AN: Hey guys, long time no see! Sorry, life and writers block got in the way, but I finally got some inspiration to finish this chapter. I hope you enjoy!

6

"R… Rayleigh?"

The name escaped Ace, and a bare second later the elder, silver-haired fae was up and striding over to him. Strong, warm arms wrapped around Ace, pulling him into a tight embrace, and all he could do was let out a startled breath.

He couldn't… was this really…?

He gripped the back of the elder fae's robe tightly, and asked hoarsely. "It's… really you?"

"Yeah, little firestarter." Rayleigh let out a quiet hum and rubbed his back. "It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

Ace swallowed thickly, tears pricking his eyes. "Y… Yeah, it has been…"

A soft chuckle, and Rayleigh pulled away, stroking some of the hair out of Ace's eyes. "You've grown a lot, brat. I'm happy that you managed to make it out."

Ace blinked away the wetness in his eyes and sucked in a shuddering breath. "Lu didn't."

That had Rayleigh visibly sobering, the smile dropping from his face. The silver-haired fae sighed and patted Ace's head. "Yes. I'd heard. I am… truly sorry to hear that. I'm sorry I was not there to help."

Ace chewed his lip and pulled away, his tail hanging limp and ears laying flat. "Y-yeah... me'n Sabo… we were lucky."

Rayleigh sighed again and wrapped an arm around him, and slowly walked him over to the chair he had vacated before. The silver fae pushed him down, and Ace sank into the cushions with a soft groan. Gods when was the last time he'd sat in something so damn comfortable?

Sabo had a small grin on his face and moved over to perch on the arm of the chair after resting his pipe against it, and across from them, Rayleigh crossed his arms over his chest.

"Now then." He began, the silvery shimmer of his wings visible to the naked eye for just a moment as they hit the light before they settled against his back. "From what Sabo's told me there's a Blood Sleuth after you. Now… you know what that means."

Sabo gave a solemn nod, and Ace chewed his lip.

"I can offer you sanctuary for as long as you need it. But now that the Blood Sleuth has your scent, it will never stop hunting you. Not until it's dead."

Yeah. They… they never really will be safe. But…

For now?

Ace swallowed thickly. "We… we can stay here?"

Rayleigh gave him a warm smile and nodded, reaching down to ruffle his hair. "Of course you can, firestarter. I'd never turn family away."

A broken grin stretched across Ace's face and his shoulders slumped - and for the first time in months, he truly relaxed.

A long, shuddering sigh escaped him, and Sabo groaned, leaning against the fire fae. "Thank the gods! I need a bed! We've been sleeping on nothing but dirt and bark and grass and wood for weeks!"

Ace nodded, his tail moving to flop across Sabo's lap. "Y-yeah… a bed really would be nice… with pillows and blankets…"

"No direct sunlight either - no constant hood and cloak!" Sabo let out a laugh, one that Ace matched, and the vampire began petting Ace's tail, leading the fae to purr softly.

Rayleigh chuckled and picked his book back up, closed it, and moved over to one of the bookshelves to place it there. "Yes, yes. What's mine is yours and so forth. Now…"

He then moved over to the door and held it open. "I can show you to a room. Sadly our resident cook is still in bed and will not be up until midday, but if you wish you can raid the kitchens. I'm sure he won't mind… much."

Sabo waved him off and pointed at the bag he'd dumped on one of the couches. "No need, we have plenty of supplies to last us until then. Frankly I would much rather a bed. And a shower."

Ace nodded silently, though truthfully he did really wish to get up from the chair. However, Sabo yanked on his tail as he stood up, and Ace groaned before forcing himself to do the same.

Yes… a shower and sleep would be very, very nice.

Rayleigh, laughing softly, lead them out of the room and up another flight of stairs, and Ace and Sabo wearily followed along.

Ace, unable to keep his mouth shut, asked, "Say Ray… what is this place, exactly?"

The silver-fae looked over his shoulder at them, ears twitching. "Ah? Oh - this is a safe-house. It belongs to a very dear friend of mine. We… help many of those who are on the run, like yourself. As it is, we're almost full at the moment… you two would be the last we'd be able to take in."

He winked at them before looking ahead again. "Not as if I'd kick you out even if we were full. Hell I'd most certainly be willing to share my bed with you."

Both Ace and Sabo's cheeks coloured at that, recognising the implication in Rayleigh's words, and the silver fae merely laughed. "Relax you two. Really now…"

Ace grumbled softly, and Sabo rolled his eyes. "Well you don't really need to worry about that. We'll only be staying a few days at most before we leave to get Luffy… So. Basically you just take in those in need. You realise though that… if you get caught-"

Rayleigh waved him off. "Relax, Sabo. The Celestials already know that this place exists."

The vampire suddenly stopped, staring at Rayleigh with wide eyes. "W-what? They know? Then that means-"

"Relax." There was something in Rayleigh's voice, something that was deep and seemed to resonate through them, and Sabo's mouth clicked shut. His shoulders slumped and he clutched the railing, and Ace found himself doing the same as his muscles suddenly felt lax.

The silver-fae turned to face them again, expression soft. "There's no need to worry. The Celestials know of mine and this place's existence - however: It would be impossible for them to track it down. As you /may/ have noticed, we are hardly on the normal plane of existence. You came in through the Portland entrance, yes?"

Sabo swallowed and nodded, "I… I felt the wards and the magic. This - the levels, there is no way this could have fit in that building…"

"Correct." Rayleigh turned and started walking up the stairs again, and slowly, Sabo and Ace followed. "Currently we exist in a dimension that mirrors the mortal plane - similar to the one the Celestials originated from, but nowhere near as… well. You get the picture, yes?"

He continued before they could say anything. "A long time ago I constructed it with two dear friends of mine. Shakky, and Roger."

Ace stopped in his tracks, his eyes going wide. "W-what?"

The silver-fae sighed and stopped moving again. "Yes, your father. Before his death he helped weave the magic needed to construct the pocket dimension, knowing that a safe haven would be needed. We all had… such low expectations about the outcome of the battle, and needless to say that our predictions about what would happen proved to come true. When I left the Royal Guard I came here and began making this place a safe-haven. There are doors all over the world that lead here, and there is no way the Celestials can pinpoint and infiltrate them before we cut the ties and block them."

He began moving again, and Ace swallowed and nodded, choosing to remain silent. Sabo was frowning, and after a moment he said, "So who else is here? Hiding, I mean."

Rayleigh led them onto the next floor landing, this one that just held a long hall of doors, and he chuckled. "Oh just a dozen or so fae, a few shifters, couple of witches… you know, just those in need of aid that I couldn't turn away - some of which reside on this very floor. I'm sure you'll meet them later on in the day." He stopped beside a door and pushed it open with a smile. "And here you are! Now I'm positive you two don't mind sharing a bed and bathroom."

He winked at them, and Sabo pushed past him after making a face, pulling Ace along beside him.

"If you need me I will be back in the library. I would like to finish my book…" Rayleigh made to close the door but Ace quickly turned and stopped him. The silver fae blinked at him from behind his round glasses, and Ace chewed his lip, looking down at the ground.

"Ah… thanks for this, Rayleigh. Really. We… It's really good to see you again."

The silver-fae just smiled. "Remember what I said before, little firestarter. You're family."

He then closed the door, leaving Ace and Sabo alone.

The vampire dumped his bag and pipe at the foot of the bed and dropped ontop of it with a groan, the mattress bouncing slightly beneath his weight. "Uuuuugh it's so good to have a bed again…"

The fae wasted no time in joining him, flopping down beside the blond. "Yeah… Sabo…"

"Mmm?" Sabo rolled onto his side, his cloak twisting around his body, but he made no move to try and untangle himself.

Ace tilted his head to blink at him. "How did you know Rayleigh was here?"

"Ah, that." The vampire kicked off his boots. "I heard some rumours in the last town we were at - about a safe house. Didn't really know it belonged to Rayleigh, but I figured we could hide out here for a bit until the Blood Sleuth started looking elsewhere. I sensed the magic and tracked it down, and when I recognised Ray's magic… Well." He grinned. "It was just - such good luck. This is the first we've had in such a long time…"

Ace cracked a grin and stretched with a yawn. "Yeah… We can rest here a bit, and then - do you think Ray knows where Lu is?"

"He might." Sabo sat up to untangle himself from his cloak. "He never brought it up, but… we could ask. But, after a shower and nap."

Ace groaned and sat up as well to begin undressing. A shower sounded heavenly. "Yeah…"

The fire fae's finger began to fumble with the buttons of his top, and he cursed silently. Stupid tiny ass buttons…

He heard Sabo chuckle quietly from behind him, and Ace turned to pout at the blond. "Shu-"

He stopped speaking, his mouth going dry.

Sabo was down to nothing but his pants and boots, and the vampire was undoing the buckle of his belt as he watched Ace struggle.

All of his scars were visible.

Ace had… never fully seen the extent of the scars covered nearly all of Sabo's left side, starting with the one above his eye and down, down, down, past the hem of his pants, where Ace couldn't see. They speckled his arm too - it barely left any clear skin left.

Ace swallowed thickly, nauseating guilt beginning to swirl in the pit of his stomach.

Sabo glanced over and saw the fire fae's expression, and his face softened. "Ace…"

Ace looked away, shoulders tense.

He heard the vampire sigh, heard the steps move over, and when he saw the scarred hand reach out to touch Ace's face, the fae flinched.

Sabo was having none of that. He gripped Ace's chin and tilted his head up, and the fae had no choice but to look at Sabo. No choice but to stare into his eyes.

Ace knew Sabo could see the guilt. Could see it in the way Sabo pressed his lips tightly together, and the way Sabo's eyes softened.

"I'm sorry that they bother you." The blond murmured softly. "I wish that they did not."

"I… I'm sorry." Ace mumbled and looked away, ashamed. "If my control wasn't so fucking shitty, I never would have-"

"No." Sabo cut him off. "Don't talk. Listen to me."

Ace's mouth snapped shut and he stared with wide eyes. Sabo had never told him to be quite so bluntly.

"When this happened, you /had/ no control, and that is not something to be ashamed of." He poked Ace's chest with a frown. "You'd just gotten out of that cage - any connection you had with your magic had been blocked the entirety of the time you'd spent in there - it practically has a mind of it's own, so of course it would have been pissed! Of course it would have jumped to the chance of being free! And it wouldn't have cared that it had hurt me in the process!"

Ace's lips quivered but he forced the tears away, and Sabo sighed, leaning in and pressing their foreheads together. "I bear these scars with honor, Ace. Focus on the fact that… I am alive. we both are. We're not free yet, but we're getting there. Please, just… stop blaming yourself."

The fae let out a shuddering breath and nodded. "I… I will try."

Sabo grinned, his sharp teeth gleaming pearly white, and Ace's eyes drifted to them as a shiver wracked through his from.

The vampire noticed, and he tilted his head, a few strands of blond hair escaping the ponytail he'd pulled it into. Vaguely, Ace noticed that he was leaning in closer, and the fae stiffened up - he expected Sabo to go for his mouth, to kiss him, but instead he bypassed his mouth and moved down to his neck.

A very slight tremble worked through Ace's body, his mouth falling open with a soft noise as hot lips and sharp teeth pressed against the skin.

"You bear scares made by me as well…" He murmured, and Ace bit down on his lip as he felt Sabo lick them. "Maybe… you'll have even more that I made in the future-"

There was a knock on the door, and they both gave a startled jump. Sabo cleared his throat and pulled away, face red, and Ace turned his face away to hide it, a hand reaching up to rub his neck. Sabo stared at him a moment, lips pursed, before he turned to answer the door.

AN: Sorry for ending it there, but I have plans for the next chapter ehehe. Reviews are always welcome and make me feel better about my sub-par writing skills :"D