Everything seemed gray and dull around Francis. The gravely, old pavement crunched under his feet, annoyed that Francis was there. He crossed his arms as the wind picked up, making him feel... Anxious.

He passed by Kiku and Alfred's little shop and spotted Alfred chopping up some wood with a small axe that Kiku had given him for his birthday.

"Alfred -!" Francis yelled. Maybe Arthur's adoptive, little brother knew his whereabouts...

"Oi - !" Alfred poked his head up and saw Francis, "hey dude, what's up?"

"I was hoping you knew where Arthur had gone," Francis shivered, the wind lightly picked up his blond, silky hair and made him feel a little more self conscience about finding that runaway Brit.

"Thought he was found dead?" Kiku asked and noticed the frown that formed on Francis' face. He nudged Alfred.

"Hey dude, don't be sad..." Alfred had noticed how the Frenchman titled uncomfortably on his feet and decided to say something comforting. "Oh shucks! He will probably come back if he isn't drinking himself to death at the bar!"

Those words struck him as unusual.

"What do you mean he... Comes back?"

Alfred blinked for a second and then rubbed his right eye like something had gotten in it. "Well, I don't know how to explain it to you dude. When he's under stress, he runs and goes to one of the local bars, I forgot the name of it..."

"Why didn't you just say that -?"

"Say what -?" Alfred yelled over, Francis only let out a sigh and mumbled to himself, this is stupid...

"Thanks Alfred." Francis began to walk off and Alfred shouted something after him, something he ignored. He knew that Alfred was probably trying to be supportive and help fuel Francis' desire to find Arthur; however, the feeling tore his heart right open.

Francis glanced back, Kiku and Alfred were in the street, waving goodbye as a car rolled into view. Francis did hope they enjoyed their journey as he turned his back to them and knitted his hands together, wanting to feel the coldness of Arthur's touch.

He raced to the old bar he used to work at where he saw his good old friend Sasha. She was the queen bee of gossip.

"If anybody knew, it is you," Francis pleaded as he threw himself in front of her.

"Ugh, Francis! What are you even talking about??" Her face contorted as if she had smelled the worst thing in existence.

"Arthur Kirkland, heard of him?"

"The struggling detective who can hunt down criminals and pirates but struggles to pay the bills, yeah, I have heard some stuff, why?"

Francis didn't say anything as he glanced at her with hopeful eyes. She blinked once. Twice. And continued on with her statement.

"Well, apparently there are rumors floating by that he got kidnapped."

"Kidnapped???" His voice squeaked upwards as Sasha rolled her eyes and placed a hand on his shoulder. Despite having a tough exterior, she could be a sweetheart once you got her to open up.

"It's okay. It's okay. Just be thankful that his death isn't confirmed by St. Pierre."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Francis turned down the old, dark alleyway that first got him into this pirate stuff and sat down at the bar he had once started his new life in.

"Well well well, look who it is here, it's Francis -!" Hunter laughed, his dirty mustache bouncing off of his lips. The female pirate howled as Francis passed her and slapped his back end, making him tense up.

Francis sat down next to the window, trying to be alone ... But atlast, Hunter and Hooke sat down across from him.

" How's the finding out who the pirate is -? "

Exhausting.

I lost my partner who was helping me find this criminal and now I'm going to die ...

"It's been slow. There haven't been many ships lately." Francis responded and leaned back. "The Spanish dude I had captured wasn't the pirate." The 'we' when it was Francis and Arthur became "I" when Francis tapped his fingers against the desk. He was trying to sound secure between two unstable pirates. Wine was placed down in front of him and Hunter grasped at the glass and took an obnoxious gulp from his glass.

"There's one tonight. Are you in?" Hunter asked, leaning forward. His breath smelled of rum and fish. Francis wrinkled up his nose and wanted to puke. Francis didn't respond as he adjusted himself uncomfortably on the seat, his right leg heaved itself over his left and placed his hands in his clap.

"He should be there."

"Perfect -" Francis responded a little too eagerly. If he caught the pirate, then maybe he could ask the pirate if he knew had slain Arthur. Where he was holding Arthur ransom. He began to fidget in his chair and Hunter and Hooke glanced at each other with sideways glances and only mumbled some words to each other.

"Looks like you were right," Hunter responded, his voice edged with pride in it. "Looks like you are a real pirate and not just some old poser on the water."

Those words made him feel... a bit anxious. Whatever Hunter and Hooke had in store, was clearly not what Francis had. The Frenchmale fidgeted with his fingers as Hunter and Hooke stood up and responded.

"12. The bar is where we will meet each other again, got that?"

"... Tonight ... ?"

"Yes tonight -! It's the last shipment this month and for a while," Hooke responded and Hunter grumbled something under his breath, whatever it was, Francis didn't want to know what it was.

The 2 pirates left Francis alone to his thoughts and Francis yanked at his blond hair, why did he do this to himself?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Francis returned back to the detective building and heard some complaining coming from the jail cell.

Francis hurried his pace and spotted a male with brown hair and tanned skin, according to his files, his name was Antonio.

"Are-"

"Please let me goooooooooooooo-!" The male complained, he hung his head against the bars. "I'm not dangerous... I'm just an old sea rat ...!"

"Then... Why were you on the beach?" Francis asked. The male was found wearing pirate clothing and wandering the beach, it wouldn't make sense if he was just being a poser.

"Look, it was a dare from one of my closest friends I'm trying to get withhhhhhhh-!"

Francis frowned, he crossed his arms, disinterested in whatever the male was going to say next.

"I.. I have seen your boyfriend -"

"He's not my boyfriend -!" The words fell out kind of harshly from the Frenchman and he only stood in silence. The thought dawned on him, they would never end up together. After all this, Arthur would go his separate way as Francis would, no matter how much it hurts him to walk away from someone he trusted, someone he cared for.

Antonio knew he struck a nerve and moved closer. "Oh come onnnnnnnn~ surely you must have if you're denying he's-" Antonio stood up, grabbed his red pirate coat that was around a wooden chair and his head veered to the side when Francis cut him off.

"Non, don't finish that sentence. Just tell me where he is." At the end of what Francis had just said, a sigh escaped his mouth. He clearly wanted to strangle Antonio through the bars until he told him where Arthur had gone. The silence was killing him and he lost his patience.

"Damn it Antonio- tell me where he is!!"

"Okay okay !!" Antonio pleaded as Francis took multiple steps forward and tried to grab the male's shirt through the bars. "I will tell you if you let me go. My freedom for information on your friend's whereabouts."

"How can I trust you ?" The words fell out flatly. He was done playing these pathetic games. All he wanted was to prove that Arthur wasn't dead, that he was alive and well.

"If you love him, you'll have to trust me." He placed a hand on his tanned skin and softly scratched his cheek straight across over and over. "It's a calculated risk. What do you have to lose?"

Francis thought for a second and slowly released Antonio, allowing him his freedom. Antonio smiled brightly and opened his mouth like he was going to say something... The big reveal. Francis leaned forward as the male smirked, taking off towards the entrance and shouting,"Thanks loser, that ship is as good as mine tonight, can't miss a ship when people depend on me! You will never see your boyfriend ever again!"

The male quickly grabbed his red jacket and Francis pulled at a strand of hair that had cried itself down in front of his eyes. He stood there in quiet for multiple minutes, until he fell to his knees, tears flying down his face as his lip quivered. He shouldn't have listened to what Antonio had said and frankly, this was all his fault. He wanted to leave, he wanted to go, but most importantly, he wanted his best friend back.

"Damn," Francis muttered to himself, he closed his eyes tightly, trying to slow his heavy breathing. "I refuse to... to think you have died..." His mind wandered back to his theory and thought that maybe Antonio was the pirate. The red coat. Pirate. Calculated risks.

However, that didn't explain why Antonio was still in here. Maybe... his eyes lit up as he remembered, he had friends. People that depended on the Spaniard.

"That calculated bastard," Francis shouted as he stood up, that bastard had been in here to look like he had an alibi and how nobody could pin it on him if he was "locked up".

Even when he found out the culprit, he had failed in finding any information about Arthur's whereabouts or if he was okay and that frustrated the male. His mind clicked in place when he pieced Antonio to the crime. People depend on me to keep them safe. His blue eyes flashed upwards as the realization that he had released the dreaded pirate to cause mayhem in St. Pierre.