A/N: Hello there to everyone who's reading this! So, this idea suddenly came to me while I was listening to a song late at night and since then I had the urge to write it. I have most of this story basically planned out, I only need to think more about some parts and to figure out how the ending is going to be exactly... Anyway, I might take a while before I post the second chapter because I'd like to have such things figured out by then (or not, if I get too enthusiastic).

Well, anyway, this is an AU, so some of the characters who'll appear here may be a bit different from their usual self because of circumstances. I don't think it'll be difficult for anyone to figure out many things, but I'll do my best to try to create a bit of a mystery with some things ;)

I guess that's it. The song which seriously inspired me is called "Paradise (What about us)" by Within Temptation feat. Tarja. If anyone's curious go and listen the song, I like it a lot ^.^ This chapter is basically the prologue, so the next one will probably be bigger.

Well then, go read and please review letting me know what you thought!

This chapter has now been betaread by AllHeroesWearHats and lunarshores :D

He was bored. Incredibly bored.

With a sigh, Ace sat on the couch that had a large window behind it in the living room. Since the apartment was located on the top floor of one of the tallest buildings there, he now had a view of most of the city. Using the back of his hand, he pushed the window until it was open as wide as it would go, immediately feeling the cold winter breeze hit his face. He leaned his elbow on the sill and put his face on his hand, his expression reflecting his extreme boredom.

"Whenever you're ready, Sabo..." he said in an impatient tone.

"Yes, yes, I'm coming. Just give me a minute." Though Sabo's reply was muffled by the walls between them, they didn't have to shout in order to be heard. Since the apartment was on such a high floor, the nocturnal noises of a big city could barely be heard, even with the window open. Ace rolled his eyes and went back to idly watching cars passing by in the streets below while waiting for Sabo to finish up. Normally it wouldn't take so long, which made him suspect that this was a more complicated job than he'd been told.

He straightened his position on the couch and closed his eyes, enjoying the breeze on his face. For a few seconds, all that his ears picked up was the sound of the wind hissing through the cracked window. Ace let the crisp breeze wash over him, ruffling his hair. In that brief moment, he allowed himself to imagine that he was far away from here and free.

A small smile appeared on his face.

Thinking about that always brought him peace and calmness, so he often allowed his mind to drift to control his temper and impatience. The only other way to calm him down was the presence of Sabo and Luffy; since neither were there with him at the moment, he had to resort to the wind and the images it carried to his mind.

Ace's smile grew a little more at the thought of Luffy; at this time the fourteen-year-old would already be complaining he was starving as he impatiently waited for them to return home in order to eat dinner. It was a good thing that they had a stock of snacks that Luffy could eat - it wasn't like Luffy could spoil his dinner, since he was always hungry. If not, they'd probably arrive home to a horrendous mess in the kitchen in case Luffy tried to cook something. The ingredients for meals were kept under lock and key to ensure they'd all be able to eat dinner, but at least they wouldn't have to worry about him starving in their frequent absences.

Ace's eyes snapped open when he felt another person entering the room. His gaze immediately met Sabo's and, when he nodded, Ace smirked.

"Finally! Took you long enough!" He said in a light tone as he got up and went to the other.

Sabo rolled his eyes. "The request was very specific about the message that we were supposed to leave. You'd know that if you took the time to read it carefully," he remarked while he finished cleaning the object in his hand with a cloth. Raising it a bit and seeing it shine with the moonlight that was coming through the window, he nodded satisfied and put it in its sheath. It was quickly concealed by his long, dark blue coat, before he folded the cloth and stuffed it into one of his pockets.

Ace only shrugged at the mention of his inattention to the details of their mission "But don't we usually have to leave a letter?" Examining Sabo carefully, he raised his thumb in a positive sign, indicating that he had found no stains anywhere. "Nothing today."

"Nor on you." Sabo commented after looking over Ace. He smiled wryly. "We'll probably get some kind of recognition from the boss because we have such high success rates." He shook his head slightly. "And the request said that the client wanted the message to stay with the recipient 'forever and ever'."

Ace just snorted, but not because of what Sabo said their client asked them to do, as such different requests were normal; no, it was because of the idea of being congratulated for what they did. "As if I care about what he'll decide to do. Who knows, maybe he'll do a happy dance because he's finally getting what he wanted."

A moment passed as both of them imagined that. Sabo shook his head in exasperation, a small smile on his face being the only indication that he was holding in his laughter at the thought. Ace, however, had no such qualms and busted into laughter.

"Oh, just picture that!" He gasped while laughing. "Completely bizarre."

"Come on," Sabo put a hand on Ace's shoulder, interrupting the other's laughter. "Didn't you want to leave as quickly as possible? I think it's a good idea to get home before Luffy finds a way to eat everything we have."

"I refuse to have to order pizza again and have to wait a millennium for it to get there!" Ace exclaimed horrified as he headed towards the door. He might love his younger brother a lot, but if he went home today and wasn't able to eat something as soon as he got there, the younger one would feel the wrath of his older brother.

"The pizza didn't take that long," Sabo remarked even though he knew it made no difference to Ace. He turned and took one last look at the living room before narrowing his eyes when he saw the window Ace had left open; it wasn't like that when they arrived, was it?

"Ace, are you leaving it like that?" He asked motioning with his head the window; it wasn't like he was doubting his companion, who he knew wouldn't make a stupid mistake, but he was curious.

The gray-eyed boy stopped and looked back with that same bored expression on his face. Tilting his head slightly, he let a smirk appear on his face; although he and Sabo tried to act as normal as possible, their work was already ingrained in them. So, in the end, getting something good from it wouldn't hurt, right?

"Yeah. I want to see their reaction when seemingly the only place where we could have appeared from and gotten out was the window."

The blond mirrored his smirk. Yes, after so many years there was no way for them not to find pleasure in making others waste their time trying to figure out how they did things.

"Very well then."

The two left the apartment, and Ace saw Sabo lock the door carefully and in the quietest way possible. The blond took his gloves off and threw them at Ace, who caught them easily and tucked them into one the pockets of his jacket. He saw Sabo look for something in one of the pockets of his own coat before taking out a piece of crumpled paper and a pen. He unfolded the it and, after uncapping the pen, put an 'x' next to the order number.

"There. Now we just need to report in, and we can go home," Sabo informed him before putting the objects safely away. They went to the stairs and began the long descent, not worrying about being seen by security cameras on the way. They would show no image of them to any of the investigators no matter how hard they looked. After easily evading the notice of the security guards and the porter, they left through the back of the building and disappeared into the crowd of people walking on the streets that night.

The jaded expression on Ace's and Sabo's faces didn't fade until they finally arrived at home and found Luffy ready to break into the locked fridge. Only then, when they saw the bright smile of their younger brother and his excitement at seeing them coming home, could they relax a bit.

Well, at least until the next time that phone rang and the whole process began again.