Maldea: Thank you!

phoenix: More feels in this chapter, too.

HOLAA913: Who knows yet? But they will reset with them... Mwahahaha.

PTSD warning in this chapter. Poor baby. Enjoy~

After they finished the food, they stuck the tray outside the door. All three of them laid in the same bed, curled up with one another and silent. There was a knock on the door, but the knob was locked. They ignored whoever was knocking on the door.

Finally, Ace, again, told whoever it was to fuck off. "I would think you'd want a change of clothes, but I guess I was wrong," a clipped voice said from the hall. Sabo knew what this was. Trying to get them to answer by being haughty, acting like the right one. The blonde stopped Luffy from getting up. Ace got the jist. They wouldn't let any of them win. They would not cooperate!

"You were. Now go fuck yourself," Ace said in a dry tone. Whoever was outside the door made an angry noise before stomping away. Ace gave a weak smile. "Maybe we can do this. We can't let them do whatever they want with us. We're not going to go along with what they want, what they want us to do."

Luffy said, "Maybe we can use an ultameron."

"Ultimatum?"

"Yeah, that. Maybe we say we'll cooperate if we get to talk to the others," he said. They had to admit, it was the only idea they had. "But we don't have to follow through. We're pirates, they should know that better than anyone."

Ace nodded, and added, "Besides, they're way worse than us just being rude."

Sabo said, "Then we'll do that."

The three stood up and left the room. They ignored anyone telling them goodmorning, and Ace would flip them off occasionally. He hated this, though. He felt himself slipping every time he was an ass. Slipping back to that person he was for so long. The person that helped to permanently damage Luffy.

They found Marco. "Feather head, let us talk to our crew," Ace demanded. Luffy and Sabo had hard looks on. Marco didn't react to Ace's insult, but Ace didn't react to it. Didn't act angry that Marco didn't get irate with it.

"Not yet," Marco replied in a flat voice.

"Then when?" Sabo asked in a voice as cold as ice. It made Luffy shiver. Sabo rarely used that voice unless it was against a real enemy. Were these people real enemies? He hated them, but they didn't try to hurt them yet. Yet, they would try once they got irritated enough.

Marco thought for a moment. "Once you agree to join." All three brothers felt rage like they'd never felt before. Ace and Luffy had it but weren't good at controlling it, so a double wave of conquerors haki burst out, and slammed against Marco, knocking him out. Sabo was wobbly, but Ace slapped him hard to get his attention.

"Abort plan, just go and steal the den den and hide," Ace said, and the three spritnted to the room they knew had the den dens. No one was in there, so they found the den dens that linked to the other ships. Luffy snatched another one at the last minute.

All three of them booked it to the far staircase, and to the lowest floor. No one seemed to be down there, so they made it to the brig and shut the door, locking it from the inside and hid their presences. They were all panting from the nerves. Marco would probably be mad now, but now they knew their haki could work against the pirates. If it could knock out phoenix Marco, then it would be easy to get the rest.

Sabo took hold of the blue den den mushi that connected to "the Moby 2". The snail rang until it picked up. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's Marco," Sabo said. He was always amazing at imitating voices. "Need to talk to the Spade crew about something. Can you put the one in charge of them on?"

"Oh, sure!" the man's voice said, and there was shuffling until the door shut and Deuce asked, "What do you want? Where are my captains and Luffy?"

Sabo kept his voice the same. "ASL brothers are on this ship. I have a question for you. Are you liking your treatment on the Moby 2?" Deuce clearly knew who it was.

He huffed, and showed some attitude, playing along well. "Well, they're not torturing us if that's what you mean. We don't want to be here in the first place. What's happening with Ace, Sabo and Luffy?"

"They aren't happy, but we're going to make them join the crew. They aren't cooperating, but hopefully they will soon. What should they do at the next half-a-moon?" Sabo was making no sense to Luffy, but Ace figured it out, he was using code.

Deuce said, "Well, they should have each other, right? Even if they're on your shitty ship, I'm sure they'll get through it if they're together. Besides, they're smart. Smarter than you probably give them credit for."

Sabo smiled, and Luffy had tears in his eyes. "Thanks." And the snail hung up.

Luffy busied himself with the one he'd snatched. It was bigger than the baby ones. He pressed it, and it rang for a bit. Sabo and Ace were going to ask who it was and what Luffy was doing, but then the den den mushi picked up.

"Hello?" Shanks asked.

"Shanks! Come help us! They stole us and separated us from our crew!" Luffy exclaimed.

"Lu-Luffy?! What are you doing on Whitebeard's ship?" he asked in bafflement. Luffy explained everything that had happened, starting at the ship beaching, and then getting taken while they were unconscious. About their crew being taken away, and how they'd stolen the den den mushi to make contact with him and their crew. And how they would be resetting alone soon.

Shanks sighed. "I can't come and get you, Luffy. I'm sorry. I can't risk getting in a fight with Newgate. But if you truly don't want to stay there, I'm sure they might eventually let you do. I'm sorry." The three didn't respond, the two older looking at Luffy as tears came down his cheeks.

"Okay. Sorry I called," he said, voice flat and devoid of any emotion. He felt betrayed. After they told Shanks everything, he didn't even want to try helping them. Luffy hung up the snail before Shanks said anything else. The youngest curled in on himself, rocking back and forth. He was going to have an episode.

Ace took him into his arms. "Everything will work out. Deuce said they are not being hurt or tortured. We have to figure this out ourselves, like we always have. And Deuce is right, we can do it even if it's just the three of us. If we're smart, we'll be fine."

Luffy tried to ground himself, and his hands clenching Ace's arm harshly didn't hurt due to his logia power. "Why don't we go put this stuff back before they find our spot?" Ace offered. It would be best to distract Luffy.

He nodded, and the three stood up and walked out of the brig, leaving it just as they had come to it. They kept their presences hidden, and were on their way back to the room they'd stolen from. They ran into Marco, who looked furious. Ace wanted to laugh, but just gave him a smirk.

They walked right past him and returned the snails to the room. "What did you do with those?" Marco asked. Sabo lightly replied, "We made sure our crew was okay and tied to get someone else to help us. They declined."

"How did you talk to your crew? They shouldn't have let you talk, you aren't one of the commanders," Marco said, confusion on his face. Sabo smiled politely.

"I'm good at impressions," he said simply. "Since you kept us from talking to our family, you have lost any cooperation we were going to offer. Good job." The three sent cold looks at Marco and walked away, back to their room. Luffy needed to cry in private. His face was getting red and that usually meant he was near tears, not angry.

-x-

Marco pinched the bridge of his nose tightly in the communications room. He needed to know why they called Shanks, and what they said when they spoke to the Spades. This was a complete breach of trust. But they didn't trust them in the first place. He called Shanks first. And he picked up immediately, which he usually didn't.

"Luffy?"

"No, it's me, yoi. What did they call you for?" Marco asked in a hard voice. The den den didn't answer for a moment, just staring straight on. He waited impatiently, but Shanks did reply.

"They called me for help. What you're doing is wrong, Marco. You don't know what they've been through, and you've stolen their lives away. It's wrong. But I can't help them and risk a war with Whitebeard. I know you have good intentions, but it won't work out. It won't, and they will do everything to defy you," Shanks explained. Marco could tell Shanks had known Luffy well before now.

Was that why he was happy and wasted the sake before coming to Pops? But there was nothing to back that thought on, and he knew Shanks would not give information about the boys. He didn't ask, knowing it would be pointless.

"You know Pops. When he sees something he wants, he gets it. They'll accept us sooner or later, I'm sure," Marco said easily.

Shanks was quiet. "I'll say it again: you're doing something wrong. Goodbye, Marco." And the snail hung up. Marco was left troubled. What did they go through that had Shanks so upset? He shook his head and sighed. He went to the other den den and called the Moby 2.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Soki. So, it was one of the Spades captains that called. Did they sound like me?" Marco asked.

"That was quite the impression they gave! Sounded just like you!" Soki exclaimed. Marco asked what was said between Sabo and his crewmember. "Asked how they were being treated, then asked something about a half-moon. Deuce said that they would be fine as long as they stuck together and were smart. I didn't understand much of it. I would have focused more, but I did think it was you," he explained.

Half-moon? Some sort of code? The moon wasn't even close to being half full right now. It was strange. "Thanks Soki. Next time I call, ask what my birthday is to make sure it's actually me. We should lock the den dens away now."

The snail nodded, and Soki wished him good luck. Marco had to go talk to Pops. Maybe the brats were more trouble than they were worth.

-x-

"I miss them. A lot," Luffy mumbled into the pillow. There was nothing to do. They didn't want to go outside and be approached by any pirates. They were high strung, and any attempt to get to know them might end up with one of them making an unwise decision. Though Luffy already almost killed Marco and both he and Ace knocked him out with uncontrolled haki. Sabo rubbed Luffy's hair.

"We do too. But they aren't being hurt right now. That's the best we can ask for. Home is probably going to keep waiting for us at that island. We just have to wait until they let us leave and we meet up with the others," Sabo explained kindly.

Luffy sniffled. "I was supposed to have a session with Deuce this week. Now I can't. He helps me feel better," Luffy said, putting his face in the pillow. Ace flamed up at this, angry that the Whitebeards were interfering with Luffy's continuous sessions with Deuce. They were usually right after the resets. This time was worse, Luffy saw all of Ace's passing. And it was worse than usual. It had been drawn out and graphic.

"Deuce held Ace when he was resetting. Who's gonna hold us? We'll be cold and all alone, in the deep room," Luffy lamented. Sabo and Ace had no answer. They couldn't rely on one another. They were all out of action, and it was terrifying to know they would be deeply unconscious on an enemy pirate ship, unable to protect themselves.

"I don't know what's gonna happen, Lu. I guess we'll play it by ear," Ace said. "I'm sorry last time was so bad." Sabo looked confused, not having seen it as he was first to go. He had the benefit of not seeing the other two die. Luffy didn't, though. Always the one to suffer the most.

Sabo asked what he meant. "It was longer and there was more blood. Deuce kept me from choking on it. I wish at least he was on this ship, too. As long as we have one other person. I miss the others a lot, but Jojo and Deuce helped the most with the resets. They were the ones who could stomach it most." Sabo looked down, feeling bad for not being there for his brothers when they needed someone. Luffy was going to do it completely alone. He would see both of them die, be alone in a dark and unfamiliar place.

Life truly wasn't fair.

There was a knock on the door, but none of them answered, Ace didn't even say anything rude. Morale had tanked lower. Even after hearing that the Spades were not being harmed, they still didn't feel much better. Especially Luffy, who felt abandoned by Shanks.

The knocking didn't go away, so Sabo got up and opened it. "What."

"Pops wants to talk to you," Thatch said.

"We in trouble?" Ace grumbled.

"Not really," Thatch said. It was an awkward lie. But they might as well go. Luffy held Sabo's hand, and Ace took his other one. Thatch led them to the captain's room, which they'd seen briefly through the window when they went to their hiding place. The double doors opened and they walked into the massive room. Whitebeard was on the bed and Marco was standing beside it, arms crossed. Man, he really hated the three.

Well, that was good. Then they'd let them go and they could reunite with their crew. The treasure could not be found on the ship. They could definitely pay people to help them fix up the injured the PoS had gone through. She was precious, even if she was sometimes nicknamed the Piece of Shit.

The three just stood there, Ace and Sabo with stoic faces, with Luffy just looking broken inside, looking at the floor. "What do you want?" Ace asked, voice flat but filled with anger. At him, at what he'd done. At what he'd done to Luffy. He and Sabo still had no idea how he hadn't had a huge panic attack yet. It will be bad when it comes. Deuce would be the one to help, Luffy sometimes thought Ace and Sabo were ghosts and didn't believe when he was told they were alive. That's why they needed someone else able to prove to Luffy that they hadn't died for good.

"I want to know why you called Shanks," Whitebeard said.

"Why should we tell you? After everything you've done to us, why should we do anything you ask?" Ace asked in a snarl, sides of his mouth raised in a look of both contempt and disgust.

Marco frowned, and Whitebeard looked confused as well. "What do you mean? What have I done to you that's so horrible?" Ace scoffed, and Sabo's frown grew deeper.

"You stole our freedom and family from us," Sabo said simply. "Along with precious resources Luffy needs."

Whitebeard sighed. "We did not steal your freedom. We want you to be happy with us. Why are you so averse to joining?" He seemed genuinely confused. Luffy looked sour. "We haven't done you any harm."

"Sure, physically. You ever think there was more harm you could do to someone besides injuring them? You know nothing about us yet you want us to join bad enough to split us up and abandon our home? You didn't even ask!" Ace raged. Luffy was shaking, trying hard to hold everything in, and the pirates all looked shocked.

Luffy kept from making eye contact with anyone in the room, even his brothers. "You took away Luffy's therapist and our doctor," Sabo said coolly. "You can't just replace one doctor with a stranger and think things will be fine."

Whitebeard looked regretful, and they hoped that he would change his mind. They needed to get out now, Luffy was going to melt down. His hands were shaking, practically vibrating as he held his emotions in. He wasn't comfortable to fall apart. That's why they needed the comforts of home. Luffy's room, his home, his special objects.

He was so bright just days ago, so happy. Now it was all messed up.

"I am sorry that I split you up. I still want you to join us-" And Luffy promptly screamed.

"Ace, you'll be fine, Ace. Shhh," Deuce said in the dark, the sound of coughing, choking and the splatter of liquid on the floor in the room. Gasps of pain and harsh breathing with little moans from the pain.

Luffy was stuck to watch as Ace died in such agony, Sabo still and gone, unable to help. Luffy started to reset next, his eyes blurring to see Deuce holding his gasping body, shushing him, saying he'd be alright soon.

The sounds of Ace's reset filled his mind, he couldn't even hear himself screaming and sobbing.

Luffy thrashed around in Sabo's hold as they ran to their room, Thatch running after them. Ace formed a wall of flames so Thatch couldn't get through. It didn't spread, but it kept anyone going after them. Marco wasn't coming so that was good.

They slammed the door open and ran inside, shutting and locking it behind him. Sabo laid Luffy on the bed, trying to calm him down. It was as worse as they could have imagined as Luffy shoved them away while screaming for them to save him.

Ace and Sabo didn't know what to do to help, they had no way to convince Luffy they weren't ghots and that he wasn't alone or seeing things that weren't there. So, Ace and Sabo curled around him, making him realize they were physically there.

"No more blood!" Luffy screamed, and kicked and thrashed at his brothers. "Ace, Sabo!" Luffy screamed, completely disconnected from reality.

The door was slammed inwards, and Thatch was there with a den den mushi, giving it to them. "Luffy! Luffy!" Deuce's voice shouted. Luffy looked for him around, his screaming stopping. Sabo shoved Thatch out of the room, closing the door, which's lock was now broken.

"Luffy, can you hear me? Can you feel a touch on your forehead?" Deuce's voice asked. Luffy moved his hand to his forehead, finding Sabo's hand. "That's Sabo's hand. Sabo, say something." They did this in practice long ago. They had a ritual.

"The sky is blue at day," Sabo said calmly.

"Sabo just said the sky is blue at day. Can you feel a touch on your left ear? That's Ace. Ace, can you say something?"

"The sky is black at night," Ace said firmly, hand still on Luffy's ear.

"Ace just said the sky is black at night. Can you feel hands on your chest?" Luffy nodded and looked down at the two hands pressed against his chest. "That's Ace and Sabo. They're alive, I have proof. I heard them speak. That means they aren't in your head."

Luffy's eyes widened, and he started crying, more in embarrassment and stress. "I wanna go home!" he cried, curling back into a ball. Tears dripped down Ace and Sabo's eyes, as they were powerless to do anything.

Luffy cried for a good while before he fell asleep from exhaustion and emotional stress. Once the screaming was done and the crying faded, the door opened to show Marco, looking regretful. "We have a compromise. If we accept your crew to come too, will you join us?"

Sabo stared at him in a calculating way. "Bring them here and we'll see," he said in a hard voice. Marco nodded, and Thatch was seen standing in the hall, looking upset and worried. "I hope he feels better soon," he said, as the den den mushi was taken away for Marco to talk to whoever was on the other line.

-x-

Luffy woke up in bed, tucked in, not in their room. He opened his eyes slowly and turned to the side to see all of the Spades inside the room. Luffy beamed, and jumped off the bed to hug Deuce and then Jojo. They hugged him back, and then they all suddenly bowed to the brothers. They were each surprised by this.

"We're sorry we were unable to protect you and the ship," Saber said strongly, and the others apologized, too. The brothers frowned, and told them to raise their heads. Sabo looked at them all in sadness, sympathy. He knew what it was like to fail your family. He and Ace knew it very well.

"We don't blame you. We were out of action and unable to help, too," Sabo said calmly. "But we're all together now. And we'll figure a way to get back to the PoS. Did they do anything bad to her?" The three were terrified that she had been burned down or something.

Aggies 68 said, "She was left there. They didn't burn her down, but she was still on her side. The mast broke during the fight. It wasn't a long fight, but it still damaged her. We need a professional to fix her up."

The three all sighed, and Luffy put his face in his hands, Ace rubbing his back gently. "It'll be okay, Lu. We convinced them to give us back our crew, maybe we can convince them to let us go."

Sabo frowned at him. "You know it only happened because Luffy had a big panic attack, right? I don't want him having another one to let us get back home." Ace looked ashamed, not having thought about that. Sabo sighed and leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees. Rubbing his hands down his face, he asked, "Why do they want us to stay in the first place? It's not like we've exactly been nice to them.

"First time we met Marco, Luffy tried to drown him. Then there's the fact we burned holes into their walls, tied up and gagged their nurses, and are just being all around assholes. I don't get it," he finished.

None of the others understood either. But Saber then offered, "You guys are awesome when not kidnapped and held against your will. Though I don't understand why they would know that before finding us."

Jojo added, "Maybe it's from your silly wanted poster. But that's a stretch." She sat down on one of the beds. "At least they let us be together again. You guys won't have to reset all alone." The three nodded, so happy about that. Ace explained that they'd found the brig and would reset in there. Their presences disappeared when they were resetting. Deuce would just have to hide his all night.

Finamore frowned at this. "That's not exactly a nice place to go through it."

The rest agreed. The three should be somewhere comfortable while going through a painful, traumatic experience. "Well, there's no other place to go that we don't think will be found. No one seems to go down there. The door was really rusted and stiff. It'll suck, but we have to. Who knows how these pirates would react to knowing about the reset?"

Sabo sighed and Luffy flopped onto the bed, laying on his back. Ace then asked, "Were you guys really beaten up badly?" Deuce replied that they'd been beaten into unconsciousness, but had no lasting wounds. Jojo grew sour.

"They fucking went easy on me cause I'm a woman. Pissed me off! Even after I sliced a huge wound into stupid bird man. That's cheating, being able to heal like that," she ranted, arms crossed tightly so she didn't break anything. "I feel naked without my swords. They took them all away."

Sabo agreed, knowing how it felt to not be armed. Ace and Luffy were lucky that they had devil fruits that helped them fight. Sabo only had strong haki, but wasn't wonderful at real hand to hand. He was better than most average pirates, but had no doubt he'd get his ass kicked without his pipe.

"I'm hungry," Luffy complained, his stomach rumbling to prove it. "Let's go get some food," he said. Everyone was hungry as well, so they all left the room in a crowd of ten. They didn't mean to, but the Spades had formed a circle around their captains and first mate. When they entered the kitchen, Jojo whistled.

"This is quite the kitchen," she said, going to look at the huge stove and multiple ovens, not to mention the many large refrigerators. "I'd love to cook here."

Deuce sat at the bar counter and said, "Then cook. We're not here to make friends." The others nodded, and Jojo grinned before getting things together to make her crew homemade pasta. They had all of the ingredients for it, plenty of it. They all watched as she easily made the pasta out of dough.

While the pasta was boiling in the large pot, she started to work on the sauce. It really was nice that she had everything she needed.

When the pasta was served to all of them, and she was washing out what she'd used for the sauce, Thatch came in, looking angry. He demanded to know why she was in his kitchen. Apparently he didn't like others cooking in his space? Jojo handled it well.

"I was cooking. It's not like there's a second kitchen. I cleaned everything up, didn't I?" She always wiped down the counters and sink after she finished cooking, no matter if she didn't use much of the counter space.

Thatch was still bothered. But he asked what she made. The female chef didn't reply for a bit before she finally answered. "Pasta."

"Homemade?"

"Yes, you had plenty of ingredients to make the pasta and sauce. Don't think I won't cook in here again. You took away my kitchen, you owe it to me to use yours," she said cooly. The men of the crew were digging in enthusiastically. Luffy inhaled his huge serving, while Ace competed with him. Both of them were on the verge of choking, but they were in a competition.

Sabo said, "You know you could enjoy the food instead of seeing who can eat it faster."

Ace argued that they did enjoy it, Luffy nodding in agreement, cheeks stuffed with food. Thatch was still there, and Ace asked what he was still doing there.

"... Can I try it?" he asked, surprising the Spades. They looked at Jojo, who nodded. Thatch got out his own plate and utensils and served himself some of the steaming pasta and then the sauce. They watched him closely, going to be furious if he dissed their chef's food. And she wouldn't take anyone insulting her cooking.

The enemy chef ate some of it, and looked away angrily. "What?" Ace demanded.

"...It's good. Better than I can make," he said honestly.

"Of course it is, these monsters have it multiple times a week," she bragged, and Thatch looked at her before turning flustered before he sat down at a table behind them and ate the food much more slowly than the male Spades. Jojo looked very satisfied, and superior.

They were having small talk while eating, passing each other the freshly ground pepper or parmesan she had made. No one mentioned anything that was serious in front of the Whitebeard commander.

Once they had finished, Luffy and Ace on the verge of vomiting it all up, Jojo took all of the dishes into the kitchen and went to the huge sink to wash them. Thatch said, "You know you could use the dishwasher."

"Washing by hand is relaxing, so no thank you," she said in a clipped voice. Thatch said she was welcome to use the kitchen as long as she didn't use up any food or make a mess. "Why would I make a mess?" she asked in almost offense.

Thatch said, "I was just saying. Some of my sous chefs make a mess and I have to tell them to clean it up." Jojo was fast at dishwashing and was already familiar with the kitchen, putting the plates back on the rack in one of the cupboards.

She washed her hands before wiping them on a towel hanging on the wall. "Well I'm not your sous chef, am I?" she said, and didn't spare a glance at him before the Spades left the room. Luffy gushed over the yummy food.

They ran into Marco in the hall, who stared at them all. Then, he frowned softly. "I want to apologize for my behavior so far. I was an asshole, and I know why you guys try to be, too. We aren't going to be letting you go anytime soon, but we want to get along with you guys. So, I'm sorry for my previous attitude."

They were surprised with this, but Luffy spoke next. "Sorry I almost drowned you."

"I forgive you. I would be angry if someone beat up my brothers. It was insensitive and I said it flippantly. It was wrong to separate you from your family. It wasn't empathetic and we clearly didn't take your feelings into account. I hope we can get along," Marco said, sounding sincere.

Ace didn't accept this, still feeling Marco was a bad guy. He was just trying to be nice. He clenched his hands, angry that he was reverting to who he was here. He was under stress, and wasn't anywhere he felt comfortable at. He knew these pirates could hurt his brothers. He wouldn't trust them anytime soon.

"We won't be getting along with you. Sorry not sorry," he said, and walked past Marco, the others following and not sparing a glance back. When they arrived back in the room that was now much too small for them, Ace sat on the bed and put his head in his hands, taking deep breaths. Luffy knew what he was upset about, so he sat next to him, leaning against his side.

"Don't be mean to us and everything will be okay," Luffy said kindly.

Ace rubbed his hands down his face. "I don't like being this way. I don't like being mean, or hostile. But I'll do it to protect you guys. All of you."

Sabo was having conflicting feelings. He thought Marco was being sincere, but no matter how much he regretted his first impression, they were still keeping them against their wills. They weren't free, and wouldn't get along with those that had taken it without considering anything.

Even if they had asked for them to join, they would have said no. But it was worse from the start that they took and separated them. It was unforgivable.