Our New Home

Chapter 12 (Revised)

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.

When they left the galley Ace and Sabo expected to go straight towards the living quarters to begin their search. Of course fate had other ideas for them. The two froze as they came face to face with Teach.

"Hello boys," the old pirate said with a grin that put on display his disgusting yellowing teeth.

"What do you want?" Ace said with a snarl.

Teach threw his head back in a laugh that sent shivers down the two brothers' spines. Both boys wanted to run far away from the man before them.

"Just wanted to interact with the newest additions to the crew. Is that so bad?"

"Just leave us alone," Sabo said as he moved to go around the other.

"Why? Everyone else spent time getting to know you three. As a potential older brother, why don't you two walk with me? Where's the smaller one?"

Ace tensed up, "None of your business. Why should we walk with you, you fat ba-"

"Ace shut up," Sabo whispered as he elbowed the other effectively cutting him off. "You're attracting unnecessary attention."

Other pirates near them had stopped and were blatantly staring at the three of them. Teach merely stood with a smile pointed on his face.

"Come on, let's go have ourselves a bonding moment."

Sabo reluctantly stepped forward. Ace shot out his hand to stop him, but was dragged along when his wrist was caught by his brother. No one around them seemed to notice anything odd about the whole interaction between them.

Teach gripped a hand on each of their shoulders as they left the area. Once they arrived at a safe distance away from other pirates in an empty hallway did the older man turn to them. Gone was the smile plastered on his face from moments before and all that was left was a snarl twisting his facial features. His eyes shone with fury; his hands moved from their shoulders to their wrists in a death grip with dull nails digging into their skin. The two brothers squirmed and tried to wiggle free, but the pirate had them cornered.

"You should've never come aboard this ship. You'll jeopardize years of hard work into convincing these pathetic excuse of pirates into trusting me. I'm so close to my intended goal and if you three good for nothing brats get in my way you'll find your year in captivity to be considered a blessing in disguise. One wrong move and I'll personally ensure you never see the light of day again. Am I making myself clear?"

"What? You don't want us to tell everyone about Blackbeard?" Ace hissed.

Teach released the brunet's wrist and gave him asmile clear smack in the face, throwing him to the floor. His large hand forcibly lifted Ace up and grabbed the other's wrist once more. Meanwhile Sabo struggled to break free from the older man's hold. Teach's nails dug deeper and the two brother's could feel their skin break under the pressure.

"Am I clear!?" Teach shouted as spit from his mouth flew at them.

Ace and Sabo froze as fear gripped at their hearts and their eyes widened. Teach face was so close to their's they could smell his breathe.

"Y-yes," They both answered softly in unison.

Teach snorted and stepped back a bit, his hands seemingly tightening a little more.

"Good. Don't go telling anyone about our conversation or the idiot you call a brother may befall a terrible accident. Who knows? Maybe you'll learn something from it."

The last they saw of Teach was a grin twisting his expression before he knocked their heads together knocking them out.

~^-^~

Blue eyes slowly blinked open as Sabo attempted to become aware of his surroundings. Hands were frantically rocking him back and forth. He could hear a voice calling out to him that sounded familiar, yet the blond couldn't quite place exactly who it was.

"-bo!"

Huh? Were they calling him?

"-abo!"

Suddenly, as if a dam broke, the memories from his encounter with Teach flooded his mind. His eyes fully snapped open and he quickly sat up.

"Where's Teach!?"

Ace shrugged as he moved away from his brother standing on his feet, "Who knows? We've been out for a while."

Sabo nodded as he took in their surroundings. The two were in the room they were given to sleep in.

"How did we get back?"

Ace grimaced, "Don't know. I woke up a couple of minutes ago in pain. Pretty sure we missed lunch though."

"Ugh," Sabo's head was pounding and, upon taking a glance down at his wrist, was disgusted to see a dark purple/blue bruise forming in the shape of Teach's arm on his wrist. Nail markings shone with blood on his skin. 

¨This sucks,¨ Ace muttered. 

Sabo nodded silently; his eyes fixated on his wrist half in fear of the one who put that their and enraged at what Teach had done to both of them. 

¨You good?¨ Ace said in concern. 

Sabo looked up and sighed, ¨Maybe? My head's killing me though.¨ 

Ace gave a small grimace as he momentarily focused on his own pain; ¨I know what you mean.¨

¨Ace how are we going to hide our wrists? I mean I got a long sleeved shirt and jacket, but what about you? It's going to seem suspicious if you suddenly start wearing anything beyond your usual clothing.¨ 

Ace bit his lip in worry, ¨Bandages?¨ 

Sabo shrugged, ¨The nurses will go berserk if they see any of us injured. Plus Teach is still out there. He might count that as us outing him.¨ 

¨Well any better ideas? How long does a bruise usually take to heal?¨ 

¨I don't fully know; 10-14 days?¨ 

Ace sighed, ¨Then we'll just have to make do. I'ma grab one of your extra long sleeves. Let's go grab Luffy real quick then come back here to...well to think of something.¨ 

The brunet stood up and began to rummage around his brother's clothing. He pulled out a white one that didn't seem to fancy compared to what the blond usually wore. 

¨Ace,¨ Sabo said quietly. ¨You can't come.¨

The brunet stopped and turned to the blond. 

¨Why not?¨ 

¨Your face has a bruise.¨ 

Ace's face twisted into that of confusion. He lifted his hand and tenderly felt around his skin until he could feel a pinch of pain

¨What? Why?....oh.¨ 

Sabo nodded and stood up. 

¨I'll get Luffy. You wait here.¨

Ace nodded and sat on the bed. The white shirt feel uselessly to the ground. 

¨Careful,¨ the brunet warned. 

Sabo grinned, ¨Always.¨