You were - unwillingly - dragged away and led through the darkened rooms of the clubhouse. A hand clasped itself tightly around your lips, preventing you from screaming out. You did your best to fight against the grip that held you, but it was hopeless, as he was using his powers to encumber your arms behind your back. His free hand was searching around your bag, and he let out an inquisitive hum as he flipped through all the pages of evidence you'd shoved in there earlier.

You'd thought they were safer on your person instead of being left in your room for someone to uncover them. Stupid, stupid!

"Hell, looks like I was right," he breathed into your ear. "You ARE trouble, mate."

You grumbled under his hand. You were feeling pissed and a little afraid. Curioso was no longer with you, and even worse, he did not know where you were right now. He'd expect you to be back in your room but would find that you were no longer there. And by that point, you were afraid of thinking where you WOULD be. This man clearly did not have good intentions dragging you quietly away.

Your eyes widened as the both of you approached the front doors, which were telekinetically opened and closed behind you. You were now being led outside into the dark morning. The wind whipped mercilessly around you, tousling your hair and sending goosebumps onto your bare wrists. It was deadly quiet outside, until you neared the edge of the cliff, where you could hear the waves thrashing wildly below you.

It was at this point you understood what was going to happen.

You were pushed forward and stumbled a little. You desperately moved to regain your footing so you could avoid slipping into the waters below. It was a long fall, and you had no doubt that your body would land onto some rocks below, which would kill you on the spot. You raised your head to glare at the man, who held your bag in his possession and studied the papers with fascination.

"Someone's been snoopin' around, eh? Don't s'pose all that fire nonsense was just for show, was it?"

Your hand subconsciously began inching to your other pocket. The man noticed this and started laughing at you, as he reached in on his own and held up your pistol. Your face paled as your heart stopped all at once, shoving your fingers inside the fabric and realizing the space was now empty. He had slipped it out so easily that you hadn't noticed.

He twirled the weapon around so smugly, putting back all your evidence and clutching your bag to his person. You had no choice but to raise your hands in defeat, completely at his mercy.

"Sorry for all this, mate. But y'see, the boss noticed that our cloak was gone. Our clubhouse had been out in the open all day. And that got him real suspicious, so he asked all the members to keep an eye out for any sketchy characters. And, well, I had a feeling you've been full of shit since you got here."

You blinked back tears, the wind drying out your eyes and making it hard to keep them open for long.

"You're not one of us. So how the hell have you been doing all of this?"

You bit your tongue so hard that you drew a little blood. Even when you were facing death, you still refused to reveal Curioso. His safety was paramount at this moment - more important than your own. He still had the chance to save Elise and get her out of here. That's all you wanted.

At your silence, he shrugged. "Alright, mate. Keep your secrets. I think I got everything figured out, anyway," he reached into his pocket again and surfaced your badge. He held it up to you tauntingly. "Police, eh? Gotta' say, it's the farthest any of you lot have gotten. But, you know. I've got to put an end to you before you put an end to us . And then the boss will give me a promotion. It works out, yeah?"

"You can do the right thing," you spoke up, raising your voice against the wind. "This place you're working for kills people. We can all live together peacefully-"

"Don't talk about shit you don't know about," he warned you, revolving the pistol around to point straight at you. "I guess I owe you thanks for getting me this. I'll see you on the other side."

You heard the deafening boom of the gun and some part of you started feeling really warm. The force was enough to knock you back. You didn't land on solid ground - instead, you were faced with the dim sky from above, falling, and the few stars that were out looked just as beautiful as they had the night you showed them to Curioso. You closed your eyes and savored that moment, choosing the memory to be your last before everything went dark entirely.

…

…

…

You landed on something hard, and the breath escaped your lungs.

You blinked open your eyes, which were full of tears from the excruciating pain you felt in your body. You were blinded by a bright blue light. When your surroundings cleared, you saw a long red carpet that looked to be floating midair. You shifted yourself - gritting your teeth in agony - and realized the ground under you was not flat. You turned your head and noticed you were laying in a pile of doll heads. You scrambled to get out but a scream escaped your lips when you tried - your body burned like it was on fire.

"Detective, you're hurt."

Your heart jumped at the sound of Curioso's voice. His face was above yours - his sharp grin turned at the corners to express his displeasure. It was the first time you'd seen his mouth ever move from its signature expression, but you chose not to comment on it. It was at this moment the gears turned in your head and you realized where you were.

Curioso's box. You were inside again. You haven't been here since…Andrew Collins' house…

Suddenly you felt tired. His mask seemed to be pointed to your chest, and you followed his view to see a reddened spot in your clothes, stained with fresh blood. Judging by the numbness you felt in the area, it was still open. Your hand hovered over it as you sucked through your teeth, your mind scrambling to decide what to do.

Well, he hadn't hit your heart because you were still alive. But a bullet wound was still dangerous, and you had to take care of this before you lost too much blood. You set your head back down and took a deep breath. You'll address everything after this wound is treated.

"Curioso…I was shot…I need this cleaned, a-and the bullet removed if it's still there…"

"Alright," his voice was gentle. He summoned a pair of scissors out of thin air and began cutting the clothes around the area. You winced as he slowly pulled the fabric from your skin, the blood sticking to it and making it all the more painful.

You spoke through gritted teeth. "Any chance you can give me some painkillers? Do some of your magic and make this go away?"

He didn't say anything at first, too busy assessing your injury. He conjured some clean bandage and covered the wound. You wished you were in a bed and not sitting on a bunch of doll's heads. You sighed a little as you tried to get comfortable.

"Stay here, I will be right back," he said, and he teleported out of your view. You applied as much pressure as you could to the area in the meantime, taking a look around in his absence.

Being in his box was… strange . It was bright here but also dark, and you felt like you were in the middle of a grand theater surrounded by puppets and marionettes on strings. The red carpet eventually led to his chair, you knew - but it looked like it went on and on for miles, the perspective hurt your head.

He teleported back to where he was, and you jumped a little in surprise. A hiss escaped through your teeth and Curioso held up a small bowl, in which he dipped his hand and began applying what looked to be like a lotion to the area. Almost instantly, you were soothed from the pain. You nearly cried in relief at the wonders this mysterious gel did.

"What is that?" you whispered.

"A recipe from my enchantress," he set down the bowl and you watched as his hands flashed - now completely clean. "She used it for the wounds she treated."

He conjured up some tools that were familiar to you. It wasn't a pleasant memory, being in the hospital or sometimes your own home, treating gunshot wounds and watching them extract a bullet…the forceps made you hold your breath, knowing they'd be stained with blood soon.

"I helped her with those treatments, of course," he began explaining, trying to distract you from the sight. "So that's how I know to do all of this. A few gunfights would happen some nights at the carnival," you gave him an odd look and he tilted his mask at you. "Remember how I told you they gambled?"

You mouthed the word 'ah' , and tensed when he cleaned the area. It was incredibly useful to know that he can conjure up things like rubbing alcohol and peroxide. The chances of you dying when he was around got just a little slimmer. Your mind still buzzed with that question - how did you get here exactly?

That, of course, slipped your mind when his other hand clutched your shoulder, and his face moved closer to yours. "I need you to stay still," he told you calmly. "I can see the bullet - it didn't get too far. But, I think you know how this will feel."

You nodded without a word, moving your head so you couldn't see. You were nervous, and the feeling of his artificial hand rubbing your skin somehow calmed you enough. You hated going through this - getting shot and bleeding everywhere…it's only happened to you a few times, but that was more than the average person went through. It was part of your line of duty - people were quick to pull out a gun when they were not pleased at you solving a case, sometimes.

You swore at yourself that it was your own gun that was responsible this time. You were missing your badge, too. You were in for some deep shit when this was all over.

All of that seemed trivial when Curioso dug into the wound, and the pain resurfaced as you let out a cry. It was hard to stop yourself from moving. But it was beneficial having your friend doing this - just like when you watched him play Operation, his hands were completely still and he was accurate on where he reached. With ease, he extracted the bullet and set it aside, and you were left gasping for air when your wound opened and fresh blood poured out.

This was temporary. He got to work sewing up the opening in your skin, which also hurt, but he was precise and quick with it. You mentally thanked those hands of his. Afterwards, he conjured up some gauze and cloth, wrapping it around your person and continuously applying pressure to the area. It felt better without a bullet in there, but your eyes were stinging and your fingers and toes were clenched tightly. Curioso applied some more gel around the area, and you finally relaxed where you were sitting. He dressed you and it was taken care of for now.

You dabbed at the sweat on your forehead. You hoped you wouldn't go through this again anytime soon.

"How - how did you…find me..?" you were out of breath but you were persistent on knowing what was going on.

"I saw you outside," he answered, sitting across from you and criss-crossing his long legs. "Being led by that man. I was not fast enough to stop him, but I was able to catch you in time."

"We're in your box," you stated.

"Yes. Which means we are in your car, where you left it."

You'd almost forgotten about that. You wanted to move but you simply didn't have the energy to. Curioso must've noticed your discomfort and the doll heads you were sitting on magically transformed into a comfortable bed. You helped yourself into the sheets and readjusted yourself. It was cold here - there was no source of heat at all, which hadn't bothered you before, but now it has chilled you to the bone.

"We should get out of here," he continued. "The second you're able, you should drive off and get to a police station."

"And leave Elise!?" you sat up in alarm. He pushed you back down, muttering about you opening your stitches, but you didn't care. "No, we can't do that. We have to save her before we can even think of leaving."

"And how do you think we're going to do that?" he snapped. "You've just sustained an injury. It's going to break dawn soon, and everyone will be awake."

"I don't know," you confessed. "But we have to try."

Curioso bowed his head, familiar with your stubbornness. You almost smiled at how exasperated he looked, but then his mask faced you again.

"How did you get caught?" he asked.

Your face fell. This story wasn't going to be one you were proud of at all. "I was looking for you because you were gone for an awfully long time. I came across that guy again, who asked me to light his fireplace. I guess he noticed you weren't with me because he tailed me afterwards, and when I found you and Elise on the balcony, he captured me and took me outside."

"Did you have the evidence?"

"I did. He has it, now. Along with my gun and my badge…that's how this all happened.."

"Detective," he scolded. "You should've waited for me. I was going to return to you as soon as I could - I just got held up."

"Held up?" you repeated curiously. You felt a burning sensation in your chest, and you didn't know whether it was in your heart or from the wound nearby it. "It didn't sound like it to me."

A beat passed in silence. "What do you mean?"

"I overheard you two," you confessed. Maybe this wasn't the best thing to say, but you were feeling a little delirious from the blood loss. "She was talking about leaving with you. Why didn't you do it?"

He regarded you in disbelief. "If you heard that conversation, then you should know why I didn't."

"I did, but it just doesn't make sense. Why not run off with Elise? You're of the same kind and you'll live a happy eternity with her. You wouldn't have to deal with some mortal human dragging you along everywhere."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes! It was the wrong decision! You can free her and find somewhere safe. I could even help you two-"

His grin turned downwards again. You were still mesmerized because you'd never seen him do it before. But things were different in the box - his clothes looked pristine again, his mask was fully intact this time. So you weren't surprised that he was able to emote while he was in here. You just wondered why he hadn't done it before.

"For a detective, you're having a lot of trouble piecing this together."

Your face heated in a mixture of anger and embarrassment. "Maybe you can stop being so cryptic and just tell me. Ever thought of that?"

"And tell you what ?" he asked, standing to his full height and jumping off of the doll's heads to land on the carpet.

You didn't like the space he was putting between you two, and rushed to get out of bed. You were still cautious of your sutures as you attempted to balance yourself on the heads chasing after him.

"I don't know! Whatever the hell it is that makes you want to be around me," you gasped as you nearly slipped, then regained your demeanor from before. "Because I can't understand why you want to be with me when Elise is right there! It's a better life than what you have with me!"

He sharply turned to you and you stopped in your tracks. He looked incredibly annoyed - even more so than when you had trapped him in the box so long ago. Without a word, he reached down and pulled you up onto the carpet with him. You felt some strain on your stitches, but nothing opened.

"Is it such an outlandish idea to believe I feel so deeply for you?"

You were breathless at such a confession, and much like last time, your initial reaction was to skirt around it. "I guess not. We're partners and all-"

Curioso turned and started walking away from you again. You sped walked after him, as his long strides were hard to keep up with. You hoped he would slow down so you wouldn't have to run after him.

"Hey! Wait!" you reached after him but he didn't stop. "Did I say something wrong?"

The jester halted and you stopped a few feet away from him. He suddenly fell to his knees and sat alone on the carpet. You waited before stepping forward and joining his side, resting a hand on his shoulder and trying to get a look at his face.

"Are you-"

"-Okay? No, I'm not," he replied, deliberately keeping his mask away from you. "You nearly died, Detective. Do you know what that does to me?"

You recalled what you read in the book, and nodded in return. "If I die, nothing happens to you, and you can find a new soul, right?"

He didn't respond and you felt stupid. Like there was something obvious here you weren't getting. But the truth was…you knew exactly what Curioso meant. You were just afraid of acknowledging it yourself - knowing he could have a life so much better than anything you could ever give to him.

"You are my world now," he began softly. "And I cannot part with you. You can't die, not yet ."

"It'll be okay," you tried to assure him.

"Are you out of your mind !?" he whirled towards you, and you nearly fell in surprise if he hadn't caught you in time. "You hold so little meaning for your life! I would've gone right with you if you had died just now!"

"But you'd still be here-"

"I DON'T WANT TO BE WITHOUT YOU!"

He let go of your hands and paced away from you. He approached the chair that was sitting upside down in front of you two. He took a seat and rested his mask in his hands. You followed after until you were standing in front of him - feeling a little dizzy knowing you were upside down, but gravity was not an enemy here. It worked with you wherever you chose to go.

"Hey," you lowered your voice. "It scared me, too, getting shot at like that and nearly falling to my death. I didn't think it would matter this much to you."

"Why are you so jealous of Elise?" he asked tiredly. " You're the one who sent me after her. You wanted her free. I did everything you asked of me - I wasn't out there because I WANTED to be."

"I-I know," your face was red. "I guess I was feeling a little self-conscious. I've felt that way my entire time here."

He faced you again, and reached out to grasp your hand in his. "I don't want to hear you doubting yourself. I chose to be with you, and I'm not going back on that decision even if you forced me to. I love you, Detective, and I don't want to see you go so soon."

Your mouth fell open at those words - that was it. That's always been it, hasn't it? Hanging between you two for God-knows-how-long, waiting to see who would accept it first. Curioso had given you his soul, showed you his deepest vulnerabilities, and gave away his life to serve and help you. You had never felt so fulfilled until he was around, having someone so close who was incredibly loyal to you. Someone who made you laugh and smile every day. Someone so incredible - who could do anything he wanted and impress crowds with what he could do.

You were lucky to have him. And his affection? His love ?

You closed your eyes, and the tears finally fell. You gripped his hand tighter, leaning forward as you sobbed. "I love you, too. And I don't want to leave you."

You were collapsing, but before that could happen, he pulled you into his lap and allowed you to cry. To express all the frustration, helplessness, fear, and pain that you felt…you'd spent so long denying what you felt and never imagined what would happen if you embraced it. Curioso brushed the hair out of your face as you pressed even closer to him, burying yourself in the glittery fabric of his clothes and holding onto him for dear life.

Not only had he saved your life, but he had given it to you as well.