TW: Discussion of child abuse, child death
Ace woke up before everyone else the next morning after a night spent in and out of consciousness, dreaming about a memory he hadn't thought about in so long he thought he forgot it all together.
He looked over on the other side of the bed, Snake's soft breathing a calm, even rhythm that it only ever was when he was sleeping. It was a sight he was used to seeing every night for years, and if he was being completely honest with himself, he missed it.
Last night, when he and Snake got back to their hideout, they cleaned Charles's blood out of their clothes in silence while doing everything they could not to meet each other's eyes. When the others asked what had happened, he refused to answer them.
It wasn't until they were stuck in their shared room did Snake finally speak up.
"Do you really think my father will be okay?"
Ace shrugged. "I don't know. I just did what I wanted to. It's not like I have a family I gotta worry about hatin' me."
"Ace…" he looked at him, giving him an apologetic look. "I said I didn't mean it."
"Yeah you did," he said. "But I'm used to everyone thinkin' the worst of me, so it ain't like it's new."
Snake continued to apologize, and even though Ace was no longer truly angry he let him. He did always enjoy having others grovel for his forgiveness.
It was only when Snake promised to keep what had happened with Charles a secret from the others that he agreed to forgive him. He put his arm over his shoulder and told him it was okay, his father was going to be okay and was probably already out of the hospital and back to making everyone's lives miserable. He watched as Snake fell asleep and told him he no longer had to worry about Ivy or his parents, because no matter what happened he had the gang.
Now, he was all alone with his thoughts, his dream, and in trying to figure out how to deal with it all.
They were young, still what most would consider kids, though in truth Ace hadn't been a kid since he was ten years old; moved from foster home to foster home and each one despising him more than the last.
"He hitsss me," Snake was crying, tears flowing freely because he hadn't quite gotten the hang of hiding them yet. "He never hitsss me before. He toldsss me if I ever went near Mom'sss purssse again-" he sobbed, not finishing his sentence.
Ace shook his head. "Most of the homes I've been in beat me daily. A lot of 'em did worse. You don't see me cryin' about it," he said callously. "Look at it this way man, nearly everybody I met got parents who beat 'em, but at least yours are loaded. Just milk 'em for cash until you're eighteen then get your own place."
Snake had looked up at him, eyes shining. "Ssso it'sss never going to get bettersss?"
"For people like us? Not until you're on your own."
Snake had turned toward him curiously. "You never toldsss me what happened to your parentsss. They mussst've been pretty badsss for you to get taken away."
Normally, Ace would tense up whenever anyone dared to bring up his parents, but for some reason, that night he felt safe. Maybe it was the booze, maybe it was Snake's wide, innocent eyes, but for once he chose to answer instead of telling whoever asked about it to fuck off.
"Never met my old man, but Ma said he was a real piece of work. She had to move all the way to this hellhole just to be rid of him," he said. "She was a tough old broad, but I guess she had to be. It's not like I made it easy for her. I ditched class, never did my homework, wouldn't take shit from anyone, teachers or kids alike." He took another swig of the beer in his hand. "She tried though, which is more than I can say for anyone else."
"What'sss happendsss to hersss?"
Ace had smacked him on the nose, earning him a surprised look.
"Didn't anyone ever teach you it's wrong to ask too many personal questions? She's gone, that's all you need to know."
"I-I'm sssorry Accce, I didn'tsss know-"
"I don't care," Ace shrugged it off. He handed him another beer. "Less talkin' more drinkin.' If I wanted to cry and talk about our feelings I'd get myself a girlfriend instead of hangin' out with you."
And drink they did. Ace had gotten more drunk than he ever had in his life up to that point, and past memories flooded to the surface. Before he knew it, he was the one crying.
"She looked so weak, lyin' there hooked up to all those machines," he mused. "I told the doc 'You got the wrong lady, this ain't my ma.' But he showed me her name on her wristband: Stella B. Copular," he shook his head, angry now.
"Even at ten I knew that piece of junk she called a car was a dud, but did she listen to me? No, of course not! Nobody ever listens to me. She said it was all she could afford, and now she's dead. You don't know how good you have it man. If we had a tenth of the dough your folks got, she could've afforded somethin' decent. She'd still be around to set me straight so I wouldn't be out in a dump gettin' drunk with the likes of you."
He didn't quite remember what Snake had said in response to that, and in the dream it was just vague mumbling he couldn't make sense of. But he did remember how comforting it sounded, how even with his annoying hissing every other word it still made him feel safe.
He remembered how Snake even kind of looked like a girl in that light; his long slender body, his hair just starting to grow out as an act of rebellion against his father who tried to make him keep it short…
He had kissed him, and Snake had kissed him back. And the next morning he had woken up with a killer hangover and a sense of shame he hadn't felt in years.
"Accce?" Snake had asked timidly. "Aboutsss lassst night-"
"Yeah? What about it?" He glared at him, daring him to finish his sentence.
"I… I jussst…." he stuttered. "Are we… I mean… do you… did you mean it?"
"I don't know what kinda weird ass dreams you had last night, but you're clearly not remembering things right," Ace snapped. "And if you tell anyone what you think might've happened, I'll kill you."
Snake had shifted his position, dragging Ace out of his thoughts. He slowly opened his eyes, and smiled.
"You're up early," he teased.
"I got a lot on my mind," Ace defended.
"Oh yeah?" Snake sat up and shifted closer to him. "Like what?"
"For one, we gotta meet up with Mojo today."
At this, Snake's face fell. "I almost forgot about that," he sighed. "But, at least it will be one less thing to worry about, right?"
Ace and Snake stood in silence as Mojo meticulously counted each and every dollar they handed over to him, the same two security guards from that night in the alleyway standing ominously by Mojo's side.
"Very impressive," he said, nodding approvingly. "Yes, very impressive indeed. Maybe you two aren't totally useless after all."
"I told you man, we're the real deal," Ace said, already starting to walk towards the door with Snake. "So we're good, right?"
"Hmm, not quite."
Ace turned around to look back at Mojo, an eyebrow raised in confusion. "It's all there, you counted it yourself. That's what we agreed to."
"Perhaps, but that's not all the money you acquired, is it?" He held up the large trashbag of cash from the night they robbed Snake's parents.
"Where the hell did you get that?!" Ace yelled. He moved towards Mojo only held back by Snake.
"You didn't think that I, Mojo Jojo, evil genius extraordinaire wouldn't be watching your every move?" He grinned. "No, that would make you both idiots, fools, and stupid, stupid men. I think I'll take this for myself," he patted the bag affectionately.
"You son of a bitch!" Ace yelled. "That wasn't part of the deal! We stole that fair and square!"
"And now, so did I," he said. "But I'm sure you're just dying with curiosity on exactly how I found out. It's eating you up inside, taking up your every waking thought-"
"All of my thoughts at the moment are on kicking your ass."
Mojo grinned. "You can try, my tall viridescent friend. But first, let me show you what happens to those who cross me."
He pulled out a remote, causing the wall in front of Mojo's giant laser gun to rotate, showing a familiar looking young boy and an elderly woman with her eyes glazed over handcuffed against it.
"Mitchie!? Mom?" One of the previously silent guards said in horror.
"Dad?!" the boy cried out in surprise. "What the hell is going on?"
"You see, my young friends," Mojo said, throwing an arm around the distraught man. "I put Sebastain here in charge of making sure you were keeping your end of the bargain. But little did I know that he was planning on keeping the extent of your ill gotten goods a secret so I, Mojo Jojo, would never know he'd be taking the rest for himself." He circled around the horrified man like a shark around his prey.
"But what he didn't know was that I put a device in his cell phone that allowed me access to all of his various text messages and phone calls. And now poor poor wittle Mitchie and Grandmie Mitchelson are going to have to pay the price," Mojo gave him a mocking pout.
"Mojo, please," Sebastian begged, "I-I'll do whatever you want, give you whatever you want-"
"Too little, too late," Mojo waved him off. "You are a traitor, a two faced person, and, as you Americans say, a Benedict Arnold. And now, I'm going to destroy you and everything you hold dear." Mojo pressed another button and before their very eyes, the boy and old woman were hit with the laser. Ace and Snake stood and watched in horror as they screamed in pain, the smell of burning flesh so thick one could choke on it. The man named Sebastian fell to his knees and screeched and begged and pleaded until all that was left of Mojo's two victims were a couple piles of burnt ash.
When the laser was finally turned off, the room was so silent one could hear a mouse's footsteps. Sebastian, in a stupor, just stared at what was once his family.
"That was the first time I had seen my son in five years," he had said, more to himself than anything. He had turned to face Mojo, his face going from shock to realization to rage.
"I'll kill you!" he screamed. He got up and lunged toward Mojo, but before anyone could do anything Mojo pulled out a smaller personal laser gun from his belt and shot him point blank. This one, which appeared to be different from Mojo's giant gun, killed him almost instantly. He fell to the ground, eyes wide open.
"Now that that's out of the way," Mojo said, stepping over Sebastian's body to make his way towards a stunned Ace and Snake. Even Mojo's other security guard stared at Sebastian's dead body in horror. "Let's discuss business. Unless you still want to try and 'kick my ass?' No? Good."
Ace forced the shock down and met Mojo's eyes with a steely look. He could see Snake by his side was having less luck, staring at the dead bodies before him looking shell shocked.
"Because you have proven yourselves to be somewhat competent, you and your friends are going to help me with my next evil plan."
"E-Evil plan?" Snake stuttered, still shaken.
"Of course. You didn't think I was helping you out of the kindness of my heart, did you?" He didn't wait for an answer.
"No. I decided to give you a chance despite the risk it presented to me because I wanted to give you a chance to prove yourselves, and you did. So congratulations! You get to work for me now!" He grinned. "And now, the next step for me in taking over Townsville, and later the world, is to make sure the mayor is finished, dead, and never coming back. That will be your first mission."
"Wait a second?" Ace asked incredulously. "You want us to kill the mayor?!"
"Is that not what I just said?" Mojo said, clearly getting annoyed. "Yes, you and the rest of your hoodlum friends are going to use your skills to plant explosive devices all over City Hall. Once they are put into place, you will contact me by the method of my choosing, and the mayor and all his sycophants will be no more!" Mojo laughed. Snake looked even greener than he normally did.
"Look Mojo, that sounds real fun and all, but why do you need us? You got all these fancy gadgets here; I mean, why not just do it yourself?"
"You don't think I tried?!" Mojo said. "You can thank Professor Utonium for that one. After my third attempt at blowing up City Hall, he designed an invisible force field around all major buildings to deflect lasers and gunfire," he shook his head. "Defeated by my own father. You can only imagine the humiliation, the mortification, the downright embarrassment. But, it is no matter; I will have him dealt with later."
"And what if we don't want to be your lackeys?" Ace raised an eyebrow. "You already went back on your deal twice. What do we get out of killin' the mayor just so you can rule Townsville?"
Mojo turned to look at Snake. "Your older sister of four years Ivy Jane Ingleberry is staying at the Rivertown Hotel, floor three, room twenty-nine. Your parents Charles and Sharon Ingleberry live at 441 Arriviste Lane and have for the past three decades. I always do my research before taking on new employees," he gestured towards the three dead bodies still in the room.
"You ask me what you get out of disposing of that insipid mayor, and now I will answer you. You will get to keep your lives, and your loved ones will keep theirs."
Snake stared at Mojo in horror. "I haven'tsss been in contactsss with my family in yearsss! I don'tsss care what yousss do to themsss-"
"Oh please," Mojo rolled his eyes. "If you're going to lie, at least put some effort into it. This," he gestured toward him. "This is pathetic. Absolutely sad. Your body language completely gives you away. Wide eyes? Stiff posture? Reemergence of a previous stutter? All classic signs of fear," he said. "I've seen it so many times it's gotten boring." He walked towards them and held out his hand. "Now, do we have an agreement?"
"If you think a little threat is going to make us bow down to your will, you got another thing comin-"
"We'll do it," Snake said, shaking his hand. "Just tell us where and when."
After getting back to her hotel room after a meeting with Cassie and the rest of her former coworkers, Ivy finally got a chance to check her phone and was surprised to see she had three missed calls from her mother.
Looking down at the notifications, she contemplated deleting them, as well as her mother's number altogether. She made it clear during their last meeting; she's standing by her husband and cutting her daughter out of her life.
But still… if she was calling, it must be for something important. Perhaps she changed her mind about leaving her father, or there was an emergency…
If it's for something stupid, I'll just hang up, she told herself. She hit the call button and waited as the phone rang on the other line.
"Ivy?!" she said, panicked.
"Yes mom, it's me," she said. "What do you want?"
Her mother sighed in relief. "Thank god. I didn't know if you'd pick up or not."
"I almost didn't."
"Well, I'm glad you did because I have something urgent to tell you," she sighed. "Your father has been shot."
At the news, Ivy blinked in surprise. "What?"
"Just the other night, your brother and his gang snuck into our house," she said. "Your father and I heard a noise downstairs, and he grabbed a knife and he told me he was going down to investigate. I didn't see much, but I heard screaming and then a gun went off-" her mother's voice was starting to crack. "He's in the hospital right now. The doctor said he should be fine but that he'll need surgery."
"Mom…" A huge wave of guilt washed over her and she felt like she was drowning. Snake told her, he told her what he was going to do and she helped him do it…
"Was it bad?"
"It was a gunshot, Ivy, of course it was bad," her mother snapped. "He's a monster. They all are. I don't know what they were planning to do. They took almost everything we had, but I don't know if they were planning on doing something worse…" her voice started to crack.
"After he's released, your father and I are leaving Townsville. It's clearly not safe for us here anymore. And I'm going to talk to him about bringing you with us. No matter what disagreements you two have with each other, we need to stay together as a family. Protect each other."
This took Ivy off guard. She didn't know whether to feel pleased, enraged, or both.
"Mom, I am so sorry about what happened," More sorry than you'll ever know. "But I have a life here in Townsville. And either way, I already cut Dad out of my life, and he did the same to me. You did too. After everything that happened, I don't want to ever live with him again."
"Why do you have to be so obstinate?" her mother asked, exasperated. "You'd rather stay in this crime ridden city with gangs roaming around than live with your own family? All because of an argument?"
"Argument?!" Ivy asked incredulously. "He hit me. He threatened to send me to the hospital. If anything, I'd be less safe living with Dad."
Her mother sighed. "He scared you. That's understandable; your father is a scary man when he's angry. But I promise I won't ever let him hurt you again."
"You can't promise me that," Ivy said. "The fact that you even have to is just more reason why I should be staying as far away from him as possible. And so should you."
"You don't understand, dear," her voice sounded sad. "You just don't understand. You're young, smart, and have your whole life ahead of you. Once you get to my age and have spent so little time on yourself… well, you learn to make the best of things."
"Mom…"
"Your father is a good man, deep down," she said as if she told herself the same thing again and again and again. "I know he is."
Ivy was silent for a few moments. Never more than now did she feel so much pity for her mother.
"I wish you well wherever you decide to go, and I hope Dad has a speedy recovery. Try to keep in touch, if you can."
She hung up the phone, and sat with her thoughts. She made a mental note to get a bouquet of flowers delivered to the local hospital, and an extra lock for her door.
"He'sss going to kill them!" Snake cried as soon as they left Mojo's lair and were able to find somewhere private. They ended up going to the dump despite the risk of being found, mostly due to their lack of other options.
The hideout Mojo gave them was clearly being watched, and they needed to figure out what to do before talking to the others.
"He'sss going to kill them, and it'sss going to be my fault!"
"Snake, calm down-"
"How cansss I be calm when we all could be killed if we don't commit a terrorissst act?!"
Snake paced back and forth in the little shack, despite the fact it was the size of a walk in closet. It had been years since Ace had been here, and the small space was starting to make him feel claustrophobic. Snake's pacing wasn't helping.
"Snake!" He grabbed him by the shoulders, forcing him to stand still. "You need to cut that shit out and help me think of a plan."
"Plan? I'll tell you my plan," he said. "I'm going to get my sssister and parentsss out of heresss, no mattersss if I have to beg, threaten, or forccce them to do it. Then we're all going to head to Mexico with Arturo and Macho and pray to god that Mojo'sss connectionsss don't reach that far-"
"Mexico? Arturo and Macho?! Snake, what the hell are you talking about?"
"It wasss Macho'sss idea," he said, still in a panic. "He toldsss me he was goingsss to cross the border with Arturo asss sssoon asss they got their ssshare of the moneysss. I'm coming with them, and taking my parentsss and sssister with me."
"Macho told you he was going to do this," Ace said. "And you didn't tell me?"
"I didn't think it was your businessss!"
"Of course it's my business! That asshole has barely been a part of his son's life for half of it and now he thinks he can just uproot his life like that?!"
"Who caresss?!" Snake exclaimed. "Getting out of the country is the sssmartest thing we can do now. You canss come with usss, in fact, pleassse do. I don't want to see you get killed either."
"Snake-"
Snake broke out of his grip and stormed out of the shack. "I'm going to call my sssister. If ssshe doesssn't pick up, I'll go to her hotel room and wait outsidesss the door until ssshe letsss me in, and then I'll figure out whatsss to do with our parentsss-"
"Snake!"
Snake stopped after Ace grabbed his wrist and held it in an iron grip. He stared at him, angry and desperate and looking like he was about to cry. The sun was starting to set, and the fading light reflected off of his long black hair.
Without thinking, Ace grabbed Snake's face with both hands and kissed him.
Snake stood frozen in shock. Ace held the back of his head and pulled him closer, and this seemed to pull Snake out of his stupor. He wrapped his arms around Ace's waist and melted into the kiss.
"Stay with me. Please," he said, his voice soft now. "Will you stay with me and listen?"
Snake stared at him, stunned. "Why did you do that?"
"Because I wanted to," Ace smirked. "Now, will you calm down and actually listen to me for once, or am I going to have to do it again?"
Snake, his face now a bright red, just nodded.
"Good. Now, if we're going to defeat Mojo, we're going to need some outside help. Lucky for us, we both know someone who can kill with a snap of his claw, who's Mojo's biggest rival, who already helped us once before-"
If possible, Snake looked even more shocked. "You don't mean-"
"It's our best option," he said. "Unless you want to spend the rest of your life runnin' and lookin' over your shoulder?"
Snake gave him a torn look before he nodded to himself, one internal argument winning out over the other. "Okay," he said. "We already made one deal with the devil. How much worse will another one be?"
PPGGuy06: ;)
Anon #1: You'll have to wait and find out :)
Anon #2: Thank you! :D Yeah, we're definitely getting to a point in the story where there's a lot more action. And yes, Ace can be very, very charming when he needs to be lol
GGGFan: All I can say is, Ace definitely has some family issues of his own that impacts how he sees others. And yeah, Snake's mom is... complicated.
Visitor #1: Ace, watching Snake relive all his childhood memories the second they stepped into the house: This cannot end well.
He... tried to help, in his own way. Which I guess counts for something lol.
K: Thank you, I'm glad you liked this chapter! Yeah, Charles and Macho are what you could almost call parallels of each other, especially in how they treat their families.
Visitor #2: He was definitely pretty angry (and scared) at that moment. I don't know if even he knew what he was going to do in that moment.
Anon #3: I like to think that Snake's mom did keep that one small piece of her son because she couldn't bear to completely get rid of everything. If that really means anything of significance or she just had a moment of weakness is up to you though
Ace-Fan: Ace's backstory is definitely a bit of a doozy in it's own right, and I plan on exploring it more in detail in later chapters. Though you weren't wrong; Ace did lose his parents and that's what eventually led to him living on the streets.
Thank you so much to everyone reading this story, and special thanks to everyone who left a comment! Feel free to let me know what you think of this chapter! :D