"Sabo...what the actually hell were you thinking, cutting across the ship like that?" asked Ace in a low tone.

Sabo winced...Ace only took that particular tone whenever one of them monumentally screwed up. Like the time Luffy tried to take on one of the bigger animals on the island to prove how tough he was and nearly got himself killed. Or the time he had left Luffy with the Dadan bandits only to find out they hadn't bothered to keep an eye on the kid at all and he ended up on a ledge in a ravine.

It had taken them four hours to get Luffy free, and the poor kid was hypothermic on top of starving and almost had a really nasty infection set in.

Ace had made Garp back down on their 'training' until Luffy had properly recovered from the ordeal...shockingly enough the insane Marine admiral backed off.

Sabo had never really questioned where Ace got his medical knowledge...all he knew was that right now, he was very glad the 'eldest' of their trio knew so much about healing.

Ace stared Sabo down. He had trouble matching the ravenette's gaze...it felt as though he had disappointed someone important.

"The nobles here are complete assholes...you know this better than I do. So what in god's name were you thinking, cutting across the Celestial Dragon's ship like that? Common sense alone should have told you what a horrible idea that was, especially since all the ships were docked the day before to avoid upsetting them by having to share the sea with 'commoners'!" scolded Ace.

"My father almost recognized me! What else was I supposed to do?!"

"Trust in the charms I set on you to keep you safe!" said Ace. "For god's sake if you had waited we could have faked your death or something! We almost lost you!"

Sabo flinched.

"You're not going to abandon me, are you?"

Ace gave him a flat stare.

"I just spent five hours stabilizing you and doing my best to minimalize the scar tissue you'll have once those bandages came off. Do you really think I would risk exposure to those assholes who almost killed you when I flew out to save your sorry ass or spent so much time healing you just to throw you out?" snarked Ace.

Sabo winced...then stared.

"Wait...flew?"

Ace rolled his eyes.

"If you swear that you won't do something so recklessly stupid again without considering us first, I'll show you something I've been holding back until Luffy is older," said Ace. "You have no idea what a pain it was to skim the waves and stay low enough while going that fast just to get to you in time."

It took two and a half months, but once Ace deemed Sabo 'healed enough', the grumpy preteen took out...

"Are those brooms?" said Sabo incredulous.

"Yes, now shut up," said Ace.

Luffy was practically vibrating in anticipation.

"Ace, are you going to teach us how to fly?"

"Why yes Luffy, I am."

"With a broom," deadpanned Sabo.

Ace smirked. He put his right hand over the broom on the ground and said with a calm, but firm voice "Up".

To Sabo's eternal shock and disbelief, the broom bounced up into his hand like an eager puppy. Without any strings attached or movement from Ace.

Seeing Ace calmly get astride the broom, he kicked off with a whoop and started to zoom around like an idiot. It was honestly the first time Sabo had seen his older brother actually act anywhere close to his physical age.

"Ace, Ace, Ace! Can I try too?" said Luffy, eyes gleaming.

Ace produced two more brooms.

"Okay, here's how these work..." said Ace grinning.

By the time night fell, Sabo was at least semi-competent at flying. Whereas Luffy took to it like a duck to water and was soon trying to beat Ace in stupid stunts.

For the first time since the incident, Sabo was able to sleep without any nightmares. Not that he had many, since Ace had zero issue with letting his brother use him as a teddy bear against their bad dreams.

Sabo decided to leave with Ace, after they had one last 'run' on Garp's ship for supplies.

Up to and including the extra-special booze stash of the officers, half the food stashed in the galley (the ship's cooks loved the fact all three boys were virtual black holes, as it put their skills to a real test), several new books that had caught their interest, a few Den Den Mushi, an odd compass that fit the description of a log pose, two pairs of Sea Stone cuffs, and of course Garp's personal Den Den Mushi number for prank calls later.

Ace was the undisputed Master Thief/doctor of their little trio and the envy of his younger brothers. Luffy would consider it an accomplishment to be half as awesome as Ace before he became Pirate King.

Which was why he was very surprised when Ace decided to kidnap him, rather than leave him behind.

"We're seriously taking him with us?"

"Let's face it, a little extra experience on a pirate crew won't hurt him and at least this way we know he won't let his fighting skills stagnate. Besides, I am not leaving him to deal with Shitty Gramps all on his own once the old man figures out it was us who raided his booze stash again."

Sabo shivered.

"Point."

"Not to mention this way Luffy will start off with a real ship rather than the small boat the mayor offered him once he turned seventeen. And don't get me started on the pout!" said Ace shiftily.

Sabo snorted.

"You're just as unhappy about leaving your 'baby' behind as Luffy is to see us leave him," said Sabo flatly.

"Shut up!"

"I swear you're such a tsundere."

"...I regret letting you borrow my manga collection," said Ace, mock-glaring at him.

Seriously, Sabo just had to draw parallels between "Rin Tohsaka" and Ace. And Ace was stupid enough to comment about the fact the girl's behavior was typical of a 'tsundere' or 'hard outside, soft inside' personality.

Ace acted like a gruff smart ass, but in reality he was a total mother hen once he claimed you. It was hilarious and slightly adorable, in Sabo's opinion.

Luffy...was just happy his big brothers weren't leaving him behind and that Ace had already worked out the issue of what to do if they ran into Shanks before he turned seventeen and was sent off on his own.

Any possible meeting did not count until Luffy was seventeen and had a bounty of at least a hundred million berri.

(Shanks, amusingly enough, had agreed on that point when Luffy called later that night to explain his big brothers were kidnapping him.)

A few months later...

"No."

"Come on Ace, where's the harm?" said Sabo.

"I don't see the point of this!" complained Ace.

"Please, Ace-nii?" said Luffy, his brown eyes wide and pleading. Ace quickly looked away...Luffy was too damn skilled at the puppy-dog pout for his own good.

"Why should I bother going through the hassle of disguising myself just to infiltrate a Marine base? It's not like they have anything worth stealing!"

Sabo sighed.

"It's not about stealing, you idiot."

Ace blinked.

"Then why are you so set about me going to this island?"

Sabo pinched the bridge of his nose. Ace could be so dense sometimes.

It really bothered him that Ace was always so quick to dismiss his own accomplishments and never bragged about himself properly. Anyone else would have been showing off their skill at cooking, fishing, or their knowledge of medicine, but Ace did everything in his power to downplay his skills like they weren't worth talking about in the first place. And yet he was always the first to praise others.

It was like their idiot narcoleptic older brother had no idea how to take a compliment or praise from others.

Which was why Sabo had hunted down a marine base in the Grand Line that allowed random people to walk in, take an exam and earn an accredited certificate that proved the examinee actually knew how to fix people up to the point they could legitimately call themselves a Doctor.

It was a system set up because it was nearly impossible to centralize any decent medical school, and to fast-track people who picked up on how to be doctors the old fashioned way through training but had limited ability to get around. So long as you had the money and the actual skill, you could legally become a doctor.

Ace was way too skilled not to at least try the exam, and this might keep Garp from trying to kill them with his Fist of Love once he finally managed to catch up to them.

Mostly because he would be too busy bragging about his grandson earning a doctor's license at only seventeen. Pirate or not, that was one of the few things he could brag about to others.

"Look, if you humor me about this one little thing I will babysit Luffy for the next three islands," said Sabo, deftly ignoring Luffy's protests that "he didn't need a babysitter!"

Ace narrowed his eyes at Sabo.

"Five."

"Three," said Sabo firmly.

"Three, and you have to do the dishes for the next month."

"Deal," said Sabo.

Ace sighed.

"Fine, I guess we can swing by this marine base."

He really didn't see the point of it all, but he would do it since Sabo was clearly determined to make Ace go there for some reason.

He would deny doing a spit-take when he heard someone ask if he was there to take the 'licensing exam' for medical practicioners.

Ace swore vengeance into being suckered into this, but at least there wasn't any automatic obligation to serve the marines and he didn't want to waste the five hours he spent on his disguise.

It wasn't even that good of a disguise, it was just that the foundation he used to cover up his distinctive freckles was such a pain in the ass to apply while keeping it from looking too obvious!

Sometimes simple worked best, as he knew very well.

He tied his hair back into a simple ponytail that made him look clean-shaven and serious, put on a pair of fake glasses, covered up his freckles with make-up and wore some fancy, but not expensive clothing that made it appear as if he came from a well-to-do family rather than a pirate ship.

Sabo had been dubious as to whether the disguise would even work, and had almost choked when he heard the name Ace was going to use on the license.

"P. D. Ace? Is this some sort of joke kid?" demanded the marine.

Ace gave off a put-upon sigh.

"My last name is somewhat embarrassing and you have no idea how many people get the wrong impression when they hear it," he explained.

The marine didn't look convinced.

"My name is Pyrite D. Ace."

"Pirate?"

"No, Pyrite. P-y-r-i-t-e," spelled Ace. "Do you have any idea how frustrating it is to be attacked because your name sounds like the shortened version for the word privateer?"

"...Fair enough."

Actually the name pun wasn't an accident at all. Ace just thought it would be funny to get a doctor's license with a name that could be linked far too easily to a pirate...and not just because it sounded like the word.

After all, very few people in this world would know that "pyrite" was also known as "fool's gold".

Almost ten hours later, Ace was exhausted and ready for a long nap. He still didn't know how he did on the exam.

So you could imagine his brief alarm when the marines came to his door...and lead him to a second exam where he spent the next twelve hours doing practicals.

Sabo felt more than a little vindicated when Ace somehow managed to earn several different degrees that basically boiled down to making him a licensed "Surgeon/Doctor/Veterinarian". Apparently the Marines were very impressed, despite his 'unfortunate' name.

(Harry Potter, in his previous life, found that obtaining doctorates and spending his fortune learning more about medicine, potions and healing in general a great way to derail Molly Weasley's attempts to match him up with her daughter and the Ministry from trying to put him in the position of an Auror. It also had the very pleasant side effect of shutting Hermione up, since she could hardly complain about him getting an education. The fact his pocket dimension still carried his books, travel trunks and everything else he collected but was too lazy to store normally was just a bonus.)

Garp would not stop crowing about it when Sabo sent him the letter, with copies of the license and his new ID included. Even if the Marines had absolutely no clue "Pyrite D. Ace" was actually Portagas D. Ace under a psuedonym and were highly confused why Garp was so proud about a random doctor.

Ace still didn't get why Sabo insisted they visit this particular marine base just so he could get a license. Or why his brothers looked so smug that he walked out with three of them and several referrals if Ace decided to join the Marines to act as one of their top doctors.