CHAPTER 10

A/N – Hello my dear readers! I'm so excited to have been actually able to stick to my planning and finish this story as well before the end of this hot, hot summer! I will begin this final chapter (which is more of an epilogue than real action, if you want) by thanking all of you for the amazing support given throughout this story, it always means so much to me to see that people like my twisted ideas! So enjoy!


Alfred groaned sleepily, shifting between the sheets. Cracking one eye open he was vaguely aware of the door opening and a slender figure dressed in nondescript undershirt and sweatpants slipping inside. Then the mattress of his small bed dipped slightly as Arthur lied down beside him, pulling a bit of the blanket to warm up from the night chill.

"Mmmmhh… you're cold… and your hair is damp," Alfred muttered.

"I had a shower."

"…what time is it?"

The smaller blond pressed closer. "Two in the morning. Jones, you have to wake up."

The Alpha chuckled, half-asleep. "Don't tell me… you want to play at this h-"

"No, I don't bloody want to play." Arthur tsked. "We have combat training at all hours, so that we can be ready at any time. Just came back now. But there's something you need to know, okay? Just wake-"

Alfred's arm curled around his slim waist, holding tight as the blue-eyed blond snuggled next to him, nuzzling his hair. "My sweet, sweet bunny… mmm… I love you so much!"

The untouchable boy flinched in surprise at this unexpected and no doubt genuine confession. He knew that Alfred liked him a lot, but love… It had been a long while since anyone had told him something like that, so long that it had almost entirely faded from memory. The thought of it made sudden tears prick his eyes and Arthur hardly resisted the urge to settle in his boyfriend's warm embrace and think of nothing else as he drifted into much-needed sleep.

"Alfred… I love you too," he murmured softly, shyly even, reaching to brush a few strands away from his boyfriend's forehead. "But you'll want to wake up now. They extracted Mattie."

The other boy sat up brusquely, all traces of sleep gone in an instant. "What?! Did you say… Mattie?" Alfred patted blindly to switch on the bedside lamp and reached for his glasses.

"Yes, that's what I said."

"When?! Did they bring him in or… Is he still-…"

Arthur mustered a small, reassuring smile, nodding. "He's alive, Alfred. It was a small team – Gilbert, Elizaveta and Lukas - there wasn't so much security on that facility. He was taken to the hospital area. Get up."

The blue-eyed blond scrambled from the bed as quick as he could, reaching for a pair of jeans he pulled on hastily. Followed by Arthur, he made his way down the dark corridors of the Institute building towards the hospital wing, all the while still finding it hard to believe that he was about to see his little brother again.

They saw Dr. Bonnefoy together with a nurse standing in the doorway of a room similar to the one Alfred had woken up in upon his arrival, the young doctor looking tired but still with a relieved smile on his face.

"Fortunately his condition isn't as critical as we had feared it would be," Francis said as the Alpha pressed his nose against the glass to see Mattie lying fast asleep on the bed. "He will be in bed for a while and we must administer the proper regression treatment, but I have no doubt that things will go smoothly. He will be fine." There was a IV drip attached to his arm, an oxygen tube under his nose and various receptors to monitor his overall state. Alfred's stomach cringed painfully upon noticing how pale and worn the little Omega looked and his fists balled in barely repressed anger.

"I suppose that from the Government's point of view he's equally undesirable now, isn't he?" he asked under his breath, yet the doctor heard him and nodded.

"Alfred, what's important is that he's alive and safe and you'll be together now," Arthur pointed, just as his boyfriend noticed a figure hunched over the side of the bed, probably asleep as well. Gilbert. The albino still had his khaki uniform on, blackened with something like soot, some on his face too, and his hand was still laced to Mattie's over the blanket.

The blue-eyed blond blinked, taken by surprise. So Gilbert did care about Mattie after all, enough to risk his life to see him to safety. Also, being an untouchable explained why he'd been immune to his brother's heat and why the little Omega had probably been safer with him than with anyone else that day, even if Gilbert had actually risked exposing his real nature by the lack of expected reaction. Hell, even his dad could have caught on that something was not as supposed to be.

Of course, his protective instinct towards his little brother still prompted him to have mixed feelings about this, but for the moment he was happy, so damn happy that tears had begun silently sliding down his cheeks. Sniffing softly, he walked up to the bed and placed a kiss on the sleeping Omega's forehead.


"So this is it, huh?" Matthew said, eyes trained upon the neatly trimmed shrubbery surrounding a small artesian fountain. It was the first time he'd been allowed out of his hospital room, Dr. Bonnefoy deeming he was well enough for his older brother to take him out to get some fresh air. "We'll be staying here with the rest of your friends from now on. It's not… not so bad, I guess."

"Mattie, I'm so sorry!" Alfred gulped, looking away and blinking back his tears. "I promised you that I'd always protect you and I didn't! I couldn't, in the end I was so damned helpless!"

The purple-eyed blond reached out for his brother's hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze."It's not your fault, Al. There's nothing you could have done, not even Dad… I remember that he came to see me back at the hospital, and he said all this nightmare was going to be over soon. That was the last time I saw him."

All in all, Mattie had taken the news of their current situation far better than the young Alpha had hoped, which was somewhat of a relief. Still, he guessed that it was going to take some more time for his little brother to fully grasp the fact that they were alone in the world and left without any other choice but to spend their entire lives within the confines of the Reactive Institute. Unless, like Arthur had suggested and Dr. Bonnefoy had confirmed that it might have been possible, they could train to 'blend in' and venture out upon occasion, taking risks just like everyone else. But this was a distant thing he would not think of just yet.

"Um… Dr. Bonnefoy said that when I'm fully recovered I could go back to school," the smaller blond said, fidgeting a bit. "Like, finish my remaining high-school here." He paused, taking a deep breath and seeming suddenly nervous about something."And he said that afterwards… I could go on studying further if I wanted to…" he added in a lower voice, sounding almost shy about what he was saying.

Alfred flinched, realising that his little brother feared he would be against it. Of course, in the 'regular world' it was unheard of and even if Mattie would have probably done great at any university, it would have been out of the question, since he was an Omega. He pressed his lips tightly together, stuffing down a new wave of anger at what they'd left behind, instead his arm went around Mattie's shoulders, pulling him close and pressing a kiss into his hair.

"Of course you could! Hey, if you want, you can study the same as me and maybe one day we'll work together! We could help Dr. Bonnefoy, if he'll have us."

The purple-eyed blond looked up, eyes widened in awe. "Really? You mean it, Al?"

"Yeah. I guess now we can think of doing things which wouldn't have been possible outside."

Mattie looked away again, this time his cheeks dusting with pink. "Gilbert said the same, you know… He said that if I want to, I should go for it." He sighed. "But I guess he wouldn't have said that if he was a real Alpha… And you know… uh, Dad would have never agreed to it either."

"I know. But then Dad was a regular through and through and he only wanted us to fit in so that we'd be safe… I guess he never thought that in the end it wasn't going to be possible."


Five years later

Alfred nearly held his breath at the sight of the miniscule hand reaching up to grab his finger. The baby's large blue eyes looked up at him in a sort of awe as her small, round mouth was on the verge of forming a smile. The baby girl had been named Amelia by her natural parents before the Government had snatched her from their arms for the only fault of being born with untouchable genes. Otherwise she was a perfectly healthy child, incredibly lucky to have been among the few rescued by the Agency.

"Hey, Dr. Jones," a soft voice said and the blue-eyed blond turned abruptly, cradling the baby girl he had gingerly picked up from the small bed against his chest.

Arthur stood in the doorway with his arms crossed, his heavy-looking equipment made up of the standard khaki uniform and bulletproof vest still on, but smiling impishly nevertheless. "I was wondering if you'd cook something for tonight, or should I order something? I was thinking we could… you know, celebrate."

The Alpha smiled in turn, indeed it was their anniversary – four years since they'd officially moved together. They only had a modest, two-room apartment inside the Institute building, but it had been more than enough so far. And he thought 'so far', because ever since he'd laid eyes on Amelia for the very first time… somehow he'd known that she belonged with them. Only seeing Arthur in that military uniform instantly made him imagine Amelia all grown up and dressed in it too and his stomach cringed painfully.

"I was thinking we could order something later, I still got some stuff to finish…" he mumbled, mind elsewhere.

"What's the matter, love?"

Alfred sighed, still watching the baby who now reached up to grasp one of the large buttons of his white doctor robe. "Just look at her Arthur, she's precious! And yet so small, so fragile… and who knows what the future will bring…"

"You know she will grow up to be stronger than you, right?" Arthur said with a smile. "And who knows, maybe by the time she's all grown up things will change for the better."

The blue-eyed blond took a deep breath. "Do you think… um… do you think I'd make a good dad?"

Arthur craned his neck up and pressed a soft kiss on his boyfriend's cheek. "I think you'd make a wonderful dad," he replied. "Besides, it isn't you who passed Baby Care class by cheating on the written test," he added laughing.

"Oh, look, Arthur, she's laughing too!"

Indeed, little Amelia's face was stretched in a funny grin while her little hands were doing a sort of awkward but excited clap.

"Yeah, but do you know why?"

"Wha-…" Alfred frowned, suddenly suspecting what the general source of amusement was. He looked down at his robe and there it was, a growing wet stain. "AH, SHIT! ARTHUR, IT'S NOT FUNNY!"

THE END