Work Text:
June in Marbella, the weather is unbearably hot. Roberto is grateful for the invention of air conditioners, he doesn't think he can survive this hot weather without them. But now he finds himself outside because his girlfriend is craving for snacks. He just has to bear the heat for a while.
He gets inside the convenience store and sighs in relief as the cooling air of the air conditioner greets him. Perhaps, he thinks, he should stay here for a while.
"Can we get some helado after this?" An accented voice from the next aisle catches his attention. "I really like the pine nuts ice cream we tried yesterday."
"I thought vanilla is your favorite." That voice is oddly familiar, but he speaks in English so Roberto is not so sure. Curiosity piques, Roberto moves closer towards their aisle.
"Vanilla is my favorite, but I also like pine nuts."
As he rounds the corner, Roberto is taken aback to find Carlos Sainz Jr., his junior from the police academy, standing there. The last time he saw Carlos was nearly five years ago, just before Carlos moved to Lyon to work for Interpol.
Roberto almost can’t believe his eyes when he sees the current Carlos; there's a subtle change in his aura, almost as if he's a different person altogether. Carlos looks more mature of course, his hair is now longer, and he seems more approachable. In the past, people were a bit apprehensive around him, because they knew who Carlos' father was and Carlos himself always seemed compelled to prove himself because of who his fater was. Yet, today, he seems more relaxed, perhaps that’s because he's on holiday after all.
"Roberto? Is that you?" Carlos' expression is always hard to read, but Roberto can detect a hint of surprise in his voice.
" Hello, Carlos! Long time no see! " he says in Spanish.
Someone is standing behind Carlos. A shy smile graces his beautiful face, eyelashes delicately fluttering against his cheek. He is too handsome to be an agent is the first thing that comes into Roberto's mind. His face must have been carved by God itself, a chiseled face that reminded him of the statues he had seen in the museum. His eyes are the prettiest shade of green, Roberto is lost for a moment there.
"And you are?" Roberto smoothly switches to English.
"I'm Charles Leclerc," the man says in a slight French accent. "I'm Carlos' partner."
"What brings you to Marbella?" Roberto asks, he remembers Carlos once told him about his family's annual summer trips to Mallorca.
"We wrapped up a case in Sevilla a few days ago, since it’s done we decided to take a short break here," Carlos explains. "And you, do you work here or?"
" Sí , I'm with the criminal investigation unit. Where are you guys staying here?"
"At a very overpriced hotel." Charles scoffs, earning perplexed looks from both Roberto and Carlos. Charles sighs at that. "Yes, I know our hotel is in a tourist hotspot, but we could book a cheaper hotel, you know? Let’s be real, we only use our room for sleeping, no need to stay in a 4 or 5-star hotel."
"I pay for it. Also, the room has a sea view." Carlos argues back.
Charles casts Roberto a pleading look, but Roberto isn't that close with Carlos so he doesn't know what to say. "Do you want to come over for lunch?" Roberto suggests instead.
"Oh, I'd love that!" Charles clasps his hands in delight, then he turns to Carlos. "What do you think, Carlos? Could we do that?
Truthfully, Carlos looks like he's rather starving than having lunch with Roberto. Yet Charles gazes at him hopefully, guess even Carlos isn’t immune to a pretty face like Charles.
"Sure, why not?" Carlos' smile seems more like a wince, but Roberto decides not to say anything about that.
"Ah, but can we get my ice cream first?" Charles tilts his head cutely to one side, and who are they to deny him?
They walk to the ice cream parlor by the beach. Charles orders a cup for himself, Roberto watches the seller scoop three flavors inside it; pine nuts, vanilla, and nutella. It's tempting, but Roberto has indulged in too much ice cream these days. Carlos himself gets a cone of honey ice cream.
"There are many yachts here," Charles notices the yachts when they walk by the beach.
"You can rent one for a day if you want," Roberto informs him.
"Maybe we should do that later, Carlos. What do you think?"
"If we have time we can do it." Carlos simply answers. Despite Carlos's lack of enthusiasm, Charles seems satisfied with the answer.
Charles wanders closer to the yachts, Carlos and Roberto following him from behind. Charles crouches down to check the water and… Roberto almost can't believe his eyes but right on the back of Leclerc's neck, he sees the Neuro-Link Socket. This man is not natural. Is he a cyborg or an android? He glances at Carlos who watches Leclerc like a hawk.
Trying to hide his surprise, Roberto asks, "How long have you been working together as partners?"
"Almost three years I believe. Right, Carlos?" He looks up at Carlos, flashing another charming smile.
"Yes," Carlos responds with a restrained smile.
Roberto frowns, he is aware of the Sainz family's view on Leclerc's kind, the unnatural as Carlos's father calls them. Does his father know about this? Could this be the reason why he never sees Carlos again on the Sainz family’s social media?
"Charles, be careful!" Carlos' voice breaks him from his thoughts.
"Sorry, I'm curious." Charles peers down at the water curiously, and then he smiles at Carlos. "I can swim, you know?"
"I know you can swim, but we don't bring a change of clothes." Carlos sighs, sounding more like a babysitter for Charles today.
Charles pouts but then he turns his attention to Roberto, ""Has he always been like this since school? I've never been allowed to have fun."
Roberto ponders for a while, Carlos has always been a serious person; rarely engaging in conversation even during their academy days. In fact, today is the most talkative Carlos he has ever witnessed. But then again Roberto doesn’t think Carlos had someone to talk to back then, he was actively avoiding everyone.
"This is just Carlos being Carlos, but I don't think it's a bad thing." Roberto decides to say.
Charles smiles at that, there’s a flicker of something intimate in his eyes as he stares at Carlos.
"Yes, it's not bad! That's what I like about him."
Roberto wants to laugh because that exact demeanor is why people are wary of Carlos but he simply nods in agreement at Charles' statement.
When they arrive at his place his girlfriend is surprised with the extra people he brings with him. However she assures him that it will be fine, she can cook enough for everyone.
"I hope you like gazpacho ," she says when she serves the food to the table.
"It's actually the first meal I've tried in Sevilla," Charles admits to them, his eyes scanning the table curiously.
"And how do you like it?" Camila asks, just like Roberto she has been charmed by Charles’ pretty face.
"He is still getting used to it." Carlos gives Charles a playful look. Roberto doesn't know if Carlos can joke like that, but maybe that's what happened after you've been partnering with someone for years.
"It's fine, I told you I like it, Carlos! Don't make me look bad in front of your friend!"
"It's okay, not everyone likes it," Camila assures him.
"No, I like it!" Charles declares, to prove his point he scoops another spoonful of gazpacho into his mouth.
"You should try the paella. I’ve been told that I made the best Paella!" Camilla offers him.
As they savor their meal they make some small talk about Charles and Carlos' life in Lyon even though mostly it’s Charles who’s talking. Then suddenly Camila remembers something.
"I'm sorry, but what's your family name again, Carlos?"
Roberto swallows nervously, hoping Camila won't say anything about Carlos' father.
"It’s Sainz Vázquez de Castro." Carlos answers her, voice strained.
"Sainz… Oh, like the commissioner general?"
Carlos stops eating his meal, he looks visibly uncomfortable. " Sí , he's my father."
"Oh, wow!”Camila is surprised, and so does Robearto. He doesn’t think Carlos is going to be honest about it.
He hopes Camila will stop there, but no she continues. “I didn't expect you to be so.. So…," Camila struggles to find a word, Roberto prays to God Camila won't finish that sentence.
"Your father is famous?" Charles pipes in, blissfully unaware of everything. Shit, he really doesn't know anything about Carlos’ father.
Camila nods, "You could say that. He is a big figure in this country because… Ouch! Did you just hit me?"
"Camila, why don't you help me with something in the back?" He gives her a pleading look silently hoping she grasps the gravity of the situation.
Camila blinks at him confusedly, but then she must have got the memo and nods. They excuse themselves and leave the table.
"Did I say something wrong?" vaguely he hears Charles ask.
"No, you did not, don't worry." Carlos sounds reassuring at least.
"What?" Camila glares at him when she is sure they’re out of earshot.
"I'm sorry, cariña . But please don't mention anything about Carlos' father's view about the unnatural."
"Why?" Camila is confused because everyone in this country knows about it. Why should she keep it a secret?
Roberto discreetly glances at the dining room, making sure the two can't listen to their conversation. They seem like they're in the middle of talking about something else, thank God.
"I saw a Neuro-Link Socket behind Charles' neck earlier."
"No way, does his father know if his son... " Camila makes a vague gesture with her hands.
"I don't know, but I don't think I will like the answer."
After lunch, Carlos seems itching to leave but then Charles starts asking questions about their life in the academy. Saying Carlos never told him anything about it. Roberto doesn't know why Charles would like to know about Carlos’ life back then in the academy. It was boring.
"Carlos was top of his class of course. I don't think he ever skipped a class."
"Never?" Charles fixes a curious gaze on Carlos, and Carlos shakes his head. "Boring, I think I did that once or twice!"
Vaguely Roberto remembers the way Carlos stared at some of the boys back then with longing. He probably wanted to join them, but being his father's son, everything came with a price. People would love to use you for their personal gain, perhaps that was what his father told him.
"Do you happen to have a picture of Carlos from the academy days?" Charles asks, he looks at him expectantly.
"I have our yearbooks somewhere on the bookshelf. Let me check it?"
"Pretty please!" Charles grins at Carlos who makes a face at his request.
It doesn't take him long to find the academy yearbook. He looks for the pages featuring Carlos and shows them to Charles.
"Oh, your hair was short back then!" Charles chuckles, turning to look at Carlos.
Carlos frowns at the younger version of himself in the book. "It's a police academy, of course my hair was short."
"I'm glad you let your hair grow longer. Just look at this luscious hair!" He reaches out to touch Carlos' hair, but then Carlos swiftly catches his hand and holds it.
"You will make a mess of my hair." Carlos chastises him, but he doesn’t sound angry, strangely he sounds fond.
Charles rolls his eyes in annoyance, "You can just brush your hair, dummy!" Then he pulls his hand from Carlos' to flip the page.
He asks Roberto about their life back then in the academy, claiming it wasn’t so different from the academy he went to. Roberto deduced that Charles is not an android, he is a cyborg then if he went to the academy. Roberto is telling Charles about the secret party he attended when his phone pings with a message. He checks the message and can’t believe his own eyes.
"Again?" Roberto frowns when he reads the text message from his subordinate.
"What's wrong?" Charles asks, he lifts his face from the book.
"It's… recently the same cases kept happening." Roberto doesn't know if he can tell him the truth.
"What cases?"
"Androids murdered their owners then self-destruct themselves."
"That's impossible," Charles and Carlos look at each other in confusion.
“It's against the third law!”
"How long has this been going on?" Carlos asks.
"Since three months ago. This is the fifth victim."
"Could we go with you?" Charles asks. "Maybe we could help?"
"I will ask my superior first, but let's go to the crime scene while we wait for the answer." He says, even though he knows that his captain won't say no to this. They need every help they can get.
***
The crime scene is in a yacht on the isolated coast of Marbella. At least it was not in the middle of the ocean, Roberto thinks. When they arrive the forensic team is busy taking pictures of everything. Roberto already warns everyone about Carlos and Charles, so they better not say anything about Carlos’s father.
“Good evening, sorry for the intrusion.” Charles greets everyone with a charming smile. “May I have a look at the android if you don’t mind?”
“Sure,” Hugo, a member of the forensic team gestures to another room, “she is in there.”
“Thank you.” Roberto thanks him. He goes inside the room with Charles and Carlos trailing behind him.
The air in the room feels heavy with tension. The room is in a state of disarray, the furniture is thrown everywhere and scuff marks on the polished floor suggest that there has been a fight there. Amidst the chaos there is a shattered bottle of wine, the crimson seeps into the used-to-be pristine white carpet, staining everything.
“This android killed her owner then killed herself?” Charles frowns, he kneels to study the remains of the droid. The lifeless android lies at an awkward angle on the floor. There are many scratches on her once flawless skin, her chest is opened, showing the inside of her body.
“Yeah, it …,” Charles looks up at him, Carlos gives Roberto a warning look. “Sorry, I mean she killed Señor Alonso.”
“Is it okay if I take a peek at his memory?” Charles asks for permission.
“Now?” Roberto is hesitant.
“Yeah, I'm afraid they won't allow me later.” Charles looks at him with his pretty green eyes, if Roberto is less of a man he will say yes immediately.
Roberto averts his gaze to Carlos who nods at him. “Okay, you can do it I think.”
“Carlos, help me?” Charles calls his partner.
Roberto watches Carlos sitting beside Charles on the floor. Carefully, he opens the socket behind Charles’s neck and plugs the android’s cords there. For a moment, Charles's eyes seem empty, lost in a realm of memories. Roberto notices a slight jolt in his body, fingers twitching involuntarily.
Charles' eyes looked empty for a while like he was daydreaming. Roberto saw his body jolted slightly, fingers twitching.
“Charles?” Carlos calles his partner.
“Wait a minute,” Charles murmurs, wrapping his hand around Carlos’ wrist. “S'il te plaît.”
Charles is quiet for a while, then suddenly he hisses as if he is in pain. This time Carlos doesn't bother to ask or wait; he forcefully yanks the cords from Charles’ neck.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?” His voice is calm, but Roberto can see a subtle tremor in his hands, hovering around Charles; as if afraid to touch him for fear of shattering something delicate.
"I'm fine," Charles assures him. He looks disturbed by whatever he witnessed.
"What did you see?"
Charles looks at the android, confusion is clear on his feature, "This is an android, no? But… why did she have a ghost?"
"What?" Roberto and Carlos say at the same time.
"Someone tampered with her I think." Charles gazes at the android sadly. "Poor thing. I can hear the voice inside her."
"You said this is the fifth time this has happened, yes? Do all the androids come from the same company?" Carlos asks him.
"Yes, but we don't find anything wrong."
"The family didn't sue the company?"
"Weirdly, they only settled out for the court."
Charles studies the android for a while, he looks like he's in a deep thought. "I could be wrong, but they might be using her as a sex droid."
Roberto looked at the state of her, she’s half naked, only wearing a bathrobe. The scars on her body, her empty green eyes stare at the sky… Suddenly Roberto wants to puke.
"Her memories were wiped clean after she self-destructed herself, but I know if there was a ghost inside her." Charles continues.
“I see,” Roberto trails off, he has a hunch that there is something big behind this, but he doesn’t know what. “Thanks for helping me.”
“You’re welcome,” Charles nods, “please let me know if you need help. Carlos and I will be staying here for at least a week, right, Carlos?” He taps Carlos’ arms softly.
“Huh?” Carlos looks confused, based on the expression on his face it’s clear that Carlos wants to leave this country as soon as possible.
“I said, we will be staying here for a week,” Charles explains, unaware of Carlos' internal battle.
“I’ve booked our tickets back to Paris in three days.” Carlos frowns, he doesn’t seem happy with the change of plan, but he still despite his displeasure can’t find himself saying no to Charles.
“Oh, that’s too bad.” Charles looks crestfallen, and Roberto feels bad too at him.
“But, I can cancel it if you want. They will refund the money if I cancel it before 24 hours.” Carlos immediately assures him. Who is Charles and what has he done to Carlos?
“That’s good, then! Oh, we should book another hotel, the cheaper one.”
“I told you I would pay for the hotel.” Carlos sounds frustrated, seems like they have argued about this many times before.
“ Cari …” then Charles stops himself with a cough, “you rented a fuckin suite. Who the fuck rented suit for a holiday? We don’t even have guests.”
“My family did,” Carlos murmurs under his breath, but Charles ignores him.
“Anyway, Roberto, please let me know if there’s a new update for this case.” Charles smoothly switches from the personal disagreement to their professional responsibilities.
“Certainly.”
***
They invite Roberto for dinner two days later because Charles tells him they need to use their suite living room for guests. It’s a one-bedroom suite, Roberto notices. These two must be close enough to share a room because Roberto never shared a room with his partner before. Roberto doesn’t think Carlos is trying to save money, if he’s saving money he wouldn’t book a 5-star hotel for a holiday.
“So, did you two decide to stay in this hotel until the remainder of your trip or?”
Carlos sighs from the kitchen where he's busy preparing dinner. Roberto doesn’t know if he makes everything from scratch or he merely reheats everything, but whatever it is it smells good.
“We found a new hotel with a golf course, we’re going to transfer tomorrow. Carlos loves it, right, Carlos?” Charles chimes in.
“It was nice.” Comes Carlos’ court reply.
“He actually went golfing earlier today, leaving me shriveling alone here.”
“I asked you to join, but you refused.” Carlos retorts back, defending himself.
Charles shakes his head, “I can’t play golf, but Carlos loves it, he is going to play again tomorrow.”
“Roberto told me if you want to rent a yacht, you can go with me tomorrow if you want,” Camila says. “My friend is coming to town with her friends.”
Roberto groans at that, he’s not jealous but Camila mentions her friend and their handsome friends. Apparently, he doesn’t have to worry because most of them don’t even like women, but still.
Charles looks confused at Roberto’s reaction, so Camilla explains to him.
“The straights are taken, cariño !!” Camila laughs at him. “So, what do you think, Charles? Do you still want to join us?”
“I don’t know,” Charles trails off, he looks hesitant now, less eager than before. Then he shifts his gaze to Carlos, “May I go, Carlos?”
“We can go together,” Carlos replies. “Dinner is ready, why don’t you help me bring the dishes to the table, Charles?”
“Did you cook all of these?” Camila can’t hide her amazement when Charles serves everything on the table.
“No, only the albondigas soup and the gazpacho .” Carlos pauses, “But I made the gazpacho to suit Charles’ style, I hope you like it.”
“I made Sangria earlier, you should try it after dinner!” Charles says smugly. “Carlos says it’s really good.”
“I don’t know if you’re this good at cooking, Carlos! Your future wife will be so lucky to have you!”
Carlos freezes, momentarily caught off guard. Charles, sensing the tension, quickly diffuses the situation by clapping his hands and laughing. "Did you hear that, Carlos? Your future wife will be so lucky to have you!”
The curve of Carlos' smile doesn't seem right, but he nods, “You should enjoy my cooking while you can."
“Trust me, I plan to!” Charles says smugly.
It seems like they’re talking about other things, but Roberto decides not to dwell further.
“How’s the case going on?”Charles asks all of a sudden.
"We're here to eat, not discuss work!" Carlos scolds him.
“It’s okay, Carlos! Well, we have a new lead and I meant to ask you this.” He turns his focus to Carlos because it’s important for him. “I need to meet someone in Mallorca.”
Carlos drops his cutleries, Charles startles and looks at his partner confusedly.
“But of course, you can refuse.” Roberto quickly adds.
“Sorry, but we can’t,” Carlos says icily, doesn’t even give himself time to think,
Charles looks like he wants to say something but he sees the hard expression on Carlos’ face.
“ Are you okay ?” he asks Carlos in French.
“ Yes ,” Carlos replies in French as well, though his demeanor suggests otherwise.
Charles clears his throat, “I’m sorry for running the moods. Let’s just enjoy our dinner, shall we?”
Carlos remains silent for the remainder of the night.
***
He finds Charles nervously knocking on the door of his house at 6 in the morning 2 days later. His smile looks strained, clad in a sweatshirt and sweatpants, an unusual choice for someone who is about to board a plane. Heck, he doesn’t even bring a bag with him.
“Carlos doesn’t know I’m here.” He explains hurriedly. “I told him I needed a morning run to clear my head.”
“Carlos will kill me if he finds out.” Roberto can already feel trouble brewing. He won’t get fired because of this, right?
“That’s why he can’t find out. When is the flight?”
“At 8. Come on then, we have to hurry!”
Later on the plane, Roberto sees Charles reject Carlos’ call before he turns off his phone. He catches Robert staring at his phone and smiles reassuringly. “It’s okay, he won’t be mad at you.” Roberto doubts it. “The next flight to Mallorca is in another 4 hours, it isn’t like he’s going to find us. Well, unless he has a private jet.”
Roberto winces at that, he remembers that The Sainz often travels by a private jet.
Charles notices Roberto’s expression. “Shit, he has one, hasn’t he?”
“I don’t know, but I’ve seen him on one.” Charles groans, burying his face in his hands. “Charles, forgive me, but what do you know about Carlos?”
Charles sighs. “I don’t want to google him because that will be an invasion of privacy. But, it’s hard not to notice that he comes from money!” Charles laughs, Roberto can’t help but join in. Everything about Carlos screaming money. “And I know he doesn’t talk to his father.” Charles
continues
"His family always heads to Mallorca for summer holiday, that's why he doesn't want to go here." Roberto decides to disclose that information, he doesn’t want Charles to think that Carlos is being selfish by refusing to come to Mallorca. It’s more complicated than that.
"Oh, he never mentioned anything to me. Now I feel bad." Charles sounds genuinely sad.
"You couldn't have known.” Roberto tries to appease him.
"We've been partners for almost three years, but he doesn’t talk too much about his family.”
Roberto can guess why, but it’s Carlos’s story to tell, so he doesn’t say anything about that.
After they land, Charles asks him to buy a set of new clothes first because he can’t show up for a home interview with a sweatshirt. So they go to the nearest clothing store and buy a blue shirt and trousers for Charles. They also decide to have lunch in the cafe since the food on the plane earlier tasted bland and they're still hungry.
Charles furrows his brow when he checks his phone after eating his lunch. "Carlos stopped texting me two hours ago. You don't think he is on the plane, right?"
“No way! I don’t think he will be that impulsive!” Roberto laughs.
But it turns out that Roberto doesn’t know how little self-control Carlos has when it comes to Charles. Carlos is already waiting for them in front of the mansion. He looks eerily calm, donned in a suit jacket as if this is just an ordinary Wednesday for him, but Roberto knows if he is ready to explode.
"Carlos?! H-how?!" Charles stammers upon seeing Carlos.
Carlos looks furious when he spots Charles, for a second Roberto is worried that he might punch Charles or something, but he only drags Charles with him.
"Have I…" Carlos chokes on his breath, anger and frustration saturating his voice. "Have I ever said no to you?"
"No,” Charles admits in a small voice.
"Then why?" Carlos sounds exasperated. "Why don't you ask me? Why do you leave me?"
"Because I know you can't say no to me. Even if it kills you, even when you don't want to, you will say yes." Charles sighs. "I can't do that, not to you."
A heavy silence hangs in the air before Carlos finally speaks, his tone is softer now. "Let's get inside."
The man they are set to meet is a man named Helmut Marko; a mad scientist with a peculiar obsession with dolls. It seems like he lives alone in his big mansion, but Roberto notices an array of dolls scattered around the mansion. A small android resembling a porcelain doll leads them to Dr. Marko’s study.
Roberto isn’t sure about Dr. Marko’s age, but then again no one knows anything about him. Upon entering the study, Roberto is taken aback to find a marionette sitting on the chair, then he realizes that the marionette is Dr. Marko. Of course, the man who has an obsession with dolls will turn himself into a marionette. The man seems like he’s on the brink of death, judging by the life support system connected to his marionette body.
“Good afternoon, officers.” he greets them, his marionette mouth moving up and down. “What can I do for you?”
“Good afternoon Dr. Marko, I’m Officer Merhi. I’m here because we heard about your connection with Sanctuarium Solum."
“Ah, yes… I helped them with their droids.” he chuckles. “I don’t understand people sometimes. Why do they replicate humans by giving souls into dolls?”
“Are you saying that they tampered with the android?” Roberto frowns.
Ignoring him, Dr. Marko continues, “If the dolls could speak, they would scream, 'I don't want to become human!'" He pauses, then adds, "But one of you... is different, huh?"
"I'm human," Charles whispers, almost as if he's trying to convince himself.
Dr. Marko responds with a dark laugh, "Are you really? But don't worry, you won't be for long, since I will add you to my collection. You are too pretty to be human."
Suddenly as if someone is controlling him, Charles retrieves his gun from its holster. The warmth that always illuminated his green eyes is gone.
“He hacked his e-brain,” Carlos whispers to Roberto. “Charles? Charles, are you there?”
At first, Charles remains unresponsive. Then, without warning, he points his gun at them and fires a shot. The bullet finds its mark on the grandfather clock behind him, shattering the glass, the pieces are scattered on the floor.
Charles gasps, his eyes are wild and frantic, searching for Carlos, “ Mon amour , help me? Please, I can’t…” He trails off, he aims his gun at them again, but at the last moment, he shields the shot with his hand, shattering his hand in the process. Carlos uses that momentum to lunge forward and quickly jams the stabilizer behind Charle’s neck.
“Did… did I hurt you?” It’s the first thing Charles asks when he comes to his senses. His hand is shaking when he reaches out to touch Carlos’ face.
“No, you did not,” Carlos reassures him, holding hard onto Charles' unharmed hand as if it were his lifeline - which, at that moment, Roberto believes it is.
“Now, Marko,” Carlos turns to him. He strides towards the living marionette and has Marko on his hand in an instant; ready to snap his neck, “Give me a good reason why I shouldn’t just kill you now?”
“I will tell you everything. Please don’t kill me!” Marko pleads.
Dr. Marko tells them everything, about how Sanctorium Solum trafficked girls and duplicated their ghosts to the androids, about their underwater base. But still, after he tells them everything Carlos kills him anyway.
***
“I’m sorry,” Roberto says later when they are in the corridor of the laboratory. The sound of machinery surrounding them as they wait for Charles as his left arm is being repaired.
“What for?” Carlos sounds genuinely confused.
“For…” Roberto hesitates, he doesn’t know where to start. For kidnapping your boyfriend, I didn’t even know if he was your boyfriend. Also, I almost got all of us killed. “For everything.” He decides to say instead.
Carlos’ eyes are distant, doesn’t even bother to reply. “Does your father know?” Roberto can’t help but ask again.
“Know what?”
“That you’re working with Charles?” That when you say he’s your partner it also means the other thing.
“He knows.” That’s all Carlos says, refusing to elaborate further apparently.
“Is that why you never come back?”
Carlos snorts, “one of the reasons.”
The lab’s door swings open abruptly. Charles strides out alone with his new hand, he smiles at them and waves his new hand awkwardly as a greeting.
“You done?” Carlos asks with a special tone reserved only for Charles.
It’s so stupid that it takes him this long to connect the dots. Carlos rarely utters more than five words to anyone but Charles. Charles is probably the one who does the talking when they are working.
Have I ever said no to you? Roberto mulled over their interactions. No, not even once has he heard Carlos say no to Charles, even when Carlos is reluctant. His devotion to Charles goes beyond their professional partnership, it might be influenced by something deeper than that.
"I need to see Pierre as soon as we get back." Charles studies his new hand, maybe it feels strange since it’s not his usual mechanic who repairs it.
"Let me see!" Carlos opens his palm up, Charles puts his hand there, and lets Carlos inspect his forearm. Carlos brushes his hand softly along the forearm, he lets out a shuddering breath when Charles cups his cheek. This is too intimate for Roberto’s eyes, so he slips out quietly.
"Good enough for you?" Charles asks.
"I thought I might lose you for a moment," Carlos murmurs softly.
"I’ll come back from the dead just for you.” He caresses Carlos’ cheek softly. “And I don’t think you will let me go that easily.”
“You’re right, I won’t.” Carlos sighs into Charles’ hand. “Come on, let’s go home!” he holds Charles’ hand in his.
***
"You should visit us in Lyon sometime!" Charles suggests when Roberto and Camila drop them off at the airport. "Carlos will cook something delicious for you. Right, Carlos?"
“Sure,” Carlos says, giving them a genuine smile this time. Who knows if it takes a near-death experience for Carlos to show them his softer side?
“I still can’t believe you have a private jet. Why can’t we ride your jet?” Charles grumbles.
“That’s not my private jet, it belongs to a family friend!”
“Still, you rode one to Mallorca.”
The family friend is actually Carlos’ father but Charles doesn’t need to know about that. Carlos told him if he had to call Ana to use that plane, thanks to his impulsive act everyone knew if he was in Mallorca. He was forced to visit his summer house and stayed there for a day, while Charles stayed with Roberto. One of the worst experiences of his life, he said.
“Our apartment in Lyon is big enough, you don’t need to book a hotel.”
“Oh, you guys live together?” Camila asks.
Right, he hasn’t told Camila the truth. Maybe he should do it later to avoid more
misunderstandings.
“Yes, we live together. It’s cheaper that way!” Charles exclaims, earning a snicker from Carlos.
“Anyway, we have to go now! It was nice to spend time with you!” Charles hugs Camila and kisses her cheeks. “You too, Roberto!” He hugs Roberto and pats his cheek playfully. “Sorry, no kisses!”
Charles waves at them for the last time before he and Carlos make their way to the boarding gate. In the last moment before they are gone from their vision, Carlos plants a quick kiss on Charles’ cheek.
“Huh?” Camila blinks. “Are you seeing what I’m seeing?”
“Well, cariña … I think I need to tell you something.”