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‘’Fuck…’’ Emmy growled as she pushed another rock out of the way.
‘’Language my dear.’’
‘’Right. Sorry.’’
She knew had to think about that around him, even though she used to swear up a storm. They were currently stuck in a cave that the villain they were chasing had forced them into. The cave was unstable, which he knew, which was also exactly why he had thrown a stick of dynamite at the entrance to keep them in. The top side of the mountain had immediately started crashing down in front of them, giving no opportunity to escape. The rocks, sand, mud and more rocks were still falling as, making it hard to do anything. Emmy had jumped into action to fight nature by pushing and kicking away the rocks as they fell.
The Professor tried to help, but had quickly injured his arm and was ordered to stand back by his assistant. She was trying to get herself to kick as hard as possible to get them out, but this proved to be harder than she thought. The dust had also started to thicken the air around them, making it hard to breathe. After a bit, the rumbling stopped, the entrance was still completely blocked off and Emmy was punching and kicking against an impenetrable wall in frustration.
It was also pretty dark inside, making it hard to see around them. The villain was probably long gone and they had no way to go but in. After another minute or so, the Professor took a step forward and placed his hand on her shoulder. Emmy was about to punch the wall one more time, but stopped. Her breath was ragged and her limbs were sore. She just didn’t want to give up, but she knew she had to. The Professor knew as well. They were stuck. For now at least.
‘’They’ll come looking for us.’’ he tried to sound reassuring.
Emmy sucked in a deep breath to steady herself.
‘’Hopefully soon.’’ he said softly.
She turned around, her eyes falling on his arm. It was cut open from a sharp rock; a small trail of blood dripping from it. She felt like it had been her fault, but she decided to push away that thought for now. Instead, they walked into the cave in silence, neither of them knowing what to do.
‘’There might be a way out on the other side.’’ Emmy said after some time.
‘’Hm.’’ the Professor only hummed in response.
He was clasping his arm. It must hurt, Emmy thought. The cave was dark, but not so dark they couldn’t see. Emmy trailed her fingers over the wall, not really thinking about her own injuries as of now. She only cared about the Professor.
‘’I see something.’’
Emmy blinked a couple of times and noticed something at the end of the tunnel as well. A faint blue-ish light, or so it seemed.
‘’Let’s take a look. It might be the way out!’’ He sounded so positive, it made her smile a little.
At the end of the tunnel, the Professor and Emmy walked into a small opening. The blue light was coming from rocks buried in the walls.
‘’I believe there might be a heat source nearby,’’ the Professor mumbled. ‘’It causes thermoluminescence to occur.’’
‘’Right… and what is that in human language?’’ Emmy said in a mocking tone.
‘’It causes the minerals inside to glow.’’ he chuckled.
‘’Well, at least we have some light.’’
‘’Well...yes. But it also shows us another predicament.’’
‘’And what is that?’’
The Professor walked over to the edge of the room and placed his hand against the wall. ‘’There is no other way out. We will have to wait for someone to come rescue us…’’
‘’We’re...stuck?’’
He turned back around and nodded. ‘’I’m afraid so.’’
They had taken a seat on the dirt floor in the opening so they could at least see something. Emmy had ripped a piece of her shirt to wrap a makeshift bandage for around the Professor’s wound. He had protested at first, but she knew how to convince him. It was only a shirt after all. Now they were just sitting there, waiting for help, waiting for the villain to come back and finish the job, waiting for anything to happen…
Every once in a while, the cave would shake and stir, causing some boulders or rocks to fall. The Professor had insisted on Emmy sitting closer so they had less chance of getting hit. Emmy was fine with the theory of it, but in practise, her heart felt like it would explode out of her ribcage. She was sitting in a cave with no way out, with almost no light, no food or water and the man she loved that happened to be injured. She didn’t know what to do. She felt helpless. She felt like she had failed…
‘’Are you okay?’’
His voice was so gentle. Shit. That meant that he had noticed.
‘’I’m fine.’’ she lied.
‘’Alright…’’
Silence continued. She knew he knew that she was lying. But what could she do? Tell him about her feelings? About how it was all her fault in the first place that they were stuck here? She had taunted the guy they were trying to catch. She had underestimated him. And now… Hershel was hurt. How could she live with herself?
‘’The minerals look like they could be calcite,’’
Emmy looked at the Professor.
‘’It is an ubiquitous mineral, something that you can find almost everywhere in the world, and only need between 50 and 200 degrees celcius to give off light in the dark. It’s rather beautiful.’’
Emmy placed her head on her arms. What was he on about?
‘’Did you know that calcite is commonly found in marble?’’
‘’Professor…’’
‘’It that same sentiment, you could maybe make your house glow in the dark if you heat it up enough.’’
‘’Professor!’’
He flinched.
‘’What are you saying? We are stuck here with no food or water and no way of knowing if they will find us and you are talking about this bloody mineral?!’’
‘’I…’’
‘’With all your intelligence, maybe you should read the goddamn room.’’
Why was she so frustrated?
‘’I only wanted to lighten up the mood a little… my apologies. I didn’t mean to upset you.’’
‘’I’m not upset!’’ Emmy got up and walked to the other side with her arms crossed.
‘’Clearly…’’
Cheek.
She turned around with a fierce expression.
‘’You’re making this difficult!’’
The Professor also got up from his spot. ‘’How so?’’
‘’Because!’’
He walked over. Why did he walk over? Stop.
‘’W-what are you doing?’’ Emmy yelled.
He didn’t say anything. He just walked over. Once he was in front of her, and faced her eye to eye, Emmy didn’t know what he was going to do. She definitely didn’t expect his arms to wrap around her. She didn’t expect his hand to guide her head against his shoulder.
‘’It’s going to be alright my dear. I promise.’’
He...he had never shown this kind of affection before… why? Emmy had to hold back tears she had been pushing away. He felt so warm and his heartbeat was so calm. Why did this feel like home? She leaned back and looked up at him.
A mistake.
Their faces were so close she could feel his breath on her skin. He probably didn’t want this, right? Did she fuck up? Should she pull away?
‘’...Okay…’’ her voice sounded small, fragile and broken.
She searched his eyes for something that told her she was allowed to do this, but found only confusion. Like he was dealing with his own demons as he stared at her and held her. Before she could do anything else, he let go and moved away, leaving her cold and alone. Goosebumps trailed her skin as she grabbed her arm and looked away.
Was this a rejection?
It must have been hours now since they got stuck in this place. Emmy kind of hoped the Professor would start talking about minerals again, or anything really, but he had been silent. Something was bothering him ever since they had hugged. She wanted to ask, but she was afraid for the answer. Instead, she opted to talk to herself in the hope that he would tag along. She talked about Luke and Flora, about their adventures, about Andrew and Rosa, dean Delmona and Gressenheller. The professor gave short answers and hollow chuckles from time to time, but nothing to go on about.
‘’Do...you remember the first time we met?’’ Emmy eventually asked.
She knew he didn’t remember the actual first time. It had been so long ago, and probably didn’t leave enough impact, but it kind of hurt that he didn’t. It had been a turning point for her after all.
‘’Hm. Yes. You almost crashed my car.’’
He said it in such an emotionless manner, she couldn’t help laughing.
‘’Do you remember me saying that it was nice to see you again?’’
He frowned, probably turning the gears in his head.
‘’I...think so.’’
‘’That’s because it really wasn’t the first time we had met. We did...years before.’’
He turned to her and finally looked her in the eyes for the first time again since they separated from their embrace.
‘’You mentioned something like that before, but…’’
‘’You don’t remember because it was probably just another day in the life of the great Professor Layton,’’ Emmy let out an airy chuckle. ‘’But I remember it so clearly.’’
‘’I’m… sorry my dear.’’
‘’Don’t be. I just want you to know how much you mean to...me...’’
Her voice was starting to trail off. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to accomplish with this, but something told her she needed to get this out.
‘’You saved me that day, Professor. You...proved my innocence when no-one would believe me.’’
Those tears she had held back so desperately before had started to fall unnoticed. A hand against her cheek made her realise what was happening. His thumb wiped them away, warming up her cheek like it did before. She prayed to whatever god was watching that he wouldn’t move away again to leave her alone.
‘’This boy, he had stolen money from his mother and tried to put the blame on me. You took one look at the situation and immediately cleared my name to Grosky. I wasn’t even able to thank you properly. You just did it like it was all part of your day. Part of your regularly scheduled programming.’’
A small smile appeared on his face, giving her the relief she needed. Without realising it, she moved closer to him as she leaned into his touch.
‘’And then… you called me a lady.’’
‘’Well…’’ he looked to the side, a dark hue appearing on his cheeks. ‘’You are a lady. And a gentleman never abandons a lady in need.’’
‘’Nobody had ever considered me to be more than trash.’’ Emmy whispered.
‘’That’s…’’
His voice was soft. Once again she could feel his sigh on her cheeks as she realised that she had moved closer again. And maybe he had as well.
‘’Emmy...I…’’
She couldn’t hold back anymore. She leaned forward and finally pushed herself as close to him as she wanted to be. His lips were warm and rough, like she imagined they were. She could feel his surprise at first, but thankfully their awkward chaste kisses turned to longing, passionate ones. Whispers of her name leaving his lips in between as they gasped for air. She pulled onto his shirt as he cradled her neck with his hands. She felt so happy. The love she thought unrequited was actually returned. Every bit of passion she had stored away flowed out through every touch and kiss she was allowed to give.
Thankfully, they didn’t have to wait much longer for their rescue. Chelmey had been closely monitoring the villain known as ‘De Luxe Extravagant’ and knew exactly where Layton and Altava had last encountered the man. After he had attacked yet another factory, Barton had somehow managed to get him trapped in a giant jar of pickle juice. Don’t ask me how. After they had apprehended the man and his lackeys, they urged him to confess what he had done to the Professor and his assistant.
In his words: ‘’They will forever suffer the consequences for their actions! I hope they get buried in the darkness!’’
Chelmey happened to know about the cave systems around that area and immediately sent out a search party. After 5 hours of searching, they managed to find the traces of an explosion near a caved in entrance. The Professor and Emmy were happy to step outside into the fresh air after their entrapment. Emmy really wanted to go to the station they were keeping Extravagant, to give him a kick in the groin, but the officers urged both her and the Professor to visit the hospital first, in case they had any sustaining injuries.
When everything was cleared and the injuries were treated, the newly formed couple was allowed to go home. The Professor was relieved to see that the Layton mobile was still unharmed in all of this, since the villain had threatened to hurt those he loved. When Emmy found out he thought that included the Layton Mobile, she had not stopped making fun of him.
That evening, even though she wouldn’t stop teasing him, Emmy was invited over to his flat; where they would discuss their future together. And perhaps, share the night in a comfortable bed instead of on a rocky floor.