PELAGIC - Ace x Reader x Law

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: Hostage

The ship was eerily silent after my fist connected with Ace's face.

I knew it was a bold move, to strike a member of Whitebeard's crew directly in front of his gaze, but I couldn't control my emotions, which were all over the damn place.

Ace stumbled back a step or two, hand coming up to lightly touch at his now tender, reddening nose, an expression of shock washing over his features.
"What the hell did yo-"

Before he could finish his snapping, I lunged forward again, but this time my arms curled tight around his neck, the new broadness of his shoulders supporting me as my feet dangled.

"Wh..what the fuck kind of a way was that to come and see me, you pepper faced jerk..?!" I barked, but the bite in my voice barely came out as a nip through my tears. It had been so ridiculously long, I couldn't believe it. I wouldn't have even recognised him if it hadn't been for his freckled face.

Ace's arms closed around me, and he leaned forward so the toes of my boots could find the ground, a low chuckle tickling my chest as it rose from his.
"I could ask the same about that greeting of yours, dumbass." He scoffed half-heartedly, pulling back to give me a lazy grin. The same kind he used to reserve only for his brothers.

Wait a second...

Abruptly, I pushed back, holding a finger up as though I were a mother preparing to scold her misbehaving child.
"Hold on, let's just back things up here for a minute..." I started, pointing directly between the man's eyes. "As glad as I am to see you...why couldn't you have just shown your face instead of sending that creep, who literally kidnapped me?!"

My point swung to direct towards Marco, who gave me a cheeky little wave.
"I told you, girly. We made a game of it." He sounded like it was no big deal, but it really was. I went to take a threatening step towards him, but instead chose to pivot and focus back on Ace at the last second.

"A game of what? Abducting me?! Do you know how terrifying that was?! I nearly died!" Adrenaline was kicking in again, and Ace reached out to lower my pointed finger.
"Yeah, in retrospect it wasn't the best idea. But, in my bro's defence, you did squirm around when he told you not to."

Throwing my arms up in exasperation, I began to pace, back and forth across the lengthy deck, other crew members backing away if I got too close.
"How was I supposed to react when I thought a pirate was going to murder me, huh?! He didn't even mention you!"

"Yeah, my bad. I probably should have dropped his name, yoi." Marco agreed, but my focus wasn't on him. It wasn't even purely on Ace anymore. No, somebody else had taken my attention, and that was when I seriously began to freak out.

"Shit, you've gotta take me back right now..! Doffy is gonna murder your asses, and then I'm gonna get in so much trouble..!" I announced through my teeth, hands reaching to tug at my (H/C) hair. I hadn't recieved one of his punishments in so long, I didn't want to break that streak now.

Not only that, but he'd be hysterical if he found out I was missing. The last thing I wanted to do was scare him like that again. Ace stepped in my way, blocking me from my pacing path as he placed a hand on each of my shoulders, taking care to not put too much pressure on my injury.

"Calm down. Don't you remember our promise? You're free now. You don't have to go back to him. It's over." He explained, looking proud of himself. I, however, felt my stomach and all of its contents drop. "A thank you would be nice?"

He was incredibly lucky that his pompadoured crewmate realised I was reeling my fist back again, because right before I took a second swing, I was held back, hissing in both anger and in pain from my shoulder.