Title: What are the Odds?

Summary: For denizens of the Territories, life is generally pretty good. Provided of course that one is able and willing to conform to the rules imposed by whomever is in the charge of the area. However when the World Collective, a group of allied territories, declares that they are resuming hunts for people who seem to have the Devils own abilities, life becomes very complicated very quickly.

Pairings: Marco/Ace.

Warnings: AU, Language, canon-typical violence, possible Out of Character moments, too many characters, OC's galore, implied sexual content, slow burn, mentions of non consensual drug use.

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners. I simply play with them for my, and your amusement.

Authors Note: Today I thought I would switch things up and start with my thanks so I wish to thank the magnificent Ktwontwo. They have been an absolute gem and beta'ed this chapter for me. Seriously guys you should go check out their stuff. Its phenomenal and you definitely wont regret it. I know I keep saying that, but its the truth.

The fantastically amazing absolutely outstanding awesome Idaida on tumblr is responsible for the lovely cover art. Thank you again for choosing my story in the 2016 OP Big Bang. It was a pleasure to work with you! To all of you readers who are lamenting the fact that you cant make out much detail never fear! Yall can find a much larger and better version of the magnificent stupendously phenomenal picture here! post/143364258999/one-piece-big-bang-2016-what-are-the-odds

Im so happy that you all are liking this. Seriously. Im not sure you all understand how happy it makes me to hear from you all. Its nice to know that you all like my story to the point that it makes you all crack up. Its really nice to know that my end goal, because that was my end goal, was achieved in the last chapter. Unfortunately this chapter is not quite as amusing as things are going to start getting rather serious but hey, we all knew that the good times would come to an end at some point. As such I had to update the warnings, but I figure I shall repeat the change here. If non consensual drug use bothers you, then you may want to skip this chapter because it is mentioned. And in other interesting news, this chapter, or well this scene is the scene that started the entire story. Seriously the story started because I wanted to know what would happen if one character, who makes his first appearance in this chapter, walked into a bar where the other two characters were having lunch.

Anyway, enough chit chat and onto the story!

Chapter 8: Storm on the Horizon

Having lived as long as he had meant that Marco's instincts were very, very good and almost never wrong. Normally this was a blessing. He had been able to tell whenever something was going to go wrong and help everyone prepare for the worst. Recently however, Marco was willing to consider his highly developed instincts as a curse.

For the past three days or so starting almost immediately after the meeting that they'd had, the same day he had run into Ace in the market, his instincts had been going haywire. It had made him rather paranoid. Twitchy as his brothers called it. He hadn't thought it was that bad but the fact that his brother's had commented meant that he was acting different from normal. Marco had bowed to the inevitable had let Pops know just in case. He had no real way to explain what he was feeling but he had tried his best. Pops had just given him a knowing look and told him to stop scaring his brothers.

Eventually he had managed to narrow down the feeling to something similar to a storm approaching on the horizon, one that would shake the world. It was unsettling as the last time Marco had felt anything even remotely similar had been when Roger died and Ohara had burned. Unlike those times, there was nothing that directly appeared to be the cause of this feeling. So instead, Marco simply decided that it was all the fault of the tall redhead who had just stepped through the doorway to the S'andwich Bar. The fact that he was in the area was in and of itself enough to make his instincts go haywire.

"So does anyone have any earth shattering revelations to add to this meeting?" Thatch asked in a slightly joking matter.

"I've got something." Blenheim said and Thatch groaned.

"I was being sarcastic!" He complained, "What is with it lately that we can't go even one meeting without some sort of dramatic proclamation?"

Marco simply rolled his eyes at his brother's antics. "The only one being dramatic here is you Thatch."

"Says the person who started it all!" Thatch fired back and Marco raised an eyebrow.

"Pardon?" he inquired, but before the bickering could devolve any further Blenheim spoke up again.

"Sorry to disappoint, but its not dramatic Thatch. I just need to know what Pops wants me to do."

"Hrm?" Whitebeard rumbled "About what?"

"About the drunkard that my patrol picked up from the Entertainment District, last night."

"What about him?"

"Well, first off, no one knows who he is. He's not one of our people and he didn't come in with any of the caravans recently. I checked."

"He wasn't just drunk." Jiru spoke up and Marco looked at his brother in mild confusion before he remembered that the other had been on the Jail Shift last night.

"He wasn't?" Blenheim asked. "Was he on something?"

"Based on what I saw when you handed him off to me looked like he was having a bad trip. Weather or not he took the stuff willingly is a different matter." Jiru said.

"Well that would explain some of his behavior. If he was having a bad trip it could even explain the nonsense he was shouting about how he was a messenger and that he had a message for Whitebeard and how a herd of psychedelic polka dotted pachyderms were not going to stop him from doing his job." There was muffled laughter as everyone took that in and Blenheim glared at his siblings but cracked a smile himself. "I just wanted to know what you wanted us to do with him."

Whitebeard hrmmed in thought and Marco peered at him attempting to figure out what action his father would take. Many of his siblings thought that simply because Marco had been with Whitebeard for the longest amount of time that he actually understood what Pops was thinking at any given moment. While he could guess correctly more often than not Pops had a mind that worked incredibly fast processing large amounts of disparate information into a coherent whole. In fact, the way he came to conclusions from the strangest clues and still managed to be right more often than not was reminiscent of that storybook detective and his older brother.

Most of the time Marco simply counted it a win when he figured out the general direction of Whitebeard's next strategy, not that Marco would ever let any of his siblings know that. No what his siblings took for prescience was the simple fact that he had more practice at rolling with whatever Whitebeard came up with and a damn good poker face. The combination, of course, tended to reinforce the impression that Whitebeard's decisions never ever took him by surprise.

If he was honest with himself, Marco had almost given up attempting to figure out his father's reasoning behind much of anything years ago. He had long accepted the fact that where he only saw seven to eight different paths or reasons for any one action, Whitebeard more often than not saw anywhere between twenty to twenty five. This was just one of the reasons the World Collective hated him. He always could out maneuver even their best strategists. That didn't even mention the fact he had managed to take and hold such large tracks of land and that his sphere of influence extended even into territory nominally held by WC.

"You may as well bring him here" Whitebeard finally rumbled, and more than one head in the room turned to stare at him.

Rakuyo stood and exited the room, presumably to execute the order. It didn't take long for the silence that had enveloped the room to become stifling. Marco, however, didn't mind it at all as he tried to figure out Whitebeard's reasoning behind that instruction. After what they had learned only recently having the messenger brought to their meeting room didn't appear to make much sense. After a moment's more thought Marco smiled as he realized what was going on. Pops was playing a dangerous but much needed game. Far be it from him to do anything to jeopardize it.

He didn't realize that his siblings hadn't understood the reasons behind the directions until a rather confused voice piped up "Pops?" seeking an explanation for what they had just been told. Maybe his siblings had been on to something after all.

The silence returned as Whitebeard surveyed the room, taking a moment to make eye contact with all present. When Marco met his gaze, he was slightly shocked to see the proud glint enter Whitebeard's eyes as he realized that Marco had already figured out what was going on.

Turning back to the room he addressed the group. "I understand your worry my children. I too am aware that this may be an assassination attempt put forth by any one of our numerous enemies. However this is exactly why we need to speak to this man and we need to do it here. If it truly is a plot of some sort, then we need to show the rest of the territories that despite the betrayal we still are able to handle anything that they choose to throw at us. On the off chance that this man legitimately is a messenger then we need to hear him out. It might be important. Regardless of how it plays out we will be able to handle it just fine. I have faith in you all."

It was funny, Marco mused; just a few simple words from their father could turn the entire mood of the room. In the few moments that Whitebeard had taken to explain his reasoning the people present had changed from a large group of paranoid worried men and women to the confident, self assured, focused group that the rest of the world knew to be the Commanders of Whitebeard's Enforcers.

A knock on the door prevented the room from descending back into friendly sibling bickering that generally occurred at meetings of the entire command. Marco was a bit relieved to see that he wasn't the only one who gave the door a curious look. The door wasn't locked and commanders didn't knock. Then he spotted Vista, who at some time in the last few minutes had quietly got up from his chair and was now leaning against the wall a smug look on his face. He clearly knew something and it was his crew who had charge of the brig today. This was theater then. Vista always did have a bent for the dramatic. Luckily, Marco thought, this would play right into Whitebeard's strategy.

"Yes?" Boomed Whitebeard.

The door opened revealing two members of Rakyuo's division trailed by Rakyuo himself, escorting a very strange person, even by their standards into the room.

"The messenger, Pops." The silver haired one of the two said with a lazy smile.

"Thanks Gin." Whitebeard grinned and nodded.

When it was clear that they weren't needed for anything more Gin and his partner left, shutting the door behind them. Rykuyo leaned against the wall directly opposite Vista effectively flanking the alleged messenger. Yep, Marco thought, quasi-improvisational theater.

"Welcome to the Territory, kid." Whitebeard rumbled at the newcomer, "Take a seat and lets hear what you've got to say."

The stranger remained standing where he was then scoffed. "I'm not a kid and I'd rather stand thanks."

All movement in the room stilled as the commanders collectively took a serious look at the self-proclaimed messenger. Their faces reflected varying degrees of outrage and hostility. Marco could almost hear the thoughts: Scruffy bastard, Ballsy, Obnoxious, Full of himself and Who the hell does he think he is to dare talk to their father like that? Marco himself was impressed. Whoever this guy was he wasn't easily cowed. Whitebeard, Marco confirmed with a glance, didn't seem to be offended. No, he looked more amused. He also wasn't really doing anything to diffuse the situation. Which meant, Marco concluded, that Pops wanted to see exactly what this messenger was going to do.

To everyone's surprise the man did not react to the level of hostility that was directed at him. Instead he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he had let it out again his body language was more relaxed although still rather guarded.

"Sorry." He said though his tone of voice didn't sound it much at all.

"What for?" Jozu wanted to know

"That…" he gestured with his hand indicating his previous comment. "You didn't deserve that and I was explicitly told to play nice. I'm just frustrated because I'm way behind schedule, I remember very little of last night, and I just woke up in a holding cell."

"I can see how that would be frustrating." Vista offered and the other man just nodded.

"So who are you?" Izo asked rather impatiently "Why do you need to play nice and do you actually have a message for us?"

"Right business then. I go by Rockstar, and yes I actually have a message for you. I was told to play nice because I was assured that you wouldn't like who it's from." Rockstar said with a nasty grin that did nothing to lessen the tension in the room.

Marco glanced at his siblings out of the corner of his eye. None of them had heard of this Rockstar although from the way he had given his name Marco assumed that he certainly felt that they should have known exactly who he was.

"Your message?" Whitebeard rumbled

The nasty grin grew. "Shanks says hello. He's going to be in the area for personal reasons in a few days and figured that he should let you know."

A rather heavy silence followed that pronouncement as if no one was quite sure how to react. Marco frowned. It hadn't been what they had initially supposed but in his books this was just as bad. Completely unaware that a good majority of the room had turned to stare at him, he put a hand over his eyes and let out a rather annoyed groan. That was apparently all everyone was waiting for and the room erupted into laughter. Marco put his hand down then glared at his siblings, which simply caused them to laugh harder. He huffed leaning back in his chair determined to ignore the ruckus keeping his attention on Rockstar who by this point was looking rather bewildered at reaction. It clearly was not what he had been told to expect, but did his best to forge ahead anyways.

He bent down, fiddled with his boot for a moment then came up with a small scroll of papers. He offered them up to the room. "I was also supposed to give you this."

"What is it?" Jozu wanted to know but Rockstar simply shrugged.

"Don't know. I'm just supposed to deliver this to Whitebeard."

"Keep it." Whitebeard rumbled, his voice carrying clearly over the snickers that hadn't completely died down.

"What?" Rockstar gaped at the larger man.

"I don't want it."

"But…"

Marco snickered softly under his breath as Rockstar visibly floundered for something to say, some reason to convince Whitebeard to take the documents.

"But it's important!" He finally cried out.

Whitebeard shrugged. "Don't care. If whatever that is, is so damn important then Shanks can come deliver it himself if he's going to be in the area anyways. It's been a while since I've seen that brat."

Rockstar blinked and then sighed in defeat. "Fine. I'll tell him. Is there anything else? If not, then I'm outta here."

"Actually, yes." Jiru said.

"What now?" Rockstar demanded.

"What's the last thing you remember from last night?" Jiru asked

"That's none of your business." Rockstar countered

"Actually it is." Blenheim stated.

"Why the hell would it be?"

"Because you were picked up last night for being a public nuisance and when they brought you in you appeared to be having a bad trip, dumbass." Jiru snapped. "I don't care if you took that shit yourself but if you didn't, we need to know."

Rockstar blinked looking a little like an owl that had suddenly been hit with a bright light. That look wasn't good. It led Marco to believe this Rockstar guy knew he'd been drugged with something but had hoped that the Enforcers would pass it off as him being drunk.

"Shit." Rockstar whispered and shook his head. Apparently that motion was too much for his current condition and the blood rushed out of his face giving him a rather waxy complexion. "Fucking hell, that explains a lot. I don't use. Anything. Ever. Someone slipped me something. Fuck!"

Marco didn't buy it. No, Rockstar knew he'd been slipped something but didn't want them to know that he knew. Marco watched carefully as the other man glanced about the room. He was looking for some sort of specific reaction and he wasn't getting it.

"What the fuck is going on here that none of you are surprised by the fact that I was drugged, probably with some sort of Babble?" He finally burst out.

No one bothered to answer. It wasn't any of his business. Instead, Blenheim beat Marco to the punch about the second part of Rockstar's statement.

"How do you know you were dosed with Babble? You were completely out of it when we brought you in."

Rockstar was still rather pale but managed to muster up the energy to glare at the other man, "I'm going to assume I was loud, violent, and shouting nonsense?" At Blenheim's nod he continued, "Coupled with the weird ass taste in my mouth, the memory loss and the fact that my hearing still sounds as if I'm underwater, that's the only explanation for it."

Marco blinked. That was an oddly specific set of characteristics to look for.

Apparently Jiru felt the same. "How does that particular list of experiences tell you that you were dosed with Babble? That stuff is a memory suppressant and I know a number of compounds that'll give the same symptoms when mixed with alcohol."

Rockstar switched his angry gaze. "Personal experience. Trust me, when you've been doused with crap as many times as I have you tend to remember what waking up afterwards feels like."

There was silence in the room. "You've been slipped drugs often enough that you can identify what you were given based on your actions the night before and how you feel in the morning?" Jiru asked, a dangerous note in his voice. It was clear to everyone in the room that he somehow found Shanks responsible for this.

"Yes." Rockstar said shortly. He too had caught the implied insult and wasn't very happy about it. Before either of the men could say anything that would potentially spark a fight Marco intervened.

"Babble is primarily a truth serum isn't it?" Marco asked. "Is any of whatever information that you were supposed to pass on compromised?"

Instead of bristling as expected Rockstar grinned, "Not a chance."

Marco raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"First off, I don't know what I was carrying. Secondly, Babble doesn't work correctly on me."

"But…" Someone else in the room protested, "You said you don't remember anything."

Rockstar rolled his eyes but didn't loose the grin. "Ok, well that part works. Whatever makes it a truth serum? That shit turns me into a compulsive liar. Not to mention the fact I still had the papers."

"Interesting." Marco said.

Rockstar shrugged. "Its one of the reasons I carry messages."

"One of the reasons?" Jiru asked

"There are others," Rockstar acknowledged, "but they're not any business of yours."

"Right," Jiru said. "Moving on, mind telling us why you were at a bar in the first place?"

Rockstar hummed as if debating on what he was going to do. Finally he answered, "I ran into a friend. I owed him a drink."

"You were here on business though," Curiel pointed out, speaking up for the first time.

"So?" Rockstar asked rather confused

"So you stopped to have a drink with a friend instead of finishing your job?" Curiel demanded, outraged at the idea that this messenger of Shanks thought one of his friends was more important than their father.

Marco hid his amusement at the fact that Rockstar apparently had no idea he'd just insulted Whitebeard in front of his entire chain of command.

Rockstar blinked, "Have you never mixed business with pleasure?" he asked curiously making the entire situation ten times worse. Curiel glowered at this idiot and Marco shook his head slowly. It was bad enough that Rockstar had acknowledged that he'd blown off his duties to get a drink with a friend but blowing off their father to get laid then admitting it? That took balls and Marco shared an amused look with his father before he intervened again.

"Does this friend have a name?" Marco questioned, moving the conversation forward and giving the rest of his siblings time to realize that their father wasn't mad and they could ignore what they had all just perceived as an insult.

Rockstar looked at Marco as if he was stupid, "Yeah, they've got a name."

"Mind sharing it?" he pushed. They needed this name at the bare minimum to confirm Rockstar's story. As of right now they only had the Barkeeper as a potential witness.

"Yes, actually," Rockstar snapped out.

Well that hadn't been expected, "Why?"

"Because its none of your damn business, that's why," Rockstar replied for the third time that afternoon.

"You know," Jozu said adding his rumbling voice to the conversation, "you're awfully fond of saying that and each time it has turned out to be our business."

Rockstar crossed his arms and rolled his eyes again, "Well this time it's definitely not any of your business."

"Because?"

"My friend doesn't even live here!" Rockstar exclaimed. "He does his own thing! Hell, I was surprised to see him. He's not in the area often."

"He's not?" Curiel asked.

"No! He's not! Look, I dragged him to Jim's Place when I saw him cause I owed the man a drink and I wanted to catch up. We talked then he had to go. After saying goodbye, I went to finish my beer and after that I've got nothing. There is no way in hell I'm giving you his name. It wouldn't be very friendly to send you lot to harass him especially after seeing him for the first time in years!"

"Jim's Place?" Fossa cut in, but Thatch answered before anyone else could.

"He means Moriarty's."

"Oh. And you're sure you don't know anything else?" Fossa added turning to face Rockstar.

"I don't know what you want me to say!" Rockstar exclaimed throwing his hands in the air "I don't remember jack shit. I've done what I was tasked to do. If you won't take the information then I'm out of here. I need to find the Caravan because I doubt they waited for me." He stuffed the papers into his jacket; patience clearly running out. He glared at the room as if daring them to stop him. Fortunately he did have enough sense to not leave before he was dismissed. "Are we done here?" He demanded.

Whitebeard chuckled and nodded, "You are free to go. Pass my message along to Shanks."

Rockstar didn't say anything but simply shot the room at large another glare as he walked out.

"Well," Blenheim drawled as the doors closed "Was that dramatic enough for you, Thatch?"

Yes, Marco decided as he took a bite of his sandwich still watching the group that had entered, it was all Shanks' fault. But that wasn't the most pressing concern at the moment. His more immediate problem was going to be figuring out how to get out of here before Shanks or one of his companions noticed his presence. Why the hell was Shanks here anyways? Marco wondered absently. What business did he have in a small Border town's sandwich shop?

He glanced over at Ace who was sitting directly across the table from him to see if his friend had any clues as to what in the hell was going on. He wasn't much help, though to Marco's surprise, he was much tenser than he had been earlier. The reason for which clocked Marco over the head in a manner reminiscent of a 2 by 4. Ace had no clue who had just entered the Bar as his back was to the door. No, Ace was taking all of his cues from him.

Marco blinked and shook his head slightly. Ace now knew him well enough to pick up on his moods even when he was suppressing his reactions. Ace also was ready to act solely because Marco was tense. The amount of trust that implied was staggering. Before he could do more than think it was a good thing that Ace would be wary around this particular group of people he noticed a curious stare from the group by the door. Apparently his small headshake had attracted the attention of the very people he had wished to avoid. Crap. He decided to hide his grimace with a bite of sandwich. It wouldn't do to give Shanks and company any more ammunition if he chose to make something of this.

He mentally braced himself for what was to come. There was no way, Marco thought, that Shanks would let this opportunity go. He knew the man all too well. One way or another Marco knew he was up a creek and once he spotted the aggravating grin on Shanks's face he knew his fate was sealed. He chewed the mouth full of sandwich silently cursing the fact that Shanks knew him as well as he knew Shanks. The grin got wider. The bastard was taking his time drawing out the awkward tension.

Marco redirected his attention elsewhere. That would force Shanks to react and make the first move. He ended up looking over at Ace again who was faking being relaxed remarkably well. Marco wondered how exactly he was doing that when he could tell that Ace was wound tighter than a spring, ready to take whoever he thought was posing a threat to his establishment.

"So THIS is where you've been!" Shanks exclaimed joyfully as he walked towards the table at which Marco sat with Ace.

That implied that he'd already been by the territory and spoken to Pops Marco realized as he put his sandwich down; better have both hands free for this. Before he could make any sort of reply his attention was caught by Ace who had let go of all of the tension that he had been holding and was now looking utterly relaxed. Marco was flabbergasted. Did Ace actually know the Red Emperor?

As he watched, Ace leaned back in his chair causing the front two legs to lift off the ground and his head lolled back so that he had a clear, albeit upside-down, view of the man approaching. "Where else would I be?" Ace retorted, apparently entirely unaware that the statement hadn't been directed at him. "I live here now."

"I knew that, Kiddo." Shanks said stopping just behind Ace beaming down at the younger man as if that had been his intention all along. "Makino told me. Sorry I haven't made it out to visit before now. How are your brothers? And where are they by the way?"

Well, that answered that question, Marco thought watching the interaction that was playing out right across the table in front of him. Ace did know Shanks; as did his brothers. Hmmm. Marco wasn't as good as Pops but he could put two and two together. The fact that Ace had been in the markets the same day Rockstar had been drugged along with the fact that Shanks had shown up here of all places, well that meant that Ace had most likely been the friend that Rockstar had treated to a drink. Rockstar had probably been also tasked in letting Ace know that Shanks and company were going to be in the area. Running into Ace in the market allowed Rockstar to kill two birds with one stone. It was interesting, Marco mused, that Shanks thought enough of Ace and his brothers to alert them to his presence. It was clear that there was some sort of a relationship and Marco was thankful that it was enough to distract Shanks from messing with him.

"Luffy's out on an adventure." Ace shrugged but Marco caught the slight undertone of worry present in his voice "And Sabo's asleep. He has bar shift. Y'all sticking around for that or just for a late lunch?"

"Kid, we came to visit the three of you. If Sabo's got the bar tonight, then we're staying to say hello at the bare minimum. But," he grinned down at Ace before glancing up at Marco only for a second, "I won't say no to a late lunch if you don't mind me joining you."

"Not at all." Ace invited.

Marco hid a grimace with another bite of his sandwich. He did mind very much. He also knew that Shanks knew his general feelings on the matter. Unfortunately, there was no way he could get out of this without doing anything that would make Ace or anyone else in the bar suspicious about his motives. That would lead to a whole set of questions that he really didn't want to answer. Besides, Shanks and Ace were apparently close. He couldn't help but wonder what kind of relationship the two of them had. This was a perfect opportunity to observe and maybe get some decent information about Shanks for a change.

"Right. Benn, order for me? Please?" Shanks said, slipping into the chair next to Ace's.

"Shanks, stop being so goddamn lazy and get your own bloody sandwich." Benn Beckman said from where he was waiting in the line.

He happened to be behind a couple of the other men from the caravan that Marco recognized. At the counter was Lucky Roo, presumably not his real name, and behind him was a Sharpshooter named Yasopp. Marco puzzled over that for a second. Those three men were practically the entire chain of command of the Red Caravan. For them all to be here meant that something serious was afoot.

"But I want to spend time with the kid! Its been years Benn!" Shanks stated in a tone was close to but not quite a whine.

"And I told you to stop calling me a kid years ago Shanks," Ace retorted.

He was promptly ignored while Benn replied over him, "And it's been just as long since the rest of us have seen him. You're not the only one who wants a chance to catch up you know."

"Please?" Shanks pleaded and there was a momentary silence then a sigh as Benn apparently relented.

"You owe me for this."

"I know." Shanks beamed and Marco nearly groaned as he turned his attention back to the table.

Ace had also returned to his lunch and had resumed his normal procedure of devouring an obnoxious amount of food while chuckling at the byplay.

"Glad we still amuse you, Freckles," Shanks commented fondly.

Ace swallowed and beamed, "You guys will never fail to amuse me."

"We're pretty hilarious aren't we?" Shanks asked, but Ace didn't answer.

Shanks just chuckled at his own comment and Marco resigned himself to dealing with the Red Emperor's annoying sense of humor.

When he stopped chuckling Shanks propped his elbow on the table and shot Marco a wicked grin. "Soooo Ace" he drawled "Why don't you introduce me to your friend?"

"See you later Marco!" Ace called as Marco exited the S'andwich Bar.

His farewell caused Marco to look back into the room and Ace was pleased to note the expression on his face. Instead of the bored and slightly annoyed expression that he had been hiding since Shanks had joined them, there was a small but true smile present and Ace couldn't help but beam back. With a silent wave Marco was out the door and gone.

Ace turned back to the table only to find Shanks studying him with a rather bemused expression on his face.

"What?" Ace asked. After a couple of seconds it was pretty clear that no answer would be forthcoming. "So," he continued intending on asking what exactly had brought Shanks and the rest of the guys out this way. Rockstar hadn't been terribly forthcoming when they had run into each other in the territory. Instead what came out of his mouth was something that he'd been wondering about from the moment that he had noticed Marco's tension. It had only made him more curious when Shanks had started in teasing Marco and Marco kept snarking right back, "What's up with you and Marco?"

Shanks' silence persisted for another moment before he lost all composure and burst out laughing. Ace crossed his arms and scowled as he waited for the other to stop. Normally he would have joined in on the laughter but not this time. Not when he suspected he was the brunt of the joke, and not a part of it. This suspicion was confirmed moments later when Shanks finally had appeared to get himself under control but looked up, caught sight of Ace's face and burst out laughing again.

Benn's quiet chuckles added to the mix and Ace turned, the look of betrayal evident upon his face. Benn shook his head though the chuckles did cease. He looked like he wasn't going to offer any explanation either.

"You might want to get your brother. We actually had a reason for visiting other than to annoy Whitebeard and his First Division Commander. You did know that he was the First Division Commander of Whitebeard's Enforcers right?" Benn asked.

Ace raised an eyebrow declining to answer that question but Benn understood anyways. "Of course you do. So why'd you introduce him as a merchant scout?" Benn wanted to know

Ace shrugged, "Everyone needs a place where they can just be themselves. Marco's happens to be here."

Benn and Shanks both nodded and Ace knew they understood that a lot more than one would assume at first appearance. It fact, it had been because Shanks and Benn had been seeking such a place themselves that had lead to their initial meeting in the first place. Still, Shanks' expression turned serious, "No one's been giving you shit about that sort of thing have they?"

Ace grinned. It was always nice to see that the man whom Ace saw as something of an older brother, if he would ever admit to such a thing, cared.

"This is my place. No one here knows except Sabo and Luffy so the only shit I deal with comes from my own brain and even that's been less frequent."

"Good for you, kid," Shanks said.

Ace rolled his eyes, "I'm twenty seven for crying out loud. I haven't been a kid by anyone's standards for years, Shanks."

"It's a fact of life Freckles. The fact that I'm 39 or that Marco's 34 hasn't stopped his pops from calling us brats for years."

Ace shrugged, "That's different. Anyways you wanted me to wake Sabo? Whatever your passing on is that serious then?" Ace asked as he pushed away from the table.

Benn nodded grimly, "Unfortunately."

"Right," Ace nodded, "I'll go get him."

AN: Like I said, serious stuff yeah? Well anyways, let me know what you think please! Like I said I really like to hear from you all.