The walk to the second infirmary had never been so far. Every step felt like an eternity, the dread in his stomach expanding with every time his boots met the Adams wood. Sabo had his blank face on, which made it impossible for even Ace to see what he was feeling, and Marco had his 'lazy face' on, which pretty much had the same effect as Sabo's expression. And it made Ace angry that they're able to keep calm, when Ace felt like he would explode into a ball of flames at any second.

They couldn't understand what Ace was going through at the moment. They hadn't seen Luffy like Ace had. Hadn't seen their little brother with such a fear filled expression, with tears running down his cheeks, screaming for help. Ace had been afraid that Sabo wouldn't be able to handle what had happened, so he had kept his mouth shut. Ha had been planning on telling him later, when Sabo had calmed down, but that time had never come, and right now he was regretting that he hadn't told him earlier. What would happened when Sabo saw what had happened to their baby brother? Would he panic, like Ace had? No, Sabo was smarter than that, he would be able to control himself. Right?

"So you brats finally came, huh?" Ace looked up, lost in his thoughts he hadn't even noticed that they'd already arrived at the infirmary.

"I'm older than you, Alys, yoi," Marco rolled his eyes at the head doctor, she just replied with a snicker before she turned towards Ace and Sabo with a more somber expression. After a few moments of quiet, she took a deep breath.

"Before you go in, you should know the state of things," she sighed. Ace could feel his heart beating loudly in his ears. "I will not lie, your brother isn't doing well. He's been starved, beaten and he's been damaged in regions that I can't fully heal. And I still have no idea on how his mental state is faring."

"When, when you s-say, 'r-regions', d-do, do you m-mean…?", Sabo stuttered, his blank expression cracking, revealing the dread and panic underneath. Ace only felt numb.

Alys nodded. "That's exactly what I mean," she responded quietly. Ace saw how Sabo's body started shaking, his expression filled with terror, eyes watery. Ace put his hand on his brother's shoulder. He had been able to puzzle everything together in the first few seconds of seeing Luffy, which had been a big reason why he lost control. Luffy's attire had spoken volumes, and the, the hickeys and bite marks that had covered his little brother's skin-. He took a deep breath, killing the rage welling up inside of him. Right now he needed to be strong for Sabo, he couldn't repeat the same mistake twice.

He took a few steps towards Alys, trying to look ready, even though he knew he would never be.

"Can we come in?"

She nodded, opening the door. Sabo took hold of Ace's arm, hugging it tightly. It reminded Ace of when they were young, when Sabo would be scared of everything, and nothing.

"Follow me," Alys whispered, walking inside the infirmary, the three brothers in her heels. The infirmary was completely empty except for about ten empty beds and two beds that had been pushed together with three forms snoring on it. Alys stopped at the foot of the beds. "Here they are."

Ace looked down at the three boys on the bed, and felt the rage that he had killed being reanimated. Luffy was lying in the arms of two boys that looked a bit older than him, cuddled up close, as if even the notion of being separated from them hurt him. The makeup was gone, making it impossible not to see that the boy in the bed was their little brother. He had become a lot thinner, but the bones weren't sticking out as they had been before. He supposed that it was thanks to his little brothers devil fruit. His hair had been put in a small ponytail, showing off the patches that had been put over his throat.

"L-Luffy," Sabo whispered, his voice filled with the heartbreak Ace was feeling. His scarred hand reached out, stopping just over Luffy's knee, his whole arm was shaking. He retracted it to his side, the other hand coming up to cover his mouth. He looked sick.

"Sa', are you alright?", Ace whispered, taking a step towards his brother, but he flinched back when his brother rounded on him. Tears were running down his cheeks, and he looked furious.

"No, Ace, I am not 'alright'," he sneered. "My little brother has been tortured and raped for who knows how long! And I had that noble pig at my staffs end, Ace, and I didn't even kill him! I didn't even make him beg for mercy! And you know what's the worst part? I can't feel sad about this, because it's all my fault. If, if I hadn't left early, then, then m-maybe I-I could have… I could have," a sob cut him off, and with that all the fight left him, he slumped into his brothers embrace. Ace hugged him tight.

"You're right, bad question." Ace murmured, letting his fingers brush through Sabe's hair. Sabo let out a surprised laugh.

"Actually, we do know how long he was there." Ace and Sabo looked up at Alys. "All of their wounds are from different times, but the majority of their scars are about two years old, which means that they have been there for about two years time, probably together."

"Two years?", Sabo mumbled, his grip on Ace tightening. He looked up at Ace with a broken stare. "We, we left two years and five months ago."

Ace didn't notice the tears running down his cheeks, but he did see how the last part in Sabo that hadn't broken yet, cracked into a thousand pieces. He hugged him tighter, trying to hold his brother together.

Someone walking towards them made Ace look up from his brother. He saw how Marco came forwards, and, without hesitation, hugged them tight. Ace and Sabo looked up surprised at their brother, he may have the title as the mother hen of the crew, but he usually didn't comfort with hugs. And when warmth enveloped them from behind, the arms of their big sister snacking around them, hugging them as well, they didn't know what to feel

"It'll be alright, yoi," Marco whispered, Alys hummed in agreement, and for the third time that day, Ace and Sabo broke down.

No one noticed the twitching from the blonde boy on the bed.

"Tch, tch. Really Sanji? You thought that I would let you come back?", Zeff sneered, shaking his head. "You've always been an idiot, but this a new level, even for you."

"O-owner Zeff, what are you…?", Sanji was cut of by a kick to his face. His body was hurting after all the kicks he had gotten from his mentor, and his right eye felt weird. He couldn't move, stuck to the floor.

"Oh, what is it, weakling? Can't even take a few kicks? Can't say I'm surprised, you've always been a disappointment." Zeff walked towards him, limping on his wooden leg. "You see what you did to me, boy? I should have let you die on that rock, you've only been causing me problems ever since I took you in." Sanji couldn't talk, it felt like his throat was sealed shut, he could only shake his head widely.

"Yes, you can't even hit a woman," He looked to his right, seeing The Lady. "Or, am I wrong, Demon? I am, aren't I. The boy that would never ever hurt a woman is gone, isn't he? I killed him, right?" Sanji could only feel horror, because he knew what she said was true.

"What did you expect, guys? He doesn't have any honor, always makes promises he can't keep. He said he would protect me, but he couldn't even do something simple as that. He's just a failure." Sanji looked to his left, and the tears that he'd tried to stop started to run down his cheeks.

Luffy's whole body was covered in scratches, bite marks, hickes and blood was slowly running down his thighs. He was so thin, like a skeleton, completely starved. His face was sunken in, eyes bloodshot, his hands and legs were shaking, barely being able hold himself up with the lack of energy.

"L-Luffy, no, please…"

He tried to get free, but the floor wouldn't let go.

"You're just a failure Sanji. A weakling, an abomination! A failed experiment! You were a waste of life." Sanji didn't know if it had been Zeff, the Lady or Luffy that had said it, but he didn't care, because he knew deep down that they weren't lying.

He had always been a failure, always being the one that couldn't, but now more than ever. He was supposed to keep Luffy safe, to make sure that he was happy. That was his purpose. Zoro protected them like the Beast he was, Luffy brightened up their lives with joy and light, like the Angel he was, and Sanji… Well Sanji manipulated the situation so that Luffy would see it for better than it actually was, like the Demon he was. He lived so that he could make sure that his little Angel didn't break.

And he had failed.

The group of siblings jumped apart at the death chilling scream from the bed. For a half second Ace thought it had been Luffy that had screamed, but turning towards the bed, he saw that it wasn't Luffy sitting up screaming his lungs out. It was the blonde. Ace hadn't taken notice of him until now, Luffy had always taken up all of his attention.

"Alys, what's going on!?", Marco yelled, covering his ears, even though the scream wouldn't have hurt him.

"I don't know," Alys screamed back.

The boy abruptly stopped his screaming, his labored breathing echoing in the small room. He didn't seem to have taken notice of them, his eye looking blindly around the room, before stopping at the form of Ace's and Sabo's little brother. He let out a strangled whimper, pulling off the bed covers, revealing Luffy and the green haired boy that had been sleeping underneath.

"Luffy…". Ace had barely been able to hear his strangled whisper. The boy seemed to be crying as he pushed the bangs from Luffy's face, cradling his face in his hands. "I'm sorry, so sorry, sorry, please, so sorry," he sobbed over and over again, hugging the unconscious boy close to him.

"Demon?", Marco whispered, and it was like a switch had been flipped. The boy looked up, his eyes turning from anguish, to confusion, to fear, to horror, to rage. He pulled up the covers once more on the two boys, making sure that they were out of sight, glaring at the four siblings in front of him with rage and fear, and with a shaky hand pointing at Marco.

"You," he seethed. He started getting up, but flinched when pain shot through him. He looked down at himself, seemingly surprised by what he saw, before he seemed to realise something. He gasped, a hand shooting up to the bandage eye. "W-what did you do to me…?" he whispered, looking up once more. Alys looked down not answering, and he didn't seem to like that. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME!?".

Alys came forwards, putting her hands up in a calming manner.

"Calm down, boy. You're hurt, you need to calm-"

"Don't come any c-closer!", he cut Alys off, the rage turning into fear. "I'm warning you! I, I won't hold back just because you-you're a girl!" Ace noticed how his expression seemed to morph into one of terror as he said these things, seemingly horrified over his statement, before he once more seemed to get a hold of himself, but the terror still not leaving his expression. "Yeah, I won't let you come closer. I'll pummel you to the ground!"

The bandages that had been covering the boy's arms started to turn red with blood, his wounds had opened. If this continued, Ace knew that this boy would hurt himself even further. He took a small step forwards, trying to look calm.

"Hey, calm down, kid," he told the boy. "My names Ace, what's yours?"

The boy seemed confused by Ace's actions, looking at him as if he was an idiot- before his eye widened in recognition.

"You! You were the one that tried, that tried to hurt L- Angel," he stuttered, once more making sure that Luffy was out of sight.

"His name is Luffy, but you know that, right?", Sabo stated, taking a few steps until he was standing besides his brother. The boy's eyes widened, panic crossing his face.

"H-how did you...?", he whispered, confusion clouding his expression. Before he could once more go into rage mode, Ace spoke up.

"We know him, from before, before this happened to him," he explained. "We don't want to hurt you, we simply want to make sure you're alright." The boy didn't seem convinced.

"But if you knew him, why did you try to attack him?," he asked, voice like icy steel, the confusion gone as fast as it had appeared.

"I reacted badly, I couldn't control my anger, but I didn't hurt him, I'm sure of that," Ace stated. Ace knew that he would never hurt Luffy like that.

The boy still seemed unsure.

"Demon, I know what you've been through a lot, but Angel needs medical treatment, yoi. Plus, he has to start getting control over his haki, or it could hurt him, yoi. Don't do this for us or yourself, do it for him."

Ace forgotten that Marco had been in the room, and had nearly been scared out of his boots by his proclamation. And had he just said Haki? Luffy has Haki? Since when? The image of the weak little brother they had left on Goa Island entering his mind's eye.

The boy, Demon was simply staring at them with a blank expression.

"If we stay, you have to promise that you'll not hurt us, that you'll leave us alone as much as possible, and that I'll be the one to prepare our food, when my wounds are healed," Demon stated, adding the last part when Alys were about to argue.

Ace wanted to protest. He didn't know this boy, for all he knew he had been the one that had hurt Luffy. And, Ace didn't want to be separated from his brother more than necessary. He wanted to hug him close, dry his tears, sing Luffy's lullaby like he used to. But he knew that he couldn't have that anymore, the image of Luffy's panicked face coming into his mind's eye. Right now, this was their best course of action. Marco seemed to agree.

"Alright, yoi, but until the three of you have healed, you will eat with at least one of us, yoi. You'll also undergo full medical treatment and Angel will get lessons in Haki. We don't want you to do anything that makes you uncomfortable, but we want to make sure that you'll heal. Do you agree to these terms?".

The boy looked around the room, staring at each one of them, before staring at the two sleeping figures beside him. He looked up, his expression filled with determination.

"I agree."

"You did what!?", Zoro growled at Sanji, clenching his fists. Sanji rolled his eyes.

"What was I supposed to do, Mosshead?! They outnumbered me and would have easily destroyed me in a fight. Plus, as long as we lay low, and don't anger them, we'll get medical treatment, and they'll help Lu with his Panic Mode. When we're strong enough, we'll leave!", Sanji argued, glaring at Zoro.

"Oh, yeah? And what happens when something goes wrong. I'll tell you what happens, they'll punish us. You saw what that fire monster did, they're not on our side. No one on this ship is! We can't trust them!"

"I'm not saying that we should trust them! I'm saying that if we don't want to die of infections before we even reach the East Blue, we have to accept their help!"

"Do you really think they'll let us go when they've healed us, Sanji? They saw our marks, they know! We've just traded our hell for another!"

"How do you know that, you haven't even talked to them!"

"I've meet pirates, and they are no good! They kill, raid, kidnap and rape. They are not to be trusted!"

"Didn't you agree to become a pirate, Zoro? Or have you changed your mind?"

"Shut your mouth!", Zoro roared, taking hold of Sanji's shirt. Sanji flinched back, terror filling his eyes. The expression made all of the fight inside of Zoro die.

He dropped his hand from Sanji's shirt, slumping forwards, looking down on his Captain's sleeping face. He let his fingers run through the boy's hair.

"You know that this is different," Zoro whispered, not looking up at the blond, but he could feel how the blond started to calm down. Sanji put a hand on his shoulder.

"I, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. I just, just, I don't know," Sanji murmured. "I'm tired."

Zoro let out a small laugh.

"Yeah, me too."

"This feels familiar," Sanji laughed, remember all the times their fights have been resolved this way. He tried to shake his head at the silliness of the situation, but abruptly stopped when pain shoots from his right eye. His hand immediately covers the bandage. It. Hurt. So. Fucking. Much.

"Dartbrow?", Zoro's worried voice draws Sanji away from the pained haze. "How, how's the eye?"

Sanji looked down. Should he say he was fine? No, he remembers what the Doctor had said, he wouldn't be able to fake it. He sighed.

"I'll have to change my bangs to hang over the other side of my face from now on."

Zoro's eyes widened, understanding changing his expression. He took hold of the cook's shoulder, turning the teen towards him, trying to make a gentle expression.

"It'll alright."

Sanji shrugged, looking down. He stroked one of his hands slowly over the bandage, feeling the hollow space where his eye used to be, before he looked up with a small smile.

"But hey, now I'll match Lu. All we need now is for you to get a facial scar, and we'll be perfect!"

"I'll get on that," Zoro whispered, his hand stroking Sanji's cheek, his thumb wiping away the tears that had started to run down the boys cheek. "I promise, this was the last time the two of you get hurt outside of combat," he declared, Sanji smiled through the tears.

"I'll h-hold you to that p-promise."

Zoro nodded, guiding Sanji into his embrace. It was a bit awkward, Sanji was usually the comforter, and it was a bit uncomfortable, with Luffy sleeping in between them, but, somehow, it was perfect.

Making sure that their Angel was sleeping, Sanji let the tears run down his cheeks. Crying for his Captain, for his lost morals, for his lost eye, and everything that had happened the last two years.

And if Sanji noticed Zoro crying with him, well, it could just as well have been the wind.