Summary: After a botched mission to save their sister the Whitebeards declare war on the slave ship that stole her. Their hunt for survivors leads them to take in the only three captives still breathing. Sabo who did everything he could to save their sister, Ace the boy they found in a locked room who absolutely hates them and the captain's son Luffy. Who can hardly remember his own name. Dark ASL slave fic.

Warning for like so- so many things: Slavery, swearing, child abuse, child abduction, kidnapping, gun violence, torture, death and graphic depictions of violence.

There be no sexual assault, death of a main character or sad endings here.

X-posted on AO3

The ship had stolen one of their nurses. And the Whitebeards did not take kindly to their own being stolen. Not at all.

This wasn't their full force. Although any more trouble and Whitebeard might change his mind about the hold order for the Moby. Instead he had sent a couple of his commanders and their carefully selected division members. The thing with these types of situations was, they were messy. The networks for slave traders were extensive. And if you weren't careful backup could be called on an invaded ship, and in turn the backup could call backup and so on. All in all the situation called for a certain level of efficiency, ruthlessness and experience that came with being a commander or long time crew member. Which was what led to five commanders and twenty-seven crew mates invading the ship.

The nurses name was Rose. She was a shy girl, still learning the world of medicine. But she was sweet and Oyaji had taken a shine to her. She had a wonderful bedside manner and was apparently the only nurse who could convince their captain to stop drinking, even if it was only for a night. So of course, they were pissed. And yes, they would be getting her back.

They attacked at midnight. By that time the ships lights were mostly dark and it appeared that most of the crew had gone to bed. The ship, a massive transport vessel, was anchored a couple hours offshore of some backwater island. About three days sail away from reaching it's intended destination at Sabaody where their human cargo could be sold and bartered like livestock. It was disgusting. But this ship would never make it there. Not if they had anything to do with it.

The team invaded silently, Marco in the lead as they climbed up from their boat, hidden in the shadow of the much larger boat that dwarfed theirs several times over. Marco was the first to step foot on deck, he dealt with the night guard quickly. Silencing him before he even knew they were there. He summoned the others up after that. Each of the group crossing the railing to come stand on the deck besides him. None of them were smiling. What was there to smile about?

"We get in, we get her and then we get out and burn this whole thing to the ground." Marco reminded his crew mates, meeting each one of their eyes. "Bring all of their captives with us. I do not want us to overlook a single innocent."

"We never do." Fossa had been smoking. As he always was. But now he flicked the cigar overboard. Blowing the last puff of smoke through his nose. His face was serious. All of theirs were. This was dark stuff.

"I know." He admitted turning back around. "Let's go."

The ship was odd. There had been a slight nagging feeling of wrongness on the deck, but it grew stronger and stronger the further Marco went. By the time he hit the bottom levels it was impossible to ignore the feeling. The problem wasn't how inhuman ships such as these were, no they knew that already. Still horrifying but they had known that already. No, the problem came with how the ship was run. There were rules for these things. Universal between pirates, marines and even 'cargo' ships like these. To function ships needed a certain amount of around the clock work. They needed night watches, night patrols, night prep cooks, a shift guard. Sure, there was the occasional guard, one on the deck, one in the watch tower, and a single one asleep in the main hallway. But other than that the hallways were deserted. No one was at the wheel and instead a rope had been tied in order to keep it on course. It was all very odd.

But Marco didn't have long to reminisce on the odd way this ship was run before they were discovered. The silence of the night was shattered in a second as the alarm was tripped. It was the insistent ringing of the emergency bell that was so loud it shook the frame of the ship itself. Light soon flooded the hallways and somewhere on one of the floors above Marco heard the stamping of footsteps as the first responders rushed to the scene.

Not good. He had hoped they could avoid this. These types of things ran smoother when the alarm wasn't tripped. Backup would be called. There was nothing he could do about that other than hope it was far enough away that it wouldn't reach them in time. Somebody on the crew had messed up. And Marco knew it wasn't him, one of the newer members most likely. It was no matter. Mistakes were inevitable.

He sprinted down the stairway, hitting one of the lower levels of the ship. There was a guard here. That's how he knew he had gotten the right floor. The man was standing in the middle of the hall confused by the alarm but not smart enough to be alert. His eyes widened when he saw Marco and his hands fumbled with his gun. But he was too slow, far too slow. Marco shoved him against the wall, his head hitting the wood with a loud crash as the man slumped over. It was always the weak ones wasn't it? Who thought they had the right to control other people? To lord over them like a farmer to livestock. How ignorant.

Marco snatched his keys as he stepped over the man, unlocking the door to the prison cells. And that was when he realized something was seriously wrong here. The over whelming stench of death hit him and he had to cover his nose with his sleeve to stop himself from turning away. Something horrible had happened here.

The hallway was lined with cells on either side. Each of them cruelly small. But oddly enough the first cell was empty, as was the second and third and fourth. In fact all the cells he searched were empty except there were clear signs people had been living in them. Blankets and food scraps. So where were they.

Marco got his answer down the next hallway.

The only cell still inhabited by 'prisoners' was the last one. That was where he found his lost crew mate. Although he had been too slow.

She lay on the floor, cushioned by thin blankets in a makeshift bed. She looked so- so- peaceful. Her golden hair had been arranged around her like a halo and her left hand lay over her stomach. As if she were simply having a peaceful rest here on the floor of this horrible place. Her face soft and content.

Her other hand was preciously clasped by her cell mate. The only other inhabitant of the entire floor.

It was a boy. A dirty boy whose face was covered by bruises and dirt. Even his fingers were a horrible purple shade as they tangled with her pale ones. He was watching her, or rather watching over her as she rested. He would be watching for a while.

"No," Marco breathed as he felt the hurt shoot through his chest like the blow of a sword.

The boy looked up sharply. Unaware of the man's presence. He pressed backwards but didn't let go of her hand.

"No- no-no, Rose." Marco put a hand to his mouth as he grabbed the bars. She looked angelic. Her face and hands had been cleaned carefully. Mercifully. But Marco could see the purple bruises on her cheek. And worst of all- her chest wasn't rising.

"When?" He said not tearing his eyes away from her.

"A few hours ago. I'm not really sure." The boys voice was quiet as he looked back down at her.

God a few hours. If only they had been quicker. If only they realized sooner. If only they had watched her better. The guilt swirled around his head as he reached for the keys unlocking the door.

The boy watching him the entire time but Marco hardly noticed. Unable to look away from his friend on the floor.

"You were her friend?"

Marco nodded numbly as he knelt down beside her, brushing her cheek with his knuckles. She was cold. He had spoken those words out loud without realizing it. Not until the boy besides him moved a little bit.

"Here," He said softly, offering Marco the hand he had been holding. He took it, feeling the warmth of her fingers. Kept warm by the hands of this child this entire time. Marco felt appreciation, the type he could never be able to express as he clasped her pale hand between his own. He gently kissed her knuckles in a goodbye. And for a moment he could imagine she felt it.

"We failed you." He told her as he let go, putting her hand over the other, arranging them on her stomach. "But we will bring you home. You don't have to stay here anymore."

He could feel the boy's eyes watching him the entire time. Too closely for Marco to give her a real goodbye, that would have to wait for later. When she was back on the ship surrounded by family and friends. They would take care of her, give her a proper send off. And they would all mourn her.

"You did this?" Marco asked finally.

The boy was silent for a moment before he spoke, turning away from Marco to look down at her as well. "She deserved better. I couldn't save her. So I did what I could for her."

"You were holding her hand… all this time?"

He just shrugged. "She asked me to hold it. She didn't want to be lonely at the end. I didn't want to let go. It was the least I could do for her. I wish I could have done more."

Marco turned to him. He really was young wasn't he. "Thank you." He told the boy. "For looking after my friend when we couldn't."

Blue eyes met his own. "She believed you would come; she said her friends were coming." He told him.

"I know she did. I wish I could have."

"No!" He insisted gently. "Even right at the end she knew you would come for her. So she wasn't scared. She knew she wouldn't get to say goodbye. She knew you would come get her. So she was happy."

That was just so like Rose wasn't it. Marco turned away. Keeping his emotions under the surface. He reached out, tucking a stray wisp of her hair behind her ear.

"What's your name?" He asked. When the boy didn't say anything, he began. "I'm Marco."

"You're a pirate?"

Marco nodded. There was usually a certain amount of fear from people when he admitted it to them but if this boy felt it, it didn't show on his face.

"She wanted her mother to know."

"I will tell her." Marco promised. Someone on the crew would inform her.

"Sabo," The kid said after a moment. "My name is Sabo."

"Sabo can you tell me what happened to all the other people? Every cell is empty, but this ship is headed to port." Surely it wouldn't return without a full haul of 'cargo'.

"It was full," the boy said.

"Then where are all the captives?"

"Their dead."

"What? How. Was it sickness?" Sometimes in conditions like these diseases were known to break out. Although usually there were more survivors.

"Not a sickness," The boy told him. "A week or two ago the guards started to get rid of us. They threw half of the prisoners overboard."

"And the other half?" Marco pressed.

"They died," The kids voice sounded hollow. ". After they threw the other's away the guards started to attack the rest of us, the injuries got to them and they just drifted away."

To reiterate what was going on in this place? Why would a merchant ship turn on it's merchandise? It was money in their eyes they were destroying. Right before they reached the auction where they could cash in.

"Do you know why Sabo?"

"Something went wrong," The boy said after a moment.

"What?"

He just shrugged and Marco sighed, tucking the blankets tighter around his fallen friend. "But you two survived? Longer than the others."

"We didn't break so easily." He rose to his feet slowly, stretching out the sore joints that came with sitting on the floor for hours at a time.

That was their Rose.

"Are there any other survivors?"

The others voice seem to faulter. "I- I um- I don't know." He forced out and there was something so profoundly sad in his eyes. "I don't know." He said again.

"Listen Sabo," Marco said. "If there are, we will find them."

"You're going to take her?" He asked moving his eyes back to the woman.

Marco nodded.

"Thank you."

And then the kid slammed into him with all the strength he had left. He pushed Marco's head against the wall, hard enough to hurt him, if he were a normal person that was.

By the time Marco realized he had taken the keys the boy was gone.

When the alarm had tripped the captain initially didn't hear it. He was still quite drunk from the other night. As he always was.

Although he already knew what it was. One of the slaves had a habit of escaping. This would be the seventh time. Although they never tried to get away, rather they seemed like they were searching the ship, starting at a different level each time, opening every door on their way through. They always got caught pretty quickly, and then consequently punished. Yet they never seemed to learn. This would be the final time, he would make sure of it.

As he rose, he pulled his kid from his bed. He was still asleep. Earlier he too had been acting out and had a stern talking too. It seemed like bad behavior was going around lately. It hurt his heart to tell him off, but it was is job of course. Parents had to be strict. That was how children learned to obey. The kid was still asleep from earlier. The captain regretted their argument. His temper had gotten the better of him. But it just worried him when his kid acted out. What if he hurt himself? It was no good not to listen. Children should listen. Children should always listen.

He picked the kid up, lifting him out of his bed. It was a cramped bed that was for sure. And the kid constantly complained about how small it was. Children were always complaining. Lately he had little patience for it. He carried him across the room to place him in his own bed. As he often did in the early morning when he had to work. Boys needed independence if they were to grow up to be strong and brave. But on occasions such as these when he had to leave to attend his duties in the early hours of the morning, he often placed his son in his bed. Just in case he woke up and was scared of the noise. This way he would know the captain had it under control. Even if he wasn't here to reassure him in person. The child would know that he was safe and protected from the scary world out there.

The only rule about this arrangement was he wasn't allowed to leave. The ship was big and he could get lost. There were so many scary people out there. So, the captain enforced the rule. Because sometimes kids made accidents.

He kissed his forehead before he left. "I'll protect you," He promised.

After all that was what fathers did for their sons.

Even if their kids hated them for it.

It was Jozu's fault the alarm had tripped.

Not directly of course, he would never of made such a mistake. But as a division commander the failings of his underlings reflected back on him. So he was fine shouldering the mistake himself. Rose's closest friend among them was a young man from Jozu's division. They probably shouldn't of let him come but he had begged so much they caved. On the condition that he tagged along with Jozu. A guard had seen them and went to sound the alarm bell but his friends had been eager to deal with him, only he didn't do a complete job of it and the guard had only been briefly stunned. While their back was turned, he had escaped down the next hallway where he flipped the alarm system. Which in turn woke up every single crew member on the ship. Now it was a bit of a mess. They needed to act quickly.

He sent his crewmate to double back to the ship as he continued forwards, searching some of the lower levels. There was a bunch of crates, storage, water barrels, potatoes waiting to be peeled. And so on.

He caught the feint sound of banging near one of the corners. When he pressed his head against the floor it sounded like it was coming from below him. So Juzo followed the sound all the way to the hull where the banging was the loudest.

It was eerie down here, with dim lighting and the smell of dankness. As the ship moved the walls would creak and groan. But the noise was drowned out by the near insistent banging.

He pressed forwards until he hit a door at the end of the hallway. It was bolted shut and encased in steel. But it shuttered as whatever was inside beat down upon it.

"Hello?" He called not receiving any response. Not that he totally expected one. It was probably some horrible sea monster they had dredged up, waiting to gnaw on the bones of man. Something so frightening they had to store it in here. Away from the rest of the crew. He was tempted to walk away, but a larger part of him knew he had to open it. After all that was why they were here. And now that it had his attention, he was damn curious. So Jozu undid the dead bolt and unlocked the door.

It was pitch black inside. His eyes couldn't make out anything in the darkness. And then he heard a sound. The scrape of metal over metal as something rushed towards him. He took a step back, his arm automatically hardening by itself into diamond. Just in time.

Something came at him with an impressive strength as he put up his arm to block it. And rightfully so as a metal pipe came into contact with the hardened surface of his skin. It snapped immediately but the attacker didn't give up.

No, it wasn't a monster after all was it. Rather the one who was attacking him was a kid. He had messy black hair and a wild look in his eyes as he came down upon his rescuer with a murderous intent.

"Stop!" Jozu

said as he reached his other hand out, grabbing the boy's arm to pull him away to get a proper look at him.

He was a dirty, skinny thing, but there were undeniable muscles in his arms. He snarled, showing his teeth which were a bright white against his dirt covered skin. He the shackles around his wrists and the collar around his neck. This boy was a slave. A violent one.

"Hey listen," he began. "I'm not them kid. I hate them too. "We'll take you with us, away from here…"

And that was when the kid bit him in the hand of his unshielded arm. Jozu let him go out of surprise. The teenager might not of been stronger but he was faster and as soon as Jozu let go of he was out of there. Running down the corridors at breakneck speed. Leaving the man to chase after him.

"Give him back you bastards! Give him back or I'll kill you. Every single one of you. I swear. Give him back- give him back! Please, please give him back to me. You can't take him away from me. Don't take him away from me. He's all I have left! Please, he is all I have left."

There was no answer from the dark hallway, and none of the guards even acknowledged him. By now they were used to this. He had been screaming for three straight days. But it didn't matter. They never brought his brother back, either of them.

Sabo fell against the bars, bringing his knees to his chest. He had to bite back the tears that were starting to collect in the corner of his eyes. Ace wouldn't be crying right now if their positions were reversed. Ace never showed weakness. Probably because he didn't have any. He never yielded to an opponent, even when they had him beat like right now. But Ace wasn't here right now was he?

And that was because he never gave in. So they took him. Leaving Luffy and Sabo all alone here, in this too cold cell.

Sabo had promised Ace he would look after their little brother while he was gone. He promised he would protect him. And he had. All on his own for nearly two months. He had taken responsibility for all of Luffy's punishments. He had taken on extra work, done extra tasks and on occasional won fights for entertainment, all to get extra food for his brother who had started to starve.

And then- then three days ago he had taken him away. Sabo didn't know why, or for what purpose. Only that he was gone now. And he wasn't going to bring him back. No matter how much he screamed. And Luffy, who had been so brave through the whole thing, had started crying for Sabo as they took him away.

He didn't even know if his brothers were still alive. He hoped they were. The guards told him that Luffy was. But the guards liked to lie. They forced Sabo to become their slave. They warned him that if he even thought about refusing an order they would kill Luffy. So he did everything they asked. He took care of the other prisoners, played doctor to their unfixable injuries even though he had no idea what he was doing.

For the first time in a long time Sabo was truly and honestly alone.

….

Things hadn't gotten better from there had they? No. Everything always had to get worse. Every single time in his life, when he thought he was honestly and truly screwed- things always got worse. What gods had Sabo pissed off. Was this just the penance he had to pay for being born with the diseased blue blood of the nobles. Then why was it always him, not his parents who the bad things seemed to happen too. Why was this Ace and Luffy.

But no, feeling sorry for himself would accomplish nothing. He could still fix things. He had too. Otherwise.

Sabo thought of his friend Rose, the peaceful look on her face, and of all the people they had lost in the last few weeks and he ran faster.

It had been about five minutes since he had shoved the man into the wall. No one had come after him yet, that was good. He hoped the invading pirates would help draw attention away from him. He had done this before after all. But this time would be different than before. This time he had a distraction and the keys.

He went to the kitchen first, digging through the knife drawer as he tucked one of the blades into his waistband. He knew this place like the back of his hand. One of the tasks he had been forced to do was prepare some of the prisoner's food. They had always thought it was a punishment. Little did they know he liked it. More than that, it was a godsend. He would always do his best to make the prisoners food livable. And if he wasn't assigned to the kitchen he wouldn't have been allowed to 'accidently' make an extra each time for the isolation cell block. Nobody else in their right mind brought food to the prisoners in isolation. Which is why most of them had died months back. But he prayed, hoping against hope that not all had died. Because nobody ever let him recover the plates. So he honestly didn't know. But he was about to find out. He took off again, heading towards the bottom of the ship.

"Please- please please be okay," He repeated the words endlessly as he ran. "Don't you dare leave us on our own here. Don't you dare leave me."

"You there!" A shrill voice broke out! "STOP SLAVE!"

Shit. Sabo paused as he heard the clicking of a gun behind him.

"Arms up, don't move."

One of the guards had been hiding in the side hallway. He had been so caught up in his own head he had overlooked them.

He did as the man said, slowly raising his hands behind his head as the marching of boots came closer. He turned around when the man instructed, to come face to face with the barrel of the gun.

"Where are you going in such a hurry?" The man asked and Sabo said nothing. "That's right- nowhere." He hissed as he pulled his handcuffs out. "Hands in front of you. No funny business."

Sabo lowered his hands in front of him, his gaze never leaving the gun.

The man snorted as he fumbled with the restraints one handed. "At it again then?" He mocked. "The captain is going to kill you this time. Said so last time. Doesn't want no more trouble from you."

"Where is he?" Sabo growled. The man just laughed.

"Give up already. He doesn't even know y-"

He never got the chance to finish the sentence. Sabo brought up his hands, the blade concealed in his sleeve digging into the skin just below his collar bone. Before he could even think about screaming, he swiped the blade upwards and the man was silenced.

Sabo worked quickly, dragging him back into the side hallway he had emerged from. He took the man's gun, wiping his blade against his pant legs before tucking them both into his waistband. He took off again down the hallway, proceeding with more caution although the desperation and fear ruled out his better judgment.

There were few guards at the bottom levels of the ship and even less pirates. They were probably too preoccupied fighting one another. Sabo didn't know who to route for. Neither he decided, hopefully they both killed each other. No, that wasn't right. They were Rose's friends. She would want more for them. So maybe that meant Sabo had to as well. Even if they ended up turning on him though. He didn't like the idea of putting his fate in the hands of an invading pirate group. But he liked the slave traders even less. If he could just find his brothers, they could slip away. Then they would have to beg to no one for their lives. Their lives could be their own again.

Sabo hung onto that thought as hard as he could as he entered the hull of the ship. This was where the isolation cell was. One of them at least. But he wouldn't bother with the others. He already knew those people had long since passed.

"ACE!" He cried out now as he kicked a fallen crate out of his way. Rotten fruit spilled from it all over the floor, but Sabo ignored it.

"ACE! ANSWER ME!" He cried again listening for any sign his brother was alive.

In the past whenever Sabo could convince the guards to let him bring food to the isolation prisoners, back when their used to be more than one, they always accompanied him. And he was careful to keep the fact that he cared a secret. If they found out how desperate he was doing this out of love for his family, and not on a whim like he pretended they would have put a stop to it long ago. The two of them never got a chance to talk. Not with the guard watching him like a hawk. But he knew Ace knew it was him because every time he entered the room there would be a tapping. A light tapping but he could hear it none the less. Three taps and then a pause and another two.

When they were kids they made a lot of enemies for themselves. And to feel safe they would put up all these traps and defense measures around their tree house. They claimed it was for protection, and it was in part. But it was also just for fun. Three boys living alone in the woods had to entertain themselves somehow. So they had made up a secret knock. Three knocks followed by two meant things were okay.

Ace was trying to tell him he was okay. Even though Sabo knew he was lying, he lived for that sound. The guard would always say he had gone insane, but Sabo knew better.

But it had been a long while since Sabo had heard the tapping. Since things had gone to hell nearly two weeks ago he hadn't been allowed to bring food anymore. Instead the guards had kept him in the cell block, tending to all of the dying prisoners. One by one until only him and Rose remained. And Ace… he went hungry.

Three times in the last twelve days Sabo had managed to bribe one of the guards to bring him food. But he swore to himself that he would never think about how he did that again. And there was no way of knowing if they had actually done it or not. The guards lied. Constantly.

Sabo had been praying for the best but part of him expected the worst. After everything that had happened, he honestly didn't know if he could handle finding Ace's body starved or beaten to death.

He was preparing himself for horror, or to finally be reunited. But he did not expect neither to happen. When he arrived at the steel door his brother wasn't there. The door had been left wide open. And Sabo's heart shuddered in his chest.

"ACE!" He called again without a response. "Please-please," He begged uselessly under his breath as he ripped a candle out of it's holder, pushing into the room.

It was pitch black inside. The point was to drive the prisoner's crazy without any contact or even light. Sabo had already known that. They had heard horror stories about the isolation cells. After all these months here, he had never been inside until right now. And he hated it. It was cold and dark and lonely. There was a cot in the corner and no other furniture in the entire cell. Sabo looked there first. There was blood on it, as well as bloody bandages on the floor. That didn't make him feel better. He searched the floor finding nothing but the occasional drops of dried blood and the shards of a broken plate that had been smashed against the wall.

If Ace really wasn't here anymore. Then, where was he?

With no clues and no hope Sabo pushed his back against the wall as he slid down it, tears of frustration and fear prickling in his eyes as he sunk down to the floor. Keep it together. He had to keep it together like he had been doing this whole time. He owed them that at least. His hand closed around a shard of the plate and for a moment he was confused how it had gotten all the way over here. And then he saw the drawing on the wall and understood. Ace had broken the plate so he could carve into the hard stone wall.

There, in the corner were two badly drawn figures. They were barely recognizable. Not surprising as Ace had done this in the dark after all. But he must have gone over them hundreds of times with the plate shard for it to be that deeply grooved into the wall.

The taller stick figure had a top hat while the smaller one was wearing a straw hat and had a scar under its eye. Ace had done the ribbon in dried blood. Super gruesome but Sabo couldn't help but smile at that.

He put his thumb over Luffy's face feeling the indent of the stone under his fingers.

"I'm going to find you," He promised. "Both of you."

So I know this idea has been done before. A million times. But what can I say other then I am a fan of it. I really tried my best to make this one a bit unique. Hopefully I did an okay job at it. Ace and Sabo are selfless angels and Luffy is a little ray of sunshine who doesn't realize the situation he is in.

Before anyone is like, wow thanks. Go finish your other stories now please. I promise you this one is already half done. I hope to have the whole thing posted in the next two weeks.

Please tell me what you think.

Stay safe and Happy Halloween.