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 84: The Calm Before the Storm

"Come on Ace, lets gooo~!" Luffy whined, tugging at Aces hand intently, smile stretched across his face as he did.

"Yeah, yeah, calm down would'ya Lu?" Ace muttered, rolling his eyes in an attempt to look unamused, though the smile on his face ruined it.

"As if that's possible." Sabo said from Luffys other side, a smirk on his own face as he followed the hyper active young boy.

"I just got back though, so that should count for something." Ace said, trying to put on his best, 'I'm tired' face.

"But Ace, you promised!" Luffy whined, tugging on his brothers hand.

"Yeah Ace, you promised." Sabo said, repeating Luffy's words in a teasing tone to the eldest who glared at him.

"What exactly did Ace promise this time?" Izo asked with a smile as he walked over to the three brothers, hands hidden in his sleeves.

"Ace said he would tell us all about his mission and then he'd spar with me!" Luffy said, turning his attention to Izo, talking to the commander as if he was their parent and he was tattling on Ace.

"I see. Well Ace, seems you better make good on that promise of yours. After all, you know best that Luffy holds promises in high regards." Izo said with a hint of laughter.

"Fine, come on then." Ace said with a sigh of defeat, slinking off towards an empty section of the deck, Luffy cheering at his side as he bounced beside his brother. Sabo laughed, but didn't follow the two, instead staying with Izo.

It had been a year since Ace had accepted the title of Second Division Commander, a year since the brothers had escaped the facility, and a year since they'd joined the Whitebeards.

Ace and Sabo were now 18 years old and Luffy was 15. Over the course of the year, the three continued to open up to the crew, making more and more friends amongst the crew. They continued to keep a close eye on Teach, and with Ace being in charge of the second division, that became much easier to do.

Sabo and Luffy had been placed amongst the second division as well, much to Aces never ending delight whenever he got to use the, 'I'm your superior and your older brother' card. The three continued to share a room, continued to go to their sessions with Whiskey, and continued to get passed the trauma that was the facility. Of course, there were set backs every now and then, because that's just how life goes. Occasionally the three would see or hear a trigger, or just have too many nightmares, and they would take the day off, deeming it a 'Bad Day'. Everyone on the crew understood and no one ever pressured them to talk about those bad days, it was just understood that they weren't to be spoken about unless the brothers mentioned them.

Ace had also gotten the hang of being a division commander pretty quickly. If he ever had questions, he went to Marco or Whitebeard, but other then that, he seemed to have everything under control.

"Did you have a cool fight? With lots of bad guys and stuff? And explosions too!" Luffy asked his brother as they both got into fighting stances.

"Well duh, I did go to protect one of Pops' islands." Ace said with another eye roll, as if it was obvious. Luffy grinned, laughing.

"Shishishi! Oh, did you try that firefly thing again?!" Luffy asked as he launched himself towards Ace, fist flinging backwards in preparation for an attack.

"Yeah, it worked better this time too. Got most of the pirates with 'em." Ace answered as he blocked Luffys punch, coating his arms in haki. Sabo watched off to the side with Izo, the two talking quietly amongst themselves as Ace and Luffy sparred. It was a usual occurrence for Luffy to want to spar with his brother after a mission, as long as Ace was alright to spar.

Whenever Ace left Luffy had a habit of sitting on the railing and watching their eldest brothers wave like a hawk. Most times it was alright, the wave never faltering or getting weak, but occasionally Aces wave would start losing opacity, and whenever that happened, it was difficult for Luffy to do anything other then sit there and stare at the wave, practically willing it to get better. The only thing that could get the youngest brother to leave the railing would be food, the bathroom, or sleep, and even then it was a challenge.

Speaking of.

"Alright you two, lunch is ready!" Sabo shouted to his brothers, ending their spar preemptively.

"Food!" Luffy cheered, running off without hesitation to the galley. Sabo and Ace both shook their heads at Luffys antics, but followed after him regardless.

As time passed, Luffy had slowly returned to the bubbly, happy person he'd been before the facility. There were times that he reverted back to his old self, mostly when they were in crowds of strangers, but for the most part, Luffy was back to how he used to be, gluttony and all.

The same could be said for Ace and Sabo as well. The two of them were no longer as timid or cautious as they used to be so long as they were around the Whitebeards. Whenever they landed on new islands not under Whitebeards protection, it was a different story, but other than that they were great.

The marines were still out to get them, of course, and they'd even raised their bounties multiple times over the year. Once word of Aces promotion got out to the world his bounty had a major increase, and ever since its been steadily rising, now resting at a good 450,000,000 berri. Sabo wasn't far behind with a 400,000,000 berri bounty, and Luffy was at 300,000,000 berri. They were still to be taken Alive Only and their pictures had yet to be updated since the first picture they had.

"You nearly gave Luffy a heart attack during your last mission." Sabo said as he and Ace matched each others pace.

"Really? I wasn't even injured that bad." Ace said with a frown, watching his little brothers back as it dissapeared into the galley.

"You know how he gets whenever you get an injury and we're not around. Thatch wasn't here either to keep him calm with food." Sabo said with a sigh. He remembered only a few days ago when Luffy had refused to leave the railing for meals, stating Aces wave was lighter then it should be. Sabo had to spend nearly the whole meal trying to coax his brother to eat at least half a plate of food.

Whenever Luffy was on Ace watch Thatch would bring him snacks periodically and talk with him to make sure he ate healthy, but the Commander had been sent on a mission of his own a few days after Ace had. Sabo had been left to try and keep Luffy alive by himself, though that wasn't necessarily all true with the hundreds of crewmates they had that all tried their hardest to make Luffy feel better too. Marco was another one of the few to constantly check-up on Luffy during those times, talking to the boy and making sure he took care of himself.

"When's he get back anyway?" Ace asked, having noticed Thatch wasn't around when he got back.

"I think Pops and Marco said he should be back by tomorrow." Sabo said, he and Ace both reaching the line to get food now. Luffy was already at the commanders table, a large plate of food in front of him as he ate eagerly.

"That's good. Hows everything been since I've been gone? You know, besides Luffy worrying too much?" Ace asked as they started piling food onto their plates.

"Eh, you know how it is. A few marines thought they could take us again, Teach got back from that mission of his yesterday, and Tyler finally figured out that Ruta was the one to hide his lucky sock. All in all, its been pretty normal." Sabo answered.

"Ah, damnit, I thought for sure Tyler would be in the dark for another week!" Ace exclaimed, having been one of the many to place a bet on when the man would find out. Sabo laughed loudly at his side.

"I told you you should have listened to me! He's smarter then you give him credit for." Sabo said, the two finishing piling food onto their plates and heading to the table where Luffy was already finishing his first serving.

"Did'ya hear Ace? You lost the bet!" Haruta announced with a gleeful smile as the two brothers sat down. Ace pouted, already digging in.

"Yeah, Sabo told me. Who won anyways?" The raven asked, noting absent mindedly that Sabo was scolding Luffy again for eating too fast.

"Vista, Kingdew, Blamenco, and quite a few from the fifteenth division. Apparently they were one of the only ones to listen when Sabo was telling you about when Tyler would notice." Haruta said with a teasing tone, earning a glare from Ace and another laugh from Sabo.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, I get it, Sabo's smart. Nerd." Ace said, muttering the last word quieter, yet loud enough for everyone to hear. A round of laughter was heard from everyone listening in on the conversation while Luffy smiled, basking in the happy emotions.

"Seriously though, you should get in on the bets too Sabo, you almost always win them even though you don't participate!" Jozu said. Sabo shrugged, taking another bite of food.

"I'd rather watch Ace lose all his allowance instead. Besides, I don't need anymore money then I've already got." The blonde replied.

"Yeah right, that's not what you said when we had to get you new clothes!" Ace demanded, pointing a finger at Sabo accusingly. He regretted it almost immediately though when his brother turned to give him a glare.

"That's only because you burned all of mine with that rampage of yours! I needed a whole new wardrobe!" Sabo nearly shouted. Inbetween the two, Luffy laughed loudly, thinking back to a few months ago. Ace had woken up from a nightmare and hadn't been in his right mind, immediately swinging fiery fists this way and that, lighting up their closet almost instantly. Sabo and Luffy had calmed him down quickly enough, but the damage had been done.

Luffys clothes had all been out drying after a mishap in the mud, and Ace hadn't worn a shirt since he'd gotten his tattoos, so the only one to really suffer had been Sabo whose entire wardrobe had been lost.

"It wasn't really my fault though! Besides, if you didn't wear... all of that then it wouldn't have been so expensive." Ace said in an attempt to defend himself, gesturing to Sabo's outfit. Sabo had returned to wearing clothes resembling those of nobility, complete with the frilly cravat, white undershirt, and blue vest with a belt. He also wore a pair of brown gloves and black boots.

"Sorry that I actually like wearing clothes Ace." Sabo said sarcastically, complete with an eye roll, referring to his brothers lack of shirt. Ace wore a simple pair of black shorts with an orange belt, the buckle a shiny silver with a red A on it, and a pair of black boots.

"Clothes are overrated." Ace said, his tone still slightly defensive.

"If you two are done with your bickering, Luffy seems to have left, yoi." Marco said in his usual lazy tone, pointing his fork to the galley doors which were swinging closed. Ace and Sabo blinked, both realizing something at the same time as their eyes widened.

"Shit!" They both exclaimed simultaneously, shoveling the last of their food in their mouths before rushing out after the youngest. The commanders all laughed while Whitebeard smiled, taking a sip of his drink, alcoholic of course.

Meanwhile, Luffy was busy laughing quietly to himself as he shimmied himself into a group of barrels, his rubber body allowing him to feel no discomfort at the tight space which would be impossible for a normal person to fit into. He held a water balloon in each hand, one red and one yellow, and forced himself to stop laughing once he heard his brothers run out onto the deck, knowing Sabo would hear him if he did.

"Come on Luffy, I thought we weren't gonna do this anymore!" Ace all but whined as he scanned the deck for the youngest. The second the two older brothers had reached the deck, Luffy had suppressed his aura, something he had figured out how to do over the course of the year with the pirates, making it nearly impossible for the two older brothers to find him.

"Can you hear him?" Ace asked, beginning to walk around the deck in an attempt to find Luffy, though being careful not to stick his head close enough to a hiding place, lest his brother be hiding there. He'd like to avoid a face full of water if possible.

"No, he's gotten too good at being quiet when he wants to be." Sabo said with a sigh as he began searching alongside Ace.

After one of Aces first few missions, in an attempt to lighten Luffys mood, Haruta had suggested playing a prank on Ace and Sabo. The boy had been interested in the idea, and ever since then, whenever Ace got back from a mission, he would run off and hide somewhere, ready to pelt the two with his water balloons that Haruta continued to supply him with. The two had tried time and again to stop Luffy from doing this, but the one time they did manage to stop him, he'd pouted for almost a full two days before they relented and agreed he could continue doing it.

Of course, every time this happened, they regretted not holding out longer.

As time passed, Ace and Sabo tried searching every known hiding place they could think of with no luck. Eventually, the rest of the crew was watching them in amusement, some having accidentally stumbled upon Luffy but not giving away his hiding spot. Haruta watched proudly, having also found Luffy already.

"Ah, how they grow up!" Haruta said wistfully, Fossa rolling his eyes beside him.

"At least hes actually hiding this time. Last time he just sat on the beams and dropped the water balloons on them when they walked outside." Fossa said, gesturing to the wooden beams high in the sky. Haruta laughed, not having been there the last time Ace returned from a mission.

"Better then the first time we did this and he laughed the whole time. Sabo found us right away!" Haruta said, eyes drifting over to wear Luffy sat, water balloons at the ready as his eyes followed his brothers intently.

"I think you two forget the time he tried to sneak attack them and ended up falling into the ocean, yoi." Marco said in amusement, arms crossed as he watched the two brothers grow more frantic in their search. Fossa and Haruta both winced.

"Yeah, that definitely wasn't one of his best attacks." Haruta agreed.

"Gotcha!" Luffys shout drew the Commanders from their conversation, turning just in time to watch Luffy pop out of his hiding spot and hit Ace and Sabo squarely in the face, the water balloons exploding at the contact.

Laughter erupted from everyone present besides Ace and Sabo, the two pouting as they wiped their faces.

"Damnit Lu, when did you start getting good at this?" Ace asked, shaking his head like a dog, water flinging this way and that, a few close by complaining as they got wet.

"Shishishi, Oyaji gave me some ideas!" Luffy exclaimed loudly. Everyone turned to the Captain who looked away, whistling.

"Oyaji!" Ace and Sabo whined in unison, only getting a laugh from the Captain in response.

"Great. I'm gonna go change." Sabo said with a sigh of defeat, stalking off to their bedroom.

"You do that, I'm gonna teach Luffy why its a bad idea to throw water balloons at me every time I get back." Ace said, fist forming and turning black at the haki he was exuding. Luffy yelped, jumping onto one of the barrels and extending his arms upwards towards the rigging before Ace could grab him.

"Get back here you damn Monkey!"

"Shishishi, no way! Agh, hey, no fair, you cant throw fire at me!"

"Don't burn down the ship Ace, yoi!"

"Oi, Luffy, run that way, not towards me!"

"Gah! Run away, they're heading this way!"

"Gurarara~!"

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

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the New World, Thatch and his division slowly made their way back home to the Moby. They still had another day of travel, but everything, for the most part, was peaceful. The small group that Thatch had taken with him on his mission were all milling around the deck, some checking to make sure they were still on course, some moving loot they had gotten into the ship, and others tending to the wounds they received during their fight.

Thatch himself was alone in his room, laying on the bed as he tossed a circular object back and forth from hand to hand. He observed it carefully, mind racing as he thought of all the different options.

The object, of course, was a devil fruit. The Yami Yami no mi.

When Thatch and his division had finished up their fight and had been looting the pirates that thought they could take one of their many protected islands, Thatch had found the fruit inside a treasure chest onboard the enemy ship. Of course, since he was the one to find it, he was the one who got to decide what he wanted to do with it.

This meant, however, that Thatch had a serious choice on his hands. On one hand, he could eat the fruit, gain new powers that could possibly help or hurt him, and lose the ability to swim. On the other, he could not eat it, maybe give it to someone else on the crew who wanted it, maybe sell it, while keeping his ability to swim in the end.

Both choices had their pros, but they both had their cons as well. For one, there was the obvious loss of being able to swim if he ate the fruit, but there was also the possibility that whatever power he gained would be useless. Sure there was the saying that no devil fruit power was truly useless, you just had to know how to use it, but that meant Thatch would have to train himself all over again, get himself completely accustomed to a new power he'd never believed he would have.

However, if he decided against eating the fruit and instead sold it, that meant that whatever power he held in his hands right now went to someone else in the world, whether that be the greedy pirates of the world, the corrupt marines, or just an innocent civilian. The chances that the person who ate this fruit was their enemy though, was too great.

And then there was the option of giving the fruit to someone on the crew who wanted it. It was possibly the option with the least amount of cons, but Thatch didn't know how he felt about the one con he could think of. If he gave this fruit to someone else and they regretted eating it, or got hurt because of it, it would inadvertently be his fault. He would be the one to give someone else this fruit, he would be the one handing the weight of its power onto someone else.

Thatch sighed heavily as he turned onto his side, placing the fruit on his nightstand as he did.

He'd just have to wait until he got back to the Moby and was able to do some more research on this mystery fruit.

I think you all know where this is going. Thatch has found the Yami Yami no mi, which means that Teach's betrayal is coming soon! It's definitely long overdue. This chapter was nice and calm; a transition into what's to come. It was also the first time skip since the brothers were in the facility as well. As I said before, things will be moving full steam ahead now.

In other news, with this chapter we'll most likely be hitting 1,000 reviews! That's a milestone I never dreamed that I would reach, and now that it's happening I'm left completely speechless. I can never thank you all enough for everything you've done to help support this chapter, even if it was just reading these chapters as they get uploaded, or even binge reading them all after multiple weeks have passed. Come Monday, I'll be ending the poll for what you guys want me to do to celebrate 1,000 reviews so go vote now if you want to have a say in that.

As always, thank you for your support. Whether its a review, favorite, follow, or just a view, it all means the world to me.