"Luffy?!" Shanks shouted, his eyes and hands looking for any new injuries that would explain what was happening. Luffy's eyes rolled back and his body went rigid in his arms, filling Shanks with horror. "No, no, no! Luffy, stay with me. Luffy!" He clutched the non-responsive kid in his arms and sent a desperate wave of haki towards his crew. He felt the hurried approach of several of his men, moments later.

"Shanks!" Came a worried yell as Yasopp, Hongo and Buggy burst into the clearing. They stood there in fear, seeing Shanks crying over an unconscious Luffy. Hongo raced over and tried to check on the boy but Shanks jerked his kid away, body curling over protectively.

"Oh shit, Red." Buggy whispered, blocking Yasopp from moving forward and getting down to his brother's level. "Shh Red. You have to let Hongo take a look at him brother. Come on, Red. We'll just take a step back so the doctor can do his job." Buggy coaxed carefully unwrapping Shanks' death grip from the body in his arm and ignoring the full body tremors. It had been a very long time since he had to help his brother with a panic attack but growing up - well life on the Grand Line wasn't easy - they had both experienced their fair share and they had learned how to help each other. "Thats it. Now I need you to focus on me Red." Buggy nudged Shanks chin up to focus on his face and forced a small smile. "Ok brother, we're gonna work on breathing. In and out with me." His one hand tapped out a pattern on Shanks' leg, waiting patiently for the man to pick up on the sensation and start to follow along. Meanwhile his detached hand was waving the other men forward.

Hongo carefully lay the boy out and started checking his vitals while Yasopp confirmed the beasts were all dead and stood guard, using a mini Den Den to inform the others and get aid. Hongo frowned at the weak pulse and checked the body over, looking for any new injuries. The next few minutes felt like an age to all of the men but eventually Hongo started speaking.

"There's no new injuries Captain. I don't see any sign that a manticore managed to harm him but his body is struggling to function right now. I believe he is experiencing the adrenaline drop from Iva's injection which I was expecting though not to this extent. His body has been pushed way beyond its limits. If the little monster had stayed in bed, he wouldn't have dropped so quick but his body has shut down in order to protect itself and using the last of his energy to maintain vital functions. I need to get him back to the ship and on an IV immediately."

Hongo whistled and seconds later Gab, Limejuice and Bonk Punch stepped out of the woods with the stretcher they grabbed from the ship. The four of them carefully carrying Luffy back through the woods while Buggy guided a still shaky Shanks.

Yasopp meanwhile organized a few of the escapees to help carry the manticores back and more to find water and edible plants. He desperately wanted to follow the others and keep watch over his little nephew but with Benn handling the ship and Captain out for the count, it was his responsibility to organize the group of unknowns.

The stretcher carrying Luffy had just reached the beach when they heard a commotion from the ship. The men looked at each other warily before sending Buggy ahead to ensure it was safe for them to continue. Buggy quickly shot his head away from the group and then reconnected moments later.

"It appears the other kid woke up and realized straw hat had run off. He didn't take kindly to Benn ordering him to stand down and currently is being restrained by Jinbe. The deck is clear of people other than them, Benn and some of your crew. "

Hongo cursed. "These two idiots are going to be the death of me." He gestured the group forward and soon boarded the ship.

"Shanks!" Benn instantly appearing by his friends side and supporting the man who collapsed into his arms. He peered over Shanks shoulders at the stretcher and silently mouthed a question. "Will he be ok?"

Hongo shrugged helplessly and quickly continued to his infirmary to once again treat their little Anchor. Shanks whined and struggled to right himself as he noticed the disappearance of his kid but Benn hushed him. "Lets give them a few minutes to get set up Shanks and get your self settled. Then you can go and sit by his bed for as long as you need. Me and the boys got everything else under control"

It took a few minutes but Shanks breathing started to become more steady and he slowly began to become aware of his surroundings. Thankfully there was still only his crew on deck… not that he cared too much about his reputation at the moment. Still he knew that fear of his power was necessary to keep so many escapees behaving on the ship. His breakdown would be perceived as weakness and while he knew his crew could handle everyone there, it wasn't something that they wanted to deal with.

"I need to deal with everyone." Shanks mumbled, trying to gather up his strength. "Rayleigh, Whitebeard, Mihawk… hell the revolutionaries."

"No you don't. You have a couple kids who need you, everything else can wait or be dealt with by me. You already did the initial check ins and if any of them don't like it they can screw off." Benn said firmly. Shanks nodded weakly and Benn carefully helped him head over to the infirmary.

They peered in the doorway to make sure it was clear to enter and even Benn couldn't stop his flinch taking in their ball of energy lying still and connected to various machines. Hongo waved them in and Shanks settled into a chair next to Luffy, using his hand to stroke the boy's hair and carefully placed the beloved straw hat beside the unconscious captain.

Seconds later Ace burst into the room, having finally escaped from Jinbe (Jinbe had seen the others enter the room and figured they were ready for him). Tears welled in his eyes and he climbed on the foot of Luffy's bed, never taking his eyes off the rise and fall of his chest.

Hongo meanwhile ushered Buggy to the bed on the other side of the room and ignoring his complaints, began to check him over. Benn nodded at the doctor, knowing the was trying to give them as much privacy as he could while still monitoring his patients and that Shanks would want to make sure his brother was fine after months in prison. Benn's haki picked up people approaching the ship so he reluctantly brushed his hand along Luffy's jaw, squeezed Shanks' shoulder and slipped out to deal with running the ship.

There was a long stretch of silence, broken only by soft chatter from the doctor and the steady beeping of machines. Ace finally broke the silence with a choked back sob. "I'm sorry. I let him get away from me. I fell asleep. It's all my fault that he was out there. I -I.."

"Hey," Shanks interrupted the apologetic rant. "We've already gone over that none of this is your fault. It was stupid of us to leave him with only you." Ace made a pained groan. "Not because you are to blame Ace." Shanks said firmly, "You just spent an extended time in prison, with little food or rest. Always having to be on guard. Of course you were going to crash hard once you were safe. We should have expected that and had someone else with you guys. We all know how Luffy is."

"I was yelling at him." Shanks continued a moment later. "I finally get to see him again and all I've done is tell him off. He was kicking the asses of a bunch of monsters and all I could think of was he was going to get hurt. I yelled at him and then watched him collapse. He should hate me."

Ace snorted wetly. "Oh please… Luffy could never hate you. Besides yelling at him for doing stupid stuff is kind of a rite of passage with Luffy. He doesn't take it seriously, even though we wish he would. And he never learns… turn around and he'll do the same stupid stunt all over again. Unless he promises. He'll keep a promise forever. So when he wakes up you have to make him promise."

"Oh I know. It wouldn't be the first promise I've wrangled from Anchor for his safety." Shanks said grimly. "But it's dangerous to have him make a promise… he will keep it even if it puts him at risk."

Ace looked at Shanks curiously and Shanks softly stroked a finger across the scar under Luffy's eye. "Did he ever tell you about this scar?"

Ace shook his head. "I just thought he got it training with shitty Gramps."

"No the little idiot did it to himself. That was the first time Anchor made me panic." Shanks said fondly.

Ace rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Of course he did. No self preservation skills."

"Yeah he was young and mad at the crew because we refused to take him with us. So he stole a knife and climbed up the bow of our ship. He thought stabbing himself would prove that he was tough and strong enough for the seas. After we stitched him up he had to listen to about five different lectures about weapons and safety. I grounded him; early bedtimes, staying in the village and he wasn't allowed on the ship for a week."

Ace laughed. "That must have been torture for him. He hates being bored and missing out on adventures."

"It was a long week. He is very good at whining and I caught Yasopp sneaking him into the woods once after flashing those puppy eyes. But more importantly I made him promise not to play with knives or swords. I didn't realize then how carefully you had to phrase things with him. I assumed that he would listen and as he grew up, would train properly with weapons. But in his mind fighting is fun, so it's playing and now my kid is out on the grand line using his fists as weapons."

"Luffy logic." Ace sighed. "I always wondered why he refused to fight with anything that has a blade. It's easy to worry about him going up against strong opponents but he's come a long way with his fighting. He can give a good beat down using only his limbs."

"I know. The kid is strong and his fists really are like pistols now. But his body is taking a lot of injuries and his enemies are only going to get stronger. I fear I've caused a weakness that will cause more pain for him. So before demanding a promise from Luffy, you have to see all the possible repercussions."