Gabriel peered at Masha, who was biting her nails in visible anxiety. He knew just how much she had been scared of her parents finding out about her sexuality since the day she figured out she loved women and not men, and wrapping her head around the idea of her father knowing but not minding shouldn't be easy. Alexey wasn't the most expressive man on earth, and it was hard to tell when exactly he had stumbled upon her secret and for how long he had been pretending not to know.
If anything, Gabriel hadn't perceived any change in Alexey up to now, either. He had been behaving the same as always.
Maybe his children's preferences really didn't matter to him. Although the age gap did. Gabriel could understand that. He would also have been bothered by it had he been in Alexey's shoes.
Misha's snuggling drew Gabriel's attention back to him. He had noticed earlier that the rims of his eyes were red and a little puffy.
…Did he cry?
"I wonder, though," Jake sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Oh? It looked like his brother was thinking of the same thing as him and didn't shy away from bringing it up. "Misha, could your father have overheard you talk about something other than your love life? If you've mentioned our plan to throw my parents in jail or your travel back in time…"
That would complicate things, yes.
Gabriel felt Misha's body tense on him, and he averted his eyes, probably thinking about all the stuff he had been gossiping about with his sister. Their respective schedules made it hard for them to catch up, so they would inevitably talk about everything and nothing whenever they got the opportunity to spend time together.
"I don't think so," Masha answered for her little brother, finally snapping out of her daze. "The last time we sat in my room to chat, we only talked about our love life… Misha was complaining about having to wait another month before finally getting that kiss."
"Hey, I wasn't the only one complaining!" Misha scowled back. "You were whining about being too busy to spend time with Yuki and missing sleeping in the same bed. Like what the body pillow couldn't compare to or something!"
"Talk about the pot calling the kettle black! Didn't you also complain about the body pillow doing a shit job at replacing Gabriel?!"
Maybe because of how stressful the past few days had been, the Lesskov siblings were quick at getting into quarrels today. Still, it felt great to hear. Gabriel had missed their shenanigans while being detained in that room. The only sound disturbing the silence had been the buzzing of the neon light, as Pierrot hadn't deigned to visit him after the first day.
"Guys, I'm trying to have a serious discussion here!" Jake rolled his eye, although certainly aware that there was no point in reprimanding them. "We have to—"
Knocks on the door cut his brother off, and Gabriel shifted his gaze to said door. Already? Well, his stepmother had an image to uphold, and his cold-hearted father still had to pretend to care about him, or that could arouse suspicion. Neither wanted the police officers to dig too much into their family affairs.
Or perhaps, they wanted to meet with him fast, so Gabriel wouldn't go around babbling things he shouldn't.
Too bad he had no intention to play along this time.
Reluctantly, Misha let go of Gabriel and sat on his bed, not without throwing him a wronged look. It was annoying to keep the charade up, but what could they do? Gabriel could only pat Misha's thigh in comfort.
A moment later, Alexey opened the door. He came in first, followed by Angela, Gulnas, and Matthew. A police officer also tagged along. The small one-person room was getting overly crowded.
Before Gabriel could speak, Angela pounced on him to hug him, sending shivers of disgust running down his spine.
"Oh, my poor baby! I was so worried!"
Gabriel did his best not to break his poker mask and grimace. For as long as he could remember, Angela had never hugged him, always keeping his distance from the 'filthy thing' that he was.
What a crappy display of affection.
"I'm sorry for worrying you."
Still, Gabriel played along and hugged her back. He felt her body flinch under his touch, which had the merit of bringing him a bit of joy. Maybe he should tighten that hug—and accessorily, give Misha a warning glance so he didn't snap. Gabriel could tell he was about to grip Angela's collar and pull her away.
"I'm glad you're alright."
Matthew's words were straightforward. His cold demeanor hadn't melted, but flipping his personality over to appear more 'father-like' would only tip off the police that something was amiss. It was alright for Angela to shed crocodile tears; it wasn't for him.
With that in mind, Gabriel didn't make the effort to speak more than necessary and acknowledged his father's 'worry' with a simple nod.
"I know you're excited," a police officer spoke up, "but we'll need you to give him room to breathe. The medical examination is over and shows no abnormalities, yes, but we still have some questions left to ask Gabriel before we can allow him to leave. Don't worry, it won't take us long."
"Don't you see the poor boy is traumatized?!" Angela snapped back, pressing Gabriel's head against her chest in a protective manner. "Can't your questions wait until tomorrow at least?!"
"Sadly, no. Memories tend to get warped quickly, and it's better to take his testimony as fast as possible to ensure there is as little discrepancy from reality as possible. I hope you can understand."
"But—"
"It's fine, mother," Gabriel cut Angela off. "I can answer their basic questions today, and we can have a more in-depth discussion later. Would that be alright with you, officer?"
Angela stiffened. Gabriel could tell she was annoyed at his talk-back. He also knew neither she nor Matthew wanted him to speak to the police officers right away. They had to first drill into his brain what could be said and what couldn't be said about Camille and her little group of thugs, as well as whom he met during his stay at his abductor's hideout.
He wouldn't give them the chance to, however.
This way, he could pretend to be dumb later if the need arose.
"….Alright," Matthew ultimately conceded, certainly aware that the more they objected to their grown-up son speaking with the police, the more suspicious that would sound.
Once her husband spoke, Angela reluctantly followed along. Since she had her back to everyone, she took the opportunity to glare at Gabriel, as if to warn him to keep his mouth shut, to which he offered a reassuring smile.
To his relief, Angela finally let go of him.
Before leaving, Masha gave him a hug, followed by Misha, Gulnas, Tristan, and then Jake. It felt weird to hug his brother, as he also never hugged this one. Tristan, sure. Jake? No. The hug was awkward, but necessary as Jake took the opportunity to whisper some useful information in his ear.
"Before you went on that suicide mission, Pierrot popped up at the Lesskov's house. He's given us a few files. I've skimmed through them, and they're the undeniable proof that Matthew and Angela engaged in dealing with Pierrot's organisation as well as some of their sponsors. So, go ahead, tattle to the police officer a few of our leads. From what I've gathered, the people in charge of your kidnapping case aren't corrupt cops. One of them even has a stellar reputation—"
"How long are you planning to hug your brother?" Angela hissed, visibly annoyed at being chased from the hospital room.
"Sorry, I'm coming."
Jake let go of Gabriel, straightening his back as he gave him a knowing glance. It had been a dangerous gamble, but it should pay off this time, although not as much as they would have liked, of course. Still, they had been scrambling around for evidence for years after Tristan came up with his own files, and they certainly wouldn't spit on a golden opportunity—even if that opportunity had been given to them by Pierrot.
Gabriel watched as his brother left, and one police officer closed the door behind him. There were two of them. Normal, considering cops worked in a team of two.
"I'm sorry if this brings up bad memories, especially after you went through something this difficult. I'll try to keep the questioning brief, and if you don't—"
"Sir, don't worry and ask away." Gabriel interrupted the young man with a smile. He looked like a newbie, although his partner seemed a lot more experienced, if only by his age and composed behavior. He must be the one with the 'stellar reputation'. "I believe there are a few dubious areas that have piqued your concern these past few days, aren't there?"
The moment those words left Gabriel's mouth, the senior officer straightened his back, and his gaze turned sharper. Meanwhile, the newbie fumbled to answer, scratching his cheeks. In the end, he went for the truth.
"…Well, yes. There are a few things that don't add up."
Gabriel's smile deepened as he nodded.
To begin with, his abductor never called to ask for a ransom, which would have been expected considering he was from a wealthy family. Gabriel would bet his hand that Camille had been high on drugs when they found her, and whatever the hell she said didn't make any sense. So, as of now, they most likely had no idea why on earth the kidnapping even occurred in the first place, despite Angela and Matthew insisting that it was for the money.
Strange, right?
Now, it was his duty to clarify things, wasn't it?