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Alban easily jumps over a fence, smirking as he does so. The VSF officers that were following him were definitely no match for his parkour skills.
He was usually very safe when he was out stealing something interesting in his eyes, his senses heightened furthermore with the gadgets he invented.
But there were also times when he lets himself loose. And by loose, it's him obviously trying to get caught in the act and have some officers chase after him.
At first, Alban was doing it for the thrill. The unexpected rush of thrill in his veins, knowing one wrong move and someone will catch up to him.
Then one fateful day, Alban saw the commander of the special unit that deals with sleek bastards like him and he would never forget about him.
He was the first one to catch him without trying to use dirty tricks, easily pinning him down and taking him in. Alban took the chance to sneak a glance at his desk.
Commander Sonny Brisko.
"That highlighter surely was a daddy." Alban snickered as he jumped from another fence, glancing back before he threw his middle finger up in the air for the officers chasing him.
The commander wasn't able to detain him for longer when he escaped the jail cell but he did leave something that the guy can look at and think of him.
Just a polaroid of him getting a jackpot in one of his heists. Smiling so brightly, you wouldn't believe he can easily manhandle an inexperienced VSF officer.
But Alban didn't steal much at all. Unlike other big-time thieves like him that is always being chased, all he stole were shiny things that took his interest, mostly just cosmetic things that don't cost a lifetime of inheritance.
The only reason why the VSF special unit is after him is that he had the expertise in what he does. He can invent gadgets that can help him.
"CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, BASTARDS!" Alban shouted as he jumped off from the top of a 10-storey building with no hesitation, flipping his body up to face them before giving a salute to the officers looking down at him with a huge smile.
"IS HE CRAZY?!" He heard one of them shout in disbelief, he assumed a new officer in the pack. Alban laughed it off as he landed on a closed container with ease.
His boots can take a huge amount of impact that doesn't transfer to his body. He invented it after all.
"They're so stupid, it's funny!" Alban turned around the corner with a big smile, having a lot of fun with what he was doing.
But he hoped he didn't.
Because as soon as he rounded up the alleyway, a VSF officer stood there with a specialized gun pointed at him.
"Checkmate." The random VSF officer even dared to utter as he turned even uglier when he smirked.
"Ugh, not fair man. I thought VSF played it fair."
VSF never played fair. If anything, they played the dirtiest out of all organizations, most especially the special unit.
But Alban was an exception. At least as Sonny has announced.
"You've been so annoying, making us run after you every time and shit! You make my blood boil!" Alban just snickered at that. "WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING AT!"
"Man, you're new, aren't you?" Alban snickered again before he removed his orange-tinted glasses.
"Yeah, I am?! So what! I can beat you without them!"
"Hmm. Doubt that."
Alban shouldn't have said anything but it was in his nature to be a little shit and taunt people. It was the only thing he could resort to in times of fear and doubt. Those emotions tend to overwhelm him sometimes so being like this helps to distract him.
"YOU ARE SO ANNOYING! I CAN PULL THE TRIGGE—"
"THEN DO IT, COWARD!"
A loud bang and an equally loud thud followed with a shocked gasp from someone and the sound of a falling gun.
Alban just laughed weakly, feeling the pain flow through every vein in his body. This was his fault for underestimating his enemy.
The VSF officer stood there in shock, his gun long forgotten on the floor as he looked at a certain phantom thief with horror in his eyes. He wasn't the one who shot him.
He wasn't the one who shot him.
HE WASN'T THE ONE WHO SHOT HIM!
"Ha... What..." He stared at Alban's quivering body in a pool of his own blood. He was scared but at the same time... He should be brutal with annoying bitches.
So he took his gun from the ground and delivered another shot to Alban, making him groan loudly in pain. "F—ngh—Fuck you!" Alban quivers more, feeling more pain from the specialized bullet.
The officer released a breathy laugh before he smirked, not even bothering to get up close to Alban in case his blood gets into his boots. "That's what you get rat!"
Alban laid there, feeling immense pain. His eyes were focused on the sky which was getting so blurry it was a pain to keep his eyes open.
He just wishes he could see that commander one last time.
The phantom thief blinked and it seemed like some gods heard him and answered his prayer, letting him see the commander's face one last time.
"Hah... Got to see you before I die..." Alban struggled to get out his words but all he did was grin as if he doesn't have the possibility of dying. "That's a nice sent away gift..."
"Don't sleep yet."
The commander's voice was also charming but unfortunately, Alban wouldn't be able to follow with his request or command, who knows.
"Sorry, sir... I ca—n't..."
———
Sonny gritted his teeth as he glares at the officer who was caught in the act. He couldn't contain his rage and anger unlike on other days.
"How many weeks have you served."
"I—commander—"
"GIVE ME AN ANSWER!" Sonny yelled in anger, satisfied with how scared the officer looked but also not. He needs to suffer more.
"T-Three weeks, commander!" The officer trembled on his knees, feeling a lot of glares shooting through his body.
What's happening? He only took one annoying bastard out of their way! They should be thankful so why is he getting treated like this!
"Three weeks and you already broke one of my rules." The officer's head shot up, his face filled with annoyance.
What rule? VSF is supposed to be brutal, have no mercy, and play dirty. He only did what VSF does so why is this useless commander scolding him!
"I only did what VSF does! How come I broke a rule!"
A loud slap rang across the room. The officer felt his cheek going numb in an instant, too shocked to even butter a rebuttal.
"VSF doesn't kill people unless they have bodies under their belt. That is why we conduct invasive investigations first."
"That—"
The officer's eyes widened as multiple specialized guns pointed at him, his eyes immediately finding Sonny who only looked down at him with a cold, deadly stare.
"Do not interrupt me." A gun fired a bullet just merely centimetres from hitting the officer whose face has become white from fear, finally realizing what is going to happen to him if he doesn't shut the fuck up.
"We spill blood if the person has smeared it in their hands." Sonny continued, calmly leaning back against the wall but his eyes says otherwise. "And in this case, that phantom thief you just shot and potentially killed hasn't faced a corpse caused by his actions yet."
"That thief did nothing but satiate his greediness towards shiny things that most of the time don't cost anything that grand, unlike other thieves that we have killed."
"And it just so happens that he was under my protection." The officer's mouth gaped as he took in the severity of what he did.
Every commander has a chance to put multiple people under their protection. It depends on how many years they've served and how effective they were as a commander.
If you're a new commander, you get a chance to put one person under your protection but if you're a veteran, you can put up to fifty people under your protection. It offered a lot of danger but VSF refused to take down this system.
Since VSF deals with special individuals with impeccable talent, it's such a waste to let those special people rot in prison. So the commanders used their abilities for something else that can help their crooked world get back to being a functioning piece of the galaxy for once.
Sonny has been serving for 2 years but he had never taken anyone under his wing. No one just seemed to satisfy him. But one look at a certain phantom thief got him signing papers as soon as possible.
He could take in up to fifteen people which was a great feat for a somewhat new commander like him but he insisted that the phantom thief was more than enough and that he was the diamond he was so 'desperately' searching for.
A lot of VSF officers respected him, both veterans and newbies. So they also highly held the phantom thief in higher regard that they let him do whatever he wants to do per Sonny's command.
Alban served as training for newbie officers without him knowing about it. Everyone goes through a heavy briefing before going through with a chase. Sonny has always monitored the phantom thief so they knew where he would go and where the 'training' location was.
Alban was easy to track for Sonny and for that reason was not interested in even catching him at first but that has changed. The brunet was very interesting, to say the least.
"Rip his badge off and his limbs." Sonny smiled, not a pretty one, but a deadly one. "Make sure to do it very slowly so he can enjoy it."
It was time to show the stupid officer how ruthless VSF is.
Screams filled the room as the officer tried getting away from the multiple hands pulling him and dragging him against the floor, fading out as they stepped out of the room.
The screams stopped when multiple loud thuds made it to Sonny's ears. His boys are probably dragging the moron down the concrete stairs.
"His mistake is joining us with that attitude."
———
Alban felt light creeping through his closed eyes as well as the pain somewhere in his abdomen.
Where was he?
Somewhere trivial or somewhere he shouldn't be in, it doesn't matter. It's been years since he felt comfortable softness in his back.
Though it hasn't been particularly long since he felt a sharp pain continuously piercing through his organs, he distinctly remembers barely escaping a buffed ass guy before when he was out stealing a pearl necklace from a lady whom he didn't find attractive at any point.
He was also sure that the pearl necklace was fake, definitely fake, but it shined so brightly that he couldn't help but want it.
He wasn't aware that that particular lady had an ugly-ass old model of a fridge as her boyfriend who can easily body him.
Alban distinctly remembers running so fast he was sure he dislocated his knees just to try to escape that cursed looking guy.
"You're awake." Ahh... That voice—wait, that familiar voice sounds so good in his ears. He knows exactly who the owner of that voice is.
"Sir... Brisko." Alban was going to sit up but the sharp pain tingled in his abdomen so he decided to not be overzealous with his body.
Instead, he turned only his head to the direction he heard the voice come from and there he saw the blond that's been plaguing his mind day and night.
"Sir Brisko," Alban said with more certainty, his smile automatic on his lips. "Seems like you've caught me yet again."
Sonny looked at him with a nonchalant expression, his steps sounding heavy and resonating across the whole room. "You're not in a good condition."
"Well, I did get shot two times—probably more, I don't remember."
That huge smile was still on his lips and it made Sonny feel like holding back on murdering a certain officer if it weren't for the reminder that Alban got shot and hurt because of that buffoon.
"I have taken care of him."
"Him? The officer who shot me?"
"Who else?" Sonny's tone wasn't rude in the slightest, it was as if he was asking 'who else should I get rid of for you?'.
But it fell on short length since Alban just smiled even brighter. "Man! Thank you! Though, I'm sure you didn't do this for nothing so spill it."
"Spill out?"
"What do you need me to do?"
What does Sonny want him to do? Well, there is certainly one thing Sonny wants him to do for him.
"Undress."
Did Alban just hear that right?
"What?"
"I said undress."
"Woah—I didn't expect you to be that freaky but sure, I guess." Alban was quick to regain himself. "Though I won't be as hypermobile as I was if you said you wanted to dick me down before."
Sonny lifted an eyebrow before he crossed his arms in his chest. "Don't get your hopes up, Knox. I don't allow indecency in my office."
"Eh? But you said I should undress?" Alban stopped his hands from lifting his shirt. "Isn't that implying you wanted to fuck me?"
"Limit your profanities and no. I only said to undress so I can see if you have any more injuries." The blond walked closer to where Alban was, looking down at him with unexplainable eyes. "I wanted to check myself if you were actually safe."
There wasn't even an ounce of embarrassment on Alban's face. He must've had a remarkable way of hiding his emotions though one emotion leaks out.
Disappointment.
It almost made Sonny smirk if it wasn't for the fact that he strictly abides by his rules inside the office though he could definitely slide something in that could make Alban light up. So he bent down just enough to be right beside Alban's ear, his face facing the headboard of the retractable bed he took from one of the barracks as he whispered.
"Though I allow indecency inside my bedroom. You just have to wait for a few more hours."
Sonny then pulled away, walking to his desk as if nothing happened. "You can do that, can you?"
"Of course, I can. What do you take me for?" Alban was quick to answer, not even bothering to hide his enthusiasm. It was as if he's been waiting for this even though he was playing so hard to get with their chases.
"Alright, now, the checking for injuries can wait until later." A bunch of paper rustling caught Alban's attention as Sonny kept talking with a much softer voice than what filled the interrogation room earlier the day.
"I need to inform you about some... situational perks."
"Situational?"
Sonny lifted a clipboard before he gave it to Alban. "This paper will have all the basics you need to know with your current predicament."
"VSF protection code offers a wide range of situational perks..." Alban mumbles as he reads, his words trailing off until he just stayed quiet. His eyes were moving so Sonny knows that he was reading it seriously.
"You want to put me under your protection code, is that it?"
"You're already under it."
"Huh... Me? You?" Alban looked at Sonny with shocked eyes for the first time since they started this charade of unusual ways to talk to someone you just properly met.
"Why me?"
"Hmm... Who knows? I guess I did like the souvenir you left me." A soft smile coloured Sonny's usual poker face.
The kind of smile Alban would've never expected from the commander of an organization who just tried to put an end to his glamour thieving and somehow he finds himself unable to look away.
"This is going to be exploitation, isn't it?" Alban questions with a small voice, eyes still looking at Sonny's. "It always goes in that direction whenever I trust people."
Sonny's face turned sour from Alban's words but Alban still didn't look away. He didn't feel intimidated, as if even though Sonny was mad, he knew that the blond wasn't mad at him.
"In some way, it is. Though I'll never take advantage of you, it's just impossible for me to even begin thinking of using you." His voice was cold yet Alban felt warmth instead. "If that was my goal right from the start then I wouldn't have even bothered saving you."
"That's true."
Without thinking twice, Alban signed his life away for Sonny to protect.
"Take care of me."
"Likewise."
Alban gave Sonny the file with a smile, eyes clouded with something neither of them can explain.
"I've been meaning to ask this... Why do you always go for irrelevant things when doing a heist?" Sonny tried to hold his tongue from asking but he really couldn't stop himself anymore.
"Hmm? Irrelevant?"
"You know, cheaper stuff."
"Ah! Hmm, sit down beside me and I'll tell you." Alban coyly muttered, patting the free space on the bed he was laying down. "Hurry, commander."
"Okay, okay." Sonny made his way and sat down in the space, eyes focused on Alban's face.
"Don't call me commander."
"Sir Brisko, then."
"Not that either."
"Then what do you want me to call you?"
"Sonny."
Alban bit his lower lip to contain the huge smile threatening to colour his lips before he released a chuckle. "Alright then, Sonny."
"The answer to your question is that..." Alban looked down at his hands, his smile seeming far. "I don't have anyone to support financially so I don't go for the big buck."
"I steal just enough to get by. I've never been fond of stealing but it's the only thing I could do to survive back then." An empty chuckle tickled Sonny's conscience as he listened.
"My friend, I treated him as a brother, died during a heist. It wasn't even a heist. We were just... Stealing food to get by. To live. To survive." Alban exhaled loudly as he tried to control the eyes that were ready to betray him.
"The owners caught up to us and they started beating us. I survived, barely, but my friend didn't. Apparently, my skin was a lot thicker than his." He closed his eyes, seeking the face of his friend who has gone blurry from his memories through the years.
"We were just trying to live, stealing food just so we can eat at least once a day. Growing up as thieves because everyone refused to help us."
Sonny's hands were itching. He wanted to pull Alban to his chest and comfort him but the other's injuries prevented him from proceeding with his thoughts. It'll be a big burden if he were to irritate Alban's injuries.
"I learned how to defend myself but still couldn't get out of fights unscathed. Somehow, whenever I'm at an advantage, I always mull over what's right and what's wrong so they manage to get the upper hand in the end."
Sonny looked at his desk, giving Alban time to continue but when he didn't, he decided it'll probably be the most appropriate time to ask him a question.
"Do you want to steal?"
Alban looked up to him as if he was just spouting nonsense, his mouth opening to answer but he stopped, closing his mouth slowly as he racked his eyes over the ceiling of Sonny's office.
"I have to."
"That's not the answer I wanted. I asked you if you want to, not if you need to."
"But isn't that too cruel, Sonny? If I don't steal, I'll die."
"Just answer, Knox."
The phantom thief bit his lower lip before he closed his eyes.
"No. No, I don't. I wouldn't do it if I didn't have to."
Sonny finally looked back at him, smiling even though Alban wouldn't be able to see him with his eyes closed.
"That's all you need to say."
———
"Where's my box of goodies?" Alban pipes up, poking Sonny's shoulder. If it weren't for Alban's effortless cuteness, Sonny would've shrugged him off and reprimanded him.
"Here. As I promised."
The former phantom thief squeaked with delight as he grabbed the box from Sonny's hands, flopping down the couch as he rummaged through it. His eyes could be mistaken as jewels with how much they're sparkling.
Sonny has seen this scenery a bunch of times but it never gets old. The excitement of Alban would forever tickle his satisfaction with a successful breach.
"We have a stream to get to in two hours, stop ogling your prizes and get ready," Sonny muttered before he get lost admiring Alban's grins which the other answered with a whine.
"That's in two hours!"
"That's in two hours."
Alban huffed in defeat before he brought back the items inside the box, closing it before he got up. "You haven't even taken off your dirty jacket."
"I thought that was your job as you've said before?"
"Ugh, stop holding my words against me."
"But you're the one who said it."
"Stop it!"
Alban stood up, helping Sonny slip off his expectedly dirty jacket and put it into a bin reserved for Sonny's breaching items.
His once grumpy look quickly morphed into a soft smile at the intimate domesticity they've obtained across the timelines.
The past, the future, Alban doesn't care anymore. All he knows is that Sonny gave him a new chance and he's going to do all he can to make himself flourish in the new world they stand in.
The past, the future, Alban is Sonny's most cared for and special trump card.
The past, the future, Sonny does care. Whatever it is, he needs to keep Alban away from harm and danger. Alban must be unscathed on every day that passes and it's going to be his life responsibility to keep making that happen.
The past, the future, Sonny is Alban's unexpected saviour and lifelong protector.
And if Sonny needs to keep being the commander he once was in the future that seemed too far away for them now, no one has to know.
No one would know.