Hello everyone, here is the next chapter

This is a bit of a weird chapter that I hope turned out well

Also, there is a poll on my profile about the next story I will write. Be sure to leave a vote there! Or you can leave a comment.

The next updates will happen rapidly

Hope you enjoy

Read and relax

They were at an island and were just relaxing. It was a neutral one, Whitebeard sitting in his chair, and enjoying the sunny day. Everyone was out. But as they were relaxing, a stranger came onto the boat, or a stranger to him, Trevor, Mika, and Ace seemed to know this guy, calling him Christopher. And he seemed to be a calm person. But as they were speaking, they spoke a bit about everyone, as Christopher was interested in them. But when they got to Ace, no one had much to say other than he was an assassin and commander, the rest didn't know much more, and he didn't either.

Christopher hummed. "I want you to learn about Ace. Would you like that?" Everyone nodded, they did. They wanted to learn about Ace, and Ace crossed his hands. "No, you're not going to do what I think, I hope." Christopher nodded. "I am." Christopher then moved his hand, and everything went black. Not in a passing out manner, he was still standing and could see all his commanders, Trevor, and Mika here with him in the darkness. What was this? Christopher then appeared, and Ace moved out a dagger and threw it at Christopher, and it just went through him, as if he wasn't really there, it had Ace sigh, hand moving to his face. "Fuck off, Christopher! Don't do this to me." Christopher shrugged. "They want to learn about you, and they deserve to know." Ace gave a glare. "Will you show everything?" Christopher shrugged. "Don't know, maybe not." Whitebeard still had no idea what was happening. Trevor looked annoyed as well, same with Mika. What was going on?

Christopher then moved his hand, and they suddenly stood on an island, which had him frown. How did Christopher do that? Trevor then sighed. "Christopher has a devil fruit so he can show memories from others. He wants to show Ace's." Ace gave a glare to Christopher. "And I don't want that." Whitebeard blinked. He didn't want to learn about Ace like this. He wanted Ace to open up. Whitebeard was about to voice that, when Christopher hummed. "You have no choice, I think they deserve to know more of you." Ace rolled his eyes, and decided to just go with it, going a bit back to probably be annoyed and didn't want to look at Christopher.

They then saw 3 boys running past them, and it looked like a young Ace, Sabo, and Luffy. How did they see this like this? Wouldn't they see it from Ace's eyes? Christopher hummed. "You will see it as a third person, I fill in the blanks." That made sense. This was amazing, but he still didn't want to learn about Ace like this. They then saw some heartwarming scenes with the three brothers, seeing Ace finding his fruit, how he had no control of it and wasn't able to do anything, and things were calm. There were some scenes before something happened and a noble showed up on the island, and Ace panicked as he was heading back to Dadan, the one who cared for them. But, as they were almost home with Sabo, a man showed up, and Sabo… Sabo went with him. Sabo wasn't back home, he was with Luffy, how did this fit? As he was about to speak, the man fell down dead, and a second man came into view. And Whitebeard had never met this person, or maybe he had and didn't remember, but knew of him, his signature pink hair. This was Azuruko, he just saved Sabo.

Azuruko then started to leave, but Ace wanted to join, so he could become stronger, but Azuruko declined and headed on. But then, Ace managed to teleport and that had Azuruko interested and took Ace with him, having a tearful goodbye with Sabo, before the two left. They then saw memories of Ace training and how Azuruko was there for Ace, acting like a mentor. It seemed it was harsh training for Ace being so young. A few things then happened, Ace got some wounds from training, but nothing too bad, but more than what a young child should have. Ace did comment on a few things, just going with the flow. Then they saw Ace starting to go on assignments with others, and got more scars, but nothing too bad. He knew it would become somewhat worse. Ace had a lot of scars and brands.

Then the scene changed to black, before they were in a dimly lit room, before they saw a shape on the ground, not moving. There were some sounds in the background, but nothing distinctive, and nothing happened for a minute. But before he could try and see who it was on the ground, Trevor moved to take Haruta's ear muffs off, making the female frown. They were at a half cold place so Haruta had the clothes set with earmuffs on. "What are you doing?" Asked Haruta. Trevor just shook his head, face emotionless, moving to go behind them, and when the captain turned to look, he blinked and felt worried when Ace had moved down to the ground, hands on his ears, shaking with tears going down his cheeks. Trevor moved to bring the earmuffs over Ace's ears, helping Ace to cover his ears, Ace not reacting to Trevor coming over. Ace looked like a scared little kid. Before the captain could speak, Trevor did, sending a glare at Christopher. "Why are you doing this?!" Christopher sighed. "So you can understand Ace-" Trevor cut him off, looking more mad. "I don't care about what we see! I care about Ace! He doesn't need to relive this again! I am more worried for Ace than I am about us seeing his memories!" It was clear this memory had an impact on Ace, and it wasn't a good one. Marco had moved over to Trevor and Ace and was stroking Ace on his back, Ace still shaking with his eyes closed tightly. Ace was really scared right now, that was clear. This was something Ace didn't want to see or hear again.

The captain had to agree with Trevor. He didn't care if he saw Ace's memories, more worried about Ace right now. Christopher sighed. "I get it, let me just." The man then moved his hand in a sort of circular motion, and when he had, Ace was suddenly gone. Whitebeard looked around, frowning when he didn't see the person he was looking after. "Where is Ace? What did you do?" Christopher let out a breath. "I placed him in a good memory for him." Christopher then moved his hand, a window appearing in front of them, and through it, they could see Ace lying with his head in Azuruko's lap, who was reading a book with a hand on Ace's head, Ace's eyes closed and looking to be relaxing, but had tear tracks still visible. It was good Ace could have some calm time for himself. He still didn't get why Christopher wanted to show them Ace's memories. Whitebeard didn't want to learn about Ace this way.

Trevor let out a loud sigh. "Fine, Ace is fine for now. Do what you want to do. Even though I don't get why." Christopher nodded. "Good. We'll continue. Let's start with something easier." The scene then changed and they were outdoors again, and Ace was chained to a wall, and he was fiddling with them to get out. Ace looked to be 15, before a man came into the view a bit away. Whitebeard watched as Ace tried to get the chain off, having a hard time, the man coming closer, also taking a gun out. "W-wha- Who is that?" Asked Thatch, and Whitebeard didn't know. Then the man approaching Ace spoke. "You're too slow." Then the man took and lifted his gun, shooting Ace straight in the head, Whitebeard only able to watch as Ace's head got split open as he fell down. And as it hit the ground, all of them yelling out, they watched as Ace sat up in bed, breathing ragged and a hand moving to his chest. "Dream. Just a dream." Said Ace to himself, which had all of them let out a breath, Thatch speaking first, still looking bothered. "T-this is what Ace dreams about?!" It seemed so, and Whitebeard hoped it was a rare occurrence, but had a feeling it wasn't. Based on how composed Ace had seemed when he woke, made him think it was nothing compared to real nightmares, Marco having told those could be harsh, even Trevor telling so. Not that he would tell that to the others.

As Ace seemed to calm more down in bed, Trevor spoke. "Ace told me about this. He got away just as the trigger was pulled. He sometimes dreams he didn't get away and gets shot. We all have dreams like this. They suck." It had his children swallow, releasing this was normal for the assassins. They then saw some other small nightmares and memories of Ace being chained, but always got loose. Then they were suddenly at a table, things being fussy before things got clear, and it had him frown. A man looking like Thatch sat at the top of the table. Who is this? It couldn't be Thatch. They then watched as the man explained a sick game, before it started, and it had Izou speak up. "What is this? They shock each other?! What kind of sick game is this!" Thatch swallowed. "The start. That's Theodore, he's my uncle. Or was. He's dead." That had Izou blink. "That means…" Thatch nodded. "Ace is going to get branded." Trevor sighed. "I don't know if we'll see that. More than the branding happened." It had all of his children look shocked. "Like what?" Trevor sighed again. "How do you think we know Ace can hold his breath for 5 minutes." It took them a second, but when Whitebeard got what Trevor hinted at, he looked back at the scene. They would watch Ace almost drown. "And, knowing Christopher, he would choose a worse memory for a branding, not just a simple one. And I have a feeling which he will choose." They looked at Trevor. "Which?" Asked Thatch, and Trevor shook his head. "I just hope i'm wrong, but we need to wait." They nodded and Whitebeard wasn't sure what to think.

The scene then changed again, before they were in the same room, but now many people were missing, and Whitebeard realised they were dead and had been removed. Ace then held a card, and that obviously was a bad thing, and Ace looked at Thatch's uncle. "How long in the barrel?" Whitebeard frowned. Barrel? The man then said 5 minutes, and Ace nodded, before he was dragged to a barrel filled with water. And Whitebeard got it. Ace wouldn't look at the card, which probably had something much worse on it. They then waited as Ace's head was dunked in, and the time moved by slowly, and after what felt like hours Ace was let go and he fell to the floor, where he laid and coughed for a bit and tried to take deep breaths, while Thatch's uncle chuckled. "My, what amazing lungs, Pretty boy." Whitebeard saw Thatch swallowing at the name. Thatch had been singled out when it came to the name Pretty boy and Acey, and to see it, made it all the more real. Whitebeard had a feeling Thatch would feel horrible after this. Not only to think what Theodore might have done, but to see it made it all the more realistic and worse.

The scene then changed to Ace shooting a woman, making Thatch's uncle glad, before Ace was let go off and headed to safety. Then the scene changed again and this time, he was in a dark room with Ace standing over Thatch's uncle, before he turned the game on him, they just saw it before the gore started, which was good. They didn't need to see the details.

Then the scene changed and Ace was walking through a place with some other assassins and was allowed to check a room. Ace looked like he was 13, and looked fine. But as Ace was checking the room, he knocked over a candle, before he saw a dark shadow move towards Ace, before the shadow grabbed Ace and carried him to a bed, hand over his mouth, and Ace tried to fight, but the man didn't let go and then he spoke, telling he could have… fun now. Whitebeard hoped he heard wrong.

Whitebeard then watched as the man moved a hand to his belt, before tugging at Ace's clothes, ripping them. He really hoped what he thought wouldn't happen. He then watched as Ace bit the man's hand, making him falter with a scream, and Ace grabbed something by his belt, bringing a knife out and slicing his throat, making Ace roll off the bed and safely on the ground, looking at the man that was convulsing on bed, Ace breathing hard and had gotten covered in blood. "This is his first kill." Said Trevor, and Whitebeard nodded. He was glad Ace managed to kill that man, before he got to do what he was about to do. "Oh God," Started Haruta. "I was so worried! What if Ace didn't kill him!" Whitebeard nodded, he agreed, but Ace had killed him, he had gotten away. Ace couldn't be older than 13, it was early to be out with these sick people and he hoped this was the closest to that they would see. Trevor then gave a look to Christopher. "I hope you won't show what I think you might." Christopher took a breath. "We'll see when we get there." They then watched Azuruko coming and getting Ace away, cleaning him, before Ace admitted he didn't regret killing that man, voice emotionless. This was probably some of the reson Ace had been silent for a bit, getting used to killing. This was way too close to comfort, he didn't like seeing things like this, but it had gone fine. They then saw some more memories close to that, Ace being in bad situations, but always got away, but it was still horrible to watch.

Whitebeard frowned when the next memory came, everything was fuzzy, the sound mumbled. "Why is it so fuzzy?" He asked, and Before Christopher could answer, Trevor did. "He's high. This is during his addiction." Whitebeard nodded, that was an explanation. Ace looked to be 21, the oldest they had seen. The memory then showed Jozu speaking to Ace, and it was barely audible, sounds muffled and barely there. As Ace was about to answer, things went black, before another memory started, this time Ace was sitting in the galley, things still fuzzy and sounds muffled. "Why did you change scenes so fast?" Trevor shook his head. "He didn't. You have blackouts when high, before you sober up." That didn't sound good. Trevor then looked at Christopher. "Are you going to show what sobering up is like?" Christopher nodded, and Trevor did as well. They then saw a few more memories of Ace walking around high, it sounded like he was underwater, the way sounds were muffled, seeing more blackouts.

Then the memories changed, everything started to move faster and faster, sounds became high pitched and light was blinding. Each sound, even the usual sound of someone walking on deck, sounded like a giant's footsteps. It had him close his eyes a few times, a few covering their ears as it was so high pitched sounds that came when someone spoke. It was very uncomfortable. "Now, imagine your body hurts with each movement and things look and sound like this? What would you do? Let it get worse, or take a fill of the drug?" Everyone swallowed, before Izou carefully spoke. "Drugs. Is it really this terrible?" Trevor nodded. "I would rather be whipped, branded, cut, drowned, you name it, than to go through withdrawal. It is so painful and awful. It just gets worse and worse for weeks, before it finally gets better. But, it's hard to last so long." Whitebeard nodded, he had heard about this, but to see it, made it make more sense. It was awful to watch, he got why Ace kept on taking the drug if this was how it was. This was a bit good to see, so they could understand it better.

They then saw some more scenes, before things went better. Trevor did take a breath. "Thank you for not showing Nina." Christopher nodded, and Whitebeard didn't know what they spoke of, but Marco looked relieved himself. As he looked confused, Trevor spoke. "Nina was the reason Ace almost killed himself. It is all horrible." Whitebeard nodded, that was good. Christopher probably didn't want to show anything too bad. Which was good. Just what they had seen was horrible, how Ace had gotten many of his wounds. They still hadn't seen Ace got branded, and Whitebeard was unsure if they would see that. Maybe that was labeled as too harsh for them.

Christopher then took breath, looking at Trevor. "Just so you remember, I am untouchable here. Because I'm not really here." Trevor gave a weak sound, hand moving to his face as he looked upset. "Please, Christopher, please, don't show it. They don't need to see that. Show Nina instead." Christopher shook his head. "No, I disagree. They should see this. Nina I can skip." Trevor gave a defeated breath, still looking upset. "Just, don't show the worst. Take the best you can." Christopher nodded, and Whitebeard didn't know what he was in for now, what he would see next, but he had a feeling it would be something bad. Really bad if it had Trevor like this. And especially for him to want them to see Nina instead, he had no idea what he would see now, but had a bad feeling.

The scene then changed and this time, Ace was moving around in a building, seeming to be around 13 again, moving in a carefree, but in a careful manner. He knew Ace had gone through a lot at 13, from when he was de-aged, and was worried of what he would see now, it had to be worse than what they had seen. Trevor had a hand on his face, still looking upset, Marco looked close to that, as if knowing what would happen, Mika seeming the same. Even Izou for some reason looked more scared than them. What did they know they didn't? Why did Izou seem like he knew this? He got Marco, Trevor, and Mika, but not Izou, so it can't be that bad, right?

They then watched as Ace walked into a room, and found Daisuke unconscious, blood pooling around his head, which had them worried. But before anyone could say anything, a door banged shut, a man hiding behind it, before Ace was punched, hard, making things go a bit fuzzy as Ace fell down, but he could see the man grabbing Ace by his hair and dragged him for a bit, before he threw Ace on a bed. The man then held Ace's hands over Ace's head, before he moved to bend over him, face in Ace's as he spoke, but he couldn't hear what was said, just ringing. They then saw Ace lurching upwards and biting the man's nose, even taking a bite off it. The man then punched Ace again, harder, and things went real fuzzy, before it started to get back to normal. This was probably another close encounter. Thatch huffed. "Why are we seeing this? We've already seen this. Ace is going to get his knife and kill him. Boring." That is what had happened before, and he expected the same to be now. Not really sure why he would show this again now. Christopher stood silent, and Trevor gave a really defeated breath, hand on his face and looking upset, as if he wanted to cry. "Because... Ace isn't going to get away this time."

Whitebeard felt something cold settle inside him as he heard those words. Ace wasn't going to get away? That meant… He looked back at the scene, and watched as the man tore Ace's pants off, it was a bit foggy, probably since he had hit Ace. But then, he watched as the man dragged down his own pants, before he forcefully entered Ace. Ace's body arched in pain, seeing him biting his lip hard, before the man stopped as he was inside, and then slapped Ace hard, making him bite off a piece of his lip, before the man grabbed his chin and made Ace look at him. "Look at me!" Yelled the man, and Ace responded by spitting in his face, and the man growled, before he hit Ace again and the room spinned.

But then, everything became clear as day as the man pushed inside after retracing, and Ace let out a deafening scream, it had Whitebeard close his eyes, before he looked back at the scene, but only able to look for a few seconds before he needed to look away again. This was horrible. He could see everyone was shocked and horrified. When he looked back, he watched as Ace screamed and cried in agony as he was being raped, before the man stilled, reaching his finish. But as he had, Ace lurched his body up and headbutted the man, he actually managed that after everything, and they watched the man fall off the bed, hitting a desk on his way down. Even after everything, Ace fought back.

He then looked back at Ace, who turned to his side and threw up, which was no surprise. Whitebeard wanted to be sick from just seeing it. Everyone, aside from the assassins, were sick looking and green, a few crying, Mika with them, although not as bad.

The man then groaned and Ace got up from bed and walked over to grab a chair, before he smashed it down on the man, breaking his arm so the bone protruded. But Ace continued to do it again, and again, and again. After a minute, Daisuke came into the room and grabbed the chair, before he told Ace go get them home, which Ace did, and when they appeared again, Ace ran to what must be his room and headed to shower. He managed to scrub himself a bit, before he slid down, not crying or saying anything, just silent. But the world was buzzing. The shower was then turned off by Azuruko.

Azuruko brought a towel to be around Ace, before he moved them to the bed and Azuruko moved his hands to Ace's head, making Ace look at his mentor. And everything became silent. It was as if the world stopped. Ace then just looked at Azuruko, before he tried to speak, but Azuruko just shook his head, and a sob came out of Ace, and Azuruko moved to comfort Ace, Ace letting out a heart wrenching scream that went directly to his heart.

When Whitebeard looked at his children everyone was horrified and sick looking, Haruta and Speed Jiru had thrown up, and many looked to feel the same. Why would he show this? how had Ace been able to get through this? This was horrible. He had skipped so many bad things, but apparently all bets were off as things were bad, and he hoped this would be a single encounter, but had a bad feeling about that as well.

The scene changed and they were back to the scene when Ace had broken down and left, seeing the shape in the dimly lit room, now seeing it was a prison looking room. It had to be Ace who was lying there, looking bad, his shirt was bloodied, same with his pants. A door then opened and someone yelled at Ace to get up, and it looked like he tried, but failed, before Ace was dragged by his hair out and to another room, where the man, most likely a noble, chained Ace to two poles, making him remain on his knees in a submissive stance. Ace looked to either be 13 or 14. He was way too young for this. Ace looked so small and scared, beaten up. The man, noble, moved to grab a metal as he spoke. "You have an amazing body and it would be a shame to have anyone think you are free." He then placed the metal in a fire, before he moved it out again and headed towards Ace. "You are mine, and you will be mine for long. I would truly enjoy showing you off, but to do that, I need to make sure they know who you belong to." Said the noble, before he moved what was a brand to Ace's back, and Ace's eyes went big as he screamed in pain, but he could still hear the sizzling of the brand on his back.

It lasted for seconds, before the noble removed the brand, and Ace's body shook, looking like he wanted to go into shock, and Whitebeard wouldn't blame Ace if he did. This was horrible. Ace did try to keep himself up and breathe, but choked on nothing, and the noble watched Ace with sick eyes. "Beautiful." He said, and Whitebeard wanted to kill this man. Just crush him into nothing for hurting Ace, for hurting a child. Ace was just 14 at the oldest. The noble then moved over to Ace and let his pants drop, before he grabbed Ace by his hair and dragged Ace by the hair to the noble's cock, and he told Ace to start sucking, but Ace didn't look like he could move, body almost in shock. The noble growled. "Suck!" He almost yelled, and Ace slowly managed to open his mouth, before it started, and Ace cried in pain and agony, and Whitebeard closed his eyes. This was so harsh to see. Whitebeard wasn't sure how much more he could handle more of this. Seeing what Ace has gone through was harsh. Much worse than what he could ever have imagined. He could hear someone throwing up again, but didn't move to see who. He felt sick himself. Trevor was standing with a hand on his face and looking upset. Trevor probably knew about all this, but seeing it made it worse. Mika was crying, as most of his children, she might have been in a similar situation herself, maybe even Trevor as well.

When the scene changed to black, he heard Izou give an upset sound. "How is Ace okay! He shouldn't be okay! This is horrible!" Whitebeard didn't have words, so he just nodded. Trevor sighed. "Ace is… not okay. He never was, not after this. He is just good at handling it and seeming fine. Why do you think he drinks?" Izou blinked. "How… how is he even sexually active?! That should be impossible after going through that!" Izou was looking at Marco, who looked a bit lost for words, before Trevor gave a breath. "Rules, many rules. It's never 'let's have sex'. There are rules, planning and a lot of no no's. Everyone has needs, even Ace after everything." That made sense.

The scene then changed again, and they watched more abuse, most of it being sexual and Whitebeard felt his heart ache with every second he watched this, many times looking away. Nothing was as bad as the first occurrence, Ace had… stopped making sounds, he got why Ace was silent for a while, he was sure if Ace spoke, he would break down, so he just didn't speak. There was still the scream now and then, but nothing as bad. But still horrible. He still wondered how Ace acted so calm now.

The scene then changed to black, not another thing starting, and Trevor looked at Christopher. "How's Ace?" Christopher shook his head. "I told him what I showed, and then let him go. He left." Trevor moved a hand to his face. "Of course he did! You just showed us his worst memories! He has probably no idea how to face us now!" Christopher sighed. "I felt you needed to se-" Trevor shook his head. "No! I don't care what you think or feel! When Ace is well, he will murder you!" Christopher shook his head. "No, he will understand why I did it." Whitebeard still had no idea why Christopher did this. This was no way on how they should learn about Ace, and what they had seen was harsh. Really harsh.

The scene then changed and they were back on the ship, and Christopher took a breath. "That's what I have to show." Trevor took a calming breath. "I so want to punch you. But I will leave that for Ace." Christopher hummed. "He will handle this calmly, he will get why." Trevor shook his head. "No, I don't think so." Christopher seemed awfully sure of himself. If Whitebeard had been him, he would have ran and hid. When he looked around himself, he could see everyone who was out looking at them, seeming shocked, probably since they all looked sick and horrified. They wouldn't tell the others what they had seen. As they were on safe ground, Haruta had ran to the railing and threw up again, probably for the third time. Everyone seemed shocked by that. They knew haruta didn't have the strongest stomach, especially for things they had seen. Whitebeard just shook his head to his children, who seemed to accept that, at least for now.

Trevor then gave a loud sigh. "Hopefully, Ace went to someone." Whitebeard nodded, he hoped for that, that Ace was safe and well. He felt bad for Ace, for having gone through what he had and since it had been shown to them as it had been. Christopher had no right to do that. He just hoped Ace would return.

They then headed to the meeting room, Whitebeard sure everyone needed to talk about this. As they got there, he didn't even manage to sit down before everyone bombarded him with questions. Whitebeard didn't know what to say, but Trevor clapped his hands. "Okay! Everyone is upset, which I get. But you need to handle this calmly. Or else, there is a chance Ace won't return. He probably hates this entire situation." Everyone nodded and took a few deep breaths. A few did still look green, like Haruta and Speed Jiru, but this would hopefully go fine. Izou then looked at Trevor. "How is Ace okay with this? That was horrible!" Trevor sighed. "As Ace says; It's not okay, but I am. He isn't completely okay, but he can handle it, he has for so long." Izou swallowed, shaking his head. "I don't get it. That was… beyond horrible." Trevor nodded. "And I don't and won't disagree. Why do you think Ace is always on the alert and tense? Why did you think he was silent for a while at 13? There is a lot Ace wants to forget, and we just saw most of that, so Ace will be away for a small bit, to gather himself and accept we know. Don't bring this up with Ace, just try and let this go. Yes, you know now, but you can't make a deal about this." Everyone nodded and Whitebeard was sure everyone would try and accept this.

Thatch looked at Trevor. "Is this why… he handles those children so well?" Trevor nodded. "Yeah, he's been there, so he knows this. He has cried and yelled and been upset about it, so he handles it calmly now. It's not fully okay, he still has nightmares, but he is better, a lot better." Everyone nodded, Ace seemed so fine and gathered, but it was all a play, that was clear now. Whitebeard knew he had gone through tough things, but nothing like what he had seen.

They then sat a bit more in the meeting room, before they headed out on deck. A few did ask what they saw, but they just said nothing special, nothing they needed to be concerned about. Nothing happened for an hour, and when the hour had passed, Dust showed up, and he took that as a good sign. "How is Ace?" He asked the bird, and the bird didn't react, but then looked at Trevor and cawed, moving his head and Trevor headed over. "I can see Ace?" Dust nodded, before he looked at Marco as well, cawing, and Marco got it and headed over as well. Dust then moved to Trevor's shoulder, and Trevor held a hand out to Marco, moving it to his shoulder, and then they were gone in black smoke.

As they were gone, Izou looked at him. "Ace will come back, right?" Whitebeard let out a breath, he wasn't for sure, but hoped so, but had a feeling he would. "We need to see, but I have a feeling he will." He had a feeling, but he could only hope. Hopefully, Ace was fine and Trevor and Marco would be there for him.

-x-

Benn moved a hand to Ace's shoulder, sitting on the opposite side of him at the table in the galley. "What is it?" Ace had just shown up and headed to the galley, not caring about them, looking like he wanted to cry. When he got to the galley, Ace had sat down by the table, arms on it and head hidden behind them. Ace shook his head, taking a shuddering breath. Ace was crying. He didn't seem injured, so that was something. But he had never seen Ace like this. It was silent for a while, maybe half an hour, Ace crying the entire time, he could hear it on the fact he took shuddering and wet breaths. He had seen Shanks in the window once, wondering what was going on, but Benn had waved him away. Something was seriously wrong.

But as half an hour had passed, Ace spoke. "He showed them." Benn frowned. "Who showed who what?" Ace shook his head. "We met Christopher, he showed the pirates everything. Everything." Benn closed his eyes, no wonder Ace was upset. He moved his hand on Ace's back, moving to sit beside him, and not on the other side of the table. "Everything? Even the really bad stuff?" He knew Ace didn't like to hear the exact phrasing. Ace nodded, taking another shuddering breath. Benn gave a breath. He didn't know in detail what Ace had been through, but he knew the gist of it from Daisuke and Azuruko. He knew Ace had been beaten around, branded, suffocated, waterboarded, raped, and so much more. The pirates shouldn't know that, and they really shouldn't have found out like this. He knew who Christopher was, and he always said he meant well, but Benn didn't believe that, not now.

Benn had no idea what to do. What to do to comfort Ace. Nothing he said would make the other feel better, so he just sat there and stroked Ace's back. After an hour, Ace not seeming to get any better, Benn sighed. "It's going to go fine, Ace. You will overcome this, they will overcome this." Ace shook his head and moved a hand to be on his head, the other still on the table and shielding his face, Ace still crying. Benn sighed, looking at the upset assassin, not sure what to say for once. As he was trying to comfort the assassin, Dust came in and landed on the table, pushing his head against Ace's arm, also wanting to comfort the assassin. He moved to pet the bird, and got an idea. "Are the pirates back from Christopher?" Dust disappeared, before Ace gave a nod. Benn nodded. "Maybe Trevor and Marco should come? To tell how bad it is?" Ace gave a small nod, and it took half a minute, but a black cloud of smoke appeared in the galley, Marco and Trevor appearing.

Trevor moved first, moving over and carefully half hugged Ace. "I'm so, so, sorry this happened." Ace gave a nod, still hiding behind his arm, but did give a shuddering breath, and it made Trevor and Marco realise Ace was crying, and there was no surprise there for them. Ace took a few breaths, before he moved to sit up, a hand drying his cheeks, tears in his eyes. "How bad is it?" He asked with a shaky and upset voice. Trevor sighed. "It's bad, not gonna lie. They are shocked, horrified and nauseous. Christopher didn't go easy." Ace nodded. "I know. I hate this. How can I face them after this?" Marco moved over to Ace, leaning his head against Ace's. "Because no matter what, we love you, yoi. I am sorry this happened." Ace took a shuddering breath. as Marco leaned back. "Why did he need to show me. I so wished he instead showed someone else." Trevor nodded. "I agree, he even skipped Nina." Ace gave a defeated sigh. "I wish he showed that and skipped the real bad things about me." Ace moved a hand to his face. "I don't know what to do." Marco moved to lean his head against Ace's again. "You come back home. they are shocked and will be worried, but show them you're fine." Ace sighed. "I'm not sure if I can." Marco looked at Ace. "Why not, yoi?" Ace shook his head. "Because, they won't face me, they will try and fix me."

Benn knew that as well, the pirates would have an issue with this. Trevor sighed. "I will speak with them, Marco and I will. They will get it." Ace gave a small nod. "I hope so." Benn nodded, that sounded to be the best plan. He was sure the pirates would listen to Trevor and Marco. They would still be worried and concerned, but it would hopefully not be as bad as it is now onwards. Ace was a closed-off person, and he had every reason to be. Ace might be young, but he hadn't had an easy life. They all 4 stayed for a bit, before Ace sent Marco and Trevor back to the boat, so they could speak with the pirates, and it gave him a chance to speak with Ace. "Ace, this will be hard, but you will manage. I know you didn't want them to find out, but they did. It has happened and can't be changed. Now, you just need to deal with it." Ace gave a nod, hand moving to his face. "I know I know. I just… hate this." Benn nodded. "And you have every right to hate this. What will you do to Christopher?" Ace sighed. "I don't know. Probably speak with him first." Benn nodded, that sounded smart. And, Christopher better have a real good reason he did this, or he would be dead.

After a few minutes, there was a knock at the door, and he was sure that it was Shanks and gave a look to Ace, who nodded, before he said come in and Shanks came inside, looking worried. "What happened?" Benn gave a breath. "They met Christopher." Shanks blinked. "Oh no, did he-" Shanks didn't get to finish as Ace nodded. "Yup, showed them everything and more." Shanks had caught on some years ago on what Ace had been through, but he didn't know the extent of it. Which was good, he wouldn't have been able to handle it all. Ace stayed for an hour more, before he left, saying Trevor and Marco had spoken with the other pirates, and they had probably understood it.

Benn hoped things would go fine for Ace now.

-x-

Marco appeared on the Moby with Trevor, and knew this would be a hard conversation, but it was needed. He got why Ace was upset about this, that his memories had been shown to them. It wasn't easy memories, he had first thought it wouldn't be anything bad, but he had shown everything. Or not everything, things like Nina had been skipped, but he had shown the sexual abuse which was horrible. But now, Marco knew more about it, which was a bit good. But he wished he had found out by Ace telling him and not by seeing his memories. When they appeared, they headed to the meeting room with Pops and the commanders, and when they were, Pops looked at them. "How is Ace?" Trevor sighed. "A bit upset, this wasn't how he wanted people to find out, or for everyone to just find those things out." Everyone nodded. "What do we do now? "Asked Haruta, and Trevor hummed. "Easy, you either accept it or forget it. What you probably want to do is hold Ace and say it will be fine, or something like that, which will just make it worse. As Ace just told us, he doesn't need to be fixed, because he is okay, he needs you to face him, not fix him." Marco got what Ace wanted, and hoped the others would as well.

Everyone sat silent for a bit, before they nodded. "Okay," Started Haruta. "How do we do that?" Trevor hummed. "Easy, act as you have. Ace needs to be sure you won't coddle him, Ace hates that. He needs to be faced like you would face any other person, like how you face each other." That sounded good. Marco decided he could speak now. "You don't see Trevor, Mika, Izou, or I make a deal of it, because it is not, yoi." Haruta looked at Izou. "How does Izou know and not us?" Trevor hummed. "He found Quinn and Ace sleeping in each other's arms and thought Ace was cheating, which is impossible. It was an accident he found out. You don't see him having changed." That was true, Izou had handled this very calmly. Everyone nodded, and Pops spoke this time. "We will do our best. We will try and not change." Marco nodded, that sounded good.

Dust was with them, having heard what they had said and when Trevor looked at the bird, he disappeared, probably to get Ace. Marco had a feeling things would go fine.

And that's the chapter, hope you enjoyed

This is just the pirates finding out what Ace went through and small things like that. If you want more of this, but with other memories, or something more detailed, i can make it in my one shot series

This story is also not finished. I know it is marked finished, but that is since the main part I had planned is over and now it is just the rest as well as ideas that I have. We still have some loose ends, like the wedding, the thing about Marcus, and other things.

Also, come check out the one shot series to this story! It contains one shots of missing scenes, past events, and alternative scenarios, etc.

If you have any scenes you would like to see, don't be afraid to leave a comment, or send a PM

And I love feedback too; it is what keeps me going!

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