Authors Note: Hi everyone! The world is a very strange place right now and I hope everyone is keeping safe. I had half of this chapter written before Christmas and then we stepped through the looking glass and I had to put it away for obvious reasons so thank you to all my long time readers for sticking with this. And welcome to all the newer ones!

You may also have noticed that the avatar for this fic has changed and that's because anruuart (who you can find on tumblr) very kindly let me use one of her pieces as Era's official cover art which is very exciting! So, big thank you to her :D

This hasn't been beta'd by anyone but little old me, so I'm sorry if you see any glaring errors.

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Chapter 11: Adventure in the Kingdom of Sand

XXX

The herbal tea was sweeter than he usually cared for, but Sabo ignored the taste in the favour of draining his mug and absently pouring himself another, uncaring of the heat despite the beads of sweat that clung the nap of his neck and made his already blond hair curl even more than normal. A drink was a drink in the middle of the desert and Sabo was going to enjoy it, even if he had been spoilt by Sanji's outrageously good cups of tea.

Ignoring the other restaurant patrons, he glanced over the top of his passed out companion's head where it rested on the bar next to his elbow and out the window to where the sun still say high in the sky, all but mocking the Revolutionary with the knowledge an entire morning had passed with no real progress made at the markets.

While there had been some small titbits of information, gleaned from nervous and shifty stall owners who had shooed them away as soon as they could – telling behaviour in and of itself – Sabo was conscious of the timescale Vivi was under. There was no doubt at all in the Revolutionary's mind that Alabasta was as corrupt as the Princess had warned, and its survival hung on a knife's edge.

After ten years with the Revolutionary Army, Sabo was well versed in recognising when something was brewing. The air felt electric with tension and it was only building in speed and power. It would only take one small ripple to disrupt the delicate balance.

It was both impressive and frustrating that the infamous Mr. Zero – whoever the hell he was – had managed to blind the rest of the world at just how far he had managed to get Alabasta to fall. There hadn't been any indication whatsoever that the country was in danger of self-imploding from the inside out, Sabo scowled into his remaining tea. Countries with royalty still at the helm were steeped in tradition and, thanks to the Levely held every four years, while subject to the usual will and whims of the Tenryuubito, they were generally left to their own devices.

The last Levely had only been two years ago. Vivi had informed them she'd been hunting for a way to break the country free for a lot longer than that. That meant they should consider themselves lucky a full scale war hadn't broken out at the last government meeting, with all the tension that been festering in the country. Nefertari Cobra was a truly formidable King if he'd managed to keep a handle on the situation for so long without outside assistance. But he shouldn't have had to. And neither should Vivi have had to leave her country, her people, her own family, putting her own life in danger as she had.

Sabo sighed, forcing his hand to unclench from around his tea cup before he smashed it thoughtlessly. It wasn't too late; there was still time for someone to save the country, Sabo acknowledged, pushing the half eaten plate of food in front of him away, his appetite disappearing, but it wasn't going to be the Revolutionary Army.

"Um, Sir?"

Sabo blinked rapidly, jerked from his wandering thoughts and to the bartender hovering nervously across the bar from him.

"Sorry, what?" he asked.

The bartender twisted his drying cloth. "Your…er…your friend. He didn't eat any of the desert strawberry did he?"

"The what-now?" Sabo asked, cocking his head inquisitively.

"The desert strawberry," the bartender repeated, his gaze flickering nervously between Sabo and the slumped figure next to him.

"Um, no, we didn't eat any strawberries," Sabo tried to reassure the man, suddenly feeling many more pairs of eyes settling on his exposed back. He looked over his shoulder to see all the other patrons watching them, some with trepidation and others with pity. He frowned, turning back to the bartender, confused by their reactions.

"I think your friend must've," the bartender said, his eyes turning sorrowful and sympathetic. "They're poisonous and your friend… Well, he looks like he died!"

The words didn't register for a moment before Sabo snorted, amused.

"Oh, he's isn't not dead," he said. "He's just - "

As if on cue, Ace jerked awake with an obnoxious grunt, raising his head and blinking blearily against the bright light of the bar.

"- sleeping," Sabo finished, smiling politely even as the bartender and half the patrons jumped in their seats and gaped at the man who'd risen from the 'dead' beside him.

"I fall asleep again?" Ace crocked.

"Yes, you did. Stop it," Sabo scolded, roughly bumping Ace's shoulder and forcing him to drop the hem of a startled woman's skirt before he could wipe his face on it. If Ace hadn't already revealed he'd been raised in a jungle with bandits, Sabo would've guessed the pirate had been raised by wolves from how he acted sometimes.

Ace glared at him briefly before reaching over and swiping a cold sausage from the blond's plate. Sabo rolled his eyes and nudged the plate closer to the pirate, trying to ignore the flash of confusion that settled across the other's face, like he was expecting Sabo to have had an entirely different reaction to the theft of his food. Sabo didn't understand why and couldn't bring himself to question it. He had a healthy appetite but he knew devil fruit users could burn calories like no tomorrow and had ridiculous metabolisms if Chopper's lecture from the other evening around the dinner table had taught him nothing. He wasn't going to deny Ace more food if he wanted it, especially if Sabo wasn't going to have it. He'd gone hungry even times in his life to know not to waste food idly.

"Any sign of Luffy yet?"

"Not yet," Sabo replied.

Ace grumbled and reached into one of the pockets of his shorts. "Stupid little brothers, always wandering off. Hey, have you seen a guy with a straw hat wandering around today? He'd look like this?" He waved the battered wanted poster in the bartender's startled face.

"You've got a lot of nerve showing your face around here."

The bartender paled and hastily stepped backwards, which was Sabo's first indication trouble may have found them. Again.

Much slower than Ace, who swung around on his stool with abandon, Sabo twisted towards the door, where an ominously large man filled the doorway. A plume of smoke rose around the man's head from the cigar dangling from his clenched teeth, his face set in a grimace and Sabo just about stifled a groan. Next to him, Ace made no such effort to mute his reaction and smirked even as he lent back against the bar in an easily and unconcerned slough.

"What's Whitebeard's Second Division Commander doing here, Portgas D. Ace?" Smoker growled, crossing his arms while he glared at the pirate in question.

Sabo ducked his head and discretely tugged the rim of his hat down to further obscure his face. It was a feeble effort to avoid being recognised when the marine's attention was already on them, and he was probably still smarting from their last confrontation in Logue Town, but they were on a deadline. He silently cursed that he hadn't been able to persuade Ace to at least throw a shirt one to cover up the glaring tattoo so they could at least remain a little more incognito.

"Portgas!" Smoker barked, impatiently.

"Oh relax!" Ace grinned. "We're just here waiting for our kid brother, that's all." He tapped his foot a few times against his bar stool; it created an obnoxious clack, causing Smoker's mouth to twitch dangerously. It was the cue for several of the more nervous patrons to back away cautiously.

Sabo huffed and rolled his eyes skywards as the tension built between the two men; one smirking, the other glaring, wondering idly when it would break.

"Okay, so now what?" Ace finally asked, breaking the silence that had fallen over the bar.

"You give yourself up," Smoker said immediately.

Ace snorted and shook his head. "Yeah, sorry no can do."

Smoker sighed and pulled a heavy drag from his cigar. "I'm not actually after your head, Portgas. I'm looking for another pirate."

Sabo frowned deeply and stared at the marine from under the rim of his hat. Dragon saving Luffy from the man evidently had created a sore spot for him. It really must have been grating on the man's pride that he let the pirate that declared he was going to be the Pirate King escape his grasp for him to have chased him all the way into the Grand Line.

"You could always let me go," said Ace, shrugging.

Sabo had to bite the inside of his mouth to stop the laugh from bursting from him. Smoker looked outraged at the very idea of letting Ace walk even one step away from him.

"No way! So long as I'm a marine and you're a pirate!" the man growled and stepped forward.

Ace frowned. "That's a stupid reason," he said. He turned to Sabo, who caught his eye and raised an inquisitive brow. "That's a stupid reason not to let someone go, right?" he prodded, blatantly ignoring the smoke that started to pour from the marine.

"Yeah," said Sabo softly, taking a sip of his now cold tea.

Ace grinned and shrugged at Smoker. Sabo subtly glanced around the restaurant. It was now nearly deserted save for themselves, Smoker and the barkeeper, allowing him to breathe a sigh of relief that no unwitting customers could potentially get in caught in the crossfire of the fight that was surely about to erupt at any moment.

"ROCKET!"

Sabo was pleased to note he wasn't the only that jumped in shock when Luffy's voice rang out loud and clear. He looked around wildly, unable to immediately pinpoint from where it had come.

"Uh oh!" Ace whispered, eyes wide and staring at something towards the front door. Sabo turned just in time to watch Smoker slam into the pirate and the both of them disappeared in a resounding crash of brick and mortar through the wall of the bar.

Stunned into silence, the barkeeper gaped at the new hole in his wall.

Coughing once as the dust caught in the back of his throat, Sabo shook his head despairingly and ran a gloved hand over the sleeves of his coat, making a half-hearted attempt to brush away some of the dirt that had fallen on him.

A blur of red settled itself next him.

"Hello, Luffy," he said, removing his hat to examine the goggles, hoping they hadn't been scratched by any debris.

"Hi Sabo!" Luffy greet cheerfully. "Ooh, are you gonna eat that?" He didn't wait for an answer before two rubbery arms stretched around him to claim his plate of food, balanced precariously on the edge of the broken bar.

"Actually, that was Ace's."

Luffy grinned and gleefully dug into the food, obviously not at all bothered it must've now been stone cold. "Where is Ace?" he asked around a mouthful of mashed potatoes.

"Oh, he was right here a second ago," he said, smiling and glancing at the hole in the wall the other pirate had vanished into. He wondered which would emerge first; the pirate or the marine. He turned back to Luffy. "I imagine he'll be back any minute now."

Luffy shrugged and shovelled in another few mouthfuls. "The food here is awesome! What is this? Maybe Sanji can make it for us!"

"STRAWHAT!"

Luffy peered around Sabo, eyes wide with curiosity. "Ah!" he cried out in surprise and pointed his fork at the marine glaring at him. "You're that smoking guy! What're you doing here?"

Sabo had to bite the inside of his cheek to stop himself from laughing out loud. The marine's once white coat was covered in dirt and a grime. His crushed cigar hung limply from his mouth, the smoke no longer curling around his head and leaving a clear view the man's ferocious glare, which was currently levelled at the younger pirate.

The older pirate he'd been fixated on earlier was coughing on the floor at the man's feet, the wind having been knocked out of him by the marine elbowing him aside in his determination to reach Luffy.

"What's he doing here?!" Luffy asked again, tugging at Sabo's sleeve.

"Looking for you, apparently," said Sabo.

"Strawhat!" Smoker snarled, stepping forward.

"Oh no!" His survival instinct seemingly finally kicking in, Luffy swept his arms along the bar, scooping up all the abandoned food within his extensive reach before dashing for the door, his strawhat bouncing off merrily from its string against his back. "See ya!"

"Strawhat! Get back here!"

Sabo winced when the door of the restaurant was wrenched from its hinges by the irate marine. He swivelled in his chair to stare at the two dust clouds disappearing down the street with cries of fear and shock from the locals being left in their wake.

"Thank you for the meal," he said to the bartender, who only stared at him dumbly. He grabbed his pipe from the floor at his feet and secured his hat firmly on his head. "But I'm afraid we must be going now." He rose to his feet gracefully and started towards the door, casting a final glance over his shoulder. "Ace! Quit lazing around, we've got to go!"

Ace grumbled and snatched up his dusty bag from the floor, throwing it over his shoulder in annoyance. "I knew teaching Luffy to rocket was a bad idea!"

"So, why'd you do it?"

"I didn't! It was your idea to use him as a slingshot, not mine!"

"…I don't believe you."

"Why not? Do you remember it?!"

"No. It just sounds more like something you'd come up with."

"No one likes a smart ass, Sabo."

"Tell me I'm wrong… Exactly."

xxx

"There they are," said Sabo, pointing, although he really needn't have bothered because the throng of marines and billowing white smoke were both a giant sign what screamed 'Luffy is here".

"Typical," Ace muttered from beside him, flames bursting from his left arm. "Always causing trouble".

"Oh, and you don't?" Sabo teased with a grin, which faltered ever so slightly when Ace only stared at him in return. Worried for a moment he had somehow offended the pirate, his fears were alleviated when Ace grinned widely in return.

"That's more like the Sabo we know!" he cheered, clapping him on the shoulder. Sabo didn't have a chance to ponder on statement before Ace was off like a shot off the edge of the building, landing gracefully before releasing an enormous Hiken that collided in an impressive display of power with Smoker's own attack barrelling down the Strawhats.

The ensuing explosions of fire and smoke had the entire square coming to a halt, everyone's attention captured by the clash of powers. Sabo could hardly blame some of the people for staring. It was likely the first time many of them had even seen a devil fruit user. But that was no excuse for Luffy to stand and gawk in awe.

He sighed and leapt down into the street. He managed to catch Nami's eye and nodded discretely towards the young pirate captain. She nodded once and grasped the back of Luffy's shirt and tugged hard, unbalancing him.

"Come on, Luffy! Let Ace handle him!"

"Aw! But I wanna watch!"

"NOW!"

Satisfied, Sabo turned his attention back to Ace, who was stood, deceptively relaxed and loose, in front of Smoker, one hand resting on his hip. Sabo squinted at the scene, trying to work out why the pose looked familiar. It couldn't be Koala, since her go to stance was to cross her arms tightly across her chest; a leftover reflex from childhood that protected her ribs, the favourite spot where the Tenryuubito who had owned her liked to lash out. But Sabo could've have sworn he recalled a red-haired woman standing just like Ace.

"Give it up, Smoker," Ace said, interrupting his thoughts. "You might be smoke but I'm fire. We're too evenly matched."

Ace wasn't wrong. The two logia types were unsuited to battling each other effectively and all that would come of it would be a flashy show for the locals brave enough to still be hanging around the square.

Smoker glared menacingly but it didn't seem to effect the still grinning pirate at all. If anything, he looked positively delighted by the man's attention and completely ignoring the other marines and their weapons, all of which were levelled on him. Sabo frowned, glancing back down the street where Luffy and his crew had disappeared. They were out of sight and, despite his initial reluctance to leave, Sabo knew without a shadow of a doubt that Luffy wouldn't do anything to put his friends in danger so he knew that they were out of reach of the marines for the time being. Ace had bought them plenty of time, so there was no reason for him to be stood engaging the man in conversation of all things.

Sabo knew he could test the limits - often times more than Koala's nerves could take – but he even he knew that when a distraction had dragged on too long, it increased the risk of overexposure, defeating the purpose entirely. The distraction instead became a sacrifice and Sabo had no idea how he was meant to explain to Luffy that his big brother had let him escape only to wind up stuck in marine custody himself if that happened.

He shook his head. First on the ship, when Ace had let his impatience get the best of him and now with Smoker, playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse, Sabo knew he would have to have words with Ace about his reckless behaviour at some point.

"I don't get it," Smoker drawled. "What are you even doing this far out on the Grand Line, Fire Fist? Whitebeard isn't anywhere near Alabasta. What business does the old man have here?"

Ace shrug. "As it turns out, absolutely nothing. We've just been sailing with our kid brother."

Sabo sighed wearily. He was definitely going to have to talk to Ace. The implication the Strawhats might have a tenuous connection to one of the Yonkos, however false it was, had easily been picked up by the marine, who frowned.

"'We'? 'Brother'?" Smoker parroted back.

Ace nodded and glanced back over his shoulder to Sabo, who huffed and strode out of the shadows of a stall which had hidden him from view. He stepped up beside Ace, mindful of the flames still sparking off the pirate at random intervals. His scarred skin prickled uncomfortably in the unnatural heat pouring from Ace's body. He knew intuitively that Ace would never let his flames burn him, but he still had a healthy respect for any open fire he came across and doubted he would ever be fully comfortable around it again.

Ignoring his own discomfort and away from unpleasant memories, Sabo tipped his hat at the marine captain, whose own gaze narrowed as he stared back at him.

"A pleasure to meet you again, Captain," he said quietly, without a hint of sarcasm in his voice that belied his feelings. Ace had done enough to wind up the man both in the square and earlier in the bard without Sabo adding own insults to the mix. He tried to discretely count the number of marines who were slowly starting to cajole the local shoppers aside to make room for themselves in the square.

"Again?" Ace asked curiously, and annoyingly he still looked completely unconcerned about the growing number of marines. Yes, he had his devil fruit which allowed him to fight many people at once, and Sabo had haki at his disposal, but all it would take was one slip.

"You remember when I told you Luffy had a run in with the marines back in Logue Town? Our friend, Smoker here was leading the charge. We met then. Although, I use the term 'met' in its loosest form," he added, considering there hadn't actually been any introductions between them.

"You!" Smoker growled, his eyes widening in recognition. "I looked you up, you know, after that stunt you pulled with Dragon. There wasn't a lot of information but it was definitely enough to prove who you are." It was ever so slight, but Sabo watched the man shift his stance, as if preparing for an attack.

It seemed Dragon's presence and intervention in Logue Town had piqued the marine's interests. Not at all surprising, since Dragon so rarely let himself be seen and when he did, it was usually nowhere near any marine bases. Interest in who Sabo was would have naturally have led Smoker to researching him too. Sabo might have grown up primarily in the protective shadow of Baltigo but with Dragon's movements become more and more restricted, his Revolutionary work had had him working almost exclusively in the New World. It was sheer, dumb luck that Sabo had even been in Baltigo in order to see the request for a sole reconnaissance job to Tequila Wolf before their planned raid. It was very likely without it, that Sabo would have gone many more months, if not years, before crossing paths with either Ace or Luffy.

Smoker shifted again and Sabo watched a ripple of nerves pass through the waiting marines behind him as they picked up on their captain's growing discontent at being confronted with not only a Whitebeard Pirate but also a Revolutionary. They needed to get out of there, Sabo thought, they had more than overstayed their welcome in Smoker's presence.

Before he could discretely catch Ace's attention, he saw Smoker staring at him with undisguised curiosity, and intensive curiosity such as Smoker's had never led to anything good in Sabo's opinion.

"What's the Revolutionary Ch - "

Sabo clicked his tongue loudly, abruptly cutting off Smoker's question. "Ah ah! It's probably best that you don't finish that sentence. You wouldn't want to alarm the local's now, would you?" he asked, arching one eyebrow and nodding his head towards the few remaining residents to drive his point home.

Smoker amazingly followed his cue and let his attention wander from the two men in front of him to the rest of the square. One look was all it took for him to snap shut quickly. His willingness to let the matter drop in front of the small crowd told Sabo that he had also noticed the undercurrent of tension running through the city, and that the unrest had probably already spread to all corners of the country. The man wasn't stupid after all.

Sabo could feel Ace's eyes boring into the side of his head, but he ignored all attempts the other made to catch his gaze. Sabo had no doubt that Ace was bursting to know what it was that he had so rudely cut Smoker off from blurting out, but the less Ace knew about his job the better. If anyone found out that he knew the Chief of Staff of the Revolutionary Army, Ace wouldn't have a mark on his head just because he was a Whitebeard Pirate.

Smoker took a half a step towards them, forcing Sabo to catch Ace's elbow before he too could step forward. Smoker's move hadn't been made with the intent to attack but rather for the illusion of privacy the open market square didn't afford them.

"Why are you here, too?" Smoker hissed at Sabo.

The blond shrugged and allowed a small smile to spread across his face, disarming Smoker in the process. "Ace already explained what we're here. We're just passing through, and on that note, we should probably get going or our ride might be forced to leave without us," he said, the words directed more towards Ace at his side than the man in front. "Would you like to do the honours?"

"Only because you asked so nicely. Meet back at the ship?" he asked quickly. Sabo nodded once. It was probably best they spilt up so as to lose any unwanted stragglers.

Ace smirked and Sabo took an unbidden step back when fire leeched from his body in a thick wave of heat and bright light that rushed towards the marines like a wave.

By the time they had re-grouped, both Ace and Sabo were long gone, leaving only a frustrated marine captain their wake.

xxx

"You lost Sabo?"

Luffy nearly doubled over he was laughing so hard, completely ignorant to his brother's glare. Ace tried to hold on to the annoyance few seconds more before Luffy's infectious laughter got the better of him and brought a small smile to his own face.

"Hey, listen, I didn't lose Sabo, okay. He's just not here right now," he admitted, glancing around the bustling deck of the Going Merry.

Ace had been ecstatic to realise he was the first to return after they had separated. Sabo had been showing off his skills since they left Drum Island, Ace had been keen to even the tally again and prove he could still beat the blond in some things. He had been all ready to laud over Sabo that he was still as slow as he always had been – granted, it was often because Sabo had a habit of getting distracted from the race if something caught his attention, the man was like a magpie in that respect – except he still hadn't turned up and the Strawhats were making haste to leave the port since Vivi had just sent her super spot-billed duck, Karoo, on his way with his important task.

"Should we wait for Sabo to get back?" Sanji asked, leaning back against the ship's railing.

Zoro frowned and squinted in the harsh desert sun. "We don't exactly have a lot of time to spare."

"Oi, Usopp!" Luffy called up to the sniper sat high in the crows nest above them. "Can you see Sabo anywhere?"

"Negative!" Usopp shouted back after a few moments.

Luffy shrugged, unconcerned and turned back to Ace. "Sabo can take care of himself, right Ace?"

He paused thoughtfully for half a second before nodding once. "Yeah, we'd better be going," he agreed and his words set the crew off bustling to raise the anchor and prime the sails, Nami's voice calling high and clear above all the others.

Ace looked out over the rocky cove they'd anchored themselves in. There was still no sign of Sabo, much to his surprise. Sabo had been bringing up the deadline the Strawhats found themselves in nearly as often as Vivi herself had, trying to stress the importance of it, so that fact that he had decided to disappear when they really needed to leave was unexpected.

Ace frowned, and what felt like a heavy lead weight settled low in his gut. Ten years ago, he wouldn't have even thought to hesitate before Luffy's question. In fact, if anyone had asked him ten years ago if Sabo was capable of taking care of himself, he'd have outright laughed at the implication he couldn't. Sabo had left home at five years old and managed to survive Grey Terminal and all its hardships with ease, rarely putting a step wrong. But now, Ace sighed, he'd seen Sabo training with Luffy and had been a little in awe of how graceful and controlled he had been – had experienced it briefly himself during their sole bout – physically he knew he would be fine in a fight, but there was still a little voice nagging in the back of his head that whispered to him he didn't know what Sabo was truly capable of, not anymore. Alabasta wouldn't pose any threat to the Revolutionary, that Ace knew for certain, but Sabo had become an unpredictable creature to Ace and he wasn't sure he liked it. He wanted the assurance of knowing how his brothers were going to react to any given situation; what their limitations were so he knew where to cover them at any given moment. While Sabo had always been a little harder to read than Luffy, Ace had never struggled to guess what he was thinking before and he didn't like the uncertainty it brought to him.

Luffy hopped up onto the railing beside him, grin still firmly in place and finally dragging Ace's gaze away from the now receding shoreline.

Ace peered up at him thoughtfully.

"What?" Luffy asked jovially.

Ace just grinned in reply and shook his head. "Nothing. I just hadn't realised you'd caught the attention of someone like Smoker already."

"I thought Sabo'd told you we met him in Logue Town?"

"He did," said Ace. "But he only said marines, he didn't mention Smoker specifically. You do realise that man's as stubborn as Gramps, right? You're never gonna shake him!" he teased, laughing when Luffy shuddered dramatically at the insinuation.

"It was a surprise he's here. I hadn't expected to see him again," Luffy admitted, swinging his legs idly, creating a hypnotic thump where the soles of his sandals bumped against the wood of the ship.

"Hey, Luffy, you could always come join the Whitebeard Pirates. Your friends too," he said.

"No," replied Luffy, without pause.

Ace laughed, completely unsurprised and tapped Luffy's beloved Straw Hat playfully. "I didn't think you would, but the offer's on the table." He hadn't given it much thought as to what it actually meant for Luffy when he first saw his little brother's first wanted poster. Pride, of course, that he had managed to start his journey as they had so long ago promised had been at the forefront. Although he would never admit it aloud, especially to the old man himself, Garp had done an amazing job of hiding him away from the world on Dawn Island, allowing him to grow up in relative safety and freedom so that he had only lived with the threat of the marines capturing him for the last three years. Whether that threat had been increased or not since he had accepted a position as a Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates remained to be seen. Whichever flag he sailed under, he would always be the son of the Pirate King to the World Government and having turned down the only protection they would ever afford him with the offer of becoming one the Seven Warlords, Ace had painted a large target on his back.

For all that he had known and expected Luffy to make a stir in the pirating world with his heartfelt and steadfast declarations of becoming the next Pirate King, Ace hadn't really considered the very real risks that Luffy faced. If he did sail under Whitebeard's pirate flag – or any other alliance – it would at least offer Luffy some sort of protection against the earnest marines he made enemies of. He knew Luffy could take care of himself – he had made damn sure of it before he had left Dawn Island – but he also had a heart of gold and if the marines ever discovered that fact, it wouldn't be Luffy who would be the master of his own downfall, it would be his crew. The marines would go after them and Luffy, being the kind-hearted soul that he was, would go to hell and back to save them.

Ace sighed, turning to watch Luffy, who had bounded away and was now stood next to Zoro, laughing jovially at the swordsman. Ace knew there was nothing he could do but be there for his brother if he ever needed him.

"AAHHH!"

He started, looking around wildly before realising the voice had come from above where Usopp was still perched in the crows nest.

"Look over there!" the sniper shouted down, pointing frantically out to see.

Ace was jostled from side to side by everyone rushing to the railing all at once to see what had caused such panic.

"It's the billions!" Vivi gasped. Nami cursed and raised her own spy glass to stare at the fleet of ships slowly bearing down upon them.

"That's a lot of ships," Zoro noted and a shark-like grin spread across his face. The soft sound of steel on leather had Ace glancing down to see he had half-drawn one of his swords. Ace found, after the last several days sailing with the crew, he wasn't at surprised that Zoro was one of the first willing to dive headfirst into a good fight. "You think you can keep up, Love Cook?"

"Oi! It's gonna be you eating my dust, Marimo!"

"Ah! Don't fight each other!" Chopper cried out.

Luffy started to laugh and dived towards the squabbling pair but the fight was abruptly cut off when one the billions ships exploded, sending debris high into the air.

"What the - "

"-how'd that happen?"

The crew's cries of confusion were halted when Nami gasped loudly and nearly dropped her spy glass.

"What?" Luffy asked her, his head appearing quickly over her shoulder, trying to peer into the distance to see what had caught her attention, his body stretching back where he was pinned between Zoro and Sanji.

"Your brother is on one of those ships!" she gasped. "What the hell is he doing all the way over there?"

Ace felt a grin spread across his face and he swiftly turned from the railing and started towards the back of the Going Merry and where his Striker was still lashed. Trust Sabo to find the trouble first, he thought, quickly untying the ropes.

"Ace! What're you doing?" Luffy called after him.

"You don't think I'm gonna let Sabo have all the fun do you?" he replied. "Besides, he'll need a ride back!" he added, jumping into the Striker. Igniting the engines with a burst of fire, Ace expertly maneuvered the raft around Sabo's small vessel and the Going Merry. As he past the railing the Strawhats were hanging over, he saw Luffy shouting and waving his arms indignantly.

"Wait! ACE! You could've taken me too!"

"You stay out of it!" Nami shouted, clocking her captain around the head.

Ace laughed and waved before a second burst of fire power had him speeding swiftly towards the billions, determined not to let his other wayward brother have all the fun.

XXX

Next Chapter: Straight Ahead

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