Here's a little story about Manny and Colias. I guess you can see some slight slash here if you squint, but I actually wrote this as gen. As the summary says, there are spoilers for Turnabout Reminiscence and Turnabout Ablaze.
IN THE DARK
He was back in court. With utmost horror heaping up in his stomach, he realised that everything about his not guilty verdict had been a dream. The trial hadn't ended; he wasn't free yet.
Everything was exactly as he remembered it, and his eyes darted from one spot in the courtroom to another. There was the prosecutor who always stared at him with dark determination in his brown eyes. Opposite him stood his defence attorney, the best money could get.
The faces of the others were only a dark blur to him, except for one man. Ambassador Alba was currently on stand, stroking his beard absent-mindedly and shaking his head. His shoulders were hunched, and when he spoke, there was a mournful tone in his voice.
"I'm really sorry about all the trouble. I can hardly believe that an employee of my embassy is being accused of such a horrible crime. I have utterly failed as an ambassador," he said.
"Not at all. It's not like you had anything to do with this," the judge said.
"After the decisive evidence the court has just seen, I believe it's time for a verdict," Faraday cut in.
The judge nodded. "I think so, too. There is no doubt about this issue," he said.
What decisive evidence? Manny examined everyone's faces in panic, but nobody was even looking at him now. The only evidence that could prove his guilt was the video tape, but that had been stolen, hadn't it? Alba had arranged for someone to take it. He had sworn that he had!
All of a sudden, he found himself on the witness stand, waiting for his verdict. His hands were tied to the stand with a thick cloth that was red, white and yellow. The harder he tried to struggle, the harder his bonds bit into his skin. When he looked at the others in the courtroom, all he could see on their faces were distrust and disappointment.
The judge raised his gavel. "This court finds the defendant --"
Manny turned to look up at the judge in desperation, but the man was no longer there. In his place was a young woman with light brown hair. He remembered that hair all too well. He had run his fingers through it many times as her head rested on his chest. He remembered her eyes, too, but the cold look they now held was new to him.
"Guilty!" the woman snapped. The bang of the gavel echoed through the courtroom.
The lawyers and the people watching the trial started to get up on their feet. Manny watched Ambassador Alba turn his back on him and start to leave, but before he could call out to him, the woman on the judge's bench turned to glare down at him.
"You killed me! How could you? I thought I meant something to you!" she shrieked.
Manny opened his mouth to tell her that she had but that money, his career and his respect and fear of Alba had meant so much more. It was nothing personal, and he hadn't wanted to kill her. It just had to be done. However, it was like his voice had been stolen, and not a word came out. He could only watch how Cece Yew's face was twisted in hatred for him and how she got up on her feet. The knife was still protruding from her side. Odd. He was sure he had taken it with him.
"Your sentence will be carried out right away," Cece said. She took the gavel and walked to him. They were alone in the courtroom now. Cece stopped by his side, raising the gavel, and Manny knew what she was going to do. He wanted to plead with her, but he could neither will his mouth to work nor move an inch with the cloth binding him.
"Manny Coachen, I sentence you to a slow and painful death," Cece said and smashed the gavel against his hand, breaking bones in a hot wave of agony.
Manny woke up with a start, the sound of his heart pounding in his ears. For a brief moment, the panic of his verdict burned in his chest, but then he noticed where he was. He was sitting in his office in the Babahlese Embassy. There was his souvenir collection, his desk and the grandfather clock. He closed his eyes in relief and slumped back into his chair, nursing his hand.
He wondered when he had fallen asleep and what time it was. It was dark outside. The only light source in his office was a plain lamp on his desk, and it was barely enough to spread dim light to the farthest corners. Some papers were sprawled before him. When he took a better look, he immediately remembered what he had been doing before falling asleep. He picked up his pen in daze.
He had finished printing another stack of counterfeit bills last week. The only thing that remained to be done was to arrange them to be transported to the Allebahstian Embassy where Alba would send them onwards. It was a simple routine. Manny had lost count how many times they had done it over the years.
He pressed the tip of his pen on the paper, but he let it remain there, no words coming to his mind. Even after the relief of waking up had washed over him, some of the fright of the nightmare lingered. It was difficult to concentrate when Cece's accusing eyes were still fresh in his mind. Manny liked to think he was over those events, but now it felt perverted to work on the very thing that had led to her death.
He ran his shaking fingers through his hair. It was a long time since he had last dreamt of Cece. He had done his best to forget. All the good memories he had of her were tarnished by the recollection of how she had found out what was going on and had become a threat. It had been necessary to get her out of the way. He had resigned to that the moment he had heard that had gone to the police. Alba's instructions had been no surprise. Despite that, he had never been able to forget the expression on her face when she had begged him to tell her that he had nothing to do with the smuggling ring. Or how easy it had been to push the knife into her and how little time it had taken for her to die.
Even worse were the memories of his arrest and the trial. It had been the first time in his life that he had been truly afraid. For a while, it had looked like his life would come to an end before he had reached any of the things he wanted. He had been only twenty-one then and had barely got a taste of the money and power that Alba had offered him. Being on the witness stand and thinking that all of it was going to be torn away from him was his most terrifying memory to this very day.
There was a knock at his door, and he turned to look in some surprise. He had thought he was alone at the embassy now, safe for the night guards. It had to be past midnight.
"Come in," he said.
"Oh, good that you're still here," Colias Palaeno said as he entered the office. "I've got something I really need to discuss with you."
"What is it?" Manny asked, trying his best to hide his irritation. Right now the last thing he wanted was to deal with his incompetent boss.
"Do you remember what I told you about the new amusement park last week?" Colias asked. He closed the door behind him and came to stand before Manny's desk, smiling in his usual excited way that Manny knew meant trouble.
"Yes," he said, though he wished he didn't. It was a few weeks since some place called Gatewater Land had opened, and Colias hadn't been able to shut up about it ever since. Manny had a hunch about what Colias wanted, but he barely had the energy to think about it.
"And we can't go there. We have too much work at the moment," he added before Colias could continue.
Colias' smile didn't waver one bit. "Well, we don't have to go there right now, but I think we should really consider it. We might get some good ideas there," he said.
"We don't have the money to build a Babahl Land," Manny pointed out. Not that they needed it. With the way Colias was running the embassy, it was more like a funhouse than any proper establishment representing their country.
"Maybe not now, but with the way these butterfly pins are selling, maybe we could --"
Manny leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes tiredly, tuning out the rest of Colias' words. Most of the time he didn't mind listening to the ambassador's ideas and shooting them down. The man was an idiot, that was for sure, but he had the sort of air around him that it was impossible to dislike him. Now he just wasn't in the mood.
"Hey, Manny, are you alright? You don't look too good," Colias said.
When Manny opened his eyes, he saw the ambassador towering over his desk, looking down at him with an uncharacteristically somber expression. Colias picked up all the paperwork on the desk and organized it into a neat pile in his hands. Manny held his breath. It occurred to him that it might not be a good idea to leave evidence of his business with the smuggling ring lying around right before Colias' eyes.
However, Colias barely glanced at the papers before putting them away. "You shouldn't work that much. Go home. And don't worry about being on time in the morning," he said.
"You're still here, too," Manny said.
"I… have to take care of a few things," Colias replied.
Manny lifted his brows in curiosity. "What things?" he asked.
Colias grinned sheepishly. "Ah, I was hoping you wouldn't ask. You see, it's a little embarrassing. But since you did ask, I guess I have to answer," he said.
Or you could just lie, Manny thought, though he couldn't say he was surprised.
"Do you remember those coupons that you printed for me last week? I was organizing them into neat piles in my office, and then I somehow spilled my whole bottle of ink on them. I really don't know how it happened, but now they're all ruined," Colias said.
"Really," Manny said slowly.
"I'm so sorry. I know how hard you worked to make those coupons for me. You spent an entire night printing them," Colias said.
That was because he had actually spent the whole night printing counterfeit bills. The coupons had taken only half an hour.
"And how were you going to fix that?" Manny asked.
"I thought I'd print new coupons myself. I haven't done it before, but technically I know how it's done, so maybe --" Colias started, but Manny couldn't even be bothered to wait for him to finish.
"No, don't touch the printing machine," he said.
"Why not?" Colias asked.
"You're going to break it. What would we do then?" Manny replied.
"Maybe you're right. Then we wouldn't have any coupons at all," Colias said.
And then there would be no more counterfeit bills and no more money into Manny's pockets. He didn't even want to imagine Alba's anger should something ever happen to one of their main operations.
"Maybe it's just as well. The coupons would have distracted me anyway. I could use this chance to do a little more work and see what's going on at the embassy. Maybe you can show me how to print coupons later and then I can take over that job," Colias blabbered. He noticed Manny's lack of interest and frowned. "Is something wrong?" he asked.
"I think I'm just tired," Manny said.
"That's probably my fault, isn't it?" Colias said. He was wringing his hands with an apologetic smile. "I know I'm not very good at being an ambassador. You always have to fill in and cover for me."
"It's nothing," Manny said, though it sometimes felt like he had three jobs. "But you could be a little more concerned about your work than promoting tourism."
"I know," Colias said. He grabbed a chair, pulled it close to Manny's desk and sat down. "It's just that I think you're doing such a good job at running things that I sometimes feel you should be the ambassador. It's almost like trying to lure tourists to Babahl is all that's left for me to do," he confessed.
"That's not true. You're the best ambassador anyone in Babahl could ever ask for," Manny said. At least he thought so. Colias was the perfect distraction; he drew all the attention to himself and was so clueless about what was going on right under his nose that Manny didn't even have to hide his illegal activities. He couldn't have asked for a better boss.
"Oh, you really think so?" Colias asked, his face suddenly alight with happiness.
"Of course," Manny replied, smiling a little at how easy it was to please the ambassador.
"Then we're the perfect pair because I think you're the best secretary I've ever had!" Colias announced. "I'm sure that together we'll find a way to attract more people to Babahl. We just have to work harder."
Manny wanted to shake his head. He had known Colias for a few years now, and yet he had never stopped wondering about that positive spirit of his. It didn't matter that the economical situation in Babahl hadn't improved much since their independence or that any of his antics weren't attracting any tourists to the country. Colias just kept trying and refused to accept that maybe all his work was in vain.
His enthusiasm was almost inspiring. At first Manny had thought the smile and the talk about helping people in Babahl had to be a clever decoy to hide a more sinister nature. Manny had joined Alba's smuggling ring when he was twenty, and he had quickly learnt that he couldn't trust anyone in the world. Everyone was only looking out for themselves. Nobody could really be as sweet and honest as Colias appeared.
For the first few months, he had been on the edge and very careful about his dealings with the smuggling ring. Then, bit by bit, he had started to realise that Colias really was everything he seemed. Everything that man did was to help his country and people. Manny knew he would never understand how he could get such happiness from it, especially since most of his attempts were utter failures.
He couldn't help but glance at the papers that were still on the desk in clear sight. For ten years, his life had been nothing but lies and watching his back. After the incident with Cece, he had learnt not to let anyone close to him and not to trust anyone – least of all those he was working with. He hadn't minded since he now had the money and power he had always wanted, but Colias had made things a little difficult.
It just didn't feel right to watch the ambassador's sincere smile and listen to his happy babbling about Babahl, ink, coupons and a glorious future when he knew that in a few hours, he'd be using that very ink Colias loved so much to print counterfeit bills right at the Babahlese Embassy. If the truth of that ever came out, the reputation of the country would be in ruins.
He expected their conversation to be over and that Colias would return to his office, bubbling with new ideas to achieve his goal. He was therefore a little taken back when the ambassador leaned back on his chair and crossed his hands on his chest.
"I think we've actually come quite far. We've done a really good job at polishing the country's image here," he said. He kept a thoughtful pause. "It was a bit hard at first."
Manny knew all too well what Colias meant. Even though he had been declared not guilty of Cece's murder, there were many who thought he had done it. Right after his verdict, he had received countless anonymous letters and phone calls about how justice would be served one day.
"You should have chosen someone else as your secretary," he said. Then again, the bad publicity the decision had brought them had at least put Babahl in the headlines for a while. It was better than total obscurity.
"I must admit I thought so, too, at first, but I changed my mind. You're doing such a good job that I can't imagine replacing you. Alba was right when he told me about you," Colias said.
"Alba?" Manny asked. What could he have to do with any of this?
A wide smile brightened Colias' face. "Didn't you know? When I came to work here, Ambassador Alba welcomed me personally and recommended you as my secretary. He said that you're a hard worker and that I shouldn't let past rumours affect my opinion of you. It was so nice of him to help both of us even though the relations between Babahl and Allebahst weren't so good back then," he explained.
Alba hadn't said a word of that to Manny. He had assumed that he had been chosen because of his own accomplishments, not because the old goat had recommended him. It bothered him a little to know that Alba had only done it to ensure that he had an agent in a high position on the Babahlese side of the building and hadn't even discussed this with him. It made him feel like he was just a pawn in his game.
"And when I got to know you, I realised that Alba was perfectly right. I couldn't ask for a better secretary," Colias said. "And one thing I want you to know is that I never believed those rumours about you. I trust you, and I'm sure you didn't kill that woman."
Manny just nodded. It was eerie to have Colias speak of that when he had just had nightmare about Cece a few moments ago. It was almost like it was fate, and Manny couldn't identify the sudden tightness in his chest. Colias was probably the only person in the world who had any faith in him. It was almost funny how it was all misplaced. He wondered what would happen to that lovely smile if Colias ever learnt the truth.
The shock and fear in Cece's eyes when he had plunged the knife into her flashed before him. Manny had become so relaxed around Colias that he didn't often worry that he might discover the truth, too. Manny had no illusions about what would happen then. As Colias' secretary, he was in the perfect position to talk to him in private and silence him should he ever find out too much.
It would probably be a moment like this. It wouldn't take much more than turning his key into a knife and pushing it into Colias' side. If he wanted to avoid a mess, he could use poison. Or maybe organize an accident outside the embassy. Out of all these options, the one that stayed in his mind was stabbing him and watching him bleed to death in his arms, just like Cece.
Manny had to turn his eyes away from Colias' smile, the thought of tarnishing it bothering him more than he was ready to admit. He was an idiot. He shouldn't have let himself get this comfortable around the ambassador. He had to be prepared to kill without hesitation if the need arose.
Colias cleared his throat in embarrassment. "You probably don't want to talk about that," he said.
"They aren't happy memories," Manny said, and for once he didn't have to lie to the ambassador's face.
"I'm sorry I brought that up. I just wanted to say how much I appreciate your work," Colias said.
"It's alright," Manny said. He did his best to banish the picture of Colias lying on the floor in a pool of blood from his mind. He decided that from now on, he'd be even more careful and provide Colias with as many distractions as he wanted. Special double discount coupons, saying yes to his stupid project ideas every now and then, discussing Babahl and the country's future whenever Colias wanted. He'd do all of it if it meant Colias would never have to know the truth.
"About Gatewater Land," Manny said on a whim.
"Yes?" Colias asked.
"Let's go there this weekend."
Manny knew he'd regret his words in the morning, but at the moment the delighted surprise on Colias' face was all that mattered to him.