y'all get an early update because cryptids are apparently incapable of keeping a consistent update schedule, and Strays by aslbrosyo on fanfiction dot net just updated and I am HYPED (no seriously if you're not already reading it what are you doing) no warnings for this chapter besides a crap ton of angst folks!
"You know" Ace absently commented "I'm getting really sick of this shit"
They'd been travelling without incident for a few days, through forest and over highways, on one memorable occasion they'd even crossed a mountain pass (and without Ace's fire they would have certainly frozen)
It'd been a nice a few days, chatting with Luffy, holding hands with Sabo, kissing Sabo. They hadn't gone as far as that first night together by the pond, more out of urgency to reach a safe place for Luffy than any lack of passion between them, but Ace was certainly looking forward to reaching safety.
The whitebeards had informed them of an out of use shack they, technically, owned that was next to a beach not far from their territory. It had been a favourite of theirs for some time before they moved more inland and were ultimately forced to abandon it. Legally it was still theirs, and would be perfect for their uses.
Every time Ace caught Sabo's eye, or his fingers brushed his palm, Ace's heart fluttered all over again. He couldn't believe how lucky he was to have such a passionate, intelligent, and strong man by his side, especially one who shared his values and was even willing to go to the lengths of the earth to protect Luffy. Sabo was willing to give up everything for the two of them, and for that Ace was eternally grateful.
But every time he caught sight of the scars stretching across his face, Ace's chest tightened with guilt and regret. Sabo was doing everything in his power and making every sacrifice to protect them, and all he'd gotten out of it was one blind eye and a scar that would never leave. He'd been fighting every fight for them, and even comforting Ace's own self doubts. Sabo had been there for them at every turn, and Ace just didn't know how to repay him.
But every time Sabo caught his eye he smiled, and Ace's chest filled with warmth all over again at the sight of that happiness. Sabo's smile was the very vision of joy and wonder that Ace wanted to praise and worship on his knees.
There were certainly other parts of Sabo's body he'd like to praise and worship as well, preferably on his knees.
So when Luffy randomly started crying on a normal cloudy day, Ace was understandably concerned. The day had been normal, as had their previous days been. There was nothing obviously upsetting the boy, one minute he'd been fine and the next he'd suddenly started bawling.
"Hey, hey what's up?" Ace came to a knee in front of the boy, Sabo stopping a couple feet ahead catching his breath. He'd been carrying the heavier backpack for the last stretch, they'd switch off every hour or so, so Sabo probably appreciated the breather even if he didn't enjoy Luffy's tears.
Luffy heaved a huge sob before blubbering out "They're coming, He's coming"
Ace blinked once, then twice, then looked to Sabo who was grimacing.
Ace choked out "I have literally never heard anything more ominous in my entire life"
Sabo turned to face him "Less talking more running. Now!"
And so they began crashing the underbrush, Ace carrying Luffy and the lighter backpack while Sabo still kept the heavy backpack. Their pace was faster than before, but not by much to avoid tripping over roots peeking out from the soil and random half burrows dug by rodents. What head start their new pace did manage to accomplish was exhausting them both.
And if their pursuers managed to catch up to them in the next hour or so, well that sucked monkey balls.
"Yeah well!" Sabo retorted to Ace's sarcastic cry "I'm not exactly enjoying this either"
Despite his attempt at nonchalance, Ace was worried. Really worried. Luffy had been scared before, hell he'd been scared for most of this adventure probably, but he'd never reacted quite this extremely. In Ace's arms he was still shaking and crying, clinging to his shirt with little tightly clenched fists.
Ace was just counting his lucky stars Kizaru of the holy trio hadn't decided to make an entrance yet and ruin their entire fucking day. So far it had only been your regular run of the mill (very annoying) grunt guards.
"Fuck the beach" Ace shouted in Sabo's direction "I want a goddamn island where they will never find us"
"I'm down" Came Sabo's exhausted reply from somewhere to his left "Just gotta scrounge up a couple million dollars somewhere, should be easy"
Ace went to continue their witty and hilarious flirt/banter when Luffy's cries suddenly increased tenfold, closer to screaming than sobbing at this point.
"Sabo..." He warily called out "I think something's wrong"
"Ace, Ace, Ace, Ace" Luffy blubbered, clutching his chest and looking up to meet his eye "Ace He's coming"
There were few feelings that could really compare to ones like this, that feeling of realization like a cartoon character running off a cliff and suddenly looking down to realize you've run out of ground. Your heart flies into your throat while simultaneously dropping out your feet leaving you empty and heaving, wondering how things had been normal just a moment ago. You claw your fingers desperately through the air looking for something to grab a hold of to slow your descent, but the cliff is gone and all that's left is your flailing corpse flying through the air, the ground a million miles away.
"Ace" Luffy begged, tears and snot leaking onto his shirt in desperation.
"It's okay" He whispered, his voice a strange sort of calm he desperately tried to capture for himself because inside he was anything but calm "We'll protect you, I'll protect you, remember?" He wrapped his pinky into Luffy's "Pinky promise, forever and ever"
Luffy sniffled, then wiped his nose on his hand "Okay" he was still crying, but not shouting or screaming anymore which Ace considered a blessing. No more broadcasting their location to every enemy in the forest looking for them.
"Sabo!" He shouted, angling his run to meet up with the demon banisher "Sabo! Take Luffy!"
"What?!" Sabo's voice came from a little ahead of him, and Ace pushed himself to catch up "Ace, I have the heavier backpack and I'm kind of dying right now!"
"I know, I know" Ace panted, arms aching and full of eleven year old boy "But they've got a demon with them that I can handle, you just have to take Luffy and run like a bat out of hell, I'll catch up"
Sabo looked over, face flushed and red with exhaustion. They both knew Sabo was too exhausted to fight this time, and Sabo didn't even know what caliber the demon behind them was.
"Yeah okay" They both slowed to a stop to transfer Luffy, but before Luffy even left Ace's arms he began thrashing in protest "No! No, Ace you can't go!"
Ace struggled to retain his grip on the struggling boy, barely avoiding a flying fist to the face "Luffy! Luffy, we don't have time for this, Sabo will look after you and I'll be back before you know it" He grinned in assurance, but it did nothing for the crying boy who continued to sobbing "No, No, No, No"
Sabo scooped him into his arms despite the tears and begging "We'll hightail it out of here, But so help me god if you get soaked I will kill you myself"
Ace dropped his backpack onto the ground, stretching his shoulder "Don't worry I have no intentions of it"
Sabo huffed "You never do" He moved in towards Ace, their lips meeting in the middle in a silent farewell. They parted after a second, keeping it chaste for their younger, still very upset company "Be careful and try your best okay?" Sabo whispered against him.
"I will" he promised, because it was all he could promise. He couldn't promise he'd be back, couldn't promise he'd defeat this enemy, couldn't promise he'd ever have the chance to kiss him again, but he could promise he'd put in his absolute effort to see them.
Sabo nodded, swallowing tears before turning to run with the wailing Luffy, backpack obscuring Ace's chances of watching him go.
Ace walked a few feet forward, away from his backpack on the forest floor and away from the direction Sabo had taken off in, before letting his flames flare to life across his shoulders, heat from within rising to the surface to melt away muscle and skin allowing him to grow much taller and more ferocious. A wall of flames shot out from either side of him catching the darkness trying to creep by.
"Teach!" he roared, the blackness gathering before him into a solid form, A fat man with missing teeth and dark matted hair framing a crazed broken grin.
"Zehahaha It's my favourite fire demon, once again stealing away my toy" He spread his arms wide, a mockery of the fire wall keeping him at bay "I have no fight with you Hiken, let me pass and we both come out of it easier"
"Luffy is my charge" he growled, otherworldly voice echoing voice reverberating through the forest "And you are my enemy. Turn away now and give up this chase, or fight me"
The demon of darkness' next laugh was something much more menacing, a deep insane bone rattling laugh of an unhinged individual, specifically designed to frighten. The specialty of a demon of darkness. His solid form leaked into an ever growing mass of darkness, towering over Ace "Then fight, we shall"
To say Sabo was tired would be the understatement of the year.
They'd already been trekking for days before the Kaigun caught up to them again and forced them to run for their lives through this forest and underbrush, and he'd already been running with the heavy backpack when Ace practically threw Luffy into his arms to face the demon apparently chasing them. Sabo wasn't tired, Sabo was afflicted with a bone deep exhaustion that promised him long rest once he managed to settle down.
Speaking of settling down, Luffy was not. Every since they'd left Ace's side he'd been an absolute wreck, his screaming and begging falling to whimpers and the occasional hiccup, but he certainly hadn't stopped crying. Once they'd made it inside the seaside city they'd been aiming for since they'd left the Whitebeards he put Luffy down, having him walk alongside him to attract less attention (and save his arms from just giving up and falling off onto the sidewalk)
The town was small, and calm in that way that undiscovered seaside towns sometimes were. Locals mingled about doing their mundane everyday tasks while surfers from out of town made their way to the ocean to catch their last few waves of the day. Not even the cyclist with the surfboard tied to the side of his bike managed to cheer up Luffy.
They followed the surfers to the beach, then began making their way down the sandy coastline, following the instructions given to them days ago. Waves crashed in and seagulls flew overhead, but the clouds blocking the sun washed everything in gray giving the normally happy locale a much more somber feeling.
It took them hours to reach the isolated shack, and by that point they couldn't even see the small sea side town they'd left behind. Luffy sniffled the entire way, occasionally letting loose a hiccup or tearful sob.
The hut was appropriately abandoned, the windows were broken and the front room was soaked in ocean spray, but the rest of the two story house was decently dry and stable, and very isolated from society. They'd need to fix it up for sure, but they'd have plenty of time.
Luffy was holding Sabo's hand, leaning against his thigh still occasionally sniffling and hiccupping but drooping all the same. Sabo sighed, finally dropping his backpack with relief into the relatively dry dining room "You're probably tired, and Izo packed us some blankets. Let's see what's inside this house then go to bed, yeah?"
He received no verbal reply, much to his chagrin but decided to ignore it for now. Luffy was probably much more tired than Sabo was with how he'd been crying for hours on end.
A search of the house revealed a dining room, kitchen, and living room within the bottom floor. The front entrance most directly facing the ocean was the unusable one, for now. He didn't test any of the kitchen appliances yet, already knowing this isolated shack didn't have running electricity but wanted to see later if maybe there was a generator hooked up somewhere waiting to be turned on.
A gentle test of the stairs unveiled they had withstood the test of time and ocean well, supporting the two of them without problem. A few of the upstairs room couldn't say the same as Luffy's ankle fell through the floor of the ocean facing bedroom, however a bathroom and another bedroom had managed to stay preserved and sturdy.
"Well this is nice" Sabo entered the forest facing bedroom with Luffy, their steps creaking the aged gray wooden floorboards. Luffy stood in the doorway, warily prodding the floor with his toe despite Sabo having walked on it just fine.
"There's even a nice bed frame" He smiled, patting his hand on the squeaky mattress atop it "And this mattress isn't so bad, I hope" he murmured to himself.
Luffy just stared at him, his eyes red rimmed and drooping with exhaustion. Sabo sighed, moving to pick him up despite his arms complaining from carrying the boy for so long earlier "Come on, it's time for bed time"
He gently placed the boy on the bed "I'll go get you the blankets" he whispered, moving to stand.
"He isn't coming back" Luffy's eyes glistened, his tears having run out from hours of crying before "He isn't"
Sabo wanted to protest. He wanted to tell Luffy Ace was the most powerful fire demon in existence, that nothing would stop him (especially not some half wit fuck the Kaigun thought to summon, they'd faced one of the holy trio together after all) But Luffy... Sabo knew Luffy well enough now to know that Luffy just sometimes knew things.
"Let's just keep our hopes up" he whispered, his voice cracking. His heart was clenching and he wanted to pretend he didn't know why.
Sabo sat alone in the living room on a semi rotted couch. Waiting.
Luffy had fallen asleep some hours ago, cuddled up in blankets brought over from the Whitebeards, face still covered in snot and tears. Luffy wasn't waiting because Luffy knew Ace wasn't coming back.
Sabo didn't want to think about that.
He didn't want to think about the demon who had sacrificed so much to protect one little innocent boy when he could have turned away and done nothing. Didn't want to think about the man who took all the time in the world to entertain and protect Luffy, to make sure he never felt alone. Who fought despite being injured and soaked in water, who agreed to spend years in the Land of Living away from his family he hardly ever saw because one stubborn asshole refused to give them a chance.
He especially didn't want to think about those lips on his for what might have been the last time.
"Be careful and try your best okay?"
Because he couldn't make him promise to come back, because there was no way Ace would make that promise.
He choked on a sob, doubling over in an effort to keep it in and prevent Luffy from hearing. He told Luffy to keep his hopes up but Luffy knew and Sabo was giving up and he didn't want to think about what it would mean for them, for him and Ace, for Luffy, if he didn't come back.
Would they manage, could Sabo truly train Luffy the way he needed to be to be safe? Was he better off with the revolutionaries?
He was surprised Ace didn't manifest from the depths of hell to slap him for even considering it, not that Luffy would consent to going against his and Ace's genius plan.
He could bring Luffy to the Whitebeards, if he really struggled with training the boy but the thought of that still left a sour taste in his mouth despite everything they'd done for them. He could justify to his superiors protecting the boy, but not handing him over to the wild supernatural cultists.
He dropped his head into his hands with a groan. He needed to check in with Koala to let her know they'd arrived and were (relatively) safe. He needed to patch up the front of the house to keep either of them from getting sick (and good god what did they do if that happened, If Luffy got sick? If Sabo got sick? The nearest town was hours away by foot and they didn't have any other means of transportation)
Sabo wanted to curl up in a ball and cry, he wanted to tell someone else to take over for him and deal with this bullshit situation, he wanted to just disappear off the face of the earth and sleep for a couple years until all of this was dealt with.
A gentle knock on the front door broke his train of thought rather quickly.
His heart lurched into his throat, his eyes watering with desperate hope against hope. He tripped over his feet in his attempts to stand and run to the door all in one movement, resulting in him face planting into the (moldy) carpet. Without even pausing he rushed into the sodden front entrance room and whipped open the door, however was much too shocked as to who actually stood in front of his door to be disappointed.
"Ivankov?"
Brushing past him Ivankov walked into the living room past the ruined front entrance way, followed by the head of the entire revolutionary army Dragon himself, then Koala and Hack.
He somehow felt like his problems had gotten a lot worse.
Ivankov was, for some reason absolutely unknown to him, in a much more toned down version of their regular outfit. Their makeup was so much tamer than he'd ever seen them wear, and their fishnets-stiletto combo had been switched out for pants and flats, which meant Sabo couldn't hear them whenever they walked around and honestly he was going to have a heart attack from the stress.
Dragon was just sitting and staring at him (and Sabo wasn't sure he'd seen him blink even once this entire time) in his normal stupid trench coat cloak thing.
Koala and Hack had stolen some questionably table chairs from the dining room because there wasn't enough room on the couch for all of them and no one felt like cramming onto the furniture with two of the three heads of their organization.
"Ivankov and Dragon intercepted me on my way back from beating your ass" Koala explained once they'd all sat "Hack had been sent to escort me back after they got reports of demons in the area, but then they insisted we all come to you and your kid"
"I don't know why I'm here" Dragon grunted, and Sabo jumped almost never having heard his Boss speak before "But Ivankov insisted and I trust their instincts"
Said cultist looked distinctly uninterested in the conversation or adding any input, instead looking around the room at the peeling wallpaper and broken windows.
"Well" Sabo finally responded "I'm glad you're here. This kid had a demon protecting him but he's been taken out and I don't know if I can properly train him"
"And you trusted a demon?" Hack implored. The Jujitsu master had been knocking he and Koala on their asses since they first joined and he still could (and would) today. Didn't mean Sabo felt like putting up with his bullshit.
"Yes" Sabo hissed "I trusted that demon, and so did Luffy-" Ivankov's head snapped over but Sabo used enough to their oddities to keep going without pause "-and things were fine but they- The Kaigun- have some really powerful demons under contracts that we should deal with for the sake of the world"
"Luffy?" Ivankov asked, their voice wavering just the slightest.
"Yeah, Luffy, the really powerful demon entrapping kid. He trusts Ace and so do I" he leaned back crossing his arms over his chest "He's got good instincts like that"
"Can't be the best if he trusted a demon" Dragon grumbled.
Sabo groaned "You don't understand the kid just knows things without being told, he can read you in a second and tell if you're trustworthy. Ace gave me this scar" he gestured wildly to his face "protecting Luffy. So forgive me if I think it might not be a bad idea to go rescue him"
"Now hold on" Hack stood, facing Sabo "Nobody said anything about rescuing a demon. He made his bed, and in it he should lie"
"Koala" he begged his partner "You've met him, you have to back me up on this, Ace is a good man"
"Sabo..." Koala looked to the floor, her hands in her lap "It's a giant risk, we'd be threatening the entire revolutionary organization launching an attack on a fortified government base on our own. Not to mention all the lives that would be at stake for one demon Sabo" she pleaded "It's just not worth it"
His heart cracked and crumbled in realization. They weren't here to help Ace, nor were they here to help Luffy. They were here to take him and do exactly what Ace had been worried about, turning him into a supernatural fearing weapon for their own uses.
Sabo buried his face into his hands, his shoulders slumped in defeat. What could he do? He couldn't stop Dragon from taking Luffy, he couldn't save Ace from the Kaigun, and he couldn't do anything about either of those problems. There'd be no fixing up this rickety house for Luffy, no repairing the squeaky stairs...
Speaking of rickety old house and squeaky stairs, Sabo could hear a pair of tiny feet land on the ground above him in the bedroom and come running towards the stairs. He heaved a giant sigh, not ready to deal with the inevitable fate awaiting the two of them. How was he supposed to explain it all to him?
Luffy's feet hit the stairs at top speed, racing down them with no regard for the age or disrepair the house had fallen into, already forgetting the incident with the ocean facing bedroom upstairs.
Absently he shouted "Luffy be carefu-" but was cut off by Luffy's ecstatic scream of
"MOM!"
In those next few seconds you would have been able to hear a pin drop in China.
Everyone froze mid argument at Luffy's proclamation from the bottom of the stairs, Luffy himself stopping to take in all the new people and presences. Dragon looked to Koala, Koala hit him (hard), Hack handed Koala a twenty, and Ivankov started crying without even having moved.
And all Sabo could think about was how many people he owed money to as well.
Ivankov stood and Luffy launched himself past Dragon into Ivankov's arms, a hysterical laughing sob coming from one (or both) of them as they clung to each other like they'd never see each other again (and from what Sabo knew, it was a fair fear)
"My boy" Ivankov cried "My baby boy how I've missed you"
"I missed you too Mama" Luffy whimpered "I missed you so much and I tried to be good but Grandfather wouldn't let me leave and I wanted to go to Russia but I-" he heaved a heavy breath, grip tightening to his mother's jacket.
"I'm never letting you go" Ivankov whispered, standing with Luffy in their arms to move back to the couch.
Hack collapsed back into his seat, a heavy sigh on his lips "I think I owe every cultist in the ranks money"
Koala giggled hysterically into her hand "I owe Bon Clay at least a hundred dollars"
Dragon rubbed his chin "I do believe Kuma has earned himself a three week's vacation in the Bahamas this summer, at my expense" he mumbled lowly.
"Fuck" Sabo whispered "I owe Splash and Splatter each a dirt bike"
"I do believe many of the hunters are no indebted to the their cultist counterparts" Dragon agreed lowly.
Koala groaned "Inazuma is going to be a millionaire"
Ivankov leaned back on the couch, Luffy situated comfortably on their lap "You people placed bets on me? I'm almost flattered" They turned a stink eye on Dragon "I want in on that Bahamas vacation"
Dragon's chin hit his chest, his arms crossed bitterly "I'm gonna be a poor man by the time your division is done collecting"
"Dad" Luffy piped up "Can I go to the Bahamas with Mom?"
This time every person in the room froze, including Ivankov who's eyes widened to incredible proportions, and jaw dropped dramatically. Sabo's jaw dropped to his knees, and Koala tried to stand, only to stumble and fall from her chair.
Dragon hadn't changed positions, but his eyes had popped out of his sockets, slowly turning to glance at Ivankov who looked just as shocked as him.
"S-sweetie I think you mean Dragon" Ivankov tried, meeting Luffy's eyes. Facing his eyes however had them giving up "Oh fuck it, Dragon meet your son"
"I can't even begin to understand" Hack moaned, helping Koala up from the floor. Sabo whined in distress and confusion, wondering how his world had been so thoroughly thrown around in such a short amount of time.
Dragon blinked once, twice, then three times seeming to come a conclusion "They said everyone died in that experiment"
Ivankov rolled their eyes "I was pregnant. Saved my life apparently"
Dragon released a strong exhale "How did I not see it?"
The cultist simply shrugged in response "I changed a lot"
Sabo respected that Dragon didn't want to risk his organization he'd spent 7 years building or the lives he'd been entrusted just for a demon he'd never met and didn't trust. But that didn't mean he was just going to sit by and do nothing.
Ivankov was sleeping upstairs with Luffy, the pair refusing to part after being separated for 8 years. Koala had set up a sleeping bag in the room with them, on the floor. Dragon had taken the couch while Hack set up a similar position to Koala downstairs.
Sabo was supposed to be on watch, two of the revolutionary army's three leaders gathered in the same place was a target for Kaigun and demons alike. He could only hope they'd forgive him for leaving them defenceless.
And he prayed Hack would forgive him for taking his motorbike.
OKAY OKAY OKAY so did any of you catch the tiny throwaway line chapter 9 where Bon Clay asked about the packed bags off to the side? have some internet points if you did because HERE THEY ARE. Also if any of you were curious about the whole Ivankov - Luffy situation, Luffy didn't recognize Ivankov in the picture (back in the really early chapters if any of you remember that) because they'd changed a lot since he'd last seen them, however he sensed their aura when they arrived so it didn't matter at all how much they'd changed. Also Ivankov was wearing a more toned down outfit because they were worried Luffy wouldn't recognize them but of course it didn't fucking matter :,) Fun fact: Caroline and Elizabeth were added to chapter 9 in a much later draft and after much editing, so when I got to editing this chapter I noticed I'd originally written Sabo (in the first draft) as owing Caroline a dirt bike... my heart broke a little.