Hi again.
So, here´s chapter 4, which means you´ve got only one more to go.
Thanks to all readers and especially to azab for the comment :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

The raven haired hesitated again as Marco lowered his head for him to adjust the knife more properly.
His hands felt shaky, now that the comforting touch from his Nakama was gone.
Lifting his suddenly heavy arms up, Ace put the blade on the others skin and closed his eyes to blank out the sight he was about to behold.
With a muffled sound, he proceeded to pull the knife across the so far unscarred skin, producing only a shallow cut for the beginning.
Coming to a stop after a few inches, he was forced to open his eyes again to look how far he had sliced precisely.
The freckled boy felt sick to his stomach as he saw the blood already dripping from Marcos chin onto the exposed chest.

"Ace, breath for me, yoi..."
The older pirate was relieved when he heard a sharp gasp for air from his younger friend.
It would be pretty bad if Ace would pass out now.
"It´s not that painful, go on."
Marco had to squint one eye to prevent the blood from trickling in.
Apart from that he felt fine, but judging the stare Ace threw at him, it looked already pretty bad.
The commander proceeded to bend his head to one side, revealing his neck to the younger one to make the cut easier.
This time, it took the freckled boy even longer to attach the knife to the skin, hand already trembling.
Marco couldn´t resist the urge to cup one hand around Aces, tightening the weak grip around the handle.
As the younger pirate looked up astonished, the blonde simply pulled the knife down, drawing a horrified scream from his Nakama.
Marco clenched his teeth to hold back a cry himself.
'I knew why I wanted Ace to do it...'
The older male exhaled compressed.
The whole thing was more difficult if he had to do it himself and this cut sure was deeper and more painful than the first.
He could feel a warm fluid drenching his jacket and risked a glance down.
This went better than expected.
Half his chest, including the biggest part of his tattoo, was already covered in blood and Marco realized that he may have overdone it a bit when he started to feel a little dizzy.
They had to get over with this quickly.

"Okay, now for the stabs."
Ace tried desperately to stop the shaking, which took control over his body, the knife still in his hand.
He would like to throw that damn thing away so bad and stitch Marco up, but he knew that both things were impossible.
At least two hours must have passed since they got ambushed and if the girl hadn´t lied to them, the ship had already set sail, which was even worse.
The young man gathered himself together.
"Ready, Marco?"
"Just don´t kill me, yoi."
Giving a short nod, Ace aimed the knife at the blonde's stomach, delivering the first blow, but instantly regretting his open eyes as he saw the blade enter his friend's body.
He turned as pale as a ghost, when he heard Marcos restrained scream, pulling the knife back instinctively, which only caused the wound to bleed heavily.
The freckled boy clung to the handle as if his life depended on it, now glad to be able to just hold onto something, while watching horrified how the red liquid flew from the fresh injury.

Marco grabbed hold of the bars behind his back, pain rushing through him as the blade entered and left his body in merely a second.
This hurt more than he had anticipated, but it was still too soon to curl into a ball, so he resisted the urge to slump down.
The commander regretted letting out that scream as he saw his friends expression alter from confident to frightened and for a brief moment he wasn´t sure if the raven haired wouldn´t really lose it.
"Ace, pull yourself together!"
Marco noticed the change in his voice too late as it gave away the pain he already was in.
He could feel Aces gaze upon him, but couldn´t force himself to smile, his face twitching in agony.
Holding up one finger, the older man indicated for his Nakama to listen.
"Just one more will be enough, okay? Forget about the third."
If the marines didn´t take the bait, this could turn out pretty bad for him and with all that blood leaking out of his body, he was sure he would either die in this cell or get treated by their enemy right away if they wanted him to live.
So two stabs should be enough to create the illusion of a fight to the death with his own friend.
Bracing himself for the next strike, Marco gripped the Kairoseki bars once more and straightened up, closing his eyes firmly and awaiting the pain to rise again.

Ace could feel tears welling up at the corners of his eyes as he saw how his blonde friend tried to hide the pain he was in, but his whole posture already betrayed him.
It was obvious that the other would reach his limit soon and he was still asking for a second wound.
The freckled pirate had to decide quickly, whether to obey or to throw their plan overboard and aid Marco instead, currently tending to the latter.
As he lowered the knife, a hand grabbed his shoulder roughly, yanking him forward.
Startled by this move, the raven haired had to support himself with one hand against the bars to not lose his balance.
He looked up in Marcos face, which was only an inch away from his own now, noses almost touching.
A lump formed in his throat and Ace swallowed heavy, eyes still locked with the others lazy, but pained, gaze.
"Don´t let me down, yoi."
The freckled boy winced at the sound of Marcos voice, tears finally making their way across his cheeks.
Even badly injured, his friend managed to be as calm as usual, acting like it wasn´t a big deal to be stabbed by one of his younger brothers.
But Ace knew otherwise when a picture of Luffy, being forced to hurt him, appeared in front of his eyes.
A sob escaped his lips and he could feel the flow of his tears increasing, until a hand was placed around his chin, lifting his head up again.

"Oi, oi, Ace... Crying was supposed to be my part, you know?"
Marco gave it his all to keep standing upright, even though he felt dangerously light-headed, his vision already becoming blurred.
The older pirate knew he wouldn´t be able to endure this much longer.
"Just one more and I promise it´s over for you."
With these words, he let go of Aces chin, giving the teen more space to move, which wasn´t appreciated.
Marco could feel the others body as close as before and when the younger pirate bumped into him, his lips curled up in a little smile.
The blonde placed a protective arm around Aces waist, drawing his companion closer and allowing him to rest against his bloodied chest.
It remained quiet for a few seconds.
"You asleep, Ace?"
"No..."
"So it´s not your narcolepsy kicking in?"
"No..."
"That´s good, yoi."
Limbs trembling heavy, Marco breathed irregular and short against the top of Aces head, gaze slowly becoming dull.
When the commander thought about it, dying didn´t seem all bad right now, although he´d rather sail the seas with his Nakama some more.
Stroking the black hair absent, Marco felt the smaller boy tense up and shortly after, the knife intruded into his guts again.
He closed his lips tight in an useless attempt to prevent the blood from leaving his mouth, well aware of the freckled pirate in his arms, but ended up spitting something out nonetheless.

Ace didn´t even flinch when he heard Marco cough and felt the muscles on the abdomen contract at the same time, knowing, but not caring, about the blood that splattered across his shoulder and back.
He was already drenched in the red fluid leaking from the previous cuts and really couldn´t care less about it.
Still crying softly, the younger pirate retrieved the knife carefully from the others stomach, not wanting to hurt him any further and after that, pressed himself even firmer against the broad chest, which rose and fell in an unsteady pace.
He had granted Marcos wish, whether it would be his last one was still to be shown.
As the knees of the blonde pirate suddenly gave way and the taller body started to sag, Ace was fast to support his friends´ weight, helping him to sit down without further injury.
Kneeling between the others legs, the freckled boy held the older male upright by his shoulders, pushing them against the bars.
A short look in the pale face indicated what he already feared.
Marco was only half consciousness, eyelids flickering every now and then, stare empty and lips still parted for easier air supply.
'Fuck this shit!'
Ace grabbed his Nakama even tighter, pulling him closer, only to slam him back with a certain yank, ignoring the fact that his actions drew even more blood from the hurt pirate.
"MARCO!"

Addressed person snapped out of his daze, when his back hit the bars painfully, head straightening up due to the impact.
He really had blacked out a few seconds ago, unable to recall his collapse and now slightly confused to find himself on the ground.
Marcos gaze wandered around the room, until it settled on his friend, a weak smile finding his way onto his lips.
Right, they had a plan...
"You still have the knife, yoi?"
A short nod from the younger man and the bloodied object was offered to him, which he didn´t take from the others hand.
He tilted his head sideways, indicating a direction.
"Toss it outside."
Ace obeyed instantly, not one word leaving his throat.
Both heard the metallic sound when the blade hit the floor, sliding away a little distance and leaving red stains in its path.
"Good."
Marco turned back, peering at Aces appearance thoughtfully.
A little snicker escaped his lips.
"Look at you... You´re a mess. Pops will be mad at me."
"Marco, don´t make this harder than it already is... Please."
The commander had originally planned to smear some of his blood onto the freckled boy since the whole scene had to look like a fight, but considering their little cuddle from before, Ace looked already battered enough, front side completely covered in the red fluid.
"Okay. Corner."
He watched Ace stand up quickly and sit down in the appointed place, pulling his legs to his chest and embracing them with his arms tight.
It seemed like the teen had somehow made up his mind to just stick with Marcos plan for now, which was much appreciated.
"And remember, Ace. Whatever happens, don´t move from that spot, yoi."
"I got you. Just carry on, so you can fucking heal already!"

The older pirate took a deep breath, coughing again as the pain flared up unexpectedly and he placed an arm around his stomach, covering one of the cuts.
After he had calmed down again, Marco gave it a second try, this time succeeding to keep the air down.
A tortured scream erupted from his throat, as soon as he was able to build up enough compression in his abdomen to actually produce a louder sound.
It hurt like hell, but he had to go on...
A second and a third cry left his lips, both pained and heart shattering like the one before and Marco could feel his eyes tearing up.
Finally allowed to break down into sobs and whimpers, he heard the door swing open and an alarmed girly voice filled the room.
"What´s all this shouting about? Didn´t I tell you to stay-HAW!"
It took the marine one second to stumble to Marcos side.
Hands holding shakily onto the Kairoseki bars, she threw a closer look at the scene in front of her.
The inside was a total mess, blood everywhere, a knife on the ground, the reasonable pirate resting slumped against the cell door, panting heavily and the aggressive devil with the black hair sitting in the opposite corner, totally motionless.
"Help..."
"Shit shit SHIT!"
The blonde watched the little girl freak out from the corners of his eyes, fighting down a successful grin when she stormed out, screaming for help.
At least, that went just smooth.

They were surrounded by marines in less than a minute, two men aiming their guns at Ace, who didn´t move from his spot.
He had to pull this through in order to save Marco!
If that included being threatened with pistols, he didn´t mind.
The freckled boy watched carefully as the door was opened and his friend fell lifeless to the ground, now that the supporting halt was gone.
Either his Nakama was an excellent actor or he had passed out again.
Ace felt the urge to check upon the blonde, but resisted before his body could even twitch.
'Stay lethargic, stay lethargic, stay lethargic'
It was some kind of a mantra, keeping him sane in this horrible situation, where he had promised to not even move a single muscle.
'Stay lethargic, stay lethargic, fuck, Marco, do something!'
The older man was picked up by his limbs and heaved onto a small barrow, all while remaining totally unresponsive, eyes closed and face almost emotionless, besides from the slightly pained look.
Ace was sure now, that the blonde had blacked out because of the blood loss.
Cursing to himself and biting his lower lip, he went over the options he had left, but came up without any results.
Panicking, for what felt like the hundredths time today, he watched the door getting closed again and as the key was turned, new tears were running down Aces freckled cheeks.
His head dropped onto his knees, heavy sobs shivering the huddled frame, as the whole extent sank into his mind.
Just what had he done?
Passing out seemed more and more like a tempting option, simply diving deep into a black sea of painless unconsciousness, instead of-
When Ace heard a stunned scream from outside the cell, his head snatched up again, unbelieving eyes taking in the sight of his friend on... blue fire.
"MARCO!"

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