Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

They had finally found some peaceful times. They were all recovering following the war. The revelations that came about Ace to the world. Things that Ace learned about himself. He could barely believe any of it. That his life was taking such a drastic turn already. He could do this.

They were back in the New World now. On an island between Whitebeard and Shanks’ territories. Preparing to split off from each other and having one last party before they do so. Ace couldn’t be more grateful that he made it out of Marineford alive. He wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for the combined efforts of the Whitebeard Pirates, Strawhats, and the Red Hair Pirates and the Revolutionary Army. So many people had came to his rescue and he thankfully made it out alive.

Now, he could keep roaming the seas wild and free. See the world for more than what he believed it was before.

The party was in full swing, but Ace kept a little way from it. There wasn’t much that he could do at the moment. Instead, he chose to walk around and take in the view of the island. It was a really magnificent place.

He paused as his eyes settled on a cave. Something about it telling him just to take a step inside. The Omega looked back at the others for a split second before he walked towards it. His hand running up against the stony wall underneath his palm. The inside smelled almost of fresh water but at the same time so intriguing. Endearing. Something that was pulling him forward.

At the back of the small cave was a small pool of water, almost glistening despite no light being within the small cavern. He didn’t even have to ignite his flames to be able to see. It was almost like an oasis. Behind it was a wall of strange markings. Something that he didn’t recognize. He peered down back at the water, reaching out and just millimeters before his finger hit the water, he heard, “Ace? Are you okay?”

He turned to see Shanks and Mihawk coming in after him. Shanks smiled at him as Ace stood back up to his full height. “I’m alright. Just curious.”

“Oh, that’s pretty.” Shanks muttered, stepping forward to stand next to Ace. The red head paused, looking around, he paused as his eyes settled on the wall behind it, blinking as his jaw dropped, “That’s the language on the Poneglyphs.”

“The Ancient Language?” Ace questioned, turning his head to look back at it.

He kneeled down, reaching back out for the water. “Ace!” Mihawk snapped.

The Omega sent a sharp glance towards his Alpha father, “What?”

“Don’t touch it. You don’t know what that could be.” Mihawk warned. Ace paused, letting the thought come to his mind. Mihawk was right. He could curse his curiosity for wanting to touch it, but at the same time, it felt like it was calling out. “I don’t trust anything that has that language near it.”

Ace nodded, pushing himself up and standing back at his full height. “Well, I guess we should rejoin the party.”

“Sounds good.” Shanks replied.

“ACE!” Luffy’s scream echoed throughout the cave. Ace pressed his back into the cave wall. Just as Luffy came rocketing into the cave. Shanks and Mihawk had no where to go before they were being hit by Luffy and crashing into the water.

“Mom! Papa!” Ace shouted as the two disappeared into the oasis.

Luffy blinked, tilting his head as he was back on his feet. “They aren’t in here.”

Ace growled as he looked at Luffy. “You moron!” He gestured towards the water, “You hit them into that!”

“I did?” Luffy questioned.

Mihawk and Shanks resurfaced a second later. Huffing for air as the Alpha hauled the both of them to the edge and pulled them over. Ace could only stand there in disbelief as he started noticing the small changes about them. Shanks’ face looked noticeably softer. Mihawk’s hair was starting to change.

Mihawk pulled Shanks completely out of the water. The Omega wasn’t even moving now. His eyes closed. A second later, Mihawk was slumping against the ground. Leaving them both completely unconscious as the two of them laid there. Ace was in complete disbelief as his eyes remained locked to them.

Ace could only blink, staring down at his parents. The two unconscious but the very clear differences that were there. Mihawk no longer had his mustache, but his sideburns remained, and he was definitely shorter than he was before, his clothes practically falling off of him. Shanks was on his stomach, scars gone from his face, no facial hair in sight, swimming in his own clothes.

Ace looked over at Luffy, shouting, “LOOK AT WHAT THE HELL YOU DID?!”

“It’s not my fault they fell in!” Luffy shouted back.

“You hit them!” Ace retorted.

“I didn’t know they were there!” Luffy exclaimed.

“You never pay attention, you idiot!”

Ace groaned, wiping at his face, pausing as he heard, “Son, what’s going on?” He looked over his shoulder to Whitebeard, a nervous grin on his face.

“Uh… Oyaji, we shrunk our parents.”

Whitebeard blinked, kneeling down almost comically from where Ace could look out of the cave at him. “You… what?”

Peering back to his parents, they were still drenched from the water they had been knocked into, only being pulled out at last second by Mihawk before they had fallen unconscious. He had no idea how to explain this. Sure, he didn’t even know how it happened in the first place.

“Um…” Ace started, unsure of the words to say. “They are smaller.”

“They are smaller?” Whitebeard questioned, almost like he was trying to comprehend what Ace was saying.

Ace grinned again, giving out a nervous laugh as he looked at Luffy. “What do we do?” Luffy questioned.

“How am I supposed to know?” Ace immediately questioned back.

Neither of them could say anymore as they heard a groan behind them to see Mihawk moving, rubbing at his face before he was blinking his eyes open. Pausing as he looked over to the Omega that was still unconscious on his arm. “What the hell?”

“Um, Mihawk, don’t freak out.” Ace muttered, gaining the Alpha’s attention.

Mihawk’s hand immediately went for Yoru as he shuffled to put Shanks behind him. “Who the hell are you?”

Oh. Just. Great.

They had amnesia too.

Mihawk was now in a kneeling position, keeping himself as a shield between them and the others, pulling Yoru from its sheath. “You have one second to tell me what is going on or I’ll cut you down.”

“Good luck with that.” Ace mused, sighing as he said, “You were adults and now you’re… um… I dunno what age you are, but you got turned smaller.”

Mihawk sent a sharp glance at him as Shanks started to wake up behind him, holding a hand against his head as he pushed himself up. “I feel like I drank too much.” Shanks whispered before he was looking up and blinking at them. “What’s going on?”

“I’ve got this, Red-Hair.” Mihawk growled, not even turning his head to look back at Shanks. Ace was able to get a better look at them now. With the way that Shanks’ shirt fell off his shoulder, he could clearly see the missing bond mark that should be there but wasn’t. He tried to rack his brain for anything that he could remember Shanks telling him about his younger days. Shanks didn’t look much older than fourteen, maybe fifteen. Mihawk looked slightly older than that, but it was hard to tell for sure.

How was he supposed to explain that they were adults with two kids together and said kids were standing right in front of them?

“It’s alright, we’re—” Luffy started but was stopped by Ace’s hand covering his mouth. The motion causing Mihawk’s eyes to narrow.

“My name is Ace and I’m the Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates.” Ace stated, bowing slightly, forcing Luffy down with him.

Shanks gave him a puzzled look, tilting his head slightly as he muttered, “That can’t be right. Portgas D. Rouge is the Second Division Commander.” He stopped for a second as he looked around, “This isn’t Loguetown… at least, I don’t think so.” Shanks looked beyond confused as he looked around, his eyes settling on Ace for a moment. Eyes narrowing for a second as he tilted his head to the side. 

Mihawk growled, pushing Shanks even further behind him. The Alpha was attempting to use himself as a human shield between them. Ace was positive that he could feel their power levels. They were both powerful in their own right. It just felt off that Mihawk would act like this near them. In this situation, he didn’t blame him. Neither of them seemed to have any recollection of anything past the ages they looked like now. This was just odd all the way around. This was going to take a lot of explaining towards the others. “You’re lying.” Mihawk accused.

“He’s telling the truth!” Luffy shouted. “My name is Monkey D. Luffy! I’m the Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates.” He said, motioning to the straw hat on his head, the wide grin on his face.

Shanks’ eyes widened, “Wait! That’s…” He paused, hand reaching out to grab Mihawk’s bicep. “I don’t think they’re lying, Hawkeyes.”

“We sure aren’t.” Luffy replied as Ace finally released his head. “You’re both supposed to be old.” Ace elbowed him in the side, giving him a look. “Sorry.”

“Why do you have that hat?” Mihawk questioned, his attention now completely on Luffy.

Luffy grinned. “Because he gave it to me like ten years ago.”

Shanks shook his head in disbelief. “I wouldn’t.” He muttered. “That hat means more to me than anything in the world. I would never just give it to anyone. Especially someone I don’t know.”

“Trust me when I say… you know us quite well.” Ace stated. He sighed as he noticed both of them still looked weary of their presence. According to Shanks’ own words, his last known recollection was of Loguetown. From what Ace could remember, that would place him at about fifteen years old. He stopped as he grabbed Luffy’s arm, pulling him towards the entrance of the cave. “Hang on a moment.”

“Ace—” Luffy protested.

Once they were at the entrance, he stopped to look at his brother. He shook his head, still in disbelief of what was happening. Maybe it was that language on the wall that could tell them what was going on. He didn’t have a clue what to do. Hell, he didn’t even know what happened. All he knew was his parents were now a lot younger. Shanks probably being the youngest here aside from Luffy’s doctor in the form of Chopper. He exhaled sharply as he leaned back against the rock. “Luffy, you need to give the hat back.”

“What?!” Luffy exclaimed, reaching up and grabbing at his hat. “I’m not supposed to give it back until I’m a great pirate! Our promise!”

“Luffy!” Ace replied, cutting through Luffy’s talk. Of course, he knew of the promise. What it meant to the both of them. What it meant to Luffy. That hat was Luffy’s greatest treasure. Something he valued almost more than anything, but that wasn’t the case right now. “Luffy, he’s fifteen at most. He talked about Loguetown. He…” He motioned towards Shanks, where he could see the Omega speaking to Mihawk in a hushed tone before he turned his head back to Luffy. “He doesn’t remember your promise. He doesn’t remember us. He’s younger than before he was pregnant with me. Luffy, you have to understand that at the moment, for him, that promise doesn’t exist. In his mind, he just lost the same man who gave him that hat. Just return it for now. Once we figure this out and get them back to normal, take it back.”

Luffy sighed, reaching up and pulling that hat off of his head. “This… this is going to be weird.”

“I know it’s a lot to ask, Luffy, but trust me on this.” Ace stated.

Ace’s attention was taken away by the amount of people who were now standing by the entrance. He had that nervous smile back on his face. “Son, what did you mean by you shrunk your parents?” Whitebeard questioned.

Ace wasn’t even sure how to answer it. “Um… about that.”

“They look our age!” Luffy exclaimed, pausing as he frowned for a second. “Though, they don’t remember us.”

“They don’t remember you?” Rouge questioned, looking even more puzzled by the second.

“I don’t know what happened. They fell into water and now they are… small-ish?” Ace replied. “Mom recognized the text on the wall from the Poneglyphs.”

Before any of them could say anything, Ace could hear an exclaim of, “Mihawk, no!” Mihawk came out of the cave. Yoru braced in one hand, holding his pants up with the other with a scowl on his face. “Stop it, would you?!” Shanks wasn’t fairing much better. Curling his cloak around him. Sword and pants in his other arm.

“Someone is going to tell me what the hell is going on!” Mihawk snapped. While his face looked intimidating, the rest of him didn’t. He was struggling to keep his pants up while also trying to appear like he was ready to strike. Ace was sure that he could, but the idea had him cracking up.

Jaws around them dropped as all eyes landed on the forms of Shanks and Mihawk. Ace just turned to look at Whitebeard again with a shrug. “See… small.”

Shanks was looking at all of them with wide eyes, mouth dropping open for a second before his eyes settled on Rouge. A grin breaking out on his face, “Commander Rouge!” It felt foreign to Ace’s ears. This wasn’t something he was used to hearing from Shanks. He knew that a long time ago, he used to refer to his mother as her position and her name, but he had never actually seen it. It was almost like it was a second nature to Shanks from what he could see.

Rouge gave him a soft smile, reaching out and tucking some of the wet hair behind his ear. “Honey, they know you’re my son.”

Shanks stopped, looking around again. “They do?”

“Yes, sweetheart. They do.” Rouge confirmed.

“How?” Shanks whispered, pulling his cloak even closer to himself. Ace was able to catch his scent even more now. It wasn’t as mature or sweet as it was before. Almost like it hadn’t matured yet like it came with age. Mihawk’s wasn’t much different. It was just completely odd in general.

“It’s a long story, Shanks.” Rouge muttered, reaching forward, and wrapping her arms around Shanks. “Just… they know everything, sweetheart.”

Shanks seemed to relax in Rouge’s hold, leaning his head against her chest. His eyes fluttered shut as Rouge’s fingers started moving through his hair. A calming gesture. Ace didn’t miss the way that Mihawk still seemed to linger around Shanks, sharp glances being cast towards the rest of them.

“You said the walls had the Ancient Language?” Robin questioned, stepping forward to catch his attention.

Ace turned his head and nodded. “Yeah. Mihawk told me not to touch the water.” No one seemed to miss the way that he had used Mihawk’s actual name instead of calling him his father. No one commented on it for the time being. “Luffy knocked them in, and they came out like this.”

Robin hummed. “Give me a moment. I’ll see if it will tell us anything.”

“Why don’t we just throw them back in?” Luffy questioned. “That might fix them.”

Ace cast Luffy a look of disbelief, shaking his head. “That’s how they turned out like this.”

“Maybe, it will change them back.” Luffy immediately replied.

Ace groaned, rubbing his palm over his face. He loved his brother, but at times he could be the biggest airhead he knew. “So, we are really supposed to be bigger?” Shanks questioned.

Ace hummed, placing another smile on his face. “Yeah, the clothes you are carrying…” He paused motioning to the clothes in Shanks’ arm. “They were what you were wearing when you got pushed in. You are actually supposed to be thirty-seven and Mihawk is supposed to be forty-one.”

Shanks eyed the clothes for a second placing a grin on his face. “This can’t be so bad, can it?” He stated. “This had to have happened for a reason.”

Whitebeard snorted, chuckling for a second that had Ace looking up to his Captain. “How did I never see it before? That is exactly something Rouge would say.”

Marco laughed slightly. “It’s all there. The cherry blossom scent. The smile. The way he acts. We had seen it all and not one of us had put the pieces together.” He added. “Even now, that I can actually smell the strawberries, it’s obvious who his parents were.”

Shanks pulled away from Rouge, his eyes settling on Ace and Luffy again. “You two…” He muttered, taking a step forward, getting closer to Ace’s face now. “I’m related to you two.”

Ace could only let out that nervous laugh again. He didn’t know how to explain to the two of them who him and Luffy were. Luffy went to open his mouth, but before he could actually speak, Robin was walking back up with a grim look on her face. “The writing, it says that the water they fell into it a fountain of youth of sorts. It didn’t say a way to change them back. Just, fate will lead the way.”

Ace froze, his eyes turning to Shanks and Mihawk. They could be stuck like this? This wasn’t good at all. He didn’t even know what they could do to somehow figure this out. What could they do now?

Chapter Text

No one could say a thing. Completely stunned as Robin told them exactly what she had read. Ace looked back to his parents, seeing their confusion – well, Shanks’ confusion since Mihawk’s face was indifferent like normal – as they looked at each other. Shanks was still clutching the cloak closed, bringing his pants and sword to his chest again.

Shanks was looking around. His gaze pausing on the Red Hair Pirates who were standing there, gaping at their now smaller Captain. “I recognize most of you… but I don’t know any of you.” The red-haired Omega stated. At least for the time being, his attention was no longer on Ace or Luffy. Questioning the fact that he had figured out they were related. Ace still didn’t have a clue about how to tell him that they were his kids. How to tell him that the very Swordsman next to him was their father. At that age, there would be no way he would remember. A part of him wondered if it would freak him out. If Ace was in that position, he would probably panic being told he had children he couldn’t remember.

Rouge smiled, placing her hand on his upper back. “Honey, this is your crew.”

Shanks practically looked like he had stars in his eyes as he looked back at them. The red head shook his head, looking back up to his mother. “I actually did it.”

Rouge nodded and made a noise. “You did.”

Shanks paused, blinking for a second, before he was suddenly jumping up and down. “That means I have my own ship!”

Ace couldn’t stop the smile that pulled to his face from the clear excitement that was coming from Shanks. Before they knew it, questions were coming from him. Directed at his crew. At Rouge. Just anyone who was willing to answer anything for him.

Mihawk stepped forward, placing his free hand on Shanks’ head to stop him from jumping around anymore. Shanks blinked at him as the Alpha stated, “You are currently not wearing pants, Red-Hair. Keeping jumping around like that and the world will see everything.”

Shanks froze, his face turning red for a moment as he looked down, clutching the cloak tighter. “Oh… right.” He turned back towards Benn, “What are we supposed to do about clothes? I guess if I’m older my clothes aren’t around.”

Benn laughed, shaking his head. “We have some clothes in storage.” The Alpha motioned for them to follow him. “Let’s get you guys into something that actually fits. We should have something for you too, Hawkeyes.”

Mihawk hummed, taking a step forward before he was tripping over the edge of his own pants and crashing directly into Shanks. Knocking both of them to the ground. Ace could only blink as he stared down at them. He had never seen Mihawk trip up like that. He placed a hand over his mouth before the involuntary chuckle could leave, shaking his head. Part of him was curious to see what happened from here on out.

Mihawk was there for a second before he was pushing himself up. An almost flustered look on his face for the time being as he mumbled to Benn to take them to get clothes. Shanks pushed himself back up to his feet. Readjusting his stuff in his arms and a grin on his face.

“Before you two break yourselves just trying to walk…” Rouge muttered, “Let’s go.” She placed a hand on both of their shoulders pushing them a bit towards Benn. Benn was speaking to a few of the Red Hair Pirates. Hongo stepped forward alongside Bonk Punch.

“C’mon, Captain.” Hongo stated. “Gotta get you fixed up.”

Shanks’ face flushed again as he hid his face in the pants in his arm. “That’s so surreal.”

“Well, get used to it, Boss.” Yasopp stated, clapping him on the shoulder.

Ace just watched with a smile on his face as Hongo and Bonk guided the two towards where the Red Force was docked. The uncertainty came to the pit of his stomach as he turned back towards Robin. “There is really nothing that says how to fix them?”

Robin shook her head. “I would like to do a bit more research on the writing on the walls. See if there is anything more that wasn’t within plain sight for confirmation.”

“What do we do from here?” Sabo questioned. “Shanks-san is a yonko, this will leave him vulnerable. Mihawk-san also isn’t as strong as he was.”

Benn lit a cigarette between his lips, exhaling the puff. “We won’t let anything happen to them. He might not remember us, but he is still our Captain.”

Ace sighed, folding his arms over his chest, bringing his shirt closer to him. “This could be a huge issue. How do we just hide them?” Ace stated. “Papa was never one to stay in one place for very long. Mom likes adventure too much to want to just stay on the sea.”

Dragon stepped forward, a stern look on his face that he normally always wore whenever Ace would see his face. “The bigger issue isn’t just them being seen. Hawkeyes is a Warlord. He’s connected directly to the World Government rather any of us like it or not. With the war, the Marines will most likely leave the Red Hair Pirates and Whitebeard Pirates alone. That can’t be guaranteed.”

Ace turned to look at Whitebeard, an almost pleading look in his eye. “Oyaji… I want to stay with the Red Hair Pirates.” He muttered. “I can’t just leave them like this if there could be a chance that this is used again them.”

Whitebeard smiled at him, large hand back on his back. “Don’t concern yourself, son. That brat is family. We’ll all make sure nothing happens to the two of them.”

Shanks was bubbling in excitement as they got closer to the shoreline. There were multiple ships. One he had immediately recognized as a bigger Moby Dick, which would be Whitebeard’s ship. The others he didn’t recognize. The one that was red had caught his attention. The jolly roger flying from it have red stripes over the left eye of the skull. He stopped as they got up to it. The appearance of the ship had looked exactly like he had imagined what his ship would look like. This one was just bigger.

He had no words to describe what he was feeling right now. Every emotion going through that was telling him that he had done exactly what he said he would. All he knew was, he might just break down right then and there. There was so much going on. He was apparently supposed to be much older. He had a crew. His mother was here. Just so much going on. He didn’t understand what was going on. Why he was even here. From what he could conclude, from his mother’s words, he had just came from a war. The last time he had been in anything close to a war was the Edd War with the Roger Pirates up against Shiki and his fleet.

What he was most interested in now was Commander Ace and Captain Luffy. Ace looked similar to his mother and Luffy carried the name Monkey. He was positive that he was somehow related to them. Judging by their appearances, they were slightly older than him for how he was now. He never did get Commander Ace’s family name, so he couldn’t be positive, but his face had said it all.

“Welcome home, Boss.” Hongo stated as he motioned towards the ship. A smile on his face. “This ship has been our home for a long time.”

“What’s her name?” Shanks questioned, eyeing the ship, looking over to Hongo with curiosity.

“Red Force.” He replied.

Shanks grinned.

It was perfect.

“Alright, just get you guys some clothes, and we can get back to the others.” Shanks nodded, following behind them.

As they walked throughout the ship, following behind the two Red Hair Pirates, Shanks couldn’t help but look around in complete awe. He still couldn’t believe this. That this was his life in the future. That he was a Captain. Had his own ship. It looked like he had everything that he had ever wanted in his life. He wanted to know more about what he had become.

“Is there enough red around here?” Mihawk questioned.

Shanks snorted, looking over to the Swordsman as they got guided into what he would guess was a storage room. “What? Don’t like red.”

“There’s only one red thing I particularly like.” Mihawk stated.

Shanks laughed, during his attention back to the two older men. Hongo opened one of the boxes, shuffling through it. “Yeah, this is the box.” He stated, turning to face them. “Pick out what you want to wear for now and we’ll move this up to your quarters later.”

Shanks hummed, putting off Mihawk’s comment for now, walking over to the box and taking a peek inside. His eyes immediately met a pinstriped shirt and brown pants that he was used to wearing. A smile came to his face as he grabbed them. He paused as he noticed black pants and black button up shirts that remained him a lot of what Mihawk wore. What he didn’t get was, why would they be on his ship?

“We’ll leave the two of you alone to change.” The other pirate – he believed was Bonk Punch. He really loved that name. Of course, he would have someone with an odd name with him. He always enjoyed the oddities of the world.

“Thank you.” Shanks stated, grabbing a discarded red sash, sandals, and a pair of boxers from the box too. The other two excused themselves completely from the room, leaving the two completely alone now.

Mihawk had grabbed some of the clothes him, eyeing them for a second. “These are mine.”

Shanks shrugged. “Maybe, you left them here.”

“Now, why would I do that?” Mihawk questioned, turning his back, and slipping out of the coat that was on his shoulders. The Alpha sighed after a second. “I guess it doesn’t really matter.”

Pulling on the button up next. Shanks placed the pants and sword he was still holding onto down, letting go of the cloak. The shirt he was wearing went almost to his midthigh, keeping him concealed but his face was heating up at the thought that Mihawk – an Alpha – was standing right in the same room as him. He turned without a second thought, slipping the other clothes on. They fit his form perfectly. Like they were his clothes. The thought crossed his mind to why he would keep ahold of his old clothes for so long. It worked in his favor, he supposed. The Omega slipped off the cloak and button up shirt, pulling the other shirt on and tying the sash over his waist.

He stopped as he looked back at the sword he had. It was long. Way to long for his abilities now. There would be no way that he could even be able to use it properly. He would need to get ahold of a new one for now. From the sounds of it, they might be able to reverse this. He would need something he could use properly until then.

Readjusting his clothes and making sure he was in place, he turned to see Mihawk already at the door. The jacket he had been wearing before was back on him, the large black sword on his back.

“Let’s find some answers, Red-Hair.” Mihawk stated.

Shanks smiled. “Yeah, I guess.” He paused for a second, shuffling on his feet. Being around the Alpha felt nice. He couldn’t place it. Maybe it was because they had been spending time together recently outside of just their normal duels. It was like he was getting to know more about the mysterious Swordsman. He reached up, grabbing at his mother’s necklace. Stopping when he realized he had grabbed two.

He brought the pendants into his hand. Recognizing one as his mother’s and the other he didn’t know what it was. It was clearly specially made with a cherry blossom on it. He blinked, shaking his head at the thought before he was tucking them under his shirt. For all he knew, it was simply just a piece of jewelry. As long as if he had his mother’s still, that’s all that mattered.

“Well, come on.” Mihawk stated, opening up the door and motioning out.

Shanks exaggerated a swoon. “What a gentleman.”

Ace still was unsure what to think. He had started pacing around, picking at his nails as he moved. “Ace, calm down.” Marco stated.

The Omega looked over to his mate to be with a frown. “How can I?!” Ace exclaimed. “My parents are small! Well, not that small but small.” The Omega sighed, rubbing at his face again. They had been going over a course of action this entire time. Trying to figure out what they could possibly do in this situation.

Shanks, Mihawk, Bonk, and Hongo should be back soon enough, but it felt like anxiety was spiking in Ace. He wanted to scream at the world. He wanted to understand why this had to happen. He didn’t understand it. They were finally finding some peace and it seemed like the world was throwing yet another curve ball at them.

It surprised him mostly watching that Shanks and Mihawk were taking the news relatively calm. For some reason, he felt like he was the only one that was panicking over what was happening.

“It really can’t be that bad.” Luffy stated, hands behind his head.

“Of course, it is!” Ace exclaimed. “Our parents are literally younger right now than I am! What if they get discovered?! What if we can’t fix them—” The Omega choked for a second, stopping in his tracks. “What if we don’t have our parents anymore?”

Marco sighed, walking forward, and placing his hands on Ace’s biceps. “They are safe, Ace.” He said, “We will find a way to fix them. A lot of us probably understand to an extent about what you are feeling right now. The Red Hair Pirates certainly would.”

Benn smiled as he walked up next to Marco. “We are probably freaking out just as much as you, we just aren’t showing it. That’s our Captain.” He took a drag from his cigarette, exhaling the smoke as he added, “If we panic, we will panic them. It’s best to remain as calm as possible. The sooner we figure this out, the faster they will be back with us.”

Ace nodded, exhaling sharply. He shook his head, looking back over to where Shanks and the others had disappeared towards the Red Force. “I just…”

“It’s okay to feel something about it, Ace.” Rouge stated. “This isn’t exactly a typical situation, but everything will work out in the end. I’m sure of it.”

“This is weird.” Sabo stated, sighing as he leaned back against the nearby tree. “I never thought I would see them that young.”

“Does anyone really?” Koala questioned.

“I gotta agree with Sabo.” Yasopp said, “This is really weird to see. Time sure does fly, doesn’t it?”

Ace sighed, leaning forward into Marco’s chest. It didn’t help the anxiety that he was feeling but he was right. They were safe with them. “It’ll be okay, Ace.”

“I hope so.” Ace whispered, wrapping his arms around Marco’s torso, and leaning his head against his chest. He relaxed as he felt the fingers moving through his hair. He inhaled Marco’s scent, taking the moment of peace that he could. They had so much to deal with now.

“It’s kind of funny that Red-Hair already started to recognize Ace and Luffy.” Thatch snickered.

Ace peeked around Marco’s arm to the other Commander, seeing the smirk on his face from where he had his arm thrown over Izou. “This is going to be hard. Trying not to tell him who we are.”

“Why don’t you? Wouldn’t it be easier on all of you to just… I dunno, tell them the truth?” Thatch questioned.

“I don’t want to freak them out.” Ace replied.

Rouge laughed, leaning over Ace’s back, and nuzzling at his ear. “Honey, he’ll figure something out.” She stated, pulling away, a grin plastered on her face. “Did I ever tell you what happened the second he met his father?”

Ace shook his head, intrigued already. “What happened?”

“He recognized Roger as his father just by looking at him. Of course, I told him his father’s name, but I never showed him a picture of him.” Rouge explained. “When Roger showed up in the West Blue just after Shanks turned four… it was almost instant. The bond between a parent and child is strong. Rather you tell him or not, he’ll probably figure it out.”

Ace shrugged, leaning back towards Marco again. That feeling was still there. He wanted his parents back as his parents. Not just the forms of their teenage selves. “This is going to be interesting.” He whispered.

“Hey, they’re coming back.” Luffy stated.

Sure enough, coming over the small hill were the four. Shanks and Mihawk were now dressed in better fitting clothes. What Ace didn’t overlook was how Shanks and Mihawk were talking to each other. Soft smiles lingering on both of their faces. Mihawk wasn’t necessarily talking, hands in his pockets as he walked. Shanks had almost a hop in his step as he was chatting away. Ace let the smile come to his face. Some things never change.

Shanks turned his head, pausing as his eyes landed on someone. Ace couldn’t see who he was looking at through the mass amount of people standing around. The Omega grinned, laughing slightly before he yelled out, “Buggy!” By the look that came to Shanks’ face, it looked almost like relief. “You’re…”

“What? Did you think I was going to die?” Buggy questioned.

Shanks shook his head, breaking away from Mihawk to rush over to where Buggy was standing. “No—just… I’m really happy to know you’re okay.” Shanks stated. “When the crew…” The red head’s voice trailed off as he looked to the ground. The motion almost looked like Shanks was trying to conceal his face, but he didn’t actually have anything to do so with. It almost looked like longing was plastered on his face.

“They are fine as much as I know.” Buggy stated. “Crocus-san is on Reverse Mountain with Laboon. Rayleigh-san is on Sabaody Archipelago, and Oden-san returned to Wano.” Shanks’ face seemed to light up again, a smile coming to his face from the mention of his three former crewmates.

“That’s good to know.” Shanks stated, placing his hands behind his back, interlocking his fingers. What caught them all of guard was Shanks suddenly moving forward and wrapping his arms around Buggy’s torso, his nose buried in his shirt as his shoulders shook. Buggy looked stunned, looking unsure of what to do before he nervously placed his hands on the Omega’s shoulders.

“Okay, bastard.” Buggy stated. “You can let go now.”

Shanks shook his head. Mihawk stepped forward, placing it hand on the top of Shanks’ head. “He’s not going to disappear if you let go.” Ace could only watch on in surprise. Watching as Mihawk coaxed Shanks to let go of Buggy completely. The Omega placing a smile on his face, but his eyes read something completely different.

Buggy reached out, placing his hand on Shanks’ shoulder. “The same old red-haired bastard.”

Shanks snorted, shaking his head. Rouge walked forward, motioning for the others to join them. “C’mon, time to eat. We were just about to eat lunch before departure.”

Ace pulled away from Marco, smiling up at the Alpha before he was walking over to his parents. “Well, now that you’re properly dressed, I’ll formerly introduce myself.” He stated, bowing down slightly. “As I told you before I am Whitebeard’s current Second Division Commander.” He stated, standing back to his full height. “If you need anything, all you gotta do is ask.”

“Ace, right?” Shanks questioned. Ace nodded, smiling softly. The red head laughed slightly, grinning as he tilted his head. “That’s my dad’s sword’s name. It’s a nice name. I like it.” Mihawk snorted causing Shanks and Ace to look at him. “What?!”

Ace blinked, he didn’t actually know that information. He was named after Roger’s sword?

“Ace is named after Gold Roger’s sword?!” Luffy suddenly exclaimed. Ace moved quickly, clapping his hand over Luffy’s mouth. Muffling the rest of the words that were coming out of his mouth.

Shanks was looking at him now. Mihawk’s eyes were narrowed again on the two of them as Ace tried to laugh it off. “Don’t listen to him. He’s just a knucklehead.” Ace cast his brother a look, shaking his head as he looked back over to Shanks and Mihawk to see the contemplating look on Shanks’ face.

The red-haired Omega was approaching them again. Eyeing them for a second before Luffy managed to rip Ace’s hand away from his mouth. “There’s something I want to give back to you!” Luffy stated.

It had Shanks stopping in his place as Ace let Luffy go completely. Luffy was grinning as he reached up, pulling his hat from his head. Ace could only watch in disbelief as Luffy reached out and placed it on Shanks’ head, almost hitting the Omega in the eyes with the inside of the hat. “Luffy…” Ace whispered. He hadn’t actually expected Luffy to do it.

“We made a promise on this hat.” Luffy stated. “I promised I would return this hat the second that I became a great pirate. I’m not there yet, but that promise isn’t there if you don’t remember it, right?”

“A promise?” Shanks whispered as Luffy pulled away. It was almost surreal to see that Shanks was actually shorter than Luffy was.

Luffy laughed, placing his hands on his hip. “That’s why you gave me the hat. I don’t really know what actually led to it because you used to tell me you could never give it to anyone.” The Alpha explained. “But once we get you back to normal, you gotta give it back to me. Our promise won’t be fulfilled until the second I become the King of the Pirates.”

Shanks inhaled sharply, eyes wide as his gaze snapped up to meet Luffy’s. “What did you say?”

“I’m going to be King of the Pirates!” Luffy exclaimed.

It was like Shanks and Luffy were in their own little world. Not a word being said between the two of them before Shanks had tears in his eyes, laughing as he reached up to wipe them away.

“Are you okay?” Luffy questioned.

Shanks nodded. “Yeah.” He paused as he reached up and touched the brim of the straw hat, adjusting it on his head. “You just reminded me of someone.”

“Let’s go get some food and we will tell you what we decided on.” Rouge stated.

Shanks smiled, looking back to Ace and Luffy again. “I want to know about you two.” He said. “Mind if we talk?”

Ace shook his head. “Not at all.”

This was going to be exceptionally hard. Ace knew that much.

Chapter Text

Food had been passed out almost immediately and Ace didn’t miss the way that Shanks had practically glued himself to Rouge’s side. “See, they’ll be okay.” Marco whispered into his ear.

Ace hummed. “I hope so.”

“So, Commander Ace,” Shanks started. It felt so weird hearing that come from Shanks of all people. Ace looked up from his meal, eyeing the smaller version of his Omega father. It was nostalgic to see the straw hat back on his head, but he was so young. “How long have you been with the Whitebeard Pirates?”

“Three years.” Ace stated. “Before then I was the Captain of the Spade Pirates.”

Shanks snickered, muttering, “Ace of spades. Of course.”

“Okay, no need to call me out like that.” Ace mumbled. “I liked playing poker as a kid.”

Shanks smiled leaning back to where he was leaning against Rouge’s arm. It was a silent gesture. Shanks was actively seeking out comfort. Only people who knew how Shanks was would know that. Ace could tell by the look in his eye. He was still grieving. Which only made sense since Shanks would be the age when Roger was executed.

“He’s stupidly good at poker.” Thatch stated. “The only person who has won against him is Oyaji.”

“That reminds me of someone.” Mihawk grumbled, sending a sharp glance at Shanks from where he was sitting by Luffy and Zoro.

Shanks laughed, waving his hand, “You’re just mad because it took you five rounds to realize I was hustling you.”

Ace and Luffy shared a look the second they saw the vein in Mihawk’s forehead pop out. The snarl of his teeth. “You have to teach me your tricks.” Haruta whispered, leaning in by Ace. “You learned it from him. Didn’t you?”

Ace nodded, grinning, “Apparently, it’s how he paid for a lot of stuff. He spent almost all the money he had on a ship. It does come in handy when people don’t realize anything.”

“Teach me your ways oh mighty one.” Haruta snickered, poking at his cheek before he was taking a seat back down.

“You wish.”

Shanks was laughing, hiding his mouth behind his hand to conceal the fact that he was. His attention moved away from Ace for the time being, moving over to Luffy. “You said you were a Captain?”

“That’s right.” Luffy confirmed. “The Straw Hats is my crew. My crew is so cool. Zoro is my Swordsman. Sanji is my cook. Nami is my navigator. I even have Usopp who is my sniper!” He exclaimed, “Though you won’t remember him, but he’s Yasopp’s son… I have Franky who is our shipwright. Robin who is my archeologist. I also have a reindeer for a doctor and a skeleton for a musician!”

Shanks just blinked as Luffy kept getting closer and closer to him with each excited shout. The Omega was leaning back until he had slipped off of the log, his hat flying off and landing on the ground. Shanks groaned, rubbing at his hip before he was turning and reaching for his hat.

He paused as his eyes landed on it, hand stopping just short of actually grabbing it. “What happened to my hat?”

Ace looked over to Luffy, seeing the frown settled on his Alpha brother’s face. “I’m sorry, Shanks, but it got damaged.”

Ace felt the chill go down his spine, seeing the anger that came to Shanks’ face just a second later.

It felt like his blood was boiling. Seeing the three sown up marks on the top of the hat. The air had caught in his throat as he whispered, “Who did this?”

Luffy blinked at him, frowning before he said, “Buggy. He was a total ass about it.”

Shanks looked up, eyes landing on the blue-haired Alpha. The anger flooded through his veins as he handed his hat back over to Luffy. “How dare you!” Buggy’s gaze snapped over to him just as Shanks swung. If Buggy hadn’t detached his own head, Shanks would have hit him.

“What the hell is your problem?!” Buggy screeched.

Shanks let the haki come to his hand. His nails piercing into the skin of his palms. Sharp enough that it was cutting into the skin, and he could feel the blood surfacing. “You’re my problem, you big nosed clown!”

Buggy’s face instantly turned red as he reached out, grabbing Shanks by the collar of his shirt. Hauling his feet off of the ground. “What the hell did you just say to me?!”

“You heard me, clown.” Shanks hissed. The sting behind his eyes as his teeth scratched against his cheek. “Why the fuck would you damage my hat?!”

“Because I can.” Buggy retorted, jerking Shanks forward so they were nose to nose. Shanks was sure his face was just as red. The anger coursing so much through his veins. “What makes you think that I wouldn’t want to destroy something you treasured after you ruined the chance for me?!”

“Because unlike you, I have respect!” Shanks screamed, slamming his fist up and hitting Buggy in the jaw. The Alpha stumbled, dropping Shanks down to the ground. Shanks landed on his feet, walking forward as he felt the frenzy full starting to take him over. “You hate me that much you will destroy the one thing I have left of my father?!”

Buggy seemed to freeze for a second, eyes widening before the snarl was back on his face. “Who cares about a dirty old hat?!”

“I do!” Shanks screamed. “That hat means more to me than anything in this world! It was given to me by the Captain!” Shanks felt the tears sting his eyes as he looked to the ground. Roger’s face flashing before his mind before he saw him on the execution platform. The distress was rolling off of him now. He curled his arms around himself as his knees gave out. His forehead hit the dirt as the tears fell from his eyes. “It was all I had of him. I lost my father, and you damaged the one thing I had left. Why do you hate me so much?” He felt like he couldn’t breathe anymore as he heaved, clutching at his shirt. “I lost everything that day. I lost my father… my mother returned back to her crew… you left me alone. I was alone. I had no one. All I had was that hat and the promise I made to the Captain.”

“Shanks—” He heard Buggy whisper.

Shanks snapped his head up. “You were so bitter for so long that you held onto that for so long?! That you would do that?! Why, Buggy?!”

Buggy had frozen completely, eyes wide as he looked down at Shanks. The Alpha didn’t say a word as Shanks pushed himself up, walking past the others. “Red-Hair?” Mihawk questioned.

“Leave me alone!” Shanks snapped, side stepping around Mihawk before he was taking off. 

No one could say a thing following Shanks’ outburst. Rouge looked down at Buggy, giving him a soft smile for a second before she was following after her son. She barely caught Mihawk saying, “Last time I saw that look on his face was just after Gold Roger’s execution.”

She initially paid it no mind as she walked in the way that Shanks had gone. By the time she had found him, he was sitting at the edge of the shoreline. Bare feet in the water as he looked out at it. Hat sitting on his head again. Her heart broke noticing the tears in his eyes. “I didn’t mean to go off like that.” Shanks whispered. “I was just so… angry.”

Rouge smiled as she walked over, slipping her boots off and sitting down next to him. Letting her feet sit in the water next to his. The Omega woman reached out and rolled up the bottom of her pants to keep them from getting wet. “I know, sweetheart.” Rouge muttered, reaching out and pulling Shanks into her side. “You have every right to be.”

“It’s Buggy.” Shanks stated, hand gesturing as he looked over to his mother with tear filled eyes. “Why would he damage something so precious to me?”

Rouge hummed. “I can’t say.”

“I knew Buggy was angry over the whole Devil Fruit thing… but was it really worth it?”

Rouge sighed. She wasn’t sure exactly what to say. She knew Buggy and Shanks’ relationship had gotten rocky following Buggy accidentally eating the Devil Fruit. It wasn’t Shanks’ fault. Rouge knew as much, but Buggy didn’t see it that way. It hurt knowing that the two boys were at odds. They were always so close.

She placed a kiss on the top of her son’s head, pulling him a bit closer. There was nothing she could say that would make him feel better. Instead, she would just be there for him.

Like she should have for all these years.

Mihawk sighed as he watched Shanks storm off, Rouge following closely behind him. He crossed his arms over his chest, sending a quick glare at Buggy. “What stick got shoved up his ass?” Buggy huffed.

Mihawk snarled, turning to face the older? Alpha. “You have some nerve, big nose.”

“Who the hell are you calling big nose?!” Buggy screamed, getting nose to nose with Mihawk.

“Aren’t you supposed to be his brother?” Mihawk questioned. He watched as Buggy recoiled, the shock coming to his face before he was grumbling and turning to face away.

“You know nothing about us, bastard.” Buggy hissed.

Mihawk hummed, turning to face the others. “You.” He had motioned to the one who introduced himself as the Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates. Something was off about this one. He couldn’t place it no matter how hard he tried to think about it. All he knew was Shanks seemed to think he was somehow related to this boy. From what he heard, his name was Ace. This one also seemed to be keeping secrets from them. Choosing to silence the other boy each and every time he attempted to speak. “I want some answers.”

“Depends on what it’s about.” The Omega Commander immediately stated.

Mihawk narrowed his eyes. “Who exactly are you?”

Ace’s gaze narrowed in on him as well. “Like I’ve said, my name is Ace and I’m a Commander among the Whitebeard Pirates.”

Mihawk didn’t say anything else, but he could feel the tension coming off of the Omega in front of him. He sniffed, catching the cherry blossom and sangria scent coming off of him. It was a sweet mixture. Floral and fruity. This boy was somehow related to Shanks. This must have been how Shanks pieced it together. Scents could be a dead giveaway. “I need to know any vital information. If we are supposed to be older like you said, what exactly is going on here?”

Ace sighed, looking over his shoulder to Whitebeard before he was looking back. “Mihawk, you are supposed to be one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.”

Mihawk paused. What the hell was a Warlord? “And that would be?”

“Essentially, you have a frozen bounty and ally with the World Government when they need you.” Ace explained.

Mihawk gritted his teeth. That sounded horrible. “Why would I do that?”

Ace shrugged. “You were one before I was even born.”

Mihawk hummed. He didn’t get an deceit off of that statement. Though, he was getting answers now. “Anything else?”

“You’re the World’s Strongest Swordsman!” It was the other boy. The one that Ace kept silencing. Luffy, he believed his name was. Mihawk felt the air catch in his throat. Eyes widening.

He was known as the strongest? He had done exactly what he had originally set out to do?

“The sword on your back is what you currently carry.” Ace continued, “It’s named Yoru. It’s one of the twelve supreme grade swords. Only the finest for the World’s Greatest.”

Mihawk reached around him, pulling the sword from his back. It was heavy. Heavier than he was used too, but it was beautiful. Finely crafted. It was an excellent sword. Something that he would hope to carry. Though, with his power level now, he wasn’t actually positive he could use it.

“I really did it, huh?” Mihawk muttered, gliding his fingers over the blade.

“You did.” Ace confirmed.

“We have to make you big again so you can duel Zoro!” Luffy exclaimed.

Zoro?

Mihawk looked up, placing the blade back on his back. “Zoro?”

Luffy grinned, moving forward and motioning to the green-haired Alpha. “That’s him. You vowed to keep the title as the Greatest in the World so he could take it from you one day.”

Mihawk smirked as he looked over to the Swordsman. He was strong. He could tell as much. They were probably on the same power level at this moment. He could only imagine how strong he was at the age he should be. Someone who was strong enough to protect others. “You must have really impressed me if I would say that.” He stated.

Zoro smirked. “Once I’m strong enough, I will take that title from you.”

It was like they were feeding off of each other. “I would love to see you try.”

It had been close to night fall before Shanks and Rouge had returned back to the camp out. Fires already going. Dinner long since cooked and eaten. He seemed like he was in a better mood. Back to smiling as he walked alongside Rouge. His sandals in his hand before he was slipping them back onto his feet. Not even missing a step as he got them back on. As the two walked over, Shanks gave him of soft smile before turning his attention back onto his conversation with Rouge.

Robin had spent most of the day in the cave. Continuing to research the walls for any more possible information that they could get from it. She essentially came back with the exact same information. Nothing about how the two could be turned back. It almost felt impossible now. There had to be something. It couldn’t just be like this now.

There was something definitely off about Shanks from what Ace was able to deduct. Over the years he had been able to pick up on his small tells that he always seemed to have. The most shocking thing was to see his outburst on Buggy. That was something Ace had never seen before. He was always so calm and collected, even when he would get lost within instincts. Even Mihawk was a bit different. It was so odd seeing them around this age.

Shanks paused as he got up to Buggy. The two looking at each other for a moment like they were both unsure of what to say before Shanks mumbled an apology and moved to go where Ace was sitting.

“You good?” Ace questioned, dropping his voice.

Shanks nodded, flashing him a smile again. “Yeah, I am.” The red head sighed, leaning back on his arms as he added, “Do you know when we are heading out?”

“Tomorrow afternoon.” Ace replied. “Our crews are going to stick close by to each other while we work to figure out how to get you two back to normal.”

Shanks hummed, looking off in a different direction. Ace followed his gaze, noticing that he was looking straight at Mihawk and Luffy, who were talking together off to the other side of the fire. Their conversation was half Luffy talking excitedly and Mihawk just watching and paying attention. “Commander Ace.” Ace made a noise, so Shanks knew that he had his attention. The red head looked back at him, almost with a deadpan face as he questioned, “He said his name was Monkey D. Luffy. Is he Uncle Dragon’s son?”

Ace was pretty sure his mind short circuited for a moment. The Omega choked on the air in his throat as the area around them quieted down, eyes turning to them in a mixture of amusement and shock. “Umm…”

Shanks blinked, “What?”

Ace looked around, trying to think of anything he could say. Just tell him the truth. It will be better that way.

“Sure.” Ace grumbled the second he locked eyes with Dragon. He froze as he realized what he had said as he turned his head again to look at Shanks. Seeing the shock on his face.  

“That is actually something I wasn’t expecting.” Rouge and Dragon shared looks. The Omega woman’s jaw dropping as Ace noticed Marco slapping his own forehead with his palm. Shanks was humming again as he leaned in towards Ace’s face, frowning as his gaze lingered on Ace’s freckles. “You never did tell me your family name.” Ace exhaled sharply, realizing the deeper hole he was starting to bury himself in. “You look like my mom.” Shanks said, continuing to lean in. Shanks was close enough now that Ace could see the light dust of freckles on his tanned face, almost concealed more by the sun-kissed skin. “Those freckles. That’s a Portgas trait.”

“My name is Portgas D. Ace.” If he was able to actually slap himself in this position, he would.

Shanks inhaled sharply, turning his head to look at Rouge. “You didn’t tell me you got pregnant again.”

This time, Rouge slapped her own forehead.

“Um, that’s not exactly—” Ace started, only to get cut off by Shanks.

“I knew I was somehow related to the two of you.” Shanks immediately said. “The cherry blossom scent on both of you is also from the Portgas family.” He looked at Luffy this time, “You look like a picture of Gramps I saw once.” Before he was looking at Ace, “You look like my mom. There’s no way I’m wrong.”

You absolutely are.

Ace sighed. There was no way he was getting out of this one without fully telling Shanks that they were his kids. Yet, Ace still couldn’t figure out exactly how to say it to them. “Shanks—”

An arm slipped over Shanks’ shoulders, seeing Thatch right there with a grin on his face. “You know, Red-Hair, there could always be a chance that they are yours.”

What Ace didn’t expect was to see Shanks’ face turn red and denials fly from his mouth. Ace shared a glance with Luffy, seeing the curiosity on his face. No one had expected that reaction from Shanks. The red-haired Omega sighed, whispering, “I know what it’s like to grow up on the sea… I don’t think I would ever have the heart to have children and still be a pirate. Honestly, I don’t know if I ever would want kids. I don’t know. Kids would be nice, but I’m Roger’s son… I would be giving any children I have a death sentence just for existing. The World Government already tried to find me once.” Shanks scratched at his cheek for a second. That sad gleam in his eye for a moment before he added, “I just… I just don’t know if I could be strong enough to protect them.”

Every part of him wanted to break down and tell him he had done an excellent job over the years. Practically raising him and Luffy alone. That he had gotten everything he ever wanted. Why they were going under other names was because of their connection to Roger. He wanted to take it all back, but he couldn’t find the words to say as he watched Shanks stumble over his own words.

Shanks looked like he was on the verge of panicking. Thatch’s arm had loosened, an apology falling from his mouth. The red-haired Omega reached up, grabbing the brim of his hat. Fingers gliding over the straw. Ace was only snapped back to reality by hearing Mihawk say, “Children are a blessing. Rather you have one or not. Decided to have one. The Red-Hair I know would never give up on anything. The sins of a parent doesn’t define their children.” The Swordsman paused, standing up and stretching his arms. “From what I can tell, you don’t have any so there is no need to send yourself into conflict. You found your answers. Don’t think of something that may have not happened.”

Shanks was looking over at the Swordsman now, a smirk on his face, “What? Might be jealous that I could have had one, but it wasn’t with you?” The Omega inhaled sharply, covering his mouth. Mihawk looked stumped for a second, cheeks dusting over pink as he looked away. “Kill me now.” Shanks whispered through his hand.

“Don’t talk such nonsense, Red-Hair.” Mihawk stated. “My goal is to be the strongest in the world. I would never allow a child to be brought in the middle of that if I can help it.”

Shanks grinned, laughing for a moment. Rather it was from being nervous or because it was the mask what he had said before, Ace couldn’t know for sure. “Seems like you have your priorities straight.”

“I just understand the cruelty of the world.” Mihawk hummed.

Shanks smiled. “Even then, the world is full of beauty.”

“That it is.” Mihawk replied.

Ace looked away from the two as Luffy took a seat next to him. “So, how are we supposed to tell them that we are their sons?”

“At this point…” Ace whispered back, “No idea.”

Ace smiled, leaning his head on Luffy’s shoulder for a second. They would figure it out eventually. Once Ace stopped panicking each time he thought about telling them.

An arm looped around his shoulder, turning his head to see Rouge smirking at him, “You get to explain this to them, son.”

Ace groaned, “I’m sorry, okay?”

Rouge laughed, pressing a kiss into his forehead, “We’ll figure it out.” She stood up as Whitebeard did.

“Alright, let’s head off to bed.” Whitebeard announced. “We sail out tomorrow.”

Ace pushed himself up, stretching his arms and back.

This only got more interesting by the moment.

Chapter Text

Finally, it was daytime, and everyone was rising and getting ready for departure. The Commanders, Captains, and officers alike were standing around where the fire had been as the others were getting ready. Shanks and Mihawk weren’t far from them, sitting off to the side and talking to each other.

Whitebeard had taken command of the conversation. Ace could barely listen in, already knowing most of the plan at this point. He leaned back into Marco sighing as the others talked. He was exhausted already just thinking about all of this.

He paused as he caught the smirk that came to Mihawk’s face. The familiar glint in his eye whenever he would want to fight someone. Mihawk stood up, a grin on his face, “Duel me.”

Shanks snorted, “With what sword?”

Ace cocked his eyebrow. He had never actually seen Mihawk and Shanks duel each other. They hadn’t in a long time. It had also caught Luffy’s attention as he turned his head to look at Ace. “You could use ours. We don’t really use them.”

Ace hummed. That was actually a good idea. Ace hadn’t used Hotaru hardly since eating the Mera Mera no Mi. He reached behind him, pulling Hotaru from its sheath. “Here.”

Shanks was looking at him in shock for a moment before reaching out and grabbing it from him. Taking a look at it. “It’s beautiful.”

“Handcrafted. Both of them.” Ace replied as Luffy pulled Yoku, sheath and all, from his hip and handed it to Mihawk. “Should work for now.”

Mihawk pulled Yoku from its sheath, letting his fingers move across the blade. If only Mihawk knew he was the one who created both swords. Ace watched as Mihawk put haki into the blade, a smirk coming to his face, “It’s finely crafted. Strong too.”

“Of course, they are!” Luffy exclaimed, “You made them.”

Ace had moved quickly again, slapping his hand over Luffy’s mouth as Mihawk’s gaze snapped to him. Narrowing in on him again. “And why would I give two swords away to people I don’t know.”

“Trust me.” Ace stated, “You know us.”

“Just tell him the truth.” He barely caught Luffy mumbling from underneath his palm.

“That’s amazing, Hawkeyes!” Shanks exclaimed, eyeing Hotaru again, “I didn’t know you could make swords. Let alone one that has such fine detail in it.”

Mihawk hummed. “I didn’t either.”

“Ah, who cares. If they are my family…” Shanks’ sentence trailed off as he looked over to Mihawk and winked, “You probably did it as a favor.”

What Ace never expected to see was the slight flush that came to Mihawk’s face as he looked away and placed a mask on his face. “I have no reason to.”

Shanks snickered, a serious look coming to his face. “So, are we going to do this or not? We haven’t had a proper fight in a while.”

The smirk returned to the Alpha’s face, “Don’t hold back, Red-Hair.”

“Now, why would I do that?” Shanks teased.

“This could get interesting.” Marco stated, his arm looping over Ace’s shoulder, “I’ve never seen them duel. Just heard it.”

“Neither have I.” Ace said right back.

Rouge laughed, pulling herself up onto the nearby stone wall and sitting down. “This could take a while.” Ace looked over to the Omega woman, tilting his head. “You’ll see it.”

Ace looked back over, a slight smile coming to his face. This was definitely an experience.

Shanks grinned as he held the sword in his hand, tightening his hold on it. It felt familiar somehow. He stood in his ready position, Mihawk standing across from him with those golden eyes on him. He exhaled sharply, letting his haki flood into the blade again. Who was going to be the first to strike? Mihawk was always very careful with his movements. Tracking others to see what they would do. The last time they had dueled against each other had been when Roger was still alive.

Roger’s face flashed before his mind. His smile and his bellowing laugh. His determination and power. How would Shanks ever match him? He had learned everything from him. Yet, he couldn’t. His grip loosened momentarily as the scaffold of Loguetown appeared in his mind. Roger’s smile flashing the attendees.

For a second, he hesitated to strike. Mihawk had taken of it, pulling him out of his stupor as he swung the sword to clash against Mihawk’s. “Stay focused, Red-Hair.”

Shanks placed a smirk on his face, digging the balls of his feet into the ground to keep from getting pushed back. “Always.”

Their haki clashed, blowing the wind around them. The metal of the swords weren’t even touching as Shanks gritted his teeth. Mihawk was already putting everything into it, but Shanks couldn’t seem to do it.

“One moment of hesitance can get you killed, Red-Hair.” Mihawk hissed.

Shanks growled, “Don’t you think I don’t know that!” He snapped, twisting his wrist as he turned his body, bringing the sword down to break the haki before he was jumping back.

“If you die, I lose the one person I prefer dueling with.” Mihawk mused, moving back into position. “So, let’s not let that happen.”

Shanks felt his face turning red. This time, Shanks was the first to move, “Don’t say things like that.” Their swords clashed again. This time, Mihawk was pushed away from him, twisting his foot to regain his balance. Mihawk changed it up, twisting the sword and sending it directly for Shanks’ midsection.

The Omega sucked in a deep breath, letting his haki move through his body before he was jumping up in a blur of red. He looked down, seeing a soft smile on Mihawk’s face. His stomach twisted for a second as the air caught in his throat. There was a glint in the Alpha’s eyes. Almost reassuring as he brought his sword up to block the hit that he knew Shanks was about to do. It seemed to strike that spark back as a genuine smile came to Shanks’ face.

Ace had taken to sitting directly next to Rouge, leaning his head on her shoulder with a soft smile on his face. Watching the duel take place. He couldn’t hear what was being said between them with the clash of haki over shadowing it, but he could hear Rouge mutter, “He’s not focused.”

Ace lifted his head up. Her statement catching most of their attention. The Omega looked back over to his parents. His gaze narrowed on Shanks. Rouge was completely right. Shanks looked distracted. “I’ve seen him fight around that age… that’s weird.” Marco muttered, crossing his arms over his chest. “Though, I gotta say, their haki seems to be trying to work together rather than against each other.”

Rouge hummed, leaning forward, and placing her chin on her palm as she balanced it on her leg. “For them, the last time they dueled was just before Roger turned himself in.”

“You think Dad is thinking about Grandpa Roger?” Luffy questioned.

Rouge made a noise and nodded again. “They mentioned Loguetown, so my assumption would be that he can’t get his mind off of what he saw on the scaffold.” The sad smile came to her face. “It makes me think of the day I left Loguetown after Roger’s death… I never should have left him alone.”

Whitebeard reached out, placing his hand over the entirety of Rouge’s back. A soft smile on his face. “You did what you thought was best. If a mother knows anything about their child, they do what is best for them.” The Alpha yonko smiled, looking back over to the ongoing duel, “You always talked about fate. How your instincts just knew what to do. If you hadn’t left him in Loguetown that day… Ace wouldn’t be here, Rouge.”

Rouge sighed, a soft smile coming to her face. “Still… I never gave him enough back then.”

“Shanks had everything he needed to thrive. He took everything that you and Roger ever taught him and became one of the strongest on the seas.” Whitebeard added. “The two of you raised one of the best.”

“Roger did.” Rouge stated. “I hadn’t hardly been in his life since he left with Roger.”

Marco shook his head, turning it enough to look at Rouge, “He was meant to be on the Oro Jackson.”

That had brought a smile on Rouge’s face. “I know, but sometimes I just wonder… where did all the time go? It was like I blinked, and he wasn’t that same little boy from the West Blue. He was a grown man with a family of his own.”

Whitebeard chuckled. “Children grow quickly.”

Ace smiled, looking down at Luffy. So many sacrifices people had to make but it felt like everything kept falling right into place. Luffy was grinning right back at him.

Looking back over to the duel, it was like a switch was flipped in Shanks. A smile on his face now as they clashed back and forth. There wasn’t even a word said between the two. Just simply looking at each other had them both putting their A game into it now.

“There he is.” Rouge muttered. “Those two have some of the best silent communication I have ever seen. It’s like Ace and Luffy.”

Ace could see what Rouge was talking about now. How Mihawk and Shanks fed off of each other. Each movement becoming stronger and more fierce as the time went on. At the same time, they both had actual smiles on their faces. Like they were enjoying every second of it.

“It’s almost like a dance.” Izou mused, a smile on his face.

“So much power yet they aren’t actually trying to hurt each other.” Haruta added. “This is amazing.”

“It sure is…” Ace whispered.

“Just wait until you see Mihawk duel someone else and Shanks is nearby.” Rouge snickered. “Talk about finding an opening with him.”

“Huh?” Luffy questioned. “What are you talking about?”

Rouge laughed slightly, “Back then, it was like Mihawk couldn’t focus when Shanks would just be sitting there. Shanks would laugh and instantly, Mihawk would be looking at him. He eventually turned that into a strength. Well, after he got his head out of his ass and realized why.”

“Really?” Luffy said with a questioning look on his face.

Rouge smiled and nodded, “Yeah. It was hilarious. That boy was so far gone for Shanks and never even noticed.”

Ace snorted, shaking his head. At least even Mihawk had quirks.

A smile came to his face again, he might actually learn something new about his Alpha father. Mihawk was always so closed off. Even to them. Not really showing emotion except for an extent.

Watching them duel was actually quite the sight. He had never really seen either of them like this like this before. It was nice.

They had been entangled in their duel for a while. Mihawk wasn’t even sure how long now. Through the corner of his eye, he could see the ships were almost ready for departure. Though, his complete focus was on the red-haired Omega.

Shanks was now above him, standing perched on a tall stone wall, ready for Mihawk’s next strike.

The Alpha’s eyes narrowed. Shanks’ foot was close to the edge. Like the Omega didn’t even notice that his foot was that close. The wall crackling underneath his shifting weight. It was like Shanks didn’t notice or he just didn’t care that he was putting himself at risk. If Mihawk attacked, Shanks would fall. That was a big drop. It was even further down on the other side than it was on the side the Alpha was standing on. There would be a chance that Shanks would catch himself but could Mihawk take that risk. He wasn’t aiming to harm the Omega. Just a friendly duel.  

“Why are you hesitating, Hawkeyes?” Shanks questioned, bringing the sword that Ace had give him up.

Mihawk’s heart skipped a beat, “Red-Hair! Wait!”

Within seconds of Shanks moving his arm, his weight shifted, and he was falling backwards. The red head’s eyes widening as a gasp left his mouth. The sword falling from his hand and clattering against the stone wall and falling down on the side where the Alpha was.

Pieces of the concrete broke off. The others around them exclaiming in shock. “Shanks!” He heard Rouge yell. Mihawk wasn’t thinking twice before he was dropping the sword in his hand and rushing towards the brick wall. Hauling himself over and jumping over the side of it.

Shanks hadn’t fallen far yet. The Alpha gritted his teeth as the air swirled around him. His arms looping around Shanks’ head to pull his head into his chest as he twisted their bodies. Coating his body in armament haki before his back was colliding with the ground. He barely felt the pain that surged up his back as they slid across the ground.

Mihawk exhaled sharply as they finally stopped. What he didn’t get was, why did he move to save Shanks? The Omega could have easily caught himself or done what he did.

The Omega pushed himself up, readjusting his hat as he grinned. “Sorry about that.”

“Watch your step, Red-Hair. You’re careless.”

Before Shanks could reply, he heard the shout of, “Are you guys okay?” coming from Rouge. He looked up to see most of them on the concrete wall, looking down at them with concern.

“We’re okay.” Shanks yelled back before he was looking back at Mihawk. “Looks like you won this one, Hawkeyes.”

Mihawk snorted, shaking his head. “I didn’t beat you. You got beat by a wall. Only you can do something so naïve.”

The Omega laughed, sitting back, and casting a smile at Mihawk. “My knight in shining armor.”

Mihawk’s face cracked into a smile as he shook his head, “Can’t let my rival get hurt. Who else am I going to duel?”

Shanks shrugged. “Could be anyone.”  

The Alpha let the smile stay on his face as he pushed himself up, dusting himself off before he was reaching out towards Shanks. The Omega eyed his hand for a second before placing his hand in Mihawk’s and allowing the Alpha to pull him off of the ground. As soon as their hands were together, it was gone again.

The touch had sent sparks straight through the Alpha’s arm as he instead took the moment to readjust his clothing rather than look at the Omega.

“For real though… are you okay?” Shanks questioned, leaning slightly to put himself in Mihawk’s line of sight.

Mihawk only looked at him with his eyes, not daring to move. “Something like this is minimal.”

The two just stood there for a moment. Neither of them talking, but it was a comfortable silence. It was only broken by Rouge calling down with, “We’re ready to go, get your asses up here.”

Mihawk looked up again, seeing the smirk on Rouge’s face. Shanks laughed slightly, moving ahead, and starting to climb back up the hillside. The Alpha shook his head before he was following behind.

When they made it to the top, Ace and Marco helped pull over Shanks as Thatch and Izou helped Mihawk over right next to him, giving them enough leverage to get the back over. Mihawk dusted himself off again walking over and picking up the sword that Captain Luffy had handed to him. “It’s a fine sword.” He stated.

Luffy smiled at him shaking his head. “Nah, you keep it for now. Give it back to me once we get you turned back. I haven’t actually really used it.” The other Alpha reached into his sash, pulling out the sheath that belonged to it and passed it over.

“A Swordsman who doesn’t use their sword?” Mihawk muttered. That wasn’t something he normally saw. He slipped it into the loops on the back of his jacket, making sure it was secured into place. It wasn’t nearly has heavy as the one that had been on his back before, but it looked just as beautiful. “I will return it back to you in the same condition.”

Luffy laughed, a large grin on his face that had Mihawk pausing for a second. For a moment both Shanks, Rouge, and Roger came to mind. He had never gotten the chance to meet Dragon before. Only doing so now. His hand was still on the grip of the sword. Loosening slightly as he blinked. As soon as he blinked those images were gone again. “I know you will.”

It struck an interest in his mind. This same young Alpha had told Shanks he would be the Pirate King. Maybe that was why he was trying to make a connection. He was supposedly the son of Dragon which in turn made him Shanks’ cousin. It wouldn’t be far fetched for a dream. But it was a lofty dream. One that seemed hard to accomplish. It had taken Gol D. Roger years on the sea before he found the right person to get him to Laugh Tale. Though, that one woman with Luffy was just like Kozuki Oden.

There was no way this boy was Dragon’s.

Though, there was a chance. Shanks had told him how Dragon can be. Dragon had been in Loguetown at Roger’s execution. There might have been a chance that if they did encounter each other, his opinion would have been swayed. Though, right now, all he was seeing was Shanks.

He looked away from Luffy over to Ace and Shanks. The two Omegas were already deep in conversation. Shanks was adjusting Ace’s sword on his hip, tying it into his sash as he spoke to Ace. His eyes fell on the hat that Shanks was never without. What about Luffy was so special that Shanks gave his hat to him.

He let his gaze settle on Ace this time. Looking at both Shanks and Ace, they looked a lot alike. Though, it was said that he was Rouge’s son. Which would give the benefit of the doubt. Rouge was Shanks’ mother.

Why was he doubting this so much?

Was it because there was something about the way Commander Ace was acting that had him doubting whatever he was saying regarding them? Ace looked panicked any time that Ace and Luffy were brought up.

There was more to this than anyone was actually telling them.

“Time to sail out!” Whitebeard exclaimed.

Dragon and the blonde with him were walking over, speaking to some of the others. The blonde had stopped at Ace, if Mihawk remembered his name right it was Sabo, he had been hanging around Ace and Luffy practically the entire time.

The pushed all the thoughts to the side as he sighed, looking over to Shanks, “It was a nice duel, but I should be going as well.”

Shanks blinked for a second as Mihawk turned to walk away. The Alpha paused as two different arms looped around his shoulders and a finger was poking his cheek. He felt the twitch of his eyebrow as he frowned.

Who that the audacity to touch him?

“Sorry, Hawky-boy, but you aren’t going off on your own.” One said, he turned his head enough to see Thatch grinning, “Ace already warned us you might try so we hid your boat.”

“And why do you think that is a good idea?” Mihawk hissed.

Izou, the other who had his arm thrown over Mihawk’s shoulders, snickered, “You are a lot smaller than you should be, so we have to hide you right now. You gotta understand, Mihawk.”

Mihawk frowned. He highly preferred traveling alone. The idea of traveling with others didn’t appeal to him. Not when he wanted to get stronger. Fight other people who was stronger than him. Though now, it seemed like he had no choice. They were going to make him do this. He was a pirate, he did what he wanted. They did have a good point. He wasn’t supposed to be known at the moment. They would be able to hide them forever. They couldn’t just stay on the ship forever either.

“Fine, but that doesn’t mean I’m happy about it.” Mihawk grumbled.

“What could be so bad about it, Hawkeyes?” Shanks questioned, the teasing tone in his voice.

Mihawk rolled his eyes, “Let’s go then.”

“C’mon. Let’s get sailing.” Shanks exclaimed. The Omega had walked over to him, grabbing his wrist before he was pulling him forward. “This will be fun, Hawkeyes. I promise.”

“You say that now.” Mihawk mused.

“It’ll be fine.” Shanks added as he pulled him towards the ships.

This would be fine. Wouldn’t it?

Chapter Text

As they started to get onto their respective ships, Shanks stopped short of the one that he came to know as the Red Force. It didn’t feel right. This was supposed to be his ship, but he knew none of the men who lived on it. They seemed nice enough. Which would be something that he would want.

Mihawk’s hand was still in his. Like a weight pulling him back down to reality. This wasn’t where he was supposed to be. The age he was supposed to be. There was so much that was new. He had a brother. A cousin. He had a crew that he was the Captain of.

The Alpha’s fingers curled on his hand, squeezing just enough that Shanks snapped out of his thoughts. “Calm down, Red-Hair.” Mihawk muttered, keeping his voice low enough that only Shanks could hear him. “You’re going to knock everyone here out with your haki if you don’t calm down.”

“Sorry.” Shanks whispered, looking down at their hands before he was pulling away, his face flushing over for the moment. He pushed the thought of how warm Mihawk’s hand felt in his own as he looked back over to the ships. “I don’t think I can sail with those men.”

“How come?” Mihawk questioned.

The Omega sighed. “I just don’t know any of them. How can I be sure I can trust them?”

Mihawk snorted, shaking his head, “Only you would ask that question about your own crew.” He stated. “Those men clearly want what is best for you. For now, do what you want. You are a pirate after all.”

The Omega sighed as he shuffled on his feet. His eyes settled on where Rouge was working with the Whitebeard Pirates. He could only assume that they were the Second Division. Though, he guessed that was wrong now. Ace was their Commander now. “I want to be with my mom.” Shanks whispered.

“Go tell her.” Mihawk said, “Pirates get what they want.”

Shanks let the smile come to his face. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

The Omega turned his head enough to see where the Red Hair Pirates were. From what he could tell, they were completed with their tasks. Most of them were speaking with who Shanks guessed were the officers of the crew. “They’ll understand.” Mihawk added. The Alpha huffed, sighing as he muttered under his breath, “I want my boat back. This is kidnapping.”

Shanks snorted, letting out a small laugh. “If you are supposed to be older, it’s best this way, Hawkeyes. Besides, Whitebeard-san is best at kidnapping who he wants.”

“I’m not a Whitebeard Pirate.” Mihawk hissed. “I prefer being alone.”

The Omega hummed. “You say that, but no one is made to be alone.” 

Mihawk sighed, walking forward, and going further towards the ships. “Let’s just get ourselves fixed so I can be on my way.”

Shanks shook his head, following after him before walking over to where his mother was. He was shuffling on his feet as some of the pirates stopped from his presence there. Whitebeard was also standing there, overseeing what was going on. Whitebeard noticed him, giving him a slight nod before looking back to his nakama. Rouge had turned her attention to him. A soft smile on her face. “Ready to head out?”

Shanks reached up, placing his hand on the back of his neck, “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”

Rouge paused, “About what?”

The Omega shuffled on his feet again as he muttered out, “As much as I love having my own crew… I don’t know them.”

Rouge smiled, placing a hand on her hip as she looked up to Whitebeard. The Alpha yonko gave her a soft smile and nodded before she was looking back to him. “Since we are staying together, why don’t you start out with us?”

Shocked was an understatement as the Omega’s eyes widened. “Are you sure?”

Whitebeard hummed, grinning as he reached over and placed his hand over the entirety of Shanks’ back. “It’s not a problem, brat.”

Shanks frowned, looking over his shoulder to the Red Hair Pirates, “Do you think they’ll be upset.”

“No, sweetheart.” Rouge replied. “C’mon, let’s get going.”

Shanks turned his head to look back at his mother and nodded. “Okay.” As they started towards the Moby Dick, he paused just long enough to look back at the Red Force. His older self’s nakama were looking right back at him. All of them with smiles on their faces. Benn gave him a nod before he was exclaiming to the others to get onto the ship.

The Whitebeard Pirates were already rushing up the gangplank, a mixture of shouts and laughter as they flooded onto the deck of the ship. This was always something that Shanks had wondered about as a kid. If he had gone with Rouge back then. How well that he might have known these men if they had known the truth sooner. It seemed like it had taken until recently for them to actually know the truth. He recognized some of them from when he was a kid. A few missing faces from what he could tell.

They stopped walking as Dragon and Sabo came up to them. “I want to have Sabo stay with you for a while.” Dragon stated.

Whitebeard nodded, “He has his pick of any of the ships.”

“I’ll probably spend my time on each of the ships, but I want to be able to relay information back to Dragon-san as we try to figure out what those engravings mean.” Sabo said.

“Fine by me.” Whitebeard replied before he was walking off.

Dragon turned to face the two of them, reaching out and placing his hand on Shanks’ shoulder, “Take care of yourself, Shanks.”

“I will, Uncle Dragon.” Shanks replied.

Dragon gave them a slight smile before he looked at Sabo and whispered something that Shanks couldn’t quite pick up before he was walking away.

“Alright, time to go.” Rouge said again, starting up the gangplank.

Shanks turned to face Mihawk again as he started walking backwards, “C’mon, Hawkeyes.”

Mihawk sighed. “Let’s get this over with.”

With everything settled and the ships taking off to sea, Ace leaned against the rail, the wind moving through his hair as he looked over his notes for the Second Division. With his writing utensil in between his teeth, he flipped the page before grabbing it and jotting down a few notes before he was repeating the motion.

“Ace.” Ace peeked over his book, seeing Marco approaching him. “I see you’re keeping yourself busy.”

The Omega hummed, “This isn’t going to do itself.”

Marco made a noise, leaning down against the railing next to him, looking out to the ocean. “You know Commander Rouge is taking over your responsibilities while you recover.”

Ace shook his head. “I would rather be doing this right now.” The Omega put his gaze back on the papers, flipping the page again. “Last thing I need to think about is the absolute mess that we’ve gotten into.”

The Alpha laughed for a second, sighing as he leaned his chin onto his palm. “And your panicking made it worse.”

Ace groaned as he closed the book, throwing his head back as he mumbled, “Don’t remind me.” He rubbed a hand over his face as he added, “My mother thinks I’m his brother and my brother is his cousin. I couldn’t have messed it up more than it already was.”

Marco chuckled. “Wait until they find out your pregnant with their grandchild.” Ace froze. He didn’t even think about that. He looked over, seeing the amused look on Marco’s face. The Alpha completely broke out into laughter as he wheezed out, “How did you forget?”

Ace swung, swatting Marco in the arm with the book. “I’ve been kind of preoccupied with my parents being small, dumbass.”

“At least I’m not the dumbass who forgot he was pregnant.” Ace sent a glare towards Marco, grumbling under his breath. The Alpha laughed again. Marco made a noise, standing back up to his full height. Looking down at the Omega. “It really did throw a wrench in our plans, but what can we do about it? Shit happens and apparently that meant them being turned into… well, smaller versions of themselves.”

Ace groaned again, throwing down his book on a nearby crate before turning to face the ocean. “I’ve dug myself into a hole so deep that I don’t think I can get out of it. I doubt at this point that they would believe me. If I tell the truth now, I might risk freaking out both of them so much that Papa would run off. Mom might too. I don’t know how they will react at this age. They aren’t the same people that I knew them as.”

Marco hummed, shrugging his shoulders. “They’ll find out about your pregnancy eventually. Part of me is curious to see how that will play out.”

“You might not get sliced in two.” Ace immediately retorted, a grin coming to his face as he leaned over, placing his hand on Marco’s upper back as he all but curled into his side. “Papa doesn’t realize who I am.”

The Omega was chuckling as he walked away, seeing the dread mix in with the amusement on Marco’s face. He made sure to pick up his book as he moved along, walking towards the gangplank. He stopped as he noticed that both Shanks and Mihawk were with Rouge. “I thought you would be on the Red Force.” Ace stated.

Shanks grinned and just for a moment, Ace could see the hesitance in his eyes. “Maybe later.” The red-haired Omega paused, looking around, “The Moby is so much bigger than it was.”

“I’ve acquired a lot more sons since the last time you actually saw my ship.” Whitebeard said. “It has been over twenty years since I’ve had the original Moby.”

Shanks smiled, “She’s beautiful.”

“We almost lost her.” Marco stated, coming up behind Ace and slipping his arm around the Omega’s shoulders. Ace felt the guilt all over again as he looked down to the deck. “If it wasn’t for your nakama, Jules I think… she would have been destroyed by Admiral Akainu.”

“What happened?” Shanks questioned, the concern in his voice had brought Ace’s attention back up to them. Even Mihawk looked curious while Shanks worse his concern directly on his face.

“It’s a long story.” Ace whispered.

Whitebeard seemed to catch on as he gave him a soft smile and said, “It’s over now and my sons still have their home. I am in your debt, brat. Even if you don’t remember it.” Shanks nodded, still looking unsure for a second. Whitebeard had turned, walking across the deck as he exclaimed, “Once everyone is on board, set sail!”

They had set sail, being a few hours away from the island at this point. The Red Force and Thousand Sunny were sailing next to the Moby Dick. Trafalgar Law’s submarine was sailing just ahead. Ace leaned back in his normal spot that he preferred to sit in. His gaze was connected to where Shanks was leaning against the rail, his eyes glued to the Red Force. There was almost a torn expression on the red head’s face. Like he was having an internal debate with himself.

“I don’t get it.” Izou muttered, “If he wants to be over there. Why doesn’t he just go?”

“Who knows.” Ace replied, sighing as he leaned back, letting the sun hit him in the face a bit more. Leaning further back into Marco’s chest more, practically using the Alpha as a pillow. “It’s hard to tell what is going through his head sometimes.”

“He said he wanted to be here because he didn’t know them.” Rouge added, flipping the page of the book she was reading. “Imagine getting turned small and not knowing any of the nakama you had.”

“I would rather throw myself into a volcano.” Ace grumbled.

Marco hummed, curling his arms over Ace’s shoulders, hands settling on his chest. “He was excited about that ship. It’s like he shut down.” The Alpha leaned down, placing his chin on the top of Ace’s head as he added, “He’ll get comfortable. It’ll just take some time.”

The sound of footsteps had them looking up, seeing Mihawk standing next to them with his arms crossed as he looked over to where Shanks was. “I wouldn’t be so sure. Not right now.”

“What are you talking about?” Marco questioned.

Mihawk didn’t look away from Shanks once as he said, “A week ago for us, he asked me how he was supposed to form a crew if he didn’t trust anyone outside of his nakama.”

Ace frowned. “It wasn’t long after he left Loguetown that he met Benn.” Ace stated.

Mihawk made a noise, moving further down the steps that they were sitting on. “Beckman probably did something that gained his trust. Red-Hair had a list of names of specific people he wanted to seek out. Just because he did that, doesn’t mean he trusted them yet.”

“You seem really sure about that.” Marco stated.

Mihawk nodded. “You probably never even noticed it. Red-Hair has been keeping every Alpha or Beta man at arm’s length.”

Ace snorted, shaking his head. “He’s been talking to a lot of Alphas and Betas.”

Mihawk finally turned his head enough to look at Ace. “Because he knows them. Didn’t you notice it?”

“Notice what?” Ace questioned.

“When speaking to you and Captain Luffy. Who’s the first person he addresses?”

Ace froze completely as the air caught in his throat. All the moments since this had happened going through his mind. Each and every single time, it was Ace that he would address first. Only approaching Luffy about the straw hat or when Luffy would approach him. “He’s right.”

“What are you talking about?” Izou questioned.

“He always talks to me first.” Ace muttered.

“Wait,” Thatch exclaimed, “You’re telling me that Red-Hair has trouble trusting Alphas and Beta men.”

Mihawk hummed. “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

“He has no reason to feel that way.” Haruta stated, “He’s safe with all of us.”

What Ace didn’t expect to see was the snarl that came to Mihawk’s face. “You’re an Omega, you should know exactly what it feels like to have your own dynamic used against you.”

“He can trust us.” Ace snapped, sending a glare right back at Mihawk.

“Just because you’re his family doesn’t mean he trusts you.” Mihawk hissed. “And I don’t trust you either.” With that, the Swordsman was walking away to where Shanks was.

Luffy hummed as Law worked around him. Moving between examining him and looking over to the papers that were sitting next to him on the table. The Alpha just let the other do what he needed to do. Doing his best not to shuffle around as Law moved to rebandage all of his wounds.

“You have to stop aggravating these, Straw Hat-ya.” Law grumbled. “You know how much work it took to repair life threatening injuries?”

Luffy hummed, not exactly listening to what Law was saying, instead playing with the strands of his hair. It felt off not to have his hat on his head. It had been there for ten years. He never went anywhere without it. Sure, it was back with Shanks for the time being, but it felt like a small part of him was gone. Ace was right. Luffy knew it. Shanks was now mentally back to when he lost Roger. The hat had belonged to Roger.

Still, it felt selfish that he wanted it back.

He could do this. If it helped Shanks, he was going to do it.

“Do you think they will be okay?” Luffy questioned.

Law looked up, closing the folder in his hands. “Shanks-ya and Hawkeyes-ya?”

Luffy nodded, “Yeah.”

The Omega smiled, sitting down across from Luffy. “They’ll be fine. They will be better once we fix them. However, we can do that.” Law sighed, leaning back in the chair. “How are you doing?”

“I’m fine.” Luffy stated. “This never would have happened if it wasn’t for me.”

“You couldn’t have known.” Law replied. “No one knew what that water was. We still don’t.”

The Alpha sucked in a deep breath, rubbing his hands over his thighs. “Can you do me a favor, Traffy?” Law hummed as his reply, not actually saying anything verbally back to him. “Can you check them over? Just to make sure nothing happened to them.”

The Omega nodded. “I can do that.”

Luffy grinned, reaching forward and pulling Law to him by the front of his sweatshirt. Not even thinking twice before he was connecting their lips together. Their lips were barely connected for more than a few seconds before Luffy was standing up and walking off. “Thanks, Traffy!”

Mihawk leaned down against the rail, letting his eyes settle on the Red Force. Shanks had still yet to move but he was picking at his nails. It was something that the Alpha had noticed that the red head did a lot. Mihawk reached forward, stopping Shanks’ hands. The Omega paused, looking over his shoulder at Mihawk.

“What do you want, Hawkeyes?” Shanks snapped.

Mihawk let go of the Omega’s hands, turning to place his hands on the rail. “You’re stressing yourself out.” The Alpha said. “If you want to talk to them… just go talk to them.”

“It’s not that.” Shanks muttered.

Mihawk hummed, turning to lean his hip on the rail. “What is it then?”

Shanks curled his arms over the rail, setting his chin on them. Mihawk could smell the mixture of confusion and distress lingering in his pheromones. “Captain Luffy… I can understand that he’s Dragon’s son, but Ace… Ace looks too young to be my dad’s.”

Mihawk made a noise, twisting to look over his shoulder at where Ace was still leaning back against Marco. “It’s the freckles.” He stated before he was turning back. “Your mother would have said something to you by now if the case was different.”

The Omega pushed himself up, gripping onto the rail as he swung backwards to lean on his heels. “Do you think she knew she was pregnant when she left Loguetown?”

“Probably not.” Mihawk stated. “I don’t think your mother would knowingly leave Loguetown without telling you.”

Shanks nodded, looking down at the deck. “For just a moment… I was jealous.” Mihawk looked over to Shanks, the shock going through him. Shanks had been jealous of Ace? Or was he still? “Ace is a Whitebeard Pirate… it’s so stupid to be jealous of. What if the Captain wasn’t his father and she actually felt okay with having him here? That because of who my father was is the reason I never got to see her as much. It’s the only thing that makes sense to me. Roger isn’t Ace’s father.”

Mihawk wasn’t sure in the slightest of what to say. Ace only stated that Rouge was his mother. Nothing about his father. The Alpha made a noise in his throat. For a moment, previous statements that Ace had said came to mind. Ace had stated that he was a Captain of his own before the Whitebeard Pirates. That would mean that Ace was raised somewhere else.

“I wouldn’t go that far. Remember what he said?” Mihawk questioned, bringing Shanks’ attention back to him. “Ace said he was his own Captain.”

“Maybe he returned.” Shanks shot back. “We don’t know anything about them. Who knows what the truth is?”

“You are not wrong about that.” Mihawk mumbled. “Before jumping to any conclusions, talk to your mother. I’m sure she’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

Shanks immediately shook his head, muttering under his breath for a moment. After a few seconds, he was exhaling sharply before he was turning to look at Mihawk, a forced smile on his face. “It’s fine. Really. If my mom moved on, she moved on.”

The Alpha looked out to the ocean before he was saying, “I see Gold Roger in him.”

“You think so?” Shanks hummed. “He does have his eyes and hair color… I suppose I’m just overthinking things.”

“Yeah, I think you are.”

The Omega laughed for a moment, bringing Mihawk’s attention back to him. Seeing the smile on Shanks’ face brought a smile to Mihawk’s. “You are as blunt as ever, Hawkeyes.”

“Well, someone’s has to tell your dumbass when to get out of your head.” Mihawk replied.

Shanks made a face, though the smile was still there, as he grabbed at his heart dramatically. “You wound me.”

“I actually could if I wanted to.” The Alpha grumbled as he looked away again.

“But you wouldn’t. You like me too much.” Shanks teased.

“I would be out of a dueling partner if I did that, so I would rather not.” Mihawk retorted.

Shanks laughed again, leaning forward, and placing his forehead against Mihawk’s shoulder for a second before he was pulling back. “Thanks, Hawkeyes.”

The Alpha smiled, reaching up and running his thumb over Shanks’ cheek. They were barely there, but he could see each and every one of them. Dusting his cheeks lightly, hiding underneath his tanned skin, were his freckles. It was always something that Mihawk tended to forget that Shanks had. He could stand here and just count them if he could. “Someone has to put a smile back on your face.” Mihawk stated.

Shanks had stopped moving, eyes peeking out from underneath the brim of his hat. Soft stormy colored eyes looking back up at him. Almost like he was calculating what Mihawk was about to do. “Being my knight in shining armor again?”

Mihawk snorted, dropping his hand. The Alpha cleared his throat, taking a step back. “We’re unfortunately in this together until we can go our separate ways.”

“Is this really that bad?” Shanks questioned.

The Alpha hummed, pushing his hands into his pockets as he took a few steps back. “Honestly… no.”

Chapter Text

It felt nice to finally be back on a ship. It had felt like it had been so long since he had traveled the seas. Especially the beauty that came from nighttime. The way that he could see the moon and the stars over the ocean waters. It was probably his favorite time. The peace and quiet that came with nighttime. It was something that he loved. He still couldn’t believe that he was Whitebeard’s ship. The same ship that belonged to the crew that Rouge had been loyal to for years.

Law’s words kept ringing through his mind.

Maybe, it’s not what you think it is.

He had no idea what that could possibly mean. He was still freaked out over the entire situation. One second, he was in Loguetown, the next he was on that strange island surrounded by older versions of people that he knew. He was trying to be as comfortable as possible, but it was overwhelming. All of it was.

Though, Portgas D. Ace and Monkey D. Luffy had to be two of the most intriguing people that he has ever met.

Ace seemed to carry a tremendous amount of confidence yet at the same time started stumbling over his own words the second that family was brought up. Luffy seemed to just say whatever came to mind as if he never had an actual full thought. It was odd.

There was more to this than he realized. He just couldn’t put his finger on it to what exactly it was. The only reason he had believed Ace was no one appeared to refute the information. Not even his own mother. That had to be proof enough that his deductions were right. With their ages, there was no way what Thatch had said could be true. Thatch acted like he was joking, so Shanks wouldn’t take it too much to heart. Shanks didn’t necessarily have someone that he could see himself with in that way.

Though, there might be one, but he couldn’t see it actually happening. Even as much as he wanted it to.

He was on top of the cabins, legs hanging over the edge as he looked down at the men who were moving along the deck. Mihawk had disappeared around dinner time, and Shanks wasn’t sure where he had gone. The Omega didn’t even know where to start among the crews. He wanted to get to know the Red Hair Pirates. He wanted to get to know the Whitebeard Pirates. It felt like he was just locked in a purgatory. These men had years on him. He didn’t feel in place with them anymore. Buggy was somewhere, so Shanks couldn’t rely on him at the moment. He didn’t even know what to say or do.

He could hear the laughter of those below him. See the smiles on their faces. He wanted to be a part of that. He wanted to go down there and at least attempt to socialize.

He hated feeling this way.

“Never thought I’d see Red-Hair hiding from people.” Shanks turned seeing Marco walking up to him with a slight smile on his face. It was so strange. Age did Marco well. His hair was still awful, but age had done his features good. It was even more shocking to him that Marco was actually approaching him. “Why aren’t you down there mingling?”

Shanks shrugged, pulling one leg up and balancing his arm on it. “I… I just feel out of place.”

Marco snorted, walking up the rest of the way until he was standing directly next to the Omega. “That’s understandable, but the Red Hair that I’ve come to know would jump in and socialize without a thought.”

Shanks hummed. “Maybe you don’t actually know me at all.”

Marco laughed slightly, “I suppose you’re right. I know the Red Hair that is supposed to be thirty-seven not fifteen. People change over time.” Shanks looked over through the corner of his eye. The Alpha was calm. Collected. A slight smile on his face as he looked down at the deck. His pheromones were even trying to keep Shanks calm. Trying to tell him that Marco posed no threat to him. “I can understand if you’re overwhelmed. I would be if I were you. Though, I guess an advantage I would have is I grew up with most of my crew.”

The Omega made a noise as he placed his chin on his arm, looking back down. There was a mixture of pirates from all the crews below. Mingling together as if they were one. It was the strangest thing to him. Weren’t they all technically supposed to be enemies? “Why are you being so welcoming?” Shanks questioned, the words had came out of his mouth before he could even stop them.

“Why wouldn’t I be? You didn’t ask for this. Neither you or Hawkeyes.” Marco replied. “You don’t remember this, but I’m in your debt.”

Shanks felt the shock next as he looked up, his eyes wide as Marco finally looked over to him. That smile stayed on the Alpha’s face, but his eyes were telling a different story. For a moment, he could hear Ace’s voice in his head. Something had happened just before this happened to him. Something major. “What happened?”

The Alpha looked back down at the deck again. “The Whitebeard Pirates waged war on the World Government at Marineford.”

Shanks was stunned. “What?”

“Ace…” Marco whispered. Shanks paused. The way that the Alpha had said Ace’s name had his mind seeing his parents. Seeing the way they spoke to and about each other. “Ace was defeated by a traitor among our ranks and handed over to the World Government. We had to get him back before he was executed. If you hadn’t shown up… Ace would be dead and so would Oyaji. For that, I’m in your debt.”

The Omega was practically speechless. He wasn’t even sure if there was a word that he could say. Shanks respected Whitebeard. Had for as long as he could remember. It did seem logical that if Whitebeard needed assistance, he would be there. But to infiltrate Marineford was another story. Ace was related to him. He knew that. His presence there had to have been for Ace. The one thing he always stuck to was protecting their own. Blood or not.

“I know this isn’t a regular situation, but I think you’ll find something good out of it. That is if you try.” Shanks watched through the corner of his eye as Marco turned to walk away. Without a second thought, he reached out, grabbing the Alpha by the wrist. The blonde looked back at him in shock. More at the fact that Shanks’ hand was around his wrist.

“Sorry.” Shanks mumbled out, pulling his hand away. “Could you… what do you know about the Red Hair Pirates?”

Marco smiled again, turning and sitting down next to him, “Well, Ace would know more than me, but I can tell you what I know.”

The Omega nodded, looking back down as he pointed to the Alpha that he recalled was Benn. “What about him? He took charge of the Red Hair Pirates.”

Marco made a noise, “That’s Benn Beckman. The Vice Captain and First Mate. From what I know, he was the first person who joined and the first to travel with you.” Marco pointed to the heavier set man next to Benn, “That’s Lucky Roux. He’s one of the officers. From what Ace has told me, he is always one of the first people to move if you were ever in danger.” Shanks blinked. Almost all of these men were Alphas and he had put trust in them. Which of course he had, they were his crew. “The guy next to him with the dreads is Yasopp. He’s your sniper and also like Lucky is an officer. He is actually the father of Usopp who is the sniper of the Strawhats.”

Shanks smiled. “Really? His son followed in his footsteps?”

Marco made a noise of confirmation. “He did. Though from what I’ve seen, Usopp needs to work on his confidence a bit more.”

“He’ll get there.” Shanks whispered.

They continued to sit there as Marco walked him through everything that he knew about the Red Hair Pirates. Going over each member that he could see that he knew their name. Including one named Rockstar who was apparently the newest known member who had been sent to the Moby Dick before Ace’s capture.

Shanks paused as Marco’s own words came to mind.

Ace would know better than me.

“Hey, Commander Marco?” Shanks questioned. Marco made a sound as a reply as Shanks turned to look at him, “How exactly does Ace know more about the Red Hair Pirates?”

Marco turned to look at him, his face becoming almost unreadable for the moment. Shanks felt the confusion come next. “That is something for him to tell you. It’s not my place.”

“What are you—”

“Good night, Red-Hair.” Marco stated, pushing himself up and jumping down from the cabins. Shanks could only blink, watching the Alpha’s back as he walked away. What the hell was all of that about?

It was almost like Marco had ran off just to keep Shanks from asking him more questions. He didn’t get how Ace would know more about the Red Hair Pirates. Especially if he had grown up with Rouge. There would be no way that Rouge wouldn’t be on the Moby Dick with Whitebeard and her nakama.

This didn’t make sense to him.

Shanks sighed, laying back on the cabins and looking up to the sky. Wouldn’t hurt to socialize? It felt odd for him being unable to do so. Maybe, he just didn’t want to. These people didn’t know who he was now. They only knew him later in life.

Why did the thought that Ace was raised on the Moby Dick bug him so much?

Ace huffed as he leaned his chin on his folded arms. Luffy was lounging back on his bed and Sabo was working at his desk while Ace slumped over the side of it. Sabo was working through a stack of papers, which he would only guess was related to the Revolutionary Army. It had been so long since they were like this. Just the three of them sitting together.

Ten years.

It had been ten years since this, and it didn’t feel any different.

“You’re gonna end up dying if you keep exhaling like that.” Sabo suddenly said. Ace perked up, eyeing the blonde to see the smile on his face. “Maybe you should have eaten the Hie Hie no Mi so you could just chill the fuck out.”

“Don’t call me out like that, asshole.” Ace huffed.

“He has a point.” Luffy added, “You can’t even tell our parents they are our parents.”

Ace frowned, “Imagine being fifteen and nineteen and being told you have two children that are pirates.”

Luffy hummed, shrugging, “They would probably think it’s cool. I would.”

“You don’t have kids.” Ace retorted.

Sabo snorted, laughing as he put his writing utensil down. “Luffy is right, you know. It can’t be that bad for them to know.”

Ace groaned putting his head back on his arms. The conversation back on the island coming back to mind. Both Shanks and Mihawk had both said that neither thought of wanting to have children. What if they just made it worse by telling them? He knew that it might be better in the longshot, but his instincts were screaming at him each time. Even going as far as to cover Luffy’s mouth each time the thought came to mind. They had no idea how to fix the two of them, and there could be the possibility that they would be overwhelmed with the information and bolt.

Mihawk was good at that.

Leaving.

“I think it’s better just to stay quiet. I’m fine with being Gran’s kid until we fix this.” Ace grumbled.

“They will find out eventually rather you tell them or not.” Sabo replied, turning in his chair to face Ace. “It would probably be better for all of you if you just sit your ass down and tell them.”

The thought of Shanks or even Mihawk denying them had gone through his mind. Even Shanks had freaked out when Thatch even mentioned it to them. It had been like a punch in the gut. Though with Ace’s age and Shanks’ at the time of his birth, of course Shanks had that reaction. Mihawk he didn’t even have a clue how he would react. Mihawk said himself that he didn’t want to bring children into his life.

He felt just as overwhelmed as they must be. He didn’t want to make it worse.

“I would rather have Akainu’s fist go through my chest.” Ace stated.

“Stop being overdramatic.” Sabo stated, his hand landing on the top of Ace’s head. “What are those pregnancy hormones doing to you?”

“Fucking with my brain.” The Omega shot back. “You two are damn lucky to be born Alphas.”

Luffy bellowed out a laugh, sitting up on the bed and crossing his legs. “Don’t you think Dad would freak out if he heard you say that?” He questioned, snickering for a second before the smile settled on his face. “I want to know what they would say if knew they have kids. Just because they don’t remember doesn’t change the fact they are our parents.”

Ace sighed. He seemed to be the only one with reservations with saying anything. Rather he wanted to or not, Shanks and Mihawk would either figure it out or get told. The Omega stood up, turning, and heading towards the door. There was one person he wanted to speak to at the moment. Neither Luffy or Sabo had said anything to him, at least that he heard, as he walked out of his room and started down the hall towards a familiar room.

If anyone knew how to tell him what he should do that wasn’t Shanks, it would be Whitebeard.

Ace reached up has he got to the door, tapping the back of his knuckles against the closed door. “Oyaji, you in there?”

“C’mon in, Ace.” Whitebeard called back.

The Omega sucked in a deep breath as he pushed open the door. Whitebeard was lounging back on his bed, a bottle of alcohol in hand and a book in the other. His scent was the first thing that hit Ace’s nose. Being as soothing and comforting as it was since the start of his journey with the Whitebeard Pirates. The Alpha yonko looked up at him, that soft smile on his face as he placed his book to the side.

“Oyaji, I need some advice.” Ace immediately stated.

Whitebeard moved his large feet, giving Ace enough room to take a seat onto the mattress. The Omega took the hint, moving forward and crawling up onto the bed. Crossing his legs underneath him as he faced his Captain. “What do you need, son?”

The Omega took another deep breath, picking at his nails as he looked down at the bedding. “I’m not sure what to do.”

“About your parents?” Whitebeard questioned. The yonko had always seemed to know whatever it was that was bugging Ace. Well, anyone of his nakama really. Ace nodded, not even looking up. He actually felt ashamed that he didn’t have the confidence to tell his own parents that he was their son. He’s always felt nothing but confident throughout his life. He didn’t understand why it was starting now. Even at the thought that his parents might deny him and Luffy. He shouldn’t feel this way. Whitebeard had accepted him the way he was. His own parents would. He didn’t get why he kept doing this.

“What should I do, Oyaji?” Ace questioned.

“About what?” Whitebeard shot back, “By telling them or keeping silent?”

Ace peeked up through the hair that had fallen into his face, sighing as he leaned his cheek against his fist. “Papa spent so long away… I don’t think I could handle hearing him say that he’s not my Alpha father.”

Whitebeard hummed, a smile still on his face as he reached forward and placed his hand on Ace’s shoulder, “You never know until you say something. If you feel like you don’t want the answer at the moment, keep the information to yourself. Your nakama will go along with whatever decision you make.”

Ace let the smile slip onto his face. Whitebeard always knew exactly what to say. He leaned his cheek against Whitebeard’s hand. “Thanks, Oyaji.”

“I will be honest; I was really confused when you told me you shrunk your parents.” Whitebeard said, his voice remaining soft.

Ace shrugged, “It was technically Luffy, but I would rather take blame too. I didn’t warn them.”

“Neither of you knew what it was. You two are not at fault for this.” Whitebeard replied.

The Omega shook his head, “Papa even warned me not to touch it, and I let them get pushed into it. How can it not be my fault?”

“They weren’t even sure, and he was probably going off of instinct.” Whitebeard reassured him, “It not your or Straw Hat’s fault.”

Ace groaned, “I really want to believe that, Oyaji.”

“Better believe it then.”

It was only the first night and Mihawk already felt like he was ready to jump overboard. He didn’t trust any person here aside from Shanks. Though, Shanks did seem to be somewhat comfortable with most of them. That was the only thing keeping him from looking for his boat and leaving. Shanks. He could see the downward spiral that the red-haired Omega was going down. He had been drinking heavily when they were in Loguetown. Drinking to the point of passing out. Throwing this on top of all of it, he could only imagine where Shanks would end up. If he did leave, not like any one of these men could truly stop him if he tried, he wouldn’t. He couldn’t. Not until he was sure that Shanks was fine. He wasn’t even sure why he was so dead set on making sure that the Omega was fine mentally. Shanks was only his rival. Nothing more.

Even though Shanks was not down on the deck with most of them, Mihawk had figured out where he was almost immediately. Through the corner of his eye, he could see Marco with him. He kept a close eye. He didn’t trust Marco. Not with the way that Shanks had been acting. Shanks seemed comfortable for the time being, but if Shanks needed him, he would jump into action.

The only thing that had pulled his attention away was seeing Rouge and Buggy making their way over to where he was. Rouge had her signature bright smile on her face. Her hat – well Mihawk guessed it belonged to Ace now – was no longer hanging around her neck like he normally saw it, but the hibiscus flower was still tucked behind her ear. Buggy looked like he begrudged being pulled along.

Mihawk was not used to being surrounded by this many people. For once, he could actually relate to the mood that Buggy was showing. Mihawk didn’t want to be here. If he had to travel with them, he would rather do it on his own boat.

“Hawky-boy, how are you tonight?” Rouge practically sang-songed as she got up to him.

Mihawk could feel the vein in his forehead pop out as he gritted his teeth. No wonder Shanks could infuriate him at time, he got it from his mother. Rouge still had that grin on her face. Though, Mihawk had to admit, even though they were clearly twenty years plus older than what Mihawk remembered, she actually looked good for her age. It was kind of scary how Rouge looked like she hadn’t aged a day, but everyone else did. Though, looking at her face, the more she saw features that Ace had.

Maybe he was thinking to much into this.

“Better before you showed up.” Mihawk grumbled.

“Hey, now, no need to be like that.” Rouge snickered. She made a noise as she turned, pulling herself up onto the rail and sitting down on it. “How are you doing? Like actually?”

“I’m fine.” The Alpha replied, looking back up to the cabins to see that Marco was jumping down from it and joining his nakama on the deck. Shanks looked conflicted sitting there. For the time being, he pushed it away and looked back at Rouge. “Your loyalty to this crew is inspiring. Staying with them for almost forty years.”

Rouge laughed, shaking her head, “No, I was actually gone for twenty of those years.”

Shocked was an understatement as Mihawk’s eyes widened looking over to the Omega Commander. “What?”

Rouge was smiling, looking up towards where Shanks was. “Some things came up and I decided to leave the crew during that time. If I hadn’t, things might not be the same as they are now. I have many things I wished that I had done, but I can only hold onto a certain amount of hope that I did the right thing all those years ago.”

Mihawk didn’t have the slightest idea of what she was talking about, but whatever it was, she was talking from the heart. It was almost hard to believe that this same woman had another child. Especially Roger’s. Part of Mihawk did want to believe Shanks’ theory. He had caught her scent and pheromones at Roger’s execution. He didn’t catch the pheromones common on an Omega who was pregnant. Though, figuring Ace’s age, he would have to be born over a year after Roger’s death. There would be no way that Rouge would still be alive after that. No matter how strong she was, and she was incredibly strong. Whenever they dueled, Mihawk could just barely defeat her.

The more that the thought came to mind, Shanks wasn’t only grieving the death of his father. He was lost without his mother. Shanks had been alone. That strange lingering thought came next. Why did Rouge leave him alone in Loguetown? Why not take him with her back to the Whitebeard Pirates? Shanks would have flourished as a Whitebeard Pirate or even stayed with them until he was back on his feet. The Whitebeard Pirates were notorious for protecting their own.

From everything that he had learned from Shanks over the time they had spent together, Shanks had been with his father since he was four. Occasionally seeing his mother whenever the Whitebeard Pirates and Roger Pirates came in contact with one another. He also knew of the original arrangement that Rouge and Roger had. Shanks was supposed to go with Rouge whenever they met up and switch back when the next meet was. It just never happened the way that Shanks wanted it to. It was almost as if Rouge had known that Shanks’ time with Roger would have been limited. It did bug the question. How could a mother be separated from her child for so long? Somehow, even the question felt relevant.

“How did you do it?” Mihawk questioned, his eyes locking to where Shanks was leaning his head on his arms. His face concealed by his hat and arms. From the way his shoulders moved, it was like he was asleep. Mihawk had noticed that a lot too. The random bouts of sleep that Shanks seemed to go into. Just out of the blue, Mihawk would look at him, and he would just be asleep. It never lasted long, but it was like the Omega was running off of pure adrenaline and fumes.

Rouge hummed, turning her head to look at him. “What?”

“You sent him with Gold Roger when he was four. How did you let him go?” Mihawk went on, tearing his gaze from Shanks and placing it onto Rouge.

The Omega woman had gotten a sad smile on her face. He had noticed very quickly that their conversation had pulled in the others around them. Most of them paying attention to them now. “It was the hardest thing I ever had to do in my life, Hawkeyes.” Rouge stated, “I couldn’t bear the thought of separating from him. We had been together practically every minute for four years of his life.”

Mihawk ignored the others around them, keeping his full attention on Rouge. “Why didn’t you just go with him? Join your mate and your child?”

Rouge laughed slightly, shaking her head as she balanced her arms on her legs. “Shanks… he loved listening to my adventures with the Whitebeard Pirates. Learning about my nakama. It’s hard to leave your pack behind, but when I found out I was pregnant… it was the best thing for me. It always made him so happy to hear them, but he knew how much I missed them.” She sighed, exhaling sharply as the tears came to her eyes, “Shanks has always put the needs and wants ahead of his own desires. Even as a small child, he would try and hide if something was bugging him.” Rouge reached up, wiping at her eyes. “My little boy who had a heart of gold told me to go back to what I loved even if it meant being away from him. I didn’t want to leave him. I didn’t want him to go. I knew Eddie and the others would protect him, but something kept telling me… it wasn’t for him.”

Mihawk nodded, a bit more of the understanding following. That was something he had noticed with Shanks. Shanks had always tried to put him first and they were rivals. “Why didn’t you ever bring him with you? Like the promise you made to him?”

Rouge looked down at her hands, messing with a ring that was on her finger. “I wanted too, and Roger was always prepared to send him with me.” She replied, “But I saw the way he had bonded with Buggy. How he was with the Roger Pirates. The Oro Jackson was his home. He always looked so happy. It was like this little voice was in my head telling me that he needed to stay with his father. To continue on being an apprentice on his ship. From far away I was watching him turn from this little seedling into a blossoming flower. Even though we were apart, he would always be my son.” Mihawk could hear the pain in her voice. How much it actually hurt her to be away from Shanks. She was speaking from the heart. Part of him wondered if Shanks was awake and could hear this. Maybe it would take some of his pain away to hear what his mother was saying about him. “I’ve always believed in fate. It hurt so much to be away from him for so long. I think somehow I just knew that I would have all the time in the world with him, but Roger would not.”

“Why didn’t you take him with you after Loguetown? Why leave him there?” Mihawk inquired further.

Rouge’s smile was back on her face. The pride that showed up. “I left him there because he told me too.” Mihawk’s eyes widened. He didn’t know that. He had just assumed that she had decided to return back without him. “He saw me off. I asked him to come with me. Just until he felt ready, but he just gave me that smile of his and told me to go home. That he would be okay. The Captain he wanted to be.” She stopped long enough to wipe her hands on her pants as she inhaled a shaky breath. “After Roger got sick, Shanks told me that he was going to be his own Captain one day. Find a reliable crew to sail the seas with him. That he was going to travel the world and take his time because Roger couldn’t. Roger’s life after contracting his illness had been sped up. He had to hurry to make his dream a reality. He did it, of course, but he didn’t get to just be leisure. So, Shanks wanted to do it himself. Shanks couldn’t follow that dream if he was with me.”

“How’d you do it? You kept him a secret for all those years.” Mihawk muttered. He couldn’t even imagine what it would feel like to have to hide the identity of his child. How painful that must feel to have to refer to them as anything but his child. Yet, Rouge and Shanks did it for years. Denying each other.  

“It was a lot of pain. A lot of tears.” Rouge whispered, “But it was what was best for my son. His father was the man who became the Pirate King. His very blood put a target on his back. On top of his mother being from another notorious crew. I couldn’t allow anyone the possibility to try and use him against myself or Roger. Even if it meant that Shanks wasn’t my son in the eyes of the world. I knew. Roger knew. That was enough. Shanks had dropped Gol D from his name and just went by Red-Haired Shanks. It worked for him. No one knew who his parents were. If it was discovered that he was connected to me, they would piece together my disappearance from the Whitebeard Pirates at the time of his birth to when he became an apprentice on Roger’s ship. It was something we had to do. Blood can be dangerous in this world, but bonds no matter the time, can never be broken.”

The Alpha looked away from Rouge again, back up to where Shanks was. He could barely see Shanks’ face now. His eyes closed and level breathing. His attention was only pulled away by the cabin door opening, showing Luffy and Sabo coming out from the seclusion of the indoors. His eyes settled on Luffy. How his smile that he was wearing was reminiscent of Shanks. “Bonds can never be broken, huh?”

Chapter Text

When everything had finally settled down, Mihawk had made his way up to where Shanks was. Almost everyone but night watch for all the ships were inside. Leaving pretty much just them outside. The Alpha sighed as he walked up to Shanks, realizing that he was indeed fast asleep. That had seemed to be more frequent lately. Random bouts of sleep just out of the blue. Though, it had been a long day.

Mihawk kneeled down, careful not to touch Shanks at all, “Red-Hair, you need to get up and get into a bed.”

Shanks didn’t budge. Of course, he didn’t. The Alpha sighed. This wasn’t going to end well. It never did. It had only happened about three times, but it’s what he needed to do.

“Shanks, c’mon.” He muttered, reaching out and carefully placing his hand on Shanks’ back. Just like he thought, Shanks immediately moved, grabbing the closet object to him, and placing it against Mihawk’s neck.

The Alpha remained calm, looking up to the almost feral eyes of Shanks. “Calm down.” He muttered, reaching up and pulling Shanks gently down by the back of his neck. “Calm down.” He could pick up on Shanks’ erratic breathing. The panic that was laced in his scent. “It’s alright. No one is going to harm you.” Part of him wondered if this was something he should warn the others about. Though, it wasn’t his place to say.

“I’m so sorry.” Shanks muttered after a few moments of silence.

The object that he had before clattered out of his hand, instead Shanks’ hands were curling into his shirt. “You need to head off to bed.”

Shanks held on as Mihawk attempted to move. The Omega shook his head, “Please, stay.”

Mihawk sighed. “Alright. Just for now.”

He wasn’t even sure if it was because Shanks asked him to or if it was because it was what he was accustomed too at the moment. Just that Shanks needed him at the moment. Even thought it had been his fault that it happened. He could at least wait until Shanks settled down.

He wanted to curse the heavens for everything the Omega was going through. He had known him for years now. He hated seeing Shanks this way. He didn’t believe one person on any of these ships actually had a clue what was truly going on.

“I’m not going anywhere.” Mihawk muttered.

Ace had pretty much spent the entire night in Whitebeard’s room. Getting all the words of wisdom from him that he could before he started back for Marco’s room. Rouge had taken over his. It was fine. He had been staying in Marco’s far longer than Rouge’s reappearance back on the Moby Dick. At least the room was getting used now.

The Omega sighed, popping his shoulders as he got back to Marco’s room. The Alpha was already there, leaning back on his side of the bed with a book in hand. A pencil moving quickly over the pages. Marco barely looked up as he came in, returning back to what he was doing.

“You were gone for everything.” Marco stated, finally putting the book to the side.

Ace sighed, falling face first on the bed. Curling his arms under the pillows. “Yeah, I was with Oyaji.”

Marco hummed, turning onto his side, and sliding his hand over Ace’s back. “Still confused on what to do.”

Ace nodded, “I think I’ll know soon enough. Everything has just been… weird.” He paused, looking up at Marco. “First the war and now this. What else has to happen to us?”

The Alpha gave him a soft smile, leaning in and pressing a kiss to his shoulders. “Nothing is going to happen.”

“With my family… not a chance.” Ace muttered.

Ace had found himself awake bright and early the next morning. Preparing for the day, already smelling breakfast being cooked. The smell carrying throughout the halls. It made his stomach twist uncomfortably, but he guessed that just came with the territory now. He sighed, grumbling as he walked out of the cabins. The other Commanders were already there. Surprisingly enough, the Red Hair Officers, and the Strawhats were there. He could see Trafalgar Law and a few of his crew moving around on the deck as well.

Well, this was an odd situation. They still had a lot of planning to cover.

He had noticed immediately they were all speaking in hushed tones. He frowned as he got over to them. Stopping and saying, “What is going—”

Rouge shushed him, placing a finger on her lips before pointing behind them. Ace turned, looking up at the second floor to the cabins. Seeing Mihawk laying back using his arms as pillows and Shanks’ head laying on his stomach. Both appearing to be sound asleep.

“Oh.” He whispered. “How long have they been there?”

“All night.” Vista stated, keeping his voice low.

Ace grimaced for a second. “That can’t be comfortable.” He said, turning his gaze back to the others. “Should we… um, wake them?”

“That would be the stupidest thing you could do.” Ace turned to see Buggy approaching them. Ace frowned, seeing Buggy looking up at where the two were laying, “I can’t say anything about that sword wielding bastard, but Shanks… yeah. Not a good idea.”

Ace cocked his eyebrow, slipping his hands into his pockets. “The deck is about to start coming to life, so we either need them to move or wake up.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Buggy muttered, shrugging as he turned to walk away.

“What was that all about?” Marco questioned.

“No idea.” Luffy stated, putting his arms behind his head. It was actually more surprising that Luffy was still being relatively quiet. He was normally the loudest.

“Well, we can’t just leave them there.” Ace stated, “We have work to do.”

“Just be careful.” Marco stated.

“They are my parents. What bad thing could happen?” Ace questioned as he moved towards the cabins, pulling himself up without a second thought and landing on his feet by Mihawk. He hummed, kneeling down beside them. Shanks had always been easy to wake up growing up. Buggy seemed certain that it wasn’t a good idea. Age maybe? The fact that Ace was his son? If Buggy of all people were saying something, there had to be something there.

He exhaled sharply, preparing for anything. He had been there when he first was brought onto the ship. Being unable to sleep or even getting startled awake by people he didn’t recognize. It wasn’t something that he liked to think about. He would think it would be the same situation, but this was Shanks around the time of the Roger Pirates. He wouldn’t know what would cause it.

He reached out, freezing as a hand captured his wrist. He looked at the pale hand wrapped around his wrist, looking over to see that Mihawk was looking at him. “You’re awake?”

“I’ve been awake since before sunrise.” Mihawk whispered, “Do not touch him.”

“This deck is about to get pretty busy, so we figured might either just wake you up for the day or have you go lay down somewhere more comfortable.” Ace stated, keeping his voice as quiet as possible.

Mihawk never even moved, just his arm enough to keep Ace from touching either of them. Ace hadn’t even noticed that he had. “Remember what I told you before?” Ace nodded, thinking back to the day before. “It’s best to let me wake him up.”

“What are you talking about?” The Omega questioned.

“He will lash out. It doesn’t matter who it is. He does it more on nights were he’s restless.” The Alpha replied, “But for your own safety, do not lay a hand on him.” Ace pulled away, leaning back on his legs as Mihawk moved to sit up. He watched carefully as Mihawk reached forward, combing his fingers through Shanks’ hair. It looked so gentle and definitely not something that someone who didn’t at least have some sort of feelings for someone did. “Red-Hair, wake up. We fell asleep.” It was almost like Mihawk had done it more than once. Mihawk was tracing soft patterns into his hair, letting the loose strands fall back into place.

“I thought he would lash out?” Ace questioned, eyeing Mihawk for a second.

Mihawk shrugged. “It always seems that if he falls asleep by someone, this works. If he’s alone, that’s when you need to watch out. I don’t know why he does it.” For a second, Mihawk’s face was clouded in anger before it was masked again. “First time, he held a knife to my throat and didn’t have any idea that it was just me. Now I just wait for it. Usually, if you catch his wrists, and he picks up your scent. He should calm down.” Mihawk looked up, “Don’t tell him that you know. He feels terrible when it happens.”

So, this is what Buggy was talking about. To think, that once upon a time, Shanks couldn’t even be touched awake. His eyes settled back on the younger version of his Omega father. What the hell happened to him?

Ace nodded. Just sitting there and watching Mihawk work. As Mihawk continued, Shanks’ eyes cracked open. He groaned, turning over onto his back, and wincing for a second. “My neck hurts.”

“That’s what happens when you sleep on the ground.” Mihawk hummed.

Shanks pouted, sitting up and stretching his arms and rubbing at his neck. Slipping the straw hat back onto his head. He turned, seeing Ace kneeling there, “Oh, Ace! Good morning!”

Ace snorted, the soft smile on his face, “Morning. You know you have a bed on the Red Force that is much better than the deck, right?”

Shanks shrugged, “That feels odd. Sleeping in someone else’s bed.”

“It’s yours.” Ace retorted.

“It belongs to someone I’m not yet.” Shanks replied, pushing himself up and readjusting his clothes. He placed a smile on his face, looking down at those on the deck below. “Everyone’s out here?”

“The Commanders and officers mostly. Breakfast is already starting.” Ace replied, standing back up.

“We’ll need to stock up on supplies for the ships by the time we reach the next island.” Whitebeard added, having walked over to the side of the cabin, causing Shanks and Ace to jump but Mihawk remained stoic. “We were about to go over the course of action on how to handle four ships worth of supplies.”

“Why are you telling me?” Shanks questioned.

Whitebeard smiled, “You are still your nakama’s Captain. Beckman is already aware, but you still deserve the respect as a Captain.”

Shanks laughed nervously, looking down, “That’s still… it doesn’t feel real.” 

Ace looked through the corner of his eye to see that Shanks had exhaled sharply, picking at his nails slightly. Shanks needed to loosen up a little bit. Maybe, if he saw how they all interacted, he might be more comfortable with all of them.

“It’s absolutely as real as both of us are.” He smiled, reaching over, pausing for a second before he settled his hand on Shanks’ shoulder. It was still extremely weird to him to be taller than Shanks. He never recalled ever in his life being taller. The red-haired Omega looked up at him, bangs falling into his face. Ace grinned, “You’re a pretty kickass Captain, Shanks.”

Shanks smiled, looking down at his sandals for a second. “If it helps anything, brat… Roger spoke to me about you last time I spoke to him.” Shanks’ head snapped up, eyes going wide, “He has faith in you. So, why don’t you listen in on this.”

Ace felt the smile slip on his face again. Whitebeard always seemed to know what to say what to help people. Shanks had looked at him and Ace nudged his shoulder, “Go on, Captain.”

Whitebeard flashed a grin, turning back around and starting for where the others were. As Mihawk started towards the main deck, Ace reached out, stopping Shanks before he could completely go. Shanks looked back at him, tilting his head up to look at him, “Commander Ace?”

Ace exhaled sharply, “Is there something that you need to talk about?”

Shanks eyed him for a second, looking over at Mihawk before he was looking back at Ace, “Why do you ask?”

The younger – older? – Omega sighed, stuffing his hands into his pockets, “Pa—Mihawk said something about… you don’t like people touching you to wake up.” He started. He saw the way that Shanks tensed which had Ace even more concerned now. “I guess, what I’m wanting to say is… if you need to talk to someone, please, talk to me.”

“There’s…” There was hesitation in his voice. Shanks lowered his head, shielding his eyes from him. Ace bit down on his lip. That was always a sign that the red head was hiding something. “It’s nothing. I promise, Commander Ace.”

“I’ve heard that one before. It’s something.”

Shanks exhaled, shaking his head, “Commander Ace, please.” He paused, looking over, “If I tell you a thing, you’ll never look at me the same again.”

Ace shook his head, “That’s far from the truth. I can promise you that.” He stated, reaching out and placing his hands on Shanks’ shoulders, making him look back at him, “You don’t have to tell me anything. Not right now. I know something is going on, but you can rely on me. This crew. Your crew. Mihawk. The Strawhats. Your mom. You are not alone.”

Shanks’ head snapped up; eyes even wider as tears came to his eyes. “You mean that?”

Ace smiled, “Yeah, I do.”

Shanks nodded, reaching up and wiping at his eyes. “SHANKS! ACE!” He turned his gaze just in time to see Luffy reaching up to the rail. Shanks turned his head in the direction, his jaw dropping as he noticed that Luffy was using his Devil Fruit for the first time.

“He’s stretching…” Shanks whispered, “Why is he stretching?!” He exclaimed a second later.

“Luffy!” Ace snapped, the vein popping out in his head just as Luffy rocketed himself up. Ace ducked out of the way, but Shanks had been to shock to move. Luffy crashed directly into Shanks, sending him back into the wall behind them.

Thanks, Luffy.

Just when he finally was getting an answer.

Shanks groaned as he reached up, grabbing the back of his head that had hit into the wall. He didn’t expect for Luffy to be a Devil Fruit user. At least, that was his guess. Judging from Buggy, it was a safe guess. His mind was swimming as Luffy bounced back up to his feet laughing like a mad man.

“Oops, my bad.” Luffy stated, “I didn’t mean to do that.”

Shanks couldn’t even believe what he was seeing. How could this guy so carelessly just barrel over him like that? Part of him wondered if he even wanted the answer to it. “What the hell are you?” Shanks wasn’t even sure why he was asking that question before he stopped, thinking back to less than a year prior. “The Gomu Gomu no Mi.” The red head muttered, “You’re made of rubber.”

Luffy cast him an odd look. Turning his head to face Ace in his confusion. “How did you—”

“Are you guys going to keep screwing around or get down here?” Rouge called out.

Shanks looked down, sighing in relief that his mother had interjected. “Be right down.” He called back. He looked between the two boys, not thinking twice before he took off down the stairs.

Shanks was rubbing the sleep from his eyes on the back of his shirt, trying to look kept together. He shook his head as he muttered, “I need to clean up.”

“Why don’t I show you to your room on the Red Force where everything of yours is?” Benn questioned.

Shanks eyed him up and down for a second, looking over at Ace for a second. The Omega nudged his shoulder again. “It’s alright.” The red-haired Omega sucked in a deep breath and nodded.

“Yeah, okay.” He agreed.

Rouge reached out, wrapping her arm around his shoulders, moving some of his hair from his face. “It’s good to start getting to know them. They really are good people.” Shanks nodded again, looking back over to Whitebeard.

“Alright, with everyone here, let’s get started.” Whitebeard stated. Shanks looked up, keeping his attention on the yonko. Rouge was still holding onto him. It was comforting. Having her nearby. Having her here in general. He never realized how much he wanted something like this until, well, now. He leaned his head over onto her shoulder, careful of his hat. “First, we need to prioritize the safety of Hawkeyes and Shanks.”

Through the corner of his eye, he could see Mihawk tense, the snarl that came to his face as he hissed out, “I can protect myself.”

Whitebeard’s gaze turned to him, an annoyed look coming to his face, “Brat, you are twenty-one years younger than you should be. You are not nearly as strong as before. After what we just faced in Marineford, you better sit back, shut up, and deal.”

Shanks gave out a nervous laugh. This might not end well.

Mihawk glared at Whitebeard, despite the man’s massive size, Mihawk didn’t look like he was backing down. “I don’t need a babysitter.”

“I fully know your capabilities as a Swordsman. Even at this age, you were already infamous on the Grand Line.” Whitebeard stated, “But we have to consider enemies you have gained over the years.”

Mihawk lifted his head some more, sharpening his glance, “I’ll take them all on. Just like I did before.”

Whitebeard grumbled, reaching up and rubbing a palm over his face, “You must understand with this little situation, we have to be careful that no one discovers the either of you. That means you can’t go bringing attention to yourself. These seas are not the same as they were. The Marines especially will not recognize you and they are the last people who need to know who the two of you are.”

Mihawk grumbled, snarling his teeth, “It sounds like you just want us to stay put as if we are children.”

“In all technicality, I am old enough to be your grandfather, brat.” Whitebeard hissed, leaning down and getting face to face with Mihawk. “Now listen or leave.”

“You can’t tell me what to do.”

“You sound like a child.”

“For the love of Seas!” Shanks snapped, “Shut up! Both of you! Whitebeard-san, we will glad listen to what you think is best. I trust your judgement.” He paused, turning to Mihawk, “Just listen, please. This isn’t ideal but it’s what we have to do.”

Mihawk’s gaze turned from Whitebeard to Shanks, “As if you are one to talk.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Shanks growled.

He hadn’t felt anger off of Mihawk before, more that it was annoyance, now he was catching the angered pheromones. “Do you realize anything that has actually been going on?” Mihawk snapped, “Since the second that Roger died?!”

“Don’t you dare—” Shanks couldn’t even finish his sentence as Mihawk completely turned towards him.

“Hey, quit it!” Ace snapped getting between the two of them. One hand placed on each of their chest’s.

“Calm down, you two. Now is not the time for this.” Rouge stated, also getting between the two of them.

They both had ignored everyone around them, only focused on the other. Shanks was furious. He couldn’t even place exactly why Mihawk was ticking him off so much already. They were just fine the night before. Now, it was like everything was exploding.

"I found you so intoxicated that you were ready to pass out at the bar. Who fucking knows what the hell would have happened to you if I didn’t show up!” Mihawk shouted. Shanks jumped slightly at the raise in Mihawk’s voice. He had never heard him get this loud before. He was always calm and collected. Never this. “I don’t think you’ve had more than fifteen minutes a day sober. I have to sit there and watch you just to make sure that you don’t drink yourself into a coma!”

“I can take care of myself, Hawkeyes!” Shanks screamed back, hearing enough of what Mihawk was saying to him. “It’s not like you have any connection to me other than the fact we have fought each other. I never asked for you to be there! Hell, I told you to leave me the hell alone! You stayed. That is on you. Not me.”

“Who else would make sure that no one got their hands on you?” Mihawk questioned, dropping his voice again, but his face was still just as red.

“I don’t need you to babysit me!” Shanks could feel his anger flaring even more now. It’s not like he ever asked Mihawk to stay with him. “If I wanted someone, I would have been with my mom! I told her to go home! I told her to return back to her family. That wasn’t my life. The Captain had been preparing me and Buggy for the inevitable moment that we would end up having to leave the Oro Jackson, and I was going to keep that promise. I can’t do that if I was with her! I had to stand on my own two feet, Hawkeyes.”

“For fuck’s sake.” Mihawk cursed, shaking his head. “You really aren’t grasping what I am trying to tell you, do you?”

“What I do is none of your business.” Shanks snapped.

“You were so drunk that you never realized that someone swapped out your damn drink!” Shanks recoiled while Mihawk looked like he had never meant to say it. The Omega paused, his mouth dropping open as his eyes widened.

“What?” His voice was barely above a whisper.

Mihawk shook his head, looking down at the deck. “Your drink wasn’t yours.” He stated, looking back up, “When I was walking in, there was this Alpha standing there. I saw him switch out the glasses and instead of freaking you out, I ordered you a water instead. I would rather you be mad about that then realize on possibly the worst day of your life… it could have been worse.” The Alpha paused, stuffing his hands into his pockets, almost like he was fidgeting. “I knew the second I saw you that you were spiraling. That you could have ended up taken advantage of… abducted… or dead.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Shanks questioned, looking around for a moment at everyone. All of them looked just as stunned as he did. “Why keep this a secret from me? That was something that I had a right to know.”

Mihawk’s gaze snapped back to him, sharpening again, “So you could have another mental breakdown?”

The Omega tensed, the air catching in his throat, “How do you know about that?”

“Roger told me.” Mihawk admitted, “I don’t know what led up to it. Just that it happened. That something happened. So, I watched. I watched the way you reacted to people in Loguetown. Omegas and women were the only people you would willingly interact with. I wasn’t positive about it until that night. You didn’t even remember it the next morning.” Mihawk stopped, softening his gaze on Shanks, “You fell asleep curled up in the chair at the inn, then I saw it… your face had this look on it, and I went to wake you. It was like you were so lost in your own mind that you couldn’t differ from what you were dreaming about. You grabbed my Kogatana and held it to my neck. It took over an hour to get you to calm down. Not once did you realize that you were safe. That was until you fell back to sleep.”

Shanks was horrified. He didn’t remember any of this. He raised a hand to cover his mouth as he took a few steps back, his eyes widening, “What?”

“I recognized the symptoms after that.” Mihawk stated. “You were suffering for so long and no one saw it. When I saw what was happening at the bar, and what you were doing to yourself. I… I don’t know why I stepped in, but I did. You were waiting on a boat, so I was going to stay until that moment. Leave for the Grand Line once you felt like you could take on the seas alone.”

Shanks shook his head as the tears came to his eyes. He had been doing so well for over a year. He had stopped having the nightmares. The moments where he would forget everything all together. Only being told what happened after. “I’m… I’m so sorry.”

“That’s why, Red-Hair.” Mihawk stated. “I’ve worried for your safety since the minute I stepped into The Gold Roger Bar. Even now, you are still suffering. You lost the crew that you knew. Your father and Captain. The Alpha and Beta men who you could trust and were left alone. I don’t need protection, but you need someone who understands you.”

Shanks finally looked up again, freezing as all eyes turned to him. He shook his head as he felt like he couldn’t breathe. He paused as he noticed both Ace and Luffy looking at him. Not in sympathy but like they were hurting for him. “What happened to you?” Luffy questioned.

Shanks shook his head, “I can’t.” He muttered, turning on his heel and starting to walk off.

A hand reached out, grabbing his own, “Don’t run from this. No one will force you to talk, but now maybe you understand what I’ve been seeing.” Shanks turned his head to look at Mihawk, stopping at the way that Mihawk looked at him. “I apologize for the way I got angry. I never should have brought this in front of everyone.”

The Omega shook his head. He looked over at Benn, “Did…” He let his sentence trail off for a second, biting down on his lip as he shuffled on his feet, “Did I tell you?”

Benn gave him a smile, “Yeah. You did. One night, you were screaming in your sleep. Begging for Roger.” He explained, “We figured out that you were suffering from PTSD after you explained to me what happened to you. We found Akito not long after that. He helped you a lot, Shanks. You got a lot better. Your stressor for it was… Roger’s death. Before long, you started reacting to a lot of things. It was hard to watch, knowing there wasn’t really anything I could do. Then there was this change in your life that really set everything into place for you. Once you came to terms with everything, you haven’t had an episode since.”

Shanks released the breath that he didn’t realize that he had been holding. He had trusted this man enough with that information. That said a whole lot more than him being just his First Mate. “Sorry to interrupt, but I’ve been listening this entire time.” Shanks looked over, seeing a tall tanned male walking over. The tattoos that directed his hands caught his attention immediately. His pheromones reached his nose first, Omega. His instincts were already immediately telling him that this man was okay. “Shanks-ya, I can help you with that issue you’re having.”

Shanks shared a glance with Mihawk. Without a second thought, he tightened his hand around the Alpha’s. “What do you mean? Who even are you? I never caught your name.”

“My name? Trafalgar Law. My Devil Fruit power is the Ope Ope no Mi and I can help you with those states you keep finding yourself in.”

Chapter Text

“Wait you can actually help him?” Luffy questioned, stepping forward towards Law with wide eyes. The Omega got a soft smile on his face and nodded. “That’s so cool!”

Law sighed, looking back at Shanks, “Of course, I will need to know your brain activity when these events occur, so I can’t help immediately but I can once I know for certain about what we are dealing with.”

Benn also stepped forward, coming up to Shanks’ other side. Reminiscent of how he would normally be standing with Shanks. “I can get Akito to pull all Shanks’ medical records from the early years of the ship. If there’s one thing that Akito made sure of with everyone on the ship was to keep their medical history. Past and present.”

Law nodded, “Good. I’ll need everything I can find over his mental state from back then and the course of treatment that had been used.”

Ace eyed Shanks for the second, seeing the red-haired Omega looking between everyone as he was shaking his head. “I’m fine. I swear. It’s just some nightmares going too far.”

Mihawk’s attention was caught by this as the Alpha rolled his eyes. “You know that’s not the truth.”

Ace sighed. Shanks was always trying to downplay what he was actually going through. Though, the same could be said for himself. He did that too.  “Just accept the help and shut up.”

Shanks looked over at him, blinking for a second. “Someone woke up burnt today.”

Ace huffed, crossing his arms as he pinched at his nose. “No, I’m just surrounded by idiots.”

“I feel like that’s what I should be saying.” Mihawk mumbled.

Ace was about one self-sacrificing statement away from lighting any person who crossed his path on fire. “How ironic.” Marco snickered.

Ace looked over his shoulder, casting Marco a glare, “I will catch you on fire.”

“I’ll just regenerate.” Marco retorted.

The Omega exhaled sharply, glaring as he looked back at Shanks, “Would it make you feel better to finish out the planning first?”

Shanks was shuffling on his feet, placing a shy smile on his face, “I’m fine, really but I really don’t want to interrupt anything.”

“For the love of—” He went to walk forward, being stopped by Marco’s arm catching in place. This brat just happened to be the same brat that was supposed to be his Omega father and Ace already wanted to hit him. Of course, he did.

“Yes, let’s finish the meeting then Law can steal Red-Hair.” Marco interjected. A second later Marco’s voice dropped just enough that Ace could hear him as he whispered, “I see where you get it from.”

“What is that supposed to mean?!” Ace exclaimed as Marco turned to walk away.

“You know exactly what it means, Ace.” The blonde Alpha teased as they rejoined Whitebeard and the others. Ace gave Shanks a soft smile as Shanks came to stand in between him and Rouge. He noticed almost immediately the way he wrapped his arms around himself. Like he was creating a shield between himself and the others.

As the conversation carried on around them, Ace leaned over, getting close enough to the red-haired Omega’s ear that only he should be able to hear him. “Are you okay?”

Shanks eyed him. Peeking through his bangs as he nodded, “Yeah.” He sighed as he leaned a bit closer to Ace as his voice seemed to drop lower. “I guess I didn’t realize how bad it was actually getting.”

“Not surprising, honestly.” Ace replied.

Shanks still looked nervous as Whitebeard continued to go over their course of action. Ace kept his eyes on Shanks almost the entire time. It was so odd seeing Shanks this way. The red-haired Omega always seemed so carefree but, in this moment, he looked like he was ready to run off at any chance that he got. He had no idea what to do. How to help in this situation. This Shanks was different from the one who had years of experience and life lessons under his belt. The Shanks that had given birth to two children and raised them to be what they were today.

He had never heard much about Shanks and Mihawk’s lives after the disbandment of the Roger Pirates or what happened in between. He was told how Shanks found out he was pregnant, but not much else. Well, he supposed he had just never asked about it. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that Shanks never spoke about most of the bad times in his life. Mostly skimming over it.

Ace turned his gaze, seeing Benn looking at him as the First Mate nodded. Giving him a silent reassurance. Shanks had gone through it once, he could overcome it again. This time they had Law. The one person who could probably help most in a medical sense.

Somehow, a smile came to his face at the thought of Mihawk. Mihawk had all but admitted that he was afraid of something happening to Shanks without actually saying it.

As the meeting ended, and more of their nakama were coming out of the cabins, Law walked over, ushering for Shanks to join him in the infirmary. Ace only stood there as he watched Law look over his shoulder and give him a smile, mouthing, “He’ll be okay.” Law paused, looking over to Marco, “Come with me.” This time, his gaze also moved to Mihawk, “I want you to join us as well. I would like to give you a check over.”

Marco looked to Ace, leaning in, and pressing a kiss to his temple before he was following behind the Omega. “He’ll be fine. He’s in good hands, Ace.” Marco added as he walked off.

Ace believed them both.

As they entered the infirmary, Law took a deep breath, looking at the various doctors and nurses who were just lounging around, “Clear the room please.”

They gave him confused looks before Marco was saying, “Don’t worry. Go along.” With Marco’s statement, they all got up from where they were before they were heading out of the room. Law sighed, placing his own belongings down.

“Alright, Hawkeyes-ya, I would like for you to go sit on that bed. Shanks-ya, the other one next to his.” Law instructed. One thing that the Omega Captain had realized the entire time since this all went down was the way that Shanks and Mihawk carried themselves. Mihawk carried himself similar to what he did in the present, but Shanks on the other hand was another story. The red-haired Omega had been keeping his Observation haki going continuously. Even in his sleep. Even if it was mild and just a weaker form. It was enough that Law could sense it. It was no way for someone to be reacting. The only time it felt like he had stopped using it was around Rouge, Buggy, Mihawk, and Ace. Everyone else, it was just as continuous. It was not healthy by no means. Law had studied it in the past. It was even more miraculous that Shanks was even able to do it. Though, with how strong he was, he didn’t necessarily surprise him.

Shanks was running himself rugged doing what he was doing. He could even go as far as to draining himself of so much energy that his body would give out if Law didn’t intervene. Or anyone for that matter did.

He was even more surprised that no one had yet to call him out on it.

From what he could tell, Mihawk didn’t even know he was doing it. It was one thing that he didn’t recall Mihawk mentioning in his rant towards Shanks. Hell, he was more taken back by the fact that Mihawk had gotten angry the way he did. Mihawk always seemed so stoic when it came to certain situations. Possibly because of his years of learning to control his instincts and emotions.

Law held his hand out, watching the way that Mihawk instinctively reached for his back. Stopping just centimeters from grabbing the sword that wasn’t actually on his back. Shanks was eyeing his movements while he whispered, “Room.”

The blue sphere appeared around them all as Shanks looked around in disbelief and excitement. “This is so cool!” For a moment, Law could see Luffy in the red head. A smile came to his face as he walked between the two.

The door opened momentarily as Akito popped in, handing over a file to Marco. Marco took it as Akito gave Shanks a soft smile. “This is his file.” Akito stated.

Marco opened it, reading through the contents. Law would save Shanks for last. Take a look over his file before they actually began.

“Alright, let’s begin.”

Law had started with Mihawk. Starting with a regular physical, going over all the differences between Mihawk’s body now than it was when he was older. There was one major difference that he found. His bond gland. It was completely intact and had no signs that it had been punctured before. The Omega sighed, jotting down a few of the notes as he went. So, it took even the bond from the two when all of this happened.

The more that he went over Mihawk, the more he had come to the conclusion that it wasn’t just a physical and mental change. It was everything.

With his examination of Mihawk completed, he wrote down everything down into his notes before Marco was handing him Shanks’ medical file. He wasn’t going to be surprised be anything he found with Shanks. The most that he found on Mihawk were some bruises and cuts on his back from their fall over the cliff on the island. Otherwise, he was perfectly fine.

With a better understanding, Law closed the file and placed it to the side, standing in front of Shanks. The red head looked uncomfortable. Picking at his nails and looking everywhere but at Law. This one was going to take a different approach.

Law looked through the corner of his eye at the others, “I’m going to request that the three of you leave the room for this one. Until I call you back in, do not enter this room.”

None of them gave objections, but he didn’t miss the way that Mihawk’s hand with to Shanks’ shoulder, forcing the Omega to finally look up. Mihawk gave him a reassuring smile before he was leaving the room. Leaving just Law and Shanks alone.

Law wanted a few moments, keeping them in silence as he watched Shanks slowly starting to relax again. He placed a soft smile on his face as he muttered, “Alright, first we will do a physical exam. That way I can look for any signs between you now and what you are actually supposed to be.” He stated, standing up, “Lay back for me.”

Shanks slipped off the straw hat, placing it on the side table. The Omega Doctor had to thread this carefully. He couldn’t be sure how Shanks would react to him, even if he was an Omega. Shanks trusted no one but a select few on this ship. Law was not one of those people, but he was showing a bit by even allowing Law to do an exam.

He placed his hand over Shanks’ abdomen, feeling the way that Shanks had tensed. Law just muttered reassurances. He continued, moving on to the next step that he was going to take. Much to his original thought, he had found that Shanks’ body had changed. In fact, Shanks’ body showed no signs of ever having children.

He was quick to move through the rest of the examination before he was sitting back down, “Now, for the hard part.” He muttered. Shanks looked at him and nodded, taking in a deep breath. “I need you to tell me everything about what happened to you that night.”

Shanks lost the color in his face for a second before he nodded again, sighing, “Well…”

One thing Ace realized as the time went on was his newfound symptoms. They now seemed to hit at full force, and when they hit, they hit him. He had been perfectly fine until he had caught the aroma of Luffy’s breakfast. His stomach had started to churn, and the rocking of the ship was not helping in the slightest. He was starting to understand why Shanks had decided to get off the sea for both of his pregnancies.

He hated this.

He quietly excused himself, gaining looks from the others. Some knowing and Luffy gave him a puzzled look before Ace all but dashed to the side of the ship, leaning over the edge before he was releasing the contents of his stomach out into the sea.

What he hadn’t expected was to hear the quick footsteps and a hand landing on his upper back. The same hand rubbing soothing circles into his tensed shoulders as he heaved. He moved his head as he felt the wave of nausea passing, settling his head on his forearms as he leaned against them.

A chill went down his spine as he suddenly heard a growl, one that he was familiar with, as he heard Mihawk hiss out, “Go away.” Ace peeked through his bangs, turning his head enough to see that Mihawk had placed himself between him and Marco. Marco raised his hands, showing Mihawk that he meant no harm. Mihawk wasn’t backing down as he growled again, “Get away before I cut you in two.”

Marco looked at Ace and the Omega gave a nod, “It’s okay, Marco.”

The blonde Alpha cast him a soft smile before he was taking a few steps back. Only when Marco finally did get far enough away, Mihawk had stopped growling at him before focusing his attention back on Ace. The younger version of his Alpha father gave him a soft smile as he whispered, “You’re pregnant. Aren’t you?”

Ace nodded, “Yeah, I am.”

Before either of them could say another word, Ace felt it. The wave of Conqueror’s Haki that was starting to emit over the deck. His eyes widened as he noticed the way that Mihawk tensed. Ace knew that haki. Shanks.

The Omega wiped off his mouth, taking off into a sprint without a second thought. Heading straight for the infirmary. He heard the screams next that had his heart pounding. What the hell was going on?

He didn’t go alone as he looked over his shoulder to see Mihawk, Marco, Akito, Luffy, and Rouge coming right along with him. He was the first through the infirmary door, throwing it open to see that Law was barely standing on his feet but his hand pressed to Shanks’ forehead as the Omega screamed out. A scream that was of pure terror.

“Stop!” Shanks screamed. “Please, don’t do this!”

“What the hell are you doing?!” Ace snapped, rushing over as Law raised his other hand.

The Omega paused as he noticed that Law had a bloodied lip and there was a cut over his arm. “What I needed to do.” Law stated, keeping his focus on Shanks. “No one is going to like this, but I need you to pin him down. If he keeps moving, I’ll lose focus.”

“Focus on what?!” Luffy exclaimed, “You’re hurting him!”

“I swear—” Mihawk hissed.

“No, I’m not.” Law muttered, “I’m helping him.”

The conversation on the deck came back to mind as Marco and Akito moved forward. Grabbing at Shanks’ wrists that were flailing around, trying to hit at Law and anything that came near him. “What is happening to him?” Ace questioned.

“He’s dissociating.” Law muttered, “He’s reliving the memory that is the cause of his PTSD. I needed it to happen so I could see the neurotransmitters in his brain actively working so I can go in and stop them from causing him to act in hypervigilance. Shanks-ya is reacting to his trauma with physical force. He can’t tell he’s not actually fighting back against the person who harmed him.” The Omega doctor explained. Shanks’ breathing was erratic. The rise and fall of his chest moving fast that Ace was sure that his heart was racing. He was in an absolute panic.

Ace hated this. Shanks was screaming out, the terror written on his face. Eyes wide and glossed over but looked like he was far away from what was truly happening. The Omega looked at Luffy, nodding as he moved forward to grab at one of Shanks’ legs. Before he could, Mihawk placed a hand on his shoulder, ushering him back, “If he kicks and hits you in the stomach…” His voice trailed off before he added, “Just for your safety.” He had taken the place that Ace was going to as Luffy took the other side by Law.

“I see.” Rouge muttered, moving to Marco’s side, and reaching out to place her hands on either side of Shanks’ face to keep his head in place. “You are trying to counter the parts of his brain that are causing the symptoms.”

Ace hated the fact that he was just standing there. That there was nothing he could do as the others worked. So, this was all to help him. It didn’t feel that way. Seeing Shanks actually terrified. He didn’t even know the full story. He almost didn’t want too. Apparently, whatever Law had done, sent him into this but it needed to be done. He paused as a thought came to mind and he rushed around the bed, going to Law’s other side, and kneeling down by where Shanks’ head was.

Without a second thought, he started singing a song that he recalled that Shanks would sing to him and Luffy or even just out of the blue. Ace felt the smile pull on his face as Shanks focused on him. The haki that he was using starting to lower like he was losing his focus on trying to use it. He thought to what Mihawk had done that morning, reaching out to rub circles into the exposed part of Shanks’ scalp.

He continued as he heard Law mutter, “Keep it up, Freckles-ya. It’s working to calm him down.” Sure enough, Shanks wasn’t struggling anymore even if there was some of that fight still there. The red-haired Omega still looked like he was far away from them, but it was working. “Just a little bit longer.”

It felt like an eternity that they were there before suddenly Shanks stopped moving completely, his eyes drooping as Law exhaled sharply, pulling his hand back.

“There.” He whispered before he was stepping back. Ace watched his movements, the way that Law swayed before Luffy was moving and catching the Omega before he could hit the floor as he fell back. “It should be better now.”

The others started to let go as Shanks’ breathing evened out. His eyes fluttering as that distant look started to fade. A second later, the red-haired Omega’s head lulled to the side and his eyes closed. “Is he… okay?” Luffy questioned.

Law nodded, giving a slight hum. “He will be. He’s just exhausted. He’s been compensating for all of this by continually using his haki as a safeguard. Also, messing with the brain is no easy task on him or me. He’ll probably be asleep for a few hours, but he shouldn’t have any more issues.”

Through the corner of his eye, he could see Mihawk reaching out and grabbing Shanks’ hand. The worried look that was plastered on the Alpha’s face as he looked down at the red head. Ace sighed as he leaned his head against the bed. He hated this. He hated seeing Shanks in so much pain. He could only hope that Law was right, and everything would be better for him now. With each passing second, he was missing the parents he knew more and more.

He would do anything to have them back.

He looked up as he felt the movement against his hand. Noticing the way that Shanks had leaned his cheek against the back of his hand. His eyes were still closed, but it was like he was seeking out the comfort. Ace let the soft smile come to his face.

He had to tell them who they really were to them.

He just didn’t know where to begin at this point.

Chapter Text

It was almost too quiet in the infirmary now. Shanks was unconscious. Rather he was actually unconscious or just asleep, Ace wasn’t sure. He just knew that his heart had been racing. Watching as Law worked. Marco had taken care of the wounds that were on Law. Healing up the cuts and the bruises since they were relatively minor. Law had initially told him that he was fine, but Marco had insisted.

Mihawk had decided to stay within the infirmary. Sitting at Shanks’ bedside. Ace had noticed the mannerisms. They were similar to what he had seen in the past. Just the small subtle moments that Mihawk would show.

Law finally looked like he was getting his bearings back. Taking a moment for a breather as he was sitting on the bed. The others were also still in the room. Rouge was sitting on Shanks’ other side as Luffy sat next to Law. Marco was moving around the room, writing down the last of Law’s notes for him. Ace stood where he was, biting at his nails as he waited.

“So, do you think he’ll be okay?” Luffy questioned.

Law hummed. “The mind is tricky. The brain is so complex, but the neurotransmitters that engage that hypervigilance state should be leveled out now. The only way to know for sure is to well… wake him.” The Omega Doctor sighed, rubbing at the bandage that was over his arm. “It’s needs to be either Marco-ya or Straw Hat-ya to do it. He’s too trusting of the rest of us.”

Marco stepped forward, placing the file down as he moved to stand by Ace. “I’ll do it. My Devil Fruit can counteract whatever he could possibly try and do to me.”

“Just be cautious.” Ace muttered, biting at his nail this time. What if this didn’t work? What if Shanks went through all of that for no reason?

Ace wasn’t even completely sure why he was so nervous as Marco reached out, placing his hand directly on Shanks’ shoulder. He held a bated breath. Waiting. There was no immediate reaction from Shanks as Marco looked over his shoulder at them. So far it seemed like, well, nothing was happening.

Marco shook his shoulder this time, his attention turning back to the Omega. “Red-Hair, c’mon, rise and shine.”

This time it did seem to stir Shanks. Ace’s jaw dropped as he watched as Shanks squeezed his eyes shut for a second before he was rubbing his head and sitting up. Blinking as he looked around. “What happened?”

A smile slipped onto Ace’s face, leaning into Marco’s side for a moment. Luffy was laughing behind him, arms coming to wrap around his shoulders and his chin balancing on Ace’s other shoulder. “It worked, Traffy!”

“Wha—” Shanks paused, looking around, “I didn’t… I didn’t lash out?”

Mihawk shook his head, smiling softly as he leaned forward, “No you didn’t.”

Shanks laughed in disbelief, running his hands through his hair before he was reaching over for his straw hat and placing it back on his head. He looked to Law, “Thank you.”

“It’s no problem.” Law muttered, “I’m glad I was able to help.”

Shanks suddenly stood up, swaying on his feet slightly as Mihawk stood up to balance him. “Take it easy. You just literally had your brain messed with.”

“I’m fine.” Shanks shot back. “Just… the world is spinning.”

Luffy was laughing, rushing back up to his feet while almost knocking Ace clear over as he got in front of Luffy. “I can hug you now!” He exclaimed, arms wrapping around Shanks and pulling him off of the ground. Shanks made a shocked sound and Luffy just laughed, nuzzling his nose against Shanks’ neck. Shanks was blinking, looking over to Mihawk and mouthing help me.

“Okay, Captain Luffy.” Mihawk said, “Just because he’s not lashing out in his sleep doesn’t mean he’s completely comfortable with people just randomly touching him.”

Luffy blinked at Mihawk, tilting his head, “We’re family though.”

Ace chuckled, leaning his chin on his palm. Mihawk just sighed in defeat, shaking his head as he mumbled to himself. “Say since the chaos is over, why don’t we go get some food.” Marco stated.

That had immediately gotten Luffy’s attention as he dropped Shanks back onto his feet and all but bolted to the door. Ace pushed himself up, following behind. He was starving. He needed food.

At least, it worked.

As far as they knew.

Shanks was beyond surprised. It had been a long time since he had been able to be woken up by touch. It felt nice that it was actually able to happen. Whatever Law had done, it had done wonders on him. He was sure he would see more of the effects later when he actually went to sleep but he felt calmer. Safer.

He had followed Marco and Law into the dining hall where food was already being served by Thatch and the Fourth Division. The thought had crossed his mind about what Benn had said to him. He was ready to actually try being on his own ship for a while. Maybe, he could actually do this now. Maybe he would have Luffy take him over there or when they stopped the ships again, he could go across. He had to do it at some point. It was better to start quickly now that he actually thought more about it.

He wasn’t very hungry as he heard Luffy and Ace’s voices carrying through the hall, until suddenly their voices dropped.

What he didn’t get was that song that Ace had sang to him. He knew exactly where it had came from. It was a song that Roger used to sing to him when he was little. Shanks had eventually learned it. What he did know was Rouge didn’t know it. He knew that for a fact. Unless Rouge knew the language now. It was a song that had originated from the West Blue. Rouge didn’t know the language of that sea as far as he knew. Even back when he was little little. Especially the one specific song that always seemed to calm his nerves. He had no idea how he would know that unless if Roger told her, but that didn’t seem like the case.

It was confusing.

Rouge never mentioned it. She had a beautiful singing voice, but she often sang to him in the language of the East Blue. She enjoyed music from the South Blue too, but he had known the universal and East Blue language long before he learned the West, North, South, and Grand Line languages. Many places had their own languages but almost all of them used the universal one. It almost wasn’t needed to use a native tongue unless you lived there.

It could all just be in his head, but he was positive that it wasn’t a song that Rouge would normally sing. She was always very proud to use the East Blue. She even told him that they were her favorite. Despite being born in the East Blue, the West Blue had been where Roger’s mother was born so he would sing the songs that his mother would sing to him. It seemed more fitting that it was Roger not Rouge. How would Ace possibly know that specific song if he wasn’t even born until after Roger’s death. There could be the chance that Shanks had told him. He just wasn’t sure.

Part of him was wondering if he had just hallucinated it in his dissociative state. He had been experiencing an episode of PTSD when Ace sang to him. In his mind, he had seen Roger. Maybe, he just mixed it up.  

He had sat down at the table that Ace, Luffy, and Rouge had decided to sit at. He didn’t get himself much since his stomach was doing flips at the moment, but he did still need to eat something. He sighed, picking at his food as he listened in on the conversation that Luffy and Ace were carrying. He wasn’t even sure what they were talking about. Ace was trying to keep a low whisper, but Luffy’s voice kept getting louder and louder.

His mind had drifted off at one point, hearing Roger’s voice in his ears. He bit down on his lip. He wasn’t even sure how to bring it up. He already has suspicions, but maybe Ace really was Roger’s son and Shanks just taught him it. He didn’t know.

“Ace, what was that song you sang?” Rouge questioned. “That sounded familiar.”

That had immediately pulled Shanks from his thoughts as Ace turned to look at him. That absolutely told him that Rouge definitely didn’t know it. Ace gave a soft smile, leaning his chin on his palm. “Just a song that used to be sang to me.” He rattled off the name of the song and sure enough, it was the same song. He hadn’t just been making it up in his head.

Shanks was confused now. Roger was dead. Wouldn’t Rouge be the one that would sing to him?

He looked at Ace, seeing that fond smile still there. Even Luffy had one. “It’s one of my favorites.” Luffy added.

Wait, Luffy too?

Shanks hummed. Pushing himself up and heading for the outdoors. He needed some fresh air. He was tired of being inside.

Luffy had watched Shanks leave, sighing as he leaned back. “What’s his problem?”

Ace gave him a look, “He just got his brain messed with?” The Omega shot back.

Luffy grumbled, clearing the last bit of food off of his plate. “He seemed fine.” The Alpha exhaled sharply, folding his arms on the table, and placing his chin on them. “I miss him. Do you think if we told him he was our Dad that he would hug me again?” Luffy loved Shanks’ hugs. They were always safe and warm. It felt like something he needed at the moment. He still felt the guilt going through him from causing all of this in the first place, but it was just a new adventure for them.

Though, he hated some of the things that he had been learning. He never knew just how much Shanks truly went through. He almost wished that he had never found out about it in the first place. But Law had helped him. There was a bright side to it all. Maybe it would help them fix this quicker.

Part of him also wondered if just telling Shanks and Mihawk about them if it would also work to put this back into place. This was supposed to be about fate. Wasn’t it fate that Ace and Luffy had been born? Like everything that had happened had fallen into place. That there was more to this.

“I do too.” Ace whispered. “Right now… I don’t think Mom really wants to hug anyone. I don’t think it would help if we told him who we are. We are just strangers to him.”

Luffy grumbled. Ace had a point. Shanks was back to before he was pregnant with Ace. Why couldn’t they had been reverted back after Luffy was born? The Alpha huffed, turning, and facing where his crew had taken up spots. They would be going back over to the Thousand Sunny soon after eating.

“Luffy, you do have to understand, that their mindsets aren’t the same. They are not the same Shanks and Hawkeyes that you know.” Robin said, her voice soft and soothing as she looked at her Captain.

Robin was right. He knew it. He just wanted his parents back. He guessed even if they told them that it wouldn’t be much help. “We can tell them. I’m just not sure how to at this point.” Ace stated, turning in his seat now to look at Luffy. Giving his brother a soft smile. “We can tell them together and I promise I won’t cover your mouth this time.”

Luffy grinned, laughing as he nodded. “Let’s do it!”

“I think it needs to be done in private though.” Ace muttered, “Maybe Mom’s room on the Red Force. He was wanting to go over there. I think he will be later today.”

Luffy tilted his head. “And you’re sure of that?”

Ace nodded. “Yeah.”

“Just don’t panic again, Ace.” Luffy snickered, “That’s completely unlike you.” Ace grumbled, reaching his arm out and wrapping it around Luffy’s head and pulling his head down so he could scrape his knuckles over the top of the Alpha’s head. “Ace! Ouch! That hurts!” Ace chuckled as he let his head go.

Luffy reached up, almost subconsciously going for his hat before he stopped, remembering that he had given the straw hat back. It felt so odd to him. Like he was breaking his promise. Though that promise didn’t necessarily exist if Shanks didn’t remember it. He sighed, leaning back into the table again.

“You really are just sighing away today, huh, Luffy?” Rouge snickered.

“Gran, this sucks.” Luffy grumbled.

“Well, just see it as another adventure. Maybe, you’ll learn more than you realize about why your parents are the way they are.” Rouge stated. Luffy sat up, turning to face Rouge completely. Rouge was smiling at him still, her food already finished. “You always used to get so angry with Shanks whenever he would tease you. Honestly, Roger used to do the same to him. My Dad too. He saw something in you. I’m sure he will see it again if he hasn’t already.”

Luffy tilted his head. What was Rouge going on about? “Gran?”

“Luffy, you are a lot more like Roger than you think. Mihawk too. Before you know it, we will have our Shanks and Mihawk back. Maybe we can even laugh about this later.” Rouge stated. “Shanks also saw himself in you, so I think you two would really get along like this. Be friends even if you weren’t family. I’m sure he would tell you a bit more stories about his time with the Roger Pirates if you asked him.”

Ace even looked intrigued. There were a lot of things that Shanks kept from them growing up. Shanks was now their age. Well, close to it. He would probably relate to them a bit more than he did before.

Luffy grinned. He never thought about it that way.

“Hey, Ace, do you think—”

“We are not playing one of your games, Luffy. You’ll kill us all.” Ace immediately said.

Luffy pouted a second later. “I liked you better when we stayed on Dawn Island.” Ace chuckled as he stood up. Grabbing his dishes and the one that Shanks had left behind. Luffy noticed the way that Shanks didn’t actually touch his food at all. That was odd. Was Shanks actually okay now? He pushed himself up, stretching for a second before he was heading outside.

Lunch was over and everyone was back out on the deck. Starting to head back to their own ships or just doing some daily tasks while they were conversing among one another. Mihawk had taken to staying away from them for now. He wanted to know more about them. Get any more information that he could get. If they weren’t going to tell him anything, he was going to find out on his own through observation. Behavior was very telling about people. It’s how he figured Shanks out originally. It would do him good here.

Mihawk always prided himself in his observation skills. It was always the thing that he relied on when he needed more information. Ace wasn’t forthcoming with them. He always seemed panicked when certain topics were brought up. Gaging the reactions of the others, they weren’t used to Ace acting in that particular way. Mihawk didn’t truly know anything about Ace to make a proper deduction about his personality, but he had a pretty good idea. The more time he spent with both Ace and Luffy. Luffy’s personality was pretty clear to him. He also noticed the way he also seemed to say whatever came to mind. Luffy would probably be the best person to get information from. He didn’t seem like he would be a good liar. Ace, on the other hand, probably had him beat in that department.

He had been watching during the course of Law’s treatment over Shanks. The way that Ace reacted. It didn’t seem all that brotherly. If Ace and Shanks were supposed to be brothers. Maybe it could be summed down to the maternal instincts that were probably flooding through Ace with the pregnancy. Pregnancy did strange things to Omega instincts. It rose more questions for him. If he didn’t know any better, he would say it would be how a parent would react to their child. He wanted to write it off as just an expectant parent. That answer didn’t feel right.

Shanks had long since been released from the infirmary and was back out on the deck. Law had been exceptional in his actions. He had taken a risk, but it had paid off. Mihawk was becoming more and more impressed with the pirates that he was meeting.

He was on the second story deck of the Moby Dick, looking down at the working pirates. Ace was among them, talking to a few of his nakama. Mihawk frowned, keeping his eyes locked to the Omega. There were these small things. He could see it. He had noticed one before with Ace picking at his nails in the infirmary. That was something Shanks always did when he was either bored or anxious about something. Now, he was seeing something else. It was so subtle, but it was the way that Ace carried himself. He had noticed it whenever one of the Hearts Pirates would pass by. Ace was laid back, calm even with the Whitebeard Pirates. Red Hair Pirates would pass him, and it was the same thing, but the second a Hearts Pirate aside from Law came up next to him, his guard was almost instantly up. The way that he would look through the side of his eye.

He wanted to write it off as Ace being comfortable around certain people, but not knowing the others. That felt exactly right, but he had seen this exact thing before with Shanks and the Roger Pirates. Shanks was still doing it. Shanks had finally started speaking with his own nakama now. Taking turns speaking with them, but his guard was up. He would only relax around Rouge, Law, Ace, and Whitebeard. It was almost like he was watching doubles.

The final part was the way that both always seemed to reach up and either play with their hair or touch at their cheek. Like they were trying to play it off with a simple action.

The two were mirroring each other too much in his opinion. He had never noticed any of these things with Rouge. He hummed, pushing against the rail, and pulling himself over. Dropping down to the deck before heading to where Shanks and Ace were. The two weren’t far from each other. Ace never would have met Roger from what he was able to find out about his age, but there was also Rouge’s conversation with Shanks when this first happened to them. Rouge only referred to Shanks as her son the entire time.

Both radiated a strong cherry blossom scent that almost masked their second scent factor. It was a Portgas trait. One that was shared with Rouge. It was how Shanks had figured out he was related to both Ace and Luffy. Luffy had that same primary scent factor, but he had more of a woodsy type of scent. Like an entire cherry blossom tree. Wood and all. It was like a forest. Which reminded him of Dragon’s scent that he had caught back at the island. However, Dragon didn’t have a wood scent factor. It was common for children to inherit at least one scent factor from each parent.

Dragon had the same cherry blossom scent, but it was masked by the sage scent. Luffy was definitely a Portgas with the shared cherry blossom but his secondary and seemed to be more powerful, scent did not line up with Dragon. His guess would be his other parent.

He hadn’t had the chance to fully pick up on Ace’s other scent factor. Like it was overpowered by the floral. What he could tell was when he did manage to catch it, it was fruity and spicy. Like a wine. Which was odd to him. If he recalled correctly, Roger’s scent was strawberries and coffee beans. He had always smelt like freshly made coffee to him. That was far from the tangy fruit smell. He still had a fruit scent, but it just wasn’t matching up. There were always chances that a child could inherit a different scent from a relative such as a grandparent, but it was uncommon. It was even more rare that they had a totally unique one.

It just wasn’t adding up. With the addition of Ace’s own behavior.

He paused his movements as he got up to Shanks as the Omega turned to look at him. A hand on his hip and a tilt of his head to look up at him. He sniffed slightly, taking the moment to pick up Shanks’ scent. Like Ace, it was more cherry blossom than strawberry. He had caught Rouge’s completely the night before. Her cherry blossom scent was strong, but it was evened out with her other scent. Vanilla.

There was another thing that was bugging him. When Shanks had been asking them questions before, Ace almost seemed to be complicit with the way that Shanks lead the conversation. Almost like he was saying whatever he could to agree without actually answering. The answers didn’t sound sincere. More like they were off the the top of his head. He remembered seeing Rouge’s amused reaction.

There was a lot more than what Ace was caring to tell them, and Luffy had been trying but the Omega had been stopping him with each and every chance that he got.

He wanted to ask Shanks to step to the side with him, ask him if he had noticed the small things he had. Shanks was already questioning Ace’s paternity, so was there that chance? He wasn’t able to get the words out as his eyes settled on the golden chains around Shanks’ neck. There were two of them. One he recognized. The one that was given to him by his mother. Rouge’s own necklace that had been gifted to her from Roger that had the hibiscus flower engraved on it. The other was a cherry blossom with an aquamarine gemstone directly in the center of the engraving. Which happened to be Shanks’ birthstone. This one was specifically catered to him.

Shanks was wearing two. Those pendants were always handcrafted and made unique. Courting necklaces were made with a specific type of gold to differ them from others. They also had another specific characteristic. The top of the pendant’s loop was in the formation of an infinity symbol that connected to the chain and the clasp usually a heart. He saw those characteristics on both necklaces.

His heart had practically stopped when he had seen it. Shanks did not have that in Loguetown. He reached forward without a thought. Bringing the second one into his hand. “Hawkeyes?” Shanks questioned, his face flaring for a moment. Mihawk ignored him as he inspected the necklace. It was one. The quality was high. The gemstone was real and finely cut.

“You were being courted or already had a mate.” Mihawk stated.

Shanks pulled back, looking down at the pendant in Mihawk’s hand. “Wait, what?”

Mihawk hated the fact that he was actually glaring at it. Shanks was with someone in the future. He grumbled, dropping as he stepped back and crossed his arms. “Have something you need to tell me?”

Shanks looked appalled as he gasped, lifting his hands up. “Wait, Hawkeyes?! I’m literally—dude, I’m supposed to be twenty-two years older, you expect me to stay a virgin forever?!”

He heard the chuckles around him as some of the others quietly excused themselves to back away. Mihawk looked away, placing a hand on the back of his neck. He didn’t exactly think about that. He wasn’t even sure why he hated the idea that Shanks had found someone. Though, the Omega deserved someone who would treasure him. Shanks was by a far one of the best people that Mihawk had the pleasure of meeting.

“True but still.” Mihawk mumbled.

Shanks paused, eyeing him for a second before a smirk came to his face, “Hold on. Are you jealous?”

Mihawk snapped his head back into the direction of Shanks, face flushing slightly as he shook his head. “Of course not!”

The Omega gave a laugh of disbelief, “Oh my God. You are.”

He sighed, looking back at Shanks. Why did he hate this idea so much? “No, I am not.” It did give him a curiosity of who Shanks had said yes too. He wasn’t wearing a ring at all, but if he had, he was almost positive it would have fallen off. He didn’t seem to have an indication of who it could possibly be on it either. Which was an annoyance.

For a moment, Benn Beckman flashed in his mind. The Alpha that was Shanks’ First Mate and also had confirmed Shanks had told him pretty much everything. Benn reacted much like a mate would. Was it Benn? He knew for a fact it couldn’t be Buggy. That idea just felt off. Shanks saw Buggy as a brother, even saying as much. He doubted that Shanks would ever agree to being courted by him. But it didn’t mean that it wasn’t possible. They weren’t related by blood and Shanks was back in his mindset of when he was fifteen. There could be a chance that things changed. Though with Buggy’s reactions, he did doubt it completely. Benn seemed like the best option.

Also, why did he suddenly have the urge to punch Benn in the face? Benn obviously cared for Shanks and his wellbeing.

He was not liking this.

He dropped the pendant, grumbling to himself as he backed away by a few steps. “You can do whatever you please, it’s not like I care about any of it. It’s trivial.”

The Omega just laughed, shaking his head as he reached up for the pendants. “As if.” He paused, looking down. Grabbing the hibiscus one. “That reminds me.” He looked around Mihawk, a grin coming to his face as he reached up and unclasped the hibiscus pendant. “Mom!”

Shanks side stepped around him, moving to rush over to Rouge with the pendant now in his hand. He stopped with a smile on his face, holding it out to her, “Shanks?” She questioned.

“I want you to have it back.” Shanks said. “It belongs with you. With Dad gone, this needs to be with you. Not me.”

Rouge smiled, shaking her head. “I gave it to you, Shanks. My promise for you to know I’m always with you.”

The Omega boy smiled, looking at it for a moment. “I always knew. It never mattered where we were.” He paused, moving around Rouge, and pulling himself up onto the crate behind her to getting height on himself before he was reaching around her and pulling the pendant around her neck before clasping it again. “I may have needed this as a kid, but I don’t anymore. All I have to do is look up at the sky and I’ll know that somewhere, you see the same thing I do. I was never truly alone.”

Rouge was smiling as she touched the pendant with her fingertips before she was turning and facing Shanks, wrapping her arms around her son. “How much you’ve grown. Even now.” Shanks relaxed into it, grinning as he leaned into her. Mihawk couldn’t help the smile that pulled onto his face.

Seeing the two interact brought his mind back to Ace and Luffy. More specifically, Ace. He looked away from Shanks and Rouge, eyeing Ace who was watching the two of them with a soft smile on his face. The three boys were whispering to each other, voices low that even Mihawk couldn’t pick up on it.

He hummed, looking back to Shanks. The more he looked between Rouge, Shanks, and Ace he noticed the small details between them all. They all had freckles – even if Shanks weren’t as noticeable with his more olive skin tone – their hair types were all wavy. Shanks’ hair more resembled Rouge’s hair. Which had the reddish, pink tint to the blonde of her hair making it appear more of a pastel rose color. While Ace had pitch black hair. The only two that shared an eye color were Shanks and Ace with the stormy color that remained Mihawk of the clouds of a thunderstorm just before the downpour of rain would begin while Rouge’s were a reddish wine.

Aside from some differences, their appearances were almost like a copy and paste of each other. The more he thought about it, the more he was coming to the realization. Rouge seemed amused when Ace agreed with Shanks about being Rouge’s son. He sang the lullaby that only Shanks knew in the infirmary that Roger used to sing to him when he was younger apparently.

Mihawk’s eyes widened.

It clicked.

Ace was related to Shanks. Just not in the way that they thought. It fit too perfectly. Ace’s age didn’t line up with Rouge and Roger unless Rouge could pull off some sort of miracle. He didn’t carry a scent factor from Roger but had one from Rouge. He looked almost identical to Shanks. The lullaby. Ace’s behavior. The worry for Shanks. It all made sense now.

He was Shanks’ son.  

Chapter Text

It had been a few weeks since that day. Shanks had been doing much better than he had been when this first happened to the two. Ace could watch with a smile on his face as Shanks intergraded almost easier into the crews. Spending more time with the Red Hair Pirates now. Ace and Luffy had gone into telling Shanks and Mihawk stories of their childhood, keeping them anonymous as they did so. Ace still wasn’t sure how they would react, but he had been getting glances from Mihawk. The way that Mihawk was being almost calculating.

It had been happening more frequently. Within the month, they would be at the next island, and they would finally be able to stretch their legs.

He had noticed something about Shanks too. Despite looking happier and communicating more with everyone, he was still on edge. He did notice, however, was the spike in his scent. His pheromones starting to flare. Buggy had almost locked himself to Shanks’ side. Like he knew what was going. It was easy enough for Ace to guess.

Shanks was in preheat. It matched up with his timeline anywhere. Based off of when Roger died and how Shanks’ heats were. They were almost always exactly on point. Ace did not envy him in the slightest. Even if he almost disliked the prospect of pregnancy.

One thing he had noticed immediately with Mihawk was the way he seemed to be sulking. It was the weirdest thing to him watching it. Marco had been the first to point it out. Noticing it almost immediately after Mihawk had seen the courting necklace around Shanks’ neck. Shanks didn’t talk about it. Showing almost no curiosity to who actually gave it to him.

“So, like are we going to tell them yet?” Luffy questioned.

“I… don’t know.” Ace whispered, watching the back and forth between Shanks and Mihawk. Mihawk was pulling away from Shanks. Like he was giving him distance. In the beginning, they were almost inseparable. Now, it was painstaking to get them to even sit together. “Would it help?” Ace had the slight fear that it would make Mihawk drift even further away.

“Is it just me or does Mihawk-san look jealous?” Sabo added, almost just as dumbfounded as Luffy and Ace were.

“Oh, he absolutely is.” Marco suddenly interjected, coming up behind Ace and wrapping his arms around the Omega’s shoulders. “He hasn’t stopped glaring at any Alpha that comes near Red-Hair now.”

Ace groaned. Fucking great.

“I don’t know how we are supposed to fix that.” Ace grumbled.

“Tell them you are their kids, and he’ll stop being a moron.” Marco snickered, ruffling at Ace’s hair that immediately at the Omega swatting at his hands.

Ever since he had made the revelation, he had started noticing more and more similarities between Ace and Shanks within the way that they acted. Mannerisms. Features. It was obvious now more that he actually looked. He could almost feel the anger coursing through him at the thought that Shanks had a baby with someone.

He hated that he felt that anger. He didn’t understand it. Shanks had every right to be with anyone or have kids with anyone that he wanted to. It wasn’t like they were together. It wasn’t like that he liked Shanks in that way. He was just a rival that he had to make sure lived to fight him.

Mihawk sighed, shaking his head. He needed to get the thought out of his mind. He paused as he felt arms wrap around his shoulders and the familiar scent that filled his nose. He blinked as he looked over his shoulder, seeing Shanks leaning his head against him, arms wrapped loosely off of his shoulders. “You’re lost in thought.” Shanks muttered. It shocked him even more that Shanks was even initiating contact. He was never the first one to do so. It was always him.

“You look like you’re doing better.” Mihawk hummed, turning his gaze to look back out to the sea.

“I am actually.” Shanks replied. “I haven’t been having as much nightmares. It feels nice to actually get some sleep where I don’t feel like I’m about to… I dunno, attack.”

Mihawk smiled. “Looks like you don’t need me anymore.” It was a joke, but Shanks pulled away giving him a look. “What?”

“You really think I’m only spending time with you… cause I need you?”

Mihawk turned to see the confused but amused look on Shanks’ face. “Well, you needed someone.” The Alpha replied.

“Perhaps.” Shanks shrugged. “No one is out on these seas to be alone.” There was something about those words that made Mihawk stop. Mihawk was used to being alone. Preferred it even. Yet somehow those words struck something in him. “You know… I know this world isn’t equal or fair, but I can do what I please.” A smile came to his face as he leaned his chin on Mihawk’s shoulder. “And that means I’m going to spend time with you because I want too. I don’t need too.”

Mihawk actually didn’t know what to say as he felt the flush coming to his face. The heat rising on his skin as he placed a hand on the back of his neck and looked away. “Don’t say such things.”

The Omega snickered as he got up and for a moment, Mihawk missed the warmth of his skin. The Alpha pushed the feeling to the side as he sighed. Shanks was giving him a look as he stood up, stretching his arms. Mihawk almost hated the fact that his eyes immediately went to the sliver of skin that appeared as Shanks’ shirt rode up. He wanted to tell him his deductions, but he didn’t even know if they were fully the truth yet. He wanted to speak with Ace and question him. If he had the jumbled reaction like he’s had, he would probably take it as he was correct.

Mihawk shook his head, looking away again. “You seem… happier.”

“Of course, I am!” Shanks exclaimed, grinning as he looked down at Mihawk where the Alpha had remained sitting. “You’re here.”

The Alpha had been standing up just as Shanks had said those words. They had thrown him completely off balance as his face flared red and he tripped over his own feet. Crashing right into Shanks. The two tumbled down, hitting the floor as Mihawk caught himself on his forearms. His eyes widening when he realized how close to Shanks he actually was now.

Shanks had made an audible intake of air as he looked up at Mihawk before he was cracking up. “Aren’t you the person supposed to be sweeping someone off of their feet?”

Mihawk gritted his teeth for a second before he paused, taking in the way that Shanks looked. The soft smile on his face. His hair falling around his face and onto the deck. What he noticed immediately was the way that Shanks didn’t even flinch to the movement. He froze as Shanks reached up, the tips of his fingers moving over the curve of his jaw. “You wouldn’t want to be caught doing that.”

“Says who?” Shanks muttered.

Mihawk rolled his eyes, having to push away any feeling that he had. Shanks had a mate in the future. It was obvious to him now. “Well, whoever that necklace came from he stated as he pushed himself up.

Shanks snickered for a moment as Mihawk reached out, giving the Omega a hand up. “Maybe, it’s you.”

The Alpha didn’t even want to fathom the idea. He made a noise as he let go of Shanks’ hand and crossed his arms. “I don’t want a mate, so I doubt it’s me.”

Without another word, Mihawk turned and started to walk away. Leaving Shanks standing there.

Sabo had accidentally stumbled across them. Stopping in his tracks and keeping himself out of sight as he watched the entire interaction happen before his eyes. One thing he knew for positive was those two were absolutely in love with each other but too oblivious to see that it was reciprocated. He had been wanting to smack himself in the forehead the entire time that he was sitting there.

At this point, he didn’t even think Ace and Luffy confessing would help these idiots.

He sighed as he walked forward as Shanks pouted in Mihawk’s direction and sat down. The red-haired Omega looked up at him. Giving him a grin. “You’re Sabo, right?”

Sabo nodded, taking a seat next to him. “I don’t mean to sound weird here, but that was an awkward interaction.”

Shanks gave a nervous laugh. “Yeah, you could say that.”

Sabo sat there for a moment, watching Shanks’ reaction. The way that he was messing with the necklace around his neck. For a moment, he wondered what was going through the Omega’s head. From all the years he had learned to observe people, watch their actions, it was clear Shanks was nervous. Unsure even. “Shanks-san—”

“If I apparently have a mate, where are they?” Shanks questioned, looking over to Sabo before he stopped and laughed nervously. “Never mind. I, um… I have to go speak with someone.”

As Shanks went to get up, Sabo hummed. “They might be closer than you think.”

The Omega eyed him for a second, looking uncertain before he gave a smile and waved. “Thanks, Sabo.”

Sabo watched him walk away. Was Shanks always like this or was he just imagining stuff all this time? He didn’t want to be the one who told Shanks and Mihawk. It wasn’t his place. That right was reserved for Ace and Luffy. Sabo may view them as parental figures, but it had been so long since he had seen them and his bond with Dragon changed everything. He smiled. He could at least do one thing to help give that push. As Shanks was walking away, he called out, “The gemstone is what was for your mate.”

Shanks turned to look back at him, “It’s my gemstone?”

“You both were born in March.” With that, he got up and walked in the opposite direction. Shanks was smart. He would figure it out. Maybe. They were kind of proving that even giving hints didn’t always work.

He had been watching for a few weeks ever since he had figured out that Ace had to be Shanks’ son and the Omega’s courting necklace. He almost hated the fact that he was looking around at the pirates for any sign of who it could possibly be. Who Shanks’ mate possibly was. The only conclusion he could possibly come to was Benn Beckman but at the same time, that didn’t feel right.

He started thinking about.

In his opinion, way too much.

Why did this aggravate him so much?

It wasn’t like he was—no he didn’t want to think like that. He could never risk anything like that. He frowned as he looked down at the deck. Shanks was back on the deck now. He could smell his scent. It was getting stronger. Starting to weaver at times. Even pheromones were starting to linger. No one batted an eye to it.

The Whitebeard Pirate Commander, the cook if Mihawk recalled correctly, Thatch walked up to Shanks with a bowl of food. He tilted his head as he watched the two exchange words. Looking awfully comfortable with each other. Mihawk hummed. If he remembered correctly, Shanks would have already known him.

His gaze narrowed without a second thought as he watched Ace walk over and Thatch had immediately thrown his arm over Ace’s shoulder. The three were laughing together for a moment as Mihawk came to the realization of what was in the bowl. Kimchi fried rice. He had discovered quickly that it was one of Shanks’ favorite foods. He dug his nails into his jacket as he saw Thatch pull chocolate out of his pocket and handed it over to Shanks.

He grunted, making a tsking sound as he turned and pushed off the rail. He couldn’t watch anymore. He paused as the movement out of the corner of his eye showed that Ace had walked away from the others. He eyed him for a second. He was going to get some more answers. He moved over to the steps that would connect exactly to where Ace’s pathing was going.

He had cut off the Omega before he had a chance to see him, grabbing his arm and dragging him to the nearest door before shoving him instead and closing the door behind him. Using his body to block it so Ace couldn’t run off from him. The room had no other exits. If Ace wouldn’t stick around long enough to give him an answer, he was going to force it out of him.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Ace exclaimed. “I could have burned the shit out of you.”

“As if.” Mihawk retorted, he wasn’t exactly sure what Ace meant by that, but he was too focused on his task at hand.

“What do you want?” Ace questioned next, getting a scowl on his face as he crossed his arms. “I have stuff I have to go do.”

“You are going to answer me, and there isn’t no time for bullshit. You’ve been on edge the entire time since we left that island.” Mihawk stated. “You keep covering Captain Luffy’s mouth any time he tries to speak, and you give some random answer. You’re hiding something.”

Ace rolled his eyes, shaking his head, “I’m a pirate.”

“If Red Hair is supposed to be your family, why are you lying to him?” Ace looked panicked and shocked at the question. Like a thousand things were going through his head in that second. “I figured it out, Commander Ace. You aren’t his brother.”

“Pa—”

“How long do you think you could hide it? Commander Rouge looked shocked when you said you were her son.” Mihawk went on. “That song you sang him was one only Gol D. Roger and Shanks knew about. The only way you would have known it is if you learned it directly from Red-Hair. Besides, your scent doesn’t match up with Roger’s either. He had a strong strawberry scent that was masked by coffee bean. You have more berries. Like a bowl of them are mixed up. You look like Rouge but so does he.” Ace looked more and more nervous as he threw out each point. It only seemed to be confirming it. “The way you’ve been acting isn’t like a brother would.”

“And you would know how brothers act?” Ace questioned, his eyebrow shooting up.

Mihawk gritted his teeth, his nails digging into his shirt. “You’re deflecting.” He shot back. “You’re not his brother. You’re his son.”

Ace froze completely as his eyes widened. Just the way that he seemed like he had been caught in the act of something was enough to tell Mihawk that he was in fact right about his assumption. “I don—”

“Stop lying.” Mihawk snapped. “What are you trying to do here by lying about something lie this? It can’t be good on you either to have to call him by name.”

Ace sighed, looking down for a moment. For just a split second, Mihawk actually felt bad over cornering Ace about this. It was the only way to get answers though. The only way to get it out of him. “It’s just… better this way.” Mihawk rolled his eyes, side stepping to allow Ace to leave. “Just… don’t tell him.”

“I can’t make any promises to you.” Mihawk replied just as Ace walked out of the room, leaving him completely alone now.

What was it about this conversation that had Mihawk on edge?

Shanks could feel the heat crawling under his skin. The fatigue that was closely following. He hadn’t realized he was so close to his heat already. He hated it. They were always harsh on him. He hated them honestly. At least this time, he could maybe get through one without being plagued with the constant nightmares.

He reached up, grabbing at his necklace. Sabo’s words ringing through his ears. He was curious on what he meant by it, but at the moment he didn’t have a choice by to push it to the side.

“You reek.” Shanks blinked, looking over his shoulder to where Luffy was approaching with some of the Strawhats. Sanji, Zoro, and Robin if he remembered correctly. Sanji’s eyebrow twitched as he landed a fist on the top of the Alpha’s head.

“You can’t just say shit like that.” Sanji hissed.

Luffy grimaced, rubbing at his head for a second as he looked back at Sanji. “I didn’t mean it in a bad way.”

“You’re just an idiot.” Sanji grumbled. “You still don’t say things like that.”

“It’s not like I haven’t said it to him before!” Luffy snapped. Shanks narrowed his eyes as his words reached his ears. What did Luffy mean by that? The Alpha sighed, smiling as he said, “Your room is scent proof if you’d feel more comfortable there. You also have stuff in there I think to help.”

Shanks hummed and nodded. “Thanks, I suppose.” He muttered. How would Luffy know that? He shook his head as he took a few steps back.

Luffy had given him a soft smile, a tilt of his head as he questioned, “How are you feeling lately?”

The Omega had returned the smile. Luffy was very blunt from what he could tell. Also ended up flipping conversations quickly. At least they were moving onto something else. “Much better with Law-san’s help.” He stated, “Nothing has happened, so I call it a job well done.”

Luffy was chuckling as he grinned, but Shanks didn’t miss the look that came onto the Alpha’s face. Like he was smitten with the idea of Law just being brought up. Now that he thought about it, those two looked rather intimate. It also didn’t appear like they were together either. “You like him.”

Luffy looked at him, eyes wide as he shook his head, “Of course, I do! He did a lot of cool things! Saved my friends!”

Shanks smirked, snickering as he took a few steps forward with a hand on his hip. “No, you like like him.” He leaned in slightly, noticing the way that Luffy looked nervous. Biting on his lip and refusing to look at him. “No worries, I won’t tell him.” He continued snickering as Luffy was left in a blubbering mess trying to cover it up as he turned and started for the Red Force. He might as well go do what he wanted to. Maybe he could clear his head a little bit and get some fresh air.

He had been humiliated at Marineford. Everything being put out into the open. That stupid Omega bitch attacking him in front of everyone. It made his blood boil. He didn’t want to fight Shanks yet. He knew he wouldn’t be able to take the Omega yonko on even with his crew right now. The Omega just had too much power.

He had to plan his revenge accordingly.

With everything that happened in the war, it was clear that the Red Hair Pirates and Whitebeard Pirates had formed an alliance of sorts. It also came with the Revolutionary Army through Dragon and any extended alliances the crews and army all held. It was going to be tricky, but he was going to manage it. He would manage it.

He had been unable to do what he had planned when he had arrived at Marine Headquarters. He had been in full assumption that Portgas D. Ace – no Gol D. Ace was going to be dead by the time he arrived. He also never expected to see Shanks and the Red Hair Pirates there. Commander Rouge or the Revolutionary Dragon. It just didn’t go according to plan. He had every intention of stealing the Gura Gura no Mi from Whitebeard. He loved the thought of just how insulting it would be that he took the same power that his former Captain protected his crew with and used it against them.

Its destructive power would match nicely with the power of the Yami Yami no Mi. The power that he would have if he had managed to get his hands on it.

He growled as he looked down at the new bounty poster that had just came out. An updated picture of Shanks on it and one of his birthnames. It wasn’t even his true name, but it connected him directly to Ace and Rouge. Portgas.

He had known for three years exactly who Ace was when he had shown up in the presence. It had been obvious to him. He had suspected that it wasn’t Rouge for the longest time. Watching and observing his movements. He carried himself a lot like Shanks. Not Rouge. Mihawk, on the other hand, had been one of his last guesses for his Alpha father aside from the fact he was a highly skilled Swordsman. He didn’t even use his sword, but when he did, he was good.

He just had to figure out exactly how he was going to do his revenge. Their guards would be up. Alliances formed because of the war. It was not going to be easy.

“Captain, I have something you’ll want to see.” Lafitte stated, pulling his attention up from the bounty poster.

Teach looked up at him, grunting as he said, “What?”

The other Alpha snickered as he pulled out a photo. Handing it over to him. Teach stopped completely as his eyes widened. It was Shanks in the photo, but he was surrounded by the Red Hair Pirates and Whitebeard Pirates. But it was what was with the photo. Shanks was clearly a lot younger than he should be. Looking much like he did at the start of his journey as a pirate. Clinging his clothes to his body. Lafitte had handed him more, letting him go through each one.

Shanks hadn’t been the only one this happened too.

Hawkeyes as well.

He smirked.

He just found his way in.

Chapter Text

“What would you like us to do?” Lafitte questioned. Teach looked up from the picture, grinning as he placed it down. “It could be an easy snatch and grab for me do to.”

Teach shook his head. “No, but this gives us an opportunity. The plans with the old bastard didn’t work out in the way that I wanted it to.”

Lafitte gave him a confused look for a moment as a few of the others came into the room. “Hasn’t Red-Hair been one of your targets for years?” Burgess questioned, looking just as confused as Lafitte did.

Teach had plans, but Shanks was not truly within those plans for the time being. Time would tell what he would do. Watching Shanks get thrown off guard was enough for now. The way he had reacted back at Marineford from his words was enough to show him that even if Shanks had all this power, he still hated whenever Teach brought up moments of vulnerability. He had to think about his other plans first. He had to throw the others off just as much so he could move in.

Shanks getting turned back into a younger version of himself would work perfectly.

“Get me the den den mushi. I have a call to make.” Teach stated, standing up as he picked up the picture again and slipped it into his pocket. “We have to finish what we started.”

It was becoming clear that Shanks’ heat was about to hit. All they could do was really prepare for it and make sure that Shanks was comfortable. Law had handled everything that could put Shanks into a bad mindset, so it seemed like everything was going to be alright in the end.

Ace had shown Shanks to his room on the Red Force, giving him the privacy that he needed. He could smell it full force. Shanks’ pheromones were going through the roof. Luckily, all of them were skilled in restraining and controlling instincts so he didn’t actually have a worry about leaving the red-haired Omega alone in his room. Before departing, he did ask if there was anything he needed which his offer was turned down. That didn’t surprise him. Shanks never asked for help when it came to something so personal.

He sighed as he got back over to the Moby Dick, stretching his arms back. He was already exhausted. Already exhausted with everything going on. He knew that it was only a matter of time before he had to face the truth and tell Shanks and Mihawk the complete truth.

He just didn’t know if he could face rejection.

Ace forced a smile on his face as Law walked up to him, motioning for him to follow. Law had been keeping a close eye on his pregnancy. He was measuring a lot smaller than he should be. His stomach was still flat despite the gestation age that the fetus should be at, but otherwise they were healthy. That’s what mattered to him. His baby was healthy.

It was making him understand more about why Shanks did the things he did when he was younger.

Making his way into the infirmary, he sat down, and Law had gotten to work.

Mihawk had been around Omegas in heat before. He’s been around countless women. Been around Alphas in ruts. Nothing ever affected him like this did. Just one whiff of Shanks’ pheromones had his brain almost short circuiting to the point he couldn’t think. No matter what he did to try and focus on his work out regime. No one else seemed to even care that the heat pheromones were still lingering in the air from when Shanks had been on the deck before retiring back to his room.

He huffed as he flipped himself onto his hands. Staying focused was the only thing that he could attempt to do. The aroma would disappear, and his mind wouldn’t be foggy anymore. He just had to be patient.

Yet everything in him was screaming to seek him out. Go straight to the Omega. He had to keep himself calm. Keep himself from going.

Before he knew it, he was flipping himself back too his feet and huffing. Making his way over to the Red Force. It wouldn’t hurt to at least check up on him.

When Law had gotten finished with Ace, the next person that he went to check up on was Luffy. Sure, both had their own doctors among their crews but the second he had made them his patients, he was going to see this through.

Being near Luffy made a twist come to his stomach. It wasn’t a feeling he ever felt before and he knew what it was, but he was going to continue pushing it off. Luffy was a patient and that was it. Nothing further than that. Even if he was quite handsome. Strong. A huge pain in the ass. Never gave up on anything even if his life depended on it. To say Luffy was reliable was an understatement.

Everything with Ace’s pregnancy seemed to be progressing well, but he still had his concerns. From the malnutrition and dehydration, he faced, it was a miracle alone that the baby was in fact still alive. It definitely showed an effect. With how far along Ace is, he should have been showing already but the baby was healthy, so Law didn’t feel too much of a concern.

As he was putting his supplies away, he could see through the corner of his eye that there was a pout on Luffy’s lips. His chin settled against his hand as he looked over at him. “What’s your problem?” Law questioned, turning to face the Alpha.

Luffy was still pouting, sighing as he said, “Even with my Dad small, he still teases me. It’s not fair.”

Law snorted, shaking his head. “Well, some things don’t change.”

The Alpha groaned, falling back against the infirmary bed as he crossed his arms. “He keeps teasing me about liking you.” He stated, “What’s wrong with that? You’re pretty and nice and you saved my life. Helped my brother. You helped the old man.”

Law chuckled, moving over, and sitting on the bed beside Luffy. “Is he wrong?” The Omega questioned, catching the way that Luffy paused and looked at him. “You don’t exactly kiss people you don’t like.”

The Alpha’s face flushed over as he sat up, looking over at the Omega. “Yeah, I know—but, that’s not the point?”

Law felt the smile pull on his face. He tilted his head slightly, noticing just how close to Luffy he actually was. They were far too close to each other. His heart was racing, but he wasn’t letting it show. “Unfortunately for you, you are my patient. I don’t date my patients.”

Luffy grumbled, “Then I’m not your patient anymore.”

“That’s not how it works.” Law hummed, “But, technically, you do have your own doctor and I’m pleased with your progress already so I could stop being your doctor.”

Luffy grinned, “Then stop being my doctor!” He exclaimed, reaching out and grabbing Law’s hand. “I don’t want you to be my doctor anymore. I want—”

Law didn’t let him finish, instead leaning in and pressing his lips into Luffy’s.

The most effective way to get the Alpha to stop talking that he found out. it sent the sparks down his spine, but he was alright with it. Luffy, technically, wasn’t his patient anymore.

Shanks sighed as he laid back against the bed. Staring up at the ceiling as he twirled the straw hat over his fingers. Something about the fact that Captain Luffy had possession of this hat bugged him more than anything. There was a part of him, hearing that Luffy wanted to be Pirate King, that he felt like he may have done it based off of Roger. Yet, it felt like it was something else entirely. That there was absolutely more to this story.

Ace and Luffy were being secretive. Hell, they all were. Not one of them were telling him or Mihawk the full truth. He could feel it in his gut. He just didn’t know where to even start. First, he had to worry about his heat. He had nothing for it despite Ace pointing out some things. The only issue was, they weren’t strong enough for how badly a heat would affect his body. At least, the symptoms would. It was different for everyone, and it felt like the world gave him a large curve ball in that department. Cramps were always the worst. Pain never bugged him much, but they hurt enough that he didn’t want to do anything during the days he was going through a heat.

It was completely natural, but he still hated every moment of it. There were still those small moments where he wished he had been born either an Alpha or Beta. He refused to believe what his mother told him about how the Portgas family always had a first-born Omega. The world just hated him for being a pirate.

Or the son of Gol D. Roger.

Which ever one worked first.

Yet, there was something about Luffy. When he saw Luffy, he saw Roger. It was strange. There couldn’t be a way that Luffy was so much like Roger but had no connection to him. He really wanted to question his Uncle Dragon on if Luffy was in fact his son. It felt wrong. Luffy and Dragon didn’t seem close in the slightest. There didn’t feel like there was some paternal connection between the two. He knew that they were in fact related, but he was starting to doubt if they were father and son.

He sighed as he let the straw hat settle in his hands as he sat up, crossing his legs to put his bare feet underneath his legs. His clothes were already starting to stick to him uncomfortably. This was one of those moments where he missed Crocus. He missed Roger. He missed Rayleigh. Hell, he missed Buggy. They always knew exactly how to help him in the smallest ways. Rather it was medicine or just being there. Heats weren’t always the sexual aspect. It was the closeness to pack. To family. To a mate. Most people focused solely on the thought that heats were for reproduction. Which, they weren’t wrong, but there was more too it.

He could smell Luffy’s scent mixed into his on the hat. Luffy’s scent was strong on it. It was almost forcing his body to stay relaxed despite him not knowing a thing about the Alpha. He had to thank Law for helping him out in the way that he did. He probably wouldn’t be finding comfort in that scent right now if it wasn’t for him.

He paused, looking up from the hat. The last time a scent comforted him like this was his parents. He never really had this moment with Garp or Dragon, but he also didn’t know them the best. Garp liked to give him a headache for a week and Dragon was like the wind. Coming and going but practically invisible to the eye.

What if?

He shook his head. That wasn’t possible. He wouldn’t do that. Not after knowing what his life was like on the sea. Sure, he was completely safe and his nakama and pack made sure of it, but he would never do that to someone if he could. It made his heart stop at the thought for a split second. It terrified him.

His hand almost instinctively reached around his neck. It felt odd that he still had a chain there after giving his mother back hers. This belonged to him. He was so sure of it. He had a mate or a mate to be. He peeked down, craning his neck enough to look at it. Taking in the simple but beautiful design. He stopped as he started to notice some small details he hadn’t seen before. There wasn’t just a cherry blossom on it. From more of a distance, it appeared as if it was just a cherry blossom, but within the petals was a sword. Like the petals were blossoming out of the sword with the small gemstone in the center.

He looked up, shaking his head for a second as he pushed himself off of the bed. Moving around the room and taking in everything that was around him. He never actually took the chance to take in the room when he first came in. Focusing on the fact that his abdomen was hurting while also trying not to think about it.

There were so much miscellaneous things around the room. Either tacked to the wall or sitting on the desk and dresser. The soft smile came back to his face as he let his fingers glide over the things. He recognized very few of the knickknacks that were there. Collected from his time from the Roger Pirates. There were even small things from his home in the West Blue. All these years later, and he still had them in his possession. That was amazing to him.

He stopped as he got to the photos that were hanging on the walls. All neatly pinned to the wall. There were so many of them that it should look like a mess, but they weren’t. Just neatly placed along the wall. There were some from his time with the Roger Pirates. Some with his mother. Some with Buggy.

Those were not the ones that got his attention.

They were the ones with babies in them. Toddlers. Children.

Well, two children for a matter of fact.

He shook his head in disbelief as he looked them over. Recognizing exactly who were in those pictures almost immediately. Ace and Luffy. The ones that caught his attention most were the ones where he was holding the small little babies in his arms. Looking completely exhausted but a smile on his face.

The first, he wasn’t much older than he was now. He grabbed the picture, pulling it towards him and seeing the freckles dusted across the baby’s face. A tuff of black hair on his head. Shanks was looking down at him like he was the most beautiful thing in the world. Shanks could barely breathe as he turned over the picture, freezing completely as he read:

Gol D. Ace
Born January 1^st, Baterilla, South Blue

It was in his mother’s handwriting, but if she was Ace’s mother. Shouldn’t she be the one in the picture.

He felt the panic set in as he reached over for the other one. He was a bit older in the picture, but he looked just as happy in it. And just as exhausted. He turned it over, the thought that writing might be on the back of it too. Sure enough, there was.

Gol D. Luffy
Born May 5^th, Foosha Village, Dawn Island, East Blue

His heart had practically stopped as his eyes stayed over Luffy’s name. Gol D. That feeling from earlier was right. Luffy wasn’t Dragon’s son, but they were related. Just not in the way that he had thought originally. Luffy introducing himself as Monkey D. Luffy had thrown him off. He had assumed Luffy was Dragon’s son.

No, he was his. They both were.

He looked back up, searching the photos for any sign of a mate. Someone who could be their father. It didn’t say anything on the two pictures, but they didn’t even actually say he was their Omega father. The pictures alone were enough proof to him. He placed them down on the dresser, going through everything. Tearing open the drawers and anything that he could think of. It was like he was zeroed in. Nothing else mattered.

How could he do this?

Especially to two innocent children.

It was obvious he didn’t give up piracy. He had forced them into that life. How could he be so selfish? That he would force his own children through that. Was their father dead? And that’s why he couldn’t find anything about him. Why everyone was being so secretive? That Ace had lied about who he was. Was he ashamed of being his son?

There were so many questions going through his head.

He had to ask the two of them.

The one he felt like would give him the correct answers was Luffy. He always seemed ready to tell him the truth but was stopped by Ace.

He turned, dropping everything before he was heading towards the door. He paused for a second. He was in a heat. With men around him that he didn’t exactly know. His heart was racing. What was he supposed to do here? Was his heat induced thoughts trying to grasp onto something that wasn’t actually there?

That couldn’t be.

He had proof.

His mind had immediately gone to that his mate might actually be dead. There was nothing in this room showing that another person inhabited it with him. No other pictures on the wall that he could see directly that would indicate that there was someone.

Unless.

Both boys had different fathers.

That he had found himself pregnant and didn’t actually know who the man was.

It could even be possible that the necklace around his neck wasn’t actually a courting necklace. He had always used Rouge’s to his advantage to get people to leave him alone.

He was panicking. He knew he was.

Finally, he made his decision.

Law didn’t help him for him to back down now. He was doing really good. No nightmares. No instinct induced lashing out against others. He could do this. When he was traveling with the Roger Pirates, it wasn’t like he didn’t carry on as if nothing was actually happening. All of the men aboard the ship were so intoned with their own instincts that it didn’t even faze them. He hadn’t seen one person here that didn’t seem to have the basic grasp over themselves. It would be fine.

He needed answers.

He opened the door, stopping short as he saw Mihawk standing there. Hand raised up like he was about to knock on the door. Shanks hadn’t even picked up on him coming, but then again, Ace had told him the room was made to keep scents in and others out. He wouldn’t have noticed unless he had been using his haki. Which he hadn’t been ever since Law had helped him.

“Hawkeyes!” He exclaimed in shock.

Almost all the questions that he had in his mind stopping short as he looked up at the Alpha. “Well, that was unexpected.” Mihawk stated. The Alpha frowned for a second, watching his body language. “What’s wrong?”

For a moment, Shanks actually forgot. “Uh, nothing. What are you doing here?” He side stepped, motioning for Mihawk to come in. Mihawk slipped in as Shanks closed the door. A shiver went down his spine as Mihawk’s scent went straight for his nose. Almost like it was intoxicating him just being in his presence. Mihawk was tense. That was obvious. “Hawkeyes?”

Mihawk had turned towards him, lifting up his arms and pressing them against the wall. Effectively trapping Shanks between the Alpha and the wall. His mind was swimming. Like nothing else mattered in that few seconds.

“Red-Hair…” Mihawk muttered, his voice dropping. It made Shanks’ stomach twist more. The urge to tilt his head. Show his scent and bond gland to the Alpha. He had never felt that way for someone before. Someone he would willing allow to scent him. There were so many things going through his head. Yet, his mind also felt blank.

For that moment, Mihawk was the only person he wanted around him in that second. It was his heat talking. He knew it, but he had been spending so much time with the Alpha recently. Learning more about him. There was a small what if in his mind.

The possibility that Mihawk might actually be this mate that he had no idea about.

But he felt like the others would tell him if it was Mihawk. Instead of leaving him in the dark.

He wasn’t even sure anymore. Not after what he just discovered.

Shanks felt like he couldn’t breathe. His back pressed into the wall of the room. The pheromones reaching his nose that was making his head swim. Mihawk’s hands were on either side of his head, keeping him in place.

The Alpha wasn’t even looking at him, rather at the floor. “Hawkeyes?” Shanks muttered, almost breathless.

Mihawk gritted his teeth. His nails scratching down the wall. “I’m jealous.” The Alpha growled. “I’m jealous of whoever got to mate with you.”

“Mih—”

Mihawk looked up, causing Shanks’ sentence to cut off. Seeing the almost vulnerable look in Mihawk’s eyes. It felt like time had stopped for a moment as the Alpha leaned in, his lips ghosting over the Omega’s. Shanks couldn’t breathe, holding his breath before Mihawk closed the distance between the two of them. Sealing their lips together. Causing a twist to come to his stomach as he felt the sparks shooting down his spine.

It felt like everything had fallen into place. That the only moment in the world that had mattered was these few seconds. Their lips pressed together. Mihawk’s scent going up to his nose and creating a fog over his mind. The Omega reached up, looking his arms around the Alpha’s shoulders. Letting his fingers attempt to curl into his spiky slicked back hair.

It felt so perfect to him.

Like it was the only thing that he ever wanted from this moment on.

As soon as it started, it was over with Mihawk pulling away, leaning his forehead against Shanks’. “I can’t do this.” The Alpha whispered, “You have a mate. This is wrong.”

Shanks felt as if a knife had been plunged into his chest. Twisting with each word that Mihawk said. “Hawkeyes—”

“I’m sorry.” Mihawk pulled away from him completely, ducking around him and walking out the door, shutting it behind him. Shanks could only stare at the door as he left.

The Omega felt the tears welling up in his eyes as he turned, letting his back slid down the wall as he gripped at the necklace that was around his neck. What was he supposed to do? He apparently had a mate or a mate to be, but no one had stepped forward claiming the spot. He growled in frustration, ripping the chain from around his neck and tossing it across the room.

Ace was in shock as he watched Mihawk practically storming away from the Red Force and crossing over to where they were standing. Ace peered over his shoulder, sharing a look with Marco who looked just as concerned. “What’s going on with him?” Marco questioned.

Ace shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“I’ll go check on Red-Hair.” Marco muttered, moving away from Ace, his hands dropping from where they had been on the Omega’s arms before he was heading towards the gangplank that was thrown across.

Before Ace had a chance to say a word to Mihawk, the Alpha had reached out, grabbing his wrist, and starting for the room that they had been into before. As the door closed behind Mihawk, Ace sighed, clapping his hands together, “Hawkeyes, we have to talk about you closing me off in rooms like this.”

“I don’t know what to do.” Mihawk said immediately, ignoring everything that Ace had just said. “I just messed up. I need your help.” Ace was taken by surprise. Mihawk was not someone who went to someone else for advice. Like, ever.

Mihawk had continued to ramble on, practically pacing in front of the door. Ace couldn’t pick up on a word that he was saying from the tone and quietness of his voice to the movement. He stood there stumped for a minute before he exhaled sharply and exclaimed, “Hawkeyes! What the hell happened?!”

Mihawk stopped, shuffling on his feet for a second. “I kissed him.” He stated, back to that level voice that he was normally using but Ace could hear the panic in it. This was so odd of him to see. Mihawk was always filled with confidence. Even if he wasn’t sure about something, he wouldn’t let it show. Though, there’s over twenty-year difference between the Mihawk he knew and this Mihawk. He had heard stories of them being younger and had expected it to remain the same. This was just odd to him. “I kissed him and then I just… left.”

Ace groaned, turning, and rubbing a hand over his face. Of course. “You just left.” He muttered to confirm.

“He has a mate and I kissed him.” Mihawk replied. Ace could see the panic written all over Mihawk’s face. He felt ill equipped to deal with this. This wasn’t a normal Mihawk emotion that he was used too.

Ace hated the fact that he physically face palmed himself. This is his fault in the end. His own stumbling of words caused this. “And you are telling me this, why?”

“You would know him best.” Mihawk shot back.

“Possibly.” Ace sighed, turning, feeling the sting in his forehead as he shook his head, “Have you ever taken the possibility to why you are even with us right now?”

Mihawk had stopped, giving him a look for a second, like he was unsure of what to say. Ace shook his head, almost laughing in disbelief. He had to keep reminding himself that Mihawk was only nineteen standing in front of him right now. That he wasn’t the exact same person he had come to know over the years. “It was a war, wasn’t it?” Mihawk questioned. “That’s what you’ve all been talking about.”

“You’ve been with him this entire time.” Ace continued.

At some point, it would have to click for Mihawk. Ace knew he was incredibly smart. He couldn’t be this dense. “He’s just an opponent.” Mihawk huffed.

The Omega groaned, rubbing at his face for a moment. “Hawkeyes.” He paused as he clapped his hands together, looking Mihawk straight in the eye. “How can you be so smart but also such an idiot at the same time?!” Mihawk looked annoyed with him for a second, crossing his arms over his chest. For a moment, Ace thought he would retaliate with words. Something that Mihawk normally just did. “It’s you. You’re his mate.”

What he hadn’t expected was to see Mihawk completely freeze. Eyes widening as his jaw dropped. Ace felt concerned for a moment because Mihawk didn’t even appear to be breathing. The Omega reached forward, waving his hand in front of Mihawk’s face. Gaining no reaction from him whatsoever.

“Uh, Hawkeyes?” Ace muttered, “Did I break you?”

The Omega wasn’t actually sure what to do now. Mihawk looked broken. Just standing there as if the world’s biggest revelation hit him. Ace could only let out a couple of sounds as he pulled his hand away. A million thoughts went through his head. Should he go get somebody? Knock Mihawk into the ocean? He wasn’t even sure at this point.

“Moby Dick to Hawkeyes.” Ace continued, resorting to the fact that he actually needed Mihawk to move so he could even get out of the room. “Did you forget how to use your brain?”

This was actually starting to aggravate him.

How the fuck did he break Mihawk?!

Ace huffed, placing his hands on his hips as he screamed out, “Would you fucking snap out of it?!”

Finally, Mihawk blinked, looking back at Ace. “Could you repeat what you just said?”

The Omega was annoyed now. With another huff, he said it as clear as he could, “He is your mate.” He said it as slow and precise as he could. Waiting for any reaction.

Mihawk had shook his head, a few denials falling from his mouth. He still looked completely through off balance as he brought a hand up to his mouth. “I can’t be.” He muttered, “I never wanted a mate.”

“Tough luck, you ended up with one.” Ace hissed. “How dense can you be?”

“It seriously can’t be me.” Mihawk muttered, moving his hand up into his hair. “I… like you are just fucking with me, right?”

Ace shook his head, rolling his eyes as he motioned at the courting necklace around his neck. “You saw the one around his neck, right?” Ace threw back.

Mihawk nodded, looking slightly confused for a second. “There’s no sign of an Alpha on his. I would put something about myself on it. That’s what you’re supposed to do.”

Ace had to resist facepalming himself again. “That’s because you did. It’s the gemstone, you dolt.” The Omega huffed. “You both were born in March. You liked to call it your perfect cover because of the two of you thought it was such a brilliant idea to hide the fact you two got mated at a young age.”

It was like the pieces of the puzzle were slotting together as Mihawk just whispered out, “Oh, yeah. We share a birthday.” There was almost a smile that slipped onto his face for a second as he laughed in disbelief. “I still can’t believe it.”

“Like, seriously, how can you be so smart but so stupid at the same time?” Ace questioned, shaking his head. “Never mind. Now you know.”

Mihawk stood there for a moment before he was looking back at Ace. “Sangria.” He whispered. Ace tilted his head, now the confusion hitting him. Mihawk looked him right in the eye. “Your berry scent. It’s actually sangria. Like the wine. It belongs to me. You are Shanks’ son, but you’re my son.” Ace was mentally preparing himself. Waiting for the second that Mihawk was going to deny him. He braced himself for it, holding his breath as he balled his fists. He froze completely as Mihawk reached forward, his hand over his cheek and forcing him to look up. “I… I had a child.”

It was so soft. Something he wasn’t expecting. Mihawk didn’t look angry. Hell, he didn’t even look like he was about to say that Ace couldn’t be his. There was a soft smile there. Ace couldn’t even find the words to say.

“I always had it in my head that the path I choose, I would never bring a child into it.” Mihawk stated. It was similar to what he had said before, but there still wasn’t a denial there. “You lied because you’re afraid that I would say I never wanted you.”

Ace felt like he couldn’t breathe for a moment. Watching Mihawk’s movements carefully. Waiting for any words that might just be like a knife being stuck into his chest. Yet, they never came.

“I might lie to myself.” Mihawk muttered, “But I’ve never had a family. I always wondered what it would be like to have one.”

Ace hated the pregnancy hormones going through them as he felt tears coming to his eyes. The catch of air in his throat as he surged forward and wrapped his arms around his Alpha father’s shoulders. Why did he panic so much?

Within seconds, Mihawk’s arms were around him, a hand on the back of his head. “I’m sorry.” Ace whispered, “I’m sorry for lying to the both of you. I really… I really thought you would be angry.”

“I have no reason to be.” Mihawk replied. “I was the fool all along.”

Teach was smirking as he stared down at the den den mushi. Seeing the face on the other side appearing over the features of the snail. This was the perfect plan. No one would realize he was the one to orchestrate the entire thing and he could move in on his merry way with doing what he needed to do.

He still needed to get stronger. Get more influence. A larger crew. So many factors before he could ever think of moving in on the Red Hair Pirates or attempting to go after Shanks. This was a means to an end that would work out in his favor.

“And you are telling me this… because?” The voice came over the snail.

Teach’s smirk got bigger. “It’s simple. You get Red-Haired Shanks out of the way. I take his spot as a yonko, and we’ll make an alliance and became the most powerful force on these seas. Nothing could go wrong.”

“How can I trust someone like you? Aren’t you the one who injured that brat originally? Why don’t you do something about him?”

Teach cackled. “They would be expecting me to be the person to do it.” Teach explained. “Besides, you get what you want, right? A powerful Omega. He’s weaker than he was. Your own power could shift the tides. I’m sure you could find something to do with him.”

The other side remained quiet for a moment before he finally heard a fit of laughter, “You’re asking a lot, Blackbeard. Red-Hair is one person you don’t want to piss off.”

Teach just hummed, “Considering he’s much weaker than he was before, I say that statement doesn’t really stand anymore.”

There was pure silence for a few minutes. Nothing being said between the two before finally, he heard, “Alright, you got yourself a deal.”

Teach could only smirk as he gave the coordinates to the location of Shanks’ ship before he hung up and looked back down at the photo on his desk. “You have no idea what is about to come your way, Red-Hair. I’m not your only enemy.”