A/N: Professor Layton still doesn't belong to me.
Chapter Two: Alliance
His eyes stared knowingly at the bed. No, not exactly at the bed, but rather through it. It started with a slight grin, then his head heaved upward and he began to laugh vicariously. He turned around. "Well, well, well. What do we have here? You? Being able to help me? Don't make me laugh anymore than I have to." Clive's eyes glared at the person still calmingly sitting on the bed across from him.
Joshua looked surprised. That mocking laugh was not the response he expected. No matter. He shrugged with a look of displeasure. "Yes. That is what I said isn't it? You help me – I help you. It's a win-win situation!"
Clive eyes regained their regular composure as he watched Joshua get up and... wrap his arm around Clive's own shoulder. "Hey back off!" He slapped the stranger's arm off. "What do you think you're doing?"
Joshua once again used both his hands to motion that 'stop' gesture towards him. "Hey man, calm down. I told you already didn't I? If we're going to get through this, we gotta work together like bff's."
"I told you already – I'm not interested!"
"Well, maybe not in the friends part, but surely you're into the..." The fluffy-haired man paused for effect. "Revenge."
Something once again pulsated in Clive. He knew it was and wanted to deny the feeling. No, no, no! If I do it again, I'll just fail again! "Well... what do you suppose we do? Break out of here?" In a way, he said this to ridicule that big-shot. But a part of him said it because Clive was indeed interested in what Joshua had in mind.
"Not me... you. You're the one that's breaking out."
"So now I'm supposed to go solo? After you had promised me that we'd be 'best friends forever'?"
Joshua laughed. "I knew I could get you to say it." This brought an angry glare. "With all seriousness, I could never get out here. Not legally anyways."
Clive regained his cool posture. His voice was calm and collected, but inside him something desperately wanted to know the plan. "So you expect me to able to without breaking the law?" He paused. "You already know why I'm in here in the first place. I have no one to bale me out of jail legally through money or otherwise."
"But of course there's a way you can get out. You're Legal."
-x-
A bell sounded throughout the halls of the cells. "It's lunch time! Out with you all. Off the beds, come here now to collect your food or we're leaving." Groups of wardens scattered throughout the station. Each carried a cart topped with trays. Of course none of them would actually leave someone without food – but these phrases were said anyways since most of the inmates had barely any type of conversation. Harsh words were better than no words at all.
"Oooh lookie here Clive! They're serving loafs of bread with raisins today! Yum!" Joshua was in his happy-go-lucky personality. There was a sheepish grin on his face as he brought the two trays – one for each of them – onto the familiar rectangular table and took a seat on the bench.
Don't be fooled, Clive, inside that shell of happiness is a deadly person to deal with. "Coming, Joshua." He washed his hands in the ever-freezing water of the sink and wiped them on the napkin that come with the food tray. Clive sat down on the bench with little distance between him and Joshua. In the first few days, he would sit as far as he could. It had been six short weeks since Clive had entered prison, but he was already used to it.
Day to day life was simple. You would wake up, eat breakfast, mope around or sleep, do any work the wardens assigned you to do, and that was pretty much it – three times a day. On weekends however, all the inmates were released to eat in the cafeteria. It was enormous, and food served on those days was considered more 'proper' food. On some days there were omelettes, other days they served soups. But occasionally they would get tea. Others complained about how tea was the weakest beverage to get served. It was either too bitter or too tasteless, but Clive didn't mind. Tea... it reminded him of the short time he spent with Layton. He wondered what the Professor was up to nowadays.
"Oh dear, Clive. You're eating absentmindedly! I can tell you knowww. Look at all those crumbs collecting around your mouth!" Clive broke out of his daydream. Next thing he knew, a very familiar hand was wiping the crumbs off his face. "Look at all this wasted bread that you could've eaten. And all these fallen raisins! That's like half the entire loaf on your face!" But Clive didn't resist. He gave up trying to stand against his prison-mate's strange behaviour and instead learned to accept it.
"Too many things on your mind, Clive my boy?"
"Yeah."
Joshua had already finished his loaf of raisin bread and opened up his jello cup. He wet the plastic spoon in his mouth before scooping up the first of the gelatinous substance. "Don't worry, you'll be out soon. Just a little while longer."
"Yeah." It was as if the sudden thought of the Professor had gotten Clive in a daze. Joshua could see through Clive that something was bothering him. But he was no psychic. Clive finished his bread and drank the glass of water. He then stepped off towards his bed.
"You're not going to finish your jello?"
"You can have it." He lay down and pulled the sheet over him. He faced the wall.
Joshua didn't giggle at the thought of having an extra dessert like he usually would have. What could be suddenly bothering him so much? I have to snap him out of it soon...
-x-
It had happened only moments before. The trees rustled viciously and a wave of heat blew towards him. A sudden dread befell a heart that would get all innocence stripped from it moments later. He got off the swings of the nearby playground. Their chains jingled as he ran as fast as his little legs would take him towards the only place he knew.
In front of him was a shocking sight. It was everywhere... the flames. To his right was a building blown into fragments; it bore lunging flames the size of the building. But he didn't care about the laboratory to the right. He stared right at the apartment in front of him. He could hear the fires laughing at his confused eyes. What had happened? He could feel the danger and all it did was draw him in.
Then a rage brought him into frenzy. He immediately began running towards the burning building. But he was stopped. An older man held him back. As much as he struggled, he couldn't break free from the man's grip.
"I need to go back! My parents are still inside!" He was tearing up, no matter how much he didn't want to. He had to be strong. Strong enough to save them!
"Pull yourself together, boy! There's nothing to be done! Jump back in there, and you'll die too!"
"No! No!" He was still trying to break free, but in the end instead gave into his embrace. All he could do now was hope.
There was smoke rising everywhere. Some civilians ran, while others carried buckets of water to try to douse the fire. Their attempts brought success but to the boy, they were futile. He didn't care that half of the apartment was saved. The first half – the important half – was already gone.
He wiped his tears once, twice, thrice. But they kept coming back. But suddenly, they stopped. He looked up into the sky. There were still remnants of the smoke floating around. He looked around him. The destruction was inevitable. There was nowhere he could go that didn't remind him of what just happened.
...
"Clive, dear Clive! Look what I got for you today!" Her smile delighted the boy and brought him happiness. He didn't care of the toys or her large fortune. It was her smile that kept him going. The toys were just a bonus. "Look Clive, it's a new robot!" She waddled the brightly painted figure closer to him, making lousy attempts at robotic noises.
"That's not how you do it! It goes beep beep piu piu erkkk!" Her laugh was like a musical symphony in response to his adorable sounds. He held up his old robot and wiggled it around. Its colours were faded but he still loved it. The laughs they shared. The smiles she showed no matter what happened. That was all he needed to go on forever.
...
"Clive... I'm so sorry..."
Not again. Not again! He would have nothing of it! He cried and screamed. He held her hand and squeezed it tight. She squeezed his in return with what little strength was left. He desperately tried to keep it warm, but the pale hand showed no sign of gaining his heat. "You promised me! You promised me!"
She muttered a few words that only he could hear. He gave up struggling to keep her warm. The last bit of her strength left and he no longer felt a grip on his hands. Her arm loosely fell.
The men arrived. They brought a sheet. He knew what it was for.
She looked at the men, then at him. "You brought me so much happiness in these five years... I-I love you... Clive..." Even in such a state, she managed to smile. Her eyes closed. The sheet was brought over her. Then she was taken away.
-x-
Clive woke up with a startled jump. There was a dreadful sensation throughout his body as he hyperventilated. He knew he had a dream that lasted all throughout the night, but he couldn't recall what it was about. He just knew it gave him the chills when he tried thinking about it. He looked over to the other side of the cell. Joshua was still sleeping. Well, today's the day... He got up to the sink and washed his face. The sounds awoke Joshua as the half-awake man yawned.
"Josh... we're really going through with it right? No backing out?"
The fluffy haired man got up and admired himself in the mirror. "Yeah. What'd I tell you Clive my man, best friends forever. You help me, I'll help you."
-x-
Four guards walked him through the hallway. He was walking through a part of the station that he had never seen before. To the end of the hall was a giant door. The sentries that stood at the door saluted the ones that guided him, nodded, and opened the door.
Inside was the probably the fanciest room in the building. Right across from him was man at the desk. The man, the minister of justice, spoke with a low but firm voice. "This is..?"
One of his escorts answered. "Prisoner 627802. Clive, sir."
"Ah, yes. That one that nearly caused the destruction of all of London." Clive grimaced at those words. "Why did you ask to see me?"
"Your Honour, I would like to ask for an early leave. A... parole."
The man stood up and slammed his hands on the desk. He looked at the escort guards. "Is this young man serious? A parole? In his state?" He laughed. "So I've heard you've been obedient here. You've never disobeyed a command and worked as well as any man. But I don't believe you can ever be excused for your years of sentence. You've only been here, what, two months at most?"
"I'm afraid I'm absolutely serious, Your Honour." Clive paused. For a split second he smirked but quickly hid it again. "You see, I have some information that you might be interested in."
The minister gave a quick look at the guards and they knew they were to leave his office immediately. "Very well. Let me hear it."
For the past six weeks, while other inmates would be sleeping or doing other miscellaneous things, Clive and Joshua worked together. They knew that they weren't the only ones that planned escape. On the days with the huge cafeteria meetings, they would pick up as much juicy information as they could. Who was trying to smuggle in weapons? Who was plotting a group effort to escape? Smoke bombs for confusion? Or maybe they were up to the classic 'tunnel out of jail' plan.
Joshua had his way of words to get whatever he needed to know out of others. Clive knew this extremely well – he could never forget their first day of meeting. Clive on the other hand, was an excellent strategist. Joshua knew this to be true, after all, who else would spend ten years of their life plotting revenge? Sure it may have failed, but that was because of an unlikely intellectual. And thus they began scheming to bring up a story that would for sure convince minister to get Clive out. And once out, Clive would fulfil the second part of their plan.
Clive began slowly. He talked about the criminals of London. He talked about how for all his life he too, was a law-abiding citizen. It was only the shock of losing all his family that brought him into the condition he was in. The minister said nothing and only nodded occasionally. Then Clive bent down his head and he grinned. He looked up again and began talking about the plots of other prisoners.
At this, the minister was appalled. He laughed. "Who would have thought? Criminals turning against their own kind!"
"Make no mistake, sir, I am not like them. Imagine, losing your family. Your wife, your children, everyone that has meant everything to you. Could you go on living like that?" Clive knew his plan was going through. "Here I am, legally trying to get out of prison while all these others are trying to break free against the law." The minister stared at him. He's buying it. He knows this as the truth. "There's one more thing. I would like to regain the trust of humanity by being put under the supervision of a man I believe you know very well. Professor Hershel Layton. I wish to become his apprentice."
-x-
He heard the familiar clapping. "Clive my boy! You did it! You're busting out of here!" Joshua was smiling delightfully with a hint of slyness. "You're coming back for me right?"
"Of course I am, Josh. I promised you." Barton had brought back his old clothes, the 'Luke' clothes, and he was wearing them now. They actually weren't his style, but he had to wear them if he were to truly give off the appearance of a 'true gentlemen' like before.
Two guards came and unlocked the iron gate of freedom to cell D129. Clive walked out calmly and ran through everything in his mind again. He stole one last look at Joshua, who was sitting on his bed. His prison-mate waved once, a simple goodbye, and Clive nodded in return.
The escorts led him to the entrance of the station. There were lots of windows here, and the officer at the counter nodded to the escorts. Clive hadn't been in such a bright room in a long time. The escorts helped him open the doors.
He was blinded by the true light of the sun, something he hadn't experience in what felt like an eternity. He took a few hesitant steps out at first, but then hastened his steps and then stopped. Here he was, at the entrance of the police station on Scotland Yard. A wide range of buildings were the first thing he saw. There was that long unheard call of robins in the day, and a brilliant gush of wind flew by him. He took a deep breath.
I... am free. Now it's time to meet my dear friend, the Professor.
A/N: I really like this chapter, but can't help but think there's something strange about it when reading it...
Please correct any inaccuracies about jail or parole because I don't actually know how it really works..
I'm also not good at writing some types of scenes (like emotional). My apologies for any off-ness ;_;