They head into the mess for what felt like the hundredth time, getting in line for food. Francis sighs softly turning to Matt. "How do you think they're feeling?"
"Who, Al and Molly? Probably lost and edgy... paranoid?"
Francis nods.
"Confined... Al was very claustrophobic when he first came back..."
"..should we take them home?"
"We've been toying with the idea..." he shrugged, picking up a plate. "Molly won't settle anywhere that reminds her of the compound..."
"I'll find Arthur and we can talk about it. Tonio and Ludwig are eager to get home too. I'm not sure about Ivan and Gilbert."
"If Gil's finished his work, he'll probably come with me," he shrugged. "I think we'll all just be glad when this is over..."
Francis nods grabbing a second plate and looking around the room for the Brit.
He wasn't in there... "He'll be in the hangars again.."
Francis sighs. "Go ahead back, I'll grab him and meet you there."
"Alright," he reached for his plate and took them both back to the med wing.
Francis heads toward the hanger.
The door was wide open, letting the summary breeze in, wafting the smell of engine oil out across the tarmac. He walks in glancing around. "Arthur?"
"Hello," he popped up from the wing of one of the planes, fringe pushed back and face splattered with oil.
"Hey, listen come on down to the med wing with me. We need to have a talk."
He frowned and jumped down, wiping his hands on his overalls. "Is everyone okay?"
"Molly walked a little too far but that's not the problem.." He explains his conversation with Matt as they walk back.
Arthur was deep in thought by the time they hit the ward. "If that's the issue, maybe it would be best to move them somewhere more comfortable..."
"Where though? Molly wants to go to her home but she doesn't seem to be letting go of Al anytime soon either, not to mention we still need to set up for the case.."
"If we just get her to a home... I don't feel comfortable sending her that far away until we know everyone's safe... but by the same token, they know where Alfred's home is..."
They walk inside. "I doubt that would stop him from going back sooner or later.." Francis had stumbled upon his storage closet once while visiting. There were too many memories there for Al to just let it go.
"I'll feel a lot better once we know we're safe again..."
"Hopefully there's no one else we need to catch.." They head back into the room stepping over to the others.
Matt had done a good job of bullying the duo into eating. "Nate seemed to do most of the actual... inflicting," Arthur dropped to a whisper. "So with any luck, we have the ring leader..."
Francis nods softly.
"Better safe than sorry though..."
Al glanced up as they neared. Needless to say he had heard the entire conversation once they opened the front door, but he kept it hidden.
Arthur sighed then put on a soft smile for then. "How are we all feeling today then?"
"Alright."
Molly shrugged indifferently, but Iain grinned. "Well I feel just fine."
Francis raised a curious brow. "Have you been messing with the machine?"
"Maybe a wee bit, but the bloody thing broke! Defective American products!"
Francis facepalms.
"I rather fancy an afternoon stroll," he hummed, starting to get up.
"Nope!" Francis pulls him down again. "You're not going anywhere till you're sober again!"
"I'm completely sober, Franny-boy," he grinned, patting his cheek. "Not touched a drink in months! Now stop being cranky, just because you and Artie stopped getting it off lately!"
Francis flushed. "Iain you're not drunk you're high! ...and that has nothing to do with this!" And There goes Al into his own little world..
"I'm high? Well that explains why I feel on top of the world!" he laughed. Molly slipped out of his grip, backing away anxiously. Francis sighs..
"Francis, just take out the drip," Arthur sighed. "He doesn't really need it..." Francis does so grumbling to himself. Iain continued to chuckled to himself. "Now we just wait for him to come down again..."
He sighs standing back.
"...Francis..."
"Hm?"
"Where did Molly go...?"
He glanced around hurriedly. The little redhead had disappeared! They'd only turned their back for a second! He sighs again. Al frowns getting up to go look.
Arthur stopped him, concerned frown tugging his impressive brow. "Are you sure you should really be running around? You still need to rest too.."
"You and Matthieu stay with Iain, we'll go look for her." Francis stands to leave.
*Hell of a lot of good we can do here...*
"We'll be back as quick as we can," Arthur nodded, clearly itching to be going. "Come on, Francis."
Francis follows and Al sighs turning back to Iain. He just sat there, humming happily to himself. He looked fresh off the psych ward...
*This is just bizarre...*
*I swear this place is going to send us all mad...*
*What do we do though? We can't go to my house right now.. Even then what do we do with Dr. Frankenstein?*
*We could go to mine? It's a little further and Molly hates the cold, but it gets us out of here... We could lock him in my basement with Kuma, see if he's dumb enough to try anything.*
*Sounds good to me. It'll be summer here soon anyway and it'll scorch like crazy, those hoodies won't do her any favors..*
Matt smiled softly. *So, as soon as they find her,* more likely give up and let them find her... *We'll arrange to head up to mine and finally let everyone settle.*
*Ok.*
He pulled him into a warm hug, settling back on a spare bed to wait. Al snuggles in.
The day passed onwards, Iain slowly coming down from his unintended high. Tammy came in, hooking him back up to the drip, but on the proper dosage.
*Think they've given up yet?*
*When have you known Dad to give up in anything?*
Al chuckles.
*If they don't have her by tonight, you and I'll have a little look of our own.*
*Alright.*
They settle back and wait a while longer... Matt was starting to worry a bit though... An air base was a dangerous place for a lady of her size...
*I think we should go..*
*It couldn't hurt to just have a quick look,* Matt nodded.
Al shifts getting up and heading to the door. Matt followed him, keeping an eye out for the others, just in case. They walk along searching.
There was no sign of any of them... Not in the hangers, on the tarmac, in the mess or in their quarters.
*Matt, can you smell anything..?*
He stiffed about, but most scents here was woven and interlinked, sealing into a mess web lacquered in engine fuels. It was hard to get a fix on anything.
*What do we do?*
*I'm trying... Just remind me what her scent is like?*
*Tea for one, but then again they all have a bit of that..*
*It's better than nothing,* he shrugged. *...Got one!* He set off, following the trail. Al follows after. They follow it swiftly, not wanting to lose the scent in the building wind. But it ended up leading them to Arthur...
Al frowns watching him. He paced anxiously, clearly distressed. The twins hid around the corner, just out of sight.
*What's up with him? Where's Francis?*
*I think he's checking out that hanger... if my nose is right, anyway...*
Francis came out soon after.
"Damn it Francis, where is she?! We've search the whole bloody base three times!"
"Have you considered her leaving at all?"
"Yes, and that's a problem I'm hoping we won't have to face," Arthur ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "If she left the base, lord only knows where she'll end up and in what state..!"
*Dude.. She wouldn't, would she..?*
Matt frowned, eyes turned a harsh arctic blue. *You tried to... she can't stand being here...*
*..we should track her down..*
*Already on it.* He started sniffing again, eyes sparking when he finally caught a snippet of her scent. Honey tea, with a hint of roses and mint. He took after it like a greyhound.
Al follows after taking to the sky once out of sight, but still close enough to contact Matt.
The trees and undergrowth were thick and dense, tangling scents together again, but thankfully, these were easier to distinguish from her. Just how far had she gone?
It was hard for Al to make out anything, the sun was setting and he couldn't see in the dark. Neither could Matt. He was relying mainly on his nose now. Al just follows Matt's aura.
They ended up deep in the woods when Matt stopped, confused. *It vanished...*
*What?! How?!*
*I don't know! It just gets to this clearing and stops dead...*
He sighs landing next to him. *Do you think she teleported somewhere?*
*Not a chance. She wouldn't have the strength for it. You saw how much it took out of Dad when he was healthy...*
Al frowns glancing around. The moon came out from behind a cloud, illuminating the clearing. This was where they'd come earlier to fly! He frowns slightly.
Had she even come this way, or was it just the crisscrossing smells confusing Matt's tracking...?
But if it just disappeared.. He jumps up searching the trees. All that achieved was scaring a few birds... He sighs coming back to the ground.
*See anything?*
*Nothin..*
He sighed tiredly. *We lost her...*
Al frowns *What now..?*
*I don't know...* he really didn't want to give up on her though... It was turning chillingly cold out and she really wasn't dressed for it...
Al frowns fidgeting.
*We need to find her...*
*Yeah but where's left to look?*
*Maybe she left through the other side of the base? We could search the trees there?* He was starting to get desperate and he knew it. *She can't be that far away, you know her legs wouldn't stand to it.*
*Worth a shot..*
They set off, verging on praying just to avoid yet another calamity. They run through the base heading the other way.
As they near the far side, an anguished scream cut through the air, ringing out from the prison building where Al had nearly killed Nate and hurt Iain. *Found her...*
*Shit.. Why the hell is she there?!*
*I don't know, but we're getting her out right now.* Matt started running, then added. *Calmly! No fighting, just explain.*
*Fine..* Al ran after.
They get in to see guards at two doors. Frantic sobbing and screaming came from one - Molly begging for someone to shut Nate up. Nate sat in the cell across from hers, his disgustingly smooth baritone making his threats to carry on what he was doing to her in the compound sound almost as sweet as words whispered in a lover's ear. All in all, chaos.
*PLEASE can I kill him?!*
*I'm closer to saying yes every time...*
Al marched over to Molly's cell. She had curled up in the far corner, rocking back and forth as she pulled her hair. "Make him stop, make him stop!"
"Sir," one of the guards stepped in front of him. "We're handling this, please step outside."
"Why. The fuck. Is she in there?" He was absolutely pissed right now..
"She was caught trying to break into the weapons shed." to his credit, the soldier stood his ground.
*Well I can't really blame her..*
*Me either... though I honestly doubt she was aiming to kill him... look at her...* there was a wave of sadness behind his thoughts as he came over to the door. "I'm sure it was all a misunderstanding, so we'll just take her from here. She really should be in the med wing."
Al moves to the door again.
"With all due respect," Matt started, but the soldier just ushered them further down the corridor. Nate was still hissing from between his bars and something in Matt just snapped. He grabbed the soldier's rifle, barged passed them both and walked up to Nate. Before the brunette had a chance to use his words on him too, he rammed the butt of it into his face. "For five fucking seconds, will you just shut up?!"
Al couldn't help it, he bust out laughing at that.
Matt just huffed, dropping the gun at the soldier's feet before nodding to Molly's door. "Unlock it."
Al continued to laugh leaning on the wall. Matt just let him, starting to smirk himself as he gathered Molly up in his arms and started back for the med wing, tugging Al along behind him.
Eventually Al calms down. "Man that was awesome!"
"I just got sick of hearing his voice," Matt shrugged. "Felt good though."
Al chuckles following behind him.
They march back to the med wing, calling Francis over to check her. There was no way anyone else was getting near now...
Francis comes running, Arthur close behind.
"Molly!" Arthur called out to her in relief, but she shrank back into the corner, trembling. He faltered. "What happened...?"
"She was in the cell block.."
"What? Why?"
"She wanted to have something from the arsenal apparently."
He frowned, looking back to her as she quivered, rocking frantically. "She's not in a fighting mind... why would she...?"
"Donno.."
A dark look crossed his eyes before he just sighed and shook his head. "Never mind... come, let him tend her in peace. She might settle." Al follows him outside as Francis stayed behind.
Molly seemed no closer to settling though... She looked on the brink of a stupendous breakdown. Francis does the best he could. She flinched and tried to get away, but her energy was dying, leaving her cold and exhausted. She curled up, shivering, despite the comforting warmth of the room. He sighs hugging her close. She folded in without a word, grabbing handfuls of his shirt with progressively weakening hands. They sit there like that.
Her eyes glazed over, staring blankly at the wall. Her grip on him broke as her body slumped, losing all strength. Francis sighs. He tucks her in moving out to the others. They had moved down to the mess for a late dinner, suddenly very thankful of the Brit's newfound friendship with the head cook.
*Hey Matt?*
*What's up bro?*
*When do you think we should leave?*
*In the morning,* he answered immediately. *Staying here is damaging us as people.*
*Alright.*
After dinner they gathered everyone up and announced their plan. Oddly enough, no one seemed able to dispute it. They needed to go and just relax already. Gil would come with them like Matt said. Ivan came as well. The others planned to go home. Arthur intended to fly himself and Molly home again as soon as he could. She needed her own land. They left Nate in his cell.
They all set off for bed soon after. It was an uneasy night for most of them, but they could relax tomorrow when they left.
They wake up and pack up. Matt managed to organize them a plane, and with some mild bullying and a bit of force, they soon loaded their ragtag bunch into the craft. The flight was mostly uneventful soon they landed and pile out. The ended up being ferried into a car and taken to Matt's. Upon arrival, the Celts were sent up to rest, Matt starting up dinner. It had been a long journey...
Al takes Ro on a tour around Matt's house, Kuma wandered outside for a while checking on his territory. Arthur hovered about his siblings until they both kicked him out. Ivan just followed Al. Francis had gone to help Matt.
"Do you think it'll be easier here?" Matt asked softly.
"Hopefully, it's not some compound and it's somewhat remote.."
"Kuma's just as good protection as any hoodoo magic charm... we should be okay."
Francis chuckles softly. Matt smiled a bit. They finish cooking and set the table.
It took a few minutes to gather everyone together, but they soon sat for a good homecooked meal. It was so much better than cafeteria food! They ate happily, even getting a soft smile from Molly. That in turn lifts their moods. They were already doing better here. Things were looking good.