Football One Shots

Neymessi (AU) pt.4

Happy New Year! May your year be filled with great Neymessi Stories!
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Kun's lifeless body was covered by a cheap, white sheet and lifted onto a gurney. The wheels of the gurney squeaked as they rotated down the hall, leaving a ring in the ears of the surrounding inmates. The Warden had arrived 15 minutes prior and had been talking to Pep since, about what, no one knew for sure, but it was more than likely concerning how they would cover up this "accident".
"Why would he kill himself?" Rafa questioned in a hoarse voice, all the crying he'd done affecting him.
"Guilt." Iniesta spoke from a corner of the stairwell where the investigation had taken place, and then clean up occupied it.
"No. Kun didn't kill himself." Leo had spoken for the first time since he'd found out about Kun's death.
"What are you talking about Leo? It's obvious. He had a reason to do so. He hung himself." Umtiti tried to help Leo see the rational answer.
"No. Did you see his forearm?" Leo stared off seeming to recollect the details of Kun's unmoving body.
"No."
"There was blood. Not his own. Kun wasn't bleeding anywhere. He hadn't been in contact with anyone prior to the Allegri incident. You saw him did you not?" Umtiti nodded thinking of Kun's prior appearance.
"Yeah. Yeah. I remember." Luis spoke up.
"Then who killed him?" Jordi asked the question they all wanted an answer to.
When the Warden finally shooed the crowd from the stairwell, the group made their way back to Leo's cell quietly, all deep in thought.
"Neymar might be out for a while longer. I'll get the transfer from Pep later. There shouldn't be an issue." Iniesta informed before leaving the slightly crowded room.
"Masche. I need you to start looking into this. Find out what you can." Leo sent Masche away, freeing up more space in the room by sending Jordi with him.
"Leo. Are you okay?" Luis placed a hesitant hand on Leo's shoulder.
"I-" Leo was cut off when Neymar's body began to convulse in a coughing fit.
"Hey. Hey. Hey." Luis dropped by Neymar's side and rubbed his back as specks of blood colored Neymar's lips.
"How long have I been out?" Neymar questioned as he wiped away the blood.
"A few hours. You've missed out on quite a bit. How are you holding up?" Neymar hesitated before answering.
"Physically I feel like shit, but mentally... f*ck... it's even worse." Neymar dropped his chin to his chest and played with the hem of the blanket.
"What happened to you Ney?" Luis pushed for answers.
Neymar wanted to answer, more than anything, but all he could manage was a slight squeak before tears streamed from his eyes.
"Where's Leo?" Neymar sniffles as he pulled the covers up slightly.
Luis looked back to the window sill to Leo only to receive his shaking head and a firm scowl.
"Uh. He's handling some things right now, but I'm sure he'll be back before you know it." Luis plastered on his fake smile and brushed Neymar's curls back, ordering him to get some rest.
"Go to sleep now." Luis coaxed as he played with Neymar's curls gently, helping to soothe him to sleep.
"W-when Leo comes back you have to wake me up." Neymar pleaded as his eyes began to close.
"I will." Luis agreed.
"Promise me Luis. As soon as you see him wake me up. Promise me." Neymar was adamant.
Luis hesitated slightly before reassuring Neymar by locking their pinky fingers. The bond seemed to finally put Neymar at ease as he fell asleep.
"Fuck Leo. Why'd I have to lie?" Luis seemed more upset with himself than Leo.
"I need to think." Leo dropped his head into his palms and groaned in frustration and anger.
An hour or so had passed by and Neymar showed no sign of waking for lock up.
"Get up." Leo pulled his comforter from Neymar and shoved him awake rather harshly.
"Leo?" Neymar's eyes were glazed over, but he could still make out Leo's silhouette.
"Its time for lock up." Neymar seemed confused at Leo's shortness of words.
"Leo what?" Ney sat up from the bed.
"Get going." Leo left no room for debate when he gave Neymar his back and walked to his desk.
Neymar didn't dare question Leo, confused about his seemingly blatant anger. That night Neymar found himself tossing and turning but never being able to get comfortable or sleep. A feeling of misfortune crawled up his spine as dawn chased away the night sky. The bright blue sky outside seemed to be trying to lift Neymar's gloomy mood, but it was pointless.
The commotion of the halls came and went but no one ever stopped for him. No one stood in his doorway, no one called his name, no one shared a morning joke with him. No one came. Neymar grew confused as he continued to wait, becoming slightly anxious as the time ticked on. Before he knew it, breakfast was over and the halls crowded once more. Questions arose left and right as to why no one collected him for breakfast.
'Had they forgotten about him?'
Neymar was aware that that wasn't the case because Luis would never forget Neymar, they were practically best friends, or as close to it as you could get in a place like prison.
Neymar knew work period would be arriving rather quickly, but would he really be ok by himself? What if Dani approached him again?
Neymar doubted he'd be stupid enough to but he couldn't be sure.
The halls filled once more and Neymar chanced walking himself down to laundry, saying his silent prayers before stepping foot out of his cell. It seemed that a new sense of alertness had taken over Neymar as he cautiously made his way through the crowded corridors and into the wash room. A feeling of ease always surrounded him when someone walked with him, but without them he felt the need to be on guard at all times.
So when Neymar safely reached the washroom, a sigh of relief escaped his lungs as he pressed himself against a nearby wall. The day had just barely begun and Neymar had already felt exhausted, ready for lock up to roll around again. Neymar found himself getting into his rhythm he'd found once before while working. His movements flowed smoothly as he whisked around the laundry room completing his designated tasks.
"Ney?" Neymar had been so engrossed into his work, he failed to hear Luis enter the washroom.
Neymar's eyes portrayed a look of hurt as he turned to Luis.
"I'm sorry I didn't come get you this morning. Leo's just been dealing with a lot of stuff and he needed me." Luis tried to explain, forgetting Ney had no idea about Kun.
Neymar was struck with a painful reminding when Luis spoke. Messi came first to Luis, despite all the progress Luis and Ney had made with their friendship, he'd always come second to him.
"Oh." That was all Ney could muster as a feeling of disappointment pressed down on Neymar.
"Are you ready for lunch then?" Luis was ready to put it all behind them, but Neymar's chest hurt and his stomach dropped at the reminder he'd received. He no longer held an appetite.
"I think I'm just gonna work through lunch. I've slacked a bit the last day or so." Neymar gave Luis his back as he returned to his repetitive cycle, feeling more numb than usual.
"But Ney..." Neymar didn't acknowledge Luis as he tried to reason, effectively getting his point across and earning the privacy he had needed more than anything in that moment.
Silence filled Neymar's ears once more as he got back into the full swing of things and he did that for another hour and a half before he ran out of clothes and linens to clean.
"Wow. You cleaned them all. That's impressive." Dani chuckled as he entered the almost vacant room.
"I have a lot on my mind. It's easy when you're on autopilot." Neymar found himself actually conversing with Dani, the man who'd scared him half to death their previous encounter. Neymar blamed it on the lack of human interaction and his craving for even a tiny bit of it.
"Oh. What've you been thinking about?" This is where Neymar remembered who he was dealing with and decided he was finished talking to him.
"Nothing really. I should get going now. See you around." Neymar nodded to Dani before exiting, just barely catching Dani's reply.
"Oh yes you will." A slight hum followed after his words before Neymar picked up his pace.
He'd been so caught up in his thoughts about Dani's words that he failed to realize he was making his way to Leo's cell. Neymar only noticed his mistake when he entered and all the chatter filled his ears.
"Ney, are you alright?" Luis sat up on the edge of the bed as he took in Neymar's appearance.
"Um... y-yeah." Neymar plastered on a look of calmness as he approached Leo's bunk to take a seat alongside Luis.
"Are you sure?" Luis pressed further, but Neymar only nodded.
Leo had yet to spare Neymar a glance and that confused Neymar.
"What's up with Leo today?" Neymar whispered under his breath to Luis as he stole a quick glance in Leo's direction.
A scowl of sorts had made a place on Leo's lips and his eyes screamed 'lack of sleep'.
"The whole Kun thing is really getting to him." Luis sighed as he also turned to gaze at Leo.
"Yeah. What he did was kind of shitty, but I understand he thought he was doing what needed to be done." Neymar rubbed his eyes tiredly.
"Leo is convinced he didn't do it and believe it or not I'm starting to believe it as well. Kun is just too... I don't know, but he would never do anything like that. I don't care what anybody says." Luis's words were a shot to Neymar's heart as they soaked into his brain.
"I..." Neymar was beyond confused at that point.
"They aren't even having a service for him. I remember when Giggs died, they had a whole thing for him in the garden. It was quite beautiful." Neymar's voice seemed to catch in his throat as he took in Luis's words.
"W-what!?" Neymar shot up from the bed, a look of disbelief slapped onto his face.
Everyone's attention was turned to Neymar as his shout silenced the room.
"Ney what is it?" Luis tried to pull him closer to keep him from drawing anymore attention from the brooding group.
"Kun's dead?" Neymar's voice fell from his mouth as a whisper of denial.
"Oh shit. No one told you." Luis's hands pulled Neymar towards him harder, but Neymar fought him.
"No Luis let go! What do you mean he's dead? What happened?" Luis seemed to begin sweating as Leo's gaze burned at the pair.
"I don't think we should be-"
"What happened?" Neymar was adamant on getting answers and Leo didn't like it. Leo had held in his anger and frustration up to that point, but he couldn't do it any longer.
"You want to know what happened? You. You happened. If you would've left us the hell alone. If you would've never showed up. If your Father had killed you instead of your Mother. Kun would still be here. That's what happened." Leo's voice was laced with extreme anger that shook him to his core. Kun had been his life long friend. Kun had always been on his side, quite literally, but now he was gone and Leo didn't know how to handle that. He had grown so accustomed to having someone with him his whole life.
Neymar's chest restricted tightly as he struggled to breath. How did Leo know about his Father? Everyone else, even Masche, seemed shocked by Leo's words, and they all gave Neymar a look of pity.
"Leo, you don't mean that. Be reasonable." Gerard pressed as Leo continued to glare hatefully at Neymar.
"Oh I mean every word. I wish Neymar was killed instead of Kun. We should've let Allegri have you." Leo bit out as a single tear escaped Neymar's glossy eyes.
Neymar struggled to gather himself before he spoke.
"And I wish I could make that happen... I'm sorry I did this. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm-" Neymar breathed out heavily as he lost his composure, slipping out of the room silently as he lost himself in his feelings.
"What the hell Lionel!? How could you say such disgusting things to Neymar, who has been nothing but good to you? He doesn't deserve your shitty treatment. I get that Kun's death hurts you, it hurts all of us, but you had no right to do that." Luis wore a look of disappointment on his face as he stared Leo down.
"This is his fault." Leo refused to feel bad in the moment.
"Wow. Unbelievable." Luis stood up and pointed a hard finger at Leo.
"I know you're hurt, but you don't get to take it out on someone else, especially not Neymar. He's been through too much." Luis glared at Leo for a good minute before leaving everyone behind.
The next day was filled with Leo's same shitty attitude. He refused to talk to anyone other than Las Blaugranas. Neymar hadn't made an appearance since he'd left Leo's cell the night before, but Leo chose to ignore that fact. Why should he care about Neymar? Even as he thought these things, his heart seemed to pull and tug, trying to urge Leo to talk to Neymar.
"Luis, have you heard from Neymar?" Leo finally asked after the second day of Neymar's absence.
"No." Luis answered dryly, obviously still annoyed with Leo.
"I heard from the grape vine that he hasn't left his cell since that night." Masche informed the group, voice filled with mock disinterest.
"Hmm." Leo turned, signaling for an end in conversation, instead thinking to himself.
When Neymar failed to show up on the third day, Leo felt worry fill his chest. He made it his mission to pass by Neymar's cell after lunch, just to take a look in and see what he was up to. When Leo dismissed himself from the group, save for Gerard and Luis following along, he made his way towards Neymar's corridor.
The trio passed groups of prisoners, who seemed to gravitate to the other wall in effort to stay away from Leo. Word had been passed around the prison that he was on a warpath to find Kun's killer, and that was the truth. Leo spent all day and night compiling evidence and logical thinking, as well as bouts of hear-say from the halls. He had yet to form a solid explanation, but he knew he would find the killer soon enough.
When Leo reached the entrance to Neymar's room, he stopped and peered inside. Neymar's room seemed darker than the others, obviously from a lack of foot traffic and movement. As Leo's eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, they focused on a lump hidden under the blanket on Neymar's bed. The lump seemed unmoving and Leo felt his heart beat begin to quicken.
"Ney?" Luis was the first to speak and enter the room.
"Neymar." Luis stopped beside his bed, hesitating to do anything more.
"Ney..." Still no response came from the Brazilian and that seemed to worry Leo.
He found himself leaning over the lump on the bed, peeling the overheated blanket back to reveal a motionless Neymar.
"Hey. Hey. Neymar. Come on. Wake up. Neymar?" Luis seemed to turn frantic as he shook an unmoving Neymar.
"Ney?" Leo spoke up this time, placing a cautious hand onto Neymar's pale cheek.
"Hey." Leo knelt beside him, peeling off the last of the covers and allowing the air to slowly cool Neymar's sweat-covered limbs.
"Leo..." Gerard began, sounding worried.
"No he's fine." Leo could visibly see his thinning chest move slowly up and down, the smooth rhythm bringing temporary relief to Leo.
"Maybe we should take him to see Mourinho." Gerard suggested.
"Yeah. Yeah ok." Leo nodded in a daze, mentally scolding himself for Neymar's weak state.
Gerard hoisted Neymar from the bed and carried him out into the hall, Leo hot on his heels. Panic seemed to be creeping into Leo's spine as they rounded another corner, and before he knew it he was gripping Neymar's limp hand.
"Gerard. Leo. What's happened?" Dr. Mourinho was quick to approach the two inmates he'd become well acquainted with over the years.
"Neymar. We found him buried under his covers all hot and sweaty. He's extremely pale and I don't believe he's had a bite to eat the last few days." Luis informed as he shuffled out from behind the two men.
"Alright set him down. I'll take a look." As soon as Gerard set Neymar down onto the fresh linen of the gurney, Leo was by Neymar's side.
Dr. Mourinho took his time checking Neymar's vitals and running some tests. When he took Neymar's temperature, Leo noticed that Mourinho's forehead crinkled in confusion.
"What is it?" Leo didn't hold back his worry, not caring about his anger or pride at that point.
"He's running a slight fever. I can tell he is also quite dehydrated. I'm going to keep him here overnight just to get him some fluids and lower his temperature. You can come back in the morning to check on him." Dr. Mourinho reassured Leo that everything would be alright, before sending the group on their way after another two hours.
"I want you back at the infirmary with me at dawn. No later." Leo informed Gerard before leaving him and Luis behind to go back to his cell. Luis and Gerard were engrossed in a quiet conversation while walking back to their cells for lock up when they were interrupted.
"Hello inmates." Luis and Gerard froze when they heard the voice of the man who had caused far too many problems.
"Allegri." Luis bit angrily as Gerard placed an arm around him to keep him from attacking the guard.
"I heard about Aguero. Such a shame huh? Give Leo my condolences would you?" Allegri smiled sarcastically to Luis before moving towards the infirmary.
"Hey! Where are you going Allegri!?" Gerard stepped forward, growing worried.
"Well I heard our dearest Neymar has grown ill. I'm just going to make sure he is alright." Allegri gave a wink before turning around and continuing towards the infirmary.
"Luis, get Leo. Now!" Gerard raced off towards the infirmary as fear crawled up his spine.
"What!?" Luis was shocked.
"Allegri killed Kun, and now he's trying to kill Neymar!" Gerard's words seemed to kick Luis into action as he turned and bolted towards Leo's cell.
"Well shit..." Luis spoke under his breath.