Chapter Text
“Garp...” Sengoku started carefully, he knew his best friend, he knew when the man was worried and this worry was clear as day for those who knew the Vice Admiral. Sengoku knew what was wrong with his friend, they had spent days on the Island with their ‘youngsters’ and had kept them protected; they made sure the group knew that they were cared for.
None of them had expected anything to go wrong afterwards.
Blackbeard had somehow managed to get a hold of Ace and Marco, negating the young men’s devil fruit powers before fighting dirty and grabbing them both. Unfortunately, the young men had been handed over to someone who was already in the process of meeting up with Kizaru who had followed protocol and dragged the two pirates to Impel Down.
“I know... I can’t go after them” Garp grunted out from between clenched teeth as he paced in his friends office.
On the bright side, Kizaru had decided to retrace steps and grab Blackbeard as well rather than allowing the man to gain Warlord status. Kizaru and his men had easily knocked out Blackbeard and his freak crew; using seastone to keep the man’s devil fruit powers at bay.
Sengoku now needed to give the order for an execution notice to be sent out about Portgas D. Ace, Marco the Phoenix and Marshall D. Teach as sons of Whitebeard even though everyone who was of importance knew that Teach had stopped being a Whitebeard the moment he contemplated turning on his family.
It was why Sengoku decided to go to Garp first, he needed to let his best friend know that there was nothing that he could do. That their hands were tied and the only thing that could protect his boys now was hope that Newgate could pull off a miracle.
They also needed to try and keep Luffy from finding out what was happening.
“What do we do about Luffy?” Sengoku questioned just as carefully as he spoke his friends name moments ago.
The Fleet Admiral knew that if Luffy got involved with the war, then Law would follow as would the rest of the crews. Thankfully, Luffy was supposed to be with Rayleigh near Amazon Lily, while Law was training with Hongo and the rest of the Straw Hats were separated either with the Red Haired Pirates, the Whitebeards or Mihawk.
“We contact Ray...” Garp sighed lightly, thankfully Smoker and Tashigi were already at Marineford with Koby and Helmeppo so he didn’t need to hope to chase any of them down to protect them. “Red and Eddie will keep the youngsters away from the war, Eddie won’t bring his nurses into the battle so the youngsters with him will be left with him. Red will do the same... Hawkeyes will have to drop his kid off with Red or Eddie before getting here...”
“Ray will keep him away from it all?” Sengoku couldn’t help but ask. He knew Rayleigh may want to join the war to keep the boys safe, especially after the island where he had actually gotten the chance to get to know the logia who would have been his son in another life.
“If he decided to join the war, Ray would ask Hancock to keep an eye on Lu. There’s a chance she will deny a summons anyway” Garp sighed tiredly as he sunk into a chair and rested his head into his hands, trying his hardest to not let his emotions overwhelm him.
“If she denies the summons, she may lose her protection. Denying the summons may get her in trouble with Rayleigh... I’m not entirely sure if he’s ever taken a hands on approach with her considering she’s practically his kid through Shakky” Sengoku hummed lightly, he knew that after the loss of Rogue and Roger, Ray hit the alcohol hard and Shakky had been his shoulder to lean on. They fell in love, but they both knew that she didn’t hold his heart like Roger and Rogue had; and Rayleigh wouldn’t hold her heart like her own first love.
They kept each other afloat in their darkest moments, and when Shakky found out about Hancock and her sisters; they became a float for them too.
“Probably not, but probably will if she pushes” Garp mumbled as he kept his head in his hands.
“Garp... I’m sorry” Sengoku muttered to his friend as he sat down next to him.
“They’re your family too” Garp pointed out just as quietly, he knew that Sengoku cared about them after spending nearly a week together. Plus, with Law came Luffy, and with Luffy came everyone else.
Sengoku just sighed softly and leaned against the other man to offer him some support in the dark moments they’ve found themselves in.
After five minutes of silence, Sengoku sighed lightly and reached into his pocket for his encrypted snail, the one they all kept on them for updates on the ‘youngster’s’ and their crews. Dialling Ray’s number, Sengoku waited in silence, still providing Garp with some support as they waited for their old friendly rival to answer.
“He hasn’t been with me long enough to cause trouble” Ray spoke over the snail immediately, an amused drawl in his tone “And Hongo only dropped off your own boy and the swordsman this morning”
“Doc and Moss are with you?!” Sengoku questioned as he stiffened in worry, he felt Garp stiffen next to him too. Using the code names for the boys was an automatic reaction even though they were on an encrypted snail.
“Yeah... Red said something about needing to find out if some rumours were true. Needed to make sure Doc was safe with us while he dropped the rest off with Eddie. Hawk dropped his kid off stating he needed to do something” Ray confirmed, although, his voice was tinged with curiosity at how worried Sengoku sounded
“Ray... Teach captured firefly and Birdbrain” Garp spoke up gruffly, the two other men easily noted the emotion that was thick in the Vice Admiral’s voice. “Dropped them off to the drawling fashion nightmare “We need you to keep the boys safe while Ed goes to war...”
Rayleigh remained silent for a moment before he sighed. “You expect me to stay with them?”
“If you want to join Ed, I would suggest asking your girl to keep them safe in your stead” Sengoku suggested to the former Dark King, knowing that keeping him from the war would be a bad idea if they wanted the boys to survive the execution scaffold. There was a hum of contemplation from the other end of the den den before it clicked off which left the two men in silence.
“We have just over a week” Sengoku spoke up carefully as he stayed resting against his friend to offer him the comfort he needed for two of his treasures being in danger. Marco was a mixture of a son and grandson considering his relationship with Newgate and also his familial ties with Ace; and then Ace was a grandson he had watched grow since the day he was born even if he couldn’t be there for too long in his life to avoid suspicion raining down on him and Dawn island where Luffy was later kept too.
If Sengoku wasn’t so true in his loyalty to Garp, he would have probably stood by and let everything happen while holding Garp to his standing in the marines. But, the man had been his only family for years before Rosi, and then when he lost his boy; Garp was the one thing that kept him from following after his son.
“When can I go see them?” Garp questioned quietly, if it wasn’t for the fact that Sengoku was right next to him; he wouldn’t have heard anything.
“At least give it a few days” Sengoku answered almost as quietly, knowing that even if he said no, Garp would go see Ace “Take Bogard, Smoker and Tashigi with you, Smoker and Shigi will want to make sure Ace is okay... We both know Jinbei won’t go against Ed, I’ll order him to be put in with Marco and Ace; he’ll keep them distracted and safe”
“And if someone manages to get into Impel Down, it means Jinbei can help them out” Garp mumbled in understanding before a silence dropped over them again, one which was broken by a knock on the door; when Sengoku opened the door, he wasn’t surprised to see their quartet of troublemakers in the doorway looking for the truth.
Sengoku was warmed when the youngest two marines immediately slipped past him and went straight to Garp, bracketing him at either side and accepting the giant arms wrapping around them as Garp clung to the only two grandsons he had close to him right now.
Smoker made a small noise of emotional pain as he saw his dad break while clinging to Koby and Helmeppo, his eyes moved to Sengoku, as if pleading for the rumours to be a lie.
“You two will be travelling to Impel Down with Vice Admiral Garp in a few days, be ready for when he calls on you” Sengoku informed Smoker and Tashigi, confirming the rumours without saying the words, which made the four newcomers to the room crumple a little. “We have a lot of plans to put in place...”
-
“Something big is happening” Luffy stated bluntly to his best friend and boyfriend as he watched their new family member fretting with her sisters.
When his Jiji Ray had suddenly decided that Luffy, Law and Zoro were to spend time with his daughter, they were all surprised, especially when the woman very obviously hated men.
Although, Luffy couldn’t help but notice a look in her eyes that was similar to some of the women in the Grey Terminal, women who flinched from men but still needed to keep them company if they wanted to live and not starve.
It seemed that the woman was extremely surprised when Luffy barely glanced at her, he was more focused on seeing Law for the first time in weeks due to training. He and Zoro had only been separated a month, but they spoke often; Mihawk noting that Zoro trained harder after speaking with his Captain/little brother, and learned what the boy had learnt himself during their separation. It hadn’t been long since Luffy went to stay with Rayleigh for his own training.
Before going with Rayleigh, Luffy had been with his Grandpa and Aunts and Uncles, his Uncle Marco and brother had left not long before he did to get some information about Teach so they could start ‘hunting’ him.
Law was also unaffected by the sight of so many women around him, he was more enamoured by his boyfriend as Luffy excitedly relayed everything he had learnt in the time they were separated. Luffy had managed to get a basic grasp on observational Haki as well as used conquerors once because of an incident with Chopper and a sea king while they were with the Whitebeards.
Zoro couldn’t care less about the women around him, he was more annoyed that Mihawk had dropped him off with Rayleigh without much explanation. Although, he was glad that he was away from the ghost girl who had randomly been sent to Mihawk’s island which they found out after they’d gotten there from the Island, although, he did also miss her a little. But, then Rayleigh dropped them off with a bunch of women who wanted nothing more than to kill or castrate them all.
They got close once because none of the young men wanted to harm the women, but Luffy released a blast of conqueror’s on accident when he told them to leave Law and Zoro alone.
When Boa had noticed that the three boys barely cared about being surrounded by beautiful women, she tried to trick them into showing their true selves, but it just made Luffy roll his eyes before turning to Law for Law’s attention. It also helped that Luffy knew that there was something that the women hid on their backs, he wasn’t sure what, but the green haired sister got caught with a torch during a fight and he immediately jumped on her back to help hide whatever they were scared of showing. It enamoured the woman to the three of them, but, not in a crush kind of way, she recognized that her father figure was Luffy’s grandfather which basically made Luffy her nephew.
“You could always just ask” Zoro pointed out, he’d been really amused when he noticed how protective Boa had become of Luffy over the last few hours.
Luffy scrunched his nose a little in thought, he wasn’t sure if Hancock would tell him, especially if Jiji Ray asked her to keep him safe. He turned his gaze to his boyfriend and gave him a wide eyed, pleading, gaze to get him to use his fruit so they could see what was on the paper that the women were worried about.
Law wanted to deny the pleading look, but his own curiosity was getting the better of him and he sighed as he used his fruit to switch the paper with an apple from beside him.
“Execution notice of Marshall D. Teach, Marco the Phoenix and Portgas D. Ace...” Law read out, his voice trailing off into a choked whisper as his grip tightened on the paper in his hands. Panic rushing through him at the sight of the two men he’d come to respect chained up and being escorted into Impel Down.
“Trafalgar Law!” Hancock scolded, surprising both herself and Law as he blinked up at her when she came into his view, a pout automatically appeared on his lips at the flick to his forehead. Though, he quickly shifted his expression to a neutral one before turning his attention to Luffy who looked like he was about to have a panic attack.
Thankfully, Zoro was at his side almost immediately and wrapped his arms around his Captain from behind, holding him close as he whispered reassurances in his ear.
“We needed to know” Law informed Hancock firmly, his eyes not leaving Luffy as he reached out and took his hand gently. Squeezing softly to offer him support while Zoro took the mantle as his main pillar of support for a moment.
“Rayleigh wanted to keep you in the dark longer than just a day” Hancock grimaced, shifting a little warily as she glanced over at the den den that was fast asleep on her table. The den den that was the direct line to the only man she had ever trusted not to hurt her or her sisters... Well, the only man before meeting the three in front of her.
“Is that because we still have time to get to Impel Down?” Zoro questioned, his voice was a low growl of annoyance towards Rayleigh for his decision to keep them in the dark.
“Or Marineford” Hancock confirmed with a wince.
“I need to get to Impel Down” Luffy croaked out, his voice was heavy with emotion as he looked up from under the brim of his hat, the shade giving him a scary aura but it didn’t worry any of those in the room. “Ace is my brother... Marco is my Uncle... I need to try”
Luffy glanced around him at his boyfriend and best friend, he could easily note the determination to help him in their eyes; his gaze then turned to Hancock who looked worried. Although, he wasn’t sure if she was worried about them deciding to break into a prison to cause a break out, or if she was worried about Rayleigh’s reaction to them doing it under her watch.
“Miss Boa... He’s the only one I had for so long... I can’t lose him. Please” Luffy requested weakly, trying to keep his tears at bay in front of Zoro and Law. But, the squeeze from his first mates arms around him, and his boyfriends hand in his in reassurance pushed them to the surface as tears began to fall slowly down his cheeks.
“Impel Down would mean a better chance at getting them out of a war, if you make it to them... Marineford would mean hiding until the war starts and then trying to get them out with a lot more marines in your way” Hancock sighed, she would do the same for her sisters if they ever got put into a similar situation; consequences be damned. She couldn’t help but feel some respect for Luffy even if he was a boy.
“Then we do Impel Down” Law decided for the three of them, his gaze moving to Hancock which made her a little wary considering how alike his eyes were to Dracule Mihawk in colour. “Can you help us get there? I can try and get us in... But I’ll need something to switch us with.”
“I can try” Hancock confirmed with a small nod before moving away from the young men and to her sisters where she began relaying orders to get things set up for a journey to Impel Down.
While she could have asked the marine ship to house her with Luffy hidden, given his size; she couldn’t with the other two boys with them. Which meant she would need to travel on her own ship instead, but at least it would keep them safer.
-
“You flashy idiots! Just you wait until we get out of here and all this is over!” Buggy scolded his nephew in fear as he gripped Luffy by the ear with a hint of Armament coating his fingers, tugging him down a little to scold him while his other hand pinched Law’s ear and dragged the grimacing doctor to stand near him.
Zoro followed after with a wince when he noticed the stern glare being aimed his way from the clown. Apparently Mihawk and Buggy had been friends for years when they were kids/teenagers; so Zoro had trained against the clown once or twice in the time between the Island and now.
Luffy whined lightly at the tug to his ear, thankfully they were out of sight of any visual den den’s, as well as out of sight of any other prisoners so they weren’t completely humiliated by the scolding from his Uncle.
Getting into Impel Down was slightly tricky, although, Law had managed to procure them some marine uniforms so they could blend in better. It took some trial and error, but Law had managed to experiment with swapping them for buttons even if there was a barrier between them, so Hancock had allowed the marines to take her cloak with the buttons in to check it over which resulted in Law, Luffy and Zoro giving a marine a mini heart attack before she was knocked out and rearranged so she couldn’t raise an alarm. Hancock had also agreed to allow Law to ‘knock her out’ so it seemed like she was coerced.
They used the beams above them to wander through the initial floor before dropping down and beginning their search for where Ace would be kept.
Unfortunately for the young men, they also ended up running into Buggy who was on a similar rescue mission after being grabbed accidentally. It was hilarious until Buggy finally clocked onto the fact the three boys were in marine outfits in the middle of Impel Down Level One.
“Uncle Blue, scold later, save Ace and Marco now” Luffy whined softly with a pout, his eyes wide and pleading up at his Uncle who immediately melted at the puppy dog look that Nami had taught him months ago.
Buggy grumbled in half-hearted annoyance as he released the grip he had on the two D’s and sighed as he undid his hair and ran his fingers through it anxiously.
“Does your idiot Pa know you’re here?” Buggy questioned in resignation, and he groaned lightly at the sheepish shake of his nephew’s head.
“Jiji Ray left us with Miss Boa... We saw the announcement” Luffy admitted quietly, fear still gripping his heart but at least he knew he had some help with saving his big brother. “I think Miss Boa is worried Jiji will react bad...”
“Da won’t” Buggy sighed, though he did offer his nephew a reassuring look “He might scold her until she feels like a child facing her Da’s disappointment, but he wouldn’t cross the line unless she asked or agreed if Mama Ky suggested it.”
Buggy’s contacts had told him all about Boa Hancock and her sisters, about their past as Kuja pirates who were captured and sold; and about their freedom before rising in the ranks to protect their home. Buggy also knew how Shakky saw them as her daughter’s considering how long it took for them to recover under her care before she left Amazon Lily, and when the girls were comfortable enough to risk Sabaody in disguise, Buggy knew that they met Rayleigh and Rayleigh had become protectors for them too.
Once upon a time, Buggy would have known them as his sisters; but, right now he just knew them as daughters of his Da. Maybe one day he’d get a chance to change that but he didn’t know when or how.
“What information do you know?” Buggy questioned them as he gestured for them to move closer to the wall at the sound of feet coming closer before passing by the darkened alcove they had hidden in.
“Ace-Ya and Phoenix-Ya are due to be executed in two days” Law informed Buggy grimly “They will be transferred tomorrow at noon, we will be pushing it to get to them in time...”
“According to Boa’s information network, this place has five levels so they should be on the last one” Zoro added carefully as he kept his attention on any threats of being found.
“Her network is wrong... This place has six levels. The final level is where the worst of the worst is kept” Buggy corrected their knowledge as he finished grooming his own hair and moved to play with Luffy’s hair, amused that his nephew hid his treasured hat under his shirt to look like a slight hump. “It’s barred with seastone cells... Deep underwater... Getting out of there with our family will be difficult. And there’s also a likelihood that they are to be taken earlier... Uncle Garp came to visit them with Smoker and Shigi two days ago.”
“We should cause a riot... Distract everyone” Luffy suggested as he sunk back against Buggy when the clown began to play with his hair. Luffy hadn’t been sleeping properly since the moment he found out about Ace facing execution, even with Law wrapped around him, he was struggling. The fact that his Gramps managed to visit Ace was soothing for him, he knew that they couldn’t help his brother escape; but at least they offered him some kind of support.
Buggy hummed lightly in thought at the mention of causing a riot to distract everyone. Magellan would be trouble for them all anyway, so distracting them would be a good idea; although, using other prisoners as canon fodders didn’t sit right with him when faced with poison. But, Ace and Marco were important to them, they were their family.
“A riot is a good idea, macaquinho ” Buggy hummed lightly as he scratched his nails across Luffy’s scalp gently, smirking a little at how his nephew melted into the affection. Something he also noticed Law and Zoro found amusing as well. “You three continue on through the prison, try and get as far as you can in these outfits. I’ll start the riot... They already know that I’m here”
Luffy hesitated at the suggestion of splitting up from his Uncle and gave a small noise of discontent which was soothed by another run of fingers through his hair from his Uncle.
“It’ll be okay Lu. I’ll catch up with you, I promise. We’ll get out of here together, and if we do need to make it to Marineford, then we’ll have a bunch of people behind us to help too” Buggy soothed the teenager before he nudged him closer to Law, who grabbed his boyfriend into a hug and held him tight. “Stick together... If I find out the three of you end up separated, I ain’t going to be pleased”
The three boys stiffened minutely before giving a quick nod before they slipped away from the alcove, leaving Buggy sighing heavily in the alcove.
He was hoping his brother wasn’t going to kill him for letting Lu travel through Impel Down with only Law and Zoro as company.
-
It turned out that the boys were able to make it all the way down to Level Four without causing too much trouble.
The three of them discretely dispatched some of the jailers and their beasts while everyone else was distracted by Buggy and the other prisoners rioting on the above levels.
Due to moving between stairs, Luffy and Zoro had ended up bumping into Bon Clay, something that the both of them were excited about as Luffy immediately clung to their old friend. Thankfully, the okama was also able to dress up as a marine as well, using his devil fruit powers to keep people unaware of who he was.
The former bounty hunter had been extremely helpful with his information on a middle ground between Level Five and Six, especially when he spoke the name Iva. A name that Law recognised from his many talks with Sabo whenever Sabo visited to make sure he was good enough for his baby brother.
Level Four was when it all went to shit.
Buggy had managed to get the riot to level Three while the three boys and Bon Clay were at Level Four. Unfortunately, Luffy had ended up running into the Warden who recognised him quickly which resulted in a fight breaking out.
Luffy spent the majority of his time dodging out of the way of the man’s poison attacks while Law, Zoro and Bon worked on the marines in his company.
He got hit once or twice, but it seemed that their theory of Luffy being slightly immune to poisons was holding true. Although, Luffy wasn’t sure how long that was going to last, especially since he wasn’t managing to keep his armament Haki coating his fist long enough to actually land a hit.
“Captain! We need to retreat!” Zoro called to Luffy, panting harshly around the sword in his mouth as he tried his hardest to keep the grunts from going after the youngest of their quartet.
Zoro and Law were the most dangerous to the marines with how hard they were fighting to protect their Captain/boyfriend. But, it was Luffy they were going after considering how the boy was managing to hold up against the Warden without lagging or getting too damaged by the poisons being shot at him.
Luffy glanced around as he, too, stood panting, his body was getting tired with overuse of Gear Two and his strength was sapping because of the increasing amounts of poison running through his system. They needed a distraction, and got lucky when a bang echoed from above them which caught the remaining marines and wardens attention as people began to fall from Level Three down to Level Four.
While the warden was glancing up, Luffy took that moment to turn on his heel and run. He grabbed both Law and Zoro, gesturing for Bon to follow as they darted away from the fight to reach the doors that led to Level Five.
It was rare for Zoro and Luffy to run from a fight, but there were too many variables that they couldn’t take into account. And they were being taught by so many people that a tactical retreat could often be beneficial.
“Mein Unruhestifter?” Law murmured in worry as he kept pace with his boyfriend, noticing how the young man was lagging in his stamina.
“M’okay Traffy” Luffy ground out with a weak huff as they continued down the flight of stairs, grimacing at the sound of the marines realising that the three of them had separated from everyone else.
Although, Luffy could hear Zoro snort in amusement at the sound of Buggy’s familiar screech as he attacked the marines. This jailbreak was going to reveal the true Buggy to the world, the young man that was raised as the youngest son of the Pirate King; there will be no more hiding now.
“Over here!” A voice whisper-shouted, something that caught all of them by surprise until he heard Bon give a soft squeal before he directed the rest of the group with him to where they were being called.
The cold hitting them was worrying, but being called to, what appeared to be, a hole in a wall; the trio of pirates agreed to follow the okama.
“Ah Straw Boy!” A voice greeted eagerly, one that had Bon Clay seemingly hyper which meant that this was the Okama Queen that Bon Clay had been regaling them all about over the past few hours since they met up with him. It seemed that Bon Clay had been trying to find the hidden land of Okama since he’d heard about it when arriving in Impel Down. “Come come, let’s get you away from the trouble brewing, I have someone on the den den needing to talk with you”
Luffy cocked his head to the side curiously, his eyes flicking to the two at his side, but the two of them also looked confused at who would be on the den den for him.
“You do?” Luffy questioned cautiously as he stepped forward, following after the weird one that had invited them to hideaway from the marines chasing them down.
A hum on confirmation was all Luffy received as he walked through the rooms that were filled with men and women in skimpy clothes. Clothes that even Luffy thought was ridiculous considering the cold that surrounded them.
When they finally reached what seemed to be the main room, Luffy stiffened at the familiar form of the den den on the table where a man was talking to the snail.
“Sabo!” Luffy cheered lightly as he shot forward to step in front of the snail excitedly.
“Monkey D. Luffy!” Sabo scolded tiredly “What kind of idiocy have you gotten yourself into now?”
“Better to have more than one plan” Luffy huffed out, repeating words that Sabo had spoken to him many times before; something that Sabo recognised considering the roll of the den den’s eyes.
Law and Zoro joined him. Law sitting down next to where the den den sat before he pulled Luffy to sit in his lap, he carefully used his devil fruit ability to scan over Luffy so he could check over the injuries and poisons that were probably coursing through his veins. Luffy stayed still and allowed Law to work on removing the poison from his body while he tried to focus on his brother.
The trio were all ignoring the okama’s around them but Bon Clay was easily welcomed into the fold with open arms.
“Yeah well...” Sabo cleared his throat guiltily “I’m not the main reason for this call, but I will talk to you in a moment”
Luffy looked to the other two in even more confusion until the features of the den den changed once again, this time into a stern scowl that had all three of the young men wincing lightly.
“Monkey-Benn D. Luffy” the voice growled over the snail which had Luffy flinching a little, he always knew that if one of his family used both his birth name and his adoptive name then he was in deep shit.
“Uncle Dragon” Luffy tried to greet cheerfully, but the cheer was flat as he sunk back into Law’s hold as Law managed to get the worst of the poison out while Luffy was sat in his lap but would need to keep going sooner or later.
“Don’t you dare ‘Uncle Dragon’ me, you brat!” Dragon scolded exasperatedly, although they could all sense the fondness in his tone even though he was frustrated and worried “Do you understand how worried we all were, when we got an update from Iva a few hours ago to tell us that a riot was breaking out led by Buggy the clown, to hide the presence of three Supernovas being idiots and storming a prison?!”
Luffy hid his face against Law’s neck to hide the blush he was sporting at the scolding he was getting from his birth father.
“Just you wait until we all get our hands on you, mani!” Dragon continued to scold, everyone in the room could hear the worry in his tone which surprised the revolutionaries around them as they heard their boss speak longer than they’d ever heard him and also with more emotions than they had ever heard as well “Your Pai is terrified but also furious, as is your Gramps and Grandpa! Don’t forget your Da and every other family member you have! The same goes for Law and Zoro too! Zoro your Dad nearly abandoned his orders just to come destroy that prison to get you out! And Uncle Sen is near a nervous breakdown Law!”
“Uncle Ray shouldn’t have left us alone without telling us what was happening” Zoro deadpanned even though Luffy and Law could tell that the swordsman was slightly worried about the repercussions of their decision to storm Impel Down. They already had Buggy on their backsides, and now it seemed they’d have everyone else too.
“No” Zoro interrupted Dragon when he noticed that the revolutionary was about to speak up and probably continue to scold them “Ace is Luffy’s big brother, he’s been there for Luffy longer than all of you, he’s been Lu’s family for ten years and probably one of the few things out there that kept my best friend going before meeting our crew...
“It seems to me that all of you decided that you wanted to keep Luffy in the dark... What would you have done if the War was a failure? If Luffy had to find out after the events that he’d not only lost his big brother, but probably his Grandpa and the rest of his Grandpa’s family without even getting the chance to help or say goodbye? Not just that, but also learned that his Gramps and Uncle Sen stood by and let it happen considering there’s no way those two would be able to avoid the war, same as Smoker and Shigi....” Zoro continued and everyone around them had gone silent as the den den seemed to show an expression of pain and shock, as if Dragon hadn’t thought about those consequences. It was also a surprise for everyone but Luffy and Law that Zoro was talking so much since Zoro was known to be the quietest member of the Straw Hats, but this was in defence of Luffy. “Rayleigh left us without telling us. You all wanted to keep us in the dark when we could have helped even in the background. Wherever Lu goes, I go. Ace is my family because Luffy is my family. We will do whatever we need to do to protect that bond”
“I agree with Zoro-ya” Law spoke up firmly as he kept his arms around Luffy, holding him close as he felt his boyfriend stiffen at the possible futures that he hadn’t thought about. Law traced symbols on Luffy’s waist gently to ground him as his gaze remained firmly on the shell-shocked den den “Uncle Ray left us... You used our status Dragon-ya... We’re supernova’s, we’re part of the worst generation; we’re not little kids that need to be bubble wrapped away from the world. We know we’re not the strength of New World pirates or Admirals yet, but we’re strong enough to hold our own against the lower ranking marines while the bigger names surge forward. Ace-ya is family. You ‘elders’ nearly broke the trust that we have in you by keeping us in the dark...”
Law left his words settle a little before he sighed “Sabo-Ya, please remove the den den from your Da... He will only continue to upset Zoro-Ya and Lu-Ya.”
The change in snail features showed that Sabo was quick to follow the request, and the look on the den den also showed that the blonde hadn’t thought about how badly the possible futures would affect his baby brother.
“If you could Sabo-Ya, please relate the possible consequences to the other ‘elders’... Right now, the only adult that any of us would have trusted after all this would be Blue-Ya as he is currently in Impel Down with us “ Law requested, his voice hard considering he knew that Dragon was probably still listening “Neither Hawk-Ya, nor Red-Ya informed either Zoro-Ya or myself about the events going on, we could have helped calm Lu-Ya if we needed to.”
“We’ll accept whatever consequences we’re due for this choice” Zoro finalised as he moved to Luffy’s side and placed a hand on his shoulder with a gentle squeeze of comfort for the younger boy “But, only if they all understand where they fucked up with their own choices. We’ll work with your friends, but there’s a chance they’ll move transport up considering the riot and now their knowledge of us being here too”
“They have moved transport up” a voice piped up from behind Sabo on the den den, which soon changed to new features of someone they haven’t met yet. “I just received a report that Ace, Marco and Teach have just been collected”
Law felt Luffy go even stiffer in his arms at the information, and if he wasn’t careful with how he handled the situation then he had a feeling that Luffy was going to break at some point.
“Lu... I would suggest to keep going to Level Six with Iva and the others helping you out. Get some the prisoners from there to help out for the escape, especially Jinbei” Sabo suggested to his brother, making sure Ivankov knew the plan too.
“Okay” Luffy croaked out weakly before he hung up, no longer wanting to have any more information pressing down on him.
“We’ll get him out” Law promised softly as he pressed a light kiss to Luffy’s neck to draw him back to the present “We’ll save them both”
-
Getting the prisoners out of Level Six wasn’t as difficult as it could have been considering Zoro’ used the bars as training to see how hard it would be to cut through seastone. It turned out that it was hard, but Zoro pushed through it with pure stubbornness alone.
They’d freed Jinbei first and then went along with his and Iva’s recommendations on who to release, except they all hesitated with Crocodile until Luffy watched the former Warlord closely before declaring that it was fine and they could join them.
With Law and Zoro at his side, Luffy knew that he was doing better than he would have if he had broken into the prison alone. They reached Level Four when they ended up reunited with Buggy and the rest of the prisoners; the clown was facing Magellan with Mr Three and Mr One as back-up. The supernova’s all jumped into action as Law switched out the tiring adults with themselves, taking over from them in the attack against the Warden as Iva and Crocodile attacked the Vice Warden and the Candies took on the rest while Buggy and the two Baroque Work members had a breather.
By taking advantage of having the ability to tag each team out to rest, they managed to knock Magellan out after an hour or non-stop fighting.
Luffy was wired until the moment he got to the ships that they could use to escape, thankfully his own memories of codes allowed Bon Clay to request a ship to leave before the marines even realized that Magellan was unconscious and not the one talking over the den den.
“Mugiwara...” Crocodile spoke up carefully from behind the young Captain who seemed to be stiff as a board while watching the horizon.
Zoro was napping against the mast, but Crocodile knew that the first mate would be up and attacking them if they made a move against Luffy. Law was helping with the injured while Buggy was one of the injured being forced to sit still for the doctor who was giving him an unimpressed glare every time the clown wanted to try and be the one to scold the supernova. Jinbei was watching on in amusement, though the fishman was also glancing over at the Straw Hat Captain at the bow of the ship.
“Now isn’t a good time Croco” Luffy mumbled, his eyes still focused on the horizon as his emotions were warring within him.
Now that Impel Down was behind them, his emotions were running a mile a minute. The fact that his Papa and the rest of his family were planning on keeping all this from him was hurting, Ace was his rock for so many years even when the elder boy hated him and tried to kill him. Dadan tried, as did Makino, but neither of them understood him like Ace did; when he lost Sabo, Ace had promised him that he wouldn’t die and now his brother was facing a situation where that promise would be broken.
Law and Zoro were right. If he had lost his brother and his Grandpa because of a war and wasn’t even told about the events in the first place, he would never be able to trust his ‘family’ ever again; just like he knew Zoro wouldn’t be able to trust Mihawk either; while Law would probably feel torn between his boyfriend and his grandfather, especially since his grandfather will be the one to order the execution.
Seeing Crocodile since learning about them being his bearer was different to what he thought it would be; he could see they were clearer, they didn’t seem to be so clouded anymore. But, Luffy didn’t expect the former Warlord to approach him.
His thoughts began to spiral more as images of the many different ways his brother and family could die began to flick across his mind. His chest was beginning to get tighter as he struggled to breathe, but also shook with tension as he tried to keep the trouble away from his boyfriend who was already busy. He clawed at his chest with a weak whimper as his eyes shut tight to try and block out the darkness that was beginning to close in on his vision.
A thick arm wrapped around Luffy from behind, pulling back into a solid chest as a hand rested over his heart.
Luffy whimpered softly at the panic that was overwhelming him, but he instinctively clutched at the arm that was wrapping around him, barely registering the cold under his hand where the wrist should have linked to a hand.
Soft orders to breathe was whispered in his ear, along with little words of encouragement in a language he didn’t really know.
“Breathe, beznačajna osoba, that’s it Mališan” The voice soothed carefully, though it was hesitant and also naturally rough as Luffy managed to catch his breath and took in the smell of cigars and sand which revealed the identity of the one that was trying to bring him out of the panic attack. Something he hadn’t faced since after Sabo’s ‘death’.
“Grandpa calls me Mališan” Luffy whispered, his voice was rough and sounded like he’d gargled nails or something.
Even though Crocodile was once his enemy, Luffy leaned back against the hard chest that held him close, providing him with something that grounded him to the here and now so he wasn’t spiralling with his thoughts any more. The strong grip around him reminded him of the hugs his Gramps would give him whenever he would break in front of the man when he was a kid. It made him feel safe, which was a surprise, but it was also nice to know that the clear Croco was one that didn’t want to kill him.
“It’s his home language, mine too” Crocodile hummed lightly as they shifted their hand to knock back his Straw Hat so their fingers could carefully run through his hair gently. “Are you back with us now, beznačajna osoba?”
Luffy hesitated before he nodded lightly but didn’t moved from where he was bracing himself against Crocodile’s chest. The Straw hat Captain knew that he would always have Law and Zoro at his side, they were two of his most trusted relationships; same with Buggy. But it was nice to have someone else that didn’t see him as weak because of a panic attack.
“What does that mean?” Luffy mumbled curiously as he opened his eyes, he kept his gaze on the horizon but noticed that Zoro had shifted so he was in the corner of his eye while Law looked like he was itching to move forward at the other side of him but Buggy and Jinbei were keeping him back for some reason. Then Luffy noticed Buggy’s ear by his sandal which made his lips twitch in fond amusement.
Crocodile seemed to hesitate for a brief moment, likely debating whether or not they should leave Luffy to be looked after by his boyfriend and best friend rather than by a former enemy. They sighed heavily, “beznačajna osoba means peanut... It’s what your father and I called you while I was pregnant with you. Your father would use Goan which is Mani. Mališan means little one... It’s your Grandpa’s favourite word”
There was a moment of a silence between them until Luffy whispered a question that was almost too quiet for Crocodile to make out, but when they did, they stiffened as if frozen. “Why didn’t you want me?”
“I did” Crocodile whispered back almost as quietly, their voice breaking as they automatically pulled Luffy closer to their chest “I wish this didn’t sound like a pathetic excuse Mališan, but, someone I thought I could trust betrayed me; poisoning me with letters laced with a drug that made me do whatever he wanted. And for some reason he wanted you and your father dead... You were a part of my past, but a good part. After the second attempt... I ran, Iva gave me my freedom to be true to myself and so I ran so I could no longer hurt you or your father.”
“Alabasta?” Luffy questioned in confusion, emotions hitting hard at the fact that everything they knew about Crocodile was wrong.
“More drug laced letters. I never knew until Teach was put in the cell with me for the week... Bastard currently has a broken nose.” Crocodile growled out, an outcome that had satisfaction rushing through Luffy. Although, he wondered how his brother was going to cope with Crocodile not being the bad parent they all thought they were; he was also hoping that Marco would be happy with the information too.
“Did Uncle Marco hear the truth?” Luffy questioned softly as he tore his gaze away from the horizon and moved it up to look at Crocodile with curiosity.
Crocodile let out a small huff of amusement, Marco had originally sent many curses their way the moment he noticed them across the way of the his cell. The curses only got worse when he noticed that Teach had been put in with Crocodile as well, but when they broke Teach’s nose, Marco was shocked but laughed and cheered; as did Ace who reminded Crocodile so much of their Uncle Roger and Aunt Rogue that it hurt. When Marco heard Teach admit that the bastard had been drugging Crocodile via letters so they would try and kill the Monkey D’s they lived with, the Phoenix had sent a litany of curses at the betrayer that had Crocodile revert back to the elder sibling they once was. Resulting in Crocodile surprising everyone with their scolding of their baby brother, with many threats of washing his mouth out if they heard him use such words again.
It caused Ace to cackle in amusement as Marco gaped in shock.
“The derište heard the truth” Crocodile confirmed with humour in their tone, at the questioning look, they smirked a little “Brat” they translated for the young Captain. “He sent many threats at Teach, it will be amusing to see what happens when he’s released”
Luffy hummed lightly before he gave a small nod of understanding, his mind whirling with new thoughts now; he wondered if his Uncle Dragon would be happy with this new situation.
“Can I call you Uncle Croco?” Luffy questioned in a whisper, hope hidden in his voice as he moved his gaze back to the horizon; hoping not to see a negative reaction from the former Warlord.
“I’d like that” Crocodile croaked weakly as their own emotions hit them hard. They took a deep breath before carefully releasing Luffy “I think your first mate and boyfriend want to make sure you’re okay... Go have a nap derište”
Luffy snickered weakly at the order before he nodded anyway and slipped away from his bearer, moving straight to Zoro while Law easily met them at the mast so Luffy could curl up with them both and reassure them that he was okay.
“You have a good kid C” Buggy mumbled lightly as he slid up to come side to side with the former Warlord as he reattached his ear.
“Given how he has an extreme rebel for a father and a former warlord for a bearer, I don’t know how he’s such a good kid” Crocodile mumbled back, a little tease in their tone as they were faced with one of the good parts of their past in the form of a troublesome brat “Thankfully Red didn’t influence him too much”
Buggy snorted in amusement at the joke as he nudged the former prisoner with a small grin, his eyes flickering to where the trio of supernova’s had already passed out to sleep off the emotional rollercoaster they had faced when noticing Luffy’s breakdown. Thankfully, Buggy had managed to direct the prisoners to do duties elsewhere so no one but family and Jinbei had witnessed the panic attack of the youngest Captain.
“How are you feeling?” Buggy questioned after a time of silence.
“Overwhelmed” Crocodile admitted, knowing that Buggy was one of the few that they could trust in their life “But, it’s not something I can deal with until after we save my baby brother and my sons elder brother”
“This family tree is extremely messed up” Buggy grumbled lightly which had Crocodile snorting in agreement. “But you need to talk to Dragon... He thinks you didn’t want the brat”
-
“We need to get Law close to the scaffold” Luffy informed the small council of people he had around him. Thankfully, he had managed to sleep for about four hours while the rest of the prisoners rested up for the war that Law had told them about; everyone knew they’d be fighting, but they were strategizing to keep the weaker members behind to provide aid rather than fight a fight they won’t survive. It turned out that in the four hours where Luffy slept, Crocodile had been updated by Blue about the ‘elders’ losing their minds and tracking down a bunch of them before treating them like the brats they either were or used to be. Blue also warned Crocodile that their father may not let them go as easily as they hoped and they may be facing their own repercussions if they weren’t careful and quick with their escape.
Blue also updated Crocodile on everything that Dragon had told the family on ‘the Island’ which had Crocodile correcting him on bits while grimacing in confirmation at the other parts. It seemed that they needed to talk with their old flame and father sometime in the future.
Surrounding Luffy in the cabin of the marine warship was his first mate and boyfriend, obviously, along with his Uncles, Mister’s One, Two and Three; Emperor Ivankov and Jinbei. Crocodile reassured them that their men would behave, something that was solidified the moment that Bon Clay overheard the rumour of Luffy being Crocodile’s son and got it confirmed. All three men were loyal to Crocodile and, in turn, were loyal to him even though he’d defeated one of them while Zoro defeated the second and the last was their friend anyway.
Jinbei was shocked to learn of Luffy’s link to Whitebeard, and even more shocked to hear of Crocodile’s link; but he was enamoured by the small Captain who seemed to inspire loyalty in everyone he met.
“As long as I’m in range, and at the right height; I can switch Ace-Ya and Phoenix-Ya using my devil fruit” Law informed the group before they could question why they needed to get him close to the scaffold. “If Croco-Ya could use their fruit to get us there, it would be a great help?”
Crocodile was slightly surprised by the use of ‘their’ in the young man’s question, along with the use of ‘Croco’ like Luffy had taken to calling them “I can get you as close as I can while my old man distracts the main fighters”
“Me being there will be a distraction too” Luffy pointed out, ignoring the looks of warning from his Uncle Blue; he knew that he was pushing it by being anywhere near the front of the line, but Ace was one of his treasures and he wasn’t going to let the World Government take him away.
He was a pirate. His treasures were his most important things.
“The marines will probably be distracted by us getting told off for going to Impel Down” Zoro drawled in amusement, the three supernova’s weren’t daft, they knew the moment the adults saw them there was a high chance of them scolding the three straight away.
Emotions were running high everywhere, and Dragon had already pointed out that their families were upset with them.
While it would be humiliating to be scolded like little kids, Luffy knew that it came from fear and worry. The Captain also knew that he was still just a teenager, one who had risked his life on more than one occasion in the last few months so his family would probably be worried about him just for that reason alone. Zoro understood those facts too, and knew that Mihawk wouldn’t be able to act until after the war so Red or Beck would be the ones to step in to scold him in his dad’s stead. While Law had Sengoku but Sengoku wouldn’t be able to do anything until after the war either so there’s a chance Hongo or Rayleigh would scold him.
It amused the eldest of the ‘youngsters’, that they could figure out who would be the ones to scold them just because of the training they’d all taken part in over the last few months.
“Captain Buggy! Something is happening!” A voice called out from the deck, one that had the small council moving in action to find out what was happening.
They’d already had the call about the marines blaming Buggy and Luffy for the break out with Buggy’s upbringing being released to the masses. The marines also inferred that Bounties were going to be increased in response to the three supernova’s and Buggy destroying Impel Down to get to Ace and Marco.
“That’s Pa’s fruit at work” Crocodile grunted lightly as they noticed how the waves started to recede “Everyone hold on! We’ll be catching a giant wave soon!”
“A Tsunami?” Buggy questioned with slight worry, a grimace on his lips at the confirming nod from his old friend “Get yourselves somewhere safe! Now!”
Luffy was quickly grabbed by Zoro, who was then grabbed by Crocodile so they were clutching the teens close while gripping the mast to reduce the risk of Luffy going overboard. Buggy was the one to grab Law, with Jinbei beside the two groups so he could watch over the youngsters as well.
A cheer of excitement slipped past Luffy’s lips as they started surfing the giant wave that his Grandpa had created. But a hush fell over the entire ship as ice took over the water and froze them atop the giant wave.
“Aokiji/Iceguy” Zoro and Luffy growled out with prior knowledge on how the Admiral’s ice worked. Something that had many of the men around them look at the youngest two in surprise.
Luffy immediately slipped out of his bearers arms and shot himself off the ship, landing on the ice and moving to the edge of wave; watching with concern as he noticed that the big names had already come face to face. He spotted the Moby in the middle of the bay, straight in the front of the rest of the allies and the marines with the Force situated besides the Moby.
The familiar ring of the snail echoed through the silence Luffy stood stiff in silence as they announced that the execution was to be moved up in time.
“Uncle Croco, would you be able to use the height of the wave to your advantage? Use sable to fly with Law out of view?” it was a surprising question from Luffy, especially since the young Captain remembered the name of Crocodile’s move.
“Possibly...” Crocodile hummed as they moved forward to measure the distance they would need to go with a passenger “Law... You’d need to be still”
“I can do that” Law confirmed firmly as he moved to their side, he glanced across the battlefield, taking in his own observations until he landed on a rooftop that would work perfectly for their plan. He knew he could stretch his Room pretty far, but his hope was that the closer he was to the men, the more stamina he would have to get the small group away from the danger as quick as possible. “Ahead, about two miles, there’s a building tall enough that my room will encompass the scaffold from it. We’ll just need to get out of there quickly.”
“Uncle Marco won’t be strong enough to fly you, he’d have been in seastone too long” Luffy commented to the two beside him as he looked around the area. “Traffy, do you think you could make your room big enough to get to the bay? We can meet you there as quick as possible to help, I’ll rocket us back if I can.”
Law hummed in thought, the nap he’d had with Zoro and Luffy had helped him rest from the stress of Impel Down. They’d managed to get some food from the marines kitchen too so they were a lot better than they could have been if the circumstances were different. “I should have enough energy to get us to the middle of the bay... It depends on how bad a shape Ace-Ya and Phoenix-Ya are in...”
“Well... I think now is the time to figure it out” Buggy decided as he finished eyeing the wave and whistles for Iva to join them “We need to hit the wave, the ship will probably fall with us... Cee, you take Law with you, keep out of sight the best you can... Mugiwara, you up for becoming a parachute?”
Luffy startled a little at his uncle calling him by his Captain’s nickname before he snickered gleefully at the idea of slowing their ship down like the octopus did from Skypia.
“this should be fun!” he grinned widely before looking to Zoro who seemed to have the same memory in his head, everyone else around them were confused except for Law who had been told the story before. “Too bad we don’t have the octopus around, huh Zoro?”
“Poor thing would probably swim for his life if he ever saw you again Captain” Zoro joked dryly and smiled at he laugh he gained from the younger boy. A laugh that he was worried would be lost with the stress of the war.
“Let’s go!” Luffy cheered excitedly, getting close to Ace was making him hyper to get his brother back safe. He immediately shot to the mast to look for the best vantage point so he could wrap his limbs around to protect the prisoners that had agreed to go to war with him for his brother and Uncle.
-
It took a combination of Zoro, Iva and Jinbei to break the ice holding he boat up, Crocodile immediately shot off with Law in their arms as the ship immediately began to drop and Luffy became stretched out like a parachute to slow the ships descent.
It felt strange to the rubber boy, but he gritted his teeth and kept his ankles tied around the one end while gripping onto the other. His eyes closing and teeth clenched as he focused on not releasing the ship, he didn’t want to risk the safety of his best friend, Uncle or Jinbei and Bon.
The noises of the war seemed to taper off as everyone spotted the falling ship, shock and confusion seemed to fill the air and Luffy knew that their slow descent made a perfect distraction for Law and Crocodile to use.
“Luffy!”
“Anchor!”
Multiple voices shouted his name in shock and surprise, many of them tinged with fear and worry for his safety; but the main one that Luffy focused on was his Papa’s, it sounded rough with emotion and Luffy knew that there was going to be a lot to talk about once they got somewhere safe after the war.
“Sunshine, let go, we’re at a safe enough distance and someone has made a hole in the ice” Buggy informed Luffy and when the Captain opened his eyes, he noticed a pair of lips beside his ear, the other Captain was still stood at the bow of the ship watching the war.
Luffy did what was suggested and shot backwards with a grunt as Zoro quickly untied his ankles and caught him with his own noise of impact. The younger of the two offered him a small grin of thanks before he carefully spring jumped the two of them to the bow to stand beside Buggy as water sprayed up around them when they landed.
It took less time than they assumed for someone to appear on their ship with them, Shanks sky walked until he stood in front of his son and immediately pulled him and Zoro into a tight hug.
“You reckless, idiotic, brainless...” Shanks started to scold, coming up with more insults to their intelligence as his breath began to catch with every word and Luffy knew that his Papa was close to a panic attack.
Immediately, the rubber boy pulled back and flicked his Papa on the forehead to draw him back to the situation which had Shanks gasp a little as he caught his breath in surprise of his sons sudden action.
“Trafalgar Law!” A voice rang out in ‘anger’, anyone who knew Sengoku like the family did, could sense the relief in his voice and amusement too as Luffy glanced behind Shanks and noticed two empty spaces besides where Teach was knelt on the scaffold.
Before anyone else could react, Luffy and Zoro were darting into action; the Captain rocketed over to the trio that had appeared in the middle of a bay. While Zoro pushed himself to run across the ice as fast as possible so he could aid his Captain’s return, blocking bullets that were already being shot towards the quartet.
“Lu” Ace breathed in relief as he spotted his little brother.
“Ace” Luffy greeted with a soft grin as he took in the state of his big brother and Uncle Marco, Marco looked like he was torn between being grateful and being irritated with the young trio with their actions in Impel Down; especially with Law wavering beside them.
Without warning, Luffy wrapped his arm around the small group next to him, keeping his big brother against his chest as he stretched his other arm out and shot the group of them across the ice to land in the waiting hold of his Grandpa.
He grinned sheepishly at the stern look that he was gaining from the old man, but wasn’t surprised as a whistle echoed around the shocked silence of the bay that called the Whitebeards and their allies back to their ships.
“I believe my business here has been concluded Fleet Admiral” Whitebeard called out to Sengoku with a small smirk on his lips, the old man stiffened a little in surprise when he noticed Sir Crocodile appear on the ship next to him.
Luffy quickly released his brother, Uncle, best friend and boyfriend to drop down from his Grandpa’s hold and threw himself at his Uncle Croco. Holding them close and thanking them softly as Crocodile hesitated but held him close as the marines all tried to figure out what was going on.
“Old man” Crocodile greeted hesitantly, nodding their head lightly as Whitebeard lowered the four in his hand to their feet. Both Whitebeard and Crocodile were surprised when Marco broke off from the quartet and threw his arms around their missing sibling and his nephew.
Crocodile grimaced a little as they felt their first brother shaking in their arms, glancing at the red and bruised wrists of their baby brother; Crocodile knew why Marco was reacting the way he was and they also knew how they used to soothe him. They quickly shifted Marco around so their back was to the marines, and tugged their coat to hide the small frame of the blonde while Luffy shifted so that he was blocking Marco from the view of the marines too.
“Easy, derište” Crocodile whispered to their brother softly as Ace seemed torn between staying close to his Pop’s or moving to his partner as Marco clung to the former Warlord that was his brother’s bearer “They’ll never get you back... You know Pops and I will never let them keep you” Crocodile continued to soothe, noting their father side stepping to cover them even more while the Akagami Kaizoku looked like they wanted nothing more than to grab the ‘youngsters’ and cling to them.
Shanks was confused, but knew he needed to remain on his own ship for now.
“Another time, perhaps, Fleet Admiral” Shanks called out in farewell, his Da moving to stand beside him as Buggy moved to the other side of him. Both Rayleigh and Shanks immediately glanced over Blue with worry, but noted that the clown wasn’t as emaciated as he was the last time he was in Impel Down.
As the other allies converged back to their ships, the prisoners, revolutionaries and Jinbei divided themselves between the Red Force and the Moby; with the revolutionaries mainly being on the Force while the others went to the Moby since it was bigger.
The moment that the ships were under the water, Crocodile sunk to their knee so that Marco could hide his face against their neck as he clung to their shirt to try and keep the panic attack from overwhelming him to the point that his devil fruit ignited.
“Teach drugged Crocodile” Zoro deadpanned to Whitebeard to keep the other pirates from attacking the former Warlord as they allowed the first mate to cling to them without hostility. “Laced letters with suggestive drugs to get them to hurt Dragon and Lu. And to attack Alabasta in the way they did. Marco found out while they were in Impel Down”
“The bastard was so sure that Crocodile was still under the influence because of the length of time that he’d been drugging them, that he bragged about it all. Bastard was surprised when Croc spun around and clocked him on the nose, it’s why his nose was broken on the scaffold.” Ace added to the explanation, everyone who were in the know about who Crocodile was born to, know that Whitebeard had been destroyed by the idea of his child harming their own.
“I’ll let Red know” Thatch whispered softly to Haruta even though the chef wanted nothing more than to cling his older brother and Ace. Plus, Thatch remembered the biological Edward, remembered the sibling who was always distant but still caring to the siblings that were plagued by nightmares.
Then Teach arrived and things went to hell.
Whitebeard wanted nothing more than to go back to Marineford to grab his former son and teach him exactly what happened when a son went against their family. But, he knew that that wasn’t the best idea, instead, he decided to focus on his child in front of him who was soothing his first adopted child.
“Mališan” Whitebeard spoke up carefully and smirked a little when he noticed both his child and his grandson looking up at him with the use of the term of endearment that Whitebeard was fond of using. “My eldest Mališan” He corrected himself as the smirk became a grin as he turned and knelt down himself; easily catching Marco as the blonde moved his emotional upset his way “Are you well? You have been imprisoned for some time...”
Crocodile blinked in surprise at the question as they wrapped an arm around Luffy and tucked him against their side. The rubber Captain sinking into their hold now that they were all safe; Law had been caught by Ace as the two of boys kept each other stood tiredly while Zoro was caught in a side hug by Vista now that the ship was getting to their positions except for the commanders.
“I’ll be fine until the derište can get himself right, I’ve no doubt he’ll want to check over us all” Crocodile reassured their father carefully “Although, I think beznačajna osoba may need some proper food soon. I don’t think he’s eaten properly since entering the waters around Impel Down, we’ve only had marine rations since leaving there too”
“Hmm” Whitebeard hummed in agreement, although, those around them noted the slight growl to the man’s tone as he eyed his grandson. Luffy shrunk back behind Crocodile at the look from his Grandpa, his eyes darting to Zoro and Law who were both grimacing lightly at the hum from the man. “I’m betting that Thatch has already started cooking for us all after catching Red up with the new information we’ve been given. Marco, all the nurses are back on our closest base island... Are you up to checking everyone over hatchling?”
Marco blushed at the old nickname from his father before he glanced over to his siblings, his partner and his saviours; he nodded lightly though still didn’t speak. Thankfully, his own fruit was already healing his injuries now that there was no seastone to make him feel weak.
Still in silence, Marco took Crocodile’s hand and reached out for Ace’s too before leading the small group down to the infirmary.