First One-Shot
Smile For The Camera

Warnings: AU. Light mentions of child molestation and child pornography.

It was cold, and he was scared.

'Rain, Rain, go away.'

Everything was gray. Bland, colorless, blank. Nothing caught his pleading eyes. And he didn't catch the eyes of the people around him. Happy people, ignorant people. Ignorance is bliss, ain't it?

'Rain, Rain, go away.'

No matter what he did, no matter how hard he tried, nothing left his throat. No laugh, no cry, no plea, no scream, no sound. And no one paid any attention to him, the abandoned child lost on the street. The child who was frightened, the child who was just standing there in the rain with a blank look on his malnourished face.

'Maybe come back another day.'

He was shivering from the cold; or was it from the fear? Maybe from the hate? The anger? Possibly the pain? He didn't know. He felt numb. That much he knew.

'Rain, Rain, please don't go.'

Thunder. Loud, rolling thunder echoed in his sensitive ears, and he would have flinched if he could move. The gray skies above, the ones that poured the icy rain down on him, lit up in flashes as lightning struck again and again just on the outskirts of town. Flash! Flash! Just like the camera! His shivering suddenly increased, and his teeth began to clatter against each other. He was alone. Always, always alone. No one to take care of him, no one telling him to be strong. No one to tell him to live life to the fullest, no one telling him how much he's loved. No one told him anything. But that's normal, right? Because I don't deserve to live. I'm nothing but a worthless heap of trash. I'm nothing, nothing at all. Nothing but a regret. So I deserve this. I'm a worthless good-for-nothing, and I deserve this because I don't deserve to live. The lightning struck again. Flash! Smile for the camera! He wanted to cover his ears, to push away that god awful voice. I deserved it. I deserved every moment of it. Because I am nothing. I do not deserve to live.

'You're the only friend I know.'

It was cold, and he was bored. That much he knew. What he didn't know, though, was the reason he came into town. He didn't need anything, nor did Thatch or Izou or Whitebeard or any of his other siblings, but he felt like there was something important in town. Something he was supposed to get. He didn't know. Maybe if I wander around long enough, I'll remember. He looked up at the dull, gray skies above and gave a small frown. Today isn't exactly a day to be walking around town for no reason, though. He then turned his attention down to his v-necked long-sleeved purple shirt that had begun to gather polka dots from the raindrops that landed on it. I guess I should have brought an umbrella…

Within seconds of leaving the building's overhanging roof, he was soaked. His hair drooped, his clothes stuck tightly to his body, and his shoes gushed with water every step he took. Yet, he didn't mind.

He loved the rain. He loved its cold caress, and its ability to wash away the dirty, grimy, unhappy and haunting thoughts that tended to raid his mind every now and then. It had the power to cleanse him, and he loved that. Because he wasn't the cleanest person on the earth. No, he, the exemplary son of Whitebeard and one of the most powerful fighters in the city, if not country, had his own dark secrets.

Secrets he didn't let anyone know about.

'Rain, Rain, please don't go.'

The sky lit up several times as lightning flashed over and over again outside the town. Just like the camera. Flash! Flash! Flash! Smile for the camera! He shivered lightly, but not from the cold. Don't think about it, he thought to himself, closing his eyes and releasing a deep breath. Just don't think about it. Several seconds passed. The rain ran down his face, gently caressing his cheek, and he felt himself relax. He continued down the street, shoving his hands in his pockets, and tried his best to remember why he came to town in the first place.

'Rain, Rain, don't go away.'
('Rain, Rain, go away.')

Something made him stop dead in his tracks, the hairs on the back of his neck all standing up. He felt himself tense, and he resisted the urge to burst into those reassuring blue flames he controlled. He had only felt like this one other time before. Last time this happened I saw it, the camera flash. And Hewas behind the camera. He was there watching me. He turned around, his nerves shot, and expected to see the all too familiar flash. Expected to see that god awful man standing there holding his camera and smiling at him. Smile for the camera! He would say. But he didn't see a flash, nor a camera, nor Him standing there in a dark alley watching him.

Instead, he saw a boy.

'Please back another day.'
('Maybe come back another day')

When his eyes landed on the child, he knew right then and there why he had the instinct to come in to town, and what the boy before him had been through.

After all, Marco had experienced the same thing this little boy did twenty-five years ago.

It was the most beautiful blue he had ever seen in his life. And it didn't belong to any sky or ocean or priceless gem. It belong to a man. It was the man's eyes. Azure eyes. Just looking into them made him feel so safe, so secure. So alive. "Hey there." He found himself able to move suddenly, and he took a small step back. This man… this man saw him. He wasn't like the others, the happy, ignorant people who passed him for the past three days. But that didn't mean he could trust the man. Especially after what he just went through. Smile for the camera! He felt himself tremble again and took another step back. "Hey, I'm not gonna hurt you," his voice was quiet, soft, so non-threatening. So trusting. "Can you walk?"

He barely shook his head, and the male in front of him nodded understandably. But how can he understand? He hasn't gone through what I've been through. He couldn't have. He's too nice, too happy. But as he looked into the azure eyes again, he could see a distant pain. A kind of pain that never truly leaves once it has been delivered. He… He was once broken, too...

"Do you want me to carry you?" And as soon as the question was asked, Ace threw himself at the stranger; wrapping his arms around the blond's neck tightly. Marco hugged the child back like he was someone he thought had been dead for the past five years, and picked him up. "Don't worry," he whispered in the child's ear. "As long as I'm around, He's never gonna hurt you again. I swear on my life."

With those words whispered into his ear, Ace broke down. He buried his face into Marco's shoulder and cried and cried and cried until he passed out from exhaustion. All the while, Marco continued to carry him, whispering gentle and comforting words to him as he rubbed his back; his grip never loosening in the least.

'Rain, Rain, you're our kin
You wash away all our sin
Rain, Rain, won't you stay?
You're welcome night or day
Rain, Rain, please don't go
You're the only friend we know'

x - x - x
A/N: Okay, guys. I got a few somewhat depressing one-shots I'm gonna upload. I've had a fucking shitty week and writing happy and funny things is sorta hard to do when you're kinda pissed and depressed. So until this shittyness goes away, I won't be able to write chapters for Sweeter Than Sugar, or Black Rose. Sorry, but if I try to work on those, everything will seemed forced and it'll turn out all sucky.

I wrote this about...ten months or so ago and never got around to uploading it. (I have so many things I've wrote (all mostly one-shots) that I just never uploaded.) Sooo, here ya go. I don't know if I should say 'enjoy' or not, seeing as it's all depressing.

For those of you who don't understand the 'smile for the camera' thing. It refers to child pornography. Ace was abducted, molested, and forced to make provocative poses while being photographed. When the Unsub was done or bored with Ace, he kicked him out and went on the prowl for another victim.

TRIVIA: Earlier this week, I had the idea of making it where everyone is synchronized. Everyone walks down the street on one sidewalk, and everyone walks up on the other side. No one moves out of order, except for Marco. That's how he sees Ace and no one else does. I'm actually planning to write a chapter like that, if you guys are interested. It'll be different from this, of course. I was also tempted to do a second chapter for this, but ultimately decided not to.

Have a great morning/afternoon/night!

Your ice elemental,
~roo the psycho