Spoilers for chapter 820!

Co-written with the lovely, Lady Audentium.

"What do you want?"

Luffy pulled his winter coat tighter as he stepped into the dark space and out of the snow, encouraged by the raspy voice of the man he'd been searching for.

"Marco?"

"I said, what do you want?"

Frowning at the bottles that littered the floor of the cave, Luffy approached the older man slowly. Luffy's recollection of the war was hazy at best. Only a few images pierced clearly through the fog of pain and exhaustion. Even with the memories that persisted, Luffy struggled to reconcile the visage of a strong, cocksure commander that had saved him from a marine admiral, with the hunched over figure, covered in dirt and grime, that was now before him.

If it was anyone else, they would have left then and there. They would have realised that they had stumbled upon a lost cause, a man so broken by war and death that only an empty husk remained. That there was no hope.

However, Luffy would never give up. Not until he got what he wanted. Stepping closer Luffy answered the question that had been left hanging

"I need your help."

For the first time since Luffy had entered Marco's self-enforced prison, Marco moved. It was slight, just a tilt of the head. One eye opening lazily, the empty blue iris taking in what he'd hoped was just another alcohol fuelled delusion.

Encouraged by Marco's response, Luffy continued.

"We're going to take down Kaido. Me 'n Traffy. And the ninjas, and the minks, and a whole heap of others."

Marco released a soft snort. The puff visible against the frozen air, belying the deep chill that had settled into Marco's bones hours earlier. They were so remarkable alike it was hard to believe that they weren't related by blood. A pipsqueak of a child thinking that they could take on the strongest pirate on the seas. The kid was practically a miniature copy of A– him.

"Big Cat and Dog have been looking for you."

Marco's eyebrows furrowed as he tried to extrapolate who the kid meant by 'big cat and dog'.

"D'you mean Nekomamushi and Inuarashi?"

It was Luffy's turn to be confused at Marco's use of name's that he wasn't sure he knew. Pressing a finger into his forehead to help him think, Luffy quickly gave up on his attempt, deciding to take Marco's word for it.

"Uh-huh. Those guys said that you'd be able to find the rest of your nakama, and then we can go fight Kaido."

"I'm not fighting anybody kid."

Luffy's easy grin dropped off his face at Marco's dismissal. Not fighting? No, he couldn't not fight. That's why he'd come all this way. Big Cat and Dog had said that Marco would fight with them. That they could defeat Kaido with Marco and his nakama, and that's what he planned to do.

"But you have to! We have to take down Kaido, then I can take out Blackbeard and you can take out that weird Old-Man-wannabe.

Marco's head turned back into his knee, his arms wrapped tightly around the bent leg. He knew. How could he not know what was happening to his family? He'd tried to avoid the papers after the first one he read, but not knowing hurt worse than knowing. He couldn't just pretend it wasn't happening, even in his solitary confinement. At least if he read the paper he would know who was still alive, who despite everything were surviving. Without him.

"No."

No. He wouldn't go. He wouldn't make things worse. They were looking for him. Weevil. The bastard who dared to slander his father's memory. No. He'd only cause the death of more of his brothers. He couldn't lead the crew. He wasn't. He wasn't his father. He never could be.

Luffy shifted on his feet with agitation as Marco denied what he'd already decided on for a second time. Growling under his breath, Luffy couldn't believe that this was the man that had been left in charge of everything Ace had loved. He wouldn't stand for this. He believed in Ace's judgement and he wasn't giving up. Not yet.

"You have to help us!"

"You don't understand kid," Marco mumbled into his arm, "There's nothing I can do."

"Understand WHAT?! You've just been sitting here! Your nakama are being hunted down and slaughtered! You have to do something!"

Roaring, Marco launched to his feet.

"THERE'S NOTHING I CAN DO!"

Straining his jaw, the muscles in his neck bulged as Marco fought to keep himself from lashing out at his little brother's, baby brother. Why wouldn't he just leave him alone!

Crack!

Marco blinked in shock. His hand came up to press against his jaw where Luffy's haki infused fist had struck him. The fractured bone mending rapidly beneath his blue flames. Running his hand across his mouth, Marco final met Luffy's piercing gaze head on. The younger man's shoulders heaving from adrenaline.

"Are you sure you're prepared to fight me kid?"

Clenching his fists by his side, Luffy reigned in the anger that was coursing through his body. He didn't want to fight Marco. He wanted Marco to come fight with them.

"If you're prepared to fight, you have to join us against Kaido!"

Hand dropping from his jaw, Marco shook his head at Luffy's single mindedness. He was so naïve. Just like Ace had been when they'd scrapped him off the ground Pops had all but flattened him into. They'd been a solid unit once. Feared by the weak, respected by the strong. Now he was neither.

"How do you expect me to protect you when I couldn't even protect my OWN family!? I couldn't protect Ace, and I can't protect them! I'm not strong enough to protect them! ...They're better off without me."

A light glinted in Luffy's eyes. A spark of understanding. Ace had given him a task and over two years later he'd failed to complete Ace's wishes.

"When Ace… When…" Luffy's shoulders slumped as the flashes of blood coated his vision, the roars of the war raging inside his ears. Pushing the feelings of pain away, Luffy licked his dried lips, "Ace said thank you. To me. To you. To all of you. He said thank you, for loving him."

Luffy paused as Marco slumped back against the cavern wall, his head angling away as he tried to hide the tears rolling down his face. Lonely trails forming along his dirt covered face.

The soft tone that Luffy had adopted to deliver his brother's last message, slid into hardened steel as he strengthened his resolve. Marco had to fight. Luffy wouldn't let him give up.

"Ace never ran from a fight. He'd never turn his back on his nakama. And he'd NEVER leave anyone behind… even, if he knew he wasn't strong enough to win."

Luffy rubbed his hands up his face as the memories of Ace saving him time and time again tried to take over from the present. They'd promised a life of no regrets, and letting the memories take over was one step to close to forming regrets. Pushing the onslaught of thoughts down, Luffy sought out Marco's gaze once more.

"Ace is gone, but you're still here. You can't just leave them!"

Silence fell over the pair, the sound of their breathing harsh against the isolated world Marco had created for himself.

"Don't tell me what to do kid. Just go away."

Luffy didn't move from the mouth of the cave. Without Marco, seeking out any of the other remaining Whitebeard Pirate's would be difficult. Getting them to agree to help would be near impossible. Although, Luffy was beginning to believe that their presence would offer little in the way to help. He'd be better off finding Sanji. Caught up in his thoughts, Luffy missed the growing anger that had once more filled Marco's body. Luffy's knees buckled as the hostile wave of haki washed over him.

"LEAVE!"

"NO! YOU'RE COMING WITH US!'

Lunging at Luffy, Marco seized the collar of the smaller man's jacket, lifting him into the air to throw him out of his pris– sanctuary. He hadn't anticipated how slippery the little bugger would be, as Luffy quickly twisted himself free, landing in a crouch. His muscles stiff from his long stint of minimal movement, Marco couldn't move fast enough to avoid Luffy's leg sweeping his own feet out from under him.

Marco winced as his head cracked against the rock floor. A number of empty bottles shattered beneath his back, the jagged glass piercing into his skin stopping it from healing over as the blood trickled out around it. Marco eyes slid shut as Luffy towered over him, his arm falling across his face in a further attempt to block out the world. For a man whose first bounty poster made him look like a grinning idiot, Luffy could certainly pull off a glare that made him feel like the idiot. He wasn't going anywhere though. Whilst the glass stung, it was really nothing more than a mild annoyance, much like the current annoyance that Marco hoped would get the hint sooner rather than later.

"This would be so much easier if you just came with us already. I need to go get Sanji back from Big Mom whilst you round up the rest of your nakama."

Silently, Marco wondered if Ace had dropped Luffy on his head multiple times as a child. Or maybe he was losing his hearing, because he could have sworn that the kid had just stated that he was going to walk in and take someone from Big Mom BEFORE they supposedly skipped off into the sunset to hunt down Kaido. Maybe the alcohol was starting to rot his brain cells after all. Every word seemed to be crazier than the last. Hallucinations were a side effect of alcohol weren't they? Or was that delusions? Either one or the other, or both must be effecting him to have thought up a scenario this bizarre.

"I don't know, but Chopper could probably tell you. He'll fix you up when we get back to the ship too. Actually, he'll probably be pretty mad that I roughed you up so much… Sorry about that."

Marco groaned as he realised that he must have asked the questions out loud to receive the response that he did. As the rest of the conversation filtered through his mind, Marco waved off the apology with his hand that was still splayed out against the ground.

"You can go and we'll call it even."

"I'm not leaving without you."

Frustrated, and more than a little bit fed up with Luffy's childish stubbornness, Marco couldn't be blamed for his juvenile lapse that followed.

"I'm not going. You'd have to drag me out of here–"

"Okay!"

Marco yelped as his left ankle was hoisted into the air, ensnared by Luffy's rubber grip.

With his signature grin stretching across his face, Luffy bounced his way out of the cave, ignoring the indignant spluttering and curses that were being hurled his way as he dragged Marco through the snow back towards the ship.

Step one was complete. Now all they needed was Sanji so they could party! Oh. And beat Kaido. Party first, Kaido second, Luffy decided. Nodding at his thorough plan of action, Luffy winced slightly as he heard Marco's head bang against a piece of rock that had popped out of nowhere… opps?

Thanks for reading! I'd say I hope you enjoyed it, but writing it made me upset, so I'm not really sure that enjoyed is the right word... Here's to hoping that the canon will be kinder than this.