XXX

Things are progressing well. In sector three there's been another uprising but we think the citizens can handle it. If not we have operatives stationed there that will bring in reinforcements. Nobody's heard from area five yet so we have to assume it's lost…sir?" Koala trailed off as she realized her boss was no longer paying attention to her.

"And where is my Chief of staff again?"

"Following a lead." Koala said continuing on with the story she had chosen.

"Pertaining to what?"

"I don't know yet." She said slowly. "I'm sure you can ask him all about it when he gets back." Koala added after a second. Let him pay for making her lie to Dragon.

"So one of the top commanders took off, in the middle of a war, to follow a lead that may or may not have anything to do with what we are doing. And he doesn't tell anyone what it's about or where he's going?"

"Sounds about right to me." Koala said without batting an eye. "Now if you look at the territory expansion here…."

"What's really going on?"

She hated how one stare from the man made her feel like he could see right through her words and strait into her conflicted thoughts.

"Where is he really?"

She sighed sending a silent apology to her friend before continuing. "I don't know." She told him.

"But whatever it is I think it's really important." Of course it was. Otherwise he never would have left. "Something to do with his life before this."

Dragon raised an eyebrow at that. "Did he remember anything?"

She just shook her head. "I don't know. I don't think so. He was just acting really strange ever since he came back. But he didn't decide to go until he saw this." She showed him the bounty of Teach which he took, studying it carefully.

"He's looking for this guy?"

"I think so." Koala said. She honestly wasn't sure what he was doing. Only that it was important enough to risk everything for.

"Do you know something?"

Dragon rubbed his chin thoughtfully staring at the picture. After a moment he said, "I know that it is unwise to get mixed up with the Whitebeards right now."

"Whys that?"

"The rantings of a drunk man." He told her. "One of our lookouts works at a port frequented by the crew. A particularly talkative member of the forth divisions told him that this man Teach betrayed the crew, captured their commander and stole something before taking off. He said that currently the first and second division commanders are tracking him down but they haven't found him yet or rescued the man."

Koala actually laughed at that. Quickly recovering when Dragon gave her a look.

"Sorry, it's just why you are concerned about it then. This guy's time is limited right. I mean he angered one of the strongest people on the seas." Koala had heard that Whitebeard was fiercely protective of his crew. He would not stand for this. "By the time Sabo catches up there won't be anything left."

Dragon however wasn't so confident. "It's unwise to underestimate an enemy," He told her. "Especially if this enemy is shrew."

"He doesn't look very smart." She said staring at the bounty poster.

"Looks can be deceiving. It is impossible to know what truly lies in a man's heart until he begins to act upon it. Powerful as he is even a man such as Whitebeard is not invincible. Nothing lasts forever. Eventually he and his empire will fall it's just a matter of time."

"You think now is that time?"

"Like I said it's impossible to know. It could be tomorrow or a hundred years from now. Regardless I prefer Sabo to be far away from that power struggle. He has a tendency to jump aboard sinking ships when everyone else is jumping off."

"It's why we like him." Koala said folding up the poster too hold onto for later. Reckless idiot.

Dragon grunted as he turned back to the papers he was reading.

"He will come back right." She said after a moment.

"I mean if he finds what he was looking for he will come? It's not like he will just leave us forever."

"You'll have to ask him that." Dragon told her without looking up.

XXX

Sabo sat with his back against a wall playing with a knife absentmindedly. He was waiting for Ace to wake up. The latter had been asleep or nearly twelve hours. And now he was growing increasingly impatient.

The last few days he had been having the strangest feelings. It felt like there was a giant clock right over him that continued to tick down the time. Once it reached the end he would lose any chance at making things right again. But the problem was he had no clue how much time he had nor what 'right,' would be like.

What's more was it wasn't even his damn clock. It was someone else's from another lifetime. Like a ghost who had selfishly pushed all their unfilled promises on him tearing him away from his regular life to finish this one first.

"Screw you Sabo Outlook." He cursed his past self viciously putting every ounce of hatred he held for that naïve child into those words. "Was this your legacy?" If he had only been smarter, braver or stronger maybe things would have gone differently. But he hadn't been and they didn't. Whomever had called him an 'ungrateful useless waste of noble blood' sometimes in his past had been mistaken. He couldn't think of a more fitting use for noble blood.

He rested his chin on his knees looking down at the splintered floor below him. Ace had told him a bit. But not nearly enough to fill in the huge gaps. Either way it was no good. He needed to remember on his own or it was a waste of breath. Besides he wanted to know the things Ace couldn't tell him. How it felt to disobey his family for the first time. To be raised with people telling you that you were better than everyone else. He wanted to know if at any point he ever believed it, or if he could have ever lived up to their expectation. How would it feel to experience love for the first time. Or to be relied on by someone. Was he a good older brother to Luffy? A good friend to Ace. Did he make them happier just by being around? Or was he always just rotten like a noble. These were the things he had to learn for himself.

He remembered Ace's words, telling him that it was okay that he wasn't the same person. They needed him regardless of who his past self had been. That had been nice. Like a weight was lifted off his chest.

'It's useless to get tied up in the details.' He reminded himself. Especially if there was nothing he could do to change them now. They would save Luffy or kill themselves trying. No matter what happened after that he needed the boy to be safe. That was all he cared about right now and he contented himself with those thoughts.

It was another few hours before the dark haired boy woke up and in that time Sabo kept a careful watch on the tail outside. Sometime near dawn he left, seemingly on orders. He had yet to return.

Nearing six in the mourning Ace groaned loudly before he sat up. He looked around and cussed colorfully.

"Nononon, not again!"

"Fraid so."

"This can't keep happening!"

"Doesn't this usually happen to you?" Sabo questioned once again trying to give the other boy some food.

"Yea but not like this." It was too frequently and too long. Ace took the food distractedly. He was more appreciative of how 'Sabo like' his brother was acting even without him realizing it. But he gathered it was best to keep that to himself to avoid making the other boy uncomfortable. If he was in the others place he would prefer not to have his actions constantly compared to someone he didn't even remember. Instead he took a bite feeling the tastelessness of it on his tongue.

"What were you thinking about?" Ace asked distractedly as he polished off the bar standing up to stretch his sore limbs.

"Hm?"

"You look serious. It's freaking me out. Did something happen?" He lowered his voice a bit as if expecting the enemy to be crouched just out of sight. "Is everything at the mill still…"

"Everything's fine," Sabo cut in quickly. "I was just thinking."

"Well there's your problem right there," He teased stripping off his shirt to change it for a fresh one.

"…about how loud you snored."

"Ha," He laughed. "Yea right."

"I was worried the town would mistake it for an earthquake."

"Should we be so lucky."

He moved to the window while the other repacked his bag. Sabo had actually been thinking that the more stressed Ace became the more likely he was to pass out, especially for longer periods of time. So relieving stress on the teen would decrease his chances of such a long black out. But how was he supposed to do that?

He noticed moment outside and immediately ducked down in response.

"Heads up sleeping beauty." He called over to Ace who instantly looked up.

"Their here."

XXX

When the food was delivered Thatch was ready for it. The last few times he was too slow and it toppled onto the floor. But since then he had learned to listen to the approaching footsteps. As the lock was quickly unlatched and the bowls were flung inside by a faceless henchman he dove down, catching them in time before they smashed into the ground. He was tired of eating splinters. Along with them went a bottle of water that he let hit the floor picking it up later. Unlike the other two it wouldn't break.

He brought them both dutifully back to Luffy who hadn't moved in hours.

"Oye kid wake up. It's food."

Usually that worked like magic. But today he suspected Luffy was suffering from poor health rather than tiredness. All the more reason he needed to be looked at by a real non-intoxicated doctor. He set the bowls down taking the bottle over and let a drop or two of their precious water drip out onto his face.

"Luffy wake up and eat something." If it wasn't for the steady rise and fall of his chest Thatch would think he was dead. He let a bit more water fall onto his face before changing tactics.

"Alright guess I'll eat your food."

"s'minnnne." Luffy slurred still half asleep.

"Welcome back to the land of the living." Thatch told him as he retrieved the bowls from the floor, resting the bottle against them. "We have cold tasteless slop again."

Luffy cheered as he pushed himself up against the wall, completely misunderstanding Thatch's tone.

"How the hell are you always so happy?" He asked as he sat beside Luffy with his own bowl. He was much less excited about the food and despite how hungry he was he didn't enjoy putting this stuff in his mouth. Which was saying something as a pirate who had to eat a number of disgusting things.

Luffy tilted the bowl back eating it greedily. "Things aren't so bad." He said between mouthfuls.

"They're not great." Thatch said feeling like even that was understating it.

"We could be dead."

"I think is dying is what Teach has in mind for us." Thatch reminded him lightly. He didn't mean to be a downer but he wanted Luffy to keep that in mind when dealing with the man.

Luffy finished his bowl waving the thought away. "He won't get the chance."

"Whys that?" Thatch asked willing to play along."

"Ace will save us." He told him like Thatch was the idiot.

"Ace will?"

"Of course he will."

"You told Teach that you would die before he got Ace," Thatch reminded him.

"And I meant that." Luffy said with anger in his voice for the first time in the conversation. Even the food was temporarily forgotten as he stared down Thatch, reminding him of their promise to protect the teen.

He nodded in return. He had not forgotten. After all it was hard to forget something like that.

Satisfied Luffy went back to the food, licking the bottom of the bowl in the absence of a spoon.

"But it won't come to that," He told the man.

"Oh?"

"Ace is going to come. He won't let us die. We just need to hold on long enough."

"You sound pretty sure of yourself."

"He hasn't ever let me down... Yayy!" Luffy cut himself off to cheer as Thatch leaned over to pour some of his food into Luffy's now empty bowl.

"I like your optimism." Thatch said as he passed the water. However naïve it may be. "Sure you don't want to join us instead?"

"But I'm going…"

"Be the pirate king yea I got that." Hard not to with how often he said it.

"Aren't you a bit young to be a king? Why not wait a bit and learn more about sailing." That way he could get some experience without staking his life on extremely limited sailing knowledge.

"Besides then you could stay with your brother and meet all my family." Plus that way Thatch could keep an eye on him. Over the last few months Thatch had gotten really attached, so much so that he didn't like the thought of Luffy going off on his own where he would undoubtedly be in constant danger. Although to be fair Thatch sensed he was going to be in danger no matter what.

"Your captain, I would have to listen to him then." Luffy asked, his words muffled by a particularly wide yawn.

"That is how it works."

"No thanks."

That answer didn't surprise Thatch. Although he hoped Luffy would consider it.

"You can join my crew though."

"Thanks." Thatch laughed feeling somewhat flattered.

"Did you already ask Ace?"

"He said no?" Luffy said like he still couldn't believe it.

"I'll keep my options open." Thatch told him as Luffy settled against his side, squirming a bit to get comfortable.

"Kay," he agreed sleepily.

"You really need a real doctor to take a look at you," Thatch told him feeling his forehead. He had been with Luffy long enough to know that this amount of sleep wasn't normal for him.

"Kay," he agreed again and Thatch knew he wasn't really listening anymore.

"Tell you what kid," Thatch said after a moment of silence. "If the Whitebeard pirates dissolve or get eaten by a giant Shark I will join your crew instead.

"Cool!" Luffy half asleep again. He shifted trying to keep up with the conversation.

"Bet you could get Ace to join as well at that point."

"I think Ace would rather get eaten by the shark then have to take order from me," Luffy mumbled sleepily catching Thatch off guard. That was a lot more astute then Luffy's regular observations.

"Not many people want to get bossed around by their younger brothers," Thatch agreed but Luffy was already asleep once again.

XXX

Oblivious to the conversation a floor above Teach continued his work. He had snapped at anyone who disturbed him as he became more engrossed in what he was doing. Scattered all around him were reports and news stories. He had an underling go fetch them for him when the ship passed one of the tiny island ports. Since then he had spent the last day trying to decipher what the child had told him about his parentage. He had gone through every possible explanation he could think of from having a secret last name of Dragon, or possibly a hidden family crest all the way to researching if it was possible for someone to be part Dragon. Turns out it was not. He was now looking up Celestial Dragons to see if there was anyway Luffy was the offspring from one of those monsters, however much he doubted it. And he seriously doubted it. In an interesting turn of events one of them had visited Luffy's back water island when he was little. Surprising considering how far out of the way it was for them.

"What am I even doing?" Teach snapped annoyed as he threw the report up into the air in rage. "Like hell that boy had even a drop of noble blood in him." The only thing abnormal about his blood was how much he could lose without his heart giving out. He was wasting his time. The lead was probably just a misunderstanding. Hell Ace may have just been messing with him and Luffy was too dumb to realize it. Teach had half a mind to go over there right now and beat him within an inch of his life right in front of Thatch. Put them both in their place. The thought made him feel better utile he remembered that if he did that Luffy would die. Fine then, he would just take something non-lethal. Teeth or fingernails perhaps. Send them to Ace as a warning if he was thinking about over stepping.

His mood lifted as he set about retrieving the paper. It had landed on the other side and he paused to read the headline: Revolutionary ship spotted off the coast of Dawn island conflicts with World Nobles arrival

It was dated back eight years or so. He read the first line absentmindedly before continuing much more intently. All thoughts of permanently mutilating the kid were pushed out of his mind. He swiped the useless papers off his desk making his way to the book of compiled bounties flipping through until he found the one he was looking for. If he was right about this and that was a huge if, then Luffy just became a lot more valuable then he knew. He rolled the paper up storming into the hallway, catching two of his crew members off guard.

"You two with me!" He snapped stomping past them and down the hallway. Leaving them no choice but the jog after him confused.

"Boss?"

"Shut up!" He snapped grabbing the keys from his belt. He was not in the mood for their brainless questions today.

"I need to have a talk with the kid. You two need to hold off the Whitebeard so I can do that understood?" They both nodded. Easier said then done. He was getting stronger and stronger each day. There was a careful line between half-starved and beaten versus dead and Teach worried he had let Thatch get too far over to the healthy side while Luffy on the other hand was tilting sharply towards the other end. At least there would be no more escape attempts in his future.

He unlocked the door quickly giving the prisoners no warning at all before he barged in, the lackeys flanking him.

Thatch narrowed his eyes at the sight of them as he shook Luffy awake who had fallen asleep against his side. He was pleased to see that the two were becoming rather attached. That would serve his proposes very well in the future. But right now it was little more than a nuisance. He nodded towards Thatch, telling the two to grab him.

He stood up so quickly Luffy fell from his side onto the bed, still slow to respond. Teach strode over to him while Thatch was distracted with the others.

"We need to talk little one." He told the kid as he pushed himself back up, trying to focus on Teach.

"You're not looking so good these days are you?"

"Screw you!" Luffy told him angrily getting up to go help Thatch. Teach stopped him by grabbing his arm and throwing him back down.

This angered Thatch to no end as he bashed one of the men's head against the wall. He knocked the second one aside with the strength of a bear as he stormed over to Teach ready for a real fight.

"Let him go!" He snapped raising his fist to Teach.

"You forget your place!" Teach snarled back signaling to the other two who were mostly limping but back on their feet to hold him back. They both lunged at Thatch's arms, preventing him from hitting Teach. They were not so lucky as to save themselves the same fate.

Teach did let go of Luffy then, only so he could send his fist strait into Thatch's stomach. Right on the still healing skin of his stab wound. The reaction was instant. The man cried out in pain slumping over as his hands pressed over the old wound. He struggles stopped for the moment making it easy for the two lackeys to once again hold him back

Luffy however was not as cooperative as Thatch. He yelled in protest when his friend stopped moving and rushed to go help him. Teach caught him easily around the waist as he hauled him back from interfering.

"Tie him to the pipe." He instructed the men who were currently detaining the elder prisoner.

"You're hurting him!" Luffy screamed once more and tempted as he was to cover his mouth Teach had been bitten too many times to think that was a good idea.

Teach ignored his screams and instead signaled to one of the men once they had finished securing the pirate.

"You, come hold him." He snapped watching the man reluctantly try to secure the struggling teenager.

He told the other one to put sea stone cuffs back on and watched the color drain from the mans face. Teach vaguely remembered Luffy breaking someone's nose the last time they tried to restrain him, judging from the tilted angle of his bridge bone he suspected it was this very man. Still he had no patience for weak crew mates today.

He watched them struggle for a good five minutes before finally succeeding in locking them around his wrists. When they did it was like all the fight rushed out of Luffy. The man nearly dropped him, having to adjust his hold to keep them both upright.

"Was that so hard?" Teach teased as he unrolled the bounty.

"I hate you," Luffy told him.

"As you should." He told him holding the posters up to his face. "Now answer me honestly and so help me if you even think about lying your good friend over there is going to get a bullet in between the eyes." Luffy's eyes turned to Thatch fearfully but Teach grabbed his jaw and forced him to look back at the picture.

"Do you recognize this man?"

Dark eyes scanned the picture carefully before he shook his head.

"No."

"I'm not playing here KID!"

"I DON'T Know Him!" Luffy yelled back. "I'm not Lying!"

"Fine." Teach snapped once again grabbing Luffy's fringe and pulling his head up, holding the bounty poster side by side.

He studied Luffy's face carefully. Comparing it to each crease and line of the bounty picture looking for the similarities. It was the eyes in particular that stood out at him. The same intense glare Luffy was giving him right now that mirrored the papers.

"Who is that?" Luffy questioned.

"Congratulations kid," Teach praised as he rolled up the picture. "I found that Dragon you were talking about. And if I'm right then you just got a hell of a lot more valuable to me."

He gestured for the men to take him with them as they dragged him into the hallway kicking and screaming. It was time the two of them had a long chat.

XXX

Dark chapter geez. Not intentional it just kind of happened. But in other news there is more art posted. This time it's for a future chapter and it's Luffy and Sabo together (Deviant under the name: vi-va-la-vida if anyone wants to check them out). I'm thinking about writing chapter twenty-one this week as well so I can post another one quickly but I will see how it goes. As always you guys are amazing thank you so much for your support and for sticking by me. Sorry I hurt Luffy and Thatch in this one. But it will get better soon.