Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

The morning wake-up bell rang loudly through the stuffy air, jolting Ace awake and away from his pleasant dreams of freedom. It kept on ringing as the people around him quietly groaned and slowly began to move, the lights overhead flicking on and blinding all of them.

“On your feet, men!” a booming voice called, a door slamming open faintly beneath the words. “If this was an attack you would all be dead already!”

At this point Ace would welcome it. These six in the morning wake-ups were going to fucking kill him.

“Anyone not out of bed in ten seconds is on toilet cleaning duty.”

Okay maybe Ace would get up then.

Shoving his blankets off, Ace rolled out of bed, landing neatly on his feet despite dropping down from the top bunk. His bottom bunk mate jumped in alarm at his sudden appearance before they were crawling out the other side, shooting a glower at him. It wasn't like Ace did this every morning or anything. They should expect it by now.

“Thomson, Mihar, Snake, you're all on toilet duty today. Get your asses out of bed this second or I'll extend it through the whole week.”

Three more thumps sounded as the three named men hurried out of bed, a quiet “yes, sir” leaving each of them.

Piercing blue eyes swept across all of them, their narrowed gaze looking for anything out of order. Which, considering they had all just been quite rudely woken up, Ace imagined there were a lot of things. He knew he sure didn't look—

“Portgas.”

Ace bit back a grimace and straightened to attention.

“Where's your uniform shirt?”

Considering he had just been sleeping, in the chest at the end of his bed. It wasn't like they wore their uniforms to bed or anything. What kind of maniac would do that?

“Well?”

“In the chest, sir,” Ace answered, doing his best to keep from looking exasperated. He'd gotten in trouble for that too many times.

“And why isn't it on?”

Ace glanced down at his bare chest with a frown. “Because I was sleeping?”

Those blue eyes narrowed and suddenly Ace found himself face-to-face with his commanding officer, the man crowding into his space to tower over him, forcing him to tilt his head back to look up at him. “Do you fancy yourself as some kind of comedian, boy?”

“No, sir.”

“Then you will refrain from answering me as if you are one. Now, why isn't your shirt on?”

“Because I was sleeping and got too hot.” Ace paused a beat before adding, “Sir.”

“Are you not aware of our dress code? Or have you decided that it doesn't apply to you.”

No Ace knew about the dress code. But considering he had been asleep which was technically considered time off, it didn't apply. Or at least, it shouldn't. Ace swore their commanding officer made rules up just to punish them.

“I thought being asleep was exempt from the dress code, sir.” No hurt in being honest. Maybe he'd get an answer and a warning.

Oh who was he kidding, he was just going to get punished.

Sure enough, he got a slap to the face, the force enough to turn his head to the side. The person on the other side of him winced but continued to stare straight ahead, refusing to look his way. Not that Ace blamed him. It was what Ace did when someone else was being punished. Looking just invited the man's wrath.

“No one is ever exempt from the dress code, boy. You will wear your clothes properly as expected or I will tie you naked to the mast and leave you there for a week to be gawked at. Do you understand me?”

“Yes, sir.” At least he was getting off easy. He'd seen men get punished worse for less.

“You will meet me in my office after muster. Do you understand me?”

Maybe he wasn't getting off easy. “Yes, sir.”

The man finally stepped back, sweeping another look around the small dorm room. He seemed to pointedly ignore the fact that of the twenty men in there, nine of them weren't wearing shirts and at least two weren't wearing pants. And there was one man who wasn't wearing either.

“Ten minutes til muster, men. I expect each of you on the deck before that time or there will be no breakfast and you will spend the day in the bowels of the ship on laundry duty.”

With that last threat their CO left, the door slamming shut behind him. There was a collective release of breath before everyone began to get ready for the day, people jostling each other as they tried to make for the small bathroom that they all shared.

Ace opened the chest at the end of his bunk bed and pulled out his uniform. Draping it over the footboard of his bunk, he stripped down, leaving his clothes where they fell before pulling the uniform on, leaving his shirt unbuttoned for now. He picked his dirty clothes up and dropped them in the laundry basket before making his way to the bathroom.

As he washed his hands his bunk mate appeared next to him, eyes sliding to the side to look at him. “What did you do to piss him off?” he asked quietly, reaching for the soap dispenser between them. “It was like he looked straight at you to find something wrong.”

Honestly, he probably did. “I, uh, might have accidentally started a little fire yesterday,” Ace muttered back, voice just as quiet. Just because most of them couldn't stand the man didn't mean that there wasn't anyone that wouldn't sell them out and stab them in the back for a chance to gain his favor.

“A little fire?”

“A mostly little fire.”

The man at his side snorted quietly, turning the water off.

About a month ago their ship had docked offshore of an uninhabited island for some training. Which really was code for turning them all loose in the jungles and seeing who made it back. Not that that had proved any problem for Ace who had grown up in a jungle. But he didn't want to be the first one back and he had missed running through the trees so he had taken the long way back, sticking mostly to the coast line and the thick trees that lined it. While killing time he had gotten hungry and had found a weirdly shaped orange fruit on the shore line. It wasn't something Ace was familiar with but fruit was fruit and so he had eaten it, thinking nothing of it except for the fact that it tasted disgusting and like it had been burnt.

And then minutes later, as he rounded the edge of the island to find the ship floating off shore in the distance, he had burst into flames. Which, funnily enough, he didn't actually notice at first because he was still hungry and could smell cooking foods and he had been so focused on that that everything else had kind of faded away. But then people had started screaming and someone was yelling at him to roll around on the ground and Ace had finally looked down at himself to find orange and yellow flames flaring off of his skin.

It took being dumped in the ocean and almost passing out for them to realize what was happening and then he had been dragged off to 'explain himself' to his commanding officer and the Rear Admiral of the ship. Neither of whom had been happy to learn of his new abilities and both of whom had then ripped into him about eating a devil fruit instead of turning it over to their commanding officer. Something about respect or something. Ace had honestly started tuning them out at that point.

Regardless, even now, a whole month later, Ace's commanding officer was still pissed off at him and seemed to delight in punishing him specifically for things that he would never apply to anyone else. Like not sleeping in a shirt. Or eating his fruit without a fork. Or—and this one had made him laugh more than anything—not pissing right. He still didn't understand that last one but whatever.

Turning away from the sink, Ace just shrugged slightly before lighting his hands on fire, instantly drying them. He got an eye roll from his bunk mate before the two of them headed for the door, joining the mass of people all heading up to the deck, Ace hastily buttoning up his shirt as they went.

Their commanding officer was already on deck when they arrived, the Rear Admiral standing next to him. Neither of them paid the men any attention as they stood in a line in front of them, hands clasped neatly behind their backs and eyes facing forward.

“Men,” the Rear Admiral finally greeted them, turning to sweep a quick look across all of them. “Good morning.”

“Good morning, Rear Admiral Pokorni,” they all greeted together, their voices a loud sound in the quiet gloom of the early morning.

Pokorni looked them over again before giving a single nod of satisfaction, motioning their commanding officer forward.

“Good morning, Master Chief Petty Officer Archer.”

“Alright, men,” Archer began as he stepped forward, “today we will be making landfall on the island of Drevanty at their port city of Les. Word has it that pirate crews have been stopping by and thus they've requested our assistance. Our last bit of intel from the island confirms that there is at least one crew still there as of this morning with a high likelihood of another stopping tomorrow. Our job is to apprehend these criminals and then transport them to the nearby base at Sevilay.”

At least they were going to be docking today. They had been out at sea since Ace ate that devil fruit and he was itching to stretch his legs off ship and see people that weren't marines. And have a minute to relax without Archer breathing down his neck. That was probably what he was most excited for. Oh, and eating food that wasn't the slop the Marines provided them with.

“Thomson, Mihar, Snake, all three of you are on toilet cleaning duty and will remain on ship the entire duration of this visit,” Archer continued. There came no groans from the named men but Ace knew they had to be doing so internally. It was bad enough that they were going to have to clean the bathrooms but to be denied a chance to get off the ship was just cruel. “The rest of you will be divided into groups that you will then search the island with. I expect everyone back on deck after breakfast for your group assignment. Dismissed.”

The rest of the group hurriedly began to leave, heading towards the mess hall. Ace, however, remained exactly where he was, waiting for Archer to summon him. He just hoped that he still was going to be allowed to go off ship.

“Portgas.” Pokorni gestured Ace over when he looked up at the sound of his name. He hesitated only a second before walking the few steps to stand next to him and Archer. “We need to have a chat with you before assignments are given.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Let's go talk in Archer's office.”

Ace bit back a grimace as he followed the two men. He’d never quite understood why Archer had an office considering the man didn't exactly have a high rank. He also had never understood why he was in charge of a squadron with said rank. Most had to be an Ensign at least to be in charge of anything and that was when most were given a small shared office. Not that Ace had ever asked. The man hated him enough as it was and questioning this apparent favoritism from the Marines was bound to only get him in trouble.

He was still curious though. 

Stepping into Archer's office was like stepping into a weapon's hold that had been hastily converted into an office. Crossbow bolts of all shapes and sizes lined the walls while a few of the weapons themselves were displayed in cases behind the desk. Two katanas were held in stands on top of the cases while a rifle that Ace knew was loaded rested in an open box on a shelf near the door with a huge container of bullets sat right next to it. He'd even come in here once and found a whole cannon in there—though it wasn't in here now, thankfully.

Archer sat in the chair behind his desk while Pokorni opted to sit on the edge of said desk, ignoring the small glower he got from the other man. Ace remained standing several steps away. It wasn't like there were any other chairs in here anyway.

“If it was up to me you would be staying here on this ship,” Archer began after a long moment of silence in which he just stared coldly at Ace. “Unfortunately, it isn't and my preference has been overruled by the Rear Admiral which means that you get to join the hunting party.”

Thank god for that. Ace might have cried if he had been told he had to stay on ship.

“However,” Archer continued, “you will be with me the entire time.”

Ace took that back, he would rather stay on the ship.

“Your control over your devil fruit is appalling and you are a walking hazard to life and property.” A tiny flame flickered on one of Ace's shoulders as if to prove the man's point. Thankfully he either didn't notice it or just didn't point it out. “Because of this, you will remain within my field of view at all time and you will refrain from any use of your devil fruit. Any damage that occurs will come directly out of your paycheck until the reparations with interest have been made.”

“The only exception to this rule,” Pokorni added as he broke in, “is in the event that not using your fruit would cost marine lives. You are permitted to use it should any of your fellow marines find themselves in fatal danger.”

“Got it,” Ace said with a nod. “Don't use it unless civilians or marines are in danger.” That was easy enough. The only time he really used it anyway was during battle training which meant he'd been working on focusing his flames to small points to avoid hitting allies. He'd never tested it in a real-world situation but he was confident he could do it.

Archer, however, frowned at him while Pokorni looked at him like he was stupid. “That is not what I said,” the Rear Admiral corrected. “I said, that you are only permitted to use it to save the life of a fellow marine. Civilians are not counted in that.”

Now it was Ace's turn to frown. “You're saying that if a civilian is in danger I can't help them?”

“I'm saying that you can't use your devil fruit to help them.” That was the same thing but Ace managed to bite his tongue to keep from pointing that out. “You should protect civilians to the best of your ability but you may only use your ability to protect our marines.”

“What if not using my fruit would cause a civilian death?”

“Then you've done something wrong,” Archer cut in. “Because if a civilian is in danger and you using your fruit is the only way to save them you clearly aren't within my field of view which is breaking the very first rule I said.”

Okay but the man never went out of his way to help people and Ace knew of at least one incident in which he directly refused to help someone who asked for it. He would sooner ignore a civilian in danger than he would step in to rescue them. Not that Ace could point any of that out. Well, he could, but then he would get another lecture on insubordination and probably some kind of punishment, so he wasn't going to. Though he did press a little more by asking, “Okay, but what if—”

“Enough with the what if's,” Archer interrupted, scowling at him. “All you need to do is keep by my side the entire time and not burn anything down. How fucking hard is it for you to understand that?”

Oh Ace understood him just fine. He just wanted to get the man to admit that he didn't think civilians were worth saving. Not that Pokorni would do anything if he did. But still.

“Any unauthorized use of your devil fruit will be counted as insubordination and will go on your already spotty record as such,” Pokorni said as he took back over, a hand waving to silence Archer from whatever other insults he had wanted to add. “You have been a marine for about a year, Portgas. And in that time you have amassed quite the amount of complaints and write ups. The only reason you haven't been kicked out is because your grandfather is a hero. If it weren't for him you would have been booted a long time ago. As it is, even his reputation can only go so far to protect you. So either start shaping up and acting like a fucking marine, or get your ass out of here.”

Ace would love to do just that—the getting out of here part, that is. Unfortunately for him, he couldn't. Not that he was sure he would be able to shape up either but whatever. It at least was less impossible than leaving was.

“Of course, sir,” Ace chose to say instead, not that he mentioned which part he was agreeing to. He knew Archer would love nothing more than for him to leave—or to kick him out—and while Pokorni might like him decently enough, he knew even he was starting to get annoyed.

It wasn't like Ace tried to be uncooperative or anything. It was just....he didn't want to be here and he hated being here and he hated everything about the Marines.

Ace had never wanted to be a marine. He thought they were boring and corrupt and way too uptight. They valued order and submission over freedom and were relentless in their attempts at cleansing those they deemed 'undesirable' from the world. And since Ace was one of those they considered as such, he hated them even more.

Unfortunately for him, however, he had been dealt a shit hand at birth and it had never improved. His very birth was a crime against the World Government and since it had killed his mother, he was put under the guardianship of a man who had no business raising children. His other guardian was a bandit who had never wanted to take care of a child and he grew up in the near lawless areas of Dawn Island. The only face card he had in his shit hand, the only thing worth anything, was that his childhood at least meant he got two brothers out of the horrible times—well, he had gotten two brothers. With one dead now he only had one left hence the single card.

And then life somehow got worse and he was told—with no chance to protest—that he was going to join the Marines once he came of age and he would spend his life there. No amount of protesting or arguing could sway his grandfather and while Ace could have probably just told him to go to hell and done what he wanted anyway, he couldn't. Well, technically he could, but he also couldn't. And it wasn't because his grandfather had any valid points or any real good reasoning—because he didn't—but because the man at the head of it all knew all about Ace's inherited crimes and had told them that should Ace refuse, he would tell the entire world who Ace was and exactly where they could find him. And sure he could have just fled into the night and hoped for the best, but he would have had to either leave his little brother behind to the nonexistent mercy of said world, or take him with and hope no one hurt him to get to Ace. There had really been no choice and thus, Ace had relented. And when he turned seventeen, he left with his grandfather and officially signed his life away.

Ace hated being a marine. He hated the regimented schedules he was expected to adhere to and the orders he was expected to unhesitatingly follow. There was no chance for choice or discussion or even just asking if someone was sure. Because that was considered insubordination and too many strikes would see Ace kicked out of the Marines and while that might be freeing, his freedom would be short lived when his secret was revealed to the world and then he would be right back to the place he was trying to escape from in the first place.

Ace hated all of it.

Piercing eyes stared back at Ace for a silent moment before Archer finally pointed towards the door. “You are dismissed, boy. I expect you on deck in ten minutes with the rest of your squadron.”

Ten minutes? There was no way Ace was going to be able to make it to the mess hall and back to the deck in that amount of time, least of all be able to eat. Though judging by the satisfied look on Archer's face, he probably knew that and that was why he had made Ace walk all the way here instead of just talking to him on the deck. Fucking bastard.

With a sharp nod Ace turned on his heel and left. The second the door was closed the started to sprint across the ship, taking the stairs two at a time to get to the mess hall as quickly as possible. With any luck he could at least snag something to eat before racing back up to the deck. And if he was a little late, well, it wasn't like being forced to stay on the ship was a worse punishment than having to spend the day with Archer was.

Ace made it back to the deck with literally only seconds to spare. He had managed to snag some kind of bagel sandwich before he had run back to the deck and it was currently shoved in his mouth as he tried to swallow the too big bite. He got a few odd looks from the rest of his group already lined up but they mostly ignored him, used to his weird shit by now.

“Attention.”

Everyone snapped to attention, even Ace who was still hurriedly chewing. Archer stalked onto the deck without Pokorni, a judgmental gaze sweeping over all of them. “Portgas.”

Goddammit.

Speaking through the food, Ace asked, “Yes, sir?”

“You were late.”

No he wasn't. He was ten seconds early.

“What do you have to say for yourself, boy?”

Ace finally managed to swallow his food, though now he was wishing he had grabbed something to drink too because he was thirsty. Hopefully he could snag something on the island without Archer noticing and—oh yeah, Archer was waiting for an answer. The man was tapping his foot as he glared at him, his expression getting more and more annoyed the longer Ace went without answering.

“I arrived ten seconds til, sir,” he finally said, hearing more than a few muffled snickers.

Angry eyebrows drew downwards and the glare on the man's face got even sharper. “You dare argue with your superior, Portgas?”

Ace wisely decided to stay silent. For now, at least.

The glare didn't let up but they were rapidly approaching the island now, the dock only a few minutes away. Which was probably the only reason Ace didn't get punished in any way or even yelled at. Though he knew he wasn't getting off the hook that easily, not with the dark look Archer was giving him and the clenched fist at his side.

Abruptly turning away, Archer began to announce the groups, reminding everyone to stay with their group at all times. Unsurprisingly—yet still something Ace had been hoping against—Ace was the only one with Archer, meaning he would be alone with the man for the whole day at least. Probably the next one too since he had said it was likely more pirates would be coming tomorrow. It was enough to make Ace want to groan.

The gangplank was lowered after the groups were announced and everyone began to make their way towards it, heading to dry land. Along with the groups searching for pirates, a handful of other squadrons had been released for shore leave and were going to spend their time on the island. Some of the higher ranking marines on board joined them as well, leaving their unfortunate subordinates to guard the ship and do chores while they enjoyed being on land and all the vices it offered.

Archer stayed silent as they left the ship and walked down the dock. He didn't say a word as he turned and headed into the town, silently expecting Ace to just follow him. Which he did. Only because he knew the man would make good on those threats of a write-up and Ace was actually trying to avoid getting written up again. He usually was. Usually.

Les was a beautiful port town. Tall wooden columns stood like statues in front of the businesses that lined the main road, small lights that looked like tiny leaves twisting their way upwards before running along the roofs that connected them. Mossy cobbled stones made up the paths, huge sheets of cut stone cracked with age making small steps off the road and to the businesses. A huge, ancient oak tree stood in the center of the town, it's trunk taking up nearly an entire city block. Cloth sunshades draped from the trunk down, held up by thin wooden poles and thick ropes. Picnic tables dotted the grassy ground around the tree and beneath the sunshades while food stalls lined the edges, lines starting to form as the morning wore on and people began to rise at a much more reasonable time than six.

Waiting beneath the tree in an area devoid of tables stood an old man in a suit and a top hat, a cane resting against the ground that a single hand was laying on. He perked up slightly as he spotted them and waved them over, straightening up before taking a few steps closer.

“Ah, you must be the Marines,” the man said, as if neither Ace nor Archer were wearing their Marine uniforms.

“And you must be the mayor,” Archer replied, stopping a few steps from the man and offering his hand to shake. “The Rear Admiral has already brought me up to speed and we've dispatched several groups to search the island for your problem.”

The mayor nodded, a heavy sigh leaving him. “They've been showing up for years,” he explained, making a tsk sound. “We've asked for help before but we've always been ignored or told to deal with it ourselves.”

That sounded about right. The Marines rarely seemed interested in actually doing their jobs when it came to the islands under the World Government's protection. Well, not interested when they weren't major islands that brought in lots of revenue. And while beautiful, Ace couldn't imagine Les brought in much money.

“I've heard the problem has gotten worse.” Archer, predictably, ignored the statement about being ignored. “And they've gotten destructive.”

“They've always been destructive. But we do have more and more of them stopping by and just a few weeks ago they burned one of our bars down.”

“They also tried attacking our base at Sevilay.” Ace wasn't honestly sure if Archer was even listening to anything the mayor was saying. If he was he sure wasn't replying to any of it.

The mayor frowned a bit before smoothing it over. “I'm sure they have,” he said, not really sounding sorry about this fact. “I'm afraid I don't know exactly where they are right now, but I do know there is one crew somewhere around here. They're probably anchored along the northern shore since there isn't much out there but some orchards but I also don’t know for sure.”

Archer was already turning away, looking towards the north. “Good. We'll take care of it for you.”

“Finally,” the mayor muttered quietly. He smiled at Archer when he sharply turned to look at him and said, “Good luck to you. I'm sure our problem will be taken care of swiftly.”

Blue eyes narrowed sharply but it seemed that Archer decided the old man wasn't worth his time because he merely turned away again and headed towards the north, Ace giving the mayor a small bow before hurrying after him.

“People used to be grateful for the Marines, you know,” Archer grumbled as they walked, a scowl sweeping across everything he could see. “They used to line the streets when we'd arrive and treat us like the heroes we are. Now you're lucky to get a fucking thank you out of anyone or even any fucking gratitude. We used to get discounts at inns, bars, hell even the brothels would give us one. You'd have women just about throwing themselves at you left and right. There isn't any of that now. Hell half those fucking whores just turn their noses up at you.”

Ace stayed silent, mostly tuning out the man's ranting. He'd heard it before from him and he knew he'd hear it again. Archer was one of those marines who thought they were god's fucking gift to the earth and expected to be treated as such. Anything less than a royal treatment wasn't good enough for him and he likened it to being looked down on. Not getting served first in a restaurant was an injustice to him and so too was a woman telling him no. He was so used to being handed everything on a silver platter that not having it done was like being spit on.

A hand cuffed the back of Ace's head, making him stumble. “Are you even fucking listening to me, boy?”

Nope. Though Ace knew better than to say that. “Sorry, sir. I'm trying to keep an eye on our surroundings to make sure—”

“Who gives a fuck,” Archer interrupted, slapping the back of his head again. “No pirate crew is going to be able to sneak up on us and none of those fucking idiots are going to be able to take me on. They'll probably just shit their pants in fear at the sight of us and either run away or pass out.”

Right.... It wasn't like there was a reason Archer was only a Master Chief Petty Officer or anything. Why he wasn't a higher rank. The man might have the ego of an Admiral, but his skill level was nowhere near theirs and honestly, Ace was pretty sure that if he really tried he could probably kick the man's ass. But whatever. If Archer wanted to think he was something he wasn't then Ace wasn't going to say anything. He was just going to watch the man get his ass handed to him and laugh.

A hand was still hovering near the back of Ace's head like it was just waiting for the excuse to hit him again. Ace had half a mind to turn his hair to flames and burn the man but since he apparently wasn't allowed to use his devil fruit at all, he wisely decided against it. Instead he just gave the man a hum and a nod and continued to scan their surroundings, half listening as Archer returned to ranting.

They left the edges of the town and passed into the orchard that the mayor had mentioned. Apples and plums grew from the trees, their deep purples and reds glinting through the green leaves. The air smelled heavily of ripening and overripe fruit, clumps of rotting plums laying around the bases of the trees. Wasps buzzed around the plums, feasting on the soft flesh and filling the background with a dull droning sound that the breeze whispering through the trees couldn't quite block out. Short grass swayed slightly as they passed by, their edges occasionally tickling Ace's legs whenever he wandered too close to the trees and the longer grass that grew beneath them.

Before long they found themselves at the edge of the orchard and, only a few minutes after that, they came to the beach the mayor had mentioned. The soft grass gave way to yellow sand which faded into the bright ocean, the sun's morning rays seeming to sharpen the color of everything. Waves rolled against the shore almost lazily, lapping quietly over the sand before retreating back out to sea. The horizon stretched on uninterrupted in front of them, water stretching as far as the eye could see. Beams of light seemed to play over the waves and catch on grains of sand, turning the whole view—

“Fucking idiot,” Archer grumbled, pulling Ace's attention back to him. “That fucking idiot told us their ship was here and it fucking isn't.”

Technically he had said they 'probably' were anchored over here. Probably didn't mean they would be with a hundred percent confirmation. It just meant that they were more likely than not to be here but they still might not be. Ace didn't point this out though, instead just going back to scanning the horizon and feeling that usual melancholic feeling rising up in him as he stared at the waves he wasn't allowed to touch. What he wouldn't give to be able to just take off to sea by himself.

“Come on,” Archer growled, turning away and already heading back down the path they'd just come from. “I bet you that mayor led us astray purposefully. I bet he knows exactly where those criminals are and sent us here so that he could warn them and give them a head start.”

Or he had, you know, sent them to where he thought they were likely to be because he wanted to keep his town safe. That was always an option.

“Perhaps they moved their ship already,” Ace offered, picking up his pace to catch up. “Or maybe they decided to anchor somewhere else for the day. It wouldn't be smart to anchor in the same place continuously since then someone could ambush you.”

“Pirates are dumb, boy. They wouldn't know a rock from a marshmallow if you threw one at them.” That was....certainly an expression. “I'm telling you that that mayor sent us out this way knowing there wouldn't be anything here. He's expecting me to think like you fucking are and let this go. But I'm too smart to be fooled by that trick.” No he wasn't. Also, Ace was still pretty sure this wasn't a trick. “We're going to go back and talk to him and force some answers out of him.”

That sounded like something Ace didn't want to be apart of. Hopefully they could find the pirates before that happened. With any luck Archer could work off some steam on them and then forget all about the mayor.

Back in town it didn't look like anything had changed. People were still wandering the streets as they meandered from business to business while other people hurried through the crowds like they had an actual destination in mind. There were more people out than there had been before, but considering the morning was starting to wear late, that made sense. Ace would bet most people were out either working or doing errands by now.

They were almost back to the city center when the tiniest of cries for 'help' whispered through the air, Ace's ears instantly perking up as he turned towards the sound. No one else around him was acting like they had heard the call but Ace also knew most people were too focused on themselves to pay any attention anyway. And besides, he did have pretty good hearing.

The cry didn't come again but Ace knew what he had heard and so he grabbed Archer's arm, forcing him to stop.

“What the hell—” Archer began in a snarl, fingers ripping Ace's hand off of him.

“Someone called for help,” Ace interrupted, gesturing towards where the sound had come from. There was an alley that ran between two nearby buildings and while he didn't see anything there, he would bet there were more alleys that connected back there and that was probably where the call had come from.

“So what?” Archer snapped, glowering at Ace. “We have a job to do.”

Yeah and they were doing a great job of it. But considering they weren't actively pursuing any of the pirates, Ace felt like they could stop for a minute to help. Especially considering they were, you know, marines and that was what marines were supposed to do. Technically. At least, it was in their promises.

“The pirates could be threatening someone,” Ace tried, still standing still. Fingers gripped onto his arm, digging into his skin harshly enough that he had to concentrate on not bursting into flame or heating his body up too much. It was such an instinctual reaction even after only a month that he had to actually try to not do it. “They could be hurting someone.”

“Or it could be some idiot kids messing around,” Archer countered, yanking Ace after him.

Ace refused to relent, digging his heels in. “Or they could be killing someone and we could be letting it happen by standing here and ignoring it.”

A glimpse of movement was Ace's only warning before he got a stinging slap to the face. He turned to look at Archer, schooling his expression into a neutral one to mask his annoyance and rising ire. Never in his life had he been slapped more than in the past year of being under this fucker's command and Archer was getting real close to finding out just what Ace thought of that.

“Are you refusing an order from your commander?” Archer hissed at him, using his grip on Ace's arm to yank him closer until they were nearly face-to-face, Ace's head tilted back to look up at him. “Is this insubordination?”

No it was called having fucking morals which the Marines seemed to be severely lacking. The grip on his arm tightened warningly, though, so Ace decided not to point that out.

He was thankfully saved from having to answer by the sound of gunfire coming from the same direction as the cry, the sound loud enough that it couldn't be ignored or denied this time. The people around them instantly began to duck and run for cover, the streets rapidly clearing out with shouts to run.

The grip on Ace's arm had slackened at the gunfire and Ace used the distraction to wrench himself free. Moving before Archer could recover, Ace turned and ran towards the sound, ignoring the sound of his name being shouted angrily behind him. He would deal with whatever punishment Archer had for him later, after he made sure no one was in danger and whoever was shooting was dealt with.

Water splashed Ace's legs as he ran down the alley, murky puddles collected in divots in the stone from what was probably a recent rainfall. Bits of discarded trash lined the brick and wooden walls that he passed, pieces of newspapers and napkins caught in wet clumps or fluttering behind him when he passed by.

The alley veered to the left and Ace burst out into a courtyard of some kind, several other entrances leading to what looked like other alleyways. The nearby buildings lined the courtyard, several small decks and staircases leading to it from the upper levels. Several rusty picnic tables sat in the center of the area, a drooping and partially ripped umbrella set up between them to block the sun.

Near the center of the courtyard three men were standing with their backs mostly to Ace, guns held in two of their hands while a third toyed with what looked like the handle of a sword. In front of them were a man and a woman, the man slumped in the woman's arms with red rapidly pooling on the ground around them.

“Now give it or I'll shoot you too,” one of the men with a gun yelled at her, motioning with said gun. “You've seen that I will.”

“I-I don't have it,” the woman called back, her voice shaky. “I don't....I don't have keys to the room.”

“Then go get them.”

Wide eyes blinked rapidly at the men, darting down towards the man still in her arms. “I can't. The-the only one with them is the mayor and he's—“

“Then we'll go get him together. Unless you'd rather I just shot you right here and left you to die?”

Apparently Ace had found the pirates. It was nice to know that he hadn't been hearing things.

Stepping out of the mouth of the alleyway, Ace lit his hands on fire before hurriedly killing the flames, remembering the threats he'd been left with. He still thought it was stupid but he'd try to follow the rules for now. “Hey!” he shouted instead, watching as the three men tensed. “By order of the Marines, drop your weapons.”

Ace wasn't actually expecting the men to do as he had said but he still said it anyway. Mostly because then when they didn't he was fully justified in kicking their asses.

Two of the men turned towards Ace, the one who had been talking continuing to face the woman and keep his gun trained on her. The second man with the gun looked Ace up and down, his frown growing into a smirk before he started laughing.

“You're a Marine?” he asked around his laughs. “Are they so fucking desperate that they're taking kids now?”

That was rude. Ace was eighteen. He was an adult. Something he said to the men, which just made them laugh harder and Ace scowl deeper. Fucking bastards.

“Yeah, sure, you keep telling yourself that, kid,” the same man laughed. “You look like you're maybe seventeen and honestly, I'd say sixteen. Maybe fifteen if I just looked at that baby face.”

Ace did not have a baby face. He just had freckles that, unfortunately, made him look younger. “It doesn't matter,” he called to them, shifting his stance slightly. “I'm a marine and I'm telling you to drop your weapons now.”

The man with the sword snorted. “Yeah, or what? What are you going to do?”

Footsteps pounded up the alley behind Ace and he didn't get a chance to respond before Archer was bursting into the courtyard, an angry bellow of Ace's name leaving him. The three men—even the one who had initially ignored Ace—turned to look at him, a few eyebrows raising at his appearance.

Archer stalked up to Ace and grabbed him by the arm, yanking him towards him again. “What the fuck did I tell you?” he shouted in Ace's face, either ignoring the men on purpose or because he was that stupid. Ace wasn't sure which one it was. “I told you to fucking stay with me at all times or I would fucking write you up. Are you trying to get kicked out of the Marines?”

If it wouldn't ruin his life then yes, Ace would be. Unfortunately it would and thus he wasn't. For now at least. He wasn't sure if he could make it another year. But that wasn't the point nor was it relevant right now. So instead he just used his other hand to gesture towards the three men and the woman they were threatening, waiting for Archer to look towards them.

Eyes flickered towards the men in disinterest before they were focusing back on Ace. “That doesn't fucking matter.” Of course he didn't seem to think it did. Ace had found the fucking pirates they'd been looking for and he had found them threatening a civilian. He was also pretty sure they had killed that one man since that was a lot of blood and he still hadn't moved but he knew Archer wouldn't give a shit about that.

“I found the pirates,” Ace pointed out, deciding to at least do that regardless. It was kind of hard to miss but Archer was an idiot so maybe—

“I don't fucking care.” Of course not. “I told you to stay put and you ignored that order—as well as all the other orders you were given this morning. Give me one reason why I shouldn't throw your naked ass into the brig.”

Well that was a bit extreme. The throwing in the brig part he could kind of understand since that was something Archer loved to do, but there was no reason for Ace to be naked when he did it. He also was a little uncomfortable since this was now the second time today he'd been threatened with something that involved him not wearing any clothes....

Ace shook his head slightly. Not important. “Those pirates were about to kill that woman,” Ace growled back, pretty much ignoring everything Archer had said as he pointed towards said woman who was still standing there watching them with big eyes. “They were just about to shoot her and—”

“So?”

The woman's eyes somehow got even bigger and the three men started to laugh, one of them turning back to the woman. “You hear that, honey? Not even the Marines care what we do to you. So let's get going.”

Ace looked back at Archer and gestured towards the scene, as if the man could somehow miss the words being spoken. “We have to do something!”

“We don't have to do anything. Our job is to apprehend the pirates.”

“Okay but as marines our job is to protect civilians from said pirates.”

“Apprehending pirates comes first.”

Well since they currently weren't doing either of those things, they must not be doing their job very well. Whatever. Ace was done anyway.

Turning back to the men, Ace yanked his arm free of Archer's grasp, heating his skin up to near burning to force the man to let go when he tried to grab him again. Ignoring the pained gasp, he stalked closer to the men, small flames flaring to life on his shoulders and running down his arms, collecting around his fists like pools of fire.

One of the men with a gun whistled quietly, an eyebrow rising at him. “Impressive, kid. Devil fruit I'm guessing?”

“What's it to you?” Ace retorted, flames getting bigger.

“You should join us. Your superior there clearly doesn't respect you—” no he sure fucking didn't “—and I just know you'd be happier out at sea with us. Hell I'll even let you do the honors of killing the man yourself.”

That was really, really, really tempting. Unfortunately, Ace was going to have to decline.

“Let her go,” Ace ordered instead, glancing over towards the woman again. As if there was anyone else he could be talking about. “Now.”

A tongue clicked and the man shook his head. “What a waste of a young life,” he sighed. “George—” he glanced at the man at his side, the one still facing them “—shoot him.”

Without hesitation the man raised his gun and fired.

Ace was already ducking away before the man moved and the bullets whistled past him, hitting the wall behind him instead. He could vaguely hear Archer behind him scrabbling at something—probably his gun—but Ace ignored the sound and instead let loose a jet of fire, watching as it barreled towards the men.

All three men scrambled out of the way of the flames, another few shots being fired his way. The woman used the distraction to start moving, beginning to drag the man still in her arms away. She had a long way to go before she hit any sort of cover and so Ace moved towards the men, firing a few more flames their way to keep their attention on him.

Behind him Archer finally got his gun free and began to return fire, the bullets pinging off the picnic tables as the men got out of the way. One of them returned fire and Archer quickly ducked back into the alleyway, bullets spraying splinters of wood into the air as they missed.

A sword swung at Ace and he leapt to the side, the blade passing by just a hair’s breadth from his arm. He tried to shoot more fire at the man but he used his sword to block the flames, the wisps of it streaming harmlessly to the sides instead.

“You haven't had your devil fruit for long, have you?” the man asked as he swung it again, forcing Ace back another few steps. He could still hear the sound of gunfire which meant that Archer was still—unfortunately—alive but it sounded like only one person was shooting at him which meant that the other man was unaccounted for and Ace would bet he was going after the woman. He needed this man to shut up and die so that he could go stop the other one.

“Shut up,” Ace snarled back, letting out another jet of fire. His flames were once again diverted with the sword and suddenly it was swinging towards his arm. Ace moved but he wasn't fast enough and the blade....passed through his arm in a fiery flare, leaving behind nothing but smooth skin.

Ace stopped short to stare at his arm, at the nothingness of smooth skin where there should be a bloody gash or a bleeding stump. The other man stopped too, similarly staring at the spot.

“Impressive,” he finally breathed out, looking back up at Ace with something almost like respect. “Logia type, huh? You've got potential.”

Ace didn't know what that meant but damn right he had potential. He was going to be able to be strong enough to live the life he wanted someday, the World Government and his secret be damned.

The man lowered his sword a bit, sharp eyes looking Ace over again. “Join us,” he tried again. “We'll train you and before you know it you'll be one of the strongest pirates in the New World and swimming in more riches than you know what to do with. Why I'd bet that by the time you were twenty-five you could be the next Pirate King—”

Flames lit up Ace's hand and he punched it out, a fist of fire flying straight at the man. Arms just barely lifted up in time to block the flames, something black coating the skin and, once again, deflecting Ace's flames.

The arms lowered to reveal a glare that rivaled even Archer's, the coldness and fury in it radiating out until Ace swore he could feel it.

“You fucking brat,” the man snarled, his sword swinging in a circle in the air as if loosening up his wrist. “You'll pay for that.”

“Yeah? Make me.”

Something dark suddenly flared along the blade, the sword darkening until it was as black as the night. The man advanced with it, suddenly slashing and stabbing with it with renewed fury, driving Ace backwards with every movement as he easily deflected Ace's attacks, his flames seeming to be unable to do anything to the sword. He was starting to sweat, his eyes narrowing as he tried to keep up. He was getting close to the wall behind him and if he got trapped he would be dead. He needed to find a way to back the man up, to gain some ground and—

Movement blurred across Ace's vision, something blue streaking through the air and crashing into the man. He went flying across the courtyard, his body hitting the walls with a sickening crunch as he went through them, brick and mortar and wood exploding inwards in his wake.

Ace tore his gaze away to look back to where the man had been standing, a small gasp leaving him as he found something else standing there. Blue flames that looked like wings were being lowered when Ace turned, fire seeming to weave through them instead of feathers. But it wasn't a bird that was standing there, the wings apparently belonging to a man. A man that had quite a nice body if Ace did say so himself—not that he was really looking, of course, since he was in the middle of a fight—and blonde hair that reminded Ace of something that he couldn't quite recall right now. An open shirt hung from his shoulders that showed off some quite impressive abs and something that looked like either a bruise or a tattoo—Ace couldn't quite make it out.

The man turned and heavy-lidded eyes looked at Ace, one brow rising slightly in what almost looked like amusement and oh, it was probably because Ace was staring at him which he thought was valid considering he had come from absolutely nowhere and he had fucking wings and he had apparently sent that other men clear across the courtyard and through a wall.

“I think your commander needs help, yoi,” the man drawled, his head tilting towards where Archer had been before.

Tearing his gaze away from the mysterious man, Ace looked over just in time to watch Archer get pistol whipped in the head, his body crumbling to the ground. The man with the gun was still standing over him, staring down at him with contempt as he panted heavily.

Ace seriously considered leaving his commanding officer to the man's mercy, but he figured he should probably at least try and help. And who knew, maybe it would get him to lay off a little bit. Probably not but he could dream.

Stepping closer, Ace lit his hands on fire again and shot another punch out, flames flaring from his fist like an extension of it. Fire hit the man's back and he grunted as he fell into the wall, a foot stomping onto Archer's hand as he tried to find his balance. It took a second for him to seem to realize what was happening, the flames catching along his shirt and starting to burn through being what seemed to finally get him moving.

With a choked scream the man dropped his gun and began to scramble at his shirt, trying to rip it off. He didn't even seem to notice Ace as he moved closer, stooping down to pick up the gun he dropped. Ace lifted it up and pointed it at him, pulling the trigger only to hear the tell-tale sound of an empty clip clicking. He sighed before moving to hold the barrel and swung the butt down onto the man's head, dropping him to the ground with him still not noticing Ace.

Leaving the man to lay where he fell—only pausing long enough to kill the flames on his clothes—Ace turned back to face the center of the courtyard. The man with the wings had disappeared and while Ace was a bit disappointed about that, he currently had bigger problems to focus on. Like the fact that the third man had reached the woman and was easily holding her still despite her struggles, his gun pointed at her head.

“Not too bad, kid,” the man called across the courtyard, green eyes glinting in the sunlight as they glared at Ace. “I don't know how you sent Bailey through the wall but that's pretty impressive. Taking out George wasn't quite as much but hey, he didn't even notice you so I guess I'll give you that.”

Ace was going to assume those were the names of the other two men. Though if this other man thought that he had been the one to take Bailey or whatever down, then he must not have seen the man with the wings. He must have just reached the woman.

“Let her go,” Ace ordered instead, taking a few steps towards the man. He stopped when the man pushed the tip of the muzzle harder into the woman's head, her entire body stilling as well.

“Nice try. But I call the shots here, kid. Unless you'd rather I painted this courtyard with her brains.”

Considering Ace was trying to stop them from hurting her, that would be counterproductive. Though it did leave him in a bit of a bind. Because the man wasn't wrong, he was kind of the one in charge now since he had the only gun and it was currently aimed at the woman's head. And since Archer was currently unconscious—or dead, Ace didn't really know or care—there was no one to back him up.

“What do you want?” Ace had never been trained in negotiation tactics but he was pretty sure that was what you were supposed to ask in a situation like this. Because if he couldn't beat the man with force, he would have to either find a way to appease him or a way to trick him. Considering it was just him by himself, he was going to go with trying to trick him. He wasn't confident it would work but since it was his only choice, he would take it.

“Want?” The man laughed when Ace nodded. “What's it to you what I want, brat? It's not like you can get it for me.”

“Maybe I can. You don't know that I can't.”

“Trust me. You can't.”

Okay so apparently tricking wasn't going to work. Well. He had tried.

“Let her go.”

Eyebrows raised at Ace with a look that suggested the man thought Ace was dumb. Which considering he'd been given that look his whole life, he didn't pay it any attention.

“I believe we've already been over this,” the man said. “I'm the one in charge here, not you.”

“Let her go,” Ace just repeated because yes they had already just gone over this and yes he knew the man was kind of in charge here. It didn't stop him from trying though.

A loud scoff left the man and his grip on the woman slackened ever so slightly. “And just why would I listen to a kid like you, huh? You might have been able to take out my two crewmates but you can't get close enough to me to do the same thing without me killing this woman first. And since you seem to not want that to happen, I guess you're just going to have to keep standing there.”

This was true. But that wasn't really what Ace was waiting for. Because the man's grip had loosened a tiny bit again which gave the woman a little more room to move. She was currently still held still but Ace knew she had to have felt the pressure loosening. And with her having more room to move, that meant that Ace could light the man on fire and she could get away without getting burned. Sure he had never tried to do something like this before and his practice had been limited to hitting one object and not another with space between them, but how hard could it be? He was sure he could do it.

Just as Ace rose his hands up, trying to make the gesture look placating, movement streaked from off to the side and suddenly the man was going flying across the courtyard like his crewmate had. He hit a wall and went through it but Ace wasn't paying attention, already running towards the woman to make sure she was okay.

The man with the wings was already there, though there currently were no wings in sight. Instead it was hands that were holding the woman up, a voice soothingly telling her it was going to be okay. Which was a nice sentiment though it was also a little late considering everything that had just happened.

“Th-thank you,” the woman sniffled, wiping at her eyes. She glanced over at Ace, eyes dropping down to his uniform for a second before mumbling, “Thank you as well.”

That was a little rude considering Ace had done most of the work but whatever. She was probably in shock.

“Those men, they were looking for something that the mayor had, right, yoi?” the wing-less winged man asked, letting her go and stepping back a bit. When the woman nodded his eyes narrowed slightly, gaze drifting towards the only pirate still visible in the courtyard. “It must be very important considering you were willing to die for it.”

The woman stiffened slightly before nodding sharply.

A slow breath left the man as if he was thinking. “Go find him,” he finally said. “Let him know about what happened and make sure whatever this thing is is well protected. I know this crew is bigger than three people which means they might try again.”

There was a small frown on the woman's face as her eyes drifted over towards a lump on the ground. It took Ace a second to realize that it was the same man she had been holding earlier, the one that he definitely knew now was dead.

“I'll take care of him, yoi,” the currently wingless winged man promised. “And he—” he pointed at Ace “—will take care of these three pirates.”

“And what about the rest of them?”

“They'll be taken care of. It just depends on who gets to them first.”

The woman hesitated a few seconds longer before finally nodding. “Just....” she trailed off and took a shaky breath. “He....that's my brother. Please be careful with him.”

The man promised he would and then the woman was gone, heading down one of the alleyways, her rapid steps fading.

With her gone Ace returned his attention to the man, finding that he was already looking at him. “If you were here for all of it why didn't you help earlier?” Ace blurted out.

An eyebrow rose in his direction and faint amusement flickered across the man's face. “You looked like you had it handled.”

Handled? In what fucking world did Ace look like he had a handle on three men, two of whom were armed with guns and one whom had a sword? Was the man fucking blind?

“Besides,” he continued, “I don't think your superior would have been too thrilled if I had.”

“Who cares?” Ace sure wouldn't have. “All that mattered was keeping her safe and you could have helped with that.” And the man but Ace didn't say that. Mostly because he hadn't been here for that and he had a feeling the man hadn't been either. Considering how he had moved, he imagined the man wouldn't be dead if he had been.

A corner of the man's lips turned up, looking almost like a smirk. “It's Ace, right, yoi?”

Ace narrowed his eyes.

“I'm Marco.”

Okay?

“First division commander and first mate of the Whitebeard Pirates.”

Oh. Oh shit. Oh fucking fuckitty fuck fuck!

Marco's lips curled higher. “Yeah, that's why I didn't get involved at first.”

Dammit. Why were the hot ones always criminals?

Okay that wasn't important. That was—Ace shouldn't be thinking about that one right now.

“You're a pirate?” Okay that wasn't really what he meant to say but whatever.

There was a full on smirk on Marco's face now and he gestured to his chest. Ace's eyes fell towards it in confusion, not quite sure why the man wanted him to look at his quite frankly impressive muscular structure. Maybe he was trying to give Ace tips?

Ohhh. There was a tattoo there. Oops.

“Okay, so you're a pirate.” And now he was stating the obvious. Dammit. “Why the hell are you helping a marine then?”

Marco shrugged. “I wasn't helping you per se. I heard the commotion and had come to see if I could help but you beat me here. Figured I'd hang around and see if you had it covered or not.”

“Okay but you-you still helped me. You....you kicked that man into a wall!” Which, pirate or not, that was really fucking impressive. Which, okay, Ace didn't really care that the man was a pirate. He should considering he was a marine, but he didn't. The man was at least somewhat nice and he actually seemed to care about civilians and that was all that really mattered to Ace.

“Would you rather I have let him stab you, yoi?”

Maybe he wasn't as nice as he seemed. Whatever. Who cared. Fucking bastard.

Steps sounded from down one of the alleyways and Ace turned, his hands already lighting on fire. From one of the entrances two more men emerged and he groaned quietly, quickly realizing they were pirates. And judging by the way they were now shouting threats at Ace—and Marco—he was going to go out on a limb and guess that they weren't part of Marco's crew. Ugh.

“So....you feel like helping now?” Ace asked, turning back around only to find Marco wasn't there anymore. He huffed quietly before looking up, searching along the rooftops before he found him sitting on the edge of one, his sandaled feet danging. “Seriously?”

Marco smiled down at him. “You got this. I believe in you.”

“You're a fucking bastard!”

He just shrugged.

Asshole.

Turning away, Ace watched the two men advance on him. One of them had a dagger but the other one appeared unarmed, his knuckles cracking instead. Well, at least it was going to be easier than dodging bullets.

Ace leapt at them first, fire shooting from his feet and propelling him forward. The movement was awkward since he had only been able to practice the move once before he'd been screamed at, but it still carried him towards the men fast enough to catch them off guard, both of them diving off to the sides. Coating himself in flames as defense, Ace turned towards the man with the dagger and used an arm to block his strike, their forearms colliding hard enough to bruise.

The man quickly recoiled with a hiss of pain, his skin already turning pink from where it had been pressed against Ace's flames. Not that it stopped him, the dagger twirling in his hand before he was lunging forward, trying to stab at him.

Dodging the attack, Ace turned and launched a fiery punch at the other man who had been trying to sneak up behind him. It connected straight into his face and the man dropped with a scream, blood streaming from his face and starting to boil against his skin from the heat of Ace's flames.

With one down Ace turned towards the other pirate, watching as he eyed him warily.

“You sure you don't want to help?” Ace called back towards Marco. He wasn't sure if he was still there or not but—

“Nah. I'm good.”

Apparently he still was. And apparently he was still being a bastard.

The other man looked upwards with rapidly blinking eyes, his face paling. It was enough of a distraction for Ace to surge towards him. He easily elbowed the arm holding the dagger away before punching the man in the face—without flames this time. As hands went flying up to his face Ace wrenched the dagger away from him and flipped it around before bringing it down hilt first against the man's head.

Like he'd been shot the man crumbled to the ground.

Satisfied, Ace wiped his hands on his pants and killed his flames. He turned back around to snark back at Marco that he had it handled, only to hear the loud click of the safety of a gun being turned off. His flames returned in full force but he couldn't even move before the gun was firing and his eyes reflexively closed because oh god only....the pain never came.

Slowly opening his eyes, Ace found someone standing between him and the man that had tried to shoot him. His eyes opened fully and he blinked rapidly, not sure if he actually believed what he was seeing only for the person to suddenly lunge forward and for the man with the gun to suddenly make another hole in another wall as he went flying into it.

“You okay, yoi?” Marco asked as he turned his head slightly to look at Ace.

Ace just gaped at him, eyes darting between him and the new hole in the wall.

A frown grew on Marco's face and he turned to fully face him, eyes looking him over like he was checking for injuries. Though he should apparently be more concerned with himself because there was a new tear in his shirt that hadn't been there before and the area was darkened with blood and holy shit he'd been shot.

“You-you got shot!” Ace said with wide eyes, suddenly finding that he could move again. He darted forward and grabbed at the shirt, yanking it to the side to see the damage. “The fuck—” he stopped short when he found bloody skin but no hole. “The fuck?”

Marco merely glanced down at himself and then back at Ace. “Are you okay?” he repeated.

“What the fuck? Wh-where'd all the blood come from? Did you....you got fucking shot didn't you?”

“Yeah but it's fine. I'm asking if you're—”

“It's not fine! You....you got shot but I don't....”

If Ace had looked up he would have seen Marco's eyes roll. But instead they were fixed on the bloody yet whole skin in front of him and the fact that there was a tear in his shirt that looked like a hole but there was no hole in the man in front of him and that just didn't make sense because if he'd been shot there should be—

“I heal.”

Ace looked up. “Huh?”

“I heal. As in, if I get hurt I heal it.”

Ace blinked. “How?”

This time he did see the eye roll and hey that was rude because his question was valid because people didn't just heal injuries like that and—

“Devil fruit.”

Okay actually that made sense.

“Phoenix zoan, yoi,” Marco added with a shrug.

“The wings?”

“Phoenix zoan,” Marco repeated.

Okay. So apparently he could heal and could make his arms wings. And okay that was actually kind of impressive and probably really useful and now that Ace was thinking about it, that was probably why the man's moniker included “the Phoenix”. Huh. He'd just thought it was because the man was hard to kill or something. Which, technically was probably part of it since if he could heal his injuries then he would be hard to kill but it was probably also more so for the fact that his devil fruit was literally the phoenix.

“I can turn into a phoenix too,” Marco added when Ace didn't respond. “The wings are just my partial transformation but I can go full bird.”

“Can I see?” Ace had to resist the urge to facepalm because he hadn't meant to ask that. Yes it was true that he wanted to see the full bird because just the wings had been cool but that didn't mean he had wanted to ask.

Lips curled back into a smirk and a small laugh left Marco. “Sorry, kid. Maybe some other time. I've got things to do and I'm pretty sure you're going to want to get those pirates locked up before they wake up.”

Yeah that was fair. There were six downed pirates and the ones that went through the walls might be dead but there were still three that hadn't and were definitely still alive and then there was the fact that Ace was going to have to also do something about Archer who was still either unconscious or dead and while he was hoping for the latter, it didn't mean he could just leave him here if he wasn't. He was already going to have a fun time explaining what had happened here and it would probably be better if his CO was still alive at the end of it.

Maybe they'd promote him for this and he could get away from the man. Probably not but it didn't hurt to dream.

Though.... “Who said I'd see you again?” Ace asked, a little annoyed. He turned back around to find Marco had moved across the courtyard and was bending down to pick up the dead civilian.

Eyebrows raised in his direction but Marco didn't respond as he stood back up. His eyes lingered on something on Ace's face for a second before they flicked back up to his eyes. “Just a feeling, yoi,” he finally said after a long minute. “Like those pirates said, you have potential and I'm sure it won't be long before you're making waves as a marine.”

A scowl rose to Ace's face before he could stop it.

“Or you'll become a legend.”

“A legend?”

“Yeah, the one about the man who turned his back on the Marines.”

Ace bristled. “Fuck off! I'm a marine! I won't—I won't defect.” Only because he couldn't.

Marco's eyes lingered on the same spot before he shrugged and turned away. “Regardless, I'm sure I'll see you again and I'm sure I'll see you again at some point on the battlefield and you can see my phoenix then.”

Not waiting for Ace to respond Marco left, leaving through the same alleyway that the woman from earlier had gone down and leaving Ace to stand alone in the courtyard surrounded by unmoving bodies and ruined walls.

He was a bastard.

Turning away, Ace used the pirates' belts to tie them up before he crossed over to Archer. He was disappointed to discover he was still alive but he continued on regardless, patting at the man's pockets until he found the baby transponder snail he was looking for. Pulling it out, he dialed the number for the ship and sat on the ground, staring up at the sky as he waited for it to connect.

He had no fucking idea how he was going to explain any of this.