Author's Note
Once again, thank you to those who have read this story so far and a special thank you to Jui-Imouto-Chan for leaving a review!
WARNINGS FOR THIS CHAPTER
- mentions of sexual assault
- panic...lots of panic
ACE'S POV
Ace walked quickly down the street, carrying five bags full of food, cursing his narcolepsy for doing this at the worst time and making him late for supper with his brother.
"Lu's probably starving by now, it's almost midnight." he thought as he turned the corner to the familiar apartment complex. He was in such a hurry that he almost missed it...almost...the sight of a mangled corpse really was hard to miss. He dropped the bags, heart rate skyrocketing as he took in the scene. The corpse, the obvious signs of a struggle, the skid marks on the pavement. Ace's gaze swung to the stairs that led up to his brother's apartment. He couldn't see anything yet, but dread began to fill his veins. He raced forward, stopping at the foot of the stairs and trying his best not to panic as he saw the dark liquid spattered across a few of the steps.
"Luffy?" he called, though he wasn't sure why...his brother should be safe inside his apartment, unable to hear his voice. He dashed up the stairs, only to freeze in horror in front of the door that opened into the once immaculate apartment. He hardly dared to breathe as he stepped inside, if his hands were shaking he paid them no attention, staring in shock at the overturned furniture and broken glass.
"Luffy?!" he yelled, praying for an answer of some kind from where his baby brother had hidden or something in one of the other rooms. All he heard was silence. In the silence, he looked around once more, this time catching sight of a pile of familiar clothes, laying twisted and crumpled up on the floor near the kitchen. Ignoring the shards of glass, Ace knelt to scoop up the discarded clothing, trying to stay calm.
"...this...this can't be happening…" he muttered, "...Lu…." obviously, his brother had fought but...if this was the outcome…Ace took a deep breath and reached for his phone, trying to figure out who to call first. There were so many people that needed to know...Marco first, he'd help to calm the panic rising up in Ace's chest. Though the dial tone did nothing to help his anxiety as he waited.
"Ace, what's up-yoi?" Marco asked, his voice instantly helping to calm the younger man's breathing.
"MARCOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" Ace sobbed, "MAAAAARRRCOOOOO! LUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"
"...Ace? Ace, calm down-yoi." Marco replied, concern obvious, "Breathe,"
"Ma-mar-marco! I-I can't- Lu-he's-IcameheretohavedinnerwithhimbutIwaslateandIthinkhewasrapedandkidnappedbutthere'sacorpseand-"
"ACE!" Marco snapped, "BREATHE! Slow down and start over, slowly." Ace nodded, though he knew Marco couldn't see him, and took a deep breath, which helped even though he felt like his heart was going to burst out of his chest any second.
"I- I came here to-to have su-supper with Lu." he began, words punctuated by stifled sobs, "Bu-but I was l-late...stupid narcolepsy….and - and, I got here and there's this- this corpse outside, and bl-blood on the stairs, and Luffy-Luffy's place is a mess...and…" he trailed off looking down at the clothes in his arms.
"Ace?"
"...He's not here, Marco." he said quietly, "He's not here but...but his...his clothes are."
Marco didn't want that to mean what he thought it meant, not at all.
"It's his apartment, Ace, you shouldn't jump to-"
"He sent me a selfie earlier…" Ace interrupted, hysteria trying to find its way back into his voice, "He was wearing this today, plus Law would never let him leave clothes lying around."
Marco fell silent for a moment before saying, "Hold on, I'm getting Pops." and Ace was left alone with his thoughts for a minute as he listened to what he assumed was the other man rushing to Pops' room. There was a large amount of jumbled conversation for a few minutes before Pops' voice came through,
"Ace? Marco told me what happened," he said, just the sound of his voice going a long way towards calming the young man's frazzled nerves.
"Pops…"
"I want you to stay there. I'm sending Marco and Thatch to assist you. Do not leave until they get there. We will do whatever it takes to find him and make those who did this pay with their lives." Pops assured him, nearly making Ace burst into tears all over again.
"...you got it, Boss."
SMOKER'S POV
Smoker believed that he might actually be experiencing the worst day of his entire life. First, his partner of ten years was poisoned and hospitalized, stuck in a coma. THEN he'd shown up to work after a night in the hospital to find that calls were pouring in reporting that people were literally dying in the streets, over five thousand in all. The nobles were already calling for marshall law, something that could not be allowed since the second that plan was approved, one of the warring gangs would seize control. Smoker could not let that happen, not in his city.
On top of that, one hundred and fifty missing person cases had been called in, though that number was still rising along with the random and completely infuriating calls from people that were concerned with the number of stray animals that had appeared in the city overnight. PLUS the sixteen mangled corpses found early in the morning by unfortunate civilians. It really was not a good day.
"Vergo, I want you to handle the murders." Smoker ordered, handing over the case file.
"...I think I would be more useful on the missing person's case." Vergo protested, but Smoker shook his head,
"You've worked homicide before, these younger brats don't have the experience needed for this case." 'and...this is my city, my district...this happened while I was on duty'
Before the other man could reply, the door to the station burst open to reveal the familiar form of one of the volunteer firefighters,
"I NEED TO SPEAK WITH SMOKER!" Ace shouted the second he was inside.
"...I thought today couldn't get worse." the man in question muttered before making his way towards the front of the building.
"SMOKER!"
"What is it, Portgas? I'm a bit busy."
"SMOKER! MY LITTLE BROTHER IS GONE!" Ace yelled. Smoker sighed.
"...you and everyone else...file a report and-"
"No! It's not the same!" Ace protested, "I've been watching the news but...this is different!"
"How so?" Smoker asked and braced himself for another barrage of shouted information.
"Ace, go wait with Thatch while I explain this," Marco said, appearing behind the younger man, who had indeed been about to shout the details of his brother's case.
"...Phoenix." Smoker growled,
"Smoker." Marco replied stoically, "Ace, go outside with Thatch. Now." Ace sighed and did as he was told, his silence and sudden loss of energy allowing the detective to notice how pale the other man was.
"His brother-"
"Is different from the other cases." Marco interrupted, "he didn't just vanish into thin air. We have a crime scene." That got Smoker's attention.
"A crime scene? He's not...dead, is he?"
"I certainly hope not, there'd be no consoling Ace if he was." Marco muttered, "He was...abducted, there are signs of a struggle but nothing to indicate that the boy himself is dead. However...there are also signs of...other...things."
"...what other things?" Smoker asked though he was almost completely certain that he didn't want to hear the answer.
"It appears that he was...sexually assaulted, kidnapped, and then taken from his original captor." Marco said bluntly, "there's a dead body on the scene with...particular wounds." Smoker suddenly looked decades older than he was, dropping his face into his hand as he sighed,
"Of all the times for something like this to happen…" he muttered, "I'll put you in touch with Captain Jonathan in the Special Victims Unit...that's, well, that's about all I can do at the moment."
"Of all the things to happen right now with everything else going on...I wish I could help them. That brat's annoying but he's a good kid."
"I'll let Ace know," Marco replied, turning to leave
"Phoenix." Smoker called after him, making the man pause, "don't do anything illegal, not in this case. You have to let us handle it." He was rewarded by the appearance of a small, predatory smirk as the blonde looked back at him.
"That kid's got so many powerful people wrapped around his finger...you better hope you find whoever did this first." then he was gone, rejoining his friends outside. Smoker couldn't watch as Marco spoke to Ace, knowing just how powerless he actually was in this situation.