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Deuce hadn’t felt this wrong in a long time.
Part of it was the Impel Down uniform, part of it were the tortured screams of the inmates he couldn’t show the slightest bit of sympathy for. But more than anything, it was his exposed face.
As long as anyone else was around, Deuce never took off his mask.
He never showed his eyes to the world.
All of his life, he’d felt tied to his family, to their reputation, their values, their expectations of him. A family he hadn’t been able to choose, and still it had taken everything for him to cut these ties and become someone new.
Setting out on his journey, the last thing he’d wanted was to be tied to someone again, without the ability to choose.
No, he’d hidden his eyes behind a mask, determined the world in greyscale was still so much more worth seeing than a world where he was tied to his soulmate that he might or might not want.
There was something freeing about meeting people and just not knowing whether they were meant to be his or not.
Especially when it came to Ace.
Ace, who’d given him a new purpose and a new name. Ace, who Deuce had sworn to follow. Ace, who had never once asked to be allowed to look into his eyes, even when they’d shared tentative kisses, even when he’d admitted to desperately wanting a soulmate to call his own.
Ace, who was now in the deepest level of this hell.
For him, it was worth it to take off the mask.
It hadn’t ever really been the intention, but thanks to him using a separate name and covering his face, Deuce had a perfectly clean civilian identity to fall back on. Nobody would recognize him despite him not wearing any disguise, even though he had a wanted poster with his picture on it.
For a situation like this, it was perfect, though.
Pops was ready to sail to Marineford and fight the entire Navy, but it was a risky endeavour, and one that would certainly lead to the death of some members of their family.
They couldn’t outright attack Impel Down, because there was no way to quickly get to Ace should the guards decide to execute him early.
So, infiltration it was.
It still had a risk, of course – none of their best fighters could go, they would all be recognized instantly, so whoever went in would never be able to get out if they were discovered. A fight against Magellan would only end in death.
Deuce had still volunteered without even a second of hesitation.
Ace was his captain, his best friend, his lover.
Today, Deuce would look him directly in the eyes, and finally know if Ace was his soulmate as well.
What would Deuce do if he was? What if he wasn’t?
He didn’t know.
Now was the only time he had to figure it out, and it wasn’t the time to think about it at all. He needed to focus. To find his way through this hell and look like he belonged here.
Three years ago, Ace had saved Deuce’ life. Literally by sharing food with him and getting them off Sixis with the power of the devil fruit he’d just eaten, and figuratively by giving Deuce a way to live his dream and attain the freedom he’d yearned for all his life.
Soulmates were a secondary concern to returning that favour, even if just in the literal sense.
The security around level 6 was crazy even compared to the rest of Impel Down, and it took Deuce more than one try to slip into the elevator unnoticed with another group of guards, but he finally made it when everyone was distracted by a visit from Boa Hancock. Deuce had no idea what she wanted from Ace, but her appearance was exactly what Deuce needed.
He could get into level 6, and stay behind when everyone else left, all eyes on her and therefore no eyes on him.
Deuce waited a minute after the elevator brought Hancock and the guards back up. One minute of torturous silence and his heart beating out of his chest, just to make sure nobody would come back.
Then he stepped out of his hiding place, and to the cell where he could hear Ace quietly talking to Jinbei.
This was it.
He stopped in front of the cell, the key ring at his belt jingling with the motion, and Ace’ voice abruptly stopped. A moment passed that Deuce knew was Ace erasing all traces of weakness or emotion from his face, and then he raised his head to glare at Deuce with venom in his eyes, ready to take whatever abuse an Impel Down guard would throw at him.
For one second, it seemed like nothing happened.
It was dark in Impel Down, no ray of sunlight reaching the endless hell of level six. But in the soft glimmer of the torches, Deuce saw a trail of blood slowly trickle down from Ace’ temple to his chin.
Barely noticeable, there was a glimmer of something Deuce couldn’t have even imagined a moment ago.
So that was red.
The first colour Deuce had ever seen, and all he wanted was to wipe every trace of it from the body of his soulmate.
Ace, his soulmate.
The one Deuce had chosen to follow, fate had also chosen for him.
“Deuce?” Ace croaked, his eyes wide in shock and disbelief.
He, too, had to have experienced colour for the first time in his life in this very moment, completely out of nowhere.
An old anxiety rose in Deuce. What did Ace think of this? What would he expect?
But now was not the time for those emotions. They weren’t safe, someone could come and notice what Deuce was up to any second. At the very least, Deuce needed to have freed Ace and Jinbei from their seastone restraints when that happened, to give them a fighting chance to get out of here.
“Hey Captain.” Deuce tried to grin, to swallow everything he was feeling, and just seem confident, even if he knew Ace could see right through him, would always know when he was full of shit and actually panicking inside. “It’s time for a prison break.”
And it was a prison break for the history books. The first ever recorded outbreak out of Impel Down, and then it was a mass outbreak.
Most of this, notably, had nothing to do with Deuce, in fact, everything spiralled out of his control almost instantly. Ace’ little brother had also come to save him, and he turned out to be exactly the agent of chaos Ace had always described him as, except possibly even worse. And then the Revolutionary Army got involved. And a clown got worshipped by a bunch of prisoners.
When he thought nothing could shock him anymore, Blackbeard also showed up, and for a split second, it seemed like Ace would die protecting Luffy from him, but while both brothers ended up passed out with massive wounds on their chests, Magellan of all people distracted Blackbeard. Just long enough for Deuce’ distress signal to reach the Moby, and for them to surface near the gate of Impel Down and rush down to where the fighting was happening.
Pops broke right through the ceiling, attacking both Blackbeard and Magellan with a rage Deuce had never seen on his father’s face before. It would’ve been terrifying, if Deuce didn’t feel it boiling in his chest as well.
These people had made Ace suffer. They deserved to get crushed into tiny pieces by the strongest man in the world.
With Pops came Marco, and the saving grace of his healing devil fruit.
Deuce got to watch as he pressed a hand coated in flames to Ace’ bleeding chest – red, so much red, enough that Deuce already never wanted to see that colour again – and Ace’ fire rose to meet Marco’s, soaking it in to piece Ace’ broken body back together.
Up until now, each of their flames had looked practically the same to Deuce, but now he could see the difference in clear contrast. A warm orange and a cold blue, and Deuce already knew what colour was his favourite before he’d even seen them all.
There was nothing in this world that could be more beautiful than the flame that showed Ace was still alive.
Deuce was the one to carry him out of that hell while Marco picked up the equally unconscious Luffy, and under the protection of Pops, they arrived back at the Moby Dick, safely home where they were supposed to be.
By the time he’d managed to place Ace in an infirmary bed, Deuce was ready to pass out as well, and so he did.
He woke up to the gentle rocking of the waves, and a hand softly brushing through his hair.
When he opened his eyes, it was to meet Ace’s, looking at him with an adoration that seemed to reach all the way to Deuce’ core.
“It’s blue,” Ace said, “just like the sea and the sky outside.”
Blue…?
Oh. His hair.
Yeah, people had told him that before, but it had always been a useless word to Deuce. A meaningless descriptor for light grey.
“Sorry I never let you see it before.”
Ace shook his head as best as he could while still laying down. “You showed it to me the moment you gave me back my freedom. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to find my soulmate.”
Deuce swallowed. Soulmate. Once again, he was bound to someone. But the panic and frustration he’d expected to come with that thought never surfaced.
He’d already bound himself to Ace long ago. Through friendship, through devotion, through love. These colours were just another layer to the web he’d walked into with open eyes and a willing heart.
Being bound to Ace was no prison, it was the door to the world.
And now, Deuce could experience it all over again, in the vibrant colours of freedom and adventure and happiness.
“I made you wait because I was scared, but… I’m so glad you’re my soulmate, Ace. Thank you, for everything, but most of all for being here, for making it through all of that and staying alive. I would’ve been lost without you.”
“Idiot,” Ace replied with tears in his eyes, “I’m alive because you saved me, I’m the one who should be thanking you. For that and for everything, for being my soulmate and for loving me despite all the trouble I am-“
“You’re the light of my life, Ace. I’ll face any trouble for you, get that through your thick skull already.”
Ace somehow still managed to look slightly surprised by this, but he nodded. “I’ll try. But you know me, it’s probably gonna take a while.”
Deuce smiled. “I’m a patient man, and just as stubborn as you are.”
“That you are. It’s why I love you so much.” Ace huffed a laugh, and then he leaned forward, uniting their lips in a searing kiss.
It was pure bliss.
Bliss that lasted for a couple of seconds at most before giggling sounded in the background. “Shishishi, see, pineapple head, I told you Ace would be fine! He’s already smooching shiny hair!”
“Remember, nothing more than smooching in my infirmary! Ace is too hurt, but I’ll kick you out if I have to, Deuce.”
Oh no. People had seen and heard that?
Deuce buried his flushed face in the bed’s pillows as Ace went to yell at his little brother for ruining the moment.
This was perhaps among the most embarrassing moments of his life, and yet, he couldn’t help but be happy. Slow mornings filled with kisses and teasing from their family… that was exactly how Deuce would like to spend the rest of his life.