Kitsune here. First, I just want to say originally this story was going to be a one-shot. I was NEVER expecting the reaction I got for it. So, because of you, the readers, I have decided to continue this. That isn't to say that it's forced. I always had more ideas, but I just was happy to leave it as it was. You all convinced me to keep going. So, thank you all for that, and thank you for waiting while I finished (except for the Omake chapter) Burning Rubber first. Some of you are new to my works, and some of you have been with me for a while, so you might know that I do spend a lot of time writing when I can. But recently life has been busy, so I've had to cut down a bit. I've missed it. Anyway. For those who care, I've created a Tumblr account, the link is on my profile page. I post random crap that makes me smile, stuff about my pets, quotes, and story-related things. Like, there was a sneak preview of this chapter. Big thanks to The last ANBU and Anjelle for beta reading!

Er, question of the chapter: "What's your favorite pie?" Mine is keylime. But I also like Mississippi mud and chocolate pies. I don't like fruit pies.

ACE

"I'm tired…" Ace moaned, leaning against the rails of the ship next to Roku. The man just looked over at him and shook his head before turning his attention back to heart of the loud party where one Monkey D. Luffy was making a fool out of himself still.

Ace might have forgotten how exhausting it was to keep up with Luffy when his little brother was worked up about something and trying to blow off steam. He understood exactly where the teen was coming from after hearing how he'd ended up on the Moby Dick though. It was one thing to lose a fight, that was something his idiot of a brother was more than capable of getting over quickly (and trying again with great enthusiasm) but to watch his whole crew sent away like that? For Luffy it was the worst thing imaginable. Luffy had never been able to handle being alone for any length of time. Hell, their relationship had been formed on that to begin with. He was just so happy that not only was his little brother safe, but on this ship. Even if his Ship-brothers found him a little annoying right now, Ace knew that they'd give the kid the attention he desperately needed. Eventually they'd see what an amazingly charming, sweet, loveable idiot Luffy could be…. though it might take Marco a bit longer to see the light. As for those who said his brother was just some useless rookie. Well, even Ace had to admit Luffy was a bit rough around the edges. The only way to prove the kid had earned his own bounty would be to let him fight, and just the thought of that made him want to beat the crap out of anyone who so much as suggested sparring with the young Captain. So, that was out.

Still, it looked like some of the crew had warmed up to his hyperactive brother already. Thatch had been a given, since Luffy could eat more than Ace. But he was a bit surprised to see Vista in the teen's company during the impromptu party. He wondered if he could count Vista among those who'd be all for Luffy joining the crew. Even if it was only temporary. Of course, that meant they'd have to figure out something to do with Luffy's crew. Somehow, he didn't think the ship would survive the whole Strawhat crew on board. First they had to find the crew though. He knew Luffy had to be worried sick about it. Even though he'd only spent a little time with the Strawhat crew, it had been obvious how close they all were. With that thought in mind he made his way back over to the heart of the party where his brother was trying to hide a yawn.

"So, Luffy, what Division do they have you bedding down with?" Ace grinned, secretly hoping it was his own so he could sneak down into the bunks and join his brother.

The pout on Luffy's face caused his grin to falter. "None."

"What? Then where are you sleeping?"

"Some room over that way." Luffy huffed, obviously upset. "Mr. Mini-mustache wouldn't sleep with me, either."

Ace froze at those words. He was barely aware of Vista turning completely white and breaking out into a sweat. The Second Division Commander was too busy thinking about his clingy little brother was expected to sleep alone on a ship full of people, and he saw red. Flames burst to life without his knowledge across his shoulders as he thought of poor Luffy alone in some makeshift room, especially after what he'd just been though. He turned a murderous glare at the mustached swordsman and noticed how most of the crew members near took a big step back.

"Vista!"

"Ace, Ace… It's not what it sound's like…" Vista's adam's apple bobbed noticeably as the younger Commander took a step closer.

"You wouldn't sleep with my brother?! What is wrong with you?!" There was a pause as everyone just stared at Ace in shock.

"Um… Ace? You realize you just asked Vista why he wouldn't have se-"

"Shut up, Thatch." Ace growled. "That's not what I meant, and he knows it."

"I'm...sorry?" Vista apologized. "Your brother is a Captain in his own right, though. Oyaji said to give him his own room."

"Someone show Luffy to my room." Ace snapped out, eyes flashing dangerously even as Luffy cheered next to him. "And get Stefan in there, too."

"You can't do that, yoi."

"I don't give a fuck right now, Marco. I can't believe you people thought it was a good idea to let Luffy sleep on his own!"

Marco just let his anger was over him as the two of them headed over to Whitebeard. "He's a Captain. It would be rude to have him bunk down with the crew. Oyaji's orders." The blonde reminded him as they came to a stop right in front of their Captain.

"What seems to be the problem, my sons?"

"Oyaji!" Ace snapped out, still smoldering in rage. "Luffty's bunking with me."

Whitebeard just raised an eyebrow at him. "Your brother claims to be a Captain. One of those so-called Supernova Rookies. He deserves his own room."

"It's not about what he deserves!"

"And it's not about what you think is best for the brat, Ace!" Oyaji snapped back.

"Oyaji is right, yoi." Marco attempted to put a hand on his shoulder only to have Ace shrug it off. "I know it's hard, but your little brother is grown up; he doesn't need you to look out for him."

"AHHH!" The flames roared to life before dying out just as quickly as he felt his temper flair at the insinuation. (Yes, he knew he had a bit of a brother complex. It was Luffy, who wouldn't? But that wasn't it, dammit!) He glared equally at both older men while they looked at him in surprise. "You don't get it! Think about it!"

"Then what is it, my son?"

"Luffy got sent here by Kuma right after seeing the shichibukai send everyone in his whole crew away! He's alone and you stuck him in a storage shed!"

Marco frowned "Oiy, he seems fine."

"Yeah, he seemed fine when Garp dumped him at Dadan's too." Ace griped. "He was so fucking annoying, always following me around with this stupid grin even when I tried to kill him."

"You tried to kill the brat?" Whitebeard frowned, obviously confused.

Ace felt his cheeks color in shame and he looked away. "Yeah, well… he was really annoying. Like, seriously annoying and weak. Besides, it was before the idiot had the shit beat out of him by Bluejam because he wouldn't sell us out...Luffy almost died for real then." He glared at Whitebeard. "You know what my seven year old little brother said then? He said it hurt more to be alone than to be hurt. And you put him in a fucking shed alone after he just lost his whole crew, Oyaji."

There was a momentary pause before Whitebeard sighed. "You're right, my son. That was thoughtless of me. You have my permission to have your brother, Captain Strawhat Luffy, bunk in your room during his stay."

"What about Stefan, yoi?"

"You want my dog, too?"

The younger pirate shrugged. "Luffy likes animals."

"Fine then. You may borrow Stefan as well. But if he causes a mess or breaks anything, it is your job to fix it Ace. Not your Division. Understood?"

"Got it, Oyaji. Thanks." He grinned, relieved. He bowed low before turning to leave, Marco on his heels.

"Do you need anything, yoi?"

"Nah. I think I have some extra blankets. Thanks though, Marco."

"No problem. Sorry. Your brother just seemed so, well, not normal….he wasn't acting odder than we were expecting. Didn't say anything either."

Ace sighed. "He wouldn't. Luffy's an idiot." Don't worry about it."

"Right, well. Get some sleep, yoi. You have first shift on deck."

"Don't remind me." He moaned. "Luffy is going to be such a pain while I'm trying to work, too."

"I'll watch him, just this once." Marco offered, causing Ace to grin.

"Thanks, man!" He waved to the other, heading quickly for Commander's wing and his brother. Looked like he was going to get that sleepover he wanted after all.

MARCO

He was being stared at. Marco hated that. "What, yoi?"

"Mmmmm. You're a Zoan-type, right?" The brat asked, still staring intently at him. Honestly, he was a little surprised that the kid remembered. He wasn't exactly the sharpest.

"Yeah. Mythical-Zoan. Phoenix, remember?"

The strawhat-brat nodded. "Right! A burning chicken." Marco felt his eye twitch and wondered once again how he had let Ace sucker him in to watching the younger D while his older brother worked. (The logical part of him reminded Marco that there was very little chance of Ace working with Luffy in tow right now.) The teen completely ignored the dark look the First Division Commander was giving him and cocked his head to the side, still staring at him.

"WHAT?"

A wide grin was his only response as the kid nodded to himself and stood. He trotted away before turning and waving. "Stay there!"

Marco chose to ignore the idiocy and went back to his paperwork. Whatever had the young pirate worked up seemed harmless enough; he wasn't bouncing all over the place, or shouting about something. So he'd just do what he had been doing for the last hour and if the kid came back, fine. If not, well. He was busy. Wasn't his fault if the snot-nosed brat had the attention span of a water-flea. He did have to admit the way he squirmed, trying not to distract Marco, had been kind of amusing. (Yes, it was cute. No, he wouldn't tell Ace that.) It had obviously been killing the kid to be quite that long. The older pirate chuckled to himself as he continued to work, well aware that his respite might be interrupted at any moment. Soon enough he did start to worry at least a little bit about the lack of distractions. Mentally he started to keep track of how long it had been, deciding if a half an hour went by he would actually go looking.

Just as he was getting up to start the search rubbery arms wrapped around his waist. "What the hell?" Marco glared down at the youth.

"Shihihi! Sorry!" He didn't look sorry at all. In fact, he looked really excited about something as he pulled away. "Sit!"

"Not till you tell me what you've been up to, yoi." Marco continued to glare, crossing his arms. It was a look that usually cowed members of his own Division, but had no effect on the bubbly Strawhat Captain.

The teen grinned at him, obviously proud as he held up what looked like a squeeze bottle. Marco didn't know where he'd found it, and he wasn't sure he wanted to know. "I'm gonna groom you!"

Damn the kid was loud. Other people had obviously heard since he caught a few hiding their snickers. "You're going to what?"

"Groom you." The brat repeated it like Marco was the one who was a bit slow on the uptake. "Chopper says it's important for Zoan-types to groom."

"Uh-huh." Warily, Marco sat, still warning Luffy away with his look even though the kid was practically vibrating with energy. "Who's Chopper?"

"Our Doctor." The reply was instant. "He's a reindeer with a blue nose, and he ate the Hito Hito no Mi."

"A reindeer, yoi?" The kid nodded. He could see where grooming would be an issue. Marco for one took care of his own needs, preening in privacy. Still, it surprised him that Luffy had thought of it. "I don't need help, brat."

Luffy pouted. "But your hair is all… oily and stuff."

Marco resisted the urge to reach up and feel it. He knew it was a little oily, but the kid didn't have room to talk, really. "It's fine, yoi."

"But I can help!" The bottle was held up again. "Look! I brought stuff!" The kid beamed at him. At least he didn't bring a dog brush.

Finally after a long stare off where Marco ended up feeling like the bad guy, he gave in with a sigh. "Alright. Just this once, yoi."

"Yay!" Luffy practically danced around him cheering.

He settled down quickly, pulling out a brush from his back pocket and placing it on the table next to the opaque bottle while Marco moved his papers out of the way. The phoenix prepared for some painful hair-tugging for the sake of keeping his friend's little brother happy. (Something told him a sad or upset Luffy was something he didn't want to see, either.) He was quite surprised when instead of rough pulls and tugs, he felt gentle hands carding through his hair, working out the knots with ease and rubbing the scalp. It felt a little weird, since the teen applied almost no pressure at all. Almost like a strong wind. The whole time, Luffy hummed to himself, even as he reached out and grabbed the brush. That he worked more vigorously against Marco's scalp, but still not rough enough to be painful. It actually was starting to feel good.

"Do this a lot?"

"Mmmm. I brush Chopper sometimes. If I get too rough let me know. Chopper says it's 'cauz I don't feel pain like most people. Sorry." Luffy admitted, causing Marco to feel a slight twinge of guilt. Here the kid was going out of his way to be as gentle as he could when he really didn't have the same concept of pain. He'd forgotten that about the rubber-man.

"It's fine. You can't hurt me."

They both lapsed into silence. After what felt like both too long and too short of a time, the brush was put down and Luffy reached out for the bottle. Marco felt something cool and tingly on his scalp as whatever was in it was poured on his hair. He had a moment of panic, hoping the kid knew what he was doing, before those fingers started working their magic. It really did feel like magic, too. Luffy applied just the right amount of pressure as he massaged the scalp and hair, rubbing the mixture thoroughly into every strand without forming any knots. And he just kept up that glorious pressure. Marco was officially sold on letting someone else help with preening if it would feel this good. He'd croon, but his ship-brothers would never let him live it down. After some time he felt something soft press against his head, maybe a towel. He wasn't sure and he didn't want to open his eyes to find out. Instead he just leaned into it. Whatever it was was gentle and quickly replaced with the brush through the slightly damp hair.

"Hey Marco! Thanks for watching Lu-"

Marco lazily replied, not bothering to open his eyes. "No problem, yoi."

"Marco?"

"Yes, Ace?" He felt the brushing stop and guessed that Ace had done something. He cracked an eye open. The fire-man looked slightly nervous and amused at the same time.

"Did you want Luffy to, er, dyeyourhairblack?"

He blinked dully at the two brothers. Luffy was still smiling widely at him, oblivious. Ace had his brother by the arm and looked ready to run. "What?"

"Luffy kind-of might have dyed your hair black?" Ace gulped.

Marco turned his attention to Luffy. "You did what?"

The snot-nosed brat just laughed like it was the best joke ever. "I didn't think it would do that."

"Then what did you think it was going to do? And what was it, yoi?" Marco felt a headache coming on.

"Clean your hair." Again, Luffy looked at him like he was the idiot. "Pell used sand, but he was a bird-bird type or something, and you're a fire-chicken. So I thought I should use oil. Except, I couldn't find any fast enough. I found squid ink, though; and I thought that oil is black and ink is black, so it should work the same, right? Oh! And then I added some pineapple juice, because your hair reminds me of a pineapple." Luffy grinned widely. "It's all dark and shiny now!"

Really, he had no one to blame but himself. He shouldn't get mad at the kid, he was just trying to help in his own idiotic-not-helpful-at-all kind of way.

"It really is very shiny and soft looking." Ace decided to put in.

"That's it." Marco stood, killer intent flowing from him. "Run, yoi."

"Eeep!" Ace took off, dragging a laughing Luffy behind him as Marco ran a hand through his hair.

Damn if it wasn't softer than before. If it wasn't for the fact that it was black he would thank the kid. "Just like the youngest to pull a stunt like that…"

JOZU

Jozukept his eyes focused on Ace's chest trying to gauge when his brother was going to attack. Ace might not be the fastest member of the crew, but he was unpredictable and he hit hard. Sparring with the Second Division Commander always gave him a bit of a thrill because of that. Ace was not known for pulling his punches. Or using anything but his full strength in a fight for that matter. Like most Ds, moderation just didn't seem to be part of his vocabulary. That was why when Ace rushed him only to vanish in a flash of fire, Jozu instantly hardened his skin into diamond. The blow to his kidneys hurt like a bitch all the same, but it didn't drop him out of the game. That honor went to the follow-up kick to the back of his knees that ended with him on the ground and a knife-point right under his chin.

"Alright, you win." Jozu ceded. "You've gotten faster, Ace."

The younger pirate flipped his knife over a few times before sliding it back into his sheath, a cocky grin on his face. "Thanks. So have you."

"Care to go another round?"

"Nah, not today. There's someone else I want to spar with today." Jozu followed his gaze to where the Strawhat brat was sitting precariously on the rail of the ship staring at nothing.

"Are you sure that's such a good idea, Ace?" He began worriedly. "The kid's a rookie, he's not up to your level."

Instead of getting mad like he half expected, Ace just grinned. "My little brother has never been up to my level. Luffy's strong, though. Have you seen his new bounty? 300,000,000 beri. Not bad for a rookie that's been on the seas for less than a year, right?"

Jozujust rolled his eyes, refusing to comment. (It was impressive if that bounty was an accurate representation of the brat's strength though. Personally he thought the fool was just a figurehead for his crew.) He knew there was no point in convincing his friend not to spar with the brat. Instead he settled on one of the stairs that lined the part of the deck designated for sparing to watch. Someone had to be ready to referee and interfere when Ace went a little over the top. He didn't have long to wait as Ace cleared the area of various weapons lying around and removed his own dagger. The young man paused for a moment, holding two bo staffs and looked over in the direction of his sibling before shrugging and putting them away. He knew Ace was decent with most weapons, but he'd almost forgotten that the Logia user was an expert with the staff. It was a good thing that Ace had put away the staffs; there was no way the little idiot was any good with a weapon. He'd be killed for sure.

"Oiy! Luffy!" Ace shouted out, a grin on his face as the teen turned his head to look at him. (Creepy, kid looked part owl when he did that.) "You still think you can beat me?"

The reaction was instantaneous. The brat's face broke out into a ridiculously large grin and he practically flew off the rail with a shout. Naturally, that got the attention of some of the crew who stopped to watch the newest annoyance launch himself at Ace with no warning. The kid was mental, that was for sure. There didn't seem to be any real sort of planning the the fury of punches that were so fast it appeared as though he had multiple arms. Ace had no trouble dodging most of the blows. blocking what he couldn't dodge. The grin never left the Second Division Commander's face when he switched to the offensive, aiming a powerful kick at the smaller pirate's middle which was barely avoided. The punch that followed connected soundly with the youth's chin, causing his head to snap back at least three feet while the rest of the body barely slid. The head became a weapon as it snapped back in place, colliding with Ace's forehead. Both fighters paused and glared at each other, rubbing the matching bruises before falling upon each other with renewed energy. When the Whitebeard pirate was forced to shift into flames to avoid a debilitating ax kick to the head there were some appreciative whistles from the crowds that had gathered that ended in winces of sympathy when an arm reformed and collided with Stawhat's stomach.

"Not bad, Luffy." Ace smirked. "You've gotten better."

The young Captain just grinned, resting a moment with his hands on his knees. "Thanks!"

"Still not good enough to beat me, of course." The older brother teases as he shot forward.

"Gear second!" There was a bright pink sheen on the brat's body, and he literally vanished before Ace's flaming fist could connect only to seemingly reappear behind his brother, still grinning. "Jet pistol!" His right arm shot out and connected with Ace's chest and went right through, but not before sending the other sliding back six feet.

Ace's expression turned feral, and Jozu tensed, ready to leap in before the hothead killed his brother in a fit of rage. He'd barely gotten to his feet before Ace slammed into the poor kid like a cannonball. He was surprised when Luffy managed to dodge quite a few of the flaming blows at first. The boy was still outclassed, however, and just before he managed to latch onto Ace, a right hook that even looked painful collided with the side of Strawhat's head. Luffy went flying, colliding with the steps, the pink color fading from his body as he shook his head.

"You lose." The Second Division Commander looked smug.

The teen leapt to his feet with a pout, apparently fine. "No fair! Again!"

"Why? So you can lose again?" Ace's words sounded harsh, but he seemed genuinely happy. "I'm impressed, Luffy. You've gotten a lot stronger since the last time I saw you.

"I've been training. Not like Zoro, though. He's got all these weights and stuff, but he won't let me touch them. I think he's still sore about when I used one as an anchor."

"You did what?"

"I used one of his dumbbells to anchor the ship." Luffy grinned. "Some Marines broke ours, and Nami said we needed to stop. It worked really well, but Zoro got pissed for some reason." That raised the question of exactly how much the dumbbell had weighed to stop a ship.

VISTA

"Good morning, Oyaji!" Vista shouted, coming over to the man he loved like a father, holding the daily news.

Newgate held a tankard even this early in the morning, and he was pretty sure it didn't have coffee. At least, not straight coffee if the way the nurses were glaring at him was any indication. (Really, you'd think the women would learn by now that the man would not be denied his booze.) He was a bit surprised when the man just raised his drink in acknowledgement and went back to looking down at his right. Immediately he worried that something was wrong, but that didn't make any sense, because despite the glaring, the nurses were being awfully calm. In fact, some of them seemed to be fighting smiles. Stopping right in front of the Captain's chair, he couldn't figure it out as the man didn't even look at him.

"Oyaji?"

"Vista, what is the news?" The other replied, still looking down.

Vista did his best to ignore the rudeness that was very out of character for his Oyaji and glanced at the paper in his hand. "Er. Not much. Only thing interesting is the meeting called for the Shichibukai. No reason given as to the why though. There's no word in the paper about the Strawhat Crew or Teach either."

"I figured as much." Whitebeard frowned, looking at him briefly before something once again caught his attention. The older pirate actually let out a half-snort of amusement before looking at Vista again, humor dancing in his eyes as he tilted his head to the side and pointed down.

Curiosity now peaked, the Fifth Division Commander edged around the massive seat. The first thing he noticed was the sounds of snores. Having lived on board the same ship with Ace for the last few years, he knew that particular sound so he wasn't surprised to see Ace's boots. (He fully admitted it was weird that he could pick out his ship-brother's snore from the hundreds of other crew members. But given Ace's tendency to drop off in the oddest spots it could be seen as a survival tactic so one didn't step on the fire-man and go up like a candle. Or scream like a marine at the weird noises coming out of a closet like Jozudid.) He was a little taken back to see Ace's little brother straddling the man's hips; sandaled feet hooked back around his knees as he leaned forward in a position that made the swordsman decidedly uncomfortable on what he'd just walked in on. It was only the knowledge that Oyaji was not into voyeurism that stopped him from turning away right then and there before he'd even taken in the finer details. Like the grin on the kid's face and the thick marker in his hand that he must have gotten from a nurse. He watched in (horrified) fascination as the teen thickened the swirly line on Ace's freckled cheek before darkening the area under the nose. The logical sane part of his brain told Vista that he did not want to be there when Ace woke up. The guy had been adamant since day one about not growing facial hair. Even going so far as to burn Thatch when the Fourth Division Commander had jokingly given him a mustache disguise. The rest of him was in full agreement with Oyaji; this was funny as hell, and Luffy might be the only one who'd ever be able to get away with that. Ace loved his brother right?

There was a snort, and Ace's eyes opened. The man blinked twice, a frown creasing his face as he looked at his brother's wide grin and the marker still held right over his face. Vista felt his stomach drop as he saw the realization that the kid had been drawing on him dawn on his friend. Ace had long ago mastered the scare-the-crap-out-of-you-scowl, and that was exactly the look he leveled at his brother. Unfortunately, Strawhat was either too foolish or too stupid to care that his life was possibly in danger as he continued to sit there grinning down like the lunatic he probably was. Visa had to give it to the kid, he moved pretty fast when Ace's fist came flying at his head in a blur of motion.

"What the hell did you do, Luffy?" Ace snapped, sitting up and glaring at his brother as the uncapped marker rolled on the deck between them.

The teen snickered just out of reach, a wide grin on his face and pointed at his brother. "Shihihi! I made you look like Mr. Old Mustache!"

Ace looked down at the marker, then at his brother. "You son of a bitch! Get back here!" Luffy yelped and took off around the far side of the chair with Ace hot on his heels, marker now in hand. "Let's see how you like someone drawing on your face!" It was a bit sad to see the Second Division Commander running around the chair unable to catch one small boy. Vista had wisely moved out of the way on the first lap around, but by the fourth time the kid had raced past it was getting ridiculous, and he was seriously starting to doubt Ace's intelligence. That is until Ace skidded to a halt right in front of the chair and spun around holding out his arms, a wicked gleam in his eyes as Luffy rounded the corner. "Come here!"

"AHHH! No!" The teen tried to stop but he was obviously going much too fast. Ace was ready for him though. He easily caught the rubber-man and picked him up, stopping his momentum instantly while ignoring the infectious laughter that had everyone watching grinning. "Nooooo! Ace let me go! Don't! Shihihihi! Put me down!"

Ace grinned. (Something about it bothered Vista for some reason, but he wasn't sure why.) "Put you down?" He dropped the teen, landing on top on him and sitting on his chest. Luffy kicked and failed under the weight but kept laughing even as his brother leaned in with the uncapped marker and roughly grabbed his hair to keep his head still. "Let's see….How about….." Ace grinned even wider, coloring a mustache and small beard around Luffy's mouth quickly before throwing his head back and laughing.

"What? What's so funny?!" Luffy whined under him.

"You-You look." Ace wheezed, rolling off his brother. He waved to one of the nurses who'd spent enough time interpreting the drunken wants of the crew to figure out what Ace needed and handed him a mirror which he held out to his brother while still laughing. He tried again. "Y-you look like Jiji!" He choked out before collapsing in laughter again.

Luffy took one look at his face and paled slightly, an obvious shudder going through him. "Not funny, Ace!" He pouted, tossing the mirror back. "Jiji is scary!"

"Aww come on, Lu! It can't be as bad as what you did to my f...ace." All the color drained from Ace's face as he looked at himself in the mirror, the wide grin instantly melting off his face and replaced by a look of true horror.

"I…" Luffy's voice was soft. "I just wanted to make you look like Mr. Old Mus- I mean Whitebeard. I'm sorry, Ace."

Vista had the feeling that he was missing something, and it had to do with why Ace didn't like the idea of growing facial hair. That was a puzzle for another time, though. It bothered him that Luffy was so upset about this, even more than it bothered him that Ace was upset. He was used to seeing Ace upset. Luffy, well, he could see why Ace worried about his brother. This kid wasn't meant to look like that. It felt wrong. So he plastered a grin on his face and chucked. "I think you may have failed, Strawhat. But few look so good with a mustache as Oyaji." He pat his ship-brother on the shoulder in a consoling manner. "Ace my friend, the mustache is not a good look for you. It clashes with your freckles."

Luffy nodded seriously. "Connect the dots would have been better."

"You draw on my face again, and I'm going to kill you." Ace half heartedly threatened, color coming back to both of the brothers. After a moment he snickered and looked at the mirror again. "It is pretty funny, I guess."

The younger nodded, jumping to his feet and puffed out his chest, hands on his hips. "Bwahahaha! I'm Garp! Who wants a Fist of Love?" It was actually a good impression, and Oyaji started to laugh, which set Vista and Ace off as well. Soon even the nurses were laughing along with all of them.

"What's so funny, yoi?" Vista turned to see Marco standing right behind him. The man's hair was still stained a dull gray from Luffy's prank a few days ago, but at least it was no longer coal black. Still laughing all he could do was point at Luffy who was still doing an impression of his grandfather as he 'scolded' Whitebeard for corrupting his grandson. Ace for his part was howling with laughter on the ground. "Ace?" Marco looked at his friend, head cocked to the side in confusion.

Ace was still laughing, tears running from his eyes as he turned towards them. He tried to school his expression into his usual smirk, only to have a wide grin break out. His eyes danced as he waved at the First Division Commander, leaning heavily on his brother as they both laughed. "Yeah Marco?"

"..." The blond shook his head. "Just wanted to let you know your shift is about to start. Crow's nest."

"Right, almost forgot." The younger pirate tightened his hold around his brother. "Come on, you. You can help."

"Yosh!" The two continued to chuckle as they walked off, taking the damp cloth one of the nurses held out.

Vista waited until they were out of earshot before turning to Marco. "Alright, what was that about?"

"What was what about?" Marco replied, still watching the two brothers, a strange look on his face.

"That!" Vista poked him, earning a glare. "That look you were giving Ace."

"Nothing, yoi." Marco shrugged, walking off.

"Asshole." Vista muttered.

"Grahahahaha! Your brother just realized something about Ace is all." Whitebeard grinned down at him.

"Oh? What?" It was a completely rhetorical question, since he knew very well his Oyaji would want him to work it out for himself. "It has to do with the mustache doesn't it?" The twinkle in those gold eyes told him he was on the right track and he fiddled with his own mustache as he thought about it. There was a nagging thought that he'd seen a grin just like that before, long ago. That couldn't be possible, though, because that man was long gone, leaving behind a broken crew, faded posters, and a legendary treasure. "Oyaji…"

Whitebeard smiled down at him with that knowing look. "Remember that Ace is your brother and my son before anything else. Now, off to work with you, you brat."

"Yes, Sir." Vista nodded, recognizing the dismissal for what it was even as his mind was reeling from the revelation. As he walked past the mast, he could hear the two brothers laughing and shouting still from their post in the crows nest. Shaking his head he continued on towards his room to work on his reports. "Oyaji's screwing with me."

THATCH & IZO

Peeling potatoes was by no means a hard job, but it was boring as hell. Especially when you had a crew the size of the Whitebeard Pirates to feed. Basically, it meant hours of peeling, even for the most experienced chefs on the crew. So, since Thatch was always happy for the help of his brothers and sisters when it was his turn to prep the tuber.

"Tell me again why we can't just leave the skin on these things?" Izo sighed as he placed another completed potato in the 'done' pile for pickup at their table.

Thatch hid a chuckle at the look on the cross-dresser's face, knowing the question was driven more by the feel of the just-peeled starch than anything else. Sometimes he was such a girl. He expertly ran the edge of his knife along his own potato as he answered anyway. "Well, because these babies have been in storage way too long to do that; that's why they're a bit tacky feeling. The skin'd taste funky right now if we cooked with it. So we're peeling them." He grinned widely at the other Commander sitting across from him, holding up a long uninterrupted string of skin. "Hey, look! No breaks. That's good luck, right?"

"You are thinking Apple peels, idiot. And girls do that to find their true loves or some shit. I think they throw the peel over their shoulder, right?" Izo turned his attention to the next tuber.

"Oh." He looked at the peel and shrugged." Well, use what ya got, right?" He tossed the peel over his shoulder.

"HEY!" Came a familiar indignant shout, causing them both to pause.

Thatch couldn't help but grin at the sight of the Second Division Commander standing a few feet behind him, a long peel of potato running over and across the brim of his hat and sticking to his chest. He put his knife down and fluttered his lashes dramatically. "What do you know, it worked! Ace, my true love!"

"Very funny, Thatch." The younger pirate made a face, pulling off the peel and adding it to the compost pile before sitting and holding out a hand for a potato.

Izo stopped again in his work. "Not that I don't appreciate the help, but, where's the little pest?"

"Hmm?" Ace continued to work, his method to take multiple slivers of skin off the vegetable. "Oh, around." Thatch kind of got worried when he said that. "I think he was looking for a 'Special Seat' or something. Anyway, Oyaji told me to get my ass down here and help."

"I see."

They worked in silence for a while before Thatch noticed that Ace was taking more potatoes than he was putting in the done pile. He had a good idea of what was going on. "Ace."

"M-eah?"

"Stop eating the potatoes." He sighed, not bothering to look at the other. He knew Ace would have his trademark grin and stuffed cheeks.

"M'ungry!"

"So's the rest of the crew! Just because you can cook them as you go doesn't mean you get to eat them! No more!"

The sound of swallowing. "Fine." Ace pouted.

"AAAACCCEEEE!"

"Crap, the other bottomless pit." Thatch moaned, praying the fool wouldn't eat the raw potatoes.

Ace, on the other hand, had this happy smile on his face. (Alright, if Thatch was willing to risk third degree burns he'd say it was an adorable smile. All tender and protective. Buuuut, he rather liked being alive and not burned so he kept such thoughts to himself. And Marco late at night over a few drinks behind the safety of well locked thick doors.) The freckled pirate waved at his young brother, encouraging the headache to bounce over. "Luffy! There you are! What the hell have you been doing?"

"Exploring." The teen grinned, sitting at the table. "This ship is huge!"

"So Br-Luffy." Izo began, glancing at Ace. "What do you do on your crew?"

"I'm the Captain!" The teen cheered, throwing his arms in the air with a grin.

Thatch gave him points for enthusiasm at least. "So you make the decisions for your crew, then?"

The boy seemed to think about it for a second. "Huh?" Yep. He was an idiot.

Izo put the potato he'd just finished out of the brat's reach. "What he means is, you decide where your crew goes, right?"

"Oh!" The brat grinned. "Nope! That's Nami; She's our navigator."

"You divvy up the treasure?" Thatch tried.

"Why would I do that? Robin's smarter then me and Nami's good at haggling."

"What about deciding if you're going to fight or not?" Thatch pointed his knife at him. "Who decides that?"

"That's a stupid question!" Finally! "We always fight! Zoro n' Sanji'd be pissed if we didn't."

Izo frowned. "You at least decide what happens to your captives, right?"

"We can keep captives?!" The brat seemed shocked by this. "That's SO COOL! But what would we do with them? Chopper wouldn't let us hurt them…."

Thatch paused for a second. "Isn't Chopper your pet? A raccoon or something?"

"Reindeer. He's our doctor." Because that made complete sense. He looked over at Ace, and his friend shrugged, nodding.

"Well…." Thatch thought, grasping for anything a Captain did. "You decide everyone's shifts, right?"

"Draw straws." He picked his nose.

Ace calmly put his knife down while Thatch and Izo just stared at the brat and then THUMP! all three turned to look at the dark haired pirate who'd slammed his head into the table.

"Ace?" Luffy poked his brother's head. "Did you fall asleep? Ace?" His hand was batted away. "Shihihi, you're awake!"

"Luffy….You're an idiot." Ace groaned into the table.

The teen just laughed, butchering another potato. "Oh! Ace! I saw Jiji."

Ace cringed, pailing visibly as he lifted his head off the table. "Yeah? When was this?"

"Um, a month or so ago? We were at Water Seven waiting for Franky to build Thousand Sunny, because, you know, Merry got broken. I don't remember when he showed up because I was sleeping."

"You slept through him showing up?"

"Yep. Running from a Buster Call is exhausting, Shihihihi!"

Thatch gaped at the young pirate. "Wait, so that was true? You really declared war on the World Government?! Are you stupid?"

Luffy just gave him a blank stare before answering. "They took Robin."

Izo raised a delicately manicured eyebrow. "And that was reason to declare war on the world?" Thatch could understand the disbelief. Whitebeard pirates were known for their loyalty, be he couldn't really picture another crew with such tight bonds. Especially with the infamous Nico Robin, known for her betrayal of all she joined.

"Of course!" Luffy snapped back. "Robin is Nakama! She's my Nakama! They can't have her, she didn't want to go with them!"

"...What does she even do on the ship?" Izo asked after a moment, not even looking as he smacked Luffy's hand away from the pile of peeled spuds.

"She's an arpi….arche….archi… Studies old things and books." Luffy grinned widely. "She's really smart, and funny."

"Right. So you challenged the world government for Nico Robin, the Devil Child, because she's smart and funny." Thatch shook his head.

"No. We just went to get her back." Luffy clarified, looking serious for once. "We burned the flag because they made her cry. Nobody hurts my Nakama."

For a moment the boy-pirate looked like a real Captain, and Thatch could almost picture him leading a crew. (Though he still questioned the sanity of said crew.) He understood exactly what Luffy had meant by burning the flag now, and judging by the look of reserved respect, Izo did too. The smug and proud look that Ace was giving them pissed him off just a little bit, too. Because it still didn't mean it wasn't a foolish thing to do, especially taking on the C-9 with just a small band of his crew. The fact that they'd all apparently survived and won was amazing. They were rookies, for crying out loud!

"I am sure that not all your crew agreed with the decision though." Izu mused. "It is impressive you were able to get as many to go along with you as you did."

Again Luffy gave them a strange look. "Everyone wanted to get Robin back. Even Franky, and he wasn't on the crew yet." They just stared at him. "Ah, but I wasn't supposed to know Usopp was there. He had a mask on."

"...Right." Thatch nodded, remembering the small stack of bounty posters. "So you have eight people on your crew."

"Nine." He beamed at Ace. "I got a musician! Wait till you mean him! Brook is a skeleton, but he's got the coolest hair. And guess what? He poops!"

Ace shook his head, a strained laugh escaping him. "Where do you even find these people?"

"Floridian Triangle. Then I had to go beat up that leek looking guy, Moria. Bastard stole my shadow!"

Thatch was still processing that when Izo put it together. The crossdresser dropped the potato he'd been working on, ignoring it as it fell to the floor as he stared at the brat- no- young Captain sitting next to him in shock. Wide eyed, he turned to Thatch as the Fourth Division Commander sputtered wordlessly. It would have been funny to see the normally gregarious cook struck silent, except he felt the same way. Ace, on the other hand, wasn't silent. He made a strange strangled choking sound, his eyes slightly bugged out as his brother continued to hack away at a potato.

"Gekko Moriah? The Shichibukai?" Ace finally got out.

Luffy nodded, a frown on his face. "He had a giant. A Zombie giant. I think it was called….Oz?" The kid finally gave up on his potato, which now looked like mush, and gave his brother an indignant look. "He stuck my shadow in it! My shadow, Ace! He stole Zoro's, Sanji's and Brook's too. Took everyones! We kicked his ass, though. He had a cool ship."

"Really?" Thatch squeaked out, torn between shock-and-awe and worry for Ace. (Because the guy looked like he was about to faint or something.)

"Yeah! It was a whole island! It was so fun! There were these monsters everywhere, and a castle, and these old guys in bandages, and we might have broke it."

"You broke an island." Izo double checked. "How do you break an island?"

Luffy shrugged. "He started it." Izo hated that answer. He knew it usually meant a fight was involved when used in his own crew, and since this was Ace's little brother it was a safe bet that was what the kid meant.

"Do you have any self preservation instincts at all, Luffy?" Izo finally asked.

"What's that?" The boy cocked his head to the side curiously.

"No." Ace moaned, having completely given up even the pretense of peeling potatoes as he put his face in his hands.

Thatch shook his head. "I can see why you worry, bro."

"This, this is nothing. I shouldn't be surprised at all." The other chuckled. "This is just Luffy being Luffy. Did I ever tell you about the time this idiot got caught by these pirate-thugs as a kid?"