Chapter 7 already! Whew this story has blown by fast! We're nearing the end!
Let me just say that there is a TON of fluff, sap, and cheese in this time around. SOOOOOO cheesy. Cheese, cheese, cheese, and more cheese. Did I mention there was cheese? Anywho, I think you'll really like this chapter. (Also please excuse the inaccuracy of how they find Xiao Mei. I had a bad case of Deus Ex Machina)
Oh, and the song Francis sings is a real song called "Quelqu'un m'a dit" by Carla Bruni. It's very beautiful, even if you don't know French.
I hope you all get the warmful feel-feels. (And maybe a few fangirl squeals?) Enjoy!
Chapter 7: The Kiss
Arthur walked in to the Chief's office, on his request. Apparently something disturbing had arrived at the station, so Arthur came as soon as he got the news. As he entered, he saw the chief sitting across from Alfred, both looking equally confused and baffled.
"What happened, Chief? You said something disturbing arrived?" Arthur asked, closing the door behind him. He sat down next to Alfred and awaited Ludwig's response.
"Ja, you could say that. See for yourself." He handed Arthur a small piece of paper folded in half. It read:
Greetings, detectives! You may have been close to catching me at the East Bank, but not this time! In fact, I will be so hard to catch that I will be striking at the West Bank at 7 pm this evening, and you will not notice me until I left!
-Freedom Phantom
"Wait a tick. What in the world? You didn't write this, did you, Alfred?" Arthur asked, now as baffled as his peers. Alfred shook his head.
"And Chief Beilschmidt told me that you guys had never received a letter from Freedom Phantom before, so I don't know what this means."
"I believe this is proof that Alfred's story is true. Which means he is free to leave," Ludwig explained. Alfred was immediately relieved to hear this. But he couldn't help but feel a bit sad that he wouldn't be seeing Arthur all the time anymore
"Holy smokes. You mean it? Wow…" Alfred spoke in mixed emotions. Arthur glanced over at Alfred. He was happy that his innocence was proved, but…but he didn't want him to leave. Arthur loved their time together, and he didn't want it to be over.
"However. This also means that your blackmailers aren't aware that you are in the station."
"Okay, so what?" Alfred asked, confused. Suddenly something clicked in Arthur's mind.
"So, that means that they're waiting to rope you into another scheme. I imagine they've already got a threat sent to your house, and are planning to do something horrid to you as we speak," Arthur explained.
"Indeed. I think sending you home now would only jeopardize your safety. As responsible police members, we cannot purposefully put a civilian in harm's way," Ludwig replied with a nod.
"Well, what do we do, chief? If we're not sending him home, where will he stay?" Arthur asked.
"I was thinking of letting him stay here." Ludwig turned to address Alfred, "You could sleep on the couch in the lounge room, or back in your cell if you desired. You will be free to leave the station with an accompanying officer, and full use of the station's facilities, provided you do not abuse your privileges." Alfred felt relieved and excited at the same time. So far today was turning out pretty good! Arthur put his hand to his chin, deep in thought.
"Detective Kirkland. Is there something on your mind?" Ludwig asked, looking over at Arthur.
"I doubt they sent us the real time and place. However, they likely sent a letter to Alfred's home detailing the true time and place of their attack. If I may, I would like to go and retrieve this letter."
"Very smart. But I will not allow you to go to whatever place they mention in the letter."
"What? Why not?"
"You fail to remember that you have no partner. We have no idea how many of these outlaws there are, and I am not sending you in alone. Once you retrieve the letter, I will be sending Hedervary and Edelstein to the location, for now to see how many they have and how they operate." Arthur wanted to catch Alfred's blackmailers himself, but knew better than to argue with the chief.
"Yes, sir. Understood," he sighed, standing to leave. Alfred followed suit, and closed the door of the chief's office behind him.
Alfred and Arthur turned to look at each other, an awkward silence forming between them. It was the first time seeing each other after they realized their feelings, and neither was quite sure how to react with their new personal revelations. An equal blush dusted their cheeks, but neither noticed it on the other's face. Finally, Alfred broke the silence.
"Hey, while you're at my place, would you mind checking on Coffee for me? I know the land lady probably got him food, but I'm still kinda worried about him."
"Of course. I'll see you when I return. Shouldn't be more than an hour," Arthur replied with a small smile before he began to walk away.
"And a change of clothes, too! I'm sick of wearing this jumpsuit! Just a T-shirt and jeans will be fine!"
"Oi! I'm not your bloody errand boy! Stop ordering me around!" he cried. Alfred chortled.
"Thanks, errand boy!" Arthur began muttering angrily as he stomped away. Alfred stood in the open awhile, simply watching the place where he left. After a bit, a figure sidled up behind him.
"You two are real close, eh?" came a quiet voice. Alfred jumped up in surprise and spun around to see Matthew, his ever quiet half-brother.
"Jeez, Matt! You scared me! Can't you be a little more noticeable?"
"Not my fault you're bad at hearing," he replied with a playful smile. "So, I hear they proved you innocent?"
"Heck yeah they did! I'm a free man now!" Alfred exclaimed with a small fist pump. Matthew grinned gently.
"So what are you going to do with all your free time? Spend it with Arthur?" he asked, with a suggestive smirk on his face and tone in his voice. Alfred blushed.
"M-maybe! What about you? You need to go talk to Francis!" Alfred urged. Matthew stared down at his feet.
"I don't know, Al. What he did…it still hurts…" Matthew admitted, face still pointed to his toes. Alfred sighed. He understood how his brother felt, but this couldn't go on any longer. Those two both loved each other, and it was time they just got back together again.
"I know, Matt. But you've gotta at least give him a chance to explain. It's the polite thing to do. And aren't you Canadians known for your extreme politeness?" Alfred asked.
"That's true, but-"
"And you gotta think of Francis' perspective! I would hate it if my boyfriend chose to ignore me, and I bet he doesn't like it either."
"Yeah, I know, but… I guess I'm just waiting for someone else to set things straight."
"I'm usually the hero, but only you can make things right between you guys. Go fix this crappy mess, lil bro." Alfred patted him on the back reassuringly. Matthew sighed, but smiled.
"Heh. You're right. Okay, I'll listen to his story!" Matthew exclaimed with determination burning in his eyes.
"That's the spirit! Good luck!" Alfred called as Matthew walked to the cell wing.
Matthew took a deep breath and cautiously opened the door. He wasn't ready to face him, and was afraid of knowing the truth, lest it be worse than he imagined. But something in him told him to go forward, to just go a little farther. He peered inside nervously. Just as he was about to call out Francis' name, he heard beautiful French singing.
Quelqu'un m'a dit que tu m'amais encore
C'est quelqu'un qui m'a dit que
Tu m'aimais encore
Serait-ce possible alors?
As Matthew heard the words, he immediately began to tear up. He knew what they meant.
Someone told me that you still love me
It was that person who said
You still love me
Is it even possible?
And all at once, Matthew understood everything. What had he been thinking? Francis had been all alone in a dingy cell for a year, without even the one person he loved more than anyone else in the world at his side. Tears fogging his vision, Matthew rushed to the cell door, and haphazardly hurled the door open before he flung himself onto Francis.
"Quoi? Mathieu!? What-"
"I'm so sorry, Francis! I left you here all alone for so long! I'm such a horrible person! Right when you needed me most, I walked away! I don't even care what happened! You were suffering all on your own, and it's all my fault! Oh, Francis! Je suis désolé. Je suis très, très, désolé!" Matthew sobbed, clutching his ex-boyfriend with all his might. Francis teared up as well, so relieved to have Mathieu back in his arms.
"Shh, shh. It's all right, I forgive you," Francis whispered, running his fingers through Matthew's long, soft hair.
"C'est possible," Matthew whispered suddenly.
"Pardon? What do you mean?" Francis retracted his hand and stared down at Matthew, who in turn looked up into his eyes.
"C'est possible. Je t'aime. Je t'ai toujours aimé. Je t'aimerai toujours."
And Francis pressed their lips together, for the first time in far too long. His hands cradled Matthew's round face, holding him gently just like he always had. Matthew wrapped his arms around Francis' back and shoulders, urging him closer and closer. All the while, the truth of Matthew's words whirling wonderfully in their heads. It is possible. I love you. I've always loved you. And I always will.
Alfred tapped on the coffee table in the lounge impatiently. He wasn't counting on Matt coming back anytime soon, but he was hoping for Arthur to return. He'd peeked in on the Canadian and the French man a little while ago, and smiled at what he saw. He still felt himself smiling, but nonetheless felt a bit bored. Just then, Arthur walked in to the lounge and saw the goofy grin on Alfred's face.
"What are you all smiles about?" Arthur asked, holding a box and a plastic bag in his hands. Alfred jumped up excitedly.
"You're finally back! And come see for yourself!" Arthur put down the objects in his arms, and allowed Alfred to drag him to the cell wing. He opened the door as quietly as he could to reveal the scene before them. The cell door was wide open, but Francis and Matthew were entwined in each other's arms, asleep on the cot.
"Well, fancy that. Looks like they straightened everything out," Arthur whispered, a satisfied smile on his face. He quietly close the door once again, to give the two some peace.
They walked back to the lounge, where Alfred retrieved his new clothes and went to go change into them. When he emerged again, Arthur found himself staring at Alfred's bare, toned biceps and how much more fitting those clothes looked on him. He seemed very…American, which in itself was attractive, but he also seemed…free. No longer trapped by ridiculous circumstances, and now simply himself. Alfred noticed Arthur's intent gaze and flushed a little.
"Dude, will you quit staring? I know I'm hot, but you're starting to look a little creepy," Alfred said embarrassed, looking away. Arthur quickly flushed and averted his gaze as well.
"I was NOT staring! And you're really not all that attractive," Arthur spat, though both were complete lies. Alfred felt a bit sad at the denial, but decided to let it go.
"Oh, yeah? Well, whatever. What'd you find at my place?"
Arthur pulled out the letter he found from inside the box and showed it to Alfred.
At 5 pm tonight, arrive at the back entrance of the enterprise building across the street. Wear black. Do not tell anyone where you are going. Do not tell the police. Or suffer the consequences.
"I was right. You really can't go home," Arthur added. Alfred put the letter back down on the table.
"Well, then, I guess I'm staying here," Alfred said.
"Looks that way." Another awkward silence passed between them before Arthur stood up and took the letter to the chief's room. Alfred could here loud German shouts and chuckled. Eventually, Arthur emerged once again, looking deflated.
"What happened in there?"
"I asked if I could go instead of Hedervary and Edelstein, and he chewed me out. I'm not surprised. Sending in one agent instead of two is suicidal, and there's no reason for three of us to go. But still… I wanted to catch them myself…" Arthur confessed, trailing off a bit. Alfred widened his eyes a little in surprise, but smiled gratefully.
"Hey, I was wondering…I wanted to look in to Francis' case," Alfred admitted. He was free, but he wanted Francis to be out, too. Besides, it would get them one step closer to catching the real criminals. Arthur smiled.
"Why don't we step into my office?"
"Francis said something about a purple liquid, right? Any way we can trace that?" Alfred asked, leaning over piles of evidence and newspaper articles. Arthur sighed.
"Sadly, no. Francis' description of it was rather vague, and the bottle it was in and the cake it was used in are both long gone," Arthur explained.
"Great. Wait, maybe we can track the girl! If we ask her, I'm sure she can tell us what really happened, and maybe her boyfriend is still connected to them!" Alfred exclaimed.
"That's…brilliant! Why didn't I think of that? Come on, then, we need to find out more. Start searching through these articles for anything about her!"
And they searched. And searched. And searched. For as much publicity as the case got, there was hardly anything about the girl, other than she was 15 years old, and that she was raped. One of which wasn't even true.
"Ugh! Why isn't there anything about her? I'm getting real sick of looking. There can't be that many 15 year olds in Asia, right?"
"You forget that Asia is home to the two most heavily populated countries in the world. We would need her name and likely her country of birth before we find the right one."
"Wait, her name? Didn't Francis say it was something like…Jiao Rai? Yao Wang? Ciao May?"
"Xiao Mei?" Arthur asked.
"Yeah! That's it! Do a search!" Alfred exclaimed excitedly. Arthur pulled up the international persons database, and shared his results.
"Unfortunately, that's a very common name…in Taiwan. We're a little closer, but we'll need her hometown, school, or workplace to track her."
"Urgh, if her name didn't show up, there's no way in hell her hometown will."
"Yes, I'm afraid you're right. We can't give up now, though. Not when we've narrowed it down from 2 billion to 2 hundred," Arthur reasoned, picking up another stack of newspaper articles. Alfred looked at his studious face, and couldn't help but smile. It was amazing how much he could tell about Arthur simply by looking at his face.
Suddenly, something clicked in Alfred's head. Her face! Xiao Mei's face must've shown up somewhere!
"Her face! It's bound to be in here somewhere, even if we have to pull up courthouse records!" Alfred exclaimed.
"You're right! Give me a moment…yes, here it is! Now, apply this to our search engine…there! One match!"
"Sweet! Now all we gotta do is contact her! Probably face to face if we can, don't cha think?"
"I agree. It says here she's currently on vacation in New York City, lucky for us. I'll send her an email to explain the situation, and ask her to come to the station tomorrow."
Alfred collapsed in a chair opposite of Arthur's desk. He leaned his head back and sighed.
"Man, I'm beat. Reading all that stuff is so hard!" Arthur looked up from his email and chuckled.
"Poor Alfred. It's past your bedtime, isn't it?" he asked, with a demeaning tone to his voice.
"Why do you always treat me like a little kid?" Alfred pouted.
"Maybe I'd treat you like an adult if you acted like one," he replied simply, before turning back to the computer. Alfred felt frustrated by Arthur's nonchalance, and didn't like being treated as a kid one bit. He didn't want to be Arthur's little brother; he wanted to be his…well, his boyfriend! Alfred glanced to the other side of the room before getting an idea.
"Then let me do something that only an adult would do."
Alfred stood up and leaned across the desk. He planted a small kiss on Arthur's cheek. Arthur jumped in surprise and felt his whole face turn beet red.
"Goodnight, Arthur," Alfred whispered. He stood upright, turned, and left the office.
Arthur sat there in stunned silence for what felt like forever, his heart pounding in his chest and his cheek still on fire.
"That git," he muttered, bringing a gentle hand to his blushing face. He quickly finished the email and gathered his things, his face still as red as ever.
As he dashed toward the station exit, he paused and took a peek into the lounge. He found Alfred asleep on the couch, a satisfied grin from ear to ear. It ticked Arthur off how calm Alfred was while he was rattled and - dare he say it - wanting more. Arthur quietly walked to the couch and leaned down, leaving a small peck on Alfred's cheek.
Arthur expected Alfred to have no reaction, or better yet, become discomforted and flustered in his sleep, but instead…he saw Alfred's grin widen. Arthur's blush deepened, if that was possible, and this time he rushed out of the station with no more delays.
"I'm becoming quite obsessed with him. But perhaps… is he becoming obsessed with me, too? No, that's preposterous." But even as Arthur said this, he felt a warm feeling sneak its way into his chest.
