Life's full of secrets.

Chapter 4 and stories

Nobody was sure of what to do after what they saw on TV. Ace held Luffy's hand tighter, thanking God that the old man had asked him to bring the kid. A lot of the others were wondering why that apartment complex had been chosen for the bombing. Others were saying how much of a pain in the ass it would be to get the bomber figured out.

Marco looked at Ace. He had heard what the little one had said and now he was wondering if those two had been the target. He walked over to them.

"That was your place wasn't it?" Marco asked pointing to the flaming building on the TV. Ace nodded and watched as Luffy stared at their once peaceful home. The kid put a hand on the straw hat that was attached to a string on the back of his head.

Luffy listened as people began grumbling about cleaning that mess up and Luffy began to wonder what his big brother's job was, again. He was about to ask when a man walked in. The man was old, but Luffy could tell that the man wasn't weak. Not even close.

The man was wearing a black bandanna and his white beard was thick and was shaped like the crescent moon. He sat down in a chair and stared at the men before him. Everyone became quiet and stared at the man who just walked in.

"Okay lets' get this crap over with." The man said with a sigh.

Marco gave a low chuckle at the fact that his boss wanted to be here least of all. Luffy looked at him and then at Ace who was smiling. Ace noticed Luffy's eyes on him and knelt down to whisper into the boy's ear.

"That's the boss." He told his curious brother, "Don't say anything unless I say it's okay." Luffy nodded and went back to watching certain people give reports.

Marco went up and said that everything in his division was fine except for the incident that had happened just now. The old man looked at the sand haired man and then looked at Ace.

"We had received information about a bombing in your area. We had no idea who was doing it and where they were. We did know who they were aiming for though." The old man's eyes went from Ace to Luffy. The boy looked at him curious.

"It looks like someone figured out about that brother of yours Ace. That was their objective. They wanted to either kill or kidnap the kid." The old man said. He watched the teen squeeze his little brother's hand. The kid didn't seem fazed by the pressure. The teen smiled.

"Even if Luffy had been in there, he wouldn't have been hurt." Ace said pointing at the kid. A lot of the men bug eyed at the teen's statement.

Ace grabbed Luffy's cheek and pulled causing it to stretch. Luffy didn't mind. He was used to Ace pulling at his cheeks. Marco looked pretty surprised at the stretching boy.

"Kinda hard to blow up a rubber brat." Ace said snapping the kid's cheek back into place. The old man smiled and looked at the two.

"Then that means he was a target for kidnapping." The old man said grabbing some papers and looking through them. The others looked at each other and then at the brothers.

"Why the brat?" a man asked looking Luffy over and over.

"Probably for ransom or as a hostage." The old man said already bored with the meeting again. Some people nodded and they looked at the brat again. The kid did look like he could be taken easily.

Luffy looked at his brother, wondering what ransom meant. Ace knew very well that the other men were thinking that his little brother could be easily taken. They were right if Luffy was asleep, but when the kid was awake you'd have to be pretty damn strong.

The meeting ended and Marco was showing Ace and Luffy a dorm that they would be staying in. The old man whose name was Edward Newgate or Pops had said that he wanted everyone to move into a room in the HQ.

Ace didn't mind. It meant that he didn't have to wake up two hours before each mission so he could make it to the HQ and get ready to go. It also meant that Luffy would be safe even if he wasn't there. The kid seemed to like the bedroom. He was running around and jumping up and down on the bed.

Marco couldn't help but laugh at the little boy's enthusiasm about the new house. The boarding was in a separate building behind the main building. They had enough room for everyone in the organization plus some. Each dorm had a bathroom and kitchen. Ace knew he would need to fill that out soon.

"The kitchen's already filled and Pops said that there would be no new missions for at least a weak. The kid still doesn't know anything, but Pops wants to see that kid's fighting skills." Marco said pointing to the boy who was still jumping on the bed. "He said to bring the Luffy to the training room at noon tomorrow."

With that Marco left and Ace went into the bedroom where Luffy had fallen asleep. Ace sighed and tucked the kid in. Luffy would wake up when he smelled the food. Ace went into the kitchen and began getting some spaghetti ready.

Thatch stood outside of Ace's dorm. He wanted to make sure Marco had told them about the plan for tomorrow. Thatch didn't doubt Marco; it was just that a lot of things were going on now. He knocked and heard a reply.

Ace looked as Thatch came in. He smiled and said hi. Thatch looked at Ace who was cooking and then looked for the kid. Ace knew who he was looking for.

"Luffy's sleeping in the bedroom." Ace said putting the sauce into the pasta. Thatch chuckled and sat at the table. "You want some?"

Thatch looked at Ace and then at the food. It was really appetizing. He nodded then turned to see a boy charging into the kitchen.

"FOOD!" Luffy yelled as he tried to ram into his brother's leg. Ace twirled just as Luffy was about to ram into him. The kid went flying into the wall. Thatch stared as the kid stood up and rubbed his head.

"Meany, Ace! I want some!" The kid said in a whining tone. Ace put the plate of spaghetti on the table and went back into the kitchen to get some plates. Luffy sat at the table. He still hadn't noticed Thatch sitting next to him. He was concentrating on the food.

"You sure do have a different personality than in the meeting." Thatch said to the kid. Luffy looked at the guest. He hadn't even noticed the man.

Ace set some plates down and sat in a chair himself. He filled Luffy's plate then Thatch's and finally his own. "Like I said, Luffy isn't too good with strangers and big crowds. He wants to make friends with them, but he just can't." Ace said eating his food fast. "I would hurry up if I were you. The kid's a thief when it comes to food." Ace pointed to his brother who was eyeing Thatch's plate.

The older man took that as a warning and quickly began to eat. Luffy pouted at the man's rush and looked at the pot. It was empty and Luffy was still hungry. Ace sighed at his brother's pout and promised dessert later. That cheered Luffy up and he accidentally spilled some sauce onto his shirt.

Ace sighed and helped Luffy take the shirt off. He had noticed where the washing machine had been and went to put it in with some other clothes he had found. That was when he realized that Thatch was still there and Luffy didn't have a shirt on.

Thatch stared at the boy. Five, six, no eight shot scars were on the boy's chest, stomach and shoulders. Ace had told them about an accident that had happened five years ago, but he never described it. He had said that the accident killed his parents and that he had the implant done by Vegapunk soon afterwards. But he never said what his brother had gotten when they found out he had one.

Luffy was looking at the older man in front of him. The man was staring at the scars that decorated his upper torso. Ace came in and looked at Thatch.

"Shit." He mumbled under his breath. The man had seen the one reason Ace was keeping Luffy a secret. The organization already knew about the burn mark on his back. They had seen it when he had been stabbed by someone on a group mission. The scars on Luffy showed more.

"Ace." Thatch began as Luffy ran into the bedroom to get another shirt. The closet had been filled. "That accident you and your brother were in, it was more than just an explosion, wasn't it?"

Ace looked down then at his brother who was now wearing a long sleeve shirt that matched him perfectly. Luffy picked up on the conversation by the way that Ace was looking. The black haired boy grabbed his older brother's shirt.

"You can't tell anyone." Ace said with a stone stare at Thatch. The older man wondered why, but then nodded. "Our father wasn't someone who could be killed easily. He was wanted dead for multiple reasons. By both the black market and the government for some reason.

"He was targeted and they finally found the house we were in. We didn't know that our father was a dangerous man to the world. He finally told us when he heard that they were coming. A bunch of them stormed into our small house and killed our mother and father. They tried to kill us too.

"They shot Luffy multiple times and were about to shoot me, but they ran out of time. I had grabbed him and we ran out of the house as it caught fire, but as you know, I couldn't get completely away. That's what those scars are and why Luffy has an implant. Remember, you can't tell anybody."

Thatch looked the children over. They were not lying, he could tell that much, but he wasn't sure if he could keep this a secret from the boss. If Pops did know, they would search for the people who had killed the kid's parents, but he didn't even know the parents.

"Who were your parents?" Thatch finally asked as the kids were becoming pretty quiet.

Ace was becoming a little nervous at the sudden question. He didn't want to say. The names were foggy in his mind, but he could still somewhat remember. He stayed silent and Luffy took heed. He wasn't going to say anything if Ace wasn't going to.

Thatch sighed. "Okay I won't probe." Thatch said with a smile. "That would explain why Luffy can't handle crowds though. Last time he was in one his parents were killed. That must be scary."

Ace sighed and Luffy gave a yawn, they had eaten pretty late and it was almost nine now. Thatch smiled and got up.

"I better get going. I only came to make sure Marco told you to come to the training area with the kid tomorrow." He said walking out the door. Ace thanked the man and noticed that Luffy had fallen asleep standing again.

Ace sighed and picked up the sleeping boy. He carried his little brother to the bed and put him down. Ace was going to leave to clean the dishes, but Luffy wouldn't let go of his shirt. Ace knew better than to leave his brother like this. Whenever the accident was brought up, Luffy would have nightmares.

The older boy lay down on the bed next to the now shivering boy. Luffy was a really heavy sleeper which meant that even nightmares couldn't wake him up. The kid would have to sleep through the terror of that day. Ace stroked his brother's hair as the boy twitched in his sleep. There was nothing the teen could do but watch as his brother suffered the flames and the pain again.

The next morning, Marco and Thatch were heading towards Ace's and Luffy's room. It was eleven in the morning and neither of them had shown signs of being awake. Marco was wondering if they were okay and Thatch was wondering if it was about what they had told him the night before.

They knocked on the door and when they got no answer, they walked in. The lights were off and the dishes from the dinner the night before were still on the table. Marco looked around as Thatch went into the bedroom.

"Hey Marco, get over here." Thatch whispered. The sandy haired man wondered into the bedroom to see Ace and Luffy snuggled together on the bed. Marco smiled at the two brothers then looked at Thatch.

"What do we do now?" he asked the blonde. Thatch whipped out a camera and gave a very evil smile.

"We take pictures and sell them to the girls." He said chuckling at his evil plan.

"Ace is going to murder you for that." Marco pointed out. Thatch chuckled and began taking pictures. Once he had a whole film, the two of them tried to wake up the brothers.

Ace woke up kinda tired and pretty pissed to be disturbed while the younger of the brothers wasn't budging at all. Ace sat up and looked at the two men. He rubbed his eyes and looked at his still sleeping brother.

"Want some breakfast Luffy?" the teen asked and the little boy shot instantly awake. The boy jumped up and down on the bed. Thatch started laughing and Marco smiled at the brothers. Ace and Luffy left the bedroom still tired and wanting to go back to bed.

Marco shook his head and they walked to the training area. The little kid was swaying and not fully awake and Marco wondered if the kid could even fight. Thatch was thinking the same thing but Ace seemed pretty confident about his little brother.

He knew that if he gave Luffy food after the training the kid would show them what he could do. Yes it was bribing, but hey, it worked.


These were longer on Word, but know that they are on here, my chapters are really short. I'm thinking about writing a fanfic based off of a couple of songs I have been listening to. There wont be any pairings but possible random dancing.