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The chains were bad enough, overkill enough, that Ace had already vowed to do his best to kill every marine responsible for putting them on. The introduction of a gag just made him shift that vow to a series of slow deaths. So what if he’d kept on shouting all through the abduction, through getting dragged aboard the warship and tossed into their brig, and periodically enough afterward to make a bunch of different guards tell him to shut up? If a single twelve year old could get on their nerves that much, then clearly they were worthless losers.
But more than not being able to holler insults at their captors, Ace hated that he couldn’t say a word to comfort Luffy.
They sat too far away from each other for the smaller boy to curl up with him, too far to reach even when they both tried stretching out their hands. If Luffy could actually stretch, it would be possible, but the extra clunky shackles they’d put around his scrawny wrists and ankles did something to the kid: left him lethargic, and shivering worse than usual, and unable to use his powers. He was still made of rubber, thankfully, so the cruel kicks hadn’t done more than scuff him, but he couldn’t deliberately extend his arms or legs or anything else.
So Luffy sat in the middle of the cell, chained to the floor, shivering and crying, while Ace couldn’t do anything more than look at him and seethe.
No kids on the ship, Shanks had firmly said, when a few of his crew asked if they might possibly be taking on a cabin boy from a certain sleepy East Blue backwater. Especially not a kid who’d be targeted the moment his name got out. Too many pirates feared the infamous Vice Admiral Garp, who didn’t yet know enough about Shanks to fear him the same way, and would leap at the chance to go after a child related to the Hero of the Marines. Shanks couldn’t do that to his crew, his fleet of allies. He especially couldn’t do that to Luffy.
So. No kids on the ship.
Up until now.
Up until the instant Shanks caught wind of a rumor, that the marines found Gold Roger’s son, that they’d arrested the fledgling demon and were shipping him to Impel Down. A child.
He’d make an exception to his rule for Roger’s child.
“They’ve spotted us,” the shout rang out from their crow’s nest. Ahead, Shanks glared at the marine warship. It didn’t matter what maneuver they pulled, what defenses they tried to throw at the approaching Red Force - nothing would keep him from getting onboard, and rescuing one of the two pieces of his Captain left in the world.
Not until they were nearly close enough for Shanks to make the leap from one ship to the other did his Observation Haki notice an all too familiar presence, and with an awful lurch in his gut Shanks realized both of those pieces were present.
“A-ace?” Luffy looked at him with wide eyes, flinching every time they heard an explosion or distant scream. Ace could only do his best to grin despite the gag clamping his jaw shut, and try to convey it’s okay, we’re gonna be okay with his eyes.
Hard to manage when he hardly believed it himself.
Someone was attacking the stupid marines, sure, but that in no way meant said attackers would be friendly to a couple of kids in the brig. If they even knew about him and Luffy, if they’d bother to come down and look before sinking the ship-
A heavy BAM hit the door. Then a THUD, and finally a CRASH, which flung it open and left three marines groaning on the floor.
Somebody stepped past them. Ace tried to scoot himself to shield Luffy from view, just in case, just because he needed to do something, but apparently it didn’t matter. Not when Luffy leaned over to peer around him anyway, and then gasped. “Shanks!”
“Hey, little anchor,” the man coming towards them said, with a smile full of relief. “Long way from home, aren’t you?”
Luffy could only nod, hiccuping around fresh tears.
Proving to be smarter than he looked, not to mention stronger, Shanks broke Luffy’s shackles first, something that looked like metal briefly coating his fingers as he snapped each cuff. He ruffled the kid’s hair after, and gently pulled the battered straw hat up so it sat properly on Luffy’s head again.
Then he turned towards Ace. “You must be Roger’s son, yeah?”
Instinctively, Ace bristled. He didn’t care how softly the words were said, or the lack of any sneering or laughter, he didn’t-
“He’s Ace,” Luffy sniffled, clinging to the dark cape Shanks wore. “He’s m-my brother.”
“Oh?” The man asked, doing the same coating thing with his fingers to start breaking Ace’s shackles too. “Well, any brother of Luffy’s is a friend of mine.” He finished with snapping the lock at the back of the gag, then pulled his hand out of the way so Ace himself could rip the stupid thing off and hurl it to the other side of the room. “Think you can help me get your brother out of here, kid?”
“Course I can,” Ace rasped, grimacing at how bad his voice sounded. Luffy promptly wailed and flung himself into waiting arms, and Ace hauled him up and held tight, ready to keep anyone from laying a hand on the nine year old again. “...thanks.”
Shanks smiled again. He didn’t ruffle Ace’s hair, not like Luffy’s, but his hand did briefly sweep over the crown of Ace’s head. “Anytime, kiddo.”