Chapter Text
Everything should have been perfectly banal.
A few hours out.
Plub had wanted to get some fresh air before returning to work at the manor, and Rome, back from Hong Kong for a few weeks, offered to accompany him. They had walked for a long time, stopped in a small bookstore where Plub had spent almost half an hour in front of a section of novels while Rome, sitting in an armchair near the window, pretended to read while he spent his time mostly looking up at her, throwing absurd remarks that made her laugh in spite of herself.
Then they had continued their walk, they talked of everything and of nothing, of Peach, of Thee, of Hong Kong, of the dishes that Rome already regretted while he had not even left yet. There was nothing to suggest that this day would change, the van stopped so abruptly in front of them that they did not even have time to understand, doors slammed, men went down.
Everything went much too fast, Rome had only the reflex to push Plub back behind him before a first blow hit him in the shoulder, he vacillated, despite everything to stand up.
"Run!" he shouted without even thinking.
But Plub never had the time, someone grabbed her arm, Rome immediately fought, he hit, received another blow, then a third. There were too many of them, he felt a pain burst from behind his skull, the world wavered, the last thing he saw before everything turned black was the terrified face of Plub calling his name.
When he regained consciousness, it took him several long seconds to understand where he was.
The air smelled of moisture, dust, cold concrete, his wrists were burning, he slowly lowered his eyes, plastic ties deeply tightened around his hands tied behind his back. His ankles were tied up too, his head hurled at him atrociously.
Each beat of his heart seemed to resonate directly against his skull, he breathed with difficulty, then heard a sob, and immediately looked for the source of the noise.
"Plub..."
His voice was hoarse, barely more than a breath, the young woman immediately raised her head, her eyes were red, but she seemed to be well.
"Rome..." Her voice broke almost immediately. "You are awake..."
Rome instantly forgot his own pain.
"Are you hurt?"
She shook her head gently.
"I... I think not... just..."
Her hands were trembling so much that the whole chair vibrated with her, Rome quickly observed the room.
An old warehouse, no accessible windows, a single metal door, at least four armed men outside if the voices he heard were accurate. He briefly closed his eyes, reflected, then slowly reopened the eyelids.
"It will be fine."
Plub looked at him as if she did not understand how he could pronounce such a sentence.
"Rome..."
"They will come," he said with a certainty that did not suffer any hesitation. "P'Kian will always find us."
Plub’s lips trembled.
"And if..."
"No." He gently shook his head despite the pain. "He will come."
Because Theerakit Kian Lee always found the people he loved, Rome was convinced of that, or at least... He tried to be.
The silence fell, only interrupted by a few drops of water falling somewhere in the building, then Plub resumed her speech in an almost inaudible voice.
"I’m sorry..."
Rome frowned immediately.
"Why?"
"If I hadn’t wanted to go out..."
He interrupted her immediately.
"Don’t even think about it."
"But..."
"Plub." His voice was surprisingly soft. "You did absolutely nothing wrong."
She looked down.
"Yet"
"If there is anyone who should apologize..."
Rome paused for a few seconds, his wrists pulling painfully against the bonds as he tried, without success, to loosen them, a slight smile, sad more than reassuring, appeared nevertheless on his face.
"It’s me."
Plub abruptly raised her head.
"What?"
"I was with you." He slightly turned away. "I should have managed to protect you."
"Rome..."
"It’s my fault you’re here."
"No!" Her response was so immediate that it echoed through the warehouse. "Stop saying that!"
Rome had a weary little smile.
"You know..." he whispered. "P'Kian will be furious."
Plub at first thought he was talking about the kidnappers.
"Yes..."
"No." Rome slowly shook his head. "Against me."
She remained frozen.
"Why would he be angry with you?"
Rome seemed sincerely surprised by this question, as if, in his mind, the answer was obvious.
"Because I had to take care of you." His voice was lower. "And I wasn’t able to do it." He breathed with difficulty. "Something happened to you... because you were with me."
Plub felt her heart clench.
"Rome... he will never think that."
He sketched a faint smile, one that never reached his eyes.
"You don’t know my brain when it starts thinking."
The silence returned, heavier still, Rome slowly raised his eyes towards the decrepit ceiling of the warehouse, he forced himself to breathe calmly, to smile, to talk about everything and nothing. To ask Plub what would be the first thing she’d eat when she got home, to joke about the fact that Peach was definitely going to turn the whole kitchen into a restaurant to make sure she regained her strength.
He kept talking, almost never stopping, because as long as she was answering... As long as she was rolling her eyes at his ridiculous jokes... As long as she sighed, telling him that he was unable to be serious for more than thirty seconds... Then she no longer thought of fear.
And that was all that mattered, on the other hand, every time Plub looked down, Rome also stopped smiling, for just a few seconds. Just long enough for the guilt to come back and crush his chest, because behind all his jokes, a single thought kept coming back.
Everything happened because of me.
He closed his eyes briefly and, for the first time since their captivity began, prayed silently. Not for him, but for Plub to return home safely, even if it meant that when the doors of this warehouse finally opened, he would have to face his big brother’s disappointed gaze.