2,571 words. Not bad, it actually came out longer than I expected.
This was inspired by a prompt I saw on tumblr. I saw it and I just had to write it. :D Sorry if I make you guys hate me after reading this. But hey, whenever I read in the author's note someone say "you're gonna hate me for this" I'm like GUUUUURRRLLLL you BRING IT ON. I'm probably gonna LOVE you for this.
Anyway, Disclaimer: I obviously don't own the obra maestra that is One Piece.
Please enjoy ~ !
WARNING ! : Death fic. Also I know nothing about gangs, their jobs or how they work, bullet wounds or any wounds in general. I pretty much just BS-ed my way through this. But hey, I'm sure most of you can relate. Also all the tenses are mixed up. I know that. It starts off with Ace REMEMBERING what happened before it goes BACK to the present.
I just really wanted to do this prompt.
It was supposed to have been a simple job. Their supply of ammo was getting low and Izou had also started to complain about the quality of their weapons, luckily Squardo got ahold of some valuable stuff after a raid. Oyaji put him in charge, although all he had to do was make sure that everything goes smoothly.
Since he had such a dangerous job, he really should have been more careful. But after practically growing up in a dangerous environment and having near-death experiences but still managing to fully recover, you can't help but feel too confident.
This had been Ace's biggest mistake.
The raven haired man had actually just been casually chatting with Squardo, catching up since it's been a while when they last saw each other. About two dozen subordinates were there with them, doing most (all) of the work. Well, it was one of the perks of being a high-ranked gang member. Ace may be young, but no one could deny that his skills earned him his rank in the famous, ruthless gang led by Edward Newgate, aka Whitebeard. Ace had already made a name for himself, so no one dared to look down on him. So really, you can't blame him for being too over-confident.
. . . Who was he kidding? It was a common mistake, a rookie mistake. Ace felt angry at himself, he should've kept his guard up. That was his job, and he couldn't even do it right.
Things were going smoothly, they were almost done. Ace had checked his phone, it was already well past midnight but he knew that Marco would still be waiting for him at their apartment. They've been living together for a few months now, but even before then he had still been aware of the blond's habit of staying up (very) late to finish up some paperwork. Ace sighed, it wasn't really good for him to be stressing himself out so much. It made Ace want to hurry home and force the man to sleep, knowing the older man, he would probably have to.
Squardo had noticed this, of course, and smirked. "Missing someone so soon?"
He only scoffed and ignored the question. "Is this gonna take long?"
"We're just finishing up, don't worry." Ace nodded and had asked a few more questions; about the raid, how the others were doing and if there was anything Pops should know of. Squardo had just started answering the last question when it happened.
Gunshots.
Everyone had instantly been on high alert, and they would have all ran towards where it came from if Squardo hadn't stopped them and given orders. He had told Ace to stay while he had taken some of the men with him to investigate. Ace had no choice but to do as he said and had just told the others to hurry up. But no sooner had the order been given when, from the corner of his eye, he saw one of his subordinates fall and hadn't miss the blood or the sound of consecutive gunshots. Instinctively, he had ducked for cover.
They had been ambushed.
They had tried to fight back as best as they could, but they were horribly outnumbered. It hadn't taken long for it to be over.
And that's how he got himself into his current situation.
Ace was left bleeding on the ground, behind a few crates after someone had managed to sneak up on him and put a bullet on his torso. One of his hands were pressed against his stomach to try and stop the bleeding. It wasn't fatal, but without any type of medical attention, he knew he wasn't going to make it. Judging from the silence, all his men had either escaped or were dead and wondered if Squardo was alright and what had happened to him. He clenched his fists in anger, it was his fault this all happened. But there was nothing he could do now.
There was no denying that he was going to die, and it was easy enough for him to accept that. It was a risk that came with the job so he knew for a long time that there was a high chance he was going to die early. But now that it was actually happening, now that he knew that he was actually going to die, a million thoughts raced through his mind. How about the others? Would they be alright? How would they react to his death? He had promised Luffy that he would never die; that he would always be there to look after him. Won't his little brother be mad at him for breaking his promise? Who would spoil Haruta and spend time with her? Neither Izou nor Marco would do it since they're always so busy and nobody trusted Thatch to be alone with her anymore because of all the mayhem they could cause. How would Pops or Gramps react? Would Makino or Dadan and the others find out and mourn for him?
What about Marco?
His throat clenched and he was certain that it had nothing to do with his wound . . . well, it probably did but that wasn't his main concern at the moment. What would happen to Marco if- when he dies? Would he be alright? Ace couldn't help but remember all their memories together, so precious yet seeming so few even though they've known each other for more than three years. He wanted to make more memories, not only with Marco, but also with the rest of his family and friends.
It was getting cold as his body heat started to disappear slowly. He had never felt so alone before. Was this really it? Was this how he'll die? Cold and alone, bleeding to death in the middle of the night surrounded by silence with no one there to comfort him or tell him that everything was going to be alright. Although he would never admit it out loud even in his last moments, he was afraid. The pain from the wound didn't even bother him just as much as the fear did. He may be a bit childish and naive to wish to die in such a cliché way but it was much better than his current situation. He knew what it felt to be so alone from such a young age and was always afraid of having to go through it again. Ever since he started working under Whitebeard and officially became a part of the family, he thought he'd never have to. But now, it seemed he was going to die that way.
Instinctively, a hand went to his pocket and he felt his phone there. He had already started to have difficulty breathing, but he could still manage to have a conversation . . . probably. Ace took his phone out of his pocket and stared at it. There was no use in calling for help, he was dying and there's nothing he can do about it. He could already feel his consciousness fading because of the blood loss. At most, he only had a few minutes left. So he didn't bother and just pressed one, speed dialing.
He pressed his phone against his ear and waited, but after it rang a few times, he started to get worried. Please, he mentally prayed. Please pick up.
Ring.
Ri-
"Ace?" a tired voice spoke up, sounding confused. "What's up?"
Ace almost sighed in relief but couldn't help but smile, hearing his voice made him calm down. "Sorry, Marco. Did I wake you?"
"No, no. I was just finishing something up."
"It's really late you know." he said nonchalantly. "You have work tomorrow, or rather, later on. You should get some rest already."
"Yeah, I will. When will you get back?"
The smile on Ace's face faltered but he tried not to let the distress show in his tone. "Probably not anytime soon," he replied. "We . . . ran into a few problems."
"What do you mean? Are you alright?" he could hear the worry in the blond's voice, but he hated lying to him.
"Don't worry about me," was the only reply. There's no point in it, anyway, he thought. "Squardo's the same as usual, you wouldn't believe half the things he's been up to."
A chuckle. "Well, that's to be expected I suppose."
"Hey, did Luffy stop by earlier?"
"No . . . I don't think so, why?"
"Nothing. It's just, you know me. I can't help but worry about that idiot all the time," he snorted. "I wish he'd learn to look after himself more."
"You shouldn't worry about him so much. He has his friends, doesn't he?"
"You say that, but you worry about Thatch and Haruta all the time. They always get themselves into trouble," he chuckled. It was getting harder for him to breathe but he tried to tolerate it a little longer. "But that's what makes them so fun to be with, I guess. It would be so boring otherwise."
"Yeah . . ." he could hear the hesitance in Marco's voice. "Ace? Why did you call me? Are you sure everything's alright?"
"Squardo ran off, so now I'm just sitting here with nothing to do." Technically, it's true. He is just sitting there, leaning against the crates doing nothing- unless you can count dying as something.
He was about to say something about how Marco always worried about everything when he suddenly coughed and instinctively covered his mouth with a hand but then felt something wet. Examining his hand, he saw blood. His vision was also starting to get blur and breathing was becoming more of a struggle.
Time was almost up.
"Ace?" the concern still hadn't left Marco's voice.
"Yeah?" Ace tried to sound casual but his voice came out hoarse.
"Is everything alright? Do you want me to call Pops?"
Ace chuckled. "Don't be silly, Marco. It's- what? Two in the morning? He'd just get mad if you called him for no reason. Don't worry so much . . ."
"You know he won't be mad . . . he'd be just as worried as I was." Marco muttered. "Are you alright? Ace, what's wrong?"
"I . . ." Ace trailed off. Memories were beginning to flash before her eyes; from all the recent ones, happy memories with his family and friends, to the old ones of his childhood, when he was always scared of being alone and of the world hating and rejecting him.
"Ace?"
"Hey, Marco . . ." Just one last question, he wanted to know one last thing. "Was it . . . good that I was born?"
He couldn't help it. His father was known as the leader of one of- if not the- most powerful and influential gang probably ever; having such a person as a parent doesn't really give people a nice impression of you. So it was natural, with the way people treated him when he was young, that he would to start to wonder about such things. Even as the years passed, it's still something that haunted him.
There was a pause as Ace struggled to stay conscious. He was starting to get nervous, not really sure why. What would Marco say? But other than that, he was staying alive. He just needed to hold on for just a little longer . . .
"Don't be stupid . . ." Marco's voice was what snapped Ace out of his internal struggle and his brows furrowed in confusion.
"Ace, I would have thought that you stopped thinking that when you joined us. Of course it is." Marco was whispering but his voice was tense. "I'll repeat this as many times as I need to, it doesn't matter who your father was or whose blood you have, don't listen to what other people say because they don't know you. You are so much more than your bloodline. You mean a lot to so many people, Ace. And you mean the world to me."
Ace was silent for a moment before a smile appeared on his face.
"I . . . thank you." he felt a wave of comfort envelope him. "I feel a lot better now, Marco. Thanks."
"Don't mention it." Ace could practically picture Marco smiling lovingly and felt his heart ache.
"You should go to bed now . . . there's still work to be done tomorrow. You don't have to wait up for me."
"You sure?"
Ace glanced down, having stared at the sky the whole time, and saw that he already lost so much blood that a pool of it was beginning to form beneath him. ". . . yeah, I'm sure. Go to bed, good night."
"Okay . . . good night. Take care of yourself, alright?"
"Yeah . . . Marco?"
"Yes?"
"Thanks again . . . for everything." He could already feel the tears threatening to fall. ". . . I love you, you know that right?"
"Of course, I love you too."
Well, this was it then. Time's almost up; he was actually surprised that he managed to hold on until now. But despite the fact that his eyelids felt heavy and that he knew he would never open them again if he closed it, he was happy. Hearing Marco's voice provided comfort, he no longer felt afraid and the cold didn't bother him as much anymore.
He was content.
Ace smiled, feeling the tears threatening to fall, he spoke before his voice would be able to show any signs of distress.
"Goodbye, Marco . . ."
"Bye, Ace."
Marco hung up, unaware of the graveness of the situation. But Ace didn't mind, it was better this way. He had promised Luffy that he would live life with no regrets until the very end.
Ace placed his phone on his lap and stared at it, or more specifically his wallpaper.
It was a picture of him with Luffy and Thatch, not focusing on the camera and instead were seemingly arguing while Whitebeard watched them, obviously amused. Ace was grinning at the camera and Marco, on the other hand, just smiled warmly. One arm was wrapped around his waist, pulling him closer to the blond.
It was a picture they took during his last birthday. Ace smiled fondly and couldn't stop the tears from falling any longer.
No regrets . . .
Finally, he closed his eyes, letting himself be surrounded by darkness and surrendered to his fate. He was ready now. Although he felt bad that he couldn't say goodbye to the others, it was better than nothing.
Vaguely, he could hear some kind of ruckus at a distance but his current state of mind couldn't properly register the sound. He had already lost too much blood. Ace leaned his head against the crates and let his body go limp, his hand no longer putting pressure on his wound. It had been pointless anyway, he only did that to buy some time.
"In every shadow, there is light
In every tear, a smile
In death I know there still is life
That lingers for awhile . . ."
Ace vaguely heard his name being called out by a familiar voice, Squardo's, before the darkness overcame him.
I hope you liked it :D
This is my first MarcoAce fic so go easy on me :) It would've been my first Yaoi fic but then I remembered that I already made a SmokerIzo fic . . . which I still haven't updated. Well . . . why don't you guys check it out? It's called Cinderizo. Basically a parody of Cinderella. Marco plays the role of Fairy godmother XD
For the last quote . . . I literally just google searched "quotes about death" and added in the first thing I could find. I thought it would look more depressing like that. Did it work? Sorry man, I'm starting to wonder my value as a writer. Don't even comment on the tenses, okay? I always write in past tense so . . . this fic is screwed up in more ways than one. Just . . . don't comment on it. I know I'm terrible. Please forgive me T^T
But I hope I broke your heart :D
Anyway, Please review ~ !
~ RnR ~ !
~ RnR ~ !