Chapter Text
Ace knows logically that his ma' hadn't always been a bandit. Knows she'd been a pirate and sailed with a crew that gave even Roger headaches. That her captain had been a monster and she'd sailed with monsters. But it's easy to forget that sometimes when he sees her ordering Mogra around and putting bandages on Ace's scrapped knees. When she bellows at Luffy to stop being a brat and sneaks Sabo another piece of meat when their little brother steals his.
It's not quite easy to forget it anymore when she takes them with her as soon as Lu' gets better from Porchemy's attack. Makes them stay behind when she goes in Bluejam's hideout with only a bat in her hands that starts turning black as soon as she enters and comes out with blood on her face and a savage light in her eyes. When she burns down to the hut Bluejam's men had been in and neither of them has the courage to ask if she had left anyone alive to choke on smoke and die in fire.
'All of us are monsters kid,' she'd said when the men in the Grey Terminal had yelled at Luffy because of his devil fruit and called him names. When Ace had heard once again how he should have been killed at birth. When Sabo told them ashamed, that he was born a noble.
Watching Bluejam's hut go up in flames, Ace thinks he understands. Monsters protect their own regardless of tainted blood or freaky powers. Regardless of crappy parents and past mistakes.
In that moment, Ace is both proud to be a monster and her son.
Months later, when the Grey Terminal burns, Dadan protects them again.
As soon as she gets wind of the fact that a Celestial Dragon is coming to Goa, she ushers them back from the treehouse to her own cottage and tells them they are not to move anywhere without her. There are shadows in her eyes, a grief that Ace cannot explain, not when he still does not know as much as he would have liked about her past, but neither of them dare contradict her. Luffy whines that he is bored and Sabo keeps looking out the window as if sensing something is going to go wrong, but they remain inside Dagra and Mogra acting as particularly jittery guardians.
One day later, when Dadan returns home, covered in sooth and blood, smelling of fire and followed by a hooded man, they know without asking that something did go wrong. Something that she had managed to fix. Something that she kept them safe from.
However, neither of them can focus on that, neither gets to ask any questions until much later, not when she looks at Luffy the next moment and announces like a bomb.
"Brat, this is your da', Dragon." She then turns to Sabo. "He's the leader of the Revolutionary Army. They make it their business to mess all the nobles' plans."
"That's not quite -" Dragon tries to explain, but she silences him with a Look. Ace snickers as he watches the man get cowed by his ma' and bullied into interacting with his kid. Serves him right, he'd left Lu' alone for so long.
The fact that Sabo seems enamoured with the Revolutionaries and their mission doesn't quite sit well with Ace, but it's not like he's gonna get in the way of Sabo's dream if that's what he truly wants.
The whole bandit family is gathered on shore the day after his 17th birthday, when Ace is scheduled to sail off. Dagra can't stop grabbing him in tight hugs, while Mogra is bawling in a piece of cloth that Ace vaguely thinks is supposed to be a handkerchief.
The whole thing is as bit surreal, and Ace is not quite sure how to react. It's not that he had thought they would not miss him, he simply hadn't expected this. At most, he was sure Luffy would cry. Which he currently is doing, sniffing in Sabo's arms, his little brother predictable as ever. What Ace doesn't expect is to see Dadan's misty eyes or Sabo's wobbly smile or Makino hiding her face now and then to stop him from seeing her tears. It makes him feel floored, something warm blooming in his soul as he's given yet again proof how undeniably loved he is.
"Okay, brat, time for the rules," Dadan finally grouses. "Rule number one: you got your den-den mushi. Don't lose it. I expect monthly calls. If you miss one, I'm coming after you."
"How would you even find me?" Ace can't help himself from gaping, holding the poor snail tighter. The look his ma' gives him is a simple 'don't test me.'
"Rule number 2: you keep away from the New World in your first year. Afterwards, only Emperor you're allowed to get in touch with is the red-haired brat to say thanks. You keep away from the other three."
"But Dadan -"
"No Dadan me. You wanna gun for their heads, you wait a couple of years till your haki's better and you won't get swatted like a fly. Eddie might end up liking you, but I don't trust that brat Kaido as far as I can throw him and Linlin will find a way to marry you off to one of her kids. You don't want Linlin as a mother-in-law, trust me. And I don't want Linlin as an in-law either."
Privately, Ace thinks that Dadan's former crew members are all bonkers, but that doesn't mean he'll miss the chance to square himself against them if he gets it. Dadan will just have to remain in the dark about it, that's all.
"Rule number 3: If you get caught by Marines, I'm breaking your ass out of jail and then you're grounded. So don't get caught."
Ace cannot help himself from throwing Sabo a dirty look when his brother starts snickering, swiftly followed by Luffy cackling.
"Laugh all you want, brats, the same rules apply to you," Dadan tells them in no uncertain terms. "Don't think that just because you wanna join Dragon, you're off the hook, Sabo. And you -" her attention turns to Luffy who yelps and hides behind Sabo. "I know the sort of trouble you can get in. You're getting more rules."
"Nooooooo."
Completely ignoring his still whining little brother, Dadan strides to shore and throws her arms around Ace, bringing him close. Tears burn at the corner of his eyes, and he blinks trying to stave them off, leaning even closer in the hug.
"Go give 'em hell, brat. And call home, yeah? I wanna hear about your adventures, not just read about them in the papers."
Ace nods, whispering in a small voice.
"Okay, ma', I will."
Ace manages to follow his ma's rules as much as he can for the first year and a half at Sea. Sure, there are hiccups now and then like the time he got shipwrecked on Sixis - but hey, he did get Deuce out of it -, the time when they accidentally arrived in Wano or the time when he had flirted with one of Big Mom's kids - luckily, they had both decided nothing more would come out of that - but overall, things went fine.
Until Whitebeard happens and well things, aren't fine anymore, but Ace thinks he can wing it. Hopes at least. But days pass and his mandated phone call is approaching and well… He's not risking it.
The first thing Ace does after he wakes up from another Emperor induced concussion, a week or so on his stay - imprisonment - on the Moby he groans out loud and curses. Virulently, in several languages, which has Marco and several Commanders looking at him in shock. The shock only grows when instead of going after Whitebeard's head again, Ace looks almost sheepish at Haruta and asks for a den-den.
"Look I know how this looks, but I swear I'm not gonna call reinforcements or such bullshit. Only ones I'd have are my brothers anyway and one is too young to hit the seas anyway. But the old hag is gonna come for my ass and drag me home by the ear if I don't meet the mandated one month call home."
"Your ma'?" Thatch asks and Ace goes all red and sputters, but to everyone's amusement he doesn't deny it.
Everyone's curiosity only grows when instead of going to the comms room with Haruta, Ace actually chooses to remain on deck with a simple explanation of "yeah, no, your Captain's gonna wanna hear this."
Which of course, gets the Emperor just as curious to see what everything is about. A state that lingers until the den-den morphs in a woman with orange curls and a nasty scowl, at which point Edward Newgate, Emperor of the Sea, blanches and full body shudders.
"Brat," Dadan's voice is calm. Too calm. Which means Ace is already in a shitton of trouble. "Why did Deuce call me in a tizzy and tell me you got yourself in trouble? Again?"
Tattletale. Deuce is a bigger traitor than Lu', Ace swears. He's not even sure if his first-mate isn't more loyal to Dadan than to him.
"It wasn't my fault."
"That's not what Deuce said.'
Perhaps it is time for a new first mate, Ace thinks to himself. Banshee wouldn't get him in such trouble, would he?
As if the entirety of the Spades is not scared shirtless of his ma Dadan
"Look, so remember that one rule you told me not to break in my first couple of years at Sea?"
"You mean the one you already broke," the bandit drawls. "when you snuck in Wano despite me telling you to stay as far away from that lizard brain as possible?"
Ace ignores the murmurs behind him, the sharp intake from one of Whitebeard's Commanders and the strangled 'what' from Marco.
"Yeah well, I might have done it again."
Ace wonders somewhat hysterically if Dadan was gonna have Dragon send Sabo to drag his ass back to Dawn. It was possible; he already knows she ended up dragging Sabo's ass back to Dawn for a week when his brother got in over his head in the Grandline. How she found out about it, Ace does not know.
"Brat, if you're telling me you got Linlin to get you engaged to one of her brats..."
"NO, NO! Seas no, I've kept away from Tottoland."
A pause. Silence. And then... Oh no, that's her murder smile. Ace is fucked.
"Ace. Put Eddie on the snail. Now."
The fire logia is at least a bit vindicated to see the Emperor is just as apprehensive about the whole ordeal as he is, taking the snail with all the care of a bomb about to go off.
"Thought you were dead," Whitebeard whines in the den-den and Ace can't deny he is having the time of his life seeing the Emperor that had been swatting him away as a fly for the past days quivering at the knowledge he's talking to Dadan.
"So mean you wished I was dead." Dadan snarks back and yeah, no, if Whitebeard is gonna say yes to that, Ace is jumping for his throat again.
"I wish Lilin was dead. That hag still tricks me in her stupid bets and I lose money." Ok, that is a fair answer. "You, I was worried about. And then you disappeared and what was I supposed to think? John was dead, so was Ganzui and you were just gone."
"Went to ground," Dadan grouses. "Wanted nothing to do with that life after - after all that. Got some help from an unexpected source and that was that. Better let people think I was dead."
"Even your friends?"
"Bah, friends. You maybe. Gloriosa for sure," Ace watches with interest as Whitebeard shudders again. What was it with him and the women on his old crew? "But the rest?"
"Who is she?" Marco's voice draws his attention away from the conversation and yeah, maybe Ace shouldn't be listening in to it - but it isn't as if everyone else isn't. They are all transfixed, wide eyes and jaws open as their captain talks with Dadan.
"Dadan," Ace shrugs. What more was to say about that? Dadan was Dadan. It isn't like Marco would understand even if Ace started explaining - how could he, if he had never seen the woman who was happy playing bandit and pretending to be scared of Gramps, flip a switch and decimate an entire pirate crew for her kids.
"Typhoon Dadan?" Haruta screeches, the younger Commander scrambling over Thatch to land in a heap of limbs at Ace's side. "Like the infamous Typhoon Dadan?"
"Wait THAT Dadan?" Marco chokes, squawking a bit as he struggles to regain his breath. "The woman Pops swears up and down was able to beat him in the ground without haki and drink him under the table?"
Huh, Ace had not known that particular information. I mean sure, he knew Dadan was strong, had to had been on the crew she had been on even if he only ever saw her go apeshit on Bluejam. But being able to beat Whitebeard?
"Pretty sure he once said she was able to beat Roger too," Thatch muses from where he has also scrambled close by.
Ace was pretty damn sure Dadan was NOT able to beat Roger. But it was funny to see the sort of reputation his ma' had.
"How do you know her?" Haruta shrieks again, still a little moonstruck. "Wait no, you said she was your ma'."
"Dadan raised me and my brothers," Ace interrupts them before Haruta can get in their head to come up with some ludicrous scenario. He's seen what the youngest Commander prefers to read - he would not like to hear imagined stories about a supposed torrid affair Dadan had that ended with her retiring for the Seas.
"You did mention something about having brothers," Thatch muses. "How come they're not at Sea with you?"
"Lu's too young, 'sides he has other dreams he wants to pursue. He's gonna be a captain of his own," Ace can't wait to see it, the sort of storm Luffy will cause when he hits the Blues. "And Sabo's off with the Revs."
"You have a brother in the Revolutionary Army????" Haruta once again shrieks, this time in delight. "Can I meet him? Would he accept to be a liaison for us? Would they be amendable for information sharing? Do you think -"
The deluge of questions gets cut off by Thatch putting a hand over Haruta's mouth and muffling their enthusiasm. On the den-den Whitebeard is still making faces as Dadan is berating him, now and then throwing looks at his plethora of kids to save him from the conversation.
Ace is perhaps, too amused by the whole ordeal, to offer to take back the den-den and talk to Dadan.
Later that night, Newgate picks up the den-den again, in the privacy of his own chambers. Talking to Dadan had been bittersweet, a blast from the past that he hads not expected. The woman had hung up soon after she was assured Ace was alright, accepting the boy's furious demands that he did not need anyone to save him, thank you very much. Which he proceeded to show by trying to attack Newgate again and get tossed in the Sea - again.
"Why the fuck are you calling me again?" He can feel the annoyance in her voice, layered over concern. "Hope you didn't break my kid."
"Ace is fine," he grumbles. "Would be even better if he stopped trying to kill me. You'd think the brat understood the first dozen times he has no chance."
On the other end Dadan starts laughing, true laughter like when she used to prank Stussy and smile all pleased or when she swindled John out of the latest treasure he had won. The Rocks pirates had not been family, not how Newgate's hard won family were now, but they had been - something. Comfort he thinks and security. Something he had lost in a haze of shadows and blood.
"What do you want me to do about him?"
He forces himself to stop reminiscing. It had never done him any good and he was happy with the family he had now. Happier still he had been able to reconnect with his friend, through who he hopes will become his youngest son.
"Why are you asking me?" Dadan asks. "Kid has a temper to match Roger's and what I presume is his ma's stubbornness. He'll do whatever he wants; he and his brothers have me going all grey ahead of time."
"He's your son," Newgate points out gently. It's a testament to their bond that has somehow not ended up breaking even after being out of touch for decades, that Dadan does not even try to hide Ace's parentage. He had also see it, of course: seen Roger's eyes staring at him, freckles stark on his tanned skin that spoke of Rouge.
"Bah, not like he ever listened to me. I told him to keep away from you lot, and what does he do? Ignore my advice completely." She stops and sighs, before continuing. "Kid's gonna choose whatever he wants to do. If you want my blessing or some bullshit like that, you have it. Can think of worse people to end up as Ace's Pops. But if he wants to leave, you let him go, or I'll haul ass from the East Blue to beat you in the ground."
"I would never force him to remain here," Newgate assures her. "Their ship is very damaged, but I have already talked to the shipwrights in my crew to do their best to patch her up if Ace chooses to leave. "
"You might want to do that anyway, even if he stays. The Spadille is dear to them. Kid doesn't know what to look for, but from how he talks about her, I'm pretty sure she's close to developing her own Klaubatermann. If there's any way to save her -"
Newgate can't help but remember, decades ago when Rocks had brought Dadan in the crew. She had not been one of the ones he won in a Davy Back Fight. Instead, he had found her on the shore of an island in the New World, her crew decimated and her ship shattered on the rocks, looking lost at the horizon.
"We'll do our best."
The silence that falls between them feels comfortable, easy in a way it has always been. They had used to spend time before, simply sharing a drink and saying nothing. Newgate had missed her in a way he missed few people from his past.
"Are you going to return to the Seas? Hit the Line again?" He finally asks, curiosity nagging at the back of his mind.
"Didn't think 'bout it. My other brat's still to young to hit the Seas. After he sails off, who knows? Maybe I'll end up saving your ass from trouble instead of theirs."
"I'm an Emperor," Newgate grumbles and tries not to be too offended when the den-den gives him a look.
"You're an idiot. Always have been."
Dadan laughs and hangs up without another word.