Chapter Thirteen

Ace groaned as awareness hit him like a sea train. He started coughing almost immediately, choking on the stale and dirt filled air. He was curled up on his side with his knees drawn up to his chest. There was a heavy weight on top of him, crushing him and making it impossible to take deep breaths.

Blinking groggily, Ace stared at the limp hand hanging down in front of his face for a good minute before realization sunk in. "Marco." He choked out, shifting slightly.

Marco didn't answer. Ace clenched his fists and twisted his head upwards as much as he could with Marco on top of him. He glanced around the cramped space they were in, heart sinking.

Directly above them was one of the pillars that had once supported the sanctuary's ceiling. Something was holding it up four feet off the ground, creating a tiny pocket of space. It was the only thing that had saved them from being crushed to death.

Carefully crawling out from under Marco, Ace painfully twisted around and tentatively examined Marco for injuries. Marco's shirt was ripped in multiple places and stained in blood, but when Ace checked him over to see how serious the wounds were, he found nothing. No cuts, no bruises. Nothing.

Utterly perplexed, Ace ran a hand through his hair and winced when his fingers grazed a rather sizable lump. Pulling his hand back, it came away bloody. He grit his teeth and wiped the blood off on his pants.

"Marco." Ace tapped the man's cheek, eyes flitting to Marco's legs. They were both crushed underneath a large stone just up to his knees, blood pooling him in frightening quantities. It was a miracle that Ace had escaped being caught under the stone himself.

There were soft blue flames flickering on what was visible of his legs, the only light they had. Since the flames didn't appear to be hurting him, Ace guessed that he most have eaten a devil fruit of some kind. What was his moniker? Marco the Phoenix? "You need to wake up, now."

The commander groaned and slowly opened his eyes. His face was lined with pain, but there was a sharp alertness to his eyes. He groaned and shifted slightly.

"Don't move! Your legs are pinned underneath the rubble." Ace grit his teeth and tugged on the sea stone cuff that was still sapping all of his strength and energy.

Marco craned his neck around and peered at his legs, face pale and covered in dirt. He took in the gruesome sight his legs made, perfectly calm as he took several deep breaths. He cursed under his breath and shifted slightly, testing his legs and the stone that were crushing them. With an irritated huff he turned back to Ace, concern flashing in his eyes. "Are you alright?"

"Am I alright?" Ace repeated incredulously, staring at Marco disbelievingly. "Y-yeah, I'm fine. But you're not going to be if we don't get you out of here soon."

Glancing back at his legs again, Marco sighed and settled himself into a slightly more comfortable position. The pain was almost unbearable, but he forced himself to push past it.

If it had been Thatch, Jozu, or any of the other commanders with him, he would have just let himself pass out and let them sort the situation out. But he wasn't with one of the division commanders, or even another member of the crew. He was with Ace, who didn't know about Marco's devil fruit ability and was still painfully young.

Ace was already on the verge of panicking, not that Marco could blame him. The last thing Marco wanted to do at the moment was black out and leave Ace alone, even if unconsciousness was appealing.

Since he'd eaten his devil fruit, Marco had noticed that his already high pain tolerance had skyrocketed to almost inhuman levels. He could push through this.

Besides, he'd had worse. Much, much worse.

"Marco, you need to stay awake." Ace said, something different in his tone of voice. Less panicked and much more determined.

The teen shoved his hand in front of Marco's face. "You need to break my thumb."

"No," Marco said immediately, forcing Ace's hand aside. "We can wait until Pops digs us out, yoi."

"We can't wait that long. You'll bleed out-" Ace protested, eyes flashing in frustration.

"I won't. My devil fruit has healing capabilities. Once they dig us out, all I'll need is a few minutes to heal and a big meal to replenish my energy," Marco said, meeting Ace's gaze steadily. "They're going to get us out. Everything will be fine."

Ace's nose wrinkled as he stared down at Marco. He sighed heavily before sagging slightly, carefully pressing a hand to the still bleeding wound on his head. "This whole thing is ridiculous."

"You won't hear an argument from me," Marco responded, folding his hands under his chin to prop his head up. He forced himself to breath in and out at a steady pace. "Why didn't you tell us Luffy was kidnapped?"

"Does it matter?" Ace muttered, staring up the pillar sullenly.

"Shanks would have torn the entire castle down by himself to save Luffy, yoi," Marco said, forcing himself to stay still, despite the growing restlessness he felt at being trapped. And pain. A lot of pain. "You and Sabo both seem to respect Shanks, and trust him to a limited extent. So, why did you just rush off without telling anyone? CP-0 could have been a real problem if they had caught us off guard."

Marco shuddered to think what could have happened if one of the weaker members of either pirate crews had accidentally stumbled into the path of CP-0. He knew that the World Government was desperate to capture and execute Ace, but he never imagined they'd be willing to go up against Whitebeard and Shanks, especially so quickly. He'd been more concerned that a fight would break out between the two crews.

"We need to be able to take care of ourselves," Ace answered waspishly, pulling his knees up to his chest and grimacing as the movement jarred his ribs. The past week had not been kind to his body and he was definitely starting to feel it. "If we start depending on other people to save us now, it'll only hurt us in the long run when-"

"When we betray or abandon you?" Marco interjected pointedly. "That's incredibly cynical, yoi."

"I have to protect my brothers and my crew, no matter what. I can't let my guard down," Ace responded with a huff, wiping his forehead absently. Marco's flames were giving them light, but it was also raising the temperature in the tiny space. Not to mention using up the limited amount of air that they had left. "Can't you do something about those flames?"

"I'm suppressing most of them already, but…" Marco trailed off and mentally calculated how much oxygen they had left. "It won't do much good. If I put them out completely, it wouldn't be long before I lose consciousness and they'd start up again."

"Great." Ace sighed again and tugged at the collar of his shirt. It was already unbuttoned, but it was tempting to just take it off. But he had his reasons for always wearing a shirt. He missed the days that he had been completely unashamed to go shirtless.

"Whitebeard said that all of you are under his protection. We've given you no reason to distrust us, have we?" Marco pressed, unwilling to be side tracked from their conversation.

"Not yet," Ace said, glancing back at Marco. "I'm not being overly cynical or fatalistic—I'm being realistic. I've trusted people before and been betrayed. It's not impossible to gain my trust, but I just can't take the risk with Whitebeard."

Marco fell silent. For a moment, Ace worried that he lost consciousness. But before he could do anything to check, Marco spoke. "I was around your age when I first met Pops, yoi. It was before he was known as Whitebeard. The captain of the pirate crew I was with was about to beat me to death for disobeying an order. He'd wanted me to kill Jozu, who was already with Pops at the time, but I let him get away."

"So, what happened?" Ace asked, trying to act like he wasn't incredibly interested to hear the story.

"I thought I was going to die. No one was going to help me. In the entire world, there wasn't a single person that cared about me… who would miss me if I was gone," Marco paused, recalling the feeling of hopeless, of utter despair that he had felt in that moment. "I remember thinking, 'maybe it's better this way.'"

Fingers curling into fists, Ace visibly shuddered at Marco's words. Understanding flashed in his eyes, and for a moment Marco could see raw hurt in the lines of his face as Marco's words resonated in the teen.

"The captain was seconds away from kicking my head in, when out of nowhere the entire ship trembled and half the crew was overboard," Marco smiled slightly, remembering the sound of the ship's wood splintering and the cries of the crew. "Whitebeard had come for me. He defeated the entire crew and offered me a place on his."

Ace perked up slightly as Marco spoke. "You weren't one of the first crewmembers?"

"No," Marco shook his head slightly. "Though, I wouldn't call any of the pirates that were with him at the time original members of the Whitebeards, except for Jozu. Things were different then."

"So, you joined his crew after he rescued you?"

"Yeah, but I didn't trust him. Not for one second." Marco shook his head.

"What changed that?" Ace questioned softly, once again staring at an undiscernible spot on the ceiling.

"Pops saved my life," Marco murmured, closing his eyes briefly. "He risked everything to save my life. He lost most of his crew, sustained severe injuries, and lost a devil fruit that was literally priceless, all for me. I was so angry at him at first."

Marco had spent a good fifteen minutes yelling at Whitebeard as soon as he had fully recovered from the whole ordeal. The moment he'd stopped shouting, Whitebeard had merely smiled and said: "I'm glad you're okay, son." Marco remembered staring at Whitebeard incredulously before he'd started sobbing quietly. No one had ever cared about him. No one had considered him worth what Whitebeard had gone through to save him. "It was the first time I ever felt truly valued. Pops was the first person who ever truly cared about me. He considered my life more important than his own life—more precious than treasure, than all the gold in the world… I knew then that I'd follow him to the ends of the earth. I wasn't the first to join the Whitebeards, but I was the first to call him Pops."

They lapsed into silence. Above them, they could hear a slight rumble, which hopefully meant that they would be dug out soon. Ace continued staring at the ceiling, something tired and vulnerable flashing across his face.

"Why does everyone call him 'Pops'?" Ace asked, so quietly that Marco almost missed it.

"Because he calls us his sons, yoi." Marco answered, a smile spreading across his face.

Ace stared at Marco in surprise for a moment before turning away, eyebrows furrowed contemplatively.

The stone surrounding them trembled, dust filling the air as Marco bit back a groan of pain. He could sense Pops and the others somewhere above them, but he had no idea how close they were to actually digging them out.

His healing ability was rapidly draining him of energy and it was becoming more and challenging to stay awake.

"What happened? On Dawn Island," Marco asked, eyes closed as a wave of pain and exhaustion swept through his body.

Ace buried his head in his arms. He didn't want to relive what had happened again so soon after they had told Shanks. And they hadn't even told Shanks the entire story. "Why do you care?"

"I'm just trying to understand better, yoi," Marco answered, eyeing Ace through hooded eyelids. "You don't have to tell me."

Sighing, Ace directed his gaze to the ceiling once more. He was half tempted to refuse to say anything, but… Maybe telling Marco would help the commander understand why he could never join the Whitebeards. "Fine. You want to know what happened? I'll tell you."

"Dadan should've been back by now." Ace mumbled under his breath, tucking his hands into the sleeves of his oversized red sweater. It had been pouring rain for the past day and a half, making the dank cave they were hiding in even chillier than normal.

The three brothers had found the cave a month ago. It was high in the mountains and the entrance was so covered in vines and foliage, it was almost impossible to find unless you knew what to look for.

They'd been hiding in the cave from the marines for the past two days, ever since Sabo had been attacked while trying to steal a ship for them to escape the island.

Ace didn't know what he would have done if Dadan hadn't been there. Sabo's wounds were terrible and it had been nothing short of a miracle that they had managed to escape High Town.

Dadan, Dogra, and Magra had all done their best to treat Sabo's injuries, but they were completely out of their depth. They had done what they could with their limited knowledge and medical supplies, but Sabo wasn't doing well. Not at all.

A fever had set in almost immediately and he'd been incoherent from the pain and his high temperature. Ace had never seen Sabo look so bad, not even when he'd gotten sick with pneumonia when they had been seven. His skin was pale and his breathing was growing increasingly labored.

Ace was no stranger to death. He knew that if something wasn't done, Sabo would die.

Late in the night, Dadan had stood up abruptly from Sabo's side and announced that they were going to get medicine and a doctor.

"If we can't find a doctor to come willingly, we'll just have to kidnap one," Dadan had pronounced grimly, shoving a handkerchief into Luffy's hands. "Blow."

Luffy blew his nose noisily, eyes red and drooping steadily. He'd been fighting sleep for days, only napping fitfully whenever Ace sat down with him and hugged him close.

They were both afraid that if they let themselves sleep, something would happen to Sabo.

"Are we going to Fuusha village or High Town?" Magra asked, placing a hand on Sabo's forehead. He shook his head at the high temperature radiating from the boy.

"Both. You and Dogra go to High Town and get the medical supplies. I want you to break in and steal as much as you can carry," Dadan paused for a moment, thinking fast. "Don't just get medicine for burns. Make it look like a regular robbery."

Dogra and Magra both nodded. It wouldn't be the first time they had gone to High Town and robbed the pharmacy. They knew what to do.

"What about you, boss?" Dogra asked, placing a fresh, cool cloth on Sabo's forehead to help fight the fever.

"I'm going to Fuusha village to get the doctor." Dadan announced, pulling on her coat and boots.

They had left twenty minutes later, just as the wind outside had started to pick up. Ace had watched them disappear into the dark of night from the entrance of the cave, apprehension gnawing at him. He knew it was up to him to keep his brothers safe now.

That had been almost a full day ago.

Ace turned from the cave entrance and walked back to Luffy and Sabo. Luffy had been instructed by Dogra on ways to bring down Sabo's fever and had been doing so with meticulous, overly cautious care.

"Ace," Luffy's head jerked up the moment he heard Ace's footsteps. The boy's eyes were watering with tears. "He's getting worse."

Kneeling next to Luffy, Ace reached out and pressed a hand against Sabo's forehead. He winced at the heat emanating from Sabo's body. "His fever has risen…"

"We have to do something…" Luffy mumbled, wiping his nose with his sleeve. "Dadan still isn't back yet?"

"No," Ace chewed on his bottom lip. He inwardly debated whether going to High Town or going to Fuusha village would be better. "I'm going to find her. You stay here and take care of Sabo. I'll be back soon."

"Ace-" Luffy tugged on Ace's sleeve. "Fuusha is where the admiral is. You can't go there."

They'd found out that a marine admiral was in Fuusha the same day that Dadan had left for the village. Some of the other bandits had come to warn them hours after Dadan had set out. They didn't know who it was, but they did know that it wasn't Garp.

Garp. Who was nowhere in sight when they needed him most. They hadn't heard anything from him, even after Dadan had sent him a discreet note warning him about what was going on.

"I won't let him see me, obviously," Ace snapped, absently bending down to ruffle Luffy's hair. "It'll be okay. Trust me!"

Luffy's lower lip trembled. He glanced between Ace and Sabo and shook his head vigorously. "Dadan said for you not to go."

"Since when have we ever listened to Dadan?" Ace scoffed, rolling his eyes and grabbing one of their pipes from the ground. "I don't know where to find a doctor in High Town late at night. But I do know where to find a doctor in Fuusha. Look, I promise I'll come back. Hopefully with Dadan and a doctor. Just—take care of him while I'm gone, okay?"

"Hurry." Luffy said reluctantly, knowing that there was nothing he could do to stop Ace. He wasn't sure if he should stop Ace, anyways. Sabo was getting worse. He'd needed a doctor hours ago.

Ace nodded, eyes lingering on Sabo's pale face. He couldn't lose Sabo. He couldn't. "You better be here when I get back." He muttered under his breath, before forcing himself to turn and head out of the cave.

The weather was some of the worst he'd seen on the island as Ace approached the entrance to the cave. Wincing and pulling his hoodie more securely over his head, Ace carefully scanned the forest to make sure that the coast was clear.

Ace darted out from the cave and quickly ran toward the relative safety of the forest.

It would take several hours to make his way down the mountain to Fuusha, so he decided to pace himself instead of running the entire time. He needed to save his energy in case he ran into trouble.

The rain was making the ground turn muddy, slowing him down considerably. Thankfully, he could navigate the forest blindfolded. Literally. Garp had spent a week on the island when he was seven, making him spend the entire time wandering around the forest blindfolded for 'training.'

Forcing his mind from worrying about Sabo and Luffy, and the possibility of running into the marines, he instead focused on the task at hand—finding a doctor and Dadan.

Several hours later, Ace stopped running and hid behind a bush. Just ahead, he could see the faint light coming from the houses in Fuusha village.

He squinted, eyes scanning the village. He'd never been to it before. He'd never been allowed.

According to Luffy, the doctor's village was closer to the ocean than the forest, meaning he'd have to sneak past any marines present in the village to reach it. But, if he could make it to Makino's house, she could get the doctor for him.

Dadan had grilled Luffy about where Makino lived before she had left, so he knew roughly where her house was. Hopefully Luffy had been accurate with his instructions to Dadan, otherwise… it didn't really bear thinking about.

Decision made, Ace carefully made his way down the hill, grimly noticing that there was a significant amount of light coming from the village. The villagers might be asleep in their beds, but the marines were wide awake.

The village was dangerously devoid of good hiding places, but it was dark and Ace was quick. He didn't waste any time in making a beeline toward the nearest house. It was several yards from the rest of the village and all of the lights were out. As far as he could tell, there was no one nearby.

Ace reached the house as the rain stopped drizzling for the first time since he'd stepped outside of the cave. He glanced around cautiously, eyes focusing on the bright light coming from the center of the village. A cold knot settled in his stomach.

Now that he was closer, he could faintly hear noises coming from the village and see that the center of the village was filled with people.

"What's going on?" He murmured, debating if he should turn around. It was entirely possible that Dadan had been caught by the marines. She had a bounty out on her head, so she could have been spotted and recognized.

He shook his head as he inwardly debated with himself. He couldn't turn back. Not without at least trying to get a doctor or at least medicine for Sabo. Ace wouldn't be able to make it to High Town in time to do Sabo any good. It was now or never, especially if Dogra and Magra didn't make it back.

And… if they did catch him…

Shaking his head once more, Ace grimaced. He couldn't let himself go there.

Ace waited fifteen minutes to check and see if the marines had decided to patrol around the village, but no one came. He waited a minute more until he was satisfied that whatever was going on in the village had the marines' full attention, before springing forward out of his hiding place and dashing toward the village.
His skin was covered in a cold sweat. He crept around the back of it, keeping to the shadows as much as possible.
Now that he was closer, he could make out two distinct voices. One was booming and grating, fury seeping into every word. The other, he knew all too well.

"Why would I know some punk kid?! I'm a bandit, not a nursemaid!" Dadan growled, voice hard and scornful. "And if I did know where he is, don't you think I'd tell you for a reward?"

"I don't know," The chilling voice retorted. "Would you?"

Dadan started cursing loudly, dirtier than he'd ever heard from her before as he crept closer, heart sinking. She'd gotten herself caught after all! Now what was he supposed to do? It didn't feel right to leave her in their clutches without trying to do something, but he couldn't risk being spotted by the marines. And what could he do against such a large group of marines, not to mention an admiral?

"I think you know more than you're letting on," The man said, voice lowering dangerously. "I know that you came here for a doctor tonight. Perhaps for the boy that was injured at the docks? I received reports of a woman matching your description leaving there with a young boy."

"Him?" Dadan started laughing. "He's a rich kid from High Town. I kidnapped him to ransom him back to his parents."

Ace inched around the back of the house and started carefully edging his way along the side so he could see better what was happening. His heart was yammering in his chest, but he crept forward anyway.

"Don't think I can be fooled," The man growled. "I know that there were two other boys with you. This is your last warning. Tell me what I want to know, or there won't be enough of your face left intact to collect on your bounty."

Ace felt his mouth drop open in shock and terror at the man's words, but a hand cupping itself over Ace's mouth muffled any nose that might have been about to escape.

"Ace, listen to me! You have to get out of here now," Makino's voice whispering desperately in his ear made him quickly catch himself from instinctively elbowing her in the stomach. "They know that you're on the island and I think the Admiral is suspicious about Luffy. They know Garp comes here. The two of you have to leave right away before he starts searching Mt. Colubo."

Twisting around, Ace shook his head. "Sabo is sick and I can't just—I can't just leave Dadan like this!"

"You have to! Listen to me, Ace," Makino grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. "If they find you, there will be no one to protect Luffy and Sabo. They'll execute Luffy. And Sabo might even be executed or imprisoned because he knows about you."

"Why would they care about Luffy?" Ace asked in confusion, brow furrowing as cold dread wrapped it's icy fingers around his heart and squeezed.

"I don't know all the details, but his father is a very dangerous criminal. Garp warned me years ago about it," Makino bit her lip, tears shining in her eyes. "They'll execute him because of his father, just like you."

Ace stared at Makino in shock, unable to comprehend the information she had just told him. "Luffy's… like me?" He asked, voice slightly unsteady. He felt like the ground underneath his feet had just given way.

Luffy, his idiotic, stupidly loyal little brother, also carried the blood of one of the world's most notorious criminals. Ace wondered if he knew. He doubted it, not that Luffy would really care even if he did.

"Yes," Tears started streaming town Makino's face. "Listen to me Ace. Dadan knows what she's doing. You have to get out of here and hide, okay? Leave the island if you get the chance."

Half a dozen protests formed in his mind, but no words came out. He was angry, and desperate and helpless. There was nothing he could do against an admiral. If the admiral was even half as strong as Garp, there would be no way he could beat him.

There was Sabo and Luffy to think about, too. Now it wasn't just Sabo's life on the line; Luffy's was in danger too. If Ace didn't get back to the cave soon, it was entirely possible that Luffy would try to go for help and get caught by the marines while wandering around.

"What about you?" Ace asked, regarding her fearfully. He didn't think the marines would simply let her go if they found out she had helped him.

"I'll be fine," Makino wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled. "I promise, I'll be waiting here for the three of you. So, definitely come back someday, okay?"

Makino pressed her forehead to Ace's and wrapped her arms tightly around him. She clung to him, unwilling to release him from the enclosed safety of her arms.

Shutting his eyes, Ace stayed perfectly still except to return the hug and focused on memorizing every detail he could of her. His eyes stung with unshed tears. He didn't want her to let go.

All too soon she pulled away, wiping tears and snot from her pale face. She sniffed and handed Ace a small satchel. "This has medicine for Sabo and instructions on how to treat him. I'm hoping Garp will be able to come find you, but-"

"Gramps will definitely come for us," Ace said, with more confidence than he felt. There was a growing uncertainty about Garp in the back of his mind, feed by years of insecurity and feelings of worthlessness. "He definitely will." He repeated stubbornly. For Luffy.

"The marines might be watching him," Makino whispered, reaching out to stroke Ace's face. "He won't be able to help you if he leads the marines straight to you. Just—just trust that he'll do everything he can, okay? He really does love all three of you boys."

Ace nodded. There was something incredibly final in her words and the heartbroken way she was gazing at him. His eyes were watering, but he refused to cry. He bit down hard on his lower lip, chin trembling.

"Go now. Quickly," Makino gently stroked Ace's face with a thumb, as if she could wipe away his unshed tears. "Take care of your brothers."

Knowing that he had no choice, Ace half turned and took a few steps away from her when the sound of a gun being cocked froze him completely.

"Don't move." A marine ordered, pointing the rifle directly at Ace.

"Please," Makino stood up and instantly placed herself between Ace and the marine. "This isn't who you're looking for. He's just a child. Let him go."

The marine shook his head, eyes burning into Ace with terrible certainty in them. "He's the right age and he looks—he looks like-"

"He's a child!" Makino said, voice hitching. "Please. Please. He's just—just a child. He hasn't done anything."

The marine's resolve wavered. The barrel of the gun lowered just slightly from where it had been pointing at Makino's chest. "That may be true… but this was never about anything he's done, except that he was born."

Those words crashed into Ace like a tidal wave, panic flooding through him. "Makino, move out of the way." He pleaded hoarsely, hands balling into fists.

A Celestial Dragon had destroyed Sabo's ship, almost killing him in front of dozens of marines. There'd been one standing next to that monster when the shots had been fired. If he hadn't seen that, he might not have understood the danger that Makino was putting herself in.

"No," Makino firmly, shaking her head. "Ace-"

Things seemed to slow. Ace surged forward, intent on attacking the marine, but Makino flung herself in front of him and shoved him back.

Her arms stretched wide to shield him from the rifle as she shouted for Ace to run. The marine tried to shove Makino out of the way, but she stubbornly refused to budge.

Ace saw the marine's fingers inching for the trigger and something inside him snapped. "Noo!" He shouted, lunching forward to push Makino out of the way—to get to the marine before he could pull the trigger.

The noise of the gunshot left Ace's ears ringing as Makino fell to the ground. For a moment, Ace just stared at her in horror as she clutched her shoulder. Blood dripped through her fingers, staining her hands and shirt crimson.

Ace's eyes snapped to the marine, but he was flat on the ground. He was unconscious and foaming at the mouth, much to Ace's confusion. He hadn't even been close enough to hit him, but the marine was out cold.

Shouting erupted from nearby. It was only a matter of minutes before the marines reached them, but Ace was frozen in place.

"Ace," Makino grabbed Ace's arm, smearing blood on him as she tugged him close. "Run. You have to protect your brothers."

"I can't just-" Ace started, but Makino simply shook her head and gave him a not so gentle shove towards the woods.

"Go!" Tears were streaming down Makino's face, but she smiled at him. "Get Luffy and Sabo out of here."

It went against everything in his being to run away, but Ace started turning right as a tall, broad shouldered man with a white coat and a hat that had "marine" written on it ran into view.

The man's eyes narrowed dangerously, instantly honing in on Ace. Something crimson and scorching started streaming down his shoulders and arms, so hot the air was shimmering from the heat. "At last. I've found you."

Ace knew what the white coat meant. He'd seen Garp wearing one enough times to recognize the admiral's coat anywhere. This wasn't a fight he could win. If he stayed, his brothers would be left alone. Sabo was going to die without medical help and Luffy would be killed if he was caught.

There was really no choice. Nothing else he could do. He grit his teeth, furious, bitter, and so very, very afraid for Makino.

He swallowed hard, glanced at Makino one last time, and ran.

"What happened after that?" Marco asked, opening his eyes when Ace abruptly stopped speaking. "Ace?"

Marco stared at the teenager. Ace's hands were over his face, as if they could block out the images burned into his mind. He'd grown paler and paler the longer he'd spoken, making his freckles stand out starkly in the dim lighting.

"You don't have to keep going if you don't want to, yoi," Marco said at last, when the teen remained silent. He knew the end result of what happened that night, so he could fill in some of the blanks. "I'm going to kill Akainu when I see him again," he added under his breath.
It'd been a long time since Marco had felt such rage boiling up inside of him. It helped him push past the pain.

He tried to imagine Ace, Luffy, and Sabo facing off against Akainu only a few days ago. With the added knowledge that it had been Akainu at Dawn Island, encountering him a few days ago after the seemingly close call with Whitebeard must have been absolutely terrifying.

Ace didn't respond, instead once again burying his face in his knees and wrapping his arms around his legs.

"It's a miracle you managed to escape Akainu at all," Marco said, allowing himself to imagine creative, painful ways that he could bash Akainu's face in. He wondered how Ace had escaped, with Akainu undoubtedly doggedly chasing after him. "Though I still don't see why this was supposed to convince me that you shouldn't join the crew, yoi."

"He killed Makino," Ace said, voice choked with emotion and muffled by his knees. "She was burnt alive."

Marco grimaced and shut his eyes briefly. He couldn't imagine how traumatic that must have been for Ace. He'd watched friends and crewmates—his brothers, die in front of him. To lose a parental figure that way… Marco's mind flashed to Whitebeard and he shuddered.

"Some of the villagers tried to help her, but…" Ace trailed off, shuddering. "When they realized that she—that she was… they turned on the marines."

Ace could still remember the moment of realization-of horror he'd had seconds before the shooting had redirected toward the villagers instead of at him. There were no words—no possible way to describe what he'd felt as he watched the villagers fall as the marines turned against them. They hadn't stood a chance, most of them completely unarmed. He shuddered.

"I couldn't do anything. Akainu came after me and I thought maybe if I led him away from the villagers, maybe I could help them," Ace lifted his head, eyes haunted by the memories replaying in his mind. "He chased me for a while, but something—I'm not sure what, but something stopped him from chasing me. I don't know exactly what happened after he stopped, but he went back the village and burned it to the ground. I don't know how anyone could have survived."

I can't believe he survived… Marco shook his head and grimaced, heart heavy and aching in compassion for Ace. What was he supposed to say in response to what Ace had just told him? There were no words.

Just looking at Ace made his head hurt. He was finally beginning to understand what was going through Ace's head and he could guess the point Ace was trying to get across by telling him this. He wasn't sure he'd act or feel any differently, if their roles were reversed.

"I barely managed to make it back to Luffy and Sabo," Ace continued, not noticing the deeply pained expression on Marco's face. "We escaped that night, just in time to see High Town get shelled. They destroyed it and set fire to the Gray Terminal, all because I was there. Because someone helped me. If the marines and the World Government were willing to murder innocent people like that, what do you think they'll do to pirates?!"

Before Marco could say anything in response, Ace continued, voice growing louder with each word, eyes fierce and furious. "It wasn't just Dawn Island— once they destroyed an entire village just because they let us stay overnight and treated our wounds. They sent Cipher agents against two of the Yonko, on the off chance we'd join you. What do you think they'd do if we actually joined? I can't let something like that happen again, not if I can prevent it. Besides that, your crew is huge. Can you really guarantee that none of them hold a grudge against Roger? That none of them will try and take a swing at me or decide that they want the bounty on my head or that I'm not worth all of the trouble?"

Above them, the stones trembled dangerously, causing Ace to flinch. They both waited with bated breath for the shaking to stop, coughing as it grew more difficult to breathe because of the thinning, dust filled air.

"First of all," Marco said once his breathing was more under control, eyes narrowing as he finished processing everything that Ace had just said. "You're right. We're pirates. Not defenseless villagers. We can handle ourselves, and to suggest that we can't is mildly insulting. Our captain is one of the four emperors of the oceans. He's called the strongest man in the world. And he knows exactly what the consequence would be if you accepted his offer to become one of his sons. He knows better than you what will happen, but he considers you of such value that he's willing to risk everything if it means giving you a home and a family. You're right. Some of our crew do have grudges against Roger. I'm sure not everyone will agree with having you join the crew, but they'll either get over it or leave. Pops' word is final when it comes to who he accepts as a son. It's as simple as that, yoi."

Ace's eyes widened, face painfully young as he gaped at Marco's words. For a moment, Marco could almost see longing shining in his eyes. But almost immediately, his expression became more guarded and he glanced away. "It's really not."

Sighing in mild frustration, Marco tilted his head thoughtfully. "Why were you so quick to trust Jinbe?"

"I don't trust him, not exactly," Ace responded slowly, scratching his head slightly sheepishly. "But… I beat him. It took five days, but I beat him. Even though I didn't trust him, I wasn't worried about him being around us because I knew that Sabo and I could take him if he tried something. Whitebeard…"

"Ah," Marco sighed. If Whitebeard decided to attack or betray them, what could they truly do against the strongest man in the world? Ace hadn't even been able to so much as scratch Whitebeard when they had fought. "I understand. I suppose you have a choice then; you can continue distrusting us. We'll take you back to Paradise just like we promised and we'll go our separate ways. Or, you can take a chance on us. You might be surprised with what happens, yoi."

Before Ace could respond, there was another tremor and a rumble that sounded far too close for comfort. It was quickly followed by another, even more violent tremor that caused the stones above them to grind together dangerously.

"What are they trying to do?!" Ace grunted, coughing heavily as he unconsciously edged closer to Marco. "Bury us twice?"

"They know what they're doing, yoi." Marco responded, staring up at the ceiling calmly.

The rumbling stopped abruptly. A second later, the pillar that had saved them from being crushed was split in two. Blinding, early morning sunlight streamed in, along with a burst of fresh air.

"Took you long enough." Marco said with a smile, staring up at the giant face peering down at them.
"Glad to see you in one piece," Whitebeard said, grinning happily at the sight of his son. His smile faded when he saw that Marco's legs were pinned and Ace's pale complexion. "Let's get you out of there."

This was a really, really heavy chapter and the longest one yet! This one took me a long time to write, especially the flashback.
Please let me know what you thought of it!
Thanks for all of the reviews! They're greatly appreciated :D
Feedback/reviews are always greatly appreciated and reread multiple times!