XXX

Earlier that week

Ace woke up from a terrible nightmare roused by Sabo. He groaned as the fuzziness surrounding his mind slowly lifted.

"Another one?" The vampire questioned as Ace sat up.

"I don't know how to stop them." They seemed to be getting worse. Especially in light of everything that had happened. It was usually the same dream over and over. Starting off pleasant with memories of his mom. But as the dream progressed she would die before his eyes, then Luffy, then Sabo. All of them disappearing without him being able to help them.

He cussed lightly. This one had been particularly nasty. But Sabo's next words distracted him.

"It's Luffy, he's doing it again."

"Doing what?" Ace responded stupidly looking around the room. He realized then that Luffy was absent. His brother's words clicked as he let out another string of cusses, this time much more colorful.

"NONONONO!" He hissed as he rose from bed. "He can't start this Again!" Not now of all times with hunters around every corner and the woods about to break into war.

"I thought he grew out of that."

"Apparently not." Sabo said as he stood up as well.

"Are you sure?" Ace reasoned, "Maybe he just snuck out or is grabbing some food." Luffy did have a habit of late night snacking. Just because he was missing that didn't mean he was having another night terror.

"Knifes missing but the door is still bolted so he's at least still inside." Sabo explained. Ace sighed deeply as the two of them headed down the ladder into the living room.

"Careful of the glass." Sabo advised gesturing to the thousands of shards from what used to be a candle holder and now lay shattered.

"This is why we can't have nice things." Ace said partly trying to break up the tension and partly serious.

He doubled checked the door and agreed that it was still locked and bolted tightly. They checked the windows and back door next but none of them had been opened. So if he was still here then why couldn't they find him?

"Luffy come out it's just us."

"You know that doesn't work." Sabo told him as he searched through the kitchen cupboards.

After the better part of an hour of searching Ace got frustrated and kicked the wall.

"Why does he do this!"

"It's not his fault," Sabo reminded him looking under the table for the hundredth time. Luffy's favorite hiding place.

"I know," Ace sighed. "I'm just…"

He was frustrated, they both were. "He was supposed to be past this. I mean we are doing a good job aren't we?"

Sabo patted his shoulder as the two boys looked around stumped.

"Hasn't this happened before?" He asked as Ace tried calling him again.

"Literally dozens of times."

"No I mean losing him inside the house. When we were little." Sabo closed his eyes trying to recall where Luffy turned up then.

"Shit!" He snapped up heading towards the kitchen as Ace followed him curiously.

"Yea?"

"The vent," he gestured to the small opening in the wall that led from their kitchen down to the cellar. It served to give oxygen to the basement so you could seek shelter down there even when the door was sealed.

"Yea but can he fit in there?" Ace asked viewing the very small opening that led to blackness.

"He managed it once."

"When he was seven." Ace reminded him. He was starting to remember that time. It had taken most of the night before they finally decided to start looking around the grounds outside. It was only a loud crash from downstairs that let them know Luffy was down there.

"He is really skinny." Sabo said as they both headed out the back door into the night air. It would be morning in a few hours but for now the sky was still dark.

Ace wretched open the cellar door as both their eyes adjusted to the darkness below. The musty smell of mildew drifted up to them.

"I always hated it down here." He complained as Sabo ducked down to climb down the steps that groaned underneath him.

"Everyone hates it down here," He told him. "It's creepy."

Not even the dim light of the moon reached past the doorway of the cellar. They could have brought a light but neither one's enhanced eyes needed the help.

"Luffy?" Sabo called out cautiously as he peeked around a shelf filled with all sorts of preserved and pickling food items.

Ace followed ready to duck if need be. He hardly needed to remind the other that Luffy had a knife and would attack if provoked. The first time it had happened had shocked the two of them as Luffy had a usually sweet temperament.

"Here," Sabo called out gently as he crept around another shelf. To both of their reliefs Luffy didn't seem to be in the attacking mood. Instead he was curled up in the corner his face hidden in his knees. His hands tugged at his hair, the knife still held tightly in the right one.

Sabo bent down to his knees as Ace watched.

"It's alright Luffy," He told him reaching for the knife slowly.

Luffy filched violently as he felt the pressure on the knife. He pulled back and Ace counted them lucky that he was holding it by the handle this time.

Sabo pulled a little harder and Luffy relinquished the knife backing up further against the wall. He still hadn't looked up.

"It's just us," He told him patting fluffy black hair.

But what usually made him grin now had him press back into the corner with a groan of fear.

Ace, still on edge from his nightmare was angry. Angry that this kept happening to them. Angry that nothing had changed. They were free now! So why the hell were all of them still so scared?

Nearly knocking the vampire aside Ace pushed forward to grab Luffy's wrist and haul him to his feet.

He yelled in fear and Ace felt dull little human teeth sink into his hand. But he refused to let go.

"They're not here now Luffy!" He said firmly shaking his shoulder.

"It's just us!"

"No!" Luffy screamed trying to yank his arm out of his grip. But Ace just tightened his hold.

"YES!"

"Enough!" Sabo said cutting in the middle of them. "If you're not going to help go away."

"Fine!" Ace said letting go of his arm as Luffy once again sunk to the floor burying his face in his knees with a sob of fear.

Ace left the two of them and stomped back upstairs. Although he didn't go back inside. Rather he stayed at the top of the cellar.

He felt frustrated with all of them. With Luffy for not getting better, with Sabo for not knowing what to do, and with himself for being a hypocrite. And losing his temper on top of that.

He let out an angry huff of air watching his breath disappear into the air like smoke. And far above that the moon hung in the sky, a bright full circle unobscured by clouds.

'And that would be why.' He thought to himself as he rested his back against the side of the house.

Although not like he could have actually helped much even if he hadn't lost his temper. There was no undoing what had been done to all of them.

"What difference does it make?"

XXX

"What difference does it make?"

He crossed his arms as he looked up at the man angrily.

"Oh my god," Shanks breathed and Ace felt almost self-conscious.

"It is you."

"And I asked what of it?" Ace shot back angrily. He felt his temper spark at the reminder of his father. He wondered if they could go back to fighting. He preferred that.

"Ace everyone thought you were dead."

"Yea I gathered," Ace replied. After he more or less dropped off the grid, once he stopped antagonizing the hunters, everyone just suspected he had finally been done in. While the forest dwellers knew the truth as long as the hunters were backing off they seemed willing to bury the hatchet.

"I don't know what to say…What are you doing here?" Shanks face furrowed as he seemed to take stock of the situation. "Why are you two here together?"

"I told you," Luffy said.

Shank's looked from Luffy's face to Ace. "I don't understand?"

"Doubt that's a first for you…ofph." Ace groaned as Sabo elbowed him harshly in the ribs. For his part the blond wished Ace would shut up. They really needed the hunter to trust them. As reluctant as he was about humans, especially in this profession. If the man decided to summon the rest of his pack and take Luffy things would get really ugly. No way would Luffy let them kill the hunter, no matter how much of a headache he turned out to be.

"Here's another question. Why are you two with a pureblood?"

Luffy looked between the two of them. "What's wrong with that?"

"Purebloods are… not usually very nice." Shanks said delicately. They had no human blood in them and in his experience that made them the most ruthless.

"You remember what happened to you mom," He added.

"Sabo's not like that." Luffy argued. "He's even nicer then Ace!"

"Hey!"

"It's not fair to judge him without knowing him." Luffy continued on ignoring Ace.

"That's because they lie Anchor." Shanks informed him softly. He took no joy in explaining this to the kid. "They lie and then they make humans believe whatever they like."

"I told you that's not what happened."

"You don't know what happened anchor. If it wasn't him then who did that to you." He was referring to the bandage covering the vicious puncture wound on his nape.

Luffy let out a noise of frustration. He was tired of this discussion. Why couldn't the man just believe him? He rubbed the bandage self-consciously.

"It's not like that!"

Ace grew impatient of the argument. It didn't seem like Shanks was going to believe Luffy. How could he under the circumstances. And Luffy wasn't going to give up in proving Sabo's innocence. It was giving him a headache.

"How do you know my dad?" Ace cut in.

"You don't know?" Shanks asked surprised as Ace shook his head.

"He was my boss back in town. I was part of his original hunter crew. Crazy man taught me everything I know. Told me a lot about you." Shanks finished honestly. He had always wanted to meet the kid but the timing had never been right. Especially after what happened next.

"Then you found out he was a wolf and turned on him?" Ace finished for him.

"Of course not!" Shanks said horrified at the concept. "Rodger was my friend. I would never do that. Besides I already knew. He had told me months ago."

Ace paused at that. It wasn't what he was expecting. He hadn't thought his dad would trust any one with his secret, let alone a human. But if both Luffy and Rodger believed in Shanks then maybe he had misjudged him.

"I had no clue what Dragon was planning," he continued unsure of what Ace's silence meant. "By the time I found out they were already dead and you were missing. God Ace I'm so…"

Ace put up his hand to stop the man. He wasn't looking for an apology, nor vengeance. What had happened was in the past and nothing could change that. The only thing he still had control over was right now.

"I'll tell you." He said taking both Sabo and Luffy by surprise.

"What?"

"I'll tell you what happened. You don't trust Sabo right? And you think Luffy's been persuaded so you have to take my word for it. The whole vampire magic thing doesn't really work on me. Would you believe us then?"

Shanks nodded mutely.

"Fine then."

Ace felt reluctant to share something so personal. Especially since he was the one who had to explain it to a complete stranger. But if these last few months had taught him anything it was that not all the humans were as bad as he initially thought. If he could trust those kids with his brother's lives then maybe he could trust this one as well. Even if he didn't want to.

"Where do you want me to start?"

"With the vampire." Shanks said unwilling to be distracted.

Rather than look offended at the mistrust Sabo hardly looked to be paying attention. His gaze instead was unfocused as he stared off into the nothingness of the living room.

"The vampire has a name." Ace said trying to keep the edge out of his voice. He was supposed to be polite. Keep the peace and what not.

"It's Sabo." He tried again, patiently this time. "And you were right. He is a pure blood. But he doesn't use those powers."

"Whys that?"

"Their bad." Sabo spoke up for the first time. "Especially on humans. It messes with their heads. They can cause permanent damage if you're not careful." And then there was the whole matter of asserting your will over someone else's. Kind of Dark stuff.

"I'm not going to get into it here," Ace said waving them off. "Just believe me when I say he's not a bad person. Sabo's one of the best people I know," Ace said catching his brothers surprised gaze.

"And if you can't believe a vampire can be good then that's your own baggage not ours." He added after a second.

"We met when I was on the run from some hunters. Helped me hide from them. Then we sort of ran away together."

"Why?" Shanks cut in.

"Why what?"

"Why did you run away from your own kind?" This time the question was directed at Sabo. Who gave the hunter a quizzical look.

"I thought you didn't trust me." He countered, although not aggressively as Ace would have.

Shanks just shrugged.

"You're not wrong to hate them." Sabo answered obediently. "They're not good people. Especially the purebloods. But not all of us are monsters."

"Just most of them." Ace added helpfully and the blonde nodded in agreement.

"Anyway," Ace continued. "We were sick of everyone and everything so we ran away. We were both alone so we decided to stick together. Safety in numbers and all that."

"You didn't mind the race thing." Shanks cut in again annoying Ace.

"Do you want to hear the story or not?"

"I've just never heard of a Vampire and wolf working together. Let alone living together. I guess it's a little surprising."

Ace knew what the man was getting at. And he wasn't wrong. The feud between the two was rumored to be on a cellular level.

"I don't know what to tell you. We just don't hate each other, never did." When they first met they had been extremely wary of each other. But they had gone through so much stuff all thoughts of species feuds quickly vanished from his mind.

"You don't trust him fine, whatever. But I do." He was Ace's best and oldest friend after all. Some days it felt like he knew Ace better then he knew himself. Screw the damn species feud.

"So we started living together. Here actually." Ace said looking around. Like realizing for the first time how much the place had changed.

"How did you meet Luffy?"

Ace paused for a moment, looking at his little brother curiously. This was the part he was more reluctant to tell. He hadn't messed up with Sabo. At least not the way he had messed up with Luffy.

"He was alone in the woods." Ace said breaking his gaze to look at the floor. This was the last thing he felt like getting into right now. He already decided not to tell the hunter everything. Just the main things. He wasn't even sure Luffy really knew everything.

"That's the part that never made sense to me." He turned to Luffy, "What on earth compelled you to do that."

"It wasn't my fault." Luffy defended. "Dragon made me do it." His father had been the one to take him out there. Practically kidnapping him. He remembered the night well, far too well. Each and every detail about it.

"Why would he do that?"

"The hunter exam." Luffy said watching the man's confusion melt to anger as his expression darkened.

"Please tell me you're not serious," He growled.

Ace just nodded confirming what Luffy said.

"This time I'm really going to kill him!" Shanks said angrily. He should have after what the man did to Ace.

"I wouldn't stop you," Ace said before continuing. He needed to get this over with quickly before he lost the nerve.

"I… found Luffy in the woods. Covered in blood and bleeding out. He met a wolf and the two got into it." Again Ace elected to keep the story vague. There were so many things he could tell Shanks about that night. But he didn't think it was right without Luffy's permission.

"I brought him back here and Sabo fixed him up. We didn't think he would make it but he did." Ace ruffled Luffy's hair affectionately.

"He got better, a little bigger. Grew a couple feet and here we are." Ace finished his abridged story.

Shanks however did not look satisfied. "Why did you never go back?"

"Why would I?" Luffy asked curiously.

"I thought you would understand more than anyone." Ace said. "I mean you were there, you saw what they were doing to him. Why would he choose to go back there?"

"So you guys, a wolf and a vampire, decided to let him stay here. Out of the goodness of your hearts?"

"Ouch," Ace said dryly. "So little faith in us. Although to be fair no, not at first." Once again he was leaving a lot of stuff out but thankfully neither brother was in a hurry to correct him.

"Luffy was just staying with us until we could find a safe place to dump him off at." At least that was the plan. But then-

"I guess we got too attached."

And unlike the other things he had said that was the full truth.

XXX

Thanks for the support guys! You keep this story going even after three years! More to come next chapter. The things Ace left out of the story will be mentioned in the flashbacks when they come up.

Since the story is probably about halfway done, maybe more, I am trying to plan out the last half. If anyone wants to see anything or has any ideas they want to share go for it.

XXX

Guest #1: Thanks!

Guest #2: Aww, that's so nice of you.

Guest#3: Aww, I'm glad to hear that. The chapter for this story are usually pretty long so hopefully it takes a while.

lostdog200: Happy New Year to you as well! Yes there was. Shanks apprenticed under Rodger. The two were friends but he was out of town on an assignment when Rodger died. They were relatively close.

Smiley-Nami: Yep

Guest #4: I promise I will keep writing it! I love telling it. I'm just surprised people actually want to read this haha.

Guest #5:AWww

: Aww that's really nice. Thank you. I will keep updating as frequently as I can.

Guest #6: Well thank you for the reassurance. Sometimes it's hard to know. Thanks or following the story.

yukino76: Yes! And more next chapter.

AnimeAngel2692 : Aww thank you! You always say the nicest things. Happy 2019!

Yea, hopefully he redeemed himself a bit here. And next chapter as well. And yes! He is relieved to see that Ace is alright. Thank you for the support!

FairyAlchemist400: Me too! And thank you!