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 45: To Stay or Not to Stay

Waking up the next day the brothers found themselves heading straight to where they knew Marco was. They had gotten up a bit later than they normally would, more tired than usual due to staying up late last night, arguing over whether they should stay or go.

Ace was, of course, adamant over leaving. Sabo was... not as adamant about staying, but thought it was more beneficial to stay rather than leave. Luffy... Luffy didn't mention his opinion once throughout the whole argument. He had sat silently and watched as his brothers fought back and forth over which was the safer option for them. It wasn't that he didn't have an opinion, because he did, but he didn't want to force his brothers to stay or leave because it was what he wanted.

To be honest, he didn't really mind one way or the other. He adored Shanks, obviously, but he was also starting to grow attached to the Whitebeard pirates as well. With Teach thrown into the equation, though, it made things a bit more complicated. If they left, Luffy would be comforted by the thought that they had warned Marco and Whitebeard about the man, told them about the darkness. He knew the two of them believed him, and he had noticed that they were actually watching the man closer than anyone else on the crew.

All in all, Luffy would be just fine staying or going. As long as he was with his brothers, he would be happy. He would fight as many marines as he had to, eat as little as needed, sleep on the uncomfortable floor, stay awake all night, anything. As long as it meant he and his brothers stayed together, he would be happy.

So Ace and Sabo argued. There was no anger in the argument, frustration sure, but nothing that would cause an actual fight. Ace knew why Sabo wanted to stay and Sabo knew why Ace wanted to leave. There was a good reason for both options, but which one was the best was a much harder decision to come to.

Hence why they were tired after nearly pulling an all-nighter.

Marco was where they knew he would be. Right next to Whitebeard. There was a bit of a routine to the Whitebeard pirates, one the brothers easily picked up on over the course of the three weeks they had been on the ship.

Yes, it had been three weeks already. Time flies.

Almost every morning, Marco would be right beside Whitebeard. Whether it was to give out chores, report something to the Captain, or just stand idly by, the first mate would always be there. After a couple hours he would leave and head off elsewhere, but that wasn't the point. The point was, they knew exactly where the man they needed to talk was. So they went there.

"Marco, Whitebeard, good morning." Sabo greeted, the three of them standing in front of both Whitebeard and Marco. It wasn't that strange for the crew to see the brothers there now. After all, they had spent nearly the entire day yesterday glued to the spot in front of Whitebeards chair.

"Good morning." Whitebeard and Marco greeted back. Instead of the brothers sitting like most expected, they continued standing, Sabo turning to give Marco his attention.

"I was wondering, could we give Shanks another call? I'm sorry to ask about this again, but we had a bit of a... revelation if you will on something he mentioned last time and thought we should tell him about it." Sabo explained with a smile. Marco looked to Whitebeard who nodded.

"No problem, yoi. I'll take you there." Marco said, already beginning to walk away. The brothers followed, Sabo thanking Whitebeard as they passed him. It was, for the most part, silent as they walked, and once they entered the hallway leading to the room they needed it went silent. There was no more chatter from surrounding pirates filling up the space.

"What have you and Red Hair been talking about? You don't have to tell me if you don't want, yoi." Marco said, more to make conversation then anything, but he would be lying if he said he wasn't curious. Sabo's smile never wavered though. He expected this to be a question that the first mate would ask. After all, they had been having quite a few conversations with the Captain now in a short period of time.

"Nothing much, but Shanks had an idea that he wanted us to give some input on," Sabo explained easily without giving too much detail to the made up story. Marco nodded, accepting the answer as they reached the door. Marco said a quick goodbye and headed off, leaving the brothers alone as they entered the room.

"Before we call, are we all a hundred percent sure this is what we want to do? Now's the time to change our minds." Sabo said, and even though he was saying it, he knew no one would speak up. This had been a long, thought out decision. There wasn't any more to argue on the matter.

When no one said anything Sabo nodded, picking up the snail phone and dialing Shanks' number. Waiting for the Captain to answer was a bit nerve-wracking because once he did and they told him their decision, that would be it. Sure, they could change their mind, but it would be more hassle then it would be worth.

"Red Haired Shanks here, who's this?" Shanks answered, someone yelling at him in the background. Sabo smiled a bit despite his nerves and pulled the speaker a bit closer to his mouth.

"Shanks, it's us," Sabo replied, not needing to say anything more as understanding shone on the snail's face.

"Ah, my three favorite brothers. So, I assume you're calling to give me your decision?" Shanks said. Sabo swallowed, glancing at his brothers for confirmation that this is what they were doing. A nod from Ace reassured him in their decision and he nodded.

"We are."

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

"Maybe we should just ask for more information, yoi. After all, they are the ones who spoke to us about it first." Marco said in a hushed tone as he and his father watched over the crew, spending most of their time watching Teach then anyone else.

"If we do that we could scare them off my son. We need to be patient. Obviously, they know something we don't. Whatever this darkness is that Luffy mentioned, its nothing good, and not only will we be watching out, but the brothers will as well. They'll know what to look for and I'm confident that they'll warn us again if anything is going to happen soon." Whitebeard said calmly. Marco frowned, staying silent for a second.

"Do you think one of them has an ability? A devil fruit maybe that lets them see the future or something, yoi?" Marco asked. Whitebeard frowned in thought.

"I don't know son. The youngest fell in the water a little while ago though, correct?" Whitebeard asked. Marco nodded, thinking back to when Luffy had fallen overboard.

"Yeah, but he treaded water for a bit before Namur got him, yoi. Ace and Sabo didn't jump in after him though, so there's a chance that one of them has it." Marco said.

"It is a possibility. For now though, its only speculation. Who knows, maybe they just have strong intuition. All we can do right now is watch and hope for the best. When the three of them are more comfortable I'm sure they'll give out more information on the topic." Whitebeard said.

"By the way, did the navigator say when we'll be reaching Sabaody?" Whitebeard asked, glancing up into the sky. They had hit a bit of a dry patch in terms of wind and it had slowed their progress to the archipelago.

"They're estimating another day or two of travel. They think the winds should be picking up, but even in Paradise the weather can be unpredictable, especially this close to the New World." Marco said, crossing his arms as he looked into the sky as well. Whitebeard laughed heartily.

"You don't have to tell me about that son, I've traveled these seas for far too long for that to be new information!" Whitebeard laughed. Marco grinned at his Captains joy and nodded. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the three mysterious brothers themselves coming back out onto the deck from where they had been talking to Shanks. They were tapping again, or Sabo was at least. The other two were beside him, and Marco noticed that once Sabo stopped tapping, Ace started.

"I see what you meant before, Marco," Whitebeard said softly. Not to hide the fact that he was talking about the brothers, but more because he was thinking as he spoke. The first mate peeked at his father before nodding. Both of them wore frowns as they thought about what the tapping could be about, but no matter how many times Marco revisited the subject, he didn't get any closer to figuring out what it was.

It didn't matter because the brothers crossed the deck in a timely manner, disappearing once again into the depths of the Moby. They had headed into the hallways that would lead them to the Commanders rooms, as well as the room that they were currently residing in, so Marco assumed they would be there until breakfast was ready.

"Those boys sure are a mystery," Whitebeard said with a smile.

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

"What now?" Ace muttered. They were walking through the empty hall towards their room, having just finished their conversation with Shanks.

"Well… we continue like we planned before all of this happened." Sabo sighed out quietly as they walked right past their room and continued down the hall.

After much debate about how many Marines they could take down, how long they could stay awake until they became nonfunctional, how long they could go without food before losing their strength, they had come to the agreement that they were more likely safe on the Whitebeards ship rather than Shanks'.

"We had already planned on staying indefinitely, so why should we change anything now? We just have to take into account the fact that there's someone with darkness here, that's all." Sabo said in a hushed voice, keeping an ear out for anyone who could possibly be eavesdropping on them.

"We still get to eat lots of food, right?" Luffy questioned, remembering how he had finally been able to eat his fill for once. Sabo nodded.

"Don't worry Lu, you can still eat lots. Actually… I think now's a good time for the next test." Sabo said after a second of thought. Ace and Luffy gave each other a look of confusion before turning to look at Sabo who still looked to be thinking as he glanced around the halls.

"What do you mean?" Ace asked, and he was responded to with their silent language, tipping them off that there was either someone getting too close or this was something Sabo didn't want to chance anyone hearing.

'The pirates didn't react like we thought they would to the fact that you two eat a lot, right?' Sabo asked, the brothers nodding.

'Yeah, they didn't get all mad and kick us out!' Luffy confirmed, smiling a little. He liked the pirates, except for Teach of course, and the fact that they still seemed to accept the brothers, even after knowing how much they could eat, made Luffy like them even more. He sure hoped they weren't acting like Ace and Sabo worried they were.

'Right, so either they've got lots of patience, or they really aren't acting. So, why not step it up, give them a perfect opportunity to get rid of one of us and see what they do?' Sabo asked. Ace frowned at the thought, wondering where Sabo was going with this while Luffy looked even more confused.

'Get rid of us?' Luffy asked. Sabo nodded, looking around again before turning down what the trio found to be a dead end hall.

'That's right. We can give them a chance to easily get rid of one of us and see what they do.' Sabo said, keeping an ear out for anyone coming.

'What do you have in mind?' Ace asked skeptically. He trusted that his blonde brother wouldn't put any one of them in actual harm's way, but that didn't mean Ace would like whatever this plan of his was.

'I think if one of us gets 'lost',' Sabo began, already raising alarms in the eldest's head.

'And have someone find them, then we can see what they would do. The other two would be nearby in case they did try something.' Sabo explained. Ace frowned at the thought.

'But didn't we already kind of do that?' Ace questioned, remembering the time Luffy had gotten lost, for real.

'Yes, but Marco and Thatch found him. We already knew from the start that they were relatively good people, they helped Luffy and kept their promises after all, but I'm talking about a stranger. There are plenty of people on the Moby we haven't met yet, so why not have it be one of them?' Sabo asked. He could tell Ace didn't like the plan, and Luffy didn't seem all that thrilled either, but this was something they needed to do. They couldn't just keep hanging around these pirates forever walking on eggshells. They needed to know their intentions before they were able to finally get comfortable around any of them.

'Who's getting lost?' Ace asked, even though it looked like he already knew the answer. Sabo looked a bit hesitant now, rubbing the back of his head.

'To be honest, I was thinking Luffy…' Sabo admitted, Aces frown deepening at the thought.

"No. Nope. Not happening." Ace denied out loud, shaking his head at the thought. Sabo sighed, already expecting this reaction.

'Ace, come on, it makes the most sense. Think about it, I can't go because we'll need my hearing in case something goes wrong, and even though we told people we don't have fighting experience you still look like you won't go down without a fight. It would deter anyone from actually doing anything. If we send Luffy they'll think he's defenseless and will more then likely do something around him.' Sabo explained.

Everyone went silent now. No talking, no tapping, no noise, nothing. Ace sat, thinking over everything Sabo had just said.

'You and I won't be far away. If the pirate does turn then all Luffy has to do is ask for help. I'll hear him and we can run in and save the day.' Sabo explained, and Ace had to admit that it was the best plan.

'Fine. Where are we doing this?'

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

Luffy wandered the halls silently, looking around in wonder as he did. They hadn't really explored this section of the Moby that much and now that he had the chance he was taking in everything he could. It wasn't much different from all the other halls, but this one had its own scents that Luffy had only briefly smelled before.

Footsteps ahead of him clued him in to the reason he was in this hall in the first place. Ace and Sabo were trailing pretty far back, not even visible if Luffy turned around. They had moved to this hallway because according to Sabo this hall was more frequented than the others. This held true because ahead of him, Luffy could see a pirate walking his way.

A quick stock of the man's emotions told Luffy that he was safe for now. There was nothing bad or malicious, just calm and neutrality. Once the man was close enough that he noticed Luffy he noticed confusion worming its way into the man's emotions, and even a little bit of worry.

"Luffy… right?" The man asked a bit hesitantly, looking around the empty hall. Luffy nodded, tilting his head a bit as he observed the man. He wasn't doing anything to harm him yet. So far so good.

"Where are… uh… your brothers?" The man asked, and Luffy could feel a bit of fear beginning to take hold in the man now. That was weird.

"I dunno…" Luffy said in a small voice. He was always told he was a bad liar, and it was true, but Sabo had been teaching him how to lie better so it wouldn't be so easy for people to figure it out. He had told him to keep some truth in his lies, and Luffy did. He didn't really know where his brothers were, he just knew they were behind him somewhere.

"So… you're lost?" The man asked. Luffy nodded, opting to not speaking on that one as he looked around as if he had no clue where he was, but really he didn't want the man to see how much he was sweating from the tiny lie.

"Oh… well, uh…. Why don't I take you… back to the deck? We can look for them there, or find Marco or Pops…" The man said, seemingly a bit unsure. Luffy nodded again, feeling happy that the man hadn't turned on him like Ace thought he would. Luffy knew that most people on board were good people, but he didn't know whether they were just good actors or actually meant well.

"Well… its this way. Oh! Uh, my names Kiseki by the way!" Kiseki said, realizing he hadn't introduced himself. Luffy nodded once more and Kiseki turned, leading him out of the hall and back toward the deck. Luffy smiled as they walked, feeling the worry Ace and Sabo had been feeling dim a bit.

"I like you Kiseki!" Luffy said as they reached the door. Kiseki looked a bit shocked at the boys words, but his shock quickly turned into a smile.

"Thanks, Luffy, I like you too." He said as they walked out onto the deck. Luffy shivered a bit when he noticed Teach was right by the door they had just exited and felt his stomach drop, throat tightening.

How had he not realized that the darkness was so close by?!

Teach seemed to notice that Luffy was by himself at that same moment and Luffy grimaced when he felt the darkness get stronger. Before Teach had a chance to say anything Luffy bolted over to where he knew safety was, smiling brightly in relief.

"Marco!" Luffy cheered happily, using the relief he felt from being away from Teach to sound happy as he charged toward the man. Marco turned with a look of confusion and shock on his face and Luffy had to stop himself from ramming into the man, remembering what he was supposed to be doing in the first place.

"Luffy, yoi. Where are your brothers?" Marco asked, looking around the deck for them. Even though the crew had seen Luffy alone a few times it was never without good reason.

"I got lost again, and Kiseki found me and helped me get out of those long hallways and then I saw you!" Luffy said cheerfully, the lie rolling off his tongue easily with how relieved he felt at being near warmth rather than darkness. Understanding shone on Marcos' face and he sighed, smiling a little.

"Why don't we go find them then, I'm sure they're worried about you," Marco said as he glanced around, and Luffy realized something. He could feel Marco using his haki. He would definitely have to tell Ace and Sabo about that later.

"Come on, yoi, I think they're this way," Marco said as he began leading the way. Luffy nodded, sidling close to the first mate when he realized they would have to pass Teach again. If Marco noticed that Luffy was practically clinging to his side he didn't say anything about it.

Luffy nearly sighed in relief when the door to the deck closed behind them and they were alone again in the hall.

"So, what were you three doing? Were you looking for a specific room?" Marco asked curiously. Luffy shook his head, smiling.

"We were exploring!" He exclaimed happily as he followed his brothers' waves back to where they were. Marco nodded, and Luffy forgot that the man was supposed to be leading them, not the other way around. Slowing down a bit so that Marco would be leading again Luffy looked around, discreetly smelling the air around them.

"Ne, Marco, is breakfast ready yet?" Luffy asked, mouth drooling at the delicious smells wafting their way. Marco glanced at the boy, a small smile on his face as he nodded.

"Should be soon, yoi." He said as they turned a corner.

"That's good. I'm hungry." Luffy said matter-of-factly. They were only walking for another minute or so, turning a few corners when they heard Ace and Sabo.

"I'm telling you, he went this way!"

"Are you sure? He doesn't even know what's over here, wouldn't he go back towards the rooms?"

"This is Luffy we're talking about, he goes towards what he doesn't know."

"True, but-"

"Ace, Sabo!" Luffy cheered happily, jumping away from Marcos side and running into his brothers' arms.

"Luffy! See, told you!" Ace said, sticking his tongue out to Sabo who retaliated with his own.

"You alright Luffy?" Sabo asked, checking over Luffy quickly. Luffy nodded, still grinning.

"Mhm! Kiseki found me and took me to the deck and I found Marco and then Marco found you guys!" Luffy said, telling an entire story within a sentence. Sabo laughed, Ace smiling, and the two turned to Marco.

"Thank you once again for helping our brother. He gets lost easy." Sabo said as Luffy slid in between Ace and Sabo, taking their hands.

"I see that. It was no problem, really, yoi. See you three at breakfast." Marco says, waving it off as he turns to head back to the deck.

"See you there," Sabo responds, the three watching Marco. When he was out of sight the two eldest sighed in relief.

'I didn't think Teach would be right there. Sorry, Lu." Sabo apologized, remembering how he had heard Teach head right to the door Luffy exited with Kiseki. The man had been across the deck when this whole thing started, but once Luffy was headed to the deck, Teach headed to the door.

It didn't sit well with Sabo.

'It's ok, cause I saw Marco and I went to him before Teach could do anything.' Luffy said, even though he was still a bit shaken up at the memory of how close he had been to Teach.

'In any case, the test was a success. Kiseki sounded a bit off, but he didn't try anything. He brought you to Marco.' Sabo said, remembering all of Kiseki's stuttering.

'Mm. He was scared for some reason when he saw you weren't with me. He was worried too and confused, but he was nice!' Luffy said. Sabo and Ace raised an eyebrow at that.

'That's weird. anyway, breakfast is ready, lets head to the galley."

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

'What's the next test?' Ace asked from his spot beside Luffy. They were once again in front of Whitebeard, the Captain talking to some nurses about IVs and alcohol. Most of it went over Ace and Luffy's heads so they had instead started talking to each other while Sabo listened, finding out that the Captain was actually quite sick.

'Dunno. Sabo's good at making those.' Luffy answered as he tried to figure out what the nurses were trying to put into the Captain's arm. He liked Whitebeard, and he didn't like nurses. He had found himself watching all of the nurse's movements, making sure the nurses didn't try to hurt the giant on purpose, or try and do tests on him.

'Sabo?' Ace asked, noticing that the blonde was also watching the nurses every movement. Apparently old habits die hard. Even though none of the brothers were being worked on by the nurses they couldn't help but watch their movements for any sign of wrongdoing. Whitebeard was someone they all liked enough to stay by, and if nurses started messing with him, they wouldn't be happy.

'Fine. We'll watch more nurses.' Ace said, but even he had been watching their movements already. The three went silent as they watched, a few Commanders coming by every now and then to talk to Whitebeard, but none of them staying. Right now, Thatch, Marco, and Fossa were there, discussing Kami knew what with the Captain.

"Does that hurt?" Luffy suddenly asked. He didn't feel any pain coming from the Captain, but weren't the nurses poking needles into him? Luffy thought that the liquids in those needles would make him hurt, or make him sleepy, like the liquids the doctors at the facility give him. Whitebeard smiled, shaking his head.

"No, they don't hurt," Whitebeard assured, allowing the nurses to continue injecting things into him.

"But when we got shots they would hurt... or make us sleepy..." Luffy said, tilting his head in confusion.

"These are good shots Luffy, they help people get better. We got bad shots, they weren't supposed to help us get better." Sabo explained as best he could without giving too much away to those listening. Luffy frowned, seeming to think about something.

"So... they're the good shots? Like the ones they gave me and you when we got really really sick?" Luffy asked, remembering the time that Sabo and he had died, but the doctors had given them both a bunch of shots that helped them.

"Exactly, they helped us get better. That's what those shots are doing. They're helping Whitebeard." Sabo said. Luffy seemed to understand.

"Oh, okay! Does that mean you're sick Mr. Whitebeard?" Luffy asked, wondering if that was the case. Or was he dying? When Sabo and Luffy got the shots it was because they were dying and they needed help. Panic started to rise in him at this revelation and his eyes widened, breathing picking up.

Whitebeard couldn't die, he really liked the giant old man! He was a good person and had lots of warmth and kept him and his brothers safe!

Noticing the sudden panic Ace and Sabo both grabbed Luffy's hands, trying to calm him down. They weren't quite sure what had brought the sudden attack on, but they knew it probably wasn't anything good. Some of the pirates around them had noticed Luffy's panic and stopped to watch while the Commanders and Whitebeard watched with a mixture of worry and confusion.

"You're not gonna die, right?! You're not getting shots because you're dying are you?!" Luffy asked fearfully, only seconds away from jumping up and doing anything he could think of to keep the man in front of him from dying.

Ace and Sabo suddenly understood where the panic was coming from. After all, Luffy didn't have many good experiences with shots. The only time anyone around him got good shots was when they were so sick they were dying, and in their cases, dead.

"Gurarara~! Don't worry brat, I'm not dying anytime soon!" Whitebeard laughed, all of the brothers letting out sighs of relief at the words. Luffy calmed down considerably and nodded. It was silent now as the nurses began working again, the Commanders eventually continuing their conversation with Whitebeard.

'So... Sabo.' Ace tapped eventually, once they had all calmed down a bit.

'What?' Sabo asked, still watching the nurses along with his brothers.

'New plan?' Ace asked, wondering what the next one would be. The pirates had to be acting, and the fact that they hadn't done anything yet was a bit unnerving. A soft sigh left Sabo as the nurses finished up, packing needles in bags and removing gloves.

'I don't know yet. Give me some time to think about one.'

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

Omake:

"I heard you ran into little Luffy earlier Kiseki." A man said as he and Kiseki sat in a circle with a few other men, drinking. It was a nice night out, and they weren't on watch so it was as good a time as ever to hang out, drink, and play cards.

"Oh, uh, yeah, I did." Kiseki said, laughing a little. His friend raised an eyebrow at him.

"So, what was he like? Man, I've tried talking to him and his brothers since they got here but they every time I try they just walk off or completely ignore me." The man complained, his friends making noises of agreement. Kiseki shrugged.

"He was ok I guess. He was lost, so I brought him to the deck and Commander Marco took care of him." Kiseki explained.

"The hero Kiseki, helping out kids whenever possible!" Another man joked, patting Kiseki on the back. Everyone laughed at that as the dealer dealt out everyone's hand.

"So, did you talk to him?" The first man asked. Kiseki, once again, laughed, this time sheepishly.

"Actually... I was too scared..." Kiseki said a bit hesitantly, already knowing he was going to be endlessly made fun of for this.

"Scared? Of what?! He's just a kid!" The man across from his said, everyone laughing again.

"Yeah, but it wasn't him I was scared of! It's his brothers! You've seen those glares Ace gives, I wouldn't be surprised if he could pack a punch, and I do not want to be on the receiving end of it because I accidentally made Luffy sad or something!" Kiseki defended, and suddenly everyone understood a bit more, nods going around as they remembered the glares Ace would give whenever someone looked their way.

"I see what you mean... but you were scared of a kid."

Kiseki groaned.

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

Sabo made a noise that was somewhere between a laugh and a snort. His brothers looked at him with confusion.

"What was that?" Ace asked, wondering what noise had just come from Sabo. The blonde shook his head, walking over to their bed and laying down.

"Nothing, someone was just proving my point."

How'd you guys like it? It's up a little late, but we had a little bit of trust gained, a little bit of Teach, and a little bit of humor there at the end. We also learned that Luffy can sense when others use haki. Seeing as haki is someones will manifesting itself, I feel like its almost like their soul, so by reading someones soul, by extension, Luffy can also feel their haki.

There was a close call with Teach, but Luffy used his quick thinking and avoided him. Its still unknown what Teach is up to, and will be for some time, but that doesn't mean that nothing will be happening! Sabaody is coming up soon, and after that, Fishman Island!

Also, the brothers' have taken to testing the pirates, and if they pass all of them, there's a good chance the trio will become more comfortable with the fact that no one is turning on them. Of course, there's also the alternative where one of them becomes frustrated that the pirates seem too nice and end up starting a fight or something, but that as well is something that we'll just have to wait and see.

I hope you all had a wonderful week and will have an even more wonderful weekend!