APH: I don't belong here

Alfred wasn't sure what he had just walked into. He stood at the door trying to grasp a hold of what was appearing before him.

     Arthur stood in the middle of the living room in front of a glass coffee table that had a sheet of paper on it. It was too far for Al to read but he was able to assume it was a suicide letter. Arthur with a gun in his hand had it pointed to his own temple. Obviously his concentration and a little of his determination was broken when Al had walked in. He now only stood as a statue, held in that position; eyes trained onto Al, letting the tears just run down his cheek, then to dry.

     Silence had gathered in the room as neither of them moved or muttered a single sound. The only sound that was heard was the slow ticking of a clock that clicked as each second painfully moved. Arthur was the first to say something and his lower lip quivered as he muttered, "Al…" saying his name brought new waves of tears.

     Alfred's thought came back to him and he forced same words to come out. "Arthur what are you…" in a normal situation his words wouldn't have been heard. Since his voice was the volume of a whisper, it was almost as if the room amplified them, letting him hear his own hesitation and fear.

     Arthur in response lowered his head, but not dropping the gun.

"You weren't," Al started again, taking a breath in between to try and strengthen the words, "going to-"

"It's not like I'm needed…" Arthur said cutting Al off, "I don't belong here. I'm alone, there's no point."

     First surprise rose into Al then replaced with anger. "What the hell are you talking about?!" Al lounged towards Arthur reaching for the gun; instinctively the other man had backed away. Al was able to tell he was out of range, so he took an extra step and leaped forward.

Crash

The sound echoed and broke the stillness of the room. The two of them lay frozen on the ground; the attacker panting from the sudden adrenalin, the other was wide eyed hand reaching for the gun that Al held, just out of his reach. Al being the much larger of the two was pinning Arthur down, in realization of that he promptly stood up and backed a few steps. Unloading the gun he let the bullets fall and settle at his feet. Once empty, he threw the gun to the side and he heard it skid across the wood floor.

     Arthur had sat up, to watch his last hope fall apart in front of him.  Al walked to him, offered his hand to help him up, but Arthur didn't seem to even notice. He stood on his own power, at least whatever he had left of it, he didn't meet Al's eyes, his only focused on the bullets on the floor.
"Arthur…"

At the sound of his name, Arthur turned on his heel, walking towards glass doors that would lead to the back garden.

"Where do you think you're going?" Reaching for his arm, Al kept Arthur from walking any, to a place Al knew would probably take Arthur away.

"Just let me go…" Twisting his arm left and right, trying to loosen Al's unbreakable grip.

"If I did, where were you planning on going?!"

"…No where…"

"You can't expect me to believe that crap!" Al pulled his arm, forcing him to step closer.

"Shut up! Let me go!" an aggravated Arthur squirmed. With his other hand he clawed at Al's grasp in hopes to loosen a finger or two, enough to escape, but to no avail. Al winced, but the pain only caused him to hang on tighter. "Let me go! Let me go! Let me go!" frustrated at his failed attempts his eyes began to water again.

"No! I don't want you to…hey! Stop it!" Al bit his lip, losing his sentence focusing on his hold

"Let go! Just…let go…" Arthur slowly sank to his knees. "What's the point for me to be here…?" His mouth formed a tight line to hold back his whimpering, but tears wouldn't be restrained.

     Al tried to keep him up by the arm, but the loss of hope in the other made Al fall with Arthur pulling him into a tight embrace. With Arthur's face buried into Al's shoulder he was limp, now letting the sobs out.

     Al searched for the words he hoped would let Arthur continue, "We'll find it…we'll find it! The reason you need, we'll look together!" Al brought his hero smile, the one that seemed like everything would turn out okay no matter what.

"Find what…? You're a fool…"

     Arthur's negativity didn't shatter Al's determination. He would help Arthur, whatever it would take to give him the strength to live again. No matter how long it would take, he would restore Arthur. Hopefully during that time, he could open Arthur's eyes to how much Al cared for him.