Please forgive me for yet another long absence. University is going to kill me. On top of two midterms a week I decided getting a job was a great idea and for a long time, I was far too busy to eat or sleep. It was so stressful I thought I was going to crack. But I survived, barely. Anywho please forgive me. I desperately hope to start updating this story once or twice a month again. The chapters are also going to be longer because exciting stuff is happening!

XXX

Sabo flipped aimlessly through the pile of papers bored out of his mind. Koala had been angry with him for missing his check-in and making her worry but today he brushed it off in favor of heading straight to the library to search through stacks of paper. To his extreme annoyance that nagging voice at the back of his mind hadn't gone away if anything it was stronger. Telling him he had betrayed that kid. He shook his head, tired of this.

"That's it!" he decided. "I'm calling it."

"I'm really leaving!" he told the empty library.

He slammed the book beside him shut in was this an issue? The kid probably just ran away right? He was safe at home while Sabo freaked out. So that's it right! Just leave it there.

Except no. What if he had been jumped while escaping. What if he never even managed to escape in the first place and they found him when he was knocked out. He had been in really bad shape, what if his injuries had done him in first? What if he hit his head and fell into the ocean.

Sabo banged his own head against the table. Since when was he an overbearing mother hen? He was supposed to be a badass, an eighteen-year-old wonder kid in terms of tactical skill and fighting power.

' but I never even got to say goodbye.' The small thought popped inexplicably into his head.

So? He reasoned. Not like he even knew the kid's name. Still, he opened the book once more with an angry grumble. The universe had called his bluff.

Stupid Duke. He thought for the millionth time.

He was halfway through his fifth archive book, each of which had over a thousand pages comprised of all the recorded wanted posters the military had released dating back over fifty years. Needless to say, he was bored out of his mind and he still had nearly twenty books to go.

"Is this another one of your obsessive fits?" A new voice spoke up, shattering his concentration.

"I don't have obsessed fits," he shot back not bothering to look up. He knew who it was.

Koala rolled her eyes as she made her way across the room to perch on the edge of the table. "Right," She said unconvinced, "That's why 'you've been here for nearly twelve hours."

"Really?" Sabo asked tilting his head up. He hadn't realized it had been that long.

Koala sighed as she put the stack of papers in her arms down in order to reach into her pocket. "Girls don't like obsessed guys Sabo." She told him sternly. "How will you find a girlfriend if you spend all of your time locked away in the library?

Now it was his turn to roll his eyes as he rested his cheek on the book. Being a year older than him Koala had taken it upon herself to try and mother hen him on occasion. Lately, she had decided, with all her maternal wisdom, that Sabo's lack of a girlfriend reflected poorly on her parenting skills so she gave him incessant pointers whenever she could.

"Guys don't like girls who micromanage." Sabo shot back.

He knew he was literally the only person who could get away with saying something like that to her. Anyone else would get a mouthful of her fist. There were some benefits of being best friends after all.

"So I guess you don't want this sandwich I grabbed for you then? You did miss like two meals."

Sabo shot up, suddenly very interested. He had completely forgotten how hungry he was. "I take that back," He said as she handed him the neatly wrapped handkerchief. "Any guy would be lucky to have you." So long as they didn't anger her, but he kept that part to himself.

She just smiled, "You're always nice to me when I bring you food." She pointed out.

"Which you do often which is why you're so great." He said between mouthfuls.

"Well, unfortunately, that's not just a friendship sandwich."

"What do you want?" He asked distractedly. She had learned long ago that if she fed him he would do almost anything for her in return. Which is why all her acts of food came with strings attached.

"Can you sort these?" She gestured to the stack.

"What are they?" Sabo asked finishing off the last of his sandwich.

"Just some updated bounty posters."

"Sure," Sabo said rubbing his tired eyes. Even without the food offering, he had a hard time saying no to her.

He rummaged through the stack absentmindedly. There was a lot here, it would probably take him all night….Wait for what?

Sabo slammed the papers down and shot up startling Koala.

"What is it?" She cried alarmed as he read and re-read one of the bounty posters. He ignored her for the moment to surprised to respond.

Marshal D. Teach with a new bounty of 85 million Berries.

"Who is he!" He demanded turning to face Koala's surprised face.

"Sabo, what's wrong?"

"Who is HE!" Sabo repeated pushing the picture closer to her face.

"I don't know! Some Whitebeard lackey, calm down Sabo."

At the name Whitebeard Sabo felt his heart drop painfully out of his chest. That boy was involved with the Whitebeards. He was in more trouble than Sabo had imagined. What on earth would such a notorious pirate group want with a nameless teenager? A kidnapping perhaps for ransom? That was most likely. Even if the kid had escaped he could evade them for only so long. A group like that had a reach as far as the entire ocean. Whatever they wanted eventually they got.

Although they had a reputation of being merciful they would resort to darker things if the need called for it. Sabo was not foolish enough to think that they would go easy on the boy just because of his age.

"Tell me everything you know about him!" Sabo said as calmly as he could.

"Not much," Koala said looking worried but she kept it to herself. He's not one of the higher-ups though, just a low-level crew member."

There was a possibility he was acting on orders then. He had mentioned something about being in trouble if that boy escaped. In trouble with Whitebeard? Sabo hoped not. That was a fight he knew he could not win. Better start a few notches lower on the chain of command.

His bounty said he was currently in the second division, which made Sabo groan. Of course it had to be the second and not something a little lower. Still, thankfully enough it wasn't the first.

"Who's the second division commander?"

Koala bit her lip as she thought, "I think it would be Fire Fist Ace."

"Who?"

"He's a relatively new pirate but he already has a large bounty. Rumor has it he was offered a warlord status but he turned it down, the first person ever to do that."

Sabo had heard about that. And the name did sound familiar. He had heard about him briefly in passing. He held the Mera-Mera fruit and controlled flames. He was also one of the youngest Whitebeard members ever.

"Alright!" Sabo said, grabbing his hat from the table and putting his gloves back on. He had a starting place.

"Where are you going?" Koala cried in alarm.

"There's something I need to do," Sabo said as he set off across the library determined. He didn't have any more time to waste. The boy could be dead by now for all he knew.

"Wait up idiot!" Koala had to run to catch up to him. "Please tell me what going on."

"There's just something I need to look into." Sabo said vaguely as he set off down the hall. He didn't really want Koala getting involved in this, especially considering it involved the Whitebeards. In fact he couldn't let anyone get caught up in this, lest his actions be considered a declaration of war from the revolutionaries. That was the last thing they needed right now. No, if he was going to do this then he was going to have to be a free agent. He worked better alone after all.

"Am I supposed to be content with just that?" She asked annoyed, struggling to keep up with his fast pace.

"If I mess this up it could cause a war," Sabo told her truthfully. "Trust me the further you are from this the better." He flung open his bedroom door hastily searching for his combat clothes. He didn't even bother calling out a warning as he unbuttoned his shirt, the squeak from Koala told him she was less than amused as she ducked out of his room, leaning against the wall outside until he was done.

"So you're not even going to tell Dragon!"

"Nope." He said pulling his heavy boots on.

"You're just going to vanish.'

"I'll be back." He told her abstractly, it was hard to focus on anything with the blood pounding in his ears, hopefully with the kid, alive and safe.

He pulled on his coat tearing off the revolutionary armband. Lastly he searched around for his hat, dismayed to find it missing. He turned to the door to see Koala standing in the doorframe clutching the old thing tightly, blocking his exit.

"Slow the hell down!" She said clearly annoyed now. "Tell me what's going on and we can talk about this rationally, like adults. I'm sick of you taking on everything yourself and rushing off.

Sabo appreciated where she was coming from, he also understood he didn't have time for this. His nerves were shot as it was.

"I'll explain the entire thing to Dragon when I get back." He would understand… probably. Either way it didn't matter right now.

"Look it's… a personal thing." The words felt foreign on his tongue.

"Since when do you have a personal life?" Koala asked.

"I'm not sure." He admitted his hand tightening on his pipe. "Hopefully I'll find out."

Because deep down, it felt like he knew that kid from another life. His other life. Before the revolutionaries, before waking up in Dragons medical ward.

"So it's worth risking your job?"

"Yes!" Sabo said with such resolution Koala sighed, leaning back against the door frame.

Sabo approached wearily, unsure if she was going to hit him or not. Instead she grabbed his collar pulling him down to her level so she could put his hat on top of his head.

"I'll try to cover for you. Just be careful idiot."

"You really are the best." He said giving her a smile.

"You say that now but if you don't check in with me I will tell on you!"

"Thanks mom," Sabo said with a smirk as he slid past her into the hallway.

"You better come back!" She threatened.

"Sure." He called back to her as he slipped down the darkened hallways.

XXX

"What's up?" Marco asked automatically as soon as he picked up the Den-Den Mushi.

"I'm afraid it's not good."

"When is it ever?" His son sighed.

"I talked to…Luffy was it?"

"Wait!" Marco was suddenly very interested. "Where? When? Did you get him back?

"Hardly," Whitebeard sighed. "He intercepted a call I made to Marshal."

"How is he? Alive I hope."

"I'm not sure for how much longer," Whitebeard said wearily.

"What do you mean by that?" He was suddenly very alert.

"Is Ace with you?"

"No?" He's watching the new recruitees. What's up?"

"I'm not sure if I want Ace knowing this but Luffy escaped."

"What!" Marco breathed, "Why shouldn't we tell Ace? This is great." He hated the way his friend was being controlled by that black-hearted man.

"It's not that simple. He did escape but he came back. As of now Teach does not know of his whereabouts but…" He didn't need to say that it could change at any moment.

Marco was silent for a minute before finally managing to spit out "Why the hell would he do that?"

"For Thatch."

…"Oh." Marco said softly.

"Do you know how he's doing?"

"Not good. His wound is infected and he is delirious. Luffy's bringing him some medication. He will do what he can for him but…" He didn't need to finish.

Marco sent a silent prayer to the boy, who he was liking more and more by the minute. He felt a stab of guilt at how willing he was to sell out a kid if it was to save his brother. No doubt this was the inner turmoil Oyaji was currently working through. Luffy wasn't going to leave Thatch even if it would save his own life. The odds of him being able to sneak out with Thatch were so small it wasn't even worth contemplating. But yet the idiot was still going to try. Marco only knew one other person who was that selfless and brave. That was definitely an Ace move right there.

"I don't want to think about what he is going to do to Luffy when he finds out."

Marco silently agreed. "It's probably best not to tell Ace." He agreed. The last thing the boy needed was more stress.

"One good thing came out of it though."

"Oh?" Marco asked desperate for some good news.

"Luffy told me where they were. It's still quite a ways, we won't be able to get there anytime soon." And there was no guarantee the two would last long enough for that. Not to mention before they could get close Teach might be already gone. Still though.

"It's something," Marco said as Oyaji hummed in agreement.

XXX

Ace's glare was like molten fire and it pierced into Burgess like a knife.

"You're early" He snapped. The meet up wasn't until tomorrow.

"Yet you still have all of them." The man said surveying the rag-tag group who stood a few meters away glaring at the two of them. "Tell me how did you manage that?"

Ace's gaze flickered to the floor making the older man sneer. "With help of course. Am I right?"

Ace's glare was back as he fixed the man with an intimidating look. "

"Did you really think we wouldn't notice? Oh, Ace I thought you were smarter than that."

"Go to hell."

"Hold that thought. The boss wants to talk to you." He said reaching into his pocket for a Den-Den.

Ace stared offended by the thing as he finally picked it up, making a dissatisfied face.

"Ace," The man's sickening voice greeted. "Good job gathering my new crew. But I do believe I asked for you to do this alone. Honestly I'm a little surprised, I didn't peg you for the type who goes crawling to others with your problems. I expected more from you."

"Spare me the lecture vermin." Ace snapped his frayed nerves fueling his temper. "He followed me and why would I listen to a traitor like you?"

"There's the Fire Fist I know, let's see how long you can keep up that fire before we burn you out." The snail grinned sadistically. "I can't let you off the hook for this, you have to pay."

"I have nothing." Ace shot out. Teach had already taken the only thing Ace had left.

"Nots not what I mean. I want you to do something else for me."

"What?"

"Kill Marco."

Ace's blood runs cold as he froze…"What?" He managed to croak out.

"You heard me, kill the Phoenix."

"Never!" Ace shot back automatically.

"Oh Ace," The voice was chalk full of fake pity. "Do you really think I was asking? Let me put it this way, kill Marco or you've outlived your usefulness and I'll kill Luffy.

"NO!" Ace said instinctively finding his voice. "You leave him the fuck alone."

"Then you know what you have to do." Teach's voice was cool and calculated. It sent a shiver down Ace's spine.

"I could never do that to him." Ace shot back. He was his friend, something Ace was still getting used to. Any reservations Ace carried about Marco had all but vanished when he saw the way Marco had torn after him, with the sole purpose of helping him. He had even convinced himself that after all of this craziness was over and Lu was back safe with him, that he would try to open up a bit more to the man. That was on the slim chance he survived. But now the odds of that had gone from slim to none. There would be no character development, no bond to develop, nothing but a lot of death and regret.

"Then your brothers dead. And I'll promise you this kid it won't be quick. We'll make him regret ever meeting you. By the time we're done with him he'll be asking us to end it."

Ace brought his hands frantically up to his head fighting the urge to cover his ears. "Stop it!"

The Den Den's grin only grew at Ace's distress. "But we will simply explain to him that his big brother chose a stranger over him. He should understand, kids are awfully good at adjusting to difficult situations.

Ace's hands clenched into fists at his side. Just when he thought things couldn't possibly get worse for him.

"Please don't make me do this."

"We're not making you do anything," Burgess barked out. "Hence the choice."

"Then you can't possibly make me choose." Ace grit out.

"Oh, Ace." The man's voice tutted in fake disdain. "Is there really a choice?"

"I hate you so damn much." Ace hissed. If he ever got his hands on the man again he was fucking dead.

"Is that a yes then?"

"Go to hell."

"Say it Ace, or we'll send Luffy back to you in pieces."

Ace squeezed his eyes shut. "Fine," He hissed out through clenched teeth. "Just leave Luffy alone."

"Great," The man said tonelessly. "You have forty-eight hours."

"Wait! what?" Ace said frantically his head pounding. That wasn't enough time, physically or mentally.

"And none of this faking his death shit. You are going to do it in front of Burgess then you are going to leave the rest to us. We have something special planned for the Whitebeards.

Ace felt his stomach turn violently. Was Teach always this depraved? How had he not noticed before? The thought of doing anything of the sort to the old man, who had only ever shown kindness to Ace made him want to cry.

"Once you do that you are to return to base with Burgess immediately."

Ace wanted to question the strange orders but something was more urgent. He looked up sharply. "Will you let me see Luffy then?"

"We'll see." The voice said harshly, apparently irritated now. The Den Den clicked off leaving Ace and the insensitive brute alone. At least he didn't have to hear Teach's sickening voice anymore.

Burgess turned to grin down at him. "So Portages, or should I say Gol, how's this going down?"

"Shut up you stupid ogre." Ace muttered as he turned away, hoping the man would take the hint and leave him the hell alone for now."

XXX

As soon as Teach hung up the phone his grin dropped from his face. He was able to bluff his way through that but for how long? To think this entire scheme, years upon years of careful planning could all be undone by one simple insignificant boy and his ability to run fast. How he had managed to elude them in his condition was a mystery. Clearly it meant they were being too soft on him. That was a mistake he wouldn't make twice.

Thanks to that moronic gutter trash he had been forced to move this plan forward a whole month. He would have Ace take out the Phoenix as quickly as possible and return to his clutches. By then they would either have Luffy or he would be in the wind and thus lose his control over Ace. Worst comes to worst he would simply kill him and claim the credit for being to one to take the head of the mighty Portgas Ace who was also the last of the Gol dynasty.

He stood up from his seat so abruptly he could have sworn he heard a squeak from under the desk. It was these damn old hinges. He needed a new freaking desk.

"Soon," He told himself as he left the office, in his haste the half-open medicine cabinet went unnoticed.

XXX

As I said above longer and more frequent chapters with the next one being hopefully later this month. Sabo and Ace reunited next chapter and I am so excited to write it. Yay big brother Sabo to the rescue. Thank you guys for being so patient and sticking by me. I promise to try my best and write the most kick-ass story my brain can dream up.

Reviews:

Blueh:

Thank you so much! I'm really glad you like it. Luffy is the best, he is so blindly brave and inspiring. That's what I love about him. I love your stories so I was so happy you read mine and liked it.

Momoxrosax:

Strongly appreciative! Super sorry I made you wait so long. The next one will be quicker.

Avalayn:

THANK YOU! I'm glad you liked it. Sorry I didn't update quickly. I'm debating how big dragons part is going to be. For now he is goin to be sidelined as getting the revolutionaries dragged into pirate war is not smart. But Luffy will definitely find out who he is.

Mystery person:

That's so nice! Thank you. Yea I'm sorry I have a super busy life outside of the fanfic world. For whatever reason this story in particular seems to get dragged out. If it was up to me I would write my life away but that's not on the table. Thank you for your patience. I'm really glad you're liking it

ThisIsLightful:

Sassy Luffy for the win. I love that kid he is adorkable.

RockingTheGraveyard

That's so kind. I'm glad you liked it. I think Whitebeard is a kind man who doesn't yell at children if he can avoid it haha. Hopefully I have time to squeeze in more interactions between the two of them later on. Thank you for the review

Peppymint:

Poor Luffy indeed. He is just trying to be a cinnamon roll and everyone is giving him a hard time. Poor Ace as well after this chapter. Teach definitely deserves whatever he gets

Poor Luffy. On the other hand, I do not feel at all sorry for Thatch when everyone catches up with him.

sess18:

Thank you haha. Sorry the update took a while.

Wordlet:

Thank you! The Luffy WB conversation seemed to be a hit I'm really glad you liked it. It wasn't a little selfish it was super selfish he was all run and then oops save my son. To be fair I think he was trying to do right by Luffy and Ace but after he found out it was Thatch he couldn't bring himself to abandon his son to save his other one. Haha the last part made me laugh. More Sabo delivered and I just put in another order for chapter 12 with extra Sabo on the side. Glad you liked it!

Guest #2:

I think they are feeding him slightly more then that. Plus he's not running up and down like he was. But what do I know about Luffy physics

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Blackthorn Ashe:

Yaaayy! A review. I'm glad you liked it. That part seemed to be a hit. Boo Teach he sucks and is mean and smelly. Sabo shall come soon rest assured. Thanks for your patience. Insomniac Dormouse:

Thank YOU for reviewing! Hopefully more Luffy/WB on its way in the future. I'm glad you liked it.

Chey:

Here is moarz

GreenDrkness:

I think Luffy can have his occationaly smart thought before he goes back to autopilot. I'm glad you enjoyed thanks for the review I shall keep up the writes

Kryliadarr:

That's wonderful! I'm glad it was good enough to merit a re-read. Haha I bet you caught all my spelling mistakes that I am semi-concerned about. Thank YOU for reviewing! the-

bunnys-echo:

Lolz, no like I said I'm not A+ artist yet so that was a mistake. Ace gets to keep his arm it's something else, or another two things. I'm glad you like it! Thank you for reviewing!

Kitsune Foxfire:

Thank you!

Mel72000:

I'm glad you think so. Luffy is very fun to write for!

9momentos:

No help in store for Luffy. But soon his brothers will give him hugs and awesome ASLness. WB shall try his best for Luffy and Thatch. Glad you liked it

YJV:

Stay tuned for next chapter! Something like that is on its way, only with a rocky start. And it can't come too soon, Ace needs some Sabo right now. I'm glad you liked it! Thank you for reviewing. Sorry for how long the update took.