Warnings: Dark themes, lots of mentions of death, strong language, human experimentation, experimenting on children, child abduction, graphic descriptions of experimenting, lots of needles, lots of violence, poor descriptions of panic attacks, descriptions of blood, rated M for safety.

*If I need to add anymore warnings please tell me in the reviews or a PM and I'll be sure to add it!*

Chapter 9: Desperate Days

Ages:

Ace, Sabo-13

Luffy-10

Ace and Sabo were officially teenagers now. The three brothers had been trapped in the facility for three years now. Escape was practically within their reach, yet it was so far away at the same time. Nothing changed in the year that they spent in their cell. The most exciting thing that happened was that one of the test subjects from a few months back had tried rebelling against the doctors and even managed to give Haru a good punch. The doctor had a bruise on his face for weeks. Other than that, things were boring.

Lately, though, the doctors seemed to be extra happy about something. What? The brothers had no clue. The doctors wouldn't talk about what it was near Sabo so he couldn't listen in, and there weren't any changes in the tests they did or who they had to spar against.

Today, the doctors were extra excited.

Sabo barely had time to warn his brothers that someone was coming when the sound of high heels moved quickly, almost at a run, down the hall. A female doctor appeared in front of their cell, a wide grin on her face.

"Subject 11062, its time for testing." She announced the words in a rush, unlocking the cell quickly and handcuffing Ace, practically dragging him out of the cell and down the hall. Ace was barely able to give his brothers a confused glance before they were in the lab and he was strapped to a chair. No one even bothered looking at Ace for a few minutes as they grouped up, bright smiles on all their faces which unnerved Ace. He didn't know what was happening, but he had a feeling he might not like it.

After a few moments passed the door opened and Haru walked in with an equally happy grin as the others. He was holding a small black box in his hand and was walking briskly into the room, one of the nurses closing the door behind him.

"Welcome 11062! It's time for your true testing to begin!" Haru announced happily, confusing Ace. True testing? What was all the stuff before now if it wasn't 'true testing'? To answer his question Haru opened the box, unveiling a strange... fruit? It had swirls all over it and was orange, resembling fire almost. Ace wanted to question what was happening but never had the chance as Haru took a chunk out of the fruit and shoved it into Ace's mouth. Chewing Ace grimaced at the horrible taste, like wet ashes left in the grey terminal for five years. After he swallowed he looked at the doctors expectantly, waiting for something to happen.

It was almost anticlimactic.

Everyone just stared at him and he waited, thinking he might feel differently. Was this a weird test? Were they waiting for him to fall over and die? Was it poison?

Ace didn't even have time to react when the bang went off.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Everyone's heads swiveled to the lab where a loud bang came from. Sabo and Luffy sat up in surprise, their eyes wide.

"Sabo?" Luffy asked softly. Sabo had a feeling he knew what that sound was, and he did not like the thoughts that came with them.

"Its fine Luffy, that was probably nothing." Sabo didn't know if he was trying to convince Luffy or himself.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The pain in his shoulder clouded everything else. He couldn't even think due to shock and his eyes were wide, skin a shade paler.

He was just shot.

Haru stared at him with a wicked grin, and Ace was sure he was speaking because his lips were moving, but he couldn't hear anything except for a ringing in his ears. He wasn't dead yet, but the gun was still in Harus hand and from the looks of it he was getting ready to aim at his opposite arm now. Just as the ringing started to die down another shot went off, and this time the pain was worse, more noticeable. Ace looked at the wound, watching the blood that quickly began cascading down his arm and onto the chair he was strapped in. He didn't know if that weird groan came from him or if he imagined it.

Looking back at Haru only made the shock return. He was raising the gun for the third time, but this time, instead of aiming for his arms, or even legs, he was aiming right for his chest.

He was about to die.

Ace couldn't die, he had to protect Luffy and Sabo form these crazy bastards, not to mention get them out! But as he watched Haru's finger slowly pull the trigger he couldn't help but feel a strange sense of calm and happiness. He was going to die. The spawn of the devil would finally be gone and he wouldn't ruin anyone else's life anymore just from his existence. Ace was almost hoping that the gun would go off and kill him, and when the loud bang went off again he closed his eyes in preparation.

But he didn't feel pain.

He waited, thinking it would take a minute from shock, but when he felt nothing but a weird tingling he looked to see no wound, no blood, but instead, fire. There was a hole but it was slowly closing, the inside made of fire that was tangling itself together. Ace stared in wonder as the ringing in his ears dimmed again, cluing him in on the doctors talking.

"It took longer for the logia to take effect." Ace was confused, and even a slight bit disappointed. Wasn't he just shot? How was he alive? And how had his chest been on fire? Ace was still in too much shock to think clearly. He was numb to the world, almost angry that he hadn't died then. What had happened though? Was it a devil fruit? Whatever Haru fed him did taste awful like Luffy had said when talking about his, but what was it? Fire? Was he a fire man now? He had to admit, that was kind of cool, but Ace didn't know how he felt about being forced to eat a devil fruit. That meant he couldn't swim right? Couldn't save Luffy? Man, Sabo is going to be pissed when he finds out he has to save Luffy on his own.

The doctors continued to perform a few more tests on him before they seemed satisfied, patching up his arms and sending him back to his cell. Instead of the normal shackles though, they put seastone ones on him, making it hard for Ace to walk straight. After what seemed to be hours they reached the cell and Ace was tossed in, the doctor rushing off after locking the door.

"Ace!" Sabo and Luffy both shouted his name, happy he was back. They both ran over to him, Luffy hugging him tightly, much to his discomfort. Ace groaned.

"Not so tight, arms hurt..." Ace mumbled, hiding the wince. Luffy immediately let's go and Ace could see he was fighting back tears. Ever since they had made their promises Luffy hadn't cried once, though he'd gotten very close to it many times before.

"I'm fine, calm down, my arms are killing me though!" Ace groaned, even talking taking a lot of energy.

"B-But-!" Ace glared at Luffy.

"You didn't think I was dead did you?" ace asked harshly, Luffy looking down.

"But there were loud noises, and Sabo said you would be fine, but I was scared and-"

"Well I'm not dead, so its fine. Besides, I couldn't leave a weak little brother like you alone with Sabo." Ace said, trying for indifference, but feeling slightly... happy?

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!" Sabo asked, angry. Ace scoffed.

"You two are younger than me, so I gotta be alive to watch over you two, that's all." Ace said, trying to stand but wobbling dangerously and falling back to the floor.

"Woah! Careful Ace! Who's watching over who now?" Sabo asked smugly, helping Ace stand. Ace glared at him, shaking his wrists where the shackles jangled together.

"It's these stupid cuffs! They're makin' me all weak!" Ace growled in annoyance. Sabo eyed the cuffs curiously.

"What are they?" Sabo asked, knocking slightly against one as he helped move Ace to sit against a wall, Luffy following.

"Seastone, I think." Ace mumbled out.

"Seastone? But... that only affects devil fruit users, right?" Sabo asked, remembering when Luffy had seastone in his system. Ace scowled.

"Yeah, it does." Ace replied curtly. Sabo's eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

"But then... that means..." A slow realization came over Sabo's face, but Luffy remained completely clueless, waiting for someone to explain.

"That's why they were so excited!" Sabo said. Ace nodded, glaring at his cuffs.

"What?" Luffy asked after realizing no one was going to tell him. Sabo didn't even look at Luffy, eyes still focused on Ace.

"You've got a devil fruit!" Sabo practically shouted. Aces scowl deepened.

"Yeah, and it tasted like shit too!" Ace growled out. Luffy, finally putting the pieces together, grinned.

"That's so cool! What can you do?!" Luffy asked, Sabo wondering as well. Ace shrugged.

"Dunno. They didn't exactly give me a rundown of my powers." Ace said, Sabo raising an eyebrow at the comment.

"Then... what did they do?" He asked. The oldest brother looked away.

"... Tests..." Ace said after a minute. Sabo wasn't accepting that as an answer though.

"Like?" the blonde questioned slowly. Ace frowned.

"Well... they shot me..." Ace said, almost too quiet for Sabo to hear, but he did, Luffy as well.

"WHAT?!" Sabo and Luffy's shouts were simultaneous, both with wide eyes and jaws dropped.

"Its no big deal! I'm fine, right?" Ace asked. Sabo sputtered.

"N-Not a big-?! They SHOT you! It's a very big deal Ace!" Sabo shouted, and Luffy looked on the verge of tears again.

"But I'm fine! Luffy, don't you dare start crying!" Ace shouted, suddenly angry. Sabo glared at the eldest, resisting the urge to punch him.

"Ace, you may not care that you almost died but Luffy and I most certainly do!" The more he talked the louder the blonde got, making Ace wince.

"Why do you care so much anyway?! I shouldn't even be born to begin with!" Ace shouted back in a snarl. Sabo's eyes widened for a second before turning into a harsh glare.

"Oh no. Not this again. We care because we're your brothers Ace! We're your family! Of course, we would care if you died!" Sabo shouted. Luffys lip was trembling, but no tears fell.

"Ace... I don't want you to die either..." Luffy said pain in his voice that broke the brothers' hearts.

"I don't want you to die because if you died then it would be lonely without you, and Sabo and I would be sad, and I wouldn't have you teaching me to aim better, and I wouldn't be able to beat you up, and-"

"I get it Lu." Ace said, cutting Luffy off from his rambling. Everyone went silent, all of them trying to calm down.

"Ace... Promise you'll never die, never ever." Luffy requested softly. Both brothers stayed silent, Sabo's eyes softening.

"Idiot, of course I won't die, like I said, someone needs to protect a weakling of a brother like you." Ace said determinedly. Sabo smiled, shaking his head. No one really knew what to say after that, so they didn't say anything at all. It was almost time for dinner so it wasn't a surprise when the doors opened at the end of the hall and the food cart began rolling their way, Sabo telling the others through signs.

"So, we never did find out. What's your power?" Sabo asked as they ate their food. Ace shrugged.

"I dunno. Like I said, they didn't give me a rundown, but when they shot me the last time it didn't hurt me. I saw where there was supposed to be blood and stuff but it was just a hole. I think I'm made of fire now." Ace said, shocking his brothers.

"Fire, huh?" Sabo asked, thinking. Luffy grinned.

"That's so cool! Can you make fire?! Oh, can you eat fire?! Can you shoot fire?! Can you-"

"We don't know Luffy, remember, he didn't get to try it out," Sabo said before Ace could get annoyed with all the questions. Luffy pouted for a second but quickly got over it, smiling again and nodding in understanding.

"I think I remember reading about a fire fruit though. If your body turned into fire instead of staying solid that might mean you're a logia." Sabo said, finger on chin as he thought. Ace nodded in confirmation.

"The doctors said something like that, logia." Ace said, trying to remember exactly what they'd said, but everything had happened so fast he couldn't quite remember. Sabo nodded.

"Well, it could be the Mera-Mera no mi. It's a logia and, basically, you're a fire man, like Luffy's a rubber man." Sabo explained, thinking back to the book on devil fruits he had read after finding out Luffy was a rubber man. Ace grinned, obviously liking the idea.

"Way cooler than some dumb rubber power." Sabo frowned, but continued talking, cutting off Luffy who was about to begin arguing.

"It means you can control fire now, create it, and even become it, like when they... shot you. You became fire. If someone tried cutting you I'm pretty sure you'd just become fire too." Sabo explained.

Ace nodded, trying to take in all the information.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Begin the next test."

Even though Ace now had devil fruit powers the testing had continued like normal, random doctors doing random injections, or sometimes cuts. Ace was permanently cuffed with seastone unless they were in the training room, and even then they were extremely cautious when getting him out, making sure to spray some weird mist that Sabo deduced must be seastone, weakening him and Luffy enough that they could come in and cuff him. They didn't believe Luffy was enough of a threat to keep him cuffed with the seastone.

At the moment Ace was strapped to a table, staring at the ceiling as the doctors poked and prodded at the bullet wounds in his shoulder and arm.

"It's amazing! Even with seastone, his healing has been sped up, even if just slightly! I bet if he didn't have the seastone on it would practically be miraculous!" The excited chatter in his ear only annoyed Ace.

"Maybe we can try tests to speed it up, with or without seastone!"

"You mean like subject 11028?"

"Yes, but let's try keeping this one alive. 11028 healed too fast and regenerated cells too quickly, ending in his termination."

"You're right, we need to make sure he heals fast, but not too fast."

"I'll get the needles!"

Ace groaned at the mention of the dreaded needles. One of the doctors rushed off while Ace stared at the ceiling. It would be kind of cool to heal even faster than he normally does, but he didn't really want to pay the price for it. His doctors moved away from his table, waiting for needles, giving Ace a chance to check on his brothers.

Luffy was still strapped to a chair, Haru hovering around him and making him do different tests. The youngest of the three did as he was told with a cold despondent look that made Ace shiver.

Prying his eyes away from Luffy he turned to look at Sabo who was strapped to a table beside him, doctors around him injecting different serums into his arms. He could barely even see the hint of blonde from his hair with the number of doctors swarmed around him like bees to flowers.

"Test #981189260 has been successfully injected."

"Test #420375631 injected and successful."

"Test #897423876 has been injected as well!"

With his own doctors away Ace could hear the doctors working on Sabo much clearer than before.

"Temperature spiking."

"Symptoms include shakes, chills, and unconsciousness."

"Hook him up, he's failing."

Ace didn't know what they were talking about, but there was an urgency in the doctors' tones that unsettled Ace. All the other doctors in the room turned to Sabo's table, including Haru. Ace started to realize this might be bad.

"Fading fast-"

"Vitals dropping-"

"BP falling-"

The words buzzed around Ace as he tried to get a better view of his brother, but there were too many people surrounding him.

"-Send the others out-"

"-Had 'im 3 years now-"

"-Dying-"

The last word caught Aces attention, the gravity of the situation hitting him full force as some doctors moved, unstrapping other test subjects, himself and Luffy included.

"Hey, wait! Sabo! What did you bastards do to Sabo?!" Ace shouted, trying to fight against the doctor holding him, not able to do much due to the seastone. Luffy was beside him, being pulled out, watching Ace with fear in his eyes.

"-Heart rate slowing-"

"Let me go you damn bastard!" Ace growled out, trying to fight his way into the lab, but the door was shut in his face.

What he wouldn't give to have Sabos good hearing, to know what those doctors were talking about. Sabo was the smart one, he'd know what all that stuff meant, but Ace was smart enough to know it wasn't good stuff, that Sabo wasn't doing so hot in there.

Ace and Luffy were dragged back to their cell, Ace stumbling to the bars to try and see what was happening, but it was no use. Doctors who were escorting other subjects to their cells were quickly rushing back into the lab without a second glance their way.

"A-Ace? What's happening?" Luffy asked. The youngest didn't know anything about what the doctors were saying, not sure what a BP was or vitals, but the way they were talking gave Luffy enough of an idea to be worried for his blonde brother. Ace turned to him but wasn't sure what to say.

"It's fine. Nothings wrong." Ace grit out, very obviously lying. Even Luffy knew as much, but he forced himself to believe Ace, huddling next to his brother, close to the bars.

It seemed like hours passed, and maybe it had been, but the brothers never left the bars, waiting, hoping, praying to a God they didn't know if they believed in or not, that Sabo would come out ok. Dinner came and the two picked at the soup, not in the mood to eat. Eventually, the two got too tired, huddling together for both the comfort and the warmth.

"Ace?"

"Hm."

"Yer really warm..." Luffy mumbled, snuggling into Ace.

"Like a fire..." Luffy muttered, causing Ace to smile.

"I'm made of fire Luffy, that's why." Ace said, noticing that, since he'd gotten his fruit he'd been a pleasantly warm, a harsh contrast to the cold he remembered the cell being.

"It's nice... I don't like the cold..." Luffy said, burying further into Ace. Ace wrapped an arm around Luffy, not bothering to reply since he heard snores.

If all Ace could do was warm his brother up, he would do it.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Oi, breakfast." The harsh voice came from outside their cell, rousing the two. Ace was groggy but watched as the man practically dropped their soup into their cell before stalking off.

What was happening? Normally Sabo woke them up before breakfast came, but as he scanned the cell there was no blonde brother with them. Confused Ace looked at Luffy who was rubbing the sleep from his eyes, expression equally confused.

"Wha-? Where's Sabo?" Luffy asked, groggy. Aces eyebrows knitted, not quite sure himself until the memories of the previous day came back and his blood ran cold.

"Sabo!" Ace practically shouted, gripping the bars and looking down the hall. He knew what the doctors were saying was bad, but why wasn't Sabo back yet? Shouldn't they have fixed him? Maybe they were making sure he was really ok before sending him back to the cell? Ace tried reasoning, not even daring to think of the grim alternative.

Because Sabo couldn't be... dead... right?

Ace shook the thought out immediately, not even daring to think about it more. Luffy still didn't seem to remember, and Ace was going to keep it that way as long as he could. Sabo was normally the one who took care of Luffy, he was better at being nice and always knew how to react to Luffy's different moods. He was the patient brother, Ace was the temperamental brother, Sabo was nice, Ace was easily annoyed, and when annoyed he got mad, and when mad he got mean. Sabo knew how to control his emotions.

Ace did not.

So when Luffy slowly got the same look he got in the labs, the same despondent look, Ace began to freak out, not sure what to do.

"H-Hey Lu, why don't we... play a game?" Ace asked, unsure of really what to do in this situation. He wasn't good with emotions, and it took all of his efforts not to yell at Luffy.

"A game?" Luffy asked softly, looking over at Ace. Ace nodded.

"Yeah! We could play tic-tac-toe, or maybe even dots and boxes?" Ace suggested. Luffy seemed hesitant.

"B-but..." Luffy stopped talking and it took everything within Ace to not shout at him, not tell him to spit it out. He had to be nicer because Sabo was gone, and they had agreed to keep Luffy happy as much as they could.

"What is it Lu?" Ace asked, trying to keep the annoyance from his tone. Luffy hesitated again, glancing from him to the ground.

"W-what... what about... Sabo?" Luffy asked, voice getting softer with each word. Ace's lips thinned, but he shook his head, taking a deep breath.

"I'm sure he's fine, the doctors are probably making sure he's really ok before sending him back here." Ace said, moving to grab some chalk.

"So, wanna play?"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Time passed slowly.

Too slowly.

The brothers played tic-tac-toe for a bit, and it seemed to distract Luffy a little, but Ace only grew more anxious with each passing minute. They hadn't seen a single doctor besides the one who gave them food, and no one had come to take anyone to the lab for tests or training. It was unsettling, but Ace tried not to think about it.

Eventually, the brothers got tired of tic-tac-toe and moved onto dots and boxes, and then hangman. After some time the two ran out of games to play, and Ace began to panic. Sabo still wasn't back, and Luffy would only be in a good mood until he remembered that fact.

"Why don't we practice our words? I bet I could write more than you!" Ace challenged suddenly. Luffy blinked, registering the words, and grinning, nodding.

"Yeah! But I'm gonna win!" Ace sighed in relief, the two haphazardly scribbling words down.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Lunch came and passed.

No Sabo.

Ace didn't know when it would be an appropriate time to start freaking out and trying to bust the bars to get to Sabo. His wrists hurt from all the writing he was doing, the tough stone rubbing against his skin, but he kept at it, refusing to let Luffy worry.

Then dinner came, and Ace could barely hold the chalk in his hand.

"Let's take a break Lu, eat some food." Ace said, his mood getting progressively worse when Sabo still wasn't showing up.

Until the doctors said something, he would cling to the hope that Sabo was alive. Even if they told him... told him he was... dead... Ace wouldn't believe them.

"Ace?" The eldest looked over at Luffy who was pushing his soup around, staring at it intensely.

"Yeah?" Luffy frowned, gripping the spoon tighter.

"Thank you... for being nice... and for distracting me... and writing even though you were hurt, and keeping me warm, and happy, and," Luffy continued to ramble, shocking Ace. Sometimes Luffy was too damn perceptive.

"Shut up Lu, geez." Ace said with a faint blush, frowning. Luffy promptly stopped talking, not even looking at him. Ace sighed.

"Sorry... it's gonna be fine Luffy. Besides, who said I was doing any of that stuff?! Last I checked I wasn't in any pain, and I was only bored!" Ace said, trying to play off his actions. Luffy stayed silent but eventually looked up at him, smiling.

"Normal testing resumes tomorrow!"

Harus voice threw them off guard, the two abandoning their food and clinging to the bars, looking eagerly down the hall. Ace looked, seeing the bastard doctor walking towards them, and his eyes widened, a smile growing as relief filled him.

Sabo was ok.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"You were dead?!" Ace nearly shouted in shock, feeling like someone punched him in the gut. Sabo frowned, shushing him.

"Quiet! You'll wake Luffy!" Sabo said. The three were laying down, Luffy already fast asleep on Aces chest, Sabo laying beside him as he told him what happened.

"What do you mean you died?! You're definitely not dead... right?!" Ace asked, ignoring the shushing. Sabo sighed, giving up, and nodding.

"I'm not dead Ace, but I did die. Whatever combination of drugs they gave me ended up slowing my heart down and I was clinically dead for three minutes. That was yesterday though. They kept me there while they made sure the drugs left my system ok and took notes on what was happening. They deemed me, 'not likely to die on my own' so they sent me back here." Sabo explained while Ace seethed.

"I can't wait to beat 'em up!" Ace growled. Sabo shook his head, settling his head on Aces chest.

"You know, you're like a heater now," Sabo said, completely changing the subject. Ace sputtered, not expecting the sudden change of topic.

"Yeah, well Luffy said that too. I am fire now after all." Ace mumbled, glad it was dark so his brother didn't see his flushed cheeks. Sabo smiled.

"You did a good job distracting him," Sabo said. Ace raised an eyebrow.

"What're you talkin' 'bout?" Ace asked. There was no way Sabo could know about what they had been doing all day. Sabo laughed, tapping his ear.

"I could hear you-you idiot. I've been awake all day."

Ace was extremely glad it was dark.

"Well... you know! You weren't here so someone had to keep him happy!" Ace said defensively. Sabo continued laughing.

"I know that stupid, it was a compliment. You did a good job. You should be the nice brother more often, it would put Lu more at ease." Sabo said. Ace merely grumbled.

"Sabo?" Luffy's voice shocked the older brothers, all moving to look at the youngest who was staring at their cell bars.

"Yeah Lu?" Sabo asked, unsure how much Luffy had heard. Now that he thought about it, Luffy hadn't been snoring for a while now.

"I'm glad you're back... even if you did die... you would never leave us... Ace wouldn't either," Luffy said quietly, settling back down and closing his eyes. Ace and Sabo gaped at each other, shrugging and settling down as well. There was no point in replying to the comment, especially when the snores were back.

"Maybe he'll forget in the morning." Ace said, closing his own eyes. Sabo scoffed.

"This is Lu, he doesn't forget things like this. He's weird like that." Sabo said, closing his eyes as well.

"You got that right." Sabo smiled at Aces grumble.

"... Ne... Sabo?" Sabo almost sighed. He just wanted to sleep.

"Yeah?" When Ace didn't reply he was ready to just fall asleep, thinking Ace must have passed out before he could answer. Just as he closed his eyes again he heard Ace speak.

"I'm glad you didn't die."

Sooo, what did you guys think?

Heh-heh...heh...heh...

Yeah, I may or may not have killed Sabo... but it was only for three minutes! Don't worry, our favorite brothers aren't separating that easily! As I mentioned, I'm attempting to add canon events into a non-canon world, and one of those events was Sabo's death and (Spoiler if you haven't seen all of the Dressrosa Arc) Sabo's revival.

But let's just put that all behind us and focus on something else, shall we? Namely, Ace getting his fruit. Obviously, he got it much sooner than in canon for a few reasons, but that's alright I think. I feel like its canon, or at least I've got a headcanon, that when someone eats their devil fruit, the effects aren't immediate.

Did I imagine it or did Luffy still feel pain for a short bit after eating his devil fruit? Either way, that was the inspiration behind the fact that, after eating the Mera-Mera no mi, Aces body still took a minute before it became fire after being shot.

Now that the notes about the story are out of the way, I'll address something I'm sure you're all confused about. Yes, its Monday and not Wednesday. The reason for that is that I'll be out of town next week for a camping trip, meaning no Wifi. To remedy this, I'm uploading today and on Friday so that you guys still get the two chapters you're owed. You're all just going to have to wait a long, boring week without any chapter after that. After that, everything will be back to normal, so don't worry. With that said, I hope to see you all Friday when I upload the next chapter! If you thought this one was bad, the next chapters gonna be worse!

See you on Friday!