Warnings: nothing explicit, violence and cursing

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.

YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT:

strays-fic dot tumblr dot com

GOOD LUCK. YOU'LL NEED IT.

(oh yeah also this chapter goes out to ari, the absolute sabo to our ace)

Chapter 34 – Sabo

Sabo lies perfectly still, determined not to let an eye or a finger twitch, as the door opens. The gag is rough against his gums, pulled far too tight to be comfortable, and the items of clothing tied around his wrists and ankles are harsh and constricting. Pushing down his panic at being in such a vulnerable position, he makes sure to keep his breathing regular, pupils resolutely unmoving, face slack. The presence of another person in the room isn't noticeable at first, especially since they, like Law, aren't breathing. After a few seconds, however, Sabo can just hear the sound of them shifting slightly on their feet. As if they're tensing, ready for a standoff.

"Rayleigh-ya," Law acknowledges, voice cool. Rayleigh. The name is familiar to Sabo, but he can't recall why.

"Law," a level male voice replies, just as calm and collected. "I heard your voice. Talking to yourself, is it?"

Sabo puts everything he has into staying utterly still, breathing slowly as he feels a cold gaze on him. The gag feels like it's tightening with every breath he takes. The feeling of claustrophobia intensifies, but he refuses to give in to it. Sabo has never had a problem with small spaces before. His room in the orphanage was practically a cupboard. Travelling from the west to Edgetown involved a lot of small, uncomfortable spaces. Hell – he, Ace and Luffy (his heart aches slightly at the memory) grew up in a tiny hut, shoved together with no concept of personal space. So why does it bother him right now? Why does panic flood Sabo at the darkness behind his eyelids, at the feeling of being constrained and watched?

One thing's for sure – something happened between the night at the base and now. Something big. It hovers just beyond his consciousness, a body of bad just past the veil of memory. Sabo isn't even sure whether he wants to know what it is.

"Yes. It gets lonely, you know, locked in a room with an infected man and no form of entertainment." Law's voice drips with sarcasm. "Tickling your empathy, am I?"

"Naturally," replies Rayleigh without missing a beat. "And I came to express curiosity. Surely all that talking must have come close to waking…Sabo." His voice holds a strange tone, as if he knows exactly what's going on without even trying. It's close to amusement.

"Apparently not."

There's a long silence, and for a second, Sabo is acutely aware of the sound of his own breathing. It really is the only sound in this whole place. Each breath feels like releasing air into a vacuum.

Then Rayleigh's voice speaks, and it's lower and more dangerous than before. "We're all in here for a reason. None of us are idiots. Most of us, however, are wondering when you're going to drop the act and show your true colours." Amusement still colours his tone.

Law snorts. "If you think I'm a traitor, why haven't you killed me already?"

"Because if we killed every bad person in Stormy Down, there would be nobody left here."

This apparently shuts Law up. After a few seconds of meaningful silence (Sabo swears he can feel the tension on the air even with his eyes closed), the floor creaks once again as Rayleigh moves, footsteps moving back towards the door. "This has been a nice chat. I'll be leaving now, Law."

The footsteps reach the door and Law says, "You're locking it again?"

"I am. Goodnight." Once more, amusement is thick in his voice and Sabo supresses a shudder as it rattles beneath his skin. Then, the door opens, Rayleigh steps out and it closes with a 'click' as the lock slips into place. A few seconds pass and Sabo holds his breath, listening hard to the sound of Rayleigh's footsteps fading as they make their way upstairs.

The tension remains unsullied for a second, before Law curses viciously. In the silence his footsteps ring out, aggressively loud as he crosses the room to Sabo's side. The blonde opens his eyes to look reproachfully up at the doctor, scowling around the gag, still trying to keep his breathing calm. He struggles a little against the bonds, wriggling and writhing, just to make his point.

Sighing in defeat, Law reaches down and undoes the gag. Once it's gone, Sabo stretches his jaw and tries to get rid of the taste of it in his mouth. The left corner of his lip is bleeding a little, and he continues to glare at the other man as he undoes the other bindings. "What was that for?!"

"I'm trying to keep both of us alive, and I can't have you blowing my cover. As far as they know, I'm the second division commander of the Revolutionary Army. So we need to get out of here before you blow my cover."

Sabo's eyes flash and he pushes himself up. He stands a little shorter than Law but looks him dead in the eyes, expression filled with something dangerous. "Why second division? What about the real second division commander?"

His voice has risen in volume again and Law bites his lip, knowing that they can't keep this up for long without somebody coming back down the stairs again. Here, sound carries. "I'll explain everything, Sabo-ya, just trust me. We have to go."

"'Trust me'?" The rage on Sabo's face dies back a little, replaced by incredulity. "I barely know you!"

Upstairs, something moves, and Law decides that enough is enough. He grabs Sabo's arm and shakes it hard, knowing that they're running out of time. "I can help you find your brothers again. Just trust me."

Sabo's eyes search his face for a minute, looking for something that might tell of his deceit, before he puffs out a quick breath through his nose and nods. "Fine. I'll trust you. Let's go."

As the pair walk, the house fading behind them, Sabo stares up at the sky. It churns and sways like the ocean, tinged a muddy blue, and the clouds light up with sharp strings of lightning every few seconds. It's almost like the clouds themselves are fracturing at the seams, breaking under the pressure of the silence here. As he walks alongside Law, Sabo acknowledges with a grimace that it's just as silent out here as it was in the hut. As it seems to always be here, Sabo's breathing seems far too loud to be allowed.

"Alright," Sabo says once the house is long gone, "Now you're explaining. Everything." They don't stop walking, but the teen's voice is lined with something harsh that doesn't allow argument.

Law keeps his eyes on the road in front of them, fingering the scalpel in his pocket, not knowing where to start. "The last thing you remember is being at Base 34?"

"Yeah," confirms Sabo, voice grim. "But that's not what's important. Why are you here?"

Silence presses in, thick as iron, before Law finally decides to throw his deliberations to the wind. "I escaped Edgetown the day they dropped the bomb, after you and your brothers had left. My adoptive father, Cora-san, was in the south as far as I knew. So I started travelling in that direction. It took a few weeks to reach the Fringe. By then, I was sixteen. I managed to get past the Fringe and made my way to Marine HQ."

"Marineford?" Sabo frowns. "Why would your father be there?"

"You don't know?" asks Law, surprised, before turning back to the road. "In the south, they keep records of everybody who crosses the Fringe. Unless you enter illegally, they know who you are and where you are at all times. It's a system of complete control you wouldn't see anywhere else in the world. So I knew that if I wanted to see Cora-san again, I would have to find him there. But I got caught, and after using some... somewhat unsavoury methods, they got it out of me that I was from Edgetown."

"Torture?" Sabo guesses. The grim resignation in his voice is audible. He isn't wrong.

"Torture," Law confirms. "I was the only other one to survive, aside from you three. And you three were the ones they were looking for. Anybody from Edgetown was a potential lead, a clue to finding you."

"Wait, what? Why would they be looking for us?" Sabo asks quickly, stumbling over a rock on the ground.

Law regards him with an unreadable look for a second, before turning away again. Silver eyes follow his movements with curiosity and suspicion in equal measure. "What do you know about the number forty-nine?" he asks after a second.

"Uh... Nothing? I mean, it sounds pretty familiar, but it doesn't really mean anything to me," replies Sabo, brushing hair out of his eyes.

"Alright. Well... Have you ever heard of something called the void century?"

Sabo freezes for a second, before continuing to walk. This time, however, he doesn't meet Law's eyes.

"I read the phrase in a book when I was a kid, in an orphanage in the south. Our adoptive mother wouldn't let me look at the book again when I asked about it, and she acted as if somebody had died. What does it mean? I've been wondering ever since."

"A long time ago, before the World Government," Law starts, "People with Gifts were treasured. There weren't many of them, and each was numbered and held a special position in society. They were considered almost godlike, and ruled over non-gifted people. It wasn't really a century at all - nobody really knows how long that time lasted, but it was more like an era. It had to end at some point."

"What happened?" A spark of curiosity seems to outshine the lightning above in Sabo's eyes.

"There was a rebellion. The non-Gift users rose up, assassinating most Gifted world leaders. Everything fell into anarchy. It was all out war - Gifts against non-Gifts, brothers and sisters killing each other in the name of equality, or power. Eventually, however, an authority known as the World Government rose to regulate everything. They made it illegal to discuss what had happened, arguing that it should be left in the past so it wasn't repeated. They killed the last of the Gift users, and made the law which still exists today-"

"The law that makes possessing a Gift punishable by death!"

"Yes, exactly. But there were two Gift-users who they just couldn't kill. The pair travelled around the world together, trying to rally other Gift-users and raise awareness for what had happened after the void century. They wanted people to know that it was possible to live in harmony. They had been pirates during the void century, and always preached one thing."

"Freedom," finishes Sabo, voice slightly awed.

"Freedom," Law agrees. "Right up until around thirty years ago, the World Government did everything they could to silence the pair. They set up a task force that became known as the Foxes - LUCFER49, if you want the full name - to stop them."

"LUCFER49? What does that stand for?"

Law cracks his knuckles softly, a nervous tick of his. "The law-sanctioned unanimous council for the execution of Roger 49."

"That's a mouthful," Sabo comments wanly.

"You could say that. Anyway, the Foxes did everything they could to get rid of them, but it was no good. Nobody knew how they had managed to live so long, but they did."

"And then what happened? You said something about it being thirty years ago - did they manage to kill them?!"

Law's shoes dig up dust with every step, and he keeps his eyes on them. "One of them. The government finally found out how they'd survived. One of them, gift user forty-nine, had he ability to create prophecies. He knew what was going to happen, could predict death before it arrived, and that made him both an amazing tactician and a formidable opponent. He was known for a long time as 'Roger 49'. The other... We know less about. We know that he was gift user twenty-one. We also know that his gift was something to do with immortality. He could grant eternal life to people, including himself, or add more years to their lifespan. We would know more about him but thirty years ago, the leader of LUCFER49 managed to capture him and had one of his subordinates put him in a medically induced coma. After that, they couldn't get any information out of him."

"And this left Roger 49 defenseless?"

"Exactly. Without the other man's help, it took just under a decade but he got sick. Very sick, very fast. He was caught and sentenced to a private execution, because nobody wanted his existence to be revealed to the world. And his last prophecy is the one thing that condemned you and your brothers for good."

Sabo's breath catches. Something sparks in the air between the pair, like a lance of electricity. "What did the prophecy say?"

"It said that Roger's sons would be the ones to bring the world to its knees. Roger laughed at the execution stand as he said his sons would be able to control the most destructive element - fire - and that they would use it to restore the void century again."

Sabo can't find words to say. A chill snakes under his skin, like somebody has replaced the blood in his veins with ice. Vaguely, he realises that he's stopped walking. Law is staring at him intently. "I..." Thoughts swirl and churn through his brain, each moving too fast to truly register.

"And he was killed. Just like that." Law looks away, eyes stony. "LUCFER49 looked like it was going to be disbanded, because after a few years of finding, they still hadn't managed to find any trace of his sons. They were close to giving up when they heard reports of two children being sighted on a trash heap outside of Edgetown in the east, playing with fire."

"Me and Ace..." Sabo finishes, mystified. He still hasn't started walking again, and he and Law face each other as if about to start a shootout.

Law makes a noise of confirmation. "After that, the Foxes sent one of their subdivisions, CP9, to pick up two kids with the same mark from Edgetown. However, there was a miscommunication."

"And they only picked up one. My little brother." Sabo paces forwards and together, the pair start to walk again. This time, however, there's a purpose in the blonde's stride that wasn't there before. "So they knew we were there. Me and Ace left, so what next? How did they find out who we were?"

"Once they knew you were at Edgetown, things became easier. The Foxes have some of the most incredible intelligence resources in the world. They found out that there were three adoptive brothers - Ace, Luffy and Sabo - and, then things became a little trickier. Only one of you was Roger's biological son. It was easy to find out who Luffy was. Shanks' movements correlated with his birth perfectly. So that just left you and Sabo."

"How did you know only one of us was Roger's son? Why not both?"

"Because of a man named Dragon. He's the leader of a revolutionary group known as AANGEL - the Association for the Abolition of Non-Criminal Gift-User Execution Liberties. Unlike the Revolutionary Army, they focus their efforts on helping exclusively Gift-users, and stay mostly in obscurity. And from what we could tell, he's been looking for his son for eighteen years. His son, and another child with a fire Gift. We deduced from resemblance and a few other tip-offs that the biological son of Roger was Ace, and..."

He doesn't need to say anymore, for Sabo understands. "I'm Dragon's son... And the prophecy works. Hell, it works perfectly." His voice is almost bitter. "His sons will bring down the world - he only had one son, but that one had two adoptive brothers."

"So by the time I reached the south and was captured, they knew that Roger's son - a boy with black hair - had two adoptive brothers, and that two of them could control fire. The third, who was taken captive by CP9, was put into an enforced position of combat."

"Luffy became a soldier?!" Sabo's voice suddenly becomes thick with relief, as if the whole world was resting on his shoulders and has now dropped off. "He's alive. Holy shi- Luffy's alive."

Law bites his lip, but decides to say nothing about that. It probably wouldn't be the best plan to mention that that might not last much longer. After all - the little brother who Sabo is so relieved to hear about was, not so long ago, stabbed by Law himself. And something tells the doctor that he would be foolish to mention that in the presence of the blonde. He's met characters like Sabo before. They don't take kindly to you hurting their loved ones.

"Anyway," Law continues, "Once Ace joined the Revolutionary Army, he was easier to keep track of. The 'Portgas' part of his name was the thing that made the Foxes positive that he was Roger's; Portgas D. Rouge was a woman he was... More than friendly with in his last years of life. There was only one more brother left to locate - Sabo, who disappeared into obscurity around the same time as his brother joined the revolutionaries."

"But they found me eventually. Four years later," Sabo finishes. "And they dragged me out of my bed in the night and-" He swallows hard. "And now I'm here."

"Exactly," Law confirms. "I joined the Foxes when I was sixteen, and was viewed as an especially valuable member because I was the only personal alive - who they had access to - who had seen all three of the brothers."

"Wait, you joined them?!" Sabo's head snaps up, grey eyes filled with steel. "Why?! The only reason LUCFER49 still exists is to kill me and my brothers! Surely you didn't want to-"

"You're right," Law cuts in darkly, "I didn't want to." Above, the sky seems to grow slightly more shaded. "Remember Cora-san? They had him hostage. They said if I didn't join them, train myself to the breaking point just to become one of the Foxes, they would kill him. Torture him. Do you really think I could let that happen?!" Sabo has fallen silent by now, and Law takes a deep breath before ploughing on. "I kept all the information from them that I could, making sure I didn't tell them what you really looked like in detail. I risked my life, I risked my father's life, just to keep you alive. And look where it got me!" Law gives a humourless, rough laugh. It tears out of his throat like something foreign that he can't control. All the emotions of the last few hours, the oppressive, terrifying nature of this place - it's all crashing down on him.

"Law..." murmurs Sabo, eyes wide.

"Look where it got me!" Law repeats, this time yelling, all traces of laughter gone. He's stopped walking now. His yellow eyes burn into Sabo's like embers. "Doflamingo stabbed me in the back! I'm stuck here with no way out, helping the one person most likely to get me killed, and my father's probably dead! They don't need me anymore, not that I know why, and they're going to kill Cora-san because of it." Law clenches his jaw, standing to his full height and glaring down at Sabo as he tries to get his emotions back under control. "So yeah, I joined them. And I might as well be dead right now, and it might be because they found out that I did everything I could to keep you alive."

He turns on his heel and storms up the road, t-shirt sticking to his chest, leaving Sabo to catch up. Sabo, however, stays right where he is. After a few moments, Law stops walking and turns back around, opening his mouth to yell for the other to catch up. Before he can, however, he catches sight of Sabo's face and freezes. The blonde teen is staring down at his hands, eyes wide, face filled with dawning comprehension - and horror. "What is it?" Law asks, taking a cautious step forwards. He can feel the anger melting out of his system.

"If they don't need you anymore, and are willing to throw away somebody who's been part of their task force for years... Don't you see what that means? That they're willing to throw away members with no issues?" Sabo asks in a quiet voice. His hands are shaking.

"I- no...?" Law replies, feeling foreboding rising in his chest. "What does it mean?"

Sabo looks up. "It means they've got Ace. Luffy's in the army, I'm stuck in Stormy Down- he's the only one left."

"Actually," Law puts in, taking another step forwards, "That's not completely true."

Sabo meets his gaze, hope in his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"They don't have Luffy. He escaped a few months ago, around the same time as Ace disappeared."

Sabo stares unabashedly for a second, expression flitting between various different emotions, before he darts forwards. "You've got a lot more explaining to do," he says, and Law doesn't argue.

His older brother's blood is hot on his fingers, and Luffy can feel himself shaking. Around them, the battlefield has fallen silent. Akainu is a mass of heat and light in front of him, over Ace's shoulder, and his fist is still raised. Ace's blood sizzles and evaporates from the molten rock as Luffy watches. He can feel the sob rising in his throat. This is hell. This is hell.

"Luffy...?" Ace asks, voice shaking. He coughs, and something wet and warm splatters onto Luffy's shoulder. "Are y-you okay?"

The sob bursts from the fifteen-year old's throat now, before he can stop it. He clutches Ace tighter to him, as if he can keep his big brother alive so long as he keeps him pressed to him. Why is Ace concerned about him now of all times? Why does he care, when there's a hole through his chest and magma sinking through his skin and heat all around them, suffocating, painful even to Luffy?!

"A-Ace..." Luffy moves his hand up to go around Ace's shoulder, holding him so hard that he can feel warm blood sinking through his shirt. "Ace!"

"I'm sorry... Luffy..." Ace whispers. His voice rasps with every word, small and filled with pure pain and sounding so different from the strong brother Luffy knows. He coughs again, and this time, there's no blood on Luffy's skin. The pirate wonders, as tears well up in his eyes and blur his vision, whether there's any blood left in Ace to cough up. He can see it spreading across the ground below them, tainting the grey cobblestone with deep scarlet.

A warm body collides with them, frantic, and another voice joins the mess that fills Luffy's head. The new person presses his hands against Ace's wound, choking back tears, breathing so rapidly that he's close to hyperventilating. He's familiar to Luffy, somebody who should be able to make him feel less terrified, but the only thing that seems to exist in Luffy's world at this moment is Ace. Ace and the blood on his hands.

"No, no, no- Ace!" the new person says. One of his gloves hands wraps around Luffy's shoulders, warm and carrying a familiar smell, as if it's trying to anchor him to consciousness. Luffy doesn't think it's working. The edges of his vision swim with black. Ace's breathing is thinning against his shoulder.

"Dont-" Ace's body slumps a little. Luffy squeezes his eyes shut tight, teeth clenched against the waves of grief that throb through him, something wet and hot streaming down his face. "Don't be u-upset. I'll be able to tell Leo that- that J-Jake misses him." His voice gets weaker still. The other person, t-shirt soaked with blood, is shaking with the force of his sobs.

"D-Don't talk like that! No!" Luffy's voice breaks. His knees weaken, and he, Ace and the other young man slip a little to the floor. His hand is buried deep in the gruesome concave of Ace's back, trying and failing to stop the bleeding when it probably won't do much now. "Please don't say that...!"

Ace takes a rasping, painful breath in. Against Luffy's shoulder, his jaw forms a grin. "I love you both, Luffy. And just think..." One last breath, and this time his voice is barely a choked whisper. "I'll be able to tell Haruta I'm…sorry..."

Ace slips forward, knees slick and wet with his own sweat and blood, and Luffy's arms are too weak to hold him up. Unceremoniously, with mundane finality that stabs through his little brother's chest like a bayonet, Portgas D. Ace hits the ground and doesn't draw another breath

Luffy throws his head back and screams.

IM SO FUCKING MEAN. WHAT THE FUCK. I LOVE THIS. I AM LIVING

turnipdragon, Chapter 33, Jul 8:

Love this, love you, love zombie law trying to get out and get his revenge, love poor sabo who just needs many many hugs at this point. Thank you for the chapter :)

Hey!
thanks for the lovely review! I love you too and I'm really glad you liked the chapter! And yes…so many hugs….
thank YOU for reading it! :D

Tetsik, Chapter 33, Jul 8:

i- my sister hates me.

I am literally cackling

ariririsu, Chapter 33, Jul 8:

im waiting for the glorious moment where law gets his cover blown unintentionally by sabo. that little shit deserves it.
ANYWHO. Corazon! My man! My beautiful, beautiful man! If he's the reason why Sabo was found out, I could only deduce that he was fighting in the government army too, undercover. Either because Doflamingo needed him to, or because he was associated with someone in the government. I wonder if it would be the same person from the canon world..
I'm super glad you like my art! Your tags made me laugh so hard! Maybe I could break your own heart by sketching out the heartbreaking scenes in here... :)c
(Y'know, I'd love to have a description of what you think everyone looks like in this fic. Like, what they're wearing and stuff. Any differences from the canon world in terms of appearance. I know Luffy lost some of his fingers, but what about everyone else? I'd love to be able to sketch out some of them! Tumblr is a great place to share things.. ;) Til the next update!)

heyooo!
yep, he's such a lil shit. And Corazon! I hope this chapter revealed more about that!
OF COURSE I LOVED YOUR ART I literally died when I saw it. YOURE AN AMAZING ARTIST. *bows* orzzzzzz
as for the descriptions – I've got a ton of them! Anybody in particular? I did change all of their appearances quite a bit. Eg. Nami's body type, multiple ethnicities, scars, clothes etc etc. I could babble about this for ages. And more art would be absolutely amazing!
talk soon, I hope you liked this chapter!

ScandinavianTrash, Chapter 33, 22h ago:

Sabo freaking out is honestly hilarious
Yup, just play dead and try not to mentally freak out too
YOU'RE NOT FINE
*hug*
Update~

He's such a dork, I know. And law's being a dick which really doesn't help.
I AM. MOSTLY. ALSO DO YOU HAVE DISCORD? A FEW PEOPLE WHO LIKE THE FIC ARE ARENT DICKS ARE CHATTING OVER THERE AND IT WOULD BE SOOOO COOL TO TALK TO YOU TOO
*hugs tighter*
talk soon, thanks for reviewing!

Laludofan, Chapter 33, 19h ago:

I was hoping you'd get a chapter out before I left and RIGHT ON TIME *-* you're most definitely a god.
Wait. Waitwaitwaitwaitwait. Thatch is really.. Dead ? But.. But you... Why ?
There's an unfinished sentence.. How mysterious~~
Gah xc I don't like Kidd he's such a jerk. Anyway.
Theory ! This HAPPY thingy was Perona to Zoro ! And it's their house. Mh. How did it get there ?
LAW STOP LYING WE WANT INFO
Whaaaa ! So BOTH Sabo AND Ace are Dragon's sons ! ..I think ?
YESSS SABO CAN FEEL ACE I LOVE YOU hope they can talk again later w
'quick as a fox'.. That's the second time ! There was the 'crooked halo' too.. What are you trying to say _ though I like the idea of Haley being Law's sis hehe
Sorry this review was shorter than usual.. *yawns* you're the best, so many questions ahhh
Well til in three weeks ;-; ill have to catch up haha

Heyooo! I'm no god, but thanks!
hehe, did you think he was alive? Awww, that's cute. But nah. One of the themes I was given to inspire this fic was death and I am LIVING UP TO IT.
unfinished sentence?! Where?!
I know, but he has good reason to be. I mean the world has been a dick to him.
THEORY = PRETTY DAMN SOLID. THINK MORE ABOUT PERONA. HER POWER COULD CREATE HOLLOWS IN PEOPLE, TAKING AWAY EVERYTHING BUT ANGER AND FEAR. WHAT DOES THAT SOUND LIKE?
yes, sabo can feel ace! Maybe not for long, though…. Imsosorryforthischapter
it's okay, a review is still a review and they all mean so much to me!
talk soon, have fun and see you in three weeks! Thanks for the review!