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 55: Thinking Things Through
It was the day before their big decision.
Tomorrow, the brothers would have to decide whether or not they wanted to officially join the Whitebeard pirates or not. It was a decision that held a lot of significance for the three, not just because they would be bound to the crew, bound to the Captain, but because they would be obligated to give information that they didn't know if they were ready to share or not.
They could always lie, make an elaborate story about how, sure the facility was bad, but they hadn't done anything life altering to the boys. Sure, they'd been there for seven years of their life, but they weren't given any weird powers or anything. They weren't tested on, they weren't forced to watch children die day after day, they weren't forced to eat disgusting soup because it was their only source of nutrition.
Sure, they could say none of that had happened, they could continue hiding their powers, continue hiding the fact that they spent day after passing day plotting a way to escape, but that would be too dangerous. What if they found out about the lie? What if the marines finally sent out news about what had happened in the facility? Seeing as it was a government-run facility there was zero chance of that happening, but there was always a possibility that someone with too much information got to the press before they could stop it.
So making this decision was an extremely difficult decision.
The brothers sat on the railing, breakfast having long passed and lunch coming up faster then they could keep up with. Time ticked away in hours that felt like minutes, all of them lost in thought. Normally they would be keeping a high alert for anyone getting too close, would use all their senses together to keep a safe bubble around themselves, but today they were all too deep in thought to even attempt that. It was a good thing Teach wasn't there because this would be the perfect time to attack.
They sat close to Whitebeard, maybe even closer than normal, finding comfort in the man they knew could be trusted. Marco stood close by as well, keeping an eye on the brothers, and they didn't mind. After yesterdays incident with Ace, Marco had been watching them carefully, practically waiting to see Ace go tumbling again. Luffy confirmed that the man was only worried, not waiting for a chance to attack like Ace had begun suspecting, and they let him watch, knowing that they weren't paying enough attention to watch themselves at the moment.
Sabo had heard Whiskey from the safety of their room last night briefly explain to the Captain and Commanders that Ace was alright, that nothing life-threatening was at play, and it had calmed them down from the panic they had been in. Of course, as promised, she didn't mention anything about the fact that he had narcolepsy, instead saying that it was doctor-patient confidentiality information that they weren't allowed to know unless Ace himself told them.
Thatch, after finding out about what happened, had become a bit of a worrywart, making the brothers snacks in between lunch, and even bringing them dessert as well after dinner which was unexpected. Of course, they didn't complain and took the food gratefully, but Sabo made sure to thank the chef and tell him it wasn't necessary to go out of his way to make them the snacks.
Sabo sighed as he watched the waves crash against the Moby. He knew this would be good for them, just like agreeing to stay with the Whitebeards indefinitely was good for them, but that didn't mean it was any less scary to think about giving up that tiny piece of freedom they had worked so hard to get.
Sure, they would still be free, free to go to islands, free to sleep in a bed, free to eat meals, but they would have to answer to Whitebeard, give up the freedom of doing as they pleased without worry. Now, they wouldn't just be going around as themselves, they would be going around as official members of the Whitebeard pirates. They would always have the strength of Whitebeard behind them, but they would have to take on the obligations of a crew member.
They'd always dreamed of being pirates, but whenever they imagined it, this scenario had never crossed their minds. It had always been thought that they would be pirate captains, Captains of their very own crew, and here they were, contemplating whether they were going to follow under a Captain they had only come to know over the course of a month.
Luffy was having many of the same thoughts because he had made a promise to Shanks to build a crew up that would one day beat his in his journey to become the pirate king. He still fully intended on doing just that, his dream was to become Pirate King, no matter what, but if he joined this crew, would he still be able to keep that promise? Was his decision already made for him? No matter how much he liked the old Captain, how much he like the First Commander, even how much he was beginning to like Thatch and Izo and some of the others, he wouldn't join because of that if it meant giving up his life long dream.
But what if he could accomplish both? Would he join if that was an option? If he could become his own Captain later and become the Pirate King like promised, would he join the crew?
The questions swam around Luffy's head, becoming muddled. Of course, he had to take into account the fact that this would mean being on the same crew as Teach, someone he knew for a fact was no good, but if he joined he would be able to protect those he was beginning to trust better.
Vaguely, Luffy could smell food wafting over to him. Lunch was nearly done, but he couldn't find it in himself to care.
Ace watched the crew chatting, laughing, cleaning. He could see that they, at least on the surface, cared about each other. It was a big crew, it was inevitable you'd find at least one person you liked here, but on the flip side that just meant you'd also find people you disliked. Despite this, no one looked like they hated each other. They all greeted each other with the same smile, they all used kind words, they all helped others out with chores.
It was weird to Ace, a normally hot-headed and hard to get along with person, to ponder the idea that here, everyone got along. Surely there were fights every once in a while, that was inevitable with a crew this size, but for no one to have any obvious disdain for another crewmember baffled him.
Had he become a Captain like he had planned so long ago he wouldn't tolerate his crew not getting along with one another, and he supposed it would be the same here, so why did it confuse him so much?
Was he just looking for reasons to not want to stay? The idea of staying indefinitely had been hard for him to agree with, but he had eventually agreed after admitting that it would be better if they did, but did that mean they had to join to get the full benefits of being with the Whitebeard Pirates? Did they have to anchor themselves to this crew permanently?
What happens when they get betrayed? When the crew turns on them? They would be unable to leave because they had agreed to join.
Making this decision was going to be the hardest for Ace because he knew everything was at risk here. This was the make or break point, the point of no return, because if they agreed, then they would finally find out whether the pirates were acting or not, whether this was an elaborate plan to get them to join just so they would be tethered here, unable to leave.
Their shitty gramps had mentioned briefly that these were good people, and that was a lot seeing as he hated pirates, or at least seemed to anyway, but the facility had been a government-run building, so whose to say that Garp hadn't set them up?
Great, now he was beginning to distrust even his own grandfather. Even though the man was hard to get along with, rarely came to visit, and had questionable teaching methods, he was still family. This decision was too much for Ace to be thinking about right now.
Looking down at his hands, Ace began picking at his nails, a frown on his face. Even as he tried to think of something else, anything else, all he could think of was what could happen tomorrow.
Giving a frustrated sigh Ace dropped his hands at his sides, looking at his outstretched legs. Why did this have to be so complicated? Why did the Marines have to a bunch of no good dirty bastards?
He and his brothers hadn't done a single criminal act in their life- he wasn't counting all the dine-n-dashes and pick pocketing back home seeing as it was either do that and survive, or don't and die- and yet they were all already condemned to death despite this. Sure, they had planned on being pirates, but that wasn't a crime, not yet anyway.
All three brothers were so lost in thought that they didn't even notice that lunch was now ready and the deck was slowly becoming more and more empty as the crew filtered into the galley. They probably never would have noticed had Marco not walked towards them.
Seeing the Commander's sandaled feet growing closer Ace remembered he was supposed to be sleeping, so he forcibly relaxed his posture and deepened his breathing, hoping the First Commander hadn't noticed the fact that he had been awake, although, knowing his luck, he had. After all, the man had been watching them closely for the past few hours now.
"Hello, Commander," Sabo said, reverting back to the title rather than the man's name. He had noticed Aces sudden change and realized that someone was probably getting close, snapping him from his thoughts. Luffy, almost disorientedly, turned to look at the man as he stopped a few feet away from them.
"Lunch is ready, I was wondering if you three were coming." He said an eyebrow raised slightly higher than the other. Sabo turned as well now, giving Marco a small smile.
"We are, thank you." He said a bit shortly. Sabo knew that the man was only concerned for them, worried they were going to think themselves to death out here, and they probably would, but with tomorrow looming over their heads food felt like an inconvenience. However, Sabo knew it was something they needed, so regrettably, he stood, Luffy following suit and Ace stretching.
Marco nodded at them, giving them one more look that didn't show what he was feeling, before turning to head to the galley. Ace, Sabo, and Luffy were left out on the deck, only a few who were on watch remaining outside with them.
"Thinking sucks." Ace grumbled, rubbing his forehead. Already, half their day had been dedicated to just thinking, and Ace didn't know if he liked that thought or not.
"Thinkings important, but I think ours is getting a bit out of hand," Sabo said with a sigh, also massaging his temple. Luffy remained silent from where he stood in between the brothers, but even he looked tired for someone who had only woken up not all that long ago.
"Have you two come to any conclusion?" Sabo asked as they began a slow walk toward the galley. They all knew they had been thinking about the same thing, it wasn't that hard to figure out, and maybe if they talked out loud about it they would be able to organize their thoughts better and come to a conclusion faster then if they tried solving the issue on their own.
"None here." Ace muttered almost bitterly.
"Me neither," Luffy said softly as well. Sabo sighed, not really having expected them to.
"Yeah, I didn't either." Sabo reluctantly agreed, pushing open the door and ending their conversation as the sounds of laughter and conversation filtered to their ears. The smell of food lingered in the air and the joyful, happy spirit was a harsh contrast to the brothers' gloomy, heavy mood. They went to the usual table, this time sitting beside Vista, and were quickly greeted with their own plate of food that they began picking at.
Of course, the Commanders and Captain easily picked up on something being wrong with the brothers, because any other time they would start chowing down, but all day the brothers had been quieter and more subdued than normal. Sure, they weren't talkative by any means, and they normally sat on the railing for most of the day, but today had been different.
Any other time, Sabo and Luffy would be happily pointing out clouds or watching the waves peacefully while Ace slept calmly behind them. Today, however, Sabo and Luffy were fidgety, and not a single smile graced their faces as they solemnly watched the waves. It hadn't passed any of their attention either that Ace was fidgety like he couldn't get comfortable the entire time he sat there with his brothers. There had been a solemn air around the three that deterred anyone from trying to get too close.
And now they weren't all that interested in eating.
Normally they would chalk it up to a bad day, but when the brothers had a bad day they normally shut themselves off in their room. The fact that they were here in the galley meant that either they were on the verge of a bad day, or this was something else entirely, and they had no idea which it was.
Lunch dragged on slowly, and although they didn't feel all that hungry, the brothers still ate everything they were given. Ace and Luffy didn't eat the normal amount of servings they usually would, but the fact that they'd eaten anything at all had pleased Sabo enough that he didn't push it.
They would be back to eating their normal amount soon enough anyway.
As they left the galley the three quickly discussed whether they should just go to their room for the rest of the day, and seeing as they had important things they needed to discuss they decided it was better if they were in the privacy of their room to do it, so with that, they headed to their room.
"How far have you gotten in your decision?" Sabo asked as he sat on the bed.
"I've got nothing so far." Ace huffed as he joined him.
"I still wanna be Pirate King," Luffy mumbled as he crawled in between his brothers. They sat in silence for a minute after that before the conversation really began.
"Why don't we just state the pros and cons? Like last time, what are the benefits of joining, what are the benefits of not?" Sabo asked, deciding they had to start discussing this sooner rather than later.
"We'll start with pros, like... we would have the full power of Whitebeard on our side," Sabo said, the others understanding what was being asked.
"We could really warn them about Teach!" Luffy piped up because it was kind of silently agreed upon that, should they decide to join, they would tell the pirates everything about what had happened to them, including their powers.
"Don't have to worry about getting kicked off." Ace muttered arms crossed behind his head. If they joined then they wouldn't have to worry about being kicked to the curb if the pirates felt they overstayed their welcome.
Of course, even if they joined they could still be kicked off the crew, but if it turned out that the pirates weren't acting, then there wasn't a chance that would happen.
"We could actually try and get closer to these people," Sabo added, thinking of the many people they didn't even say hi to yet.
And so the list went on, the brothers voicing everything they'd been thinking in terms of why it was a good idea to stay. It was a pretty sizeable list, and it made the brothers feel a bit better to organize the thoughts that had bee weighing them down all day.
"I think that's everything for pros, but what about cons?" Sabo asked, sitting up in the bed now. Luffy and Ace frowned as they remembered some of the reasons they didn't want to join.
"I still wanna have my own crew and be Pirate King, but if we join, would we be able to leave too?" Luffy asked softly, taking his hat off his head and twirling it in his hands.
"And they could just be acting. If we agree to join, that would be the time that they reveal that they really are a bunch of dirty bastards." Ace mentioned with a scowl.
"We would also answer to Whitebeard instead of being able to do whatever we wanted," Sabo said with a sigh. Like the pros, the feeling the brothers got from voicing their concerns was relieving, almost therapeutic. The cons continued, but they found that they had significantly less reason to join then they did vice versa. Most of the cons themselves had been their paranoid thoughts and fears, but Luffy's first con had brought up a good point.
If they had the freedom to join, would they lose the freedom to leave?
Freedom was an important thing for the brothers. After working seven years to gain back their stolen freedom, there was a chance that they were about to hand it back over, to a pirate Captain no less. If they were to agree to join, would they lose that bit of freedom they'd worked so hard to get back?
"I wanna join, but... I wanna be able to leave, so I can keep my promise to Shanks." Luffy said, the hat now resting motionlessly in his lap.
And really, that was all it came down to.
If they agreed to join, and they still had the freedom to leave whenever they wanted, then the brothers couldn't find any real objection to saying no. After all, there was no way they were going to find out if they were amazing actors until they agreed or disagreed, there was no way of knowing if Whitebeard would kick them to the curb if they didn't agree, there was no way of knowing if Teach was the master planner behind this whole thing unless they agreed and found out themselves.
"I would join too, as long as the option to leave remained." Sabo agreed. The two turned to Ace, wondering how he felt about this. After all, if one of them didn't agree to join, then none of them would.
Ace seemed to realize this as well as he sighed again, running his finger through his hair as he thought.
"If... if we can leave... I think I would join too." Ace muttered a bit reluctantly. Sabo and Luffy smiled, and the blonde nodded.
"It's decided then. If we have the freedom to leave, then we'll join."