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Turned right at the next corner, then left, opened the third door opposite from the corridor and grabbed the papers, all done.
Strolling through the hallway, Sabo recited the plan in his head. This was a relatively easy mission, with him already luring all the guards away from the Baron's office. It should be a piece of cake finding what they wanted from there.
Sabo's hand was already on the doorknob leading into the office when he heard a voice screeched from the other end of the hallway, "That's him, an intruder!"
"Shit!" Making sure his hat and coat were still in place, Sabo broke into a sprint. Technically speaking, he couldn't afford to be seen here, but the Baron knowing what kind of information they were after was more risky. So Sabo opted for the first option, getting away with being a thief was far better than a possibility of them learning about the Army.
"After him! That's the omega!" The same voice shouted from behind as a group of guards chased after him down the hallway. He couldn't be the head securities, because Sabo double checked the guy was still tied up in the monitor room. But since everyone followed his command, he must be someone at least on the same power hierarchy. (Trust him, these kinds of people were hyper-fixated on those things even in dry situations like this.)
With a sigh, Sabo reached for the transponder snail tugging in his inner coat pocket while making sure he hadn't shook those guards off. (And that was a little difficult, since these guys were just so, so slow.)
The line connected and he had to duck some bullets aiming for his head. It wasn't much, so he kept going, zigzagging through multiple hallways of the mansion. (He had memorized all its internal architecture, good things that all nobles in this area shared the same ones.)
"They found me," he said instead of greeting, "Start with the plan B."
"Got it," Koala responded from the other end of the line. And not even a minute passed, he already heard the soft clicking sound of locks being picked, "Actually, I'm already here."
"Why so fast?" He pouted even though he knew full well that she wouldn't see it, slowing down enough to dodge a swing of blade aiming for his neck, just for the phantom thrill of fighting.
"Donno, just some hunch?" The snail answered, and he could almost picture her shrugging her shoulders, "What give you away?" She asked.
"The intels are wrong," he puffed out his cheeks in annoyance while taking longer strokes, because, even though he wanted to stretch his limbs and fight a little, getting caught would also mean problems, "One of them's an alpha."
"Well, it happens. They're betas," a chuckle from the snail as it said, "Anyway, I'm done. See you in a minute."
And she ended the call, leaving Sabo with an irritated feeling in his chest and a group of men following closely behind his back.
"You lowly scumbags can't even catch one omega? Don't waste my father's money!" The same voice echoed in the hallway, sounding out of breath as Sabo led them straight to a deadend where there was a decorative vase instead of a window.
He halted to a stop and used the opportunity he created to turn back, facing the group of very tired beta guards with an alpha positioned behind them. And according to the picture in the report and what the guy himself said earlier, he must be the Baron's second son whose name he could no longer remember.
"Freeze! You have nowhere to hide now," shouted the guard in the front, even though he hadn't yet caught his own breath. The man waved his pistol in manners that he, maybe, thought was threatening.
But the Baron's son got it even worse, he splated down on the floor, panting hard even though they just had a little jog around his own house. (' What a disgrace , ' his biological father's voice resonated from the back of his head. And Sabo hated the fact that he could almost picture the way he scrunched his nose in disgust.) Between panting, the alpha yelled out orders, "Make sure to capture him alive! I want him on my bed."
Sabo locked eyes with the alpha, sensing the way his face twisted and his pheromone piped up in disgusting excitement. And he made a mental note to look into his files later, Sabo wouldn't believe someone like him would miss an opportunity to collect slaves.
"But, sir, he's fast. We better—" one of the guards was going to offer a seemingly wise decision, but the alpha slapped him off, literally in the face, shouting, "Do as I say! Omegas like this aren't easy to find, you know? I'll go as far as ignoring those ugly scars if it means I got those smells on my bed!"
"Unfortunately, gentlemen."
All their actions halted to a complete stop as Sabo opened his mouth to speak for the first time, bringing all attention to himself. And with a smirk, he pulled his tophat down farther, covering more of the ugly scars on his face. It was truly unfortunate of them, since they had already seen his face. And the fact that he was still mad was just like a small fuel added to the unavoidable flame.
And that was the only warning he was kind enough to give before the whole building collapsed, along with everything and everyone inside it.
…
A few days later, Sabo found himself on one of the crow he borrowed from Karasu, with Mobydick sailing just in his line of sight.
"Ace! It's your brother!" he heard someone yell as soon as he flew close enough. And by the time he landed on the wooden deck, his brother was already there waiting for him.
"Permission to come aboard?" Sabo asked jokingly, it was one of the old pirates' traditions he learned recently.
"Permission granted," Ace played along as he catched Sabo mid-air, bringing him in for a bear hug. Their scent wrapped around each others' nicely, like a key sliding into its lock, and together, theirs covered at least half the whole deck, making it almost felt like home.
Oh, he missed this. Sabo didn't know how he managed to survive all those years, not knowing he had brothers with pheromones this comfortable. (He forgot , but that was alright, because he remembered now. And he had swore not to leave them ever again.)
"For the love of the great seas. Every fucking time," behind Ace, the fouth commander rolled his eyes at them. Sabo noticed the way the alpha had the front of his chef uniform open and bandages over his torso, "If it wasn't you two, I'd tell them to get a room. But at least try toning down your pheromones a little, will you? People still gotta work here!"
"Hello to you too, Thatch," Sabo greeted the man, ignoring the request entirely. He was still keeping his legs and arms securely around Ace as the first commander walked up behind the alpha, "Hi, Marco!"
Another omega nodded at him as a greeting, before he turned to the chef, "And no work for you today, Thatch. You should be in the infirmary, yoi."
"But I'm fine! I miss my kitchen!" The man whined as he was dragged away, likely towards the medical rooms.
After greeting a few more people and Ace deciding he was getting tired of carrying him around, Sabo was dropped somewhere on the railing, with the man himself leaning onto it not too far away.
"Something happened?" Not the one to beat around the bushes, his brother asked bluntly, while also wrapping Sabo in his comforting scent. It was nice, and he didn't shy away from it like he would do to random alphas he sometimes brought to bed.
"Not really," Sabo hummed in response, and he left it like that, partly because it was supposed to be confidential information, and mostly because it wasn't that important and he didn't feel like talking about it.
On his left, Ace kept his eyes fixed towards the horizon as he let the silence wash over them. But it was a good kind of silence, not like the ones he had during meetings when the missions fail and they lose some members, no. This one had his brother's pheromone involved, and it was nice, felt like peace.
"You know, we had a big party yesterday," Ace said suddenly. He was grinning ear to ear with naughty happiness shone bright in his eyes, and, according to Garp-san, it screamed troubles , "Some marines just have the best boozes onboard."
He hadn't heard about that, but the Whitebeard pirate raiding a few marine vessels wasn't something out of the ordinary, so maybe he just missed it. But having information on hand was always better, so he asked, "Who?"
"Donno, some guy who just got promoted? Don't even know who they're dealing with," Ace shrugged, still wearing a grin on his face, "Anyway, it's a good thing you come now. Won't see me around this morning."
"You're that drunk?" He chuckled, and suddenly realized that, while he had visited both Ace and Luffy, he hadn't yet met both of them at the same time, and to think it was almost ten years now. They should do it sometime, it'd be so much fun.
Ace admitted easily, adding, "and get laid. It's hard being hot sometimes."
"Figure," because Ace had scents all over him, but Sabo wasn't much different. Purposely ignoring his brother complimenting himself, he said, "Speaking of, there's this alpha I went out with a couple nights ago."
"Uh huh," the man hummed, resting his elbows on the railing with his back facing the ocean, "Was it good?"
"Terrible," he sighed, swinging his legs idly, and it reminded him of Luffy all of a sudden, "I mean, I'm fine with her inviting friends to join in, but shouldn't she at least tell me first? And one of them even tried to bite me, so no."
"Yeah, no kiddin," the alpha scoffed, "Did you beat them up?"
"Sadly, no. They happen to be one of those nobles in the organizations we're dealing with," he smirked, "But it's technically not my fault if they were to get kicked out of work, have no place to stay, and suddenly drown in huge debts."
"That's my bro!" Ace broke out laughing, all open mouth and genuine, unlike those annoying people he found at the last island they docked. (It was just a short stop anyway, he could work with that.)
"And, actually, on our last mission, my plan failed," before he knew it, the words already left his lips, but Sabo continued anyway, because it was just Ace. The other Whitebeard pirates were busy doing their things out of hearing range. And he loved the way they shared the space, it felt nice. (Unlike other alphas he met, Ace never tried to fight over territories. Maybe because he didn't need to. Just like Sabo's, his pheromone was naturally strong.)
"And your backup ones?"
And ofcourse his brother knew him well. But Sabo wasn't mad because it wasn't him who found the documents, nor that his firstline plan failed, not really. It was more to the fact that he wouldn't be detected in the first place if he wasn't an omega with intense pheromones.
It was annoying, and he suddenly wished he had a milder scent, maybe like Luffy's. Or even better, born as a beta.
"Koala finished the job," he told his brother, scooping closer to put his arm around Ace's shoulder and resting his chin on top of the messy nest of hair, rubbing off more of his pheromone on the guy, "I've been told everyone's betas. Turns out there's an alpha there. And I'm already in front of the damn room when the guy reached me. I have to run around the place just to come back empty handed? Not fair."
Ace quietly listened to his ranting, but he had this scent filled with amusement. And Sabo could almost hear him chuckling, if he didn't already.
"What's so funny?" He smacked Ace's arm lightly , and suddenly noticed how bare his shoulders were, and his neck, and the junction between them.
"No, just, haven't seen you complaining like this for a while. It's almost nostalgic," Not knowing what was on Sabo's mind, his brother laughed again, his shoulders shaking with the action, "Go on, what next? Wait, wait, so that's why you go out with those people? You're that stressed out you don't even choose?"
"I choose! And she wasn't that bad when we talked at the coffee shop," he grumbled, and Ace's scent wasn't helping either, he was making fun of him. So Sabo gave him another light hit in the shoulder, "Maybe I should stop hanging around nobles. End up like this most of the time."
"Shouldn't be anywhere near them in the first place," the alpha scoffed, but there weren't any real bites in his tone. In the meantime, he took revenge by slapping one of Sabo's thighs, definitely not using full force, but it still leave a little sting.
"Just don't want to judge people before actually knowing them, you know. I was one," he sighed, deciding to end their little bickering by scenting him a little more, rubbing his cheeks on top of Ace's head.
"Suit yourself, then," Ace shrugged, and gave Sabo a sided smile as he continued, "But if you're interested, try looking for pirates next time. The guys are loud and annoying and disgusting, but most can't really lie, you'll see right through them like an open book."
"Like you?"
"Yeah, yeah, just like me," he paused, but it took him almost half a minute, "Wait, you're saying I'm loud and disgusting?"
Oh, he almost forgot how fun it was, teasing his brothers like this. Seeing the way Ace puffed out his cheeks while jabbing him with his elbow was enough to transform him into a laughing mess. (He must got it from Luffy, their youngest always had the weirdest but somehow cute reactions.) And his pheromone piped up a tiny bit, just enough to accompany his friendly accusation.
And suddenly, a thought popped up in his mind, he was an omega and Ace was an alpha. It should be obvious from the start, but somehow, he didn't think about it most of the time. And he was his brother, someone Sabo placed nearest to his heart. Plus his pheromones smelt nice, and the only one who could match him in terms of intensities.
Yeah, let's do this.
"Hey, Ace," he interrupted Ace's friendly nagging, "You see, I'm getting tired of my own pheromones here, it always gets in the way when I work."
"So am I, it's annoying sometimes," Ace seemed confused from the sudden change of topics, but played along anyway. He then flipped to face Sabo properly, so that his side was pressed to the wooden railing instead of his back, but also prompting Sabo to remove his head and an arm from him, "What about it?"
"Well, I have something in mind," Sabo smirked. And from the look on Ace's face, it was the kind that clearly called for troubles. Like when he came up with brilliant ideas when they were children. (In his defense, the bad ones were Ace's most of the time, his were creatives. )
"Think about it, we're alpha and omega. And technically speaking, all our annoying problems won't be a problem any longer," he locked eyes with Ace. This was perfect, why didn't he think about it sooner? (Maybe because he just got his memories back, but still, they'd been meeting several times already.)
"You're saying that—" Ace trailed off, he seemed to catched on. So Sabo finished the sentence for him.
"—If we bite each other, won't it make our lives a lot easier?"
A silence followed his claim, and this time, it was eerily quiet . Sabo could clearly hear his own heartbeat thumping softly in his chest, the noises from the crew on the deck, and even some seagulls flying above their heads, but nothing from the man before him. Nothing but a way-too-still scent and his completely stiff posture.
"Ace?" Sabo reached a hand forwards, trying to place it on Ace's shoulder. The alpha was upset , and Sabo hadn't seen Ace like this since they grew up, not even when they met again for the first time and Ace just learnt that he was, in fact, not dead. (Even as a child, Ace rarely did this. He normally expressed his anger through violence and curses.) Had he crossed the line? Had Ace got more trigger words when Sabo wasn't with him? What should he add to the list? (Next to the ones he knew: Roger, pirate king, monster child—)
"No," Ace hissed, smacking his hand off. And his pheromone flared up, as well as a small flame on one of his arms. Resulting in some heads turning their way.
But Sabo was used to this, it was just Ace. So he brushed off all the worried looks sending their way, while releasing more of his own scent to calm Ace's down. Thatch would be grumpy and Marco would scold them, (and Haruta and Izo, but they were betas, so it would take a while till they knew) but he would let Ace deal with that later.
"Why?" Sabo questioned as softly as he could under the thick layer of fuming alpha pheromone, trying to keep his tone light and, contradicting his own instinct, not aggressive. (He thought he knew why, but he learnt not to believe all the things from the back of his head. But that was the only source of information he got. He didn't really remember everything, some parts were still a bit foggy.)
At that, the alpha stared at him dead in the eyes, smokey grays dimmed under the sunlight. And it reminded him of younger Ace, when he asked that same question around the filthiest bars just to get the same answers he heard over and over again. (Yet he didn't stop, Sabo never understand why he didn't.)
"You know why," Ace said through gritted teeth, and Sabo noticed him balling his fists at the side. Yet, he didn't throw punches, which seemed to be a bad sign.
Sabo let out a breath he didn't notice holding, "We're brothers, Ace." He told him. And I love you, we love you , that he didn't say.
"I know," Ace huffed, that seemed to lighten his mood a little as the air was getting a bit lighter, "And I mean, you can bite me if you want, I'm yours anyway. But I'm not biting you."
"That's hardly fair, you know," he forced out a chuckle, it sounded weird, but it would do for now.
"Nothing's fair here, Sab," Ace chuckled too, and it sounded a little bit more genuine than Sabo's. He then titled his head up a little and pushed his necklace to the side, giving full access to his exposed neck, (not like it was covered in the first place, Ace didn't even wear a shirt) "Here. All yours."
"Not fair, I want your mark too," Sabo pouted, crossing his arms to show he didn't like it.
"You can get Luffy to bite you later. Come on, you're the one who came up with the idea," Ace moved to stand between his legs, shoving an elbow in his stomach. And his heavy scent started to fade away, replaced by lighter, more joking ones. Sabo was being teased, again. The roles were reversed when they were younger, and he wasn't so fond of the change.
Sabo huffed, still didn't uncross his arms, "You know it's not the same. And omegas' marks aren't as effective," Plus they would only last for about a year at most, while the ones from alphas lasted longer, just around a lifetime.
At that, the air went heavy again, and Ace's hands on either side of his thighs suddenly made Sabo feel like he was being trapped.
Cutting through the silence, the alpha muttered, his voice dropped dangerously low in the way that Sabo hadn't heard before, (and wished he wouldn't again, it sent chills down his spine, him ) "That's precisely why, Sabo."
Ace had this dark cloud over his eyes again. And his pheromone , Sabo noticed more and more growls from the crew, but luckily, no one interrupted them yet. (As much as Sabo wanted to apologize and drop this topic entirely, he knew he wouldn't get a second chance, so he kept pushing)
Ace continued, hands gripping the railing hard enough to turn his knuckles white, "You'll regret bonding with me. I'm not—"
I'm not worth it , Sabo subconsciously finished the sentence, having heard it more than a couple times in his early childhood days.
"I won't," he hummed, deciding to risk reaching his hands to pat the other's head, the alpha didn't smack it off this time, "You're the person I trust the most, Ace," as a person , not only alpha, and that meant a lot.
Ace went deadly quiet, and Sabo almost didn't catch the alpha holding his breath, until he spoke again, letting it all out in a nervous sigh, "I heard what they say."
Rumors . And coming from Ace, they definitely weren't the good ones, "You care too much about those things."
"You're the complete opposite from Deuce, he said I should've paid them more attention."
"It's mostly about what kind of rumors. Some are good, the others aren't even worth your time," Sabo explained carefully, reminding himself to have a talk with this Deuce guy later.
The corner of Ace's mouth jerked up, it didn't resemble a smile in the slightest, "They say that jerk was a total scumbag. Kidnapping omegas not only to satisfy himself, but also forcing his marks on them."
It was one of the things they heard back from the Gray Terminal, along with the other things concerning the former pirate king. And the implication made his blood boil. Sabo had to physically bite back the comment that went along the line of, 'You know, people out there also say these exact same things about you, and we know it's all wrong.' because he knew it would only make things worse. Instead, he said as firmly as he could, "You're not him."
"Maybe I will. Who knows?" The alpha's muscles went completely rigid, and Sabo felt the wooden material shattered in the other's hands, not burned, just destroyed. His not-a-smile was replaced by a half-hated-half-scornful look as he spoke his next words in a hushed voice, like he was telling children secrets of fairytales and magics, the complete opposite from the actual context, "In the end, I still have his blood running in my veins."
"But you're not him," Sabo repeated, suddenly feeling like giving him a punch or two, "You're Ace, Portgas D. Ace. And I'll say it over and over again until you understand."
The alpha didn't answer, so Sabo added quietly, keeping his voice firm and serious, "And you're our brother, remember? That jerk didn't have us ."
His words hung in the air, now thick with both their pheromones combined. (It easily spread over the whole deck now, and maybe a floor or two below, Marco would be so pissed) Until Ace gave up first, "Yeah," he said with a sigh.
But as the tension started to dissolve and Sabo considered bringing the subject back up again, Ace quickly added, "But I'm still not biting you."
"I haven't said anything yet, you know?" He almost jumped, not so used to people reading him, since it was normally the opposite. A result from having most friends as betas, perhaps? He sure wasn't as good at hiding emotions.
"Seriously, Sabo, why me? You can easily find someone better," Ace asked, but his postures were relaxed now, meaning he wasn't as serious. (And it was painfully obvious how Ace thought so little of himself.)
"Don't ever think you're already the best one out there?"
"Nah," the response was too immediate and too genuine to Sabo's liking, but he would let it slide for now, "What if I, say, actually mark you, then what? For you to meet your special someone and can't do a thing because of it?"
"What about you? You said you'd let me bite you."
"I'm fine since I'm sure won't settle down with anyone, and definitely no children," was his response, and a hint of dark clouds flashed over his eyes for a brief moment before it faded away, "Besides, I'd feel sorry for all omegas if I ever stop at only one person. But you, Sabo, you still have a bright future ahead. What if you want to start a family and have children someday? Don't let me and my stupid marks get in your way."
"You're talking like an old grandpa," he grumbled, tugging a handful of dark hair below his palms. Resulting in a loud, "Hey!" and an elbow jabbing his stomach.
And about what he said, Sabo had thought about that, but his decision was still the same, "I'm not planning to see anyone at the moment, but if I do and that someone doesn't accept your mark, I won't waste my time with them."
"You're scary," Ace giggled, escaping his hair tugging by burying his head onto Sabo's middle, rubbing off his scent onto him more. And now they were scenting each other, should he just build them a proper nest? "Are you still biting me?"
He hesitated a little, and ended up saying, "Maybe not now. Let's keep that for Luffy, he hates being left off," and maybe Luffy could talk him into biting Sabo, their little brother always had mysterious power making no one able to say no.
"Yeah, bet he'll be extra annoying for days."
"And he won't let us go anywhere even for toilets. I was almost traumatized by his stretchy limbs, you know."
"That's far from the worst. You haven't seen him in heat yet," he felt Ace shuddered, and he couldn't even phantom what that clingy little brother would do during his heats. (Sabo would never tell him, but his respect towards Ace added up even more. He was well aware of the effect heats had on alphas, plus the fact that his brothers literally lived together. Sabo had no idea how they could manage that.)
"What's he like?" But he asked anyway, just to get Ace's funny responses.
"Don't get me start—"
"Then don't, yoi," a voice appeared all of a sudden, jolting Sabo out of his trance, (pheromones-induced, again.) And he almost jumped to his feet if not for Ace's arms holding him down. Before realizing that it was just the Whitebeard's first commander, and that they were still on Ace's ship, surrounded by a small crowd of people he hadn't noticed forming, with an irritated Marco at the forefront.
(Sabo accidentally locked eyes with one of them, and the poor guy couldn't decide if he wanted to be terrified or horny. It was quite the sight.)
"Hey, Marco! What's up," the alpha beamed at the other, raising his head up now but still didn't let go of Sabo.
"Don't hey me. What the fuck are you two doing, yoi?" The legendary Phoenix sighed while massaging his temples, and Sabo could imagine Koala doing the exact same thing, maybe without the irritated pheromones, but it was still funny to watch
"Umm, catching up with my bro?"
"No, you aren't—" Marco almost snapped at them. But before he could do that, Thatch did it in his stead as he appeared from behind the crowd, with a scent of booming rage . And Sabo had to bite back laughter threatening to slip up, just because—
"Oi, kids! What in the seas are you doing?! You fucking ruin my hair! My beautiful hair!" And oh, it was true. The front of his styled hair was burnt, with some smoke and charred borders, no less.
Unlike him, Ace completely lost it. To the point he was rolling on the ground and pointed at the older man, splattering incoherent words. And to make it even more funny, his pheromone overridden Thatch's, and the confused crowd was now affected by it instead.
With that, Sabo couldn't keep it in either, so he coughed in his fist, saying, "Love your new hairstyle, Thatch." (He didn't last long, but at least he didn't end up on the floor like his brother.)
"Shut up, Sabo! It's your fault Marco burns me!"
"Almost, yoi. You didn't die," Marco added with that deadpan voice of his. And oh, his face was just so funny , "Care to explain what happened for you two to terrorize the ship out of the blue?"
"Yeah! Just Ace alone is more than enough, not you too!" Thatch threw his hands around in a wide range of motions. The only difference between him and Luffy right now was that he was fuming, face turned red with visible anger, and it was hilarious . If Thatch was around when they were ten, he definitely would be their perfect victim, "I'm just minding my own business below deck, then what? Fucking waves of pheromones smacked me right in the face. And Marco lets his flame burn instead of heal! And it has to be my hair, damn it!"
"You just, what? That's fucking hilarious!" Ace agreed from the floor, and his laughter was getting louder to the point Sabo's cheeks started to hurt just by listening to it alone. (Maybe he was grinding too, but that wasn't as important as Thatch's reactions right now.)
From the corner of his eyes, Sabo saw Haruta stomping towards them from the other side of the ship with a smug grin on his face, and took that as a sign to flee if he didn't plan to be one of the prank victims himself.
"My, look at the time. I should probably get going," he said abruptly, springing up to balance himself on the broken railing, "Alright, everyone, thanks for having me today."
"Hey, you're not leaving me to deal with this shit alone. Sabo!"
"Good luck with that, Ace. I'm off!" Jumping on the crow, he shouted back. And Sabo could no longer hold back his own laughter as Ace's and the others' voices were slowly getting washed away by the winds, and the Mobydick was becoming smaller and finally buried under the moving clouds.
"Come back here, Sabo! You traitor!"