Chapter Text
The alarm clock rang, the acute sound echoed in the dark room, despite Ace's attempts to make it stop throwing at it everything he could find nearby the bed. So Ace covered his head with the pillow, hand strongly pressed against his ears.
"Come on, Ace, it's time to get up. You're late."
"Go away."
Sabo wasn't bothered a bit, and grabbing the sheet and pillow, he pulled them off the bed and its occupant. Ace was left uncovered in the bed, with only the underwear he used to sleep with, but he turned his back to Sabo as if nothing happened.
"I'm tired. You know what I did last night."
Sabo sighed. "Yes, but you have a lesson today. And, if I recall correctly, and I do, it is the one with your favorite professor." He shrugged. "So, if you'd like to miss it..."
Ace glared at him. "You always have to be the voice of reason, don’t you?"
"That’s what I’m here for." Sabo smiled.
In the end Ace stood up, stretching his arms up high to wake him up, and looked at the alarm clock. His eyes widened. "It's late!"
Sabo rolled his eyes. "Told you."
Ace ignored him as he tossed himself out the bed and rushed into the bathroom. Five minutes later he emerged with his hair still wet as he raced down the stairs while pulling on his pants and his shirt at the same time.
Sabo sighed again, then took Ace's pack and shoes and followed him downstairs. The kitchen was a mess after Luffy's breakfast, but he was already long gone for school. The unwritten rule of the house was that he and Ace cleaned up their little brother's mess, but since the "problem" with Ace had started, Sabo had accepted the fact that he would be the one to take care of everything.
So he watched as Ace stuffed his mouth with as many brioches he could while he put his shoes on, then grabbed his pack, and murmured a "thank you" spitting crumbs around, before disappearing outside the house.
"You're welcome," Sabo said with a soft smile, as he collected the plates on the table.
It was so late Ace knew he wouldn't make it in time for the beginning of the lesson, but that didn't stop him from being annoyed by the slow movements of the subway. If he could use his power he would be at class in no time, but he had to be a normal student for now.
As soon as the metro reached his stop, Ace rushed outside the metro station and towards the school, unaware of the people he almost ran over. He dashed into the hallway of the Ecole Nationale Superiore des Arts Decorative, ignoring the yells around him. In that way he was able to reach the class only twenty minutes late.
The door was closed, so Ace pushed it open just a little to peek inside. The professor was written something on the board, his back turned to the students, so Ace slipped inside without him noticing, at least for now. He climbed the stairs and sat down in the highest seat, next to Oars, who shot him a smile and then pushed his notebook over to Ace to show him what he had missed.
Ace nodded and smiled thankfully, before turning his attention to the professor, who was speaking at the class as he showed them the drawing he'd made on the board.
Sabo was right in saying Professor Marco is Ace's favorite. Despite Sabo's teasing, the Professor was his favorite, not only because he was hot (Ace had stalked his Facebook page and found a pretty nice picture of the man in a swimsuit that showed off his abs), but because of his behavior.
Marco taught extremely well, way better than his colleagues, showing he loved both his subject and teaching. His voice was calm and warm, and Ace enjoyed hearing his explanations. Marco appreciated all his students in his own way, never made fun of them or their problems, and was never harsh on them regardless of the situation. He was gentle and caring.
Ace, who had experienced a lot of trouble with other teachers in the past, had liked him immediately. The admiration slowly turned into a crush he didn't even try to hide it anymore. Ace was okay with Marco the Professor, but was more and more eager to know Marco as a person.
And when Marco rested his eyes on him during the lesson, Ace knew Marco did notice Ace’s late arrival, but decided to brush it off with just a little smile as he kept speaking. Ace smiled back and waited for the end of the lesson.
As soon as Marco left the room, Ace followed him in the hallway, with just a nod of excuse to Oars, who shrugged. Ace's crush was something Oars was used to.
"Professor!" Ace reached Marco and walked at his side. "You may have noticed I was late today..."
"Yes, I noticed." Marco's tone was amused, but not in a wrong way. "Did you still manage to follow the lecture?"
"Uhm, yes and no..." Ace wouldn't in any way dismiss Marco's teaching ability, but at the same time he'd like to take any chance he could have. "Recently I have problems focusing." It wasn't even a lie. "So I was wondering if you could give me some of your time to check back on some topics I could have missed." He smiled wide.
Marco smiled back. "Of course. If I don't have a lesson you can find me in my office. The door is always open for students."
"Why not a coffee now? I didn't have a proper breakfast and my next lesson is in half an hour." And so is yours, but Ace restrained himself from saying it and showing how much he knew about his professor's habits and schedule.
"I don't think it would be appropriate," Marco said gently.
"A coffee?" Ace retorted back, with an innocent and surprised expression on his face. "Well, no coffee then. We can take an orange juice, or something else you could find... appropriate."
Marco couldn't help but smile at Ace's blatant fake ignorance. "I don't think it is appropriate for a teacher to take a coffee or anything else with his students outside of lessons time."
"But why? We would be sitting at a table, just as in your office, but with something more to eat or drink." Ace's arms widened. "Unless you would consider it a date and I will be flattered by that."
"Ace..." Marco said softly. "I will explain everything you need in my office, and you can take coffee if you like, but no more than that. I consider you more than intelligent enough to understand my position."
Ace was about to reply, but his cell phone he had tucked in the back pocket of his pants rang, the sound of the song filling the space between the two men.
Marco took the chance to end the conversation. "And somebody is calling you, so better not make them wait. See you."
Ace groaned watching Marco's back as he walked towards his office, but then moved into the nearest restroom without a second though. He was pissed at his phone as he took it out and pushed his thumb on the touch screen. Criminals really didn't choose the right time, just when Ace was almost getting some results with Marco.
Despite what Marco had thought - well, that was the reason Sabo had created it in the first place - it wasn't a call. It was an app Sabo had developed just for Ace. As soon as news of a crime popped up, the app started singing with the not so very subtle song of the Heavenly Heaven 'Somebody come save me'.
A way for Ace to know he was needed without other people becoming suspicious.
The restroom was deserted, so Ace sighed before pronouncing the magic words. "Enkai." Flames erupted from his body, covering him entirely.
When they disappeared, Ace wasn't Ace anymore, but Fire Fist, the superhero with the power of fire who protected Paris from criminals. The red mask he wore was enough to hide the upper side of his face, freckles included, and that made him unrecognizable. His torso was covered only by a red tattoo representing a flame. It started from the left side of his hip and spread across his chest with the last lounge that touched his right shoulder; the same across his back.
His costume, mask and tattoo aside, consisted only of large red and orange pants, a design very similar to that of a fireman, and black boots that reached his knees. Sabo had mocked him more than once, but Ace actually liked it. The large pants and no shirt gave him a lot of freedom moving around, and the gloves; let's not forget the gloves.
He hurried outside the restroom from the window, and jumped onto the roof of the building of the university, being careful to use the sunlight as a shield for avoiding people spotting him. In his superhero form everything was stronger, so Ace managed to reach the place the app had indicated to him just by jumping from roof to roof.
Place des Fetes was surrounded by cops. At the center of it stood a white platform and some people were stuck to it by their feet. In the middle stood a pillar topped by a basket. It rotated on itself, spreading a white substance into the air that Ace realized when he got closer, was actually wax dust.
It was easy to spot the criminal - a skinny man, with a pretty peculiar hair cut very similar to a three – who could create wax and manipulate it, and Ace hurried to stop some arrows directed towards the police.
"You know, wax and fire doesn't mix together." Ace said, with a smirk, as the criminal glared at him, irritated at the interruption.
"You again!" It was Smoker, the police officer in charge of the operation and someone who didn't like Fire Fist very much, to say at least. For that reason, Ace found amusing to make fun of him.
"I can leave if you prefer," Ace stated, with an innocent smile, "But, I dare say, those people right there seem a lot happier to see me here than you. You should definitely work on your relationship skills."
Smoker grumbled at himself, but didn't reply to Ace's remarks. "He's Galdino, a former employer of the bank over there," he explained. "He was fired and now he wants revenge, so he took all the employees and director hostage."
"Same old story. Boring." Ace commented. Criminals acted for two reasons only: revenge and profit. At one certain point Ace had stopped caring about their motives.
He focused his attention on the hostage. Now it was more clear that even the platform, the pillar and the basket were made with wax, but Ace noticed at that moment that the wax dust was slowly attaching to the people around the pillar. They were breathing harder and Ace was sure they would be killed if they remained in the middle of the wax for too long.
Luckily, his fire could melt wax in no time. He only had to climb on the platform and warm it enough for the wax to become soft so the hostages could free themselves. Ace covered his arms with flames and sprang in action. Galdino saw his move and sprayed his wax towards Ace.
To protect himself, Ace hit the man with his fire, with the consequences that the wax turned liquid, a sea of hot white wax that covered everything in its path. Ace cursed; even though he could generate fire, he wasn't intangible. He jumped away, but Galdino understood and attacked him again with the wax.
Ace's only choice was to melt it and take the risk of being submerged by it. Before that could happen, someone grabbed Ace's arm and lifted him into the air. The waves of wax slowly covered the place he had stood, with the policemen rushing away from it, before it cooled down and solidified.
"Be careful. We don't want you to hurt those cute feet of yours, do we?"
"You never see my feet, you can't know they're cute," Ace retorted, and glared at the man who, wings spread wide, was keeping him in the air and away from the wax. "And you're late."
As with every decent superhero, Ace had a partner. Or better, as Ace preferred to refer him, a sidekick. Ace didn't choose him, so he was stuck with the Phoenix, who was most of the time pretty annoying with his flirtations.
Phoenix's mask was a light blue helmet that completely covered his head, and ended with a bird's beak, hiding the upper part of his face. He was also more dressed than Ace, but the blue and gold tight tracksuit didn't hide the Phoenix's figure much, abs and ass included. Something Ace could appreciate, if said body wouldn't have belonged to such an annoying man.
"But thank you," Ace said, at last. "Would you put me down now or are you gonna wait until my arm tears off?"
The Phoenix smiled. "As you wish, my dear." And he landed on the now solidified sea of wax, but even if Ace now had his feet on the ground, he didn't let him go.
Ace looked down at Phoenix's grip on his arm, then shot him a not so amused look, before pulling free.
Phoenix wasn't fazed by it, but focused his attention on their enemy. "What do we have here?" he asked.
"A man with a not very interesting story who can create wax is slowly killing his former colleagues," Ace informed him. "And I can't beat him because my fire makes wax more dangerous, as you saw." The last part was spat, with bitter tone.
"More dangerous for people that can get hurt," Phoenix pointed out, with a little smile. "But not for me."
Usually, Ace would have rolled his eyes. He found it unfair that Phoenix had not one but two superpowers: he could fly and, at the same time, regenerated himself from every wound, even mortal ones. But in this case, Ace could appreciate a little help.
"What do you suggest?"
"Just do what you do best," Phoenix said, bent down so his face to was near to Ace's. "Let your fire shine." Then he moved away and began walking straightforward. He didn't even look at Galdino, focusing his attention on the hostages.
Galdino shifted his gaze from Ace to Phoenix, before forming another wall of wax, to stop Phoenix from advancing further. Phoenix kept moving and, behind him, Ace smirked.
"Kagero!"
Flames erupted from Ace's palm, surpassed Phoenix and hit the wall. The wax melted. Phoenix didn't stop. The wax brushed his legs, but blue flames surrounded them, healing from every burn the wax could cause.
Galdino stopped, looking at Phoenix with wide eyes. Phoenix smiled, then took advantage of his opponent's distraction to rush forwards and grabbed him from behind, clapping Galdino's neck with his arm.
Ace didn't stop to watch Phoenix's action. He noticed the basket was still moving, so he rushed forward, now that the path was clear, and jumped on the platform, with the hostages' relief. He bent down and put his hands on the ground: the wax was warmed enough to become soft, so the hostages could free their feet by themselves.
"Go," Ace ordered. They hurried to obey, so Ace could turn his attention from them to Galdino, who first had tried, with no avail, to hit Phoenix with an arrow made out of wax, but now was trying to submerge him entirely. Phoenix's legs were already trapped in wax.
With two jumps, Ace was in front of Galdino. "Hiken!" Ace hit him in the torso with his best attack, leaving the mark of a fist burned in his skin. Galdino collapsed on the ground, while Ace let other flames encircle Phoenix to free him from the wax.
"My hero," Phoenix murmured, with an amused smile. He wasn't worried by the fact that he could have suffocated by the wax and died. "Can I thank you for saving me with a kiss?"
Ace rolled his eyes and took a step back. Did he let Galdino catch him so he could hit on Ace? "Be careful next time, because I'm not sure I'll always arrive in time to save you." But Ace decided to be a little grateful for the help, so he added, "See you next time."
Before jumping away, of course. Maybe he could arrive on time for the last part of his next lesson.
***
Marco landed few blocks away from the university, before returning back to his human form. The wings disappeared inside him, and the tight tracksuit became again his suit with the cravat he wore as a normal, ordinary art professor.
Once he assured himself nobody had noticed him, he began walking back to school. He arrived just in time to see the end of the lesson he should have attended, so he hid behind the door until the last student left the class. Only then did he enter the room.
"Thank you, Thatch." He approached the man that had posed as him while Marco was too busy saving innocent people in a costume.
Thatch sighed, relieved, and freed himself from the mask that covered his face entirely.
"This is getting out of hand," he informed Marco. "Luckily, this time the lesson was about Greek art, so a mask from Greek tragedy fit. But there’ll come the day I won't be able to disguise as you anymore."
"Oh, I'm pretty sure it won't. Your imagination is unlimited."
"Don't flatter me like that. No, I'm joking, please continue."
Marco smiled. "Thank you," he said sincerely.
Since day one of his adventure as a superhero, Thatch had helped him cover his absence at work, something Marco was grateful for. Thatch was a very good actor and story teller, so every time he managed to do something to trick the students into believing he was the real Marco. And Marco could accept being seen as a weird both from students and colleagues if that meant nobody found out about his secret identity.
But he felt guilty about involving Thatch with his problems, even if he was aware he couldn't have done it without his help. Thatch, though, being the kind person he was, was more than willing to help him.
"Nah, pal, it's nothing. It was pretty fun this time, I admit it." And he patted his shoulder, in a reassuring way. "Did you save the day?"
Marco nodded. "Not alone, though."
"So it was worth it."
"It was." Marco's smile softened.
"Oh, yeah, your literally hot partner." Thatch's tone implied a conversation Marco had heard many times and didn't want to face again, but before he could change the subject, Thatch went on. "I understand Fire Fist's charm, I really do, but how could you be so obsessed with him? You used to be the realistic one in the family."
"Thatch..."
"Why pursue someone you don't even really know, you don't even see behind the mask, when you have a nice young man who would like a date with you? What's his name again? Lacey?"
"It's Ace," Marco corrected him, and frowned. "And I hope you're not suggesting I should date one of my students."
"I suggest you date a real person, not a fictional character. No matter how many people you and Fire Fist save together, you can't have a normal relationship. You don't know him."
Marco would've answered, but Thatch was oddly right. Just as Marco, Fire Fist could have an entire life behind his mask Marco wasn't part of, and never would be. What remained for him were just the few moments they shared together as superheroes, something Marco wasn't ready to give up.
"Hey, pal, I didn't mean it," Thatch said, understanding the sadness in the silence. "You're great even without the mask off, okay? And you'll find someone even more amazing than Fire Fist. Who knows, maybe in real life he is the most boring person ever, and he spends his days in front of the television drinking beers."
Marco doubted it. Even if he met Fire Fist just a few times, in some way he knew him. There was a connection between them, or at least it seemed to him. But it was not something he would explain to Thatch, and just smiled, appreciating Thatch's efforts to comfort him.
"I need a coffee now. Will you join me?"
"Sure." Marco nodded and followed him outside the room.