So I said last chapter it was going to get better, just not when it was going to. And it is certainly not this chapter.

XXX

"It's not that hard idiot."

"Then why can't I do it?"

"Because you're bad at everything."

"I am not!"

"Here give it to me," Ace said his voice on the edge of annoyance as he pushed Luffy aside none too gently.

The two of them were kneeling around a metal basin filled with cold mountain water.

Undiscouraged Luffy handed over the wet shirt to his brother. Ace began to work the shirt over the washboard emphatically with much more purpose then Luffy had used.

"See it's easy… pay attention." Ace flicked some of the cold water onto Luffy who had sat back in the grass, content to let Ace do his work.

"It's your shirt idiot. Do it yourself."

"But your better at it." Luffy argued.

The sun had set a little while ago and the sky was beginning to bleed pretty colors as it changed. Ace had wanted to finish up before it got dark. Dadan had told them that they weren't allowed to enter the house smelling like they did, she had likened it to a wild boar. The two had washed off in the stream nearby and put on some of the bandits hand-me-downs. The clothes were ridiculously baggy and it would be another several years before either boy grew into them. But it was better than nothing. They were just until their clothes finished drying. Which would hopefully be before nighttime came and they would be stuck like this all night.

"I'm better at everything then you." Ace told him dropping the wet shirt on top of his younger brother's head to get the point across. "Doesn't mean I am going to do it for you."

Luffy stood up to finish up with the shirt while Ace took the basket of newly washed clothes to the clothesline.

Once Luffy decided the shirt looked good enough he followed Ace, hanging it up besides his shorts so it could catch the last of the light.

The bandits were off raiding some rival group so their base was abandoned for the time being. An unusual silence hung in the air at their absence. With summer just around the corner the weather was warm and peaceful with the feint hum of the crickets and bullfrogs.

It was warm and nice and the grass tickled his bare feet when he walked. He leaned up against the worn wood of their base feeling the heat through the baggy cloth. Ace finished with the clothes before sinking down beside him. Both of them waiting out the rest of the daylight.

Life in the jungle was fast and dangerous, Life in the grey terminal was cut throat and chaotic, and in the town there was the over boding feeling that they didn't belong. Two dirty smudges on a white tapestry. But here life was more or less peaceful. Tucked away from most things, with a seemingly endless list of chores to flee from. It didn't suit either of them all that much. But the air was one of the sweetest things Luffy had tasted before. It didn't smell of garbage nor was it thick with salt and fish. It smelt like trees and wildflowers.

The two of them watched in silence as the blue of the sky paled into a light grey before darkening to black.

"Our clothes still aren't dry yet," Ace informed him and he hummed in dismissal.

Tomorrow would have to do. Until then at least Dadan would let them go inside.

Ace stared at him for a moment longer before the older boy stood up stretching. He reached into the back pocket of the baggy shorts pulling out what looked to be an elongated match stick. Luffy stood up curiously as Ace handed it to him.

"What's it?" He asked.

"It's a sparkler. Haven't you seen one before?"

Luffy nodded slowly. He had seen kids light them off from time to time. Usually for special dates. In town the richer children would set them off for children's day. In the village kids would sometimes get them for their birthdays. But never Luffy. He was neither rich nor did he have a family. But Ace was just the same. More often would they get a vicious kick rather than a kind word. So where did Ace get that.

"Makino," Ace said responding to Luffy's questioning look. "She gave it to me last week. She said it was for my birthday."

"Makino is the best." Luffy said happily as Ace grunted noncommittally.

He moved to hand it back to his brother but Ace stopped him. "You can have it."

"Really?"

"It's for dumb little kids anyways," He teased as he pulled out a box of stolen matches lighting the end for him.

Luffy watched transfixed as the end seemed to come to life with a sputter of fire. The flames came off as golden sparks, flying every which direction. It seemed to light up the darkness. It was so beautiful. So much more so then Luffy remembered from watching other kids. He laughed in amusement as some of the embers drifted down lazily into the grass where they burned themselves out quickly.

In the darkness the sparkler seemed to shine brighter than the moon. Like a tiny star in his hands. The only thing he could see were the beautiful sparks and the illumination of the golden light falling on their faces as he held the little firecracker up. To his surprise his brother's smile matched his own. Brimming with happiness and contentment. Only Ace wasn't even paying attention to the sparkler. He was watching Luffy's face as his little brother stared at the light. To Ace Luffy burned much brighter than any stupid toy could.

He laughed again at the sputtering of the blaze as the sparker began to burn itself out, leaving the two of them in darkness. Little more than a heated matchstick in his slightly blackened fingers.

Luffy surprised Ace by wrapping his arms around his waist, his head coming up to Ace's chest. Instead of thanking him Luffy simply grinned. Ace felt his face burn red at the open display of affection. He shove his brother away playfully as Luffy let go of the sparkler.

"Want to go raid the kitchen while their gone."

"Yea!"

"Last one there doesn't get any food. "Ace called as he broke off running towards the entrance.

"What! No way." Luffy yelled back oblivious to Ace's laughter.

…

Luffy screamed in anger as he was dropped down from across the man's shoulder onto the floor of Teach's office. He stood quickly, trying to get back to the hallway. But his escape was blocked by Teach as the man grabbed his bound arms and roughly threw him into the corner. Luffy screamed again, this time in pain as his head struck the wall. The air left his lungs at the impact and he struggled for breath. His panting came out more like a sob as he tried to keep the black spots out of his vision.

One of the men was trying to talk to him but he couldn't hear anything over his own pained breath. He pushed himself back up to his feet, feeling them tremble underneath him as he tried again for the door. Only to be stopped a second time by Teach whose already limited temper was being tested.

"What is it with you?" The man asked irately. As Luffy tried to shove him away with his shoulder Teach grabbed his head and slammed him harshly into the wall.

"Why don't you learn?"

"Thatch!" Luffy yelled desperately hoping his friend was alright. He wanted to go back and make sure.

"Shut up!" Teach snapped slamming him into the wall again and again.

"How the hell do you have so much energy left?" He waved his hand at one of his underlings.

"Go get the doc," He snapped.

"But he's sleeping."

"NOW!"

Luffy snarled viciously in the man's grip as he tried to force himself free. But the next second he was once again struggling for breath as he was knocked to the floor. Instead of air a wetness bubbled up his throat as he coughed up blood onto the wooden deck.

"Dammit!" The pirate snarled. "You made me do that. Stop fighting me already!"

Luffy ignored him in favor of spitting up the rest of what was in his throat. He heard Teach's boots against the floor as he made his way to his desk. He must have signaled the other man because a few seconds later insistent hands were pulling him up and towards the couch.

Luffy's struggles doubled at that as he let out a warning growl. He would rather get stabbed repeatedly then to be held again and treated like a trophy. A very disobedient trophy.

Teach had never been scared of him but the lackeys were a different story. The man handling him paused.

"Uhh he's growling at me," He said trying to come off as confident rather than nervous.

Teach ignored him leaving the man on his own as Luffy bucked against his hold. When an arm came too close to his face he dug his teeth in as hard as he could. The man screamed at that instantly letting go. But Luffy held on, feeling the blood start to flow from the wound. He only backed down when he felt thick fingers close around his neck cutting off his oxygen supply.

"Can't you do anything right." Teach snarled at the injured man who fell backwards in a mix of shock and pain.

"My arm," He whimpered. His pain quickly turned to anger as he rounded on Luffy. "That brat bit my damn arm off!"

While that was an exaggeration there was a sizable dent in his arm. Luffy spat back the man's blood into his face further enraging him. Teach had to physically hold him back from murdering Luffy like he was screaming about.

"OUT!" He told the man pushing him away. "Calm down before I decide to throw you overboard." Teach told him angrily. He panted for a second before turning to Luffy. "You cause trouble at every possibly opportunity. Just Behave!"

Luffy felt anger well up in him at that. Behave! He had never behaved in his entire life. And yet Teach had the audacity to try and control him like a dog. These people, this person, took him away from his home. He took his freedom away and chained him up in a place that was dark and wet. The air was stale and he was always cold. There was no sunlight, or much light at all. And no wind. Everything hurt all the time. Luffy was always hungry and tired. The only thing that came freely with Teach was the pain. And there was so much of that. His chest and stomach were the worst. It felt like knives were stabbing into his ribcage every time he moved them. But he would gladly put up with any pain as long as it meant he was making all of their lives harder.

He screamed at Teach in response putting all of his anger into the noise.

Teach once again slammed his head into the floor before pulling him back up and onto the couch. "Do you even know why I wanted to talk to you?" Teach questioned his voice dangerously low.

Luffy screamed again. He didn't care. Nothing the man said would change anything.

"Fine!" Teach snapped giving up. "I forgot you are more like a wild animal than a human." Seemingly remembering a prisoner wasn't worth losing his temper over Teach went back to his desk shuffling through some papers.

Luffy watched carefully from his seat. He brought his knees up to his chest protectively, waiting for what was coming next. By now he knew that with Teach it was always something.

Doc Q arrived a few moments later seemingly sleepy but not complaining.

"What boss?"

Teach gestured to Luffy. "He's driving me crazy. Do something or else I really might kill him."

"Something like what?"

"Make him stop screaming for starters."

"I can sever his vocal cords?"

Luffy hissed at that pushing back with his feet until his back hit the edge of the couch, as far away from the men as he could be.

"Something more short term."

"Ah okay." The Doctor agreed dropping his examining bag onto the floor and riffling through it.

Luffy watched with wide eyes as the man dumped out a number of instruments that looked more like weapons then doctors tools. There were knives of various shapes and sizes, differently labeled poisons and what looked to be a machete.

Finally the man found what he was looking for, a small glass bottle and Luffy bolted. He tried to get up but his head was too dizzy from its repeated collisions with the wall. He fell to his knees on the second step. When tried to crawl away Teaches heavy boot came down on his back pinning him to the floor.

"Let go you stupid jerk!" He shouted twisting to try and free himself. He could see the doctor load some of the bottles content into a syringe and his struggles renewed. He didn't want whatever was in there in him.

But nobody was giving him a choice as the sleeve on his left arm was roughly yanked up and he felt a prick.

He snarled at them again spitting insults until Teach slammed him into the floor again.

"What was that?" The man questioned as the doctor patted Luffy's head when he stopped struggling.

"It's a sedative." The man said as both of them lifted him from the floor back to the couch.

"You Had That The WHOLE Time!" Teach demanded angrily. "Why the Hell haven't you used it before?"

"Oh I have," He assured him. "The kids metabolism is scary high. It's not real cost effective with how quickly he works through it. Anyway," The man clamped his hands together. "I'm going to go, job well done here. I gave him a huge overdose so let me know if he starts suffocating or falls into a coma."

"Stop!" Teach commanded as the other turned to the door. "You're staying here."

Doc Q groaned at that but knew better then to argue with the man. Instead he dug around in his bag for the nearly empty bottle of booze he kept there.

"Whatever you say boss," He grumbled.

"How much do you know about hereditary genetics?"

The man shrugged, "a bit I guess." He took the paper offered to him.

"Who's this?"

"You tell me. That man is he related to the kid?"

The doctor looked at the picture before turning back to Luffy who was watching them both with dulled eyes. He let out a feint growl when the man pushed back his hair but it sounded more like a groan.

"Widows peak, jawline…..both of them sure look the same when they are angry."

"So…?"

The man shrugged letting go of Luffy. "I mean I think so. Kind of hard to tell without seeing the mother."

"Probably some kind of demonic badger," Teach grunted as Doc Q turned back to his bottle. This kid's family was so crazy it was no wonder he was the way he was. With a grandfather, brother and father like he had.

Teach turned back to his desk waving his hand in the man's direction. "Keep him quite, I need to make a call."

"Aye Aye captain," He said sarcastically.

Luffy wasn't paying attention anymore. Whatever was in that jar had made his head feel really fuzzy. Moving was a lot harder and he felt really tired but he didn't want to fall asleep here surrounded by these people. He heard the ringing of the baby den den as Teach made a call. He could hear the gruff voice of his associate on the other end. They were talking…about him?

He groaned at the pressure in his temples. It felt really weird. The doctor unbuttoned the first few buttons on Thatch's shirt to poke and prod at his bruises which Luffy responded to by trying to kick him away. He heard Teach snap at both of them, telling Luffy to shut up. And for once he listened but not to please anyone. He was just too tired.

Teach continued to talk and Luffy felt himself begin to drift off. He was thinking about better times. But then the tone on the other end shifted from gravely and harsh to painfully familiar and much younger. Luffy opened his eyes confused at the voice. He looked around the room until his gaze fixed on the den den. They were arguing about something.

He made a noise and Teach's attention snapped over to him, like he was remembering Luffy was still there. For a second he looked like he wanted to snap at him again but thought better of it.

Teach continued to talk. His tone shifting from anger to self-satisfaction as he sat down besides the teenager, pulling him up to lean against his side. Luffy wanted to pull away but he found he couldn't even do that. He huffed in anger as he listened to the two of them talk. He wanted to say something but the Doctor covered his mouth every time he tried.

"Want to say hello to your little brother?" Teach asked after a long moment.

Luffy sat up straighter but the hand didn't move from his mouth. He tried to pull away but the two men easily held him in place. His attempts to break free were pathetically weak.

He felt rough fingers prod his broken ribs with extreme force and before he could stop himself he let out a loud groan of pain. He didn't realize the point of that other than the usual abuse until he heard his brother call to him from the small snail.

"Luffy!" Ace breathed. His tone was much softer than it had been with Teach. He sounded worried. Luffy smiled at his voice but a hand on his throat stopped him from making a sound.

"What did you do to him!" Ace demanded.

"He's fine… more or less. A little out of it right now. Don't you have something to tell him?"

Teach held the snail out to Luffy but there was only silence at the other end. That was until they prodded his ribs again, harder this time and he let out a muffled shout of pain.

"Luffy," Ace said reluctantly.

"Go on," Teach prompted impatiently.

"Can you behave…for him?"

Those weren't Ace's words. Luffy knew that was Teach talking through him. Ace had never asked that of him before. He was just as wild and ill-behaved as his brother.

"Lu listen to me I'm going to save you. I swear to you no matter what." He promised fiercely.

Luffy knew that. Of course he did. He wanted to tell his brother that but they wouldn't let him talk. Controlling the both of them like puppets. Luffy was sick of it. Much like a child throwing a fit he bucked hard against their hold biting down on the hand over his mouth. He kicked blindly at them not stopping when the hand on his throat tightened until he couldn't breathe. He felt the collar of his shirt being tugged down to make room for another prick, this time in the soft skin above his collar bone. He felt all the previous fight rush out of him and he fell back limply, as if the strings holding him up had been cut.

"Ace told you to behave!" Teach told him angrily.

Luffy wanted to tell him that Ace hadn't said that! Teach had said that using Ace but he found he couldn't. The man stood up to finish whatever he had to say while the Doctor pet his hair in what may have been a rare display of sympathy. Their voices were coming off muted. A bit like they were underwater.

Oblivious to them Luffy's stare was fixed in the corner of the room. His breathing hitched and Doc Q grappled in his bag for the stethoscope. But Luffy wasn't suffocating as he feared. Rather he was staring at the grey eyed child neither man was able to see.

He was small, having just turned thirteen a few months ago. He looked at Luffy with sympathy. In his hands he held a single sparkler. The only present he had gotten in celebration of his birthday. It was lit, glowing with golden light that danced into the air.

Luffy tried to call out to him but the only sound he as able to make was a pained gasp. He tried again but couldn't. He called to his brother silently his lips forming the words.

'Help me.' He begged.

Child Ace only shook his head.

'Please.'

Teach turned around to look back at where the kid was staring.

"What the hell is he looking at?" He asked to the doctor. Whatever he was trying to say was lost in the erratic breathing that was quickly turning into hyperventilating.

"Just the drugs." The doctor assured him. "He's not reacting well to them."

"Well do something then!"

"Don't need to." The man said lazily tapping his nail against the jar. That was the beauty of tranquilizers.

The rumbling of the men's voices was muted to Luffy's ears as the sparking of the flames grew louder. All other noise was drowned out.

"Don't leave me," He breathed out begging to other boy to stay with him.

The rest of the room was dark but Luffy could still see the brightness of the sparkler lighting up the small corner of the room. Somewhere in the distance he could hear the chirping of crickets but they were hard to make out.

He struggled, confused to find that he couldn't move. He wanted to go there where Ace was. Why couldn't he?

'Please nii-chan.'

Ace blew out the sparkler and everything went black.

XXX

Happy three year anniversary for this story (as of yesterday)! Thanks to everyone who reads, have read or will read this story. To celebrate I made another sad chapter. I think? I don't know what you people find sad. But this made me sad. Yay three years, 21 chapters and over 75 thousand words. I have you guys to thank for that, if no one read it I wouldn't keep writing it.

So If anyone was curious about the timeline I mapped it out (because I am insane). It took a really long time and I used my first and only day off in over a month to do it. Why do I do these things? I have no idea.

It's been about two months since Luffy was taken from his island. Blackbeard captured him mid-May, a few days after his fifteenth birthday. Teach did this under the guise of running errands so no one got suspicious. A few days after he got back to the Moby Dick Thatch found the Yami Yami no mi which caused Teach to decide to set off his plans early, steal the fruit and Thatch and escape. During this time the Whitebeards were towards the end of the first half of the grand line. They were closest to Sabody Archipelago. The story starts late May with his betrayal. Teach's first base is near the start of the Grandline at the bottom of reverse mountain. It's just a crappy abandoned fortress he found (or whatever I said it was in the story). Ace is given two weeks to collect a crew for Blackbeard and in that time while he and Marco are recruiting Teach moves Luffy and Thatch from their base to Jaya, which takes roughly a week. Luffy then escapes and meets Sabo there who was on assignment from the revolutionaries. Upon completing his assignment he heads back to Baltigo. The location of the revolutionary base is said to be somewhere in the grand line which isn't real specific. So for the sake of this story it's somewhere between Jaya and Marine ford. But the revolutionaries have the ravens to speed up their travels to and from Baltigo. So Sabo returns to base and immediately sets off again to confront the Whitebeards. When Makino calls Garp she tells him that no one has seen Luffy for nearly two months. Nobody's seen Luffy in a while but he has only been missing for about a month and a half. Makino calls Garp late June. Since then it's been about two weeks and it's getting into July. At the moment the Whitebeard ship is heading back towards Jaya while Teach is going forward to a small island near Water seven.

In each chapter the characters aren't always on the same exact time. For the most part they are but occasionally a character is a day or two ahead (just based on the context). To anyone who missed the Whitebeards don't worry. They are about to appear much more from hence onwards.

XXX

Enjali: Yes he is, he is good at getting himself into trouble.

Dragonalw: Yes, unfortunately more of that here. Sorry. But Teach is going to back off next chapter. Thank you

WolvesInTheNight: Aww thank you!

Mel72000: Yes of course! And yes it is. Especially now after his conversation with Ace.

Randomly Talented: Yes, he annoyed a lot of dangerous people. But to kill him they have to find him first and Teach has a plan. I think Luffy is a mystery to most people in the show haha. Luffy is super valuable to him, which is why he plans to keep using him despite the two hating each other. Thanks for reviewing

Kitsune Foxfire: Yea or he needs to get a better doctor haha. Thanks for reviewing!

WindWhistle21: Don't worry! You won't be disappointed. I am as well. But until then more drama as you say. I'm glad you liked it! Thanks for sticking with it.

DemonKittyAngel: Aww I'm glad. I really like Sabo and Ace. I feel like as a duo they don't get the attention they deserve. They are my favorite friendship in the manga. Thatch and Luffy are getting to be really good friends since they are both kind people and everyone around them is insane. He did find out unfortunately. Although it's not really going to be a fight between them. Ace isn't allowed to fight them because of Luffy. What mill? Thanks for taking the time to review! Hope you liked this one as well.

Jordansdevil: And the cliffhangers strike back. Luffy is tough, he will pull through in the end! Thanks for the review

Wordlet: Yes! I am finally trying to push the plot haha. A lot more was supposed to happen here but I pushed it off for next chapter. I'm glad you are a fan of the dark story parts as well! As they are numerous in this story. At least I know it's not just me being needlessly dark. I love Ace and Sabo's partnership. They don't get enough attention. Thank you for the review!

SoulMore

SarahPrincess: It's what I do! Who's Marco?

D. Akisira R.T.M.S: (redacted) Aww thanks!

Resnelia: Thank you!

Guest #1: Yep!

HuntressTG: Who?

Sofia Du Ciar: Yea, he is a jerk. And he will use it to make Luffy/ Ace's life harder. Thank you for the review!

yuzukikuran476: A few more chapter! Things get a bit worse before they get better. Thaks or the review!

poky071: Screw that guy right! He hurt Ace in the cannon. Yes they have. But they have each other.

I love it! Although my hatred for Blackbeard has unsurprisingly risen dramatically. Good job anyway! Can't wait for things to look up for Thatch and Luffy. Poor things have gone through a lot. Thank you for writing this!

Emeraldeyed

hypnotic Doll: I don't know!

weep for the empty: Yep! Glad you liked it.

Sakihinata: Yes! But not too soon. I promise a happy ending in the future.

Camp Pillow: None taken. Aww thank you. I'm glad you like it.

Camp Pillow: I'm happy you think so. I think that's how a lot of fanfics work haha. Stealing the characters from the author and what not (thank you Goda). And I like that anyone reviews at all! It's the least I could do. Thank you!

yukino76: Don't worry! I promise a happy ending. It's a Fawn-guarantee.

choco-muncher100: Thank you kind one!