Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it.

Marco glared down at the figure lying at his feet, sea-stone shackles on his wrists keeping his powers dormant. Angry blue flames provided the only light in the cell, flickering on his arms and back and illuminating the form of the traitor. "Why did you do it?" He asked, voice ice cold. The traitor tilted his head slightly to look at him, dull brown eyes stopping at his chest, unable to look at the face. After a few seconds with no response Marco growled, grabbing the traitor's neck and slamming him against the wall. "Answer me! Why did you attack my brother?" The figure flinched, eyes closing and breath becoming ragged.
"Marco…" he rasped out, coughing harshly, blood trailing down his chin. "Marco, I swear, I never…."
"Shut up!" Marco snapped, throwing the younger male to the floor, drawing out a pained gasp and more coughing. "Don't you dare lie to me. We all saw you. You killed my brother and left another's life hanging by a thread. You better pray he pulls through, or I'll finish you off myself." Marco jerked up when the cell door suddenly opened.
"Marco. It's Thatch. He's awake." Haruta gasped out, pointing down the hall she had just run down. Marco stiffened before bolting out the door, Haruta right behind him. Izo, who had been waiting to let Marco out after his talk with the traitor, glared at his former-brother before closing and locking the door. Ace just lay there, bleeding and gasping for breath.
"Didn't attack Thatch. Not a traitor." He muttered, but there was no one there to hear.

LINEBREAK

"Thatch!" Marco yelped, sliding to a stop at Thatch's bed and nodding a brief greeting to the head doctor, Jason. "How do you feel."
"Like I went three rounds with a sea king and lost." Thatch muttered, looking around. "How long was I out? Where's Ace?" Marco blinked at the odd question, wondering why he was asking about the traitor instead of Teach, who had defended him.
"We caught Ace after he attacked you and Teach. He's down in the brig. Pops is apparently waiting for you to confirm the attack before we deal with him." Thatch's eyes widened at this. "Haruta, did anyone go tell Pops Thatch was awake yet? Thatch, what are you doing?" Thatch forced himself to sit up, hissing in pain as he aggravated his remaining injuries and ignoring Marco as he tried to get him to lie back down. "Is Ace hurt? How bad is it? What about Teach?" He asked, waving off Marco's hand as Jason, recognizing how stubborn the fourth division commander could be, quickly adjusted his bed so he could lean back while still sitting up.
"Wha- Ace is a little banged up, I guess. Teach… is dead. Ace murdered him." Marco said, confused. Thatch's next words stole the breath from Marco's lungs.
"Marco, Teach was the one who attacked me, not Ace." Marco glanced at the gathered audience, swallowing past the lump in his throat before cursing and bolting from the infirmary, Vista right behind him. They didn't respond to the startled calls when they passed Whitebeard and Jozu in the hall, racing towards the brig to retrieve their victimized brother.
Marco quickly threw the door to Aces cell open, leaving Vista to make sure he didn't get locked in while he ran to Ace. "I'm so sorry. We'll get you to the infirmary. Hang on." He whispered gently, unlocking the shackles and picking Ace up, careful of his injuries. He froze suddenly, listening. "No."
"Marco?" Vista asked when he saw Marco put Ace back down, blue flames dancing to life on the phoenix's back and shoulders, bright enough to light the whole room. Marco's eyes were wide as he looked down at Ace.
"No, nononono." Marco muttered, pressing his ear against Ace's chest before searching out the pulse point on his neck with shaking fingers. Vista propped the door open and walked in, looking over Marco's shoulder. 'A little banged up' may have been an understatement, there were fairly deep cuts all over Ace's chest and stomach as well as a few on his legs where it looked like Marco had dug his talons in and just yanked. Marco suddenly cursed again, picking Ace up and racing out, leaving Vista to trail after him.

A good number of the commanders were in the infirmary when Marco returned but he ignored them, calling for Jason as he lay Ace on the first empty bed he found, shaking as he backed up. Jason drew in a sharp breath before yelling for various nurses, the best on the ship, and pulling a privacy curtain around the bed while they worked. At this point Marco collapsed in a nearby chair, panting slightly and staring at the floor. "Marco, son, what happened?" Whitebeard asked, brushing a finger against Marco's back only for him to flinch away. Marco just shook his head helplessly, arms folded around his stomach and face tinged slightly green. It was a tense ten minutes before Jason emerged from behind the curtain, shaking his head.
"I'm sorry, Pops. We did everything we could. He's gone."

END

Edit: Tweaked a few things, mostly fixing typos and spots that did sound right.