[Fic] Summer Camp: Holding Out - Day 24
Title: Holding Out - Part 16: Smile
Characters: America, England, France, Spain, Prussia, mentions of Austria, Hungary, and Monaco.
Rating/Warnings: PG13, Sorta X-men-universe crossoverish kinda sorta except I call 'mutants' 'supers' so maybe The Incredibles crossoverish kinda sorta? Point is, some people have superpowers. And it's a pseudo-police state.
Summary: Francis makes Alfred an offer, but all he wants is to see Arthur smile.
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15
Alfred first met Francis Bonnefoy when he was 14. Upon first seeing Alfred, he had said, “Alfred I presume? Arthur talks so much about you. Enchanté,” and kissed him on both cheeks. He claimed to be an old, dear friend of Arthur’s who had recently moved back to the city and wanted to check in with his old, dear friend. Arthur had called him a no good froggy gitface and kicked him out.
When he was 16, Alfred had the pleasure to be introduced to Mayor Bonnefoy, the first mayor in over a decade to be elected on a pro-Super platform. He had once again kissed Alfred on both his cheeks and exclaimed about how big he had gotten and how they really must catch lunch sometime. Arthur had called him a no good froggy cheese eating gitface, but this time invited him into his private office for a chat.
Alfred remembers because that was around the time Arthur lost his smile.
Roderich had been thrilled as he told Alfred that this was because he was working with Francis to pass a Super Reform Bill, which eased up the control of unregistered Supers by allowing them to choose their own career path and changed the Guardian System so that it was less like indentured servitude (which, Alfred was appalled to find out, was what most guardian/Super relationships were. Him and Arthur were an extraordinary case) and put Supers on more equal terms. By taking part in this bill, Roderich claimed, Arthur was taking on more of the responsibility of his station, doing things instead of just complaining about them, and, in effect, finally growing up. Elizaveta had been saddened by the realization that her young Master was growing up, but proud at the same time.
This may have been true, but all Alfred could see was that Arthur was unhappy.
When he had confronted him about it, Arthur gave him a smile - a fake smile, not a real one - and told him that he was just a little tired from having to work with Francis and not to worry about it. If anything, that made Alfred worry about it even more.
He was determined to get Arthur’s real smile back, no matter what it took. However, he still had his nighttime heroing duties to attend to, eating away at chunks of his time. Between that and Arthur’s continuing work with Francis, the two of them were crossing paths less and less these days.
And the heroing was getting harder every night. While he still vehemently disagreed with them, the anti-Supers did have a point; wherever there were superheroes, super-villains were quick to follow. More and more, Alfred was finding that his adversaries were not only normal Bureau members or even Super Bureau members, but Super citizens as well, seeking retribution or liberation by causing trouble for everyone, and Alfred protected everyone, because he was a hero and that’s what he did.
And that’s what he was doing tonight. His foe was a fire user, not much older than him, but still very skilled, who came from another rich family who had hidden him away from the public eye and was now lashing out by burning, well, everything. He did shout his final objective as loudly as his motives. Alfred was having enough trouble trying to put out his fires let alone actually stopping him, and had already gotten a few nasty burns.
Need a hand, kid? A familiar voice said in his head.
Gilbert?
Who else do you know that can hack into your head?
Just checking. Help would be nice, yeah.
No sooner had he thought that, his opponent had ceased firing his fire in favor of clutching his head. Alfred took the chance to knock him out with a blow to the head and tie him up for the police to find.
“Kesese, I’ve always wanted to do that,” Alfred looked up to see Gilbert, a little older, a little leaner, but with the same mischievous glint in his red eyes, leaning against a nearby lamppost, smirking down at him, “Pity about him, though. What a waste of potential.”
“Gilbert!” Alfred rushed forward and hugged his friend, who eagerly returned it, “I haven’t seen you in forever!”
“It’s great to see you too, kid,” Gilbert grabbed on to his shoulders and held him back a bit so he could get a good look at him, “Looks like Arthur’s been treating you right. How have you been?”
“I’ve been doing good,” he shrugged as he looked over his friend. Gilbert had been on the cusp of puberty when Alfred had last saw him, scared and making a run for it. He had grown out of it splendidly, facial features more defined, limbs full of muscles that weren’t there before, a few new scars, a particularly noticeable one by his left eye, and the scared, helplessness of childhood had been replaced by the confidence and knowledge of adulthood. In short, Gilbert had grown up, “What have you been up to? I was sure they had caught you…”
“They did,” Gilbert’s smirk widened, “but it’s hard to keep a good telekinetic down. They had me doing spy work, which came with some extra training, which I eventually used to escape. I eventually met up with some people and helped form the Freedom Fighters, and actually, that’s why I’m here now.”
Alfred had heard about the Freedom Fighters, it was impossible not to. They were an underground band of Supers who, like him, were fighting for justice under the cover of night, although rumors said they had political ties as wall. Alfred didn’t much care for their non-Super casualty rate, but couldn’t help but praise their good work.
“What do the Freedom Fighters want with me?”
Gilbert wrapped an arm around his neck, and if his grin got any wider, it would run off his face, “Al, let me introduce you to my boss…”
*~*~*
And that’s how Alfred met Francis Bonnefoy, leader of the Freedom Fighters, for the third time.
“Ah, it’s always a delight to see you, young Alfred,” exclaimed Francis as he, once more, kissed him on both cheeks, “Welcome to our abode!”
The abode was in actuality a basement full of some of the most comfortable chairs Alfred had ever seen, as well as desks and tables of all shapes and sizes, filling cabinets, and a telephone which was currently being used by a woman in the corner with dark hair and glasses, who Alfred was told could turn into a cat.
Francis, as it turned out, was what he dubbed a ‘Secret Super;’ he didn’t let anyone outside of only the most elite of the Freedom Fighters know he was actually a Super (some sort of perfume power, Francis had explained, and demonstrated. Alfred had found it disappointing the leader of this Super-justice-group had such a lame power, but Francis insisted that there were many ways messing with the sense of smell could come in handy), and by doing so, was able to work with the system to get their reform. Of course he hated to hide, he claimed, but by doing so now, he was hoping to create a world where no one else had to anymore.
“Alfred, let me get straight to the point,” he had set down his wineglass (Alfred had coffee in his mug) and leaned over the table, “I’ve heard about what you’ve been doing these past few years. Not only from Gilbert, who has been keeping an eye on you, but from rumors on the street, the Bureau’s files, and Arthur, although those sources never use your name. I think it’s marvelous, doing some good in this city, in this world even, at such a young age. As such I would like to recruit you for the Freedom Fighters newest project of extending our reach into other areas across the country.”
“What, like, heroing in other cities?”
“Yes,” the man sitting next to Francis, Antonio was his name, Alfred recalled, he had some sort of sunshine power that wasn’t properly explained, nodded, “Yes that’s part of it. Your part anyway.”
“The main goal is to spread our ideology, promoting Super welfare in any way that we can,” Francis explained, “Hopefully we’ll gain enough support to make actual changes to the system as a whole, not just city by city, state by state.”
“It’s an amazing opportunity!” Antonio smiled, “You’ll be working with me, and Gilbert, if we can swing it, helping to stop Super abuse in New York or Chicago or San Francisco would be nice too.”
“And Sophie,” Francis nodded to the cat girl on the other side of the room, “Will be handling the political side. So what do you think? Is this something that would interest you, Alfred?”
Yes, it was something that would interest him, helping people on a large scale, but when he thought about it, really thought about leaving the city he had known all his life, he came up with an image of Arthur, alone in his study, shutting himself away from the world.
“…What about Arthur?” he couldn’t help but ask, making Antonio pout and lean back in his seat and Francis to raise an eyebrow.
“Arthur would remain your guardian, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Francis took a sip of his wine, “At least until we dispose of that system. He wouldn’t be going with you, if that’s what you’re worried about. Not because we mind him going, although it will make it very obvious who you were, but because he’ll be too stubborn to leave.”
Alfred frowned and sipped his coffee, “I don’t know…”
“It’ll be great though!” Antonio shouted, causing Sophie to throw a stapler on her desk at him, “You’ll be helping so many people!”
But, Alfred was shocked to realize, there was really one person he wanted to help right now, and leaving wouldn’t help him at all. “I’ve noticed you have, a fairly lack stance on what happens to non-Supers,” he said instead.
Francis frowned and swirled his wine, “Yes, in our early days we were a bit callus and painted all non-Supers with the same brush. We are making strives to improve that particular stance of some of the younger, more eager members of our organization,” he gave Antonio a pointed look.
Alfred shook his head, “Um, thanks and all, but I kinda like it here. And I think I can do more good doing what I’m doing.”
Antonio was about to protest but Francis cut him off, “If that’s what you want, I will not hinder you. I do hope, however, should the need arise, I can count on you for assistance. It would go both ways of course; if you ever need help, I’m sure Gilbert or one of our other members will be more than happy to offer you aid. One can never have enough allies in this fight, after all.”
“Yeah, I’d like that.”
*~*~*
Alfred had snuck back in, later than usual, to find that Arthur was still awake, frowning at a document in his study.
“Alfred?” Arthur stood and crossed the room when he noticed him, “You’re a bit late. And what happened to your arms?”
“Yeah sorry, I got a bit held up,” he lifted an arm to see what Arthur was talking about, “Oh yeah, fire-guy. It happens.”
“Come here,” he gently took his hand and led him back downstairs and into the bathroom, seating him on the toilet, “I’m sure we have some burn cream around here somewhere. Take your shirt off.”
Alfred did as instructed, taking in Arthur as he dug through the medicine cabinet, his entire persona reeking of anxiety. Before he could ask him about it, Arthur had said, “So, have you been talking to Francis?”
This made Alfred uncomfortable, and he focused his attention on the floor tiles instead, “Uh, a little I guess.”
“I’ve known Francis for years. His parents were friends with my parents,” he sighed and knelt down into Alfred’s line of sight, squirting some burn cream on Alfred’s arms, “He told me about his plan. It’s, a good one. Something you’d like, I suppose.”
Alfred didn’t say anything at first; concentrating on the cool feeling from the cream rather than the heartbreak he could hear under Arthur’s words, “I, turned him down.”
Arthur paused in his treatment, “Why?”
“I, uh, wanted to stay here,” he felt his cheeks flare up and he stared resolutely at the tiles, “It’s a nice city.”
Arthur continued rubbing the cream into his arms, “I wouldn’t have minded terribly if you went.”
“I know,” Alfred closed his eyes, and he did know that that’s what Arthur would have told him, not wanting to be a burden or guilt trip him into doing something he didn’t want to. When did he know so much about Arthur? “But, I didn’t want to leave you,” that part came out as a whisper. He quickly looked up to see if Arthur somehow, hopefully, hadn’t heard it.
But he did. It was clearly written in the first clear, real smile Alfred and seen on his face in what seemed like forever, and Alfred couldn’t help but smile too.
“That’s not necessary,” Arthur turned his attention back to Alfred’s arms, smile still on his face, “I can handle myself well enough without you. Did before you showed up.”
This was commonly known to be a lie, but Alfred let it pass, “Yeah, but I dunno what I’d do without you either,” and, he was a bit surprised to realize this was not a lie.
Arthur stood up, recapping the burn cream and placing it on the counter, “Well I’m, glad,” he took Alfred’s hand and gave it a squeeze.
Alfred gave him the best smile he could muster, hoping it would be enough to convey his feelings.
Judging by the smile he got in return, it had done that and more.
Part 17
Characters: America, England, France, Spain, Prussia, mentions of Austria, Hungary, and Monaco.
Rating/Warnings: PG13, Sorta X-men-universe crossoverish kinda sorta except I call 'mutants' 'supers' so maybe The Incredibles crossoverish kinda sorta? Point is, some people have superpowers. And it's a pseudo-police state.
Summary: Francis makes Alfred an offer, but all he wants is to see Arthur smile.
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15
Alfred first met Francis Bonnefoy when he was 14. Upon first seeing Alfred, he had said, “Alfred I presume? Arthur talks so much about you. Enchanté,” and kissed him on both cheeks. He claimed to be an old, dear friend of Arthur’s who had recently moved back to the city and wanted to check in with his old, dear friend. Arthur had called him a no good froggy gitface and kicked him out.
When he was 16, Alfred had the pleasure to be introduced to Mayor Bonnefoy, the first mayor in over a decade to be elected on a pro-Super platform. He had once again kissed Alfred on both his cheeks and exclaimed about how big he had gotten and how they really must catch lunch sometime. Arthur had called him a no good froggy cheese eating gitface, but this time invited him into his private office for a chat.
Alfred remembers because that was around the time Arthur lost his smile.
Roderich had been thrilled as he told Alfred that this was because he was working with Francis to pass a Super Reform Bill, which eased up the control of unregistered Supers by allowing them to choose their own career path and changed the Guardian System so that it was less like indentured servitude (which, Alfred was appalled to find out, was what most guardian/Super relationships were. Him and Arthur were an extraordinary case) and put Supers on more equal terms. By taking part in this bill, Roderich claimed, Arthur was taking on more of the responsibility of his station, doing things instead of just complaining about them, and, in effect, finally growing up. Elizaveta had been saddened by the realization that her young Master was growing up, but proud at the same time.
This may have been true, but all Alfred could see was that Arthur was unhappy.
When he had confronted him about it, Arthur gave him a smile - a fake smile, not a real one - and told him that he was just a little tired from having to work with Francis and not to worry about it. If anything, that made Alfred worry about it even more.
He was determined to get Arthur’s real smile back, no matter what it took. However, he still had his nighttime heroing duties to attend to, eating away at chunks of his time. Between that and Arthur’s continuing work with Francis, the two of them were crossing paths less and less these days.
And the heroing was getting harder every night. While he still vehemently disagreed with them, the anti-Supers did have a point; wherever there were superheroes, super-villains were quick to follow. More and more, Alfred was finding that his adversaries were not only normal Bureau members or even Super Bureau members, but Super citizens as well, seeking retribution or liberation by causing trouble for everyone, and Alfred protected everyone, because he was a hero and that’s what he did.
And that’s what he was doing tonight. His foe was a fire user, not much older than him, but still very skilled, who came from another rich family who had hidden him away from the public eye and was now lashing out by burning, well, everything. He did shout his final objective as loudly as his motives. Alfred was having enough trouble trying to put out his fires let alone actually stopping him, and had already gotten a few nasty burns.
Need a hand, kid? A familiar voice said in his head.
Gilbert?
Who else do you know that can hack into your head?
Just checking. Help would be nice, yeah.
No sooner had he thought that, his opponent had ceased firing his fire in favor of clutching his head. Alfred took the chance to knock him out with a blow to the head and tie him up for the police to find.
“Kesese, I’ve always wanted to do that,” Alfred looked up to see Gilbert, a little older, a little leaner, but with the same mischievous glint in his red eyes, leaning against a nearby lamppost, smirking down at him, “Pity about him, though. What a waste of potential.”
“Gilbert!” Alfred rushed forward and hugged his friend, who eagerly returned it, “I haven’t seen you in forever!”
“It’s great to see you too, kid,” Gilbert grabbed on to his shoulders and held him back a bit so he could get a good look at him, “Looks like Arthur’s been treating you right. How have you been?”
“I’ve been doing good,” he shrugged as he looked over his friend. Gilbert had been on the cusp of puberty when Alfred had last saw him, scared and making a run for it. He had grown out of it splendidly, facial features more defined, limbs full of muscles that weren’t there before, a few new scars, a particularly noticeable one by his left eye, and the scared, helplessness of childhood had been replaced by the confidence and knowledge of adulthood. In short, Gilbert had grown up, “What have you been up to? I was sure they had caught you…”
“They did,” Gilbert’s smirk widened, “but it’s hard to keep a good telekinetic down. They had me doing spy work, which came with some extra training, which I eventually used to escape. I eventually met up with some people and helped form the Freedom Fighters, and actually, that’s why I’m here now.”
Alfred had heard about the Freedom Fighters, it was impossible not to. They were an underground band of Supers who, like him, were fighting for justice under the cover of night, although rumors said they had political ties as wall. Alfred didn’t much care for their non-Super casualty rate, but couldn’t help but praise their good work.
“What do the Freedom Fighters want with me?”
Gilbert wrapped an arm around his neck, and if his grin got any wider, it would run off his face, “Al, let me introduce you to my boss…”
*~*~*
And that’s how Alfred met Francis Bonnefoy, leader of the Freedom Fighters, for the third time.
“Ah, it’s always a delight to see you, young Alfred,” exclaimed Francis as he, once more, kissed him on both cheeks, “Welcome to our abode!”
The abode was in actuality a basement full of some of the most comfortable chairs Alfred had ever seen, as well as desks and tables of all shapes and sizes, filling cabinets, and a telephone which was currently being used by a woman in the corner with dark hair and glasses, who Alfred was told could turn into a cat.
Francis, as it turned out, was what he dubbed a ‘Secret Super;’ he didn’t let anyone outside of only the most elite of the Freedom Fighters know he was actually a Super (some sort of perfume power, Francis had explained, and demonstrated. Alfred had found it disappointing the leader of this Super-justice-group had such a lame power, but Francis insisted that there were many ways messing with the sense of smell could come in handy), and by doing so, was able to work with the system to get their reform. Of course he hated to hide, he claimed, but by doing so now, he was hoping to create a world where no one else had to anymore.
“Alfred, let me get straight to the point,” he had set down his wineglass (Alfred had coffee in his mug) and leaned over the table, “I’ve heard about what you’ve been doing these past few years. Not only from Gilbert, who has been keeping an eye on you, but from rumors on the street, the Bureau’s files, and Arthur, although those sources never use your name. I think it’s marvelous, doing some good in this city, in this world even, at such a young age. As such I would like to recruit you for the Freedom Fighters newest project of extending our reach into other areas across the country.”
“What, like, heroing in other cities?”
“Yes,” the man sitting next to Francis, Antonio was his name, Alfred recalled, he had some sort of sunshine power that wasn’t properly explained, nodded, “Yes that’s part of it. Your part anyway.”
“The main goal is to spread our ideology, promoting Super welfare in any way that we can,” Francis explained, “Hopefully we’ll gain enough support to make actual changes to the system as a whole, not just city by city, state by state.”
“It’s an amazing opportunity!” Antonio smiled, “You’ll be working with me, and Gilbert, if we can swing it, helping to stop Super abuse in New York or Chicago or San Francisco would be nice too.”
“And Sophie,” Francis nodded to the cat girl on the other side of the room, “Will be handling the political side. So what do you think? Is this something that would interest you, Alfred?”
Yes, it was something that would interest him, helping people on a large scale, but when he thought about it, really thought about leaving the city he had known all his life, he came up with an image of Arthur, alone in his study, shutting himself away from the world.
“…What about Arthur?” he couldn’t help but ask, making Antonio pout and lean back in his seat and Francis to raise an eyebrow.
“Arthur would remain your guardian, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Francis took a sip of his wine, “At least until we dispose of that system. He wouldn’t be going with you, if that’s what you’re worried about. Not because we mind him going, although it will make it very obvious who you were, but because he’ll be too stubborn to leave.”
Alfred frowned and sipped his coffee, “I don’t know…”
“It’ll be great though!” Antonio shouted, causing Sophie to throw a stapler on her desk at him, “You’ll be helping so many people!”
But, Alfred was shocked to realize, there was really one person he wanted to help right now, and leaving wouldn’t help him at all. “I’ve noticed you have, a fairly lack stance on what happens to non-Supers,” he said instead.
Francis frowned and swirled his wine, “Yes, in our early days we were a bit callus and painted all non-Supers with the same brush. We are making strives to improve that particular stance of some of the younger, more eager members of our organization,” he gave Antonio a pointed look.
Alfred shook his head, “Um, thanks and all, but I kinda like it here. And I think I can do more good doing what I’m doing.”
Antonio was about to protest but Francis cut him off, “If that’s what you want, I will not hinder you. I do hope, however, should the need arise, I can count on you for assistance. It would go both ways of course; if you ever need help, I’m sure Gilbert or one of our other members will be more than happy to offer you aid. One can never have enough allies in this fight, after all.”
“Yeah, I’d like that.”
*~*~*
Alfred had snuck back in, later than usual, to find that Arthur was still awake, frowning at a document in his study.
“Alfred?” Arthur stood and crossed the room when he noticed him, “You’re a bit late. And what happened to your arms?”
“Yeah sorry, I got a bit held up,” he lifted an arm to see what Arthur was talking about, “Oh yeah, fire-guy. It happens.”
“Come here,” he gently took his hand and led him back downstairs and into the bathroom, seating him on the toilet, “I’m sure we have some burn cream around here somewhere. Take your shirt off.”
Alfred did as instructed, taking in Arthur as he dug through the medicine cabinet, his entire persona reeking of anxiety. Before he could ask him about it, Arthur had said, “So, have you been talking to Francis?”
This made Alfred uncomfortable, and he focused his attention on the floor tiles instead, “Uh, a little I guess.”
“I’ve known Francis for years. His parents were friends with my parents,” he sighed and knelt down into Alfred’s line of sight, squirting some burn cream on Alfred’s arms, “He told me about his plan. It’s, a good one. Something you’d like, I suppose.”
Alfred didn’t say anything at first; concentrating on the cool feeling from the cream rather than the heartbreak he could hear under Arthur’s words, “I, turned him down.”
Arthur paused in his treatment, “Why?”
“I, uh, wanted to stay here,” he felt his cheeks flare up and he stared resolutely at the tiles, “It’s a nice city.”
Arthur continued rubbing the cream into his arms, “I wouldn’t have minded terribly if you went.”
“I know,” Alfred closed his eyes, and he did know that that’s what Arthur would have told him, not wanting to be a burden or guilt trip him into doing something he didn’t want to. When did he know so much about Arthur? “But, I didn’t want to leave you,” that part came out as a whisper. He quickly looked up to see if Arthur somehow, hopefully, hadn’t heard it.
But he did. It was clearly written in the first clear, real smile Alfred and seen on his face in what seemed like forever, and Alfred couldn’t help but smile too.
“That’s not necessary,” Arthur turned his attention back to Alfred’s arms, smile still on his face, “I can handle myself well enough without you. Did before you showed up.”
This was commonly known to be a lie, but Alfred let it pass, “Yeah, but I dunno what I’d do without you either,” and, he was a bit surprised to realize this was not a lie.
Arthur stood up, recapping the burn cream and placing it on the counter, “Well I’m, glad,” he took Alfred’s hand and gave it a squeeze.
Alfred gave him the best smile he could muster, hoping it would be enough to convey his feelings.
Judging by the smile he got in return, it had done that and more.
Part 17