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 18: Stress Filled Family Reunions

Luffy and Sabo were running as fast as they possibly could, Doctors orders be damned, hoping they could reach their brother before things got too out of control. Sabo could hear the nurses talking about how Aces heart rate was rising, how he was gaining consciousness, and so he and Luffy had bolted from their spot on the deck, ignoring anyone and everything.

Faintly, Sabo realized that they were being followed, but he didn't care, as long as they got to Ace before things got too bad. Luffy was still gripping his hand, tapping it with his fingers.

'Gear second?' Luffy asked. Sabo shook his head. Even though he wanted to get to Ace faster he didn't want the pirates to know about Luffy's abilities.

'Being followed, don't give anything away.' Luffy nodded at Sabo's response, the two rushing down the hallway, remembering exactly which door was the infirmary. When they reached the door they knew to be the one they practically rammed it down without any concern for the repercussions.

When they were inside they were finally able to see what was happening. Ace was awake, that was for sure. He had his back to the wall, nurses standing in front of him with what Sabo was sure was needles, making his, and Luffys, skin crawl. Their eldest brother was scowling at everyone, a snarl making its way onto his lips, his fists clenched at his side as he scanned over everyone in front of him.

Behind Sabo and Luffy the other three pirates ran in, quickly taking in the scene as well.

"You need to calm down, no one here is going to hurt you." Whiskey tried to tell Ace, voice calm but the needle in her hand setting the oldest off again as he flinched away from her.

"Oh, Two's awake." Thatch said, slight surprise in his voice. Sabo ignored him, gripping Luffy's hand tighter as the two tried making their way to the front.

"Do you think that's such a good idea?" Izo asked, reaching to pull them back, but Sabo swayed just out of his reach, having expected the grab due to his haki.

"He's our brother, of course it's a good idea. Pointing needles at him and telling him to calm down isn't going to help any more than throwing fire on fire." Sabo growled out, glaring at the pirates as he none to gently shoved his way the front.

When they reached the front Luffy examined his brother closer, noticing there was a weird feeling coming from Ace. Whiskey noticed the two in the midst of her trying to calm their brother down and hesitated.

"I don't think you two should be here, he could be delusional." Whiskey said softly, not sure what the drug could have done to the man.

"All the more reason to be here, we know our brother better then you do after all," Sabo said, and he was right. The nurses and pirates knew nothing about Ace and his abilities. Sabo was fully aware that the drug could have done a number of things to Ace and his brain, and he was prepared for him to be less than alright, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to help his brother, especially when they were surrounded by nurses with needles that made his skin prickle with unease.

"Where am I?! And who are you bastards?!" Ace asked in a very Ace like manner, causing Sabo to sigh and look at Luffy. The youngest was staring intently at Ace, eyes narrowed and focused, a slight look of confusion on his face.

"What is it Seven?" Sabo asked quietly, Whiskeys attention turning to them both. Luffy tilted his head, Marco, Thatch, and Izo making their way to the front of the crowd with them and watching Luffy as well.

"His colors weird... its... like a weird yellowy green..." Luffy mumbled, calm enough to drop his wall to see Aces aura, noticing that the normal blue was replaced with the odd color. He'd never seen someone's soul look that color and he didn't know what it meant. Sabo frowned at the words as well, glancing back at Ace.

"His color? What do you mean? His skin? It looks pretty normal to me." Thatch said, thoroughly confused along with everyone else. Sabo chose to ignore the man, taking a step towards Ace who immediately turned his attention on him and Luffy.

"He's confused, he doesn't know what's happening." Luffy murmured to Sabo. Sabo had told him a while ago that when Ace woke up he might not be the same for a little while because of the drug the doctors gave him, so Luffy had time to prepare for this, but seeing his brother look at him like he was a stranger still hurt.

"Who're you two?! Where am I?!" Ace asked, and Sabo suddenly had a realization.

'He doesn't remember anything, not even us.' Sabo signed to Luffy. Their brother was amnesic.

"Your name is Ace, and we're on a ship, the Moby Dick," Sabo said gently. To hell with hiding things from the pirates, he was sure he'd regret it later, but right at this moment, he needed his brother to calm down before he accidentally used fire powers he didn't know he had.

"How did I get here, and who are all you people?!" Ace asked, ready for a fight to break out any second. Sabo took a step closer, Luffy as well, and raised his free hand in a calming gesture.

"I'm Sabo, and this is my brother Luffy. Your our brother Ace and we were taken to this ship so that we could get better. We were really sick." Sabo said gently, leaving out major details, but that didn't matter right now. All eyes were on them as Ace continued to glare at him and Luffy.

"Brothers? I don't have any brothers!" Ace shouted, Luffy wincing slightly at the words and Sabo frowning but clearing his face quickly.

"B-But you do, cause me and Sabo are your brothers, and we love you, and you love us, and..." Luffy trailed off, remembering the feeling of love Ace always sent him, the warmth that always calmed him down after a day of testing or training. He imagined sending that emotion to Ace, imagined that, if Ace felt that emotion, he would remember his brothers and what happened.

"What do you last remember?" Sabo asked, trying to keep Luffy from breaking down into tears. Ace was still glaring, though it let up a bit as he thought.

"I-I don't know... I don't remember anything except..." Ace frowned, glare gone completely.

"Except...?" Sabo said slowly, trying to get Ace to keep talking.

"Except wanting to be free, to get out..." Ace mumbled, Sabo frowning at the words.

"We're free now, though! Were out, so you don't need to worry about that anymore!" Luffy said desperately, eyes shiny with tears.

All the nurses could see that the threat Ace posed was diminishing, if only slightly, and they began to calm a bit, some putting their needles away. They could see the clear signs of amnesia, but continued to let the brothers talk, continued to let them calm Ace. Whiskey was watching closely, Marco, Thatch, and Izo doing the same, ready to help if Ace became violent.

"At least we know their names now..." Izo murmured to the other two, both nodding their agreement.

"I'm sure Oyaji'll want to hear about this too, yoi," Marco said, eyes not leaving the brothers for a second.

"We're free?" Ace asked questioningly, confused, almost like he didn't understand the concept. Luffy nodded rapidly, while Sabo nodded at a much slower rate.

"Yeah, we're free, we're not trapped anymore Ace," Sabo said softly, watching his brothers reaction carefully. Luffy was still doing his best to send Ace the feeling of warmth when Aces expression suddenly turned to one of pain, gripping his head in his hands and groaning.

'What's happening?' Sabo signed to Luffy in concern. Luffy didn't quite know himself but did his best to explain it to Sabo.

'His colors changing again, it's trying to be blue again, and his wave is flashing. Sabo, I'm scared! What's happening to Ace?!' The desperation in Luffy's taps and eyes concerned Sabo and he released his brother's hand, quickly rushing over to Aces side, Luffy following.

"Ace, what's wrong?" Sabo asked in a hushed voice.

"Keep... seeing... weird... pictures..." Ace gritted out, teeth clenched. Sabo hoped that was a good thing. Maybe he was getting his memories back? He could see Whiskey edging closer to them and debated whether he should let her get closer or not. He didn't trust her one bit, but what if something was happening to Ace that needed immediate attention? He wasn't a doctor, and as much as he wanted to keep his brother healthy and safe without anyone else's help it was inevitable that they would need outside assistance.

Before he had to make a tough decision though, Ace stopped groaning, letting go of his hair slowly and blinking, looking around with a frown.

"Ace?" Sabo asked, hopeful, Luffy shifting beside him impatiently.

'Back to blue.' Luffy informed, looking intently at Aces soul, the yellow-green color gone completely, replaced with the normal blue he normally saw around Ace.

"Sabo? Luffy? What's going on?" Ace asked, wincing when he tried to stand up straight.

"Ah, my head, what the hell did the bastards do to me?" Ace asked, squinting his eyes slightly.

"ACE!" Luffy cried happily, tears that he would normally keep back flooding to the surface and falling freely down his face, a bright smile on his face. He jumped into his brothers' arms, the freckled man grabbing him tightly with confusion.

"Luffy? What's wrong? Wait, where are we?!" Ace asked, becoming defensive at the sight of dozens of people looking at him, some armed with needles. He glared at them. He didn't know what was happening, he definitely wasn't in the facility, and he was pretty sure these were doctors or nurses, so what was going on?

'Calm down, safe, for now.' The tapping from Sabo caught his attention and he tried to force himself to at least look calmer. He had no idea what was happening, but Sabo was smart, so listening to him was his best option right now, whether he liked it or not.

"Ace, this is the medical staff of the Whitebeard pirates, as well as three commanders, Marco, Thatch, and Izo." Sabo introduced in an overly formal tone that made Ace raise an eyebrow.

"That doesn't explain how the hell we got here when we were in-..." Ace cut himself off, not sure how much anyone in this place knew, and he sure as hell wasn't going to give them any information.

"They know about the facility," Sabo said with a sigh, Ace whipping his head to look at Sabo who raised his hands up defensively.

"Hey, don't look at me like that, I didn't tell them anything about it, and neither did Luffy. You know, he really took to heart what you said about not telling anyone anything, he didn't talk to these people until I woke up, they thought he was a mute." Sabo explained, smiling to Luffy who beamed proudly, and Ace did a double take at the pure smile that he remembered coming from Luffy. He hadn't seen him smile in months, and here he was beaming like the sun! He was still holding Luffy who had wrapped his legs around his waist, clinging to him like the monkey his name signified.

"Anyways, when Luffy got out he apparently ran through the forest until he found Marco and Thatch. He managed to get them to come help us and, don't make that look, he checked first, deemed them 'good colors'. He brought them to the facility where they helped get us, and all the other kids out." Sabo continued, Ace still giving everyone a skeptical look, which Sabo understood. If he hadn't been trying so hard to stay on their good side he would have done the same thing.

"Then where are the other kids?" Ace asked, glancing at all the empty beds with a frown.

"They left today! The people in the town took them to their homes!" Luffy said happily, trying to ignore the feeling of everyone staring at them.

'We're safe?' Ace tapped the signal on Luffy's leg, away from anyone's view. Sabo and Luffy nodded, though Sabo signaled back as well.

'For now. Staying on good side, hundreds of pirates, Captain is Whitebeard.' Sabo tapped out, Ace bristling as he went on. They could barely handle the dozens of guards and doctors, granted they had been weakened with seastone and malnutrition, but Ace still didn't like their chances.

'Talk later.' Ace signaled, wanting everyone in the room gone so he could be with his brothers, though none of them looked like they were leaving anytime soon. Sabo nodded.

"These pirates have been nice enough to let us stay until we're back to full health. Luffy and I have been resting for a few days now, and now that you've woken up the drug they gave you will probably be gone soon as well." Sabo stated, looking at Whiskey for confirmation. She nodded, stepping forward a bit, though Ace instinctively jerked back, setting Luffy down so they both had better mobility. Whiskey held her hands up in the air, a small smile on her face.

"I'm Whiskey, the head nurse, I've been taking care of you three the past few days and, like your brother said, the drug should be almost completely gone by now. Why don't you go lay back down, you two as well, Sabo, Luffy, remember what I said about no strain?" She asked, sending the brothers a frown. They shifted under the look and Luffy felt his heart sink, the air getting harder to breathe. Were they going to be punished? Luffy really didn't want to find out, so he grabbed his brothers' hands, frowning, and tried pulling them to their beds. Sabo went without protest, thinking along the same lines as Luffy, and Ace glared at Whiskey but followed along as well.

"Stupid doctors, always ordering us around." Ace grumbled out, quiet enough so none of the nurses heard, but as they passed Marco, Thatch, and Izo they gave each other a look, having heard the words. The rest of the nurses dispersed, seeing as Whiskey seemed to have a handle on the situation now, while Marco, Thatch, and Izo stayed, following the brothers to their beds. The beds, as much as Luffy wanted them to be, weren't big enough to fit all three brothers in them so Sabo went to his assigned bed while Luffy climbed into Aces with him, having missed his brother and both the physical, and emotional warmth he always gave Luffy.

"I'd like to do a quick check-up if that's ok, to make sure the drug is completely gone and see if there are any other side effects." Whiskey stated, though the brothers had a feeling that even if they denied the check-up she would find a way to do one anyways. Despite this Ace still looked ready to argue, but eventually complied when Sabo gave him a look. When he finally knew what the hell was going on, he would get them out, Sabo's plans be damned. They were so close to freedom that Ace wasn't going to let this stop them.

As Whiskey performed the check-up all three brothers watched her every move, Ace openly glaring at the nurse while Sabo and Luffy watched with much more neutral looks. Sabo had seen the nurse holding a needle when they first walked in and he wasn't going to put it past the doctor to pull it back out and give Ace a random drug now that he was awake.

"Everything seems to be good, the only thing I see wrong with you is the muscle deterioration from your malnutrition, but with a few of Thatch's meals I'm sure you'll be back to full health in no time." Whiskey said, smiling to the brothers.

"Ace, Thatch's food is the best! It tastes way better than the weird soup, and we get actual food! Like rice, and bananas, and bread, and Sabo makes me eat the green stuff because its healthy, but that doesn't mean I like it that much, but sometimes he gives us pudding too, and-" Knowing Luffys tendency to ramble Ace nodded, knocking the straw hat off his brothers head and messing up his hair.

"That's great Lu, can't wait to try it." Ace said with a strained smile, not intending to eat anything he was given anytime soon unless he or his brothers made it. Luffy grinned at him, picking up his hat and fiddling with it. It was quiet a moment, Whiskey having walked off after Aces check-up, mumbling to herself about some paperwork she had to do, leaving the brothers alone with the three pirates at the end of their beds. Or, as alone as they could be when the room was packed with nurses. Aces attention turned to them, glaring, and Sabo sighed. He just hopes Ace didn't piss them off too much. Now that the eldest was awake he felt much better about his odds when it came to getting off this ship, but that didn't mean they were ready to take on the abundance of pirates that made up the Whitebeard crew.

"Well you just missed lunch, but I think I can whip something up before it gets too close to dinner." Thatch said with a thoughtful look, drawing the brothers attention back to the pirates. Thatch began mumbling to himself about different dishes, the brothers promptly ignoring him and turning to Marco who looked ready to talk.

"It seems that things worked themselves out then, yoi," Marco said, arms crossed and bored expression still present.

"It would seem so," Sabo replied, slightly tense. He had almost forgotten the fact that he and Luffy had run off in the middle of a conversation with Whitebeard. He only hoped the pirate Captain wasn't too mad.

"That's good, I'll tell Oyaji your brothers finally awake. You three should get some rest." Marco said, already turning to leave. Izo smiled to them, Thatch already out the door with lunch plans.

"Get well soon!" Izo called, waving to them as he followed the others out, leaving the brothers by themselves.

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

"What was the issue, my son?" Whitebeard asked. A commanders meeting was being held, Whitebeard wanting a full update on everything that's happened recently. Marco sat slightly straighter in his chair.

"It seems that the two brothers were running back to the infirmary and when they got there the third brother was awake, yoi," Marco informed, Whitebeard humming in thought.

"And how did they know their brother was awake?" Whitebeard asked, more to himself. Marco sighed, a slight frown on his face.

"That, I don't know. When they got there it was almost like they expected him to be awake, they weren't surprised at all. Their other brother also showed the same signs of fear as the other children, not wanting to be anywhere near a nurse or needle, yoi." Marco added, Izo and Thatch nodding their agreement.

"The kid didn't have any memories at first, but when he got them back he was just as guarded as the other two. He didn't want to be anywhere near Whiskey or the other nurses." Izo said, face obscured by his fan.

"The third one also said something weird when Whiskey told them to get back to bed. I don't think any of the nurses heard it, but we did when he walked by us." Thatch said, still wondering over the words Ace had said.

"Oh? What was it?" Whitebeard asked, the other commanders listening as well. Everyone wanted to know more about the kids, but they had all been so tight-lipped about whatever had happened in the facility that they weren't any closer to knowing then when they first found them.

"He said something about 'doctors always ordering them around', like its happened a lot before." Thatch said, frowning a bit.

"Maybe they got hurt a lot as kids and always had to go to the doctors?" Haruta suggested from across the table. Marco shook his head.

"They've been trapped in the facility for seven years, even if that were the case, why remember something like that now, yoi?" Marco questioned. Now everyone was frowning in confusion.

"Hey, weren't some of those people in the facility wearing those long doctors coats?" Jozu asked, remembering how half the people had been wearing guard uniforms and the others were wearing the coats.

"Oh yeah! I thought it was weird..." Thatch said, thinking back on the appearances of the people.

"And there was that strange room with all that equipment," Izo said behind his fan. When they had freed the children the pirates had checked the entire facility, finding the lab with all the chairs and tables, as well as tanks full of water, and even the training room.

"It did smell oddly like the infirmary." Thatch said, scrunching his nose up as he remembered the smell.

"So were the people there doctors?" Vista asked, confused. Whitebeard frowned. It made the most sense, why they would fear doctors, but what had happened? There were still too many questions, and trying to fill in even one of them was impossible.

"At the moment, our best guess is that the people there were doctors of some kind, yoi," Marco said, Whitebeard nodding his agreement to the words. There was a knock on the door suddenly, everyone turning to face it.

"Pops, I've got the reports on the brothers." Whiskeys voice was muffled behind the door.

"Come in daughter." Whitebeards voice boomed and the door opened without further hesitation, Whiskey walking in and closing it behind her as she made her way to the Captain, holding some papers in her hand which she handed to him.

"These were just finished not too long before this, the blood work finally came back. This was when we first got the brothers when two of them were still unconscious. The results on the right are the blondes and the left are the freckled kids." Whiskey explained, Whitebeard placing the papers on the table for everyone to see as Whiskey pointed everything out.

"What's it mean?" Thatch asked, confused by whatever he was looking at. Whiskey rolled her eyes but explained.

"Well, this is the drug that caused the comas in the first place, and at this point in time, it was easily present in the bloodstream. The different compounds that were formed together were strong enough to put anyone it was given to into a coma, easily. The thing is, with how strong it was, those two should have been under for much more than a few days. Blondie didn't have much, so it makes more sense why he woke up so easily, but freckle face here got almost a full vials worth!" Whiskey explained. Though not many understood what that meant they did know that it was significant.

"Annnd?" Haruta asked, still lost. Whiskey huffed in frustration.

"And! Freckle-face should have been out for months, maybe even a whole year with this drug! Yet, he's wide awake on day three! And don't even get me started on all the strange chemicals I've found in both of their bodies! I don't have any of the youngests blood, but I'm sure if I did it would be just as bad as his brothers!" Whiskey said, picking the papers back up and looking at them as if she didn't quite believe them still.

"How is it possible for him to wake up after three days if the drug was that strong?" Namur asked. Whiskey gave another huff, a look of frustration passing over her face before she forced herself to calm down.

"That would seem to be the million beri question.

So? How'd you like it? Ace is awake now, has his memories, and the brothers are all reunited! I'm not an expert on amnesia, but there were a few things I was taking into account when I had the idea of Ace getting amnesia.

First, when Sabo had amnesia, he had it for years until he saw a picture of Ace in the newspaper. Ace only had it for a few minutes, but he also had Sabo and Luffy right in front of him, telling him about his past.

Second, Aces amnesia was caused by a drug the doctors at the facility had given him. With Sabo and Luffy right in front of him and a drug that was already out of his bloodstream, I imagine that it wouldn't be too difficult for him to get his memories back.

Finally, Ace has faster healing than normal, and because of this, combined with the outside help of Sabo and Luffy, I think Ace would have no problems. I know some people never get memories back, even with family telling them all about their lives, but those people usually have amnesia due to head trauma, whereas Ace got his from a drug that hadn't been tested yet.

With that said, that's why I had Aces memories, come back so easily. Also, at the end, I had the little commanders meeting showing that the crew is starting to have more and more unanswered questions about the brothers. When, and if, they ever get answers to those questions, we'll all just have to wait and see.

Anyways, thank you all for everything, I appreciate everything you guys give me! You all motivate me every day to try my hardest in writing the best chapters that I can for this story! I'll see you all again next week with the next chapter!