You had just woken up, still trying to process everything. Once your eyes cleared up you saw a letter that had been slipped under the room's door. You got up and picked it up wondering what it said.
Oh no.
If this was from who you thought sent it, you'd be in danger. The letter told you to go to the lab at headquarters, one of the places there that Childe warned you about. What a great way to start off your morning. You tried to get this out of your mind whilst you got ready but it was just one of those things that you couldn't forget.
You closed the door behind you and put the letter in your pocket after you got changed. Would you be in more danger if you were to ignore it rather than to actually go to the lab? You wanted to ask Childe about this, but he'd just tell you not to go. As you walked to headquarters, you felt a heavy weight on your shoulders. You thought about what Dottore said yesterday, and why would anyone else but him invite you to the lab?
"Are you okay?" You zoned back in and realised Childe was walking next to you now.
"Yeah I'm fine, why wouldn't I be okay." In reality, you were panicking.
"You're not your usual self today, did something happen?" He examined your facial expression, he knew something was wrong but you didn't want to tell him.
"It's nothing, really." You sighed, a lot happened but it was best if he didn't know about that now.
"I hope you're not busy then, I was actually hoping we could hang out?" He asked you, but the only thing on your mind was that letter.
"I don't think I can right now, but we can definitely hang out later. I just have to do something." You smiled, "Maybe around 3:00 pm? I'll see you later," Waving goodbye, you started walking down the hallway. You walked for a few minutes then you made the last turn you had to make to get there. You couldn't believe you were actually doing this.
You read the letter once more, you wondered if these would be your last minutes alive. You slowly made your way to the door and opened it. And sure enough, there he was.
"You actually came, I'm surprised." He had a wicked smile on his face, you instantly regretted this moment.
"So why did you tell me to come here?" You wanted him to get straight to the point.
"Do you really not recognize me Y/n?" Your heart was racing, you didn't know what he meant.
"What do you mean? We've only met once." You said back to him.
"Allow me to refresh your memory, remember the time your parents went missing? It's honestly sad you don't remember me." He slowly walked closer to you, but you still didn't understand what that had to do with anything.
"How do you know about that?" That happened years ago, you swore to yourself you'd never bring it up again. Then again, you suppressed those memories so you eventually forgot some of the minor details.
"Because I'm the reason they went missing, don't you understand?" Your eyes widened in disbelief.
"It was you? But they said their disappearance had nothing to do with the fatui." Sure the incident happened a long time ago, but you still had a few memories of it.
"Oh but they were wrong. Well none of that matters now, because now it's your turn."
Just as your suspicions were confirmed, you ran out of the lab. That was such a bad idea. You had to leave quickly, before anything else could go wrong. You wanted to quit right then and there, but this was for the sake of your friends. Who knows what they could do to them if you quit this job now.
"Woah– slow down," Alhaitham caught you before you bumped into him.
"How am I suppose to slow down when I was about to murdered? This is the second time–
"What happened?" He asked sincerely, he heard the panic in your voice.
"I need time to process what happened right now," You were breathing heavily, Alhaitham was tightly hugging you.
"I'll take you back to your room so you can calm down alright?" He was holding you in his arms.
"Wait, I never told you where I was staying?" You lifted up your head to look at him.
"Childe told me, I ran into him on my way here." He looked at you as you stared into his eyes.
"I'm going to punch him later." You cleared your throat, "Anyway I guess that would help, thank you." You wondered what conversation they were having for Childe to bring up where you were staying. That was beside your main problem right now.
He just smiled at you, "Then let's go."
The both of you made your way to the Inn you were staying at because you still didn't have enough Mora to rent anything else right now. Alhaitham opened the door for you and he closed it behind him.
"Oh I didn't think you were going to stay," You sat on the bed.
"I can leave if you'd like." He suggested, but you actually wanted him to stay
"No I want you to stay with me– that's actually embarrassing to admit now that I say it out loud."
"It's alright, I already know you love me." He smirked at you, a blush appeared on your face.
"I've only said it one time, besides I'd rather not think of that day." You looked away from him in that instant.
"Then I presume you don't feel the same way?" He was still smirking at you.
"No it's just complicated– I do love you." He lifted up your chin, "I don't want you to lose your job because of me though." You confessed.
"I see, you care more about me than yourself? That says something doesn't it?" He tilted his head.
You couldn't bring yourself to say anything more on the topic, "Why are you still in Snezhnaya anyway? I thought you would go back to Sumeru by now." You switched the topic.
"We were actually sent here to investigate and collect information on something." He sat next to you
"Oh, on what?" You were curious what they were researching, this was the dangerous part of Snezhnaya, with the Fatui nearby and everything after all.
"Nothing of your concern, that information shouldn't be disclosed to the Fatui." He placed his hand on your shoulder.
"Yeah yeah, I guess I should tell you what happened now." You sighed, still wondering why Dottore was going after you specifically now, after all of these years. You explained what happened from when you saw the letter from when you ran out of the building.
"Do you have any idea why he did that to your parents? And why he could be going after you now?"
"No, it's honestly been on my mind for a while now, but I can't think of anything they could've done for him to have– killed them." Your voice lowered as you said the last phrase.
"I'm sorry for your loss, I'll be here for the next week. I could stay with you until then?" He offered, but you knew you'd be busy with something this week.
"I would love that, but I have something important to do this week." You knew you'd have to go on that mission to steal the Gnosis soon, and if Alhaitham found out about it things would take a turn.
"And what might that be?" You loved how he was just looking at you, waiting for your response.
"I can't disclose that information to anyone of the Akademiya," You smirked at him.
"Fair enough, don't do anything too dangerous, I don't want you getting hurt." He said as he pulled you in for a hug.
A/N: Im so tired but I have homework to do so time to suffer but besides that i actually made this chapter kind of longer than the others? Only kind of by 200 words but whatever, i've been playing so much Project Sekai lately and 'Doctor=Funk Beat' and 'King' has been stuck in my head all day 💀
YOU ARE READING
𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 - ✫ ᴀʟʜᴀɪᴛʜᴀᴍ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ ✫
FanfictionY/N had just arrived to Sumeru not long ago, this would be a blessing and a curse all in one. Just by him that faithful day would change everything, and their life wouldn't be the same ever since.
