Chapter Text
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The self-named Portgas D Riot was aware of two things.
First, he had completely forgotten about Garp’s tendency to visit Dawn Island. It slipped his mind; he had suppressed the memories due to trauma (po-tay-toe po-tah-toe). The point was, if events went the same way Riot remembered, then Garp was scheduled to show up on Dawn Island several weeks after the Grey Terminal was burned. Ostensibly, it was under orders to ‘investigate the instigators and finds the cause’ of the Grey Terminal Fire. With an additional note that as a ‘local’, Garp would have a better idea of where to start looking for the ‘perpetrators’.
The truth was, (the truth that ten-year-old Ace had been too angry and hurt to realize) was that the whole ‘investigation’ was a dog-and-pony show designed to make the Marines look righteous and cover the Noble’s asses. Garp would deliberately delay his voyage once he got the news that the Revolutionary Army had been recruiting in the aftermath of the blaze. If things happened mostly the same way as the last time, then Dadan had already passed on the news of Sabo’s death (and Ace’s reaction to the news) to Garp, and his grandfather’s inability to deal with emotional issues would make Garp even less eager to actually arrive.
Despite the differences between the events Riot remembered and the events he had gone through since his arrival in this time, despite Dadan not being there during the final fight with Bluejam, Riot hoped he was still right about Garp’s thought processes. Things were just different enough to throw Riot off balance. The uncertainty was a constant irritation, like an itch inside of his mind. The only thing Riot could do was ignore it and hope it went away.
Dadan being missing from the final confrontation with Bluejam was one of the bigger differences that Riot was dealing with. That struggle had been a turning point in Ace and Dandan’s relationship. Without that visceral demonstration to prove to Ace that Dadan cared… little Ace would probably never really understand how much the Bandit Leader loved him like a son.
Riot mourned that loss as much as he mourned the loss of his birth mother. Unlike Garp the Hero, Curly Haired Dadan would lodge an axe in the skull of anyone who looked to kill her boy. Even if that person was stronger than she was. (Even if that person was a Pirate with more blood on his hands than a mostly retired small-time bandit could boast.) Dadan was a thug and a bandit and a drunk and had less than zero maternal instinct. She still cared. She still loved Ace with all the furious, mindless ferocity of a mother bear.
This was the second thing that Portgas D Riot was sure of. Dadan was a mother like wild animals were mothers. Savagely protective when Ace was tiny and helpless. Shoving him out of the nest and over a cliff once Ace was grown enough to defend himself. Dadan was a mother that gave the Son of the Devil the skills he needed to survive in a world that wanted him dead just for being born… and Riot would always love her for that, even though he had never told the old biddy in so many words. (Ace and Dadan shared an unspoken language. Riot knew that Dadan understood what he had never said, just like he had understood her in turn.)
Riot was going to try and fix the misunderstanding between Ace and Dadan before he left. He had no idea how, and he had only a few days to do it in, but he was going to.
If only Dadan were more like Shanks. Then Riot could just walk into the Bandit Camp, thank her politely for taking care of his little brother, and get automatically adopted.
… oh.
Oh-ho.
Riot grinned, wide and bright and wild as he stared into the distance.
That was right. What Dadan was going to think about Riot was not the important thing here. (As much as it hurt, Riot would never get his foster mother back, and he would learn to be okay with that.) What mattered the most right now was changing the way Ace thought about Dadan. That was more than doable. Especially since Riot already knew how much Dadan cared about Ace.
Riot could get Ace to see that. Riot could get Ace to see how much Dadan cared and make use of his usual plan! This was perfect, brilliant, Riot was a genius!
(Riot had run out of his medication before his fight with Teach and had slept less than four hours in the last three days but that was not important right now.)
His nakama would be the first to tell you that Riot ran on spite and fire and chaos, and he had now reached a state of maniac zen that abolished all possible fears and doubts.
Riot had realized less than a day into his new existence that this situation was not a fever dream crafted by the hallucinations of a dying mind. He had died burning and been reborn in flames. The acceptance had come hard, but it had come fast, thanks to the unmistakable presence of his little brothers. There was no way of going back to his previous life, especially not now that Ace and Luffy needed him.
So, Riot had snuck away from the treehouse while Luffy and Ace were asleep to cry and scream and rage. It hurt but that was just life. It hurt and nothing could be done to change it. Knowing that he was stuck, that he would never leave his little brothers behind even if he did know how to go back, Riot gave himself one night to mourn his losses. One night to purge the pain. Then he locked it away. The past was dead and gone.
Portgas D ‘Firefist’ Ace, Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates and Former Captain of the Spade Pirates was dead, had died in his little brother’s arms, and nothing could change that.
Portgas D Riot accepted his new reality. Then he stood up, washed his face clean of any traces of salt, and got ready to take care of his little brothers.
/…/
Curly Haired Dadan may have been a small-time criminal, but she had seen a thing or two in the course of her life. Exposure to Monkey D Garp had ensured that.
The fact that some of her experiences with Garp provided Dadan and her gang with Garp’s bone-headed version of ‘protection’ was one of the reasons why Dadan had stayed put on Mount Courvo and rarely ventured out of her own territory. It was why Dadan and her gang lived more like huntsman than bandits, most of the time. The Curly Haired Bandit Gang had become even more low-key when Ace had been handed over into Dadan’s unskilled care.
Garp could call himself a ‘Hero’ as much as he liked, but the man was still a Marine in the end. Shady deals, criminal connections, and ‘protection’ in exchange for favours. The only thing that set Garp apart from all the other dirty Marines was the lack of outright murder and blatant torture.
Garp ‘the Fist’ still used threats of harm and the power of his position in the Marines to get his way. Curly Dadan was woman enough to admit that the thought of Garp shedding the last veneer of civility scared the crap out of her. As much as Dadan cursed about Garp both behind his back and to his stupid face, Dadan still followed the Vice-Admiral’s orders.
The benefits that came from dirty deals were a two-way street, after all.
Dadan took in the son of the Pirate King and raised him to be a stubborn little cuss who could survive the hate of the world. Then she took in the son of Revolutionary Dragon, and mostly managed to keep the little idiot from getting himself killed. Even the runaway noble brat was starting to grow on her, if only because the blond was the only one of her three boys with a working understanding of common damned sense.
Between Garp’s threats of retribution and promises of protection (and the affection for her boys that Dadan would never, ever admit to), the bandit leader often got overprotective of her brats. Dadan would and had killed to keep Ace safe. (Dadan’s gang had lost a few members in that first week after Garp dropped Ace off. Dadan had never thought twice about it, and her remaining men had all known better than to talk about it where Ace could overhear.)
Regardless of his bloodline, Portgas D Ace was the son of Curly Haired Dadan, and all of Mount Courvo knew it.
So, when Ace and Luffy stumbled out of the still-smoking woods, burned and battered but thank all the little gods of luck and fortune, alive, Dadan forgave herself for her small, temporary, lapse of composure.
“You fucking brats! Where the hell have you been!?” Dadan would later look back on her memory of the moment and savour the wide-eyed look of shock on Ace’s face, but at the time she was far too focused on yanking both boys into her arms and choking on her relief. “It’s been two fucking days, you little bastards! Godsdammit!”
“What the hell, Dadan! We’re fine!” Ace kicked his feet aimlessly and squirmed but not nearly violently enough to get loose from Dadan’s clutches. “Are you crying? Why the hell are you crying?!”
Dadan… cried harder. How was she supposed to tell her brat that his brother was dead? How was she supposed to explain the combination of grief and relief and shame that she felt when she heard the news? Sabo was dead, and Dadan could only think… ‘Thank the gods. Ace survived. It wasn’t Ace.’
(Dadan cared for Luffy and Sabo in her own way, and she would never want them dead, but… Ace was her baby boy. Ace was the hellspawned demon brat she had raised up from a tiny newborn infant. Ace was the one Dadan had taught how to walk and talk and cuss and kill. Dadan would always, always, put Ace first.)
Guilt and shame and a truth she was never going to speak aloud.
“Waaaah! Dadan!” Now Luffy was crying too, his little face a mess of tears and snot as he was crushed against the bandit leader’s muscular bosom. “It was scaaaryeeee!”
“You should be scared, you shitty brats!” Dadan roared through messy, heaving sobs. “Half the goddamned mountain burned down! It’s been two fucking days! And you only bother to come home now?!”
“Shitty hag! That’s nothing to cry about! Like some stupid fire could actually kill me!” Ace scowled and started squirming with significantly more intent as Dadan’s tears soaked into his hair. Burly arms continued to hold him fast and high above the ground. “Dammit! You’re acting like someone died. We’re fucking fine!”
Dadan’s breath caught, and she dropped the boys to the ground without warning to slam her hands over her face. Turning away from the boys now scrambling in the dirt as Luffy latched onto Ace to cry on him instead, Dadan looked over her fingers to exchange a grim look with Mogra. Gritting her teeth, she turned to look at her boys, and had to turn away again as grief welled up in her chest to choke away her words. Still hiding her face with one hand, Dadan waved her subordinate forward with the other.
Mogra witnessed it. He could man up and tell the boys about it.
Dadan could not bear to look at Ace’s face as Mogra hesitantly cleared his throat and shuffled forward. “Hey, Ace… we- there’s something you should, should know… about… Sabo…”
Still parked in the dirt where Dadan had dropped him with Luffy still sniffling into his shoulder, Ace scowled at the name of his sworn brother. “What does Sabo have to do with anything? He’s locked up in the city!”
Wincing, Mogra told Ace what he had seen. About Sabo’s escape, and the canon fire, and the explosion that sank a one-man ship flying a black flag with a crossed-out S.
Ace went horribly still, his face growing paler with every word. By the time Mogra fell silent, Ace was nearly grey in shock and pain and sorrow.
Then it was all over but for the screaming.
/…/
Ace… really did not want to go back to the bandit camp. When Mogra had told Ace what he had seen, how Sabo had- how Sabo’s boat had been blown up… Ace had run.
Ace had grabbed Luffy and cursed out Dadan and Mogra and all the other bandits who had been trying to calm Ace down even as they were crying themselves and then Ace had run.
Ace had run back to the little clearing near their treehouse and the man who kept the small campfire burning. Ace had run back to the new big brother who looked just like Ace. Run back to the person who shared the same grey eyes and freckles and cursed demon blood as Ace. Run back to the big brother who had survived their mother’s death and who had come back for Ace.
Ace had run back to Riot.
Riot was the person who had saved Ace and killed Bluejam and was the only reason Luffy was still alive.
Ace could have lost Luffy too. If Riot had not found him in time, if Riot had made it to Dawn Island any later than he did… Ace could have lost more than one brother.
So no, Ace did not want to see Dadan again so soon. Not after what Ace had said while he was hurt and angry and looking for a target to take out his grief on. Dadan had not deserved to be so accused, but Ace still did not want to have to face his caretaker again with those kinds of words still hanging between them.
Ace did not want to acknowledge his fault or his wrong or the hurt Dadan had swiftly hidden.
Ace did not know how.
As they approached the bandit hideout for the first time since learning of Sabo’s death, Ace’s steps gradually slowed as his reluctance weighed heavier on his mind. Shoulders hunched around his ears, hands jammed into his pockets, Ace scowled at the ground as his feet grew ever more unwilling to move.
Riot’s hand rubbed over Ace’s head, warm like sunbaked rocks, curving steady and solid around the back of Ace’s neck. Ace looked up to see his older brother watching him with an expression that spoke of understanding. Of knowing what Ace was dealing with.
“It’s gonna be okay, kid.” Riot smirked and pushed Ace forward with the hand on his back. “Anyone responsible for raising a Portgas has to know we’ve got shitty tempers. Just mind your manners, say sorry to who needs it, and try not to lose your cool again.”
“Mmh.” Ace grimaced, but a warm spot of comfort sat behind his breastbone, right under Riot’s hand, at the easy acknowledgement of their kinship. “Who cares about what the shitty hag thinks.”
Riot snorted and raised an eyebrow. “Pretty sure that’s you, kiddo.”
“Shut up!” Stomping forward into the camp, Ace ignored the way his ears burned at the sound of Riot’s amused snickers.
/…/
Riot was nearly overwhelmed with nostalgia as he followed Ace and Luffy into the bandit den. He had lived on Mount Courvo for seventeen years. Dadan’s collection of sturdy cabins was his first home, and even if she did not know who Riot was now… coming back here felt like reclaiming something Riot had lost in the four years between setting sail and his execution.
That something snapped back into place like a relocated limb, and Riot settled back into his skin, even as a surety of self was sinking down into his bones. All the bits and pieces of himself that he had lost somewhere along the way were found once again and put back where they belonged. The wide, gleaming grin of a D spread across Riot’s face as his next breath came easier than the last.
A lesson learned only too late the last time around. A lesson well learned again now that he was Portgas D Riot.
Blood only mattered as much as you let it matter. What truly mattered were the people you found later, the ones who stuck by you through hell and high water.
People like Garp, who tried to do the right thing even if they were bad at it. (If Ace had not been a pirate, if Ace had not had a bounty of his own, then Garp could have justified breaking his grandson out of Impel Down. Ace had told his grandfather that he understood. Riot hoped that the forgiveness he had offered in advance gave his Gramps some comfort.)
People like Luffy, who would sooner burn the world down than abandon one of his own. (Ace shoved all thoughts of the Luffy left behind, of the Luffy left holding Ace’s dead body in his arms, into a seastone box and sank it. Riot focused on his very much alive little brothers, determined to keep his promise to Luffy this time around. Determined to make sure that Ace did the same.)
People like Dadan, who had a million and one other options beyond rearing an ungrateful, feral brat of a baby D, but who never even seemed to have considered turning Ace over for a reward and protection against Garp. (Ace hoped his Dadan got the news from somewhere other than the paper. Riot hoped that she did not try to kill anyone for revenge. The people who had been involved in his execution were far out of Curly Dadan’s weight class.)
People like the Spades and the Whitebeard Pirates. (Ace still wished they had never come after him. Riot prayed that Pop’s sacrifice bought everyone else enough time to escape from Marineford.)
“Finally ready to come back, you brats?” One hand on her belt and the other on her axe, Curly Haired Dadan straightened up to her full, impressive height and glowered suspiciously at the man who followed her boys out of the forest. “And who the hell are you?”
“Aww, you’re where Ace gets his grumpy cat face from!” Riot laughed at the flabbergasted look on Dadan’s face. Ignoring the sputtered denials about how ‘Ace-and-Dadan-were-nothing-alike-you-take-that-slander-back-right-now’ that Ace was shouting from the side, Riot bowed low and made sure every word he spoke could be heard clearly. He had never managed to say this to his Dadan, so he owed it to this one to clear the air and speak the plain truth, even if only this one time. “My name is Portgas D Riot. Thank you for protecting my little brother for so long. He’s grown up strong and safe, and that's because of you.”
“What the fuck.” Dadan took a step back as if she was trying to avoid an attack instead of being offered gratitude. “Stand up, you bastard! What the hell did you say your name was?”
“Portgas D Riot.” Back straight, grin wide, Riot soaked in the shocked expressions displayed on the faces of the surrounding bandits as he rocked back on his heels and tipped his hat in a cheerful greeting. “And yes, Ace and I are full brothers by blood. Like I said, thank you, Curly Dadan. Thank you for protecting Ace. Thank you for taking care of my little brother.”
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