*is totally not putting off homework to work on this chapter.* Hello yes, another quick turn around and I promise I won't vanish for months this time before posting the next chapter. I think we're nearing the end, though I'll see how these next few chapters will end up. There will be an epilogue and then I'm moving on and this will be a completed story which will be nice. But like I said we'll see the reactions and how the chapters go. Now. Onto the chapter!

Wait, guess what? I actually passed 7k words again. Yay~!

+3 weeks.

A week ago he had been moved from his cell to a much more comfortable location, well in theory it was more comfortable. He was still fluctuating between feeling too hot, too cold, or numb. Ace knew that one of his wounds was infected, he could smell the pus, and he figured that's probably what was making him so sick. It hurt to breathe as well, and every exhale sounded wheezy and wet.

If he didn't get to a doctor soon he would probably die, even if for some reason they took the cuffs out he doubted he'd be able to burn the infection out. This was a waiting game now.

"What do you mean you don't want to risk moving him?" That was a familiar voice.

"He's injured and sick," another voice replied, "our doctor says the infection has spread throughout his body.

Don't know that voice.

"You're doing a task for a doctor, why wouldn't you call me?"

A doctor? Why did that feel important?

"We figured since you want him dead you wouldn't want to treat him."

"I wanted this done as legally possible," the man said, "I'll treat him to the point of keeping him alive."

A door creaked open and Ace struggled to turn his head toward the noise. Not that he could see anything... were his eyes closed? It was too much energy to try to open them.

Noises faded out after a pain in his chest and he wasn't sure if he passed out from that or if it was a sleep attack.

The next time he came to he didn't feel as hot as previously and he wasn't shaking terribly. He guessed that someone had helped him while he was passed out. At least his symptoms were gone for the moment. He could think clearly now, not that it was helping him out at the moment. The only thing that's changed since a month ago was his location and comfort level. Even his want to flee hadn't decreased.

Feeling more stable Ace pushed himself up, there was a tugging on his wrist and his head started to spin. Still pretty weak. Can't fight my way out of this place, even if I could where would I go?

Out of curiosity he moved his legs around and let them swing off of the bed. The ground felt sturdy, no pitching. He was off the ship?

Slowly he attempted to stand up. Almost immediately his knees began shaking, but he could get himself upright. His range of motion was limited however, his arm was already being pulled behind him from the cuff.

Frustration set in. All he had wanted to was live freely, he never asked to be a target. He wished he could see and maybe figure out how to save himself, as it stood he'd either become completely blind or this room was in complete darkness.

He really hoped it was the latter, but the not knowing was killing him.

Kureha had watched the pirate ship since it arrived. So far they hadn't caused any trouble, citing a sick crew member and they were only looking for a doctor. Which had come in the form of the stranger since no doctor would oust themselves for a pirate.

The crew had alternated between their ship and then inn. However, it was the captain that had her unsettled, he was average in every way, a person that would easily be forgotten or if described could be a hundred others. His eyes were what set him apart, Kureha had gotten close enough to him to see how cold they were. Another greedy man after Roger's treasure no doubt.

She had to ask, why would a man like that care about a sick crew member?

The stranger had bothered her as well, he was too willing to help them. Even if he wasn't in danger of being killed by Wapol, he was still aiding pirates. If the marines got wind of that, his career would be over. It was a big risk.

... Maybe she should visit the patient or try too.

"Chopper! I'm going into town."

"Aye!"

On the way to town she saw a curious sight. A blue bird that appeared to be on fire circling over head. Kureha frowned, she knew of a pirate that could turn into a bird like that. A Whitebeard here of all places? Something else was at work. She climbed the nearest snow mound to see where the bird would go.

It seemed to hover around the dock before apparently landing. The pirate ship was the problem, if it truly was The Phoenix. Kureha shrugged, she hadn't stayed alive this long by not knowing what was going on.

The town was in an uproar by the time she got there. Dalton was trying to calm down a group of citizens when she approached him.

"Dalton, we need to get these pirates to leave!" One citizen cried.

A woman followed up on that, "they've brought a Whitebeard here! Who's to say the rest of the crew won't follow?"

Dalton raised his hands, "I'll ask them to leave, but I doubt they will with how sick their crewmate seems to be. Maybe this Whitebeard is acting alone?"

Kureha doubted it, sure it was a possibility, but she knew which one was gracing them with his presence. He was the one that was off the Moby Dick the least. This must be serious.

"Dalton," she called.

The citizen's turned in surprise at her appearance. She didn't blame them. Dalton merely raised his eyebrow and left the group to come over to her.

"Yes?"

She looked around, "do they seem like the type to stir up trouble?"

"They're pirates," Dalton shrugged, "but they aren't the types like the rumors say about Whitebeard or Red Hair."

"So do you think they're hiding something or they're really just in a layover with a sick crew member?"

Dalton pursed his lips, "their crew member is sick, the innkeeper can attest to that, but beyond that I can't say. I'm more concerned about what The Phoenix could do to us."

Kureha rolled her eyes behind her glasses. Whitebeard Pirates wouldn't cause trouble without a good reason. He was the one she needed to talk to, or rather, he was the one that would probably talk.

She turned to leave as Dalton had been distracted by another group of concerned citizens. If she was right, then The Phoenix had landed a few miles outside of the village on its western side.

Hopefully she was right about the type of people Whitebeard took in. She shrugged and headed towards where she last saw the pirate.

The forest was much calmer than it was usually, as if the animals were hiding. Kureha slowed down, not that it would help her. The Phoenix would know she's coming in that uncanny way haki users had. Her own haki wouldn't be much help with sensing him, as weak as it was in comparison. All she could feel were the small critters.

It was nearly too late by the time she felt the presence, The Phoenix landed in front of her his blue wings blazing but burning nothing. He didn't exactly live up to the rumors.

"Why are you following me? I heard you talking, yoi," his head tilted.

Kureha observed him, he felt powerful but his eyes were calm. She wasn't afraid of him, "considering who you are, you can't blame people for talking."

The Phoenix crossed his arms, "few rarely chase after me."

"Can't imagine they would, not many people are like me," she grinned.

"Hm, that so, yoi?" He leaned against a tree, "so what, you're a leader of the village?"

"No, I'm a doctor concerned about potential patients."

"We won't harm the civilians," strangely enough she believed the pirate.

"But you'll harm the pirates?"

"If it comes to it," The Phoenix shrugged, "they took someone from us."

She felt like she could trust him, pirate feuds happen frequently. Besides, she wanted those pirates off of the island.

"They claim to have a sick crew member."

The Phoenix perked up, she wasn't sure how she knew that because nothing changed outwardly, but his whole aura changed.

"Keep the village in one piece, these people have suffered enough without having to worry about property damage."

He nodded, "we'll try."

That would have to be enough.

Marco watched the old woman go. Obviously she wasn't only a doctor, most wouldn't go near a pirate of their own choice. She had given him a warning and a hint. He'd have to mention her to Pops.

The pirate ship's Jolly Roger was clear over the trees, it matched the description to a T. Marco hadn't gotten close enough to hear or see and of the crew, which was his next task. People on this island had begun pointing at him in his bird form so he had to land before he lost the element of surprise. Most were happy to overlook a stranger, especially if he hid his mark and just stayed out of trouble.

He need to let Pops know he landed and they had the right ship at least. The snail phone woke up after he poked it once and after two rings Pops picked up.

"Marco, I trust you arrived safely?"

"Yes, yoi. The Jolly Roger matches the description."

"That information was accurate at least," he could hear the relief in his father's voice.

"The citizen's are worried about pirates, I won't be able to move freely in my Phoenix form. Rumor has it however, that they have a sick crew member, yoi."

The was a short pause, "move with caution, see if you can learn anything about this ill crew member."

"Of course, yoi."

"Namur says we'll hit a strong current and that the wind should be turning to a tailwind."

"You'll be here earlier then?"

"Perhaps," Pops answered shortly, there was a loud noise in the background, "if there's not anything else I think tempers have finally reached a boiling point."

"Not that I can think of."

The call clicked off and Marco was left alone with a lot more questions that he previously had. Things had been tense when he left, Thatch was moody and Izou was snippy and everyone was feeding off of that and adding it to the fact Ace was still missing... yeah, there was going to be some damage to the ship that wasn't caused by enemies.

Marco shrugged, he didn't like that his siblings were fighting among each other but there was nothing that he could do about it at the moment. However, he could go gather information. With any luck he wouldn't have been noticed by any of the pirates and they would ignore him. That probably wasn't going to happen knowing his luck.

Either way he needed a place to stay. As a precaution he swapped out his usual purple jacket and blue sash for a closed green coat and black belt. Nothing could change his hair however, hopefully no one would be looking too close.

Snow crunched underfoot and more began to fall. Marco wrinkled his nose, snow always reminded him of Wano; a place that he'd rather never go back to. The animals had calmed down from his landing and were running around on the path ahead of him.

A short time later the village was in full view. The citizen's had gone back to normal for the most part but he could tell they were scared. Groups of pirates leaned against walls. Marco noticed that they appeared calm. So they don't know or don't care that I'm here.

He slipped into the inn. More pirates were scattered around inside. These pirates were far more alert, Marco made eye contact with one but the man only scowled. It was very strange to not be recognized.

"Can I help you?" A man showed up behind the counter.

"Do you have any rooms left?" Marco smiled, "I seem to have arrived at a busy time."

"We do, but I'd rather not lend one to you. My other guests aren't the friendly sort."

Marco shrugged, glancing around the room nonchalantly, "tell them that if they have a problem they can take it up with me."

"Your funeral... you have money?" The innkeeper jumped at a loud altercation.

He pulled out his coin purse and slid a reasonable (more than he would usually pay) amount over. The man checked it and decided that it was real.

A key was passed over the desk, "second floor, room number 4."

After he grabbed it, Marco wandered towards the stairs. More people had begun to watch him, well the pirates were at least. That could prove problematic, especially if they wanted to get physical. He acted like he was oblivious to the stairs.

The second floor wasn't anything special, a long hallway with four doors on each side. On the way to his room the smell of infection hit his nose. So, someone really is sick.

If they are, then they're probably in that last room. Marco raised an eyebrow in surprise. The walls weren't flat like he had thought but had alcoves periodically and there was a person sitting in the one at the end of the hall.

Guess that's the room.

Voices could be heard getting closer and Marco tilted his head to listen. One was familiar... The woman from earlier? Sure enough she was walking to an older man, who didn't look like a native or much of anything really.

"I just can't seem to beat this infection. We're moving him soon, I worry he won't be able to survive it."

"I'll take a look. You shouldn't move him until he's much healthier. Why rush?"

"The marines, they really want him."

That was an odd way of phrasing that statement. Marco glanced at the woman who didn't look at him. He'd just have to wait and listen to see when she left.

There wasn't much he could do that wouldn't cause him to miss the old woman leaving. He paused, wondering how he would pull that off without looking suspicious. The guard of the door surely noticed him hanging outside of his room and would be keeping a close eye on him. Of course he could always go out the window... he shook his head. Maybe there would be a guard change.

A few hours later and he was trying to get out of the window. The hinge had broken and one of the shutters kept slamming in his face as he perched himself in the window so he could transform his arms to his wings. Marco was really trying not to feel like he was a teenager again, sneaking out to see what Pops and the crew were doing.

Unfortunately the shame was a feeling one never let go of, even as he glided down to the snow-covered streets. He had heard the woman leave, she had something about there being very little she could do in the working conditions.

At least he'd know the identity of the sick crew member. It could be helpful.

The woman turned the corner and seemed unsurprised to seem him. If he wanted to hazard a guess, he would think she's relieved.

"You said that lot took someone from you?"

Marco nodded, unsure of where this was going.

"Well, the kid in there had Whitebeard's mark, don't know if he left the crew though."

The kid... Pop's mark... could it be?

"What did it look like? What did he look like?"

The woman raised an eyebrow and removed her glasses from her eyes, "the tattoo was your Jolly Roger, big and purple on the back."

It must be him.

"He looked like a kid, long black hair, freckles," she continued.

After so long it was that easy? "That's him."

She didn't look surprised, "thought so."

Marco was nearly trembling with the need to go back into the building and save his brother. Pops' warning rang in his head. He didn't know anything about them. It could prove problematic if he rushed in... but Ace was right there.

"He's in a bad way," the old woman continued, "if they moved him like they say they are he won't survive. You don't have the time to wait if you want to save his life."

"When are they going to move him?"

"Tomorrow or the next day."

Well, shit. Their time table was cut down significantly. In theory the current turning would only put them a day out, which they could easily make up, but to let them move Ace might end up being a fatal mistake.

It wasn't often Marco disobeyed Pops' direct orders, but it was looking like he didn't have a choice.

"You get him out of there I'll treat him," the woman smirked, "and for my kindness I'll no longer be indebted to your father."

... What... Who is the woman? "Where will you be?"

As if she had expected the question she pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to him. He half thought it was a Vivre Card even though they were rare in Paradise. Instead, it was a poorly drawn map. It had enough landmarks that he didn't think there would be any issues in finding the place, he just wouldn't ever use it as an actual map.

"Save your friend, Phoenix."

He nodded. Should this woman actually be acquainted with Pops, then he could at least confirm that she wasn't going to betray him the moment he lets her treat Ace.

"I will."

The woman once again walked away, clearly she was finished with the conversation. It was refreshing to see someone not afraid of pirates that was a civilian. However, the townspeople seemed to avoid the woman like she was some type of thief.

Not that he was picky about where his help came from. Speaking of that, how was he going to get Ace out of that room?

His only ally was the old woman who was only going to help him later. None of the townsfolk looked like they wanted to get involved, and with their current political climate he was sure they wanted to watch their own neck more. The pirates didn't seem overly skilled, but they had taken Ace out who went toe-to-toe with a Warlord. So he'd work under the assumption they had haki and seastone. Their haki would be less of a problem than the seastone, but he was faster than most people thought.

Not to mention he had the element of surprise. The pirates were a non issue. It was not causing more damage to Ace. Moving him was dangerous, but Marco knew he didn't have a choice.

The sun was almost setting, night would be helpful in covering his tracks but not hiding a glowing bird. It'd have to be a direct assault. He'd strike when the guards were changing, providing they had something like that. Considering the size of the building the struggle would be heard. There would be maybe half a minute before the first person climbed the stairs.

It just wouldn't be a clean rescue.

Pops will understand once I explain it to him.

Marco leapt back up to his window, using his wings only once to soften the sound. He scanned his belongings for anything he absolutely needed to bring along: the den-den for sure, his money would probably come in handy, and Ace's hat.

When had that gotten into his bag? Last time he had seen it was when Thatch pulled it out the day they found out Ace was missing. Another mystery for another day. He slipped the snail and money into one of his pockets and hung the hat around his neck.

Several hours later he heard someone climb the steps.

"No change?" One voice asked.

"Nothing. Watch that room though, that dude gives off some bad vibes."

Marco shrugged, he didn't care about being noticed at this point.

After waiting a little longer, he cracked open the door to see the guard. He was slumped in the chair and was snoring loudly. A blessing I'll be happy to take.

He snuck past the sleeping man, before deciding against leaving him alive. Should he wake up while he's rescuing Ace it'd cause problems like reinforcements. It wasn't like he was opposed to killing, it was just usually done with talons. Thankfully Marco had the dagger that Atmos had given him on him. Which slid out of the sheath with a quiet shwing. The guard stirred and before he could settle back down Marco drew the blade across the man's neck. Blood dripped out of the slice lazily.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

Shit. I knew this was too easy.

Marco turned around slowly, flipping the blade in his grip.

"Nothing much, yoi."

"I had hoped you were just a curious civilian, but I'm afraid I'll have to kill you."

"A lot of people would like you for that."

The other pirate looked confused, before realization dawned across his face.

"You're-"

Marco was behind him in a second, clamping on hand across the other's mouth, "now, that's not something you'll be wanting to blurt out where someone could hear you."

The man shivered and Marco snapped his neck; dropping the body to the ground when there was a pained groan from Ace's room. He only realized his he'd been heard when someone called up the steps.

"Darell, what's going on up there?"

Marco leapt over the body and headed towards the door. He'd rather outrun the pirates than having to fight all of them. It would take up too much time. A powerful kick sent the door off its hinges and Marco held his breath at the smell of infection.

People downstairs had started yelling after the crash and a glance towards the stairs showed men running up them.

Though, Marco didn't notice any of this as his eyes were glued to Ace's beaten form. It was only another pained grunt that broke him out of his shock. There would be a time for him to assess the damage later, doing it now would only work him towards a Phoenix Rage.

He sprinted towards his injured brother, before changing course to fling open the window. The pirates had reached the door and were aiming the guns at him. Marco sent them and unimpressed look as he moved back towards Ace.

One of the first bullets fired at him he dodged with ease, and it imbedded itself in the wall. Grabbing Ace and not getting shot was the priority. That's when he noticed the cuff.

That explained why Ace wasn't burning this idiots to a crisp. Marco chewed on his lip, seastone wasn't pleasant but if Ace wasn't fully in control of the fire that could cause problems. With a heavily haki coated fist, Marco broke the chain connecting the cuff to the bed.

Whenever his first made contact he could feel his power waver for a second, which was enough for him to get hit in the shoulder with a bullet. He cursed. That stings.

The pirates seemed surprised that they had actually hit him and for a few seconds stopped firing. It was all he needed to pick Ace up, and jump towards the window.

In his arms Ace whimpered in pain and Marco attempted to soothe him.

"I'm sorry, the pain will go away soon. I promise."

He landed roughly on the ground, losing his footing in the snow which cause him to slip. It was only a last second tightening of his grip that kept his brother from falling from his arms.

The others had regained their wits and were now firing on him once again. His haki was let him sense the bullets, but Marco changed his focus to sense for anyone pursuing him. The bullet wounds healed quickly.

One pierced his calf and this time he really did fall in the snow. Someone had wised up and put seastone into their guns, and then had gotten lucky because the shrapnel had lodged into his bone.

Marco turned and looked back at the window. A man stood there, the gun still trained on him. Not one thing stood out about him.

"Well, how's this for a haul? Fire Fist and The Phoenix."

There were three things that told Thatch that something was very wrong, had he not known the situation already. The first thing was that Pops wasn't drinking Sake despite it being early afternoon, two was he was drinking green tea (which had his nurses thrilled, and three Marco had missed his check in.

Thatch could count on one hand the times Marco hadn't called in on time. Even then he was only a few hours late, it had been over a day. Drum was hazy horizon.

Truthfully, he wanted someone to vent to, but no one was around to talk to. Haruta was busy with last minute intel, Izou wasn't talking to him due to yesterday's incident, and the rest of the commanders were steering clear to prevent another incident.

Two brothers missing? Who are these guys?

Haruta let out a frustrated groan as they threw open the door. If Thatch had to guess, he would say it was another day of no information. It was unnerving that such a powerful group was anonymous.

A sigh escaped his lips, he was worried. Marco hadn't been himself before leaving, but Thatch knew that his brother was their only hope of saving time. In times like this he wished there was another in their family that could keep pace with The Phoenix.

The only thing that he could do was hope that the Devil's Fruit does it job of keeping his brother healthy... and that they would continue having this tailwind.

Chopper had come down to the edge of the village. Doctorine told him that she'd forgotten to gather a herb that grew on the outskirts. The whole situation with the pirates made her leave town in a hurry. He still didn't understand it completely.

As he neared the path, sounds deep in the forest put him on alert. They sounded like they came from a human... and smelled like it too. Was that blood? Panic surged in his chest and he dived to hide behind the tree. He shrunk down to his normal size. Maybe they were just hunters.

Wait I'm a deer. Oh no!

Before he could run away the humans stumbled into the clearing. Once he saw them he could tell the blood was from them, and one was very sick. He shuffled from his cover a little more to see what was going on. Every doctor instinct in him screamed at him to go and try to fix them, but terror kept him from moving.

The blond human went down in the snow, staining it red, but his grip on the black-haired human didn't lessen at all. That's when Chopper noticed the large gash on his hand, which lead to him realizing there was another bullet wound on his upper arm.

His leg tensed, the sleigh wasn't that far away. Maybe they would come back with him to see Doctorine to get treated. Are they safe? I think they're too hurt to be much trouble.

It was the pained groan from the black haired man that drew Chopper's attention. The man was pale but flushed even though he didn't have a shirt on. There was an oozing wound on his back and busing that seemed to radiate from his front, sticking mainly to his ribs.

"Sorry Ace," the blond man shushed.

Chopper stepped out from behind the tree fully and the blond haired man's eyes snapped to him. There was something dangerous burning there, not to mention how fast he noticed another's presence.

"W-w-wait, I can help!"

The man didn't seem to believe him.

"I-I'm a doctor, well in training, but I know one! I'll take you to her," Chopper cried, "your friend, he really needs help. So do you, you're bleeding."

Chopper watched as the human glanced at his companion then at the sleigh. There was a lessening of heat in his gaze. Tentatively he stepped forward, not wanting to commit himself fully in case the man changed his mind.

"Okay, yoi," was what he finally said after a long pause, "but you have to move quickly."

Nodding Chopper grew in size, which seemed to only cause the man to lose his composure for a second. The one called Ace stirred.

"Marco..."

The blond, now known as Marco perked up at the noise. Chopper was relieved that Ace seemed to be able to recognize who he was with, he was worried the fever was messing with his brain.

Sensing that the hostile air had eased Chopper stepped forward, he was going to pick Ace up and put him into the sleigh before helping Marco to it. As he reached for Ace, the other one was suddenly pushing his body over his companions.

"Don't take him from me!"

The sound was so animalistic that he had to step backwards. His own instincts were telling him to move away from the other, that Marco was some sort of apex predator. Though Chopper shook that off, he had patients to help.

"I won't! I was only moving him, so that you could move more easily."

Marco didn't seem convinced. Chopper sighed, it would be easier to pick both of them up so that's what he did. Ace moaned, but the other one remained quiet as they were carefully carried and placed in the back of the sleigh.

Doctorine won't get mad if I'm saving people, right? Chopper shook his head, a doctor's duty was to his patients. These two needed help now, and the herb could be gotten at a later date.

With that thought in mind Chopper shifted into his run point and hooked the sleigh up to himself. When he was sure that he was secure he took off, running faster than he ever had before. He kept one ear pointed backwards to make sure that his patients were still alive and the other one listening ahead for any danger.

"Doctorine! Doctorine! I need help! There were people in the woods, and they were injured!" Chopper yelled.

The door cracked open to reveal Doctorine, a battle in hand, "what have I told you about bringing strange people here?"

He slowed down, "I'm sorry. But they weren't going to make it if no one helped them."

Slowly Doctorine walked towards the sleigh raising the bottle to her lips. Chopper watched her nervously, hoping that he wouldn't have to take them away. He tilted his head in confusion when she appeared shocked.

"He did it, and since the village seems to be intact he made good on his promise."

"Doctorine?"

She laughed, "fate sure is strange. It didn't want those two to die this day!"

Chopper frowned. None of this was making sense, but it seemed like Doctorine was going to help them after all! Which was good, because he wasn't sure he'd know how to treat Ace's infection. Marco's he could handle, so long as there wasn't shrapnel in the bone.

Doctorine leaned over Marco, humming as she examined him.

Marco cracked open an eye and watched her warily.

"Certainly got yourself in some trouble there, eh Phoenix?"

"His name is Marco!" Chopper supplied helpfully.

"I know that, who knew those guys carried sea stone. A New World group?"

"Yes, yoi."

She nodded thoughtfully before ramming her thumb into the area around the bullet hole. Marco grunted in pain and glared at her.

Chopper shifted nervously back into his regular form.

"What the hell?" Marco groaned.

"No bone fractures in the lower leg," Doctorine paused before pressing on the upper part of the shin, "none above either."

Marco shook his head, "get the fragments out, all of them and I can heal myself."

The jabbing had increased the flow of blood.

"Chopper, I need you to clean the wound and start removing the larger fragments. Use the clotting salve on him, I'll worry about the smaller fragments when I'm done with his friend," Doctorine ordered.

"He doesn't like to be separated."

The man began to nod in agreement before Doctorine brought her hand down to smack him.

"He'll have to deal with it, unless he wants his friend to die because he couldn't trust the only people to offer him help."

That shut Marco's mouth and Chopper's jaw hit the floor. Doctorine just stood up to him! Just like that! Even though he feels super strong!

"Let this be a lesson to you, when it comes to treating patients, their feelings need to be considered but not coddled."

"What type of doctor are you?" Marco murmured.

"One that's about to save your friends life, remember our deal Phoenix."

With that Doctorine picked up Ace with a strength the belied her size and left to take him into the part of their house they used for the more critical patients. Chopper was glad he had the urge to clean it last week and there wasn't a layer of dust.

Marco had immediately tensed when Ace was taken out of his sight and Chopper panicked inwardly. This man could take a beating and there wasn't going to be anything he could do should the man decided to act up.

Instead, he shifted heavy point and offered his hand to help support the other. At first it looked like the offer was going to be rejected but Marco stood up and leaned into his side keeping his injured leg weight free for the most part.

They walked in silence to the main exam room, and once there Marco limped over to the table while Chopper turned and looked for the clotting salve. He didn't find it right away, but instead found a cloth. A few minutes later he found the salve and a bowl that he then filled with water.

The table next to the bed had all the tools that he would need. He looked at Marco for permission to which the man nodded. Truthfully, Chopper didn't feel comfortable trying to pull out the debris from the wounds, so he began with the easier wounds.

"Don't worry about stitching them,"

"But," Chopper protested.

"It would be a waste of materials once you pull out that bullet."

He didn't quite understand what the man meant, however he wasn't going to argue with him. The material was getting harder and harder to come by with the no one wanting to supply doctors. Maybe he knows something I don't?

It was easier to relax once he began to clean the wounds. The hand wound was the most worrisome, but after cleaning it up it was clear the wound was worse than it looked. A clean stab wound that went through the hand completely. Chopper flexed the fingers and checked the feeling, and there didn't appear much of a problem.

The hand was cleaned and wrapped up and he moved onto the bullet wound. It was a graze along the arm and again it took only a couple of minutes to clean and bandage it.

"What happened?" Chopper asked.

"The pirates in town happened,"

Chopper nodded, he was stalling to keep himself from working on the leg. After thinking about it he realized that Ace was far too hurt for Doctorine to come help anytime soon. He grabbed the salve and opened it. Marco had apparently decided to clean his leg while Chopper was straightening things up. Gently he applied the salve, the blood flow had slowed which meant no vessel damage.

Marco raised an eyebrow as he reached for the local anesthetic. The needle went in clean, now they would have to wait for it to kick in. In a few minutes Chopper pressed down on the leg and got no hiss of pain so he reached for the tweezers.

"This might feel weird."

"I can handle it, yoi."

Chopper began to pick out the surface shrapnel first, dropping it into a petri dish. There was very little of it, so he hoped that meant the bullet was mostly intact. Once he was sure there was no more, he grabbed a magnifying glass to help him see the pieces in the wound. Like he had guessed the bullet had just embedded itself in the bone. A gentle pull told him that it was more than halfway in.

Thankfully the bone was strong which meant he didn't have to worry that much about the bone splintering. He gripped the bullet in the tweezers and began to wiggle it to pull it out. Marco only grunted occasionally.

It took him a twenty minutes to get the bullet to the point where one sharp yank would pull it out.

"When you pull that out, move fast. My devil fruit is going to act up, yoi."

Oh. He's a fruit user... why didn't he mention his powers?

Chopper nodded and without warning he yanked.

Marco yelled out briefly before blue flames sprung to life over his injuries. The flames vanished and so did the leg wound.

"Are all of your wounds gone now?"

"Yes," Marco was flexing his hand.

Unsure of what to do now that an hour and half of his work vanished. He was glad to know he hadn't cause more damage with removing the bullet.

"Stay here, I'll come back with something to drink and check on your friend."

Marco nodded, "thank you, yoi."

Chopper jumped off of his stool. He wasn't sure if Doctorine would tell him anything, but he was curious as well. The usual silence of his home seemed oppressing, it was always after a tough case. A little further ahead he could hear the noises of Doctorine moving around with a speed that could only come with practice.

The door was open so Chopper took that as he was allowed inside. As expected it was chaos, but it was all focused on the prone boy on the table, who somehow looked worse than he did when he was found.

"Doctorine?"

"Oh, Chopper, good, hand me that scalpel. I need to release some of the air in his chest," she said.

He grabbed the requested tool and she took it harsher than she usually did. A few seconds later a weird sound filled the room as blood trickled from the small wound in his chest.

"His lung was collapsed because...?"

"The air wasn't allowing it to expand fully," Chopper answered.

"Correct."

Again Doctorine turned her focus to the patient and Chopper hopped up on the stool next to the tool table. Briefly he remembered he promised Marco a drink, but he could wait. This seemed like it was a touch-and-go operation.

Ace's hair was matted down with sweat and his face was peaceful. Though his skin was pale and there was a purplish bruise forming on his abdomen.

"Internal bleeding?"

"Something must've gotten nicked during their escape."

He wanted to know how she knew that.

"Hm, I don't think his rib slipped, but there's definitely an infection of the bone...there's an infection from that puncture wound as well maybe tetanus...look systemic. Broken nose, that's easy to fix. I'm worried about that organ damage, it might've affected his vision."

"He's going to be blind?" Chopper cried.

"There's a chance, there's significant damage, if that's from whatever drug they gave him he has no chance of survival. Though, the jaundice seems to be fading if I can trust that doctor's word."

Chopper frowned, "will he live?"

"Its up in the air. I have to get rid of those infections before I can even begin to work on the organ damage if I can even do anything about it. Thankfully there's not many injuries, most of those have healed," Doctorine wasn't talking to him.

"Do you need my help?"

"No, I have to make specific medicine, you can come watch. How's the bird?"

"Bird? Marco? I got the bullet out he healed himself. Devil fruit I think."

"Good, good," Doctorine mumbled. "Come to the room later, you were getting Marco something to drink?"

How does she know these things?

Chopper nodded and scurried off to find a glass. At least he wasn't taking bad news back, like they wouldn't be able to fix him... just not very reassuring news like they knew how to try and fix him. For Marco's sake Chopper hoped that Ace pulled through, the other man seemed to be very protective of the younger human.

Marco was leaning back in the bed, waiting for the small reindeer(?) to return with something to drink. His leg was still stiff. He felt the flames as they worked under the skin to knit and form the bone back together.

He was exhausted, mentally and physically. It was rare that someone managed to get the upper hand on him, and was usually when he was at his low point: overworked, stressed, or in his over-protective mode. This time it had been all three and he hadn't noticed the bullet until it was buried in his leg. Honestly, he hadn't considered that they would have seastone bullets even though it was confirmed they had seastone cuffs.

It was his mistake plane and simple, but he wasn't the one paying for it. His limp had increased the length that Ace had to be out in the cold and traveling. There was no way that it was the right thing to do in that situation. Not that he had much of a choice. He had felt awful running away and leaving Ace's captors alive, but even he knew he had limits.

Never would he put revenge over the life of a family member.

Just as he was about to climb out of the bed and do some exploring the place he had been brought his den-den rang.

Why... Oh. Oops. There was only one crew that had this snail's number and he knew exactly why they called. He let it ring three times before he picked up.

"Marco?" Thatch asked.

Wonderful. "Speaking, yoi."

"You're alive! In good health I hope?" The snail's eyes narrowed.

"For the most part."

"Meaning?"

He winced, Thatch was using the Brother Voice, "it's complicated, yoi."

"Uncomplicate it for me, I have to report to Pops you know," Thatch spoke slowly.

Marco shrugged before settling back into the bed. No one got off the hook when you had to be called because you missed two check ins.

"I found the people that took Ace-"

"And you went after them?" Thatch is pissed...

"I didn't have a choice, yoi. They were going to move Ace and a doctor that was helping him out said that he wouldn't survive the move," he tried to keep his voice even.

The snail's face turned into a worried grimace, "there's a lot going on. Why would you trust a random doctor?"

"She said she knew Pops, I haven't gotten a name, yoi."

"Okay, so you have Ace then?"

Marco took a couple of minutes to respond, "yes. He was in a bad way when I found him. I haven't gotten an update on him yet, yoi."

The snail eyes grew sad, "we'll be there in a day or two."

"I'll keep you posted, those people won't find us for now."

There was a raised eyebrow, "you didn't kill them all?"

"It was between Ace's life and revenge, yoi."

While it didn't perform the gesture, Marco knew Thatch was stroking his chin while he nodded.

"Keep us updated then. Pops was worried about you, we all were."

"I'm sorry for worrying you. I'll see you soon, yoi."

The phone clicked off but Marco knew that he wasn't off the hook yet. Pops would ask him questions and the truth would go out, then his father would give him The Look and he'd feel bad about disobeying orders despite the knowledge that he saved Ace's life.

Though The Look would go away after Pops considered all the alternatives and know that his son acted in good faith. The guilt wouldn't be from that but the fact that he had let the situation go so far that he had to directly disobey the Captain's Orders.

That's when the reindeer (?) walked back into the room. A cup of water was held between his hooves and he was back to looking like a terrified woodland creature. Marco wondered if that was his personality or if his Phoenix was giving off some type of aura.

"You were on the phone, I didn't want to interrupt."

"That's fine," he took a sip of the water he was handed, "how's Ace?"

The kid looked like he was ready to bolt. Marco frowned, he'd have to go at this a different way since the confidence that the doctor (?) had while treating him vanished.

"I'm Marco, yoi. Who're you?"

"Chopper!" Chopper replied cheerfully.

"Pleasure to meet you... Thank you for helping me, you might've saved my friends life."

"And yours too! You would've bled out-" Doctor Chopper squeaked when he realized that he had spoke out of turn.

With any other pirate that would've been disrespectful, but Marco realized that he probably would've died. He really did take his powers for granted sometimes.

"How is my friend, yoi?"

Chopper had calmed down and was looking at him steadily, "Doctorine is still working on him. She says she knows how to treat him, but the infections are complicating things."

"So he could still die?"

"Yes, but he's got Doctorine helping him!"

Marco raised an eyebrow, "what is Doctorine's name?"

"Eh? Its Doctor Kureha... most people call her a witch lady though..."

He blinked. That woman is Kureha? She must be over 100 years old! Pops talked about her a long time ago... He saved her when he was a teen!

Today was just full of surprises. Honestly, he couldn't wait until things got back to normal and the most action they got was the monthly Marine attack.

You know the drill at this point, leave your thoughts below! Hope you enjoyed! Also there's a poll .me/12784907 you guys should totally do. It'll go into affect for the next chapters. So choose carefully! Thank you in advance! Let me know if you ever want any of the time gaps filled in, I won't promise to write a chapter, but I'll answer it for ya'll.

We're at the bottom! Please leave your thoughts below!

AS A REMINDER TO MY READERS:

1.) I am doing this for fun so I don't mean to offend anyone so I'm doing my research but if you have any suggestions or something is factually wrong feel free to tell me! Please.

2.) Ace's condition is one that I made up using parts from several others, just because I don't think I could've written any of them the way that I wanted to portray Ace.

3.) I am going to update this irregularly

Hey kiddies, mind finishing a poll for me? Goes into effect after Chapter 10 .me/12784907