A/N at bottom. Enjoy~
"I'm sorry if I woke anybody last night. I had a nightmare," Ace said at breakfast.
"I didn't wake up. The commander rooms have thicker walls," Jozu said, even though he had been right next door. Thatch pointed out that he'd been awake when it happened, as had Marco. Marco had been unable to fall asleep and was working on paperwork to try and tire himself out. Thatch said he was having trouble sleeping as well, but didn't give a reason. He looked uncomfortable about it. Haruta said he was in the bathroom, so he heard as well.
Ace was so relieved that he hadn't caused anyone else to wake up. "That's good," Ace sighed, eating his food with more enthusiasm. Pops asked if he remembered it. "No, I don't," Ace replied, not mentioning that he hadn't even realized he'd had one in the first place.
That day he spent training with any commander who was open, teaching him how meetings went, how much work he'd probably have a day, and was explained what he'd need to do for paperwork. It didn't sound too bad and Ace didn't regret accepting. He wouldn't be able to lounge around and do nothing a lot of the time. He was important now, and it made him feel good.
His division was all excited for him. Aioba made no comment, which was better than him denouncing Ace. Even those much older than Ace in his division didn't protest, which Ace was so glad of. He was worried they'd not want a 20 year old being their superior.
Ace caught on quickly, and by the next day, he was doing his job. He reported to Pops a lot, spending more time with him, and it was wonderful. He had spent time with him before, but never like this. Never gave his opinions on decisions. Was never trusted like this. It was a great privilege.
He did wonder how the papers would find out about his position. He already had a large bounty from his Spades days. Mostly from openly attacking marine vessels and bases for fun, and competing to take on other rookie crews in the New World with them. He still wished he remembered them, but it had been almost nine months, and nothing had come back.
He gave up hoping for those memories to come back. He was sure they wouldn't, and wasn't going to dwell on them. It made him sad, and he didn't like being sad. It was two weeks later that Ace was the happiest he had ever been since waking up on the Moby Dick.
"POPS! Pops, look! My little brother got his first bounty! That didn't take long at all!" Ace gushed, shoving the wanted poster in his father's face. Pops laughed and took it from him, smiling at the poster that so didn't fit a wanted man. "Isn't he adorable!"
Whitebeard laughed harder and agreed. "He looks like quite the happy person." Ace beamed and nodded, taking the poster back to look at. He looked so happy! Ace was glad he was happy, and wondered what kind of adventure he'd been on so far. This poster showed he'd taken out a whole fishman crew, but didn't give details.
He was so happy, and showed everyone the poster, thoroughly annoying many. Thatch was so happy for him, wanting to meet the kid.
"His smile is so bright! Looks like a good kid, Ace," Teach had said, making Ace nod in agreement. Teach was not a navigator, but knew the others well, so he worked with Ace a lot of the time in the beginning until Ace was thoroughly confident he knew enough about everyone, having worked to get to know them more.
Being a commander was fun, even though paperwork was annoying and sometimes stressful. Especially when he was finally done with his first report, which took three hours to finish and he had a sleep attack, spilling ink all over the pages. He stayed up till one in the morning working on it to get it in on time before the others woke up and found it wasn't in its slot outside Pops' door to review.
Ace hadn't had another nightmare, at least, that he could remember. He finally no longer hid the list in Marco's room. Now it was in Ace's in the back of the drawer under the sink.
He was doing paperwork at the end of the third week, all of the wanted posters for Luffy framed on the wall, making the room finally look more cozy and homey. Stefan was sleeping at his feet, drooling over his boot. He thought he was done before he finally realized he was not doing his paperwork, but drawing on the important documents! He hadn't even noticed! He growled at the sloppy and indistinguishable drawing. He erased it, thankful he'd used pencil after spilling ink all over his papers the first time.
He erased it as best as he could before turning it in. For him, it took longer to do paperwork than anybody else. Even Marco, the first mate, took less time to do weekly paperwork. Even if it had been weeks since he was put in the position, he still had trouble not going into extreme detail about everything.
The others said to paraphrase, but he'd never been good at writing in the first place, and Pops said he was perfectly fine with detailed accounts of what had happened. Ace was glad he, and everyone else, were so understanding.
While it felt like he'd always been in this spot, like he felt he'd always been a Whitebeard pirate, it was still feeling new to him this time. But, he knew he'd catch on quick enough, and wasn't impatient for it to happen. For once, he was going through a process of improving, not just suddenly being a pro at it like so many other things.
That night, he sleep walked again, but didn't leave the room. He didn't go make a map or the usual, instead he woke up to sleeping with his face against his desk, sketchbook open and showing an absolutely disgusting drawing. It was a hole that was clearly a chest, bleeding with what looked like some sort of melted substance coming out of the edges. It made goosebumps run down his spine.
He didn't know why he'd draw such a thing, but it bothered him greatly. He wanted to tear it up and never look at it again, but part of him told him not to. To keep it, maybe out of sight so he didn't need to see it.
After tearing it out of the sketchbook, he put it under the sink with his list. The list was stapled to another one, since he'd run out of space on it. After that, he couldn't sleep anymore, and left the room, putting on fresh clothes and heading outside. He found Teach outside on watch, and climbed the ratlines to sit with him.
"Anything interesting happen?" Ace asked once he sat down.
"Nah, not really. Couple sea kings got in a fight, but didn't come anywhere near. Isn't it a little late to be awake?" Teach wondered. Ace replied that he couldn't sleep after waking up, but didn't explain why. Teach asked if it was a bad dream.
"Sort of. I don't really want to talk about it, just want to forget," Ace answered. "I want to thank you, Teach. For helping me out at first with being a commander. It meant a lot to me," he said with a smile. Teach laughed and said he was glad to help.
He replied, "Brothers help one another, right?"
"Sure do," Ace agreed, and they spent the rest of Teach's watch talking. Ace eventually snuck into the kitchen to get a couple cherry pies. There were always a couple in the fridge due to the cravings of Teach and some of his friends from other divisions. Ace compared it to him being addicted to french toast in the mornings.
After breakfast, Ace had taken Thatch and Marco aside before they started their work days. Even though Ace no longer could follow them around, he still made time to hang out with them. He brought them to his room, and told them he woke up after drawing something horrible. The two shared a look that Ace couldn't decipher.
They both sat on the bed when Ace got the drawing out and then handed it to them. "Oh my god," Marco said in horror and disgust. "Do you remember having a nightmare?" Ace shook his head, saying he woke up to it, having drawn it while sleepwalking.
"Is… is that a person?" Thatch asked quietly.
Ace nodded. "You can see the outlines of abs and pecs. It goes right through this person's chest. It scares me," Ace confessed. Marco asked if he remembered this all the time. "Yeah. Why, what do you mean?"
Thatch explained about the drawing Ace had forgotten. Of a huge battle in an unknown place and situation. Ace was shocked by that. Why would he forget that over and over? Something really was wrong with him. Would he forget more things? "It's been over a month since that, and you haven't forgotten anything else but the nightmare. But we don't usually remember dreams, so I wouldn't think about that one too much," Thatch said.
"Do you think this is like, a prediction? That this will happen to somebody?" Ace asked quietly.
Marco said they wouldn't know unless Ace had a vision of something regarding it. "Do you think we should finally tell Pops?" he asked.
Ace said, "There's no point in making him worry. There's nothing we can do about this. And it might just be some nightmare I had. I didn't forget it, right? Not like the other picture you said about."
"Wait. Wait, you just remembered it after we told you about it. Usually you forget all about it after we don't mention it or show it anymore," Thatch said quickly. "But, you've seen stuff before, right? Other than feelings and thoughts?" Ace nodded, saying it happened only a few times. "But it's always from first person, right?" He nodded again, and looked back at the drawing.
Marco knew what he was thinking and said, "This is drawn in third person. It might not be of you, Ace. I don't know who it would be, though. Or what on earth caused the skin to melt. It's horrible." Thatch nodded in agreement and Ace sighed. They were right, everything was always first person. This was not. And even if it wasn't third person, he would be unable to be in a position to see through the hole completely.
"I really hope this is the product of a nightmare I can't remember," Ace mumbled, putting his face in his palm. Thatch stood and put his hand on Ace's shoulder, giving him an encouraging look.
"Don't let this drawing ruin things for you. You're so happy, right? Luffy is a happy pirate now, you're finally second division commander, you're loved by your division and supported by everyone. Don't let this overshadow all of that," Thatch said sincerely. Ace nodded, a watery smile on. Thatch gave him a hug. "I'm sorry these things happen to you."
Marco stood up and put his hand on Ace's back. "We're here to support you no matter what. Talk to us if anything else like this happens." Ace said he would, and they went off to do their duties.
Ace was distracted all day, but still did his work properly. The commander noticed, though. Especially Pops, who pulled him aside to ask what was wrong, if something happened. "Just a bad dream. I keep thinking about it," Ace said, an awkward smile on. It was hard to lie to Pops, even more now that they spent more time talking and being in the same place at the same time.
"You don't need to hide anything from me, son," Whitebeard said sincerely. Ace looked down.
"It's really nothing. I don't want to worry you about stupid stuff," he mumbled, kicking a booted foot into the wood floor, the picture of awkward and uncomfortable.
"It is not stupid if it bothers you like this," he insisted. "Please, tell me if something is bothering you. I know Marco and Thatch are your confidants, but I want to help you as well."
Ace finally said, "I woke up to a scary drawing. It's bothering me. That's all." Pops' brows furrowed. He asked if it was like how he sleep walked to make maps and sea charts, which still happened, just not as often as it once had. He nodded. He asked if Ace could explain what the drawing was of. "A bloody hole in somebody's chest, the skin around it melted and charred."
To say Pops was shocked at just how disturbing the drawing was was an understatement. "I'm so sorry, son. I would be afraid if I woke to that as well," he said sincerely. "Did you have a nightmare that you remember?"
Ace shook his head. "If I had a nightmare about that, I know I'd wake up screaming or remember it. I don't remember getting up to draw it, so I was half-dead when it happened. But the drawing is so clear, obvious what it is. I'm not even good at drawing and it came out so realistic." His hands were shaking. "My visions are always first person. So seeing it like that might not be coming from my eyes. But I don't know who it would be." He sighed. "There's not enough context, but I don't want any context."
Pops hugged him. "If you want a break for the rest of the day to relax, I'll gladly allow it." Ace shook his head, saying he didn't want time to think about it too much. "Alright, but if you need to, tell me, okay?" Ace nodded and thanked him.
-x-
A little over two weeks passed, and there had been no more scary drawings or nightmares. He wasn't stupid enough to think it was all over, though. He didn't know when it would be over, but it wasn't. Or if it would ever be over. And nothing had come of either drawings. Ace couldn't remember what the first drawing looked like, but he knew Thatch and Marco talked about it.
He still forgot what it looked like when it was out of sight, but knowing it was there was an improvement. He was happier again, but still, the abnormalities hung over his head like a rain cloud, sometimes showering him with stress, but most time in the back of his mind. Lingering, but not in full view.
Ace wasn't free of the pain for long. It had been ten months since he woke up to a new life. Since he forgot everyone and everything of the past two years. The visions continued to come, most of them vague snippets of conversation or thoughts. Small ones, nothing big. Maybe an island that has enemy pirates on it, or knowing when a storm would damage the ship, small things like that that were easy to correct.
And all of those small things were meant to be corrected. No painful headaches after changing something small. That was nice, as the headaches were hell. He was in the kitchen when the next vision came.
"You know why I'm here," Ace said. "We got the ship in the wrong direction, bake us some cupcakes."
Thatch said, "You are too addicted to cupcakes, young man."
"And whose fault is that?" Ace teased. "C'mon, we need a pick me up. Don't you care about your beloved brothers?" he asked in an innocent voice. Thatch sent him an unimpressed look, and agreed to make some damn cupcakes.
Ace was about to reply when his eyes went wide, and he dropped off his sentence, hands digging into the counter until the marble broke off. "Hey! What are y- Ace?!" Thatch exclaimed, hurrying over to Ace, who wasn't blinking, eyes wide and staring at the same place, breathing heavily and sweating profusely.
"No, no, no, no, no," Ace chanted, but wouldn't reply to anything Thatch was doing, any sound or his voice.
Ace had never had a vision like this. He was so angry that one time, but never had this overwhelming grief overtake his mind. It was familiar to Sabo's death, but worse in some way. Thatch continued to try and snap him out of it, but Ace was unresponsive, unable to hear him or feel him. He was consumed by the vision.
It was too long, way too long. Sometime during it, Marco had walked in to announce a meeting when he saw Thatch shaking Ace and calling his name. Marco hurried over, demanding what was wrong. "I think he's having a vision!"
"That's not out of the ordin- oh my god," Marco said, seeing Ace's bright red face, tears falling down his cheeks out of his wide eyes. He wasn't moving or responding, breathing quickly. He was silent, but his fingers were bleeding from broken stone. Marco tried to remove them, but the hands just clamped down harder.
"Ace, Ace wake up. How long has he been like this?" Marco demanded.
"I lost count after eight minutes," Thatch said quietly. Marco gasped. Usually his visions lasted a few seconds. "He kept saying 'no, no, no' over and over but he's stopped." Thatch finally pried his fingers off of the stone and Marco scooped him up. Marco said they were taking him to his room.
Ace was still catatonic while he was hurried through the halls and to his room. He said nothing, but continued to cry, until suddenly his hands shot out and gripped Marco's arm, hard. His fingers were coated in haki and gripping Marco's arm so hard that he started to tear into the skin. Marco hissed at it, but didn't try to stop him since it would heal after the haki no longer was touching him.
When he got to his room, Ace still wasn't saying anything, but he was no longer still or frozen. He stood up and staggered to his desk, taking a pen and started to draw with so much pressure the wood was creaking. Marco and Thatch watched what he was drawing. He wasn't drawing, but writing.
Teach traitor. Teach traitor. Teach traitor. Teach trai- before there was too much pressure on the desk and the whole top of it snapped in half, wood digging into Ace's hands and making them bleed again. He was unable to use his powers while like this, which was why he was being cut.
Marco and Thatch's faces both went white. But nothing they did or said stopped Ace's vision. It had been twelve minutes by then, and they were both scared for their brother. "Oh my god," Marco said suddenly, Thatch having put a towel under Ace's fingers as he dug them into the wood, the pen broken in half.
"What?" Thatch asked.
"He was thinking of this months ago! With the ink bottle! 'How dare he do this. I trusted him'! He's known about this for months, Thatch!" Marco shouted, gripping Ace's shoulder, trying to pull him away and back to the bed, but he was rigid, not moving.
Finally, he did something, but it was just screaming bloody murder, worse than his nightmare had been. And he clawed at his chest, fingers digging into his skin. Marco finally pinned him down on his stomach, holding his hands behind his back as he kept screaming before he finally stilled, completely unconscious.
"M-Marco… the drawing of the chest," Thatch cried quietly, biting into his lower lip.
"I know. I know," Marco said just as quietly. "Close and lock the door, Thatch. Don't let anyone in until Ace is awake. Even Pops," he ordered, and Thatch ran to the door, locking it and pushing the dresser in front of it. Marco finally unpinned the youngest and picked him up, bringing him to the bed. "God, I hope he can tell us what happened. But I'm not sure if I want him to remember."
Thatch sat on the bed and brought Ace's head into his lap, running his fingers through his hair, wanting to comfort him in any way he could. Ace's eyes were no longer open wide. Marco went to the bathroom and got a wet towel to clean the blood off of the youngest.
"Marco… Teach… he betrayed us?" Thatch asked in a high voice.
Marco looked down. "I believe Ace. This has been a long time coming. Finding this out. The signs have been here for months. He did those before he knew. While he was friends with Teach, deep inside he knew."
Thatch was crying, tears dripping onto Ace's forehead. "Do you think he came back after dying? No… nobody could survive that drawing. Not even a logia," he said, voice thick with grief and hurt. Marco said that was possible.
Finally, there was a knock on the door. "You guys in there?" Vista's voice asked. "We're supposed to be in a meeting," he said, sounding irritated a bit.
Marco's voice was more steady than Thatch's would be. "Ace is feeling ill, we'll come out once he feels better," he said in a stable voice.
Vista replied, "Oh, alright. I'll tell Pops." Marco and Thatch were grateful that he asked no questions and trusted their words. Hopefully no one else came to see what was wrong. After another fifteen minutes of silence, with Ace still unconscious, he finally opened his eyes slowly, before they snapped open and he started to sob, but didn't curl into a ball. He wrapped his arms around Thatch tightly, sobbing.
Thatch hugged him back, rubbing his back. "Shh, you're okay. You're not there, Ace," he tried to sooth. After a while, Ace got himself calmed down more, and was no longer sobbing, though the tears didn't stop. "Are you alright?" Ace shook his head. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Ace whispered, "Nobody will believe me."
"There's enough evidence over time to prove whatever you say, Ace," Marco told him kindly. "Please, tell us. And then we can tell the others for you." Ace sniffled but nodded. He took a deep breath and began to talk.
"I… saw the last three months of my life." Thatch winced, but didn't seem surprised. Marco looked down, gritting his teeth. "Thatch, you found a devil fruit. The dark dark fruit. And Teach, he killed you for it! I- I walked outside, and you were bleeding on - the - deck. He - was - gone - and - killed - you!" Ace sobbed hysterically.
Thatch was horrified while Marco looked absolutely livid. "I was stupid," he said, doing his best to control his emotions. This was important. They needed to act as soon as possible. "I went after him. I was his commander, I should have seen it! I should have known! And I went after him and I lost," he spat. "He turned me into the marines to become a warlord. I was tortured in Impel Down for three weeks. I was there with Jinbei. Everyone was so mad. Our family, our allies… there was a war, and everyone came for me. I was gonna be executed in front of the world. I drew that.
"That drawing was of the war at Marineford. Everyone was there. The admirals, you guys, Gramps, Luffy! He broke into the prison to save me, and then showed up at Marineford. He was so injured and sick as he fought to save me! Pops, everyone, was getting so hurt. The Moby burnt into nothing." Neither of them interrupted them no matter how horrified or angry they were.
"Luffy did get to me. I was almost killed so many times and then he got me away. He got my cuffs unlocked. Everything was going right. But Pops stayed behind. And I was stupid and I wasted everyone's efforts!
"Akainu… he taunted me about Pops, and I took the bait like an idiot. He went after Luffy, and I shielded him. That picture - Akainu put a magma fist through my chest, and I died in Luffy's arms. He was crying, I promised him I wouldn't die, I died in his arms!" Ace curled in on himself, shaking with repressed sobs. "I died, and then I woke up here, with no memory. I came back after I died."
Marco and Thatch hugged Ace. "I'm sorry! It's all my fault, I should have seen it!"
"No, Ace. It is not your fault that we didn't know about Teach. It's on us, we've been with him for so long, and we didn't see it. You've been commander less than two months, it was not on you to see this."
Ace whispered, "We have to lock him up, now. We have to take every precaution. It's still going to happen. It's all gonna happen unless we do something! My head feels fine, nothing has changed!" he exclaimed, and the other two realized what he meant. If there was no pain in his head, then he had not changed the course of time.
Teach would still get away with everything. "Why? Why did he do it?" Thatch asked, looking just as disturbed. He would die as well, after all.
"He told me. He was going to beat Pops. Kill him with his fruit, and he could have! That fruit is evil! He said he was never family, he just stayed with us for the fruit! That's all he ever wanted!" Ace exclaimed.
Marco stood up, and said, "We'll lock him up right now and explain later. Don't attack him, Ace, or you'll be seen as the traitor. Thatch, stay with him in here." He had a hard and determined voice. "You both need to be calmed down, and seeing Teach won't help at all." Thatch and Ace both nodded.
The phoenix left the room, hands clenched in fists and shoulders aflame. "I'm sorry, Thatch. I failed everyone. I failed you. I couldn't even avenge your death," Ace whimpered.
Thatch hugged him, his traumatized little brother. "I don't blame you. It isn't your job to avenge me. No matter if you're his commander, we were the ones taken in the whole time. I'm sorry I died," he said, voice shaking. Ace winced.
"I was the one to find you," Ace whispered. "It was so horrible. I don't want it to happen again, no matter what. I can't lose any more brothers." They were quiet for a bit before there was a knock on the door.
"Are you guys okay?" Marco asked in concern. Both of them nodded, now more calm than just a bit ago. "Meeting time. I knocked Teach out, and now he chained in the brig. We're gonna have to explain everything since the beginning, Ace. In detail, okay? Some might not believe you, but we have to work as hard as we can to make them," he said in a determined voice. Ace nodded, and he and Thatch stood up.
Ace got the picture of his fatal wound and list, and Thatch got the drawing of the battle of Marineford. Both he and Thatch still looked a mess. Ace's eyes were still bright red and watery, and Thatch's nose was pink. Both of them had the posture of dead men walking. No horrible pun intended.
They walked into the meeting room, which was incredibly hostile. It wasn't what either of the upset commanders needed, but it was to be expected. When they saw the state of the two, though, the anger turned into genuine concern. Pops stood up, looking very worried, and Marco looked solemn and closed off. Marco, Thatch and Ace sat together, Thatch shoving Jozu out of his seat.
The larger commander didn't protest, seeing the state of Thatch and Ace. Marco offered to explain for Ace, who bit his lip but shook his head. He needed to explain. "Please, don't interrupt," Ace said, starting from the moment he woke up on the Moby Dick.
Through the hour long explanation, only a few of the commanders looked truly skeptical, but when Ace explained in more detail, and when he brought out the pictures, those who looked disbelieving looked more baffled. Haruta and Izo were steaming, many of the others with cold, angry expressions on. Maybe for Teach, maybe for Ace keeping all of this from them, he didn't know.
When he explained the war, and showed them the drawing he'd made months before, and then told them his gruesome death with the drawing of the wound that caused his agonizing death, they were horrified. "Pops can vouch for a lot of this. And he knows I drew this picture awhile ago."
Ace finally sat down, his explanation and confession finished. "It will all still happen somehow. I didn't feel the pain of changing something not meant to be changed. This is a big one, it will definitely cause pain," Ace said.
"This is how you predicted all of those occurrences? And knew more, how you saved Stefan, the maps… it explains it all," Izo said, the first to speak.
"This is madness," Vista said, and saw Ace bite his lip. "I am not calling you crazy, Ace. This is all just, so strange. I believe you, though. We know you wouldn't lie like this, and everything in your story adds up."
Many others nodded, or voiced sad agreement. Pops finally spoke. "I am so sorry, Ace. That you went through all of that. I believe everything you said," he said firmly.
Ace teared up. "He told me so many times that we were all his family. And he was lying to me, to us, the whole time. He didn't hesitate to kill Thatch or turn me in… he took joy in it, he laughed when he told me about his plan all along. He asked for me to join his crew," he spat out the last part, and the others looked disgusted.
"I'm sorry. You all went to war for me, and I wasted it all," Ace said quietly. "I shouldn't have let him get to me. He warped things, words people said. He got one of our allies to stab Pops for a lie. I - I won't say who, he tried to atone for it and Pops forgave him. But still. He's evil." The others agreed, and Pops said that Akainu was a government dog and was heartless.
Namur said, "We would go to war for any of us. We're not Teach, we are your family." The others nodded. "We have to kill Teach to stop it all."
The moment the others nodded, Ace screamed and held his head, eventually banging it on the table because it hurt so much. But the others couldn't help but smile. It changed. At least a little. Once they killed Teach, it would all be over.
But then Ace went silent as memories forced themselves into his head. It wasn't as painful as before, and didn't take as long. "I… I remember."
"What?" Haruta asked.
"I remember the two years! I remember everything! My crew, our adventures!" he shouted, tears of happiness trailing down his cheeks. The others smiled for him, most likely glad something good had come of this situation.
Izo said, "Do you think you were meant to come back and focus on saving our situation, and that's why any distracting memories were taken from you?" Ace shrugged, but smiled, until the situation came back to him, and he lost it. He asked when they were going to kill Teach.
Pops sighed, and said, "Today. This needs to be dealt with immediately. I will not let all of my sons suffer because of one bad apple. Ace, was anybody else involved with Teach? Do you know for sure?"
Ace nodded, swearing that it had only been Teach, and he'd taken nobody with him or onto his new crew. The crew he would have had. He was smiling now, though. Everyone would be fine, be saved. Ace was so relieved. And wondered if the visions were over. There was nothing left to see, wasn't there? He'd seen it till his last moment. And his original memories had been returned to him after months.
Luffy, he would be safe. He wouldn't risk his life for Ace. But, they had to get to Alabasta. He remembered the date. He had another month to get there. Was that enough? Thatch thumped his back. "We'll get there in time," he said with a grin. "I think we'd all like to meet the little brother that fought the world to save you."
The commanders around him nodded, grinning though there was sadness on their faces. Ace had seen it all, he hated Teach. He felt no sadness over his death. He would relish in revenge. He didn't know what had happened after his death, but Pops was in bad condition. It would have been easy for Teach to come along and take advantage of it. He was scum like that.
They all headed down the three flights of stairs to the deepest part of the ship, and the most uncomfortable and unpleasant. The brig had not been used in ten years, according to Rayuko. Across the metal door to the brig was the storage for metal sheeting in case they needed a quick fix for a hole in the ship and didn't have the wood.
Ace had never been to the brig, so when he entered the cold, damp place with little source for light and the walls and floor made of metal, it was a bit of a shock. There were seven cells, but only one had anyone inside. When the traitor heard the door squeal open, old and unused, he looked furious and confused.
The commanders all stood in a line across from him, Pops in the middle. They all looked at him in disgust. Pops was the one to speak.
"Teach. What do you think of the dark dark fruit?" he asked in a flat voice. Teach's face lit up before he caught himself.
"I don't know. Why are you asking me?" he questioned, trying to sound confused.
"Because we all know what your plan has been. You want the dark dark fruit to challenge me. We know everything, and you will be executed for it, in effect immediately," Pops said coldly. The expression Teach ahd made showed that he wanted that fruit, and then he lied, covering up his reaction showed he was indeed guilty. That was what truly doomed him.
But he grew angry, scowling. "I haven't done anything! You can't kill me for something I haven't done!" he shouted furiously. It was weird, seeing him so angry. Then Ace remembered long ago, that he was pissy about something "not panning out" that he had wanted. Perhaps it was the fruit that caused that anger.
"We will kill you to stop what you planned in the future," Pops said, still sounding emotionless. "You are lucky we do not torture, no matter what." That was a policy. The Whitebeards did not torture. For any reason, even if Ace wished they would. For all of the pain this man put everyone through.
Teach looked livid, no longer playing innocent and confused. "How'd you know?!" he demanded. Nobody gave him the answer. There was no need to, he didn't deserve to know. Ace knowing it was him who took him down was enough, he didn't need to be insulted or hated for the small time this man had left of life.
Jozu said, "A deadman doesn't need to know," his deep voice, cold and disgusted. Thatch took Ace's arm, looping it around his own. Ace didn't resist, knowing thatch was probably a bit scared. There was no chance for Teach to kill him now, but he had almost died at the hands of this evil pig.
Ace was glad he didn't remember the pain of his death like he remembered his own. He was sure he'd be having nightmares for a while, but knew his brothers would be there for him, be understanding, even if he woke them up at night.
Teach was dragged out of his cell by his hair. They may not torture, but they didn't need to be gentle either. People were congregated, trying to find out why Marco had knocked out and dragged Teach to the brig. They all looked worried and confused.
"Someone go get chum," Pops ordered, and Haruta went hurrying inside. Thatch turned pale, and Ace realized they were going to bait sea kings and then give Teach to them. A terrifying way to go, but fitting for all he'd done and had no doubt done after Ace was gone.
Pirates desperately asked what was going on, so Pops announced that they found out Teach was a traitor. He didn't say anything else, didn't give the specifics, but also didn't lie to them. "You can't do it like this!" Teach shouted, and Ace was happy to hear him beg. He looked to the side to see Marco looked vindictive as well. They both wanted him to suffer, even if the actual death would not last long. The fear would be the best part.
"I don't want your blood spilled on this ship. I don't want any blood spilled on this ship," Whitebeard said coldly, and Ace felt Thatch's arm tighten around his own. Haruta came hurrying out with a bucket of bloody red meat. They used chum for bait when fishing, as it attracted bigger fish instead of worms or something like that.
It was usually in plastic bags in the freezer so they didn't spoil too quickly. Kingdew took the bucket and threw the contents a bit out into the water. Everyone watched nervously while the commanders coldly dealt with Teach, who was their brother and a good guy up until two hours ago.
It didn't take long for three sea kings to arrive, and start fighting over the chum. Teach didn't scream anymore, just glared furiously at all of them. Pops didn't do it, and Ace wasn't surprised, so Marco did, kicking Teach over the railing easily with one foot. The screams were brief as the sea kings gladly ate the live prey presented right to them.
Only a few watched, others turning away and leaving. Ace hugged Thatch and Marco tightly. "Thank you, for being with me from the start. You guys saved my sanity," he said. They both smiled and patted him back.
"You're our little brother, we'll always have your back. Now, let's head to see your little brother," Thatch said.
Ace laughed, recalling the only funny or entertaining thing to happen during the war. "My brother stood up to Pops. He even yelled at him!" Ace exclaimed, telling them of when Whitebeard told Luffy he'd be useless there, and Luffy told him to shut up. And that he'd be the king of the pirates. The three heard Pops laugh from afar, no doubt hearing since Ace had said it loudly.
"What a cheeky brat." Ace smiled, remembering that was what he'd said to Luffy in the future that would not happen. Ace prevented it, and if he had to, he'd die happy. But, he wasn't going to die. Not anytime soon. He wanted to live, no matter what. Almost dying at marineford and then learning of his actual death made him appreciate life much more than before.
After that, the crew who didn't know what happened were sad. Ace's division went through the most grief, and he had to work to sympathize with them through his utter hate of their former false-brother. But, he cared for his division, and was there for him like their commander should be. Like a brother should be.
Ace had long talks with the Spades about his returned memories. Deuce knew the full story, but the others didn't. Nobody but the captain, commanders and Deuce knew what had actually happened. Ace was the person he had been and who he was. He realized that maintaining his distance from the Spades was unnecessary. He was pretty much the same person as he was before in the end. He was confused and meek in the beginning, but before he became a commander, he was pretty much the same person he'd been. He was thankful for their understanding.
The rest of Ace's life went by the way a normal person's would. Well, a normal pirate. There were no more visions. He'd seen everything he felt he was meant to see. Something sent him back to make things right. To save lives that deserved to be saved over someone like Teach. It had been a slow process, but once the process was done, Ace was no longer psychic.
He was still skilled in the things that had come from his brief time as a psychic/time traveler, but no more spoilers came to him. He got to enjoy Luffy's escapades as they happened. It was wonderful to live in the moment, not knowing when something horrible was about to approach you.
Life was good, and Ace and Thatch would appreciate it anew. Both of them would live, no matter if the world once doomed them to do otherwise.
I had so many people on ao3 freaking out and thinking I'd kill Thatch in the end. I would never do that! So, happy ending. Teach is gone, everyone lives! And Ace's life can be more normal now that he won't have those visions and can now remember his missing two years. So, happy ending all around! I hope you enjoyed, thanks for reading till the end! There will be no sequel to this, so imagine how it all happened!
HOLAA913: Most likely lol.
sairakanzaki: Thank you!
Simtria: It was a bad omen, huh? lol.
SakuraS41: Teach is where he belongs now. Dead and rotting in hell.
94Insane: Thank you! I'll be posting another story after this one to make up for it, but am sad this one is over.