Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Hello? Is this the state security service? I’m calling from Berlint General Hospital.” Director Gorey whispered, eyes glaring at a single point.

“Yes, are you calling to report suspicious activity or people?” the fist lieutenant of the secret police grabbed his pen, sliding a blank piece of parchment in front of him to write down any important information the caller might reveal.

Cigarette smoke curled around the receiver in his hand, a distant drumming in the background signaled the interrogation in the other room was still underway. Yuri must be having quite the fun interrogating the Ostanian traitor they captured two days ago.

“Yes, that’s right. I’ve discovered a spy on my staff.” The chief medical director’s words made the lieutenant move his pen closer to the paper, ready to jot down the identity of another traitor.

“What is the identity of this spy?”

Tips and calls have been coming in abundance recently, perhaps another politician or gambler from Westalis ready to infiltrate their security to gather more intel for the war.

The name the director uttered made the cigarette fall from the lieutenant’s mouth. “Dr. Loid Forger, he’s working under me as a psychiatrist.”

The lieutenant wrote down the name instinctively, but his lips turned down into a frown. “You’re certain of your intel? Making the state do work for false leads only wastes resources, director Gerald Gorey.”

There was an audible gasp and swallow on the other line, until the director gathered his wits about him and spoke in hushed tones. “Y-Yes, I’m very-very certain it’s the truth! He’s been acting suspiciously with one of my staff for months now!”

The officer rose an eyebrow, “Oh? And this staff of yours doesn’t appear suspicious?”

The director spluttered. “N-No, no! I assure you officer, my staff is trustworthy! Except Dr. Forger!”

How curious.

The lieutenant rubbed his chin, curling his fingers around the receiver. “Thank you for the tip, we will investigate this thoroughly.” Before he hung up, the lieutenant issued a warning: “Oh and director? I hope for your sake this intel is correct, there is a penalty to be paid for deceiving the state security service.”

“M-My information is correct, officer!”

The officer grunted, hanging up without hearing the nervous mumblings of the man to the end.

His office was once again silent, eyes transfixed on his handwriting on the piece of faded beige paper on his mahogany desk.

Loid Forger.

He underlined the name, eyes moving to focus on the door as audible footsteps neared it. He could tell who would enter from the pace of the footsteps and something settled heavily into his stomach.

The door swung open with a jolt and an eerie creak, the squelch of heavy duty boots stomped on the ground of the facility as one Yuri Briar entered his office, leaving moist, red imprints behind him.

He was cleaning his hands, holding one black glove while his other hand cleaned it, the once white handkerchief covered in splotches of red. It was a hassle to clean good leather once the blood dried on it, after all.

“Second Lieutenant Yuri Briar reporting!” he saluted, relaxing as soon as the older man nodded. “I’ve managed to extract the information we need out of the Ostanian traitor, he’s in the infirmary wing now, the camera has been shut off as per protocol.” Yuri’s gaze fell down to the piece of paper in front of the first lieutenant, eyes alight with a familiar twinkle. A thirst for blood, for traitors of their country. “Another one already? Who is it this time? Jonas Wellman?”

A heavy silence settled on both men, the first lieutenant’s gaze moving to stare at the open door, motioning for Yuri to close it with a wave of his hand.

He glanced back down at the name he wrote as he if needed to double check, to be certain of the turmoil and pain this name might give his younger colleague, and the changes to the young man’s future it could bring.

There was an easygoing grin on Yuri’s face, until his colleague opened his mouth and uttered a name Yuri had simultaneously hoped and dreaded to hear in his line of work.

“Loid Forger.”

Chapter Text

Yuri nearly slipped on the blood trail he’d left behind him, staggering to regain his footing. “W-What?! LOTTIE?! MY LOTTIE? FORGER?”

His superior sighed, standing up from his desk. “Yes, Director Gerald Gorey from Berlint General Hospital reported him as a spy.” His gaze narrowed. “I’ll head there to confirm the intel myself, Gorey a fickle man who’s known to be very insecure about status and appearance. I assume he wants to fire Loid Forger but doesn’t have credible grounds to do so.” His eyes slid over to the photo on his desk, Loid Forger’s face partly concealed from overlapping files. “Hm, perhaps Gorey isn’t so taken with Forger’s appearance as his staff is.”

Yuri wasn’t listening to him, he threw his blood-soaked gloves in the trash and fixed his uniform. “That’s it! This is the moment I’ll kick that bastard out of my sister’s life once and for all, I’ll get my sister back! Come on captain, we can’t waste time.”

Yuri froze in his tracks at the heavy hand on his shoulder, his colleague and superior staring at him with an unreadable expression. “You’re off this case, Yuri. Make sure to clean up before you start your next interrogation.”

“But- but sir-“ Yuri moved to go after his colleague until the latter fixed him with a look.

“Disobey my order and I’ll leave you on cleaning duty for the next two weeks.” When it looked like Yuri would’ve taken him up on that dare, the lieutenant upped the ante. “That means longer working hours and you won’t be able to see your sister.”

Almost immediately, Yuri backed off, a very grim frown marring his features. Sometimes, Yuri reminded him of a pug, his frown creased so much it looked like the wrinkles of a one.

Hiding a smirk from the younger man, the lieutenant of the SS waved his hand goodbye and got ready for work.

At Berlint General Hospital

Dressed in a simple suit, disguised as a business associate for the hospital, the first lieutenant of the secret police scanned the hospital staff for Gorey and Loid Forger.

It was Gorey he met first, the older man was sitting on a simple bench near what the lieutenant assumed was his office.

Predictable.

“Director Gorey, you were the one who called in the report?” his tone was formal, low, appearing relaxed but his eyes never stopped scanning the faces that passed him by.

The director immediately jumped to his feet, his stance jittery and nervous. “Y-Yes, are you…you know…one of them? You aren’t in uniform?”

He paid the question no mind, instead his inclined his head towards the office. “Shall we discuss things further in your office?”

Gorey immediately scrambled towards the door. “Y-Yes, yes, of course! Please!” quickly alerting the nurse and secretary to not allow anyone entry, the lieutenant closed the door shut behind him.

The office looked large, larger than his own at the police station, certainly a bit larger than a respectable hospital director would allow himself to use.

‘Hm, using the hospital’s funds to afford his luxuries? Grounds for financial fraud.’

As long as money was flowing out of Westalis, there shouldn’t be an issue, but stealing money from Ostania itself?

The lieutenant leaned against Gorey’s desk, his arms crossed. “Where is the evidence?”

“Evidence?” Gorey swallowed, palms sweating at his sides.

“The evidence that Dr. Loid Forger is a spy.”

Immediately, Gorey’s demeanor changed, he almost flew to his desk, hands gripping the files strewn about haphazardly. “You want e-evidence!? It’s everywhere! Everywhere that bastard shows up! He hounds my staff, talks too long to the female staff- I mean, shares his corrupt conspiracies with them! My staff have issued complaints about him!”

The SS officer rose an eyebrow, cataloging Gorey’s gibberish in the back of his mind as unproven intel.

The next thing Gorey said did make him perk up in attention. “And that’s not all! Night after night, I’ve seen Forger rummage through the archive, I heard rumors of him exchanging information with scum from the west!”  

“Do you have physical evidence of this?”

“Yes! It’s in his office, I’ve seen him take files back to his office!” faster than Yuri on his way to his sister’s home, Gorey rushed out of his office straight towards Loid’s.

The lieutenant followed quietly, keeping an eye out for Forger.

“Where is Dr. Forger as of this moment?”

Gorey wiped the sweat from his forehead, rushing past the nurses in the hallway. They were whispering behind the director’s back.

“Is the director heading to Dr. Forger’s office? But he isn’t in yet from his rotations.”

“It’s widely known Gorey doesn’t like Dr. Forger, but he really shouldn’t enter his office without permission even if he is the hospital director!”

“Do you think Dr. Forger is in trouble? I really hope not, that man is such a kind soul, if anyone deserves to be in trouble it’s the director for allowing politicians from the West to get the best medical service here than even our own citizens just because they’re wealthy!”

The lieutenant rose an eyebrow, committing the nurse’s face to memory. ‘Gorey supplying Westalian’s with better medical care than our own countrymen? I’ll have to talk to the nurse after I deal with Forger.’

The two men finally arrived at their destination; ‘Dr. Loid Forger’ was written in simple letters on the door.

Once inside, Gorey marched towards Forger’s desk and pointed at the middle drawer. “Here, this one! The files are in here!”

“How do you know where Forger keeps the files?” the question seemed simple, yet made the director sweat profusely.

Interesting.

He almost wished he took Yuri with him, the killer intent from the younger man would’ve made Gorey soil his pants immediately.

“I-I saw him, of course! He lied and claimed they were for his patients, but I know they were files he stole from the archives without permission!”

“Hm.” Moving towards the desk, the lieutenant fixed Gorey with a hard look. “May I?”

“Of-I, yes.” Giving him a wide berth, Gorey glued himself to the bookshelf lining the wall, nervously glancing at the door.

Forger’s rotations would be over soon, hopefully, the SS officer would have all the fake evidence he planted and leave to arrest Forger before he found out it was him that reported him.

The SS officer pulled his gloves on tightly, bending to open the middle drawer. “It’s locked.” A bit peculiar, but not suspicious. Many doctors and other professionals have a drawer or two to lock their personal things in.

Mostly sensitive, personal information.

‘Let’s see what sensitive information Forger hides.’

Grabbing a small pin from his pocket, the lieutenant started carefully cracking the lock.

At the first soft click, the lieutenant pulled and the drawer finally opened.

What he saw made him regret not allowing Yuri to tag along, if only to witness the younger man descend into the five stages of joy and grief.

The drawer was full of pictures.

Of one Yor Briar.

Upon closer inspection, there were others as well. Yuri’s sister, the Forger daughter, and some pictures with them as a family. They also had a dog.

“…Oh!” the lieutenant immediately locked gazes with Dr. Loid Forger, standing in the doorway to his own office with a look of surprise on his face. “Um, good day Dr. Gorey! Is there something you needed from me? Didn’t nurse Jenny tell you I was still doing rotations?”

The lieutenant regarded the psychiatrist curiously. His stance seemed secure, but relaxed as if he was consciously making the effort to appear as such. His gaze betrayed the high alertness in them, the easygoing smile failed to completely conceal the wariness he felt towards a stranger in his office. His presence screamed something other than a simple doctor, but the secret police officer couldn’t put his finger on it.

What an interesting fellow.

“Aha! Dr. Forger, you’re too late! The secret police already found the files you illegitimately stole from the archives! We know all about you conspiring with the West and the Maruhi file!” Gorey cackled giddily, almost clapping his hands so overpowering was his joy.

Loid Forger meanwhile, looked ready to cry. “Wh-what? Conspiring? But director Gorey there must be some mistake! I never took any files from the archives, you can check! Please!” he turned towards the lieutenant. “Please sir, you have to believe me, I never stole any files nor am I conspiring with the West!”

The lieutenant smirked. “I believe you, Dr. Forger.”

“What?” Dr. Forger asked.

“WHAT?” Director Gorey gasped, “What do you mean you believe him?! Didn’t you find the file?!”

There was a small, barely imperceptible smirk on his lips. “Why don’t you see for yourself, director?”

When the director leaned over the desk and spotted the litany of family pictures filling the drawer, Gorey coughed. “No- no! This can’t be! Where’s the fake evidence I planted-“ Gorey immediately slapped a hand over his mouth.

“Oh?” the lieutenant asked, raising an eyebrow in interest. “Tell me more about this fake evidence you’ve planted in Dr. Forger’s office, director Gorey.”

Gorey seemed like he would suffer a heart attack. “No, no! Wait, this is- that’s not what I meant! I well- I meant-“

“Save your stories for the interrogation room.” Handcuffs were already on Gorey before he could blink.

“Hey wait, you can’t just arrest our beloved director like that!” much to the lieutenant’s surprise, Dr. Forger stepped up.

“F-Forger?!” Gorey looked about ready to cry, snot and tears running down his face in rivers.

“Do you have any evidence that denies these claims?” the lieutenant of the SS locked gazes with the psychiatrist, both men giving each-other hard looks.

“…I…do not, but please, be considerate of him. His health isn’t the best, he should eat warm meals and be comfortable before you interrogate him!” tears, which looked fake to him, appeared at the corner of Loid’s eyes.

“Of course, we’re not monsters, after all.”

Forger had a look about him that appeared to contradict his statement, but the doctor didn’t say another word as the director was taken away.

The lieutenant motioned for two of his colleagues, which discreetly talked to the staff, to escort Gorey over to their precinct.

“Wait, please.” The lieutenant turned around and was face to face with Loid Forger.

“You can’t pay bail money for him if that is your question, doctor.”

“No, I…that’s not what I wanted to say.” No traces of tears or distress were present on Loid Forger’s face, despite his previous, rather heartfelt efforts to free Gorey from police custody. “This may be impertinent of me, but I wanted to thank you for clearing my name. I feel guilty for the director, but I can’t imagine how sad my wife and child would be if I were to be arrested as an innocent civilian.”

His words, superficially, seemed genuine, but there was a layer beneath the thankful smile that caused the lieutenant to be on edge. Was the doctor analyzing him? Reading through him? What secrets did he have to hide to conceal his true thoughts, as well?

“Hm, I can imagine. You have a nice family.”

“Oh, you’ve seen them?” the doctor pretended to be surprised, that much the lieutenant could recognize.

“In an effort to look for evidence, I’ve had to unlock your drawer. My apologies for the breach of your privacy, doctor.”

Dr. Forger smiled and shook his head. “No, no, that’s quite alright. I’m just very embarrassed, I normally try not to mix business with my private life, but sometimes I get lonely at work and it helps when I have many pictures of my family to look at from time to time.” He offered an embarrassed grin and the officer almost fell for it.

Could that have been a hint of genuine emotion?

“I understand. Send your family my regards, good day to you, doctor.” Tipping his hat, the lieutenant gave him one last look before he turned on his heel and left the hospital.

In the distance, he could make out a too familiar figure.  Yuri? What are you doing here? I thought I gave you the order to not get involved.”

Yuri was running, trying to catch his breath once he finally stopped in front of his superior. “Yes, sir, you did. But- I had to because my sister would get so sad knowing stupid Lottie got himself turned in to the secret police! I wanted to try and free the bastard- hey wait a minute, where is he?” Yuri shook his head and looked everywhere, but there was no sign of Loid.

“He’s not the one I detained.”

Two other SS officers in full uniform were seen escorting chief medical director Gerald Gorey out of Berlint General Hospital, the man screaming and crying for mercy and the request to one last time see his dear Fiona.

Yuri blinked, his gaze following Gorey’s back up until he was placed in their assigned car to be taken to the station. “G-Gorey?! Did he have dirt on him?”

“Some. Pretty standard for someone greedy enough to allow Westalians into our country in order to ween off their money.”

“That scum!”

Seeing the angry expression on his younger colleague’s face, the officer smirked. “Forger is innocent, so you can sleep easier tonight.”

Yuri looked almost disappointed, if not downright miserable. “Actually, I won’t.”

Both men started walking towards their vehicle with Gorey waiting in the back. “I almost regretted not allowing you to come with me, Forger did have something interesting in his desk drawer.”

“Huh? Wait, what? Did Lottie have dirt on him?! What did you find? Sir! SIR!” Yuri fell back at his superior’s quicker strides.

The lieutenant held his cigarette in one hand while searching for his zippo lighter in his breast pocket, fishing the metallic object out of his pocket, he pushed the picture he had taken with him deeper into it to prevent it from slipping out.

It was a small family photo depicting the Forger family.