Chapter Text
Sabo was planning to go sleep in his room for the next few days. He got back from a really troublesome revolution down in the North Blue, and traveling the Grandline did not make his exhaustion better.
Sure, he had an eternal log pose to Baltigo, but it only helped so much when the weather threatens to kill Sabo every time he attempts to sleep.
He was a second close to passing out, and Sabo wanted to be in his room, under blankets, before he fainted out of exhaustion. Was that so much to ask?
But Sabo stopped in front of the Call room.
It was the place where the Revolutionary Army got progress and information reports around the Grandline and Blues. Sabo’s coworkers maned the receivers day and night to make sure they got everything in order and to know when events would happen.
Their information network is second to none. Not even the World Government as the reach they do.
So when Sabo heard what was being said, something was stuck in his core. Memory failing and stuttering to figure out where Sabo heard those names before.
“Strawhat, Monkey D. Luffy, has broken into Impel Down. He aims to free Fire Fist, Portgas D. Ace. The Marines have not stated the why yet, but it has been theorized that they are brothers. Strawhat has been in Impel Down for half a day now, but no word on if he was captured. Fire Fist is expected to be executed in two and a half days in Marineford. The World Government hopes to fight Whitebeard at the execution and win. Fire Fist is only a chess piece to start that war.”
Sabo’s feet moved without his permission, bringing him closer to the speaker. Sabo stopped in front of him, and with trembling hands, held up both Strawhat Luffy’s and Fire Fist Ace’s bounty posters. Sabo brought them closer to his face, eyes locked onto the paper. The trembling in his hands got worse, barely able to hold onto the posters without dropping them.
“Chief?”
Sabo didn’t notice, too focused on the posters, but everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at Sabo, noticing his out-of-character actions. Dragon watched him from the corner, eyes appraising. Koala came in and looked at Sabo with concern. Sabo started to breathe faster, on the verge of hyperventilating.
All Sabo was managing to do was not freak out. He knew these pirates. He knew them. It was like an idea at the edge of his mind right of his grasp, never staying still and too slippery to hold onto. It was driving Sabo mad. The images of the two pirates were causing him such a reaction, and Sabo had no idea why.
Sabo looked at the posters, and Sabo heard words he could barely hear.
“Spread my name…… So no one can say I didn’t live!”
“The Pirate King!... Freeset person, don’t ya think?”
“Drink this Sake….. Become brothers!”
Sabo got a faded memory.
Three people were in a small clearing with a tree trunk. Three red sake glasses and a bottle filled with alcohol. One poured the sake into the cups, and then all of them clinked the glasses and drank.
Lighting raced up Sabo’s spine.
“Now we will always be together!”
“Yeah!”
Sabo came back to himself and found himself trembling. Sabo looked down at the posters and another forgotten memory popped up.
A boy with wavy black hair and silver eyes stared at him. Another boy with black hair, but pitch-black eyes held the third boy's hand. Their faces were blurred out, but Sabo could almost recognize them.
“Come on, Sabo! Let’s go eat!”
The other boy, who was about ten, scoffed and nodded at the other boy.
“Yeah, we're going to starve if we wait any longer, Sabo.”
“Then we better get going, Ace, Luffy.”
The boy huffed but nodded. The boy who held his hand tugged and laughed a bright sound.
The memory cut out, and Sabo was back to staring at the bounty posters. Of Ace and Luffy, his brothers. Sabo didn’t know why he thought they were his brothers, but it felt right. Like it was meant to be.
And both of them were in danger.
Sabo stepped back shakily, hands down at his sides. His head started to hurt, pounding in refusal. Memories have shaken and stirred, not fitting in his head. Sabo grasped at his head, trying to will away the pain. It felt like his head would split apart.
“Sabo?”
Koala's voice burst through his bubble, and Sabo turned to her, eyes a bit frantic and confused. She looked at him with concern and slowly came forward. She reached him and put her hands up. Thank god, because if she touched him right now, Sabo didn’t know what he would do. But he knew his reaction would be bad.
“What’s happening?”
Sabo took in his first choked breath since he got out of his head. He breathed out, trying to get himself back under control.
It wasn’t working.
It wasn’t working.
Panic filled him, everything becoming too much. His brain threatened to shut off, but Sabo didn’t have the time to pass out, but he wasn’t sure he could win that battle. Black spots were appearing in his vision, and Sabo was seconded away from collapse.
“I… I… I need to save them. I need to save… my brothers.”
And with that last statement, Sabo collapsed like puppets without strings. His vision was fading out to black. Sabo could vaguely hear the shouts of panic from around him, but that wasn’t what Sabo focused on.
What he focused on was the one memory he remembered from his childhood.
“Sabo! Don’t go, Sabo!”
The terrified screams of two boys echoed in Sabo’s memory.
They looked hurt and scared, reaching toward Sabo. Sabo felt all-consuming grief and turned away. The older Sabo screamed for his younger self to go back, but the younger and past self kept walking.
“I’m sorry, Luffy, Ace.”
Past Sabo put his head on his chest, hiding the tears streaming down his face. There was a hard hand on his shoulder, making him leave his brothers. The people who had the entirety of Sabo’s heart and soul. The only people who allowed Sabo to be just Sabo. The older Sabo watched with streams of tears going down his face. He felt like his heart was breaking. It hurt so much that Sabo thought he was having a heart attack.
“Sabo!”
“I am so sorry.”
The older Sabo tried to go to his brothers, but he couldn’t move. All he could see was the devastated face of Ace and Luffy, crying out for their brother. All the older Sabo could do was yell at his past.
“I’ll come back! I’ll come back to you! Please, just wait for me! Please!”
Sabo reached out with his callused hands to his brothers, but all that was achieved was the futile action of missing them completely.
Sabo never felt more useless.
Then everything went truly dark, unconsciousness taking Sabo.
Sabo woke up swinging. It was rare for him to do that, but luckily Koala was able to get out of his way before the hit landed. Sabo heaved a breath and swung himself over the bed. He had no time to waste, and he would be damned if he didn’t get up. His fast movements shocked Koala, but that didn’t stop her from chasing after the now moving Sabo.
Sabo had to get to the boats, he had to go to Impel Down. Luffy and Ace were there, and they needed help. Luffy probably did something stupid, and Ace would probably have his guilt trip thing going on. Sabo was needed. He had to go to his brothers. It didn’t matter that Sabo just remembered them, he had to go.
“Sabo! Sabo, slow down!”
Koala got in front of him, holding out her hands in a bid for Sabo to stop moving. Normally Sabo would stop, but this is too important. Ace was captured in the most dangerous prison in the world, and Luffy was there with him. Luffy could be dead for all he knew. Sabo knew Ace was already planned to be executed, so they wouldn’t cancel that. And that was a whole can of worms Sabo can’t get into right now. Sabo’s head was barely on at the moment, and if more was added to it, Sabo was afraid he would have a mental breakdown. Anxiety swirled in his chest, and it just wouldn’t stop spinning.
“Koala, I have to go.”
She glared at him, but it was weaker than normal. She sighed and said something that caused ice to form in his lungs.
“You have been unconscious for two days and then some. You need to calm down.”
Sabo froze, and in a weak voice, “T-two days?”
Koala nodded, and Sabo’s face fell. Then today was the day Ace would be executed, and Sabo was doing nothing. He clenched his fist and bit his lip. He wouldn’t be able to get to Impel Down in a few hours. Marineford, he could do, but that would mean Luffy would still be in Impel Down. He can’t choose between his brothers.
It’s either both of them or none of them, and Sabo hated that option even more.
“Sabo, tell me. What are you going to do?”
Sabo looked up into his partner's eyes. She was serious and attentive, and Sabo couldn’t feel more supported. He took a deep breath, readying himself.
“I need to rescue my brothers. But I can’t get to Impel Down in six hours, and I can’t leave Luffy in that hellhole chasing after Ace.”
Koala nodded, then thought of something. She smiled, and shoulder bumped him. Sabo blinked down at her, orange hair bouncing with her movement. She smirked. Sabo would normally flinch at the sight, but it feels reassuring right now.
“So you just need to get to Impel Down before Fire Fist gets transferred. I can do that.”
Sabo looked at her when he heard a knock. He looked up, Koala following his movement. They were both startled when they realized they were looking at Dragon, their leader, who just caught them planning to go somewhere without his express orders.
He shifted his attention to both of them, eyes unreadable. He turned away, showing his back to them. Dragon looked back halfway, face masked.
“You two will have the mission to bring back Ivankov. Anything else that causes trouble to the World Government is advised. Good luck with your mission. You have a week to complete it.”
With that, he walked away. Sabo and Koala shared a look of disbelief, not believing that Dragon would have allowed this. Because Sabo knew that rescuing Iva was just an excuse for them to rescue Ace and Luffy.
“Well, that was surprising.”
Sabo nodded absentmindedly. Koala elbowed him, and she gained Sabo’s attention.
“We have a prison break to plan. Let’s get to it.”
Sabo smiled, for the first time since he woke up. He cracked his neck, a grin on his face.
“Yeah. Let’s go work.”
Koala pulled down the marine cap she was wearing. She and Sabo split up a couple of hours ago. Sabo would break into the already weakened Impel Down, sneakily. No need to give the Marines any idea what was happening. Koala would then sabotage the warships that would have picked up Fire Fist and bring him to Marineford. She needed to do enough damage to stall the transfer, but not enough to make the marines suspicious. Because if any marine officer called into Marineford that they were being sabotaged, more warships would come and make all her hard work go to shit. Marineford was preparing for a full-scale war, so they can’t spare that many warships without compromising their standing with the Whitebeards, but they would compromise their position if they have to go get their prisoner.
But Koala was going to abuse the fact that would be the last option.
It wouldn’t matter to the higher-ups in the World Government that Fire Fist was a few hours late when he would only be sitting around. As long as they think Ace would be there before the scheduled execution, they would be fine with it.
Annoyed, yes, but fine with it if they think everything was going to plan.
Koala was there to mess up that plan. Well, in all actuality, she was here to give Sabo enough time to get Fire Fist and Strawhat out of Impel Down. And the needed few hours to do that would have not been possible if Koala was not here.
Koala looked around and then grinned slyly. She always enjoys destroying marines.
It might have been the pirate in her that developed on Fisher Tiger's ship. She was practically raised by pirates, and some things rubbed off on her. Well, time to make chaos.
And it would be glorious. Today would be a good day, and Koala would make that feeling happen.
“Fleet Admiral Sir! The warships sent to Impel Down have gained multiple problematic issues! Your orders?”
Garp raised an eyebrow at the messenger marine captain. He was shifty and clearly terrified in front of Sengoku. Sengoku scowled. He rubbed his chin in thought and petted his goat. Who was munching on some paper Garp slyly gave him in hope of not doing said paperwork. Of course, Sengoku just thought it was scrap pieces of paper.
“Is it necessary to switch warships to transfer Fire Fist?”
The captain shook his head.
“The issues are not serious, but it will delay our arrival to Impel Down by four hours.”
Sengoku shifted through that information, then sighed.
“Do the repairs. It won’t matter in the long run.”
The captain nodded and went off swiftly to deliver the orders. Garp crunched on his rice crackers. He sighed discreetly. Something feels off about this, but Garp wouldn’t tell Sengoku. He was already in a bad mood, no need to make it worse.
Even though his gut was normally right. Garp had a feeling he should stay silent. And he listened to that feeling.
Sabo was fighting with everything he had to not think. Sure, he had to think to get through every level in Impel Down, but he defaulted to his training, so it was all muscle memory at this point.
It was actually easier to go through Impel Down than get in, and that in itself wasn’t that hard for him.
Anyone else would have probably been caught, but Sabo was an expert in espionage and infiltration. He could get into an already chaotic prison without issue. Luffy raising hell in the said chaotic prison just made it easier. Most personnel were trying to get all the prisoners corralled and in their cells. From what Sabo heard, Luffy was caught but escaped soon enough afterward.
Sabo was so proud.
Seeing all the destruction really brought everything into perspective. Luffy has gotten stronger, no longer punching himself with his own fists. Strong enough to break stone and iron, to get through strong World Government agents without dying. And then that thought made him remember all Luffy has done since he started his pirate career.
Sabo has always heard of the new super rookie, Strawhat Luffy, but now he looks over the events with new eyes. His little brother freed Alabasta, stormed Enies Lobby, and lived to tell the tale, and so much more Sabo probably does not know of. It makes Sabo feel like a failure of an older brother. He was supposed to be watching him throughout his journey, cheering him on in the background. Having the option to not get involved unless it was serious, like now.
It was the same with Ace. He became a powerhouse of these seas, spreading his name like he always wanted.
With the things he knew now, Sabo was surprised Ace let Whitebeard call him one of his sons. Ace always had trouble in that regard. It made Sabo sad how Ace hated himself because of who his father was. Sabo didn’t think much of it when he was younger, a young mind who didn't realize the deal with being the previous Pirate King's son, even though he knew to never say it. But Sabo realizes now that Ace was not like that at all, he knew everything. He was devilized for his very blood, afraid a single word would kill him. He walked on a tight rope of emotions, and it was no wonder he was so angry all the time. Ace was too young for any of that to be in his head, but Sabo can’t really say that.
He ran away from home at seven.
And then tried to run further away when he was ten.
The ASL Brothers were not good examples of how to raise a child. They have so many problems, Sabo is surprised that they were even functioning at that age, feral or not.
Because they were feral, no doubt about that. And Sabo wasn’t there with them when they grew up.
Sabo missed so much in his brothers' lives, that he wouldn’t be surprised if they tell him to fuck off. And Sabo would abide by their terms. If they don’t want to see him, he would be gone the next second. He caused enough pain for them, and they can decide his punishment. But only after they get out of here.
The Chief of Staff looked around at the dreary place. It was no place to live, especially not thrive. He also had to find Ivankov, but Sabo had an idea that Ivankov would be fine. He was always a tough and crafty Okuma. He was making good headway down the levels, out of sight, and listening in wherever he was. He found out that Ace was in the Six Level and Sabo smiled. Good to know.
The personnel was also complaining about how much trouble Luffy was causing. It turns out the damage to Impel Down was more substantial than what the reports said. Sabo smiled proudly.
Good going, Luffy.
Luffy always left destruction in his wake, and Sabo never realized how much it would cause when he was younger. He should have realized it when he remembered the Enies Lobby damage reports. Namely, because Enies Lobby no longer existed.
Now he knew where Ace was, so one objective down. Sabo had faith that he would find Luffy before his time was up. Luffy had the luck to survive anything, so it wouldn’t be surprising if he just popped up somewhere in level Six.
Sabo cracked his neck. He was currently in the frozen level, which was Level Five. His coat was good for insulation, so Sabo was fine. He saw some less fortunate folk currently popsicles, so Sabo was thankful for the tailors in the Army that made him give up his coat for some improvements. If not, well, Sabo would probably also be a popsicle.
He repositioned his hat and made sure it was on his head tight. Time to find the way down to Level Six, Eternal Hell.
Such a pretentious name, Sabo notes.
“Fire Fist, come with us.”
Ace scowled, fighting with everything he had to dig in his heels and try to stop his captors in any way. Luffy was in here, and Ace would rather stay in this shithole than leave without Luffy. Ace was actively pushing against the chains that bound him. In response to this, one of the jailors pulled on the chains and jerked Ace’s bound hands. Ace didn’t have the strength to resist, and he fell over. His head hit the cold stone ground, blood appearing on his temple where it hit the ground.
The blood dripped down his face, and Ace grimaced at the feeling.
Starvation and seastone do not go well together. Also sitting for god knows how long in a dark place, completely chained did not make Ace the most able-bodied person at the moment. He hasn’t done anything for weeks or months, Ace didn’t know, and it was starting to take its toll on him. His legs shook imperceptibly every time the jailor's tugged on his chains, and his hands didn’t have the same strength he had before. His energy was sapped because of the seastone, always weakened.
All in all, it fucking sucked.
Ace was taken from his jail cell a few minutes ago. They have been leading him around level Six for that time, and Ace had no idea where he was going. If he was being transferred, they would have just used the elevator, but they didn’t, so Ace was confused. He knew that today was his execution, and it was about time he left this place, willing or not. He didn’t know why the guards were being like this.
Ace passed cells, jeers sounding out around him from the criminals down here. Ace has gotten used to it the past few weeks, so he didn’t pay attention to what they were saying. It was all bullshit anyway. But he did notice that the noise was slowly getting quieter, getting away from the populated area of level Six.
Ace didn’t like this.
He didn’t like it at all.
He subtly looked around, trying to get the read of what he was getting into. He knew he wouldn’t die because the marines still needed him to get into a fight with Pops. Which was a whole different thing. But the point is, they needed Ace alive to make their plan work.
Which was why Ace didn’t like this.
Stories floated around Level Six that whenever jailors or guards brought a prisoner to the empty area of Eternal Hell, they didn’t come back the same. Almost dead at best, never to be seen again at the worst. It was a bad situation, and Ace clenched his weakened fists. He couldn’t fight at all, and he was truly helpless with these manacles on his wrists. Ace felt the chill of Impel Down. It made him shiver.
They stopped in front of a cell door. It looked normal for level Six, but Ace noticed out of the corner of his eye some tools that made the hair on the back of his neck stand at the end. Ace has only seen those in marine outposts that receive pirates and criminals that have important information. Ace has seen what could happen to men who stayed too long in those outposts, eyes empty and crying for help.
It made Ace so angry.
Because it wasn’t because the victim had information the abuser needed, it was because the abuser enjoyed it. To subject another person under their will without consent for the situation. Ace knew of some stories of where “criminals” were tortured for a simple question anyone knew. Even if they answered truthfully, the marines or World Government wouldn’t believe them and would just continue the torture.
It was revolting.
Ace grew up in a trash heap where the sick and twisted played their games. He knew what all sorts of crime looked like. He saw things too horrible for his age. Ace observed his first murder at four years old. He saw horrible people do horrendous things for any reason, but Ace kept his values. Sure, it was morally grey and had some things left to be desired, but he was a pirate. It was normal for a man in his position to have shifty morals, but it didn’t make it okay for him to be a shitbag. If anyone went out of their way to hurt an unconcerned person, they were worse than scum. Ace would be glad to kill anyone who did.
He has.
Luffy might not kill, but Ace has no reservations. Luffy doesn’t either, but he always thought that shattering their dream was more effective than death, and Ace agreed with that in some cases. But then there were other cases where Ace had no problems with killing. He was raised by bandits that sometimes came to the hideout with blood on their clothes and blades. He never thought life was precious, but something to be fought for. So, anyone who was a douchebag that hurt others for enjoyment?
Ace slaughtered them.
And with no guilty conscience. They chose that life, and Ace chose his.
So Ace never thought to be in this position. He was back to being chained to a wall before he even knew it, hands above his head and ankles chained away from another. He was sitting against the wall, only able to move a couple of inches without being stuck. Shit, he might actually miss his old cell. At least Jinbei was there. Jinbei fought for Ace when he was taken out of his cell. Ace thought he must have felt something off from the guards.
A hit to the ribs got Ace back in his head. Ace swore he heard a crack, and Ace wheezed involuntarily, the breath knocked out of his lungs. Ace was never easy to hit, being a logia notwithstanding, so the breath escaping his lungs was a shock to the system. Ace was never beaten like the other prisoners, but his wounds from Teach still haven’t healed, so it looked like he has.
Ace gasped for air, trying to breathe. His hands above his head actually helped with the airflow, allowing his lungs to have more room to expand.
A hand grabbed his hair and pulled. Ace, still trying to breathe, was yanked to the guards, and Ace spotted the jailor smiling, yellow teeth noticeable. His green uniform did not help the expression.
“Your transfer has been delayed for a few hours, so we decided this was a long time coming. A horrible man such as yourself should be punished the way criminals should be. We were ordered to keep you alive, but they didn’t say unharmed.”
The jailor leaned in further, and Ace felt the breath of the man on his face. The jailor smiled, mad joy visible in his eyes. Ace has seen a lot of eyes in his life, but he has never seen someone look so deranged. And that was saying something. These eyes looked like they would smile when someone bled out in front of them, and it was their fault the person died in the first place. His smile brought revulsion into Ace’s chest. Ace doesn’t think he has felt this feeling for a long time. Not many people caused him to be disgusted to this level before. His madness set off every single alarm bell in Ace’s head, and Ace couldn’t even get away from this guy.
“And in the odd case Strawhat does come down here…”
The jailor, torturer, backed up and let go of Ace. Ace pulled back his head the moment he could, breath still coming in painfully, thankfully being able to breathe again. His chest rattled worryingly, but Ace put it in the back of his head for a moment. Not important right now. Ace looked to the man, who pulled out what looked like a metal pole. He waved it around, seemingly trying to find out the balance on the weapon. He seemed satisfied and came back to Ace. Ace tried to inch back, but he could only go so far up against a solid wall.
The alarm bells were blaring right now.
He smiled and swung the bat at Ace’s left knee. Ace cried out, knee pulsing in pain at the strike.
It felt like a gunshot ripped through his leg.
Ace knew something was wrong when only moving his leg caused pain to arc into his spine. Ace looked down at his knee, and he knew it was broken. It was pulsing red, and Ace knew that was something that needed to be looked at pronto. Ace breathed in heavily, trying to keep the lid on the pain. He has had multiple broken bones in his life, but nothing has felt like this.
Maybe it was his body warning him that he couldn't take much more of this. Not eating that much in the past few weeks took a toll.
And Ace was paying the price.
“You won’t be able to leave with him.”
Ace didn’t realize he bit his tongue until he tasted blood. Ace felt his mouth become filled with the taste of iron, and blood dribbled from his mouth. Attempting to breathe through his mouth only resulted in him almost inhaling blood.
Ace only realized what the jailor said then. Ace scowled, eyes filling with hate. He attacked his knee because on the off chance Luffy does rescue him, Ace wouldn’t be able to fight and therefore be dead weight. Ace hated feeling like a burden, but this took the cake.
But that also meant that Luffy was still at large, and alive. Ace took comfort at that.
Ace smirked at that thought. He spits his blood-filled saliva at the guard, and Ace noted with some glee that it slid down his face in a bloody splat. Ace chuckled.
“I have wanted to do that for so long.”
Ace kept chuckling, even though the jailer's face crumbled into an ugly expression. He looked angry that Ace was not whimpering in pain as he wanted. Well, Ace always did have the knack to piss off people. A hit to the stomach stopped Ace’s chuckles, a wheeze forming in its place. Why does this guy aim for his chest? Like seriously, he should change it up. Ace will get bored if he does the same thing all day.
A hit to the already in pain knee stopped all those thoughts. Ace bit his lips, blood springing up from where he bit too hard. Ace heard some concerning cracks that should not have been heard. His already invalid knee became even harder to bear. Only his pain tolerance kept him from crying out in pain. When Ace got hurt in fights, the adrenaline normally was able to cancel out any pain he felt, but now, chained down and without any ways to fight back, the pain was magnified.
Ace clenched his fists, nails biting in his skin, just for some outlet for the pain. Ace saw black spots in the corners of his vision, but he kept his consciousness through the pain. He’d rather stay awake than pass out and have no idea what would happen to him in the meantime.
Ace was brought out of his internal thoughts with a hit to his upper arm. It stung like a bitch. At least no broken bones this time.
Ace glared at the torturer, who was smiling at Ace’s pain.
“Sick bastard.”
The man just smiled and swung.
And all Ace could do was not give the man any more things to be happy about.
Sabo had the keys. Most people wouldn’t believe how easily Sabo got it, but he did, and he was in Level Six, trying to find Ace’s cell. There was noise around him, prisoners seeing him and noticing he was not an Impel Down guard. It didn’t matter anyway. The guards will figure it out sooner or later someone freed Ace. Sabo no longer had stealth in mind, just looking for his brother. Sabo looked for the hulking presence of Jinbei because he heard a conversation that Jinbei was placed with Ace, in the same cell. It made it slightly easier for Sabo to look for.
But when Sabo found Jinbei, he was alone, without Ace in the cell with him.
Nononononononono.
Sabo burst into the main area, completely withdrawing from the stealth he didn't really care for. He ran to the cell and looked around for any sign of Ace. He spotted the empty section in the cell where chains were recently used. Sabo griped the bars and swore. He looked at Jinbei, who was observing him with suspicious eyes. Sabo would be suspicious too, a noble in Impel Down looking for Ace.
“Where did they take him? Where’d they take Ace?”
Jinbei must have heard the distressed undertone of his voice, and frowned.
“I don’t know, but some guards took him that way.”
Jinbei pointed in a direction that Sabo followed with his eyes. Sabo nodded to himself and was ready to leave to go get Ace.
“Who are you? You’re not Strawhat Luffy.”
Sabo paused and turned back to Jinbei. He was observing Sabo, trying to figure out Sabo’s angle. Enemy or friend. Sabo tilted down his hat, covering his eyes.
“Someone who doesn’t want to see Ace die.”
Sabo turned around and ran, but not without hearing Jinbei’s response.
“Rescue my friend!”
Sabo ran faster after hearing the encouragement.
I’m coming, Ace.
Ace could barely keep his head up. Pain throbbed throughout his body, not letting up. The guy decided that a bat wasn’t fun anymore considering Ace silenced his reactions after the first few hits. The guy progressed to actual blades thirty minutes ago. Ace’s legs and arms were bleeding, not big cuts, but enough to cause a substantial amount of blood to drop to the floor. The walls were not spared, and blood splatter was on the walls because of a few erratic bat swings. The only reason Ace doesn’t have any more wounds on his face except for the initial bang on the floor was that the guy said, “The execution can’t go on if we can’t even tell who it was beneath the bruises.”
Ace didn’t know that he could hate a guy as much as Teach. Well, he does now. But Ace won’t break. The minute he breaks he loses, and Ace was never a quitter. He wonders if this is how Luffy felt all those years ago when he was in the hands of Porchemy. Ace hates that particular thought.
But Ace was in agony. Every time he moved his veins were filled with fire, and not his. If he moved too much, he was threatened with a gut-wrenching scream in his throat. It was taking everything he had to not scream. Ace doesn’t think he has ever been in this much pain before. A few broken bones have nothing on this. He would rather go toe to toe with Pops again than feel this pain for another minute. And that was saying something because when he tried to kill Pops, he was thrown through walls too many times to count.
His skin caused excruciating pain with every breath. His knee was inflamed, swollen, and smarting. The jailor, who Ace dubbed Douchebag, hit his knee every time he seemed to think Ace wasn’t paying attention.
Ace hurt like a motherfucker, and he would do anything for some painkillers the nurses give out when Ace did something stupid, like fight Pops.
Ace shook from the torture, head hanging down, just to give some reprieve for himself that wasn’t even working. A hit to the chest once again caused a burst of pain, Ace is now used to it, but it still hurts.
“Be grateful that you're still alive. I can easily kill you, but I won’t.”
Ace smiled, a bit broken but a smile nonetheless.
“I don’t care if I live, but I know I won’t give you, guh, the satisfaction.”
Rude, Douchebag hit him before he could even finish his sentence. Another hit after another, and Ace just tilted down his head and took it, because that was all he could do.
But it all changed when Ace heard metal shattering. A thump and hit sounded throughout the room. For the first time, Ace wasn't the one hit. Ace pulled up his head, which was difficult with the blood loss.
“Ace, Ace, you’re alive.”
The pure relief in the statement made Ace focus his blurry vision, voice familiar but not at the same time. Footsteps getting closer, Ace trying to observe the new man.
“...Who?”
Ace’s voice was hoarse, but his emotions bled through.
The man smiled, hand still holding Douchebag up from the floor, dragging him on the floor. Ace couldn’t help the dark satisfaction at the sight. But Ace focused back on the blonde when he spoke.
“Did you forget your brother's face?”
“Brothers?”
Ace looked up. He blamed his blurry eyes, but Ace could swear that he was hallucinating. Blonde hair framing a pale face, no longer young. A black tophat in the place of a blue one. Goggles around the tophat, ready to be used. Pipe in hand, the way Ace was used to, even though he has not seen the sight in ten years. Napkin around his neck. Taller but older.
“... No way.”
“Ace.”
Ace saw the man, Sabo, tear up and got to his knees. He was crying now. Ace had tears down his face, pain now forgettable. Then Ace was being hugged. The first gentle touch he had in months, and after everything he had gone through the past few hours, it felt even more overwhelming. Ace was shaking, and this time it wasn’t in pain. Sabo was here. He was here and alive.
Ace spoke through his soul and all his relief into words. Every single thing that happened to him in the past month crashed down on his shoulders, but the only thing he felt was relief.
“Don’t leave me again!... Thank you!”
Sabo only hugged him tighter.