Betaread by ReadingAtTheSpeedOfLight o/
√ -√v-√ -√v—
Everything that has ever happened to him was because of that cursed blood…
All because of that monster that created him.
The devil that went and died… and left Ace as the only one to take the brunt of the world's hatred.
People hated the very idea of Pirate King's son.
Almost all of them.
His mother loved him… Portgas D. Rouge loved him enough to die to have him born. She loved him and that's the only reason he was still alive…
Dadan and her band were at least honest in their hatred for devil's seed… The only reason Ace was not given straight to Marines as a child was the threat of Gramps coming down on her and her bandit's family.
People in Edge Town and Grey Terminal weren't shy of their thoughts about what any child of that monster deserved. Ace remembered every answer his younger self heard after asking 'what would you do if Pirate King'd have a child?'. Every suggestion, every gleeful description of the fate that was waiting for him, should anyone find out the sin of his existence…
That so called Gramps of his tried to pretend to care. That he loved Ace! And yet for all his pretending her was pretty quick to try and get rid of him as well. Hitting children with Armament wasn't a sign of love… Or throwing them into ravines… Off the cliffs… Straight in the path of big predators… For all his love oh-so-great Garp The Hero as the Marines dubbed him, was pretty determined for Ace to die in a place out of the way of people Marines deemed as worth protection.
Back on dawn Island… There were some who cared for him. Sabo and Luffy… His brothers. One that he already failed and one that he's yet to do so. The only ones who knew back there. And loved him anyway. Smart, cunning Sabo. Running from his own problems… Problems Ace swore to help him deal with… Problems that killed him at the hands of fucking Tenryuubito. And Luffy… Airheaded, little Luffy with dream larger than life. Luffy who said 'I don't care' and 'Ace is Ace' when he finally swallowed all his rage and asked him That Question.
But still somehow in the world that hates him so much, Ace still managed to find people ready to set sail with him. To watch his back, to fight with him and to give their lives into his hands…
And what did he do? He brought them into danger. Again!
Hell, their entire pirate journey could be summed by few words.
Dancing around danger.
And they never complained. More often than not… They laughed together with him.
They sailed together through different islands, did few stunts to at least be recognised as pirates.
Sinking that cruise ship was double as satisfying as it'd be otherwise, thanks to the rumour about Goa nobles being on there… Ace hoped Sabo's parents were and drowned there. Not even Marines who immediately gave chase could destroy it for him.
Getting the ship and going through Reverse Mountain, was fun.
Meeting That Man's ship doctor… And the absolute fit Skull had at the mention of potentially genetic disease He had. That was less fun. Having Crocus poke around him with protective Cloud hovering around was not pleasant for any of them. For Ace for obvious reasons, for Oro Jackson's doctor… Apparently even sailing under That Devil didn't cure one from healthy respect for a person able to create small Earthquake with just a light stomp.
Ace didn't want to know what kind of damage Skull could do on purpose.
Propagation was scary, alright?
As they progressed down the Grand Line they found more Nakama… Had more adventures
…
There was a Collective Heart Attack Skull gave them all while taking sword into the stomach for the first time. And proper presentation of what Propagation meant for her and them. (Propagated Flytrap was terrifying.)
Then there was of course Avalon and that ponce prince Eric… And much more pleasant candidate for the throne, even if at the moment of their arrival he was scheduled for execution, called Corvin. Them, even finding out about the imprisoned prince was a total accident… They were simply breaking out Saber, from his cell. (Who would've thought that a prince would be kept in the same block as pirate who landed there for drunken fighting?) Skull was rather insistent on helping the 'poor little prince' in getting his crown… And Ace learned why, the moment she dropped all their new Seastone-coated weapons on the deck of Piece of Spadille. Together with a fuckton of silver prince Corvin was more than happy to part with.
They fixed and reinforced their baby girl thanks to all the money.
By the way Flames working on Seastone was a cheat.
Avalon gave them something else as well… Some of them awoke their Haki. With the help of very friendly army they all got lessons in how to use it, together with soldiers. Both Deuce and Skull took to the skill like ducks to water. Especially after they learned that Haki can hurt logias. (Suddenly friendly spars in the crew started ending with bruises and even some breaks for the only logia on board.)
There was that small summer island where everywhere lived in the Labyrinth… Acquiring supplies for rest of their journey in between dodging spears and occasional rock was a bitch and a half.
On Serengeti they have all learned that Sea Kings were not the strangest animals living on on the Grand Line. The 'cute little puppies' as Skull called them definitely took the mantle there. Big, thin, ugly 'dogs' (and let's use the term in the loosest of senses) smelling of sulfur and living in what was looking like ruin of an ancient civilisation. So far, so good, huh? They were eating steel… And flesh, if the number of different, visibly gnawed at bones laying around, was any indicator. The beasts were scared of water (all hail Oodako and his ability to spray everything in seawater) and after getting their ass kicked by a Cloud angry at the bite marks on her sword, started behaving like obedient little lap dogs…
Convincing Skull to leave them behind was not easy.
They had fun running around and playing in the snow at Iglou Island… Even if by the end of it, Ace ended being manhandled and used as a heater for his Crew. That had to be his favourite stop in Paradise. (The cuddling was nice.)
And the Arrancar Kingdom which, while pretty disgusting in their religion, would be left standing if not for that one absolute moron… What could he say? They might be Skull's, but Skull was theirs. Of course they'd be reasonably protective of her. The marines were a surprise though. The fact they didn't really try to stop them, even more.
Sabaody was something else. Such a pretty place and so rotten inside. But… Even with Tenryuubito, slavery, invitation to become Shichibukai and That Man's first mate walking around… It was still fun. Granted, Skull really liked Rayleigh and was more than happy to get some additional training out of him. (Apparently she had no faith in Ace not dragging them straight into some kind of trouble. Especially after his little announcement. She was really mad at him then.)
And then there was Fishman Island and New World…
They were fighting, sailing, training, relaxing on the deck…
They were free.
Which of course meant that it was only a matter of time 'till they've met Jinbe and fucking Whitebeard himself.
Ace was… proud of himself for winning in his battle against Sea Knight. He won! As a rookie, against New World veteran!
At least he was proud of himself until the Yonko came and announced that he decided to agree for the challenge… (All his fault! They trusted him and he dragged them in danger)
There was terror. (He's too tired. What about his Crew? How to protect them?)
There was denial. (Skull… No! She can't! HisFault. AllHisFault!)
There was hope. (She's matching the Yonko's Haki. She's Ace's First Mate. She can do it.)
There was amusement. (Poor, little birdy… Doesn't know what hits him. Go Skull! Go!)
There was satisfaction. (She won!)
Days long, epic battle that reformed entire landscape of their battlefield.
And she won.
They were free to go.
Free to run and train.
And that's what they did.
They went back onto The Sea, running from the Yonko's crew and allies trying to box them in and training like crazy so that Skull wouldn't be the only one able to match with one of the veterans.
So when Whitebeard caught them again, Ace was feeling pretty good about his chances.
Only to find out that Old fucker was still too far from his reach.
√ -√v-√ -√v—
It was his fault…
He's not losing anyone.
Ever.
Again.
…
He woke up in unfamiliar place… Without his Crew nearby… To a very familiar feel of his First Mate Raging…
It didn't matter that his body was one big bruise. It didn't matter that memory of trying to fight Whitebeard hammered in his head. It didn't matter that he remembered opposing captain's hand closing around his body…
What was important was the explosion of killing intent and purple fire from where Skull has been protecting their Crew back then… What was important was her Rage he felt even there. Wherever that 'there' was.
What was important was that his Crew was somewhere up.
He reacted.
It took only short, mad dash up, up… UP… (Whitebeards might have need to fix few ceilings from it), to jump onto the vast deck of what he has absently labeled as a fucking Moby Dick. Up there, there was nothing standing between his senses and the familiar, heavy weight of what Skull called her Cloud Flames. There was even, just as familiar, sight of people trying and miserably failing to contain his very much displeased Nakama.
And wow…
He's seen wrecks in better condition that The Moby Dick was.
Most of the railings were broken… Many of the sails and ropes were in tatters from Skull's knives… Bright, purple Flames were smoldering around the deck, on bent weapons, bottles, ropes and all the things, that looked like they were quickly discarded the second Skull protested whatever set her off. As for the deck itself… The deck was cracking around his First Mate's feet. (Adam Wood was hard, Skull was stronger.) With a nasty snarl on, she was stalking closer to where The Phoenix was hovering above the desks, his own blue fire surrounding his rib cage and from what he could see, healing what had to be a nasty break. (Skull had troubles with remembering exactly how much force human body can withstand, when she was truly angry.) Behind him were crouching armed people, Ace recognised as Thatch the Silversword, the Deadeye Izou and The Flower Sword Vista. All of them looking definitely worse for wear. With burns, tears on their clothes and mildly wild looks on their faces.
Don't get him wrong, Ace knew Skull hated being confined anywhere, but…
Weren't Whitebeards supposed to be one of the strongest?
There was angry snarl again.
Commanders behind the Phoenix flinched.
Fucking Whitebeard himself arrived in Ace's field of vision.
Yeah… No.
"Skull!" He yelled out in a tone both of them painstakingly worked into her skull (heh) as important.
The air itself stilled for a second…
And then there were her arms around his chest and her hair in his field of vision and that almost-purring thing she was always doing when they were relaxing in the particularly sunny spot on the deck of Piece of Spadille…
The non-Crew pirates around them looked like they got whiplash from her sudden change of moods.
Relieved (but mostly viciously satisfied) Deuce came up to them, leading the rest of Spades… All of them had expressions that were a mix of murderous, vicious and satisfied.
Those were suspiciously familiar expressions. Even though the last time they were wearing them it was when that one idiotic noble in Arrancar Kingdom suggested aloud that Skull was keeping the Crew under control only by spreading her legs and had the gall to try and buy her… More specifically those were the expression his Crew had after they razed the place to the ground.
"Welcome back to the land of living, captain" His navigator of a second mate smiled relieved.
"Deuce. Guys." Ace smiled right back… They were unharmed… Thank The Seas… Skull has kept them safe. She did it even in the hopeless situation he dragged them into this time… He hugged his First Mate a bit tighter to his chest and bowed his head, nosing his way into her hair. He wondered briefly what had set Skull off so badly… (Luckily it wasn't that hard to find out) "Report?" The bruises on his stomach twinged, so he sat down, bringing his First Mate onto his laps and automatically reaching toward that one spot on her head that, when massaged was keeping her mellow enough to ignore even angry Hero of The Marines blustering around. (That was that one absolutely accidental discovery, that saved the city, Garp found them in, from being demolished. Apparently Skull didn't agree with Fist of Love.)
"You were out for 3 days, you fell, Skull gave the old man few new scars, before they somehow calmed her down." Deuce scowled angrily at the few Commanders coming a bit closer to them, specifically the one of their First Division, before twisting his lips in toothy smile. "In that time Whitebeard Pirates tried to do few things." Uh, oh… Their navigator and one of the primary strategists was looking a bit too pleased with that announcement. "Namely press us into joining, keep us on Moby Dick, distribute us between their ships, keep our Doc away from you, keep Skull away from you and order us around. It… went about as well as you can imagine."
Not like he needed to imagine anything. What with the way Whitebeard Pirates deck was looking like.
"So the damages are not just from today?" It might be just naive hope, but…
Deuce's smile widened even more.
"Oh no…" He purred "Whitebeards apparently have pretty decent shipwrights." Then his eyes flashed with murder, the words coming off more like a growl "That was for trying to dismantle Piece of Spadile."
What!
Those fucking…!
Wait…
Skull…
Ace smirked with dark satisfaction.
"Poor idiots." He put a bit more force into massaging his very unapologetic Cloud, causing her to melt in his laps. (That stupid Phoenix of them was watching them. Watching Skull. Ace didn't like that)
They deserved everything they got.
"Yup… She's been really on edge with you unconscious" There was an unsaid but not unheard rebuke from his navigator, which made him wince. Yeah… Skull would always protect their Crew, but he was supposed to be the captain. He was supposed to be responsible for them. Not his First Mate.
"I'm sorry"
"Nothing to be sorry 'bout Captain. 'ts not your fault a Yonko's obsessed with us" Saber shrugged, plopping down next to him. Rest of the Crew murmuring assent and sitting near them.
He felt gratefulness swelling in him.
They were not mad at him.
But still…
"If I wouldn't…"
"Shut up Ace." Skull grumbled from where she was draped over him and raised her head to send him a glare. "And don't stop now"
"Sorry Skull" He murmured. He always needed her to save the day, didn't he?
"Don't be sorry, continue" her grumble caused him to chuckle, amused against himself. Trust The Immortal Skull de Mort to be able to lift his spirit with just a grumble.
"You'll be fine in here?" cause that was a question that had to be asked. After all, since they were at Sea… they didn't need to stay on this specific ship. Not with Piece of Spadille still afloat or even with Oodako nearby. Even if he really tried to take the shitty old man's head. "Or do you want me to burn this thing down?"
The outraged expressions on the eavesdropping Whitebeards were beautiful.
She hummed something nonsensical, as she always did when seriously considering her limits, before coming to decision.
"You are awake. I can deal"
He really hoped that was the truth and not a sacrifice on her part. Otherwise… Well, they will quickly learn about it.
"Sorry…" He murmured to his Crew once more.
"Idiot Captain"
"How do you call those that follow the idiot captain then?"
"Spade Pirates"
"Oi!"
Their laughter was worth that small ribbing.
They were there.
They were safe.
They were as happy as they could be.
But still… There was something he had to say, wasn't there?
"I'm sorry for dragging you into it" If only he'd asked them before announcing his bid for Whitebeard's head…
There was a dull thump of Skull's head hitting against his collarbone.
"Stupid Captain… You dragged me into worse messes since fishing me out of the East Blue."
He remembered the heart attack he had after seeing her floating, near his boat. All pale and blue in the face… He has never before moved as fast as he did when getting her on board of his little dinghy. And even though he was expecting her to leave him on their very stop, that pretty girl in some seriously tight clothes stayed with him. Pretty girl who while able to tie all the ropes and to read both the map and the compass, simply couldn't keep the boat on the course. Later he learnt that was because of the different levels of technology between their worlds… And wasn't that a trip? But then? Then it was simply hilarious little problem the woman he shared a boat with had.
Then he learned that for all the problems Skull had with standard skills of seafarers, was a kickass fighter. Literally. She also didn't care about his devil blood! When Ace finally choked out The Question, Skull looked at him like he was an idiot and said something that will stay with him his entire life, no matter how short Whitebeard will make it… She said 'I don't care whose you were before. You're mine now' and that was it…
Ace was Skull's and Skull was Ace's.
Even if Skull came from crazy dimension where people could light themselves on fire by their will alone…
"We're on a ship of a Yonko, Skull. I don't think anything would beat it" Though he did remember having similar impression when at the start of their journey. They were able to deal with everything. Skull was able to keep him alive even when he got narcoleptic attack in that storm… Both of them dealt with slave traders he managed to piss off on that small East Blue island… Together they managed to survive even when they shipwrecked at Sixis. Maybe they'd be able to get out of those troubles as well?
"Meh… We're on a ship of a Yonko that for whatever reason is fixed up on getting you to join his little daycare." Her announcement caused amused snorts of Spades and silent growls of the listening in Whitebeards. Which were cut off immediately after she raised her head and looked at them.
Cowards.
"Not a child!" Ace protested to bring her attention back to the people she didn't want to harm. As careful as she was when near her squishy humans, being stepped on by her still hurt.
"Of course you're not." Amethyst eyes looked up with amused glint. Reminding him that she was much older than she looked like. (Was she older than that old fucker?) "Doesn't matter. They stalked us even after that little spar I had with their first mate." Little spar? That was a glorious victory over evil flaming bird and not a 'little spar'! "They made sure it would be their captain versus you." That's… right. Isn't it? Whitebeards waited till it was obvious that he is in proper form to fight, to announce their presence. They've seen Skull kick their Phoenix's ass and worked around that problem to still get them. Fuck! "And even with all of that," She waved her hand to show to the wreck of the Moby Dick's deck "not even one of them was stupid enough to try and do me in. Or even try to bring me to heel. All in all it's pretty safe"
Not like them trying to do her in would cause anything other than more damages. Maybe broken ship… Did they know it?
"Everywhere near you would be pretty safe, Skull." Deuce snorted and pulled playfully on a strand of her hair closest to him "But she's right captain. In fact I'd say that on Sirix the situation was a bit more dire." On deserted Sirix where he and Skull shipwrecked and where Deuce himself tried to kill them. For food. And where Ace managed to make someone who at the start reacted badly to The Question, to join him. Sirix, where they found Mera Mera no Mi. And where they both build and learned how to use Striker… Sirix wasn't so bad. "Or Serengeti for that matter"
Okay, Serengeti on the other hand was bad.
"Serengeti was fucked up." Saber cursed aloud. And yeah, those beasts living there liked his swords. They still had half of a sabre with marks of insistent gnawing on it's handle, back on the Piece of Spadille.
"Those puppies were cute!" Skull protested with a slight whine to her words. She was still sore that they didn't agree to taking few of those aboard.
Little monsters.
"Those puppies ate half of my saber!"
"Exactly!" She agreed brightly "Weren't they just the cutest?"
"They were not cute. Though I'd give you nightmarish." Mihar interrupted, before she could get a proper rise out of Saber. The berserker, for that was what Saber was, joined the Crew mostly by accident. Meaning they found him in a tavern of sorts and he was stupid enough to try and slap Skull's ass… Saber was so in awe of Ace's Skull-taming skills he asked to join. (After profusely apologising and swearing to never even think about doing that again.) Skull never passed the occasion to needle the guy.
"Wimp"
He could only laugh aloud at that. His Crew was still His.
√ -√v-√ -√v—
Of course Whitebeard would not be annoyingly stubborn ass of a Yonko if he'd simply let them go… Would he? Of fucking course not…
But…
Skull's rather active protests kept the bigger crew from messing with his Nakama.
So they still had their ship, even if it was attached to the Moby Dick and under constant guard with one of the Commanders constantly on the bigger ship's deck. Not on Piece of Spadille… Oh no… That was something Skull also protested.
They were also still together and relatively unheckled (again, mostly thanks to the amount of people being sent on involuntary swim… or with broken bone or two when trying to do anything his favourite Cloud decided was unwelcome).
So when the 'old rival' of That Man, fucking dared to offer them place as his children… Well Ace had no problem in expressing his opinion on fathers in general and the shitty old man specifically. After all Skull was still watching over their Crew.
Even if it ended with Oodako having to deliver him back on board from where said shitty old man threw him into the ocean. Whitebeard's faces, when Oodako's tentacle dropped him next to where Skull was standing and then encircled her in what in Oodako's smaller form would be hug, were excellent. Apparently they thought that Skull's familiar was an actual Kraken… And no one bothered to correct their notion.
Fuck…
He loved his Crew.
They were the best.
…
Life on board of Moby Dick fell into a steady rhythm for Spades after that first incident.
Whitebeard Pirates would try to convince them to join. Somehow never giving up or getting mad at them for the damages to their precious galeon. More often than not, one of them would utter something offensive enough for Skull to toss them aboard or through a wall or two… Or for Ace himself to get a bit fire-happy. But they would always come back. If not the same pirate then another…
All of them crowding around Piece of Spadille.
And the Cloud was effectively bound to the ship… She couldn't go for a swim with her octopus as she usually did when reaching her limits of being social…
It took some creativity to keep her temper from snapping, for real this time.
Sometimes Skull would go onto the additional platform on the back of their ship where she could spend some time with Oodako without giving up information about her swimming ability… or Oodako's absolutely adorable form when not enlarged by her Flames.
Sometimes the other Spades would be the ones coming down to spend some time with their, distinctly not-human, Nakama.
Ace himself would try to take off the Shitty Old Man's head and be either caught or brought back via the cuddly octopus… At the start of his crusade, some of the Whitebeards' would jump after him to bring him back but… Skull took to warning Oodako whenever she noticed that he was going to try and kill the fucker again. And besides Oodako has never swam far away from her.
He was Crew.
And all crewmembers had different duties… His just involved fishing Fruit users from water.
…
With time he noticed that the Crew was warming up towards the idea of joining the Whitebeards… Well, Skull still held the grudge for how they ended on Moby Dick. But others… Ace would find Saber talking with Thatch the Silversword, or Deuce near the more experienced navigators. Doc would spend time in their infirmary, sometimes even helping with patching up Whitebeard Pirates after a brawl or a fight with Marines or other Crews. The fights in which Spades did not take part…
Hell even Skull, regardless of her great grudge keeping skills would as the time flew allow, those few Whitebeard Pirates who didn't have healthy respect and wariness towards her temper, to talk with her… Even if any mention of them joining, becoming nakama or even being familiar with each other ended with spike of said temper and very active expression of her displeasure…
Not like that made a lot of those idiots back off.
Especially that stupid bird that took to trying to hang out with his Cloud, was persistent.
So not only did Ace need to deal with Whitebeard trying to call him a son, those bastards' looking down on him for losing to a fucker they were all hiding behind or Silversword trying to befriend him… He also had to watch that fucking Phoenix making eyes on his First Mate!
…
At least watching him step on a trigger after trigger and getting his ass repeatedly kicked by a woman half his weight was entertaining.
What was not entertaining was the fact that fucker was learning fast and rarely made the same mistake twice, though luckily he did not notice the rising frustration Skull displayed whenever idiot chicken failed to rise to occasion and just defended himself on those not-so-rare occasions when he managed to incite her to violence.
Ace did not enjoy the implications of that frustration…
He knew that Skull would follow him, should he decide that Spades were to get the fuck away from Whitebeards, but… She finally started to open towards those outside of the Crew… Could he really try to take it away from her?
To take it away from his Crew?
…
And… Maybe the Old Man started to grow on him… 100 assassination attempts and he still wanted them. Wanted him.
But… Would he still want him?
…
Well it has always been about The Question with his Nakama, wasn't it?
Ace took deep breath and knocked onto the big door.