Unimpaired

Chapter 10

A long silence followed Alfred's words. Kiku was trying to think of a way to comfort his friend without making the situation worse, yet unable to come up with anything. The blond was staring off into space, his eyes an emotional cocktail. His nostrils flared with every nervous inhale. A car pulled into the motel parking lot and the driver stepped out, but Alfred was so wrapped up in his thoughts he didn't even hear the sound of tires on cracked pavement.

The lengthening shadows had fallen over their faces by the time Kiku spoke. "We should go back to our room. Matthew is waiting for us, and we still have not had dinner yet." He put a hand on Alfred's shoulder and squeezed lightly. "You will feel better after you eat something."

"I'm not hungry anymore." muttered Alfred.

Never before in his life had Kiku heard Alfred claim he didn't have an appetite. This is the man who once ate seven burgers in as many minutes as a dare and still had room for more. "You need to eat something. Starving yourself is only going to hurt you when you need it most."

Alfred sighed and stood himself up, managing to muster a grimace. "Guess that's true."

Kiku smiled slightly. "We did not pick up much besides frozen meals and toaster waffles, but I think they sell candy bars and sodas in the lobby. Do you want to pick some up?"

Alfred's eyes didn't regain their sparkle, but he did look at least a little bit more like his usual cheerful self at the mention of candy. "Sure. I think I brought my wallet out." He patted his pocket to double check, then gave an affirmative nod. "I'll get Mattie some Snickers or something."

Together, they started across the street. Down the road, the streetlights were beginning to turn on, unevenly lighting the dusky lane. A dog began to bark, then eventually lost interest at whatever had upset its peace. By now, the area's residents were all safely inside their houses, watching the news or the newest episode of some drama. The light of the lobby, shining through the glass doors, beckoned invitingly.

Inside, Kiku could see who he assumed to be the man who had driven up a few minutes ago talking to the young woman who was sitting at the reception desk. He was tall, about Alfred's height, and he seemed to tower over her. His manner of dress was like any other person in the late winter, with simple tan pants and a matching overcoat. A gray scarf was wound around his neck snuggly. When he turned his head slightly, Kiku caught sight of violet eyes that almost seemed to glow in the evening light, starkly contrasting his silvery colored hair.

As they neared the lobby, the muffled voices of the man and the receptionist could be heard through the thin glass. "No, No, I am only staying one night. One bed is fine." Although his English was good, he had some sort of European accent. Russian, Kiku decided after a moment.

Kiku was faintly surprised. Even if he had grown up in a neighborhood with a lot of varying cultures, he hadn't ever met someone of Russian decent in this area of the country. Maybe he was a salesman of some sort? He was so preoccupied with trying to puzzle it out that it took him a moment to register that Alfred had stopped in his tracks.

"What-?" he began to ask, but Alfred suddenly grabbed his arm and hauled him away from the door and into the shadows of the side of the building.

"Shh!" Alfred hissed, putting a finger to his lips. "Don't move a muscle!"

Kiku immediately froze on the spot. He didn't know what Alfred was doing, but he was going to have to trust that Alfred knew what he was doing.

A few moments later, the Russian man strode outside. The way the light from the streetlamp hit his face gave him almost an ominous look. Alfred shifted in his spot, then froze once more as his foot displaced a small stone and it went clattering off.

The Russian stopped in his tracks for a full moment, head tilted as if listening for more movement. Then he shrugged and continued on to his car, seeming satisfied that it had been nothing. With a click of his keys, the trunk popped open and the large man pulled out a simple duffle bag. In a fluid motion he swung the bag over his shoulder and walked away from them, in the direction of the second set of rooms.

Once the man was gone, Alfred let out a long sigh of relief. "I thought we were goners there for a minute. I always thought spies were cool, but that was one of the scariest moments of my life." He let out a near hysterical laugh and began to ramble about how he was never going to do that again, no sir.

Kiku cleared his throat, snapping Alfred out of his frenzied state. "What was that all about?"

Alfred's face hardened. "That's the guy who took Arthur."

Kiku started with shock. "How do you know that?"

"I'd recognize that voice anywhere. It's the guy that hauled Iggy out of the car. Who so kindly dropped him onto the gravel. I'd bet anything that that's the exact same trunk he was stuffed into." His eyes flashed, then narrowed. "But why is he here?"

It hit Kiku in a horrible realization. "For me."

Alfred's eyes grew huge. "Shit. We've got to go!"

"No kidding." He began to jog back towards their room. "We have a second floor room, so we are going to have to pack our stuff and leave through the back window. Then we will have to make a run for the car and drive away as far as we can. I just hope he does not find us again."

Alfred just made a noise in agreement. He didn't want to admit it, but he had an idea. It was a huge gamble and probably would get them hurt, if not killed. However, it would be a huge step in finding Arthur and could possibly lead them straight to him.

Matthew jumped up when Kiku threw the door open. "Hey guys! I heated up some Lean Cuisines, I hope you like cranberry turkey." Then he saw the grim looks on his boyfriend and brother's faces. "What's wrong?"

Kiku walked past him and began to hurriedly pack their suitcases, grabbing random t-shirts that Alfred had carelessly dropped onto the dingy floor. "We need to get out of this place, quickly."

Matthew's large violet eyes grew with confusion. "Huh? Why?"

Alfred grabbed his stuff out of the tiny bathroom that they shared, throwing them into the opened bag on his bed. "I recognized the voice of a man checking in. It's the same guy who picked Arthur up from the El Jefe guy. The dude's got a pretty distinctive Russian accent that I'd recognize anywhere."

I've got other business to take care of. The ominous words drifted to the surface of Alfred's memories, sending a wave of goosebumps down his skin. Could this be the guy that shot El Jefe in cold blood? Was that the "business" he was on his way to get done? Was he now on his way to finish what the Spanish man had failed to complete?

Alfred couldn't let this Russian assassin take Kiku. It didn't matter if he and Matthew were the ones really being targeted or there was something for more shadowy and sinister going on, Kiku was one of his oldest and greatest friends. He'd been truly delighted when they'd started going out and hoped he'd someday be the best man at their wedding.

Not to mention that he didn't want to see Matthew in the position he was now.

But there no success without risk as well.

"Hey guys…?" Alfred shifted his weight from foot to foot, clearly uncomfortable with what he was about to ask. "I've got an idea, but it's going to be dangerous."

Matthew frowned, setting down his now fully packed bag. "Yes?" He didn't like the way this was going.

"The kidnapper guy doesn't know that we know he's here, right? So we've got a few hours head start on him, assuming that he'll wait until later in the night to make a move." Alfred turned and looked at his brother. "Matthew, I want you to check this guy's car out with your memory thing. I'd bet a hundred dollars to say that this is the exact same car that he picked Arthur up in. Even if it's not, we'll still learn a lot of valuable information about who and what this organization is."

This proposal made Kiku's stomach churn uneasily. It almost seemed like they were throwing Matthew out in the open, unprotected, while they were being hunted. "But what if he finds us while we are breaking in? Or he has some sort of alarm? If he's the one who shot El Jefe, he is bound to have a gun with him, and knows how to work it. Can we really fight against someone like that?"

Alfred winced guiltily. Steeling his nerves, he covered up his fear with a forced confident nod. "We can both stand guard while Matthew does his thing, just in case he does come out. It shouldn't take too long, and then we can be on our way before our Russian friend even figures out what room we're in."

"Where do your priorities lay, Alfred?"

Matthew had stayed silent throughout this exchange, but now there was a challenging edge to his tone.

The blond man was caught off guard by the directness of his milder brother's voice. "What do you mean?"

"If it comes down to it, what are you going to choose? Are you willing to sacrifice everyone else in your life just for the chance of finding your love? Will you be happy to spend the rest of your dozing hours haunted by the faces of the people you cast off recklessly, as long as he's sleeping next to you? The ends don't always justify the means, you know."

Alfred had to let that sink in for a moment, but was silenced by the horrible truth of it all when he finally understood what his brother was trying to say. He had said he'd do anything to bring Arthur back safely. But with the stakes rising every second, was everyone going to be able to make it home? Or was someone going to be hurt by a single careless move of his? It was too much to deal with at once.

"I'm not going to act like I don't understand where you're coming from. If it was Kiku, I'm sure I'd feel the exact same way. I just want to remind you to not do anything you can't look Arthur in the eyes and tell him once you are reunited." He pushed his glasses up on his nose. "Well, we don't have forever. Let's get this over with."

Alfred brushed away his doubts. He could deal with his morals later, if that ever came. One thing was for sure, he'd make sure Arthur was proud to call himself his boyfriend.

Kiku placed a stack of cash on top of a politely worded note, giving a plausible excuse for their unexpected and unannounced departure. "If we leave without paying in full, the police will start getting suspicious." he explained apologetically.

"Nah, it's a good idea. Thanks for remembering." It had completely slipped Alfred's mind. "I'll take the 'Do Not Disturb' sign off too."

A few minutes later, the motel room looked exactly like it had when they checked in earlier that morning. Dingy and cheap, perhaps, but no worse for wear because of them. Matthew flicked the light switch, plunging them into darkness for a brief moment before Alfred opened the door and silently ushered them out one by one.

They had agreed that Alfred and Kiku would keep watch for the Russian while Matthew examined the parts of the car the man had touched the most, like the door handles or the outside of the trunk. Hopefully, if he went back far enough, he could gleam some information about the man, if not find out Arthur's exact location.

The difficulty was that he had trouble sensing what was going on in the real world whenever he went back more than a day or so. At this point, he'd be almost entirely dependent on his brother and boyfriend to snap him out of it if things went wrong. It wasn't that Matthew didn't trust them. He did utterly.

But in the worst case scenario, who was going to warn them?

Waiting until Alfred and Kiku slipped into the shadows around him, Matthew warily approached the car. He had watched a couple of the spy thrillers that Arthur loved so much, and knew that looks could be deceiving. There could be some sort of alarm that could go off the second he came into contact with the seemingly beat up car.

However, nothing seemed to happen as he pressed his hands against the chilly metal. The parking lot around him stayed quiet. There was no rapid movement from the illuminated windows of the other rooms. It looked like the coast was clear. He wrapped his fingers around the driver door handle and willed the memories to surface.

Alfred watched as Matthew's eyes glazed over, becoming fully submerged in the past. As he surveyed the surrounding area, he offered up silent prayers to every deity of every religion that he could think of. Please please please let Mattie find out where Arthur is. If it doesn't, I'm absolutely sunk.

Something banged off of Alfred's left, causing him to jump. Kiku was beside him moments later.

"Did you hear that?" he breathed, looking keenly into the darkness for the culprit.

"Yes." muttered Kiku in response. "It is probably just a cat or raccoon getting into a trashcan. There is a neighborhood nearby, after all." Even he, though, sounded doubtful.

Alfred glanced back at Matthew. His brother was still in his daze, unaware of his surroundings. It wouldn't hurt to take a quick peek, would it? "I'm gonna check it out really quick, just to be sure. You keep an eye on Matthew for a minute."

As he walked in the direction of the bang, Alfred realized what a horrible decision he was making. You weren't supposed to go towards the weird noise, or split away from the group to go check something out. That was exactly what got people killed in horror movies, for crying out loud! Fear constricted his throat.

As it turned out, however, there wasn't anything to be afraid of. There was just a pile of metal trashcans, nearly empty. There was no sign of a disturbance of any sort. It must have been the wind, Alfred decided. Something inside it had just gotten unsettled and fallen. There was nothing else to it.

Heart still pounding with adrenaline, Alfred turned back around.

Matthew slowly released the handle, giving himself a moment to recover from the haziness in his vision. Alfred's intuition was right, there was an enormous amount of residue on this vehicle. Ivan, as he had learned the Russian man's name was, had the luxury of being full time employed. He could afford to use the same car, the same gun, the same name. Therefore, he had gotten sloppy. Hesitating with his bare palm on the car door handle, many an illuminating conversation had been had been held with his employer. There had been dull ones as well, but Matthew was able to shuffle past them and get to the good stuff.

He couldn't help but grin to himself. Once he'd processed more of the information he'd received, it wouldn't be difficult at all to figure out Arthur's location. Alfred was going to be so happy.

Then the hairs on the back of his neck began to prickle. The area around him seemed to drop in temperature drastically.

"What are you doing, tovarishch?" a lilting voice asked.

Something hard hit his head, and Matthew knew no more.

Kiku didn't even have time to scream. The Russian man had moved out of the shadows so quickly Kiku almost thought he had teleported behind Matthew. In his hands was a nasty looking steel pipe, which he'd used to take his boyfriend down in a split second.

He didn't hesitate now. In an instant, he was standing above Matthew's crumpled form, protecting him from another blow. It was a stupid a reckless move, something Alfred would have done without thinking. Kiku knew better. But he also knew that another hit would likely kill him. That was not an option.

The man's eyebrow arched. "Is there a problem, friend?" In person, his irises seemed to glow even brighter and with more menace.

Hurry up, Alfred. "You do not have to play dumb. We both know who the other person is and what their motives are." His tone came out clipped with anger. "You might as well give up now. You do not have a chance of succeeding."

The Russian smiled, chilling Kiku to the core. "That's quite a naïve statement, you know." A hand latched onto his throat, lifting him effortlessly in the air. "What could you possibly do against me?"

Alfred could see Kiku gasping for breath as he skidded to a halt on the other side of the kidnapper's car. "Let him go!" He swung his arm forward, trying to knock the Russian off his feet telepathically. But he was heavier than Alfred had thought, and the man didn't even blink as he steadied himself. It was as if an empty cardboard box had been thrown at him instead of all the force Alfred could muster.

Alfred's sky blue eyes locked with the Russian's shimmering lavender ones. All at once, the heat seemed to drain out of his body. He began to shiver, trying desperately to reclaim the warmth that his body refused to capture. His heart began to slow. The feeling left his legs, causing him to hit the pavement roughly.

Sluggishly, Alfred realized that he was freezing to death.

Kiku could only watch helplessly. Things had completely fallen apart. Matthew was hurt, possibly even concussed. Alfred had somehow been brought down the moment he looked into the Russian's eyes. And his own vision was beginning to grow dark. Could this be the end?

Anger bubbled up inside of him. He wasn't going to let this happen. He wasn't going to get taken. Nobody was going to die. This man wasn't going to get away. The fury was almost like a flame dancing on his skin, heating Kiku up from the inside despite the man's freezing grip.

A loud cry and a Russian profanity interrupted the sound of Kiku's frantic gasps. Immediately, the pressure around his throat ceased, and his body fell weakly to the ground next to Matthew's.

Kiku inhaled deeply, getting as much oxygen to his deprived lungs as he possibly could. The silver-haired man was standing above him, holding his hand with anguish. It appeared to be badly burnt. When he looked down at his own body, Kiku noticed with a shock that his entire body had a faint glow. Warm air circulated around his hands. Was it possible that Kiku had burnt the man himself?

Putting the question out of his mind for future pondering and taking advantage of the man's momentary distraction, Kiku ran to Alfred's side. His friend's eyes were half closed, with his body curled around himself tightly. But as he kneeled next to him, he seemed to be restored to life in a few seconds by Kiku's unexplainable heat.

Sitting up, Alfred uttered a low groan. "Sonofabitch." Upon seeing Kiku, his jaw dropped. "Holy hell, man, you're glowing-"

Kiku grabbed his hand and helped him to his feet. "We do not have time for this. I need you to grab Matthew and we need to get out of here, quickly."

Alfred looked like he wanted to say something more, then thought better of it and gave a grunt of acknowledgement, then ran to the other side of the car. The Russian was waiting, but this time Alfred managed to catch him off guard and pull him off his feet before he could attack or freeze him again.

He bent down and scooped Matthew up, being careful not to hit the lump that was forming on his head. Without breaking step, Alfred ran to their car. Behind him, Kiku hit the unlock button on his keys, bringing the headlights to life.

A few seconds later, they had all bundled themselves into the car, with Kiku pulling out and Alfred sitting in the back seat holding Matthew. Kiku didn't think he had ever hit the gas so quickly.

Together, they flew into the night, with the Russian man growing smaller and smaller behind them.