#marcoaceweek

[arielxlazarus]

It's the last day of @marcoaceweek 2023! Here's the last chapter of my fic! I had a lot of fun writing it, so I hope everyone enjoys it!

[mo1527]

For @marcoaceweek 2019 for the prompt Day 3: Feathers

I will draw day 1 and day 2 later  (≧▽≦)/(✧∀✧)/(o´▽`o)ﾉ

[lelliite]

Is there a marcoace week this year @marcoaceweek ? I've seen the post where its said its gonna be run from 29th of October till 5th of November, if I remember correctly, but I haven't seen any additional posts or conformations?

[duckduckduckorgoose]

October 27: Feathers/Ink

"I won't steal your feathers if that's what you believe."

Marco sighed and shook his head at the comment. Wasn't it typical of him, to get so worked up over something, and then get the kind of reaction that makes his worrying worthless? Maybe he shouldn't feel bad about that, instead feel bad about how he expected to get any other reaction.

"That wasn't what I was afraid of, Ace. I- I thought you'd freak out, that you'd... leave."

He already knew that there'd be tears. He just didn't think they'd come from Ace first. Could he do anything else but hate himself now, when he'd made the person he cared about most cry?

Head shaking, slowly looking down, he acknowledged the tears forming in his own eyes. They ran down his cheeks like they were only fallen rain. Dripping down onto his shirt as they reached the end of his chin.

Suddenly, he felt Ace's hands lift his head, making their eyes meet. The sudden warmth made him melt inside. Why he fell in love with this man was obvious.

"I'd never leave you, Marco. I don't care if you're some creature of fire or secretly from Mars, that doesn't change my feelings. I mean, you haven't lied, have you? And the things you were keeping, you've told me now."

"I know."

Ace smiled at him and pulled him in close. "I love you, Marco."

He could feel his heartbeat, smiled back, and felt the big lump in his stomach disappear.

"I love you to."

@marcoaceweek

[akemichan007]

In the Arena

Summary: Gladiator: a man (and sometimes a woman), typically a slave or convicted criminal, who participated in one-on-one battles with each other, often to the death, for the entertainment of crowds of spectators in the Roman Empire.

Tags: MarcoAce pre-slash, Ancient Rome!AU, gladiator!Ace

@marcoaceweek

Ao3

[lelliite]

Death is only the beginning

MarcoAce Week 2019, promt “Monsters”;

@marcoaceweek AO3 “ “Ankhreshet?” he whipped his head round at the sound of a raspy voice so fast he almost got whiplash. He could feel his body going completely cold as he saw the mummy’s empty eye sockets staring right at him. ”

Heavily inspired by the movies “The Mummy” (1999) and “The Mummy Returns” (2001). 

Mummy AU, Modern AU; Rating: T (just in case);  Italics = speach in ancient Egyptian.

A bit late for this promt, but better late than never xD. Enjoy <3

“’It's just a book. No harm ever came from reading a book,’ he said.” Ace kept ranting under his breath, mocking his brother, Sabo, as he ran through the corridors of the ancient Egyptian city that had been believed to be lost for several millennia. The situation that they had gotten themselves into was out of this world, even by their standards. If he were to tell it to anyone, they would, no doubt, think he was insane. It’s something you’d expect to see on TV or read in a book – in the fantasy section, mind you. He still hoped that this was just a dream, or maybe he actually went insane and they hadn’t brought a cursed mummy back to life!

“For fucks sake!” he cursed as he rounded the corner of the long passageway, only to find yet another dead end. The place was like a maze, hieroglyphs doing very little in giving him directions at all.

He remembered reading about Hamunaptra in his ancient Egypt classes at his university, and how the modern historians and Egyptologists regarded it as nothing more than a myth. But when Luffy returned from one of his crazy trips with his friends and actually brought back an artifact that contained a map of the location of the city, it lit a fire in Ace, one bigger than ever before. He had an intense feeling that he simply must go and see it with his very own eyes.

He loved ancient Egypt, had done ever since he was a child; but it wasn’t just a random fascination, there was something else, something that he didn’t share with a lot of people.

He’d had dreams that he couldn’t explain ever since he was as young as four. Dreams so vivid and real, that at that age he could not separate the dreams from reality. And he had known it wasn’t just childish imagination, but no one could explain it. As Ace grew older he started to have visions, just like his dreams, only while he was awake. They got him into plenty of awkward situations, but that had been when he finally knew there was a lot more to it. They weren’t just random dreams he was having, or some crazy paranoia or delusion. He wasn’t crazy. These dreams and visions had continuation – the same place, same people. It was like a puzzle, piecing everything together piece by piece. He had vivid visions of two men, both tall and strong. One of them was older and looked like a pharaoh, judging by his attire and authority that he displayed. The other was also of high importance but of lesser stature; Ace believed he was either the pharaoh’s adviser or a high priest.

As for himself… he had thought he was a servant, but as he grew older and went into puberty, some of his visions started to get some sexual undertones and later became downright explicit, involving both the pharaoh and the high priest. He never knew their names – they rarely talked in his dreams – and he was able to understand parts of it only when he started to study and learn ancient Egyptian.

From what he could tell and puzzle together, both his dreams and information found in his research and studies of their societal norms and customs from back in the day, he was most likely a concubine of the pharaoh, but was having an affair with the high priest. The forbidden love scenario.

He tried to find historical records of the people he saw and managed to trace only the pharaoh – Akhenaten. He wasn’t the most popular ruler – as a matter of fact, finding information on him was almost impossible and what information he did manage to get on him was very limited and brief. All Ace could find out was that he ruled for approximately 20 years, but wasn’t loved very much by his people.

He believed his visions and dreams were memories. Memories of his past life. He read many articles about reincarnation and perhaps he would’ve been skeptical in other circumstances, but he couldn’t ignore everything that had happened to him. The possibility of ever being able to find more clues on what he saw in his dreams and what it meant was what drove Ace to go into studying ancient Egypt in the first place.

When they received full funding for the expedition to find the city he was beyond excited. He felt like he was about to discover something important not just historically, but personally. For some reason he always believed that City of the Dead was not just a myth, and perhaps his past life had a connection to that place.

It was risky to go out and wander around the desert to find it, but when they did, it was far greater than whatever they imagined they would find. It was magnificent! Most of the buildings were, shockingly, still intact and in good condition. Simply extraordinary. The moment Ace set foot on the grounds he felt as if he were…home. As if he was where he was supposed to be.

But now he was regretting ever thinking that coming here was a good idea. Discovering Hamunaptra was possibly the biggest historical discovery made in recent years, but they had fucked up. They had fucked up and now everyone was fucked along with them!

This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. He knew something was off the moment they stepped foot in that unmarked tomb under the statue of Anubis. He tried to brush it off –he was so, so excited, after all – but when they found the sarcophagus with a mummy still decomposing in it, Ace felt the feeling return tenfold, especially after seeing all the writings and warnings across his burial place.

He knew he shouldn’t have let Sabo open the Book of the Dead, let alone read from it. He had a bad feeling about that too, yet he couldn’t place his finger on it, simply knowing that nothing good would come of it. Yet he still let them do it, let them convince him that he was being silly and superstitious. Now they were stuck here, separated from one another, in the chaos and panic that unfolded at the camp when they discovered an empty sarcophagus and dead bodies of their two colleagues who looked like they had been mummified alive. And it turned out that now they had a rogue undead mummy risen from the grave, killing everyone in sight and apparently bringing its curse upon the world.

Ace rounded another corner and cursed under his breath again as he faced another dead end. Unfortunately, though, he couldn’t stop in time and ran straight into the wall and hit his shoulder, but instead of just bouncing painfully back the wall moved on the impact sent Ace to the other side of it.

He barely managed to regain his footing rather ungracefully, almost landing on his face. Movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention, and when he turned his head towards it he wished he hadn’t done, because the sight that greeted him chilled his blood.

There, right before him, stood the newly awakened mummy, holding Alex, his colleague, by the throat and literally sucking the life out of him. He watched horrified as in mere seconds the mummy dried his colleague’s body to skin and bones, rejuvenating his own rotting bones and muscle tissues in the process. The sight was grotesque. Ace had seen many unpleasant things in his life – he and his brothers had a knack for getting themselves into trouble more often than not – however, this was something else.

Disgust and horror gripped Ace’s body as he watched his colleague being killed. He tried to move back, pushing the wall behind him, trying to make it open back up, but this time it was not having it, appearing to be a one-way entry. Just his luck to be stuck alone with a life-sucking mummy!

He looked around frantically, panicking internally and searching for an escape. His back pressed against the wall in futile attempt to make it move, even if he knew damn well it wouldn’t.

“Ankhreshet?” he whipped his head round at the sound of a raspy voice so fast he almost got whiplash. He could feel his body going completely cold as he saw the mummy’s empty eye sockets staring right at him. Ace wasn’t a feeble man in any shape or form. He knew how to fight and defend himself and could land a pretty good punch on guys who were several times bigger than him, however he wasn’t stupid and knew how to pick his battles. This was beyond him, and he had no chance.

As the creature continued to move towards him, he began to feel more and more claustrophobic. He had an urge to wail out of frustration like a wounded animal backed into a corner. He tried to move away from the creature as far as he could, sliding along the wall before he was stuck in a corner with the creature looming over him, no escape in sight. The mummy blocked his path, not that he thought he had a chance to begin with. He felt his legs going weak. He only experienced that kind of fear only one time before in his life. After the fire broke out in their house, Sabo had got badly burned and needed surgery on one side of his body. He almost died that day and the thought of losing Sabo or Luffy was unbearable for Ace. At least he hoped that they would be able to escape the city before the creature got its hands on them. Better him than them.

The mummy stopped right before him and when it reached out its bony arm towards him Ace turned away and shut his eyes, knowing what was about to happen and not wanting to witness it. He’d rather imagine the faces of his brothers before he died.

However, instead of being gripped by the throat and life being sucked out of him like he expected, he felt cold and slightly moist fingers brush against his cheek. He involuntarily jumped at the contact. The touch was gentle and completely out of place. A shiver went down his spine as Ace felt those fingers slide along his jaw and down his neck. It made him think that maybe it liked to play with its victims before killing them, which made the whole situation even worse – he’d rather die fast and be done with it.

His nerves were tingling; he could still physically feel the mummy’s fingers on his skin even as it moved on to gently brush the stray lock of his curly hair behind his ear. His eyes shot open as it gently but firmly gripped him by the chin, forcing him to look it in the eye.

Whatever he had expected to see, it wasn’t that.

“Do not fear me.” it said in ancient Egyptian, it’s voice was gruff and raspy. It spoke slowly as if it was trying out its vocal cords that were probably not in the best of shape, judging by the state of its body.

Obviously, what it said did very little at calming Ace down; all it did was make him confused. What did it want from him if not to kill him?

“W-what… do you want?” he could read ancient Egyptian with no problem, but it was one thing to work with ancient texts and hieroglyphs and quite other to work an actual conversation in a dead language. Everything that was happening didn’t make sense!

He got even more confused when he saw the features on its face softening. It’s gaze, even with hollow sockets and rotten flesh, read sad and full of longing as it stared at him.

“You,” it said simply, making the little hairs on the back of Ace’s neck stand.

“Why don’t you kill me, then?” He knew he probably shouldn’t be so bold, but beating around the bush was never his thing, despite how many times it had gotten him in trouble in the past.

“I do not wish to harm you, Ankhreshet.” It attempted to pull its mouth into something akin to a smile, although it only succeeded in making Ace feel even more uncomfortable and disturbed, and he didn’t like where it was going at all.

Gentle touches and those looks. Ace knew those looks. That was how one looks at the person they love. Ace wasn’t an idiot; he was able to connect the dots and realize that this mummy was confusing him for someone else.

“I-I’m not who you think I am,” he said quietly, not being able to look into its face. That was probably a nail in his coffin of his own doing. Perhaps he had seen too many horror movies to know that this sort of thing never went down well with evil spirits and alike. To his surprise, which shouldn’t even be a surprise, considering he shouldn’t be judging this like a cheesy horror movie, the creature smiled again (or at least attempted to) and this time leaned in so close that their faces were mere inches apart.

“Aren’t you?”  Ace’s breath caught in his throat and before he could retaliate, the creature grabbed him around the waist. He gasped and stared in complete shock as everything around him started to transform before his very eyes. The walls around him changed from dusty and faded to become new as if just built and freshly painted. The corridors were brighter and everything around him had more color. It didn’t look like a dig that was abandoned for several thousand years, it looked as if they were sent back in time.

But most importantly the mummy in front of him shifted from decomposing flesh to a man from his visions! The tall, blond high priest with the weird hairstyle that he saw in his dreams was right before him, and all Ace could do was stare in astonishment.

“You…” was all he could say, still in shock. He must be dreaming, surely. This just couldn’t be happening. But it looked and felt real – he could feel the man’s arms around his waist, but they didn’t feel cold or moist anymore, as they had been moments ago. They felt warm, human. The man smiled again as he lifted one hand to cup Ace’s cheek and gently brush his thumb along his cheekbone. The look in his eyes made Ace’s legs go weak, but this time it wasn’t with fear.

This man has plagued his dreams ever since he was a teenager. He would never admit it to anyone, but he even jerked off to those dreams when he was awake. He felt disgusted every time he would wake up from a dream where similar scenarios would play out with the pharaoh. Even if he knew it wasn’t actually happening, it still made him feel violated and dirty. He would spend at least hour and a half in the shower afterwards, trying to scrub the invisible hands off him.

But with this man…he relished those dreams. Every look, every touch… just thinking about it would make Ace hot all over. He had never met a man in his life that could actually make him feel like this man could. He knew it was ridiculous; he’d had multiple failed relationships simply because they couldn’t fill the void that his visions had created. Every single man he dated just wasn’t enough to make him forget and it was absurd, he knew it, to be in love with a man he saw in his visions.

“Stay with me.” and by god Ace wished he could. The man being a cursed mummy be damned; all Ace could think about was having those full lips on his and those big, strong hands roaming his body, making him tremble with want like they did in his dreams.

As if reading his mind, the man leaned down and captured his lips in a soft kiss. Simple, just lips pressed together and nothing more, yet Ace could feel a spark of electricity going through his body. He wanted more. He grabbed the man by his face and angled their mouths so he could deepen the kiss. He licked over the man’s lower lip before pulling at it with his teeth gently, earning a deep, throaty growl from the man. Without warning the man plunged his tongue into Ace’s mouth, making Ace moan and part his lips, giving the blond man access to lick and map his mouth as he pleased. And Ace didn’t mind in the slightest. He threw his hands around the man’s neck, bringing their bodies even closer. He moaned again as he felt those large arms on his waist moving downwards towards his hips and squeezing them firmly.

“WHAT THE FUCK?!”

They both jumped as they broke apart to look in the direction where the shout came from, only to see Sabo and Luffy both looking terrified and shocked. That brought Ace back to reality, breaking the spell that he was under and remembering what was actually happening. The mummy roared at his brothers, ready to advance at them, but Ace intercepted it, getting in its way and grabbing it by the shoulders.

“Nay, I’ll stay with you! Just don’t hurt them.” He pleaded, looking into its eyes. “Please.”

“What the hell are you doing, Ace? Get away from it!” He could feel Sabo’s furious gaze on his back, no doubt angry and scared that he has gotten himself into more trouble already.

“It’s fine Sabo, just go!” he pleaded with his brother, hoping he’d listen.

He didn’t.

“What do you mean, ‘it’s fine’? What the hell is this?” Ace couldn’t blame him really – he would’ve reacted the same if either of them were in his place – but as their big brother it was his duty to protect them.

“Yeah, we ain’t going anywhere without you, Ace. And I’m ready to fight that damn mummy!” Of course he was! Luffy just had to chime in his own two cents; it didn’t help that both of his brothers were extremely stubborn and overprotective, just like he was. It was beyond frustrating.

“No, guys, you don’t understand—” He wasn’t able to finish his sentence as he was grabbed around the waist again. The second he looked into the mummy’s eyes the world went black and he slipped into oblivion.

Before anyone could react, the mummy picked Ace up bridal style, engulfed them both in sand and disappeared, leaving two distraught and horrified brothers behind.

The creature walked slowly through the dusty corridors of an empty temple, gently cradling the body in its arms. It laid Ace down onto the ritual table with the same reverence, softly brushing his cheek with its fingers.

________________________________________________________________

“I am willing to be a monster and set the world ablaze, if it means we’ll be together again, my love,” it rasped as it watched Ace sleeping soundly, blissfully unaware of his predicament and what the future held for him.

[lelliite]

Safe

MarcoAce week 2019, “Safety” promt; Selkie AU, Modern AU; Rating:T;

@marcoaceweek

“He definitely did not expect to fall in love with a human; selkies weren’t very fond of humans after all.“

Ace watched the screen uninterestedly, eyes lazily skimming over colorful pictures of a funny rabbit and other drawn animals. “Cartoons” was what Marco said it was called; he still couldn’t understand how this “TV” thing was working, despite him trying to explain it to him more than once. He couldn’t help but think that humans truly could be amazing when they wanted to, despite all of their obvious shortcomings - being innovative and creative was clearly not one of them.

He felt Marco’s chest rising and falling steadily as he lay in his arms, listening to his heartbeat. Marco had one arm on his lower back as the other hung down the side of the couch. They were both naked with Marco fast asleep. He pretty much felt asleep almost immediately after they finished the last one of the several hot love making sessions they’d had that evening. Ace, however, exhausted and sore as he was, still couldn’t sleep, the thoughts in his head being determined to keep him awake.

So much has happened in such a short period of time. It was a bit crazy to think about, even for someone like him. He definitely did not expect to fall in love with a human; selkies weren’t very fond of humans after all. And there were plenty of reasons for that, starting with humans being a very invasive and cruel species. They had to change their habitat several times due to humans dirtying their waters as well as humans hunting his kin for their pelts, not to mention how some would fall as low as to steal a selkie’s pelt in order to subjugate them and make them stay with them.

It happened to him a long time ago; it made his skin crawl to even think about that again. If it wasn’t for a little human boy, Luffy, who had been so determined to help him and eventually found his pelt and brought it back to him, Ace wouldn’t be where he was right now. He owed Luffy for giving him back his freedom. And he hoped he would never have to see that horrid man again.

Then of course, there was his mother…his beautiful, kind and strong mother. She was so passionate and determined, vicious and stubborn when necessary, especially when defending her family. Qualities that a lot of his kin say he inherited from her. She was the glue that kept their family together. He’d had a rocky relationship with his father throughout his adolescent years and she, more often than not, used to play peacemaker between the two of them.

And then she gave her life for his, to protect him from poachers. He remembered that day as if it was yesterday. He remembered them coming and trapping them, remembered himself feeling scared and powerless. The horror he felt as these men killed his kin in cold blood and complete disbelief and pain when his mother jumped on a man to take the blow that was intended for him. He remembered her body lying motionless on the snow, along with other selkies murdered viciously, blood covering their furs and scarlet traces on the snow when the humans dragged their bodies away. He still woke up from nightmares after that day. Sometimes he couldn’t even sleep, thinking how he would gladly go back in time and take her place, again and again. His hatred for humans only grew after that day. Luffy was the only exception, a unique specimen among his species.

His father was inconsolable yet he never blamed Ace, even though he should, and if anything he became even more overprotective and controlling. He watched his every move, saying that it was all for his own good. Yet now he understood his father, and as painful as it was for both of them to lose her, somehow the death of their beloved mother brought them closer, closer than they ever were and it was a shame it only happened after she was gone. He wished she could see it. It would’ve made her so happy. He couldn’t bear the thought of losing his father too.

He still managed to bring trouble onto himself. He was always a problem child, curious by nature; he naturally gravitated towards everything that was new, exciting and dangerous, especially if it was prohibited by his father - that never changed. He didn’t have enough fingers on his human body to count the amount of times he has gotten himself into trouble or dangerous situations. His father would scold him and berate him, lecturing him about his future role as a leader of selkie clan, and how it would be his duty, one day, to protect it. His father would then gently cradle his face with his paws and say how losing him would literally kill him, and begged Ace to take pity on his old man.

After his mother’s death he denounced ever acknowledging any humans. He knew he couldn’t avoid them altogether, what with them butting their noses where they didn’t belong, but he tried to do his best, never letting them or his kin get too close. He became more aware and responsible.

Then he had met Marco. The moment he lay eyes on the man he knew he was different, he could feel it in his core. There was something about him that had pulled Ace in. He could have been wrong, he knew humans couldn’t be trusted - he saw it, experienced it first hand, and yet he chose to trust Marco. He chose to reveal the secret of his people, one that they had carefully hid and protected from humans out of fear of subjugation, to Marco, and he knew he wouldn’t betray him or use it against him.

A sleepy murmur brought him back from his musings, and he lifted his head and smiled softly as he watched Marco mumble something incoherent in his sleep. He was frowning, corners of his mouth pulled down slightly, but his features softened once Ace gently brushed his knuckles over his chiselled cheek and leaned up to place a chaste kiss on his lips. Ace then settled back down on Marco’s chest, closing his eyes and finally feeling sleep beginning to take over him, and the last thing on his mind was:

he felt safe.

[duckduckduckorgoose]

October 25: Safety/Promise

"You're safe now," the man proclaimed. Ace didn't believe him in the least. Where was he even? Some run-down cellar in the middle of town? That's what it seemed like.

There was this layer of dust on the ground where he sat, telling him that this wasn't a place were people went. No lights but the one lamp in the ceiling. The only source of sound was the incredibly loud sirens from the outside.

And over him stood a man with the worst haircut he'd ever seen. It was worse than the shit Luffy pulled last summer to annoy their grandpa.

"What have you done to me?" Ace wouldn't admit it, but he could feel the tears forming in his eyes. He felt so vulnerable without his fire. His form was broken, the strength and confidence that normally would radiate off of him was gone, now he was but a boy in a dark corner.

.

This was supposed to be the infamous Fire Fist, but Marco honestly couldn't see the resemblance between him and the person before him. Crawled up as close to the wall as possible and with distress all over his face, he couldn't be the vigilante that Fossa had brought in.

"It's seastone, you won't be able to use any of your powers with it in your system," Marco explained.

The boy on the floor ran a hand through his thick, black locks and tensed up. It always hurt seeing the effect that seastone had on people. Marco had experienced it himself several times, he'd had to throw up twice the first time. The boy was taking it rather well, physically at least.

"Why would you do that... I kept away from every known territory..." The ramblings continued until he finally looked up at Marco, so painfully desperate.

"We didn't do anything to you. The marines did. All we've done is stabilise the wound."

.

Ace had calmed down after what felt like weeks of being awake, walking around and ignoring the food being delivered to him.

The reality of the situation had caught up to him now. He was a prisoner.

The man came back to him with another plate of food. As he entered you could hear the immediate with from when he saw what had become of all the previous dishes.

"You have to eat."

"It's poisoned."

"It's not. Thatch wouldn't let anything harmful go near his food. See how thin you've grown? That's because you haven't eaten for days."

"I don't trust you."

The man was getting frustrated at this point. Served him right. Always so damn chatty, as if Ace was dumb enough to listen to him.

"I'll eat when I get my powers back."

"You're truly an idiot, you know that? Fire Fist Ace, was it? We found you bleeding on the sidewalk - it was pure luck that we came before the marines puck shackles on you. Can't you just believe us?"

"I will, when you get me my powers back. And how do you know my name?"

The man sighed again. Partly in defeat, partly in sorrow.

"It's not that easy, it requires a surgery to remove all of the bullet parts. You have many scattered in your body, most close to the heart."

Ace was empty of words. He couldn't trust these people to operate that close to his heart, could he? Were they qualified for the job?

"What's yours?"

His captor was confused at the question.

"What?"

"You know my name, what's yours?"

"Marco."

.

"We're going away for a couple of weeks - there's a mission. Izou, the guy that Thatch won't stop talking about, will bring you food."

Ace frowned at him. "So?" His tone was harsh and his body language was reserved, just like always.

They had discussed over and over the possibilities of a surgery to get his powers back. Marco spoke of it like it was going to happen but Ace just couldn't imagine giving up his will that easily. He'd been distant ever since.

"Well, we wondered if you might prefer going with us, perhaps build some trust?"

Ace was almost going to accept, say that it would be great. Not because he saw the chance to escape and not because he thought it'd be a fun thing. It was pure impulse.

But he had better control over himself that to let go of his principles that easy.

"No! Gods, no! Why would I? Do think this is some Stockholm Syndrome situation? I'm not doing anything with you."

The slight hurt in Marco's eyes was obvious even to Ace. For a second he wondered if he did the right thing but then he remembered the facts - he was their prisoner, it was downright stupid to go with them. You don't fraternize with the enemy.

.

There were gunshots in the distance when Marco heard the announcement. They were to evacuate the base. His first thought should have been the safety of his family and those working with him, yet he couldn't help but immediately worry about Ace.

No one except for Thatch, Izou and he knew about him. No one would be coming for him. The marines would find him and execute him like they did the rest of his kind.

Marco knew that it was absurd how he rushed down the stairs to the garage to prep his motorcycle in a time like this, but there was no option for him.

The usually sceptical and furious eyes were full of concern when Marco burst the doors to the cellar open. Ace had obviously heard the shots.

"What's going on out there? Why could I hear screams?"

Marco swallowed. He'd heard that too? That would mean that one side or the other was hurt. He could only hope for the right one to be the ones.

"They've found us out, we have to get moving, it's not safe for you here." He really hoped that the honesty and the desperation came through. If Ace didn't believe him now, he didn't know what he'd do.

"How?"

"I've got wheels."

.

Ace saw sunlight for the first time in two weeks. It was not as bright as he remembered.

His wonder was cut short, though, as Marco dragged him onto the motorcycle that stood parked right outside of the building where he'd been kept. Helmet and everything was forgotten as soon as the sound of Marine commandos echoed in the area.

They passed bodies and bodies as they fled the area. Shouts and shots, screams and shattered dreams, they filled the area. Marco was close to freezing up every time they passed a body that wasn't a marine. Near invisible tears flooded his cheeks after only a couple of minutes.

Men and women of various ages, lifeless on the pavement. The faint smell of a house fire. That continuous replay of shots fired.

It was a nightmare, but for Ace the worst part was being so close yet so far away from the trauma that Marco was experiencing.

They turned to the next street. Marine vehicles everywhere. As soon as they noticed them there were bullets flying.

Ace held on tight Marco, knowing that if he got out of this alive he had no choice but to give up his pride.

"Where are we going?"

"The Moby Dick, our sanctuary."

They eventually got out of the marines area, left the ones that were following them far behind and made it all the way to a large ship in the old harbour.

.

Thatch hugged Marco closely, as did Izou, when they had made it all the way to the meeting place. They exchanged hushed words and tears. Whispers that no one would dream of hearing.

"I'll do it." It was Ace who had spoken.

"What?" They turned to him, confused.

"The surgery, I'll do it, I... I trust you."

.

It had been a month when Marco approached him in the hallway of the Moby Dick. He'd mostly been around Izou who'd helped him settle in with the rest of the Whitebeard family. The face of the apparent second-in-command of their whole group had been impossible to find during all this time.

"I'm no longer your captor, so that Stockholm Syndrome bullshit isn't valid now, right?"

"That's true." Ace knew where this was going, and he could help but give Marco a genuine smile. It felt good, for the first time he felt good.

"You mind giving me a second chance?"

"I wouldn't mind at all."

@marcoaceweek