I hope you all enjoyed the last chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.

~Moby Dick~

A man with pineapple hair leaned against the mast as he looked over the sea, ignoring his crew on the deck far below. His droopy eyes staring seemingly in boredom ahead, watching the sea from his perch. Without having to look away he could feel eyes watching him from the giant man sitting in his chair below. Since the morning's paper had arrived, the first division commander hadn't left the spot where he had chosen to roost.

His gaze fell from the endless stretch of ocean before him to the paper that was crumpled in his hand, eyes narrowing. He straightened the paper out the best he could, his eyes staring at the picture of his captured younger brother, the raven looking bloodied and bruised in the picture. Marco had never seen Ace in such a state, not even after the raven's constant failed assassination attempts on Pops.

The moment the crew had read the news, there had been outrage amongst many of the members, especially those of the second and fourth divisions. The only thing that had kept the calm had been Pops' orders not to panic and his assertion that Ace would be fine. Marco sighed, glancing back down at the deck far below, seeing the commanders gathering around their father.

Marco glanced back out over the sea as he climbed to his feet on the mast, his gaze burning with hatred as he made out the faint outline of a distant marine ship. The marines normally watched them like a hawk, but this recent development explained why Marco had been finding far too many for his liking. Marco crumpled the paper again in his tight grip before he jumped down from the mast.

He landed perfectly on his feet, not even having to use his wings to slow his decent, and approached his father and brothers. He looked over the thirteen other commanders, his heart aching as he remembered the death of one of their own, and the current captivity of another. Marco's gaze turned to their father, awaiting the man's decision and orders for the crew.

Whitebeard glanced over them all. "For now I'm sure Ace is safe."

"Being imprisoned in Impel Down isn't what I'd call safe, Pops," Haruta, the only female commander, pointed out.

Whitebeard nodded. "It isn't, but for now he is at least only charged with being the second division commander."

Marco paused, knowing what Whitebeard was thinking of. "Pops, it won't be long till they find out, and when they do it's enough to sentence him to death."

Whitebeard frowned. "I know that son."

Vista watched their father before moving forward to speak. "So what is the plan, Pops?"

"Contact the captains of our alliance, tell them to be ready to sail for Marineford if they announce an execution," Whitebeard ordered.

Jozu grunted as he nodded before speaking. "And if they don't announce an execution?"

"We sail to Impel Down to break your brother out then," Whitebeard stated.

No one spoke about the orders given, just nodded and went on their way once dismissed. Several of the commanders went to find transponder snails to start contacting the captains of their alliance. Marco glanced at their pops before he left the deck, wondering what the man's plan was. Either outcome was cause for alarm. They'd lose a lot of people in any case, breaking into the prison wasn't going to be the easiest, and the marines wouldn't let them just crash the execution.

Marco shook his head and moved down the deck, walking along the top of the lower deck, along the railing. He passed the door to each commander's quarters, hearing several talking on transponder snails as he did so. Marco paused as he reached a door that had remained closed for months now, almost a year. Marco frowned as he stared at it, the memories of his departed friend coming to the forefront of his mind. Thatch had been one of the brightest and friendliest members of the crew. Sure he had annoyed Marco with his constant pranks, but he was a dear and loyal brother.

Marco snapped out of his musings as he heard voices coming from the room next to Thatch's old room. Marco turned to the door a frown on his face: no one had been allowed into the room since Ace's departure, not even his division. The door was partly opened, and if Marco hadn't walked down this way he wouldn't have caught whoever it was. Marco sighed, a headache starting. Sure, he trusted his brothers, but ever since Teach's betrayal, the commanders had been protective of things, especially the belongings of those missing from the ship.

Marco opened the door a crack to see who he had to deal with. They still didn't know if Teach had any allies on the ship though they were almost certain no one worked with him. The commanders and their divisions hadn't been to careful. As he looked into the room, Marco paused as his eyes landed on the two culprits. He smiled. Sitting on the floor of the cabin were the original first and second mates of the Spade Pirates. Marco shook his head before turning and leaving his brothers alone, he supposed they were okay.

~Second Division Commanders Cabin~

Roberto sat on the floor of his commander's cabin, drinking from the bottle of alcohol he and Nathaniel had grabbed from the galley. He adjusted his white cowboy hat as he looked at his brother who was drinking from his own bottle. The dark haired man was frowning at the floorboards, the newspaper sat next to him, still turned to the page about their captain.

"What do you think Pops is going to do?" Roberto asked the second-mate after a moment.

Nathaniel glanced at Roberto. "I would hope he goes to rescue Ace. If not, then we'll go."

"We?"

Nathaniel nodded. "Are we really going to abandon him now? We chased after Pops when he took Ace by force."

"Right," Roberto agreed, taking another swig of his alcohol.

Roberto glanced around the room, noting how much colder it felt since Ace had left. It had always been a thing in their crew, whenever they approached a winter island after Ace ate the devil fruit, they'd all huddle into Ace's cabin. Their captain always had the room nice and toasty due to his abilities, and he would take watch on the cold nights for them. It had been something that the crew enjoyed immensely; it showed how much Ace cared for them and trusted them.

The young captain hadn't been very open with his real feelings, but Roberto and Nathaniel had been the two closest to him. Those cold days and nights were a time when the whole crew got together and bonded. Most times they'd end up telling stories of their lives, and playing games of cards, just enjoying their captain being nearby and the presence of others.

Their crew had integrated into the Whitebeard Pirates only after Ace took their mark. They had been waiting for him to take it, but they hadn't had too much trouble fitting into the crew. As soon as Ace took the mark, they all took it as well, glad to have a place that they seemed to belong.

Roberto put his bottle of liquor down. "We'll probably go after Ace ourselves, but I'm sure Pops and the others aren't going to abandon him."

"Of course not. Pops takes family seriously, he'll let the marines know his thoughts on this when it's time," Nathaniel agreed.

The two sat there in silence, enjoying their drinks, disliking the coldness that the room exuded. With everything that was happening outside the safety of the room, they had sought out the comfort the room and the booze offered in clearing their minds.

~Impel Down Level Six~

Ace rested against the wall tiredly, his body hurting all over and the sea-stone cuffs draining him of any excess energy he had. He heard the shouts and calls from the other prisoners in the room, and he glared out from beneath his bangs at the guards that patrolled the room. He clenched his fists together as he grit his teeth when he shifted due to the pain.

He could hear the guards discussing the news and his soon to be announced execution, he had been told about it almost the minute it was decided. The damn marines all to glad at the news, and glad to rub it in his face. As the marines left the room, done with the patrol, he let his glare fall and relaxed slightly.

He hoped his Pops didn't try and fight the marines-it was his fault. The old man and everyone had told him not to chase after Teach, and he hadn't listened to them. He only now realized how reckless he had been and how stupid. He was also cursing the fact that he hadn't trained properly in Haki like the commanders had suggested. If he had, maybe he could have stood a chance against Teach.

Ace wanted to punch himself for his stupidity in that battle. If he hadn't relied so much on his devil fruit, he might have stood a chance against Teach. Maybe if he had just accepted Teach's offer to join his crew, he could have contacted Marco or someone, or even joined up with Luffy when they reached him to take down Teach. If he had just used his head instead of thinking he could take everything on himself, maybe he wouldn't be trapped like this. Hell he could have probably asked Sabo for help, but the raven's over-protectiveness had made him resist the impulse.

"Damnit," he gritted out quietly, "Sabo. Luffy. Pops. Everyone. I'm sorry."

Ace fought back the tears that wanted to fall, he grit his teeth harder as he fought back the urge to yell out and cry. He let out a small bitter laugh as he thought about his imprisonment. Sabo would probably hit him for his idiocy. He wondered if Teach was still planning to go after Luffy. He hoped not-the man had got what he wanted. But he was a greedy bastard, so Ace wouldn't put it past him.

"Sabo, protect Luffy. Please." Ace whispered quietly, begging for his brothers safety.

~End ch. 4~

First off before I forget again, I want to thank my beta: Lady Spritzy, for helping edit this series. She does have an account on here so I recommend it because she's a really good writer.

I also started the third part of this series it's titled: Ace of Spades. It details Ace's journey to the point where he is captured by Blackbeard.

Also I have set a posting schedule for when to update my stories. I will update my One Piece stories between Saturday and Sunday morning. So I hope you all will look forward to that.

So this chapter Introduced Roberto and Nathaniel, Ace's First and Second mate of the Spade Pirates. I don't have all the info done for the Spade Pirates yet, so SBS will have to continue later on for them. I will say this, all I did for the Spade Pirates was name and give personalities to the members of the crew shown.

I figured it was time for a look at someone other than Sabo, and since we know what Luffy is doing at this time I figured the Whitebeard Pirates and Ace would be fun. I hope I did right on the Whitebeards, I'm still re-watching the Marineford Arc and rereading it, for Marco alone I had to watch scenes over and over again.

Reviewer's corner:

Miranda: Thanks for the review! I'm thinking of having them meet up briefly in the next chapter, but it still hasn't been decided completely.

Well Till next time then!