Chapter 5 (I bored you enough last time with my author's comments, so I'm going to keep it short. I'm a review addict. If you send reviews, I feel motivated. If I feel motivated, I write you a new chapter. If I write you a new chapter, everybody's happy. REVIEW!)

Ace looked blearily out his window to see the sun rising in its usual brilliant hues. It had been almost two weeks since Hare's threat on the bow, and between the tension and the nightmares Ace had slept a grand total of about 6 hours in that time. Ace was truly nearing the end of his rope. Actually, he was fairly sure it had ended two feet ago and he just hadn't noticed he was falling yet.

Ace looked back down at his desk. His project last night had been repairing a concealed weapon of his. It was a flat blade that, in its sheath, was strapped to the underside of one's arm. The blade itself was attached to a drawstring, which was, in turn, attached to a ring one wore around their finger. By flicking back the wrist the blade would slide out a good ten inches from the base of the hand, but when retracted it was nearly undetectable.

Ace rubbed his eyes tiredly and picked up the weapon, quickly strapping it to the underside of his right wrist. Ace was in the process of fixing the one for his left arm, but he hadn't gotten around to it last night. He glared down at it in annoyance. Well…it can be tonight's project. Right now all Ace wanted was some god damned caffeine. Or sugar. Or both. He glanced at the clock and decided that by now the communal coffee pot would have been prepared for the morning stampede and stood up to make his way down to the dining hall.

Ace stirred his coffee and stared at the sheet of old, water-stained paper before him. He'd been working on it for hours now and he was still only halfway through it. Translating Persian to English was a pain in the ass. Not only was Persian a dead language and thus he couldn't ask anyone for help, but the document was also in some kind of dialect. Ace was scribbling down the translation onto a spare sheet of paper, pausing every now and then to dip his pen into the inkpot. Marco was sitting beside him, filling out seemingly endless paperwork. Ace heard familiar footsteps approaching and didn't bother to look up.

"Hello, Jericho." Ace said it in a calm voice but was internally a little pissed off. Jericho was a god damned prick and from the very moment Ace had set foot on the Moby Dick Jericho had been making insults, undoing hard work, and generally pissing Ace the hell off. Needless to say, there was very rarely a polite encounter between the two. Jericho sneered down at Ace.

"Newspaper's just come in. And you know what? They raised your bounty. Now it's 350 million."

"Seeing as I recently got back from a mission to take out several marine officers, that doesn't exactly surprise me." Ace said it without looking up. Jericho's sneer deepened.

"You want to know what I think? I think that the government raised your bounty because your own mother hates you and fucked some higher-level marines." Ace's eyebrow twitched. Jericho continued, undeterred. "Because what marine in their right mind would be scared of you? You're just some bastard of a low-class whore." Ace looked up at Jericho.

"Actually, no, my parents were married. However I cannot see you being a legitimate child, as I don't think an orangutan would consent to marry a sewer rat. " Ace said it in a calm voice. Jericho scowled down at him. Ace dipped his pen again. "Now, if you have nothing further to say save spewing idiocy about people you know nothing about, can I get back to my work?"

"I'm not finished talking to you!" Ace ignored him in favor of beginning to translate the next line of the document. Jericho knocked over the inkpot. The liquid spilled all over the sheet Ace was writing on, soaking the majority of it black before Ace could blink. He quickly lifted up the original document and turned his eyes up to glare at Jericho.

"I'd been working on that for three hours." If there was one thing Ace hated, it was wasted time. Ace set the document in an ink-free place and rubbed his temples with two fingers, eyes closed. "Marco, could you please tell Jericho that I'm not in the mood to deal with his bullshit? I haven't gotten enough sleep to put up with his stupidity this morning." Marco looked up at Jericho, his eyes telling him to leave. He didn't.

"You have a little brother, don't you Portgas? He as much of a shitty weakling as you?" Ace froze. Jericho sensed his advantage and continued. "I bet he is. I bet he's even weaker than you. I bet he's some gay-assed little bastard and I bet you used to fuck him when you were younger." Ace's hands were clenched into fists and his eyes closed. The spoon for his coffee was still in his hand and looked as though it were trying hard not to bend.

"Marco. Could you please tell Jericho if he speaks again I make no promises as to his long-term health?" Jericho smiled down at Ace cruelly, bending over so they were eye to eye.

"I could kill him in two seconds, tops."

There was a line there. Jericho had just pole-vaulted over it and run a marathon in the wrong direction. Ace's eyes shot open. He stood suddenly, his chair sliding back violently. His eyes were dark, full of passionate fury. Jericho looked taken aback by the anger contained there and took a shocked step backwards. He wasn't nearly fast enough. Ace was around the table in an instant and punched Jericho in the face, then the stomach. Jericho doubled over and Ace grabbed the back of his shirt, throwing him onto the table. Ace jumped up onto the table and crouched over Jericho, holding him down. Jericho turned his face sideways, trying to deflect any further blows when Ace slammed his closed fist down less than an inch from Jericho's nose. Jericho's eyes widened. Embedded about two centimeters into the wood of the table was a spoon.

"I can tolerate insults. Insults are just air and lies. But the moment you threaten my family…" Ace trailed off, staring straight into Jericho. "I'm letting you off with a warning this time. But if you ever threaten my little brother again, I will kill you." Ace said it coldly, and when he was finished speaking, got off the table, grabbed the old document, and left the mess hall, leaving Marco and anyone else present to stare after him in shock. Jericho spluttered for a moment and sat up. He looked at Marco.

"Aren't you going to do anything? He just attacked me! A fellow crewmember!" Marco looked at him for a moment, eyes lacking much sympathy.

"He tolerated you more than most people would have. The majority would have snapped after what you said about his mother. He also gave you two warnings. It's your own damn fault he attacked you, you're just lucky he didn't decide to physically harm you. If he'd actually hurt you I'd be more pissed, but he didn't break any bones or cause you any long-term harm. Just count yourself lucky and leave Ace alone. Honestly, if you haven't learned that lesson by now, I wonder at your sanity." Marco stood, leaving Jericho to stutter behind him, and made his way out towards the deck, following the same path Ace had taken. Well that was surprising. I've never seen him get that violent with Jericho. Or anyone. Marco's brows furrowed. Just what makes him so ferociously protective?

Ace ran a hand over his face and hair, pacing back and forth in the crow's nest. Serpent watched him with growing irritation, tracking his back and forth movement.

"Honestly, you're going to give me whiplash if you keep this up. It's not like you actually hurt or killed him, and seeing as he was being that much of a bastard, I think he earned it." Ace continued pacing. Serpent sighed. "He's not actually going to hurt Luffy. Take some deep breaths Ace. Calm down. Think rationally. Don't you have bigger problems right now?"

"Like what?" Both turned their heads to see Marco and Thatch approaching. Ace sighed.

"You here to chew me out for attacking Jericho?" Marco blinked.

"Actually, no. Jericho was way out of line, and you lasted longer than pretty much anyone else on the ship would have. I would've hit him too. I actually came to thank you." He chuckled. "I never thought a spoon could be turned into a weapon, but I guess you learn something new every day. Anyway, thanks for not killing him. And you really put him in his place. I'm not saying he's never going to bother you again, but I think it'll be a while." Ace blinked several times. He seemed a little surprised, not being in trouble and all. Marco was curious.

"Why was it the threat that bothered you so much?" Ace looked up at Thatch and sighed, looking back down again.

"Because of a promise I made a long time ago." This really piqued their interest. Thatch was the first to speak.

"To who?" Ace shook his head and gave a wry smile.

"If I'm going to tell you, I may as well tell the whole story." He leaned back against the wall, folding his arms in front of him. He looked up at the ceiling, looking for the right words to begin. After a pause, he began talking. "When I was about three months old, my mother, as well as the entire island we lived on, was killed in a Buster Call. It's one of the reasons I hate marines so much. There weren't even any pirates on the island. The government just did it because…because they were sure that the family of a pirate was living there. They killed 20,000 civilians on the suspicion that maybe 2 of them were affiliated with pirates.

"The only reason I survived was because of a marine vice-admiral named Monkey D Garp. My mother's last wish was that I might be saved. He took pity on us, and probably felt guilty over what the government had done. What it had destroyed. He took me away from there and brought me to a small island in East Blue. His daughter-in-law was living there, and she adopted me. Monkey D. Sophie was probably one of the most tolerant and loving women to ever walk the earth. She raised me from infancy. When I was a little over three years old, she got pregnant. Everything was going fine until about halfway through the pregnancy. She got sick. Really, really sick. The doctors thought she was going to lose the baby, but she didn't.

"I did my best to take care of her, and when I was a little over 4 years old, she gave birth to my little brother. But…She died. The sickness plus the strain of giving birth was too much for her, and she passed away.

"Luffy was my only remaining family, and I cherished him. I've had to be self-sufficient enough to raise myself and him since I was four years old. Garp would, of course, drop by every now and again, but he never stayed for long, and he sucked as any kind of parental figure anyway.

"When Luffy was 5 a crew of pirates decided to use our island as a kind of base of operation. Luffy was ecstatic, of course. I was…a little more reserved. The pirates, it turned out, were none other than Red Haired Shanks' crew. Luffy befriended them instantly, of course, and after a while, I accepted them too. Shanks was probably the closest thing we ever had to a father growing up, and he really did love us as his sons.

"Anyway, a little ways after my tenth birthday, a bunch of marines came to town looking for Shanks. The commanding officer was none other than Edward Hare." Ace paused, considering what to say next. Should he tell the truth? "Onboard the ship was a boy, about my age, named Sabo. Sabo and I became friends and I began to see him as another member of my family. But…"

Again Ace trailed off. Should he lie or be honest? Marco and Thatch deserved the truth, but Ace wasn't sure he was ready to share it. He closed his eyes. "…But the marines got in a fight with a pirate crew. Not Shanks' thank god, but Sabo was killed in the battle. I'd had to bury another member of my family. I didn't have his body, but he damn well deserved more of a funeral than the marines gave him. So I made him a tombstone and did what I could for him.

"I'd had to bury three members of my family before I was 11 years old. After that, I made a promise to him, Sophie, my mother, and myself that I would never again dig another grave for my family. Soon after that, Shanks and his crew left for the Grand Line again. Luffy was really all I had left." Ace's brows furrowed. "But how am I supposed to protect him when I'm an eternity away? I can't just let threats like the one Jericho made slide. This is the only way I've found to keep him safe. Because you never know when someone will take away what's most important to you."

Marco and Thatch stared at Ace. It made sense now. Growing up, Ace had lost pretty much everyone he considered family. Most had died and he'd had to bury them with his own hands. Even if Jericho's threat was empty, Ace was doing what he could to protect what little family he had left in the only way he could being this far away. Serpent was looking at Ace too with something akin to wonder. Or was it surprise?

Marco walked over to Ace, putting his hand on Ace's shoulder and squeezing it gently. "But you have more family now, Ace. We're your family too. And, by extension, Luffy's. We look after our own. We'd make sure a threat like Jericho's wasn't legitimate or, if it was, never came to fruition." Ace looked up at Marco.

"Thank you." Ace smiled gently. And there was something almost desperate in that smile, like Ace had been drowning and was now safely back on shore. Marco smiled back at him. Just how long have you been alone, Ace? The thought made Marco sad. There's a difference between surviving and truly living. Thatch came over too, and smiled at Ace warmly.

"What's this little brother of yours like, anyway?" Ace's smile bloomed into something wider, happier.

"Actually, he's a lot like you. Happy-go-lucky and always laughing. He can't lie worth a damn though. Gotten into a lot of trouble because of it. He's also a lot more innocent than you." Thatch just laughed and Marco chuckled. "He can seem a little…unintelligent at times, but when you really need him to be, he's there for you. He'd throw himself off a bridge to protect someone he met the day before." Marco smiled.

"Seems like a good kid. I hope we get to meet him someday. I'm sorry, but I have to get back to work now. I'll see you two later." Marco turned and made his way down the ladder and back onto deck. Thatch turned to Ace.

"I actually have to leave too. Make sure nobody blew up my kitchen and all that." He leaned in, and whispered conspiratorially. "But I came up with a great prank to pull on Marco. We have to wait until he gets all settled in his work, though." Ace just laughed and shook his head. Thatch was always great at cheering you up. He's like Luffy in that way too. Thatch began climbing down the ladder and then made his way across the deck and back into the kitchens. Ace turned around, still chuckling, to see Serpent sitting in front of him, looking at him confusedly.

"Why did you lie to them?"

A/N: And that's a wrap. Yes, like I've been telling you from the beginning, I changed Ace, Luffy, and Sabo's backstory. You were warned many times. If you have a problem with that, either deal with it or go read a different fic.

Guys! Guess what? There's a magic button right below this! If you push it…*looks around, thinking*…Cookies! Cookies will come out! All you have to do is push it and write some words and BAM! COOKIE TIME! Seriously though, please review.