When I said this was happy, that might not have been the right word. But at last the chapter you guys have been waiting for!

I hope I did it justice with the three brain cells midterms have left me with!

XXX

When he woke up the room was dark and unfamiliar. He sat up slowly, feeling his body protest. Everything was bruised and his muscles felt oddly out of sync with the rest of him. It took a long moment for things to come into focus, and another longer moment to realize he wasn't alone. There were two men in the room with him.

The furthest from him was a young man sleeping on a old desk chair. He was sitting with his chest against the wooden back, arms draped over the top to cushion his head. He was dead to the world for the time being. The closer one was a scruffy looking old man who had his back to him, rifling through a bag of supplies. He turned around slowly, medicine in one hand and a bottle of whisky in the other. But upon seeing him awake he dropped both, cussing viciously as he clutched at his heart.

"Damn near gave me a heart attack!" He accused once the swearing had died off.

"Boss," He called to the sleeping young man. "We got a problem."

He was already up; the noise had snapped him awake seconds ago.

"I can see that," He told the other as he straitened, sitting but not standing up.

This wasn't just any young man though; it was harder to see in the darkness, but he knew this kid, didn't he? His mind, still slower to react tried to recall where he recognized him from.

And then all at once it clicked and the last of sleeps foggy fingers released his mind. He rose to his feet, or at least tried to but he was forced to sink down to his knees on the bed as his body protested the sudden movement. But even so it was impossible to mistake his posture for anything other than threatening as he glared at the blonde boy.

"I should go," The doctor said looking between the two of them uneasily.

"Yes, you probably should," The young man told him, never turning away from the pirates' intense glare. The man nodded curtly grabbing some of his tools as he hastily shoved them back in his bag turning towards the door. He paused for a second in the frame to look back in worry at the kid.

"Uh, you going to be okay boss?"

"Go," the blond told him not looking his way. And that was all he needed to say as the man ducked out of the room, slamming the door a few moments later. But neither reacted to it, caught up in the intense stare down.

"I see you're feeling better," The blond said humorlessly as he regarded the man somewhat wearily. Although there was no fear in his eyes.

Marco wanted to see if he could change that. He stood slowly, making sure he was ready for it this time as he swiped a scalpel from among the forgotten doctors' tools. The boy watched him as he made his way from the bed over to the corner of the room where he sat.

He raised the scalpels point to his throat, so it pressed warningly into his larynx. Not to break the skin but ensuring the other felt how sharp it was.

"You're going to kill me?"

The kid looked exhausted. There were dark circles beneath his sleepy eyes. This was no surprise since he had been sleeping until a few seconds ago. Still there was no sign of fear or even surprise. He had suspected this would happen and he was not afraid of Marco. Not yet at least.

"That depends on what you say next," He warned him, his own voice hoarse from disuse.

When the boy still did not answer he added a slight pressure to the blade. "Who are you?"

The blond frowned and slowly raised his hand to his neck. With two of his fingers he pressed on the blade, gently guiding the scalpel away from his throat. Marco let him move his hand, only an inch or two off its course. Close enough to slash his throat if he tried anything else. Only the other boy did not look like he had any tricks up his sleeve at the moment.

"Who are you?" He pressed impatiently.

The young man's eyes moved down to the blade. "Or what? You'll kill me?" He said again.

"Any sudden movements and you'll find out," Marco warned as he looked around the room. It was staggeringly underwhelming. A very modest space with not much else besides a bed and a table where various medical equipment was spread out. There was a door the doctor had left out of, still half open and a window on the other side that reflected the blackness of the night sky.

Turning his attention back to the boy he gestured for him to rise with the tip of the scalpel. He obeyed, Standing from the chair slowly in front of Marco.

"Turn around."

He did so wordlessly as Marco patted him down, starting with his shoulders and working down to his broken in boots which he kicked off when instructed.

"I don't have anything on me," He said as Marco turned him around roughly as he continued to search.

"Forgive me if I don't believe you," he told him as he took special care with the sleeves of his loose-fitting shirt. But when he still found nothing, he had to concede that the other was right.

"Unarmed then? Pretty sloppy of you," He said as he turned his attention back to the room. The other's lack of fear was beginning to grate on him.

"Devil fruit?"

"No."

"Backups on the way then?" That would explain why the old man had run away.

But the blond just shook his head. "No back up, no weapons, no plan."

Marco lowered the blade in disdain. "I don't believe that for a minute." From his limited interactions with the kid there was always a plan.

"Believe what you want," he told him.

"One of Teaches?"

"I would never work for that pig!" There was actual emotion in his voice this time. A far cry from the evenness of his tone when he asked if Marco intended to kill him. Based on that alone he was inclined to believe him except for the fact that if he wasn't Teach's then who was he? He had better figure it out quickly.

Up until now Marco had been cutting him a break since he was still just a brat, an amusing one, but that was before he had allied himself with Teach's crew and tried to kill him. He was still unsure about the details.

He tucked the scalpel into his waistband in case he needed it later. "Look kid, you know who I am, and you know what I can do. So, I am going to ask you one more time, who are you?"

The blond hesitated a moment, but he seemed to be willing to talk now that the knife was put away. Apparently, he didn't respond well to threats. They had that in common.

"My name is Sabo," he finally told him.

"Sabo what?"

"Just Sabo."

That was hardly anything to go off. "That doctor called you boss."

"Because I pay him." He said. "It's amazing what people will call you when money is involved."

"Paying him to do what?"

"Fix the roof." He told him and his voice was so honest that for a split-second Marco believed him.

Feeling his frayed temper threaten to snap he crossed the distance between them snatching the collar of his shirt as he pushed him into the wall, pinning him there with a firm hand.

"Is this funny to you?" He demanded.

The boy's hands automatically came up to try and lesson the others hold on him but then he seemed to think better of it and dropped them back to his side. It seemed like he was going out of his way to avoid a fight, but he was also trying to avoid talking. So far, he had done a pretty good job of redirecting or refusing all of Marco's questions.

But he wasn't smiling when he told him, "None of this is the least bit funny to me."

Marco tightened his fist raising his arm, so the boy had to stand on his toes to remain on his feet. "Answers." He told him. "Now!" And both of them could smell the slight burning of the cloth as the fabric of the boy's shirt began to singe under the heat.

"Why are you against the Whitebeards!"

"Not the Whitebeards," he told him trying to keep his balance. "Just you."

"What?" He knew for a fact the two of them had never met. "How have I done you wrong?" He asked shoving the boy back into the wall harder than he needed too.

The others hands did rise now as he wrapped them uselessly around Marco's trying to pry the other off him.

"Tell me!"

But he shook his head trying to push him away. "I don't want to fight you," he told him honestly. "I have nothing against you or your captain."

"What does that mean!"

"Kill me if you want." The boy told him. "But from what I've heard about you, you're probably not going to do that without answers."

So that was his plan then? "Don't be so sure," Marco told him darkly. "I'm having a bad day." He threw the other to the ground roughly once more looking around the room. Confident the kid was not going to tell him anything of use, and that he was significantly outmatched by Marco as it was right now, he decided to get his baring's. He headed to the bedroom door, still half open in the doctor's haste to leave.

"Wait!" He called still winded as Marco made his way from the room and into a dark dusty hallway. Where was he? Wherever it was it seemed to be mostly deserted. The wooden floors were cracked and worn, and cobwebs littered most of the corners. The few rooms he passed were boarded up as well. The main room at the end of the hallway seemed to be the only other functional room with papers and maps scattered around every open surface.

He skimmed over the maps with vague interest. They were of a particular section of paradise, with various islands ex-ed out and a few circled. A large map lay over the table and one of the labels caught his eye. The Moby? He tapped his finger over it unconsciously as the bad feeling in his stomach continued to grow. He needed to talk to Oyaji. Now!

But before he could act on that impulse something else caught his eye. Resting on the corner of the table, sitting atop a stack of reports was a ratty straw hat. He grabbed it from its seat inspecting it carefully. Unless he was wrong this was Ace's brothers' hat. The very same one he had carried all this way with him across the ocean.

"Put That Down!" The other boy had followed him into the room and was now standing in the hallway looking, for the first time angry. When Marco didn't immediately drop it, he strode over to take it back. But Marco stopped him mid-way across the room with his phoenix fire.

Remembering himself the blond- Sabo, paused. Although the anger was still there in his eyes.

"Put-it-down!" He said again slower this time.

But Marco did no such thing, satisfied to finally get a rise out of the other. "What's so important about this?" He asked, challenging him with the safety of the hat.

"Don't you already know?"

"Why do you want it?" Marco asked again.

Sabo sighed as he crossed his arms, standing his ground despite the fire burning inches away from his bare feet.

"It's Luffy's hat." He said finally.

"And why do you have Luffy's hat? Why isn't it with Ace?" As far as he knew the other would never have parted with it willingly. "If you hurt him…"

"I'm holding on to it for him," He told him finally. "You can hold it. But don't mess it up…please."

"And Ace just gave it to you and what? Left."

"Yes actually."

"To do what?"

The silence in the room stretched around them as the blonde boy once again stopped talking.

"Look kid! You said you didn't want to fight me. But after what you did… if you really mean that you will start talking right now." During their fight Marco has sensed his bloodlust but no hatred behind it. Nor did he feel it now. Although he knew the other boy was pretty masterful at concealing it.

He shuffled through some of the notes, making sure to keep a careful eye on the young man who was trapped in the center of the room by Marcos fire. But despite everything he seemed willing to stay there for the time being, so Marco turned back to the files.

For the most part they seemed to be field reports and pirate ship citing's around the grand line. All though upon second glance they went a little deeper than that. He had here, organized into geographical stacks the records for every major, and most minor, ports on this side of paradise. The dates were recent, as recent as they got. Information like this- well one doesn't just stumble across it. It comes from a very widespread and organized intelligence network.

Marco cast another glance at the blond boy before turning back. He doubted even pops could pull something like this together. At least not as quickly as this boy must have. The only group that came to mind with that kind of power was the world government. He pursed his lip continuing to shift through the records. That would explain why he had allied himself with Teach if they were trying to bring the Whitebeards down. But he didn't look like he belonged to the navy. Nor did he fight like they had trained him.

The gleam of a glass bottle caught his attention and Marco moved to snatch the vial up from the bookcase. There wasn't much left in the already small container, but what was left of it was an unusual deep purple color.

He turned around, wiggling the bottle between two fingers for the other to see. "This would be the neurotoxin I take it?"

The blond boy nodded.

"Well- Sabo was it? How did someone like you get this. Or better yet where did the rest of it go?" If Marco was recalling it correctly then this little bit was one of the most poisonous substance on the seas. Not even his phoenix was immune to it. Which made it both extremely rare and difficult to find.

"There was never anymore." The blond told him evenly. "I only just had that which I used on you."

Marco rolled his eyes holding the glass up to the light for the other to see. "There is a line where the glass got tinted from the toxin." It was hard to detect unless you were looking for it, like he had been.

"I'm no expert but it doesn't take this much to coat a blade so I'll ask you again and then I'll start burning," The fire crept closer at his words and he had to give credit to the blonde for not backing up, even though he knew he could feel the flames licking at his exposed feet.

"It's with Ace." He told him finally.

"Oh? And where is Ace?" Marco said tucking the vile away in case he needed it alter. At the very least hopefully out of the others reach.

"…"

He was unsurprised this time by the lack of an answer as he turned back to the papers. There had to be something, a signature, a sign, something to give the other away. He was sure it was in here he must have missed it. He flicked through the sheets again.

"So Ace is working with Teach." He asked fishing one of the papers out of the stack. Bingo.

"You say it like he had a choice," Sabo bit back and once again there was anger in his tone. It seems like it was possible to get under his skin, Marco had just been going about it wrong.

He turned to look at him, the paper loosely clutched in his hand. "Didn't he?" He asked. "Teach took something from all of us, not just him. Our captain sent me here to help him. But instead of talking to me he switches sides? I would have helped. He knows that."

"But that didn't seem to matter much to him did it?" Marco continued noticing the others mounting anger. "So, he casts us aside! That's how much our friendship was worth to him. No, instead he partners with the people who betrayed us, who stole his brother, and you. A liar and a murderer because everything about you screams trustworthy."

"That's Not How It Happened!" He snapped as his unusually tame temper finally broke. "What would you know about what happened? How much help were you lot? It was your crewmate whose doing all of this, but Ace is the one he's going after! If Anyone is paying for your bad judgment, it's Him! And now because of Your Mistake Luffy is…"

"Is what?" Marco prodded as the other boy trailed off. Finally remembering himself. He glared up at Marco.

"You did that on purpose." He accused and the man shrugged.

"Why? Because I manipulated you? You would know all about that wouldn't you revolutionary?"

"What?" The boy asked, looking for the first time truly and honestly worried.

Marco held up the sheet of paper, a dragon signal in the top corner with red ink, marking the document as an official revolutionary message.

"I wondered what kind of group could have a reach this large but also overt," He gestured to the papers. And, how a kid like you could get that poison." Sabo's ability to lie like no other and remain calm under the pressure also made a lot more sense. He had been trained for covert operations.

"So that bags the question?" Marco said his tone dangerous as he leaned against the desk. "What would the revolutionaries be doing aligning themselves with Teach, our enemies?" Small territory squabbles aside the two groups rarely crossed paths. The revolutionaries had made it their mission to underhand the world government while the Whitebeards stuck to the sea's and their territories. But this? Was Dragon really sending out spies to discreetly overthrow Whitebeard? And at the end of this all Sabo could slip away with no one realizing he had been they're at all.

"I suggest you choose your next words carefully," Marco told him. "If you don't want to start a war that is."

"They have nothing to do with this!" The boy said fiercely.

"Stop Lying!"

"I'm not!" He grit his teeth. "I am a revolutionary, you got me there. But I am not here on anyone's orders. I brought myself here. Believe it or not I could care less about your feud with Blackbeard."

"Why would you do that?"

The answer was immediate this time. "-To help Luffy? While you guys are arguing with Teach their doing terrible things to him!"

"And why do you care so much about what happens to Ace's brother?"

"Because Ace is my-," The blond sighed calming himself again before he continued. "Because he is my friend."

"Ace is my friend," He said again softer this time. "I don't want to see him get hurt. And I want to help him save Luffy. Whatever it takes. So, if you want to be pissed at him fine. But he spent the last few weeks doing absolutely everything he could to help you guys. To keep you safe from Teach."

"So, he turned to the revolutionaries?" Marco asked struggling to understand. He wasn't as angry with Ace as he acted, nor was he completely forgiven. More then anything Marco was confused about everything at this point. And the faster he could catch himself up the faster he could actually make an informed decision on what to do next.

"He didn't go to the revolutionaries! He just asked me for help. Ace didn't even know I worked for them at first."

"You guys are such good friends he didn't know where you worked and never once mentioned you."

"It's complicated."

"It must be," Marco told him dryly.

"Your sarcasm is noted," Sabo told him. "But if I really partner with Teach and the revolutionaries wanted you dead then you would be dead, not here with every open opportunity to kill me!"

"Whose oversight was that then. Yours?"

"It was Ace's!" Sabo told him. "He asked me not to use sea stone because you guys were 'friends' and apparently, friends aren't supposed to do that to each other." They also didn't stab each other but neither needed to call attention to that right now. "Then again I was counting on him being the one to explain this to you not me." The chances of the first commander going off on a random traitorous stranger were much higher compared to his shipmate.

But expected or not that seemed to have the desired effect on the man and the fire burning next to Sabo's foot flickered once before disappearing, leaving nothing but a burnt spot on the wooded floor.

"Thank you." He told him honestly. He was grateful for anything, even the small amount of trust he was showing him. Although the feeling was short lived.

Marco just shrugged, turning away towards the door. "I need to contact my captain."

"No!" Sabo said taking a few steps towards him on reflex.

The flames were back as quickly as they had come the first time and once more, he put up his hands in placation.

"Don't do that!" He told the other man slowly. "Just hold off for a day."

Marco regarded him carefully, lessoning his flames but not yet extinguishing them. "And why should I?"

There was silence again between them. No doubt they were dancing around the topic he had been reluctant to share. That was the problem with revolutionaries, they never gave you the whole story, not at first at least.

"Trust is a two-way street Sabo," Marco reminded him. "You want me to believe you then you have to tell me what's going on right now."

The younger man seemed to consider for a moment. He opened his mouth but whatever he had to say Marco never got to hear.

There was a loud- THUNK sound as something clipped the wall of the house and their attention was drawn over to the window. One of the glass panes had been left open letting the cold air of the night inside. There was a small squawk and to Marco's surprise a crow landed itself onto the windowsill tilting its head at the pair of them.

Tensions must have been running high, that stupid bird was enough to restart his heart. The man turned back to Sabo, but the bird squawked again louder this time and he realized that he had never seen one out this late before.

The creature hopped from the balcony to fly onto Sabo's shoulder, calling as it did in a shrill voice.

"What are they?" Marco asked as a second one perched itself on the now vacant sill.

Sabo reached up to the one on his shoulder, running his finger down it's fur as if searching for something. But the bird just shook itself out, sidestepping his prying hands as it let out another squawk. It sounded like an alarm call.

"What is it?" Sabo pried and Marco knew he was not talking to him right now.

The bird cried again lunging for his finger. Its beak clipped his bare hand once then twice, drawing a droplet of blood on the second peck. It cried again when he drew his hand back flapping its wings on his shoulder. All round the strangest bird behavior Marco had seen.

"What are they?" He asked again, his tone leaving no more room to be ignored.

Blue eyes met his as the boy held his arm for the bird to move to. "Show me." He commanded and the squawking stopped.

To Marco he said, "That would be my backup."

XXX

"Ace, ACE!" The voice was growing closer as the screeching around him died down.

He felt a distant tap against his fingers as one of the crows tried to get his attention. He thought it was the one who had carried him here, all this way. Not that he remembered very much of it after falling into the ocean. It had snatched him back up right before he could sink irrevocably below the surface and he felt grateful for that. But beyond still being topside he wasn't sure where it had taken him. Not until his name was called again by that same familiar voice and it clicked in his brain.

"ACE!" He called again as they crashed to their knees in the sand of the beach. He felt hands on him. These were far more insistent then the gentle pecking of the crows had been.

"Oh my god Ace!" A second voice asked as another pair of hands searched him over. "What did you do."

"Help me get him up," His brother commanded, and he let out an involuntary groan as he was pulled upright.

"Your backup has looked better." The voice was suddenly right next to his ear as he felt the additional strength help support him.

"Ace you promised me you wouldn't do this!" Sabo sounded mad, his worry laced with annoyance and a hint of betrayal. And despite his scarce coherence Ace panicked. He couldn't deal with letting down any more family right now. He couldn't do that again.

He dug his feet into the sand beneath them, pulling back against their grip with everything he had. He heard both stumble besides him with the sudden shift, but he ignored that in favor of grabbing his little brothers' shoulder.

"Sabo Don't Be Mad! Yell at me, scream at me just don't be mad at me!" His words were slurred, so much so that he didn't know if they were intelligible.

But he knew the other got the message when he answered back, the irritation gone now leaving just worry and understanding.

"Ace I'm not mad," He told him softer.

"Promise," He asked unaware of how childish, and generally off, he sounded.

"I promise." The blurry shape of his brother told him.

He tightened his grip in the others shirt holding them all in place even as the other two tried to pull him along.

"Sabo," He said again to get his attention which was useless as he already had the full undivided attention of the two of them.

"I'm sorry." He told the blond again. "I fucked up."

And then the sand was rushing up to meet him as his legs buckled underneath him sending him crashing back down to where he had started.

XXX

Oh man thanks for all your support guys. I am really glad you liked the last chapter.

So as I am sure everyone has picked up on I have been not so subtly dodging questions about Marco since chapter 14. And after all that time I got bored and started answering super stupidly, which was fun for me but I am sure less amusing when you guys just wanted an answer. I wasn't ignoring your questions or predictions I promise. I really liked them and some of you guys were so close! I was really impressed.

Because- of course I wasn't going to kill Marco.

I know they didn't really talk about it in the chapter, but I promise that next time they will go into how exactly Ace and Sabo tricked Teach and what their plan is. But for now I can say that Ace purposely left Marco out of this plan because he thought his goals might conflict with the Whitebeards and Marco was going to be loyal to his captain whereas Sabo and Ace were mainly trying to do what was right for Luffy. The goal was to keep Marco out just long enough for Ace to poison Whitebeard as they were pretty sure he would have tried to stop them and ruined their cover by showing himself to be alive. -but more on that later.

Any guilt that Ace had he did not fake, this whole thing has been really awful for him. Even though he didn't kill Marco he did stab, poison and kidnap him which to Ace felt like betrayal. Especially since he and Sabo were working against his crew who he was actively plotting to betray. Ace is always so hard on himself.

Anyway, I really hope you guys like the chapter (and that I did it justice on very little sleep). I am sad to say that after this one the updates won't be so quick anymore. School is getting super intense again, I have a million applications for summer jobs to sort out and I still am trying to finish Dolls as well as give my other stories some TLC. So I don't know when I can update next, but I will try my best! As I always do. So thank you a million for all the support. You guys always remind me to update and keep this story going!

I wish all of you good luck and a good year!

XXX

SoulMore: !

Pause143: Don't worry I wouldn't kill Luffy.

Sakihinata: Thanks I think!

JustCallMeCookie: Thank you! I am glad you liked it. Don't worry I wouldn't kill Luffy for good.

RIAEVANS: ME TOO! I'm glad you liked it!

Petit Rouge Cerise: Yea, I am sorry about that. Happy might not of been the right word but that chapter was a bit spontaneous. I'm glad other people were crying too and it wasn't just me. Thank you for the support!

Tinajp: I'm really glad you liked it! It made me sad to write it but it was a lot of fun. That is so nice to say thank you! I am a huge fan of Luggy's character and how selfisha nd unselfish he seems to be at the same time. Don't worry Sabo will give him all the hugs he wants!

Pirulita005

¡Estaba llorando todo el capítulo también! Me alegra que también haya entristecido a otras personas y que no haya sido solo yo el idiota. ¡Gracias por la tan necesaria validación! En este punto también estoy tan apegado a ellos, creo que necesitaré terapia cuando la serie termine jaja. Es una maravilla que se nos permita trabajar en esta historia. ¡Gracias por tu apoyo!

-Saludos desde Canadá

Fluffypuppies:

Ugh, I was crying too! I am glad it wasn't just me. I was worried it was so I didn't fess up to it haha. I am really glad you liked it though! Something about Sabo and Luffy having that conversation made me really sad too. But he seems like the type of person not to give up.

Thanks for not being mad! And I am really glad you liked this chapter. I always love long comments of course! It is really good to hear how the chapter was received because I never know and I worry haha. But I am happy to hear it was still alright despite not being the promised one. Thank you for the support!

HNovion: Aw, I am sorry.

Azufyra: Yea this one was a little harder hitting then I intended.

Sophia Mendes-Coruja: Yay! I am really glad you liked it. I tried to go for the feels.

That is really nice to hear though! Thank you so much for the support!

That scene got me too! Something about SAbo and Luffy talking about death and Luffy not fully understanding totally made me cry! I am glad to know I am in good company and it wasn't just me being my weird little self haha. I promise I will try my best to make the rescue as epic as possible. I have a lot of ideas I can't wait to write.

Best wishes to you as well! Thank you, as always for the review.

Mel72000: Of course! Thank you for reading!

xXxWolvesInTheNightxXx: Yea he did : (

We might see a bit of him next chapter or the next one. And yes he was! You were close. I promise to go into the details of that night next time when they are explaining it to Marco. Ace doesn't think Luffy is dead…. Yet.

Thank you for the review!

MR97:

Oh man I was crying too! I am glad it wasn't just me haha. That's true though, Luffy wouldn't try to take the easy way out, especially if he thought he could help his friends still.

Thank you for the review!

Noramsorli: Sorry to lie to you guys like that. But I am really happy you like the story!

Onar27: Okey-dokey, I am happy you liked it. Hopefully this one had more development. And yes he did. You guessed it. Sabo is a smart little cookie. But over all Luffy still believes in Ace's strength and his ability to survive.

Of course! Thank you for the support!

iyulia juuzou

Jangan khawatir mereka semua akan berhasil pada akhirnya! Saya senang Anda menyukainya. Maaf membuatmu sedih.

Kitsune Foxfire:

Thank you! Sorry to make you sad but I'm glad to know I was in good company!

MelodiofHope:

Aw thank you! I'm glad you liked it. I had a lot of fun (if that's the right word) making it!

XXX