He ran as fast as he could, almost tripping over his own two feet. His hair was tied back, and out of his face and his blue eyes scanned the sides of the road for good hiding places. He currently held a very important object that belonged to the mayor, and a handgun was stuffed into his pocket. He hoped that, even without the bullets, that the gun would give him an intimidating air. He ducked into an alleyway and hid behind some discarded trashcans.
A well-known, teenage thief, Francis Bonnefoy had just caused a scene during the biggest holiday in the country. He hoped that his partner didn't get caught before him.
Being a criminal for most of his life, thieving came easy to him, especially when he knew it held a high value on the black market. He had been caught countless times before, but he'd always been able to escape any jail cell within a span of two hours. He knew that in about fifteen minutes, Officer Kirkland would be on his trail. Lately, instead of making his heart pound in fear, his heart ran frantic laps whenever he'd think of the policeman. He still didn't understand why the officer went through the trouble of arresting him. He still found it funny that he had his own personal cell in the jail. He'd grown quite attached to the lumpy mattress and small barred window. He laughed at the fact that the cell even had his partner's and his names on it.
As soon as Arthur heard that the mayor had been robbed, he immediately knew who the culprit was. There wasn't anything dangerous about the kid, but he was a trouble maker that didn't want to seem to follow the law. He should've known that Francis would try something today, when no one was stationed at City Hall. He left his post and started to walk around town, in search of the young Frenchman, in hopes of bringing the boy to justice.
The teen's heart thudded in his eardrums as he heard heavy boots thud against the pavement outside of the alley, accompanied by shouts for Officer Kirkland. A small speck of fear crept up my spine whenever they'd shout his name. He's never done anything to me during my previous arrests, but this may be the day where he finally snaps. From all the shouting, he heard that City Hall now has triple the guard it normally has, looking out for the 'armed and dangerous' thief.
He don't know what makes them think that he was dangerous. The most he'd ever done to someone was knock them out, and that was by accident. He never intends to hurt anyone.
The sound of familiar footsteps started to echo closer to the alley he was in. The only reason that the teen knew that he was getting close was because he wasn't running like the other officers. His walk had a steady rhythm to it. The boy curled up into a ball, so that the black shirt he wore was more visible than his blonde hair.
His heart skipped a beat when he heard a familiar tune. When he first heard the pirate's tune, it annoyed him to no end, because the Officer would always sing it. He remembered when his partner, Alfred Jones tried to sing it, he blew his top. The American didn't sing it correctly, and he basically butchered the lyrics. The boy had to stop himself from humming along as he clutched the item closer to his chest. It was a small box filled with legal documents.
"The other officers are gone." Arthur said with a hint of amusement in his voice, trying to see if either of the boys were in the area. "If you come out now, it would really save us all the trouble of an unnecessary chase."
The Frenchman looked around and saw a flash of yellow run past the Officer, hearing the American's laughter soon after. 'What's that idiot doing?!' Francis thought. He's supposed to distract the other officers around the parade, not come to aid him. He looked through a crack in the garbage cans, but he didn't see Arthur move. Why was he standing there when one of the thieving duo is getting away? Francis picked up a rock and he was about to throw it at the other end of the alleyway, before a hand caught his wrist. He looked up and saw an arrogant smirk on the Officer's face.
"Ah, Monsieur Kirkland, it's lovely to see you." the boy smiled nervously. "How are you doing on this fine day?"
"Hand it over, Bonnefoy." he holds out his hand.
"Hand what over? I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about." he gripped the small chest.
"The documents, if you will." he slightly tightened his grip on the boy's wrist, making him drop the rock.
"Alfred has them. You should've chased after him when you had the chance."
"I can see the chest, kid. Besides, Alfred isn't as elusive as you can be."
"If you let me go, I'll hand them over."
"Yes, and then you'll run like a dog with its tail between its legs." the Officer nudged a trashcan aside and pinned the boy to the wall. "We can't have that, can we?"
His heart thudded in his chest at their close proximity. The man's body radiated heat and his hand was strong around his wrist. He debated trying to struggle and get away, but he knew it'd be no use. The officer smelled like his beloved Earl Gray tea, another thing that used to irritate him. Now that he'd gotten used to the smell, he enjoyed it, because it was his smell.
Heat rose to the boy's face and he tried to hide it by turning his face away from the older man. Truth be told, he and Arthur had grown up together, but they both went down separate paths. Francis remembered the first time his childhood friend had arrested him. He hated the man for a while after that, but he laughed when it started to become routine. Occasionally, Arthur would let him go if it was something minor he'd taken, like something from the bakery maybe.
"If I give it back, will you let Alfred and I go?" he looked into his former friend's apple green eyes.
"I'm afraid not this time, frog." Arthur sighed and loosened his grip a little. "You did a very bad thing, this time. I'm going to have to take you and Alfred in."
"You know we're going to escape, Kirkland." the Frenchman tried to argue.
"Not if I stay in the cell with you." the officer smirked and pressed his body closer to the boy. "And you're not going in your normal cell, either. That's too easy for you boys to escape from. You'll be in the old fashioned cell, like the ones they used to use in the good ol' days, with the chains on the walls."
"So we're going in a dungeon? How tasteless."
"Hand over the box, Bonnefoy."
"Non, I don't think so. These documents are too important to hand over to just anybody. How will I know what you're going to do with them once they're in your possession?"
The officer kicked the thief's ankles apart to widen his stance and closed the small gap that separated them seconds before. He leaned his forehead on the younger boy's and gazed into his ocean blue eyes. The Frenchman's eyes widened and shallow breaths escaped from his parted lips into the cool air, forming cute little clouds. His face turned as red as a tomato, something his friend Antonio always mocked him for.
"Hand it over, Francis." Arthur whispered, his lips less than an inch away from the thief's. "Now."
Francis knew that he was no longer in the presence of 'Officer Kirkland', but he was in the presence of his rival and friend, Arthur. To think that the man standing in front of him would stoop this low for some stupid documents that he was just going to hold for ransom. His heart hadn't beat this fast since his first date with the British man. He feared that his friend would hear his frantic heart, so he tried to back away further into the brick wall. The policeman smirked and rolled his hips, hearing his friend gasp.
"Non." Francis grasped the box tighter. "I'm going to make a killing off of this, Kirkland. You're not going to take that from me."
Another roll of the Brit's hips had him gasping again. "Then I'll have to take it by force." he hummed and yanked the box. An angry wave washed over Francis as he flew into the man's chest due to the strong pull. He wasn't going to give up his prize that easily. A cocky smirk grew on his face as the man tugged again. If his old friend was up for a game of tug-of- war, that's what he was going to get.
Arthur let go of Francis' wrist and wrapped an arm around the teen's lower back and held him close. He gently moved the box so that it was between them, before delicately moving his hand to the teen's wrist. The pirate's tune floated out of his lips in a soft, almost hypnotic whistle. Now that Francis had one free arm, he tried to shove the Officer away from him. He didn't want to get lost in the soft melody of the man's song. He felt the man's soft but calloused fingers gently try to pry his away from the box, but he kept a tight grip on the object.
The officer bent down and his light whistle turned to a husky hum in his ear. "Francis, please let go."
Francis turned his head away as he continued to try and shove Arthur away. He shut his eyes as he used all of his effort to push the man away, but they snapped open when he heard a painful groan from the man. He knew that it wasn't his fruitless shoving that injured the man, but when he looked in the same direction as Arthur, he saw his partner in crime standing at the mouth of the alley tossing a rock and a smoke bomb in the air before catching them.
"Let him go, Iggy." Alfred said arrogantly. "We are on a schedule. The parade ends in an hour, dude."
A small chuckle left the officer's lips as he tightened his grip on the Frenchman. "You're making this too easy."
"Didn't I say to keep the cops stationed around the parade busy?" Francis snaps. "The parade is on the other side of town, you stupid American!"
"I got bored, plus I heard you got caught. For the King of Thieves, you get caught an awful lot." Alfred shrugs.
"Only because he knows me so well!"
"Is that why you're so close?"
"He's trying to talk me into giving him the box! That's it."
"It doesn't look like you're doing a lot of talking." Alfred sighs.
The Frenchman narrowed his eyes at the younger boy. He wanted to push the officer away and go fight the younger boy, but he knew that Arthur wouldn't allow him to do that. He was always protective of the boy, even as an officer. It was almost as if Alfred was his son. Francis turned his head back to Arthur and crashed his lips to the older male's. If Alfred was going to accuse him of exploiting himself again, then he'd do just that.
It didn't take too long for Arthur to willingly return the kiss, and not soon after, did he dominate the younger male. His fingers gently pried at Francis' tense fingers, slowly taking the box from the boy. He smirked and pulled away, waving the box in the boy's face, in a mocking gesture.
"Je te hais!" Francis mustered up all of his strength and shoved the officer away before taking off in the opposite direction.
Arthur sighed and turned his head to see that Alfred had run away, as well. He knew that Francis didn't hate him, but he also knew that he wasn't the frog's favorite person. He called for another officer to hold the box, while he chased after the two boys. He knew that Francis would be in an abandoned bakery near the police station, so he wasn't that worried about trying to track him down, but he never knew where Alfred was going to hide next. He checked Alfred's previous hiding spots and didn't find anything even remotely close to Alfred.
He continued to run around the city, until he found the boy hungrily staring into a McDonalds. The boy held his stomach before running away again. Arthur quickly caught up with the boy and picked him up, tucking him under his arm, like he was a football.
"How long has it been since you've eaten? You're really light." Arthur said. Alfred stubbornly kept his mouth shut, making the officer huff in annoyance. He set Alfred down, but kept a firm grasp on the boy's hand as they went inside. After Arthur got the food that he ordered for Alfred and Francis, he unwrapped the burger and offered it to Alfred, but the boy refused it. He opened the bottle of apple juice and offered that to the boy, but Alfred ignored it, despite his rumbling tummy.
"Fine, let's go get the frog, and then you can eat." Arthur closed the bottle and re-wrapped the burger before he took Alfred's hand again and led the boy out of the restaurant. He noticed that Alfred was lagging behind, and Arthur thought that it was because is feet hurt. He hauled the boy up onto his shoulders and continued to walk. He wasn't worried that anyone would see him, because no one really knew Alfred. Unlike Francis, Alfred was rarely seen, and he used to be a good kid, before he ran away from the police station. He wasn't always a thief, like Francis was. His name didn't float around as much as the Frenchman's.
Eventually, they reached the old bakery that he knew Francis was hiding in. They walked inside, and he let go of Alfred, knowing that the only exit was the door behind him.
"Honey, I'm home." he sang. Francis tucked himself closer into the corner behind the counter. "Your nuggets and fries are going to get cold."
Francis' stomach growled loudly at the mention of the food, and he reluctantly crawled out of the small corner. He caught the food when it was thrown to him, along with the water bottle.
"You're going to take us in, aren't you?" Francis ate a few fries.
"The box was given up without too bad of a fight, and no officers were harmed, either. The parade still has another half hour. You two got lost in the parade scene." Arthur drinks his iced tea that he's had on him since this morning. "After the parade, we'll report that you got away."
Instead of thanking his old friend, he grabbed Arthur's collar and pulled him closer. "You're doing this for Alfred. I don't give a damn if I'm put on trial, and I know I don't. You just don't want to see your little brother get sent to a big time prison where you can't guard him. Your mask doesn't hide anything from me, Arthur." he lets go of the man's collar and fixed it before going back to eating his food.
"You know me too well, Bonnefoy." Arthur smiles sarcastically. "Too well."