Koala gnawed at her lip with unease, eyes flicking to Hack who was watching on with just as much worry as she was. Sabo was flitting from one side of the room to the other, a stream of words tumbling from his lips in a mumble as he picked up report after report, pinning some while tossing others.
Since the news of Monkey D. Luffy's death the air around the base had been sombre, empty. But it was only since they returned from Dawn has Sabo lost the plot. He had been almost frantic, obsessive, with his search on how the World Government found out about his little brother.
Koala helped him in the beginning, finding all the information and passing it on. In the beginning, he wasn't so bad, but as the days passed with no leads, the worse Sabo got. He barely ate, barely slept, only leaving the room if she and Hack escorted him out.
Now he fought them on it, refused to leave or even stop.
"Do you think we should tell Dragon-san?" She asked, turning her eyes up to Hack. "He should have stopped this long ago."
Hack grimaced. "I am afraid Dragon-san has gone off to find his own leads. So far we've been taking the lead with Karasu in charge and the other commanders while our Chief of Staff is occupied and our leader missing, we are Sabo's only…"
"…not only though… we could call Fire-Fist?" Koala picked up from where Hack trailed off.
It would take them some time to remember that Sabo now had family, a brother, after years of knowing him as a runaway who couldn't remember anything but his name.
Her eyes flickered to the bare spot on the wall, the spot where Sabo hung his hat and his pipe, the pipe he left back on the island without a backwards glance.
Sighing she pulled out the white Den-Den and dialled the new number she had memorised, lip once again being gnawed on, eyes pinned on her friend.
'Who is this and how did you get this number?' the voice was dark and crackled like embers. She snapped her eyes back to Hack who was listening intently, neither of them had met Fire-Fist, only seeing him from a distance as Sabo bid him goodbye, let alone hear his voice. It was not what they expected, the same soft consonants that Sabo has.
"This is Koala, I work with your brother." She replied instantly.
There was silence for a beat. 'Is Sabo okay?'
"Yes and no, he's not physically injured." Koala spat out fast, hearing the soft agony in the tone, she was familiar with it, with the tone someone used to brace themselves for bad news. "He's been trying to find who found out about Mon… your brother… that was two weeks ago, he was fine in the beginning but now he's not eating, not sleeping."
'Give him the Den-Den.' The voice ordered and Koala felt her hackles rise at the command but complied with a grimace.
"Sabo?" Koala called as she stepped forward into the room, dodging the file that was thrown her way over his shoulder.
"There has to be something, something we're missing, something I'm missing!" Sabo hissed under his breath, fingers shaking as he re-read another report of his brother when they were young.
Dragon had indeed kept tabs on Luffy growing up, and Sabo didn't know how to feel about that. His heart both ached and rejoiced with the antics Ace and Luffy did growing up in High Town, in the Terminal. Yet there was so much missing, so many little memories that would be unseen by anyone but Ace.
Sabo would never get to make new ones, his last memory of his precious little brother would forever be of him crying out surrounded by fire.
"Koala, I'm missing something, I can feel it, it's in these files but I just can't see it!" He choked out, whirling around to face his partner but pausing as a very angry-looking Den-Den was shoved into his face, it was a look he was familiar with. "Ace?"
'I've been told you haven't been eating, haven't been sleeping, Sabo.' Ace's tone was heavy with disappointment, and it only caused the blonde to bristle.
"You can't talk! Izou and Thatch rang me two days ago for the same reason!" He hissed furiously back.
'…Sabo, that was a week ago.' Ace drawled out slowly, causing Sabo to blink.
"What no?" He replied in disbelief, eyes flicking to the calendar on his desk with a frown, only to see it was no longer there, nothing was where it should be.
'Sabo, you need to eat and sleep. I know… I know you're trying to find out who sold out Luffy, but you can't risk your health for it. He would never want that; he would be so angry by it.' Ace said softly, so worried about how Sabo would take the news. 'He wouldn't want us to stagnate in our life because of him, he'd want us to adventure, to... to live."
"How can I stop Ace? How can I?" Sabo choked, sinking to the floor in his grief. "It's the only thing I can do. It's the only thing I have left of him to do."
A harsh puff of air escaped Ace, the eyes of the Den-Den turning sad. 'I know, Shanks is doing the exact same thing, I've been looking everywhere for his fruit and it's… Sabo please, you're the only one I have left, don't make me bury you twice. Please. Eat. Sleep.'
Guilt tore through Sabo at the way his brothers' voice cracked, the water that built up in the Den-Den's eyes. The words his brother spoke were true, Sabo knew he had been neglecting himself, a punishment in his own way… but it wasn't just punishing himself now, was it? It was also punishing those who loved him too, his brother, and his friends.
"Alright Ace… I'm… I'm sorry, I'll try and do better." Sabo murmured, clutching the snail close to him head bowed low.
'I just need you to be healthy and you Sabs.' Ace confessed just as softly. 'If you need to, come here, just take a break, we can look together if we have to.'
Swallowing thickly Sabo scrubbed at his face, stomach-churning now that he was not hyper-focused on the paper around him. he could take Ace up on that offer, but he just, felt he couldn't leave this place yet. His tired eyes squinted at the squiggles before him and blinked, hand trembling as he pulled out the report half hidden under the others.
Vaguely he could hear people calling his name, but he ignored it all, snail falling to the floor as he bolted across the floor to another pile, the name – the signature – that caught his attention he had seen across several of the later versions of reports.
At some point, the person who was keeping tabs on his brothers was changed.
And this was a name that he was familiar with, one who vanished from the Revolutionary Army… right… before the incident on Dawn… He vaguely recalled hearing a group of soldiers laughing and joking about how they had come into some form of Berri and decided to settle on his homeland, take over the family farming…
But that… that wasn't true because Sabo faintly can remember on top of that… that this particular soldier joined after Dragon and Ivankov had saved their island from war.
The realisation hit him like lightning, followed by a roar of fury.
'…abo.. bo… SABO!' Ace's voice tore through the ringing in his ears, causing him to blink back to awareness to see that the room was already a mess, completely and utterly destroyed. Koala and Hack were by the door, their eyes wide.
"Ace…" The name was pushed through gritted teeth. "Where are you right now?"
'New World, near one of pop's islands. Sandera. Why?' Ace asked concerned.
"That's nearly a day sail from me, I'll be there as soon as I can. Ace. I found a lead." Sabo explained still with gritted teeth. "I know how the World Government found out about Lu."
A sharp inhale was heard and this time when Ace answered, it was in a familiar dark drawl. 'How?'
"Not safe to say, I'll see you soon," Sabo replied before hanging up, eyes turning to Koala and Hack. "I'm leaving, I need you two to stay here and try and get a hold of Dragon, tell him that I found a clue and I am going to deal with it. I need to speak with Karasu."
Koala rushed forward and grasped Sabo tightly. "Let us come with you Sabo, please, we can help."
"No." The word was sharp and biting, and Sabo had to physically restrain himself from not crushing the door handle in his hand. "No. I need you both here, please. Now I need to go."
X
Sabo dropped from the bird Karasu had loaned for him, feet taking the impact as he landed on the deck of the Moby Dick, bracing for impact as Ace barrelled towards him. They both crash-landed on the deck, sliding with the force, both hats tumbling off and to the side.
"Sabo!" Ace choked out, pulling his brother in tight. "You look like shit, did you eat? Sleep?"
"Ate yes, sleep no." Sabo wheezed as Ace's arms just constricted tighter around him, reminiscent of Luffy's hugs when they were kids. "Can't. Breathe."
Ace let him go instantly and got to his feet, hauling Sabo along with him. "Okay, tell me what you found."
"In a moment, I need to speak with your captain first. Then we need to go somewhere no one can hear us." He uttered low, eyes flickering around to the faces he knew by wanted posters only or the brief meeting on Dawn.
Ace stared at his face hard, face set in a blank mask before nodding. It wasn't long before Sabo stood in front of Whitebeard, asking him for permission to stay aboard his ship for a little while. It was a blur after that, exhaustion finally pulling at the edges of his vision from staying up so long. He couldn't really remember the last time he slept properly, fully, without the nightmares taking hold.
But here, within his brother's arms, he felt safe.
A feeling he hadn't felt fully in a long time and didn't realise properly till now.
Ace had always kept them safe, kept him safe, and always would. Just like they kept Luffy safe… till…
"Breathe Sabs it's okay, Ace's got you, just breathe for me, little brother," Ace whispered as he held Sabo close, making sure the door behind them was locked.
A ragged laugh escaped Sabo's lips. "We're twins asshole."
"Yeah, and I'm the oldest." Ace taunted back, knowing when his brother was trying to distract himself.
Sabo would never be able to say how thankful he was that Ace knew him so well, even after all these years. He allowed Ace to steer him towards the small bed and he couldn't help but scrub his face angrily, trying to push away the exhaustion that clawed at him.
"Dragon kept tabs on Luffy." He started, never once looking up at his brother before him.
"What?"
Looking up at Ace's silver eyes Sabo couldn't help but clench his jaw. "He kept tabs on Lu growing up, there were reports from a year after Garp brought him to Foosha and then till just before… before the Buster Call. Ace… Ace… the person who originally kept tabs was reassigned and another person took over, he was the one who sold the information to the World Government."
Guilt swarmed and churned within him, a vice on his heart as he told his brother the news. "Ace… I was the one who reassigned the original leader because we needed his expertise in another matter… I… I…"
"If you even dare try to blame Lu's death on yourself, I will smack you hard enough that your face will leave an indent in the Adams wood." Ace snarled, flickers of fire wisping up from his hair and across his shoulders. "That isn't on you, it's on that bastard who sold our brother out. This. Is. Not. Your. Fault!"
He really wanted to disagree with those words, but Sabo knew that threat was very much a real one and Ace would without hesitation do as he said if Sabo even opened his mouth.
"I know where he is," Sabo confessed after a beat.
Ace tensed, heart rate peaking as the news settled in his brain. "That's why you've come? So we can go and find out who turned him?"
"Yes," Sabo stated and Ace watched as his brothers' eyes glinted like steel, and turned cold like ice. "He's the reason the Five Elders found out about Luffy, he's the reason Dawn was raised to the ground and he's the reason our baby brother is dead."
The last word was snarled in a fury that Ace was familiar with, a feral quality they were raised to have but hid so well. All three of them were the Monsters of Mount Colubo, raised in the jungle with animals that had no mercy for anyone and survived. They were three kids who fought for every scrap of food, fought a hundred fights a day.
Ace was the hot head, always showing his rage, he was swift like a flash fire and could ruin everything in his wake.
Sabo showed it carefully, his ire slow to build but when it did it was with a cold brutal revenge.
Luffy was their sunshine, but he had the worst temper of the three. They had only seen Luffy angry once in their time together, but once was enough to tell the Brothers how dangerous their little brother really could be. The tiger that hurt Ace wasn't even salvageable to eat after what happened.
Still, no matter how tame they seem, both Ace and Sabo were always going to be Feral Jungle Children and that brutality would never leave them.
"Right," Ace stated low. "This is what we're going to do. Tonight, we are going to sleep, and you are going to sleep, Sabo. Then when we're rested, we go and find out everything."
A relieved feral smile pulled at Sabo's lips at the words, with them he allowed the exhaustion to finally take hold of him, to pull him into the sweet embrace of unconsciousness safe and sound, surrounded by the warmth of his brother.
X
It would be a week later when the News Coo spread the word about the destruction on a small island in the West Blue catching everyone's attention.
On the front page was Sabo and Ace's picture, feral smiles on their faces as the farm behind them burned.
The names of Portgas D. "Fire-Fist" Ace and Portgas D. "Bloody Gentleman" Sabo striking fear in the hearts of some and joy in others.
Dragon smirked at the news, telling his commanders and the army that no longer were they going to stand in the dark, it was time for them to reveal themselves.
All the Whitebeard Pirates roared at the justice served for their youngest brother, knowing that he had found one link on who killed his brother.
And Shanks, well Shanks received a mass number of letters from them both, names of every member that joined in on the Buster Call of Dawn and the name of the bastard Marine who convinced the Revolutionary soldier to sell him the information and which Marine who took it to the elders.
The Mad Dog of the Marines becoming the top of everyone's hit list.
Author Note: So this last part happens JUST before ch 3 of Ocean Blessed. Sabo just a little bit unhinged. *side eye*