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: Look guys Im early! Before I begin, 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

Hey guys! Look a slightly early update! This is for two reasons. One I got unbearably excited about a couple of reviews I got and I kept thinking about things and ended up deciding to post slightly early. Secondly, Im gonna be hella busy this weekend when I would normally post so I figured that I would do so early in an attempt to still get the chapter out on time. For those who live in the Americas and are celebrating this holiday weekend (Canada & America) please be mindful in your celebrations of vets and pets and please keep yourself safe with all of the alcohol that I know is being consumed. For those who are not in these areas, I hope yall are having a wonderful weekend. I think this is the last of the major set up chapters before serious things start happening. Many things start happening. Its gonna be glorious.

Anyway, enough chit chat and onto the story!

Chapter 9: 00 Soul

"Marco?"

"Hrm?" Marco said not looking up from the pile of paperwork that he was currently attempting to make a dent in. No matter what he did it seemed that the minute he left his office the pile multiplied in size magically before he got back even if he just went down the hall for a minute or two.

"You've got a visitor."

That got his attention and Marco looked up just in time to see Thatch, who was wearing a pensive mildly annoyed expression, settle into a chair in front of him.

"What?" He asked sure that he had misheard.

Thatch went on talking, "Some prissy pretentious jackass is downstairs demanding to talk to you."

Marco blinked, "Why?"

"Don't know. He won't say. He's not saying much of anything actually, just that he needs to talk to you and it's of the utmost importance."

"Well show him in then and I'll figure out what he wants."

"You really want to talk to this twat?" Thatch asked incredulously

"No?" Marco said as if Thatch were rather insane for asking. "You know how much I hate to deal with stuck up prats but from what you've just related it's rather obvious he wants to talk to me and won't talk to any of you. Ergo, the quicker I talk to him then the quicker we can get him out of our hair and the less I have to deal with."

"We can get rid of him you know," Thatch offered as he started to stand.

Marco just stared at him before asking, "What's wrong with him?"

"With who?"

"The guy who wants to talk to me. You are being rather persistent in letting me know that I don't have to talk to the man if I don't want to."

Thatch blanched and Marco raised an eyebrow, silently demanding answers.

"He just doesn't feel right," Thatch said after a moment.

Marco nodded his understanding. While that feeling may have not been enough for some, when it came to people Thatch was perhaps the best at ferreting out hidden facets and personal agendas. If whoever wanted to meet with him put Thatch on edge then there was clearly more than appearance suggested.

"And," Thatch continued, distaste coloring his features, "from what he's wearing I think he's a noble; probably from somewhere in the World Collective."

Marco groaned, "Great. I wonder what the hell they want now?"

Thatch shrugged and Marco continued, "Do you think they've finally decided to make our lives easier and just declare war so we can go crush them?"

Thatch snorted, "I doubt we'd get that lucky."

Marco grinned, "Well a man can dream. Either way my point still stands. I'll talk to him and find out what he wants all right? You might want to go make sure that Jozu or any of the others haven't murdered him already. We can't have pools of blood in the lobby. It's a bit unsightly and attracts flies."

"You just don't want to have to be the one to clean up the mess if they have."

Marco's grin grew, "That is also very true."

Thatch laughed, "Jerk. I'll be back in a moment with the poncy prat."

Marco nodded and turned his attention back to the papers on his desk. He pushed them together in a neat pile that he placed on top of the pile that he had yet to go through. He moved the whole stack to a drawer in his desk and locked it. Regardless of the purpose of this visitor there was no way that he was going to give the World Collective anything, even if it was just the knowledge of how much paperwork he dealt with. Marco had just finished stowing the rest of his paperwork when voices floated into his room from the hallway.

"Finally! You have dallied long enough. This delay shall be remarked upon, mark my words!" came a posh and haughty voice.

Marco assumed from the content that it belonged to the man that wanted to speak to him. Thatch was right he did sound like a noble. Speaking of his brother, Thatch appeared in his doorway once again this time looking even more annoyed than he had moments ago.

"Marco," he asked rather serious for once, "are you sure?" Marco nodded "Your funeral," Thatch muttered and stepped aside waving a hand at someone further down the hall.

Mere moments later a tall stranger brushed past Thatch in the doorway as if he didn't exist "You are Marco, the First Division Commander? " he asked.

From his position seated at the desk Marco had to crane his neck to look at the other. The stranger was taller than average with delicate cheekbones that spoke of an aristocratic heritage. A black top hat sat atop straight blond hair that framed the stranger's face from which ice-cold blue eyes peered out. His clothing and lack of visible weaponry did nothing to hide the fact that the man standing before him was seriously ripped. The worn traveling coat he had draped over his arm told its own tale. This man was a seasoned traveler and not just on regular caravan runs. No, that type of coat in the condition that it was in meant this prim and proper piss-ant made frequent trips into the Border and had survived; all of which indicated to the observant soul that he was a dangerous character indeed.

"I am." Marco answered briefly continuing his assessment of the man. He knew he had never seen him before yet beneath the cold and haughty demeanor there was something slightly familiar about him. In fact the more he looked the more he was sure he knew this guy somehow. Marco kept his expression still but inwardly he frowned. If he didn't figure out how he knew this man soon it would drive him nuts long after the prat had departed.

The other man nodded, "I am Fredrick Dmitri Reginald Mortimer Outlook the Third and I come bearing rather important confidential news which I shall impart if you would care to get rid of this riff-raff."

"Riff-raff?" Thatch sputtered angrily from behind him while Marco raised an eyebrow.

"Information?" he asked.

"Yes. I said that. Were you not listening?"

"From who?" Marco demanded and Fredrick was silent, apparently unwilling to say. "Look," Marco said, "I don't care if it offends your honor or whatever but I cannot help you if you don't tell me whose messenger you are."

There was another moment of silence as Fredrick thought about it. Finally after a moment, he raised one gloved hand and brushed the brim of his top hat, pushing it back slightly as if to see better. "I am no one's messenger. I am simply doing a favor for a friend, whose name is entirely unimportant." Fredrick said haughtily.

Marco noticed that he wasn't as calm and collected as he appeared. It wasn't blatantly obvious. The only tell that the aristocratic messenger was feeling any emotion at all was that he did not actually lower his hand again after fussing with his hat. Instead his fingers were now fiddling with the brim.

"I would think that in times such as these one would not be able to be picky about whom your information comes from especially as I was assured that you would trust the source explicitly,"

Marco continued to study the other for a moment. He wasn't getting much of anything from this Fredrick fellow. The man had an excellent poker face. As he continued his assessment their eyes met. Once Fredrick seemed sure that he had Marco's attention he rather pointedly fiddled with his top hat though he still managed to play it off as a subdued nervous tick. Marco noticed for the first time that the hat was not black as he had first thought. Instead it was a rather specific shade of blue.

"Ah," Marco said. He suddenly understood what was going on. Well, that complicated things a bit. Now, how to get Thatch to leave? "I see. Please, take a seat. I need to talk to my brother for a moment. "

"If I must," came the annoyed but resigned response.

Marco stood and moved past Fredrick ushering the rather confused Thatch out into the hall. He slightly closed the door behind him before looking at Thatch.

"Marco?" Thatch asked not bothering to wait for Marco to finish closing the door "What's going on? Do you know this Fredrick character?"

Marco shook his head. "Him personally? No."

"Then what in the world is going on?"

"I know who sent him. It's fine. Fredrick won't pass on his information with you in the room or if he knows you're listening." Marco said

"Someone sent him?" Thatch asked and Marco nodded.

"Yes," Marco said shortly making sure to keep his voice down since the door was partly open. He made sure that he could see at least part of his visitor. Marco was curious to see what Fredrick would do after being left alone in his office not in direct line of sight.

"And you know who?" Thatch questioned.

"Yes, I said that already" Marco explained not surprised that Thatch was having problems processing the information. He glanced in the door again. Surprisingly Fredrick didn't seem to be doing anything other than waiting with barely restrained impatience. He hadn't even bothered to sit down. Either the man really was just a messenger or had been explicitly told not to screw things up. He highly doubted the former given the expensive nature of his clothes. That just left the latter.

"How?" Thatch questioned. "He never told you he was working for anyone much less who he worked for!"

"Actually he did," Marco countered.

"But he didn't say anything!" Thatch complained.

"Then you clearly weren't paying attention," Marco said dryly. "Look Thatch you've got to trust me. I know what I'm doing and whatever message he is carrying it's actually important."

"And how do you know that?"

"Because there's a person in my office. Normally I would just get messages from this source slipped in with my paperwork or passed along with my own informants. Instead I've been sent a messenger which means its most likely highly sensitive. I've got this."

"Fine, Fine," Thatch grumbled, "You've got this."

"And no eavesdropping," Marco said sternly.

Thatch glanced away attempting to look innocent, "What on earth are you talking about?"

"I know you. No eavesdropping."

"Fine," Thatch agreed reluctantly and Marco glared at him.

"And no getting Izo to do it for you," He added. "In fact," Marco mused, "if I learn or manage to catch anyone eavesdropping on this conversation there will be hell to pay."

Thatch raised his hands in surrender, "Right. Um, just curious, what exactly are you going to do?"

Marco grinned darkly as he turned back to his office door, "Oh I don't know, but I'm sure I'll think of something."

Thatch gulped and Marco smirked as he entered his office shutting the door behind him.

"Are you done?" Fredrick sounded impatient.

Marco absently noted that at some point Fredrick had sat down. He hadn't relaxed though; he was now perched on the edge of the chair sitting ramrod straight.

"Yes." Marco said but didn't move from the door and Fredrick looked at him strangely. "So what can I help you with?"

"For starters I wish you to know about the absolutely dreadful time I have had this afternoon and how highly inconvenient this entire endeavor has been," Fredrick began and Marco noted that as he spoke the shadow that was his brother moved away from the door and if he concentrated past Fredrick's complaints he could hear footsteps moving down the hallway.

Once enough time had passed that Thatch would have turned the corner Marco turned his attention back to the man in the room and headed towards his desk. "Drink?" Marco asked cutting off the tirade that he frankly hadn't been listening to as he reclaimed his chair and desk.

Frederick didn't appear to be at all upset at being cut off. He simply raised an eyebrow and said, "Please."

Marco frowned slightly. That wasn't in keeping with this man's behavior both observed and reported at all. It was almost as if this Frederick had staged the whole rant for the express purpose of killing time until Thatch was out of earshot. If so, that was a highly sophisticated strategy. Something that someone highly experienced in the game of intelligence gathering might do. No, it wouldn't do to underestimate this Frederick at all Marco thought.

He reached for the Scotch and a pair of tumblers in the bottommost drawer of his desk. Marco still wasn't entirely sure what was going on but this Fredrick now seemed even more familiar than ever. Had he been wrong on his initial assessment? Had he met this man somewhere before? No, Marco discarded that notion almost immediately. If he had, then Fredrick would have no reason to ask who he was. Maybe he had seen him in the market? Well, he would find out eventually.

"You know, this is a first for me." Marco commented, glancing at Fredrick who had raised an eyebrow in interest as he poured the scotch into the glasses. "Normally I just get messages slipped into my paperwork. What can I do for one of Royal Blue's messengers?" he asked passing over one glass.

"Oh, Good. Your brother has finally cleared out?" Fredrick asked in a familiar voice. It was definitely not the posh whiney tones that he had been using when he had first walked into the office. "Are we going to be able to finally get down to business?"

At Marco's nod, Fredrick's entire demeanor changed. It wasn't much, just a simple shift in posture that had the blond leaning back and relaxing in the chair he was occupying. The top hat was removed and placed onto the chair next to him. Once done, Fredrick took a small sip from the glass then frowned at Marco.

"If this is what you drink normally Feathers, you've been holding out on me. Where on earth did you manage to get your hands on a bottle of Salamander Scotch?" the other man asked. Marco peered at the blond, not entirely sure what was going on. The man who was now lounging in the chair was definitely not the man who had walked in, yet there was no other explanation. They were the same person. He blinked; and blinked again. The blond in the chair simply chuckled. "I didn't think my disguise was that good."

"Sabo?" Marco questioned incredulously still not entirely sure though the use of that particular nickname left no room for doubt. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Ah, couple of things actually." Sabo said "I wanted to see a friend"

"Was the elaborate disguise really necessary?"

"Yes. There was no way in hell I would ever stroll into Enforcer Headquarters as myself. It would be a good way to get locked up and interrogated."

"Right." Marco said leaning back in his own chair and taking a sip of his own drink. It wasn't something that he was particularly proud of but it was unfortunately true. "So, what's up?"

Sabo shrugged. "Eh, not much actually."

"Bullshit."

"I can't just want to come visit a friend?"

"Sure you can. Though if that was the only reason you were here I'm pretty sure you would have said hi the last time I was in the Bar. Which was only yesterday as I'm sure you know."

Sabo snickered. "I still can't believe I missed that. Ace said watching you and Shanks bicker was pretty funny. I'm still amused over the fact that out of all the rumors surrounding you and Shanks it happens to be the one about the two of you not getting along is the one that turns out to be true."

Marco rolled his eyes. "Don't remind me."

"Things are that bad between the two of you? What the heck did he do to you, or you to him to make things that difficult?"

"It's complicated…" Marco said slowly. "He's a good man but he delights in irritating me. Intentionally. I sometimes think he's testing to see just if and when I'm going to snap. What was he doing at the Bar anyway?"

Sabo took another sip of his drink, "You know the story of how Shanks lost his arm?"

"Which one?" Marco asked. "I've heard several versions of that particular tale none of which sounded particularly truthful."

"The one about him losing it trying to save a kid?"

"Yeah. Was the kid you or something?"

Sabo snickered, "Try or something. The kid was Luffy who apparently made enough of an impression that lead to Shanks stopping on by to check in with us whenever he is nearby."

"Huh. I'm guessing that means that none of you grew up in the area because we would have definitely noticed Shanks stopping by all the time."

Sabo snorted but didn't comment as he gazed absently at the wall. That was all that Marco needed to know that something was up. Sabo only got lost in his own head like that when he was dealing with something massive or when he was particularly worried.

"See and now I know you didn't just sneak in to shoot the breeze," Marco said interrupting Sabo's train of thought.

"Actually I did," Sabo offered though his expression was still rather closed off.

Marco put on his best I'm unimpressed face, "I'm your friend. You're going to have to lie better if you want to fool me. Seriously Sabo what's going on? Talk to me."

Sabo was silent as he studied Marco who simply returned the favor. Whatever was going on it was bigger than he had suspected even a moment or two ago. In fact the expression on Sabo's face was the most serious that Marco had ever seen. Finally Sabo sighed. He tore his gaze away from Marco and turned it on swirling reddish brown liquid in his glass. Marco took another sip of his own as he waited. Once Sabo had figured out what he was going to say then he would start talking. Until then Marco would wait.

"Marco." Sabo finally said, looking back up at him.

"Yes?" Marco asked, sensing that they were finally getting to the crux of the reason behind Sabo's visit.

"I need to confirm something. Um…You might consider it a bit personal."

"Shoot."

"You're in love with my brother right?"

Marco froze. Of all of the things he had potentially expected Sabo to ask, that was not one of the possibilities. Marco's thoughts resembled a fire-storm in the Border all chaos and swirling flames. Was he in love with Ace? He really liked the guy, enjoyed his company, and preferred it to some of his own family in fact. He used any excuse and sometimes none at all to go see him. When Ace wasn't around he felt like something was lacking. Pieces of a puzzle that he hadn't even realized that he was trying to solve suddenly fell into place with what he could have sworn was an audible snap.

When he looked back at Sabo the expression on his friend's face was one of satisfied contentment and he leaned back into his chair a smug smile on his face. "I thought so," He said, the smugness practically oozing from him.

"What?" Marco said feeling uncharacteristically at a loss. "You…I… what?"

Sabo had the nerve to chuckle, "Did you just realize that?"

"Yes!" Marco exclaimed. "I knew I was interested in Ace but I hadn't realized what exactly was going on so please give me a moment to allow the more logical part of my brain to catch up to my emotions thank you."

"Well don't take too long," Sabo said.

"Why? Are you going to give me a shovel speech now?"

"That would be entirely pointless," Sabo admitted grudgingly. "You already know what I can do. Nevertheless, take care of my brother Marco. Especially when he won't take care of himself. I'm not going be able to always be there to take care of him"

"Pardon?" Marco was a bit taken aback by the suddenly somber tone that the conversation had suddenly acquired. "Sabo, that makes it sound like you're saying goodbye. What the hell have you gotten yourself into?"

Sabo winced slightly. It was fairly obvious that he hadn't meant to reveal that particular piece of information. He sighed, "I suppose I am saying goodbye. Not to worry, it's only in case the worst happens."

"Not to worry? Sabo, you've just implied that I'm going to be the one who's going to have to tell your siblings if whatever you are up to bites you in the ass."

"What? No! I've got that covered. You just need to make sure Ace doesn't do anything stupid if I die like he did the last time I died."

"What? You've been considered dead before?"

"Haven't you ever wondered where I got my scars?"

"Yes. But that's not the point. What the hell have you gotten yourself into Sabo?"

"I can't tell you. I'm just doing my job and I need to go track down some things all right?" Sabo glanced around the room again, eyes alighting on a clock. "Listen, I need to go soon and before I do there's a few things that you need to know. Starting with that information you asked me to gather on the person going by the name Blackbeard."

Marco leaned forward, putting all emotions to the side for the moment. He'd have to deal with the realization that he loved Ace, and the fact that one of his best friends was about go and do something unspecified but most likely extremely stupid and potentially fatal later "I'm listening."

"Blackbeard is also known as Teach D. Marshall. He's a former member of the Whitebeard Enforcers…"

AN: Right yep. Thats where I am leaving that. Ah, last week someone asked if there was a piece missing of the story especially in regards to the conversation between Marco and Shanks. I just want to be clear that nothing is missing. I did not write that conversation because I wasnt entirely sure how to from Ace's perspective.

Anyways, I hope yall enjoy and I hope you guys have a wonderful weekend! Mind leaving a review to let me know what you think of this? Or any questions you have? I love questions. I really do.