As he paced around the musty jail cell, Martin realized he had never been in jail before.
Of course, in all fairness, he had never blown up a building into smithereens either.
The jail cell in Alabama had gray walls covered in condensation, cracks, and mold. Weak artificial light radiated from a single light bulb, it's glow unable to drive the shadows out of the deepest corners. The smell infiltrated Martin's nostrils, bringing back the nightmares from when he was young, when the smell of urine, sweat, and blood clung to the air.
He exhaled into the stale air, pressing his sweaty palms to his temple.
Those days of tears were over. It would do him no good to keep on dwelling on the nightmares. All he could do was learn the valuable lesson.
"Sit down," Jeremy advised Martin, his brow furrowing with worry, bringing more creases to the area.
He had too many of those. Everyone had too many of those.
Santiago smirked cockily, slouching on the bench. "Unless you're too high-and-mighty for a lowly, mold-covered jail cell bench."
His words were venomous, but Martin was used to it now. It was a defense mechanism, just like Yosef's. After all, there was a lot to defend oneself from in a world like this.
"Santiago…" Klein huffed, hitting Santiago in the shoulder. "Things are already bad as it is. Don't agitate it more."
"Yes, don't," A sharp voice said, "The United States has enough problems as is without your kind making it worse."
Martin whipped his head around, fully ready to punch someone, and was greeted through rusted metal bars by the face of a man with neat, snowy hair.
The vice president.
Just their luck.
"Cabrón!" Santiago yelled, his eyes bright with fury as he leaped up and grabbed the bars, shoving himself into Pence's face.
Martin could understand his anger and indignity towards this man. The desire to lash out, coupled with fear… it was what had plagued him in those nightmares. He could feel it boiling under the surface even now, threatening to burst out like a mighty dragon. Who was this man to claim that he had the best interests of the Americans in mind? LGBT+ people were Americans. Latinos were Americans. Women who had no way to raise a baby were Americans.
Klein scowled, crossing his arms and standing up with Jeremy. "Just let us out and we'll go on our way."
"对呀," A cold female voice snapped in agreement, "I bet you'd have fewer problems, Pence, if you stopped antagonizing everyone."
A delicate female figure stepped into view, with shoulder length black hair and brown eyes that held the harshest of winters but a tiny sapling of worry. Her arms were crossed and her posture was stiff, more so than usual.
Jeremy's face lit up. "Mina!"
"你们这些笨蛋," She hissed, her eyes daggers boring into them.
Though Martin didn't speak Chinese, it was pretty easy to guess what Mina was saying.
Jeremy deflated visibly. "Mina-"
"I'm not angry," She growled, "But-" She jerked her thumb towards a smug-looking Pence. "Someone people are. Why…" She exhaled, gritting her teeth and clenching her fists. "Why would you guys do something as ridiculously dumb as blowing up a building?"
"It was an accident," Martin mumbled with his gaze shifting uneasily and his throat dry.
He instantly regretted speaking up. Mina's gaze turned towards him, holding an emotion Martin hated even more than anger.
Disappointment, the same expression many of his youth (and Mina's) would work desperately to avoid.
"Well," Pence interrupted with a plastic smile, "It's nothing to worry about. Because there are bigger worries, aren't there, Jeremy?"
Jeremy suddenly became the center of attention, much to his evident horror, with four betrayed gazes trained on him and one amused one.
"What are you and Kevin hiding from us?" Klein demanded, stepping forwards, his chest heaving with barely controlled anger.
"We have a right to know what's going on!" Martin hissed, deep feelings of betrayal welling up in his chest.
Would he never be accepted anywhere? Would what he believed in always set a precedent for how other treated him? It was insanely unfair.
Jeremy had the grace to look guilty, at least. Not many had that grace. Nervously, he brushed a stray strand of his blond hair out of his face as he looked to the ground and shuffled his feet.
Martin wanted to smack him for being so slow. Jeremy had always been kinder than Kevin, but that didn't stop Jeremy from being a jerk sometimes. And now was one of those times. Why did he feel like he had a right to take his sweet time? Martin and the others were American personifications, too. Just because some had different beliefs, customs, and/or languages didn't give anyone the right to leave them in the dark.
And then Jeremy spoke, lifting his head and making eye contact, his words a flash of lightning that tore apart Martin's world.
"America's missing."
Martin felt a wave of shock crash across his chest, the next wave bringing sorrow and fear. America? Alfred? The man who had taken him in and cared for him? The one who was proud of him, who comforted him during his nightmares?
"No…" He whispered, weakly running his hand through his dark hair, his word a tiny sound that barely left his lips.
Tilting his gaze upwards, the light from the bulb stung his eyes, threatening to break the dam that blocked the tears that had already been threatening to come.
Jeremy continued, his voice stronger. "I… they… the government… said not to say anything, and I was sick of all the fighting." Jeremy bit his lip, his gaze traveling down for a second before coming back up. "But that was inexcusable of me. You guys have a right to know what's going on. I apologize."
"You don't need to apologize for obeying the government," Pence said calmly, drawing up a white plastic chair and sitting down. "Besides, they're happier off not knowing anything."
"I think I heard that once," Mina said in a shaky voice, one that masked grief with harshness. "In a book about a government that brainwashed it's citizens."
"She's right," Santiago snapped, balling his fists and directing his poisonous glare towards Pence. "And Jeremy is too. At least now he is." He looked at Jeremy, his gaze softening. "And… I forgive you, I guess. The government sucks."
Mina's gaze softened too. "哎呀... everyone makes mistakes. I accept your apology, Jeremy. Just don't do it again, okay?"
Klein nodded, his posture relaxing and his face easing into a smile.
"I forgive you too," Martin said, the warmth radiating from the others enough to dispel his worry and lighten his soul. "Mina's right. Nobody's perfect. Just make sure to learn from your mistakes."
Jeremy's sky blue eyes filled with tears, and he collapsed against the wall. "Th-thank you guys so much! You guys are so kind…"
Mina smiled, pressing herself against the bars in an attempt to bridge the distance. "哎呀，当然了! After all, we're f-" Her voice cracked. "f-fa…"
"Family," Martin filled in for her, the word carrying so much weight and meaning in this disconnected world they lived in.
Mina nodded gratefully.
"This is all very touching and all," Pence interrupted, his voice driving away any of the comfort Martin felt. "But we have a more serious matter. None of the government agencies can find America. Which is why we need you guys. Other than the other nations, whom we cannot tell, you are the ones that know him the best. So you must find him."
Martin's eyes widened. Looking around, he could see the looks in the other's eyes mirroring his own. How were they supposed to succeed at something all of the government agencies had failed at? Could they really bring their precious Alfred home? Their questions went unvoiced, hanging like stars in a veil of silence.
Finally, Jeremy spoke, his voice trembling and his blue eyes holding a lifetime's worth of worries. "W-well, we'd better get going."
5/24/2017
And so concludes my first chapter that was written when I really should have been sleeping. Bravo, me!
My political alignment is really obvious from this chapter, isn't it? But Pence and Trump... and the fact that there were enough Americans who liked the things they said for them to get on office...
Though Clinton did get the majority vote, but she's not too good herself. Top socket or bottom socket, your choice. (There's actually a cartoon about that).
However, the way Clinton treated others was better than Trump, so I do feel she would have been better. Also, she would have been the first female president of the US! Obama was our first non-white president, and I think it's honestly pretty sad that we haven't had more. C'mon, USA, we're better than this!