Chapter Text
Marco had been told story after story about Ace’s adorable gremlin of a little brother. Most of the crew was in agreement that half of it had to be bullshit and the rest was tinted by the rose-colored glasses of a doting older brother. Hearing Ace gush about Luffy for the first time had been a surprise of its own, after all the shit he put them through before joining. Meeting the kid, though, made Marco wonder if Ace had been holding back. He crashed into Marineford, the stronghold of the Marines, falling from the sky in a stolen Marine ship with hundreds of prisoners the man himself broke out of Impel Down itself. He didn’t cower before Pops or waver in the face of the seemingly impossible task before him; he didn’t care that he was butting in on a matter for the Whitebeards; he ran straight in and got back up every time he was knocked down; he used Conqueror’s haki without even seeming to know what it was; he didn’t hesitate to accept Sela’s powers despite not one of Marco’s brothers taking the risk—they’d all decided that keeping their numbers was more important than the potential power boost.
Straw Hat Luffy got more power out of it than any one of them could have hoped for.
And with that power, he did the most impressive of all: he saved Ace, and he talked Pops into leaving with them. Every member of the Whitebeards owed him an unrepayable debt.
But right after the grinning, indomitable victor of the war between giants made his bold statement, spoke plainly to the strongest man in the world whose respect he earned even before Sela’s powers made him… this, he disappeared.
In his place was a small boy who couldn't even be ten yet, weeping silently and bloodied beyond recognition. Marco's stomach churned. Ace made a wounded sound and shuffled forward, leaning over him with his hands hovering uncertainly. He looked surprised, but Marco thought it was from the change itself rather than the fact that his little brother had at one point been in such a condition.
The little boy, who must have been Luffy, didn't seem to have realized where he was just yet. Ace looked so distressed and panicked, and after everything, Marco couldn't stand to see it even for a second, so he moved to kneel across from his brother.
The kid, for how stark a difference there was between this small boy and the pirate he saw moments ago, was clearly Straw Hat. He had a small scar under his eye—barely visible under the blood and grime and what looked to be puncture marks—and his hat was hanging around his neck. Luffy blinked his eyes open, seeming to realize that something had changed. He looked at all of them and there was clear confusion in his eyes as well as fear.
"Lu?" Ace said, voice tentative.
Luffy turned to look at him. His eyes were blank and glassy. Marco didn’t blame him. Ace was quite a bit older than he was whenever this version of Luffy saw him last. On top of that, the kid seemed plenty out of it already from whatever hell he’d just been through. Marco didn’t even know how long the two had known each other by that point.
Ace had also been through a lot though, and he didn’t seem to get that. He didn’t try and explain or introduce himself. Marco tried to meet his eye and convey the message silently, but Ace’s gaze never wavered from his little brother. He sighed. This really would be better coming from Ace rather than a complete stranger, but someone needed to tell the traumatized, bleeding child that he wasn’t entirely alone in a strange place.
Luffy spoke before he could. “Ace?” he asked, voice croaking and wrecked in a way that could only mean he’d been screaming for hours.
Ace nodded rapidly, still not touching Luffy even though he clearly wanted to. “Yeah, Luffy, it’s me.” Still, he offered no explanation, but Luffy didn’t seem to need one.
Tears formed quickly and then he was sniffling and crying, reaching for his big brother with weak arms. Ace scooped him up immediately, clearly caught between clutching him to his chest as tightly as he could and trying not to aggravate his injuries. Marco still didn’t understand how something like that could happen. He appeared to be coated in hundreds if not thousands of puncture wounds.
Luffy hiccupped. “I knew you would come for me. I knew it. We’re friends, right? We can be friends now?
Ace’s face crumpled and he squeezed his eyes shut. Marco could tell he was biting the inside of his cheek. Luffy continued before Ace could answer.
“I swear I didn’t tell,” he said, voice a little more frantic. Like he thought Ace would say no. “I didn’t. He kept asking, and it hurt so much, but I didn’t tell him anything, I promise.”
That at least spurred Ace to talk, even if he looked as nauseated as Marco felt. “I know, I know, Lu. We can be friends.”
And then, miraculously, impossibly, the tiny child who had apparently just been tortured leaned back to offer a beaming smile. Then he blinked and looked around, even if he was clearly trying not to move too much; Marco thought it may not have even been a conscious effort.
“Where’s Sabo?” he asked. Ace froze. Marco could practically hear everyone on the ship holding their breath; none of them had made any effort to conceal the fact that they were all paying attention before, but now they were being downright obvious about it. Luffy’s brow furrowed when Ace didn’t answer; he was worried. “He can’t be fighting the other pirates, ‘cause the mean one killed them when they tried to stop him. And you wouldn’t have left Sabo to fight on his own, even if it was just the mean one.” Marco had heard the name before, of course. Plenty of them had. He was someone Ace loved, and he was dead, but no one knew any more than that. “Is he with the treasure?”
Tremulously, Ace nodded. Then, he shook his head. “No, Lu, he’s…” He trailed off. Took a deep breath and ran a hand through his filthy, tangled hair, and forced a tight grin on his face. “He’s out hunting. Said he was gonna bring back the biggest haul ever so you can have a feast.”
Luffy crowed a cheer. He jumped to his feet and nearly fell right back over. Marco caught him before Ace could, easing him back down.
“Easy there, Luffy,” he said. Luffy looked up at him and stared. It was almost unnerving, being the center of such blatant, unreadable attention. Marco felt like he was being seen straight through. Like his soul itself was being judged and evaluated. He swallowed.
“Pineapple,” Luffy said. Marco’s mouth fell open for only a moment before it twisted into a scowl when his brothers began laughing uproariously at his expense.
“My name is Marco,” he tried. Luffy looked away from him and back at Ace without acknowledging him.
“Where are we?” he asked.
Ace gave him a secretive grin, genuine in its excitement, and leaned in conspiratorially. Luffy followed suit, bouncing in place once before it made tears prick and he stopped. Marco had only a split second after realization struck to worry and to have the all-too-familiar thought of, Ace, you idiot!
“We’re on a pirate ship,” he whispered loudly.
A pirate ship, he said. After Luffy had just been tortured by some.
Marco prepared for the tears barely held at bay to begin pouring and for the pain creeping into the edges of Luffy’s expression to take over, alongside fear.
Luffy’s eyes shone, but it was not with tears. “Really?” he asked, clearly excited. Ace nodded, still grinning. Luffy giggled but then stopped, tense. “Not Shanks, right?” He looked around again before relaxing. The excitement returned almost immediately. “Whose ship is this?”
Marco didn’t know what to think about that. Obviously Luffy knew Shanks—Marco had recognized that hat even before Shanks mentioned the kid—but he hadn’t thought there was any animosity there. Hell, he’d thought they were friends. So why wouldn’t Luffy want to see him?
Marco didn’t want to think it, and he was pretty sure Shanks wouldn't do something like that, but he couldn’t help but look at Luffy’s wounds again. He’d said it was a pirate.
Ace laughed, though. “Nah, don’t worry. You didn’t break your promise.” Luffy nodded, but Ace wasn’t done yet. He turned to face Vista where he was loitering with the others. “Could you go get something from my room for me?” he asked. Vista’s brow furrowed, but Marco knew exactly what Ace was asking for.
“He wants to show them to Luffy, yoi,” Marco said. Vista turned to him and seemed to finally realize. He smiled at Luffy, who was watching the exchange curiously, and then he left to go and get it.
Ace brought Luffy’s attention back to him with a simple, “Hey.” Luffy was fixated on him again immediately. “While we wait, why don’t I show you the ship. You can meet everyone.”
Luffy nodded rapidly but stopped just as fast with a small whimper. Marco winced. He should have been working on treating him like he meant to when he came over rather than gawking. He reached his hands out but paused when he heard a heavy sigh from behind him. He looked back to see Trafalgar Law pushing to his feet from where he had been treating Jinbe.
“Let me see him,” he said. Marco frowned but complied, for now. He knew how powerful the Ope Ope no Mi could be. Luffy stared raptly as Trafalgar approached and began unsheathing his sword. “Scan,” he said, holding the blade in front of him and moving it slowly over Luffy.
“Woah,” Luffy said, marveling. “Your tattoos are so cool! What are you doing?”
Trafalgar sheathed his sword with a grimace. He glanced at Marco; clearly, whatever he’d seen with his fruit hadn’t been good. He turned back to Luffy. “I’m a doctor. I was examining you.”
Luffy cocked his head, wincing a bit as he did. “Really? It didn’t look like it.”
“He has powers, Lu,” Ace said. “Like you.”
Luffy squinted at him. “Huh. So what are you made of, then? I’m rubber.” He pulled at his cheek far beyond where a normal human could and then let it snap back.
“Nothing,” Trafalgar grunted. “I’m a normal human.”
Luffy frowned. “That’s boring,” he said. Luffy turned to Marco. “Does anyone else here have powers, too? Shanks said they’re rare, but your crew is a lot bigger than his was.”
Ace’s head whipped to face Marco, and he could tell his youngest brother felt conflicted. His face clearly communicated that Luffy would adore his bird form and that Marco should show off, but also that Ace realized he had a power to show off too. Marco smirked at him; Ace could deal with a bit of impatient anticipation. They may have forgiven Ace for his idiocy, but Marco hadn’t forgotten it either. Although Thatch would have denied it if he were still here, Marco was not in fact above a bit of petty revenge.
Marco leaned closer to whisper like Ace had done earlier. Luffy leaned in again just as eagerly, ignoring Trafalgar’s small protest. “I have one,” Marco said. “I’m a phoenix.”
Luffy’s little face scrunched up adorably as he straightened back up. “What’s a fennix?” he asked.
Marco grinned. “Phoenix. It’s a magic bird made of blue fire.”
Luffy’s eyes shone and Marco couldn’t resist preening under the attention. “Woah!” he said. “Show me, show me!”
Marco transformed obligingly, limiting it to only his wings for now. Luffy struggled against Ace’s hold and Trafalgar’s ministrations for a bit before giving up on escape. He settled for reaching an arm toward him, stretching it a bit despite the tears pricking in his eyes at the movement. Marco shifted one of his wings closer so Luffy didn’t have to move as far. He brushed his hands through the harmless blue flames, marveling.
Ace put up with it for nearly half a minute before tapping Luffy’s arm to steal his attention back. Marco didn’t blame him—he was actually surprised more of their brothers hadn’t come forward to try and take some for themselves yet; maybe they were waiting until the kid was fully bandaged up to descend for their own round of awed praise.
“Luffy, Luffy,” Ace said, “guess what?”
Luffy blinked up at him, immediately getting caught up in Ace’s excitement.
“What?” he asked
Ace held up a single finger in front of Luffy’s face and lit it aflame. Luffy stared, wide-eyed and gaping. “Ace has a power, too?” he asked, reaching out again.
Ace doused the flame and pulled his hand back before Luffy could burn himself. “Yep. I’m made of fire now. Cool, huh?” Luffy nodded eagerly. Ace gave him a shit-eating grin. “Cooler than rubber, even?”
Luffy’s cheeks puffed out to comical proportions. Marco stifled a laugh. “Nuh-uh! Rubber is the coolest!”
Ace laughed and Luffy started yelling and the whole damn crew, everyone watching and listening in, was smiling—some of them were even laughing. Marco’s family was sailing away from a warzone, the kid before them had just been tortured, and they were all laughing. Ace’s little brother was full of surprises, wasn’t he?
“Hey,” Marco called, interrupting, “you wanna know something else?”
Luffy turned away from the argument easily and faced Marco. “What?” he asked, already smiling again.
“You’re a pirate too, yoi.”
Luffy jumped to his feet. Ace glared at Marco and Trafalgar clicked his tongue but backed off. Luffy was pretty much covered in bandages already, so he probably figured that he’d done enough for now. And he was right, too. The kid was still flinching every so often, but he was moving around normally.
“I’m a pirate?” he yelled. Marco winced at the volume. “Am I King yet? Is this my ship?” Luffy looked around again, this time with a new vigor. “Are you guys my crew?”
“Ah,” Ace said, scratching at his cheek apologetically. “No, none of your crew is here, Luffy.” He tugged Luffy back down to sit in his lap again. Marco wondered where they were, actually.
Luffy went easily, sagging a bit and pouting.
Jinbe cleared his throat. “Actually,” he said haltingly, “I’m your helmsman.”
Marco stared. So did a lot of his brothers. Even Pops had to have been caught off guard by that. Everyone seemed to be. Well, almost everyone.
Luffy just perked up again. “Really? That’s so cool! You’re so cool! I bet I have the best crew in the world.”
Jinbe smiled. “Yes, I think you probably do. I haven’t known you long, but I’ve seen more than enough to know that your crew must be devoted. You wouldn’t take someone with you that you didn’t trust.” His eyes looked suspiciously wet. Marco smiled; Jinbe believed that, and he was clearly touched by it.
“Wait, since when?” Ace yelled, finally pushing past his shock.
Jinbe shrugged. “Some time in the next two years, it would seem.” As if both the assurance that it would happen and the uncertainty of when were fine with him. Jinbe was a pirate captain and was one of the Seven Warlords—he wasn’t usually so easygoing.
Ace stared, mouth agape. Marco understood the sentiment; it seemed like Luffy had already had a bit of influence on him. Maybe they were a good fit after all. Jinbe deserved some laughter, some freedom. He’d held the weight of his people on his shoulders for too damn long. Marco could already tell that Luffy would be more than happy to help carry the load. To help carry Jinbe.
Pops laughed, drawing everyone’s gaze. Luffy froze when he saw him. Marco wasn’t sure how he’d missed him before, actually—Pops didn’t exactly blend into the background—but he’d certainly noticed now. Luffy pulled out of Ace’s hold again, only limping slightly as he rushed toward Pops’s chair.
“Woah!” he said. Marco wondered if he always said it as a kid or if they were just particularly impressive. “Ace, look at this huge old man!”
Ace made a choked noise. Marco heard a few similar ones across the deck. He fought a smile. A few of his brothers let out brief spurts of laughter before regaining their self-control. Pops grinned down at Luffy. He started to lean forward and Marco jolted. He flew forward and picked Luffy up with his talons, lifting him onto Pops’s palm when he extended it for him. Pops had nearly died at Marineford. Marco wasn’t going to let him aggravate his injuries for something Marco could do for him.
Luffy sat in Pops’s palm, sitting next to where Marco stood, and smiled up at him. Pops grinned back. “Hello, little one,” he said. “My name is Edward Newgate. Some call me Whitebeard.”
Luffy cocked his head to the side, brow furrowed—he really was a cute kid. “But you don’t have a beard. You have a mustache. Shouldn’t you be White-mustache? Maybe people are just dumb.”
Pops laughed hard enough that his wounds oozed blood and his hand shook under them. He shot Marco a look to keep him in place. Marco wished he wouldn’t do that. The only reason he could have for grandstanding now was to impress a child version of a rival captain. And wasn’t that a ridiculous thought? Marco may have laughed at it, before everything. But now… there wasn’t much else he could call him. He would be a force of nature soon enough—already was, in a way. Even if Pops retired, and Marco thought he probably would, he’d still be Whitebeard. He’d still be their father and their captain. And even if some facsimile of the Whitebeard Pirates remained, there was no world in Monkey D. Luffy sailed under them or anyone else.
He was a rival captain, but Pops had his own priorities, so he didn’t treat him as such: instead, to him, Luffy was first and foremost the little brother of his youngest son.
“He makes a good point, my sons,” Pops said. “Why don’t they call me Whitemustache? Maybe they should start.”
Luffy giggled and smiled and Pops looked so damn fond and happy that Marco knew he’d have to stop him from trying to adopt the kid. Especially before he was full-sized again. Marco wondered when the last time Pops had gotten to spend time with an actual kid was.
Pops turned to all of them, warm and loving and grateful to be able to see this, to still be with them. “In the meantime,” he told them, “I think we should celebrate!” His voice bellowed loudly enough that Luffy covered his ears, even though he never stopped smiling.
Marco’s family cheered around them, already moving to make food and grab drinks for the festivities, and Luffy gave a whoop of his own. Marco echoed him. Pops kept laughing.
Ace called for his little brother and Marco flew him back down, sending a disapproving look when Pops used his now-free hand to grab a tankard. Ace took Luffy into his arms, lifting him up and spinning him around before wandering off to show him something or other. Ace’s wounds had been tended to and bandaged while Luffy was distracted. Marco found Trafalgar in the crowd and sent him a nod in thanks. Trafalgar seemed off-put by it, but he returned the gesture all the same.
Marco sighed when one of his brothers fell overboard, cackling on the way down. He flapped his wings and dove to grab him. Any celebration with his family involved was a rowdy affair, but tonight’s would probably be in a league of its own, after everything.
It was going to be a long night.
When dawn was breaking on the horizon, most of Marco’s siblings were passed out and splayed around the deck. Some had gone to their actual beds for the night. Others were still going strong.
Ace sat against the banisters with Luffy in his lap. Both of them were fighting sleep. Luffy was rubbing at his eyes and Ace kept jolting back to wakefulness. They’d been at the center of things almost the whole night and they were both hurt and exhausted even before that. Marco was surprised they were still up at all.
“Hey,” Luffy said, voice slow and slurred. Marco blinked and met his gaze. “You guys are Ace’s crew, right?” Marco nodded. Luffy smiled. “He seems really happy now. I’m glad. You guys must love him a lot, right?” Marco nodded again, firmer this time. Luffy hummed, still smiling. “Good. Thank you.”
Then the brightly grinning kid sitting up in Ace’s arms was gone, and in his place was the Monkey D. Luffy of their time—limp and unconscious and so damn injured, Marco wasn’t sure how he was alive. If his chest wasn’t moving in shuttering, shallow breaths, Marco would have said that he wasn’t.
Trafalgar didn’t waste another second before moving, coming out of wherever he’d been hiding during the party. He was barking out orders, calling for a stretcher, and grilling Marco for information about their supplies and facilities while he got to work on treating Luffy. Marco adjusted quickly and got to work—they could grill Ace for more information when Luffy was stable. And the rest, Marco supposed, they would find out in two years.