Title: Of Dreams and Desires
Pairings: Smoker x Ace, Sanji x Zoro, and other side pairings
Ratings: T - NC-17
Chapter: 32 of ?
Summary: The road to One Piece is a dangerous one and each individual begins at different times and places. Some paths cross for a fleeting moment but the encounter could be so great that it can alter the initial direction. Every meeting is important and is planned by the souls long before the bodies see each other. Follow everyone's story and see what path they take.
Disclaimer: I do not make any profit from this story; all props go to Eiichiro Oda.
Author Note: Ohai everyone! Sorry for the long wait but I'm glad you all enjoyed the last chapter. I'm currently in the process of moving which is the reason why it's taking me so long to post chapters but things should start moving along when I get settled down in Austin. Love you all! :D
Shout Outs: Thanks ThePoliceLlama for reviewing! I mean Shanks is fine as hell! Who wouldn't wanna get with him? Lol. Thanks YunisuKozakura for reviewing! Totally agree with you. When I wrote that chapter I was like, damn this a good ass chapter. Then my Beta sent me the edits and I added a little bit more to it and I was like dammmmnnnnnnnn this a bomb ass chapter. Lmfao. Glad you liked it babe! ^_^ Thank you Thrasherinflames13 and PrincessTheRipper01 for adding my story to your favorites list!
Beta Reader: descriptionsalive21, thank you so much!

Marshall D. Teach

The high ranking Marines sat around the long table, each with papers stacked in front of them. On the board at the front of the room hung multiple bounty posters, some marked out with an "X" over the photo of the pirates. The vice admirals, admirals, and fleet admiral all sighed as the commander in chief crossed out another bounty.

Sengoku pulled on his beard, humming under his breath, "So, our options for the next Shichibukai are the following: Portgas D. Ace."

Mutters went around the table and Garp bit into a cracker while shaking his head, getting crumbs on his suit, "I've spoken to Ace. He's denied the position for the fifth time."

Commander in Chief Kong crossed his muscular arms, "Damn, he's the only notable pirate on the list."

The fleet admiral agreed, "Yes, his refusal is unfortunate but we have no choice but to move on. The next pirate is Eustass Kid."

Borsalino Kizaru took off his yellow shades to clean the lenses, "Kid is too rash. We can't control him. No point in making him a Shichibukai if he's just going to go against us later on."

Vice Admiral Strawberry opened his squinted eyes, "The boy has killed more civilians in the past year than any other pirate. He should be brought in rather than rewarded."

The Marines mumbled agreements and Sengoku marked out the poster before continuing, "Then there is the suggestion we received a few months ago: Marshall D. Teach."

The room fell into a silence as every Marine dug through the stack of papers in front of them to find the file belonging to said pirate. When Tsuru found her copy she sighed, "Teach–some of you may know him as Blackbeard." She crossed her fingers under her chin, "He has no bounty but recently he's been ransacking various towns." She sighed, "As it is known, in order for a pirate to gain this position they must be notable. Besides his former connection to the Whitebeard Pirates, he's not known amongst others."

Aokiji pressed his lips together, "Why is he even being considered for the position of Shichibukai if he's not applicable?"

Vice Admiral Ronse's muffled voice came through from behind his medieval helmet, "Besides, does he even have a crew or any organizations?"

Akainu shifted the papers in front of him, "There are no listed crew mates or known organizations he might be affiliated with."

Stainless looked over to his friend, "Mozambia, at the Shichibukai meeting, didn't we meet one of his crew mates?"

"Laffitte was his name."

Cancer pulled from his cigar, "He said he had a plan as to how they would make their jolly roger known but it's as Tsuru said earlier: besides the random sacking on different islands, there have been no activities from either man."

Kong took a sip of his tea, "It seems there are three options we can take." He stood and walked towards the board, "We can extend the Shichibukai invitation to Portgas once more." He looked to Garp who shrugged his shoulder. "Take a chance and attempt to tame the wild beast known as Kid." His eyes caught Vice Admiral Doberman who shook his head. The commander-in-chief sighed, "Sengoku, contact Marshall D. Teach and extend the offer of Shichibukai. But only under the condition that he comes to us with a plan on how he will become notorious." He sat down in his seat, "We will meet with him one week after receiving his reply to the offer."

The Marines muttered their agreements and gathered their items before dismissing themselves from the room.

M.D.T

The wide mouthed admiral crossed his thin arms across his broad chest, "Laffitte."

Said pale man tapped his cane on the deck, "Captain."

"Do you think our plan will work?" Blackbeard twisted the huge gem encrusted ring around his finger.

Jesus Burgess placed his mask over his head, "This is the best of the best plans!" He belched a wiiihahaha, "We will be the world's strongest pirate crew!"

Teach grunted as he looked down at the log pose attached to his wrist. The red tip of the needle pointed towards their destination. It flickered once before it stilled, "We're near Mariejois."

The sickly Death God, also known as Doc Q, coughed harshly, gulping in a huge breathe of air before he spoke. "It was of great favor–" he sniffed up some snot, "It was a good thing the Marines called us when they did."

Blackbeard's weight caused the rotting wood of the deck to cave in and his foot became lodged in the lumber. He cursed under his breath as he attempted to free himself, "Where was the last sighting of Ace?"

Laffitte watched with bored eyes as his captain struggled to gain freedom. Their boat had been on its last leg for quite some time now and the deck was filled with holes from Stronger, Jesus, and Teach's feet getting caught. "The last known sighting of him was in a small place called Crest Town."

Marshall pulled loose his foot with a "finally!" and he checked his ankle for any splinters. When he was certain there were none he sighed, "Good. That means he's still towards the start of the Grand Line. He shouldn't be a problem."

The waves slapped the rigidity boat, making it sway dangerously, prompting the men to brace themselves. When the water evened out again their sharpshooter, Van Augur, spoke, "Are you still going to try and recruit him?"

Blackbeard ran his tongue across the gum of one of the missing teeth, "We're going to need a plan B."

Doc Q fed an apple to Stronger, "Plan B?"

"Yes, for if he does agree."

Laffitte raised an eyebrow, "Boss, he hates you with a passion."

Jesus grunted, "His passion hates you with a passion."

"Plus, you killed his best friend."

Van Augur nodded at the sickly man's words, "And you betrayed him and the Whitebeard Pirates."

The Blackbeard Pirates gave a flat stare to their captain. "It's safe to say we won't need a plan B," they said.

Teach whined a little in his throat, "Damn, I really think he would make a great nakama."

The marksman sighed, "He'd kill all of us before he would befriend us." He squint his eyes before he pushed up his eye piece, "We will dock at Mariejois soon. Get ready."

M.D.T

The Marines sat at the rectangular table facing the door, waiting for the pirates to show. Kong pulled at his spiked locks, breaking the silence, "I have a bad feeling about this."

Sengoku sighed as he shuffled the papers in front of him, "Yes, Marshall D. Teach doesn't sit well with me either."

The Admiral known as Red Dog adjusted the pink rose on his shirt, "If the vibes are so bad, why are we considering him?"

"Because," the Yellow Monkey answered in a tired voice, "He's the only option we have right now."

The conversation ceased when the double doors opened, revealing the man of the hour. Blackbeard's jewelry jingled with every step he took towards the Marines seated at the table. Commander in Chef Kong crossed his arms as the pirate took a seat in the single chair on the opposite side of the table. The weight of the silence made Teach shift uncomfortably in his seat as he wiped the sweat that was building up on his upper lip.

Sengoku pulled on his beard, "Marshall D. Teach. I assume you are here because you received our invitation for the position of Shichibukai."

"However," Kong glared at the overweight man. "Once again you are not a notable pirate. Is there a plan that it has been devised that will make you known?"

The pirate captain cleared his throat and laced his fingers together, "After talking it over with my crew, we've decided that our best option would be to go with plan A."

Sakazuki let out an irritated huff. Fucking pirates, he hated dealing with them, "And what would 'plan A' be?"

Teach jumped at the harsh voice of the admiral, "Oh yeah! Plan A is to hand over Portgas D. Ace to the Marines."

The silence was deafening.

Aokiji sat up in his seat at the mention of the name. Kong and Sengoku glanced at each other before the fleet admiral spoke, "How do you plan to capture Portgas D. Ace?"

"Simple, I'll corner him and bring him in. He's already on the search for me."

Akainu picked up Blackbeard's file and Kuzan slid over Ace's bounty poster to Kizaru. After glancing at both papers he hummed in the back of this throat, "You think that a man like you, with no bounty, can simply corner and capture a man worth 550,000,000 beli?"

Teach gave a solid nod.

Uncertain glances were passed around the table. Kong sighed as he rubbed his face, "Let us discuss this plan and we will call you back in shortly."

The pirate gave a toothy grin as he stood from his chair and exited the room. As soon as the doors closed behind him Sakazuki voiced his thoughts, "We've been attempting to bring Portgas in for a while."

Aokiji fiddled with his sleeping mask, "I don't think he can do it."

"Let's not forget the fact that if we touch one of Whitebeard's it'll be war." Borsalino stated.

Sengoku closed his eyes, "We would bring the world's strongest man and yonko to our doorstep. Can we afford such a thing?"

"If he does it and we capture Portgas D. Ace, we would have a war on our hands. If we don't fill the spot for the Shichibukai then the balance of power in the world will shift and a war will break out." Kong rubbed his eyes.

Borsalino muttered, "Not to mention who Portgas D. Ace is connected to."

"Either way," Akainu stared at Ace's photo before he continued. "It seems as if we will have a war on our hands no matter which option we take. The question is which one can we fight with the less of a domino effect."

The subordinates looked towards their superior as he stood and poured himself a glass of water before sitting again. "We will give him one chance to succeed. If he does, then he gets the position. If he fails, we imprison him and his crew. We will then go back to the drawing board to pick the next Shichibukai."

Sengoku nodded his head at Kong's words, "It's settled then. Aokiji, bring Blackbeard back in here."

The tall admiral stood and walked to the doors, quickly disappearing behind them. A moment later he returned with Teach. He walked back to the table before leaning against the polished wood. Marshall's eyes went towards the chair next to him but he decided to stand near the door instead.

"Marshall D. Teach, we have accepted your plan. Within sixty days the deed needs to be done or we will reconsider our offer."

Blackbeard let out a relieved sigh, "Whew, for a second there I thought you guys weren't going to give me a chance." When no one responded to his comment he chuckled nervously and rocked between the balls and heels of his feet, "Is there uh… anything else you guys need from me?"

Kong shook his head, "That'll be all. Return here with your captive and we will proceed from there. You are dismissed."

Teach gave a mocking bow before he left the presence of the Marines. Aokiji traced a finger over the mushi in his pocket, "I'll be taking my leave now."

Sengoku nodded his head at the dark skinned Marine. The remaining two admirals followed their fellow associate and proceeded to exit the room, leaving the commander in chef and fleet admiral to speak in peace.

"If he succeeds…"

The fleet admiral rubbed his forehead, "We need to contact Garp."

"Not yet." Kong looked at Ace's photo, "Not until we know for sure we will have his grandson in captivity."

Sengoku stood with a heavy sigh, "I'll contact all current Shichibukai. We'll need their help no matter what the outcome may be."

He was about to exit the room when he heard his friend's voice, "This will be a turning point in history. We need to be ready."

The middle aged man muttered "for sure" before he closed the door behind him, continuing to the solace of his office.

Hope you guys like a glimpse into the three power houses together. I like writing Kong. Feel like for him to have been such an important guy we didn't see much of him. Either way! Review if you can and please stay tune for next chapter: Don Quixote Rosinante - Huredhiel