Maldea: Yeah, they're pretty strong! They'd have to be after going through the shit they do.
Scratch-Kun: Aww, thank you!
phoenix: Having the WBs and ASL getting along is fun to write, but I write that so much! Wanted to try something different.
LoveToBake: It gets REALLY bad later. Look forward to it!
Belleme77: Yeah, they're all assholes in this one. I mean, it was wrong to force Ace to stay on the ship in cannon. lol he could have had stockholm syndrome, who knows?
Aquarica: Thanks! Lots of angst to come, don't worry.
I now have 5 stories on hold for when some of my current ones finish. Apparently my floor for what is acceptable for long ones had changed to 60,000 words. All of them are longer than that. -_- So much fun editing 5 stories way over 60,000 words. At least they'll last awhile! Enjoy~
Marco sat in the galley with his head in his hands, angry and frustrated. The way they'd gone about this was all wrong. Shanks was right, they were wrong to do it how they had. But Pops still wanted to keep them, and Marco wouldn't argue with him when his mind was made up. He didn't know how they would get along with them after everything that had already happened.
Marco had ruined his chance to be close to them with how he acted before. The only person who stood a chance at befriending them was Thatch, how he always was. He was nice from the start. Marco wished he had been, too.
Pops wouldn't be changing his mind about them. They'd already stolen, broken things, and attacked Marco. If those things didn't put Pops off, then nothing would. It was a stalemate, and he knew they wouldn't be caving first.
-x-
Sabo was amazed with the library they had on this ship. It spanned two floors, walls stuffed with all sorts of books. He browsed them while his crew and brothers played games on the carpeted floor. The door was locked so no one would bother them.
He could hear Luffy laughing from behind him. He'd drawn on Ace's face again, and he would be pissed. Though he couldn't stay angry very long. It just wasn't possible. The three found a forgotten deck of cards in a cupboard in the large room, and were playing with that animatedly.
Like usual, Luffy failed, but also like usual, he had fun anyways. Ace woke up and when Luffy giggled, he tackled Luffy to the floor. His punishment was ruthless tickles, as the youngest screamed at him to get off. "No, you need punishment for what you've done!" Ace exclaimed, and Deuce got in on it, holding Luffy's arms up against his will as Ace tickled down his sides and under his armpits.
They finally let him go once tears were in his eyes. "That was mean, Ace! All I did was connect the dots on your freckles," he complained, and Sabo laughed from the stairway that spiraled upwards.
The books were all contained in shelves with plastic doors that he slid open to access the books. It made sense, since if they weren't confined, every rock of the ship would send them flying around the room. He picked out some books about New World islands they hadn't visited yet and went to the lounge chairs and sat down to read them.
The ruckass the others were making didn't distract Sabo from his book, quite used to it. It was background noise. But everyone went quiet from their laughing and playing when there was a knock on the door.
Saber got up to open the door and they saw Thatch standing there with two trays of drinks. He smiled at them and said that he'd brought them some spiced apple cider. To his credit, he walked to the closest table and set the trays down before giving them a wave and leaving. Saber put the lock back in place, which was a decorative poker for a fake fireplace through both handles.
Luffy got up to get his own, and everyone else followed, though it was a bit hesitant. They all drank some and they all liked it. "Hmm, apple cider, nutmeg, brown sugar, cinnamon, orange and cloves." She was able to know ingredients by tasting, though not knowing how much of each thing. "I'll make this sometime for everyone once we're back home."
Ace grinned. "Bet Thatch can't do that. He seems like the idiot of the crew we've seen so far. We haven't seen many, but I get the feeling. Like how Luffy is the idiot of our crew."
Luffy launched at Ace, even if he knew Ace was just joking. "At least I don't sleep in my food," he said, and Ace ran after him as he ran around the room. It was fun, and they were more relaxed than they'd been since the whole start, which was only a couple days ago. It felt so much longer.
The Spades chuckled at them as Jojo had found a cookbook and was memorizing some of the recipes that looked good. Aggie 68 was reading medical journals he'd found. Finamore was napping, somehow, and Ducky Bee was on his back and staring at the ceiling. The very high ceiling.
Deuce and Saber were watching the brothers play around, glad to see them happy. Even if it was only when they were completely isolated. It was a good day, considering, and they spent most of it in the library.
For bedtime, they were given a new room with bunks in it. It was much bigger than the previous, but still a little cramped. It was in the hall with other divisions, so they couldn't reset in there without risking anyone knocking on the door for something.
-x-
For the next week, they stayed away from the pirates. They didn't go near them if they could help it, and if they did, they either were rude or completely ignored them. They were all growing concerned that they wouldn't be let off this ship. The Whitebeard's weren't budging an inch. But neither were the Spades. It was a true stalemate, and there was no show on either side of one caving or giving in.
They also grew more and more worried about the oncoming reset. Deuce was the one who went and slowly got supplies into the brig, buckets of water, blankets, rags and anything else to make them as comfortable as possible.
The three brothers were good at not being seen, knowing whenever someone was approaching so they could hide in any nearby room. There were times that they split up from the others in the crew to do things that would be much more noticeable in the group of ten.
The one who was trying the hardest to get along with them was Thatch, while some of the commanders waved at them politely. No matter how much of an asshole they were to Thatch, he still always smiled at them, or asked if they wanted anything to eat. He even helped Jojo cook a complicated recipe, letting her call the shots.
That hated them all, but couldn't help but start to think Thatch wasn't a bad guy, but supported something bad. Everyone else were bad guys, especially the captain. They rarely saw him, he was busy running a ship with far too many people. But still, no one visited the brig. They were positive that it was the best place, no matter if it was a terrible place. Cold and hard and dark. Nothing comfortable, but it was necessary.
The night it came, the brothers did not have dinner. They snuck down into the brig where Deuce was waiting, having gone off a while ago to wait for them. They were all tired and feeling crappy. The second they closed and locked the door behind them, Sabo's scar reopened and started bleeding. The other two helped him walk to the area Deuce had put some blankets down. They would be thrown away later, as they would have blood stains that could not be washed out. Ace and Luffy helped Sabo as he gasped for air. His death always happened quickly for some reason, even though it was way too long the original time it'd killed him.
Ace and Luffy laid down next to him, Ace in the middle. He was terrified of this time, since last time was so bad. It didn't get any worse for the other two, so why him? First came the slow nosebleed and inability to move his body well. The blood began to dribble out of his mouth and ears as he scrunched his eyes closed at the pressure he felt behind his skull.
He had the misfortune to vomit more blood than he usually did, all over his bare chest. He coughed and gasped, unintentionally spraying blood across Deuce's face, though he had luckily taken his mask and shirt off, knowing that sometimes the blood got on him as well. He turned Ace over so he didn't choke on his own blood. It poured out of his mouth as he began to bleed out of his eyes, darkening the world as it spread across his whole eyes.
Ace was clutching Luffy's hand, who was watching with tears in his eyes, face crumpled into misery. Ace wanted to tell him not to look, but he couldn't through the hacking. Finally, the light went out of his eyes and he was gone as Luffy started gasping for air that came but wouldn't help.
Deuce moved to Luffy to hold and comfort him, rubbing his back and whispering words of encouragement. Even though his reset was the least painful and drawn out, it was only made worse by the things he saw before his own reset began. Deuce sat with Luffy in his arms, staring up at the ceiling with empty eyes, and he closed them for him.
Luffy always reset with his eyes open. He gently laid the last brother down and brought the bucket of water over with rags and started to wipe away the blood that was covering Ace's face, neck and chest. Sabo had blood around his sides and stomach. He wiped up the eldest of the three and wrung out the bloody water from the rags.
He hid his presence, and covered the boys with another blanket, as he sat against the wall with his head in his hands, all night long until the morning when they both woke up, all looking ill and exhausted. Ace held Luffy, like he usually did after a reset, while Sabo rubbed his back. "I'm sorry, Lu. I don't know why it's getting worse. I wish you wouldn't watch."
"I can still hear it. Choking and vomiting, sometimes crying," Luffy mumbled against Ace's neck. Ace didn't know he cried, but he shouldn't be surprised since it was always scary and painful. The three stood up, looking nauseous and miserable. Deuce asked what he should do with the blanket.
"We can't keep stealing them or someone will notice," he said. Ace looked around before he saw a hole in the wall. He went to inspect it slowly, wishing they were in bed. It was a deep hole, so he said that they could stuff it in there. Deuce did so and then moved a barrel to in front of it, blocking the sight. No one would see it. He then poured bleach on the floor, something he'd collected that morning. The smell of blood would be gone.
They all left the brig, keeping an eye out for anyone, but they made it to the stairs, looking ill but not with a drop of blood on them or their clothes. They passed a few people who looked at them in almost worry.
They entered their room and the three flopped onto their beds and fell asleep immediately, Luffy on the same bed with Ace.
"How'd it go?" Jojo asked from her bunk. They'd all been waiting for their family members. Deuce sighed and told her about Ace's drawn out reset. "Why is he getting worse?" she asked in concern.
"I think it's that he's staying awake longer, so the effects go on for a longer time. Even if he was asleep, afterwards there is still blood seeping out of his mouth. He's just not choking on it while in reset. I think it's psychological. He wants to stay awake for Luffy, but it just makes it worse for him," the blue haired man explained. "I'm going to bed, too. Wake me if they do," and he passed out on his own bed.
Not much later, there was a soft knock on the door and Finamore opened it slowly to see Thatch there, holding a tray of various things. He didn't wait for anyone in the room to talk before he did. "I heard Ace, Sabo and Luffy were looking sick, so I brought some pain pills. For nausea, headaches, stomach problems, general pain, and sleep pills. And some water, too," he explained with a smile.
Jojo came to the doorway and looked at him calculatingly. Then she asked the question, "Why are you nice to us? Why are you nice to them?" It was clear who "them" was.
"I can see you're all good and kind people behind the spike-studded walls you put up. And I want to be friends, so of course I'll be friendly and nice. I want you all to stay, but I also want you to be happy here. So, if you can't leave because of Pops' decision, well, you should have someone who's nice to you. Some don't like you guys because of the rudeness, but I know you're just all stressed and want to leave.
"If you don't trust the pills, I can take some to show you they aren't poisoned or anything," he offered. The pirates who were awake were in shock, but said, "No, you don't need to do that. Thank you," Jojo said sincerely, and took the tray before Finamore shut the door and locked it.
The brothers didn't need any of the pills, just sleep. They'd be fine. Pills didn't help, they'd tried that before and nothing happened.
-x-
Marco stared at the blood stained blanket in worry. Namur had smelled it while being in the lowest level with Fossa, the shipwright. It had been crammed and hidden in a hole in the wall. Pops also looked concerned. "Did anyone arrive at the infirmary?" Not that he thought anyone who lost this much blood would still be alive.
"No, and there weren't any dead bodies, obviously," Namur replied. "There was also the smell of bleach thick in the room so I couldn't make out any scents. I have no idea whose blood this is."
Marco saw that it was not completely hard, but there was just a little dampness in it, meaning that this was not an old blanket they'd misplaced some time long ago. This was from very recently.
If he laid it down flat, the blood was in the shape of a torso, while the other huge blood stain was speckled and to the side at the top. But if no one showed any sign of this happening to them, it made no sense.
He didn't even consider the Spades having this happen, as none of them had been in the brig as far as they knew. Plus, Thatch had seen them, they were alive. Anyone that lost this much blood would not be.
It was a horrifying mystery. He wanted to find out.
-x-
"He did what?" Ace asked once he woke up. Luffy was still asleep and clinging to him while Sabo sat across from them on his own bunk, surprised as well. To hear that Thatch had said things that nice despite them all being complete asses to him just didn't make sense. They didn't know people that would act like that. Even Luffy got irate if someone was repeatedly mean to him for no reason.
"Yeah. We were surprised, too. He seems like the only genuinely good person on this ship. It makes me feel bad now for being mean. Even after he lets me use the kitchen," Jojo said, guilt in her voice.
Ace and Sabo had no reply to that. "We can't get attached, Jojo," Deuce said, speaking up. "Don't we want to go home?" Jojo nodded, of course they wanted to go home. "I… I don't want them to reset in there again. It felt like a morgue. And it was cold and a horrible place even if you didn't go through what they go through."
The two conscious brothers hadn't liked it either. Ace especially. It had been too dark, too hard. He didn't get physically cold but it gave off a cold feeling. It was an effective place to jail someone and pummel their morale.
"I want to go back to the PoS. I want to sail the seas, free again. I like being captain, and going where we choose to. If we had to serve under someone else, we wouldn't get to choose where to go or what to do," Sabo said, Ace agreeing fully. Luffy woke up, and Deuce got ready to manage the panic attack with Ace and Sabo.
After Luffy was calm again, they caught him up on the new developments. "I don't want to be mean to him anymore," he said simply. Ace felt the same, weary with playing the ultimate asshole in the group. He still wasn't happy at all with the situation, but he didn't have the energy to be mean to Thatch.
And was there even any point? At this point, it was obvious they couldn't do anything to get him to hate them. Maybe… maybe he could be the exception. "I don't trust anyone else. I don't want to be friendly to anyone else, but I need a break, even if it's just to not be mean to one more person."
The others felt guilt at Ace being put in this position because of his past and the guilt over it. The guilt over being a bad brother when Luffy needed him to be the opposite. He still cried in private sometimes over the guilt. The guilt of hurting him when he needed Ace most. Berating him about crying about the death of their brothers. And then leaving him alone in the world, to eventually drown.
Luffy hugged him, and Ace hugged him back. "We'll be nice to Thatch," he said decisively. The Spades nodded, now going to be assholes to one less person. Out of around 1,600 people, one person might not make much, but he was also one of the pirates they saw the most. The most reoccurring.
Saber looked at his watch. "It's lunch time, if we want to go to Thatch, he should head out in an hour or so once the majority have left the galley. The guy seems to live in the kitchen. Though it's not surprising since Jojo does that, too."
"I am passionate about my role," she said simply. "I can understand why he does that, too."
Luffy beamed and exclaimed, "Jojo and Thatch should have a cook-off!" Ace and Sabo agreed, but Jojo wasn't having it. She wasn't going to waste food like that. "But we'd eat it anyway. Besides, you're the better chef anyways," Luffy added. Jojo smiled, and said, "Maybe. We'll see."
They left the room to take a shower at the biggest bathhouse, and sank in. "This is a very big bath," Ace said. It was like a pool, not a bath. It seemed it could fit at least 50 people while they couldn't fit more than one person in their bath or small shower.
"Wow, what a remarkable observation, Ace," Sabo said sarcastically.
"Shut up, Sabo. I was just saying," Ace grumbled with pink cheeks. Luffy giggled, but started to flounder in the deep end, and Sabo was there instantly. But Luffy was breathing quickly, panicking. They all realized that he had started to drown, losing his ability to stay afloat just like when he'd drowned the first time.
Sabo moved Luffy's hair out of his face. "Don't worry, Lu. We'll never let anything like that happen again," he assured his little brother. Luffy slowly regained composure and nodded. They were bathing at the shallow end, Luffy sitting beside Ace, both useless by their fruits' weakness.
Jojo, of course, didn't bathe with the men, even though she said she had no problem with it and was almost angry when they insisted she use the women's tub. She shouted profanities at them while being alone in the girl's bath, which was separated by a wall that didn't quite reach the ceiling.
The bath was just what they'd needed to feel relaxed, even if it wouldn't last too long. After a good hour, their skin was pruned, and Jojo had fallen asleep. They had to bang on her door, and she shouted at them angrily and dressed. "It's not fair I have to be isolated when you all get to be in the same place."
"Some of us aren't comfortable seeing you naked," Deuce rationalized.
"Cause I'm a woman?"
"Yeah." It was obvious that was the reason. She still was angry, but it dissipated rather quickly. They headed to the kitchen, glad to see everyone was mostly gone. Only a few commanders at the table. They ignored them and walked to the bar counter and sat down, not surprised to see Thatch.
"Hey! You three feelin' better?" Thatch asked, doing inventory but looking over to smile.
Luffy nodded. "We only needed sleep. But thanks for being nice."
"Of course! I'm the nicest pirate you'll ever meet," Thatch bragged. "You hungry? We have a lot of chicken right now if Jojo wants to cook with that. I also found a box of bread crumbs for any breaded chicken. They aren't expired, I thought they would be, but they've not been open." The brothers thought that sounded very yummy.
Jojo stood up and went into the kitchen and washed her hands. When she turned around Thatch was holding an apron. "It's fitted for a guy, but it's the smallest one we have if you want to use this one. It's clean, we washed it beforehand." Jojo gave him a rare smile and thanked him, putting the apron on. The tie was too long so she tied it around in the front.
He got out the chicken for her and the bread crumbs before leaving her to her devices. Before he left, Luffy asked if Thatch wanted a cook-off with her. Jojo didn't protest, even though she heard. Thatch's face lit up.
"Sure, that sounds fun," he replied. "How about after dinner and we can see who makes the best dessert?" Jojo nodded, accepting the conditions for the challenge.
The male chef was beaming as he left the room.
That night, after food, which the Spades ate later than everyone else, they sat at the bar counter with Jojo and Thatch getting out their ingredients. Thatch was using chocolate for something. They weren't allowed to look at each other's cooking.
They both worked quickly, moving fluidly around the kitchen without once losing their concentration but also not running into one another. The cook-off took over an hour and the Spades were either napping or playing cards.
Once they were both done, around the same time, the desserts were placed in front of them. "Mine is a strawberry cake roll, though I changed it from regular cake to sponge cake and added more than the recipe said to," she explained. Thatch accused her of cheating by looking at a recipe. But it wasn't in a mean way. "The recipe is up here," she said pointing to her head.
Thatch conceded and said that his was a chocolate layer cake with blackberry buttercream. All of them took a bite of Thatch's first, which was wonderful. Jojo said it was delicious, and Thatch beamed. Then they tried Jojo's. The sponge cake melted in their mouths and the strawberry filling made their mouths water.
"Now, be honest. Vote on whose is better. If it's not mine, then say that," she said in a strict voice. Saber, Deuce and Luffy liked Thatch's, while the rest voted for Jojo's. Then they all ate the rest. Thatch ate more of Jojo's than his own, which the other cook mirrored.
By the end, everyone knew they'd throw up if they ate any more sweets. "Well that was delicious. Will you write me down the recipe to memorize?" Jojo asked while both she and Thatch cleaned the kitchen up.
"If you give me yours. I've never made sponge cake like that. Can you really memorize so easily?" he asked in awe, wiping the counters down while Jojo put all of the silverware back in their places.
She nodded. "Yeah, I'm good at memorizing. And I can tell what ingredients are in the food I taste," the female chef said. Thatch clearly didn't believe her. It made sense, since the Spades thought it was crazy as well. "The spiced apple cider you gave us had apple cider, nutmeg, brown sugar, cinnamon, some orange juice - no pulp - and a few cloves. I couldn't tell at what heat, I'm not that good. I'm not sure with how much of each ingredient there was in it, but I'm sure I could replicate it with some experimenting."
Thatch was looking at her with a baffled look on. "Teach me your ways." Jojo laughed, and so did the Spades.
"Our chef is good, huh?" Ace asked with a proud smirk. "And guess what? She's self-taught." Jojo nodded, and took the apron off before going to sit with her crew.
The Whitebeard chef (no longer seen as the enemy) was impressed. "I was self-taught, too. I taught all of our sous chefs."
Sabo asked, "You mean the ones that leave a mess everywhere? Did you not teach them to be clean?" Thatch laughed and agreed. "If you join, you can be my sous chef."
Jojo glared at him. "You would be my sous chef. And we're not joining."
Luffy laughed. "Ace and Sabo are both captains, why can't there be two head chefs? But we're not staying, so it's all hippotical."
"Hypothetical, Lu," Sabo corrected.
"Yeah, that."
Thatch grinned and said, "We'll see. Whatever happens, it's nice to cook with someone who's as good as I am." Jojo pointed at her crew and said, "These idiots would burn down my kitchen. I don't trust any of them to help me cook, so I'm used to being by myself. Though I've never mass produced food. Lucky I only got 9 of them."
Thatch really was a good guy. It was hard to believe he was okay with abduction, though. But, he couldn't defy his captain. Sometimes the Spades argued with Ace and Sabo, but they were sure Whitebeard wouldn't accept any of his crew to disagree with him. He was a yonko, their orders were absolute.
Well, Shanks was a yonko and his first mate told him what to do and confiscated the booze once he got too drunk. Maybe it was different for everyone.
It was nice to have a break, distracted about the fact they were prisoners and getting further and further away from their injured ship. They were scared of what would be left, if anything. There seemed to be no plan to backtrack, and if they went back and their ship had been picked clean or torn apart, then Ace would light the Moby Dick on fire, pirates on it or not.