Chapter Text
Years ago, if anyone were to tell Marco that Rodger, that bastard , could possibly have a child roaming around approximately a decade after his death, he’d laugh in their face. Marco denied it back when Hibiki first swore up and down a child belonging to Roger existed and denied it now as the man motioned wildly, begging for acknowledgement. Because what the fuck.
“Whitebeard it's now or never ! The kid is in trouble, you have to believe me!” He yapped, resembling an agitated Pomeranian.
The poorly glued on toupee flapped up and down comically on his head as the man continued his antics. Marco wasn't heartless, but he did consider himself to be a rational guy. Sailing all the way back to dawn island just for some imaginary ( please be imaginary, please dont be real ) kid was not rational by his standards, or any for that matter.
It has been like this for the past few years. fifteen years since Roger died. thirteen years of that painful reminder through the extremely pleasant visitations of this wretched toupee-bound man, ten years of debate whether or not to even consider pursuing this insane claim.
Rogue had gone MIA, Raleigh resigned himself to some island, Crocus stubbornly guarded the looming gates of the grand line, Shanks was, well …Shanks ... and Marco’s heart ached every time he thought of his old friends. He eyed Hibiki bitterly.
The first mate sighed and looked around, the rest of his fellow commanders also looked grim. It was about time he put a stop to this nonsense. They were in the commander’s meeting room, all crammed into one tight space to inevitably come to the same conclusion again . No child of Rogers exists.
“Listen, Hibiki…” Marco squeezed his nose bridge, glasses digging uncomfortably into his forehead as they rode up. “We’ve talked about this.”
Hibiki’s lower lip quivered. Toupee almost fell off of his head with the force of which he was shaking. Thatch snickered. Marco ignored them both and continued. “There are anomalies. The facts don’t match up, it is neither rational nor is it justifiable to ‘just in case double check’ ” Marco felt bitterness well up. This guy knew nothing. He had no right to throw around their names like that. Hibiki's lips hadn't ceased trembling, eliciting a whimper of despair. “There is no child there is no. more. Roger!” Marco spat before he could continue his practised ramble on the matter.
Marco was painfully aware of how he sounded. He was painfully aware of the eyes of his mates, of Thatch , burning holes into his skull. Heartless, cold, unfeeling, stupid Marco . Always the one to bear the burden of turning Hibiki away. Always the bad guy.
He had the shame to clear his throat and lower his eyes to the wooden deck.
Izo shifted, the material of his kimono, heavily sweeping the floor. “Let's go over it again then.” His gaze flickered from Hibiki, to Marco, to Whitebeard.
Hibiki, the informant scanned the room, pleading eyes begging anyone to believe him. Izo gestured vaguely. “You say there is a boy...”
“Y-Yes! A young boy. Thirteen, he-”
“Therefore he can’t be Roger’s.” Marco insisted. “Unless you’re also about to tell me Roger faked years of his illness and eventual execution just to get in some chick’s pants and pop out a kid a whole two years after-”
“ Marco .” Whitebeard grumbled. “That's enough. You are tired. Perhaps I should dismiss you.” It was the first time the captain spoke since the damn meeting started. Marco's gut twisted.
The phoenix shook his head, slumping back into his seat with a tight lipped scowl.
Namur rolled his eyes. “It's a good point. Roger cant have conceived a child two years after his execution.” A murmur of agreement echoed. This was pointless. They'd been over this, considered every opportunity. Somewhere deep down a voice questioned ‘ have we? We cant possibly know every circumstance.’ Marco pushed it back. Hibiki was being unreasonable. This discussion will come to the same conclusion.
Hibiki trembled, his voice shot up an octave. “ I don't know! I don't know but I swear on my life!” the man lunged, slamming into the table with pure misery, knocking stray cups, pens and probably important paperwork to the floor. “You have to go. You have to take him in, it's the only way! ” His tomato red face hysterically searching for an ounce of faith among the commanders.
He turned to Whitebeard.
“C-captain,” stumbling forward, Hibiki crumpled to his knees. “Will you really be responsible for the death of a child? Will you really let them murder Roger a second time?”
Haruta steeled himself and growled.
“You’re out of line.”
“ Thirteen years old! ” Hibiki cried out, wildly stumbling to his feet, grabbing at the pirates with torment flowing through his veins, as if touching them would
convert them. Haruta flinched back. “Living on Dawn Island! Son of Roger! His name is- ” Vista shot out and redirected his wrist. Hibiki stilled. He manoeuvred his hand around to grab Vista's collar, and drew him closer.
“You’ll regret this- you, you- you'll all regret this-”
“Ace.” Whitebeard recalled. “The name of Roger’s weapon.”
Everyone paused. The room grew unbearably still. Vista retreated uneasily, pushing Hibiki away. Uncomfortable, uncertain whispers surfaced the air, swimming about, feeding on doubt and disbelief. Growing to the size of glaciers, wrecking the cargo of hope Hibiki carried with him.
“I can’t bear to see him suffer.” He weakly confessed. “Not anymore.”
Whitebeard’s face pinched with unknown emotion, Marco’s gaze tore from the ground up to his father in silent conversation.
“It won't be long until Garp gets back. He’s planning on moving them away…i won’t know where. Ace and the brat will be gone.” Hibiki babbled. “Gone..the kids will be gone. I’ll have no contact with them…!”
Izo looked solemnly at the dishevelled man. “I’ll…take him to the infirmary.” He offered, jerkily hoisting him up by the underarms and swiftly backing out with a slam of the door. Hibiki continued to talk, weakly protesting his truth, all the way out of the room.
Okay, now Marco felt bad. He didn't mean to cause the guy to have a nervous breakdown or whatever that was. He dug his nails further into his palms, losing the silent argument with Pops as the taller man flicked his eyes at the door, gesturing where the informant had been dragged out, and gave him a stern eyebrow raise.
Marco relented. “Fine.” Unclenching his fists and bending down to collect the scattered pens, the doctor sighed audibly. “ Fine. ” They'd get to the island, find no kid that was Roger's and move on with their lives.
Pops nodded in acknowledgement. “Chart course for Dawn Island.”
" What!" Haruta squeaked. He jumped up furiously. "That's ages away! It will take weeks!"
Pops nodded thoughtfully. "Which is why we chart a course now so we may arrive sooner."
"If i may," Vista twirled his moustache around his gloved finger, "Why change your mind now?"
"I do not know." Whitebeard hummed. "...Now get out of here and turn the ship around."
Thatch jumped up and dragged Haruta to his feet. Fossa and Namur grumbled to each other but begrudgingly filed out. Kingdew, Atmos, Curiel each looked strained as they followed. The rest; Rayuko, Blamenco, Jozu, Vista attempted their best poker face, leaving the first mate and his captain to smooth things out.
Marco watched his crewmates leave, gauging their reactions. Hoping one of them would sprint back and declare they should not seek this child out.
Instead, pops reclined in his chair and patted his lap. "Come"
Climbing onto the large leg was a familiar, comforting routine. He stubbornly crossed his arms and legs and sulked like a petulant child.
Whitebeard coughed out a laugh. "You are so opposed to this, why?"
Marco scowled. "You know why. Not only is it improbable…Hibiki is clearly… unwell . He could be deluding himself."
"For thirteen odd years?"
"well…sure it's a long time.." Marco took off his glasses and chucked them over his shoulder. "But…"
"But…?" Pops prompted. "You're willing to leave a child out there Marco? That's unlike you."
The spectacles clattered to the floor, completely missing their desired location of the couch. "no! I mean yes but no!"
Marco splayed out his limbs and flopped down. "I don't want there to be a child. For his sake. Imagine…" he gulped down the words in his throat, tasting the acidity. "Imagine how he'd be treated if word got out. If this child was real we'd make his life worse by confirming he does have a connection with…Roger."
Pops sighed slowly. "You don't know that."
"I don't." Marco agreed.
Whitebeard stroked Marco's hair. "All of that is hypothetical, My son. Clear your head and think properly. Is it realistic that even the boy would know of his heritage?"
Marco clicked his tongue. "I don't...no. It would be unlikely."
"So why would people assume immediately, if we visit, that the boy is son of Gol D. Roger?"
"They wouldn't…" Marco admitted. "But the age! It doesn't match up. Nothing Makes sense!"
"Mh" Whitebeard hummed. "It doesn't. But things happen."
"Can't we send an ally ship to scout him out instead?" Marco pleaded.
"Hm...perhaps…" the older man tapped his chin. "Would it be better to send out a smaller force?"
"Well…I don't know. With our main ship we'll draw attention but he'll be more secure. A small boat could be hijacked." Marco rolled over onto his stomach and propped up his head in his hands.
A grin slowly broke out on Whitebeard's face. Marco flustered and sat up. " Shut up. " He seethed "that wasn't me saying this is a good idea."
The captain said nothing, raising his arms in mock surrender.
Marco groaned. "What about this whole Garp business…why would Garp be in charge of Roger’s.. of 'Ace'"?
"Garp can be a good man."
"Garp is a marine . Roger was King of the fucking pirates Pops. Now you're the one acting strange."
The older man rumbled with amusement. "I guess we will find out, no? When we get to the kid, ask him all the questions you want."
Marco face palmed. "So this is it? You've just decided? There's no convincing you?"
"There is no convincing me." Whitebeard parroted.
"...wouldn't it be strange we came all that way for a prepubescent kid-"
" Marco."
The first mate scoffed in disbelief and stood up. "Okay. I'll…I'll get going. Don't let me catch you with the sake again Pops, go to bed."
Thatch was waiting for him on the deck, grinning smugly.
"Don't say it-"
"You see Marco, I really do hate saying this but… told ya so!"
The cook frolicked around the doctor, slinging an arm around his neck. Marco groaned and pushed him off.
"Don't be so grumpy mr. Grumpy pants! We'll be getting a new baby brother!"
Marco tunnel visioned and went straight for the crows nest, only one swoop needed from his phoenix wings to land flawlessly atop the platform.
"Marco- ug- wait up! C'mon man what's with- you!" Thatch clambered up the ladder
He plopped breathlessly down next to his friend and looked up, eyes swamped with concern and questions. "Talk to me man."
"It's not that i don't want to help the kid"
"You don't though."
Marco grit his teeth and continued. "Whoever this kid, Ace , may be, I want to…I want him to be safe. Rocking up to his home and kidnapping him won't go well. He still doesn't match the age for Roger’s kid If he even had one. We're planning on abducting some random child and crowning him son of the pirate king. What if he doesn't want that? There's so many things wrong with… with all of this."
Thatch sniffed. They sat in silence for a while, letting the breeze carry away his words.
"I get it." He picked lint off of his uniform. "But Hibiki said the kid was- suffering. We've put this off for years Marco. Hibiki is a good informant. He's been one of our best for decades, there are so many factors that we don't know yet..we simply cannot rule this possibility out completely."
Marco slumped. He sat down and leaned his head into the crook of Thatch's shoulder.
"I'm just scared."
"I know." Thatch's raspy reply came. He wet his lips and swallowed. "Roger…its crazy to think he'd have a whole ass kid and not tell any of his close guys, huh?"
Marco muffled a groan. "I don't want it to be true. What would we even do with a thirteen year old Thatch?"
The cook grinned "it would be so fun!"
"It would be so not fun. " Marco deadpanned. And then yawned. Sleep seeped into his very bones, screeching and begging for rest. Thatch snorted and patted Marco's leg.
"Up you get, big boy. Off to bed with you. I'll keep watch and check in with navigation later."
Marco sighed for what felt the millionth time. "Thanks Thatch. Good night."
-
It took three weeks and a half until Dawn Island was in sight.
Haruta tapped his shoes on the deck, making a clack clack clacking noise which grated on Marco's brain.
"So what do we do?" Haruta demanded. "Go up there and ask heyy do you have a kid named Ace lying around! Might be Roger's son!"
Kingdew whacked him upside the head. "Haruta we're here now. No use complaining." He reprimanded the swordsman with a wag of the finger.
Haruta blanched. "Have you been reading parenting books or something? Why am i being treated like a-"
Kingdew cleared his throat, covering his flushed cheeks with his fist. "First of all, No. And secondly, because you're being difficult."
Izo sauntered over to where a few of the commanders were standing at the railing, looking helplessly at the island they were fast approaching. "Stop sulking. Even Marco stopped sulking."
"I was not sulking!" Marco protested, earning a huff from Izo.
"I stand corrected." He leaned on the wooden rail, shooting an amused glare at the first mate. "Be better than Marco, be the one to stop sulking first."
Both men in question frowned in sync.
Thatch chuckled and slapped them on the back. "Cheer up boys! You get to be the ones to recruit the little guy!"
Haruta's frown deepened. " Why. "
"Well," Izo idly picked at his nails. "Marco because he's first mate, you because you're non-threatening looking, and Namur in case the brat tries to escape via water."
Namur jolted in surprise. "I was not informed of this! I'd rather not-"
"That's because I decided just now." Izo nodded to himself. "It makes sense, no? I gave good reasoning?"
Namur grumbled a begrudging agreement.
"Hold on, just because i am first mate-"
"Also a doctor, kid might be injured."
“But Mio-”
“Is busy.” Izo glared. Daring for another excuse.
"-I…yeah fair enough." Marco resigned himself back to leaning on the railing.
Haruta gaped. He was going to fight for his freedom goddamn it! "I'm threatening! I'm extremely threatening!" He protested.
The looks he got in return silenced him immediately. He joined Marco in sulking.
A disastrous sound of clattering pans followed by a plethora of panicked yells echoed from the kitchen. Thatch slapped his thighs. “Welp. That's my cue. Best of luck, Ace retrieval team!” He winked, breaking out into a light jog towards the commotion.
Marco straightened, pulling his shoulders back in a practised motion. The surrounding commanders stood back. Marco transformed into his phoenix form. "Alright guys. Grab on. I'll fly us there, no more stalling."
Namur scowled but grabbed the bird's leg. He'd rather arrive with humans so the villagers would hopefully find him less scary. Hopefully they'd even ignore him.
Haruta huffed and did the same, grabbing Marco's other leg. The phoenix wasted no time in taking off, flying the short ten minutes that would have taken an hour by boat.
Turns out barely anyone knew a kid named Ace. The three had to go all the way to the scrappy side of Foosha Village before ragged homeless men started to recognise the name.
"Hah! You don't want to talk to him. Nasty piece of work, he is." The current ragged homeless guy rubbed a scarred spot on his arm.
Haruta raised his brow. "We can deal with a kid. Just tell us where-"
The guy interrupted with howling laughter. "No can do buckaroo." And made a zipping motion over his lips. "Brats been in a bad mood for a while, something to do with his pipsqueak brother. "
Marco and Namur exchanged glances. Brother? What brother? Marco scoffed internally. The chances of this random kid being Roger's were narrow. Him having a brother narrows it down by a million percent. Namur shook his head and shrugged at Marco.
‘ Maybe he's younger? Maybe they aren't biological brothers?’
Marco winced. Maybe. Key word: Maybe . Probably not. Hopefully not.
"I do not care ." Haruta spat.
Homeless man no.1 shrugged and called over homeless man number 2. It was comical really, one short and stout, the other tall and lanky. Lanky man limped over and regarded the four with a growl.
"This is my mate Paul." Stout man said. "He can tell ya. For a price ."
Stout man elbowed lanky paul who growled again and nodded. "Wot'm I tellin' them Paul?"
Paul number…two? Cursed and harshly whispered. " Youre. Paul. we can't use fake names both called Paul!"
"Uhuh, so wot'm I tellin them P…Peter…?"
Stout Peter sniffled and gestured to his scarred arm.
"Oh." Lanky Paul said dumbly. "I tell you wot fellas, you don' wanna be involved with 'im."
Marco wanted to explode, maybe unhinge his jaw and scream so loudly at them they'd liquify. "Enough safety warnings, Tell us where we can find Ace." He tried his remaining patience.
Stout Peter laughed humorlessly. "Pay up Bub. Paul'll tell ya for a price. Ain't that right Paul?"
Paul went back to growling, flashing his decaying teeth in a Cheshire grin.
Haruta was even more irritated than moments before, which could be a world record. "We'll go ask someone else." He turned on his heel and stomped off to question another ragged man.
Namur blankly stared at the dirt. He had better things to be doing than bartering with thing 1 and thing 2. Namur looked wearily at Haruta and back at Marco who was a ticking time bomb.
Marco's eye twitched. "We won't be doing business with you." He pointedly swivelled and followed in Haruta's direction. Namur stopped only to politely nod at Peter and Paul, and maybe laugh at their panicked faces, before trotting along.
"Can't believe we wasted that much time on those fools." Haruta berated himself as the other two caught up.
"Its okay, lets go ask someone else." Namur suggested, trailing towards an elderly woman. She was wearing at least three woollen coats with big pink flowers crocheted into the sleeves. A bit of an eyesore, she was practically unmoving. In the distance people pointed to her, almost like a landmark, before giving directions.
Marco approached her cautiously. "Hello ma'am."
The woman did not budge.
Marco continued. "Could you point us to where we can find a boy named Ace? It's very urgent…"
"Marco lets just-"
An arm stretched out, her joints cracked as she extended her hand and snapped her fingers to form a point. They followed her direction wearily.
"A mountain…great. Well this is just great! " Haruta threw his arms up and groaned. You never would have guessed he was a whitebeard pirate by his tantrums.
Marco knelt by the woman and fished out a few golden coins from his sash. He whispered thanks as she retracted her arm and grabbed the coins.
Haruta huffed as they walked. Namur elbowed him. "Stop complaining. Its getting tiring."
Haruta stuck his tongue out at the fishman. "This is taking too long! " He latched onto Marcos arm and shook him. "It would be faster to transform and fly us up there right? Please, pretty please!"
Marco had to stop before his hair fell out of his scalp and aged fifty years. With a heavy sigh he looked the mountain up and down a handful of times. It was by no means the biggest one he's ever seen but walking by foot would take a while. Considering the terrain was unknown to them, he decided it would be safer and save time.
"Alright." He nodded, transforming in record time and snatching up his brothers, earning a surprised yelp and a screech of joy.
The phoenix soared across the sky. He loved flying, it was so freeing, the feeling of wind rushing through his feathers, the easy motion of flapping his great big wings and simply being able to achieve such freedom…
He was snapped out of it by a sudden pinch and a distinct yell..
"Did you just pluck me?!" Marco squawked.
Haruta clutched the tuft of feathers in his free hand, dangling by the phoenix's clawed foot. He frowned and pointed.
"Earth to Marco! Over there! I saw some sort of tree house!" He gestured behind them. True to his word, there was some sort of unnatural, shabby looking hut clinging to surrounding trees. Small, by no means big enough for a fully grown adult. Taking a sharp turn, Marco headed toward the structure. They landed shortly with a thump.
"Can we- urhk- refrain from doing that…" Namur crouched on the ground. "Not great."
Marco winced. He'd forgotten Namur wasn't great with heights. "Sorry bud." The doctor pulled the fishman to his feet and let him adjust.
"Not half bad." Haruta paced, looking up at the hut. "You think he's close by? Can you use observation haki or something?"
"Yes and No. I don't know what the kid is like, wouldn't be able to recognise him."
Haruta paused. "Don't...don’t you remember Roger?"
Marco was getting tired of this conversation topic "I do. This kid is not Roger. " Before they could start arguing again, Namur pushed past them.
"Shh." He held out a webbed hand. "Listen."
And sure enough, a sniffling shuffling and a Ka-Thunk caught the trio's attention. Marco whipped around. "Hey, who's there?"
"N-no one!" A watery voice shot back.
Was this kid crying?
Haruta suddenly looked nervous. "Uhm. Ace?" He tried, zeroing in on a particularly shaking bush. Namur and Marco's eyes followed.
" Ack! " More shuffling. "You know my big brother?!" A small head and a familiar straw hat poked its head through the bush. The kid's eyes were red and his face snotty.
Marco almost had a goddamned aneurysm. "Uh. Sort of?" Was this the kid Hibiki called Ace? No way. This had to be the brother the thugs talked about.
"What's your name, little guy?" Haruta crept closer to the bush and knelt. The big ball of tears suddenly screamed. " AGH!! Get away from me!! I don't wanna go i don't wanna go!!" He scrambled and fell forward on his face. The three stepped back, unsure what to do with the flailing gremlin.
"we're not here to hurt-"
Namur was tired and wanted to go back to the ship and not have to negotiate with a screaming crying child. By the looks of it, Marco and Haruta thought the same.
"Hey kid, listen-"
"Oi." A metal pipe came hurling towards Marco. He narrowly dodged as the cylinder wedged itself into a tree and splintered the bark. "Who the fuck 're you." He whirled around, trying to identify the voice.
Haruta jumped back and unsheathed his blade, Namur got into karate position. They felt a little silly defending themself against a child but they stood their ground.
Lo and behold, the pipe thrower jumped down and landed firmly in the middle of the ace retrieval team.
Dust upon impact cleared, revealing a ratty malnourished menace of a child. His mop of black hair littered with an unpleasant mixture of dried leaves, blood, and dirt, stuck up in odd places and his steely grey eyes narrowed accusingly at the phoenix. He raised another pipe and spoke again, "Who. Are. You." The kid hissed and Marco almost keeled over.
This bloodied, homeless vicious child was the spitting image or Roger..? No. He can't be, he can't. Marco laughed half breathless, half hysterical. This is happening because he's been thinking about Rodger, he reasoned to himself. That's it! He's just deluded himself into thinking this kid looks like Roger unintentionally. He tried to recall the facts, the logic he had argued previously. The fact that this Ace kid looks like Roger is a coincidence, which is why Hibiki thought they're related. What a silly misunderstanding!
And yet, the way his steel grey eyes darted around the small crew of commanders, made Marco's chest tighten with dread. It can't be. This is simply a coincidence . The sharp eyebrows and hooded eyes had to be some sort of sick coincidence. The way he snarled and glared defensively in the way Roger had was only by chance. Holy shit. The universe was playing a joke on him, one big funny prank everyone is in on.
" Holy shit" Haruta's weapon clattered to the ground. Apparently he thought the same. Namur's jaw loosely hung open in confusion.
The kid snarled louder and gripped his pipe, bringing the three back to the land of the living.
"We-" Marco cleared his throat, heart still pounding. "We have a proposition for you."
" No." He snapped, lobbing the pipe at Marco again, and lunging at the taller man. The phoenix was too busy processing what the fuck just happened to dodge, pipe hitting his shins, he kneeled over, allowing the gremlin spawn of (maybe) Roger to latch on to his torso like a backpack and slither his hands up to choke the doctor. He slipped something out of his pocket and gripped it in a tight fist. Marco instantly weakened, the absurdity of the situation and his sudden inability to transform into his phoenix form terrified him to his core.
Wasting only a few seconds, Haruta quickly yelped and grabbed Ace by the ankles, trying to pull him off. This only resulted in a flurry of kicks square to the face and an even more choked Marco.
Namur sighed and shook his head, too shocked and embarrassed by his crewmates to help out. He approached the other kid who was still near the bush, and plopped down next to him.
The kid didn't flinch, or even take notice of the fishman, instead focusing his eyes on his brother who was impressively holding his own against two whitebeard commanders.
"He's a rough one, aye?"
The child nodded with pride. "He's so cool!... Ack! Stay away! Don't take me!" The pipsqueak suddenly jumped to his feet defensively. Namur chuckled and patted the ground
"We won't do anything bad to you, kid."
This seemed to shake him out of his fright. "I am not a kid! I am a whole ten years old! and my name is Luffy! I wanna be a pirate!" Luffy stomped his little feet in defiance.
Ace screeched from his position, "Luffy you idiot! Keep your mouth shut!" He gave Haruta a particularly nasty kick to the nose which knocked him out cold. Marco yelped, trying to break free of the choke hold.
Luffy gasped and slapped his hands over his mouth. Ace grunted and pulled back, hard.
The first mate stumbled backwards, tripping over poor Haruta, landing himself on the floor. Never in his life did he think that as a grown man he'd be forced to wrestle with a feral thirteen year old.
Namur blinked owlishly, processing the sight before him. He laughed. Luffy removed his hands and laughed with him, grinning. "Hey mister you're funny! So how do you know Ace anyway?" He flopped down and looked with big curious eyes at the fishman.
"Hm, well" Namur scratched his chin. "A little birdy told us you kids were in trouble so we came to help."
Marco squawked. He grappled with the kid in hopes of pinning his limbs down to reduce the risk of having his lights knocked out like a certain someone. " Little birdy my ass!" Ace wheezed in his desperation to wiggle out of Marcos grasp. His fist was still closed around something. "Urgh- I don't care who sent you or why "
Spluttering to clear his throat, Marco rasped. "Does hah Hibiki ring any bells?"
The brats' silver eyes widened for a brief second. Bingo. Marco seized the momentary falter and pinned down all four flailing limbs. Whew. That was embarrassingly hard to do.
Ace let out an ungodly screech, craning his neck to chomp down on Marco's hand.
"What the fuck!" He yelled, darting his hand back. Ace scampered to his feet and before Marco could do anything he felt an unbearable flash of pain in his crotch, his breath escaping him, falling forwards on his hands and knees. Ace huffed for a second, and wiped his face with the back of his hand, before kicking the phoenix's shoulder to turn him over and Namur watched in horror as Ace kicked the poor first mate's crotch a whopping three times until he deemed his work done.
Namur swallowed back a laugh, deciding to file this memory away for later. He instead held up his hands in peace.
Ace glared at the fishman harshly, and then at Luffy. "Explain." He demanded. " Who are you, why are you here, how do you know my name."
The fishman nodded. "We are with the Pirate whitebeard. One of our allied crew members let us know of your dangerous situation, so we came to help.”
“What situation ? What danger .”
Namur swallowed dryly. “The- your living…situation?”
Haruta, bleary-eyed, came to, crawling over to Marco who was surprisingly still conscious, but paralysed. The two heaved heavy breaths and listened in silence.
Ace snarled. "Don't mock me."
"It's true, I can show you my mark," Namur defended.
"I don't care about your stupid mark." Ace spat. "Why would a big shot pirate come for two kids? Do you have crew members stationed on every damn island so you can swoop in and be the heroes? Just in case there happens to be two runts you can kidnap? How convenient. "
Namur winced. They hadn't thought this through. Ace paced around and wrenched out his pipe embedded in the tree. He scowled and gripped it. " What do you know. " He seethed. Luffy bit his lip and rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet.
"Maybe they're good guys, Ace." He mumbled. Ace whipped around to glare at his brother. “You dumbass.” He growled, but made no move to attack or reprimand. Instead, he grabbed Luffy by the face and started checking for injuries.
“We won't hurt you.” Namur promised, watching their interaction. “We know-” He paused. Should he say this out loud, right now? Marco began to slowly roll to his feet and limped over, Haruta followed.
“We've told you what we know.” Marco rasped, sounding ridiculously defeated. “What we can tell you is that we are not here to hurt you. We are not with the marines.”
Ace froze, turning pale. A ghastly expression settled on his roger-like-face. He stopped all of his actions and for an unbearable second looked like he was about to cry.
“Hey, uhm. Listen-” Marco continued. We want to help. Our ship has doctors who can-”
“Shut up. Shut the fuck up!” Ace’s voice came raw . “Fucking leave me alone !” He turned and bared his teeth at the whitebeard pirates. His breath sped up and he wobbled on his feet. “You have no right to try and help me!”
Haruta held out his arms cautiously, ready to catch the boy if he collapsed. “Hey, I know its sudden but-”
“But what! I am not who you think i am! I'm not…whoever you think you've found, it's not me . If you want to help me then you can fuck right off!”
Luffy pouted. “But Ace, Gramps is coming… I'm scared- I like these people better than him…!” He shot to his feet. Ace flinched and furrowed his brows. “I don’t-” Was all the older boy could manage before he fell unconscious to the dirt. Harua cursed, narrowly missing him. The swordsman kneeled down and hovered around the kid, unsure whether picking him up was a good idea.
Luffy sat back down and sulked. Namur consoled him with a pat on the head. “Cheer up. Is he always like this?”
Straw Hat shook his head fiercely. “No! He’s…he’s just in a bad mood!”
“If this is a bad mood, I don't want to see angry.” Marco muttered under his breath. “Luffy, right?” He knelt to the level of the ten year old, careful of his own kick inflicted wounds. “Do you have any parents?”
The kid thought for a second which looked to be taking a lot of effort. “No.” He settled on. “Ace has a father, but he's dead now.”
Marco sharply inhaled. Haruta glanced down at Ace with gritted teeth.
“I see. Who takes care of you here?”
Luffy brightened. “Dadan! She's a mountain bandit, how cool right!” Haruta held back a comment and scooped up Ace in his arms. The boy was concerningly light. “Can you take us to her?”
—
“You WHAT!” The curly haired woman bellowed. Marco had managed to fly them to the bandits hideout only to be met with a grizzly ginger woman with a temper.
“We are taking Ace and Luffy.” Marco repeated.
“ No! ” She shrieked again. “Garp will have my head on a stick! He’ll have it on a platter! I’ll-”
“Sir please-” Haruta groaned.
“ -I'M A WOMAN!”
“-Ma’am please.” He corrected. “You are well aware Garp will take these kids away? We came all this way to help and we’re sure as hell not leaving without having done so.”
Marco nodded along. “We wanted to ask for their belongings before we got going.”
Dadan huffed angrily, nostrils flaring like a bull, and chewed on her cigarette. “Absolutely not. Why should I trust you with these brats? Why are you coming to help?”
Marco massaged his temples and leaned over to whisper something in her ear. She froze up and yelped in shock. “Why didn't you say so!” she grinned sheepishly. “Magra! Dogra!” two of her bandits scuttled to the door. “Gather the brats’ things.”
“Yes Ma’am!” Dorga barked. Magra hesitated. “Sabo’s?” He asked, uncertainly.
“Everything.” Dadan looked grim as she sent her goons on their way. “It'll be a few minutes.” She said.
“That's fine.” Marco nodded, eyeing the exchange. Instead, they watched Luffy ‘Yippee’ and ‘Hooray’ his way around the room, ransacking everything and anything he came in contact with.
Marco sighed. Pops would be severely unimpressed if they only saved Ace, knowing there was another little menace running around. He was fairly certain the pair weren't blood related brothers, their only physical similarity was unkempt black hair.
“You only answered one of my questions earlier. How did you come to know them here?” Dadan asked, giving up on trying to control luffy.
Namur wet his lips in anticipation. “Hibiki. One of your mountain bandits let us know.”
She startled. “How on earth did he-”
Hatuta quickly cut in. “We’re not sure but he's safe right now, don’t worry.” exposing one of their informants to the very group that he had been disguised in was not a smart move, Haruta decided.
“So, brothers?” Namur asked curiously.
Dadan huffed, scoffed and rolled her eyes all at once, albeit warmly. “What of it.”
“Blood related?”
“ As if .”
Haruta blinked in mild surprise. “Really? They seem so…”
“Three of them, thick as thieves. Bloody bastards are the most troublesome organism in existence. Stubborn, stupid…’course they'd find each other and claim each other as brothers.”
Marco considered this information. Deep down he knew, but this confirmation… Not blood related. Maybe…maybe Ace was Roger's Kid? Maybe- No. Stay Logical, Marco He chastised himself.
“Three…?” Namur asked.
“Ah…there's two now.” Is all she replied.
Haruta swallowed uncomfortably, shifting Ace in his arms. Namur ducked his head in apology.
They were saved further awkwardness as Dogra and Magra busted the door down, carrying a small sack of belongings. Sack was generous. It was more the size of a small duffel bag.
The four sighed. Dadan gazed at Ace’s still unconscious form in Haruta’s arms and leaned over to brush his hair out of his face. She gingerly planted a kiss on his temple. Her bottom lip wobbled. “Take care of them.” Dadan’s voice cracked. “Take care of him . He’s angry and hurt, but he deserves love. I couldn't give that to him properly. I hope you can.”
Marco’s throat dried up. He felt sick. The kid whose existence he’d been denying for over a decade was sitting limp in his crewmate’s arms, right in front of him. We could have come earlier, we should've come earlier , he didn't say. Instead he nodded.
Namur and Haruta nodded firmly as well. “We promise.”
She cleared her throat and rubbed furiously at her eyes. “Oi Luffy! Get your ass over here! They’re leaving without you!” she yelled.
The small menace dropped what he was doing and wailed in despair. “ Noooo! Wait for me!! ” He cried, attaching himself to Namur’s leg.
Dadan snorted and bent down “Bye, punk.” She rolled her eyes and pushed down his straw hat so it covered his eyes.
They set off and didn't look back. With Ace, Luffy, a bundle of belongings and somewhat wounded pride, they were gone.
—
By the time they made it back to the ship, it was late. A small crowd had gathered around the deck to see what the cat dragged in. When a battered Marco and Haruta stumbled on they collectively lost their shit. It was a good thing Luffy had fallen asleep on Namur and Ace was still unconscious which was a little concerning, but it saved them the embarrassment of having to explain that they were beaten to shit by a thirteen year old in a ‘bad mood’ .
Thatch laughed so hard he almost asphyxiated. The rest of the crew simply assumed something like a big animal caught them off guard. Thatch knew better. He knew at first glance that Haruta and Marco had their ass handed to them by this beast of a child who appeared to be sleeping soundly. So did the rest of the commanders. They smirked and chortled amongst themselves. The unsaid possibility that Hibiki was right slowly brewed in their minds.
“Alright guys, fuck off, leave please.” Marco shooed the crew away. It took half an hour to reduce the crowd down to only the commanders. They filed into the closest empty room big enough to accommodate all of them.
“So?” Izo smirked. Prompting a quiet wave of snickers from the rest.
Haruta groaned, careful not to jostle Ace in his arms. “He is vicious .” He nodded his chin down at the sleeping boy. “Ferocious.” Namur added. They ignored his uncanny resemblance to Roger. They didn't discuss his parentage. No one wanted to bring it up.
Marco placed their duffel bag at his feet and slumped into a chair, his groin was still in excruciating pain. Namur had to stifle a laugh at the sight, distracting himself with the memory that happened not so long ago.
Jozu faked wiping a tear from laughing, voice tight. “Vicious, huh? You look like you've just returned from war.”
Thankfully Thatch was still busy wheezing to make a snarky comment. The commanders played along.
Soon enough, chatter died down back into a cumbersome silence. Namur sighed, “I think it's a good idea to visit the infirmary before either of them wake up.”
Kingdew hummed. “I've been meaning to ask, what's with the second kid?” He paled for a moment. “Are they both …”
“None of them are.” Marco shot back. Moreso trying to convince himself than anyone else.
Haruta shook his head. “Apparently they're brothers, not blood related. Luffy is three years younger.”
Kingdew nodded in acknowledgement. “It wouldn't be right to take just Ace.”
Marco groaned. What had they gotten themselves into?
Blamenco clicked his tongue and stood up. “I’ll go wake up Pops, he’ll want to meet these bastards.” With a slam, he waltzed off, successfully escaping the danger zone.
Izo looked them up and down again. “Gods you are filthy, what did you roll around in the dirt or something?”
Namur grinned, his opportunity to expose his fellow commander had finally come. “You should’ve seen it!” He started, making Vista and Jiru smirk in amusement.
“Namur..” Marco pleaded to no avail.
“I don’t think I've ever seen him take that much of a beating from anyone.” Namur continued. Thatches eyes bulged out of his face as he doubled over. The rest of the commanders joined him.
“Hah! Seriously? !” Curiel howled “ a thirteen year old?!”
Namur giggled. “Like I'm saying, you should’ve been there! This kid is absolutely relentless- ” laughter bellowed on, and Marco buried his face in his hands.
Speaking of the devil, the thirteen year old groggily sat up and the room went still. He blinked. Once. twice. Three times, before snapping up completely, knocking Haruta square in the Jaw. Haruta sprawled to the floor, scurrying to the other side of the room to hide behind Vista. Marco jumped up and yelled “Wait!”
Ace did not wait. Ace rolled over and snarled angrily. “What the fuck!”
That should be my line Marco weakly thought, as Ace got on all fours and sprang towards Marco’s leg, immobilising him. He then proceeded to thrust his elbow upwards to his desired target. Marco collapsed again, having your dick kicked five times would do that to any man.
The rest of the commanders held their breath as the angry boy whipped around to stare them down. “What the fuck!” he asked again. No one wanted to incur the wrath of the nut crusher. No one addressed the familiarity of the snarl.
Thatch bravely stepped forward. “Ace, right? Its lovely to meet you!” He held out his hand. Haruta winced.
His first mistake was getting within biting range, because Ace opened his mouth and bit as hard as he could, sinking his teeth through the chef’s hand.
“ Agh !” Thatch cried, trying to furiously shake the prepubescent leech off of his hand. Ace was too persistent. “ Guys he's biting me! Help! ” Thatch danced around as if trying to pat down a flame.
The kid unlatched his teeth and screeched like a wounded cat.
“ Oh my god!” Thatch yelped and sprung back into the crowd of commanders.
Izo face palmed, catching the chef.
Ace huffed and angrily growled. He gripped at his hair and yelled in anger again. “What the fuck !!”
“Already got a sailors mouth.” Fossa murmured.
Marco stumbled to his feet, he stood in a crouch. “We don't want to hurt you!” He spluttered. ”We could have done that by now.”
Ace did not care, he did not listen to Marco’s defence, charging up another devastating crotch kick.
Izo sighed again and stepped in between the two. Ace lowered his foot cautiously, carefully considering the geisha looking man.
Izo nodded in approval. “We will explain everything later. Right now you need medical support and rest.” He mentally noted hygiene as well. Kid looked like he'd been living in the jungle for ten years. Scratch that, he probably has been according to Hibiki. He gestured towards the younger boy, still sleeping. “We will take care of both of you.”
Ace cursed. He only managed a small but defiant “fuck you” before passing out.
Namur narrowed his eyes. “This is the second time he's conked out like that.”
“In any case, they should be taken to the infirmary. Haruta, do the honours?”
The swordsman carefully shuffled towards Ace, weary of another attack. He didn't think his face or pride could survive anymore. Namur secured Luffy in his arms and followed Haruta out of the room.
The atmosphere dropped drastically, the reality of the situation setting in. several pirates slumped in their chairs.
“Vicious is an understatement.” Atmos tried to joke. No one laughed.
Izo broke the thick silence. “It's uncanny, really.” He shuddered. Those glistening steel eyes, hardened with determination, flashed in his mind. Curved frown, sharp eyebrows…”There's little doubt in my mind that the child belongs to Roger.” he declared.
“I didn’t…i didn’t think he was real.” Blenheim spoke. “I just thought we’d end up with a random kid.” he admitted. Saying it out loud sounded downright shameful.
Marco scowled deeply. “We don't know anything yet.” he ran a hand through his blonde mop of hair.
“Get your head out of your ass Marco, Seriously.” Curiel snapped.
“I-”
“Girls, girls. Lets all shut up for a moment please. Look at the bigger picture. No matter who's kids they are, they're with us now. No going back. Marco, you need to come to your senses.” Izo picked at his lip. A habit he had when he was frustrated. Marco knew better than to argue.
Marco found himself back at the crows nest. After the semi-disastrous discussion he needed a breather. Marco grunted lightly to himself. The kid- Ace. Why did Marco even care so much? Its not like Roger was his captain. Its not like Roger having a child should personally affect him to this extent. Something about the thought, the existence of this child rattled Marco. What would happen if word got out. What unfair fate was he already tied to, having been born the son of Roger? Hundreds of kids were slaughtered on Roger's home island, all for the sake of extinguishing his bloodline. Was Ace worth all of those deaths? Marco drew his knees in, resting his head atop them.
What would Ace do when the world is predestined to be against him?
What could he do?
“What'cha thinkin about?”
“Thatch…” Marco greeted.
The chef stayed silent. Marco let his feet dangle off the edge of the bannister, and fell backwards.
“Do you really think hes not…”
“I don't know, Thatch.”
“M'kay. Lets see. Lets list out what we do know.” Thatch leaned back on his elbows, glancing at his crew mate.
Marco exhaled slowly. “His name is Ace, probably.”
“And he has a younger adopted brother.” Thatch added. “He lived in a mountain jungle.”
“The two have some relation to Garp.” Marco furrowed his brow. “And…his father is dead.” Marco propped himself up to match Thatch. “That's what his younger brother said.”
“Right.” Thatch nodded. “He is possibly thirteen,” continuing the list, the chef glanced towards the infirmary cabin. “And he is currently passed out.”
“Right.”
“Yep.”
“He- Ace-” Marco shot up. “There's too many coincidences, Thatch! I can't, i can't believe this, oh my god .” the image of the kid flashed in his mind, eerily morphing into the dead king of the pirates.
“Took you long enough to admit it, you dick.” Thatch playfully shoved the first mate's shoulder. He shuddered.
“There was a woman. Dadan. She said she was meant to be their caretaker- she said there was three of them. ” Marco swallowed. “Not anymore. It's just them two now.”
Thatch frowned, lowering his gaze back to the deck below.
“If we had gone earlier we could have saved him. The third one.”
“Yeah.” Thatch agreed.
“We won't let it happen again.”