Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Marco

"Looks like those rookies went wild at Sabaody." Thatch commented, turning the page of the paper. "Article on B-five. Squard is doing well, took out a vice Admiral...Damnit, bounties are missing."

"Mmmm. I think Jozu pulled them to show Oyaji." Marco commented in a way that suggested he was only half paying attention as he scanned the horizon. Look out duty was something he enjoyed, but only when it was his turn. Then he flew. If he'd known Thatch was going to take advantage of his 'eagle eyes' and have him do most (let's face it, the other was reading. All) the work, he never would have agreed to keeping him company when it was his turn. Ever since the close call with Teach's betrayal they'd all been a little soft on the pompadour'd man. They'd almost lost him. Hell, Ace was still hunting that bastard, though he was due to check in in a few days. Last time he'd been in a particularly foul mood. Blackbeard was apparently targeting his little brother since Ace had trounced the dirt bag. It had taken the threat of Marco carrying him back in chains to get the Second Division Commander to agree to frequent check ins. They weren't going to lose a brother over this, it wasn't worth it.

"This is boring. Almost no one is stupid enough to take on Oyaji."

"Ace, yoi." Marco smirked. He spied a bird of some sort off in the distance heading their way.

Thatch snorted. "That was years ago." He leaned next to his friend. "Is that a bird?"

"It's awfully fast to be a bird..." the blond was getting a sinking feeling as the shape flew towards them. Its angle had it on a collision course with the ship. "Shit! Incoming!" He shouted down .

"What the hell? Who's firing at us?" Thatch's gaze scanned the seas, there was nothing to see. "Brace yourselves!"

Whatever it was, it hit the deck at an angle, blowing right under the sails and lines to hit with enough force to send even the great Moby Dick rocking. People dove out of the destructive path as the object skidded across the deck before slamming to a rattling, denting halt into a wall. Now that it wasn't skidding and flipping, Marco thought he saw a foot. His mind racing with possibilities, he and Thatch practically flew down the mast and over to the damage. The crew easily made way.

His friend hissed as it became obvious the projectile was a person. "That's gotta sting." The body was in a crumpled sprawl, unmoving. Marco was pretty sure the poor bastard was dead. The victim of some far reaching attack maybe. (Wasn't there that annoying fishman with a devil fruit like that?) It didn't look like they'd gotten here deliberately.

"Pull him out, yoi." He gave Thatch a slight shove.

"What? No! You spotted him First; he's your dead body. You do it!"

"You were the one who was supposed to be on duty. That makes it your body, yoi."

Thatch made a face. "Buddy, please! He might, I dunno, twitch or something. I hate that, you know I do."

"And you call yourself a pirate? You big baby!" Jackson shouted from where he was helping Namur clean already.

The jibe had the desired result as the Fourth Division Commander huffed moodily. With one hand latched around the protruding foot, Thatch yanked the body free from the hole in the wall where it flopped bonelessly on deck. Marco was mildly disturbed to see the human projectile was a child. Harmless looking to boot, with messy black hair, a simple vest, East-blue shorts and sandals. He looked like some poor civilian who'd tangled with the wrong crew. Wordlessly, Thatch bent over to check the kid's pockets for something to identify him.

The body didn't so much as twitch as it sat upright with a yawn right as he leaned over. Since Marco himself jumped slightly, he couldn't comment on the yelp of fear his friend made as he scrambled away. The not-dead body blinked at the sound before swinging to his feet with a frown, reaching over his shoulder and pulled on a straw hat. He looked vaguely familiar.

Dark eyes took in the ship of now alert pirates. " Where the hell am I?"

"The Moby Dick." Thatch offered. "In the New World."

"Oh." A moment passed. Just as Marco was going to ask who he was, the stranger shouted. "WHAT? How did I end up here? Where's my crew?! Hey, Pineapple!" Marco twitched. "How far is it to Sabaody? Can you take me there?"

"At least a week, yoi. You'd have to ask Oyaji, brat, but I'm going with no, yoi."

"Oyaji?" The teen cocked his head to the side. "Ok! Where's the old guy?"

"Old Guy?!" Thatch wasn't the only one sputtering.

Booming laughter could be heard. Apparently Whitebeard had been listening in. Before Marco could stop him, the little shit ran right up to Oyaji's chair. He stared a moment before his eyes lit up. "Woah! That's the coolest Moustache ever!" Whitebeard laughed again, joined by the teen. "Mr. Moustache"

"Show some respect! Oyaji's the Captain!" Voices chorused.

"Mr. Old Moustache, can you drop me off at Sabaody?"

"What a cheeky brat!" Oyaji grinned down at the kid, "Tell me boy; do you know who I am?"

The shitty brat picked his nose. "Nope." A booger was flicked carelessly away.

"That is Whitebeard, yoi." Marco glared down at the boy who was watching him with a vacant look. "The strongest man in the world."

The kid pouted. "Where have I heard that name before...AH! You're that old man Ace really likes!"

"How do you know Ace?" Thatch put a hand on the boy's shoulder, turning him to look at the Fourth Division Commander.

"Ace is my brother." The boy grinned widely at them, and suddenly Marco knew why he looked so familiar.

"Strawhat Luffy, right?" Marco felt the sinking feeling get worse.

"Yep!" The grin grew impossibly wide, "I'm gonna be King of the Pirates!" Yep, that would be Ace's idiot little brother, alright. "Ace said that you wanted to be King, Moustache-guy. So I guess we'll have to fight, huh?"

"Aren't you a snot-nosed cheeky brat? You think you stand a chance against me?" Whitebeard was grinning, ever tolerant of young fools.

"Of course!"

"Gahahahaha! You're a hundred years too young to take me on, brat!"

The look in those brown eyes turned almost feral. "Wanna bet?"

"Oh god, he's like a mini-Ace." Thatch paled. "Please, please tell me you're not going to keep attacking Oyaji."

"It might be fun."

"Right...I think you and I need to have a little chat. You're a D, right? Let's get you some food and you can tell me all about how crazy you are." Thatch steered the brat towards below deck, followed by a few other Commanders.

Marco waited until the teen was out of sight before turning to Whitebeard. "What do you think, Oyaji?"

"He's a cheeky brat." The older-seeming pirate grinned, taking a swing of sake.

"Blackbeard's after him, yoi."

"Ahhh. Let him stay on board for now. A brother of my son is welcome." Marco nodded. "But don't change course."

"Sure thing, Oyaji." He turned to leave, ready to assure his crewmates that all was well.

"Marco."

"Yeah, Oyaji?" Said man twitched, having a feeling what his father figure would say.

"He's your responsibility until Ace arrives." He turned to look at the grinning Captain. There would be no arguing that he was too busy; not with that look. Marco really wished he'd never agreed to lookout duty with Thatch today.

Thatch

Thatch sat the brat down at one of the long tables in the galley, signalling to his brothers and sisters who'd missed the commotion that there was nothing to see. The kid was busy looking around with a big grin on his face when Thatch dropped a plate in front of him. He had a moment of panic when the brat wrinkled his nose after picking up the tankard of watered down beer that was served with lunch. Ace had refused any and all food or drink given to him for quite a while after all, and this was his little brother. He was worried that the kid would be just like Ace in this, which would be very bad. (Ace would blame him, he just knew it!)

He offered his friendliest smile. "Eat up, brat. I didn't do anything to it."

The Fourth Division Commander was all set to sample the food on the plate to prove it was safe before the younger pirate set on it like a starving animal. He ate everything, even the bones. For a Second, Thatch thought he was going to even eat the plate when he licked it clean. It didn't stop there, either. The food on his own plate vanished just as rapidly as he stared on in shock. While the brat was busy polishing off the octopus filled steam bun he'd liberated, an arm stretched to Haruta's plate at the far end of the table. While she was distracted talking to Izo the whole plate was snatched out from under her fork. Both the other Commanders looked down when the utensil thudded against the table before locating the escaping plate and tracking it back to the one foolish enough to steal from a Commander. Surprisingly Haruta just watched with a slightly horrified expression instead of yelling. Thatch could understand the look, he was sure a similar one was on his own face as the Strawhat pirate moved on, stealing everything edible within his quite considerable reach. He wasn't even watching what he was doing, leading to a couple of close calls with knives and forks.

"Woah! Look at him go!" Roku cheered as he polished off his Sixth plate.

"Thirty belli says he stops at ten."

"You're on!"

"Fifty says he makes it to fifteen."

"What, are you kidding? This is Ace's little brother!" Thatch laughed, getting in on the betting pool. "One hundred on twenty plates, minimum."

"You're on, Commander!"

"Come on, brat, you can do it!"

"Hey, breathe, boy!" Vista slapped him on the back as he coughed. "Have a drink!"

"Don't like alcohol." Luffy spewed, food spraying back out as he coughed for a Second before continuing.

"Why didn't you say so? Oiy! Can I get a pitcher of juice here?" Thatch grinned as the young Captain continued to pack the food away. He was seriously wondering where it was all going. Ace was known for his voracious appetite even for a D and it looked like it was a trait shared by his kid brother. Not that the Second Division Commander would steal food off your plate. He was more of the raid-the-pantry type (Something told him he would need to lock up the kitchen tonight, actually) where Luffy had no qualms in taking food from strangers at all. "Cocky brat. What kind of pirate doesn't drink?"

"Tastes bad. I drink with my nakama some." He explained with bulging cheeks. "When we have a party or kanpai."

Haruta leaned next to the teen as he finally began to slow down. "Hey, what was Ace like as a kid?"

"He was cool! I couldn't ever beat him in a fight. Me 'n Ace used to do all sorts of stuff together."

"What kind of stuff?" Izo asked, a delicate eyebrow raised. Dark eyes stared at the male geisha as the brat froze. "What?"

"Are you an Okama?"

"NO!" Snapped the sixteenth Division Commander. "I'm a crossdresser. There's a difference!"

The younger smiled, oblivious to the danger he was in for even suggesting that. Izo had killed people for it before. "Oh. Cool. Like Dadan." He grinned widely. Thatch recognized the name from some of Ace's stories and for some reason he didn't think the woman would appreciate the comparison. "Ace and Dadan always fought. He'd call her an ugly old bitch all the time, and she'd call us monsters or devil-children."

"That's not very nice of her."

"She was still nicer then Jiji." The boy grunted, polishing off another dish.

"Jiji?" Thatch asked, passing over another plate. He'd lost count somewhere along the way.

"Mmm, Garp. Wanted us to be marines, but Ace and I wanted to be pirates! He used to chase us all over the woods and toss us off of cliffs." Luffy shoved another loaf of bread in his mouth. "This food's way better than the stuff we'd eat back then."

He could only imagine what kind of creepy-crawlies a little kid would pick up in the woods. It was amazing that the teen was even thinking about that while eating such good food. In fact, if Thatch had had any appetite left after watching Luffy inhale food, it was gone now. He glanced at the insanely large stack of plates. Actually, the redhead was feeling a bit sick at the moment. Seriously, where the hell did it all go?

Marco

The vibrant blue phoenix's gaze swept across the expansive horizon all around. Way far out in the distance, a few days' sailing away at their current rate of speed, there was an island. Even to his raptor-sharp eyes it was just a darkened lump. There was no sign of the Striker, Ace's custom skiff. He fought back a sigh of disappointment and he turned, gliding his way back towards the Moby Dick and his family. The winds were favorable, allowing for a gentle sweeping swoop around the ship before he came in for a landing, shifting before he even touched down.

"Any luck?" Jozu called out. When Marco shook his head, the Third Division Commander waved it off. "You know him. He could show up tomorrow." He hefted the mattress that had been laying at his feet, obviously in the midst of setting up a temporary room for their unexpected guest. As crazy as it sounded, the Strawhat brat was a Captain in his own right and it would be rude to expect him to bunk down with the crew. Even if he was rude to Oyaji.

Turning, he almost bumped into the diminutive Captain. Something he hadn't been expecting since Thatch was supposed to be keeping an eye on the brat and hopefully away from Oyaji. Of course, his friend was nowhere in sight, leaving him to believe the Fourth Division Commander had either gotten bored with his pseudo-assignment (Marco would kill him if that was the case) or the brat had slipped away. He guessed the latter as he looked into brown eyes practically glowed in the sun as the brat stared back at Marco, a incredibly wide grin stretched across the kid's face. It was a look that was remarkably similar to his older brother's when he was plotting something particularly stupid. Marco was about to ask what, exactly, the little idiot was doing so close to him when the brat spoke. "That was awesome! You're like that guy in Alabasta, except all fush! Shihihihi."

He blinked, wondering what the kid was going on about. "What guy, yoi?"

"You know! The falcon-guy! He gave me a lift once. It would have been a lot more fun except I had to go beat up that stupid sand-croc, so I didn't get to enjoy it." The mop of unruly hair cocked to the side. "Hey... do you poop?"

"I'm not going to answer that." Marco frowned slightly before turning away and heading across deck. Maybe if he looked busy the little shit would leave him alone. Asking questions like that, what the hell was wrong with the kid? It wasn't like Ace didn't have any manners, even given his childhood. Raised by bandits was no excuse. You just didn't ask a guy if he-

"Can you lay an egg for me?" A cheerful voice chimed, interrupting his train of thought.

"No." He continued to ignore the youth trailing after him like he was some kind of demented duckling. Catching Rue sniggering while splicing some rope, he shot the man a dark look, daring him to laugh.

"Please?"

"No."

"Please? Come on, I'm hungry!"

Marco spun around and glared at the brat, "For the last time, No, yoi. I'm a guy!"

"So?" The boy blinked vacantly at him and he felt that migraine come back. Counting to ten, the blond reminded himself that he couldn't kill Ace's little brother. (Ace wouldn't notice a little brain damage though, right?) "You're a chicken so lay some eggs! It would be so cool!"

"You dumbass, I'm not a chicken, I'm a phoenix!" He snapped back, slamming a fist into the idiot's head.

He wasn't surprised when the boy laughed it off. "A mystery bird, then!"

"Fine, a mystery bird." He sighed in defeat.

"Mmm, if you won't-"

"Can't, you moron." He wasn't going to even think about how insulting it was to even be asked.

"-lay eggs for me to eat, can we go flying? It would almost be as awesome as food!"

The First Division Commander actually found himself thinking about it for a Second and quickly stopped when he realized he was seriously contemplating dropping the Strawhat-brat into the sea. Not exactly a good way to remain on either Ace or Oyaji's good side. Even if it was incredibly tempting, especially when he was grinning at him with that look. Just daring him to do it... "No, yoi."

"Stingy!" The teen pouted as Stefan trotted past.

He honestly wasn't surprised when the boy instantly latched onto the dog for a ride, apparent annoyance at Marco completely forgotten as he laughed loudly while the monstrous white dog attempted to throw the strange new weight off. He'd feel bad for Stefan, except knowing how tenacious Ace had said his darling little brother was, that could have been him.

Vista

Vista patted the young pirate's shoulder. Sure, he was an annoying brat with absolutely no manners, but he was a ballsy brat. He was handling everything well, even if he was making a general pain in the ass out of himself. A lot like Ace, actually. He could respect that a little. "Here you go. Your bunk."

The teen pouted, looking around in the small storage room that the crew had quickly converted. "In here? Alone?"

"Oyaji thought you'd be more comfortable."

The young Captain sighed before looking up at Vista with sad eyes. "Can I sleep with you, Mr. mini-mustache?" Vista counted to ten, hoping he'd misheard. "Please? I'll even let you have all the blankets." He was going to go out on a limb and assume it was a misunderstanding. Kid didn't look like the type, after all.

"Surely you sleep in your own cabin on your ship?"

The young man cocked his head to the side. "I have my own cabin?"

"Let's try this again. Where do you sleep on your ship?" He supposed it was possible that Strawhat was just a figurehead, not really the Captain of his crew. He seemed simple enough for that to be the case.

"In my bed." The kid was an idiot. "And Sunny has a name, you know. It's Thousand Sunny! Franky built him. He said all ships are girls, but Merry was a girl, and Sunny doesn't feel like a girl. Maybe she's a crossdresser?"

Vista ran calming fingers down his mustache. "Focus. Where is your bed on the Thousand Sunny?"

"Oh. It's above Zoro and next to Usopp or Chopper." Alright, he took it back, maybe the boy was into that kind of stuff. He wasn't going to be the one to tell Ace his baby brother wasn't so innocent anymore. The teen grinned at him, "I get the top, because I'm the Captain."

Vista paled, thinking about Ace's reaction. "That was more information than I wanted to know."

"But, you asked where my hammock was."

"Yes, but I didn't want to know what you...did you say hammock?" He felt foolish when the teen nodded. "Oh. Never mind then. So you sleep in a hammock in the same room as the rest of your crew?" Another nod. "But, you're the Captain!"

"So? It's more fun sleeping with everyone else. Except Nami and Robin. They have their own room. Sometimes we all camp out in the lounge though, or on deck. That's a lot of fun! Brook plays songs, and we party all night!" Wide eyes looked up at him pleading. "So, please can I sleep with you?"

Vista sighed as he heard the sound of something being dropped behind him somewhere. He'd have some explaining to do in the morning. "No. I got someone better for you to sleep with." For a moment he thought about grabbing Marco, but the man might accidentally kill the kid.

"Vista?" Speak of the devil.

"Hey, Marco." The man turned to acknowledge his friend. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Just got here. Is there a reason Sean was telling Oyaji that you're bothering our guest?" Marco's lazy look had a dangerous glint to it. It looked like he was going to have to do some explaining to Oyaji tonight. If Marco didn't beat the crap out of him First. Vista really wished he hadn't been the one to volunteer to show the kid to his room as more people oh-so-casually strolled over.

"Marco, how could you suggest something like that? The brat and I were just talking about sleeping arrangements."

"Yeah. He's a bully!" Everyone was glaring at him now. "Mini-mustache won't let me sleep with him."

"You can't sleep with him!" They all shouted.

"If Ace was here, he'd let me sleep with him." The teen huffed.

Vista paled at the thought. Just imagining the Second Division Commander's reaction to the conversation was enough to give him nightmares. "No he wouldn't."

"Why not? I slept with Ace all the time." Luffy pouted.

Vista wasn't even going to touch that one as the rest of the crew gaped at the teen in shock. "You like dogs, right?" The boy nodded. "Someone go catch Stefan so he can sleep with him, alright? Ace does all the time."

"Really? YAY! Thank you, mini-mustache!" Judging by the look Marco was still giving him as the teen wrapped rubbery arms around his neck he wasn't going to be getting sleep anytime soon. Not until he explained. Maybe he could convince Oyaji to let him lock the kid in the room. Just in case Stefan wasn't enough for the grabby brat.

Whitebeard

It was peaceful on deck. Or about as peaceful as it ever really got with his sons and daughters running around. Maybe lively was a better way of putting it. Not that Newgate would have it any other way. He loved every minute of it. This was his treasure, no doubt about that. There was the sound of laughter, followed by a splash and a shout somewhere behind him. It sounded like the shitty brat had fallen into the sea. Again. The aged Captain chuckled into his cup at the thought. It was amazing how well the brat fit into his crew. Usually when another Captain had the balls to show up on the Moby Dick they were a loud disruption to his family. The strawhat brat was loud, that was for sure, but he wasn't half as disruptive as he'd expect. Even with his obvious willingness to fight Whitebeard. Cocky brat was a lot like his brother. He felt a wet spot on his knee and looked down to see the grin of his unexpected guest.

"Hey! Get the hell down, you little shit!" Marco shouted as he came running up.

"Don't wanna!" was the laughing reply. The teen was ballsy, he'd give him that. "Hey, Mr. Old-Mustache guy. Can't you just give me a ship so I can go?"

Whitebeard waved Marco off with a grin of his own as his son stalked off. "Oh? And how will you find your way, brat?" The brat reached into the band of his hat and pulled out a small slip of paper, holding it out definitely for Whitebeard to see. "A vivre card?"

"Mmm. Rayleigh gave it to me. See?" He pointed to the name written in the top corner. "I just go where this points, right?"

"Are you telling me or asking me, brat?"

There was a pout."That's how I was told it worked." The teen whined. "Ace didn't explain anything, he just handed me this stupid paper and told me it would let us meet again. I have three now, but Ace's is the biggest. It got a little smaller for a bit, but now it's back to normal."

Three vivre cards, and from the sound of it, one from Dark King Rayleigh. Even if he ignored the one Ace had given the boy, it was still impressive for a rookie. He didn't look like much, just some gangly teen with a dumb expression on his face and a straw hat. The brat was short, even for a normal human, too. Still, Whitebeard knew better than anyone not to judge a person by reputation or appearance. Cocky brat had one hell of a reputation though. His contemplation was interrupted as Namur came trotting up. The fishman gave the child still standing on his knee a dark look before turning his attention to his Captain.

"Oyaji, some of the boys want to go fishing."

He laughed. "Since when do you brats ask for my permission? Tell them to go ahead."

Namur gave the teen another dirty look. "Only if he stays the hell out of the water." The fishman crossed his arms. "We don't want to fish for snot-nosed rookies, Oyaji."

"Fall in a lot?" Whitebeard looked down at the teen who was studying Namur. If the brat said one derogatory thing about fishman, he'd personally smack the kid into the sea.

Dark brown eyes looked up at him with a shrug. "Sometimes I jump in."

He might have misheard. "You can't swim."

"I know. Zoro usually has to come get me. Oh, sometimes it's Sanji." He grinned. "It's fun! Even when Nami'll push me overboard. My Nakama won't let me drown."

It was possible that the poor boy was brain damaged. Ace was a violent guy, even when you were his friend. Maybe he'd done some damage to his younger brother accidently. It would explain the protective streak if his son felt guilty over something he'd done as a child. That had to be it; because the brat was screwed up. Devil fruit user jumping into the sea. Namur was looking at him with a 'See what I've had to deal with?' expression and he felt a little bit bad. He'd not been aware that the kid was so potentially suicidal. "Ah. Stay out of the water."

The teen pouted, looking away. His eyes found Namur again and the brat stretched out on his leg like it was a cliff before looking down slightly at his son. "Hey, are you a fishman?"

Namur tensed slightly. "Yes."

"Oh, ok."

"Is that a problem?" His eighth Division Commander asked.

"Huh? Why would it be?"

"There are people who don't like fishmen." Whitebeard explained, curious on what the brat's answer would be.

The brat looked over his shoulder at Whitebeard, finger digging in his nose. "That's stupid. I hate Arlong because he was mean to Nami, but Hachi's my friend. So's Keimi and Pappug. They're cool. Even Nami likes them."

Namur looked up at the kid. "You know Arlong?"

"Yeah. Nami, my navigator used to work for him, even though she didn't want to. The guy was a real bastard, but I took care of it. She said Hachi was alright." Whitebeard frowned, knowing there had to be a lot more to the story than that. He vaguely remembered Jimbei talking about how Arlong had gone off into the East Blue after he split from the Sun Pirates. Arlong was not the type to let a human 'work' for him. "Were you a friend of Arlong's?" The boy's voice had gone flat.

"No."

"Ok! Hey, do you know Hachi? He makes really good Takoyaki."

Namur shook his head. "Sorry, no. Hey, Oyaji, I'm going to let the others know about fishing. Brat, feel free to join us later. If you can stay out of the water."

"Really? Thanks!" The teen waved at the retreating fishman before looking over his shoulder at Whitebeard (little shit was still laying on his thigh! Ballsy brat.) and grinning. "I like your crew. They're not as fun as mine, but I can see why Ace likes it here."

"Is that so, brat?"

"Yep! But I'm still not gonna let you be Pirate King."

He laughed. "You think you can stop me?"

"Of course! Cause I'm gonna be King of the Pirates!" He cried out with such conviction Whitebeard couldn't help but shake his head. Luffy had a long way to go before he was ready to be King, and Whitebeard was still planning on his older brother being King, but he could see it happening one day. If the kid survived, that is.

"Why don't you become my son?" He found himself offering.

"Nope. A king can't serve under another Captain." Luffy shot back quickly. "Besides, I don't need a dad, I got Ace." Whitebeard blinked as he tried to follow what the boy meant. He knew the brothers were not brothers by blood, but it hadn't occurred to him that the younger had no contact with his own father. He wondered if Luffy even knew who it was before deciding it didn't matter. The boy was right; he had Ace looking out for him. Looking down at the Strawhat Captain he came to a decision that he'd have to talk to Ace. He wanted this brat as one of his sons.

Ace

Ace could barely quell his anxiety when the Moby Dick was finally in sight. He just hoped Oyaji would be willing to help. Not that he doubted Whitebeard's willingness to help one of his sons for a Second, but this was different. This was asking the man to help out another Captain, or at least find him. (If he could be found. If he wasn't dead.) Swallowing against the growing pit in his stomach he pushed Striker to go even faster. The closer he got, the more noise could be heard from the ship. It sounded like a party or something, which was great. It meant everyone was safe, and Oyaji would be in a good mood when he asked for help.

Swinging himself on board he wasted no time in heading for Newgate's chair. Here the cheering crowd was thicker, their attention taken away by something that was off to the side, allowing his presence to go relatively unnoticed. Thatch had spotted him though he pretended not to see the other's attempt to get his attention as he finally made his way in front of Oyaji.

The large man put down his tankard and grinned at him. "Ace."

"Oyaji." He nodded in reply, an answering smile on his freckled face, worries temporarily pushed aside.

"How was your voyage, son?"

Ace couldn't help the sneer on his face. "No luck. That rat-bastard's fast, I'll give him that. But when I catch him-"

"You will be cautious." Whitebeard cut him off. "The matter isn't as important to me as your life."

Despite trying to keep a scowl on, Ace couldn't help but feel warmed by those words. The simple reminder that Oyaji cared. That his being alive made the man he willingly called 'Father' happy in a way that neither of them questioned. Ace loved this crew so much. The feeling of contentment similar to what he felt around Luffy...The worry bordering on panic came rushing back. True, it had never really went away. He was a big brother after all.

It must have shown on his face, because Whitebeard leaned forward. "What is it Ace?"

"Oyaji...I need your help." He dug into his bag, pulling out yesterday's paper. "My little brother, Luffy! He's gone missing! He and his crew got into it with the marines on Sabaody and-"

A warm body slammed into him from behind, causing the young pirate to go flying into Oyaji's chair, paper fluttering to the ground. The Second Division Commander growled under his breath as he climbed to his feet, his already strained temper snapping. He was going to beat the shit out of the fool who'd hit him. Thinking viciously of broken bones and third degree burns he spun with a glare, only to come face to face with the biggest idiot he knew. (A grinning, laughing idiot that he was going to still kill for worrying him like that!) He felt his eye twitch as he stared down at his happy little brother who was supposed to be far, far away.

"ACE!" Luffy practically radiated joy in that way he had, eyes dancing. "Your nakama is huge!"

"Luffy, what have I told you about watching where you're rocketing to?" He scolded to cover his relief as a crowd began to gather. Naturally the teen just laughed it off. "How about telling me what the hell you're doing here?"

"Good question!" Thatch called out, pushing his way to the front. "Kid just slammed into the deck yesterday like some demented cannonball. Wouldn't tell us anything."

"Luffy?"

His brother cocked his head to the side and scrunched up his brow, obviously thinking hard. "Mmmm... I think it was that Kuma guy."

He nodded, letting Luffy know he wanted more information with just a raised eyebrow even as his stomach dropped somewhere down below deck. Luffy was strong, he didn't doubt it at all, but Kuma was on another level. Just what had the idiot done to piss the guy off?

"We were on Sabaody waiting for Rayleigh to finish coating our ship after we rescued Keimi-"

"Dark King Rayleigh?" Marco seemed interested.

Luffy laughed. "Yep! He's cool, Ace! He knows Shanks! Oh, and Roger, too, I guess. Funny guy, though. He was pretending to be a slave when we met so he could steal money."

"Wait you mean you really kidnapped some Tenryūbito, bra-" He glared at Izo, redirecting his anxiety over the thought easily. "I mean, Luffy?"

"Nah." Instantly he felt better. "I punched one, though." And now he felt a lot more worried, but proud at the same time. "I think that's why the marines and that Kuma guy came. There were these cyborgs that looked like Kuma, too. Pastafeasta? No. Mmm, Pastafist?"

"Pastifista?"

"That's it! Anyway, We were fighting, and Kuma showed up and the next thing I know I'm here."

Ace wasn't even going to think about it. It was better for his health if he didn't contemplate how his brother had ended up in a fight with one of the Shichibukai again. Nope, wasn't going to think about that, or how he was pretty sure Luffy'd already threatened Oyaji. Kid was on the ship longer than five minutes. It had to have happened. Oyaji seemed to be smiling though, so maybe he liked his little brother? Ace grinned. He could work with that. "Hey, Luffy..."

"Ace?" His bumbling little brother looked at him with those wide eyes (People always said vacant. They weren't!) and tilted his head to the side, recognizing the grin.

"You sure you don't wanna join my crew? Just for a while, at least?"

"Will there be meat?"

Ace laughed, "All you can eat. What do you say, little brother? Just until we find your crew?"

"Ok...but I get to be Captain!"

"HELL NO!" A few crewmates shouted, overhearing Luffy.

Ace just laughed. "He's not serious. Well, he is, but he's got his own crew."

"I think they mean he can't join, yoi." Marco stated, looking slightly aggravated. "Do you have any idea the trouble your little brother is?"

"Why do you think I worry?" Ace pointed out, dropping an arm around Luffy to keep him from running off. He turned his attention to Oyaji. "Please? Can I keep him?"

Thatch muttered. "What is he, a stray dog?" Luffy barking at him didn't help his image, so he slapped a hand over his brother's mouth.

"He's a lively brat." Oyaji chuckled. "Send word to keep an eye out for his crew, Ace."

"So...is that a yes?"

"He can stay on board for now." Oyaji grinned down at him. "I'll decide later."

"YAY! Thanks Old-giant-Mustache guy!" Luffy cheered before turning his attention to more important matters. "MEAT!"

Ace just laughed as he was dragged along behind. When he felt Marco's hand on his shoulder he paused. "Just remember, as long as he's here, you're staying on the ship, yoi."

"Why, Luffy too much for you?"

"Hey, Mr. Pineapple, are you gonna lay some eggs for us yet? I'm hungry!" Luffy called out, causing Marco's face to turn interesting colors. Maybe it would be a good idea to stay on board. At least until he was sure that Luffy wasn't going to get someone killed.

"Wipe the grin off, Portgas. Izo's been keeping track of the bill he's run up, and unless he joins the crew, you are going to have to pay for it."

"What?! Why?"

"Because he's your brother." Marco looked a bit smug when he said that.

"Marco...did I ever mention that I was adopted?"

Chapter Text

ACE

"I'm tired…" Ace moaned, leaning against the rails of the ship next to Roku. The man just looked over at him and shook his head before turning his attention back to heart of the loud party where one Monkey D. Luffy was making a fool out of himself still.

Ace might have forgotten how exhausting it was to keep up with Luffy when his little brother was worked up about something and trying to blow off steam. He understood exactly where the teen was coming from after hearing how he'd ended up on the Moby Dick though. It was one thing to lose a fight, that was something his idiot of a brother was more than capable of getting over quickly (and trying again with great enthusiasm) but to watch his whole crew sent away like that? For Luffy it was the worst thing imaginable. Luffy had never been able to handle being alone for any length of time. Hell, their relationship had been formed on that to begin with. He was just so happy that not only was his little brother safe, but on this ship. Even if his Ship-brothers found him a little annoying right now, Ace knew that they'd give the kid the attention he desperately needed. Eventually they'd see what an amazingly charming, sweet, loveable idiot Luffy could be…. though it might take Marco a bit longer to see the light. As for those who said his brother was just some useless rookie. Well, even Ace had to admit Luffy was a bit rough around the edges. The only way to prove the kid had earned his own bounty would be to let him fight, and just the thought of that made him want to beat the crap out of anyone who so much as suggested sparring with the young Captain. So, that was out.

Still, it looked like some of the crew had warmed up to his hyperactive brother already. Thatch had been a given, since Luffy could eat more than Ace. But he was a bit surprised to see Vista in the teen's company during the impromptu party. He wondered if he could count Vista among those who'd be all for Luffy joining the crew. Even if it was only temporary. Of course, that meant they'd have to figure out something to do with Luffy's crew. Somehow, he didn't think the ship would survive the whole Strawhat crew on board. First they had to find the crew though. He knew Luffy had to be worried sick about it. Even though he'd only spent a little time with the Strawhat crew, it had been obvious how close they all were. With that thought in mind he made his way back over to the heart of the party where his brother was trying to hide a yawn.

"So, Luffy, what Division do they have you bedding down with?" Ace grinned, secretly hoping it was his own so he could sneak down into the bunks and join his brother.

The pout on Luffy's face caused his grin to falter. "None."

"What? Then where are you sleeping?"

"Some room over that way." Luffy huffed, obviously upset. "Mr. Mini-mustache wouldn't sleep with me, either."

Ace froze at those words. He was barely aware of Vista turning completely white and breaking out into a sweat. The Second Division Commander was too busy thinking about his clingy little brother was expected to sleep alone on a ship full of people, and he saw red. Flames burst to life without his knowledge across his shoulders as he thought of poor Luffy alone in some makeshift room, especially after what he'd just been though. He turned a murderous glare at the mustached swordsman and noticed how most of the crew members near took a big step back.

"Vista!"

"Ace, Ace… It's not what it sound's like…" Vista's adam's apple bobbed noticeably as the younger Commander took a step closer.

"You wouldn't sleep with my brother?! What is wrong with you?!" There was a pause as everyone just stared at Ace in shock.

"Um… Ace? You realize you just asked Vista why he wouldn't have se-"

"Shut up, Thatch." Ace growled. "That's not what I meant, and he knows it."

"I'm...sorry?" Vista apologized. "Your brother is a Captain in his own right, though. Oyaji said to give him his own room."

"Someone show Luffy to my room." Ace snapped out, eyes flashing dangerously even as Luffy cheered next to him. "And get Stefan in there, too."

"You can't do that, yoi."

"I don't give a fuck right now, Marco. I can't believe you people thought it was a good idea to let Luffy sleep on his own!"

Marco just let his anger was over him as the two of them headed over to Whitebeard. "He's a Captain. It would be rude to have him bunk down with the crew. Oyaji's orders." The blonde reminded him as they came to a stop right in front of their Captain.

"What seems to be the problem, my sons?"

"Oyaji!" Ace snapped out, still smoldering in rage. "Luffty's bunking with me."

Whitebeard just raised an eyebrow at him. "Your brother claims to be a Captain. One of those so-called Supernova Rookies. He deserves his own room."

"It's not about what he deserves!"

"And it's not about what you think is best for the brat, Ace!" Oyaji snapped back.

"Oyaji is right, yoi." Marco attempted to put a hand on his shoulder only to have Ace shrug it off. "I know it's hard, but your little brother is grown up; he doesn't need you to look out for him."

"AHHH!" The flames roared to life before dying out just as quickly as he felt his temper flair at the insinuation. (Yes, he knew he had a bit of a brother complex. It was Luffy, who wouldn't? But that wasn't it, dammit!) He glared equally at both older men while they looked at him in surprise. "You don't get it! Think about it!"

"Then what is it, my son?"

"Luffy got sent here by Kuma right after seeing the shichibukai send everyone in his whole crew away! He's alone and you stuck him in a storage shed!"

Marco frowned "Oiy, he seems fine."

"Yeah, he seemed fine when Garp dumped him at Dadan's too." Ace griped. "He was so fucking annoying, always following me around with this stupid grin even when I tried to kill him."

"You tried to kill the brat?" Whitebeard frowned, obviously confused.

Ace felt his cheeks color in shame and he looked away. "Yeah, well… he was really annoying. Like, seriously annoying and weak. Besides, it was before the idiot had the shit beat out of him by Bluejam because he wouldn't sell us out...Luffy almost died for real then." He glared at Whitebeard. "You know what my seven year old little brother said then? He said it hurt more to be alone than to be hurt. And you put him in a fucking shed alone after he just lost his whole crew, Oyaji."

There was a momentary pause before Whitebeard sighed. "You're right, my son. That was thoughtless of me. You have my permission to have your brother, Captain Strawhat Luffy, bunk in your room during his stay."

"What about Stefan, yoi?"

"You want my dog, too?"

The younger pirate shrugged. "Luffy likes animals."

"Fine then. You may borrow Stefan as well. But if he causes a mess or breaks anything, it is your job to fix it Ace. Not your Division. Understood?"

"Got it, Oyaji. Thanks." He grinned, relieved. He bowed low before turning to leave, Marco on his heels.

"Do you need anything, yoi?"

"Nah. I think I have some extra blankets. Thanks though, Marco."

"No problem. Sorry. Your brother just seemed so, well, not normal….he wasn't acting odder than we were expecting. Didn't say anything either."

Ace sighed. "He wouldn't. Luffy's an idiot." Don't worry about it."

"Right, well. Get some sleep, yoi. You have first shift on deck."

"Don't remind me." He moaned. "Luffy is going to be such a pain while I'm trying to work, too."

"I'll watch him, just this once." Marco offered, causing Ace to grin.

"Thanks, man!" He waved to the other, heading quickly for Commander's wing and his brother. Looked like he was going to get that sleepover he wanted after all.

MARCO

He was being stared at. Marco hated that. "What, yoi?"

"Mmmmm. You're a Zoan-type, right?" The brat asked, still staring intently at him. Honestly, he was a little surprised that the kid remembered. He wasn't exactly the sharpest.

"Yeah. Mythical-Zoan. Phoenix, remember?"

The strawhat-brat nodded. "Right! A burning chicken." Marco felt his eye twitch and wondered once again how he had let Ace sucker him in to watching the younger D while his older brother worked. (The logical part of him reminded Marco that there was very little chance of Ace working with Luffy in tow right now.) The teen completely ignored the dark look the First Division Commander was giving him and cocked his head to the side, still staring at him.

"WHAT?"

A wide grin was his only response as the kid nodded to himself and stood. He trotted away before turning and waving. "Stay there!"

Marco chose to ignore the idiocy and went back to his paperwork. Whatever had the young pirate worked up seemed harmless enough; he wasn't bouncing all over the place, or shouting about something. So he'd just do what he had been doing for the last hour and if the kid came back, fine. If not, well. He was busy. Wasn't his fault if the snot-nosed brat had the attention span of a water-flea. He did have to admit the way he squirmed, trying not to distract Marco, had been kind of amusing. (Yes, it was cute. No, he wouldn't tell Ace that.) It had obviously been killing the kid to be quite that long. The older pirate chuckled to himself as he continued to work, well aware that his respite might be interrupted at any moment. Soon enough he did start to worry at least a little bit about the lack of distractions. Mentally he started to keep track of how long it had been, deciding if a half an hour went by he would actually go looking.

Just as he was getting up to start the search rubbery arms wrapped around his waist. "What the hell?" Marco glared down at the youth.

"Shihihi! Sorry!" He didn't look sorry at all. In fact, he looked really excited about something as he pulled away. "Sit!"

"Not till you tell me what you've been up to, yoi." Marco continued to glare, crossing his arms. It was a look that usually cowed members of his own Division, but had no effect on the bubbly Strawhat Captain.

The teen grinned at him, obviously proud as he held up what looked like a squeeze bottle. Marco didn't know where he'd found it, and he wasn't sure he wanted to know. "I'm gonna groom you!"

Damn the kid was loud. Other people had obviously heard since he caught a few hiding their snickers. "You're going to what?"

"Groom you." The brat repeated it like Marco was the one who was a bit slow on the uptake. "Chopper says it's important for Zoan-types to groom."

"Uh-huh." Warily, Marco sat, still warning Luffy away with his look even though the kid was practically vibrating with energy. "Who's Chopper?"

"Our Doctor." The reply was instant. "He's a reindeer with a blue nose, and he ate the Hito Hito no Mi."

"A reindeer, yoi?" The kid nodded. He could see where grooming would be an issue. Marco for one took care of his own needs, preening in privacy. Still, it surprised him that Luffy had thought of it. "I don't need help, brat."

Luffy pouted. "But your hair is all… oily and stuff."

Marco resisted the urge to reach up and feel it. He knew it was a little oily, but the kid didn't have room to talk, really. "It's fine, yoi."

"But I can help!" The bottle was held up again. "Look! I brought stuff!" The kid beamed at him. At least he didn't bring a dog brush.

Finally after a long stare off where Marco ended up feeling like the bad guy, he gave in with a sigh. "Alright. Just this once, yoi."

"Yay!" Luffy practically danced around him cheering.

He settled down quickly, pulling out a brush from his back pocket and placing it on the table next to the opaque bottle while Marco moved his papers out of the way. The phoenix prepared for some painful hair-tugging for the sake of keeping his friend's little brother happy. (Something told him a sad or upset Luffy was something he didn't want to see, either.) He was quite surprised when instead of rough pulls and tugs, he felt gentle hands carding through his hair, working out the knots with ease and rubbing the scalp. It felt a little weird, since the teen applied almost no pressure at all. Almost like a strong wind. The whole time, Luffy hummed to himself, even as he reached out and grabbed the brush. That he worked more vigorously against Marco's scalp, but still not rough enough to be painful. It actually was starting to feel good.

"Do this a lot?"

"Mmmm. I brush Chopper sometimes. If I get too rough let me know. Chopper says it's 'cauz I don't feel pain like most people. Sorry." Luffy admitted, causing Marco to feel a slight twinge of guilt. Here the kid was going out of his way to be as gentle as he could when he really didn't have the same concept of pain. He'd forgotten that about the rubber-man.

"It's fine. You can't hurt me."

They both lapsed into silence. After what felt like both too long and too short of a time, the brush was put down and Luffy reached out for the bottle. Marco felt something cool and tingly on his scalp as whatever was in it was poured on his hair. He had a moment of panic, hoping the kid knew what he was doing, before those fingers started working their magic. It really did feel like magic, too. Luffy applied just the right amount of pressure as he massaged the scalp and hair, rubbing the mixture thoroughly into every strand without forming any knots. And he just kept up that glorious pressure. Marco was officially sold on letting someone else help with preening if it would feel this good. He'd croon, but his ship-brothers would never let him live it down. After some time he felt something soft press against his head, maybe a towel. He wasn't sure and he didn't want to open his eyes to find out. Instead he just leaned into it. Whatever it was was gentle and quickly replaced with the brush through the slightly damp hair.

"Hey Marco! Thanks for watching Lu-"

Marco lazily replied, not bothering to open his eyes. "No problem, yoi."

"Marco?"

"Yes, Ace?" He felt the brushing stop and guessed that Ace had done something. He cracked an eye open. The fire-man looked slightly nervous and amused at the same time.

"Did you want Luffy to, er, dyeyourhairblack?"

He blinked dully at the two brothers. Luffy was still smiling widely at him, oblivious. Ace had his brother by the arm and looked ready to run. "What?"

"Luffy kind-of might have dyed your hair black?" Ace gulped.

Marco turned his attention to Luffy. "You did what?"

The snot-nosed brat just laughed like it was the best joke ever. "I didn't think it would do that."

"Then what did you think it was going to do? And what was it, yoi?" Marco felt a headache coming on.

"Clean your hair." Again, Luffy looked at him like he was the idiot. "Pell used sand, but he was a bird-bird type or something, and you're a fire-chicken. So I thought I should use oil. Except, I couldn't find any fast enough. I found squid ink, though; and I thought that oil is black and ink is black, so it should work the same, right? Oh! And then I added some pineapple juice, because your hair reminds me of a pineapple." Luffy grinned widely. "It's all dark and shiny now!"

Really, he had no one to blame but himself. He shouldn't get mad at the kid, he was just trying to help in his own idiotic-not-helpful-at-all kind of way.

"It really is very shiny and soft looking." Ace decided to put in.

"That's it." Marco stood, killer intent flowing from him. "Run, yoi."

"Eeep!" Ace took off, dragging a laughing Luffy behind him as Marco ran a hand through his hair.

Damn if it wasn't softer than before. If it wasn't for the fact that it was black he would thank the kid. "Just like the youngest to pull a stunt like that…"

JOZU

Jozukept his eyes focused on Ace's chest trying to gauge when his brother was going to attack. Ace might not be the fastest member of the crew, but he was unpredictable and he hit hard. Sparring with the Second Division Commander always gave him a bit of a thrill because of that. Ace was not known for pulling his punches. Or using anything but his full strength in a fight for that matter. Like most Ds, moderation just didn't seem to be part of his vocabulary. That was why when Ace rushed him only to vanish in a flash of fire, Jozu instantly hardened his skin into diamond. The blow to his kidneys hurt like a bitch all the same, but it didn't drop him out of the game. That honor went to the follow-up kick to the back of his knees that ended with him on the ground and a knife-point right under his chin.

"Alright, you win." Jozu ceded. "You've gotten faster, Ace."

The younger pirate flipped his knife over a few times before sliding it back into his sheath, a cocky grin on his face. "Thanks. So have you."

"Care to go another round?"

"Nah, not today. There's someone else I want to spar with today." Jozu followed his gaze to where the Strawhat brat was sitting precariously on the rail of the ship staring at nothing.

"Are you sure that's such a good idea, Ace?" He began worriedly. "The kid's a rookie, he's not up to your level."

Instead of getting mad like he half expected, Ace just grinned. "My little brother has never been up to my level. Luffy's strong, though. Have you seen his new bounty? 300,000,000 beri. Not bad for a rookie that's been on the seas for less than a year, right?"

Jozujust rolled his eyes, refusing to comment. (It was impressive if that bounty was an accurate representation of the brat's strength though. Personally he thought the fool was just a figurehead for his crew.) He knew there was no point in convincing his friend not to spar with the brat. Instead he settled on one of the stairs that lined the part of the deck designated for sparing to watch. Someone had to be ready to referee and interfere when Ace went a little over the top. He didn't have long to wait as Ace cleared the area of various weapons lying around and removed his own dagger. The young man paused for a moment, holding two bo staffs and looked over in the direction of his sibling before shrugging and putting them away. He knew Ace was decent with most weapons, but he'd almost forgotten that the Logia user was an expert with the staff. It was a good thing that Ace had put away the staffs; there was no way the little idiot was any good with a weapon. He'd be killed for sure.

"Oiy! Luffy!" Ace shouted out, a grin on his face as the teen turned his head to look at him. (Creepy, kid looked part owl when he did that.) "You still think you can beat me?"

The reaction was instantaneous. The brat's face broke out into a ridiculously large grin and he practically flew off the rail with a shout. Naturally, that got the attention of some of the crew who stopped to watch the newest annoyance launch himself at Ace with no warning. The kid was mental, that was for sure. There didn't seem to be any real sort of planning the the fury of punches that were so fast it appeared as though he had multiple arms. Ace had no trouble dodging most of the blows. blocking what he couldn't dodge. The grin never left the Second Division Commander's face when he switched to the offensive, aiming a powerful kick at the smaller pirate's middle which was barely avoided. The punch that followed connected soundly with the youth's chin, causing his head to snap back at least three feet while the rest of the body barely slid. The head became a weapon as it snapped back in place, colliding with Ace's forehead. Both fighters paused and glared at each other, rubbing the matching bruises before falling upon each other with renewed energy. When the Whitebeard pirate was forced to shift into flames to avoid a debilitating ax kick to the head there were some appreciative whistles from the crowds that had gathered that ended in winces of sympathy when an arm reformed and collided with Stawhat's stomach.

"Not bad, Luffy." Ace smirked. "You've gotten better."

The young Captain just grinned, resting a moment with his hands on his knees. "Thanks!"

"Still not good enough to beat me, of course." The older brother teases as he shot forward.

"Gear second!" There was a bright pink sheen on the brat's body, and he literally vanished before Ace's flaming fist could connect only to seemingly reappear behind his brother, still grinning. "Jet pistol!" His right arm shot out and connected with Ace's chest and went right through, but not before sending the other sliding back six feet.

Ace's expression turned feral, and Jozu tensed, ready to leap in before the hothead killed his brother in a fit of rage. He'd barely gotten to his feet before Ace slammed into the poor kid like a cannonball. He was surprised when Luffy managed to dodge quite a few of the flaming blows at first. The boy was still outclassed, however, and just before he managed to latch onto Ace, a right hook that even looked painful collided with the side of Strawhat's head. Luffy went flying, colliding with the steps, the pink color fading from his body as he shook his head.

"You lose." The Second Division Commander looked smug.

The teen leapt to his feet with a pout, apparently fine. "No fair! Again!"

"Why? So you can lose again?" Ace's words sounded harsh, but he seemed genuinely happy. "I'm impressed, Luffy. You've gotten a lot stronger since the last time I saw you.

"I've been training. Not like Zoro, though. He's got all these weights and stuff, but he won't let me touch them. I think he's still sore about when I used one as an anchor."

"You did what?"

"I used one of his dumbbells to anchor the ship." Luffy grinned. "Some Marines broke ours, and Nami said we needed to stop. It worked really well, but Zoro got pissed for some reason." That raised the question of exactly how much the dumbbell had weighed to stop a ship.

VISTA

"Good morning, Oyaji!" Vista shouted, coming over to the man he loved like a father, holding the daily news.

Newgate held a tankard even this early in the morning, and he was pretty sure it didn't have coffee. At least, not straight coffee if the way the nurses were glaring at him was any indication. (Really, you'd think the women would learn by now that the man would not be denied his booze.) He was a bit surprised when the man just raised his drink in acknowledgement and went back to looking down at his right. Immediately he worried that something was wrong, but that didn't make any sense, because despite the glaring, the nurses were being awfully calm. In fact, some of them seemed to be fighting smiles. Stopping right in front of the Captain's chair, he couldn't figure it out as the man didn't even look at him.

"Oyaji?"

"Vista, what is the news?" The other replied, still looking down.

Vista did his best to ignore the rudeness that was very out of character for his Oyaji and glanced at the paper in his hand. "Er. Not much. Only thing interesting is the meeting called for the Shichibukai. No reason given as to the why though. There's no word in the paper about the Strawhat Crew or Teach either."

"I figured as much." Whitebeard frowned, looking at him briefly before something once again caught his attention. The older pirate actually let out a half-snort of amusement before looking at Vista again, humor dancing in his eyes as he tilted his head to the side and pointed down.

Curiosity now peaked, the Fifth Division Commander edged around the massive seat. The first thing he noticed was the sounds of snores. Having lived on board the same ship with Ace for the last few years, he knew that particular sound so he wasn't surprised to see Ace's boots. (He fully admitted it was weird that he could pick out his ship-brother's snore from the hundreds of other crew members. But given Ace's tendency to drop off in the oddest spots it could be seen as a survival tactic so one didn't step on the fire-man and go up like a candle. Or scream like a marine at the weird noises coming out of a closet like Jozudid.) He was a little taken back to see Ace's little brother straddling the man's hips; sandaled feet hooked back around his knees as he leaned forward in a position that made the swordsman decidedly uncomfortable on what he'd just walked in on. It was only the knowledge that Oyaji was not into voyeurism that stopped him from turning away right then and there before he'd even taken in the finer details. Like the grin on the kid's face and the thick marker in his hand that he must have gotten from a nurse. He watched in (horrified) fascination as the teen thickened the swirly line on Ace's freckled cheek before darkening the area under the nose. The logical sane part of his brain told Vista that he did not want to be there when Ace woke up. The guy had been adamant since day one about not growing facial hair. Even going so far as to burn Thatch when the Fourth Division Commander had jokingly given him a mustache disguise. The rest of him was in full agreement with Oyaji; this was funny as hell, and Luffy might be the only one who'd ever be able to get away with that. Ace loved his brother right?

There was a snort, and Ace's eyes opened. The man blinked twice, a frown creasing his face as he looked at his brother's wide grin and the marker still held right over his face. Vista felt his stomach drop as he saw the realization that the kid had been drawing on him dawn on his friend. Ace had long ago mastered the scare-the-crap-out-of-you-scowl, and that was exactly the look he leveled at his brother. Unfortunately, Strawhat was either too foolish or too stupid to care that his life was possibly in danger as he continued to sit there grinning down like the lunatic he probably was. Visa had to give it to the kid, he moved pretty fast when Ace's fist came flying at his head in a blur of motion.

"What the hell did you do, Luffy?" Ace snapped, sitting up and glaring at his brother as the uncapped marker rolled on the deck between them.

The teen snickered just out of reach, a wide grin on his face and pointed at his brother. "Shihihi! I made you look like Mr. Old Mustache!"

Ace looked down at the marker, then at his brother. "You son of a bitch! Get back here!" Luffy yelped and took off around the far side of the chair with Ace hot on his heels, marker now in hand. "Let's see how you like someone drawing on your face!" It was a bit sad to see the Second Division Commander running around the chair unable to catch one small boy. Vista had wisely moved out of the way on the first lap around, but by the fourth time the kid had raced past it was getting ridiculous, and he was seriously starting to doubt Ace's intelligence. That is until Ace skidded to a halt right in front of the chair and spun around holding out his arms, a wicked gleam in his eyes as Luffy rounded the corner. "Come here!"

"AHHH! No!" The teen tried to stop but he was obviously going much too fast. Ace was ready for him though. He easily caught the rubber-man and picked him up, stopping his momentum instantly while ignoring the infectious laughter that had everyone watching grinning. "Nooooo! Ace let me go! Don't! Shihihihi! Put me down!"

Ace grinned. (Something about it bothered Vista for some reason, but he wasn't sure why.) "Put you down?" He dropped the teen, landing on top on him and sitting on his chest. Luffy kicked and failed under the weight but kept laughing even as his brother leaned in with the uncapped marker and roughly grabbed his hair to keep his head still. "Let's see….How about….." Ace grinned even wider, coloring a mustache and small beard around Luffy's mouth quickly before throwing his head back and laughing.

"What? What's so funny?!" Luffy whined under him.

"You-You look." Ace wheezed, rolling off his brother. He waved to one of the nurses who'd spent enough time interpreting the drunken wants of the crew to figure out what Ace needed and handed him a mirror which he held out to his brother while still laughing. He tried again. "Y-you look like Jiji!" He choked out before collapsing in laughter again.

Luffy took one look at his face and paled slightly, an obvious shudder going through him. "Not funny, Ace!" He pouted, tossing the mirror back. "Jiji is scary!"

"Aww come on, Lu! It can't be as bad as what you did to my f...ace." All the color drained from Ace's face as he looked at himself in the mirror, the wide grin instantly melting off his face and replaced by a look of true horror.

"I…" Luffy's voice was soft. "I just wanted to make you look like Mr. Old Mus- I mean Whitebeard. I'm sorry, Ace."

Vista had the feeling that he was missing something, and it had to do with why Ace didn't like the idea of growing facial hair. That was a puzzle for another time, though. It bothered him that Luffy was so upset about this, even more than it bothered him that Ace was upset. He was used to seeing Ace upset. Luffy, well, he could see why Ace worried about his brother. This kid wasn't meant to look like that. It felt wrong. So he plastered a grin on his face and chucked. "I think you may have failed, Strawhat. But few look so good with a mustache as Oyaji." He pat his ship-brother on the shoulder in a consoling manner. "Ace my friend, the mustache is not a good look for you. It clashes with your freckles."

Luffy nodded seriously. "Connect the dots would have been better."

"You draw on my face again, and I'm going to kill you." Ace half heartedly threatened, color coming back to both of the brothers. After a moment he snickered and looked at the mirror again. "It is pretty funny, I guess."

The younger nodded, jumping to his feet and puffed out his chest, hands on his hips. "Bwahahaha! I'm Garp! Who wants a Fist of Love?" It was actually a good impression, and Oyaji started to laugh, which set Vista and Ace off as well. Soon even the nurses were laughing along with all of them.

"What's so funny, yoi?" Vista turned to see Marco standing right behind him. The man's hair was still stained a dull gray from Luffy's prank a few days ago, but at least it was no longer coal black. Still laughing all he could do was point at Luffy who was still doing an impression of his grandfather as he 'scolded' Whitebeard for corrupting his grandson. Ace for his part was howling with laughter on the ground. "Ace?" Marco looked at his friend, head cocked to the side in confusion.

Ace was still laughing, tears running from his eyes as he turned towards them. He tried to school his expression into his usual smirk, only to have a wide grin break out. His eyes danced as he waved at the First Division Commander, leaning heavily on his brother as they both laughed. "Yeah Marco?"

"..." The blond shook his head. "Just wanted to let you know your shift is about to start. Crow's nest."

"Right, almost forgot." The younger pirate tightened his hold around his brother. "Come on, you. You can help."

"Yosh!" The two continued to chuckle as they walked off, taking the damp cloth one of the nurses held out.

Vista waited until they were out of earshot before turning to Marco. "Alright, what was that about?"

"What was what about?" Marco replied, still watching the two brothers, a strange look on his face.

"That!" Vista poked him, earning a glare. "That look you were giving Ace."

"Nothing, yoi." Marco shrugged, walking off.

"Asshole." Vista muttered.

"Grahahahaha! Your brother just realized something about Ace is all." Whitebeard grinned down at him.

"Oh? What?" It was a completely rhetorical question, since he knew very well his Oyaji would want him to work it out for himself. "It has to do with the mustache doesn't it?" The twinkle in those gold eyes told him he was on the right track and he fiddled with his own mustache as he thought about it. There was a nagging thought that he'd seen a grin just like that before, long ago. That couldn't be possible, though, because that man was long gone, leaving behind a broken crew, faded posters, and a legendary treasure. "Oyaji…"

Whitebeard smiled down at him with that knowing look. "Remember that Ace is your brother and my son before anything else. Now, off to work with you, you brat."

"Yes, Sir." Vista nodded, recognizing the dismissal for what it was even as his mind was reeling from the revelation. As he walked past the mast, he could hear the two brothers laughing and shouting still from their post in the crows nest. Shaking his head he continued on towards his room to work on his reports. "Oyaji's screwing with me."

THATCH & IZO

Peeling potatoes was by no means a hard job, but it was boring as hell. Especially when you had a crew the size of the Whitebeard Pirates to feed. Basically, it meant hours of peeling, even for the most experienced chefs on the crew. So, since Thatch was always happy for the help of his brothers and sisters when it was his turn to prep the tuber.

"Tell me again why we can't just leave the skin on these things?" Izo sighed as he placed another completed potato in the 'done' pile for pickup at their table.

Thatch hid a chuckle at the look on the cross-dresser's face, knowing the question was driven more by the feel of the just-peeled starch than anything else. Sometimes he was such a girl. He expertly ran the edge of his knife along his own potato as he answered anyway. "Well, because these babies have been in storage way too long to do that; that's why they're a bit tacky feeling. The skin'd taste funky right now if we cooked with it. So we're peeling them." He grinned widely at the other Commander sitting across from him, holding up a long uninterrupted string of skin. "Hey, look! No breaks. That's good luck, right?"

"You are thinking Apple peels, idiot. And girls do that to find their true loves or some shit. I think they throw the peel over their shoulder, right?" Izo turned his attention to the next tuber.

"Oh." He looked at the peel and shrugged." Well, use what ya got, right?" He tossed the peel over his shoulder.

"HEY!" Came a familiar indignant shout, causing them both to pause.

Thatch couldn't help but grin at the sight of the Second Division Commander standing a few feet behind him, a long peel of potato running over and across the brim of his hat and sticking to his chest. He put his knife down and fluttered his lashes dramatically. "What do you know, it worked! Ace, my true love!"

"Very funny, Thatch." The younger pirate made a face, pulling off the peel and adding it to the compost pile before sitting and holding out a hand for a potato.

Izo stopped again in his work. "Not that I don't appreciate the help, but, where's the little pest?"

"Hmm?" Ace continued to work, his method to take multiple slivers of skin off the vegetable. "Oh, around." Thatch kind of got worried when he said that. "I think he was looking for a 'Special Seat' or something. Anyway, Oyaji told me to get my ass down here and help."

"I see."

They worked in silence for a while before Thatch noticed that Ace was taking more potatoes than he was putting in the done pile. He had a good idea of what was going on. "Ace."

"M-eah?"

"Stop eating the potatoes." He sighed, not bothering to look at the other. He knew Ace would have his trademark grin and stuffed cheeks.

"M'ungry!"

"So's the rest of the crew! Just because you can cook them as you go doesn't mean you get to eat them! No more!"

The sound of swallowing. "Fine." Ace pouted.

"AAAACCCEEEE!"

"Crap, the other bottomless pit." Thatch moaned, praying the fool wouldn't eat the raw potatoes.

Ace, on the other hand, had this happy smile on his face. (Alright, if Thatch was willing to risk third degree burns he'd say it was an adorable smile. All tender and protective. Buuuut, he rather liked being alive and not burned so he kept such thoughts to himself. And Marco late at night over a few drinks behind the safety of well locked thick doors.) The freckled pirate waved at his young brother, encouraging the headache to bounce over. "Luffy! There you are! What the hell have you been doing?"

"Exploring." The teen grinned, sitting at the table. "This ship is huge!"

"So Br-Luffy." Izo began, glancing at Ace. "What do you do on your crew?"

"I'm the Captain!" The teen cheered, throwing his arms in the air with a grin.

Thatch gave him points for enthusiasm at least. "So you make the decisions for your crew, then?"

The boy seemed to think about it for a second. "Huh?" Yep. He was an idiot.

Izo put the potato he'd just finished out of the brat's reach. "What he means is, you decide where your crew goes, right?"

"Oh!" The brat grinned. "Nope! That's Nami; She's our navigator."

"You divvy up the treasure?" Thatch tried.

"Why would I do that? Robin's smarter then me and Nami's good at haggling."

"What about deciding if you're going to fight or not?" Thatch pointed his knife at him. "Who decides that?"

"That's a stupid question!" Finally! "We always fight! Zoro n' Sanji'd be pissed if we didn't."

Izo frowned. "You at least decide what happens to your captives, right?"

"We can keep captives?!" The brat seemed shocked by this. "That's SO COOL! But what would we do with them? Chopper wouldn't let us hurt them…."

Thatch paused for a second. "Isn't Chopper your pet? A raccoon or something?"

"Reindeer. He's our doctor." Because that made complete sense. He looked over at Ace, and his friend shrugged, nodding.

"Well…." Thatch thought, grasping for anything a Captain did. "You decide everyone's shifts, right?"

"Draw straws." He picked his nose.

Ace calmly put his knife down while Thatch and Izo just stared at the brat and then THUMP! all three turned to look at the dark haired pirate who'd slammed his head into the table.

"Ace?" Luffy poked his brother's head. "Did you fall asleep? Ace?" His hand was batted away. "Shihihi, you're awake!"

"Luffy….You're an idiot." Ace groaned into the table.

The teen just laughed, butchering another potato. "Oh! Ace! I saw Jiji."

Ace cringed, pailing visibly as he lifted his head off the table. "Yeah? When was this?"

"Um, a month or so ago? We were at Water Seven waiting for Franky to build Thousand Sunny, because, you know, Merry got broken. I don't remember when he showed up because I was sleeping."

"You slept through him showing up?"

"Yep. Running from a Buster Call is exhausting, Shihihihi!"

Thatch gaped at the young pirate. "Wait, so that was true? You really declared war on the World Government?! Are you stupid?"

Luffy just gave him a blank stare before answering. "They took Robin."

Izo raised a delicately manicured eyebrow. "And that was reason to declare war on the world?" Thatch could understand the disbelief. Whitebeard pirates were known for their loyalty, be he couldn't really picture another crew with such tight bonds. Especially with the infamous Nico Robin, known for her betrayal of all she joined.

"Of course!" Luffy snapped back. "Robin is Nakama! She's my Nakama! They can't have her, she didn't want to go with them!"

"...What does she even do on the ship?" Izo asked after a moment, not even looking as he smacked Luffy's hand away from the pile of peeled spuds.

"She's an arpi….arche….archi… Studies old things and books." Luffy grinned widely. "She's really smart, and funny."

"Right. So you challenged the world government for Nico Robin, the Devil Child, because she's smart and funny." Thatch shook his head.

"No. We just went to get her back." Luffy clarified, looking serious for once. "We burned the flag because they made her cry. Nobody hurts my Nakama."

For a moment the boy-pirate looked like a real Captain, and Thatch could almost picture him leading a crew. (Though he still questioned the sanity of said crew.) He understood exactly what Luffy had meant by burning the flag now, and judging by the look of reserved respect, Izo did too. The smug and proud look that Ace was giving them pissed him off just a little bit, too. Because it still didn't mean it wasn't a foolish thing to do, especially taking on the C-9 with just a small band of his crew. The fact that they'd all apparently survived and won was amazing. They were rookies, for crying out loud!

"I am sure that not all your crew agreed with the decision though." Izu mused. "It is impressive you were able to get as many to go along with you as you did."

Again Luffy gave them a strange look. "Everyone wanted to get Robin back. Even Franky, and he wasn't on the crew yet." They just stared at him. "Ah, but I wasn't supposed to know Usopp was there. He had a mask on."

"...Right." Thatch nodded, remembering the small stack of bounty posters. "So you have eight people on your crew."

"Nine." He beamed at Ace. "I got a musician! Wait till you mean him! Brook is a skeleton, but he's got the coolest hair. And guess what? He poops!"

Ace shook his head, a strained laugh escaping him. "Where do you even find these people?"

"Floridian Triangle. Then I had to go beat up that leek looking guy, Moria. Bastard stole my shadow!"

Thatch was still processing that when Izo put it together. The crossdresser dropped the potato he'd been working on, ignoring it as it fell to the floor as he stared at the brat- no- young Captain sitting next to him in shock. Wide eyed, he turned to Thatch as the Fourth Division Commander sputtered wordlessly. It would have been funny to see the normally gregarious cook struck silent, except he felt the same way. Ace, on the other hand, wasn't silent. He made a strange strangled choking sound, his eyes slightly bugged out as his brother continued to hack away at a potato.

"Gekko Moriah? The Shichibukai?" Ace finally got out.

Luffy nodded, a frown on his face. "He had a giant. A Zombie giant. I think it was called….Oz?" The kid finally gave up on his potato, which now looked like mush, and gave his brother an indignant look. "He stuck my shadow in it! My shadow, Ace! He stole Zoro's, Sanji's and Brook's too. Took everyones! We kicked his ass, though. He had a cool ship."

"Really?" Thatch squeaked out, torn between shock-and-awe and worry for Ace. (Because the guy looked like he was about to faint or something.)

"Yeah! It was a whole island! It was so fun! There were these monsters everywhere, and a castle, and these old guys in bandages, and we might have broke it."

"You broke an island." Izo double checked. "How do you break an island?"

Luffy shrugged. "He started it." Izo hated that answer. He knew it usually meant a fight was involved when used in his own crew, and since this was Ace's little brother it was a safe bet that was what the kid meant.

"Do you have any self preservation instincts at all, Luffy?" Izo finally asked.

"What's that?" The boy cocked his head to the side curiously.

"No." Ace moaned, having completely given up even the pretense of peeling potatoes as he put his face in his hands.

Thatch shook his head. "I can see why you worry, bro."

"This, this is nothing. I shouldn't be surprised at all." The other chuckled. "This is just Luffy being Luffy. Did I ever tell you about the time this idiot got caught by these pirate-thugs as a kid?"

Chapter Text

Haruta

Haruta would be the first to admit that having the little Strawhat brat on board definitely made things a bit more exciting. The brat got into everything, asking questions when he wasn't following around his brother or Marco like some kind of demented puppy. Honestly, after the whole hair-thing, she was surprised Marco let the kid within a hundred feet of him. (Not that it would make much of a difference seeing the kid could STRETCH and all.) He did make things interesting. Not to mention Ace smiled a whole lot more with his brother on board. It was a different smile, too. Not his usual cocky one, but an almost soft one...and Haruta was NOT jealous. Not at all. She was just starting to miss the hide and seek games, and she hadn't talked properly to Ace since his kid-brother had shown up because the idiot didn't have time…..she was NOT jealous. Ace just needed time to catch up with his little brother before he remembered that the brat was obviously not as amazing as he remembered and he had a ship full of awesome brothers and sisters who were way more fun than some scrawny hat wearing idiot that probably wasn't even really a Captain….Alright. So maybe she was jealous. Just a little.

Haruta knew she wasn't really being very fair to the brat. Oyaji liked him, Thatch liked him (but he kind of liked everyone so did it count?), Vista and Izo spoke well of him too. Jozu had even told her that the kid looked pretty decent in a fight. Hell, Marco seemed to be fond of him, and he only liked crewmembers. But the problem was, Haruta hadn't seen the kid do anything all that special. Not that she'd gone out of her way to spend time with the brat. He seemed like a total idiot, always grinning and being a pest when someone wasn't reining him in. How was that someone who had earned a place as one of the most dangerous rookies? She honestly didn't see it at all. What she did see was the brat poking Stefan in the head while the giant dog attempted to sleep.

Ace was nowhere in sight nor was Marco, so she wondered what the hell the kid was doing. If he didn't stop, Stefan was going to bite his hand off. As if sensing her thoughts, the great white beast opened one eye and just looked at her before shutting it and turning his massive head, leaving her shocked. Stefan was rarely so tolerant. The brat pouted for a second and then tugged on the dog's mustache. That got a reaction, but again, not the one she'd been expecting. Even as she lunged forward to pull the boy back from irreparable harm, the dog jerked his head up and licked the teen with his great big tongue before the other could react. Straw hat now dangling on it's string, the dark haired youth fell to his butt and just laughed as his hair stood up even weirder thanks to the slobber.

"Shihihihi! You win!" Stefan wagged his tail.

Haruta glared down at the teen. "What the hell do you think you're doing? He could have taken your fool head off!"

Those dark brown eyes just looked up at her blankly, obviously not understanding the danger he'd been in. "Playing."

"WHY?!" With a look and a hand gesture she sent the dog away, leaving the teen to pout after him but she didn't care. True she knew very well that the dog slept in the room with Ace and his brother, and that the kid occasionally was seen riding the beast. Stefan was not a harmless pet, though. He was a war-dog, trained to be vicious to non-crew members as a last line of protection for Oyaji in case the Marines ever thought to sneak an assassin on board again. He was a relatively well behaved monster when people were watching, but over half the crew couldn't touch him….Haruta had honestly thought she'd been about to watch the kid die. "What the hell were you thinking?!"

"I was bored. Ace is sleeping, 'n everyone else is busy." The boy shrugged, something flitting across his face before it was replaced with the bland look again.

"So you thought it was a good idea to bug a giant monster dog?! Rubber or not, he could have killed you!"

"Stefan's my friend. He won't hurt me." The boy was an idiot. Even if what she'd seen suggested that it was true. They'd all thought Teach was their friend, too….

Half of her wanted to just turn and walk away. Wasn't her problem if the idiot didn't take things seriously. The other half knew that she couldn't just walk away and let the kid get into who-knew-what kind of trouble without someone watching him. Unfortunately, being the first one across him kind of did make it Haruta's job. "You're coming with me."

"Cool! Where are we going?" The teen bounced to his feet, eager to do anything. She could use that.

"How about you and I have a nice friendly little spar while we wait for your brother?"

"Really? Awesome! Ace wont let me play with anyone. It's not fair!" She twitched at his words. Sparring wasn't a game. It was serious business and helped the crew get stronger, stay alive, and protect each other. This snot-nosed brat was obviously not cut out for this life if he thought it was just for play, and she was going to prove it to Ace.

"Just shut up and follow me. You're attracting too much attention with all your shouting." Haruta might as well have been talking to a wall. By the time they got to the sparring deck there was already a crowd.

Haruta knew she was at an unfair advantage. The brat fought with his bare hands and here the Twelfth Division Commander was with a sword. Rubber might be useful against stuff like guns or jitte, but against a sword? She could cut him up easily. Not that she would, just draw a little blood. A friendly warning that it wasn't a game. Being a pirate was serious and dangerous despite how they all acted most of the time, and if the kid kept on like he was he was going to get himself killed…. and it wasn't like she really cared one way or the other. But this was Ace's kid brother. Even if the brat pissed her off, even if she kind of wanted to put him in his place and show Ace that he wasn't some cool rookie, the brat didn't deserve to die. Wasn't his fault if his crew was heartless enough to take advantage of that open and trusting nature Ace had told her about. (Here she'd thought he'd understated it, too.) She was just going to teach him a lesson is all.

"Ready?" She asked, ignoring the crowd and the whispers that were saying she was crazy and Ace was going to kill her. She knew what she was doing.

The brat bounced on his heals. "Yep!"

She lunged forward a blinding fast slash to start with and was only mildly surprised when the teen just swayed out of the way. She followed that up with a thrust, a horizontal slash and a chop, all of which the teen nimbly dodged, though just barely. When he let fly a rubbery punch she spun out of the way and to the right, slashing at his chest and landing a grazing blow even as she dodged a well timed kick from a leg that was much too long and bent funny. She'd have to be a little careful herself it looked like as she danced out of immediate reach.

The teen felt the cut on his chest, looking at the blood on his fingers with that silly stupid grin. "You're fast!"

"You're not too bad yourself, brat." She grudgingly admitted. She wasn't holding back that much and had expected to land more blows.

"Thanks!" The grin turned blinding.

Flicking her sword she closed for another flurry of blows. Scoring just twice out of the dozen she aimed and narrowly avoiding a black eye when the teen actually managed to step on her sword and momentarily pinned it to the deck. They separated again, and Haruta looked at him with newfound respect even as part of her acknowledged the crewmembers that had gathered to watch had fallen silent. It looked like the kid wasn't useless after all.

"Where'd you learn to fight against someone with a sword like that?"

"Zoro." That didn't help her much. It must have shown on her face because the kid blinked. "He's my Nakama. Zoro fights with three swords though, and he's not as fast as you. It's fun. Except, Nami doesn't let us spar much because she says we destroy shit. So on islands only. I watch Zoro and Sanji go at it all the time though. They're funny!" The kid grinned, pretending he was holding a sword. "Stupid Love-cook!" He swung the imaginary sword, then tugged his hair down and curled his lip slightly. "What was that, Shitty-Marimo?" Bringing a leg up he demonstrated a powerful looking kick at the same hight that his imaginary sword had been before looking at her. "They fight all the time."

"Riiiight…." He was still an idiot. Just- maybe, maybe Jozu hadn't been talking the kid's skills up just to make Ace feel better. Speaking of that fight, Jozu had mentioned the kid had some interesting skill or something. "Hey, Luffy?"

The boy shifted, ready to fight again. "Yeah?"

"Jozu said you had this attack that almost worked on Ace?"

"Shihihi! You mean Second Gear?" Sure, if that's what he wanted to call it. She nodded. "Wanna see something cooler?"

Haruta did NOT like the grin on the kid's face as he bit his thumb. It wasn't nearly half as worrying as the shouts she heard coming from the doors leading below deck that told her Ace was up and heading this way though. "No, wait! Stop!"

Her shout fell on deaf ears as somehow the kid's hand just expanded to insane proportions before he pulled back and let a punch fly. One she was too stunned to actually dodge, so it was a good thing that Luffy was distracted by a resounding punch to the back of the head which sent him crashing to the deck. Haruta gulped, looking at the enraged Ace that glared at her from over his brother's form.

"WHAT THE HELL Haruta?!" The Second Division Commander snapped.

"We were just sparring, Ace."

"Bullshit! He's all cut up! You hurt Lu-"

"Ace, whatcha do that for?" Luffy whined sitting up. He looked… smaller. A lot smaller. "We were having fun!"

Ace shifted his glare down to the diminutive form at his feet and blinked. Reaching down, he picked Luffy up by the back of his vest and held him at eye level, a look of confusion on his face. Luffy had somehow been shrunk down to true child size. It made the pout very amusing as he huffed at his much-bigger brother. "Luffy? What happened to you?"

"I shrunk." He was a Captain alright. Captain Obvious. "Put me down!" Even his voice sounded younger.

"Oh God… Someone get the nurses and fix this!" Ace yelped, holding his brother out from him with a look between amusement and actual fear.

There was a pop kind of noise and suddenly Fire Fist was holding a very annoyed full sized version of his brother who he quickly dropped. "Ah. All better. Being tiny sucks."

"What was that?"

"Third Gear. I wanted to show Haruta, cause she likes fun things, right?" He turned to her, a wide smile on his face and eyes dancing. "Isn't it amazing? I get super big! But then I get super small because of it. So I gotta be more careful in battle with it, 'cuz I'm vulnerable like that. BUT! I'm working on it, and it's been real useful, too." He beamed at Ace. "You didn't tell me sparring with your Nakama was so much fun, Ace! I wanna keep playing!"

"Yeah?" Haruta gulped as Ace gave her his best predatory look, the one that sent Marines running before turning to his brother. "How about you and me against Haruta?" His tone was playful as his grin, one mirrored by Luffy and Haruta was actually a little scared.

She was definitely more excited then scared, though. She grinned right back, ready to play.

NAMUR

There was always that little thrill when another ship was seen before they knew if the fools were going to try their luck or not. Namur knew that generally they turned and ran, pirates and Marines alike. Though it was a little more ironic when the Marines ran, what with them swearing to "Remove the Pirate Threat" or whatever it was they said. (Wasn't it something about Justice?) So, inspite of the fact that it almost always lead to disappointment for the crew, everyone got ready for a fight when those on outlook gave the cry that they'd spotted a ship.

When the ship continued towards them, drawing close enough to see the pirate flag of some vaguely known crew excitement grew. Cannons were readied even though no one was planning on using them. Why cut the battle short, after all? Oyaji sat in his seat, grinning in good cheer as his sons raced about on deck deciding who would take forefront in the battle, and who would stay in reserve. Naturally, everyone wanted to be first into battle. It was a good thing then that the Whitebeard Pirates all realized that doing so would cause their enemies to be completely crushed since it was only one ship. If it was a Marine vessel, that would be fine, but since it was another pirate crew, they'd give them the chance to retreat. Finally it was decided that the Second and Eighth Division were more then enough to handle the challengers. First and Fifth were on direct standby, Fourth was on navigation, Third and Sixth were on defense and Seventh was on repair (and boy did they complain about it even though it was their turn). Ninth was on medic and Eleventh was on resupplies while Tenth, got the mixed blessing of feeding the horde after the left the Twelfth thru Sixteenth Divisions with nothing to do, and most of them followed the Tenth Division went below deck to get out of the way and make more room, or as Thatch put it, to sulk like the snot-nosed brats Oyaji called them.

Now if only they could convince the other snot-nosed brat on board to go down below deck, everything would be perfect. Unfortunately, the youngest pirate aboard the ship seemed bound and determined to fight. Namur had to admire the spunk it took for the little guy to glare up at Ace, arms crossed and frown on his face as the Second Division Commander railed at him.

"Luffy! For the last time, would you get your ass below deck already?!"

"I don't wanna!" The boy huffed, unphased by Ace's obvious temper. He supposed it came from years with living with Portgas, in which case, the kid had his sympathy. "I want to fight Ace!"

"NO! Oyaji tell him no!"

"I don't have to listen to Giant Old-mustache! I'm a Captain, too!" On second thought, he could have been right when he had to fish the brat out of the water repeatedly. Strawhat was either stupid or crazy.

"I'm your big brother, and I say you do!"

"Gahahahaha! How about a compromise, Ace?" Newgate grinned, standing and walking over to the two bickering brothers.

Ace continued to glower. "What?"

"Luffy can sit with me." He gold eyes twinkled. "As a Captain, you know how important it is to trust your crew, yes?"

"Of course!"

"Then trust mine to do this like I do. Of course we will be ready to step in if needed."

Ace just opened and closed his mouth like a fish, obviously wanting to argue the point. Namur took pity on him and put a hand on his friend's shoulder, turning him away. "Oyaji'll watch him. He'll be fine."

"You don't know that! This is Luffy. He could get in trouble sitting still." He didn't doubt it for a second, either.

"Well, it's a good thing he's sitting still with the strongest man in the world, right?" The fishman pointed out. "If anything happens to him, then we're all going to be in trouble. I doubt it's going to be a problem. These guys are just some no-name pirates, right? Bet your little brat of a brother has a bigger bounty then they do." His words had the right effect. Ace straightened, once more the collected cocky Second Division Commander and not the worried big brother and nodded.

It was a good thing, too, the ship was closing in fast. "Shit. My men and I will take the aft, alright?"

"Fine." He dodged a grappling line. "Bet I can take out more than you."

Ace just laughed. "In your dreams, Namur!" And then he was gone and the battle was on.

Namur grinned, spooking the two pirates before him with the look before he charged. The battle was going very well. The enemy wasn't all that pathetic being able to give a good fight, but nothing that he felt overly concerned about. Some of his brothers were shooting off jokes at each other in fact, and he could hear Oyaji's distinctive laugh reverberating across the deck. All in all it was shaping up to be a fantastic day and it wasn't even noon. (That reminded him about lunch and he absently wondered if the Tenth was working on it while he used fishman-karate to knock away his current opponents.)

He didn't know why it caught his eye, but he was glad he noticed it. One of the men in his Division was about to be attacked from behind. As a Whitebeard it was the highest insult. Unfortunately, Namur was too far away to do anything about it and there was no way John would be able to hear him shout a warning over the battle going on around them. Still, that didn't mean Namur wasn't going to try. He was a Commander for a reason dammit! The shark fishman tossed aside the man he had been fighting (he was half dead anyway) and took off towards his subordinate in a race against what his gut told him was the inevitable conclusion.

He flinched, slowing slightly as the sword fell towards the exposed back of John's head. The man was too busy fighting off the person in front of him to notice the killing blow about to be delivered, and Namur was still too far away to even shout out. The only consolation was that it would be fast. That, and Namur was going to kill the bastard that did it. He forced himself to keep watching as the sword raced towards the skull ready to cleave it in two, only for it to suddenly vanish from sight. Namur blinked, and suddenly the Strawhat brat was there at John's back, glaring around, daring anyone to come close. It took a split second for him to process what had happened and by then he had reached their side. John offered him a cheeky grin, unaware of both how close to death he had been and the presence of his unlikely savior. He turned his attention to the teen.

"What are you doing?" John half spun around to see who he was talking to and yelped in surprise.

The young Captain grinned. "Helping!"

"You were supposed to stay with Oyaji!" He half-growled. Not that he wasn't thankful. Still, Ace would have his head if anything happened to the kid.

"It was too boring there." The boy pouted. "Then I saw this guy was gonna get killed and I wanted to help. So I did." The infectious grin was back.

"I was?" John parried a blow with his own sword, shooting the teen a surprised look over his shoulder. "You did?"

"Shihihihi!"

John pulled out his pistol and fired off a shot, clipping an enemy in the shoulder. "Err…. Thanks?"

"No problem! Just don't tell Ace, k?"

"John, get back to it. You, brat! Let's get you back to Oyaji before your brother finds out you joined in."

"Awwww."

"Don't whine at me. You're lucky I'm not sending you below deck." Namur grumbled. "Ace is going to kill me for this."

Getting the boy to follow him across the deck on a normal day was challenging enough. Namur didn't know what he was thinking doing it with a battle raging on around them. Honest to God, he swore there were water fleas with greater attention spans then the giggling fight-happy fool. It took threatening to take his damn hat away to get him to stop butting into every scuffle, and he still stopped every now and again to watch. (He wondered if Ace would mind if he put a leash on the kid. A sea stone one… or if he'd ever contemplated it himself actually.)

So he wasn't worried at first when the brat disappeared from right behind him at first. Namur just turned around biting back a frustrated sigh as he resolved to just pick him up and carry him. It took him a moment to catch sight of the teen- just a flash of red and blue- before he vanished from view. Over the side of the rail between the two ships. Namur was in the water seconds after the boy, spotting the length of chain caught around his middle he realized immediately what had happened. Devil fruit users were always limp in water, but Namur knew something was off even as he kicked them to the surface. The teen wasn't limp like he'd been before, he was almost stuff. Like a corpse. That alone told him the damn chain tangled around the idiot was sea stone even before he hauled them both onto the deck and dropped the other who just lay there choking and gasping like a fish. He found himself frowning down at the boy, already used to the kid quickly bouncing back from a dunk in the sea. It was odd that it bothered him so much, even knowing he'd be alright as soon as the chain was removed. Luckily, Namur had pulled them up on the enemy ship which was mostly empty. He had figured it would be safer than having to worry about someone (namely Ace) noticing the young Captain's condition for now.

"Hold on a second, brat, and I'll get you free." Namur tugged at the chain, feeling a little cruel when the boy let out an involuntary moan. It was wound tighter around his middle then he had originally thought.

The cool press of metal at the base of his neck caused him to freeze and suggested that his idea hadn't been so smart after all. "Well well well. What have we got here?"

"Looks like a fish and a drowned rat to me." Out of the corner of his eyes he saw shoes. There were at least two.

"A big strong fish-freak I bet if he's on Whitebeard's crew." The one behind his said before snorting. "Then again, the old man's gotten so pathetic recently, I'm not surprised to see water leaches on his ship."

"Shut up-" Of course Strawhat would pick now to speak, drawing attention back to him.

"The rat's alive! And here I thought you'd killed him, freak." The sword pressed closer. "Didn't finish the job?"

"Leave the kid out of it." He bit out, flexing his hands. He was at a disadvantage with the blade already cutting slightly into his skin and another sword pointed right at the brat's head.

"I don't take orders from fish." There was a pause. "But a fish like you? Get some good money for you I bet. Do what I say and we'll let the brat live, mmm?"

Namur stood slowly, hands to the side even as he felt rage bubbling. He could easily take these idiots. The urge to do so was almost overwhelming after the insulting things they had said about his people. Not to mention they had the audacity to think they could sell him as a slave! Him, one of the Commanders under Whitebeard. Oyaji would never stand for that. That decided him, the insult; the slur to his Oyaji. He'd kill them before this went any further and possibly sink their damn ship for good measure.

"Oiy, Keshlaw!" Namur still couldn't see the one who'd spoken, his view blocked by the pirate who'd come around from behind him and was now attempting to chain his hands together.

That one didn't even look up from what he was doing. "Yeah?"

"This guy….ain't he that Strawhat-kid everyone's been looking for?" Namur went cold at the next words. "I hear the Noble he punched wants him real bad… might even be willing to double his bounty."

"You don't say. It's a good thing he's already gift-wrapped for us then, eh?" Keslaw glanced up at Namur's face, a sick glint in his eyes. He must have seen the rage there, but he just smirked. "Don't even think about it, fish. You so much as twitch funny, and Tamar there will run your little friend through."

He would, too. All Namur could do was continue to glare helplessly as the bastard finished securing chains on him. He felt the kid's eyes on him the whole time, wide and full of fear and felt his heart clench. It wasn't just that Ace was going to kill him for this, either. For all he knew the brat was a pirate and far from innocent or weak, he wanted to protect him from this. And he couldn't, not if he wanted Luffy to live.

Tamar, the pirate that had been standing over Luffy tugged on the chain still tangled around the teen's waist. "Get up."

The reply was quiet. "No."

"I said 'GET UP'!" Tamar yanked the chain so hard Luffy was dragged forward. "Or do you need some motivation, eh? Be a good little captive and we won't have to hurt your fish friend, got it?"

"No!" The boy shook his head, tugging weakly against his bonds.

"Luffy. It will be alright." Namur tried, not wanting see the teen get hurt.

"NO!"

"Don't say I didn't warn you, brat."

The shark fishman braced himself for the blow. Being a fishman meant he could actually take a lot more damage than a normal human and not be too hurt. It didn't mean that being stabbed in the gut was something he was going to enjoy. He refused to flinch, though. Luffy was being pretty brave, even if he was scared, and Namur found himself proud of the boy that just a week ago he thought of as a pest. He'd gladly take the blow.

"Leave him alone!" Luffy shouted. "STOP IT!"

Everyone froze as the shout carried loudly across the battle. Namur found himself staring at Luffy in shock as the boy glared at the man who'd been threatening to stab him. Now the man was out cold at his feet, victim of Conqueror's Haki along with who knew how many others. "Luffy?"

The boy's head snapped up, anger replaced by concern. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine." He noticed the boy was panting heavily even as he easily snapped the chains around his wrists. "What did you do?" He asked, knowing the answer anyway. What he really wanted to know is why he didn't do it sooner.

"I told them to stop?" Luffy cocked his head to the side, brow wrinkled in confusion even as Namur finally untangled him from the sea stone. "Hey, why'd they fall asleep?"

"LUFFY!" Ace was there, checking his brother over in a flurry of motion, looking over at Namur worriedly. Namur shrugged, letting his fellow Commander know he wasn't hurt. "Lu! Are you alright?"

"Fine."

Ace punched him hard. "YOU IDIOT! Stay put next time!"

"But Ace….!"

"Don't 'But Ace' me!" Ace shouted back, dragging his brother along as he vaulted onto the Moby Dick.

Luffy looked around curiously. "Why are all the bad guys asleep?" He didn't even notice everyone was staring at him.

"Because of your Haki you moron!" Ace snapped, temper obviously frayed as he herded the other to Oyaji's chair.

"My what?" There was that head-cock again. Namur didn't want to believe what it could mean.

"Haki, brat." Oyaji grinned down at Luffy. "I thought you were going to stay?"

"Someone was gonna attack one of your men from behind." Luffy's eyes got hard. "I don't like that. So I did something about it."

"Then I owe you my thanks for saving one of my sons."

"It was fun. Until the water and the chain and the asshole calling Namur a fish." The young Captain sounded angry. "So what if he's a fish-guy? I think he's cool!"

Namur was not going to admit to the warm feeling that gave him. Not at all. "Thank you, Luffy." He turned to look up at Oyaji. "He used Haki when one of the men that caught us was about to stab me."

"No one threatens my friends." Luffy's calm words had Namur rethinking the fear he'd seen in the other's eyes earlier. It hadn't occurred to him at the time it had been fear for him, but now that he had time to think about it it made sense. "All I did was tell them to stop." The teen shrugged.

"Great!" Ace threw his hands up. "My brother's first use of Haki, and he doesn't even know what the hell he did!"

"You keep saying that! What is it? Can I eat it?"

Rakuyo

Rakuyo suppressed a yawn as his time on watch finally drew to a close. "Longest four hours of the day."

"You said it." Laughed Thatch. "At least morning watch gets me out of helping in the kitchens for breakfast though."

"Ugh."

"I take it by that that you're off to bed right after this?"

"Yeah." The Seventh Commander nodded. "Stayed up all night doing paperwork before my shift. Need a break."

Thatch placed a friendly hand on his shoulder. "Right. Don't worry about reporting in, I'll take care of it. Get out of here."

"Thanks, man." He said around another yawn. You'd think after all this time that he'd know better than to pull an all nighter right before a shift. Which, he did, but he hated to just leave the work there with Macey...she had a tendency to eat things when left alone. Taking her on watch didn't work, either. She was too distracting half the time. Speaking of, he should probably get the weapon out of his room, grab some breakfast and then hit the sack for a few hours.

As he had expected the Devil-fruit altered morning star flail was waiting for him when he opened the door to his cabin. Sharp metal teeth clanked at him as the 'tail' wiggled. Grinning he pet the weapon while checking the room for damage. Other than the usual- leg chewed off the chair again- nothing looked too bad. A whistle had Macey curling around his body like some sort of serpent, chain wrapped around his waist and ball hovering in the air while the glowing eyes looked around.

Rakuyo wasn't paying too much attention to what his weapon was doing as he made his way across the deck again towards the entrance for the galley. It was only when the sharp teeth closed in on his hair and tugged did he pause to see what had gotten the weapon's attention. Turning, he spotted Ace's younger brother and current deck brat sitting on the figurehead all alone. The set of his shoulders was closed off, and Rakuyo wondered what was going on with the normally hyper active brat. Still, he had more important things to worry about. Like coffee, for instance. He figured after a good meal if the brat was still there and he was still feeling awake enough he might go see what was bugging the kid. Of course, that meant the whole time he was eating he couldn't stop thinking about it, even as he tossed the scraps to Macey who happily chomped away, almost taking his fork with them. (That would have been bad. He'd already lost about a dozen forks that way this month alone, and no one was amused.) Still, distracted thoughts and all, he took his time. It was well over a half an hour before he left the galley for the now warming deck, feeling much better.

The kid was still sitting there. "Huh. What do you think, May?" The weapon just looked up at him, obviously no help. Rakuyo sighed. The kid looked deflated compared to his normal self, and he knew it wasn't the time. Hell, it wasn't that he was hungry either. So something was up with the teen. Well, it wasn't like he really needed sleep, right? He walked up next to where the kid sat on the figurehead of the Moby Dick, careful not to spook him. "Hey there. Mind if I join you?" Dark eyes stared at him for a moment before returning to the sea and the kid shrugged wordlessly. He might not have been the brat's actual brother, but it still set alarm bells off in his head. He hid it behind a grin and a lie. "Thanks. I like coming out here sometimes after my morning shift. Good way to relax."

Silence stretched between them, and he didn't push. If there was one thing he'd learned being a Commander it was how to be there for the men under him. Sometimes it meant getting them to talk, and sometimes it meant spending hours just like this, and even though he knew the kid was a Captain in his own right he also knew that Oyaji was more then ready to adopt him. So, in a way, this was part of his job. At length, Macey got bored. He should have expected it just sitting there. Rakuyo didn't notice at first when the weapon unwound itself and snuck over to the other person sitting with them, but he almost laughed when the weapon gave a careful nudge before ducking back behind him when the boy turned. There was confusion in those dark eyes.

"Sorry about that. Macey here just wants to say hi I guess." He pat the monstrous weapon fondly as it clanked happily in agreement. "Bet you've never seen something like her before, huh? She's a-"

"Weapon that ate a devil fruit, right?" The kid's eyes lit up a bit, catching him off guard.

"You've seen one before?"

"No, not really." A shrug. "Franky fought a sword that ate a fruit at Eins Lobby, though. He's still complaining about that. Oh! And Chopper and Usopp said something about a gun that was a dog? That was way back in Alabasta, though." The kid grinned widely, holding out a hand for Macey to sniff. "I'm Luffy! You're so cool! Wanna join my crew?"

"Hey now! Macey and I are a matched set, you know, and I'm not leaving Oyaji." He smirked at the kid even as the weapon accepted an enthusiastic petting. (So much different then it's reaction to Ace. Macey was still wary around the Logia type.) "Names Rakuyo, by the way."

"Nice to meetcha!"

"I didn't know that there was a weapon-type all the way over in Alabasta. Not surprised about Eins Lobby, though."

It was like someone had flipped a switch, the way the kid seemed so happy all of a sudden. "Mmm! I thought Usopp was telling me a story at first. He's good at that, you know. He and Chopper had to fight these two guys, right? Well, one of them was this ugly mole woman, and this other guy had this gun. Except it was a dog, too. Well, Chopper and Usopp got the gun-dog, or is it dog-gun, to shoot both of them!"

"Alabasta, huh…." It clicked in his mind why it sounded so familiar. He remembered Ace talking about how his brother had been there to beat up Crocodile, and the look of relief/disappointment when the paper came out about the Marines taking care of the Coup. "Sorry that that Marine beat you to Crocodile." He offered. "But the guy was a Shichibukai, best let the government dogs clean up their own messes, right?"

"Huh? Who are you talking about?"

Looked like the rumors were true and the kid really was an idiot. "White Chase. He got promoted to Commodore for taking out Crocodile and stopping that war, too."

"White Chase?" He saw it the moment the name clicked. "Oh! You mean Smoker!" A wide grin, full of happiness, which was not something pirates normally felt when talking about Marines. Let alone ones who beat them at a hunt. Rakuyo had a feeling there was a story there. "Smokey got promoted? That's great! Shihihi! Except, he didn't do any of that."

"He didn't?"

"Nope." Strawhat leaned on Macey and beamed at him. "My crew did! They stopped the war and I took out Croc. But I like Smokey. Sand-croc locked us up in a cage together and he wasn't a lot of fun then, but he helped us out I guess. Sanji and Zoro said that his men pretended to not know we were hiding in the palace after the war and didn't try to capture us which was really nice of them. Except then these other Marines had to come and ruin it."

He felt a headache coming on, and it had nothing to do with the fact that he had been up twenty-four hours straight and everything to do with the fact that this rookie was telling him that he was the one to take out a Shichibukai. Bringing his total to two. Rakuyo almost found himself hoping the kid was exaggerating his part in it. (Ok, he really was hoping. He had vague memories of a run-in with Crocodile once, many years ago. The man was not someone to be taken lightly.) "So how did you do it?"

"Well, there was a bomb or something and he was gonna make everyone go BOOM, but Nami, Vivi and them all stopped that."

"Right." That made absolutely no sense, but he remembered reading something about the Marines taking credit for finding a bomb and with the help of a Royal Guard safely detonating it. So if he replaced the Marines with the Strawhat crew, it was probably closer to the truth. "But how did you defeat Crocodile? He's a logia type."

"Well, the first time we fought, after he stabbed me, I managed to grab him." Luffy grinned widely, obviously proud of himself.

"The first time?" He was ignored.

"Then he tossed me in a sand-thing and I almost drowned in it."

Why did he ask? He was getting sympathetic pains for Ace listening to the kid. "How did you get out?"

"Robin." Came the reply, like it was the most natural answer in the world. "The second time I had this huge barrel of water. It was amazing! Shihihi….I think I pissed him off though."

"Oh really?"

"Yep. He started ranting about what it meant to be a pirate and stuff. Then he dried me out. Like a squid." It was amazing how the little shit was still grinning at him like that like nothing was wrong. If Ace ever heard this story- he didn't even want to think about that. "A little water and I was fine. Course, by now everyone was fighting and I had to go hunt the bastard down. That was annoying, because I didn't know where he was, and he took the king, too. All that thinking must have made me sleepy or something cause I definitely fell asleep for a bit." He found himself actually wanting to hear something like 'and then Smoker came and we beat him up.' but something told him it wasn't going to happen. Ace could never hear the details of this story. He'd go busting into Impel Down to kill Crocodile. (And at this point, half the crew would probably go with him, too.) "The bastard did it all for some stupid rock with squiggles on it. He stopped being a real pirate and hurt my Nakama for a shitty rock." The carefree look turned hard as stone, a look that promised pain to anyone who got in the kid- no, in Luffy's way. "So I sent him flying. A little poison wasn't gonna stop me. I'm gonna be King of the Pirates."

"Sure, you are." Hard to argue with that kind of conviction, even if he didn't think that Luffy was anywhere near his goal. Besides. Oyaji was going to be king.

"First, I have to find everyone." He showed Rakuyo a scrap of paper. The Seventh Division Commander instantly recognized it as a vivire card. "We're all supposed to meet at Rip-offs with Rayleigh. I need to find my crew." There was a quiet desperation in Luffy's voice, and Rakuyo realized why he'd been sitting out here, all alone.

He knew as well as the other Commanders that Luffy was not under any circumstances to leave the Moby Dick right now. But that didn't mean he couldn't comfort the young Captain. "Hey now. I'm sure they're just fine. Probably having the time of their lives, too, I bet." Luffy's brows wrinkled. "Well, think about it. For whatever reason, Kuma sent you here, to your big brother, right? What could be more fun for you then that?" He didn't add safer. He wasn't the only one suspicious about the Shichibukai motivation, either. "Bet he sent your friends to really cool places too."

There was a moment of hesitation. "You think?"

"Yeah. Oyaji's got people out looking for them, anyway. So it's not like you're doing nothing, right? Don't worry so much, Strawhat."

Whatever Luffy was going to say Rakuyo never found out. "OIY! LUFFY! Where'd you go?!"

"Ace?" The boy's head whipped around, grinning. "ACE!" And he was gone, leaving Rakuyo sitting there shaking his head and Macey making almost sad clanking sounds.

"Don't worry. You can play with him later. First...Let's go find Oyaji. I think I have some things to tell him."

WHITEBEARD

Whitebeard couldn't say he was surprised that Shanks had actually taken his challenge to heart and actually shown up. He knew as well as the other Yonko that the two of them meeting was going to cause quite a stir among the Marines. He just honestly didn't give a damn. It was no secret that Shanks was still in touch with Mihawk after all these years, and though the brat was a Shichibukai, Whitebeard knew the swordsman was likely to warn his former rival of any big changes going on. So Shanks may in fact have new news on Blackbeard, news he needed in order to keep Ace from doing anything reckless. Not that he was going to ask for the information mind you, or be overly welcoming. Marco was still a little ruffled that the upstart 'Rockstar' hadn't recognized him just because of the ink Luffy'd managed to 'accidently' dump on his head, and as a father he was allowed to be a bit rude to Shanks in return. Especially since he was seen as the very indirect cause of most of the Division Commander's increased paperwork of late.

Getting half the Commanders to agree to keeping Luffy below deck for the meeting had also been a challenge worthy of blaming on Shanks. Ace had warned him of the brat's worship of the other Yonko, and while he could understand it, it did make things harder. Everyone seemed to enjoy keeping a secret from the teen though, if for no other reason than to prevent him from getting his hopes up in case Shanks didn't want to see him. Already Whitebeard saw that protective fire in many of his sons' eyes when it came to the boy. If Shanks so much as said one thing negative about the brat, there would be war, he knew it.

Still, the man did know his booze, you had to give the brat that. And he wasn't stingy about sharing a good vintage as a show of good faith. (Alright, he liked the brat; he was similar to Roger, but mellow. Different like a stout and a logger.) "So, what do you plan to do about Blackbeard?" Shanks asked at length.

"Teach?" Whitebeard grinned down at him. "What makes you think there's a need do anything?"

"The man is a Nakama-killer."

"Attempted Nakama-Killer." He felt compelled to point out. "Thatch has made a full recovery."

The dark look didn't leave the Red-Hair Captain's visage. "He's lucky then. I know how dangerous the man can be. Or have you forgotten that he's the one who gave me these scars?" Both men glowered at each other, unbudging. "You should be going after him with everything you have, Newgate."

Whitebeard's frown deepened at the familiarity. "Are you saying I'm wrong in letting my son handle it? It was his request as Division Commander."

"Ace?" The younger man looked shocked. "You fool! Portgas is a hothead with a short temper! The kid's not ready to face someone like-"

"You underestimate my son!" Newgate snapped, swinging his bisento with it's deadly blade as a warning.

Shanks intercepted the bow (naturally with ease) darting forward as his own temper flared, sending even the great Moby Dick rocking. His eyes were like ice. "Do you honestly think Ace'll stay calm when he learns the man is after his little brother?"

They pulled apart warily eyeing each other before Newgate huffed as he returned to his seat. "So it's true, then? He's after that Strawhat brat?"

"Yes!" Shanks looked worried exasperated and proud all at the same time. (It was an expression not uncommon on Ace's face, in fact. Thatch had jokingly dubbed it the brother-complex.) "Mihawk said that since there's an opening on the Shichibukai, the Marines called a meeting. One of Teach's lackeys showed up and nominated that fat bastard, and Sengoku agreed. IF he could prove his worth by bringing a big name pirate."

Newgate leaned forward. "But the brat's a rookie."

"A rookie that took out a Shichibukai and declared war on the world government." Shanks pointed out. "This was also before he punched a Celestial Dragon. The Marines are pissed."

"Hmmm. So they want to remove him before he becomes a real problem." Whitebeard mused, taking a sip of his drink. "It's two Shichibukai, by the way."

"What?"

"Gecko Moria. I'm not sure on the details, but apparently the man crossed paths with the Strawhat brat and lost."

"WHAT?! L-Luffy! What the hell were you thinking?!"

"Ace had the same reaction."

"Great! Now he's missing, and your problem is after him! What the hell!" Shanks shouted at him. Newgate just laughed. "This isn't funny, Whitebeard! That kid… Do you have any idea who he is?"

"Of course I do, brat!" Whitebeard bit back, stopping Shanks before he could start dropping names. "You worry too much, eh? Isn't he the one you bet your arm on? The future King?"

He could just make out Shanks' mutter darkly. "Only if he lives long enough."

Shouts could be heard from below deck, and Whitebeard knew that his family's attempts to distract the little Strawhat Captain were starting to fail. The kid didn't like being cooped up in one place for too long, after all. He took a swig of his sake, eyeing the other Yonko and weighing if letting him know that Luffy was on board was a good idea. (Probably not; Shanks would fight him for the kid, he was sure of it. Who knew what Luffy would do, either.) Finally he sighed. "I'll take your words about Teach into consideration Shanks."

Shanks grudgingly nodded. "You'll keep an eye out for Luffy, too?"

"Ah. My allies know to keep an eye out for those Strawhat brats. My son is worried about them."

Standing, the redhead gave him a rueful smile. "I bet he is. Well, I'll be off now. Best not to make the Marines too nervous, right? Just… don't let Ace do anything stupid. I don't want to have to explain it to Luffy if something happens to him."

He waited until Shanks was already on his own ship, unable to hold back on teasing the younger Captain. "Not to worry, Ace's brother is sure to keep him too busy to get into trouble for now." Akagami just looked at him, confusion written across his face as the two ships pulled away from each other and Whitebeard answered it with a knowing grin and a booming laugh.

Chapter Text

Marco

"You know if you kill him, Oyaji's going to be pissed, yoi."

"I'd be more worried about Ace." Thatch laughed, sending Luffy flying backwards with a well timed kick to the teen's gut. "Would you just shut up and watch? I know what I'm doing."

Marco shook his head. "I thought you were supposed to be taking it easy."

"We are Mom! God, shut up Marco and let me concentrate or fight the kid yourself if you're so worried!"

"Can I call him mom, too?" Luffy panted, lucking out and connecting.

"...Do it, and not even Ace can save you." Was Marco's good-natured rejoinder as he continued to watch carefully, making sure neither over did it. Fighting Luffy was a good workout for Thatch, the Division Commander was still slightly out of shape after his brush with death. Not to mention he rarely went against opponents who preferred to brawl. Marco wanted to make sure he didn't over-tax himself or the boy.

It happened in an instant. One of those stupid accidents that could cost someone their life in a real fight. Luffy stumbled, foot coming down on a bo-staff someone had forgotten to put away. Marco cursed himself for not noticing it sooner even as he dove forward to try and protect the kid- now downed- from Thatch's powerful chop. He could see it in his friend's eyes that the swordsman couldn't stop in time. A foot snaked out, sandal loose, and hooked under the very staff that had tripped the kid, flipping it up into the air in a move Marco recognized. His eyes widened in shock as Luffy caught the staff and slammed it into Thatch's swords with bone-jarring force. Grinning widely the teen executed a twist-and-flick Ace was fond of, sending one sword clattering towards the deck even as the Fourth Division Commander danced out of the range of the tip of the staff.

Marco took the opportunity to step between them, heart in his throat at the close call. "That's enough."

Letting out a low whistle, Thatch flopped onto the deck next to Luffy. "Impressive, brat! Ace never said you could use weapons."

"Thanks! Me n' Ace grew up using pipes. Kids stuff… It's kinda the same."

Marco remembered the few non-Luffy-centric stories Ace told of his childhood. They tended to involve large beasts and the hunting of said monsters. He could see where using any kind of weapon, even a pipe, would be useful. Ace at least still carried a weapon on himself though. Luffy didn't, leading many on board to think the brat had no clue how to use anything, let alone a sword. Sitting with the other two he was surprised to see Thatch was a bit out of breath. He nudged his friend, mildly concerned. "You alright, yoi?"

"Eh, I'm fine." Despite his words, the Fourth Division Commander didn't argue when Marco loosened his cravat. (He did roll his eyes and slap Marco's hands away from the buttons of the shirt, however.) "Come on, Marco, I'm not that irresistible."

The shirt hit the deck with a wetish sounding plop, Thatch's chest was covered in sweat, telling Marco that his friend had definitely pushed himself a bit more than he had originally thought. Now the question was if he'd pushed it too much. Thatch didn't grumble as Marco ran his hands over the scars littering his body. Though the First Division Commander hadn't had experience with his own injuries in decades, he'd patched up enough people to be reasonably proficient. He noticed Luffy watching with a bland look, gaze running over all the old scars that littered the swordsman's torso and wondered what the boy was thinking.

Thatch grinned cockily at the younger pirate. "Like what you see?"

"Zoro has a lot of scars, too." Luffy shrugged. "He said it's a swordsman' pride or something."

"Well, there are some who see it like that." The Fourth Division Commander agreed. " I didn't ask that, though. What do you think, kiddo?"

"I don't like seeing all of them. Some scars are cool; like the ones you get fighting a whole bunch of Marines or like the ones Zoro has from when he tried to cut off his own feet that one time…" That sounded like an interesting story. Creepy, but interesting. "But the one he has from Mihawk on his chest bothers me."

There was a pause. "He fought Mihawk?" Marco asked, impressed.

"Yeah. Way back at Bereti. He lost, though." Luffy flopped backwards, pouting. It was obvious that he was upset.

"Still, he survived." Thatch pointed out, leaning forward so his friend could finger the wound that had nearly ended his life.

It had healed, but it was obvious by the way he twitched under Marco's gentle prodding that it was still tender. Marco sighed, the proof that he should have ended the fight sooner hard to deny even if he knew the other Commander would deny it. "I think you might need to go see the nurses, yoi."

"Wh-" Thatch sputtered predictably, turning to shoot his friend a hurt look. "Marco! Come on, man! You know if I do that Oyaji'll find out, and I won't be able to do anything fun for the next week at least!"

"Better that then finding out you've torn something." Marco shot back, not budging.

"Why do you have a scar on your back?" Both turned to see the younger now half sitting, braced by his arms and staring at the horrible scar on Thatch's back.

"It's nothing to worry about, kid!" Thatch turned back to grin at the younger pirate. "Marco here is just getting all worked up over nothing."

"It's not nothing, yoi. You almost died!" Marco snapped.

"Died?" Luffy's brows furrowed, confused, and the two Whitebeard Pirates shared a look. Neither really wanted to tell him about Teach's betrayal, but the guy was after Luffy. (Besides, even if Marco wouldn't dare admit it out loud, the brat was family. And not just because he was Ace's little brother, either.)

Finally Thatch sighed. "Yeah. I'm sure you've heard how your big brother is hunting down a former crew-mate, right? Well, I guess you could say I took the brunt of the betrayal."

"What happened? Ace only said that the guy he was after was a traitor." Luffy frowned. "He never said anything about someone dying."

"Hey, almost dieing!" Thatch half-yelped. "Big difference there, brat. Don't go killing me off like that."

"Sorry."

It dawned on Marco why his ship-brother wouldn't have mentioned it then. When he'd first left to hunt down the traitor, Thatch had still been in really bad shape. The fool probably didn't want to do or say anything that might have jinxed his friend's recovery. "Ace probably didn't want to worry you, yoi."

"Why would I worry? Ace is strong! He's gonna find this Blackbeard guy and beat him up for you!"

"I'm sure he will." Thatch agreed easily. "Still, Teach isn't someone to be taken lightly, right?"

Luffy sat straight up and gaped at them both. "T-teach?"

"Yeah. Marshall D Teach." Marco felt like he was definitely missing something as Luffy scowled. "What?"

"Ace only ever called him Blackbeard. I met that bastard! I knew I should have beat him up!"

The half-grin Thatch had been wearing fell off his face in a flash as Marco felt himself blanch at the thought. "Wait, what?" Thatch asked.

"I met him! On Jaya."

"You're kidding, right?"

Luffy huffed, crossing his arms. "Why would I joke about that asshole? I don't like him; and he's got bad taste in pies." Apparently he saw the disbelief on their faces. "Big guy, bad teeth, laughs funny. Asshole."

Well, that sure sounded like Teach, alright. It wasn't a comforting idea at all, even if it did explain how the bastard seemed to know who Strawhat Luffy was. And here Marco had been hoping that the man had only been threatening to go after the kid as a way to rile up Ace. He nodded reluctantly. "Sounds like him, yoi."

"Next time I see him, I'm going to kill him." Luffy had this strange look on his face.

"What?!" Thatch yelped, visibly panicking.

Luffy looked at Thatch like he was an idiot. "He hurt you. You're my friend. I don't like it when people hurt my friends. So I'm going to kill him." The way he explained it was like it was the most logical thing in the world, and the First Division Commander had to admit that given what he knew of how the teen grew up, it probably was.

"B-but! He's! And you-! Ace, oh God!"

"Let us handle it." Marco cut in on Thatch's sputtered protests. "He was part of our crew. That make him our problem, yoi. No reason for you to get involved."

He was relieved when Luffy looked away, pouting. There was nothing he could say to that after all, and it was better for him to be a little disappointed now then to end up dead later. No one on the crew wanted that. Finally Luffy looked up at him, and Marco did not like the look in the kid's eye. "No. Mr. Giant Mustache wants me to join the crew, so that makes it my problem too."

"But-but, you said no!" Thatch's voice was high pitched.

"So? Then I said yes."

Marco thought back, and damn if the kid hadn't. "I thought you were joking."

The boy shrugged. "Doesn't matter. We're still Nakama; still friends. Even when I go back to my own crew, we're still gonna be friends, right?" Both men nodded. "Right! And friends help each other. So I'm gonna kill Blackbeard for hurting one of my friends."

Both men stared at him. For a guy who was supposed to be stupid, that was actually downright smart. Conniving, actually. (Ace had said Luffy usually got his way, but Marco didn't think he meant like this. Maybe the D stood for Determined?) If it wasn't bad enough that they were having to stop Ace, now they had to worry about Luffy, and something told Marco that he wouldn't listen half as well to Oyaji. One thing was for sure, Luffy sure as hell wasn't leaving the ship until Blackbeard was taken care of now.

Blenheim

Blenheim couldn't remember the last time that Mihawk had even been within firing range of the Moby Dick, let alone dared to come aboard. The Shichibukai wasn't exactly unwelcome, since more than a few of the crew enjoyed sparring with the world's best swordsman when their paths crossed for Oyaji to ban the man. It just wasn't like their relationship with some of the other Shichibukai, like Jinbe, who was practically one of Oyaji's sons, or Hancock, who went wherever the hell she wanted with her nose up in the air like a big Fuck You to the world. (You had to admire her spunk. Sure, she was bat-shit crazy, but she and Oyaji had and understanding of sorts.) Mihawk was more like… a cousin you only saw at reunions, and reluctantly at that. Which begged the question of what the hell the man was doing pulling his skiff up to the Moby Dick now, without sending any sort of prior warning. He didn't like the feel of it; it made his scalp tingle. That was always annoying as hell since his hair was braided and it was a real bitch to scratch that tingle out without looking like you had head lice or some shit.

He got the feeling that Oyaji had an idea what the man was there for, and judging by the looks on his fellow Commanders' faces, he wasn't the only one. If it was the reason he thought, Mihawk was in for one hell of a fight, because there was no fucking way they were going to give up their youngest brother without one. Whether he was officially family yet or not. (Or if he knew he was family or not. He'd been on the crew long enough to recognize the fierce look of "MINE!/OURS!" on most of his younger siblings faces.) So Blenheim was far from surprised when the hawk-eyed pirate's arrival on deck was met with open animosity. He was more surprised that it wasn't an openly hostile environment the lone man stood in front of. Or that the crew didn't start growling. Though, if Ace had been on deck instead of God-knew-where napping with his little brother, there definitely would have been growling.

Cold predatory eyes swept over the crew before Mihawk strode forward towards Newgate, overly large sword strapped to his back. Standing before the much larger man Hawkeye frowned. "I believe you and I need to have a talk, Whitebeard."

"Why's that, brat?" Whitebeard grinned down at him.

"You know why." Mihawk bit back as close to a temper as Blenheim had ever seen the man, and that was including the time he'd stumbled across Mihawk piss-ass drunk when he was a teen and convinced him to trade his sword for a smoked fish. (He'd still lost the duel. Kid was a monster with anything sword-like even at that age.) It was then he knew that his suspicion was correct; Mihawk was here about Luffy. (How the man found out was still a mystery, though.) The dark haired man had the audacity to turn his back on their Captain and walk back towards his skiff, ignoring the killer intent that was rapidly growing on deck. "First though, allow me to bring my… traveling companions… on board." The bastard didn't even phrase it as a question.

The Ninth Division Commander was sure someone would have cracked under the tension and lunged at the man as he leaned over the rail if it hadn't been for the warning look Oyaji shot his sons. Instead they all watched, ready to spring at the first sign of betrayal, as the man signaled down to whoever was on the skiff to join them on deck before strolling (ballsy son of a bitch) back over to Oyaji. It wasn't long before a girl with large overdone eyes and ridiculously pink hair floated up; obviously a devil fruit user. She was not happy with the person following her up, as she kept shouting down insults to them. Some were pretty creative, too.

"Perona." Mihawk's tone was an odd mixture of rebuke, warning, and (dare he believe it?) a hint of fondness.

Whether or not the girl heard all that when he said her name (Blenheim knew that name was familiar in a vague way, so she was reasonably strong. But not a swordfighter or he would have remembered who she was. He was getting old- you couldn't expect him to remember everyone, right? Right?) she stopped her heckling and moved to the side with a huff. The moment she did a head of short green hair appeared over the rail, followed by a very, very annoyed young man. He had broad shoulders and well-muscled arms, and Blenheim recognized him as a fellow swordsman before he even saw the three swords tucked into the wide haramaki. The look in his eyes is what marked him as a predator to the core, just like Mihawk. Something about those three swords nagged at him, but he couldn't remember, not with all the bitching and moaning going on around him.

Did he mention that the young man was annoyed? It spilled off the young man in waves as he stormed over to where Mihawk stood. It would have been comical if the old Commander had been sure the annoyance stemmed from the fact that the girl was once again pestering him. For some reason she seemed to be of the opinion that he was going to somehow get lost on the way from the rail to Oyaji's chair. Now, Blenheim'd seen some downright crazy shit in the twenty plus years he'd been on board the Moby Dick, but getting lost on the way to The Chair while on deck just wasn't possible.

"Why the hell are we here, Hawkeye?" The green haired youth bit out the moment he reached the other, ignoring Oyaji past a wary glance. The fact he was disrespecting their Captain was insulting enough that usually at least one of the Commanders would have stepped forward, but none did. Blenheim suspected they were all waiting for the Shichibukai to kill the fool for speaking to him like that.

"Because we need to be, boy." Mihawk's answer earned crossed arms and a loud huff from the teen and shocked looks from the crew. Oyaji just laughed. "I'm glad we amuse you, Whitebeard."

"Ahhh. So what was it that you wanted to talk to me about, brat?"

Mihawk glowered. He didn't think the man could do that. "Shanks."

"Shanks?" Oyaji actually put his tankard down and stared at the man before him.

"Yes, Shanks. Shanks, what you told him, and this fool here." Mihawk gestured at the young man who was still glaring at everyone and everything. "I have had no rest for the last few days, Whitebeard, and I hold you responsible."

"Gahahahaha! What makes you say that?"

"Do not play with me. I'm not the fool Shanks is. I have talked to the man, and I know very well who you are hiding on your ship."

The Captain, Strongest Man in the World, narrowed his eyes just a hairs breath, the grin still on his face. It wasn't the warm look the crew was familiar with. This was the smile of a wild beast before it mauled you. "And what are you going to do about it, Hawkeye Mihawk?"

"Simply this." He turned to the green haired young man. "Zoro."

"Yeah?" The teen looked slightly cross, and his hands instantly went to the three swords at his waist. (What was it about three swords that was ringing a bell? Dammit!)

"Strawhat is here, on this ship." Mihawk just went and told him the very thing they'd been trying to keep a fucking secret for weeks now like it was nothing.

Blenheim had had enough, he shoved his way to the front of the crowed and glowered at the Shichibukai that he had had a small hand in raising to greatness. "What the hell, Mihawk!"

The dick just shrugged. "It's his Captain. Does he not have the right to know where his Captain went?"

Captain? Blenheim didn't remember anyone on the Strawhat bounty posters with green hair. It hit him like one of Hareta's pirouette attacks; the three swords. "'Pirate Hunter' Roronoa Zoro."

"Luffy's here?" The annoyed look was gone in a flash of surprise that just as quickly gave way to hot rage. He didn't raise his voice to Oyaji, but the threat was there. "What have you done to my Captain?"

"Oh, like you even care! You just use the poor kid anyway!" Judging by the way the way the rage went cold-calculatingly brutally cold- that was not the thing to say. Blenheim hoped someone got the name of the dumbshit who'd spoken out of turn so he could personally open up a can of whoop-ass on him after this was all over. Because right now, standing in front of Roronoa, it was obvious that while 'Pirate Hunter' might have started out as a homage to the swordsman's odd beginnings as a bounty-hunter it was now an apt description of what he was. And even though they were (for the most part) stronger, that look said they were royally fucked if they thought they were going to 'talk this out'.

He had to try anyway. Dammit. "Listen, we didn't do shit to your Captain, alright?"

"Then why is he here?" Oh good, it looked like it was working.

"He landed here." That was easy enough to answer.

Apparently he was wrong. Killer intent started to radiate off the young Supernova. "What have you done to Luffy?"

"I told you, nothing!"

"THEN HE WOULDN'T STILL BE HERE!" A sword was drawn, and Blenheim couldn't find it in himself to blame the brat. Here he was, standing before the whole crew, ready to fight to the death to get his Captain back. That he understood.

He waved his brothers and sisters back before the situation could escalate out of control, wondering why Oyaji was just watching. "Calm down, it's not like that." He found a sword scant centimeters from his nose for his troubles.

"Then what did you do? Bribe him with meat?"

"Don't be ri-"

"MEAT!" A the sound the green haired pirate looked around in an actual panic, which seemed surprising since it came from the very person he was so desperate to find a second ago. "Gum-gum-rocket!"

"Luffy don't-!" A blur of red, blue and yellow slammed into Roronoa and sent them both tumbling.

Blenheim's eyes slowly tracked from the empty air where the Pirate Hunter had been to where he was now. "Huh. Well, guess that's why he was freaking out."

"GAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Ace my boy! Did you have a good rest?"

"Yeah, until someone woke us up with all that yelling. What the hell is going on, Oyaji?"

"Mihawk seems to have found one of Luffy's crew members."

"Found? More like had him dumped upon me. Perona as well. My castle has gotten quite noisy of late, Whitebeard."

Ace visibly perked up, ignoring Mihawk completely. "Which member?"

"Meat! Zoro! I'm hungry!" Luffy half-cheered in that infectious way he had. He blinked, looking down at the man he was still sitting on. "Zoro? ZORO!" Instantly he was latched onto the other again, laughing and grinning, happier then Blenheim had seen him, though if he'd been there when Ace had come back, he was sure it would have looked like this.

"Zoro, huh?" Ace's smile was easy going, relaxed, and the crew picked up on it. Any lingering hostility faded at the obvious calm the Second Division commander felt about this man being so close to his precious little brother.

"Luffy, get off me already!" The swordsman had to fight to get to his feet, untangling Luffy's arms repeatedly in the process. Despite his scowl and the angry tone Luffy continued to laugh. "That's enough you idiot!" A fist connected with a rubbery head and instantly the Whitebeard Pirates were ready to rip this guy a new one all over again.

"Buuuuut Zoro!" Luffy pouted.

The other looked away, apparently as unable to take the hurt-puppy look as they were. He grumbled a bit. "I get it; you missed me. You don't have to try and crush me to death to show me."

"He was worried about you." Ace put in, causing Roronoa to look over at him.

If he was shocked, he didn't show it. "Ace."

"Zoro." Ace grinned. "I'm surprised you found us without getting lost."

"I'm not that bad!"

"Shihihihi!"

"Quit laughing, I'm not!"

"Yes, you are!" The pink haired girl chimed in, unable to stop herself.

Luffy stared at her for a moment before he pointed a finger at her. His mouth dropped open in shock. "Ghost girl!"

"It's PERONA!" She shouted back, the cute tone completely gone.

"Eh?" Luffy shrugged. "But I thought Nami said Kuma did something to you?"

Perona huffed, crossing her arms. "He did. He sent me to the best place in the world. Until he got lost there and interrupted my lovely haunted castle."

Blenheim was pretty sure he heard Mihawk mutter something about it being his castle in the first place, but he could have been mistaken.

"Oh." Luffy gave Zoro one of his trademark grins. "Come on, let me show you around! You come, too, Ghost girl!"

"PERONA!" She screeched right in his ear, trailing after him.

Ace shrugged, turning to Oyaji. "I better go keep an eye on them. Luffy's bad enough, but from what I know he can talk Zoro into almost anything."

"Ahhh. Make sure they don't destroy my ship." Oyaji's face broke out into a wide grin. "Don't let them get lost, either."

"Aye aye, Captain." Ace laughed, trotting after his brother. "Oiy! Lu, wait up!"

Whitebeard turned his attention to Mihawk, who had remained (mostly) silent during all of this. "So what was your real reason for bringing him here, brat?"

Mihawk was never one for answering questions directly. "When I first met him, Roronoa told me that he was going to defeat me. That it was his dream to be the world's best swordsman."

"That when you cut him down?" Blenheim asked. When Hawkeye looked at him with a slightly raised brow he sighed. "I saw that scar, or the start of it. I know your handiwork, Mihawk. You almost split the brat in two."

"He survived."

"You like that little shit, don't you?" The other said nothing. "Damn, got yourself a protegee, huh?"

Mihawk ignored him. Or it seemed like it, at least. "A short time ago he stood before me yet again and I asked what his goal was. You know what he said, Whitebeard?"

"To beat you and be the best, right?"

"To be the best, because that was what the Luffy, his Captain, needed him to be." When he looked again at Blenheim before turning his attention back to Oyaji, the older pirate saw pride and wonder in the man's eyes. "I know as a Shichibukai I should be bringing Strawhat in, but, I've seen how those two boys have grown in such a short time. It would be interesting to see how much more they can grow."

Whitebeard sat back. "Are you suggesting I take on this brat. This Roronoa Zoro?"

"No." The answer was quick, angry even. "Before long he'd surpass all but your Commanders, and I doubt they have the time nor the inclination to train someone like Zoro."

"What makes you say that?" Blenheim mused, not really offended since he was getting too old to deal with a young hot headed brat, but mildly annoyed to be brushed aside like that.

Hawkeye curled his lip slightly. "He is very literal-minded and direct. It's like dealing with a young Shanks all over again. A drunk Shanks. But if you wish to try…"

Blenheim blanched at the thought of a younger Shanks drunk off his ass with three swords (still didn't know how the hell that was supposed to work) and shook his head. "Nah, we'll pass."

"Which is why I am going to train him."

"...Luffy might have something to say about that." Oyaji pointed out, and it was a valid point, even if it was a low blow.

Mihawk shook his head. "Zoro asked me to train him. It's between he and I."

"And you think the Strawhat brat is just going to go along with it?" Blenheim found himself asking.

Hawkeyes looked towards where the two young pirates had vanished below deck. "If he is half the Captain Zoro thinks he is- no, even less than that; then yes."

Whitebeard sighed gustily. "He's not going to be happy about this. How long?"

"Two years." Mihawk smirked. "By then your youngest son should be strong enough to leave the nest."

"Gahahahaha! Fine then. Two years, but not a moment longer." Newgate let out another chuckle. "It should give us time to hunt down that traitor, too."

"I wish you luck with that. For now, I don't suppose you have anything to drink? It looks like I might be here awhile."

Chapter Text

Zoro/ Izo

Here he'd come over as soon as his shift was done to meet this Zoro character that Luffy'd spoken so highly of, and the jackass was asleep. Not only was he asleep, but he was sleeping while Luffy was fishing! Did the man not know how accident prone the brat was, or did he just not care for the boy he claimed to see as his Captain? Izo glared down at the green haired fellow who was snoring softly, cursing him for his comfort. His mere presence was offensive. Not only did he dress like a total barbarian, but he dared to come here, of all places. Izo paused at the thought, shocked by the venom behind it. The crossdresser supposed he shouldn't be that surprised since he'd been subjected to Ace's tales of his adorable little brother long enough. Still, he knew that wasn't why he resented this man and what his very presence had done. No, it wasn't for Ace, and it wasn't for his own piece of mind, either. It was because this man being here was hurting Luffy, and that was unacceptable.

Hell, it was all over the brat's posture! If the sword wielding barbarian hadn't told Strawhat that he wasn't staying, Izo'd toss his gun into the water below. And now the asshole was sleeping, leaving the poor guy to suffer alone. Didn't he know Luffy didn't take these kinds of things well at all? For all that the kid was generally a happy idiot, any fool could see that he cared deeply for his crew and being separated from them hurt. The little guy had probably been so relieved to see one of his nakama again, and the bastard just had to go and take the wind out of his sails.

Not to mention the man smelled of sweat and stale sake. The only thing clean about him looked like those damn three swords of his. A loud splash had Izo's head snapping back around to the now empty spot on the railing where Luffy had been sitting just a second before. "Luffy!"

Down below the water churned in the wake of the massive ship, disguising where the young Devil-fruit user had gone in. Time was of the essence as Izo kicked off his shoes and tossed his guns to the deck. Before he could even think about shouting out for help, a blur of green shot past him, shoving swords at him before diving overboard. He watched in shock as the man who'd been sleeping so soundly seconds before slipped gracefully into the water without a moment's hesitation before glancing down at the three swords he now held. He noticed the boots laying right where the man had been sleeping, too. The reaction time was impressive, suggesting he'd reacted before Izo's shout.

In moments he spotted the man swimming one armed towards the side of the ship and tossed down one of the simple rope ladders found all over the place just for moments like this. He had thought that the man would have been a stronger swimmer than he was, but his progress seemed slow. At long last he made it to the rope and latched on to it, adjusting the rubbery teen to hang over his shoulders as he climbed.

Wondering at the awkward position Izo leaned over slightly, ready to offer a hand. It was possible he'd hurt himself when he'd hit the water. "Let go of the fishing pole Luffy!" Or Luffy could be being stubborn.

"NO!" Yep. Luffy was being Luffy.

Zoro sounded very annoyed. "I'm not pulling you up until you drop it, you're dragging us both down."

"Stingy~" Izo could hear Luffy half-laugh. "I don't want it to get away, Zoro!"

There was a huff and the rope shook as the green haired man started to pull them both up towards the deck. "Aye Aye, Captain!"

"Yosh! You get to reel it in Zoro." Luffy cheered, flopping bonelessly onto the deck as the other Strawhat pirate took the poll from him. It was bent almost double under the strain of whatever Luffy had managed to snag.

"This is why I hate fishing." Zoro muttered, walking to the rail. He let the line go slack for a second before pulling with all his might, muscles bulging as he threw his weight into it. Instead of breaking like Izo half suspected, a smaller sized seaking was ripped from the water, momentum swinging it up and over them both to land on the deck next to Luffy with a thud where it lay stunned. "Happy now, Luffy?"

"Yep!" Luffy grinned, picking up the massive beast. "I'm going to go bring this to the kitchen!"

"Isn't it a bit early to be thinking of food?" Izo asked.

Both of the younger pirates looked at him like he was nuts. "It's never too early for food." Luffy told him seriously.

"Or booze." Added Zoro. They both grinned.

The fish slipped and Luffy seemed to remember what he was going to do. "I'll be right back!"

Izo waited until the young Captain had left his sight before turning his attention back to the green haired man. He was currently topless, wringing out the water from his shirt and revealing an impressive scar across his chest. "Zoro, is it?"

Dark green eyes glanced up at him for a second as a damp shirt was pulled over his head. "Yeah."

"I've heard quite a bit about you from Luffy. He speaks quite highly of you." There was no reaction at all to his words, and it pissed him off. "Yet at the same time, I have to wonder if perhaps you don't feel the same way towards him. True, you came here looking for him, but why? What is he to you?"

"Luffy's the captain." Zoro shrugged. "But he's still Luffy."

"Funny," Izo began when the man turned to walk away, "you don't treat him like a captain at all. You treat him more like a little kid."

Green eyes flashed dangerously as the man fingered the hilt of his sword and Izo wondered if he would draw it. "Don't talk like you know everything. Luffy's going to be King; he needs the best at his side. What happened at Sabaody can't happen again."

"And what happened at Sabaody?"

"We failed him." Zoro stated simply.

"Luffy seems to think he failed you."

The swordsman gave him a look, one he knew all too well. It was one he saw on the face of his brothers when they went into battle to protect Oyaji. "We failed our captain, and it will not happen again."

Chopper/Kingdew

"It's been a crazy last few days" Kingdew mused to himself as he turned his attention to the sky. Cloud watching wasn't an exciting pastime but he'd always found it a good way to unwind after a long day. That was, if he could find somewhere relatively out of the way of his numerous brothers and sisters who inevitably insisted on pestering him. Particularly the newest brat. The Strawhat idiot insisted on joining him and pointing out every single cloud that reminded him of food, which given the brat was a D, was all of them. He wouldn't admit it, but he didn't find the kid's company that bad, for a brat. Sure, he was rough around the edges, but Kingdew'd spent enough time listening to the young Supernova's rambling tales to know he had potential. If he didn't get himself killed doing something insanely foolish first. (Which sadly seemed to be part of how the brat worked. Honestly he was shocked Ace hadn't gone gray at a young age dealing with the kid.)

His eyes traced a large cloud pattern that sort of resembled a ship if he squinted at it. "I donno if it's more shocking that he's made it this far, or that he'd managed to get a crew to follow him. If that sword-brat Zoro's anything to go by, they've all got to be loyal as hell and half crazy to boot." The cloud disbursed as two overly large birds cut threw it.

The birds were a little more interesting looking than clouds, definitely not being ocean birds at all, not with those wing shapes. Kingdew wondered just where the hell the damn birds came from, because they'd been deliberately plotting a course away from any islands. It was a right pain in the ass, too, since it necessitated sending out Divisions for supply runs. People were starting to get antsy… antsy enough that those on lookout actually called out an alert when the large avians circled back around. At first he thought they were just overreacting and he shifted around to go back to watching the clouds again until one of the birds swooped just feet above the crow's-nest. The sails snapped in the wind generated, rocking the great ship as the bird let out a shrill cry. Even as the beast regained it's altitude Kingdew was shoving himself to his feet. While his brothers and sisters' eyes were on the retreating form, his eyes were glued to the rapidly descending one, and it didn't look like this bird was going to just buzz the sails to him.

Racing to the port side deck he shouted out to all available crewmen. "To me! Defend the port side!"

The call to arms came just in time as a hurricane force of blue feathers shot under the sails with a defiant sounding screech at the obviously ineffective attempts to deter the monster. All that they accomplished was shaking loose a few oversized feathers that landed like lead on those too slow to get out of the way. Kingdew doggedly chased after the bird, hot on it's tail feathers as it cleared the rails once more. Something, he didn't know what at first, came whipping at his head, causing him to duck as the bird banked sharply before gaining altitude. Warily he tracked the bird's flight up into the sky where the other was lazily circling. Deciding that the birds were no longer an immediate threat he turned his attention to whatever it was that bird had tossed at him. His first concern was that it was some sort of Marine attack. Maybe a bomb. God he hoped it wasn't a bomb. Adjusting his arm guards just in case, he slowly turned, eyes scanning the deck for anything out of the ordinary. His eyes skipped over the large feather laying on deck, the barrels and rope, the deer and the boxes, spotting nothing out of the ordinary at first. The deer shifted, kicking it's back hoof clear of a coil of rope and Kingdew's attention fixed right on it.

"Hello there…" He half whispered, so not to startle the ungulate, right arm raised between them in case it changed. He didn't expect any sort of answer or even acknowledgement at all, so he was surprised when the shaggy head came up, pink hat wedged between a strong set of antlers. Antlers that were not covered in velvet, but were smooth and sharp. Now, he might have been a pirate, but the Eleventh Commander knew his fair share about land animals. Enough to know more about deer than the fact that they were delicious. Like the fact that the one eyeing him was probably in rut. The buck lifted a front hoof and stomped, leaving a gouge in the Adams wood as it swung it's rack from side to side, ears back. (Definitely not a regular deer then. Why wasn't he even surprised by that?) "Easy there, fella." He cautioned, raising his arm slightly from the guard position to something more ready as the deer danced forward on strong legs, head high. He wasn't sure, but he thought it was scenting the air. "No sheila-deer here for you, sorry."

Kingdew took a cautious step forward, trying to get close enough to grab the buck, unsure if slaying the creature was the smartest move to make. Not when it was wearing some kind of bag strapped to it's back. The animal growled at him, head dropping low as it threaten him with its antlers before it leapt past him, bouncing off the rail and back onto the deck with a kick of its deadly hooves. Head up it bugaled loudly as it shoved crewmembers out of the way, racing around the deck with Kingdew pounding after him, leading a growing group of would-be-hunters. Passing a shocked Johnny he snagged a length of hammock rope as he continued on. While he was no expert with a lasso, he entertained a vague thought of being able to trip the creature up before it skewered someone. He was relieved to see the wall to the Commander's section coming up, knowing the deer would be forced to slow to turn or even stop. With lick he could put an end to this silly chase and maybe get lunch out of it. Instead of slowing though, the buck sped up and launched itself at the wall, hooves thudding as it twisted it's body around to welcome it's pursuer with a faceful of antlers. As the Eleventh Division Commander slid to a stop, he caught a flash of red cloth on the deck before his vision was completely obscured by flashing hooves lashing at his face. His blood froze, instantly recognizing the color even as those deadly hooves clattered scant inches from the unruly mop of black hair.

"Of all the places to take a nap!" He snapped, scrambling back and holding his arm to stop his brothers from rushing the deer.

"What's wrong, Commander?"

He pointed at the deer. "I'll tell you what's wrong, Luffy's under there!"

"Then just kill the thing!"

"Are you stupid?" Someone else shot back. "Look at what it's doing to the deck! Those hooves are like knives; you want to risk that hitting the brat? Or those horns?"

"They're antlers, you idiot." Kingdew growled out. "Someone get Marco. He's a Zoan. Maybe he can talk to it."

"I don't think it works that way, Commander."

Kingdew risked shooting Ronnie a glare over his shoulder. "It's that or we rush the damn beast and hope it doesn't gore one of us in the process, jackass. So, unless you got a better idea?"

"...Right then. I'll just go get Marco."

The next few minutes seemed to take forever as the deer glared at them. He'd never seen such anger in a herbivore's face before. Every time one of them made to step forward those razor sharp hooves would come up and lash out before landing dangerously close to a still snoring Luffy. How he was still sleeping was amazing. (Even more amazing when the buck's head ducked down briefly to snuffle against the sleeping teen's hair, earning a sleeping chuckle but nothing more.)

"For the last time, I'm not able to talk to animals, yoi." Marco sounded very annoyed as he came up behind him. "And that isn't a bird."

"No, it isn't. Kingdew admitted easily. "It's a deer of some sort."

Marco let out an exasperated sound as their brothers made room for him in the front. For all that the First Division Commander wasn't as tall or broad as he was, but even Kingdew had hesitated to mess with the man back in the days before he'd known exactly who Marco the Phoenix was. So when the "big brother" of the Whitebeard pirates just gave the deer a lazy look that had the buck actually shaking it was a tad bit funny especially when there was no haki involved.

"I can see it's a deer, Kingdew. Why haven't you taken care of it yet? This is more your thing, anyway."

"Normally I wouldn't argue with you about that by the damn buck is right on top of the Strawhat brat."

"So that's where he went to."

"Don't you 'so that's where he went to' me, Marco! This is a serious problem!"

"Just have someone shoot the thing and be done with it." Marco shrugged, earning another growl from the deer. Marco paused, looking at the beast again. Recognizing that his brother was thinking about something he chose to explain why they hadn't shot the damn deer.

"If we shoot it, it might thrash and I'm not going to be the one to explain to Ace his brother was trampled to death by a deer on deck, are you?"

"Good point, yoi…" The smaller blind sounded distracted. "Grab it?"

"Same issue. Plus, it's fast." He held up his arm for inspection showing the thin line on his armguard where he'd barely managed to avoid being scored when the buck had spun to face them. "And smart. Wicked smart…"

Marco's lip quirked slightly. "You don't need a pet, yoi."

"Yeah, you're right." He sighed. "Thatch would probably try to cook it anyway." The deer reared slightly and stomped. "So, what do you think?"

"Well, if you can't shoot it, and you can't grab it… have you tried haki?" The First Division Commander was still watching the buck carefully.

"...I don't know, Marco. You never know with animals." Kigdew admitted. "Normally it would have been the first thing I tried, but I think it's in rut. It'd be like hitting Ace with haki when he's in a bad mood; there's no telling if he'd drop like a rock or go berserk on us."

"You think?" Marco took a step forward and the deer's antlers came down, warning clear even without the deep rumble it made. "The thing is scared out of it's mind, I bet. I'll take it and you get Luffy away. We'll finish it off after."

"Better you than me." Kingdew agreed, sliding to the right.

"NO!" The voice was high-pitched, full of anger and fear, and he didn't know where it came from. The deer whipped it's head quickly to the side, forcing the Eleventh Division Commander back before he lost and eye. Marco wasn't so lucky, catching a rear hoof across the cheek as the deer spun in a tight circle, eyes rolling.

"You alright Marco?"

"I'll live." The phoenix was rueful, blue flames dancing close to his eye as the damage was repaired. He didn't sound angry or even annoyed. "That hurt."

"I told you it was fast."

Marco ignored him, easing forward once more. "You need to calm down, yoi." The buck stomped. "You're going to hurt Luffy."

Large brown ears swiveled forward before pinning back. "I'd never hurt Luffy!" The same high-pitched voice from before replied, full of scorn. "Luffy's Luffy, asshole!"

"Marco." Kingdew looked at the deer then his brother. "The deer just spoke."

"He did."

"It's a deer."

"I'm a reindeer, jackass!" The deer snapped back, stomping a hoof.

He felt stupid asking, but it still had to be done. "So reindeer can talk?"

"NO!"

"Unless they've eaten the hito-hito no mi, yoi." Marco lazily put in. "You're the Strawhat's doctor, right? Tony Tony Chopper?"

The deer (correction- reindeer) shifted slightly. "Yeah, so what if I am?"

Kingdew wasn't even going to question how an animal was a doctor. He vaguely recalled the brat going on about his doctor being amazing. It was impressive that the zoan type found them, though. "Why are you even here?"

Chopper looked around, surprised. "I- I couldn't wait any longer-"

"Luffy! Lunch time!"

"MEAT!" The brat exploded into movement like he hadn't just slept through a fight occurring over his head for the last half an hour, arms shooting up into the air. At first Kingdew was afraid that the idiot was going to accidently hurt his reindeer-doctor, or the other way around possibly. But judging by the lightning fast reflexes Chopper exhibited he could only conclude that this wasn't the first time something similar to this had happened. The buck went straight up with a shot that sounded a bit like Luffy and shifted into a smaller form, still flailing slightly as the dark haired teen caught him in open arms and crushed the poor zohan to his chest with a warm laugh. "Chopper!"

"Luffy don't scare me like that, you jerk!"

"Shihihihihi! Sorry!" The brat didn't look sorry at all. "Look guys! It's Chopper! He's the best doctor ever!"

"Don't compliment me! It doesn't make me happy, you asshole!" Somehow Kingdew thought the deer was lying. It might have been the giggly way it said that, or the slight wiggle. He nodded to the rest of the crew that had decided now would be a good time to leave before they were further piled into whatever this had turned into. He couldn't blame them after what had happened the last time one of the Strawhats had shown up. Then again, anyone who'd spent more than five minutes with Luffy would generally have the same reaction, he guessed. Of course, he and Marco weren't so lucky, being commanders and all.

"Right, right!" Luffy was still grinning, ignoring the way his crewmember buried his face into his vest as he sat there. "So, you beat anyone up, Chopper?"

"What?! NO! I was looking for you, not trying to start a fight!"

"Awww, you're no fun… Zoro tried to take on everyone here when he stopped by." Luffy grinned.

"He-he did?!" The little reindeer half yelped. "He-he didn't pull his stitches again, did he?"

"Nah." Luffy stood, stretching. "Hey, Chopper, wanna stay here with me for a while?"

"EH?!"

The teen shrugged. "I need to get stronger. I couldn't protect you guys from Kuma-"

The little deer was suddenly between his captain and them once more, except he wasn't so little anymore. He now was as tall as Kingdew, a furry man-beast that was ready to pound both commanders into the deck. "What did you say to Luffy?!"

"Chopper." And just like that, the zoan turned small again, running up to the young captain.

"It's not true! It was our fault, Luffy! If I hadn't lost control… I'm sorry!"

"Hey, it's fine! But, I was thinking." Luffy grinned, crouching down next to his little friend. "I was thinking that because Zoro asked for some time to train, that maybe I could use the time to train here, too. Want to join me?"

"You-you're not mad at us?" Even Kingdew could answer that one, it was a foolish question and the reindeer seemed to know it even as he asked it. "I, I want to get stronger, too!" There was a pause. "But...the island I was on. Luffy, it had all these books on medicine. If I studied them, I think I could be more use to you...but I don't want to leave you, either!"

His heart went out to the both of them, even as the strawhat captain gave one of his signature chuckles. "Then you should stay there, ok, Chopper? But only if you promise me you'll work really hard!" The little doctor nodded, tears in his eyes, "We'll meet up in two years at Ripp-Offs." Again a nod. "Yosh! Before you leave, you have to try Thatch's cooking! It's not as good as Sanji's but it's still really good!"

"Really?"

"Yep!"

Jinbe

Jinbe thought it was high time he paid his friend Whitebeard a visit. The yonko needed to know what the Marines were planning, especially when there was a strong chance that Ace was going to go running headlong into danger. Not that he could hold it against the lad, the Marines were targeting his little brother, after all. Worse still, they'd sent that treacherous excuse for a man, Teach, after the boy. Hell, he half expected to arrive on deck and find Ace-kun tied to the mast. It's what he would do in Oyaji's place.

When he arrived on deck, everything was surprisingly normal. Members of the large crew called out in greeting as they continued about their work. It was one thing being told that he was welcome here anytime, but it was another to see it for himself. Very few crews were so laid back about other pirates showing up on their ship. Whitebeard was different, though. When the old man accepted you, he did so with no reservations and you were family. (Even if you didn't want it at first, like with Ace.) Of course, it made what that scum Blackbeard had done all the more horrendous.

"Whitebeard." He nodded, greeting the large man as he approached the chair.

"Jinbe, what brings you here?"

"I was in the area."

Whitebeard grinned down at him. "What you mean, brat, is you wanted to see if I'd heard the news about Teach, right?"

He couldn't help but smile in return. "I also wanted to visit Thatch and see how he was doing."

"My son is doing fine. He's back to his old self." The other captain took a drink. "I think he's playing cards on the portside with some others."

"I'm glad to hear it. Maybe I'll go join them." His smile fell slightly. "Whitebeard, the Marines are going to offer Teach a position as Shichibukai if he can bring them Strawhat Luffy."

"I know, brat." The world's strongest man was not someone to trifle with, and the look he had on his face right then was a fierce reminder. "Shanks and Mihawk have both expressed their concerns over it."

"Mihawk?" That came as a surprise. Shanks, not so much. It was no secret that he had a weak spot for the Strawhat kid and Ace as well. (Not that Jinbe was sure why, Shanks wasn't known to be exactly welcoming with rookies as a whole. He just chocked it up to Ace being Luffy's brother.) "He didn't say anything at the meeting."

"I am not surprised." The smile was back. "Go, check on your friends. Ace is around somewhere as well. We will discuss this later."

Jinbe nodded. "Where'd you say the card game was?" The game wasn't that hard to find, in reality. All he had to do was listen for the sounds of despair as Thatch lost another hand. Coming up behind the man, he cast a large shadow on the four players.

"When did you get here, Jinbe?" Visita asked, shuffling the deck.

"A little while ago. I needed to talk to Whitebeard."

"Join us, yoi?"

"Who's winning? He ginned at Marco, knowing the answer without having to ask. It was a little obvious with the small stack of berri next to the First Division Commander.

"The bird-brain cheats, you know."

"You mean he cheats better than you." Vista laughed, holding up the deck to Jinbe. The fishman shook his head and the Fifth Division Commander started to deal. "If you're wondering where Ace is, last I heard he was still in his room.

"Oh? Late night?"

"Something like that…." Marco muttered, fiddling with his cards before anteing in.

Ace came storming up, fury etched in every line of his body. At first, Jinbe was happy to see his friend, but then he saw the expression on the young man's face as he approached the group. None of them bothered to look up from the card game that was going on. "Where the hell is he?"

"Where's who yoi?" Marco threw down two cards and tapped the deck, signaling he wanted more.

"You know who! That whoring son of a bitch!"

"I'm raising."

"Don't ignore me! Where is that traitor?!" Storm gray eyes fixed Jinbe with a glare. "You! YOU know where he is, don't you?"

The shichibukai had been afraid of this. While Ace being on the ship was fantastic, it meant that he'd most likely been told already that Teach was after his brother. That being the case, it was only a matter of time before he did something foolish. Since that scum Blackbeard would be much easier to locate than his brother, who even the marines had yet to hear a single word on in weeks, Jinbe knew what he would do. Commendable, but foolish. "I don't know where he is, Ace-kun."

"You're not lying to me, are you?"

Thatch snorted. "Come on, why would he do that?"

"Because you're all against me, that's why! You too, Thatch! After what happened, I thought you'd be on my side!"

The pompadour'd man laughed. "Yeah, he got me pretty good."

It was official, the Whitebeard pirates were insane. For a crew that saw each other as family, he'd have thought they'd have taken such a betrayal a little harder. Looked like only Ace was taking it hard though. Either that or Thatch was playing it cool and trying to diffuse the situation. Since this was Thatch, it was hard to tell sometimes. The Fourth Division Commander never seemed to take anything serious, making him a hard read in and out of battle. Still, judging by the way Ace was starting to steam, Jinbe might want to move.

"None of you are going to help me, are you?"

"No-pe." Thatch grinned.

Marco folded his cards, placing them on the deck. "I'm out, yoi."

"It's between you two." Vista muttered, shifting his cards. "I raise again, Thatch."

"Feeling brave, are we?"

"I hate you guys." Ace snarled. "You too, Jinbe."

"Leave Jinbe out of it, yoi. Oyaji told you he was your responsibility."

Vista glanced up at the captain of the Sun pirates. "Besides, he has no clue what we're talking about."

Jinbe was a bit insulted by that. "You're talking about Blackbeard, of course."

"When I get my hands on Teach I'm going to kill him!" Ace spat. "But no. I'm not looking for him right now." A look of worry crossed his face. "Unless he's heading this way?"

Suddenly he had the complete and undivided attention of four commanders. It was a little unnerving. "Not that I've heard. He's looking for Strawhat right now."

"So he's not coming here, then?" Thatch asked, clarifying for some strange reason.

"Why would he?" All four of them looked equally smug and guilty for all of three seconds before raucous laughter cut through the air.

Ace's face contorted in anger and he took off again. "There he goes." Vista sighed. "What happened this time?"

"I think he stole his hat, yoi." Marco sighed, leaning back. "At least he didn't end up dyed."

"That was pretty funny. You, that is. Not me in pink. Actually, the brat stole all his pants and his hat. Ace must have just found that pair." Thatch chuckled. "Brat's bored."

Jinbe cleared his throat, drawing all eyes to him. "Who are you talking about?"

A warm weight collided with his back, almost throwing him off his feet. As he stumbled slightly he saw Stefen run past, wearing a distinctive orange hat. "Hello Luffy."

"Hi, mini-mustache!" A voice chuckled from behind Jinbe, followed by a playful yelp. A blur of red, yellow and black ducked around him and sat with the three older pirates, pulling Jinbe down to sit as well.

"He's not going to fall for that at all, yoi." Marco was promptly shushed.

Ace went charging by at that moment. He saw the group and shot the youngest a dark look. "I see you there, Luffy! This isn't over! Wait until I get my hat back, and then you're dead! You hear me? I'm going to - wait, no! Bad Stefan! Drop it!"

"Shihihihi! Ace is funny!"

"Ace is going to kill you one of these days." Thatch laughed.

"Nah. He's not really trying. Not like when we were kids. He really tried then. Once he tossed me off a bridge over a ravine, and then there was this time with the tree...and the boulders...and that time with the crocodiles….and the snake….the wolves…." The boy seemed to think about it for a second. "It's alright though, because Ace is Ace, and he was lonely."

"That was both frightening and insightful." Thatch commented, turning to Jinbe. "Oh yeah, you haven't met the brat yet, have you? Jinbe, this is Monkey D. Luffy. Brat, this is Jinbe."

Large bug eyes stared hard at the whale fishman and he returned the look. He'd definitely not been expecting to run into the very pirate that had the world government in such a stir aboard the Moby Dick. He had to admit, it was the last place people would look for him. "You're Luffy-kun? Ace has told me a lot about you."

"Are you a fishman?" He was very blunt.

"Yes." Jinbe waited to see what the brat would do, what kind of human he was.

"Cool. Do you know Hachan?"

Thatch cuffed the boy lightly on the back of the head. "Idiot, there's a lot of fishman, not all of them know each other."

"I do." Noticing the surprised looks he explained. "He and I used to be a part of the same crew before the Arlong pirates split off from the Sun pirates."

The boy's expression soured, and he caught Marco making a cut off gesture. "You're friends with Arlong? I hate Arlong. He made Nami cry."

"Excuse me?"

Thatch's hand flew out and slapped against the younger pirate's mouth. "Long story, ask later. When Ace is there to translate." He turned to the brat. "They're not friends, alright? Jinbe's kinda like an unofficial son of Oyaji's. It'd be official, except he's a shichibukai."

"Like sand-croc and leak-guy?" Like who?

"Yeah, like them. Mihawk and Kuma, too." Vista agreed. Wait, sand-croc….are they talking about Crocodile and Moria then?

"Ooooo! Cool!" The brat grinned at him brightly. "That's awesome! Hey! Do you want to fight me?"

"LUFFY!" The six of them all looked up to see an annoyed looking Ace coming back towards them, his hat slightly damp from what Jinbe assumed was slobber. "NO PICKING FIGHTS WITH PEOPLE YOU JUST MET!"

"Uh-oh…" The youngest laughed, getting up and running.

Ace thundered by after his younger brother. "Get back here!"

After a moment of silence Jinbe finally spoke up. "Do I want to know?"

"Probably not, yoi." Marco advised him.

Thatch nodded his agreement. "Plausible deniability, my friend."

"So, this is what Whitebeard meant when he said he'd talk to me later?"

"Yep." All three of the other pirates agreed.

"Ok then, deal me in." He took the cards Thatch handed him.

Vista started the pot this time. "Before you ask. Yes, they're almost always like that."

"I wasn't even going to ask." Jinbe grinned. "They're brothers."

"Exactly. And it's our job as older, wiser more mature-"

"Say's who?"

Thatch ignored Marco except to punch him in the arm. "-brothers to ignore the antics of the youngest members, right?"

"Until they need help that is." Vista added

"Doesn't even need to be said."

"That's a given."

"Of course." Jinbe agreed, because it was true. Even if the youngest brother didn't realize he was a member of the family yet. That meant he'd have to do his part, too, of course. Something told him he was going to be having a long talk with Whitebeard later.

Chapter Text

ATMOS

The raid on the merchant ship had gone smoothly. Pathetically smoothly, if you asked Atmos. Glaring down at the captain of the ship, he delivered another kick to the man's ribs on principle. After he was convinced his vic- er- opponent wasn't going to be getting back up he turned his attention to the rest of his division, many of whom were waiting for orders.

"Alright, you know the drill, sack and scuttle this scow. Don't leave a barrel behind! I mean it this time you bastards! We need to refill the larder again." He urged, earning half hearted laughs as everyone got to work. It seemed to be a merchant vessel of some sort. Well stocked will a variety of goods. Atmos didn't have time to conduct a full inventory but he thought there was enough to get them to the next harbor. Plenty to sell as well. This was the part he wasn't quite as fond of: digging around in the other ship. The fighting was fun, and he definitely enjoyed seeing what the haul was, but getting it all on their ship and then back safely to the Moby Dick was a right pain in his ass. Once onboard the larger ship he'd have the space and time to go over everything and divvy it up properly.

One of his brothers went by with what seemed to be a cage with a skeleton in it, of all things. Atmos blinked, staring in surprise after the man who continued to load their boat with the unusual good as he tried to figure out what the hell was up with it. In the end he turned his attention back to a particularly large barrel that was giving another some trouble. At best the remains were some kind of rare artifact; at worst it was a poor soul who needed to be laid to rest. A wicked grin crossed his face as he carefully handed off the barrel below deck. If nothing else, it would make an excellent prank for Thatch. He still owed his brother for somehow bending the horns of his helmet.

"Hurry up, you lot!" He hollered, grin still stretched wide across his thick teeth. Atmos couldn't wait to return to the ship.

*BREAK*

"Thatch!" Atmos waved, getting the fourth division commander's attention.

It took a moment for the man to extract himself from the Strawhat brat, who had been clinging to him like some kind of sea star. With the smiles both wore, the leader of the thirteenth division was slightly worried for whomever their newest victim was. Thatch seemed happy enough as he came jogging over, though the wide smile slipped from his face the moment he was out of sight of Luffy and he let out a sigh.

"What, the brat tiring you out already?"

"Hardly. I just feel bad for him; he's not a complete idiot, Atmos. He knows you went on a raid today. Poor brat is feeling a bit cooped up on the ship and I can't blame him. He's a pirate, after all. Adventure's in his blood."

Atmos couldn't argue that point. Even if he doubted the sanity of any crew who'd follow the Strawhat brat, it was obvious that he did have a crew if the reindeer and swordsman were anything to go by. That didn't mean he thought particularly well of the crew, not with the risks they were bound to take with such an energetic idiot leading them. "What I don't understand is how his crew just goes along with his dumb ideas. He's tried no less than three times to pick a fight with ships passing in the distance."

"Ace says that's just how he is."

"It's dangerous and stupid. I can see how younger crewmen might respect that as brave or something, but surely he has a few seasoned members on his crew? Why do they let their so-called captain get away with this shit?"

Thatch offered a shrug, but his look became guarded. Apparently the little shit was getting to him. After a moment the fourth division commander spoke. "So you call me over here just to bitch or to show me the haul?"

Atmos broke into a wide grin, thoughts of the annoying rookie banished temporarily from his mind as he slapped his brother on the back and steered him towards the stairs. They'd already stashed the haul below deck, as per Oyaji's orders, and everything was set up for the prank he had been planning since he saw the remains. "Right this way. Got some good stuff this time- wait till you see."

Thatch followed him easily, not suspecting a thing. Atmos had to fight to keep the grin off his face as he turned on the lantern in the cargo hold. Everything had been neatly arranged based on size, and labeling of the goods hadn't quite officially begun. Still, he knew where the particular item he was looking for was. He was the one who had arranged where the cage would be put, after all.

"Wow look at these fabrics! Don't let Izo see them or we'll never be able to sell them." Thatch joked, fingering a colorful brocade.

Atmos pointed to the pile of fabric boots, "I'm sure we can spare one or two for him."

"Just one or two?" Thach joked, moving on. "Nice spices. Not top of the line, but still some I could use."

"Well, anything we don't need we'll just sell." He agreed, slowly drawing his brother towards his goal. A quick glance showed that the cage was still covered with the burlap he'd placed over it. On the opposite side of the narrow walkway between goods he had been sure to place a set of nice swords that were to attract Thatch's attention. The moment the fourth division commander spied the hilts he abandoned all pretense of exploring and made a beeline for those swords, just like Atmos knew he would.

"Would you look at these beauties!" Thatch grinned, reverently holding up one of the blades to the poor light provided by the lantern. "Looks like full tang. Good, solid work..." He muttered, backing up till he was nearly against the cage for the room to give the blade a practice swing. Atmos took advantage of his distraction and yanked off the burlap. One good swing later and Thatch turned towards him - and the cage- undoubtedly to ask for the swords. Instead he shrieked like a green marine on their first mission, nearly dropping the blade as he flailed and stumbled back away. "What the HELL is that?!"

"What, don't you like it?" Atmos laughed.

"No, no I don't! Not funny, you asshole!" Thatch growled out, punching him in the arm before looking at the remains with a shudder. "Poor bastard."

Atmos nodded, deciding to answer the unasked question, "We're going to give him a proper burial at sea as soon as Jonny picks the lock. Horrible way to go, caged like that."

"Wonder who he was." Thatch sighed, turning away and picking up the other sword. "These? These are mine now, you bastard."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." He laughed, turning to go only to be stopped by a skeletal hand on his shoulder. "Really, Thatch?"

"T-t-t-that's not me." Thatch squeaked out.

"Excuse me, but could I have something to drink, please?"

Turning his head slowly he saw the dead body standing up, with his other hand resting on the cage door that now stood open. Empty eye sockets stared at him and he swallowed. "Uhhh..."

"I was having a nice nap, but that screaming could wake the dead. Yohohoho!"

"Sorry?" Thatch tried.

"Oh not at all. I must continue my search for Luffy-san. Getting mistaken as a demon set me back. Especially when they sold me. Lucky for me I had a skeleton key. Skull joke!"

Atmos started to back away slowly. Either he was hallucinating or there was a walking, talking skeleton, which could be an improvement to seeing things... or worse. As the thing took a step forward he decided it was definitely worse. He made the sign of the cross, which had no effect other than earning a laugh.

"Are you-" Thatch cleared his throat and tried again, "you're Brook, right? The musician of the Strawhat crew?"

"Ah, you've heard of me? That gives me such a warm feeling in my heart- but I don't have one!" Atmos glared at Thatch while the now identified Brook went on about a skull joke.

"What? If you spent any time with the brat you'd know this." Even though Thatch was still pale he reached out and put a hand on the taller… man… before grinning up at the skull. "Well you are in luck, my boney friend. Luffy just happens to be here and I'm sure he'd love to see you... after we take you for a quick tour around the ship, right, Atmos?" Thatch smirked at him.

It took the larger man all of three seconds to figure it out. If they'd been freaked out a little, just think of how those who weren't division commanders would react. His answering grin was just as wide and had the bone man nervously laughing. "Sounds like a fantastic plan."

SABO

"Moby Dick is in sight; we'll be pulling up alongside it shortly." He said, poking his head in the cabin to let Robin know. "So you can ask about your captain and I'll just wait—"

"You'll be coming with me, of course." Nico Robin smiled politely at him, closing her book as she stood. Most people wouldn't dare cut him off, but then again, she wasn't most people. The resistance had quickly learned that her reputation was well deserved and Robin was not a woman one wanted to cross. They were still all trying to figure out how she ended up serving under Strawhat Luffy. Given what they knew of his personality, it was more likely she'd have murdered him in his sleep than willingly gone looking for him. That was Luffy for you, though.

So here she was, bossing around resistance members and forcing them to tangle with the Whitebeard pirates on a whim. At least, that's what he thought. Kuma had sent each of the Strawhat pirates to where they'd both be the safest and grow in strength, so he was sure Luffy was fine. It didn't make much sense that so far the resistance had reports of two Strawhats making contact with the Whitebeard pirates before leaving hours later. If anything, he'd have assumed they all would have headed back to the archipelago. Robin, however, had just smiled and said they must have gone to see Ace. Because, for whatever reason, the hothead should know where his little brother was, even though he'd never much seemed to care before. Or even after Luffy'd gone out to sea. Obviously he didn't know, because if he did, the Strawhats wouldn't have left. He pointed this all out to Robin, even going so far as to suggest all of them popping in was just going to upset Ace more if he knew anything about the guy, and she'd overruled him, going straight to Dragon. Even their leader didn't mess with the woman once she'd calmly threatened his life if he didn't let her find her captain- his son.

By the time they'd pulled even with the ship a good size crowd had gathered, looking down at them. A good many of the crew had weapons drawn already and looked ready to defend their ship. Robin didn't let that deter her, walking over to the outer wall of the Moby Dick and ignoring the shouts from above. "I really don't think that me going with you is a good idea…" She didn't answer, just started to climb up the limbs she had sprouted from the side of the much bigger vessel. Each hand waved at him to hurry up. "They're pirates, I'm a rebel. This is going to end badly."

"As Luffy-san would say, it will be an adventure." She really wasn't taking 'no' for an answer. Luckily no one decided to shoot them on their way up, and before long he was standing right behind Robin as she faced a more-than-slightly-hostile crowd. "May I speak with your captain, Whitebeard-san?"

"I thought we were here to see Ace?!" He hissed. If he had to choose, he'd rather face Ace and get killed quickly, thank you very much.

"Since I never met him and at the time he met up with Captain-san I was an enemy, that might not be the best idea." She replied, a knowing look on her face.

A man pushed his way through the crowd. He had a pompadour and wore a chef's outfit. Somehow he wasn't surprised the fourth division commander had taken an interest. The man had an easy smile on his face, despite one hand resting on the hilt of one of his swords. "Nico Robin, right?"

"Yes."

""I'm Thatch. I bet I know what you're here for." He grinned, "I'll take you to see Oyaji, the both of you if you're willing to vouch for this guy."

"No, no, that's quite alrigh-"

"If you could. I have a feeling Portgas-san would be very interested to meet the second in command of the resistance." He didn't have to see the look on her face to know that she was smug. It was written all over the curious look Thatch was giving him as he lead the way to an oversized chair on deck. The man ignored the crowd that followed them, which was most definitely not an honor guard, and kept his attention on the two of them.

"Why is that?" He squinted slightly, "You're name is Sabo or something, right? Don't act so surprised, of course we've heard about you. Oyaji likes to keep informed about what's going on in the world."

"Cuts down on snot-nosed brats getting into trouble over their heads. Gahahahaha." Whitebeard boomed, overhearing them as they approached. The man really was impressively intimidating even in his old age. Just like Dragon had said. "Doesn't always work, though. Some of my sons still need a helping hand every now and then."

Thatch grinned, "Even if they don't know they're your son, Oyaji?"

"Hush, brat." Whitebeard admonished, leaving Sabo to wonder exactly what the other had meant by that. "So you're the infamous Nico Robin. We've been expecting you. I'm sure some of my children are less happy to see you than others. There has been quite the betting pool on which of you Strawhat brats would be the next to show up."

"Then that makes this easier." Robin smiled back up at the man. "Can you tell me where he is? Captain-san."

Whitebeard had a twinkle in his eye when he replied, "At the moment, no."

"I told you this was a waste of time. We should go. Now. Now would be good." Sabo griped, shifting from foot to foot. If they waited too long Ace might show up. Something told him Ace would blame him for Luffy going missing, too.

"Impatient, aren't you, brat?"

"Don't call me that."

"Gahahaha."

"Well, could I speak with Portgas-san?" Robin asked, ignoring them both after a hand rose out of Sabo's shoulder and covered his mouth.

"I don't mind." Whitebeard said, leaning back and picking up a tankard. "When he realizes we have company, you may speak with him."

Sabo bit the hand covering his mouth, causing it to vanish. "Really, that's not necessary-" When everyone stared at him, Robin with a creepy grin, he swallowed convulsively. He didn't want to meet Ace right now. His brother was going to kill him for not telling him where the hell he was all this time. Sabo wanted to live a little bit longer, thank you very much. He still needed to see Luffy become Pirate King. Besides, being burned to death by Ace sounded exceedingly painful even if he might –okay, totally- did deserve it. "There's no need to wake him. I'll leave a note. That would be fine, right miss Robin?" A note would give him a head start.

"He's not sleeping." Thatch said, giving him an odd look, "He's off playing with Haruta and the other brat."

Other brat? "Oh. Well. No need to interrup—"

"TWO AGAINST ONE ISN'T FAIR!" A shout rang out, the sound of footfalls making their way over to them.

"PIRATES!" Two voices chorused.

"HEY! No hiding behind giant Mustache guy!"

"OYAJI! HELP!" A flash of orange, tan, and black darted past, skidding to a stop at the far side of the chair. "SAFE!"

"Oyaji…!" One of the other voices whined from within the crowd.

The old man laughed, "That's enough, you three. We have guests." A large hand nudged the orange hat. Sabo swallowed convulsively and tried to duck behind Robin, only to find his feet held to the floor by hands. She was an evil, evil woman. "Ace, they are here to speak to you."

"Oh?" Ace turned and faced them and Sabo's heart did a strange little twist. He'd never seen his brother so happy looking, so… content. Even looking at the wanted poster he'd still imagined his brother to be the angry youth he remembered, full of hate for the world, and for himself. He's finally found himself. Grey eyes flitted over him with a frown before settling on Robin. The smile broke into a wide grin. "Hey! You're Robin! Lu won't shut up about you and your books." He bowed, "Thanks for trying to save my brother from himself. I know he's a bit of a lost cause, but—"

"No, no, Luffy-san saved me." Robin answered, a look of pure happiness on her face. "I take it Luffy-san is alright?"

Ace smirked, "You could say that." His eyes trailed over to Sabo again and he frowned. "Who the hell are you?"

"Uh- I'm—"

"Portgas-san, Sabo-san insisted on giving me a lift. He was very concerned about your younger brother." Robin lied smoothly, "He refused to stay in hiding any longer while his brothers might need him."

Ace blinked in surprise before his expression darkened, flames licking at his skin as the rest of his crew wisely took a step back. Sabo wished he could. Even with Robin no longer holding him in place, he knew running would just make it worse. "Hiding?! YOU WERE IN HIDING?!" A flaming fist came flying at his face. Just before it connected the flames went out, still leaving Sabo to face a brutal right hook that sent him sprawling. "We thought you were dead, you asshole!"

Sabo looked up, holding his cheek when the next blow didn't come. He'd never realized they thought was dead. He was going to have some words with Dragon when he got back. He was shocked to see that Ace was being held back by some brave fool. Still, he wasn't going to let the moment go to waste. "I'm sorry! Ace, I thought you-"

"Dogra saw your ship go down, Sabo!" Ace cut him off, murder in his eyes. "We mourned you, you bastard!"

Sabo slowly got to his feet, reaching out towards his brother who was now staring down at the deck, fists clenched. He hadn't ever meant to hurt Ace like that. And Luffy! He couldn't imagine what his little brother thought. No, he deserved Ace's hate. If they never wanted to see him again, he'd understand. "I'll- I'll just g-"

"You-" A hand shot out, and Sabo found himself pulled against Ace's chest, his brother's face against his shoulder as the other openly cried. "You stupid-fuck, why didn't you tell us?"

"It…. I…." He didn't have an answer, not really. Not a good one. "I didn't think you'd have known about the ship." He finished lamely.

"Idiot." Ace huffed out, letting go and wiping his tears away. Just in time too, as something hard collided with Sabo's middle. "Hey, don't break him! We just got him back!"

"IhoughtyouweredeadandIwassosaaaaaaddddd!" The burr that was actually his little brother cried, almost hugging the life out of him.

"Can't-breathe!" Sabo wheezed out just before the arms loosened slightly. He'd forgotten how dangerous being hugged by Luffy could be. "I'm sorry. I miss you, too, Luffy. Both of you." He said, hugging the youngest back. He blinked. ""L-Luffy! What are you doing here?!" Sabo stammered, gaping down at the straw hat.

"Mmmm, well…." Luffy said into his shirt, "They were trying to sell Cami and-"

Robin chuckled, "I believe he meant how you ended up here exactly, Luffy-san. I've already told him about the attack."

The teen looked over at Robin before looking up at Sabo with a wide smile on his face, refusing to let go. A glance over at Ace showed his other brother had this pained expression on his face. Sabo remembered him wearing a similar expression when dealing with Luffy as children. "Oh! I crashed here, Shihihihi."

He felt sorry for the crew. Though it was a bit difficult with the death-grip Luffy had on his waist he managed something of a bow towards the Whitebeard Pirates, "I'm sorry you had to put up with Luffy."

Ace growled at him before lashing out and whacking Sabo on the head, sending his hat to the ground. "Damn right you should be sorry! You left Luffy with me! You're supposed to be the responsible one! I nearly got him killed by a bear thanks to you going off!"

"How is that my fault?!" Sabo sputtered.

Ace colored slightly, suggesting he was possibly jealous of all things of Luffy still hugging Sabo. It wasn't like Sabo asked for Luffy to hold on! "You left! You didn't even write!"

Desperately he worked on getting the rubber idiot to let go. "You didn't either!"

"I gave him a vivre card in Alabasta." Ace sniffed, looking smug.

Sabo saw red, thinking about what Robin had told him about Alabasta. Talk about your irresponsible big brother! "You left him to face a Shichibukai alone in Alabasta!" Finally he managed to pry Luffy off, which was good since right now he was reminded about how he'd wanted to beat the shit out of Ace for that.

His brother gave him a look like he was stupid, "I stopped a marine!"

"Shichibukai, Ace!"

"He could handle it! Luffy's fine!" The other protested, arms crossed as he looked away.

Sabo grabbed him by the shoulders, remembering when it had been easier back when Ace had worn a shirt and shook him. "He stuck a hook through his guts, Ace! And poisoned him! What the fuck were you thinking?!" It made him feel better when his brother blanched for a moment before that old spark of anger came rushing back.

"Shihihihi! I still won-"

"STAY OUT OF THIS!" They chorused like they had many times in their childhood.

"I was busy!" Ace protested.

"Doing what?!" Because what could be more important than protecting their precious baby brother?!

Ace waved a hand vaguely at his crew before pointing at Luffy and it clicked right before he said "Protecting Luffy!" making Sabo feel a little like an ass, but still, it could have waited! Ace wasn't done though, he snarled right back into Sabo's face, "And you, where the hell were you and your precious resistance when he declared war on the world, huhhhh?" Ace's hand fell onto the hilt of his dagger as he leaned forward getting right into Sabo's face.

"Oh don't you even go there!" He snapped back, hand on his pipe, "We at least got him out of Sabaody-" He swung the pipe around only to have Ace counter it with a small blade. The bastard had expected him to try and attack first for a change. "YOU should have known him being there was a bad idea!"

"Since when does he listen to anyone?!" Ace growled, countering with a blow of his own.

For a few moments, the sound of metal on metal was all that could be heard. Sabo and Ace were still evenly matched, and both grinned viciously at each other as they closed once more, trying to force the other to the ground. Sabo thought he just might have had the advantage as he felt Ace shift slightly under him when they were both tackled from the side, sending them both the the ground. "I win!" Luffy cheered as he perched on top of them both before hugging the two older men close.

"You cheater." Ace smiled at Luffy, eyes soft before looking at Sabo. His expression was guarded for a moment before he offered a warm smile that felt like home to the blond. "He's missed you."

Sabo heard what Ace really meant, though. He always did. "I missed you two, too."

A giggle interrupted them, "Sabo, hey. Wanna join my crew?"

"No."

"Stingy." Luffy pouted before laughing as he sat up, dragging them both with him. He turned to Robin, "Nee, I'm gonna stay here a bit and get stronger, Robin. I'm gonna get so strong that nothing like that will ever happen to us again!" He grinned.

"I'm sure you will, Captain." Robin's look was the most content look he had seen on her face. "Then I should get stronger, as well."

If he had been expecting Luffy to protest that she was strong enough, or that she didn't need to go to the trouble, Sabo was out of luck. Instead his brother nodded, looking serious for the briefest of moment. "We'll all meet again at Sabaody, in about two years time, alright?"

"I look forward to seeing how much you've grown." Robin smiled, "Do the others know?"

"Mmmm, Well, I've talked to Zoro, Chopper and Brook about it already. But I don't know where Usopp, Franky and Nami are. Do you?"

"Well, I'm sure they'll find their way to you." Robin offered a slight shrug, "I wouldn't worry too much."

"Right!" Luffy nodded, "But while you're here we should have a party!"

"Hey, you brat! Oyaji's the one who decides stuff like that!" Thatch grumbled, smiling all the same.

"Gahahaha, of course we can party, brat." Whitebeard laughed, grinning down at Luffy and Ace, "You don't find a brother every day, son. Of course this calls for a party."

As Sabo was nearly strangled again by Luffy's enthusiastic hug and Ace's only slightly more restrained one, he had to wonder just who, exactly, Whitebeard meant by 'son'...

Chapter Text

THATCH

Thatch grinned widely, knocking on the door even as he pushed it open. He just knew that the double D's on the other side of the door would be excited about the idea of an island- both had been cooped up on the ship too long. His smile twitched, thinking of another kind of double D's he might happen to like to run into on said island. With his luck Ace would say something like Luffy was too young for something like that though. He could try… "Goood Morning~"

"—idiot like you!" Ace shouted over his greeting, a scowl on his face as he stood facing Luffy.

"I'm strong enough! Stop treating me like a kid, Ace!" the younger pirate shouted back, arms crossed as he glared at his brother.

Thatch could only look on in shock as Stephan took that moment to squeeze his large bulk past the Fourth Division Commander, fleeing the fight that had obviously been going on for a while. He hadn't thought it was possible for the two of them to fight like this with each other. "Uh, guys?"

"You're not! You just rush off into things without thinking and one of these days it's going to get you killed and I'm not going to be there to bail your ass out!"

"NO ONE ASKED YOU TO!" Luffy roared back, "You go running off all the time!"

"That was before and SABO DID!"

"STOP TREATING ME LIKE A BABY!"

"THEN STOP ACTING LIKE ONE!"

"I'M A PIRATE, TOO YOU KNOW!"

By now Thatch wasn't the only one standing there watching the fight, but he sure was the only one standing in the doorway. Part of him realized that this wasn't the best place to be standing. Not only was Ace's temper explosive at best, but he knew from past experience no one liked witnesses to such a fight. Luckily – or unluckily- neither of them noticed their audience as they continued to shout at each other from a meager foot apart.

Luffy threw up his hands, his hat falling back onto the string to hang around his neck. "I JUST WANT TO HELP!"

"WE DON'T NEED HELP FROM A WEAK CRYBABY LIKE YOU!" There was a near silent gasp from those listening as Ace's eyes widened slightly even as he said those words.

It was too late though to take them back. With a growl Luffy hauled back and slammed his fist into Ace's jaw, his anger triggering his haki and landing a very solid hit that sent the elder brother stumbling. Luffy didn't even bother waiting to see if his brother would get to his feet, instead, shoving his hat on his head he pushed past Thatch. Those lingering the hall quickly made way for the young man – who Thatch had to admit was actually a little frightening when angry- as he made for the deck. The pompadoured man however stayed where he was, watching his friend climb to his feet rubbing his jaw and let out a whistle. "What was that about?"

The other's face clouded over in anger again. "He wants to go after Teach."

That explained it. "Ah. I take it you said no?"

"Of course! That bastard is Commander level strong! Luffy's not up to that!" Ace threw up his hands, "I don't care if he defeated two Shichibukai or not, there's no way in hell my brother is tangling with that guy!"

Thatch agreed wholeheartedly on that one. Some of the stories that came out of that kid's mouth gave him nightmares, and he'd been with the Whitebeards for ten years! The kid was a magnet for trouble, that was for sure. Letting him go after Teach was like bearding a Seaking. You just didn't do it. On the other hand, Luffy'd obviously survived quite a bit and wasn't some weak little rookie that needed coddling. He was a weirdo, sure… but he had a lot of potential to go far. He just needed some seasoning. "You know, you could let him spar with some of the others to get stronger, though…"

"I don't trust them." Ace grumbled. To Thatch's incredulous look the younger sighed, flopping on his bed. "Lots of the crew still think he's an annoying little brat –and he is- but…"

"But if they go in thinking that they're either gonna underestimate him like Haruta did or go in too heavy?" Thatch guessed. A groan answered him, telling him he'd hit his mark.

"…he's so mad at me right now." Ace groaned again. "Why are you even here, Thatch?"

"Hm? Oh! Island. Oyaji actually had us dock at one late last night. Wanted to know if you two knuckleheads were up for some fun."

The Second Division Commander sat up so fast he practically levitated. "Island? SHIT!"

"What-"

"Is there a reason Luffy just rocketed onto the island without you, yoi?" Marco asked casually poking his head in as he made his way to his own room. No doubt to get money for his own shore leave.

Thatch blinked, mouth falling open as Ace pushed past him shouting for his brother as it dawned on him they now had a very pissed rookie pirate loose on a whole island. "Why did you two have to fight today?!"

"I didn't know we were docked at an island!" Ace shouted back as he reached the stairs.

"…Marco, do you wanna tell Oyaji we sort of lost Strawhat or should I?"

Marco snorted as he came out of his room. "Ace should. But we'll be the nice brothers we are and help him find the brat."

Three hours later Thatch was cursing Marco for volunteering them. Oh sure, there had been sightings of Strawhat. ALL OVER THE BLOODY ISLAND! How the hell did the little shit manage that? He'd be impressed but, well, he had really wanted to go to the brothel. So Thatch wasn't exactly in the best of moods when he quite literally bumped into a small squadron of Marines. Marines who sure as hell should NOT have been on this island. The Fourth Division Commander actually growled as he pulled out his swords. "You lot have picked a really bad day to be on one of Oyaji's islands."

"This island doesn't belong to Pirate scum!" It looked like these Marines were either brave or stupid. When the group of ten charged him Thatch decided stupid.

He'd barely managed to get one swing in when the cry "Gum-Gum Pistol!" echoed out and the one furthest away from him dropped like a rock. The others, naturally, turned to face this new threat. "Thatch!" Luffy grinned widely at him, dodging a blow.

"It's Strawhat Luffy!" One of the Marines exclaimed.

"Why is he here? He's helping a Whitebeard!"

"Get him!"

Well, there went keeping Luffy's presence a secret. Not that Thatch was too bothered by it; word was bound to get out sooner or later. Still, he didn't like the bloodthirsty glint in those eyes as the Marines charged his youngest (unofficial) brother. Luffy handled himself rather well, though. His fists flying harder and faster than he'd seen them go during the spars on deck, grin a little bit more wicked looking. This was the young pirate they were coming to fear; not the goofy dork he'd gotten to know. This Luffy didn't pull his punches until the very end when his enemies were on the ground, beaten, broken and bloody. Rolling his eyes at the younger Pirate's soft nature Thatch raised his sword to finish the ones still living only to be stopped by a hand on his arm. He raised an eyebrow, question going unsaid.

"They're not worth your time." Luffy simply said before taking his eyes off the fallen marines and turning his back on them, even though many were still conscious.

The teen might not have seen it, but Thatch did. The way the jaws tensed, the look of agony at being dismissed so easily. He let out a laugh, drawing the eyes to himself as he wiped his blades clean and resheathed them. "He's right. We have more important things to do."

"Pirate Scum!" They shouted behind him as he followed the younger man back towards the ship.

Thatch watched Luffy carefully. He seemed carefree once more, but obviously there was a lot more to the brat than he'd suspected. On the surface what he had just done would seem weak, but… it was cruel. They'd crushed those men left them with that feeling. That they were beneath a Pirate's notice. For a Marine, that had to burn. He wondered how many who'd faced Strawhat and his crew quit the Marines afterwards. No wonder they hated him so. Still, the fight seemed to have put the brat in a better mood… Maybe Luffy'd go to the brothel with him? "Wanna go to the brothel?"

"Ok!" Well, that was easy. "…What's a brothel? Can I eat it?" ….Or not.

SANJI

Over a month without a word from that shitty Captain and then some guy claiming to be from the Whitebeard Pirates shows up and has the audacity to claim Luffy is staying with Whitebeard. On their ship! Like Sanji was going to believe that pile of shit. Not with the way the guy had been laughing at his dress. So what he'd caved in and worn a dress? It was only a matter of time before Luffy showed up with the others anyway so he might as well have some fun goofing off. It wasn't like Nami-swan and Robin-Chwan knew. Then that guy had to show up with his lies!

Luffy'd never willingly stay on another Captain's ship. If it was true, they must have done something to him. Something beyond bribing him with meat. Lucky for him he'd befriended a few of the Okama and understood his worry enough to take him to the Whitebeard ship right away. He rolled the fluffed sleeves of the dress further up as he lit his cigarette. It was the third in an hour, stress leading him to smoking almost a pack a day. But they'd be at that damn Moby Dick in a few more hours. That's what Rodney had said. Once there he was going to roast those bastards alive for trying to steal his shitty Captain.

"Ooo Sanji-boy, you look so tense." Lachi cooed at him. "Do you have a thing for your Captain?"

"Hell no!" He spat, "He's a guy for one, and he's a stupid black hole." He put out his cigarette, "But he's our stupid black hole."

"Ahh, so Romantic!"

"Shut up!" He snapped back, looking forward. It wasn't romantic. Not at all. No, it was selfish and greedy and Sanji knew that. Hell, the whole Strawhat Crew knew it. They all joked that Luffy was the selfish one, always dragging them along with him and 'forcing' them to join his crew but they were all fine with that. In every other way he was the most selfless guy Sanji'd ever met and damn it all he was theirs. Luffy'd made them join him, sure, but now that they were a crew they weren't giving up their Captain without a fight! Even if we did fail him, a small voice whispered in the back of his head. He quickly buried it. It was the Captain's job to go where the crew couldn't always follow. Luffy knew that. Just like he was sure the shitty Captain knew it wouldn't ever happen again.

Before he knew it they were bumped up against the truly massive larger vessel, jarring the cook out of his thoughts. Sanji supposed it was a good thing that the Whitebeard Pirates had apparently been restocking at an island not long ago and thus were easy to find. Still, he almost wished they were meeting on land. It didn't stop him from scrambling up the rope ladder that was dropped down, cursing the stupid pink dress. Reaching the deck and seeing all those men stare at him it occurred to him maybe he should have taken time to change first. Too late now. "WHAT?!"

"Something we can help you with, Princess?" A large man with impressive sideburns asked, smirking.

That was gonna be the first guy he kicked to death. "What the hell did you bastards do with my Captain?" he growled out.

"I don't remember beating up any fairies recently, sorry."

"That's it-! Jinbu-!"

"SANJI!" A voice cheered, giving the cook just enough time to brace himself for the inevitable rocket hug. Which never came. Blinking in surprise he found his Captain being restrained by a familiar looking guy with an exasperated look. "But Acceeee…."

He couldn't say he wasn't grateful for the reprieve even as he glowered at Firefist Ace. He knew that if Ace had asked, Luffy would stay. "Portgas."

"Blackleg. Nice dress." The other smirked.

"Screw you." There was no heat in it. "Let go of my Captain, will ya?" Soon enough Sanji found his arms full of a happy laughing Luffy.

"It'd be easier to do if I could trust you to keep him out of trouble." The Logia user said, eyes challenging.

"So you Stole him?!"

"More like borrowed." Ace looked away, "I'm not letting you morons get him killed facing someone you can't hope to fight. Again. Just because Luffy's a reckless idiot doesn't mean you should be."

Sanji sputtered, "You can't do that! He's our Captain!"

"And my brother! Besides, my Captain is the strongest man in the world; who's gonna stop me?"

"We are!" Sanji bit back.

"Then quit playing dress up and get stronger and take your Captain back."

"Ace—"

"No, Luffy! I don't care what I said before. There's no way in hell I'm letting you go off with your crew to get killed in the New World." Ace turned his attention back to Sanji, "Luffy's agreed to stay here, with us, for two years to get stronger. That's how long the rest of you have to prove to me you can keep my little brother safe. If not—"

The cook easily understood the worry behind those grey eyes. Something told him Ace had heard of a few of their more risky adventures. He understood on some level how important Luffy was to the man since the idiot was such an important part of his life too. Luffy saved the people he cared about from themselves. He'd do anything for them and that was a dangerous trait sometimes. But what Ace needed to understand if he didn't yet was it went both ways with the Strawhat crew. He met the Second Division Commander's eyes with fire in his own, the dress somehow making him look fiercer. "If you try to keep him from us in two years, we will tear your crew apart. Luffy is the Captain of the Strawhat Pirates, and hell if you're gonna keep him from us."

"You think you can?" Ace smirked.

"You think we can't? Then you haven't heard what we've done." He challenged back. "In two years we could wipe the floor with you."

Despite many of the Whitebeard pirates bristling or scoffing at his claim Sanji never took his eyes off Ace. After what seemed like an eternity the man seemed to find what he was looking for, a relaxed grin stretching across his face as he offered a hand, "I look forward to it."

It was Luffy who broke the tension that was still in the air. "Shihihihi, Sanji! You look funny! Can you still cook like that?"

"Of course I can you shitty Captain!"

"Then I want meat!"

"What, they not feeding you here?"

"They are, but Sanji's food is the best!" He couldn't hide the smug look on his face at those words.

Chapter Text

Introlude of Brook

Brook strolled along the deck of the Moby Dick, humming to himself as he went. The fact that most of the Whitebeard Pirates avoided him would have bothered him once upon a time, but that was before he'd met Luffy and the others. What should he care for the silly fears of others if his crew accepted him? Better still if he could use that fear to the Strawhat's advantage. True, at first some of his crewmates had been… wary of his appearance. He could easily understand that, and they'd all grown past that quickly. He couldn't very well judge when he'd found Franky a tad frightening himself afterall. Luffy, though. Luffy was special. Sometimes he wondered if maybe the young Captain saw him not as a pile of bones held together and animated by a devil fruit but possibly as he once was? It was a foolish thought and one he dismissed more often than not but sometimes he wondered just what went on in his Captain's head. How different he must see the world.

"It's unusual to see you on deck, Brook, was it?" A voice cut through his musing.

Turning his head he saw the great Captain, Whitebeard, watching him. "Excuse me. It's such a vast ship there are plenty of places for me to stay where I find I am less of a distraction."

"Ahhh. Then I should thank you for your kindness towards my children." The man waved him over and gestured for him to sit. "Do you often have to hide on your own ship?"

Even seated Brook felt his spine stiffen. If he'd still had flesh on his face he would have been scowling. As it were his clipped words would have to be enough. "There is no need to hide on Thousand Sunny. I am a Strawhat Pirate, sir."

"But before you were a Rumbar Pirate." Whitebeard took a sip of his drink, "I'd heard of you: 'The Humming Swordsman' Brook. Your crew was an inspiration."

"Thank you. They were good men." They sat a moment in silence that was soon filled by Brook as the fellow began to hum softly.

"Some of my sons have wondered why a pirate of such notoriety as yourself would follow Strawhat."

"Because he asked." Came the simple, honest answer. Truly there was more to it than that and Whitebeard could obviously tell if his laugh was anything to go by. No seasoned pirate would just join a rookie for such a frivolous reason; not even Brook after his long isolation.

Once the laughter between the two had died down to a chuckle the younger Pirate spoke. "Ah. A good reason. I'll be sure to tell them." Gold eyes twinkled in humor and Brook found himself wishing he could have met the man forty years ago. They'd have gotten on well he thought. "Your boy-Captain is something."

"Luffy-San allows us to be strong." Brook paused, trying to explain to the man. "He puts his trust in you, and you won't, no can't, let him down. At times he is the kindest person I have ever met." The skeleton laughed, "and yet the most selfish. As capricious as the seas; and the only one I deem fit to rule it."

"Yet he was defeated at Sanbody."

Brook winced, his voice turning mournful, "that was our fault, not Luffy-San's. We were not strong enough to protect ourselves. A good Captain protects their crew," Whitebeard nodded to this, "and Luffy is the best kind of Captain. He would not leave us, even as we slowed him down. So, we must get stronger."

The great Captain seemed to think on his words as he took a long drink from his mug. "Is that why you're leaving your Captain's side and sailing out with my sons on the raid tomorrow?"

"Yes. If I stay here I'll just hold him back right now." Brook allowed a bit of a smile to enter his voice, "But we'll be back for him. You might wish him for a son, but our Luffy-San belongs to the Strawhats first."

"Heard about that, did you?" Whitebeard grinned. "It sounds like your Captain isn't the only selfish one on your crew."

"Of course not. We're Pirates after all." Brook stood, dusting off his pants even though there was no need before bowing politely to Whitebeard. It had been nice talking with the man, and he thought maybe he understood just what drove the small crew to such lengths. It truly did his heart good to know he was leaving Luffy in these hands - though he had no heart - because this was a man who would fight just as fiercely as they to protect what he'd claimed as his. "A man can't serve on two crews. But a family is perhaps is different than a crew."

"Perhaps." The larger man agreed.

"Please - Take care of him for us! He is more than just our Captain; he is our friend, or saviour, our Luffy-San." Bones creaked as Brook clenched a fist, "We, I, can not lose him!"

There was a pause and when Brook dared to look up Whitebeard was looking at him with warm eyes. "He can't lose you, either. So be careful out there." He nodded, "Now go find the brat. You leave at dawn and I'm sure you two aren't done terrorizing my crew."

"Yohohohohoo~ You're right. Well then. Excuse me." Bowing once more, because it was only polite in the face of such a noble Captain, Brook turned and left, a spring in his step that hadn't been there when he'd come out on deck. He'd find Luffy-San and together the two of them would raise merry hell today and party all night for tomorrow Brook would leave his Captain behind. Now though, he was sure he was leaving the young man in capable hands. Even if Whitebeard might not quite understand what he'd signed up for. But that was alright - few ever did when they got involved with Luffy-San.

IZO

It was much too early to even begin thinking about watch for most of his brothers, but Izo was up. It was only natural he was one of the earlier risers on board, what with his quite elaborate beauty routine. Even he had to admit it was a bit much some days, but there was something soothing about the simple steps of applying makeup layer by layer until the face he wanted to show the world was presented. The kimono was much the same way with it's folds, pleats, and long obi sash. It all relaxed him. Well, except for the hair. His hair pissed him the fuck off most mornings. Which is why he did it first. Honestly it might be shiny enough, but it had no body, no life of it's own. It would just lay there flat and boring if he let it. Stupid hair. He envied Thatch and the wave his hair had, not that he'd ever tell him.

Being up so early had the added benefit of being able to catch one of the dozen or so news coo that stopped by the ship to drop off the papers and get a copy before one of his many siblings had. It meant a paper without missing pages, coffee stains, rips, or whatever else they do to it. Slipping a waiting coo the required beli he pulled a paper out and snapped it open to see a headline that was more than guaranteed to wake him up if he wasn't already.

Strawhat Luffy joined Whitebeards?!

"This could be a problem…" Calmly Izo made his way over to a barrel and sat before daring to read the paper. He'd known that Thatch and that little idiot had run into some Marines, but he'd been hoping - along with a good number of the crew - that they'd be too embarrassed by the defeat to broadcast it. It looked like it was a foolish wish.

'The Supernova was spotted on Fie Island in the company of the Fourth Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, 'Lightning Strike' Thatch.

"Well, at least they got his Epitaph right this time." Izo muttered darkly. Thatch had gotten a little sulky last time they had misprinted it, and in retaliation the crew had sunk a few Marine ships.

The two merciless Pirates annihilated a squadron of Marines who were valiantly trying to protect the island, only leaving half alive. Just what does this mean? Has Strawhat Luffy abandoned his crew after he cowardly flead Sabaody to join Whitebeard?'

Izo scowled at the paper, taking offence to the wording. For all that the Strawhat brat was a pain, he was no coward. The idea of him fleeing any battle was ludicrous, even without knowing the whole story. Knowing what he did, well. His brothers and sisters weren't going to take kindly to the insinuation that they'd recruit a coward into their crew at any rate. As if the thoughts had summoned him, the little rubber idiot appeared on deck with a cheer that was downright grating this early in the morning.

"What are you doing, brat?"

Grinning the boy turned to him and trotted over. "Izo! Hi!"

"Yes. Hi." He tried not to smile in reply as he folded the paper. No reason to encourage the brat. "You still haven't answered my question."

"Mm? Oh. I raided the kitchen. Shihihihi."

"... Didn't Thatch lock up the kitchen?"

"Yep. Sanji does that too. Once, he put this super big mouse trap in front of the fridge, the big meanie. I just wanted a midnight snack. Ah, but it's morning now. So it should be fine. They're gonna cook breakfast soon, right?"

Izo took a calming breath before whacking the brat with the rolled up newspaper. It wasn't anywhere near as satisfying as he was hoping, mostly because the kid just laughed it off. Still, it didn't stop him from hitting Luffy again as he scolded him. "You're not supposed to raid the kitchen! If they're going to start cooking breakfast wait a little longer and then go eat! You little monster you're going to eat all our food at this rate!"

"I left plenty for everyone else!"

Izo raised an eyebrow. "Enough for Ace, even?"

The teen pouted, looking away. Obviously they were still fighting. "If Ace wanted some he should have gotten up with me."

"And I'm sure you woke him." Luffy wouldn't meet his eyes, and Izo sighed. "How long are you going to be mad at him?"

"I'm not mad. I just want him to let me have fun, too!"

The commander wagged the newspaper at the young Captain, "The kind of fun that ends up with a bunch of dead Marines and you in the paper?"

"I made the paper? Cool!" He made to grab it but Izo wasn't a Commander for nothing.

"I'm not done with this. Hands off, brat." He flicked Luffy between the eyes. "And yes, you and Thatch are both in the paper. You do realize this is the sort of thing Ace was trying to prevent?"

He received a shrug in reply. "What's it say? Come on tell me!"

"The usual drivel about big bad Pirates picking on Marines." The older Pirate pursed his lips, "they called you a coward at Shabondy, brat." When there was no reaction to that even he was a little weirded out. Most Pirates didn't take kindly to such words and even Izo had been offended on his behalf.

"Is that it?"

"Apparently they believe you've joined our crew."

A definitive nod, "Good." Before he could ask what the brat meant by that Luffy grinned. "Hey, did my bounty go up? Did it? Come on, tell me…"

"Your bounty? Why would it go up?"

"Because I was in the paper!" Luffy chirped.

Izo was beginning to think maybe he should have slept in this morning and saved himself some hastle. "It doesn't work that way, you idiot."

Dark eyes stared at him as the teen cocked his head to the side (cutely. God, why did it have to be cute?), "But it's always gone up before when I was in the paper."

"That does not make it a rule." Seeing the return of the pout he relented, "Maybe next time, though."

"Oh! Ok! I'm gonna go tell Ace I was in the paper! Wanna come?"

"No, I just got my hair the way I like it and I'd like to keep it that way for a few hours more. Thanks anyway, brat."

"See you at breakfast then, Izo!"

"Sure." As the teen trotted off Izo called out, "why is it good?" To the blank look, "That the paper said you've joined our crew."

A wide happy grin answered him, "Cause Franky Usopp and Nami'll see it." He laughed. "Nami's gonna be pissed. She makes the best faces."

"Right…" Izo agreed as Luffy turned and went racing to wake his brother up. Opening the paper again he thought to himself, he couldn't have planned this, right? Before resigning himself to the idea that if Ace couldn't predict his brother, he didn't have a chance.

Ace

This was a bad idea. He didn't care what Thatch or Marco said, letting his idiot little brother spar against the crew was going to end up with someone hurt. More than likely it was going to end up with Luffy hurt or worse, and Ace just couldn't handle that. Not again. Sabo had been right, he was shit at being a big brother and Luffy had every reason to be pissed at him. He was trying though, dammit! It was hard to be a good big brother and to know when to be protective and when to let go!

There really needed to be a rulebook or some shit about this. He watched Luffy toss three crewmen across the deck, one overboard, "Of course I'd just have to toss it out with him as a little brother…"

"Still freaking out about letting your darling little brother spar?" Thatch teased as he sat down next to Ace.

Like the white knuckles weren't a giveaway? Marco had threatened to throw him overboard if he interfered again. "Of course I'm worried! It's Luffy! Have you met my brother, Thatch?"

The pompadoured man laughed easily. "He is something. What, I'm not sure. But something. Really Ace, don't worry so much. Everyone we're letting spar with the little guy knows better than to bust him up too badly. They'd have to answer to you and Marco and me and Numar and Haruta and Izo and Pops. No one is that stupid." He grinned, "Except maybe for you. And maybe Luffy."

"Accidents can still happen." He stubbornly replied.

"Don't you trust Luffy? You were singing his praises before he got here, brother."

Ace bit his lip, wincing slightly as his little brother narrowly avoided getting cut in half only to be kicked back into another opponent. "I do. It's just. Teach is after him, and Lu's such a trouble magnet as it is… After hearing about the things that idiot has done - without a second thought!..."

"It's only natural to be worried about him I guess." Thatch agreed and he felt some of the tension ease out of him. "That's why we gotta make sure he's strong enough for what's coming, right? He's not just your little brother anymore-"

"Yeah yeah. I know he's a super rookie. Captain of the Strawhats-"

"That too." Thatch agreed, "I was gonna say he's our little brother, too, now."

Ace looked at his friend, surprised. "What?"

Thatch laughed, "You think Pops was letting him stay just because you asked?" Yeah, actually he kinda had… "He likes the brat. Your brother makes one hell of an impression. And you know how Pops is. Once he claims someone…"

Ace had to laugh himself at that. He'd learned the hard way that there was no dissuading the world's strongest when he wanted something, be it booze or a son. "Poor Luffy…"

"Yeah. Now he's got hundreds of overprotective big brothers and sisters." Thatch stood, slapping him on the back hard enough to sting. "We're gonna make sure he's ready for anything, just you watch."

"But are our ship-brothers really ready for a little brother like that?" Ace asked, pointing to where Luffy had somehow managed to get tangled up with two other people.

"... Probably not. But we'll manage. You did, after all."

He did, didn't he? And yeah, he might not be the best big brother… And he and Luffy fought sometimes, but his kid brother knew he had his back. He'd do anything for Luffy, and he supposed that had to include letting him fight his crewmembers. Even if he didn't like it. He'd apologize for doubting Luffy later. "Yeah, you're right."

Chapter Text

BLAMENCO

Blamenco scratched his chin, eyeing the railing shattered remains as he tried to decide if any part was salvageable or if he was going to have to replace the whole thing. Beyond the point of impact the wood splintered a little for the next foot or so, but not so bad that he didn't think sanding it would smooth it out. Reaching out he tested the splintered areas and came to the conclusion that it wasn't weakened to the point of needing to be replaced there as well. That was good news; they were starting to run low on longer cuts of Adam wood. Who would have thought that the Strawhat brat was anywhere near as destructive as his brother? he mused, pulling out a saw from his right cheek pocket. Certainly not him. The brat just didn't give off the same feeling. He looked like a civilian with that oftentimes blank stare; harmless, even. Right up until he's not, Blamenco snorted, cutting away the broken pieces. There was a chance he could use them to repair the chair Macey ate yesterday at least. Adam wood would slow her down.

"Shame Oyaji can't convince him to join up, though." he mused to himself. True, the head shipwright hadn't had this much steady work aboard the Moby Dick since Ace had been kidn- recruited, but he kinda liked the little idiot. Not that he didn't like Ace! Ace was his ship-brother, and actually quite handy himself when it came to repairs or building things. He was just a bit more prickly then Blamenco was usually willing to deal with. His kid brother though... they got along just fine. Honestly he didn't understand why some of his brothers and sisters still insisted Strawhat was a nuisance. The brat was hilarious! Shit with a hammer, though.

As for the rumors that the kid was just a prop-Captain, well. Blamenco didn't believe that one for a minute. For one, he was Ace's brother and a D. D's, he'd found, were wildly unpredictable and headstrong jackasses more often than not. Just look at Marshall D Teach, there was a REAL jackass. He never did get along with the man, even before he'd turned traitor. Sat wrong with him for a D to be so... content to take the backseat at anything. It was a shitty thing to be right about, though. Luckily Luffy was much too straight forward to pull underhanded shit like that. He was a brutally honest brat, much to the chagrin of many of the Whitebeard crew members. Not him, though; he appreciated not having to work out what the kid was thinking instead of just asking. Now if he could get his brothers to stop playing "toss the rubber man" and breaking things everything would be great.

"SHIP SPOTTED!" The cry from the crow's nest had Blamenco pausing in his work to glance up at Rickett before looking in the direction his subordinate was pointing. He stood there with his hammer raised as he took in the vessel. It was a ship of some sort, but it was very... unique looking. It barely qualified as a skiff, maybe being big enough to hold six or seven people comfortably on a voyage. It really looked more like some sort miniature sub of some sort to him. Still, whoever was onboard the small ship was heading in their direction and not flying a flag. That could spell trouble - for them - even though Blamenco would be damned to figure out where to fly a flag on the thing.

Taking advantage of the distance, the Sixth Division Commander finished up his work. He'd have one of his men come back later after the glue cured to sand the rough edges off. For now he had a possible intruder to repel, and as it was his Division's day to man the ship's defenses he'd better get ready to greet, or threaten, the visitor. By now the vessel was about a furlong away, much closer than he'd expected it to be. "Impressive." he commented, coming to stand by Joshua.

"If you say so, Commander. Still no sign of who it is."

"We'll just be sure to give whoever it is a warm welcome." He commented, spinning his hammer idilly in his grip. By now the ship was right along side of theirs and turned to match speed and direction. It was definitely some sort of submarine, which had him reevaluating how many people could possibly be on the vessel from six to a max of four. A very cramped four at that, he decided, relaxing a bit. Very few people would dare to challenge the Whitebeard Pirates with anything less than a dozen people, and those that would do so with less than six he could count on one hand. This wasn't a vessel belonging to any of the Shichibukai or Yonko, meaning it was likely a friendly visit. Possibly from one of the islands under their protection.

The port hatch on the top of the vessel opened up and a head of blue hair popped out. The - person - for lack of a better word for the horrific looking face he saw, damn that must have hurt, looked up before waving. They extracted themselves from the small sub, standing expertly on the tiny vessel in nothing but a very brightly colored shirt and speedos. "OOOWWW! Blamenco, it's been a while! Looking SUUU-PER!"

"I can't say the same, Franky!" Blamenco grinned, switching out the hammer in his hands for a ladder he'd stashed in his cheeks. "What the hell happened to you?"

"Are you saying I look like a pervert?"

"No more than usual," he shot back, bracing himself against Franky's weight.

"I was fixing this engine," Franky explained as he hauled himself up the ladder, "it was gummed up with something strange and it exploded in my face is all."

Looking the man up and down, Blamenco concluded it was a hell of an explosion. If Franky hadn't replaced most of his reachable organic parts for machinery, he'd be dead most likely. His whole face was gone, revealing the more than a little gruesome framework of his reconstructed face. More than one of his brothers blanched at the sight, either in horror or sympathetic pity. As a shipwright Blamenco could honestly say it was the most extensive reconstruction he'd ever seen; and more than one of his friends were missing limbs or such from work-related accidents. Franky was a bit different. He didn't know the exact story on what had happened to his blue haired friend to warrant such a remake; no one in Water Seven was willing to talk to outsiders about it, but he knew it was a miracle he survived.

"All superficial damage?" He asked, eyeing the scorch marks critically.

"Mostly. Damaged my left eye, but it'll hold out for a bit longer until I can fix it." The cyborg shrugged, apparently unconcerned.

Talk about a man's man... he could only shake his head at his friend before changing the topic. "What are you doing so far away from Water Seven?"

He assumed Franky was giving him a weird look with the way the man crossed his arms. "I left there a while ago."

That was strange, he'd thought nothing could make Franky leave his Family. "Oh?"

"Yeah. I couldn't let Thousand Sunny sail without a good shipwright." Where did he know that ship name from? "But we can catch up later. Where's Luffy-bro?"

The name of the ship clicked. "OH! The Strawhat ship!" He grinned, "Nice piece of work. Adams wood?"

"Of course." Franky sounded happy as he followed Blamenco towards Whitebeard's chair. "Grass and a tree on deck, fully functional bathhouse style washroom, gourmet kitchen, lounge and an aquarium among other things."

"Wow. That must of cost a lot to build! How does it handle?"

"Smoothly enough that our Captain can steer in a pinch. He is here, isn't he?"

"Who?"

"Strawhat!" A few of his subordinates hissed loudly, reminding him.

Franky nodded. "Saw this article in the paper. Said he was joining your crew." Suddenly his tone matched how frightening his face was at the moment, "I want to hear it for myself from Luffy-bro."

"Shit! He's going to kill the brat!" Someone yelped, running no doubt to fetch the big guns, also known as Over Protective Brother # 1, Blamenco chuckled.

"Nah, he's just traveling with us a bit." He laughed out loud, "For all the damage he's caused to my ship, I'd give him back, but Oyaji likes the brat."

"Yeah? That's Suuper! I thought they'd get along. But your Captain can't have him. Luffy-bro is gonna be King, and we need him on my ship to do that." The growling tone was back by the end, and Franky looked more than willing to break heads to get his Captain back.

"I swear to you, we're not trying to recruit Strawhat." He scratched his chin, "Not actively at least. He's just-"

"WHO IS THREATENING MY LITTLE BROTHER?!" Came the enraged shout as those on deck quickly made room for Ace. More than a few pointed out Franky, not willing to get burned for getting in the Second Division Commander's way. "YOU! What do you want with Luffy?"

"OWW! I don't see how that's any of your business." Franky snapped back. "That's between Luffy-bro and me."

"Like hell it is! He's my little brother, and-" a crash was heard. Ace winced, leading the Sixth Division Commander to suspect he'd locked his brother in a room to prevent him from following. He shot Ace a glare, promising himself to make the younger Pirate fix whatever was broken this time.

He obviously wasn't the only one to realize Luffy was making his way - noisily, What the hell did Ace do? Block off the whole hallway? - onto the deck. More than a few of his subordinates ran to head off the young Captain. Stucco swallowed hard and broke up the confrontation between Ace and Franky, "Let us handle this, Commander. You go stop your brother!"

Ace just stared at him, and Blamenco agreed; there was no stopping the brat once he decided he was going to do something. He was coming one way or the other. Franky cocked his head to the side, "Either Luffy-bro is going to come to me, or I'm going to go to him. I ain't leaving till I hear what's going on from my Captain!"

"Wait, you're on his-" The Second Division Commander blinked, expression smoothing out.

"No! You're not going to scare the bra-"

"ACE! You big meanie! You had a head start!" A cheerful voice shouted just before Luffy appeared on deck. Blamenco had exactly one moment to realize Stucco might have had a point about Franky meeting up with his Captain right now given how he looked ferociously gruesome to hardened pirates. It was a shame he didn't have a tarp or anything to give the man to sort of hide his current disfigurement before the ball of energy known as Strawhat Luffy was there, pouting up at his brother.

"It was for your own good..." Muttered Ace, looking away guiltily.

"Liar!"

"Luffy-bro! It's SUUUPER good to see you!" The relief was palatable in Franky's tone.

Luffy turned to look at his shipwright, a blank expression overcoming his face. "Franky?"

"Who else would it be?" Franky asked, resting his hands on his hips proudly. More than one Whitebeard Pirate cringed, waiting for a shout of fear or something.

"YOU LOOK AWESOME!" Luffy beamed instead, laughing, "What the hell happened?"

"Blew up a building." Franky replied readily, "Nothing to worry about."

"Shihihi, of course not!" Tension eased out of the teen's shoulders, and he had the feeling the brat would have readily attacked them all if he'd thought it was their fault.

"Might take the opportunity to do some SUUUPER upgrades as long as I have to do repairs. What do you think?"

"Lazer eyes!" Came the enthusiastic response, drawing a laugh out of Blamenco. He shouldn't have been surprised that Luffy'd do anything but recoil from Franky's damaged appearance.

"I'll - see - what - I - can - do." Franky said in a robotic voice, earning a few weird looks. "Everything alright here, Luffy-bro?"

"Hmm? Yeah! Kuma sent me here, for some reason. But that's okay because it's Ace's crew. Franky, this is Ace! He's my brother!" The brat beamed happily.

"That's super! The Whitebeards are a good crew to know." Franky nodded. "You planning on joining?" Wow, that was blunt.

Then again, when dealing with Luffy, blunt tended to be the way to go. The teen put his iconic hat on his head, a grin stretching his face. "Nah. Just gonna stay with them till I get stronger."

The cyborg studied his Captain in silence for a moment before letting out a laugh. "Good. So, we still meeting at Rayleigh's?"

"Yep. In two years."

"I'll be sure to make sure Sunny is ready to go by then."

"I'm counting on you, Franky." The Captain of the Strawhat Pirates said seriously, despite the wide smile on his face. After a beat he grabbed his crew member's arm. "Let's go see Grand-mustache!"

"Luffy, for the last time, stop calling him that!" Ace grumbled, trailing after his brother.

He was ignored, of course. "How long can you stay?"

"A week, maybe. I found this SUPER place with all sorts of things I might be able to modify for Sunny, so I want to get back."

"Cool! While you're here, you've got to try Thatch's cooking. It's almost as good as Sanji's!" Blamenco heard Luffy say as they walked away. He shook his head, heading towards the lower levels of the ship to see what kind of damage Luffy had done. Maybe he could get Franky to help do some repairs. It'd be nice to pick the other shipwright's brain and compare notes on working with Adams wood. And if he was lucky, Franky might share some of his ideas he'd come up with.

Speed Jiru

"You're pretty fast. For a rookie, that is." Jiru taunted as he dodged the fists aimed at his face. In truth, against a lot of experienced Pirates the Strawhat punk's 'Second Gear' would give him quite an edge. But against a Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates it didn't offer much, and against Speed Jiru he might have been moving normally.

The brat wasn't discouraged in the slightest though. Far from it in fact. Jiru could have sworn the little shit got faster, and when he had to block a kick with his shield instead of dodging it the brat grinned. "Are you going to dodge all the time, or are you gonna attack?"

"Oh, you're asking for it, brat!" He smirked back, lashing out with his short lance and scoring a small cut through the Strawhat Captain's shirt. He was a little surprised when instead of jumping back his opponent darted forward, arm swinging to deliver a devastating haymaker. Or it would have been devastating if Jiru hadn't slid out of the way, whacking that unruly hat with his lance as he did so.

"Almost had you!"

"Almost? I've had Marines get closer!" He laughed back. Maybe a bit too soon as the next punch turned out to be a grab for his shield that threw him off balance enough that the next kick knocked his own hat askew. A quick twist and a jab had the brat backing off quick enough and the two turned to circling each other warily. Jiru had to admit that Ace was right; his little brother did get better the longer a fight went on and he found he had to keep all his attention on the brat to avoid getting hit. He could easily see how the brat was giving the Marines issues with how rapidly he improved because of it. To think he'd thought it was insulting at first that Fire Fist had only wanted the brat to spar against Commanders at first. No; it was exhilarating to be part of this young rookie's growth, not to mention he might accidentally send one of the non- Commanders to medical.

When Strawhat paused and looked up, Jiru naturally thought it was a distraction tactic. He'd done the same during fights, and Thatch was fond of the move. So he was caught off guard when something fell screaming from the sky right on top of him. Later he would tell his brothers and sisters that he had thought at the time it had been some elaborate attack thought up by Strawhat, which is why he attacked the moment he realized a giant bug was about to land on him. In truth, Speed Jiru really didn't like bugs; especially since Thatch had filled his bed with creepy crawlies as a prank. Seeing a ridiculously large beetle of some sort fall from the sky crossed a line he didn't know he had, really. Even if he had heard the lookout call out an alert about the bug he most likely would have reacted the same, but since he'd been so wrapped up in his spar with Strawhat the point was moot. Before he knew it his lance was aimed at the underside of the bug and he was ready to spear the bug. It didn't register to him until after something hard and small collided with his shield that the bug was not alone, but it should have since bugs do not scream and this one sort of was.

Jumping back to avoid any further attacks - and to avoid touching the freakishly large beetle as it crashed on the deck - he made sure to put himself between it and the Strawhat brat. Freakishly large bugs weren't normal even for the Grand Line, and Ace would kill him if something happened to the kid on his watch. "SO COOOLLLL!" Apparently the brat had different ideas about giant bugs though.

"No, not cool!" Jiru snapped, "Stay behind me, brat."

"But, it's a stag beetle!"

"I don't care!" The beetle's legs flailed as it tried to get back on to them, creating a clicking noise as it rocked. Jiru hefted his spear higher.

""W-we've got you surrounded! Lay down your weapon and no one get's hurt!" Said the beetle.

"Huh?" Jiru naturally looked up at the sky and saw nothing.

"It talks!"

"Don't be stupid, bugs can't talk!" He poked the thing gently with the tip of his weapon. Just in case.

"But it just did!" Luffy protested.

The beetle's legs hooked onto his lance and it slowly started to roll onto it's side. He repressed a shudder, "No it didn't!"

"Yes it did!"

"Actually…" A voice said as a figure squeezed itself out from underneath the beetle, "That was me, Luffy."

"Usopp!" Strawhat cheered, dodging around Jiru to help the trapped person by flipping the bug over. "You're here! Where did you find such a cool bug?!"

"On the island I've been staying on. More importantly, Luffy, did you really join the Whitebeard Pirates?" The dark haired youth asked as he ran his hands over the large beetle. Jiru took the opportunity to study the stranger, assuming he was one of the Strawhat Pirates. He didn't recognize him from the bounty posters, which meant it was likely the sniper, 'Sogeking'. To be honest, he didn't look all that impressive, but he had been able to leave a small dent on the center of Jiru's shield while he'd been falling. For a rookie that was definitely impressive. Besides, after spending time with Luffy he'd come to the conclusion that the whole crew was made of weirdos. Impressive weirdos, but weirdos none the less.

"Nope! Guess they kidnapped me, Shihihihi." The young Captain poked the beetle enthusiastically, "Can I keep it?"

"No, you can't keep it! Ahhh, I need to give it water before it dies…"

Speed Jiru tossed over the water skin he'd brought for after the spar. "Use this then."

"Thanks!" He couldn't watch though as the teen poured water into his hands and let the bug's mandibles touch him as it drank the liquid. After a moment Sogeking looked up at his Captain. "What do you mean they kidnapped you?"

"I ended up here, and then they wouldn't let me leave."

The look the rookie gave Jiru was hard and calculating, and or a moment he almost expected the sniper to attack before the other grinned. "I see. How long are you planning on sticking around here for, Luffy?"

"Two years. Wanna stay, too?"

"Uhhh, I think I just came down with I'll-die-if-I-stay-here-disease."

"Awe, you're no fun!" Strawhat protested, sticking his tongue out at his friend. " Can't you stay for a little bit at least?"

"Maybe. I just came to see what kind of trouble you'd gotten into this time, Luffy." The other said with a shake of his head, "Sorry it took so long, the place Kuma sent me is really weird! The whole island is just one giant carnivorous plant! It took a while to find a way off it."

"That sounds so cool!"

"Well, it is. I'm sure a lesser man would have been defeated, but not me!" The other boasted. "I found all sorts of useful things there, too. If you're going to be here for a while I might head back and see if I can figure out a way to modify some of those plants I found. They might make good ammunition with a little work."

"You'll bring Mr. Beetle back, too right, Ussop?"

"No, Luffy. He's not joining our crew."

"Stingy."

Usopp ignored his Captain and instead stood, offering his hand to Jiru. "Thanks for the water."

"You're welcome." He replied, hesitating to take the hand that had been touching the giant bug. He did eventually with a shudder. "I'm Speed Jiru, Fourteenth Division Commander."

"Usopp, Brave Man of the Sea, and sniper of the Strawhats." he pointed at the bug, "That's Hector. I'm borrowing him from a friend."

"I see." Jiru just didn't care. "Will it be alright here on deck? I should bring you to Oyaji if you're going to be staying for a bit."

"Yeah, he'll be fine. Really though, I don't have to meet your Captain. Honest, I just came to check in on Luffy. I'll stay out of the way-"

Jiru smirked, seeing the opportunity to make the brat as uncomfortable as he currently was, "Oh no, I insist. Every guest has to meet Oyaji. He especially wants to meet all the Strawhats. Said so himself."

"Oh…"

"You'll like him, Usopp! He's got the coolest mustache ever!" Came Luffy's ringing endorsement. "And he's really really big, too!"

"That's nice…" The Strawhat paled noticeably.

"Don't tell me a 'Brave Man of the Sea' is afraid to meet the World's Strongest Man?" Jiru teased as he lead the way, causing Usopp to sweat. This kid would be fun to tease, he decided. Still, he admired the way the brat didn't back down.

"N-no! Not at all!" Came the protest, "I'm afraid of n-nothing!" the stutter said he was, though. Good, at least one Strawhat knew what fear was, but knew better than to let it cripple him.

Jiru slapped him on the back, "I like you, brat."

"Thanks, I think?"

Yep, the Strawhat Pirates might still be a bunch of rookies, but from what he'd seen and heard, they sure did show a lot of potential. He was more than willing to agree with Oyaji in adopting the whole lot of them… provided they left all the giant bugs back where they found them, of course. Maybe in two years they'd be able to convince the Captain to at least ally with the Whitebeards? If not, the Strawhats might find themselves crossing paths with the odd Commander wondering around on their own as they checked up in the younger crew. And Jiru'd be happy to sign up for that duty. These guys were way too amusing to just let go in his book.

THATCH

"So, looks like most of your crew's stopped by." Thatch commented as he came up behind the young Pirate lounging on deck.

"Yep." Luffy cheerfully replied as he rolled onto his back so he could grin happily up at the Fourth Division Commander from underneath his beloved strawhat. "Everyone but Nami."

"Who's Nami again?"

"She's my navigator. She loves tangerines and money, and she's super scary sometimes."

Oh yeah, that one, Thatch vaguely remembered his young friend rambling on about her at some point. He remembered seeing a bounty poster, too. If he had to be honest, it had looked more like a pinup than a bounty, but he wasn't complaining. It just cemented the idea that anyone who followed Ace's little brother was more than a little nuts themselves in his book. He flopped down next to the brat, "You think we should send people looking?"

The teen just shook his head, "Nah. She'd just get mad. And then rob them."

"So you're not worried at all?"

"Nope." They lapsed into silence. Thatch wondering at the faith his young friend showed in his crew, and who the hell knew what Luffy was thinking. He'd given up trying to figure out the younger pirate after that whole debacle with the Marines. Sometimes he wondered if dealing with the brat is what had driven Ace off the deep end... but more than likely his best bud had already been nuts before Luffy had come along. They both were Ds after all. "Hey, doesn't that cloud look like steak?"

Thatch let out a laugh, "With you, everything looks like meat, Luffy."

"It does, though!" Came the protest as the teen pointed to the cloud in question. To be fair it did look a bit like a steak. But he wasn't about to admit that, of course.

Actually, it looked like the cloud was getting closer, and strangely darker.

"I think maybe we should go in..." before we get electrocuted.

"Why?" Luffy asked, jumping to his feet to get a better look at the now ominous looking cloud. Standing as well it occurred to Thatch that the rubber idiot was immune to lightning. Lucky bastard.

It didn't stop Thatch from reflexively snatching at him when lightning slammed into the deck a meter away, causing his pompadour to frizz badly. Luffy just laughed it off, seemingly completely unaffected even by the light that blinded them both. Thatch just held onto the idiot hoping that somehow neither of them would be struck by a second blast, and that the fool wouldn't go running off to investigate the 'mystery'. When things finally settled down the Fourth Division Commander blinked his watering eyes, trying to clear the after images seared into his brain away. He could have sworn there were people standing in front of him that hadn't been there before.

He blinked again and risked removing one arm from Luffy to rub his eyes.

Yep, there was definitely people standing there. A young woman and two really old men, to be precise. "Well hello there, gorgeous."

The woman ignored him, which if he was being completely honest wasn't too unusual with a pickup like like that. It was a little insulting to be ignored in favor for the brat he was still holding on to, however. Thatch was after all the Fourth Division Commander and as such not used to pretty young women yanking people out of his arms in order to shake them silly. Though his ears were still ringing he could tell by the way her lips were moving she was yelling at Luffy while attempting to give him whiplash. Figuring she'd have to work harder than that to succeed he took the opportunity to wiggle a finger in his ear to stop the ringing and almost wished he hadn't. The woman was loud!

"- THINK YOU WERE DOING?! I WAS WORRIED SICK! STOP LAUGHING AT ME YOU IDIOT! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH MONEY YOU COST ME?!" When shaking him didn't seem to get the desired results - Luffy was just laughing enthusiastically - she punched him upside the head.

That had him clutching the spot with a whine. "Nami, that hurt!"

"GOOD!" She shouted, fist colliding with his head again.

Before she could continue the, admittedly humorous, abuse, Thatch grabbed her arm. "Hey now, that's Captain abuse."

"Says who?" She asked, ripping her arm free with a glare.

"Says me." He replied easily, "Thatch, Fourth Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates. Perhaps you've heard of me?"

If he'd been expecting her to be wow'd he was very much wrong. Instead she glared at him, "You're the asshole who got Luffy in trouble with the Marines!" She swung at him, the fearless vixen that she was.

"Hey now! He doesn't need help getting into trouble!" Thatch yelped, avoiding the blow, "Nami, right? Luffy, call her off!"

"Shihihihi, nope!"

"Luuuuuffffyyyy!" He whined, protecting his head as she slapped at him. Why was he being blamed for this? Luffy had gotten involved himself! his protests fell on deaf ears, however as Nami continued to rail on him. It didn't particularly hurt, but it was embarrassing that he couldn't avoid her blows. Eventually she seemed to run out of steam and instead stood with her arms braced on her hips as she glared at Thatch's huddled form.

Luffy crouched down next to him with a grin, "I told you Nami was scary."

"You weren't kidding, brat."

"What was that?!"

"Nothing!" Both said, snapping to attention.

"That's what I thought!" She humphed. "Because of you fools I've missed out on valuable training time! Do you have any idea how hard it is to track a ship in the Grand Line? DO YOU?!" Luffy shook his head while Thatch nodded. Seeing her glare he decided to change it to a head shake. "That's what I thought!" She leaned in and pointed at Thatch, "You are going to take me to your Captain so I can thank him for looking after this knucklehead."

"Yes ma'am."

She turned to Luffy with a sigh, expression softening. "You're alright?"

"Yep. You?"

"Of course. The others?"

"Yep. Sanji was wearing a dress though." Her lips twitched slightly. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be, Luffy. You might be a monster, but we can't rely on you for everything." Despite the fact she was scary, Thatch had to admit this Nami chick was practical.

"We're just as responsible for what happened."

"That's what everyone else said, too." Luffy pouted. "But I'm still gonna get stronger. Just you wait and see."

Her smile was soft and indulgent, like dealing with a beloved younger brother. "Alright, how long should I wait?"

"Two years." He nodded firmly. "Then I'll be strong enough to protect you guys from anything."

"If you say so." Nami replied, placing his strawhat on top of his head, "But Captain, I'll be stronger, too, by then. Maybe even strong enough to protect you for a change." Luffy just looked confused at her words, causing her to laugh. Thatch joined in, feeling some sympathy for her and her other crewmates for having such a simple headstrong Captain.

"Come on, then. Let me take you to meet Oyaji." He was sure she'd get along great with their Captain, and with Marco. He glanced at the two old men who had been standing by silently. "Are they coming?"

"I guess they'd better. They're my ride..." She sighed reluctantly.

"Ride to where?" Luffy asked.

"A sky island."

Well, that explained the lightning he guessed... "Wait, a sky island?!"

Chapter Text

Thatch

He'd been watching the kid for the past twenty minutes. Luffy was just hanging off the rail, watching the waves and not tailing his brother or bugging Marco like he usually was, so Thatch knew something was up. Since it wasn't like he had anything in particular that needed to be done for a few hours, Thatch took it upon himself to see just what was up. It wasn't like he was avoiding helping patching the sails. Not really, since the kid was sort of unofficially part of the family and as a commander, no, as a big brother it was his job to make sure the kiddo was alright. Or at the very least not plotting to launch himself at a seaking in the distance again. Numar had not been happy about fishing Luffy out of the ocean.

So with an easy grin Thatch slid up next to Luffy and leaned against the rail. "Whacha looking at, kiddo?"

"Nothin."

"Right. Nothing." He didn't believe that for a second. There had to be a Seaking or a fish or island out there. Turning his attention out to the expanse of sea before him, all he saw was the gentle swell of the waves. Even a quick check with haki showed nothing. "Huh." That was actually completely unexpected. He honestly hadn't thought the kid could sit still for more than maybe a handful of minutes before either falling asleep or getting himself into trouble.

Twisting so he was now looking out over the rest of the deck while leaning on the rail he caught the slightly more-vacant-then-normal look Luffy was giving the waves. Well, Thatch didn't think the younger pirate looked sick, so there was that. The kid had been pretty energetic at breakfast and lunch, too. Ace hadn't mentioned anything about a fight, either. Not that fights between the two brothers were particularly hard to miss. The last one had taken out a wall and had started over something one of the sixteenth division crewmembers had said in passing. So, thinking about it, the Fourth division commander couldn't think of any reason for Luffy to be out here alone sulking.

It was definitely sulking, too. "So, what's up, Luffy?"

Brown eyes blinked up at him vacantly. "Huh?"

"Well, I haven't spent much time with you recently, and I just was wondering if anything was new. Like, learn any new super cool attack moves? Ace say anything embarrassing in his sleep recently? Things like that."

"Oh. Well, Namur wants to show me that mystery attack thing he said I can do." Thatch assumed he meant Haki, "I don't get what he means though. So Mr old-mustache said he'd help. Ace hasn't said anything super weird in his sleep. Ah, but he stole all the blankets last night. Big meanie! He's made out of fire! He can't get cold!"

Somehow that seemed more like Ace messing with his little brother than anything else. After a moment the two of them lapsed into silence. Thatch again was struck with how odd it was for Luffy to be quiet or still for any significant length of time. Watching the teen, he supposed he had seen the young Captain display such traits before. While fishing or listening to Oyaji's stories he'd seen the kid just sit for hours. But even that was a more lively, more of an active inactivity, if one completely ignored the contradiction. The Luffy sitting before him now was completely listless; to the point that Thatch casually double checked that no one had slapped kurosaki on the brat. Thankfully there wasn't any in sight, so he wouldn't have to be doing the Division Commander thing and lecturing his brothers about why you couldn't just drug/and or sudate people that annoyed them.

Kind of left him back at square one trying to figure out what was wrong with Luffy. He could always drag him to the nurses over by Oyaji, but he'd rather not. They already fussed over the brat enough when he was hyper and interfering with their work. Honestly, it was a bit strange how charismatic the little idiot was when he thought about it. Most of the crew found it incredibly hard to actively dislike him once they got to know him. Kinda like Ace, the younger D just grew on you. Thatch wondered if it had been like that when the brat had set sail; if his crewmates had just been drawn to his… Luffy-ness… and joined, or if he kind of wore them down with his persistence.

Watching the brat continue to stare out towards the sea, it seemed like a good way to distract the kid from whatever was bothering him so much. A quick glance around showed Ace and Marco were nowhere in sight as Thatch hopped onto the rail to sit next to Luffy. He figured it would be better to get all the juicy details out of just how exactly a strange crew like the Strawhats had formed without giving those two heart attacks. Or worse, give them more to go tell Oyaji about his youngest 'Son' and give the old man a heart attack. You never knew with one of Luffy's stories, after all.

He turned to the teen with a big grin. "So, your crew. They seem like an interesting bunch."

Luffy looked at him, a wide grin stretching across his face, "They're the best!" Thatch realized then and there the teen was… not exactly lonely, but homesick for his Nakaima.

Meaning his idea would kill two birds with one stone as it were. "Yeah? You met a bunch of them in the East Blue, right? What was that like? I mean, you guys are all pretty strong for a bunch of rookies as it is. But for a bunch from that sea? I'm shocked you all were able to meet up."

Luffy began to laugh, "Shihihihihi, of course I'd find them! They're my Nakama!"

"Yeah… now they are. But how the hell did you all meet? You'd think the Marines would be a little more on top of crazy people like you all. At least in the East Blue…."

"Well, Zoro was locked up when I met him." Luffy acknowledged. "This stupid Marine thought he'd tie him until he died up because he'd killed his wolf. But Zoro's too strong for something stupid like that, so he joined my crew instead! But only after I got his swords back for him. I think I broke the base doing it, but Zoro said he needed them back and I didn't know where they were and Coby was no help." The teen nodded to himself. "Oh, and then the Marines saluted us for some reason. It was funny!"

Maybe Thatch should have brought something to drink before asking about how Luffy met his crew. Like maybe coffee…. With a lot of rum in it. Who was he kidding? Coffee flavored Rum. He fingered the mini-Denden he had stashed in his pocket as a Division Commander and considered ordering someone to bring it… "Wanna start that one from the beginning, buddy?" He'd decided after he got the whole story if it was worth getting yelled at.

Please read the Author's NOTE at the beginning. STORY IS GOING ON HIATUS! PLEASE DO NOT ASK FOR UPDATES.