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 20: The Red-Haired Idol
As the brothers made their way back to the infirmary they were still left reeling from the sudden ending of their conversation with Whitebeard. They still didn't quite believe the Captain and didn't know how to feel about the information they were just given.
/\/\/\/\/\
"Do you three happen to know a brat named Red-Haired Shanks?" Whitebeard asked, the three sitting up straighter at the name, Luffy's eyes opening as he raised himself off of Ace's chest and watched the Captain with weary eyes.
Once upon a time Luffy would have smiled brightly and shouted to anyone that asked that, yeah, he knew Shanks, he had gotten his hat from him! But now, he felt conflicted. They had been captured for seven years, and although Shanks might not even know that he had been kidnapped, Luffy did. Would Shanks have tried to rescue him if he knew? Did Shanks know he was kidnapped? If he did, did he try to find him and his brothers? Or had he given up on Luffy? After all, strong people don't get kidnapped and held for seven years. Did Luffy really deserve to have his idols straw hat anymore? He had promised to give it to Shanks when he became the greatest, the Pirate King, but when he was in that cell he didn't see himself as the Pirate King, he saw himself as a prisoner, one that would never see the blue ocean ever again.
Ace and Sabo looked at Luffy, worried about how he was going to react. They knew about Luffy's idolization of the man, the promise he had made with him, the meaning behind the straw hat, but how did the boy feel now? It was obvious by Luffy's silence and lack of exclamation that he definitely felt different than he used to on the matter.
And why was Whitebeard asking? Were they enemies with Shanks? If they gave away their connection to the man would they become hostile towards the brothers? Sabo didn't know what to say for a minute, looking at Ace with hesitance, though the eldest didn't seem to know what to do either.
"Yes, we do." Sabo hesitantly replied after a minute of silence. The brothers were tensed, ready for a fight, sure that if they were going to be attacked it would be now.
What they didn't expect was for Whitebeard to laugh.
"Gurararara~! So you are the three brats that brat was looking for after all!" Whitebeard laughed loudly, the commanders at his side looking shocked. Sabo frowned, glancing at Ace again, seeing his brother was frowning as well.
"What do you mean?" Sabo asked Luffys grip tightening.
"Red-haired brat came here a few years back looking for three brats, told me they had been kidnapped and wanted help finding them. It seems we've finally managed to stumble upon you three."
/\/\/\/\/\/\
"Do you think he was telling the truth? Shanks was looking for us?" Luffy asked in a small, timid voice. Ace and Sabo glanced at each other hesitantly, Sabo turning a soft gaze on Luffy.
"Who knows. Ace and I never met him, but from what you've told us you two were good friends, I'm sure he would have been looking for you." Sabo said carefully, not quite sure himself. Luffy remained silent, looking at the ground in front of him as they walked slowly through the halls of the ship. Aces lips were thin as he held himself back from speaking.
If the pirate had been actively looking for them, how come it was Whitebeard who managed to accidentally stumble upon them? He kept this to himself, not wanting to diminish any hope Luffy might have about his idol.
As the brothers reached the infirmary they did their best to ignore the smells and nurses as they walked to their beds. Sabo could see Whiskey perking up from where she sat, making her way towards the brothers. Tapping quickly to alert his brothers Sabo got into his bed, Ace and Luffy getting into their own bed as well.
"Wonderful, you three are back!" Whiskey said in a tone that unnerved the three. Ace frowned, nearly glaring at the nurse, while Luffy clung to his brother and Sabo did his best to remain stone-faced. Seeming to notice the tension rising within the three Whiskey rose her hands in a peaceful gesture.
"Don't worry, I'm only here to run the usual check-ups, make sure that your little excursion didn't do more damage than good." Whiskey said calmly, the three slowly calming down, though still guarded. Sabo allowed himself to get checked over first, the nurse going through the usual procedures as before, jotting something down before turning to Ace and doing the same, and then to Luffy.
"It seems you three are as healthy as this morning, if not healthier. You're making more progress towards full recovery as well Ace, it's remarkable really." Whiskey commented, more to herself as she stared at her notes. Ace shifted uncomfortably, remaining silent.
"Well, in any case," The nurse said, raising her head to look at the brothers.
"I was wondering if I could draw some blood from you Luffy, seeing as I don't have any of yours. I don't know if there are any chemicals that could be doing you harm running through your veins." Whiskey said calmly, voice steady. Ace and Sabo tensed while Luffy tilted his head in confusion.
'Take blood with a needle.' Sabo had the forethought to tap the quick explanation to the boy who had no clue what the doctor was talking about. When Luffy understood as well he paled, trembling slightly and clutching Ace tighter, frowning. Noticing this Whiskey reverted back to the stance she had earlier, hands up in peace.
"Don't worry, if you don't want to we don't have to, I just don't want you to get hurt anymore then you already have if we could prevent it." Whiskey explained in a soft voice. The three remained silent and Whiskey was about ready to just give up on it altogether when Sabo cleared his throat.
"We understand your concern, but we're all a little hesitant when it comes to needles. I think it would be best if we didn't draw anyone's blood." Sabo explained as calmly as he could, though his voice did waver slightly at the end. Whiskey nodded in understanding.
"That's alright, but if you feel any change, any new pains, dizziness, nausea, anything, tell me." Whiskey said sternly to Luffy, the boy nodding in agreement, the tone of the nurse's voice putting him on edge, Ace bristling at it, holding back a snarky response. Whiskey, pleased by the nod, turned her attention back to her notes, eyebrows knitting in confusion.
"It is quite remarkable though, how fast you three seem to be healing, you especially Ace. At this point, you shouldn't even be awake, much less moving freely without any fatigue!" She says, more to herself as she taps her pen to her chin. Sabo and Ace share a look, Ace doing his best to hide a smug smile.
"Guess I'm just a fast healer." Ace said in an almost too cheery voice. Whiskey paused at the tone but shrugged it off, nodding.
"Guess so. Well, in any case, it seems like you three should be able to move around freely within the next day if you all continue healing at this rate. We could even talk with the Commanders and Pops about getting you guys your own rooms." The nurse said, lowering the clipboard and smiling at the three. This was the best news the three had heard in years.
"Thank you, we appreciate everything you've done to help us get better," Sabo said politely, using his overly formal voice when addressing the nurse. He was grateful to the Whitebeards for helping them recover, but who knew when they would turn on them?
"It was no problem, really. There is one minor thing, though," Whiskey said, raising the clipboard back up to her face. Ace and Sabo tensed, expecting this to be the moment that she whipped out needles and chains. Luffy, noticing his brothers emotions and feeling Ace tense up, glanced at the nurse, ready to start running if necessary.
"What is it?" Sabo asked, voice slightly quieter than it had been a second ago, trying to keep it from wavering. Whiskey frowned, eyebrows furrowing in confusion.
"Even though you're all eating properly you don't seem to be gaining the right amount of weight, especially Ace and Luffy." Whiskey said, relieving Ace and Sabo, which in turn relieved Luffy. He didn't really know what was happening, but his brothers had calmed down, so he did too. Sabo smiled again, laughing almost sheepishly.
"Ah, well, Ace and Luffy have big appetites" Sabo explained, the nurse examining her notes another minute before nodding, jotting something down.
"Well, why didn't you say something sooner? If you were still hungry you could have asked for more food!" Whiskey said in an almost chastising voice. The brothers didn't quite know how to handle the information. All their lives they were told to fend for themselves, and in the facility, there was no, 'asking for seconds,' even if you were hungry enough to eat another bowl of garbage.
"I'll tell Thatch to make you three some bigger meals, and if you want seconds, just ask." She said, smiling at the three. They nodded, still unsure how to respond, and she nodded back, turning and walking out the door, leaving the brothers in their beds, still unsure as to what had happened.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
"I can't believe that those three were the brats that Akagami was looking for!" Rakuyo exclaimed. The Commanders and Whitebeard were sitting in the meeting room, discussing the conversation they had had with the boys, or more like Sabo seeing as Ace and Luffy rarely said a word.
"Yeah, I didn't think that they would still be alive after all these years," Haruta muttered.
"I wouldn't be too surprised Haruta, after all, this is someone that Akagami brat bet his arm on," Whitebeard said, grinning. Beside him, Marco was dialing a number into a den den mushi, the snail ringing for a minute before there was an answer.
"Shanks here, who 'm I talkin' to?" A voice asked on the other line. Whitebeard smiled, lifting the snail from the table and speaking into it.
"Brat. It seems you're still in good health." Whitebeards voice boomed, the commanders falling silent as they listened.
"Ah, Whitebeard it seems. Well, to what do I owe the pleasure of your call?" Shanks asked, the snail copying his facial expression by raising an eyebrow at the giant. Whitebeards smile widened.
"I believe we've found those brats of yours that you've been looking for," Whitebeard answered, the line going silent, the snails' eyes widening. There was a shuffling and a slam, like Shanks had placed his hand down on something wooden.
"What?! You've found Luffy and his brothers?!" Shanks asked the background noise that had been loud and boisterous moments ago falling silent.
"Unless there's another Ace, Sabo, and Luffy then I believe we have," Whitebeard answered. There was suddenly cheering in the background and Shanks was laughing joyously.
"I can't believe it! Where are you? We'll come your way immediately!" Shanks cried happily. After giving them their coordinates they found it would take the Red-Haired Pirates a week to reach them. They ended the call, the snail falling back asleep.
"It seems that those brothers are pretty important to Akagami," Blamenco noted, crossing his arms. Everyone nodded their agreement when there was a knock from who they assumed to be Whiskey. They were right when she entered, holding her clipboard in her hand as she walked up to the table.
"Do you have news, my daughter?" Whitebeard asked, everyone curious, wanting to know anything they could about the brothers. Whiskey sighed.
"Some news. I wasn't able to get any of Luffy's blood like I hoped, so I have no clue if he's got any harmful chemical in him. Otherwise, the brothers are all cleared to leave the infirmary tomorrow as long as they don't do anything to reverse the healing they've done." Whiskey explained, looking through her notes. Whitebeard nodded.
"We'll prepare some rooms for them then," Whitebeard said, turning and giving Marco a look to which he nodded to.
"Why couldn't you get the kids blood? Was there an issue?" Curiel asked. Whiskey frowned, shaking her head.
"No, no problem, but as I've mentioned before, every child that we rescued has issues with needles, practically a phobia of them. I don't want to upset the three when we can barely get them to tell us their names. As much as I'd rather get blood any way I could I don't think it would be a good idea to force them into letting me draw blood. If anything, it would do more harm than good, especially if it turns out that there's nothing harmful in his blood. Our best option is to wait and see if Luffy starts having any new symptoms." Whiskey explained to the group. All of them nodded their understanding.
"It is a little odd though, how fast the brothers are healing though. Besides the fact that Ace was supposed to be in a coma for another month at least, they all healed at a much more rapid rate than I expected, Ace especially. Even after being awake he should have needed another week of healing, not a day or two." Whiskey said, frowning at her own notes.
"Is it a drug?" Rakuyo asked, all of them confused. Whiskey sighed.
"I don't think so. All the drugs that were present when the brothers got here have dissipated by now. If there had been anything helping them it wouldn't be helping them now. Also, Thatch, it seems we need to up the meal sizes. I thought it was weird that even with a regular, healthy diet the boys weren't gaining as much weight as they should have, Ace and Luffy especially. According to Sabo, they have large appetites." Whiskey said, addressing Thatch who frowned, but nodded, almost mad at himself that he had let the brothers go hungry, even if he hadn't known about it.
"Why didn't they say anything?" Izo asked. Whiskey shrugged.
"I don't know, I didn't push it. The three looked ready to bolt at any second so I dropped it." The nurse explained, lowering her clipboard.
"When are we ever going to get some answers from these brothers rather than more questions?" Curiel muttered, the commanders nodding in agreement. Anytime they got an answer to something they got five more questions to follow it.
"All we can do now is make them comfortable. Red-haired brat will be here in a weeks time, so, for now, let's get them settled." Whitebeard declared.
"I'll go have their rooms prepared, yoi," Marco said, standing from his chair and leaving the room. This signaled the end of the meeting, everyone standing and heading off to do their daily tasks.
"I'll go start lunch," Thatch said, a slight frown still on his face, exiting the room.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
"Luffy, you should try to take a nap." Ace encouraged, wrapping an arm around the youngest. After everything that had happened today the brothers were surprised Luffy wasn't passing out at that moment.
"Don' wanna," Luffy mumbled, burrowing his head against Ace's chest. Ace rolled his eyes while Sabo watched with interest.
"And why not?" Ace asked, wondering what answer the boy would give.
"'M not tired," Luffy mumbled back, though his eyes were closed and he yawned.
"Your body says otherwise Lu. Take a nap, Ace and I will stay up." Sabo said gently, hoping his brother would listen and take a well-deserved nap. Luffy shook his head again.
"Nuh uh." He responded. Ace huffed, beginning to feel slightly annoyed.
"Come on Lu, just take a nap, it'll be fine. Sabo and I are gonna be right here the entire time. We won't go anywhere." Ace continued to encourage, trying his best to remain calm. Luffy was silent for a minute and the two oldest wondered if he had listened to them and fallen asleep. They were proven wrong though when he spoke up again.
"Can you tell me a story?" Luffy asked, voice much softer and quieter than it had been before. Ace frowned while Sabo sat up a little straighter in his bed.
"A story?" Sabo asked. Luffy nodded, still not opening his eyes.
"Mm. Like the ones, you used to tell me before. About the pirates." Luffy said, peeking an eye open momentarily to glance at the blonde brother. Sabo looked at him for a moment before shrugging, standing up from his bed and moving to sit at the foot of Ace and Luffy's bed.
"Alright, as long as you promise to go to sleep right after," Sabo said sternly. Luffy nodded, a small smile forming as he snuggled further into Ace, getting comfortable.
"Promise!" Luffy chirped happily, wrapping an arm around Ace and closing his eyes again. Sabo smiled while Ace smoothed back some of Luffy's hair, his straw hat sitting on the bedside table.
"Well, why don't I tell you about the Gold-Toothed Pirates?" Sabo asked, Luffy nodding vehemently.
"Yeah! Did they go on lots of adventures?" Luffy asked excitedly, always enjoying Sabo's stories. Ace settled into the bed more as well, interested in the story as much as Luffy was. He had to admit as well that Sabo had a way with storytelling that always made the listener feel as if they were experiencing the story themselves.
"Well of course, what pirate doesn't go on lots of adventures?" Sabo asked before launching into the story. It wasn't long before Luffy was sleeping peacefully against Ace's chest and Sabo was finishing the story, moving back to his own bed.
"I haven't heard one of your stories in a long time." Ace said with a yawn, shifting slightly, careful not to wake Luffy. Sabo shrugged.
"No one was ever in the mood to listen to them. Besides, we had much more pressing things to think about for the last year." Sabo said.
"You got that right." Ace muttered darkly.
Shanks has been contacted and is now on his way! In a week he'll be reunited with the brothers, whether they want to or not. This was another way I wanted to show how the facility had changed the brothers, by showing Luffy's hesitance about Shanks now. Even though he idolized the man in his childhood, now hes full of doubts and self-consciousness.
It's not that he doesn't like Shanks anymore, because that's just not possible unless Shanks did something completely unforgivable, but it's more that Luffy doesn't think hes adequate enough to be the owner of the precious straw hat anymore.
How all of that plays out, we'll have to see when Shanks arrives.
Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! It was a bit more of an informative chapter than anything else, but the brothers are still settling on the Moby and don't quite know what to do or how to feel.
With that said, I'll see you all next week!