Hello everyone, here is the next chapter

We have a bit of everything in this

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Marco watched as Trevor and Ace sat and spoke at the railing, seeming to maybe be speaking about some techniques or something as they used their hands and by some words he heard. They did show off sometimes and it was really interesting to see, mostly because they used other kind of methods to practice certain things. An example of that had been when Trevor showed how he did a small basic arm exercise. Instead of just doing a pull up, as they had expected, he did one of that, before moving himself to be on a handstand on the mast, and doing a push up of a kind, before slowly easing down again, doing it again.

He did say it was really easy then, since he didn't have any weights on, which made them wonder how strong he was, and how much of a balance he had. It didn't seem easy, and when Thatch had tried, wanting to show off, he had lost his balance when he moved to the handstand, falling to the deck. Many had tried it, and some could half do it, but nowhere as easily as Trevor did, and that was without weights.

As they were speaking about being light footed it seemed like, Haruta walked over and got their attention. ¨Is there a way to practice being light on your foot?¨ That got most of everyone's attention, knowing that especially Ace was light footed. Trevor looked at her and gave a hum, ¨There is, Bunny knows many, most actually.¨ Trevor sent a look at Ace, ¨Aren't you currently supposed to practice the jump thing?¨ Ace gave a small sigh, ¨I am, but I haven't had the chance to start yet.¨ Trevor clapped his hands, ¨Then this is perfect! You can show her how to do it and you can practice together.¨ Ace lifted an eyebrow at Trevor, before shaking his head. ¨I could,¨ He sent a look at Haruta, ¨But no offence, it's hard, you should start much easier.¨ Haruta gave a nod not seeming offended by that, which Marco understood. Everyone knew Ace was really good in balance and fighting. ¨Could you still show? Or try?¨ Asked Haruta slowly, and Marco hoped it would be yes. They still hadn't seen Ace train.

Before Ace could answer, Trevor did. ¨Of course Bunny can. Let's see, we need a thing.¨ He said before walking a bit off, Ace standing and shaking his head, seeming more amused than annoyed.

After a minute, Trevor returned with two cylinder-shaped containers, most likely having been used to store some metal or other long things. It wasn't wider than a feet, but it was about Trevor's height. He placed them on the deck, looking at Haruta. ¨Here. One for you, and one for Bunny.¨ Haruta looked confused, not sure what to do with them. Not that Marco knew either. Ace shook his head as he walked towards one, using his leg to move it so it laid crossed over the deck. ¨To make it harder, make sure it won't get stuck between two planks, that makes it not as hard and you won't gain from it.¨ Haruta gave a nod, doing it too. They had all the attention now, everyone wondering what they would do.

Ace stepped on the cylinder shape, ¨As a start would be to just be able to stand on it and not lose balance, as that is a key thing in being light on your feet.¨ Haruta nodded, and stood on it herself, managing to stand on it good, maybe not as good as Ace as she moved at times to hold her balance. Ace gave a nod, ¨And you expand from there. just start with walking on it, then maybe standing on a leg, then jumping a small jump on it.¨ Ace showed this off as he said it, having no issues. Haruta tried herself, but fell off when she did the small jump. Ace shook his head a bit, ¨It's normal, you're not used to it, just continue. Jumping on it means you need to not use too much force when jumping off, so it won't move, but also landing carefully to not make it move, while also keeping your balance.¨ Haruta gave a nod, and stood up on it again. When she was, she sent a look at Ace, ¨What are you going to do? You are able to do this.¨

Ace gave a nod, ¨When you are able to do the basics, you expand. Maybe jumping from legs to a hand stand, which is easy since you can use your hands to hold around it in a way. What I'm going to try, is to do a backwards somersault. Which means I need to use force to jump off, also pushing myself backwards, without moving the container, but also managing to land and hold my balance and not move it again, which is hard since my body is moving forward. Which means I need to be light to not push it when I jump or lands, but also focus on my balance.¨

Everyone blinked. That sounded hard. ¨Is that even possible?¨ Asked Haruta. ¨Just doing a normal jump was hard.¨ Ace took a breath, ¨Only one way to find out, but I do think it is possible.¨ Haruta gave a nod, and stepped down from the container, wanting to see Ace do this, they all wanted to see this, Ace would most likely do it easily.

Ace took another breath, before he seemed to get ready, before he jumped up, doing the somersault, the container barely moving. But when he landed, the container moved, making so Ace fell off. He didn't fall fall, but he was now standing on the deck.

Ace shook his head lightly, walking and moving the contained back to where he stood as it had moved. ¨Jumping off is easy, landing is hard.¨ Everyone nodded, Haruta going on again and trying to do the more easier things, while Ace went on and tried again, ending up with standing on the deck again. It seemed way to hard, as when he landed on it, it would move since Ace's feet were moving from the somersault, but he seemed to be focused on doing it. Trevor was standing on the side and laughing at times. When Ace had tried on time and actually fell on his back as he lost his balance, Trevor had laughed out loud. Ace had just jumped up and tried again. It was interesting to watch, but it didn't look like something he would be able to do, as it would always be moving when he landed.

One time Ace had been preparing to jump, but before he did, he just jumped off, making Trevor react. ¨Hey! No bailing!¨ Ace shook his head, ¨It wouldn't have gone, I jumped wrong.¨ Trevor raised an eyebrow, ¨Then don't do that.¨ Ace just sent a look at him, before shaking his head and going on it again.

Before he jumped off this time, he tested it out a bit, before doing the jump and somersault. When he landed, it moved a bit, but Ace managed to move with it, keeping his balance and not falling off, sticking the landing perfectly.

Everyone soon cheered, amazed that he had managed to do it. Even Trevor clapped. Ace shook his head lightly. ¨Knew it was possible.¨ Haruta looked at him, ¨What do you do now? Just do it again?¨ Ace looked at her, nodding. ¨Yes, or at least until you are sure you can do it plain like this. When you can that, you add more challenge. Maybe by jumping from one container to another, add weight or other things like that.¨ Haruta nodded, looking amazed. Just what he did now seemed hard, so to be adding more was something that seemed near impossible. But then again, this was Ace.

Ace then moved his container closer to Haruta, and went on, showing her to do small tricks to make it easier, helping her with her balance. She seemed glad by it, and she did seem to grasp it, although having more of a hard time than Ace. As Ace was helping Haruta, Trevor gave a comment on how he should get Raiden to visit, so he and Ace could do a duel, to really show to use one's speed in battle. Haruta looked hopeful at that, especially when Ace said maybe.

Marco hoped he would ask the man to do a visit. Not only because he could learn them, especially Haruta things, but he would love to see Ace and Raiden have a duel. Both of them were amazing fighters it seemed like. He could only hope.

-x-

Ace stood on a small ledge in a room, looking over the room with a lot of guards in it. Ace was going to take all of them out, and get some information from the leader here, a man who Ace hadn't heard about before, not seeming to be too bad of a person as he usually dealt with. He was abusing and using other people, but he wasn't as bad as most. But there was still something that seemed off. He had way too many guards. Yes, he was doing a lot of shady things and abusing people. But Ace had seen Blue blooded patricians, even Nobles, with less guards. So there had to be something here.

The information he was after didn't seem any special either, just being some names, plans and the normal kind. But still.

Ace gave a small frown as it didn't seem as if the guards had a set pattern, going a bit here and there, but still covering the entire ground. Not that it made much difference, he was allowed to take everyone out, and Ace saw no reason in letting anyone get out alive. Everyone was here by choice, which was also weird. Why would so many join one guy? Ace decided to check for more information on it later. For now, he would concentrate on taking everyone out and getting to the information. After counting and being sure how many there were, around 150 if he was right, Ace readied his gun and dagger. With a preparing breath, he disappeared in black smoke.

When he reappeared, he was behind two, and quickly sliced their throat, before disappearing again, reappearing behind a small group. There was one who noticed him and readied their guns, but Ace quickly used his dagger to kill one, using him as a quick shield. When the shooting stopped for a second, Ace threw the man at one guard, using his gun to shoot the rest quickly, before disappearing again.

It was easy to take out large groups like this. Ace could just appear where he wanted it when he needed it, and if he was noticed, he could just disappear.

As he continued doing this, people began yelling it was a demon here, making him roll his eyes. As they were getting paranoid, it became way easier to deal with them. Paranoid people were nervous and did rash things. By just throwing a rock in a wall, he managed to make a guard shoot two other guards, before Ace shot him himself. Everyone was dead in 15 minutes, laying here and there, some still small twitching. As they were dead, Ace placed his knife away, but kept his gun out as he walked towards the room where the leader was. Ace had seen him gone in there before, and he didn't think there would be an exit. It was a factory building and this was in the middle, no ways to the outside. When he prepared to open the door, he had his gun ready. He had a hope to have a bit of fun with the leader, hoping even more to get some information out of him.

But as soon as he opened the door, he gave a sigh as he saw the body of the leader, slouched over his desk with a gunshot through his head, a gun in his hand. Obviously killing himself before he got in here. That rarely happened actually, which made him frown a bit. But what made him frown more, was when he saw some folders in a small fireplace, half burning still. With a frown, he used his powers to rid of the flames, making them die out, before taking the folders out, heading to the desk. As he was at the desk, he noticed a lot of mess of folders, most based on the people he had abused, used, and even killed.

Why would he not burn those? It was usually that kind of folders that were burned, not others. And it seemed like he had not wanted to burn those. The feeling that something was wrong got stronger. Ace found the folders he was after first, which took some minutes because of the mess, but he soon found them with some other folders. He found a lot on some slaves, rapes, tortures and burnings, which the man had just shoved aside, seeming to get the few he had burned. When he had what he needed, he looked at the folder that had been in the fireplace, carefully opening them and looking over what wasn't burned, wondering what the man was trying to hide. It had to be worse than the other things, which made him wonder what it could be.

After reading a few pages, he frowned even more. It was all written in codes, even in a code he had never seen. He looked through all of it, finding everything was the same, in codes he hadn't seen before. That hadn't happened before, he knew of the codes people used, so this did not sit right with him. Ace carefully took the folders and placed them in his bag, taking the ones he was after and placing them in his belt for now, marking the leader before he left. When he got back on the boat, he quickly wrote a note to the one wanting him to do this, not mentioning anything about the coded folders or the fact the man had taken his life before Ace got to him. He didn't need to know that as he wasn't after that. Ace only mentioned he was now gone and gave him the information he was after.

When he had sent that away, he turned to the coded folders and looked the more over, even taking some books he had on codes. They had a few books on it as they used them to make sure they would remember it and could check easily. They didn't have everything, but it did have those Ace weren't as familiar with since they were rarely used. When he had looked through what he had, he gave a frown as it didn't match any of them. With a small sigh, Ace left out and headed to the galley, knowing breakfast was now.

When he got to the galley, Trevor gave him a look. ¨Bunny, how'd it go?¨ Ace gave him a serious look, making a motion with his head. ¨Trevor, Mika, I need you now.¨ Both of them looked at him, before giving a nod, standing up and heading after him. he saw the pirates also frowning a bit, wondering what was up, but let them go.

When they got to his room, he showed them the folders, telling what had happened. Trevor gave a frown after having looked them over. ¨This isn't right, Ace. I've never seen anything like this, and why would a random man have it?¨ Ace gave a sigh. ¨I know. It all seems weird. There was even way too many guards for what it normally was, and he seemed to be prepared for this, even killing himself after throwing specifically them in the fire.¨ Mika nodded. ¨You're right. This all seems weird.¨ Ace gave a nod, looking at them. ¨None of you have any ideas to what codes it is?¨ Trevor looked at him, a bit shocked. ¨You don't know? You know of every code they use, Ace. We always ask you.¨ Ace shook his head, giving a sigh. ¨I have never seen that before. There even isn't anything in the code books from Azuruko. Nothing matches.¨

Both of them frowned more at that, not liking that one bit. Trevor shook his head, giving a sigh. ¨I'm sorry, Ace. I have never seen it before either. What are you going to do with them?¨ Ace shook his head, ¨I have 4 different folders in the same code. I will send one to Daisuke, one to Hanzo, and keep two to myself. This isn't right, something is obviously up. This is clearly something important, and it was on the line to North Blue, if we get nowhere and believe this is bad news, we'll send one to Germa 66.¨

Trevor blinked at him. ¨Germa 66? Are you serious?¨ Ace gave a sigh, nodding. ¨But that is only if we get nowhere and believe this is really bad, just as a plan B for now. I hope we won't need to do that either.¨ Trevor and Mika nodded, agreeing on it. He hoped he didn't need to use them, but it was close to the line to North Blue, meaning they might know something, but Ace hoped they wouldn't need it or see the need to do it. They were at odds, so they might even decline if they asked.

Mika and Trevor left, and Ace sent two of the folders with Dust, one to Daisuke and one to Hanzo, who was amazing at codes, especially old codes one rarely used anymore. Also including a note on why he was sending it and what had happened today, the reason he was worried. He hoped they would have some answers.

When he was finished with that, he got an hour to relax, before he got another assignment. Ace managed to keep a small sigh inside as he read it over, seeing it was involving children. Ace hated assignment with children, they weren't supposed to be his work. They weren't supposed to be captured or used. He had a hope this wouldn't be so bad, but couldn't help but think it was going to. The way the note spoke didn't seem right and promised a dark and death filled place.

Ace sometimes really hated his job.

-x-

Marco walked to Ace's room, knowing he was back from the assignment he had been on, since Dust was out on deck in his nest. Pops had just told him they were going to have a small emergency meeting, the reason being they had seen some things in the news and Claus had overheard an emergency broadcast between the marines and what they were talking about weren't far from them. Marco had decided to go get Ace first, also mentioning what the meeting was about, hoping he might know something he could share. The broadcast didn't sit right.

When he got to Ace's room, he knocked, and after a second, he walked inside, seeing the door was open. Ace hadn't responded, but they would like to have Ace present, and Marco was thinking Ace maybe was doing something or was asleep. When the door was opened, he saw Ace was asleep, Marco thinking the assignment had been a bit hard or Ace was tired since it was in the middle of the day and he rarely slept at this time. As he took a step inside, he was shocked at a voice to his left. ¨Whatcha doing here?¨ Marco turned and saw Trevor sitting at Aces desk, reading something. Marco blinked, surprised he was there, and was so calm and not doing anything to annoy Ace. ¨We're having a meeting, yoi. We need Ace for it.¨ Dust had been out for at least two hours, so he had a feeling Ace had been asleep for a bit, making him feel a bit better about waking him.

Before he could move, Trevor shook his head. ¨Bunny is not going to be at that meeting, unless it is about life and death.¨

Marco blinked, looking at Trevor. ¨Why not? He got his duties to do.¨ He had sometimes noticed Trevor half bothering them or Ace in the middle of the duties they had, so Marco thought it was because Trevor wanted Ace to sleep or something. Trevor shook his head again, ¨If you need him for his knowledge, I can step in. But I don't want Bunny joining that meeting now.¨ Marco gave a small frown. Trevor seemed serious about this. ¨Why, yoi?¨ Trevor seemed to be assessing him for a second,

¨Because Bunny is drunk, passed out drunk. Even if you got him up, I don't want him joining a meeting and making decisions unless absolutely necessary, no matter how much he can keep his mind with him.¨

Marco blinked again, sending a look at the bed, seeing Ace had made no movement during their talk. He knew Ace was a light sleeper normally. He gave a nod. ¨I get it, yoi. You probably know the same, could you maybe join us instead?¨ He didn't want to have Ace in the meeting too if he was drunk, just by principle. Based on what Trevor said, he was most likely still much in his right mind drunk, and that was good to know if an emergency came up. But this wasn't that bad, not yet at least. Trevor have a nod. ¨I can join, I know around the same things as Bunny.¨ Marco nodded, that was good. He decided to go to the meeting room where Pops was waiting and telling him why Trevor was coming and not Ace, just so he knew.

When they walked into the meeting room, he could see Pops frowning, asking why he brought Trevor, Marco saying it was instead of Ace. When Pops asked why Ace wasn't coming, him also knowing Ace was back, Trevor shook his head. ¨Bunny is drunk and I don't want him here when drunk and making decisions, even though he would have managed, but still. Easy as that.¨ Pops had nodded, not liking that information. It had been a while since Ace had been drunk, at least to their knowledge. But he might have gotten drunk and just stayed in his room, that wouldn't surprise them. They wouldn't have known about this if it weren't for the meeting.

Pops sent a look at Trevor. ¨Do you know where he keeps what he drinks? And the strength?¨ Marco also looked at Trevor, understanding Pops was going to ask so they might could rid some of it or maybe as Trevor to do it. This wasn't good, and he knew what Ace drank was strong. Trevor shook his head, ¨I know all of that, but I won't tell.¨ Marco saw Pops frown, ¨Why not?¨ Trevor gave a sigh. ¨I know you mean well, and yes, this isn't good for him. But I know you are going to ask me to take it away or do it yourself. But if you take Aces alcohol away, you take the one thing that sometimes helps, what makes it bearable at times. And if you do that, he won't be around for long.¨

Marco felt something cold settle inside him. Not only by the fact Trevor actually used Ace's name, but what he hinted towards at the end. ¨When you say not around, do you mean just not be here, yoi?¨ Marco hoped, almost desperately so, that he would say yes to that. Trevor shook his head, having an emotionless look.

¨No. Take it away, and I am almost sure Ace will kill himself.¨

Marco saw Pops didn't like that information at all, and Marco agreed. He knew it helped Ace, but he had no idea it was that bad. ¨How do you know that?¨ Asked the captain, looking shocked and hoping he might be wrong. Trevor shook his head, sitting down in a chair, ¨Because he isn't alone in that.¨ As Pops was on his way to speak again, Trevor sent him a look. ¨Now, is this meeting going to happen, or are we going to continue speaking about Ace behind his back? Because if yes, I'm leaving.¨ Pops gave a nod, looking at him. ¨Son, can you go get the rest?¨ Marco nodded, doing that. When he got out of the meeting room, he immediately sent Rakuyo and Speed Jiru inside, just to hopefully help with the tension, before he went and got the rest, asking them to help him get everyone.

The meeting went by fine. Some did ask why Trevor was there and why Ace weren't, and Trevor answered it with an easy, ¨He's busy.¨ And no one questioned it, although Marco saw some sending a look at Pops, but let it be. Although it was bad and a new revelation for him and Pops it was this bad, he was glad to see Trevor caring about Ace, him seeming to have stayed with him while he was drunk and was willing to step up now so Ace didn't need too. Marco guessed they had worked together for a small while and had this kind of relationship where they sort of annoyed each other, but they would be there for each other if it was needed. It was good to see that.

When it came to the broadcast, no one had information about it, at least between the pirates, and they decided to ask everyone first before Trevor. When Pops did ask Trevor, they found out they weren't entirely wrong by being worried. They weren't the main target, but they should watch out. If they saw any marines, they would attack them, no matter what. Trevor didn't answer to why this was, only mentioning it was because of some 'events' that had happened. But they should be careful, especially if they came across larger groups or big ones. But he also mentioned if they didn't attack them for some reason, they should not attack the marines. They did accept it, understanding it was a reason behind it that he wouldn't tell.

The meeting did last a bit over an hour, and when it ended, Marco stayed behind for a minute, speaking a bit with the others, before leaving. He decided to head to Ace's room, wanting to be with Ace and make sure he was fine.

When Marco got to the commanders hallway, he saw Trevor walking inside, and Marco followed. When he got inside, he saw Ace had moved positions a bit, and that Trevor moved to lay down next to Ace. When he did, Ace moved and sent a half look at Trevor. ¨Hey, Bunny.¨ Ace let out something akin to a groan, turning his head the other way. ¨Go away, Trevor.¨ It was muffled and low, Marco maybe imagining a small slur. Trevor gave a small chuckle, ¨Naw, you never complained before.¨ Marco heard an angry sigh. ¨Go. Away.¨ Trevor gave a fake hurt sound as he stood up. ¨You're mean, Bunny.¨ Ace completely ignored him. Trevor gave a small chuckle when he was up, giving Marco a look when he noticed him, before shaking his head, heading to leave.

Marco, deciding to take a small chance, walked up to the bed, taking his shoes off, slipping in the bed and lied down beside Ace carefully, carefully moving a hand to lay over him. If Ace told him to leave, he would. But he also knew Ace sometimes liked him close, and he wanted to be with Ace if he could help. When he was in the bed, he noticed Ace didn't have many clothes on, only a shirt and some loose pants, making him believe Trevor had made him change, or changed him maybe. Marco knew Ace often just laid down and fell asleep when he was drunk, not caring about taking anything off. He was almost a bit jealous of Trevor, but he guessed it was how they worked.

Marco felt Ace make some small movement, but didn't say anything against him being there. Just as Marco was about to make himself more comfortable, he heard Trevor, who apparently hadn't left yet, speak up. ¨You let him lay there, but not me? I'm hurt.¨ Marco felt Ace giving a half annoyed breath, ¨There's a difference. I like Marco, not you.¨ Trevor let out a hurt sound, ¨You break my heart, Bunny.¨ It was ended by a half chuckle. Marco then heard the door open and close, Trevor leaving. When the door closed, Ace gave a small sigh, ¨Ignore him.¨ Marco gave a nod, making himself a bit more comfortable, noticing Ace didn't mind him this close. But then again, he was drunk. He didn't seem to mind closeness drunk.

When he was comfortable, he moved and gave a kiss to the shoulder. ¨I like you too, yoi.¨ Ace gave a small chuckle, or a small sound rather. ¨That's good'.¨ Marco unconsciously tightened his hand around Ace for a second. That was definitely slurred. Marco didn't like the fact Ace drank, but now that he knew it might be a thing that kept him going, was even more worrisome. He would rid himself of the thought of making him stop for now, but he would maybe try to help him lessen it, so he didn't get too drunk. But Marco didn't know, he was at a loss in this manner.

Marco made himself comfortable and tried to relax, slowly moving his hand to Ace's head, threading his hands through it. Ace didn't make any sounds or movement, already back asleep. He needed to try to think about this and how to maybe bring it up with Ace. This was now way past normal worry. But he had no idea how to bring it up or help Ace with it.

-x-

Ace felt himself waking up, head feeling foggy. He moved a hand to his head, slowly massaging it as he woke up more. After a minute, when his head stopped hurting for a second, he noticed someone lying next to him. his first thought was that it was Trevor, as he had been with him last night, as he sometimes were when he was drunk. It was sort of nice at times, and he had sometimes stayed with Trevor when he was drunk. But they never stayed in the same bed, they either just sat on a chair on the floor, so this was a bit weird. When he turned his head, he was mildly shocked to see it wasn't Trevor, but Marco. He didn't remember Marco being here last night, so it was a small shock. The man was asleep, an arm almost half-draped over him. Ace tried to think, knowing he would usually wake up when someone laid down next to him. He hadn't been too drunk to not wake up from movement, or at least he didn't think he was.

After a minute, he remembered faint talking, before Trevor was suddenly lying next to him, for some reason speaking to him too. Ace managed to keep a small annoyed sound inside. Trevor had done something, that was why he tried to speak to him, to see how he was, but Ace was not in the mood to deal with the man then, way too tired and still drunk. Now he was annoyed and half worried what the man might have done or said. It couldn't be anything good if he tried to tell him like that.

Ace moved his body a bit, moving himself in a more comfortable position and tried to relax, not ready to completely wake up. When he was more comfortable and relaxed, he felt some movement beside him and an arm coming to slowly stroke his back, making him give a breath. ¨How you feeling, yoi?¨ Ace gave a nod, ¨I'm okay.¨ He felt the hand moving a bit up to his shoulder blades and moving in a massaging way. ¨That's good, yoi.¨ Ace gave a small nod against the pillow. Ace opened his eyes a bit and saw Marco awake and looking at him carefully, making him believe he knew he had been drinking last night. Ace closed his eyes and tried to think what had happened before. Hadn't Marco laid down soon after Trevor was there?

¨What did Trevor do?¨ He knew he had done something and Marco might know. When Marco didn't answer, Ace was sure he had done something. ¨What did he do?¨ Marco gave a sigh. ¨We had a meeting and he joined instead of you since he didn't want you there while you were… intoxicated, yoi.¨ When Marco stopped, Ace leaned up on his hands a bit, looking at Marco. ¨What did he do or say?¨ He must have done something as Marco didn't want to tell him. Marco gave a sigh again, leaning up a bit himself and looking at him. ¨Pops asked about what you drink and where you keep it, to maybe take it away or something.¨ Ace was on his way to speak, to say that it wasn't good to do that. But Marco continued. ¨Trevor said we shouldn't, telling that if we did… you might not be around anymore, yoi. He also said what that meant.¨ Marco ended it with a careful look.

Ace let out a breath, moving to lay down again and having his face in the pillow. Why did Trevor need to out him like this. He felt Marco's hand moving to his back again and stroking it. ¨I get it, yoi. I don't like it, but I get it. We won't make you stop or anything, but we don't like it.¨ Ace gave a nod, keeping his eyes closed. He would kill Trevor for this. ¨Who knows?¨ He heard Marco give a sigh. ¨Only me and Pops.¨ Ace gave a nod, that was good. He was still annoyed and mad Trevor had outed him, but it was at least only to Marco and Whitebeard and both knew he already drank strong things. He would still talk to Trevor about this as this was not okay by his book and hear why he had decided to do it. Trevor knew he didn't like it when he mentioned his drinking, none of them did, not even Trevor himself.

He felt Marco make some small movement, the hand still moving on his back, more comfortingly now. ¨If it helps, he said you weren't alone in that, yoi.¨ That was something, he hadn't just outed him, but himself too. Ace gave a nod, he would handle this with Trevor later. ¨What was the meeting about?¨ Marco gave a small hum to himself. ¨It was a bit of the normal, yoi. But we overheard a broadcast between the marines between the New World and Grand Line, which we found a bit worrisome since it touched on our names, but Trevor said it wasn't just us, but we should be careful and would most likely be attacked by the marines if we saw them. But he also said if they didn't attack, to let them be.¨ Ace gave a small hum, ¨Did he mention what or any names or words?¨ Ace heard Marco shaking his head, ¨No, yoi. Do you know what it is?¨

Ace gave a small nod, ¨I do, and Trevor was right. The marines will most likely attack if they see us. But if they don't, we shouldn't attack them.¨ Ace knew about it, having known about it for almost one month now as the marines had planned this. It wasn't necessarily targeted at the pirates, but the marines most likely would go at them too if they came around. The marines did have some extra strength, both in groups and in some weapons, but not so much they should be worried. It was to check out how this would work, as they were testing some weapons and such out, also trying to take out or lure out some people, the reason they should let them be if they didn't attack them, meaning they had someone in their view that they were after. He heard Marco nodding, ¨That sounds okay, yoi.¨ Ace gave a nod himself. It wasn't anything dangerous, just something that was good to know so they were prepared.

Ace felt Marco moving his hand on his back in a stroking motion, which felt good, but his head was still a bit foggy and hurting. ¨Marco,¨ He started, making the other give a hum. ¨Could you have your hand on my head instead?¨ It was a second of silence, before he heard some shifting, the hand moving to his head. ¨Of course, yoi.¨ When the hand stated moving in a massaging way, he felt himself give breath as it felt good and helped his small headache a bit, and tried to relax.

Marco gave a smile as he closed his own eyes, glad to see Ace relaxing and enjoying this.

-x-OUTTAKE-x-

Law managed to keep an annoyed sigh inside, wondering what deity hated him now. They had been on they good way to their destination in the New World, but what had happened? Corazon had for whatever reason decided to make a promise to pick up something for Doflamingo. Not that it was unusual for them to agree to that, wanting to keep in on what Doflamingo was doing, but this required them to go back in the Grand Line, even almost heading to the middle of it, making him way pissed off. This could and should have been all avoided if Corazon managed to use his brain for once. Normally, Law would have said no, but he couldn't. Not only did he need to know what Doflamingo was doing, as Corazon had used as an argument, but he needed to do something great and good to not get more on the assassin's bad side. He couldn't afford to lose his help.

As he was now walking on the island they were at, where they were supposed to meet the ones to get the package from in a day or so, them being early out, Law heard a yell that made his entire body freeze and grow cold. ¨TRAFFY?!¨ Law prayed, for the first time in forever, that someone else called him that, be it Corazon playing a prank on him. but when he turned around, he felt his entire body freeze as he saw the damn brat, Luffy, there, looking so excited to see him.

Law couldn't leave, he needed to be on this island until at least tomorrow, maybe even two days. And the damn brat was here?!

Law swallowed.

He was so screwed.

And that's the chapter, hope you enjoyed

Had a bit of this and that in this, some plot, normal days and the beginning to more Law and Luffy

And would people be interested in seeing Raiden and Ace have a duel? I can mention it, or I can write the entire duel. Please tell what you want here as I am happy with both

And just a small thing. The next chapter will also have more of Ace/Marco, as they need to get more together and everything

I am also working on the one shots, but am a bit late now as things have been hectic and I haven't had a lot of ideas or requests. I have gotten some, but only a couple. So don't be afraid to tell if you want a specific scene there

Hope you enjoyed, and if you have the time, I would greatly appreciate feedback on the chapter

If you have any questions, requests or if you're wondering about something, don't be afraid to leave a comment, or send a pm

And if you like this story, please go check out Ace of Spades One Shots, where I post one shots and different events from this story