Ivan's hand grips the collar of Alphonse's shirt tightly. "Ivan, please believe me! Jo-Jones! The only thing that could harm Alfred is Jones. If he gets ahold of Alfred, he can take over his physical body. I-I don't know how much longer I have with you before I switch back. Jones is just like me. We're different sides of his personality." Ivan's hand loosens and Alphonse collar is let go. A tremendous sigh came from Ivan.
Ivan couldn't think at the moment. Everything is too much to take in. "Tsk, I thought it was a physical entity. I would have been able to do something about it sooner." Ivan's demeanor becomes serious. Alphonse straightens his collar and stands in front of Ivan. Ivan goes back into sitting in his recliner but his face has expressions of melancholy and hopelessness. "What can we do… it is in someone's mind. We cannot just beat him or reason with a conscience."
"Explaining everything will take up too much time, but Alfred has a mental illness-Dissociative Identity Disorder." Alphonse paused for a short moment, he looked down towards his shoes. "Unfortunately once in a blue moon; when confronted by a threatening situation, Alfred is forced to switch personalities to cope with his problems. That's where I come in and stir the ship. However the dumbass forgets to suppress himself through medicine."
"Just because of his own stupid mistake, Jones was able to escape from his little jail house from within Alfred's own mind. I can sense it. If I could...I would return, but I think Alfred is in such a state of panic inside his mind that he wouldn't let me go back in to help. I swear he's such a fucking baby." Alphonse puts his hands to his face. "Gahhh!"
Ivan has no words. He just looked at Alphonse and tries to think through the solutions that he can take. However everything he thought of just lead to a dead end. "We can't just give you medicine and calm Alfred down right?"
"It's more complex than that. We can't just wish the problem away. If that was the case I would have done it earlier." Alphonse turns around and started walking towards the drink that he put down earlier. "I wouldn't usually feel pity for the hopeless child's mistake, but I need to prevent Jones from taking over Alfred's physical body. If not, something like another civil war could arise or even worse, WW3." He picks up the glass and took a big swig.
He clenched his fist and gritted out, "I can't drive Jones back or help Alfred get away." Alphonse raised his fist and slammed it on the chair arm. For once, Ivan was surprised by Alphonse losing his cool. "I was too reckless! It caught me by surprise. I should have been more careful considering that his country is terribly divided right now. Him not taking his medicine was the straw that broke the camel's back."
"Are you sure you cannot come back in and chase 'Jones' away." Ivan began to tap his foot. "Why can't we just lock you up so he does not pull something stupid. If you are isolated in a safe location, that would prevent a lot of unnecessary hardship."
"I can't." He put his hand over his head again and throws his head back. "He's not letting me back in, like I said… if he kills Alfred it's over. You can say goodbye to your dear capitalist friend. You can say hello to the lovely racist, warmonger Jones. And by locking me up, Jones will resort to killing the physical body. That guy doesn't give a shit if he dies too. He's bringing the nation down with him"
"Then what can we do? Sit around and watch the birds fly by?! Is there a solution that we can follow? Alfred is stronger than he looks, I know better than anyone." Ivan murmured out this comment and averts Alphonse's gaze. Ivan closes his eyes and sighed with even more heaviness, his foot stopped tapping. "If worse comes to worse, say; if Alfred does fail, what will happen to you?"
"I'm sure he'll try to get rid of me. The times that Jones has breached out headspace and overtook the both of us was during the revolutionary war against Britain. Even then, Jones wasn't as bad as he was now- no, he was a great leader. Back then if he breached out, he didn't go around trying to kill us. But it was only in the recent decades that his behavior became more laced with happened after world war 2 made Jones inch towards change. The thing that completely changed him was Vietnam war. That made Alfred and Jones split into two opposing forces. Since then Alfred entrusted me to keep Jones tucked away so he won't terrorize the nation anymore. But I can be the Atlas to his world for so long."
A long pause ensued between the both of them. Ivan spoke up, "So what do we do?"
"Get out of Paris." Alphonse grabs his coat. "We're going back to America. I know a person who can help sort this mess out."
"What can I do to help?" Ivan walks over to Alphonse and puts his hand on top of Alphonse. "I do not want to be useless. I know I can not do much ,but please let me help with something. Anything!" Alphonse inhales deeply and gave out a lengthy sigh. Alphonse held Ivan's hand even tighter.
"If we don't reach New York in time and Jones show up..." Alphonse gripped Ivan's hand hard, with the other hand he reached into the breast pocket of his coat. He pulled out a Colt .45. "I know the history between you and Alfred… I know what happened before the Cold War and after. I've seen everything, the love, the lust and hate… but..." His lips pursed into a sad, faint smile. ".. Anyway, This is his favorite gun." Alphonse slowly placed it in Ivan's hand. "Keep it safe until the time comes. I don't want to assume for the worse, but you know what it means. Alphonse zipped up his suitcase and picked up his whiskey glass. He drank it all in one gulp and places it back onto the counter. "You understand right? What your role is…?"
Ivan opens his mouth to speak but he can barely get any words out. "Da…." Ivan began to sweat and he felt his palms water. He killed countless lives under the Russian monarchy but Alfred? His dear enemy, friend? No, former lover. Alfred became a center for all of Ivan's attention. Alfred means a lot to him, the memories, the love and hate, and the only friend he has left. His voice cracked, "If I have to then I must."
If Ivan kills Alfred, he can merge the two countries and that would prevent the downfall of america. Knowing Alfred's hero complex, he would beg Ivan to do the same in this predicament. Kill him and save his people. A very selfless sacrifice. He feels so frustrated. It's better than having Jones commit suicide, then the nation itself falls. But if Ivan kills Alfred, he takes Alfred's land. However the second choice is sadly the best outcome.
"This is my only request from you, dear Ivan. I don't want to assume the worse, but if it comes down to it, we can't make compromises." Alphonse senses Ivan's distress. He understands what the man is going through. "I'm so sorry for placing such a heavy burden on you. But I know that out of everyone, Alfred would die happy knowing that it's you who pulled the trigger."
Ivan felt cold. He hasn't felt this cold since the invasion of general Winter. He wanted to barf, this was all a big joke. "Then we must get going, this is the last resort, da?" Ivan took the gun and slipped it into his pocket. "I'm sure Alfred is trying his very best to keep that evil man at bay."
For once Alphonse gave Ivan a warm smile as if it was Alfred smiling. "I trust you Ivan."
What should have made him happy actually made him a bit depressed. It should be a momentous feeling to conquer lands and continents, but this didn't feel right at all. He may want more land for his people but not like this. This was like Alfred last will, it sounds too pessimistic. This is not how it was suppose to be. "Da, if it comes down to it, I will not make you regret your decision."
"My friend in New York is the son of the guy that made the atom bomb. So we're in the hands of a bloodline full of geniuses. He has a device that would help put Alfred into a coma, so that I can go back inside the headspace forcefully to hopefully resolve things." Alphonse finished packing everything. He took out his phone and dialed a number. "Smith, code alpha beta gamma, this is urgent. I need an escort to the closest airport in Paris. Have a private jet ready for me as well. This is a matter of national security." Alphonse shuts off the line and looks at Ivan with a smile. "Man I always wanted to say that." Ivan however had a serious distant look in his eyes.
Ivan couldn't move from the ground that he's standing on. All he wanted to do was go spend time with Alfred at a cafe but this has been a turn of events. Now he has to potentially kill Alfred and just when he thought their relations were slowly getting better.
"Ivan…?" Alphonse asked Ivan softly, but it did not break Ivan away from his deep thinking. Alphonse reached out to Ivan's face. The warmth of Alfred's body gave Ivan goosebumps up his neck. Although this isn't 'Alfred' this is his body. It immediately broke Ivan's deep trail of thought. Alphonse inched forward slowly, his breath was felt on Ivan's lips. As if every butterfly within his body exploded, he felt a familiar touch and feeling. Alphonse came within centimeters of kissing him. This very moment itself felt like an eternity. Just like how he awaited for the cold harsh winters to end and the thaw and resurrection of spring to arrive. And within that brisk moment, Alphonse placed a kiss on top of Ivan's lips. Ivan's eyes widen in shock. He felt his dead heart beat again. He can hear Alphonse's heart beat loud and clear also.
"Errm." Alphonse softly said, "This is a reminder that we have to try our best… for Alfred." Looking into Alphonse's eyes, Ivan swore he saw those bright blue eyes water a little bit. 'I guess that kiss broke him out of that spell that he was in' Alphonse thought.
Trying to hide the rising blush he looked the other way. "Right. You are right. I cannot let both of you down." Ivan rose up from his seat. "What are we waiting for, we have to save Alfred." Ivan walk towards the door quickly, behind him Alphonse followed. Ivan mentality laughed to himself that the small kiss gave him a decade worth of energy.
Ivan walked closer to Alphonse and patted him on the shoulder. "A man never goes back on his word." They both exit the room and walked down to the lobby where a few American bodyguards stood waiting.
"Good morning gentlemen" Alphonse nodded to the bodyguards and gave a few commands. Alphonse looked up at Ivan again, grabbed his hand and squeezed it. "May the gods bless us."
Sorry for the long wait guys, I had a long writers block and didn't know what direction i should take this in. Needless to say, I'm back for now and I've got some plans in action.