Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.
Chapter 11: Interrogations and Jailbreaks
The downfall of the feared Cipher Police Number Nine and subsequent destruction of the Judicial Island was a windfall for the Revolutionaries as the Director of CP9 was reported to have been tossed into Level Six of Impel Down. Dragon was about to order their agent on the inside to interrogate the newest inmate, but Sabo stopped him with an odd look on his face and a hand on his arm. "I need to go," the blond said firmly. Dragon hummed, prompting the young man to explain. "There's something... bugging me. It started when Blackbeard showed up and just... won't go away. Please... let me interrogate Spandam." Dragon sighed and stepped away from the snail, nodding. Giving his leader and mentor a wan smile, Sabo left to find a marine to antagonize.
"I hope you know what you're doing, Sabo," Dragon rumbled into the empty office.
/*/
"What in Paradise am I doing?" Sabo hissed as he was lead deeper into Impel Down. The infiltration part of his plan had gone well, but that was to be expected. Jumping onto a marine ship and declaring, 'Down with the Celestial Monarchy!' before proceeding to rip through the majority of the marines aboard before allowing himself to be subdued was supposed to be a one-way ticket to Level Six. It was only as he was locked up that Sabo began to wonder if he'd jumped the gun a bit and bit off more than he could chew as a major flaw showed in his 'master plan.' How, exactly, was he supposed to get back out?
"Another one joins the darkness, huh?" a dry, scathing voice drawled. Sabo smirked in the direction of Sir Crocodile.
"Sorry, Sandy, but I'm not here for you," he remarked.
"Who are you here for?" another inmate asked.
"Spandam," Sabo answered with a feral grin. There was a squeak from Sabo's left and the Revolutionary turned to find the object of his mission sitting in the same cell. "Well... that's awfully convenient," the Revolutionary remarked, tone far too polite and smile far too pleasant to mean anything good for the disgraced government agent. Spandam continued to shiver in the corner, eyes wide and fearful as he stared at... the scar over Sabo's eye? "What? I have something on my face?" Sabo asked, quirking the corresponding eyebrow.
"T-that scar!" Spandam stuttered, raising a manacled hand to point at said disfigurement. Sabo canted his head 'innocently' and the inmates closest fell silent to watch the drama unfold.
"What of it?" Sabo asked, honestly confused. There shouldn't be any stories about his scar of all things.
"Th-there are stories of a man with a scar like that wiping out entire warships by himself!" Spandam declared fearfully. Sabo chuckled, low and dark.
"Whole warships? Then where do the stories come from I wonder?" he remarked, leaning easily against the cell wall. Sabo chuckled again at the look on Spandam's face. 'I don't even have to do a thing,' he thought with dark glee. 'He'll work himself into a frenzy all on his own and then I'll ask him simple questions. He'll end up spilling his guts in no time.' After watching the shaking heap of flesh in the corner for a little longer, the interrogator hummed and leaned his head back, closing his eyes. 'Let him stew for a while. Not like we're going anywhere anytime soon.'
/*/
It was when the doors opened and a new prisoner was dragged in that Sabo startled awake. To his surprise, it was two prisoners... and one of them was Jimbe. Dark blue eyes followed Jimbe and the smaller figure with him as the two were lead to the cell across from the Revolutionary. The heavy cell door slammed shut, the guards taunted the new inmates, and then stomped back up the stairs and out of the Black Zone. Sabo wondered how long it took the guards before they forgot about the inmates of Level Six. Shaking that from his mind, Sabo turned to the fishman he'd met occasionally. "You look like you went a round with Kuma, Jimbe. What gives?" he asked. The large whale shark fishman started before turning his attention to the blond Revolutionary.
"Sabo?" he asked. The figure beside Jimbe shifted but neither paid him any attention.
"That'd be my name," Sabo drawled, pushing his face into the light and grinning.
"Why are you here?" Sabo shrugged.
"CP9's Spandam got thrown in here. I offered to interrogate. Now, here we are and I can't help but wonder... would your information be more interesting than Spandam's?" he asked, trying not to sound too eager. Jimbe shrugged back.
"Only if you can get news to Dragon that the marines are trying to start a war with Whitebeard by publicly executing one of his Commanders from in here," the former Warlord answered. Sabo frowned.
"That is news. I'm assuming that's why you're here?" he replied.
"I opposed the war and was stripped of my position," Jimbe confirmed.
"Sa... bo?" the slender figure in Jimbe's cell asked, voice dry and croaky as though he'd screamed himself hoarse before deciding stony silence was better after all.
"That's my name, don't wear it out," Sabo answered. Suddenly, Fire Fist Ace was straining against his chains and pressing his face into the bars, dark eyes burning with an odd kind of... desire?
"Sabo? Outlook Sabo?" Fire Fist asked, nigh on frantic, those burning eyes searching Sabo's face for something.
"I don't remember my childhood," Sabo confessed, repressing the desire to flinch at the name 'Outlook.' "The only reason I know my name is because of my hat." A hat he mourned having left behind but, he couldn't risk it getting destroyed. He loved that hat! Fire Fist frowned before settling back slightly with a mulish expression.
"We'll just have to wait for Luffy. Crazy idiot will no doubt try to bust me out," he finally said, as though he'd come to some grand conclusion. Sabo quirked an eyebrow at the other man. "Our little brother, Straw Hat Luffy?" Ace prompted. Seeing a lack of recognition on the blond's face Ace smirked and Jimbe nearly groaned. However, it was Spandam's reaction that tore it for the two men. He screamed in rage and fear and tried to press himself further back into the rock. "What's with him?" Ace asked, doing his best to jerk a thumb at the muttering ex-agent. Sabo's savage grin was back.
"This is Spandam, former Director of CP9," he began. "He stole something from Straw Hat." Ace nearly choked.
"He didn't!" he crowed, turning amused eyes on the now shivering pile of flesh in Sabo's cell.
"Oh, he did," the blond confirmed with unholy glee.
"How bad, exactly, did Luffy eff him up?" Ace asked, dark mischief in his deep brown eyes. Sabo's savage grin widened slightly.
"According to our sources? Straw Hat Luffy and his crew were directly responsible for the complete destruction of the Tower of Justice, the Courthouse, and a World Government flag!" he answered, quite satisfied by the approving whistle Ace gave. Even Jimbe appeared impressed. "And that wasn't all. The way I heard it, Straw Hat himself took down Rob Lucci and lived to tell about it. Between the rest of the crew, CP9 was annihilated and due to their actions... the whole island burned." Ace was gaping now and Sabo was certain Jimbe was impressed.
"So. My defeat was not just a fluke," Crocodile mused aloud. Sabo blinked and shared a look with Ace.
"You know about Luffy taking down Sir Sandy?" Sabo asked, taking his turn to do his best to jerk a thumb in the object of discussion's general direction. Ace shook his head before his shock was replaced with pride.
"No, but if anyone were going to knock the croc down a peg, it would be Luffy," the pirate said with undeniable brotherly pride. Sabo chuckled darkly once more and the inmate to the left snapped.
"Would you stop that?! It's freaking creepy!" he snarled. All traces of emotion vanished from Sabo's face as he slowly turned to the idiot.
"Is this better?" he asked lowly.
"Never mind. Go back to chuckling," the man said, swiftly revising his opinion of the blond. Sabo grinned at him.
"Thank you," he remarked politely before turning back to Ace. "So, you think Straw Hat's going to come and break you out?" Ace nodded and Sabo shook his head. "You're probably right but that leaves just one question. What are you going to do when he does?" Ace' mouth snapped shut and his eyes burned mutinously.
"First, I'll have him confirm if it's you or not. Kid has, like, a sixth sense when it comes to us. Second, we're going to get your memory back if you are who I think you are. Third, you two are getting out of here," the pirate declared. Sabo quirked an unimpressed eyebrow at the other man.
"This is Straw Hat Luffy we're talking about; the young man who stormed the Judicial Island for the sake of a crew mate. Do you honestly think he's going to let you stay behind?" he asked. Ace huffed but a hint of uncertainty had crept into his eyes. Sabo decided to call that a win and turned to Spandam. "Now that that's cleared up, and my escape all but assured... how about that interrogation, huh?" The man nearly threw himself at Sabo's feet.
/*/
Ace found himself impressed as he watched Sabo verbally pick apart Spandam's brain. And yes, the distention was necessary, what with pirates like Trafalgar Law out there. The Whitebeard Commander was even more impressed that his brother, and he was getting surer of it as time went on, had managed to smuggle a notebook and pen into Impel Down; let alone the lowest level. Interrogation done, Sabo leaned against the rock wall and took a nap. Ace chuckled and shook his head before followed Sabo's lead. Neither were too sure how long they'd slept before the roof came down.
No seriously, the roof came down.
"Well that's one way to make an entrance," Sabo remarked, straightening. Ace shook his head.
"Like you said earlier; this is Luffy we're talking about," he said, chuckling softly.
"ACE!" Luffy roared as he charged down the stairs toward his brother.
"Oh. Izuma. Luffy managed to convince you guys to help him? Man, I'd heard he was charismatic but dang!" Sabo remarked, noticing the figure descending the stairs just behind the ballistic rubber pirate. Luffy turned to him and blinked.
"Huh? Who are you?" he asked.
"Well, Ace there seems convinced I'm his long lost brother; which is ridiculous. We look nothing alike. You two, on the other hand, I can believe," Sabo answered, waving a hand at the to noirettes.
"It's Sabo, Luffy," Ace said. Luffy blinked again, looking from one to the other, before pointing at Sabo and exclaiming,
"AHH! SABOOO!" The blond had only a moment to blink and lean back before the rubbery captain was launching himself through the bars to get to him. Snot and tears soon covered Sabo's front as rubbery arms wrapped around him three times.
"Is he always like this?" Sabo managed to ask Ace, deciding to ignore the whole bypassing-prison-bars thing. Of course, this was merely a stop-gap measure to stem the oncoming flood of insanity.
"No, only when he sees someone he thought was dead come back to life," the smirking pirate commander answered. Sabo pouted and turned his attention back to the rubber pirate who seemed determined to suffocate him.
"Lu! If you keep hugging me like this I really will be dead!" he protested. Luffy immediately snapped back and eyed his brother worriedly, as though he thought Sabo would vanish if he didn't watch him.
"So, that jog anything loose?" Ace asked, surprisingly chill for a literal hothead. Sabo was about to shake his head when suddenly he blacked out. Memories flashed by like a home movie on triple rewind; scenes out of order yet the subject knew where they went on their timeline; until it ended on an image of three boys toasting each other with stolen sake.
/*/
Seeing their brother topple over, Luffy was quick to grab him while Ace shouted futilely. "Ace, we need to get out of here," Luffy said, being the unlikely voice of reason while dragging Sabo to the door of his cell and trying to open it. The scissor man who had helped Luffy get to Level Six pulled out a key ring and opened it when the sea stone bars proved too much for the rubber pirate to manage while carrying a passed out older brother. Luffy shouted his thanks as he snatched the keys and opened Ace's cell as well. Two sets of unlocked sea stone cuffs later and the ASL brothers, plus a couple of recently freed Revolutionaries and an ex-Warlord, were rushing out of the infamous underwater prison. When they reached the surface, a ship was attacking the harbor. Lucky for the brothers, Sabo woke up and recognized the ship.
"Ace, signal that ship. It's one of mine," he said. Ace looked at hi long lost brother like he was crazy.
"Why would they respond to my signal?" he asked. "I don't know anything about the Revolution."
"Dragon. Make a dragon. Show the claw foot," Sabo said, struggling to wake up fully from the information download. Ace nodded and shot a dragon of flame into the air. The ships turned and made their way to the brothers. Once it was close enough, Luffy wrapped his arms around Ace and Sabo to launch the three of them onto the deck.
"Hey! You're friends of Sabo?" the supernova asked, looking around eagerly. It was only due to the general serious demeanor of the Revolution that the sailors on the RA ship didn't full on face-fault.
"Yes, he's always like this. No, I'm not hurt. Yes, I am leaning on Fire Fist Ace. Yes, I told him to make a flaming dragon. No, I have not lost my mind. Yes, I did have fun, thank you ever so much for asking now can we get going already?!" Sabo rattled off, ending with a snarl and a glare. It was surprisingly intimidating, considering he was, in fact, leaning on Ace's shoulder quite heavily. The Revolutionaries literally jumped too while Luffy laughed and Ace watched in bemusement.
"They always react like that to you, Sabo?" he asked his blond brother. With a sigh, Sabo shrugged himself off of Ace's shoulder and gave him a wry smirk.
"Well, I am the Chief of Staff so... kinda, yeah," he said. Luffy's laughter got louder and Ace shook his head in disbelief.
"Only you, Sabo. Only you," the Whitebeard Commander remarked, looking around for a likely spot for the galley.
"Hungry are we, Ace?" Sabo asked with a knowing smirk.
"MEAT!" Luffy roared, causing Sabo to laugh and head unerringly toward where he knew the galley to be.
"Follow me and don't mind the others. They're just not used to visitors," he told his brothers.
/*/
Even as they ate, Sabo was trying to come to terms with the fact that he had two brothers that he'd essentially abandoned back on Dawn Island. And that said brothers had risen to be two of the craziest pirates on the Blues, if not the Grand Line. The New World for Ace. "Oi, better eat your food before one of us steals it!" Ace called... right before falling forward. Due to his recently returned memories and highly trained reflexes, Sabo managed to catch the slightly younger man by the shoulders before he face-planted into his food. Predictably, Luffy laughed and stole Ace's food.
"Hey, Sabo! What do you say we draw on Ace's face?" the young captain asked, holding up a marker he'd pulled from somewhere. Sabo considered the offer for a moment, then grinned and pulled out his own pen.
"The one with the best design gets an extra serving of meat, the one whose design takes him the longest to notice gets two," he challenged. Luffy fairly glowed as he accepted the challenge and commenced drawing. Sabo saw right away that he was going to win Best Design, but that still left the Longest to Notice award. Picking a lovely spot just above Ace's mark, directly on the shoulder blade, Sabo set to work drawing a cute fireball. Don't ask him how a fireball could be cute, it just was okay? Anyway, the less said about Luffy's attempt the better. Five minutes later and Ace awoke to an empty table and two laughing brothers. Aside from the lack of food, and Nakama, it was like waking to a dream. That was when he noticed the...
"Luffy... did you draw on me while I was sleeping?" Ace asked, deathly calm. Luffy laughed, then pouted.
"Guess I don't get the extra meat," he muttered. Sabo chuckled and threw an arm over his youngest brother's shoulders.
"Don't worry, you'll get it eventually," he told him before turning a smile on Ace. "If you ask the cook nicely, she just might give you a snack," he said. Ace smiled back.
"I knew there was a reason I kept you around," he remarked before getting up to beg treats off the aforementioned cook. Seeing the cutesy fireball dancing on his brother's back, Luffy began to laugh again. Ace froze, then looking in the window. After living with a heck of a lot of pirates(who seemed to think he turned into a sketchbook as soon as he fell asleep) Ace had learned several tricks, one of them being how to check his back for drawings. "I'm guessing this is your handy work, Sabo?"
"Guilty as charged, I'm afraid," Sabo remarked dramatically, complete with sweeping his iconic top hat from his wavy blond head and dipping into a shallow bow. This contrite image was summarily shattered by his amused smirk and unrepentant eyes when he titled his head back up. "So what do you think? Not bad for a first time, yeah?" he asked cheekily. Ace stared at his brother for a long moment before lunging at him. It was only because Sabo had experience with New World grade pirates that he was able to avoid Ace's attack and escape above deck. Of course, Luffy was just laughing for the joy of having his first family reunited at long last.
(He was perhaps the only one looking forward to his crew catching up with him and thus meeting both of his brothers.)
/?/
A/N: and cut! I was asked for more ASL interaction(as opposed to SL or AS interaction) and I have endeavored to deliver. I hope you enjoyed my longest chapter of Ripples in the Impossible Sea to date!