out laughing, "Oh god, this is just so rich! Your name is Penguin and you have a friend named Killer Whale? Oh god," supposedly, Kidd knew Japanese, Penguin smiled to himself about the fact, Shachi was his friend, but that didn't mean that he couldn't get a good laugh out of his name now and then, after all, Shachi did the same with Penguin's name.

After a few more minuets, Kidd had calmed down. He looked towards Penguin again with a smirk, "Although, if you suggest the club idea to any of them, you should get ready to fight or run for your lives". Killer wasn't called killer and not teased for it because he was weak. No, it was because anyone who laughed at him would call out his name without realizing it. Heat and Wire were great too, of course not as good as Killer or Kidd, but much better then many of the street fighters out there.

"Me and Shachi can hold our own in a fight thank you very much" surprisingly, Penguin managed to say all of that without a trace of sarcasticness in his voice. Which Kidd found amusing again, this time he didn't say anything back, only snorted, finding that very hard to believe.

In the silence that followed, both men were sizing each other up. Kidd found it much harder to get a hold of how strong the other was since the suit was baggy and did not define any muscles behind it. Kidd realized he was at a big disadvantage already, and they haven't even started the fight! Now this was just-

"If you are planning to start a club for bad names, could I join?" Kidd whipped his head around to see the injured man sitting up in his bed. Kidd could tell from what little he understood from the clipboard that the other man should not be doing anything even remotely close to moving. Which made him pissed, he was about to growl at the other man but before he could say anything, Penguin beat him to the chase.

"Excuse me, but do I know you?"

~.o.O.x.X.x.O.o.~

Law woke up again after only just falling asleep, and the reason wasn't because of the loud laughter that he heard the second he regained consciousness, it was because of the fact that he had insomnia. Fatigue and drugs could only bring him so far into the land of sleep, and now that both had worn off, Law was awake and as alert as ever. So he listened to the conversation, not the least bit offended that neither men had seemed to notice him being awake. The first thing that he learned was that Penguin was here... interesting. Law wondered why the man was there. He had made sure to erase every part of his memory regarding that place and the people there. Including himself.

The second thing he learned, was that Penguin and Shachi had somehow met up and became friends. When he heard this, his eyes narrowed down to slits and he stared at the ceiling, as if he were staring at a person. "You know, I hate my life. It would have been better for me to just die. This is just torture", Law muttered to himself more then anything. He remembered when he first met the both of them. They were still young and barely over ten years of age. They were trembling as they were introduced to a room they had never been to, surrounded by people they didn't know. They latched onto Law, the only one remotely their age. They remembered nothing of their past, and it took a long time to help them get free.

But that was all in the past, the present was more important. He heard them talking about a stupid name club, and from that, he concluded that when they said Killer, they had meant a person which was most likely the red-head's friend. He almost laughed out loud right then and there. He made an effort to sit up, his bones groaning as he put strain on them, which were easily ignored.

He looked on as the two 'Toughy tough men' stared each other down, and trying to see each other's strength. Law could tell that the well muscled one that was there the first time he woke up, was getting very pissed and irritated since he couldn't see anything because of the suit that Penguin wore. It was amusing to Law to watch as the red-head get more and more pissed, but he was getting bored of being ignored. He smirked and decided to break the silence.

Seeing as how his name was freaking Law, it would make sense to join the 'Stupid Name club' wouldn't it? "If you are planning to start a club for bad names, could I join?", he watched in amusement as both men swung their heads to face Law and both had gaping mouths for a second. The red-head's face scrunched up into one that showed completely how pissed he was at the moment. He opened his mouth to say something, but Penguin asked a question that Law was not prepared for.

"Excuse me, but do I know you?" Law almost fell over when he heard the question, but managed to stop the movement, only frowning instead of flying face fist into the floor. Penguin wasn't supposed to remember anything. He wasn't supposed to feel that Law seemed familiar. In fact, why was he even here in the first place?

"Maybe. I don't know how you look like, so I don't know if I know you, and I can't read minds so I don't know whether or not you know me" Law's mouth curled up into a smirk, "Why don't you tell me why you came here in the first place and I might be able to tell you your answer". Law's smirk grew bigger as Penguin hesitated. Law made sure that Penguin wasn't to tell anyone about what happened back then, but apparently, Law was an exception to that. Penguin's resolve to not tell anybody any personal info crumble and told him what he wanted to know. He couldn't help it. It felt just like he was baiting the little red riding hood to come sit beside the big bad wolf, it was all just too amusing.

Of course, the red-head which Law still didn't have a name for (But at this point he was sure it was a stupid one) looked pissed and irritated. Law wasn't too sure why, but he'll get there later, right now, Penguin had his attention as he explained why he was here.

Penguin was leaning from side to side, fidgeting with his hands, obviously still having doubts about telling Law anything. "You see... about seven years ago, I came to my house with no memory of anything except my name and age. But I got help from... someone and I was sent back to my house. They seemed to recognize me even though I didn't recognize them. Apparently the same person also informed the police about my return, and I'm sure you remember me from the time that I returned", the red-head nodded and Penguin continued, "I... was told not to mention my memory problem to the police, as well as to always hide my face. I listened and well..." Law was amused, finally getting to see what it felt like to be free from there and not even having to remember about the times spent in there. Of course he made sure to get Penguin and Shachi to hide their faces. Their memory was wiped when they were brought to the 'Organization', and it took a lot for Law to find out they were in the missing children's list. If he had altered their face too much, they would have become unrecognizable and leaving them with no place to go. If Law wasn't able to change their appearance, then they would have to hide their face or else they will be sniffed out by them. And nobody would want that.

Law lied through his teeth, there was no benefit or reason for Penguin to know the truth. "Yes, well, what does that have to do with little old me?" he was smirking again, and this irritated the red-head once again. Law could tell – if he was really going to be stuck with him, it was going to be a very amusing time.

~.x.X.o.O.o.X.x.~

This person's smirk was getting on Kidd's nerves more then he thought it should have. A few moments ago, he looked sick and a tired, now he was all happy and chipper, and unless the report was wrong, he should have too many broken bones to be able to sit up, but it seemed that it was wrong.

Penguin and that other guy were talking about something that Kidd would have found very hard to share with someone you just met, and even harder with an onlooker, but it seemed that it just came out of Penguin's mouth, and he didn't seem to mind.

"Well... I don't know how to explain this... since I was a past suspect, I was asked to come over to the police station for some reason, then told to come into this room by the lady at the desk. When I came in I started to talk to Kidd here because I knew him, and I was supposed to wait for you to wake up. But when I saw you... you look... familiar?" Kidd glanced at the teen again and saw a surprised face, but amusement and curiosity were also present especially in his eyes, and it didn't take all too long for the smirk to come back. Kidd began to think that that was his normal face.

"Oh? And why would I be familiar to you?", the annoying smirk still there.

"Well... I would say it's your eyes, you have bags don't you, they seem very... familiar", Kidd looked over at the wounded man again. Indeed, it was true, it was mostly hidden by the bandages which were wrapped around his face as well as the rest of his body; he had dark bags which made it seem that he hardly got any sleep on a good night, which almost made Kidd feel bad for the guy, if only he wasn't so annoying.

"Hmm... intriguing" the man seemed to ponder something before continuing, his fingers playing with the blanket, "No, I don't think I know you" Law said before looking up and smirking, again "Sorry".

Penguin looked disappointed and down cast, a small frown the only visible thing on his... everything actually. The fact that Kidd could tell that Penguin was feeling sad was confusing to say the least. Not that he gave a shit. There was currently more pressing matters on his mind then the soap opera playing before his eyes.

Kidd walked over and sat back down in his chair and waved the clip board in the air, "Well, not that I would like to break up this touching reunion," the injured man flinched when Kidd said that line, "But I would like to know how much of this doctor's report is true and how much is fabricated." . That got his attention. He held out his left hand and it took a while for Kidd to figure out he wanted the clip board.

Kidd's left eye brow (Which was still un-seeable) raised up as he made a skeptic face when he handed the papers over. The man grabbed the clip board and brought it to his face to read. The man could only use his one hand which was lying on top of the blankets, and he was fumbling with the pages. It seemed that he was having trouble flipping the many pages that the clip board held with his one hand, Kidd snickered before his face scrunched up when the man lying in the bed started to unwrap his bandages on his arm.

Since he was only able to use that one arm, he was biting the bandages until it ripped and the loose end of a very bloody bandage was resting in his mouth. The man then started moving his arm around in a circular motion, unwrapping the white bandage slowly. Kidd was no doctor, but he was sure that you weren't supposed to unwrap bandages unless a doctor was in the room. But he got no time to express his 'Worries' to the man because in a second the bandages were off. And Kidd was looking at a completely shredded arm.

The many cuts and scratches decorating the arm looked painful and uncomfortable. Many of them had scabbed over, but some of them had started to bleed again. Just from a look at the arm could tell you that many of the cuts were deep, and some of them showed bone through the torn flesh. Kidd flinched just from looking at it, and Penguin staggered backwards. The man who was supporting the wounds though, paid no mind to the cuts in his arms o the reactions of the people watching, only muttered about how the blood was annoying, then started to read the clip board.

Using the wounded arm of course.

Kidd could feel his arm burning just from looking at that arm. He wasn't a wussy when it came to wounds, and he would probably be able to kill people and stomach it pretty well as well. But he was no sadist... at least not that much of a sadist, and he couldn't help but wince every time the arm moved to turn the paper. He scowled at both the fact that he was feeling... sympathy for this man, as well as the fact that it seemed that he wasn't paying attention to the leaking blood. There was no way in hell anyone was going to find out though.

Penguin wasn't much better off. However, his expression was undetectable and hidden under his clothing. Out of concern, he voiced a suggestion and question, "Why don't you use the other arm?". It seemed normal enough, but it caused the other man to blink in surprise to the question.

The surprise wore off quickly though, as the man tilted his head to the side and smirked, again. "Well, my other arm is covered in ripped tissue much like this one, but it broken in three spots, and my cuts there are infected, unlike the ones on this arm,", he said it all to cheerfully, as if he was talking about the weather instead of the massive injuries he had, He lifted up his right arm – the one which wasn't wrapped in bandages – up before continuing,"This arm was pooped out of it's socket, making a little bit of strain on my shoulders, but is in a much better condition then my other one, making it ideal to use for the moment at least.". He went back to reading the clip board, leaving smudgy red streaks everywhere his fingers touched the page.

Kidd was, once again, shocked by this man. Shocked and impressed. Of course, he would rather rip his tonge out with his own hands then have to admit that to anyone. He had never truly gotten injuries that severe before, he had his share of dislocated joints and broken bones because of fights (Despite being an officer, 'Smoker' actually had no problems with him fighting. Apparently, his sense of 'Justice' is following what you think is right, giving Kidd a whole lot more freedom then you would have thought).

The pain must be excruciating, yet the man was handling it like it was the most simple thing in the world. Of course, the trembling of the clip board didn't escape Kidd's eyes. He could tell how much pain was involved with simply moving, but the man still was. Which was no small feat, even if he had pain killers injected. It was at this point when Kidd realized that the injured seemed able to understand the clip board and could feel his ego taking another hit.

Kidd growled at seemingly nothing, which got the attention of both of the men currently in the room with him. Penguin was the one who spoke first, "What's wrong Kidd?", leaning down slightly so that they were face to face, Kidd being much shorter now since he was sitting down.

This got a confused stare from the injured man, "Kid? But he couldn't be that much younger then you..." in the next second, realization dawned on this man's face and his eyebrows raised up in surprise, then squinted down and a taunting smirk was on his face. "Oh, I see now, nice name by the way, Kidd". Kidd snarled, and snarled a second time when Penguin stifled a giggle.

"Yeah, yeah. My dad decided to call me Kidd, said it was 'Simple and he wouldn't forget it', I think it's revenge because his dad decided he would be called Smoker when he was a baby" Kidd all but spit out at him.

The man in question literally jerked back like he was shot when he heard that staement, his eyes were full of shock and doubt, which were screaming 'No Fucking Way' mixed with 'Are You Serious' and a hint of 'Fuck My Life/Life Hates Me/Fate Is Screwing With Me'. Kidd felt oddly satisfied if not amused at the man's reaction. The look full of disbelief directed at Kidd continued for a while longer before Penguin coughed, most likely he couldn't take the tense atmosphere.

"So – Do you know why you're here? Or why I'm here for that matter?", Penguin asked and Kidd was reminded of why he was here in the first place.

"He is also suspected of being involved with 'Joker',", the man on the bed frowned before looking back at the clip board, but being a somewhat seasoned fighter, Kidd could tell the man had tensed up and seemed to be studying him from the corner of his eye. Kidd found this action strange, but the next thing that came out of said stranger's mouth was even more puzzling.

"So, Eustass-ya, are you substituting for your father?".

Kidd faltered and twitched his left eye, involuntarily, there were two things that were completely wrong with that question. Oddity number one: The guy knew (Or guessed) his last name, which he distinctively remembers was not revealed to the person unless he heard the talk between Kidd and Penguin, and oddity number two was the fact that he brought up his father. Kidd couldn't place the reason though, it seemed out of place, like something was missing...

Penguin didn't notice (Or possibly didn't care) and looked at Kidd for his answer. Kidd threw his hands up in a mock 'Show of Defeat', "Yes, my all important dad is in some unknown-to-me state. He won't be back until somewhere in September at the earliest.". A bad feeling crept up Kidd's back, and the less tense posture of the man sitting in the bed proved it.

He had given him an answer without the need for a question to be asked. A way that let the other know what he wanted to know without letting it out that he was snooping. 'Oh, so that's how you want to play huh', Kidd took the unspoken challenge and tried to think up of something to say.

"So, you have already found out my name, isn't it fair that you give up your's?", Kidd said with a slight smile, which was returned quite quickly.

"Well, as I already told you, it's a stupid name and I would like to see if you can guess it." pause, smirk, "You have three tries.".

"And why would I do that?" Kidd said irritated again, a small frown on his face.

The man started to fold the edges of the paper absentmindedly before looking up again, right into Kidd's eyes, "Because I find it amusing".

Kidd felt like objecting to this 'Game' of his, but before he could voice his objection, the man continued, "Every time you guess it wrong then I will give you a clue, you get two clues in total.". The man lifted up his arm – the one that wasn't covered in bandages – and pointed two fingers up. Kidd snorted, although he could feel his competitiveness start to make itself known, he wanted to win and to show that he was better then the guy in front of him.

"Fine, fine, you win. Lets see..." Kidd leaned on his arm as he thought of a fitting name to start with, preferably one that showed how he felt that this guy was annoying. He remembered the strange eye color and decided he might as well go with it. "Grey."

The man snickered, apparently amused by the name Kidd chose. "Nope, not Grey, although I am pretty sure there is someone out there who actually has that name."

Kidd tilted his head to the side, "Really? Poor bastard.".

Another snicker, "Aww, come on Eustass-ya, you never know, someone might actually like this 'Poor Bastard'. Anyways, my name starts with a L, two more Eustass-ya.".

Eustass laughed in his head about the thought of a guy who's name was actually Grey. The name sounded very amusing, very amusing indeed. But to chose the right name out of the many that were wrong was a huge challenge when the only thing you knew about it was the fact that it started with a L. And Kidd wasn't too much of a fan of challenges when it didn't involve fists, even though he enjoyed winning, who doesn't?

So Kidd just picked another name out of the blue, "Lion", after the word left his mouth he regretted it as the stranger's face mocked his name choice.

"Now that, Eustass-ya, is an interesting choice for a name."

Kidd actually felt a tad embarrassed, a light red on his face, much lighter then the color of his hair. He looked down at the floor and muttered, half to himself and half to the other man, Penguin now completely forgotten. "Yeah, yeah, no one cares. Now shut up and tell me the clue.", Kidd was feeling degraded as he was playing with his game. But right now, all he wanted was to get the name right and get over with it.

"Now, your last clue is that it ties in very strongly with the police. Police protect it and enforce it, and yes, it is a noun."

Kidd was thoroughly irritated and just shouted ~ ahem,~ told the man the first word that came to his head just to end the game, "Law". Not expecting the man to say that he got it right at all.

"Yep, that's it". Kidd looked at the man, no, Law, expecting him to say it was all a joke, but what he did say surprised him even more.

As Law lifted up the bed sheets and lay down, smoothing the cover, he wrapped his arm into the back into the bandages. "Now, please pretend I never woke up". Kidd was confused as Law closed his eyes once the arm was completely wrapped up again.

As if on cue, a moment after his eyes fluttered shut, a doctor came into the room, holding another one of those (Stupid) clip boards. He was wearing a pink surgery suit with sunglasses and a surgery mask. Flipping through the pages, the doctor said, "Okay, we will have to ask you to leave now, the surgery room is ready and we will have to stitch the torn tissue together.". Great it seemed that everyone in here liked to hide their faces.

Kidd eyed the doctor suspiciously, "Shouldn't you have done that the minuet he came in?". Penguin shuddered, most likely remembering the state Law's arm was in. The doctor only sighed adjusted his glasses.

"I would have liked to, but I have never been here before and I don't know about the surgery room, and operating on a patient when you have no idea where everything is is even more dangerous then letting him be." The man sighed when he saw the confused expression on Kidd's face.

"Look, I'll explain later, but for now I need to take the unconscious guy to the surgery room before he loses too much blood.", the doctor said impatiently, already unhooking the lines connecting to the heart monitor, getting ready to push the moveable bed out into the hallway.

"He's not unconscious you know,", Kidd muttered to himself. But it fell on deaf ears as Law was rolled out to get stitches.

And that's it for now, it might be a little while until I update the next chapter though, since I want to write seven chapters in advance for this story. I have some questions for you though I will ask them later in the story, so... please help... (- o_o)-