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 16: Back to Square One

"I'm back Oyaji." Whitebeard turned to face his son, the man just returning from the town on the island.

"Welcome back my son, what did you find out?" Whitebeard asks. He had sent Vista to the town on the island, wondering if they knew about the place that had locked up dozens of children. Surely they must have known, it wasn't all that far from town, and they claimed to have explored all of the forest.

"The citizens confessed to knowing of the place in the forest," Vista informed a scowl on his face. Whitebeard felt the same, frowning. Why would anyone willingly let a place like that reside on their island?

"Did they give a reason as to why they never mentioned it?" Whitebeard asks, Vista nodding.

"They said that they were told to keep it a secret by those who ran it. They were told that, if they told anyone about it, the people would take their children." Vista said, Whitebeards frown deepening as he hummed in thought. He understood the citizens' reasonings, but it still wasn't right, not when children were involved. Surely, if they had informed the proper people, they would come and get rid of the place before their children were taken.

"Anything else?" Whitebeard asked. Vista nodded, twisting his mustache.

"The citizens said they felt bad for allowing it to go on as long as it did and agreed to help bring the children back to their homes." Whitebeard nodded. At least the citizens were trying to help now, even if they hadn't when they truly should have.

"That'll help us out. Whiskey'll be out soon to give a report on all the children, I'll speak to her about it then. Thank you, my son." Whitebeard said, dismissing Vista who nodded, leaving to go help his division.

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

"So you're awake!" Whiskey said with a smile, glad that at least one of the brothers was awake. Sabo, though, was immediately on guard, tensed and ready to fight. Whiskey and the others noticed Marco and Thatch, getting ready to move and hold him down if he tried hurting the nurse while Izou instinctively moved his hand to his gun. Whiskey back away a bit, knowing better than to get in the kids face when he was ready to pounce.

"Where the hell am I?" Sabo asked harshly, glancing around the room and seeing all the children from the facility in beds around him. He noticed that he himself was in a bed and had to resist the urge to snuggle back into the comfy mattress and blankets.

Looking around some more he saw Ace laying in a bed beside his, unconscious, with tubes connected to his arms, realizing he had them as well. He also looked at the people staring at him, noticing the nurse, who didn't look like any nurses from the facility, and three others, all looking ready to fight him if need be. And then, slightly behind the nurse, was Luffy, a bright smile that he hadn't seen in months on his face.

"Wait, what-?!" Sabo didn't get much chance to question what his little brother was doing in... wherever they were before he was pounced on, the boy practically squeezing him to death. As happy as he was to see Luffy happy he was still thoroughly confused. Pulling the boy away from him lightly he scanned him for injuries.

"Now tell me, what the heck is happening?" Sabo asked Luffy gently, but a no-nonsense tone hidden in it.

"Well that's kind of hard to do when, you know, he can't talk and all..." Thatch said, confusion on his face. Did his brother not know that Seven was mute?

Sabo looked from Thatch and then spun to face Luffy, eyes wide with shock.

"What do you mean you can't talk, what happened?!" Sabo asked, this time actually shouting. Luffy frowned, tapping his leg quickly, Sabo noticing.

'Calm down.'

Sabo almost glared at his brother. Now was not a time for him to be calm. He didn't know where he was, who these people were, or how in the hell Luffy had become mute!

He was quickly turning into Ace.

Luffy did a series of more, inconspicuous taps that Sabo quickly read.

'Pretending can still talk.'

Sabo nearly burst out laughing from relief, his expression calming as he remembered the conversation Ace had had with Luffy about not talking to anyone. He hadn't expected Luffy to listen so well. Or take it so literally.

"Nice job, I didn't think you would listen to the hothead," Sabo said, ruffling Luffys hair. Luffy grinned at the praise, choosing to ignore the slight insult.

"Uh... what?" Thatch asked, he and the others moving into more relaxed positions once they noticed Sabo was calming down. The blonde frowned, remembering there was an audience, and looked at Luffy who looked slightly unsure about the group. Sabo didn't blame him, the girl beside his bed was obviously a nurse, and Luffy only knew that anything doctor related was bad.

"Maybe you can give us more information seeing as your little brother can't speak. I'm Whiskey, by the way, the head nurse of this ship." Whiskey introduced. Ah, that explained the wood and the slight rocking motion Sabo felt. He was on a ship. He didn't know what ship, good or bad, but it gave him more of a sense of where he was.

"Before I'm answering any of your questions I need some of mine answered first," Sabo said carefully, sitting up in the bed, Luffy laying beside him, not wanting to leave his brother now that he was awake.

He could feel the warm feeling radiating off of Sabo and smiled.

"Of course, yoi. I'm Marco, that's Thatch, and that's Izou." Marco introduced, pointing to each person in front of him. Sabo nodded, storing the names with their faces.

"Well then, Marco, I would like to know where I am and what happened," Sabo said. The last thing he remembered was the guards overwhelming him, someone sticking a needle in his arm, and then passing out, hearing Ace and Luffy fighting a few rooms away.

"You're on the Moby Dick, our pirate ship. We're the Whitebeard pirates. As for how you got here, yoi, that would be thanks to your brother there." Marco said, gesturing to Luffy who smiled sheepishly when Sabo looked at him. Refocusing Sabo realized what Marco had just said. They were on the Whitebeard pirates ship. Sabo had heard about them, even as a kid, and recognized Marco to be the first mate and first division commander.

"Yeah, Marco and I were just walking back to the ship when he came barreling out of the forest like a madman! Since he couldn't talk he just did a bunch of gestures and mouthed some words, but we eventually understood that he needed help." Thatch said, interrupting Marco from telling the story, which earned him a glare from the first commander.

"He led us to the place you were held at and took us to the cells where we got all the children out. You and your brother were unconscious so we brought you back here." Marco finished, Sabo absorbing all the information carefully. If Luffy had led them to the facility it meant he trusted them to some extent and they, so far, hadn't done anything to harm them, though Sabo knew that could change in an instant. The blonde sat, silent for a moment as he thought, glancing at Luffy and then Ace. So far, their best option was staying on these pirates good side until Ace was awake and then they could leave. They may be nice now, but they were pirates and after not having freedom for seven years Sabo wasn't going to let him, or his brothers, be trapped anywhere else.

At this point in time, though, Sabo decided to trust Luffy's instincts. If Luffy thought they were good then they probably wouldn't turn on them anytime soon and it would be too much of a hassle to keep it secret anyway.

'Good?'

Sabo discreetly made the sign to Luffy, having to reassure himself that Luffy truly did feel they were good. Luffy looked at them all once more for a moment before nodding to Sabo who sighed.

"Well, I guess its ok for you to talk then," Sabo said, confusing the pirates.

"What are you talking about?" Izou asked, watching Sabo. Suddenly, Luffy exhaled a breath of air, as if he'd been holding his breath, and turned to Sabo, a glare on his face.

"You guys are big meanies! We were all supposed to get out, not just me!" Luffy shouted angrily, Sabo already prepared for the outburst. It was funny to see the pirates reactions though.

"Y-You can talk?! You could talk the entire time?!" Thatch sputtered, Luffy's anger momentarily forgotten as he turned to look at the man, grinning.

"Mm! But they said not to, so I didn't!" Luffy said proudly, Sabo chuckling quietly at the answer.

"Have you told them anything?" Sabo asked, getting Luffy's attention back. The teen shook his head.

"I haven't said nothing, cause you guys said not to so I didn't, not even my name!" Luffy said proudly, the pirates still getting over their shock, though Marco hadn't looked all that shocked in the first place. He had only raised an eyebrow.

"Good job. What have they been calling you?" Sabo asked, curious.

"Seven," Luffy said nonchalantly as if it really were his name.

"Seven? Why?" Sabo asked, looking back to the others for an answer.

"His tattoo. I noticed all the kids had numbers on their wrists and when your brother didn't tell us his name I used the last number of his tattoo, 11097, or Seven." Whiskey explained. Sabo nodded, looking at his own tattoo.

"Well, in that case, I would be Five," Sabo said, holding his wrist up and showing his tattoo.

"Oh, and A-, uh... he would be Two!" Luffy said excitedly as if it were a game as he pointed to Ace, nearly giving away his name. Sabo nodded his agreement and Luffy grinned back. It was strange, Luffy had practically reverted back to his old self as if the last seven years hadn't happened.

That wasn't quite right though. As Sabo looked closer at Luffy he could see the boy shifting nonstop, fidgeting with his fingers, his eyes darting around the room when someone moved, which happened a lot because nurses were everywhere, checking on other children. Sabo could also see him scrunching up his nose, and it wasn't to tell him that someone smelled. Sabo could smell the chemical smell of an infirmary and the smell set his nerves on edge at the memories of the lab, but for Luffy, the smell was much worse for his heightened sense of smell.

They were both ready to bolt out of the room, but Sabo only hoped he was hiding his unease better then Luffy was.

"Why don't you want to tell us your names?" Izou asked, Sabo, giving the lady-man an indecipherable look.

"If you had just been in a place where your life was carelessly thrown around like a toy by people who called themselves human and then woke up in a new place with strangers who are pirates would you be ready to tell them all about yourself?" Sabo asked, his voice calm but a frown growing on his face with every word, Luffy looking at his hands, frowning as well. He could feel the anger and sadness in Sabo and didn't like it one bit. The only thing he ever wanted Ace and Sabo to feel were the happier emotions, like excitement or joy, or his favorites, the warm feeling, or love.

Izou and Thatch were openly gaping at Sabo while Marco was frowning, arms crossed at the words, wanting more than anything to find out what had happened in that place.

"Exactly," Sabo said, more to himself. He turned to look at Luffy, seeing the boys frown and realized his own negative emotions. Sometimes, if Ace or Sabo felt any negative emotions, they would rub off on Luffy and he'd feel them as if they were his own, whether he meant to or not. He took a deep breath, trying to feel calm again, sending pulses of love to Luffy, hoping to cheer the boy back up.

"So what happened to, uh, Two?" Sabo asked, looking at their older brother who was still unconscious. It was silent for a minute, no one answering him, until Whiskey cleared her throat, turning to look at her clipboard with Aces information on it.

"Well, he, along with you and Seven, have been injected with a wide variety of drugs, one of them causing him to fall into a coma. You were in one as well, but we used smelling salts to wake you up. We tried them on Two as well, but they had no effect." Whiskey informed, looking up from her papers.

"Speaking of, I need to check you over and make sure there were no side effects to that drug." Whiskey said, Sabo, fidgeting at the thought. He still definitely didn't trust these people, but Luffy smiled to him.

"I got a check-up too! She didn't hurt me like-" Luffy stopped himself, frowning as memories of the lab came to mind.

"Alright, let's get this over with. Hey, Seven, I bet I'll finish my check-up faster then you did." Sabo said the words without even thinking. He hadn't meant to so easily agree to the check-up, but when he saw Luffy's face he knew he had to distract him somehow. It worked, Luffys frown disappearing completely as Sabo sat up straighter, sitting on the edge of the bed so Whiskey could look him over, having taken off the tubes that were attached to his arm.

Thatch and Izou were sharing a glance, both having heard what Luffy was about to say and not liking where it was heading or the way he had stopped so abruptly. They couldn't ask about it though, not wanting to bring back the despairing look on the teen's face.

Marco was thinking much the same things, except he hid his observations, reminding himself to talk to Oyaji about it later.

Whiskey did her check-up on Sabo, asking his age which, after a moments thought, he gave after learning Luffy had given his.

"17, and for future reference, how old is Two?" Whiskey asked, pointing at Ace with her pencil.

"He's also 17, older than me by a few months," Sabo replied, seeing no harm in giving out that information. If anything they could underestimate them and when the time came, because it would, they could take the pirates by surprise with not only their fighting skills but their powers.

"That's all for now. Thatch, you should go prepare lunch for everyone, but keep it light, a broth or some sort of soup would be good to get their stomachs used to eating again." Whiskey said, looking up from her clipboard. Thatch looked torn, wanting to stay and talk to the three brothers, but also wanting to help by making food. With a sigh he nodded, waving his goodbyes and leaving the infirmary.

"I'll go as well, who knows what kind of trouble my divisions gotten into," Izou said, saying his goodbyes as well as he followed Thatch out, leaving Marco and Whiskey with the boys,

"So, you wanted to ask questions? I'm gonna warn you, they'll either be extremely vague or nothing at all until Two wakes up." Sabo said, readjusting to lay back down on the bed, Luffy snuggling into his side.

"I understand, yoi. Why don't we wait a few days for you three to heal up and we'll talk then?" Marco asks. There was nothing more he wanted than answers, Oyaji as well, but at this rate, they would only get more questions than answers. If he let the brothers take some time to get to know them, trust them more, then it would be an easier talk.

"That would be good, they need to rest right now, especially Seven, you've practically exhausted yourself!" Whiskey chided, the boy looking sheepish, curling into Sabo further.

"That's fine, by the way, Whiskey, Oyaji wants a report when you can, yoi," Marco said, the nurse nodding.

"I'll finish up a few things and head over. Thank you, commander." She said, the man nodding and leaving the room as well.

Now that the brothers weren't crowded anymore they felt a little more at ease, but not too much. There was still nurses covering every inch of the room and the smell of medicine put them both on edge to the point that they couldn't fully relax. This, coupled with the fact that they were in unfamiliar territory with who knew how many strangers onboard the same ship made for two very restless teens.

"How about you return to your bed Seven, so you can both get some rest before lunch?" Whiskey asked, gesturing to the empty bed beside Ace. Luffy hesitated, gripping Sabo's shirt tightly in his hands, the older frowning at the thought of separating, even if only by a few bed lengths.

"I think it would be best he stay here. We'll be fine this way." Sabo said though it was more of a statement than a suggestion. Whiskey, though she looked like she wanted to argue, merely nodded.

"If you need anything you can ask any of the nurses in here. I'm going to go take care of some things, but I'll be back before lunch if you two want to take a nap, which I recommend you do." She said with a pointed look. Sabo nodded in affirmation, though didn't plan on going to sleep anytime soon. Whiskey, taking the nod as an answer, said her goodbyes, leaving the two and exiting the room.

"None of the nurses have bad colors or feelings, but don't nurses and doctors hurt people?" Luffy mumbled softly, face buried in Sabo's side as he continued to grip the fabric tightly. Sabo frowned, not quite sure how to explain to the young teen that not all doctors were bad.

"We... ran into the bad kind of Doctors Lu," Sabo started, speaking softly so no one could overhear the two talking.

"Doctors and nurses are supposed to help people, but we ran into the bad kind that doesn't. Now we just have to stay on guard and make sure these people aren't bad too." Sabo continued, rubbing circles on his brothers back. They remained silent for another few minutes before Sabo spoke up this time.

"You should try and get some sleep, I'll wake you up for lunch," Sabo said, looking at Luffy's head, face still buried.

"Mm. 'M tired." Luffy mumbled out, trusting his brother would keep them safe while he took a little nap. Luffy moved, settling into a comfier position before dozing off, still holding onto Sabo. The blonde smiled at him, looking back up to the room.

The kids from the facility were all quiet, all watching the nurses nervously. A few were sleeping, looking healthy enough, and Sabo guessed they were a few of the ones who had just arrived at the facility the day before. Doing a quick count Sabo found that there were 32 children in all, including him and his brothers. He recognized a few of the children from testing or training and was happy they had been able to keep their promise to Emily, even if these weren't the same kids from back then.

An hour passed, or at least Sabo thought it was an hour, when the door opened, Whiskey walking back in. Sabo could also hear the sounds of a cart coming and was reminded of the food cart in the facility. Thatch walked in next, rolling a cart with a big pot of... something on it, bowls and spoons surrounding the pot. Sabo was about to wake Luffy, thinking this must be their food, but the boy was already waking up on his own, sniffing.

"Smells good!" Luffy mumbled, still tired, but awake from the smell of food. Sabo smiled, smelling the air as well. He couldn't smell as well as Luffy, no one could, but he caught the faint smell of what he presumed to be soup, his mouth watering at how good it smelled. Everyone's stomachs were growling, none of them having been fed since breakfast, which the brothers hadn't gotten, and even then it was the same horrible slop.

"Lunch time!" Thatch said cheerily, already ladling soup into bowls and handing them to nurses.

"We'll come around with bowls, everyone just stay in your beds." Whiskey said calmly, helping pass bowls out. Sabo and Luffy watched, their stomachs growling louder than anyone else's, as children got their food, digging in quickly and practically crying at the taste. When they were finally given a bowl from a nurse the two gave each other a look.

"Might as well, no one else has fallen over," Sabo said, looking at the others who weren't dropping dead from poison. He wasn't worried about Luffy, after literally dying from who knew how many poisons at once he had developed a high resistance to poison, his body able to fight off most.

Sabo took a spoonful, taking a small sip.

It was amazing.

It was better than anything he'd ever had before and he barely remembered to use the manners he'd grown up using as he ate faster than he ever had before. Encouraged by the reaction Luffy began eating as well, though didn't have any restrictions when it came to eating messily. Instead of using a spoon Luffy tipped the bowl back, drinking the entire thing in one go.

"That was delicious! Sa- Five! Its way better than anything we've ever had!" Luffy praised, eyes wide and smiling happily. Sabo smiled back, agreeing with his brother.

"It is. Two's going to be pretty jealous when he wakes up." Sabo said, looking at Ace who was still unconscious. Luffy went quiet for a moment, also looking at Ace, before speaking up.

"Do you think he can hear us talking?" Luffy asked, staring at his brothers' wave. He always thought that Sabo and Aces waves were such a pretty shade of color and wished his brothers could see them too.

"Some say that people in a coma can hear you. They even say that if you talk to them it might help them wake up." Sabo turned at the voice, Whiskey, and Thatch standing beside Sabo's bed.

"Really?!" Luffy asked, turning hopeful looks at the two.

"Mhm. I'm sure he would love to have some company." Whiskey said with a smile. Luffy brightened even more, if possible after how big his smile was after the meal, and jumped off Sabo's bed, rushing over to Aces and taking his brother's hand.

"Ne, A- Two! I know Twos not your name, but we can't tell the others our name so were using numbers! I'm Seven, but One would be cooler! Or maybe Ten! I don't know... Oh! We just had some really good food though, way better than what they had back at the facility! Did you know that we're out of there now? Were with some pirates, but they're good ones so you don't have to worry! Or, at least I think they're good... Ne, Big hair, are you guys good pirates?" The three listened as Luffy rambled to Ace, Sabo laughing at Luffys nickname and Thatch sputtering, Whiskey smiling.

"B-Big hair?! My names Thatch!" Thatch said, placing a hand on his hair and pouting.

"Oh, ok, big hair says his name is Hatch, but he didn't answer my question. These people are weird... there was even this one guy who barely had any hair at all, and another who was reeeeeaaaalllllyyy big, and another one who looks like a girl, but they're a man!" Luffy said, attention back on Ace in an instant.

"And you should wake up soon, 'cause we're all out of the facility now, even the other kids! So that means we kept our promises! And I didn't cry once so I kept my promise too!" Luffy said proudly. The three continued to watch Luffy talk to Ace, smiling, until Whiskey thought of something, turning to Sabo.

"The townspeople on this island promised to help return kids to their homes. The longest anyone, besides you three, need to heal is a few days while your brother there needs a week or two. The plan so far is to have all the children head home, but we can't stay docked at one island too long, especially one not under our control. Marines would send ships to investigate, so to avoid the unnecessary fighting we were planning on allowing you three to stay with us while we sail until Two is completely healed and we can return you to your home island." Whiskey explained. Sabo frowned, his worry and fear beginning to raise its ugly head.

He and Luffy had been playing nice to these people, cooperating and answering their questions the best they could, but now they would be staying with them for weeks?! Every instinct in Sabo's body screamed to get him and his brothers out, now, but he didn't know how to do that. Sure, he and Luffy might be able to take on a few of these pirates, but what happened when they did? Where would they run? They could run onto the island, but that was where the facility was. What if the doctors got away and were looking for them? Sabo didn't even know where in the world they were, East Blue, West Blue, South Blue, North Blue, or even the Grand Line?

Sabo couldn't even come up with a reply to Whiskey, instead, he stared blankly at the blanket covering his legs, face neutral, yet mind in complete chaos. Luffy must have noticed his emotions because the boy paused in his ramblings to Ace to turn towards him, glancing at Thatch and Whiskey. He didn't know what was happening, but Sabo was beginning to experience the bad emotions, so Luffy crawled into the bed with him, trying to ease the feelings the best he could.

Sabo smiled to Luffy, happy to be near the younger, before turning back to the other two. He still didn't know what he was going to say to them, but he had had to say something. He had been silent for too long, and no matter how much thinking he did it wouldn't progress the conversation anymore to be quiet.

"We thank you for your concern as well as for giving us the means to heal," Sabo said finally, his voice almost too calm, a forced smile on his face that he hoped was convincing enough for the pirates in front of him to accept. It seemed to work because they both smiled back, thinking nothing of his lapse of silence.

"Its no problem Five, just trying to help!" Thatch said happily. Sabo held back a sigh of relief, Luffy calming down when his brothers' emotions calmed as well.

"Onto more interesting news, I've looked over some blood that I drew from Two and found what drug was forcing him into a coma. I don't know all the side effects it'll have until he wakes up. From there it's a matter of getting the rest of the drugs out of all of your systems and helping fix the malnutrition." As the nurse explained this Sabo pulled Luffy closer, both looking at Ace.

As soon as he was up they could work on getting out of here.

Sabos awake! The pirates have no idea what to make of the facility and the brothers aren't telling them anything about it either, so they're left to make their own assumptions on what happened.

Not a whole lot happened in this chapter, but we're still in the transition period. I think after this chapter things will be a little more exciting!

Also, thank you all for the well wishes while I was sick, they really helped and made me happy despite the fact that I felt like my head was going to explode. I'm better now and can't wait to continue writing more chapters for this story. I'm honestly having a blast writing this and I'm so excited for all of you to see what I have planned for it in the future!

As always, thank you for all the views, reviews, favorites, and follows, without you guys, I don't think I would continue to have the motivation to write this story, or any story really. I hope you all continue to like what I put out!