"What?" Garp snapped as he picked up the phone He did not have time for this, there was an uprising he had gotten roped into taking care of in the west.
"Garp!" Came a concerned voice that took him a moment to recognize.
"Makino?" He asked surprised. He was friendly enough with the woman but she had never called him before. This could only mean one thing. And it wasn't good.
"What's Luffy gotten caught up in this time?"
"That's just it, no one's seen him in nearly two months."
Garp sighed rubbing his temples. "So? It's Luffy we are talking about here. He probably just got lost or made a new friend, or both, he'll turn up eventually." He always did.
"That's what we thought so Dadan sent out a guy to go find him."
"And they didn't find him," Garp guessed.
"No, but we found his shoes."
"His shoes?"
"Yes, but it looked like a bomb went off around the area. Some of the trees were broken and the ground was torn up… and there was some blood. A lot actually."
Garp was alert immediately running a hand through his beard. Makino was right to worry.
"Makino listens to me, keep looking alright. I can't leave right now but I'll do what I can on this end." With any luck, Luffy was still on the island.
"Call me if you find anything," Makino ordered and Garp agreed absentmindedly as he bid the woman goodbye.
"This was probably just another one of Luffy's dumb stunts. He would crawl back in a week or two with a busted face and a huge grin asking for food. The idiot.
Although… even Luffy wouldn't stay away from this long. Especially if he had truly gotten hurt.
Garps heart tightened painfully at the thought. How old was Luffy by now? Thirteen? No that wasn't right, Garp visited him last year and he had said he was fourteen then. That meant Luffy was already fifteen. Good lord the time sure passed. Sooner than he realized as his grandchildren were going to be all grownups… and be marines before he knew it.
He eyed the resting Den-Den thoughtfully. He felt like he should let someone know what was going on just in case that horrible feeling curling in his gut turned out to be correct.
Dragon perhaps? He was the boy's father. Although as far as Garp was concerned Dragon had given up all claim of Luffy the day he handed Garp that squirming giggling bundle all those years ago. Best for everyone, especially Luffy if Dragon stayed far away from him.
That just left Ace. Who was the natural choice to call? After all, there was no one in the world who Luffy was closer to, nor who cared about him more. In fact when Ace was just eleven years old, shortly after his brother's death Ace told Garp in no uncertain terms that he was going to look after Luffy from then on.
At first, Garp had been thrilled. After an initial rough patch, the boys took to each other like glue. You couldn't separate them with a crowbar, Garp would know after all he had tried. Their friendship had cured both Luffy's childhood loneliness and the darkness that had, up until that point, been festering in Ace's heart.
It was only when Garp heard Ace and Luffy swear to form a pirate alliance against the navy when they grew up that made Garp realize he had just made a huge mistake. The boys were formidable enough on their own. He shuttered to think of what they could accomplish together.
It was already too late for Ace, far too late. While Garp's back was turned (which was always) he escaped the island and became a notorious pirate. No doubt if he wasn't careful Luffy would do the same thing.
Garp nodded his mind made up. He would tell Ace of his brother's disappearance. It was the least he could do. That might prove a little tricky seeing as Garp didn't actually have any way of contacting the hooligan pirate other than chasing after him in person. Which was risky as it meant Garp would then be duty-bound to try and capture Ace. He would have to figure something else out.
And then once they got Luffy back safe and sound he would kidnap the kid… again. Purely for Luffy's own good though. And take him to the marine base where when he turned seventeen Garp would enroll him in the marines.
Garp nodded satisfied with his plans. First things first, he needed to find Luffy.
XXX
"Hey," Sabo greeted the black-haired man who was shifting through various vegetables at the island's open market.
The dark eyes looked up quickly assessing Sabo quickly before putting the vegetables down.
"What do you want?"
"Some information."
"Fat chance." Izo grabbed his bag and began to walk away only to be followed by the blond man.
"You didn't even let me finish." Sabo protested.
"I don't need to cutie. Why on earth would I simply give you information? You have nothing for me."
"I wouldn't necessarily say that."
"Oh?" Izo looked up interested. "What would you possibly have to give me?"
Sabo ruffled around in his bag pulling out a stack of papers holding them up for Izo to see.
"What's this?"
"Nothing much, just copies of all the information the government has on the yonko, including Whitebeard."
Izo's eyes grew wide at that. "Are you serious?"
Sabo nodded.
"How did a kid like you get this?"
"Well for starters being a full-grown adult, not a kid helped. Secondly, I'd rather not say. Let's just say no one knows I have them and leave it at that."
"What do you want for them?"
"Tell me where Fire Fist is."
The two stared at each other for a second before Izo continued walking. "Ya right, scram kid."
"I'll take that as a no then," Sabo said as he once again followed the man.
"I would never sell out my own crewmate." He looked longingly at the files, "Not even for something as good as that."
Sabo had heard the Whitebeard pirates were a tight-knit bunch. Still, he was accustomed to getting what he wanted through any means necessary. He didn't work as an intelligence gatherer for nothing.
"You misunderstand me. I just want to talk to him nothing more."
"I think Ace is a little busy right now to deal with whatever the revolutionary's want with him."
Sabo froze, "What?"
"I know who you are. And any other day I would love to play with you but right now's not a good time so why don't you scurry back to your boss and tell him that if he has anything to say he should do it to our faces and not send his messenger, secondly if you guys want to mess with Ace you will have to go through us first.
Clearly, he had just stepped on a minefield here. One he didn't particularly want to unravel. The worst thing was he could not afford to drag the revolutionaries into this. It could cause a war. No, he had to handle this himself, and quickly. It was time for Sabo's least favorite technique, telling the truth… at least most of the truth.
"Listen," He leaned back against the wall. "The revolutionaries don't know I'm here. This is more of a personal thing."
"So personal as in you stole their files and then just… walked out? How are they okay with that?"
Sabo hummed in amusement, "Well for starters I didn't steal their files."
"Let me guess, you're just borrowing them then?" Izo rolled his eyes. "Nice try kid, I would have thought the chief of staff would be a bit better of a liar."
"No, I definitely stole them, just not from the revolutionaries. Let's just say one of the Navy captains is a little too liberal with the bottle."
Izo looked fully immersed now, "are you serious?"
Sabo nodded, "It took twenty minutes tops. I also stole his lunch but I feel like that was the lesser of the two evils. Anyway listen to me, this is personal I know about the kidnapping I just need to talk to Ace." He looked into the man's eyes, "Please help me if you don't someone is going to die."
Izo cussed loudly. "Fine but only because I have a soft spot for cute boys like you… and Ace could kick your ass without even breaking a sweat if he wants to."
"Noted," Sabo agreed.
"Last I heard he was on Sabaody Archipelago, but you had better hurry. I think he's leaving soon." Izo looked down at the files in Sabo's hand. "As much as it pains me to say keep them, the location wasn't worth all that. Just promise me one thing In return."
Sabo nodded.
"When you find Ace you two have to talk it out instead of immediately fighting."
Sabo nodded, he could agree to that. Going in swinging wasn't really his style anyway. Although if it turns out Fire Fist had hurt the kid in any way then all bets were off. Sabo would send his butt to the bottom of the ocean. He had done it before for a lot less.
"Deal?"
"Deal." He agreed as he tucked the files back into his bag.
"Oh and kid? If you mess with Ace you will have the entire wrath of the whitebeards come down on our head."
Sabo smiled as he walked away. He wouldn't admit it out loud but that sounded like it could be exciting. At the very least it would get his blood pumping. He couldn't make any promises that he wouldn't hurt Ace, regardless of the consequences. He had learned long ago that people who lived their lives based on what they thought the future would bring were doomed to fail. He was most definitely not one of those people.
XXX
Luffy lay below Teach's desk trembling. His hands covered his mouth to stop him from yelling out. He had heard that sick fuck talking on the phone. Talking to his big brother. He had wanted to scream to Ace so bad. To tell him that he was fine and there was nothing this fat freak could do to him that would actually hurt him. Nothing except hurt Ace that is. He had almost done it as well.
In the few hours…days..., honestly, Luffy couldn't tell at this point, since he had hung up with Thatch's dad he had searched practically the entire ship. Except for one locked room near the belly. Luffy wasn't very smart but he was smart enough to figure out that that's where Thatch must be kept. He was also smart enough to realize he needed a key. Tragically enough as it turns out the keys were held by Teach at his hip.
As such Luffy had been following him all day trying to steal the keys. It was harder than it sounded. Especially without his stretching powers considering the sea stone cuffs kept his arms linked together in front of him and kept him in normal human form. Luffy had tried hanging from the ceiling, hiding behind the open door, and dropping heavy things down from the crow's nest all to no avail. That's exactly what led him back to this room hiding once again under Teach's desk. He was halfway through unlatching the keyring from the man's belt loop when Teach made a call…to Ace.
It was bad, to say the least. Luffy was so close to forgoing all thoughts of escape to in turn kick the prick in his family's jewels. But he couldn't do that, Thatch was counting on him. Then only after he saved his friend he would do everything in his power to escape and run back to Ace.
'Please don't hurt your friend.' Luffy thought sadly as he uncurled his fists to finish freeing the key ring.
When this was all over he was going to punch chess teeth so hard his dumb face will break. Luffy's unsteady fingers finally managed to unlatch the ring as he held his breath seeing if Teach would notice the loss of weight. It was a good thing the man was perpetually drunk. Holding the keys tightly together so they wouldn't jingle Luffy pressed himself against the back of the desk doing his best to avoid Tech's short legs that stretched just inches from his ribcage.
He wanted to cover his ears for the rest of the conversation but with the cuffs, it was near impossible. So instead he was forced to listen to the torturous conversation. At least the one good thing that came from it was he got to hear Ace again. He listened to the comforting sound of Ace cussing out both Teach and his dumb lackey.
Then things took a turn for the worse when they started bartering with Luffy's life for some guy called Marco who was also a bird? And for what must have been the first time in his life Luffy heard what Ace sounds like when he was scared. It was more terrifying the anything Teach could ever do to him. Ace was the bravest person Luffy knew. He hadn't realized how much he had relied on his strength until now when everything felt like it was crumbling. He tucked his legs tighter to his chest and pressed his face into his knobby knees trying in vain to comfort himself.
He vaguely heard Teach tell Ace what he was going to do to Luffy if Ace didn't comply. As threatening as those words were they were nothing compared to Ace's response. Unless Luffy was a misunderstanding then Ace was actually… begging. If there was one thing Ace liked to remind Luffy of it was that men don't bow their heads to people like Teach.
Luffy was still okay. Sure he was hurting and if he was being honest maybe a little scared. But he was going to be alright. Ace had to know that right? He had to somehow feel that Luffy was still fine, still ready to fight, and unwilling to bend. So why was he so scared?
Before he could stop himself a sniff leaked out just as Teach stood up from the chair. Thankfully the pressure from standing up canceled out whatever noise Luff couldn't suppress.
He waited with his hands over his mouth until Teach left, shutting the office door behind him and leaving Luffy alone once more in the darkness with his uncontrollable shaking and the occasional sniff.
XXX
Sorry last chapter is a mess, I was dead tired when I spell checked it. This chapter will probably be a mess as well (Sorry).
Luffy's not crying…yet. Just wait. But he is really upset to hear Ace like that. Up until this point Luffy kind of thought Ace was invincible and now he realizes Ace is just as scared as Luffy which makes him realize how bad the situation is. Anywho sorry I lied about Sabo and Ace as I just couldn't fit it in here. Just wait a little bit longer. Also chapter thirteen should be out next week. Because its break I actually have free time yay!
I'm so sorry updates are slow. As I said before my life is a mess. I am a full time science student who also has a full time job, a weekly midterm, a volunteer job, friends who I desperately love hanging out with, and an actual book to write and to top it all off I am dumb as a brick. Finals went amazing (hysterical crying) so amazing in fact I think I am going to retake organic chemistry for the sheer pleasure of synthesizing molecules. Anywho I digress (as everything is on fire) but hopefully updates will be faster seeing as I quit* my job due to the stress.
AN* In this context quite is a gentle way to describe being fired for emotionally compromised people who are prone to eating entire bags of Doritos in times of great emotional turmoil.
Hopefully all of you wonderful readers and OP fans had slightly less failure sprinkled In with your finals and are enjoying the wonderful Christmas season to its fullest. Happy holidays! And Merry Christmas!
XXX
****Reviews****
BiancaGracePotterEverdeen: I'm so glad you like it. Here you go (updates). Hopefully more soon. Thanks for the review.
Virid Visette: I'm REALLY REALLY glad I'm not actually sure about rayleigh. I haven't thought that far yet. I am leaning towards no but maybe he will pop back up for the big battle at the end. I'm still not sure. I want Oda to show us that too, as well as much muuuuch more Ace but atlas Goda said no Glad you liked it.
: AAAAH finals. Everything is on fire. My hopes, dreams, future and soul. Hopefully yours went better. Merry Christmas to you too!
ar111
Sorry updates are slow. My life is too busy for me to sleep let alone write. Thank you for waiting tho! I hope the update was worth the wait. At the rate things are going I think Sabo is going to get his memories before Thatch figures out Luffy is Aces brother. Im really glad you are so enthusiastic about it! Thank you for the review.
nequam-tenshi: AHHHHHHHH we mustn't mention the dark times (Finals). At this point I'm fairly convinced that sleep is a myth and all food comes exclusively in microwave form. Anywho thank you for the compliment. I'm really glad you like the Sabo scenes. I love young ASL flashbacks so more of those soon. Thank you for the review I hope finals went MUUUUUUCH better for you.
Peppymint: Go Ace/Sabo rescue team Go
Blueh: At this point when I flunk out of university for being too dumb to be a scientist I am going to become a full time One Piece FF writer. That's a respectable profession right? That's too bad about OP being less popular. Thank you so much for the compliment, I'm really glad you like my story. Writing it is one of my happy places. Poor Ace indeed. The world needs to give him a break (in the shape of a blond ex-noble.) Soon he will have help. Next chapter should be out soon if life doesn't keep getting in the way. Thank you for the review
Randomly Talented : Yea, hindsight 20/20 about Marco telling Ace. I think they just don't want to stress him out more. If that's even possible. Luffy still has the cuffs on. They are just in front of him so he can still semi use his hands. Thatch already loves Luffy for being adorkable, he will love him even more in a few chapters when he learns what Luffy is doing for him. And when the two reunite Ace is going to give Luffy so so many bro hugs. I still don't quite know what will happen to Teach. Hopefully something painful.
Have a lovely Day/Night yourself Thank you for the review!
weep for the empty: Aww thank you. I'm so glad your liking it. That's so sweet. I think this story was going a bit different direction at chapter five (less Sabo) But I like the whole ASL together! Thank you for reading it! Hopefully you will like this chapter as well.
GreenDarkness: Teach is being so mean. But it's what that jerk does, try to separate ASL. Yes! Sabo to the rescue of his brothers, whether he knows it yet or not. I shall keep up the writes.
Avalayn: Here is another chapter sorry for the wait. Hopefully Thursday for the next chapter.
DemonKittyAngel: Omgdontdieyetmoreasl and SABO!
I am so glad you love this. Ace and Sabo will surely never forgive anyone who messes with Luffy. Especially Teach. Sabo shall set Ace's head straight and take away some of the pressure. Lols yes, yes Ace will. He wouldn't be him if he did things the easy and normal way. I'm really glad you like it. Hopefully you will like this chapter as well.
Neko1290: Luffy is already a badass, as far as captive fifteen year olds go. If you mean busting himself out and then taking on Teach then no, unfortunately he will need big bros for that. Sorry the updates took a while.
leafpool5: Aww thank you. More of this on its way. Sabo needs to save Ace first but then they shall go get little bro! Thank you for the review, I'm really happy you like it!
Jui-Imouto-Chan: And fuck shit up he shall. Go Luffy. Poor Thatch, I guess at least he might be the one having the most fun right now which is saying something. Ace and Sabo reunite next chapter (sorry I lied) but it wouldn't fit here as Sabo needed directions first. But after they do they will shoot right after Luffy and have ASL hugs
loveless23:
I would love to but life has other plans. I will do my best tho. I'm glad you like it!
Drawkill Vear:
Yay I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long this time. Hopefully I will have more time from now on. *Attempts to hug back*
YJV: Sabo shall help Ace who desperately needs the break. I'm not sure who called who? I think it was Whitebeard? I think he called Marco to tell him about Luffy and then the P.O.V shifts because I'm lazy. If the scene was poorly written I blame my general sleep deprivation and instant ramen diet.
MayaHikari:
One Piece quote? Or am I embarrassing myself and a president said it and I just outed myself for failing twelfth grade history. Either way thank you for review