"So, what'd you say happened to you again?" The old doctor asked intuitively from behind his toothy grin. "You…fell on a box of shears. Is that right, boy?"

He motioned to the large cuts on Rocks arms and the countless others scattered all over his body. The doctor sewed the skin together diligently with visible interest. Despite the stitches and the bandages, blood still seeped passed the small gaps. Whoever did these incisions; they were made very expertly and skillfully cut deep but not to the point to kill the victim. The doctor was very impressed at the gruesome handiwork.

"Uhh…yeah." Rock sheepishly replied while wincing after every pinprick. "Something like that."

"You don't need to get all edgy with me, boy. Relax." The cantankerous doctor said. "Anonymity is our rule here. Like they say in the military, 'Don't ask, and don't tell.' So whatever I dig out of you stays in this room…and in your bill."

"That's good to hear." Rock replied. "Because you wouldn't believe it even if I did tell you. Ouch!"

"Ha!" the doctor cackled. "Don't get me started about that. Even I couldn't believe half the shit that happens in this hospital let alone in this town."

"What do you—Ouch!" Rock exclaimed when the doctor made another incision.

"So. Was this about a woman?" Dr. Miura asked with a grin. "It usually is."

"I…I don't really have an answer for that." Rock replied after some thought.

He shuddered as he was forced to recall the events that had transpired a few hours ago. The dim lit room splattered in red. The strong stench of rusted metal and the sharp knives that cut into him like a cold breeze. Her cold blue eyes matched with her red rose lips. Despite the terror she thought to have emitted, all that it translated to him was awe and admiration.

"Yeah. Something like that." Rock quickly added.

"Drink this. It'll help with the pain." The doctor tossed him a flask. "And make my job a lot easier."

Rock held the flask inquisitively and shook it for its contents. Opening the cap, he took a sniff of its contents and almost gagged. The thick stench of alcohol burned the hair in his nostrils and watered his eyes.

"Is this stuff even legal?" Rock coughed. "Because I won't be anyone's guinea pig for any drug, doc."

"Of course it is." The old doctor smiled. "Just plain old whiskey. People here are alcoholics so you'll enjoy this more than the meds. It's a lot cheaper too. One of my doctors keeps a load of them in his office."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Rock asked while holding the flask uneasily.

Knowing how the denizens of Roanapur would act over such trivial things, he knew that the owner of the drink would not take it too lightly if he were to discover his alcohol being raided. He could already imagine the entire hospital being in shambles, its denizens bleeding and rotting, and himself getting the worst punishment he could imagine.

"I pay his salary which makes 'em mine too so don't worry about it." The doctor shrugged off with an impatient hand. "Also he's out of town as of late so I couldn't have these go to waste."

"I don't think that's how alcohol works but…okay." Rock drank from the flask. As soon as the liquid touched his lips, he felt it burn inside of him. He almost retched the whiskey but manned up and swallowed the draught only to cough out afterwards. "Damn, this is strong stuff. Who'd drink this?"

"Yeah, it's a beast like the guy who takes them." The doctor replied. "But it gets better after some getting used to. So keep on drinking, kid."

"Thanks for that, doctor…" Rock paused since he never had the opportunity to ask for the doctor's name.

"It's Miura, boy. Dr. Miura." The doctor introduced himself and ended it with a toothy smile. "At your service. Now shut up and drink your whiskey like a bastard to his mother's tit while I stitch you up like a rag doll. I can't risk you painting a Picasso on my sheets if you cause me to miss my mark and have me poke something important."

Despite being said, Rock's intuitive nature could not stop him from complying and shutting up.

"Can I ask you something, Dr. Miura?"

"Nope." Dr. Miura replied frankly. "But go ahead. Is it about this war the city's getting itself into again?"

"Yeah. Do you think – ow!"

"Y'now," Dr. Miura said with slight irritation. "The muscles in the mouth if you'd believe it has no connection whatsoever to the muscles in the limbs. Or in fact anywhere else in the body for that matter, save for the face. Your case seems different boy. Is that gonna be the case and have you sent later to downstairs to check on that odd condition of yours, or are you gonna hold still."

"Sorry Doctor." Rock quickly nodded and did his best to brace the pain. "Ehem…Anyway, this war. How bad do you think it will go?"

"How will it go?" Dr. Miura said. "It will go on as it always have. All of it is just a rabble between mobs. It's no revolution, just a squabble between egos. It will have casualties yes but it will change nothing. Life will go on as they all had before -that is, badly. You of all people should know about that in Roanapur."

"Right." Rock said. He fell silent for a moment before asking, "Were the previous wars ever bad as this one?"

"There were surprises here there I had to admit." Dr. Miura recalled. "They all get so creative down the years. The only trouble about all this is picking up the pieces afterwards and that's saying something. All will be made clear in the end to those who are left." Dr. Miura said. "But what do I know, I am but an aging donkey and no one has seen a dead donkey."

By the time Miura finished, Rock stood but felt a tad loose on his footing. His mind was flying above his head. His muscles felt stiff and the scent of metal filled the air around him. Despite all that, he did feel better however as his wounds were finally stitched up and he was finally fixed up. Every 3rd step caused him to slip and stumble.

The aging Dr. Miura took the liberty of half carrying him out to the hall. The poor old doctor had a harder time keeping himself up due to his age and bad leg that requires him to lean on his oaken cane.

The second they left the room, a man in the hall abruptly stood up from his seat. He was a young man in a fresh suit with brown buzz cut hair with peach fuzz under his chin. He tossed his paperback magazine back to the table on his side and approached them at a quickened pace only to stop short just a few feet away.

Seeing this, Dr. Miura quickly pulled Rock behind him. With a twist of two fingers, a trigger flicked out after the handle of his cane. He then raised it against the newcomer.

"Can I help you boy?" Dr. Miura looked at the newcomer tentatively. "Or am I gonna have ta clean brains outta this hall for the 3rd time this week?

"Is…is he alright?" The young man asked inquisitively. He tried leaning over to inspect but was barred by a hollow barrel between his eyes.

"Oi." Dr. Miura tapped the boy's head with his cane. "Eyes on me, kid. I'm asking the questions here. Who're you?"

"Oh, right. I'm Sorin." The man cheerfully replied. "I don't mean to look intimidating or whatever-"

"Cuz you're not." Dr. Miura snidely remarked.

The lad looked obviously affected by that but shrugged it off. "Uhm. Anyway. The Kapitan needed someone to keep an eye on Mr. Rock here since things here's going total shit storm. The need to keep her assets safe and sound is priority. So she had given me the post of being that man's bodyguard."

"Bodyguard huh? Oh boy." Dr. Miura muttered under his breath in disbelief. "So are you gonna stand there and watch like a schnook or are you gonna help me? Cuz my back's about to snap."

"Right." Sorin lightly grabbed onto Rock and carried him by the arm, freeing the aging doctor from a heavy burden. "What's wrong with him? Is he drunk?"

"Ha!" The doctor barked a rough laugh, "If only. Kid has a tough gut for the strong stuff. No. That's just the blood he lost from you Ivans... or probably from the booze. What the fuck did you do this guy anyway? Oh, sure the kid gave off some hints so I'm sure it's from torture. But if I can ask, from who?"

"Don't you mean, 'why' he was tortured?" Sorin corrected.

"Did I fucking stutter?" Dr. Miura asked with his eyebrow raised. His arms were crossed with a finger tapping on his cane impatiently.

"N-no sir." Sorin quickly got the memo. "Ehem. We abducted Mr. Rock from his apartment last night for a disclosed reason and brought him straight to headquarters. There we dropped him off to the Basement and left him under the care of Mr. Jefferson."

"Wait. Wait. Hold up." Dr. Miura cut in. "That old scissor fetish psycho Tick's still alive? Whoo boy, I had a feeling that this was his doing on poor old Sock here. Hard to believe that that bag of bones could still hold a pair of clippers without popping a vein for a man his age. A miracle that this boy didn't lose any of his limbs. That Mick sure still got it."

"It was all under Madame Balalaika's orders. I know little about it myself." Sorin said. "All I do know for a fact is that Rock did something that displeased her. She had him tortured for nearly an hour before she got inside the room."

"Sheesh. Remind me never to get on her Bad Side." Dr. Miura exclaimed. His turned his gaze at Rock. "An hour of torture before she came through a door. From good old Tick too. Poor boy must have had it rough."

"Did you know him, sir?" Sorin asked.

"Of course not." Dr. Miura motioned to Rock. "I only just operated with the kid right now. Why? Do I have to know him?"

"What? I don't know." Sorin replied in confusion. "And no. I was talking about Mr. Johnson."

"Oh him." Dr. Miura said. "Yeah. But that's ancient history. I'll tell you all about it in a flashback or in a spinoff later on. But not tonight. I've got better stuff to do."

"Scuse me though. Doctor." Sorin called over. "Hey, is there anything I ought to know before the bill? About his condition?"

"Other than the bill he owes me, nothing else. Just come back if anything pops up." Dr. Miura called back. "Now off with you. I got other people who need my attention. And they sure cannot wait."

And with that, the hall's double doors closed behind him. The doctor's footsteps slowly faded away.

"Hey, Rock." Sorin nudged. "How are you doing there? I mean, I don't want to say the obvious but, you don't look so good."

"A little light headed." Rock replied weakly while still leaning heavily on Sorin's shoulder.

Sorin turned to the vending machine next to him and got himself a bottle of fruit juice.

"This'll help you out in the meantime." Sorin passed the bottle to Rock. "Hope you like melon."

"Thanks." Rock received the bottle and drank it greedily. He then poured the rest on his face.

"Hey!" Sorin cried and pushed Rock away. He grabbed a handkerchief and wiped off the juice off of him. "Careful with the suit man, these ain't cheap. Damn it. Now it's gonna stain. If I knew you liked melons that much I would have dropped your ass on a barrel. Or better yet, warn a brother, man."

"Sorry." Rock replied as he slowly got on his feet. "I just felt so heavy…and numb."

"You know that there ARE better ways of dealing with those and still keep my suit clean." Sorin said before helping Rock up on his feet. "Anyway, let's get you home. We got a lot on our plate tomo-"

"NOW OFF TO THE FLAG!" a thundering voice boomed from behind them.

The hall's double doors busted open and revealed a young woman. She had long, plum colored hair in a loose ponytail wearing very revealing outfit. Two identical Beretta pistols hung in holsters on her sides. It wasn't rocket science for Sorin to figure out that this woman was the infamous and loudmouthed Revy 'Two-Hands'. Behind her were the rest of the Lagoon Crew, the ever so stoic Dutch and the chill Benny.

"You could say that again, Revy." Benny said. "Nothing like a little booze to help patch us up."

"Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in." Revy grinned. "Havent seen you around for a while Rock. And here I thought you've forgotten all about us."

"It's nice to see you too Revy." Rock replied.

"Get over here. Give Revy some love." Revy hugged Rock tight and lifted him off the ground. When she finally let go, Rock fell to the ground. "What's the matter? Got yourself beat up now? I knew you wouldn't last a day on your own."

"On the contrary." Rock replied. "Right now I just realized that all that happens whenever you're around, Revy."

"Ever the smart ass, are you, Rock." Revy smirked and helped Rock up to his feet. "So who's your pimp?"

"It's Sorin, Ms. Two Hands." Sorin introduced himself. "Just Sorin. I work with Mr. Rock."

"Ain't you a little too young to be one of Sis's lot?" Revy said with a raised eyebrow. "Well, I ain't judging how Sis works but lemme tell you kid, you aint gonna last long here if you keep in butting in on people's barbecues. Rocky boy here's getting himself to too much trouble now?"

"In a way." Sorin smiled.

"You care to join us, Sorin?" Benny said. "The more the merrier when it comes to this company."

"I'd be happy to oblige!" Sorin said. "But if I may ask, who's that man over there?"

There was indeed another man with them and was talking to Dutch. He was a tall, balding, gaunt man wearing a dusty old suit. Sorin guessed that he was an outsider since he had never seen his like in the town before. But there was a threatening aura emanating from him.

"Oh him?" Revy replied with visible disgust. "He was our client a few minutes ago and right now is still a literal, PAIN IN MY ASS!"

"Enthusiastic, isn't she?" The Gaunt man said. "After all this."

"We all share that feeling after a long day, Mr. Rath." Dutch said. "She just had the bigger mouth to cover it."

"A reputation like that-" Rath paused to sniff on his handkerchief. "is a reputation to follow."

"Right," Dutch said uneasily. He made a motion to shake the man's hand, though with a slight hint of hesitation. "It may not have been a nice job, but it was a well paying job nonetheless."

"We are all but slaves." Rath said with a sly grin and shook Dutch's hand. "Afterall."

"Yeah." Dutch replied. "And I pray that we never work together again."

"Hehehe! We'll see." Rath chuckled before walking away.

"Forget about him, Dutch." Revy patted him from behind. "We got paid and he's out of our hands, so lets drink! We even got Rock and his buddy on board."

"Alrighty then." Dutch fixed up his shades. "Let's go."

"What was that all about? Who was that guy?" Rock asked. Sorin himself was curious to know too.

"Boy, what a story that is Rock." Revy said. "It had been a long day without your ass being keelhauled behind. Now lets go! We have a lot of catching up to you and we have a lot of booze to tackle."

"Oh how I missed you, Revy." Rock replied with a smile.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Kids these days." Dr. Miura mumbled.

Other than the echoes of activity in the lobby downstairs, the halls were mostly silent that morning. The only sound came from the squeaking on the damp floor at his every step and the blinking of lights at a given pace.

Dr. Miura mused at the fact that despite the growth of the hospital's business and an increase of staff these past months, they still couldn't afford basic maintenance such as these. He wasn't too worried about that however. With the city in the brink of war and the number of wounded swarming in under his room like a plague, all these problems are mundane. All he had to worry was the costs if it hits them and the costs to keep them.

All these thoughts of plots, plays and foreshadowing will all have to wait however since his next patient needed his attention in the next hall.

Two armed men in suits waited outside his patient's room. They asked for him to halt before frisking him for weapons or for anything sharp. Only when they took his cane and his fountain pen did they let him pass. After they knocked at the door thrice. The guards didn't even give him the common courtesy to help keep himself on his feet. The old doctor needed to lean on the wall to partly support himself.

Miura gritted his teeth but looked back at them blankly. Despite the hospitality he provided them under the roof of his hospital, they still eyed him wearily. Apparently even a weak old man who's a foot away from death is still enough of a threat. Miura couldn't help but feel flattered by the take. With all that and done, Dr. Miura set his lab coat in order and entered his patient's room.

"...then things got lot more complicated—" Shenhua was cut short by Chang with a simple hand raise. Both looked at Miura while the latter observed them of their injuries.

A dark blue bruise etched itself Shenhua's right cheek. A band-aid was taped on side of her forehead. Underneath her blue patient's scrubs, were more bruises, small cuts and a deep gash stitched together under her chest. As numerous as they were, they weren't at all fatal nor severe. Miura didn't need to be the man who did the stitches; he simply deduced it based on the strain in Shenhua's movements.

Chang in the other hand was in no position to move at all. He lay sick in bed with bandages spreading from his arms, chest and part of his face. His skin was damp of burn ointments. Welts and swelling tissue were adamant from what little skin was shown. Most of them were seen from the hands and part of his face but it was not enough to disfigure the handsome man completely. Though only temporarily. His sunglasses were placed on his bedside table.

Miura did not know what exactly happened that would have Chang earn these scars. There were many circulating rumors about it but they were nothing that interested Miura. All he knows about it was that as sever as they were, it was nothing life threatening.

"Oh, Shenhua. Didn't expect to see you here." Dr. Miura said. "Saves me the trouble of walking next door to your room. That's what's gonna kill me one day."

"Doctor Miura." Shenhua nodded.

"Doc." Chang motioned to him. His voice was made gruff due to the bandages and his dry throat. "As much as I would hate to tempt fate like an addict to crack, but we would have to postpone our session for later. Ms. Shenhua and I are doing a little catching up. If you don't mind of course. Unless you have something life threatening news about our condition."

"Oh." Miura gave a dejected look before brushing it away like a fly. "No. No problem. No problem at all that you needed to worry about, Boss Chang. I'll uh, pass by later then. (sigh) I guess."

"To save you the trouble, Doc." Chang said. "You could send me my usual doctor."

"Hmmm. I'll see if he's around, Boss Chang." When he closed the door behind him, Miura mumbled under his breath. "Last I checked, this was MY hospital."

XXXXXXXXXX

Chang and Shenhua waited till the footsteps in the hallway to fade away. Only once the guards outside knocked on the door once did the two fall back comfortably and continued their conversation.

"Continue." Chang croaked. Shenhua passed him a glass of water and accepted it in kind. "Thank you. Hem. Now. From the very beginning."