So I wasn't going to post this till tomorrow. But I managed to finish it and go over it tonight. So to celebrate the overturning of Prop 8 by the Supreme Court, here is the next chapter. Enjoy.

Chapter 16

Impel Down was not a pleasant place, and none of the stories about it would make you believe it was. However level six was particularly terrible for a person in Ace's condition. While the Warden had seen no point in making him undergo the cleansing and hadn't even bothered to chain him up, the stone walls and floor that he was forced to sit on was enough to make him want to cry. Jinbe had showed up around a week after Thatch and Ace had been brought to Impel Down, and had been chained to the wall of their cell. Thatch had both his legs chained down, but as he wasn't a Devil Fruit user the prison seemed to not find him as big of a threat, despite his status as one of Whitebeards commanders.

And then there was the treatment of the pregnant commander, or lack there of. The first thing the Warden had ordered when they had locked him up, was for the resident doctor to abort the little one growing inside of him. Ace had panicked, and Thatch had nearly broken both of his legs trying to stop them. By only the grace of whatever powers above, the doctor had ruled the procedure to dangerous to Ace's health, and thankfully the marines had ordered him to be kept in good health for his execution. So by mere luck it seemed, Ace's child was left unharmed.

That didn't stop the Warden from making it hard for him to stay healthy. His food portions had been cut in half mere days after he had arrived and the attempt at abortion had been made. It seemed they had decided that if they couldn't force his body to give up the child medically, they could do it through starvation. Which brought them to where they were now.

"Come on Ace eat my portion. Marco and Pop's would never forgive me if you lost the little one over something as silly as too little food. "

Jinbe nodded, "Thatch-san is right Ace-kun, you need to eat for the baby. Take mine as well." He pushed his tray towards Ace.

"No. I'm not starving you all, just to fill my belly. The baby will take what it needs from me. I'm not worried about my health that much, I'll be fine."

"And what happens when your body runs out of nutrients to sustain itself Ace. I'm a cook, and I understand this better than you do. Your body needs more nutrients than it has or can make to keep up the babies development. You need to eat what you can. Cause even if the baby took all the nutrients your body had to offer, it'd make you so sick it wouldn't matter how well developed the baby was, it would still probably die." Thatch pushed on, moving his tray towards Ace even more.

"Yeah probably. The baby could still be delivered, even if I died."

"But why do that to your child Ace-kun? Why do that to Marco-san and the Old Man?" Both men could see Ace's conviction wavering. Slowly, but they knew they would win this argument.

"Look Ace. We are fully grown men. Pop's is going to come for us, so we just have to hold out for a little while, and it won't hurt us as much as it will hurt you. We aren't growing anymore or developing anything. You on the other hand have a completely new life growing that needs every bit of help it can get. So eat the food."

Thatch could see he had won. And it was only a few more seconds before Ace picked up Thatch's tray and started to eat. He finished it quickly and soon had also finished Jinbe's, all of the food gone, except two pieces of bread which he threw to his two friends.

"At least eat those, they don't have much nutritional value, but it will fill your stomach some. And it will make me feel better."

Neither argued, both knew he was right and ate the bread with no complaints. The three then sat in silence as they waited for the three trays to be taken away. However it wasn't long before Thatch noticed Ace shifting himself into a more comfortable position. Only to do it again a few seconds later. And then again a minute later. Thatch frowned. He remembered how uncomfortable Ace had been sitting on a bed roll on soft dirt. The stone floor had to be killing him.

Jinbe seemed to quickly take note of Ace's discomfort as well. Taking off the outer layer of his kimono he started rolling it into a small cushion. Ace watched in confusion, and then watched as Thatch started to take off his own top.

"Is it hot in here and I'm just not feeling it or something?"

"Just shut up for a second Ace." Ace looked a little miffed at that, but did and continued to watch. Then startled as Thatch walked over and picked him up to the best of his ability with the chains dragging behind his feet and placed him on the small bed the two had set up in the corner.

"Thatch, Jinbe. This is nice, but won't you two get cold?"

"Don't worry Ace-kun the bottom of the ocean is much colder than this, and Fishmen are built to be able to withstand that."

"I'm fine Ace. Just try and get some sleep. You never know when those stupid guards are going to be back."

Ace nodded. He wanted to argue, but he was tired and the stress and worry of the past few weeks, plus finally sitting on something that relieved some of the pressure on his back made it hard to keep his eyes open. And within minutes he was asleep.

Jinbe and Thatch sighed in relief. Now to keep watch, they had something precious to keep safe.

When Luffy had said he was going to save Ace, he had expected Rayleigh to argue. However not only had the man not argued with him, he had quickly thought up a plan and called on Hancock to help them reach the prison where Ace was being held.

The plan he was told was for him to hide under the Pirate Empresses dress, as she went to visit the prisoner that she was about to fight a war over. He was told to stay quiet and to keep as out of sight as possible, even if he had to escape into the prison and find his own way down to the lowest level. He was reminded again and again how important it was that he keep out of sight as long as possible, and undetected. He agreed.

Lucci, on the other hand had a different part to play. Rayleigh had not told Luffy that his new crewmember was going to be helping, but shortly after Luffy and Hancock disappeared onto the marine vessel and said ship was out of sigh the Kuja ship set out on it's own course. Within an hour they had reached the point Rayleigh had specified for them to leave the two male pirates at.

Lucci had thought the man crazy, until he had looked over the ledge and saw a barrel approaching the Kuja ship. As soon as it was close enough the face of an octopus fishman, whose name he was told was Hachi, appeared.

"So you are telling me Rayleigh-san that I am going to be riding up to Impel Down in a barrel."

"Precisely Lucci-kun. I will be swimming along side Hachi-kun, who has agreed to transport you there, seeing as you can't swim and a boat would be too noticeable. You and I will be enacting our own plan from there. Luffy-kun is not the sort to stay quiet, and just like Roger he if more than likely to attract some attention, even if he is as careful as he is promising to be."

Lucci raised one fine eyebrow, "You don't think he can stay out of trouble?"

Rayleigh laughed, "I know he can't."

Lucci had to smile as he agreed. The to-be Pirate King did have a habit of falling into the oddest and sometimes most dangerous situations.

"Don't worry Lucci-kun. We will arrive under the cover of dark. The men of Impel Down should be no more trained than the average marine. I don't expect any of them to be Haki users. So your assassin and stealth tactics will come in great handy in getting you in. I want you to make your way to the lowest level as fast as you can and then assist Luffy-kun when he gets there. Or release Ace-kun and his friend if for some reason Luffy-kun doesn't make it in time. From there I leave it to you to make the proper decisions."

Lucci nodded. Minutes later they were off.

Elsewhere on the Grandline, slowly approaching Impel Down from under the sea was a bright yellow submarine. Inside it's occupants were making their own plans.

"So you are sure of this Sabo-ya?"

"Yeah. I trust you to get me in safely Law. Then you get away. After that I can contact you by Den Den Mushi if I need your help getting out or escaping. But I think I'll be fine."

Law sighed. His lover was awful full of himself some times, but the man was strong and very crafty. However when it came to those he cared about Sabo always seemed to put less care into his plans than he normally would, always rushing in order to save his loved one's. Law would know, he had patched the man up multiple times after his lover had put himself in harms way to protect him, his crew, and his fellow Revolutionaries.

"Don't worry Law. Ace is strong. He's one of Whitebeards commanders, and his friend is too. Both of them should be able to help in getting us out, plus I know of few people who have been imprisoned there and have been in need of a good break out for years."

"Just be careful." Law said moving closer to his lover.

Sabo grinned widely, hugging the older man before replying, "Always."

So what do you all think? You'll get to find out how the others are going to break in, in the next chapter. Luffy's break in won't be too much different from what happens in the Manga/Anime, I may tweak some of the later parts, but you'll just have to keep reading and see what I do to find out. I hope you all are still enjoying yourselves. To those of you who have been supporting my story since the beginning, you have my thanks. Again I will try and update as soon as possible for you all. I started Physical therapy today, so I am off to take some pain med and head to bed. Please Review.