Title: Ten Years Difference (4/?)

Author: Stormy1x2

Word Count (chapter): 3527

Notes: Apparently there's confusion about the ages, and don't feel bad – it's my fic and I screwed up too. Luffy is 6 and 1/2 when Ace challenges WB which means they left when he was roughly 5 and 1/2. Ace turned 17 on January 1 and they are in the New World and likely en route to a spring or summer island – hence the nice weather I've apparently given them (given to them in that I haven't really said anything about the weather except that it was nice out). So Luffy is 6 and 1/2 now, and he'll turn 7 in a couple of months when it's his birthday.

Hope that clarifies things. If not, let me know and I'll change the title to Eleven Years Difference but I'd really rather not. It doesn't quite roll of the tongue as smoothly. :)

Also, I love you people. The feedback and honesty has been amazing and it is so totally appreciated. I love hearing what you liked specifically and it made my day to read so many people enjoying my interpretation of the Spade pirates, particularly Dusty (he's my fave, no lie. I spent a long time on him. You'll meet my 2nd fave in this chapter, with about half of his back story. I hope you enjoy!). If it hadn't been for you all, you would not be getting this chapter so fast. My buffer is gone now. See below:

Fic Status:

Chapter 5 – 60% finished (Halp! Need encouragement to work on it! All I know is Ace wakes up at the end, I don't know, Ace will need definite Luffy and Marco and Whitebeard time but that will likely be in chpt 6. I do have a scene with Luffy and WB talking over a snack and some bonding time with Haruta but not much else. Blah. BLAH I SAY.) And you'll meet three more Spades. After that I'm tapped out.

Chapter 6: ...Ahahahahahahahaha! Yeah. I never got that far – I didn't think the interest would hold out – both mine and yours. WRONG. :) TAPPED. OUT. I. SAY.

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Chapter 4

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Thatch was apparently in awe. Never had he seen so many ways to make perfectly healthy dishes so utterly unhealthy and fattening. It was almost inspiring.

Still gaping at the notepad of recipes and tricks he'd been given, he was addressing his words to Laurel and Eddie, the two cooks of the Spade pirates who had eventually joined him in his kitchen. Oyaji had been more than happy to have the Moby Three moor by them near one of their less-occupied islands in order to allow the Spade pirates to visit. Marco had been hoping Thatch would pick up a few tricks for feeding the kid. If that notebook and Thatch's expression was anything to go by, well, mission accomplished.

Luffy had bounced around the deck in agony, if what he told Marco was anything to go by, as he waited for the other ship to arrive. The Spade pirates had been the first to cross over the ramp they'd set up between the ships, the one in the cowboy hat reaching Luffy just as the little boy leaped at him, sending him sprawling. Instead of being irked, the man had tightened his grip on Luffy, squeezing him for all he was worth.

"Dusty, Dusty, Dusty," Luffy had chanted, snuggling into the other man's chest. "I missed you!"

"Missed you too, Spitfire," said the man, apparently named Dusty. He sat up, still clutching the child with his left hand, and reached into a leather satchel slung over his shoulder with his right. "I have something for you."

Marco watched, curious to know what the important 'thing' was that Luffy had throw away to avoid being burnt. He was surprised to see it was a simple straw hat, a little tattered around the edges, and showed places all over it that were obviously were repairs. A surprisingly bright and clean red ribbon wound around the base of it. It was oddly familiar-looking too, but Marco couldn't quite place it. Luffy was ecstatic to see it, and he pulled it down with both hands until the brim was over his ears. "Thank you, thank you, thank you Dusty!" Luffy wrapped his arms around the man again, nuzzling his face into the First Mate's shoulder.

Dusty was grinning softly down at the cuddling child, rubbing his back and briefly nosing his hair in a move that seemed completely automatic, as though this was something they did all the time. "Anytime, kiddo."

"No hugs for me?" A short, chubby guy with a curly, black beard and an olive green headband wrapped around his bald head had crossed over next and crouched by the two of them, reaching out to muss the kid's already messy hair.

"Eddie!" Luffy somehow migrated into Eddie's arms. The man swung him into the air, caught him, and hiked him up onto one ample hip, poking Luffy's belly with the opposite hand. "Look at you! You're wasting away here!"

Behind Marco, Thatch had given a pained whimper at the reminder. A girl had crossed over next, right behind her brother (had to be, they looked freaking identical except in body type). Her hair matched Eddie's beard, was also wrapped in a green headband but she was slim where he was not and she had immediately gone to Thatch, a thick notepad in hand. "You must be Thatch." She had given him a toothy grin. "I recognize that whimper from the Den Den Mushi. I'm Laurel."

Thatch blinked, and then she was shaking his hand and shoving the book into the other. "What's this?"

"Ways my brother and I have come up with to actually do what no man has done before and try to fill up a pair of black holes," she said, winking at him and immediately flipped open the notebook to show him. Thatch was thus lost to Marco. Then a missile attacked Laurel and she went down, laughing and giggling at the small boy who clung to her back chanting, 'Meat! Meat! Meat!'

Marco's attention was brought back to the ramp where a giant man, roughly the size of Kingdew but far less muscular, was crossing with a giant black bag in hand. His expression was worried and as he reached the Moby, Marco moved to greet him. The simple purple tunic didn't automatically hint at his occupation but the bag certainly did. "You must be Doc?"

"Guess this gave it away, huh?" The big man gave his bag a small shake. His voice was deep and Marco had a feeling when he wanted to get someone's attention, it would boom like thunder, but for now, it was quiet and respectful. "I have no doubt your nurses are doing a wonderful job – I saw how they did patching us up." Marco smiled sheepishly. He knew one of the wounds that had needed stitching on Doc had been caused by one of his talons. He remembered aiming for that tunic. "But I would sleep better at night if I could check on Ace for myself, just to see how he's doing-"

"Biggie!" shrieked Luffy and Marco watched, amused, as Luffy climbed the man like a tree until he got to the doctor's shoulders, his hat pushed back and dangling between his shoulder blades. That was when Thatch had led to the two cooks off to his galley which, helpfully, cleared the deck somewhat and gave them more room.

"Luffy!" The doctor peeled him off – carefully, Marco noted – and held him out at arms length, giving the kid a quick visual assessment. He poked the kids ribs too, and gave him a small glare. "What's this about you not telling people how much you need to eat? I know for a fact Eddie and Laurel reminded you each and every day about your snacks." He frowned at the kid. "I know Ace is always telling you to not tell everyone everything about yourself, but not when it comes to how much people should be feeding you."

Had the kid really lost that much weight? He was whipcord thin of course, but it seemed skinny in that way one usually attributed to lots of activity, not necessarily starvation. Marco felt his stomach twist again, and he looked at the doctor. "I promise you, we had no idea of his dietary requirements, yoi. If we'd known-"

"Yeah, the Whitebeard Pirates aren't exactly known for starving their... passengers," the big man said calmly, giving him a wink. "It took Eddie and Laurel a long time to figure out what the kid needed versus what he wanted, and how to reach that goal. With Ace unconscious, it's not surprising he didn't tell you much." The doctor rolled his eyes. "He drilled into Luffy the importance of secrecy every day. I am actually not really surprised it took you four days to find out. I'm just surprised he was able to hold out this long without saying anything."

The little secret-keeper glowered at the big man. "I promised as Ace I would be careful with strangers! I don't break promises, Biggie!"

"I know that, kiddo," Biggie said, lightly touching Luffy's sides and watching with a grin as the child convulsed with laughter and giggles. "But your stomach roars when you miss a snack. I don't even want to know what it sounded like after four full days with no snacks or extra food."

"Actually, the sounds his stomach was making kept the nurses up at night," Marco said, grinning at a suddenly shy Luffy who was listening to them with a red face. "They thought a wild animal was loose in the infirmary somewhere, yoi."

The child glared at him and turned back to the doctor. "Where's Spook? And Tyger?" He was obviously trying to change the subject. "And Ethan!"

"Spook will be up in a minute – he's trying to help Tyger." Big Doc looked at Marco. "Tyger wound up with a broken leg and it takes him forever to get anywhere. He's small enough that any of us could easily carry him, including Spook, but he's stubborn and insists he can do everything by himself." The doc pinched the bridge of his nose. "Which would be admirable if not for the fact that when he's healthy, he nags at poor Spooky to do everything for him."

Marco let out a laugh. "I can think of a few of my crew like that," he said.

"Pains in the ass, every one of them," Doc said, nodding his head. "Ethan's watching them bicker, ready to break 'em up if he has to. The two of them have been partners for years and when they get concerned about each other, they get... temperamental. Ethan's our sharpshooter and has been known to take the wind out of their sails with a few well-placed shots now and again."

Behind Marco, Izou looked at Doc with interest. "What's he use?" he asked, holding up one of his handguns as an example.

"I have no idea," Doc replied. "All I know is he has a rifle the size of his telescope and he carries both of them on his back which has made a for a few interesting moments when he pulls the wrong one out."

Izou burst out laughing and Marco couldn't help but join in. The worried knot in his stomach loosened. He had been uneasy. He knew Pops liked Ace and for whatever reason, was determined to keep him on board. It wasn't often that the Whitebeard Pirates 'recruited' in such a potentially hostile fashion, but Pops so rarely did this. One of the last times would have been nearly ten years ago with Thatch, who had been an angry, abused and terrified teenager, and until he found his niche in the kitchen, had tried to escape numerous times. Marco had been astounded by the change in him, and Pops had told him that he could somehow sense when some people just needed to be with them. Thatch had been one, and Haruta too, sort of, thought not nearly as bad as Thatch. Hell, Marco himself had been one. And now, Ace.

The problem was, Ace was wanted by others. Thatch and Marco and the others forcefully stolen by Whitebeard had usually been alone, unwanted by the world, and it didn't take long for them to realize how good being wanted in a positive way felt. Ace, on the other hand, had a devoted and caring crew that refused to just let the Whitebeards up and abscond with their leader, which was why Pops eventually gave the order to bring them all in, but on a different ship. Ace needed to be won over in the same way Thatch and Marco had. His crew on the other hand, didn't seem to have the same darkness and anger inside of them that needed the same kind of healing.

Marco had just hoped the Spades would fit in. Not every pirate deserved to be a member of the Whitebeards, and since they had to take them in, in order to have Ace (and Luffy by default), Marco had worried about if they really were meant to be there.

But talking to them was alleviating those fears. These were good people – Marco could sense that easily, and it was obvious in the way they showed their genuine affection for the small boy being tossed from one to the other. "I'll take you to Ace then, yoi." Marco grinned. "And introduce you to Whiskey. She normally doesn't take kindly to doctors going in and assuming her care has been in any way inadequate. It can get..." He sucked on his teeth for a minute as he decided how he wanted to phrase it. "...volatile."

Doc snorted and hefted his medical bag. "That would be appreciated," he said. "I know better than to walk into a nurse's domain and assume that I am anywhere close to being in charge."

Yes, Marco decided as he led the way to the infirmary, the doc, Dusty (with Luffy around his neck once again) and Izou promising to bring the anticipated Spook, Tyger and Ethan when they arrived. The Spades might fit in rather nicely.

o0o

The infirmary was rather crowded but Marco didn't have the heart to throw anyone out, and after Biggie had complimented Whiskey to the moon and back about her care and treatment of Ace, anyone trying to remove the Spade Pirates would have to deal with her and that was something not many people attempted on the Moby.

"You were right to worry about the potential for fractures," Biggie said to Hannah, who was peering around him as they both studied the x-ray in front of them. "Those abnormalities you could feel in his skull were tiny hairline cracks that definitely could have been worse if you hadn't gotten him stabilized and moved so quickly. Excellent call."

"Thank you," Hannah said so brightly, Marco was surprised flowers didn't bloom at her feet and birds arrive to chirp on her shoulders. "I appreciate that coming from a doctor such as yourself."

Yeah, Biggie was a surprise all right. Marco had been utterly stunned when the big man had pulled out a plastic folder containing his credentials and seeing among them, an old contract to the Marines in exchange for additional battlefield training. He hadn't been able to stifle his curiosity.

"You worked for the Marines?" Marco had asked, surprise, disbelief and disdain fully evident in his tone.

Biggie had looked at him squarely and nodded. "For almost four years," he said calmly. "I was a fully licenced medical doctor, did my training around the time the Pirate King set off the new era. I spent over eighteen years handling colds and sniffles and vaccinations and the occasional pregnancy when a midwife wasn't available. Then all of a sudden, a surge of people hurt by both Marines and pirates began showing up on my island. We weren't a restocking location – too small for that – and so we were usually passed over." He sighed. "Well, word got out that there was a doctor there, and suddenly I was seeing people with hacked off limbs, gut wounds, punctures, bullet holes and lacerations from swords. I was thrown into the deep end of the surgery pool and while I would never refuse anyone aid, I quickly realized I was way out of my league."

Marco nodded silently. That would be one hell of a switch up.

"So... I needed field medic training so I could train my staff to do proper triage and even help with the minor cases while I was busy with the more difficult ones." Biggie sighed. "I couldn't possibly do another four to seven years of training – not if I wanted to help people now. So I contacted the Marines and offered my services. I would help them and train their medics for problems and medical issues that were starting to become more and more prevalent with more females joining the ranks – you know, there was one ship that was thirty-eight percent female and they didn't have a dedicated OBGYN?" He shook his head, showing his disgust at the very idea. "Shameful, making those poor ladies suffer until a sufficiently-sized island could be reached."

Hannah patted Biggie on the back. "You are a wonderful man," she praised. "If only there were more like you."

There was a 'here here' from Whiskey who was changing Ace's bandages with the help of Dusty – and the trying-to-be-helpful Luffy who wound up instead wrapping himself in bandages and pretending to creep around the beds like a mummy.

Marco muffled a laugh and turned his attention back on Biggie. "So I'm guessing in return, they gave you field medic training."

"You got it, Commander. I spent about eight months getting a crash course compounded with actual field trials during incidents that happened during that time, and after that, I agreed to six months on the ship that patrolled the islands around ours, and six months in my own clinic. I felt I would be able to help more people that way, as well as continue to get the latest in training and medical tech that came out of the Marines."

"And you turned around and used that technology and knowledge on pirates too?" Marco asked, feeling somewhat sceptical.

Biggie shrugged. "A patient is a patient," he said staunchly, looking Marco straight in the eye. "A pirate bleeds just as red as a Marine and vice versa. I will help anyone who needs it. A doctor does not choose their patients, First Commander. Healers are held to a different 'boss' than that."

Marco had held his tongue after that, leaving Biggie to go back to looking at the x-rays and additional scans Hannah was spreading out on the light table, glaring and hinting at him to go away and let the doctor check out their work. Marco wanted to know how Biggie had gone from that life to actually leaving his island and serving under a captain like Ace, but he held up his hands and backed away, letting them return to work.

"Rarr," growled a little voice from somewhere around his knees, and Marco looked down to see Luffy-Mummy walking stiff-legged in circles around him with his arms outstretched and his teeth biting the air. He wanted to laugh, but then he had a better idea.

"Haruta?" Marco called out to one of the many commanders still hovering in the hallway, curious about their guests that had just arrived and the child that had been brought aboard with the Spade captain nearly six days ago. One of them stepped forward – the Commander of the Twelfth Division.

Haruta was twenty-three and almost taller than Marco, but her facial features and thin limbs and body had led many people and opponents to think she was around sixteen and just happened to be of a race that had larger and taller body types, like Atmos or Blenheim. She never mentioned much about her genetic background, and unless it pertained to her health and well-being, no one really cared. "You called?"

Marco schooled his face into a neutral expression. "What is the proper procedure for dealing with short, evil mummies about to eat your First Commander?"

Haruta pretended to stroke her chin, looking thoughtful. "Well, maybe it won't eat you if we offer it something that tastes better," she suggested. "I think Thatch said something about making cookies."

"Cooooo-kieeeeeesssss," droned the little mummy who did an immediate about-face from Marco and began staggering towards Haruta. "Coooooo-kieeeeessssss!"

Marco grinned as several of the commanders began to laugh outright. "Alright. You're under orders to take this mummy and stuff it full of cookies and apples and whatever else it takes to keep it from snacking on anyone else. When it's full, and safe to be around others, return it here so it can continue its observation of its fellow mummy." He motioned to Ace whom Whiskey had just finished re-bandaging.

"Aye, sir," she said, saluting him. She rested one hand on the mummy's back. "This way, evil-mummy sir. We'll find you something much better to chew on than an ancient commander like Marco. You don't even know where he's been, after all."

"Cooo-kieees," nodded the little monster, grinning madly, and he willingly followed Haruta's guidance through the group of Whitebeard pirates – some of whom simply moved out of the way, and others who decided to tag along, asking if it was just monsters who got cookies or if they could too.

Marco smiled. His plan to get little Luffy introduced and comfortable with more members of the Moby Dick was hopefully starting to work. Having the Spade crew there had definitely settled the kid right down, and Dusty was staring at him, a grin on his face. "What?"

"You handled him real well," was all the other man said, tipping his hat at the commander.

"Indeed," added Biggie, shooting him a quick look from his scan-checking. "Pretty much how just about any of us would have handled him. Well done, Commander. Luffy is not always the easiest child to handle."

Marco arched an eyebrow. "Really?"

Dusty nodded, looking back at his captain. "He's real subdued right now. You may not be able to tell, but it's pretty damn obvious to us. Normally he's runnin' around like an engine at full-speed, shoutin', and cacklin' and climbin' anyone and anything within reach, beggin' for food worse'n a seagull at a picnic. Here, he's real calm and quiet and I think it's mainly 'cause Cap here is still out of commission. Luffy doesn't function real well without his brother."

"Why's that?" Hannah asked, looking concerned.

"Well, they call each other brother, but the fact is, Ace raised Luffy from a baby," Dusty said, glancing back down at his captain with a fond look. "Ace is the closest thing that kid has to a parent, and Ace has always been there. Teachin' him, trainin' him, protectin' him – his whole life revolves around l'il Spitfire and for good reason." Dusty narrowed his eyes at Marco. "Though you'll have to ask Ace about it yourself. Let's just say if there was no Luffy, there might not be an Ace today, and the same goes for that kid, but for vastly different reasons."

Well, that didn't help. Marco found himself with more questions than answers.

Dusty snorted, apparently reading Marco's mind. "Yeah. Get used to that too. Ace doesn't trust anyone until they prove themselves, and it's a different test each time. Spitfire is easy compared to him."

Marco gazed at the unconscious teenager who had, despite his youth, managed to gather such a crew to him and earn their loyalty, all while being completely mistrusting and super-protective. The concern and bad feeling he'd been having ever since discovering Luffy's existence was almost gone, replaced by genuine curiosity and interest. Whatever he felt about Ace bringing Luffy to the Grand Line was immediately overpowered by the knowledge that Ace had raised Luffy. Luffy was a loyal, outgoing, curious, cheerful, playful and well-adjusted little monkey. No one who raised a kid like that could be the kind of person he'd been thinking of. Marco's interest was rising steadily. They had lots to talk about.

Marco was looking forward to it.

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to be continued...

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So who do you like more so far – Dusty or Biggie? I love the two of them equally, I can't choose. And Biggie has a really good reason – or a really sad one – for joining Ace that he'll share later on.

Re: chapter 2 – because there seemed to be some confusion, the entire chapter was written from Luffy's POV and he's a kid – and not a very grammatically correct one at that. He's scatterbrained and the type to run on sentences, so thank you for the comments – and the one PM to beta read – but that chapter was written the way it was for a reason. Any chapter from Luffy's POV is going to be like that. Just a heads up. I do appreciate the interest you took in it though!