Title: Ten Years Difference (3/?)

Author: Stormy1x2

Word Count (chapter): 3600

Notes: The response this fic is getting is amazing and I am just so worked-up and inspired when I check my email and see someone else reviewing it and telling me what they liked about it. I love fluff, so I guess it's a good thing that OP fans seem to share this character trait with me. :)

Additional: someone brought up the point (thank you again!) that Marco may have sounded a little OOC in the previous chapter. I know we all interpret characters our own way so I thought I'd put my reasoning for his behaviour: in the anime, in the episodes where we see him interacting with Ace and the crew, he seems to be a very laid back and playful kind of guy (serious guys don't shove lamb legs down other people's throats!). And Luffy, as we all know, has the mysterious ability of bringing lightheartedness out of just about anyone. Not to mention he's a scared 6 year old to boot, who needs to be treated a bit more gently and playfully than your average pirate. Izou's whapping was meant to be portrayed as playful, with Marco 'pretending' to run in fear, but I probably could have done better to explain it or show it off. I will work on this.

Sooooo...if anyone else feels Marco is OOC after reading this, well, I apologize and will defend myself with my laminated copy of my artistic licence. :) I did however go over this chapter with a fine-toothed comb in an effort to tone him down back into the leader he is.

...and that interpretation is shot to hell in chapter 4, but hey, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. ^_^

To guest :3 re: Marco - *pokes lightly and grins* Read chapters 1 and 2 again. You'll spot it. I just refuse to put it at the end of every sentence.

Fic Status:

Chapter 4– 100% complete, on 2nd editing

Chapter 5 – 10% finished (Halp! Need encouragement to work on it!)

Chapter 6– um...

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Chapter 3

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Marco watched with a small smile as Luffy happily chittered away on the Den Den Mushi. He had insisted on speaking to each and every member of the Spade pirates – who had, upon hearing who it was that wanted to speak to them – charged into the communications room of the Moby Three, all but throwing the navigators out so they could all fit, and kept stealing the Den Den Mushi from each other to speak to the little one who hadn't stopped giggling since the First Mate – Dusty – had demanded to know well they were taking care of both their captain and their little Spitfire.

Spitfire, the little brother of Firefist Ace. Marco liked it. He settled back against the wall, aiming to get comfortable. He wasn't about to put a time limit on this particular call, seeing as both child and crew obviously needed it very much and besides, they had two other DDM's just in case. He had to admit, hearing the fierce worry from the First Mate about his captain and his captain's little brother had calmed him down a bit – this crew obviously cared very much about the child, and so the uncharitable thoughts he'd been having concerning the Spade Captain began to cease, somewhat. He still had every intention of questioning Ace, however.

Speaking of the child, Luffy was still covered in the remains of breakfast – an event that had shocked the hell out of Marco and Izou, and had excited Thatch and the rest of the commanders. It had been a while since someone had challenged Thatch's ability to fully feed and satisfy everyone on board and as soon as the first tray of scrambled eggs, slices of bacon, sausages and two apples had disappeared in record time, Marco and half the people in the galley had their jaws drop in astonishment when the little boy had carefully clambered over the bench, brought the tray back to Thatch and had politely requested seconds.

Thatch had then piled on a half-dozen fluffy pancakes loaded with butter and maple syrup, four pieces of jam-covered toast, two oranges and a bowl of oatmeal topped with brown sugar and raisins. This too had disappeared within ten minutes, and Marco almost had a heart attack when the boy asked for thirds. That was when the betting began.

The boy had finally deemed himself full after the fifth tray, and Izou collected his money, having bet he would stop on five, and Jozu being absolutely positive the brat would finish on the fourth. Haruta and Jirou had collectively bet on the third tray and had been as thunderstruck as Marco when the child finished the heaping pile of fruit-filled crepes paired with another huge mixing bowl full of cereal and asked for more.

"Is this how you eat at every meal?" Marco couldn't help but ask.

The kid shrugged. "Kinda. Sometimes. But I was really hungry after barely eating for four days, and missing all my snack times."

That had hit Marco – and Thatch – hard. Marco had had no idea that by bringing him what they considered to be 'kid-sized' portions, they had been slowly starving this child who apparently had the collective metabolism of a thousand wired ferrets. Thatch had then starting questioning the kid about 'these snack times of yours' and was even now sitting outside the communications room for a chance to talk to the Spade cook and doctor in order to make sure the kid was eating the right amount. How the kid could eat so much was a mystery, but Marco had no intention of letting a child starve under his watch. Pops had agreed with him there.

"No, Ace is still sleepin'." Luffy's voice cut through Marco's thoughts and he look up to see a worried look on the kid's face. "He's got bandages around his head, but the nurse-lady said his brain was okay."

A deep voice boomed out of the Den Den Mushi. "Can you please ask the 'nurse-lady' to call me here when she has time, Spitfire? I want to hear the details about the Captain."

Luffy nodded, apparently forgetting they couldn't see him. "Okay, Biggie. I will."

There was a scrambled noise, a muffled yelp, and then a new voice came across the DDM. "Are they feeding you enough, Lu-lu? Are you getting your snacks?"

Luffy looked at Marco with a guilty expression. "I forgot to tell them about my snacks," he said in a low voice. Then he brightened. "But I had a huge breakfast today, with pancakes and eggs and toast and cereal and oatmeal and crepes and lots of fruit!"

"That's good, Lu-lu," said the voice. "Remember to have lots of fruits and veggies as your snacks, okay? And ask the chef to call me too when he has time-"

"I'm right here!" Thatch called out, coming in to the room at the change of topic and now moving next to the DDM, tousling Luffy's hair affectionately as he did so. "I wanted to call anyway, to make sure the kid gets enough nutrients. What can you tell me, aside from the fact that he's a black hole on legs?"

There was a laugh. "You're Thatch, right? I'm Eddie. Me and my sister Laurel were the cooks on the Spade ship. You could not be more right about the 'black hole' comment. Though I should warn you – when Ace wakes up, there will be two black holes."

"Holy shit," blurted out Marco. There were two of them? Well, they were brothers... Then he realized what he'd said and his eyes shot down to Luffy's wide, innocent ones. He slammed a hand over his mouth, and then let it drop down again, closing his eyes in dismay. "Don't say that, yoi."

"Oooh, yeah," said Eddie with a whistle over the DDM. "Don't let your brother know you learned new bad words and phrases from anyone over there, Lulu. You remember what your brother did to Spook the first time you said 'god damn it' when you lost at playing cards? He was stuck in the rigging all day before we figured out how to untangle those mystery knots."

Luffy laughed with glee. Meanwhile, Thatch was still laughing at him before finally straightening himself and grinning into the DDM. "Chef's honor, everyone's behaving themselves, I promise. So anyway, how did you manage to keep these two fed without starving the rest of your crew?"

"High-calorie meals," came the prompt reply. "And a steady stream of snacks being constantly available. The key is to not let either of them actually get to the point where they are truly feeling hungry. I kept barrels of breads, fruits and veggies with thick dips, spreads and creams available for them to snack on whenever they liked, and made high-calorie dinners for them while Laurel cooked regular versions of the meals for the rest of the crew. These two do not gain weight like the rest of us normal humans do. They burn it off insanely quickly."

"Wow. So, lots of sugar and rich cream in the coffee? Honey-based spreads on fat-filled breads and meats?" Thatch asked.

"For a start," Eddie said approvingly. "I made a lot of protein shakes and added protein powder to a lot of their dishes as well – it helped fill them up faster than just eating a lot of lighter foods. With Ace, it seemed to keep him full longer too – he didn't snack nearly as often as Luffy."

The two of them continued to chat about food and caloric intake and Marco tuned out to focus on Luffy who was leaning against the table, staring at the DDM with undisguised relief and happiness. Whatever Marco may have thought about Ace taking a child to the Grand Line, he couldn't deny the fact that the crew had utterly adored their captain and his six-year-old bundle of light and joy. They were determined to keep them happy and healthy, if the regimen Eddie was making Thatch write down was any indication.

Then the DDM was apparently stolen on the other end because Eddie was cut off in mid-sentence and a booming voice snapped out. "Spitfire, how're they treatin' you? And don't you lie to me, kiddo. You know I can smell a lie a mile away."

"Dusty!" Luffy cheered and scrambled for the DDM, practically crawling up Thatch's leg like a baby spider-monkey and yanking the snail right out of the cook's hands. "I'm good, Dusty! How are you?"

"I'd be better if I were there with you," came the sullen response, and the DDM glared at the child. "I suppose you haven't been trainin' much, if they haven't bothered to feed you properly."

"Hey-" Thatch started to complain but Luffy put a tiny hand to Thatch's mouth.

"I didn't tell them nothing, Dusty, so they didn't know. I had the biggest breakfast in the world today to make up for it. I miss you though." He pouted at the DDM.

"I'm sorry, kiddo." There was a pause. "I told you I'd take care of you when your brother couldn't but I was no match for the commanders of these ships. I broke our promise." Marco could feel the self-loathing in the man's blunt voice, and his esteem of him went up a little.

"Not your fault!" Luffy stood up on Thatch's lap and the commander wheezed as his tiny foot accidentally went somewhere feet were not normally meant to go. "Not anyone's fault! I'm just happy you're all okay." He then remembered something and leaned forward to the DDM, not realizing stage whispering did not prevent people from hearing him. "Do you have my 'thing'? Did you find it?"

"'Course I have it," came a brusque reply. "I saw you throw it just before you ran into a wall of freakin' fire – which reminds me, I'm gonna paddle your behind if I ever see you do somethin' so stupid ever again."

"I had to get to Ace," the little one said simply, not looking a bit worried at the threat. "But thank you for getting it. I want it back."

"S'not my call to make, kiddo."

"We'll arrange for a visit soon, yoi," Marco suddenly decided to throw in. He moved closer to the DDM and Luffy held it out to him. "We're still being very careful with your captain because of his head injury, but he's healing well according to the nurses. I'll talk to Pops about it and see about bringing the Moby Three over soon so you can visit. It usually takes a day or two to coordinate – we can't have the ships travel together for long, it makes the Marines nervous, yoi." He lifted an eyebrow at Luffy. "Once we do, you can bring the 'thing', whatever it is, to Luffy."

There was another pause and then the gruff voice spoke again. This time, however, Marco could plainly hear the gratitude hidden in his tone. "We would greatly appreciate that, Commander Marco. Thank you."

Marco paused, and then looked at Thatch. "Can you take the kid to go get one of his snacks? I need to speak to Dusty for a moment about some boring adult stuff."

Thatch caught on instantly, as did Dusty apparently – the DDM's mouth flattened into a thin line, bugged out eyes staring suspiciously at the Commander. Luffy's eyes widened at the word 'snack'. "Food!" he chirped, as though he hadn't eaten almost twice his weight in breakfast over an hour ago. "Let's go, Thatch!" He turned to look at the DDM one more time. "I'll be back to say goodbye, so don't hang up," he said sternly, and the DDM's face softened.

"No problem, kid."

Luffy whirled around and lunged at Thatch, snatching his hand with the speed of a striking cobra, and began to haul the cook out of the communications room at high speed, yelling something about apples as he did so. Marco waited until they were gone, before turning a cool stare on the DDM. "So...any idea of what I want to talk about?"

First Mate Dusty of the Spade Pirates made the DDM's eyes roll. "I'm assumin' you wannna know why there's a six-and-a-half-year-old on a pirate ship on the Grand Line in the New World," he drawled.

Marco leaned over the DDM, glaring it down. "Enlighten me, yoi."

"Not my story to tell." If the DDM had shoulders with which to shrug, it would definitely be shrugging. "I suggest you wait for the captain to wake up."

"You seem like a sensible person," Marco growled. "At the very least, why would you agree to go with a man who was dragging a six-and-a-half-year-old on to the Grand Line?"

There was a pause, and then a gusty sigh rattled over the DDM. "...Because he obviously adored the kid to bits? Hell, he threatened to dismember me and set all my parts on fire if I even thought about lookin' at the kid funny."

Marco blinked. That was not the usual reason a person pledged their allegiance to someone, and he said as much to the First Mate who laughed.

"Lemme tell you, you should'a seen it," Dusty said with a low chuckle. "There's this crazy man whooping' with laughter as he pulled this small ship – that should have taken five or six people to pull, mind you – along the shallow water at the beach, and then this tiny kid, laughin' even louder, leaps from the front and cannonballs into the guy like he'd been fired from a Marine ship. When the dust and sand settled, they were already marchin' off into the forest, the kid sayin' somethin' about 'huntin'' and 'lunch'." He laughed again. "Well, I figure'd these two idiots didn't realize that the jungle they were marchin' into was famous for having bigger-than-your-average predators in it, and so like the dumbass I am, I rushed after 'em to save their lives – only to see the guy standin' there, barkin' corrections to this little guy who was beatin' the holy hell out of a crocodile the size'a one your paddle boats."

Marco tried picturing that. It didn't look good in his head. He realized it would probably look worse in real life. "Luffy? Little, tiny Luffy?"

The chuckling stopped. "Well, apparently they were used to it. Ace-Senchou mentioned the animals were almost as big as the ones on their home island. Anyway, the kid was trainin' against them and the rule was, he got to eat whatever he beat."

Marco couldn't stop a small chuckle of his own escaping. After witnessing the child's appetite at breakfast, he had no problems in believing this.

"Then he stumbled. Ace-Senchou went to save him but this giant lion came out of the bushes. At the time, I didn't know Ace-Senchou could take on the both of them, no prob. No, I thought they were in trouble so I hauled my stupid-ass into the fray and took on the lion from Hell. He scratched me up good 'n proper and I passed out. When I came to, I was bein' bandaged by Ace-Senchou who was cussin' me out in whispers – didn't want the kid hearing – about how stupid I was and how they didn't need the help and that if I was gonna jump in, make sure I could handle what I was jumpin' into!"

"Pretty good advice, yoi," Marco commented. His head was whirling with the new information.

Dusty snorted, which was really odd to see on a Den Den Mushi. "Oh yeah, he really tore into me, and when he took a breath, I tore him one right back about what it looked like to see a grown-ass man standin' by while a little kid fights a croc that could swallow the both of them whole. He yelled back it was trainin' and that Luffy couldn't be beaten by a croc, and that was when Luffy – who was still fightin', mind you - got tossed into the air and was slurped down into that croc's belly, slick as sin."

Marco was fairly certain his heart stopped, for just a minute.

The DDM laughed. "The look on Ace-Senchou's face was priceless. He sighed and said, 'Not again' and pulled out that dagger he keeps on his belt and in three seconds, no lie, the croc was carved open, Luffy was out whinin' about the smell of croc guts, and Ace already had a chunk rigged up to cook over a fire that apparently appeared out of nowhere. He then dragged me over and told me to watch the meat while he got the kid cleaned up, and I listened to him verbally lambast the kid up one side and down the other for gettin' eaten – and the kid just gave it right back to him; and the whole time, Ace was handlin' him so gently you'd think the kid was made of spider webs and mornin' dew. They bickered the entire time they were gettin' cleaned up, right up to when I said the meat was done and then Ace hands the entire fifty pound chunk over to the brat who's suddenly all smiles, and tells him to have it while he carved up some more." There was a smile on the DDM now. "Those two were somethin' to watch, and they wasted no time in bringin' me into it. Apparently trying to save them from a lion, while very, very dumb in their eyes, was also very heroic in the eyes of the kid and he said he liked me. That was all it took for Ace-Senchou to start checkin' my bandages, handin' over some of the croc meat and lecturin' me once again on the stupidity of interruptin' someone's trainin' like that."

"So that's how you joined?"

"Not quite. Ace-Senchou carried me on his back to the village and was very displeased to see there was no one there to help get me around until my injuries healed. So he told me flat-out he needed a baby-sitter for the brat – I will note that said brat argued quite vociferously, lemme tell ya – and tossed my ass onto their ship along with a bag of just about everythin' he could find in my house that seemed worth bringin' aboard. He told me to look through it and tell me if he missed anythin'. I asked him to go and get a picture frame from the spare bedroom – the only picture I had left of my sister. He got real quiet, nodded, and left. Luffy took the time to introduce himself to me properly and said Ace would do anythin' for family, even mine." The DDM snorted again. "Actually, it didn't really matter who's."

That raised his opinion of the Spade Captain even higher, in Marco's world view. "So you became Luffy's babysitter?"

The DDM roared with laughter, from both Dusty and the rest of the crew that was apparently huddled around him still. "Are you kiddin'? I babysit both of them, and don't you forget it." He snorted. "With Ace's navigational know-how, he'd'a missed Reverse Mountain entirely and sailed directly into the Calm Belt." There was a corresponding hail of agreements and cheers from the peanut gallery with him. "He can be a grade-A idiot sometimes, but I'd follow Ace-Senchou to Hell and back and not just because of what he did for me. In the past year I've seen that kid sacrifice himself for his brother and our crew, just to keep us safe. He's helped people that others simply walked on by, or stepped on them even more. Ace-Senchou is a good kid, and if you or any of the Whitebeard Pirates hurt him, not only will you have to deal with the Spitfire, you'll have to deal with us." His tone went flat. "Yeah, you're stronger. But we're patient. And if ever a time comes that we have to avenge Ace-Senchou or that stubborn little imp he calls brother, I promise you now, you will never be able to trust any of us again 'cause it will only take once."

Marco actually felt a chill go down his spine at those words. At the same time, he didn't feel overtly threatened. Could be because hearing that loyalty spoke volumes about Ace and his crew. Or it could be mainly because he had no intention of hurting anyone, and therefore, all would be well. He wasn't the First Mate for nothing. He didn't need to puff up and dismiss the threat Dusty was making, nor did he have to dwell on it. He would keep peace amongst the crew – that was his job. "I have no intention of hurting either of them."

"I know," came the quick reply. "The kid likes you guys, and trust me, Luffy's intuition is somethin' you learn to listen to real quick. Just..." A brief pause. "...just take care of 'em. Okay?"

Marco smiled at the DDM. The devotion to his captain and Luffy was almost tangible. This he had no problem in promising. "No problem," he said calmly. "I promise, they'll both be taken care of, yoi. We have the best nurse in the world in charge of Ace's care, and I suspect Luffy will soon be spoiled by the entire crew. He's a charmer, that one."

"When he wants to be, yeah," Dusty chuckled. "But wait until you see his temper. Ace has got nothin' on the little spitfire when he's riled up."

Marco felt another chill go down his spine. "...Really?"

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to be continued...

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And so ends chapter three. Dusty is the Spade with the cowboy hat who always seems to be up front, just behind Ace whenever I see him. He's also the one that we saw yelling at Ace in the anime just after Ace raised his flame wall. To me, he's a drawling southern guy from South Blue who wound up in East Blue somehow, living by himself. Ace knows why, but Ace won't tell, so who knows if the Whitebeards will find out. :) I kinda picture his voice sounding like Two-Bit Mathews from the movie (based on the book) The Outsiders, only about 10 years older and mixed with a dash of Bill Cosby from his standup routines in the 70's.

That made sense. Shut up – it DID.

I am enjoying fleshing out the Spade pirates and I hope you are too. You'll meet another one in detail next chapter.

Note: There are no females in any of the official Spade pictures or screen-caps. I 'made' Laurel because Ace's crew is like most others: filled to the brim with testosterone and I wanted at least one female there. So she's the sister of the dude in the Spade photograph and looks exactly like him except her hair is on her head instead of her chin and she's more slender than her potbellied brother. I named her after a cat in our adoption centre where I volunteer who is the queen of her cattery and has been returned three times (she's very picky – a good trait for a cook). She is NOT a love interest and if she has a relationship with anyone in the future, it would likely be to one of the no-named WB pirates on Moby 3 so please don't abandon this fic because you think I added a Mary Sue. I swear, I did the litmus test. She passed with flying colors. She's not a Sue. :)

Feedback, as always, craved and adored. Differing opinions welcomed too – I do love a good debate and discussion as long as we keep it friendly. :D

Chapter 4 will be out when I get at least 60% done on chapter 5.

...it is not going so well. Bleargh.