Hello guys! We are back in action! This was meant to be published a few months ago, but what do you do? Life happens! So to make up for the delay these chapters are gonna be the best possible, and kinda very long. We hope you enjoy the first chapter of HVPD 2!

"Where is my brother?"

\(*-*)/

Leon was dazed from all of the morphine he had been given, and he blinked his eyes into focus and shook his mind from its fuzziness.

He didn't want to remember.

"Tell us what happened, Leon. Tell me where my brother, your lover, is." Lukas stared expectantly at the younger, and Leon had suddenly noticed his deeply furrowed brows. He was extremely worried.

"Um...Well...There's parts where it's fuzzy in between." Leon protested weakly, "So it won't be very accurate."

"Just tell us what you know, Leon." Lukas snapped in slight irritation.

"Well...uh...Em and I were spying on those guys, then one of them, Francis I think his name was? He heard us. But before he could see us we hid under a car. When Francis was gone, we decided to fetch something to eat. But of course, this drug dealer started yelling and his leaders knocked us out. When we came to, we were in this old abandoned diner, and the big guy...what was his name?...Daan! That's it, Daan! Daan was, like, explaining his whole evil plot and such. He planned to use Ice as ransom and try to force you, Lukas, to pay off the remaining amount of cash that your parents owe to him. Either that, or he'll find somebody else to sell Ice to. Then, they decided they needed to dispose of me so Daan shot me. I don't really recall the rest..." Leon decided it was best to leave out some of the other details; he didn't want to go through the pain of having remember Emil's tears. However, something else was nagging at the back of his mind. "Maybe something happened afterwards...? I can't recall... That's all I remember."

Lukas patted Leon's hand in a reassuring gesture. "That's about everything we need, thank you. We'll keep you updated on what we find while you're still hospitalized. It's time to take our leave now, please take all the time you need to recover, Wang." He slammed his fist down onto the surprisingly silent and usually boisterous Danish fiancé of his. "Come on, Mathias. We're going now."

Mathias simply nodded and clapped his hand on Leon's uninjured shoulder. "Get better soon, buddy. I'm going to miss having you work in the cafe." His lips curled into a sneaky grin. "Y'think I could sneak in your uniform into your room one of these days? I'm sure Emil would love to see that once he returns."

The Asian rolled his eyes, maintaining his apathetic composure. "See you, Mathias."

\('-')/

-One Week Later-

It hurt.

Being without him, that is.

It seriously, seriously hurt.

It felt like half of his heart had been ripped open and stabbed with four hundred and forty four thousand needles.

The pain in his arm (now numbed with the IV sac's contents) didn't even compare to the pain Leon was physically feeling from the loss of Emil and the paranoia he was feeling because of it.

-A Kind of Not Really Day by Day Schedule of Leon's Thoughts-

Day 1 and 2: "What if I, like, never find him? What if I find him, but he's dead?"

Day 3: "What if they're torturing him? What if they're, like, drugging him with their experimenting drugs and he goes crazy? What if he spontaneously combusts from the stuff they're injecting in him?"

Day 5 Through 7 "What if they're castrating him right now and his entrails are spilling out? In one of Kiku's games, one of the characters were sliced open... What if Ice was just dumped out to starve and rot...?! What if he decided to join them in their gang?!"

Oh, Leon.

The doctors came in everyday to check on his wounds, and although his body was in poor condition, his mind was even weaker. He was worried sick; he was worried and it was driving him mad.

One day, Lukas came to visit. The Norwegian was accompanied by Mathias, per usual. They had been asking their fair share of questions about Emil's last whereabouts, that of which Leon only remembered what happened a week and three days ago. But today...today was different.

Today, the Norwegian had burst in, completely out of breath. Usually it was the Dane that ecstatically crashed his way into the room. This time, Lukas had shoved Mathias out of his way, quickly hurling his thin frame into the room.

"Leon...the officers in the station...they have..." Lukas wheezed and his body writhed as a series of coughs overtook him. "...have...been looking around town...and we think we may...have found a new update on Emil's whereabouts."

Leon's jaw dropped open, then. "W-what is it? What happened?! Did you, like, find him?!"

Mathias hugged Lukas' body close and rubbed the latter's back soothingly. "No, we didn't find him yet. But we do have a couple photos and addresses that were uncovered in an old warehouse a little over forty eight hours ago. The addresses were handwritten in pen, so the forensic scientists compared its handwriting with a sample of Emil's. It wasn't a match. However; the handwriting does match a certain someone in the Vrede en Liefde."

Leon raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "Who?"

"Francis Bonnefoy." Lukas finally managed to catch his breath, and he pulled out a small white envelope, the flap once opened before, the delicate floral scent of roses caressing the envelope in a passionate embrace. A scent that obviously belonged to the Frenchman. "The addresses and photos are encased in here. We managed to match up the places with their addresses, so all the other officers need to do is find out which one Ice is being held in." The envelope was tossed into the hospitalized Asian's hands.

"I still don't get it; how did you guys even find this stuff?" Leon asked, eyeing the envelope warily.

"You see, after you told us what happened, we went to the scene of the crime. Apparently Francis called in saying that there was, and I quote, 'a young man in this (horrible) condition downtown and he looks absolutely deathly!' After that call, the Captain sent Luke, Lovino, Antonio, and I off downtown to rescue you! It was a search-and-rescue mission, as they call it! I was so scared for you and Emil, man! When we found you nearly dead, we all freaked and made sure you got to the hospital super quick!" Mathias gestured to the room around him.

"Does the Captain know that Francis is...?" Leon trailed off.

"No, she doesn't know that he's part of the Vrede en Liefde. We've made sure to keep that detail silent." Mathias replied.

"You were in intensive surgery for a long time," Lukas started, "About a week's time approximately. If you didn't have bandages wrapped around you, you wouldn't be here right now."

"Ja; but I have no idea how you could've gotten them around yourself, that gunshot was pretty severe."

Leon's eyebrows furrowed. "Bandages? I don't remember any bandages, let alone doing them. I could barely move my body."

"Well then...Maybe Emil did 'em!" Mathias' expression brightened up several notches.

"Shut it, Anko. Emil can't bandage anything; he can't take the sight of blood." Lukas flicked the Danish man's forehead, and the latter elicited a small squeak in protest.

I could say differently judging by how he had been acting when a certain someone shot me down. "Enough about this, already! I still don't understand what's going on, and I don't know where Em is!" Leon interjected, silencing the Nordic pair's bickering.

"After you told us what happened, we decided to search Emil's last known whereabouts, which was the diner you had been found in. For the first couple of days we couldn't find anything. There was nothing but crates and boxes in the other room, all empty. The floor was polished and clean and the walls were in perfect condition, even though they weren't in use anymore."

"Super OCD, wouldn't you say?" Mathias scratched the back of his neck and chuckled.

"Whatever, just shut up, Dane." Lukas stabbed his elbow against his gut, earning a pained yelp from the other. "Anyway...after actually scraping the whole diner through, checking under crates and boxes, peeling away the tiles on the floor and such, we found this envelope jutting out from in between a pair of crates near the back exit. There isn't an actual time stamp on the evidence, but if we had to guess, we'd have to say that it was left there a night or two before we had gotten to the scene to investigate. And after looking at the contents, we decided it was best to come to you."

"Am I actually going to be like one of you guys? Officers?" Leon asked hopefully. "Can I actually search with you guys for Ice?"

Lukas and Mathias exchanged an expression of somber agreement before the Norwegian started speaking. "I'm sorry, Leon. But your injuries are severe. We can't let you on the field with your condition like that."

Leon tried to "But I can heal! I'll heal quickly! I'll-"

Lukas shook his head. "Leon, we won't drop you from your work as a consultant, but we won't let you work for the time being. You're hurt, and even if you did heal, you aren't part of the force and the safety of others is always our top priority."

"But-"

"The answer is no, Leon. You need rest." Lukas frowned ever so slightly, breaking his apathetic visage.

Leon glared at the Mathias and Lukas; this wasn't fair! It surely wasn't! "Whatever; I, like, don't know why you gave me this envelope if I can't help out."

"Because we're counting on you to figure out which building this dirty gang is hiding my baby bro in." Lukas patted the injured boy's shoulder. "You're the only one here right now that knows what happened in that diner, and you know what type of people these gang members are like. Use your instincts; what happened to that smartass Asian brain of yours?" Lukas deadpanned, which was a surprising feat considering the choice of words he had just used.

"Hm." Leon lowered his gaze to the envelope in his hands. "I guess I could see what I can think of..."

"Great!" Mathias grinned widely. "We're counting on you, buddy!"

With that, Lukas and Mathias closed the door behind them, leaving Leon alone with the sickeningly sweet perfume of roses and an envelope. There were a little more than a few pictures held inside, but how was he supposed to know which one held Emil?

He peeled open the envelope with distaste. "And so the search begins..."

-linebreaklinebreakbokuhetaliawahahahaha-

You're going to be traveling with us for a while...

It won't be the cleanest of places, or the most comforting or safe, but you're going to have to stay here nonetheless if you want to stay breathing and beating when you see your family again.

The words Daan had told him still rang intimidatingly in his mind.

It was approximately two weeks since Leon had died.

It was approximately two weeks, three days, and eighteen hours since he was taken away by the Vrede en Liefde and has arrived at this small room...thing. Francis told him that it was the closet of an abandoned hotel near the edge of downtown.

Emil couldn't really tell. It was dark, everything was hazy and fuzzy in his head, and his limbs moved sluggishly to the point where it would be better if he didn't move at all. Daan barely visited him, Francis, on the other hand, always did. But they would never stay for long. Emil always heard their hushed voices behind the locked wooden door, or what he could make out from it in his drug-clouded mind.

It was always the same routine, the same cycle each day. He would wake up, eat breakfast, and if he resisted eating he was injected with drugs to make him compliant and was forced food into his system. In the afternoon, one of them came in to give him lunch, and after he finished eating, he was injected with sleeping drugs. For most of the day he would sleep; dreams consisted of a meaningless white that blinded his mind.

He had lost his cellphone on the day he was taken, so calling or texting anybody for help wasn't an option. Besides, his fingers wouldn't stop twitching or they would just fall limp from the drugs he had been given, in other words, they were incapable of any function, period.

In the evening, Emil was left alone, nobody bothered to feed him. Francis was away on assignments given by Daan, and the Dutchman himself would be preparing some type of fish, judging from what he could hear outside the door ("Pickle the fish with salt, and sell it for more because money makes the world go 'round"). The truth was, Francis had told him one afternoon, was that Daan wasn't a bad guy back then. He wanted money, and to the Dutchman, cash was his purpose in life.

He used this time to think, to remember. He used this time to chastise himself for his mistakes, then forgive himself because Leon and Lukas and the whole lot of his family and friends wouldn't like it if Emil was upset with himself.

On this particular night, both Francis and Daan were gone, dealing with some kind of drug dealing transaction. Emil's mind had set itself on the dead. Usually, the Icelander's thoughts were set on his brother, Mathias, Berwald, Tino, and the HVPD force. Would they find him? Would they even try to search for him? These were questions he had constantly asked himself, too drugged to answer them, let alone think straight. But tonight...Tonight, the phantom memories of his lover plagued his mind, leaving no time for rest until he was thoroughly exhausted.

Emil's mind twisted his reality, forming hallucinations in front of him and memory fragments of the Asian boy scattering around the small space he was held in.

"Hong..." Emil whispered the hallucination's name and outstretched his fingers towards the apparition in front of him.

"I'm here, Ice. I'm here." 'Leon' reached out and brushed the back of his hand across Emil's cheek, the feathery dusty feeling of someone that wasn't really there tingled at the core of his chest and his cheek.

"I miss you...you idiot..." He held 'Leon's' hand to his face. Contrary to what he had read in countless novels, his hand didn't slip through 'Leon's' matter as if it were made of air. Instead, a sprightly, warm tingling sensation flooded through his palms, along with the feeling of half tangibility. It was as if 'Leon's' flesh was made of airy mousse.

"Are you scared?" 'Leon' asked him, his golden eyes shined curiously.

Ah, even as a shard of imagination, his lover was still as blunt as ever. "Of what? Of being in the dark? Of being taken by a couple of dangerous gang members?"

"That's one way to put it," 'Leon' tapped a finger to his lips, deep in thought. "The dark is scary, but I was, like, referring to being alone."

"Of course I'm not! I can handle myself just fine." Emil growled.

"I see," 'Leon' kneeled onto the cold floor, crossing his legs in front of the Icelandic boy. "But there has to be something you're afraid of here. I'm a thought formed from your mind; I can sense everything about you, y'know."

Emil furrowed his eyebrows and stared at the ground below him. "I'm not afraid of anything here. I'm afraid for Lukas' safety. He's the only family that's related to me by blood. He was the person that raised me, even though he was equally broken and clueless because of that day. He's the one those guys are after. I know that once Lukas pays my ransom off they're just going to kill the both of us."

"I get it now," 'Leon' smiled and ruffled Emil's hair, feeling his hand running through his locks, even though the strands were kept in place. "I know for a fact that you're going to see Lukas again. You're going to get out of here soon, Em. Keep your head up, 'kay?"

Emil huffed in response and glared at the amber eyes staring back at him. "I'm not a kid. But..." His expression softened into a mix of sad contentment. "...Thank you...Thank you for helping me."

"I didn't do anything, it was all you. I'm not really here, remember?" 'Leon's' form seemed to shimmer and fizz a bit before returning back to a solid-looking body.

"I know, I know. I still miss you...I could've helped you, but all I did was watch you die." Emil could see those memories floating around them, the blood; the kisses; the parting words that shook his soul so greatly.

"Hey..." 'Leon' leaned closer to Emil's face and cupped his cheeks with both hands. "Don't think like that. You couldn't have done anything, so it's not your fault. Don't worry about it, okay? I'm here right now, I'm always here."

"I know that you're here, but that will only be for a couple minutes. You're not living, you're not really here, so I-"

'Leon' cut him off with several fleeting kisses to his lips. "What are you talking about? I've always been here, Ice. In here..." He pressed his finger onto Emil's chest with his index, a small smile pleasantly twisting his face into an expression of pure happiness. It was strange to see him like this, for a smile like this barely ever happened, seeing him emit such a bright and happy and childish aura.

"I-I guess..." Emil entwined their fingers together. "I miss you...I wish you were with me...I wish I was with you..."

'Leon' flashed him a crooked smile. "This is beginning to sound like a melodramatic K-Drama..."

The Icelandic boy rolled his eyes and wrapped his arms around 'Leon's' torso. "Whatever, you're ruining the moment."

The latter sighed and carded his fingers through Emil's hair. "Sorry, sorry." He pressed his chin to the boy's head. "You know that I'm going to disappear soon, right?"

Emil nuzzled his face closer to Leon's collarbone. "I know." He pulled away slightly. "I have a question."

"Shoot." 'Leon' gave one of his silver locks a light tug.

"If it came under different circumstances...if I didn't arrest you thatday for blowing up Arthur Kirkland's house...do you think it would've ended up this way? Do you think we would've met, or fallen in love?"

'Leon's' thick brows arched down in concentration. "Hm...I can't really answer that, Ice. If you truly love someone, than that love you share between you and your significant other will transcend through space and time. So...my kind-of-sort-of answer is that if we were to live in a world where we didn't meet in that way, we would surely meet each other again and love each other. That is, if you love me." 'Leon' let his tongue peek out from his lips in a teasing manner.

"Of course I love you! Hmph, you're a fool if you think I didn't." Emil crossed his arms irritatingly.

"C'mon, I'm just playing you," 'Leon' chuckled, flicking the other's forehead lightly.

Now that he thought about it, even if this was a hallucinated version of Leon, they still acted the same around each other, and it seemed as if Leon hadn't died, as if he was right here, in front of him. This newfound discovery ached at his chest, turning his blood into molasses. He missed him so much, dammit, not even this 'Leon,' conjured up from the very memories in his mind could ease the empty pain.

"Emil...Don't be like that. Come on..." So 'Leon' had sensed it too.

"The one chance I get at love...some stupid gang leader kills him."

What 'Leon' had whispered in his ear next surprised him.

Before he could respond, the door outside opened, and 'Leon' disappeared into the dark crevices of Emil's brain.

"How do you know if I'm really dead?"

They're back... Emil thought bitterly. He pressed his ear up to the wooden door, eavesdropping on the conversation.

"Do you really want to do that, Monsieur?"

"Yes. If that Bondevik boy does not pay his ransom in two weeks, I'm going to-" The voice attached to Daan (most likely) suddenly quieted. "The boy. Drug him. Just in case. I don't want him hearing this conversation."

"But...at this hour? The boy must be sleeping, we put him under the influence of so many drugs already. I'm sure he's-"

"I don't want to take any chances. He might find this more a reason to escape. Drug him."

"I understand. Allow me a minute, then." Francis' footsteps drew nearer to the room Emil was being held in, and a small sense of panic overwhelmed him.

"Skít..." Emil hissed as the door creaked open slowly, revealing the Frenchman who was holding a tall syringe.

"O-oh, Emil...You are awake..."

The Icelander nodded. "Yeah. You're going to drug me now, I know."

"Yes...I apologize, but this must be done." Francis drew closer, the needle closing in with each breath he took.

"Before you inject that into me, please answer me this."

"Ask away, mon petit."

"Is he dead?"

"Who, if I may ask?" Francis tilted his head to the side in confusion.

"...Leon...is he dead?" Emil set his light purple eyes to the Frenchman's darker purple irises, and for a moment, a flicker of hope had appeared in the Icelander's eyes.

"I...um..." Francis sighed, and patted Emil's head. "I don't want to give you any hope for his survival."

"So he's alive?"

"Y-yes...no...? Maybe? I have no idea...I just..." Francis turned his head away, unable to meet the younger's eyes.

Emil narrowed his eyes. "What did you do, Francis...?"

"N-nothing...! I didn't hurt him, I swear! I could never separate you two, it is impossible."

"Then...what did you do?"

"That day when he was shot...he lost consciousness. You were screaming bloody murder, and...and I drugged you."

"I know. You told me that the first night away from home." Emil scowled.

"I know. But after I drugged you...I bandaged the boy up and called the police, informing them of his predicament...using your cellphone. And...if he is alive, he should expect a small envelope somewhere filled with an address on where we are now."

Emil's heart sped up. This wasn't happening. It couldn't. He had heard Leon's heart stop himself, hadn't he? He had seen the deathly expression on his face, cold sweat and blood slipping down his skin. "H-he's alive?"

"He might be." Francis held the syringe to the Icelander's neck. "We can talk about this more tomorrow. Goodnight, Emil."

"Hm." For the first time, Emil willingly let the sharp twinge of the needle pierce into his skin and send its contents into his bloodstream. It was the least he could do, considering the information he had just received.

Francis closed the door behind him on his way out, and joined Daan to continue the imperative conversation they were just about to have. Emil, now on the influence of the drug he was given, could only hear bits and pieces of the conversation, the sounds and voices sounding like distant and fuzzy echoes.

"...kill him...som...weeks..."

"...sure Lukas will...then..."

"...dangerous...hide out so long...we should leave and go to..."

Emil strained his ears and eyes, forcing himself to stay awake and listen as best as he could.

"How? ...dangerous...leave. The HVPD is surely search...now."

"In...morn...take the boy and go around the back exit. I'll be the distraction. They'll know we...here, but they...no idea where we will go next."

"I see. How do you plan to be the distraction, then?"

"No more questions. 'M going to bed."

"As should I...au revoir."

The voices stopped there, save for the mild grunt of an exhausted body walking out the door and into the next room over.

Judging by the experiences Emil had gone through in the past couple weeks, Francis would most likely be in the same room as the Icelander, and the Frenchman would be softly snoring on the bed that he presumed was there. Francis really wasn't such a bad person after all, even if he was a gang member.

Sure, he was perverse many a time and he loved to flirt with numerous people regardless of their sexuality and gender; but he was a kind soul, one that sought to care for people he considered dear to him, and the people that his close ones held close to their hearts.

Emil owed it to him, honestly.

But what in the name of God was he talking about with Daan? Emil closed his eyes in an attempt to ease the panic welling up in his chest. Were they planning on killing him? Lukas would save him, there was nothing to worry about. But still, Emil couldn't help but scream his head off internally. This was a serious matter, and he didn't want to become another victim on the newspapers. Not when a sliver of hope had been planted inside of his mind.

He couldn't help but remember something important to him.

"Okay, Emil. Since we're officially dating and all that, I've decided to, like, entrust you with one of my most precious secrets." Leon grinned brightly. Emil's Asian boyfriend had decided to wake him up again.

"What secret...?" He narrowed his eyes. "This had better be something worth waking me up at 8 am on a Saturday for."

"Of course it's worthy! It's, like, the worthiest secret in the whole world."

"Well, get on with it!"

"My most precious secret is...

...My name."

"...Are...are you fucking with me, Li Xiao Wang?" He seriously wasn't in the mood for this right now.

Leon chuckled. "No, I'm serious! This is something very important to me. You can only use it when we're alone and stuff. Let me show you."

Emil hadn't understood what Leon was trying to say, but he let him grab his hand and trace the bedsheets with it.

香 "This is Hoeng."

"Yeah, yeah. This isn't high school, stop acting like a teacher. It's scary." Emil received a light flick to the nape of his neck for that.

港 "Shut up and listen, young pupil. This is Gong."

"What the hell are you trying to say, Leon? I thought your Chinese name was Li Xiao."

"That was my Mandarin name. This is my Cantonese, uh, name." The younger smiled. "This is my special name; one of my most precious secrets. You use this name when we're alone or if you are in trouble so I can reach you."

By the time Emil had figured out the translation of that name, he had almost flipped something over in his flustered rage. The name Leon had told him wasn't his Cantonese name at all. In fact, it was the name of a certain special administrative region.

"Hong Kong. It was Hong Kong." Emil smiled to himself upon remembering. "This is where he said he was born.**"

There was something else he remembered. It was bittersweet, warm, and painful to recall.

Leon slowly dragged Emil's index finger across the small screen, forming a series of intricate characters with each swipe.

"This is I. Ngóh."

"This character is Love. Ngoi."

"This is weird, Leon." Emil stammered, his heart racing.

"And the last character means You. Néi. Got it?"

"I...I can't possibly remember all of those strokes! They're too complex!"

"You're just being doubtful of yourself, Em. If you really love someone, the characters should come naturally to you."

Emil had an idea. And he was going to make sure that Leon knew.

-While Emil is Pondering-

Francis couldn't take this much longer. He knew what was going to happen, he knew Daan's intentions, but he couldn't stop them. He was worried for his life, as selfish as that sounded. Emil was innocent, and when he had placed that idea of Leon, his lover, still alive into his silver haired head, he could feel the excitement radiating off of his small body. It hurt him to see the boy so happy, it hurt him because he knew how it would end. He knew how this whole ordeal was going to end.

Being a sucker for romance, especially young romance, Francis decided to give Emil's lover solace, assuming that he was still alive. He wanted the boy to know that Emil had been here, and he wanted to clue in where they would be next. Francis knew that this would most likely cost him his head later on, but he didn't want these young lovers to be torn apart like he and his lover had. So, taking the pocketknife he remembered using to cut apart the lovers' bonds, he dragged the blade across the wallpaper, leaving deep jagged gashes in the already peeling paper. He began to spell out words, which became a single phrase.

HE WAS HERE

Yes, this would definitely cost him his head. But he wasn't called a sucker for romance for nothing.

IMPORTANT A/N Note:

** Leon and Yao were born in China, however, when their parents died, Leon wanted to erase any and all remnants of their past life in China from his memory. When he says he is born in Hong Kong, this kind of symbolizes a rebirth, kind of like a new start for him. Thus, Hong Kong. This will be further explained in a later chapter.