Chapter Text
With no injuries (on our side, because that's what matters), the sorry group of pirates left too unconscious to send a tail, and the big bag of treasure secure on Ace's shoulder, the mood's high.
" 'Bo! Feel how heavy this is!"
Ace grins, bright and wide and full of glee, lifting the jangling bag of loot a quarter the size of the usual Giant Boar (and still triple the size of his body) over his shoulders.
Sabo gives it a wary look, but tucks his pipe aside and puts out his arms.
He almost buckles when Ace eases half the weight onto him.
Lu and I keep our giggles on the inside, lest they notice and mask their joy.
"Fuck!" Sabo sweats as Ace pulls most of the weight back onto himself. "That's heavy!"
"Right?!"
Sabo heaves a sigh of relief, moving to support the side of the bag.
"We might almost have enough," he says, giddy.
"Right?!"
They share matching grins, before Sabo's eyes flicker to us. His grin falters.
What did we do? We just got here!
Maybe there's something behind us?
We glance back, but there's nothing but the depths of the forest, shadowed in the orange late-afternoon sun. You can't even smell Grey Terminal anymore, just the humid air and leaves and dirt. With the twist and turns and accidentally losing our way once or twice, any tails that we didn't catch should've gotten just as lost.
"Ace," Sabo says, quiet enough to catch his attention but loud enough to catch ours too. "You can get this back yourself, right?"
Ace raises an eyebrow, narrows his eyes. He glances back at us before sharing a silent conversation with Sabo.
"Yeah, 'course I can," Ace says in a normal volume, before dipping into a tease. "If ya wanted to tell me yer all weak and tired from kickin' ass, ya coulda jus' said so."
Sabo makes a face at the 'compliment' and elbows the air where Ace used to stand.
"Shut up!"
Ace sticks out his tongue, having skipped out of range.
How he does all that dodging with that heavy bag of metal on one shoulder is beyond me, but it's no surprise when he can do the same with a giant boar.
'Ace is so cooool.' We sparkle. 'We'll definitely be that strong one day!'
"Have fun babysitting!" Ace calls back as he disappears into the trees.
"Bye!" Lu cheerfully waves at his back, before registering the 'baby' part of babysitting.
"Hey, wait!" He cries in offense. "I'm not a baby!"
"Yeah?" Sabo says, and there's something weird about his voice. He's got this squinty, suspicious look. "Since you're not a baby, can you sit right here?"
He points to the base of a tree.
"Yeah!" Lu plonks our ass right down.
"Okay, good."
Lu beams.
"Now stay still."
Sabo pulls rope out of nowhere, and a blink later, we're tied to the damn tree.
I tug at the ropes. Surprisingly not itchy and unfortunately not at all loose.
'Fuck,' I say very eloquently. Well isn't this a familiar situation.
Lu giggles.
Sabo steps back to look over his work.
"Why're you laughing?"
"Lee said 'fuck'," Lu says, still giggling.
Sabo raises an eyebrow.
"Oh yeah? Well, I'm glad that…Lee understands the situation." He pauses, face scrunched like he can't believe these words are coming out of his mouth. "I have questions for you, and you're going to answer them."
"Okay!"
Since we had that question before this heist and all the suspicious stares, I thought he'd ask:
'How do you know my name?' again.
Not:
"Are you working for Outlook?"
Our mouth, open and ready to cite Ace for name-dropping Sabo's, closes.
"What?" I manage weakly.
Lu, having learned what sabotage actually means, keeps quiet and drapes himself over my shoulders in support.
And I'm really gonna need it, because Sabo takes that reaction as confirmation and proceeds to freak out.
"You are!" He screeches, clenching his pipe in comfort, in defense, I'm not sure. As long as he doesn't decide to use it on us. "It all makes sense now! How you know my name, why you talk and act like an adult sometimes, oh my god!"
"Hey, wait—" I say in a voice that's too calm for this whole situation. Internally, I keep my mantra of swears to my side.
Sabo levels a glare down at us. Oh fuck, he looks like he's going to cry and commit crimes to keep from crying.
"Whatever he told you, whatever he promised you, he's lying! He doesn't care about you! He doesn't care about me! And I'm not going back, whatever you do!"
He stops to take a breath, so I take my chance.
"We're not working for that piece of shit!" I rush out in a breath too short. "Okay?"
Sabo startles.
"What? But—"
"I knew your name, because I'm from an alternative universe!" Ignore the cringe, ignore the cringe. "And I talk like an adult, because I am one! Legally."
Sabo stares, face twitching from all the processing, probably. His eyes dart across my face, probably searching for any sign of lying.
"Then…Outlook really didn't send you to spy on me or take me back?"
"No," I say, calmer to match Sabo's tone but no less serious. Because this is serious. "I'll drown that bitch in Grey Terminal junk if he tries."
Sabo's mouth twitches.
"Okay," he says. "Okay."
The fight eases out of his stance.
"Okay," he whispers, and it's shaky. Relieved. He takes a deep breath. We all ignore how it catches on a sniff.
I bow as far as I can in these ropes.
"I'm sorry. For scaring you."
My voice only died on 'you'. The 'sorry' part was clear! Progress.
'Good job!'
His pipe scrapes on the dirt and I tense.
"I'm not—I wasn't scared!"
I lift our head enough to see Sabo's shoes step closer.
"Lee, right?"
I jerk up. And back when Sabo's face appears nose-to-nose to ours. Lucky me I don't headbutt the tree with the back of our head.
"Yeah." What, does he believe in my existence now? "Yeah, that's me."
Sabo stares into our eyes.
…that's a blue-eyed stare, alright.
"I'll forgive you if you answer all my questions."
"O-kay," I draw out hesitantly. "Like, right now?"
Sabo pauses.
"Like, from now on." He narrows his eyes in challenge.
"Sure." I slowly ease against the tree. "That's fine."
"Really?" His mouth drops in surprise.
Lu pokes me.
"No spoilers, though," I add.
Lu settles back down.
"What's a spoiler?"
"Certain information about the future that would ruin the fun of mystery."
"You know the future?" Asks Mr. Skeptic. "Is that the alternate universe you said?"
"A version of it. That's why I know your name."
"But you can't tell me about the future?"
I shrug. "Some of it."
"What's the point of knowing the future if you're not allowed to talk about it?" Sabo crosses his arms.
"Just because I can't talk about it doesn't mean I can't fix things that went poorly," I deadpan.
"Like what?" Sabo asks innocently.
I blink up at him. Innocently.
He pouts.
"Whatever," he grumbles, going to untie the ropes. "So if you're Lee, is Luffy…"
He trails off, confused.
"I'm here, too!" Lu chirps, kicking our feet. "I've been here the whole time!"
Sabo looks up.
"Luffy?"
"Yeah!"
"How does that work?"
"How does what work?" Lu tilts our head.
"That we're two different people sharing a body?" I ask.
"Yeah!" Sabo nods.
I look at Lu. Lu looks at me.
We're both still fronting so we end up shaking our head.
"It just does?" We say.
"Do you have a more specific question?" I ask.
Sabo stares at us with his thinky-frown, but there's less suspicion in it now.
"Do you both poop? Or do you take turns? Or—"
I burst out laughing.
Ace drops from the tree just as 'Bo comes from the bushes.
Alone.
Guess that brat wasn't trustworthy, after all.
(he's not disappointed)
Sabo looks weirdly happy to learn that the brat's a spy, though. All smiley like he's found a new book.
"So?" He asks eagerly.
"So what?" Ace says. Isn't that his line?
Sabo raises an eyebrow.
Isn't it obvious?
Ace raises one right back, crossing his arms.
If it was obvious, I wouldn't be asking, would I?
Sabo sighs in defeat only a second later, rather than waiting out three seconds of Ace's stubbornness.
Ace narrows his eyes. What the heck happened in that interrogation?
"Is it enough?" Sabo clarifies.
Oh.
Yeah, that is pretty obvious, actually, but Ace would never admit that, so he grins and leans in.
"Yeah, we got enough!"
"Yes!" Sabo matches his grin, vibrating on his toes. "We can finally get out of here!"
"So what about you?"
Sabo startles.
"Huh?"
"Y'know, yer weird little interrogation," Ace says, skipping the eyebrow exchange. Mind games are Sabo's thing. "Is the brat a spy or nah?"
"Oh!" Sabo smiles. "No, they're good!"
Ace blinks.
(a part of him relaxes. it's because sabo's happy. definitely that. not because he's gotten attached to the brat)
"Really?" He says. "Why didn't you bring him then?"
Sabo gives him that Look again.
Ace just glares.
"I had them wait over there." Sabo gestures to the brush, though it's too thick to see through. "You don't trust them yet, right?"
Yeah, so what? It was Sabo's interrogation, what does Ace have to do with it?
"We're partners, Ace. So you have to approve them, too."
Ace really hopes that Sabo's magic eyes that can see blush on dark skin decides to ignore the heat radiating off his face today.
"S'okay," he manages to say. "He's not that bad. An' yer smart. I trust ya."
Sabo beams.
"That's right, I'm the smart one."
The heat switches from embarrassment to annoyance.
Ace shoves him.
"That's not what I said!"
Sabo uses the momentum from the stumble to duck into the brush.
"That's totally what you said!"
Ace scrambles after him, but with that shove, Sabo stays barely out of range until—
"Let go!" Cries a familiar voice. "Hey!"
Ace crashes into Sabo's frozen back, sending them both tumbling to the ground, hidden by the brush. Before either of them can get up, there's another voice.
"You lot were seriously beat by this kid?"
A big blocky blue guy has the brat by the back of his shirt. The Bluejam goons that they beat up earlier cower in a circle around him.
"Well…"
Heh, there's that black eye Ace gave the whiny one. For all his complaining, he should be glad Ace took that heavy bag of treasure off his hands.
"Actually, there was three of them, sir—eep!"
That blocky guy's definitely stronger than the weaklings they beat before, and that sword's gonna be a problem, but…
"Three kids." Disdain, disbelief, disgust drips from Blocky Guy's voice. "You fucks are pathetic."
They could take him.
"You." Blocky Guy shakes the brat. "Where's the treasure."
"I don't know!"
The brat kicks at the air. His shirt's pulled too tight for him to wiggle and slip out with his rubber flexibility.
"Then, where's the other two?"
The brat makes a face. Panic? Worry? Frustration?
Blocky Guy catches the expression, too.
"I don't—I don't know!"
Ace shares a look with Sabo.
"Don't lie! Where are they?"
They move.
Ace scales a tree in record time and launches himself at Blocky Guy while Sabo takes down the weaklings again.
"Ya tiny brain ever thought to look up, dipshit?!"
"Ough!" The brat bounces off the ground and rolls away.
"Holy fucking shit," he mutters, with that weird accent he has sometimes, scrambling to his feet. "Thank you!"
"Make yerself useful!" Ace yells. He doesn't get to see if the brat does or not, because Blocky Guy swings at him. "Fuck you!"
"Where's the treasure, boy?" He snarls.
"As if I'd tell you, bitch!"
The sword gets his pipe, but that's fine because that means he has two sharp pieces of metal to hit Blocky Guy with.
Sabo joins the fight after taking out all the weaklings.
Ace wasn't worried, but it's definitely gonna be an easy fight with Sabo.
The brat flits in and out of Ace's view, dragging bodies away and tying them up.
Every so often, something glitters on the ground. Looted personal jewelry, it looks like.
Ace would laugh if there wasn't a big ass sword and a big ass guy trying to kill him.
Focused on the fight, on his breath and the sweat and blood (most of it isn't his) on his pipe, he doesn't catch the scuffle and the click.
"Shit, Ace!"
(the brat)
bang.
(a gun)
thud.
(a body, fallen to the ground)
"Fuck!"
(not the brat)
Ace doesn't have any new wounds.
Sabo stands behind Blocky Guy, pipe raised and face twisted in horror. No new injuries there either.
Which leaves—
Ace smashes his pipe into Blocky Guy's stomach as Sabo gets his head.
Blocky Guy doesn't rise.
—the brat, curled up on the ground in front of a weakling facing Ace's direction.
Even the weakling looks horrified, right before Sabo knocks him out with a crack,
(where's his gun?)
which he should be, because he just shot—
(a bullet meant for ace)
—the brat. That stupid, persistent, honest—
(it should've been him, he's the one who should be—on the ground)
"LUFFY!"
(he's not worth it)
Ace rolls (the body) Luffy over, because he has to—has to check the wound (has to see how much damage his cursed existence has done), and—
There's no blood.
Luffy has his eyes scrunched tight, hands pressed over his stomach. And now that Ace is holding him, he can feel how badly Luffy's shaking.
Because he's alive.
There's no blood.
"Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck , that hurts," Luffy mutters, hissing under his breath. "Godammit, are you okay, Lu? I don't think it went through, thank fucking fuck. I'll handle this, okay? Thank you, love you. I'll be fine. We'll be fine. You did well."
"Luffy! Lee!" Sabo drops next to them, pulling at Luffy's hands to see a little burnt hole and pulling up Luffy's shirt to see an irritated red dot.
Sabo pauses. "What the fuck?"
There's the cue for Ace's brain to turn back on, so he pulls Luffy (whole and not dead) up by the shoulders.
"Why the fuck didja do that?!" He squeezes and (isn't he usually squishier than this?) shakes and if he's angry enough (maybe he can ignore how he's scared, and guilty, and it should've been him). "Ya could've died!"
"Ahhh," Luffy groans, flopping in his grasp. "Ace is being loud! We just got shot, y'know!"
"Shut up! I know!" He knows. "Why'dya do that? Do ya wanna die?"
Luffy scrunches his face in annoyance, in pain, and weakly pushes at Ace's hands.
"No, we don't wanna die," he says, and there's an unsaid 'duh' that Ace doesn't appreciate, so he shakes him some more. "But we don't want you to die either."
(he ignores it)
Ace scoffs. "So you got shot?"
"Better than you getting shot!" Luffy snaps. "In case you haven't noticed—" He takes a shaky breath. "—Lu is bulletproof!"
Sabo reaches over to pinch Luffy's cheek. It doesn't stretch.
"Ough."
"But you're not rubber right now," Sabo says, voice hollow, because he gets it. He gets that Luffy could've died.
"That's cuz I'm Lee right now," he—Lee—says through gritted teeth. "I'd rather Lu not learn what a point-blank bullet bruise feels like at eight."
He turns to Ace, eyes serious and not looking like that naive eight year old kid at all.
(he looks like that sometimes, don't you remember? they said
it's like
there's two of them)
"We took the chance, Ace," he says, "because we knew we would make it. You wouldn't. And we. Want. You. To. Fucking. Live. Ace. Okay?"
Ace presses his lips together.
(but—)
"Get it through your big fucking forehead and into your angry little brain!" He grabs Ace's shirt, winces, and pulls him closer. "Our world is better when you're alive! Got it? You're worth it!"
(he's—)
"You're always worth it!"
"O—okay, I get it!"
Luffy-Lee squints at him for a second before letting him go and collapsing flat on the ground.
"Luffy!"
"Lee!"
He groans and presses his shaky palms together.
"Thank you…for saving us," he says. "Fuck, it hurts. I thought—I thought no one would find us in time," he whispers, pressing those palms into his eyes. "Lu believed you would come, though. I'm so glad he was right. Scariest five minutes of my life."
Ace opens his mouth. Closes it.
He meets Sabo's eyes.
"Of course we came," Sabo relays what Ace can't say. "We're a team, right?"
Luffy-Lee chokes on a breath.
"Really?" He peeks between his fingers. Eyes shining with tears.
"Really," Ace says. "Don't cry."
The fingers close.
"Nothing's wrong with crying!" He says, voice all wobbly and wet. "…so happy right now."
Sabo snickers.
Ace's mouth crooks up in a smile.
A team.
The three (four) of them, having each other's backs against the world.
He likes that.