His feet hit the ground with a loud thud! Cursing, he stumbled forward, only to find that he had misjudged the jump in the dark, causing him to land right on the edge of the six story building, right on the edge of the harbour. Arms windmilling, he struggled to regain his balance while the sirens below blared louder and louder. Cautiously he stepped backwards, away from the deadly drop. On no account was he going to die. But even his own fleeting life was outranked by the importance of the letter he had clutched in her hand right now. The entire future of the Earth depended the mysterious contents of this letter being destroyed, before it fell into the money loving, treacherous fingers of Mr Yao Wang.
"Leon!"
Startled, Leon Kirkland whipped around to face the unknown whisperer, but let out a sigh of relief when he saw it was just his Icelandic accomplice, Emil Steilsson.
"In case you haven't noticed, we happen to be trapped on this building, so if you have found a way out, you have permission to speak." Hissed Leon, on edge, "If not, shut it."
"Well, perhaps if you weren't too preoccupied with verbally abusing me, you would've noticed this." Remarked Emil, as though he was commenting on the weather, instead of running from a whole bunch of bad people trying to kill them.
As he said this, he shifted aside the cover of a tunnel-like vent, just large enough for a person to vertically drop down. The noise his actions made sounded to Leon's ears like an alarm, screaming out, "Over here! They're over here!"
Together, they stared at the bottomless dark hole that was their only escape route. Leon caught his breath and said defiantly; "I am not going in there."
Emil turned to him, about to pull him down himself when they suddenly, heard voices underneath them, and an awful chopping noise of the helicopter that was flying determinedly towards them.
"Shit, they've found us!"
Before Leon had time to say anything else, Emil sprung into action, shoving down the shaft and was sliding across the vent cover, trapping himself on the rooftop.
"No! EMIL!"
But Emil wasn't listening. Eyes blazing determinedly, he called down the shaft to where Leon clung, clawing at the slimy walls, trying desperately to climb backup. Emil was out there, Emil, who he had known his entire whole life, his constant companion, the only one who understood. He couldn't leave him now, not after all they had been through.
"Go; get out while you still can. I should be able to give you enough time to get out of here."
"No Emil, don't do this," Leon insisted fruitlessly, amber eyes burning. Again, he scrabbled at the smooth metal walls, but he was too far away, too high up, to reach. Emil couldn't get caught, he couldn't. If they caught him, they would kill him. Leon couldn't believe that this was all because of some stupid letter he still had clutched in his hand...
"Ah excellent, you're still here aru." A voice resounded through the half closed cover of the vent, making Leon shiver. Leon knew that voice; the whole country knew that voice. That was the voice of someone who had bullied, boasted and blackmailed their way up to the top.
"Let's cut to the chase, shall we aru?" Said Yao Wang. "What have you done with my letter?"
Leon was frozen, unable to move, silently willing Emil to escape, get off the building somehow and make his escape. But of course, he was well and truly trapped.
"Well?"
"I burned it." Stated Emil simply.
"You burned it! You burned my letter?! How- how dare you aru!" Spluttered Mr Wang. "Men, Kill him!"
"We can't kill him just yet, Mr Wang," Cautioned a henchman who had apparently arrived with Mr Wang, "We need to find out if he really did burn that letter. He might be lying."
"Of course, do that. Just don't let him escape aru!"
The man walked slowly around Emil, examining him from head to toe. Emil's pulse was racing, he just hoped that Leon had made it out of the air shaft already, and was taking steps to destroy the letter.
However, Leon was still there, listening silently and peering through the gap between made by the vent's cover. He wasn't making a single sound, but inside he wanted to scream and scream and scream until this nightmare had finally stopped. Instead, he unfolded the letter Emil had paid for with his life with trembling finger. He quickly scanned through it, eyes widening with horror and confusion as he read. This was the letter they had been instructed to destroy? When he got to the end, he got to his feet, and scanned the shaft for escape routes. Quickly spotting one hidden at the side, he ran down its dark passage way until he reached the end, where he heaved back the grid with all his might. The hideously heavy machinery creaked and groaned, but he would not yield. Leon then stepped out onto a brightly lit stairwell and raced up the narrow staircase, 3 steps at a time.
Meanwhile, Emil was being quizzed by the enemy. "Name?"
"M-Mathias Kohler."
Crack. The sound of machine gun hitting flesh rang out through the night. "Your real name, shitface."
"That is my real name."
"I hate to inform you of this, but we detained the real Mathias Kohler a few hours ago. Try again."
Emil did not reply, he simply spat at the feet of his questioner. The man looked down at the offering of saliva with distain. It was tinged lightly with red.
"Fine then. Were you working alone tonight, or do you have an accomplice nearby?"
"Alone!" Said Emil, a little too quickly. The man raised an eyebrow. "Would you care to expand on that statement shitface?"
"I was working alone! There was no accomplice!"
"So then," the officer ginned like a crocodile, knowing that Emil had fallen into his trap. "Where are the letter fragments? If you burned it, as you say, your hands should be black with soot. If it's true that you have no accomplice, where is the letter?"
"Stop talking, and search him aru!" Snapped Mr Wang irritably.
The man started roughly patting Emil down, but stopped when he reached his inside jacket pocket, drawing out a small hand gun.
"Ah," Said Emi, smiling ruefully. "I was wondering when we would get to that."
Leon ran like he had never run before. Arms pumping like pistons, he raced up the steep stairwell. 3 more flights, 2 more, one...
Emil's eyes never left the gun in the officer's hand, his breathing strangely calm.
"Leave us aru. I have something I need to discuss with this young man privately." The high voice of Mr Wang echoed through the heavy silence. Emil looked up in surprise; he certainly hadn't been expecting this.
"But sir-" Protested the henchman.
"I said leave us!"
The henchman scowled, but obeyed.
"Leave his stuff behind."
"Sir-"
"DO IT ARU!"
Slowly, the officers climbed back into their helicopter, leaving Emil's pack behind with the gun lying forgotten on the ground.
With a flash, Emil reached out and took the gun, pointing it at Mr Wang, smiling triumphantly.
"That," He said, "Was a mistake."
"Do you really think so, aru?." Said Mr Wang, and drew out his own gun from the inside of his jacket.
For a few heartbeats, there was complete silence as the two men looked at each other.
"Now is the time that you give me my letter aru."
"No, now is the time that I shoot you," Said Emil boldly, although he was shaking inside. Time was slowing down; he could feel it in his bones. It took an age for his finger to move and flip off the safety catch.
Click.
"EMIL!"
Startled, Emil turned around to see Leon sprinting towards him, eyes wide and terrified, the letter still in his hand. The gun dropped unnoticed to Emil's side as they locked gazes.
There was so much in his expression, shock, confusion, and so much love, it made Leon burn inside with an unquenchable fire. Keep running I've got to keep runni-
BANG!
And then Emil was falling, falling off the side of the skyscraper, sightless eyes still staring at the smoking barrel of Mr Wang's gun, still pointed straight at where his heart had been if it hadn't been blown into a shattering mess along with Leon's own at the speed of a bullet…
Leon's world slowed. Nothing was real anymore, not this wind streaking past his face or the ground coming up to meet his still moving feet. Emil couldn't have just fallen into the harbour, a bullet hole in his chest. Emil can't be dead, he can't be, he can't...
"Now aru-" Came the voice of Emil's murderer.
But he isn't dead, he can't be-
"-give me my letter."
Slowly, oh, so slowly, Leon looked up. His expression burned with an inner pain. When he spoke, it was without emotion, without anything.
"I have read your letter. And all I can say is this. You were ready to tear the world apart for that tiny, pitiful letter. That makes you a monster. Which makes us two of a kind."
"We are nothing alike aru!" Snarled Mr Wang, his feminine face contorted with rage. "You petty thief, we are nothing alike!"
"Do you know what was in that letter?" Whispered Leon, "A birth certificate. And not just any birth certificate, mine. You were prepared to tear the world apart, just so no one would know that you are my father."
"I have no children aru!" Mr Wang screamed, purple in the face.
"And that," Whispered Leon softly, "Is why I have to do this."
And very calmly, he picked up Emil's fallen gun and shot Yao Wang straight through the head, the letter still clutched in his hand. Like Emil, he toppled backwards into the deep, dark, water of the harbour below, him and the letter gone forever.
Leon let out his breath. He felt as though he had aged 100 years in a few short minutes. But right now, he needed to get off this skyscraper.
He dug through Emil's abandoned bag, searching for useful supplies. He still felt as if he was in a detached dream, unfeeling. He then, stiffened, his hand brushing against the smooth, cool surface of nylon. Slowly, he drew out a large, camouflaged parachute. Emil's parachute, which he had never used. The fact that his beloved Emil had sacrificed himself for him, when he just could off flown off the building, safe and alive cut him right to the core. For a moment he remained crouching on the rooftop, parachute in hand. His long dark hair brushed against his cheek and he pushed it away, trying hard not to think of how similar it was to the hair of Mr Wang's, or how different it was to his adopted father, Arthur Kirkland. And most of all, he tried to shut down the image of hair so white it was almost silver, now stained red hanging over lifeless violet eyes…
The sound of a returning helicopter quickly brought him back to his senses. He attached the parachute to his dark jacket, preparing to jump. But before he could do so, he carefully wiped away a tear.
Then suddenly he was falling, parachute catching the wind behind him as it rushed past his ears. On the horizon the sun began to rise, as Leon Xiao Wang Kirkland flew off into the sunrise.
A/N: I originally wrote this story for my writers club last year, and left it growing virtually dusty in my Google drive until I found it again few days ago. The characters used in this were OC's, so apologies if Icey and Hong Kong seem really OOC. Especially since Hong's character used to be a girl… And plot line really sucks, I'm so sorry. It worked originally!
Now, I'm not sure if I should leave this as a one-shot or re-write it as a multi-chapter story, so it's up to you! Who wants some more action packed, rebellious HongIce?
Also apologies about Hong Kong's name at the end, and how I made China evil. Sorry China, I love you really!
Tell me what you think~!
Ciao Ciao, thanks for reading!