Buggy did his best to ignore the eyes that had been following him all day, reminding himself to be be patient. He'd followed the rookie's story and knew enough to know the kid was slow to trust but quick to act. He just needed to hang on til the kids patience ran out. Unfortunately he also struggled with patience and he was starting to feel like prey being hunted.

He forced himself to focus on what he was doing as another knife flew through the air and stuck blade first into the knot on the wall, handle skimming the one he'd thrown seconds before. He split his hands away from his body to retrieve the blades and then sent them in opposite directions. Both hands tossing the blades simultaneously and hitting two other knots. This drew a gasp from the form dangling off the mast and Buggy hid his smirk.

"How long did it take you to do that?" Ace finally spoke from his perch.

What, that little trick? I mastered that when I was 13." Buggy boasted. "Pa - Rayleigh - made me and Shanks practice fighting with both hands… wanted us to be ambidextrous which ended up being a good thing for that idiot."

"Can Shanks do that too?"

Buggy snorted. "Throw knives? God no. That flashy dumb ass could barely hit the wall but then he's never needed to go the stealthy route. His haki is enough to take out an enemy from a distance and up close, he's only second to Mihawk for his sword fighting. And really that's because he never cared to become better. Shanks took after Dad, but Mom could take off a fly's wings with her knives and she was a great teacher."

"Mom?" Came a slightly wobbly question.

"Oh yeah. You did not want to mess with Portgas D. Rouge and her flying knives. She always said a brute may be able to overpower you up close but with just a couple flicks of the wrist, you can bring down any opponent from a distance. She proved it with Dad several times. Even with his armament and observational haki, she would have him pinned to the wall and calling for mercy before he got close enough to swing a blade."

Ace dove through the air, flipping and landing in front of Buggy who had naturally panicked at the boy jumping from 15 feet up. Ace shot him a smirk. "Wait Mom pinned him?"

"Yep. Dad didn't stand a chance. Course that just made him more interested in her. Used to drive Pa mad cause Dad would drag the whole crew on some suicidal mission just so he'd have a chance to bump into her. It was honestly a shock when they finally got together."

"Can you tell me more about her?"

"Course Firefly. Dad always had a bit of a flashy temper. Wouldn't take much to make him angry but he would blow up and calm down quick. Mom though, oh man she would hold a grudge. You wouldn't see her yelling but when she was pissed, she got vindictive." By now both men had sat on some barrels and Ace was leaning towards the other man. Buggy smiled, and carefully kept sneaking in tales of their dad, proud to see the younger boy stop grimacing at the very mention of him. Give him some time and his little brother would learn that their dad was an idiot and he made a lot of mistakes, but he was a good and honest man who lived and died for his family.

Meanwhile in the infirmary , Luffy lay curled up next to Shanks who was gently stroking his hair. The rest of the crew had trailed in over the last few hours, taking turns to reconnect and hug the young man before berating him soundly.

Now it was just the two of them, with even Ace having ventured out to stretch his legs. "Dad?" Shanks hummed in response. "Thank you for saving Ace. I tried so hard to do it but I was so scared cause I wasn't able to get to him fast enough. The marines kept saying I was going to fail and we would both die and then he was gone and I thought I was going to have to follow him to Marineford and -"

"Whoa Anchor. You need to breath kid. Ace is safe, you are safe and I'm not going to let anything happen to either of you. And please don't make me picture you in the middle of a war. Your poor dad's heart can't take that. In fact, seeing you fight Magellan was enough stress to last me a lifetime." He sighed, hugging him tightly before moving back to make eye contact. "And let me make it very clear that you did not fail. What you did was amazing. Impel Down has been seen has impenetrable since its creation and there hasn't been anyone who has dared to try and attack it, let alone try to save someone from the deepest level. They were sending all their guards and their best men, and they were still struggling to slow you down kid."

"I had help." Luffy reminded him.

"Yes which is another thing that's amazing about you. You have a way of drawing people to your side. You broke into the prison alone and while fighting your way through it, you were able to turn strangers and even old enemies into allies. You're a natural leader."

Luffy went tense and Shanks felt a pang of pain and confusion as his kid pulled away. "I don't want to… I thought I could be captain but I'm too weak." Luffy said starting to cry. He turned away from Shanks and buried his hands in his hair, pulling harshly. "I couldn't save them, any of my nakama. I failed them when they needed me. They're all gone."

Shanks swore, as Luffy's breathing became quick and shallow. He expertly caught Luffy's wrists in his hand, wrapping his arm tightly around the struggling body and trapping him against his chest. "Anchor! Stop, I need you to take a deep breath. Come on kid. I promise that they aren't gone forever. They were sent somewhere safer and we are going to find them all. Hey! Look at me Sunshine." Luffy sobbed harder, arms extending to claw down his sides and Shanks cursed the fact that he only had one arm to try and restrain him. "Luffy, STOP!" He said, pressing down with his haki in desperation. "Breath with me." Luffy continued to struggle against him but Shanks increased the pressure til he fell limply against him. "I'm sorry Anchor. I know it's a lot to feel but you need to settle down or you're going to hurt yourself." Luffy whimpered slightly and he hushed him softly, releasing his wrists to continue stroking his hair. "We're going to find them Luffy. I promise. We've already located Roronoa and possibly one of the women and I have people looking for the others."

"Zoro?" Whimpered Luffy exhausted from his struggle. "I want Zoro." He said desperately.

"I know Anchor. We're on our way to him now but it's going to take a couple days to get there. I promise that we're going as fast as we can."

"They are going to be mad at me…"

"Oh Anchor. We all know that you did everything in your power to save them. I never met your crew but I know that every single one of them will be so happy to see you and not a single one of them will blame you."

"Can't know that."

"Sure I can. You picked them and they chose you. That's all I need to know to say that they love you and are a hell of a crew."

Luffy sniffed. "They're the best."

Shanks smiled and wiped Luffy's eyes. "Why don't you tell me about how you found them?" Luffy beamed and started sharing his adventures.

"And then Zoro and Nami stopped Biggy from firing the cannon and we beat him up!" Luffy happily explained before getting sad again. "And I'm sorry Dad, but your treasure got a little ripped up when he threw knives." Shanks grit his teeth and tried to stay calm, realizing Luffy picked up on his anger when he was handed his old hat. "Nami helped me fix it so you can barely see it but I understand if you want it back."

"Don't be silly Anchor. I can see that you've done a great job keeping it safe and we made a promise. It's going to be a bit longer before I want that hat back." He said plopping the hat back on the kids head so it covered his eyes. "Now you'll have to tell me the rest tomorrow bud. Hongo will be after my head if I don't let you get to sleep."

"Aw but I'm not sleepy." Luffy whined.

"Hmm well the doctor and your brother are heading this way and I'm pretty sure it's time for your next dose of meds. And we don't want to make Hongo upset do we?" Luffy shook his head quickly and Shanks laughed as he rolled out of the bed and nodded to the two coming in. "All yours Doc."

The smile fell from his face as he left the infirmary and his expression turned hard. Looks like he needed to kick his brother's ass. He quickly located Buggy and signalled to Yasopp on the crow's nest to keep an eye on the infirmary - no need for the kids to sneak out and witness anything.

He saw Benn look up and focus on him for a second, before moving to intercept him. Shanks sighed but slowed his pace to let Benn catch up. "Hey Captain. You look ready to kill something. Thought you would be in a better mood after spending the day with a conscious Anchor."

"I am, I mean I love that we are getting to see him and gods I missed having him around. And I know he's strong and I knew that being a pirate was dangerous. But Benn, hearing what he's gone through… its terrifying. I mean so far I've only heard of 3 battles and in the East Blue and the kid's handled it all no problem but I've almost had 6 heart attacks. And that's with him sitting right in front of me. I don't know if I can handle hearing more."

Benn wrapped an arm around his shoulders and gave a quick squeeze. "We knew what he was going to be facing when we left him. If he's going to be Pirate King, he is going to be going up against the World Government. We have to trust that he is strong enough to face what's coming. He doesn't want to be protected, in fact he would be furious if you tried."

Shanks groaned. "I know. He'd be all upset that I 'ruined his adventure'. But he'd be alive." He sighed and shook his head. "I know.. gotta let him live his own life. But I can still make the people who hurt him a very clear message to others."

With that Shanks strode over to his brother. "You asshole!" He snapped, punching his brother in his face. "You knew he was MINE!"

Buggy cursed, grabbing his bleeding nose and splitting his body out of Shanks' immediate reach. "Oh fuck. Look I don't know what I was doing. Alvida talked me into it and the crowds were all watching and he had embarrassed me in front of my whole crew. And that kid just climbed up on the execution platform and made it so easy! I failed, he's fine, head still attached. Theres no need to be mad and besides I already got struck by lightning!"

Shanks froze. "What the hell are you talking about? Execution platform? Head still… You tried to cut off his head!"

Buggy stared in horror. "He didn't tell… What are you talking about?"

"I was talking about locking him in a fucking cage and damaging his hat!"

"Oh right! I forgot about that!"

"You tried to kill him!" Shanks snarled, diving at his brother who shrieked and flung himself out of reach.

"Wait, I'm sorry! Please! Come on Red, I'm your brother. We have history! You don't want to kill me." Buggy shrieked as he bolted across the ship, an angry Shanks on his heels. The Red Hair pirates watched in shock as Buggy threw various items at their captain who finally managed to get a hold of Buggy's torso.

"You knew who he was. I told you all about him before I left and asked you to keep an eye on him. He wears my hat, Dad's hat! You didn't just attack him, but you chased down after him and tried to kill him. " Shanks said furiously, dodging the knife wielding hand flying at his head.

"He was the reason you got hurt! Some stupid little brat who cost you your arm and almost your life! Then you gave that annoying nobody dad's hat when it was supposed to be yours! I wasn't going to be anybody but that was ok because YOU were. You were going to be king and I was going to be with you. Not that walking disaster. He doesn't deserve it!"

Shanks threw Buggy's torso to the ground and pinned him with his foot, and catching the head that had just been screaming in his face. Buggy flinched as Shanks glared in his face, haki coating his fist.

Suddenly there was a firm grip on Shanks' ear and he found his body twisting to try and avoid the pain. He yelped and his hand released Buggy to latch onto the attacking arm.

"Looks like we need to have a discussion boys." Came the disapproving voice of Rayleigh.

"Pa!" Shanks gasped at another twist, pulling him off of his brother and moving over to his father. "Ow, ow. Pa!"

"Buggy, put yourself together." Ray said firmly, latching onto his scruff once he was in one piece. "Benn take over out here please." Benn hesitated, making eye contact with Shanks, who did his best to nod without moving his ear.

Benn whistled loudly and the rest of the crew quickly averted their eyes off their squirming captain and back to the stern right hand man. "Do I need to remind you that we are currently in enemy territory with two of the governments most wanted on board? Explain to me how two different men were able to board the ship without any notice! Looks like we are going to be doing some haki drills when we land instead of a party." There were a couple groans of dismay and Benn locked them in a glare. "You have something to say Yasopp… Snake?" They shook their heads quickly. "Great, cause you two are going to be up first."

Shanks and Buggy meanwhile were being dragged over to the Captain's quarters. Shanks was grateful to his first mate for effectively distracting the rest of the crew from his humiliating position. Rayleigh released them as he shut the door, turning to look at his two kids. Shanks was still angry and glared at his father, meanwhile Buggy wisely backed up against the wall.

Rayleigh stepped towards Shanks and stared him down. "Do you have something to say to me Red?"

"I'm not a kid anymore and you can't just show up and get in my way!" Shanks spat angrily.

"You could have fooled me. You don't want me to treat you like a child then stop acting like one! I show up to find you wrestling with your brother on deck and with no body watching the god damn seas. You are an emperor now Red, with men's lives in your hands. You don't have time for these petty squabbles. Now both of you, FRONT AND CENTER!"

The wave of haki was too weak to actually cause either of them trouble but the tone from their childhood had both men moving without thought. They stepped in front of their father figure, backs straight and hands/hand laced behind their heads. "Now which one of you wants to explain what I just walked in on?" Rayleigh ordered sternly.

Both boys glared at each other, Buggy actually shifting his weight to kick at his brother before Rayleigh smacked his head. "Enough. Buggy what is going on?"

"He tried to kill Luffy!" Shanks rushed out as Buggy went to open his mouth. "Tried to kill him on dad's execution platform."

"Snitch!" Spat Buggy. "I didn't owe that little brat any mercy. He wanted to be a pirate, well pirates kill each other!"

"You were supposed to be his uncle!" Shank yelled back.

There was a yelp as Rayleigh cuffed both men across the back of the head. "That's it. 30 pushups." Both men looked at him disbelieving and Rayleigh bared his teeth. "NOW" They reluctantly dropped down and started their push ups. "Now when you are done I expect you to stand at attention and discuss this matter calmly with none of the fuss."

Shanks smirked as he jumped to his feet moments before Buggy and Rayleigh snapped his finger at him. "Shanks, explain."

"I just found out that Buggy tried to kill MY kid back in Loguetown. In the same place that Dad died."

"Buggy."

"I threatened him because he insulted me and he cost Shanks' his arm!"

"He didn't cost me anything! I made the choice to jump in between a child and a sea king, I made the choice to sacrifice my arm to save his life. And it was a hell of a deal! Then you come around and try to take the very life I saved." Shanks snarled, hand raising in a fist.

"Shanks! Arm back." Rayleigh warned.

"I didn't go through with it! He sm- he smiled and laughed and all I could see was dad and I couldn't do it. You were right, the flashy brat is special." Buggy said sullenly.

"Alright. Now we all know that if Buggy actually wanted to kill the kid, he would have been able to. He was a child who had only been at sea for weeks at that point and your brother was trained beside you. However that does not excuse your actions. Buggy, I am very disappointed in you. I knew you were taking over towns and enjoying your reign over the East Blue," Rayleigh glared at him disapprovingly, "but I didn't know you sunk so low as to hurt innocents. You chose to hurt someone you knew was close to your brother and in doing so defiled the memory of the Captain."

Buggy flushed and looked away from his lecturing dad. "I am sorry. And I did try to help in Impel Down. Tried to get him to escape with me but by Davy Jones, your kid is crazy. He refused to listen to reason. He's a stubborn, flashy idiot, just like you."

"If someone dared to seriously attack us when we were kids you and dad would show them the error of their ways. If they didn't learn that lesson and came back and actually tried to kill us? Well they would actually be relieved they weren't alive to face more consequences. Now you're my brother Blue, and I don't want you dead. But you can stay the hell away from my son and get the hell off my ship as soon as we reach land" Shanks said blankly, before looking to his dad for confirmation he could leave.

Rayleigh sighed exhausted. "Fine, but I hope you have a word with your crew about the importance of maintaining a proper watch and I better not find you boys fighting like toddlers ever again. Captains or not, I will make you two clean the entire ship by hand." He watched as Shanks stalked out of the room and Buggy sunk into a ball in the corner of the room. Seas but life was easier before Straw-hat made an appearance.