Main Pairing: USUK

Rated M for later stuff. Cardverse and Omegaverse.

I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended.

Heyy, I'm back! Chicago was nice. Busy. The weather was great! But it's good to be back home.

Biff3r: I so sorry...

Velonica999: I was so afraid that that part would seem ooc - I'm glad you like it at least!

Alfred was panicking. A lot. He needed to get Matthew back to Francis. But this was all wrong. All of it. Something had to have happened...

He left the room and wandered around the halls until he found someone. A servant. He asked to speak to Francis. He was allowed to - but only after he'd been locked up in a cell and his bag had been taken from him.

Francis entered the room. When he saw Alfred, he was surprised, but he smiled nonetheless. "Alfred," he said. "What are you doing here?"

Alfred shrugged. "Can you get me out of here?"

"Of course, mon ami," Francis unlocked the cell door and let Alfred out. "Please, tell me everything."

They styled themselves in a sort of parlor room before Alfred began the summarized version of what had happened.

"Matthew got sick, so I was bringing him back to Cards. He went through the doors and I was going to stay back, but then I thought I saw something and I went through. But Matthew was supposed to end up here. We had it all figured out. I don't know what went wrong and I don't know where he is. I have to find him."

Francis nodded slowly. "So the bonds were not broken, even between worlds. I had heard rumor of Arthur's illness, but I was not sure if it was true -"

"Arthur's sick?" Alfred said, worry filling him to the brim. "I can't go to him right away, I have to figure out where Matthew turned up and get him back to you."

"Why were you so certain he would come here?" Francis asked curiously.

"Arthur told me that before I showed up, the door was in Hearts," Alfred explained. "Then when I got here, it was in Spades. Matthew moved it to Clubs. The one that comes next is Diamonds."

Francis shook his head. "The door does not work like that. It does not have an order. Sometimes it even stays in the same place twice. Sweet Matthieu could be anywhere," he sighed.

Alfred shook his head. "Okay, no more lovey dovey crap in front of me. Not about my brother. But of course if I ever catch you with anyone else I'll make you less of a man." He winked menacingly. "If you know what I mean. That's just a given."

Francis visibly shuddered. "Thank you, Alfred that was lovely."

"Of course," Alfred responded graciously. "Now, tell me. How long has it been since I've left? Apparently time works differently in my world."

"It has been nine months," Francis said.

Alfred felt sick. He went cold. He stopped breathing. Nine months. He'd expected it to be three, maybe four. But nine - Alfred was shocked.

"You are very pale. Does that shock you?" Francis asked.

"In my world, I was barely gone for two months."

Francis rose an eyebrow. "That is quite a stretch."

"I need to find Matthew quickly." Alfred said.

"I will send word around to look for him," Francis said, his face slipping from its mask. He looked concerned.

"Do you miss him?" Alfred asked. "Do you care about him? Really."

"Yes," Francis said earnestly. "Even if you do not believe me."

"Alright." Alfred said. "You write or whatever. The moment someone responds, I'm on the way. I'll get him, bring him back, and set out immediately for Spades. So you'd better have a ship ready."

"It will be done." Francis said.

Only a few hours later, Alfred was called back to the throne room.

"It turns out we did not even need to send out letters," Francis said, a small smile playing around his lips. "A note from Hearts has just arrived. It turns out that Matthew was found there, unconscious. Feliciano insisted that I should know of it right away."

Alfred breathed a adieu of relief. "So he's alright - I'm glad. Okay, I'll go over and get him."

Francis stood. "Ride over on one of my mares," he said. "But go gently. When you get to Hearts, you can come back on some of their horses. We'll swap back at a later date."

"Alright. I'm off. Thanks for letting me stay for a while."

"Of course," Francis replied. "It would be rude of me to refuse the king of Spades." Alfred flushed.

The stables were clean and open air. The servants there welcomed him back and gave him a fine horse, saddled her up, and set him off. There was just one problem - Alfred didn't have a clue how to ride a horse. Matthew had taken lessons when they were younger, back when they lived together - but Alfred had never bothered to pay attention. He bit his lip. He was sitting on the horse a ways outside of the castle gates. They were meandering along, walking quite slowly. Alfred had no idea how to make his horse go faster.

He experimentally snapped the reins, saying, "Yah!"

The horse broke out into a run, not full out but faster than before. Alfred supposed it would have to do. But it still took over four hours for the castle of Hearts to come into sight. By that time Alfred was sweaty and tired. He had taken off his shirt at one point and tucked it in a place where it wouldn't fall.

He arrived in the stables as the sun began to set. The servants there accepted him without question, helping his sore body down to the ground. He nearly fell; his legs were trembling and unsteady.

After a while, Alfred stood again and made his way up to the castle. The stars were coming out and the light was fading. For the first time, Alfred noticed that Cards had two moons.

Ludwig was waiting for him in the entrance hall. Kiku was there as well.

"Alfred," Kiku said in surprise. "We did not know you had returned."

"I just came today, with Matthew," Alfred said. "But I didn't go through with him. He was supposed to end up in Diamonds and I would've ended up here. Sorry for the trouble. I have to bring Matthew back to Diamonds now."

"You will not be able to do that," Kiku said. "Your brother is still unconcious."

"Ugh," Alfred said. "He said he was out for a couple of weeks last time. I think it might be less time now. When I came though, the effects were less on me the second time. It should work the same for him."

But Alfred had forgotten the fact that everything that had happened to them so far had been opposite. In the end, it was over a month before Matthew woke up, wide eyed. It took him a while to understand where he was and what had happened. Alfred was with him every step of the way.

But Alfred was getting impatient. It had been ten months since Arthur had last seen him. He had no idea how sick his Queen was. He wanted to get to Arthur terribly. The ache to see him again was gnawing at his heart.

Even after Matthew woke up, it took another week before he was ready to travel. It was strange, watching Matthew saddle up a horse in a medieval world while wearing a backpack.

Of course, Matthew knew exactly how to get his horse started. He whispered sweet things in its ear and dug his heel into its side. He looked back, hair flying and eyes laughing, as Alfred's horse walked along. He grumbled.

Matthew slowed his horse and waited for Alfred to catch up.

"Sit up straight," he said. "Get ready."

"For what?" Alfred asked, but Matthew had already slapped his horse, shouting "H'yah!"

The horse shot forward, Alfred holding on for dear life. A moment later Matthew was beside him, passing him.

It took just over three hours to reach Diamonds.

Matthew dismounted perfectly, even sick. Alfred nearly fell off of his horse.

"Well we both know you'll be no good for the Calvary," Matthew giggled as Alfred rubbed his sore legs.

"Shut up."

Matthew went straight to the throne room, but Francis wasn't there. No one was.

"I don't know where else to look," Alfred said.

"I do," Matthew said shyly. "I don't know that Francis would want you to see it."

It stung a bit. "Fine. I have to get back to Spades."

Matthew nodded in agreement. "Arthur needs you. Thank you for staying with me."

"Of course." Alfred said. "You're my brother."

He turned and left.

Francis did have a ship waiting for Alfred. They were ready to leave almost as soon as Alfred walked on deck.

Transcriber note number three: Though the client appeared to be loosening up and revealing a few more details, nothing of great importance has come from it and I regret to inform you that another skip must be made.

When Alfred arrived in Spades, he realized: nobody in Spades had a clue what had happened. He made his way up to the castle on an empty country road. It didn't lead to the main entrance. In fact, it led to a side door that Alfred had actually used before. Gripping the straps of his bag, Alfred tried the handle. It was open.

The staircase was spiral. And very tall. It had always made Alfred dizzy and this time was no exception. After a while of climbing, he had to sit down and wait for the room to stop spinning. Then he continued.

The staircase came out in a tower. Then it was more stairs and two more doors and Alfred was in the guest quarters.

He stopped first in Yao's study, but Yao wasn't there. Neither was Arthur. He stopped by Arthur's rooms, then Yao's. He didn't see anyone. Not knowing where else to look, Alfred decided to wander around until he found someone.

He found someone alright. In Arthur's balcony garden where he read and drank tea. At first he thought the shadow was some sort of servant - he was walking around slowly, watering the lines of plants. The shapes were a lot larger than they had been when Alfred had left.

But then the figure turned and dropped his metal can and Alfred caught the scent of that familiar softness and Arthur was running at him and hit him full force. Arthur clung onto Alfred, hands making bunches in Alfred's shirt. Alfred's hands moved to Arthur's hair, his shoulders, his back. Alfred breathed him in, breath shaky. After a moment, he realized that Arthur was trembling as well.

"Hey," Alfred said softly. "I'm back."

Arthur barked out a one-syllable laugh, shaking his head. "You're back. You're back. I didn't think you would come."

"I'm so sorry," Alfred said. "On earth, it had been just two months before I came back."

"Wow," Arthur said. Alfred could feel his warm breath on his neck. It made him shiver.

They stood together for a long time, silhouettes melding in the darkness.

They slept together that night, limbs tangled and filled with the scent of each other. At one point Arthur woke and slipped off to a separate room. He was so quiet that had Alfred not been awake, he wouldn't have realized that Arthur had gone until he came back. But Alfred followed him. He peeked through the sliver of open air between the door and the wall to see Arthur dry heaving over the sink.

Arthur must have gotten past the fever stage then. He was really sick. Alfred would spend as much time as possible with him to help him recover.

In the morning, Arthur was gone when Alfred woke up. He had left a note:

Alfred,

I went out to do chores. Yao isn't here, he is in Clubs. Let Li Xiao know that you are here, he will speed it on to the rest of the servants and it'll get around.

I will see you soon.

Arthur

Alfred didn't know where to find Li Xiao. He walked around, checking open doors, passing closed ones. He saw a couple of servants and they stared at him like he was an alien.

Li Xiao was in the kitchens, the last place Alfred looked. When he saw who it was coming into the large room, he stared.

"Arthur told me that if you knew I was here pretty soon everyone would," Alfred said. "So, I'm here."

Li Xiao set his bowl down on the counter, shaking his head. "So you have returned. Forgive me if I say that no one believed you would."

Alfred shrugged. "I didn't know if I was going to at first. Earth is my home. But... Well, someone's gotta take care of Matthew. He's back here too. And I couldn't leave Arthur hanging."

Li Xiao shook his head. "Alright. Arthur is on his way to the town market, if you wanted to know."

"Thanks," Alfred said. He pushed open the door at the back of the kitchen and walked down the hill after Arthur.

The market was about ten minutes from the castle. It was crowded, it was noisy, and it was filled with an everyone-knows-everyone type of feel. Alfred felt somewhat out of place. Especially in his clothes from America.

Arthur was looking at packs of seeds, a basket of food in his arms. Somehow he knew Alfred was there before he heard him. He turned to see him with the smallest of smiles.

"Hey, beautiful," Alfred said, smiling. "What're you looking at?"

Arthur stared at Alfred in disbelief. "Did you just call me beautiful?"

Alfred shrugged. "Just kind of slipped out. I could call you something else if you like."

"How about 'Arthur.'" he said, turning back to the stand and the eager eyed man behind it. "I'll take three of these," Arthur said. "And four more of the valley-cloves."

"But of course, your highness," the man said, eyes sparkling. "That'll be fifteen kolekkos, please."

Arthur dropped the money into the merchant's hand and placed the seed packets carefully in his basket. Alfred followed as he turned and headed deeper into the market.

"That's no fun," Alfred complained. "Arthur is what everyone calls you. I'm special, right?"

Arthur stopped for a moment, turning to face him. "You seem to be much needier than I remember you, Alfred."

They continued on.

After Arthur had picked up flour and sugar, which he forced Alfred to carry, they began walking back up to the castle.

"Are you here to stay this time?" Arthur asked quietly.

"I think I am," Alfred whispered. It was hard for him to say. "I'll miss Earth. But I suppose every once in a while I might be able to go back..."

"Mmm," Arthur said, but he looked somewhat happier.

"Arthur," Alfred began. Then he hesitated.

"What is it?"

"When I was on Earth, before I came back? I met a person whose name was Alaric Beilschmidt. He told me that I should come back. He called himself an ace, Arthur."

Arthur slowed, turned.

"What?"

"He said that he was Ludwig's grandfather. He didn't look old enough to be a grandfather."

"You're not joking."

"I think he wanted to buy a donut."

"That isn't funny, Alfred!"

"It's true!" Alfred exclaimed. "He said that he could travel between worlds. He was in Hearts visiting his other ace friend and then he decided to go up to the castle for the celebration and he saw me. And then when he saw me on Earth he kind of got mad and he told me that I needed to get back before it was too late."

Arthur held his head in his hands. He couldn't believe it - Aces were real?

"What did he look like?" Arthur asked. "Who was the other ace?"

"Um... he look kind of like Ludwig, I guess. He had really long hair but he wasn't a hippie. And he didn't mention any names, but he said that the other ace lives in Hearts."

Arthur's heart stopped. "The ace lives in Cards?" he asked.

"Yeah. He has grandsons too. Except I don't understand - Alaric said that the ace used to live with his grandsons. Does that mean he's dead?"

Arthur shook his head. "I hope not. An ace in Hearts... This is huge."

"Is it?" Alfred asked.

Arthur looked up at him. "Aces are legend."

"Huh. How come I never learned about that?"

"We were focusing more on politics than folklore, Alfred," Arthur said. "We should get back up to the castle."

"I suppose."

Alfred made a mistake. A huge one. A monstrumental one. And Arthur had no clue how to deal with it.

It had started off well enough - Alfred was sitting in a chair, Arthur was watering his plants and planting some new ones, pulling weeks, et cetera. But that wasn't how it ended.

"I'm bored."

"Oh, joy."

Alfred was pouting.

"How can you just sit there and pull at green things all day? I wouldn't be able to tell a weed from a daffodil."

Arthur looked up curiously. "What is a daffodil?"

"A flower," Alfred said, waving his hand dismissively. "Really though. I'm bored. We should do something."

Arthur rose an eyebrow. "Such as?"

Alfred shrugged. "I don't know."

Arthur turned back to his kikis. "Well, you think on that and I'll continue pulling at green things. Even though most of these are blue."

Alfred stood and took Arthur's hand, making his skin tingle. He dragged Arthur away from his plants, looking down into his eyes. "We're going to do something," he said authoritatively.

"Okay," Arthur said, hands trembling. "What are we going to do?"

"I don't know." Alfred said, straightening, beaming. "I was hoping that you would have an idea."

"We could always go down and bake," Arthur suggested, recovering from the bout of nerves.

"Excellent," Alfred said. He grinned widely. "I've never been baking with you before. Shall we, darling?"

"If you quit the pet names, maybe." Arthur grumbled.

The kitchen was clear when they got there. The next meal wasn't for a few hours. Arthur brought out ingredients and tools and Alfred examined them all with gusto.

"I've never baked in Cards before," he said. "It's different back on Earth."

"Do you bake?" Arthur asked, surprised.

"No." was the simple response.

"Oh."

Alfred made a mess. In the end, he was caked with more flour than they had used to bake the scones. Of course, Arthur was the one that had to sweep everything up while Alfred brushed himself off, sending even more flour onto the floor.

"Oh, Arthur -" Alfred called. Arthur looked up.

"Yes?"

Alfred walked forward, coming right up to him. "You've got -"

He reached forward slowly, eyes sliding away from Arthur's. Arthur flinched slightly as Alfred's fingers brushed his cheek, gently, carefully.

"Flour," Alfred said, smiling. "Wonder how it got there."

Arthur took a deep breath, feeling brave. "You've got some too."

Alfred laughed. "I'm not surprised."

"Here," Arthur said. "I'll..."

He reached up to Alfred. Softly, his fingers fluttering unsteadily, he brushed at the corner of Alfred's mouth, where he had missed some flour. His eyes didn't leave Alfred's, as if caught in a trance. His eyes were so light and free...

Then Alfred made his mistake.

He leaned in (but gently, oh so carefully), eyes lowering, but still so bright and alert. His hand snaked around to the small of Arthur's back, pulling him flush against his own body. Arthur's breath hitched. His body practically melted, surrounded by Alfred, enveloped in his scent.

But when Alfred was just centimeters away, Arthur snapped out of it. He jumped backwards, terrified. He couldn't kiss Alfred. His control had been so good until this one had come along - it was too much. Too much. Arthur shook his head, backing away.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. He couldn't stop whispering it.

"It's okay," Alfred said, voice cracking. "That was stupid."

Arthur felt like he had to explain. "I'm sorry, I just -"

"No," Alfred interrupted. "Don't. It's fine. It's okay. My mistake."

He backed out of the kitchen. Arthur bit his lip.

Should he have let that all happen? He wasn't sure. It had felt so good for a moment there. He had to talk to someone. He had to get this out of him or he would burst. Yao wasn't here. Who else could he confide in?

A moment later he was blowing out the lamps, running down the hallways in search of Li Xiao.

He ran into Benjamin on the third floor. "Where's Li Xiao?" he asked.

"In his room," Benjamin called back. Arthur continued up to the fifth floor, darting around corners and avoiding other people narrowly.

"Li Xiao!" Arthur said, bursting through the door. The man was standing at the window.

"What is it, your highness?"

"I need your help," Arthur gasped. He was out of shape after being sick for so long. "I - I..."

Arthur plopped down onto the bed. "Alfred just tried to kiss me."

"Tried?" Li Xiao asked sharply. "Did he succeed?"

"No," Arthur said miserably.

"Good," Li Xiao said. He sounded satisfied. Arthur shook his head. That sounded all wrong. Maybe he wanted Alfred to kiss him...

"I do not know that... I do not think that it was good that he failed," Arthur said, hiding his face.

"Oh," Li Xiao said. "Oh. Do you like him?"

"No!" Arthur snapped immediately. Then after a long, hard moment of silence, he slumped down. "Ye-hes," he admitted, drawing out the word with a whine.

"Then why did you not kiss him?"

Arthur pulled away from Li Xiao's piercing gaze, walking over to the window. "I do not know, I just - I was afraid, I guess. I don't want to mate with anyone!"

Li Xiao came and took hold of Arthur's shoulders, forcing him to look into his eyes. "Kissing does not equal mating. I have kissed girls other than my mate."

Arthur blinked.

Kissing does not equal mating...

Was it really that simple?