Marco's POV

Marco could see the blood dripping heavily from Luffy's fingers, yet the ravens face was a brightly lit with a giant grin.

Dragon's shackles were off, the internal chain was tightly restricting Luffy's fingers, the blackened Armament haki that was covering the teenager's hand had stopped it from going straight through his flesh and bone, however his right hand had suffered, his bone was broken, his fingers were held at a odd angle.

But that didn't stop him from cheerfully laughing, Marco decided in that moment his friend was an absolute badass. While the blonde boy could easily laugh off injuries, that was also down to the fact that the pain dulled almost instantly as it started to heal. Yet here was Luffy, he was badly hurt and somehow he could just grin, no fear or painful regret.

Marco wanted to be like him, strong and brave, no fear and no regret.

Man he was so cool. Dragon was so lucky to have such a cool brother. Then again drunk Pops had decided he was his son, considering the amount of times he corrected Luffy when he called him 'Not so old' guy. So most likely non drunk Pops felt the same, he just had a lot more restraint.

So lucky Marco, he had a awesome brother after all.

While the blonde teenager had been admiring his less than willing 'brother', Pops had chucked the shackles into the ocean, rather enthusiastically he might add.

When he was done, he looked as if a load had been lifted from his shoulders.

The old bag was undoing the chains around Luffy's limbs, not overly gently either, she was pulling at them roughly, the raven sat on the bed next Dragon letting the woman do her thing without complaint.

Blood was oozing all over the place, the metal links were cutting deep however the he never flinched or tried to pull away. Quite happy to sit there quietly, it made Marco feel a little ashamed, he remembered when the doctor had been treating his eyes and he had wailed, fought and been a general pain the ass. Not because it really hurt him, but more out of spite for the old woman.

Finally the chains fell to the floor, Luffy was staring off into the distance, his gaze not fixed on anything in particular, when the metal hit the wooden planks the teenage didn't so much as blink. He seemed to be in a world of his own.

Marco's thoughts were brought back to the conversation before, when the raven had told them about his crew.

Was that what he was thinking about?

Come to think about, the Phoenix often caught Luffy staring off into space. It brought up a lot of questions.

"Luffy where's your crew, yoi?"

The younger captain peered up from his spot, fixing his attention on Marco. Pops, who had decided to sit next to the bed, back resting against it, opened his eyes and turned slightly to look at Luffy. Obviously he was curious too.

"They aren't here now" He answered half-heartedly, his eyes falling to the ground, he suddenly a pained expression passed his face.

What did he mean? Not here now, were they... dead. That was the impression he gave anyway.

"What are they dead?" Both Pops and the Phoenix aimed angry stares on the doctor, who was currently stitching up the raven's wounds.

Didn't she know anything about talking to people. She shouldn't ask something so insensitive.

"No" Luffy answered straight way. Though, there was definitely a warning in his voice, a clear indicator that he wasn't going to put up with such disrespect.

Well as long as they were alive, the Phoenix was glad, he dreaded to think how upset Luffy would have been, considering how much Marco had badgered him before. He would have been such a awful friend.

"Oh, huh. So, I mean you miss them, yoi" Marco stumbled out, he winced at how lame that sounded.

The pirate captain smiled a little, bobbing his head in response. Though that was all he got.

The blonde boy wandered over, clambering onto his father's leg without much thought.

Should he ask something else, Luffy was lacking his normal demeanour, in fact Marco couldn't help but notice that he was quite sombre. His friend was upset, his whole body screamed it.

"May I at least ask one thing?" Pops murmured softly, pale eyes observing the teen with concern.

Luffy paused frowning at him warily, he looked guilty for some reason when he nodded.

"What is your crew called?"

"Straw-hat pirates" The straw-hat captain replied without hesitation.

Marco's eyes drifted up to the straw-hat that was sat on his shaggy black head of hair. He had been wondering about it for a little while, Luffy always had it on him. When Vista had asked about it, the raven had said it was his treasure, the most important item he owned. He remembered thinking then that it was strange, however now that he knew that it represented his crew, he understood the significance a lot more.

Though why he had chosen a straw-hat over anything else was beyond him, it wasn't exactly the coolest thing in the world. Then again this was Luffy, he was awesome even with a straw-hat. Well that's what Marco believed anyway.

The blonde lent back, he really wanted to know more about Luffy's crew, however his friend didn't seem to be willing to talk about it anymore.

"Hey, how come you can't tell us about stuff, yoi?" At least that question wasn't aimed specifically at the crew.

"Cause Dragon said not to, if I do then bad stuff might happen"

The old bag had just finished winding a bandage around the ravens hands, at least they weren't big and bulky like Dragons. Luffy flexed his arms, testing his range of movement.

The woman moved onto the older Monkey's bindings, she started unravelling the gauze.

"You do know we mean you no harm..." Pops said softly, he seemed almost desperate to convince him.

The older teen glanced up at him, answering in a bored tone. "I know. Why would I think that?"

"You did say 'bad stuff will happen', yoi"

"You guys aren't the bad stuff. The bad stuff might happen to my 'now'"

That got a raised eyebrow from Pops, he had turned to face Luffy fully. "What do mean by your 'now'?"

"I might not meet my crew in my 'now'"

This was confusing Marco, his father didn't look much better, he had a deep set frown.

"So your 'now' isn't now?"

Pops had a sudden look of understanding, as if the puzzle pieces had fallen into place. Marco was left feeling annoyed that he didn't get it.

Luffy began to nod, he opened his mouth to speak, when his eyes went wide with realization and he slapped his hands over his mouth, resulting in him flinching in sight pain.

Pops groaned grumpily, a large frustrated scowl on his face. His shoulders sank, coming to the conclusion that he wouldn't be getting anymore out of the younger captain.

"Huh, I don't get it, if we aren't the bad thing, then why can't you tell us? yoi"

Luffy looked off to the side, trying and failing to keep a calm and neutral expression. His hands still firmly in place.

The young captain had his gaze set on Dragon who's hands were now free of his old wrappings, the blonde was a little put off by the state of his wrists and hands, they were covered in stitches and bruises.

The old bag started to clean the fresh injuries, shoving lots of medical liquids into his bloodstream, before beginning to patch up her handiwork from before.

"Please tell us, yoi" Marco begged, he really wanted to get his mind off that whole gross feeling he was getting from watching Marilyn work, it was kind of funny how when he was a bloody injured mess, he just didn't care and yet somebody else's wounds grossed him out.

The straw-hat captain shook his head wildly in response. Pops slumped forwards, crossing his arms, annoyance written in his body language.

"Tch, Marco give it up. He won't tell us anything else."

On the outside Pops acted irritated, maybe even a little angry. But Marco had known the Yonko a long time, he knew him well enough to know what his real irritated face looked like, what his angry face looked like and those weren't it.

His father was actually upset, probably extremely unhappy, the blonde man hated the notion that Luffy didn't trust him, especially when he had gone out of his way to gain said trust.

Marco patted his arm sympathetically, he did feel really bad for him. Despite everything that he depicted himself as, this strong towering presence, with no worries or fear. Yes, he could wreck the world if so desired, however strength didn't matter when emotionally he was soft as a pile of pillows.

It was easy for him to come off like that in the public eye, even sometimes on the ship too. Marco knew better, he had been around when he was still new at being a Dad, honestly thinking back on it , he was huge clueless mess, he often got flustered and panicked.

It was all kind of funny. Sadly a lot of his siblings hadn't been around to see it. Shame.

But the point was, Marco knew that his Pops was upset over the whole situation. He was probably worried that he would never gain their trust. That saddened the blonde teenager as well.

The old doctor finally stood up lighting another cigar, she had done her job and now she was going. Without a word the woman left.

Luffy quickly checked over Dragon, once satisfied he perched next to his head, giving his older brother a gentle stroke through his long black hair.

After a little while the raven looked over in their direction, maybe he picked up on the solemn air surrounding the two.

Sighing Luffy made an attempt to reassure them. "You know, it's not because I don't trust you guys, but Dragon said I can't tell anyone stuff, including him..."

The Yonko glanced up, exchanging confused glances with Marco. What? So, he couldn't tell Dragon anything either.

"You tell Dragon stuff, is it the same reason as us, yoi?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Why?" Pops jumped in, he sounded about as puzzled as Marco felt.

"Urgh, I told you, cause something bad might happen. Don't you people ever listen?" Luffy grumbled.

Pops gave the other captain a unimpressed half lidded glare. "Not fun is it?"

Marco snorted in amusement, which received a bewildered head tilt from his friend. "What's that supposed to mean?"

The Phoenix burst into a fit of sniggers, Luffy pouted still not understanding. The older captain jabbed his finger into his son's side, clearly he was unamused, all that did was make the blonde teen laugh even more.

"What! Why are you laughing?" The raven pushed himself up from next to Dragon's side and coming to lean over the Yonko's shoulder, so he could try and whack the giggling Phoenix. It really didn't help, considering Luffy's bandaged hands just bounced off him harmlessly, though it wasn't like he was really trying to hurt him.

"Alright that's enough out of you" Pops said flicking his son lightly in the head, before turning to Luffy. "Little brat stop trying to smack Marco, you'll just aggravate your hands."

"Hey! He could really be hurting me Pops, yoi." Marco chuckled, his voice dripping with mock offense.

The blonde man just rolled his eyes, a little bit of amusement on his face, just a small quirk of smile forming at the edges of his mouth.

"Geez, Marco you're a wimp... I wasn't even hurting you." The mocking tone had obviously gone over Luffy's head, or maybe he was just feeling petty.

"I'll have you know I'm very brave and not scared of anything" Marco announced in a matter of fact voice.

This time it caused his dad to laugh, a large teasing grin on his face. Marco scowled up at him, this time he was offended.

He was convinced that he was brave. Why was that funny?

"Gurarara, right of course son... So nothing scares you then."

Luffy wheezed, giving the blonde a entertained smile, a mocking glint sparked to life.

"POPS DON'T YOU DARE,YOI!" Marco squawked in a panic.

The raven had climbed onto the Yonko's shoulder so he could sit on it, feet dangling down. He lent forwards, eyes sparkling menacingly.

"Come on Marco, I would-" Marco cut his dad off by hands over his mouth. His face was as red as a tomato, he shaking his head wildly at Pops losing battle at not bursting into a laughing mess.

Though thankfully his dad didn't push him off, Pops had gotten the desired reaction and Marco hated him for that. He probably wouldn't have told Luffy, but any chance to be a infuriating dad, he would. Marco wouldn't even be surprised if being a annoying dad was his favourite pass time.

"Awww come I wanna know. Come on Newgate tell me what Marco's scared of."

The father and son suddenly froze, what had Luffy called Pops? The man in question was looking as if he'd just see the sun for the first time in a months.

"You called me by my name..."

Luffy frowned as if he had just now noticed.

"Sorry? Don't you lik-" Pops dove in before the words were barely out of Luffy's mouth.

"NO. I mean no, uh, that's fine. Newgate is fine... that is my name. Newgate."

Marco had to admit seeing Pops getting his words mixed up was pretty fun, it wasn't often he got flustered anymore. It also wasn't everyday he saw his father have such a big dopey grin either, clearly he had gotten through to Luffy. Even if it was only a little.

"Okay..." The young captain said in a bemused manner.

"Why did you call Pops the 'not so old guy' thing anyway, yoi"

It was something everyone had questioned about at some point, especially considering how Luffy addressed other people, normally it was based on how they looked or something, but the Pops nickname had always been rather specific.

"Cause he's not old... he's not wrinkly, he still has hair, he doesn't have those chest scars and he's not super sick..."

Pops frowned at that.

"That's oddly specific..." Marco couldn't agree more, he was right the nickname had something more to it after all.

"Out of curiosity, I was like that before? I was old, like that before." Pops said off-handily, it was said with indifference. Perhaps he was trying to get Luffy to slip up again and the raven didn't disappoint.

"Yeah, you were really old."

"But not 'now'"

Marco was lost, he didn't get what his Pops was trying to get at. And what was with the emphasis on the now?

Was it to do with what he had figured out earlier or at least what he thought was going on. Marco was really trying to get his head around it.

"No, not ' now'" The teenage was starting to get a confused look on his face. His face was crumpled up, so much so that he was squinting.

"But your now isn't this now is it?" Pops said triumphant undertones in his voice.

"No..."

Marco was lost as Luffy looked and almost as confused as his friend looked as well. What was Pops trying to do.

What was all this talk about 'now'.

"So your aren't from this now. But your own now, which isn't now?"

Luffy's eyes were slowly getting furthered and further apart the harder he thought. Until finally he snapped."Yes. I mean, no... I-"

"When were you born, what year?" Pops suddenly asked out of nowhere.

"May 5th 1505"

"So you're from the future?"

"Oh, uh yeah."

"SAY WHAT, YOI!" Marco screeched, he was so shocked that his Phoenix form made an unfortunate appearance, all his feathers puffed out dramatically and his wings sprang open.

"Oh crap I shouldn't have told you that..." Luffy grinned nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.

What the hell was going on?

I've had several comments asking me this.

This story is set post Wholecake island arc, Luffy in his current timeline has not arrived in Wano. When he was taken back in time he was on his way there. The reason I have chosen to set this story before the events of Wano is quite simple. The manga still hasn't finished with the Wano arc, despite this being an AU I would still like to follow the one piece story closely as I can.

So no Luffy isn't as Op as he is currently in Wano, he has literally just come away from beating Katakuri.

WARNING RANT AHEAD!

I've had a couple of not very nice private messages concerning this fic, as it seems that those people do not read my replies I will have to put it in here for everyone to see.

So these few have been telling me that I am not writing what people want me to and all I have to say to that is, I am writing this fic simply for my own satisfaction, if you don't want to read a story like this one then don't read it. Simple as that.

I made it clear in the description that there will not be any pairings. No I will not write a Marco X Luffy thing. There is plenty of Fic's out there with that as the main focus. So please stop asking me.

Marco is 15 and Luffy is 19, no underage stuff thank you, they're just good buddies. Also Luffy is supposedly Ace. Yes I am a LGBTQ supporter, I'm literally a Lesbian. ( Look at my description of Tam and Gloria if you don't believe me, two very pretty butch ladies)

Right rant over, most of you are very nice and I appreciate all the lovely feedback, however those few people really ruin this for me. It honestly sometimes makes me not want write this story at all.

Remember people to think what you write before you press that send icon. Authors are people too. If you want a specific fic, then write it yourself and don't badger other people to do it for you.

Okay peace!