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Bu Zai Jimo Pt 1

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Title: Bù Zài Jìmò Part 1
Category:   Fanfiction Crossover
Fandom(s):   Firefly | Hetalia
Summary: Two lonely nations, the last of their kind, roam the galaxy, waiting for the day when they will finally be allowed to be at rest like the original nations of the Earth-That-Was. What happens when they're finally granted their wish?
IMPORTANT NOTE!: This fic is a sequel/epilogue to PwnedByPineapple's fic "no one man should have all that power," and if you haven't read that first, this will make little to no sense. Link to the fic is in the author's notes, as are translations for the Chinese dialogue .)

---

Alfred F. Jones, formerly known as the United States of America, has always loved cities. Granted, he loves mountains, prairies, oceans, and any number of other landscapes and settings too, but there's just something about a town or city that automatically puts him in a good mood. Or maybe it's just the amazingly good fried chicken he just bought that's making him feel more chipper than usual.

"Don't stuff your face, aru," Wang Yao, once known as the nation of China, says to him as they walk down the bustling street of the thriving town. "It's most unbecoming."

"Yes, Dad," Alfred says around his mouthful of chicken, blissfully ignoring the irritated look Yao shoots at him. He swallows and gestures with the leg he's currently eating toward a dusty stall on the opposite side of the road. "Hey, look, Yao! Noodles! You wanna get some?"

Yao considers. "All right," he finally says. "Wait here, though," he adds hastily, seeing the predatory grin spread over Alfred's face at the thought of more food. "I wouldn't want you to scare the shop owner. I swear, you're a bottomless pit at times."

Alfred childishly sticks his tongue out at the older nation before taking another bite of chicken. "I haven't eaten in two weeks, Yao; give me a break!"
                
"Yes, and if I hadn't convinced that nice tradesman to let us hitchhike to this planet, instead of leaving us on that ice moon like he was going to, I daresay you would have gone longer without that luxury. You are welcome, by the way."

"Hey! How would I have known that Cheyenne was uninhabited after the Reavers came through a couple years ago? The guidebook said there were a few settlements on it."

"You could have asked the pilot who dropped us off, aru. He said he didn't think anyone lived there now, but no-"

"Yeah, yeah, go get the noodles already." Alfred flaps a chicken wing toward the stand dismissively, not liking where the conversation is heading. Yao complies, but not before nonchalantly snatching the wing right out of Alfred's hand, earning an indignant squawk from the taller man.

"Fēi cháng gǎn xiè , Alfred!" Yao calls, not turning around as he waves a hand. In a couple of seconds, he disappears into the bustling crowd. Alfred, muttering to himself, fishes out another drumstick from the wicker basket where the remaining pieces of chicken lie, waiting to be consumed. As he raises the piece to his mouth, he catches a flash of spring green out of the corner of his eye. Mildly curious, he looks to the side and sees a pair of bright yellow eyes, staring back at him from behind a rain barrel in the alley beside a fabric store. They belong to a small child, no more than three years old. It's staring at his chicken as if nothing else exists in the world.

"You hungry, little munchkin?" Alfred chuckles, wandering over and crouching down to be at eye level with the child. The kid licks its lips and sighs longingly, and Alfred can now see the tattered state of its clothes, the unwashed face, the uncut hair. He can't for the life of him tell what gender it is. Alfred frowns for a moment before he gives the child his most winning smile and holds the drumstick out invitingly. The toddler ducks behind the rain barrel at the sudden movement, like a scared puppy.

"I'm not gonna hurt ya, kid," Alfred soothes, still holding the food out. "C'mon, go ahead and eat it. I've got plenty." He hefts the basket he holds in the crook of one arm. The child peeks out from behind the barrel, as if not quite believing what it's hearing. "Well, if you don't want it…" Alfred makes as if to draw his arm back, and the kid suddenly darts out from its hiding place, snatches the chicken, and starts stuffing its face, not even bothering to run back.  Alfred smiles wider, ruffles the tot's hair, and settles himself against the wall, folding his lanky legs Indian-style underneath him. He's just started in on another piece when the kid, having bolted down its first in record time, shuffles closer to him, smiling shyly. Alfred pats his knee invitingly, and that's all the encouragement the child needs.

-

Yao returns five minutes later to find his companion nowhere in sight. "Aiyaa," he mutters in exasperation. "Where did he run off to now?" Something bounces off his leg, and he looks down in surprise to see a young girl, around seven or eight years of age, blinking dazedly up at him from where she's sprawled out in the dust of the road.

"O, wǒ de, are you alright, xiǎo hái zi?" he asks worriedly, extending a hand to the child. She takes it gratefully, and he pulls her up, noting with some concern how her cheeks are too thin, and her clothes seem too large for such a small body. One she regains her feet, she bows respectfully.

"Thank you, sir," she says. "I'm sorry for running into you."

"No harm done," he responds, smiling. "May I inquire as to where you were going in such a hurry?"

"I'm looking for my little brother." Worry clouds the girl's bright golden eyes. "I told him to stay by the front steps to the fabric shop, but he's not there anymore."

"Isn't that odd?" Yao quirks one eyebrow. "A friend of mine is missing as well." A peal of loud laughter interrupts him, coming from the alleyway between two buildings. Yao rolls his eyes. "Never mind, child. I believe I have found him."

-

Whatever Yao was expecting to find, it certainly was not the blonde ex-nation sitting between a half-empty rain barrel and a garbage bin, with a small, disheveled child happily eating fried chicken on his lap.

"Hey, Yao!" Alfred, catching sight of him, waves and flashes him a bright grin. "Anthony here was just telling me how he has a pet mouse named Kiki at home. Isn't that right, Anthony?" The child, whose eyes had grown wide and scared at the sight of this new arrival, relaxes as his newfound friend addresses the stranger in such a familiar manner. He nods shyly.

"Anthony?" The little girl rushes up to the boy and pulls him off Alfred's lap, giving him a hard shake. "What have I told you about running off? I was worried sick!" She turns to Alfred. "I'm so sorry, sir. He didn't mean to be any trouble. We're sorry for bothering you."

"Not at all," Alfred replies easily, getting to his feet in one fluid motion. "I'm always happy to meet a new friend. I'm Alfred, and he's Yao. What's your name, little lady?"

"Angelica," she replies bashfully, taking hold of her brother's hand.

"Pleased to meet you, Miss Angelica," Alfred returns, sweeping off his cowboy hat and making an exaggerated, theatrical bow. Yao rolls his eyes and the children giggle. "Now, would you do me the honor of deignin' to accept a small gift?" He holds the basket of chicken out to her, and Angelica steps back, protesting.

"Oh no, Mister Alfred, sir." She shakes her head. "Mama says we're not to accept charity. We don't beg."

"Well then, Miss Angelica, how 'bout we swap for it?" He nods toward the blue satin ribbon holding her dark, curly hair back. "That there's a pretty ribbon. What do you say? One ribbon for," he quickly counts the pieces left in the basket, "five pieces of chicken. Seems like a fair trade to me."

"Well…" Angelica looks at the chicken, unable to keep the yearning look off her dirt-smeared face. "I suppose… if you really like it…"

"Oh, I do," Alfred assures her. "Blue's one of my favorite colors. Honest."

"Okay." She tugs the ribbon loose, making her hair tumble down around her shoulders, and holds it out to the tall man. "It's a deal." They shake on it, and Alfred hands the basket over to the girl. She then scurries off, her brother in tow.

"You really are hopeless, aru," Yao observes as Alfred waves goodbye, all sunshine and smiles. "What in the 'Verse are you going to do with a blue ribbon? What about your food?"

"This," replies the blonde, and he ties the ribbon to the drawstring of his hat. "There. How do I look?"

"Kěxiào," comes the dry response.

"You have no fashion sense. Anyway, those kids were hungry. You would have done the same."  This last is 100% true, and they both know it.  "I don't see any noodles," Alfred observes after a moment, as the two make their way back to the street. "What gives?"

"I remembered that you're the one currently carrying the money."

"Well, why didn't ya say so? Last one to the stand has to do the dishes at the inn tonight!" Alfred takes off running.

"Alfred! Aiyaa!" Yao chases after him, but barely makes it a few feet before the world explodes in a blast of searing flame.

-

When Alfred comes to, he's laying face down in a pile of broken, splintered wood. His body throbs, and there's smoke everywhere. He stands up stiffly, rubbing his forehead and wincing as his fingers find a sore spot. He coughs as smoke fills his lungs, and when he brings his fingers away, they're wet with blood. Something lunges at him out of the smoke, and Alfred draws his pistol and fires instinctively. The thing screeches and collapses in a heap at his feet. Alfred stares numbly at the mutilated, disheveled body, dread growing in the pit of his stomach.

"Oh my God," he whispers. "No. Not here. Please, not here." A fit of coughing interrupts him, and he quickly abandons the body, bolting towards the wall it just crashed through. Outside is complete pandemonium. Screams fill the air, the most prominent being the dreaded cry of "Reavers!"

The terrifying creatures are everywhere. Alfred's never seen so many at one time. Granted, he makes a habit of not trying to see them wherever possible, but still. The realization comes crashing into his mind like a falling piano: Where is Yao? That thought propels him into immediate action.

He jumps the five feet or so from the side of the building to the ground, and hits the dirt running. Panic fills his heart as he shoots one Reaver and sends another flying twenty feet from the force of his inhumanly strong punch. He tells himself he's being paranoid, that Yao's a big boy, that he can take care of himself, that you don't need to worry, Al, get a grip, get a grip, get a grip!

Except you couldn't take care of yourself last time, a little voice whispers to his mind, sending the hairs on the back of his neck prickling at the recollection of things he really  doesn't want to remember. Neither of you could. And you know better than anyone left alive in this Godforsaken galaxy that there are many things in this universe that are so much worse than death.

He growls and shoots two Reavers who are dragging a hysterical woman into the shadows between two buildings.

So.

Vaulting over an overturned cart, he ducks under a wild axe swing from another rabid creature, pulls his knife from its sheath, and plunges it between two of the creature's ribs before yanking it back out and resuming his mad dash toward the two buildings where he last saw Yao.

Much.

He swears vehemently as he sees that the buildings have collapsed, forming a burning barrier between him and where he needs to be. Hopefully, the Chinese nation's just on the other side of the buildings and wasn't caught between them when they collapsed. It wouldn't kill him, but it would still hurt like hell.

Worse.

"Shut up! " he snarls, picking off another three Reavers and mentally thanking Providence that his gun won't run out of ammo.  A shadow blocks out the sun, and he looks up to see the biggest Reaver ship he's ever seen hovering in the sky above the town. The docking bay door is open, and a large flaming object drops out of it, heading straight for the building right in front of Alfred.

He hits the dirt just as the projectile smashes into the building, prompting even more screams from the already hysterical townsfolk. Scrambling to his feet, he darts through the stampeding crowd, taking out Reavers whenever he gets the chance. As he rounds the corner of the block, he sees a snarling Reaver make a flying leap for two small figures huddled against a wall, one clad in bright green. Alfred fires on impulse, and then hurries over to the children.

"Are you two okay?" he asks breathlessly, getting down on one knee and slipping his knife back into its sheath, but keeping his pistol at the ready.

"Tony's hurt, Mister Alfred!" Angelica's crying, almost hysterical, and her brother's bawling loud enough to wake the dead. There's a large, oozing gash stretching more than halfway down the boy's right arm, and bloodstains dot his shirt. There's a small cut above Angelica's left eye, and she's a bit bruised here and there, but otherwise she looks relatively unharmed.

"Don't you worry, hun," Alfred soothes, picking Anthony up and cradling him in the crook of one arm. The child wails and buries his face in Alfred's shirt. "Everything'll be fine. I'll get you to your mama, don't you worry. Angelica, can you climb on my back?" He turns his attention to the girl, who nods shakily and moves to comply. She wraps her arms around Alfred's neck, and as he carefully gets to his feet, he can feel her knees clamp tightly onto his sides.

"You got it?" he asks, gasping slightly against her chokehold around his throat. He feels her nod. "'Kay, then, now hold on tight!" He takes off again, trying to make his gait as even and smooth as possible, while still covering the maximum amount of distance.  

"Cào ni zuzōng shíbā dài! " The vehement curse makes Alfred snap his head around and dash off toward the sound. A Reaver goes flying by his head, and Alfred represses the insane urge to laugh hysterically. Yao fixes him with an annoyed look before slamming another Reaver to the ground. There are bodies littering the dirt around the smaller man like scattered leaves, making it look like a hurricane has just swept through the street.

"Took you long enough, aru," he snaps as Alfred jogs up to him, but the taller nation can hear the relief in his voice that Yao doesn't even bother to hide. "What did you do, take the scenic route?"

"Even got us some souvenirs," Alfred replies as cheerfully as he can. He deposits the squalling toddler in a somewhat startled Yao's arms before jerking his head toward the horde of Reavers bearing down on them. "I suggest we start runnin' now." The two bolt.

"What are Reavers doing attackin' a town this size?" Alfred asks as they run. "I knew they were gettin' bolder an' all, but still!"

"They must be desperate," Yao answers grimly.

"Can't argue there." Alfred cranes his neck to look at the decrepit ship. An idea pops into his head. "Y'know, if I could get my hands on some heavy-duty firepower, I bet a well-placed round could knock off one of them engines."

"And where," Yao pants as he sidesteps a wild swing from a Reaver and Alfred blasts a neat hole in its skull, "would you get weaponry like that? It's not as if the sheriff's office carries antiship rounds in their arsenal."

"You never know." Suddenly, a sharp, stabbing pain lances through Alfred's torso, making him gasp and almost tumble to the ground. It's as if his heart is being pierced with a hundred needles, while at the same time, it's being pulled out of his chest. Beside him, Yao wheezes and clutches his chest. Then, as suddenly as the pain has come, it's gone. He shoots Yao a befuddled look, and finds the long-haired nation returning it. What in the 'Verse…? Then, out of the corner of his eye, Alfred sees fire.

"DUCK!" Alfred reaches behind him, grabs Angelica, and pulls her in front of him as he throws himself underneath a parked wagon, protectively curling around her small body just as another explosion rocks the earth.

They stay like that for a few moments as the ringing in their ears diminishes. Alfred pulls back a little and brushes Angelica's hair out of her face. "You okay, honey?" She nods, not bothering to remove her face from where it's buried in his shirt. "You're a brave girl, a very brave girl, did you know that?" he soothes, holding her close as he shimmies out from underneath the wagon.

"Yao?" he calls, getting to his feet with Angelica still in his arms. He looks around wildly, trying to catch a glimpse of his friend. His heart nearly stops as he catches sight of a scrap of green cloth, blowing in the wind beside a large heap of rubble from a destroyed building. He's there in an instant, and he sets Angelica down before he starts shoving aside chunks of rock and timber as if they're only sticks and pebbles. She screams, and he whips out his pistol and fires to the side without ever taking his eyes off the pile. A thud follows the shot, and he shoves the gun back in its holster and keeps working.

"Yao?" He's unable to keep the note of panic out of his voice. "C'mon, answer me, buddy! Say what an idiot I am! Say that I eat too much! Say that I snore when I sleep (even though I do not</i>)! Say anything, gorramit! You better not be unconscious, you hear me?!"

"Nǐ céngjīng juékǒu, xiǎo lǎohǔ ?" comes a faint voice, tight and strained with pain. Alfred sighs in relief and crouches down, peering into the dark hole he's created.

"That works, too." The blonde smiles tightly, eyes adjusting to the gloom. What he sees isn't good. There's a large piece of rebar impaling Yao's back, pinning him to the ground, and the whole right side of his body is crushed under the rocks and wood. His head is turned toward Alfred, and the American nation can see blood trickling from his nose and the corner of his mouth. One arm is still curled protectively around Anthony's still body.

"How's the kid?" Alfred asks worriedly.

"He still breathes," comes the weary, labored reply. Yao coughs up more blood before continuing. "It would be nice if we could get out of here, though, aru."

"Oh! Right." Alfred works quickly, Angelica helping him where she can. He has to shoot three more Reavers before they're through, but they soon clear enough of the rubble to expose the two prone bodies. Angelica picks up her brother, while Alfred kneels by Yao's side.

"I'm gonna kill them," Alfred growls darkly, as his eyes travel over his companion's shattered body. Sure, Yao'll be perfectly fine in a couple hours or so, but in the meantime, he's still obviously in a lot of pain. When Alfred gets his hands on those- no, no time to think about that at the moment; that piece of rebar has to come out now.

"This is gonna hurt," he warns the other, holding him down with one hand to keep him from struggling while his other grasps the piece of rebar. Yao's only response is to close his eyes and clench his one working hand into a fist, setting his teeth resolutely. Without preamble, Alfred wrenches the metal rod up and out of Yao's body in one smooth motion. The man convulses once involuntarily as the rebar is pulled free, giving a stifled cry of agony that makes Alfred's heart clench. Blood spills out of the deep wound, staining Yao's dark red overcoat an even darker crimson.

Throwing the bloodstained shaft bar to the side, Alfred gathers Yao into his arms, holding the injured nation as if he weighs next to nothing. "Stay here, Angelica," Alfred says to the girl, turning to fix her with a stern glare. "I'll be right back for you. But I need you to stay right here, you understand?"  She nods shakily, holding her unconscious brother close to her chest.

Alfred then sprints over to a small cellar behind one of the houses. Wrenching one of the doors open, he makes his way down the steps and lays Yao down on a stack of flour sacks. "I'll be right back," he promises, taking the stairs two at a time to get back up into daylight. Running as fast as he can to the children, he snatches them both up and bolts back to the cellar.

"Okay, here's what we're gonna do," he tells Angelica as he pulls the door shut behind him. "You stay here with your brother and Yao. I'm gonna go see if I can end this." He sets Anthony down beside Yao, and turns to leave. Suddenly, a hand clamps down on his arm in a vice-like iron grip. Surprised, Alfred looks over to see Yao looking up at him.

"No." One little word, but the raw panic in Yao's dark, pain-glazed eyes is enough to stop Alfred cold. "Bù zhèyàng zuò, Alfred."

"Yao, I gotta." Alfred places a hand over Yao's. "There're innocent people out there. I have to see if I can help them." Yao's grip tightens, and he closes his eyes in anguish. Alfred knows what he's thinking. He himself is thinking the exact same thing.  

"You better come back," Yao finally says, opening his eyes and looking straight into Alfred's. "Suǒyǐ bāngzhù wǒ de shén. you had better come back. Do you understand me?"

"Perfectly." Alfred squeezes Yao's hand in reassurance, and the older nation looses his grip with a sigh, closes his eyes once again, and falls mercifully unconscious. Alfred turns to Angelica, who looks up at him with watery eyes. On impulse, he unties the blue ribbon from his hat and hands it to her. "Hold onto this for me, okay? I'll be back for it, so you better take good care of it. Okay?" He winks and grins at her. She gives him a wobbly smile and nods. He ruffles her hair and heads back up the stairs. "It's up to you to keep the doors barred. You'll know when it's safe to come out, alright?" She nods again, and he closes the door tightly behind him. He turns to see ten Reavers staring at him with murder in their wild eyes. The image of Yao's broken, bloody body flashes into his mind, and he suddenly sees red.

"Heya, fellas," he says conversationally, cracking his knuckles. "Who's up for a game of baseball?" He bends down and picks up a sturdy piece of broken metal pipe with one hand and draws his gun with his other. "Ever heard of it?" As one, the Reavers rush him. "Nope, didn't think so. Ah, well. Your loss."

Ten against one. They don't stand a chance.

-

The look on the sheriff's face when Alfred casually jogs into the yard in front of the his office, pausing only to bash one Reaver's head in with a length of bloodstained metal pipe while simultaneously blasting another's eye out with a pistol, is absolutely priceless. The whole police force, holed up in the station, stares at him as he jumps up on the porch.

"Afternoon, officers," Alfred says cheerfully, pulling on the brim of his hat. "Hell of a day we're having, isn't it? I've come to respectfully inquire as to whether you've got any antiship ordinance in this little establishment of yours."

The group looks at him as if he's grown another head. "You must be crazy," a young lawman scoffs as he fires off a round of bullets in a Reaver's general direction. "We don't have that kind o' ammo." Alfred frowns.

"Pity that. Oh, hey," he observes casually, peering into the building, "is that a barrel of blastin' jelly I see back there?"

"We are a mining town, young man." The sheriff speaks up for the first time. "What is it exactly that you're getting at?"

"Well..." Alfred cocks his head to the side as he squints up at the ceiling, "... seems to me that a small boat loaded with a few barrels of that stuff - set up to detonate remotely - and flown into the left engine of the Reaver's ship would pretty much take it outta the sky for good. That thing's in really bad shape, and I can tell that those engines aren't the originals. It's like it's bein' held together with packin' tape and string."

The officers all stare at each other. "You know," one says slowly, "that just might work."

"Valentine, Hyde, Wilder, go track down a boat," barks the sheriff. He turns to Alfred. "I don't suppose you'd know how to wire something to fly whatever they find and to explode the jelly, would you?"

A fierce grin spreads across Alfred's face. "Thought you'd never ask."

-

It's taken all their resources and four brave officers have lost their lives, but they've finally managed to secure a small ship and pile about a dozen barrels of blasting jelly on board. Alfred's rigged up a remote demolition button and controls for the transport and is now piloting it through the sky on a dead straight course for the Reaver ship.

"Jones!" Sheriff Jacoby yells at him. "They're overrunning our position! We'll do our best to buy you some time, son."

"Oh, no you don't!" Alfred stalks up to the sheriff and hands him the controller/detonator. He is not about to let anyone else die today, not if Alfred F. Jones has anything to say about it. "I can take care of those gorram Reavers. You just get your men out of here alive, Sheriff." The man looks like he's about to protest, but something he sees in Alfred's eyes seems to silence him. Instead, he nods and takes the controls.

"How do I use it?"

"Okay, ya see this?" Alfred points to a small yellow button on the corner of the remote. "That's the detonator for the jelly. You press that right before the boat's about to slam into those son of a bitch bastards. These," he points to four other buttons set in a cross shape, "are the controls. Up, down, left right. You probably won't need to use 'em much, but if that ship keeps movin' around, you're gonna need to adjust its course." The sheriff nods in confirmation and Alfred claps him on the shoulder before running out back into the fray, pausing only to grab his pipe.

Ivan would be proud. The thought carries with it an element of dark humor and a vague sense of melancholy. He snaps off a couple shots with his gun and dashes through the throng of Reavers, hoping they take the bait and follow him. Most do, and Alfred's fairly certain the law can handle the rest. He leads the Reavers on a merry chase through the partially-destroyed town, hoping fervently that none of the monsters chasing him have projectile weapons.

Ironically, just as Alfred thinks this, something pierces his shoulder, the force of which almost drives him to the ground. He cries out in shock, but clamps down on his lower lip, not wanting to give them the satisfaction. He stumbles but catches himself in the nick of time, willing his legs to move faster. Glancing up at the sky, he sees the ship loaded with explosives move closer and closer to the Reavers.

"Come on," he mutters, turning a corner down a dark alley way and scrambling up on a dumpster. He jumps the rest of the way to pull himself onto the roof, grimacing as his shoulder screams obscenities at him.

"Come on!" he growls, louder, as the Reavers swarm into the alleyway. He tightens his grip on the pistol and starts picking them off one by one. One of them hurls a tomahawk at his head, and he only just dodges it. Grabbing it and hurling it back at its owner, he climbs up the roof and takes cover on the other side, waiting for them to come up so it's easier to take them out.

An almighty explosion rocks the sky, and Alfred looks up to see the Reaver ship careening out of control, hurtling toward the large, deep lake the town is built near. It hits the water with a huge splash, sending water spraying hundreds of feet into the air. Alfred gives a fierce, delighted laugh, waving his hand over his head and whooping as the ship bobs in the water. He supposes it's extreme luck that kept the ship from slamming into what is left of the town, but he's so relieved and euphoric right now that he doesn't think too hard about it.

He's still laughing as the first Reaver pokes its head over the side of the roof and promptly gets it blown off for its trouble.

-

"It's so nice to finally get to sit down for a change," Alfred sighs as he sinks down into a chair, propping his boots up on the kitchen counter. They swiftly get plunked back on the floor again, courtesy of Yao. "Hey! What was that for?"

"Lowlife inn or not, we must still show respect to our hosts, aru," the Chinese nation reminds him sternly. "Plus, your boots are filthy, and I am trying to prepare food here."

"Okay, okay, sorry." Alfred brushes the dirt and who-knows-what-else off the counter. He shoots a surreptitious glance at Yao as the other bustles around the small kitchen with a carving knife in one hand and a large bunch of celery in the other. The other only has a slight limp now, and he carries himself somewhat stiffly, but other than that, he looks remarkably well for a man who had a building fall on him just this afternoon. However, Alfred's worried. He should be completely healed by now. Why isn't he? For that matter, why does Alfred's arrow-pierced shoulder still ache faintly?

Pushing aside those troubling thoughts for now, Alfred reflects briefly on the last few hours after the Reaver attack ended. Over half the town's population had been slaughtered or injured, and still more others had had their homes destroyed by the Reavers' "Great Balls of Fire" as they were coming to be called. Those who still had their homes had opened them to those who no longer had them, and all had banded together to help rescue and treat the wounded. The inn where Yao and Alfred were staying had sustained some minor damage from Reavers and fire, but was relatively unscathed, so one wing was being used for an infirmary, and the patrons were expected to help care for the injured and do chores as part of their room and board. That was why Yao had dragged Alfred with him to the kitchen to help him get started on preparing tomorrow's meals. Those townsfolk with particularly strong stomachs had gathered the Reaver corpses into a large pile for burning. Alfred wrinkles his nose, remembering, and shudders. He wrenches his train of thought off of that track and tries to focus on something else, something more pleasant.

He catches a glimpse of satiny blue out of the corner of his eye, and a small smile quirks one corner of his lips. At least Angelica and Anthony will be alright. Anthony's pretty banged up, but he'll live. Their home was lost in a fire, but their mother's still alive. The same can't be said for their father, but at least they still have one parent. Alfred would hate to be the one to break it to Anthony that his pet mouse didn't make it, but that's a bridge the family will have to cross when they come to it. They're currently bunking in the same inn Alfred and Yao are staying at, and Alfred has to squash the urge to go and check on them. Reavers make him jumpy, and even though he'll probably never see those two sweet kids after he and Yao leave this planet, he wants to know they'll be alright for as long as he can.

A loud clatter draws his attention back to the present, and he sees that Yao's stopped bustling around and is just standing with his back to him. His shoulders are shaking slightly, and every line of his body is tense and rigid. He's gripping the edge of the counter so hard his knuckles are turning white.

"Yao?" Alfred asks concernedly. He pushes his chair back and stands up. "What's wrong? You oka-"

"Bái chī." Alfred freezes, both in confusion and not a little fear. He hasn't heard Yao sound this pissed off in a long time. And Yao is freaking scary when he's pissed off. "Yu chun bái chī. Why must your dammed hero  complex always determine your course of action in everything?!"

"Hey, uh, if this is about me leaving you behind in that cellar-" Alfred begins, but he's cut off by Yao.

"You're damn right it's about you leaving me behind!" He whirls around and stalks toward Alfred, his eyes flaming with barely controlled rage, rage that's been building to an explosive climax all day. Alfred backs up, and, despite being over a foot taller than the other man, he feels very small right now. He backs into the wall, and Yao comes up and stands nose to chest with him, craning his head back to look the younger nation square in the eye.

"You promised you would never go where I couldn't follow! You promised me! And then you go do something like this! Do you not have two working brain cells left? Goddammit, Alfred, what if..." his voice falters, "what if they had caught you again and taken you away to God knows where? How was I supposed to find you? How could I live with knowing what they were doing to you, day after day after…" he trails off and covers his eyes with one hand, an almost imperceptible shudder wracking his body. Alfred suddenly realizes just how scared Yao must have been while he was gone, with Reavers swarming the place and Alfred out in the thick of it. And Yao had still let him go out there, had let him follow his heart, even though his own had been screaming just the opposite.

On impulse, Alfred grabs Yao's wrist and pulls his hand to rest, palm flat, against his chest, right over his heart. He then places his own hand over Yao's heart. Their heartbeats thrum steadily under their fingers, perfectly in sync, the way they have been for centuries. "Here," he tells his companion, his voice uncharacteristically gentle. "Feel. I'm here. It's okay. I'm okay. We're okay. I'm sorry I scared you, believe me, but…" he sighs, "I did what I had to do. If I hadn't, there'd still be Reavers running around out there, and most of this town would be dead by now. And those that weren't would be wishing they were."

Yao turns and walks back to the counter, his face unreadable. Alfred follows close behind.

"I know," is all Yao says softly. "Believe me, I know."  

"And don't you think I was scared for you, too?" Alfred continues. "I remember what happened… that time… too. Did it ever occur to you that I was trying to protect you?"

"You should worry about taking care of yourself. God knows you need all the help you can get," Yao retorts, snatching a random knife and starting to viciously chop up an onion. "And I don't need protecting, niánqīng nánzǐ ."

"Nooo, of course not." Alfred grins teasingly, trying to lift Yao's spirits. "Why, you're old enough to be my great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great-"

"Xuèxīng de liǎnjiá!"

"Have I ever told you how much you sound like Arthur when you say that?"

Yao turns, whacks him on the head with a handful of carrots, and thrusts them and a spare knife into his hands, but the thump is gentle, and Alfred can see some of the tension has left the other's posture.  "Go make yourself useful, aru."

Alfred salutes smartly with the carrots. "Sir, yes sir!" Yao rolls his eyes and goes back to chopping the onion. Alfred can see a barely perceptible upward tilt to the corner of his mouth, and his eyes are wet. That's probably just the onion's fault, though. Alfred grins and kicks back in his chair again, and as he starts to peel his first carrot, a companionable silence falls over the kitchen.

Neither of them mentions the sharp pain that gripped their hearts earlier today or ventures to speculate on what it might mean or signify. They think (hope, believe, pray) that they know what it means, but neither is willing to jinx it by speaking of it openly just yet, or give each other false hope - though they know that the same possibility is on both their minds.

They'll just have to wait and see. But they're good at that, after all.

END PART 1
This is a sequel/epilogue to *PwnedByPineapple’s amazing fic no one man should have all that power, and also ties in to her alternate continuation, Irresistible Force. Go read them if you haven’t already. You won’t regret it! :) .

Chinese Translations for this part (much thanks to Pineapple for all but one of them. I’m deeply grateful, dear. :hug:):
Bù Zài Jìmò - No Longer Lonely
Fēi cháng gǎn xiè - Thank you very much
O, wǒ de - Oh my
xiǎo hái zi - Little one
kěxiào - ridiculous
Cào ni zuzōng shíbā dài! - F**k your ancestors to the eighteenth generation! (Thanks to Pineapple for that little gem.)
Nǐ céngjīng juékǒu, xiǎo lǎohǔ - Do you ever stop talking, little tiger?
Bù zhèyàng zuò - Don’t do it
Suǒyǐ bāngzhù wǒ de shén - So help me God
bái chī - Idiot
yu chun bái chī – stupid idiot
niánqīng nánzǐ - young man
Xuèxīng de liǎnjiá! - The Chinese equivalent of the British exclamation “Bloody cheek!”

Part 2
© 2011 - 2024 X-I-L2048
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PwnedByPineapple's avatar
YAY!

Like I've said before, I love this fic. So much. I'm afraid it'd be a novel if I pointed out every little thing I liked, too. xD That last scene in this part, though, I just adore it. Their closeness is amazing, and the little details here and there, like their hearts beating in sync, are perfect.

I also love Alfred's interactions with the kids. Him + kids of any sort = adorableness. xD And the Reaver attack was really well done. Again, you're good with details. Little things you add made it really vivid and easy to imagine, and that part was exciting and heart-wrenching as well. Like I must've said a dozen times by now, this is my new favorite bromance. xD