"Luffy, if you mention food one more time, I'm gonna whack ya." 

"But Aaaaaace! I'm staaaaaarving! Even my hunger is hungry!" 

"You literally just ate, you glutton!" 

"Sabooooooo! You're not supposed to be the mean one! Ace is!" 

"Hah?!" 

Taking a deep breath, Ace decided to not use his trusty steel pipe to cave his little brother's skull in. Instead, he just pinched the bridge of his nose. It had certainly taken some time, but he had eventually learned to cope with the Luffy's...personality. 

"I hope we can find something valuable this time." Sabo grunted as he climbed over what looked to be some kind of splintered rocking chair. 
"I mean, even if we don't, we can just go slice up one of the gators down by the river and sell the skin. Those nobles'll pay anything for crap to make their fancy bags and stuff." Ace responded, further up the steep trash pile than the other two. 

"Yeah, the skin is too chewy, anyway." Luffy piped up, one hand holding his oversized straw hat to his head so it wouldn't fly away. 
"Duh. That's cuz you ain't supposed to eat it." 

Either way, they had to hunt at least something on their way back home. They had promised Dadan, after all. It was a fair trade. They caught them animals to eat, and in turn, Dadan let them live there. She didn't really have a choice since Garp was involved, but it made things more civil. 

Once Ace made it to the top, he slung his weapon over his shoulder and scanned the unsightly vista of Gray Terminal. Trash, trash, scavenger, trash, scavenger, scavenger, little girl being dragged along by a man, scavenger, trash-

Blinking himself out of his groove, Ace took a double take, eyes honing in on what he had scanned over. Just as he thought. A young girl, likely no older than his own little brother, was being dragged along through the dirt by the hair. The man who had hold of her looked like the typical scum that usually lurked around, but what had Ace irked was the fact that the girl wasn't putting up a fight. 

"What's up? Seen something that looks like it'll fetch a good price?" Sabo joined him atop the unsanitary hill, following his gaze until it landed on the pair. "Yikes. I don't know about you, but that looks like some bonified slave trader shenanigans if you ask me." 

Slowly tapping the pipe against his shoulder, Ace nodded in agreement, ignoring Luffy as he clambered up to squat on his other side. 
"I dunno what's going on," He hummed, pinky finger shoved deep into his nostril. "but what are we doing now?" 

The air was silent as the two elder boys shared a look. Whilst no words were spoken, their conversation was loud. 
"Throttle the guy, save the kid." Ace announced assertively, having already started sprinting down the other side of the hill before he even finished speaking. 
"Right!"

"This is what you get for biting me, you little bitch. I don't care who you belong to, you're not getting away with that shit." 

The trio had reached the pair pretty quickly, and were now close behind, tailing them just in case he wasn't the only one. 

"Right. I get it." The girl mumbled, completely limp as she was dragged along the coarse earth. It would have been shocking if she hadn't collected shattered glass and metal deep in her skin. 

"Don't play smart with me, brat! You just wait until the boss finds out about your lil episode! You'll be even more sorry when I do that!" The kid yelped out when he yanked her hair harshly, and she curled in on herself a little. 

"I..I'm not..! I said I understood!" There was a clear shake to her voice now, and Sabo grit his teeth. 
"That bastard..!" He hissed under his breath, fist squeezing tight by his side. It really was infuriating to see, but Ace still couldn't comprehend why that girl wasn't even attempting to fight back. 

"Alright, we're going with the simple bash and grab. Luffy, you sling me up and over towards that asshole, and Sabo, once I've smashed him, grab the girl and run. Got it?" Ace's brothers sounded their agreements, and they prepared to strike. 

"I don't get why I gotta be the one on babysitting duty?! I ain't even getting paid for this! All I get is keeping my throat in tact! Bullshit!" The man continued to rant and rave, completely unaware of the impending attack. 
"Gum gummmmmm…" 

"The fuck is that..?" 

"...SLINGSHOT..!" 

Before he had the chance to even turn around, a heavy clang of metal against bone rang through the air, and the man flew to the side, releasing the girl in his moment of shock and pain. She cried out as she was scooped up by a blond stranger, wrapping her arms around their neck once she decided it was safer than taking a fall. 

"Luffy! Go with em! This guy doesn't know when to stay down!" Ace called to his younger brother, watching as the man climbed to his feet, a steady drizzle of crimson already meeting the end of his chin. 
"You stinkin' little brat..! I'll kill you!" 

Ace had heard that before, more often than he would have liked, but it didn't deter him in the slightest. The guy didn't seem to have any weapons on him, nor did he seem all that crafty. To him, this would be a piece of cake. 

"Come on, then. Try it. I dare you." The ten year old certainly was cocky, that was for sure, but he had every right to be. He was far stronger than any other kid of his age, and he damn well knew it. 
"You little..!" 

The man really wasn't all too bright, rushing head on into swinging range of a steel pipe, but the freckle faced rebel wasn't about to complain. Waiting for the optimal moment, Ace braced himself before taking a second swing, this time connecting with the man's stubbled jaw. 

The crack was unmistakably a breakage of bone, but that was fine. Preferable, even. After his opponent hit the ground, Ace even spotted a few teeth scattered beside him. Even better. Scuffing his feet on the ground, he leaned over and hacked up a nice glob of spit, sending it directly into the barely conscious, pathetic excuse for a man. 
"Think twice before you do crap like that on my turf." 

Once he was sure he wouldn't be followed, Ace dashed off to meet up with his brothers, finding them at their usual rendezvous point by a fallen tree, about halfway back to Dadan's. 

"Good, you're back! I was about to come searching for you." Sabo greeted him with a tip of his hat, motioning towards the rescued girl, who was looking a lot frailer than she had before. "This is (Y/N). That's all I've gotten from her so far." 

(Y/N)'s eyes turned to study the new stranger for a few moments before she nodded to him, and he would have believed her to be calm if he hadn't seen her knuckles turning white as she gripped the hem of her dress. 
"So? What's the deal? How'd you get kidnapped and why the heck didn't you fight back?" 

Ace cussed as Sabo have him a jab to the ribs, eyes telling him to be more polite, and the girl scrunched up her nose. 
"I wasn't kidnapped...I was supposed to be handed over to some noble in a few days…" She started off pretty confident, but as she continued to speak, her voice softened to jell-o. "Can't fight back...This is already a punishment for not doing what I'm told...so…" 

A silence washed over the group for a few short moments, until Luffy piped up, only partially paying attention as he crawled along behind a beetle. 
"What? Your mum and dad got mad cuz you did something dumb and sent you to some rich person's place? Doesn't sound like a punishment to me." 

"He's not my dad..!" Softness was replaced by what seemed to be agitated panic, but quickly melted back. "I...don't see my mum anymore, and it was a punishment, because I'd be working for whoever I was handed off to...for a year…" 

Being the most compassionate of the three, Sabo approached, mild concern etched into his features. 
"Look, how about we talk about this more once we get home, huh? I think I'm speaking for all of us when I say we're hungry and beat." 

Horrified at the suggestion, Ace instinctively held his steel pipe at the ready, though of course he wasn't planning on using it on any of them.
"Oh, hell no! I said we'd get her away from that asshole, not adopt her! That old hag is gonna sit on all of us if I bring home another stray! She can fend for herself!" 

"Ace..."
 
"She was shitty enough with me, and doubly with Luffy! Don't even get me started on how she's been squawking to me about you now, too!" 

"Ace."

"Plus that's just another damn mouth to feed! We don't even have any leftovers as is! She can't even get away from some weak-ass thug, and I ain't about to-"

"Ace!" 

As Ace had been ranting, Sabo had taken it upon himself to quickly check over the girl for any injuries, and as he looked down at her back, even Luffy had joined in with a grimace on his face. Morbidly curious, Ace walked around to join them, and once he took a peek, he kind of understood why Sabo had shut him up. 

He had been correct in assuming she would have been dragged over glass and other shrapnel, as her back was cut up pretty badly. Nothing too deep, but it was enough to be at risk of a bad infection if she wasn't cleaned up quickly. 

Groaning loudly, and rather dramatically, Ace ran a hand down his face before pinching the bridge of his nose. 
"Ugh, fine! But temporary! Read my lips, Sabo. Tem. Por. Rar. Y. She's on her own once she's not all freshly cut up!" 

Saluting with enthusiasm, Sabo smiled, but they all turned to face (Y/N) when she cleared her throat, looking to each of them in turn. 
"Th..thank you...For saving me…" She said, sounding almost embarrassed. "I mean it, really. You guys are really cool...and I promise I won't be difficult! I am tough...just, uh, not in that kind of situation…" 

Rolling his eyes, Ace looked away, obviously enjoying the praise, but not willing to show it. 
"Yeah, well, whatever. We were just bored. If you can walk, then get a move on. Nobody's carrying you this time. If you can't, then tough." 

Off he trotted, leaving the other three staring after him in the fading light. Sabo gave (Y/N) a gentle nudge to her arm, his smile easing her, just a little. 
"Don't worry about him. He can get kinda moody, especially when he's hungry." Waving him off, the girl stood up, wincing a little as her back straightened out. 

"I get that. I'm the same. Sabo, right? And that's...Luffy...and Ace. You said his name enough." The pair fell into step as they followed after the grumpy boy, Luffy dawdling along behind them in a childlike daze. 

"I really mean it...thank you for getting me away from him...and…him…" 

.
.
.
.
.
.
***Why do I do this to myself when I'm literally suffering trying to keep up with all my other stories?

Because apparently I hate myself.

Anyway, I became instantly attached to Ace when I first saw him :')

I'm not used to writing stuff in third person, but it was just for this chapter.

I had to let it out in a story, and I'll be choosing a secondary love interest along the way, so if you have any suggestions, please, let me know!
(I love Paulie but he has very little substance and I cry)

Just to clarify, future chapters do involve a form of 'grooming', but in no way is the character in question sexualising or being inappropriate in that manner with (Y/N). It will be explained further along in the story, so I just wanted to ask that people not throw around the 'P' word. It's not that, and as someone who has experienced that form of grooming in the past, it is unpleasant to see in my comments. If there are any issues with it, please feel free to message me directly <3

Next Time: Daddy? Sorry. Daddy? Sorry. Daddy? Sorry. Dadan?***