(A/N: H'okay! So, my cousin and I have been reading these smutty stories that she bought at a thrift store, and they're hilarious, but I really kinda want to make a lemon for this story, so this chapter may or may not contain lime-y tones. I have written out some naughty things, one-shot length, so if anyone wants to proof-read, PM me and I'll send it to you. I wanna know if it's worthy of being posted.)

(Also, since Marco is a phoenix, and they are associating with fire, I am assuming Marco can manipulate the element, to a degree. If I'm wrong, please tell me.)

X~X~X~X~X

Soliel blinked rapidly as a thin beam of sunlight filtered through the door. She'd fallen asleep on the stairs under the trap door entrance to the ship. Most of the crew were snoozing as well, even though it was the late afternoon; they'd all been up for nearly two days, formulating plans of action for finding and apprehending Blackbeard. Soliel groaned in frustration, her nails digging into the soft skin on her side, scratching at the line of stitches there; with a huff of annoyance she began rolling her shoulders and craning her neck. She'd slept maybe two hours, and she was irritated. All the drama about Ace was driving her crazy, because half of her wanted to chase after the man, while the other wanted to go directly after Teech himself.

I hope he gets eaten by a giant crab. she thought, closing her eyes again and sighing.

Marco watched as Vista's body slumped to the side and fell off the barstool and against Blenheim, who snorted in his sleep. There were people sleeping here and there, in random places and positions as though their bodies had just conked out in an instant while others had actually made the journey to their rooms.

He was not one of them.

Marco and the others had spent most of the day sparring and working out, and he was exhausted. Especially after Whitebeard had joined and thrown them around like rag dolls. Haruta and Izo had gone on a rampage and took on Vista, while Soliel and Rakuyo threw down with the hand-to-hand while everyone else decided to take on Pops. It was fun, but once everyone started to realize why they were sparring, the fights became more intense and pretty soon everyone was beating the shit out of each other; not to hurt but to ensure they could keep up with potential foes of various strength and size.

Marco replayed the matches in his head, and all the techniques people had used. Vista and Brew were skilled with a sword, while Izo and Haruta were pretty damn good at gun slinging. Soliel was a little whirlwind with quick physical attacks (especially when going to weak spots while feinting), and of course, their captain was the scariest bastard ever when it came to raw physical prowess.

Marco yawned and stood up from his position on the floor and moved away from the wall, his back and arms stiff from sitting for so long. He stretched and quietly maneuvered his way around his companions, careful not to wake any of them. Hardly anyone had gotten any sleep in the past month, so it was good that everyone got at least a couple of hours to recover from both mental and physical stress.

Brew's body blocked one of the doors almost completely and Marco had to very carefully step over the other man, which was hard to do when Fossa was just a few feet on the other side and both men topped him by about three feet and a hundred and thirty pounds.

Most of the hallway was empty except for a weapon here or there, and a small tower of ale bottles that Jozu had been constructing. Marco turned a corner behind the galley and kept walking through the silent ship. The only sounds he heard were the snores of others, and the dim ringing of a harbor bell. It was three in the afternoon. Marco stumbled suddenly and cringed as he caught sight of Whitebeard's halberd. The weapon threatened to fall and Marco let out a muted curse as he grappled the object back against the wall.

The laugh made him jump.

"Clumsy, aren't we?" Soliel teased.

Marco immediately frowned at the woman. She was rubbing furiously at her ribcage, and he saw streaks of blood on the fabric of her shirt. "You tore the stitches."

Soliel blinked. "What?" she looked down at herself and gave a surprised little sound, like she hadn't even noticed. "Izo's a shitty seamstress." The skin surrounding the black thread was red and inflamed, and though the gash wasn't that big of a deal, she figured she'd probably gotten infected from the kitchen knife that Blamenco had aimed her way while they were wrestling. She managed to deflect it but had gotten clumsy and got nicked on the swing back.

With a shrug she dropped her shirt and stared at the blond in front of her, "Not tired?"

Marco wasn't listening, he was staring at the thick scar around her throat and shoulder, the one that trailed across her body from her right shoulder to the left side of her pelvis and was as thick as his wrist. Everyone in the crew had scars on them, but hers was the most prominent and noticeable. The one that had almost killed her.

Three years doesn't seem like that long, but she had been so much smaller then. Marco stared at the scar, totally oblivious to Soliel calling his name. He thought back to that fight, the one that had been so easy, until a simple misstep almost caused them all to be caught by the Navy, and wind up with Soliel dead.

"D'you think we'll get back in time? Pops has us on a curfew, ya know!" Ace called with a chuckle.

"If you shut up and run we will!" Soliel yelled back, dodging trees and vaulting over bushes.

Marco, Ace and Soliel had been sent into town to gather supplies while the "adults" of the ship talked. However, this town wasn't fond of pirates, and hadn't been willing to barter with them, so the trio made their way back to the ship empty handed. Not that it mattered, they were fine on food and medical equipment, but it was always a good idea to have extra in case of emergency.

Ace had challenged Soliel to a race, which she agreed to, and they had run around the town four times, the length of a mile in all. Ace of course, had longer legs and was able to get ahead of the other pirate, but Soliel was lunging over rocks and the low cobblestone wall that surrounded the seaside town. She was fast for her size, and it irritated Ace. Marco merely walked, looking down the hill and into the town, where people milled about in the early evening. Thy sky was a dusky red with cool slashes of purple and indigo at the edges and stars were sprinkled here and there. But it was getting cold, and Marco issued a cloud of steam as he exhaled.

"Whoa-!" Ace stumbled on a loose tree root and skidded to a stop which caused Soliel to do the same with a laugh.

"Tired, Fire Fist?" she teased. She was sweating a little, but hardly seemed out of breath, and Ace was breathing evenly too. "Or do you concede defeat?"

Ace's mouth turned into a smirk, "Hell no!" he leaned down in a sprinter's position, but suddenly straightened, and Marco frowned. There was a flash of light from the forest and a woman's scream.

Soliel hesitated, it was best they didn't get involved, but suddenly the cry of a young child rose into the air and she was gone, all but sprinting into the tree line, Marco and Ace calling after her. The two men followed, slightly alarmed as male laughter echoed the screams, and suddenly a woman burst through the trees, clutching a young boy, bruises on her arms and face.

"Soliel?" Ace called out.

Marco's voice was louder, "Soliel!"

The gunshot made them freeze.

Ace bolted, but Marco was faster, and within seconds, the duo ran through the thick trees and into a small path that was inhabited with a bandit caravan. Before they were spotted, Marco was pulled back, and he grabbed Ace's arm, turning to see Soliel who was crouched down behind a cluster of thick bushes.

"I threw a huge rock over at them and they shot at it, thinking it was an animal or something, and the woman took off," she said quietly, "They're not just normal bandits, they're weapon traffickers."

Ace looked over at the two ox-carts and saw that they were filled with crates that held everything from knifes, to guns, to war axes. Staves and whips, just about every weapon you could think of was packed into the carts, and the seven men who surrounded them were discussing prices and potential buyers. Marco tried to pull his companions away, but Soliel had a blazing, defiant look on her face, and Ace looked annoyed as well.

"Can we go now?"

Soliel shook her head, "No. They need to be taught a lesson."

Ace's smirk was just a little bit evil, "Assault is a crime. An they don't know that we're pirates. We could just pose as wanderers and, you know…"

Soliel's voice was hard. "They almost killed that woman, beating on her like that. And the little one was screaming, begging them to stop."

Ah. So that's what it was, Marco thought. The boy had almost lost his mother, and would probably have been orphaned, since most of this town's people were in the military and were either dead or away for too long. The child would be alone without a mother, and though Soliel had a family, she knew what it was like to grow up without a woman around. It was kind of personal to her.

He sighed heavily, "Can you make it quick? We have to go."

The smile Soliel sent him caused his face to heat slightly, but it was too dark to tell he was flushed. Ace had already started to creep along the foliage and out onto the road. Soliel was next, and Marco stayed close, he and Ace keeping the woman in the middle in case the ruffians went for her first. Not that she couldn't handle herself, but Marco didn't want to risk anything happening to her; one, because she was Whitebeard's daughter and the man would raise hell, and two because-

He looked at the copper-haired 20-year-old, her eyes lit with something that almost made them glow in the fading sunlight. She was trying to appear neutral, and struck up a conversation with Ace on whether the two of them should start a battle royal back at the ship, start a betting pool and see who wins.

They had gotten a little loud, because suddenly a man was yelling at them. "Hey! Who the hell are you?"

Ace feigned shock, "Damn! I didn't realize we'd walked so far! We gotta get back home before Pops finds out we're gone!"

Soliel's eyes flared, "Oh, crap!"

Marco wanted to mentally slap his friends, because this situation was anything but amusing. He really wanted to go home, not indulge them in a fight, even if it was for a good reason. They didn't need to draw attention to themselves! Especially if any of them bandits had a devil fruit power.

Annnnnd now the guy had a knife. Wonderful. That's exactly what they didn't need. Soliel was trying to hard not to smile as she slipped behind Ace like she were hiding. Marco caught sight of two of them leering at her and frowned. Oh, no, this was not going to be a fun, quick throw down. Someone was going to get hurt.

"Send the little one over here and we'll forgive you for trespassing."

"Nah, we'll just be on our way." Ace said with a cheery little wave. He grabbed Soliel's shoulders and guided her down the path but Marco suddenly shoved him as a bullet was fired.

"That wasn't a request, boy." the man was shorter than Ace and Marco, and fat, but he knew how to use the pistol he was holding. "But since my men haven't had a good fight in a while, we're just going to have to kill you."

The other six men (one of whom was easily six and a half feet tall) launched into action, pulling out swords, guns and one was wielding a really nasty looking halberd. Marco blanched when he caught sight of the two gunmen; they were Naval officers! Low rank, but still, this was going to cause all kinds of trouble if they didn't take them all down.

Ace cursed as two men came at him with blades, and Soliel pivoted away and ran for the carts, thinking maybe she could grab a weapon since everyone was so much bigger than she was and probably wouldn't last in a physical fight for too long. Marco was up against two guys, as was Ace, and two more were circling them.

But damn, they were good.

Ace was clearly enjoying himself as he dodged a couple of sword thrusts, and retaliated with a blow to the guy's jaw that easily loosened some teeth, if it didn't actually break the jaw. And Marco was going hand to hand with one of the gunmen, trying to get the weapon away from his assailant, and Soliel winced as a shot rang out.

Marco had one of the guys in a headlock suddenly, because he'd gone at Ace with a knife aimed right for the fire starter's ribs, and was either about to snap his neck or choke him out. Ace laughed, pulling off an impressive barrage of punches to the man in front of him, but slammed into the ground as a length of chain caught him in the face.

Where'd the leader go…? Soliel wondered. She was crouched low to the ground, and her eyes locked onto a small black metal box. It was opened, and she saw three pairs of handcuffs, two normal steel pairs, and a set of kairoseki handcuffs. She snatched all three pairs and shoved them into the satchel she had on her back. She assumed the bullets were made of the same substance, and she bit her lip, debating on whether to call out to warn Ace and Marco-

She gave a sharp gasp as she was dragged back by her ankle and lifted into the air. The giant, the one who'd had the halberd, lifted her up with a gloved hand and sneered.

"Back off!" he roared, and everyone looked at him.

Marco and Ace frowned severely, and the former dropped his captive while Ace stood and glared at the man who'd grabbed Soliel. She was upright, and he had a knife against her throat. Any fear she felt wasn't showing as she openly snarled at the man, flailing in his grasp. A wave of heat filled the forest, and sweat bloomed over Soliel, her eyes shooting to Ace and Marco, both of whom had sparks of flame surrounding them, and the blurred air behind the blond slowly started forming wings.

They looked dangerous.

The point of the dagger bit into her neck and the man laughed, "Ah, ah, ah. I didn't know you had powers, but now that I do, I'm not going to kill you, oh no. I'm going to take you to an auction and sell you." he looked at Soliel, "Might keep this one for myself though."

The heat intensified, and the bandits gave hollers of pain as their metallic weapons began to turn white-hot. The thin fabric roofs of the carts warped, and Soliel saw that the nearby trees had started to crackle, and the sand around Ace and Marco's feet had started to crystallize into glass.

"Rail! Get the cuffs and lock them in the cage." her captive ordered, and the squat man from before snickered as he walked towards the cart nearest them. Soliel noticed that all the metal weapons in the carts had started to shimmer faintly, the way the ground does on a hot day, and she frowned.

She had the handcuffs.

Without thinking, she went limp, dropping all her weight, and the man holding her dropped his knife as he tried to lift her back up. Marco and Ace sprung into action then, sending balls of flame and roasting their nearest attackers, which made the rest of the bandits scatter.

The leader had gotten mad then, demanding they all come back and fight, but when Ace closed in on him, he took off as well, and the freckled man laughed. One of the gunmen, and a well-muscled man with a pair of spiked brass knuckles remained, and Soliel tried to desperately scramble away from the guy who'd grabbed her, but he jerked her up by her hair, causing her to cry out in pain, which turned into a blood-curdling shriek as he held her against his armored chest with one of the heated staffs from the cart.

"Now, put the fucking handcuffs on or I kill her while you watch." the man hissed, using his other hand to hold the knife back against Soliel's carotid artery.

Marco felt ice cold terror flood his veins as Soliel screamed in pain, the white-hot stave burning through her flimsy shirt and waistline of her pants into her skin. She was sobbing, tears falling down her face and her breath ragged. The moment his name left Soliel's mouth in a tone of voice that broke his heart, Marco's vision tunneled on the man holding her captive.

And that was it.

Ace willed his body to flame and materialized behind the massive bandit, aiming a well aimed, fire engulfed punch to his kidney's and the man groaned, his grip loosening, and Soliel fell to the ground with a gasp, the staff rolling away. Marco grabbed her and pulled her back, intending to help Ace, but the raven haired man was a force to be reckoned with, beating the ever living shit out of the guy.

Soliel's voice cracked and Marco turned the girl in his arms. All at once, the air vanished from his lungs and he could only stare at the three inch gash in his throat. Blood dribbled from the wound and when she turned, shot in an arterial spray that colored his chest and shirt. Oh god, oh god, oh god-!

"ACE!" Marco tried to close his hand over the wound, but blood leaked through his fingers, and Soliel's eyes fluttered shut for a second before shooting open in alarm. Ace sprinted over to them, and cursed violently. The staff had been against her skin for so long, and so hard that it had left a thick third-degree burn from her shoulder to her pelvis, and the tears kept coming. Ace knew it hurt.

"Marco, you've got to-"

"I can't!"

"The fuck you can't! I've seen you reset bones when Curiel wasn't around!"

Marco slowed his breathing. Soliel was going to-no. He wasn't going there even in the hypothetical sense.

"Marco, she's going into shock!" he tore Marco's shirt in half, from the neckline down and wound the fabric into a tourniquet, "Are you going to heal her or do we run her to the ship?"

Marco slowed his breathing and let Ace take his place, hands going over Soliel's neck and letting the fabric bunch against the injury. Her eyes were half-open, her mouth moving soundlessly, and Marco blinked away a sudden sheen of tears. Shit, this was bad, especially if he couldn't-

"Mar-co-" her voice was barely above a whisper, and Marco's jaw tightened as he willed flames to his hand.

The process was slow, and he made sure that the nick in her carotid artery had been healed first before working on the actual cut. It was deep, and he assumed that when Ace had struck the other man, the surprise had made him push the dagger up into her neck before he dropped her. Her vocal cords were untouched, and Ace had to carefully pull the remains of her shirt off to get to the burns.

It was something Marco would never unsee.

The skin was black with angry slashes of red, where the muscle had been completely destroyed, but luckily hadn't burned too far down, or else it would have gone through the skin, muscle, fat, and to her organs, which he wouldn't have been able to fix and they would have lost her.

Which, knowing her father, would have ended with their deaths as well.

"Stay with me, Soliel," he said, trying her keep her focus so she didn't pass out. Ace was talking to her too, and trying to pick out small bits of fabric that had adhered to her skin.

"It's going to scar," Marco finally said, after nearly an hour. The wounds were closed up, but Soliel was covered in blood, sweat, and dirt, as were the two of them, and now she was out cold. But at least she was alive. "She'll have them for the rest of her life."

Ace walked over to one of the carts, and sifted through various boxes until he returned with a thin, dark sheet. They carefully wrapped her in it, and Marco lifted her into his arms so they could head back. Ace had managed to haul one of the carts back with them, and was grateful that everything had ended well. It could have been better, of course, but at least they were all alive.

The verbal beat down they got upon their return still gave them nightmares.

Marco snapped to attention as Soliel's hand gently came into contact with the side of his head, "Marco? Are you okay, you're kind of scaring me."

"What?" he took a deep breath, "No, it's alright, I was just thinking." It was really dark up here, save for that tiny beam of sun from the door, and he wondered how long it would be until the others started to wake up.

Without warning, Soliel kissed him, laughing at the sound of shock he made. But then he responded, pulling her closer and setting her on a barrel as he deepened the kiss. Her hands made their way into his hair, and a shiver of lust went through him, which caused him to pull away. Her little growl of annoyance almost made him laugh, but as she pulled him back and sealed her mouth against his, he wondered how long this would go before they gave in. He pressed feather-light kissed against the scar on the side of her throat, left a mark against her shoulder, and her hands were gripping his shirt where he thought her nails would tear it.

"Damn it," she cursed. She was breathless, tired, and turned on. A little sound escaped her as Marco's mouth went back up her neck and she pulled him closer, hooking her ankle behind his leg. "I want you." He made a little noise that could have been anything from okay to then take off your clothes and we'll take turns being on top.

She brushed her lips against his once, twice, a third time. And the second their eyes met, he was lost. As she control of the kiss, Marco caved in with a groan of surrender.