"What do you want with my brother." The blond said with clear cut certainty in his voice, posture firm and alert for anything the pirates might do.

Whitebeard was the first to react, gesturing to his commanders to stand back and let him deal with this. As expected, they followed it willingly, most leaning against the railing. "What do you mean, brat?"

The blond took a deep breath, calming himself down, eyes turning a blue. he had to be strong for Luffy, or he would do something they would later regret. like turning into a dragon and flying away. He stared at the captain's eyes, boring a hole through him and into his soul, "you kidnapped my brother. Why?"

The captain hummed, "he interested me." he replied simply, not missing the way that set the two conscious boys on edge. It was more obvious in the younger one, the blond had an amazing poker face, but a glint in his eyes betrayed him. Only the most observant would be able to notice it. "I want him to join my crew, become one of my sons."

Sabo's grip on his pipe tightens, but he is proud that he can keep his voice as calm as it is. "And why does this mean you had to kidnap him?"

Whitebeard closed his eyes for a second, thinking of an appropriate answer that won't make the brats lash out. "i would not normally recruit like this, but for this instance, i chose to integrate him within our crew like this. i wanted to ask him to join our crew in person."

Sabo narrowed his eyes, "and he disagreed." He answered for him.

Whitebeard shook his head, "I haven't had a chance to ask him yet. He has been unconscious since then."

The young raven growled, he actually growled! Like some savage beast! "MINE!" he yelled at the crew, holding Ace tighter. "you can't have him!"

The whitebeard pirates blinked in surprise; the brat was very possessive. So much so that they were worried Ace might have been forced to join them in the first place. Although, he did protect them with that fire of his.

None of the whitebeard commanders said anything, not knowing how to respond to that clear possessive statement.

Sabo's thoughts were wild; on the upside, the pirates didn't know what they were and aren't after Ace for his wings…probably. They might just be trying to hide it from them, though. On the downside they can't get off this ship with fifteen strong people watching them intently for the first signs of running away and an injured Ace who could wake up at any moment and revealed a very damaging secret of theirs. No matter how much he wished it to not be true, he and Luffy were running on fumes. They needed rest and food, there was no way, no matter how determined they are, that they can escape this ship unscathed.

Now that he knew they didn't really mean them any harm – or they were very good at hiding it – Sabo can move his backup plan forward.

"will you let us go if we tell you he doesn't want to join your crew?" he tries, already knowing the answer before it was said.

Whitebeard shook his head, "I'm afraid I won't do that. I will not accept an answer that did not come from him. however, I will admit my wrong. I shouldn't have taken Fire Fist away from his family, and for that I am sorry."

Sabo glanced at luffy; the dragon nodded. The captain was sincere.

whitebeard continued before he could ask a follow up question, "having said that, I would like to change my offer, instead of inviting Ace to the crew, I would like to extend the invitation to you two as well."

Sabo grit his teeth, damn pirates thinking they can do whatever they want. Sure, they were also pirates, but they tried not to do things that took away other people's free will. "And if we refuse?"

"I don't think you will."

The conversation ended into a standstill, neither knowing how to continue. It wasn't a minute later when Luffy's voice broke the silence.

"Sabo…"

Said boy quickly looked behind him, Ace was slowly waking up, they had about five minutes. "Shit."

Whitebeard raised his eyebrows, they knew something he didn't, "What's wrong?"

Sabo looked back at him, eyes turning a slight yellowish brown before glancing at his brother again. when he finally looked up at him again, he spun his pipe off to the side and attached it to a loop on his back, "you want us? fine. We will stay on board this ship for a month, no longer, and then we will leave. You will not stop us. But we get a big empty room."

Whitebeard, sensing that something was off decided not to question it, "we have plenty of spare rooms, why would you want an empty one? And make it three months."

Sabo grit his teeth, "two. And our uses of the room are of no concern to you."

Taking it at face value, whitebeard moved on, "you've got yourself a deal. Now you better not break it." he warned.

Sabo somehow looked intimidating as he looked up at the captain, "we don't break deal."

The captain nodded, "Marco, show them to the second division's third storage room, I believe it is still empty?"

"yep, it is, yoi." The first division commander answered as he walked forward, "come on."

Luffy glared at the phoenix, Marco shrugged it off believing it was only because he was unfriendly, they would warm up to him eventually. Sabo moved to help put Ace on Luffy's back, watching the phoenix closely. He was the one to tell them they were keeping Ace, he kept Ace away from them. the two boys didn't like him.

They held grudges when it mattered. And family matters.

The first division commander watched the boys, Luffy was staring at him unblinking while Sabo watched everyone else as they passed. The boys didn't complain as they were led down hallways and paths in the Moby dick.

Ace groaned in pain.

"shouldn't he be in the infirmary, yoi?" he asked, still annoyed that the fire brat burnt the nurse.

Luffy growled at him but Sabo responded, "I'm the ship's doctor, he's fine."

When Ace grit his teeth in his sleep, wrapping his hands around Luffy tighter. The younger boy didn't seem to notice, much less care about it. "I really think he should go back to infirmary; he looks to be in a lot of pain, yoi." He pointed out as they neared to second division's third storage room. Each division has three storage rooms to use as they please, the second division is the only one who isn't using all of them. and that was only because they didn't have a lot of people with huge amounts of stuff.

Or weird hobbies. The thirteenth division set up a weird collection of things-that-shall-not-be-named. And the seventh division might also double as a cult, they had enough of the weird and odd decorations for it. so, the storage rooms get used from whatever, some of them are actually completely used up, and they need to borrow some of the main storage rooms, but that was only if the division's storage rooms were used for the appropriate thing.

Like the fourth division and the eleventh division. Theirs are filled with non-perishable food and building materials respectively. thatch's pranking supplies are stored somewhere Marco hasn't found yet. if he did, it wouldn't be there anymore.

"Ace is fine." He said tightly. Marco shrugged, if the younger blond was a doctor, he wasn't going to complain. Even if was obvious the freckled boy was in pain.

He probably already knows what's wrong with Ace and will hopefully fix it sooner rather than later. Whatever it is, it looked painful.

"fine, yoi. Don't take him to the infirmary." Marco puts his hands up like a surrender, but only for a few seconds before he grabbed the handle of a door. "this is the second division storage room. we'll move a bed in here later, if you want."

Sabo nodded, opening the door wider and letting Luffy go in first. "that would be appreciated, but we will be fine. Don't expect us to appear for a while, and do not come in here, or the deal is off, and we will leave."

Marco raised an eyebrow; they sure had some privacy issues. what was so bad it someone saw them? hmm, maybe they have embarrassing scars? He wondered. It was possible, Sabo had that large burn scar on his face, although that one looked more badass than anything else.

He shrugged, "that's fine, yoi. I'll tell people not to come in here anymore."

Sabo nodded politely before not so politely slamming the door in his face. He could hear him fiddling with something on the other side of the door, probably jamming something into the handle so it wouldn't open.

Marco put his hands in his pockets and walked away, whistling a tune to himself as he went to the captain to tell him of this. It wouldn't do to have someone accidentally walk in on them and have the boys run away from them. that wouldn't do at all.

"he's gone." Sabo pronounced.

Ace groaned, "finally…" he mumbled before two wings spread from his back, dislodging some of the bandages there. "ow… Sabo, make the pain go away…" he moaned into the wooden floor, letting his orange and red wings flop awkwardly around. Luffy quickly attached himself to Ace's side, too afraid that he will disappear again. Being careful not to touch the painful looking wings.

Sabo rolled his eyes, "you know it doesn't work like that." He said, "besides, I don't have any of my stuff here, it's all on board our ship."

Ace sighed as he rubbed luffy's back comfortingly, "I'm not going to be allowed anywhere without him, am I?"

The vampire smiled, "nope! You've got your very own leach. Mr. leach, say hello."

"'ello…" Luffy mumbles into Ace's side.

Ace sighed. "oh well." He accepts his fate; it was always easier to go along with whatever luffy wanted then it is to argue him out of it... half the time… "at least he's cute." And that.

Luffy lightly hits Ace, "'m not coot." He muttered.

Sabo placed a hand on the dragons head, "don't worry Luffy, you can sleep now. Ace is safe and I'm right here. And your definitely cute."

Luffy wriggled so he was more comfortable "...'m not." And he was out. Soft snores rose from the sleeping boy next to Ace.

The older boy's sighed. "finally, he's asleep. He's been awake since you left, only getting some shut eye when he literally passed out." Sabo whispered to Ace, neither of them wanted to accidentally wake up the young dragon, even if they both knew he was dead to the world. He was a very heavy sleeper.

Ace grinned, "good." His keen eyes travel over Sabo, "now, you look like you could use some rest too, I'll keep an eye out, or an ear, so go rest."

The blond rolled his eyes, "not until I check you over and mummify you."

He waved him off, "I'm fine, the pirates did try and heal me. you need to sleep."

"I wasn't talking about the ones on your body, those are fine, but have been reopened slightly. I do need to stitch those up too… no, I'm more worried about those ones." He pointed to Ace's wings.

Ace was laying on his stomach on the wooden floor and hadn't gotten up to look over his aching wing yet, they hurt. He didn't want to touch them or move them in any sort on manner and make it worse.

"what one…s… oh… those one." Ace said as he looked up at his wings, being careful not to more Luffy too much in the action. The orange and red appendages were bent at weird and unnatural angles, blood coating most of the feathers with its oozing stickiness. "well, that explains why they hurt so much."

Sabo sighs, "I'm going to have to go back to our ship to get some stuff. I can't fix that otherwise."

"no." Ace interrupts, "don't go out there alone. Who knows what the pirates will do to you? I can put my wings away and we can go there together."

Sabo sighed, "trust me, I am just as reluctant as you are to go back out there. I don't think you should even try to put your wings away when they're like that, it would probably break them more than they already are, so your stuck here until I say otherwise." Sabo says sternly, knocking down all his suggestions.

Ace huffs, "well, you're not going out there then."

Sabo puts his hands on his hips, "yeah, and how are you going to stop me?" he said, walking to the door.

Ace tries to move but is trapped by Luffy's hands wrapped around his waist. He is pinned. After a few moments of painful struggle, he gave up and sighs to his brother, "fine. You can go, just stay safe!" he yells.

Sabo smiles at his brother, turning away to hide his brown and yellow eyes, the colors of fear and anxiety. He didn't want to go out there, not with those kidnapping pirates, but he had no choice if he wanted to fix his brother. Sabo wasn't really afraid of what they would do to him, he was more afraid of what could happen to his brothers when he left. Luffy was asleep and Ace was severely injured, not the best conditions to protect themselves.

He grabbed his pipe from where it was wedged in the door handle, preventing it from opening. "make sure to hide if someone comes near the door, okay?" he smirks to his brother, doing an expert job at hiding his emotions. With his hat shadowing his eyes Ace couldn't even see that to help him.

If he did, he would've never let Sabo go out there.

"I will." Ace rolled his eyes.

Sabo slipped out of the room, closing the door quickly behind him.

Ace looked over to Luffy, who was snoring softly into his side. Ace was laying on his stomach so his wings don't get crushed and he didn't particularly want to move with how much pain that causes. So, they can just stay there, bent at incorrect angles until Sabo came back to fix them.

Seeing that not all of Luffy's cuts and bruises had been healed from before, Ace set his hand on fire and stated slowly moving his hand around his back. Luffy can absorb the heat even in his sleep, thus healing him.

Ace closed his eyes when he finished, there was no way he would fall asleep, but it was easier to check on Sabo with his Haki if his eyes were shut. It was just easier to concentrate for him.

He was nearing their boat, being careful to avoid everyone while making sure not to get lost. Navigating through the larger boat was made a lot easier with his practice of traveling through the labyrinth Luffy called home. It's a lot easier to keep track of where he is.

Sabo ducked behind the hallway, waiting for the pair of sailors to pass him before continuing. He was about to reach the deck so he was going to need as much espionage as he can muster, luckily enough, he was the best at it out of the three of them. Ace and Luffy proffered to go in guns blazing straight through the front door. he supposed it was a part of his nature to stay in the shadows. unlike his brothers.

He peeked out the window. There were a lot more people out there then he first realized. He probably won't be about to get through them all and off the side railing before someone noticed him.

Sabo sighed. He might as well try, right?

He opened the door, slinking off to the side and closing it behind him. he ducked behind some barrels as he looks around for anyone who might have seen him. no one did. everyone on deck was facing the same way, towards the Captain. He was giving a speech or something, he wasn't really paying attention to it, more focused on his route to their ship. To tired to care.

He crouched forward, eyeing a set on barrels on the other side of the deck next to a pile of rope, it was the closest cover. He bit his lip, there was at least thirty meters between the two. This was going to be hard.

He knew running would attract the eye, movement always does that, so he slowly stood up from where he was before walking towards the barrels at a calm and composed pace. Sometimes, growing up with nobles does help, not that he would ever admit it. he kept his face down and avoided eye contact but watched anyone and everyone nearby for the first indication of noticing something off. He was about halfway when someone saw him. it was the bread hair guy who was on deck before, the one who didn't understand why they hate them from the bottom of their hearts, one of the commanders, fourth division, Thatch, his mind supplied. He did a fair amount of research on the whitebeard pirates before allowing Ace to challenge one of his allies, he wouldn't jump into any situation unprepared.

Thatch didn't tell anyone that he saw him, well, he might have mentioned it to the pineapple, also a commander, first division, Marco the phoenix, but didn't look like he did. After a few seconds, Thatch got up from where he was listening to their captain and walked towards him, Sabo quickened his pace slightly, just enough that it wouldn't be noticeable. He didn't have far to go, and he didn't believe that anyone else saw him, so he quickly traversed the last few meters in a dash, silently landing behind the barrels as he hid.

A glance up showed that no one saw him, except for bread hair dude – who was coming directly towards him. Sabo grimaced but did move forward to look for an easy way to the railing – it wasn't far. After a not so thorough inspection of the immediate surroundings, he decided to just walk up to it and jump overboard before anyone else noticed.

He got about halfway before bread hair guy jumped in front of him, "hey! My names Thatch, what's yours?" he smiled.

Sabo kept his face blank, "that is none of your concern." Sabo tried to walk past him, but thatch moved to get in his way. he glared at the commander with orange eyes. Okay, so maybe he was a tad angry, not his fault. He kept the rest of his face composed, calm and dignified though.

Thatch only smiled before moving out of his way, "fine, don't tell me." he said with a grin, "so, what'cha doing Mr. none-of-your-concern?" he said with mock exaggeration.

Sabo walked past him, looking over the railing to spot their boat just where they put it. attached to the side of the ship, ready for an easy escape. Not that they can use it right now, they don't break promises. Or deals. It goes against Luffy's will as a dragon. so they cant leave yet.

"nothing you need to trouble yourself with." He answered, trying to get Thatch off his back. he just wanted to get his stuff, go back and fix Ace's wings, and sleep. He has been awake too long to bother with manners or being overly polite right now. Not that he wouldn't make the effort, but that's beside the point. He glared at thatch once more before jumping off the ship and onto their much smaller vessel.

When he landed, he looked up to see thatch jump off the larger ship too, he grits his teeth in anger and annoyance, why does he want to follow him? why can't he just leave him alone? Why did they have to steal his brother? All these thoughts sped through his mind as he made his way below deck.

If thatch wanted to follow him, then so be it. he didn't look like he wanted to kill him at least. But if he does… Sabo brought a hand up to grab his seastone pipe. He could always do it fir- No! he can't do that. It would only endanger them all. he would only act out of self-defense. Probably.

"so, since I've already come this far, what are we doing?" thatch asked. he was right behind him.

Sabo sighed, calming down so his eyes returned to a light blue. "still none of your business."

The commander pouted like a child, "aww, but I wanna know."

"don't care."

He used his best version of the puppy dog eyes, but after growing up with luffy, Sabo has a large resistance to them. "please." Thatch begged.

"go away." Sabo said before walking further into the ship, leaving thatch to pout behind him before following like a lost puppy.

The head chef of the Moby dick sighed, "look, kid, we didn't mean for this misunderstanding. We really meant no harm to any of you three. Can you give us a second chance?" he asked, no longer acting like a little kid but more like a responsible adult acting on behalf of his crew.

"And why would we do that? You stole our eldest and attacked Luffy and I. why would we ever give you a second chance?" He said simply, walking into their room to pick up Ace's watermelon bag and his narcolepsy pills. Thatch didn't say anything as Sabo put the medicine in the bag but did take interest in it. damn, he would remember that and tell the others. Just what they need. He thought sarcastically.

"and we're sorry. We even returned him." he added with a cheeky grin.

"under threat of a burnt deck." Sabo retorted, making the head chef laugh a little. Sabo glared at him and he stopped.

There was silence between them for a moment before the chef asked, "do you have a bird?"

Sabo froze. He glanced the way Thatch was, only to see a small pile of feathers where Ace last preened himself. He hadn't gotten around to cleaning it up yet, for obvious reasons.

"No." he replied hesitantly. If he said they had a bird, Thatch would ask were it was, if he said no, the chef would ask where the feathers came from.

"were did the feathers come from?"

called it.

It took Sabo a few seconds to come up with a decent lie, but once he had it, he spoke without hesitation or worry, "there was a bird who visited our ship often from the last island. I think he just didn't want to put up with all the fighting."

Thatch blinked in surprise, honestly not expecting a proper answer from the blond. Everything he's asked has been met with a short decline to answer.

"must have been a pretty big bird." He noticed; the feathers were almost as large as his forearm.

Sabo didn't respond.

The blond stuffed a spare set of clothes for all three of them in the bag before leaving the room, locking the door behind them. he didn't want any of the other crew coming to investigate, this was only precautions. He locked all the other doors he came across as well. He didn't really know why he insisted a lock on every door when they got the ship build, but now he's thankful.

"you don't have to lock the doors; we won't intrude on your ship." Thatch said calmly as he watched the blond lock a fourth door, this one lead to a kitchen.

Sabo rolled his eyes at the chef, "you're doing it right now."

Thatch hummed, "maybe, but that's only because you're here. I had to make sure you wouldn't run away." He smiled, earning a glare from the sleep deprived teen.

"and leave my brothers here? I don't think so." He explains, walking into the infirmary.

Thatch stuck his tongue at him, like a little kid. "true. Hey, um, what are we doing here? I though the doctors did a pretty good job fixing up Fire Fist, and you two aren't that injured, are you?"

Sabo rolled his eyes, "And? That means nothing. Besides, I do not trust your doctors." He said as he grabbed a large wad of bandages and put them in the watermelon bag. He them moved over and picked up a strange metal contraption thatch didn't have a chance at even guessing the use. Sabo put it in the bag as well.

"what's that thing?" he asked confused, he had never seen anything like it. the contraption looked foldable.

"a metal thing of little importance to you." In fact, the metal contraption was a splint for Ace's wings. He made it a few years back when Ace crash landed and broke his wing in two places. He got fed up with using typical splits that never fit quite right and decided to make his own. It was foldable and inconspicuous, but when it was needed – like now – it opened and locked into place so it can support the wing. It was very useful. He had one for each wing.

"what's it used for then?" thatch asked, changing the question in the hope that Sabo would answer it now. it didn't work.

"to make you ask question. It appears to be working."

Sabo moved to a shelf on the wall and grabbed some antiseptic, a sterile needle and a soft cloth to clean the wings with. Thatch didn't ask about them, he knew their use. The blond put them in the bag and moved to a fridge. It was his replacement for a cold room, he didn't have one of those nor did he really need one. A fridge was good enough.

The fridge was filled with blood bags and bottles of certain things. he grabbed a bottle of anaesthetic to numb the wound and a blood bag for himself. He was still injured, and he was a bit hungry, it had been two weeks since he last drank blood. He put both in the bag and luckily Thatch didn't question it.

Thatch sighed as Sabo led them out of the room, locking it behind him. "can you at least tell me your name?"

Sabo gave him an icy glared as he led him around the rest of the ship to lock every other room on board. As well as turning the engine off, there was no need to have it on right now, it took power produced by the heat pad on deck and converted it into forward motion. at least thatch couldn't understand its use, if he did, he would question how the hell they caught up with their much bigger boat. their boat was mostly flame powered, and without Ace – the living flame – it would bring up question on how they got it moving.

Thatch didn't even give the engine a second glance before following Sabo out.

The blond sighed, "fine, but only if you promise not to ask another private question." Thatch nodded with a smile, Sabo continued, "Dracule D. Sabo. not nice to meet you."

Names were a funny thing between the three boys. Ace didn't accept his birth one at first and took the maiden name of him mother, Portgas. Now he just uses it because the government forces know the name Gol but not Portgas, it was easier to remain safe and hidden. Luffy only ever had a first name until Garp came around and demanded for him to take his name. Luffy's resistance against it was minimal at best. and for Sabo, he refused to use his last name, it connected him to those evil men who gave their own son away to slavery. His brothers had demanded he get a name, just 'Sabo' sounded lame, so in the spur of the moment he asked Mihawk if they could share his – there was no way he was taking the last name 'Monkey' from Garp. Mihawk had rolled his eyes at their antics but let him keep the name anyway. They added the D. just because.

Besides, it sounded cool.

Thatch grinned at him, not making the connection to the Warlord, "nice to meet you Sabo, I hope we can get along in the future."

"I hope we do not." he said, not as politely. He isn't normally this bad, but he wasn't going to fix it. These pirates stole his brother.

Thatch shrugged. "to each their own. Anyway, are any of you three boys hungry? As the head chef of the Moby Dick it's my job to make sure no one goes hungry."

Sabo doesn't answer. the truth way, they were all starving, except maybe Ace, but he doesn't count he's been hooked up to nutrition cords and IVs. Sabo can't cook and has been surviving off Jam bread, and Luffy absolutely refused to eat no matter what until just a few hours ago. So yeah, they were hungry.

"we'll get food later." He said instead. He didn't really want to take charity off these pirates, but with their current situation, they may not have a choice. sure, he could probably grab a few snacks now, but he wont be able to carry anywhere near as much as he needs to feed a hungry luffy.

The head chef clapped his hands as they walked on deck of the small ship, "well we can't have that. I'll go make something for you and leave it outside of your room. don't worry, I won't peak inside, Marco told us you would leave if we did."

Sabo looked at him, "we will not eat it." That's a lie, they need food, no matter where it came from.

Thatch pouted, "why not?" he looked like a kicked puppy denied of basic life necessities.

"we don't trust you." Sabo stated, only making the chef pout more. "besides, you could have poisoned it."

He looked affronted, "poison!? Why in the world would I do that!? I'm a chef, and as a chef, I do not poison my food! It's to be eaten, not poisoned." Thatch ranted before calming down and grinning up at him as they both climbed up the side of the Moby Dick, someone had been kind enough to throw a ladder down for them. Sabo didn't question it; he was just too damn tired.

"I'm going to make it anyway." He said as he reached to top of the ladder.

Sabo stayed silent, walking away from the annoying chef and back to his room. thatch didn't follow, instead going off to join the other commanders. If the chef did end up making them food, he wasn't going to complain. Luffy needed food, they just had to make sure it wasn't poisoned first.

Sabo didn't even try to hide from the pirates on his way back to his room, they made it obvious that they knew he was up here – the ladder was a dead giveaway – so he might as well not care. He walked through the hallways, not caring in the slightest who saw him anymore.

When he reached their room, he knocked twice to let Ace know it's him, "Ace, I'm coming in." he called before opening the door. The Fae was still laying on his stomach and Luffy was still asleep with his arms wrapped around his waist. Luffy looked to be better than before; Ace must have given him some fire. Sabo smiled at them and Ace responded in kind.

"welcome back. you didn't do a very good job at hiding on your way back." Ace stated, he had kept his haki focused on Sabo the entire way. Just to make sure the pirates didn't try and off him.

Sabo nodded as he closed the door behind him, jamming it with his Pipe again. "Yeah, well, I'm tired and they already found out I was there. I saw no need to sneak past them. They probably have Haki too, or at least the higher-ranking members."

"and the guy who followed you through our ship?"

"the fourth division commander. He didn't do anything suspicious, but I locked all the doors anyway. Don't want anyone else on our ship. Also got you these." He said, grabbing the narcolepsy pills and shaking them before putting them back in the bag. He grabbed the blood bag and pierced two holes in it with his fangs. glorious blood filled his mouth, the usual rush flooded his body, healing whatever cuts or bruises he had before, and sort of appeased his sleepiness.

"thanks…you okay?" Ace asked as Sabo got closer, his eyes were filled with concern for the Vampire.

"yeah. I'm fine." Sabo refused to make eye contact. He really didn't want to go back out into the crowd of Pirates without his brothers ever again. not when they don't trust them and don't know what they will do. Too many people with too many knives. And his back was wide open.

"look at me Sabo, I know you're not okay."

"I'm fine, Ace. Stop worrying so much."

"I've lived with you for most of my life. I know how to read you, now tell me what's wrong?" he asked sternly.

Sabo rolled his eyes, "it's nothing."

"no, it's not, your eyes are yellow."

The Vampire grinned at him, forcefully calming himself down so his anxiety would dissipate, and his eyes would return to their calm light blue. "there, all better." He said as he took out the bottle of antiseptic, wash cloth, needle and bottle of aesthetics. He unwrapped the needle and put the aesthetics in it before jabbing it at the base of Ace's left wing. "roll onto your side." Sabo commanded.

Ace compiled, rolling onto his side as his left wing became numb and flopped onto the floor, his right wing still hurt a lot as he held it in the air but he ignored it; Sabo would get to it later. Luffy still clung to him in his deep sleep, not even noticing that they moved. his sleeping face was cute to the older pair, even if he drooled a bit.

"it's not 'all better.' Just tell me what's wrong." Ace said as Sabo washed his wings off. When he was injured were one of the few times Ace ever lets anyone else touch his wings. It always felt weird when someone else touched them, so he limited the contact as much as he could. Luckily, with the aesthetics, he couldn't feel a thing from his left wing.

"it's just stress. That's all, nothing important." Sabo relented as he moved to bend Ace's bones back into place. The aesthetics were strong enough that Ace didn't feel a thing even as his bones were realigned. With that done, Sabo grabbed one of the metal contraptions, this one labelled L, and tying it to the base of Ace's wings before opening it. he moved the wing, so it was in line with the splint. He tied the wing to it in certain places before bandaging the entire thing up.

"and why are you stressed?" Ace continues as he moved a hand through Luffy's hair.

Sabo sighed, finishing up with the left wing. "you were stolen, Luffy refused to eat, or sleep and it got to me. I'm tired and we're all stuck here for the next two months because it was the only way I could get us out of there. We're with strangers who Luffy is afraid of. He said they were strong, and he is afraid of that. He is a dragon, Ace, not much is stronger them that. There are 16 people on this ship who could hurt us, all of us. And I just-" he closed his eyes, placing a hand on his head, "why did you put up the fire wall? We could have saved you before any of this mess happened." He asked after a few moments of silence.

Ace pulled Sabo into a hug, it was slightly awkward with Luffy around his waist and him of the floor with two wings coming out of his back, but they managed. "it's okay. I'm here, Luffy's here. We're all going to make it out of this. None of this is your fault. Okay?" he said as he comforted his younger brother. He neglected telling Sabo an answer to his question.

They may not show it often, but Sabo did rely on Ace when things got bad. Ace was like their own personal safety in the dark, for both him and Luffy. They always went to the Fae if they wanted someone to lean on or just someone to talk to. He was their roof. He protected them. Not that either of them would admit to it, that would be embarrassing, and tease worthy.

Sabo is the foundation, Luffy is their pillar, and Ace is their roof. That's how it's always been. Sabo set the groundwork, Luffy held them all together, and Ace is always there for them, covering and protecting them – not that they would ever admit it. – Luffy was their hope, Ace was their support and Sabo was their logic.

Sabo nodded as he held Ace tight. After living with Luffy nearby almost all the time, the other two picked up some of his stranger habits, like huge attachments to each other. Physical attention, especially hugs, were always welcome. They were perfectly fine with splitting up and doing other things without the presence of their brothers, but they would always rush back to each other's sides in the event of an emergency. With Ace being forcefully taken, it didn't do anything positive for their mental health. Although, Sabo did adapt to it slightly better than Luffy did.

"just… don't ever do that again." He mumbled. Ace nodded.

"I won't. I promise." Ace said with certainty. And the brothers never broke their promises. "I won't leave you, not again." He hugged his brothers tightly.

Sabo just nodded and hugged him back as silent tears ran down his cheek.

It wasn't much longer when Sabo leaned back and grinned up at his brother, wiping away any traces of tears that he definitely didn't shed, "I should probably fix your other wing now."

Ace grinned right back, "damn right you should, it hurts like hell."

Sabo laughed as he stood up, cleaning the needle and injecting the other wing with aesthetics. "roll over." He commanded. As soon as Ace did so, he got started. Sabo cleaned and fixed this wing much the same as the other one and it wasn't long before Ace was laying there with two strung up wings, bandaged and fixed, behind him.

Sabo yawned.

"I think it's about time you got some rest." Ace grinned at him. Sabo didn't even try to argue against it as he took his place next to Luffy. Ace threw a hand over him as well, Luffy safely between them. They would never let anything happen to Luffy.

"yeah…" Sabo was out like a light. Ace stayed awake to keep watch and make sure no pirates came in here, even if they jammed the door. After a few hours with nothing happening, Ace slowly started to drift off.

Then there was a knock at the door.

"hey, um, I made you some food, so I'll just leave it out here. Sabo said you wouldn't eat it, but I said I would make it anyway, so yeah. Eat it, don't eat it. Just make sure you don't go hungry." Someone said through the door. Ace didn't answer and quietly waited for the person to leave.

He appreciated that the pirate went out of his way to make them something to eat even after being told that they wouldn't eat it, it showed that they might actually care. 'Might' being the key word. It could also be a trap and be poisoned.

"hey, Sabo, wake up." He said, lightly shaking the other teen.

The blue clad teen groaned, rolling over on his back, placing a hand over his eyes, "…m'eah?"

"a guy named Thatch just came by and made us some food."

Sabo slowly stood up. "oh, right. He said he would…" the blond yawned before slowly rising to is feet and walking over to the door. He expertly unhooked his pipe from the door and opened it a tiny bit, checking to see if anyone was nearby. Finding no one, the blond opened the door slightly more and took the three large bowls of hot, steamy stew in along with a napkin and cutlery. He placed the bowls not far away from Ace and Luffy before placing his pipe back the way he found it.

Taking an experimental sniff, the Vampire said, "I don't smell anything funny with it, other than it being very well cooked." Ace hummed as he slowly sat up, realigning Luffy so he sat in his lap.

"mmm, I'll be the judge of that." He looked quizzical at Sabo, "should we really eat it? It could be poisoned."

Sabo shook his head, "that's not the main issue right now, the issue is that we can't leave here until your wings heal enough to hide them, so we can't really get our own food – whether it be from theft or fishing or just our own stock on our boat. We don't really have much of a choice right now."

Ace scowled, the pirates have them trapped. They had to eat if they wanted to live, but they really didn't want to eat their cooking. "we'll have Luffy check it first." Sabo nodded.

Ace shook their younger brother slightly, "hey Luffy, there's food."

"food?" was a mumbled reply.

Ace and Sabo shared a glance, if Luffy was this unresponsive to the normal mentioning of food then Ace's kidnapping affected him a lot worse than they expected. Or anticipated.

"food!" Luffy cheered, realising that he had both brothers with him now, so it was perfectly fine to eat.

Or not.

"yeah, this ship's chef made it. We need to check if it's poisoned first."

At first Luffy pouted, before he jumped up, dragging Ace along with him, to the three bowls of soup. He carefully sniffed each of them, looking for even the faintest traces of any sort of tampering or poisoning, as well as Kumar berries – Ace and Sabo showed him one once, so he knows what not to eat. He knows not to eat anything that smells like that, it would be very bad.

Finding absolutely nothing wrong with the bowls of stew, he picks up a spoon and takes a bit on the middle one.

"it's safe then?" Ace asked as he watched his youngest brother shrug and take a bite of the delicious smelling food.

Luffy smiled, climbing into his older brother's lap. "it's really yummy!" he cheered, prompting Sabo and Ace to take a bowl and spoon for themselves.

"better them mine?" Ace asks as he takes his own spoonful of stew, getting more than a few chunks of something – probably meat.

Luffy shook his head, "na'ah! Ace's food is the best!" he declared, raising the rim of the bowl to his lips before guzzling all of it down in one go. He was hungry and one bowl wasn't going to state his needs. He needed more.

But he had more control then that. He knew Sabo was just as hungry as him and that Ace's been a prisoner here much longer than them, and that they needed to eat as well, so he can control himself. For now.

Ace copied his actions, drinking it all down in one go. It was very delicious, not that they would tell the chef that. These thieving, kidnapping pirates don't deserve any sort of praise like that. Especially not from their captives.

Sabo grinned, "it comes a close second though."

Ace scowled at him as the blond finished up in his meal, Sabo may have more manners then them, but not when in front of his brothers, and definitely not when food was involved. He can be just as savage when it comes to meals as his brothers.

"are you implying my cooking is not as good as this guy's?" Ace accused; eyes narrowed.

Sabo's eyes played a light green, at first it was believed just to be enthusiasm or energy, but the ravens quickly figured out it also represents humour or amusement. "maybe." He answered noncommittedly.

Ace glared at his brother, punching him in the shoulder, "traitor." Sabo gasped at that. "yeah, that's right. I called you a traitor." Ace said smugly, "Luffy, Sabo's a traitor."

Luffy blinked at his older brother, "huh? Why?"

"because I said so."

"okay. Sabo, are you a traitor?" Luffy tilted his head to the side.

"nope." Sabo crossed his arms proudly.

Luffy looked even more confused now, "huh? But Ace said you're a traitor. But your saying you're not?"

Sao nodded, "yep. Ace was lying, I could never betray you two." He smiled. He and ace knew this was all a joke, and probably Luffy too, but that was up in the air.

Luffy smiled, laughing softly, "Sabo's not a traitor, he's our brother." He declared as if it's the simplest thing in the world, "and brothers don't bedrail brothers!"

"betray, Luffy." Sabo corrected automatically.

"that's what I said." Luffy smiled.

Ace collected the empty bowls and handed them over to Sabo, who unlocked the door and placed them outside before jamming the door with his pipe again.

"anyways, I think we should get some more rest now. Ace should be all better in two days, but that's really only if he stays in bed the entire time." He glared at Ace, who had a habit of running away from him halfway through his treatment because he felt better or got bored – even if luffy stayed with him the entire time. There is only so many luffy stories one can hear back to back.

Ace lay down on his side, wings behind him held in place, Luffy curled up in his arms and Sabo on his other side. Their youngest sandwiched between the Vampire and Fae. They would always be there for him, no matter the cost.

The next morning, Luffy was the first up.

He moved closer to Ace in his half-awake-half-asleep state, Ace was warm. yesterday's memories slowly caught up with him. Ace being taken, their terrible rescue, the deal, Ace's wings, getting their older brother back, and eating the stranger's food – which wasn't poisoned!

A glance behind him showed that Sabo was also safe, and asleep, and a glance to the door showed that no one had been in their while they rest.

Luffy sat up and looked around the room, there wasn't much, if anything in here. It was supposed to be a storage room, so it was understandable, but it was very bleak. He spotted the watermelon bag Ace owns and smiled at it. Watermelons were yummy, maybe he could have one later.

His stomach growled at the thought.

"ne, ne, ne." he said as he shook Ace awake, when he was, luffy continued, "I'm hungry."

Ace moved to rub his eyes, "mhm." He hummed. It was usual for Luffy to be hungry in the mornings, just as it was usual for Luffy to be hungry at every other time of day. "yep. Wake Sabo up." He said as he roused himself from sleep.

Sleeping on the floor wasn't as uncomfortable as most people would first assume, at least not to them, they were used to it. None of them were sore or restless from the uncomfortable sleeping position, except Ace, but that was because of his injured wings more than anything else.

Ace's wings were no longer numb, and feeling had returned to them in his sleep, they were sore but didn't hurt as much as before. He couldn't move them, not with the splint on, but they felt better already. He wouldn't touch them though; he knew better than anyone not to mess with whatever Sabo's done with it. He would have to stay like this until Sabo said otherwise, as annoying as that was.

Sabo was the doctor; he knew these things better than him. just as Sabo listened to him when it came to cooking or anything relating to food or how both of them let Luffy make transaction because it is almost second nature for a dragon to get out of being swindled. And with luffy, they sometimes got a discount because he's cute.

"ne, ne, ne." Luffy said as he shook Sabo awake. It took a little bit longer for the Vampire to wake up then Ace. "wake up, wake up."

"I'm up, I'm up." Sabo mumbled as he rolled away from the hyperactive teen. He almost fell asleep again before Luffy landed on him, demanding him to wake up again.

Before long, all three boys were awake listening to Luffy's hungry stomach growl. Said teen had no embarrassment on his face as his stomach made noises demanding all sorts of food.

Luffy smiled at his brothers, "I'm hungry." He reiterated.

Ace nodded, "I know. I heard you the first time." He was still half asleep as he climbed to his feet. "it just that we don't have any food until that chef comes by to give us some. And I'm not letting either of you go out their alone until my wings heal." Ace narrowed his eyes at his littlest brother. He knew as much as Sabo that the kid can't leave his emotional attachments until he's 25, it was sometimes annoying, but at times like this it made Luffy ready to agree with pretty much everything they said.

Luffy nodded. "Ace and Sabo aren't going anywhere. They're my treasures." He nodded sagely as if that explained everything. It didn't, but that was only to strangers. To them, it made perfect sense.

"so, how long do you think it'll be?" Sabo asked as he stood up and did some stretches, he was still tired, but it was much better than before.

Ace shrugged, "could be anywhere between a minute or two to a few hours. It's anyone's guess."

Luffy laughed his usual 'shishishishi' laugh, "so we wait for him to bring food." His megawatt smile lit up the room.

If Thatch really didn't want them to go hungry, he would obviously bring them meals, all the time, dinner, breakfast and lunch. It's just a matter of if he cares or not.

"I should check in case he's already been here already." Sabo said as he leaped towards the door. Ace went to the other side of the room so he wouldn't be seen by anyone if they looked in through the door – even though he can tell that no one's there. Luffy went with him.

Sabo unjammed the door, holding his pipe in his hand and opened the door slightly. In front of him were the three-empty bowls from last night, they hadn't been removed yet, so the chef obviously hasn't been through here yet.

"there's only the bowls from last night. Breakfast isn't here yet." He called as he shut the door.

Luffy pouted as Sabo jammed the door again. They didn't have a lock, so this was the next best thing.

"and now we wait." Ace said as he walked over to his watermelon bag. He took out his narcolepsy pills, "I'm fine to take these again, right?" he asked Sabo. Sometimes after he got injured, he wasn't allowed to eat them because it would mess up whatever drug or injection Sabo gave him beforehand.

"yeah, it's been long enough. The anesthetics should be out of your system by now." Sabo replied.

Ace took two of them and put the bottle away, taking out a deck of cards they've had since they were kids.

"who's up for a game while we wait?"

"but I'm hungry." Whined Luffy.

"we won't be able to get any food until the chef comes around to give us breakfast. Just wait, it shouldn't be too long." Sabo explained as he sat down across from Ace.

The freckled teen shuffled the deck as he waited for his brother to sit down. Luffy sighed and sat down with them.

They played a few games of go fish before Ace placed his cards down and motioned towards the door. Luffy and Sabo were quick on the uptake and moved towards the door.

Thatch knocked on the door, "hey, um kids. I see that you ate dinner, thank you. Was it good? did you like it? Anyway, um, I have breakfast here for you, if you want… so yeah." Thatch says to the non-responsive door.

Sabo says, "we're going to need more food than that." And it was true, the large bowl each that they had last night was little more than a bite sized snack. They were still hungry, practically starving now that they are focusing on it, and that little pittance amount will do nothing to sate the need. or at least, not for Ace and Luffy. Sabo was mroe or less okay for now.

"huh? What do you mean? I got a plate for all of you, was it not any good?" thatch asked, sounding very sad, and possibly hopeful.

Luffy jumped in, "it was good. Yummy food! But not enough. I'm still hungry." He pouted.

Sabo ruffled the younger teens hair comfortingly, making Luffy jump out of his pout and beamed up at Sabo.

Thatch made a sound which they translated as putting the plates on the ground, "ahh, okay then, how much food, in plates, do you think you would eat?" he asked instead, taking the conversation very seriously.

"fifty!" Called out Luffy.

Sabo shook his head, "no luffy, you haven't been eating properly these last few days, we don't want you getting sick. We'll have 5 plates each, if that's available." Sabo said, smirking to himself as thatch gasped in surprise, he probably thought they were weird or strange now that their usual diet is revealed. Most people who see them eat, act as though they were the plague, or maybe just a disgusting human with no hygiene. Which isn't true, they have very good hygiene, Sabo made sure of it.

"five plates!?" thatch yelled, startling some of the people in hearing range, there weren't many, Ace checked. "that means I've been starving you with the one! Haven't I?" he yells in distress. Five plates weren't that many, if possible, Sabo would've proffered a number higher than twenty each (though, most of his plates will end up going to Ace and Luffy. He didn't need to eat as much as them) but he knew better than anyone not to push their luck. They were prisoners, not guests, and while the pirates are willing to play along with that idea, it wasn't fooling anyone.

Sabo blinked, but retained his calm face, doubly making sure his voice says level. He didn't want the pirate knowing his surprise – because that's what it is, surprise. What sort of person happily feeds their prisoners lots of food? He could understand a plate or two at every meal, there wasn't much being lost, but five per person every meal is a bit much. Even if they were used to a lot more. "yes, yes we have." He admits evenly.

Thatch's voice was muffled slightly like he was running his hand over his face in distress or disappointment in oneself, "oh god, I've failed as a chef. I noticed you guys were starving, or at least very hungry, but then I just made it worse." Thatch groaned before making a more determined grunt. "okay, I'll leave this part of breakfast here and you guys can eat it while I got make 12 more plates of food. See ya!" he called as he walked speedily down the hallway.

When Ace signals the all clear, Sabo opened the door and quickly grabbed the food, closing the door behind him. Luffy checked the food for any sort of poisoning or tampering, finding nothing.

The single plates each of bacon, eggs and toast disappears before they blink, Luffy somehow managing to steal some off the older brothers plates in that time, they allowed it, since he eats the most out of them and has eaten the least recently. Besides, they might be able to get a good meal or two if that Chef guy made them a few more plates of food.

The three left the plates by the door before going back to their game of cards.

"do you have a red eight?" Luffy asked, furrowing his brows.

Ace sighed, "you've asked that question four times in a row now, pick a different number."

Sabo laughed softly, "but that would ruin all our fun, after all, it's what makes Luffy so easy to beat."

Luffy pouted, crossing his arms and looking at the furthest corner from them, "it's not my fault this game is hard."

Sabo patted the raven's head, "don't worry Luffy, this is one of the easiest games we could find, you'll get it eventually." He smiled.

Luffy beamed up at him before looking over his cards again with a concentrated frown. "do you have a black eight?" he asked instead.

Ace snorted, "do you only have eights?" he gestured to the four cards in his hand.

Luffy looked affronted, "wha-! How did you know!" he jumped to his feet in surprise. The other two people in the room blinked before bursting out laughing. Luffy still hadn't figured out how to play the simple game they've been playing for over 7 years now – no matter how many times it gets explain to him.

And he didn't even realise he won. Not that they were going to tell him either.

Ace smiled, "you just told me." He said. Luffy gasped while he looked gobsmacked, covering his mouth with his hands to prevent himself from saying anything else.

"no, I didn't!" he said through his palm.

"yes, you did!" Ace stuck his tongue out at the fourteen-year-old.

"nope!"

"yes!"

"no-" luffy was cut off by a knock at the door. All three boys instantly tensed, Ace let his guard drop and someone managed to sneak up on them. They rose to their feet, approaching the door with caution, like it was going to suddenly jump out and attack them, Luffy moving closer to Ace.

"hi guys, it's me again, thatch." Thatch spoke, "so, I was wondering if you would open the door so I can give you the rest of breakfast? Oh, Marco's here too, I couldn't carry it all by myself no matter how good I am at balancing improbable numbers of plates."

"good morning." Marco said to the door.

Sabo glanced at Ace, the older raven putting two fingers up, Sabo sighed, there were only two people outside that door. They weren't lying, at least.

"thank you, but we aren't opening the door. Leave the food outside and we will grab it when you leave." he said. Sabo could practically feel the men frowning from behind the door.

Marco was the first to voice his disagreement. "why can't you open the door? You can't spend the next two months in there." He stated, retaining a calm demur in his voice. Sabo could tell he was slightly annoyed at them, and more than a little angry. People don't just help others; they always want something in return. The pirates could cut off their entire supply of food and they would be left starving until they could steal or fish their own food – which they can't do without revealing Ace's wings yet. It would be in their best interests to get on the pirate's good side, except they really don't want to be here. And if they do cut off their food, they can survive – it just means riskier trips to either their food stocks or the pirates.

"and we don't plan to, just the next couple of days. At a guess, maybe three more." Sabo estimated, Ace's wings needed time to heal – that should only take a day and a half – and then a day for some immaculate preening, cleaning and stretching to get the wings back into shape. It would be better if Ace could fly, but there was no chance of that happening while on the ship.

There was a pause outside before the thieving pirates spoke up, again, it was Marco. "any reason for the three days?"

Sabo hummed, "yes, there most certainly is a reason. You're just never going to find out." He said acutely with a tone that sounded both patronising and weirdly challenging at the same time. He loved using tones and speaking like that, it always made people unsure if he was insulting them or complimenting them, that, and his amazing poker face he spent years mastering. His brothers don't stand a chance – and they are probably the only people who could ever read him if he was trying.

Marco asked, "and why is that, yoi?"

"because we're never going to tell you. Just leave us alone for the next few days and we'll be out on deck then, just how you want it." He answered sarcastically.

Thatch sighed, "leave them alone, Marco. They only want their privacy for a bit, we can introduce ourselves properly later. Anyway," they heard the sounds of something heavy being placed near the door, "here's your food. Someone will come by with a mattress later, Jozu wanted to build a frame before we move it in here first."

"that's fine." Sabo agreed, they didn't really care much right now, they had other priorities – first food, then Ace's wings and finally Luffy's boredom. They did not want to deal with a board Luffy, especially as they're on an enemy ship.

Marco huffed and placed his own stack of plates down, or at least what they assume to be stacks of plates. "fine, we'll leave you in peace, yoi. But I would like to know if Fire Fist is okay."

Sabo narrowed his eyes at the door, they probably don't suspect anything strange, but he didn't trust them, and he wouldn't tell them anything – at least not anything overly helpful.

"and why would you want to know that very specific piece of information?" he didn't keep the venom out of his voice.

The first division commander hummed in thought, "A few reasons, yoi. Are you going to answer?"

"no, as I do not know the reasons you wish to know for."

Marco sighed before explaining, "first off, the nurses seemed concerned about something, not sure what but it had something to do with really large bruises appearing out of nowhere, secondly neither thatch or I have heard him so much as peep since we've been here, and finally, he wasn't looking too well yesterday. We listened to you yesterday about the room, but it would be appreciated if you returned him to the care of the medical staff here on the Moby Dick so we can treat him." He said with a calm voice with underlaying annoyance.

Sabo's voice was sharp and stern, "that will not be necessary. Ace is fine." He glanced Ace, who was paying close attention to the conversation and looked like he was about to say something but was cut off by Marco.

"surly you don't have any sort of medical equipment in there, yoi. We could help you." He offered.

That was it for Ace, "shut up you dimwit! I'm fine! just leave us alone!" he shouted, annoyed at the enemy pirate. He had been silent because the three normally let Sabo control the conversations. He was frighteningly good at getting what he wanted. But the pirate was just pissing him off. How dare he insult his brother's skill.

Thatch piped up, "yay! The fire brats okay! Well, I'm ganna go now, make sure you eat and stuff. Oi, Marco! Your coming with me~!" the chef called in a sing-song tone.

"wha- hey!" the phoenix yelled as he was dragged away by the fourth commander – he seemed to take the hint, at least.

As soon as they were far enough away, Sabo opened the door and he and luffy grabbed the rest of breakfast. Just like he said, the chef made 12 more plates of food, not enough to sate the humanoids, but enough to get by. They checked them for poisoning or tampering before digging right in, savouring every wonderful flavour – even if it was made by the enemy who trapped them here.

It was a few hours later when someone new knocked on the door, the boys stopped playing their game of tag – luffy was getting a little restless – and became instantly alert.

"hey um… are you three in there? I'm Jozu, the third division commander, I have a bed here. I'm sure the floor isn't very comfortable, so, um, yeah… god, talking to a door is so weird… anyway, I'm also here to tell you of the storm on the horizon, it's really big but we will be able to get through it, we've dealt with worse. Um yeah, so don't be scared when it starts and stuff… well, I've got some things to do, so bye… I guess?" he ended weakly before walking off. As soon as he was far enough away, Sabo went out and dragged the mattress, bedding and pillows in, they didn't take the frame, they didn't really need it that much, besides, they just wanted something comfortable to lay on, they didn't care if it was in a] frame or not.

A frame can get in the way of Ace's wings.

"nice of him to warn us about the storm." Sabo commented sarcastically as he flopped onto the temporary bed.

Ace followed his example, while he had grown up in the woods and was used to sleeping on the ground, it doesn't mean he didn't appreciate beds and their softness – especially the pillows. The only difference with him is that his wings stood upright as he flopped, instead of going limp and spreading out. They were still wrapped up in bandages – much like the rest of him – but they were in a much better state them yesterday.

Most people underestimate the healing speeds of Fae. of course, scientist's only test subjects were underfed slaves denied of any human decency. And yes, while their healing rates were still higher than normal, they were much slower than they could be. A well fed, sleeping and unstressed Fae heals faster. Ace, finally having a semi-decent meal and with his brothers nearby, slowly drifted off into sleep. He needed to heal, and he always heals faster when he was sleeping.

Seeing his brothers getting ready for a nap – there wasn't much else to do in here except play cards, tag or nap – Luffy quickly piled whatever blankets and pillows he could around them, making a temporary nest and placed himself between his brothers. Both older ones wrapped an arm around him almost unconsciously. Luffy smiled at the contact, thriving off the comfort of his treasures. In this moment, everything just felt like it would be fine, that everything would turn out okay and they weren't in the middle of enemy territory, they were back in Luffy's cave. Home. They were safe.

Tada! Chapter 8, also the second chapter of the main series. Anyway, hope you liked it, Review, Favorited Follow, whatever suits you.

Sorry for the late update, with everything going on in the world… I may have gotten a little distracted. Also, check out my new story called Eternity! It's great! Tho that may just be me boasting about it… oh well!

and yes, i do know that this chapter is very slow. not much happened. next chapter is more exciting!

See you next time!