merlin_star
in
usxuk
[Fanfiction] Project Pandora's Box (5/?)
Phew~! Managed to finish this chapter today! :D Quite a bit will be revealed about Alfie-boy, but not right now. :3 Gotta keep you on your toes, you know? :D Hope you guys enjoy the latest installment~!
Title: Project Pandora's Box (5/?)
Series: Hetalia
Rating: T
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.
Warnings: Language, violence, AU, boy love, POV shifts
Pairings: US x UK (primary), France x Canada, Germany x Italy (implied, for the most part)
Summary: The three new agents are feeling comfortable with their new line of work. Unfortunately, the new case requires only two people in the field while the others are stuck with paperwork.
America: ? Now what are you doing? *genuinely curious*
Me: Aw, nothing much. Just writing down the start of a beautiful relationship and-Wait a cotton-pickin’ MINUTE! *looks at America* Something’s…different today…
America: ???
Me: …Oh, whatever. Wanna cookie? :D
America: COOKIE~!
Chapter 1: http://community.livejournal.com/usxuk/93422.html
Chapter 2: http://community.livejournal.com/usxuk/95507.html
Chapter 3: http://community.livejournal.com/usxuk/98146.html
Chapter 4: http://community.livejournal.com/usxuk/99866.html
~*~*~*
Episode 5: Home Security Failure (Part 1)
~*~*~*
It was another late night for Alfred and his team. The agents were sound asleep, which was good. They deserved a night’s worth of sleep. Alfred sighed as he glanced down at the mounds of paperwork on his desk. Maybe with some new agents he’d be able to get through the worst of it. He would love to have some actual desk space for once.
He was distracted from his thoughts when he heard a knock at the door. Alfred yelled a cheerful “Come in!” and got back to signing a paper (it was something about a new lab assisstant from China). After he signed it, a case file was thrown down on the desk. Alfred blinked and looked up at Veneziano.
“It’s a brand new case~! The guys upstairs were just telling me that you should get on this ASAP,” the Italian reported with a smile. Alfred picked up the file and scanned through the report.
“Huh. Sounds like a case for a telepath,” Alfred muttered to himself as he leafed through the pages. He kept reading before looking back up to Veneziano. “Two person case?”
“Mm, yep. We even know what you’re looking for. You’re looking for a pentagram medallion, quite possibly one of Wiccan origin,” Veneziano said cheerfully. The young American nodded.
“So…it’s possibly dealing with the five elements and security?”
“Yes, but it isn’t the normal security. This pentagram deals with mental stability. Although we would normally ignore the pentagrams dealing with security, mainly because they’re harmless, we think that this one is being tampered with.”
“Makes sense,” Alfred replied as he rubbed his tired eyes, “Go tell Kiku to bring the agents in here after breakfast tomorrow. Oh, and you guys get some sleep tonight.”
Veneziano smile got a little bigger and saluted out of habit before running out of the office, closing the door gently behind him. Alfred smiled softly. The young Italian man had been in the military before joining. Ludwig had also been in the military, but as a part of JAG. Kiku used to be a part of NCIS before the paranormal branch got ahold of him.
Alfred yawned hugely as he set aside the case file. He had a long night ahead of him. Damn paperwork…
***
The young American was asleep when Kiku entered the room with the other agents. When at the base, Alfred was a very heavy sleeper. Not even a herd of elephants could wake that man up. There was only one thing that could wake him up.
“Alfred-san, your brother is getting married to Ivan,” Kiku said in a monotone voice. Alfred was instantly awake and instinctively went to grab his gun. He chuckled sheepishly when he saw that it was said only to wake him up. Matthew only sighed, a light blush tingeing his cheeks.
“R-right, anyway. I called you guys in here because I have a two-agent case that we need to work on. So, Arthur and I are going to Kansas and the rest of you are staying here to sort through my paperwork,” Alfred told them all of this with a cheerful grin. Francis and Matthew were stunned speechless while Arthur was hiding his chuckling behind a cough. “Now that that’s settled, we’re off!”
And with that said, the young American stood and left the room with Arthur trailing behind him.
***
“Vic’s name is Leah White, 16, lived with her dad in Topeka, Kansas. She died about 24 hours ago and COD appears to be drowning. The weird thing is that she wasn’t submerged in water. It looked as if her brain had been tricked into thinking that she was drowning.
“Now, there was only one thing taken. It was a medallion in the shape of a pentagram, a gift of her mother, who is of the Wicca faith. The runes inscribed on the pentagram were to ensure mental protection, so why did they fail?” Alfred told the blond Briton. He didn’t want to give away all of the answers as to why they were taking on this mission. They were going to be doing this without Alfred at some point, so why not quiz them on the way to the crime scenes?
“Tampered. But how was it tampered?” Arthur asked instantly. That was the other reason Alfred was bringing him along: the blond Briton used to be in the protection part of the FBI. Plus, he seemed like a quick learner.
“And that’s the million dollar question,” the young American replied with a wink and a smile, “So, let me tell you something about our cases. The cases we receive fall into one of two categories: Artifact Retrieval and Creature Removal. We affectionately call them AR cases and CR cases respectively. Sometimes we get a case that’s both AR and CR, but this isn’t one of them. This is a possible CR case because right around the time Ms. White died, her boyfriend disappeared.”
Arthur frowned. Alfred waited patiently for the Briton to speak. He had a feeling that he was going to ask a question, and Alfred always listened to his feelings.
“So, it’s possible that her boyfriend is behind the murder. Why are we bothering with him?” the man asked, tilting his head slightly. Alfred grinned and lay down on the couch (more like sprawled on the couch).
“Mythological creatures in a normal person’s eyes look like something similar to the creature. For example, a mermaid would look like a manatee to them. In this case, some creature has a humanoid appearance to our eyes, but looks like a “normal” person to other people,” Alfred explained, happy to see the understanding in Arthur’s emerald eyes.
There was silence between the two. The young American was trying his hardest to fight off sleep and really couldn’t think of a topic they could talk about. Arthur had a pensive look, which was the sole reason Alfred was trying to stay awake. For some odd reason, the young American loved to answer the Briton’s questions (the accent really didn’t help since Alfred had a soft spot for the accents from the UK).
More like I like hearing him talk. Alfred thought, making sure his thoughts were guarded. His old boss had been a telepath and had taught the young man how to block his thoughts (as well as emotions). Anyway, Alfred really did like Arthur, but one thing bothered him. The blond Briton had a bit of a frosty attitude toward everyone. It was almost as if he was scared to bond with the team.
“Matthew told us that you didn’t follow a…feeling one time. Would you care to talk about it?” Arthur asked abruptly, jarring the young American from his thoughts. Alfred met the Briton’s emerald green eyes. The two stared at each other for a long while before the American broke eye contact. Alfred looked toward the ceiling, his eyes half-lidded and the smile gone.
“One day, Matty and I took a shortcut through a construction zone. I had a bad feeling about going in there, but I ignored it. Halfway through the zone, we got trapped inside a building that was falling apart. If Matty hadn’t been able to communicate with ghosts, the two of us…probably wouldn’t have survived,” Alfred said sadly. He hated reflecting on his past. It was full of so much pain.
Speaking of painful, his back was killing him. He refrained from wincing, not wanting Arthur to worry needlessly. It was an old scar that sometimes caused him pain, but usually only when he reflected on the past. Meaning, Alfred should stop thinking before the pain got worse.
“Anyway, we’re going to talk to the father and see what he knows. We still have a few hours before arriving, so…I’m just going to go ahead and sleep. Last night was hell,” Alfred told his companion with a small chuckle. He closed his eyes and turned his back to Arthur, hoping he wouldn’t have flashbacks while he slept.
***
When the two finally got to Topeka a man met in his late 30’s met them. He had short, black hair speckled with grey and forlorn hazel eyes. The man was wearing a police uniform. Alfred hazily recalled that Leah’s father was a police officer, so this must be the girl’s dad.
“Mr. White, I presume?” Alfred asked cheerfully, holding out his hand. The man smiled a little and took the hand.
“Just…Carl, please. Heard you guys were coming, so I thought I’d drop by and meet you,” Carl replied, nodding to Arthur. He nodded back, if only out of politeness.
“You don’t mind if we asked you a few questions, will you?” the blond Briton inquired, raising a bushy brow. Carl shook his head. He was expecting questions, which wasn’t all that unusual given that he was in the law enforcement business. Out of habit, Alfred turned on the tape recorder in his pocket, just in case.
“Did you notice anything…unusual about Leah’s boyfriend?” Arthur continued, taking the lead this time. Alfred hid a smile. He was right about the Briton being a quick learner.
“Not really. He fiddled around with Leah’s medallion quite a bit, but I didn’t think of it at the time. I did notice that a week before she…she died, the room would drop a few degrees when he was in it,” Carl replied with a sad sigh, “Now, I don’t believe some of the stuff my wife used to, but I knew that the medallion was the only thing really keeping Leah sane. Her mother’s death…well, she took it really hard.”
Alfred nodded. Leah’s mother must have known that Leah wouldn’t cope with her death very well. At least with cancer (Alfred couldn’t remember what type of cancer she had), she would have been able to make the medallion before she died.
“Any clue as to where the boyfriend might be?” the blond Briton asked again. Carl smirked and there was a dangerous glint in his hazel eyes.
“He likes being near water, so I would suggest looking around the riverside,” he paused, as if considering something painful, “If…if it’s not too much to ask, when you catch the bastard, would you…would you return the medallion to me?”
“No problem,” Alfred replied instantly, ignoring the look Arthur was shooting him. Carl gave them a small, grateful smile before coughing and straightening up.
“I have to get back to work, but if you need any help,” he trailed off and shoved a piece of paper into the young American agent’s hands. After, Carl saluted them before striding off.
***
“Uh, Arthur?” the blond American waited until he had the other man’s attention, “Can you call Kiku? His number should be on your speed dial all ready.”
Silently, Arthur dialed the number and put it on speaker. Two rings later, Kiku answered the phone.
“Kiku! Need to run something by you,” Alfred told the Japanese man with a grin, “Right now, all we know is that the creature has a humanoid form, likes hanging around water, and seems to be able to drop the temperature around him by a noticeable amount of degrees. Ring any bells?”
They heard the tapping of keys and a muttered Japanese phrase on the other end. Alfred winced, knowing exactly what the young man was saying (being with Kiku for a while, you start to pick up Japanese). Arthur raised an eyebrow, but made no comment.
“Well…it’s possible that you’re dealing with an ice siren. The half-bird, half-human kind. It would explain why the autopsy report said drowning killed Leah, even though she didn’t really drown.”
“Damn, that’s a confusing thought,” Alfred commented with a weak chuckle. It just had to be ice sirens. In general, sirens were the best creatures when it came to mind powers. With Arthur around, it might be easier to deal with a rogue siren. Well, that was saying that the Briton also had the offensive capabilities a telepath could have. “Anything else, Kiku?”
“Just one more thing. You might want to teach Arthur-san at least the basics of blocking other telepaths,” Alfred cursed under his breath. That was what he had been forgetting to do on the plane! He had been having a nagging feeling that he was supposed to teach something to Arthur, but it had completely slipped his mind. The American sighed and gave his partner an apologetic look.
“Thanks, Kiku~!”
X-posted to hetalia.
Title: Project Pandora's Box (5/?)
Series: Hetalia
Rating: T
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.
Warnings: Language, violence, AU, boy love, POV shifts
Pairings: US x UK (primary), France x Canada, Germany x Italy (implied, for the most part)
Summary: The three new agents are feeling comfortable with their new line of work. Unfortunately, the new case requires only two people in the field while the others are stuck with paperwork.
America: ? Now what are you doing? *genuinely curious*
Me: Aw, nothing much. Just writing down the start of a beautiful relationship and-Wait a cotton-pickin’ MINUTE! *looks at America* Something’s…different today…
America: ???
Me: …Oh, whatever. Wanna cookie? :D
America: COOKIE~!
Chapter 1: http://community.livejournal.com/usxuk/93422.html
Chapter 2: http://community.livejournal.com/usxuk/95507.html
Chapter 3: http://community.livejournal.com/usxuk/98146.html
Chapter 4: http://community.livejournal.com/usxuk/99866.html
~*~*~*
Episode 5: Home Security Failure (Part 1)
~*~*~*
It was another late night for Alfred and his team. The agents were sound asleep, which was good. They deserved a night’s worth of sleep. Alfred sighed as he glanced down at the mounds of paperwork on his desk. Maybe with some new agents he’d be able to get through the worst of it. He would love to have some actual desk space for once.
He was distracted from his thoughts when he heard a knock at the door. Alfred yelled a cheerful “Come in!” and got back to signing a paper (it was something about a new lab assisstant from China). After he signed it, a case file was thrown down on the desk. Alfred blinked and looked up at Veneziano.
“It’s a brand new case~! The guys upstairs were just telling me that you should get on this ASAP,” the Italian reported with a smile. Alfred picked up the file and scanned through the report.
“Huh. Sounds like a case for a telepath,” Alfred muttered to himself as he leafed through the pages. He kept reading before looking back up to Veneziano. “Two person case?”
“Mm, yep. We even know what you’re looking for. You’re looking for a pentagram medallion, quite possibly one of Wiccan origin,” Veneziano said cheerfully. The young American nodded.
“So…it’s possibly dealing with the five elements and security?”
“Yes, but it isn’t the normal security. This pentagram deals with mental stability. Although we would normally ignore the pentagrams dealing with security, mainly because they’re harmless, we think that this one is being tampered with.”
“Makes sense,” Alfred replied as he rubbed his tired eyes, “Go tell Kiku to bring the agents in here after breakfast tomorrow. Oh, and you guys get some sleep tonight.”
Veneziano smile got a little bigger and saluted out of habit before running out of the office, closing the door gently behind him. Alfred smiled softly. The young Italian man had been in the military before joining. Ludwig had also been in the military, but as a part of JAG. Kiku used to be a part of NCIS before the paranormal branch got ahold of him.
Alfred yawned hugely as he set aside the case file. He had a long night ahead of him. Damn paperwork…
***
The young American was asleep when Kiku entered the room with the other agents. When at the base, Alfred was a very heavy sleeper. Not even a herd of elephants could wake that man up. There was only one thing that could wake him up.
“Alfred-san, your brother is getting married to Ivan,” Kiku said in a monotone voice. Alfred was instantly awake and instinctively went to grab his gun. He chuckled sheepishly when he saw that it was said only to wake him up. Matthew only sighed, a light blush tingeing his cheeks.
“R-right, anyway. I called you guys in here because I have a two-agent case that we need to work on. So, Arthur and I are going to Kansas and the rest of you are staying here to sort through my paperwork,” Alfred told them all of this with a cheerful grin. Francis and Matthew were stunned speechless while Arthur was hiding his chuckling behind a cough. “Now that that’s settled, we’re off!”
And with that said, the young American stood and left the room with Arthur trailing behind him.
***
“Vic’s name is Leah White, 16, lived with her dad in Topeka, Kansas. She died about 24 hours ago and COD appears to be drowning. The weird thing is that she wasn’t submerged in water. It looked as if her brain had been tricked into thinking that she was drowning.
“Now, there was only one thing taken. It was a medallion in the shape of a pentagram, a gift of her mother, who is of the Wicca faith. The runes inscribed on the pentagram were to ensure mental protection, so why did they fail?” Alfred told the blond Briton. He didn’t want to give away all of the answers as to why they were taking on this mission. They were going to be doing this without Alfred at some point, so why not quiz them on the way to the crime scenes?
“Tampered. But how was it tampered?” Arthur asked instantly. That was the other reason Alfred was bringing him along: the blond Briton used to be in the protection part of the FBI. Plus, he seemed like a quick learner.
“And that’s the million dollar question,” the young American replied with a wink and a smile, “So, let me tell you something about our cases. The cases we receive fall into one of two categories: Artifact Retrieval and Creature Removal. We affectionately call them AR cases and CR cases respectively. Sometimes we get a case that’s both AR and CR, but this isn’t one of them. This is a possible CR case because right around the time Ms. White died, her boyfriend disappeared.”
Arthur frowned. Alfred waited patiently for the Briton to speak. He had a feeling that he was going to ask a question, and Alfred always listened to his feelings.
“So, it’s possible that her boyfriend is behind the murder. Why are we bothering with him?” the man asked, tilting his head slightly. Alfred grinned and lay down on the couch (more like sprawled on the couch).
“Mythological creatures in a normal person’s eyes look like something similar to the creature. For example, a mermaid would look like a manatee to them. In this case, some creature has a humanoid appearance to our eyes, but looks like a “normal” person to other people,” Alfred explained, happy to see the understanding in Arthur’s emerald eyes.
There was silence between the two. The young American was trying his hardest to fight off sleep and really couldn’t think of a topic they could talk about. Arthur had a pensive look, which was the sole reason Alfred was trying to stay awake. For some odd reason, the young American loved to answer the Briton’s questions (the accent really didn’t help since Alfred had a soft spot for the accents from the UK).
More like I like hearing him talk. Alfred thought, making sure his thoughts were guarded. His old boss had been a telepath and had taught the young man how to block his thoughts (as well as emotions). Anyway, Alfred really did like Arthur, but one thing bothered him. The blond Briton had a bit of a frosty attitude toward everyone. It was almost as if he was scared to bond with the team.
“Matthew told us that you didn’t follow a…feeling one time. Would you care to talk about it?” Arthur asked abruptly, jarring the young American from his thoughts. Alfred met the Briton’s emerald green eyes. The two stared at each other for a long while before the American broke eye contact. Alfred looked toward the ceiling, his eyes half-lidded and the smile gone.
“One day, Matty and I took a shortcut through a construction zone. I had a bad feeling about going in there, but I ignored it. Halfway through the zone, we got trapped inside a building that was falling apart. If Matty hadn’t been able to communicate with ghosts, the two of us…probably wouldn’t have survived,” Alfred said sadly. He hated reflecting on his past. It was full of so much pain.
Speaking of painful, his back was killing him. He refrained from wincing, not wanting Arthur to worry needlessly. It was an old scar that sometimes caused him pain, but usually only when he reflected on the past. Meaning, Alfred should stop thinking before the pain got worse.
“Anyway, we’re going to talk to the father and see what he knows. We still have a few hours before arriving, so…I’m just going to go ahead and sleep. Last night was hell,” Alfred told his companion with a small chuckle. He closed his eyes and turned his back to Arthur, hoping he wouldn’t have flashbacks while he slept.
***
When the two finally got to Topeka a man met in his late 30’s met them. He had short, black hair speckled with grey and forlorn hazel eyes. The man was wearing a police uniform. Alfred hazily recalled that Leah’s father was a police officer, so this must be the girl’s dad.
“Mr. White, I presume?” Alfred asked cheerfully, holding out his hand. The man smiled a little and took the hand.
“Just…Carl, please. Heard you guys were coming, so I thought I’d drop by and meet you,” Carl replied, nodding to Arthur. He nodded back, if only out of politeness.
“You don’t mind if we asked you a few questions, will you?” the blond Briton inquired, raising a bushy brow. Carl shook his head. He was expecting questions, which wasn’t all that unusual given that he was in the law enforcement business. Out of habit, Alfred turned on the tape recorder in his pocket, just in case.
“Did you notice anything…unusual about Leah’s boyfriend?” Arthur continued, taking the lead this time. Alfred hid a smile. He was right about the Briton being a quick learner.
“Not really. He fiddled around with Leah’s medallion quite a bit, but I didn’t think of it at the time. I did notice that a week before she…she died, the room would drop a few degrees when he was in it,” Carl replied with a sad sigh, “Now, I don’t believe some of the stuff my wife used to, but I knew that the medallion was the only thing really keeping Leah sane. Her mother’s death…well, she took it really hard.”
Alfred nodded. Leah’s mother must have known that Leah wouldn’t cope with her death very well. At least with cancer (Alfred couldn’t remember what type of cancer she had), she would have been able to make the medallion before she died.
“Any clue as to where the boyfriend might be?” the blond Briton asked again. Carl smirked and there was a dangerous glint in his hazel eyes.
“He likes being near water, so I would suggest looking around the riverside,” he paused, as if considering something painful, “If…if it’s not too much to ask, when you catch the bastard, would you…would you return the medallion to me?”
“No problem,” Alfred replied instantly, ignoring the look Arthur was shooting him. Carl gave them a small, grateful smile before coughing and straightening up.
“I have to get back to work, but if you need any help,” he trailed off and shoved a piece of paper into the young American agent’s hands. After, Carl saluted them before striding off.
***
“Uh, Arthur?” the blond American waited until he had the other man’s attention, “Can you call Kiku? His number should be on your speed dial all ready.”
Silently, Arthur dialed the number and put it on speaker. Two rings later, Kiku answered the phone.
“Kiku! Need to run something by you,” Alfred told the Japanese man with a grin, “Right now, all we know is that the creature has a humanoid form, likes hanging around water, and seems to be able to drop the temperature around him by a noticeable amount of degrees. Ring any bells?”
They heard the tapping of keys and a muttered Japanese phrase on the other end. Alfred winced, knowing exactly what the young man was saying (being with Kiku for a while, you start to pick up Japanese). Arthur raised an eyebrow, but made no comment.
“Well…it’s possible that you’re dealing with an ice siren. The half-bird, half-human kind. It would explain why the autopsy report said drowning killed Leah, even though she didn’t really drown.”
“Damn, that’s a confusing thought,” Alfred commented with a weak chuckle. It just had to be ice sirens. In general, sirens were the best creatures when it came to mind powers. With Arthur around, it might be easier to deal with a rogue siren. Well, that was saying that the Briton also had the offensive capabilities a telepath could have. “Anything else, Kiku?”
“Just one more thing. You might want to teach Arthur-san at least the basics of blocking other telepaths,” Alfred cursed under his breath. That was what he had been forgetting to do on the plane! He had been having a nagging feeling that he was supposed to teach something to Arthur, but it had completely slipped his mind. The American sighed and gave his partner an apologetic look.
“Thanks, Kiku~!”
X-posted to hetalia.