Ace of Spades Alternative

by himmelblu

Ace of Spades, the most feared name across the ocean, he was the most feared and notorious assassin and informant there ever was. No one knew who or what he was, some say he is the spawn of the devil. And now, the Whitebeards needed his help.(Connected to my other AoS story, but Ace does not join the Whitebeards in this one(No need to read that one first to understand this))

3. Chapter 3

Hello everyone, here is the next chapter!

This is also super long, but bear with me through it

Hope you enjoy

Read and relax

---

It was quiet. No one knew what to say. Everyone sat in silence as they waited for news from White Bay, hoping for good ones. Two days ago, they had raided a boat and Thatch had found a Devil Fruit onboard. Since he had found it, he was the one who was going to decide what to do with it. He was unsure if he was going to eat it or not and decided to think about it. And during the night, it had happened,

Teach had betrayed them.

He had snuck into the Fourth commander's room and was going to take the fruit. But Thatch had stayed up late, doing some paperwork and had still been up when Teach snuck in. He did not notice him sneak in, when Teach saw Thatch still up, he had made a noise, alerting Thatch. And when Thatch looked at Teach, he had attacked the fourth commander, ending up beating him up badly, even stabbing him in the back. Then he took the fruit and left, leaving Thatch to die.

But since they had noticed the strange behavior in the second commander and the warning from Ace, they had been keeping him under tight watch. When one of his subordinates had seen him leave his room, not returning in half an hour, he went to Marco, informing him, since he was the one on watch. When Marco had heard about it, he decided to check it out, and seeing how large the ship was, he asked the others on watch to help him. Izou, who had also been on watch, decided to go and get Thatch, knowing that he was up late, doing paperwork.

When he got to his room, he instantly froze for a second, before starting to scream for the others, screaming to get the doctor up there now.

2 hours later, every commander was in the meeting room with Whitebeard. It was easy to connect the dots, Teach had betrayed them. He had tried to kill Thatch for the fruit and he had fled the ship, knocking out some of the people on watch, thankfully not hurting them. They had decided to wait for answers on how Thatch was, before they decided what to do. Many wanted to go after Teach, but Whitebeard had told them to stay, seeing as he most likely was stronger than they believed, and he did not want to send anyone after him. The fear of more of his sons either getting hurt or killed was too strong.

And so they waited.

They had waited for almost 10 hours. The tension was high, no one wanted to say anything. When the door to the meeting room opened, everyone was tense. When White Bay walked in, a stern look on her face, they only hoped Thatch was anything but dead. Everyone sat down, looking at the doctor, waiting for her to speak. She sighed, "Thatch is not dead," Everyone gave a small sigh of relief, "But his condition is critical. He is still unconscious and will be for a while." Whitebeard looked at his daughter, she looked tired and probably was. She had been up for hours, working on Thatch. And knowing Teach was behind it, must be hard on her, it was on all of them.

"Do you know how long he will be unconscious, yoi?" Asked Marco. And Bay shook her head, "He can be for a few more hours or days. It's hard to tell." They all nodded, hoping that he would wake up soon, and that he would be fine. After a bit of update on how he was, that the surgery had gone well, Bay left to go to the infirmary again, leaving the commanders and captain to discuss what to do next.

"What should we do, Pops?" Asked Marco, looking at his adoptive father, face looking more tired than it had in ages. He sighted and looked at his commanders, everyone was looking tired, upset and distraught. Izou was one of the worst ones. He had not said anything and seemed to just be looking out in space. They knew the chef was important to the sixteenth commander and seeing him this distraught, showed them just how much he cared about the fourth commander. Whitebeard closed his eyes, gathering his thoughts. He needed to be strong, not only for his commanders in the room, but for Thatch as well, they could not act hastily. "We will wait for Thatch to wake up, we can't just rush into this, we need to know what Thatch thinks, he was the one that was injured."

The commanders nodded, they understood what he meant. If they just rushed after, without hearing the chef's point of view on what to do. They could maybe make a grave mistake. "For now, we need to stay calm and on guard. Tell the others and tell them of Thatch's condition." He then looked at Izou, who still sat completely still, staring at the wall. He sighed and looked at Marco, giving him a silent order while he looked between him and Izou. Marco nodded. As everyone started to leave the room, he got up and went over to Izou, putting a hand on his shoulder, making him look at the first commander.

"Why don't you and I go and visit Thatch, yoi." He said softly. Izou only nodded and silently followed the first commander.

-x-

It had been 6 days, Thatch had not yet woken up. Izou had never once left his side and the other commanders made sure he slept and ate. It made their heart ache, seeing how much he cared for the chef, how distraught he was. Whitebeard knew that the people around the world had noticed something had happened and that it had to do with Teach. He had declared to not be a part of their crew anymore, covering the mark he had on his shoulder, taking the name Blackbeard. There were also rumors about Thatch being injured by the man and hoped no one dared to attack them. If someone did, they would not hold back.

"Pops," Said Marco, walking up to Whitebeard as he sat on his captain's chair on the deck. "Red Haired Shanks is approaching us, yoi." He said, making the captain frown as he looked out at the sea, he could see a ship in the distance. "They don't seem battle ready, yoi. But what do you think we should do?" He asked the captain. He looked out towards the ship, sighing a bit, "If they do not show any signs of an attack, let him board." Marco nodded and went to tell the ones on watch what Whitebeard had said. 20 minutes later, Shanks boarded the ship.

Shanks boarded the ship alone, his crew being ordered to stay behind and wait, even Benn. "Newgate." He said as he approached the man, standing in front of him. "What do you want, Shanks?" Asked the captain, looking at the other captain, face strong. "I have heard what happened with Teach. I am sorry that Thatch was wounded and hope he is doing well." He could see many of his sons giving the captain looks of sadness and betrayal, they did not like to be reminded of what had happened. Shanks reached behind his back and took an envelope out, giving it to the captain. He looked at it and opened it carefully, inside there was a single feather. It was large and black, it looked like it came from a giant bird, and his mind instantly thought it belonged to Ace's raven, Dust.

"If you decide to get revenge," Started Shanks, getting everyone's attention. "Burn the feather, Ace will show up within minutes." Whitebeard looked at him questionably, "I know you have called on him once," Continued Shanks, "And that he and his brothers spent some time here." He looked at the captain with a look of understanding and abhorrence on his face. It had been 9 months since they had stayed on the ship, and they had told Shanks at some point, either that, or Shanks had somehow found it out. "If you want to get back at Teach, he will help you." Whitebeard nodded, "Thank you for this, how did you acquire it?" Shanks looked at him, face calming a bit, "Ace gave a few to me, they are from Dust, he will know where the feather is when you burn it and show up momentarily." He then looked at him straight in the eyes, "He knows I am giving it to you." Whitebeard closed his eyes, that meant the assassin wanted to help if they needed it. And the realization he was there if they needed it, was comforting.

He looked at shanks, eyes thankful. "I thank you for this, if we chose to call him, I want all my commanders to agree on it." Shanks nodded, face filled with compassion as he understood the sentence, Thatch was wounded badly. Shanks then said his goodbye, wishing the fourth commander well, and left. Leaving the pirates to thank the other captain and assassin.

-x-

Two days later, Thatch woke up.

When he woke up, he felt groggy and his body ached. When he blearily opened his eyes, he could feel something holding his hand, and looked down. There on the side of his bed, sat Izou, his body was resting on the side of the bed, eyes closed and looking exhausted. When Thatch looked at his hand, he could see Izou was clutching it. Thatch smiled a bit and tried to move his other hand, to show he was okay. But the movement caused him pain and made him groan, waking Izou from his slumber. And when he sat up, Thatch got a look on how he looked, and Izou looked terrible.

His hair was a mess, his makeup looked smudged, and he could see dark circles under his eyes. Thatch figured out he must have been unconscious for a while, and based on how Izou looked, he had not left his side. It made Thatch's heart swell, knowing the other commander cared for him this much. He also felt bad for the commander, he didn't need to stay with him all the time, by the looks of it, not eating or sleeping regularly, he needed to take care of himself. Izou the rubbed his eyes a bit, getting rid of some sleep, when he looked at the fourth commander, he did a double take, before throwing his hands around the man, hugging him.

Thatch did wince a bit, but he looked down at the other commander and managed to lift his hand, softly stroking his hair. When he felt Izou shake a bit, hearing something like a small sob, his eyes widened, he was crying. "H-hey," Said Thatch, voice breaking a bit, both from lack of use and emotions. It made his heart ache seeing the other commander in this shape. "It's okay, I'm okay." He said. Izou shook his head a bit, leaning back and wiping his eyes. "I-I thought you would never wake up." He said, making Thatch give a sad smile. He tried to lift his hand, to stroke his hair, cheek, anything. But once again, the movement made him flinch and groan. Izou looked at him, "I-I'll go and get Bay." Izou stood up and ran to get the doctor.

When Izou returned, White Bay was walking behind him. "Ah, Commander Thatch," She started, a smile on her face. "Good seeing you awake." She walked over to the bed, lifting a clipboard. "I will be doing some routine examinations, to see that your body is healing nicely. Then, if you feel up to it, Pops would like to talk to you." Thatch did understand that, Pops probably wanted to see that he was okay and ask what had happened. He still could not believe Teach had attacked him. Thatch was starting to nod his head, but flinched again, a groan escaping him. Bay clicked her tongue, "The aching and pain in your body is mostly normal. I will give you something for it after the examination."

She then put on some gloves and helped the commander sit up. He groaned as his muscles ached, Izou giving him a look of concern. "Commander Izou," Started Bay, getting his attention, while she was looking at Thatch over. "Why don't you go tell Pops and the others that Thatch is awake while I examine him?" Izou nodded and left, giving Thatch a last look before leaving. When the door closed, Bay was still checking his wounds and stitches, "He never once left your side." She said, making Thatch look at her. "He always sat by your bed, holding your hand." Bay then looked at Thatch, "He really cares for you a lot." Thatch nodded. He would be lying if he said he didn't feel the same.

-x-

As soon as Izou was out of the infirmary, he leaned against the wall a bit, trying to compose himself. Knowing that Thatch was awake, and was most likely going to be okay, was a huge relief. And for the first time in 8 days, he felt like he could breathe normal again, a huge weight lifted off his chest. He stood up, took a deep breath, dragging a hand over his head, making his hair seem a bit better. And wiped a bit under his eyes, getting rid of any makeup that had smudged and gotten there when he cried. He knew his eyes probably were a bit bloodshot, but he had something to do. Based on the time, Pops was most likely in his room, so Izou headed that way.

When he stood outside the gigantic doors, he took another deep breath, preparing himself to speak when he got inside. He could feel so many emotions inside him, all the ones he had held inside himself for the last 8 days, but he was going to be strong. The ones he had passed on the way to his destination, had stared at him in concern. They knew he had not been out of the infirmary for the last 8 days, and seeing he was out, heading for Pops' room meant that something had happened, and they only hoped it was nothing bad. Izou then lifted his hand, and knocked at the door. He heard a "Come in" from Pops, and slowly opened the door, stepping inside.

When he got inside, he could see Pops, Marco, Jozu, Haruta, Namur and Vista. They were all sitting around the table in the room probably talking and discussing something. When they saw who entered, he could see Marco putting his hands on the table and standing up a bit, at the ready to leave if something was wrong. Whitebeard and the others tensed a bit, looking at him. "Son," Started Whitebeard, when Izou made no move or said anything. "Did something happen?" Izou could see his face was calm, but his eyes were full of worry and concern. Izou opened his mouth a bit, but no words came out, he could feel his eyes tearing up again, why was this so hard? He could see the others growing more concerned by the way he was acting, thinking something was wrong. He closed his mouth and took a deep breath and tried again, "Thatch is awake."

He could feel everyone letting out a sigh of relief, Marco sitting down again. And Izou couldn't hold in it anymore, he was happy, relieved and exhausted. He let the tears fall as he continued, "Bay is looking him over now," He wiped his face a bit, why was he acting so weak? "He's going to be okay." Whitebeard got up and crouched in front of Izou, opening his arms a bit. The moment Izou looked at him, seeing him standing there, he all but leapt into his chest, just letting it all out. All the emotions he had been keeping in for the last 8 days, came pouring out. His father just hugging back and giving him the comfort he needed. Even if he seemed weak, it felt good to finally let it out, leaning on his father. He was always there for them, he was the foundation that kept the together, that helped them when they needed it.

When he finally let go, everyone aside from Marco had left, probably to tell everyone the good news. "Feeling better?" Asked Whitebeard, as Izou wiped his face. He nodded back, giving a thankful smile to the captain. "Did Bay say anything else?" Whitebeard asked his son, hoping Thatch was well enough to talk to him. Izou nodded, looking a bit more composed. "She is going to check him over, if he is feeling up to it, he is going to talk to you. I think Thatch wants to do that." Said Izou, and Whitebeard nodded. It had been 10 minutes since Izou had arrived, and he had probably used a few minutes to get there. He looked at Marco, who nodded and went up to Izou. "Why don't we go and wash you up, yoi. You need to change clothes anyway." He said, getting a small laugh from Izou, he probably did stink. He had not changed for days. He nodded and they went to his rooms, as Whitebeard headed for the infirmary.

-x-

Whitebeard opened the door to the infirmary, a smile graced his lips as he saw his son sitting up in bed, Bay telling him to take it easy, to not pull his stitches or reopen any other wounds. The way the bed was placed, made it so that when Thatch looked at Bay, his head was turned away from the door. But Bay was facing the door and noticed him coming inside. "I will go do some paperwork," She said to Thatch, "And you will stay in bed, and call if you need anything." She then looked up at Whitebeard and gave a nod, before leaving. This made Thatch look towards the door, a smile making itself known as he saw Whitebeard standing there.

"Pops." Said Thatch, sounding happy and relieved, as he moved to sit on a chair next to the bed. "How are you son?" Asked Whitebeard, looking at his son. He did look okay, there were a lot of bandages and scrapes and bruises on him, but he did look okay. "I feel mostly okay," Started Thatch, "Just a bit sore and achy." Whitebeard nodded, that was good to hear, they had all been worried. They then chatted a bit, just letting the chef relax before he started the conversation they needed to have. "What happened?" He asked, looking at his son with a serious look. "We figured it was Teach, seeing as he has left and declared he is no longer a part of our crew." Thatch looked at him, he had been told he had been unconscious for 8 days, and they were sure it was Teach who was to blame.

"I didn't know he had done that," Started Thatch. "Bay told me Teach was the main suspect, and that he had fled, but nothing more." Whitebeard nodded, "Why don't you start from the beginning, son." He said and Thatch sighed. "I was doing some paperwork and was up late," Started Thatch, "And I thought I heard something and turned around, only to see Teach standing there. I was about to ask what he wanted, when he suddenly attacked." He could see Whitebeard frowning, "I tried to fight back, but he was much stronger than I thought, and managed to get the upper hand." He put a hand to his head, massaging it, "I then remember a piercing pain in my back, then nothing." He ended, looking at his father.

Whitebeard nodded. "It seems Teach is a lot stronger than he let on." He said, Thatch nodded. Teach had never been strong enough to beat any of the commanders before, the fact he had managed to single handedly beat Thatch, proved that he had been holding back. Thatch sighed and looked at Whitebeard, "What are we going to do now?" His brows furrowed, "You haven't sent anyone after him, have you?" He asked, scared for his fellow brothers and sisters. Whitebeard shook his head, "We have not. I feared he might be stronger than we thought, it would be dangerous to send someone after him, especially now that he also has the Devil Fruit." Thatch nodded, a sight leaving him, glad everyone was safe.

"We do plan to get revenge on him." Continued Whitebeard, getting the attention again. "We however need to have a plan and we need to be prepared." Thatch nodded, "Do we have any thoughts for a plan?" He asked, Whitebeard nodded. "We do," He started, "We know he is a lot stronger than we believed, so we have to be careful." He then stretched his hand towards his back, "2 days ago Shanks visited," He could see Thatch frowning a bit. "The news about the event had got out, and rumors had started." He took the envelope out, handing it to Thatch. "Shanks gave us this." Thatch looked at him, before opening the envelope, and stared in shock at the feather, "Is this…" He started, looking at Whitebeard in shock. Whitebeard nodded, "It is a feather from Dust, Ace's raven."

Thatch stared at the feather for a bit, "What does it do?" He asked, looking at Whitebeard. "If we choose, we can burn the feather. It will instantly alert Ace that we need his help, and he will show up." Thatch nodded, looking at the feather again. "And we got it from Shanks?" He asked, Whitebeard nodded. "Yes," He started, "He had a few and decided to give one to us." When Thatch looked at him, he continued, "Ace knows Shanks gave it to us." Thatch's eyes widened as he understood what it meant, Ace wanted to help? It made him feel a bit better, knowing the assassin was at their side in this. "Will we be using it?" He asked, looking at his captain. Whitebeard sighed, "If you want to, we will use it." Thatch nodded and looked at the feather, thoughtful. Teach was strong, but Ace was really strong, hopefully stronger than Teach. It would be really helpful to have the assassin help them, he was one of the best, he knew how to deal with situations like this. He looked at Whitebeard, "I think we should call him."

Whitebeard nodded, and took the envelope from Thatch. "We will call him tomorrow," He started, "For now, you need to rest." Whitebeard then rose, and moved towards the door. "Pops," Said Thatch, halting Whitebeard in his movement, turning around and looking at Thatch. "Who found me?" He asked, he was curious and felt bad for whoever it was. Whitebeard sighed, eyes saddening a bit, "It was Izou." He saw the shocked look on Thatch, before it turned to a somber one. He knew the fourth commander felt bad for how Izou looked, knowing it was him who found the commander, was probably heart wrenching. Whitebeard then went and opened the door, Marco and Izou standing on the outside. Izou looked better, he had changed his clothing, and seemed to have taken a quick shower, his hair and face looked better. The moment he saw him opening the door, he went inside and sat by the chef's side, looking at him relieved, his hand clutching Thatch's. Marco and Whitebeard shared a knowing look, before closing the door, leaving them alone.

-x-

The next day, Whitebeard and most of the commanders were on the deck. Izou was still with Thatch in the infirmary. When Thatch had said he wanted to call Ace, Whitebeard had taken all the commanders, except Izou and Thatch, and put the folder together. They did not know if he needed one, seeing as they would use another way to contact him, but it didn't hurt to be ready. They knew the one they would be calling was not Ace, but the assassin, Ace of Spades. He would not act so carefree as he had, when he and his brothers had stayed on the ship. But the fact they now knew him better, made it easier for them to act relaxed and professional, not like the first time, when everyone had some level of fear for the man.

They did not know if the feather needed to be somewhere special, so they had placed it on the deck, a few feet from the captain's chair, the commanders standing at the captain's side. Marco then lit a match, and burned the feather, before moving back to Whitebeard's side. The feather burned up, leaving only ashes behind. Everyone looked at the ashes, waiting. A few seconds later, Dust appeared, the same way Ace did; In a cloud of black smoke. This made the pirates look at each other, they did not know the bird could teleport. The bird turned its head a bit, looking around. Dust then flew a bit up, making a cawing sound, and Ace appeared in a cloud of black smoke, Dust landing on his shoulder.

He was wearing his assassin's clothes and he was looking at the captain with the same look and body language he had during the first meeting, professional. He was here as an assassin, not someone they knew. "Newgate." He said, giving a nod to the captain, who nodded back. "I understand you have someone you want me to take care off." He said, and the captain nodded. "Yes," Whitebeard then motioned for Marco to give the folder to Ace. "His name is Teach and we want him to pay." Ace nodded as he took the folder and opening it and took a quick look. But even before Marco had managed to move a step away, Ace closed the file, handling it back to Marco.

"I won't take this assignment." He said, shocking many of them. He had known they wanted him to take care of someone, and Shanks had said he was okay with giving them the feather, so why? But before anyone could say anything, make any objection to his harsh rejection of the assignment, Ace lifted his hand, making everyone halt. "I do understand," Continued Ace, "That all of you feel betrayed by Marshall D Teach. But you are not the one he attacked." He then relaxed his hand, placing it against his side again. "If you want me to assassinate Teach, I will speak to the Fourth Commander Thatch, seeing it was him who was attacked."

They stared at him, many of them too shocked to say anything. Whitebeard nodded, he did understand what the assassin meant. Teach had betrayed them, but it was Thatch he had attacked. It would be fair if he was the one to talk to the assassin. "I understand," Said Whitebeard. "He is in the infirmary, do you want to talk to him alone?" He asked. He understood if Ace said yes, but still hoped to be present himself. Ace shook his head, "You are allowed to join, there are some questions you need to answer too. But if you try to influence his answers, I won't let you join the conversation." Whitebeard nodded, he could accept that. "You can also alert him before we go, he can say no if he wants to. If he do not want to make the decisions, I won't make him." Said Ace, making Whitebeard nod. He then signalized for Marco to go check with Thatch, also telling that Izou probably should wait outside while they talked.

-x-

Ace and Whitebeard walked to the infirmary. It was located not too far away from the deck with the captain's chair, and the trip was short. Thatch had agreed to talk to the assassin, he was glad to know he was going to be included in the assignment as much as he was going to be. He knew Whitebeard would have listened to him if he wanted anything special, but had been tired yesterday, and seeing that everyone wanted revenge, he was okay with that. He was wondering what kind of questions he was going to get, and hoping he could manage to answer all of them the way everyone would like.

When Ace and Whitebeard arrived and walked into the infirmary, the only ones present were Thatch and White Bay. The others, having been told to wait outside, White Bay had stayed, seeing as she was head doctor, and didn't want to leave Thatch, and Ace had accepted it. They got their own chairs, Ace sitting at the bottom of the bed, and Whitebeard sitting next to Thatch, both facing the assassin. Ace took out a pen and a notepad, being able to write the details down. When he was ready, he looked at the fourth commander. He looked a bit worse for wear, but not too bad. He then opened the notepad, still looking at the chef.

"First things first," Started Ace, getting the attention. "Do you want Teach dead?" He asked, looking at the chef, who nodded. Ace wrote some things down. "Do you want him to have a fast or slow death?" He asked and Thatch thought for a minute. Thatch had heard about how the assassins sometimes prolonged the death, making the person suffer for hours and hours. They were good at imagining and doing different kinds of torture that many could not even believe were possible. Thatch looked at the assassin, "I don't want him to have a painless and fast death," He started. "But I don't want you to prolong his death too much either." Ace nodded, and wrote something down "I know what you mean, I will make him suffer, but I won't pick him apart piece by piece, prolonging the death and making it the most painful I can manage." Thatch nodded, glad Ace understood. He looked at his father, getting a nod.

Ace then looked at the captain, "This question is for you, Newgate." He nodded at the assassin, "If I understand it correctly, your crew have some sort of mark, signalizing they are a part of you crew?" Whitebeard nodded, that was right. "And Teach have his on his left upper arm?" Whitebeard nodded, Teach had covered the mark after he left, not wanting to be associated with them anymore. Ace looked him dead in the eyes, "Do you want me to remove it?" He asked, making whitebeard furrowed his brows in confusion. "Remove it how?" He asked. Ace looked at him, "I will either cut it off and give it to you, or rid of it forever, signalizing he is no longer a part of your crew." Said the assassin, Whitebeard thought for a moment, "I want you to remove it and get rid of it." He then looked at Ace, "I never want to see the mark on his body again." Ace then looked at Thatch, and got a nod from the chef. Ace nodded, writing something down again.

"There is also the issue with marking him." Said Ace, making both the commander and captain look at him questioningly. Ace sighted, "When I do assassination for someone and the target is from their crew, squad or organization. You have the choice of me either leaving only my mark on his body, or adding yours to it. Showing the world you were the one to send me to kill him." Whitebeard thought again. He had heard about this, the assassin leaving two marks on the body, his own, and another one. Both marks were left the same way, so there was no mistaking who had done it and was responsible. He wanted no one to think they took lightly to people betraying and attacking his crew. "You can use both marks." Said Whitebeard, looking at the assassin in a serious way. Ace looked at Thatch, who also nodded, and wrote in his notepad again.

"That will be it," Said Ace, closing his notebook. "I will search him down, and take him out. It should be done within 2-4 days." Ace looked at the captain and commander, "I will return when I am finished with the assignment, telling you if it went accordingly or not." He put the notebook away, "Is there anything you would like to add, or have questions about?" He asked them. Whitebeard got a confused look for a moment, "You don't want payment for the assignment?" He asked, clearly wondering why there had been no questions about the payment. When he asked, Thatch brows furrowed to, he thought there was a price set. Ace shook his head, "I do not want payment for this," He looked at them, seeing the confusion. "Consider it a thank you for helping my brothers." He said and their looks softened as they nodded.

"If that is all," He said, motioning with his hand, seeing if they had anything else to add. "Umm…" Started Thatch, getting the attention of Whitebeard and Ace, "I know you are here as Ace of Spades and not Ace," He looked at the assassin, eyes soft and hopeful, "But can you maybe bring your brothers by sometime?" He asked the assassin, wanting to see the other two kids again. Ace looked at him, he did not seem angry, offended or annoyed with the question. He simply nodded his head a bit, "I'll think about it." He said, making the commander smile a bit.

The assassin then stood up, "I will then take my leave, I hope you get well soon, Fourth Commander Thatch." He said as he looked at the commander, giving him a nod. Thatch nodded back, and his gaze shifted to Whitebeard, "Newgate." He said, giving him a nod. Whitebeard looked at him, giving a nod back. Then he was gone, black smoke dancing in the air. Both of them then closed their eyes, letting out a sight. Delighted the meeting had gone well, and that Teach would pay for what he did.

White Bay then clocked her tongue as she looked at them, getting their attention. "Now that he has left, you should rest a bit, Commander Thatch." She said, and they nodded, Whitebeard needed to go inform the others about what they had discussed, and was going to leave anyhow. Before he had managed to move, the door opened, and Izou pecked inside. "Dust disappeared, so we thought the assassin had left." He said, as he walked inside, seeing no signs of the assassin. "He just left, the meeting went well." Said Newgate, as he stood up, walking towards the door. "I am sure Thatch will tell you about it, as long as Bay accepts that you stay here." Everyone looked at the woman, who sighted before nodding, and the sixteenth commander went over to Thatch, sitting down next to the bed.

Whitebeard left, giving a last look at the smiling commanders inside, before he closed the door. A feeling of gratitude Teach was going to be dealt with, and that all of his sons and daughters were safe and happy. Glad that Thatch was recovering nicely from the attack, and he was smiling and laughing as normal. Glad that Izou was back to normal, no longer looking like a kicked puppy.

And glad that everything would go back to normal, or as normal it could be.

-x-

Ace sat and looked through some files and newspapers, searching for anything on the man he was hunting down. He had not made any bold or noticeable moves and many thought he had gone into hiding. There were also rumors that he had started to look for people to join a crew of his own and was going to use the name Blackbeard. Ace had managed to pinpoint his location somewhere to the South, and was heading that direction. He had gotten a hold of the newspaper that was from the south and was looking them through for clues. As he was reading an article the door opened and a coffee cup was placed at the table.

"Have you found anything out yet?" Asked Shanks, leaning against the wall, looking at Ace.

When Ace had heard about Teach proclaiming to no longer be a part of the Whitebeards and had showed off a Devil Fruit, he knew something was up. The moment he had heard rumors about the fourth commander being injured, he knew Teach had betrayed them and attacked Thatch. He had visited Shanks when he found out, seeing as he believed the same, they agreed to let them have one of Dust feathers, so they could call for him if they needed it, without waiting for a response. He also wanted the fourth commander to make the decision if he should kill Teach, and what kind of death he would get. He could feel the stares and confusion when he denied, but he saw the captain understood when he explained why.

Ace nodded, looking at Shanks, "I believe he is either at Meokdo or Yukdo." He said, showing the captain a newspaper from the sister islands. Shanks looked at it and hummed. They mentioned something about a shady, dirty and loudmouthed pirate trying to recruit people, causing havoc. "This do sound like Teach, I'll tell the navigators where setting course towards the islands." Ace nodded, it was good to be able to rely on Shanks to get him where he needed to be. He knew he could not always rely on it, but he also wanted to make Teach pay for what he did. The fact he had betrayed and stabbed the Whitebeards in the back, was something unforgiving, and Shanks wanted to help Ace get to the man.

Ace had also talked to Shanks, about why he had not told him about Luffy and Sabo fleeing with Dadan. Shanks had said that he had heard rumors of nobles going to attack the island and he had told Dadan to get to Oseum if anything happened, they would alert him. When he had arrived on the island, Luffy had begged the man to not tell Ace what had happened, that they were going to get home safe and without injuries, and didn't want to worry their brother. Shanks had reluctantly said yes and had decided to stay for a while, but had to leave when he got a call from someone and needed to leave. He had apologized for not telling, and Ace said it was okay, seeing that they didn't get injured or anything. But told the captain, that if it ever happened again, to call him, no matter what Luffy or Sabo said. Shanks had nodded, promising to do just that.

When Shanks left the room, Ace stretched a bit. He had been searching for clues since yesterday, after taking the assignment. It was going to take a bit to reach their destination, somewhere between a day, day and a half. Until then, Ace would relax and prepare to take Teach out. He had an idea on how to kill him. He was going to heed what Thatch had wanted, not going to prolong and keep the man alive for too long. But he was going to suffer, Ace would make sure of it.

Ace then looked through some other files, to see if it stood anything more, Ace stopped at one of them, reading it over and over. And he felt dread and fear filling him, his eyes staring at the page. How did he know? He was sure the Whitebeards had not told him, they would be careful with information like this, especially around him after his warning. And even if they had told him about them, how did he know who they were? Ace then got up, heading outside to find the captain.

He needed a favor from him, and he needed it now.

-x-

Ace and Rockstar appeared at Boreumdo, Ace opening the door and almost being tackled by Luffy. "Rockstar!" Screamed the kid, launching himself at the pirate, hugging him. Sabo stood in the doorway and looked at them. After seeing that Rockstar was there, he frowned, thinking something was wrong. Ace looked at him and motioned for him to step outside. "Luffy," Started Ace, getting both his and Rockstar's attention. "Why don't you show Rockstar your room?" Luffy looked at him for a second, knowing something was up. He and Rockstar went inside, Sabo closing the door behind them. Sabo looked at Ace, he knew something was up. Why else would Rockstar be here and Luffy being sent inside.

"Don't worry," Started Ace, "Shanks and his crew is fine." Sabo nodded, that was good to know. "Why is Rockstar here then?" Asked Sabo, "You wouldn't bring him for no reason." Ace sighed, "I'm doing an assassination for Whitebeard," Sabo only looked at him confused, not seeing why an assassination was any reason to bring Rockstar here. "The target is someone from his own crew." Sabo's eyes widened. He knew the captain was fond of his crew, even calling them his sons and daughters. "Why?" Asked Sabo, looking at Ace with shock and confusion. "What happened?" Ace sighed and moved them a bit from the house, just in case Luffy was listening.

Sabo motioned for him to speak, wanting to know why the captain wanted to kill one of his own. "The Fourth Commander, Thatch," Started Ace, Sabo staring at him in a serious manner. "Found a Devil Fruit during a raid. The Second Commander, Teach, apparently have planned to abandon the crew for a while. But when he saw the fruit, he attacked Thatch and took the fruit, before fleeing the ship, knocking several others of the crew out." Sabo stared at him, remembering hearing about this Teach before, also getting a warning to stay away from him. No wonder Whitebeard wanted Teach dead, thought Sabo, he had attacked and betrayed the crew. "Thatch was badly injured, but is doing mostly okay now." Sabo nodded, the chef was a caring and humorous person, he did not deserve this. Sabo looked at Ace, "But why is Rockstar here?" Ace looked at him, "Thatch wants to see you." He said.

Sabo started at Ace, "He asked if I could bring you and Luffy by sometime." Started Ace, "If you want, Rockstar will bring you to the ship." Sabo nodded and thought for a bit. He knew Luffy was fond of the chef, he was a bit too. He was a strong and honorable person. And wanted to see that he was well, he also knew Luffy would want to visit. "It would be nice to visit them again, Luffy never shuts up about them." Said Sabo, making Ace laugh a bit. It was true, Luffy really enjoyed it there. "Then I will get you, Luffy and Rockstar to an island, not too far away from their current position." Said Ace, and Sabo nodded. "He will then bring you to the ship, also bringing Dust so he can get back to Shanks ship that way." Sabo nodded, he knew Dust could transport with a person, but only if Ace concentrated really hard on it.

Sabo looked at Ace, there was something more. Thatch being attacked was bad and dishonorable by Teach. But Ace won't just bring them because of that. "There's more, isn't it?" Ace sighed, he hoped he would not figure out there was more. "Teach knows about you being my brother and where you live." Sabo nodded, he knew Teach probably had figured it out from the Whitebeards. Ace looked at Sabo, straight in the eyes, "He knows who you are, both of you."

Sabo froze, now understanding. Teach knew he was the son to a noble and Luffy the son of Dragon? "How?" Asked Sabo. Ace shook his head, "I do not know, but I want you to stay with the Whitebeards until I have taken him out. I don't know if he figured out that I am Ace of Spades, but he knows I am the son of Roger." Sabo nodded, he understood why he wanted them with the pirates. If Teach managed to capture them, it would be bad news. Luffy was wanted by the marines, being the son of the leader of the revolutionary army was a death sentence if he was captured. And he himself, would either be killed or sold back to the nobles. "I will tell Luffy what is happening, and you can go and get ready." Said Ace, making Sabo nod. And they walked back to the house, going inside.

Luffy and Rockstar sat at the table, Luffy telling some tale of some sort. "Rockstar, why don't you go and help Sabo a bit." Said Ace. Rockstar nodded, knowing he was going to tell Luffy what was happening. Ace sat down and looked at Luffy. "Did something happen?" Asked the kid, looking concerned at Ace. Ace sighted, he knew Luffy would eventually find out, and Ace wanted to tell him what was happening himself. When Luffy found out, he would want to visit the Whitebeards. Luffy also was great at getting people to laugh and be happy, one of the reasons he decided to take them to the crew. And Thatch did want to see them, so they could stay there while he did the assignment.

"Shanks is fine, Rockstar is here to bring you to the Whitebeards if you want to go." Said Ace, making Luffy smile, before frowning, "Why is he bringing us and not you? Did something happen?" Asked the kid, he was really observant sometimes. Ace sighed, "Someone attacked the crew, injuring Thatch." Ace would not tell him about what Teach knew, at least not now. Luffy tilted his head, "Pompom is injured?" He asked, Ace nodded, he would let the name go for now. "He is okay, a bit hurt, but will be fine with time." Luffy got a deadly look on his face, "Is the person that hurt Thatch going to pay?" He asked. Ace nodded, "That's why Rockstar is bringing you and not me. I am hunting him down." Luffy nodded, the look softening, a grin placing it on his face. "Ne, ne," Said Luffy, "When are we leaving?" Ace smiled, "We're leaving now." Luffy grinned as they moved to Sabo and Rockstar who waited outside.

-x-

Whitebeard sat in the infirmary, he was glad to see Thatch was recovering nicely. Marco, Izou, Jozu and Vista was also in the infirmary, deciding to keep the chef company. It was yesterday Ace had agreed and left for the assignment to kill Teach, and they were waiting for the assassin to return with the news of Teach's demise. They were speaking about where to go next, after Ace had returned. They didn't plan on moving their position until he returned, making it easier for the assassin to find them. Not that he would have any problem either way, but decided to just stand by. When they were discussing, Haruta suddenly burst through the door, startling some of them. "Pops," She started, getting everyone's attention. "There is someone here that wants to see you."

Whitebeard frowned, he wasn't expecting anyone. "Who is it?" He asked Haruta, who seemed a bit uncomfortable, "It's Rockstar, from Red Haired Shanks crew." And Whitebeard was a bit shocked, he knew the captain was nowhere close to them, so why was he here? "He is also not alone," Continued Haruta, making everyone frown a bit, who was with him? Before Haruta could continue, a small figure ran past her and basically jumped onto the bed, sitting on Thatch's stomach. "Pompom!" Yelled Luffy, making many of them just stare at the kid, who was somewhat bouncing on the commander, happy to see him. "Luffy?" Started Thatch, staring at the kid, "What are you doing here?" Luffy stared at him confused, tilting his head. "Ace said you were hurt, so why wouldn't we visit?"

"Who's we?" Asked Whitebeard, was Sabo and Ace also here? Before Luffy could answer, a voice from the door cut in, "Luffy!" Said Sabo, glaring at his brother. "I told you not to jump on Thatch, he is injured." Luffy did stop jumping, and looked at Sabo. Sabo, seeing all the looks of confusion, sighed. Sabo looked at Luffy, "Luffy, why don't you go and get some food from the galley?" Luffy puffed his cheeks up, "Why?" He whined. Sabo sighed again, "I need to talk to the captain and commanders." This caught the pirates attention, there was a reason they were here. When Luffy made no move, Sabo glared at him, "Now, Luffy." He ordered. Luffy moved off the commander, leaving the infirmary, pouting.

As he left, Sabo told Rockstar, who was standing outside the door, that he could leave. He nodded and left, they also swore they could see Dust on his shoulder, but was not sure. Sabo closed the door, looking at the pirates in the room. "Sabo," Started Whitebeard, "Did something happen?" He asked, seeing the worried look on Sabo's face. Ace would not just let them visit them seeing that Thatch was injured, and based on the fact that Sabo had sent Luffy away, he might not know the real reason they were here. "Luffy knows that someone attacked Thatch, he does not know who and that's what he knows. Me and Ace would like to keep it that way for now." Sabo said, looking at the pirates, who nodded.

Sabo then sighed, "I know what happened between you and Teach, and that Ace is currently hunting him down." The pirates nodded. "Is there something wrong with the assignment, yoi?" Asked Marco, looking at Sabo, who sighed again. "I need you to be honest, even if the answer is yes." He said, looking at the captain, who nodded. "Did any of you, at one point or another, tell Teach about me and Luffy being Ace's brothers and where we live?" The pirates looked at each other, now understanding why they were here, Teach knew about them, and Ace had probably figured it out. "No," Started Newgate,. "After Ace told us not to trust him, we decided against it." The captain frowned, "Does he know?" He asked, looking at Sabo, who nodded. "We did not tell him, you have my word." Sabo nodded, "We hoped you would not tell and I do believe you did not" He started, looking straight at the captain, "He figured out something else too." Said Sabo.

Something else? Thought Whitebeard, looking at the kid, waiting for him to continue. "If he only knew that we were Ace's brother and where we lived. It wouldn't be so bad." Sabo sighed, "He figured out I am the son of nobles, Luffy the son of Monkey D Dragon, Leader of the revolutionary army. And that Ace is the son of Roger." They stared at him in shock, before understanding what was the big issue, being the son to the leader of the revolutionary army, and the son of nobles, even running away, was a death sentence if they got caught. "Do you know how he figured it out?" Asked the captain. Sabo shook his head, "We do not, seeing as you have not told him. we also believe he does not know Ace is an assassin." He then sighed again, "When Ace found out he knew, he asked to borrow someone from Shanks crew, Rockstar, and he helped us get here. Ace wants us to stay here until he has dealt with Teach, and figured out how he found out."

Whitebeard nodded, "Of course you can stay. You and your brothers are always welcomed here." Sabo looked at the captain and the commanders, a grateful smile on his face.

-x-

Ace stood atop of a building, looking, searching for the house Teach was at. Ace had visited Meokdo first and had found nothing. No one knew or had seen the man he was looking for. After finding this out, he had teleported back to the ship, telling Shanks that Meokdo was safe and that they could dock there. Then he left for Yukdo. When he arrived, he had asked some of the inhabitants if they had seen someone that resembled the man. Ace did not wear his assassin's clothes, so he looked like a normal person passing by. When they asked why he was looking for him, he mentioned he had heard rumors that he was searching for a crew, and wanted to see if he could join.

And many looked at him with angry and disgusted eyes when he told them this.

After a while, he had found out that Teach had been seen most around the south part of the town. Most likely living in one of the abandoned buildings that was there. Ace had thanked the woman and walked away. When he was out of sight, he teleported back to the ship. Telling Shanks he had a lead and went to change. Lucky for him, it was getting dark outside, making it easier for him to hide in the dark. He had taken his usual assassin's clothes, but not wearing his gauntlets, he had a plan, and the gauntlets would be a bad combination. And he decided to bring 4 different daggers, 2 of them were seastone, and the others were made of the best material to make daggers from. It was tough to break and bend, if it did, it was a memory metal, easily shaped back to the original. He also brought his crossbow instead of his gun, it was easier to use darts than bullets sometimes.

Ace had localized the south part of the town and found a high building. Ace standing atop of it, looking for any signs for the man. Dust was flying around, and doing his own search from the sky. It had already become dark outside, but Ace had a feeling it was at night Teach moved. After standing atop of the church for almost an hour, Ace felt Dust calling for him. He then looked behind him and saw the raven sitting on a house. Ace teleported over there, when he appeared, Dust flew down from the house and landed on the ground, next to a house. And Ace looked at the house, something must have caught the bird's attention.

The house was old, and had clearly been abandoned for ages. It looked ready to fall apart, no one in their right mind would choose to live there. He could see different windows, all of them had no sign of life, only darkness. But near the ground, there was a small window. It was most likely a window that belonged to the cellar, seeing as it was half buried in the ground, having a square dug around it. And there was a weak light inside the window, even some movement it looked like. But the window was too old and dirty to be able to look through. He ordered Dust to stand atop of the house, telling if anyone approached or left the house.

Ace then teleported to a ledge of one of the windows, the window was long broken, so he could easily look and get inside the old house. Seeing the state of the house, it would probably make a lot of creaking and other noises if he moved on the floor. So when Ace had a view of the inside, and saw a staircase that went down, and next to it, there was a commode. Ace teleported to the commode, making no sound as he appeared on top of it. From where he now stood, he could see down the staircase. He could see something resembling lights shining from under a door. But he could not see any furniture he could teleport to and decided to think where the best spot was.

He remembers Azuruko telling him that it was at the bottom and top of the staircases that were the most dangerous places, the same with door openings. He remembers being told that if he needed to choose a place on the floor, a corner would be the safest choice. Ace could see a corner at the bottom, and teleported, landing on the floor in a crouching position. There was no sound. When he looked around, he saw another commode, and teleported atop of it, being sure that he would make as little noise as possible. When he appeared and was safe, he took a real look around.

He could see 3 doors in the hallway, there were 2 which had no light on the inside, signaling they were unimportant for now. But the last door had light behind it. He could see it coming from under the door, and through the keyhole. Ace could not see or hear any movement from behind the door. Ace was about to move towards the door, when he felt Dust alerting him; Someone was approaching the building. Ace looked around, it was an old house, they often had small rooms and compartments around to store items in.

And there, on the wall behind him, there was a small room, close to the ceiling. He could see a few old dusty books lying there, and it was big enough for him if he crouched and held his head low. When he heard a door opening, and footsteps above, he teleported to the small compartment. He was in a crouching position, and held his head low. It was a bit of a thigh fit, but it would have to do for now. The compartment was most likely made for bedding or a small storage, seeing the size.

Ace waited quietly as the footsteps creaked on the floorboards above him and down the stairs. It was a man that then came into sight. He had short blond hair and shaggy clothing. He looked to be around his mid-thirties, and was maybe a bandit or pirate based on the clothing and scars he had here and there. He walked to the door, and knocked at it. "What?" Yelled a gruff voice from the other side. Ace furrowed his brows, it did sound like Teach. The man opened the door, he seemed to be a bit afraid to go inside, he was tense and his hand shook as he opened the door.

The man took a step inside, and looked to the left, probably to where Teach was. "B-Blackbeard," Started the man, even stuttering a bit. "Boss. The Yonko, Red haired Shanks is at Meokdo." So they had figured out that Shanks was here, what would they do now? He could see the man flinch a bit, probably because Teach glared at him. "What!" He heard the man yell. "Why is he here?" The man shook his head, "We don't know, but he seem to only be visiting." He said. "That's good, they are probably too stupid to realize I am hiding here." Said Teach. "If he makes any moves towards this island, kill them." The man nodded, and went out the door, closing it. He let out a sight, probably glad to be out of the man's sight. When the door closed, Ace blew into his hand, ready to put him under. When he moved, and was somewhere under and in front of him, he blew at the man, and he stopped. His body no longer moved, and eyes glazed over.

Ace then moved down to the floor, making a bit of noise. But seeing that the other man had not moved, Teach would not know he was here. He then moved to the door, taking his crossbow out, having a dart ready. He would normally use his powers to put him under an illusion. But seeing he might have eaten the Devil Fruit, and had no idea what the fruit was, he decided against it. His power was a bit weaker against Devil Fruit users, especially Logias and Zoans, seeing as they have more feeling of what happens around them. It did work, but it took more of his concentration and he could not keep too many under at the same time. He loaded the seastone dart in the crossbow and put a hand on the door. It was now or never.

Ace opened the door, and stepped inside, pointing the crossbow at where the man had been looking, straight at Teach. He could see Teach was shocked, not expecting anyone other than the man to be in the house. And Ace pulled the trigger, the dart flying towards the man. But Teach was fast, he Kicked the table he sat behind, making the dart hit the table, lodging into it. Ace dropped the bow and took a dagger out, holding it ready.

Ace moved towards the now overturned table, walking slowly. Teach jumped out, swinging his fist at him. Ace acted fast, he used his right arm to avert the direction of the arm, and made the man stumble. He then stepped behind him, taking his left arm in his grasp, locking it behind his back, holding it in place. He was just about to move the knife to his neck, when Teach swung his head with all his power straight backwards, hitting Ace square in the nose. Ace stumbled a bit backwards, losing his balance and releasing Teach.

Teach instantly turned around and swung his left fist towards Ace. Seeing it was a small distance between them, no more than an arm's length, Ace took a hold of Teach's hand, dragging it backwards, startling Teach. He then turned the arm quickly, making so the palm was upwards, then Ace moved his knee upwards with as much power and force he could manage; Straight into Teach's elbow. He could hear the scream for Teach, his legs giving out as he cradled his arm, as the elbow was both dislocated and broke, his tendons ripping apart. The pain would be unbearable and the arm would be useless.

When Teach fell to his knees, Ace moved behind him, kicking him forward, making him land on his stomach, arms out in front of him. He then sat on the man's back, leaning over him and stretching his hands as far as he could, making Teach scream out in pain as he stretched the broken joint. He then used his dagger, and stuck in clear through his palms, pinning them to the floor. Teach let out a pained whimper, as the knife cut through his palms. Ace then turned around, and did the same to his legs, putting a knife through each of his ankles, being sure to lodge the knife through the joint, dislocating it and cutting his tendons, making him scream in pain as blood poured from the wounds and down to the floor. Before he pushed the pressure point in his neck, making him go slack.

Ace breathed a bit, Teach was strong, but he relied on brute strength to much. He would use his strength to take out his enemies, and no tactics, which was his downfall. He had planned to push the pressure point in his neck from the moment he broke his elbow, but pinned him to the ground using the daggers just in case. Ace then stood up, and touched his nose a bit. It was clearly bleeding a lot, as his hand came back bloody, his mask hiding the blood and stopping the blood running or dripping, and it was swollen. Teach had managed to use quite a bit of force when he swung his head at him, his nose was hopefully not broken. He would need Shanks or Benn to look at it when he got back. For now, he was going to check the small office room first.

Ace then looked around the office a bit. If he had calculated right, Teach would be out for 20 minutes, giving Ace enough time to search the room. Ace looked at the floor, where all the stuff from the table had fallen when Teach kicked it. There were a lot of files on the marines, pirates and the different Yonkos and Warlords. Ace looked them over, and put the interesting ones in his pouched, the others, he burned with a lighter. When he had spent about 5 minutes looking the files over, he saw one that had the information he wanted. It was the file on him, Luffy and Sabo.

It mentioned how Luffy had been raised by Garp, before disappearing for years. It was the time he was with Dadan that was missing. It also mentioned who his father was, and that he was worth a lot if he was handed over to the marines. Under the information about Luffy was about Sabo. How he had run away from his parents when he was 4, and also had disappeared for years. He was wanted by the nobles, a bounty and promise of wealth if he was returned. Under this, was the information about him. It mentioned how he was the son of the Pirate King, Gold D Roger. And that he had also disappeared, for years. It luckily did not mention anything about him being an assassin, that was good at least. The file also mentioned how they all had been seen at Boreumdo, and were living there together as brothers. Teach probably was going to get their bounties, selling them to the marines and Sabo to the nobles. But at the bottom of the file, there was a mark that made Ace frown; It was a red cloud, with the picture of a Belly sign in the middle.

He knew who had gotten the information, and sold it to Teach. Seems like I am going to make a small detour. The mark belonged to one of the Assassin guilds that was around. And he knew their leader, who had been one of Azurukos friends. He also knew he had no idea that someone had gotten this information and sold it, they were assassins, but they still had a code. And this person, probably one of the new ones, had broken the code. Ace then put the file in his pouch, and made quick work of the rest. It was still about 5 minutes until Teach woke up, but Ace decided to make him ready for him to play a bit with the man.

Ace took the daggers out, and lifted him to a chair. He then dragged the chair to the wall, putting the back against the wall. He then looked around, and on the floor he found a knife. It was a regular one, but it had a handle that was quite a bit bigger than the blade itself. Ace took the knife and lifted Teach's left hand, stretching it as much to the side as he could, and a bit upwards. Then he took the knife, and dug it through the hole in his palm, and pinned it to the wall. Ace repeated the same with his right arm, but used one of his seastone daggers. Teach had not used any Devil Fruit ability, but he might have been too worked up, and too unskilled to have used it, and Ace took no chances.

The way Teach was stuck, would make it basically impossible for him to escape. Since his hands were stretched as far as they could, a knife pinning them through the palm to the wall. There was absolutely no way he could get his hands free, without tearing them in two, and that would be painful, and take time. Especially seeing as his left elbow was broken. He could also not stand up, seeing as Ace had put a knife through his ankle joints, dislocating them, cutting the tendons. His feet were useless, and if he tried to use them, he would feel immense pain, maybe even falling from the chair, which would only cause him even more pain in his arms.

Ace then looked a bit more through the room, waiting for Teach to wake up. He found a lot of stuff, maps, money, names on people he wanted to kill or sell. But behind a picture, he could see something. He removed it, and found a safe in the wall. It was a regular safe, with a code lock. Ace hummed as he brought his hand to the safe, his smoke going in between the cracks around the numbers, and making a click. He was just about to open it, when a voice stopped him, "Don't you dare open that, you filthy monster!"

Ace looked towards Teach, "I don't like it when people call me monster." He answered the now conscious man, as he opened the safe. He could hear the man grunting and groaning in pain as he moved around. "I wouldn't move around too much, it is impossible for you to escape." He said, looking inside the safe. "I don't listen to monsters!" Yelled Teach, continuing trying to move. And Ace hummed as he saw what was inside the safe. Seems like the man did not eat the fruit. He thought as he took the Devil Fruit out from the safe.

It was purple, and had many small cloud sized patterns on it. Ace had heard about this fruit, it was called Yami Yami No Mi, and was a Logia. He also remembered it was one of the Logias that resembled Legendaries, Azuruko had warned him about them, there were 4 of them existing. They were not as powerful or special, but were close. I need to put this somewhere safe, Thought Ace, as he moved to place the fruit on a commode. When he placed the fruit, a sound of something falling over and a yell of pain had him grin. Seems like Teach decided to try to stand up.

He looked over to the man, and saw the chair had fallen, and Teach was hanging by his pinned hands, having ripped the wounds even more, making blood steam down his hands and walls. His face was a picture of pure pain, as his ankles, elbow and palms pulsated with pain. "I told you not to move." Said Ace, approaching the man. "Fuck You!" He screamed. Ace moved to stand in front of the man, crouching down. Teach looked at him, "Who the fuck sent you?" He screamed, spitting in his face as he forced the words out through his pain. "It was Edward Newgate. He wanted revenge after you attacked one of his crewmembers and betrayed them." Said Ace. Teach then tried to move forward, either to head-butt, attack or maybe even bite Ace, but it only caused him even more pain, as the knives in his hand moved, cutting even more into his palms. Teach fell back to the wall, breathing hard. Ace could even hear him grinding his teeth together, trying not to scream.

Marshall D Teach, the man that had betrayed his crew and captain. The man that was going to kidnap and sell people, even planning to go after his brothers. The man that many people on the island hated and feared, and was planning to start his own crew. Was pinned to a wall, trying not to scream out in pain, completely at Aces mercy.

It was a beautiful sight in Ace's opinion.

Ace moved his hand, taking a dagger from his belt. Teach watched him as he moved the dagger and hands closer to his left arm. Teach seemed to maybe try to say something, but he only made a pained sound. Ace then cut off his black shirt, making the sleeve fall down his arm. And there on his upper arm was the mark; the Jolly roger of the Whitebeard's crew. Ace used the dagger to cut a square around it, even having to move Teach a bit forward to get around the mark. Teach tried not to scream as Ace cut, but he could hear the uneven breathing hitching at some points. When he had cut around the mark, he paused a bit. "What the hell are you doing?" Screamed Teach, eyes closed in pain. "Easy," Started Ace, as he put the knife to one of the corners, making a small cut under the skin. "You betrayed the Whitebeards," He then lifted his hand, and took a hold of the corner, "They no longer want you to bear their mark." And then Ace pulled. Teach screamed as he pulled the skin off, slowly. He was going to enjoy this.

When the square had been pulled off, Ace used his powers to dissolve the square of skin. Making it so there only was a tiny small piece of black crumpled piece left, completely unrecognizable, and making it look like dust as he crushed it, making the small flakes disappear in the room, mixing with all the dust. Ace then moved in front of Teach again, his eyes was closed, and he was grinding his teeth.

"You know," Started Ace, making Teach open his eyes a bit, glaring at the assassin. "You should consider yourself lucky." The man looked at him, opening his mouth, probably to ask why, but only getting a pained noise out. Ace really did enjoy playing with his victims. "If I had free reign, I would have kept you alive for hours, taking my time in pulling your organs out, seeing how long you would be alive until your body gave up." He then moved a hand to his face, "I would start with your eyes, without them, you would feel me pulling your tongue, intestine and nails extra much." He then moved his hand down his face, almost in a caring manner. "But even after you betrayed the Whitebeards, they don't want you to suffer for hours and hours." Teach looked at Ace with terrified eyes, "But," He said, as his other hand took the dagger from his belt, "I was allowed to make you suffer for a bit."

Ace then plunged the knife into his stomach, making a cut before retracting his hand with the dagger, covered in blood.

Teach had opened his mouth in a silent scream, eyes going big. He had fully concentrated on Ace, and the way his hand was at his face, and had not seen the move. Making it so shocking and painful, that he could not even scream. He loved to do this, speaking words of torture, and what he would have done or was going to do, while his hand stoked down their cheek, distracting them. Before doing a move, it made them feel the pain even more.

Ace moved his right hand, opening the cut in his stomach a bit with his hands, making some of the intestine fall a bit out. And this time, Teach did scream. Ace waited for him to be silent again, before he made Teach look at him. "You know," He started, as he held the man's head up, making him look at him. "Newgate really does care for his crew," He started. "You broke his heart when you attacked the Fourth Commander." Ace then moved his other hand to the cut in the stomach, moving some of the organs that were visible around. "So, I figured." Continued the assassin, pushing his hand inside, making Teach groan in pain, still looking him straight in the eyes, eyes filled with fear. "Why don't I crush your heart?" Teach's eyes widened in shock and fear, then Ace moved his arm,

He plunged it inside the man, under the sternum. His entire body arching, his mouth opening in a silent scream and eyes going wide. In so much pain he could not make any noise or movement. Ace then felt the beating of the heart, and put his hand around it. He looked at the man, "Goodbye, Marshall D Teach." He said in an emotionless voice as he clenched his hand, crushing his heart.

And Teach fell limp against the wall; Dead.

Ace stood up, removing the knife and dagger from his palms, making his hands fall limp to the ground. Ace opened the rest of his bloody and ripped shirt, holding his hand over his left part of his chest, marking him with his mark. Ace moved the hand to the other side, marking him with the Jolly roger from Whitebeard's crew. Ace turned around and used a towel that was beside the overturned table to clean most of the blood off his hands. When he was done, he moved to the commode, picking the fruit up, before going out in the hallway. He left the door open, and looked at the man from before. Ace raised his hand and snapped his fingers, both taking the illusion away and alerting the man to his presence.

He turned around, "You!" He screamed in shock and fear and Ace disappeared. Ace landed atop of the building outside, looking at the house. A minute later, the man came running out, screaming that Blackbeard was dead in the night. That the assassin was here and had killed him. Ace then disappeared again, reappearing on Shanks ship.

-x-

Shanks was on the ship. It was only him and Benn, the others were at the island, having fun. Ace had been gone for over two hours, and Shanks was beginning to be a bit worried. Ace was fast, and had a clue of where Teach was, so why was he taking so long? Benn knew he was starting to get worried, but he had faith in the assassin, he knew what he was doing. 5 minutes later, Ace appeared, making Shanks give a sigh of relief. "How did it go?" Asked Shanks, looking at Ace who nodded. "It went well, Teach is dead." Shanks nodded slowly, Ace sounded a bit off. "Are you okay?" He asked, looking sternly at the assassin. Ace sighed, removing his mask.

The moment Shanks saw the blood, he instantly was in front of the assassin, asking what had happened.

Ace glared at the captain, as he tried to prod him in the face. And swatted his hand away, "Quit it." He said. Shanks could sometimes be a real mother hen. Shanks removed his hand, but glared back at the assassin, "What happened?" He asked again. Ace sighed again, "I stood behind Teach, holding his hand, and was about to put my knife to his throat, when he threw his head backwards, really hard." He then looked at the captain and Benn, who stared at him in shock, someone getting a hit on Ace was rare. "He managed to startle me and hit my nose, I think it might be broken."

Shanks massaged his face with his arm, "Benn." He said, and the first mate moved to look at Aces nose. He moved the kids head a bit to the side, before feeling and touching the swollen and bleeding nose. It had a cut on top of the nose that was bleeding, and the nose was dripping a bit still. It had already started to bruise a bit around his nose, and under his eyes. Ace stood completely still as Benn felt and moved the nose a bit under his thumb and index finger. "It's not broken, only badly bruised." Said Benn, moving to the kitchen and getting a frozen pea bag, handing it to Ace.

Ace put the cold bag on his nose, enjoying how it felt. His nose was throbbing, and had for a while. He sighed as he remembered he had to explain and show to Sabo what had happened, he is not going to be happy. Sabo could get real mad if he got injured, especially if he tried to hide it. Ace knew he was only worried, and he showed that by acting irritated and mad. When he saw the look Shanks was giving him, he explained how the assignment went.

Shanks nodded when he was finished, "So what are you going to do now? Go back to Whitebeard, or to the Red Cloud?" He asked. Ace sighted. He needed to visit the assassin guild, and he wanted to get it done with. It would take him a few hours to visit them, before he could go back to the Whitebeards. "I will visit the Red Cloud first, I need to talk to them as soon as I can" Shanks nodded, before clapping him on the back. "Let Benn patch you nose a bit first, at least clean it up." Ace nodded as he followed Benn, showing him the way to the infirmary. Benn then cleaned it up, and decided not to put anything on it, seeing as it was not broken, but put a small strip on the cut. Ace then went and showered, glad he decided not to wear his gauntlets, they would have been filled with blood. He then put his clothes back on, and used his reserve mask, seeing as the other one was filled with blood. He was glad the mask hid the bruising and cut on his nose, he didn't want the leader of the Red Cloud to see that someone had gotten a hit on him, he didn't want anyone to see.

Then Ace left to speak with the Red Cloud.

-x-

Ace appeared on the island. The rain was falling from the sky, and he looked around. This was the same place Ace had been with Azuruko during his training, the leader, Daisuke, had taken over after Azurukos death. Ace visited him every now and then, sharing findings, and sometimes helping the assassins that were training. He had a mark on one of the trees, making it so he could get here any time he wanted, seeing as he did visit Azurukos grave that was located here, and had meetings with Daisuke. He moved a bit farther into the forest, the rain making his clothes and hair wet. It is always raining here. It was one of Daisuke's members Devil Fruit power. If anyone was on the island, she would know they were there, and tell Daisuke, so he could send someone out to check if they were unfamiliar ones. It was really handy to have her around.

Ace walked until he came to a wall, and waited for the door to be opened, knowing his present was known. He would usually use Dust to just teleport inside, but had sent the bird to the Moby Dick, seeing as it would be easier and faster for him to get to the boat. It was 3 days since he had accepted the assignment, and he was expected back soon. He heard noises as the door was opened, an assassin greeting him as he walked inside. He followed the assassin to the meeting room, where Daisuke should be.

When Ace got to the room, the assassin left, closing the door behind him. "Ace, what brings you here?" Asked Daisuke, sitting at a desk in front of a window. Ace looked at Daisuke. He was a man in his mid-thirties and had been running this place for 2 years now. After Azurukos death, he had taken the people that were living in this place in, also taking in more assassins, acting like their mentor. He knew Daisuke was a good man, and he had a lot of assassins to keep track of. So Ace did not blame the man for someone getting the information on him and his brothers. Ace moved up to him, nodding at the 4 assassins that were in the room.

When Ace stood in front of the desk, he took the file he had acquired from Teach, handing it to Daisuke, who looked it over, frowning as he did. "I did an assassination earlier. His name was Marshall D Teach, or Blackbeard as he called himself, he had bought this information from one of your assassins." Said Ace, looking straight at Daisuke. Daisuke sighted, putting the file down. "I am sorry for this Ace," He said, looking him in the eyes. "It is one of my new ones, Jasper, that has acquired it, and sold it." He frowned a bit as he looked at Ace, "It will not happen again." He said. Ace nodded, happy with how he seemed to be handling it. "He also had sold a lot of information about the marines, Yonkos and Warlords." Said Ace, looking at Daisuke, who nodded, frowning a bit.

They were assassins, but they had different rules they followed, called The Assassins Code. There were not too many rules, but they needed to be followed. One of the biggest rules was to not kill each other. There were assassins that went rogue, and they got blacklisted by them, and were being hunted down. You don't kill or sell information on your fellow assassins, it was the most dishonorable you could do as an assassin. Everyone also had families, or someone they cared greatly about, these people were protected, which meant that no assassin they worked with, was to acquire information on them and sell it, or do missions that had something to with them, unless the assassin that had placed the protection knew about it, and accepted. Luffy and Sabo were on this list, and Daisuke knew about it. He was also supposed to approve every mission his assassins did, and this Jasper, had clearly not done that.

Ace then looked at Daisuke, "I also need a favor." He said, and motioned with his head. And Daisuke understood. "Mika, Soul, Trevor, Peter," He said, looking at the others in the room, getting their attention, "Leave us." They nodded, and bowed, leaving the room. When the door closed, Ace took the Devil Fruit out, placing it on the table. Daisuke looked at it, humming a bit, recognizing it. "This Teach," He started, "He had the fruit?" Ace nodded, "He attacked one of the Whitebeard's commanders, after it was found during a raid, taking the fruit, and fleeing the ship." Daisuke nodded at the information. "Wasn't Teach a part of the Whitebeard's crew?" He asked, looking at Ace, who nodded. "It was Newgate who wanted me to take Teach out." Daisuke nodded, taking the fruit, "Moira," He called, and a woman walked in the door.

Ace nodded at her, she had been with Azuruko for years, and was now working with Daisuke. He knew Azuruko had trusted her, and he did too. "I want you to put this fruit in the chamber." Daisuke handed the fruit to the woman, he then looked at her sternly, "Do not, under any circumstances, let anyone see it." She nodded, and bowed, before placing the fruit in a bag, leaving the room. "I will make sure the fruit is protected." He said, and Ace nodded. He then said goodbye, before leaving. Deciding to visit Azurukos grave before returning to the Moby Dick. He borrowed an umbrella, and made his way to the grave.

-x-

Whitebeard sat in the infirmary, having a conversation with Sabo about what living with Ace was like. Luffy was sitting with Izou and thatch at the bed, telling them a tale he had heard from Shanks. Marco, Haruta, Jozu and Vista were also in the infirmary, keeping the chef company. Bay had not decided to let him out of bed yet, seeing as his wounds still needed to heal a bit more. But had said she was maybe going to let him out tomorrow, if he behaved.

After they had found out why Sabo and Luffy were here, they had promised to never let the information out, not telling the others on the crew. Every one of them understood why Luffy being the son of Dragon was a big deal. The marines had tried to get rid of him for ages, if they found out he had a son, he would be killed, most likely in a public execution. The fact Sabo was a noble, was something Thatch understood better than anyone else, seeing as he was one himself, even running away. He had bonded more with Sabo, after telling him this, and that his birth parents also wanted him back, and had promised great wealth for him. They also understood that if Sabo got kidnapped, he could be either given to the marines, seeing as he was the brother to Ace and Luffy, or sold to the nobles. Both were bad, and Whitebeard decided to tell them that they could stay with them for as long as they liked. Which Sabo had been grateful for.

It had been 3 days since Ace had left for the assignment and was expected to get back soon, either today, or tomorrow. It was early in the morning, they had just eaten breakfast. Bay had allowed them to eat in the infirmary, seeing that it was easier to let them stay, than to have them walk in and out all the time. They had opened a few windows, seeing as a bit of fresh air was needed. It was a bit crowded in the infirmary and the air got heavy fast. While everyone was talking or doing something, a noise startled many of them. As they looked towards the sound, they saw Dust sitting in the window, looking at them.

"Dust!" Yelled Luffy, and the bird flew over to a table close to him, looking at the kid. Luffy tilted his head, looking at the bird, "Is Ace coming?" He asked the bird. All the occupants in the room looked at the bird, waiting for him to do something. Dust then ruffled his feather a bit, before leaning down and eating some bread that was on the table. Luffy then puffed his cheek up, clearly a bit unhappy with the reaction to the bird. "Is Ace coming, yoi?" Asked the first commander, not knowing what the ruffling meant. Luffy looked at him and shook his head, not saying anything.

Sabo sighted, "Ace probably had to do a detour, and sent Dust here. He will be back sometime later." He said, before going back to his conversation with the captain. Luffy then started to tell some tale about how Ace had once used Dust to break into a fortress, making many grin, seeing how much Luffy looked up to his brother. And that was how it was for the next few hours. Sabo talking with either the captain or first commander, and Luffy telling tales, making many smile.

After 4 hours, Sabo suddenly frowned as he looked at the bird. This caught many of their attention, and they also looked at Dust, and their brows furrowed a bit. The bird had lifted its wings, and was standing outstretched on top of a chair, what did it mean? Wondered the pirates, it meant something, seeing how Sabo reacted. "Luffy," Said Sabo sternly, getting the kid's attention. "Let's go outside for a bit." Luffy tilted his head, and looked at Dust, before pouting, looking at Sabo. "But I want to be here when Ace arrives." Whined the kid. Sabo sighed as he walked towards the door, "You know Ace is working right now, we will greet him after he has talked to the Whitebeards." Luffy pouted while he walked after Sabo, closing the door as they left.

When the door closed, Dust cawed and Ace appeared. "Newgate." He said as he stood in the infirmary, nodding at the captain, who nodded back. Ace then reached and took a folder out from his pouch, handing it to the captain. "The assignment went fine, Teach has been dealt with." He said looking at the captain. Whitebeard nodded as he looked through the folder, he took a newspaper from the folder, reading the headline: Guy calling himself Blackbeard found dead, the assassin Ace of Spades strikes again. Whitebeard handed the article to Marco, who looked it over. It had no pictures, but did mention a bit of his state he was found in. Marco then looked at the assassin, before handing the paper to Thatch. Ace then looked at the fourth commander who still was in the bed.

When Thatch had read the article over, he looked at the assassin, eyes filled with contentment at finding out the man was dead. "Teach did not die a painless death, but I did not keep him alive for too long." He said to the commander, who nodded. Based on the article, his death was gruesome and Teach had been in horrible pain based on the article. "He did suffer," Continued Ace, seeing the look in the commander's eyes. "But I killed him within 30 minutes of finding him." Said the assassin, knowing the commander was worried he had gone overboard with the man and kept him alive for hours. Thatch then nodded, a sigh leaving him. He was mad and felt betrayed by the man, but Thatch was better than ordering someone to torture someone to a slow death. He was glad the assassin had held his promise.

"Teach had not eaten the fruit," He started, shocking many of them, they had been sure he had eaten it. "He seemed to be saving it for something." Ace then looked the fourth commander straight in the eyes, "I have left the fruit with someone I trust to keep it safe, I can give it back to you if you want." Thatch looked at his father, but he made no move to what he should say, he then looked at the assassin. "No," Started Thatch, "I don't want the fruit, it caused so much trouble. If you believe it is safe, I trust your judgment." Thatch then looked at Whitebeard who nodded, a small smile on his face. He seemed happy with the fact he didn't want the fruit back, and Thatch was glad he understood. "Thank you for doing the assignment." Said Whitebeard, nodding at the assassin, who nodded back, before relaxing a bit, and stretching.

When Ace put his hands back down by his sides, he looked at the captain with a soft look. "I also want to thank you for watching my brothers." He said, looking at the pirates. Whitebeard understood what Ace had done, he was no longer the assassin, but Ace again, the assignment completed. "It was no trouble." Said the captain. "Did you find out how he acquired the information?" He asked Ace, who nodded. "He had managed to get another assassin to find the information, and buy it from him." He said, "I have handled the issue." Whitebeard nodded, it was good to hear it was okay now. He was worried more people knew about it, and it seemed like Ace had talked to the assassin he was talking about, and cleared it up.

Then the door opened, and Luffy ran in and hugged his brother, while Sabo walked slowly in. Ace looked at Sabo, "How did you know I was finished?" He asked. Sabo then pointed to the door, were Dust flew in, landing on the table eating a bit of food. Ace shook his head, "Of course Dust told you, sometimes I wonder who he works for, the little traitor." Dust ruffled his feathers, and cawed at Ace, making everyone laugh, almost everyone. Sabo was frowning, looking at Ace. The pirates looked at each other, why was he frowning? Sabo then glared at Ace, "Ace," He started, voice stern, maybe even a bit annoyed, "Why are you wearing the spare mask?"

And the pirates looked at Ace. And Sabo was right, the mask he was wearing now, was not the same they had seen before. This mask had a blue line at the top, not a red one. Was it uncommon for the assassin to change masks? Thought Whitebeard, seeing that Sabo had such a reaction to it. When Ace only sighted, looking at Sabo, they knew it was uncommon. Sabo then started massaging his face, "What happened, and how bad is it?" He asked, making the pirates worry a bit, was he injured? They looked over at Bay, who also had heard the sentence, was walking towards the assassin. Luffy, who was now staring at Ace, had his head tilted. Ace looked at the kid, and sighted at seeing the worried look. He then reached behind his head, opening the mask, taking it off. "He managed to get a hit while I was holding him." He said. And when the mask was off, all the pirates stared at him in shock.

His nose was swollen and had a strip atop of it, and they could see a cut under it. He had bruising from his nose, to under his eyes, and the bruising was bad. And when they understood what he had said, they looked at each other in shock,

Teach had managed to hurt the assassin.

The revelation made them glad that they had called him for help and not sent anyone after the man. He had managed to injure the boy that was equal to Mihawk, the boy who had managed to beat the captain in a duel and that was without his power. The boy that was only a kid, and stronger than most people they had met, had been injured by the man that had betrayed them. The fact that he also had gotten injured, made them angry at Teach, and more glad that he was dead. They actually believed no one could manage to injure the boy, but Teach had done just that.

Sabo stared at Ace in shock for a few seconds, "He broke your nose?" He said, sounding just as shocked as they felt. "No," Started Ace, "It's only bruised a bit." And Sabo seemed to get even more annoyed, "A bit?" He started, "That is not a bit." He then moved to Ace, turning his head the same way Benn had done, looking it over. "It looks like he tried to bash your face in." Said Sabo, looking at Aces face, "Funny," Started the assassin, "I think that was what he was trying to do."

Sabo looked at him in shock, before actually hitting him over the head, "It is not funny!" He said, "And how do you know it's not broken?" He asked his brother, who just looked back at him. "I had Benn check it out." And Sabo looked even more annoyed by the answer, "Yeah," He started, "Because Benn is a frikking doctor!" Ace just looked at Sabo, a somewhat annoyed look at his face. Luffy then chirped to, "Why don't the doctor lady look at you?" He said tilting his head, looking at Bay who stood close by. "Yes Ace," Said Sabo looking at Ace, "Let Bay look at your nose. It could be in pieces for all we know." Ace stared at Sabo, "Benn is no doctor, but he is no idiot. He knows when something is broken." He said to Sabo, who only glared back, "Fine, fine. I'll let Bay look at it if it makes you happy." Sabo nodded, clearly happy with that.

As Ace sat in a bed, Bay looked over his nose. And saying he was right, it was not broken, only badly bruised. The pirates realized something, he was a normal person. The pirates knew it was stupid, but they had imagined the assassin to be invincible. And the fact that he had gotten hurt, was almost like a hit to the face for them, and it made them realize something else, the assassin could have gotten killed. Teach was strong enough to hurt him, and it could have been a lot worse. They were now thankful he had not eaten the fruit; the outcome could have been a lot different. They just sat in silence as Bay put some lotion on, feeling remorseful for not thinking that he also could get hurt.

Ace then shot a smug look at Sabo, who only sighed. "Fine, you were right, it was not broken." Ace then smiled as Luffy hopped on his lap when Bay moved away, "Ne, ne," Started the kid, "You look like a weird raccoon." Ace stared at him in shock, and Sabo burst out laughing. "He's right Ace, you do look like a weird raccoon." He said, laughing as Ace just looked at him. Ace then laughed a bit, "I do, don't I?" He said, and Luffy nodded vigorously, "I am going to call you Rascal! The same as the raccoon we found when we were small!" Said the kid, a gigantic smile on his face. And when he said it, everyone burst out laughing, even the pirates.

The kid was perfect to get rid of the tension in situations that came up.

-x-

Ace had been back for about half an hour. Luffy had been telling Ace how fun he had been having there, and telling that the doctor, Bay, was a really good doctor. Ace was also happy to see the fourth commander getting better, and was going to be let out of the sickbed soon. Luffy had also decided to name Ace; Rascal, the Ace-coon. Which made his eye twitch, as many laughed. Ace could only sigh and enjoy it, it was normal for Luffy to behave like this and it was good to see him enjoying himself here as much as he did.

"Ne, ne!" Started the kid, getting the attention of everyone in the infirmary. "Can we stay?" Luffy tilted his head at Ace, "The nice doctor lady did say you should stay." Ace sighed. Luffy was right. Bay wanted him to stay for the next couple of days, saying she needed to put lotion on his nose, and that it was best they did it. Ace looked at Sabo who shrugged, not wanting to say no or yes, Ace knew he liked it here. Ace sighed again, massaging his face a bit, but flinching inwardly when he touched his nose. He looked at Luffy, having made a decision. "If," Stared Ace, looking at Luffy, "You behave and Whitebeard says yes, we can stay for a bit."

Luffy let out a sound of happiness as he looked at the captain, who did of course nod, saying they could stay. Ace knew he would say yes. He had made it clear they had a home here, a place to go to. It was comforting for Ace to know this. He did know Shanks would always stand up, but he was… Well he was Shanks, he did stupid stuff all the time. Ace could still remember the time he had left Sabo and Luffy with Shanks when they were smaller and when he returned, both were located in the infirmary, having second degree burns. From what Ace gathered, Shanks had tried a magic trick with fire and had failed, horribly. He tried to not let them stay alone with Shanks after that.

Sabo stood up, "Ace." He said, as he motioned with his head to follow him, as he walked towards the door. Ace looked at Luffy, "Lu, stay here and behave. I need to talk to Sabo a bit." He ruffled Luffy's hair, before following after Sabo, closing the door behind them. Luffy puffed his cheeks up a bit, before looking at Thatch. "Ne, Pompom," Started Luffy. "Do you know any good stories?" He asked, tilting his head. Thatch nodded, before starting a tale from a raid way back, making the kid smile.

Whitebeard and Marco looked at each other when the boys left. They thought it was a bit weird for them to leave Luffy like this, but then realized Ace needed to tell Sabo about how Teach had gotten the information on them. Whitebeard had already told all of his commanders he had offered Ace a place amongst them, even for his brothers. Everyone had agreed, saying that even if they were a bit nervous around the assassin at times, they liked him and his brothers company. Marco, being the observant man he was, had stayed after the meeting, asking if there was more to it. Whitebeard had told him about his concerns about the assassin, about how young he was and must have a lot of burdens. Marco had agreed, saying he was going to tell the assassin he also wanted him to stay with them.

But now, after finding out about who everyone was, the concern only spiked even more. The fact that he cared about his brothers could be tough, especially when he was gone for days, not knowing if something was wrong, like how they had found the brothers after fleeing from the island. But also the fact that they were all wanted and would most likely be executed, must be real though at times. The captain could only imagine the worry Ace must have at times. Whitebeard could not even imagine the fear he must have felt when he found out Teach knew who they were. He hoped to speak to the assassin in private, so he could see if there was anything he could do to help.

Half an hour later, Sabo returned alone. When he walked inside, Luffy was still listening to Thatch, eyes big and a big grin on his face, he really enjoyed the stories they told. When Sabo sat down beside the captain and first commander, they looked at him. "Hey Sabo," Started Marco, getting his attention. "Where is Ace, yoi?" Sabo looked at them, before sighing. "He's sleeping." Sabo looked at Luffy, smiling at how happy he looked. Whitebeard and Marco looked at each other again. It was more to it than that. Sabo looked a bit concerned about something and they wondered why. When Luffy leaned forward, to hear Thatch better, Sabo spoke again, voice soft so Luffy would not hear. "Ace is really tired." He said, looking at the first commander and captain, eyes holding an emotion they had not seen in Sabo's eyes before; worry.

And they understood, nodding at Sabo who then went back to look at Luffy. The revelation that Ace was not only tired, but most likely exhausted, made them worry a bit. He had found out Teach had information about them, and that would be worrying for the assassin. And on top of that, finding out the information was gathered by an assassin, could be something that bothered Ace, making him worry even more. How long has he been awake? Thought Whitebeard. He knew concern and worry could keep people awake. And they knew Ace cared a lot about his brothers. They had no idea how he felt about the fact that an assassin had basically sold him out. I need to ask him about it. Thought the captain, before going back to looking at Thatch, who was still telling the tale, a smile on his lips.

-x-

It was now closing in on dinner time. Ace had been back for 3 hours, and he had not woken up yet.

This caused a bit of concern in the pirates, after not only finding out he had gotten hurt, but was exhausted. Was almost another blow in their faces, only showing how normal and human the assassin was. They all knew he was sleeping, the fact it was closing in on dinnertime, made it so many thought if they should wake him or not. The assassin needed to eat. Half an hour later, they decided to get dinner. Sabo had gone to the library to find a new book, saying how he wanted to read up on folklore or something. When Jozu and Vista got up to get the food, Luffy asked to join them in the task. This made Whitebeard laugh, "Of course you can brat, but only if you don't eat the food on the way here." He said, looking at the kid. Luffy nodded, before following after the two commanders.

When they left, Thatch looked at his father. "What about Ace?" He asked, frowning a bit. Whitebeard sighed, "I'm not sure," He started, "I think he should eat. But based on what Sabo said, he should also sleep." After realizing that Ace wasn't as invincible as they had imagined, they had all decided to look out after him. He was young, even younger than anyone on the ship. And the fact he managed to work as an assassin and still look and hold himself up as good as he did, was quite amazing in their eyes. He never faltered.

Marco sighed as he stood up, "I can go and check on him, yoi." He said, looking at the captain who nodded. Whitebeard knew Marco would see how he looked and if he didn't look too tired, he would probably wake him up and say dinner was ready. Marco had gotten a lot less nervous and anxious around the assassin, he was the only one aside from himself that was getting less and less intimidated by the reputation the assassin had. There was Bay too, she never faltered, not even when she checked him over. That was why Whitebeard made her the head doctor, nothing seemed to faze her. Marco left to check in the assassin, who most likely was in the room Sabo and Luffy had used.

After he left, conversation started up between the occupants of the room. After 5 minutes, Sabo entered the infirmary again, a book under his arm. When he looked around, and saw no Luffy, he looked at the captain, "Where is Luffy?" He asked. "He went with Vista and Jozu to get dinner." Said the captain. Sabo nodded, before frowning a bit. "Where is the First Commander?" He then asked the captain, who felt a bit uneasy by the frown on his face. "He went to check on Ace, to see if he wou-." Whitebeard stopped when he looked at the expression on Sabo's had frozen, before his eyes going wide and turning on his heel, running out of the infirmary.

This caused the pirates to look at each other, why had he run out? Before they could say anything amongst themselves, the door opened, and Vista, Jozu and Luffy went inside, holding lots of food in their hands. When they got inside, Vista looked at the captain, "Why did Sabo run past us?" He asked, as he put the food down and went to help Luffy put the food he held onto the table. "We don't know," Started Thatch, a frown on his face. "Pops mentioned Marco checking on Ace, then he just ran out." Luffy then hopped back on his chair, taking a piece of meat. "Sabo is probably going to stop Rascal from injuring Birdy Blue Breast." He said, making everyone look at him. "Luffy," Started Whitebeard, making the kid look at him. "Why would Ace hurt Marco?" This made no sense, Ace had made no move to injure them, so why now?

"Oh," Started the kid, "It's not smart to wake up Ace." He took a bite of the meat, "He sometimes attacks."

-x-

Marco stood outside the door to the room, and opened it carefully and went inside. Ace slept on his side, faced away from the door. Marco then went up to the boy, walking as silent as he could, holding his hand out to shake his shoulder, hoping to stir the assassin, so he could tell him dinner was ready. Just to see if he would wake, if he didn't, he would let him sleep longer.

His hand and inch away from the assassin, when his hand was suddenly grabbed and he was dragged to the bed, laying on his back, Ace on top of him and a knife to his throat.

Marco had no time to react or comprehend what was happening, before it was too late. The knife did not cut him, but was touching him, and Marco could instantly feel it was a seastone knife. He froze, before holding his hands out a bit, showing he meant no harm, fear in his brain. Ace blinked at him, "Commander Marco?" He asked, before removing the knife and standing up. "I didn't mean to scare or injure you." He said as he helped the commander up. "It's okay," Answered Marco, "I should not have snuck upon you." Ace laughed a bit, "Yeah, it's not so wise to do that." He said, looking at the man. "Why are you here?" He asked, looking at the man. "It's dinner time," He started, "I came to tell you." Ace nodded and they made their way outside, where they were almost run down by Sabo.

Ace looked at him, he was even panting a bit. "I hoped to catch the First Commander before he woke you up." Said Sabo, looking at them, a bit relieved to see Marco in one piece. Ace had accidentally injured people when they decided to wake him up, especially if it was at a new place and someone unfamiliar was the one trying to wake him up. Ace snorted, "Then you were too late, next time you should warn them." He said, looking at Sabo sternly. "I didn't know they were going to wake you, Luffy and I were somewhere else." Said Sabo, looking at them.

Marco then cleared his throat, "It was a bit my fault too," He started, "I should have not have sort of snuck upon him." He then looked at the assassin, "But I must say, your reaction was amazingly fast and accurate." Sabo snorted at that, "What did you expect?" He said, "For the raccoon to not react to having someone sneak up on him and try to touch him?" Marco rubbed the back of his neck, a nervous laugh leaving him. He actually did not expect that, but it was stupid not to. Ace was an assassin, and he didn't know them so well. He was not surprised it had happened.

Ace sighed, "I wish you would stop calling me a raccoon," He started, "It's bad enough with Luffy calling me Rascal." Both Sabo and Marco laughed at that, before heading to the infirmary again.

-x-

Whitebeard made his way out onto the deck, most of the pirates had already gone to bed. The captain both hoped to find the assassin outside, so he could talk to him, but also hoped he was inside, relaxing or sleeping. He had talked to Marco and figured out what had happened when he went to wake him up. When he found out the assassin had almost attacked the commander, he felt guilty for sending Marco, not waiting for any of the brothers. But Marco had said it was okay, that it was partly his fault, even telling how impressively fast the assassin's reaction was. The captain was happy to see that his son was not at all fazed or frightened from the incident; The assassin was only a flick away from cutting his throat.

When he was out on deck, he was happy to see that the sky was clear. No clouds present in the night sky, the stars shining and the moon was almost full. Whitebeard then saw the assassin standing at the front of the ship, hands on the railing and facing the ocean. There was not much wind tonight, so there were almost no sounds that could be heard. Only the small waves hitting the ship, and maybe a seagull sound every now and then. It was relaxing. The captain went up to the assassin,

"You know," He started, getting the attention, "Sabo don't like it when you stay up I think." Ace laughed, shaking his head. "He worries too much." He said, facing the ocean again. Whitebeard went and stood beside the assassin, looking out at the silent ocean. "Do you think he's wrong to worry?" He asked the kid. Ace sighed, "I guess not," He then shook his head a bit, "But I wish he would worry a bit less." Whitebeard nodded, he understood that, he did not like it when his sons worried too much about him. He looked at the assassin, he looked a bit better in the face, the lotion Bay used worked extremely fast. "How did Teach manage to almost break your nose?" He started, "I know he was strong, but he wasn't the best at tactics."

Ace shook his head. "It was stupid," He started, "I was standing behind him, holding his left hand and going to put my knife at his throat, to stop him from fighting." Ace shook his head, looking up at the sky. "I didn't expect him to think about throwing his head backwards and he managed to catch me off guard, hitting me square in the face." Whitebeard nodded. He felt bad about the assassin getting hurt, even worse by the fact he had not thought he could get hurt. He was about to say he was sorry for not thinking Teach was as strong as he was, and that he felt bad for his train of thoughts, but Ace beat him to it, "It okay," He said, looking at the sea, a content look in his eyes. "I'm used to people forgetting I'm human."

Ace looked at the captain, a small smile on his face. "I thank you for the concern, but it is nothing, really." Whitebeard nodded, smiling back. "Even if it's okay," He started, looking at the young assassin, "You can always talk to me about anything." He said, looking Ace, who sighed, a look in his eyes Whitebeard could not name. "I'm not used to relying on others, but I'll remember it." He said, smiling as he looked at the captain. Whitebeard nodded, he was happy with that response, he knew the boy probably was not used to it, but it was always nice to know someone was there if you needed it.

Whitebeard looked at the assassin's face, wanting to see if he showed any reaction to his next question. "You said Teach had bought information from another assassin." He started, Ace nodded, showing nothing he could decipher. "Was it from someone you know?" He asked. Ace sighed, looking at the sea, shaking his head a bit. "I don't know the person who sold it, but he is a part of The Red Cloud and I know the leader." He said. Whitebeard nodded, he had heard about The Red Cloud. It was a guild or group of some sort, many of them were informants and assassins. "So you talked to the leader?" Asked the captain. Ace nodded, "Yes," He started, "It was one of the new ones, he will handle the situation." Whitebeard nodded, frowning a bit. Ace, seeing the frown in the corner of his eye, continued. "We are assassins, but we have a code. We don't sell information on each other, it's dishonorable."

Whitebeard nodded, an understanding look at his face. He did not know about this, but had a thought about it, and was happy they seemed to be following certain rules. They then had small conversations about the world, and what they thought about some of its leaders. After a few hours, Ace bid goodbye and went inside. Whitebeard stood a bit longer outside, before also heading inside, happy with the talk they had had.

-x-

Whitebeard sat out on deck, most of the crew was on deck, the three brothers were also present. Ace sat by the railing, as he usually did. And the other two were listening to a story told from the chef, everyone listening to it. It was one of the stories from before he joined them, when he was running away from his family and staying in a city. It was still a silent day, the wind was not bad, and there were surprisingly few seagulls around. Thatch had been let out of the infirmary and was doing pretty well, but still had limitations that he needed to follow. It was easy ones, like no fighting, easy training, no hard work and a lot of rest.

When he was in the middle of telling about how he tried to rob a bar, he stopped and swallowed, a bit of fear in his eyes. And almost everyone had the same reaction as him, aside from Marco and Whitebeard. The reason for this was a sudden surge of Haki, and it was strong. They could also see a few of the less experienced and weaker people of the crew falling to their knees a bit, who was doing this? Just as Marco was to ask what was happening, the assassin rose, an angry look at his face. "Sabo, Luffy," He said, voice hard and powerful. "Inside, now." He ordered his brothers, who obliged, Sabo throwing a knowing look at the assassin.

Ace pulled his mask from his pouch and put it on. Whitebeard was about to ask what was going on, but the words died in his throat at what happened next. He could see something falling from the sky, straight towards the deck. It was big and looked like an inhumanly big crow. Just before it hit the deck, a pair of wings spread and a person landed on the deck, in front of Ace. "Takayuki." Said the assassin, shocking many of the pirates.

Takayuki was a name known through the seas, he was a notorious man. He had influence on most of the marines by his wealth and strength. He had been offered to be a warlord, even being offered a place amongst the admirals. But he always shot them down, saying he liked to be on his own. He was a man that had an almost as big reputation as the assassin. He was a dangerous man.

"Ace." Said the man, his wings transforming into hands. So he is a devil fruit user. Thought the captain. It seems he was a Zoan, and could transform into a crow of some sort. "Why are you here?" Asked the assassin, voice low and dangerous, making some of the pirates, even commanders, have shivers down their spine. The voice just sounded evil and dangerous and they were glad I was not directed at them, and hoped it never would. "You know I don't approve of you showing up unannounced, Takayuki." Spoke the assassin, glaring at the man. He seemed unfazed, and only moved his hand behind his back, taking a file out, throwing it to the assassin. "I need the information." Said Takayuki, before actually glaring back at the assassin. "I know you have it." He said, eyes strong, holding the assassin's gaze, before Ace looked at the file.

Ace closed the file, looking at the man after a few seconds. "I'll give you the information." Said Ace, before fixing his gaze directly at the man's eyes, brows furrowing in anger. "And if you ever show up unannounced again, I will not act so nice." The way it was spoken held no room for any doubt, Ace would kill the man. The man held his gaze, before nodding. Transforming and flying off. When he was out of sight, Ace took a deep breath, the feeling of crushing Haki was gone, making many give a sigh of relief.

Ace looked at the file again, seeming to be more like himself. They had seen Ace act as an assassin before, but never had he acted as powering as he had just now. The fact that Ace managed to get Sabo and Luffy inside, even giving the warning, they had a feeling it was not the first time it had happened that someone had showed up unannounced, and the assassin clearly did not approve of it. The way he had spoken, held himself and the power they felt, made it so they vowed to never make the assassin mad. It was a terrifying sight and they understood why many thought of him as a non-human, he sounded like a demon.

A door opened and Luffy ran out, hugging his brother. Sabo walked out onto the deck slowly. "Are you leaving?" He asked. Luffy moved his head so he also could look at his brother, eyes big. "Yes," Said Ace, "But only for a few minutes. I only need to get some files from The Red Cloud." Sabo nodded. "Luffy." He said, and Luffy went over to Sabo and Ace disappeared.

"Is it often for people to show up unannounced, yoi?" Asked the first commander, back to being composed again, he had faltered a bit from the immense power and authority Ace had used. Sabo shook his head, "No," He started. "There are very few, but some do it. Takayuki has done it one time before, as has some others." He then looked at the first commander with a stern look. "Ace never lets anyone do it too many times, some only get to do it once." Marco nodded, looking at his father, who also seemed to assess the information. They guessed Ace had taken means to some that had showed up unannounced. "Do you know why Ace took the assignment, even after he showed up unannounced for the second time?" Asked the captain, looking at Sabo, who nodded. " Takayuki is strong, and a man with a certain reputation as you may know." The pirates nodded, "People would know if he disappeared. And he has never done anything else than just show up unannounced."

The pirates nodded, understanding. If he had acted out of his way, the small meeting of sorts, would have taken a completely different turn. And it seemed that even if he just showed up, angering the assassin a bit, he knew where the line was. Whitebeard frowned a bit, "Do you know why he needed to go to The Red Cloud?" He asked Sabo, who nodded a bit. "Ace works a lot with them, and usually stores information there, seeing as they have good security and room for the information he gathers." He said. The pirates nodded, it did make sense. They were impressed with how different Ace was from the assassin. They knew they were two different people, but the assassin they had just seen, was even more intimidating from the one they were used to.

"Ne, ne!" Started Luffy, sounding excited about something. "Where are we now? Are we close to Marado?" Asked the kid, looking at the captain with hopeful eyes. Whitebeard thought for a bit, they were not too far away from the island, maybe a few hours. The captain nodded, "We are not too far away from the island, why do you wonder?" Asked the captain, and Luffy grinned. "The island is really awesome!" He said, grinning even more. "Can we visit it?" He asked, tilting his head as he looked at the captain. Whitebeard thought again, the island was uninhabited and had beautiful nature, it would be a nice break for all of them. "We can visit, we all need a break." He said, smiling as the kid screamed yes, clearly happy.

Dust then cawed, and Ace appeared. As soon as he was on the deck, Luffy rammed into him "We're going to Marado!" He screamed in happiness to the assassin, who then looked at the captain who nodded. Ace then patted Luffy on the head, shaking his own, saying how Luffy always got what he wanted, making Sabo laugh a bit.

-x-

Ace, Sabo and Luffy were walking on the island. The Whitebeards were preparing to dock, Luffy wanted to go ahead and gave Ace the puppy eyes until he accepted. Sabo decided to also join them. Whitebeard had said it was okay that they went ahead, they would arrive somewhere around 30 minutes to an hour later. The brothers had visited the island before and Luffy enjoyed it here. There were no inhabitants and there was a lot of nature, even waterfalls, fields of open grass and forests. The island was big, but the best part according to Luffy was the animals that were here. It was here Luffy had found the raccoon Rascal 4 years ago, when they had visited it. They usually visited every now and then just to make sure no one had done something to the beautiful island.

"Ace, look!" Screamed Luffy, pointing towards some bushes in between the trees. Ace looked over, and in between the bushes, he could see some movement. They had walked a bit into the woods, knowing the raccoon was almost somewhere around here. It had also been almost a year since they had been here, and hoped to find the raccoon again. When they walked a bit closer to the bushes, a small creature jumped out, "Rascal!" Screamed Luffy, as the raccoon climbed into the kid's shoulder. Sabo and Ace laughed, they loved to see Luffy happy, it made them happy too.

"Seems like Rascal is doing okay." Said Ace, patting the creature on the head. Luffy nodded, a gigantic grin on his face. "Ah, Sabo," Said the kid as he patted the raccoon, "The food." He said. Sabo nodded and took a small pouch out, opening it. They had found berries and edible plants, and had taken them to feed the raccoon when they found it. "Here Lu." He said, as he handed the small pouch to the kid. Luffy smiled even more when he held the small pouch. When he showed the pouch filled with food to the raccoon, he took the pouch from Luffy, and ran down, back into the bushes. "Rascal! Wait!" Screamed the kid, running after it. Sabo and Ace laughed a bit, running after. They could see Luffy suddenly stopping beside a bush, "Ace, Sabo! You need to see this!" He yelled, making the brothers look at each other, what had he found now? When they got besides Luffy, they stopped. Rascal had emptied the bag, all the fruit was on the ground. But the surprising part was the other raccoons that came out.

"Rascal has a family." Said Luffy, smiling even more blinding than before. And it seemed Luffy was right, one of the raccoons was about the same size as Rascal, but the other 3 was a bit smaller, clearly kids. "Seems like you're right Lu." Said Ace, also smiling. Sabo then crouched down next to them, "A happy small family, and look how happy they are from all the food." He said. And they looked happy, eating the food. One of the smaller ones went over to Luffy, sniffing at his hand. "Hey there little one," He said to the tiny creature. "I'm Luffy, and this are my brothers." The small raccoon then licked at his hand, making Luffy smile and laugh. "He likes me!" He said happily. Ace could only smile at it, life was good.

They stayed with the raccoon family for a bit, before moving along. They started to slowly head back towards the beach, seeing as the time was moving along and the pirates had likely docked already. Dust was flying around on the island, enjoying to be in the nature and being able to fly and hunt. Ace suddenly felt Dust cawing in his mind and smiled. "Luffy, Sabo," He said, getting their attention. He held out his hands, "Come on, and we'll do something fun." He said, and Luffy instantly smiled, taking his hand. Sabo gave him a curious look, but also took his hand. Then they were gone.

When they reappeared, Luffy let out a gasp, Sabo opening his mouth in amazement as Ace just smiled, sending a smile to Dust that was flying over them. In front of them was a big field, and in the field was a herd of horses. They were all completely white, with beautiful long manes. "Do you remember what we taught you?" Asked Ace, looking at Luffy. Luffy looked at Ace, eyes big as he nodded. Ace whistled. The moment the sound left him, a few of the horses reacted, lifting their heads looking at them. Luffy squealed a bit as they made their way towards them, happy knowing what they were about to do.

When the herd was close to them, 2 horses came even closer, standing in front of the brothers. The trio had been here at least once a year for the last 6 years and liked to stay for a bit. When they had found the horses, they had tried to ride them and had of course been thrown off numerous times. But there were 4 of the horses that would allow them on their backs, they had used months to make it happen. One of those horses was surprisingly the one that seemed to be the leader, and Ace usually used that one, being able to steer the herd. Luffy and Sabo switched between the 3 others. Luffy always rode with Sabo, seeing as he had been having a hard time at riding the horses, but was getting really good at it.

Sabo then went and mounted one of the horses, holding onto its mane a bit. Ace shared a look with Sabo, motioning for Luffy and the other horse. Sabo seemed to be thinking a bit, before nodding. "Luffy," Started Ace, getting the kid's attention. "See how Sabo is holding on?" He asked. Luffy looked at Sabo and how he sat, back straight, legs holding around the form of the horse and hands softly clutching the mane. He nodded, looking at Ace questionably.

He then made a squeal as Ace lifted him and put him on the other horse, looking at Ace with big eyes. Ace took his hands, "Hold here and don't drag too hard." He said as he put his hands on the neck of the horse, Luffy nodded. Ace pushed him a bit forward, making him sit in the right position. "Keep your legs around the horse, and remember to keep your back straight." Luffy nodded, he remembered all the times Sabo and Ace had taught him how to sit and how to hold on, not to lose his balance. "Sabo will be riding next to you, if not a bit behind you, tell him if anything is wrong." Luffy nodded, looking at Sabo with a blinding smile, making him smile back. Ace went over to the herd and mounted the leader, it was a bit bigger than the rest, and always ran in the front.

When he was on, he looked at his brothers, as the horses moved back to the herd, Luffy smiling like a fool, clearly happy. Ace nodded at Sabo, who nodded back. He would tell Ace if something seemed wrong. He had faith Luffy was ready, but still felt a bit unsure, so he would take it slow in the beginning. Ace kicked a bit, making a soft noise and the horses moved slowly, walking. Seeing that everything was fine, Ace sped up a bit, so they were trotting. After seeing Luffy was handling this well, not faltering or dragging the horse in the mane too hard, he looked at Sabo, getting a nod.

He heard Sabo telling Luffy to lean a bit forward, to hold a bit harder around the horse with his legs. When Ace looked back, seeing Luffy in the right position. He also did the same, giving a small click with his tongue, making the horse go faster. Then they were galloping through the field. Ace could hear the happy sound of Luffy laughing and looked back, only to see one of the most blinding smiles he had ever seen. Luffy looked like the happiest kid ever. And based on the look Sabo had, he was enjoying it too. Ace looked forward again, riding towards the beach, feeling the wind of his face, closing his eyes.

This was perfect.

-x-

The Whitebeards had just gotten on the beach, and were setting up a fireplace. They decided to stay for a bit, maybe overnight. And they needed a fireplace for light, warmth and just for the party's sake. It was never a real party without a fire. They had been docked for 10 minutes and were starting to worry about the brats. They had left almost an hour ago, and told them that they were going to meet them at the beach, so where were they? They decided to wait 10 more minutes, before maybe sending Marco to look for them, seeing as he could fly and scout. 5 minutes later, a sound made everyone halt, it sounded like a herd of something running. Dust then came flying over them, even making a cawing sound.

They looked at each other and got in a battle stance, in case it was a flock or herd of wild animals that was going to attack. They faced the woods and stood ready. But what they saw made them lower their stance and weapons. It was a herd of maybe 15-20 horses, completely white horses. And on three of the horses, sat the brothers.

Ace was in the lead, Sabo and Luffy a bit back. They could hear the laughter of the small kid, and he had a blinding smile on his face, looking so happy everyone who saw him had to smile themselves. Sabo also looked happy, smiling and looking at his brother. But Ace, he looked more relaxed than they had ever seen him, a smile on his lips. And this made the captain and commanders smile. It was good to see the assassin so carefree and happy.

Ace, when seeing the pirates had arrived, made a lap around the beach, and stopped when they were a bit away from the pirates. The horses could be a bit skittish around people they did not know and he didn't want anything to happen. So when the horses stopped, Ace waited for Luffy and Sabo to get off first, before dismounting himself, making sure the horses stood still. When they were off and the horses moved back to the forest, Luffy ran towards the pirates. "Did you see that!" He screamed, still smiling like a madman. "That was so amazing!" Whitebeard laughed, it was an amazing and extraordinary sight. "We saw it," Said the captain, looking at the kid who stopped to look at him. "It was an amazing sight. Was it fun?" He asked. Luffy instantly nodded and started to tell how amazing it was. Sabo and Ace went up to the pirates too. Ace stretching as Sabo laughed at Luffy's overenthusiastic story on how amazing it was.

"Ace, yoi." Said the first commander, getting the assassins attention. "Wasn't that wild horses? How did you tame them, yoi?" He asked the boy. Ace laughed as he looked at the commander. "They are wild, yes." He then propped down on the ground, Marco deciding to sit down as well, still a bit away from the assassin, giving him his personal space. "My brothers and I have been here many times, and we decided to try and ride them." He laughed a bit, leaning backwards on his hands. "We were thrown off at first, but after a while, they let us ride them." Ace then looked up at the sky, closing his eyes. "It's an amazing feeling to ride them, you just feel free." Marco nodded, they seemed to enjoy it a lot and were good at it. Marco and Ace sat on the ground, watching the other fiddle around, making a small camp.

While Ace sat leaned back, eyes closed and seemed to be relaxing. Marco was looking at him, he looked to be in a good mood, and happy to be at this island. Marco decided to take a small chance. "You know," He started, making the assassin open an eye, looking at him. "Your brothers seem to really enjoy it on the boat, yoi." Ace nodded at that, it was true. "So why don't you stay? Join us until they can set out, yoi. We do need a new Second Commander anyway." Ace laughed a bit at that. "It is a nice offer, and I know they like it here." He sighed a bit, "But it's not wise for me to stay in the same place for too long, it causes unwanted people to show up and cause havoc. I also want to keep them outside my work, they worry too much already." Marco nodded, he understood what he meant.

"But," Continued the assassin, sitting up a bit. "It would be nice to have them somewhere safe, without being too concerned about them." He looked at the commander, "I'll think about it. Letting them stay." He said, looking sincere at the man. Marco nodded, he was happy with that. He could understand the assassin not accepting, he was an assassin. He had a lot of work and was a wanted man, not only wanted by the marines, but many pirates too. And if it got out he was seen a lot around them, even the other two kids being seen too often, it would most likely cause some havoc. Marco decided to tell his father about it later, maybe he had some idea of what to do that would make it easier for them to join, and not to be targeted when the marines or other pirates found out.

Two hours later, a nurse came up to them. Marco looked at her questionable, when he saw a familiar jar in her hand, he knew it was time to put more lotion on the assassin's face. Marco then looked at the assassin, he was still leaning a bit backwards, eyes closed. The bruising was much better, almost gone, hopefully gone by morning. When she was almost by their sides, Ace opened his eyes a bit, looking at the nurse. "Time for the lotion again I see." He said. "Yes," Answered the nurse. "It might be the last time, we'll see how it looks tomorrow." Ace nodded at that. When the nurse had opened the jar and was about to start applying it, a noise had her look towards the campfire. She sighed, Thatch had managed to set himself on fire, again. "Commander Marco," She said, getting the attention. "I need to check Thatch over." She then handed the jar to him. "You put the lotion on." She said and left. Giving him no room to react before she was gone.

Marco looked at the assassin, a bit nervous. "I can get one of the other nurses if you like, yoi." He said, not knowing if the boy was okay with him doing it. The assassin only laughed a bit, waving his hand. "It's okay, I don't mind if you don't." He said, a smile gracing his lips as he looked at the commander. Marco nodded and took some lotion on, doing it carefully. "There," He said to Ace. "All done." Ace then smiled again, before stretching again. "Thank you, commander Marco."

Marco was just about to open his mouth, most likely to say he was welcome, when Luffy was suddenly there, dragging Ace off towards the campfire. Marco sighed as he looked at the brothers and the others having fun. What he didn't see was the smile on the captain's face, as he took another swing of his sake.

-x-

Marco felt someone nudging him and slowly woke up. He could see Izou crouching next to him, telling him to be quiet and follow him. Marco stood slowly and looked around. Most of the pirates were out drunk, having passed out. Their parties usually got a bit out of hand, and this one had been surprisingly calm, most likely based on the fact that Thatch could not drink, and was therefore not drunk. And seeing as the kids were here, Luffy was still young. And no one knew if the assassin was okay with all of them drinking as bad as they did. Marco could also see Sabo and Luffy not too far away from the still alive fire, sleeping soundly, but where was the assassin?

Marco could see Izou motioning for him to follow him again, Marco did, stretching a bit as he walked. Izou walked him through the woods, and he could see something similar to a clearing ahead of them. When they got out in the small clearing, he could see that it was a small cliff they were standing on. Izou went to the right, and Marco turned towards Izou, and halted for a second. It wasn't just Izou that was here, but also Thatch, Haruta, Jozu and Pops. Izou went and sat down besides Thatch and Marco stared at them. "What are you doing here in the middle of the night, yoi?" He asked them. Thatch motioned to the field down below the cliff, Marco looked down and his eyes went big. In the field, lit up by the moon, was Ace.

He was riding the horse again, there were no other horses around, only the one Ace was on. Ace was riding it around, sometimes going faster, other times going slower, making the horse swing and make circles. "How long has he been doing this, yoi?" He asked, looking at them. "We don't know, son," Started Pops in a low voice. "But we have been watching for the last half hour." Marco nodded and went to sit beside his father, looking at the assassin that was on the field, like a show the assassin didn't know they were watching.

After a while, they heard a noise. It sounded like a howl of some sort and it made the horse stop in the middle of galloping. Ace, clearly not anticipating the sudden stop, went flying over the horse and landed on his back. Marco was about to stand up, and about to fly down and check on the kid, when a gigantic hand made him halt, "Don't worry," Said Whitebeard, "He's okay." The hand was then lowered and Marco stared at him, how did he know? And when he was about to ask, he heard it; small laughter. He looked at the field and could see the horse shaking its head, as Ace laughed on the ground. The horse nudged Ace with his head and Ace rose and jumped right on again, and started running in circles again.

Marco relaxed, sitting back then watched as Ace pushed the horse to run faster than they had seen, before halting completely. This time, Ace did not fall off. Ace petted the horse on the neck, having somehow made the horse go from mid gallop, to a complete halt. Ace moved a bit and the horse moved backwards, before halting again and turning around and galloping the other way. It was a magnificent sight. "He's really good." Said Haruta, who sat next to him. The others could only nod, the assassin was amazing. And it was no surprise, seeing as he was a highly skilled assassin, he probably had a lot of talent. But they really did enjoy watching the young assassin, he looked so carefree and happy as he rode around.

They watched for about an hour more, before leaving, seeing as the sun was starting to rise and they wanted to leave before the assassin noticed them. They had a feeling he knew they were there, but he had made no move to show that he knew they were watching.

-x-

In the morning, they went and got back on the boat. Many of the pirates went to their room to sleep off the rest of their hangover. Luffy was running around with the gigantic dog Stefan, Ace and Sabo was inside the ship. They thought Ace maybe was doing some work related stuff, and Sabo was either with him or in the library. After half an hour, Sabo came out on deck. He went over to the captain and caught his attention. "Bay says Ace is good to leave, but we'll probably stay a few more hours." He said, making the captain nod. Luffy was suddenly in front of his brother, "Where are we going when we leave?" He asked, tilting his head. The pirates looked at each other, were they not going home? Sabo dusted some dirt off his brother, "We're going to visit a certain old man." He said, making Luffy smile. "We're going to visit Rayleigh?" He asked, a gigantic smile on his face. Sabo just nodded.

"Brat," Said the captain, getting the kids' attention. "You know Dark King Rayleigh?" Luffy looked at the captain, a smile still on his lips. "Yeah, we do!" He said, before running off to play with Stefan again. Sabo only shook his head. "Luffy managed to meet him one time and he kind of took a shine to him." Sabo stretched a bit, "When he found out who Ace was and he was Luffy's brother, he wanted to see us every now and then." Whitebeard nodded, it did make sense. Luffy did have Roger's old hat and he was the brother to not only Roger's son, but also the most famous assassin. Rayleigh would want to get to know them and meet them when he could. He was the type of man that was wise, and probably decided to have them on his good side, even being friends with them, was a good thing.

Whitebeard was also having some other thoughts. Rayleigh was strong, relying and never faltered, he could be a good mentor for not only Sabo and Luffy, but Ace as well. He was a person that seemed to be there when you least expected it, but needed it the most. Whitebeard had a feeling he knew Ace was a bit on edge after Teach and the fact someone had sold information about him and his brothers, therefore wanted to see the boys. Rayleigh did seem to know everything that was going on around them, even before anyone else knew.

Luffy, who was now somehow managed to get on top of Stefan, was suddenly thrown off, and went over the railing. Before anyone could react to what had happened, Dust cawed, and suddenly Ace was on the deck, holding Luffy in his hands. Luffy wiggled out of his grasp, "Thanks Ace!" He screamed and went to play with Stefan again. Ace just shook his head, clearly not at all fazed by the fact he could have drowned. But seeing how energetic the kid was, it was not the first or last time it had happened. The kid is a real handful. Ace did seem to be really used to it, and handled it with ease.

His face also looked normal again, the bruising was gone and there was no swelling. The only thing was a small scratch where the cut had been. It was good to see that the lotion Bay had used, had worked as greatly as it had. The assassin stretched a bit, making a few popping sounds, before relaxing again. "I assume Sabo has already told you we are leaving today?" Asked the assassin, making the captain nod. "He has, he also mentioned where you are going." Ace nodded, not seeming surprised by the fact. They then went about to relax on the deck. Whitebeard was happy to see that no one of his sons and daughters was anxious around the assassin, they seemed to be at ease around him. Many of them were a bit intimidated, and didn't look at him for too long, but it was a great difference from before, when no one dared to make any move around him.

2 hours later, Haruta made her way towards Ace. Luffy and Sabo had gone inside the ship to look around and try to get the layout of the ship. It was a big ship, and had a lot of small passageways, and Luffy wanted to find all of them. Seeing how bad Luffy was at finding his way back and how he often managed to get lost, Sabo had tagged along. "Umm," She started, getting the assassins attention. "You showed Thatch and Izou some tactics and fighting tips and I wondered if you could show me anything…?" The assassin looked at the commander, before nodding and standing up, stretching when he was upright. The other pirates were a bit surprised by the request from their youngest. They knew Haruta was a bit jealous, seeing as she also wanted to learn more tactics, but she had been too scared to ask the assassin last time. And it seemed like she was taking a chance and decided to ask. She looked relieved and happy that the assassin had accepted.

When Ace put his hands back by his side, he motioned for the twelfth commander to get in a battle stance. The young commander obliged and took her saber out, holding it in front of her in her right hand. Haruta was nervous as the assassin was assessing her stance and seemed to be thinking about something. While she tried, Haruta could not stand completely still, which made her a bit crestfallen, seeing as the assassin had told Thatch to stand still in his stance. Haruta was not used to standing completely still like Thatch, but she always tried her best, seeing how much stronger the man was than her. She wanted to be stronger and better.

The assassin hummed a bit, making the commander a bit more nervous. "You seemed to have an issue with standing still," He started, "Don't you fight with speed?" He asked, looking at the fidgeting commander. Haruta nodded. She was one of the fastest swords wielders on the ship, based on how light and small she was. Ace nodded, "Then don't try to stand still, it will make you slower." He said, making many of them look at him in question and curiosity. He had told Thatch to stand still, to have a firm and powerful stance. So why was he saying something different now?

Ace sighed, seeing and feeling all the looks he was getting. "You're probably wondering why I said something different to you than Thatch?" Haruta nodded. Ace went and took a sword that was lying about and held it up at the ready, the same way Thatch had stood, feet planted in the ground, sword held in front and body straight and still. "Thatch is a bit stronger built than you and therefore needs to use his weight and stance to fend off attacks. He can do this best with his feet planted in the ground and standing still with his body at the ready for an attack, on the defense basically. Using his strength in his attacks, he gets more force if he stands still in the right stance before attacking." Haruta nodded, she understood that.

Ace moved his body a bit, standing like Haruta had. "You on the other hand," Continued Ace, "Are much smaller and lighter, meaning you don't have the necessary strength to fend off attacks and defend like the fourth commander, you could be easily knocked over or lose your balance." Haruta felt her shoulder hunch a bit at that, maybe she was too weak. "But," Ace continued, making the commander look at him again. "You are already used to fighting with your speed. You need to start using your movement and stance to get more speed and be more ready, at the offense shortly said." Ace then moved his form a bit in place, "If, instead of standing still, you move around, never standing still. You will be more ready to go for an attack or dodge, getting an upper hand." Haruta nodded and went back to the stance she used, only this time, doing small movements, small jumps and switching from leg to leg like the assassin had. And it felt much more natural and better than trying to stand still.

Ace looked at her, nodding. "It will also make you less nervous in battle, since you focus more on what's happening around you, than trying to stand still, your body feeling ready." Haruta nodded, amazed that she was supposed to move around. She had always tried to copy the other sword wilders on the crew, no one was moving about as she did. "There are not many that do this," Started the assassin getting the attention again. "But if you manage to never stop the movement, you can get more speed during your attacks and surprise the enemy." Haruta nodded, it did make sense. "I use this fighting style every now and then, but I am not too skilled at it myself. But I know someone who is." Said the assassin, making a sense of hope fill the small commander. "I can ask him for some tips and see if he can come by sometime." The small commander nodded, a smile on her face, "I would really like that." She said, looking glad. And for the next hour or so, Ace gave her small tips on how to use her speed in a more reliable way.

While Ace was busy with this, the other pirates smiled. The small commander had had issues with not being as strong, but she was fast, the reason she was chosen to be a commander. The fact that none of them used speed the way she did, made it so she had to figure a lot out herself, which could be hard. It was good to find someone that could teach her how to use her skills. The assassin was really helpful. They were glad they had checked out the island all those months ago. If they hadn't they would never have met the kids and seen the other side of him.

As Ace showed and walked around Haruta, giving pinpoints. Whitebeard could only think that Ace would have fitted in perfectly. He would be a good commander, and he could teach them a lot. The assassin was really talented, and was willing to teach them how to better their skills, even teaching new skills.

He only hoped the assassin would say yes at some point.

-x-

Some hours later, after dinner, the kids had packed and were ready to leave. "Are you sure you didn't forget anything?" Said the assassin to Luffy. Luffy nodded. Ace lifted an eyebrow, making Luffy look a bit unsure. "Well, I think I remembered everything." Ace sighed, "If you forgot anything, we'll get it later." Luffy nodded at that, before looking at the crew, waving his hands. "Goodbye everyone!" He yelled, and many waved back, saying their own goodbye. "We promise to visit again soon!" Said the kid, and the other two only shook their heads a bit, before patting the kid on the shoulder, making him turn around.

Ace had sent Dust off a bit earlier, making it so they could just teleport there. When he was at their destination, the kid had gone to pack his stuff. They were a bit disappointed that they had to leave so soon, but hoped they would visit again soon, as Luffy said. Sabo then said his goodbye, tilting his hat a bit, and getting a few nods back. "I thank you again for the hospitality." Said the assassin, looking at the captain that nodded back. "It was no problem." Said the captain. "It's nice to have you here, hope you can come again soon." He said, with a smile on his face. Ace nodded, "We'll probably visit again sometime." Many of the pirates smiled at this, happy that they would come by again.

Luffy then hugged his brother, and Sabo put his hand on the assassin's shoulder. Ace gave a nod, a small smile on his face, and disappeared.

---

And that's the chapter! Hope you enjoyed

The death of Teach was a bit brutal, but I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

I also brought in the Red Cloud as an assassin guild of some sort, just to let everyone know that there is a code, and that there are more assassins around, even rouge ones. And named them Red Cloud in honor of the Akatsuki from Naruto, seeing as their capes have red clouds, and that they did missions and such. And how they lived in Rain

Don't be afraid to leave a comment or send a PM