Portgas D. Ace X Reader - The boy from the church

18

You stared at Sabo's texts, wondering if he's the person who will help you and Ace settle down. You had your thoughts and fears, especially since Ace's case has gotten so bad that there's his literal life on the line. Believing someone out of the blue like that, with no evidence backing it up, just because it's Ace's brother, seemed like an outrageous trap sent from the police, although, Sabo said he would explain everything once you set up a meeting together with Ace. He was so excited to learn more about his brother's offer, that he couldn't wait any longer, so you scheduled to meet Sabo earlier than you expected. He said he can't show himself up in broad daylight to Luffy's place, which was a bit suspicious of him, but you had to remind yourself that you're on the run too, and, judging by the amount of knowledge he possessed, he might have a good enough reason to keep his safety. 

Since none of you could drive a car, and Shanks was still in the hospital, you had to dress up in a funky way, put make up on Ace's face again, and this time, Luffy offered you a wig he had somewhere hidden in his closet, just to make sure that no one will recognize you or Ace in the bus, on your way to the city center, where you would meet Sabo in a rented apartment, in a busy area of the town.

The place was so crammed, that it looked more like hotel rooms than actual flats, and since a lot of people were coming in and out of that building, you blended nicely in the crowd, without any more incidents. Sabo had greeted you in, and the first thing he did when you entered the apartment, was to pull out a pocket sized metal detector, and scanned both of you, from head to toe.

"It's just a safety precaution. You can never be sure about anyone these days, right?" he grinned, and you frowned, shaking your tension off.

"Sabo? Is that you?" Ace came closer to him, hesitating to touch him, as if he was a forbidden priceless artefact.

"In flesh and bones. But first, and most importantly, I owe you guys an explanation. I was a bit of a dick to you last night, and I'm sorry. What you need to know is that I was a cop in my youth. Didn't serve for too long, maybe a year or two, before I got a request from a private network of spies, given the fact that I applied to the FBI and the CIA, but I didn't get in, from lack of experience, and basically what I do, is I prepare for entering the secret services. I'm basically a spy in the making. And my job is to keep my mouth shut, obviously, because I normally work in the shadows, and I only chirp to the ones who pay me. So, Blackbeard reached out to me, and, believe it or not, as soon as I heard that you were involved", Sabo emphasized, looking at Ace, "I refused immediately. I got away with the fact that I told him I was 'unexperienced', but I heard stories about other people who said no to Blackbeard that kinda shook me."

Your mind immediately went to Shanks' sacrifice, losing his arm to Blackbeard in order to save his friend, Mihawk, but Ace didn't know about that either. Instead, he had other questions.

"And your death?!" Ace sat down on a chair, completely drawn in by Sabo's story.

"So, obviously, I never died, but I did have health issues in the past, I beat cancer twice, believe it or not, and my parents just said they wanted to send me to a really expensive private school because of my health. That school was in a different city, and since my parents didn't want to move there with me, they paid some more and ditched me there to live on my own. I had everything I needed, 3 meals every day, a roof over my head, but when I didn't eat or sleep, I had to study non stop, which is, the only thing you could do when you live inside a school anyways, and your temporary parents are a bunch of teachers. I became a cop to my parents' dear wishes, but two years ago, they had finally lost their battle with cancer, and now I can finally do what I want..." his voice nearly faded out in the end, but he quickly regained his smile, shrugging that feeling off.