Title: Second Chances

Rating: PG-13

Summary: What would you do if get a second chance to live again? Arthur Kirkland dies of a broken heart and gets a second chance. He is also given an opportunity to find out who is at the other end of his string, and this just might be worthwhile. AU. US/UK.

"The patient's BP is dropping fast! Nurse, syringe!"

What was happening..? He could hear voices...was he still in the hospital?

"Patient, can you hear me? Are you still there?"

He wanted to answer yes, he was, but his mouth refused to move. Black dots were filling his vision, and the painful twinges in his heart hurt too much for him to think.

"I need you to hold on! Don't give up!"

Someone was speaking, but he could not hear the spoken words. He was only aware of how his heart, with each beat, was getting more painful and unbearable by the second. Was he dying? He wanted the pain to stop. His head was pounding and at that moment, he wanted everything to stop and leave him peace. Let him go, let him leave-

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP-

"Patient has gone into a cardiac arrest! Get the defibrillator!"

When was this going to end when was this going to end just let me go it hurts it hurts it hurts so much-

And suddenly, there was no more.

A loud, continuous beep filled the silence in the operating room. For one moment everyone paused and looked up at each other. Finally, the doctor pressed two fingers down on the base of the patient's neck.

No pulse.

He looked back up again grimly.

"Patient's dead. Name?"

"Arthur Kirkland."

"Time of Death?"

"8:23PM, Sir."

"Cause?"

A pause, followed by the rustling of papers.

"...Broken Heart Syndrome, doctor."

Arthur Kirkland, aged 27, had died of a broken heart.

The first thing Arthur was aware of that he was not on the operating table anymore.

Nor was he in the hospital either.

Instead he was seated on the bench, a cup of tea and saucer nestled comfortably in his hands in the middle of a void of white. Arthur could not make any sense of any tangible dimension in this white space. It did not seem that there was any start or an end in sight, nor were there anything else as far as Arthur could see around him; which there was only one logical conclusion left.

He was dead and this was Hell.

Well, he supposed that if this was indeed hell, it was a rather suitable punishment in hindsight. Damnation to an eternity of nothingness-with only a cup of cold tea.

"Hey! Hey!"

Then again, he supposed, the upside that he was dead and thus unable to feel any more pain. There was no difference between 'barely existing' or 'dead'. Perhaps it was some sort of a relief for himself that he was-

"HEY! ARTHUR KIRKLAND!"

The shout immediately startled Arthur out of his thoughts. Who was it? Arthur's first thought (amusingly) was that some sort of a demon had decided to appear and was about to torture him, just like in those horror movies.

However, it turned out to be human-at least, a being that seemed to physically look like a human. A young man that looked at least a few years younger than him with fiery red hair and green eyes stood before Arthur. The youth was dressed in a pair of fitting pants and a white vest.

If anything, this person did not seem to be of any threat at all.

"Who are you?" Arthur eyed at him warily. Appearances were deceiving. He did not simply trust this person enough to let his guard down.

The being took a seat beside Arthur. "There's no need to be so wary! I am not going to bite you! My name is Asher and I am your residential Spirit Guide!" Asher stared at Arthur with interest. "You are really here right in front of me, are you not?"

...Was he for real? "No, I am not." Arthur deadpanned. "I am just a figment of your imagination just like I am starting to think you are. "

Asher gave a sheepish laugh. "Ah sorry, my apologies! It's just that it has been a really really really long time since I have gotten a Special Case and-"

Arthur held up his hand. "Wait wait slow down. Special Case? And where am I?" His head was starting to hurt from how fast Asher was speaking.

"Well to answer where you are, you are in a place called Transition, but I personally prefer to call it the Place-In-Between!" Asher grinned. "And it is only for the

people who are selected by the Upper Management to be given another chance to live again. Special Cases. And you," he gestured at Arthur. "-are given a second chance."

Arthur rose an eyebrow. This was ridiculous. Logic had told him that yes, he was dead, yes, this was definitely somewhere in Afterlife (possibly Hell)-but being told by Asher (a Spirit Guide) that this was not Hell but somewhere on the crossroads? And the fact that he was given another chance to live again for some unfathomable reason?

"Why me? There's probably somebody else who deserves this chance better." Why would the Above even want him to live when he was meant to be dead and there was nothing worth living back there for?

(Arthur was uncertain that he deserved another chance to live.)

Asher shook his head. "Nope, nor can do. Come on come on!" He stood up and pulled Arthur up onto his feet. "You need to go back. There isn't much time already!"

"Wait-!"

-and when Arthur opened his eyes again, gasping for breath and taking in huge mouthful of oxygen, filling his starving lungs, he was right back at on the operating table.

"-oh god the patient is alive! Hurry! Check his stats!"

A whirlwind of activity surrounded him. Arthur was quite unsure what exactly had transpired, but by the time he was back on the hospital bed with the doctor telling him for the twentieth time how it was a 'miracle' as he had been technically, dead for approximately six minutes and how he should 'appreciate being given another chance to live', he was starting to feel a rising ire and so slipped into auto pilot mode, where he simply nodded and agreed.

When the doctor finally left his room, Arthur leaned back fully against his bed. Good riddance. So he was dead for six minutes. It did not feel like whatever had happened back in that void was six minutes; it felt more like an hour. As Arthur pondered on the short conversation he had with Asher, he considered the plausibility that everything was a bad dream and that he had dreamed it all up. He dismissed it though, because of how realistic it felt, and because he remembered how, back on that operating table, he had literally felt himself slip and die.

..haa. Which brought him back to the next question: Why was he still alive? Arthur frowned and massaged his forehead with his fingertips lightly. There wasn't any sense. If anything back there he was already prepared to accept his fate and that he was going to Hell; for he had done many things that he was sure that it qualified him a place Down Below due to the nature of his job and that he had done nothing good to even deserve this, this chance to live again. And what the hell was he supposed to do anyway?

If anything he suspected that this was probably a form of punishment.

"No, it isn't a punishment! And there isa reason why you were brought back."

Arthur recognized that voice.

"And what is this reason?" He sat up on his bed and glared at Asher. " Why are you even here?"

Asher crossed his arms and clicked his tongue. "Hey! Enough with that glare! It's scary." He made a face at Arthur. "Geeze, how depressive can a human get? I am here to tell you why, so stop with the brooding silence already."

Brooding silence? Depressive? Arthur bristled. He certainly was not depressive!

"Then say it!" Arthur snapped. He had enough. "I am rather interested as to why They want to bring a bastard back alive."

Asher sat down on the chair and pointed at Arthur's wrist. "See that on your pinky?" A small, red thread was tied around Arthur's little finger in a ribbon knot. It stopped short at the end of Arthur's palm. "That is what we call a Fate string. Fate strings are what link two people who are meant to be together forever. So at the end of your Fate string will be the person who is supposed to be your other half."

"...so I was brought back to life again just so to find out who is my other half when I can't even see where this rest of the string goes?" This was a beyond ridiculous justification. Arthur did not even want to know who was this other person. He was pretty sure that whoever was on the other end would not like him one bit for if he knew just what kind of a person Arthur was. "No. That is the stupidest reasoning I have ever heard. And there is no such thing as together forever." Unpleasant memories of that fateful night started to materialize right in mind. Arthur forced himself to shove it back right into the mental closet and locked it. He did not need to be reminded. "I refuse."

(And he didn't want to go through something he now believed to be completely full of so full of sharp points that will cause you to bleed all over again.)

Asher shrugged. "Weeeeelll it's your choice. I'd say not to waste this chance. You can't see the rest of your string until you fulfill some requirements you need to know." A brief pause. "...look. You are not the only person I have seen being brought back again and told exactly why they were revived. Some of them chose not to discover who was at the other end of the line; they didn't exactly lead a very fulfilling life. Some of them chose to embark on the journey to do it; and I can tell you that there is something never quite like it when they do. What have you got to lose?"

Indeed, what had he got to lose?

(Nothing and Everything.)

Arthur closed his eyes and fell right back on to his bed, back facing Asher. He did not have to answer that question. Hopefully Asher would be able to take the sign that it was time for him to leave.

"...fine then. You are tired. You should get some rest. Think about what I said, Arthur." Asher reached out and gave Arthur's shoulder a comforting squeeze. "Good night."

And he was gone.

Arthur Kirkland did not believe in this notion of 'fate strings', as however it was called. He had once let himself entertained and believed that he was able to be in a relationship but apparently that was not the case when it came to 'trust' and 'commitment', and to be frank it seemed bloody amusing in hindsight that over a bastard of a person Arthur had technically, died.

Hah.

No more. He was living now-no going out to find who exactly was at the other end of this invisible string, no more wasting energy dwelling on this matter, no more relationships.

Arthur Kirkland was Arthur Kirkland again.

By the end of that week, Arthur was deemed fit enough to be discharged from the hospital. The doctor had advised him to take the following few days off 'just in case', but Arthur decided that no, he had enough rest on the bed in the hospital and headed right back to work on the following Monday.

"Well, well, look who is back from the dead!"

Arthur placed his briefcase down on the desk. "And good morning to you, Gilbert. Now what do you want?"

"Can't a fellow employee hold a normal conversation with his boss?" Gilbert made himself comfortable on the couch. "For a moment when the I heard you were going through a cardiac arrest, I was really worried you weren't going to make it. So I am extremely glad that you are still alive, 'Captain." He gave Arthur a casual salute.

Arthur snorted. " Your concern is duly noted. Where's Kiku?"

"Still as modest as ever, Boss." Gilbert got up from his seat. "Kiku's back in his office. But you better hurry, I think he's rushing off to meet some important people soon."

Arthur nodded. He only needed a moment.

"Ah, Arthur-san.I am glad you are back." Those were the words Arthur heard as soon as he stepped right into Kiku's office. "How are you feeling today?"

Kiku Honda was the more experienced one between the two of them when first Arthur had approached the Japanese man to set up a law firm together two years ago. Although they were a small firm, Arthur had took time and effort to build a reputation for the firm over the short span of two years. Now there were five lawyers working under their name and they were working in a comfortably large office space, where the firm was located just right outside of London.

"From recovering from a near death experience and lying on the bed on the doctor's insistence with nothing but a window and tasteless hospital food, yes, I feel quite fine." Arthur picked up a file from the pile on Kiku's desk. "Any new cases?"

"Well." Kiku picked the file out from Arthur's hand and placed it back on the pile. "I have accepted several cases pro bonoon the behalf of this firm in celebration of the Annual Pro Bono Week." He retrieved a green file from the bottom of the pile and handed it to Arthur. "I think this case ought to be suitable for you. Take a look."

Arthur glanced through the case file. It seemed rather like a relatively easy case, a youth has been found murdered on the streets a few days ago and a man named Alfred F. Jones has been arrested and currently placed in the detention centre. It also seemed that he was also under suspicion of several other murders that had happened across the town over the span of two months. It also seemed there were decisive evidence found on the crime scene that pointed towards Alfred. The way that Arthur saw this case, the best this guy could get away with was life imprisonment.

"Ah, before I forget." Kiku leaned forward. "This particular client requests an acquittal. You are to defend him in the upcoming trial in this case." Kiku continued as he tidied the rest of the files on the desk. "He is in the detention centre right now. You might want to go down and question him."

Silence.

"...Defend?" Arthur eyed at him in disbelief. "Kiku, did it occur you that I am a prosecutor? Clients come to me because they want me to prosecute, not defend!" There was no way he could take this case. He could never defend somebody in court, especially when the suspect was charged with murder out of all charges! "I am not taking this case." He closed the file and held it out to Kiku. "Give it to someone else."

Kiku simply smiled and pushed the file back into Arthur's hands. "Unfortunately there's only seven lawyers, including me and you, working in this firm. The six of us are busy with other cases, which leaves only you free. So I am afraid that you have to take this case, Arthur-san. If you are able to successfully do this pro bono case well, don't you think that it would paint a far more rosy image for this firm?" He eyed at Arthur for a moment. "...and I believe that this client is not guilty. I have personally talked to Alfred and I can tell that if you put him right in front of the jury, even they are going to have a hard time believing that this man has murdered another human being."

"... fine." What could he say? Throughout the period that Arthur had been working with Kiku, Kiku was a person that, for every act out of the usual algorithm he did, he did it for some god knows mysterious reason, and as Arthur usually found out, he would not know what exactly was the reason until he did it.

But a case meant work, and work was what Arthur did best in.

Work also provided him the opportunity to not think of anything else, which was the best gratification he could ask for.

Arthur still had a problem in believing that this Alfred Jones was not guilty. All the evidence and eye witness accounts pointed towards that Alfred had indeed committed murder. He had read the whole case file, but he thought that it would only be fair to hear what Alfred had to say before deciding.

"Mr. Kirkland? Alfred F. Jones is ready for questioning." The guard's voice rang over the speakers. "You have 30 minutes."

The door beeped and Alfred came in. He was dressed in the customary prison bright orange jumpsuit. Arthur noted that he actually looked...rather young. If the case file had not stated his age (23), Arthur would had guessed that Alfred was 19 or even 20.

"Are you my attorney?" Alfred sat down on the chair opposite Arthur and placed his arms on the table. He looked as if he was about to collapse and fall asleep anytime. Arthur supposed rentless interrogation by the police had taken quite a huge toll on this man. "Great, because I didn't do it and you got to help me, please."

Arthur was about to open his mouth when he noticed a string dangling from Alfred's left little finger. The string had a little ribbon knot tied right a the bottom of the little finger.

It was also red string.

At that instant, Asher's words came back to him.

"You are not the only person I have seen being brought back"

Alfred had died once and he was brought back again.

Alfred F. Jones was given a second chance, just like Arthur was.

A/N: Thank you for reading! I hoped that you have enjoyed this chapter. Was a hetalia kink request I picked up a year ago; hopefully anon who requested it will be able to find this.