A/N: hmm, nope, I'm still not over Ace's death, it seems. These dear ASL bros deserved more time together.

One day, completely out-of-the-blue, a Noble decided to drop by Impel Down.

No one anticipated the news. Visitors were already a rarity in the dreaded hell that was the Underground Prison, let alone voluntary appointments from Nobles of all people.

Despite the surprise, the Warden ultimately decided to humour the Noble's whimsical fancy. Reluctantly so, it should be noted. Though the Noble was no Celestial Dragon, it turned out he was the brother of a minor Kingdom's King – that is to say, minor, but still significant enough to be part of the Reverie. Were it not for the Noble's royal status, he would've been denied entry on the spot.

As it was, the Noble was quickly sent off with Vice-Chief Hannyabal on a standard tour of each Prison level. They traveled deeper and deeper, finishing off with Level Six.

Level Six prisoners were the worst of the worst, with unruly behaviours to match their infamy. Despite Hannyabal's command for them to be on their best behaviour, the moment the lift opened up to their floor, no one bothered to hold their tongue.

Among the lot, Ace sat glumly in his cell, scowl fixed permanently on his face. The sting of getting captured was humiliation enough, but to be put on display like some zoo animal was another thing entirely. Moreover, there was no doubt in Ace's mind that he was the star of the show, considering his grand titles of Fire-Fist Ace and Whitebeard's Second Division Commander; he was nothing but a toy for the Prison to boast about.

Bastards.

True to Ace's suspicions, Vice-Chief Hannyabal quickly bee-lined towards his cell without a stop, only offhandedly pointing out prisoners, such as former-Shichibukai Crocodile, along the way. Perhaps making Ace's life miserable was Hannyabal's only joy, considering he was forced into Noble-babysitting duty by the Warden, who couldn't be bothered to personally attend to such a weak, dull guest.

Who was Hannyabal not to spread the misery?

At the cell door, the Vice-Chief kicked the metal bars of Ace's prison.

"We have a guest," he said, loudly, gratingly. "Look lively," he demanded, when Ace didn't bother to look up.

From behind the Vice-Chief, the sounds of measured footsteps echoed forwards, and Ace could see spit-shined black boots headed his way. He held unmoving, refusing to acknowledge the Noble as he glared into the boots instead.

The faster he got bored, the faster he would leave.

Or at least that was the plan until the Noble suddenly spoke up. "Not even a hello, Portgas D. Ace?" he commented mildly.

Ace's heart froze mid-beat.

There was something about the Noble's voice, beneath the posh and patronising tone, that sounded so much like teasing. The familiar way the Noble's accent curled over his name left Ace's heart coiled still. Despite himself, Ace's head lifted desperately, eyes sweeping over the Noble's form. His brain registered a long, thick black jacket, and a fitting blue shirt that spoke of wealth and fine silk. There was a white cravat, blond hair, and above that, a well-worn top hat that he'd known his entire childhood.

The jeers of the neighbouring prisoners fell to a distant hum.

Ace's mouth dropped open. "Sa-"

"How dare pirate scum like you talk to me so easily," Sabo cut him off. Warning flashed across Sabo's expression, and yeah, Ace supposed, he shouldn't go around telling people Sabo had ties to a dead man like him.

Sabo narrowed his eyes mutely. For a moment, it looked so much like that thing he did when they were kids, when he didn't like what Ace was depressingly mulling about, that the thought gave Ace all sorts of nostalgia.

How long had it been since he'd last seen his brother? Sabo had left with his sad excuse of a father for Ace and Luffy's sake, and then all but completely disappeared when they later tried to go and claim him back.

Why was Sabo still a Noble when Ace knew how much he hated them? (Why wasn't his brother free?)

Suddenly, Sabo tilted his head, and his top hat unceremoniously tumbled off. It rolled quickly, slipping through cell bars and straight into Ace's lap. If Ace's arms weren't chained to the walls, he would've made a grab for it to carefully dust off, because Sabo loved that precious thing.

"Ah!" Hannyabal cried at the runaway headwear.

"Open the door," demanded Sabo.

"I can't allow visitors into the prisoners'-"

Sabo was unrelenting. "What do you expect me to do? I've already acquiesced to your demeaning rule to put cuffs on," Sabo retorted harshly, clanging the metal around his wrists, belittling and supercilious, everything Ace knew Sabo was not. "And now you'll lose me my hat?"

Keys rattled around Hannyabal's waist. "Stay here. I'll get it-"

Sabo cut him off once more. "And leave your filthy fingerprints all over it? If you don't move aside, I'll inform my brother, King Stelly, about your impertinence, and have him convince the appropriate authorities to never promote you to Chief Warden," he threatened.

Ace snickered at how easily Sabo picked up on the Vice-Chief's weakness.

"That's my Chief Warden seat!" Hannyabal declared and then obediently stepped away. He never realised Sabo wasn't the typical snobbish, harmless Noble he was well used to, and by the time he did, it was already too late to regret.

With an arrogant harrumph, Sabo walked inside the unlocked cell, and slowly, calmly stooped to pick up his hat.

Ace's heart thudded in his ears.

He was so much more real now, inches from his face.

"Sabo," Ace murmured softly, the thickness in his voice holding the blond in place. His eyes found his sworn brother's and ached in pain to see the hollowness deep within that spoke of lost freedom and chained dreams. "You were with them this whole time? I thought you'd escaped, that you having adventures on your own, writing about your journey."

His voice stuttered.

There was no blame in Sabo's tone. "They locked me in the cellar and pretended I was gone because they knew you and Luffy would come looking," he told him gently, like he saw Ace's guilt from not realising the truth sooner was crushing his chest whole.

Hannyabal made an impatient sound outside the cell.

Sabo turned towards the Vice-Chief, motion causing his grip on his hat to fumble and fall over Ace's legs. There was a flash of a thin metal from beneath the strap of the googles. Then, there was a muted clink, clink, before Sabo stood at last, only to clumsily stumble into the wall, exactly where Ace's hands were chained.

When Sabo spoke up next, it was to no-one in particular. "Incidentally, I got good at picking locks."

Then Ace rose, all restraints falling free.

A grin stretched over Ace's lips as he beamed over at his brother.

The action seemed to light a fire in Sabo's soul. Sabo's posh acting and solemn reminiscing was quickly replaced by the spirited brother Ace remembered from their childhood, when they cowered to nothing because it was them against the world.

"Well then, Ace, want to be the second person to ever break out of Impel Down?" Sabo asked, looking so proud.

The sight of this Sabo cooled all of Ace's nerves and he felt invincible despite his cuts, bruises, and days without food. "I'll do one better," he smirked, already dashing out of his cell to silence Hannyabal before he could contact the guards. It was amazingly simpler when Sabo joined in because no one expected a Noble knew how to fight, nor the flawless coordination between them that had been carved into their bones and muscles since childhood. "I'll kidnap a Noble while I'm at it," Ace declared to the world.

And then he grabbed hold of Sabo's hand and swore to never let go again. (He finally learned that brothers were allowed to be that selfish.)