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Whitebeard didn't know what to do, Marco was currently freaking out and close to hyperventilating, and he felt he didn't get through to him, trying to calm him down. It was when the bell rang that Marco seemed to get worse as he spoke. "They will kill me, yoi. I should have reacted. I doomed Ace." Whitebeard shook his head. "You don't know what, son. Just explain it, I am sure they will get it." Marcfo did his best to take some breaths, but it didn't really work. Whitebeard then decided to get the two who came, as Trevor had mentioned a Cioup and Mika would come, two people he didn't know, but Marco seemed to have an idea.
When he got to the living room, a woman with fiery hair sat with Luffy on the couch and Sabo was up speaking to a dark haired woman a bit away, all of them looking at him when he came, so Whitebeard spoke. "I need you two to come with me." The two females nodded and Sabo went back to Luffy before the two joined him and they went to the room Marco was in, and when there, the one with dark hair spoke. "What's going on? Why is Marco freaking out?" The one with fiery hair spoke. "He was very calm when I met him at the gala, this is off." Marco did his best to take a breath, head in his hands. "He called, yoi. Yesterday. He said…" Marco took another breath. "He said 'Gipsy', yoi."
He could see both women blinking, before the dark haired one moved her hand to her face. "Damn, so he is in trouble." Then she looked at the fiery haired one. "Go call Trevor, Cioup. Tell him about this." Cioup nodded and went outside in the hallway as she took up her phone. Mika then looked at Marco. "What exactly did he say?" Marco tried to take a breath, but it didn't really work in calming him down. Mika moved over to Marco and moved a hand to his back. "Hey, this is Ace. I know it might seem you overlooked it, what you can do now, is tell me exactly what he said. What is done is done, he is gone, now, he might have added some code. Now, what did he say?"
That seemed to help Marco take a breath, and he nodded, before he spoke. "He asked if I remember seeing that Gipsy we saw, yoi. He just remembers seeing her. But we didn't see one, and he said it so calmly…" Mika nodded. "I see. Did he say anything else?" Marco nodded. "He asked if we were still on, and I felt he spoke about the phone date we had, and then… he said he loved me, yoi." Marco gave a breath, looking up at Mika with upset eyes. "Tell me the truth, yoi. Did I just doom Ace?" Mika had a small frown, before it went away as she blinked, before she went to the door and opened it, seeing Cioup on the phone and Mika spoke. "It is someone Ace knows." And then Mika held the hand out and got the phone, which she put on speaker and went back to Marco. "Tell Trevor what you just said Ace said." Marco blinked and repeated it.
Trevor then spoke over the phone. "Damn, I will check the most common suspects. See if I can catch a lead." Mika nodded. "Any news from Benn?" Trevor sighed. "They can't help, and you know why. Benn is doing his best. But we have nothing. We have this, but still." Mika nodded. "I know. But still, had to ask. Call me with an update when you can." Trevor said he would, then he hung up.
Mika then moved and looked at Marco, sitting down on a chair as well, looking at Marco. "You didn't doom Ace. You just helped him." Marco looked up at Mika with upset eyes. "I didn't react when I should have, yoi." Marco shook his head a bit, hand massaging his face. "He shouldn't have called me." Mika hummed. "Wanna know why he most likely called you and not me? Or Trevor? Or Benn? Or whoever?" Marco blinked and nodded, which had Mika continue. "Those who had him knows about us. But, he called you, not Cioup." Mika looked up and Cioup. "Cioup isn't with us like that, she isn't a PI or whatever." Mika looked back at Marco. "And, he called you since he knew you would do the right thing. He couldn't call Sabo as he knew you would do the right thing, and maybe he couldn't call Sabo. But anyhow. He called you. And now, we will do all we can to find him and I know one thing, and that is that Ace is one hell of a fighter. So stop panicking like a little bitch and be the man you are. Be the man who jumped off a 118 feet high bridge and didn't flinch much. Be the man who flew a plane, who drove a car at amazing speeds and drifted around. Be Marco 'The Phoenix' Fishback."
Marco nodded and took a breath. "I will, yoi." Mika nodded. "Good. Now, go be normal around Sabo and Luffy as they are worried as hell. Say he called you and you don't know where he is, but he was calm and sounded okay, which is not a lie. Okay?" Marco nodded and went out of the room and Cioup hummed. "You've always been good at pep talks, Mika." Mika hummed. "It is a gift." Cioup hummed. "Clearly." Whitebeard felt a bit confused. "You think Ace is okay?" Mika hummed. "I think Ace is okay doing something that's not okay. Why else take Ace? Because he is the best. Someone needs his help I feel, someone who wants to use his skills. We just need to wait and hope when they are done with him, he can leave." Cioup looked at Mika. "What's the chances of that?" Mika hummed. "In my honest opinion? Pretty high. I mean, they have to know who he is, so they can't just kill him." Cioup hummed. "Makes sense." CIoup then looked at him. "Hope it is okay we stay for dinner? Trevor too? Whenever he comes." Whitebeard nodded. "Sure. That's no issue." Mika and Cioup smiled, the first speaking. "Good. Now, let us go back to the brothers." Whitebeard nodded and they did.
He could see Sabo and Luffy were worried, showing more on Luffy than Sabo, but they also seemed to calm down a bit and he hoped they would find a lead. When the others who were out came home, he did update everyone that Ace was missing, and that they didn't know where he was. When Jozu mentioned they needed to call the cops, make a report, Mika mentioned they had it under control. There was a report, but not a fully official one, it was the best. Jozu said he didn't know it was possible to make a report like that, but accepted it it seemed like, which was good.
Thatch also seemed very worried, and he hoped this would be something that was fixed fast. That Ace came back and was okay.
-x-
Thatch didn't know what to think as Ace was missing and to be frank, Thatch was worried. He liked Ace. He was a good man. And while Thatch wasn't too sure if Ace would feel the same, he felt Ace was a good friend. He was in his room right now, and tried to not be too worried, also since Ava was here and he didn't want to just think about Ace missing.
As he was in his thoughts, Ava moved a hand to his. "Thatch, you're worried, and that's okay. I get Ace is a good friend of your family." Thatch sighed. "He isn't just a good family friend, he is a… very good friend, in business, family, and personal. And no one knows where he is, how he went missing is off. All of this is just… off."
Thatch moved a hand through his hair as he sat down on a chair. Ava sat down as well, moving a hand to his back. "You're a good friend, and we just need to keep faith in him. You said he is amazing, now you need to believe that." Thatch nodded and looked at Ava. "You're right. I don't know what I would do without you." Ava smiled. "Easy, panic. Hopefully, things will work out, and Ace will turn up and be okay." Thatch nodded. "Yeah, I hope so. I am glad I have you with me through this." He said as he took Ava's hand. Ava squeezed it. "And I am glad I can be with you through it and help you." Thatch gave a small smile, before he moved and kissed Ava. He was so glad he had Ava to help him through this. He couldn't even know how Marco felt, and Thatch would do his best to be there for Marco as well.
-x-
Marco didn't know what to do as it had been 2 weeks now, and still no one knew anything about Ace or his whereabouts. He was worried for him and didn't know what to do to help. He knew Trevor and the others were doing their best, which was something. But still. No Ace. He knew the others were giving him some space, but also tried to comfort him. He had already snapped at Jozu, who said he should make a full police report, but he knew Ace wouldn't want that. He had apologized, and Jozu said it was fine, so he would try not to snap at someone else. He did try and do his best and do his work as usual, but often found himself worrying about his boyfriend's whereabouts. He really missed him.
As Marco was going over some papers at the office, the clock struck 4pm, when there was a knock on his door and he gave a come in to show Thatch, who looked at him as he spoke. "Hey, you done? We're leaving soon." Marco sighed. "Soon, yoi. You can just leave, I will take a cab." Thatch hummed. "No." Marco blinked and looked up. "What do you mean 'no', yoi?" Thatch crossed his arms. "I mean no. Yesterday, you stayed until 8pm. and don't try to deny it, the cleaning crew saw you. So, no. You will finish whatever it is you're doing, and we will leave and grab something to eat." Marco sighed, moving a hand to his face. "Thatch, I have stuff to do." Thatch nodded. "And nothing is that important that needs to be done right now."
Marco sighed, on his way to speak when Thatch did. "Listen, I care about Ace too. But burying yourself in work won't help. It will make it worse. I don't know how you feel at all, but I want to help you through it. So come on, I have a table at the restaurant you like." Marco wanted to bite out a remark, but decided against it, before he nodded. "Okay. We can go, yoi." Thatch smiled. "Good! Good. Meet you downstairs in 5 minutes?" Marco nodded. "Sounds good, yoi." Thatch nodded and left, so Marco finished up, before he went down and headed out with Thatch, going to try and keep his mind off Ace. As they were out, he got curious about Ava and asked how it was going with her, to which Thatch blinked. "It's going fine. Meeting her tomorrow. Did you know Sabo and Luffy are coming by tomorrow?" Marco did as they had spent some time at their place the previous week, Sabo saying he did since he wanted to be close in case he heard anything.
But he felt Thatch switched that topic very fast, before he got why. "Thatch, I am worried for Ace. But I would still like to hear how you and Ava are." Thatch blinked. "But we don't need to talk about it if you don't want to." Marco shook his head. "But I want to talk about it. How are you two?" Marco got Thatch didn't want to talk about his romantic life when Marco's boyfriend was missing. But Marco could use the distraction. Thatch nodded and said how he really liked her. And how she was so nice and Thatch truly was in love he felt, which Marco felt glad about.
When they were done eating a bit later and on their way home, Marco spoke. "Thatch, this was exactly what I needed, yoi. Just a calm dinner out, speaking about stuff." Thatch smiled. "Good. I am glad you enjoyed yourself. And I am sure Ace is okay." Marco gave a breath. "I sure hope so, yoi."
The next weeks then came and went, and some days, Marco felt much more worried than others. Whenever there came up in the news someone was found hurt or killed, he always feared it was Ace, but it never was. He really did wonder where he was. Sabo and Luffy also often was at their place, or at their company, helping each other by not being too worried and that if Sabo heard something, they were close by. Mika, Trevor, and Cioup was also usually close by, mostly Trevor and Mika, as Cioup apparently had some stuff she needed to do. Wherever Sabo and Luffy was over, Mika and Trevor were never far away, one was usually always with the two brothers. It was clear they cared about them. He really hoped they would find something soon. And he hoped it wouldn't be a dead body.
-x-
Marco gave a breath, it had been over 2 months now since Ace disappeared, and no one knew anything. When it was almost dinner, Mika was there now with the two brothers, as Trevor was out, Sabo's phone rang and Sabo answered it. "Hello?" The line spoke, before Sabo gave a small nod. "This is he." The line spoke, and Sabo looked shocked, before he spoke hurriedly. "Which hospital!" The line spoke and Sabo nodded. "We'll be there soon!" Then he hung up as he grabbed his coat and found his keys as he said. "We need to leave now!" Marco grabbed the keys from his hand. "You're not driving the state you're in, yoi. You're really worked up. What was it, yoi? Does Trevor have a lead?" Sabo shook his head, looking at him with unshed tears. "They found Ace! He is at Graham Memorial!" Marco blinkked, feeling his heart beating faster. "Is he okay, yoi?" Sabo shook his head. "I- I don't know! We need to go!" Marco nodded, he agreed, when Izou came and took the keys. "No, neither of you are driving like this. I can take you." Marco nodded, he appreciated that.
They then got Luffy, and Sabo called Trevor from the car, Mika also joining in the car. When they got to the hospital, they met Trevor, who went inside with them and they went to the floor Sabo had been told, and spoke to a receptionist, who hummed. "Your brother was found drifting in a boat in the ocean, and he asked to be taken here just before he passed out, barely awake for a minute, which makes sense. He got dengue fever. He is not contagious, but be careful with him. If he wakes, use the call button or yell, okay?" Sabo nodded, which had the woman hum. "Room 318." They nodded and went, finding the room and heading inside to see a nurse by the bed which Ace was in, looking to be asleep and had a sunburn on his face. Sabo went over and hugged him, same with Luffy, seeming relieved.
The nurse smiled at them. "He is going to be fine. But he has a high fever. Give him a bit and he should come around soon." Sabo nodded. "Thank you." The nurse smiled, before she left and Sabo moved to sit down in a chair, same with Luffy, both moved to hold one of Ace's hands, and when the others came in and saw it, they all felt for the two brothers, but was glad Ace was back. Trevor moved and looked at the chart Ace had, not seeing anything odd, before he smiled at Luffy and Sabo. "He will be fine. Just need to wake up." Sabo nodded. "Good. I've really missed him." Luffy nodded. "Same, and now he is back!" Sabo smiled at Luffy, as he agreed. Marco also felt glad Ace was found and better now, and hoped he would wake up soon.
It was half an hour later that Ace stirred, moving a hand to his face, groaning a bit, before his eyes opened and Sabo and Luffy moved and hugged Ace, and Ace hugged back. When they let go, Sabo looked at Ace. "What happened?!" Ace moved a hand to his head. "How long was I gone?" Luffy spoke. "2 months. We've really missed you!" Ace nodded a bit, before he smiled at Luffy and ruffled his hair. "I've missed you too, but I'm back now." Trevor then hummed. "Hey, Lu, Sab, go grab something to drink and a snack." The two nodded and left, and Trevor looked at Ace. "What happened?" Marco wondered about the same. Ace gave a small breath. "I don't… remember. I remember someone forced my car off the road as I was on my way back home. Then got me out, before we ended up in a fight, then… nothing. I woke up here." Trevor frowned a bit. "You were found drifting on a boat in the ocean. You really remember nothing?" Marco felt worried. Ace shook his head a bit. "I don't.. It's… blank."
Trevor nodded. "And if I ask Marco to leave, will you say the same?" Marco was on his way to say he could leave, when Ace spoke. "Yes. Trevor, I really don't remember anything. And it doesn't…. it doesn't feel like it is from a head hit, as my head is not hurting at all." Trevor nodded. "Okay. But you're back now, and you are sick. You got dengue fever." Ace blinked. "I got what now? Knew I felt a bit off." Trevor nodded. "Yeah, so you might feel awful later, or better, who knows. What I do know, is that they have tried to call Bay, and she is on her way." Ace frowned. "That fucking nurse! Why her!" Trevor moved to answer when the door opened and a woman stood there in nursing gear. "Since you are a difficult patient! And I need the money." Ace gave a fake sweet look. "Hi, Bay. I am feeling okay."
Bay rolled her eyes. "Yeah right. You okay with a fever? I know you! Now, you got me for a few hours, then I need to leave for night school." Ace blinked. "What? You changing your profession?" Bay sighed. "Sort of. I am studying to become a doctor. I just need some extra classes, then I will start on medicine. I just need to save up some money." Ace blinked, before he moved a hand to his side, before he rolled his eyes and looked at Trevor and held his hand out. Trevor hummed. "Well, you're not that sick. You're still you, good to know." And took out his phone and Ace hummed. "How much do you need?" Bay blinked. "Ace, I don't nee-" Ace looked at her. "Bay. You are the best nurse there is. A strict one, but you are amazing, and if I can help you become a doctor, I sure as hell will, and you will be the best doctor there is and you will make my life even worse as a doctor. And I will never regret this." Bay rolled her eyes, on her way to speak when Trevor did. "You say no, he will wait until you enroll and pay for it all. This is easier."
Bay sighed. "I knew you were trouble. Fine! Just, put down 200, that should work." Ace gave a dumb look. "Yeah, hell no. You are not doing public school, you are going to The Moby Dick University." Bay blinked. "But that cost a fortune!" Trevor hummed. "Had he been okay with you going public, he would need to be admitted for a brain scan. This is Ace in a nutshell." Ace nodded. "Yeah. And you know what? Just, call me when you are about to enroll and I will fix it, I can't exactly just give you money as your patient. And you know it." Bay hummed. "Because I was sure you were joking." Ace hummed. "I am not." Just then, the door opened again and Luffy and Sabo came back, holding some snacks and some drinks, and Ace gave a look to Bay. "Now, if you don't call me so I can settle this when you start, I will be mad." Bay hummed. "Will think about it."
Bay then looked at Sabo. "Now, he will be here for another hour, then he can be released if he is still okay. He is fine, but he will need to take it easy for a bit because of the dengue fever. But he should make a full recovery." That seemed to be a huge relief to Luffy and Sabo, and it was. Ace was okay and back. Bay smiled. "I will be back soon with papers you need to sign, and all should be okay." Ace nodded. "Sounds good. You will be a great doctor, Bay." Bay hummed. "Oh, I know it." Then Bay left and Marco was sure things would be fine.
And that's the chapter, hope you enjoyed
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