Thanks Vergina for pre-reading and you lot for reading an reviewing ^^ It's much appreciated.
Reborn in Fire
Chapter 14
He probably should have cancelled his aikido class, since his back still hurt a lot and he still had stitches in his hand. But the kids only had an hour training a week, and he couldn't possibly find replacement at such short notice. After all, he was already a replacement himself. That, and he could already imagine all those pouting faces – that was including Ace's. The freckled man – Marco's boyfriend – had been really excited to come along and watch him give training. The blonde couldn't possibly deny him that. Plus, he hadn't told Ace he hurt his back, since that would lead to all kinds of awkward conversation.
Who was he kidding? He didn't want to look weak.
"You sure a judo suit will do?" the raven haired man asked curiously. "Don't I need those black pants thingies?"
"Hakama," Marco corrected him while placing his own in his bag. "And no. You get those when you're more advanced. If you want them right away, you should practice naginata, for instance."
"That's the spear thingy right?"
Marco let out a low chuckle. "Yes. You know quite a lot about Japanese martial arts."
"Yeah, Zoro is pretty obsessed with them, so he talks about them a lot. The judo suit is his as well. Er… judo gi, right?"
"Right." Marco smiled at him. "Come on, we should go."
"Your class doesn't start until seven, right? We're still early," the freckled man said.
"That's true, but I like to do some warming up before the children arrive."
It wasn't meant as an innuendo and Ace knew it, but his body thought differently about that. He reprimanded himself, after all, it had only been yesterday that Marco gave him a blowjob, but the memories of what that talented tongue could do… He shook his head in the hope that these thoughts would disappear, and followed the blonde to the car.
The drive to the dojo was a short one. Marco parked his car and led Ace inside. The raven haired man stared his eyes out. He had been to the dojo where Zoro practiced before, but this one was much bigger. Suddenly he noticed a woman with violet hair. "Hey, Nojiko!" he called enthusiastic.
She looked up, looking from him to Marco. "That's a surprise to see you here, Ace. With Marco."
"You know each other?" the blonde asked surprised.
"Of course! She's Nami's sister."
Now it was the turn of the arson inspector to look from one to the other. "That… actually explains a lot," he mumbled.
They chatted for a while, before Marco pointed out they really had to go. In the changing room Ace tried not to look at Marco undressing and was almost relieved when his boyfriend was fully dressed again – until he noticed how the jacket showed a lot of the man's chest. He sighed. It was going to be hard not to jump him during the training. He reminded himself that they trained with kids, before taking a deep breath and following Marco to the hall they trained in.
The blonde wore a protective glove, to shield his stitches. He showed the fireman some basic movements, like how you were supposed to fall without hurting yourself, when the children entered. There were nine today, one of the girls was sick.
Ace took a seat next to the kids and watched Marco sit across the group. "We have a special guest today," the blonde started. His eyes darted to Ace and he smiled slightly. "Ace is going to train with us. So show him what you can do, okay?"
Unfortunately, he had underestimated the children's curiosity. Instead of staying seated, they surrounded Ace. "Are you Sensei's friend?" Mira asked.
The raven haired man scratched the back of his head. "I suppose you can call me that, yeah."
"Are you the friend that was in jail?"
This confused him. How would they know that? He looked at Marco, who was trying very hard to evade eye contact.
"Yeah, a few weeks ago Sensei was really sad, so we went to visit him and he told us he had a friend who was arrested for something he didn't do," Arthur explained.
"Really now?" He smirked. So Marco had worried about him?
"So are you him?" Mira asked.
He nodded.
"Then what didn't you do?"
"I didn't set a restaurant on fire," he answered. "'Cause that's bad."
"And did Sensei tell you how he felt?"
He turned his head to look at the newest speaker. The small girl flushed under his gaze and her cheeks turned to an even darker shade when he grinned at her. "Oh, he told me alright."
"That's enough." Marco's tell tale eyebrow twitch caused the kids to take their seat again. They bowed to their Sensei and the blonde started the warming-up. After that he explained the exercise. He had decided on some easy movements the children already knew, but hadn't perfected yet. That way Ace could easily come along and the blonde didn't have to demonstrate too much, sparing his back.
Ace's first partner was the short girl who had spoken last to him. He reached out his hand to start the exercise and she almost fainted. "Come on, show me what you've got." He grinned when she nodded and had him suddenly pinned against the floor.
The rest of the training Marco made them do basic exercises, but at the end of the hour the children started to whine. "We already know this stuff," Arthur pouted. "When are we gonna learn something bad ass?"
Ace chuckled at the choice of words, but was silenced by an eyebrow raise from the blonde.
"Sush," Mira reprimanded the young boy. "We're doing the easy stuff for Ace, right Sensei?"
The trainer pursed his lips and the sighed. "Partly yes. However, you might know the movements of these exercises, but you haven't perfected them yet."
"But we wanna do something cool," Arthur piped up again and some of the other kids joined in.
"You know, these basic movements can be very well used in a fight," Marco objected.
"Then show us, Sensei!"
He should say no. He knew he should, but how could he ignore ten pairs – yes, Ace joined in as well – of puppy dog eyes? "Alright," he sighed, immediately knowing that he would regret this. "Ace, if you please?" He gestured to the open space on the mats. "Oh, and Ace is a boxer." He smirked when he saw the awe on the kids' faces.
"Are you sure about this?" the freckled man whispered.
"I am. And please don't hold back. Punch me with all you've got."
The children already seemed to regret asking their teacher, if the shocked looks on their faces was anything to go by. He wouldn't let them down.
Ace attacked – though Marco was sure he didn't use his full force. Not yet. The raven haired man aimed for his stomach. The blonde stepped by him, to his backside, before placing the fireman's head against his shoulder, turning and causing the man to fall on the mats. He took a step back and nodded when Ace looked at him questioningly. The freckled man attacked again, going for his head this time, but again Marco pinned him to the floor. The trainer tried to use the basic movements as much as possible, while Ace didn't stop attacking.
Finally, they were both out of breath. The hour was up anyway. Marco sat down on his knees before his class again and the freckled man took his seat in line again.
"You see, if you control the basics, you control the fight," the blonde explained. "And that is what we want, to be in control and make sure the fight does not turn violent. Don't look for conflict." With those words he ended the training by bowing to his pupils, who mimicked the action.
While the kids retreated to the changing rooms, chattering about what they just witnessed, Ace walked up to Marco. "That was really awesome. I mean, I can hit pretty hard, but I guess that doesn't really matter if you deflect it anyway."
Marco smiled. "I'm glad you enjoyed the training."
"Could you show me that head thingy again?"
"You mean iriminage?" When Ace shrugged he laughed. "Okay, come on. We'll start off easy." He offered his right hand and gestured the fireman to grab him crosswise, so also with his right hand. Then Marco moved to his backside, so that they were standing chest to back, before placing the younger man's head against his shoulder and turning. Ace lay on his back before he knew it and was very happy the blonde had taken the time to show him how to fall properly. Marco showed him again, more slowly, and then told him it was his turn. Ace copied the movements the arson inspector had made, being corrected a couple of times, but finally he managed to have Marco lying on his back on the mats.
"Very good," the blonde said smiling and tried to sit up, only to be held down by a hand on his chest.
"Actually," Ace said smirking, "I kinda like you in this position."
Marco couldn't help the smile that crept up his face when the fireman hovered over him and leaned forward to kiss him. This one of the few times he didn't mind being pinned down. Not in the least because his back was killing him again.
"Sensei is being attacked!"
Before Marco knew what was happening three boys had jumped Ace and were trying to hold him down. The freckled man wasn't helping, being stuck in a laughing fit.
The door of the girls' changing room opened and several curious heads looked into the room. Marco snapped out of his haze and straightened, towering over Ace and the boys. "What are you doing?"
Frits turned around. "He was attacking you, right? You just showed us you can't lose, so he had to use some trick, right? We couldn't let that happen," he said pouting.
"That is not how I taught you."
Ace finally seemed to calm down, looking up to him. "You condone this?"
Marco smirked. "They were just trying to protect their sensei."
"I didn't hear you complain," the freckled man muttered.
In the meantime the girls had joined them and Ace had managed to get the boys off him. The children chattered all at the same time, the girls asking what had happened and the boys explaining that their sensei was being attacked. Marco sighed and gestured the kids to sit down. He exchanged a glance with Ace, wondering how he should explain. After all, he had no idea how much these children knew about the birds and the bees, so to speak. Eventually he took another deep breath and said: "Ace wasn't attacking me. I showed him how properly do iriminage."
"But after you finish, you should back off, right, Sensei?" Arthur piped up.
"Yes. Usually, that's the case. However…" He hesitated for a moment, but he had the children's undivided attention. "He wasn't attacking me. He was kissing me."
Arthur cocked his head. "But you're both boys."
Marco smiled. "Yes. Ace is my boyfriend. I'm gay."
Joyce raised her hand like she was in class. "What does that mean?"
"It means that Sensei likes boys," Mira, apparently a walking dictionary, explained.
"No!" Marco interrupted her sharply. "It means I like men." He glanced at Ace, who was snickering. "You really wanna find out what happens if they tell at home I like boys?"
The freckled man shook his head, but couldn't suppress his laughing fit. Marco sighed and turned his attention back to the kids.
"So, are you gonna get married?" Andrea asked.
The blonde felt his cheeks heat up and he was glad Ace was too busy laughing to pay attention. "We're really not together that long… Now, you should go change, before your parents get worried." He ignored their protests – and the stringing pain in his back – and hurled his boyfriend towards the changing rooms. Looking over his shoulder, he saw the boys following them and the girls returning to their changing room as well.
The boys got undressed and ran into the showers. Marco always showered at home and told Ace to do the same. They should hurry up anyway and explain the hold up to the waiting parents.
From the corner of his eye Ace watched his boyfriend undress. There was something mesmerizing about it. Marco looked ridiculously hot in his gi and hakama – he felt a little proud he had remembered that – but it was even better when he was taking them off… A questioning look by Marco was enough to make him undress as well.
Outside the dressing room they met some of the parents. Marco explained that the training had overrun its time, but that the children should be out soon. Andrea's mother approached them and asked him if he had thought about her suggestion to let the parents train along. She started an enthusiastic story about how the other parents liked the idea as well. Realising he wasn't getting out of it, he agreed to have them in two weeks time. The woman offered to inform the other parents, already starting inviting the waiting parents and when she found out Ace had helped out with the training she made him promise to join in too.
One by one the children emerged from the changing rooms and left along with their parents. Andrea was last to exit the changing room. She grabbed her mother's hand waving enthusiastically. "Bye, Sensei! Bye, Sensei's boyfriend," she called, before starting telling her mother about the training. Marco was somewhat relieved that the other parents had left already. He really didn't feel like explaining why he had brought his boyfriend to the training. Hell, he didn't feel like standing right now.
Along with Ace he walked to the car. He hardly paid attention to his boyfriend happy chatter – something about being stuck with the fireman for another two weeks – because his back was killing him. Maybe he should go see Ace's doctor friend again, he was a no nonsense kind of guy Marco liked and the last time it did relieve his back. But he couldn't ask Ace for his number without raising suspicion. It probably would be better by tomorrow anyway. No need to worry the freckled man. Or make him think he was old.
With a sigh Ace let himself drop on the couch. He could honestly say he was bored. Luffy was visiting his friend 'Bon-chan', a cross dresser the fireman would like to introduce Izo to sometime. His brother had asked him to come along, but at that point he still had thought he would be out with Marco. His boyfriend however had just called and told him that his work was running late.
It was a few days after the aikido training. Most of his free time the freckled man spend with the blonde, much to the annoyance of his friends. Zoro was annoyed with him anyway, because, according to the green haired man all Ace could talk about was Marco. He had fled with a lame excuse of having left the oven on – something the raven haired man knew was a lie, since Zoro had no clue how to operate one. But he also knew his swordsman friend went to see the person who did know his way around the kitchen, Sanji. He couldn't say he minded. Of course he liked to hang out with the two of them, but he realised they needed time alone if this was ever gonna work out. At least he hoped so. He'd hate to meddle.
Who was he kidding? He loved to meddle. Still, it would be nice if they worked it out themselves. However this meant he had a few hours to kill before Marco would come over. He wondered if tonight he could persuade the blonde to have sex with him. He hadn't dared to bring it up again. Marco had been pretty pissed when Ace had suggested he couldn't get it up, but the freckled man was running out of ideas what could be the problem. Unless Marco had experienced some kind of trauma… He sure hoped not.
Ace sighed. He could use some advise on this. But who could he ask without hurting his pride too much – after all, he never had any trouble to get anyone into bed he had set his heart on. So Zoro and Nami were out of the question, as was Law. Sanji would probably not be comfortable talking about gay sex – though that might by a reason to do it anyway. Luffy understood as much about sex as he did from rocket science, so he wasn't an option either. Then who?
He was started from his thoughts by the doorbell ringing. He jumped up excitedly. Maybe that was Marco, home early to surprise him. A grin plastered on his face, Ace made it to the door. Unfortunately, it wasn't Marco standing on the doorstep, but an unknown man. Raising an eyebrow, the freckled man realised that this guy looked a lot like Smoker. He was muscular with greenish grey hair and a gruff expression despite the sun glasses he wore. He even was smoking two cigars at the same time. Ace shrugged, maybe it was a look or something, because this obviously wasn't his Smokey. "Can I help you?"
"Portgas?" he grouched. When the fireman nodded he pressed a box in the freckled man's hands. "Delivery." With that he turned around and left.
Staggered Ace stared down to the box in his hands. It looked an awful lot like a cake box. Curiosity got the better of him and he peeked inside. To his joy he saw that there actually was a chocolate cake in the box. He looked up to ask the delivery person who had send him this, but to his surprise he didn't see him anywhere. Well, food was food and Sanji would kill him if he wasted it. Not that he wouldn't eat it anyway.
Making his way back to the living room Ace wondered who the sender could be. He imagined it to be Smoker, but soon burst into laughter. Yeah, right. What would be next? Flowers and a proposal? He shook his head.
For a brief moment he wondered if he should wait for Marco before eating it. He dismissed the thought. If the older man preferred to work over getting it on with him, it was his loss. Besides, it could be that Luffy was back by then and there was no way he would share his cake with his gluttonous brother. Having at least the decency to get a fork, he let himself fall on the couch and opened the box.
Tired Marco pulled up on the empty driveway. The work had took longer than he had hoped and his back still hurt a lot. Well, at least he had a valid excuse not to have sex with Ace. He hoped they would just watch a movie or something and go to bed. He supposed he could cancel altogether, but he really slept better with a warm body curled up against him. And a good night's rest was exactly what he needed right now.
Ace hadn't stayed over for a couple of days. After the training Marco had dropped his boyfriend off at the brother's house with the excuse he was really tired, which was true. Still, it had taken until four in the morning before he had fallen asleep, the pain in his back hadn't made it easier. So he looked forward to have Ace lying close against him, his body radiating warmth.
He sighed. Maybe he should stop being stubborn and just tell Ace about his back. It wasn't like it happened because he was old or anything… But it would lead to questions of how he was injured and he rather keep in the dark that he had been a fireman. If Ace knew that, it would be easier to make a connection between Marco and that night. Though, the fireman had seen him walking with crutches. Marco always feared that the freckled man would ask about that. He hadn't until now, perhaps because it seemed like so long ago. Still, it might be better if Ace knew he wasn't able to do much crazy stuff because of the pain in his spine. It was only fair, he supposed, since Ace had entrusted him with secrets as well. He would just have to hope the freckled man was okay with it and didn't leave him for someone more vital.
He rang the doorbell and waited, but nothing happened. He rang again, longer this time. Perhaps Ace had fallen asleep. Still there was no answer. Groaning Marco leaned down and looked for the key under the doormat. Ace had told him about that one, as both he and Luffy had a tendency to lose their keys. Opening the door he listened for an indication someone was home, but it stayed silent.
Entering the living room, he found Ace sleeping on the couch. Apparently he had been eating some kind of cake, as a piece still clinging to his fork that had ended up on his chest. Marco chuckled and shook his head, picking up the fork and the cake box. It would be nice if they could find some kind of medication that wouldn't have side effects for his narcolepsy.
He watched the man for a moment. Somehow, it felt like something was off. Ace looked like he was asleep, but he didn't look like his endearing self. He couldn't place his finger on what was wrong, however. He caressed some hair out of his boyfriend's face. On a hunch he let his hand slide slower and felt his boyfriend's pulse. He froze.
Ace's heartbeat was faint, way slower than someone asleep should have. "Ace!" he called out in panic, softly tapping his cheek in an attempt to wake him. But to no avail. Hurried Marco got out his phone, the device almost slipping out of his hand in his rush to dial the emergency service. He asked for an ambulance, trying to stay calm and keeping his fingers pressed against the soft beating pulse in Ace's neck. He had no idea what had caused this or what happened to his boyfriend, until his eye caught sight of the cake box. That wouldn't be the cause, right?
An annoying beeping sound woke him. Ace tried to turn around to hit his alarm clock, but he couldn't move. Groaning he opened his eyes. Why the hell was the room so bright? And why did he feel like he was run over by a steamroller?
He wasn't in his own room. The tell tale white walls and beeping machines made it obvious where he was. But why was he in the hospital? The last thing he remembered was eating a cake.
He tried to move his arm, but something heavy was blocking it. He turned his head to look, smiling at the sight at a blonde mob of hair. Carefully lifting his free arm – careful because of the IV hooked in his arm – and caressed his boyfriend's head.
Marco stirred and looked up. Apparently Ace's body heat lulled him to sleep no matter what. Still, he was relieved to see Ace awake. "How are you feeling?" he asked.
"Like I've been hit by a train." Ace huffed and let himself fall back in the pillows. "Why the hell am I even here?"
"You were poisoned."
His eyes widened. "Poisoned?"
Marco stood up brusquely, the chair on which he had been sitting sliding back scraping the floor. "Where the hell did you get that cake?"
"Some guy delivered it."
The blonde blinked at him. "Some guy? You're telling me you ate something you got from a stranger? Dammit Ace, they teach you this when you're a kid: don't take candy from strangers!"
"It was a delivery guy," Ace pouted. "If I can't trust the postman, who can I trust?"
The blonde sighed tiredly and rubbed his temples. "Did you order it?"
Ace shook his head.
"At what time did it arrive?"
"I don't know, like eight?"
"And does the postman work at that hour?"
The fireman fell silent. He realised Marco was right. Still, it annoyed him. "I'm not a damn kid!"
"Then stop acting like one."
They became silent for a while. The blonde had taken his seat again. He wasn't really mad at the younger man, but he had been worried sick. When the test results came back the doctors had quickly given Ace an antidote, but the waiting had been agonizing.
"Marco?"
He looked up hearing the small voice. He didn't like it when Ace sounded like that.
"Have you called my brother?"
"I tried. He didn't answer his phone. Would you like me to try again?"
"Please don't."
He couldn't ignore the pleading look Ace gave him and his expression softened. "You don't want to worry him, do you?"
The freckled man shook his head, staring at the sheets.
Marco took a deep breath and slid closer, taking his hand. "Don't worry, I won't tell."
Finally Ace lifted his gaze from the bed and gave him a beaming smile. Marco brought the younger man's hand to his mouth and kissed it gently. "Just don't scare me like that again, hm?"
Before the fireman could respond, there was a knock on the door and an unknown man entered. He was tall, with long brown hair and a cold expression. Ace visibly tensed, causing Marco sit up straight alertly.
"Mr Portgas?" the man asked gruff. "My name is inspector Onigumo. The hospital reported a suspicious case of poisoning. Please tell me what happened."
Ace grinned awkwardly and scratched the back of his head. "Suspicious? I wouldn't call it that. It's my own fault. I was baking a cake and well, let's say I'm not queen of the kitchen."
"You added ethylene glycol to your own cake?" the police officer asked disbelieving.
Marco wasn't sure why Ace was lying, but he probably had a good reason. Since the inspector didn't seem to buy it, he decided to heighten the story. "I keep telling him not to keep the antifreeze next to the sugar."
The freckled man looked at him a little confused, but that look soon changed to gratitude when Onigumo said: "So I came all the way down here because you're stupid?"
Ace shrugged, a grin on his face. "Sorry."
The inspector sighed and flipped open his notebook. "How about the suspicious guy at your door? Some witnesses described him as broad shouldered, greyish hair, smoking cigars..."
"I don't know him," Ace responded with a straight face. "He was lost, so I gave him directions. Nothing suspicious about that."
The police officer looked at them doubtful, but was met by two dead panned stares back. Eventually he sighed. "Fine then. If you don't want to report anything, there is nothing I can do. Have a nice evening." With that, he left.
As soon as the door closed behind him, Ace burst into laughing. "Why on earth would I keep the antifreeze next to the sugar? Better yet, why the hell do you know that ethylene whatever is an ingredient of antifreeze?"
Marco gave him a mysterious stare back, before he became serious again. "For in situations when I have to lie after my boyfriend has been poisoned."
Ace pouted a little and fiddled with the blanket. "I'm sorry to drag you into this mess."
"Care to explain what mess exactly?"
The freckled man sighed and let his head fall back. "It was a set-up by Akainu, I'm sure. The guy who delivered the cake looked exactly like Smoker. The intention was to kill me and have Smoker take the blame. That way he gets kills two birds with one stone, so to speak."
"Why would he want to get rid of Smoker?" Marco asked with a raised eyebrow.
"'Cause he is the reason I didn't go to prison." Ace lowered his eyes. "It's a pretty good plan. There were enough witnesses and there aren't that many people that smoke two cigars at the same time." He let out a laugh, before continuing more seriously: "Since the trial everyone knows he and I slept together. So if the plan had succeeded, it would seem to the world that Smoker had killed me out of jealousy, since I'm dating you now. I would be dead and he would go to jail. The only flaw in the plan–" His eyes went wide. "The only thing Akainu didn't anticipated was you."
Marco sighed and caressed the younger man's arm.
Ace rubbed his face with his hand. "I should probably tell Smoker," he muttered, before looking at Marco. "Could you do me a favour? Could you get my phone?"
Marco gave him a puzzled look. He didn't really like the idea of Ace calling Smoker. But of course the fireman wanted to warn the police captain, and of course he didn't want him in prison, especially when Smoker was the one who got Ace out. Marco would just have to hope the freckled man had only feelings of friendship for him.
Pushing aside his jealous thoughts, he reached over to get Ace's phone. At the same time his own phone rung and he picked up without looking at the caller ID. "Hello?"
"Marco! You called! Why? Is Ace okay?" a slightly worried voice of Luffy sounded at the other end of the line.
"He is fine," the blonde reassured him, looking at the fireman.
"Is that Luffy?" Ace mouthed and when Marco nodded, he reached for his boyfriend's phone. Marco handed the device over, only to have Ace's phone pressed in his hands. Apparently the freckled man had already dialled Smoker's number, since a gruff voice suddenly said: "The hell, Ace? I thought you were bothering that blonde of yours. Or did he dump you ass already?"
"This is said blonde," Marco said deadpanned.
It stayed silent on the other end of the line for a moment. "I assume you didn't dump him then," Smoker said eventually.
"I didn't." The arson inspector glanced over at Ace, who looked somewhat uncomfortable. That was to be expected after all. Ace said goodbye to his brother after explaining Marco had only called to say that Ace stayed over at the blonde's place, as he had fallen asleep at that moment. Nothing to worry about. The blonde frowned when he saw Ace didn't bat an eyelid while telling the lie. Apparently he didn't have any problems lying in his teeth if it meant protecting the people he loved. Still, Marco hoped he would see through Ace's lies is they were ever directed to him.
After the fireman had hung up, Marco handed him his own phone back. He got up from his chair to give Ace some privacy – he didn't really like to leave him alone with Smoker on the phone, but he trusted his boyfriend and the police captain sounded too pissed off to think about sex. The blonde could hear him yelling from the other end of the room. The arson inspector wandered into the hallway, to get Ace's discharge forms, when he saw a familiar figure. Law raised an eyebrow when he recognised Marco. "Well, if it isn't Mr Fenwick. Need new stitches already?"
"This time I'm here for Ace."
"What did he do this time? Dislocated shoulder? Jaw?" Law gave him a searching glance.
"Poisoning."
Law shook his head. "That guy will eat anything that resembles food. Your back still hurts."
Marco looked at him a little confused, one, since he didn't seem worried about Ace at all, and two, since his last remark was a statement and not a question. Before he could say anything, however, the doctor-to-be pulled him into an empty room.
Finally they arrived back at Marco's place. After being manhandled by Law again – though his back felt a little better – and being given a lecture about not overworking himself, Marco had gotten his boyfriend's discharge papers. Neither of them wanted to stay any longer in a hospital then necessary.
Ever since the calls Ace had become very quiet. The blonde assumed it was because he was tired and well, because he almost died tonight. The younger man didn't seem too worried about Smoker's safety, especially now that the police captain was informed and pissed.
Once inside, Ace immediately went upstairs. Marco followed him a little worried, though he longed to his bed as well. They undressed in silence before crawling under the covers. The arson inspector had hoped to cuddle up with his boyfriend, since he was sure he would fall asleep right away then, but the freckled man lay on the opposite side of the bed. The blonde was inclined to pull him close, but maybe Ace didn't like to snuggle up right now. Marco sighed an closed his eyes, waiting for the sleep that wouldn't come.
He was certain the fireman was already fast asleep when he suddenly heard a stifled snuffle. The blonde frowned. He assumed he heard it wrong when the sound was repeated. Ace was crying.
Rage filling him for anyone who would make his boyfriend upset, Marco stretched out his hand and caressed Ace's back. The younger man pulled away slightly. The blonde lifted himself up a little. "Ace," he said softly. "Look at me."
The covers were pulled over the head of black hair. Marco sighed again – ignoring how cute the action was – and grabbed the freckled man's shoulder, forcing him to turn around. Even if he was expecting an upset face, he still was taken aback by the tear streaked cheeks. Carefully he caressed the wet face. "Ace," he mumbled.
The younger man tried to hide his face again, but the blonde didn't allow it, pulling him close. "What's wrong?" he asked, even if he had a fairly good idea. Ace's shoulders shook in his hold. Marco caressed his hair, whispering soothing words in his ear.
Finally the freckled man calmed down a little. He wiped the tears from his cheeks and said: "Things are just so messed up right now. It was okay when that bastard just tried to kill me. But now he is going after the people I care about. I don't want to drag you down with me. What if he goes after Luffy? Or you? I don't know what I'd do if you got hurt because of me…"
Marco grabbed his boyfriend's chin, forcing him to look up. "No one is going to hurt me. And no one will ever hurt you again. I'll kill everyone who makes you cry."
Despite his tears Ace laughed. "I'm glad I'm on your good side." He allowed the blonde to kiss him, before snuggling up against him. Soon the younger man fell asleep.
Marco smiled a little and absent minded he caressed the raven haired man's back. The last though he had before sleep took over, was that that delivery man was going to pay.
The unlicensed car hardly came to a stop before a bound and gagged man was thrown out of it in front of the police station. The man, already unconscious, landed on the sidewalk with a loud thud. One might think he looked a little like a certain police captain. A few officers came running outside, but the vehicle already sped off, with three masked figures inside.
Ace woke up from the sound of a key turning in the lock. "Marco?" he called out groggily, rubbing his eyes. The arson inspector had made him call in sick today and told him to stay at his place. Ace hadn't minded, he hardly was awake enough that morning to make the phone call to the fire station.
A familiar blonde head of hair peeked around the door. "Did I wake you?"
"It's fine." The fireman moved the blanked off him and tapped invitingly on the couch next to him. He smiled when Marco sat down.
"It's nice to see you smile again," his boyfriend said, pulling him close.
Ace pouted. "Could we please forget my little breakdown? I was just tired. So where were you anyway?" he changed the subject.
Marco smiled and pressed a kiss on his hair. "Just had to deliver a package."
The freckled man hummed and wrapped his arms around the blonde, shifting a little on the couch. Apparently he hadn't put away the remote control after he had watched television earlier, as the TV suddenly switched on after his movement. The screen showed a news item. "…The police still has no idea who has made their job easier by dropping the known drug dealer off at the police station," the news reporter told them in a voice over. "Impersonating a police officer has now been added to the charge." A picture of a man with greenish grey hair was shown.
Ace's eyes went wide. "T-That's him! That's the guy who brought the cake. I told you he looked like Smokey!"
Marco hummed thoughtful. "Yes. I suppose he does."
~ To be continued
I wonder who those masked figures were~ Also, Law made another appearance, sooner than I expected XD
I assume the Japanese terms were well enough explained in the story, if not, feel free to ask :3 And if you want to see how iriminage goes, there are movies on Youtube :D
Let me know what you think~