Chapter 21 (hey everybody! Hopefully this update wasn't too unbearably slow. I don't have much of interest to say up here, so I think I'll just get right to the point.

Panda Bear: It's so fun to put them though… if they really bug you that much, just don't read them :) Homework = death. Oooh. That sucks. I feel bad for you :( I hope your report turned out okay…

e: Thank you! Maybe, maybe not ;) I'll tell you the real answer in a later chapter. It's kind of plot-important and I don't want to spoil it for you.

TFR: Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it! Yes, Sabo is Ace's brother, not just his friend.

Yeah I kind of screwed up the timeline…oops… sorry. I can go back and fix it, if it really bugs you.

Hope this update is out fast enough for you! Don't worry, I won't abandon this fic until it sees completion!

WARNING: This chapter is rated T for VIOLENCE. There is blood and pain. Lots of pain. Borderline M for the queasy.

Anyways, on with the chapter.)

"You know, I never asked your name."

"Hmm?" The marine was sitting outside the bars collecting the empty dishes he had brought Ace and Sabo's food in that evening. Ace was leaning against a wall, legs stretched out in front of him, trying to force back the pain of the day's injuries.

"Your name. You've done so much for us, and I still don't even know your name." The marine smiled softly, eyes still focused on the dishes.

"My name's Gabriel. Gabriel Gowdel." The marine finished gathering the dishes and turned to face Ace and Sabo fully. Ace chuckled softly and the marine looked at him in confusion. "What? What is it?" Ace shook his head, smile still on his face, laugh fading as his newly broken ribs flared painfully.

"Your name. It's perfect."

"What are you talking about?" Ace shook his head once more, smile still present on his face.

"Nothing. Anyways, thank you for taking such good care of us all this time. I'm curious, though. Why do you do it? If Hare finds out, you're probably going to be killed, and your son is waiting for you." Gabriel smiled softly, his eyes growing distant.

"It's just a philosophy of mine. I believe that the best lessons of all are taught by example. Words are just air, but actions affect the world. My son may not be here to see me do this, but I want him to grow up to be the kind of person that would recognize injustice and do what he could to help. I want to be the kind of man my son would look up to." Gabriel chuckled softly to himself. "It may sound a little foolish, but it's always been a dream of mine to have Aaron walk up to me one day and say, "daddy, when I grow up, I'm want to be just like you." So that's why. I want to be the kind of person that my son could aspire to be, the kind of person I want him to aspire to be." He looked down. "I know it sounds silly, but that's all I've really wanted, ever since the day he was born." Ace looked at him, eyes warm.

"It's not. It's not silly, or foolish, or pointless. It's beautiful." Ace's voice was quiet and he looked at his hands. "I've…I've always wanted someone to say that to me. To be someone worthwhile, someone who inspires other people. Because that would mean it was worth it. Being born was worth it, because no matter how small or insignificant the person may be, I made one human being resolve to change. I made the world a little bit brighter. I proved myself to be more than just a bad legacy, I proved to another person that I, too, deserved the title of human." Ace gave a quiet shrug. "That's…That's always been my goal. To prove to another, to prove to humanity, to prove to the world that I deserve to be part of it. Humanity ebbs and flows like the tide. In 100 years it's quite possible that no one will remember my name, but if someone still remembers it in three years, that'll be enough. Enough for me, at any rate. Society is violent and prejudiced and self-destructive, but still, all I've ever wanted, all I've ever needed to know was if there was any possibility of there being a place for me in it. If anyone…if anyone could ever accept me, even with my lineage. If I could ever know love or companionship, if I could ever have a family. If it's even possible for anyone to look past what everyone thinks they know of me and see, see what I could be, what I want to be if given the opportunity. People hear my father's name and suddenly it doesn't matter anymore, who I am doesn't matter. I'm beaten, broken, and left to die and nobody looks at me. It doesn't matter that I'd sooner die than let any harm come to my little brother, it doesn't matter that the sound of the waves breaking on the cliffs is the only thing that'll make me fall asleep some nights, it doesn't matter that I'm not my father. Because I'm just a name. Just the one that the government missed, the one that they didn't kill. This society is so broken that we have become jaded with murder. The government wipes out entire islands, entire cultures, entire races daily, and nobody cares. So I'm glad. Glad that there are still people like you out there, the ones that know that to give is to teach, to live is to inspire and we'd better start inspiring the right things before we're all truly lost."

"Rise and shine." Ace dimly heard the words through his slumber, so deep it was bordering on unconsciousness. The night before his exhaustion and injuries had come to the point where he'd fallen asleep midsentence. It was becoming a regular occurrence, these bouts of oblivion. Hare would leave for the day, and later Gabriel would come. He'd bring food, and Ace would eat without tasting any of it. Afterwards he'd engage in conversation with Sabo and Gabriel, but more and more frequently he found his mind clouding over, falling into a daze of sleep and medical deprivation. Eventually he'd black out, neither dreaming nor stirring until Hare came the next day.

The words themselves weren't enough to rouse Ace, but the brutal kick to his solar plexus did. All air was driven from Ace's lungs, and he dimly felt himself flying through the air. A moment later he came slamming into a wall and remained horizontal at its base, gasping for air. He vaguely heard Hare's approaching footsteps, but was too preoccupied with remaining conscious to really notice. Hare stopped next to Ace and seized him by the throat, raising him off the ground and cutting off his air supply. Ace's eyes widened and he struggled, writhing desperately as darkness began to close in from the edges of his vision.

Just as Ace was sure he would either pass out or die, Hare released him. He collapsed to the ground in a heap, legs screaming their protest at being beneath Ace's bodyweight. Not that Ace weighed very much anymore, but it was still enough to bring fresh agony to his broken limbs. Once more Hare grabbed him, this time by a fistful of his hair. Ace automatically reached up, grabbing Hare's arm, trying to lessen the painful tension on his scalp. Hare threw him forwards by his hair, and Ace came to rest on the floor near the middle of his cell, face down.

Ace lay there on the floor, trying to regulate his breathing. He heard Hare beginning to approach and instantly he began trying to move away, using his hands to drag himself across the floor, lifting his torso off the wood.

"And just where do you think you're going?" A foot planted itself between Ace's shoulder blades, forcing him back down, arms buckling beneath the pressure Hare placed on Ace's spine. Hare crouched down beside Ace, using a hand to keep him down instead of his foot. Ace turned his head so that he could see Hare out of the side of his eye.

Hare had drawn a scalpel and as soon as Ace's eyes landed on it, he began to struggle, writhing against the hand that pinned him down. Hare scowled in annoyance and increased the pressure on Ace's spine. Ace gave a small cry of pain as the broken and fractured ribs he had acquired over the time he had spent here flashed bright spots of pain across his vision. Again Hare raised the scalpel and Ace focused frightened eyes on it. Again he struggled, but it was much weaker this time. Again Hare pressed down on Ace's back and again Ace's struggling ceased with a cry of pain.

"It'll hurt less if you don't struggle, you know." Hare brought the scalpel closer to Ace and Ace could only watch in horror, breathing ragged and uneven. The scalpel hovered over Ace's body, as if undecided. "Now, where shall we start today?" The scalpel moved slowly, lazily, coming to a stop just above Ace's eye. Ace's eye was focused on the knife, and his heart constricted in fear. "Here? No, I don't think so. They're such a nice color, it'd be a shame to have them go to waste." Again the knife floated above Ace's prone form, searching for the right spot to begin. "Hmm. You make this into such a hard choice, Ace." Hare began flipping the knife from one finger to the other. Ace forced his eyes away from the knife and instead focused on Hare's face.

"You're a monster." The knife stopped flipping. Hare suddenly spun the scalpel so it stuck out of the bottom of his fist and slammed it into Ace's shoulder. Ace screamed as this new wave of pain washed over him, eyes squeezed shut tightly. Hare brought his face down close to Ace's.

"Yes, that's exactly what I am." Hare half-whispered the words into Ace's ear, Ace's eyes still tightly shut from the pain. "And it's time to teach you the meaning of fear."

Hare moved over Ace, sitting on his back and using one hand to hold both of Ace's hands above his head. With the other hand he drew out the scalpel, dripping crimson life onto the wood. Hare twirled the scalpel, now holding it almost like a pencil. Once more he stuck the blade into Ace's shoulder, making a deep cut in the flesh over Ace's right shoulder blade. Ace bit back another scream as Hare dragged the blade through his skin and muscle inch by agonizing inch.

Each cut brought its own fresh pain to Ace's mind, and Hare certainly took his time making each. It was probably the 4th cut when Ace finally couldn't hold back his screams any longer. Each cut was made with agonizingly clear precision and patience, the knife moving maybe an inch in every five seconds. Ace didn't know how long this torment lasted, only that by the end he was so hoarse he was certain his throat would begin bleeding again if he screamed any more. Hare finally withdrew the knife and Ace lay on the floor beneath him, breathing in uneven and ragged gasps and labored breaths. Hare continued to hold Ace down, studying him closely. A cruel smile played onto his features as Ace trembled beneath him from pain and blood loss.

"You know, I think you're losing a little too much blood." Ace glared up at Hare, momentarily forcing away his fear and replacing it with his hate.

"And let's think whose fucking fault that might be." Hare chuckled at Ace. He reached into a pocket and pulled out a vial full of a brownish liquid. He brought it down closer to Ace's face so he could see it better. As soon as Ace got a good look at it, his eyes widened and he shrunk back.

"We're going to have to stop the bleeding, Ace. Have you heard of a process called 'cauterization'?" Ace's eyes remained fixed on the bottle, his fear evident. Hare continued to smile. "You know what's in this bottle, don't you Ace?" Ace swallowed thickly.

"That's sulfuric acid." Hare nodded.

"Very good. Normally one uses red-hot metal to cauterize a wound, but I didn't have the time to get something that hot. This acid will work just as well, though. It'll help ensure this mark never goes away, too. So tell me Ace," Hare uncorked the vial, allowing a drop to fall and hiss on the wood next to Ace's face. "Are you afraid yet?"

And then the agony began. The pain was blinding and all encompassing and there was no escape. Ace's shoulder felt as if it was both on fire and freezing and being torn apart piece by tiny piece.

This time Ace didn't bother trying to hold in his screams, he wouldn't have been able to anyway. Each moment felt like a year and each minute an eternity. The acid moved with the same precision the knife had, only dripping onto the cuts in Ace's shoulder. Each nerve ending, already protesting the previous harm done to them, screamed in complete torment as they died, skin and muscle melting like butter beneath the hissing chemical. Ace could smell the damage it was doing, the scent of the corroding and dying cells filling the air.

And then, finally, after what felt like lifetimes to Ace, it stopped.

Ace lay on the floor, panting and shuddering as Hare rose. Summoning what was left of his flagging strength, Ace glared hatefully up at the marine. Hare paused and considered Ace for a moment, looking thoughtful. Ace's eyes contained fear to be sure, the crushing dread of knowing exactly what Hare was capable and willing to do to him, but instead of crumpling beneath it like others had, he stood his ground. There was still something left of what had existed before. It wasn't the anger or hate, those were to be expected, though admittedly they had never lasted this long in past subjects. No…it's something else. There's something that's keeping him from crumbling. There was still a spark in Ace's eyes. A spark Hare had to destroy. Hare blinked in surprise, eyes widening a little.

"Hope." That was it. That was why Ace hadn't fallen yet. Hare kneeled down next to Ace, grabbing a fistful of his hair and yanking his head back, smiling as Ace gave a small cry of pain. "You still think you have a way out, don't you? You still think you can make it through." Hare dropped Ace's head, letting it fall back to the wooden floor. "It seems physical pain won't be enough for you. Very well, let's change tactics." Hare turned, rising, and walked towards the door of the cell. He stopped at the door, looking at something on the floor. Stooping, he lifted a metal fork. He studied it closely.

"Hmm. It would seem there's a traitor in our mix." Hare's voice was cold, devoid of all emotion, and Ace knew that Hare had already known about Gabriel feeding him and Sabo. Hare turned, smiling at Ace. "If you're so sure you'll make it out, maybe you can explain to Aaron where his daddy went." Ace's eyes locked onto Hare's.

"No, don't. He's got nothing to do with this!" Hare just continued smiling. He stuck his head out the cell door, looking down the hallway towards the stairs.

"Bring him in." The sound of footsteps and struggling met Ace' ears and he felt fear rising inside of him. Oh God, no. Don't let this be happening, not because of me. The sounds of footsteps were getting closer and closer and finally Gabriel came into sight, held between two marines. They dragged him forwards so he was directly in front of Ace outside the bars. Ace locked eyes with him. The marines on either side of him forced him into a kneeling position and Ace focused his attention on Hare.

"Let him go. Please. He's done nothing wrong. It's my fault, I blackmailed him into it. Just let him go." Hare pulled a pistol from his belt. Ace felt true desperation and terror rising inside of his chest. "Don't!"

Hare continued to look into Ace's eyes, not even glancing at Gabriel. He leveled the gun so it was pointing at Gabriel's midsection. Ace met Hare's eyes, desperate, pleading, and terrified. Ace began dragging himself forwards, towards the group, ignoring his body's screaming at him to just shut up and sit still, that it couldn't take any more pain. Hare's smile widened.

And the gun went off.

Ace froze the instant the sound hit his ears. Hot blood hit his face and Ace stared in horror as Gabriel collapsed. The bullet had torn through his stomach and he was bleeding, the red, horrible, horrible red spreading onto the floor. Gabriel came to a rest lying on his side. Ace stared at him in shock, disbelieving. Hare kneeled down next to Gabriel, reaching into his breast pocket. He pulled out a sheet of paper, the thick, durable kind used for drawing. He unfolded the sheet and studied the childish sketch, cold smile coming back to his face. He turned the drawing so that it was facing Ace, and Ace saw again the two lumpy figures, the bright, innocent colors, and the proudly proclaimed words of "me" and "daddy" shouted out above each of the people. Ace looked between Hare's face and the drawing.

And then Hare raised a lighter.

Ace surged forwards against the bars, reaching up, trying to stop what he knew to be inevitable.

The figure labeled "Daddy" was the first to burn.

"You MONSTER!" Ace screamed the words, trying to press all his hate for Hare into that one word. "You've already taken everything from him, how could you?!" Hare smiled at Ace and crouched down so they were eye to eye.

"Because, Ace, you can always leave someone with less than nothing." And with that he turned and left, the other two marines leaving with him. Ace's anger left him and he turned to Gabriel, grief and loss filling him. Ace blinked in surprise. Gabriel was still breathing.

Gabriel had lost so much blood by now, Ace was sure it was too late to save him. Already Gabriel's eyes were unfocused, beginning to cloud over. He reached a hand through the bars, breathing uneven and raspy.

"Aaron…?" His voice was soft. Ace realized that he wasn't seeing reality anymore. Ace felt tears welling up inside of him. He reached out gently and took Gabriel's hand. This is my fault…I should be the one bleeding, the one dying, not you. I…I'm sorry. I can never, never make this up to you, but I'm going to try. Ace painted a small smile on his face, forcing back his tears.

"Yeah, that's right. I'm here. Right here." Gabriel smiled gently.

"Why aren't you out playing with your mother? She's waiting for you outside…" Ace could see the light fading from Gabriel's eyes. Ace's tears were pressing against his eyes, almost spilling over. But he kept the smile on his face.

"No. I'll go play in a minute. I…I wanted to talk to you."

"What is it?"

"I…I just…I just wanted to tell you how proud I am. Proud to have a strong, loyal, amazing daddy like you. I hope that someday, when I'm a grown-up, I can be just like you." Gabriel's hand tightened around Ace's, and Ace realized he was crying, still smiling, but tears spilling down his face. Oh God, what have I done now? Did I make it worse? "Why is daddy crying?" Gabriel shook his head, squeezing Ace's hand.

"Daddy's not crying. I'm just so, so happy. Thank you, Aaron. Now go play with your mother, she's calling you. Daddy's…" the light in Gabriel's eyes faded further. "Daddy's feeling a little tired right now. You go off and play. Daddy's going to take a little nap, and when I wake up I'll teach you how to throw a ball. How does that sound?" His voice was little more than a whisper now. "Go…go run along…I'll…I'll see you…later." His hand loosened. Ace choked back a sob.

"See…see you later."

Ace reached through the bars and gently closed Gabriel's cloudy eyes.

Ace choked on another sob but refused to let any tears fall. Guilt, grief, and loss swelled in his chest, and a gaping black abyss opened in his heart. His breathing was ragged and uneven, his head bowed, eyes shut tightly against any escaping tears. The pressure in his chest grew and grew, his grief and remorse soaring to ever higher peaks. He was going to explode, he was going to die, there was no way to survive this pain. Now there was another soul on Ace's conscience, another person just gone because of him. Gabriel had been innocent of any crime and now lay on the floor dead, his body no more than a mound of already decomposing organs and bones because of Ace. He'd never see his son again; his dream would never be fulfilled. He'd never see Aaron's 7th birthday, he'd never teach him to throw a ball. He'd never watch him grow into a man. And all of it, absolutely all of it was Ace's fault.

Ace threw back his head and screamed.

(A/N: Yup. I killed off a character. I hope you cared at least a little bit about Gabriel. He was a good guy, and he definitely didn't deserve this. :'( It's a very sad moment in my mind. Let me know if I actually succeeded in killing someone off in a way that was at least mildly tragic. This is my first time writing a legit character death, so let me know how I did. Please. It helps. Also, I hope Ace's little monologue wasn't too annoying. It sounded good to me, but I don't know. In other news, no promises on when the next chapter will be out. Seriously. I know I suck at consistency, but blame my teachers. It's their fault for sporadically loading me with way too much homework. Yup. That's all I've got to say. Bye y'all! ~Mountain97)

Bonus question: Why did Ace say Gabriel's name was "perfect"?