The Innocent (A 'Finder' Fanfiction)

Shadow of Pluto - 17 - Alex

"What the actual fuck?!", Alex exclaimed when he placed Ryuichi on the floor. The man's eyes blinked for one last time, then he fell unconscious. How cute he looked once that expression of rage vanished!

Alex had been reading and sipping coffee in an armchair in one of the living rooms. This one was just a few steps away from the door which led out beneath the arcades that connected the main building to the guesthouse. From there he had been able to hear some very far away muffled noises but had ignored them. If anybody had asked why he had not reacted to the chaos so close by, he would have just looked up, astounded.

'What?', he would have asked, baffled. He had been so lost in his book he really had not noticed anything!

And in fact, he had not gotten up until he had seen Maxim hurry along the hallway. For a man whose back had been broken several times and had never fully healed, he had been very quick. Much faster than Alex had ever seen him before. He had known right away that Maxim had used his little cameras to spy on his guests. Very likely he had witnessed the first act of Ryuichi's exacted fury from his tiny chamber of indecency, and now felt the need to interfere.

Alex was happy about it. He had counted on it!

"Maxim?", he had called in faked surprise after the man he worked for, then had gotten up when there had not been an answer. He had followed him outside and into the guesthouse, where the noises of struggle and rage were brimming all around.

"What is going on?", he had called uneasily after the other man, who never stopped. Maxim had rushed in, his steps as usually light and weak, but therefore so much better at sneaking up. Unnoticed, he had pushed the syringe into his brother's upper arm.

The rest had been Ryuichi stumbling backwards, losing his balance and being caught by Alex. His gun dropped to the floor; the safety had not been switched off.

"What is going on?", Alex now asked again, his voice a tiny bit too loud because he was oh so worried.

The reaction from anybody else took a while. Maxim still stood there, syringe in his hand, a blank stare on his face while he looked down unto his brother. Fei Long leaned against the table, shivering. His hair was a mess, his shirt torn open at the front.

'Oh, you filthy boy!', Alex thought to himself about Ryuichi, imagining what he might have missed. The photographs lay scattered across the floor, the brown envelope in their midst clearly showing the name 'M. Arbatov'. The Japanese seemed to have lashed out in rage and jealousy, pulling his gun and trying to rape the Chinese in front of the man he had brought along for the visit in Dubrovnik.

'Interesting!', Alex thought, while nothing of his contemplation showed on his face. He stood up, taking the gun with him and emptying the bullets. Slowly, he shook his head, beholding the whole situation.

Fei Long was still catching his breath. He twitched heavily when Mikhail stepped up and placed a hand on his shoulder, yet once he realized who it was, he grabbed that hand and squeezed it.

'How cute!'

"Would you please put him onto the bed?", Maxim asked, speaking slowly and obviously distraught. He was unable to carry anything heavier than a book. Finally, he put the syringe away.

Fei Long wanted to move, but the hand on his shoulder kept him from it. Instead, Mikhail kneeled to grab Ryuichi's shins, while Alex grabbed him beneath the armpits again. Carefully, they carried him over to the bed.

The Chinese picked up the pictures in the meantime, flicking them around to show only their white back before he ever had the chance to have a glance at them. He shoved them back into the brown envelope and tossed that onto the next table as if he wanted to get his hands clean off it.