HWM: Chapter 35
Summary: Wings!AU. In a world where people born with wings are considered inferior to humans, Sabo does his best to fight for equality. His whole world changes when he meets Ace and Luffy, two Fae living on the wrong side of the law. ASL Centric.
Warnings: canon-typical violence, mentioned or referenced explicit themes, cursing.
Next to no feedback for the last chapter - guys, what happened? If you misinterpreted my author's note at the end of last chapter… i wasn't asking for no reviews - reviews are what keep me going! I was just saying that i probably won't have much time to answer. Please, by all means keep reviewing! The last chapter was just really disappointing when it came to reviews…
Anyway, enjoy this one!
Chapter 35 - World Gone Mad
"That's all I can do for now."
"Thank you," Ace replies emphatically, gently feeling the bandage now wrapped around the crest of his left wing. "Seriously, Law, thank you. For everything-"
"It's fine." Law stands, wipes the blood off his hands with a rag. "I don't help you to get thanks, Portgas."
"Then why do you?"
Law pretends he didn't hear him. He turns to Sabo. "Alright, you next."
"I'm fine," Sabo says, obviously not fine. "Really. You've probably got a lot to do back at your base anyway, and now you've taken care of Ace and Luffy-"
"At least let me stitch up your forehead," Law says flatly.
"Stitch…?" Sabo reaches up, feels the deep gash on temple, winces. "I don't remember getting that."
"Either way, it could become infected." Law points to the seat Ace has just vacated, across from him at the kitchen table. "Sit."
"Alright… fine." Sabo gives in and sits. Law disinfects his needle and, without anesthetic to speak of, gets to work. Sabo's face is tight and grey with pain but he doesn't protest.
For a while, there's silence in the kitchen. Ace gently stretches and contracts his broken wing, wincing as the torn muscles ache and sting, and tries not to look at Sabo. Luffy left as soon as Law was done with him, going out to reunite with his crew. Ace had wanted to go, but...it's not his family. The crew deserve time on their own - time to grieve, time to recover. It's the least Ace can do to allow Luffy that time, after everything that has happened.
Once Law is done, he disposes of the needle and starts packing up his first-aid kit, while Sabo feels the newly stitched cut on his forehead with his fingertips. "When should I take them out?"
"In a few weeks," Law instructs. "And keep the wound clean, if you can. You're lucky it didn't bleed as much as I would have expected."
"Thank you, Law." Sabo says sincerely. Then, "How are things on the outside? How are your crew?"
"Everything's alright. My crew are… recovering. We lost three, and Shachi still hasn't woken, but we're alright. We're definitely not going out of commision - though word on the street says that the Strawhats might be, after losing two fundamental members of their crew."
Ace doesn't comment on that. Leaning back against the kitchen counter, he asks, "What about the city? How are things now that Blackbeard is gone?"
"His death is common knowledge - there's no mystery to it. The police are apparently involved and people are saying they have more information than we'd thought, so most of Blackbeard's crew have dispersed. They're scared, without their leader's name to hide behind. None of them know who to trust."
"And Blackbeard's territories?"
"People are claiming them when they can. The police force has had a lot on their hands - there are small fights and shootouts breaking out everywhere over unclaimed terf." Law snorts. "Everybody's running around like a chicken without a head. And your name has been in the mix too, Portgas."
"My name?"
"The story right now - or at least, the story everybody believes - is that Blackbeard's goon Ace Portgas murdered the man himself. Sabo-ya is unknown entirely, so it was put to your name."
"Do the police know this?"
"I would expect them too. But they won't put a price on your head for that"
"Why?" Ace rolls his eyes. "I've caused enough trouble for them anyway. And I'm Fae, don't forget. It's not like they wouldn't be eager to-"
"There's no proof," Law cuts over him. "That you did it, I mean. And as well as that, even if there was proof, you practically did them a favour in their eyes. Blackbeard has been the most powerful gang leader in the city for a long time and once all of this calms down, the city will be a more… manageable place without him. The police force are hardly mourning his loss - and he's Fae too, so a trial on his murder would probably be unsuccessful because nobody cares, really. If you were human, your innocence wouldn't even be up for debate."
Ace is silent for a while. "Thank you for everything, Law. I mean - don't get me wrong, you're still an asshole and I don't forgive you for what you did to Sabo. But… thanks."
"You're welcome," Law says shortly, before standing, first-aid kit tucked under his right arm. "Try not to die, Portgas." He nods to Sabo.
"See you, Law," Ace calls, watching him leave the room promptly.
After a moment, the front door opens and closes, and Sabo says, "I'll go lock it."
Ace nods and sits down at the kitchen table, being careful not to sit back against his injured wing. Luffy had a bad head wound, a nasty gash on his arm and a bruised stomach. Ace himself had a broken wing and a few minor cuts and bruises. Sabo probably has half a dozen more injuries but of course, he won't let Law tend to them. All three of them came out of that battle worn and hurt and exhausted, but they made it out, at least. This morning, Ace feels unreasonably cheerful.
Sabo comes back in and pours himself and Ace a glass of water. Usually, such is a luxury, and they would measure the water perfectly just to make sure they had enough. Today, however, Sabo is apparently feeling hopeful too. For a while, they sit quietly, taking sips one at a time. No conversation is needed. Ace checks his phone for the first time in days and doesn't reply to any of the messages in his inbox - there are three from Bepo that he doesn't bother to open, a few from ex-Blackbeards asking for help and shelter, and a handful of texts from unknown numbers that must be Luffy's crewmates.
"How was Luffy this morning?" Sabo asks. "I was a bit short with him."
"You know Luffy - he doesn't care. The kid picks up on social clues about as well as Law does - so, not at all," replies Ace, getting a chuckle out of Sabo.
"So he was alright, then?"
"I… guess. He wasn't exactly dancing, if you know what I mean, but… he was alright."
"How's he doing? After… y'know."
"Not so great," Ace admits. "He's hurting. He misses them a lot."
"They were close."
"I know." Ace sighs. "He didn't cry - at least, I think he didn't. He just put his forehead down on the table and sat there for a while. It's pretty hard to watch. But… I just hope to god he'll be alright, you know?"
"I know." Sabo sighs. "And are you alright?"
"Me?"
"I mean, you just said it - it was hard to watch. Are you okay? After Luffy, after Blackbeard, after… everything?"
Ace lets out a hollow laugh. "It's hard to tell. Some moments I feel fantastic."
"And other moments?"
"Other moments… not so much." Ace sighs, running a hand through his hair. "I'll be alright. I will. It's just a rough time. I know this is a new beginning - I know things are going to get better. It's just hard for now. Harder than I would have ever thought it could be. This city… it eats you alive, you know?"
"I know," Sabo admits. "I do. I know the feeling. But better things are coming."
And then, it happens.
Suddenly, on the street outside, there's an earsplitting racket. Ace yells out and practically tumbles out of his chair, thinking of the return of Blackbeard, and the war restarting, and explosions and fire and blood-
It's an alarm. A high pitched, wailing, shrieking alarm that screams through the streets and makes the whole city alight with sound. It's so loud at the windows rattle. Ace would recognise that sound anywhere. Panic roars through his chest. He meets Sabo's terrified eyes and it feels like something in him breaks, shatters into a million pieces.
'Better things are coming'.
This can't happen now. Please god don't let this happen now.
We only just got our freedom.
Screams - real screams that somehow feel even more inhuman than the shrieks of the alarm - break out in the streets. There's chaos. Hammering footsteps above, the clang of metal on metal, the pounding of running on the street outside. It's more noise, more activity than there ever was during the Hunt.
Ace wasn't nearly this scared hiding under the bed during the Hunt. This is a thousand times worse.
Upstairs, somebody screams out, as though they're in mortal pain. Across the street, people are crying and sobbing and yelling and shrieking and pleading and praying and their voices echo through Ace's head, but even they can't drown out the wailing of the alarm. Sabo's breathing is raspy and it sounds like he's hyperventilating and his hands come up to his face. Ace hears him release a scream into his fingers, voice cracking, body shaking like a leaf and the sight of it breaks him to the very core.
Wake up. Wake up. Please, god let this be a dream.
This has to be a dream.
Ace doesn't wake up. This is real.
Clumsily, brain so scrambled that he can't string a coherent thought together, Ace grabs Sabo and pulls him to his chest. Sabo yells out again, anguished, clawing at the front of his sweatshirt and Ace feels desperate, almost raw, as though somebody has stripped him of his skin and he's already died. His brain scrambles for something, anything he can do to survive. He prays to every god he's ever heard of. This can't be the end. It can't be.
He'd only just started to live.
Neither he nor Sabo has the strength to stay upright. They crash into the kitchen counter and slide down it, curling up in the corner of the room, pressed together as though if they can make themselves small enough, it'll protect them. Sabo yells, voice cracking, pressed into Ace's chest. Ace holds him tight, sobs racking his body as he presses his face into his blonde hair, and the alarm outside is loud enough to make his ears ring - the terrible, keening call of death.
"No…!"
Sabo struggles against nothing, obviously having some kind of anxiety attack, and Ace holds him tighter. He can feel the tears and the panic and the terrible, terrible regret rushing through him. He cries so hard that he can't breathe. This can't be happening now. It can't.
Then, he remembers; Luffy.
Ace half-stands but his legs are shaking too hard to carry him. He tries to clear his head, tries to be heroic and brave and keep his wits about him, but it's hard - it's so goddamn hard because he can barely even begin to think straight, and Sabo is still yelling into his hands, curled up on the ground and the alarm is still so loud, screaming through his head. The whole world feels like it's breaking apart.
Ace wonders, in the back of his mind, whether the bomb is above them yet. Whether it's arcing and falling, cutting through the air, and it's about to hit and they're all about to be turned to dust and fire and ashes.
No. Stop it, Ace. Think about Luffy. Think about your little brother.
But he can't. Not when Sabo is looking up at him, flushed and scared - terrified beyond belief, with tears in his eyes, looking so, so hopeless. Helpless. Ace can't make himself leave him. His strength leaves him and he falls to his knees, gripping Sabo again. They fall back into the corner and Ace feels blood rush to his head. Is this what it feels like moments before death? It's not grand, or righteous, or peaceful. It's blurry and everything hurts and Ace feels like a small child, wishing for something that can't be.
"I'm so, so sorry, Sabo." Ace's voice comes out wet and croaky and it doesn't sound at all like his own. "Sabo, I'm so sorry."
The alarm wails on and Sabo is shaking, and Ace braces himself for death and wonders if it's really going to end like this. After everything, after surviving so much… they might simply become colateral now, vaporized to nothing just like everybody else in this godforsaken city. The seconds slip by and with every one, Ace feels like he's running out of time. Death slips closer and closer and he can feel its hands around his throat.
The front door slams open - the sound is nearly inaudible over the screaming from all directions - and Luffy bursts into the room, eyes bloodshot, hair sticking up in every direction like he's been running so fast that he hasn't paid attention to it. He meets Ace's eyes and then suddenly he's in between them, yelling inaudibly, crushed into their tiny, panicked huddle. Ace can't tell whether he's angry or crying or terrified or all of the above - everything is confused now, Ace's head feels fuzzy. The anticipation sets his whole body on fire.
"T-Thank you," Ace chokes out. "Thank you for loving me-"
Luffy yells out, hands over his head as if he can somehow protect himself from the bomb with his bare hands. There are feathers everywhere - Ace realises that he's so panicked that he's malting, and as he glances at the red gold feathers scatter across the grimy floor, he feels like parts of his very being are being stripped away and he's watching them leave him.
Is this what death feels like?
And suddenly… the alarm stops.
Ace's ears are ringing. There is terrible, tense silence for a moment. He's is sure they have seconds left now - maybe the bomb has hit already and they're split-seconds from being blown to pieces - and he squeezes his eyes shut, tensing up, ready for the explosion and the heat and the feeling of flesh being stripped from his bones. There's no sound. The whole world seems to hold its breath. Sabo is so pale, so grey that it looks like he's already died.
After what could have been a second or a year, somebody out on the street calls out.
"False alarm!"
For a moment, Ace can't believe it. It seems so utterly bizarre that he can't comprehend it. He feels sensation come back to his body slowly, like each of his limbs is reattaching itself one by one, just as the shouts of relief begin and movement comes back to the grey district and people are out on the street - he can hear them - yelling out the news to anybody and everybody who can hear them. The world comes back to life.
"We're alive," Luffy says quietly, "Ace, we're alive. We're alive-"
A choked, breathy laugh of relief tears from Ace's throat. "We're alive! We lived!"
Luffy crashes into his stomach, tackling him like a wrestler and grinning up at him as they tumble back onto the floor. "We're alive! We didn't die! Ace, we really didn't die!"
"Holy shit," Ace says quietly, "Holy shit!"
"I know!"
"I've never been that scared in my fucking life-" Ace grabs Luffy, musses up his hair, feeling the most joy he's ever felt. "We really lived-"
Sabo, he realises vaguely, hasn't moved.
Suddenly, out on the street, somebody yells something Ace can't make out. Then somebody else calls out and the message spreads like wildfire and when it finally reaches Ace's ears clearly, it makes his whole body go cold.
"The nuke hit the East city!"
Ace's euphoria dies in a split second.
Some people sound happy to say it - others, mournful. Their neighbouring city is hardly a familiar place, but… Ace's heart sinks like a stone. There are two times the amount of people living there than here. All of them are inevitably dead now, gone without a second thought. Did they get the alarm too? Did they huddle together in their houses and pray? Did they… really die?
Abruptly, hs joy at their survival is dimmed. Luffy looks a little put-out, but instead of mentioning the depravity their neighbours have suffered, he turns to Sabo, who still has yet to move. "Sabo?"
Ace turns to look at him, too. The blonde is still sitting there, jammed in the corner, his skinny long-limbed frame huddled against the wall. He's staring into nothing and his hair is sticking up everywhere and his red-rimmed eyes make him look even paler than he is. His eyes… Ace has seen him determined. He's seen love in those eyes. He's seen outrage. He's even seen them look so defeated that it hurts.
But he's never seen Sabo look so angry.
Luffy tries to reach for his arm and Sabo seems to snap back to reality. Abruptly he's on his feet and Luffy shifts closer to Ace as Sabo lashes out, kicking one of the kitchen chairs so hard that it hits the wall and snaps into three pieces. The wood clatters to the ground and Sabo throws his fist against the kitchen counter, cursing with words Ace has never imagined he could say. Sabo is a hurricane, a wildfire as he slams the door of the kitchen cupboard so hard that the hinge snaps, and then he seems at a loss for what else to break and he kicks the kitchen door so hard that it leaves a crack in it, and strips of peeling paint are torn away from the rotting wood.
Ace stands. "Sabo-"
"No, Ace!" Sabo turns on him, eyes wild, trembling with anger. "Don't you get it?! Don't you get how many people died?! Don't you understand how close you came to dying-"
"Please, just calm down-"
"I can't calm down!" Sabo hurls his fist against the wall and his stump hits the surface hard. His face erupts with pain and it seems to only make him more angry and Ace can only stare, slightly transfixed, as he rages. "I can't calm down! Not until this godforsaken fucking world changes! I can't calm down and I can't stop fighting - I can't believe I ever even considered stopping-"
"It's not your responsibility to fix the world, Sabo, it's not! Just calm-"
"If I don't try to make things better, who will."
The determination with which Sabo says it makes Ace see him for the first time as a revolutionary - as somebody fighting for a better life. But Sabo is just a kid, for fuck's sake, and Ace has never wanted more to take the weight off his shoulders that he seems to have placed there of his own volition.
"I promise we'll change things," Ace says, steely-voiced. "But for now, you can't do anything, okay? We gotta stay calm - we gotta keep our heads."
"No." Sabo runs a hand back through his hair. "No. Not anymore. I refuse to carry on waiting. I can't carry on waiting."
"Then what are you gonna do?" Luffy asks.
Sabo reaches into his pocket and pulls out a slip of paper. "I'm going to see the revolutionaries."
Sabo slams the apartment door behind him, heart throwing itself against his ribs in his chest, and breaks into a run. He knows the address - their base is uptown, in an abandoned sky-high on the edge of the industrial district. The wind rushes through his hair and stings his eyes as he sprints down the steps and out of their apartment block and onto the street. The streets are heaving with people, and the shouts and the cries of relief echo mockinging in Sabo's ears as he pushes through the crowds, without caring who he might shove over. The time for politeness is past.
Street after street passes in a hazy blur. Sabo breathes heavily, limbs aching, but he doesn't stop. His feet pound the cracked asphalt and through the pain and the chaos he runs, uncaring of the people around him, uncaring of anything but his destination. He feels desperate, like a dying man running to the last drop of water for miles around. Nothing can stop him now - he knows that, like it's a fact of his very being. He would rather die than stop now. The fire in his heart is back, burning brighter than it has for years and years and with every footstep the embers are stoked, growing hotter and hotter.
So many dead. Too many.
He's not going to let anybody else die.
It's one thing after another after another and Sabo is at the end of their tether. When was the last time he or Ace or Luffy truly felt safe for more than a few days? From living on the stacks to the shooting to the explosion, and then the Hunt and Blackbeard's attack and Wakeshead and the war and now… this. This, which brought them all closer to death than all of the other things combined. This atrocity that nobody can even begin to combat.
And when will they be safe? When can all of this end? Sabo talks so much about changing the world but he feels useless, helpless, because he's tried so hard and at the end of the day… the world still has yet to change.
Uptown is approaching now. Skyscrapers loom over Sabo and he thinks of the Stacks. Were there Stacks on the outskirts of the East city? Yes, definitely - he read it somewhere. There must have been thousands living in the stacks alone and the whole city was wiped out, completely levelled. No thought was given to whether the people were human or Fae, old or young, rich or poor. They all just died, terrified and alone with nobody willing to help them and there's a horrible, hollow ache in Sabo's chest that he can't get rid of. Because what does a lost hand matter? Why should any of them care about things as trivial as gang wars when death is always as close as it was today?
It was a horrible, chilling reminder that the world outside of this city exists, and that that world hates them and with the push of a button, that world could rain hell on their heads and nobody would be able to stop it.
What is freedom? Sabo finds himself wondering desperately, drawing in deep, gasping gulps of air as his lungs tighten in his chest. I've been fighting for freedom this whole time, but what does freedom matter when not everybody has it?
The base of the revolutionaries is tall but not overly so - it seems to move against the grey clouds above as Sabo stands beneath it, shadowed by its gargantuan width and height, staring up at it. He feels the last of his reservations melt away. If anybody can help him, these people can.
Sabo doesn't know too much about the revolutionaries, but what he does know is good. They call themselves the Revolutionary Army, but in reality they work an underground circuit, staying out of the public eye and attempting to change things from the shadows. In the past, living alone on the Stacks, Sabo considered seeking them out to join them. Their cause is close to his own. But at the end of the day, he always decided not to for one reason or another.
At least, he did until now. Now, he has stopped being afraid.
Sabo strides up to the base of the building. The main doors are boarded up, still maintaining the impression that the building is abandoned, so he rounds the building until he finds a small, discreet entrance on the left hand side. The alleyway it is situated in is empty but Sabo feels like he's being watched by something in the shadows. Still breathing heavily, heart pounding incredibly hard, he raises his fist and knocks on the grimy metal door.
I'm going to do something insane.
Enjoy!
Again, barely any reviews last chapter - are you guys still there? Still, ive got time to reply to the ones i did get this time, so here are the replies;
From: Guest
So many feelings in this chapter, I loved seeing a bit more of Sabo's thoughts about what happens next and I absolutely adored the flashback to when they got the house with Luffy telling Ace he didn't need to grow up yet and Ace saying that it's not important. The final scene with them speaking about how Luffy is doing was really touching, I really want to wrap them up in a blanket and keep them safe and happy *big big hugs lee*
Thank you so much bby! Im so happy you liked it! I hope this chapter can be as enjoyable as the last one 3 and also, yes, i want to do that too… wow i'm mean to them aren't i?! *massive huge hugs for you!*
From: sdkop21
Amazing job! Hey... what's gonna happen with Wakeshead? I'd love to be able to find out! I'm extremely curious and excited! Can't wait to read more! Keep it up!
Thank you! And don't worry, that gets revealed in the next chapter ;) im so happy you're liking it! Ily! Thank you so much for the review!