Disclaimer: I don't own either Layton's Mystery journey nor Layton brothers mystery room, the right side belong to level 5 and their proper owners...and NOT ME!

Armor

It was a dark, cold night and it had only just ceased raining —aside from the very slight downpour of drizzle— and it had been a long day for Lucy Baker.

She had never felt so tired in all her career as a Detective constable.

It had been two weeks after the case involving Alfendi had been solved and life in the Mystery room had settled back to its regular routine, even though she couldn't help but be riled by some cases that she had to experience and it was time to mark the time as half a year since she'd started working in the Mystery room and alongside the Prof.

Her deep crimson eyes could hardly stay open as she lumbered down the pavement with pure exhaustion written on her face and showing in her body language, her arms were hanging and she felt as though she could hardly stand —let alone walk. Thankfully the walk from Scotland Yard was short when it came to her returning to her charming little flat so she didn't have to fret much about her feet aching and deal with any extra exhaustion.

Lucy felt the air was moist from recent heavy rainfalls, it was causing her to shiver and her bright ginger hair to frizz slightly, and she could hear the blaring of sirens from ambulances and police cars, the tall streetlights that stood tall alongside the pavement were dimly lit with a warm orange glow which illuminated the area around and made it so the young woman was not stumbling around in pitch black darkness.

She walked for what felt like minutes...until she was suddenly imbued with a sense of fear.

The detective stopped in place and she looked towards her left where her eyes landed on a dark alleyway, it appeared endless and she squinted her eyes to try and get a better look as her curiosity got the better of her and, heedless of the danger and the red flags being raised in her mind, she started to head straight down the alley.

As she meandered down the narrow pathway, Lucy noticed a couple of things.

The walls were made from bricks that were plastered with the smears of old graffiti, the rainwater had washed away a lot of the spray paint so it was basically a neon green mess at this point. Rubbish such as tin cans, plastic bags, old soggy cardboard boxes, along with the occasional olive green beer bottle here and there littered the ground and there.

It didn't seem all that special.

But her gut told her to keep investigating.

She couldn't help but peer forwards when she saw what appeared to be some sort of silhouetted form. As she continued to cautiously stroll down the dark alleyway, feeling the damp moisture in the air increase and a feeling of dread swell in her heart, she could swear that everything in her mind was screaming at her to run.

Lucy stalked forth and she could feel her heart thumping erratically throughout her entire body. She completely stopped in place when she finally realised that she wasn't alone, she could most certainly hear the sound of footsteps other than her own skittering in the darkness and she had a feeling it weren't rodents in this alley.

Her head thumped with one thought that made her blood run cold:

There was someone else here...

Quickly, the young detective constable reached up to grab the rim of her cap and made a split-second survey of her surroundings by whirling her head around frantically. She called out to the mysterious person, trying to smooth (and hide) the fear in her voice but failing miserably.

"Wh-Wh-Whose there! Show yourself!"

The red-head was caught off guard when she was suddenly ambushed.

Before Lucy's mind could register what was going on, she felt someone land a blow on her cheek as she was struck from the side and knocked down to the ground below, the knock was so hard that it was forceful enough to cause her signature hat to come tumbling right off her head and it ended up plopping to the cold, hard ground and the detective let out a cry of pain when she landed awkwardly and probably spraining —or worse breaking— her ankle in the process.

She hissed through her teeth as her ankle seared with pain and her hand flew to where her cheek throbbed from having been knocked to the ground.

The Scotland Yard detective barely had time to recover her bearings as she realised quite quickly.

She was being attacked!

Eyes widening in shock and her face paling, Lucy scrambled to try and sit up but her injured ankle had prevented her from doing this quicker than she liked. Her heart leapt high into and tried to burst out of her throat when the panic of the moment sunk in. She reached into her holster to try and grab her gun that she only used for emergencies like this but her pulse quickened when she realised that it was absent. She froze once again when she heard the distinct clicking of someone trying to reload their gun and she glanced up to find herself staring down the barrel of a small pistol.

She was quick to realise that this stranger must have grabbed it when they slammed into her and knocked her to the ground and as she sat there, her crimson eyes narrowed as she stared up at the shadowy figure.

All she could do was think back on her actions as she done this.

How could she had ignored her mind that screamed at her to run? How could she had been so foolish as to go down an alleyway? How could she had gone down here defenceless?

The shadowy figure lurked over Lucy with the gun clasped tight in his hand as he circled her like a vulture flying over its deceased prey in the dessert, the detective saw the persons eyes glowering down at her darkly as they seemed to cocked the gun as though trying to taunt her. Then they suddenly spoke to her and she was able to deduce that this person was a male, and they had.a slight hint of an accent that sounded Scottish...or Irish, perhaps.

"You are from Scotland Yard, eh?"

Lucy was taken aback by that statement and her mind was racing.

How could he know...!?

It seemed that her expression, although it was dark, had clearly betrayed her inner shock as the man just seemed to give her an unamused expression then he simply pointed down towards one of the detective called constable's trouser pockets where her police badge glinted in the faint moonlight that shone down from the skies above. She glanced down and she felt her cheeks flushed scarlet with embarrassment.

She should have guessed that her badge would have been a dead giveaway...

Then she quickly shook off her embarrassment and looked back up at the man, resuming her hostile glare once more. Just what did this man want from her? Why did he attack her like that? Even though she did stumble upon this alleyway by gut instinct that shouldn't be enough reason for him to attack her, could it? She tried wracking her brain for answers to this but she was instantly halted from her brain-storming session when she was brought back to reality by the gun being waved in her face.

She asked, trying to remain calm in the face of danger, "What is it you want from me?"

"You're eternal silence would be swell, milady..." Came the response in a tone like silk.

Lucy gulped when she heard that, her heart skipped a beat and she found her breathing quickening. She felt as the wind brushed against her face and she felt her whole body —inside and outside— grow cold with this sickening feeling of the blood in her body pausing out of pure terror. It felt as though someone had grabbed a remote and pressed the pause button. Her lower lip started to quiver with fear and her eyes widened so much that could've easily popped out of their sockets.

A lump formed in her throat.

Was this how she was to die...?

Was her fate to die by a crazy person in some dank, gritty alleyway?

She wanted to accomplish so much more than this...she wanted to get married, maybe have a family herself...she wanted to make something of herself and wanted to solve many more mysteries in the mystery room with the Prof.

Her eyes started to water.

"N-No! You can't!" She shouted, both out of defiance and out of fear, "I've not made summat out myself! I have so much more to do with my life! I won't let some bloomin' piece of claptrap like you take it away...I am still the Prof's assistant!"

That was when Lucy flinched when she heard that deafening "bang".

Her ears started to ring and she saw her life flash right before her eyes. She wondered whether or not she had actually died, especially since she felt no pain in the slightest. She was afraid to open her eyes, even more so of what she'd see if she did so. But she had to, she had to see what was going on.

The moments painfully dragged on as though hours were ticking by in front of her.

It was when she finally mustered the courage to pry her eyelids open.

What she saw made her jaw drop; she even had to rub her eyes since she didn't even dare to believe what she was seeing was actually real even though it blatantly was. It had appeared that Alfendi Layton —the Prof— had actually arrived on the scene and had actually leapt in the way, blocking the attack.

He'd rescued her!

The son of the famous gentleman archeologist had tracked her down, he was in his clear "Potty Prof" persona —which was indicated by his dishevelled crimson red hair that partially hung over his eyes— and the fact that he had a feral and frightening aura about him. He heaved heavily, panting for breath as he seethed hotly at the man whom had seemed greatly fearful of having been disrupted.

Lucy wanted to faint with sheer relief but she wanted to smack the Prof in the face at the same time.

Alfendi took opportunity of the brief silence and was quick to glance over his shoulder and down at his hurt assistant. He frowned even though his eyes still retained some of that feral anger as he asked her "Lucy! Are you alright?"

The red head just nodded, too shocked to even speak.

The Prof returned to the matter at hand, resumed focus on the mysterious shadowed man and grit his teeth. His yellow eyes glowed a malevolent amber/orange as he stalked towards the person who tried to ambush his partner and he watched as his shadow lurked in the darkness of the alleyway.

"Now. I may be the son of the famous Professor Layton, but that doesn't mean that I'm a gentleman..."

Before anymore could be said or done, a fight ensued.

Due to being disoriented from shock, Lucy couldn't exactly tell what happened as it all happened in front of her. Al would move swiftly as he mainly blocked punches or expertly dodged even the most fierce of punches and kicks with the utmost precision.

"Do not EVER put your hands on my assistant!" Alfendi growled, grabbing on to the man's arms to try and disarm him.

Eventually he was able to overpower the meanie.

The inspector of Scotland Yard was quick to slip one of the handcuffs on to the man's wrist whilst he snapped the other on to a nearby pipe, effectively trapping him for the time being. He pressed his long pointed nose inches away from the man's darkened face, which was still hidden by the dark of the night, and he told him in a low tone of voice. "Stay. Right. There..."

The only reply from the man was a low growl.

Alfendi turned his back on the criminal and went to examine Lucy as he noticed the fact that her ankle was swollen and her foot was slightly twisted, these two things probably meant that his plucky assistant would not be able to walk.

Al tutted as he stooped down, dropping to his legs to meet her on eye level, and looked into her eyes as he her asked in a soft tone.

"Do you think you can walk?"

Lucy tried to move her wounded foot and made a start to stand on her knees, but it ended up with her falling forwards so her face hit the ground before she started clumsily floundering around like a fish out of water.

Alfendi sighed and shook his head.

This was going to be tricky.

"Alright...we do this on three." He stated whilst turning his back so she could climb on. Lucy hefted herself up as she climbed on to the Prof's back even though she could feel her injured foot sear with this sharp and throbbing pain. She wrapped her arms securely around his neck and felt as Al readjusted his arms so he could hold the areas above Lucy's ankles to keep her propped up.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he counted.

"One...two...three!"

Then he gave her some sort of piggy-back-like ride on his back. Lucy's heart grew heavy with guild as she could sense a simmering anger bubbling beneath the Prof's calm exterior and she almost felt downright afraid of what was about to happen. She closed her eyes sadly as the guilt consumed her.

The tension between them was so heavy that someone could hear a pin drop.

She saw the angered yet stern-faced glare that her partner was giving trying not to give her, nor could she help but notice that there was a fire of fury blazing in his yellow pools. Even though he was in his placid state now, she couldn't ignore the silent anger on his face and the silence between them was quite unsettling.

Alfendi continued to walk with Lucy on his back, his now-placid purple hair blowing in the wind, but he had to take the opportunity to scold his partner for her reckless behaviour.

"Lucy! What were you thinking!"

"I-"

"No! I don't wish to hear it, you should know better than to head down into a dark alleyway in the midst of the night!"

Lucy lowered her head in shame. The Prof was correct on the matter.

"You are right about that, Prof...I was a right wally...I just..." She trailed off when she found herself incapable of conveying her feelings properly, she sighed heavily in shame. "I guess this means that...you just..."

Alfendi turned his head to glance over his shoulder, staring her right in the eye in surprise; the feelings he felt inside were crystal clear upon his face as he seemed dumbfounded. He knew exactly what Lucy was trying to imply and it not only shocked him but it also stung that she thought that way of him, that she thought for even a second that he didn't care for her wellbeing.

"Are you thick!? Of course I care about you! Do you think I would have been able to live with myself if something happened to you?"

Lucy could only start sobbing as she buried her face into his shoulder, sniffling softly as she finally let all of her emotions out; she let out all the fear and all the shock that she felt tonight as she let herself wring her emotions like some sort of sponge. Her tears soaked into the materials of Al's lab coat and his turtleneck.

Alfendi sighed heavily.

He just needed to get that ankle looked at right away.

He would have loved to wipe her tears away but couldn't because he was carrying her, and he couldn't afford to put her down so all he could give her was a look of hurt and concern. "Look. I do care about you, Lucy. I just worry when you are in danger...j-just think next time...alright?"

Lucy nodded, sniffling.

Alfendi managed the smallest of smirks.

He needed to care for his plucky assistant right now but he planned on dealing with that man later.

"Ok then. Let's get you back to the Mystery room and get that ankle wrapped up..."

A/N: Here's a new fanfic about protective Alfendi.

I always like to think that Al is supremely overprotective over Lucy and would want to rip the head off of anyone who tries to hurt her, though he wouldn't actually harm them unless it was absolutely necessary.

Love these two

I hope you guys like it! :D

-Chloemcg