Chapter 7! This one is a doozy folks, coming in at just over 8,000 words. Warnings are at the end, enjoyyy
"Don't worry about getting wet Ace, this will keep you dry Ace, The rain won't affect you with this Ace"
"Oh shush you" Sabo sprayed Ace with the spray bottle, eliciting a strangled cry similar to that of an enraged cat, or perhaps a very young bear. Regardless of ridiculous animal noises it delighted and amused Luffy, who gave several pleased giggles.
Ace stood just outside the shelter, waiting for their bus to empty so they could board. Unfortunately for the cranky fire demon it was pouring rain, and while he got to stand under his wonderful yellow umbrella (with one broken peg that made it tilt in one direction and pour onto his shoulder) it was still just as important to keep his beautiful demonic essence under wraps lest they accidentally acquire worshippers or something, and so Ace was subject to the spray bottle every few minutes or so, or whenever Sabo felt like it which felt much more frequent.
Luffy yawned, each of his hands being held by one of his guardians as they waited with a few other yawning early risers in the parking lot. Luffy wasn't complaining about the rain, Luffy had rain boots and an (adorable) raincoat.
"I'm tired" Luffy yawned again.
"Well if somebody" Sabo gave a pointed look at Ace, who stuck out his tongue in retaliation "wasn't so busy discovering stars for the first time we might have gotten more sleep"
"Your fault" Ace retaliated "You're the one who showed me stars in the first place"
"Let's go on the bus" Luffy cut in. They both looked up, Luffy was right, the bus had begun boarding.
Ace growled as he was rained on while putting away the umbrella. The three of them joined the queue of people boarding the bus, all bearing coffee or very large bags under their eyes. Sabo teasingly raised the spray bottle, which Ace threatened with a menacing growl. He was wet enough as it was, he didn't need the damn thing again.
Once they reached the bus driver, a grumpy overweight man with too much stubble to be considered fashionable, they handed over their tickets and boarded the bus. With the only audible reply being a grunt, they decided it was probably okay to choose their own seats.
"Ha. Ha. Ha." Ace points each laugh with a jab into Sabo's (uninjured) shoulder at the seating selection. They were only 2 by 2, which meant someone was going to have to sit on their own and Ace had already decided who. Luffy excitedly ran to the seats at the very back of the bus "comfy seats comfy seats comfy seats"
Luffy carefully took his time picking between left and right, ultimately deciding on the right side and taking the aisle seat. Ace laughed "Don't you want the window seat?"
Luffy shook his head "Nope, I'm gonna fall asleep" and then he gave Ace that grin, that same one from when he told Ace he and Sabo would like each other and was vividly reminded of stargazing with him nearly the entire night holding hands. He ducked into the window seat to hide his growing blush, much to Luffy's amusement. He picked up the boy by his armpits to hide his flaming cheeks "Cool boys only allowed back here, Loser boy"
Sabo only rolled his eye before getting into his own window seat in front of them "Yeah well at least I'm not spreading my filth onto our charge"
"I'm not-! Hey!" Ace protested before looking at Luffy's shirt which he'd been holding him by, jacket discarded. Sure enough Luffy was covered in dirty finger marks from Ace's soaked ashes rubbing onto him. With a humph he let Luffy go, leaning his head onto the window to watch the rain fall.
His peace was very quickly disturbed by a squirt of water into his face.
"H-Hey! he sputtered, glaring at the small child next to him cheekily holding the bottle in both hands. Sabo only shrugged when Ace moved his glare to him "What? He said you were being moody"
"Moody Ace needs to cheer up" Luffy accentuated his point with another squirt to the face, leaving Ace dripping and sputtering once more. He lunged for the bottle, causing Luffy to squeal and hold it just out of his reach "Sabo! Sabo! Help!" Luffy laughed.
"Pass it here!" the traitor laughed, and despite Luffy's horrendous throw and Ace's best efforts to intercept, Sabo managed to catch the bottle and squirt Ace right in the eye "Ha! Eye for eye, asshole"
Ace yelped at the feeling of water hitting his eye but thankfully no lasting damage was done, not that Sabo had considered that. What if he'd been blinded? Then it wouldn't have been nearly as funny. He lunged over the seats making a grab for the bottle but with a surprised yelp Sabo managed to dodge away, throwing the bottle back to Luffy who missed the catch but managed to retrieve it before Ace could recover from throwing himself half over the seats in front of him.
"Guuuuys come on" he whined, wiggling himself back into his own seat at the insistent stink eye from the bus driver. Sabo and Luffy only chuckled to themselves, pleased at winning their terrible game of keep away.
Suddenly Sabo stopped, sniffing the air "Do you smell that?" Luffy sniffed too, before giving a panicked look to where Ace gripping the chair to get back to his seat "Ace!"
Where Ace's fingers dug into the blue and green upholstery it was rapidly becoming a burnt crispy brown and black. With a startled yelp he threw himself back into his seat, groaning at the impact. Luffy immediately squirted him several times to douse the embers now dotting his skin.
"Hmmmm, interesting" Sabo studied the burn marks left behind by Ace's fingers, ignoring the glare his behind was receiving by the bus driver. It wasn't like they'd even started driving yet.
"Not interesting!" Ace whispered, terrified. He warily watched the other passengers to see if they'd noticed "I thought the whole point of the stupid gun bottle was to prevent this kind of thing from happening!"
"Well it seems that, theoretically, if there's little water and enough of a need for your fire you can overcome it and still attack. Mighty useful, I must say, if we're in a pinch. And oh that's probably what happened in the alleyw-" he stopped with a lurch as the bus driver finally pulled forward, throwing Sabo into the very seat he'd been studying. Ace and Luffy did very little stifle their giggles, to which Sabo rolled his eyes and properly sat down.
For the first hour or so, Luffy was an unstoppable force of mayhem which Ace and Sabo were very reluctant to stop. He ran up and down the aisles, conversed with random strangers about anything that took his fancy, and sometimes even jumped into people's laps to look out their windows. Someone had given him a granola bar after he complained about how hungry he was, and even total strangers could tell Luffy was in a rough situation. Ace's dirty hands had done wonders in making him look like a beggar boy (and really it wasn't that far from the truth)
However even the greatest storms must eventually come to an end, and after an hour and half Luffy's little sleep from the night before (and little food) finally caught up to him and he fell asleep cradled in Ace's lap.
Ace was determined to stare out the window and ignore the hunter in front of him, and for about half an hour he was successful. But after two hours of watching the same trees go by in a blur even Ace found himself bored of his surroundings. Reluctantly cursing himself, he called out to Sabo in front of him "Hey"
For a second Sabo didn't respond, before turning and pointing to himself.
Ace scoffed "No, the other asshole I actually know on this bus. Get back here, I'm bored as shit"
Now Sabo only raised his eyebrows, seemingly shocked into silence "Uh..."
He rolled his eyes "Don't Uh me, it's a very long bus ride and Luffy's asleep. No point in sitting in front of us if the seat's free"
Sabo still stared at him like he'd grown a third head (or had spontaneously combusted, again) but when Ace kept staring at him he reluctantly abandoned his window seat in favour of sitting with his group. For a few minutes neither said anything, Ace regretting every decision he'd ever made to lead to this situation, before the boredom from earlier finally won over "So"
"So" Sabo replied curtly.
"The government dogs huh?"
"H-Hey!" Sabo sputtered "We are not the government's dogs. We work completely independently from them"
"So you're terrorists?" Ace jabbed.
"Treason is the highest crime you could actually charge us with, probably" Sabo rubbed his chin "I'm not actually entirely sure what they could charge us with. It's not like we're actively hindering them in any way"
"Kidnapping?" Ace carded his fingers through Luffy's hair "You could probably get charged with kidnapping"
"Okay well I could" Sabo gestured to himself "Probably. But not the revolutionaries as a whole, and is it even kidnapping if he came willingly?"
"They could probably argue we coerced or manipulated him into it?" he suggested for the sake of conversation.
Sabo rolled his eyes "Yea, probably. Whatever, great, There's probably worse things I could charged for anyway"
"Sabo the criminal" Ace marveled "Protecting the world from evils like me for the sake of justice"
Sabo punched Ace's shoulder "You know you're not greatest evil out there, not by a long shot"
"That hurt" Ace whined, rubbing the spot Sabo had hit him "You've got all those tattoos and beads and shit, I can't roughhouse with you when you're like that"
"They're my pride and joy" Sabo beamed "I got all of these from our Master Cultist, Ivankov. They're the one who discovered the protective and enhancing properties of different kinds of wood."
Luffy stirred for a moment and they both froze, keeping their mouths shut to avoid waking the boy. When he remained asleep they both released a sigh of relief, and Sabo resumed his explanations.
"See these ones" He pulled out some pure white ones wound around his wrist "are really rare, and protect against blunt attacks. They have the added advantage" He waved them in Ace's face, giving him a slight headache "Of warding off demons. A punch from these would hurt a lot"
"Yeah, I know" Ace rubbed his cheek from where he'd been hit, several times, in their fight from the day before. The blossoming bruise there was very impressive, and sore.
"Ooooh these ones are great" He put away the white ones and tugged on the bright red ones around his neck "They're ingrained with Magik, which I haven't used yet. I'm still waiting for the right spell, the right moment you know?" He flashed Ace a grin "These are pretty rare"
"Hmmm" Ace poked one of the beads. Some of the red came off onto his finger without removing any of the red from the wood itself, which he observed carefully "and how, do tell, have these beads gotten such a vibrant red?"
"Well they're soaked in Fae blood, of course" He smugly confirmed Ace's suspicions "It's where the Magik comes from, and the Balsa wood absorbed it plenty"
"Right, and where, do tell, did the Fae blood come from?" Ace inquired, with only a hint of suspicion in his voice despite being very wary of Sabo's answer.
"Uh, where? I mean" Sabo sheepishly looked away "I didn't really think to ask"
"Yeah that's what I thought" Ace broke eye contact with the beads "Those are probably useless"
"What?!" Sabo gaped at him "They're Balsa wood beads soaked in Fae blood, they're practically brimming with Magik"
"No" Ace shook his finger at him disappointedly "If the blood was willingly given, sure, but I'm guessing one of your cultists dead ass murdered a Fae for their blood so you jokers could get off on doing some cheap spell because you don't have magik of your own, but listen up bud" He grabbed Sabo's chin, forcing eye contact between them "Since the blood was unwillingly given, then the magik is unwilling as well. It will never co-operate with you, or any spell you attempt" Ace released his grip on Sabo, who looked bewildered rubbing the ash off his face from Ace's hands.
"Well, Uh, my favourites" he moved on, thankfully tucking his blood soaked beads under his shirt in favour of some orangish ones he pulled from his belt "Are these arbutus beads, very endangered. Like, only found within 8 kilometers of the ocean on the west coast of North America endangered. They give luck" Sabo smiled fondly "Ivankov gave me these as a gift when I first joined when I was 10" He sucked in a sharp breath, to Ace's interest "I was, yeah, I was in a bad place"
"You were 10 years old when you decided you wanted to dedicate your life to eradicating evil from the world?" Ace raised an eyebrow "Honourable but I mean-"
"My parents" Sabo cut in, looking forlorn "Thought demons were a key to riches and success. I watched it eat their souls"
"Oh" Ace didn't know what else to say as Sabo clenched his eyes shut "Humans aren't really mean to see souls-"
"Yeah, Yep, You are absolutely correct in that statement" Sabo nodded jerkily "The police found me five kilometers away, still running. My feet were nearly destroyed. No shoes" He explained.
"So" Ace started awkwardly "Demon hunting"
"Yeah" Sabo finally opened his eyes "I didn't want that happening to anyone else, So I joined up. One of their youngest recruits, but it's gotten me to where I am now"
"Fleeing all your responsibilities with a couple of hooligans on a bus to the beach for a much needed several yearlong Vacay" Ace nudged him, eliciting a tired grin to his satisfaction "You're allowed to be happy you know"
"Yeah" Sabo looked down at Luffy who still rested peacefully "I guess"
Sabo leaned his head on Ace's shoulder, lightly dozing off but not entirely comfortable enough to actually fall asleep. Luffy, by some miracle or act of god, was still soundly asleep in Ace's lap who had been on and off complaining of his legs being asleep so much that Sabo was ignoring him at this point. He was probably only doing it to prove a point, or annoy him, by now.
They'd kept up an amiable conversation for the better part of the ride, but three hours in and their restless night was catching up to them. Sabo suspected Ace hadn't fallen asleep either, if only because he didn't need to. However he wasn't entirely sure Ace couldn't if he wanted to.
The view hadn't improved much on either side of him. Out the window on the other side of Ace there were still hundreds of the same damn tree going by in a green and grey blur, and on Sabo's other side many grumpy passengers had finally fallen asleep, snoring loudly with jaws open wide enough for a dentist to operate.
Sabo wanted to sleep, but by God he just couldn't. He'd trained his entire life to battle demons and protect the innocent, and his damned mind refused to rest with Luffy in Ace's lap. He pointedly ignored the little voice in his head pointing out he still hadn't moved his head from Ace's shoulder.
"Why don't they serve complimentary meals on bus rides?" Sabo piped up, resigning himself to more polite small talk now that sleep eluded him "I mean they do it on Airplanes, so why not buses?"
Ace shrugged, bobbing Sabo's head up and down "You pay more for airplanes? And I mean it's not like every flight serves meals"
Sabo squinted "How is it that you know some human things but not others? Like You obviously didn't recognize the squirt bottle, or the umbrella, but you know about the price differences between airplane and bus rides?"
"The whitebeards summoned me a lot" Ace explained "Sometimes just for random conversations or to bitch about" he poked Sabo "expensive plane rides. And then it's a fun 20 minute explanation on what airplanes are, and other modes of transportation, and maps, and etc" he waved his hand dismissively "Fun, but my knowledge is patchy at best"
Ace and Sabo chatted aimlessly about everything and nothing for awhile, and to Sabo's surprise it wasn't entirely unpleasant. Ace was surprisingly charming when he wasn't being snarky and insulting. After their initial more personal conversation they silently agreed to stay clear of anything personal, and Sabo actually enjoyed trying to guess where the extent of Ace's knowledge. The demon was right, his knowledge was spotty and in some areas vast and more expansive than even Sabo's, but in others he lacked even basic comprehension of widely known subjects.
"So you're telling me" Ace began, Sabo shaking his head doing his best not to laugh "That there are large vast areas of the world with absolutely no life whatsoever"
"No, no, no" Sabo couldn't help it, he was chuckling "There's no water, plenty of species still manage to survive despite that"
"Huh" Ace stared out the window, at the forest that hadn't changed in their hours of driving, and the fog and rain that hadn't let up the entire time either "Sounds like my kind of place"
"Ugh, please no" Sabo shivered "Sand demons, gets everywhere, you need a full body scrub down afterwards and sometimes you just can't help but want to welcome the sweet embrace of death"
"So, would you say" The bus was slowing down but Ace's shit eating grin was not "That you hate sand because it's coarse, rough, irritating, and gets everywhere?"
The bus was coming to a stop but Sabo was distracted by Ace, his jaw dropping in shock and awe "Was that a Star Wars reference? Oh my god that was a Star Wars reference I can't believe it"
Ace guffawed "Haruta's a huge Star Wars fan, they used to summon me all the time just to talk about it. I promise I know more than you ever will"
"Yeah" Sabo eyed out the window near Ace, finally noticing their surroundings coming to a stop "Probably, why'd we stop"
Ace perked up, looking out the window himself "Are we there?"
Sabo looked around, the other passengers looked just as confused as he felt, some had stood up to complain. Up near the front of the bus the bus driver dug through his glove compartment.
Sabo turned to the middle eastern woman with the bright blue hijab sitting directly across the aisle from them. He remembered she'd given Luffy the granola bar earlier "Excuse me, do you know if we've reached our destination?"
She shook her head "No, no" her words held the slight accent of one who'd been speaking English a long time, but not as a first language "We still have 2 more hours, and the trees get bigger closer to the water. We're nowhere near" She looked forward fearfully "What's going on?"
"I'm sure it's fine" Sabo wanted to know what was happening as well, but there was no point in inciting a riot. Not yet at least, it was a strategy he'd used to escape before but now he was Ace and Luffy to consider as well.
Several police officers approached bus door, the driver immediately letting them in. Outside several other uniformed figures stood, hands on concealed weapons. Next to him, Ace tensed and although Luffy still slept, he stirred unhappily.
"Morning" The young woman boarded first, her cigar chewing superior boarding behind her "We need to search this bus for a missing boy, eleven years old, short black straight hair, 4 foot 1, 70 pounds. He was kidnapped over 24 hours ago and his family is very worried"
Even if Sabo had had hours to prepare and hide Luffy it wouldn't have helped, as every head swiveled immediately in their direction. Internally Sabo cursed all of them, there was another boy fitting the description (almost, the other boy's hair was more of a light brown and curly) but he was travelling with a grandmother like figure while Luffy was travelling with the two suspicious young men. Not to mention Luffy had been the one running around asking for food.
The two police officers followed the gazes to where Ace and Sabo sat. Luffy was out of sight, curled up on Ace's lap, but it was impossible to miss the way Ace tensed as everyone turned to stare at them. On his lap Luffy whined and rubbed his eyes
The female officer looked ready to approach them when the other uniforms boarded the bus, eyes locked onto Ace. They dismissed her immediately and began approaching them.
"Shit" Ace cursed under his breath "They're from the lab"
Sabo cursed as well, giving up all pretense of pretending to be a normal passenger, and springing up with his staff in hand. The other passengers shouted in alarm, some near the front scrambled off the bus. The kind woman in the hijab across from him cowered under her seat, eyeing him frightfully.
"This is bad, This is very, very bad" Ace carefully moved Luffy to the seat while Sabo stood firmly between them and the suited men watching them warily. He cursed as Ace came up beside him and the agents pulled out guns.
"Don't worry" Ace shoved Sabo behind him, much to his chagrin, with a cocky grin "I got this, burnt-marshmallow"
Sabo didn't know whether to be offended at being called burnt, being called a marshmallow of all things, or the implication that simply because he lost to Ace he couldn't handle a few no name agents from the government. Seriously, the tools didn't even have nametags. Such cannon fodder.
"Sun glasses don't make you cool, they just make you look stupid and pretentious" Sabo shouted from behind Ace. Luffy stirred, blinking blearily at Sabo who remained tense.
The suits began warily moving forward again, but unfortunately for them it became quickly obvious they had not been properly prepared on how to deal with a fucking demon. Cannon fodder indeed. Ace stripped off his shirt (far more dramatically than was necessary) and turned to Sabo "I'm gonna keep my pants on, if that's alright, because apparently its 'inappropriate'" he air quoted "to let my wee wee hang out, is that alright? They'll be a little torched" He grinned mischievously.
Sabo's mind was still stuck somewhere on Shirtless Ace and That Grin but some part of his brain began pulling its weight and managed a nod in response. Ace nodded back in response and finally the rest of his mind caught up with Oh Right, Fire.
If the situation had been a little less serious, Sabo would have been on the ground laughing at the fucking expressions of the poor bastards about to fight Ace as he suddenly lit up with flames climbing his chest and shoulder, onto his face and into his hair. Much to Sabo's disappointment Ace did torch his pants, which would need to be replaced. Still, it made for a very intimidating image.
Ace roared in laughter as more passengers scrambled past the stunned agents off the bus. At least the police officers had had the foresight to grab their radios and call for backup, But Sabo remembered the kind middle eastern woman (still cowering under her seat) telling him they were in the middle of nowhere. Back up was a long ways a away.
"Oh? So now you're too scared to fight? Come on" Ace took a step forward, shooting several flames forward and catching a few of the agents, causing the others to jump back several feet. Some dared to dodge forward and pull their comrades to safety, but most followed the passengers off the bus to even safer grounds "Didn't they tell you what happened? Not even a mention of the most powerful fire demon in existence being involved?" Sabo was grinning behind Ace at this point, looking for a way off the bus that didn't involve fighting their way through the group of agents gathered outside. Ace was still bragging and occasionally spitting fire, despite the lack of audience "Wow you really aren't important at all are you, come on and fight-" and everything went shit to the wall sideways.
There were several alarmed shouts from the remaining passengers, though none as loud as Ace's, as the fire alarm system finally came to life in response to the heat emanating from his fire, dousing them in water. Ace sputtered and sizzled as his flames were doused and replaced with his normal dirty self.
"You're the only fire demon in existence you dumb shit!" Sabo pushed past Ace, shoving him towards Luffy "And you're more useless than Roy Mustang in a storm so get behind me!"
Renewed in strength knowing they wouldn't have to fight the fire demon, the suits charged back on to the bus and towards Sabo who suddenly found himself caught in a 3 on 1 fight with an enchanted staff and runes which were great against demons, not so much against guns. His martial arts weren't enough to compensate and he found himself getting knocked around "Alright time for plan B!"
"Plan B?" Ace shouted in bewildered "What the hell is Plan B?"
"I don't know!" He managed to block a swing going for his face but in return took a kick to his burnt chest that knocked the air out of him "You're the one sitting back there being useless, Think of something!"
Realizing he was injured, the agents began centering their attacks on Sabo's chest which were easier to block, but much more deadly when they made contact. He managed to knock an agent out by getting their feet from under them but the others weren't letting up.
One of the agents unclicked the safety on their pistol, and Sabo barely caught the arm in time to get the shot just to the left of his head instead of between his eyes. Behind him he heard a body thump to the ground.
"Oooh" Ace grimaced "There goes Mister Bus Driver"
"Focus!" Sabo used his grip on the pistol wielder's hand to break their wrist, causing them to go down screaming "Plan B! Plan B!"
"We don't have a Plan B, we never discussed a Plan B!" Ace argued. Meanwhile Sabo gave the downed agent a solid kick to the head, keeping them down while engaging the last one "Well think of one!"
"Here!" Luffy suddenly piped up, prying open the emergency hatch in the back which had automatically unlocked at the fire alarm's activation. The eleven year old immediately jumped out. Sabo didn't need to be told twice.
"Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go!" Sabo urged as Ace stood there stunned. He finally grabbed Sabo's bag off the rack and jumped out the back after Luffy, both boys taking off into the surrounding forest.
Unfortunately Sabo's fight was at stalemate, both blocking the other's attacks while still desperately trying to get through their opponent's guard. Sabo was at a distinct disadvantage at being injured, and having a time limit, pushing him into making bolder and riskier attacks with very little pay off. The longer the fight dragged on the more his burns weighed him down, and the further Ace and Luffy got.
It him with a jolt that he may not reunite with them. If they got far enough before he finished his battle, if his injuries dulled him to the point of losing, or even if the fight dragged on long enough for reinforcements to arrive he may be stuck.
He didn't want to die, he didn't want to go to jail, and he certainly didn't want to lose Ace and Luffy so quickly after gaining them. Just like before in the alley, loss here was not an option.
However, not like the alley before, Sabo wasn't facing a near extinct all powerful demon, he was facing one man and he had been facing three. He wasn't about to let this final test stop him from accomplishing his goals, He still had Koala and Ivankov to get back to. He still had Luffy and Ace to protect.
With a quick thrust Sabo lunged for the agent's head with his staff, which was easily grabbed. With the perfect mix of surprise and horror on his face, Sabo let himself get thrown to the ground next the agent with the broken wrist. The still standing agent wrenched the staff from his hands, throwing it across the bus and under a seat.
But Sabo didn't hesitate a moment, and while the Agent was distracted with throwing his staff Sabo lunged for the gun in the hand of the broken wrist agent. As soon as his opponent realized his mistake it was too late, and Sabo managed to get a bullet through his knee.
Unfortunately for Sabo he had no experience with guns, and of his six shots only one hit the agent but the kickback knocked the gun into his still burnt face, leaving him rolling on the ground gasping. He desperately pulled himself to his hands and knees, the pulsing in his face dulling with adrenaline, eyes desperately searching for the other agent who remained down. He clutched his leg sobbing for help, a small pool of red collecting beneath him.
Slowly Sabo pulled himself up to one knee, then up to one foot one knee, and finally back on two feet. Just as he began searching for his staff he found a shaking hand offering it to him in front of his face.
Trailing his eyes up found the bright blue hijab wearing woman offering it to him.
"Vivi" The girl managed to get out "My name's Vivi and you should go"
"Sabo" he offered, taking the staff. Just before jumping out the back window he turned to the two actual police officers standing at the front of the bus. The black haired who'd initially made the inquiry about them was still radioing for backup, and an ambulance for the injured, maybe dead, agents. The bus driver was very much dead, as the cigar smoking officer had clearly discovered. The two made eye contact, not breaking for several painstaking moments before he shook his head and returned to his partner's side.
Sabo breathed a sigh of relief before hopping out the back of the bus. Thankfully there weren't any more officers waiting outside, just a handful of terrified bus passengers who eyed him warily as he made his way across the empty highway into the woods.
Unfortunately the fight had clearly tired him out more than he'd expected because he failed to see the blur shooting for his midsection until moments before it made contact, knocking him to the ground with a pained groan.
"Sabo!" The blur shouted "We were so worried about you, and Ace was too even though he's gonna try and lie about it, and don't worry cuz we could NEVER EVER leave you behind"
Sabo gently hugged Luffy back, raising an amused eyebrow at Ace, who still held his bag "Worried?"
"Psh" Ace tried to dismiss despite Luffy's claims "Was not. And besides, I'm not the one who was apparently convinced would get left behind"
Sabo smiled gently at the light blushing on Ace's cheeks, still holding Luffy "I had three agents to deal with, and I'm injured. I told you guys to run so really it was a fair of me to worry"
For a moment none of them moved or said anything, until Ace moved to give Sabo a hand up "We'll never leave you behind, okay? You're with us now, and we're gonna stick together till the end"
Sabo gratefully took the hand, standing up as Luffy crawled off his lap "Thanks" he smiled at Ace, and to his surprise Ace even smiled back.
They huddled under an alcove of roots and moss together, shivering in the rain that resumed about an hour after their departure from the bus. What had begun as a fog rapidly became mist, which became drizzle, which soon accomplished it's hopes and dreams of becoming a true west coast downpour.
Unfortunately for the trio under the roots and moss, this meant they couldn't move as their resident fire demon couldn't handle the deluge and needed to rest and recover from the energy he was still losing. It was obvious to Sabo he was upset about something, but for the life of him Ace wouldn't say what.
Those reinforcements the female police officer had been calling had clearly arrived, and by reinforcements apparently she meant half the goddamn U.S. military. They'd already run from sniffer dogs, S.W.A.T. teams, and helicopters with mounted semi-automatics. Nothing was near them, and they could rest. For now.
Luffy coughed into his elbow, causing them both to jump. They couldn't risk a fire, hell they probably couldn't even make one in this weather, but it made the cold and the wet downright unbearable. Luffy especially seemed to be coming down with something.
Luffy rubbed at his cheek absently, which only made Ace scowl more. Ever since Sabo had handed Luffy to Ace to hold so he could keep watch and Ace could do his best to keep dry under the tree Ace had been scowling more and more. Sabo wanted to confront him about it, ask him what was wrong, maybe even comfort him, but his burns still throbbed in reminder of their near fatal fight not too long ago, and he wasn't eager to draw the demon's wrath should he care not to share.
Ace, as Sabo was discovering, was not entirely unreasonable but very emotional. His mood didn't stay in one place for long, or he'd hit an extreme and be the same for hours. This meant that while he could go from agreeable to annoying and back again in the span of a few minutes, it also meant he could get stuck in a funk for hours. Like right now.
Luffy shivered, huddling closer to Ace who seemed reluctant to comfort the boy, much to Sabo's surprise. The two had been inseparable the entire trip, and more often than not Sabo felt like an outsider on their adventure.
"You can hug him, you know" Sabo remarked, boredom winning out over survival instincts "He actually likes you, and is very cold. Not gonna kill him to get some comfort"
Ace didn't verbally respond beyond an annoyed grunt, shifting to hold Luffy a bit closer but his rising discomfort was obvious. Luffy paid him no mind, clutching Ace soaked sweater in his hands and shivering uncontrollably.
"You could take it off" Sabo inputted, pushing further when his death didn't immediately spring at him "The sweater. It'd keep him warmer to have direct contact with you, if that's what's bothering you."
But, to Sabo's shock, Ace only shifted again and avoided verbally answering him. Instead of following Sabo's advice he only moved Luffy more onto the soaked sweater, and away from skin contact that would keep him warm.
"Hello?" Sabo waved a hand in Ace's direction, who glared at him "Earth to Ace? Are you home? Can you speak or hear me? Blink once for yes, twice for no"
"I can speak, and unfortunately hear you just fine" Ace finally replied.
"Damn, and here I thought the water finally sent you into a vegetable state. Oh well, there's still time"
"What do you want." Ace snapped, clearly growing agitated at Sabo's teasing.
"What's up with you?" He asked seriously, staring Ace down "You've been acting like a grump all afternoon. Evening" He listened closely, then poked his head out to stare at the sky when he heard nothing moving nearby "Maybe evening" he corrected "It's hard to tell with the cloud cover"
"Well sorry if I don't enjoy getting soaked, again, and being rendered useless in a fight, again, or being trapped in the rain, again" Ace listed off. He had a point, Sabo conceded, these were probably some of the worst conditions for a demon to try and get through. Probably why the government was trying so hard to catch them, before the rain left and Ace could destroy anyone in a fight.
"Yeah but" Sabo paused, gathering his words "That's never stopped you from helping Luffy before, and you're practically holding him at arm's length right now"
Ace didn't answer, looking sullenly at Luffy for several long moments. The silence stretched between them, Sabo awaiting an answer Ace seemed reluctant to give. His face scrunched up in irritation, contemplating something Sabo wasn't privy to. He waited patiently for Ace to sort his thoughts.
"I keep" Ace paused, shaking his head "I'm just getting him dirty"
That threw Sabo off completely "What?" he asked, dumbfounded.
Ace groaned, burying his face in Luffy's jacket "I'm getting him dirty. You know me, dirty ash demon, dirty dirty dirt. Everyone on the bus knew he was the missing kid cuz I'd gotten him so dirty"
"That's not-" Sabo started.
"YES IT IS" Ace interrupted with a shout "Everyone knew it because of me, you know I'm just a dirty demon. You've said so yourself"
Sabo's heart sunk because he knew he had said it before. He'd been joking, mostly in the more recent times, but he'd still played on one of Ace's insecurities for his own amusement. Enough that apparently Ace felt too self conscious to properly comfort Luffy, who Sabo knew Ace loved more than anything in this world.
He groaned at his own stupidity, both for what he'd done and what he was about to do. Ace raised an eyebrow at him as he took off his jacket first, fuck was it cold, then his miscellaneous beads. They were everywhere, tucked into sleeves and pockets and wrapped around his neck. He had a few hanging from his ears that he only just remembered to take out before leaving his perch at the entrance and approaching Ace and Luffy.
"What are you-? Hey! Hey! Hey!" Ace objected as Sabo crawled up next to him on the other side of Luffy, wrapping his arms around both of them.
"Shut up" Sabo added helpfully to Ace's confused expression "There hasn't been anyone around for hours, we're fine, so we're cuddling for warmth.
Ace stared at him for a few more moments "... you took off your beads"
"Yeah" Sabo snorted "If we're going to cuddle then I have to take them off, it's not exactly enjoyable if I'm giving you headaches and warding you off. I mean my tattoos probably do that enough without the help so."
After a few minutes with no response, Sabo looked up expecting maybe a confused gaze, or worst case scenario: an enraged one. Sabo wasn't sure what he'd do if Ace was angry at him for his attempts at comfort, in such a confined space with no room to run or beads to protect him he could easily perish. Hopefully Luffy wouldn't be caught in the crossfire, although resting in between them made it very unlikely he'd make it out unharmed.
"..." What he didn't expect to see was the fire demon actually smiling at him. He blinked owlishly at the comforted smile, before squinting "... did I break you"
"Fuck off" he shoved Sabo without any real force or malice "We need to rest while the rain's still heavy so we can move once it lightens up"
Sabo smiled back "Yeah there's a city nearby, and I probably have enough funds left to get us an actual room at a motel"
"I thought you couldn't afford a motel! When the hell did you have time to find us a city?"
"Before I came over here, and I couldn't afford a motel in that city"
"You were on watch!"
"Yeah well..."
True to Sabo's word, he had found them a nearby city, and so when the rain stopped earl the next morning the weary group picked themselves out of the hole they'd hidden in, stretching cramped limbs and aching joints from the awkward positions they'd held inside the small space. The sun hadn't even risen yet, but the sky was streaked with blue and the horizon was vaguely orange. After a few minutes of walking Luffy no longer complained being sore, instead loudly whining about how hungry he was.
"It's a completely fair complaint" Ace responded to Sabo rolling his eyes "He hasn't eaten since that granola bar he had on the bus yesterday"
"I know, I know" groaned, rubbing his face. He'd had a hard time sleeping in the cramped space, not only jumping at every noise thinking it was the agents catching up to them, but also at every little insect that crawled on them, and every curious animal that poked it's head into their burrow "He probably hadn't eaten much before that, had he?"
Ace looked ready to respond, before shutting his mouth with a thoughtful look "Luffy when'd you last eat? Before the granola bar"
"I dunno!" He skipped, moving a pebble onto the other side of a twig, running and pressing his ear against trees, and generally being a psychic child in a forest.
Ace dropped his head onto his chest "Fuck, first thing when we get to the city is getting Luffy some food. First thing!" He declared with a pointed finger to the sky.
Sabo wanted to argue his point, they needed a motel room before they all sold out, they needed to shower so they looked presentable, they needed to change clothes and perhaps dye their hair to avoid being detected. There were many things that needed to be done before they stopped for a bite to eat.
But Sabo's own stomach growled in protest, and it'd been even longer for Luffy. Not to mention Ace's own energy and power depended on Luffy, which drained Luffy even more. It didn't matter if even the newest greenest cop found them right now, they'd be no fight at all.
If light bulbs existed in real life, they came in the form of shit eating grins like the one Sabo wore at that exact moment.
"What." Ace demanded "What are you thinking. Explain that smile. That's not a good smile."
"Denny's" Sabo replied like it answered every question in the world. For a brief moment he wondered if Ace knew what Denny's was. If his answering shit eating grin was any indication, he did.
"They see weirder every day. It's so early they won't even question it." Ace supplied in favor of the argument.
"Minimum wage night shift have hardened souls, they won't give a fuck. I'll leave a 20 for a tip and a note we were never there and I bet the employee would even delete any... footage..." Sabo trailed off, realizing something.
"What?" Ace asked "You lost me"
"The bus station, it had cameras. It's how they knew where to find us" Sabo replied, still bewildered at his revelation "They must've posted highway patrols and checks on every bus route out of the city"
"Yep!" Luffy piped up from in front of them "It's why I picked the back!"
For a moment they contemplated that information "... because it was closest to the emergency exit?" Sabo asked tentatively.
"Mhm" Luffy confirmed.
Sabo stared in shock at Ace, who shrugged "Powers in perception"
They walked through the woods until they managed to reach the city Sabo had found on the map, and from there it was a matter of wandering until they found the one open and lit up building, Denny's.
You'd have thought they found they gates of heaven from their expressions. Sabo prayed he had enough to feed them all enough not only to make up for the lost meals, but to last them to the next city. After some time at Denny's they'd get a motel room, get some real rest, a shower for those of them that needed it. But for now, breakfast.
The exhausted hostess had taken one look at them and grabbed three adult menus, not questioning their mud soaked boots, soot covered faces, or even the leaves and twigs in their hair. There were a couple of truckers in a booth near the back, and a small group of partiers at a large table halfway between drunk, hung over, and asleep. Thankfully due to the early hour they got a table to themselves, a large booth by the windows with a wonderful view of the empty parking lot.
Forgoing individual meals they instead decided to order a buffet spread of breakfast food. Sabo thanked his luck stars Ace recommended getting a picture of Luffy's expression when the food came their way, and he'd had his cell-phone out in time because it was certainly worth saving. His wide eyes, his salivating mouth, and dropped jaw. There were even tears of happiness in his eyes, and Sabo swore he saw stars dancing in the boy's pupils.
They'd all dug in ravenously, pancake bits and bacon grease flying everywhere as they all attempted to shove as much food as they could into their mouths. Distantly staff watched on in horror as they all ate like dying men with their last meals. Even Ace, who didn't technically need food, was shoveling it all in as fast he could.
As they left Sabo ended up leaving a 50$ tip, along with a note politely apologizing for the mess and requesting they forget they were ever there.
They rolled into a motel just as check outs began, groggy vacationers and seedy johns piling into mini vans and sports cars. They managed to secure a room near a fire exit and a stairwell, and Sabo thanked his lucky stars the clerk hadn't blinked twice when he made his request.
Sabo managed to wrangle Luffy into a bath, much to Ace's bemusement who only watched on (the unhelpful bastard) as Luffy kicked and splashed, laughing at the top of his lungs in joy as Sabo scrubbed the ash and dirt off of him, soaking the water brown while Luffy played with bubbles.
Warm, clean, and belly full Luffy was already falling asleep in Sabo's arms wrapped in a towel as he was carried out of the bathroom. Sabo reluctantly decided there was no use in forcing underwear on him, and simply got a large T-shirt on him before putting him on the bed, already out like a light.
"I got pictures" Ace grinned, holding up Sabo's flip phone.
"That thing's not dead yet? God bless Nokia, hand it here I need to charge it" Sabo held an arm out without looking, a solid cell-phone planted in his outstretched hand as expected.
"How's your burns" Ace looked over his shoulder as he dug through his bag for the charger, getting the charger in the wall and his phone charging.
"Been better" he replied honestly "We're out of painkillers but I need to change the bandages so help me out"
"Yeah I don't know" Ace backed up reluctantly "Fire demon + burns = bad times for everyone"
A pair of footsteps came down the hall, causing Luffy to stir and stare at the window for a moment, before rolling over in the blankets again. Sabo shrugged, though the tugging on his shoulder burns caused him to wince "We don't have much of choice, these are still the original bandages we put on, and they definitely need to be changed-"
A sudden bang on the door caused them both to jump and whip around, facing the door. For a few seconds neither of them moved, glancing to one another then the door again. Luffy still did not stir.
Sabo whispered below his breath "You grab the bags, I'll get Luffy and-" The banging on the door resumed, this time multiple times hitting the door.
"Fuck it" Ace growled, scooping Luffy out of the bed who gave a distressed sound at being awakened.
"Ace!" Sabo reprimanded, lunging for his staff "What do we do now?"
"I don't know!" He readjusted Luffy in his arms "You're the one with a plan!"
"You ignored my plan! The plan is gone!" Sabo waved his arms in alarm as the banging began once more.
Suddenly the door gave a final creak, and with an angered groan Sabo placed himself between Ace and Luffy, and the danger. Again. Ace was a useless super powered demon.
Holding their breaths, they prepared for battle as the door finally exploded in.
Warnings for this chapter: A not-so-one-sided-fight
The most unrealistic part of this chapter is the motel room closer to the coast being more affordable than the one closer to the interior. Jokes aside I hope y'all enjoyed the fight, the banter, and the bonding~~~ This chapter ended up so long because I decided to move some scenes from the last chapter into this chapter because of how long it was, and then deciding to just make this chapter really long ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Thank you for all of your reviews!