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 52: Expanding Trust

Luffy jolted upright, eyes blown open wide and sweat on his forehead. Ace and Sabo both sighed in relief that the youngest had finally woken up, having been stuck in another nightmare. It hadn't lasted too long, not like the other times, only about 5 minutes, but it was still terrifying none-the-less.

"You're alright Lu, no ones gonna hurt you now." Ace murmured as he hugged Luffy to him. Sabo scooted closer, placing his hand on Luffy's shoulder.

"Yeah, Ace is right, we're here on the Moby Dick remember? With Marco and Whitebeard, trustworthy people, right?" Sabo asked, trying to calm the youngest, remind him that he was here with people he trusted rather than people he feared.

"Marco and Whitebeard? And Thatch and Izo too?" Luffy asked, much to his brothers' confusion. He asked about them the same way he asked about Marco and Whitebeard, so did that mean he trusted them as much as the first two? They'd known for a while that they could possibly trust Thatch, but this just confirmed it. Not to mention, they hadn't spent much time around Izo, and now Luffy was speaking as if they could trust him as well. The list of people they trusted was beginning to grow, and the two older brothers didn't know if that was a good or a bad thing.

"Yeah, even Thatch and Izo." Ace said, unsure of how he felt about the two. So far they had been trustworthy, and even helpful, but that didn't always mean someone was a good person, maybe it was all an act.

That always seemed to be Aces go-to answer though, that everyone around them was acting. If they were acting, they were masters at it and they weren't dropping the act anytime soon. But in reality, how realistic was it that an entire ships full of pirates were able to all act as well as these pirates had? Not to mention, be so well coordinated as well? If everyone here was acting, the brothers would have picked right up on any slip-ups that they made, but there was nothing. No one sending them suspicious looks when they thought they weren't watching, no one whispering in the dead of night in the catacombs that were the Moby Dick, no one sending them off with Marines when they had the chance.

As much as it made Ace relieved, it also made him suspicious, because these were pirates after all. If they're goal truly was to help the brothers, then why were they labeled as such bad people? Sabo and Ace both knew that these were pirates known around the world, pirates that everyone always labeled as dangerous and heartless, but here they were helping traumatized children that they knew nothing about.

Not to mention, they had agreed to stay with these pirates. Ace was sure that he had given up on all these suspicions when he agreed to stay, when he agreed that everyone here, minus Teach, was worth getting to know, worth trusting. Yet here he was, reverting back to his normal, suspicious self. Man, he was a mess.

"C-can we go eat?" Luffy asked, blinking a few times as he unknowingly, or maybe even knowingly, drove Aces self-deprecating thoughts away.

"Yeah, of course, Lu, let's go. They just finished making breakfast a few minutes ago." Sabo said, gently maneuvering Luffy off the bed and towards the door, Ace getting up a bit slower than usual as he tried processing all the many thoughts running through his head.

Surely these were just good people, mislabeled as something they weren't by a world of self-righteous bastards. After all, they had done the same to him the second he was born, before then even. Before he had even taken his first breath, his first thought, before his eyes had ever opened once, he was labeled as a monster, one that was condemned to die.

"I love you Ace," Luffy said, grabbing the eldest's hand suddenly, and all the anger, rage, hatred, it all melted away in an instant. Ace looked into his brother's eyes, amazed once again by Luffy's ease at which he could calm all of Aces emotions with just a few words. Rolling his eyes Ace nodded, squeezing the hand in his.

"Yeah, whatever," Ace muttered, ignoring the rising heat in his cheeks as he said so. He never was good at showing his emotions, especially the gooey ones that Sabo made fun of him for. Even though he didn't say it, he knew his brothers knew what he meant, what he felt. Sabo only watched with a peaceful smile, one that didn't show a hint of teasing in it.

Ace was immensely grateful that, if anything had to happen at the facility, they were all given powers that would help keep each other safe, ones that they desperately needed to survive in this unfair world.

"Come on, I think they're beginning to wonder where we're at," Sabo said, turning around to leave the room now, Ace and Luffy in tow behind him.

"Those bastards can wait a few minutes for us." Ace said, though there was no heat behind his words, because he was finally, finally beginning to warm up to these people, finally beginning to understand that maybe, just maybe the marines had mislabeled these people just as they had done to him.

Sabo seemed to pick up on Aces thoughts because his smile widened as he eyed Ace. The blonde nodded, turning to face forward again while Ace continued holding Luffy's hand, ignoring any more thoughts that wanted to slither into his mind about how he should have never been born. He had people now that needed him, needed him to protect them, people who loved him.

There was no way in hell he was going to let those thoughts of self-doubt and self-deprecation weigh him down now, not when he had brothers who relied on him, brothers who reminded him time and time again that they loved him, regardless of his parentage.

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

"So are you three going to the island again today?" Thatch asked as he served himself his breakfast, sitting in front of the three brothers who were already chowing down. Ace and Luffy were nearing the end of their first serving while Sabo was eating at a much more manageable pace, not even halfway through his slightly larger than normal sized meal.

Thinking about the chef's question had Sabo wondering the same thing himself. He and his brothers hadn't discussed whether they would want to go explore again today or not. Normally Sabo would say that, yes, of course, they were going, because after being trapped in a dark cell for seven years any chance they had to go explore the outside world they would gladly take.

Today, however, was different. Luffys nightmare was still fresh in the youngest's mind if his slight fidgeting and flickering eyes were anything to go by and that would probably deter him from wanting to go exploring. Even with how much they knew he loved and wanted to explore, they knew just as well that one bad nightmare could ruin their day, whether they wanted it to or not.

Glancing over to the youngest and taking in the tense frame of his brother, Sabo's lips thinned. Ace was watching Luffy closely as well as he kept an eye on the rest of the galley, making sure that their brother didn't suddenly go into a panic attack anytime soon. Was it a good idea to go out today? One wrong word, one wrong image, and Luffy would be thrown into a panic attack that they would all like to avoid. If they stayed here on the Moby, where they were all coming to terms with the fact that it was safe, they would be at a much less likely hood of running into anything that would trigger unwanted memories.

However, as Sabo was examining Luffy, the ravens' eyes flitted over to his and he grinned. It wasn't as big as normal, nor as bright, but it was enough to tell the blonde that he wanted to go, regardless of what could happen. It didn't sit well with Sabo that Luffy would be put at risk, but he didn't want to force his baby brother to stay cooped up on a ship, no matter how big it was, not after all they'd been through.

So, with a bit of hesitance and a frown from Ace, Sabo turned back over to look at Thatch who was waiting expectantly for the brothers' answer.

"Yeah, I think we will." He said with a tight smile. As much as he wanted to go, he didn't want to put his brother in any situations that could possibly harm him, physically or mentally, and going out today had a lot of potential for the latter.

"That's great! I've got a free day today and was hoping to go with you three! We haven't been able to hang out all that much since you've been here." Thatch said with a friendly smile, and Luffy could feel the joy coming from the chef at the prospect that he would be joining the brothers today. It made him feel a bit better about the idea of leaving the ship today, his nightmare still flashing through his mind, the memory of it keeping him on a constant edge. The joy from the chef pushed those thoughts away easier, and Luffy had to keep himself from letting all of the emotion in, knowing he could easily become influenced by it.

Not to mention, Luffy had wanted to hang out with Thatch more as well. After recently deciding that Marco and Whitebeard were both trustworthy people Luffy was slowly becoming more sure of the pirates that they were constantly with. Thatch had been there when they were rescued, he was there when Luffy willingly went back to the facility, he was there when Luffy found his brothers, and he had kept his promises. All of these made Luffy truly believe that the chef was also someone they could trust, but he was still a bit unsure. He wanted to be a hundred percent sure of it before mentioning to his brothers that they could trust him.

The same could be said for Izo, who Luffy could see watching them from where he sat a few seats away. Although he hadn't been there from the beginning like Marco and Thatch had, he had been there to reassure Luffy that his brothers would be ok, and had tried his best to keep him calm when Luffy didn't know whether trusting these people to help his brothers was a good idea or not. He had also helped him with his hat issue, keeping it from flying away ever again thanks to the string that was securely fastened around his neck.

It wasn't often that they hung around Izo though, the last time having been the tour that he gave them, but even that had been cut short and they never went back to finish it after that.

Deciding that he would try and do something to remedy that later Luffy returned to his meal, finishing his first serving with ease and beginning his second, Ace close behind. Sabo was continuing the conversation with Thatch, discussing where they could go for the day. It was briefly mentioned that Marco would be joining them as well, the man having joined the conversation and bringing up the brothers' excursion yesterday, mentioning he didn't want them to get into any trouble they couldn't get out of. Sabo had agreed, and it made Luffy feel better that they would be going with someone he knew for sure he could trust.

As they all finished up their breakfast, Ace and Luffy eating a good three large servings, the group headed out to the deck. Marco headed off to Whitebeard to tell the Captain about their outing for the day while the brothers and Thatch waited by the railing for the First Commander.

"Is there anything you guys want to go do and see while we're on the island? I know that you went exploring yesterday but I don't know how much you saw seeing as you got distracted." Thatch said, remembering the fact that they had taken down Vander Decken. Sabo thought about it, knowing that despite the fact they had thoroughly searched the island for the villain, they hadn't actually explored. They had been more focused on finding any hint of Decken rather than looking at any cool stores.

"I don't know, we don't really know what's out there. It would be nice to look at a few shops though." Sabo mentioned, knowing that he and his brothers were always content with window shopping. Luffy would probably ask to buy something, the youngest had an odd fondness for trinkets and such, but other than that it would be nice to just wander around and sight-see.

Thatch nodded at that, turning to look towards Fishman Island with a smile, leaning against the railing.

"Shops, huh? There's definitely a lot of those that we can go look at!" Thatch said enthusiastically, causing Sabo to smile. He wondered if this was what it was like for Luffy whenever he felt strong emotions, to become influenced by them. Just being near the happy chef made Sabo feel more happy and energetic as well as if it was contagious.

"Ready to go, yoi?" Marco suddenly asked, walking back up to the group and shaking Sabo from his musings.

"Yup! Clear everything with Pops?" Thatch asked, pushing himself off the railing as Marco nodded.

"I did, he said good luck and wants us to have fun," Marco said, relaying the Captains words to them.

"Alright, then let's get a move on to the shops!" Thatch said, pumping a fist into the air as he led the way off the ship, Marco watching him with a raised eyebrow, clearly confused but following regardless. Sabo snickered, shaking his head as he too followed, moving the wristband he wore, making sure it covered his number completely before he left the ship. He glanced over to his brothers, making sure their numbers were covered entirely as well before facing forward again, noticing Ace and Luffy were once again holding hands. Sabo had to guess that Luffy still wasn't over the nightmare.

"Why don't we head that way? I know there are some cool shops over there." Thatch said, pointing off in a direction that the brothers hadn't had a chance to explore yesterday.

"Sounds good," Sabo said with a smile. It was only a minute later that Sabo felt Luffy grab his hand as well, walking securely between he and Ace as they made their way through the throngs of Fishmen and women. The group continued on silently until they got close to the rows of shops. At this point they all slowed down, looking through the windows in interest and looking for anything that would catch their interest. At this point, Thatch began to ramble on about different things he'd gotten the previous times they had been to the island while they walked. Luffy was looking eagerly into the stores, eyes shining at the different weapons, accessories, clothes, etc.

Ace walked silently, though Sabo knew he was listening to Thatch's ramblings due to the way he would glance over to listen to the chef every once in a while. The two eldest were trying to pay more attention to the chef, knowing that Luffy thought highly of him. For the youngest to have asked about Thatch and Izo the minute after waking up from a nightmare meant he thought the two were more than just good people. It meant he was beginning to trust them, find safety among them, and if that was the case then the brothers should get used to them as well.

"There was this one time I bought a shirt here and the very next day, I kid you not, Blenheim tripped and spilled an entire oil can all over it. Had to get rid of it cause I couldn't get the giant stain out." Thatch said with a sigh, thinking back to the shirt with a fond look that made Ace force back a snicker. Sabo smiled, also doing his best to hold back laughter while Marco rolled his eyes and muttered about Thatch being over dramatic.

Luffy wasn't listening, or maybe he was, no one really could tell with the smile that he wore, but whether it was from Thatch's stories or the things he saw in the store no one knew. The boy was letting his eyes float from one window to the next, perfectly content with just looking for the time being. Sure, he still had his nightmare on his brain, but with his brothers next to him and funny stories coming from the chef, it was easy to ignore the uneasy feelings he got whenever he remembered the horrible dream.

"Ne, Ace, doesn't that look like the Tiger Lord?" Luffy asked, pointing to a plush tiger in one of the windows of a toy store. Ace tilted his head, examining the toy for a minute before nodding.

"Yeah, it does." He said eventually, knocking Luffy's hat off and ruffling the boy's hair with a smile. Luffy beamed up to his brother, his straw hat dangling safely against his back thanks to the string.

"Whats the Tiger Lord?" Thatch asked a bit hesitantly. If it had to do with the facility then it definitely wasn't anything good, and it worried him that he may cause the brothers to have bad reactions, but they seemed to be having fond memories if their smiles were anything to go on. Still, Thatch couldn't help but worry that he brought up something he shouldn't have.

"It was a giant tiger that lives back on our home island. It was best to avoid it." Sabo said, looking fondly to the tiger plush as well, remembering the days before they knew about the facility, the days before they had much of anything to worry about.

"A giant tiger huh? Sounds interesting." Thatch said honestly, trying to imagine said animal.

"Yeah, it was huuuge~! As big as these stores!" Luffy said, spreading his arms out wide in an attempt to demonstrate just how big the animal was.

"Oh yeah? That is pretty big." Thatch said, using this new information to change his view of the tiger, wondering if Luffy was exaggerating about the size or not. It was possible that the boy had seen it and interpreted it to be much larger seeing as he would have been a small child at the time, but you never know when it comes to things like that. Who knows, maybe there was an island with giant animals.

"It was! There was this one time, Ace and Sabo and I, we saw him, and-" Luffy cut himself off abruptly, eyes going wide and smile shifting quickly shifting into a frown. They all stopped and turned to look at the boy in confusion, wondering why he had suddenly stopped talking. Ace and Sabo tightened their grip on their brother's hand, looking around for whatever was causing him to be scared, and when they saw it, their eyes widened as well. The two forced themselves to swallow down their fear, instead turning to look at Luffy, though they couldn't help but keep an eye on the man out of the corner of their eye.

"Come on Lu, let's go back to the Moby." Ace grumbled lowly, his happy attitude gone and replaced with a cautious, almost scared tone that confused Marco and Thatch. The two commanders looked around for the source of the brothers fear, but they couldn't see whatever it was that they were seeing.

It didn't matter though, because Ace was lifting Luffy onto his back with Sabo's help, the young boy too frozen in shock to move a muscle. Sabo kept a hand on Luffys back, whether it was to comfort the boy, or comfort himself, the commanders couldn't tell, and then Ace was turning on his heels, practically sprinting back to the ship with how fast he was walking. Marco and Thatch exchanged a look before following after them, deciding that today's outing was over.

"What's going on, yoi?" Marco asked Sabo, the blonde seeming to be the only one that they might be able to get an answer from. Sabo seemed to think about his answer carefully before swallowing again, turning to glance at the First Commander.

"Doctor. We just saw a doctors coat is all." He said curtly, not sparing them another glance as he focused on following closely along with his brothers, and the commanders didn't ask any more questions after that.

They both knew that the brothers practically had a phobia of needles and doctors, so it wasn't surprising to see them having this reaction to one, but it had been so sudden and without warning that it had caught them off guard. It was unnerving to see the brothers smiling and cheerful one second and then frowning and scared the next.

It only took a mere two minutes for them to rush back to the Moby and for the brothers to board the ship and disappear into their room. In their wake they left a bunch of confused crew members who watched them run off in confusion, all of them looking to Thatch and Marco for answers.

"That was unexpected." Thatch said a bit sadly, hoping the brothers would be ok.

"It was, yoi. We'll have to be careful about things like this next time, we don't want them to have another reaction like this in the future." Marco said, worried for the brothers as well. He knew that people with phobias could have strong reactions when they were faced with said phobias, but it was one thing to hear about and another thing to see it. It was lucky for them that their nurses didn't wear coats like normal doctors did, or else they would have had a much harder time with the children they had saved.

"I'm going to tell Oyaji and the other Commanders about this so that we can try preventing this from happening again, yoi," Marco said, staring at where the boys had disappeared to for another second.

"Yeah, alright, that sounds good. I think I'm gonna go cook some food for them. Hopefully, they'll come out for lunch, but if not this should keep them satiated until I can make them some food and bring it to them." Thatch said, thinking back to the last time they had what they had all dubbed as a bad day. They hadn't left their room for a second, and if they had, no one had noticed. Thatch had to bring all their meals to them, not that he minded, but they got them a bit later than everyone else seeing as Thatch had to cook and serve everyone else before he could leave to serve the brothers.

"Good idea," Marco said, nodding his head as he turned and finally began walking to Whitebeard who was watching them expectantly, knowing they would come and speak with him about whatever had happened. Thatch watched Marco walk off before shaking his head, frowning as he headed to the kitchen to begin cooking.

"Let's hope tomorrow will be better."

Another chapter done and another traumatizing experience for the brothers!

We're still on Fishman Island and this day definitely didn't go as well as the others. As Marco mentioned, everyone reacts differently to their phobias differently, and for the brothers they tend to almost shut down, Luffy especially. Luffy was already on edge so he had a stronger reaction then Ace and Sabo did, but they all had some sort of reaction regardless.

Also, a note about last chapter, at the end when I mentioned Luffy was as strong as he was when he was 17, I should clarify a bit. When I said that, I mean that his raw physical strength was the same as when he was 17, but a few of you guys have mentioned that because he knows haki its more like hes around 18ish, when he was training with Rayleigh. That's right, so raw strength, Luffys at about 17, but haki is around when he was 18. Thank you for all the reviews on the subject though, they show me when I need to clarify things so that we're all on the same page!

Thank you all for your reviews and support on this story! I still can't believe this story is as popular as it is!