The Great Detective's Final Case || Alcides
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What was even left for him to return to? Alcides didn’t know. It was like throughout the weeks- the months he spent in that cursed mansion and later down in the D.A.T.A. headquarters healing that he realized how little he had been thinking about. Not just about himself, but about his life.
The man he was before was but a husk, an empty shell of his former self, he comes to realize. Just who was Alcides Durant? Was he the praiseworthy detective from two years ago? Was he the man he pretended to be once the game was afoot? Astute, confident and charming? Or was he… Neither?
The answered eluded him, but there’s one thing he’s certain of now. He’s glad to be alive. Life had meaning again! Now it just wasn’t some game he played aimlessly without any goals in life. He knew he had a purpose now, and that purpose is to no longer run from the mistakes of his past, but to confront them head on.
“… There’s work to be done. I’ll see you all when I’m done.” Are the last words he delivers onto the others before he leaves, leaving his phone number behind, but the one person he won’t ever leave behind is the woman who captured his heart and helped him remember that there’s still light, hopes and dreams in the world. The woman he learned to love. But she wasn’t the only one who lived in his heart.
– – – –
A couple of days pass and he’s back to where it all started, New York. For the first time in a very long time, it felt like the city was welcoming him with its bright, warm sun instead of devouring him whole. Night soon falls and he’s standing alone, at a park, when a patrol car suddenly arrives, and out of it steps a tall woman. Long, red locks of hair reach past her waste as she approaches. Her clothes are simple, a black shirt tucked into a pair of khaki pants, matching brown boots and a blue jacket atop her shirt. Her green eyes well with tears, but she remains steel-faced.
“I knew a rat like you wouldn’t just up-and-disappear without reason. You’re too stubborn to be taken down like that, right?” Her words are harsh, but warm. Alcides only smiles. “… I’m sorry for leaving that note at your apartment so abruptly, Aella. I’ve just… Had a rough couple of months.” He smiles, and for once… He feels like his relationship with the woman that taught him everything was becoming less tense. He had a lot to tell her. A story he would tell her. A heart he would finally open to her and confess everything to her, this time willingly. It was a cold night, but it felt impossibly warm to him.
– – – –
It’s midday, the afternoon. Just the right time he knows his parents go to their favorite restaurant. A quiet little place they all frequented back when they were a family. Despite everything that happened, a parent never forgets their child. A worried old couple who had clung to the last bits of hope that their only son would return to them. When they step inside the small establishment, wearing his signature feathered white fedora, they see him. They truly see him. Not the man who used his influence and power to condemn those more unfortunate than him, but their son. The bright-eyed, witty man he was when he first became an officer of the law.
That unmistakable spark in his eyes told them everything, their son was back. He was, and for the rest of the evening, tears were shed, hugs and kisses were shared and stories were told. Everything that happened, he didn’t hide a single detail. Not a single one. They urged him to introduce Coralie to them,a nd how could he say no! Not just her, but everyone else too. Maximilien the composer, Adonis the former gambler, Llywelyn the physicist, and Odette, the girl he had taken under his wing and promised to take care of as if she was his own. They were all part of his family too. How could he not mention them? It was good to finally be back to a place he didn’t know he missed…
– – – –
The cold winds of France, something that was new to Alcides, somehow felt familiar, like this was where he belonged. Holding the hand of the woman that he would accompany for the rest of his life, they moved onto a penthouse in Angers, France and once more, Alcides picked himself up from the ashes he had left in the United States. Establishing himself as a private detective after requesting some help from Aella, he was ready to start anew, this time as an honest officer of the law, someone who was willing to put his life on the line for the betterment of others.
His office was, of course, adorned with several things, but the ones who brought him the most joy was the wool sweater he kept in a closet he had installed alongside a large green coat much too large for him. Sitting on a small desk was a high-end camera that, while unused, carried a lot of emotional value, and so did the pair of boxing gloves that hanged neatly from the farthest wall. Besides the camera was a miniature tank figurine and neatly organized on his desk’s drawers were several books, all of which were penned by someone whose name he didn’t know, but whose identity he recognized.
Mounted on the wall behind him was a stuffed wolf’s head with its mouth open, as if ready to attack and on a smaller desk near him were several empty bottles of popular alcoholic drinks that bars serve, including a single bottle of Sake. Lastly, loosely hanging from a coat rack was a lovely, silk-like blue scarf and also hanging from it was a unique hat he had commissioned. It was silly and resembled a red mushroom with even redder spots on it, but they all brought a smile to his face whenever he stayed in his office for work.
He and Coralie had acclimated well to their new home. He had helped teach her how to speak the language better, after all she already knew a fair bit of French. Coralie’s popularity had exploded once she began her business in France, especially in Paris! She had practically become a sensation and a full-blown celebrity and he couldn’t be any more proud of her even if he wanted to! It takes her two hours to get there and back home by train, but he trusts that she’s going to be fine. They’re all free now after all! They have all the time in the world… All the time in the world to finally be themselves and be happy.
– – – –
He looks down at the papers he had been writing. Letters, for their scattered friends and ‘thank you’ letters for the agents of D.A.T.A. and everything they did for them, including saving them from that fiery explosion. For their friends, they are invitations to come visit soon… And also letters, to the families of those who had departed this world… He explains the circumstances and to contact and even visit him if they have any desires to speak upfront about whatever doubts they might have. It’s the least their families deserve after all. When it comes to Lilith’s family, he doesn’t mention what she did, instead mentioning she was unable to escape the explosion and that she was Cassius Conundrum’s final victim. All of them are signed:
-Alcides & Coralie Durant