(Dark Carrier AU)
Despite Sabo's careful movements when he had climbed out of his bed Ace still stirred, he grumbled sleepily, burying his head further into the pillows.
"Sabo... Too early..." Ace complained, his words slow and slurred. Sabo couldn't help but smile, leaning over to rub Ace's back with soothing circles.
"Yeah, it is," he agreed. "Sorry, my mistake. Go back to sleep, Ace."
Ace's eyes inched open and he reached up, tugging on his arm. "You were warm... Lie back down..."
Sabo smiled, lying back down, but not beneath the covers, no instead he wrapped his arm around Ace's waist, pressing up against his back.
"Alright, sorry," Sabo apologised, grinning happily. Ace was still too half-sleep to even notice he was enjoying the cuddling, otherwise he knew his brother would have been angry, or at least acting cold towards him. "Close your eyes, Ace. Go back to sleep."
It was nice to see this more affectionate side of Ace, even if it was mainly brought on by Ace's drowsiness. Ace immediately sank against him, his eyes shut once more, and Sabo traced a hand through his hair, combing it carefully. He waited until Ace's breathing evened out, waited until his brother slipped back into slumber, before climbing back out of bed. He bundled up the spare blankets against Ace's back, and this time, Ace didn't stir.
Sabo slipped out his room quietly, making sure that Ace didn't wake up. He'd go collect Ace later, but right now this had to be a private affair. He really didn't want his brother to find out about what else he had done in Mariejois.
After all, Ace would probably not appreciate him spying on a certain Celestial Dragon.
.::.
Sabo was grinning, but it was one of those nasty, sadistic grins he got when he was feeling vengeful, and so Koala wisely remained out of reach. He was tucked away in his office, and Koala had decided to bring him an early morning snack, but unfortunately this was what her welcome was.
"Sabo? Why are you making such a scary face so early in the morning?" Koala asked hesitantly. "Where's Ace?"
"Ace is still asleep," Sabo said. "And I'm making a 'scary face' because I'm listening to the snails I left in that Celestial bastard's home."
Koala finally stepped closer, she could see the screen that Sabo was watching, the sheer panic the Celestial Dragon was going through, and she couldn't help but smile vindictively too.
"You really can keep an eye on him now," Koala grinned.
"That's the plan," Sabo nodded. "The moment he leaves Mariejois is the moment I'll warn those who care for Ace about the change in scenery, and then I'll go kill Cedric myself if I get the chance."
Koala frowned. "And how will you know what's he's up to?"
"I've got every room set up with surveillance equipment, but also, I found out which room Cedric plans everything. It's his study, the private one that the girl Karasu rescued told us about. Not even his lovers are allowed in it."
"And now, anytime he opens his mouth, or a folder, or has a meeting, I will know exactly what he's talking about," Sabo smirked, but it turned into a frown, a frown that made Koala straighten up, ready for orders. "I won't let him get Ace back, not Ace or the baby."
"He'll be safe with Whitebeard, right?" Koala asked.
"Yeah, he should be, but we'll see once they arrive."
.::.
"Sabo!" Hack shoved open the door, eyes wide. "You need to come quickly, we're having an emergency meeting outside."
Sabo blinked, pulling away from his desk. "Why? What's wrong?"
"We've just gotten the news from Reverie, it's bad. It's really bad," Hack shuddered. "And you're a major part of it! You've been framed for murdering King Cobra of Alabasta Kingdom!"
"What?" Koala cried.
Sabo blanched. King Cobra was dead? But he had been perfectly fine when Sabo had left Mariejois, him and Princess Vivi. Vivi, she was Luffy's friend, if his intel was right.
Oh god. What had happened up in Mariejois exactly after he had left?
"Shit, Hack, stay by my room, try to keep Ace away from this meeting if he wakes up. I'll tell him the important stuff later. And make sure he eats!" Sabo cursed, rushing past, Koala right on his heels.
This was bad. This was really bad, and they had no information on what had happened!
The whole table was surrounded and Sabo immediately took a seat, Ivankov was livid, hissing and shouting, but Dragon remained calm, despite the almost quiver in his voice.
"Calm yourselves. We don't have enough information yet as to what exactly happened. All we know is that King Cobra was alive before Sabo's team left Mariejois," Dragon said.
Dragon turned to him, and grimaced. "Sabo, we need to get Ace out of here, the whole world thinks you murdered King Cobra, and the newspapers announced that you kidnapped a pregnant Lord of the Celestial Dragons. Everyone will start looking for him-"
"We need to call our allies, and make sure they know that I was long gone by the time King Cobra died, and why we were up there in the first place," Sabo gritted his teeth. "Dammit, this is bad. The world loves the Alabasta Kingdom-"
"Which is why they've pinned this on you, after you rescued all those people," Koala hissed. "We have to spread the word, make sure everybody understands that you didn't do this."
"Dragon, how did it go with the Whitebeards?" Sabo asked.
He needed to get Ace somewhere safe, this was all about to blow up in their faces and Ace couldn't be here for that. Not in his condition. Sphinx was private and secluded, nobody would think to look for Ace in a 'ruined village'. The Whitebeards could keep him and Sabo's niece safe.
"They're coming. It should take about a week," Dragon said. "We're already having our allies contacted, and our other bases are currently preparing for an emergency meeting. I will be directly taking charge of this. Sabo, you need to lay low, because no one knows what happened to Princess Vivi, and there is going to be panic regarding her."
"And none of us know the answers, to her, or to King Cobra," Sabo winced.
"Since your brother is disregarding most things, hopefully he won't overhear any of this. He will not need the added stress," Dragon sighed, lowering the paper.
"I have Hack guarding his door for now. If he's awake, Hack should have directed him to go get something to eat."
"Good, I suggest you stick close to your brother, because when it's time to let him go, I won't know how long it will take for you to see each other again," Dragon cautioned.
"I understand. After this mess, everything is going to explode," Sabo nodded, biting his thumb.
So my theory for what happened at Reverie is that the World Government killed Cobra (and captured Vivi, but saying she died too), and are framing Sabo, who they managed to capture. Obviously I've had to change bits to fit in with this storyline, but I tried to stick as close to this theory as possible. I could easily be wrong, and something else happened, but this is my best bet so far :) I'd love to hear what you all thought of Reveries, and what's happened to Cobra, Vivi and Sabo.
Bright side though, at least we saw Ace getting cuddles?
