Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Atop a long ship sat a tall man. His eyes were half closed in boardom. In his hands he held a fishing pole, the line in the ocean. This man was known as Dusty, first mate of the Spade Pirates. He usually enjoyed fishing, sitting in wait for a fish to come, but something about this day, this spot, gave him the chills. It was as if something would happen that would affect this crew greatly.

Several other Spade Pirates called to him, asking if anything was biting, where he responded in the negative. Everyone on the ship (minus their sleeping captain) was on edge, there had been news that there was a conflict between Marines and the strongest man live, Whitebeard. They were all happy that their captain had some sense in him to realize that fighting Whitebeard would end in disaster.

“Hey there Dusty!” The first mate sighed, feeling some relief at hearing their strong captain, “Anything biting?”

“Nothing yet Captain, still waiting.”

“Dusty, I want to destroy something, is there any ships nearby?”

“No captain”. Silence. “Captain?”

When Dusty looked back he saw his captain, Fire Fist Ace face first on the deck, asleep.

All the crew turned and looked at their captain, a fierce fighter, and fire man, and laughed. At times their captain was dangerous, and like a cornered animal, while other times he was like this, where the entire crew got to see just how old he was.

Dusty sighed and put down his fishing rod. He walked over to a nearby crate and pulled a conveniently placed blanket off it. Draping the blanket over his captain, he motioned for the rest of the crew to keep quiet.

Several minutes later, Ace opened his eyes and blinked up at the bright sunny sky.

Sitting up, he looked to where Dusty was.

“I did it again, didn’t I?”

At the affirmative nod, Ace groaned. He was always doing this.

Dusty opened his mouth to tell his captain that he should get that looked at when the fishing rod in his hand gave a sudden lurch, almost pulling him off the ship.

The crew immediately surrounded him cheering for him to pull, they would only help if Dusty asked. Ace stood right by his side, his voice the loudest when cheering.

Whatever was on the was strong, or just heavy.with another lurch,the first mate almost went overboard if not for Ace grabbing his shirt and holding him steady.

“Need help?” At the affirmative nod, Ace reached around and grasped the rod.

“On the count of three pull.

One

Two

Three!”

At the signal both Dusty and Ace yanked up. It was no surprise that with his captain’s inhuman strength that whatever was on the line was yanked up and landed with a heavy “thump” on the deck. What was surprising was that the object that they fished up was a large metal bird cage, with something in it.

After a moment of silence, Ace ran over to it, intending to open the cage and look at the bird trapped inside. Despite being know to beat up people when he felt like it, he had a soft spot for animals. Once he touched the cage however, he jerked back, hissing.

“Spook, get over here and open this, it’s Seastone.”

The shocked silence that hung over all of them was broken by their captain’s voice and they all rushed over. Once the cage was opened and the bird removed, they could clearly see the blue and yellow bird, they could also see the locked seastone cuff on its leg and the large wound that was on its chest.

“Doc!” Ace called “can you do anything?”

Doc, whose name most have forgotten is favor of just calling him Doc, ran over, his medical bag that he carried everywhere hitting the deck as he looked over the bird.

After awhile the bird was bandaged and Doc sat back. “I did what I could, but I don’t specialize in animals. But the wound is bandaged and isn’t infected. What I want to know is what is this bird, where did it come from, why does it have a seastone cuff on, and what the hell it was doing in the ocean!”

After Spook, resident thief and picklocker looked at the cuff, he shook his head saying that the lock was complicated and he had no idea how to pick it.

Ace stood up, holding the bird as he did so.

“He needs too dry off, I’ll take him to my cabin and use my fire to speed along the process. And DON’T WORRY” Ace looked at Dusty smirking, “I won’t roast him. Also in my cabin he’ll have the space needed to heal.”

Ace starts to walk over to the door of his cabin before stopping. Turning he asks,

“Dusty?.... What do birds eat?”

Chapter Text

Marco was tired, also lethargic and drained. He could feel that he was in his pheonix form and about the size of a hawk. Wherever he was was also warm and comfortable.

He felt so drained that he wanted to do nothing except just to lie down and sleep for the next century. He was also sporting a headache, did Thatch put some Seastone on him again and get him drunk? Trying to think back to the last thing he remembered, his eyes snap open.

How could he forget? Now he remembers the sneak attack the marines launched at night. Where a marine had snuck up behind him and locked a seastone shackle around his leg while he was transformed. He remembers shrinking down and being grabbed, then being shoved in (guess again) a seastone cage (where do the marines get all this seastone that they actually make a bird cage out of it). He remembers being put in a cabin decorated in marine decor and then… nothing, that’s when his memory cuts out.

As his eyes snap open he looks around to see……... a graffitied marine flag. No really, there is a marine flag that is newly painted with the most neon orange he had ever seen, the paint adds a few choice words, phrases and images about how stupid the marines and their morals were. Looking closer he spots small cuts and holes as if someone used the flag as a dart target.

Marco swivels his head around looking at what else was in the room. He sat on a wooden desk with an orange blanket wrapped around him as a makeshift nest (luckily the blanket was a dulled color instead of neon). He could see a bandage around his chest (covering his Whitebeard mark) and the seastone shackle still around his foot. Scanning around the room, he could see a bookshelf nearby, that had more random objects and and what looks like scrap metal then actual books. There was a small open chest filled with clothes underneath a hammock that swayed gently. A closed, and most likely locked, window lay level with the hammock so if someone would lie in it the window would be eye level. On the other side of the room there was a door, (also shut and most likely locked) though the defaced picture of Garp the Fist makes him pause with the eyes crossed out, flower designs drawn on the marine uniform and with devil horns and a tail. By the door there was a green-striped string pulled bag shoved in the nearby corner. In the desk he was on, there was a few pictures and candles. Oh, there was also the person sleeping on the floor.

Yes, on the wooden floor, of what Marco thinks is a ship, is a snoring, drooling man sleeping face first and arms spread to the side. The man, of what Marco could see, was young, he had messy black hair, covered mostly by an…. interesting cowboy hat. He had a yellow opened shirt and black shorts with (you guessed it) an orange belt and a blue pouch on his left leg. Marco could just see the end of a tattoo showing on his left arm. Briefly, Marco wondered if the man could breathe alright.

Let it be noted, that by now, Marco is extremely confused.

His head swiveled around to the door when it opened. A man carrying a large tray of food walked in. When he saw the man asleep on the floor he signed in resignation. He placed the food down on the ground and went over the the unconscious man and started to shake him.

“Captain, Captain wake up. There’s food.”

When the word “food” came out of his mouth the black-haired man shot up with a yell of being awake. Marco then watched in slight horror and surprised as the man shoveled food in his mouth only pausing to swallow.

In record time the large amount of food entered the man’s mouth a disappeared. He then turns to the one that walked in and beamed exclaiming a “Thank you Dusty!”

Now that he wasn’t face first in the floor, Marco could see his face clearly, he had gray eyes and freckles spattered and dotted around his face.

He then froze when the captain turned and saw him awake. He didn’t know what he was expecting, but he can say, that didn’t expect the man to sign in relief and say “You’re awake, I’m so glad.”

The captain then spends the next ten minutes rambling on how they had literally fished him out of the sea and how he was half dead they found him. Somehow during that time he had gotten closer and is sitting down in the chair at the desk and is rubbing a finger on the top of his head. Just when Marco was about to bite or peck the hand he pulled away.

“I forgot! I’m Portgas D. Ace, captain of the Spade Pirates!”

The only thought that came into his mind was:

Of course, he’s a D.

Chapter Text

Morning came the next day, and while the Piece of Spadille (the ship of the Spade Pirates) was loud and rowdy as their captain did his monthly prank war, the Moby Dick, ship of the Whitebeard Pirates, was dead silent.

The crew members were all up on deck all standing around their father, their pops. They all listened to the report of the twelfth division commander, Haruta. The report that was given told everyone that the ship that had taken their brother just docked at a marine base just south from their location, however according to Marco’s vivre card, Marco himself was north from their location and unlike earlier, the card was no longer burning and now whole.

Now, they are all torn. Let it be said that the Whitebeard Pirates can hold a grudge and in cases like this, quite a lot of them wanted to go south, after the marines while others wanted to head north, to find their brother. Not for the first time, several people realized how much they relied on Marco to be the voice of reason and the one that made the plans.

The next minutes were spend with people calling out suggestions.

Go after Marco then with him destroy the marine base. But what if the marines leave before they can get back.

Attack the marines in one swift attack then go after Marco. What if Marco’s in danger and something happens to him.

It was finally Thatch, the fourth division commander, that suggested an obvious solution. How about we split up into two groups, one goes and teaches the marines a lesson, the other group goes and finds Marco.

Silence followed after that. It took the entire Whitebeard Pirates, fifteen minutes to do what Marco could probably do in one minute. They all had the same thought,

Marco must never hear of this.

Now that they had a working plan, it only too a few minutes to make two groups. The majority of the crew was going to take the Moby Dick and sail and destroy the marine base, then after that they would head north to meet up with the group searching for Marco. Thatch, Izou, Jozu and Haruta with a few of their division were going to take one of the smaller ships and then follow the vivre card to find Marco.

Once that the group and the plan was finalized, the group that was going to find Marco left.

“Haruta? Is there any allies that we can contact to keep an eye out for Marco?”

“Good idea Jozu. I’ll have to check, but if we go too far north, we have to be careful. Rumor has it that he is visiting an island nearby.”

“Who?”

………………

“Oi! Captain!”

Ace looked up from where he was sitting down with the sleeping bird on his lap. Currently The Piece of Spadille was docked at a nearby island and most of the crew was out at the bar. Ace had volunteered to stay back and guard and watch the ship.

“What’s up Spook?”

“Just heard a rumor, no definite proof, but it’s said that he’s around here.”

“Who?”

“The one you’re looking for, and you promised us you wouldn’t fight.”

“He is!”

“Like I said just rumors, but yes. Red-Haired Shanks is nearby.”

“Yes! I can’t wait to thank him from saving my little brother.”