FireBear1

The room was in darkness, the only light being at the far end. There was a door there and the light also hit the end of a table. It seemed to stretch along the room and probably did. People were breathing and one coughed. Whoever they were, they appeared to be waiting. Finally, the door opened and a man in a dark suit stepped through, squinting as the light hit his eyes. After blinking a few times, he grew used to the light and nodded at the table. The people in the shadows seemed to hold their breath. “You may be wondering why I called you all here today,” he said by way of introduction. “No,” said a gruff voice

His chest hurt. Breathing wasn't working. Head swimming through something thick. He felt as though he was falling over. And spinning round and round. It was taking a lot of energy to stay conscious. Then again, why was it he was trying to stay awake, listening to someone laughing? Maybe if he let himself sleep, everything would be fine... A swishing sound reached him, swiftly followed by a slicing sound. The pressure on his chest was released and he fell to his knees, still feeling dizzy. He took deep, shuddering breaths and coughed a few times. Opening his eyes, he blinked several times before looking up. Harry appeared to be enraged: he

With his eyes shut, Alfred realised that he was lying on a soft, comfortable bed. He felt absolutely calm and light as if a weight had been lifted from him. Slowly, he opened his eyes, automatically feeling around for his glasses. When he finally located them on a bedside table, he placed them on his nose and stared up at the blank ceiling, small yet bright lights built into it. Blinking, he tried to remember what he had been doing as he took the room in. There was a chair beside the bed. A chest of drawers faced him. The door was painted a sky blue and was tightly closed. Apart from that, the room was nondescript and had nothing else withi

The next day, Alfred woke up in his bed. He blinked and sat up, searching for his glasses on the bedside table. After putting them on, he gazed around the room. It was a lot tidier than he remembered. In fact, he could see the floor. Frowning, he got up and padded through to the living room. The place had been cleared of ice cream tubs and burger wrappers. The kitchen had been scrubbed. The toilet, too. He thought for a moment and realised that the last thing he remembered was being half-carried to his room by Arthur. He had still been sobbing and had eventually fallen asleep from his crying. Rubbing his eyes, he went to the bathroom and to

Alfred logged online and found only Gentleman-H8er on his favourite site. He frowned: did he really want to talk to this person? Unfortunately, he did not get much choice as the person immediately messaged him. Gentleman-H8er: Have you accepted the fact that your favourite hero is a fraud? ☺HERO☺: I still don't get you, dude. What's your problem? He's not a fraud! He's awesome! Gentleman-H8er: He is claiming credit for saving a man when he did very little in the rescue. He is a fraud. ☺HERO☺: What? Gentleman-H8er: A man was carried to their doctor last night – but it wasn't by The Gentleman. It was by Birdman

The next time Alfred saw his hero was a week after Halloween. He was walking home from college rather later than normal. Kiku had insisted he do the work for his part of their project on his own and that had meant being in the library for far longer than he liked. But he had finished it and he was looking forward to going home to play more of his games. As he was hurrying through the streets, a movement caught his eye. He glanced around and found himself looking into a dark alley. Frowning, he slowed and halted, staring into the shadows. What had caught his attention? Was it a stray cat or a rat? He bit his lip as he hesitated, wondering wh

A few days after the fire, Alfred was on the fan site when a new member popped up. He was always ready to welcome new people as were the others. Then they all spotted the name. The newcomer was calling themselves Gentleman-H8er. Surprised, Alfred asked the person if it was a mistake. They said no, they had heard that The Gentleman actually paid attention to the site and they wanted to talk to him. Alfred was still confused upon hearing this but kept quiet as the other fans continued to talk. However, when one of the girls started to talk about the fire and all the people he had saved, the newcomer spoke up. Gentleman-H8er: He is an awful m

Alfred hadn't expected to see Arthur again until their arranged meeting so he was rather surprised to come upon him in one of the corridors on campus. He was with a taller man whose hair was also blonde but tied up with a blue ribbon, a few strands falling from it. He was wearing what Alfred presumed was fashionable clothes – they were rather flashy either way. His top was a deep blue and his jeans were had some sort of a fancy design on the pocket, a belt “setting a statement”. He was standing with his arm blocking the entrance to a room, smiling mischievously at the Brit. Arthur, meanwhile, was glaring at him, hugging a pi

Alfred was so excited to have actually – somehow – convinced Arthur to meet up with him. The day after he had given the Brit his number, he had received a hesitant call asking to meet up and “have a chat”. Alfred had agreed and they arranged to meet in a café close to their college campus the next day. He was so ecstatic that he went online to talk to his friends while he regaled Kiku with his stories of Arthur. He played a bigger role in them, though, as he told it from his point of view. Kiku looked at him with an amused expression which caused Alfred to blush a little and look away. When he logged onto Th