Back to the surface

Lucky

Childe slowly opened his eyes. As it seemed, he was still alive. He was half lying over Zhongli, who was looking at him with wide eyes.

"Hi..." he breathed sheepishly and stroked his cheek. Zhongli smiled weakly. By all appearances, he wasn't hit. Still, Childe got off him immediately in case he was hurt after all. As he sat up, he noticed a man in uniform running over to Pulcinella, who had gone down.

"You're under temporary arrest," the officer said, handcuffing him. Pulcinella cursed and looked down at his leg. Just now did Childe understand what had happened. The shot had come from the policeman's gun, just in time. He looked down at Pulcinella's gun, which was lying on the ground. It wouldn't hurt anyone anymore. Childe breathed a sigh of relief and watched as the policeman gave orders to other cops who were now storming the inside of the building. Only now did he realize it was Xiao.

#

Zhongli was satisfied. Everything had gone according to plan. Of course, Xiao and he were not alone either, but had taken reinforcements with them. Now all Fatui could be arrested. Unfortunately, Childe as well. But it had probably been the only way to save him. Zhongli had thought long and hard before coming to the conclusion that it was the right solution. But what he had said was true. None of this would change his feelings for this man.

He smiled at Childe and gradually straightened up. At the moment when he would have thrown himself in front of him, anything could have happened. But he had not been afraid because Xiao was there. And everything had turned out fine.

"I didn't rat you out. Xiao figured it out himself...he knew you from the mug shot," Zhongli said, embarrassed.

"He's a cop. Unbelievable... Only I can have such bad luck, huh...?" said Childe sarcastically and laughed. Nonetheless, he took Zhongli in his arms. Together, they watched as Xiao led Pulcinella away.

"You miserable son of a bitch! You're going to regret this hard!" cursed Pulcinella, giving Zhongli and Childe a death glare before Xiao pushed him into the police car, which then drove off.

#

Childe heaved a sigh of relief and hugged Zhongli tightly. It was surreal that he himself had run into the arms of the police, but he didn't regret resisting Pulcinella. He loved Zhongli more than anything. And maybe, after all, he should just be glad to have survived this.

As he had already expected, Xiao finally approached them as well.

"I have to arrest you too, Ajax," he said seriously.

"Yeah, I know. I did bad things. But I promise, not so many..." admitted Childe sheepishly, running a hand through his hair.

"You can tell that in court then," Xiao countered, "anyway, you indirectly helped us finally put the Fatui behind bars after all these years. Maybe the judge will give you a reduced sentence..."

"Thank you," Childe replied, smiling faintly. Then he willingly let Xiao cuff him.

"Xiao... may we have a moment to ourselves?" asked Zhongli cautiously.

"Yes. I guess I wouldn't miss it if he took off...", Xiao replied and discreetly turned away.

"Thank you...", Zhongli replied and turned to Childe, who smiled gently at his beloved.

#

"I was so scared for you.... I'm so glad you're alive. Even if you have to go to jail, I can wait.... my heart can wait..." said Zhongli, squeezing Childe's hand tightly.

"You can visit me after all...I guess...", Childe replied, smiling weakly.

"I'll do that. By all means..." promised Zhongli, smiling bravely.

"Just don't bake a file into his cake, will you? We'll see everything," Xiao interjected, crossing his arms. Zhongli laughed lightly. That was typical. Still, he was surprised that Xiao had stopped trying to talk him out of his relationship after everything.

He hugged Childe close and smiled happily.

#

Childe didn't want to let Zhongli go, but it wasn't like they were breaking up forever. The thought of seeing him again soon filled him with hope. And he still couldn't believe that their love was apparently stronger than all that.

"By the way, thank you for throwing yourself in front of me to protect me. That was so incredibly brave of you," Childe finally said, looking Zhongli in the eye.

"I couldn't let that guy shoot my boyfriend after all," he replied with a laugh, "Because I love you."

"I love you too," Childe replied, his heart pounding violently. He preyed on Zhongli and kissed him full of love.

###

Epilogue

Zhongli had never been to a prison before. He would visit his boyfriend there today. He didn't care what others thought about him, because he firmly believed that Ajax could become a better person in the future. Not long ago, he had told him about his past. He had been poor and had been picked up on the street by Pulcinella at some point. Then he had become more and more involved in darker business. He had always enjoyed his job as a host at the variete, and it was meant to distract from the fact that the Fatui who worked there were in fact dirty. In the meantime, the variete had also been closed, so it was a pity. But all in all, it significantly reduced crime in the underground. His boss had forced him to commit minor crimes, fights, thefts, smuggling. But he had not directly murdered anyone. Now he would have to stay in prison for a few years for his actions, but not for eternity.

He was a bit excited when he entered the visiting room, where Ajax was already waiting for him, sitting at a table. He was very happy to see him and beamed all over his face.

"Hey, there you are!" he said happily.

"You're so radiant. Even though you're in jail?" asked Zhongli in surprise.

"I'm fortunately in a different facility from Pulcinella. Now everything can only get better!" replied Childe with relief.

"Do you know how long you got yet?" asked Zhongli hesitantly.

"Two years with good behavior," Childe replied with relief, "I really did get sentence reduction!"

Tears of relief came to Zhongli's eyes, the next moment he took Childe's hands and squeezed them tightly.

"Oh, I'm so happy!" he said, smiling.

"Me too... after this we can finally build our life together... far away from the underground...", Childe happily replied.

"Yes... we will... I can't wait," Zhongli said, peering around. The guards didn't seem to care much. So he just leaned over and tenderly kissed Childe, who was only too happy to return the kiss.

"If you visit me regularly, I'm sure the time will fly by..." he said softly. Zhongli nodded. He could hardly wait for their future together - and they were already writing the first chapter of it...

# The End

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Thanks for sticking with "Back to the surface", sorry I was so slow in uploading at some point. I hope you guys enjoyed the story! <3