Chivalry
An Adventures of Tintin Fanfic by SouthernImagineer/ecto1B
(A Modern Retelling)
Three.

He hunkered down on his knees, rested his chin atop the porcelain bowl's rim, and shut his eyes. A groan of frustration resonated in his throat.

"Why me?" he muttered weakly, his jaw trembling. He lifted a hand to wipe the sweat forming on his brow. "I haven't been here longer than a day, and I've already become well-acquainted with the toilet."

Footsteps drew nearer, and soon Captain Haddock was standing in the bathroom doorway. "The food didn't sit well with ya, lad?"

Tintin nodded minutely, not risking leaving the bowl to glance at his friend. Instead, he kept his face trained downward. "I think I must've eaten too much…" He winced painfully and ducked further into the toilet. "American food."

The captain went to stand above the young man. He leaned down and lightly patted his back. "There, there. Jus' let it all out, Tintin. Your stomach's not used to feelin' like this. Take it easy." When Tintin was finished, Haddock stood. "Let me get'cha a washcloth for your forehead. My mum used to do that for me when I had my head in the can. It always helped."

Tintin groaned again. "Thank you, Captain," he croaked.

The captain was right; the washcloth, indeed, helped. Haddock drenched the fabric in lukewarm water and held it below Tintin's hairline. The relaxing warmth was able to soothe him back into a less-queasy state, and Tintin eventually felt his body slacken and his stomach unclench—a good sign that brought about feeble dry heaves.

"Do ya want me to stay here with ya until you're finished?" the captain offered.

Tintin knew he could handle the rest on his own, but a juvenile instinct inside of him yearned to keep a friend at his side during this moment of weakness. "Yes, yes please."

With a slight smile, Haddock again pressed the towel to the boy's forehead. "You'll be fine, lad. This vacation will help ya wind down. A bit of relaxin' and you'll be right as rain."

Tintin shook his head and pushed the washcloth away, guilt flooding his eyes. It was about time he came clean. He hated lying to his companion. Steadily, he rose from the linoleum floor and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Captain," he began steadily, doing his best to keep his gaze trained on the man before him. "I'm not on vacation any more. The woman I had dinner with—she's my newest client." He paused, watching the captain's smile gradually disappear. "She was the one who called this afternoon; we'd never met previously. Her fiancé was kidnapped, and she desperately needs help. I couldn't say no." Wincing, he shuffled his feet and looked down. "I'm sorry I lied to you, but this was a matter I had to attend to…"

The captain narrowed his eyes. "Thundering typhoons, Tintin! Ya couldn't just say no? Ya didn't come all this way to get bogged down with work! This is supposed to be your vacation!"

Abruptly, a surge of strength flooded his senses, and Tintin's head snapped back up. His voice rose as he spoke, full of conviction. "This woman was sobbing over the phone, Captain. I wasn't about to ignore her! I'm objective, but not insensitive. I cannot ignore a cry for help." Swallowing back his urge to again familiarize himself with the toilet, Tintin stalked out of the bathroom and went to lie atop the closer of the two beds. He heard Haddock following him, but he ignored the footsteps and curled beside Snowy on the blue comforter.

"So what are ya plannin' to do, then?" Haddock wanted to know, coming to stand at the edge of the bed with his arms hugging his leather jacket. Tintin had to admit, the captain could hold a great deal of restraint when he wanted to, or when the situation was becoming uncomfortable. It was rare for him to do so, but since the two had become such good friends, Tintin noticed Haddock was putting more effort into controlling his temper. He admired that, and he felt bad for raising his voice in the first place. "You're jus' gonna pack up and leave with this woman to find her fiancé? What about Snowy an' I?"

"Snowy's coming with me," Tintin replied, rolling onto his back. "You are welcome to remain here, go back to Belgium, or join us. It's completely up to you."

Haddock let out a heavy sigh. "Blistering barnacles, Tintin; ya don't give me much of a choice." He went over and sat on the opposite bed, leaning his elbows on his knees. A heavy, drawn-out sigh escaped him. "What did you two talk about? Th' woman, I mean. What did she tell ya?"

Tintin was eager to tell the story. "On Friday, she received a text from her fiancé, who is on a business trip. The text was a genuine train wreck. From what she could tell, he was begging her to send help, for something had happened and he was in danger of losing his life. It was only up until she saw my name in the papers this morning that she decided her fiancé's safety needed investigating, and that's why she called me. We met at the Hard Rock Café to discuss everything. It's been decided that I will accompany her to Huntsville, Alabama, where her fiancé is supposed to be, to make inquires about Mr. Woodcraft's location."

The captain appeared to be mulling everything over in his head. His attention shifted to the hotel room window, where the faint rays of early morning light had begun to spawn behind the horizon. The darkness was reluctantly fading in succession, painting the park below the hotel an eerie gold.

Finally, he met the redhead's eyes.

"There's somethin' more, isn't there?" When Tintin didn't respond, he went on. "If that were everythin', you wouldn't 'ave taken the job. Ya need somethin' more for it to be a good story. Ya would've sent her to the police to let them handle it if it were that simple, but it's not. That wasn't enough for ya, was it?"

The smallest of smiles crept onto the journalist's face. "You know me too well, Captain. Yes, there was something else." Now, he lowered his voice, as if someone were listening in to their conversation. "Mr. Woodcraft is one of the top engineers at DEMCO."

"DEMCO?"

"A government-controlled engineering corporation widely known for their success and influence over the country's economy. They're one of the wealthiest companies out there today."

"And because this man's an employee at DEMCO…"

"This story is extremely valuable," Tintin finished for him. "The woman told me that three separate firms—one of them being DEMCO—were up for a top-secret government job. When the two other companies lost the job to DEMCO, their CEOs publicly vowed have their revenge. In other words, they refused to sit on the sidelines and watch as this hugely prominent project slipped from their fingers." The grin on his face, ridden with his reporter-like thirst for a juicy story, continued to grow as he spoke. "Two weeks after that statement, DEMCO's newest employee—a man fresh out of college and brimming with talent—sent his fiancée an urgent text message…"

The captain's eyes widened. "Woodcraft."

"Exactly. This story could be my best yet, Captain. I've dealt with multiple governments around the world, but never have I been given a chance to inspect the United States like this. I'll be entering uncharted territory—"

"And what if the U.S. government doesn't want a reporter stickin' his nose into places he shouldn't?" Haddock warned. "Ya might get into loads of trouble, not to mention ruinin' relations between America and Belgium."

Tintin considered this briefly. "As far as I'm aware, relations between Belgium and the U.S. are very friendly at the moment. There shouldn't any problems. Besides, this is one of the government's employees. They'll want him returned safely just as much as his fiancée does."

Blue eyes that were settled atop a prodigious nose steadily filled with fatherly concern. "Are ya sure about this, lad? It sounds… risky."

"And my assignments in the past were child's play?" Tintin reached over and scooped Snowy onto his lap, the terrier yipping in delight at his master's touch. "I'll be fine. We'll be fine. We'll uncover Woodcraft's kidnapper, and things can return to normal." He stood once more, depositing the white dog back on the bed. "Then, maybe, I can take a vacation."

Haddock glanced back to watch the young man vanish into the bathroom. "Now where are ya going?"

Tintin poked his head out of the doorway. "I'm sick, remember?"