Merry Christmas! Well, if you celebrate Christmas. If not, I hope you still got presents. I sure did, and you can count this as one, too! I didn't go to church last night (YES!) and wrote instead. Also got a crap-ton of Amazon gift cards. HAHA! BOOKS! I want to thank you all for your continued support! It means a lot to me. This chapter was hard to write, as the next few have some major plot progression, and I really seriously can't wait to get to it. Not going to say what it is, obviously Also, This is the longest story I have by words if not by chapters so far. Pretty cool, even if we are still under 100 reviews. I'm still proud of the effort I've put into this. Now I just need to write more for Reverse Tide and Dark Skies...I need a job with more days off!

Question of the chapter: "Did you/Are you having a nice holiday?" Mine is going well, but the drive home is going to be annoying with work in the morning, lol!

"I'm fine," the teen whined as Ducky gently ran a practiced hand along the side of his neck, feeling for any lumps that would signal a slipped vertebrae. "Ace won't ever hurt me."

"Yes, well, you'll forgive me if I beg to differ." The doctor gently slapped the antsy hands away as the child huffed, "I did see him give your neck a bit of rough treatment."

Brown eyes blinked up at him, doe-eyed and confused, "That? Ace'n'me've done that before. Everyone always screams lots, and I donno why. It doesn't hurt."

"I think because it looks really scary," Palmer explained to the boy, "I really thought you were dead when I saw you laying there."

"Shishishsihsi! Really? Cool!" Luffy pulled away, looking at him with bright eyes and Ducky let him. He hadn't felt anything abnormal at all. The skin didn't even look bruised.

"No, not cool! Where would you even get the idea that that was cool?" Abby snapped, smacking him on the back of the head and sending the hat fluttering.

Luffy quickly caught the wayward hat rubbing where she had hit, the smile never leaving his face, "Horror movies. You know, like Jason and Freddy flicks? MMMM, except I guess it's more of a Michael Myers movie. Snapping someone's neck..."

"Horror movies?"

"Yeah! Ace loves them! I like the monster ones more, but he's a fan of the...um...you know, ones where it's a dude in a mask. Or the guy next door."

"I see." Ducky hid his uneasy feeling, instead smiling brightly at the boy, "Well, you seem to be fine."

"Told you!"

"So why don't you go to Abby's lab? I'm sure she can find something there to entertain you." He couldn't help the small chuckle as the boy practically dragged Abby behind him, though he had no clue where he was going. "Palmer?"

"Yes, Doctor Mallard?"

"Those strange bruises you discovered on Moria Gekkō, have you sent the images to Abby?"

Palmer adjusted his glasses, "Yes, Doctor, I have. Was there anything else you needed me to do?"

"No, Palmer. That will be all. Why don't you head on home for the night? It's getting a tad late, and I'm afraid we are going to be here for some time longer. No sense in us all staying."

"If you're sure?" Ducky nodded, and his assistant sighed heavily. He felt bad, thinking about how he'd left the young man in charge of the morgue while he'd been away, even though he knew Palmer was more than capable. Still, he had been quite impressed when he'd returned to find the lad had discovered what appeared to be hand-prints on Moria's ankles. "Well, if you need me for anything, call. I'm just a short drive away."

"Have a good evening, Mr. Palmer." He nodded to his protégé as the young man headed down the hall before walking towards where he knew the Director and Gibbs would be waiting for him.

As he suspected, both men were standing in front of the monitor in the observation room. Gibbs raised a brow at him, "How's the boy?"

"Perfectly fine, as far as I can tell. Not even shaken up, if you can believe it." The old doctor shrugged, "To him, it was just normal behavior."

"Uh-huh. Find out what his ability is?" Gibbs' attention was back to the screen as he fiddled with it.

"Not in so much. I'm hoping Miss Sciuto has more luck. Ah, now here we go." Ducky wasn't surprised when the video showed Ace's eyes open after what could only be a few moments after they left. Still, the man had not moved for quite a bit, looking at the window with a contemplative air. He caught a half grin, the audio kicked in.

"Luffy..." The word was barely a whisper, but the sleeping boy's eyes were open instantly, eyebrow raised as he rolled his eyes without moving his head. Something in the tone had Vance frowning at the screen before the next words were even uttered, and the doctor thought he recognized it as well but he couldn't place it. "I'm gonna Eat. You. Up." Those words were not nearly half as terrifying as when combined with the ungodly squeal the boy let out as his whole body convulsed forward, as far away from his brother as he could get even as Ace's strong arms pulled him back and the man...

"Did he just bite him?" Gibbs took the words right out of his mouth.

"I believe so." Ducky stared in shock as the scene was rewound and played again.

Yes, it definitely looked like Ace bit Luffy, narrowly avoiding having his nose smashed as Luffy's head whipped backwards with a loud yelp. The black haired boy had a death grip on his hat as he squirmed in vain in his captor's vice-like hold. Hysterical giggling gasped out as Luffy beat on the table with his feet, but Ace apparently ignored his panic. When they could see his face, he wore a cocky grin, enjoying it.

As Luffy continued to thrash, Vance growled out, "My God, what does he do to that boy, Ducky? That's practically..."

"What the hell was that for?" Luffy's voice cut him off. He didn't sound like a passive, frightened victim now, he sounded pissed.

Ace's tone was in contrast, light and airy. Like Luffy's anger didn't matter at all, "What? Can't a guy tease his little brother once and awhile?"

The younger looked away first, shifting his glare to his hat as he fiddled with it, "Bastard, that isn't funny! Tickling isn't funny at all!"

Vance snorted, "That didn't look like tickling to me. How about you guys?"

"Nope."

"Hardly." Though his voice was bitter, Ducky's attention wasn't on the Director. He was watching Luffy's hands play with the ribbon of his hat. He barely noticed Ace's statement that they were alone, beyond considering the possibility that he had deliberately bit his brother in order to ascertain that. A fact he found most unforgivable, despite the fellow's apparent remorse.

He wasn't the only one judging by Gibbs' "Good boy" at Luffy's determined attempt to ignore his brother. Or at least that was what they thought he was doing until he shouted out, holding up something in his hand, a wide grin plastered on his face. Ace seemed completely dumbfounded, questioning his brother on what he had. Unfortunately the camera didn't pick up what the items were, not with Luffy roughly shifting Ace's arms around. It wasn't until he started his story, which was actually quite humorous, that Ducky suspected what the boy was doing. It was confirmed when the first cuff opened with an audible click. The second cuff followed not long after, Luffy looking quite pleased with himself.

The effect on Ace was instant. The young man took a deep breath, a flush of color returning to his cheeks. He hadn't noticed until then how much the freckles had been standing out. His whole posture became more relaxed as well, despite the obviously worried look he turned to a now almost completely limp Luffy.

"Something's wrong with the kid." Gibbs pointed out as the man gently shifted his brother around and got to work picking the locks. "That right there? I think that's why he said no more cuffs. Looks like Luffy is affected a lot more by this stuff then Ace."

"So...Why'd ya do it?" Luffy asked in a bored tone while he watched his brother work. All three men shifted forward.

"Now isn't the time for this Lu. And I didn't. Ok?"

"Ace." The tone was very demanding, "Not the killing part. I mean the other thing. What happened? You don't normally me..."

Ace snapped back, "Luffy! We'll talk about this later, alright?"

The teen pouted, and the moment the handcuffs were completely off Luffy he crossed his arms over his chest with a huff. As Ace sighed gustily with a pensive look on his face, Luffy's color rapidly improved, though the boy still looked exhausted as he leaned against Ace. Ducky found the mixed signals of being 'angry' with the man and sitting on his lap very interesting, yet the boy made no move to get off. In Fact, he seemed to be waiting for something.

Finally Ace let out curse, "Shit! I didn't mess up." his expression was clearly sour.

"Sounds to me like he thinks he was set up." Vance muttered over Luffy's reply.

"Yes, well, if this was one of Tony's movies I suspect this would be the part where he would go on a long soliloquy on who had set him up. Too bad for us that does not seem to be the case." Ducky really wished he'd at the very least explain on what Luffy's abilities actually were. Normally he enjoyed a good mystery, but after the scare he'd had just a short while ago, he was sorely tempted to shake the answers out of one of them. Not that he thought for a minute it would work. But, perhaps a Gibbs slap might...

"The door's locked." Luffy huffed, jingling the handle for effect.

Gibbs leaned in, obviously this was the real reason he'd come to the room, "Now let's see how the hell he keeps melting locks."

Ace's tone was snarky as he tried the lock as well, "Of course. It can't ever be easy, can it? Let me see." The man ran a hand through his disheveled hair before flipping off the lock. His finger still proudly telling the world what he thought of the door, he grinned over his shoulder at Luffy, who was laughing. The digit lit up red then white hot. All three men stared in amazement as he poked out the lock, melting it like butter. "And that is how I feel about being locked in. Right, Luffy?"

The grin he received was so wide, it looked fake. Given his years of medical experience, Doctor Mallard was sure it was physically impossible to grin that wide. "Shihihishi. Right! Now what?"

As the video ended, the three of them walked over to the door, looking at the still slightly warm blob of metal that was stuck to the floor. The lock itself was completely smooth on the inside, the wood of the door was barely even scorched. It was an impressive level of control, no matter how you looked at it, and it made Ducky very glad that Ace had not apparently taken the little fight out in the hall seriously. If he had, he could have easily burned them all to death. It was a sobering thought when it came once more on the heels of how young Ace was to have such control. How often, he wondered, did his control slip, and who paid the price? The worry was, of course, it would be the one closest to him. His brother.

Ducky was rather surprised with how subdued Ace was when the three of them entered the conference room. The young man was just sitting at the conference table, one hand holding up his head as he stared blankly at a spot on the table. Ziva stood at attention just behind him, apparently ready to use force if the man started to act up for all the good it would do. For a second before he noticed them, the look on his face was conflicted before his cocky grin slid back into place. Doctor Mallard wasn't fooled by the mask, and he doubted the others were.

"I was beginning to think you had forgotten about me." Ace leaned back. "My feelings were hurt."

"Somehow I doubt that," Vance pulled out a seat directly across from the youth and sat, "That was an interesting trick you pulled with the door."

"I've got no clue what you're talking about." His manner was dismissive, all the anger he'd exhibited before was gone. Idly, the elder doctor wondered if it was just buried behind the mask, or if he'd actually been angry in the first place. The more he watched him, the harder it was to get an accurate reading on Ace.

"I find that difficult to believe. People tend to remember their fingers being on fire." Vance raised an eyebrow at him, "I'm expecting you to pay for the damages."

"And I'm expecting the world to stop spinning on it's axis. Hasn't happened yet." The man smirked. Interesting, his tactics have changed. Deflection instead of outright denial. "You know, physics and all that."

"I don't really see you as the type to be overly concerned with physics, given your, ah, unique abilities. Or morals, for that matter." Vance replied, the jab obvious.

"Whatever." Ace's shrug was easy-going despite the malice heating his gaze before he looked away and focused on Gibbs, "We done here?"

Gibbs actually snorted, "What happened to cooperating?"

"I am. You just haven't said anything intelligent. So I'm concluding that we're done." Ace put his hands on the table and went to stand.

"Why don't you start by telling me how you managed to blow up a storage room?"

The man's posture stiffened for a second before relaxing once more, "Seriously? No Fucking Clue. Never happened before. There. Happy now?"

"So you admit you were there?"

He rolled his eyes, "If it'll shut you idiots up, yes."

Ducky leaned forward, intrigued by the small tells Ace was giving off, the slight shifting in his seat, the way his hands fiddled with a pen. What exactly is he so nervous about? "When I examined the body, I noticed extensive damage. If I may ask what exactly Moria had done to incur your wrath?"

Ace looked at him for the first time, his eyebrows scrunched together and head cocked to the side. After a moment he started to laugh. It wasn't a nice sound, full of derision as a crazed look appeared in his eyes. The change was startling as it was frightening. It took only a few minutes for him to calm down enough to answer.

"Besides messing with Luffy, you mean?" It was the first time he'd even mentioned Luffy since they'd arrived in the room. Ducky wondered at that, and the tone he'd used, full of hatred, but at who? concluding he either truly felt nothing for the younger beyond a possession, or perhaps he was trying to keep the focus on himself. It was difficult to tell, and more than likely it was a combination of the two. He smirked, "What do you even know about Moria?"

"You mean besides the fact that he was a Devil-fruit user like yourself?" Vance challenged causing the young man to blanch, the smile falling away rapidly. "Not much. Except you killing him and setting him on fire, that is."

"Look, we seem to have a misunderstanding here." Ace held up a hand in a placating manner. Ducky watched him, wondering what he would say to hide his abilities.

Gibbs shook his head, "About you being a Devil-fruit user? Nope. I don't think there's any misunderstanding there. Not after that little display earlier."

"Not about that...well, about that, too? But that's kind of moot right now." Ace scratched his head, "You guys seem to think I'm the one who offed Moria. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad the jackass is dead, and I might have deliberately stepped on his face a few times after the fact, but I didn't kill him."

"You really expect us to believe that?" Gibbs leaned in, challenging him.

Ace shrugged, "It's the truth."

"Alright, assuming that we believe you, who killed him then?"

Ace's lie was obvious as he broke eye contact, "I don't know, some dude just paid me a lot of money to stash the body and light it up."

"He tell you where?" Vance pressed, getting a nod after a moment of hesitation. The young man was growing increasingly agitated, a faint crackling could be heard. "Why there? Why a navy base?"

"Didn't say, and I didn't ask." The mop of dark hair was brushed back out of his face, "Not my place."

Something about how he'd said that struck Ducky as odd. It didn't match at all with what he knew of the young man, nor did the sudden nervousness. In the span of a few minutes Ace had gotten spooked. I need to stop this now, he's going to snap. The problem was, he couldn't tell exactly what had triggered the change.

Gibbs' was incredulous, he brushed off Ducky's hand when he tried to warn him away from pushing the matter further. "The hell it isn't. You mean to tell me you just snuck onto a highly secure naval base and committed an act of terror and you didn't bother to find out why?"

"Stop asking me!" Flames danced to life on Ace's shoulders as he pounded the table. Ziva moved to jump on him only to be waved off by the Director as the young man glared daggers at Gibbs. He continued shouting, "I DON'T KNOW! I couldn't ask, alright?! That's not how it works!"

A moment passed in silence as all four of them watched him slump forward, resting his head in his hands as the flames slowly faded. He shivered as if suddenly cold and refused to look up at them, no longer the self confident young man from his earlier interview. Ducky kept a hand on his friend's arm, meeting Vance's eye. They gave Ace a moment to collect himself. Even still, he found himself wondering how much of it was an act, a play for sympathy.

"Not how what works, my boy?" Ducky finally asked. There was no mistaking the true terror in those dark eyes, the look that screamed 'I've said too much' however. Whatever Ace had done in the world, to his brother...it was obvious that the young man was badly broken himself, and Ducky wondered once again where he'd gotten his Devil-fruit at such a young age.

Ace shook his head, shutting down even as he opened his mouth. Whatever he was about to say however was lost when the door opened after just a cursory knock. A woman with shoulder length ebony black hair and icy blue eyes stood on the other side, dressed in a form fitting pencil skirt and low buttoned shirt. She surveyed the room with a half smile, tapping away on her cellphone before slipping it into her pocket.

Director Vance stood, stiff at the intrusion, "I don't know who you are, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave. We're in the middle of talking to a witness."

"Witness, now? Well, that's good to hear." The woman smiled magnanimously. "Where's the other one?"

"I'm not asking. Leave. Now." Gibbs was now standing, having taken one look at Ace's face which was full of scorn and worry he grabbed the woman's arm and attempted to push her out of the room.

"I'm afraid I can't do that. Robin Nico. I'm Ace and Luffy's attorney." She handed each of them a card.

"Don't want her. Get me a public defender. Hell, I'll do without an attorney."

"Little Luffy is a minor, Ace. I'm afraid you can't be rid of me that easily." Her smile was enigmatic as his was hostile.

"Get her out of here! Robin, you stay the hell away from Luffy, you hear me? I'm not playing any of your fucked up games."

"You sure you want to turn her down?" Ziva asked, holding up the card, "Ohara Law Firm is one of the most respected out there. Not to mention expensive."

"Yeah, I know. Problem is, a lawyer works for their client." He snapped back, confusing them.

Miss Nico laughed, "Ace, are you still going on about that? That was years ago."

"It was a year and a half ago, you bitch. And thanks to you, I ended up in solitary. Don't think I've forgotten the time you 'helped' Luffy, either. Helped him right into a six week stint in juvi, you harpy." Ace glared at her.

"I'm afraid I don't understand." Ducky looked at the card, then at Ace. The young man shifted the glare to him, but he held his ground. After a moment it lessened at the man shrugged.

"A Lawyer's job is to help their clients, right? Well, I sure as hell can't afford some high class double-talking bitch like her," The woman continued to smile, "so why would she take my interests into account?

"My boy, I believe you are mistaken. That's not how it works. The client..."

"Is whoever pays our price." Robin cut him off, "It might not be the case in your world, sir, but I assure you, in the one Ace has grown up in, it is." The serine smile never wavered, despite her harsh words, "I can understand his hostility. However, Mr. Ace, you seem to be laboring under some false impressions."

"Like what? I can still refuse your 'help', damn the consequences. What do you care, anyway? You've already been paid." He snapped back.

Her phone buzzed and she took it out, ignoring his outburst. She typed a quick response before returning her attention to the young man. Robin raised a delicately manicured eyebrow, receiving a smug smirk in reply. The message was clear 'anything you want to say to me, you say in front of them. Witnesses.' It was obvious he didn't trust her.

Finally she nodded, "You could refuse. However, it's in my best interests if you don't. You see...my clients would be most put out."

"Clients?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. As in 'more than one.' At current count, I have four clients clamoring to take your cases jointly, and the office has received many 'suggestions' for a charity case, as it were." Her smile this time was a lot more real than the others.

Ace leaned forward, "Who?"

"The names are obviously confidential. However, I can say that a certain business mogul has expressed an interest in her future husband..."

"He's not going to marry her! She's like ten years older than him for Christ's sake!"

"...and brother in law. Two shipping companies have expressed an interest with unlimited backing as well..."

"Two? Who the hell?"

"And a certain man who wishes to tell you that 'blue really brings out the color of her eyes' as well." Her phone buzzed, "Ah. Looks like another shipping company has hired us to represent you."

"What the f..." Ace stared at her.

"Really, the only requests the clients have are as follows. One, I keep you and your brother's best interests in mind both in the short term and long term. Two, I do not force my services on you. Three, that man is to remain uninvolved, or removed from the situation if possible. Are these terms acceptable to you, Ace?"

"B-but...He, I, Lu...The money? I can't..." The look of confusion faded, "You'll help Luffy, first. No matter, what. Luffy always comes first."

"Of course." She smiled. Ace nodded, his shoulders slumping, "If I may say, this might be the most lucrative venture for our Law Firm yet, so, it is a pleasure doing business for you, Ace."